Okay let’s be real for a minute here. Salads are not exactly the most exciting things in the world. If you make a “salad” with just leaves and some awful store-bought dressing it will be probably the least satisfying meal ever. SO. Lets re-define a salad.

A salad can be a meal or a side. In this recipe, it’s a side dish. When you make a salad as a meal you need to add the following things: protein, carbs, veggies, and yummies. That’s right, yummies. LOL. Yummies are what I like to call the salad toppers, such as: cheese, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and all that good stuff. For example, I used feta cheese as my yummy of choice in this Watermelon Salad Recipe.

Now that THAT is out of the way…I bring you my Yogurt Tahini Dressing!!! This dressing takes a boring side salad and makes it fab.

What’s in it:

• 2 tbsp tahini
• ¼ cup hot water
• 2 garlic cloves
• ½ cup greek yogurt (0% is best)
• juice of a whole lemon
• ½ tsp coarse sea salt
• ¼ tsp fresh ground pepper

Whisk tahini and hot water together. Whisk in rest of ingredients. DONE! This will keep in fridge for up to a week.

My Yogurt Tahini Dressing goes best with iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, thin sliced purple onion, tomatoes, and of course yummies. You cant forget the yummies (just sliced almonds here.) Let me now how you like the dressing, and comment below with what you used your Yogurt Tahini Dressing on! 🙂

x,

The other weekend I went wine tasting at Mission Hill Winery in Kelowna, BC. If I could just be a professional wine taster for the rest of my life, I would be down. I mean, how else are you supposed to know what to buy? This was a super fun way to discover a few new favorites to add to the collection.

Half of the fun of going to Mission Hill was walking around the vineyard. It was crazy beautiful, and I definitely want to go back soon. While we explored the grounds, I wore my favourite new heels from Bata (bought in Switzerland.) Wearing leather heels makes them so much more comfortable, because they tend to shape to fit your foot. Nobodyyyy (and I mean nobody) wants plastic cutting into their feet and to be limping around after 5 minutes. That’s just no fun at all. So, leather shoes are definitely the way to go haha.

This was also the perfect opportunity to wear my Zara dress which I bought in Spain for only 40 euros! It was such a good deal, and I am totally in love with anything that is long and flows. Makes me feel like a princess lol! Overall it was a super comfy outfit to wear while exploring the vineyards. 

x,

This is a recipe I loveee to make when I am craving some comfort food. Butternut squash is very low in calories and high in fiber. This skinny recipe is great if you are looking for some fab tasting comfort food that will also help keep you looking your best.

What’s in it:

•      1 medium butternut squash
•      1 cup quinoa
•      Large handful of dried pecans
•      Large handful of dried cranberries
•      Cinnamon
•      Golden sugar
•      Fresh ground pepper
•      Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut your squash into one inch cubes. Throw the cubes in a bowl and add your cinnamon, pepper, salt, golden sugar. Bake for 30 minutes. 5 minutes before baking time is up, add in the pecans and dried cranberries. For the spices, pecans, and cranberries, how much you add is all up to you! I like to throw those babies in very generously, so I will leave it up to you how flavourful you want your dish to taste!

x,

Recently, I have rediscovered my love for jump roping. Seriously don’t judge me… its amazing. For so many reasons lol. 

First, Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima jumps rope. I mean, anything that woman is selling I will buy. But really… HAVE YOU SEEN HER? If she’s doing it, I’m doing it. (She also has two kids… just saying.) 

Second, jumping rope is an unreal way to get both your cardio in and tone your muscles at the same time. It works both your upper and lower body, which gives you an awesome full body workout.

Third, it’s a great calorie burner is you don’t have much time or want to get your warm-up in quick.

Andddd lastly, it is SO MUCH FUN. Can you see the sheer joy on my face in the first photo? I was having so much fun I almost (key word: almost) forgot that I was exercising like a boss. It brings you back to the good old elementary school days 

You definitely need to try adding in some jump roping to your workout routine. I started doing sets of 500 as a warm-up to my core routine. It’s the best… give it a go!

x,

My watermelon salad recipe is adapted from a recipe that one of my best friends showed me. I added cheese to mine, because everyone knows that cheese makes everything better. This salad is actually amazing, and works as a great lunch, snack, or even breakfast!

What’s in it:

• 1 small watermelon
• 1 generous handful of basil leaves
• 2 limes
• Fresh ground pepper
• Feta

Start by chopping up your watermelon into approx 1-2 inch cubes. Next, chop up the basil and throw it in the bowl. Cut up as much feta as you like in cubes, and add it to the watermelon as well. Squeeze as much lime as you like on the salad (I like lots of flava flave so I am overly generous with pretttty much every ingredient haha), and then add in a bit of fresh ground pepper. Gently toss, and voila!

This is the best watermelon salad that you will ever eat. I can hear you already (I said the same thing I promise), LIME AND PEPPER in my watermelon? Don’t ruin it! No. Just no. Trust me on this one. Try it and you will love it. So. Delish.

x,