What Have I Been Up To?

Hello!

Sorry for no post lately. I have been busy with my normal every day life I guess. In Finnish we call it "arki". I hate to call it the daily grind because I think it sounds so horrible! Like there are no good things in your normal life between work and sleep. There are many things to enjoy in every moment. Here's a bunch of pictures from my day during the week as well as the weekends. It gives you a peak into my daily grind (*wink*). They are in no particular order, I just uploaded bunch of pics from my phone.

Home made salad for dinner. Delish cauliflower, radishes and other yummy ingredients. I love summer and fresh veggies!

Sipping on a margarita.

To pamper myself I bought a new Moomin mug and a silk shirt.

New chairs for the balcony. And Jinx of course!

A daily walk with Jinx in the woods.

Nasty pollen.

And spiders.

I'm not afraid of spiders but I'm really allergic to pollen. Yikes!

Lunch break at the park. I usually bring my own lunch/snacks.

Feeling really happy (*and sweaty*) after a terrific workout session at Puijo.

Sunrise near my place.

Morning tea at a local coffee shop. Sometimes when I have a later shift for work I go to the gym early in the morning and after that chill at a coffee shop till it's time to go to work.

Or I go sit at a park and just enjoy the fresh air before spending 8 hrs at the office.

I'm trying to keep my cola consumption under control but every now and then I might have a bit. This time I forgot my coke bottle in the freezer because I was trying to chill it quickly. 

At work with my friend Aarne. My coke starting to slowly thaw out.

Nasty wet kisses from Jinx.

More walks.

Kuopio has been getting a lot of rain this spring/summer.

Lot of days have been grey like this. I have been getting a tad bit upset about it...

Our local store got some yummy products from Tesco chain from Great Britain. Yummy!

 I eat healthy about 75% of the time. Other times it is like this. Pizza, candy, pastry and candy. Oh and some broccolini (*that's healthy*).

 I like to go to the movies a lot. And I do eat candy when ever I'm there. This time I had proper American treats with me.

 Since it has been a record cold spring I got really excited when nature finally started to show some signs of life. Here's a bunch of valley of a lily looking really pretty even without flowers.

Making burgers with friends.

Medium rare burger patties with crispy bacon, mayo, tomato and lettuce. Oh yum!

Going out to dance!

Kuopio harbor at 3AM Sunday morning. Really cold but beautiful.

One of my favorite things in the summer is to buy fresh veggies and fruit from the local market place. And to enjoy the sun of course!

Sunny but cold so I needed a hoodie. 

Getting ready to go to the gym. Some shit is about to go down when a girl braids her hair (*giggles*).

 Jinx and I enjoyed a warm evening and sat in a swing set for a bit. After a while I was ready to go inside but Jinx insisted of staying a little bit longer.

Spring is the time for graduations and this one was no exception. Here's my graduation presents to my nephew (*I got him cordless headphones plus baked chocolate chip cookies*). 

Graduation party. What a good reason to get prettied up.

Curl your hair, find your blingiest jewelry and wear heels!

 My nephew wasn't quite as excited (*haha*). Oh, and if you wonder why he is wearing a funny hat it is because that is the traditional high school graduate's hat. It kinda looks like a captain's hat.

I don't drink coffee daily but once in a while I need a pick-me-up and then my choice is Starbucks and its' sugary drinks.

Sunny warm weather makes me so happy! This pretty place is really close to us, so Jinx and I go there often to just breath and enjoy the nature.

 If I could choose it would be summer dresses all year around...

...and lunches at the park.

Happy June everyone!

Cheese-less Cheese Dip

 Hello

I haven't posted recipes for a while, so I'm going to share my new favorite veggie recipe in the honor of vegetable Wednesday! Ladies and gentleman, let me introduce you to cheese-less cheese dip. Yes, you heard me right. A cheese dip that doesn't include an ounce of cheese. Oh and yes, it still tastes great.It is really easy to make too! Plus don't get me even started on how much healthier this is compared to fatty cheese. Also nutritional yeast flakes are really good for you, read more about them here.

You will need:
- 2 medium potatoes
- 1 carrot
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 0,5 dl / 0,2 cup nutritional yeast flakes (*oluthiiva in Finnish, most health stores sell it*)
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice (optional)
- salt to taste

Peel and chop veggies. Boil them until soft. Let it cool.

Blend potatoes and carrots together along with the rest of the ingredients on high in blender until the cheese is extremely smooth. Check for taste, add more yeast/lemon/salt or other spices of your choosing (*maybe onion powder or cayenne*). Store in refrigerator for up to a week.

Tip! Save the boiling water of the vegetables and use that when mixing all the ingredients. That way you can choose the desired consistency.

Chopping vegetables is so relaxing in my opinion.

 Secret ingredients: nutritional yeast flakes and olive oil

All blended!

 I made a double batch this time.

This cheese dip works well in mac'n'cheese. I used whole wheat macaroni, boiled&drained it and then just mixed in the cheese. Eat it with grilled chicken for example and you'll have a pretty healthy dinner option.

 Also yummy as a regular dip.

You'll be surprised how the texture is really cheesy. Love it!

You're welcome folks!

A Quick Hello!

Hi there!

I have been on a hiatus lately as you may have noticed. Just too busy moving and being sick (*blah*). Well, moving part is fun because you get to start clean and rearrange your whole living but I hate remodeling. I also hate the time it takes to get everything organized. I have had to skip gym for so long because I just don't have the time. And on top of that I also got bit sick with a flu.

But finally it seems like we are almost done with everything. I'll be posting more pics from our new place later on. For right now I'll share these with you. 

Jinx at our old place wandering where did all stuff go.

 Found these awesome old wooden boxes from a flea market to store our stuff at our new place.

Sick me about to take a nap.

No matter how busy the life gets I always eat good. Mainly because I'm always hungry...

Gorgeous winter sunrise at our new place. And as you can guess from the amount of snow that we are still in Kuopio (*giggle*).

Happy last day of February!