December 17, 2014

Review: Secret Clear Gel Scent Expressions in Ooh-La-La-Lavender

I've always been a invisible solid kinda gal. Recently BzzAgent mailed me a package with a full sized tube of Secret Scent Expressions, clear gel antiperspirant/deodorant in Ooh-La-La-Lavender to use and Bzz about!

November 19, 2014

Autumn Picnic At Edwards Gardens


Before all this cold and snowy weather arrived, Rich and I picnicked at Edward's Gardens. Technically there is no picnicking allowed, but we're rebels like that. Or more like it was Wednesday afternoon and the only people there were a handful of senior citizens, a couple of canoodling couples (possibly, most likely married to other people), a photographer and his clients and a random shirtless man, who was creepily watching people...namely the canoodling couples.


It was one of the warmer autumn days, one that was ideal for taking in the colourful scenery and taking long walks without becoming a sweaty unsightly mess. I brought my camera with me, so take a peek at all the prettiness in this botanical garden!

November 10, 2014

Look Who's Better!


Tank's fur is growing back in full strength and she's back to her cuddly and sassy self. After about two months her auto-immune system going overboard on her fur follicles, causing some majorly unappealing and irritating hair-loss, her body is finally balancing out. No more disabling cone to wear, which means more running around like a loonatic and no more hand feeding!

Thanks for everybody's concern, well wishes and positive energy.
Having my little mishka back was all I wanted for Christmas. xo

October 29, 2014

Honey Walnut Green Beans (& rabbit watching)

This is one of my new favourite ways to prepare green beans. I grew a bit bored with the same old garlic recipe, so when I tried this subtly sweet and totally nutty variation I fell in love. It was a welcomed change and so, so yummy!

While I was prepping dinner, the neighborhood bunny decided to graze on the grass near the mudroom doors. I've been watching it grow from when it was a wee little thing. I snapped some photos.

October 18, 2014

Lola & The Incident

Lola on a leash, taking a stroll around the back yard. She's a puller!

October 14, 2014

Thanksgiving 2014

Last minute turkey fests are always fun. My family didn't decide to have Thanksgiving dinner until one and a half days before we actually wanted to have it. Since I'm the one who cooks the holiday meal, I thew together a menu and off we went to buy everything we needed, including our 79¢/lb bird.

October 11, 2014

Cat Sitting

Lola is Rich's brother's family's gorgeous year old cat who needed to be looked after while the rest of her human family vacationed. Tank chose a brand new toy squirrel and I stuffed it with cat nip as a welcome gift. Best friends, duh. There was a time last winter where they could have met, but Tank being the "shy" and fiercely territorial feline she is, probably would have hissed and howled and caused a scene. 

Oh, and we weren't even at my house.

October 04, 2014

Dining Out: India's Taste

Rich and I both love Indian food, so for our birthdays (back in July) we decided to dine out at the same place...twice! India's Taste is an all day buffet style restaurant and it's always busy- especially on weekends where large groups and lots of families go to eat. We both like to keep it fairly casual when it comes to birthday dinners and with it being a buffet, there always ends up being a few vegan varieties of dishes for Rich to choose from. I also like being able to try different curries and having the option of salads, unlimited naan bread, desserts and trying things I normally wouldn't ordering à la carte.

I'll try to remember what we had- all I know is that it was delicious and I wanted more.

October 01, 2014

Vegan Chocolate Almond Brownie Ice Cream

I've been putting my ice cream maker to good use, experimenting with dairy free frozen goodness. The most recent flavour I mixed up has a dark chocolate cashew & coconut cream base, hefty chunks of fudge brownie pieces and pieces of chopped toasted almonds. There are also subtle notes of vanilla, espresso and almond whirled in.

September 23, 2014

1 Month

Guess who's auto-immune disorder (Pemphigus foliaceus) decided to creep back into our lives?

September 16, 2014

Surprise Trip to the City Farm

Rich surprised me with a trip to Whittamore's Farm on my birthday! I guess after my endless ramblings about 1. wanting to go to a farm 2. how my garden is shit this year 3. how I love picking fresh produce, he decided this was the perfect little place to visit.
It was!

September 04, 2014

The Fairmont Royal York: Afternoon Tea

This visit to The Fairmont Royal York hotel marks my fourth year going to afternoon tea with Rich's mum and ladies of the family and every time is just as wonderful as the last. If you haven't experienced the pleasures of afternoon tea yet, I say go ahead and treat yourself! I mean, really...who doesn't like a table filled to the edges with pastries, finger sandwiches, fresh and pillow-y scones, various jams and honey, Denvonshire cream and pots of premium hand bagged tea?

August 16, 2014

Vegan Banana Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting

This two layer banana cake is swirled in a light a fluffy vanilla buttercream and it just so happens to be vegan, low fat (cake, not frosting) and super moist! Since one of Rich's favourite cakes is banana, is was a no brainer as to what kind to make him for his birthday.

August 14, 2014

August 13, 2014

Review: Starbucks Frappucino (Bottled)

I was sent a complimentary case of Starbucks' bottled Mocha Frappuccino to review not too long ago.The product is shelf stable, comes in a cute glass jar reminiscent of old milk jugs. These are not new to the market, but they were new to me!

August 08, 2014

Surf 'n Turf: Steak and Salmon

I'm behind on blogging. What's new?
I'm constantly taking photos, doing edits, but I just haven't gotten around to sharing them with you!

This was dinner a few weeks back. Grilled Atlantic Salmon fillets with a creamy honey, lemon and Dijon sauce, strip loin beef steaks and charred corn on the cob. Those chives you see sprinkled around are from the herb box in my garden.

My tomatoes and peppers might not be doing so well, but the herbs (parsley, chives and thyme) are doing great! I stuck a couple of spring onion roots in there too.

July 16, 2014

Sandwich on a Fresh Bun

Homemade whole wheat, oats and honey bun- toasted. That is what this sandwich was built on. It had ripened on the vine tomatoes with a sprinkling of salt and pepper, slices of red onion, a good slathering of mayonnaise, corned beef, cut avocado and a nice spicy dijion mustard. Party flavour in my mouth. :)

July 14, 2014

Father's Day 2014

I baked and decorated a cake for Rich's dad for Father's Day. It just happened to be a vegan cake that had two flavours of cake and a some of the best butter cream frosting, ever (and I don't even usually like frosting).

July 12, 2014

Jerk Pork Chops with Pineapple Orange Salsa

It's been super nice here in Toronto, so I decided to take Tank out on her leash and harness. It must have been really exciting for her and it was all fine and dandy until she spotted my neighbor through the fence and went on guard. Claws out and mean growls. I took her inside before she decided to scream and draw blood.

At this time I whipped up a quick dinner by marinating pork chops in a homemade jerk marinade and throwing together a fruit salsa using segmented oranges and canned pineapple along with some red onions, herbs and spices. I'm still getting use to using our new barbeque, but these still came out decent and relatively juicy. Next time- higher heat, less time. Thicker chops too.

To go along side everything, there was coconut rice and beans. Yum!

July 04, 2014

Colours of Summer

Some of my favourite fruits; papaya and watermelon. Super sweet and juicy, like nature's candy. Papaya tastes like caramel to me and I can easily polish off an entire jumbo sized fruit in a sitting!
This was brunch.

June 22, 2014

Super Fan Comic Con 2014

The Hamilton Batman and his Batmobile
Let me just start off by saying that this was by far the worst "Comic Con"...ever. It shouldn't even have been called that and for whoever who played host to have the audacity to charge a $20 entrance fee was ridiculous. I'm not one to frequent these events, but when I do I've found them to be entertaining, fun and amusing. Rich and I were floored to see how small the convention was and how empty it was. Everybody- guests and vendors a like looked beyond bored. It was really, really sad. 

Luckily the person we went to meet still stuck it out (we went on the last day) and was as friendly as can be!

June 20, 2014

Leftovers & Steak

Strip loin with left over pizza, side of wedges and half an avocado all thrown on the grill. So good.

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About

Hi, I'm Janetta from Toronto. I cook, bake and often veganize recipes. I photograph nearly everything and those photos will most likely end up being posted here. I've got a little black cat named Tank, who's really cute and a little bit nosy. You'll see a lot of photos of her too!

Contact me at: jubesandtank@gmail.com

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