Food Photography: Shepard's Pie

Okay, I actually love Shepard's Pie. It's a little time consuming to make but it's delicious and I usually have everything I need on hand :) Mmm... Anyway, this blog has been suffering a lot lately and I feel really bad about it. I'm going to try to post more because I have a ton of photos just sitting on my computer waiting to be uploaded to this little corner of the internet. :) In the past couple of weeks, I've also done a new born shoot and a child shoot so I'm super excited about that! More to come :)

Food Photography

Sorry everyone! I know it's been forever since I last posted but I find winter so uninspiring for photography. I hate how dull & ugly it can be outside. However, I love photographing people playing outside in the snow so at least I've been doing that here & there this winter. It's keeping me sane! Anyway, considering I really don't like nature photography in the winter time, I've been practicing my skills in other ways.. like in food! I made these healthy (and not gonna lie, quite bland) muffins a couple weeks back and instead of eating them I ended up taking a bazillion photos of them. I loved the way this particular image turned out. I think the color contrast mixed with the interesting "stack" shape made it for an appealing photo. How have you been spending your winter?! Tonight, we're supposed to get 30cm of snow.. ugh. Is it summer yet? I'm longing for days spent by a lake with a cold drink in hand. Sigh.

Fresh Vegetables :)

What an insane week this has been.
I've had a lot of time off for some reason at work but lately I feel like the stresses of life are really interfering with everyday happiness. I need a vacation so I think John & I are heading over to the states for May Long Weekend! Phew!

On another very exciting note... tonight as I was reading blogs while watching some TV, I pulled up one of my faves Sometimes Sweet- and saw my link on her Weekend Link post!!!! I got so excited to see that my photography is being noticed! It really inspires me to continue to take photographs and practice each and everyday. Thanks Danielle for the shout out. You have no idea how much I appreciate it!!

More pics to come!

Weekly Theme: Food

So in order to keep myself on track with my photography, I figured I'd make a weekly theme!
I won't make it for a specific day of the week but I'll try to target for Sundays and Mondays just to keep myself on track.

From now until Sunday, I'll be documenting this weeks theme: food!!! One of my major true loves.
Right now, I'm participating in the "bikini series" for ToneitUp! I need some structure in my workouts and this program is something that will assist me with that. I'll pair it up with healthy eating (mainly recipe ideas from the ToneItUp girls) for example, this Salsa Chicken! I overcooked it a bit but it was delicious. John loved it too. I even have leftovers for tomorrow. Win!

Little Maple Leaf: Food Edition

Balsamic Chicken with Brown Rice

Homemade Ceaser Salad Dressing

Sweet Potato!

I have a serious love affair with food. 

Cooking (as well as eating) is one of my favorite hobbies. I'm constantly looking for new recipes to bring into my kitchen that both John & I will enjoy! Lately, I've been all about cooking ethnic (Indian, Thai, and Asian dishes mostly) and usually about cooking healthy. Most recently on my "must make" list: Sweet Potatoes. You can do so much with the delish vegetable & they are oh-so-good for you. But, you already knew that! I love to mash my sweet potatoes & add brown sugar, cinnamon & nutmeg to them as well as a little bit of butter. Mmmm. 

Also, as much as ceaser salad has a high fat content, homemade is always the better option. It's quick & simple to make and probably cuts out the fat & calories (as well as the surprise additions) that come out of a bottle.

The one thing that sucks about creative cooking is that it costs a lot of money. I used to follow recipes to a T but lately, I'll usually try to use what I have on hand and create my own spin off a recipe that I've fallen in love with!

Anyway, enough banter on cooking.. I hope you enjoyed the pretty food photos that came along with this post!

Have a great day!

Mornings

I decided to do something a bit different today with my photography.
I had the day off and was enjoy a healthy breakfast so I decided to play around with my camera at the same time!
I like the results... the photos remind me of a comfortable and quiet morning, don't you think?

On a side note, my body is incredibly sore from over doing it at the gym. Normally, I'm not the type to talk about my work out life and be all "Dude, I went way too hard today." Ew. But I actually did and I can barely move because of it. So today I have a day off from work and I'm also taking a day off from the gym and taking pictures instead!

Stay tuned for some snowy nature photography later on!! Gotta finish editing the pics.

Books, Blankets & Berries

Pair off a good book with a healthy breakfast and you're set!

Reading is one of my favorite things to do. If I'm ever in a bad mood or just don't feel like dealing with reality at the moment, a good book is a great way distract me from the daily struggles!

This particular book is "The Happiness Project". I'm sure you've heard of it... I'm really enjoying it so far. It reminds me to stop and smell the roses when things get tough.

Have a fantastic day!

All I Need to Be Happy

Every time I go on Etsy, I look at all these beautiful prints that people create and automatically become envious. I think for a long time I wanted to start getting into creating something beautiful with my favorite quotes or words that I come up with in my head. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about what really makes me happy in this world and if I could do certain things forever, what would they be?

My two #1 interests are hands-down yoga & cooking. I think a lot about ways that I can make a living doing these interests and hopefully one day I can make that happen.

Lately (and the sole reason I started this blog), I've obviously been super into photography as well. I find it extremely therapeutic to spend time with myself taking photos of the beautiful nature I'm surrounded by every single day but often take advantage of.

I really do love this world we live in & love that each and everyone of us has the power to create amazing things whatever that "thing" may be.

Have a great day!

Spicy Black Bean Pork Stirfry

This recipe was amazing! John & I actually loved this. It had a ton of flavour and was seriously so good.
I adapted the black bean recipe from this website and I will 100% be making this again and again.

What You'll Need:

(Sauce)

• 2 tbsp of canola oil
• 2 tbs of fermented black beans, rinsed & drained
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup of chicken broth
• 12 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbs rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 3 tbs szechuan sauce 
• 1 tbs ancho chili powder
• 1 tbs Louisiana Spice Mix (Epicure brand)... If you live in the States, this is Canadian so you may want to use another spicy mix to substitute like Chili Flakes.

What To Do: 

1. Heat up oil & add in black beans & minced garlic
2. Stirfry for about 1 minute
3. Add in all other ingredients and stir until thick. 
4. Set aside

(Stirfry)

• Handful of Green Beans, ends chopped
• 3 Carrots, sliced
• 2 Sweet Peppers, sliced
• 1/2 White Onion, sliced
• 1 Cup of Brown Rice, Cooked. 
• 1 Pork Tenderloin, Skin Removed & Cut into thin slices
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil

What to Do: 

• Heat up olive oil in large pan.
• Add in Pork Tenderloin pieces & stirfry until pork is almost cooked through.
• Add in vegetables. Stirfry for about 5 minutes.
• Add in your black bean sauce & stirfry for another 3-5 minutes until pork is cooked through and all food items are covered in the sauce. 
• Serve over bed of cooked rice. 

So delicious!