Tag: snack
When you work freelance like I do, and you make your own schedule, it can be both a blessing and a curse. Sure, if I want to take the afternoon off because it’s a gorgeous sunny day, I can…but it also means I’m always juggling my schedule and fitting in meeting, events, fitness and a social life however/whenever I can.
As much as a 9-to-5 job can be a drag, sometimes I envy the structure it gives your life. Although that does mean you have to cram everything else outside of those hours, doesn’t it? So life can get chaotic for all of us–whether it’s kids, fitness, travel, friends, work–we all have times we feel like we’re just struggling to stay ahead of it all.
How do I juggle my responsibilities and make it work? It’s not rocket science by any means but here are three ways I’ve found have helped make my busy schedule more manageable.
Snack on the go. I try to eat three meals a day, and snack as needed depending on my workouts and how hungry I am. But sometimes i legitimately forget to include time to grab a meal because I’ve scheduled my day to run from one meeting to another. And often, since I’m not a morning person, I’m running out the door trying to get to an early workout or event, and I haven’t eaten a thing. This is why ready-to-go snacks like Good & Simple Muffins and Bars are a staple in my house. I’m partial to the Bars (they’re just easier to eat and I find they taste slightly less sweet than the muffins); Walnut and Grains is my fave but the Blueberry Oatmeal is a close second. Made with real ingredients such as whole grains (in the blueberry oatmeal bar, for example, there’s 13 grams of whole grains in each bar) and no artificial flavours or colours, Good & Simple offers a wholesome and tasty quick way to fuel up quickly and when you’re on the move.
Create some routine to your day to day. While I love making my own schedule (although I do curse that very same thing when I’ve taken a few hours off in the day to go to a sample sale and I’m typing away on my computer at 2 a.m.!) , going through each day with zero structure can be taxing mentally. So I try to have some routine to my day: I try to do a quick journal entry morning and night (this is still a work in progress), and now walking my recently adopted dog, Billie Jean, a minimum of three times a day helps me break up my schedule into distinct chunks of time, which makes managing my time easier to do.
Find a calendar that works for you. My smartphone calendar is my bible. I use the Informant app to keep track of my events, meetings, phone calls, deadlines, workouts, appointments and plans with friends. It’s all colour-coded, and I’m very, very lost without it and refer to it a few times a day. I didn’t find the iCal had all the functionality I wanted, which is why I purchased Informant. Before I bought it, I was forgetting about deadlines from time to time. It remains the most expensive app I’ve ever bought but it was worth it (and that’s even without using it to its full capabilities, I still need to learn how to make use of all of its features).
I’d love to know if you have ways to streamline your busy life! And in the meanwhile, to learn more about Good & Simple, which are now available in Ontario, here.
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July 27, 2017
Lay’s sent me a “mystery box” of ingredients to inspire me to experiment with some different cultural flavours, which called for getting out some pots and pans and tying on an apron. But I do like to cook (and I love eating even more!) so I used their recipe for Thai sweet chili dipping sauce and pulled out the ingredients below from the box and added a few fresh ones from the market.
To go with the sweet and garlicky dip, I made some fresh spring rolls (some vegetarian, some with shrimp and “crab”), which are impressive looking but are actually super simple to make, just takes some time to put together and you have to work with the delicate rice wraps carefully so as to not tear them. I think these cold spring rolls are actually Vietnamese cuisine but there’s nothing wrong with doing a mash-up of cuisines, right?
A way easier way for you to explore some different cultural flavours is to vote for your World Favourite in Lay’s Do Us a Flavour. There are 12 World Favourites to choose from divided into three categories, and the top vote-getter in each category will be chosen the winners. So three flavours will make it onto Canadian stores.
The three categories? Iconic Ingredients, Home Cooked Classics and Street Food. Here’s a quick breakdown but you’ll find all of this on the Lay’s DoUsAFlavour site, too:
Iconic Ingredients
- Magic Masala (inspired by India)
- Pico de Gallo (inspired by Mexico)
- Paprika (inspired by Hungary)
- Thai Sweet Chili (inspired by Thailand)
Home Cooked Classics
- Spicy Hot Pot (inspired by China)
- Picanha Steak (inspired by Brazil)
- Cheese and Onion (inspired by the UK)
- Chicken and Waffles (inspired by America)
Street Food
- Ribs on the Bar-B (inspired by Australia)
- Fries with Joppiesaus (inspired by Holland)
- Bacon Poutine (inspired by Canada)
- Chicken Kebab (inspired by Egypt)
You can vote up to three times daily for the flavours you want to win so that they’re the ones that make it into stores (and into your belly!). And voting is open now until March 20, 2016. And what’s in it for you if you go vote (other than getting your fave World Favourites into stores)? Well, there are a total of 245 Lay’s daily prizes to be won!
Ready to vote? Which sound the tastiest to you? I think my votes go to Thai Sweet Chili, Cheese and Onion, and Bacon Poutine (go Canada!). Here’s where you can vote (and don’t forget to vote daily!): DoUsAFlavour.ca
I can’t wait to see which flavours win! Chips are my weakness. If I could, I would eat them daily. But this type of swellness is better in moderation 
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March 11, 2016
The last time I was in Paris (about three years ago with L’Oreal and Julianne Moore), I fell in love with their yogurts, which come in darling glass jars. I kept one (I store hair ties in it).
Just recently launched in Ontario is Riviera Petit Pot, a line from Quebec of yogurts and dairy products such as sour cream, crème fraiche (which is always hard to find), butter and cheese. And the liquid-y products all come in those cute French-style glass jars. There’s just something pleasing about the experience of eating a yogurt out of the jar, both visually and in a tactile sense.
What the products taste like is, of course, what matters most and I like the full flavour of the yogurts; they’re not overly decadent tasting (I find some yogurts can seem like dessert and that’s not what I’m looking for at breakfast!) but also aren’t thin or have a tinny taste I find some yogurts have. Plus, Petit Pot has a fig yogurt (which I’ve never seen in the yogurt section) and it’s a nice departure from my usual choices (plain, honey or strawberry, and sometimes peach). The crème fraiche I used in a pasta dish and it turned out great.
I have butters, cheese and sour cream to taste test still but I have a feeling they’ll be as satisfying as the yogurts.
Riviera Petit Pot is available in select retailers across Ontario.
March 9, 2016
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