sun-dried tomato basil hummus

Homemade hummus is so fast and easy, and so, so good.

One can makes a pretty whopping batch, so whenever I make hummus I split it in 2 and freeze half of it (hummus freezes really well!), especially since when using fresh herbs and no preservatives, I don't want to leave it hanging around in the fridge for too long...but really, I ate this so fast that there was no danger! Yum!

Ingredients:
1 15 oz can of chick peas
2 tbsp tahini
the juice of one lemon
10 sun-dried tomato halves
about 15 fresh, large basil leaves
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix with a food processor or immersion blender until smooth, adding water if necessary to thin it out a little bit.

playlist: teenage dreams

Feeling nostalgic lately and as a result, a playlist containing the songs that were on heavy rotation during my formative years was created.


 

Teenage Dreams from l.doan on 8tracks Radio.

Tracks:
1. The Strokes - Someday
2. Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Y Control
4. The Postal Service - Such Great Heights
5. Belle & Sebastian - Step Into My Office, Baby
6. Broken Social Scene - Almost Crimes
7. Interpol - Evil
8. Metric - Combat Baby
9. The Von Bondies - C'mon C'mon
10. The White Stripes - The Air Near My Fingers
11. Cat Power - He War
12. Modest Mouse - Float On
13. Wolf Parade - Grounds For Divorce
14. The Shins - Caring Is Creepy

[vegan, gluten-free] pizza

I've been making this pizza pretty much every night for dinner because it's delicious, quick, and nutritious.

Ingredients:

gluten-free tortilla

pesto (I made my own using basil, pine nuts, garlic, & olive oil)

kale

mushrooms

tofu

banana peppers

nutritional yeast

Directions:

1. Spread pesto onto tortilla

2. Put on ingredients (pretty much anything you want)

3. Bake for 5 mins, broil for 5 mins

4. Eat with knife & fork

my interview with lena kroeker

1. Describe yourself in one sentence.

I'm a clothing designer, I do a bit of painting and music too.

2. Use an image to describe your inspiration.

This is a shop near my house that seems to sell used sporting goods and other miscellany. They've got bold colourful things, worn leather things, and probably something really surprising in there somewhere, and it's all wrapped-up in this spooky looking storefront. It looks so intriguing to me, I want to make it into a dress or something.

3. What is your favourite piece you have designed? 

I'm pretty happy with this coat from a few years ago. I like to recycle materials, but I find I really have to figure out if I'm going to use them in a more efficient and useful way before I go hacking into something. These old wool blankets tend to rip down the middle or get a hole in them (after 50 years) and turn up at thrift stores. It's better quality wool than you could get at a fabric store, and I like that you can see what it used to be. It's a classic Canadian style, and I'm still working on my interpretation.

4. What's your favourite thing on the internet right now? 

Watching old episodes of 'Cops'.

5. What's your favorite song of the moment? 

I like the concept of 'electronic music', so I've been listening to old video game music. You know, getting back to the roots of the genre. I also like Link Wray.

6. What's next?

Well I'm finally getting into this idea of selling things online... and I'm working on a music project that might be real enough for the internet sometime soon. Other than that just making things, coming up with ideas, looking forward to the summer.

Visit her online store & or follow her on Tumblr to see what she's up to.

simplest curtain d.i.y.

Moving into my apartment, I needed curtains, and needed them to be easy, cheap, and involve as few holes in the wall as possible. This is what I ended up with in my office:

Read what I did after the jump.

street style roundup: toques & glasses

Image sources: 1 | 2 | 3

Places to get similar accessories:
1. Sunglasses - J. Crew 
2. Eyeglasses - Bon Look
3. Eyeglasses - Warby Parker & Black Toque - Urban Outfitters

playlist: beat

Beat from l.doan on 8tracks Radio.

Tracks:
1. Thao - Beat (Health, Life, & Fire)
2. Matthew and the Arrogant Sea - Mock Origami
3. The Morning Benders - Cold War
4. The National - So Far Around The Bend
5. Plants and Animals - Feedback in the Field
6. The Plastics Revolution - Light of Day
7. Local Natives - Breakers
8. Broken Social Scene - Swimmers
9. Youth Lagoon - Cannons
10. Forest City Lovers - Minneapolis

spring green juice

Spring is almost here and I'm ready to swap soups for juice.

You don't see nappa cabbage used in juice recipes as often as spinach or kale, but I like it because its mild flavour lets you amp up the ratio of veggie to fruit.

Ingredients (put in the juicer in this order):

About 2.5 cups of nappa cabbage, chopped just enough to fit into the juicer
A 1.5 inch knub of ginger
1 granny smith apple

Juice in a juicer, chill if desired, and enjoy.

A word on juicers:
I have had this juicer for just over a year and I love it. It was relatively inexpensive, and does a pretty good job of getting most of the juice out of most fruits/veggies. Biggest complaint: the juicer fills up with pulp after making only about 2 (tall) glasses of juice, and sometimes I'd like to make my juice for the day all at once. So, if you're in the market, I'd recommend its big sister, (on sale for the same as I paid for mine! Eeek!) here because it has an external pulp collector (and 2 speeds).

Get your juice on!

lentil quinoa burger

I decided to eat a mainly vegan diet, which meant I needed to find new ways to intake protein. I made up this lentil quinoa burger recipe, which was pretty tasty. 

Lentil Quinoa Burger Ingredients:

1/2 spanish onion

2 garlic cloves

1 can of lentils

1/2 cup quinoa

1 cup vegetable broth

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 spelt flour

1 tbsp flax seeds

1 tbsp cumin

1 tsp chili flakes

salt

pepper

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa in vegetable broth, set aside.

2. Place lentils, onions, garlic, flax seeds, and spices into food processor and process.

3. Mix cooked quinoa, lentils/onions/garlic/flax seeds/spices, rolled oats, and flour in bowl.

4. Form into patties, bake in oven until desired crispness (20-30 mins).

I like to eat the lentil quinoa burger on an open face sandwich with hummus or guacamole, sprouts, & tomatoes.  

chevron tissue box d.i.y.

Have you ever pondered why tissue boxes are SO UGLY? Search d.i.y. tissue box covers on Google Images... I dare ya. They are even worse than the originals, if that is even possible. Here's my version:

I used spray paint that I had leftover from this mason jar d.i.y. that I tried out in the fall, and that you can see in the top picture.
See what I did after the jump.

wandering to: panama city

embrace your inner Gary Pepper girl

Images from Gary Pepper

"The Gary Pepper Girl is a japanese popstar. Famous in her own right, admired by all. She is fun, quirky, confident, passionate, exuberant, beautiful with an eclectic sense of style. A chameleon at heart, she changes her spots as many times as she can and makes friends wherever she goes. Life motto? The glass is half full. The Gary Pepper girl is really, one of a kind."

Fashionista/blogger/total babe, Nicole Warne is my newest style guru.
 

Check out her online vintage boutique and blog:

garypeppervintage.com

http://fellt.com/garypepper

wandering to: rural panama

tupperware confessions + salad dressing recipe

I have a serious weakness for kitchen gadgets, especially containers (as you can see), and put a smiley face on just about anything and I'm sold. Both of these bad habits probably have something to do with having lived in Korea for four years, which is where I picked up most of those cutesy things.
Today in Lawtons Drugs (of all places), I came across the newest addition to my collection...and the best part is that it only cost $2.99! While the hipster in me loves Alexis' salad in a jar, the gadget-lover in me couldn't pass up this deal of salad container, dressing container and fork all in one.

This is also a perfect time to share my favourite salad dressing recipe. I make this all the time and usually eat it on kale or spinach:

slightly less than 1 tablespoon tahini

1 tablespoon miso (pictured is Korean, but Japanese is available everywhere)

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

water to reach desired consistency

Super easy, super delicious and super healthy!