Happy #thinkingoutloud Thursday! No idea what I’m going on about? Click here!
1. Before we begin, can we please take a moment to appreciate this gem…
I’m well past the age where body glitter was a pretty regular occurrence (90’s throwback, anyone!?), but I was tempted to pick this up anyway just so I could say I have a jar of unicorn snot on my shelf. Brilliant.
2. Not so brilliant? Brush fires. Mother’s Day was extra memorable this year thanks to some woods near my parents’ place randomly catching fire and bringing about 10 firetrucks to their otherwise peaceful neighbourhood. Here’s how things went down –> We were driving back from Costco (Mom wanted to go look at flowers for the backyard), when we saw a huuuuuuuuuuuuge cloud of smoke in the sky. Huge. The closer we got to home, the more we realized that… uhm… that huge cloud of smoke in the sky was coming from the general vicinity of home. First thought –> omg is our house on fire?!? OMG THE DOG!!! Luckily our house was not on fire, but the same couldn’t be said of the woods that were about 2 mins away…
They eventually managed to get it under control, but not before the crazy winds spread the sparks to some of the nearby houses. Luckily those never turned into full-blown fires, but they were spraying down most of the roofs just to be safe…
The whole thing was pretty unsettling… especially with everything that’s been happening with the raging wildfire up in Fort McMurray. I’ve actually got some friends currently staying with me after they were forced to evacuate their home along with 88,000 other people.
3. … which isn’t all bad because it means I’ve got some on-site guinea pigs taste testers who can help me get through some of the treats in my freezer 😉 They loved these flourless banana blondies, by the way…
4. One thing I didn’t love were the sweet potato fries I whipped up the other day. Remember how I said the universe was sending me signs to start eating SPs again? I decided to do it in fry form, and NOPE! Just nope. If anyone has any tips & tricks on how to make sweet potato fries that aren’t soggy, I’d love to hear them.
5. I’d also love to tell you that my love affair with banana “ice cream” is still going strong. It’s still going on my oats every morning, and I’m usually whipping up another serving in the afternoon so that I can enjoy it on its own bury it under a tonne of toppings (i.e. cacao nibs, shredded coconut, cereal, nut butter, etc.). Crazy how something so simple can be so good.
6. Also crazy is how I’m not 100% loving coffee anymore. I mean, I’m back on the bean again after going 2 weeks without, but I’m just kind of “eh” about it and mostly drinking it out of a lack of anything else to drink… which roughly translates to –> I’m back to working from Bux again and I don’t know what else to order while I sit there. I’m not crazy about their teas and I can’t really be drinking frappuccinos everyday, sooooooo yeah. I might actually give iced coffee a try. Maybe that’ll help…
7. … especially since I’ve been riding my bike to Bux and the last thing my body probably wants at that point is a hot drink 😂
8. On that note, I don’t think I told you guys yet, but I’ve been making more of an effort to use my bike to get around instead of my car… at least when the weather is nice and I don’t need to be on the other side of the city. It’s been fun! Partially because it’s nice not to have to deal with traffic and bad drivers, and partially because it’s something new and different. The only time it gets a little tricky is when I need to bring back groceries 😂
9. Speaking of groceries, I found peanut-free almond butter at Costco! 🙌🏻 AND it’s actually reasonably priced compared to what I normally pay. Now to see how it compares on the taste scale…
10. And that’s a wrap! I hope you guys have an amazing Thursday, and I’ll see you soon with some tasty eats 😋
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That fire is super scary! Holy smokes. Glad you and your family are okay.
Thanks Alaina!
Banana nice cream!!! 🙂 I would love to make some again soon. And that ‘unicorn snot?’ That looks um… interesting??
Haha! Interesting is definitely a good word for it 😉
I think it is awesome you are biking around town. Good for you, and great for the carbon footprint.
Thanks Lauren! It’s definitely been enjoyable… aside from all the wind 😆
I’m all about the biking lately too instead of a car. I’m trying to figure out how to carry my work laptop/backpack and my yoga mat on my bike so I can bike to and from yoga before work, but I’m not sure how that’s going to happen yet. I just cannot deal with the traffic. And with the nice weather, I’m always looking for an excuse to spend more time outside. So scary about the fire! I’m glad you and your family were okay!!
Can you get one of those backpacks that let you strap the yoga mat to the outside? I have something like that for when I do backcountry snowboarding, so I imagine there would have to be one for yoga too.
Oh my gosh I’ve been thinking about you with those fires! Glad you are safe and your parents neighborhood is under control! Sometimes my sweet potato fries are crispy and sometimes soggy, haha. Apparently soaking them helps from reading your comments. Maybe I’ll try that!
I heard about doing the with regular potatoes but never sweet ones! I’ll definitely have to give it a shot though.
I love those Costco almond butter jars ♥︎ And their peanut butter, but I’m thrilled that there’s something allergy-friendly 🙂
Oh my gosh, unicorn snot. Really, you could call a product unicorn ANYTHING, and it will sound appealing.
Glad to hear your parents’ house is okay! Brush fires are scary!
Anddddd I can’t wait to get back home just to make some banana soft serve again 🙂
I wonder if your dining hall would stock it if you asked them 😛 I mean… they’re pretty epic!
Unicorn snot is too funny! I rememebr using a lot of glitter lip glosses and hair gels! Fun times, but messy and sticky!
Haha for sure! Nothing better than getting rogue hair stuck in your lipgloss whenever the wind would blow.
The fires are so scary! Glad everyone is alright.
I’m excited be reunited with my blender this summer for banana ice cream! I still snack on frozen banana slices with nut butter/chocolate, but it’s not the same. And I’ve read that soaking the cut-up sweet potatoes pre-baking/roasting is helpful for making them extra crisp, but I haven’t ever had any issues so I haven’t tried it… good luck!
Thanks Ellen! I’ve heard the soaking thing too, but I thought that was only for regular potatoes. Definitely going to give it a shot with the sweet ones.
does anyone besides strippers use body glitter…love the name though thats pretty hilarious! brush fires are really scare i always have this internal debate on what i think is worse losing the house to a fire or flood…morbid i know but both seem pretty horrible. glad to hear your mom’s house was safe and sound i totally want to know how to make un-soggy SP fries too!!! i hope you find the answer because i want to make my own but they are always a sad limp mess. im not a coffee drinker either but the passion tea lemondae at the bux is pretty good and refreshing. the hot tea’s are just ok but if you rode your bike there, yeah hot drinks probably arent the way to go right now!
Someone left a comment with this recipe and said they always come out nice and crispy –> https://naturalnoshing.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/crispy-sweet-potato-fries/ And you’re the second person to mention the passion tea lemonade so I think I’ll have to give it a shot!
Unicorn snot is kind of amazing! 😂😂
Couldn’t agree more 🙂
So glad everyone is okay! Fire can definitely be scary.
For sure! Thanks AE!
I’ve heard all about the fires up there and have been praying! I know that so many have already lost homes and I just couldn’t even imagine. So thankful that your parents place is ok!
And as the summer approaches I have been having more and more fruit ice cream. It started with banana, but now Ive moved on to cherry, blueberry, peach….
I’m obsessed!
1600 buildings were lost 🙁 But at least the worst of it seems to be over. And I seriously need to get around to adding different flavours to my ice cream. Variety is the spice of life, right?
I am also obsessed with banana ice cream, with a bit of coconut oil and topped with coconut flakes, nom!! Scary to hear about those brush fires, this time of year is brutal for them here 🙁
Here too. The day we had the fire, there were a handful more scattered around the city. Dang dry, hot, windy days…
1. Banana ice cream yessssss 2. I have frequent thoughts of someone catching our apartment building on fire and Layla being trapped inside. …which is kind of messed up right? Like, why am I thinking of that?!!! It makes me so sad though. Just call me queen paranoid!
That used to be my biggest hang up when I still lived at home with my dog! I checked things like crazy just to make sure I didn’t leave anything on because she would be stuck inside, and I can imagine it would be even worse living in an apt.
I’m actually not super crazy about Starbucks hot coffee either. I’d definitely recommend switching to iced coffee (I can drink that stuff like water!) or, I know you said you weren’t crazy about their teas, but have you tried the passion tea lemonade? It’s so refreshing and yummy. Would be perfect after biking! 🙂
I grabbed an iced Americano today and was a lot more pleased with that. I’ve tried the iced passion tea, but never the lemonade. Definitely going to give that one a go!
Oh, I’m glad that everything okay with your house! I’m ALWAYS scared when fire near me. Also, I don’t cook SP much, but I follow High Carb Hannah on YouTube and she had great tutorial for frying them. 😉
I watch HCH too! I’ll have to check out that video again. Thanks Marina!
Banana ‘ice cream’ never gets old at our house either! Both of my girls have been asking for frozen banana chunks after dinner lately. I love that they consider that a dessert!
The chunks are so wonderfully creamy! Just like frozen mango… it’s seriously like eating sorbet or something!
Isn’t banana ice cream the best!? I love adding in chocolate chips too because chocolate 🙂 Also if you rub coconut oil on sweet potato fries they get crispy!
Thanks Rachel! I’ll definitely have to do some experimenting!
I’m glad ypu and your family and dog are safe! Those wildfires are terrifying.
I can never get homemade sweet potato fries to work, although I’ve heard soaking them or using cornstarch works.
I had someone link a recipe that uses an egg white and is supposed to help –> https://naturalnoshing.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/crispy-sweet-potato-fries/
And I’ve heard the same thing about cornstarch, but I haven’t tried it yet.
Watching the Fort McMurry events on the news is heart breaking. We also had a very large fire near us (north western Ontario) that brought a massive cloud of smog into our town for a good 24 hours. Too close for comfort.
Weird – you and I have been on the exact same lithe coffee journey lately. I was off it, now sort of on it now and then but totally like – meh – this isn’t what it used to be…..
Right!?! I had an iced coffee today and that’s definitely helped. I’m thinking I might try to go back to dry cappuccinos. They used to be my favourite.
Um woah about the brush fires!! Holy moly glad everything is okay.
Those blondies look amazing, and I’m a sucker for anything banana. I seriously need to stock up on some freezer bananas so I can have “nice cream” more often! Mmm.
It’s super hard when you have to wait for those suckers to ripen! Luckily I have one store near me that stocks super spotty bananas, so I just load up on those and stuff them in the freezer.
Glad to hear it was a brush fire under control–so scary!! 🙁 What do you end up doing to get your groceries home when your on the bike? Strap them to you? hahaa!
Haha! I use a big backpack, so I can only do it if there are only a few things I need to pick up. For the bigger hauls that have a lot of produce? Gotta bust out the car. I’ve heard of people attaching carts to the back of their bikes to make it easier, but I’m not quite there yet.
I wish I could bike everywhere, it does great things for my mental mindset and enjoying the outdoors! LOLing about Unicorn Snot!
It’s pretty genius 🙂
https://naturalnoshing.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/crispy-sweet-potato-fries/
This is the only sweet potato recipe I’ve made where the fries aren’t soggy! It uses an egg white which sounds weird but is sooo good. Also, soaking them before baking is super important!
That actually makes a tonne of sense! Thanks Laura 🙂 I heard about soaking regular potatoes, but didn’t know it applied to sweet potatoes as well.
I’m all about the 90s throwbacks lately. So much good stuff from one decade! I’m not saying we need to bring it all back though…!
How do you make your banana ice cream? Is it just bananas or do you add something else for creaminess? Yours looks so good (and so smooth!) but every time I’ve done it it doesn’t come out nearly as smooth.
Thank goodness the fire didn’t get any closer to your parents house! Anytime I see smoke in the general direction of my house or my parents house in always convinced it’s one of our houses and panic a bit!
It’s usually just bananas unless I decide to add a little bit of almond butter. I find that the type of blender you use makes a huge difference. The high-speed ones like Vitamix or Blendtec are the best for it.
Fire is scary! Glad everything was basically ok.
I think crashing with you would be bad for my waistline! And no advice on the sweet potato fries, I just buy the frozen kind & bake them.
That’s why I try to keep things healthier! Otherwise I’d definitely be in trouble. And hey! We could always go biking afterwards 🙂
So glad they got the fire under control!! How scary.
I totally need Unicorn Snot. Dating myself here… but I totally remember when every girl had a tub of body glitter…
AND… so cool about biking everywhere. I live off a road that would be pretty dangerous to bike on, so I wish I could!
Did you ever use glitter gels as eyeshadow?! I totally remember doing that with a tube of blue goo 😆
Yes! Of course :-))
The unicorn snot is fantastic!! I would buy it just because of the name too. Sorry to hear about the fires, but glad your family is okay.
I always order the same things at Starbucks too – vanilla lattes or chai lattes. Maybe I should branch out a bit too. I just don’t want to spend $5 on a drink that I don’t love!
I haven’t had a latte in a while… maybe I should try one of those. Have you ever had a cappuccino? One of my favourites!
Unicorn snot! Now that’s funny. I remember glitter gels…Now I feel old. I haven’t thought about those in awhile.
Those banana bars look amazing. I may have to make some this weekend! I’ve made the banana “ice cream” before and LOVE it. I keep forgetting to make another batch, but once in awhile I really crave it!
I went through a period where I made it ALL the time and then I took a few years off. Now I’m back on the wagon and loving it.
I definitely already bookmarked that banana brownie recipe! I have 3 ripe bananas and I’ve been debating what to do with them. Those wildfires are so scary! Glad you are okay.
Definitely a great way to use up those ripe bananas! <-- not that I'm biased or anything 😉 I hope you like them, Melissa!
I body glittered so hard in the 90s. I had like every glitter spray and gel that bath and body works ever made. So I could rotate. Obviously.
That fire so near your house is wicked scary. I’m glad it turned out to just be the woods. I hope your friends can get back home soon too.
Did you do the eye glitter too?!?! Omg I went through a phase where I was using blue glitter as eyeshadow 😆
My question? Who was sitting in a marketing meeting and brought up “unicorn snot” as the name for the product, and who were the other people were like YEAH MAN LET’S DO THAT!
All the fires up in Canada are really scary. Stay safe.
That’s what I was wondering!!! 😆 I can’t decide if it’s brilliant or insane.
My sweet potato fries are never soggy! Sometimes they come out even a little too crispy if that’s possible. The right amount of oil, parchment paper, and lots of room between fries helps. Also mid to top rack in my oven is preferable so they don’t burn before they’re crispy.
Also can’t believe that fire so close to you, that’s really scary and very glad you’re okay!!
I might have lumped them up a little too much. What temp do you bake yours at? Maybe I just need to make things hotter.
If I’m baking a bunch I do 425, if just for myself 400 does it. Try spreading them out and making the oven hotter!
if you soak the sweet potatoes in cold water once you cut them up, for like 20 minutes I think? Maybe a little longer? and then bake them, they will crisp a bit more.
!!! I knew about that for regular potatoes, but had no idea you could do it with sweet potatoes too. I’ll give it a try. I also heard coating them in cornstarch?
all of those fires are definitely scary!! I’m very glad to hear you and your loved ones have been safe. Hopefully your friends will be allowed home soon. I always want to be one of those people who ride bikes everywhere but with 2 babies… ain’t happening, h!
Oh yeah that’s definitely understandable. I honestly have no idea how I’d even get myself out of the house if I had two kids!
Biking around town and especially to work – I’m back in the habit after a break throughout winter, too. The grocery situation is tricky, though, because once I’m home after work I don’t fancy riding back to town once again with an empty bag – previously filled with all the food and things I need for work … Which translates to a smaller grocery bill but also the constant issue of running out of staples. #firstworldproblems
I’m glad your parents and Kaiah stayed safe but it must have been a serious – and probably lasting – scare to experience brush fire this close to home. Keeping my fingers crossed for you this won’t happen again! Well, at best for nobody ever.
I can definitely relate to constantly running out of staples. There are times where I really have to get creative with recipes I make for the blog because I’m out of a key ingredient and don’t feel like running to the store to grab it.