Thank goodness for Hats

So i said I would post pics of my new hair cut but i compleetly forgot so here are the before and afters! Quite Drastic, its almost painfull at first to loost 8 inches of hair at once.....but i absolutly love my new doo!!!

Dont really have any new food updates, i have been working insanly at the restaurant, which i am so happy about, i absolutly love working there! Accept that on my last two days off I have been called into work.....that isnt so much fun but oh well what can ya do!

Enviro Minute :)

11. This one might be a little hard for you gym junkies out there, but espcially since its getting nicer outside, I think that everyone should try and forgo all that electronic gym equiptment....go for a walk or run or get on a real bike :) its so much prettier outside anyways!

12. Dont forget your tote bags :) I think that there isnt really any excuse for not having a tote bag with you to replace those nasty plastic bags!!! they have ones that fold up so small and can fit in your pocket.....i keep one in my backpack all the time and its wonderful! (mommy got it for me....thanks mom)

Injoy :)

Happpy Sunday World

I am so happy its sunday TGIS....my weekend begins now :) and it has been a long work week....awesome and busy and fun but long! i came home from work last night and crashed and didnt wake up till noon ( 12:00pm) today...and i feel amazing right now:) so relaxed.....it is amazing what enough sleep can do for a person! But I will tell you that toronto celebrated earth hour yesterday night, and as hard as I tried i couldnt convince my chef to shut down for an hour durring dinner rush! haha oh well atleast I tried, but i would love to say THANK YOU to everyone who did participate in earth hour, i think its such a cool thing and it does and says so much about us as humans, its a small step but its in the right direction!

Today is Constitution Day in Serbia: Constitution Day is a holiday to honor the constitution of a country. Constitution Day is often celebrated on the anniversary of the signing, promulgation or adoption of the constitution, or in some cases, to commemorate the change to constitutional monarchy

See ya learn somthing new every day!

So since i have been absent the past few days i am going to give you 2 enviro tips to make up for it!

9. Eat Ethical meat

I know there is alot of controversy surrounding ethical meat and some practices that are in the rule books such as castration of pigs, but i believe eating meat from ethical growers is better then eating meat that comes from factory farms like maple lodge farms! There are plenty of ethical, hormone and antibiotic, all natural farmers in your markets and stores, you will just have to source them! I know of a few here in Southern Ontario such as Rowe Farms, The Healthy Butcher and Cumbreas. I am sure if you look it wont be hard to find them in your town as well :)quality foods with a conscience!!!!!!

http://www.rowefarms.ca/index.html

10. Try Getting a Natural lint and pet hair remover

Keep away from those sticky sheet rollers, While they are very convienient they are terrible for the world! Stay Away....i repeat STAY AWAY!!!!! Plus stones not only take away lint and pet hair but they also remove pilling on sweaters which is amazing! no more dry cleaners to do that work:)

GO UNGANDA!

so today in Uganda its National Tree Planting Day

I am all for trees :) who doesnt love the green beauties that keep us alive??

I just wish uganda would spread the love tho....

they also have a law that puts homosexuals in jail, and can even bepunished by death....not cool...but trees are a start :)

World Meteorological Day

I find it kind of interesting to see what today is around the world internationally, as well as in specific countries, and apparently today is World Meteorological Day (internationally) so happy atmosphere to everyone! Also today is Pakistan Day today in Pakistan....i hope they have nicer weather to celebrate over there then we do!

Go learn Somthing :)

today I think i had the laziest day i have had in a long time i seriously sat around watching movies and playing games on facebook till about 6...and i only got up to make me and mom dinner, then came right back into my little cave and it feels wonderful :) I think i can handle one day of nothing...but two....i dunno i think tomorrow i will get annoyed and have to go for a run or somthing! So i didnt get my hair cut today....silly me....the salon i go to is not open mondays so i am going to call them first thing in the morning and chop off my locks ASAP :) CANT WAIT

SEEEEE how lazy my day was i started writing this blog yesterday and am not finishing it till thismorning! how pathetic! haha anyhoo its raining again and i hate it, but i am still going to treck through and chop off my locks! i will post some pics later today of my mop head before and after :)
So i guess i owe you envirotips x 2 now since yesterday was so lazy!
7. Make the switch to all natural, organic conditioner for your hair! okay so i have to be honest when i was making this switch i was pretty concerned...i have (till mid day today) long curly hair and i really didnt think that a natural conditioner could pull the weight of my expensive salon bought conditioner BUT i was wrong not only did it work....but i found it worked better....rinsed cleaner! I love it and would not go back ever!

8. Try and eat as locally as you can, maybe work your way down to your own province or state but start out with a broader spectrum, when I started i said North America....now i am down to Cananda and the United States ( mostly Canada) soon i will be working my way to just Ontario, and then southern ontario which will pretty much be the 100 mile diet! Even if you cant bring yourself to give up those amazing oranges imported from Nicaragua or the wonderful banannas from Srilanka I understand your pain just try and eat as local as you can and REMEMBER to support your local farmers....if you dont they will be gone soon!

Injoy Wonderful People :)

Goood afternoon:)

I woke up thismorning with this amazing feeling of energy, happiness and love, and that all crumbled when I looked out my window....its gross outside, why is it that when i am trapped in a kitchen all day and all night its absolutly beautiful, but on the few days i DO have OFF, the weather is dreadfull, maybe thats the earth telling me to slow down and get some sleep?? who knows!

I think today is going to be a reading day, with many cups of tea and my dog right beside me....ugh....as wonderful as that sounds I had my heart set on being outside today....oh well cant change it so might as well make thebest of it! ALSO i have plans to cut my hair either today or tomorrow hopefully....it will be all gone, i have had long hair my ENTIRE life and I think its time for a change :) wish me luck :)

on a side note HAPPY WORLD WATER DAY EVERYONE :)

Celebrate having clean and safe water to drink and think about the outragous number of people who are still drinking unsafe water and think about what you can do to help :)

The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

Every year, 1,500 cubic kilometres of wastewater are produced globally. While waste and wastewater can be reused productively for energy and irrigation, it usually is not. In developing countries 80 percent of all waste is being discharged untreated, because of lack of regulations and resources. And population and industrial growth add new sources of pollution and increased demand for clean water to the equation. Human and environmental health, drinking and agricultural water supplies for the present and future are at stake, still water pollution rarely warrants mention as a pressing issue.
To do something about that UN-Water has chosen Clean Water for a Healthy World as theme for World Water Day 2010. The overall goal of the World Water Day on 22 March 2010 campaign is to raise the profile of water quality at the political level so that water quality considerations are made alongside those of water quantity.
UNEP has responsibility for taking the lead in 2010, UN-Water announced at a session during the Stockholm World Water Week in August 2009.

http://www.worldwaterday.org/page/2536

One little diddy before i hit the hay!

Ok so i was just about to catch some zzzzzzz's when i noticed a new blog post on Mr Mraz' page! and I think that this along with every other post on his blog is worth sharing:) this one just hit for me on a personal level! Love Love Love....

http://freshnessfactorfivethousand.blogspot.com/2010/03/10-ways-to-start-conversations-about.html

Thank you Jason Mraz :)

Injoy fellow earthlings :)

Not sure what to title todays post!

Hi there ladies and gents and everyone inbetween :) I am on cloud 9 right now because I just got home from a visit with my New Little Rock Star Nephew Nathan :) The whole time I was thinking how its so weird when you meet someone it takes time for the relationship to develop, but with him....i love him already, its only been 4 days and he is the love of my life, I find it so interesting how I can love somthing so much and I dont even really know him! I think its amazing and I think i might feel kinda bad for the lil guy cuz hes got 2 crazy aunts that he is STUCK with haha! and yes thats my finger making the lil man give the finger less then 3 hours after he was born! AMAZING!

And i didnt realize how much baby theviery there is out there, nathan had to wear a house arrest style bracelt on his ankle that caused an alarm to go off if the babies leave the ward! how sad and pathetic is it that we have to put alarms on our babies so that people dont walk off with them! this makes me pretty angry!!!

So for my enviro tip today i am going to double up becuase i missed one for saturday!

5. Try turning down your thermostat a few notches! Might mean you have to wear a sweater, or drink some more tea, or bring a hot water bag to bed but it saves you moola and saves energy! its a win win situation really :)

6. Try Switching to an eco friendly tooth Brush!

At the rate of one toothbrush every three months, we consume a good number of toothbrush during our entire lifespan. SInce tooth brushes are made of plastic adds to climate change. But now there are tooth brushes that are made from 100% recycled plastic ready for you to grab a hold of :)

try a natural dish soap :)

Today i spent from 8am- now....(midnight) at work and i am pooped and I dont really have any new news for ya accept Nathan is doing wonderful and so is momma! so i figure just an enviro tip will do for today and i will take some pics of my plates at work tomorrow and share them with everyone :)

4. switch to natural dish soap

Natural dish soap works just as well as the leading chemical filled brand, minus all of the polution sent down our drains, its such a simple switch and now a days with the whole "green movement" its not any more expensive, and in my opinion i find that my dishes rinse off alot cleaner with natural then with the non natural, absolutly no soap residue :)I posted a picture of my favorite brand of dish soap:) try it out see what you think :)

i know you will like it

I am off to bed, have an early 5 am start tomorrow and I will probably be working till midnight or so, so you might not hear from me untill sunday when I wake up from a well deserved Hibornation :)

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend :) have a beer for me :)

Injoy foodies and enviro geeks:)

as promised :)

SO MUCH TO TELL YOU!

first off i would like to start with its march 18th and i was wearing flip flops today....WHICH IS AMAZING!

second i would like to say that March 18th 2010, at 12:07 pm my lil booger of a nephew Nathan Curtis Webster was born a perfect lil angel :)

After waiting around in the hospital for little nate dawg to decide to grace us with his precence, i had to rush down town toronto to check out a possible apartment

and let me tell you folks, its mine :) i am so excited....its in my favorite area of toronto AND has wikid roomies AND is close to work :) i cant wait till may 1st and i can move my butt in there!

mom and I went for a walk around kensington after we checked out the apartment and i took a pic of some of my favorite spice shops there....:) more pics of the market to come....

then i went out for dinner with momma to our favorite japaneese place, its a little place in brampton called "the Sushi House" brampton is a town just outside (west) of toronto! it was amazing...as always, i would fight with anyone that this place is in the top 3 best restaurants in Brampton! if you are ever in this silly little city check it out...its awesome :)

also my burn looks terrible and is reallyitchy but i thought i would share anyways :)

so injoy my pics(my computer doesnt like me tonight and its not letting me upload the pics...i will give you a wikid album tomorrow to describe my sunday i promise:) ) when i am not so tired from waiting in a hospital all day i will blab on and on about how perfect my nephew is :)

its ENVIRO TIME

3. NO MORE BOTTLED WATER

if you drink bottled water and then recycle the plastic bottle GREAT recycling is amazing, BUT this of how much more AMAZING it would be if we didnt have to make those bottles of water in the first place???? get yourself a canteen or a reusable water bottle and a water filter if your tap water is not clean enough for you! its cheaper and its pretty stylin :)

LUCAS

hey guys just wanted to send you a quick hello and send you a link to probably one of my favorite artists...he is absolutly amazing....Lucas from the Cliks....amaziing check him out and enjoy.....

www.youtube.com/user/cliksmusic

I saw him live once at Slacks (local lesbian bar) here in toronto once and he was everything i expected and more...all in all i am in love with him...he is wikidly talented....and hes from toronto which just makes him even better ;)

INJOY HIM AS MUCH AS I DO!

Late Night Breakfast Lovin! and a Sore Arm

okay so first off, its midnight and i just got home from work....started at 8:30 thismorning so i am going to try and make sense of my dribble!

I decided to share a picture of my latest brand from work....isnt it cool what a perfect triangle its in?? but as cool as it is....its very sore!

LATE NIGHT BREAKFAST ANYONE?? I had to throw in a food pic for todays blog so i took a snap shot of the dinner i had when i got home....i think that breakfast for dinner is on my top ten favs! mmmmmmmmmm yummy

Lastly before i visit the land of ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZzz my enviro tip of the day

2. SAY NO TO STYROFOAM

when you go to restaurants bring tupper wear with you to take home your left overs, carry a thermos mug for your coffee/tea/hot drinks and a canteen for your water,give up those silly little S shaped things used for transporting fragile items....maybe try old bed sheets....honestly the foam does no good for anyone....i say we all take a stand against it!

ladies and gents havea great night and an even better day tomorrrow! see you in the AM

Injoy Foodies/enviro geeks! :)

new idea

So as I am trying to sleep my mind wont stop...and I thought that since I am getting back to my old self again i should share some eco friendly tid bits and tips with you guys, things that are easy changes to make in your life, and things that everyone can try and do. Things that I try and incorporate into my everyday life as much as possible :) So here we go tid bit number one!

1: switch to recycles papertowels

Did you know that if every household in the United States replaced just 3 rolls of 112 sheet virgin fiber paper towels with our 100% recycled product, we could save:1,705,000 trees615 million gallons of water which is a year's supply for over 4,800 families of four.4.4 million cubic feet of landfill space which is equal to over 6500 full garbage trucks.

To me that alone is enough reason to switch, not even mentioning the money saved is news enough for this girl! Recycled Paper towels it is :)

Alot of people will metion that we should not be using any paper towels, only reusable cloth, which I 100% agree with but little steps people, I am trying to ease everyone into this new world :) dont wanna scare anyone off :)

Its Raining Its Pouring, The Old Man is Snoring!

My my my, it feels like it should be april with the amount of soggy weather that has come our way here in Southern Ontario! Last night walking from work to the transit I felt like I was in the Wizard of Oz! Unfortunatly, due to the rain I was not able to go visit Kensington Market like I was hoping...its an outdoor market, a wonderful market, but not as wonderful in the rain! I will how ever be heading there on Thursday come rain or shine! I am going to look at a apartment which I am terribly excited for, The kensington area of Toronto has been my favorite are since I can remember and my dream spot to live....and now I have the Oppertunity too so I am pouncing on it! I cant wait!

Work wise, the grand opening week for the Restaurant went amazing! I really couldnt have asked for a better Chef, team or serving staff! everyone was on the same page for the most part, and most were happy campers which is really the best thing durring an opening!

I worked at the Market yesterday before I went to the restaurant and it always amazes me the commitment people have to all the vendors there! I have made so many friends out of customers at the market. It actually worries me if I dont see John the 1 Dozen Extra Large Egg Man on saturdays because I know his personal story and I know he is suffering from Prostate Cancer, and if hes not there by 11:30 like normal we all kinda get worried! I would miss the man that comes and plays his sax in the corner, I would even miss the crazy guitar playing free styling man who sings about what he sees, and all the other vendors like Paul the Honey man, and Ruth the sheeps milk cheese lady, Andy with his delicious empanadas, Napour with her wonderful samosas, Barb number one who sells nuts and Barb Number one who sells all emu products, The all natural herb lady and so many more. And then there are the customers who come by every week and ask and actually care how your week went, I have one lady who I serve everyweek who came to the opening of the restaurant, its amazing what 2 years of good service and a friendly, loving enviroment can do! At my other jobs everyone always asks me why I stay at the market, its only once a week, I have to get up early and its not like I need the money! and my response is always the same....I love it there!....I really miss it when i have a saturday off and I seriously dont know what I would do with myself on Saturday mornings if I wasnt there....I would probably go shopping there! haha! you should try it! go to your local market and talk to the farmers/workers, amazing things come out of it! ( my pics above are from random days at the market)

Okay Enough rambling about the market....just come and see for yourself the love thats there!

I think I am making todays blog so long partly because I am bored, and partly because i really dont feel like doing the heaps of Laundry that are sitting in front of me....ugh woe is me woe is me! haha

I am really excited to get back to who I use to be aswell, I use to be so well Hippy ish I guess its called in todays world, but just very enviromentally friendly ( still am) and natural with my mind and body, and I am going to aim to get back to that! I read this wonderful book that helped me discover more ways to reduce my footprint last summer and alot of it has stuck with me! Its called Sleeping Naked is Green and its writen by a fellow Torontonian Vanessa Farquharson and it is truly and inspirational book! I think that alot of people dont realize how easy some of the changes are! Anyhoo check out the book and also if you feel so inclined for some more green reading your should check out my sister in laws blog, she has some wikid tips and fun reads!

Injoy Foodies :)

http://greenandfurry.blogspot.com/

WORK WORK WORK

Well for the past 16 days i have been working a minimum of 10 hours a day, my last day of this stint was 17 hours....yesterday....so i got home and i crashed hard and didnt wake up till 1pm today! and I FEEL AMAZING ! I did however get some pics from work to share with you, the first one being pretty simple, apples cooked in butter and brown sugar, they go into the apple and rosemary creme brulee that we have on the menu....and the second being Orange sour cream cake with a poached pair, soaked in a vanilla orange flower sauce, i had a party of 40 women who wanted a fruit dessert and this is what i came up with, and it was my first time working with orange flower water.....AMAZING the whole pastry room smelt like candy! I just topped the cake with a ladle of syrup and a dolop of mascarpone mousse and they loved it :)

I am so excited to have 2 whole days off...today is going to be my lazy day, I need one thats for sure, and tomorrow i am heading out to kensington market with my sister and law and brother, whould be a wikid day! its probably my favorite area of toronto! This market is for sure one of torontos hidden jems, a must see if you ever visit, so stay tuned i will be posting pics of my day tomorrow probably in the evening :)

Oh and the other pics i posted are just of my walk after work random toronto pics :) Gosh i love this city!

Injoy Foodies :)

Last Sundays Dinner :) YUMMO

Delicious shepards pie....with if i may toot my own horn and say that it was the best gravy i have EVER tasted... i Braised Short ribs in beef stock and wine and with veggies and tomato sauce! it was a whole pile of yummy....took about 8 hours to make but worth every drop :)

Not much left of the blueberry pie! it was wonderful :)

this sunday...not to sure whats on the menu....any suggestions from anyone??

I always have crazy ideas of things to write about on here when i am walking from work the the subway and today i was thinking about how I always get to eat rich food, fine dining style eating, and thats how I have been trained to cook, so its normally how I do things even at home, and i got to thinking about how i miss clean, fresh, simple food! Then i was trying to think of when i had the most simple food of my life...and i would have to say it was when i was in Nicaragua...i have been to the country twice and it is a wonderful place! When i was there i was doing some social justice work so i was living in poor communites and let me tell you...the food....amazing, so simple so fresh....just the food in its natural flavor....perfection! I dont have many pics of the food that we ate but I did come accross in my toronto travels a Nicaraguan Restaurant Called Managua at Bloor and Ossington, right out side the subway exit...if you are ever in toronto TRY THIS PLACE it is the real deal...a taste of Nicaragua!

And as I was thinking this my mind trailed into how AMAZING the city i live in is....I can walk out of my apartment, and take the TTC and head to a restaurant somewhere in the city from pretty much ANY country in the world....i love having authentic food from all over the world just outside my door! basically my point of my post....I LOVE TORONTO :) VIVA CANADA haha

Injoy Foodies :)

Okay so I lied, I am sorry, but i have good reason for not poasting on sunday.....I AM CANADIAN and if that doesnt make sense you are not canadian hahhaha the gold medal hockey game was on sunday Canada Vs USA and thus it was a must that I was in a pub watching and celebrating with my fellow Canadians :) so i must first state that I am so proud of Canada and its Olympic Triumphs....amazing....just amazing 2 hockey golds....hockey sure is our sport and we have proved that 2 winder olympics in a row :)

Second I wanted to share a pic with you guys, The other day I looked out my window to see a beautiful day and what do I find...a poor Pidgion being ripped apart by a Hawk on my lawn in the back yard, all the little black dots on the snow you see....thats not dirt its feathers....the whole yard was covered and this whole time my poor dog had to pee but i couldnt let him out cuz the damn hawk was feasting in his potty spot of the yard! haha kinda gross but I thought I would share!

Okay well I hope you have enjoyed my sorries ( haha us canadians like to say sorry) and my banter about carnivorus hawks in my back yard, and hockey!

Injoy Foodis of the world :)

Kristen