Tag Archives: dragon boat practice

Canned Bird

7 Sep

At some point I bought a can of turkey meat. Yes, you read that right, the way you buy canned tuna to make tuna salad, I bought that, but the turkey version.

PC Blue Menu Seasoned Chunk Turkey Breast

I think I had some brilliant idea of getting my protein in, at a not horrible cost, and with no worries about (1) having to cook the meat and therefore risk food poisoning and (2) being able to keep it in the cupboard and have it on hand whenever I need it. The boon of not needing defrosting time was also taken in to consideration I’m sure.

I’ll be moving soon and am loath to pack and move a bunch of food. I go through this every time I move. The result is I end up eating a lot of strange foods, or strange combinations anyways.

Tonight after dragon boat practice I was in that mood where I didn’t want to eat because I wasn’t hungry but I knew I probably should eat because I’d been exercising, and I hadn’t had dinner, and if I didn’t eat then (it was roughly 10pm) with my luck I’d feel peckish around midnight and really be in a pickle about if I should eat, and if so, what I should eat. sigh.

So into the cupboard I went to see if inspiration would strike and I found the can of turkey meat.

I reeeeally didn’t want to open it, buuuuut, it is protein (technically), and theoretically wouldn’t be gross (people eat tuna and that stuff is just nasty, this couldn’t be worse, right?), it didn’t require me to cook anything, and I could easily make a simple turkey salad wrap with it…there were a lot of positives on my mental checklist about this food.

I opened it, thank goodness I haven’t packed my can opener yet!, and oh my dear god the smell. The smell is not pleasant at all! At least not to my nose…the cat liked the scent so much he came out of the bedroom and started meowing at me, demanding his share. It smelled like tuna. How is that even possible??

Now, I’m not proud of this, but I used the cat as a test subject and gave him some of the meat. I figured if he ate it then it must be ok. Umm, he wouldn’t eat it. Sniffed it and walked away without a backward glance!

This didn’t bode well…but I felt like I had come to far to back out now so I drained it, then rinsed it because it was freaking me out, mixed it with some dill, black pepper, mustard, and calorie wise miracle whip, then I spread it on a mini tortilla wrap and topped with some shredded coleslaw (no dressing), and a small amount of shredded cheddar.

Simple? Yes.

Likely to food poison me? Probably not.

A meal that contains food groups? Surprisingly, yes.

Go me go. 😉

It wasn’t as horrible as I was expecting…I mean, it wasn’t so gross I didn’t eat the wrap. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it, but it could have been worse…right? Right! It can always be worse! Aren’t I such an optimist? 😉

So there we have it, my experiment with Seasoned Chunk Turkey Breast in a can. For all that it smells atrocious, doesn’t have a pleasant texture, and tastes unique, I can see why people might buy it. I don’t remember the cost but it can’t have been too high, and it was an easy to use food item, and the meal came together quickly – all things to take in to account when grocery shopping.

I however will not be putting this particular item back on my list. I’m putting it in the same category as brussel sprouts, fine for people who like them but something for me to avoid if only to not have to smell it.

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D…D…D…Dentist!

25 Mar

I am not a huge fan of going to the dentist, is anybody? Having someone poke around in my mouth with sharp metal instruments is not my idea of a fun filled afternoon buuuuuuut eventually you’ve gotta go, right? Right…sad sigh…

dentist

I haven’t been to the dentist since 2008-ish and when I did go it was for a regular check-up and cleaning, no biggy. But since then I haven’t had dental coverage and wasn’t interested in paying out of pocket to have a sadist cause me pain and discomfort lol The job I currently have has excellent benefits though, that kicked in at the three month mark, since I’ve been with the company 2 years (oh dear god, has it really been two years?? *shock*) I figured I might as well take advantage of having such good benefits and ya know, use em. Since I have no idea how to pick a good dentist I asked a friend of mine who has kids, which means she must have a dentist lol, and I was right, she does have a dentist and she recommended them cause she doesn’t mind sharing. Turns out her dentist isn’t one specific dentist but a large dental office, it is like nothing I have ever seen. It’s massive, and has an unknown number of dentists, and dental assistants and hygienists. I’m used to going to a small dental office where the staff has a low turn over and they remember you from the previous years visit and ask how classes are going, or the job, or how the bf is, or did I go on that trip I was planning last time I was there…really personalized. But that is not this place, though the people were very friendly so that’s nice. 🙂

I went last week for what I thought would be a simple appointment, a regular check-up and cleaning, oh and that gross fluoride stuff, ugh. This super friendly hygienist started using those super pointy metal tools of torture to do her thing but she went slow so she didn’t actually finish before my appointment was up, weird huh? The dentist came in (fyi, very yummy, I momentarily lost the ability to get words forming in my brain and am fairly certain I came across as an idiot, sigh) he did his thing and informed me that a filling I have had since the dawn of time has a crack and needs to be taken out and replaced and that I had a small cavity forming on a different tooth that should be taken care of now before it gets bigger.

Just. Great.

This means that my one visit expanded to 4. Four!! I feel like I should just move in there lol I was there yesterday and the dentist took care of the small cavity that just started forming. I thought they’d do everything at once but he says he likes to take things slow, not have the person in the chair for any longer than an hour so they don’t get stressed. I told him to do as much as he can in one visit, I can take it, he wasn’t convinced and the appointments have stayed spread out. I have another tomorrow, that’s the regular cleaning, and then one next week for the removal of the cracked filling and the replacement.

It was funny yesterday, they used so much numbing stuff that from just under my eye to my jaw was frozen, including my nose! I kept poking at the right side of my face cause it simultaneously felt like it was huge and felt like nothing at all. I had to eat before the numbing had worn off because I had to go to dragon boat practice, let’s just say I am oh so very glad nobody was watching me eat! lol I had to put teeny tiny amounts of food in my mouth, keep it in the left side, tilt my head back, chew and swallow. The tilting of the head was very important in this process because I was unable to keep food or liquid in my mouth if my head wasn’t tilted back. Oh, and when I went to the washroom there was food on my lip that I wasn’t aware of cause ya know, the lip was numb. Oh! And you should have seen me trying to drink water when on the boat during practice, at one point I dribbled water down my chin cause I just couldn’t keep it in my mouth, well, on the right side anyways lol Thank goodness the left side of my mouth wasn’t frozen!

So all in all the dentist visit is turning out to be an ongoing saga that I’m not enjoying all that much, except for the cute dentist that is! 😉

Oh, and quick tip, don’t get told you need to have fillings then go home and YouTube videos about how they are done, it just amps up your anxiety level before your own appointment. Oh, and don’t watch videos titled “6 Things You Didn’t Know About Dentists” before your visit either cause that won’t make you feel aaaaaany better. Did you know that one of those drill head thingys came loose and got lodged in someones lungs one time? Yeah…these are the things I was learning before my cavity filling visit…not wise!

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A Teeny Tiny Fire

14 Feb

Bright ‘n early this morning I was on the water enjoying my dragon boat practice. It was cold, but I loved it, weird I know lol 😛

Then, I came home and proceeded to get ready for work. Part of my getting ready process was making lunch – to eat before going to work, not to take with me.

I wanted something substantial, and well really, I wanted something with eggs lol but I’d had two hard boiled eggs prior to practice and that is one egg more than my daily egg allowance sooooooo no egg dishes for moi. Instead I popped a Ricotta and Spinach stuffed chicken breast from M&M Meat Shops in to the oven and boiled some whole wheat pasta. I don’t know why I made pasta as the side dish instead of veggies, shrug, I just seemed to want pasta. Probably cause I had bought a jar of alfredo & garlic sauce and really wanted to try it lol.

Anyways! It was time to drain the pasta so I did what I’ve done countless times, I took a towel wrapped it around one side of the pot and used it to protect my hands from the handles since they had gotten hot. I have used a towel every time I’ve needed to pick up a pot with hot handles for years and never had a problem. Well, this time I had a minor incident…

See, the towel slipped and touched the burner, big deal right? Wrong! The towel touched the burner and all of a sudden…fire! Actual fire! Not just singed, there were flames, flames! So there I am, holding a towel around a pot full of cooked pasta and the towel is on fire, not exactly a situation I expected to be in lol I didn’t want to lose the cooked pasta so I ever so gently put the pot down (on a different burner) then put the on fire towel in to the sink and soaked it with water. Yay for water solving the problem of my towel being on fire! Boo for ruining my towel.

I’m kinda bummed, I really like that towel, it is part of a set that my sister bought me two Christmases ago. Now it looks like this…

My scorched towel.

My scorched towel.

You’d think the damage would look worse considering there were flames involved. Even though the damage doesn’t look that bad the towel is ruined, sigh. Is it weird I am more upset about the towel being ruined than causing a fire in my kitchen? I think this just proves my point that some people aren’t meant to be in the kitchen and I obviously should be wealthy so I can have a cook, it’d be safer for everybody! 😉

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Race Kit Pick-Up!

1 May

Oooooh exciting day today! 🙂

I got up distressingly early (for me lol), met with a friend, went for a walk, went home, cleaned up, ate, ran errands, saw the doc aaaaaand went to pick up my race kit for this Sunday! OMG sooooo excited! Freaked out but excited lol 😛

I thought the process of picking up my race kit would be as quick as me walking up to a desk, showing my ID, giving my bib number and being handed a bunch of stuff. Easy peasy. Well, what really happened was easy but as far from what I imagined as possible!

The line was huge, and slow moving, ugh. While waiting in line I was trying to figure out what was going on because there were these blue fabric “walls” that had been put up so I couldn’t see past the front initial sign-in area but I could hear all kinds of stuff and was oh-so-curious.

At the first stop I got given a blue bag filled with all sorts of goodies. Some magazines, a newspaper that is exclusively about the run, coupons, a t-shirt and most importantly my race bib! Eeeeeek! I want to post a pic of it but it is recommended people don’t put pictures of their bibs online until after the run because I guess people steal bib numbers that get posted online, rude!

magazines, coupons, newspaper...these were all in my blue tote bag

magazines, coupons, newspaper…these were all in my blue tote bag

 

Yay for stuff!

Yay for stuff!

Then I was let loose in to a large area filled with booths. They were giving away stuff, had games to play, draws to enter, all kinds of merchandise to buy, oh and samples, don’t forget the edible samples! Mmm!

I nibbled and sipped my way through various energy bars, protein bars, energy jelly drops, protein drinks and greek yogurt. Yeah, I know the yogurt doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest but it was tasty and has protein in it and I got a coupon so yay! lol

I checked out the clothes, there were all kinds of things labelled with the name of the run, similar to when I compete in a dragon boat festival and you can buy a tshirt with the festival name on it. I opted to not buy anything with the run name on it, didn’t really see the point, I’ll have a medal to remember the run with so who needs an overpriced shirt? I did however buy some on sale socks that promise no chaffing and a baseball cap. I’ve been meaning to buy a baseball cap for weeks now, I have one but it doesn’t have that hole in the back for my ponytail which until now hasn’t been a big deal but the weather is getting hot and when I wear my hair in a braid or a low ponytail to accommodate the cap with no hole my hair is smooshed against my neck, which gets sweaty, and ugh, so annoying. I know I know, I’m a whiny brat. 😛

Oddly enough, besides the bib my favourite thing that I got today was the shaker cup I won. It is in the second picture up there. I spun a wheel and the arrow fell on it and it became miiiiiine lol I already have one, from Popeye’s but I’ve been wanting a second one, just not willing to buy a second one so this worked out nicely.

The weirdest thing I received was the rice, someone put a package of it in to my hands along with a coupon. I thought about giving it back (since I don’t eat rice) but then realized I am poor and shouldn’t put my nose up at free food lol

The most useful thing I received was the bus ticket. They try to encourage using public transit so if you want one you can get a ticket for the bus, well, duh, of course I want one, it’ll save me $4! lol I will be busing downtown to a meeting point, putting my bag in to bag check, getting a free shuttle to the start line and then being corralled like cattle until being let loose on the run route.

So there we have it, after the fun of getting my race kit I went to dragon boat practice, had a blast, and am now home thinking happy sleepy thoughts about bed *yawn*

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Twice Yesterday, None Today

23 Apr

Yesterday I had a lunch date downtown and decided I didn’t want to drive to it cause (1) parking downtown sucks, especially during the middle of the day (2) gas prices are ridonkulous ($1.53 right now, arg!) so I’m trying to drive less and (3) I’m trying to not spend as much money which meant not forking over for high parkade fees or using the precious gas that is in my gas tank. So I bussed it and was horrified to learn bus fare is now $4! What the hell?? That’s crazy!…in my humble, non-informed opinion.

Because I have now turned in to a scrooge when it comes to spending money I decided to walk home instead of pay another $4 to take the bus. I couldn’t walk there because I wasn’t sure how long it would take but I figured I’d have plenty of time to walk home afterwards so why not? I am physically able to walk long distances and feel that if I can do it then I should because one day I will be old and won’t be able to walk a block without tiring myself out and I’ll wish I had walked more when I could. Right? Right!

I popped my earbuds on and started the long walk. It started off ok, interesting shops to look at, pretty cherry blossom trees in full bloom, random people to watch. I actually don’t mind walking places if the weather is semi-decent because you get to see so much more than when you are driving.

After a while, even with music playing in my ears that I love I started to get bored. sigh. The view was less interesting, just traffic on one side of me and non-interesting shops on my other side. The people on the sidewalk became fewer and far between as I left the bustle of the downtown core and was walking over the bridge, past the highway and onward.

I hit a stage where I wanted to stop. I didn’t. But I wanted to. My legs kinda hurt, I was bored, I just wanted it over. I gotta say, that part sucked. When I do long walks I do them as hikes on trails going up mountains, where I am surrounded by trees and nature and there is always that potential threat of running in to an animal that could kill me (bears I’m looking at you! 😉 ). Also, in the wilderness you have to pay more attention to where you are walking because of the uneven ground, twists and turns in the trails, sharp inclines and declines. Walking a mountain trail is way more interesting then walking along a city sidewalk.

Obviously I didn’t stop, who does that? Stops out of boredom? Not moi! lol I turned it in to a challenge in my head, sort of a can-I-maintain-my-speed-and-make-it-home challenge.

Whadda ya know, I succeeded! 🙂

The only times I stopped were at red lights, nothing I can do about that. Luckily I hit almost all green so there was very little stopping. I maintained my speed even when on the hills and I have proof of that thanks to my Runtastic App lol I want to upload a pic of the route I took with all the info but my phone has 9% battery right now so my Dropbox App won’t transfer the pic due to low battery life, lame! I’ll come back and edit this post tomorrow to add the pic so you can see. 🙂

In the end I walked 8.75km in an hour and a half. Not too shabby…I think? lol I never know what a good time is when it comes to how long it takes to run or walk a distance so I’m gonna go with a rating of “not too shabby” and hope I am right lol 😛

I thought I’d be home in time to chill before going to dragon boat practice and I sorta was, depending on how long of a rest I wanted lol I had enough time to have a cup of tea, sit, wish I could sit for way longer, then change, stuff my hair up under my hat, grab my gear and book it to practice. I was actually a little bit late and missed part of the warm up but didn’t feel too badly about it considering the walk I did.

So there we have it, yesterday I exercised twice, the loooong walk lol and dragon boat practice. I was really happy with myself for doing that. 🙂

Today however, hmm, lazy much? lol I was supposed to go for a walk with a friend who only goes cause I drag her, she haaaates doing any of the physical stuff I like to do, sigh. We ended up going to Costco instead and after we were done hanging out I ended up at home, sitting, doing nothing of importance. Normally I’d of at least done the laundry or something so I could justify not going for a run or to the gym buuuuut nope, nuthin. So lazy! Boo! 😦

lazy

I’m trying to pretend that because I exercised twice yesterday it is ok that I didn’t exercise today, like it will somehow all balance out at the end of the week lol I don’t think it really works like that but for today I am sticking with that illusion. 😛

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I Missed It

28 Feb

Here I was all psyched for the first dragon boat practice of the season, and I missed it! *gasp* Which resulted in my pouting last evening for a good chunk of time, sigh.

This stupid cold! It keeps getting worse, yesterday saw the onset of an oh-so-lovely cough but none of my other symptoms went away, how is that fair? You’d think with every new symptom you’d get rid of an existing one…at least that is how it would work in a universe run by me…buuuuut nope!

I was torn about going, I didn’t want to miss practice for soooo many reasons. The top three being (1) first practice of the season, (2) I don’t want to make a bad impression on the new coach and (3) see my team of course! But the reasons for not going were pretty strong, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t be more than an arm length away from kleenex, the cough and more, blah. 😛

I texted a friend on the team and told her I couldn’t decide and she said I should stay home, no way being on the water at night, in the cold, getting wet and paddling were going to do anything but make me sicker which was a very valid point. I decided to take her advice hence no practice.

The whole evening I kept looking at the time and thinking “right now they are warming up”,  “right now they are loading on to the boat”, “right now they are paddling and seeing what the new coach is like”…ugh, I was so jealous of all of them! I wanted to be there so badly but I couldn’t deny I would have had a hellish time because of the whole not-breathing-constantly-needing-kleenex-coughing-a-lot situation I was dealing with.

In a lame attempt to make myself feel better I made some comfort food. I cooked a batch of sticky rice in coconut milk instead of water then topped it with sliced mango. It is a Filipino dish that I really like. The coconut milk makes the rice a tiny bit sweet and the mango topping, well, do you need words to describe the yummy value of mango? Nah, course you don’t! Everyone knows mango is great! 🙂 …um, if you haven’t tried mango go grab one from the produce section of your grocery store, totally worth it!

It’s not the prettiest dish, least when I make it, but that doesn’t bother me lol

mango on coconut rice, yum!

mango on coconut rice, yum!

I gotta say, it didn’t do much to cheer me up lol Which I s’pose means the comfort food didn’t do it’s job of comforting me but my reassuring myself I will be well enough to go next week helped. 🙂

When I bought the coconut milk I decided to try the Light Coconut Milk, which I didn’t even realize existed lol it wasn’t as good as when I use the normal coconut milk, the rice wasn’t quite as sweet but, shrug, it still tasted good and if using light saved me even a teeny bit of calories and/or fat then it’s worth it…I guess 😉 lol

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