Sunday, April 28, 2013

Copycat Olive Garden Minestrone

I lurve Olive Garden! I love the pasta, I love the breadsticks (who doesn't?), I especially love the salad and I love their soup.  Except I hardly ever order it if we go out because I'd rather have the salad prior to my pasta entree.  Ty ALWAYS orders the soup and I have a spoonful and get all jealous that I'm sitting there eating salad.  Delicious salad, but hey it's still salad.

Luckily I found this copycat Olive Garden Minestrone soup recipe and Ty got really excited about it.  So I made it!  


3 Tbl olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
4 tsp minced garlic
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium zucchini, quartered and chopped
4 cups vegetable broth
2 14 oz cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 19 oz can navy beans
1/2 cup carrot, shredded
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
2 tbl frech minced parsley
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 tsp ground thyme
salt & pepper
2 cups hot water
1 cup red wine
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1 cup shell pasta

Phew.  Ok, you got all that?  So chop up your onion, mince garlic, chop zucchini and celery, and get your kettle going for broth.  Then heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot and toss in the onion, garlic, zucchini and celery and sauté for about 5 minutes.


While thats cooking, drain your beans, shred your carrot, and drain your tomatoes as best you can.  I did poorly.  Ok when the veggies are good, add the broth, beans, carrots and tomatoes to the veggies in the pot.  Then add in your spices, the hot water, and the wine.  I think adding the wine is a really important part of the flavour of this soup!

Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the temperature and simmer for 20 minutes!


Then add in the 4 cups of baby spinach and the pasta and continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes!  Then you're ready to chow down!


It's not quite right.  I used a strong red wine, which is over powering the flavour just a bit.  And a little extra salt and pepper is a good addition.  Ty didn't love it and we both agreed it really wasn't close to the Olive Garden version.  He said I should just make my regular minestrone from now on :) 
MyMeatlessMondaysKeeping It Simple

Friday, April 26, 2013

Lavender Salt Scrub

As spring (and eventually summer) creeps up on us, it dares us to bare more skin.  And I don't know about you, but my skin is so sad after winter.  We have quite a bit of moisture during the winter in Vancouver but it's still not pretty.  So I'll be sharing a few different scrubs with you to help polish and brighten your wear winter skin!

Lavender Salt Scrub
1/2 cup epsom salts
2 Tbls dried lavender flowers
2 Tbl glycerin
1 Tbl olive oil
generous drops of lavender essential oil
splash of sweet almond oil

Okey dokey.  So fill up the container you want to store the scrub in with salt.  Toss that into a good sized cereal bowl.  

Then sprinkle in your lavender flowers.  I'm already in love!


Then add in your oils; glycerin, olive oil, and almond oil.  These are going to help keep the product moist and protect your skin from the drying elements of the salt :)  Salt is a great natural exfoliant because it will dissolve in water in the shower, protecting your skin from super abrasive-ness and it's a natural skin brightener!  


Give the scrub a good stir with a spoon and then add in your essential oil.  I'm a sucker for lavender so I put a generous amount in!  Stir it all up and transfer it back to your air tight container.  Because of the anti bacterial properties of lavender this should store for 2 weeks up to a month.  When in doubt, smell it!


Stay tuned for a couple other scrubs to perk up your skin and prep it for summer!

Three Mango Seeds

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

30 Days of Salads IS BACK!


The hottest blog series from last summer is back!  Ok, who am I kidding?  But it's a pretty handy little party to find delicious new salads to try during the summer months when it's just too hot to cook.  I know it seems cold now (for some of you), but the summer is coming.  Fresh produce, fresh fruit and salad season.


Do you have a great salad recipe that you want to share!  Well hop on the 30 Days of Salad bandwagon as a guest blogger!  Send me an email at westcoastleslie@gmail.com if you're interested.  I love reading and taste testing new salads and hope you do too!

30 Days of Salad kicks off on Sunday May 5th and runs until September 1st!  Check back each and every Sunday for a brand new salad.  

Saturday, April 20, 2013

First Time Nail Art

I normally don't have long enough nails to really do anything worth while on them.  But one of my students suggested that I do some nail art....
I feel I should preface this with the fact that I have NO patience and hardly have any nails, because I'm a nail biter.
 I decided to do a funky geometric pattern in mint and coral.

I taped off half my nails, like so.  FYI, I highly recommend leaving the tape flat - don't fold it over the top of your finger like I did on my index and middle finger.  It lies nicer without folding it.

Then I painted the top half of my nails with the mint colour.  It's a really crappy nail polish from Urban Outfitters, but I bought it for the colour :)

Then I impatiently waited for my nails to dry...... once I had waited as long as I could I carefully peeled the tape off.  Ta da!  I considered leaving them like this - mostly because I'm so lazy and thought they looked bad.

Then I carefully painted the coral on the bottom and finished with a top coat.  Not too bad if I say so myself.   

And no, I will not be showing you my right hand. 
 It's always impossible to paint and never looks as nice!


Three Mango Seeds

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Thank You Card

Teaching dance can be stressful - just like anything.  But when I don't have control it tends to freak me out.  Case in point, two weeks ago when my Geisha costumes weren't done.  I talked to one of our administrators at the dance school and found out that only ONE costume had been made! And the kids were set to compete in 4 days!  Talk about stress.

Long story short, the seamstress really came through and completed all 5 costumes by Sunday night (with only one mock up done on Thursday)!  And I showed up on Monday morning at the competition with the costumes. Needless to say the girls were thrilled.  And so was I!  So we made a card for our seamstress to show her our appreciation.

I brought it to the studio for all the students to sign! 
 It was so sweet.



Sunday, April 14, 2013

Cream of Broccoli Soup

I've talked about this recipe quite a bit, but then I realized that I have never actually posted it.  It is basically the same as my Cream of Asparagus soup but made with broccoli.

I had left over stems from my Broccoli Salad, and I saved them especially for Cream of Broccoli soup.  I really love this recipe because unlike other cream soups, this one actually tastes like vegetables with only 1 cup of milk, cream or half and half!

1 medium onion
2 tsp butter
1-2 Tbl flour
4 cups chicken broth
4-6 cups broccoli florets
1 cup milk or cream

Okey dokey.  Melt your butter in a Dutch oven and throw in your chopped onion.  Let that sauté for about 5 minutes or until it's softened.  Then toss in the flour and cook for a minute, stirring well.  Lastly pour in your chicken broth and birng to a simmer and allow it to cook for another 5 minutes.

While that's happening, chop up your broccoli into small pieces.   Then throw it in the pot. I always use masses of broccoli, probably more than is in the actual recipe.  Cook the broccoli in the onion broth mixture until their tender.  I cover mine and just let it cook.  If you're using broccoli heads and stems you'll need to cook it longer FYI.

Then use your handy dandy immersion blender (!) and cream the soup right in the pot.  OK, if you don't have an immersion blender you can use a regular blender or food processor.

Once that's done, pour in the cream (milk, whatever) and heat through.  Then it's all ready to serve.  I like mine with croutons.

It's so delicious and broccoli-ey and relatively healthy! 
It's a nice fresh soup perfect for a chilly spring night.
MyMeatlessMondaysKeeping It Simple

Jam Hands

Friday, April 12, 2013

iPhone Update

I've had my iPhone for about two and a half years now, and I've had the same case since I bought the phone!  It's not much, just a simple green Case-Mate Barely There case.  

But it's done the job.  I can't tell you how many times I've dropped my phone around the house and this little case has kept it safe.  But since my contract  is up in December and I'm looking to get a new iPhone (and case) I thought I might jazz it up in it's old age!

Bring on the Washi Tape!



I'd seen plenty of pins like "40 Things to do with Washi Tape" etc etc and I thought, hey why not?  I have a few rolls that I thought might work with the colour of my case.  I bought these from Downtown Tape (before they jacked up the price for international shipping!



So I started with a chevron in the navy polka dots.  


Then I added the peach....and another navy...and another peach. 
I had to make room for the holes :)


I really love it.  And because it's Washi Tape there's no damage to the case and I can take it off and try something new if I get sick of it.  I think I'm gonna Washi my iPhone cord too!  

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

I Survived the First Dance Competition

The first dance competition of the season always make me nervous.  But once my first students dance, I'm much more calm after that.  Dance is hard because many people view it as an art form and therefore it shouldn't be subject to scoring or judging.  So I always know the judging is going to be subjective and I try to keep that in mind...and remind my students of that too.  I'm very proud of my students (obvi) and now I'm going to show off.


Evacuate the Dance Floor - Intermediate Jazz Solo
High Silver


Spanish Rose -  Intermediate Stage Solo
High Gold and 4th Place Overall High Score


Gee I Wish I Was Back in the Army - Stage Group
High Gold


The Fame - Intermediate Jazz Duo
High Silver

Revenge of the Geisha - Jr Competitive Jazz
High Gold

I've got another competition next week-it's longer than this one (read: More spaced out meaning I have to be there more often. Boo)  But at least this next competition is well run and organized, they treat the teachers great, even with a teachers room with free water, coffee and food!  I'm looking forward to it.