Soba Noodle Salad

A few weeks ago I made this delicious soba noodle salad:

I'd never cooked with soba noodles before, but because they are brown, they looked healthy, so I decided to give it a shot.

On a Sunday night, I made a peanut sauce:

Cook up some finely diced onions, grated ginger and garlic. Once they are soft, add in about 1/2 cup of soya sauce, 2 tsps sesame oil, 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar, and 1 tbsp sweet chili sauce. Once it starts to come to a slow boil, add in 1/2 cup peanut butter and whisk until smooth. Let it cool slightly, and then taste it. If you think it needs more of something, add it! Refridgerate overnight.

At the same time, I marinated a steak for Aaron. I pierced it repeatedly with a fork so that it soaked up the maximum amount of marinade. In a bowl, mix together 1/2 cup soy sauce, grated ginger, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp sweet chili sauce, 1 tsp worschtisher sauce, 1 tsp white wine vinegar, and pepper. Pour the liquid into a ziplock with the steak, and store overnight in the fridge. Try to flip the steak now and them to disperse everything.

To make the salad on Monday night, I sauteed 1 bag of broccoli slaw with 1/4 head of sliced cabbage, and 1/2 sliced onion. Cook the noodles, then toss in with the vegetable mixture. Add the peanut sauce, and toss to mix. Top with dry roasted peanuts and cilantro.

Grill the steak and slice into thin strips and serve alongside or on top of the salad. The same marinade would work with chicken, shrimp, or salmon!

A little Love...

While shopping in the states this weekend, I had a list of things I wanted to look for, and when we found this sign at Walmart, Lisa had to buy it for me:




It's going to be displayed in the middle of our head table, and it's perfect! It's just what I was looking for and was the perfect size! Now I'm on the hunt for a REMEMBER sign for the grandparents table - but I know that they have them at dollar stores sometimes so I'll keep my eyes open.

My weekend...

Friday night Aaron and I went to Costco to pick up a few things, then off to have some sushi and home to finish the last few episodes of Dexter Season 4. It was amazing!

Saturday morning I was up at 6:15am to start the most wonderful day! It was Lisa's wedding dress shopping day! I stopped at Starbucks for coffee for myself and the MOH Lizz, then we took off for the border. I made both of the girls little dress shopping goody bags... and this is what was in the bride's bag:

Tic Tac's cause you get very personal with the consultants!


Homemade spicy peanuts - which she had to put in the trunk cause Lizz is deathly allergic!


A Budget Bride magazine to touch up on money-saving techniques!

A Mars Bar Thin - cause I knew she wouldn't eat!


A pretty gold box...


Containing these pretty Swarovski and Fresh Water Pearl starfish earrings for her wedding! She loved them!

Then we went through only 5 dresses, and she fell in love with the 3rd one, and bought it and took it home. I'm not going to post it (bad luck people!!!) but she looked beyond gorgeous.

Then we drove down the street to the Olive Garden, and on the way there asked me to be her bridesmaid. The 3 of us sat in the Olive Garden parking lot crying and hugging and being mushy girls. It still makes me tear up a bit!

So here we are... Lisa's wedding party!

After we stuffed our faces with yummy ravioli and a glass of wine, we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping!

That night I picked up Taco Del Mar for me and Aaron, but I couldn't eat cause I was still too full from lunch!

Yesterday Aaron and I did a bunch of shopping and running around, then had some Vietnamese for lunch, then home for some organizing, laundry, and dinner! Another weekend gone!

The Little Things That Matter...

By now you're all aware of what occurred on June 15th, 2011 in Vancouver... the Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals to Boston in a 4 - 0 home game loss. I watched it at home on my couch, thinking about having to tell my future children about the second time I watched my favorite team lose a Stanley Cup final. At the end of the game, the fans cheered on the players who looked shell-shocked. Ryan Kesler was close to tears, and I began to cry for the players who I cheered for all season. They fought so hard but they were outplayed by a dirty team with an amazingly talented goalie. The game was over, and I couldn't bear to see Boston accept the cup on our home ice, so I switched the channel and saw the start of the downtown riots. I couldn't believe it was happening... again. I had so much faith in the people of our city after all of the playoff games we'd watched gathered in the streets together with little to no disturbance, and now our city was on fire.

I'm not going to post pictures of the devastation because I don't want to further fuel the frenzy that is going on in traditional and social media. I'm not going to add to the hype. But what I am going to state here is that I'm disappointed in those who chose to take part in the destruction. But those idiots to not make up our entire city. They are not who we are. The rest of Vancouver is made up of people who are disgusted with those people, people who rallied together and cleaned up the mess afterwards, and people who are now going to try to make a difference. I hardly slept Wednesday night, my brain overflowing with the images of burning cars, attacks on police, overturned toilets, garbage littering the streets, and the sacred Canuck towels, jerseys, and flags abandoned like they meant nothing, like they were worth nothing, like the entire season meant nothing, like coming in second stood for nothing.

I woke up in a daze. I was so emotionally and physically exhausted that I couldn't force myself out of bed and into work. Eventually I rose, made a coffee, cleaned the home I've worked hard to build, and drove myself to the gym. Working out was a struggle, but I got through it. Then I decided that I deserved a treat... so I made my way to Starbucks. I tried out the new Mocha Coconut Frappuccino, and it was delightful! It tasted like a frozen Bounty bar. It was just what I needed to cure my hockey hangover.

Then I went home to my loving fiance, cuddled with my kitties, made some pasta for dinner, showered, and watched the news where they were reporting on the cleanup and revitalization of our broken city. My faith in the world was being restored... even if just a little.

I Wanna Be...

Redheads in Hollywood aren't always true redheads. Redheads on the street aren't usually true redheads. And some redheads are no longer redheads (cough cough Lindsay Lohan cough cough). Let's be honest here - we are few and far between. Not only are we unique and now have a full day dedicated to hating us (Kick A Ginger Day), but we also get a bad rap by a lot of people as being "fiery", "fiesty", or "difficult". It's true, I definately fall into the fiery redhead stereotype, however my mom is the calmest, tamest person I know and she's a natural redhead too.


But this post isn't about my mom, it's about another strong beautiful woman that I love - Christina Hendricks! She plays Joan on Mad Men which is a show that I both love and hate, but I love this strong, independent woman!!!

I have had my share of issues regarding my hair... being teased in elementary school for being so different, boys not always wanting to be involved with me "cause they don't like redheads", and wanting to be more like my friends with blonde hair. But I've finally come around and have embraced this birthrite! I love my hair now. I know that it makes me different, and I LOVE IT! Aaron loves my hair - he loves redheads - and he loves me for being a fiery redhead!!!


As the wedding approaches, I'll be touching more on this topic because the issue of being a redhead is going to come up again - like what color bridal gown looks best with my skin tone, what type of headwear I'm going to sport, and how make-up really makes or breaks it with redheads. But more on that next time!

Let's set something straight...

I love wedding blogs, I love wedding websites, I love wedding magazines. What I don't love... is the vision that it's put in my head. I feel like I'm drowning in a see of beautiful images and fabulous ideas and untouchable touches. I look at these thin brides in couture gowns, stunning wedding invitations, undeniably creative details... and I know in my heart that I have neither the body, the budget, or the imagination to even come close to the glory that has been engrained into my mind as the "perfect wedding".

But what I do know is that I love my future groom. I love how he makes me feel. I love the ladies I've chosen to stand next to me. I love the parents who raised me to make smart decisions. I love the room we're getting married in, the month we're getting married in, and the meaning behind some of the touches that I am including. It may not be perfect, but it will be perfect for me - just like the man I'll be marrying. I can't wait for my own storybook fairytale dream to come true - when I say I DO!