Gift Cards make my day!

 

There’s something special and fun about using a gift card rather than your own money (even if it was from Leif, ie “our” money).

Leif and I both celebrated our birthdays a few weeks ago. Funny thing is that after we met we realized our birthdays were 4 days apart.

Note – I am the older one 🙂 

One of my gifts was from Frankie…

 

Awww.. Thanks Frankie!

I am definitely not a Starbucks “regular” but I do love it as a treat once in a while. Today was one of those days I wanted to treat myself to something sweet. Skinny Vanilla Latte – Yes please!

It was a cold and dreary day so it warmed me up perfectly – just what I needed. To me it’s a special treat because I don’t pick one up every day.

In the past year or so I’ve fallen in love with chick peas. I have always loved hummus, but now I am making my own (thanks to all the great blogger recipes) and also trying to use them in other meals and recipes. I often bake them in the oven and they are delicious. I just drain a can of chick peas, add in any spices I grab (usually paprika, cumin, pepper) and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Then spread the little chick-0’s on a cookie sheet and bake them at 375 until they look slightly browned, but not overdone (I am bad with exact recipes, it’s usually more turning the dial to whatever temperature it gets turned to and adding in whatever I grab).

They are seriously so tasty and good! I also chopped up some potatoes and mixed them with a bit of olive oil, cumin and pepper.

I never thought chick peas could taste SO good!

Tea Please

 

Something else that has also grown in this household is my love for tea. I used to drink tea here and there for years, but recently it has become a daily treat. A big part of this is discovering Davids Tea and learning that there are SO many different flavors and variations. As far as I know, the store only exists in Canada, so whenever I am home visiting family I stock up. I went from having a few flavours…

 

I bought a few more when I was home at Christmas and also received some for gifts from my little bro. One of my best friends from home came for a visit last month and also brought me some. My collection is slowly growing… mmmm!

My favorite has got to be Toasted Walnut and Pumpkin Chai (but this one has been pushed to the back until next fall rolls around).

And a few other non-Davids to add to the mix

Soooo good. It’s always exciting picking what flavor I want each day since I have a lot of variety. Never a dull day in this kitchen, I tell ya 😉

The tea goes perfectly with my new tea kettle. I had been eyeing them at Marshall’s for a while now but none were the exact color I was looking for (I love colorful kitchen stuff!). We found this one day and I knew right away this baby was going to find a new home right on my stove top.

What are your favorite flavor of tea?