Went to see CAN vs RUS last night, no big deal (VERY BIG DEAL!)

Welcome to the story of one of the best nights of my life. The parts I can remember - were absolutely phenomenal. And according to the pictures, the parts I don't remember were pretty kick ass too.

Thanks to the tickets I won through Vancouver Observer and BC PowerSmart, we embodied what it is to be Canadian. From the jerseys, to the flags - the Quatchi socks, to the sheer number of beers consumed - this was going to be an incredible event.

We made our way downtown to join the masses and hopefully get even more pumped from all the cow bells and loud horns! The sea of people was a mix of Russians and crazy Canucks, and there was marching band waving Olympic-colored flags and bangin' on some drums. The crowd was anxious to get in and when they opened the flood gates....Hold onto your children! Pure chaos! I should have tried to crowd surf to the front....Hmmm. It was so fun to see the huge crowds as you went up the stairs!

And then it happened. My Olympic dream came true:

Decked out in my Quatchi socks, anyone who knows me, knows I have been wanting nothing more then a picture with a life-sized Quatchi!! It's this mascot photo-fetish that dates back to my childhood interaction with Polka Roo. (Now I'm sounding really Canadian)

I made us wait in line for this, 30 mins before the game started. He understood how much this meant, while staring impatiently at the line up in front of us.

Entering Canada Hockey Place in the "200 Suite Section" was pretty awesome. Bf met Scotty Bowman, we got beers, and went to go scream and cheer in the box!!! EH O CANADA GO!!

The men came onto the ice and began their warm-up. My mom tried to call me at this point, but all I heard was "CAN-A-DA! CAN-A-DA!" Everyone was loving to be Canadian.

This man, not so much:

Ovechkin. I was waiting for him to do some kind of amazing ice dance with the puck and really give Canada something to work for! Instead, we kicked their butts.

I don't know about you, but I get emotional when large groups of people can gather, with that much beer in them, and cheer united for our country. It's not very often that I think 'I'm Canadian', but in these moments - you feel part of something special.

We cheered and cheered! And drank and drank! We met some awesome people in the box suite, and BC Hydro put out a great spread of munchies. 2 beers a periods, 3 periods of hockey, and 7 Team Canada goals - the night was already Top 10 in my books.

And then this happened:

I said I would do 3 things at this game: get on TV, meet a gold medalist, and score the winning goal (ok, the last one was a stretch...). I feel like we did one better.

We met TWO gold medalists!

We congratulated them on their amazing Gold Medal skate, and they got in a photo with us outside the box suite! Unreal. And such nice skin.

According to the pictures and my boyfriend, we had a fun rest of the night too! I'm glad to hear this! And even though I woke up still dressed, smeared with red face paint, and in a panic over the location of my cell phone - definitely one of the greatest nights ever.

Thanks again to Vancouver Observer & BC Hydro for a once in a lifetime experience.

GO CANADA GO!!!

The Girl who never wins - just won BIG!

Unreal.

So there was a contest on the Vancouver Observers Website starting last week, that asked people to tweet about their favourite part about the Olympics was. The key for the contest was to include the hashtags #vo2010 and #powersmartvillage.

This contest was made for me.

I literally wrote a comment that day under the article that said: I am going to win this

Tweet, tweet, tweet - and BAM!

I freakin' did it. Box Suite and all.

Tomorrow's QF "gong show" hockey game is going to be amazing and I cannot to WAIT to be on my redest, whitest and loudest behavior for this showdown!!

GO CANADA GO!!!!

Vancouver City Block Erupts into O' Canada! (Vid)

Simply Amazing.

Last night, we ventured out into craziness that is - Downtown Vancouver.

It was absolute insanity, and soooo much fun! After some chanting, the crowd went wild and broke into the National Anthem - Who knew drunk people could carry a tune?! It was a tear-jerking, hilarious and kick ass time.

People should run the streets more often, it's like a natural anti-depressant.

Woooooooo!!! GO CANADA!!

Vancouver 2010: Moon, Fireworks & Lights

The view from the balcony looks a little different these days...

GO CANADA GO!!

Simple (yet crazy amazing) Stuffed Chicken Breasts

This is a quick and simple stuffed chicken breasts that is guaranteed to make any dinner guest think you know more about cooking then you actually do!

Boil enough asparagus to put a few into each chicken breast, and more for a side dish.

Grab 4 chicken breasts, put in a plastic bag or plastic wrap, and pound it to about 1/2" thick.

Lay a slice of ham on top.

Sprinkle some parm cheese on top of the ham.

Salt n Pepa.

Lay a few asparagus spears down on top. Put the remaining asparagus aside.

Your kitchen should look something like this right about now...

Next step is probably the hardest part, and it's really not that hard. Just make sure you have some string to tie these chickens up before you fry them - or else you might find yourself using sewing thread....not fun.

Roll the chicken breasts up, and tie a string around each one to secure the goodies inside.

Put 2 tbsp of light margarine in a frying pan.

roll the chicken breasts in some flour.

put the chickens into the frying pan and cook for 15 mins. Flip often or they will stick!

After 15 mins, or when the chickens cooked, place the chickens aside.

Keeping the scraps in the frying pan, add 1/4cup chicken stock, 2 tbsp lightly salted butter and 2/3 cup white wine. Bring to a boil, stir often.

The last step is a sauce to pour over the chicken, and once plated - you're ready to compete on the next season of Hell's Kitchen.

Mmmm. Enjoy!

Vancouver 2010 - One Big Photo Op

2 Days till the Games - What's up Vancouver? (w/ pics)

Sax-a-ma-phone skytrain welcome. $2 to take a photo.

Native Pavillion has a huge dome playing images of all things nature. Amazing.

A giant mail box. Ship me somewhere with snow! haha kidding..

The lanterns are amazing on Granville St.

Beautiful at night.

Robson Square, skating rink & BC Canada Pavillion, aka The Art Gallery.

Looking south on Granville, and looking through a time warp.

The art gallery has new wallpaper, and a fountain that's not frozen.

The Welcome Centre is at Canada Place, for those who need welcoming!

GO CANADA GO!

There's nothing quite like Salmon

Add to it some rice pilaf, and you have a meal that sounds a lot more complicated then it actually is! That's what I love about Kraft.com. Fairly quick, easy, and always tasty.

Tonight is Tarragon Salmon w/ Rice Pilaf.

And as I wrote out the recipe, I thought to myself, hmm - since I'm new to this whole "cooking" thing, maybe I bit off more then I could chew. Get it? chew? food? Moving along..

Take 1/4 cup Kraft balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup OJ, and tsp of tarragon leaves and whisk it together. Pour it in 9x13 pan, add 4 pieces of salmon. Flip fish once then put in fridge for 1 hour.

Doo dee doo doo Doo dee doo. Doo dee doo dee dee - dee dee dee dee dee.

Drain marinade into small saucepan.

Bake fish in 9x13, at 450 for 15 minutes.

Now, grab this stuff while the fish cooks:

2 cups of thawed, frozen green beans, 1 1/2 cup of instant brown rice and 1/2 cup sour cream (the light kind...booo)

bring the remaining marinade to a boil, add 1/2 cup sour cream. Simmer for 5 mins. Smells great and tastes sweet and yum.

At the same time as the sauce boils, pour 1 1/3 cup of water into a separate saucepan, bring to a boil, add rice and thawed beans and cook for 5. Then let sit covered, for another 5.

This should bring you to just about time for the fish to come out of the oven.

Salmony goodness is so close. Just pour the sauce over the fish and rice bean pilaf. Pilaf is a funny word. Does pilaf mean rice and beans? Hope so...

And here you have it:

Like out of a magazine! Probably because it kind of is...well, a web-site anyways.

www.kraft.com for life.

Better-Then-Ever (and healthy) Beef Enchiladas!

Dinner is served.

These beef enchiladas, courtesy of Kraft.com, were a favourite on the list of meals we have cooked over the last 2 weeks. Bf and I have been using Kraft.com for each dinner, leaving enough for leftover lunches - and they have all, with the exception of snapper bones, been truly yum-tastic.

Sure, it's a ploy to buy their dressings, but if it tastes good, and will help me shed the gut - I'll buy every flavour. In the calorie-wise option, of course...

Tonight, with a little bit of extra lean ground beef, peppers, light cheddar and salsa, you have yourself some amazing enchiladas. The Kraft part comes in when you brush both sides of the tortillas with light zesty italian dressing - pop in microwave in waxed paper for 20 secs - before filling with meat and baking for 20 minutes. @ 400. And don't forget to line the bottom of your 9x13 pan with salsa. It helps to seal them up!

Dollop of sour cream, a hint of cilantro, and you have yourself quite the meal.

Ole!

This Casserole should be illegal...

Kraft.com, you have done it again.

Every meal, every time, is just plain delicious! How do you do it?!

Tonights dinner was Sweet Potato Coconut Casserole, and here's how it's done:

Step One: preheat oven to 350. Slice up 2 apples, boil 4 cups of sweet potato. No prob.

Put aside 2/3 cup of flaked coconut, and if you have to taste it first to make sure it's ok, make sure to replace what you eat before continuing.

Line a 9X13 baking dish with the cooked sweet potato. Still steaming hot!

Next, layer the slices of apple on the warm taters. It starts to smell like apple pie right about......now.

To make this dish even more amazing, melt 2 tbs of margarine - add a pinch of salt, and 2/3 cup of maple syrup. Mix that all up and pour it all over the dish.

The shredded coconut goes on last, spread evenly over the top. Cover it up with foil, and now we are ready to bake!

Bake covered for 30 minutes. Then uncover and bake for another 20-30, until coconut is brown and the apples are tender.

TA DA!

Makes 4 servings, perfect for dinner and then leftover lunch :)

www.kraft.com