December Days

Happy December!

Its the most wonderful time of the year again! This morning when I woke up even with a slight cold and having the fact that I need to go to work I still yet awoke in a super happy mood. This is all because we have finally entered December, my favourite month of the year. Ok… I have to admit with living in Holland the weather has been crazy with the non stop rain, and the gloomy grey clouds, but seriously its the month of Christmas, and all things wonderful.

Currently at work we are rehearsing a lot for the upcoming performances of The Nutcracker. I remember every year at school in Canada where I grew up we would have performances of the Nutcracker and this was one of the major things that reminds me of the Holidays. But other than lots of rehearsals everyday here is kinda what a day off of dancing looks like for me.

Usually our free days are on a sunday and lets pretend its a sunny sunday, since the sunny days in Amsterdam are quite limited. On our free day I usually begin the day with "Waking up Late" this is something I dream of doing throughout the whole week but seriously when I get the chance to stay in bed, I stay in bed. Finally when I can no longer stand my empty stomach demanding food I would make my way into the kitchen. Now the real fun begins. On these sundays I really love taking the time to make a fancy breakfast and that usually includes pancakes, an array of fresh fruits, baked goods, or any kind of porridge. (Hahaha… fancy) Yup when I have time breakfast pretty much looks like this…

Now that breakfast or shall I say brunch is finished I usually fall back asleep or I make a cup of coffee and then fall asleep. If I ever awake from this nap I either try to clean up the apartment a little with my boyfriend or I start to sew my pointe shoes for the next week of work.  Now if every sunday were like last Sunday then my most amazing boyfriend will make my favourite lunch… "Okonomiyaki" which is basically a Japanese Pancake made out of cabbage, flour, eggs, and either seafood or choices of meat. I normally eat completely "Vegan" but I believe that you must not deprive yourself of what you want to eat, I do not believe in harming animals, but I also do not believe in restricting yourself from what you want to eat. This is an occasional treat for me and it seriously is one of my all time favourite dishes. 

And when the late brunch or lunch is finished I love to cuddle up with a blanket on the couch and read under the sun. And yes I do fall asleep usually. If this isn't the case then I am on the computer looking up some recipes to cook, or writing a little on this blog. 

Late afternoons would definitely involve a snack or major baking of either muffins or cookies. My boyfriend and I would usually devour it all with a nice cup of coffee. This sunday we baked some "Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Muffins". 

And finally Sunday night we usually take a walk over to the movie theatre to watch a movie or we make our own 'seriously addictive' popcorn at home and sit down to a nice movie.  And of course the popcorn is gone within 5 minutes.  So Pretty much this is how a Sunday looks like for me, now reading over this post I can state the obvious… when I don't dance I usually sleep and eat.

Hope this was fun to read… 

xoxo Coco

Coco's Pumpkin Porridge

Hello hello! So with it being the end of November I thought I would share an all time favourite winter recipe that can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, and or dinner. Seriously I could live off of this stuff this whole winter.  It is my incredibly simple, inexpensive, yet delicious "Pumpkin Porridge".



Ingredients:
- 1 cup of white rice
- 1 cup of pumpkin purée
- 3 cups of water

Steps:

1. First rinse your rice 3 times with water to make sure its clean
2. Place your rice into a medium sized pot along with 2 cups of water with the heat on Medium
3. Keep watch of rice and make sure to stir
4. Add water as needed to create "porridge" consistency
5. Add the Pumpkin Purée and stir constantly
6. Once the consistency is reached turn off the stove and serve

* If you do not have Pumpkin Purée on hand, (I personally always make mine) all you have to do is take a cup of Pumpkin or Butternut Squash (both works) and boil it till it becomes soft then mash it with a fork or pop it into a blender.

Growing up in an asian family we would have porridge for most of breakfast, and during sick days, or the winter times. I absolutely love porridge, and it is one of those super cosy and comforting foods to me. I hope you guys enjoy this one! This Pumpkin Porridge, just adds an extra warmth on those cold winter days, it's like a warm hug from the inside.

What's Happening Coco?

So it has been quite some time… Where has Coco been?

Well I haven't had much time over the past 200 something days as when my last post was. But things and I mean many things have happened… So what has been going on?

Well, I have been changing up my diet, while visiting different places for the summer, and touring with the ballet company and dancing a gala in Italy, heading home for summer holidays, and finally on top of all this I was looking for a new apartment for this new season.  *deep breath*  If some of you may not know I am a professional ballet dancer, I live throughout the year in Amsterdam due to work reasons, and during holidays I visit my home of 13 years in Canada. 

Anyways enough about my past, and a little more about the present, and future?

Diet… Before I decided to take a break from blogging, (I didn't really decide… time was a bit of an issue) I was always feeling quite sluggish, and tired. I depended on coffee a lot of the times, and just wasn't happy with how I was feeling overall. I'd get migraines, or upset stomachs often, and would easily catch any type of viruses that was floating around. With our demanding schedule of dancing around 8 hours a day, well I didn't feel like my body was up to the challenge and I was slowly feeling more fatigue and pain as the season progressed. Along with this because of the "Sluggish" feeling I didn't feel confident in my body and as a ballet dancer it is important to have a "In-shape/fit" figure. I wouldn't say I feel fat, or chubby, but I know my body is made up of what I feed it, and so sometime in April I decided it was time to change up my routine.

So thats whats been up… In the following post I will get into further details of my current diet, and how I made the switch, but for now here is a picture of me dancing and if you guys are interested stay tuned for what really helped me feel my best.

xoxo Coco