Herb Salmon with Baby Kale Salad

This is a recipe adapted from September 2014 issue of Canadian Living. I was recently introduced to this magazine by some coworkers and was floored at the quality of content - recipes, parenting, home decor. There was a section on "15 minute" recipes and I decided to try this appetizing meal since for the most part I had the ingredients.

Herbed Salmon

Ingredients:

• 2 salmon fillets
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tsp olive oil
• pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Farenheit. 
2. Mix olive oil and fresh parsley in a mixing bowl.
3. Place salmon on a greased (with olive oil) sheet of aluminum foil.
4. Lightly season salmon with salt and pepper

Baby Kale Salad

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of baby kale (I chose a spring mix with baby spinach and chard)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 can of mandarin oranges (drained, for a healthy alternative use ones that are in its own juices rather than the syrup option)

Directions:

1. In a small, mix olive oil, wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
2. Add to larger salad bow along with mandarin oranges and baby kale salad mix.

Serve!

Japan: Kyoto

A view of Kyoto Tower and hte city from Kiyomizu Temple

Grabbing a quick breakfast before starting our day!

Creamy Pesto Avocado Pasta

Another recipe that I tried from With Peanut Butter on Top that I came across on instagram. This was such a tasty and unique pasta that I've never tried before, best of all its SIMPLE. Just grab your ingredients, boil the pasta, blend all ingredients in a food processor, mix and serve. Thats it! 

Creamy Pesto Avocado Pasta

Equipment:

• Food Processor/blender.

Ingredients

• Spinach Fettuccine (or pasta of choice)
• 1 avocado
• 1/4 cup Greek Yogurt Plain
• 1 tbsp pesto sauce
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp lime juice (freshly squeezed)

Directions

1. Boil fettuccine until al dente. Drain, set aside. 
2. In a food processor: add Greek Yogurt, Avocado, Pesto Sauce, Garlic Powder and Lime Juice. Blend until creamy consistency - you can pause to scrape down sides and continue blending.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste. 
4. Mix pasta sauce with fettuccine, and serve.

Healthy Mac & Cheese

Whats interesting about this recipe is that it uses no butter. You use greek yogurt instead to achieve a creamy taste! This recipe was adapted from With Peanut Butter On Top, a wonderful health eating blog I came across while searching for healthy recipes on Instagram.

Healthy Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of large shell pasta (* whole grain pasta)
• 2 cups shredded cheese of choice
• 1 tomato, diced into cubes.
• 1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 cup skim milk (or almond milk, unsweetened)
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• Salt and pepper to taste. 
• 1 cup baby spinach

Instructions:

1. Boil pasta for 7-8 minutes or until desired tenderness. Drain and set aside. 
2. In a separate mixing bowl, add Greek Yogurt, milk, paprika, basil, garlic powder, and onion powder. Whisk together. 
3. Add 2 cups of shredded cheese.
4. In a heated pot (use the one you used to boil pasta), add drained pasta and your Greek Yogurt mixture. Mix around to allow the cheese to melt. 
5. In a separate heated pot, add a little bit of water, bring to a boil and add spinach. Allow the spinach to wilt and then remove. Mix with pasta.
6. Garnish with (more) cheese. You may Serve with diced tomato on top. 

Japan: Fushimi-Inari Shrine, Kyoto, Japan

Fushimi Inari shrine is the main shrine in Kyoto and sits at the base of a mountain (Mount Inari). You can walk up the mountain to smaller shrines. 

The earliest structures were built in 711 A.D at a smaller hill but later relocated in 816 A.D. It was built in dedication to the god of rice and sake. 

Nara, Japan

For 150 yen you can bbuy deer food. 

The deer overwhelmed a girl for now. 

The legendary deer that bow:

 

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Japan: Takasaki

Takasaki, Japan was added to our trip itinerary at the last minute. Takasaki has a population of approximately 379,000 people and is considerably more "small town" than Tokyo, Japan. It's a city in the Gunma prefecture famous for being the origin of the Japanese Daruma Dolls.

Rabbit Cafe R.A.A.G.F. in Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan

Today we left for Harajuku to go to a rabbit cafe. It's tucked away on a smaller street near the station so after asking a few locals we made it! I had heard about puppy and kitten cafés, and I'm sure I've come across rabbit cafés while perusing the Internet. This was a big "to see" on my list.

Mount Fuji, Japan

When I first got to Japan, I ended up sleeping 13 hours because I was so jet legged. We had breakfast together in Tokyo before heading off for the day.

Gotemba Premium Outlet Mall (御殿場プレミアム・アウトレット)

Our first destination was towards Mount Fuji was Gotemba Premium Outlet Mall located in Shizuoka, Japan. There were many famous brands I recognized: Yves Saint Laurent, Michael Kors, Gap, Nike, Coach as well as quite a few that I did not recognize. I didn't end up purchasing anything there. We did stop by and have a Crepe, Iced Coffee and Iced Peach Tea (yum!)

Vietnam: Cần Thơ, Mekong Delta

Cần Thơ

The trip from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho
is a 2 hour drive.

Can Tho is the fourth largest city in Vietnam, and the largest in the Mekong Delta.. boasting a population of 1.2 million.

It is part of the Mekong Delta, which is southwest part of Vietnam that is considered the "rice basket" of the region, contributing to half the nation's rice supply. The Mekong river and its subsidaries empty into the ocean through this land. Its considered a "biological treasure trove" with a large diversity of species and plant life. -Wk

The Mekong Delta

There are a lot of tourist attractions and the markets offer lots of fresh fruits including Pomelo and Durian (hmm.. not a huge fan of this smelly fruit to be honest).

Here are some of my photographs from the two day tour:

Can Tho Riverside

Vietnam: Cần Thơ Fruit Farm

I had the opportunity to visit a fruit garden in Vietnam. My dad befriended the farmer and got a personal tour! This particular fruit farm is located in the Mekong Delta (Can Tho, Vietnam).

I love taking macro photography, any time I can add bokeh in a picture leaves me with a deep sense of satisfaction (whether or not thats good photography.. well.. who knows). We went to a fruit farm, which grows a lot of fruit.

Pitaya, aka Dragonfruit

It looks a lot like kiwi fruit once you cut it open and expose the flesh - its white with many seeds inside. These flowers look soo exotic! The blooms eventually fall off and the stem starts to plump and turns into the red dragonfruit.

An orchard of dragonfruit plants. These resembled Christmas Cactus that I used to grow as a child. Its

Vietnam: Qui Nhon Part II; 2 Fishing Villages & a temple

I begin each day at 6 am (for some reason I can't sleep in), and get up to go drink Vietnamese coffee with my family at the nearest cafe. We go to eat breakfast, head out to see a tourist destination then between 12 pm to 4 pm its far too hot to go outside. So my dad comes home to nap, while I sit up and read, relax, nap as well (or blog). 

Day and Night at the Nhon Nson Hoi bridge

My cousin took me on a joy ride on the motorbike throughout the city, which included seeing Nhon Nson Hoi bridge at night! Its empty here, so I got a chance to learn how to ride a motor bike - which is a LOT heavier than it looks. Luckily I didn't go flying off the bridge :P We also saw some young people drag racing their motorbikes on this bridge (at around 9 pm). 

I also got a chance to practice to practice my photography with all of these scenic views. 

A small fishing boat casting their net: