pizza // the classic

This simple and tasty pizza was inspired by a very good friend of our family, Thabang.  Thabang lives in Lesotho, (a small country surrounded by South Africa) and we had the pleasure of working with him for a year while he was in Canada learning about farming through a volunteer exchange program.  Thabang became part of our family, and would often come over for family dinners.  Whenever we would ask what he wanted to eat, he would almost always request "Homemade Chicken and Mushroom Pizza".

As we continued making pizzas, we started experimenting with more ingredients, adding more veggies, and some feta cheese for an extra kick!  This pizza has something for everyone in our family, caramelized onion and peppers, sauteed chicken and mushrooms, and my personal favourite, spinach!! 

Every time I make homemade pizza I think of Thabang.  I sincerely wish that he could come over to share this pizza with us, and have another family pizza night. 

Feel free to add more or less of any ingredients, leave out the mushrooms, add olives, pile on the spinach.  Make it your own!  And try not to eat the entire thing by yourself, you have to make sure you have leftovers so you can have cold pizza for breakfast the next day!

Classic Pizza

Ingredients:

1 cooked pizza crust (recipe here!)

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup sweet onion

1 red pepper

5 large mushrooms

2 cloves of garlic

1-2 cups of chopped cooked chicken

1-2 cups of spinach

Cheddar Cheese (approx 4 cups grated)

Feta Cheese (half a cup crumbled)

Pizza sauce

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350 F (or just leave it on if you are making a homemade pizza!)

2)  Heat olive oil on medium/high heat in a large frying pan.

3)  Once hot, add sliced onions, peppers and mushrooms.

4)  After the veggies have been cooking for 5-6 minutes add minced garlic and turn the heat down to medium.  Continue cooking veggies until the onions start to caramelize, this may take about 5-7 more minutes.  

5)  Add chicken to this mixture and stir until chicken is hot.

6)  Turn the burner off, and stir in roughly chopped spinach (this will wilt the spinach, but hopefully not cook it too much.  You don't want to obliterate your spinach, just warm it up).

7)  Spread pizza sauce on your cooked pizza crust, follow with your delicious veggie and chicken mixture, and top it all off with grated cheddar cheese and a bit of crumbled feta.

8)  *Bake in 350 F oven for 8 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and starts bubbling (we like to broil our pizza so the cheese starts browns a bit/gets crunchy!)

*This is our method for baking pizza, it assumes that you just took the hot homemade crust out of the oven, and that your top ingredients (ex. chicken, sauteed veggies) are already hot for the most part.  If you are using a crust that has not just been baked, you may have to adjust the baking time.

This pizza always hits the spot!  Loaded with veggies, chicken, and tons of cheese, there is never a complaint in our house about this pizza.  It is perfect on our homemade pizza crust, but also is really tasty on pita bread if you are in a hurry, or with cauliflower pizza crust for a gluten free alternative!

p.s.  ♥ jordyn & kelsey

wanderlust: manhattan, new york

"A hundred times have I thought New York is a catastrophe,

and fifty times: it is a beautiful catastrophe."

- Le Corbusier

Manhattan truly felt like the most beautiful catastrophe. Powerful skyscrapers, historic brick crumbling, gleaming windows, broken glass, industrial sectors, the green heart of the city, glamourous broadway lights, hundreds of hopeful dreamers wanting to create beauty, and all the different tastes of the world vying to be the "world's best." 

It is a city of contradictions, where the artist has painted every colour onto his canvas, and somehow, instead of the colours blending into a dark, ugly brown - each colour stands vibrant and beautiful. Unique. Bold. Chaotic. And wholly unapologetic.

The most beautiful and exciting catastrophe that I've ever had the pleasure of seeing.

spicy thai coconut peanut shrimp

Oh hi there. It's Clara.

Yep.

Clara is doing a food post for the first time since....well, lets not actually go there, since it's a little embarrassing. So on to the good stuff!

I adore Thai food. It has a wicked kick to it (think Chuck Norris), it's colourful, healthy, intense on flavour, smells glorious, and is the best Asian cuisine in the world (don't tell my Korean relatives...). I'm seriously hooked on Thai food, which means that although I honestly do love my roots and Korean food, Thai gets cooked a lot more at home.

It's just that good.

Thank goodness Caleb likes it just as much as I do, cause I'm a little obsessed and crave it all the time. And if you've never had any experience with Thai before... please, please, pleaseee do yourself favor, go find a good Thai restaurant or make this dish at home.

And then prepare your tastebuds for some crazy epicness.

Ingredients: 

2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cups of coconut milk

2 tbsp of corn starch

3 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp red curry paste

1 tbsp sriracha sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

2 tbsp minced garlic

4-5 cups of sliced veggies of your choice 

(I used carrots, broccoli, and peppers...)

1/2 cup of chopped, unsalted peanuts

1/2 cup of chopped, fresh cilantro

sesame seeds

Instructions:

1. Whisk together the coconut milk and corn starch first in a medium bowl. Add in the rest of the ingredients in the first set. Set aside.

2. In a medium sized pot, boil water and boil your shrimp (if they aren't already pre-cooked) until the shrimp turn bright pink/red. Drain the pot of the water and set your shrimp aside for now.

3. In a large wok, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add your onion and garlic and cook until fragrant. Add in your remaining vegetables and saute until they are tender, but crisp. 

4. Add in the peanut mixture and shrimp to the wok and stir until it comes to a boil. 

5. Turn your stove down, add in your peanuts and cilantro, and serve over prepared rice. Garnish with additional peanuts, cilantro, and sesame seeds!

outfit post: long island beach days

Beach days are glorious days.

There's so much freedom and I adore how the ocean is both so wild and peaceful... 

There's nothing quite like it in this world. Not to mention the sand. All that beautiful, soft, white sand! Is there anything better?

Maybe the prairies..... 

Hah! Who am I kidding, as much as I love my city, I would move in a heartbeat if Caleb and I were ever called to live near the ocean. But until then, I'll just be dreaming of Long Island's beautiful beaches and be thankful that there is beauty in every landscape, even in the prairies.

mustard flats: thrifted

leggings: costco  /  skirt: urban outfitters  /  t-shirt: thrifted  /  chambray shirt: garage  /  belt: thrifted

p.s.  ♥ clara

wanderlust: long island, new york

Oh wanderlust... I adore that you led me to the beautiful beaches of Long Island, New York, and yet I hate that I'm never sated and I'm always longing for another adventure as soon as my feet are on home soil. Although my love of travel and adventure often has me feeling restless, on the beaches of Long Island, New York, all I felt was peace and stillness. 

Miles and miles of glorious, white, sandy beach, protected and preserved by the state. 

Who knew that such peace could be found in New York, of all places? 

The stark contrast to Manhattan was stunning - that such natural beauty could exist next to such a thriving metropolis seemed contradictory and out of place, and yet, these photos don't lie. 

I present to you, part one of my New York adventures...

diy: painted vase with a chalkboard label // mother's day inspiration

This DIY was inspired by our mom.  She absolutely loves flowers and gardening!

Kelsey and I found this adorable card on Treat Cards, and we knew we had to get it.  For as long as I can remember our mom has been gardening.  Our backyard is always bursting with flowers, and is so lovely to be in.

This mother's day we will be lucky enough to celebrate with our mom, and both our grandmothers!  Our mom's mom is traveling out from Alberta to stay with us for a while, so that will be lots of fun.  Our mom definitely got her love of gardening from her mother, so I imagine there will be lots of flower love happening this weekend!

Now mom will have a new customizable vase to display her lovely flowers in!

This vase is super cute, and you can use it for any occasion.  Also you can make the chalkboard label as big or small as you would like!

Materials:
-vase (any shape or size - we thrifted ours!)
-acrylic paint (we chose to use white)
-chalkboard paint
-chalk
-masking/painting tape
-paint brush/sponge

Instructions:
1)  First, wash and dry your vase thoroughly.
2)  Pour a generous amount of paint into your vase (more than you think you will need).
3)  Tip your vase on it's side, and rotate it, letting the paint completely cover the inside of the vase.
4)  Pour out any excess paint (you can put this back in the bottle if you wish).
5)  Wipe the lip of the vase clean.
6)  Tip upside down, and let dry overnight.
7)  Using masking tape, tape a rectangle or square onto the vase (in the exact shape you want your chalkboard message label.
8)  Tape exactly around the edges of your first tape rectangle, and peel off the original rectangle.
*or you can always choose to freehand something!
9)  Following the directions of your chalkboard paint, paint it on (I painted on one layer, let it dry for a couple hours, and then painted it on another layer and let it dry overnight).
10)  Once you are sure your chalkboard paint is dry, peel off the tape.  Be very careful while doing this, our chalkboard paint started peeling off with the tape.  You may need to hold down the paint layer with a finger while you slowly peel the tape off.
11)  Use a toothpick to clean up the edges of your chalkboard label.
12)  Now you need to condition your chalkboard.  To do this rub a piece of chalk all over the area covered in chalkboard paint.
13)  With a slightly damp paper towel wipe the chalkboard clean.
14)  Write a fun message!

basic pancakes // mother's day inspiration

Mother's Day is quickly approaching (hint hint....to those of you who had no idea!), and I thought I'd share a super basic pancake recipe as inspiration of what you could do for your mom.  Breakfast in bed is always sweet, and these are nice and simple!  As my mom always says: "Everything tastes so much better when you don't have to make it!".

Serve these pancakes with some fresh fruit, and a quirky card, and you'll be sure to make your mom's day!

The inside of the card reads "Great moms turn the mixer off first."  Haha.  My mom definitely let me lick the beaters when I was younger....and still does!  The card came from Treat Cards, which we were recently introduced to, and they have a huge collection of hilarious, as well as gorgeous cards.  They can all be personalized as well, with photos and text, which I think is pretty rad!  

Anyway, these pancakes are nice and simple, and can easily be customized.  Throw in a few chocolate chips, or maybe some blueberries to jazz them up a bit if you feel like it.

Basic Pancakes

slightly adapted from: Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 tbsp butter, melted (or vegetable oil)
1 large egg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1)  In a small bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together; set aside.

2)  In a medium bow, whisk milk, melted butter, and egg together. 

3)  Add dry ingredients to milk mixture and mix until just combined.  (a few lumps are fine here)

4)  Heat a large frying pan or griddle to medium heat.

5)  Grease pan with cooking spray, oil, or butter.

6)  Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of batter onto your pan.  You can use the back of a spoon to help spread it into a circle.  *Make sure you don't spread your batter too thinly.  You'll get flat pancakes if you do!

*If your pancakes spread out too much and are flat, you might need to add a small amount of flour to help thicken the batter up.  Or, if your batter is too thick, just add a small amount of milk to the mixture.

7)  Cook until bubbles have formed and started to burst (1-2 minutes).  Flip and cook until both sides are brown (1-2 more minutes). 

8)  Serve warm and top with syrup, jam, fruit, peanut butter and/or whipped cream!

And another gif!  This time I used a tripod, so it's a little prettier than my last one.

Let's hope you don't get sick of them...since I think they're my new favorite thing!

Please note that yellow maple syrup + a blue plate = green looking syrup.  Oops!

p.s.  ♥ kelsey