June was a really busy month for me. Between working my usual Monday-Friday day job, I decided to get back into shape by joining a nearby hot yoga studio. Taking up hot yoga in a city like Toronto can be really expensive, but they were having an amazing promotion of 30 days for $30 and based on the location of the studio and the schedule of their classes, I knew I couldn’t turn it down. Since I had full unlimited access to any class, I decided to make the most of it and attend as many as I could.
Physically, I really benefited from the class. My clothes are a bit looser, my appetite has changed and I’m dealing with the Toronto humidity much better than I was last year. I’ve upped my water consumption and I can touch my toes again without having to bend my knees.
In the beginning of June, I made whole wheat cookie dough bites and later in the week when the humidity rose in our apartment, it took all of our willpower not to gobble them down.
Before I posted the recipe, I mentioned that Trevor compared the bites to the little bits of cookie dough in ice cream. Not that he really eats ice cream, but I’m sure that memory of being a kid and being able to digest it is still stuck in his head.
With this in mind, I set out to make a homemade dairy-free cookie dough ice cream substitute that he could enjoy. Just so I could stop getting dirty looks for wanting to keep the real thing in the freezer for me.
I present to you….Cookie Dough Banana Soft Serve “Ice Cream!”
After a few hours at the St. Jacob’s Farmer’s Market, Trevor and I went to Guelph where we planned on spending the rest of our weekend. Prior to this visit, we had never been and the only thing I knew about the town was that the university is a pretty big deal.
When I was doing research for our road trip, I came across Guelph’s downtown website and it was based on this that it seemed like the perfect way to spend the weekend. If you’ve read my About Me, you’d know that one of my favourite things to do is get coffee and check out bookstores. Based on their website, downtown Guelph had some fun looking bookstores and more than enough cafes, diners and coffee shops to keep me happy.
When we first arrived, we were pretty hot and tired from the market and were in desperate need of caffeine to keep the weekend going. Rather than being overwhelmed by the variety of coffee places (see: hot and tired), we chose the first place we saw. I ordered an iced Americano and Trevor got his signature double espresso.
My drink was just what I needed – bold and cold. Trevor said he enjoyed his drink too (you can be amazed at how many places can mess up a double espresso).
Once we were caffeinated, we explored a little bit of downtown. One of the nice things about downtown was the 2-hour free parking and since it wasn’t busy, no one seemed to care that we parked there a little longer than our 2-hour limit. Another thing that was great was there was room to walk on the sidewalk. Since we both work in downtown Toronto and take the subway everyday, we’ve had to get used to the city pace and the crowds. Not in Guelph!
When I first discovered St. Jacob’s Farmer’s Market back in 2010, my Mom and I were in the process of moving my brother into residence. He was about to start his first year of university and to make the most of the trip, we also planned to visit some family members. Since it was late August and we were driving, we also planned on picking up some local produce. Word on the street is that one of the best places to do it this was in St. Jacob’s Country.
I’m a little ashamed to say that since we moved to Southern Ontario, I haven’t been back to St. Jacob’s. I’ve checked out other farmer’s markets in my area, but in my honest opinion, nothing compares. So when Trevor suggested we leave the city for the weekend and take a road trip, I knew I had to fit this stop in our agenda.
We left the city before noon, but the highway was full of cars and moving s-l-o-w-l-y, so we set the GPS to take us on an alternate route. It took us a little longer than usual, but Trevor really enjoyed the scenic route. I just enjoyed not being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
When we arrived the market was packed, the weather was hot and we were starving. We did a quick walk around to check out the different food trucks and finally settled on roasted chicken sandwiches on fresh buns.
While Trevor ordered our food, I started playing with my camera.
I swear, this summer heat is almost worth it because I could eat these popsicles all day. In fact, I’ve been keeping a measuring cup full of this yogurt mixture in the fridge and every time another popsicle is eaten, I quickly fill up the popsicle mold and stick the whole thing in the freezer again.
Yogurt popsicle for breakfast? Check. Lunch? Double check. In fact, I should have bought a couple more popsicle molds. At the rate I’m eating them, they’ve barely have time to freeze.
Canadian food blogger, baking and eating her way through life. Musical theatre fanatic. Personal finance nerd. Sometimes runner/yogi. Green smoothies are pretty amazing.
