Acton's in Wolfville, NS Review + My Cupcake Kitchen Haul

Last friday, Mark and I embarked on an adventure to Wolfville to look for some wedding things and get some great food. Even though we weren't very successful in finding any wedding things I was looking for, we did find a few cute kitchen accessories and had a fabulous meal.

Every single time we were in Wolfville, we always walked by a restaurant called Acton's and I was always super intrigued by their specials displayed outside and the classy decor you could see from the windows. Honestly, I figured the food would just be okay and I would be super starving an hour later. Let's just say I really was wrong, it was one of the best meals I've ever had at a restaurant.

The restaurant has so many windows bringing in the light! They also have a balcony too!

The inside! So Classy.

The lunch specials they had that day.

 We walked in, and who must be the owner invited us to the restaurant and seated us. The waiter was super nice, explained the specials and gave us our water and menus. The menu seemed pretty posh for the prices and I was still skeptical of how much food we would really end up getting.

Mark ordered a gorgeous dish of mushroom risotto with beef tenderloin. He LOVED it. He also says it was one of the best restaurant meals he's every had and I tasted it, and must say I've never tasted meat so tender. Super yum!

Check out this gorgeous dish!

I wasn't too sure what to order but ended up getting oven broiled haddock with caesar salad. Totally to die for I must say; cooked perfectly and melt in your mouth. The salad was so tasty, well presented and definitely didn't taste like it came from a package like some other restaurants.

Yum yum yum!

Check out this fish! So delish!

Then came dessert. We ordered french chocolate cake with mocha icing. The icing didn't taste very mocha-like, but it was still super rich chocolate goodness. If you know me at all, you know I would pretty much die for chocolate and this was just what I needed.

It tasted even better than it looks..seriously!

If you ever, ever happen to make your way to Wolfville, please just go to Acton's. You will NOT be disappointed.

As for my kitchen accessories, we had to kill some time before the restaurant opened, so we headed to Pharmasave to look around. Of course the first thing I see in there is a huge section of cupcake kitchen stuff. They had aprons, tablecloths, dish towels, etc. Mark bought me the oven mitts and a dish towel that I love so much! His mom bought me a gorgeous cupcake apron from Stokes when she was visiting, so I`m all cup caked out in my kitchen for now!

 I hope you guys enjoy this post! I'll post my healthy lunch ideas next time I write!

Until next time,

Jacqueline

Healthy Breakfast Ideas

I want to start this post by saying : Let's be real. We all want to be healthier, thinner, fitter and definitely feel good about ourselves. I honestly think that starting a healthy lifestyle starts with us and the decisions we make as human beings. We can decide to eat a whole cheesecake and not do our work-out because we can't be bothered to get off our asses. It is truly up to us, but we can do something about it.

Over the last year or so, I have lost around 50 pounds. Over that period of time I have gave my all to my nutrition, fitness and my well-being. And then I wouldn't. I would give up and get up and start all over again. I just got over my giving up, and I know that I truly need to get back up and NEVER give up this time. So today, I want to share with you meals to help you get healthier and start your way towards a healthier life too.

Starting out with a good breakfast can help us out to a great start and help our bodies get stronger and ready for a fabulous day. Some people say they hate breakfast and can't eat in the morning and I was once one of those people. I think it is definitely important to eat at least one thing. You'll regret it later, when you want to eat the house down at 11PM! After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Eating oatmeal for breakfast is a fabulous way to jump-start your morning. What I love is oatmeal with raisins, pumpkin seeds, flax, cinnamon, almond milk and honey. You can also add brown sugar instead of honey, or add any fruit you like. Sometimes I add blueberries and blackberries. Be versatile with your food, mix it up. Just please promise me you wont add a cup of sugar to it!

Fresh fruit and toast are another great breakfast, and you can never get bored with it, because there are so many fruits to chose from. I love to eat granny smith apples with a little vanilla yogurt (greek yogurt is great!) and toast or maybe some granola instead.

 If you really, really can't be bothered to do much in the morning, smoothies are great for you. You can use fresh or frozen fruit, add some orange juice or milk, some yogurt, some people add ice and blend it up and drink it down. I love smoothies so much! Mango, orange & bananas are great or a mix berry smoothie! Don't forget to change it up too!

Other things I recommend for breakfast are; turkey bacon, Kashi cereals (but check the sugar), homemade granolas, eggs! and rice cereals.

 
Remember when you cook for yourself you control what goes into your food. Try not to make bad food decisions, especially in the morning because you will regret it! Start your day off strong!

Until next time,

Jacqueline

Cherry Clafoutis and Jack Astor's Review!

It finally feels like summer again. After three days of cold-ish weather I have to pick a day that is 30 degrees to bake..that's just me. I was super intrigued by the thought of a clafoutis while I had borrowed "Mastering The Art of French Cooking" from the library. Cherries are finally on sale again, so I took a half hour of my afternoon pitting cherries with a bobby pin (I found the tip online!!!) and now my fingers are totally purple. I guess thats the price to pay for yummy food.

I honestly couldn't believe how simple this recipe was, and you could totally use every kind of berry there is. I also found a recipe using rhubarb, which sounded delicious! If you dont like cherries I would suggest using strawberries since their in season and super sweet.

 For Cherry Clafoutis, you will need -

4 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 - 3 cups pitted cherries

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a bowl, whisk eggs and flour together until relatively smooth.
Slowly add in milk, sugar and vanilla, whisking away.
Flour a round cake pan, or deep casserole dish.
Dry off cherries and spread them on the bottom of the dish.
Pour batter over cherries.
Bake for 1 hour, until top is golden brown and middle is set.
Serve warm, sprinkled with icing sugar.
Enjoy this yummy, custard like cake!

Last week, Mark's mom came for a visit and we decided to bring her somewhere yummy on Mark & I's day off. We ended up going to Jack Astor's and just wanted to share what we all had!

 This was Dianne's open faced steak sandwich! She said she would rate it an 8/10.

 Mark's caesar salad.

 Mark's breaded chicken strips with buffalo sauce. He rated this 10/10. He also said it was the best restaurant chicken strips he ever had.

 This was my chicken fajitas with BBQ sauce. I would rate this 8/10. I also got this for free because they ran out of veggies, so they were late making this meal for me. I didn't mind one bit though, free is fabulous!

The cheese, lettuce, salsa, sour cream accompaniments, and the tortillas were at the bottom of the dish.

We also got fabulous dessert, but all I could think about was eating the yummy red velvet cake with chocolate and baileys sauce so I forgot to take a picture. We all shared the dessert, and I highly recommend it. I think it was called Jack Louis. Anyways, if you ever head over to Jack Astor's, get dessert, thats all I can say!

I hope you enjoyed this post! 

Until next time, 

Jacqueline

Yummy Rhubarb Custard Pie...FAIL!

Okay, so I wanted to make this pie for my blog today. Rhubarb season only lasts so long right? And of course my pie crust failed because its so warm this morning it was sticking to my counter top. I promise this is my favorite pie of life and will still taste like heaven on earth, so please do not mind this mangled mess of a pie!

For your pie crust, you will need - (And hopefully it will work for you today! I know why people bake on cold, rainy days now..)
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cups + 2 tbsp shortening
6-7 tbsp cold water

Mix together the flour & salt in a large bowl.
Cut shortening into small pieces and add to flour mixture.
Using your hands, a fork, two knives, a pastry cutter or whatever you prefer; mix in the shortening until it forms a flaky mixture, the shortening mostly incorporated into the flour without any big chunks.
Add water a tablespoon at a time, and mix in until it until dough sticks together enough to form a ball. Don't over mix.
Wrap up dough & chill for a half hour up to an hour, unless you want to make your pie later.
If you have a holy grail pie crust recipe, feel free to use it, this is the one that works for me (usually.)

Now for the pie filling, you will need -

1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
4 tsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
nutmeg (I taste and add more until I find the perfect amount. I grate mine in, so I'm not quite sure the amount but it's probably around 1/2 tsp)
4 cups rhubarb
Boiling water

Beat sugar & eggs together until creamy.
Add vanilla, flour, salt and nutmeg.
Put rhubarb in a bowl or tall measuring cup.
Pour over hot water and let stand for 3-4 minutes until a little softened.
Drain rhubarb.

To assemble the pie is pretty simple.
Roll out bottom crust and put in the rhubarb.
Evenly pour over the custard mixture.
Roll out top crust and place on top. 
Do your thing to the pie, fork the edges or roll them up.
Cut small slits into the top.

Bake at 425F for 40-45 minutes.
Let cool and enjoy my favorite pie!

don't mind the doughy dishes in the sink!

Happy Canada Day to all the Canadians! I hope you all do something fun on this gorgeous day!

Until next time, 

Jacqueline