Date Night on the Ice: RAW Almond with JC Poirier

Last night Jesse and I had the pleasure of being invited by SYSCO reps to enjoy a night on the ice for one of Winnipeg’s best winter events, RAW Almond. Jesse has cooked for this event for the past 6 years and I have been a couple times, in the first couple years and also for the brunch that they have on weekends. The event is pretty exclusive and the tickets usually sell out very quickly, so I was very excited to be invited to go this year as the last time I went was when Jaxson was a baby for the brunch.

RAW Almond is always situated at The Forks on the river where the Red and Assiniboine rivers meet. If anyone knows anything about Winnipeg they know that this is the ultimate winter location, being one of Winnipeg’s biggest tourism spots and their emphasis on winter fun. It was a gorgeous, clear night and we stopped at The Common for a glass of wine beforehand. Our seating was at 5:30 so it was perfect for us parents to enjoy a night out without being out too late.

Another thing to know about RAW Almond is that there are different chefs for different seatings. Some are local Winnipeg chefs who have been doing the event for years and in recent years there have been more chefs from around North America. Canadian and American. Our chef for the night was JC Poirier. He is Montreal born but now resides in Vancouver where he owns his own restaurant.

The menu was simple but decadent. Duck, duck. duck. duck was all that was on the menu. I did try every course but because i’m not much of a meat eater I struggled a bit. My favourite dish was the tourtière and the simple cake with maple syrup. But it was nice to just get out for the night and do something a little different, especially since Jesse always works this event and we’ve never been able to go together. Because Jesse has worked with/friends with the creator of this event, Mandel Hitzer, we got to get a tour of the kitchen which was pretty cool. I guess him and Mandel had also talked about my situation during Kelowna and he gave me the biggest, most comforting bear hug which was very much appreciated. At the end of the dinner we enjoyed a beautiful clear view of the waxing gibbous moon in Taurus. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed our evening and we were able to meet some great, new people and try some delicious food and wine. Date night was a success.

Green Smoothie to heal the Heart Chakra

Leafy greens and chia seeds are the ultimate superfoods but did you know they can also heal a literal broken heart. I’ve been trying to focus on being more mindful and putting healing foods into my body considering everything i’ve been through in the last several months and more recently few weeks.

The heart chakra is at the centre of the body where the heart is located. It is the energy centre that radiates love, joy and happiness. it also allows us to feel sorrow, mourning , sadness and anger. It connects to all our other chakras and usually the one we notice most easily when it is out of whack. Having an out of whack heart chakra allows for the more negative emotions we feel to manifest, sadness and anger.

If you can feel your heart is broken there are several things you can do, step outside for some fresh air (depending on where you’re located this might not be ideal), spend time amongst green foliage, or take care of plant. Enjoy lots of green foods, like leafy greens, broccoli and Brussel sprouts. A green smoothie is the perfect way to treat your heart.

My green smoothie is relatively simple, I sometimes switch it up but it’s usually very similar. You will need.

1 cup of green Kale

1 cup of spinach

3 tablespoons chia seeds

1 cup of frozen blueberries

1 banana

1 cup of water or dairy free milk

I sometimes will add peanut butter and hemp hearts depending how I'm feeling. I usually like to use water just because I find that the milk doesn’t necessarily go with a green smoothie the best. I don’t have the greatest blender and even it does the job for this simple smoothie. I will usually have a smoothie at least 3 times a week but until I feel I have healed I am going to make it more of a daily thing. So cheers to happy healthy hearts.

Heart Chakra Healing Green Smoothie
It may not look that good but it is actually so refreshing and delicious. Sweet enough that you don’t get all that bitter, green, leafy taste.

My name is Kari

Hi y’all

My name is Kari. I am 29 years old and I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I am currently a stay at home mom to my two boys Jaxson who is 3 years old and Asher who is 8 months old. I am married to their father, Jesse who is a successful chef to multiple restaurants. We’ve been married for going on 4 years and have been together for 13! He is my high school sweetheart. I have worked in the customer service industry basically since I was 14 years old. I have always worked and full time, before I was a stay at home mom I worked for the a company called VIA Rail. It is the passenger train service in Canada, the only one, and it was one of the coolest jobs I ever had.

My interests include anything creepy. I have loved horror movies and books since I was a young girl and my love for anything horror has grown over the years. I am a self proclaimed horror movie buff and take pride in seeing almost every scary movie that is out there. I do love multiple horror authors but my favourite is the messiah, Stephen King. I’ve read over half of his written stories. I love plants and in recent years my collection has grown and I take pride in keeping several plants alive for several years. I have in recent years taken a liking to anything occult. I love astrology and keep learning more and more and every day. I’ve been practicing tarot for the about 5 years now, my crystal collection keeps growing, and I keep working on manifesting, meditation and other types of spell work. I would not call myself Wiccan because this is not something I have grown up on and I don’t want to appropriate that culture, but I would call myself more of a modern day spiritualist who practices old ways with my own twist. I love everything to be as natural as can be, and the environment is important to me. I recently adopted a more plant based diet and although I am not vegan I try to eat vegan as much as possible because the idea of our planet not being a habitable place for my children and grandchildren is absolutely heartbreaking. I love nature and animals like a true earth sign (Taurus girl through and through, sorry if that also gets me some hate, I realize Taurus’ are not always the most popular). I also love water and am an avid swimmer. I have been swimming since I was really young but my interest really took off when I was around 7 years old. You have not been able to get me out of the water since. Any time that I have available to me, you can find me in the pool, or at the lake/beach. I have my diving licence and although there is no ocean in the prairies, I dive every chance I get. I have been dubbed “the mermaid” from many different friends, and yes I have long hair down past my boobs and back but I can actually say that my love for swimming and anything water related is my reason for being called Mermaid and not just because I have long flowing hair.

I am also a fiercely loyal mother and wife. My family is everything to me. Being a mom is everything to me. The best job I ever had, and the most rewarding. Also the hardest job I ever had. I definitely plan to have more children in the future. At the moment there’s lots that we are waiting on before we can expand our family. Most important we need to move to a bigger house with more space.

The reason I call myself “momma bat” is because of this picture that I took of myself and now every time Jaxson sees this mirror in the hall he calls it Momma Bat. It’s a sorta cute nickname that he gave me and it’s definitely fitting.

Welcome to my world, I plan to talk about anything and everything. From my pregnancy/birth journeys, to my interests in the occult, to recipes, to deeper and more dark topics. I have always written and even blogged in different forms over the years and have been wanting to start this for a very long time but I always made excuses as to why I couldn’t. So here is the start to what I am hoping is something real, genuine, raw and beautiful.

Always,

Kari xox

Momma Bat with her boys on one of our many fall walks