For this recipe, begin by pre-heating your oven to 375*. We will be baking the chicken to provide a healthier alternative to frying chicken, while maintaining a tender, delicious chicken breast. Place the chicken in aluminum foil before coating it with a thin layer of olive oil. Continue by covering the chicken with a small amount of lemon juice, salt, pepper and garlic. Ensure the chicken is completely wrapped in foil before placing it in the pan and in the oven for 30-40 minutes depending on the size of the chicken breast. Make sure to flip the chicken after approximately 20 minutes. Continue by making Caesar salad, combining the clean romaine lettuce, Caesar dressing, Parmesan cheese, plus bacon bits and croutons if desired. Mix! Once the chicken is completely cooked (entirely white inside, with no pink spots), remove from the foil, cut into smaller pieces and add to the salad.

Voila! You have a tasty, healthy, easy dinner.

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For most people, back to school means absurd costs for textbooks, a return to early morning classes and late nights finishing assignments. But for some fortunate – or unfortunate – people back to school can mean moving (back) out on their own or a complicated schedule that leaves us to fend for ourselves when it comes to meals. As a University student with limited cooking experience, and five months of feeding myself under my belt, this is my personal guide to surviving not only efficiently, but also on a budget.

Invest in a Cookbook – This is an important step aimed at those of you who are branching out on your own. A good quality cookbook will not only serve as a step by step guide for those of us who don’t really know what we’re doing in the kitchen – but also as a great source of inspiration for days when you just don’t know what to make. Take your time at the bookstore to choose a cookbook that suites your needs. By reading through the cookbook before buying it you will ensure that it will provide you with options that not only suit your dietary needs, but meals that you will actually WANT to make. Nothing is worse than being disappointed with your cookbook and being left on your own to sort out dinner.

Plan your Meals in Advance – With the guide of your carefully chosen cookbook, try and plan out at least one of your meals per day for 3-4 days. By planning meals out in advance, you will decrease the chances of making easy, but not so healthy options when it gets to mealtime. This will also help with grocery shopping, making sure that you have all the necessary ingredients on hand to make a healthy and delicious meal.

Grocery Shopping – This is where weighing your options between budget and convenience becomes a priority. Take your time and do your research as to which grocery stores have the best prices. In my experience Price Smart and Superstore are two of the more budget friendly options. However don’t be fooled by the cheap prices for some items. Be sure to spend the money on good quality fruits and vegetables. Sometimes this will result in trips to multiple grocery stores however it could end up saving you money as good quality fruits and vegetables are likely to last longer when stored properly.

Make Enough for Leftovers – When you go through the effort to make a more complicated meal like homemade spaghetti, be sure to make enough for leftovers.  These are great for days when you have late class, or just don’t feel like cooking. Throwing leftovers in the freezer will keep them for longer and make for quick, easy, delicious meals that can keep you going for days.

Keep it Simple – The best piece of advice I can give anyone who’s just starting out with the self feeding is keep it simple. Trying to come up with extravagant, exotic meals generally just creates more stress than is necessary, while sending the cost of your groceries skyrocketing. By sticking to simple, healthy meals you can enjoy not only cooking and eating on your own, but paying your grocery bill.

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As a non-Vancouver native, this year’s Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival that took place June 11 and 12, 2011, was my first encounter with the world of Dragon Boat racing. The sport gained popularity following Vancouver’s Expo ’86 while the festival celebrates and promotes racial harmony in one of Canada’s most diverse cities. Bringing together young and old, the tradition with the modern, this festival had something for all ages, including racing teams for youth, adults, seniors, men, women, rookies and seasoned vets.

Not only does the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival uphold its roots in ancient myths and legends from Southern China, but also it incorporates more modern cultural celebrations such as the World Beat Stage. With world music, dance and jazz performances, the festival has seamlessly merged tradition and modern culture into one giant celebration of cultural diversity.

As a fairly recent arrival in Vancouver from Calgary (insert redneck, cowboy or Stephen Harper joke here) for me, this festival was not only an opportunity to immerse myself in the unique and diverse culture of Vancouver, but it was also an opportunity for me to take in a live show by Y57′s 2010 Battle of the Bands Winners, Hello, Sir. Their performance at the World Beat Stage included a number of Hello, Sir original songs as well as covers of Green Day’s Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), and Bruno Mars’Grenade, both of which were met with enthusiasm from the crowd. While this marked one of the last Hello, Sir performances before the band goes on hiatus, singer Camille has high hopes for the band to continue creating music and reuniting stronger than ever in the future. Also in high hopes for the band? A Stanley Cup Victory for the Vancouver Canucks who will be returning to Boston this Monday for game six of the Stanley Cup Finals – regardless of whether they win in Boston or at home.

Click here to view the full gallery from the event!

Also click here to read a feature article on Hello, Sir, who performed live on-air on April 25th, 2011. Did you miss that show? Don’t worry! You can re-listen to that show here.

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“My short skirt is not begging for it, it does not want you to rip it off me or pull it down. My short skirt is not a legal reason for raping me although it has been before it will not hold up in the new court. My short skirt, believe it or not has nothing to do with you.” - Eve Ensler, My Short Skirt from Vagina Monologues

For those of you fortunate enough to be familiar with Vagina Monologues and the V-Day movement, the themes of empowering women, and embracing female sexuality are likely familiar to you. However for the group of York students who were told by Toronto police officer Michael Sanguinetti, “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized,| this female empowerment and positive attitude towards female sexuality is something long lost.

This comment made by officer Sanguinetti is one that has sparked SlutWalk marches across the country, including Vancouver’s that took place on Sunday, May 15 at 1pm.

Thousands of men, women, and children gathered at the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery in a protest against men who simply cannot take “No” for an answer. Upon marching down the streets of Downtown Vancouver and gaining more participants as the walk progressed, empowering speeches and stories were told by WAVAW‘s Ariana Barer and Arlana Green, Pivot‘s Darcie Bennett, BWSS‘s Angela Marie MacDougall, Ellen Woodsworth, BCCLA‘s Megan Vis-Dunbar, Youth Co.‘s Kory Doty and Lulu Gurney, Michela Fiorido, Lucia Lorenzi, and Lilliana D’Amour. Rape, sexual assault, gender and race were all issues addressed, but the underlying message within each speech was made very clear: no one is ever asking to be raped or sexually assaulted. But in a patriarchal society, this stigma imposed upon them.

Participants either dressed in warm attire for the Vancouver rain, or dressed accordingly to the belief that it does not matter what a woman wears in society. While some women dared to march in the nude, some men dressed up like women (heels and all) in an attempt to walk in our shoes. Seeing all of these victimized participants take a stand for what they believed in was inspirational; not to mention the overwhelming feeling of hope and joy for the female society when seeing support from tons of men and children carrying signs and chanting for change into mega-phones. With almost half of the crowd in attendance being men or children, and men holding signs saying “Real men take NO for an answer”, all participants helped to charge up the crowd.

Some of our favorite signs that were cheeky and clever:

“Fashion is NOT an invitation to rape me”
“Sluts like sex, not rape”
“Cleavage is not division”

The SlutWalk Vancouver brought hope and shed light to the often overlooked issues of female empowerment, and allowed women of all ages to feel accepted as they rallied for equality and peace among Vancouver. Whether the individuals in attendance had experienced rape or sexual assault first hand, or had been in a situation where male dominance had simply over-powered female perspective, change was attempted and will continue to push through in Vancouver, thanks to the SlutWalk.

Photo by: Cassie Dixon

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