Chocolate, Coffee, Kitchen

I MOVED!!

2009-01-22T09:54:00.002-05:00

SO as I mentioned before, I was thinking for a while about how to change the blog, if I wanted to even come back to blogging, etc., and decided that while I was thinking about all of this I might as well just migrate over to wordpress and see how I like it there. I like it. haha. I'm sorry because I know it's a pain to change your links but please come visit me over there and I promise I'll be around a lot more often and will be delivering some new and improved blogging :)

Thanks for all of your sweet comments the other day too, I appreciate every single one of you and have been reading your blogs for months now, even though I haven't always been vocal about it :/

http://chocolatecoffeekitchen.wordpress.com

Greetings! haha

2009-01-21T10:10:00.003-05:00

Hello friends :)
I'm not sure if there's anyone still out there... I know I've been gone for a while. A LOT has happened in the past few months. When I last left you I was living in Montreal with my boyfriend, however now I've moved home to live with my parents in Nova Scotia (I don't blame you if you don't know where that is, there's not much to see haha) and the boy is attending nursing school at UMass Amherst, so we're doing the long distance thing for now. Not fun. I've thought about taking up blogging again but changing the focus of the blog.. I'm not sure what will happen yet though. I just wanted to give a little shoutout to let you know I am still reading your blogs and lurking in blogland :)
xox linds

Happy Birthday to Meeee

2008-11-12T20:41:00.004-05:00

I've always loved birthdays for the simple fact that they are your day. You get to choose what you do, where you go, who comes to your party (lol my inner 8 year old coming out there) annnd you get to choose the food. Of course. The food. Though I love going out to dinner, staying in and cooking is often just as fun- and with birthdays just 5 days apart, the boyfriend and I decided to save some cash and just go all out with two days of awesome home birthday menus :)

For my day, I chose pizza. It's such a fast and easy dish using my new fave dough recipe. I doubled it to get 2 pizzas, topping one with buffalo sauce, tomato sauce, chicken and mozzarella like the first time I made this, and for the second one I just coated the dough with olive oil and spread caramelized onions, walnuts, and Swiss cheese on top. In retrospect, I wish I had used some figs on this one too, but they weren't totally necessary and both pizzas tasted fantastic.

What's a birthday without cake?! For myself I chose to make this yellow cake with chocolate fudge frosting. So yum, a nice light crumb texture and nothing was cloyingly sweet. And there's my sweetie placing candles on the cake in the shape of a '23'. Awww :)

For his day, the birthday boy decided he didn't want cake and challenged me to find a lower-fat sweet. Which really isn't a challenge at all when you have Happy Herbivore recipes at your fingertips. I made her Pecan Cinnamon Buns and I was absolutely blown away by how good they were. I mean, of course having used her recipes before I expected perfection, but this.... These sticky buns were out of this world good. And so easy. They were definitely my favourite item on the birthday menu roundup and will be making many future Sunday morning appearances.

Naked buns, frosted buns! Hahaha

Then for dinner, we had Smitten Kitchen peanut sesame noodles, except that we had them hot, and had vegetables on the side so that each noodle bite could be as peanut buttery noodley as possible (birthday boy request).

Birthdays should also involve lots of wine- I think there's a bottle visible in every picture except with the cinnamon buns. We had those at 10am so we held off on the wine. But just until noon.

Overcoming My Fear of Yeast

2008-11-04T09:49:00.004-05:00

I love to read through recipes and start planning dinners around them- however, more often than not, when I'm scanning down the ingredients list and see the word "yeast", I turn the page. Dealbreaker. I don't do yeast. At least I didn't, but yesterday that all changed and I couldn't be happier.

The recipe to change my mind was none other than pizza dough. Basic, simple pizza dough. That's what Deb told me, and though I feared that it couldn't possibly work, I believed her (having already made her delicious pumpkin butter didn't hurt in helping to instill a little trust).

All that was asked of me was to mix together flour, yeast (I used instant because my store was out of active dry somehow) salt, water and olive oil. Knead, form into a ball and place it in a greased bowl covered with plastic wrap. Let it rise for 1-2 hours somewhere warm- I preheated my oven at 200 for a few minutes, shut it off, and then stowed my growing dough in there. Push the air out of it. Let it rest another 20 minutes under the plastic wrap again, then take it out and roll in into desired shape (in my case, a deformed circular rectangle, in Deb's case a perfect circle). Top it with whatever your heart desires and bake it quickly in a scorching hot oven. Enter pizza nirvana. Check!

I made mine buffalo chicken style, by mixing some sliced precooked chicken cubes with 1/2 cup tomato sauce and 1-2 tbsp buffalo chicken sauce. I also used mozzarella cheese and sliced green onions, but was really wishing I had blue cheese on hand to make this truly perfect.

Ta da! You can bet I was incredibly proud of my pizza. You can also bet that I will be making this again. Now that I've conquered my fear of yeast, I can't wait to move onto more ambitious dishes (bread, or cinnamon rolls perhaps?).

The pizza dough recipe can be found here, and really now that I've done it you have no excuse not to try it. No one should be scared of yeast :)

Moose Madness & The Finest Foods of Fall

2008-10-14T21:45:00.007-04:00

What a whirlwind weekend I've had. I feel like a celebrity jetsetter. Except for the small fact that I was in a car, not a jet, I'm tired because I stared down a highway for 2 days and not due to fancy time zone changes, and I went to Nova Scotia, not Milan. So actually not like a celebrity jetsetter at all. Anyway, on to some actual details about my trip- the boyfriend (Steve for future reference, it gets tiresome typing out "the boyfriend") and I picked up the car around noon on Thursday and proceeded to pack my life into it, aka 4 years' worth of university textbooks, furniture, clothing, and whatever else you can cram into a small car. Let me tell you, we did NOT waste space either. Any and all free nooks were stuffed with dirty laundry for us to wash at home (anyone else still do this? I always bring laundry home, even when home is 12 hours away...). We left a couple hours behind schedule but figured we could make up the lost time by speeding through Quebec. Not a good idea. We got pulled over less than an hour out of the city by a cop with a huge flashing arrow on his car. We somehow didn't notice this huge, blinking monstrosity on the side of the road. He didn't speak a whole lot of English and we wound up with a speeding ticket. Whoops, so much for trying to get back on the time schedule.

The rest of Quebec involved an hour-long detour through god knows where and then we entered New Brunswick, which shall now be know as the land of the moose. By now it was insanely foggy and 2am and there were these huge moose crossing signs every 5km with ATTENTION written in bright red letters underneath a picture of a huge moose. I never thought I would be scared of moose, but I am now. I did not want one of those going through my windshield. Luckily though, we arrived moose-free and safe in Nova Scotia at 4am. Of course we woke up my mom and her new PUPPY which we had to play with for a bit before heading to bed at the very reasonable hour of 5:30am.

After the trauma involved in actually arriving, the visit itself was quite relaxing. My dad bought us 4 pounds (yes you read that correctly) of super fresh NS scallops for dinner Friday night. They were fresh enough to eat raw- I tried one this way and wow, it just melted in my mouth. I have never before tasted seafood that good. We had our big turkey dinner on Saturday which was also amazing and involved homemade stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, wine, and those infamous NYTimes Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are worth the hype, go make some now!!!

We left Sunday morning and got back into the city (moose-free again) late that evening. So while it was a quick visit, I'm certainly glad we went. Except for that speeding ticket.

Now that I'm back in my own home, I feel completely immersed in the Fall season. All of the leaves are turning gorgeous shades of red and yellow and the air is crisp, yet the sun keeps the days fairly warm. This is by far my favourite time of year, and not just for the scenery. You may exclaim over perfectly ripe strawberries and summer tomatoes all you like- but for me, nothing beats an apple right off the tree in the middle of Fall. I didn't get a chance to go apple picking while home (and there aren't many orchards in downtown Montreal) so I've contented myself with luscious Honeycrisps for eating raw and deliciously tart Granny Smiths for cooking. Apple pie and apple crisp are quintessential Autumn desserts for me, and the smell of cinnamon in my kitchen is comfort at its best, so it wasn't hard for me to choose what to make for dessert tonight. I decided to play with the flavours a little by adding in a pear to this apple crisp recipe, and wow what a difference it made! I will be going back to this recipe all Autumn long :)

Apple-Pear Crisp

Filling:

2 Granny Smith apples, chopped into small cubes

1 pear, chopped into small cubes

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

1 1/2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Streusel Topping:

1/4 cup rolled oats

2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 to 2 teaspoons chilled butter, cut into pieces

(1) Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients and mix well. Pour into greased (I used cooking spray) pie dish or oven-safe saucepan.

(2) Mix together all streusel ingredients (except for butter) until well blended. Cut in butter until lumps start to form in the mixture. *For a richer taste, use more butter- up to 3 tablespoons if desired. I wanted to keep this light so I cut down the butter and just sprayed my crisp with a little cooking spray before putting it into the oven*

(3) Top filling evenly with streusel topping. Bake for roughly 45 minutes, until apples and pears are soft. Let cool 10 minutes before serving. Tastes best with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

Kitchen Wars

2008-10-06T22:06:00.005-04:00

The cabinet doors are closed but I can still almost feel an air of jealousy and rivalry in the kitchen... Peanut Butter, a longtime favourite, is feeling threatened (and rightfully so) for look who I brought home:

There's a new nut butter in town, and boy is this one good! Macadamia nuts are my absolute fave (how awesome would it be if Larabar made a Macadamia Nut Cookie bar?!?!), and in this spread they provide a perfect sweetness. The creamy texture and taste made this hands-down the best nut butter I have ever tried. I had seen this brand (Nuts to You Nut Butter Inc.) in stores before but shied away from the $8/jar price tag. Tonight, however, I found it in a tiny Arabic grocery store for only $3.29- that's cheaper than the pb is at my favourite health food store! And at that price, peanut butter is fighting a losing battle for shelf space in my kitchen.

In other news, the boyfriend and I are embarking on an adventure this week- we are renting a car and driving from Montreal to my hometown in Nova Scotia to celebrate (Canadian) Thanksgiving with my family. Sounds lovely and all, except that this glorious trip is going to take us 14 hours to complete. Yep, that's one way. Needless to say, 28 hours on the road within a 4 day span means LOTS of car snacks- what are your favourites?? I have a lot of stocking up to do!! Hopefully we don't get lost in rural Quebec or run into moose in New Brunswick (they have moose crossing signs all over there). I'll be sure to fill you all in on whether I make it through the drive with my sanity intact, and of course post some pics of the fresh seafood and turkey dinner waiting for us in NS!

Have a great week all! :)

Kermit-Colored

2008-09-29T15:05:00.004-04:00

I beg to differ with Mr. Kermit the Frog- it is VERY easy to be green! Especially with this bright smoothie :) I've heard about green smoothies and the even more healthful process of jucicing and drinking your greens, and now that I've finally tried it I can't believe I waited so long.

For this smoothie I started with roughly a cup of frozen mango chunks. Then I added a good handful of spinach (washed and stems removed), some ice cubes, and a little unsweetened soymilk (or you could use water, to make it Raw). I gave it an extra-long run in the blender just to make sure I wouldn't wind up with spinachy bits. What I finally got to taste was a rich, thick, refreshing smoothie. The spinach gave a great texture and provided a balance to the sweet mango. I loved it this way, but if you're a little wary of spinach in your smoothies or want a sweeter taste, adding in half a banana would most likely add that extra creamy sweetness.

Greens in general have been on my mind a lot lately since I started reading Kristen's Raw, both her blog and her raw lifestyle pages. While I don't think a 100% raw vegan lifestyle is the one for me, I really like her philosophy and her energy. I do feel "better", more alive, when I eat pure, unprocessed foods in their natural states. I'm going to try to do a raw day- just to see how it makes me feel. And if that's the only 100% raw day I ever do, that's fine by me, because no matter what else I'm eating I know my new love for green smoothies will ensure I'm getting in *some* raw all the time :)

A Better Banana Bread

2008-09-23T08:10:00.006-04:00

I've quickly come to the realization that I am not an everyday blogger. Or even an every two day blogger. Posting my meals is boring for me and I hate feeling like my entries are uninspired and lacking in creativity! Therefore, I'm going back to why I created this blog in the first place- to share my love for good food and the pleasure involved with it in the form of recipes and other musings :) And I think I'm going to be a lot happier doing it :) I'll also update a little along the way about how my recasting is going (French Women Don't Get Fat- for those who missed me mentioning it before).

The recipe that awakened me from my blog slumber and brought about the utter need to post was, fittingly, a breakfast one. I love muffins and quick breads for breakfast but I don't love their sugar content, so I came up with a banana bread-like pancake recipe that uses only one tablespoon of sweetener (I used agave but I bet honey would be great too!). The recipe is based on my favourite pancake template, from vegan baking queen Hannah Kaminsky.

Banana Bread Pancakes

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup vanilla soymilk
1 tbsp agave nectar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp pureed banana

Mix first 4 (dry) ingredients. Mix wet separately. Slice remaining part of banana very thinly and gently fold into dry ingredients at the same time you mix in the wet. Don't overmix! Let sit for up to 10 minutes. Pour batter onto a greased pan and cook until edges are dry and bubbles start to pop in the middle of your pancake. Then flip and cook until underside is lightly browned. Serve with maple syrup, peanut butter, or both :) The banana slices melt into the batter and give a rich banana bread flavour- definitely worth waking up for!

I did a nutritional facts analysis using calorie-count.com's recipe feature and came up with this: each serving (one recipe) provides apprx. 430 calories, 1.5g fat, 9.5g fiber, 11.4g protein. Obviously, any substitutions will alter these approximations.

Cheers For Fuses And Working Stoves!

2008-09-09T20:31:00.005-04:00

SO I'm gonna try out this posting every two days thing but the result may just be one long post that is no fun to read, but anyway I'll try it out and see how I like it :) I also think I might post a rough calorie estimate for my days as well- my aim is always on eating for pleasure but when it comes to dropping a few pounds it doesn't hurt to keep an eye on the numbers. If there's anything you guys don't like about these changes please let me know :)

TUESDAY

It was all about the stove-top oats this morning!!!! It's been months since my last bowl of real oats, and I thoroughly enjoyed every last bite of this breakfast. In the mix was the standard 40g of oats with 1/3 cup skim milk, 1/3 cup water, a pinch of salt, one whole and very ripe banana, cinnamon, brown sugar, and of course a spoonful of crunchy peanut butter. Coffee with skim milk also made an unphotographed appearance.

I worked the 7-3 shift this morning (so the above oats were eaten at 5:30, sooo earlyyy) and I brought a lunch that I made the night before: two ounces of whole wheat linguine with tomato basil sauce, plain yogurt, and a banana.

I got home around 4 and then had to switch gears since class started at 6, so I snacked on a plate of carrots and hummus while I figured out what to make for dinner.

I went with a mixed greens salad with rotisserie chicken, olives, jalapenos (which I wound up taking off since the flavours just did not compliment each other), rosemary and garlic croutons, rice vinegar, and olive oil. For dessert I had the most decadent banana yogurt with a small handful of Kashi Go-Lean Crunch. It's a grocery store brand yogurt and it's flavoured but the sugar content isn't that crazy and it's so thick and delicious, I think I'll have to buy this one again.

After class I baked up a batch of Kath's VeggieGirl Inspired Pumpkin Bread (in muffin form) for the boyfriend since he is so good to me :) He's already devoured 3, I had half of one. So doughy, so good, and a perfect treat to celebrate the coming of fall!

Today's (rough) total: 1355

MONDAY

Breakfast this morning was 40g of oats that I soaked overnight in 1/2 cup water, then in the morning added in a few big spoonfuls of plain yogurt, cinnamon, and a banana.

I packed a lunch but wound up getting to eat it at home because I was left off work early :) I had carrots and cucumber slices with 2 tablespoons of roasted garlic hummus, rotisserie chicken with honey mustard on a whole wheat English muffin, and a plain yogurt that I jazzed up with a little fresh cut mango. I definitely gnawed on the pit after cutting up that mango.... Can't waste any of that deliciousness!! :)

Dinner was kind of in stages- I had class from 6-9 so I started eating around 4 and just kind of ate constantly until it was time to leave. I started with a bowl of whole wheat linguine with tomato basil sauce (about 2 ounces of pasta). This was the first meal I cooked on my (now working) stove in my new apartment!!! I think it was extra tasty just because I was so happy to have cooked food lol.

Next up I had about 1/2 cup of microwaved egg whites with salt and pepper and a generous pile of ketchup. On the side was half of a whole wheat English muffin and some mango slices.

Today's (rough) total: 1200

Lately I've been absolutely hooked on The Biggest Loser Australia (full seasons on YouTube!!!!) And I'm a little embarassed to admit that I'm nearly done season one. It's kind of where all my free time is going.

Heart to Heart

2008-09-07T22:27:00.004-04:00

Hi guys :) I've missed blogging, I know I've been away for a really long time, but I have been super busy and as I've yet to fall into a routine, I'm still feeling a little crazy and unsettled. My laptop is ok now and I finally have internet, school (two night classes every week for me) has started, I'm working a full time job and I've moved into a fantastic apartment with my even more fantastic boyfriend :) Needless to say, I am much happier now than I was during the lonely summertime! I'm still working out a few kinks with the apartment (a couple fuses are out, including the one that powers the stove- what a tease! I can look at my lovely new oven but can't use it yet!!) but hopefully everything will get sorted out within this week and I can settle down into something more normal.

I also (still) have a little bit of weight to lose, and some areas to tone. I'm away from the restaurant now so I really have no excuses for eating too much dessert. I haven't yet decided if I should go back to what I was doing before, blogging my meals every day, because first off it would probably get a little boring (I'm really not that exciting lol) and secondly I don't know if I have the time for it. But, I also did enjoy doing it and it would be fun to share my recasting and reshaping. The accountability that blogging holds you to, at least until new things become habit, is also a plus. I kind of like how Broccoli Hut posts every two days, so there's another idea..

Anyway it's been far too long since I shared any pictures around here, so I simply must show off what my boyfriend (Steve, for future reference) brought me from Boston: 4 jars of PB and Co peanut butter (white chocolate and dark, the best obviously) a WHOLE BOX of peanut butter Larabars (BEST EVER) and a nice big bottle of Moet et Chandon champagne, which we toasted our new apartment with :) Let me tell you, this girl here loves her champagne :)

Rest assured, I have been reading, if not commenting on what all of you lovely ladies have been up to :) xox

I'm Still Here!

2008-08-22T12:14:00.003-04:00

My laptop died!!!!!!!!!!! I have been soo busy working that today is the first I've had time to come use the computers on campus to post and catch up on emails and other blogs. I've missed everyone! My boyfriend, who is much better with technology than I am, is going to try to fix it when he gets here next Friday, but until then it's picture-less campus posts for me :( Sorry guys :(
At least it's sunny, which has me in a great mood :) AND I have PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE LARABARS to look forward to when the bf comes!!!!!! I bought one when I was in Boston and tried it the other day, and ohhh my god I am in love! He promised to bring me some :) What a good boy haha. Now if only he would bring up a small cooler stocked with Fage, he'd be perfect. (Just kidding!) Ok I am off to enjoy the sun a bit before heading off to work but hopefully I'll get my computer issues resolved soon!

Lessons Learned

2008-08-17T01:30:00.003-04:00

I went out for a lovely walk today- I was probably out for an hour before I started to get hungry and decided it was lunchtime. I made 1/2 cup of egg whites in the microwave just like last time, and then made it into a sandwich with a toasted whole wheat English muffin, mustard & ketchup, spinach, and tomato. I wish I had some cheese for this though, that would have made it perfect! On the side I had a sweet potato which I microwaved until soft and then cut into cubes and sauteed on the stovetop until crispy. Ketchup for dipping, of course.

I actually only wound up eating half of the sweet potato, because I decided to get some gelato! My cone was oreo, mint chocolate chip, tiramisu, and chocolate hazelnut.

I finished one shift at job #1 at 7 and my shift at job #2 was actually supposed to start at 7 (obviously I didn't get there on time, thank goodness everyone who works there is crazy laid back and just happy that I show up), so needless to say dinner was eaten on the run. I had a kamut tortilla with a banana and about 2 tablespoons of PB&Co's Mighty Maple PB. I LOVE this pb flavour!!!!! The hint of sweetness is perfect. Ughhh I would move to the states just for the food products. Well I actually might be moving to the states, but that's a different story. Also, my boyfriend tells me that no one who lives in the states, actually calls it the states. It's America. Or the US. Or, as my grandpa says, the US of A. Well, that was quite the tangent.

I snacked too much at work tonight- I was distracted every time I was eating, which means I didn't enjoy it enough so I ate more in volume to make up for the lack of satisfaction, and also means that I don't even know how much I ate. I had a few handfulls of my co-workers fries, which were just a little too heavy for me (as I'm feeling now) and lots more bites of gelato. I just feel kind of bloated now. I need to stop making excuses for myself for eating while at work. If I'm going to be hungry, bring a snack. Or just don't eat it.

Oooh I was going to end there but I just remembered something I wanted to share :) One of the girls I work with asked me tonight if I was ever a gymnast. I was a little confused (wondered why she would ask?) and replied that I used to figure skate. I still have pretty good tone in my legs (though I'm not sure that it's leftover from my skating days) and I tend to get complimented on my legs and my bum. Haha I feel silly saying that, but really, I always get told that I have a nice bum. It's a pretty good bum, I guess. Ok no more bum I have to stop there. Annnnyway wow I am on a roll with tangents today. Back to my story- when I told her I used to skate she was like 'ohh well I asked if you did gymnastics because you have really toned arms'. I have never been told I had anything close to tone in my arms!!!! Must be all those 20lb boxes I lift for 8 hours a day at job #1 :) Anyway her comment made me smile and definitely makes me want to tone up all the rest of me just as nicely :)

Have a happy rest-of-weekend! :)

Toasty

2008-08-16T09:17:00.003-04:00

I was slightly more energized when I woke up this morning :) I still think I'm going to hang out in bed and read a bit, but no more sleeping! I've got coffee with me right now to prove it haha.

Breakfast this morning was 2% plain yogurt, Nature's Path Organic Smart Bran Psyllium cereal, 1/2 a banana, blueberries, and a white peach, all topped with toasted almond slivers. Delicious! I loved the crunch of the toasty almonds in there. My bowl was huge and should definitely hold me until lunch.

I want to get a walk in today or maybe some gym time before work.... We'll see :)

Satisfaction

2008-08-15T23:42:00.002-04:00

Soooo I definitely went back to bed after breakfast today :) It's honestly one of my favourite things to do... During the school year on weekends I loved waking up super early, enjoying my oats, and then falling back asleep for a few hours before waking up again to coffee. Ok, I'm a little weird :) I only slept for half an hour or so today though, and then I got up and made myself some coffee before heading to the gym. I did 40 minutes on the elliptical today while watching X-Weighted, which is a weight-loss show filmed in Nova Scotia (where I grew up!). Watching kind of made me miss home but it was nice to see all of the familiar places! It was also inspiring to work out while watching it- basically the show follows one or two people an episode and covers about six months of their weight loss journey. This episode focused on two best friends, one woman whose starting weight was 235, the other at 295. Both of them wound up losing quite a bit of weight, which made me feel happy for them :) As with any weight-loss show I watch I always hope the contestants stick to their new habits and see it as a lifestyle change, not just a quick fix to lose some pounds. But anyway enough blabbering, on to the food!!!!

I absolutely loved everything I ate today :) It really is my goal to make every day like this! For lunch I toasted up two fig + flax waffles spread with a little butter, 1/2 cup microwaved egg whites, grapes, and a white peach that was a little bruised but still tasted delicious! I need to take a moment to rave about egg whites- SUPER easy to make in the micro, delicious, and they kept me full forever! I just buttered up a little dessert bowl and poured in about 4 egg whites, then microwaved for roughly a minute, stopping every 20 seconds to stir. They came out fantastic, tasting just like they were poached! The touch of butter I used to grease the cup provided awesome flavour too. Sprinkled with a little salt & pepper, they were perfect. Expect to see a lot more egg whites on this blog!!!! :)

Dinner was just as much fun! I had a mixed greens salad with blueberries and balsamic vinegar. Blueberries are definitely my favourite berry and they are perfect in salads, since they are both sweet and tart. I had some 2% plain yogurt anddd one of my Boston finds! The Kashi Go-Lean Chewy protein & fiber bar, in chocolate almond toffee. This. Was. Awesome. It was pretty big so it took me a while to eat, and it tasted like a candy bar, but better. It was pretty sweet (the only downfall, there are 31g of sugar in this bar- yikes!) but with 13g of protein, 6g fat and 6g fiber this guy kept me going at work all night. I only wish Kashi would sell such deliciousness in Canada!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another super busy weekend at work (double shifts both days) but at least I have Monday off so I can catch up on sleep and downtime then! Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Reunited With Oats

2008-08-15T10:35:00.004-04:00

It's been sooo long since I last had oats! They tasted especially delicious today :) The mix was standard, with 40g of oats, a pinch of salt, 1/3 cup skim milk, 1/3 cup water, 1/2 banana, raisins, lots of cinnamon, brown sugar, and an almond butter spoonful. The new addition today was a big spoonful of 1% cottage cheese for a little extra protein. It melted into the oats and gave great texture, though it added pretty much nothing to the taste.

Now that I've had breakfast though all I really want to do is go back to sleep! I don't know why I'm so tired... Probably because I haven't had my coffee yet ;) I want to fit in a gym trip today and then I'm working at 4 but that's about it, pretty boring day. At least August is coming to an end and some of my friends (and boyfriend!!!!!!!!!!!) will be coming back soon! I am so excited to move into my new apartment with the boy :) Two more weeks until it happens!!!!!

Happy Friday! :)

Figs In My Waffle

2008-08-14T23:38:00.003-04:00

I just got home from work and I have such an awful headache! No clue where it came from :( So I'm going to post quick and then go straight to bed, I have a lot planned for tomorrow and I want to wake up early and feel well-rested. As for today, I woke up a little late and wasn't hungry (probably because of some late night fruit and cereal snacking!) so I went to the gym and did a quick 20 minutes on the elliptical. I made brunch for myself as soon as I got back, which consisted of some grapes, very ripe mango, 1/2 cup of 1% cottage cheese, and a new grocery find, a Lifestream Fig + Flax waffle spread with a touch of butter. These are by far my favourite frozen waffle- they have great flavour and little bits of fig in the waffle!! Yum.

My packed dinner for work was some more grapes, yogurt, a whole wheat roll, and a mixed greens salad with blueberries, broccoli, and balsamic vinegar. Lots of 'b' words there haha.

I didn't eat a whole lot today because I just wasn't that hungry. I ate until I was quite full every day in Boston and snacked last night so that's probably why my appetite was off today.

Have a good night everyone and see you in the morning :)

Boston!

2008-08-14T00:33:00.008-04:00

I'm back! But I really wish I was still there, I had such an amazing time! I don't have a ton of food pics to share but I do have some scenic ones and lots of stories :) We spent a lot of time at Cape Cod and a day in Provincetown, which is where most of the pics here were taken:

Beach at sunset.

Rainbows EVERYWHERE in P-town!

I also got to vist two other popular tourist attractions (ok for me at least) Trader Joe's and Whole Foods!!!! Ahhhh!!! I had a field day inside both stores. It was honestly so exciting for me to browse the aisles, and find all the foods I see on my favourite blogs :) At Whole Foods I had to pick up a vegan chocolate chip scone after seeing all of Erica's posts on them, and wow this baked good did not disappoint! (Like you can't already tell, the picture is of my scone after I had a few bites haha I couldn't resist!).

And then there was the yogurt. Oh my god, the yogurt. I picked up a coconut milk-based So Delicious in Passionate Mango and was immediately in dairy-free heaven. It was so thick and rich and delicious, definitely better than most sweetened yogurts I've tried. I was impressed by this one for sure. The only downfall was the lower protein amount, versus dairy yogurts. I was also introduced to Stonyfield Farms on my trip, but I feel that I can't give a fair review on their yogurt because I tried it after I tried Fage and Fage is the GREATEST YOGURT EVER!!!!!!! I only tried the 2% but it absolutely blew me away. There is nothing like this in Canada. I felt like every spoonful was an indulgence and am still contemplating a way to have Fage delivered to me daily via a personal refrigerated Fage truck. Yeah, that's how in love I am :) Another thing I am in love with is the cost of groceries at the stores I visited- Canadian prices are consistently higher than the US ones I saw. Larabars at TJ's were $1.29- at my local store it's $3.00 for one.

I did more than grocery shop though, I swear! I went to my boyfriend's house on Cape Cod on Friday and for dinner we had fresh scallops, steamed summer squash, salad, and mashed potatoes. Oh how I miss fresh seafood, the quality where I am now just doesn't measure up to the Nova Scotian standards I was raised on. These were perfect though and definitely satisfied a craving! On Saturday I went to the beach with the bf and his sister and her three kids, and after a long day in the sun we went back to the house and had lobster, steamers, corn on the cob, salad and wine for dinner. They definitely spoiled me there :) We went out for ice cream after dinner (there was a lot of ice cream during this trip) and watched some of the Olympics. Go Michael Phelps!!!!!!!!

Provincetown was our next destination, where we did a lot of walking and browsing in shops along the waterfront. We stopped for lunch at a cafe that served very fresh, light tasting fare. I ordered a turkey, bacon, avocado and tomato sandwich on ciabatta with a side salad and the bf got a falafel pita (which I of course stole my fair share of bites from!). And what's a meal without some ice cream?! We shared (and by shared I mean I ate most of it) a Half-Baked frozen yogurt cone from Ben & Jerry's. I also had about 3 iced coffees haha I just love the way it's made here! Just coffee and maybe some milk over ice. Sounds simple, but few of the affordable coffee shops back home will make you something like this.

And of course there was Boston! We went shopping on Newbury street and to some other fancy centers that I can't remember the name of right now. I got to see Fenway park and do a lot of walking- Boston is such a beautiful city. We stopped for dinner at PF Chang's one night (I remember reading about the lettuce wrap appetizer on someone's blog...) and I am sooo happy we did, dinner there was great! The bf and I started with the vegetarian lettuce wraps and they were the highlight of the dinner, I am going to have to find a way to recreate these. We also shared the Kung Pao chicken and the Dan Dan noodles, both were fantastic! The noodles were chewy egg noodles with a ground chicken sauce served with sliced cucumber and bean sprouts to cut the heat a little. This is another one that I am definitely going to be recreating :) And then guess what came after dinner- surprise! Ice cream! Cold Stone's was right around the corner and I was dying to try the legendary cake batter flavour. I ordered a little too much and had to enlist my boyfriend's services in finishing it off, but wow did it ever taste good. So creamy!

I took the overnight bus last night to get home this morning and I'm a little beat by now but I wanted to get this post up before morning so I may be adding in a few more details as they come to me :) I did save the best for last though- here is my loot from the TJ's and Whole Foods shopping trips! The Chocolate Coconut Chew Larabar is available in Canada but none of the other ones are.

Pictured here is a Coconut Cream Pie Larabar, a Chocolate Coconut Chew Larabar, a Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar, a Clif PB Pretzel Mojo Bar, a Kashi GoLean Chewy Chocolate Almond Toffee bar, a Blueberry Crisp Clif Bar, a PB&J Dipped Clif Mojo Bar, and two z-bars- Apple Cinnamon and Blueberry. Annnnnd a jar of PB&Co's Mighty Maple PB! I was a happy girl after finding this :) I'll be sure to let you guys know how everything is!

I really want some sleep so I will be seeing you in the morning for breakfast and I'm hoping on getting in some gym time too! This vacation was awesome and I loved every treat that I had, but I'm feeling a little sluggish now and know that I need to eat more veggies and get in some movement tomorrow. Goodnight!

Let's Get This Show on the Road

2008-08-07T19:37:00.002-04:00

I'm packing + blogging so my apologies if this gets a little disorganized- I'm not the best multitasker haha. I am soooo excited for Boston!!!! But first a little recap of the day's eats: breakfast at 6:30 this morning was a change from the usual oats, with 2 slices of Ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread toasted and spread with 2 tbsp almond butter, half of an extremely ripe banana (I could hardly cut it, it was so soft!) and a drizzle of agave nectar.

Plus coffee with a little hot chocolate mix.

For lunch I packed the last ounce of my round of Camembert cheese (yes it was on sale, and yes I did a little dance when I found this), a whole wheat roll, organic vanilla yogurt, and a banana.

I was craving mango like mad for dinner! At my favourite grocery store they sometimes set out little packs of very ripe fruit at reduced prices so I scored this amazing juicy mango, pre-cut and all, for 99 cents :) The regular packs of pre-cut fruit start at $3.99 so I was pretty happy with my bargain. I had another whole wheat roll on the side spread with a little butter and the rest of my Tex Mez salad from last night on the side. This all tasted so great together and filled me up perfectly.

I'm bringing a container of my absolute favourite plain yogurt as a travel snack. This organic kind is so freaking expensive but I decided to treat myself tonight. Can you believe there are 10g of protein in this thing?! Awesome :) Since I am such a yogurt lover you can bet that I am pumped for my first FAGE encounter!!! I'm also intrigued by Chobani. And I want to sample the coconut milk based non-dairy yogurts! I may just be eating yogurt for the next 4 days......

HK I will be emailing you!

I don't think I'll be blogging until I get back but I'm sure I will have a ton to talk about then :) Have a great weekend everyone!

Tex Mex Lightens Up

2008-08-06T18:28:00.002-04:00

As always, oats held me through a tough morning at work. I wasn't even really that hungry when I took my lunch break at 12:30, so I just grabbed a Crunchy Peanut Butter Clif bar and an organic vanilla yogurt. They definitely hit the spot though and powered me well into the afternoon! I like this flavour of Clif bar but my absolute favourite is the Chocolate Almond Fudge. It tastes like a richer, more textured version of the chocolate brownie z-bar. Yum :)

Since I'm leaving soon I don't want to have a lot of perishable groceries lying around so I went out for a salad for dinner. I ordered the 'Tex Mex', which I feared would be smothered in cheese and chips and too much guac (though really, can there be such a thing??). I was pleasantly surprised when my plate came to the table, loaded with a mountain of fresh mixed greens, tomatoes, red kidney beans, and very reasonable portion sizes of grilled chicken, cheddar cheese, guacamole, and salsa. There were just a few chips framing the plate instead of drowning it. This was really good, and I ate about 3/4 of it and am saving the rest to do something with tomorrow.

Since my cocoa coffee tasted so good this morning I decided that I wanted it for dessert tonight too! I got a decaf coffee and stirred in some hot chocolate powder when I got home. It's raining and gross outside and this warmed me right up.

I think I'll do some packing tonight, catch up on blogs (I missed you guys!) and read some more of Atonement. So far it's pretty good, very detailed (sometimes too much so) but still quite captivating. I wanted to get to the gym today but that might have to wait until tomorrow. Have a good night!

Back With Bananas

2008-08-06T05:38:00.008-04:00

In my oats, that is :) I've missed blogging!! In my 5am oats this morning were 40g of the oats, a pinch of salt, 1/3 cup skim milk, 1/3 cup water, half of a banana, lots of cinnamon, raisins, brown sugar and an almond butter spoonful. Coffee is also most definitely on the agenda for today. I mixed some hot chocolate powder into my morning cup and now it's all mocha-like and delicious. I can see why Jenn loves her cocoa coffee :)

I found an apartment! I was really stressed about this because I'm going out of town soon and definitely wanted one before I left, so I am very very happy about this. I can't wait until September 1st!!!!

Time to move so I'm not late for work. Happy Humpday!

Meet Oz!

2008-08-05T00:59:00.006-04:00

I'll be back tomorrow, posting my meals, but until then I want to tide you over with some adorable-ness :) I give you Ozzie, my family's new sheltie puppy!!

Awwwww makes me wish I was home right now! At least there's BOSTON on Thursday!!! I've already informed my boyfriend several times that I will need to spend a few quality hours with TJ's and Whole Foods....And my desire has only increased after seeing Em's hot bar spread...Ohhhh deliciousness, here I come.....

Thoughts & Decisions

2008-08-03T13:38:00.004-04:00

It's been a rough weekend. I'm working a full time job and a part time one and usually I do at least one double shift day per weekend but this time I did two, fitting in an insane 26 hours of working in two days. On top of this, on Friday between shifts I walked back and forth all over town to look at apartments. Needless to say it's Sunday and I woke up at noon after getting home from work at 1 last night- I think I can safely say my body needed the rest. Some weekends I'm able to keep with my healthy habits and some weekends, such as this one, I don't. I really don't think these past few weeks have been a good example of recasting- my schedule is far too crazy and I haven't been able to practice the most important parts of starting a recast, which are preparing all of your own meals at home (I have no kitchen in this apartment), avoiding offenders, "as a child would walk away from a fight" (I'm working at a restaurant and have unlimited access to gelato, my number one offender) and taking the time to seek out good food and enjoy every aspect of the dining experience (again, I hate this apartment and don't even have a table to eat at). I think my weekdays have been pretty good despite not containing as much home-cooked content as I would like, but my work-filled weekends have just been terrible. I expect my schedule to calm down a bit come September, when I will be taking two night classes in a grad program and still be working but at least I won't be at the restaurant any more and I'll be in an apartment I like with my boyfriend :)

I've decided, then, that since I want to be a good example of recasting that other people can follow and prove that you can slim down while eating for pleasure, I want to start a proper recast in a few weeks. I don't want to give the wrong impression here and make it seem like you can't implement the principles of FWDGF if you're busy- I will still have a busy schedule, but I'll be away from my offenders and so eating well will be much easier. In terms of the right now I have enjoyed posting my meals though so I think I will continue to do so (though probably not every one when I'm in Boston). So the content won't be changed much from how it is now- good weekday eating but my weekends are going to be a little more offbalanced, resulting in maintenance instead of a loss. When I do begin my recast, my less-hectic weekend eating will look more like my weekday eating.

I'm really looking forward to September and slowing down a bit. I can't wait to do more cooking and include more recipes on the blog and have it better reflect my values in terms of eating and living. Thanks for understanding and I cannot wait to truly begin my recast and start embracing for myself the habits I admire in others.

Seeing Double

2008-08-01T07:01:00.002-04:00

You might as well look at yesterday's post for today's breakfast and lunch because, well, they're identical. I had to use up leftovers though which is why it's a veggie burrito again today (yay!) and I'm working a long shift again with no clue when I'll be able to break for lunch so I really need to go with a sure thing like oats, which I know will keep me going for a while. 40g oats with 1/3 cup skim milk, 1/3 cup water, pinch of salt, half a very ripe banana, lots of cinnamon, raisins, brown sugar and a tablespoon of almond butter. Perfection in a bowl :)

No surprise here for lunch: veggie burrito mix with a kamut flour tortilla, blueberries, and cantaloupe (I had apricots yesterday, so I guess I am switching it up a bit, haha).

I have a craaaazy day, working 8-4 then going to see two apartments on opposite sides of town then working 7-1 ahhhh! But I'm going to BOSTON next Thursday so I'm going to work hard for the next week and then thoroughly enjoy my vacation. Happy Friday!

Ham & Cheese, The Remake

2008-07-31T20:56:00.005-04:00

My computer is absolutely flat-out refusing to load my pictures right now. I have no idea why. It won't even recognize that I've plugged in my usb! I'll try again later, but I wanted to type this up so for now, no pics, but hopefully my computer will smarten up and start behaving again soon. (EDIT: It did!! Photos are up now!!)

My burrito lunch held me over SO well!!! I ate around 1:30 (oatmeal got me from 6-1:30, isn't that just incredible?! Go oats!!!!) then went to the gym straight from work and didn't get home until 6:45. And I was just starting to get hungry at that time, after an intense workout too. I really just needed to sweat it out tonight, and boy did it ever feel good. 30 minutes on the elliptical and then another 30 on the treadmill (running for 25, walking on a fairly steep incline for 5). I took my time stretching it all out afterwards and I feel sooo much better and more relaxed now. I'm a pretty tightly-wound person so exercise really is like therapy for me- I want to start practicing yoga because I think it would also help me relax a bit better.

Anyway, after the gym I came home and made the dinner I started craving at 10am this morning... Ham and cheese :) But not any old ham and cheese. I used two slices of maple-smoked ham with an ounce of camembert cheese (my absolute favourite), some mustard, and a kamut flour tortilla. I grilled it until melty on the George Foreman and quickly entered gourmet grilled cheese heaven... Divine. I also had a massive side salad with mixed greens, broccoli, blueberries, mixed dried berries, a touch of pepper and some balsamic vinegar. I must say, I was pretty darn happy with this meal.

As I was spreading the mustard out over my tortilla tonight I was remembering how much I used to hate mustard. I love it now, which got me thinking of other things that I used to loathe as a child and that I now can't get enough of... I remember being fed fish and trying to spit it into a napkin when my parents weren't looking, whining when they gave me sweet potato souffle, and hating oatmeal so much that I wouldn't let my siblings eat it out of my favourite bunny bowl for fear of contaminating my dish forever. My parents still made me eat most of these things and it's kind of funny how much I love everything I once used to abhor. I would love it if my mom made me something as laborious as sweet potato souffle nowadays! At least childhood variety paid off in good tastes now :) Anyone else remember foods they would only eat if they were promised dessert afterwards?? ;)

See you tomorrow! Let's hope for the return of some pictures....

Morning Dose of Oats

2008-07-31T06:53:00.004-04:00

Up at 6 today with Ol' Faithful pictured above :) and another perfectly creamy bowl of oats! Same as yesterday's with 40g oats, 1/2 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup water, pinch of salt, 1/2 banana, lots of cinamon, raisins, brown sugar and an almond butter spoonful.

I packed a quick lunch to take to work today, which consisted of a kamut tortilla (my new love, seriously these are awesome), about a cup of the burrito mixture for a make-as-I-eat burrito, along with 2 fresh apricots and a good handful of blueberries.

I'm working tons of hours over the next few days AND I reallllly need to find an apartment so I apologize for what may be a series of boring posts. I'll be getting around to all of your blogs as soon as I can! Have a great day and see you for dinner!

Craving = Satisfied!

2008-07-30T18:24:00.002-04:00

I was up at 5am this morning with the perfect bowl of oats- a little over 1/3 cup (40g) of oats, 1/2 of a ripe banana, 1/2 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup water, a pinch of salt, lots of cinnamon and raisins. All topped off with brown sugar and an almond butter spoonful. They were sooo creamy this morning! I'm not sure if I did anything different from the usual but these tasted even better than they normally do. I think I want oats again tomorrow morning :)

Coffee too! And at 5am, I needed it :)

Packed lunch to bring to work- the final serving of my pear and grains yogurt, some cantaloupe with blueberries (best fruit combo ever, try it if you haven't already!), a slice of cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread with some blueberry jam, and baggies of carrots, yellow cherry tomatoes, and celery.

After seeing Erica's massive and delicious looking burrito yesterday I knew exactly what I wanted for dinner tonight! My craving was definitely satisfied with the amazing filling I cooked up- I sauteed a diced red bell pepper with a couple of baby carrots and some celery in a bit of olive oil, then I stirred in 2 big spoonfuls of Old El Paso Burrito seasoning mix (all my spices are in storage or else I would have made my own blend). I added in a few tablespoons of salsa and let it all cook together for a bit. I then chopped up a sweet potato that I microwaved for a bit to jump-start the cooking process, then added that in too along with some broccoli and mushrooms. Near the end I threw in some black beans and a couple of sliced black olives. All I can say is, wow! What fantastic flavour! The veggies were still slightly crispy and the sweet potato was soft yet also a little crispy- haha I can't describe it, it was just awesome.

I wish I had thought to pick up an avocado! Some guac on top would have totally made this. Next time I might stir in a can of fat-free refried beans too just to up the creamy/crispy factor. I knew this baby would not stay rolled so I didn't even try it eat it out of hand, instead I melted a little camembert on top and used a knife and fork. I am so happy with this veggie burrito mix! It came out so tasty and I have lots of leftovers now :)

I used Kamut flour tortillas and loved them. They kind of remind me of the tortilla used in the Amy's frozen burritos. Soft but with a good chew and texture.

And for dessert, a nice little bowl of frozen grapes :)

So I am still homeless for September... No apartment yet, I think it's time to intensify the search. I'm working again all day tomorrow so expect to see more of the same :) Have a good night!

Hempshakin'

2008-07-29T13:28:00.004-04:00

The lady who was supposed to let me view the apartment cancelled on me and there wasn't enough time for me to switch gears and walk to the bus station, so I have a bit of time before work and just decided to post lunch and dinner now. On my walk yesterday I passed one of my favourite health food stores and decided to pick up something new. I was intrigued by the single serving packets of Nutiva Hempshake so I picked up the chocolate flavour. One packet is 30g and contains 7g of protein, 7g of sugar, 12g of fibre, 2g of fat and 80 calories. I mixed my packet with 1/2 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup water, a very ripe banana, and 5-6 large ice cubes. I let it go in the blender for quite a while to make sure everything was combined. The verdict? Pretty good! It had a little bit of that chalky protein taste but I'm weird and kind of enjoy the taste of protein powders. I'm considering buying a large container of protein powder so it was really nice to be able to buy a small packet first before committing to anything larger. It sounds like I'm talking about a relationship here, with my commitment issues to protein powder... haha. Anyone have a protein powder they recommend? I know Jenna likes this whey protein powder but I haven't found that kind anywhere yet.

The plastic smoothie cup I got my Liquid Nutrition smoothie in was quite thick so I decided to wash it and reuse it. I'll only use it a few more times because I don't know how good it is to reuse plastics, but I like the cup and my Hempshake smoothie looks pretty in it :)

I also had a Clif Kid z-bar in chocolate chip.

Packed for dinner is an almond butter and blueberry jam sandwich on two slices of cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread, along with some baggies of veggies- yellow cherry tomatoes, carrots, and celery.

See you all tomorrow!

Is There Anything More Perfect Than Fresh Fruit?!

2008-07-29T12:16:00.002-04:00

This morning for breakfast I decided to have the cherries I picked up at the fruit shop with Conor along with some perfectly ripe cantaloupe. The combination of the two together with my favourite 2% plain yogurt and vanilla almond granola tasted just divine!

I'm working today but before then trying to squeeze in a trip to the bus station to buy my tickets to BOSTON (yaaaayyyyy!!!!!) and also trying to schedule an appointment to view an apartment. I'll probably be posting lunch and dinner later on tonight when I'm back from work :) Happy Tuesday!

A Taste Of Italy

2008-07-28T22:20:00.003-04:00

Isn't this lily just gorgeous? I went over to my friend Conor's house for dinner and he had the flower in a tall green vase in front of his balcony doors. The fragrance permeated the entire apartment and just made me feel so calm and happy.

I'm glad I had my veggie platter before I left for his place because as I predicted, there were very few vegetables on the menu for tonight. To call Conor a gourmand would be a bit of an understatement- he loves fine food, French and Italian cooking, and he does not skimp on his high fat ingredients. We talk food and restaurants together the way some guys talk sports statistics :) On the menu for tonight was Tagliatelle Carbonara, which is pasta in a cream sauce with mushrooms, parmesan, and bacon. I helped him cook and it was quite a lot of fun to make (it's not often that I find myself sauteeing mushrooms in bacon fat). I made sure to keep my portion size small and I thoroughly enjoyed ever single bite. Definitely not something I would want to eat on a regular basis, but perfect for once in a while.

I'm going to make sure I get to bed early so that I can wake up at a better time tomorrow morning!

Veggies to Soothe the Soul

2008-07-28T17:48:00.005-04:00

I went for a really long walk today which helped clear my head and made me feel better physically too. I cannot wait until September- it's been kind of a rough summer, living away from my family and boyfriend and I don't really have many friends in the city right now either. The apartment I'm living in right now is also awful (cheap rent was the only plus) so I just really want to move out to somewhere that's going to make me happy! I'm sorry for the negativity, I always try to think about the positives but there are some days when I get down and can't seem to get back up.

I got back from my walk and wanted to fuel myself with something healthy and uplifting, so I went for a Gliding Calm inspired veggie plate and a z-bar :) Since I didn't pass on the Brillante Blogging Award, I think I'm just going to give a few shout-outs to some awesome bloggers. Like Em for example- her fruit and veggie platters are always so colorful and gorgeous and I love how she knows what to give her body and always eats what she craves. Plus she is a fantastic athlete in one of my favourite sports (figure skating!!!!!) and her product reviews are always informative and often entertaining (I love her "clap clap" after introducing the product hahaha). Veggies also make me think of the blogworld famous VeggieGirl. Somehow, this vegan dynamo has a kind word for every post :) Her baking adventures always produce delicious results and are retold with exquisitely written detail. Since she was recently diagnosed as a Celiac I can't wait to see her gluten-free treats and try them out for myself and my GF brother as well :)

Laundry and dinner are up next on the agenda! Take care everyone and see you all again soon :)

Feeling Yucky

2008-07-28T14:21:00.002-04:00

I don't know if it was the sugar overload from yesterday or what but I had an awful time trying to fall asleep last night. I alternated between lying in bed to lying on the couch watching So You Think You Can Dance until 4am. I had a bowl of Barbara's Multigrain Shredded Spoonfuls with skim milk, a slice of cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread with cheddar cheese (weird combo, but my sleep-deprived self wanted it) and some gingersnap cookies with almond butter. I didn't take a picture because honestly this attempt to combat insomnia by eating wasn't really a positive moment that I wanted to share on the blog... I was so frustrated at not being able to sleep!! I woke up still a little full and mad at how late in the day it was, but my body needed the rest so I'm glad I could get it. Monday is a start to a new week and there is only room for improvement! Anyway, enough ranting, for breakfast (actually more like lunch) I had a bowl of beautiful strawberries and a perfectly ripe banana with 2% plain yogurt and some vanilla almond granola. It was delicious and put me in a better mood already.

And I have a nice pasta dinner to look foward to tonight! Rest assured I will *not* be forgetting my camera. Have a wonderful Monday!

Another Treat?!

2008-07-28T01:25:00.002-04:00

After work tonight my co-workers and I walked home together and then.... stopped for some gelato. TWO gelatos in one day for me! That's a bit too much indulgence, especially since I'm trying to cut out offenders, not eat more of them! I'm also planning to have a nice dinner with a friend tomorrow night so I really should have thought about that and said no to tonight's gelato. But, what's done is done, I'll just make sure to hit the gym tomorrow and do a few other compensations.

See you in the morning :)

Forgotten!!!!

2008-07-27T01:40:00.008-04:00

Thanks for all of the kind words girls!! :) I love recasting because it's getting me to really focus on what I'm eating and make choices that are important to me. I feel so awful that now I have to give you some bad news and let you all down because I forgot my camera in my other bag and now I have no picture of my weekly treat :( I'm seriously so disappointed, I've been having such a great week and I really wanted to share my indulgence with you guys. I had planned on visiting a cafe to sit down with a cappucino and a little something when my friend called to ask if I wanted to go for a walk and a visit to our favourite little fruit shop. Of course I agreed, and when we walked past a gelato shop I just knew that I wanted some :) I searched through my purse only to discover my lack of a camera, but I didn't want to not have gelato just because I couldn't get the picture.... so I had several tastes before getting my waffle cone filled with oreo, pistachio, and mint chocolate chip gelato. I am good friends with a girl who works there and she kind of overloaded my cone- it was really much more than I needed!!!! This whole week I have done a great job of listening to my body and paying attention to hunger and fullness cues, but I didn't do such a great job with the gelato today. I felt prettttty full afterwards. But I know I can do a little compensation today and then next week, when I have my treat, remember that a little really is much more satisfying than a lot!!! In review of the week though I am quite happy with myself and confident that I'll do just as well next week and do even better with my weekly treat. AND get a picture of it for you ladies!!!!! (Sorry again!!!)

Anyway, I DID get a picture of my breakfast this morning- a serving of that pear with grains yogurt with some vanilla almond granola. Delicious. I just love this combination.

After our gelato and walk, I went back to my friend's place and spent the rest of the afternoon there with him. I had dinner there too (still no camera at this time so again no picture) which was a simple pj&j on rye bread and a tall glass of orange juice mixed with club soda. The sandwich was made with homemade strawberry jam that he made with his mom, and it was out of this world good!!! BUT the even BETTER news is that he has a ton of it and it going to give me a little jar!!!!! I'm sooo happy haha this was the best strawberry jam I have ever eaten. I had a couple spoonfuls straight from the jar- that's how good this was :)

I am heading off to work now so see you all tomorrow and hope you all had wonderful weekends!!!!

Liquid Love

2008-07-26T18:10:00.003-04:00

Although I had time in between shifts to go home and eat there, I still wanted to incorporate part of my original plan and pick up something fun for dinner. I decided to go somewhere I always walked past but had never gone in- Liquid Nutrition. They offer healthy snack foods like Larabars and Clif bars and a fantastic smoothie menu. After lots of deliberation I settled on the Matcha-Skinny smoothie, a blend of apple juice, mangoes, cantaloupe, matcha green tea and stevia. This huge smoothie has only 161 calories too! And the taste? Amazing. I can't wait to go back and try a few more off their menu. I'm especially intrigued by the Early Bird one, which actually has oatmeal in it!

I snapped a pic of my smoothie as I was walking home from work because it was too good for me not to sip along the way home! When I did get home, I made a quick bowl of 2% plain yogurt, a little more than half a banana (the other part fell into the soapy sink somehow- yeah I don't know how I managed that one....) and a serving of Special K Cinnamon Pecan cereal. I dropped a couple of yogurt covered raisins on top too. Yum!

In true FWDGF style I'm going to treat myself to something tomorrow... Love that little weekly treat :) Have a lovely evening!

Apples Encore

2008-07-26T08:20:00.002-04:00

Sauteed apples again this morning! Last night I chopped up a Royal Gala apple and threw it in a pan with a little butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and stirred in some raisins near the end of the cooking process. I let them cool down before stirring in a serving of 2% plain yogurt, then refrigerated overnight. This morning I made 1/3 cup oats in the micro and added it to the apple-yogurt mixture, and yuuummm what a delicious bowl of oats! They were just slightly warm from the heat of the oats and were perfect with a spoonful of almond butter.

I also made lunch last night too- I grilled tofu on the good ol' George Foreman and then diced it and tossed with the rest of my shredded cabbage (love this stuff!), some mustard, agave nectar, and dried cranberries. On the side I have baby carrots and some sweet little yellow tomatoes. These are so cute and (in my opinion) sweeter than the red variety.

Dinner is probably going to be on the run, unfortunately, I don't know if I'm going to have time to run back home before heading out to my second job. Busy busy day!

More news- I bought a little food scale yesterday! It comes equipped with a meat thermometer, which I love because now I can try roasting a whole chicken (something I've always wanted to do but been kind of scared to try). There are also a couple baking recipes which measure in weights for greater accuracy (like the NYTimes Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe!) which I am just dying to try :) I'm also going to use it sparingly for everyday eating- Mireille Guiliano (my girl from FWDGF) recommends using one to see what a real portion size is.

Since I've been working so much (and my job is seriously physical labour, I work in a housewears department, which means lots of box moving and arranging pretty things like dishes!) I haven't been able to get to the gym but I have been doing lots of moving while at work and also going for long walks. I met a friend last night and we walked through some gorgeous neighbourhoods. There were sooo many people eating outside and sharing bottles of wine and just enjoying the weather, walking around these houses put me in such a great mood! I hope you are all enjoying the season and all it has to offer :) Have a great day and I'll be back with dinner later on!

Let The Countdown Begin!!!!!

2008-07-25T18:09:00.006-04:00

So much to talk about today! I'll alternate between food and news haha. First off, the weather was finally gorgeous and sunny instead of overcast and stormy. I was inside working for most of the day but at least the sunlight came in my windows :)

Breakfast this morning was fantastic. Last night I chopped up a Royal Gala apple and then sauteed it in a skillet with a touch of butter, brown sugar, lots of cinnamon, and some raisins. I let it cool a bit, then stirred in a serving of cottage cheese and let it sit overnight. It was soooo good!!! The apple tasted just like apple pie filling and the creamy cottage cheese complimented it perfectly. Delicious. I also had a slice of toasted cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread with a touch of butter, some papaya, and half of an orange. Coffee was there too (of course) but was camera shy this morning.

I also made lunch up last night too. My mornings go by so smoothly when I've packed everything and prepared the night before! I love being able to relax in the morning with my favourite meal of the day and my coffee, so there will be a lot more easily reheated 'dinners for lunch' around here :) Pictured here is broccoli, shredded cabbage coleslaw mix, 1/3 cup black beans, and tofu, all cooked up in hot sauce, Szechuan sauce, and salt and pepper.

Now, before we move on to dinner, I'm going to break for some news- I'm going to BOSTON in 2 weeks!!!! My boyfriend is from there and living at home for the summer (I haven't seen him since May) so I've finally been able to book off some time to go visit him. I am SOOOO excited! I visited him last summer too but it was a shorter visit and we spent most of our time down the Cape and at Martha's Vineyard (both beautiful!) and we'll be back there for sure, but I also want to spend some time in the city! Annnnd as much as I miss him, I also kinda want to spend some quality time with Trader Joe's and Whole Foods!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe that I have NEVER been to either?!?!? Ahhhh Canada. Seriously lacking in the awesome food store category. I've also read so much about Panera Bread from the lovely oat lover Lindz so I want to go there too. Any other suggestions as to what I should do? My boyfriend will be in class for most of the first day I'm there so I think I'll have a whole day in the city. Did I mention that I'm excited....???!!!

K now we can talk about dinner :) Above is another delicious amazing breakfast for dinner. In my bowl is 2% plain yogurt, cinnamon raisin rice pudding (I'm sure you're all sick of seeing this lol) and some pear yogurt. I was intrigued by it because there was no added sugar (just pear) and grains like buckwheat in it but I was a little disappointed because I was envisioning glorious chunks of fruit in my yogurt and instead all I got was a little bit. Best to add your own fruit. Oh well, it's still tasty. I also had some amazing mango and strawberries.

I am still bubbling over with things to say but I have to work a double shift tomorrow and it starts earrrrrlyyyy so I had better hit the hay. So I bid you adieu until tomorrow, I've already got a fabulous breakfast planned :) Good night!

Protein Is My Best Friend

2008-07-24T18:32:00.006-04:00

It keeps me full forever!!! I woke up at 6:30 this morning to get in a good breakfast before heading in to work, and I was just starting to get hungry when I had my lunch at 1. Now that's some staying power! For this meal I toasted up a slice of Ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread and spread it with almond butter and half of a banana. For the cottage cheese, I portioned out my serving last night and mixed in cinnamon and some raisins. The flavours blended together overnight and tasted amazing in the morning! (In case you can't already tell, cinnamon and raisin is one of my absolute favourite flavour combinations).

I just realized how terrible these pictures look against the white background! This one looks like my broccoli is floating, container-less... I packed my leftover orange-ginger-tamari broccoli with udon noodles and grilled tofu for lunch, and of course it was delicious :)

I did a ton of prep work last night for today's meals! I made a coleslaw last night too which I had as part of today's dinner. The recipe is based on one I found in the August issue of Shape, but I changed a few things so I'm going to post my version. It was so light and flavourful and crunchy, I definitely recommend this one:

Coleslaw

2 tablespoons plain yogurt

1 tablespoon reduced fat or light mayonnaise

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lime (or lemon) juice

1 teaspoon agave nectar

1/4 teaspoon (apprx) celery seed

2 cups pre-shredded cabbage coleslaw mix

S&P

Mix all sauce ingredients together, then add shredded cabbage and stir to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve. I stirred some mixed dried fruit into mine and the sweet with the tang of the sauce was perfect! I also had my new favourite dinner combo- mango, 2% yogurt with vanilla almond granola, and cinnamon raisin rice pudding.

I saved the best for last :) Look what Danielle gave me!!!!! I feel so special :) If you don't read her blog, you should, because she is travelling all over the world right now (Chile, Buenos Aires, Argentina- you name it, she'll be there) and her regionally-inspired meals and foodie adventures are so much fun to read about. I wish I could go out to dinner with her because I think we'd have a fabulous time discussing FWDGF and eating for pleasure :)

The rules behind the award require you to nominate 7 other bloggers. I honestly don't think I could cut it down to 7 and my blogroll is so unreflective of what I'm reading right now (haven't had the time to update it) so I think I'm just going to say that all of my favourite blogs deserve this award :) I'm cheesy, but it's true, I love this blogging community, reading your blogs, and reading all of the comments you leave for me!!! It truly brightens my day :) Thanks to you guys for actually reading my blog lol when I first started I figured no one would read. So thanks :) Now I'm all happy and I'm going to go prep a fantastic breakfast and lunch for tomorrow :) See you then!!!! (Thanks again Danielle!!!!!)

Sweetness

2008-07-23T20:50:00.003-04:00

I love having the main meal of the day at lunchtime and then going for something light and sweet at dinnertime. That's exactly what I did tonight with some perfectly ripe and sweet mango and papaya chunks, cinnamon raisin rice pudding, 2% plain yogurt, and vanilla almond granola. I think I smiled after every bite :) I get so much pleasure out of simple fruit and yogurt!!

I did go to the gym tonight but unfortunately I started feeling incredibly sick as soon as I started to run. I tried to wait it out for a few minutes but it soon became clear that I wasn't going to start feeling any better. So I had to cut my workout short and head home to find some way to sooth my tummy. Bummer :( I feel better now though and I've got my lunch all packed for tomorrow (I'm working 8-4) and some of dinner started! Yay for planning ahead :) Good night everyone!

Hives, Swelling, and Triage- Oh My!

2008-07-23T14:33:00.002-04:00

Not for me, but for my roommate! She gets allergy shots and had an awful reaction today when given a few shots at once- her face and her hands became swollen and she got hives and a rash and when she started having trouble breathing we left for the ER quick. She's going to Med school in the fall and volunteered at this hospital before so she knew her way around, and after a few rounds of IV drugs she started looking much better. I find hospitals fascinating and all of the equipment and medicines were so interesting. There was a bunch of friendly nurses around who answered my questions so I learned a lot today :) I don't think I could ever be a doctor or even a nurse but pharmaceudical sales is an occupation that I've always been intrigued by, and today is prompting me to do a bit more research into the field.

Before the reaction, there was lunch, and it was awesome. I sauteed 1/3 cup black beans in a little olive oil, salt, and pepper just to heat them a little, then I microwaved a sweet potato until it was fairly soft and finished it off on the George Foreman to crisp up my slices and also give them some gorgeous grill lines. Dipped in a little ketchup/hot sauce mix, they were delicious. The tofu, however, was the star today- what a difference it makes when you press it for half an hour! The crispy outside and chewy inside was the perfect texture, and my marinade of tamari, agave nectar, lime juice and hot sauce provided excellent flavouring. Now that I'm home from the hospital I might go to the gym or go out for a walk- in any case, see you for dinner!

The Usual

2008-07-23T08:59:00.003-04:00

I don't think I'll ever get sick of banana oatmeal... It's always so appealing first thing in the morning! Today's bowl had 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup skim milk, 1/3 cup water, pinch of salt, cinnamon, brown sugar, a couple of honey roasted almonds, and an almond butter spoonful. I had coffee too but I'm still feeling a little sleepy. Hopefully it will start to kick in soon, but if not, maybe I'll need a mid-day latte or cappucino :) Now that's a treat I'd never say no to!

No work today which means running errands and catching up on everything I put off while busy at work. Here's hoping the sun comes out soon too, I don't like clouds on my days off!

One-Bowl Day

2008-07-23T00:25:00.002-04:00

All of my pictures look the same because I've been washing and reusing the same bowl all day! How boring.... Anyway, out of this familiar bowl I had 2% yogurt, cinnamon raisin rice pudding (Kozy Shack brand- I highly reccommend it!) Barbara's Multigrain Shredded Spoonfuls cereal, and a banana topped with some almond butter. I love when you eat exactly what you crave- this meal was simple but perfect and I savoured every bite :)

I had a fun workout at the gym today, 25 on the elliptical and another 20 or so on the treadmill, alternating between running and then walking up a steep incline. It felt great! I did some ab work too before I came home for dinner and then went in to work for a bit. Now I'm home and ready for bed :) Sleep tight!

The Magic of Oats + COOKED FOOD!!!

2008-07-22T13:55:00.002-04:00

I enjoyed waking up with the sun this morning! As long as I get enough sleep I love waking up early :) I made sure to get up with plenty of time to get ready for work so that I could fully enjoy my morning coffee and meal. Banana oatmeal was the only thing I wanted and this bowl really delivered! I made my oats with 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup water, a pinch of salt, cinnamon, and a small banana. I stirred in some brown sugar at the end and then topped with vanilla almond granola and an almond butter spoonful. Heaven! I upped my portion this morning from 1/3 to 1/2 cup because I knew I'd need the fuel to work until 12 with only a 15 minute break (definitely not enough time for lunch) and my oats did not let me down- I was only starting to feel hungry when I sat down to lunch at 1:30! Talk about the magic of oats here :)

And as my title says, lunch today was cooked! By me! IN my apartment! Hahaha now the reason why I'm so excited about this is because I haven't been able to do any of my own stove-top or oven cooking because our stove is a piece of (insert expletive) and doesn't work. But, my roommate and I recently discovered that if we turn on the gas and manually light the burner, we can cook! Not the safest thing to do but we make sure to turn the gas off when we're done and this way we're able to cook food. So, in my excitement I whipped up some broccoli stir-fried with the juice of half an orange, orange zest, a ton of fresh chopped ginger, and tamari. Then I grilled some tofu with hot sauce and added everything to some udon noodles. Sprinkled honey roasted almonds on top and lunch was served!

It's always more fun to eat with chopsticks :) I had some delicious juicy papaya for dessert too.

Off to run some errands before I go in to work at my other job for 7 :)

Must Get Sleep!

2008-07-21T21:45:00.002-04:00

I am so sorry that I need to hurry with this post but I'm working at 7 tomorrow morning, which means getting up at 5:30, which means that I should be asleep by now if I want to get in 8 hours. SO anyway I went out with my brother again and I got a beautiful salad for lunch! Mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, grapes, plum, radishes, a hard boiled egg and the bready roll ups are ham and cheese and spinach crepes :) A-mazing. Dressing was on the side and awful so I just ate it as is. I left a couple crepe pieces but ate everything else.

I had to see my brother off to the airport and get ready for work so dinner came in 4 parts and was sort of eaten over the afternoon. I had a serving of cinnamon raisin rice pudding (delicious and an all-natural ingredient list!), cherry tomatoes with a touch of salt, pepper, and olive oil (Julz will be pleased to see me eating one of her faves haha), plain 2% yogurt with more vanilla almond granola, and a slice of rye bread with almond butter.

Again, sorry for the short and snappy run down but it's definitely bed time. Good night :)

Light and Fruity

2008-07-21T10:19:00.004-04:00

Last night my brother and I went out for some gelato and then we snacked on BBQ rice crisps while watching tv, but my camera batteries died and so no pictures :( I found some new ones though so we're good to go now.

Because of last night's snacks I wasn't too hungry this morning so I made myself a light breakfast of yogurt with Bear Naked vanilla almond crunch granola, 2% yogurt, half a banana, strawberries, and a kiwi. It tasted just as great as it looked!

The nutrition facts for this kind are pretty good:

And this guy here was running back and forth by my windowsill all morning! Silly squirrel.

I've really enjoyed blogging about my meals for the past week or so but so far I haven't really achieved much in terms of my recasting goals. I am still eating far too many sweets (offenders) and I really need to get more veggies in! Gelato especially is something I am prone to overdo and I have just been eating too much of it without enough pleasure. So, I am going to make a few changes:

1) Cut out offenders completely. For me, these are gelato, snack foods like pretzels that my roommate brings into the house, and snacks (mostly sweet ones, like muffins or pastries) that I just kind of eat without savouring or even really thinking about them.
2) One treat a week, to be had on Saturday.
3) Spend more time on meal planning and incorporate more veggies into my days.

As always, the focus is on pleasure and consciously savouring what I choose to eat. I'm very happy with the amount of movement I do in a day, and I've really been enjoying my time at the gym. Now I need to put a little more effort into the dietary part and the results I want will start to show.

Happy Monday and see you for lunch!

Take The Good With The Bad

2008-07-20T17:02:00.004-04:00

We didn't get rained on!!!! And the bands we chose to watch were awesome. Especially Jack's Mannequin, the lead singer is also such a fantastic piano player! Unfortunately though, there were a few negatives in the day as well....

My brother and I packed some snacks to bring to the concert, because I knew the options would be limited and most likely incredibly unhealthy and unappetizing and also because of my brother's allergy there would be only a few choices suitable for him. Nothing on the venue's website said anything about bringing your own food, so I figured it might be ok. Not so much. I should have hidden my snacks!!!! We had to wait in line for an hour and a half before getting in and it wasn't until you were handing in your tickets that security started yelling out "no water, no beer, no food!" No food?!?! Why didn't they tell us while we were waiting so we would have known to eat before going in??!?! We were too close to the front of the line to do anything at that point and the woman searching my bag grabbed our snacks out and refused to listen to my protests. Even with an allergy she wouldn't make an exception for us to take in a few things. Needless to say, I was pissed. An ALL DAY concert and they wouldn't let a kid with an allergy take in a few things to eat. I was so upset that I had to surrender my precious (and expensive!) Larabars and his rice chips that I was stuck in a bad mood for the first hour. I started feeling a little better after that because the music was good, but thinking about that incident is still making me angry.

This is my glorious almond butter sandwich on flax bread that I ate half of while in line and then had to watch go in the garbage as security confiscated all food. That's right, the garbage. What a waste!!!!!

As I predicted, the options at the concert were few and unhealthy. Now I have no problem with pizza or burgers when they are quality made, then it is worth the splurge and I can enjoy my food. Not this. They had NO vegetarian pizza options- just pepperoni and an all dressed which also had pepperoni. I ate it because I was starving but it really didn't make my mind or my tummy happy. My brother was able to eat corn chips. Yep, that's it.

I was craving almond butter for dinner since I didn't get to finish it at lunch :( So once we got home from the concert I toasted up an almond butter and blueberry jam sandwich on two slices of cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread. (I wanted bakery bread but I went so late in the day that they only had a couple croissants and baguettes left- slim pickings so I went with the Ezekiel at my fave health food store). With my sandwich I had 2% yogurt with half a banana and some honey roasted almonds and a medium skim milk latte. I have to work tonight at 7 so hopefully this filling dinner will keep me going all night!

I`m sorry for ranting so much about the concert food policy- it just really annoyed me. Hope everyone else is enjoying their Sunday and the end of the weekend :)

Creamy Goodness

2008-07-20T08:01:00.003-04:00

My oats this morning were so creamy :) Last night I combined 1/3 cup oats with 1/3 cup water, a pinch of salt and some cinnamon. This morning I stirred in plain 2% yogurt, a chopped persimmon, and 6 honey roasted almonds. It was so good, definitely a perfect start to the day. Now I need to pack snacks and rain gear because we are supposed to be getting thundershowers all day- not the best news for an outdoor concert! Hopefully we don't get too wet....

Tired Feet

2008-07-19T21:15:00.004-04:00

We walked all day. Seriously, all day. Movement. I'm so tired. But happy! I picked up my brother from the bus station around 8 and from there we went straight out to breakfast. He got an omlette with veggies and sausage and some potatoes (I had a bite of each) but I just got a cafe latte made with 2% milk because I was still full from my oatmeal.

It was a beautiful day so we were all over town, getting lots of shopping done (for him- I love shopping for boys!). We spent a ton of time in the Lacoste store- there was the snobbiest gay man I have ever met working there but he was hilarious in his snobbery and wound up being semi-nice to us, in that nose-still-turned-up way. Great entertainment. There was another gay man working there wearing ridiculously short white shorts but somehow, he rocked them. Anyway, there really is no way to transition smoothly from gay salesmen to lunch, so I'll just say that lunch was a packed wrap of my leftover veggies from the vegetarian restaurant that I bought on Thursday with chicken, mixed greens, cherry tomatoes and mustard. My brother was too full to try the vegetarian/vegan GF restaurant so we'll probably go there on Monday instead.

I had to go to work for a few hours so I ate this granola bar that was being handed out as a free sample on the streets. It was quite sweet and the ingredient list was too long for me to want to eat it on a regular basis, but as a needed snack it did the job.

After work we went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I got a veggie burrito that wasn't all that impressive so I only wound up eating half of it. I had a couple bites of rice and salad and 2 glasses of Sangria. I also had 5-6 bites of my brother's nacho plate, which wound up being really good- the corn nachoes were smothered with black bean sauce, chicken, salsa, and guacamole. Yum!

I was craving dessert big time after the Sangria- alcochol always does that to me. I waited it out and wound up being satisfied with a square of Green & Black's Organic 70% dark chocolate, which I savoured when I got home from the restaurant.

We are going to bed soon and then waking up early to get to an all-day concert. I've already picked up a Larabar and a few other snacks to bring :) See you all tomorrow and hope you're having great weekends!

Up With The Sun

2008-07-19T06:57:00.002-04:00

I feel much better this morning :) What a relief! My brother's flight gets in at 7:05am so I should be hearing from him soon. It's going to be a gluten-free weekend- my brother was diagnosed with Celiac Disease when he was 10, so we're going to be hunting out some good GF eats over the next few days. I've already found a vegan/vegetarian restaurant that also offers a lot of GF options, so I'd love to take him there.

To fuel up for the day I started with a bowl of steaming hot oats, made with 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup Vitasoy Light Original Soymilk, 1/3 cup water, 1/2 banana, a pinch of salt and some cinnamon. I sprinkled the surface with brown sugar and served with a spoonful of almond butter and I got all cuddly on the couch and snuggled in with my breakfast :)

Happy Saturday!

Are We Done Yet?

2008-07-18T19:34:00.003-04:00

Today was awful so tomorrow must get better, right?? All I have been doing has been sleeping and coughing and sneezing and aching and ugh, not fun at all. I have no pictures of my meals today because quite honestly nothing I ate today could be referred to as a meal. I had surges where I had an appetite so during those periods I ate whatever sounded good- meaning bites of gelato to sooth my throat when it felt the worst, then Special K Cinnamon Pecan cereal, bread, and pretzels. Balanced diet right there. Oh well, I'm sick, so here's hoping I kick this thing by tomorrow because my brother is coming to visit me and weekends are just the worst time to be feeling bad. It's a good thing sickness isn't contagious through the blogosphere cause otherwise no one would come visit me for fear of catching my bug :) lol thanks for the well wishes guys and I'm really feeling that tomorrow will be better!

Definitely Not Better

2008-07-17T17:18:00.008-04:00

I sound like a 13-year old boy going through puberty and I feel like... A sick person. Sorry, I'm too sick to get much more creative than that. I tried to pretend I felt ok this morning and went out to the park for a picnic lunch and I picked up some dinner add-ins from a vegetarian buffet restaurant, but soon after that I came home and passed out for 4 hours. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone to take my shift tonight so I'll be working at 7, but maybe they'll let me leave early or something. Anyway, my morning started with a steaming bowl of banana oatmeal, topped with brown sugar and a spoonful of almond butter.

The almond butter on my spoon disappeared too quickly so I had the last quarter of the bowl with a scoop of vanilla hazelnut spread.

Look at the gorgeous color of that plum!! I packed this beauty along with a nectarine, another double chocolate muffin, and a container of vanilla yogurt for lunch in the park.

Delicious again, as 'cake and ice cream' :). I picked up some goodies for dinner and had such great plans for them, until I started feeling really sick again so my special meal will have to wait until tomorrow. Pictured here, clockwise from the sushi roll is:

Baked Black Bean Burrito
Garlic Spaghetti
Ratatouille
Sauteed Peppers, Celery and Onions
Broccoli and Cauliflower
Baby Corn Salad
Red Cabbage with Red Wine Vinegar and Dijon

I had planned on mixing everything here with the mixed greens, cherry tomatoes and rotisserie chicken I have at home to make an awesome salad, but I've completely lost my appetite and instead just nibbled a bit. I ate the black bean burrito, the spaghetti, the sushi roll, and took bites out of everything else. At least I still have these veggies to look forward to for tomorrow! Here's to hoping I'm feeling better then.... Have a good night :)

Squeezin 'Em In

2008-07-16T22:31:00.002-04:00

I knew I had to squeeze some veggies into dinner tonight because they've been mysteriously absent from my other two meals today... I packed some rotisserie chicken mixed with mustard and agave nectar, sliced cucumber and cherry tomatoes, and a can of my favourite Amy's split pea soup to eat at work tonight. I am still super filled up, thanks to all the protein in my meal and the volumnious soup!

I'm tired from running around at work all day so I'll be heading to bed soon. Goodnight :)

Cake and Ice Cream

2008-07-16T13:03:00.002-04:00

I was ravenous after my workout today. And sweaty. So my original plan of soup quickly became a definite no-go. I had such a great workout, I went to the gym thinking ok, I'm not 100% right now so just do whatever you feel like doing.. And then I had some crazy energy burst and wound up doing an intense 45 minutes of cardio and an ab workout :) I feel awesome now! Anyway, back to the hunger- my sweet tooth is probably only rivaled by that of the lovely Miss Erica over at Sweet Eats. Sweet is always my preferred taste. And I came up with the best way to indulge that sweet need today! I bought a double chocolate muffin at my favourite health food store (nutrition facts aren't stellar but not awful either- made with whole wheat flour, canola oil, sugar, water, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, baking powder, and 250 calories, 15g fat, 3g protein, 25g sugar) and because I've tried this brand before and know their muffins tend to be on the dry side I decided to crumble it into a bowl with yogurt, strawberries, and blueberries. I drizzled a bit of almond butter on top and oh my god this was delicious. Seriously just like cake and ice cream :) I am happy and full now and just have to get ready for work :)

Look how clean my bowl is! This was awesome!

Nibbly Night

2008-07-16T10:13:00.009-04:00

My sore throat and headache made it so hard to fall asleep last night :( I turned on the food network and got caught up in Iron Chef America but by that time it was going on 12:30 and I was getting hungry since dinner was so long ago. I went back for a couple more handfuls of pretzels- I dipped a couple into my new Duo Penotti vanilla and hazelnut spread (sweet + salty = awesome) and I had some blueberries and a taste of my roommate's Quaker Harvest Crunch. You know I've been talking about FWDGF and eating for pleasure and I count this snacking behaviour as an 'offender' because really, how much pleasure can you get from a food when you're eating it straight from the package while standing up in the kitchen?

I also count gelato, ice cream, cereals, and crackers (mostly snack, carb-y stuff) as my offenders because they're foods I tend to overdo without getting as much pleasure from eating them as I should. As I just mentioned I consider some behaviours offenders too- like snacking from the package or just mindlessly munching without really enjoying what I'm eating. The next time I'm hungry late at night, I'll have a yogurt. I love yogurt for its satiation powers and taste, but sometimes it can be hard to choose it over crispy salty pretzels, so this is something I'll have to work on. But that's what recasting is all about :)

Moving on to morning! I had a delicious bowl of banana oatmeal made in the microwave with 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup Vitasoy Light Original Soymilk, half a banana, some cinnamon, and an almond butter spoonful with brown sugar sprinkled on top. That's right, a nut butter!! My roommate said she doesn't mind if I use other nut butters as long as I don't bring anything with peanuts or pb into the house (she's allergic). This was awesome news for me and I ran right out to buy this jar of AB :)

I'm going to head to the gym soon and then I have to work at 3. Have a good day :)

Under The Weather

2008-07-15T20:24:00.003-04:00

I was hoping my sore throat and achy head were just a lingering morning thing but seeing as it's evening now and I'm starting to feel a little worse, I believe I can proclaim that I have a cold. In July. Being sick in the summertime is the absolute worst! I will definitely be headed to bed early tonight.

I was craving sweet breakfast food again, so here's breakfast for dinner, round 2:

Half of my St- Viateur multigrain bagel (couldn't let a freshly baked bagel go a day without at least being tasted!) toasted and spread with a swirled vanilla hazelnut spread (nutella-esque, but better, in my opinion), half of a banana, and some 2% plain yogurt with a gingersnap cookie. I found these cookies at my favourite health food store and am so glad I bought them! They are wafer-thin but pack SO much flavour and a light, crispy sweetness. I'll talk more about my new purchases later but I really just want to lie in bed right now :( Hoping I feel better in the morning!

***EDIT*** My stomach was grumbling a little and I was craving something salty so I decided to indulge the craving and had a little snack of pretzel sticks with hummus. I had never tried this combo before, but I gotta say this one's a winner!!! So tasty together. I went back for a little more after finishing my bowl, so I probably ate about double this amount in total. Ok, NOW I'm going to bed, I promise!

A Bite Of Heaven- With Frosting

2008-07-15T17:13:00.007-04:00

I left my house at 11 today and didn't get back until 4- and I was walking nearly the whole time! I'm a little tired but happy that I got to see so much today :) I set out this morning with a particular destination in mind, but I obviously wasn't paying enough attention to street signs because I walked right past it! I went about 20 minutes longer and then started to get fed up and sadly decided to give up my quest and stop at a nearby park for lunch. I had packed a wrap made with an Ezekiel tortilla, the last of the spinach and dill hummus, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, mixed greens, rotisserie chicken and mustard. I also savoured one of the gorgeous nectarines I bought at Marche Jean Talon yesterday.

After eating I started walking back the way I had came, when lo and behold I spotted the street sign I had been seeking! I started getting excited and searched the store fronts until the one I wanted popped out at me :)

Petits Gateaux (little cakes, or cupcakes) is a bakery entirely devoted to cupcakes. It was adorable- pretty pink walls, flowers everywhere, and glass cases filled with cupcakes! There were so many different varieties, all beautifully decorated with elaborate icings. They also have mini cupcakes, which are about half the size of a standard cupcake, which is what I chose to have- it was the perfect treat, 4 little bites of heaven. Mine was a banana cupcake topped with a soft brown sugar fudge-like icing and chocolate drizzle and it absolutely melted in my mouth.

My camera batteries died on me otherwise I would have taken more pictures! I will definitely be coming back here, I really want to try the coconut and carrot cake one. They even have a lavender flavoured cupcake!

I also walked past the legendary St- Viateur Bagel Shop so I stopped in to buy a multigrain bagel for breakfast tomorrow. They have a huuuuge wood burning oven behind the cash that is totally open so you can actually watch them shape and then cook your bagel. Mine was a little warm still from being so fresh out of the oven :) See you later for dinner!

Quickie

2008-07-15T10:22:00.000-04:00

It's gorgeous outside and all I want to do is be out there frolicking so this is going to be a short one! Breakfast this morning was 1 cup of Special K Cinnamon Pecan cereal with half a banana, some strawberries, and Vitasoy Light Original Soymilk. The flavour of this cereal was great, but there was only ONE pecan in my 1 cup pour! Not cool.

I think I am going to pack a lunch and eat it picnic style somewhere. See you all later and hope your weather is as perfect as mine is right now! :)

The One With All The Pictures

2008-07-14T18:31:00.007-04:00

After a nice 40 minute cardio workout (elliptical and treadmill- I plan on doing ab work tonight to get some strength in, I promise) I came home for some lunch. I made a delicious grilled ciabatta bread sandwich using a generous amount of turkey, provolone cheese, and spicy eggplant marinated in olive oil. Amazing. I had some frozen grapes on the side.

Coffee with a little FWDGF :)

Then began the adventuring. I took the metro (subway) to Marche Jean-Talon, a massive outdoor market that sells a mind-boggling array of fresh produce, cheeses, meats, fish, breads, and just about anything else you can imagine. They set out samples and I did my fair share of tasting, but all of it was fruits and veggies except for a tiny square of homemade fudge.

This store here was grilling small pieces of duck, bison, and merguez sausages- they all smelled amazing.

More meats next to an olive vendor.

Look at how huge this place is!!!

It was tough choosing what to have for dinner, everything looked and smelled so tantalizing. I narrowed it down to a bison burger or waffles, and wound up going with my sweet tooth and having breakfast for dinner. I had creamy melty nutella and banana sliced over light, fluffy, and slightly crispy waffles. Heaven. I left about 3-4 bites but thoroughly enjoyed the portion that I did eat.

I already have a full fridge at home and had to restrain myself at the market. I came home with the best cherry tomatoes I have ever tasted, perfect nectarines, a plum, strawberries, and a persimmion. I sampled all of these before buying them and I am now soooo excited to eat them all :)

It's raining now and kind of gross out so I think I'm going to stay inside and read for a bit or just relax. Have a good night!

No Rest For The Weary

2008-07-14T10:07:00.003-04:00

I had the worst sleep ever last night. I feel like a zombie this morning but I couldn't fall back asleep now if I wanted to. My stomach is also feeling a little off so I started the day with a small meal of a banana and blueberries and 5 whole grain Melba toasts (I wound up eating them all with cream cheese after the first two were so good like that!). I'm going to head to the gym soon and I have some errands to run, but there might also be some fun stuff (like a trip to the farmer's market?!?!? We'll see!!!!!!).

During my bought of insomnia last night I picked up French Women Don't Get Fat and started to re-read the first chapter. It really reminded me of how happy I am when I eat for pleasure... This book's philosphy helped me lose my Freshman 7 (thank goodness I never made it to 15) but even more than that it taught me how a healthy body and healthy mind work together to cultivate joie de vivre. I feel like I have stopped thinking this way and I really need to get back to these principles, so I am doing my 'recasting' encore. I do have a few minor pounds to lose but more than that I want to get back to the French way of thinking about food, portions and pleasure. I think I'll finish re-reading the book and focus my meals and my blog entries on changing not only what I'm eating but also how I'm thinking about it. In French Women for All Seasons Mireille mentions walking through an airport, watching people stuffing their faces and her own reaction of shock at not seeing pleasure on any one of these faces. That passage really struck a chord with me and prompts me to think 'how much am I really going to enjoy eating this?' before mindlessly proceeding onwards. For those not familiar with the book, the recasting phase is meant as a period of consciously reducing offenders (food we're prone to overdo without as much pleasure as you may think) reducing portion size but also really enjoying meals and trying new things to excite the palate.

Phew. Well there are my musings for the morning :) Happy Monday!

Busy Blogger

2008-07-13T19:46:00.007-04:00

Non-stop weekend and it isn't quite over yet- I have to get to work in 45 minutes so this will just be a quick wrap-up of the past two days.

Friday night I snacked on an apple before going to wish my friend a happy birthday. I didn't go out, I was waaay too tired and knew I had to get some sleep to power me through the weekend.

Saturday morning I woke up to 1 cup of Barbara's Multigrain Shredded Spoonfuls cereal with a banana and Vitasoy Light Original Soymilk. Perfect :) I can't decide if I prefer this cereal or the Shredded Oats... Might be the Oats one though. haha.

I had to pack both lunch and dinner- pictured here is: a wrap made almost exactly like last time, an Ezekiel tortilla with spinach and dill hummus, shredded carrots, cucumber, mixed greens, rotisserie chicken and mustard (delish!); an apple; some 2% yogurt; strawberries; trail mix made with yogurt covered raisins, dried blueberries and honey roasted almonds; a pb z-bar (that I actually didn't wind up eating) and an awesome Skinni Mini Edibles vegan carrot muffin made with no added sugar (date paste is used instead). The nutrition facts for this muffin were pretty awesome- 216 calories for 150g, 3g fat, 8g fibre, 14g sugar, 6g protein, vitamin A, C, Calcium and Iron. And it tastes awesome, not too sweet but very filling and energizing! I have tried a few other treats made by this bakery (the date-based brownie, blondie, chocolate chip granola bar and chocolate chip muffin) and I have loved them all.

Sunday's breakfast was identical to Saturday's, 1 cup of Barbara's Multigrain Shredded Spoonfuls cereal with a banana and Vitasoy Light Original Soymilk.

I was in a rush to pack lunch and dinner and so didn't get very creative today. The wrap is the exact same as yesterday's, and also pictured are an apple, 2% yogurt, blueberries, a Cocoa Mint Jocalat Larabar, a pb z-bar (which did get eaten today) and trail mix made with 1/4 cup Barbara's Multigrain Shredded Spoonfuls, yogurt covered raisins, honey roasted almonds and a square of the amazing Green & Black's Organic 70% Dark Chocolate.

I just found out that I have tomorrow and Tuesday off! How exciting! Plenty of time (I hope) to get all of my errands done and get in a few workouts (I've missed my gym time!).

***EDIT*** I had about 1/2 cup serving of a mix of gelato and sorbet tonight at work.

Still On The Run

2008-07-11T21:54:00.005-04:00

Whew. Well my day off wasn't relaxing, but it sure was productive. I got a ton of errands done and resolved some scheduling conflicts, but there's still more work to be done. I tend to lose my appetite when I'm super stressed- expect next week to look a little more normal. I was so busy all day that I didn't even start to feel hungry again until I came home from the gym and a nice, hard 35 minute run on the treadmill. I made a massive salad with shredded carrots, cucumbers, rotisserie chicken (this thing is lasting forever), mixed greens, and a delicious dressing with equal parts mustard and Agave nectar plus a little drizzle of olive oil.

I was still a little hungry after that so I had some blueberries topped with yogurt, 1/4 cup of Barbara's Multigrain Shredded Spoonfuls cereal and 4 chopped honey roasted almonds.

Yes, there are blueberries hiding under there!! I'm going out for a friend's birthday tonight and may have a drink or two and then tomorrow begins the work marathon. Have a good weekend!

Early Bird.......

2008-07-11T12:17:00.003-04:00

If 11:30 counts as a decent hour then I woke up right on time this morning. I really hate sleeping in but I think my body needed it today, especially since I'm working 24 hours this weekend. Yes, it is possible, but I don't recommend it. I'm still really stressed about my work situation and scheduling but I'm going to work on it today and hopefully make some improvements. Anyway, since I woke up so late I kind of combined breakfast and lunch and made a grilled banana soy nut butter tortilla. I spread an Ezekiel wrap with roughly 2 tablespoons of soy nut butter, one sliced banana, a few raisins, cinnamon, and 2 squares chopped of my Green & Black's Organic 70% dark chocolate. Absolutely decadent :)

After I run some errands I am hoping to get a good workout in and hopefully some pool time :) Yay for Friday!

I'm Beat

2008-07-10T22:45:00.004-04:00

Which is why this is going to be such a dull and uninspired post. Loooong day at work. But I have tomorrow OFF!!!!!!! I never get days off!!! I have a bunch of errands to run but I also plan on relaxing and getting in a nice workout and maybe some pool time :) It's also a friend's birthday so I'll probably be going out with her. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed lunch and dinner today, but unfortunately I had to rush through them. I always think I have more time than I actually do... I looked at the clock this morning and realized that I had an hour before I had to be at work, yet I wasn't dressed, hadn't eaten lunch or packed dinner. Oops. For lunch I had some more rotisserie chicken (delicious!) with an Agave nectar/mustard dipping sauce, a big bowl of pineapple mixed with frozen grapes, and one of my favourite simple desserts- I drizzled some cut strawberries with balsamic vinegar and brown sugar, stirred in some 2% yogurt, and added a few chopped honey roasted almonds on top. Sooo good, but even better with frozen yogurt, which is definitely on my next grocery list.

I was planning on a wrap for dinner but I didn't have any spinach left so instead I made a couscous salad. I prepared a 1/4 cup dry serving and then stirred in cucumber, carrots, chicken, raisins, and my new favourite spinach and dill hummus. It was awesome, the flavour combination was great.

I had a vanilla chocolate yogurt (there are little chocolate shavings in it) with dinner as well. I also wound up going out tonight, which is why I'm finishing up this post at 3am. One of my friends guilted me into it because he's leaving town soon and we haven't hung out for a while. So I blindly agreed to go out, forgetting that he's mildly obsessed with dance electronica type music. I think I can safely say I was one of the few people there who weren't under the influence of something. I sipped on a vodka tonic but only had half after realizing that I hate tonic, then I had a vodka lime shooter simply to shush the annoyingly persistent peer pressurers. Don't you hate them?? I wound up having a pretty good time just dancing, but it's sooo late now and I should aim to get up at a decent hour tomorrow so good night :)

Minor Switch-Up

2008-07-10T09:46:00.004-04:00

..In that I only used 1/2 cup of Barbara's Shredded Oats for breakfast today! Look at me go, being all diverse now :) haha. The other 1/2 cup of cereal I used was Nature's Path Organic Smart Bran Psyllium. I know it looks like pellets for hamster food or something, but I love this stuff.

As always, with a banana and Vitasoy Light Original Soymilk.

Same schedule for today as yesterday- another brutal 12-9 shift :( I'm looking to do some changes with my schedule though, I work way too much and it's starting to burn me out. All I want to do is play outside!

Happy Thursday :)

Dillicious

2008-07-09T22:42:00.005-04:00

I tasted some of my new spinach and dill hummus as I was making my packed dinner wrap today and was shocked at how good it was. I've never been crazy about hummus before but this stuff was incredible! The dill just made the flavour so amazing... After this hummus epiphany I knew I had to incorporate it into lunch too, so I spread roughly a tablespoon on some cucumber slices along with pineapple, 2% yogurt and a gingersnap Larabar.

The gingersnap flavour was also amazing! I fall in love with Larabars all over again every time I eat one :) hahaha. They honestly keep me full for hours... Must be all those healthy fats.

Dinner wrap pre-close: Ezekiel tortilla, spinach and dill hummus, cucumber, carrots, spinach, and chicken.

Post-close wrap with blueberry yogurt and another diet blackcurrent soda (need to start weaning myself off these!). The wrap was so delicious even though I had to eat it in the not-so-scenic staff room at work... A similar one will most likely be making an appearance tomorrow :)

Good night!

More of the Same

2008-07-09T10:29:00.002-04:00

This is kind of a boring breakfast post since it's the exact same as the past two days (1 cup Barbara's Shredded Oats, banana, Vitasoy Light Original Soymilk) but I am just addicted to this combination since I can eat it and then 10 minutes later leave for the gym and have a great workout with no cramping or anything. That's exactly what I did this morning- after eating I walked to the gym (it's 5 minutes away- I love city life!) and did 20 minutes on the elliptical and 20 running on the treadmill. I stretched and wish I could say that I did weights but alas, there were none. Maybe tomorrow...?

I'm working 12-9 tonight (yuck) so I'll post lunch and dinner later on tonight. Happy Wednesday!

Sweltering Shop

2008-07-08T17:34:00.005-04:00

Despite the insane heat I spent a good amount of time outside today, walking around the city and browsing health food stores. I didn't want to have to carry too much home so I picked up just a few things...

English Cucumber
Rotisserie Chicken
Ezekiel Wraps
Whole Wheat Couscous
Tin Foil (to keep my wraps intact!)
Shredded Carrots
Locally Grown Strawberries
Organic Spinach and Dill Hummus
Gingersnap Larabar

I cleaned the chicken as soon as I got home and then started to put dinner together. I made a salad with cucumber, carrots and strawberries (which were absolutely divine- what a difference locally grown makes!) drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Then I boiled water for the couscous in the microwave and added some cinnamon and raisins to the grain- I also added on a touch of Agave Nectar to play up the sweetness a little more. Chicken on the side, and voila! A delicious dinner needing only a bit of microwaving to be "cooked".

I love how the French think about food- meat is a smaller portion and more of a side to a larger portion of vegetables. I adore French Women Don't Get Fat and French Women For All Seasons by Mireille Guiliano and I have definitely taken her food philosophies to heart. This was such a simple, pleasurable meal, and now I am perfectly satisfied and ready to go to work! (Ok maybe not quite.) Have a good night!

***EDIT*** I wound up having dessert tonight... I had a massive (not even kidding) waffle cone of gelato!! I had a mix of oreo, mint chocolate chip, and rum crocciantino. I could have been satisfied with less.

More Love For The Gym! :)

2008-07-08T13:37:00.003-04:00

Oh my god. I could go on and on about how much I love my gym :) I did cardio on the upstairs level today (I think there are 4 or 5 floors total- this place is huge) and the treadmills are placed in front of windows that look out over the street and a restaurant patio. People watching while working out is so interesting!! I ran for a bit and did the elliptical, probably about 50 minutes total. I brought last month's Shape with me and the time just flew by. I love how good exercise makes me feel- I think people who view it solely as a way to lose weight are setting themselves up for failure by making gym time a prison sentence instead of a way to boost your mood and just feel great. I really want to venture into the massive weight room but I'm a little bit intimidated... Too many machines and I really don't know what to do with them. I need Kelly around to kick my butt and push me in there :)

Anyway, here is lunch, a grilled soy nut butter (my roommate is allergic to peanuts so no pb for me) and blueberry jam sandwich, a perfectly juicy and delicious apple, and some 2% plain yogurt. It's a gorgeous day out so I'm spending as much time as possible outside before heading to work at 7 :)

Mid-morning Quest

2008-07-08T10:54:00.005-04:00

Today's breakfast wound up being exactly the same as yesterday's, except that I had to work for it today! I had forgotten to buy bananas, so naturally, I woke up with an insatiable craving for bananas. I hate being disappointed with meals, whether due to the taste or because it's not what you're craving, so I decided to head to the grocery store and pick up some bananas. Luckily I live right downtown and there are several grocery stores within quick walking distance, so my banana quest wasn't too challenging. Even though my meal was simple (1 cup of Barbara's Shredded Oats, the prized banana, and Vitasoy Light Original Soymilk) it tasted delicious and left me totally satisfied.

Now I'm just sipping my coffee and planning out my day. Probably a trip to the gym, maybe the pool, a walk to my favourite health food store... Fun things in store for today!

Successful Throw-Together

2008-07-08T00:55:00.004-04:00

I looked up at the clock around 6 and realized that I had to get to work in half an hour and also that I had nothing for dinner! At least that's what I thought. After some digging I managed to come up with an awesome salad- this one had a ton of spinach, leftover grilled chicken, tomato, a couple pieces of dried mango, 6 honey roasted almonds, and some of my roommate's bacon bits. I honestly can't remember the last time I added bacon bits to anything, but tonight they sounded good so in they went. Also, the table top is glass, so it only looks like I'm eating off the hardwood floor :)

I also had a slice of bakery whole wheat bread spread with the best cream cheese I've ever tried. It's kind of tangy in a good way and reminds me of goat cheese, except much milder.

Side view of my massive salad :)

I'm bringing this diet blackcurrant sparkling soda to work with me as well as the rest of my pineapple. I don't really drink many diet sodas but this brand makes some really nice flavours, so I'll have one occasionally. Yeah this picture actually was taken on the floor.

Have a lovely evening :)

New Love

2008-07-07T15:30:00.002-04:00

...My gym. I love this place. I just bought a membership today and I'm so glad that I did! There is an outdoor rooftop pool, beautiful facilities, and a bunch of great classes. I'm already excited for tomorrow's workout! Today's was pretty easy because I haven't been to a gym in a couple weeks and I didn't want to overdo it and be sore tomorrow.

After running around all morning and going to the gym I came home for a late lunch at 3. I used my good friend George (as in Foreman) to grill up a turkey sandwich with spinach, tomato, avocado and mustard on whole wheat bread. I also had some coffee yogurt and about half of the perfectly ripe and delicious pineapple pictured here (I'll have the rest with dinner :)).

I am so lucky to live down the street from this amazing French bakery- I buy small loaves of bread, have them slice it for me, and it's the perfect amount to last me for a week. They make the most amazing pain a chocolat et creme d'amande (basically a chocolate and almond cream croissant) and they also sell various meats and cheeses, homemade chocolates, quiches, and salads. Pretty much heaven :)

Good Morning!

2008-07-07T11:14:00.002-04:00

Breakfast this morning was 1 cup of Barbara's Shredded Oats with a banana and Vitasoy Light Original Soymilk. I think I prefer this cereal with yogurt or as a trail mix base because it got a little soggy a little too fast for me. Still delicious though.

I also don't really have a kitchen table so this picture was taken on my windowsill. At least I get a ton of natural light in here!

I have a busy day ahead of me- I need to buy my gym membership, hopefully workout, study, and then head to work for 7 (I work nights sometimes, but it's usually not too late).

Awww

2008-07-07T01:17:00.005-04:00

You guys are all so sweet :) Thank you for your comments, honestly they all made me so happy. I'll be reading up on all of your blogs very soon!! In the meantime though, I shall reward you all with PUPPY PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's my mom with two of the little darlings... The puppy is really for her, since all of her children will be out of the house come September! Our old sheltie used to follow her around the house everywhere, I think she misses having a cute furry shadow :)

There were 8 puppies, all 4 weeks old, which explains the crappy picture quality- who wants to focus on taking a good picture when there are puppies to be played with?!?

We will be taking a boy puppy home at the end of the month :)

In non-puppy (read: less interesting) news, I've been debating whether I should start posting my meals... As I mentioned in my last post, I've got a couple o' winter hibernation pounds to lose. I've been veering into overdrive snack territory, and taking pictures of what I'm eating will certainly cause me to focus more on meals and be more conscious of what I'm eating. It could also be kind of interesting, since my lifestyle right now is ultimate girl-on-the-run: I'm working two jobs, (clocking at most 60 hours a week), studying for an exemption exam to take at the beginning of august, and apartment hunting (you people must think I'm crazy for moving so often! haha). Oh, and did I mention that the only cooking apparatuses I currently have access to are a George Foreman grill and a microwave? If I can meet my healthy living goals, then ANYONE can :)

Anyway, I'm going to give this idea a bit more thought and maybe try posting my meals for the next week just to see how it goes. Thanks to all of you again for sticking around, I love hearing from you and even if I'm not commenting on your blogs please know that I am definitely reading :)

Is Anybody Still Out There...?

2008-06-29T17:41:00.003-04:00

Wow it has been waaaayyy too long since I last posted. I have been lurking on all of your blogs, just not keeping up with my own! This month has been crazy, and that's an understatement. Everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong, and I'm still feeling like I haven't gotten my feet under me yet. I apologize for the extreme vague-ness (am I making up words here?) but I would just prefer not to discuss and look forward instead. I'm trying to be positive but I'm really not a natural optimist- no time like the present to learn, I suppose :) I've also realized that I haven't been taking very good care of myself lately, both in terms of my eating habits and exercise. My health has always been a top priority, but lately I've been indulging in cupcakes and handfulls of trans-fat laden chips and crackers and other junk that I know just isn't worth it. When I feel good, I'm good to myself, but when I don't....Well, it's not pretty. I need to kick my bad habits and get back to the good ones. I've also gained 5 pounds or so in the last few months- nothing major, just a signal that I need to step back and change some things about my lifestyle. Sorry for such a downer post! I will definitely be posting more often now because I have seen how supportive the blogging community can be and I'm thinking this healthy living overhaul I'm going to make needs some of that support :)

Ok I can't make this all negative- my family is getting a puppy in 4 weeks!!!!! Our sheltie Tinkerbell died in January and we were all just so heartbroken... But we are getting a little baby boy sheltie puppy :) I went to visit him last night and there were 8 puppies in total and it was just the cutest scene ever!!! I'll post pics as soon as I get some!

All Grown Up & Graduated

2008-06-01T19:37:00.004-04:00

I was so happy to have sun for Graduation Day! It was held in a huge tent on campus and was such an amazing experience....I can't believe it's done though, those four years went by way too fast. I just wanted to share a couple of pics from the day- here I am, on the right, with my sister Allison. She graduates from High School this June! I can't believe how old she is now.

With the parents
My amazing boyfriend :)

Here the photoshoot started to get a little out of hand. In an effort to keep things interesting, someone suggested I try climbling the tree. Hint for anyone wondering- 3-inch heels and tree climbing do not mix.
I moved again today! At least I'll be in this apartment for 3 months instead of just one so I can get a little more settled. I should be back to cooking within a few days :)

Tag!

2008-05-23T21:07:00.003-04:00

Oooh Monica tagged me so I guess that means I'm it.

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names, linking to them.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Let's see...5 things about me....
1. I played a ridiculous number of sports as a kid. I started off with soccer when I was five, and since then I have played competitive basketball, figure skating, track and field / cross country, swimming, hockey... I was even lucky enough to have multiple sport practice sessions the same day. Like 6am skating and then 4pm basketball followed by 7pm soccer. No wonder I could eat whatever the heck I wanted :)

2. I was "discovered" and did some modelling for a bit. This is funny because I'm 5'1". It was all stock photography, as in I could be the face of some bank's new student credit card. I'll be sure to let you all know if such fame ensues.

3. I'm very indecisive. I graduated from University with a BA in English Lit and Econ, but along the way I toyed with plans to become an Architect, a Registered Dietitian, a Doctor (ok a Brain Surgeon), or a Journalist. Needless to say, I drove my parents nuts.

4. I'm scared of everything. When I was younger I would throw a blanket over my head and plug my ears while "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was on because I was scared. My 5-years-younger sister would sit there laughing at me. I also slept in her bedroom, on the floor, every night for a week after watching "The Exorcist". She thought that was pretty funny too.

5. I'm a bit of a snob about my chocolate. Hershey's tastes like plastic.

Now I get to tag 5 people.. I'm sure everyone has already been "tagged" before so if you don't feel like doing it it's ok, my feelings won't be hurt :) haha

Miss Ruby Red at Ruby Red Vegan
Carmen at The Oatmeal Experiment
Kelly T at Every Gym's Nightmare
Melissa at Melissa's Journey (I'm cheating here because I totally saw she just did it so I'm getting in on that tag)
Tina at Carrots and Cake

Stop the Presses!

2008-05-21T13:05:00.003-04:00

Just imagine the happy dance I did when I found this:

It's a CHOCOLATE COFFEE Larabar!!!!! My two absolute favourite flavours smooshed together into one amazing bar. And it tastes delicious. Rich, thick texture, and just a hint of coffee taste that isn't bitter in the least. Definitely my favourite Larabar ever, and I've tried nearly all of them now. I kept checking the label as I was eating this, as if somehow the all-natural ingredient list of dates, walnuts, hazelnuts, cocoa mass, cocoa powder, cashews, coffee would change to sugar, glucose-fructose, HFCS, butter, death, destruction.... Ok I exaggerate but seriously this tastes unbelievable, the next time I'm craving a brownie I know what I'll be reaching for :)

And another fun find for the day! Almond hazelnut butter. It tastes like plain almond butter at first, and then there's a hint of something vaguely nutella-like but without the chocolate. (Obviously the hazelnuts lol). I really liked it! I don't know if it can topple the reign of peanut butter, but it sure is a delicious alternative.

Back to the jobhunt, enjoy your humpday everyone!

Saturday Morning Pancakes and Other Musings

2008-05-17T19:48:00.005-04:00

I woke up this morning craving pancakes. It was kind of an odd feeling- usually, I find pancakes too heavy and they tend to send me back into my warm bed instead of energized and out the door. But today my tummy demanded pancakes, no substitutes. I was worried that my increasingly sparse pantry might fail me in my breakfast quest, that is, until I happened upon the easiest, tastiest pancake recipe ever. Hannah is brilliant! (But we all know that already). I pretty much stuck to her recipe, except that I cut it in half, using part white pastry flour and part whole wheat. I also added a touch of vanilla extract, and had to sub in water mixed with some instant hot chocolate mix because I was all out of soymilk (desperate times, folks. I told you my pantry was bare). I used mashed banana as my fruit puree, left out the oil, and of course tossed in a handful of chocolate chips. And wow, what a pancake! Deliciously light yet perfectly filling, this little guy hit the spot. I chopped up the rest of my banana then cooked it in some cinnamon sugar as a side, and paired with some maple syrup this breakfast was nothing short of amazing. Make these pancakes!!! Now!!! You will NOT be disappointed :)

...Now back to the grill!!!! I have been grilling up a storm- no fruit or veggie is safe, I shall grill them all!! (Insert evil megalomaniac laugh here).
Last night's salad contained:
-Spinach and Romaine lettuce (ungrilled, unfortunately. Fortunately?)
-half of a grilled salmon burger
-grilled Pineapple
-grilled Baby Carrots
-grilled snowpeas
-grilled Tomato slices
-sundried tomatoes
-parmesan and goat cheese
-soy sauce/ honey/ red pepper flake/ five spice sauce dressing mixture

The grilled tomatoes especially came out sooo good! I even got grill marks on mine, though you can’t really tell in the picture because I proceeded to drown them in a shower of parmesan. The cheese melted into the hot tomato and it soaked up a lot of dressing and was so incredibly flavourful. I am now a firm believer that veggies are meant to be eaten after grilling- the carrots and snowpeas were so crunchy and tasty!

Pineapple was the real star in this dish, though I can’t take credit for that one. The roomie marinated pineapple halves in rum and brown sugar and then barbequed them at her parents’ place a few days ago. They developed a deliciously crispy, slightly charred crust and got even sweeter, if that’s possible. The combination of pineapple with the goat cheese and salmon was unbelievable.

Pictured below is tonight's grilled veggies delight, pretty much the same as last night's except without tomato or parm. I added in deli turkey and used raspberry flavoured balsamic vinegar for a dressing. Mmmm soo delicious :)

It was such a beautiful day today, so I chose to spend as much time as possible outside, walking. I discovered a couple of goodies along the way:

...And this. By far the BEST coffee-flavoured yogurt I have ever tried. Not too bitter and not too sweet, but creamy beyond any other. I loved it and have already gone through half the container. Oops.

My grocery finds tasted amazing together too, in case you were wondering :)

Have a happy Saturday night! I'm watching The Godfather for the first time (shame on me I know, I haven't seen any of those classic "must see" movies) and then tomorrow night I think I'm getting together with some friends to have an Italian-themed potluck while we watch more Godfather!

It's Official

2008-05-16T11:26:00.005-04:00

...Everything tastes better grilled!

My roomie-for-the-month (that's right, I'm moving AGAIN come June 1st) let me play with her grill and let's just say that I've found a new love. I'm grilling everything. Seriously. My delicious treat was inspired by this recipe on Katie's blog, which definitely deserves the 'Sandwich of Dreams' title! Anyway, on to the food- I took half of a whole wheat pita, spread the inside with peanut butter, cinnamon sugar, and a touch of blueberry jam, then sliced up half a banana and put that and some raisins in there too. I grilled it for a few minutes (I couldn't wait any longer than that) and was rewarded with melty sweet banana peanut butter goodness! Oh my. Don't make the same mistake I did though and take a huge bite right away- grilled banana chunks get hot!

TGIF- Have a great weekend everyone!

More Kitchen Creativity

2008-05-15T14:16:00.002-04:00

Well, my photography skills certainly haven't improved in my absence.... My apologies for another blurry photo! Just pretend this one looks appetizing, because I can assure you the taste was fantastic!! I hope to get back to blogging on a regular basis, I've really missed it. Life has just been kinda crazy lately! Job hunting, moving, graduating, gorgeous weather and trying to see as many friends as possible before we all head our separate ways... Needless to say, most of my meals have consisted of whatever random ingredients I can find to combine into something edible. Today's breakfast happened to be one of those times when I didn't realize I was out of a vital component and had to get creative- the result was much sweeter than anything I'd usually choose for breakfast, but would make an awesome dessert! I had decided on Overnight Swiss Oats but woke up to find that I was somehow all out of yogurt....What to substitute?? What else is creamy, thick, and delicious?? Chocolate pudding!!!!!!!

Overnight Pudding Oats! What a decadent breakfast!

1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup boiling water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon
half banana, sliced
1 pudding cup (I used Zen Soy chocolate soy pudding- probably about 1/3 cup worth)

(1) Combine oats, water, vanilla and cinnamon. Let sit out until water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Then cover and put in fridge overnight.
(2) Stir in sliced banana and pudding cup. A tablespoon of raspberry jam would also be an awesome addition at this point. Enjoy!

This actually kept me full for longer than I thought- oatmeal's satiation power with the deliciousness of chocolate pudding was definitely a winning combination. I can't wait to make this again, and maybe experiment with other pudding flavours and fruit mix-ins.

Oh and yes, that is pb on my spoon. I have this problem where I put into every dish I can.......

The Never-Ending Dinner

2008-05-08T19:02:00.003-04:00

No one seems to like leftovers. Poor lil guys. With a little creativity though, you can turn last night's dinner into something completely new. This here isn't so much a recipe as an idea- and one that turned out too good not to share. Yesterday's spaghetti squash with marinara became tonight's Mexican chili type thing (I'm really not feeling eloquent enough to come up with a better name). My photography skills kinda match my dish-naming abilities today, so you'll just have to take my word that this dinner was fantastic!

Into the bowl went about 1/4 of a large spaghetti squash, 1/4 cup salsa, 1 cup prepared black bean soup, 1/2 cup veggie ground round, and some tortilla chips with sweet pepper relish on top. Microwave (sans garnishes) for 2-3 minutes, and dinner is done! I added a hearty shake of red pepper flakes because the black bean soup label lied and wasn't spicy at all. I bet some sour cream or yogurt would also go great with this. The only problem is, I wasn't able to finish my bowl and so now I have to think up a way to dress this up for lunch tomorrow.

M.I.A

2008-05-01T20:38:00.002-04:00

Wow, where have I been?! School is OVER!!!! My graduation ceremony is at the end of May, so until then I am sticking around Montreal and job hunting (woooo). However, the lease on my apartment is up, so I basically spent the last week packing up everything I own, shoving it into a u-haul, unpacking said u-haul into storage, and then moving my clothes into a friend's place so I can sleep on her couch for a while. Jealous? Cause ohhh you should be. I'm not a big fan of chaos and disorganization, so I keep telling myself this is an "adventure" to put a positive spin on it. Also, the kitchen in the house I'm staying at is semi-frightening so I may be living on smoothies and sandwiches for the month... But I think I'll be optimistic and say I'll get some cooking in. I miss posting about food already!!

What You've Been Dreaming Of

2008-04-26T22:24:00.004-04:00

Oh wow. Check out the chocolate on these babies. I had some light sour cream left over from the Cranberry-Cardamom muffins and decided to do some experimenting with that recipe as my base. The result was fat-free (not counting the pb and chocolate chip extras), super moist, chocolately beyond belief, and absolutely delicious!

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes

1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 banana, mashed, plus enough light sour cream to make 1 cup between both ingredients
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
natural peanut butter
dark chocolate chips

(1) Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, all of the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
(2) In another bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add in the 1 cup of banana/light sour cream mixture, applesauce, and vanilla extract. Make a well in dry ingredients and pour in wet. Stir until combined.
(3) Fill well-greased muffin cups 3/4 full with batter. Pour a little under a teaspoon of peanut butter on top of each cupcake, and swirl into batter to create a marbled look. Top with a few chocolate chips. Bake for roughly 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. You should get about 12 cupcakes.

My review: These were honestly so good. Since I based them off of a muffin recipe, I was going to call them muffins, but these taste wayyy too decadent to be called anything less than cupcakes. I was so impressed with the rich chocolate flavour and the moist, dense texture. The peanut butter and chocolate chip topping are totally optional, but they added a great extra note. I don't count calories, but in case you're wondering, each cupcake has around 150 calories- of course, it also depends on how generous you are with toppings :0). I highly recommend these, and would even use this recipe to make a birthday cake. I doubt anyone would guess it was fat-free!

Return of the Forgotten Spice

2008-04-24T12:11:00.004-04:00

My post title sounds like a bad movie sequel- in reality this is a tale about my spice cabinet (which really isn't much of an improvement in terms of my lameness, haha). Anyway, I have a fairly extensive spice cabinet. I like to buy in bulk and then label pretty glass jars for my spices, (and here I go down the lame trail again), but I'm proud of my collection :) Seeing as there are so many little jars crowding my pantry, sometimes spices get lost. Such was the case with cardamom. I've only ever used it a couple of times when making Chai, so I had pretty much forgotten I even had it until I stumbled upon a recipe for Cranberry-Cardamom muffins. Of course I tinkered with it extensively, so here is my version:

Cranberry-Cardamom Muffins

1 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

generous 1/4 tsp cardamom

3/4 cup fresh cranberries

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup light sour cream

1/4 cup applesauce

generous 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

almond slivers

coarse sugar

(1) Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine flour, all of the sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cardamom. Stir to combine, then add in cranberries and mix.

(2) In another bowl, lightly beat eggs and then add in sour cream, applesauce, and vanilla extract. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just combined.

(3) Fill well-greased muffin pan 3/4 of the way full with batter. Top with almond slivers and coarse sugar. Bake for 15 minutes or until a tooothpick inserted into muffin top comes out dry. Makes 12 muffins.

My review: These were quite good! Not my favourite muffin ever, but definitely different- I've never tasted cardamom in baked goods before and it lends quite a nice, spicy note. Even after healthifying and defatting, they rose up tall and cakey with a great taste and texture. If you wanted to make them a little richer, sub in some white flour for the whole wheat, use full-fat sour cream and butter instead of applesauce. I had some minor problems with sticking to the muffin pan, so I recommend letting these babies cool for a few minutes before you begin the extraction process (I had to say that, sounds so geeky and technical and more like tooth pulling than muffin removal). Do NOT leave out the almond slivers and sugar topping- they make the top so crunchy and sweet, definitely the best part! I think I'd even add some cinnamon into the topping, just to throw another complimentary flavour in the mix. Fresh cranberries made these muffins a little tart, so if you prefer a sweeter taste I think I'd use dried cranberries soaked in some orange juice for plumpness as a substitute. And I know this one is tough, but I really encourage you not to judge them based on how they taste fresh out of the oven- a couple of hours were needed for the flavours to really develop. All in all, a great breakfast muffin. I found them to be filling and delicious both with a little butter and even with peanut butter (but then again, what isn't good with peanut butter?!?)

Last exam tomorrow!!!! Have a great day everyone, and thanks for all of the good luck wishes for this last test :)

...And Brownies For Lunch!!!

2008-04-22T14:06:00.000-04:00

I've been living under a rock. I had my first Larabar today, and it actually blew my mind. This thing is a brownie. Seriously. It was so good, I might go out and buy an entire box of this flavour. I don't know why I waited so long to try one, since I love (love!!!!!) dates and nuts make everything better.

I have one more exam left and then I am done my degree!!!! All this studying has been brutal, I managed to squeeze in time for a run today and I had to find a way to stretch my bum- it was sore from all the sitting studying I've been doing! I have been sooo busy, it will be nice to have some free time to run and read and COOK of course. I've been living vicariously through everyone else's blogged-about dinners as mine have been less than stellar lately.

At least my last exam is in my favourite class- International Trade and Finance. I might just be in love with my prof. He brings in his kids' lego to teach us economic models.

Cookies for Breakfast!?

2008-04-20T11:27:00.005-04:00

Kelly T. is a genius. I woke up wanting oatmeal, but I was too hot for both oatmeal and coffee, and I certainly wasn't saying no to the coffee. Then I remembered the oatmeal recipe on Kelly's blog- she basically mixes up a bowl of oatmeal, then bakes it cookie-style to make hand-held portable oats. I cut the recipe in half, because I only had 1 cup of oats left. I didn't really measure, I just threw 1 cup of oats into a big bowl with half of a banana, a big spoonful of peanut butter, and another spoonful of honey. Mashed all that up, then I added in some raisins and poured a little boiling water over it all. I was afraid that my batter was too runny, but my cookies held together great! Kelly says she bakes hers for 30 minutes but I got a little impatient after 13 so I took them out then. They tasted just like a bowl of oatmeal :) I think next time I'll use a little more PB to get a stronger flavour, but otherwise these were perfect.

Trying it Out

2008-04-18T20:25:00.007-04:00

I'm not sure yet if this will be a regular occurrence, however I did take pictures of everything I ate today and so I'm deciding to post it just to get a feel for it :)

Breakfast was a baked oatmeal square that I made a few weeks ago and froze. I stuck it in the fridge overnight to thaw out, then this morning threw it in the microwave for 30 seconds then under the broiler to crisp it up. I think I liked the texture better after these were frozen, it was so dense and filling :) I used Kath's recipe, which is right here. I topped my baked oatmeal with peanut butter and honey, and of course I had a cup (ok tankard, my cup is massive) of coffee.

I remembered Miss Chocolate Covered's challenge to try a new food so while in the grocery store today I grabbed a small carton of soy yogurt to try. I love yogurt, so I wasn't sure how the soy kind would compare. Well...I loved it!!! It was awesome!!! It had more sugar than I would like to have in a yogurt, but for the sweetened kind I think I prefer soy over milk. I had my peach soy yogurt with a mango and a banana, and then an hour later I went back to the kitch for a piece of toast with pb & j. So good :)

For dinner I made vcon's black bean burgers. These are so freaking good, I make them twice a month, and I'm not one to repeat recipes all that often. I topped it with some laughing cow cheese and had a salad with toasted almond slivers, tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar.

I also made a black bean burger sandwich for my boyfriend- he loves these things :) He's so healthy, what a good boy hahaha.

I had a snack in there too, some licorice while studying with a friend- but all that did was remind me that I don't like candy. I'm a chocolate girl, definitely :) Have a great night everyone!!

The Perfect Poached Egg

2008-04-17T18:33:00.012-04:00

This might sound a little weird. Don't be scared. Just trust me, you can make a perfect poached egg with the 4 things pictured right here:

Fill a large pot with a generous amount of water and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer after that. Tear off a big square of plastic wrap and line a cup with it. You can spray it with a little cooking spray if you think it might stick, but I haven't had such problems yet.

Crack the egg into the well

Gather up the plastic wrap around the egg, and tie the bundle with another piece of plastic wrap (or just make a knot in this one if there's enough room)

Toss the egg into the simmering water. Cover the pot and set the timer for 4 minutes for a set white and runny yolk (I'm not sure how long you'd go to get a done yolk, you'd have to experiment).

When your 4 minutes are up, take your little egg bundle out of the water and set it on some paper towel. Unwrap gently so you don't break the yolk! Using a spoon to scoop the egg up is the easier way to transfer it to a plate.

And there you have it, the perfect poached egg!

I might be back later tonight with some baking...we'll see. I'm half done exams and my next one isn't until Tuesday, so I have a little bit of time off. I hope the weather is as gorgeous for you as it is for me right now- 23C in Montreal!!! (73F maybe? warm!!!)

Oh and the Canadians are playing Boston tonight in what is sure to be an awesome game.... GO HABS!!!!!!!!!

Coconoats!

2008-04-16T11:42:00.015-04:00

Breakfast today was so much fun! The picture totally does not do these oats justice, they were delicious :)

Coconoats

2/3 cup water

pinch of salt

1/3 cup rolled oats

1 tsp honey

2/3 cup light coconut milk

1/2 tsp lemon extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 small banana, mashed

2 tbsp dried blueberries

(1) In a small saucepan, bring water to boil. Add salt and oats, simmer until oats are cooked.

(2) Stir in honey, coconut milk, lemon extract, cinnamon, and the mashed banana. Bring to a boil, then simmer until thick (roughly 10 minutes).

(3) Mix in dried blueberries and serve. Makes one bowlful.

I thought up so many ways to top these! Toasted almond slivers, shredded coconut, lemon curd, lemon glaze made with icing sugar and fresh lemon juice- but unfortunately I didn't have any of these on hand. So I just mixed together some plain yogurt and a little maple syrup and poured that on top.

I have sooo much studying to do today. I wrote my Chemistry of Food final exam last night (loved that class) and I have Literature of the Romantic Period tomorrow. Really excited to be done with the Romantics though, I am definitely not a fan. The exam is part identification and (I find, at least) that all the poetry from this time period sounds the same! And they all write odes to each other and whatnot...Ok, enough with my complaining, time to get some work done. Hope everyone else has a great day :0)

To Make Your Kitchens Feel Good About Themselves

2008-04-15T20:43:00.003-04:00

This is how big my kitchen is:

I have textbooks with a larger surface area than that countertop. Needless to say, cooking anything that requires a lot of chopping and prep work is all too often an exercise in organizational creativity. Oh well, only two more weeks left in this apartment!

Breakfast du Jour

2008-04-14T20:45:00.009-04:00

Tomorrow, I am going to teach myself how to upload photos, but for tonight I'm just going to post the recipe for my new favourite breakfast (Edit: photos are added!). I was inspired by the lovely Chocolate Covered Vegan's recipe for a rice pudding that uses oatmeal instead of rice. Intrigued, I dove into my massive bag of oats and came up with this sweet and filling concoction. Seriously, one bowl of these voluminous oats can keep me satisfied for 5 hours! Now that's a breakfast one can love! The dominant taste in this oatmeal will be banana- I like pumpkin but not when it's too prominent. I use it mostly to give a wonderful golden orange color and also to add some more nutrients.

Pumpkin-Banana Oatmeal Pudding

1 cup water
pinch of salt
1/2 cup rolled oats
scant 1/3 cup pumpkin
1 cup milk of your choice
2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 banana, mashed

(1) In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil. Add salt and oats and simmer until oats are cooked.
(2) Stir pumpkin into oats until well combined. Then toss in milk, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer until pudding has started to thicken, about 20 minutes.
(3) Mix in the mashed banana. Spoon oatmeal into a bowl and top with raisins and additional brown sugar, if desired. Or eat it with a big scoop of peanut butter like I do :) Makes one generous portion.

PS- I'm going to be really excited if the link to CCV's blog actually works. Yes, I'm easily impressed.

Noodles for a Cold

2008-04-13T23:21:00.000-04:00

I have been studying alllll day, so I decided to reward myself with a little free time and do a post :) I am so excited to be starting this blog, however I'm pretty technically challenged- as in your 80-year old grandparents probably know more about computers than I do. So this will be interesting, to say the least. Anyway, on to food. This recipe was something I came up with a few weeks ago when I was so stuffed up and sick that I could not taste ANYTHING. Not even peanut butter. A tragedy, I know. Desperate to clear my sinuses and breathe through my nose again, I ransacked my spice cupboard and threw together this tasty little number. It was deliciously spicy, and definitely helped wake up my tastebuds.

Spicy Soba Noodle & Veggie Stir Fry

4-5 oz buckwheat soba noodles
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp water
¼ tsp sesame seeds (optional)
1/8 to ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
1 ½ cups frozen mixed vegetables
2 tbsp oyster sauce, divided
2 large Brussels sprouts, cut into ribbons
½ cup shredded carrots
1 tbsp hoisin sauce

(1) In a small bowl, combine sesame oil and rice vinegar. Set aside.
(2) Cook soba noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
(3) In a large saucepan or wok, combine shallot, garlic, ginger, and water. Cook until shallot starts to soften.
(4) Stir in sesame seeds, red pepper flakes (start with 1/8 tsp and then add more to taste), frozen mixed vegetables and one tablespoon of the oyster sauce. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until vegetables start to soften. Add Brussels sprouts, shredded carrots and hoisin sauce. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then stir in drained soba noodles. Add in the other tablespoon oyster sauce, and the sesame oil rice vinegar mixture. Make sure noodles and vegetables are coated with the sauce, then serve. Makes 2 servings, or enough to feed one very stuffed up and cranky person.

The First

2008-04-13T01:51:00.000-04:00

Like so many others, I went from home life, to dorm life, to apartment life. It was when I got to the third one that I finally realized that if I wanted to continue eating, I was going to have to learn how to cook. Though both my parents are great in the kitchen, I didn't pick up many cooking tips from home. I could bake cookies without burning them, but that was about it. So my tiny apartment kitchen became my test space, and though there were some disasters (including a horrible experience with a roasted yellow pepper soup) I gradually got better, and grew to really love cooking.

For two years now, I have written a weekly recipe column in my school's newspaper. I'm graduating this spring, and feeling the loss of my little column. What's a food-loving girl to do?! Blog, of course! I love creating recipes and cooking good food as much as I love writing about my experiences and sharing tips with others.

As for the blog name I chose? Every day starts with a delicious cup of rich coffee, and every dinner ends with a square of dark chocolate. My kitchen would just feel empty without these!!