Fatty got skinny

Fatty Get Skinny celebration dinner

As I blogged about here, my husband and I have been on an extreme health challenge/competition for the last 2 months. It finally finished on Friday, and results were quite amazing - across 10 people (5 couples) we lost a total of 130 lbs, 30 of which were lost by my husband and I.

The plan itself felt quite sustainable...we were not hungry (except late at night, since we weren't allowed to eat after dinner) and the cravings for sugar and refined carbs subsided fairly quickly.

What wasn't sustainable was the level of exercise we were doing. Everyone became insanely competitive, and it wasn't uncommon for me to be riding my bike for an hour and then running for an hour or more every day. And would you believe we came in measly third place?

We are now trying to figure out how to sustain the results. ...we are thinking of just aiming for 4 points a week....to put this in persepctive, this would mean that if you had 2 food infractions (click back to the original link here to see what this means) you would have to run for an hour 3 times a week (or equivilant)...this seems reasonable/sustainable to me. ...I may feel differently in the dead of winter!

With so many long runs under my belt, I've had a lot of time to reflect on this competition, and what parts of it I value. I've realized that I don't really care about the weight loss. I certainly want to be at a healthy weight and feel good in my clothes, but beyond that I really don't want to focus on my weight. We've been really careful to call it a health challenge because I never want my daughter to think that I'm on a diet or that I'm unhappy with my body. I just want her to think I'm strong, fit, active, and healthy...and that I am at peace with my body. It has successfully birthed two healthy children; I think it deserves a little respect!

Any reactions?

PS: Obviously the name of our plan - "Fatty Get Skinny" - is in jest :)....I realize it's a bit at odds with the musings in this post!

Easy salmon for summer

Apologies if the photo is not terribly appetizing....

But I wanted to share a new super easy, super tasty recipe...I'm not even sure it can be called a recipe, it's so simple.

Take salmon, hot or cold, and top it with grainy mustard and horseradish.

Done.

Woohoo! It's got zing, and the flavours match beautifully with salmon.

Enjoy the salmon, and bask in the glory of having only 2 spoons to wash after dinner.

Ola to granola!

A number of months ago I found a recipe for delicious and healthy granola bars in House and Home magazine; the recipe came from the Chateau Deli and the Chateau Lake Louise. When I went to make it the other day I was out of rolled oats so I swapped in steel cut oats (which are higher in protien and fibre than regular oats) and quinoa. To be honest, the texture is not quite as nice as with the rolled oats, but it is indeed a healthier alternative.

Here is the recipe...it is the perfect excuse to visit your local bulk store...and ditch those Nature Valley bars from your cupboard (This Globe and Mail article compares them to chocolate bars, after all!)

3/4 cup honey
3/4 cup canola oil
2 tbsp fancy molasses
3 cups rolled oats (do not use instant oats, but you can sub in some quinoa and/or a different type of oat)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup chopped cashews
1/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup milk powder

- Preheat oven to 375F. Mix oil, honey and molasses together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour liquid over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly
- Press mixture out in a shallow rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12-15 minutes.
- Allow to cool and cut into squares. I find these best when kept in the freezer.

Kale, two ways

I have long been intrigued by kale for its vivid green hue and notable health benefits, but frankly have been a bit timid about cooking with it. ....until the food Gods intervened and presented me with two kale recipes to try my hand at. It was a sign!

For Easter we cooked a ham and were left with a hefty ham bone which I decided I would make a soup from. A few of the recipes I found online suggested adding kale. Then yesterday, I received a kale salad recipe in the newsletter from the Toronto Centre Naturpathic Medicine clinic I visited during my pregnancy.

I made the soup today and am going to try out the salad recipe tomorrow.

Both recipes are below.

Leftover Easter Ham and Kale Soup (adapted from various online recipes)

- Simmer leftover ham bone in a stock pot for about 4 hours

- Remove bone from liquid; place liquid in refrigerator overnight

- Remove fat from top of stock the following morning ( it will be hardened, so can be removed quite easily)

- Reheat stock. Once boiling, add a few handfuls of soup mix (dried lentils, split peas, pearl barley, etc.)

- When soup mix is almost softened, add veggies (I added carrots, celery, green beans, and onion)

- Once vegetables are partially cooked, turn off heat

- Add diced leftover ham, a can of rinsed navy beans, and shredded kale

- Add spices (I added a few shakes of Italian seasoning as well as some fresh rosemary, thyme, and ground pepper)

- Serve with crusty bread! Yum!

Kale salad (from Toronto Centre Naturopathic Medicine clinic April Newsletter)

- Massage coarse sea salt into fresh washed and chopped kale leaves

- Add some extra virgin olive oil, chopped fresh garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper, to taste

- Add some toasted pine nuts, pumpkin or sesame seeds

- Add dried currants, cranberries, or raisins

UPDATE: I made the Kale salad. It was delicious, but raw kale is deffinitely on the bitter, earth side of the spectrum. The pine nuts add a beautiful creaminess, and the cranberries and lemon juice counteract the bitterness. I used non-coarse sea salt and it worked fine. Next I need to try Kale chips! Yum!

Switch up: muffins made healthy for my baby

I have a 7 month old who is resisting solids and is eat a crazy amount of milk as a result. When I have tried purees (store bought, home made, mashed, blended, and strained, savory and sweet...I've tried it all) he just closes his lips as tight as a baloon knot and turns his head. So I am doing more of the baby led weening approach of just giving him big chunnks of food and letting him feed himself. I don't think he injests much, and it makes a terrible mess, but he seems happy.

Today I made him some mini muffins to try - they seem to be just the right size for little hands and can be frozen and just brought out one by one as your baby wants one. I used the standard Joy of Cooking muffin recipe and just swapped out a couple of key ingredients to make them baby friendly:

Original recipe:
1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp double acting baking powder
2 eggs
2-4 tablespoos of melted butter
3/4 cup milk

My adjustments:
Replaced all purpose flour with spelt flour (thanks Julie for the tip!!!)
Eliminated salt
Replaced sugar with a splash of maple syrup
Replaced eggs with 1 mashed banana (this was an Internet tip I found since babies can't have egg)
Added a dusting of ground flax
Added a dusting of psyllum husks
Added handful of blueberries

Don't over mix!
Cook at 400 degrees until a skewer comes out clean!

They are yummy for babies and adults alike!

Candy cookies

Growing up, my favourite cookies were my Mom's chocolate chip cookies, and a 'ju-jube' cookie that both my Mom and my friend Melinda's Mom made. Yesterday my Mom made the ju-jube cookies with my daughter. She uses baking ju-jubes and cuts each candy into 4 pieces before adding it to the dough. The cookies are beautiful, freckled with a rainbow of primary colours, and kids absolutely love them. My mom does hers in an oatmeal batter, but the candies could be added to any standard cookie recipe.

...there are no photos of the finished product as they got eaten too fast! I was going to take some to Melinda's house today, but alas, the cookies disappeared faster than free money!

Vacuum brewing

I was at my in-laws for dinner tonight and got to try out their new vacuum coffee brewer. Theirs is a "CONA". According to various Internet sources, vacuum brewing was all the rage before paper coffee filters became widely popular. I am neither a scientist nor coffee purist, but as far as I could figure out, vacuum brewing is like a percolator without any filter. Miraculously, it is a very clean brew; compared to my Bodum coffee there is virtually no sediment, though the coffee is full of body.

I can't imagine using this contraption every day let alone storing it, but it is certainly an entertaining show for guests and the coffee was divine...I'm pretty sure I am going to up all night now thanks to the 2.5 cups I downed!

Baking blunder

Tonight I decided to make some Valentine's cookies, which turned out to be a collosal failure. I decided on heart shaped sugar cookies with a cinnamon heart in the centre. But sugar cookies are intended to start as balled dough which melt into circles, I now know. But because I started with a heart shape, the cookies just melted into giant blobs when the heat hit them. They were thin, over cooked at the edges, and all melted into each other. Definitely not worthy of my sweetheart...but the dough was delicious!

I have 48 hours to concoct another sweet dish!

Guess who's coming to dinner? Vegetable quinoa lasagne

If you've been following along, you know that we're trying to reduce our wheat/bad carb intake. But lasagne is one of my favourite winter meals.... Quel dilemme!

I decided to meet the food devil half way and make a vegetable lasagne.

...but without removing the meat

...and with cottage cheese instead of ricotta

...and with quinoa instead of noodles

...I'm not sure it can even be called a lasagne any more!

But the good news is that it was delicious and was just as satisfying as its high carb authentic Italian cousin! Essentially I just did layers of the following components and then baked it for 45 mins until it was bubbling. It was easy, and there are enough leftovers to get us through lunches for the next few days.

Sauce:
- Can of diced tomatoes
- Can of tomatoe sauce
- Ground beef
- 2 bay leaves
- Oregeno

Cream:
- 1 container of 2% cottage cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 handful of baby spinich chopped into small pieces

Cheese:
- Grated mozzarella
- Grated parmasean

Veggies:
- Sliced zucchini
- Sliced eggplant
- Sliced mushrooms
- Jar of roasted red peppers, cut into slices

Quinoa:
- 1 cup (uncooked) of cooked quinoa (I often cook mine with stock, but today just used water and it was fine)

Bon appetit!

Three local loves

With the weather ripe for long afternoon walks, I wanted to celebrate a few local Danforth area gems:

Maselli's supermarket, between Donlands and Jones
After 50 years in business, Maselli's groceria has everything you'll need from meat to veggies to lentils. Brother Mario visits the food terminal every morning to get the freshest produce, and Mr. Maselli Sr. makes the house proscuitto and sausages. This place is around the corner from our house and I visit almost every day. Their prices on meat and produce are better than most of their larger competitors.  ...and I just love that it is family run.

The Danish Pastry Shop on Pape
It turns out the Danes are experts at more than just modernist furniture. The windows of the Danish Pasty Shop on Pape are always filled with delectible treats, and in the morning you can watch the bakers pulling their latest works or art out of the ovens. This is the perfect place to pick up some sweets for your Valentine's Day celebration! I think I'm going to get some chocolate cupcakes.

Crema Coffee

Crema's newest location has landed on the Danforth. My friend Megan swears they have the best almond croissants east of Calgary, but I am partial to their lattes. The foam is dense and smooth and the temperature is perfect. Starbucks has nothing on these guys. Their Danforth location is adorable with a glass garage-style window that opens up in the summer, and a bright red laquered church bench sits inside, perfect for relaxing on all afternoon with a warm beverage. 

What are your favourite spots?

Waste not, want not

I love grocery shopping. Inspiration floods through me as I pace store aisles and market stands. Visions of elaborate meals fill my head. I walk out with full bags and big plans...and inevitably at the end of the week I trash a lot of produce. It is a disgrace!

So, in additon to solving world hunger, ending the crisis in Syria, and no longer eating chocolate chips straight out of the bag, one of my current commitments is to use what is in my fridge before buying more food.

Do not waste food.
Do not waste food.
Do not waste food.

This evening I started with a box of baby arugula, and ended up serving 'make your own salad'. Toppings included a hodge podge of items from my fridge:

Baby arugula
Quinoa
Slivered NY striploin steak - one was plenty for the two of us
Grilled mushrooms, asparagus, and zuccini
Golden beets (I thinly sliced them with the mandolin, hoping I could serve them raw, but they really needed to be cooked, so I just pan fried them for a bit)
Cucumber
Strawberries
Goat cheese
Dressing of balsamic and olive oil

This is a really beautiful spread with all the gorgeous colours. Do you agree that beets are among the most beautiful!? They are stunning!

There is no magic to the combination of toppings, other than that I try to have some contrast (some cold, some hot, some sweet, some savory). Other items I've included before include dried fruit (craisins, raisins, and dried apricots all work), berries, nuts (candied pecans are particularly delicious), seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower) wild rice, edemame, ......anything goes, really.

This dinner was a winner. I feel energized for an evening of laundry, dishes, taxes, and the Rick Mercer Report.

Matters of the heart

Have you started thinking about Valentine's Day? It just makes me feel all gushy to think about having a day when the clock stops and we all take a moment to tell that special someone how much we love them...I know, I know, we should do it without the Hallmark holiday, but it's a good reminder to do so.

I have been looking at this heart shaped cookie cutter, trying to think of how I can use it to make a special meal for my husband on Valentine's Day....heart shaped tartar? Quinoa salad in a heart shaped nest of grilled red peppers? We are going to go out to officially celebrate at Libretto the following week (when my sister can babysit!) but I'd like to do something special on the actual day as well, once the rugrats are sleeping. Do you have any romantic recipes?

I've started pulling together his gift as well. For celebrations like Valentine's Day I try to pick special sentimental gifts that don't break the bank. ....I should keep my ideas a secret in case he's reading this, but I'll let you into the fold soon!

Mmmmmmmini mandarins

My daughter likes to stack oranges and grapes and berries like this and say "it's a snowman!"

I often think of mandarins as a Christmas fruit, but they're actually available for a long time after all the toy Santas and LED lights have been packed away. Our family is partial to the mini sugar sweet mandarins over clementines. They peel easily and are incredibily juicy and sweet. They're also perfect for toddler fingers

Right now these tiny treasures are available in big bags for $2 at Valley Farm produce at Danforth and Logan. This is one of my favourite places for fresh fruits and veggies as the food is always fresh and always cheap. ...and it's a fantastic excuse for a family walk on a mild Sunday afternoon like today. I love the way the sidewalk is always conjested as passerbys stop to check out all the fresh offerings.

These oranges won't last long in your fruit basket. My daughter is on orange #6 right now.

Brew masters

How do you make your perfect cup of coffee?

Both my Mom and Grandmother drank Nescafe instant coffee when I was younger. This is a family legacy that I chose not to carry on. Reeeevolting sludge.

Since I'm the only coffee drinker in our house nowadays, I make most of my coffee in my Bodum* or my beloved espresso machine.

But my favourite coffee maker is my vintage GE percolator, which I inherited from my Grandmother, and which she received as a wedding gift (talk about standing the test of time!!). It has an elegant shape that goes from counter to table, makes perfect coffee, and even has a 'warming' function. Best of all, it makes enough coffee for a crowd, or for a lazy day of coffee drinking and newspaper reading for one.

I have since bought two more of these beauties - one off of Craigs List and another at Eclectisaurus, a fabulous vintage store on Gerrard East in Cabbagetown. I am keeping one as a backup in case mine breaks, and the second was given to my friend who developed a life long passion for percolated coffee at his cottage on Lake of the Woods.

While I adore my collection of coffee makers, I will not be turning down a cup of drip coffee made by someone else anytime soon.....after all, coffee tastes best when someone else makes it!

* I previously bought a very inexpensive french press coffee maker at Canadian Tire that worked great. It was just as good as my Bodum. But my mom cracked the beaker while washing it, and so at that point I upgraded to the Bodum. Somehow its shape is just a little more beautiful and its stainless steel frame just a little more sparkly than its no-name cousin.

Guess who's coming to dinner? ....Mmmmulligatawny

  

If you've been following along, you probably know that I'm currently into comfort food. ...but I'm trying to ix-nay the mac and cheese variety and ocus-fay on healthier dishes.

I was immiediately drawn to a recipe I found for root vegetable mulligatawny, an Indian curried soup with creamy coconut milk in the broth. It is flavourful, hearty, and colourful. My mom, who spent her university summers waitressing at the Chateau Lake Louise restaurant*, said that this was one of the mainstays on their menu.

I adjusted the recipe below in the following ways:
- I doubled it. To get enough variety of root vegetables, you end up with about 12 cups which is twice as much as the single recipe (I used turnips, parsnips, sweet potatoe, rootebega, and celery root)
- I just used curry powder that I had lying around at home, instead of the plethora of spices listed in the recipe
- I added green beans for extra colour, crunch and flavour (add them at the very end so they don't get to soft).

I wanted to serve the soup with naan, but my local grocer didn't have any. Instead, I stopped by Danforth Dragon, a great Haaka restaurant around the corner from us, and picked up some roti. It was divine.

Here is the link to the recipe.

* Did you know that at the end of the summer all the waitresses used to throw their waitressing shoes in the lake? ...maybe that's where the Lake gets its turquoise colour!

What's for breakfast?

Growing up, my Mom made my Dad porridge for breakfast almost every morning. Now it is one of my favourite ways to start the day as well. The problem is it takes 10-20 minutes to cook and requires a lot of attentive stirring...which is tough with 2 young kids chewing on my heels.

Last week I tried a slower cooker recipe which cooks overnight. It was great if you like eating glue for breakfast, which I haven't since I was 8 years old.

So my new approach is to make a big batch at the beginning of the week, refrigerate it, and then just pull some out in the morning, add a bit of water to reconstitute it, and throw it in the microwave. I'm sure that real chefs would take issue with this approach, but it produces perfect oatmeal.

My Dad eats traditional oatmeal (think Quaker), but I have become partial to steel cut oats. They have a nice al dente chewiness to them. I add some ground flax seeds for some extra nutrition, and top it off with some milk, and whatever else I have on hand (berries, bananas, nuts, maple syrup, and dried fruit are all delicious).

How do you start your day?

Guess who's coming to dinner?..Mexican lettuce wraps

I had a bag of frozen chicken thighs and some ripe avacadoes, so I decided that we would go Mexican tonight. Typically I would make fajitas, but since we are trying to curb our consumption of processed carbs, we had Mexican lettuce wraps instead, using ice berg lettuce in place of tortillas.

The wraps were delicious. Without the tortillas, the other flavours really come alive, and the solid piece of lettuce added a refreshing crunch!

What I need in the future to really make this healthy is a home recipe to replace those fajita seasoning envelopes I always default to. I am sure they are full of sodium and sugar. I found this recipe online; I plan to make a big batch (without the salt and sugar) that I can use for a while.

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon crushed chicken bouillon cube
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin