Sleepy Time Foods

*Yawn*

Every sentence I have spoken today has been interrupted by a yawn.  In fact, the word yawn makes me yawn and I am yawning right now as I type this.  I have not had a good night's sleep in weeks and am starting to think I'm becoming an insomniac.

I'm not sure if it's the weather change or the bright street lamp that shines through the tiny crack in my bedroom blinds like a laser beam pointing right at my sleeping face.  Either way, I just can't seem to get a restful sleep.

I have tried everything.  Sleepy Time Tea, forcing myself to get into bed earlier and I've even given up coffee and all other caffeinated beverages. Nothing is working.

Today I decided to consult the internet for solutions to my sleepless nights.  I found this link that highlights 10 foods to help with sleep.

Seeing as bananas, almonds and oatmeal are among the list of sleep aids, I figured I'd share a great recipe for healthy banana oatmeal almond muffins. They are great for breakfast and now I would recommend eating them as a bedtime snack. I have aptly renamed the recipe:

Sleepy Time Muffins

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe mashed bananas
• 1/3 cup of almond butter
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups of oat flour (put 1 1/2 cups of old fashioned oats in the food processor)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbs sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together all wet ingredients in a bowl (bananas, almond butter, egg, vanilla).  In a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients.  Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture.  Pour into muffin tins lined with muffin cups and place in the oven for 18-20 minutes.  Let cool (but only a little because apparently warm foods and beverage help you sleep!) ENJOY!

Boot Camp Street Party!

For me, getting in shape has meant more frequent visits to the gym, more personal training sessions and finding fun ways to get exercise in order to shake up the monotony of my daily gym routine.  I try and find free classes (or sneak into my fiance's gym for free classes) to add variety to my workouts without spending a fortune.

This week, I am attending an awesome boot camp party hosted by my personal trainer.  You will have to excuse the shameless plug to follow but it will be a great time with great people and great food!  

Tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m., NB Fitness, Lululemon Briarhill and the Daily Apple will be hosting a 70 person boot camp on Orchard View Blvd. and Yonge St. just North of Eglinton in Toronto.

There will be a one hour boot camp class led by Nate Bower, a live DJ and healthy food samples.  Oh, and it's totally FREE!

Bring your mats and tension bands and come out for an awesome fitness street party!

Super Grain: Quinoa for Every Meal (3 Awesome Recipes)

It's been a while since I've shared a recipe...or anything healthy for that matter.  I have been feeling invigorated and inspired since my bout with the two-week-plague and have resumed my healthy lifestyle. I feel back in shape and after several weeks of not grocery shopping, I am now stocked up with all the essentials.  Oh, and I got my taste buds back! Phew.

I usually plan a week's worth of dinners before I go grocery shopping, and on this week's menu, a very delicious quinoa dinner.

For those of you who are like "quin-what?"- quinoa is an ancient grain from South America and contains essential amino acids making it a great source of protein (shout out to vegetarians). It's also a great source of fiber (I am a big fan of fiber), iron AND it's gluten-free (shout out to Celiacs). Quinoa has a light and fluffy texture similar to couscous and can be used as a substitute for risotto, in salads and even as a breakfast food.

I found an AMAZING breakfast quinoa recipe on ridiculouslyhealthy.com (a great website for healthy recipes!):

Quick & Easy Chocolate Quinoa

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of quinoa
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• sweetener (or sugar) to taste

Directions:
Combine quinoa, water, cocoa and vanilla in a saucepan with a lid.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or as long as it takes for the quinoa to absorb all the liquid.  Turn off heat, fluff with a fork and place quinoa in a bowl.  Top with sweetener (or cinnamon) and enjoy!

This recipe is a great way to get that "hit" of chocolate in the morning and it's super healthy! (calories: 180, dietary fiber: 4.2g, protein: 6.7g).

Not only is quinoa an awesome substitute for oatmeal in the morning, it also makes a great lunch.  You can pretty much sub out lettuce for quinoa in any of your favourite salad recipes, but here's one I really enjoy:

Village Greek Quinoa Salad

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup diced red pepper
• 1/2 cup diced green pepper
• 1/2 cup diced cucumber
• 1/4 cup diced green onions
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives
• 1/4 cup diced red onion (optional: I leave this out because I don't really like raw onions.  Your co-workers might not like them either if you are bringing this salad to work for lunch)
• 2 ounces of light feta cheese

 Salad Dressing:

• 1/4 lemon juice
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano

Directions:
Combine quinoa and broth in a saucepan, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a large salad bowl to let cool. Once quinoa is cool, stir in veggies and cheese.  Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the quinoa mixture. Enjoy!

And for tonight's dinner:

Mexican Inspired Quinoa

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup diced green pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 1/2 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 cup cooked diced chicken
• 3 tbs of salsa

Directions:
Combine quinoa and broth in a saucepan, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with a for. Add veggies, beans and chicken.  Stir and top with cilantro.  You can also sprinkle goat cheese on top if you'd like (I usually do). Enjoy!

This dinner is packed with protein and is the perfect post-workout meal.

I can't wait for dinner tonight!

Broken Buds

I know I've promised to post about my Boston trip but I've been having technical difficulties in trying to upload my pictures and I am now in the middle of a crisis that will take precedence in this week's blog post.  My taste buds are broken.  Yup, broken. This is my crisis and it's a pretty big problem considering how much I love food.

It all started about a week and a half ago.  I picked up some bug that I just could not shake and ended up with a pretty nasty cold/flu that has lasted up until now. All I have been eating for the past week or so is chicken soup, toast and popsicles- the holy trinity of feel-better-food.  That, in combination with lots of water, lots of tea and heavy doses of Advil cold and sinus, I was sure that I would be able to get back to my life, real food and exercise in no time.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. I have been hermitted in my house all week and have seen no one except my co-workers who won't come within 5 feet of me.  This, I can deal with.  I am feeling better and will finally see the light of day outside of my home and office and see some friends this evening. 

As for exercise, my workouts have been pretty non-existent for the past two weeks.  Last night I decided not to cancel on my trainer and went for my one hour work out session.  Bad idea.  I almost died. We kept the workout pretty light with some weight training and low cardio.  All was good until I had a cough attack, took a gulp of water for some relief, only to spit it out all over my trainer and all over the free weight section of the gym.  I then proceeded to choke and almost passed out.  Why is it that the time I actually choke is the only time I forget how to indicate that this is what is happening to me.  I learned the universal sign for choking when I was 10, yet somehow in the midst of being unable to breathe I couldn't figure out that I should put my hands around my neck and ask for help.  Anyway, I digress.  Obviously, I survived and I will get back on track with my exercise routine.  Again, this I can deal with.

What I cannot deal with is the fact that nothing tastes the same anymore. While I am starting to feel better, my taste buds are not. All I can palette is plainness. Last night I was feeling up to cooking and eating a real meal.  I made some homemade guacamole to go with my fajita dinner and sat down to eat.  I was so excited at the idea of tasting something with flavour.  One bite and I was completely turned off.  The culprit: cilantro. 

As I am sure I have mentioned before, I LOVE cilantro.  I cook with it at least twice a week and to me, any dish with cilantro in it is a good dish.  Unfortunately, I think it is fair to say that I loved cilantro.  Last night it tasted like metal and I ended up eating a bowl of cereal for dinner and tossing the long anticipated fajita dinner into the trash.  What if I never like cilantro again?!? I know, life has bigger problems, but my distaste for cilantro is not the only thing wrong with my taste buds.  Nothing with flavour taste good to me.  The thought of eating anything apart from bread and butter and plain spaghetti noodles is completely unappetizing at the moment. Unfortunately, this includes cheese.

My co-worker just asked me if I wanted to order a pizza for lunch.  I said no because I’m just not feeling cheese right now.  You know something isn’t right when the Fat Girl in a Little Coat says no to cheese.