Tryptophan Coma

Since Fall is my favourite season, it only seems fitting that the season's only(non-religious) holiday is one of my favourites as well.

As a kid, I never celebrated Thanksgiving.  I grew up in a kosher home so gravy was a foreign concept and using butter and cream in mashed potatoes was against the rules.  One year, in an attempt to satisfy my love of turkey day, my mom made a Thanksgiving-style dinner.  The turkey was good ( a little dry because when you are kosher you can't baste your turkey in butter), we had au jus instead of gravy and the mashed potatoes were made with margarine (I cringe).  My mom certainly didn't serve brussel sprouts with crispy bacon either.  All in all, I would deem my one childhood Thanksgiving dinner a complete failure (sorry mom, I know you tried).

In my adult life, much to my parent's dismay, I have abandoned kosher and taken up the annual ritual of  celebrating Thanksgiving- the proper way. Sometimes, if I am lucky, I get two Thanksgiving dinners but I am certainly happy with one.  This year's did not fall short of fantastic; seasonably warm weather, great friends, good wine (lots of it) and delicious food. By the time the tryptophan took effect I had already rolled my way home (with left over mashed potatoes in hand) and fell into a fast food coma.

Hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving!

You Don't Make Friends With Salad

I have never understood the salad appeal.  It seems that everyone who is trying to lose weight or eat healthy believes that salad is the answer. Is it really though?

Currently, I know someone on the "flat belly diet".  While I think all fad diets are bullshit, I was curious about this one.  I looked up foods to avoid, and guess what was on the list: bulky raw veggies, peppers, onions, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower.  Seems to me that these are pretty important salad ingredients, yet if you want a flatter stomach, you should steer clear of these belly bloaters. Finally, a diet that isn't all about salads.

Personally, I am not a fan of salad. Yes, I know, it's a great way to get the recommended daily vegetable intake, but I find them boring and bland.  Anyone who has ever made a salad for me knows that I put a few pieces of lettuce on my plate and then load up on the salad fillers: tomatoes, avocados (a salad must), mushrooms, nuts, berries....pretty much all the things that make the salad actually taste good.  Yes, I am a selfish salad eater; I bogart all the good stuff.   Other than adding crunch, what purpose does lettuce serve anyway?

Of course I do eat salads, but it's only due to the fact that they are jam packed with nutrients and vitamins.  I make a salad to accompany most dinners, but I ensure they are bulky and have interesting ingredients.  Among my favourites: chicken, hearts of palm, cooked corn, peas, cashews, sauteed veggies, pomegranate seeds, hard boiled egg and cheese (obviously).

One of my favourite ways to add some excitement to an otherwise boring leafy green salad is to saute mushrooms and pour balsamic vinegar into the pan when the mushrooms are nearly finished.  This serves the purpose of adding warm ingredients to the salad (which makes it way more appealing for me) and it also acts as the salad dressing.

How do you make your salads exciting? Please share some recipes. Who knows, you might inspire me to become a salad lover.

Sunday Soup: Roasted Tomato Arrabiata

In case the drop in temperature and changing leaves didn't tell you...It's Fall.  Fall is my very favourite season for many reasons.  I love the crisp air, the rich colours, sweater weather and most importantly fall foods! (I also LOVE Thanksgiving, but I'm sure I will address that in a later post.)

For me, fall is the begining of comfort food season.  This season typically lasts through till Spring and is usually the time when I pack on a few extra pounds...you know, to keep me warm.  This year, I am going to try to make healthy foods that are just as comforting.  I'm hoping my new cashmere sweater will keep me warm instead of those few extra pounds.

Fall harvest brings with it great fresh local produce that inspires yummy and warm dishes. Last year throughout the fall and winter I would make a soup or stew on Sunday nights to last throughout the week. I will keep this tradition this season as much as possible and share with you my various soup and stew recipes.

Last night I tried something new and didn't really follow a recipe.  I had never made a roasted tomato soup before and I think this one turned out quite well.  It's definitely got a kick to it, which is why I named it after my favourite pasta dish. I hope you like it!

Roasted Tomato Arrabiata Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs (approx) of vine tomatoes.  You could also use roma tomatoes.
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 small white onion diced
• EVOO
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 tsp. thyme
• 1/4-1/3 tsp crushed chili peppers
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth (or more if needed)  

Directions:

Roast tomatoes and garlic in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour.  I cut the tomatoes in half put them on a lined baking sheet cut side up and sprinkled them with salt, pepper and olive oil.  You can roast the garlic at the same time by putting the cloves in a foil pocket and placing them on the baking sheet along with the tomatoes. While the tomatoes are roasting, saute onion in one tbsp. of olive oil at the bottom of a large pot.  Once the tomatoes and garlic are ready, add them to the pot along with all the roasting juices.  Add the thyme and chili peppers and 1 cup of broth.  Use an immersion blender to blend everything together.  Add the remaining stock and simmer for about 20 minutes. Feel free to add extra seasoning to taste.  Serve with some fresh basil and enjoy!  

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.