LIFE - HEALTH - HAPPINESS {AFTER FORTY}

Recipe Catch Up

2011-09-05T23:24:00.002-03:00

Well hello out there… Hopefully someone’s still out there despite my sporadic posts. The last long weekend of the summer is over, and all the kiddies are heading back to school. I have to say though that fall is my favorite time of the year. The cooler weather, (not that we’ve had a very hot summer), the turning leaves, the annual trek to the Valley to see the Pumpkin People it’s all good. Well almost all, the one thing I don’t enjoy is the shorter days, but I guess you can’t have everything.
Even though I haven’t been posting I have been taking pictures. The only problem with that is I can’t remember what recipes go along with what pictures. I thought I would just do a recap of some of the pics that I know.
This first one is for my parents. They’ve been helping me out a lot looking after my house while it’s for sale. Mowing the lawn, trimming the hedges, turning off the lights when the realtors forget and so on. They live next door to the house so it saves me tons of time and gas driving in from Porters Lake. I’ve been doing some cooking and baking for them in return.
I thought this recipe came from Oh She Glows but I can’t seem to find it there at the moment. My next best guess is I found it via Pinterest. It was a simple no bake dessert, that I knew my dad would LOVE, because it contained peanut butter and my dad is addicted to peanut butter. The other ingredients were rice syrup, vanilla, Kamut puffs, butter (or earth balance) and melted chocolate to drizzle over the top.

Of course I sampled them before delivering them to the parents…. they almost didn’t make it there.

As soon as I saw Angela’s post over at Oh She glows for the Chocolate Chunk Toffee Bars I knew I had to make them. It seems I missed taking a picture of these. Not sure what happened there. These too were super good, but everything I’ve made from OSG has been, so that wasn’t a shock.
I also whipped up a batch of these Wheat Free Chocolate Digestive Cookies. I modified the recipe slightly. I used Xylitol instead of Stevia, and added a little maple syrup, and a couple tbsp of melted butter.

Really I haven’t just been making sweet treats. I found a recipe I knew hubby would LOVE!!! I mean how could I go wrong it incorporated all of his favorites, pasta, cheese and beer. Yup, you heard right beer. Usually I’m drooling over How Sweet Eats dessert creations but this is equally as good. I think Easy Beer Mac and Cheese is possibly the best mac and cheese I’ve tasted.

I guess that’s all for now. I’m going to tuck myself into bed and get my beauty sleep before heading back to work tomorrow.

Cheers

~~Jackie

Clean Eating Beans and Rice

2011-08-10T17:53:00.001-03:00

Hi ALL!!! Hope your week is going great so far. It’s a little grey, rainy and rather chilly here on the east coast. Feels more like fall instead of August but I’m on vacation and any day that does not involve going there is a good day in my world. There aren’t any exciting plans for the week, just hanging out at home and taking care of some things I’ve been putting off. I spent most of Monday laying around in my pj’s, watching tv, surfing the net and looking through cookbooks. I thought about the fact that the dishes needed to be done, and the floors needed to be cleaned, not to mentions the 54323 loads of laundry to do … I don’t know how 2 people can have so much laundry. I think my neighbors sneak in when we’re at work and drop theirs off … but I didn’t feel one bit guilty about not doing it.

One of the cookbooks I was browsing was the Eat – Clean Diet for Men. I think I have all of the Eat Clean / Tosca Reno books. I bought this one in hopes there would be hubby approved recipes in it. They all have a lot of great recipes, training and shopping tips as well as meal plans and grocery lists. Tosca is Canadian born in Quebec. At the age of 40 ( I think), she started to change her life / health for the better by eating clean and working out. In my opinion she has smokin' body, and the fact she’s 52… the saying, you’re never to old comes to mind.

I’ve tried a few of the Eat Clean recipes and haven’t been disappointed. One in particular that hubby and I both loved was the Pasta Roll Ups with Turkey and Spinach

I can’t do a lot of dairy so not one I can eat often but it is a delish and easy recipe.

I decided on this one last night for my supper, too many veggies for hubby so I made a different meal for him, but I’ll get to that in another post.

Black Beans and Rice

Nutritional Information: 1/2 cup serving 110 Cal; 3 g Fat; 3 g Fiber; 3.6 g Protein; 18 g Carbs

Ingredients:

2 cups brown rice, cooked
1 19 oz can black beans
1/2 cup chopped red pepper or pepper of choice
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup canned, fresh or thawed frozen corn
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped (I substituted cilantro. That’s what I had on hand)
2 Tbsp chives, chopped
2 Tbsp EVOO
2 tsp fresh thyme, minced (I used 1 tsp dried)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp sea salt
2/3 cup fresh lime juice (I used the juice of one lime)
1 tsp hot sauce

**The original recipe is served cold. I sautéed my onions, peppers, celery and corn,. Mixed in the rice and a little low sodium chicken broth, a few canned San Marsano tomatoes and added the beans at the end just to warm them up and served with boneless skinless chicken thighs.

It was pretty tasty hot and made a good side dish. The leftovers I nibbled on out of the fridge today were just as good. It would make a good burrito filling too, just add a little cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach…yumm!!!

Enjoy your night!!

New Camera = Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-10T10:14:00.000-03:00

My first wordless Wednesday post, Enjoy!!

Happy Wednesday!!!

Quinoa Tabouleh and Real Estate Woes

2011-08-08T12:06:00.000-03:00

When last I checked in I had recently put my house on the market. Well..... my house is STILL on the market, not a good thing in my world. There were two offers and both fell through at the last minute.

A common comment from people viewing the house is that they were hoping for more of an open concept. Ummmm....people it's a 50 year old house, open concept didn't exist then, what did you expect. Unfortunately for me this house was a rental, my tenants moved out so it's killing me to pay the mortgage while it sits empty. Needless to say I'm not in my happy place right now. I'm not sure what I did to PISS OFF the real estate gods but whatever it was I'M SORRY!!!! Please let my house sell.... SOON!!

Moving on to the food. Quinoa seems to be a recurring theme on the blog. Considering I hated it the first time I tried it that's progress. I'm sure most of you already have the scoop on it but in case you don't here a few tidbits

It's a seed not a grain
Gluten free
High in fiber
Complete protein containing all of the essential amino acids.

One of my favorite foods is Tabouleh I could eat it every day. It's a refreshing and healthy salad. Sometimes I find it hard to get my hands on the small bulgur and a lot of it that I have purchased has a stale taste to it which I don't like. Also, I'm trying to cut out as much gluten as possible so Quinoa makes a great substitute.

Tabouleh with Quinoa

** Measurements are only estimates, I've never used a recipe to make it.**

Ingredients

1 cup cooked quinoa cooled ( I use red and white)

Juice of one lemon approx 4 Tbsp or more to taste I like mine lemony

2 Tbsp EVOO

3 garlic cloves grated or minced ( I always grate my garlic using a microplane grater)

3 or 4 medium ripe tomatoes seeded and chopped

1 large bunch of parsley finely chopped (I prefer curly but you can use flat leaf too)

Sea Salt and fresh cracked pepper

Combine the lemon juice, EVOO, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Add remaining ingredients and refrigerate for an hour or so to let the flavours combine.

You can play with this to make it your own. More tomatoes, less parsley, more garlic... whatever your tastes are.

Slather a cracker with some crack hummus aka Sabra roasted garlic, and top with a scoop of this soooo good.

With any luck I'll get a couple of posts in this week. I'm on vacation and it looks like rain for most of the week here in Halifax, so I'll have time on my hands.

Have a great day!!

Really ……You’re Cooking Supper?

2011-06-15T21:10:00.001-03:00

Yup, that's right.... I'm actually posting twice in one week. Trust me I'm as shocked as you are!!

If you follow me on twitter you may already know that I put my house up for sale. Something I honestly wish I didn’t have to do but my tenants moved out at the end of May and I know I’ll never find tenants like them again. Adding to the stress of finding good tenants is the fact that my parents live next door soooo you can imagine how difficult life could become if the tenants from hell moved in.

Another reason for selling is that I am planning on going back to school. Never thought I’d be saying that at the age of 42, I must be crazy!! Everyone always says you should do something you love, enjoy, and are passionate about, well I’m here to tell you I don’t love accounting/finances and I certainly am not passionate about it, but it does pay the bills. So I’ve decided to change things up and start off by studying to become a Holistic Nutritionist. Fingers crossed my old brain can handle the extra work.

I’ve been struggling lately with preparing meals, again. Hubby is a meat and potatoes kind of guy. He does NOT like veggies. I mean he doesn’t even like onions or peppers in a meal unless they are cooked to DEATH and I mean cooked to death. If he comes home and sees me chopping peppers he has it in his head he won’t like it. If I chop the veggies up in the food processor so they are pretty much indistinguishable he’s none the wiser and he has always says he like it. I tell you it’s like cooking for a kid. I actually bought cookbooks for kids for ideas on how to hide veggies in food. Sad, I know. Once in a while we have a breakthrough and tonight was one of those nights. Hubby decided he was cooking supper. It doesn’t happen often and his choices are usually not “healthy” but I am grateful for the break all the same. Especially with the struggle I’ve been having lately.

I was pleasantly surprised with tonight’s choices.

Cherry Tomato & Pancetta Amatriciana

1 box Penne or Fettuccini
2 tbsp EVOO
150 grams Pancetta1/2 red onion diced
7 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine (he used low sodium chicken broth)
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2/3 cup flat leaf parsley chopped
1/2 – 1 cup fresh basil chopped
2/3 cup grated parmigiano regiano
1 cup pasta water
salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to directions on package.

In a large skillet sauté pancetta until crisp. Drain fat. Add EVOO to pan. Sauté onion and garlic for 5 min or until soft. Stir in wine (or broth), parsley, tomatoes and pepper. Cook about 10 mins. Add pasta water, basil and cheese. Add pasta and toss. Serve with fresh grated parmigiano and chopped parsley for garnish.

He also made some Oven Fried chicken. I don’t have the recipe for that but I have to say it was quite tasty.

Not the best pictures, but technology hates me tonight. It started with my camera when I went to take pictures of supper. This is what the screen looked like when I turned it on. I think it’s safe to say it’s toast :o(

Well that’s all for now…. The big game is about to start, so I’m going to join the rest of Canada and cheer my team on!! Game 7 !!!!

Cheers…. Jackie

I'm Back..... I think

2011-06-12T19:16:00.002-03:00

Well Hellloooooo!!! It appears I haven't written since December. Wow, how time flies. I've planned on writing many, many times over the last month or so. I've written many posts in my head, unfortunately they never made it to the blog.

Even though it's been awhile, I'm just going to make this a quick one. I've been on a search for a relatively healthy cookie that hubby would like. Well, I've finally found one. One of the main ingredients is quinoa, yup that's right quinoa. Now I was a wee bit skeptical when I saw quinoa in a cookie but I thought I would give it a try.

Chocolate Quinoa Cookies
Adapted from Peggy Kotsopoulos Recipe

My changes are marked with an * and the measurements are approximate. I've made them a couple of times and didn't measure any of my changes either time. It's an easy recipe to play with though, so have fun with it!!

Ingredients
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup quinoa flakes (or oatmeal) - I used oats
1 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
2 large VERY RIPE bananas *
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp coconut sugar*
2 Tbsp maple syrup*
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted*
1/4 cup hemp seeds
2 tsp Maca (optional)*
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon*
pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 -1/3 cup cocoa
Optional ingredients - raisins, walnuts, pecans

Preheat oven to 380 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, mash bananas with a fork add vanilla, maple syrup and melted coconut oil. In a large bowl combine remaining ingredients. Add wet to dry and mix well. If you think the batter is a little on the wet side you can add a few more oats or a bit more cocoa powder. The batter should be on the wet side though.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper and drop batter on to cookie sheet. Bake for 25-30 mins. * They took about 20 mins in the convection oven*

I made half the batch without cocoa or chocolate chips for hubby. He doesn't like chocolate... I don't get it myself, how can anyone NOT like chocolate. One of the great mysteries of the world!

Here's hoping it's not another 6 months before I post again.

Cheers... Jackie

Free to a Good Home

2010-12-28T14:29:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone,

Hope you’ve all had a great Christmas and Santa was good to you!!

Unfortunately we didn’t have a white Christmas here. Actually our weather has been a little crazy, TONS of rain, strong winds, and it’s actually been fairly warm (for this time of year).

It's been quite some time since I've posted on the old bloggie. I have to say I found by focusing so much on what I was eating even though it was healthy food just wasn't working for me. I was always thinking about food and in turn it seemed I was always eating. Like I said it was healthy but still way too much!! Soooo because I was eating more than I needed and wasn't exercising due to chronic injuries I gained a few pounds. Not much but more than I wanted. My clothes weren't fitting and I was just feeling really bad about myself.

In the fall I had to go away for about 6wks with my work. I thought that was going to be it for me... out of town with no kitchen, I was sure bad eating would add to my weight gain. Well much to my surprise I actually lost the weight I gained and I've almost returned to my happy weight. I'm not sure how it happened but I'll take it.

Back to the reason for my post. I decided I need to do some cleaning and organizing around here so I started with my books. I thought I would post some pics of what I have to give away. If you’re in the local area (Porters Lake, Dartmouth, Halifax) and if there is anything you would like or know of anyone that would be interested let me know. I’m going to keep them for another week or so then they will either go to the library, used book store or trash.

I also have a number of magazines – Weight Watchers, Oxygen, Light and Tasty etc. if anyone is interested.

4 Pilates DVD’s with band. These were opened but not used.

Book and 2 unopened DVD’s

13 Company’s Coming Cookbooks

Prevention and Womens Health Publications

Miscellaneous Cookbooks

New Rachael Ray Cookbooks

Dr OZ - The “You” book series and 2 Real Age books (all hardcover)

So like I said if you are interested or know of anyone that might like any of these items, or you would like more information just let me know (turbomb74@hotmail.com or twitter @gypsygirl74)

I will most likely be clearing out more of my exercise DVD’s and some small equipment as well in the next little while so stay tuned.

All the best in the New Year!!!

Retail Therapy

2010-08-17T22:32:00.001-03:00

Hi everyone, did I mention that I’m on VACATION this week??? I am so glad to not be at work. Since hubby only has Wednesday off the week is pretty much my own. I do plan on a day trip or two. I was thinking Mahone Bay, maybe the valley again, or Victoria Park in Truro.

Here’s a recap of yesterday. Nothing earth shattering but a good day all the same.

Started the day off with a smoothie. Frozen blueberries, frozen bananas, spinach, maca powder, drizzle of agave, scoop of Amazing Grass Chocolate Superfood, UVAB, and some water.

Then I was off to town for some retail therapy. My first stop was Bath and Body Works. I discovered Bath and Body Works many years ago on a shopping excursion to the States. They have so many yummy scents and great products. One trip to Maine I stopped at a store and filled….. well…. overfilled two of the baskets and still had more on top of that. The sales girl thought I was nuts. Apparently I’m not the only Maritimer that has an addiction to this stuff. The store only opened Sunday so I thought it would be busy, but since it was Monday morning I didn’t think it would be too bad. Boy was I wrong…the place was a zoo. You couldn’t move. I didn’t intend to buy much but $60 later I walked out of the store

Next stop was Rogers to try and decipher our cell phone bills, something I have been putting off for months. I was there for at least an hour and when I left I really wasn’t much further ahead. Even the poor guy at the store couldn’t understand how they had set up our plans.

I was off to Pete’s Fruitique after Rogers ordeal. Picked up lots of goodies. Fresh mint, parsley, pepper, baby bok choy, ginger, Tortilla Factory Tortillas. Thai coconut , PB and Co, Maple peanut butter, light coconut milk, red onion, Portobello shroom, Stonemill Cranberry Pumpkin Seed bread, and the white thing in the front of the picture is daikon. I have no idea what this tastes like or what I’m going to do with it but I wanted to try it out. The one thing I was looking for they didn’t have, fresh figs. I have never had them and really want to try them so if anyone knows where I can get them let me know.

I have only seen these tortillas at Pete’s they are the large size, taste really good and the nutritional info isn’t bad either, however the ingredient list could be improved on just a tad.

12 g dietary fiber, 100 calories, 3.5 g fat

My newest addiction is Chai Tea Latte’s. We only have Tim’s where I live, no Starbucks or Just Us out in the country, so I’ve been making my own. Brew up the tea add a drizzle of real maple syrup and some UVAB. Of course with a latte you need froth so I picked up this cute little guy at Stokes.

It works like a charm!!

On the way home I made a quick stop at Costco. Big container of baby Arugula, grape tomatoes, large bottle of pure Vanilla for $6.99 ( I usually pay that for a small bottle), and a cute casual jersey dress for $12.97.

Overall I think a pretty successful day of retail therapy.

I was given a rather large zucchini last week, and what do you do with zucchini…. make muffins and muffin tops. I used the recipe from Eat, Drink and be Vegan. Another successful recipe. Everything I have tried from that book has been very good. My only modification was to add some dark chocolate chips to some of them. Everything is better with chocolate

Hubby is off tomorrow so I think we’ll spend the day in Halifax, wander the waterfront, go for lunch and maybe a movie. Hopefully the weather will be good again tomorrow.

Night all

~~~ Jackie

Chicken Burgers and Wine in a Can

2010-08-16T21:46:00.001-03:00

Happy Monday everyone. It’s a happy Monday for me because I am on VACATION this week!!!!

This weekend was fairly uneventful. Saturday was filled with household chores, I think I did 50 loads of laundry. I have no idea how two people can go through so many clothes. Sunday was the usual trip in town to visit the parents, with a quick trip to Dartmouth Crossing to spend some money (my favorite past time). Then home to relax on the deck with a book.

Here’s a look at some of my eats over the weekend.

I wanted a salad for lunch but was feeling the need for some extra protein, and tuna was the protein of choice. I had some black beans and pasta in the fridge, added some red onion, salt, pepper, garlic powder, lemon juice a pinch of cayenne to give it a kick and the secret ingredient Tzatziki. I tried this once in an attempt to decrease the calories and I like it much better than mayo. It’s much lighter tasting, not thick and heavy like with mayo. Served on a bed of mixed greens. It was very good, if I do say so myself.

I made a quick trip to the grocery store and they had Lean Ground Chicken on sale so I thought I would give chicken burgers another try. I’ve made chicken/turkey burgers many times but just didn’t find they ever had enough flavor for me.

In the mix

Extra lean ground chicken, salt, Pepper, squirt of lemon juice, garlic powder, a little EVOO, feta cheese and some fresh oregano, and parsley that I have growing on the deck. Nothing better than fresh herbs.

Ready for the BBQ.

Finished product I rarely have hamburger buns in the house so I schmeared some Tzatziki on a tortilla added some greens, red onions, and tomato slices. This attempt had much more flavor than previous attempts but could still use a little tweaking.

Hubby and I were visiting the NSLC a couple of weeks ago and they had these cans at the check out, and low and behold it was wine. Yes that’s right wine in a can classy, I know but I had to give it a try.

This was a Merlot but they also had Shiraz. I was pleasantly surprised, it was much better than I expected. Sometimes I just want a glass of wine but don’t want to open a bottle, so this would be good for that. Not too mention easy to take to an outdoor party, campfire etc.

Since this post is turning out to be longer than I planned I’ll cut it off now. Maybe I’ll do two posts tomorrow. I am on vacation after all so I should be able to find the time.

Cheers

~~~Jackie

When Hubby Makes Supper……

2010-08-11T19:58:00.001-03:00

When hubby makes supper I’m a happy girl, because that means I don’t have to spend HOURS in the kitchen after work. After spending 2 1/2 hours cooking 2 meals and cleaning up the kitchen last night I was thrilled he said he was cooking tonight. He doesn’t have time to do it very often but he always does a great job. He won’t ever tell me what he’s making either, so it’s always a surprise.

Before we had a kitchen he cooked me White Chicken Lasagna on the BBQ. It was delicious unfortunately too many milk products for me. There have been quite a few Rachel Ray recipes too. One day there was a blueberry themed dinner. Now when you hear blueberries you’re probably thinking dessert, not even close. Dinner was Blueberry Burgers and a cold pasta dish with chicken and Blueberries. The pasta dish did not look appetizing at all but looks can be deceiving because it was really good.

Tonight's meal did not disappoint. It was quite yummy (not so figure friendly) but tasty all the same.

Bacon Beef Rolls

Ground beef, eggs, parmesan, cheddar, ketchup, Worcestershire, and bacon of course.

Hubby cooked these on the BBQ because the dishes called for different temps. He forgot our stove has two ovens….OOPS!!

Scalloped Potatoes

I was shocked this was on the menu. Hubby has been telling me for years he can’t stand scalloped potatoes. I found this hard to believe since there is nothing in it that he doesn’t like. Coincidentally I had planned to make a batch for him this week so he could try them again. I knew he’d like them, and he did. He even sliced all the potatoes by hand. He wanted to use the new KA Food Processor but wasn’t sure how to work it. Truth be told that was the REAL reason I wanted to make scalloped potatoes. I wanted to play with my new toy… It’s soooo fast I lurve it.

He was thinking of me when he made these, he used Original Almond Milk instead of regular milk. I have to say I was skeptical but they had a really good taste. I liked the taste much better than with regular milk. All in all a great supper, and we actually got to eat together, something that is a rare occurrence for us, so that made it even more enjoyable.

After supper the chef carried on with his other job, carpenter and went back to work on our bathroom and bedroom project.

I wish I had a quarter of his talent. Not only can he do carpentry but he’s a cabinet maker too. He built our entire kitchen from scratch and did an AMAZING job. Not to mention the fact he built the whole house himself from the ground up.

While hubby was hard at work I relaxed with a cup of Chai Tea and a cookie, well actually two cookies but I ~~devoured~~ ate one before I had a chance to take the pic.

I started adding a little real maple syrup to to the Chai Tea to sweeten it up. It adds a nice flavor.

I guess that’s all I have for you tonight. I have to go help hang some drywall now.

How often does your spouse cook dinner? When they do is it a “healthy” meal?

~~~Jackie

Curry Kind of Day(s)

2010-08-08T10:29:00.001-03:00

Good morning everyone, how’s your weekend going so far?

Last weekend on my trip to the Valley, we had lunch at the Union Street Cafe, and it was divine. The curry chickpea burgers were to die for, so when I got home I sent an email off to them and they sent me back the recipe…. YAY!! Of course I had to whip up a batch right away along with some mango chutney mayo and had one for lunch. That night it was so hot I didn’t want to cook and the burgers were in the fridge so I had one for supper too.

All dolled up with some Tzatziki, and veggies on a whole wheat tortilla. SOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!

To end off Friday night with some excitement hubby came home with the drywall for our little construction project so we had to carry 19 sheets of it in the house. Do we know how to rock a Friday night or what?…

One of the kitties checking out the drywall.

Saturday started out with some overnight oats, then it was off to town to visit my parents, and do some shopping. I wasn’t looking for anything special when I stopped into Winners but…. I came out with no less than 8 tops, a pair of yoga pants, a dress and a lot less cash.

Supper was a continuation of the curry theme Curried Sweet Potatoes and Carrots with Lentils. I had printed the recipe off of a blog awhile ago and for the life of me I can’t remember whose it came from.

I swapped out the vegetable broth for chicken broth and added one ingredient of my own. The much talked about garlic scape.

The finished product served over some whole wheat egg noodles. It was supposed to be served over rice but I wasn’t in a rice kind of mood. I also cooked some boneless skinless chicken thighs on the BBQ for hubby.

Not the prettiest but it was really good. The best part of all hubby really liked it. I’m slowly converting him from nothing but meat and potatoes to healthy.

After supper we headed over to a friends for some drinks and then everyone jumped on the “party boat” and we were off to the dance at the boat club. The last time I checked the time it was 2am and we were still on the party boat so I’m not sure what time we actually go home.

Looks like we’ll be hanging some drywall today, and then having a couple of people over to watch the fireworks tonight.

Enjoy your Sunday

~~~Jackie

Construction Zone and Clean Eating Cookies

2010-08-05T23:00:00.001-03:00

Evening blog land hope you’re having a good week. I always find a short week seems to drag on, and on. How about you? I’m hoping to make this weekend into a long weekend by taking Monday off but it’s looking like I might have to go into work…. boo hoo .

So yesterday I came home to a pleasant , but noisy surprise

Hubby started framing in a bathroom and spare bedroom. Up to this point the only bathroom in the house is off the master bedroom. Which is just a tad inconvenient when we have people over. You see hubby built this house himself from the ground up so it is a very slow process especially since he has 2 other jobs that take up most of his time. Hopefully by this time next week there will be drywall up and ready for paint.

Meals around here have been pretty standard. I am pretty much a creature of habit when it comes to my eats through the day.

Breakfast smoothie
Mid morning overnight oats
Lunch – Salad and usually leftovers from the previous day

Hubby wanted steak for supper yesterday so I cooked steak and potatoes for him. It was the least I could do since he was working his butt off. I had a salad and a sliver of his steak.

Since there were no leftovers there was nothing for me to have for lunch, so we ordered in Swiss Chalet. We have a pretty good system, one of us gets salad the other fries and we split them so we get the best of both worlds… a little bit of grease and some greens.

Supper tonight was marinated salmon, with sweet potato fries and rice. The boy isn’t a fan of sweet potato fries. I don’t get it myself but to each is own.

I mentioned the other day that I went through my Clean Eating magazines and picked out a bunch of recipes. One of those was “French Almond Macaroons”, don’t they look yummy.

I whipped a batch up the other night. They tasted really good but mine didn’t look anything like the picture. The cookies are basically a meringue, with fruit spread in between.

I’m not exactly sure what happened. I assumed they would flatten in the oven, but they didn’t and they didn’t get crispy, they were kind of sticky. I think that may have had something to do with the fact that when I took them out of the oven to cool it was quite humid so they didn’t cool properly. It may be because of my oven too. We have a propane stove which is a moist heat so that might have been part of the problem. I don’t really know. I did make a special purchase to use for the filling…

Crofter's Superfruit

“Stuffed with 1 pound of premium organic fruit, our new line of Superfruit Spreads includes four unique fruit combinations, sourced from around the world. Each certified organic spread is sweetened with fair trade sugar and contains one-third less sugar than jam. Experience these different cultural tastes while getting your daily dose of antioxidants.”

I have to say this was very good, kind of pricey, but very good. Why must all the good stuff cost a fortune.

Time to get some zzzzzz’s

~~~Jackie

Cooking Slump

2010-08-03T23:01:00.001-03:00

It was back to work today after a great long weekend. I always find it so hard going back to work after a couple of days off. That’s why I never take anything more than a week off…. it’s way to hard to go back.

I’ve been in somewhat of a slump lately when it comes to cooking. I don’t know if it was the heat and not wanting to cook that started the downward spiral or what. I’m not eating bad or ordering out but quite often I just don’t eat supper and that’s not a good thing. Hubby has been forced to fend for himself. There have been a lot of tortilla pizzas with some Hot Genoa Salami for me. I always cook the salami first then crumble it on the pizza.

I’ve also had quite a few salads

There has been some baking too.

“You Got Peanut Butter in My Chocolate” Cookies from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. There are some really great recipes in that book.

For the most part though I’ve just been staring blankly into the fridge wondering what the heck I will cook.

I had an epiphany the other night… I think the reason I am having such a problem cooking is because I have to cook 2 different meals most nights. I was spending HOURS in the kitchen every night, which didn’t leave much time for anything else. It’s not that hubby is fussy per say, he just doesn’t like meals that don’t have meat and if there are more than a few miniscule veggies he’s not too keen. He will try pretty much anything I cook but I know it’s not something he is really enjoying and not really satisfying for him. I know it’s not satisfying because a few hours later he’s in the kitchen making sandwiches, or eating a can of soup. I talked to him about not enjoying cooking 2 meals and he told me just to cook for myself but I just can’t do that.

The other night I looked through all of my Clean Eating magazines and picked out a bunch of recipes to try. A lot of them I think will be good for both of us and can easily be made with or without meat.

See all the yellow sticky notes…

If anyone has any suggestions to get me out of my cooking slump please pass them along. I need all the help I can get.

Night All

~~Jackie

A Day in the Valley

2010-08-02T23:20:00.001-03:00

It was a long weekend for us here in Halifax, and we had gorgeous weather for the whole weekend. How great is that….

I’m supposed to be in PEI today but due to some work disasters late last week I thought it better to stick around. Since PEI was out of the question I thought it would be the perfect time for a day trip to the Valley. I absolutely love the Valley. My family had a cottage there from the time I was 5 yrs old up until about 6 years ago. It was getting harder and harder for us to find the time to do the upkeep so we sold it. I have regretted it ever since. I actually haven’t even been to there in 4 years.

To start the day off right I did 60 mins of yoga to finish Lynn’s Yoga Challenge. I’m glad I participated, and now have a love for yoga. Thanks Lynn!!!!

Breakfast was quick and easy… Egg whites and a slice of cinnamon raison Ezekiel bread.

I picked up my friend Joan, and we were on the road. The drive to the Valley is much better now than it used to be since they twinned the highway and before we knew it we were at the Grand Pre exit and our first stop was for coffee at Just Us! Coffee. The special on the board was “Christmas in July” Chai Late, with Almond and Mint. Sounded interesting so I gave it a try. It was so good I stopped for one on the way back.

Then we were off to our next stop The Blomidon Inn. The gardens and grounds are very well maintained and the food is delicious. I actually liked it here so much I got married there. The marriage didn’t last but the Inn is as gorgeous as ever. We wandered around the property for quite a long time. Joan is a photographer, so she was taking LOTS of pictures. Here are a couple of mine.

This little frog was kind enough to pose for a few pics.

I spotted these cuties in the gift shop…. Little known fact about me, I have a thing for frogs.

I was good though and didn’t buy any.

After a quick tour of the Inn we were off to our next stop, the Wolfville Farmers Market. Since we spent so long at the Inn we were quite late for the market and had missed most of it. It’s a great outdoor market with lots of vendors selling local produce, organic meats, baked goods etc. They also have local musicians playing with an area where you can sit and listen if you like.

We were a little parched so we stopped into EOS Fine Foods. What a little treasure this is. They have a great selection of organic goods and natural health products. I found some Kombucha in the cooler and thought I would be brave and give it a try. I have to say I was pretty sure I wouldn’t like the taste but I was pleasantly surprised. It was quite good, so I went back and bought 3 more cans. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what the taste reminded me of, Ginger Ale came to mind, but not quite.

Our next stop was my old cottage. The new owners weren’t home but we took a quick look around and a couple of pictures.

My old row boat “The Jackie M”

I hate having my picture taken but I gave in and let Joan take one.

View of the lake.

We were starving after the little trip down memory lane. I thought of a cute cafe I used to go to in Berwick and was hoping it was still there, and it was.

The Union Street Cafe opened in 2000 and is a family owned and operated dining establishment.

We ordered a Greek side salad and the Mango Tango Veggie Burger

That burger was AMAZING. It was the best thing I have had to eat in a long time. Just a hint of curry with the mango chutney mayo… heaven!! I asked what was in it so I am going to try to recreate it.

After lunch we wandered over to Bargain Harleys where I scored some 800 thread count sheets for $29.88.

We were going to attempt to visit the Blomidon Winery on the way back but by the time we got back that way it was too late.

After another stop at Just Us to refuel for the drive home we were on our way back to the city.

It was a great day!!!! Can’t wait to go back again soon.

~~~ Jackie

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to get as much in as I could.

I’m Such a Klutz

2010-07-28T20:57:00.001-03:00

Hi everyone, hope you had a great Wednesday. Only two more days of work then the long weekend is here. Does anyone have plans? No plans in this neck of the woods, as always hubby is working all weekend so I’m on my own. I was thinking about heading to Halifax to use up a gift certificate I have for Spirit Day Spa but couldn’t make up my mind what I wanted to have done. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I was feeling pretty good after the Hot Yoga class yesterday, and much to my surprise as the day wore on my muscles started to get sore. You know the kind of sore you get from a good workout. I guess the class did more for me than I thought.

I wiped out when I got home today. Slipped on a wet spot by the dogs water dish and down I went. Twisted my knee and landed smack dab on my bad hip. Oh and we have tile floor so let me tell you it was not pretty. So in light of this incident I was going to wimp out on the yoga tonight, but then I thought about it and it came to me that maybe yoga would decrease the negative effects of being a clutz….. Let me tell you I am a major clutz. I’m one of those people that can fall up stairs. I popped the DVD in and got my 35 mins of yoga done. YAY ME!!!

It’s been a pretty uneventful day and supper was a big fail so no pics or recipes to share. I've been in a bit of a cooking slump lately. I can’t decide what to make, but have tons of food in the house. I kind of got out of my groove when I didn’t want to cook with all the hot humid weather we had.

So I’ll leave you with a picture of one of my fur babies.

I’m not sure how this is comfortable but she seems to like it.

Enjoy your night

~~ Jackie

Feeling HOT HOT HOT

2010-07-27T22:44:00.001-03:00

I broke out of my comfort zone today and tried something new… Hot Yoga. All the stars aligned , Lynn’s yoga challenge, the new hot yoga studio in Dartmouth opening its doors this week and the fact that they are offering all of their classes for free this week so I took that as I sign I should give it a try.

I convinced a friend of mine to go along with me, and it took a lot of convincing. We arrived about 30 minutes early, signed in and had a chat with the instructor (Melissa). She took one look at us and said “you look scared, don’t be. Relax and have fun it’s only yoga after all.” I told her about my joint issues and she had some helpful suggestions to modify some of the poses so I was happy and impressed with that. After changing, we headed into the studio, and it was HOT!!! It felt like a sauna. I relaxed and did some stretching then the class began. Melissa was very good at describing the poses and encouraging those of us that were unable to complete the full pose to do modifications. Throughout the class she walked around making sure everyone was doing everything properly and if not showed them the proper way to do it so you received the most benefit and didn’t injure yourself. The first portion of the class was standing poses, the next sitting poses, and the final portion was flow. (Hopefully my terminology is correct).

When I went in I assumed I wouldn’t be able to do the whole 60 minutes without taking a breather but I made it through and was impressed that I did. I think I will definitely go back.

If your looking for something new try hot yoga, as the instructor said don’t be scared, it’s only yoga. As a newbie, I would suggest doing the 60 minute class. I don’t think I would have made it through the 75 or 90 minute classes.

Some things to remember

1. Be prepared to sweat

2. Make sure to hydrate

3. Bring a towel.

If you’re in the local area (HRM) the classes at Moksha are free for this week and they are offering a special as well

One full MONTH of unlimited classes for $40 OR one week for $20

Going to watch some TV then off to bed.

Night all

~~Jackie

Brown Rice ‘n’ Beans Jumble-aya

2010-07-26T23:39:00.001-03:00

Happy Monday folks!!! Hope your week has started off on the right foot. Only 4 days till the weekend. Can’t wait.

Today marked day 2 of Lynn's yoga challenge. I broke out one of the other three Yoga for the Rest of Us DVD’s and did 45 mins of it. I really did feel good afterwards. The tension that I was holding in my neck and shoulders relaxed and my headache disappeared. There may just be something to this Yoga stuff.

I was late getting home and had no idea what I was going to make for supper. So I stood staring blankly into the fridge and freezer to no avail. then I remembered I bought Eat Drink and be Vegan a couple of weeks ago and have tried a couple of the dessert recipes which were very tasty so I thought I would try a main dish. My version wasn’t technically vegan though.

BROWN RICE ‘N’ BEANS JUMBLE-AYA

1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups onion, diced

1 cup each celery and peppers, diced

3 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp dried thyme, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp paprika

3/4 – 1 tsp sea salt

2 – 3 pinches cayenne pepper, black pepper to taste

1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes ( I used 1 14 oz can)

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 cup vegetable stock ( I used chicken stock)

1 cup long or short grain brown rice

2 bay leaves

1 14 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Top with green onions and fresh parsley (optional)

In a large pot combine olive oil, onions, celery, peppers, garlic, thyme, oregano, paprika, salt, and black pepper. Cover and cook for 5 - 7 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover and simmer 40-45 mins or until rice is cooked. Add more liquid if after that time your rice isn’t done. Mine wasn’t so I added maybe 1/2 - 3/4 cup more broth and simmered some more. Once all the liquid is gone turn off heat and let sit for 5 mins.

I topped mine with some grated light old cheddar and since the boy was eating this I cooked up some boneless skinless chicken breasts to go with his.

The battery in my cameral died as I was taking my pics so this is all there is to show.

It was a tasty dish. One that I would compare to a chili. Hubby liked it too. As always that’s a bonus.

Well time for bed. I’m planning on taking my first hot yoga class tomorrow. Hopefully I wont chicken out and hopefully it won’t be full that I can’t get in.

Have you ever tried hot yoga? What are your thoughts on it, love it or hate it?

Night all

~~Jackie

Yoga Challenge

2010-07-25T20:55:00.001-03:00

Today was not a productive day but it was relaxing. I’ve spent the day surfing the net, reading blogs, chatting on the phone and watching the tube. The perfect way to spend a rainy Sunday.

To say I have been slacking in the exercise department would be an understatement. Exercise has been pretty much non-existent in my life for the past month, with the exception of the occasional leisurely stroll in the evening.

I was working out regularly and according to my HR monitor burning lots of calories. Unfortunately because my thyroid was out of whack yet again and I couldn’t get my Doc to change my prescription it didn’t result in any weight loss. Actually I gained. Talk about frustrating.

Lynn over at The Next Chapter blogged about having a weekly challenge and suggested 7 days of yoga as the first challenge. Since the Doc said no P90X, Zumba or anything more than walking for awhile, I thought 7 days of yoga was perfect so I signed up, along with quite a few other blogger.

I went to a couple of yoga classes at the gym when I was a member and have to say it was not something I enjoyed. I am far from flexible and knew nothing about yoga at the time. I thought since it was a beginner class that the teacher would show you modifications and ensure you were doing things right. This wasn’t the case.

After awhile I thought I would give it a try again so I downloaded some classes off the net. Again not for me. I could barely get into the poses let alone hold them for as long as they were. I became discouraged and just figured yoga wasn’t for me, even though I know it would probably be one of the best things for me.

A couple of months ago I came across a show on PBS about yoga. Yoga for the Rest of Us. The instructor was teaching yoga to people with arthritis and showing modifications for each pose. Being the infomercial junkie that I am, I was convinced this was the program for me so I ordered the DVD’s.

I affectionately refer to it as “Old Fogies Yoga” but hey it works for me at the moment and this one in particular is proving to be quite helpful since my back has been killing me lately, and my sciatic issues have resurfaced yet again.

So to start the 7 day yoga challenge yesterday I unrolled my yoga mat, put the “Old Fogies Yoga” dvd in, stretched and relaxed my back. It was great!

Six days to go. With any luck by the end of the challenge I will be addicted to yoga.

Enjoy your Monday.

~~Jackie

Saturday Fun

2010-07-25T17:37:00.001-03:00

Good day bloggies!! Hope you’re having a great weekend. I was shocked and happy that hubby decided to take Saturday off. This is a record for him, 3 days off since May, and pretty much the only 3 days I’ve seen him for more than an hour or two since January. He’s a little bit of a workaholic.

We had another gorgeous summer day yesterday so we invited a few friends over for a day on the lake. This meant spending the morning cleaning and a trip to the grocery store to pick up some BBQ supplies. It was kind of last minute and for the most part everyone already had plans and since moving out of the city we have a hard time getting our friends to make the 15-20 min drive to visit. As a result we only had one guest, which was fine with me.

I had a couple of adult beverages before heading out in the boat for our first cruise of the summer.

Sad that we’ve had such gorgeous weather so far this summer and it was almost the end of July before we got out in the boat.

We live on beautiful Porters Lake. It’s over 20kms in length and if your daring enough to take your boat through Rocky Run you can venture out into the ocean. We aren’t that brave, so we just hang out on the lake. A typical day on the lake usually includes stopping to tie up with some of the other boaters and socialize. I wish I had a picture to show you, but I don’t like to take the camera out on the boat. Anyway one boat ties off to a buoy, and the rest tie off to each other so you can travel from boat to boat without getting in the water. Most of the boats have their own sleeping and bathroom facilities (ours doesn’t it’s the baby of the group), so it’s not as inconvenient as it might sound. For our first day on the lake this year we were out for 3 or hours so all in all it was a good first cruise. Here are a couple of pics from previous outings.

This is an annual event for charity, the Sea-doo, poker run. We were ahead of all the boats taking a pic of them coming towards us. We don’t have a “Sea-do” boat so can’t officially participate.

This is a father and daughter. I have no idea how she manages to stay on the back of that thing.

This picture doesn’t do justice to the fountain. It is really pretty at night when it is lit up. Yes this is a private residence there are some very, very large houses on the lake.

One of our neighbors was turning 50 so we had to get home and get ready for the party. Unfortunately for us we were starving when we got back so we ate before going over. I had a large salad and a PC Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon. The filet was really good which surprised me. Had I known what the menu at the party was going to be I probably would have waited. They had Chef Aldo prepare all of the food. There was a hip of beef, a table full of salads, cake, and brownies. I never made it to the kitchen so I didn’t see everything that was in there. It looked amazing and everyone was raving about it. We were just too full to try it. Again no pictures. I really must learn to take my camera and actually use it. After the eats they had a DJ playing some music so a good time was had by all. Oh, I almost forgot to show you what he bought his wife for her birthday….

Yes that’s right a BMW convertible…. and I thought I was living large when I got my KA Food Processor a couple of weeks ago.

Bye for now.

~~Jackie

Girls Have Power Tools Too

2010-07-20T22:12:00.001-03:00

Before I get to that a couple of other things to share.

Today was a pretty basic Tuesday up until I left work that is. I ran into an old friend whom I haven’t seen in 10 years. I knew he was in town but didn’t think we would get a chance to catch up since he would be spending most of his time with family and showing his GF our beautiful province. Anyway I stopped in Shoppers after work and he was walking out as I was going in. We had a great chat and hopefully they will have time to visit before they head back home to Florida.

After that it was off to the Dr. I have been finding my GP to be a little wishy washy lately. One visit she says one thing and the next something else. Then sometimes it’s like she has forgotten my history altogether (I’ve been seeing her since I was 14). Anyway, at my last appointment I told her I needed my thyroid medication adjusted, she looked at my blood work and said no, that my levels were fine and she didn’t think it was necessary to do so. She figured my issues were to do with my Sarcoidosis and sent me back to the specialist. I knew better, so I took matters into my own hands and adjusted the dosage myself until I could get back in to see her. Today, I told her I wanted the dosage adjusted and told her what I had done. She looked back at the same blood test results as last time and said, “I don’t have a problem with that. You’re levels can go down to 0.3 and I”m ok with that” (My levels are currently at 3.0) So why is it ok to change and before when I asked she was very adamant that my levels shouldn’t do any lower. It could have saved me a whole lot of grief, months of feeling like crap and not to mention I wouldn’t have an extra 10-15 lbs on my body. Sooooo frustrating. Now I have officially switched over to the new dose and hopefully I will be feeling better soon. Unfortunately even with the new dose I will still have to fight to get this extra weight off.

Now on to the fun stuff, my version of power tools. A couple of weeks ago I flipped on The Shopping Channel and this baby was on sale. Something you don’t know about me is I am a sucker for an infomercial. It was just a matter of time before I got out the credit card and ordered.

Isn’t she pretty!!

The feed shoot is extra large which really comes in handy. It also came with five extra blades, a juicer (I’m sure that will never get used) and a dough blade. The one I was really excited about was the French Fry blade. I make sweet potato fries all the time but hate cutting them up. It worked great, I think it took 2 seconds to do one potato.

The first thing I made was the much loved and favorite in the blog world, Banana Soft Serve.

I love this stuff. It is so quick and easy to make and the combinations are pretty much endless. Since I can’t have milk I get to enjoy ice cream again!!!

The kitties got a new toy too …

My honey is home early tonight so I’m going to spend some QT with him

~~Jackie

Boredom is a Dangerous Thing

2010-07-18T23:26:00.001-03:00

Well hello everyone. As always the weekend has sped by and it’s back to work tomorrow. I envy those of you out there that have jobs you enjoy enjoy, sadly I’m not one of them, and dread the thought of starting yet another week.

Anyway on to something more interesting. Saturday started off grey and dreary but early in the day the sun came out and it was HOT. I had to go drop of a book at the library and since I was bored to tears thought I would do some shopping while I was out. Well, I should know that shopping when bored is dangerous. For me it’s kind of like going to the grocery store hungry. It seemed everywhere I went there were SALES. My arm is actually sore today from carrying the bags. Who knew shopping could be a workout, and not only for your credit card. I picked up 5 dresses, 2 pairs of shorts, 2 skirts, 2 tops, pj’s. Some birthday presents, books, some cute plates and of course shoes.

Aren’t they cute. LOL.. These actually came with the case of beer we bought. I’m not sure who they are supposed to fit but they are like flippers on me. They go good with the green nail polish I bought though.

Here are the shoes that I picked up. Too cute and they are Aeorsoles, so they’re comfy. Best of all they were on SALE!!

A friend came out for a visit. Since it was so hot in the house we thought we would take a drive to Martinique Beach but by the time we got there the fog had rolled in. It was so thick you could hardly see the water from the beach. We turned around and headed home. We did make a pit stop at a little fish and chip place in our area Harbour Fish and Fries. This place never disappoints. The fish is always fresh and very tasty. Hubby to home late as usual so nothing to exciting Saturday night.

Today was another scorcher. I took a trip down to the local Farmers Market to look for some fresh veggies, but there wasn’t much to there today. It’s a small market so not always a large selection. I did pick up a couple of things though.

There may or may not have been an apple Danish that got eaten on the way home.

So my eats this weekend were not stellar but it was too hot to cook and it was one of those times when I really didn’t know what I wanted to eat so I just had whatever was quick and easy.

Time for bed I guess.

~~Jackie

Fruit Loops and Fiber

2010-07-15T23:28:00.001-03:00

Well it’s late and didn’t think I was going to get a chance to post but since I was on a roll this week I had to.

I’ve been seeing this commercial the last few days for Fruit Loops. The point the commercial is trying to get across is that Fruit Loops is good for you because it contains fiber. Are you kidding me Fruit Loops a “health food”. I checked out the web site just to see for myself.

Yes they do contain fiber 3 grams in a 1 cup serving, however, if you look at the ingredient list the first ingredient is sugar. There’s also some yummy red #40, blue #2 and yellow #6. Doesn’t that sound good. I know you’ll be searching the health food stores looking for those ingredients.

I’m sure parents are feeding this to their kids and thinking they are doing a good thing because it has fiber. They are probably thinking it must be healthy they wouldn’t be able to advertise this if it wasn’t. .. Right??

I used to be one of those people. You might remember the “Fat Free” craze a few years back. Fat Free cookies, mayo, cereal, crackers etc. etc. Everything was fat free. I remember buying box after box of Snackwell cookies thinking I could eat them and not worry about it. All the experts were telling me to eat fat free, the manufacturers were advertising their products as healthy because they were fat free. Little did I know “Fat Free” meant tons of sugar and other fillers were added to take the place of the fat.

There are so many misleading statements in food advertising. There really should be stricter rules and regulations in this area.

What products have you seen advertised lately as healthy foods?

Time for bed. Night all.

~~ Jackie

Energy Drinks and Frozen Dinners

2010-07-14T22:07:00.001-03:00

It’s me again… are shocked??? I bet you didn’t think I’d be back for a 4th day in a row.

My eats were pretty standard so no pics today. Green smoothie to start the day, overnight oats for mid morning snack. Lunch was a bucket of salad and a left over chicken breast. For supper I had some ground chicken in the fridge so I mixed up some chicken burgers. I have never been overly fond of chicken/turkey burgers but every now and then I try another combination hoping something might WOW me. Sadly this combo didn’t do it. Ground chicken, Montreal steak spice, chopped up cheddar, sautéed red onion, and sweet chili sauce. They smelled great while they were cooking but sadly the taste was just ok.

Do you have a favorite chicken burger combo?

I did however take pictures of one of my co-workers lunches. You guess it, a frozen dinner.

Then I flipped it over to look at the nutritional information. Let’s just say it was SCARY

That is 780 calories, 29 g fat, 1920 mg sodium, 72 g sugar, and 5 g fiber.

Oh, and the ingredients list was even scarier. Hydrolyzed this and diglycerides that.

Not to mention the length of the list. At least the corn only contained corn.

This food should be outlawed. We wonder why there are so many health issues today. Our bodies were just not made to deal with all this artificial crap.

This same person drinks these every day. Actually most of the men in the office drink these all day.

I probably sound like a nagging wife when I go on about how horrible these things are and I know what I say is going in one ear and out the other but I can’t help myself. I read an article last week that said one of these contains the sugar equivalent to 6 or 7 Krispy Cream glazed donuts. The caffeine content is another thing 160 mg in a 16 oz can. According to Wikipedia that isn’t as much as a cup of coffee (8 oz cup = 115 to 175 mg), but still. Adults drinking these things like they are water is one thing, but the kids that are now addicted to them is just sad.

What do you think of these drinks? Have you ever used them to give you a little pick me up?

Well time to get my overnight oats together. Night all

~~Jackie

Scallopy Goodness

2010-07-13T21:01:00.001-03:00

I’m on a roll, posting 3 nights in a row

While surfing blogland a week or so ago I came across this recipe on Carrots 'N' Cake. I have to admit it sounded like a bit of an odd combination to me, but I thought I would give it a try. I am not a huge seafood fan, (yes I know it’s almost unthinkable for a Maritimer to not be a seafood fan), so I am always looking for recipes that will make seafood more appealing to me. So Seared Scallops with White Beans it was.

I have to say I was very please with this combo. The scallops were buttery, flavorful and not “fishy” tasting. All of the flavors combined perfectly and it was filling.

I was pretty sure the boy would not like this mostly because of the spinach and the fact that it isn’t your typical meat and potatoes kinda meal. I warned him before he came home that we were having something different. I was shocked…. he loved it!! This meal will definitely be making another appearance soon.

I have discovered so many great recipe ideas, food combinations etc. since I started reading blogs. There are so many great ideas, out there, I just wish I had all the time in the world to try them all. Hmmm would that be a good enough excuse to quit my job and stay home, probably not. I have tried so many new things I never would have tried if I hadn’t read everyone’s opinions / suggestions first.

One super popular item is Pom Wonderful. I have tried this a few times but find the flavor too strong for me. So I mixed it with water and that was ok but not what I was looking for. I thought it would be good mixed with some Sprite but I don’t like pop. So while cruising the aisles of the Superstore I found Presidents Choice Lemon Flavored Carbonated Water. This was the perfect combination and with a little Vodka would make a great cocktail. Now if only POM would go on sale more often I’d be all set.

Have you tried things you never thought you would try after reading about them on other blogs?

That’s all I have for you tonight

~~Jackie

Another Typical Monday

2010-07-12T19:32:00.001-03:00

Hi all!! Hope your week is off to a good start. Monday’s are not the best day for me and this one was more of the same. By shortly after 9:00 I was ready for the day/week to be DONE!! I fear this will be a very LONG week.

Breakie was pretty standard. The boy wanted a smoothie so no fresh juice today. In the blender today was 1 banana, handful of blueberries, 1 scoop of Chocolate Amazing Grass, UVAB, spinach, and ground flax. Always a good combo.

For my mid morning snack overnight oats. A favorite of mine, and very popular breakfast choice in the blog world. Today's mixture – 1/2 c oats, UVAB, chia seeds, ground flax, a few Goji berries, a splash of pure maple syrup, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Sorry no measurements, I very rarely measure unless I’m baking.

Lunch was another standard for me. Huge salad, but I won’t bore you with those ingredients.

Next up supper. A recipe from the Weight Watchers web site, Chicken Cordon Bleu. It’s tasty but I hate trying to roll the chicken up. I am so not skilled in that area.

For sides there was some grilled asparagus for me.

I asparagus. Growing up I couldn’t stand it because mom only used to buy it canned. Blech… talk about disgusting. For hubby canned peas. He will only eat them canned.

For the carbs I thought rice would be a good choice.

I love this rice. I cook it with some chicken broth and it gets a nice creamy consistency like risotto.

Well that’s it for the food today. Look at me posting 2 days in a row. I think that might be a record.

Night all

~~Jackie

AN OLD FRIEND

2010-07-11T21:20:00.001-03:00

Hello bloggies, hopefully someone is still reading. I seem to be having some issues with posting on a consistent basis. As with most everything else in my life lately I can’t seem to focus on any one thing for any length of time.

I am still reading and commenting though. I don’t know how some of you bloggers out there find the time to post so often, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day, and each post is just as interesting as the last. My posts are what… something like 1 every few months.. NOT GOOD!!

Moving on.

I decided to break out an old friend. My Jack Lalanne juicer.

My first attempts at juicing involved a cheap juicer that I bought at Zellers or Sears. I think I used it twice. It was loud, you had to chop everything in tiny pieces, and it didn’t extract much juice at all. Then I bought my first Jack Lalanne juicer and it was love at first sight. No chopping, it’s quiet and gives you a lot of juice. If you want to try your hand at juicing I would say don’t waste your money on the typical department store juicers.

I’ve been drinking my green smoothies… and miracle of miracles I even got the boy drinking them. I”m bound and determined to get the good stuff into him one way or another. Anyway, I wanted a change and there is nothing like fresh juice. My favorite combo at the moment is

1 large beet

1 red apple

1 green apple

1 inch piece of fresh ginger

After juicing I pour it into the blender and throw in some spinach for some added veggie goodness, and of course some crushed ice.

Another favorite is

1 carrot, 1 green apple, 1 red apple, 1 lemon, 1 inch piece of ginger, and 1 stalk of celery.

Some of the juice combos don’t sound like they would be very good, but they are tasty and refreshing.

Do you juice your fruits and veggies? If so what’s your favorite combo?

As always the weekend has flown by and it’s back to work tomorrow.

~~Jackie

MY NEW BFF

2010-06-20T22:39:00.001-03:00

So it’s been a few months since my last post, so much for trying to be a better blogger I guess. I had lots of things I had wanted to post about but for some reason couldn’t get my fingers to do the typing.

I wanted to introduce you to my new BFF.

We have had this Jacuzzi installed for 3 years and would you believe up until last week it was only used once. It was Valentines day when he finished installing it so he surprised me with this and that was the only time it was put to use.

I’ve been having some issues with my hip and other muscles and joints lately so I thought I would get some use out of this baby. Nice long hot soaks with a couple of cups of Epsom salts=relaxation!!

In case you didn’t know Epsom salt baths are said to have quite a few therapeutic benefits including:

relaxing your muscles
reducing inflammation
reducing pain
aide digestion
and detoxify your body

The Jacuzzi and I will be spending a lot of quality time together from now on

I have been reading about banana soft serve for some time in blog land. Angela over at Oh She Glows combines it with Vegan Overnight Oats and they look so good. I finally made some banana soft serve tonight and it was fabulous. The perfect quick and easy desert. Into the food processor frozen banana, a splash of vanilla, dark chocolate cocoa powder and a few cacao nibs. In just a couple of minutes ice cream. A sprinkle of cacao on top and enjoy.

We are having quite the thunder and lightening storm at the moment and our golden retriever freaks out during these storms, so I must go check on the big baby.

~~ Jackie

Heating Pads and Ice Packs

2010-03-30T22:37:00.001-03:00

I’m cuddled up in bed with my best friends..the heating pad and an ice pack. I was at the chiropractor on Friday and feeling great but my shoulder seems to be acting up now and I thought the bursitis in my hip was on the mend but that appears to be flaring up too. Yay!!! Zumba class tomorrow so I want to make sure I’m ready.

Breakfast and lunch yesterday was my usual. Green monster, bucket of salad with a few slices of Piri Piri chicken and some homemade hummus.

For supper there were two meals. For the boy meat of course in the form of a steak.

I was never a steak fan until I met the boy and he cooked me steak his way. Still not something I would eat all the time but once in a blue moon I can definitely dig into one.

Supper for me was some boneless skinless chicken marinated in Pampered Chef souvlaki seasoning a tiny bit of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. While the chicken was marinating another large mixed greens salad dressed with balsamic vinegar.

With that a side of roasted asparagus and sweet potatoes.

All together now with a little Tzatziki for dipping.

I also found the recipe for these little pieces of heaven on Averie's blog. She has quite a few quick, easy and tasty raw recipes on her site.

Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

I’m not a fan of cashews so I used almonds. They are had to put down. I threw mine in the freezer so they would be out of sight and would last longer.

I am still on a quest to find the perfect protein bar. By perfect I mean tastes good, with good nutritional information. Not too high in fat and sugar and not alot of additives. I thought I would give this one a try.

This was a fail. The nutritional information was good (7 g of fibre), but the taste… YUCK!! The bar itself was hard, it had a bitter taste with an odd aftertaste. The “blueberry” well I’m not quite sure how to explain that flavor. Needless to say it went in the garbage, and I hate to waste money like that, but there was no way I was going to finish it.

Have a good night all

~~Jackie

Trying To Be A Better Blogger

2010-03-29T21:50:00.001-03:00

I was browsing through the memory card for my camera and found a few food pics from last week. Apparently I’m good at taking the pictures just not so good at putting them into the blog.

In attempt to find something new to eat I searched some recipes using Lentils. I decided on Sloppy Joes. Since the boy likes lentils I thought this might be a winner for him as well. They were good and he liked them so as always that’s a bonus. I used 3 different recipes to come up with my final one but it still needs a little tweaking to get it just right. I used canned lentils for the recipe. If you’ve never tried them you should. They are convenient and don’t taste any different than the dried lentils.

All the ingredients ready to go.

The finished product with some homemade tabouleh.

I also jazzed up my usual pumpkin oats with a scoop of Chocolate Amazing Grass a couple dark chocolate chips and a sprinkle of coconut. This was totally delicious.

This pasta dish is a household favorite. I’ll post the recipe once I have it written down. It’s just something I made up as I went along so I don’t have measurements. There are onions, celery, peppers, carrots, garlic, ground turkey, bay leaves, oregano, basil, chicken stock, red wine or balsamic vinegar if there is no red wine available, tomato paste, chopped baby spinach, pasta and parmesan. I think that’s everything.

The finished product with some roasted cauliflower also sprinkled with a little parmesan.

That’s it for now. Off to catch up on everyone else’s blogs.

~~Jackie

Where Do The Weekends Go?

2010-03-28T22:19:00.001-03:00

I ask myself this every Sunday. The work week drags on but the weekends just fly by.

Saturday was a fun filled day of housework and a quick trip to the grocery store.. surprise, surprise.

The eats for the day consisted of.

Breakfast was Oatmeal.

Lunch was a huge salad with a wrap of Piri Piri chicken, veggies and Tzatziki

Supper was homemade pizza. I make 2 pizzas one for the BF that consists of meat, meat, and more meat topped with cheese. Mine consisted of some , roasted garlic smeared on top of the crust, hot genoa salami cooked till crispy and crumbled on top, sautéed onions and peppers with some balsamic vinegar added at the end and reduced down. Some oregano, basil and topped with some partly skimmed mozza and parmesan. Super yummy!!

Saturday night well let’s just say it was entertaining. The BF and I along with his brother went to a benefit for someone they grew up with. It was at a church hall in the country. I was the designated driver so I got to people watch all night. Love doing this, it is so entertaining watching the interactions of people when large amounts of alcohol are consumed not to mention the unique and varied dancing styles.

Even though we didn’t get home till late Saturday night I was up and off to Zumba this morning. Still loving this class.

Started the day off with a blue/green monster. Lunch was at my parents so not my usual food. On the menu today was Philly Cheese steak Sandwiches, and some kind of lemon desert. Tasty but really just empty calories and a lot of salt. Oh well, I don’t expect them to change their ways now at the age of 75.

Of course there was another quick trip to the grocery store yet again today. I’ve been missing my hummus the last couple of days and there was no Sabra at the grocery store so I decided to whip up a batch of my own.

Hummus is so quick and easy to make. I didn’t measure anything just threw everything in and adjusted till I liked the taste.

Can of chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt, ground black pepper, roasted garlic, a pinch of cayenne, and little warm water to make it smooth. Very good!!

That pretty much sums up the weekend. Time to watch some TV with my honey and get to bed.

~~Jackie

The good, the bad and the ugly…. well mostly just the UGLY!!

2010-03-26T21:00:00.001-03:00

The day started off pretty good, with my usual blue / green monster

In the mix, blueberries, banana, baby spinach, chia gel, UCAB, and flax meal. Delish as always

Then I had a small bowl of oats at work. Oats, UVAB, pure pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice and a squeeze of Agave.

Lunch consisted of the standard weekday salad accompanied by leftovers from last night and roasted cauliflower.

So far so good right?

After work I went to my Chiro appointment. I picked the wrong profession. I was in and out in 5 mins, for the low low cost of $50.00. That works out to quite the hourly rate. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t know what I would do without massage and chiro, but the cost is scary!!

After my adjustment I needed to get groceries but since the weather was crappy I decided to stop at the grocery store closer to home. Here is where the UGLY starts. I was wandering around the store not finding anything I was looking for and getting very annoyed when something started calling my name….. and well, I couldn’t resist

Yup, it was actually the Dark Chocolate version I picked up and ate while waiting in line at the checkout.

Then when I got home I may have consumed some of these.

Who am I kidding I consumed most of the bag . I did manage to throw out what was left so I wouldn’t get into them later on. I know better than to buy them. Chips are my weakness, I just can’t stop eating them.

Then we had supper which wasn’t all that bad I guess. I decided on a grilled cheese sandwich.

2 slices of Body Wise Whole Wheat bread; Becel, Light Cheddar, and 3 slices of Back Bacon.

I was feeling a little chilly so I thought a nice hot cup of tea was in order. So going with the not so healthy eats theme I seemed to be on. I had to have something to accompany my tea.

A yummy homemade ginger cookie.

There you have it. Some good choices, some ok choices, and some really bad choices. C’est la vie…. tomorrows a new day!

~~Jackie

The difference 5 years makes

2010-03-25T23:17:00.001-03:00

I was soooooo proud of myself here.

Fast forward about five years to today….. not so proud

Ignore the stupid look on my face… not sure what heck I was looking at. I can still see the remnants of my former self, and I know I’m not that far off.

In reality I have gained about 10 lbs which in the grand scheme of things doesn’t seem like a lot. I’m just not comfortable with it, and I know I would feel even better with that gone, and have everything stay in place again when I move instead of jiggling like Jello.

So I’ve been thinking what was I doing different then, than I am now.

Eating habits then - Five years ago I was going to WW had reached my goal weight. While I did eat salads every day, there were also a lot of processed foods in the mix. Frozen dinners, 100 calorie snacks, lean deli meats etc.

Eating habits now - I still manage to stay within my maintenance points for WW and still track most days. Still have lots of salads, including as much organic produce as possible. No more frozen dinners or 100 calorie snacks. The vast majority of my eats now are whole / clean foods, to feed my body not just a means to an end like before.

Health then – I had headaches every day, slept terribly, had many digestive issues (gastritis, IBS, etc) was on quite a few different prescription medications and even though I looked good, for the most part still felt unhealthy most of the time.

Health now - I only take one prescription, for hypothyroidism. I have very few headaches, my sleep is getting better, my digestive issues have all but disappeared and I generally feel much healthier.

That leaves us with the big “E” EXERCISE.

Then - I was at the gym about and hour a day five to six days a week. In that time 40 minutes of cardio (treadmill and elliptical) 20 minutes on the circuit. I was also doing the occasional DVD at home with some abs etc.

Now - exercise happens sporadically. I’ll do it faithfully 5 days a week for a few months then either I get comfortable where I am, have some kind of injury or just slowly taper off. The next thing I know 3, 4, or 6 six months have gone by and I’m back to square one. Recently I’ve started Zumba classes, and I am totally loving it. Johneen is an awesome instructor. The classes are only twice a week but according to my heart rate monitor I’m burning about the same amount of calories in two workouts that I would usually burn in 4 workouts at home.

So what have I learned from this little exercise? I am happy that I feel better. I know that my health has improved and will continue to improve if I stay on this path. I have learned exercise is more important in the process than I realized or wanted to admit. I honestly believed if I just focused on food exercise wouldn’t really be an issue. It appears I was just kidding myself with that one. Surprise ! Surprise! I need to figure out how to make exercise a permanent part of my life. How to work around injuries instead of giving up and how to not get comfortable, so I will continue to progress

Sorry for the long post.. off to bed now. Night all

~~Jackie

HELP WANTED.. PRODUCTS NOT AVAILABLE IN CANADA

2010-03-23T10:33:00.002-03:00

Good Morning all,

I need your help, my parents are heading to the States next week so I am in the process of making up my list of items for them to bring back. I am looking for some suggestions on some yummy and healthy eats to add to the list. When will we be able to get all the good stuff here in Canada..

Food Catch-Up

2010-03-22T18:31:00.001-03:00

I haven’t been posting much on the food front lately, mostly because its been a lot of the same.

Breakfast has included lots of these . My not so green, green monster.

In the blender

2 cups organic baby spinach
1 cup UCAB
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 tbsp ground flax
sprinkle of chia seeds or 1 tbsp chia gel
1 scoop of AG Chocolate Superfood

YUM!! YUM!! YUM!!

Lunch is usually a bucket of salad, with the usual mixed greens, arugala, assorted veggies, sunflower seeds, feta, a squeeze of lemon, egg whites, lots of ground pepper, and dressing of choice.

There have also been lots of these in the mix for both lunch and supper Black Bean Burgers that I first found on Lynn’s blog. I love these things, and the boy will eat them too, so it’s a win win for me.

A side of Sweet Potato or Butternut Squash fries with some Tzatziki for dipping… DELISH!!

There have been a lot of stir fries as of late too, but no pics of these. Baby Bok Choy is my latest favorite ingredient to add into the mix.

I was even adventurous one night and made some Kale Chips. I had never tried Kale before so I figured that might be a good way to go for my first time. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Are they a “potato chip” substitute, no… but they make for a good snack. I sprinkled mine with some salt. The kale gets crunchy, and sort of melts in your mouth.

So there you have it, nothing too earth shattering going on in the food department but good eats all the same.

~~Jackie

Jiffy Pop - Popcorn

2010-03-21T16:24:00.001-03:00

I couldn’t decide what to have for supper yesterday. It was one of those days when I was just craving something like take out Pizza or Chinese food maybe, but I knew I would be better off cooking for myself. So after wandering aimlessly in my kitchen going from cupboard to cupboard I settled on Chicken Parm It’s pretty basic, nothing too fancy but oh so good.

It was such a gorgeous night out the boy and I decided to have a fire down by the lake. Now what would a bonfire be without treats. My honey had stopped at the store and picked up some marshmallows to roast, a bottle of red wine for me and last but not least some Jiffy Pop to cook over the fire. Corny I know but I thought it was cute.

I didn’t know they still made Jiffy Pop, and I can’t remember how long it has been since I had some let alone how long it’s been since I roasted marshmallows.

It was a fun way to spend the evening. I was up bright and early to go to Zumba, and it was definitely needed after consuming all that sugar.

~~Jackie

Spring has sprung!!

2010-03-20T13:18:00.001-03:00

The weather this week here in Hali has been awesome. Sunny and warm every day. Again today, bright, sunny and they say it is supposed to go up to 17 degrees. WOO HOO!!! I took a walk around the yard to see if any little flowers were peeking their way through the soil, but nothing yet. So I thought I would put my spring decorations out (until it’s warm enough for the real things).

Unfortunately I couldn’t find the other half of my flowers , I have no idea what I did with them. You would think they would be stored together but oh no that would make too much sense, so the other planter is empty for now.

I took the puppers out for a stroll around the yard with me

Not the best pic but I couldn’t get them to sit still. If you look in the window behind the pups you can see the other fur babies inside, just waiting for their turn outside.

It’s so nice to look out and see blue sky, sun and no snow!!

Time to go enjoy the day

Waiting for the game…. GO CANADA!!! (and Shoe Love)

2010-02-28T16:10:00.002-04:00

Anxiously waiting for the big game to start… I see gold in our future

Nothing much to report in my neck of the woods. I’ve been spending some quality time with my massage therapist and my new and totally awesome chiropractor. Now I have been to the chiropractor before, but this new guy is fabulous. After a quick but thorough exam he proceeded to tell me I needed a complete overhaul. Some bones in both of my feet, hips, shoulders, ribs and neck were not moving. Not to mention my knee issues and low back problems. He quickly went to work on my feet and ankles. The sound reminded me of popcorn popping or maybe Rice Krispies…. snap, crackle, pop. There wasn’t just one but a series of quite a few snaps and pops. He worked his way up to my neck. I was a little apprehensive about this one and have never wanted my neck adjusted but I gave in and am glad I did, although I have to say the cracking sound still freaks me out.

One of the test he did before starting was a balance test and I failed miserably. I have never had a balance issue but did notice when using my Wii Fit over the last few months that I couldn’t balance on either leg. When I was done, I could balance on both no problem. He explained why, but I won’t go into that. The other thing I could do after was walk down stairs. This may seem like a small thing but I was AMAZED!!!

Of course he gave me grief about wearing heels but realized that wasn’t going to change, so I guess I just have to work a little harder to keep things in the right place.

On that note I wanted to share these babies that I bought yesterday. I’m sure the chiropractor will not be impressed, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

Pair # 1

Pair #2 (I couldn’t decide so I bought both)

Almost time for the game, so time to get settled in

GO CANADA GO!!!!!!!!

IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME

2010-02-21T09:57:00.001-04:00

Friday night was supposed to be dinner and a movie with DBF however, it turned out to be just dinner. By the time we were done with supper it was too late to make it to the show. There aren’t a whole lot of restaurant choices in Dartmouth unless you want to try one of the chain restaurants like Montana's or Jack Astors and they aren’t really my thing.

I was excited when It’s All Greek To Me opened in Russell Lake last fall since Greek food is one of my favorites. We tried once to go but it was too busy so we made reservations this time.

On the menu for me

Spanikopita
Chicken Souvlaki with rice, roasted potatoes, Greek salad and Tzatziki on the side.
Dessert was Baklava

The spanikopita were fairly large, but didn’t have much flavor. I think I detected a hint of cinnamon or nutmeg in a couple of bites but for the most part bland. Which is pretty much the same for the rest of the meal…. bland. The rice was just plain white rice that seemed to be tossed/coated with oil. I think the roasted potatoes were steamed and then put under the broiler as they were burnt on the edges. Far from “roasted”. I was even unimpressed with the tzatziki, again no flavor. So after all that I still had high hopes for dessert. I mean Baklava at a Greek restaurant I thought it had to be good. Not so much. It was OK, but that’s it just OK.

On the menu for DBF

Souzoukakia Saganaki – Seasoned beef patties in a spicy tomato sauce topped with feta.
12 oz striploin served with the same roasted potatoes and rice

He said the Souzoukakia was really good. The sauce was a light tomato sauce that wasn’t too spicy. He wasn’t overly impressed with the steak though and said we do a better job at home.

I wish I would have taken pictures but of course I didn’t have a camera with me and it was really dark in there so I don’t think they would have been very good anyway.

Maybe it was just an off night for them but I don’t think I will be going back any time soon.

Yummy Chocolate Giveaway

2010-02-17T14:05:00.001-04:00

If you love chocolate you’ll love this giveaway. Head on over to Confessions of Health Nut for your chance to win some Denman Island Chocolate.

SICK DAY

2010-02-16T10:48:00.001-04:00

So I figured since I was home from work today I could at least post something here.

Valentines Day was pretty uneventful around here. I’m not a big Valentines Day girl and don’t really enjoy going out to overpriced, overcrowded restaurants on that day, so DBF and I will be celebrating this week with dinner and a movie. DBF didn’t forget about me though, he came home with these

I’ve told him not to spend the money but he knows I love flowers so he doesn’t listen to me, and Valentines Day isn’t the only time he brings me flowers so it’s all good.

In the food department nothing much going on there. I did make seafood chowder or as some like to say chowdah for the first time in my life for DBF on Valentines Day. He loves it, but I don’t enjoy seafood that much and I can’t have milk/cream, so I have never tried it. Apparently I did an awesome job, yay me!! Although I think I will have to make it more often now.

I also made some Cajun chicken quesadillas not long ago. I love them and eat them quite often but DBF has never tried them… He has led a very sheltered life when it comes to food, not that Quesadillas are that exotic. Anyway he loved them too, and couldn’t understand why he had never tried them before. Now I put more cheese and a few less veggies on his but he like it so that means there is another meal we will both eat and it saves me from having to cook two different meals. I also topped mine with that yummy Liberte Plain Greek Yogurt instead.

Now I wasn’t lucky enough to get my hands on one of the coveted Amazing Grass shakers but I did find a cute pink one at GNC. So now I can take my smoothies and run out the door.

Sorry this post was so long… it was supposed to be short and sweet.

Oh I almost forgot… Jamie over at Embracing Balance is having a super yummy giveaway. Pop on over and check out the Popchips loot you could win.

Another giveaway link!

2010-02-11T19:06:00.001-04:00

Kristi over at Healthy Living, One Day At A Time has some yummy looking Honest Food Bars up for grabs. Go check it out!!

Great Giveaway

2010-02-11T18:05:00.001-04:00

Everyday Foodie is having her first giveaway. Head on over to her blog and check it out!!

QUINOA LOVE IT OR HATE IT PART 2 & AG WHEAT GRASS

2010-02-09T17:29:00.001-04:00

After seeing Lynn's post about Chocolate Quinoa I knew I couldn’t give up on Quinoa yet. Before trying the chocolate version I wanted give just plain old quinoa a try. My previous attempts were less than stellar. I thought maybe it was the quinoa itself that might have been the problem. I bought it at the bulk barn the first couple of times, so this time I picked up some Bob’s Red Mill. I was brave and cooked it with just water and voila… success!! The Bob’s Red Mill cooked the way the directions said it would, the texture was much better, and didn’t taste “off” like the others. So I figure it can only improve from here especially after adding chocolate. I mean really if something doesn’t taste good with chocolate then let’s face it there’s just no hope.

Since I am running low on my Chocolate Amazing Grass, I decided to be brave… suck it up.. and break open the Amazing Grass Wheatgrass that’s been taunting me every time I open my cupboard. I’ve had the unopened container in my cupboard for a few months now but quite frankly I was scared to open it. I really, really didn’t think I would like the taste. I guess I figured if I let it sit on the shelf long enough it would magically change and taste like Lindt Dark Chocolate… if only!! So what was the verdict, well I would like to say it was Great!! but I can’t go quite that far. It really isn’t bad at all. I wasn’t fond of the smell but it didn’t taste bad. I mixed it with Almond Breeze and chugged it down. If it was mixed in with a smoothie or green monster you would never know it was there.

What new thing should I try next??

TOFU PHOBIA

2010-01-28T21:39:00.001-04:00

I have been buying different types of Tofu for years only to throw out the unopened packages. I just didn’t know what to do with it, but I kept buying it in hopes that one day I would be brave enough to take the plunge and actually open the package. Well that day finally came. Tofu for supper tonight.

The other day on one of my many, many trips to the grocery store I saw this one.

Blue Menu Coconut Curry Tofu. Sounded interesting and it was already flavored so that was one thing I didn’t have to worry about. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Tofu actually does take on the flavor of what you cook it with… who knew. That took care of my first fear. The texture … well still not 100% sure of that. I was hoping it would crisp up a bit but it didn’t. It wasn’t what I was expecting but not bad at all. Will I ever say I want Tofu over a turkey dinner, No, but I no longer have my tofu phobia, and will be adding into my diet.

Now if I could only figure out how to disguise it and convince hubby it’s steak!!

Crockpot Lasagna

2010-01-24T19:57:00.001-04:00

I found this recipe over at The WW Chick and thought I would give it a try. I have wanted to try a lasagna in the Crockpot for some time but was afraid it would just turn into Lasagna soup.

No soup here, it stayed intact. It was a little juicier than what I normally like my lasagna to be but all in all it was tasty, figure friendly and easy!!

As I do with every recipe, I made some changes / additions.

Used whole wheat regular lasagna noodles.
Half a package of frozen spinach
Grated 2 large carrots into the meat mixture
Used half lean ground chicken and half extra lean ground beef
Added 1 spicy Italian Turkey Sausage

I would have added more spice to it but the hubs doesn’t like spicy food :o(

Served up with a large salad for supper.

During my ~~650th~~ I mean 6th trip to the grocery I picked up some Sea Salt and Vinegar Baked Kettle Chips. I adore chips especially salt and vinegar. I have yet to find a semi healthy version that actually tastes like a potato chip. These came very close. Nice and crunchy with tons of flavor, they beat Baked Lays hands down!!

The other flavors are: Salt and Pepper, White Cheddar, BBQ, and Lightly Salted.

As always the weekend flew by and it’s back to work tomorrow..BOO!!

Living at the grocery store…

2010-01-24T12:26:00.001-04:00

Ok… so I just came back from yet another trip to the grocery store. I think this is probably my 5th or 6th trip this week. Now I’m not talking about running in for a loaf of bread ( I don’t think I have ever just run in for a loaf of bread), and I certainly can’t use the express lane when I visit the grocery store. Oh, no I can’t seem to get out the door for anything less than $50.00 and most times I’m just shy of $100. Besides the fact I am spending a small fortune at the store my house is bursting at the seams with food. I really need to get a grip, before I go broke. When you consider the fact that I am only shopping for two people (and 4 fur children) this is more than ridiculous.

Besides stopping for fresh vegetables, I could probably skip grocery shopping for, maybe six months or more. Both of my freezers are full, so much so that I dread looking in them, I’m going to have to start storing some of my canned / packaged goods in cupboards in the garage soon since I have run out of space in the kitchen (I’m sure hubby will be thrilled with me invading his garage).

Despite having all this food I still can’t seem to make any headway in planning meals and getting organized in that area. I think that’s part of the reason I keep shopping. I don’t know what I am going to cook /eat and it seems when I do pick something, guess what there is something I don’t have. I’m not sure how that is possible, because I think I have just about every item in the grocery store stored in my kitchen, so I just keep going back to the store and buying more and more stuff in hopes that someday I’ll have everything I need to get this meal planning on track. By the looks of it that will only happen if I can move into the grocery store. Then and only then will I have everything I need.

Guess I’ll go put my groceries away now, stare at all this food and hope that I’ll finally have a light bulb moment that will get me on track!!

Amazing Grass & Larabars

2010-01-18T21:53:00.005-04:00

After reading about Amazing Grass on everyones blogs, I had to try it. I have become a fan of the Amazing Grass Chocolate Superfood unfortunately it is hard to come by here in Halifax. Not too mention it's a little pricey too. I think it was over $40 + tax at Planet Organic when I called. Anyway I found it online at http://www.well.ca/. They don't have a huge selection but I have emailed them and they said if they get more requests they will look at expanding. The Chocolate Superfood is $32.99 plus tax (and no shipping within Canada) for the 8.5 oz (30 serving) container. They also sell Larabars by the box but they always seem to be sold out.

I still have an unopened container of the Amazing Grass Wheatgrass in my cupboard but I'm kinda scared to try it. I'm pretty sure it's not a taste I'm going to enjoy but from what I hear it is great stuff.

If you haven't tried any Amazing Grass products Jaime over at http://www.embracingbalance.com is having an amazing giveaway of their products.

Off to watch some TV and enjoy a cup of Decaf mint tea before bed.

Weekly Recap

2010-01-17T18:02:00.012-04:00

Nothing too exciting going on here. I've been doing good so far with working out again after my 3 or 4 month hiatus. I thought I would try a different approach this time. Usually I just pick up right where I left off, and that more often than not ends in an injury of some sort, which leads to frustration on my part and I have to stop yet again. This time I thought I would gradually work myself back up to where I was... not rocket science I know. So far so good. I managed to work out 6 days this week ( I haven't done that for about a year). Made a conscious effort to drink at least 2L water each day and I'm down 2 lbs. Not a huge loss but a loss all the same.

On the food front I made some Tandori Chicken for supper the other night that was quite tasty. Hubby didn't like it ... too spicy for him. Why must they be so fussy. It was a package I picked up at Pete's Frootique awhile back. It contained the spices and a package of rice. You add 2 of the spice packets to plain yogurt, along with lemon juice and oil. Marinate the chicken in it for 2-3 hours. The other spice packet is mixed with plain yogurt to make a dipping sauce for the chicken.

While the chicken was cooking I soaked some rice noodles (I didn't feel like rice) and got out some snow peas. After the chicken was cooked I added the noodles and snow peas to the pan for a quick stir fry then added the chicken back. Some of the yogurt dip and some tatziki.

Home made pizza for supper Friday night. Always a fan favorite in my house. I didn't feel like cooking Saturday night so a huge salad for me. I think it weighed 2lbs. Mixed greens, grilled chicken, grape tomatoes, red cabbage, green onions, english cucumber, a sprinkle of feta, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and a couple of garlic croutons. Squeeze of lemon, fresh ground pepper and light Greek Dressing.

Tonight was Roasted Pork Tenderloin, Creamy Parmesan Orzo, and a Turnip Puff. Yummo!! The pork tenderloin was cooked perfectly if I do say so myself.... moist and flavorful.

That's all for now. Guess I better get off the computer so I can get some exercise in tonight.

Quinoa..... Love it or Hate it

2010-01-10T20:07:00.008-04:00

So I attempted to cook some Quinoa for supper tonight to go with my grilled chicken. This was my second attempt at it. The first time I thought it was disgusting and ended up throwing it out. I found a recipe in Self magazine thought it sounded good so I gave it another try.

Quinoa Pilaf With Pine Nuts

1 cup low sodium ff chicken broth

1/2 cup organic red quinoa

2 tbsp pine nuts toasted (I used chopped almonds)

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley chopped

1/2 large onion, chopped

Prepare quinoa according to directions. While quinoa is cooking saute onions, and toast chopped nuts. When quinoa is done fluff up add nuts, chopped parsley, and onion.

It was pretty good. Much better than the last attempt. I can't say I love it yet but at least I don't hate it anymore. Do you have a favorite Quinoa recipe?

Breakfast was a breakfast burrito. 4 egg whites, with onion, peppers and 1/2 oz shredded cheddar in a Weight Watchers Whole Wheat Tortilla, with some Cinnamon pastry coffee.

Lunch was a large salad. My co-workers kindly refer to it as my "bucket of salad". Mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, english cucumbers, green onion, red cabbage a sprinkle of sunflower and pumpkin seeds, feta cheese, a squeeze of lemon, lots of cracked black pepper and a tsp of light Greek salad dressing.

To go with the salad a tuna salad wrap. 3 oz chunk light tuna, 1 tbsp Tatziki (instead of mayo), chopped celery and onion. Wrapped in Weight Watchers Whole Wheat Tortilla and grilled for some crunch. For dessert some organic vanilla yogurt with 1 tsp chia and some chocolate grated with my microplane on top.

Speaking of yogurt, I noticed in the Sobeys flyer that Liberte now has a Greek yogurt. Can't wait to give that a try.

All in all a pretty good day. I even managed to get in 45 mins of cardio.

What I learned today...

2010-01-09T17:15:00.003-04:00

I learned two things about myself today after taking the X-Weighted Challenge fitness test.

My workouts that I thought were tough workouts were far from it. If that is what I am am supposed to feel like when working out, I am falling WAY short. Who knew laying down and getting back up 20 times would be so hard.
I have realized that the lung damage / scarring from my Sarcoidosis is much worse than I thought after doing the fitness test. In everyday life I'm fine but it is now almost 10 hours later and I'm still weezing and coughing like I have a chest cold. I have noticed it when doing some aerobic activity that involves more than moving just my legs but NOTHING like today. So now there is one more reason for me to put in the extra effort . How many reasons will I need before I manage to stick to it for good?

I need to organize myself in order to ensure I fit exercise in every day again. So I am attempting to start some meal planning. I find that so hard. It sounds easy in theory but I don't know what I want to eat tonight let alone what I will want 6 days from now. Any suggestions? I spend so much time making dinner through the week it is ridiculous. By the time I decide what I want, prep it, cook it and clean up the night is gone. Most nights I end up cooking twice, one meal for me one for the BF. Mainly I cook twice because he is home late, and partly because, as I have said before he is a meat and potato guy. Still stumped about what to do about that.

Hopefully I'll stop weezing soon.

Kahlua Oatmeal & X-Weighted

2010-01-09T10:16:00.005-04:00

I have to give credit where credit is due. Jess over at Bye Bye Love Handles talked about this on her post yesterday so I had to give it a try. I have one word "YUM". I added about 1/2 c of Kahlua coffee to my oats this morning with a dash of Agave, 5 dark chocolate chips and a sprinkle of coconut on top. Breakfast of champions!!

I have been debating wether or not I was going to join the X-Weighted Challenge today. I decided it could only help in my journey to be fit and healthy so I signed up online this morning. Snapped my before pic, took my measurments, stepped on the scale and then the big one.... I did the fitness test. Well let me tell you that was an eye opener. I don't pretend to think I am fit by any stretch of the imagination but wow.... I didn't think it was that bad. I have 2 bad knees so I had to skip the lunge portion of the test but did the others. My legs felt like jello when I was done, and my lungs felt like they were going to explode. My cardio sucks and it's only been about 6 mos since I did a good workout. It's amazes me how fast my fitness level drops when I stop for a little while. They were the longest couple of minutes of my life I think. One good thing though I can only improve from here.

Have any other Haligonians joined the challenge?

.... AND THE NEW YEAR BEGINS

2010-01-03T10:49:00.016-04:00

I really can't believe the holidays have come and gone for another year. It seems 2009 has just flown by, and December came and went before I knew it. Christmas was great. I enjoyed spending time with family and friends. It appears I was a very good girl this year too judging by my Christmas loot. People always say you shouldn't give your spouse appliances or kitchen implements for Christmas, so I guess I am an exception to that rule. I love, love, love getting kitchen stuff. Here are some of my favorites this year.

Since we bought a propane stove I have been complaining about my pots and pans. They were great for the electric stove but for the heat of the propane, not so much. Everything burns. This was the start of my new collection - Cast Iron KitchenAid - I'm hoping for better luck with these.

A couple of years back I splurged and bought myself a Henckel Chef's Knife, and have been wanting more ever since, but couldn't justify the cost. They are pricey but soooooo worth it. You will never go back to a regular knife once you have tried one of these. My honey got me the full set and then bought me a 10" Grohmann Chef's knife. I've never tried them before but a chef he knows said they were the ones he uses. They are made right here in Nova Scotia. I haven't tried it yet but can't wait to get slicing and dicing.

Here are a couple of my fun presents.

Animal Zoo - Silicone Pot Mitts and Another frog for my collection

Oh yeah, I almost forgot.

This is the Rachael Ray Oval pot. It's made for cooking long pasta so you don't have to break it or smoosh (I think that's the technical term) it down in the pot, something that has always annoyed me. She uses her pots on a gas stove so I'm hoping it will stand up to the propane.

That's all for now. Happy New Year!!!

Roper

2009-12-22T22:34:00.002-04:00

This is Roper. He was my cousins dog a gorgeous Great Pyrenees. He was only a year and a half old still a puppy. The reason I say was is because he died tonight. Her mentally unstable neighbor shot him in her yard this afternoon. Although he wasn't killed they had to put him down. She is in shock and just heartbroken. The police have seized his firearms, say he will never get them back and has charges pending against him.

A sad situation.

Recipe - Main Meal Minestrone

2009-12-13T14:18:00.003-04:00

I love soup but find it doesn't always keep me full, with the exception of this one. It fills the void and is a meal in itself. The ingredient list is somewhat long but don't let that discourage you from giving it a try

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 lb Italian Sausage (I use our Compliments "Spicy Italian Sausage"

1 large onion chopped

1 clove garlic - minced

1/2 cup each, chopped celery, carrot, peppers

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1/2 Tsp dried basil

Pinch of thyme

Bay leaf, S & P

Pinch of crushed chilies

1 19 oz can of diced tomatoes

4 c chicken stock

2 c shredded cabbage

1 c kidney beans

1/2 c macaroni - cooked

Heat oil and butter add sausage to brown it. Add onions, garlic, celery, carrot and peppers. Cook till softened.

Stir in parsley, basil, thyme, bay leaf, chilies, salt and pepper. Add tomatoes and stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat cover and simmer for 10 mins.

Add cabbage, and cooked macaroni. Cover and simmer for 30 mins.

Add beans to heat through.

** A few notes. I remove the casings from the sausage and cook it that way. I usually don't add the butter and just use the olive oil. The addition of cabbage might seem odd but since it is finely shredded you don't really know it's cabbage you are eating. **

Give it a try

SNEAKING IN THE GOOD STUFF - ANY SUGGESTIONS

2009-12-10T19:03:00.005-04:00

What do you do when your other half is strictly a meat and potatoes kind of guy. Mine is just that he is anti vegetable, although I have managed to get him to eat a couple sprigs of broccoli (must have cheese sauce though) or cauliflower here and there. To him "eating his vegetables" amounts to a slice of tomato and leaf of lettuce on his sandwich.... lol. I have to humour him though, and agree that he's doing good. For some reason he gets a little miffed when my sarcasm shines through on this subject.

I pretty much refuse to cook separate meals for each of us, so I try to hide what I can in the food for him. I have to pulverise peppers, and shred carrots so they melt into the food. I even went so far as to buy "Deceptively Delicious". A cookbook written to help parents hide good stuff in their kids food, if he only knew.

This week I thought I would try something else on him. I purchased some PC Blue Menu ground soy and used it along with a little regular extra lean ground beef to make tacos. They were delish and he couldn't tell the difference. YAY!!! His arteries were doing the dance of joy I'm sure.

I have been dying to try the Bean Burgers I keep seeing on Lynn's blog http://lifehealthfit.blogspot.com/ , so I mixed them up with one slight modification for hubbies, I added the rest of the leftover taco mixture from the night before. I have to say these are awesome. Mine did not have the taco mixture in them and I loved them. Hubby, ate 3 and really liked them as well. WOO HOO!!! Thanks Lynn

I'm running low on ideas though. Does anyone else have this problem? What do you do to get them to eat healthier?

Let the baking begin!!!

2009-12-03T19:58:00.004-04:00

It's that time of year and I will take any excuse I can get to bake. I love, love, love to bake but refrain from doing so simply because I love, love, love to eat it too. I figured I would do some baking since it's getting close to Christmas and take it into work. Excuse number 2 to bake... There was someone in from out of town and he asks for my treats when he visits.

Here's a pic of the yummmy squares.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars.

Really how can you go wrong with a name like that. I found the recipe yesterday while I was blog surfing. They were DELISH!!! and easy.

ALL THINGS TEA

2009-11-29T14:14:00.005-04:00

I have always been a tea drinker, however, have not ventured far from the standard orange pekoe teabags. I started drinking the Celestial Seasonings flavored teas, which are quite tasty. I was never a fan of mint tea but read on someones blog (I think it was over at Life, Health Fitness) to add some hot chocolate mix to mint tea., and let me tell you I was pleasantly surprised.

My new favorite thing!!
I have been on the lookout for loose tea for awhile, but wasn't having much luck around town. So when I was at Tweed and Hickory looking for some K-Cups for my Keurig coffee maker ( I love my flavored coffee too) I was excited to find they sell loose tea. Then came the hard part.. deciding what flavor to buy. I decided on Vanilla Cream and I have to say it was a good choice.
A friend of mine was out shopping and came across a kiosk at the mall for "The Tea Brewery", that was selling various flavoured loose teas. She purchased the Nova Scotia Blue.... yummy. If you like blueberry you will love this tea. The next day I was off to find me some more yummy flavours. I scored some at Sunnyside Mall. My favorite so far is Rum Truffle Rooibos..It is delish!! The others I brought home were Maple Fundy, Ginger Snap Rooibos, and Caramel Crunch Rooibos. I can't wait to give them a try. The great thing about it is they have $2 sample packs that you can buy so you don't have a big bag of tea you don't like. The Rooibos tea is caffeine free, a bonus there. I took this excerpt from Wikipedia

Nutritional and health benefits
Rooibos is becoming more popular in Western countries particularly among health-conscious consumers, due to its high level of antioxidants such as aspalathin [5] and nothofagin, its lack of caffeine, and its low tannin levels compared to fully oxidized black tea or unoxidized green tea leaves. Rooibos also contains a number of phenolic compounds, including flavanols, flavones, flavanones, and dihydrochalcones.[6]
Rooibos is purported to assist with nervous tension, allergies and digestive problems.

The Tea Brewery is a local company from Mahone Bay, NS. I've been to Mahone Bay a number of times and didn't know it was there. You can visit their website for a price list and information to place an order http://www.teabrewery.com/. You can find their kiosks at various malls until Christmas. I know they are in Sunnyside Mall in Bedford, and Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth.

I think I'm going to brew myself a cuppa Rum Truffle now.

Jackie

Breathing a Sigh of Relief

2009-11-28T18:28:00.004-04:00

I guess I haven't gotten off to a very good start with this blog, since it has been over a month since I last posted. We'll see if I can put in a little more effort.

So the last few days were not good to say the least. One of our fur children, our 13 year old golden retriever was not doing well. It all started with a little limp Wednesday night. We didn't think too much of it since he is 13 and has had a limp off and on before but it never lasts. Anyway Thursday morning he struggled to get up so hubby helped him up but he wouldn't walk. He did eat his breakfast and we took him outside to do his stuff, but he still wouldn't walk. We had to go to work, so asked the neighbor to watch him. Through the day she called hubbie and said "he was breaking her heart". He wouldn't get up for her. We couldn't get an appointment at our vet until Friday. Upon my return home from work, he seemed quite a bit better, he got up for me was walking around, he still had a limp, but was up and around so we thought he was on the mend.

Then Thursday morning came. He wouldn't get up again. Hubby got him up and he tried to walk, but had no control and was falling over. We were beside ourselves, it was heartbreaking to see him like that. I took the day off work to stay home with him, (I'm sure I'll get grief about that on Monday), and we were taking him to the vet in the afternoon.

I think both of us cried all the way to the vet thinking we were going to get bad news and might not be able to bring our beloved pup home.

Thankfully, that was not the case. Turns out his muscles are in spasm and this is effecting his nerves, so he was prescribed Robaxacet and massage therapy. Yes you read that right we have to massage him a few times a day or whenever he will let us. She also suggested acupuncture for him, I'm thinking I might take him with me next week when I go to my acupuncture appointment. Maybe I could get a 2 for one deal.

Our buddy is home, feeling better and that is all that matters.

Shoes...Well sort of

2009-10-12T14:16:00.003-03:00

I thought this was the cutest thing and part of the cost goes to Breast Cancer Research so really you just can't go wrong. It sits proudly on my desk at work, and I made sure to order some for the other shoe lovers I work with.

No food pics today. Huge Thanksgiving dinner yesterday at mom's. It was sooooooo yummy. She made "Boosey Pumpkin Pie" for dessert and it was awesome. Then I saw the recipe with the nutritional info. NOT GOOD!!! It was supposed to be 12 servings and I think ours was about 8. Can you say not figure friendly. I did manage to work out today. 30 mins treadmill, 30 mins Power Pilates, and some crunches. Every little bit helps. I may have worked off 1/8 of the pie...lol. I have to do it all again today at the inlaws. More turkey, gravy, and pie... what's a girl to do.

GEODUCK - AKA GOOEY DUCK

2009-10-11T16:05:00.008-03:00

So the other day I was watching Anna and Christina's Grocery bag. If you have never seen it, they take cookbooks prepare the recipes and review the book. Anyway it is quite an entertaining show as they are not cooks. On this particular show they were reviewing a book of seafood recipes, so I thought it was odd that they were talking about Gooey Duck. Silly me I thought it was a duck. Well..... I WAS SOOOOOOO WRONG. They took the "duck" out of the bag to prepare it and this is what it looked like.

Does that look like any duck you've ever seen, I think not. Now I'm not a huge seafood fan. I like the usual haddock, scallops, lobster, salmon and the odd deep fried clam, but I just might be rethinking the whole clam thing after seeing this.

TEA-RIFFIC GIVEAWAY

2009-09-30T10:32:00.002-03:00

Be sure to head on over to put your entries in. I love this little item!! http://maintenancewithashley.blogspot.com/

Divine Intervention May Not Be Needed After All

2009-09-29T22:04:00.003-03:00

Sleep eluded me yet again last night. I'm sooooooo tired I can't stand it. Actually I'm way beyond tired at this point. A month or so of an average of 3hrs of sleep a night.... not good!!

I am happy with myself though. I got on the treadmill again today. YAY ME!!! Managed to get 2o minutess in, then I thought I would dig out Wii Fit and give that a go for something different. I didn't have the energy for Wii Active. All in all I'm happy with today. Will the 2 day trend become 3 days? I certainly hope so!!

Food Today
Breakfast - Oatmeal with blueberries and ground flax and Coffee. Today's flavour was Sugar Bush Maple
Snack - Apple with Peanut Butter
Lunch - Large Salad and leftover Tuna Casserole (Thought I would try a new recipe. It was not a hit with me. I actually don't like Tuna or most fish for that matter, but try to eat it because I know I should).
Snack - Larabar
Supper - Spicy Chicken Breast with about 20 baked french fries and some Tzatziki for dipping.

Oh, I almost forgot WI on Friday was not a big WOO HOO last week but that's ok. I haven't be exercising so I figured I would stay the same and I did.

Well, I think I'm going to ty for some sleep now.

Chat Later
Jackie

Inspiration, Motivation, Determination, Focus, Divine Intervention

2009-09-28T20:29:00.010-03:00

Or... Maybe all of the above. I'm not sure what I need but I need something.

I have been slacking when it comes to activity over the past week or so. Mostly because I haven't been physically able and as always the same pattern seems to be taking hold. I get discouraged because I can't put the effort in I want to put in. I will try to do a workout, and can't complete it because something or everything is hurting. Then I figure well it's been a week now, I'll just give it another day. Then that turns into two weeks, and so on and so on. I know on one hand what I should be doing when this happens is an easy workout, until I can get back to full strength, Some activity is better than no activity. On the other hand I tell myself, if I can't do it at full strength what is the point. It's a vicious cycle and my lack of sleep certainly isn't helping either.

I did manage to get on the treadmill for 30 mins tonight and do 40 mins of Pilates so that's progress. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. With any luck, sleep will not elude me again tonight and I'll be full of energy tomorrow. Fingers crossed!!!

I used to go to the gym with my friend and actually looked forward to going to the gym (I never thought that would happen), but, she doesn't go anymore and I really don't enjoy going by myself. Not too mention it is much more difficult to avoid going when the other person is on your case to get to the gym. I have a gym at home now so you would think it would be easy to walk in the other room and get on the treadmill but oh noooooo, it is much easier to turn on the computer, or the TV or read a book.

I have been doing good as far a staying on plan with my food. Although nothing too interesting there. A few frozen dinners last week and we all know how exciting Lean Cuisine is. I did cook a delicous roast last week. Hubby said on a scale of 1 to 10 it was and 11 so that's a bonus. It also fed him for 3 meals so an even bigger bonus. I thought I would treat him to his favorite. He is becoming meat deprived since I very rarely cook beef anymore.

So what do I need. I guess I need to refine my plan, and find my focus. I can find some inspiration in all these fabulous blogs. I am determined however, I am lacking in motivation so I guess I'll have to work on that one. As for divine intervention well... who knows

Jackie

Sleep... or should I say LACK OF SLEEP

2009-09-23T11:54:00.012-03:00

Hi All... How's everyone enjoying fall so far?

I am wondering if a day or days will come when I actually get more than 3-4 hours of sleep. I've never been a good sleeper but good lord, this is getting ridiculous. I can't remember when I've slept more than two hours at a time, and the last few weeks I'm only getting 3-4 total most nights. This lack of sleep is starting to affect my interest in exercising, I just don't have the energy. It's much easier to sit my butt in front of the TV or computer. I'm sure if it keeps up my eating habits are sure to suffer and I'm so close to getting back to my WW Lifetime goal, and I was hoping to surpass that goal but I'm having my doubts now. :o(

I haven't been to creative in the food department lately, but I have been staying on plan. For lunch Monday it was a wrap. Which consisted of a WW tortilla, 1 TBSP of roasted garlic hummus, onion, 3 Slices of PC Piri Piri deli chicken (delish) and topped that with some left over Tabbouleh. Then I grilled it in my George Foreman Grill. Lunch wouldn't be complete without a large green salad.

Supper was a pasta dish that consists of Lean ground chicken, chicken stock, onions, celery, carrots, tomatoes, tomato paste,wine, spices, parmesan cheese, and of course pasta. I'll post the actual recipe later.

Oh I almost forgot. The Curried Cauliflower Soup was a hit with my sweetie. I was thrilled. He is anti vegetable, and loves his meat and potatoes, so whenever I can sneak good veggies in I'm happy.

Supper yesterday was baked haddock, baked sweet potato for me, and baked garlic potatoes for hubby. I also made oven roasted broccoli for the first time and it was very yummy. Just a little olive oil , salt, pepper and of course broccoli. The broccoli has almost a nutty flavour.

My food pics are on my other computer so I'll post them later. I do however, have a couple pics of the sunsets from the last couple of nights so I thought I would post them. We have some beautiful sunsets in Porters Lake.

Roast beef and all the trimmings for supper tonight, maybe all the yummy comfort food will help me sleep, fingers crossed!!!

Jackie

Back to work tomorrow :o(

2009-09-20T16:56:00.014-03:00

It was an uneventful weekend here. My typical Saturday consists of errands, groceries, lunch at my parents and then home to do my chores and make supper. I do my best to make it to my parents every Saturday for lunch since I moved out of the city. I bought the house next door to them and now that I have moved they (and I) look forward to our weekly visits. My lunches at that folks don't always follow my weight loss plan though. This week was a Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich. Not as bad as it sounds. They are actually really quick and easy to make. Saute peppers and onions, add deli roast beef cut in slices, cook slightly and add Cheese Whiz. Cook till it melts. Put on a toasted bun and voila lunch..

Before lunch I took mom for a drive over the old bridge to see the "Bras across the bridge". The fundraiser for the CIBC Run for the Cure. C100 estimated there were 8000 of them, and for each one a dollar was donated. I thought is was a great way to generate $$ and interest.

So for supper I decided to make pizza, one of my favorite foods. Last week I made pizza geared towards my liking Louisiana Cajun Chicken Pizza with Red Onion Relish. YUMMY!!! My honey of course prefers meat lovers so this week was for him. I try to make it as healthy as possible by adding a few veggies to mine but really, it's meat lovers so what's a girl to do.

After supper it was time to relax with my honey with some wine and a movie. We don't get to do that allot. He works 12hr days 6 days a week, his day off being Wednesday. Of course I work through the week so It's nice when we do get a chance to relax together.

Today I managed to work out which was a treat. I've been in too much pain lately to do much. I thought I would do some Pilates (40 min power pilates workout). Hopefully that worked off some of the pizza.

I had a head of cauliflower I had to use up today so I searched for something to do with it. I found a recipe for curried cauliflower soup I thought I would try. It was easy to make, healthy and tasted really good. You can find it here if you want to check it out. http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/03/curried-cauliflower-soup-with-honey-recipe.html

The true test will be when hubby tries it. He is anti-vegetable so we'll see what he thinks.

That used up half of the cauliflower but I still have half left. I found something that suggested using it as a replacement for cous cous so I thought I would try it in my tabouleh as a replacement for bulgar. I was skeptical, I didn't want my tabouleh to taste like cauliflower but it worked out great. You just pulse the raw cauliflower in the food processor till it is the size of bulgar or cous cous.

That's it for today. I need to get a head start on my work for tomorrow (I've been avoiding doing it all weekend).

Bye for now
Jackie

2009-09-18T13:20:00.006-03:00

As you can see I added some pictures. Some "before" pics, some pics of my fur kids, and my honey. I put in a pic of our kitchen because I seem to be earning alot of my activity points in the kitchen. No I'm not crazy I actually said earning activity points. You see I am used to cooking in a small galley kitchen, but this new one is so big I find myself going around and around in circles looking for stuff while I'm cooking. You might notice there is no after pic.. well I haven't reached that point yet so I'm going to wait a bit to post one.

I've been on vacation for a couple of days so I've been taking some pics of my meals. Normally I eat 2 of my daily meals at work (breakfast and lunch), so those meals look pretty much the same every day.

Breakfast = Weight Control Oatmeal with 1 cup blueberries or strawberries, skim or 1% milk, 1 Tbsp ground flax seed, and of course a cup of coffee. I love flavoured coffee so todays flavor was cinnamon pastry. YUMMY!!

Today I added a piece of cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread.

I love salad so I have a large one every day for lunch. For dressing I use alot of cracked black pepper, lemon juice and 1-2 tsp of Kraft light Greek Salad dressing. Today I added a piece of salmon left over from dinner yesterday and instead of tartar sauce I use Tzatziki. Delish. I actually use Tzatziki as my go to dip these days.

Here is today's lunch (salad and salmon) and yesterdays supper (salmon, baked sweet potato, and bruschetta).

I haven't decided what supper is going to be yet. With any luck I'll be inspired while I'm on the treadmill!!

Happy Friday!!

Starting the day off with a WOO HOO!!

2009-09-18T07:40:00.004-03:00

Down 2.9lbs this morning.... WOO HOO!!!! Friday is my weigh in day so I am always a little apprehensive and I was a little more so than usual today. Last weekend there was some end of the summer partying going on, so a little wine was consumed. Who am I kidding alot of wine was consumed. I counted all of it in my points though, stayed OP the rest of the week and got alot of AP points this week and it looks like it worked. Hopefully it doesn't come back to haunt me next week.

I'm going to try and get some pics on here later. I just have to try and find some. I hate having my picture taken so before pics are few and far between.

That's all for now. :o)

The cost of eating healthy

2009-09-16T22:03:00.006-03:00

I don't quite have the hang of this bloggin thing yet. I haven't quite figured out how to set up my blog so it looks appealing. I'll have to keep working on that I guess. Any hints and tips would be appreciated.

I have been wondering what I was going to write about for my first post and what I came up with is the outrageous cost of eating healthy. Now I only recently began looking at these items that you would find in the "speciatly section" of the grocery store. I decided to look at some items I have read about on blogs here and the daughter of a friend of mine, whos daughter was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease, was telling me about the cost of items they have to purchase in order for her to remain healthy so I wanted to see for myself.

I have always been a big fresh fruit and vegetable person, so I am well aware of the ever increasing cost of fresh produce. I certainly look forward to the summer and early fall when there is fabulous local produce at markets around town, and in the Valley. Unfortunately living in Nova Scotia means that season is short lived and then we are forced to purchase what is trucked/flown in from the rest of the world.

Obviously if more people chose to eat this way instead of opting for the processed, pre packaged food, eventually there would be more of a selection and the prices should come down. However, I don't believe the average person can afford to do this for themselves let alone for a family of 3 or 4. For example it is much more cost effective to buy the no name white bread for .99 a loaf than it is to pay $5.99 for a loaf of Ezekiel bread.

Maybe someday we will have a Whole Foods here in HRM, like they have in the States. Although from what I hear the products in the States are very reasonably priced, but the products at Whole Foods in Canada are quite pricey.

I guess I am going to have to try and find a balance between the organic unprocessed foods and the regular grocery store items.