Healthy Life Lessons

Happy Monday!  Or is that an oxymoron? Today is my first week working at the fertility clinic.  I am very excited despite things moving very slowly.  The clinic has just instituted the policy that new patients must attend a counselling session, so I suspect it may take a while to implement  the program and really get it up and running.  At least I get to be involved in it's development. Fortunately, this exciting week was proceeded by a relatively sane, and actually quite lovely family weekend.  Admittedly it started off a bit rocky: Friday I visited a friend while Adam took the girls to his parents' place for dinner.  When they got home Little A was deliriously tired but was refusing to go to bed which led to a lot of drama.  At one point she defeated the door-knob child proofer and opened her bedroom door herself and came out to the hall in defiance.  Saturday morning began equally shaky with Little A refusing to eat her requested PB...

I just got back from spending 4 days in New York to visit my grandma Ruth.  Not surprisingly, she has declined since my visit last year.  She still knows who I am, and the first day was relatively energetic, but the rest of the trip she was extremely sleepy and fuzzy-headed and not up to much socializing.  She is 94, but it still seems so unfair that her quality of life has become so poor.  And she is still one of the lucky ones!  My grandmother's nursing home is supposedly one of the best in the New York area, and still I find it depressing, cold and institutional.  How much pleasure can one get living in such a place, eating - what looked like - yucky food - and being cared for by people who don't know you or your past life enough to be able to put your quirks and foibles into the context of who you once were?  If only we could all live in our own homes right to the end, being cared for by loved ones.  Of course, this is completely un...

Even as a kid I didn't really like pie, because as I've mentioned many times before, I hate pastry crust. I just can't think of a bigger waste of stomach space or empty calories.  The one exception was chicken pot pie.  I loved the filling, so I would mash the crust into the filling so that it was unidentifiable. As a healthier alternative, I came up with  this recipe.  Rich, creamy and comforting, yet low in fat and packed full of veggies.  It's dairy-free for Adam since he is lactose intolerant and doesn't eat dairy and meat together.  You could easily veganize it by replacing the chicken with chickpeas, the chicken stock with veggie stock, and using vegan worcestershire sauce.  Make it gluten-free by replacing the flour with whatever gluten-free flour or thickener you have on hand.  You can also sub in whatever veggies you have on hand.  Leeks would go nicely in this, and any root veggies would make a nice addition too. In terms of s...

You know I couldn't leave well enough alone and make a straightforward, traditional birthday cake, right?  Come on, white flour NEVER finds it's way into this house, nor does artificial food colouring.  So the cake is pretty healthy for cake (no refined flour, no refined sugar) and the icing is...naturally coloured.  It IS a birthday cake after all, so the icing is full-on, over-the-top decadent and delicious.  Both are dairy free (for my hubby), and you could probably veganize the cake by replacing the eggs with flax eggs. This was the perfect sized recipe for my daisy pan, which is probably equivalent to a 9x12 pan.  You could also probably make about 4 8-inch round layer cakes or a lot (?) of cupcakes. Healthier Chocolate Cake 2 eggs 1.5 cups xylitol (or other sweetener) 1/2 cup agave syrup (or honey) 1 cup apple sauce 1/2 cup canola or safflower oil 1 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened, plain soy) 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp vinegar 3 ...

Sunday - Earth Day - Little A turns 3.  She has turned into quite the little lady.  So different from her sister, yet similar in certain ways: strong personality, stubborn and opinionated.  As my mother always says, "Geez, I wonder where they get THAT from?"  Nothing to wonder about there! I am bracing myself for a house full of 2 and 3 year olds tomorrow.  After recovering from my stomach bug last weekend, I came down with Big A's cold, and man is it a doozy!  I am so congested that I can't taste or smell ANYTHING.  Blah!  Hopefully I'll be better when I hope on the plane to New York on Monday. Anyways, even though I'm feeling crumby, I have an endless list of things to do today.  I just pulled out the birthday cake (recipe and photos will eventually follow), and it looks great, but I'm nervous Little A won't be happy.  She has changed her mind SO MANY TIMES from cupcakes, to cake pops, to the current choice, that I can see her chan...

I love "breakfasty" foods and am happy eating them for any meal.  Whole grain waffles or pancakes are a frequent dinner for me, and muffins always make a great on-the-go lunch paired with a few hard-boiled eggs and fresh fruit or cut up veggies. These were a delicious way to use the jar of Filsingers' pear sauce I got in the basket I won.  You can use apple sauce, if you can't get your hands on pear sauce, just make sure you use an unsweetened sauce.   These are spicy, sweet, moist and delicious, but also low in fat and high in fibre.  Healthy and tasty is always the best combo!  Feel free to change around the spices based on your personal preferences. Pear Ginger Spice Muffins 500ml jar pear sauce (about 2 cups) 4 egg whites Granular sweetener equivalent to 1/2 cup sugar (Splenda, sucanat, coconut sugar, stevia, etc.) 1 tsp vanilla extract 4 small zucchini, finely grated (I threw them into the food processor) Chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and...

When I say kids here, I am referring to a lot of things...Adam and I, the girls, my hamstrings, my eyes... I haven't mentioned my tendonitis in a while because...it's all better!  I finally realized that after my initial improvement following the cortisone shots, I began to decline again once I started doing hill walking workouts.  Sigh!  As much as I love them, they just don't work for me anymore.  The awesome news is that I am now able to run without any knee pain!  I still limit my running, but a few runs under 30 minutes a week are not bothering me at all. Seems my second physiotherapist was right about the physio addressing my runners knee (too bad he was wrong about the physio helping my hamstring tendonitis).  So I vary my cardio between stairmaster, running, and Insanity DVDs at home, and teaching spinning at the gym.  I don't actually miss my hill walking anymore, I'm having so much fun.  Also, I am now capable of doing strength trainin...

After summer-like temps yesterday, we're back to cooler, spring-like weather today.  Perfect for comfort food. Sweet, savoury, a little spicy if you wish, creamy and satisfying...this is vegetarian food at it's best.  Also nutritious and easy to make. 1 tsp olive oil 1 head cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces Salt and pepper, to taste 1 tsp olive oil 1 onion, diced 2 tbls fresh ginger, grated or minced 2-3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tbls garam masala 1 tsp turmuric Cayenne pepper, to taste (optional) 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1 cup mango puree 1 cup plain, low-fat yogurt A few handfuls fresh cilantro, chopped Toss cauliflower with oil and seasonings.  Spread on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast at 350F for about 30-40 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour in a large skillet and saute onion, ginger, garlic and spices for about 3-4 minutes.  Add chickpeas and vinegar and cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed....

This weekend we went to Kingston for my father's 70th birthday party.  My mom threw him a big party with all his closest friends and held it in the Radisson Hotel, catered by the restaurant AquaTerra, one of the best in the city.  My mom also generously put us up in the hotel for our stay. My tummy had not fully recovered from my little flu, but driving the whole way on Saturday kept me from getting car sick - which I'm prone to do, even when I'm feeling 100%, and the girls were relatively well-behaved the whole time. Unfortunately, my worst fears about us all sharing a hotel room were realized and none of us slept well or enough, so we were all exhausted yesterday.  Nevertheless, we had a lovely time at the party, and it was wonderful to see so many dear friends, who are all really more like family to us. My brother and I talked about how weird it felt to be staying in a hotel in Kingston, something we had never done before.  It felt odd to be behaving li...

Have you ever fallen in love with something - a style of jeans, a flavour of ice cream, a shampoo - only to find it is no longer available? For some reason, this happens to me ALL the time.  Like really, even Adam says it happens to me more frequently than what seems normal.  He says this is evidence that I'm weird - that the things I like are not preferences shared by most other people. I won't deny it, many of my tastes are not mainstream.  I just have to think of my adolescent Hollywood crushes to see it.  While most of the women I know drooled over Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise (pre-Katie Holmes and all his craziness), etc., I was getting weak in the knees over Jon Cusack and Toby Maguire. I hate cola drinks, pie, fried foods, and most reality television (Survivor, Bachelor, Real Housewives of, etc.).  I love green vegetables, getting into my pjs before 7pm and waking up to workout at 5am.  Apparently this is all unusual. When we listen to the radi...

I like to be busy.  I like to be productive.  No, make that I NEED to be busy and productive or I go a little nuts.  Yes, yes, I'm the first to admit that I am a classic Type A, neurotic personality. I thrive on functioning at a very high level. This means that anything that slows me down, really irks me.  This would include a bad night's sleep (I'm useless when I'm tired - no short term memory, grumpy, poor cognitive skills, etc.), and pesky colds and flus. Unfortunately, this means that sometimes I push myself a wee too hard. This began way back in high school.  In 11th grade I was going to school and the gym EVERY day for about 2 weeks before I finally admitted to my parents that I wasn't feeling well.  By the time they took me to the doctor, where I was diagnosed with mononucleosis AND strep throat, I could barely stand up straight. I was in a bit of denial this week too.  Sunday I woke up feeling tired, nauseous and headachy.  I fig...

For many of us, today is the first day back after a long holiday weekend.  If you have young children, or at least young children who do not always act like angels, than this may mean that you are feeling a little more tired than refreshed this morning.  I'd have to say Adam and I fall into this category. Like most family weekends, it was good, it was bad and it was downright ugly. Friday started off nicely enough.  Friends came over for a playdate in the morning and then we took the girls for a walk and a stop in the neighbourhood gelato cafe where we bought them fresh, homemade pizza and gelato for lunch.  Adam took Big A to his office in the afternoon and although Little A refused a nap, the 10 minutes of "quiet time" in her bed was somehow enough to get her through to bedtime without any major meltdowns. Saturday morning Adam and his dad took the girls to the Science Centre while I did errands and finished preparing all the food for our sedar...

It's Easter Monday.  No school.  No work.  So of course the girls were both up before 7am.  Again.  Sigh! Anyways... This made a lovely addition to our Passover meal this year.  We had a light, springy menu of salmon, along with this dish, roasted asparagus, green salad and tzimmes, followed by my decadent chocolate desserts and fruit. Of course, it doesn't have to be Passover to enjoy this.  For a non-passover dish, you could add chickpeas to it for a complete vegetarian meal. Salad 1.5 cups quinoa 3 cups water 1 English cucumber, cut lengthwise into quarters, and then thinly sliced 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved Pesto A few handfuls fresh basil (about 40g) 1/2 cup almonds 500ml jar roasted red peppers, drained (or 6 homemade roasted red peppers, peeled) 2 cloves garlic 1/4 tsp Kosher salt 1 tbls extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar Salt and pepper, to taste Cook quinoa and then let cool until warm o...

Why is it on any given school day the girls will happily sleep past 7am, but on a holiday like today, they are both up early?  In particular, Big A was up at 6:15am!!  Oh well, such is the life of parents of young kids, huh? Now, this isn't a strictly Passover recipe, but can easily be Passoverized (is that an actual verb?).  I just had to share because it turned out so tasty. I often bake with bananas but I've never cooked with them until now. I got thinking about how frequently I use tropical fruits, such as pineapple and mango, to naturally sweeten curries and stir-fries, so why not try bananas? A Google search led me this recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/steamed-fish-with-banana-curry-sauce-10000000665375/, which peaked my interest. Of course, I modified it significantly, but the central flavours are the same. At first I was worried the banana flavour would be too sweet or overpowering, but the sourness of the lime, the saltiness of the fish sauce,...

Step aside Chocolate Cheerios and Cocoa Puffs!  You've got nothin' on this baby from both a taste and a nutrition standpoint!! This variation of last year's Passover cereal recipe (one of the most popular on my whole blog) is crunchy, chewy, chocolatey and delicious.  At the same time, it's packed with protein, fibre and energy to power you through a busy Passover season.  Even if you don't celebrate Passover, it's a perfect option for anyone who is avoiding gluten.  Pair with milk, almond milk, or yogurt and some fresh fruit for a complete, satisfying breakfast or even snack. 1 square (28g) unsweetened chocolate 4 tbls coconut oil 1/2 cup almond butter 1/2 cup agave syrup or honey 1 tsp vanilla extract 4 cups puffed quinoa 1 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut 2 tbls chia seeds 1 cup chopped almonds 1 cup dried fruit (I used 1/2 raisins and 1/2 cranberries) Melt chocolate and oil in heat safe bowl set over simmering water.  Rem...

Another variation of protein bar for Adam this year.  Instead of nuts, chia seeds and eggs provide the protein.  But these would also be delicious with the addition of chopped walnuts and/or pecans. The fudge topping is optional, but Adam's gotta have his chocolate fix (daily!).  12 cups puffed quinoa 1 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled 1 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar or sucanat) 1 tsp vanilla extract 4 eggs, beaten 2 tbls chia seeds (optional) 1/2 tsp kosher salt Place quinoa in a large bowl.  In a medium bowl whisk together oil, sugar, vanilla, eggs, chia seeds and salt.  Pour mixture over quinoa and stir until quinoa is completely coated.  Press firmly into a greased 9x12 pan.  Bake at 350F for 12-14 minutes, until edges pull away from pan and top is lightly golden.  Be careful not to burn!  Top with fudge topping, or cool and cut into squares. Fudge Topping 2 cups dark chocolate chips 2 tbls coconut oil...

This is the other treat I am bringing to the sedar at my in-laws this week. I'll warn you right now, a lot of my Passover recipes this week involve chocolate.  Hey if you can't have bread... Turns out my mother-in-law is making salmon (yay!), so I could have made something with dairy, but this recipe is vegan, and thus suitable as a dessert, no matter what you are serving for your main course.  In any case, this recipe will be much appreciated by the folks in our brood who are lactose intolerant. If you aren't sure what I mean when I say creamed coconut, it comes in a box and looks like this: It is generally available in health food stores and some grocery stores.  It's a solid block that, for this recipe, you cut in half, and then dissolve in 1/2 cup boiling water, before stirring into the melted chocolate.  Even if you typically don't like fudge because you find it cloyingly sweet, you will probably like this version because it is less sweet....

I can't believe it's almost Passover again!  It seems like the year has flown by. I used to dread this holiday so much when Adam and I were first together.  As a completely non-observant Jew who did not grow up in a Kosher home, it seemed like such a drag that for 8 days I had to cook him (and me) food that abides by the stringent rules of Passover.  Not only is dairy/meat combos, pork and shellfish off the table as per standard Kosher law, but so are grains and legumes! But now I see this holiday as an exciting culinary challenge, and one that is more enjoyable as the available alternatives (like quinoa, coconut and nut-based products) to our usual cooking and baking ingredients continues to grow. Although my Fudgy Passover brownies were a huge hit last year,  I always like trying new things.  These babies are pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself.  They are healthier than their conventional counterparts, but still pretty decadent....