Healthy Life Lessons

Welcome Back!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday.  We had tons of fun in the sun in Florida.  This year's vacation was a trip full of discoveries.  Here are some things I learned: 1. Little A is not a very good traveller. 2. Even when there are no delays or turbulence, I still hate flying.  Guess I'm not really a good traveller either. 3. Cheap chocolate sweetened with maltitol isn't good for anything except as an emergency laxative.  I'll spare you the details here... 4. Sketchers' GOWalk Oasis shoes are so freakin' comfortable, I had to buy them in 2 colours: 5. After doing absolutely no exercise for 4 days and consuming a wee bit a lot more beer and chocolate than usual, one's regular workout will feel a wee bit a lot harder! 6. Lilly's Chocolate , sweetened with stevia, tastes awesome, and should be used for pleasure eating and will not cause stomach upset. Of course, like many yummy things, it doesn't seem to be available in Can...

Next Monday I will likely be poolside at the Vistana resort, pictured above, watching the kids splash in the water.  We're heading to Orlando with Adam's family for a little break.  For this reason, I'm actually happy that all four of us are currently suffering from a bad cold, because I'm hoping this means we will all be healthy (for once) during our holiday. I am looking forward to relaxing with the kids and spending a whole week with absolutely nothing to do, except eat, sleep, and play.  No, we're not going to Disney.  We're saving that for a year or so from now when Little A is, HOPEFULLY, past the melt-down stage, so we can ensure, as much as you can ensure anything when you have kids, that we will get our money's worth, and not have to leave abruptly, after spending a fortune on entrance fees alone, because of a tantrum. In any case, have a happy, healthy holiday (keep eating your greens, getting lots of sleep and exercising!!) and I ...

If you celebrate Christmas, there are endless decorating options for your home and food.  The choices are far more limited for Hannukah.  Blue and white are the colours and menorahs and dreidels are the associated objects.  Even though I love Christmas lights, white and blue lights would still look Christmas-y.  I suppose I could make a wreath out of dreidels or something, but I'm not that crafty. I had a similar problem looking for a way to make Hannukah themed cereal squares for our community Hannukah party.  Red, white and green Christmas sprinkles and candies are everywhere, but there were no blue and white Hannukah ones to be found.  I'm sure they exist somewhere but not in my 'hood.  In any case, I wasn't thrilled about adding some food-colour-filled sugary crap to an already not particularly nutritious treat.  So I settled on dried blueberries!  There ya go, blue and white.  And blueberry and vanilla flavours are so...

I know, I know, I'm on a Thai Food kick right now.  But can you blame me?  Thai food kicks butt.  I have always adored the balance of sweet, salty, sour and spicy.  This dish does exactly that with the fish sauce, chili, mango and cashews.  Make it vegan by using tofu instead of chicken, if you wish, and subbing out the fish sauce for plum vinegar (or coconut vinegar). Thai Mango Cashew Chicken 1 lb ground chicken or chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces (or 1lb extra firm tofu) 2-3 cloves garlic, minced 3-4 tbls finely chopped fresh ginger 2 tbls fish sauce (or plum vinegar) crushed red chili flakes, to taste I can light coconut milk 2 cups frozen or fresh mango chunks 1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets (lightly steamed, if desired) 2 cups snow peas, trimmed 2 sweet bell peppers, sliced 1 bunch green onions, sliced 1/2 cup chopped roasted, salted cashews 1.5 cups brown jasmine rice Place rice and 3 cups water in a large pot.  B...

It's out: President's Choice Insider's Report for the 2012 holiday season featuring all the latest products available at Loblaws and affiliated grocery chains across Canada. Honestly, it's pretty much same old, same old.  High fat frozen hors d'oeuvres, and rich, sugary desserts, many of which are probably not worth the calories.  Really, I'm not saying you shouldn't indulge at all over the holidays, just indulge in only the absolute best stuff, and skip the rest. Here are a few tips to keep you feeling your best all season long: For savoury bites, stick with good ol' fresh veggies with hummus or dip, pickles, olives, cheese and whole grain crackers, popcorn, etc.  A shrimp platter is another healthy option: If you do want something a bit more indulgent, go with something like a holiday nut carousel: Personally, I think most appetizer-type foods are icky.  If you are looking to splurge, I say save it for the sweet stuff at the end of your meal...

  Happy Monday morning!  I am glad to say that we have our internet back, but it took until Saturday for it to really be 'fixed'.  Looks like we will be switching to Rogers anyways at some point in the future, but I just have to wrap my head around closing out my Bell email, which will likely cause me many headaches. Aside from all that, it was a pretty good weekend.  Dinner out with colleagues Friday night, a massive Hannukah party on Saturday, and a whole bunch of errands on Sunday with a whiny, hysterical 3 year-old.  Okay, Sunday wasn't so hot.  In fact, Adam and I both had moments of wanting to wrap Little A up in wrapping paper, placing her on somebody else's front porch, ringing the doorbell, and then running like hell. I'm kidding of course...we like our neighbours too much for that. Actually, like pretty much all parents around the world, regardless of their antics, we were feeling extremely lucky to have our little ones safe at home wi...

I don't have time for a real post today as Big A is home with a bad case of strep throat.  It's the third time she's had it and apparently if she gets it too many more times it may be that she needs to get her tonsils out.  Oy! It's been a trying week for other reasons too: our internet service has been very intermittent since last Saturday.  I've been on the phone with Bell Canada at least 5 times and they've even sent someone to our house and each time they claim they've fixed the problem and then it goes down again.  So I'm writing this as fast as I can before it conks out again. I hope you have a lovely weekend and that I am back online - for good - by Monday.  If not, you can bet I will be SCREAMING at the Bell Canada folks and perhaps considering a different service provider.