Meal Prep Monday

Over the holidays we did some indulging, much like everyone else.  The only problem is that before that I did a fair amount of indulging because my grandmother died and I figured I deserved a cookie.  So, Husband and I have committed to getting our (slightly more padded) butts back on track food-wise.  One of the major factors in my success when it comes to eating healthily is food prep on weekends.  If I get things organized and do quite a bit of cooking on the weekend then my week will go well.  If I don't... oh dear.

One thing I've decided I will do every weekend when I get home from doing groceries is to make sure I get fruit and vegetables to a convenient form for use.  I'm more likely to eat the peppers if they're cut up into strips easy to stirfry or just chop a little for omlette.  I'm more likely to eat carrots if I've already turned them into carrot sticks.  Broccoli is more likely to be cooked up if I take it off of the stalk.

A Simply for Life breakfast favourite of mine is "Berry Cup" though any fruit works.  This week it's going to be strawberries.

and Kiwi

"Berry Cup" involves taking low fat cottage cheese and yogurt and blending them together.  Then you layer the berries or fruit with the mix and fibre one cereal. It is very yummy.  Seriously, it's way better than just yogurt. When Husband makes it for us he even puts it in a fancy glass bowl for me. It feels a little more special.

When I wake up in the morning I'm a bit of a zombie.  If it's at all difficult I won't do it.  This has led to too much purchasing of bagels at Tim Hortons which we have at work.  So This weekend I de-stalked and cut up the strawberries.  I removed the fuzzy stuff from the kiwi and cut it into bite sized bits.  This makes them easier to use for breakfast and also to take in a container as a snack.  I had Husband blend the cottage cheese and yogurt together so it's ready to just scoop out (I kind of have issues with the texture, appearance, pretty much everything to do with cottage cheese so i don't handle it myself).  All I have to do in the morning is layer.

Bet you think you're going to see a photo of the finished product? At some point along the way Trilly clued into "Berry Cup" and the fact that she LOVES cottage cheese/yogurt mixture.  So moving away from it long enough to photograph is just too risky.  She's like a furry little ninja.

Almond Butter Goodness

A year ago, in preparation for Bonfire Night 2010, I asked Keith and Nela at Simply for Life for some yummy snack ideas.  The resounding hit last year were the Almond Butter Coconut balls.  They went over just as well this year. This year I found a new black bean brownie recipe on the Simply for Life website as well. We all thought they were a great update to the black bean brownie recipe from last year... but that's a recipe for another time.  Today is all about the Almond Butter balls. Oh, I wish we'd had left overs.

To make them combine:
3/4 Cup Almond Butter
1/2 Cup Honey
1/2 Cup Cocoa
1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds

Ball about a teaspoon of mixture and roll in unsweetened coconut.  I'm really so-so on coconut so we've actually done them without coconut and they're yummy that way as well.

Anniversary by the Sea

David and I decided to celebrate our anniversary on the one day he could get off work by walking the Marathon by the Sea 5 Miler this past Sunday a long with a gang of folks from Simply for Life.  It was the first time either of us were involved with the Marathon by the Sea at all so we really didn't know what to expect.  Unfortunately I spent much of the two weeks leading up to the event in bed and when I wasn't in bed I was wishing I was in bed or counting down to being allowed to go back to bed.

I'd asked about taking Miss Sadie on the walk with us since it was actually her one year anniversary as well. It seemed a little unclear but basically if you kept your dog from messing up everyone else starting then it was ok.  We brought her along to the park and she was being a very good girl but David got uncomfortable with the looks he was perceiving from the competitive runners.  Now it's my impression that the really competitive runners were largely seeing ALL of us as a pain in the neck rather than little Sades.  However, Sadie got left in the dog kennels in the boat house at DayTripping when we set off.

Ready to start.

Right in front of us for most of the walk was a lovely dog and his owner who were both having an excellent time.  David apologized because Sadie would have been totally fine on the walk AND the doggy got a participant's medal too.  How cute would Sadie be with a participant's medal?? Seriously!

Maybe not the most competitive person out there.

 Next year we'll make sure we're used to getting up earlier before the race.  Hopefully there weren't be any horrible viruses and the time will be much much better than this year.  As it was we crossed the line just after the kid who won the half marathon and he did an amazing job.  It was fun to cheer him on to the finish line.  Congratulations to everyone who participated!

Photo Courtesy of Keith Hawkins

PS. If you  happened to see the photo in the Telegraph Journal please purge that from your memory! 

Produce Pack #4

The produce packs from Farmers Bundle are getting more exciting every week. Is it sad to get excited about vegetables? I don't think so.  Anything that gets you eating more vegetables has to be a good thing.  As opposed to going through everything in the box this week I thought I'd change things up.  Previously I mentioned that every week we get an email update regarding the state of things at the garden. It's fun to be kept up to date on things and I'm very excited about upcoming carrots!

There were a couple of new things in the box this week, namely cauliflower and cabbage. I have to admit that I'm saddened by the lack of lettuce, mesculin (that was soooo yummy) or spinach.  I kind of count on those salad staples!


Now last week we had some peas which was a nice surprise.  This week we didn't just have peas.  We had enough peas to feed the whole neighbourhood!!  Craziness.  They're going to be very nice to sit and eat raw when the weather is warm though!  Good snack food.

Last year I quite honestly took all cabbages I received my Dave's Produce Pack and gave them to my mother.  My mum would then turn into into an insane amount of coleslaw and split that between our households.  I admited this to my Simply For Life consultant who has promised to help me with cabbage ideas this year.  I have to admit the idea of battered, fried cabbage sounds awesome but not so sure that's what Keith has in mind.

I might not be frying battered cabbage this weekend but I do think that this SFL recipe provided by the lovely Nela is likely to be tried this evening!

Cabbage and sausage casserole

1 tsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 green or red cabbage, sliced about ¼” thick

1pkg Simply for Life sausages, thawed and casing removed

 (or ½ lb extra lean ground pork)

4 ripe tomatoes, chopped coarsely

2 Tbsp in total of your favorite spices (for example: garlic powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, paprika, oregano)

Pinch of salt and black pepper

Heat oil in a large skillet or pot. Add sausage meat and cook, breaking it up a bit until cooked through. Add onion and garlic and cook for another minute. Add cabbage, stir, and cook 2 to 3 minutes to wilt it down a bit. Add tomatoes and spices, stir and cover for about 10 minutes. Correct seasoning and serve.



Elemental Health



Kor Water Bottle (Delta)

 I know you'll have heard this hundreds of times but the key to feeling good is proper hydration.  If you're feeling tired and run down back away from the coffee and reach for the water.  It's also been shown to boost your metabolism and aid weight loss.  Since embarking on my Simply for Life-style change (my husband so hates the word Lifestyle! I'm going to hear about the fact that I used it here) I now regularly get 3 litres a day on a boring day.  On a really warm day or if I get my butt to the gym that goes up.

By the way, extra benefit of proper hydration is the regular trips to the bathroom.  It gets you up and away from your desk, adds some extra steps to your day and often you run into other people on your way to and from the facilities giving you added socialisation. 



Aren't they too cute?



Anyway, all this water drinking makes having a really good re-usable water bottle very important. I like to have a litre bottle since it gives me a boost when I drain it knowing that I'm another litre up. Unfortunately it's hard to find cute water bottles that are a litre.  It seems that for a cute, healthy, hydration accessory the options are largely 750ml. I'm hoping that Kor Water will eventually kick their sizes up a notch but otherwise who wouldn't be happy to compromise in order to get a water bottle this cute from a company with a social conscience.  A percentage of their sales are donated  to non-profits that focus on water related issues.

So this summer resolve to find a cute bottle and take it with you everywhere.  While you're at it order this one for me ok?

Kor One Special Edition
Ice Blue (Orchid Pink also super cute)

One Year Later

 

Husband & I May 2011



Summer is a time when the coats and sweaters come off (eventually anyway) and we all get a little more conscious of the bits of ourselves we don't like.  Lately when I've been hard on myself about some bulge I find it helpful to look how far I've come.  This is a photo of husband and I taken last week during a dinner at my parents' place.  It's not the best photo ever, we're both a tiny bit squinty but it was a great evening with beautiful weather and lots of family time. 



Husband & I May 2010



I've gone back and forth on posting this next photo because of how much my husband and I both hate how we look.  But the important thing is that we did something about it.  A year ago this month I started meeting weekly with a Simply for Life consultant, following a food plan and upped my exercise (though I've got a long way to go on that one. I hate exercise. Ugh).  I have to say getting our dog last summer helped with the regular exercise because no matter what the weather is like she wants to go out (below -20 makes her paws hurt after a few minutes but she never remembers that and wants to go again).



I can't say enough good things about my consultant, Keith, and his wife, Nela, who runs the office in Quispamsis.  The Simply for Life Facebook page regularly offers articles and advice and it's free to the public.  If you look through the photos you'll also see step by step instruction from Nela's very popular cooking classes so if you're looking for good, healthy recipes that don't take hours check those out.