Mustard dip for the Labour Day Weekend

I love garlic almost as much as I love Nutella, although clearly, they run in different circles.

Garlic makes almost any meal 100 million times better—unless you’re on a date. Then it makes your breath a bazillion times worse.

This is one of my favourite dips, and I’ve tweaked it a bit. It goes great with apples, cheese, and chips though I’m beginning to think it’s the dip which makes everything tasty, so you could even eat it with celery.

Try it this long weekend and you’ll love it (just not your breath!)

Mustard Dip

Ingredients:

• 1/4 to 1/4 cup honey or other sweetener depending on how much your dentist charges
• 3 tablespoons oil (e.g. canola)
• 2 teaspoons of powdered or fresh garlic
• 2 teaspoons prepared mustard
• 1 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip

Mix everything together. Tweak as needed. If you like Dijon mustard, use that instead. If you prefer sour cream instead of mayonnaise, why not give that a try?

Use less sweetener to make it healthier and more tart.

This dip goes fantastic with:

• chips
• crackers
• pepperoni
• cheese
• vegetables

Enjoy!

Party dip for one.

The Sunday Hodgepodge

Sunday seems like a good day to wrap up the week; it’s also most likely the time when I’m scratching my noggin, wondering what to write. Having the editor in your head insist on a post a day is also a bit of a creativity killer. I’m soon going to have to bribe the editor with Nutella or doughnuts.

 

I just ripped the dollar store bandage off my wounded thumb. Yesterday, I was taking chunks of white mould out of my cheese when I decided to take some mould off my thumb as well. Needless to say, the cheese went in the compost bin and I saw enough blood to make me consider calling 911. Which was a spot the size of a pencil eraser. I would have made a terrible ER doctor.

 

I finished reading Lost at School by Ross Greene, which was my professional development reading of the week. I got the book free (free!) from my sessions at the local school board and was determined to read it ASAP (or before it got buried in the regular stacks). It’s all about how adult-imposed consequences rarely work for students with challenging behaviour; rather, it encourages teachers and students to do collaborative problem solving. Greene suggests challenging students aren’t challenging because they want attention—rather, they have skills deficits that make it difficult for them to behaviour properly.

Essentially, we ALL have bad behaviours when our environment demands skills of us that we do not have. Some students swear or punch walls. I cry like a baby when I’m tired, angry, frustrated, hungry… etc.

Now if I could get my cat to engage in collaborative problem solving when he bites…

 

I’ve been trying to be a good girl and eat well again. My goal of losing 10 pounds before school starts is a bust, mostly because I gained 5 pounds (which means I have to lose 15 pounds in a week, which is only going to happen if I don’t eat, run a triathlon, or get the bubonic plague).

So in other words: ain’t happening.

I did make quinoa last night for a snack. For those of you who aren’t up with weird foods these days, quinoa (keen-wah) is a grainy seed that cooks up like oats or rice. You can make salads with it, or, as I did last night, douse it with cinnamon, maple syrup, and milk like a breakfast cereal.

I’ve also been eating my Valley Flax Flour (finely ground flax seeds) in order to keep my system running smoothly. Two rounded tablespoons go into my cereal every morning. Either that or chia seeds.

 

After I finish blogging, I’m going swimming. The local lake has been my home all summer. I try to get there for an hour as often as possible. It doesn’t quite work out to every day (especially last night, when I felt a nap was more constructive). But with fall approaching, I’m trying to squeeze every bit of swimming out of summer.

 

In one more week, it’s back to school. Substitute teachers typically aren’t needed as soon as the bell rings, so it may be a quiet month. However, next week is my last week of not having to check the online computer system for jobs, keep the portable phone by my bed, or have my word search sheets ready to go for classes that are have nothing to do but bug the substitute.

In other words, I can’t wait.

If you have to go pee-pee, you’d better go now

You can tell my well of blog topics is getting dry (much like everyone’s REAL well this summer) because today I’m going to talk about water.

Yes. Water.

Maybe because it rained oodles today. And I know how much it rained because I had to stay home from work this morning because my tummy felt awful (thanks Iced Cap and doughnut because it has felt terrible ever since I ate you). So while I was on the couch, I heard every drop. (Except those drops which fell while I slept.)

Or maybe I feel the need to write about water because I’m thirsty. Like walking through the Sahara desert thirsty.

So. I am a water snob.

I grew up drinking perfect well water. Perfect well water. You could drink it straight from the tap and it was delightful.

Water should have no taste. It should be crystal clear and cold.

I’ve lived in a couple of areas where I’ve had to endure town water. (Evil!) Chlorine may make water SAFE but it certainly does nothing for the taste.

Thankfully, a good Brita pitcher can help. It takes away the taste of the awful chlorine and make your water practically tasteless. (We won’t talk about the smell of your baths, though, which you have to cover with perfumed bubbles so you don’t think you’re in a public pool.)

I totally get that bottled water is bad for the environment. And expensive. I mean: why should we  resort to bottled water which costs us as well as the earth?

However, since I’m such a water snob, I will take bottled water over city water any freakin’ time. Bottled water tastes rather bland, but it’s better than pop. Which will make my stomach hurt until I curl into the fetal position.

Good water is such a treasure.

As we pollute our world, fresh drinking water that tastes as crystal clear as a mountain spring will become even more important. I mean, who wants water that has to be chlorinated until it tastes likes chemicals?

I love good water. I carry it with me everywhere in a reusable bottle. I drink a lot of it, so sometimes I do have to resort to bottled water to quench my thirst.

But right now, I’m drinking well water fresh from the Brita. My water teems with bacterial iron, so in order to have tasteless water, it has to be filtered—otherwise, it’s like drinking blood. (Not that I have purposely consumed blood before. I’m not a vampire. But I have had teeth pulled at the dentist, if you know what I mean.)

So, in summary: go water.

And please, please let me think of new blog topics for tomorrow.

Pure water loveliness.

Penny carrots

If you’ve never eaten penny carrots, you’re missing one of the best ways to get your Vitamin A. They are delicious.

I first ate penny carrots at Everything Nice Cafe in Bridgewater. It’s one of the best places to eat in town.

I’d like to add my carrots taste nothing like theirs. Oh well.

Cook a 2 pound bag of carrots. Drain.

Simmer one can of tomato soup, 3/4 cup vinegar, 1 cup of sugar, garlic, one onion, one green pepper, and any other spices you like.

I add parsley, thyme, and pepper.

Pour sauce over carrots and chill.

These are a great, cool side to your summer meals! If you want to make them a bit healthier, leave out some of the sugar, or switch it for honey.

No sirree, spring is not here yet

Within two weeks, it will be spring. Maybe.

Sure is pretty. Pretty awful.

I wish I had remembered my camera yesterday when I went out and aboot. The LaHave River looked spectacular with heavy-hanging boughs framing the navy of the water. Even though I was not a fan of cleaning my car off (or all the gas required to thaw out Scarlett the Car), it is hard to resist the beauty of snow. Scatlett protested when I tried to accelerate, by spinning and sliding a bit, but the snow was quite lovely.

However, it can melt any day now. (The raccoon who tipped over a half-dead spider plant on the doorstep last night agrees as well. I’m sure scavenging for half-dead plants on doorsteps is not his or her idea of a good time.)

Of course, once it melts, I’ll have to give up my Michelin-man-like clothing in favour of tank tops and shorts and I’m pretty sure I haven’t lost much weight yet. I had hoped (foolishly, back when it was fall) that I’d be ready for swimsuit weather this summer.

Maybe it can stay cold a little longer?

I have about 80 pounds to go until I reach my healthy weight, which may take a year and a half according to My Fitness Pal. That’s at about 1 pound a week, which should keep my metabolism from going into starvation mode (which will only make me gain more weight in the end, as a sluggish metabolism is likely my biggest problem thanks to a weight gaining medication).

I didn’t realize how difficult it was to keep to 1,600 calories a day. Even skim milk adds up quickly, never mind desserts and McDonalds!

I took Nutrition 101 in university, so I am well versed in eating well and reading nutrition labels. My Fitness Pro is an easy way to track my eats without doing scads of math. It has a searchable database containing Canadian foods and a way to add calories if they’re not there. Homemade foods are a bit more problematic, but even tracking most of my diet is a help. Generating charts of my nutrient intake is very useful in analyzing how I eat and how I can do better.

If you want to watch what you eat, give it a try. I’ll keep you posted on how well it works for me.

This is my before picture for posterity.

Summerville Beach, 2009. Will there be an after picture? We’ll see!

Is it spring yet?

March is here! With snow! (Well, then rain. Then more snow!)

I know I’m excited to see spring. Case in point: my acquisitions from the Superstore.

Recent acquisitions from the Superstore.

Daffodils.

Sprig of forsythia.

These days I have to buy my own flowers and I think I have pretty good taste. Especially since they cost less than $5 and will last for eons. Booyah! (Does anyone even say booyah anymore?)

I have a new tool in my quest to eat healthier: My Fitness Pal. It allows me to track my calories and exercise. What I love most about it: a few clicks and I have all my calories tracked for the day. The biggest surprise is how many calories of milk I drink. Sure, 90 calories a serving aren’t much, but when you start calculating how many cups you drink over a day, you see how they add up… quickly! My Fitness Pal is a great way to see what you’re eating and where. A trip to McDonalds really added up. (Oh Big Macs, how evil are you with your many grams of sodium and outrageous amounts of fat.)

I got my haircut. Three inches of dead ol’ hair are GONE along with the risk of fire from all those snapping dead ends. My hair was getting so long, you can barely notice that any has been cut. I’m also very happy the stylist hid my bangs with some wispy layers. I always think I want bangs, but when I finally get them, I realize they interfere with my wash n’ go routine. When I get a call to go to work, and I only have an hour to get ready, drying my bangs and hair isn’t an option. I prefer lazy carefree hair.

If you’re a regular here, you’ll notice I’ve been playing with my Header and Theme again. Whenever WordPress advertises a new theme, I have to try it. Today, I discovered a new one that fit my mosaic header without cutting off too much. I must say I’m going to be quite disappointed when Picnik shuts down in April and I can’t access those easy peasy fonts for my headers. I haven’t quite mastered text in GIMP yet. I guess it’s soon time to try.

You know what’s exciting? It’s TAX TIME. I love tax time. Because I never have to pay in. Someday that will change, once all those tuition tax credits are gone. Then I’ll be back to submitting my taxes April 30.

You what’s not exciting? The price of gas. I don’t want to mention it too much since everyone and their dog complains about the price of fossil fuels, but holy cannelloni! I’ve been paying $1.40 a litre for self-serve gas. I’m delighted I have a 2.2L engine (and a manual transmission) and can’t help but snicker when I see big club cabs and SUVs pulling into the gas pumps. Suckas. I wasn’t so snotty back when I was putting higher octane gas into a 3.8L engine and travelling two hours every day, but now that I have limited commuting (depending on the school) and a peppy little standard, I’m at least relieved my gas bill isn’t higher. The house oil bill is sufficient, thanks. The last fill up was over $500 for six weeks. If you think that’s high, you’re right, because the house is kept at 16 degrees Celsius. (Darn those commodities, especially when you live in a rural area that gets winter!)

Spring countdown: 15 days to go! I can’t wait!*

*After writing this post, I had to go through and delete the many exclamation marks peppering my sentences. I’m not sure if it’s the extended daylight hours, or the two cups of coffee I’ve had today, but I was very exclamation mark happy! So spring must be around the corner!

Italian oven hashbrowns (and losing my guacamole and dragon fruit virginity)

As my domestication continues, I’m learning all sorts of recipes. I recently learned an awesome new one: oven-baked hashbrowns. The recipe is included at the end of this post.

I’ve also been trying lots of new foods over the past few weeks. I’ve always been fussy and picky, but am attempting to expand my diet. Some new foods I’ve tasted:

 

guacamole – I tried this at a sampling station at the local grocery store. It’s probably being promoted because of the upcoming Big Football Game (I’m so out of the football loop I forget when it’s happening). Of course, you have to call it the Big Game in advertising, otherwise the NFL will sue the pants off you. I learned that working in radio. Never ever call it the $uper &owl. Ever. But I digress.

Guacamole is awesome. I’m new to this whole avocado thing. But I was pleasantly surprised by how tasty guacamole is with nacho chips. Of course, I think I could eat dog poop if I had great nachos like Que Pasa for dipping. But guacamole is so much healthier. (P.S. Que Pasa chips are the best ones. Ever. And they come in low salt!)

 

chia seeds – I loves me some ground flax seed over my cereal in the morning, so I was jazzed to try chia seeds. I’ve been meaning to try Salba, a health food product with medical benefits (it regulates blood sugar). But it’s tres expensive. However, I discovered Salba is comprised of fancy chia seeds. So I headed to the Bulk Barn and bought me some ground up chia seeds.

Remember the Ch-ch-ch-chia pets that were once all the rage? Same stuff! In fact, what a waste of such nutritional food, growing a grassy Garfield head!

Chia seeds are as healthy as flax seeds and have more antioxidants than blueberries. Pretty cool, I think.

And I love all that grainy, seedy stuff in the morning.

Chia seeds taste much the same as ground up flax. The only problem? They’re much more expensive. So I mix my chia with my flax, and really make my cereal stick to my ribs! I can feel my cholesterol lowering as we speak.

 

dragon fruit – Every so often you probably see these in the grocery store.

The very lovely dragon fruit, a stunning fuchsia.

They’re pretty expensive when they’re not on sale (I think around $5 or $6) but I got this one for $2.99. It was just SO pretty, I had to give it a spin.

This is what it looks like when you cut off all the pink:

The inside of the dragon fruit resembles a white kiwi.

Looks kind of bland, doesn’t it?

Yup. Well that’s how it tastes. Despite the stunning exterior, the inside is very mild. Sweet, with crunchy seeds, giving it a great texture. But if you’re looking for a taste that smacks you upside the head, this probably ain’t your kind of fruit.

Will I buy it again? Not unless it gets cheaper. It was nice to try an exotic fruit, but there’s definitely cheaper, tastier fruit out there. I seriously wouldn’t buy it if it was $6.

However, now I can say I have lost my dragon fruit virginity. I think I’ll stick to the guacamole. Now where’s me some nacho chips?

Here’s the epic hashbrown recipe that will make your kitchen smell AWESOME, and will force you to eat so much, you’ll get heartburn. Yeah, it’s that good.

 

Italian Oven Hashbrowns

Ingredients

• olive oil
• 3 to 5 potatoes
• 2 small onions
• 1/2 to 1 whole sweet pepper (green or other)
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon thyme
• pepper
• salt
• 2 chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar is a good choice)

Wash, peel, and dice potatoes. Toss them in a bowl with all ingredients except tomatoes and cheese. Add enough olive oil to lightly cover everything.

Spread on cooking sheet covered with parchment paper. Cook in 450 degree oven for at least 30 minutes (longer if you want crispier potatoes).

A few minutes before serving, top potatoes with tomatoes. Cover with cheese. Bake until melted.

These hashbrowns are so good, you’ll be glad you have leftovers.

The organization queen strikes again

Goodbye January! Hello one month closer to spring. And hello longer daylight hours!

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I like to organize. I can’t get enough of it. Realistically, some things get messy over time and I let them be until one day it hits me. I’ve got to fix it. Now.

I love the Bulk Barn very much (it’s definitely one of the best places to get bulk health food ingredients) but everything ends up in bags like this.

Fresh ground chia and flax seeds. Both are great additions to your morning cereal!

Bags do not store well. Containers do. So…

Thank you ice cream tubs and Mason jars!

Now I can grab my ingredients quickly while cooking. And more importantly, I won’t forget what I have in the closet and cupboards. I hate forgetting what’s socked away, only to discover it once it’s old and buggy. I definitely don’t want to forget to try my nutritional yeast!

I’ve also (finally) put up my bedroom shelf. I found it at the Acadia Dump and Run a few years ago for a buck or so. And I’ve been meaning to put it up ever since I painted my room. Each time I made my bed, I ended up kicking it because I was clever enough to leave it where it was in the way.

Time to get’er done.

I broke out the power screwdriver. And made a few dings in the paint. Had a cat “supervise” my work. And went from:

Pre-shelf.

To a wall with more definition. I am definitely sleeping well tonight AND trying my new reading lamp.

A shelf for my fashion plate-plates. There was a little trough for the plates to sit in. Rock on!

I added a lamp for reading, propped up with a little reading material!

I like the contrast of the white against the purple.

Tada! And, as you can see, still Jack-approved.

Five easy peasy meals that will keep you out of the drive thru

So there was no school today. I was probably one of the few people in the school board who was disappointed. (I shouldn’t vocalize that too much. Eggs might find their way to my door.)

It was a lazy day. After eating breakfast at 6AM (and enduring all the excited Facebook statuses about school being closed) I went back to bed. I got up. Ate breakfast again as lunch, had my coffee, then snuggled with my cat. Snuggling with cats on a lazy snow day is just heavenly, as long as you can forget the whole loss of $140 in wages. I can do lazy. That’s why I like easy cooking.

I’ve been thinking of doing a post of my favourite meals that are bound to keep me out of the drive thru because a) they’re tasty and b) they’re easy peasy to make.

I do wish I had pictures. When I cook, I’m just interested in the cooking and eating, not the taking of pictures. I promise to add some in the future, the next time I make my favourite dishes.

 

1. Lemon garlic spaghetti. This is my new favourite. It came from a blogger, who discovered it on Pinterest. And it was actually pinned from another blog. It has made its way around! I love it because it is easy. This is my version.

Boil pasta. Can you do that much? I’m sure.

Toss fresh lemon (or bottled lemon) with garlic (fresh or powdered), parmesan cheese, and olive oil. Add basil or other herbs if you like.

Eat.

 

2. Quesadillas. These are next to godliness. I would pick them over fast food any day of the week.

Slap cheese and salsa into a tortilla. Fry in pan with a little oil. Put on plate and dip in sour cream.

May I also suggest adding: tomatoes, green onions, chicken?

 

3. Taco dip with tortilla chips. I love these. You get your crunch fix and they’re FULL of taste. Here’s the recipe.

 

4. Egg McMuffins. I am addicted to these breakfast sandwiches from McDonalds. They’re easy to make at home though, even if they’re not as neat. (And P.S. I eat them for supper, sometimes lunch.)

Toast English muffins. Fry an egg (see if you can get one of those silicon moulds to keep it round).

Put on muffin with cheese. Cheez Whiz or non-processed cheese works. And is delish.

If you’re a carnivore, get some bacon or ham to make it really like the one from McDonalds. I’m trying to eat less processed meat. You don’t have to. But you should.

 

5. Pita pizzas. I like to keep pitas in the freezer so I can make these any time. Sometimes it’s hard to eat all the bread before it gets mouldy.

Put sauce and all your favourite toppings on pita bread. I like green peppers, onions, and pineapple. I’m in love with pineapple. I’m going to marry it. I also use spaghetti sauce instead of pizza sauce because that’s how I roll.

Cook pitas in oven for 10 minutes, or until bread is crispy. Easy peasy.

All of these meals are healthy if you use the right ingredients (e.g. whole grains) and avoid adding extra sodium. They’re quick AND will give you a junk food fix. Now you have no excuse to go to the drive thru. My apologizes to Wendy’s.

I’m salivating already. Don’t forget the sour cream for your quesadillas!

Tomorrow better not be a snow day

I’m booked for a day of work tomorrow. The facts are these: if school is cancelled and there’s a snow day, I don’t get paid. If there is school, I do get paid.

Chewy and yummy.

You can imagine my conundrum, especially now that my teeth are falling out at the rate of one per decade. The more work I get, the less likely I am to be begging my dentist for mercy. Please don’t pull them out! Please! (Needless to say it’s been a dry spell for work. Not that I’m hoping for an epidemic of the bubonic plague or anything.)

Of course, the upside of my underemployment means free time to eat properly and go outdoors. And the weather has been heavenly: there’s been little snow and few days of bitter cold temperatures.

All month, I’ve been weighing myself regularly, hoping to see a change on the scale since I’ve started eating better. Finally (finally!) I have noticed a drop.

Three pounds! Huzzah!

It’s not a lot. Until you realize that involves thousands of calories not taken in.

My weight has yo-yoed several times throughout my life, with a gradual increase through my 20s. Thanks metabolism! University so didn’t help my bottom line. Or my bottom. Thanks Acadia! Then there’s that medication that further slows my metabolism. Danke!

Now I have no excuse to eat well and get moving. Well, except for money.

But that also means no eating out at all with the exception of ordering from the McDonalds Value Menu, comprised of smaller portioned foods. (I highly recommend the Junior Chicken, small coffee, and cranberry orange muffin. Total cost: $3.20. A reasonably cheap meal. Just try not to think of all the factory farming that’s involved in order to make it so thrifty.)

These are some more of my healthy eating makeovers. I feel that since I took Nutrition 101 at university, I’m an expert now.

Replacing white and brown sugar for maple syrup and honey. All sugar is sugar. However, maple syrup does have some nutritional benefit (namely manganese) and even better, when you use something as expensive as maple syrup, you use a lot less of it. I’ve also been cutting down on sugar in my cookie and muffin recipes. My morning coffee gets maple flakes.

Using canola oil for cooking and baking. Some nutritional types feel extra virgin coconut oil is superior to any other oil for cooking and baking. However, it’s full of saturated fat and I do have a family history of heart disease. So canola oil it is until it’s discovered coconut oil isn’t so bad for you. (Plus, it’s much cheaper for now.)

Making more food from scratch. Avoiding weird ingredients I can’t pronounce is probably a good thing. (Of course, that means for years I would’ve had to avoid cinnamon.) Huge fact: things from scratch taste better and are usually healthier (like my Chinese food). Win, win.

Filling up on nuts and seeds. They are high in fat and calories, but full of nutrients and protein. Keep the portion reasonable and it’s a great way to be satiated. Unless you’re allergic. I find nuts and seeds help me stay away from naughty foods like chips.

Eating more fruits and vegetables. Obviously this is a big one. It’s the hardest to do though.

Putting ground up flax seed in my cereal. I start out each day with a high fibre cereal with little sugar, then add two heaping tablespoons of ground up flax seed. Flax seed is full of goodness (and yes, fat, but GOOD fat) and makes your cereal more filling. Just get the ground up seeds because your body doesn’t digest whole ones so well.

Eating whole grains more often. Usually, I substitute whole wheat flour in most of my recipes, sometimes spelt and kamut. And oatmeal is one of my favourite whole grains, especially now that I’ve discovered steel cut oats. Take that Quaker and your flat oats!

So there you have it: some of my tips and tricks for eating better and following Canada’s Food Guide. Don’t forget to get moving while you’re at it.

And please. Don’t do any snow dances.