A Life Without Ice Cream

Grapefruit Brown Sugar Pancakes

2012-02-25T13:52:00.000-05:00

I had one crazy lazy Saturday morning. I haven't been able to sleep past 9 am on the weekends for quite some time. Probably for the last 6 months or so. On one hand I wish I could sleep in and feel a bit indulgent. On the other, I really like getting the most out of my weekends.

Well, I seem to have kicked that habit! I didn't get out of bed till almost 11 and then was just lazy for hours. I didn't actually eat breakfast until about 12:30. I also missed AM hot yoga. Oh well... every once in a while it's good to be oh so lazy.

And with having no yoga class to make it to, I had time to make a lazy breakfast.

I did promise that although I missed pancake Tuesday, I would make up for it.

I just couldn't decide what type of pancakes I wanted.

I knew I wanted something different.

I knew I wanted them to be oatmeal.

That is all.

Then it came to me.

I love grapefruit and had one kicking around in the fridge that I needed to use up.

But you don't want pancakes to be tart...

Grapefruit Brown Sugar Pancakes

Prepare:

1/2 grapefruit.
Section and strain pulp.
Set pulp aside for the end.

Mix together:

1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/3 cup soy milk
Juice from grapefruit sections

Add in:

1/2 cup quick oats
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tbsp brown sugar (loose)
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp ground flax

Pinch salt

Allow mixture to sit for 15-20 minutes while the oats soak up some of the liquid and thicken the mix. Pan fry on medium low heat. Note that these take a bit longer to cook than regular pancakes because they're a bit more hearty. I find I actually need to use a bit of spray on the pan for these pancakes. And be careful when flipping :)

Makes 3-4 pancakes and serves one.

A Fugly Smoothie

2012-02-24T13:41:00.001-05:00

Every once in a while I create a recipe that is so awful to try and photograph it makes me actually rethink posting it.

Enter - The Swamp Monster.

As promised in my original Green Monster post, I've been experimenting with the recipe and trying new fruits.

I've definately gotten over the fear of my smoothie turning into a horrible colour.

Enter the use of blueberries!

It tastes amazing, I promise. Despite the fact that it looks like something I drudged out of a lake!

The Swamp Monster

1 cup soy milk*
1 handful spinach
1/2 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 tbsp ground flax
1/4 cup carrot juice or OJ

Blend, and blend well.

*Can sub for 1 cup water and 1 scoop protein powder

This was a great breakfast today yesterday when I ran out the door to squeeze in a run before I tried a new fitness class. This one was a weights class. I figured it was a good way to get my lazy butt to strength train!

It was an express lunch class (which I didn't know existed before today). I love the idea of a quick 40 min lunch class. Get in a workout mid day!

The other thing about the class - it was taught by my former personal trainer. Not only was it fun to finally take one of her classes, it was also way easier to push myself hard in her class and follow her directions. Sometimes with new instructors you're not always sure what they mean. No problem here. Plus, I spent 6+ months having her tell me to push harder or watch my form. I wasn't able to slack a little bit! Weirdly felt like I'd let her down. I think I might have to become a regular!

Have you every tried a weights class?

Lemon Glazed Ginger Molasses Cookies - Glazing Tips

2012-02-21T11:18:00.000-05:00

I've been promising to share this recipe for a long time now. I made this recipe off of an older one I'd used before and added the lemon glaze to make it a little different. This was done for part of a dairy free / vegan blogger cookie swap and taste tested on my coworkers. I'm not sure if it ever made it into cyber space (I may have missed it) but some of my readers were asking for it so I thought I'd post.

The holiday season is long since passed but perhaps you could pipe the icing in the shape of hearts and make it for another occasion. I know ginger molasses feels more holiday but I could eat it anytime! These are like a mini and iced version of that sinful Starbucks cookie I always drool over (and that isn't dairy free of course).

I'm a big fan of chewy cookies and a big fan of ginger molasses cookies so these have easily become my new favourite cookie.

Lemon Glazed Ginger Molasses Cookies

Cream Together:

3/4 cup Earth Balance (or margarine)
1 cup sugar

Add in:

1 egg
1/4 cup molasses

Add:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Roll into balls (about 1 inch thick) and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Press gently with the under side of a spoon.

Bake at 350 for 7-9 minutes. Allow to cool. Cookies should be soft.

Lemon Glaze

2-3 tbsp lemon juice
Zest from 1 lemon - about 1 tsp
1 1/2 to 2 cups icing sugar.

Blend.

Once cookies are cooled drizzle the glaze over the cookies and allow to rest until it hardens.

The 2nd time I made this recipe I had to perfect my glazing technique. I really don't use icing often so it doesn't come naturally to me. Even on cupcakes I prefer them plain or with little icing.

I knew that you're supposed to use a ziplock bag for piping but getting the icing into the bag seemed like it was going to be a messy process.

Instead I used a glass, tucked the bag in and rolled the top over the sides. I used a spatula to scrap the icing into the bag then flipped up the sides. Worked great!

Once it's all gathered nicely in the corner snip the end (size depending on how much icing you want to come out but I would say smaller is better) and drizzle away!

This time was MUCH quicker and MUCH less messy than the first time I did this.

You'll still want to make sure that you're glazing the cookies on a piece of parchment or something and that they're cool.

A Little Inspiration

2012-02-16T18:45:00.000-05:00

Spoiler alert - as as food blogger, I go through times when I don't want to cook, and have zero imagination for new recipes.

Unfortunately, this means that the blog gets boring. Or, well, it gets sparse because I don't want to post something I would find boring. I've also set out for this to be a recipe blog over a daily "this is what I ate" blog. Those have their place but it's just not me. Plus, then you guys would see that, for the most part, I eat the same breakfast on week days and will eat the same thing for lunch 3-4 days during the week!

I have a feeling that would get boring fast!

Since I'd been in a bit of a creative rut in the new year, I decided to get a subscription to a food magazine. A dear friend of mine subscribes to Everyday Food and raved about it to me over the holidays. She's also one of the most amazing cooks I've ever met (so her opinion carried some weight).

Yup, Everyday Food is a Martha Steward creation. Say what you want about her, the woman can cook! Along with all sorts of other things I don't have time for!

My first issue arrived this week and I was really excited. I don't read too many magazines and only have this subscription and one to In Style. It always takes me forever to get through the In Style but I do love it. The Everyday Food - I DEVOURED it in one evening.

There were tons of recipes, tips, and info about foods. Some had dairy (of course) but most of them were easily modified or already dairy-free. This issue had a section on things to do with cauliflower that I found rather fascinating. I'm feeling inspired already!

As you may know, I'm not a recipe person. I like cookbooks but NEVER follow them. I like them for inspiration.

What do you do for food-spiration?

Do you have any magazine subscriptions?

Potato Leek Soup - With a twist

2012-02-14T06:45:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

This isn't exactly a romantic recipe... mostly, it was planned for Monday night but then I was busy and thought I'd save it for Tuesday.

*Warning, you may not want to kiss your valentine with leek breath.*

Unless, I guess, you're into that... WHAT? I don't know what you're into!

I usually try and steer clear of all the pink hearts, unicorns in bags, and chubby cupids.... but I did get in on the Valentines chaos a bit this year. My team at work did a "My Cheesy Valentine" lunch where we all got mega cheesy valentines cards to "The Team" and read them in our cheesiest voices. It was hilarious and truly why I do love the awesome people I work with. But to get my card (which had both lace AND bows by the way) I had to throw some elbows in Halmark with A LOT of panicked looking men on Monday. There were a lot of them! Lined up in the card stores and the jewellery stores. Really? Poor anxious dudes! Although it was mostly older men so I wondered... is my generation just not as into Valentines Day? Did all the younger guys already get their stuff? (Ha, doubts).

But anyway, I digress, on to the soup!

I've always wanted to make potato leek soup. Its so good but to be honest, I always find it a little too mellow of a flavour for me. That's why I added the twist.

I'll give you a hint about the twist...

There are 2 twists in this recipe!

I also learned some things about leeks making this soup.

They are EXPENSIVE! Mind you, I could only find organic leeks and it is February... but they were 7.99 for 2! My jaw literally dropped at the self check out.
You don't use the dark green bits... yup, just discard much of the leek.
Leeks make your eyes water just like regular onions
Once chopped they are a lovely colour of green :)

Potato Leek Soup - With a twist

2 leeks
4 lrg white potatos
1 medium sweet potato
1 medium parsnip
1 garlic clove
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
Salt and pepper

1.5 tsp dried parsley
2 tbsp Earth Balance

Chop potatoes, sweet potato and parsnips.
Slice white and light green part of the leeks.
Mince garlic.

Boil together with chicken stalk and water.

Add salt and pepper. I used a few shakes of the salt shaker and about 6-8 twists of the pepper grinder. I would do this to taste.

Once boiling cover and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for 2 hours stirring occasionally. And by occasionally - I didn't even touch it for the first hour and then stirred every 20 min after that.

For the last 10 min or so add the parsley.

You can blend this soup but I stirred vigorously with a whisk at the end to get a smooth texture.

Stir in Earth Balance (or butter or margarine) and serve.

Lemon Chia Seed Overnight Oats

2012-02-12T11:10:00.000-05:00

Ok, you all know that breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. I love pancakes, french toast, eggs, toast, oatmeal, you name it. I also love messing around with old classics.

When I was doing the eat clean many moons ago I picked up the habit of eating oatmeal with a side of egg whites for breakfast. This is something that really stuck with me and I still do.

For the last couple weeks I've been straying from the oatmeal breakfast a bit... because hey, you can get sick of a good thing right! I'd been having quick work week breakfasts of cereal and homemade granola.

Also for the last few weeks I've been feeling like I have hollow legs that want desperately to be filled with carbs! And when it comes time to my mid morning snack I'm about ready to chew on my arm! Turn out, all those times my trainer was right - whole oats actually does fill out up more and give you energy. Man, I hate it when I'm wrong!

Most of the time I enjoy my classic oatmeal. It's good, it's simple, and tasty. But, I'm bored with it.

So I thought I'd try something new to reignite my love affair with oatmeal.

Mission accomplished!

Lemon Chia Seed Overnight Oats

1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp ground flax
2 tsp chia seeds*
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup water

Let sit in the fridge overnight. Zap in the microwave for 1 minute and top with either fresh blueberries or 1/2 tbsp blueberry jam. Stir. Also great toppings include yogurt (I like dairy free vanilla) or granola for a crunch.

*Note when using chia seeds you want the mixture to be a bit more watery than normal - they soak up a lot of the liquid.

Ginger Cashew Chicken Stir Fry

2012-02-09T18:30:00.000-05:00

Do you ever forget about certain foods?

Foods you used to eat all the time?

For instance, go a few months or even a few years without making it and totally forget how you used to enjoy it?

I tend to be the type of person who get's "addicted" to a certain type of food. I'll be really into certain food and eat it a few times a week for months at a time. Then I'll get sick of it and stop eating it. For years sometimes. I guess it's less a function of forgetting than it is getting sick of something.

A few years ago (I'm guessing 3) my parents bought me a Wok for Christmas. The following 6 months or so I made stir fry at least once a week. And since I always have lots of leftovers, this meant I was eating stir fry about 3-4 times a week. A great way to get in more servings of veg. Over time I became sick of stir fry and only made it once every few months. And then longer. The last time I made stir fry was in June of 2011! When I posted 8 Tips for a Tasty and Healthy Stir Fry.

Last weekend I got the craving. Mmmm stir fry! And what a great way to get in more veg.

Ginger Cashew Chicken Stir Fry

*Makes 4 servings

3 chicken breasts, cut in chunks
4 stalks celery
3 cups bean sprouts
1 head broccoli

1 tbsp peanut oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp minced ginger
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 small onion finely chopped
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp hot sauce (optional)

1/3 cup cashews for topping

Heat oil in a wok on medium. Add in garlic, ginger and onion. Once garlic and onion have cooked add in chicken.

Add in soy sauce, hot sauce if using, salt and pepper while chicken is cooking.

Once chicken is cooked add in veggies, toss in the mixture, lower heat to medium low and cover.

Allow to steam mixing occasionally. When veggies are done to your desired texture serve over noodles or rice. Sprinkle cashews on top. I used whole cashews but this is also a great use for the end of the bag or you can crush them a bit with a spoon.

I was having a craving for noodles but decided to be good and have with rice. I like basmatti but any rice brown or white will do.

I also fully planned on having carrots in this recipe but the store was out of julienne carrots and I was feeling lazy :)

Back on Track - With My First Green Monster

2012-02-06T19:07:00.001-05:00

For the last few months I've found myself wishing there were just a few more hours in each day. More time to get things done and more time to have some me time after everything is done. I thought it would get better after the holiday rush... but not so much. I'm thinking it might have more to do with my fitness schedule.

Now that I'm nearly back to pre-injury abilities I'm having to re-jig my schedule. I really got into yoga while I was dealing with my back and hip issues and I'd like to keep that in my life. But a yoga class eats up between 60-75 minutes. I've also stopped working with my personal trainer and want to keep the strength focus going on my own. Add in the rest of my life and work and I'm running out of hours in the day!

One thing that has fallen aside a bit has been cooking and blogging. Yes, I have been eating... but I've been throwing things together and not taking the time to blog. Or, you know, not feeling that Vietnamese take out or a "recipe" for sweet potato fries and a grilled chicken breast is really "blog material." I do miss it. And frankly, I feel better when I'm not eating take-out or thrown together things.

So I'm trying to get organized and get back on track.

I mentioned in Sunday's post (aptly on lemon blueberry pancakes) that I've been having some carb cravings lately. I've also been battling my sweet tooth. I blame birthday cupcakes! I found an amazing bakery with really good vegan cupcakes in Ottawa... and used the 2 weeks surrounding my birthday as an excuse to pay them a visit a few times :P (It's my birthday month right? Fortnight? Week?) Once my sweet tooth gets a few fixes it wants to keep going. For me that means it's time to take a week or so off of unnatural sugar.

Again - back on track.

A few weeks ago I tried a new smoothie that was a big of a game changer for me - Mango Carrot.

Yum!

It was also a good way for me to sneak in some more veg!

Since the mango carrot was so good I decided to finally be daring and try The Green Monster.

No, not the wall at Fenway Park (bet you didn't know I'm a baseball fan!)

This Green Monster.

I'll admit I've been a coward, afraid to try the Green Monster. The idea of adding spinach or kale to a smoothie has always seemed a bit weird to me (ok and gross, I assumed it would be gross), but if so many people are singing it's praises, I assumed I was just stuck behind the curve.

I'm happy to report - I should have tried this YEARS ago!

My Very First Green Monster

1 big handful spinach
1 ripe banana, frozen
2-3 ice cubes
1 tsp ground flax
1 cup light soy milk
1/4 cup carrot juice

Pack all the ingredients in the blender or cup, add liquids, and blend.

Blend away until smooth. I kept it going until I didn't see any tiny green flecks.

My biggest concern about trying a green monster was that my magic bullet would leave me with chunks of spinach in my smoothie. Ick.

But it didn't fail me. Smooth as smooth could be. Super tasty too. Mostly tasted like a banana smoothie. There really isn't a spinach taste.

I also had some concerns about the colour and how appealing it would look. Frankly even if it tasted good I wasn't so sure about posting a really nasty coloured smoothie on the blog. But this turned out a very bright and vibrant green!

I used a version of the OSG's Green Monster for inspiration with just a few changes. I can't wait to start experimenting with this. I like carrot juice in the mix. I think next up I'm going to do a combination of mango and banana. Oh, and blueberries! And of course, start adding some Sun Warrior for protein.

Just another way to get some more veg in my diet! I never had trouble getting my servings of fruit but I can always use more ways to sneak in veg. This smoothie has 1 serving of veg and 2 or fruit. Seriously!

What's the strangest thing you've ever put in a smoothie?

Have you tried a Green Monster?

Would you?

Lazy Sunday Morning Pancakes

2012-02-05T11:58:00.002-05:00

Wow has it been a long time!

Life has been busy lately!

And even better... I've been running again! Like ACTUALLY running again. Not just warm ups that left my hip hurting for a few days.

For the last few weeks I've been slowly increasing the time and speed or my runs. It's funny how my cardio ability needed to come back after 6+ months of not really doing hard cardio. It had been a long time since I'd felt out of breath on a treadmill so quickly! But luckily its been coming back quickly.

I've gotten to the point now where I can run 3-4 days a week but only for 15 minutes or so at a time. I've been trying not to push it too hard. It appears that the pain in my hip was in fact muscular. Since I've been going to a chiropractor it has been getting less acute and working its way out of my hip and down my leg. Now it feels much more like a bad muscle knot. Now that's its accessible I can foam roller and it's getting much easier to navigate and stretch.

Friday night I abandoned my pre-planned workout and just kept adding time on the treadmill because the run felt so good and easy. Mind you I only did 25 minutes, it's been a long time since I did 25 min - AND jumped off the treadmill pain free.

Now I can't wait for the ice to melt so I can get outside!

One side effect to running more - I've been craving carbs!

Mmmm carbs...

Combining my carb cravings with the fact that I wanted to blog this morning... I skipped the 10:45 hot yoga class in favour of pancakes and blogging. My punishment will be the 3:30 class which is always heavy on the core work - the instructor really likes her planks! (I'm such a core wimp).

So what pancakes did I make for my carb-o-rific lazy Sunday morning?

Lemon Blueberry Pancakes

Mmm blueberries!

These were not homemade.

I made the box mix (note that the add milk and eggs kind is diary-free, the kind where you just add water is not).

Added :

1 tsp lemon extract
3/4 cup fresh blueberries

Served with even more blueberries!

I'm so happy that berries have made their way back into the stores (even if they're from California or Mexico... I know it's not as good but I've missed them!)

What's you're favourite lazy weekend breakfast?

Mango Carrot Smoothie

2012-01-25T22:44:00.002-05:00

Yes, you read that title right.

Believe it or not, this one is a game changer!

A week or so ago a dear friend of mine was telling me that she's going a 30 day challenge that involves having a smoothie a day and she has discovered the green monster. She was asking me if I'd tried them, and I had to admit, I haven't. We got talking about other veg to put in a smoothie and I thought it would be good for me to try carrot juice. Not only are carrots sweet (so nice addition to a smoothie) but they're also really not my favourite veg. I don't mind them in soup but for the most part carrots are something I eat because I know I should. Which like most things I don't really like, don't make it into the regular rotation as much as they should.

Over the past few years I've had to learn to like a lot of foods. And for the most part it's been pretty easy. This would be one of the ways to trick myself into eating something healthy, like you would a child :P

Not painting myself in the best light now am it!

Anyway, I bought some carrot juice (not cheap... about $5.50 but I've been using about 1/3 cup in my smoothie so after a week I haven't used half the bottle). I've made both a protein and non protein version of this so I will share both.

Mango Carrot Protein Smoothie

1 cup cold water
1 scoop vanilla Sun Warrior
3/4 cup frozen mango chunks
1/4 banana, frozen
1/3 cup carrot juice
2 tbsp orange juice

**For the non protein version: Simply remove the protein powder and water and replace with non-dairy milk of choice. Or, ya know, milk for those crazy dairy-drinkers out there :P

This makes for a very orange smoothie and it tastes great. It's my new favourite for sure. Which is good, I was starting to get tired of my blueberry banana (which I love but needed a break from). And honestly, as the week has gone own I've been adding more and more carrot juice to the equation. Yum!

What veg do you like in smoothies?

Have you tried a Green Monster? *

Any foods you have to trick yourself into eating?

*If so, please let me know your favourite combinations!

Lululemon Madness

2012-01-23T18:45:00.000-05:00

Well, this was a very productive weekend!

I started my weekend with a trip to the Lululemon warehouse sale. Why you ask? Because, well, let's face it - I'm a little nuts. I knew I wanted to go but wasn't sure if I wanted to deal with the hassle (4 hour waits to get in, full parking lots, and a rumoured 3 000 people!).

I've been wanting to pick up a few things but have been minding my budget. I also thought it might be worth my sanity to just pay full price for the few things I needed :P

Well, on Saturday morning when I actually woke up at 8:15 sans-alarm I thought I'd give it a go. I joined a friend and co-worker who was nice enough to let me chime in with her and some of her friends! Despite all the lines and people everyone was super friendly. As one girl in line said - "I guess that's what happens when the 3 000 people do yoga!"

I didn't think I would actually find that much at the sale that was my style. Mostly because I like the run of the mill items and have been told that they're not common at the sales.

As you can see - I was wrong.

I ended up getting a lot of stuff and it seemed that the things I already wear were the things that were at the sale. Talk about luck!

In the summer I became addicted to the cool racer back tank and have found it's amazing for hot yoga. But I really wanted a black one. I really didn't think they would have any colours as mundane as black.

Turns out most of their colours were on the tame side and I managed to get 3 new tanks including a black one with an adorable ruffle!

I even got a new yoga bag - which I didn't need - but I couldn't resist the price and have been secretly on the lookout for one.

Workout gear might be my ideal warehouse sale. Shoes would be great too but workout gear is probably my weakness...

After the warehouse sale insanity I took the cultured route on Saturday and went to the National Art Gallery. I spent my Sunday cleaning and running errands in anticipation of having some guests in town for my birthday next weekend. Should be fun! Now let's see if I can keep my home clean all week!

What or where would your dream sale be?

Nutty Maple Granola

2012-01-16T19:00:00.000-05:00

I've been on a bit of a bender lately.

No no, hold off the intervention, not that kind of bender.

I've been on an organizational bender. Something about the new year...makes me want to clean out all my cupboards and closets and start new.

At first I thought it was just from my New York trip - wanting to sort out my clothes. I went through my closets and collected two garbage bags full of clothes to donate that I either never wear or are too big.

But the mayham didn't stop there. I then wanted to take apart the hall closet... then the kitchen cupboards...

I even did a trip to Ikea this weekend (on a Saturday, gasp!) to get some closet organizing tools. One person only needs so many scarves but now I have a pretty box to put them in :P I'm such a dork sometimes!

When I hit the kitchen I also started looking at the types of things I had in there. Every once in a while I like to do a good kitchen purge. This is where I throw out or donate foods I never consume / have no idea why I bought / or opened a year ago and never touched again. For example - the lentils. I've tried a few recipes but they make my stomach go bananas. I'm just not going to cook with something that makes me sick.

One thing I had a lot of was partially full bags of nuts from Bulk Barn. These were forgotten left overs from trail mix or nut butter and I didn't want to throw them out but they were taking up a lot of room... so the logical next steps was to make granola.

Nutty Maple Granola

Dry Ingredients:

3 cups rolled oats
2 cups millet puffs*
2 cups chopped almonds
3/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1 cup assorted seeds

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup apple sauce
4 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp honey (or vegan alternative)
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch sea salt

Chop nuts and mix together dry ingredients.

Add all wet ingredients in a sauce pan and heat over medium heat until it begins to boil. Stir every few min to make sure it's well combined (especially the peanut butter).

Allow to boil for 1 min stirring constantly.

Pour the maple syrup mix over dry, combine, and spread onto a large cookie sheet that has been lightly sprayed with oil.

Bake at 275 for 45 min stirring every 15 min. Allow to cool fully and it will become crisp as it dries.

Feel free to stir in some raisins or dried cranberries when baking is done. I didn't yet in this batch but who knows, I have a lot of granola now so things might get crazy!

*Millet puffs are optional. If you choose not to use them just and another 1-2 cups oats. They were a fun addition to the granola but not necessary.

I bought these puffs to try when I have cereal in the am. When I actually have cereal for breakfast I tend to eat a protein heavy dense cereal. (I really only eat cereal when I'm running late or didn't have the motivation to make overnight oats the night before... this has been happening a lot lately). The problem with dense cereals is that the serving sizes are small because they're so nutrient (and also usually calorie) high. I sometimes add a couple handfuls of special K to the mix because it's low cal but adds some more bites to my bowl. I thought I would try these millet puffs for the same purpose. So far they're kind of flavour-free but once they're mixed in with cereal, soy milk, and fruit I'm sure they'll be a welcome addition.

Guess what wasn't my new years resolution?

2012-01-11T22:08:00.002-05:00

Well, it clearly wasn't to blog more often.

As I'm sure regular readers of A Life without Ice Cream have noticed (and some have mentioned) that I haven't been blogging as often as before.

For the longest time I was averaging 4-5 posts a week but for the last few months it's been more like 1-2.

So why the blogging delinquency?

Basically life has been busy, I've been getting home late or been busy in the evenings and when I get home at 9pm (like tonight) I'm not eating what I'd consider "blog worthy" food.

Basically, I don't think you guys want to see a picture of yet another quick salad, a bowl of cereal, or the Farmboy take out I grabbed :P

I thought about just quitting the blog... but frankly, I really like doing it! It's just going to be a little less frequent unless I have more time.

One reason I haven't had as much time on my hand...

I've really started to enjoy the workout classes that my gym offers. For the longest time I would just run in and run out after work which got me home by 6:30 or 7pm. Because I often workout and then do a class it means I'm at the gym longer and tend to extend my workouts a bit to catch a yoga class. Yes it takes more time, but I'm really enjoying the yoga and don't mind the added time.

Tonight during my pre-yin-yoga-run I realized that my running tunes are really stale! I guess that's what happens when you don't run consistently for a few months! I've been doing classes and strength training... neither require me to bring my own tunes so I've only been listen to my own tunes during my once a week test run or my little warm ups.

So I need your help...

What are you favourite running / working out songs?

I have a combo of pop, rock, hip hop, rap, dance, etc type of music so I'm open to any suggestions! As long as it has a good beat I'll give it a go!

Speaking of music... here are a few highlights from my visit to Madame Tussad's wax museum while in New York City!

Taco Salad

2012-01-09T19:00:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a great holiday. It was back to to work for me today. I wasn't quite ready to go back but while I was away in NYC I bought some snazzy new work clothes so that made it a bit more exciting to get back into the swing of things.

One thing I was left missing after my trip and week home sick was veggies. I find that when I'm grabbing something quick on the go (like from a pretzel stand... mmm NY pretzels) I tend to end up eating carb heavy. This left me craving a giant salad.

So the perfect cure for that was to make a hearty taco salad... with plenty of left overs for the week ahead.

How do I make taco salad?

Taco Salad

Chopped lettuce topped with:

Ground chicken (seasoned)
Mushrooms
Guacamole
Re-fried beans

Taco salad dressing

2 tbsp hot salsa
1 tbsp green salsa / sauce
1 tbsp tofu sour cream

The best part about making taco salad is when you mix it all together... it looks like a mess but tastes amazing!

I find when I'm away on the vacation or just away for the weekend the thing I miss the most (besides Gidget of course) is my kitchen and my food. Is this strange? I prefer eating my usual boring way and making my own food. Maybe it's just because I struggle with an allergy and food sensitivities and eating away from home always presents a bit of a challenge. Maybe I just like the mundane :P

What do you miss most about home when you travel?

I know who missed me while I was away...

Well hello there 2012...

2012-01-02T10:27:00.000-05:00

Happy 2012 Everyone!!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday. As for me I've been sick, sick and more sick. This meant basically no workouts over the past week and a half (although I did do some self guided yoga yesterday that really hit the spot).

But... I'm about to head on a little shopping vacation that will involve a lot of walking so that should make up for it :P

So onto things 2012...

I don't consider myself a resolution person. I don't think that making large sweeping generalizations about how I'm going to things better in the coming year are really all that helpful. But, I am a goal person. I set goals for myself ALL THE TIME! Even if it's just "This Saturday I will accomplish the following..." I find having goals really helps to focus me. And a new year is a perfect time to take stock and re-focus.

So, I guess I am a resolution person.

I took a look back to the last post of 2010 - I celebrated the end of 2010 by taking down holiday decorations (hmm... did the same thing this year too, I like to start a new year with a clean home) and falafel. Mmmm falafel!

In that post I listed a few goals for 2011:

Goals for 2011:

Run 2nd 5k and beat my personal record
Learn how to make new recipes and experiment with new foods
Increase cycling mileage in the summer - last Summer was 10 km this summer I want to aim for 20 km (or more)
Commit to strength training - this one always falls to the side for me but I want to keep track of it and do once a week.
Explore more fitness classes
Travel!!

The fun part of looking that over... I accomplished all of those goals except number 1. The 2nd 5k race didn't happen because I missed the first one I'd signed up for work travel and figured there would be plenty of opportunity to run another... and then the whole hip / back injury happened. But that's one that will make it round to the 2012 goals now that I'm on the mend!

Cycling - I think my max distance was 28 or 29 km (again before my injury curbed my bike for the rest of the summer)
Strength training - done and done. Got the trainer, and have learned to see the joy in it.
Fitness classes - have tried several and really started to enjoy yoga. I always liked it but by increasing my frequency I've seen real advancements in how I practice and in how I feel and that's always exciting.
Travel - well I didn't do a whole lot in 2011 but did go to Costa Rica and did a few short weekend trips. So far 2012 is off to a good start as I head to NYC!

So what are my goals for 2012?

Run that 2nd 5k
Train toward the 10k distance - not sure if a race will happen in 2012 as I have to be careful but I want to start increasing the endurance and that can only make the 5k race that much better!
Continue yoga practice 3 days a week. Right now I'm doing 2+ but as I am ending with my personal trainer soon I will have more flexibility in my schedule and would like to solidify that 3rd day
Start doing some intermediate yoga classes - right now I've been sticking with everyone classes... onward!
Continue strength training on my own. 2-3 times a week.
Add some mileage while cycling this summer - I'm thinking a half day trip? Maybe 40-50km? I might have to start taking a break and packing a lunch :P
Continue following a budget - This has been working well so far and has helped me balance life, debt payment, savings, and the will to travel :P

Belated Chocolate Peppermint Chris "Crinkle" Cookies

2011-12-30T21:58:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a week.

It was nice to be home and visit friends and family... but sadly I didn't get to see people as much as I'd like because I spent 5 out of 7 days off in bed! Seriously! I had three days of sickness when I first got home and then was on the mend and wound up with a nasty fever Scary.

The good news is I'm feeling MUCH better! I'm thinking New Years Eve is going to be a quiet one for me this year... I might still be contagious so I'm going to focus on rest and have a movie night.

So although it's coming a little late for Christmas (but not too late for some yummy new years eve baking) ...

Quick get these in before the New Years resolutions!

This recipe was sent by Amandairyfree, I suggest you take a look at her blog for some great recipes that are - of course - dairy free!

Chocolate Peppermint Chris "Crinkle" Cookies

1/2 cup dairy free margarine (I used Earth Balance)
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp peppermint extract
Powdered sugar (to roll in)
Crushed candy canes for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350

Cream together butter and sugar. Add in eggs one at a time.

In a seperate bowl mix together dry ingredients then gradually add to the butter, sugar and egg mix.

Once combined add the peppermint extract.

Roll into 1" balls, roll in icing sugar, and place on parchment paper. I pressed them down slightly.

If you choose to use crushed candy canes press into the top of the cookies. I made a few of these with candy canes but did prefer them without. I found there was enough peppermint flavour without.

Bake for 10-11 minutes.

Makes 2-3 dozen depending on the size.

This recipe was really good and gained the seal of approval from my entire family as well (even mom who's picky about her cookies :P).

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T17:28:00.000-05:00

Today has been a busy day!

I made the cookies I received in the cookie swap - Amandairyfree's Chocolate Peppermint Chris "Crinkle" Cookies.

Here's a little preview:

They turned out super yummy! My dad keeps walking by them and saying that they're calling his name :P Guess you all can tell where I get my sweet tooth from! I'll post the whole recipe after the holiday.

I hope everyone has a great holiday filled with lots of goodies (dairy free or otherwise :P)

Happy Holidays Everyone!

A little pre-holiday randomness

2011-12-22T20:30:00.000-05:00

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like I'm running around like a sugar-loaded kid these days. It could have something to do with the fact that I've been doing some holiday baking :P

But to be honest, this phenomenon was happening long before the baking.

At the beginning of the week I started to feel sick. And then suddenly it has turned around... it seems to have turned around in the face of my rapidly growing to-do list... hmmm. This makes me worry that once Christmas is over I'm in for a doozie (but here's hoping I'm wrong).

Since I'm heading home for the holidays I've been trying to dwindle the grocery supplies. This means that my fridge has 1 egg, 1/4 carton of soy milk, some soy nog, and a clementine or two. It is slim pickins!

Given the state of my fridge (and general lack of produce going on in my house) I decided to have pasta for dinner last night. Actually, I decided to have spaghetti and meatballs. This is something I haven't had probably since I lived at home - so we're talking the near decade mark. Not that I don't eat pasta occasionally, or even pasta with red sauce, it's the combo of pasta, red sauce, and meat balls.

And no, that's not Parmesan cheese on top...

I used this opportunity to try something I've wanted to try for a long time.

Nutritional Yeast

For those of you who don't know, this is an ingredient that is dairy free / vegan and used by many people who don't eat dairy to add a little something. I has a nutty / cheesy flavour and adds some nutrients and protein. I've read about it on blogs for years and finally got up the nerve to buy some a few months ago when it was on sale. (For more info on Nutritional Yeast here's the wikipedia article)

I just hadn't tried it yet.

I sprinkled a liberal amount on my pasta and it was good! I'll have to get daring and try it in more things I think because I didn't fully appreciate the flavour it added to my meal (or maybe it was over powered by the hot sauce I put in the pasta sauce because I was craving something spicy!)

Since I had a quick and easy dinner last night (while on the phone with the paternal unit) I also made some more of these:

Ginger in one of his favourites so I had to :)

I also may have perfected an icing technique that makes far less mess! I don't make a lot of sweets and definitely don't use icing much so I had to figure out a way to make this process far less messy!

Will share with the recipe later :)

As I mentioned before, this recipe was for the diary free or vegan cookie swap (which is why I'm holding out on you all).

And speaking of the cookie swap... Look what I got today!!

A super yummy looking recipe from Amandairyfree! I can't wait to try it!

I should try to use my powers for good, not evil...

2011-12-20T18:15:00.000-05:00

Sometimes being a little creative with food can be a gift.

You think of new fun combinations, you're not afraid to try new things... and a lot of the time you get a fun new favourite out of it. You also sometimes get a large mess in your kitchen with a crap-tastic result... but that doesn't happen too often :P

This also has some down sides too...

I can never make the exact same thing twice! Partially because I don't measure so much as guess, and partially because I'm always wondering what a pinch of * * would taste like in the recipe. The blog has actually helped with both of these things because 1) there's a written record of my recipes and 2) I tend to be more careful about measuring when I know I'm posting it for all of you.

I can whip up something sweet and evil on the fly. This may sound like a plus but it has it's dark side too. Most people, when confronted with their sweet tooth would just sigh if there was nothing in the house... not me...

For instance, Sunday night I created this fabulous monstrosity...

I will call it:

Lindt Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies

Sufficiently evil?

I would love to give you a recipe to go along with this but I essentially whipped together some ingredients until it looked and tasted right.

Then I had the genius idea to add a slice of dark Lindt chocolate between two balls of cookie dough and make a peanut butter cookie / chocolate hybrid.

*Insert evil genius laugh here*

My general rule of thumb for whipping up PB cookies is: roughly equal parts pb and margarine (although I prefer more pb), mix in an egg if that's how you roll, add sugar until it tastes perfect (yes this involves me tasting dough with egg in it... deal), add flour until it's the right consistency. Bake. I've made cookies that I prefer more than others but I've never had any turn out like a cookie I didn't want to eat.

I realized in the process of looking for the family PB cookie recipe (which I can't find anywhere) that I have made several variations on this recipe and posted pics on the blog but never the recipe (this post included). I've made PB cookies with spelt flour, protein powder instead of flour, sans-egg for a vegan approach, and with oil instead of butter / margarine. Not once the traditionally way my mom used to make them... not one recipe posted.

Yup... I have problems.

Luckily I'm going home for the holidays soon so I might have to write out the recipe yet again :)

Cookie Swap, Pot Luck, and a new cookie...

2011-12-13T13:41:00.000-05:00

'Tis the season...

For sweet treats, for eating too much, and for crowded malls.

'Tis also the season (to enjoy saying 'tis... because when can you pull that off... really?) and to try and save time by killing two birds with one stone (so to speak). Although I promise, no birds were harmed in the making of these cookies... except there is an egg in the recipe... uh oh...

Anyway, random tangent aside...

I'm taking part in the Dairy Free Betty and Dairy Free Omnivore Christmas Cookie Exchange. Basically dairy free and vegan bloggers are exchanging recipes and making someone else's cookies on their blog.

Super exciting and I can't wait to receive my recipe in the mail!

Well, this also meant I had to send a recipe...

I wanted it to be one I'd developed and I'd wanted to change a ginger cookie recipe I'd used a couple of years ago. I wanted it to be chewy and just to make it different I wanted to add a little something...

I also conveniently had a holiday pot luck at work today...

<Enter my brilliant idea>

Test out the recipe ... send off the recipe for the cookie swap and have a great homemade thing to bring to the pot luck. Score!

I won't post the recipe today (perhaps a little later) because it's for someone else to post... but I will tease you with this picture....

Lemon Glazed Ginger Molasses Cookies

I also prepared a little care package for the name I drew... mostly because since there was a great difference (and the postal services of both Canada and the USA) I wasn't sure an actual cookie care package would make the trip.

Ok... one more gratuitous glaze dripping picture...

Mmmm lemon zest!

3 coworkers asked me for this recipe after the pot luck... that has to be a good sign :P

Happy Monday! Balsamic Salmon - an old favourite

2011-12-12T18:34:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'm just going to say it. Today was was a good day!

How often can you say it on a Monday?

Why was today so great?

It was bright and sunny and relatively warm for Ottawa in December.
Work has been crazy busy lately, but today was a tying up loose ends kind of day - which always leaves me feeling satisfied.
I used my lunch hour to be super productive and run some xmas errands... I mailed my xmas parcel to my sister and her family, mailed my xmas cards, and picked up a much anticipated parcel for myself at the post office.
After my run-around I stopped by Starbucks for my lunch time coffee and won a free drink!
After leaving SB on my drive back to the office I hit every green light - LITERALLY! And also heard one of my favourite Arcade Fire songs on the radio - and since I hit all those green lights it was just finishing when I pulled into the office lot.

I think when you're having one of those good days that just puts a smile on your face you have to enjoy it!

My good day was also fueled by a tasty lunch!

I thought I'd take a step back from the holiday recipe madness and share and old favourite with you.

The other night I made this for dinner and leftovers. It reheats surprisingly well for work :)

Balsamic Baked Salmon

2 salmon fillets
4 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette

Bake at 375 for 35 min or until salmon is flaky.

Serve over rice with steamed broccoli.

I drizzle some of the extra balsamic over the rice.

I did something a little different with the broccoli this time. I steamed it in the microwave. I never do that, I always bust out the metal steamer and use a pot on the stove. This time I used a bit of chicken broth in the bottom of a glass pyrex container and steamed it for a couple minutes. Worked great!

I also used home made balsamic this time with my new little kitchen gadget from that Pampered Chef party I attended.

It's a salad dressing maker that has all the recipes (and lines for measuring on the side). It's pretty cool! And for someone like me who struggles with salad dressing it's great! It has a recipe for Italian (which is what I used only with balsamic vinegar), French, Caesar, and Asian. Hah, they should call it "Salad dressing from around the world!"

Now to do a little baking for tomorrow's potluck and the cookie exchange!

Happy Monday everyone!

Mmmm Hot Holiday Beverages!

2011-12-11T10:44:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I braved the mall a bit yesterday to try and do some more xmas shopping... too... many... PEOPLE! Oh well, I did get a little bit done. And once I'm done having a lazy morning I might try and get some more done.... then hot yoga... then more vegging... man, I love Sundays!

A great treat this weekend (which just might have to be repeated on this chilly Sunday...)

What happens when a chocolate craving collides with the frustration that a lot of the Starbucks holiday drinks I keep hearing about have dairy in them???

5 Ingredient Peppermint Mocha

1 cup soy milk (or milk alt)
1 tsp instant coffee
1 heaping tsp cocoa powder
4-5 pumps sugar free vanilla*
Candy Cane**

Blend ingredients while cold (leave out the candy cane). Once you reach the desired taste (sweetness) microwave for 1 min - 90 seconds stiring half way. Add candy cane and stir. It will gradually melt and become more pepperminty as your cup dwindles.

* If you don't have a flavoured syrup (why would you, not everyone is a little nuts like me and keeps an SB sugar free vanilla on hand :P) my general rule of thumb for home-made hot cocoa is equal parts sweetener / sugar and cocoa. Start with a little over half and taste test.

** A small candy cane will do just fine... or like me, you can snap off the bottom of a large one and eat the rest :)

The best part is, this is really like 2 recipes in 1... because if mocha isn't your think and you're just craving some regular old Peppermint Cocoa....

Candy Cane Hot Cocoa

1 cup soy milk (or milk alt)
2 heaping tsps cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsps sugar (or sweetener)
1/2 candy cane

Just like above:

Blend ingredients while cold (leave out the candy cane). Once you reach the desired taste (sweetness) microwave for 1 min - 90 seconds stiring half way. Add candy cane and stir.

Oh, and when I say heaping tsp - this is what I mean.

What's your favourite holiday beverage?

Are you done your Xmas shopping?

Deck the Halls...

2011-12-07T19:02:00.000-05:00

Ok, so maybe I didn't deck the halls, but I did deck the living room!

I have to admit, last weekend was pretty awesome!

Full of friends, holidays, good food, and fitness. That pretty much defines my version of an awesome weekend!

Friday night I went to my friend Laura's house. She decorated her apt and made me this amazing Mexican Soup. I brought dessert - Vegan Peppermint Chocolate Cupcakes. It was a good night (after we both recovered from sugar shock and were able to decorate that is)

Saturday was my turn to decorate!

Bellies full of sushi we tackled my apt. Well, I tackled the decorating and Laura learned the challenges associated with building a gingerbread house :P

This was done while watching The Grinch (original) and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!

I love it when the tree is up because I don't really use any other lights in the living room... for the next three weeks I'll live by xmas tree light!

I also did something else awesome this weekend...

Went for 2 runs!!!! 2 runs pain free!!!!! 2!

(I might be excited by this, excessive use of exclamation points may have given it away)

Saturday was supposed to be my outdoor run. It was sunny and about 7 degrees - still perfect running weather. Unfortunately, it was a really crappy run. I was so excited too...but it sucked... every 2-3 minutes I got a stitch in my side. It turned into 30 minutes of run/walk/run/walk.

I was a little frustrated...

Apparently when you don't run for 4+ months you can't just hop back to it. Not impressed :P

But Sunday I tried it again on a treadmill. Clearly determined, I did 15 fast minutes (followed up by some hot yoga). It felt great. And the best part? No pain later or the next day. There was some very mild discomfort but it was gone the next morning. Who knew I could appreciate the ability to run pain free so much!

I'm excited to (slowly) get back to training and hopefully do some of those 5ks I missed out on last summer.

As for hot yoga, I finally invested in a yoga towel. I've been doing a hot class about once a week so I figured it was time I stopped sliding forward in downward dog! (Also known as downward face-planting dog). So far I like it although Sunday's class wasn't very hot so we'll see how it holds up in a scorcher.

Have you decked your halls yet?

Any decorating traditions?

A Little Latin Flare

2011-12-05T18:33:00.001-05:00

It's no secret that I love spicy food! And despite my rather vanilla palate growing up, I also love trying pretty much any type of food that I can find or make dairy free!

I'm a huge fan of Indian food... the only problem being that unless it's homemade by someone who loves me, it's jam packed full of dairy!

Recently I'm learning that I'm also a big fan of Latin food!

Of course there's always been cant-believe-theyre-vegan-tacos and I love fajitas as much as the next girl...

Then there was the Jalapeno Chicken and Rice. This started because I wanted to saute jalapeno peppers and onion for a hummus recipe I was making. Yum!

On Friday night my friend Laura knocked my socks off with a soup recipe. She'd been building this soup up for about 2 weeks so I was worried I wouldn't like it. After all, nothing kills a movie for me more than hype :P

Also, although I like soup, I don't LOVE soup. Add to that - she told me it was a chicken soup with avocado and I just didn't know what to expect.

Well, it was fantastic!

She made: Mexican Tlalpeno Soup.

Sorry for the bad picture, it was taken in low light with my Blackberry while my head was in the way... not exactly ideal photo conditions :P

The soup was basically chicken with veggies, cilantro, chick peas, and loads of chipotle peppers. This glorious mixture was poured on top of chopped avocado, lime slices and onions. (Her's had some cheese in there too but for obvious reasons I didn't partake!)

After the first bite my skepticism was gone! Laura said it was a good sign when I said "next time I'm sick can you make me this soup?"

I'm going to have to give this one a try on my own.

This girl also made me what we have now dubbed the "Costa Rican Fried Fest" before my trip to Costa Rica last February. She's going to have to teach me some of her tricks :P

Last night's dinner was also a little Latin-inspired...

Jalapeno Chicken

4 chicken breasts
1/2 onion, chopped
1.5 Jalapenos, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 tbsp olive oil
Pinch tumeric

Served with:

White rice and broccoli topped with green salsa (another of my new favourite things)
Re-fried beans cooked in the pan post-chicken (therefore absorbing all that glorious flavour)

Do you have a favourite (or least favourite) type of cuisine?

Anything you've always wanted to try?

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes

2011-12-04T09:30:00.000-05:00

My pancake recipe has been a gradual creation over the years. I've always preferred pancakes out of a box... mostly because in my experience homemade pancakes tended to be very dense and heavy. They also tended to put me in a food coma.

Of course, then I started playing around with adding more and more things to the box. Then the oatmeal crept in... and gradually the mix was gone, whole wheat flour was in and I have a combination of ingredients I love.

What can I say? Sometimes creating a recipe is super simple. Sometimes it takes figuring out exactly what you don't like and playing around with it for months or years.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes

Also known as - healthy pancakes that won't make you need a nap after!

1 egg
1/2 cup apple sauce*
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup quick oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground flax
pinch salt
pinch nutmeg

*I used sweetened apple sauce (because I bought it by accident and want to use it up) but I would add 1 tbsp of a sweetener (sugar / honey / agave / splenda) if you're using unsweetened)

Combine ingredients. Let sit for 10-15 minutes. Fry in a non-stick pan with a bit of spray (I used Olive Oil).

Serve and enjoy.

I spread a little almond butter on top, and added some sugar free syrup. Yum.

A trick when cooking oatmeal pancakes is that they take a little longer to cook. They also need to be cooked on a lower heat. Be careful when flipping them (aka take your time). I'm not great at this :P

I also had a granny smith with these pancakes to offset the sweetness of the recipe. So good and refreshing.

In other news...

The saga of injury recovered continues. I did a quick 5 min warm up run on Thursday of last week and only felt a few twinges of pain the next day. I wouldn't even describe it as pain, more mild discomfort. This could also have been caused by me being a genius and not stretching afterward. Mostly because I was in a huge hurry. (Note there's some self-hand slapping going on over here)

I also decided to be brave and try an outdoor run before the temp hits -40 Celsius and I'm hiding indoors.

Not too far, just far enough. Man did I miss running outside! Man, did I miss running!

This time I stretched :P

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

2011-12-02T19:00:00.000-05:00

Mmmm cupcakes.

Mmmm Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes...

So what inspired me to make a holiday recipe in the first week of December?

Well, this weekend a friend and I are co-decorating. Meaning... Friday night I'm going to her place to help decorate and Saturday she's coming to mine to help me. Friday night she's making some yummy soup and asked if I could make some "of that yummy chocolate cake I made that time." My reply: Sure! Any excuse to make some Nana's Vegan Chocolate Cake!

I used the base for Nana's Vegan Chocolate Cake, made cupcakes, and topped them with peppermint icing. Yum!

I also decided to make a double batch and treat my coworkers as well.

Peppermint Chocolate Cupcakes
Made with Nana's Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe.

Cupcakes:

1.5 C Flour
1 C Sugar
1 t baking soda
5T cocoa
1/2 t salt

1 t vanilla
1/3 Cup Oil
1 T vinegar
1 C cold water

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, add wet ingredients, mix with a folk or whisk.

Pour into lined muffin tin.

Bake at 350 for 18-20 Minutes

I doubled the recipe and made 12 regular sized cupcakes and 24 mini cupcakes.

Bake the mini cupcakes for 12-15 minutes.

I wasn't sure how the mini ones would turn out - I was worried they would be a little crunchy or wouldn't have the same texture, but they were just as fluffy as the full sized ones! (This of course means I taste tested a couple of them :P)

Vegan Peppermint Butter Cream Icing
A basic butter cream icing made vegan

1/2 cup Earth Balance
1 tsp peppermint extract
2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp soy milk

Beat Earth Balance (or your actual butter) until whipped.

Gradually add in peppermint extract and then icing sugar a bit at a time.

Add soy milk (or milk of preference) gradually. I also used some green food colouring to make these festive.

And of course, I left some of these guys plain. I do really love this recipe all on its own! The icing was good too but ultimately, I'm not an icing person... I'm all about the cake.

I love the red liners. I wasn't sure how well they'd show up but it worked pretty well. Would probably be better with a white cake.. but then it wouldn't be chocolate :P

Have you started decorating for the holidays?

When do you think is acceptable to decorate?

I always used to say 2 weeks before Christmas... but since I always leave my place for the holidays I bargain that I can put up my tree earlier to enjoy it more... slowly I've morphed into my Mom and put it up the first week of December!

Crinkle Cut Madness

2011-11-30T19:00:00.000-05:00

One thing about being a food blogger (or just liking to cook a lot)... you're sometimes inclined to try new funky gadgets!

A trip to the kitchen section of just about any store will make me drool. It will also make me laugh at some of the crazy whacked out gadgets that ppl use sometimes too... but who knows, one person's crazy gadget is another person's gem.

Generally speaking though, with a few appliance exceptions... I like to keep things as gadget free and simple as possible. Although I can't live without my magic bullet :P

Although I try to keep myself in check....

I don't always succeed...

I picked up this little beauty at the Pampered Chef party I attended a few weeks ago. As I mentioned before I got a few little things... this crinkle cutter being one of them.

Sharp little bugger!

Luckily it comes with a cover.

I also got a salad dressing mixer (complete with recipes on the side of the bottle - great idea) some cute bamboo kitchen utensils, the famous oil sprayer, and a pizza stone.

I've never used a pizza stone but have always heard good things. So here's hoping. I do hear it takes a while for it to be at its peak... needs to be seasoned and whatnot.

So far I've tried this little gadget on potatoes and sweet potatoes. It does cut super easily (which for anyone who's tried chopping sweet potatoes knows, isn't always easy). The fries / wedges turned out really good. I usually brush my sweet potato fries with olive oil and sprinkle seasoning. This time I used the oil sprayer which I'd filled with the EVOO and misted the fries before sprinkling on some seasoning salt.

It turned out really good! I like the idea of spraying on the oil. More even coat, less oil. Of course I could just buy cans of EVOO spray but for some reason that always feel like I'm spraying my food with a chemical (because I'm a little nutty)...

Both of these just have a little seasoning salt on them. The sweet potatoes turn out a little more cirspy too... which is always a bonus for sweet potato fries.

Cooked at 400 for 40 min turning in the middle.

Yum!

What's your favourite kitchen gadget?

Anything you couldn't live without?

Anything you're hoping to get for the holidays?

**Before anyone asks, I did not receive any products, endorsements, or incentives from Pampered Chef, just attended a party hosted by a friend of a friend and thought I'd tell you guys about my experience. :)

It has been a while baby!

2011-11-28T19:00:00.000-05:00

Blogger Confession: I've been a delinquent blogger!

It's been exactly one week since my last post... so out of character!

So what's going on?

Well, things have been mighty busy around these parts as the holiday season gears up and life just takes over. It hasn't left me with a lot of time for cooking or blogging. Dinner has been looking like something I threw together at the last minute so there's not much to share. Over the weekend I was out of town visiting some friends so no usual weekend cooking shenanigans either.

Although, you'll be happy to know that I'm gearing up to try a few holiday recipes over the next few weeks so that should provide some posts.

This weekend, as we creep into December (OMG!) I'm decorating the apartment for the season... that's of course going to require some holiday treats :P

So what's been going on?

I'm a yoga-holic!

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I've been crazy busy with chiro appointments and doing classes at the gym. Because I haven't been able to do my favourite cardio activities I've been scheduling in the gym so I go. I've also been doing about 3 yoga classes a week and have become a bit of a yoga junkie. I'm even doing a hot class in the mornings on the weekend (and by morning I mean 10:30 am... no one is getting up at 6 over here!)
I'm sure there are worse things to be hooked on :P

I haven't been creating in the kitchen.

Long days, late appointments = coming home and eating quickly. There have been a lot of thrown together salads and bowls of edemame in my life lately. Yummy, sure... but not a lot of fodder for the blog.

I can do a push up!

Actually, I can do two. One thing I've been working toward with my trainer is being able to do full on non-modified push ups. AKA - boy push ups. Well, I can do 2. I'm not chest to the floor or anything but it's getting there. This may not seem like much but when we started I was doing push ups off a bench from my knees - that's right, super modified push ups. Plus, I feel very tough while doing push ups :P

I just might be anti-lentil.

It's not that I'm against them... but they seem to be against me. I've been trying to eat more lentils and every time I do my tummy rebels. Does anyone else have this problem? I'm beginning to think that any recipe with lentils is not an IBS friendly recipe.

I'm planning a vacation.

NYC Baby! I've been once before and can't wait to go back. I think it will be cool to see the big apple in the winter too. Skating at Rockefeller centre and Macy's windows decorated. For some reason I have a romantic idea of NYC in the winter... I'm trying to prepare myself for it being bitter cold!

Well, the thing I'm most excited about...

I think I can run again!

Anyone who's been following my ingury saga will know that I had been experiencing muscle pain near my hip in the summer which developed into some serious back problems. Through physio I was able to be mostly pain free but every time I ran the pain was back. I started seeing a Chiropractor a few weeks ago (ok about 6 now I think). After a few weeks of treatment I noticed that if I ran for a couple of minutes I still felt the pain near my hip but it was less acute and instead of lasting a week it would only last 2-3 days. Last week I thought I'd give it another try and would run for 3-5 minutes. Well, I'm really bad at pacing myself.... So I ran for 10 min, walked 2, ran 2, walked 2, ran 5. I was dreading how I would feel later the whole time. The good news? Really mild pain that only lasted about a day and a half. There is definitely some improvement here. More importantly, for the first time in about 4 months I'm actually confident that I'll be able to get back to running again and take part in some 5k runs.

Big smiles over here!

Adventures in Avocado

2011-11-21T10:31:00.000-05:00

Its really not a secret, I love avocados. On tacos, on burgers, in sushi, on crackers... and probably most of all - as guacamole!

My personal favourite combination?

OMG Guacamole

3 avocados
2 tbsp lime juice
2 cloves roasted garlic
salt and pepper to taste
pinch onion flakes*

*You can also use minced red onion... but as I'm not an onion person I rarely have it in the house. Honestly, for the amount you use I find the flakes work a-ok.

I've posted my guacamole recipe before, but this time I thought I would post some of the tips I use (and have learned over the years) to work with these green beauties!

1) Keep it Simple
Whether its the recipe or the tools you use to work with the avocado, I think it's best to keep it simple. You don't need a food processor - just a knife and a fork.

2) Spoon out the goods
I've heard many ways to peel an avocado. If I'm putting it on a salad I will 1/4 it, slice in the skin and then flip the skin over the salad. When I'm mashing it up for guac I find it's easiest to use a spoon to scrape the skin.

3) The fridge just might be your best accessory
I didn't know that you can keep avocados in the fridge until about a year ago. I love to have a 1/4 of one on a salad. But I've learned if you cover it in saran (being sure the saran seals against the avocado flesh) it will keep for days! Also, if they're getting a little over ripe putting them in the fridge will keep them right where you want them until needed.

4) It isn't easy staying GREEN
Anyone will tell you to keep the pit of the avocado in your guac to keep it from turning black. Honestly, I've tried this many times...and it doesn't help. What does help? The lime juice in the guac! Also, covering it with saran and pushing it tight against the mix works. (as you can see the pits here, I thought I'd give it one last go).

What are your favourite avocado recipes?

Any avocado tricks to pass on?

Flour-Free Protein Pancakes

2011-11-19T10:31:00.003-05:00

Well, I know it's been a while.

Things have been busy which means there hasn't been a lot of cooking around these parts (other than whipping together a salad etc of course). Unfortunately, when I'm not cooking, I'm not really blogging either.

At first this stressed me out a bit. I even thought about giving up the blog... but I kinda love doing it... so who cares if I'm doing a few less posts a week for a while!?

But on that note...

I have a breakfast recipe for you.

Flour-Free Gingerbread Protein Pancakes

I've been addicted to my oatmeal gingerbread pancakes but wanted to remove the flour and add some protein. You can catch the original (protein free) recipe here.

Combine:

1 egg

1/2 cup soy milk (or almond)

1/2 tsp molasses

1 scoop protein powder (I used vanilla sun warrior)*

Combine well to incorporate the protein powder

Add:

3/4 cup quick oats

1 tbsp brown sugar (loose)

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pinch nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground flax (optional)

Let sit 10-15 minutes.

Good on medium-low heat in a non stick pan. I actually needed to add a bit of oil so they wouldn't stick.

Serve with maple syrup of course!

These were a little crumbly. They held their shape until I started eating them. Luckily it didn't matter anymore by then :P Next time I might process the oats a bit to make them like a course flour.

*If not using a vanilla powder add in 1 tsp vanilla

Chipotle Mayo Dip

2011-11-14T14:08:00.001-05:00

Well, if it wasn't official before, it is now. I'm back on the sweet potatoes! My trainer has been giving me a bit of a push to get my healthy eating butt in gear as my time working with her is over in the new year. We've been doing a lot of back and forth about food, diets, and temporary eating strategies. My solution - making an attempt to eat cleaner (again).

I'm not a fan of the dreaded D word. I don't think they work. Basically I feel that if you can't maintain the strategy you won't maintain the results. That being said, I'm not opposed to giving your metabolism or motivation a little kick in the pants. I've talked about my "sugar detox" a few times on the blog. Basically as I have a raging sweet tooth... when it gets a little out of control (and I want to indulge my sweet tooth daily) I stop eating unnatural sugar for a week or so to break the craving cycle.

I took a similar approach when I did the Eat Clean (under the suggestion of my trainer) and it worked really well. Taking a super clean approach for a week taught me some new strategies for cleaner and healthier living and it made me take a good look at my food. Some, but not all, of these lessons are things that made there way into my every day eating.

So long story short... I'm back on the sweet potatoes... especially now that I'm addicted to rosemary baked sweet potatoes. I'm going to lean heavily toward the Eat Clean Cooler Pack 1 that I was doing before (but probably won't be as strict) for the next couple weeks and hopefully I pick up a few more clean eating habits.

How do you feel about the D-word?

Do you ever try strategies to jump start your habits?

Part of not being super strict while eating cleaner is that I get to use a little dip with my sweet potato wedges (but only a little)...

This one is probably my favourite because it has a little kick!

Chipotle Mayo

2 tbsp mayo
Chipotle hot sauce to taste (I use about 10 shakes but it will depend on your brand and taste buds)

And yes, I know this isn't really a recipe.
And no, this is not 1 serving.

These work great with sweet potatoes, perogies, potatoes, etc etc.

Other combinations I like:

Rosemary + Mayo
Dill + Garlic + Mayo
Lemon Pepper + Mayo
Oregano + Garlic + Mayo
Sriracha + Mayo (This is typically the spicy sauce used in sushi)

Most of these will work with mayo or sour cream however they won't be dairy free. I've used the chipotle sauce with Tofuitti's Better than Sour Cream and it works really well... I just tend to find mayo is a cheaper and more readily available option (in my fridge anyway).

What are you favourite homemade dipping sauces?

Do you like mayo based or sour cream based?

Clover Leaf Dinner Rolls

2011-11-13T16:19:00.001-05:00

There are few things that really make my tummy growl. One of those things is the smell of Cinnabon. I haven't had one in over a decade, I know I would be in agony if I ate one... and yet, every time I walk by I feel like the cartoon cat floating on my tip toes.

The smell of roast also makes me do this. Something very home and hearty cooking about the smell of a pot roast.

And the last thing that make me float across the kitchen, is the smell of fresh baked bread.

For a year in undergrad I lived above a Mr Sub where they made their own bread. 3x a day my apartment smelled like fresh baked bread. I don't know for sure but I think it's a safe bet to assume I gained a few lbs that year :P

Well, on Sunday night my apartment was the perfect combination of hunger inducing smells. Not only did I make a roast, I also needed some bread. Instead of making 2 small loaves of bread like usual, I made one loaf and 1 batch of yummy yummy rolls.

Clover Leaf Dinner Rolls

1 1/2 cup warm water
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp soy milk
2 tbsp earth balance (or margarine)
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 cups flour
2 tsp yeast
2 tbsp ground flax
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup spelt bran*

*You could use oat bran.

Make on dough cycle - cut into halves.

I used one half to make a regular loaf of bread.

The 2nd half I cut into 10 strips. Cut each strip into 3 and gently roll into balls. In each muffin tin place 3 balls of dough so they sit snuggly together.

Cover and let rise 30-60 min.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 min.

Makes either 1 loaf and 10 rolls or 20 rolls.

What smells make your tummy growl?

Onion Jalapeno Hummus

2011-11-10T07:16:00.003-05:00

After having a head spinning type of day on Tuesday, the rest of the week has been a little more mellow. But only a little.

As part of my new workout schedule I have designated Fridays and Wednesdays for rest / active rest. (Rest being full on doing nothing that can be considered fitness and active rest being something like yoga or stretching. This is where I like to do a yin yoga class or restorative class). The catch is that they both can't be rest days (aka no sitting on my butt on both Wednesdays and Fridays). I also leave it flexible for nights like this Wednesday... where I had an event to go to and didn't have time to make it to the gym or a class if I wanted to.

So far having a rest day is working really well (she said optimistically after only 2 weeks). It's allowed me to really focus on the restorative part of my rest days - whether it's yoga or just sitting down with a hot tea and a good book. And because it's planned there are no fleeting thoughts of "well, I really should have gone to the gym."

Do you designate rest days? Do you do "active rest"?

What better to go with rest than a good snack... (worst segue ever!)

I've been having such a craving for hummus lately. And by some force of nature I resisted the urge to just buy a container and made my own. I'm definitely getting used to using the giant bag of chick peas over the can. As time passes it seems less arduous...

The more I think "I'm going back to canned chick peas" the less I can justify the tin, the cupboard space, the cost.

Hmmm...

Onion Jalapeno Hummus

1 can chick peas

1/4 cup tahini

salt and pepper to taste

1 jalapeno

1 green onion

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp olive oil

Pinch tumeric

1/4 cup - 1/2 cup cold water

Saute jalapeno, garlic,onion, and tumeric in the oil.

Once done add to chick peas and blend in a food processor.

Add water a little at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.

Chill and enjoy!

Am I the only one in love with these little flat pretzels? Yum!

This is also my favourite snack for when you just get home from the gym and need to eat something quick before making dinner and doing all the other things that seem to come before dinner.

Jalapeno Chicken and Rice

2011-11-08T21:20:00.001-05:00

If there's one thing in my life I've been accused of a lot its having an A-type personality. I like to have my hand in every pot, I like to know what's going on (actually, I like to be heading most of that), and I like to have many things on the go. I'm like this in work, play and otherwise.

For instance, as I write the intro to this post, I'm also boiling chick peas for hummus, making the recipe that will be featured below (boiling rice, sauteing jalapenos and garlic, cooking chicken) and putting away the groceries. Yes, this is why I'm good at multitasking and why I can always seem to conquer a huge to-do list. However, it's also why I'm always 5 minutes late (refusing to admit that I don't have time to get that one last thing done), it's why I take a little longer to finish a story (because I go on tangents at least 3 times before the end), why there's always at least one typo in each blog post, and probably why I pass out in record time at the end of the day :)

So why all the talk of my A-type personality?

My trainer has decided to use it to her advantage. After I showed her my workout schedule I developed to make sure I'm getting enough balance, she asked me to plan out our last 10 weeks of sessions in terms of goals I want to accomplish. Sadly, we're ending our time together (sigh).

So I had to sit down and think of some goals. I had a hard time coming up with some actually. Mostly I want to be able to do full on non-modified push ups.

One of my other goals is to not gain weight over the holidays. Seriously, no joke.

Do you set holiday goals?

Are they are eating? Finances?

Or do you save them all for the New Year?

Now onto the recipe...

Jalapeno Chicken and Rice

1 Jalapeno pepper seeded and chopped
1 glove garlic, minced
1 green onion chopped
pinch tumeric
1 tbsp olive oil
2 chicken breasts

Rice to serve.

Chop pepper, garlic, onion, and tumeric and fry in olive oil until they start to brown.
Add chicken breasts to pan and cook on medium-low heat until done.
Remove chicken breasts and serve over rice. Or, for a little extra kick, toss rice in the pan with the onion and pepper mix before serving.

I also had this with some re-fried beans. Mmm!

*Hint, I doubled the pepper, onion and garlic and just before adding the chicken set 1/2 the mix aside for some jalapeno hummus! Recipe to come of course.

A Homey Aroma

2011-11-07T09:45:00.001-05:00

So I've been MIA for a little while. I was travelling for work and although there was a fair amount of yummy food while on my trip, there wasn't time to blog it!

Often when I travel for work I don't have any time to explore the cities on my own. This time however I got to spend my Sunday in Quebec City.

I hadn't been to QC City since I was on a grade 8 school trip so it was super fun to see what is easily one of Canada's most beautiful cities.

Not to mention I was staying at the Chateau Frontenac... I've never stayed at a tourist attraction - so beautiful.

Also, apparently the most photographed hotel in the world... I added a few of my own.

Sometimes staying in a really old hotel can be deflating because they don't have the amenities but it seems the Chateau Frontenac has been totally upgraded. It was beautiful and clean and the staff were super friendly.

I love how QC City feel so old and European.

I also got to do some shopping in QC City. Not really anything for me (except some new Christmas decoration) but I did start my Christmas shopping!

When I got home I was home for a few hours but then had a TV date with a good friend who just moved into a new apt. And well, you can't really arrive at someone's new home empty handed. This friend is always asking me to make cookies so these seemed like an appropriate housewarming item.

Who doesn't love the homey smell of chocolate chip cookies!

Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies

*This is a variation on my Mom's recipe, I've just toned down the sugar a bit.

Cream together:
1/2 cup earth balance (room temperature)
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup white sugar

Add in:
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Gradually add:
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Add:
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Bake at 325 for 12-15 min. For my oven I find that 13 min is perfect but oven temps vary.

What better to come home to!

Rosemary Sweet Potato Wedges

2011-11-02T19:52:00.001-04:00

Last Friday I went to a pampered chef party. I'd never even flipped through a catalog before. Let me just say, for a food blogger - heaven! I didn't get any big ticket items but got a few little gems I'm excited to play with. One thing I'm super excited about is a crinkle cutter. Looks great for chopping sweet potatoes.

Which got me thinking.... mmm sweet potatoes!

It's official. The post eat clean diet sweet potato strike has ended!

Rosemary Sweet Potato Wedges

1 sweet potato cut up, skin on
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp rosemary

Place on a piece of parchment paper and brush with olive oil. Make sure that the part touching the pan is well coated. Sprinkle with rosemary.

Bake at 375 for 60 min. Turning once.

This works perfect with an herb / mayo dip or chipotle mayo.

Although I'll admit, I ate these plain. They were just that good! They also reheated well for my lunches this week.

In other news...

I'm loving that I scheduled my workouts. Yes, it's only been about 3 days of adhering to the schedule but so far I'm really liking it.

For one, on Monday it actually got me to a yoga class after my downtown appointment. Win 1.

And the other great part? Wednesday was my designated rest day. I've designed Wednesday and Friday to be rest days (one to be active rest - i.e. yoga - and one to be full on rest - no workout). So today, I didn't work out. I didn't work out with absolutely no guilt. I actually relished the fact that I got to rest. I tend not to enjoy my rest days. I genuinely love to unwind at the end of the day with a workout, but once in a while it's nice to do so with a book, or a bubble bath and a glass of wine :)

Super Simple Classic Stuffing

2011-11-01T20:16:00.000-04:00

I almost never stuff a chicken when I roast one.

At Easter I made some yummy stuffing with quinoa, but like a lot of my recipes, they don't tend to repeat themselves very often.

This time I just decided to go super simple. I had some green onions in the fridge I wanted to use and they seemed like the perfect addition to my roast chicken. Isn't that just how most recipes take shape: "how do I get rid of this before it goes bad?"

Super Simple Classic Stuffing

6 slices of bread ends*
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
2 green onions chopped
1 tbsp Earth Balance
2 tbsp water
Salt and Pepper to taste

* I used leftovers I kept in the freezer from previous homemade loaves. It was a combination of White Flax Bread and Brown.

And yes, the recipe was that simple.

I tore up the bread, mixed the spices and onion through and poured over the water and Earth Balance. Stuffed the bird and covered the end for the duration of cooking.

I was very ambitious with this chicken. I also left the drippings in the fridge overnight so I could skim the fat and make really good gravy and have a ziplock full of bones in my fridge to make some chicken stalk with.

Can't you just hear the draft recipes being written? :P

How do you get your mojo back?

2011-10-31T20:42:00.000-04:00

Blogger Confession: I've been delinquent on my blog posts.

There have been very few of them over last few weeks.

There are a few reason for that.

My schedule has been insane both within work and after work so by the time I get home I'm not making food so much as I am eating bag-o-salad and whatever protein I can wrangle up.
It's baby season and I've been working away on this little gem. My dear dear friend (and avid reader of A Life without Ice Cream) is having a "little duder" so I made him this blanket. Kitting is a great way to pass the time when its cold and damp outside :)

Just a general blah feeling I've been having. It's also been affecting my exercise and motivation to get my blah-feeling-butt off the sofa. Maybe it's the time of year. Maybe it's the hip / back issues that have been bothering me for the last few months. Maybe it's my attitude.

When it comes to food - you have to eat. And although I don't always eat the healthiest food when I'm crunched for time, I'm the type of person who craves fresh foods... especially if its been missing for a few days (ie the 10pm trip to the grocery store to buy grapes)...But I've been having a lot of difficulty with fitness lately.

I just haven't been motivated. And weirdly enough, the only thing I'm really willing to do and throw my full energy into is my strength training. Which as many of you may remember, is something I've hated for years!

So now I'm going to try and fix my attitude. Perhaps, just maybe, I need to pull up my big girl pants and just suck it up. I need to make time for things that are important to me and just get over it.

Easier said than done I know.

I might need to find something to get excited about. I'm a little deflated that I won't be able to run a 5k this fall and missed the one I'd planned to a few months ago.

I was really enjoying the progress I was seeing by doing yoga 2x a week. I'd been doing 1x a week for about 2 months but adding the second session I really saw improvements in my flexibility in about 2 weeks. 2 weeks! That was amazing! That is something I could get excited about. Now to plan it out, schedule it and make no excuses.

Do you ever get bored with you routine (fitness or otherwise)?

How do you mix it up?

How do you motivate yourself when it's just not there?

For now my solution has been to construct a fitness schedule. Given that I'm scheduled beyond recognition right now I figured why not add to it. I've added in classes and the minimum requirements for cardio. Now, if only I can keep the winter blues and nasty weather from messing with my motivation!

As for the blog - I already have 2 recipe posts brewing for this week. Look out!

Fall Flavours Smoothie

2011-10-29T10:01:00.002-04:00

I'm always getting ribbed about how much I seem to like pumpkin. So hold on to your hats, because this recipe has pumpkin in it :P

Whenever I crack a can of pumpkin puree to make Pumpkin Pancakes or Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies it always leaves me with one problem. What to do with the leftover pumpkin?!

Well, the other night one of the trainers at my gym gave me a great idea. A pumpkin smoothie. We were talking pumpkin (because when my trainer heard I was making the cookies for the United Way bake sale she gave me the puppy-dog eyes and asked me to save her one).

The directions I was given were - Use pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg and protein powder.

Fall Flavours Smoothie

1 cup cold water
1/2 cup soy milk (Silk original used here)
2-3 ice cubes
1.5 scoops vanilla protein powder (I used Sun Warrior)*
5 tbsp pumpkin
1 tsp ground flax
1 tsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg

Blend and enjoy! I ramped up the presentation a little and added a rim of cinnamon sugar. This recipe made 2 servings the size of the cup above - but that just means I drank 2 cups for breakfast :)

I wasn't sure how much I would like a pumpkin smoothie. The funny thing is, I like pumpkin in baked goods and pancakes, but that's kind of where my love ends. So I added the pumpkin a little at a time so it wouldn't overpower. I started with 3 tbsps but really couldn't taste the pumpkin at all so I added 2 more. So, if you're a mega pumpkin fan you may want to add a little more to this recipe. This recipe turned out like a mild blend of flavours. Yum :)

*Note - if you want to make this without protein powder remove the protein powder and replace the 1 cup of water with more silk (so a total of 1.5 cups silk)

Bake Sale Goodies

2011-10-25T21:01:00.000-04:00

Man oh man this has been the week of lunches! I'm a brown bag lunch type of person for sure but this week has been all about the celebratory lunches at work. Normally this isn't a problem but I've been so tired in the AM I've been forgetting about the festivities and packing my lunch... and then eating my lunch for dinner.

Only problem with this - nothing to blog about!

Luckily, my work is having a United Way campaign this week and tomorrow is our charity bake sale. This is perfect for me, I get all the fun of baking without having to deal with a dozen or so cookies being around :P Although I did have a few volunteers to taste test the recipes. Surprise.

Originally I was going to try out a new recipe for the occasion but instead I decided to go with 2 tried, tested and true crowd pleasers.

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
*also gluten free

These are a mini version of the this recipe. I doubled the recipe below to get 30 mini cups. Not that I don't like eating a muffin sized one of these, it's just a little much :)

These also gave me the opportunity to buy a mini muffin tin (that I'd been looking for a reason to justify for some time now :P)

Base:
1 cup quick oats
2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
4 tbsp Earth Balance, melted

Topping:
1/3 cup mini semi sweetened dairy free chocolate chips
3 tbsp peanut butter

Combine base ingredients and press into muffin liners. Pressing this down is very important! Quick oats hold together better than rolled oats but you can use them too. Just expect them to be a little more crumbly. You could also process rolled oats a little if that's your style.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've posted this recipe on the blog before but so they're both in one convenient spot. You can check out the oatmeal version here.

As always, this is my aunt's original recipe that I've just tweaked a bit :)

1 and 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 tsp soy milk
3/4 cup chocolate chips (less if using mini chips)
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together pumpkin, sugar, vanilla, oil and egg.

Gradually add in the rest of the ingredients and finally the chocolate chips.

Pre heat the oven to 375, spoon onto cookie sheets and bake for 15 min.

Make approximately 2.5 dozen cookies.

Lemon Pepper Love

2011-10-24T21:03:00.001-04:00

One of my favourite things to make when I'm in a hurry and can't decide what I want is Lemon Pepper Pasta. Looking back over old blogs, I don't think I've actually posted the recipe for Lemon Pepper Pasta. Probably because it doesn't feel like a recipe so much as a throw together.

Given that I really don't eat pasta very often, I don't get to enjoy the Lemon Pepper.

So last week while I was standing in my kitchen at 7am trying to figure out what I could whip together super quick to avoid buying my lunch I decided to make Lemon Pepper Couscous. Couscous is actually quicker and easier to whip up than pasta and doesn't get the bad rap for being a bad-for-you processed food. (Note, I didn't just eat couscous for lunch, I also threw some Blue Menu Angus Meat Balls in the toaster oven to have with. Yum!)

Needless to say, this recipe rekindled my love for lemon pepper and I made it again Sunday night to take in my lunch a couple of times.

Lemon Pepper Couscous

Combine in a glass container you can cover:

1/2 cup couscous
1 tsp lemon pepper

Add 1 tsp earth balance (or butter or margarine)
1/2 cup chicken broth (boiling - I use 1/2 cup boiling water and a bit of liquid concentrate broth)*

Add water / broth and stir until EB melts. Cover and let stand 5 min. Fluff with a fork.
Presto!

Servings = 2

* This recipe could easily be made vegan by not using chicken stock - which I have done and is good.

See how easy couscous is!! You can also follow the directions on the box but I find the 1 for 1 water is perfect.

Pumpkin Chia Seed Pudding - from Oh She Glows

2011-10-20T20:53:00.000-04:00

As a food blogger I also read a lot of food blogs.

I have some favourites and others that I just peruse from time to time.

Oh She Glows is a blog that I read quite often and always find myself staring recipes in my Google Reader to give a try. (Side bar: Google Reader is a great way to manage blogs you read and see when there are new posts) Bonus - OSG is vegan and Canadian! Although I'm not vegan I like to experiment with vegan cooking and eating and at least I always know they're diary free!

When I saw this recipe last week I just had to give it a whirl. It didn't help that I had all the ingredients in my cupboard (sometimes that's the most important part).

Oh She Glows - Pumpkin Chia Seed Pudding

*Here's the original Oh She Glows

3/4 cup soy milk

1 cup pumpkin

2 tbsp chia seeds

2 tbsp vanilla protein powder (I used sunwarrior)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

pinch nutmeg

2 tbsp maple syrup

Whisk together until blended, chill and enjoy.

This was really good (just as every recipe I've ever tried from OSG for that matter). I didn't make any real changes although I used soy milk instead of almond milk.

I wanted something with it though, wasn't cutting it on its own. The parfaits that OSG made had ginger cookies crumbled in. That looked delicious! But... I'm trying to be good right now and kick my sweet tooth so am avoiding making some yummy ginger cookies.

I'm thinking I might try this pudding as a topping on the gingerbread pancakes... I think those flavours should work well together :)

I've been waiting all week to have gingerbread pancakes again. I'm becoming an addict!

In other news...

The saga to figure out what's going on with my back / hip continues. I had an assessment with a chiropractor yesterday. I've never been to a chiropractor and didn't really know what to expect. Yesterday was just the assessment but it seems like she has a really good idea what's a muck in there and causing my hip pain after I run (and subsequently what's throwing my back muscles out of whack). I get the full results and low down tomorrow but I was really impressed by the diagnostics involved. Yeah, I'm a dork, but it's really cool to see what's going on in your body when you move - especially when its not doing something efficiently.

So yes, the saga continues, but hopefully this is the beginning of the light at the end of the tunnel (fingers crossed).

What's a Grapple?

2011-10-18T20:15:00.001-04:00

You read that right, and no, it's not a typo.

You may have caught the teaser I mentioned in Sunday's post about Oatmeal Gingerbread Pancakes.

I mentioned that the fruit I was having with my pancakes wasn't exactly an apple.

When I was home for Thanksgiving a dear friend of mine suggested I try a Grapple. I believe her pitch was something about it being a taste that would screw with my mind. I PG'd that up a little for you :P

You see, a Grapple is an apple that tastes like a grape.

Once I got home I'd forgotten about the Grapple. But when I was getting groceries there they were... just staring at me. I couldn't resist!

Looks like an apple inside too!

Mmm grapple!

Honestly hybrid foods make me a little nervous... I mean what did they do to get purple cauliflower? But it can be a way to have fun with your fruits and veggies!

Have you every tried a hybrid food? What was is? What did you think?

**Just found out from a couple of people that the Grapple isn't a hybrid food (yay!) but is a fuji apple soaked in grape flavour. Very cool! And thanks guys for the update!

Accidental Pot Roast Stew

2011-10-17T19:32:00.001-04:00

Seriously, this recipe happened by accident.

Because of that, I don't quite have a formal recipe.

I'd been craving stew but the other week decided on veg beef barley soup.

I didn't have any stew beef but did have a small roast in my freezer. I let it thaw overnight and in the morning really didn't feel like chopping up a roast to make stew. Plus it seemed like a waste. So I decided to make a roast.

I started it early in the morning (around 9:30) and figured I'd just let it go on low heat all day.

At 3pm I went to add some potatoes and carrots to the mix and realized the the roast was done!

Almost impulsively I decided to chop the potatoes and carrots smaller, cut up the roast and make my stew.

It turned out pretty good!

It was a bit of a different taste because of the items I use to marinate a roast - but it worked!

Accidental Pot Roast Stew

*please note that the measurements are estimates

To cook the roast I used the following:

2 tbsp BBQ sauce
1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp Soy Sauce
1 cup water

Then I cut up the roast and added:

4 medium potatoes, washed and chopped
1/3 bag baby carrots chopped
Salt and pepper

About 30 min before serving:

Turn heat to high
Whisk together 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup cold water. Blend into stew well and cover.

The meat was so tender it fell apart and worked to thicken the stew even further.

I really wanted to make some biscuits to go with this recipe but am trying to be good (and ya know, not eat 3+ biscuits with my stew :P)

Oatmeal Gingerbread Pancakes

2011-10-16T11:37:00.000-04:00

I started my Saturday with a 75 min hot yoga class. It was early for me to make it to a class... but only because I was up late and felt lazy. Because of this I was running into class as it started. I have tip for you - don't be late to the Saturday morning class. It's packed!! They only spot available was right at the front of the class next to the instructor and in front of the mirrors. And by in front I mean like 6 inches from!

I did an entire 75 min hot as hell practice staring at my own damn reflection! Talk about an exercise in self-esteem! All in all it was a good workout and a great way to start a Saturday... I might have to do that more often.

But despite a good weekend workout, I'm excited to share today's recipe with you...

Because I have a new pancake love of my life.

I've always struggled with finding a scratch pancake recipe that I love. As you know I make oatmeal pancakes all the time but I always use a base of pancake mix. Partially for ease and partially for taste.

I read a recipe on Eat, Live, Run the other day for Whole Wheat Gingerbread Pancakes. So I thought it would be fun to give them a try this weekend. I needed to make some changes though.

First - they needed to be dairy free
Second - I needed to reduce the recipe for 1
Third - I wanted them to be oatmeal pancakes
Fourth - I was missing a couple of ingredients and wanted to add a few

So of course when all was said and done the recipe changed quite a bit :P

Oatmeal Gingerbread Pancakes

*Inspired by Eat, Live, Run

1 egg
1/3 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp molassas

1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup quick oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp loose brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground flax
pinch salt
pinch nutmeg

Combine wet. Add dry. Mix well and let sit for 10-15 minutes.

Cook on medium-low heat.

Drizzle with some syrup of course :P

These were even better than I thought they would be!!

Oh, and for a little preview of a post to come this week... that's not an apple I had with these pancakes.

It looks like an apple... but it's not quite an apple :P

Stay tuned!

Roasted Garlic and Onion Hummus

2011-10-13T20:36:00.001-04:00

I love Thursday nights! Friday is just so close!

I came home from the gym tonight and was ravenous! It only makes sense... I haven't had an appetite all week. It must have just hit me. Luckily I made hummus a couple nights ago so was able to munch away while dinner was prepping. Any by prepping I mean heating. And yes, I couldn't wait 10 minutes for dinner. I was THAT hungry!

It's been quite a while since I've made hummus. I figured I was due!

I've been back in my old habit of buying my favourite hummus from Farmboy. I do love that hummus, but at $3.49 a container I figured it was time to make some much cheaper hummus of my own.

The last few times I've made hummus I've roasted the chick peas first. It provides a very different texture. This time I wanted to go for the creamy style hummus.

I was inspired by Oh She Glows a few months ago... Angela provided a tip on using 1/4 cup of tahini for an extra creamy recipe. I'd always used about 2 tbsps so I thought I would give this a try.

Roasted Garlic and Onion Hummus

2 cups chick peas (peeled)
1/4 cup tahini
5 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves and 1/4 onion (sauteed in 1 tbsp olive oil and a 1/4 tsp tumeric)
pinch salt and pepper

Add ingredients to food processor and blend blend away. Scrap sides and keep going! And going!

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika.

I never like hummus when it first comes out of the food processor. I have to put it in the fridge and then it's amazing.

I don't know why... it has to be cold. It gets even better after a few days in there too :P

Comfort Foods - Slow Cooker Apple Sauce

2011-10-12T19:30:00.000-04:00

Hello comfort food!

Over the weekend I got thinking about comfort food. I always want something warm and homey when I'm sick or feeling blue. I typically gravitate toward the warm sweets (ie cookies). Over the weekend my mom was feeling a little under the weather so I whipped up a batch of her peanut butter cookies before I left. She had been laying down and came out to the kitchen and asked what I was doing... the conversation went something like this:

Mom: What are you doing?
Me: Making you some comfort food.
Mom: You're making yourself some comfort food?
Me: Nope, for you.
Mom: Oh, what are you making?
Me: Peanut butter cookies.
Mom: (pauses, thinks, smiles) Those are my favourite!
Me: I know :)

Well, not that I don't enjoy cookies, but it got me thinking about comfort foods that are healthy as well as comforting...

And, well...

This happened.

Nothing smells quite like fall leaves and apples cooking in the slow cooker. Yum! So warm and sweet smelling.

I love homemade apple sauce. Actually, I love apple sauce. I just REALLY love the homemade type.

Slow Cooker Apple Sauce

5-6 apples peeled
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup water

Peel and slice apples.

Toss in cinnamon and vanilla.

Add water to the slow cooker. Cook on medium or high heat for a few hours. Stir every once in a while to keep the apples coated. I find after a few hours they start to break apart with the spoon and I often chop them up to give them a hand.

You may need to add a little more water as they cook down - depending on the type of apples you use.

This time I had to add about another 1/2 cup.

Depending on the type of apples you use, you may also need to add a couple tbsps of brown sugar. I used a combination of Royal Gala, Ambrosia, and Fuji. All pretty sweet apples so I didn't use any sugar. For my apples I tend to use whatever is kicking around the crisper. These are the apples that aren't quite perfect enough to eat in my lunch but aren't ready to be thrown out.

I tend to keep a supply on hand :P

It also means that the taste of your apple sauce is always a bit different.

As you can tell from the picture above, I like my apple sauce nice and chunky.

How do you like your apple sauce? Smooth? Chunky? Sans-cinnamon?

What's your favourite comfort food?

The Perfect Protein Smoothie

2011-10-12T11:44:00.000-04:00

Whenever I share recipes for smoothies on the blog I only share those that don't contain protein powder. This is mostly because I assume the vast majority of my readers don't use a protein supplement and would probably skip past it.

But maybe I'm wrong...

Do you ever use protein powders?

I do.

For the last few months I've been having a protein shake in the am as my snack. I did it under the advisement of my personal trainer who felt I needed more protein in my diet if I was trying to build lean muscle. I found a lot of little ways to sneak in protein but it was amounting to about 10 extra grams a day. I needed more than that. You can read about my journey to find a good ~~and by good I mean doesn't taste like ass or sand~~ protein powder here.

Although I found a soy based powder that was inexpensive and didn't seem to bother my stomach I ultimately made the transition to Sun Warrior because it has more protein, less sugar (by far) and more protein. Despite being almost double the cost.

Most of the time I use vanilla.

Once in a while I go for chocolate - typically on my very sleepy days when I need a little more caffeine (I'll share this one on another day)

But vanilla goes with everything.

So this post is about the perfect protein smoothie.. I've found my money maker:

Blueberry Sun Warrior Protein Smoothie

1.5 scoops vanilla Sun Warrior (or other protein powder)
1 cup cold water
1/4 cup OJ (optional)
1/4 frozen banana*
1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Blend away and enjoy!

So why is this the perfect combo?

Well, it's quick and easy to make. It doesn't turn a funny colour in my lunch when I eat it at 10:30am and it's really low in calories.

Triple threat!

*The frozen banana adds a smoothness to the smoothie, but you can also substitute in a couple of chunks of frozen mango.

Plus, since I've started carrying my am smoothie in my coffee mug, I'm also saving the environment (and about 10 cents a day) by getting my lunch coffee in my reusable mug.

I whipped one of these up this morning to have after my hot yoga class. Seemed like a better idea than being so hungry I wanted to eat my own arm! Have a great Saturday everyone!

Apricot Pork Chops and Fall Colours

2011-10-11T20:17:00.002-04:00

Pork is something I really don't make all that often. Why? The answer is simple...Because I don't really like it. Once in a while, sure. Bacon? Of course! But all in all it's not my favourite.

My Thanksgiving dinner was prepared by my Aunt. She always makes an amazing meal and has both turkey and ham. Score! My Aunt has always been my inspiration for making ham because she cooks it sliced and with apricot preserves. It's heavenly! I have a few slices of this while I was home on the weekend but apparently I wasn't quite done. I didn't have time to defrost a ham but I did have a couple of boneless pork chops kicking around.

I was saving them for an apple recipe my mom always made but the apricot recipe turned out just as good.

This is a super simple recipe but tastes oh so good.

Apricot Pork Chops

3 boneless pork chops
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp apricot preserves

Add oil to pan and cook chops on medium-low heat. Coat chops with apricot preserves continually and turn throughout the cooking process. Similar to how you could with bbq sauce on a bbq.

It's just that easy!

I served this with some herb and garlic couscous. Yum!

In other news...

We had the most amazing weather over the long weekend and so far it's still here. I'm going to ignore the fact that the forecast is calling for a cold damp and rainy weekend. I spent my holiday Monday cooking, cleaning, catching up on my PVR'd tv shows (yay) and went for a killer bike ride.

This is just one of the amazing fall sites I saw on my bike ride yesterday. Such amazing colours this time of year and they're just getting started! Hopefully I have time for a few more fall rides before it gets too cold and this wimp is forced to ride inside.

I'd been benched from long rides since the back injury but thought I'd give myself a little push yesterday. I did 25 km. Probably a little more than I should have but I did stop and take a 10 min stretching break at about km 15. I was starting to get a little sore so I stretched it out. By the time I got home I was getting pretty sore and fatigued, I guess my body was a little out of practice! But once I had some water and stretched for about 20 min I felt great the rest of the day.

Here's hoping I'm officially on the mend for good!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-10-09T11:13:00.000-04:00

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

One thing I love about Canadian Thanksgiving being first is that I feel like I get double the yummy thanksgiving recipes in blog world. Just when I'm ready to put pumpkin recipes behind me I get a sweep of new inspiration from my neighbours to the South.

Ironically, this weekend I spent some time on the Southern side of the boarder and did a little designer outlet shopping... heaven! I knew there was a reason I never do that :P

This weekend was about a lot of food for me.

Every year my mom brings the apple pie to Thanksgiving dinner at my Aunt's, but as she's been having some health problems and feeling pretty tired I offered to make the pie this year.

My mom and I are very different people. But one thing we have in common... we're both control freaks :P That roughly translated into my mom sitting behind me in the kitchen giving me unsolicited direction on the pie making process and a disapproving look for every deviation from her recipe I made. You can just see the set up for a good sitcom can't you?

When all was said and done the pie turned out amazing, despite the maternal disapproval. She even taste tested and agreed.

A Twist on Mom's Apple Pie

The Crust:

1.5 Cups flour, sifted
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp shortening, at room temp
1/4 cup ice water

Sift flour, cut in shortening, add water. Blend together with your hands. Divide into 2 balls. Roll out 1 ball and fit in the bottom of the pie plate.

The filling:

3-5 apples, I used 5 Macintosh
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Peel, core, and slice the apples.

Add other ingredients in the bowl and toss the apples until covered.

Add the apple mix to the pie shell and dab 3 small drops of Earth Balance (or butter or margarine on the top). They were about 1/2 a tsp each.

Roll out the top part and decorate as you like.

Wash the top of the pie with 1 egg yolk and 2 tbsp water.*

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 30 minutes.

Let cool, cut and enjoy!

*This step is optional, and to make this pie vegan, simply elimination the egg wash.

What are you thankful for?

This weekend I'm thankful for family, friends and good food (that's a given)... but also for good books to read on the plane, beautiful fall weather that feels like it's the beginning of September, and a dad who's more than willing to be my taste tester for recipes!

The Laziest of the Balanced Meals

2011-10-04T20:34:00.003-04:00

Sometimes putting together a balanced meal is very easy. Heck, sometimes it's all in one meal - veg, protein, and carb.

Sometimes laziness takes over.

Last night's dinner was one of those... the perfect combination of laziness, still being a little sick, and needing to go grocery shopping :P

Tortilla pizza (small tortilla)
Veggies
Cucumber Dill dip (yup, this stuff is dairy free - no joke)

The tortilla pizza is something only happens once in a blue moon around here... like when I'm craving pizza but don't want to fully commit and make dough :P

The veggie sticks side has been happening a little more than I'd like to admit. I've been off salad for the last while and I'm not sure why. Could be the cool weather but it's been going on longer than that. Something about salad just isn't doing it for me lately. I haven't really been buying lettuce because it's been going off before I get it used.

The veggies on the other hand I'm really enjoying! I'm even starting to like carrots! Oh well, I'm sure it all evens out in the end right?

Blogger confession: I don't really like raw carrots but love them cooked in things. I also don't like tomatoes - I still haven't found a way to ease myself into them :P

In other news...

I'm back to running and finally feeling well enough to do so. I've been advised by physio to run before sessions so they can locate what's actually going on in my hip. Tonight was the first night I didn't really think about hip pain or back pain and just went for it. It was before seeing the trainer so I couldn't run too long but I did a 5 min warm up, 12 min run and 3 min cool down.

It. Felt. AMAZING!

If there was ever a doubt that I love a good run it's gone. My session with the trainer was also a leg day so my legs are feeling a little wobbly now... haven't had that feeling in a very long time!

What's your lazy go to meal? What exercise / type of fitness would you miss the most if you had to take a break or give it up?

Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

2011-10-03T17:53:00.000-04:00

There's something super exciting about this soup. No, it's not full of rainbows and unicorns (and yes I've been watching too many episodes of Scrubs)...

It's actually soup!

No matter how hard I try I always seem to make some sort of stew, you could practically eat my soup with a fork. Although that has it's place - just once I would like my soup to look like soup!

I'm still kind of sick, and was getting really sick of eating that crappy chicken noodle soup out of a package... I needed some heartiness in my soup. Ok, really I needed some veggies in my soup!

So what better than:

Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

*And actually soup!

Start in Slowcooker on high:

1 pkg stewing beef, cut in small pieces
1/2 can diced or crushed tomatoes
4 cups beef broth + 4 cups water
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 small onion, sautéed
2 cloves garlic, sautéed

After about an hour add:

1 bowl of chopped veggies.
I used: 3 stalks celery, 2 carrots, 2 small potatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
a few shakes of chipotle hot sauce
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cumin

One hour before serving add:

1/3 - 1/2 cup barley

This recipe actually breaks one of the rules of slow cooker / crockpot cooking... the veggies don't go in first. If you're out for the day you could just dump everything in the pot on low heat however I like the beef to be in the pot a little longer than the veggies so it's super tender.

I also made an encore presentation of my Whole Wheat bread with a hint of cinnamon. This time I added some ground flax to the recipe - I'm getting brave :P

It was the perfect partner for the soup!

Pumpkin French Toast and an Office Makeover

2011-10-02T10:12:00.002-04:00

Ah Sunday morning breakfast... heaven!

Pumpkin Pie French Toast

2 slices of bread

1 egg

2 tbsp soy milk

1 tbsp pumpkin puree

1 tsp ground flax

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix, dip bread, fry... drizzle with maple syrup (of course!) and enjoy!!

Amazing!

And worked perfectly with an apple on the side.

In other news...

I had big plans this weekend.

Friday night - lay on couch, watch TV, recuperate

Saturday - do nothing - further recuperation

Sunday - make food, do strength training, clean a little - but further recuperation

Friday night went off as planned but then a strange thing happened...

When I woke up on Saturday and walked into my office to check my email... and was overcome with the urge to rearrange my office. I've been wanting to for some time but had been putting it off until I figured out what I wanted to do. Turns out I still didn't know and found myself standing in a room full of partially moved furniture trying to figure out where I should put stuff :P

All in all I think the final product turned out pretty good.

Sorry I don't have a before picture to share with you - didn't cross my mind actually.

I love having my desk next to the window, especially on the days I work from home. It also means I get my desk next to the heater - which is nice for the winter days :)

I also finally printed some photos I'd been trying to do for a while. And by that I mean a few years. I was able to order prints online at Walmart and just pick them up later. I'm sure you've been able to do this for years but it's the first time I've discovered it so its new to me. When I picked them up I was able to find these cute frames... I think they work well with the decor AND the city scape prints.

I love NYC! Although these make me really want to go back. I'm really itching for a vacation!

Pumpkin Pecan Muffin Tops

2011-09-30T19:09:00.000-04:00

Hello All!

Sadly, I'm still sick and have therefore been pretty delinquent on the blogging.

I went back to work on Thursday and it was ok... except my eyes were so sore by the time I got home that I couldn't really spend the time looking at the computer to write this post. Oh well, the weekend is supposed to be gross and rainy, perfect for spending time on my couch and sleeping off the rest of this cold!

That being said...

I took a swing by SAIL yesterday (a Quebec and recently Ontario store that specializes in outdoor equipment and apparel). They're a pretty great place to get some warmer gear. I got pretty excited to do some cooler weather running and outdoor activities. I might bite the bullet this year and actually buy a proper winter outdoor coat... I've always survived with just my wool dress coat but it's just not cutting it on a cold Ottawa day... and let's face it - no one is running in a wool coat!

Anywho, onto the recipe...

Pumpkin Pecan Muffin Tops

**This is the first in a series of recipes I'm creating of cake-like cookies.

A muffin-like texture in a cookie format... stay tuned**

The good kind of muffin top - although if you eat too many of these they'll probably give you the bad kind too :P

Combine:

3 tbsp pumpkin purée
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp water
1 tsp vinegar

Add in:

1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 tbsp brown sugar

Mix in:

3 tbsp chopped pecans (optional)

Spoon onto parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 12-14 min.
Let cool and enjoy.

*Makes 1/2 dozen

I love the cakey texture of these cookies! They're super easy to whip up and with the small quantity it's really easy to control how many you get (or how many you eat when you make this recipe for comfort food while you're sick... just saying :P)

I grew up using recipes that made 2-6 dozen of everything! It make baking feel like an all day affair... adding sheet after sheet of cookies... and my mom would always set aside a day for baking. Because I like to have a few things here and there and more often (than 2x a year) I tend to like recipes that I can make a smaller quantity of. I actually frequently use my mom's recipes (because that's the comfort taste I grew up with) and try to modify them so they only make 1 dozen cookies instead of 4! It was also something I started when I was trying to be healthier and lose some weight. I fully believe a healthy lifestyle has room for cookies... just not too many :P

Do you prefer recipes that you have to double (or triple) or recipes that you have to cut in half?

Another Lazy Post - And New Toms

2011-09-27T19:26:00.000-04:00

No no, I'm not trying to set some sort of record this week.

Yes, I know, yesterday was also a lazy post. Last night I was feeling super tired so I didn't cook. By the time I went to bed my throat was starting to get scratchy... not a good sign.

Then I woke up at 4am with a seriously sore eye and throat (following having a nightmare - for me that's a sure sign I'm sick). I got up, put in some eye drops (noticing it was swollen) had some water and took something for my throat.

I woke up feeling worse.

I took a sick day and went to the walk in clinic. It seems I have an eye infection as a wonderful part of the virus I'm fighting. So happy my body decided to "give out" in a new way for this cold... blah!

Luckily since I was already out and about getting meds I was able to pick up my staple sicky supplies:

OJ
Nyquil / Dayquil
Soup
Kleenex
Tea - picked up some super yummy honey lemon
In Touch (my idea of comfort food)
Cookies (my other idea of comfort food)

Well there was one bright side to being home sick today...

I was here to accept the package that arrived! My new Toms!

I bought my first pair a few months ago and since the fall weather hit I've basically been living in them. I love the slate grey and they go with pretty much everything... but I wanted something a little more fun.

After some deliberation I decided on these green cord ones. Since I knew my size I purchased them online. There's so much more selection than in the stores here.

It came down between red, green, and mustard. Ultimately I thought the mustard might be a little "out there" for my personal style and the red was not out there enough!

Green! I love the insides more than I care to admit!

What else did I do today?

Well... I laid on the couch, I took a nap (with good company of course), I knit a little, I watched some TV...

I did not make food.

I did make soup (instant pour the boiling water in soup).

I also made about 3 of these:

Creamsicle style smoothies. Today I made them a little more watery though because it was pretty much all I felt like drinking / eating.

Gotta love those reusable cups for when you want to stay hydrated without lifting your head from the couch :P

I feel ok when I'm laying down... then I stand up... and feel like I might fall over.

Oh, I also worked on this a bit:

It's getting to be that time of year again when I like to curl up and knit a little while I watch TV.

What are you sick-at-home essentials? Do you knit / crochet / quilt / craft ?

A Lazy Post - A Farmboy Dinner

2011-09-26T20:07:00.000-04:00

I'm oh, so, tired. So, I didn't cook dinner.

I ran errands and then crashed on my couch! Sometimes you just have to have a lazy night.

I even got grocery store take out for dinner. I know, gasp!

I may not have Trader Joe's in the great white north...

I may not have a Whole Foods in Ottawa....

But I'm ok. I have Farmboy.

I don't go to Farmboy as much as I'd like. They really only have produce, prepared foods and a couple of things from the shelf. Although my grocery list always has a lot of fresh items on it, it also often has something I can't get at Farmboy. So I opt for going to a grocery store where I can get everything and only making one stop. Lately I've even been getting a lot of my produce at the farmer's market.

I'm not sure how they did it, but I managed to find this amazing basket of local Ontario strawberries... they look and taste amazing and were only $3!!!

That's cheaper than the farmers!

And, it's almost October!

I don't even care if these are creep genetically modified berries to grow in Ontario in the end of September (ok, I care a little but I'm going to pretend that's not the case)

If the basket is looking a little light - it's because I'd already cleaned a large bowl of them for dessert when I thought of taking a pic :)

The other thing I got on my trip to Farmboy....

Baked chicken samosas!

Last time I bought these I vowed I was going to try a samosa recipe and try to make my own. I still plan on doing this... it just wasn't happening tonight.

These are great! And they're dairy free. And baked! Although they're still a bit of carb-o-cyde. I do not care.

They're a little spicy but not too spicy.

They have lots of chicken and filling.

They're not greasy and the dough (breading?) is just a tiny bit chewy.

I have big shoes to fill when I try and master samosas!

"These are a few of my favourite (fall) things..."

2011-09-25T08:30:00.000-04:00

Well ladies and gents... I'm leaving on a jet plane. Ok, not a jet plane - but a train. But saying train just doesn't have the same effect.

Since I'm MIA for the weekend I thought I would leave you with a fall inspired post in lieu of my usual Saturday / Sunday morning breakfast post.

I may have whined and moaned about summer being over and the days getting shorter but there are things I love about fall. I just wasn't ready for the transition. I've finally made my peace with fall!

Homemade Crackers

Things I love about fall:

The smell of the leaves
Cool breezes coming in the window
Sweaters - specifically hoodies
Being able to wear my Toms
Running outside without melting
Cloudy Sundays (where I can lay on the couch and watch movies all day without feeling like I should be outside enjoying the sunshine)
Being able to use my oven again
Chai Lattes

Oatmeal Pumpkin Choc Chip Cookies

Oh, and the recipes...

Pumpkin Oatmeal
Homemade Crackers
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (and Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies)
Pumpkin Pancakes (Original and Oatmeal)
Spiced Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies (I'm sensing a cookie trend here)

And now for the recipes I'm hoping you'll see soon on A Life without Ice Cream

Apple Sauce - I'm not sure why I haven't posted this one before!
Stew - Sames goes with this one - a favourite
Chicken Chili
More Soup! You know how I love my throw together soups.
Some holiday treats...

What are your favourite things about fall?

Are you looking forward to making any recipes now the weather is cooling down?

Any requests for A Life without Ice Cream?

Dining Room Makeover

2011-09-21T19:20:00.000-04:00

This post is really more of a design post than a food post. But hey, it's the dining room so it fits right? :P

For the last few weeks ~~two months~~ I've been using my dining room table as my home office. Oh, I have an office... I just wasn't using it. My desktop computer died ~~got a horrible virus that I was too lazy to fix~~ and so I was using my laptop for a while. I formatted my computer a few weeks ago but wasn't able to access the internet. I use wireless and couldn't find the right driver. Or, ya know, didn't realize I needed to re-install the wireless adapter.

Anywho...

When I finally sat down to work on it this weekend it was remarkable simple :P

I also cleaned my office from top to bottom so I would want to be in there.

Now I have 2 working computers and can go back to having my breakfast at my desk while I read blogs and can actually work from home again from time to time. I tend to use my laptop more for blogging (on the couch) and travel.

With my office back in tip-top shape, it was time to reclaim my dining room table!

I don't actually like the table itself. I bought it in grad school and it's a cheap Ikea table I thought would be fun to stain myself. I thought it would look super cool if it were really really red. It was... for about a year. Then it got old fast.

I'm not quite ready to go out and buy a grown up dining room table so for now I will fancy this one up a bit :P

Before:

After:

Yes, I will iron now that I've made a decision :P

I realize that the table cloth is not much different - this was intentional. I really like my table cloth. I don't like that it doesn't get washed or changed as often as I'd like so I thought it would be best to have 2. Fancy that!

The process:

These picture represent the various ideas I had.

I went to the store and bought some place mats, napkins, and a table cloth for this operation. I will now be taking back the extras :)

I think this look would work better with a runner than the napkins. I might actually pick one up when I return the napkins and use it with the final look.

This one looked better in my head than on the actual table.

This one was just a little too much for me. Ok, a lot too much.

What do you think? Did I settle on the right one? Do you have a preference?

The other thing I bought was more blog-ware than kitchen-ware. It drives me bananas that my red stoneware plates (which I do love) look like crap in photos. I always think my photos would look better with a lighter coloured plate.

I just can't decide IF I want to replace my china for the sake of the blog and if I do, WHAT to replace it with.

In the meantime I bought these. I will probably get another couple of them too.

Although I have a feeling I'll be eating most of my meals off these :P

Mashed Faux-tatoes and Anti-Gravity Yoga

2011-09-20T19:00:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I made some mashed potatoes when I was making dinner (and a fabulous dessert if I so say so myself ) for a friend and for some reason it sparked a craving. I tend to only eat mashed potatoes 1x a year - Christmas. Or Thanksgiving... whichever my mom makes her own turkey for (because she'll make some dairy free mashed potatoes just for me!) Awwww...

But, you can't just go having mashed potatoes all the time. Where is the veg? I'm not the type of person who can usually eat a protein + carb + veg all in one sitting. After all, I eat 5-6 times a day so my meals are small and my snacks are like a super small meal.

So I decided to blend together my starch and veg.

I've always heard this is an amazing combination but this was my first time making it.

I will warn you, it's not mashed potatoes. It's just not. But it's close. And it's pretty awesome when you consider that you're also getting your veg in and don't have to feel guilty for those mashed potatoes :P

This seems like it would be a great way to get kids to eat cauliflower if you ask me. I don't have any of them but if I do one day I might be building my arsenal of tricks.

Mashed Faux-tatoes

2-3 medium potatoes
2 cup cauliflower
3-4 tbsp chicken stock or au jus*
1 tbsp earth balance
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp dill

Boil potatoes and cauliflower until tender.

Add ingredients. *I used the au jus right from the roasting pan!

Blend with hand mixer.

Yum!

In other news...

Monday night I tried Anti-Gravity Yoga. That's what my gym calls the yoga in the slings. As a coworker of mine asked "is that like yoga in a hammock." Why yes, yes it is! More because I did a restorative class but relaxation post was just like laying in a hammock... I kind of felt like I was being delivered to a family by a stork. Just saying...

Blog world, you may not know this about me, but I'm a bit of a klutz. Ok, I may not be a full on klutz, but I'm by no means graceful :P

The restorative class so was pretty mellow and took some time to set up so it was a bit of a shorter class than scheduled - but still really fun. Often we would use the slings to do bends and because you were supported or semi supported you could bend farther. It also helped with range of motion for some of the moves. Also there was some just plain fun movements. I actually felt myself giggle like a kid a few times because I was swinging along to twinkly music with about 15 strangers. Everyone in the class seemed to have a lot of fun.

I can't wait to try a non-restorative class to see what I can really do.

I've been true to my September Goals and doing a lot of yoga. I've tried Yin, Hot, and now Anti-Gravity. And I've done about 2 classes a week so far. I'm surprised at how quickly I've gained flexibility by doing more yoga and stretching after every workout. I'm really shocked at how quickly it's been happening. What do you know, it works!

Have you tried any different yoga or workout classes? Do you have a favourite?

Roast Chicken - A Step by Step Guide

2011-09-19T20:39:00.001-04:00

One of the bonuses of the weather getting cooler is that I can have the oven on for a few hours without making my apartment a sauna.

One of the things I miss most in the summer is being able to make a roast chicken. I usually still make a roast beef from time to time because I can do that in the slow cooker but I'm really not a fan of a roast chicken in the slow cooker. It doesn't get that crispy outside and perfect flavour.

I think I was spoiled as a kid, roast chicken is probably where my mom does her best work :P

Naturally, she has taught me her tricks over the years. Unlike my mom however, who sticks with what she knows, I like to try new twists on a recipe all the time!

Roast Chicken - A Step by Step Guide

1) Prep the bird

Allow it to defrost if frozen.
Preheat oven to 375.
Rinse thoroughly with cold water and place in a roasting pan.

2) Season the bird

Rub with olive oil or Earth Balance / butter. Sprinkle with spices.

Today's blend of spices was poultry seasoning. I also like to put some minced garlic and onion inside the bird to infuse some flavour. I went classic today because that's what I was craving. The other classic favourite of mine is olive oil, garlic and chives. When I use olive oil I like to mix the spices right in the oil and let it sit over night.

Cover the chicken with tinfoil - just not too well.

3) Baste the bird

Depending on the size of chicken it will cook for 3-4 hours (depending on the size). Every so often I like to take it out, check on it and baste with the juices. I probably do this 3 times throughout the cooking process. This keeps it moist and keeps the skin from getting too crispy. Sometimes on the first check in I'll add a little water to the bottom of the pan. This is great to use for gravy later or to use in the potatoes.

4) Enjoy the bird

Yup, it's just that easy! It's easy to tell when its done, the outside is crispy and the wings and drumsticks will practically fall off.

Let cool a few min and slice. I let mine cool for about 30 min before picking apart for lunches etc. I always like to have the wings for dinner that night - so crispy and tasty!

I was able to get Sunday night dinner, three lunches, and two breasts left over for salads this week out of one chicken. One chicken that was only $6 I might add! I also usually get a good batch of soup out of a chicken too but I used pretty much everything for the lunches.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes

2011-09-17T10:21:00.000-04:00

I do love weekend mornings!

I've been really exhausted this week. Partially because my week has been insanely busy. Partially because I think I'm fighting a cold (fingers crossed I'm either wrong or am winning). So to bookend my busy week I did a yoga class and had a couple beer to celebrate Friday. Sounds like a plan right? Well, the 45min restorative yoga class I was supposed to be going to ended up being a 75 min hot yoga class. Not that it wasn't a good workout, I just wasn't quite prepared for that much work.

So after have 2 drinks I felt like I'd had 7 so I thought I should call it a night :P

It was an early night!

And therefore was up at the crack of 7:30am. This is unheard of for me on a weekend.

But I do love being up early - when I'm rested that is. It means I can get all the things I need to do done but still relax and be lazy in the morning.

More importantly, I have time for a bitchin' breakfast!

In the history of A Life without Ice Cream, the most popular post is still The Great Pumpkin Pancake.

Although as you may have noticed, I haven't had regular pancakes in a long time. I'm all about the oatmeal pancakes because they're less refined. The the logical next step:

Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes

1 egg
1/3 cup soy milk
3 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 tsp honey
1 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning

1/3 cup quick oats
1/4 cup pancake mix

Combine 1st group of ingredients until smooth. Add in dry ingredients. Let stand for 10 min.

Note that when you make oatmeal pancakes the batter is much thicker than usual. This is not a batter that you can pour onto a frying pan. You scoop this on a frying pan and spread it out.

Cook in a frying pan on medium low heat. Note that these will take longer to cook than regular pancakes and need to be on a lower heat.

I had these with a super crisp gala apple. Just felt like the right combination for fall!

I also in enjoyed a small pot of tea... all morning long. Heaven! I have giant mugs that I use for my morning tea or coffee most of the time but when I have a pot of tea I use a much smaller mug so the tea stays warm. The best thing is the message on this mug (a gift from my grandmother)... it really captures the lazy Saturday or Sunday morning!

These shoes were made for running...

2011-09-15T21:11:00.001-04:00

Perhaps it's optimistic but I bought a much needed pair of running shoes.

I always seem to have a hard time finding shoes I like. When I first started running I bought a pair of the Nike Vomero 4s. I should mention that I had to try on about 10-15 pairs of shoes before I found these ones. I loved these shoes! I STILL love these shoes - they just have a bare spot across the ball of the foot :P

When those were getting thin I went to the Running Room and decided on a pair of the Nike Vomero 5s. I didn't like the feel of them as much but the clerk convinced me that it was probably just me being used to the other ones. It made sense so I got them.

Well, I have to admit, I've hated them from the day I put them on until... well, the other day when I finally found another pair of shoes I like :P They just always felt clunky.

I usually go with Nike because I have narrow feet... but then I found these:

Mizuno Wave Enigma

Honestly, I hadn't even really heard of this brand of shoes... but so far I like them.

And bonus... they're cute. Ok, I think they're cute. They may not be for everyone. My trainer teased me tonight about just going for anything bright and shiny :P

The only down side to my new shoes? I'm not technically supposed to be running right now. Although, I did talk to my physio tonight and we're done with the back. My back is a-ok and back to normal. Now to conquer the strange hip pain I get after I run. I've actually been instructed to run the day before or day of my physio appointment next week so she can see what the problem is. She also wants me to bring my running shoes so I can run in front of her. In the meantime I need to foam roll more.

I'm really excited to get to the bottom of this though (and finally take my new shoes out for a proper test drive).

Do you find buying fitness / running shoes difficult?

Quick and Dirty Recipe - Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

2011-09-13T21:16:00.000-04:00

First a bit about the title. Yes, quick and dirty recipes isn't the most appetizing... but I've realized they're a bit of my specialty. These are the recipes that you just whip together at a moments notice. These are not the recipes that are fine tuned over years of making them - in fact, this is the tuning process.

This is where I get a craving or a crazy idea and just whip stuff together in the kitchen. I used to do these things without measuring. Since the creation of the blog I now measure and write things down so I can share and recreate.

I love this type of recipe.

They're super quick to throw together and they don't always work. Plus, these are the recipes where I learn the most about cooking or baking.

These also tend to be my small quantity recipes. So many baking recipes make 1-3 doz cookies. Not everyone wants that many cookies in the house. I know I don't!! This is a recipe you can whip up, it makes 6 cookies and then you're done. Dessert for the family / guest / yourself :P

So, the other night, I was all too excited to have pumpkin in my house again. We all love the regular, not-so-healthy version of these cookies... but I wanted a guilt-free version.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup quick oats
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 tsp sweetener
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 egg
1/2 tsp molasses
2 tbsp mini semi sweet chocolate chips*

Combine dry. Add in wet ingredients and stir with a fork. Cook at 350 for 12 minutes.

Yes, it's that simple!

The hard part? Not eating all six of these cookies in the evening :P

But the good news:

These are soft and cake-like and healthy enough your can pretend you're just eating oatmeal :P

* A note about chocolate chips. You'll notice I always use mini chips. For me it's because I find they go farther in a recipe. You want a certain amount of chocolate in your cookie / loaf / etc but don't want too much because well, let's face it, a steady diet of chocolate isn't the best idea. I use the mini ones so I get chocolate in every bite without having to have a lot of large chips. I buy these great dairy-free semi-sweet chips at Bulk Barn.

You know it was a good weekend with this many carbs!

2011-09-12T19:31:00.001-04:00

Happy Monday everyone!

How was your weekend? Mine looked like it was going to be boring but turned out pretty awesome. I had a very "Ottawa" weekend. I went to the National Art Gallery with a great friend, walked through the park and around downtown, had a great sushi dinner, went for a yummy brunch, went shopping, and lounged by the canal reading after a leisurely bike ride (well, in the middle of a leisurely ride).

It was glorious! The weather was PERFECT!

I also managed to find some time to clean my apt, have a great training session, and make some bread! Today I'm still sore from my training on Saturday. All my "push up muscles" hurt. All of them! We're back on pushing for push ups (one of my fitness goals in gaining upper body strength) and we went to failure (when you physically cannot do another... physically - not just because you're a suck and want to stop).

Anyway, on to the bread...

I just can't seem to leave a bread recipe alone. Also, when I'm making white bread, I really can't just let it be "white bread." That's so boring! It's so - white bread!

Basically I just keep de-whiting my white bread as much as possible while still keeping it easy on the tummy.

This is as great recipe for those with a sensitive IBS tummy that can't always handle the heartiness of whole grain or whole wheat but wants to make sure they get proper fiber. As I've mentioned before, I always like to keep both white and brown bread on hand for this reason. I try to eat brown most of the time but for those days when I'm just not feeling so hot or know I've been pushing it with other food items, I can use this great white bread.

Gentle Fiber White-ish Bread

1 1/2 cup warm water
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy milk
2 tbsp earth balance (or margarine)
1 1/2 tsp salt4 cups flour
2 tsp yeast
2 tbsp ground flax

1/3 cup spelt bran*

You could use oat bran as well but spelt is easy on the tummy.

Make in breadmaker. Or, like me, make on dough cycle - cut into 2 loaves and let rise 30-60 min. This time I tried that old oven trick for rising bread. This is where you turn the oven on for a few min and then turn it off. Making sure its not too warm you let the bread rise covered in the over. This worked great and the bread was ready to bake in 30 min. And it was at the stage where when you poke it, it doesn't bounce back. My bread never seems to actually do that!

Bake at 350 for 30-35 min.

As always, I let it cool and then sliced it and put it in a freezer bag. This is becoming like second nature to me. I love having both white and brown bread in the freezer and the fact that it's homemade is making it so much better.

I even have a bag of ends and "botched slices" for when I want to make stuffing as it gets cooler. Of course, those are the ends that don't get gobbled up with Earth Balance right out of the oven... there's nothing better than those fresh baked ends!

Protein Packed French Toast

2011-09-11T10:14:00.000-04:00

The inspiration for this recipe came entirely from my personal trainer. I have a fitness and nutrition diary that the gym gives you when you sign up for training. It has a place for strength training, cardio and meals on each page. Very handy! As I've mentioned before on the blog, my trainer wanted me to increase my protein, so using the diary is a good way for me to track it.

One of my favourite breakfasts (discovered during my eat clean week) is oatmeal with scrambled eggs (1 egg and 2 egg whites). Lots of protein!

This breakfast packs the protein and is full of whole food goodness! But who wants to eat the same breakfast all the time? Not me! Breakfast is by far my favourite meal of the day... I'm going to have fun with it.

Last week while peaking through my fitness journal my trainer raised her eyebrow and said "French toast?" This of course lead to a conversation about how I make my own bread, it's full of spelt bran and flax and we're not talking about wonderbread. Yes, it's not as whole as oatmeal, but once in a while who cares. We had a good laugh and called it a day.

It stuck with me though... so I started looking at the nutritional breakdown of bread vs oatmeal. The only real difference that stuck out to me (other than bread being more refined) was that I got more protein with the oatmeal because of the eggs I had with it.

So I ramped up the protein in my french toast recipe! Perfect answer.

Protein Packed French Toast

one serving

2 slices bread

1 egg
2 egg whites
1 tsp ground flax
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp soy milk

Whisk the mix together, dip the bread and fry in a non stick pan. I do still use a little cooking spray on the pan.

I wasn't sure how the extra egg would change the taste of this recipe but it really didn't change it much at all. Win!

Love!

It's starting to smell a lot like FALL!

2011-09-08T20:28:00.000-04:00

Fall is really here!

School is in, leaves are turning, and Bath and Body works is full of amazing scents that make me hungry!

Can you tell what I got at lunch today? :P

And more importantly, I've finally accepted it and am focusing on the things I love about fall...

Pumpkin Pancakes
Pumpkin Oatmeal
Pumpkin Cookies
Chai Lattes
Sweet Potatoe Casserole
Homemade Apple Sauce
Homemade Soups...

I sense a trend...

How else can you tell it's fall?

I promise I've already opened this can and plan on making some pumpkin overnight oats tonight... and pumpkin oatmeal pancakes on the weekend :P

Confession moment: When I'm having my lounge time and just watching TV I love to light candles, makes me feel decadent rather than lazy :P

One of my tasks for the long weekend was to establish some September and Fall goals for myself.

I really do love setting goals for myself and my A-type personality tends to work well with goals and deadlines. If I don't set a concrete goal I'm a slacker - however if I aim to do something, I'll do it.

I like to set goals at the beginning of the month and especially at the beginning of the year. Since I was a student for so many years, I also feel that September is a new beginning... almost like New Years. Actually, I love it because January is just a few months away and I always use the New Years goals to re-assess my September goals, add new ones, or check in on how I'm doing with the Fall goals.

One thing about goals before I tell you mine...

I think its important that goals are specific and measurable. If your goal is "spend less" or "workout more" that's not measurable.

When I write my goals I try to ensure there is a measurable component.

So what are my fall goals? Some are immediate and some are more long term. Most of them are both. For me one of the most effective ways to change something in my life is to challenge myself with a goal, stick with it until it becomes routine. Once it's routine I just enjoy it!

Eat Cleaner
Do I eat cleaner than I did a year ago? Yes. Could I eat cleaner than I do now? Yes. Have some of my pre-eat-clean habits crept back in? Yes.

Now that we have some honestly... I've been struggling on the weekends lately. I always find it harder to keep to my 3 meals 3 snacks a day routine when I'm not at work but the last couple of weekends I've been indulging my sweet tooth a little more than I'd like. My immediate goal is to challenge myself to 1 - 2 weeks of sugar free living. (Naturally occurring sugars do not count). This is something I've been doing all week and I'm going to keep it going for a 2nd week. As a further commitment, I'm going to re-focus on eating clean and not buying Subway for lunch - this will also help with my next goal!

Budget
This is something I started doing in August but it wasn't working. The spreadsheet I'd made didn't take into account that all my expenses come out at the end of the month and since I get paid bi-weekly I need to set $ aside off each pay so I don't go in the red.

Over the long weekend I sat down and re-calculated my budget in a bi-weekly format and included information in the "expenses" and "income" for the $ I need to set aside. Ready, set, save! (I'm such a geek sometimes... I colour coded my budget)

The measurable piece of this one - use the budget! Consult with it before buying anything I'm not certain I need.

Yoga
As I'm not sure when I'll be able to start running again and how long it will take me to build strength I'm avoiding a "hard cardio" goal (Like the 5k I wanted to do in December... sigh... but maybe).

My modest goal to start out with is yoga 2x a week. This doubles my current practice so I think that's ambitious enough for now. We'll see where it goes.

Swimming
This is something I don't do right now. I keep hearing how amazing it is for the back however. I agree, I'm just not doing it. First things first, I need to buy a suit. I have a couple tankinis that I've worn on vacation but I want a one piece for fitness. This of course relates back to the budget goal.

The goal for September is to swim for fitness at least once.

Stretch after EVERY workout
Every one. No exceptions. Ok, maybe I don't need to stretch after yoga... depends on how stretched out I feel and if my angry muscles need a stretch. This is a new focus for me.

So far I've done strength training twice and played tennis once - stretched for 15-20 min after all of these exercises This is just going to have to become a normal practice for me if I'm going to avoid injury.

Try a New Fitness Class
This is one I've struggled with before. It was a goal I'd set for the spring and it appeared on my calendar for 3 months before it happened. But it did happen. So far I've tried the Hatha Yoga class and the Interval Boxing class at my gym. Loved them both! Right now I'm a little more restricted in what I can do. I've been thinking about spinning but am intimidated to try it. As for right now I'm not allowed to spin.

I've already knocked this one out of the park and tried a Yin Yoga class on Tuesday. I loved it. Well, I found it a little boring and hard to slow my mind - but I do need help with that and the long stretches were great for my back / hip.

What are your fall goals? Do you set September goals AND New Year goals?

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

2011-09-07T18:35:00.000-04:00

Did I mention that I indulged my sweet tooth a little too much on the weekend?

I have an ascending sweet tooth. As I get older I'm getting much better and "seeing it coming" too. It starts out small. I want chocolate. So I have a couple squares or treat myself to a small lindt 70% dark chocolate bar... mmm. Last week it was the tiny dark chocolate squares my work had out on the front desk. I would nab 1 or 2 on my way in from lunch - dessert. But then the craving just grows stronger.

The more I feed it, the stronger it gets...

Until you're making chocolate peanut butter cups on the long weekend...

These bad boys are a big part of the reason I'm in sugar-free mode this week and am re-focusing on clean eating. But hey, at least they're homemade! I find the best way for me to "detox" from sugar (and kick the craving) is to give up any unnaturally occurring sugar for a week or 2. That means fruit is a-ok. I also keep sweetener in my tea in the am - I'm already not a peach in the am, let's not take away my tea... This way I break the habit and only really crave sugar for the first couple of days. Once I hit a week I'm usually back to normal.

Anywho, now that I'm drooling at the thought of these (thank god I ate them all... ok, it made 6 and took me 3 days, it could have been so much worse!)

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Base:

1 cup quick oats
2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
4 tbsp Earth Balance, melted

Topping:

1/3 cup mini semi sweetened dairy free chocolate chips
3 tbsp peanut butter

Combine topping ingredients and melt. I did this in the microwave by zapping for 20-30 seconds at a time and then stirring until completely melted.

Spoon over the base while still warm and smooth out. Place in fridge to set and enjoy!

These are sweet and addictive! They cut easily if you want to portion them and they also freeze great so you can enjoy them later! Of course, you don't have to cut them and portion... you can eat the whole cup!

I love this recipe because you have so much control over the base and the top. As you can see - I like a good amount of chocolate on top. But you could do a thinner layer. You can also sprinkle things on top while the chocolate is still warm - like chopped peanuts perhaps... coconut, etc etc.

This makes 6 muffin sized cups. I really want to get one of those mini muffin tins - those would work perfectly!

Dairy-free Stuffed Pasta Shells

2011-09-06T19:00:00.000-04:00

September is upon us. Yup, it't not just flirting with us any more. It's here. The kids are back to school all around. There are also a few leaves that are trying really hard to change.

This year, September 2011, marks 10 years since my first day at McMaster. Man, does that make me feel old!

In some ways it feels like yesterday. When I think of the people, the jokes, the classes, the campus.

In other ways if feels like 30 years ago - when I think about the fact that I had hair to my butt, wore way too much black, was a half-a-pack a day smoker (ick) and really didn't eat anything green!

What would you say to your 10-years-ago-self?

I wouldn't worry so much about the cigarette hanging out of her mouth... I know she'll finally quit in a year anyway. I'd really like to tell her to enjoy dairy while she can. The end of eating dairy is about 8 months away ... "Quick! Try brie and tzatziki!" (I'd really like to know what all the fuss is about!)

10 years can change a lot of things!

Ok, enough nostalgia, on to the recipe.

Dairy free stuffed pasta. I know, all the recipes on A Life without Ice Cream are dairy free... but stuffed pasta is something that us dairy-free folks (or vegans for that matter) don't get to enjoy too often.

I get it, cheese does go wonderfully in pasta... but the idea of stuffing something with cheese-less goodies can also lead to awesome results.

A few years ago I decided I really wanted to try manicotti. After all, why do cheese eaters get to have all the fun :P

So I developed this recipe.

This time I decided to try it with stuffed shells to cut down on the amount of pasta in each serving and leave room for the yummy stuffing. Plus, I find the shells a little easier to handle than the manicotti. With manicotti I had to prop them up and try to fill them. These little guys worked great when you squeezed the ends slightly.

Bonus of less cheese - less calories and fat!

Chicken and Broccoli Stuffed Shells

1/2 box pasta shells, prepared and rinsed

2 chicken breasts, cooked and finely chopped
1/2 head broccoli, chopped
3-4 mushrooms, chopped
1 cup pasta sauce
Few shakes of hot sauce, optional

+ 3/4 cup pasta sauce for baking

Prepare shells according to the box and chop veggies and chicken while they're boiling away.

I find it easier to handle the shells if you rinse them in cold water after cooking. They won't stick (or burn your hands).

You can also use a lb of ground chicken for this. If using ground chicken cook the chicken before adding in the veg and sauce.

Combine cooked chicken and veggies in a pan with sauce. Simmer on low for 10-15 min.

I covered the mix for most of the process to keep it nice and moist.

Ideally this would be homemade sauce... this was not :) I find I don't eat nearly enough pasta sauce to actually make it. I probably go through 2 jars a year.

When the filling is done, stuff shells and place in a baking dish. Spray with cooking spray first so the shells come out easily.

Pour last 3/4 cup of pasta sauce over the shells. I added a couple of tbsps of water to the sauce to make it spread easily (and also because I was nearing the end of the jar and wanted to make sure I had enough!)

Make sure all of the shells are touching sauce or they will dry out. I used a pastry brush to spread it around a little.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 min.

Enjoy!

This makes 4-5 servings.

I found 4 shells was a perfect serving and brought it in my lunch. It also worked out to about 1/2 a chicken breast per serving so a good amount of protein.

Of course, if you want a cheesy recipe you can always grate cheese over these or, for your dairy free options, sprinkle some nutritional yeast over top. Also, if you want to make this recipe vegan, just take out the chicken and use something else for protein (like lentils, or veg protein if that's your thing).

Do you have any other vegan suggestions for this recipe?

I'm trying to expand my vegan abilities :)

Banana Peach Smoothie

2011-09-05T10:33:00.000-04:00

Since it's a long weekend, I figured a second weekend breakfast post was in order.

Yesterday morning I decided to play it light and have a smoothie for breakfast.

Perhaps I had a little too much of another recipe I'll be sharing with you in a few days :P

I'm still all about the peaches right now, so I peeled one up and added it to my smoothie.

Banana Peach Smoothie

1 cup cold water
1 scoop vanilla protein powder*
2 ice cubes
1 peach, peeled and sliced
1/2 banana, frozen
1 tsp ground flax
2 tbsp soy milk

Blend and enjoy!

I had a repeat of this today and added some strawberries for good measure!

*if you're not making this with protein powder swap out the water for soy milk and add a tsp of vanilla. Just as yum, not as much protein :)

How's your long weekend going? Any big plans for Labour Day?

Yesterday I checked out the Canadian War Museum. It was amazing, especially for a big history nerd like myself. It was also a little depressing - so I'm planning a lighter today today :)

How's this for a long weekend breakfast?

2011-09-04T09:48:00.002-04:00

Happy long weekend everyone! I hope you're having a great long weekend. So far I've been having a good one.

I put a protein spin on my oatmeal pancakes yesterday morning. I was heading to play a little tennis so I thought I might need a little more bang for my buck this morning.

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to play tennis (with the recovering injury) but I thought I'd give it a try and just be extra careful. I was careful to not run for the ball other than in actual game play and stopped twice to take a stretch break. We played for a little over an hour and I made sure I stretched for a good 20 minutes when I got home. For the rest of the day I make sure to not over do it.

The good news - even the next day I feel great!

And this breakfast was the perfect preparation for my tennis game.

Peach Oatmeal Pancakes

1 egg
2 egg whites
2/3 cup quick oats
1/2 cup pancake mix
1 tbsp ground flax
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup light soy milk

I had big plans for the extra protein in this recipe but then was only able to eat 2 out of the 3 pancakes this recipe made :P

Paired with a sliced peach this was amazing!

I'm not ready for peaches to be out of season.

Ok, let's face it, I'm not ready for summer to be over because EVERYTHING will be out of season.

Speaking of which, I'm fully planning on going to the farmer's market again this week to enjoy some more amazing fresh produce. I loved all the stuff I picked up last weekend.

Lemon Love

2011-09-02T18:20:00.005-04:00

Are you a How I Met Your Mother fan? If you haven't watched an episode I highly recommend!

Today this clip came up at work. Ok, at lunch.

Basically some of us ladies at work were venting about bad first dates. No fun. I think I'm the ruthless one out of the bunch too! I firmly believe the dating world needs a lemon law... especially if you could find a way to do it without hurting someone's feelings.

So what better way to salute the lemon law (and just generally the lemon) than to make a lemon loaf?

A friend of mine was having people over for dinner tonight. I usually love to bring a little something but have been crazy busy lately and was defaulting to a bottle of wine. Who doesn't love wine right?

But when I realized I had time after work I thought I'd whip up a lemon loaf.

Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf

*This is the recipe used for Double Duty Lemon Loaves - just made all poppy seed. Yum!

These loaves always make little volcanoes on top!

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tsp lemon extract
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cup water

Mix dry and wet separately. Add wet to dry and combine

Add in 2 tbsp poppy seeds and stir well.

Bake at 400 for 35 minutes.

Have a great long weekend folks!

Epic Cookie FAIL

2011-09-01T16:00:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's September already! Because I was in school for so long, part of me always get a little excited about September and gets geared up for setting some new goals. The first and foremost being getting back to normal and strengthening after ye olde back injury!

I'm spending some time this weekend setting goals for the fall and I'm sure I'll have a goals post to share with you over the next few days.

As for the title of this blog post... yup, epic fail last night.

When my friends and family find out about the blog the number one question I get is "how do you come up with all those recipes?" For me its trial and error. I've always been the person who cooks without a recipe and over the years I've been able to bake less tedious things (like cookies, muffins and squares) without a recipe. This tends to give me the freedom to play with ingredients and try new things. Since I'm always trying to make things dairy free or guilt-free I get creative about changing ingredients.

But, this doesn't always work.

Remember my Blondie Fail in July? The recipe that "failed" into a delicious crumbly coffee cake? This was not that kind of fail.

Sometimes I'm just struck with the urge to bake. I try to indulge these urges strategically... for instance trying a new recipe on a week night so I can bring a dozen cookies into my coworkers instead of leaving them sit and call my name all weekend in my kitchen :P

Last night I had an idea to create a new cookie. What's better than peanut butter cookies than peanut butter banana cookies!?!

I started with good intentions. This recipe would have very little sugar and no oil or butter.

Then I realized I needed a bit of oil - enter 2 tbsp Earth Balance

Ok, it needs a bit more sweet (on top of the 1 tbsp of chocolate honey I had already included).

The dough / batter / ~~whatever you want to call the hell-of-a-mess I made~~ wasn't really working with me. It was wrapping around the mixer and making a mess. I knew this was going downhill fast.

I did two test cookies. One like a PB cookie and one ball shaped cookie rolled in ground almonds. Bake.

(Side bar: isn't rolling a cookie in ground almonds a great idea!?!)

FAIL!

I added more flour - couldn't use the mixer though so I kneaded it.

Yup, I kneaded cookie dough. 2nd sign this recipe was doomed.

This time I decided to use the upgraded dough to make cookie balls and toss them in cinnamon and sugar. Genius right?

Nope.

FAIL.

The oil from the banana had been worked to its peak by this point and created some very oily cookies. Ick.

This was a rare "epic fail" for me. Typically my trial run recipes still turn out ok or pretty good, they're just not what I was hoping. This was not one of those fails. Oh well. Live it, learn it!

The good news is, this process gave me a great idea for a cookie recipe that I think actually will work! I'm going to have to give it a try over the weekend.

What are you biggest recipe fails? Bloggers - what are the biggest questions people ask you when they find out you're a blogger?