Supper worthy Salad

I could not get the olive oil taste out of my mouth last night! I tried cleaning my teeth, eating ginger,drinking water, drinking almond milk....nothing worked! I was very glad on waking to be free of it finally.

I had planned to bike to work as today is the first day of Bike to Work week www.biketoworkmetrovan.ca. But it was absolutely disgusting outside with more of the rain we've been having for what seems like weeks. I decided today was not the day and I committed to ride on Tuesday instead. Consequently, after waking and making my decision, I dozed in bed for a little too long and was running late so banana and squeeze pak almond butter were tossed in my bag to be consumed at my desk.

Lunch
Leftover chorizo pasta
I shared this with Ms MJ in the staff room and we were very impressed that it was impossible to tell that the pasta was of the rice variety vs wheat as it tasted so good. Cooking my own food is always a pleasure but sharing it with those I love is the icing on the cake (EVOO free cake, that is)

Snack
apple
crispy roasted seaweed sheets

The apple was a Gala that I bought on Saturday but it was not very sweet and I think I will revert back to my trusty Fuji's next time. A few weeks ago I purchased a giant Fuji apple that was probably 3-4 x normal size. They still had some in the store this weekend so I think I'll get another next time.
Another of my favourite snacks is the roasted seaweed sheets. They come in a small 5g package and the sheets are very thin and crisped up with olive oil and salt. They are really satisfying and cost about 50cents per pack. The big downside is the packaging though, there is way too much so I try to limit how often I eat this snack.
For more information click here www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=135 . Seaweed contains Iodine which is essential in any diet. It is added to table salt for this reason but with the increase in the use of natural sea salts and the like, some people may not be getting enough iodine so the seaweed is great for that. Personally I just like that it's crispy and salty...yum.

Chocolate
My office mate had a bag of chocolate covered blueberries and acai berries. She had me at chocolate covered.....I was going to be good and just have a couple but they were so good and so moreish and it was the dangerous time of the day (3pm) where willpower is at it's lowest and the physical need for chocolate is at it's highest. we both kept going back to the bag and I contemplated throwing it down the back of the desk but I knew that would not be enough. We caved and decided to finish the bag.

Dinner
BBQ Salmon salad

After a solid lunch and just a couple too many chocolate covered berries, dinner was planned to be light. I constructed a dinner-worthy salad of spinach, black olives, capers, avocado and shelled edamame. The main player of the salad was some barbecued salmon I bought last night. I made a quick vinaigrette from Clean Eating magazine which was exceptionally good and I think was maybe my favourite part:
Dijon Vinaigrette
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
3/4 cup EV olive oil ( I had just enough left)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp sea salt

I put it all in a tupperware container and shook it up to emulsify. Saves on washing up as no need for a whisk and then you can store it in the same container.

I used half the salmon and will recreate the salad for tomorrows lunch. I noticed that my meals have been heavy on the meat (steak, chorizo, chicken) lately so I'm aiming to go lighter with fish and vegetarian food for the next couple of days.
I have attempted to go vegetarian for a few weeks before but found it challenging seeing as I can't eat eggs or dairy but I may try it again soon, maybe for a week or so.

Cooking Confessional

I had finally got all the ingredients I need to make my favourite smoothie from the Thrive Diet by Brendan Brazier. Brendan is a professional IronMan Triathlete who regularly logs 40 hours of exercise a week. He is completely vegan yet still manages to be at the top of his field. I highly recommend the book as it talks a lot about stress management and the importance of the right type of diet as well as how he manages to get all his nutrients from a raw diet that is meat, dairy, wheat, sugar, gluten, soy and corn free. Amazing. I could not follow this eating style 100% and Brendan does not try to impose that on readers as he knows it quite extreme but there are lots of recipes in the book and the smoothies are particularly good.

Chocolate Almond Smoothie
1 banana
2 fresh dates
1 cup cold water
1 cup ice
2 tbsp almond butter
1 tbsp hemp protein
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1 tbsp cocoa powder or carob powder

Throw it all in the blender. It's so thick and chocolaty, the perfect way to start the day and also a great for post workout refuelling.

I had it for breakfast in preparation of my cardio kickboxing class I was attending at 11am. Thank goodness I was fuelled. The class involved, among other things, 100 sit ups in a row and doing squats while carrying someone on your back. When I got home I was starving and was very happy to have leftovers from last night ready for instantaneous hunger zapping. I was so hungry, I didn't even heat it up but it still tasted good.

Snack
Gelato
I met a friend for tea and talking at 3pm and we chose Brazza on Lonsdale as it's a nice cosy place AND they sell delicious gelato. They serve loads of dairy free ones which makes me happy and I chose my usual 2 scoop combo; 1 scoop mango, 1 scoop Belgian Dark Chocolate. Hard to believe there is no dairy in these, they are very decadent and indulgent.

Dinner
Pasta hotpot with Chorizo

Once I got home, I started to make what would be my meal for the evening as well as tomorrows lunch. I did not follow a recipe but knew it would taste good purely because it contained Chorizo. I cooked some rice pasta and while that bubbled away, I browned the chorizo, added chopped red pepper, garlic, a tin of chopped tomatoes, broccoli and sundried tomatoes. I added the cooked pasta and then mixed in some parsley. I served myself a portion and sprinkled with rice parmesan and liberally applied hot sauce. There were plenty of leftover so I texted Ms MJ to tell her I would bring lunch to work for both of us tomorrow. I have a bottle of hot sauce stashed at work for this kind of occasion.

After eating, I had enough time to make something to take to my book club meeting later on. I had a delicious brownie recipe from another friend and they were the most decadent rich brownies I've ever had so I got the oven preheated and assembled all the ingredients.
you can find the recipe here www.christmas.organizedhome.com/recipes/gifts-in-a-jar/sand-art-brownies. I had all the dry ingredients mixed and had added the eggs and vanilla essence (tip: always use the real stuff, artificial vanilla is not even comparable). The only thing left to add was the vegetable oil. No wonder these are really decadent brownies, there is a LOT of oil in them! I reached into the cupboard to find I only had about 1/3 of the oil I needed. Arggghhh...what to do? I had no time to go and buy more and the rest of the ingredients would be ruined if I left them til tomorrow as the eggs were already mixed in. So....I pondered over whether to use the other oil I had...Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO for short). I knew it had a pretty strong taste and was not likely to be suitable but at this point the brownies were destined for the garbage before they got anywhere near the oven so I had nothing to lose and maybe the vast amount of chocolate and sugar in the recipe would cover up the distinct EVOO taste. So I put it in, finished mixing and poured the batter. It looked really good but I could definitely smell the EVOO. Maybe the cooking process would eliminate it.
They finished cooking and looked divine. As they cooled, I cut out a gooey, decadent mini square for sampling. Mmmm, chocolately goodness....and a very clear bitter olive oil after taste. Dammit! 'Twas clearly not meant to be although brownies were apparently in my destiny as the book club hostess, Ms KC, has made brownies too! I did not mention my failed attempt but did tell the group that I had a funny story that I would be posting to my blog tonight. This is it. I'm sure you will all remind me for a long time to come...maybe as long as the olive oil after taste is going to last in my mouth.

Hooray for Hummus

I generally do not plan my weekend meals as I have time during the days to decide what I want to cook and can go out and buy what I need during the day. Today I actually did do some advance planning but still left some details open.

Breakfast
Overnight oatmeal
Of course, I had to plan this meal as it was started on Friday night. I again used almond milk for the soaking liquid. I tried to determine how the oatmeal is different from the cooked variety and the best way I can describe it is that it's more like rice pudding in texture. It's smooth and mushy but still has some structure. I added dates and cinnamon but I think next time I make it I will soak the dates in with the oatmeal overnight and see how that turns out.

Lunch
Mushroom and barley soup
I prefer to make my own soups but I saw this at Real Canadian Superstore and it caught my eye. I heated it up and ate it with some crackers. It was good but I could tell it was from a can. Homemade soup is always better but today I did not have time between the gym and my other errands for the day.

Snack
Masala Hummus and crackers
I love hummus. I love curry. Curry flavoured hummus=genius? I saw this also at Real Canadian Superstore and wondered if it would indeed taste so right or so wrong. It was so so right...why did I not think of it myself?

Dinner
peppercorn steak with balsamic caramelised onions and oven baked baby potatoes

I had taken some steaks (courtesy of Mr and Mrs J) out of the freezer on Friday night but had not decided what to make with them until my guest, Ms K, arrived at 7pm. I began to list off some possible recipes but got no further than the first one suggested. I have made it before and I was secretly hoping she would choose it, which she did. Great minds (or should that be palates) think alike. We sipped wine and chatted as I stirred the onions and Ms K crushed peppercorns for the steak in my pestle and mortar. I served the dish with wilted garlic spinach. Simple, tasty and bright green.

Suitably stuffed, we retired across the room (a distance of about 6 feet) to the couch to continue our evening over a box of mint thins for dessert. They were not After Eights but pretty similar except the chocolate was a little thicker. No problem there.

Sushi Surprise

After Thursday night's overindulgence, I needed Fridays food to be a bit healthier.

Breakfast
Apple and green tea with honey

A small breakfast, likely because I was still going on calories from Thurs night. I was still thinking about the chocolate fountain too.

Lunch
Sushi

Several of my co-workers headed out to the nearby sushi restaurant, Genji, for a quick lunch. I was about to leave the building when I was called upon to assist as a first aider as someone playing badminton had twisted their ankle. After ice and a tensor bandage were applied, I hoped I still had time to eat with my co-workers who had gone ahead not knowing where on earth I had disappeared to. I raced over there and luckily, I know what I want to eat so don't have to waste time deliberating over a menu. I chose miso soup, avocado roll and split an order of tuna and salmon sashimi with Ms MJ. It was all good, it always is there. Their avocado is always perfect and my co-workers and I determined that they were particularly buttery. I wonder who their supplier is? another co-worker ordered the bento box and each day there is a "surprise" component. Today it was hard to tell what it might be. It looked somewhat like a deep fried sea urchin about the size of a ping pong ball. Ms MJ was brave enough to try and it and passed some on to me too. It turned out to be a deep fried ball of mashed sweet potato and yam. It was really rather good and I would order it again. I have never even noticed it on the menu before so I was really happy to have tasted something new.

Dinner
Leftover chicken curry (yes, again)
I went for a workout after work. It was a stellar workout and I sweated out at least half of Thursdays list in the process. I didn't get home 'til close to 8pm and was very happy to know that I had one more portion of my curry left that I heated up right away and tucked into. I know I have eaten this meal 3 times in the past 3 days but it was really delicious AND I hate wasting food. I rarely cook a meal that just serves one.It's so much more satisfying to make a big pan full of food, isn't it? I lead a very busy life and so leftovers are essential and they always prompt curiosity and questions from those around me and I love talking about food so that works for me!

Today I have felt very inspired as a result of the event I was at last night. Matt Hill and Stephanie Tait were guest speakers at the event. They are the founders of www.runforoneplanet.com. They ran all around North America for one year, covering 11000 miles which means they ran a marathon every day for a year. Yes you read that correctly. They are from Vancouver and did a lot of their run training in North Van. I was lucky enough to chat with them before their presentation and WOW were they inspiring! The goal of their mammoth task was to raise awareness about being environmentally kind and helping our abused planet. I am inspired to do something big, bigger than I am, but I am not sure what yet. I think I will start small for now, I already do a lot of green things but I could do better and will. This weekend I am starting my vegetable garden and I'll ponder about bigger things as I dig and sow my seeds.

Culinary Confessional

There are two posts today as I didn't manage to get Thursdays post up in time.
This is Thursdays recap:
Breakfast
overnight no cook oatmeal
Technically it started on Weds night as I prepared my breakfast. Ms MJ had recently discovered that you can prepare oatmeal by soaking it overnight in milk or water and then in the morning it's ready to go, no cooking required. I was keen to try it and used almond milk as my soaking liquid. It all went to plan and when I checked on it in the morning, it looked well and truly ready. I added some chopped dates, chopped apple, cinnamon and honey. MMmmmMMM it was exceptionally good, I'm definitely hooked and really like the quickness of it and having less washing up to do.

Lunch
Leftover chicken curry
I was on a course and as predicted sandwiches were the lunch provided so I was happy to have bought my own leftover curry. I located a man who had access to a microwave and hey presto...lunch is served.

The rest of the day is all lumped into one list because, well, that's the best representation of how it occurred. I finished the training course, went home for about 30 mins, back to work for an evening event and then to the Raven pub after and then stayed over at Ms P's house overnight. I'm not going to include the amounts of each food. I contemplated not posting anything for this day but I committed to write about what I ate and...yes, I ate all this:


baked beans
rice
soy cheese
marshmallows covered in chocolate from chocolate fountain
pineapple covered in chocolate from chocolate fountain (a surprisingly delicious combo)
mini cupcake (from Cupcakes)
beer
edamame (steamed soy bean pods)
mini ribs
red wine
ginger lemon cookies
dark mint chocolate
Halvah
Pepperoni
Salami

And that was Thursday. It was a lot of fun but Friday needs to look a leetle bit different.

Curry Craving

Last night I was so tired and went to bed earlier than I had in weeks. I was hoping it was just tiredness and not illness but on waking I was even groggier but as always, I commit to get up, shower and dress to see how I really feel. I did all that and still felt groggy. My head was heavy and my eyelids like lead. Was this payback from all the wheat I ate/drank on Monday? If so, I only had myself to blame. I suspected however, it was just fatigue post-race so the plan today was to eat for energy. That means no processed foods, high quality protein and lots of fluid.

Breakfast
Instant oatmeal
Due to the aforementioned grogginess, I was running late again and did not eat breakfast at home. I have a stash of instant oatmeal packets at work for this occasion and a quick boil of the kettle provided my morning sustenance and my all important green tea hit. Technically I fell at the first hurdle with my goals today by eating the instant oatmeal as it is somewhat processed but it's not got additives or stuff added and it's still inherently a grain, just rolled out a lot.

Lunch
Tuna rice mix
I threw together an assortment of things for lunch. Brown rice, avocado, canned tuna and hot sauce. I actually love this lunch but usually I make it with salmon for the calcium hit seeing as I don't do dairy. It's clean, tasty, very balanced with carbs, fat and protein and most importantly.....there's hot sauce!
My hot sauce of choice is Franks Red Hot although I haven't tried many others really but I'm totally satisfied with Franks so why look elsewhere?
My friend and co-worker Ms MJ had a huge bag of snap peas with her so I tucked into them too and as we chatted I accumulated quite a sizeable pile of snap pea pod ends and then proceeded to throw them one by one across the room into the huge garbage can hoping I did not accidentally spear anyone who walked in mid throw.


Dinner
Chicken Curry on Baked Potato
I had defrosted some chicken thighs overnight and had been thinking all day which direction I wanted to go in. I opted for a curry seeing as the weather has been distinctly un-Spring like and more November like so comfort food was where my craving was at. I knew I had all the ingredients I needed except a curry paste to base my sauce on so I stopped at the grocery store on the way home. Who knew curry paste was so expensive? This one set me back $45. Well, technically the paste was only a few dollars but I walked out of the store $45 poorer but with a bag jammed full of other food purchases including spicy chorizo sausage, Yogi chai rooibos teabags, cocoa powder and canned artichoke hearts...all staples in the cupboard Chez Sally.
I was very happy to discover that the store now stocks organic crystallised ginger in the bulk section. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this stuff and previously had only found one pre-packaged version which, while very tasty, was quite pricey at $3.99 for a 3.5 oz bag. The bulk ginger was the same price but for 5.5oz which basically means I will be eating more of it from now on.
Back at home I set to work on dinner by first putting my baked potato in the microwave for 10 minutes to pre-soften before putting it in the oven to crisp and fluff up. It's not quite the same as cooking a potato slowly and at low heat for hours but I did want to eat my curry before midnight.
As that was in progress I chopped the onion into wedges and fried them in my dutch oven briefly before adding the quartered (boneless and skinless) chicken thighs.Most people use chicken breast for curry but I prefer the richer flavour and texture of the thighs. I put the curry paste in as well as some tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, frozen peas and carrots and a mini can of coconut cream. it all simmered away until ready to serve when I added some spinach and fresh cilantro leaves as well as a little bit of spelt flour to thicken the sauce a touch. The curry was a success although not spicy in the slightest but that didn't bother me today, I just needed big flavour and I got it.
As usual I made a big batch and so have enough for lunch tomorrow and another spare portion too. I might not need it as I am on a course all day where lunch is provided but that usually means sandwiches with cheese and mayo and of course, bread. My triad of allergies/ intolerances all rolled into one delicious, mouthwatering temptation on a platter. They key to success here? Assume there will be nothing I can eat and take my own food. And hope they have a microwave. My curry was good but I have no desire to eat it cold.

In case you were wondering, I did consume some chocolate too. MJ shared her last square of Lindt Dark Orange Intense with me mid morning. She is a true friend. I also had the last few chocolate covered pomegranate seeds from yesterday although in order to get them, I had to crawl under my desk, move my desk drawer unit out and stick my hand through a very small hole for cables to get the packet. My office mate accidentally threw the packet down the back of the desk yesterday in her attempt to not eat the whole lot mindlessly as she worked. Unfortunately she misjudged the throw and assumed they were gone forever. With some verbal direction from above the desk, I was able to retrieve the packet and pull it through the hole and we both tucked into the salvaged treasure.

Berry bonanza

The day after the race and back to normal eating. It felt like Monday all day due to the long weekend and although it threw me off a bit, I soon got over that. It's always a nice feeling to know you are a little bit closer to the weekend and all the possibilities that holds.

I haven't been proper food shopping all week, just going meal to meal, so today's food was a bit of a mish mash of whatever was in the house.

Breakfast
Smoothie
I was running a little late for work as I was pretty tired on waking due to yesterday's exertion and adrenalin high so breakfast was quick. I was going to have my usual of banana and nut butter but I thought of my blog and how many times that meal is on there and I felt a little boring so I whipped out my blender and made a very random smoothie of strawberries, banana, frozen blueberries picked last summer, almond milk, almond butter, cocoa powder and hemp protein (it's about the only protein powder that I can stand the taste of-i.e. it has no taste). One of my favourite smoothies is from the Thrive Diet book and it's chocolate almond. When I next make it, I'll post the recipe. Today I made a poor imitation of it as I did not have all the ingredients and the strawberries really needed using up. The resultant smoothie, although healthy and nutritionally balanced was not the most inspiring way to start the day. But, I'm happy I used up my strawberries and got lots of antioxidants from my concoction.

Mid morning snack
Chilled Gala apple with cinnamon peanut butter squeeze pak
I prefer my apples chilled. I also prefer to slice them but did not have a suitable knife to do this so I took a bite and then squeezed the nut butter onto the open flesh and then took another bite. Repeat, repeat, repeat. I ran out of apple before I ran out of the nut butter so just ate it straight out of the squeezy pak for maximum usage and indulgence.


Lunch
Leftover chicken/cranberries/onion etc from Sunday night
I put it all on a plate at work and put it in the microwave. It was a much larger lunch than usual and so I decided I would have a smaller evening meal as a result. I was mightily impressed with the standard of my leftovers today though and had a good chat with my co-worker, who was also eating lunch, about balsamic vinegar and all it's wonderfulness.

Chocolate fix
I did not have any of my own chocolate on hand today (I'm not counting the cocoa powder in my smoothie as eligible) but as luck would have it, my office mate had purchased some dark chocolate covered pomegranate seeds on her break and placed them within range at exactly 2:30pm when I was starting to experience withdrawal symptoms. The universe really does conspire to make me eat chocolate every day. What can I do but surrender to my fate?


Dinner
Spinach Salad with tuna, avocado, potato, capers and cranberries
As planned, dinner was light and fast. I got back from my workout at the gym at 7pm and overdue for eating. The cranberries and potatoes were leftover from lunch and the avocado had reached ripeness about 2 mins before I cut it open. This was a good salad, very summery in the hopes of inspiring some equally summery weather.