Summer Solstice

Another weekend comes, another weekend goes. This blog is full of false advertising because on days I don't post what I eat, I eat a lot. A lot a lot, if you know what I mean. I went to a wedding yesterday and I really did some damage at the dessert table. There is no photographic evidence, thank goodness!

Today I felt really great about everything I ate, until I was waiting for these photos to post and then I ate two spoonfuls of peanut butter! I think that's my own fault for not having enough protein throughout the day. This healthy eating thing is tough!

So after our busy, hectic day yesterday, I wanted to do nothing more than rest and relax. I began the day by sustaining myself with Sunday Morning's very best inclusion:

And I made a Green Monster for breakfast. This is what it all looks like pre-blend!

It contains 1 banana, 2 cups of spinach, 1 spoonful of peanut butter, and 1 cup of milk.

For lunch, I decided to have another breakfast item. I've been enjoying the blog Yoga is Yummy and this is one of Polly's favourites. Simple oat bran with a sliced peach on top! No milk, no sugar, no cinnamon even - just plain delicious cereal and fruit. This was made with 1/2 cup of oat bran with 1 3/4 cup of water. I really enjoyed this.

I spent the afternoon napping and, upon waking, had a bowl of cherries. The idea of these cherries was the only thing that got my head off that pillow!

I also polished off the last little bits of my jar of almond butter. No worries - earlier today I bought a new jar!

For dinner, I made Cumin Rice with Eggplant and Peas. I had it with a side of steamed carrots and a glass of wine (not pictured).

And for dessert, I lugged this giant bar of Dark Chocolate out of my freezer. I wonder how long it will last around here?

I find the healthy eating to be especially difficult on Fridays and Saturdays. I get out of my weekly routine and almost kind of binge! It's not healthy, going from extreme health to extreme un-health. I am working on striking a good balance, but it's taking a while! I try not to beat myself up too much. I mean, having four desserts at a wedding is normal, right? *everyone reading this now nods their heads in unison*

Ok, well, maybe not.

But I'm trying! And I know I am trying new foods, eating more spinach in the last two months than I have in the last two years combined!, and eating more fruits, vegetables and less preservatives. Yes, there are dessert binges, but I'm not perfect. That's just life.

I am now going to get a giant glass of water and go watch Catch and Release, a library DVD. Tomorrow should be a busy day at work, so I need to rest while I can!

Blah

I am still sick! My cold seems to have migrated from my head to my lungs. Around 4:00 am this morning, I gave up on the idea of sleep altogether. It is weird and a bit creepy to be up so early. I called out sick to work again and have slept off and on all morning. Sleep really does wonders and reminds me that I need to make sure I get in my 8 hours every night as well as my vitamins (I think that slipping off the vitamin bandwagon over the weekend, as well as being dehydrated from the bike ride, is what pushed my body over the edge and made it susceptible to this cold!).

Today I have really been craving the carbs! I also got my period today (oh yes, I am going there on a public blog!), so it is just all sorts of fun happening in this body right now.

Around 5:00 am (ugh), I had some whole wheat toast with peanut butter along with a mug of green tea. This toast really hit the spot!

Somewhere around 8:00 am, I had a Green Monster. It contained:

• 1 banana
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 kiwi
• 1 spoonful of flax meal
• 2 handfuls of spinach

Then the Carb Monster that lurks inside of my body decided to rear its ugly head! The only thing that appealed to me was some plain wheat crackers. I had a bowl...

and possibly a second.

For lunch, I had an open-faced grilled cheese and tomato sandwich with a glass of guava juice.

And two squares of Lindor milk chocolate (no photo because I popped those suckers into my mouth too fast!)

Aside from the GM, all of this food looks so blah and boring, eh? Where is the colour? I will try to eat lots of fruits and veggies for the rest of the day. When I am sick, I am really caught in the middle between wanting to eat as healthfully as possible to help restore my body and wanting to succumb to my cravings and eat what makes me temporarily happy, like carbs and chocolate. I think I am doing a fair job of balancing between the two, but I really could use, I don't know, a carrot or something.

When you are sick, do you try to eat healthy, or do you eat what makes you happy even if it's unhealthy?

Well, now I am drinking some black tea with honey, lemon and milk and I will probably check out the world of online celeb goss! We are supposed to get a thunderstorm this afternoon, and that would really make this picture complete.

I shall return later this evening, hopefully with a picture of a carrot!

Almost Summer (and the living is sweet)

The meal was so memorable that I had to post some photos here from Friday night's Keg dinner.

My giant glass of wine:

And fajitas! Fajitas are fun, although it can be tricky figuring out how much "stuffing" you have in relation to the number of shells in order to have a continuous shell to stuffing ratio. Stressful!

Anyhow, today I got the eating back on track! And had a 5 hour bike ride to boot.

I started out the day with a Green Monster and only a Green Monster. I needed to detox!

It contained:

• 1 banana
• 1 cup of 1% milk
• 1 kiwi
• 1 scoop of hemp protein powder
• 2 smallish handfuls of spinach

It was quite a bit thicker than usual, I am guessing from the kiwi? The protein powder helped keep me full for about 4 hours and then I had an early lunch. For lunch, I had some leftover greek pasta salad (made with whole wheat noodles, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, feta cheese and a homemade vinegar/oil dressing), topped with some homemade hummus, and with a side of cherries.

We then embarked on a long bike ride (I purposely kept my helmet on to give this photo credibility!)

We ended up making it to Harbourfront, this cute area by the water in downtown Toronto. I can't believe we rode all the way downtown, and I can't believe it only took 45 minutes! We rewarded ourselves with a stop at a patio overlooking the water. I had a frappucino-like beverage with whipped cream! Hubs ordered a Corona and is doing an elaborate flipping gesture in order to insert a lime into it? I don't drink beer and am unfamiliar with its rituals.

We also ordered bruschetta. I had one piece.

We then rode our bikes to The Beaches area of Queen Street East and walked around a bit. I was surprised to be hungry again so soon, but I suppose that constant bodily motion will do that to a metabolism (I am very unfamiliar with this!). I had packed this Vel bar for a snack. It was excellent!

We eventually made our way home and I relaxed for a bit before starting dinner. I had some iced coffee (this had black coffee, ice, and about 1/4 cup of milk). I am reading In Defense of Food. Review to soon come!

For dinner, I had steamed asparagus, more leftover pasta salad, and a morningstar garden burger with some salsa. I am slowly working my way through the different brands of veggie burgers in the health food section of Loblaw's. I really liked Amy's, but these are delicious too (and cheaper!).

And for dessert, 1/2 of a mango, 1 kiwi, and a handful of blueberries.

It's been an excellent weekend. I love summer. The best part is that it's not even officially summer yet. This is the best time of the year, hands down.

Muffin Tops

I am writing this with a warm, fresh-from-the-oven blueberry muffin in my mouth. I don't want it to end! Holy cow, are they ever good. Moment of silence, please.

Thank you.

Well this was quite a good day! You will soon see why...

For breakfast, I had one slice of the sunflower seed loaf with jam, a hard-boiled egg, and a Green Monster made very simply with:

• 1 banana
• 1 cup of milk
• 2 cups of spinach

I am all about the simple. This was one of my favourites, probably because the full banana made it thick and sweet and there wasn't any protein powder or flax to make it a bit more bitter. Very tasty.
For a morning snack, I brought about 3/4 cup of 1% cottage cheese with some sliced strawberries and blueberries. The combination of strawberries and blueberries makes me think of summer! Now if only Mother Nature would realize that summer will be here next week so she should start ACTING like it's summer. Stay tuned 3 weeks from now when I complain about the heat.
I am on a major salad kick these days. There is nothing I'd rather have than a salad for lunch. It takes a while to eat and is full of such a variety of foods. What else can compare? This salad was made with the usual conglomeration of vegetables, along with walnuts, sliced figs, feta, and fig balsamic dressing.
Then I went all crazy on my lunch break and got my hair cut! This was today's impulsive action. I have had passing thoughts about getting a hair cut and then, all of a sudden, I knew I had to do it! I knew I had to do it AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I get this way with haircuts and books. Sometimes, I just hear about a book and need to read it AS SOON AS POSSIBLE so I run out to the bookstore and pay full price for a book that I usually only half-read. Gah! It is tough being me. At least I am kind of cute. And, obviously, modest.

Once I came down off my HAIR HIGH, I ate an apple. No picture. I had other, more important things on my mind!

For dinner, I kept it light with a toasted sandwich made with hummus, tomato, spinach and cucumber, along with a sliced carrot and cucumber to dip in a tablespoon of raw almond butter.

I kept it light because I knew, beyond all reasonable doubt, that I would be making blueberry muffins from scratch this evening and that one, possibly two, of these muffins would end up in my belly. Indeed, they did.

These muffins are AMAZING and so simple to make! I will now write out the recipe to:

ROBYN'S SCRUMPTIOUS MUFFINS, NOW STARRING BLUEBERRIES

As great as it would be to make these all year round, they are the very best when made with fresh blueberries. I found some fantastic ones at the market today.

To make 9 big crazy muffins:

• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line muffin tray.

2. Combine flour, sugar, salt and powder. Place oil in a measuring cup; add egg and enough milk to make it one cup. Mix this with the flour mixture. Fold in blueberries.

3. Fill muffin cups and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

You will not be disappointed! It is not a modified-for-health recipe. Sometimes, it is just nice to eat something that tastes like grandma made it, y'know?

Well it has been an exciting day, what with hairs being removed and muffins being baked. I am pooped!

Temptations

Today has been a day full of temptations. We had yet another birthday party at work (what is up with spring birthdays?) but there was only ice cream and chips. The Rolo ice cream was looking pretty good, but I didn't have any. I don't like being that person who doesn't participate, but I feel like my tastes are changing. This is weird. Hubs went grocery shopping today and brought back a Mississippi Mud Pie. The picture on the box looked amaaaaazing. But the ingredient list? Was gigantic and full of Frankenstein words. And 1/8th of the pie was 380 calories. That isn't too palatable. If only I hadn't read the box! Knowledge is power...or is it?

I started the day with a Green Monster. It contained:

• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup of guava juice. This was an exciting development.
• 1/2 banana
• 2 cups of spinach
• 1 Tbsp of flax meal

The juice really sweetened this up and I could taste the guava. Humina.

I had this with two slices of Ezekiel with cinnamon raisin peanut butter. Very good.

For a snack, a medjool date and a few pecans and cashews. Oh, the damage I could do if left alone with a box of medjool dates!

I had another salad for lunch. This one had spinach, carrots, peppers, cucumber, tomato, one boiled egg, hummus, raisins, and pumpkin seeds with fig balsamic dressing.

I forgot to take a picture of my 3:30 apple! But I think you know what this looks like. I also had a coffee, which I nursed during the birthday party like a big old party pooper!

For dinner, hubs made spaghetti. He put some mushrooms and peppers in the sauce. I had this sprinkled with some parmesan and paired with a glass of red wine! I really need to incorporate more red wine into my...entire life.
For dessert, the last of my chemical chocolate with some comic relief!

Now, I am drinking some peach white tea I bought at the health food store today. We are about to watch He's Just Not That Into You, one of the very few "chick flicks" I can convince hubs to watch with me. Later!

Nut Fiend

Whoops! I never got around to posting last night's meal starring spinach noodles. I got side-tracked by one husband, a baseball game, and tying up disposable knives and forks in napkins with hemp string for a friend's large wedding celebration happening in a few weeks. It was a wild Friday night, to say the least. It was so cute to watch the hubs help me. He is not the most dexterous of folks, but he really put in a lot of effort to help me. I hope that the wedding attendees appreciate his craftiness!

Last night's meal was delicious. Spinach noodles taste exactly like regular old spaghetti noodles. I should have realized that! But it was still fun to eat green noodles.

I cut up a ton of veggies including asparagus, zucchini, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, and mushrooms and marinated them in about 2 Tbsps of olive oil and a capful of lemon juice. I roasted them in the oven for about 45 minutes at 350 F.



I sprinkled about 2 Tbsps of parmesan cheese on top.  C'est magnifique!

For dessert, I purchased this dark chocolate bar from The Big Carrot. I liked that it was sugar-free, but I was not a Smart Shopper because I failed to look at the ingredient list until I got home. Well, the sugar was replaced with maltitol. Artificial sweetener!!!

I had a couple of chunks, though, and it was pretty dang tasty. I couldn't tell it was artificially sweetened. At some point yesterday, I did experience some weird stomach cramps, but I thought it was from all of the nuts I've been eating (I have been a little nut fiend lately! Maybe that should be my new nickname. "Yo, where is nut fiend at? Oh, she's updating her flog (food + blog)"). In any event, I wonder if my stomach cramping was due to the maltitol. I kind of hope it was, so I can continue to prove that artificial sweeteners are the work of the devil! Perhaps that is a a slight exaggeration.

What made wrapping knives and forks in napkins all night bearable, was some delicious coffee. This little nut fiend can't get enough of coffee!

Well, this morning I am heading away for a bachelorette cottage weekend. To prepare for such an event, I have steadied myself with a Green Monster and half of an orange chocolate scone. This GM contains the usual:

• 1 cup of milk
• 1/2 banana
• 2 strawberries
• 2 cups of spinach
• 1 scoop of hemp protein powder

I will try to continue taking pictures of my eats this weekend. This will be a true challenge but I think I am up for it!

Organic bliss where you'd least expect it!

Please excuse the time on this post. I was very clever and uploaded the photos from my camera (takes forever!) and then saved this blog draft while I went out shopping at Walmart. You would not believe the awesome deals I scored tonight! But I will save those for tomorrow's post.

This morning began with my good buddy, the Green Monster. It's getting to the point where I feel I need one of these everyday. Either one of these or a big, green salad. I think that officially makes me a health nut, doesn't it?  This GM is composed of:

• 1/2 banana
• 4 strawberries
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 scoop of hemp protein powder
• 2 big handfuls of spinach

I had it with one of my homemade blueberry scones which I had frozen from last week's batch.

I threw caution to the wind and decided to make a cup of green tea once I got to work. It wasn't cold or rainy or anything, I just felt like a little pick-me-up.
For a snack, I had some strawberries...
And a few cashews and walnuts.
For lunch, we had a pizza party at work. If you raised $25 for our annual walkathon (I work for a charity), then you got to partake. I brought a salad but had one small slice of veggie pizza. This salad is your basic mix of spinach and vegetables with some feta cheese, goji berries, raisins, and walnuts. I had a tiny bit of a sundried tomato and oregano dressing on this.
For an afternoon snack, a good old 3:30 apple. I arrived home from work to my man cooking meat in the backyard. He works best when dealing with an open flame! I did not have any of the angus burgers he was cooking. I had another one of my overly-processed yet satisfyingly delicious sweet italian "sausages" with some grilled veggies, some leftover bean salad, and two slices of whole grain bread. This filled me up and yet I had a sweet tooth I couldn't shake! I had one of these: I bought these because of the packaging. I'm being honest! "A taste of life" sounds...tasty. I want some of that.

This definitely appeals to my new age/hippie food side. The ingredient list isn't half-bad...

Although there are some weirdo words in there. It's kind of amazing how much soy is in EVERYTHING.
They aren't too bad, but I wouldn't buy them again.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow. It's my first half-day Friday at work (each summer, we get Friday afternoons off!) so I am going to hit up The Big Carrot, my favourite health food store, as well as my local farmer's market which officially begins the season! I anticipate a great day of food ahead.