Blend, Baby, Blend and an Impromtu Contest! July 17, 2009

It was so dark out today! Whenever I went to take a picture, the sun was very well hidden, and it kept threatening to start raining (spitting) but never quite came. Or I may have simple changed locations before the rain actually came in some cases.

Anyways, a blender action shot for breakfast. That monster contained a mango, chia seeds, and a whole lot of collard greens.

For lunch I had a salad mess containing cucumber, asparagus, carrot, red pepper and tomato with a Peach Bourbon BBQ sauce topping.

And in the afternoon half a pint of raspberries and a banana dissappeared.

I went to Whole Foods today for the first time in a couple of months, and spent some time browsing, which resulted me in sending too much money, but ending up with lots of fun new things to try. One of those things was a hunk of Marti cheese, which is a raw ewe’s milk cheese that to me tastes kinda like a cross between parmesan and muenster (aka pretty awesome). I used it as a topping for my dinner, a big bowl of blended soup containing zucchini, carrot, lots of red pepper, a couple small dates, thyme, sage, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

And some honeydew for dessert.

Another Whole Food purchase that I just tried is Stash Mint green tea powder. It’s made of regular tea leaves that are ground superfine so they dissolve instantly in cold water for iced tea. Unfortunately, I’m really not a fan, I even dumped out the rest of that glass. Though to be honest, I probably should have known I wouldn’t like it given my distaste for matcha green tea. So if you do like matcha, I say give it try, you’ll probably love it

So how about a quick, impromptu mini contest? If you do like matcha, or are just curious, leave a comment by Sunday night and I’ll randomly choose 3 people to mail a few packets of Stash Mint Green Tea Powder. I’d like to see some of you readers come out of the woodwork!

All around the mulberry bush July 5, 2009

I was semi-starving when I got home from work this morning so I quickly grabbed a tomato, sliced it up, and covered it in leftover cheese sauce from yesterday. Excellent combination.

Then I made the sad discovery that I had accidentally left out the quart of strawberries I got at the farmer’s market yesterday, and a whole bunch of them had gone moldy. So I nibbled on some while sorting through them and trimming up the good ones. Then I used a few as a topping for another bowl of chia oatgurt. I didn’t mean to fill the bowl quite so full, but there was so little left in the jar I just wanted to finish it. There’s also a big spoonful of CHu on there too, fantastic dish.

However, I made up for the lost strawberries by making use of the 20 minute gap between starting a load of laundry and moving it to the dryer. I channeled my inner urban forager and filled up a 1L container with fresh, delicious mulberries from the tree in front of my apartment building. I’ve always thought mulberries don’t start until August, so I was very please when my roomie alerted me to the fact that the sidewalk was littered with them. And there are still plenty of unripe berries on the tree, so there as far more where these cam from.

I snacked on a few wonderful handfuls in the afternoon. I love mulberries so much! I remember sleeping over at my grandparent’s farm and picking them with bare feet, and my grandma helping me to scrub the stains off my feet afterwards.

Along with a few figs.

For dinner I made use of something else I foraged this morning on my walk home, day lilies! I started by sauteing beets and brussel sprouts in a little olive oil and salt. Then I made some Zesty-fied Balsamic Salmon. And finally I wilted beet greens and the petals from 3 day lilies. And garnished with a few L’Allegretto cheese shavings, and one more day lily. I loved the raw flower, plain, but I think the petals were a but lost with the strongly flavoured beet greens.

And finally, some dessert chocolate.

Is It Still A Zee-Bar If It Eaten In Canada? June 29, 2009

Breakfast this morning was trying to be a PB+J concoction, but it ended up being not-so-great. It tasted like it had tomato in it (which I DO NOT like). In the mix was kale, wheatgrass ice cubes, raspberries, and PB2. Raspberries + wheatgrass = not good. I chugged the mix down after adding a squirt of agave, but I think from now on the wheatgrass will be drunk buy itself.

Luckily my taste buds were made happy buy the snack I had later in the morning. I tried out the Honey Graham Z-Bar (Zed-Bar?) Krista gave me this weekend. It was pretty awesome, very cookie-like, I understand where all the blogger love is coming from. Thanks again Krista!

For lunch I had the usual giant salad, lettuce, asparagus, carrot, cucumber, red pepper, green onion, and blended dill avocado dressing. I’m impressed at the dressing’s ability to stay green even though I blended it like 5 days ago, it doesn’t even taste very lemon-y, I only added some on top when I stuck it in the fridge.  It looks even greener in person than in this picture.

And afternoon snacks, tomato and the darkest plum I’ve ever seen.

For dinner I pulled a bag of frozen wax beans from the freezer, and a can of tuna from the pantry and stirfried them with olive oil, lemon juice, and lots of dill, chives, and green onion. It made a giant mountain of deliciousness.

But I stil had a little room leftover for dessert, sweet strawberries. They’re starting to look a little grungy from being in the fridge, but I’d rather that than mold.

Sprout Quinoa-Sabe, Sprout June 21, 2009

So last night before work I dug into a fabulous discovery that I had prepared over the course of Saturday.  I didnt really take much time at all, it’s just that the time it did take was spread out.  Quinoa Tabouli from Raw Food, Real World.  Not only was the tabouli itself really good, I discovered that I rather love sprouted quinoa, so chewy yet crunchy, wonderful texture. And it’s so easy to make, all you have to do is soak the quinoa in water overnight, then transfer them to a colander to drain, and let them sit at room temp for at least 6 hours, covered with a towel, rinsing them a couple of times.

I also had some Clif Carrot Cake action going on.

Plus I brought these cranberries with me for snacking.

After work, my cubicle mate and I were starving so we decided to got out to brunch.  Of course at 7:30 on a Sunday morning, few places are open, so we found ourselves at Fran’s. I ordered the Cheese and Herb Omlette, which was delicious with toast, jam, and a pile of fruit plus a couple bites of the cubicle-mate’s home fries. As well as a glass of fabulous freshly squeezed orange juice. That breakfast kept me full all morning and afternoon (which included a lengthy nap). SO for dinner I set to work on a BSI creation! Although, I now see that the recipe was due at noon (bad reader I am!), but it’s still a good recipe, and I did indeed eat it, so I’m still posting it

The nicest greens I found while shopping this weekend was a beautiful, and giant bunch of organic dino kale. So I mixed the rest of my sprouted quinoa (~3/4 cup, started from 1/4 cup, feel free to used cooked quinoa), with ~ 3/4 cup finely chopped kale, ~1/2 cup finely chopped pineapple, and 1.5-2 T barbeque sauce (I used Big Bull Steak Sauce, which has a base of dates and orange puree, ie. fruity).

My Tropical Kale Salad was crunchy with bursts of tangy sweetness, and not a hint of bitterness from the kale.

Then one of these sounded like an excellent idea.

I see seas of green June 17, 2009

…and red fruits too…

This whole coming up with a post title business can be hard work!

My breakfast this morning was not green.  More purple/brown, but very tasty.  The monster included kale, chia seeds, pineapple, and blueberries.

For lunch I brought a sea of green salad, romaine, asparagus, green pepper, snap peas and lime juice/olive oil dressing.  And the waves were crested with light feta cheese.  (At least I’m trying to be entertaining!)

And snacking, red fruits!  Lychee, cherries, and not-so-red but oh-so-delicious apricots.

When I got home I was starving so I had a few peanuts and a handful of blueberries to tide me over through the cooking process.

For dinner I pulled a piece of lemon and herb flavoured sole out of the freezer and heated it up in the steamer along with cauliflower, and nuked some frozen peas.  I kept the fish in the vacuum wrapped package in the steamer and the fish was perfectly cooked even though I left it going for ~10 minutes longer than I intended!  I like this fool-proof cooking method.  My cauliflower was a bit soft, but it tasted fine when I tossed it and the peas with the extra marinating liquid from the fish (that sounds better than fish juice, right?).

Then dessert, Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich, yum.

Now how about some sun tomorrow, and no rain!

Hide the protein! June 16, 2009

I had something different for breakfast this morning.  When I made oatmeal this weekend I made extra and froze some.  This morning I took out one of those portions (oats and banana) and nuked it with extra water, chia seeds, PB2 and a few toffee sprinkles.  And along with it I had a Starbucks Fruit salad from the pile that had taken up residence in the fridge overnight, and a delicious giant lychee.

For snacking I brought to work with me a container of kabocha, two ways.  First as a sandwich with almond butter, and second cubed and drizzled with soy sauce.  Plus I brought a shitake mushroom because I had an empty space in the container, and I wanted to try one raw to see if I liked it.  I know I don’t like button/cremini mushrooms raw, but I thought I would give the shitake a try.  The verdict? Not so much.  But I did thoroughly enjoy those cherries for lunch dessert.

Lunch itself was a giant salad of romaine topped with carrot, red pepper, snap peas, and tofu marinated in soy sauce/sesame oil/apple cider vinegar.  I seem to be developing a thing for soy sauce…and am running out….must stock up!

When I got home I had a tasty medjool, straight up.

Then for dinner I got a bit creative.  My base was spinach flavoured shirataki noodles, steamed broccoli, and shitake mushrooms sauteed in a bit of olive oil.  Then I hid some protein in the sauce.  I blended a chunk of tofu with nutritional yeast, garlic powder, a splash of vinegar and water, salt and pepper.  And I was happy to discover it tastes really good, and actually cheesy!  But next time I either need to make a bigger batch, or use silken tofu, or both.  I made so little the sauce was flinging itself away from the blades and didn’t blend very smoothly.  So it doesn’t look very pretty, but it sure tasted good!

Out Of The Fridge And Into The Freezer June 15, 2009

Breakfast this morning was a icy cold due to the use of frozen fruit, since I realized the freezer is starting to get quite full. But it was a welcome coolness since my room was a but warm after my window decided to blow itself shut last night. In the tropical mix was kale, chia seeds, banana, and pineapple with a sprinkle of coconut on top. And along with that I had perfect, giant lychee. Seriously, this lychee tasted exactly like my memories of the awesome lychees I had in Taiwan when they were in season. And to give you an idea of it’s size, your typical lychee is about the same size as that toonie.

For lunch I chopped up a giant salad. It started with romaine, then piles of kabocha, asparagus, red pepper, and cucumber were added. Plus I mixed up a little dumpling sauce for dressing, soy sauce, sesame oil, and apple cider vinegar, delish.

And for snacking I had a big container of strawberries, a peach, and an apricot. Please pardon the slightly mutilated peach, it was nice and ripe (ie. soft), and the pit was not cooperating with my extraction attempt.

Then for dinner I fixed up a stirfry of sorts, I boiled some amaranth, then tossed it in with shitake mushrooms and Europe’s Best Nature’s Balance frozen veggie mix sauteed with olive oil, parsley, thyme, sage, and rosemary, and balsamic vinegar, plus a sprinkle of feta cheese.

And that savoury bowl was followed by a sweet dessert, kabocha with a swirl of hemp seed butter and raspberry jam. This stuff is addictive, I swear.

Brought to you by the letter… May 17, 2009

B!  I noticed an unintentional theme to today while going back through my photos, beets, banana, beans, berries, bagel, balsalmic…  I seemed to be going through a certain section of the dictionary and eating all edible entries!

Let’s start off with another letter B, BSI: Bananas, courtsey of Lara at Thinspired. For breakfast this morning I fixed myself a beautiful bowl Banana Breakfast Pudding, which I originally accidentally made here. The recipe is simple, one banana, 1/3 package (~1/2 cup) soft silken tofu, 2-3 T water, and 1/3 cup oatmeal. Immersion blender, plus toppings = delicious

Though I would like to add a note that the quick cooking oats I used the first time blended more smoothly than the old-fashioned kind I used today. And my toppings of choice were raspberries and honeydew, sweet and summery.

For lunch I did a bit of chopping and trimming and came up with a fresh and flavourful salad of steamed green beans and beet root dressing with yogurt, apple cider vinegar, and tarragon. And on the side were two apricots that I picked up this morning, simply because they amused me in their extreme pointyness and non-fuzzyness (that are unfortunately a bit lost in the 2D photo). They were surprisingly too, apparently they’re “the first of the season”.

In the afternoon I snacked on half a bagel spread with strawberry, blackberry, and acai jam.

And a piece of chocolate. Cocoa Camino is awesome chocolate, but they could have added a few more (and larger) nut and berry pieces. Though the full size bar might have larger chunks in it, I may have to investigate that some time.

I was especially excited for dinner today after buying the beets in the morning. I usually don’t buy beets, because later in the summer I can easily get my fill for free from the parent’s garden, plus typically, I don’t even eat the root (that’s what compost piles are for, right?), just the greens, and grocery store beets tend to have pathetic greens. But today, I found a giant pile of beets sitting in the organic produce section with lots of BEAUTIFUL greens, and before I could even think about it, I found a bunch in my basket!

So for dinner tonight I sauteed the greens with sweet onion, tofu, olive oil, and a giant handful of parsley, thyme, and sage. Plus I pan “grilled” a portabello mushroom with balsamic vinegar and topped it with herbed goat cheese and tomato slices. Best dinner in a long time, the beet greens were so good!

And I did a even did a good job of trimming up my bountiful window herb garden. It’s grown a bit in the past three weeks, hadn’t it? I’ve even been cutting away at it before today…

And now for what will surely be a good Desperate Housewives finale, and getting ready to NOT go to work tomorrow, yay!

Sweet Strawberries May 11, 2009

So today was an extra long day at work. But only by 45 minutes. And I’m perfectly okay with it because it means next weekend will be EXTRA EXTRA long 12:30 Friday to Tuesday morning, go May 2-4 a week early this year (I just realized it this morning, hence the excitment)!

Breakfast this morning I was happy to have a green monster featuring a banana, apple, spinach, and chia seeds. Yummy, and it didn’t even look any darker despite the addition of black chia seeds instead of white.

For lunch I brought a zucchini, celery, and carrot all chopped up and waiting to be dipped in a tasty, but slightly odd sweet salsa/relish thing made by my roomie’s grandma.

And of course some fruit, tomato, strawberries, and frozen pineapple and grapes. I wasn’t going to buy strawberries until local ones came since the last ones I bought were quite diappointing, but when I walked by the display the over whelming berry aroma broke my resolve. And I’m glad it did because these one’s are so sweet and delicious!

For an afternoon snack I had a  nice and crunchy Starbucks yogurt and garnola parfait (a barista roomie perk).  The slices of strawberry in the yogurt were MASSIVE! I loved it!

For dinner I made a delish stirfry of tofu, snow peas, portabello, wild leeks, rice, thyme, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

And finally, for dessert, I savoured the last little slice of delicious chocolate cake. Thanks again Ricky!

The Multitasker May 10, 2009

So I’m currently multitasking by writing this post during commercial breaks.  So aside from the fact that I’m happy that the team I wanted to won The Amazing Race, I have a complaint.  This silly Oasis commercial telling you to buy their juice because it’s Canadian.  WTF?!? Since when did oranges grow in Canada?  I’m sure it’s packaged in Canada, but the oranges are definitely grown in the States (or Mexico?).  And apparently no body else has noticed the irony (or the cuteness), because I can’t find a clip of the commercial on youtube.  Talking oranges in toques, seriously? 100% Canadian taste my bum.

Anyways, breakfast this morning was a super crunchy bowl of Kashi Flakes and Granola and GoLean Crunch cereals with sweet strawberries and milk.

For lunch I had a giant salad with romaine, carrot, tomato, cucumber, and snow peas dressed in lemon juice.

And for dessert, a bit more delicious cake.

Later in the afternoon I was hungry for something a bit more savoury, so I stuffed a small whole wheat tortilla with one of the best sandwich fillings, peanut butter and dill pickle.  Has anyone else tried this Kinsey Milhone specialty?

And finally for dinner, I took a pair of scissors to my little herb garden.  I cooked up some Kamut Spirals and tossed them with asparagus sauteed in lemon juice, thyme, and olive oil.  The I topped it with a salmon fillet pan fried with tarragon.  I think I’m in love with the salmon/tarragon combination, and the fresh is (not surprisingly) so much better than the dried I’ve had before.

And now to direct my full attention to the delightful Patrick Jane.