Feeling inspired

The morning started off really well with a workout. I'm part of a Biggest Loser Challenge with a group of lovely other new mums and one who has a home trainer business offered us a complimentary workout. I jumped on it, so this morning at 9:30am we were ready to go. It was painful at times, and I know I will feel it tomorrow, especially when I pick up X-man in the morning, but it felt/feels good. On top of it all, he got to spend quality 1 on 1 time with his papa which to be honest has only happened a couple of times in his 5 1/2 months.
As a result, and not to ruin the work I put in I decided to veggie it up at dinner. I had bought 2 cauliflowers last week because of a sale and decided to cook 'em up today before they started to go bad.
Therefore, tonight's dinner was steak with cauliflower and zucchini (+ a small baked potato for my husband).

Ingredients


- 5 small onions, sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 small-ish cauliflower
- 2 zucchini, sliced
-  4 steaks
- 1 pack white mushrooms, sliced
- parmesan cheese
- bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Drizzle oil in ceramic baking pan. Distribute 3 onions and all the garlic all over the pan. I know, lots of garlic and onion, but they're so good for you and taste so good! Layer zucchini first, then cauliflower chunks. Sprinkle some cheese and bread crumbs. Cover with aluminum foil.  In it goes to the oven for 25-ish minutes. But, about 10 minutes in, pour in a cup of water. Timing depends how cooked you want your veggies.


Mushrooms and 2 onions go into pan with a bit of oil once hot. Season steaks with your choice of spices and throw into pan. Fry to desired degree.
Plate, serve and enjoy!

Chicken stir fry

With all the vegetables we have I decided to make a chicken stir fry.

Ingredients

- 2 chicken breast, cut into pieces

- 2 huge carrots, sliced

- 2 zuchinnis, sliced

- 1 large onion, chopped

- 5 cloves of garlic, chopped

- 1 bok choy, chopped

- 2 packets of udon noodles

- teriyaki sauce, as much as you want

Place noodles in boiling water. Boil for 3 minutes. Drain. Set aside.

Heat up oil in wok (or whatever you will be using). Once ready, throw in garlic and onion. Add chicken. When chicken is ready, throw in vegetables. Pour teriyaki sauce on top and mix well. Add noodles when vegetables are how you like them, be it more al dente or more well done.

Plate, serve with chopsticks and enjoy! 

Baby in the way

After a difficult afternoon/evening with X-man, dinner was finally ready, however eating it was another story. I eventually managed while holding the baby in my lap, his fingers smacking at my quinoa...it was wonderful.

Alrighty, this evening's menu was pork chops with dates and apples, quinoa with tangerine and raisin and spinach salad with cherry tomatoes, green onion and goat cheese.

Ingredients:

- pork chops, salted
- 1 apple, chopped
- dates, chopped in half (as many as you want)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 1 can of mandarin pieces, or if you can't locate it like me, just use a couple of tangerines
- raisins, as many as you want
- baby spinach leaves, boxed, bagged
- cherry tomatoes, as many as you want
- goat cheese, as much as you want

Pork chops

Boil dates and apples a couple of minutes. Drain. Fry chops in a bit of oil. Once almost cooked, add fruit mixture and mix in with pork chops.

   

Quinoa


Boil quinoa in water until water is sucked up by the grains. Mix tangerine/mandarin pieces in a bowl. Combine and serve.

Salad

Mix spinach, cherry tomatoes, green onion and goat cheese in a bowl. Drizzle lemon juice all over.

Voilà, your dinner.

Yummy snack

Quick and easy dinner

Whipped up a quick and easy dinner. I didn't actually do much. My mum had brought over some wax beans yesterday and decided to cook them in tomato sauce and chopped onion right away for fear that I would forget about them in the fridge and they'd go bad. I hadn't defrosted any meat by 5pm so as I scoured the freezer I located a bag of ravioli I had just bought. Boiled that up, threw it in the pot with the beans and voilà! Of course, had a salad on the side as well, this time spinach with some other veggies.

I know, it looks like worms.

Sunday late lunch: Tabouleh burgers, salad, tzaziki

Today I tried something I've never made before. Saw a friend's post on Facebook about couscous burgers and although I didn't have plain couscous, I used tabouleh instead. This is actually couscous with dried parsley, garlic and a couple of other things so in a sense it's better than straight up couscous.
Although I would have loved to have some fries or yam fries, I was hesitant because I had to use more oil than I would have liked to to avoid burning the "patties". So I relied on my trusted friend, the salad to get us through the meal.

Ingredients:

Serves 6

- 3/4 cup tabouleh

- 1/2 cup water  

- 2 tbsp lemon juice

- 2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed

- 1 can of chick peas

- 2 tbsp flour

- bread crumbs (optional)

- multi grain sandwich buns 

- salad greens

- cherry tomatoes

- goat cheese

- radishes, sliced

- cucumbers, chopped

- 1 cup non-fat plain yoghurt

Tabouleh burger

In a bowl, combine water, lemon juice and tabouleh. Let sit until water has been soaked up.

Place chick peas and garlic in food processor and pulse until smooth. 

Mix together chick peas with tabouleh. Add flour. (I ended up adding more cause mixture was still too liquidy.) At this point you can choose to roll patties in bread crumbs if desired. 

Make pattie sized formations. Place oil in pan, let it get very hot and place patties in pan.

Toast the buns and pop pattie in the middle.

Extra: my husband added hot peppers and hot sauce to his, perhaps you like your food spicy too?

Salad

Mix together greens, radishes, cherry tomato. Squeeze lime juice on top.

Tzaziki

Mix together cucumbers, yoghurt, dill. Chill until meal is ready. Can be used either on burger or as salad dressing.

Plate, serve and enjoy!

Tonight's menu

 I went to Bulk Barn on the weekend and got a few things, among which was red quinoa and decided that today would be the day to showcase it at dinner.

On the menu for this evening was:

Turkey sausage

Red quinoa

Goat cheese salad

Ingredients:

- turkey sausage

- canola high

- 1 cup red quinoa

- 2 cups water (for soaking)

- 1 1/2 cup water (for cooking)

- 4 green onions, chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

- mixed greens

- handful of cherry tomatoes

- 6 almonds, chopped

- 1 lime

- 2 tbsp goat cheese

- radishes, slices

- salt

Directions:

Quinoa

Soak quinoa in a bowl in water for 15 minutes. Rinse. Place quinoa small pot in water and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid, and turn the heat down to simmer. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove quinoa from heat and allow to sit five minutes with the lid on. Put quinoa in strainer to drain water. Place a few drops of oil in the pot, throw in garlic and onion. Add quinoa back and mix when onion and garlic have reached state you are happy with.

Turkey sausage

Make a few slits in turkey on a diagonal. Place a few drops of oil in pan. Fry sausages for approximately 10 minutes.

Salad

Wash all veggies. Mix together greens, cherry tomatoes, almonds and radishes. Sprinkle on goat cheese. Squeeze lime onto salad and mix everything up.

Serve and enjoy!

17 SNACKS THAT ARE EASY AND WHOLESOME

According to General Mills, the following are decent snacks to have:

• 1 Nature Valley bar
• 3 graham cracker squares with 1 tbsp/15mL peanut butter
• 3 cups/750mL popped popcorn with seasoned salt or curry powder
• 6 animal crackers
• 10 seasoned mini-rice or mini-popcorn cakes
• 10 mini-pretzel twists
• 10 to 15 tortilla chips with 1/4 cup/60mL salsa
• 4 or 5 whole-grain snack crackers plus 2 slices of cheese         
• 3/4 cup/ 175mL unsweetened cereal
• 1 small muffin or 3-inch/7.5cm cookie
• 1/2 cup/125mL sugar-free pudding
• 1 medium apple, orange or pear
• 12 to 15 cherries or grapes
• 1/4 cup/60mL raisins or other dried fruit
• 3 cups/750mL raw vegetables with 1 tbsp/15mL southwestern dip.
• 1 1/2 cups/375mL tomato or vegetable juice
• 1 single-serving container of lower-fat yogurt (2%MF or less)

What kind of dieter are you?

Click on the link from the Toronto Star, below the article you will find a yes/no quiz which will tell you what kind of dieter you are.

 What kind of dieter are you?- Toronto Star article

Jersey Shore inspiration

Since we all clearly watch this secretly, or some not so secretly **coughamanda**coughamanda**, let's use them as inspiration! They all have solid bodies, and we are all jealous, I know. Though I don't expect to be anywhere near what they are, we can still aim high, right?

Let it snow

 Why not use the beautiful snow coming down as encouragement to get some exercise? The baby could always use some fresh air as well, so wrap him/her up, throw some blankets into the stroller and park them nearby.
However, don't forget that you have to take care of yourself and do it right. Here are some tips to keep you on track:

• Before you grab your shovel, prepare your body by doing a full warm-up, such as jogging in place, and stretching.
• Buy an ergonomically correct snow shovel. These types of shovels tend to be lightweight and have a contoured handle that's designed to reduce bending and decrease lifting.
• Remember to practice the proper shoveling technique. Push the snow instead of lifting it. Don't overload the shovel. If you do have to lift snow, never lift with your back. Instead, bend your knees and lift with your legs. Avoid twisting or throwing snow over your shoulder.
• Take a break every 15 minutes to stand up straight and walk around. Drink water to prevent dehydration and overheating.

Share a favourite healthy snack

I am the type of person who does not feel full unless I've had something sweet. I looove to eat plain yogurt with granola, sliced up banana and chocolate chips (don't judge until you've tried it!) And normally when I have this snack, I have a heaping bowl full of it. So, knowing that granola is very sweet and full of sugar, I've decided to make my own. I have decided not to completely deprive myself of the chocolate chips either and have decided to have 10 chips only, as opposed to the handful or generous sprinkling I would normally reward myself with.
I haven't tried to make the granola yet, but that is my goal for this weekend.
My goals for my snack:
1) have only 1 cup
2) only 10 chocolate chips
3) use homemade granola to reduce sugar content
4) don't sneak any more chocolate chips in there than the alloted 10!

Here is the recipe I will use as a guide, but not follow to the letter.

5 cups (1.25 L) rolled oats
1 cup (250 mL) raw wheat germ
1/2 cup (125 mL) sunflower seeds
1 cup (250 mL) flaxseeds
1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
3/4 cup (175 mL) honey
1/4 cup (50 mL) coconut oil (or canola oil)
2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla
1/2 cup (125 mL) cold water
1 cup (250 mL) pitted dates, cut into small pieces
2 cups (500 mL) dried cranberries
1 cup (250 mL) raisins

Preheat oven to 300F and set the oven rack in the middle.

In a large mixing bowl, combine rolled oats, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds and cinnamon. In a smaller glass bowl, combine honey and coconut oil, then warm in microwave or on stovetop until liquid. Add vanilla and water. Add wet mixture to the dry, stirring until crumbly. Spread onto a 13-by-18-inch baking sheet.

Bake for 35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes and rotating pan to compensate for any hot spots in the oven. Remove from oven and cool. Transfer to a large bowl, and add pitted dates, dried cranberries and raisins. Store granola in airtight containers and refrigerate for future use.

Share a healthy snack that you've tried or want to try in the comments section.

Salmon Burgers

Like I mentioned, I'm on a bit of a salmon kick because it's oh so good for you. 

So these are salmon burgers and what I do is either eat the patti with only half the bun or no bun at all and I make a nice mango salsa to top it off with.

This is for 2 servings. This recipe comes from Giada @ Home.

Ingredients

1/2 lb (227 g) salmon fillet (in 1 piece) orsalmon fillets, skinned
1/2 small onion, grated
2 tbsp (25 mL) light mayonnaise
1 tbsp (15 mL) dry breadcrumbs
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) minced fresh parsley
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1/8 tsp (0.5 mL) lemon juice
1/8 tsp (0.5 mL) pepper
1/2 dash hot pepper sauce
2 hamburger buns

Preparation:

Cut salmon into chunks. In food processor, pulse together salmon, onion, mayonnaise, bread crumbs, parsley, salt, lemon juice, pepper and hot pepper sauce until finely chopped. Shape into four 3/4-inch (2 cm) thick patties. (Make-ahead: Layer between waxed paper in airtight container and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.)

Place patties on greased grill over medium-high heat; close lid and grill, turning once, until digital thermometer inserted sideways into centre reads 158°F (70°C), about 10 minutes. Sandwich in buns.

In the beginning...

Did I mention...

that when weighing in you must assume the following position?

Sharing

Just a note to let you know that if anyone wants to contribute something: a link, an article, words of wisdom/encouragement, etc., you can contribute in a couple of ways. Either by leaving a comment below one of the entries or by letting me know and we can arrange for you to send it to me and I will post it.

Official weigh-in

To participate, you must be weighed in on the "official scale" i.e. Patti's scale. We all know that all scales like to show different numbers so this way we are attempting to keep things consistent. The official final weigh-in will also be done on this scale.
In the meantime, we will schedule periodic weigh-ins, but do not fret if you cannot make it to those, it is really the final one that counts.

Welcome to the Peel Region Moms Biggest Loser Challenge

Are you ready to bring it? And by that I don't mean your 2 for 1 McDonalds Coupons!
If you have chosen to accept this mission, this means that you have made a commitment to yourself to lead a healthier lifestyle, whether to help you feel better about yourself, to help you keep up with the mini me currently or soon to be running around your house, to fit in a yellow polka dot bikini (or one piece black suit) for the March Break, to get back to your pre-partum weight or simply because the man in your life promised to buy you a new wardrobe including designer jeans and Coach shoes, whatever the reason may be, all that matters is that this is a positive step you are taking.

Check back often, but keep in mind that I have a very active- or better said hyper 5 month old attached to my hip- seriously, not kidding!