Category: Healthy Eating

A Different Kind of Breakfast Grill…

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It’s the rainy Monday of a long weekend and we’ll be working to prep for the coming week. Something with a multitude of flavours should inspire us. We started with four slices of homemade whole wheat bread – nutty and tasty. We dipped these in a mixture of egg and milk (2 medium eggs and about half a cup or 125ml of 1% milk in our case). Our electric grill/griddle has both smooth and rippled plates so we heated it up with one of each in place. French toast on the flat side, and tasty local plums on the ridgy one. They might stick a little, but the flavour is fantastic.

Topped with a little maple syrup from our friends down the road at Acadian Maple Products, this was a sweet start to the day.

To our Nova Scotian friends, happy Natal Day. Happy Simcoe Day, Ontario….and for all of you celebrating some sort of holiday Monday, have a safe, fun holiday, however you spend it.

Dreaming up Ideas for a Leftover Feast

Yesterday we planned for a barbecue party…which is always a risk on a long weekend. Either the guest list will be feast, or famine. The low turnout means leftovers – a great opportunity for creativity. Couple that with an over abundant vegetable garden and our cooking imaginations are getting a fantastic workout.

On the menu this rainy Sunday morning: mushrooms and Swiss chard, sautéed in just a little butter. Then we tipped in a couple of medium eggs, beaten lightly. When the omelette could be folded, we topped it with a couple of cheddar slices (which also went down a treat on yesterday’s homemade burgers), covering the pan, just until they melted.

We served this delicious omelette on hamburger buns, spread with Kozlik’s Triple Crunch (secured on our last visit to Toronto) and topped with baby tomato slices. With a mug of hot Just Us! coffee on the side, we’re feeling pretty grateful about the whole start to today.

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I love the taste of healthy in the morning…

…tastes like, “deliciousness”.

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On the menu for today’s breakfast:

Whole wheat toast, homemade, with 5ml butter
1/2 sliced tomato
125ml or 1/2 cup each sliced mushrooms and diced bell pepper,
Cooked in a nonstick pan with
2ml or 1/2 t butter
Scramble a medium egg, add to the veg, and cook over low heat until almost firm.
Enjoy your day.

Imagine…leftover leftovers!

Some of you know that earlier this week we roasted a turkey, and have been benefitting from that delicious pre-cooked goodness at several meals. The night before last we made an adaptation of Jamie Oliver’s Singapore Noodles recipe. As recommended, we substituted what was called for, for what we had. With a plentiful veg garden and lots of turkey, it was quite a different dish, in the end. (At least we used the noodles!)

We halved the recipe but it was definitely still too much for two, so yesterday we had about 1 serving left. We considered just reheating with a salad, but at the Tantallon Farmers’ Market we had acquired some delicious-looking chorizo. From the garden we grabbed a golden beet (including greens), about half a cup of fresh sweet peas, and three small carrots. We cooked these up – dry browning the sausage then adding about 1/2 cup of water, and steaming the harder veg and sausage until the sausage were cooked through. We sliced the cooked sausage and tossed everything together with our leftovers…no waste, all taste.

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Tasty Turkey Wraps

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Earlier this week we roasted a turkey, a ten-pounder purchased for about ten dollars. We’ve made a host of meals of it. Today’s lunch were these tasty wraps…with a half cup of celery and cucumber in with the turkey, and a little light mayo and homemade zucchini relish. Using a large tortilla and accompanying it with a cup of 1% milk, is about 485 calories.

The best healthy eating tip we’ve seen this week? At every meal, ask, where’s the veg? More than once it has helped us make a healthier choice, and hope it will do the same for you.

Cornbread Chili Eggs Zip up Breakfast or Brunch

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Necessity is purported to be the mother of invention, but we contend it is leftovers. A couple of nights ago we whipped up a batch of delicious chili, accompanied by the requisite cornbread. Of course the chili can always go in the freezer, but the cornmeal muffins had been sitting on the counter, begging to be used. Because they’re a low fat version, they didn’t stay “moist” with a heavy dose of oil, like some types.

Breakfast provided a perfect opportunity. We sliced the muffins and put them on plates. Meanwhile, we heated the chili until it was bubbling, and dropped in an egg for each person. We let them simmer until they were nicely done, and served on top of the muffins. To quote the man, “yummy.”

Leftovers for Breakfast

After a fast walking round of golf on a hilly course yesterday, we were definitely hungry. So we took advantage of our garden produce and topped a whole wheat pizza crust (find out how in our recipes section) with a thin layer of homemade zucchini relish from our storag. Then a layer of spinach, chopped oregano, mushrooms, sliced radish, and green onions. A light sprinkle of feta and cheddar finished it – not so much that the veg would steam.

This morning the leftover slices made a great breakfast, topped with a perfectly poached egg.

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Beans and Cheese? That's a Wrap.

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We’re having a great time figuring out interesting ways to use all the produce from our garden these days…lots of spinach and onion are on the menu. Our self challenge is also to be sure we get some protein in every meal. Today’s lunch consists of these tasty bean and cheese burritos.

On a whole wheat tortilla, layer several spinach leaves, 1/2 cup (125ml) cooked beans (these are Jacob’s Cattle beans, grown in NS and cooked here at home), an ounce (30g) of cheddar. Microwave about 2 minutes to melt and heat (or in the oven, if you prefer…just keep an eye on the cheese until it barely melts). Add a dollop of salsa (ours was canned last fall from our own produce) and plain, nonfat yogurt. Chopped green onions from the garden add extra flavour. Wrap and enjoy!

Summer is nearly here!

We have lived in other jurisdictions where the middle of June seems like an unlikely start to summer. It’s already been hot for ages. But here in Atlantic Canada, even when the temperature is in the 20s (70s or 80s, my Fahrenheit friends), the wind is sufficient that it rarely feels hot.

But today we had an awesome, sunny, warmish day. And so we barbecued. This is the result. Veg from our garden, except local tomatoes and spuds.

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Off to a great start!

After an inspiring talk last night from the Shorefast Foundation’s Zita Cobb (thanks to the Community Foundation of NS) we were in a “change the world” mood when we got up. Our great start included 45 minutes of exercise (I admit I can feel Zita saying “get outside!”, or similar) and this breakfast…all local except the avocado. However, having heard that they successfully grew a melon on Fogo Island gives me hope that even that is possible.

What’s your great start today?

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