Walk Widely. Eat Wisely. Live Gratefully.
So many good things are coming out of the garden this time of year…it makes all the cold, wet planting in spring worth it. Today we had a small grilled steak with a little chipotle spice and the remains of our crunchy potato salad from the weekend. Paired with a lovely mix of greens (mizuna, Simpson lettuce, romaine, and red leaf lettuce) topped with green onion and mushrooms, dressed in a balsamic Dijon vinaigrette, it truly was the taste of summer at its best.
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.
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.
…tastes like, “deliciousness”.
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.
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.
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.”
It all started with a trip to the market yesterday, where we bought some delicious-looking bacon from Sweet Williams…
The great thing about really nice bacon (instead of cheap, mass-produced bacon) is that there is a lot of flavour in a single, beautiful slice. Paired with some hot mustard, tomato, and egg…you have the makings of a tasty breakfast.
Make the egg runny, or not, as is your taste. Assemble and enjoy.
Storm of the year! Here we are, having been tested by snow, ice and wind. Fortunately so far all is intact, we have heat and light, and we have managed to clear a path to the road.
What made us leave our walk-to-the-subway-and-avoid-the-elements existence? Who knows. But the call of this land is strong and the battle of the wind and water seems to actually strengthen our pioneer spirit. What we do know, is that the pioneers knew sustenance when they saw it. Our Grammy was a comfort food expert, and she always made us feel better by serving this: onion gravy pork chops with mashed potatoes and veg (any veg!)
Travel safely wherever you are, and honour your grandmothers. They’re worth it. And while you’re at it, learn to cook the favourite thing they make. Someday you’ll need it.
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One of the most fun things about eating healthily is trying new and unusual fruits and vegetables. Yesterday we were shopping and spotted a granadilla, a semi-tropical, round, orange, shiny fruit. But what to do with it?
We made a use-it-up fruit salad that included a banana, chopped pear, chopped apple, a few walnuts (cleaning up the pantry) and a cup of fat-free plain yogurt. The fruit provided the sweetness. Spooning this mixture into bowls after stirring so the yogurt coated everything, we cut into the mystery fruit and scooped its seedy interior on top. The insides are reminiscent of passion fruit or pomegranate, with crunchy, gel-encased seeds. It makes a berry-ish, crunchy-sweet topping and a delicious way to start the day. Was it worth a buck-ninety-nine? As an everyday addition to the grocery budget, perhaps not, but layering that with the fun factor of discovering a new taste, I’d say it was great value.
I’m off to a business breakfast this morning – a good one, where there are usually great people to network with, and much to learn. But these things can also wreak havoc on healthy habits of both the dietary and professional variety. While buffets are improving in their number of healthy choices, they still tend to feature heavily (no pun intended) in carbs and fat. Besides, with so many bright people to meet, why spend time chewing a chocolate chip muffin?
So here’s how we are fueling up for a more productive day: veggie and goat cheese omelette, with a slice of whole wheat toast. On the toast: apple butter from our daughter’s kitchen. What better start could we have?
