Walk Widely. Eat Wisely. Live Gratefully.
OK, so technically a tomato is a fruit. Nonetheless, a tried and true weight management strategy is to make sure you get some fruit or veg in every meal. We like to add tomato, diced cucumber, or grated carrot to our tuna sandwiches (on whole grain homemade rye bread). Replace half the mayo with Dijon will also give your tuna salad a flavour kick!
What a couple of weeks! Our part of the world seems to still be very much driven by the seasons, even in the urban parts. We’ve just wrapped up one of our big projects and turned our attention to another. I’ve started a new business…and of course it’s harvest time! Much roasting, canning and preserving has ensued.
But last night I realized it was time for a little decompression today. Sure, I have new customers coming to visit this afternoon, and a batch of sourdough bread in my future, but we are starting the morning with a leisurely, local breakfast. We could have gone to our friend Denis’ for the Full Monty breakfast, but we opted for the complete pj experience here at home. Martock Glen applewood smoked bacon, a large sunny side up egg, and whole grain toast. Delicious.
This morning we were out for a walk in the early morning, keeping our commitment to be fitter, not fatter, in 2014. This is especially important if you’ve had far too much fun with friends or family on the weekend. Don’t give up, just get on track.
Breakfast was a healthy affair – a piece of plain wheat toast, topped with 1/3 of an avocado mashed with lemon juice, 1/3 of a medium tomato, diced, a poached egg and a sprinkle of lemon pepper for me, and two servings for the big guy.
We’re so grateful that the good weather continues and we can get outside and keep fit without ending up drenched or freezing! Hope you’re having a healthy, happy day as well.
These veggies are as fresh as can be – harvested in our own garden and roasted within minutes of being picked.
Choose your own mix of veg and herbs. Chop into bite-sized pieces, toss with a little olive oil and wrap in a double layer of foil. Put this on your grill while it’s heating, turning occasionally. It’ll be done when your steak or pork chop is cooked. Not grilling meat? About 10 minutes (plus the preheating time) should do the trick.
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.
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.
We started our day with these delicious muffins (check the recipe pages) and a hot steaming mug of Full Steam Titanic 1912 coffee…a fantastic start to the day!
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!
We make variations of this salad all summer long, as various vegetables come into season, either in our own garden or the Farmers Market. Start with a good glug of olive oil and vinegar, and a couple of tablespoons of Dijon. Whisk those together to make a dressing.
Next, add some cooked beans or chickpeas (we made Jacob’s Cattle beans a couple of days ago) and some chopped onion (here, baby red and white ones). We had some sliced radishes as well.
Next, two or three chopped hothouse tomatoes and a good handful of chopped greens (we had spinach, baby Romaine, and Swiss chard). Toss on a few olives or anchovies and some sharp cheese or Feta for tangy goodness.
Stir together and let rest at least 10 minutes. It will keep in the fridge for two or three days, flavour improving each day.
This leaves the kitchen cool on a hot day and is quick and easy to prepare if you are busy watching the World Cup!