Year one

It's a new year and what better time to revisit the blog and focus myself. Christmas was wonderful and we're still reading and watching tv in the glow of our tree and decorations. Things don't return back to normal around here until Jan. 6, Old Christmas Day. Coincidentally, that was my due date last year but baby decided to hold on a few more days. In about a week, I'll mark a whole year of being a mom. That's my New Year.

I usually write up a list of accomplishments at the end of one year and think about what to improve upon in the next. This year, Charlotte was the major accomplishment. Next, it was showers. Making food, eating food and feeding other people are also top on that list. I had some difficulty in the early days with baby's introduction to solid food. Luckily, she always liked food and had a big appetite. But she didn't always like my food. These days, she's all about it and she's just as happy gobbling up chickpeas and sweet potato (yes!) with us as she is having a treat of homemade banana bread or pumpkin pancakes. She even ate most of the same items as us at Christmas turkey dinner. The progress we've made makes me very excited for her birthday preparations!

There's one more food update for me as I enter the new year. I successfully made it back to pre-pregnancy weight right around the same time I returned to work in September. The last twenty pounds (I gained close to 50 over the nine months!) were all due to hard work and the help of SparkPeople. I tracked everything I ate for about 4 months straight, whether it was good or bad. Tracking really helped me focus on my intake and what I needed to do exercise-wise. After a break for the holidays, it's time to go back to that routine. Thankfully, I didn't indulge too much recently but I still miss the discipline and what it means to track my food and be healthier.

So here's to 2013 and all the new things it will bring. Happy eating!

More food on the run

With offerings like this how can anyone say no? If anyone needs me, I'll be over here dieting hardcore until next week when I travel again!

 Jiggs dinner with salt beef, pease pudding, potato, carrot, cabbage, turnip and mustard pickles on the side.On the plate is also some raisin pudding as  pre-dessert dessert.

This is a partridge berry cake with a traditional caramel sauce smothering it. I also had amazing seafood chowder and a homemade roll...but literally ate it too quickly to even think of taking a photo. An I've had that chowder two days in a row!

Best laid plans...

Last week I wrote about trying to stay on track with my meal plan and eat well during a particularly hectic week. I did OK, but my healthy eating plans didn't pan out nearly as well as I'd hoped. I have gained a pound or so back from my original loss due to not going to the gym once this week, and consuming some on-the-go fast food, delish pizza, and lots of coffee. I did manage to have a good amount of fruit and vegetables each day and not snack too much during my exam study period. I had forgotten how much snacking used to get me through the studying! The most important lesson I've learned is to accept bumps in the road, don't beat myself up about them, and move on from them.

The week capped off with Saturday's FEASt Fest where I helped the volunteer kitchen crew prep, prepare and feed just over 100 people for lunch. I even did dishes! It was a great experience and a very appropriate reminder of my love of simple food (plus a gentle nudge to get get back at it). Monday morning brought a renewed desire to watch what I eat, pack my lunch (a salad made with locally-grown lettuce), curb cravings and limit portions with Spark. I have gym plans for later and relaxation to center myself again before gearing up for the next rush. One day at a time!

 Our FEASt signature salad: millet (last year we used quinoa), chickpeas, beet, carrot, onion, raisins, lots of garlic, lime juice, coriander, and olive oil. All in my mother's huge bread-baking bowl!

See, I do dishes. Especially when there's an awesome industrial washer and sink!

Busy work

This is a busy time for me - work, volunteering, event planning, finishing a course, buying a house, planning renovations to that house, and still trying to stick to my meal plan/diet. And my cat puked in my purse this morning. But that's another headache.

One more thing that's on my list of to-dos is to feed myself. In the past, when I've been stressed or under pressure the first thing to go is my diet. Health and nutrition goes right out the window. And I admit to having some McGrossnss this weekend while studying. But I really want to try and not pig out too much this week while I'm busy. Planning my meals and cooking at home won't be easy so I've stocked up on some convenience food that's still semi-healthy like fruit, yogurts, pre-sliced veggies and pre-cooked meats for added protein to salads, and lots of cans of low-sodium soda water. I want some comfort and lots of ease...but I don't want to fall down from lack of nutrition at the same time.

I don't want to waste all my hard work over the past few months. I'll let you know how the food and meal planning translates to execution after I put my head up for air at the end of the week. Until then...

Dessert for dinner

Pancake day is today and it's tradition to have pancakes for dinner around these parts. It's the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and the last day before the 40-day lent period. Traditionally, this was the last day to have fat, eggs (meat) or anything bad for you before the long lent stretch. Hence, pancakes for dinner was a treat and a way to use up all that stuff around the house. I'm not giving up anything for lent but I am on a diet and will continue with it after this Shrove Tuesday treat (and extra trip to the gym).

Pancake day for me is about another tradition: the fortune-telling trinkets found inside the pancakes. Growing up, my mother would put coins in our pancakes and that was supposed to symbolize prosperity or the promise of wealth. It often just turned into a way to get some extra money and a competition over who got the most coins.I remember going to a friend's house one year for pancake day, though, and I ended up with her mother's wedding ring in my pancake! Here are some common pancake trinket:

-a penny, to symbolize poverty
-a nickel, to symbolize wealth; We often received quarters :)
-a string, to symbolize a fisherman (if a boy got the string, he would be a fisherman, if a girl did, she would marry one)
-a wedding ring, to symbolize that you would marry soon; I've also heard it means you won't die an "old maid"
-a button, to symbolize that you would never marry
-a nail, to symbolize that you would soon pass away
-a thimble, to symbolize that you would be a seamstress (a girl) or a tailor (a boy); I've heard that a thimble could also mean you will have a lovely house/household when you grow up.

And here is a great recipe for those who are not trying to use up all the butter, sugar and eggs in the house for this one meal (from SparkPeople):

100 Calorie cinnamon pancakes 
Whole Wheat Flour, 1.25 cup
Baking Soda, 1 tsp  
Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, 2 tbsp  
Skim Milk, 1 cup  
Eggbeaters, .5 cup  
Vanilla extract, 1 tbs
Cinnamon, 2 tbsp 

Mix flour, baking soda, and splenda in bowl. Mix milk, eggs, and vanilla in another bowl. Beat into dry mix roughly, so as to add more air to mix. Stir in cinnamon last. Serving size is 1/3 cup mix. Use a cooking spray on the skillet when cooking.

Serving size is one pancake. If you use less than 1/3 of a cup batter (like 1/4, or 1/6) you can have two for 100 calories. You can also add smooshed bananas to the batter, blueberries,peanut butter, use real eggs instead of egg beaters, or add a touch of brown sugar instead of the splenda. I also generally add a tsp of baking powder to pancakes to make them extra fluffy.
Number of Servings: 8

Stir fry: kinda like a warm salad

 I'm not a huge fan of stir fry, to tell the truth, but it's a good option when you need something quick and healthy for dinner. All you need is a big fry pan (or wok), some garlic, ginger, salt and pepper -- and whatever veggies and base you'd like. The main thing to remember is to cook everything in order. Start with your aromatics (eg. onion or garlic) and saute them for a little bit until they sweat. Then add meat and/or veggies starting with whatever will take the longest to cook first.

For this particular stir fry, for example, I added broccoli first and cooked that for a little bit. When it started to get darker green and softer, I added mushrooms and stirred everything around. Then I added green beans because they take the least amount of time to cook (especially if you like them a little crunchy like I do!).

 Then you add a dash of salt and pepper and serve on top of your base. You can use noodles, rice, add some beans or chickpeas, or have just the mixture on its own. I added some nuts on top and threw in some pre-cooked chicken and served the whole thing on top of rice.

 

So try this quick and easy dish next time you're in a rush. It's also way to make use of leftovers or odds and ends in your fridge you need to use up soon. Try experimenting with sauces, herbs and other flavouring...just be careful of sugar-heavy pre-made sauces out there. Add raisins, nuts, or sprouts. And if you keep your ingredients to real food you can adapt this recipe for many diets like low carb, diabetic, gluten free, vegan, etc. Essentially it's a warm salad that you can adapt however you'd like.

Throw it all together (in order of course!) and enjoy!

Back to basics

I went a little off the rails there. I'm not too proud to admit it. The online food tracking of my meal plan was well-intentioned but I became obsessive. I lost what I love most about food and cooking: experimentation and creativity. And, though I may have been eating healthier, I didn't loose what I wanted to loose: weight. The system is a good one but it's not for me. I missed eating good food, experimenting with cooking, and blogging about it.

So, it's time for a new plan. I'm going back to basics and back to my cooking. No more tracking everything I eat and trying to figure out if I have had enough protein or too much fat. Instead, I'm going to try to eat a variety of food, be smart about my meals, and cut down (or cut out wherever possible) processed food by eating real food.

Most importantly, I'm going to use my cooking to help me eat healthier because it will allow me to eat real food and prepare it in a healthy way. It makes it a lot easier to know what's in my food when I'm the one who put it there. My interest in cooking has always been in trying new things and substituting ingredients for ones that make more sense for me. Combining that with an honest workout and exercise program should do the trick. Being healthy doesn't have to be complicated.

Here we go again...

Spark it up

I started a meal plan and exercise routine three weeks before Christmas and lost 5lbs. I gained some back over the holidays but am back at the plan once again. The plan is from Spark People and it's a lower fat, higher protein, higher calcium version of my usual way of eating. Believe me, I'm very much a rookie when it comes to dieting and planning meals. But I'm responding well to tracking my food and following the meal plans prescribed by Spark. It's a free website and so far so good!

A typical meal plan for a day for me will be:
Breakfast: glass of milk (1%), oatmeal, blueberries, coffee/tea, and egg or egg substitute
Lunch: Tuna melt sandwich, grapes, a tea and/or water
Dinner: Pork tenderloin, peppers, sweet potato, applesauce, dinner roll and milk with decaf coffee
Snack: Cauliflower or carrots with hummus dip

Essentially, I have learned to make sure there's a veggie or fruit (or more than one) with every meal, up my intake of dairy and other calcium-rich foods, watch my fat intake and have realized carbohydrates aren't that bad after all. AND I've learned not to mindlessly pour cream into my coffee, snack junk food at my desk, or steal fries from a friend's plate without thinking about it first. At the end of the day, whether my food is on my meal plan or I enter it manually, I see the total amount of calories, fat, carbohydrates and protein that I've consumed. It's a way to keep me on track and doesn't take that much out of my day.

The site encourage at least 8 glasses of water a day and discourages additional snacking...especially the kind of snacking that is mindless. By tracking my food, I am aware of what I am putting into my body even if I stray from the plan.

I don't necessarily intended for this to be an endorsement for Spark but it's helped me discover a new way of planning my meals in a healthy and mindful way. There are other online sites and weight watching programs out there they do very much the same thing. In short, there's a program out there for everyone. I don't know if I'll stick to this for a long time or just try it short-term but for now I like it.

One of the most fascinating things I've learned is how much food I can eat to stay full and fuel my body if I'm aware of what I'm consuming. For example, for the same amount of carbs, calories, fat and protein, I can eat 1.5 tbs peanut butter and 2 stalks of celery...or I can eat a whole veggie burger (without bun) and a small sweet potato. And there are plan options for different preferences such as heart-smart, vegetarian, low-carb, etc.

It may sound cliche, but here's to a new year and a new start. I'll still be found in the junk-food isle every now and then but at least now I'm educating myself on what's in all that food (good and bad) before I consume it.