Flowfit

People often assume that we as a family don’t eat any junk.  They think my kids are deprived and that I have the willpower of a saint.

False.

All of it.

The past few weeks in particular have been what I call junky.  Some days have been markedly worse than others – some downright shamefull.  Yesterday was one of those days.  We had fried eggs on toast for breakfast, tuna and cheese in a tortilla for lunch with a side of kettle cooked salt and vinegar potato chips.  A few hours later, at the movie theatre it was popcorn (with REAL butter) and peanut m&m’s washed down with iced tea (fruitopia for the kids  gasp!).

When dinnertime rolled around, my body just wanted something clean….this stew is what came of that…

Pressure Cooker Vegetable Stew:

• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 head of cabbage, chopped
• 3 large carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into chunky pieces
• 1/2 container of kale pesto (see below)
• 1 bunch kale, washed and finely chopped
• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 and 1/2 cartons vegetable stock
• 1 tsp Tom Yum Soup mix (or seasoning of choice)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• fresh cracked black pepper and sea salt to taste (I didn’t need it with the soy)

First, have everything chopped and ready at hand.  Preheat pressure cooker and saute onions in the coconut oil and sesame oil.  Add cabbage, rice, carrots, Tom Yum and broth and bring to a boil.  Cover.  Once pressure is reached, time 5 minutes.  Release pressure and add kale, cauliflower, pesto and soy sauce.  Return lid, bring back up to pressure and time another 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and release pressure immediately.  Serve as is in a bowl.

YUM!

After thoughts – this would have also been great with the addition of lentils or barley as a substitute for the rice.  No rules here… just use what you have and remember to cook the harder vegetables first so the softer ones don’t turn to mush…. no one likes mushy vegetables (unless you’re under 2 or over 90).

We all gobbled this up.  Some of us even had seconds… ;o)

Kale and Oregano Pesto from Sunflower Kitchen -

http://www.sunflowerkitchen.com/

Sunflower Kitchen produces an incredibly delicious line of vegan dips, spreads and hummus.  I’ve tried them all and they are all incredible.  I am inspired by their clean big flavours and will have many recipes come from their delicious products.  What they don’t contain is equally as important as what the do…. you will not find:

• Preservatives or additives
• nitrates
• nuts (they use sesame and sunflower seeds)
• gluten
• GMO ingredients
• Transfats
• Colours/dies
• Dairy

What you will find are nutritious ingredients with lots of flavour.  Simple but simply delicious! They also have a selection of ready made soups.  I have yet to try them, but am sure they are delicious!

Today is the start of week six of the renovation.

We would be in and using our kitchen, however, we ran into a little snag with the marble… ah the marble… the inspiration for the entire kitchen.  Let’s just say it was WAY more of an investment than originally planned and it took us a week (with all else on hold) to decide or digest the new number.  So, my island sits, marbleless waiting to wear it’s hat.  In a few days our new doors will be installed, leaving the final piece… the marble.  Soon… soon…. soon…. I await you my lovely.

Thankfully, the beverage (ah-hem – beer) fridge has not had any snags and sits happily watching and waiting for the rest to be done.   A little trim and mouldings, some new plate covers, the counters and back splash are all that remain.

Do people mourn the completion of their rennovation and the loss of the people in and out of their house?

HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Guess not!

When I was in school, I remember any reason to get out of class was exciting, especially when it was as a class, or entire school population!   Popcorn, veggies n’ dip and all your friends watching Toy Story 2 sitting together on the gym floor… for kids, it doesn’t get much better than that!

Last week, John T. Tuck’s snack day fell on the same day as winter carnival movie day.  Since a snack would be offered during the movie, we decided to combine them!  And oh what fun it was!  The veggies and dip were served standing upright in individual dixie cups.  Kirkland brand Ceasar dressing from Costco was the dip at the bottom with cute little carrots and cucumbers poking out the top.  Easy for little hands to carry and eat while sitting with friends (sorry no photo).  On their way into the gym they were also offered individual bags of Kernel’s butter salt popcorn.  Always a favorite!   

BIG kudos to the grades 6-8 students who were my incredible helpers!  You were efficient, energetic and eager!  I really appreciated all your hard work.  And the most impressive part was your awareness to what needed to be done and doing it …. sweeping up the popcorn without being asked – amazing!

And of course… to my steadfast Healthy Snack volunteers – as always, you make any little bump in the road seem like nothing at all.  John T. Tuck’s Healthy Snack Program truly is a community.  How lucky are we!!?

Everyone knows chicken soup soothes the soul, but it also soothes what ails you.  Well, thanks to Alicia Silverstone, I’ve discovered that you don’t need chicken fat to create an equally delicious, nutritious and literally healing soup.  This soup was inspired by Alicia’s “Magical Healing Soup” from her book, The Kind Diet.  For me, this soup is never the same thing twice – if I have broccoli I add that, bok choy – awesome!  Just take a look and add whatever veggies you have on hand, keeping some colours in mind as you go.  Remember, each wonderful colour of vegetable has a different variety of minerals and nutrients!

Healing Soup:

• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 potatoes, chopped (I like to leave the peels on for extra texture)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped cauliflower
• 1 cup chopped cabbage
• 3 cups baby spinach
• 2 cartons vegetable broth (or 6-8 cups broth of choice)
• 1 good sized piece of ginger (about 1 inch by 2 inches, cut into 3 pieces)
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 bunch parsley
• 1 clove garlic
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Heat oils in heavy bottomed soup pot.  Add onions, celery and carrots and saute on medium heat for approximately 5 minutes.  Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.  Add remainder of vegetables (except spinach) and enough broth to completely cover vegetables.  Stir and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to medium low, add parsley, cilantro and ginger.  Simmer uncovered for 30 – 45 minutes.  I like my vegetables to still have a good firmness to them, but if you prefer them softer, cook a little longer.

Remove from heat, toss in spinach and lemon juice, stir, cover and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Time to go fishing!!

Remove parsley and cilantro with tongs.  Fish out ginger – biting into that wouldn’t be too nice.

Serve up steaming hot.  It’ll do ya good.

And it’ll also cure a hangover ;o)  Honest…

YUM!

Sometimes I don’t know what I’m serving on snack day until the very last minute.  I watch the flyers for specials and shop the stores and look for fresh fresh fresh!  This week, nothing in the local grocery stores caught my eye (or budget), so I went to my tried and true… Roseland Produce.  They are always so  helpful in letting me know what’s freshest and are also great at helping me choose quantities – something that can be akin to playing mathematician with servings.  How many carrots are needed to feed 630 kids?  50lbs!!  That’s a whole lotta washing, peeling and chopping I’ll tell ya!

With the 50lbs of carrots we served more than 80 cucumbers and 25lbs of snap peas.  To go with the lovely crispy veggies, we served Trisciut Sweet Chili crackers.  All in all another hit with the kids!

The fun part comes in with the change up of shapes.  Most kids are used to carrot sticks and cucumber rounds… so we figured, why not change that around?  We made cucumber sticks and carrot rounds!  Why not?

Sometimes all it takes is that one small change to get them to eat something they normally would have passed up.  This snack was received with many smiles and much appreciation.

YUM!

This week was my first fall share with Plan B for 2010.  As I’ve mentioned before, I love the fall shares!  Wednesdays have become our favorite day of the week… waiting for the truck to arrive, dragging in the box and finally, opening up our box of goodies and eyeing for the first time what we will have to create with!  The not knowing what will be waiting inside is half the fun!  Every Wednesday, I have no plans for dinner.  I patiently wait and get my inspriation from the goodies found inside our home delivered box of fresh organic produce.

I needed something quick and easy for dinner before going out to a friends house for the evening.  Opening the fridge I saw I still had some veggies begging to leave this world before they shrivelled up.  I think they’d be happy going out this way ;o)

Autumn Soup

• 2 leeks, white parts only
• 2 carrots
• 3 stalks celery
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 cups chopped potatoes
• 1 cup chopped butternut squash (or whatever squash you have on hand)
• 1 zucchini
• 2 cups napa cabbage or chinese lettuce
• handful fresh “living broccoli” (from this weeks delivery – didn’t you just love em?!) – Can substitute fresh parsley
• juice of half lemon
• shot of sherry (optional)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cups broth of choice (chicken, vegetable)
• 1/2 cooked chicken breast (optional)
• pinch of powdered sage
• sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper

To prepare leeks, chop off green end and root end.  Cut in half diagonally.  Rinse well under running water to remove any dirt. Slice halves into 1/2 inch pieces.

Heat large soup pot on med/high.  Add olive oil, followed by leeks, carrots, celery, squash, sage and garlic and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook stirring frequently for about 10 minutes.  Do not brown – you want to sweat the veggies.  Add the broth, potatoes, lemon juice and sherry.  Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through.  Taste as you go and add more salt if needed (it’ll depend on the broth you used).

Once potatoes are cooked through, remove soup from heat and add zucchini and Napa cabbage – stir and cover (also add cooked shredded chicken at this point if using).  Let sit for 5 minutes and serve!

Add fresh broccoli sprouts and a sprinkling of salt and pepper to serve.  Goodness in a bowl.

YUM!

It’s the week of Halloween, and everyone is excited and chatting about costumes, candy and Halloween tricks. This week’s healthy snack focused not just on healthy choices, but also on fun! The theme was “All About Orange” and gave the kids at John T. Tuck school some fun shapes to be creative with!

What did your little ones come up with?

Our incredible team of volunteers, washed, peeled, and chopped  50 pounds of carrots, washed, cut, scooped, peeled and sliced nearly 50 cantaloupes and opened 40 boxes of Triscuit Sweet Chilli crackers!  What a team!

You might be surprised to hear that every tray from JK through to grade 8 came back with not one piece of cantaloupe.  The cantaloupe was definitely the favourite of the day.  Most of the carrots were gone, and only a few crackers remained.  

Consider shapes, colours and textures when making snacks and lunches… it doesn’t have to be gourmet or fancy for them to eat it.  Sometimes it’s just the simple things that are the biggest hits.  Fresh, simple goodness ;o)

YUM!

I found this idea in a Thanksgiving issue of Canadian Living magazine. I thought the carrots looked so pretty as ribbons, but it was the cardamom and cashews that got me to try it. Here is my version:

Carrot Ribbons:
serves 6

• 6-8 large carrots
• 1/2 cup whole unsalted cashews
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 4 whole cardamom pod
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 tbsp water

Cut the carrots into ribbons using a peeler down the entire length of the carrot.  Toast the cashews in olive oil in a saute pan on medium heat until golden brown (approximately 2 minutes).  Remove from pan and set aside.

To the same pan, add the butter, onion, ginger, salt and pepper.  Saute on medium heat, stirring frequently until the onions are translucent and not browned – about 10 minutes.  Add carrots, remaining spices and water.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove lid – if there is any liquid left, turn up heat and cook off while stirring.

Remove whole spices, toss in cashews.

YUM!

I seem to have an over abundance of carrots!  They’ve been coming in my weekly Plan Box now for maybe three weeks straight.  One of my crisper drawers is literally FULL of carrots!  Time to get creative!  Here is the first of many deelish carrot recipes.  More to come…..

Enjoy!

French Carrots ala Lisa:

I call these French because of the butter and wine…. isn’t it the French that believe everything tastes better with butter and wine?  Julia Child maybe?  I”ll have to find the reference.  Regardless, these carrots are delicious, easy and bright – they keep their lovely orange-y colour and add punch to your dinner plate.

• 5-6 medium sized carrots
• 2 tbsp butter or replacement
• 1 tbsp good quality extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp dry white wine (optional)
• sea salt and cracked black pepper
• chopped fresh parsley
• kettle with hot water

Cut carrots how you like.  I like mine either in sticks or cut in half lengthwise and then cut again on a diagonal.  Then again, sometimes I like them cut into pretty little coins.  However you cut them is fine.

Heat butter and oil in saute pan, place carrots in pan and toss to coat.  Turn heat to medium, add about 1/4 cup of the hot water from kettle and wine if using.  Simmer and watch.  As the water evaporates, add more a bit at a time.  You have to keep your eye on these as they will burn if the water completely runs out. continue to cook uncovered for about 7-10 minutes.  Carrots should still be crisp tender…. and oh so yummy!  This is one of my favorite ways to prepare carrots – and my son gobbles them up like this!  And not to worry…. the alcohol from the wine will have evaporated itself away.  No worries.

Sprinkle with parsley before serving.

YUM!

Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon. – Doug Larson

For the love of veggies –

They’re good for you and over a flame they taste like candy – well not literally, but certainly sweet.  Everything from asparagus to eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, zucchini…. the list goes on and on….all come to life when grilled – seriously!

I’ve never eaten a veggie I didn’t like… well, let me rephrase that… I’ve never eaten a properly prepared veggie I didn’t like – especially when grilled!  The combination of flavours – smokey carmelized crunchy juiciness – YUM!!  It’s natural goodness at it’s best.

I often read varying reports of just how many vegetables you should consume each day.  While you may question the amount necessary to get in all your vitamins and nutrients, one thing is absolutely certain – your mother was right!  Vegetables are good for you!  There is no question in that.  Veggies are rich in fibre, vitamins and minerals, and beneficial in hydration (veggies have a high water content).  A diet that includes a rainbow of veggies is simply smart.

I know so many people (shocking to me) that do not like veggies – children especially.  I would have to guess that this is largely do to how they are prepared and presented.  Vegetables offer their own natural sweetness.  Boiling them should be a crime!  So please hear me… DO NOT BOIL YOUR VEGGIES!  Potatoes of course are the exception.  With summer upon us… get outside!  Use your grill!  If you don’t already have a grill basket – go out and get one.  Try mixing a variety of colours and textures.  Toss them all together with some good quality olive oil, sea salt, cracked black pepper and something acidic like citris or balsamic vinegar.  Add in some herbs and garlic and presto!  Dee-lish!

The most wonderful thing about vegetables for me is, they are food from the earth.  Directly from the earth.  How great is that?

Veggies – go out and get some.  Have them for dinner tonight!

YUM!

Tell me…. did your mom ever say, “eat your veggies”?  Have you ever told  your children to, “eat your veggies”?

Ah the smell of fresh dill… you either love it or hate it.  For me, dill embodies freshness, clean, summery and tangy .  Basil is probably the more sought after summer herb, but don’t leave this dilly dandy herb out!  I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner the other night, and in my fridge I found a wonderful bunch of fresh dill.  Add some veggies to my counter, a frozen bag of tortellini and corn from the freezer…. and a new soup was born!  Don’t worry yourself with precise chopping or exact ingredients for this soup.  Big uneven chunks go great with the casualness of this soup, plus make sense with the size of the tortellini.  If you don’t have something, use something else.  Be creative and surprise yourself with an amazing new soup you can call your own.

Summer Tortellini Soup

• 1/2 package frozen Tortellini
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 carrots, peeled and rough chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, rough chopped
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 6 cups of water
• Vegetable bullion seasonings (I use 2 tbsp Vegeta)
• 1 sweet potato
• 2 large hand fulls spinach (or more – it shrinks alot)
• 1 handful fresh dill, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 cup frozen corn
• Sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot, add onions, celery and carrots.  Season with salt and pepper.  Saute for 3-5 minutes to sweat out vegetables.  Add garlic, saute for another minute and add water and vegeta seasonings.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and add sweet potatoes and tortellini.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes.  Add red peppers and corn.  Cook for another 5 minutes.  Check potatoes  - when potatoes are cooked, add spinach and dill.  Cook for 2 -3 minutes or until spinach is wilted but still bright green.

Serve with crusty whole grain bread and big salad.  YUM!