(fake make) Spaghetti

Ok, so in my cooking I'm a serious cheater. All over the shop, I like to mix and match recipes as well as cheat my way to healthier options.

Tonight I made spaghetti squash. I cut the squash lengthwise and placed it in an oven at 350 for 30minutes face down on a sprayed (with olive oil) cookie sheet. You want to be able to stick a sharp knife into it and have it give you little resistance- feels kind of like steamed veggies.

As the squash was cooking away, I then chopped up an onion, 2 cloves of garlic and sauteed them on medium high heat until transparent. From there, I added ground turkey and cooked that amongst the onion and garlic. Once the meat was browned I added a jar of Newman's Own pasta sauce, a dash of balsamic and some extra basil and oregano, I let it simmer until the squash had finished cooking (one this large was closer to 45-50mins then 30).

There you have it, easiest dinner EVER! Well- cereal is probably easier, but not as delicious!

Lunch, as pictured wayyy up above was leftovers from last night, and the last bits of tofu from the night before. After my lunch I went for a little walk and did some homework before having a snack of some corn thins& AB/RFJ... after dinner I ate a navel orange, straight from Florida and a couple cups of tea and snuck in another power walk-- all this homework is driving my brain crazy, so I figured it's time to move.. I can only sit at my computer for so long before I go stir crazy..

Happy Hump Day! Congrats on making it through!

Cooking: More Fun than Homework

Ohh baby, snack time! I got home from school today pretty darn hungry, so whipped myself up a little salad with balsamic and olive oil on it, it wasn't hitting the spot so I also chopped a pear into the mix and it was just right.. (especially since I spread a little goat cheese and RFJ on a corn thin after)

Following that venture, I got out the old food processor. In it was 4 roasted red peppers, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 can of chickpeas, a dollop of tahini, juice of one and a half lemons, olive oil (probs 1-2TBS) and salt/pepp... I hit the magic button and BOOM:

This lovely mixture presented itself to me, sweet and savory and nothing but goodness for you. I love it! I've never made a roasted red pepper hummus, I knew how to make hummus and just chucked in the red peppers and hoped for the best-- I got better than what I could have asked for.

Quick tip with it: if you find it's a bit dry and don't want to add too much olive oil, just throw some water into it, it works well and there's enough flavor you won't have to worry.

Here's dinner (obviously I ate more veggies and grapes than shown, but I just hadn't loaded them on my plate by that point):

3/4 of a WW pita with my hummus, 1/2 a chicken breast (marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, oregano and pepper), cucumber, and spinach-- Also, after my little avo snack, because we had such a late dinner I snacked on some rice chips and salsa.. any kind of tortilla chip and I are basically lovers, just sayin'...

Hey Clouds- Get Lost!

Another cloudy day here in Victoria. I'm about ready for them to get out of here and move onto the interior, we're supposed to be living in a tropical island (in my dreams) and this is just making reality even harder to bear.

So, I woke up this morning after a glorious 9.5 hour sleep. I think that may be too much, but I went lights out at 10:30 and woke up just before 8 with no alarm, so obviously that's what my body wanted.... and what my body wants, it gets. ha, unless it's cheap chocolate or chips, I try to maintain a standard.

After waking up, I got on my black leggings and chugged a liter of water. I actually made 2 breakfasts this morning. I only ate one, but I couldn't decide what I wanted until one was made and I wanted the other. I figure if I don't fix that craving right away it'll be a day of them.. So I made my second breakfast.

I slapped some almond butter and agave nectar onto some corn thins with a banana and as I was making them, I managed to scoop an extra scoop of almond butter into my mouth (it slipped- I swear).

While I was putting that together, I took my leftover salad from last night and some tofu, popped that into a container with some Little Creek dressing on it and peeled myself a grapefruit for later. I get a little munchy just having this, as it truly isn't that many cals, so I also made 2AB/J corn thin sammys to have in the afternoon before coming home for some bend and flex with Eoinn Finn, my best friend on DVD.

So there you have it, my relaxing, yet productive morning, of two breakfasts a lunch and a snack, all while consuming a pot of coffee, before I grab my tea and head out the door pretending I don't drink coffee the rest of the day!

Clean Cookies!

Spiked Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/4 cup quick-cook old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

2 tsp flaxseed meal

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup agave nectar (or honey if you don’t have agave- I used 50-50 as I was running out of agave)

2 large egg white

2 T. unsalted almond butter

1.5 tsp vanilla extract

1 C cup (total) dark mini chocolate chips, raisins, coconut, pecans (or whatever floats your boat—dried cherries are delicious too these were just what I had around)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray 2 baking sheets with olive oil.

In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, flour, flaxseed meal, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together agave, egg white, almond butter and vanilla. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients all at once and combine. Stir in chocolate chips.

Divide batter equally into 16 mounds and arrange evenly spaced on prepared baking sheets. Using the back of a slightly dampened spoon, flatten each mound into 2.5 inch circles. Bake 9-10 minutes, until golden. Cool on sheets for an additional 10 minutes before transferring to racks to cool completely. Stored in an airtight container, cookies will keep fresh for 2-3 days.

These taste like heaven on my healthy cookie tasting chart. Seriously, most taste like cardboard gone wrong, these on the other hand taste like cookies, just good for you.

Tuesday!

Well- last night was a bit of a bust. I was in bed by 9:30 having taken cold meds and still hoping that today I would be able to get up in the morning and head out for a 6am run... Needless to say, it didn't happen.

A blaring alarm woke me up at 6, 6:05, 6:15, then 7 (since I decided I could squeeze one in getting up at 7), then 7:30; and then finally at 8am (or 8:01, but who's counting) I was able roll out of bed and into some clothes for the day.

So much for me and my early bird ways getting the worm. I'm just going to hold off on that promise until the sun starts rising when I do.

After rolling out of bed, I decided to go with the usual oatmeal combo (less thinking) and went for some creativity in my lunch, I made a nice little salad with smoked tofu, raspberries, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber (dressed with reduced balsamic and mustard--why mustard? Cause I'm a loser and wasn't thinking straight-- changed the whole flavor of my nice little salad); then for a snack I had a grapefruit (mid morning); and after lunch before taking off on my run I had some corn thins with almond butter, and my favorite real fruit jam (raspberry-always).

Today I took off on my run at around four and went for 57minutes. I think it was around 11 or 12km. I don't know exactly, but I would say closer to 12 then 11, I felt good for about the first 30 minutes and then I started getting weird stomach cramps and had to take it easy for the last 26.

Music of choice you may be wondering (I don't know if you are, but I often wonder what people are listening to as I run past them with their headphones in) was Robin Thicke's Sex Therapy album for the first 30 and then a little Taylor Swift to carry me on home. I wanted to go for a slower mix because I feel like if I listen to slower music, I may run at a slower pace (less pain), but that's not always the case.. sometimes I'm just in pain listening to slow music. Today wasn't so bad though.

Tonight for dinner I'm cooking up a chicken and olive dish with brown rice. It's a new recipe, so I'll let you know how it goes, and if it's any good, will make sure I post up the recipe tomorrow morning, with perhaps a photo.

Until then..

Tina's (Healthy) Pea Soup

This is the most delicious vegan soup in the world and it's easy! This soup gets even better when you make it with a smoked paprika (hard to find sometimes- so if you do, buy 4- you'll want it instead of the regular for just about everything!).

So here it is friends, from my sister in laws recipe files, to mine and on to your own.. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1.5C Split Peas
2Tbs Olive Oil
1 Large Onion
2 Diced Carrots
2 Large Garlic Cloves
1/4C Chopped Parsley
1tsp Marjoram
1tsp Rosemary
1tsp paprika
2 Bay leaves
2 Quarts of Veggie Stalk
Salt/Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cover peas with hot water and set aside
2. Heat oil with onion and carrots; saute for 10 minutes
3. Add garlic, parsley, herbs, paprika and salt/pepper
4. Drain peas (that you set aside previously) and add with aromatics
5. Simmer for one hour

You can puree this, or have it as is. I like it both ways, so it's up to you.

This soup is easy and makes a great weeknight meal, so don't be scared to dive in and make it tonight or tomorrow!

This is what I did this morning

Followed by a nice bowl of natures path oatmeal (with banana, peanut butter and bran buds to jazz it up), I headed on down to the gym that I work at for 1h15 class known as the drill. It's a continuous circuit that is guaranteed to kick even the fittest person's ass. It was a good time, felt good about it, but afterwards I came to the realization that my holidays are coming to a fast close. School starts tomorrow and with school comes papers, group assignments and deadlines. There's 7months left, 197 days and I can't wait for it to be over.

After the gym today I decided that I would cook up a bowl of broccoli with chicken and have that before tearing down the Christmas decorations. I had no idea, but it can be some serious work going up and down those stairs, all I wanted to eat was a Christmas cookie for energy, but I managed to stay away and stick to what I know: corn thins with almond butter, with a piece of dark chocolate (SUGAR!).

So that's been my day today, no fuss, no muss, the usual kind of happenings.