Friday, July 17, 2009

My 200th Post

...which would be way more exciting if I'd been posting regularly! eep! Still, I'll give myself a tiny "woo hoo" and try to get back to posting and reading my favourite blogs more regularly...and make the next 200 really count. (I should be to goal by then, right?!) ;P

Anyway, I'll be better- well, once I'm back from my cottage holiday which we're going on tomorrow. LOL We go with my sisters and their families and my mom, so it's a lot of fun. One of my sisters lives in Vancouver with her dh and two young sons, so we don't get to see them very often.

I'm packing my workout gear, btw, and taking a couple of Cooking Light recipes with ingredients. My sisters and their husbands all like to be active, and my Toronto sister is a pretty fast runner, so I should be able to get a couple of good run-walks in. (to counteract all the heavy eating and drinking, I'm sure?) ;)






Besides enjoying my boot camp sessions (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday), I've tried a few new CL recipes. Firstly, we keep getting zucchini in our organic delivery box and besides having it grilled on the bbq, I did a Zucchini Bread recipe from the Cooking Light site. Well, the recipe makes enough for 2 loaves, so I made a loaf (not pictured) and a batch of muffins. My neighbour and I really liked them, but my family wouldn't try them once they learned that they had zucchini in them. sheesh! I really liked the lemon flavour. After reading the reviews, I increased the baking soda slightly and added more cinnamon. I'd definitely make them again.


I also (on the recommendation of my chum, Karin) made a kale recipe from the organic delivery people. They claim it tastes like french fries- and I say, it kind of does! dh liked it, too. (The tots wouldn't really try much.) Karin's son said that the people making the claim had never tried french fries. lol. Anyway, it really is tasty. The trick is to get the kale REALLY crisp, so it's crackly and not bendy. Enjoy your Krispy Kale fries! (or as dh had the tots saying, Krispy Kelp.) ;)

Crispy Kale - Kale Recipes By Stephanie Gallagher, About.com
Kale recipes aren't normally on the top of most parents lists when they're looking for vegetables the kids will like. But I urge you to try this crispy kale. It is really extraordinary. Although the kale is roasted, not fried, it becomes crispy and salty, almost like french fries. This kale recipe is incredibly healthy, too. It boasts a whopping 309% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, 201% vitamin C, 14% calcium, 10% iron, 3 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber, and it only has 112 calories and 1 gram of saturated fat per serving!
Ingredients:
• 6-8 cups chopped fresh kale, hard stems removed
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt or sea salt
Preparation:
Place a rack on the lowest shelf of your oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Spread kale out on a sturdy baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Toss to coat completely.
Place on the lowest rack of the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and stir so that kale can get crispy all over.
Bake another 8 to 12 minutes or until kale is crispy. It should be just lightly browned and crispy to the touch. If kale still bends, rather than crackles, when you touch it, it isn't done yet. Return it to the oven. Turn down the heat if it is getting too brown. Continue cooking until crispy. 10. Remove from oven, and sprinkle with sea salt (Maldon sea salt makes it taste fantastic) and serve immediately.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Week One of Summer

Yes, I've been missing in action for a bit. Sorry! I've missed you, my weightloss blogging friends. And to make matters worse, usually when I'm not around here posting and checking in, it's because I'm out being B.A.D.- bad, as in, eating wildly, not drinking water (but calorie laden cocktails at parties instead) and not exercising. June is always a super busy month for me and often "the busy" leads to poor food decisions. Well, with my boot camp, at least I've been exercising. I'm starting to feel stronger, though my muscles are buried under more muffin top again. ;P

We spent our first week of summer with a summer bug- dd11 got it first on her first day of holiday, passed it to dd8 a couple of days later and now I'm stuffed up and exhausted. Also bringing me down, one of my co-workers had a health related incident while driving and ended up killing 3 people. I can stop thinking about this sad turn of events and how someone's life can change so suddenly. :( So sad all around.

Anyway, I'm pledging to make this a summer of fit- as opposed to fat. Going to turn things around from here on out. The girls are feeling better. Boot camp's first week sessions were great in the new yoga studio where our trainer found a place for us this summer. (Plus it's beside Starbucks: low fat Chai after strenuous workout!) My delivery of organic vegetables this week brought lots of summery greens.

Pictured is my bagel from yesterday with Cooking Light pesto made with fresh organic basil and tomatoes. Love summer's offerings. I'm going to try to get back to centering my eating around what I get in the delivery. I've got a number of unread magazines and cookbooks to check out. I'll try to share some of my new finds with you all, too.

Happy July 4th to my American friends, btw! Hope it was festive and yet healthy, too! :)