Running and baking

This week I had time to get the house cleaning and groceries done during the week, and on Friday since I worked an hour later on Thursday I got to leave early on Friday, which gave me time to get busy in the kitchen. I started by baking a banana bread, I again used spelt flour and coconut sugar for the recipe. I also decided to try a new recipe I saw on TV when I was watching the Pioneer woman, and you can find the recipe here.

I did use buckwheat flour and coconut sugar instead of what they call for in the recipe, I wanted to make it healthier and it turned out pretty good. Then the rest of the night I got to relax. Yesterday my hubby played hockey and scored the first goal and they also won the game 5-3, and we celebrated after. A friend of mine sent a message on facebook to see who was interested in joining her for a morning run today, so I replied and met up with her at 9:00 am this morning. It was cool this morning and there was a wind but the first half we were against the wind so heading back was a lot easier. We did walk a few times but we did 5 km!  Felt great to be out there running!

I am still going to the gym, but I haven't been outside much to run and it's so much better to run outside. Especially with nature surrounding us.

Now I'm going to relax the rest of the day, other then cooking supper later. I'll be making a jambalaya for supper. I am still doing good with not eating much meat, staying away from dairy and eating very little wheat, but I've been craving jambalaya so I'll enjoy that for supper and get back on track after. I did have my phone on me so my step counter counted every step and I'm already at 10,312 steps =) 

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!!!

Halloween weekend

This past weekend I ended up having more free time. Friday night we did go to a friend's place for dinner, but Saturday and Sunday I had no plans at all, so I got busy in the kitchen. I started with taking out my Joyous Health cookbook. I made the Goji berry glory muffins but I didn't have any shredded coconut on hand, so I just didn't add that in, but followed the rest of the recipe, and they turned out really good! I also decided to try a new recipe and made the double chocolate gluten-free cookies. Those turned really good as well.

I got a lot of house cleaning and laundry done as well, and since my hubby was gone to his hockey game I made a pumpkin chili from the Thug cookbook. Yes it's vegetarian, and it was so good!!

I decided to make it in my cast iron pot that I bought a few weeks ago in Watertown. Glad I finally got to use it and I'm really loving it. I do have some left over chili for my lunches this week.

The rest of the weekend, I got to relax. I got caught up on some of my shows, and watched a few movies. As for the trick or treaters, I didn't give any candies out this year. I thought I would be going to my hubby's hockey game, which we wouldn't have been home on time to pass out candy, but then Saturday morning I decided to stay home to have time to get everything done so then I can relax.

Yesterday's supper, I tried another new recipe from a new cookbook, that my niece ended up getting for me since she saw it was on sale, the cookbook is French, but my sister in law told me how there's a lot of great recipes in it.

They all raved on how good this tomato sauce was, sauce bolognaise, so I had to give it a try, and made it for supper on Sunday. It was in my slow cooker all day and made the house smell so good! The recipe was so simple as well, just needed some firm tofu, which for some reason I couldn't find any at all, so I didn't add that in, but the rest I did, I added a pound of ground Italian hot sausage, it called for a pound of ground beef but I used bison, then they say to add in a bunch of vegetables, so I added in carrots, celery, yellow pepper, onion, garlic, and mushrooms, then added in 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, 1 small can of tomato paste, and they say you can add Italian or herb de Provence seasoning so I added the herb de Provence, and of course a bit of salt and some pepper.

It was really good!! I'll for sure be making this again at some point. We do have some left over, so I'll be giving it to my hubby for his lunches, so I can be meat free again, and some will also be going in my freezer to have another time.

So far I'm doing great with the endometriosis diet. My breakfasts have been smoothies, snacks are the muffins and cookies I made, supper and lunches have been salmon, shrimp, vegetables, sweet potatoes, and left over pumpkin chili.

Banana Caramel Sticky buns

It's been another busy weekend. Friday night we went to my hubby's uncle's house for supper. Got to see their new kitchen as well and I would love a kitchen like theirs!  Yesterday the house cleaning and laundry got done, and then I made Banana Caramel Sticky buns. I have made these many times and they are so good!

Here's the recipe:

1 large very ripe banana, mashed
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup melted ghee or coconut oil
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp salt

Topping:
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
1/4 cup ghee or coconut oil
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp coconut flour

Preheat oven at 350F. Mix all ingredients for buns with a wire whisk. Evenly pour into a well greased 12 cup muffin pan. ** Do not use paper muffin liners**
Mix all ingredients for topping with a fork and crumble topping on buns
Bake for 20-25 minutes until cooked through. Cool for about 2 minutes, then run a knife around each bun to loosen from pan. Immediately remove from muffin tin to a wire rack to finish cooling. You may need to scrape the topping back onto the buns as you remove them, but the topping will set up as they cool.

Once those where ready we were off to my hubby's hockey game, although I didn't stay. My friend dropped off her hubby and his brother, and I hopped in with her and we went to her place to get busy in the kitchen. We started with getting the sauce ready for our supper. We made a tomato and pesto sauce and had that with some spaghetti. Then once the sauce was on the stove top on low, we got dessert ready. From the chocolate covered Katie cookbook we made the lemon and chocolate donuts. They were both delicious!! They were also very easy to make and they were baked not fried.

They were a big hit!!  Still some left over as well so they will be great to snack on this week. Today I also go into the kitchen again and prepared two recipes from the Thug kitchen cookbook, and they both turned out great. First one is a roasted beet and quinoa salad.

I made this for a few lunches this week. Then I prepared the roasted potato salad with fresh herbs

We will have this for supper tonight. I did take out london broils to cook up with the salad, and I'm thinking to roast some carrots to go along with it. I have cut back on meat a lot, but really in the mood for some tonight.

Weekend has gone by really fast, but looking forward to sharing those muffins with co-workers, I double the recipe so I can bring some to work. There's a lot of the potato salad so I'm sure there will be some left over, and also from the Thug kitchen I want to make the 5-spice fried rice with sweet potatoes for supper sometime this week. With the donuts, muffins, and delicious meals, it's going to be a good week I'm sure.

Fall

Fall is my favorite time of year. It's just so cozy, and beautiful!  We get to see beautiful colors outside, and it's the perfect weather to be outside running, or doing any sort of exercise/sport.

Yesterday and today, we got some wet snow, not much but it was still pretty to see, but glad it didn't stick to the ground. I'm not quite ready for snow yet, it's just to early for that. I am really enjoying the beautiful colors and cool weather out there.

I did get into the kitchen this week, but it was to prepare for an Epicure party. I went to a friend's place and we were 12 women in total, so a good turnout. We had vegetables and dip, I made a 3 onion, herb and garlic and lemon dilly dips. I also prepared some salsa, and guacamole, and I prepared a cheese dip in a sourdough bread, and for a drink, I made apple cider, and dessert was an eggnog cheesecake. It was a fun night!  Yesterday we went to my dad's for supper, and my brother, sister in law, nieces and nephews also went. They brought dessert, which was an apple crumble and some watermelon cupcakes which both were really good! I brought some vegetables and dip, and my dad prepared a turkey, some ham, potatoes and corn. It was all very good! Today I thought to make some snacks, but realized we still have a few muffins left, there's left over cheesecake and vegetables and dip, so I only prepared a few lunches. I've been eating quite a bit of meat lately, so thinking to do a bit of a detox, and eat lighter for a while, no meat except fish or shrimp, and cut back on dairy and sugar because I've had a bit to much of those as well. I haven't had any endometriosis pain but before I do, it's a good idea for me to cut back on those things. My niece picked up a new cookbook for me, it is in French, but I looked at it at my brother's place, and my sister in a law tried a few recipes and has loved them all. One I'm looking forward to trying out is a pasta recipe, it's with tofu, and they said it was amazing. I also haven't made many recipes from the thug kitchen cookbook that my friend got me as a gift, so I'm thinking to see what new recipe I can make from that book as well.

It's a perfect time for me to do this because it is cooler out, so it will be nice to have some vegetable  or miso soup, some vegetarian chili, pasta or stir fries. I'm sure my hubby won't be in on that, he likes his meat, so I'll be sure to add some to his meals.

Hope everyone is enjoying Fall as much as I am!

Syracuse and Thanksgiving

The weekend before Thanksgiving, my friend and I drove out to Watertown and Syracuse to do some shopping. She picked me up nice and early on the Saturday and we were off!  We first stopped in Watertown to have some breakfast at Cracker barrel

They have amazing food there!  We both had hot chocolate and enjoyed some pancakes, which we should have shared a plate because 3 huge pancakes each is way to much food!  It was delicious though.  We also shopped around in their store, and each bought a small cast iron skillet. Then we were off to Syracuse, and stopped in a mall and spent quite a bit of money, but had a good time. We did of course break for lunch, which we had to go to the Outback. Use to have one in Ottawa but it shut down and we miss it!  Their bread is delicious!!!!

We also shared some appetizers for our lunch, I know not healthy whatsoever but it was good!

We continued our shopping after lunch and spent more money  =)  We decided to go back to the Outback for supper, which was a late supper, we showed up around 7 pm I believe. I went for their fillet mignon, mashed potatoes and a salad.

The steak was perfectly cooked! I enjoyed my supper with a glass of red wine. We then had to drive back to Watertown (about an hour drive) to get to our hotel room. Sunday morning we slept in, then had a small breakfast, courtesy of the hotel, but it wasn't that good so we didn't eat much. We then went to Walmart because it was a must that we go see the Pioneer Woman's new kitchen line, and we were like two kids at Christmas! We went crazy over the beautiful things she has. We bought a lot of things!!  If you don't know who the Pioneer Woman is, check out her website here, and you can also find her on the food network. We then made our way back home, but got stuck at the boarder since we spent quite a bit of money, so we had to pay taxes on it all. It was an amazing trip. Something we both needed, to just talk, go shopping and just have a great time.

This past weekend was Thanksgiving and my hubby's parents came down for a visit. We had a thanksgiving supper at his aunt's place, which I of course ate to much food, and Sunday I went out shopping with my dad during the day and while my hubby and his dad were gone to the hockey game, I relaxed at home. Monday my niece, dad and father in law came over for supper and I prepared a Sheppard's pie but made it with turkey, carrots, celery, onion in a chicken gravy sauce that I made, then topped it with mashed sweet potatoes. We then enjoyed a strawberry and rhubarb pie. Something else I also had time to do was the Chocolate Banana bread muffins, which you can find the recipe in my previous post.

So I am still keeping myself nice and busy. This weekend will be another busy weekend, but hope to have more time in the kitchen, to prepare healthy meals and snacks for next week. Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

Miso

I haven't been doing much lately. The head cold I got at the start of my time off, lead to bronchitis, it's getting better but not completely there yet. Still coughing but not as bad as before.

Yesterday I decided to pull out my slow cooker. I haven't taken it out in months, and it was nice putting together a stew. I put in some beef, along with a lot of vegetables. I used carrots, celery, onion, garlic, turnip, sweet potatoes, beets, and water chestnuts. For herbs I used oregano and basil, and of course some salt and pepper. For the sauce part, I used beef broth and some tomato paste. I used some spelt flour to thicken it. It turned out really good! And we have some left for some lunches this week.

Now I would like to discuss miso. It has a lot of great nutrition, and it's delicious!

Miso has a wonderful sweet/salty flavor that can be used in a wide variety of recipes. The color of miso can vary from light yellow, good to use in a sweet miso soup during warm weather, to a deep dark brown with earthy tones and hearty flavor.  And here are the benefits of miso:

1. Contains all essential amino acids, making it a complete protein.
2. Stimulates the secretion of digestive fluids in the stomach.
3. Restores beneficial probiotics to the intestines.
4. Aids in the digestion and assimilation of other foods in the intestines.
5. Is a good vegetable-quality source of B vitamins (especially B12).
6. Strengthens the quality of blood and lymph fluid.
7. Reduces risk for breast, prostate, lung and colon cancers.
8. Protects against radiation due to dipilocolonic acid, an alkaloid that chelates heavy metals and discharges them from the body.
9. Strengthens the immune system and helps to lower LDL cholesterol.
10. Is high in antioxidants that protect against free radicals.

Here's a great link with a video on how to make miso soup: http://skillet.lifehacker.com/a-video-guide-to-making-miso-soup-at-home-no-recipe-re-1694607730

It's really easy and delicious. You can add different vegetables to the soup if you want, and you can even add noodles. I found noodles at the T&T store near here, and they are mung bean noodles. They are a nice long thin noodle and take no time to cook and the ingredient listed is mung beans, that's it! If you don't like tofu, or if your unsure like me on how healthy it is, you can skip it.

If you have never tried miso, I suggest you give it a try. It adds wonderful flavor, and it's fermented, therefore it has great nutritional benefits.

Camping and fishing

My hubby and I spent a little over a week in Sudbury to visit our families. We first stopped near Noelville to spend 2 nights at his aunt and uncle's camp. We went out fishing but we didn't have any luck getting any. Well my hubby got one, but it was to small to keep so we let that one go, and his uncle almost caught a big one, but his fishing line snapped while he was trying to real it in. We were very close but ended up with nothing at the end, but it was still a fun day.

This is a view of the lake we were at. It was a really beautiful day, so we all got lots of sun. That night we joined the party, they had a huge cook out for the camp ground. The food was amazing!

Sunday we made our way to Sudbury, and went to my father in law's camp. I had time to say hi to everyone and talk a bit, then I left go to my cousin's. We chatted a while, then I was off again to meet our family for supper. My cousin didn't go to the supper but met up with us after at our uncle's place. It was nice spending time with them and my aunt from Quebec was down, so it was really great seeing her as well. At my uncle's we had really good dessert, and we talked. Didn't stay there to late, it was about 9 pm when I left, and went back to camp. Everyone was up and around a camp fire so I joined in.The rest of the week there, we got to see more family, sit by more camp fires, and go on another fishing trip. This one was with my hubby, his dad, and uncle. We left at 5:30 am to drive out to the middle of nowhere, to a spot that has a lot of fish. Took a long time to get there because of the rough roads. At one point we got to a spot where we parked the car, hooked up the trailer that had the boats to the 4 wheeler, and one drove that while the rest of us walked, here's the start of the trail.

It was a nice hike, and my favorite part!  When we finally reached the lake, it was beautiful

My hubby and I took the largest boat, and his dad and uncle took the smaller one. We wanted to do the opposite, but his dad insisted. We ended up with 8 bass, and his dad and uncle caught 12. It was a lot of fun, except for the end, it started to rain hard, so we were soaked! Plus it was cool outside. I caught a cold at the start of my vacation, so that really didn't help. My father in law was very kind in cleaning out our fish for us, and froze them up for us, so now we have some fresh fish on hand. One of their fish was a pike, so his dad cooked him up in foil with some butter, lemon and garlic, it was delicious!!

Last week on Friday, I went to my cousin's place, and we went out to do some shopping and of course had to stop at chapters. I got two new books, and enjoyed a chai tea latte. We then went to her place, ordered pizza for supper, and had a girls night. She has 3 daughters, and one of them brought over a friend, so we watched movies, and had some junk food. It was a lot of fun! I slept over, then left the next morning because we wanted to visit my hubby's grandfather, and then we were invited to a wedding, which was beautiful and we had a lot of fun.

We got back from Sudbury last weekend on Sunday, my hubby and I took the Monday off so it gave us the chance to unpack, get groceries, and do laundry. This weekend, well I haven't done very much because my cough is still lingering. I ended up going to see my family doctor Thursday morning, then my boss said I can just go home to rest. Friday I still wasn't feeling so great and coughing so much so I stayed home, and took a long nap, which I really needed. I felt so exhausted. Been relaxing most of the weekend, but I did make my own chicken soup, no noodles, but I did put in some quinoa. Here's my recipe:

1 carrot, cut in half, length wise, then sliced
1 celery stock, cut in half, length wise, then sliced
half a large red onion,chopped
1 chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
a handful of lentils
a handful of quinoa
homemade chicken stock, about 2 cups
2 cups of water

I sauteed the vegetables for a few minutes, then added in the chicken, stock, lentils, quinoa,  a touch of salt and some pepper, I let it come to a boil, then simmered for about 15-20 min. I had a bowl for my lunch, and stored the rest away in the freezer to have another time

It turned out really good, and helped calm my coughing. I'm still coughing quite a bit, but it has gotten a bit better. Really looking forward to the coughing to go away completely!  Other then that, I made a banana bread, and yesterday from my new clean eating magazine, I tried a new stir fry recipe for our supper, and it was really good! The sauce was rice wine vinegar, tamari, maple syrup, sesame oil, some vegetable stock, arrowroot (to thicken it) and some peanut butter. The vegetables, I put in carrot, celery, onion, snow peas, red pepper and mushrooms. They called for chickpeas, but I put in chicken instead, and instead of millet, I used Quinoa. It was really good! Today I think I'll chop up my broccoli, so that's ready to use, and I'm thinking to put together some oats, apple, cinnamon, nuts, flax seeds and hemp seeds, with some maple syrup and almond milk and let that thicken in the fridge to have a cold cereal for some breakfast this week.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!