I Love Rainbows, Especially Vegetable Ones

This month at Weight Watchers, we’ve been talking about working towards at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day. We did a similar challenge last year with much success and last week we (once again) discussed incorporating a rainbow of colour into our meals.

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I love colour and making meals pretty by using a variety of colour is a lot of fun and tends to make food much more interesting. Summer is an amazing time for colour in the produce section with tonnes of amazing fruits and veggies that are just bursting with colour!! With this in mind, I headed to the East Lynn Farmer’s Market on Thursday to pick up some goodies. I was super impressed with the organization and the number of booths. I also learned later that members of the community take turns feeding the farmers and ensuring that they are well taken care of. Love that! I picked up some carrots, cauliflower, swiss chard, kale, peaches, eggplant and one of the farmers threw in some complimentary lemon basil – amazing!!

I had Lindsay over for dinner last night and made the cauliflower lentil curry from Veganomicon over some quinoa I left out the jalapeño and the parsnip and added in some Swiss chard in the last 5 minutes of cooking. It was such a yummy meal and a great use for the cauliflower and the chard! Later in the week I’ll be putting the kale to use in a salad (inspired by the one at Live) and the eggplants will be used in a dish inspired by Noelle at an Opera in the Kitchen.

How do you incorporate a rainbow of colour into your meals? What are your tips for getting in at least five servings of fruits & veggies each day?

Fun, fun, fun till your landlord takes your oven away...

Wanna see what made my week EXTRA special?

Yes, that's my oven out on the street. Why you ask?

Our oven has been acting up the past few weeks and our landlord needed to replace a part. So on Sunday evening I was left without use of my oven or the burners for an undetermined amount of time. Raw food anyone?

Rice paper wraps with sunflower seed pate & veggies with spinach salad (with pecans and cranberries) with a few potatoes from the Carrot take away counter. It was good! Joey said the potatoes were his favourite part, and then felt bad when he realized I didn't make them.

Here's my lunch from the following day - spinach, orange pepper slices, cucumber slices, avocado with sunflower seed pate and some blueberries for snacking.

We ended up getting a whole new oven on Wednesday, which meant I was able to try out some recipes from my new cookbook, La Dolce Vegan. I started with black bean soup with tomato avocado salsa.

Amazing. I've made a couple of black bean soups in the past that were just okay, but this one was seriously great. Not very spicy (I like that, but Joey said he might add some Tabasco next time), really creamy and the tomato avocado salsa added a really nice touch. The soup part of the recipe makes two good sized servings, so next time I will double the recipe to have for lunches the next day. This is a keeper.

Next up, banana-pecan pancakes.

I replaced the flour in the recipe with Bob's gluten free flour mix, and added a tsp of xanthan gum for good measure. I liked these. They didn't burn like my last attempt at pancakes which was good, but they weren't particularly sweet. I think my banana was to blame (it wasn't very ripe) but I solved that with some maple syrup. Overall, this made for a really satisfying start to my day.

I finally checked out Camros Organic Eatery and it was amazing!! I love that their motto is "Taste & Health in every wholesome meal"- that is right up my alley!! I could eat nearly everything, which meant I had quite a few choices.

I went with a lentil patty, kale salad, navy bean stew and millet salad. Everything was delicious, I don't even know if I could choose my favourite dish. I was interested in trying millet, since it is a gluten free grain. It was nice in the salad. I also enjoyed the kale salad a lot! I don't eat a lot of raw kale, but after having this salad I think I need to start incorporating it. The tahini dressing was a nice touch. Everything is organic and made with lots of love and the prices are incredibly reasonable. I loved every bite and cannot wait to return.

On Friday night Joey and I headed to the Green Eggplant, which was so yummy as usual!

I opted for the grilled chicken and veggie salad sans chicken, with avocado and dressing on the side (could I be any more complicated??) First of all, it was gigantic! I feel like I ate a whole bag of lettuce. Secondly, I need to start roasting or grilling veggies for my salads, because the grilled veggies made it so exciting! My only gripe is that I wish there had been more than 2 asparagus spears. Still a great salad and a fun night with Joey.

Last week's mission in the 4 Weeks to 5 Servings Challenge was to try a new fruit or vegetable. I tried a yellow plum this morning.

First bite was gross and bitter. I persevered and every bite after that was sweet and juicy! Isn't it funny how the first bite of fruit can be so different from the others? I picked up a bunch of plums and peaches from the Farmers Market on Thursday and having one each day has been delightful. Did you try any new fruits or veggies this week? Next week's challenge is to get in at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies each day.

Tonight we had a couple friends over for a BBQ.

I enjoyed a veggie burger, a potato and a cucumber/tomato/avocado salad Lori brought over. So summery and fresh. I christened my new oven with a blueberry/strawberry crumble.

It was amazing! Our friend Jeff was upset that there was no ice cream, but made do without. I loved the blueberries in the crumble! They became very juicy and it was a great combination with the strawberries and crumble topping. I used a 1/2 tsp of ginger and nutmeg in place of the all spice. I think I will enjoy leftovers as part of my breakfast tomorrow...

We've since spent the evening out back with guitars,

bongos,

and Beatles tunes.

Joey is such a talented musician. It's so nice to hear him play guitar and sing with him when I can!

I'm looking forward to getting back to normal (aka the ability to use my stove) this week with a proper grocery trip tomorrow. I will also be posting my July activity results! If you would like me to include your results in the recap, be sure to send me an email (wwleaderashley@gmail.com)

I hope you're all having an amazing weekend so far!

Rain, rain go away

Seriously, could someone tell me where to find summer? It appears to be missing and I'm starting to be concerned.Despite the lack of sunshine, I had a lot of fun this week! It was great to keep up with the Fruit & Veggie Challenge and fill my plate with lots of fruit/veggie goodness!!

On Sunday, Joey & I BBQ'd and it was delightful. I had a veggie burger, with asparagus and a salad with house dressing (I made it with half the oil and it was still amazing!) from the reFresh cookbook.

For dessert we chomped on a plate of watermelon, which was juicy and ripe and lovely.

On Monday I made pork chops with beans and salad after Booty Camp before heading to a Broadway dance class - what a busy night!

Luckily this was a super easy dinner to prepare and I had everything ready to go. It provided me with enough fuel to make it through the night. I really enjoyed both classes.

We also had (my favourite) kale & asparagus stir fry with rice and cucumber slices. So yummy!

This week I discovered the joys of quinoa porridge (inspired by Meals that Heal Inflammation). It was so easy to make and I loved the extras that were included (sometimes spices with almonds, cranberries and apple, another day it was banana) and it kept me full until lunch.

On Thursday I went out for dinner with Alicia and Vanessa to celebrate Alicia's 25th birthday. We went for Greek (as we often do) I had the grilled veggie souvlaki with mixed veggies, rice and a greek salad without feta (not shown)

It was a yummy meal and we really enjoyed ourselves chatting and catching up. Vanessa is heading to law school in September and Alicia is prepping to do her thesis so she can head to teacher's college next year. I am really proud of both of them!

Friday morning started off with some scrambled tofu.

I can't tell you how much I enjoy this. I think next time I will add more veggies. I think this would be awesome with mushrooms and peppers.

I decided to take a little adventure to the Annex for lunch. It started raining as soon as I got on the streetcar which really bummed me out. I got off at Bloor and headed into Trove to scope out some dresses and accessories. When I came out (empty handed) the sun was shining! I was suitably impressed with the sudden change of events! On my adventure I went to BMV and scored used copies of Fresh at Home and La Dolce Vegan for $8.99 each!! I felt so excited and lucky. I am such a big fan of reFresh and my other cookbook by Sarah Kramer so this was just awesome. I can't tell you how many of my cookbooks I have bought at BMV.

I used to visit Kensington Natural Bakery when I was going to musical theatre school years ago. They offer a variety vegetarian food options as well as a ton of gluten free and wheat free baked goods. I brought my lunch back to the office. Rice noodles with peas & cashews and mixed veggies.

It was just okay. I wasn't particularly impressed and the tofu kind of scared me. (It looked like it had pores) I did pick up a gluten free cookie which was crunchy and yummy and it made up for the lacklustre lunch.

On Friday night we went to Lori's house for a little housewarming/jazz fest goodness.

Check out all the food!!

I spent the night enjoying her homemade guacamole and salsa with corn chips and a ton of veggies. I brought some of my carob cherry cookies and once Lori had told everyone how good they were everyone started digging in!! I had a really fun night chatting with Lori and her friends over fantastic food.

On Saturday night I headed to a going away party from my friend Jessie.

She is like a little sister to me. I "adopted" her in high school and we became very close. She is one of the sweetest, kindest, most intelligent people I know and while I'm sad that she's moving (to England to teach at an arts school!!) I am excited for her to have this amazing opportunity. Plus, it leaves me with a reason to go to England!

What a busy week!!! Up next week- last two boot camp sessions (with new measurements!), more bellydancing and zumba, some book reviews and the latest challenge for fruits and veggies - try a new fruit or vegetable!

At the end of the rainbow you'll find...

a salad recipe?

It was so much fun to hear about everyone's experiences getting in more colour this week via my meetings this morning as well as on your blogs! I think you rose to the challenge nicely and I'm going to reward you by giving you a salad recipe I created this week.

There's probably a million versions of this salad out there, but I loved the combination of colours and flavors.

Ashley's Colourful Salad

2 cups corn (thawed if frozen)

1 can black beans, rinsed

2 peppers, chopped (I used red & orange)

1 tomato, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

1 jalapeno, minced

juice of 1 lime

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and stir until everything is evenly distributed. Makes roughly six servings at 2 Points each.

We enjoyed it with some raw tacos in dehydrated shells.

I screwed up the raw tacos and accidentally used double cumin instead of cumin & coriander. Oops. Joey was not a fan, but I still enjoyed them the next day for lunch.

The taco shells were my second experiment in the dehydrator. I enjoyed them, but I'm not sure that I would make them again. I found them to be a little tedious (especially since you make them in one large sheet and have to cut the circles out individually) and I don't mind enjoying my raw tacos in jumbo lettuce leaves or rice paper wraps.

Some of my other colourful meals this week included a yummy fruit salad with banana, kiwi and cherries

A veggie burger with cauliflower, broccoli, blueberries & cherries

Eggplant Cannelloni with "ricotta" and tomato sauce (from Go Dairy Free - review coming soon!)

This was so delicious, I can't even begin to describe it. I also made baked pears for dessert (from Meals that Heal Inflammation)

This week I also made a trip to the Farmers Market and picked up some yellow beans, asparagus, cauliflower, romaine, cherries, and strawberries plus some apple butter and cinnamon honey (the new love of my life!)

And lastly (but unrelated to colour, except for the brightness of my belt) I saw the new Harry Potter movie on Tuesday night.

I LOVED it. I thought they really captured the essence of the franchise and I think the kids are really great little actors. I also loved Jim Broadbent (aka Harold Zidler) as Slughorn. I'm really looking forward to the next one!!

This week's challenge for 4 Weeks to 5 Servings is to fill half your plate with veggies and fruits.

Just like we talked about in the meeting today, it's a great strategy for everyday eating, but especially when you are travelling or on vacation! It helps to get your portions in check and make better choices overall. I can't wait to see how it goes!

I also just wanted to tell you guys how much I enjoyed reading your responses and hearing your feedback regarding my last post. It was interesting to hear what you wish you would have learned earlier. I'm also glad that I could share that part of my journey with you! I know that many of you only met me once I got to goal or had started to change my eating, but please know that it was (and still can be) tough for me to transition and make these changes in my life. Thank you for being such lovely readers!

Ron Popeil taught me well

When I was a kid, I loved watching infomercials. My parents thought I was nutty, but I really enjoyed watching Ron Popeil promote various kitchen gadgets (or spray on hair) to the masses. My absolute favourite was the food dehydrator. I realistically knew that my family was never going to buy one, but I was intrigued by the "fruit roll ups" and jerky nonetheless. So you can imagine my excitement when I got this...

My very own dehydrator!

(Eric making good use of the box)

I opted for an Excalibur dehydrator (purchased from the lovely folks at Upaya Naturals) in the "apartment sized" 4 tray model. I had a credit (from my doomed Sun Warrior purchase) and I thought it would be a cool gadget to have. I've been experimenting more and more with Raw Food and I decided the dehydrator would open up my options!

My first experiment was Raw carob-cherry cookies from The Complete Book of Raw Food (you'll remember that this is the book Joey got me for my birthday)

They were delicious!! I was happy to find a new use for carob. Dried cherries are delightful and the centers are made from fresh cherries and honey. I also love that they have ZUCCHINI in them!! They were really easy to make and incredibly delicious. Joey really enjoyed them too.

As you can imagine, dehydrating takes time. Things don't "cook" very quickly at 105 degrees, so you need to plan ahead. That's fine by me!! I know that I'm going to learn more about the nuances of my dehydrator as I use it more, but overall I'm really happy that I got it. Next project: Corn taco shells.

Since we're talking colour this week, I thought I would share yesterday's colourful eats with you.

Breakfast: Scrambled tofu with spinach, 1/2 an avocado & orange juice

I've never "scrambled" tofu before, but this was delicious!! It's basically tofu with onion, garlic, a bit of oil, curry powder and salt. You break up the tofu into chunks, sautee for a little bit and voila! I usually go for sweet breakfasts rather than savory, so this was a nice change. It didn't take much time to make and it kept me full for HOURS!! I will definitely be making this a staple in my breakfast rotation.

Lunch: Cauliflower, broccoli, & veggie burger with cherries & blueberries

Dinner: Wild Rice soup with sweet potato croutons, cauliflower, cucumber slices and walnut crackers (recipe from Meghan's class)

The soup wasn't what we expected, but it was a good meal nonetheless. Joey and I decided that the cauliflower was probably some of the best we've ever tasted!! Yay for the Farmers Market - I can't wait to go again this week!

How are you doing with colour this week? Any good dehydrator recipes/books to share?