Superfoods, Super Weekend, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Thinking about all the super stuff in my weekend made me want to sing the song…

I had a fantastic weekend and some pretty amazing eats… Whole Foods lunch including chickpeas, bean medley, quinoa, peas and a mixed salad Green-tea tofu fingers, mango-avocado salad and protein soup at Magic Oven. The soup was definitely the highlight with lots of chickpeas and delightful warming spices. I was disappointed that they forgot the walnuts in my salad, and the waitress forgot to retrieve them before I had finished my salad. I really want to like that restaurant, but I feel that I leave disappointed every time…Unpictured gelato for dessert from Ed’s– so delicious!
Cauliflower – cabbage - cauliflower curry over millet – This is such a simple recipe and it makes so much. I love it!!In the Superfood spirit, a snack of goji berries, cacao nibs and almonds  Shopping and prepping for 5 Days with Superfoods
Broccoli soup and garden salad at Butler’s Pantry in my favourite window booth for Sunday brunch. I discovered that their soups are always vegan – score!! Incredible Hulk bread!!! I used Ener-G egg replacer in place of the two eggs which worked great. The spirulina (a blue-green algae that is a complete protein and contains lots of vitamins, minerals and superfoody goodness!) made it smell like the ocean, but it tasted great once cooked. Even the roommates liked it – success!! Delicious kichade made with mung beans, brown rice, zucchini, carrot and kale paired with a slice of my Hulk-tastic bread. I’m loving my Superfoods thus far and looking forward to a delicious week ahead!

How do you like to incorporate “Superfoods” into your meals?

Cooking for One

Prior to joining Weight Watchers, I wasn’t a big cook. I lived with my dad and younger brother and often ate what my father prepared or dined out in restaurants. I know now that both of these factors probably contributed to me gaining weight!

I moved in with my ex very soon after joining Weight Watchers and began cooking for the two of us. Having another person to cook and pack a lunch for made it quite easy to plan and prepare meals, do a weekly grocery shopping trip and generally use up everything in our fridge. Most recipes make 4ish servings so we’d have 1 serving each for dinner and then both take another serving for lunch the following day.

Having moved out on my own, I’ve noticed that it has been a very different ball game now that I’m only cooking and shopping for one (officially). In the last month, I’ve fallen into a new groove and developed some new strategies for cooking for one.

Cook for Others
Since I started cooking, I always enjoyed the act of making things for other people and have embraced this as a strategy in my new home. The most awesome part about this is that I now have 3 willing participants in my roommates! In my first week here I started off by making some delicious cuppins

and later went on to include a tomato-zucchini curry I am happy to share food when I’m making larger dishes, because there are often still leftovers for me and the food isn’t going to waste. It also means that I can prepare baked goods without having to worry about having the whole pan or batch to myself!

I also enjoy have people over and cooking for them, like I did with the lovely Lindsay a couple weeks ago We enjoyed baked falafels with a fresh salad and tahini dressing. I love cooking for people and look forward to doing more entertaining in the future. Any takers?

Cook with Others
A few weeks ago I blogged about the impromptu dinner party the roommates and I had, and I’m sure that there will be more of those to come in the future. Last week I had set out to make the cauliflower-lentil curry from Veganomican when Drew arrived home. I mentioned that he could join me in consuming some curry to which he asked how he could help. Together we made quite the delightful meal. Drew whipped up some red rice and an amazing salad with baby spinach, raisins and sautéed onions, garlic and asparagus It was an awesome meal and having someone else to chat with in the kitchen as well as prepare part of the meal, made the whole experience a lot more enjoyable.

Cook for Yourself
I’ve found that since I’ve been cooking for one, my meals have become a lot more simple and I am okay with this. I’ve been eating a lot of salads Stir fries and simple dishes like brown rice pastathat are easy to make for one! I’ve been making 1-2 more elaborate meals each week and sticking with lots of veggies, fruits, whole grains and basic proteins like tempeh and lentils the rest of the time. I’ve been freezing bigger batches of things and embracing leftovers in different ways. I find myself eating a ton of fruits and veggies and this makes me really happy!

While cooking for one is definitely different than cooking for two, it’s proving to be an interesting challenge that I’m having fun exploring!

Are you cooking for just yourself? What are some of your tips and tricks? Any good cookbooks or resources that focus on cooking for one?

Looking for some new recipe ideas? Check out the recipes that my members sent me over the last few weeks.

 

What Do You Mean I Don’t Have To Be At The Theatre?

It’s been strange (and also lovely) getting back to “normal” post-show and having some time to just be. My life is usually pretty hectic, but it’s nice to be able to go and come as I please and spend time with the people who are important in my life.

On Friday I grabbed some yummy lunch at Camros Organic Eatery before heading to the Total Health Show to volunteer at the IHN booth. It seems like only yesterday that I was at that show a year ago, dreaming of attending the school. It’s amazing how much difference a year can make as I spent a few hours singing the praises of the school to prospective attendees as a student! It was great to chat with other students as well as Jennifer, who is an IHN graduate, has her own practice and is also the school’s Trade Show Manager. Very inspiring!

I bounced around the show checking out the other vendors and picked up a few goodies including some Taste of Nature samples raw chocolate sweetened with alternative sweeteners (like dates and agave) and some goodies from Living LibationsI opted for the Lavish Abundance spray and Healthy Gum Drops. So far I am in love with both of these products. It was especially interested to talk with the sales gal as I had just taken a workshop in essential oils, so I had a new appreciate for their super high quality products. So happy to add to my collection!!

I then headed up to Fresh to grab some dinner with my sweet friend AshleI love this girl! We became friends during musical theatre school, but our friendship really blossomed once we had both graduated. We’ve both been incredibly busy as of late, so it was wonderful to close down the restaurant chatting about everything under the sun whilst munching of delicious food! I opted for the macro greens bowl over brown rice with some vegan caesar dressing, which I really enjoyed.

On Saturday I had planned to go to a cottage with my roommates, but thanks to the rain we opted to stay home. I ran some errands with Matthew and returned to find Drew cooking and an impromptu feast was born! On the menu: 2 curries (1 Ashley friendly), spinach salad with lots of veggies and some tempeh, roasted red peppers with JD’s secret 7 herb blend, roasted purple yams with mango chutney and rice. Not bad for something that was totally unplanned and thrown together. It was delightful! So much delicious food with really great company and conversation. I have to say that I’m loving my apartment and my roommates. I feel really comfortable and living with 3 guys is a lot of fun (especially good considering it’s been more than 12 years since I’ve lived with girls!) The resident kitties Judas and Jesus are pretty hilarious as well. I can’t wait to bring Iris home early this week so I will feel completely settled and ready to move forward. Much discussion was had about feasts to come in the future, which will definitely be posted on the blog. Stay tuned!

How was your weekend? Did the rain put a damper on your plans?

Catching Up on Foodie Goodness, Wordless Wednesday Style

Why Am I Smiling?

I can’t tell you just yet… but I promise that I will soon. If you’re anything like me and hate waiting, check out this post from back in May for a little hint. I can’t wait to share the news with you. All I can say is that I’m so excited for January!!

Until then let’s talk about some yummy food, shall we?

I hauled out my crockpot and remembered how much I love it. It seriously makes my life so much easier, especially when I’m doing a show!! I made this indian inspired spinach and tofu dish. Joey and I both liked it, but agreed that it wasn’t the best thing we’d ever eaten. It was good, but needed a little extra something. I may give it another shot because I think it has potential! I also made (but haven’t tried) the sweet potato chili but Joey messaged me at lunch to say that he loved it. This coming from someone who doesn’t love the sweet potato, so it must be a hit!!

If you’ve been neglecting your crock pot, dust it off and give it a whirl. I love just throwing everything and coming home (or waking up) to a house that smells like someone has been working away in the kitchen for hours! Stephanie O’Dea has some amazing recipes on her site and in her cookbook Make it Fast, Cook it Slow. Or if you’re a Weight Watchers member who was able to take advantage of the 50% off cookbooks sale this month, the Momentum cookbook has a whole chapter on slow cooker favourites! It is perfect for those days that you know you don’t have time to cook, but want a home cooked meal.

I really don’t think that there’s a single bad recipe in Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. Either that or I just have really good luck!! This week I tried my hand at four new Dreena recipes: orange-sesame tofu with coconut rice and simple swiss chard with a bowl of perfectly ripe mango slices for dessert and the black bean and corn tortilla lasagna



Everything was brilliant. The tofu, rice and swiss chard were actually the perfect meal. Each component complimented one another and Joey even exclaimed that he likes swiss chard more than kale. Yay for green veggies!! The black bean and corn lasagna caused him to proclaim that “it’s meals like this that make me forget that you’re gluten free and vegan”. Isn’t that awesome??

I had someone innocently ask me yesterday if I could take pills so that I could eat dairy or gluten. I responded by saying that I work on eating food that makes me feel good and I don’t want to be putting more crap into my body in order to eat the foods that make me feel bad. That seems like a lose-lose situation to me. I too used to be in the mind frame that I couldn’t live without cheese, ice cream, bread or regular pasta but I’ve really come to realize that I don’t need those foods, nor do I crave them. We eat tonnes of good food in our house, and it just happens to be gluten free and vegan.

I’m so excited for next week’s Crohn’s Week posts!! It’s been really interesting to reflect on the year that has passed this week and I hope to raise some awareness for IBD and share my other bit of exciting news with you.

Yesterday was my dad’s birthday so I wanted to say Happy Birthday to him!



My dad is so sweet and supports me in everything that I do. I am very lucky to have him!! Dad, I hope you had a great day and I look forward to seeing you soon.

I feel like everything is falling into place and that is certainly a reason to smile. Happy Friday my dear bloggies!