NYC 2014: The Fun

We've been back from New York for almost a week and I am still filled to the brim with the city's infectious energy.

Our trip was wonderful. I mean, I always look forward to visiting and have a lot of fun planning our time there. Corbin managed to get around okay on his crutches and we were able to pack in SO MUCH in just five days. Rather than give a play by play of our days there, I've decided to break down the trip into two posts "the fun" and "the food".

A big part of why I love New York includes the incredible theatre scene. Between Broadway, off Broadway, off off Broadway, amazing concerts & cabarets and classes galore, I always leave feeling inspired and enthusiastic about my job as a performer. There are so many wonderful and intriguing things playing on Broadway right now, it was really tough to choose what we would see! We managed to squeeze in 4 shows in 5 days, which was awesome.

Of the 4 shows that we saw it would be difficult to pick a favourite because they were so vastly different. BUT Honeymoon in Vegas may have taken that spot for me. It was already special to see even before it started because Corbin and I got to hear some of the songs from the show last year when we attended Jason Robert Brown's concert at 54 Below. It was very cool to hear how these songs had evolved and see them in the context of the show. It was really, really funny with a stellar cast and great music. It's only in previews right now, but I would really love to see it do well. So good!!



Since we were there over Thanksgiving, Broadway's schedule was a little different than usual and on Thursday night (Thanksgiving) there were only a few shows playing. Pippin was one of them and I managed to score us some rush tickets in the morning (as we navigated around the parade in a car!) Pippin was visually stunning with a cast who had an amazing set of tricks. Carly Hughes was divine as the Leading Player. Josh Kaufman, less so. He was the winner of The Voice - season 6 so he could sing well... but that was about it. I'm glad that we saw it, but overall I was underwhelmed.

Disenchanted was the reason we chose to go to New York in the last week of November, because my friend Bobby was playing in the band and the show was beginning previews after a run in Orlando. Bobby had been telling me for months how funny the show was and how great the cast was onstage, so I was really stoked to see this one (and him!). It did not disappoint!! Disenchanted tells the untold story of 10 Disney princesses. It's smart, funny and the music is catchy. The 6 gals in the cast were ridiculously talented and each of them had so many great moments in the show. I especially loved Lulu Picart as Hua Mulan Pocahontas and Princess Badroulbador, Alison Burns as Belle, The Little Mermaid and Rapunzel and Becky Gulsvig as Cinderella. The costumes were perfect and the show had a good message. I couldn't help but sit for the duration of the show thinking "Can someone PLEASE do this show in Toronto?!?" They officially opened last night and I really help they have a good long run in New York.

I was having trouble choosing our final show for our visit. There are so many incredible shows and finally I decided on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. I loved the book when I read it a couple of years ago and I was intrigued by how they would adapt it for the stage.

It was phenomenal.

They did an amazing job with the adaptation, capturing the feeling of the book and giving the audience an inside view into what it could be like to live with autism. The creative team accomplished this with an awesome cast (especially Alex Sharp as Christopher, making his Broadway debut) and an impeccable set, sound and lighting design and incredible choreography. I was seated in the very back row of the balcony (rush tickets again) and I loved that I had a perspective of the entirety of the stage. It's playing both on Broadway and in London's West End and highly recommend that you see it if you have the chance.

NYC tip for tickets: Check out to see if the shows you want to see have a rush ticket policy. You can potentially score great tickets for $35-$40 on the morning of the show at the box office. We did this for both Pippin and Curious Incident. Also check out the TodayTix app for iPhone or Android. Lots of great deals on tickets (same day and a week in advance). Feel free to use the referral code LRLJJ to get $20 off your first order. It's awesome to save money on tickets and both options save you having to wait in line at TKTS!

In addition to all of the time we spent on Broadway, we also navigated to the Nassau Coliseum for a New York Islanders game!

 

 

We had so much fun when we went to the game last year and it's crazy how affordable it is to go to a game in Uniondale vs. going to one in Toronto. For the price we paid for 2 GREAT tickets on Stubhub, a car rental, gas and tolls, we would barely be able to get ONE ticket to see the Leafs play in Toronto. And the Islanders fans are awesome! People can afford to bring their families, they sing songs about their players and when the game was tied with 4 minutes to go, people were on their feet cheering the boys on. The energy in the stadium was ELECTRIC and the Islanders ended up winning with 23 seconds left in overtime with a sweet goal by their captain, John Tavares.

When we weren't navigating New York State freeways or hanging out near Times Square, we spent our time checking out some of our favourite places including some great restaurants (details in my next NYC post), heading to some of my favourite stores (such as Harney and Sons), getting to know the Lower East Side, driving through Central Park and partaking in a little bit of Black Friday shopping. I scored some jeans for $7.80 at Forever 21 on Black Friday eve, some great new bras at Victoria's Secret and we paid a visit to the 24 hour Apple store for Corbin to get a new iPhone. Nothing crazy (like the people who were camped out in tents at Best Buy!!) but fun to splurge a little bit.

NYC remains my very favourite place and this trip certainly satisfied my craving to visit once again. I left feeling inspired, giddy, even more in love and happy about life!!

 

8 Tips for Enjoying a Healthier Thanksgiving

I can hardly believe that it's already October. The air is getting crisper and the sun is going down a whole lot earlier. The leaves are beginning to turn and I'm craving everything pumpkin! I busted out my legwarmers yesterday and have embraced the fact that I can no longer get away with just a jean jacket outside.

It is Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend and I'm looking forward to spending some time with family on Monday. It can also be overwhelming to navigate a big meal with family when you're trying to embrace a healthier lifestyle. I've been doing some brainstorming and enlisted the help of some friends on Facebook and Twitter, and came up with the following list of tips to enjoy a healthier Thanksgiving meal.

1. Make great food choices leading up to the meal. Have a stellar breakfast and lunch or snack so you're not ravenous when you sit down for dinner. It will help you make better choices during the meal and ensure that you're eating to nourish yourself and enjoy the food, and not eating because you are starving!
   
2. Take the time to do a workout during the day on your own or take advantage of the gorgeous fall weather and take a nice walk or run. Getting some activity in will feel awesome and give your day some balance and 'you' time (which is especially helpful if you're having a lot of family time!)
   
3. If you're the one making the meal or can influence the chef, ensure that there are some awesome, healthy options included. Ditch the butter and cream. Have a selection of beautiful veggies, make a delicious fall-inspired soup or try some healthier alternatives to classic dishes like cauliflower mash, mushroom miso gravy, lentil loaf, a great shepherd's pie or vegan pumpkin pie. There are endless possibilities to what your meal could look like and it's a wonderful time to try something new, perhaps creating a new tradition.
   
4. When you're filling up your plate, make half of it veggies! You'll get a lovely assortment of goodness, while being able to feel great about your meal and still leaving room for more indulgent choices.
   
5. Be sure to enjoy your favourite parts of the meal. If you love stuffing, have stuffing! If you're a pie person, enjoy some pie! Practice moderation and work on enjoying your food rather than feeling guilty.
   
6. Skip the things that don't excite you and since you're an independent person, you don't have to eat certain foods just to be polite. Aunt Ida will forgive you. I promise.
   
7. Remember that it's not the last supper. For real. It's seriously just another meal and you don't need to eat everything in sight, just because it's there! If you celebrate Christmas, you're going to be seeing all of those foods in a month and a half anyway. There's also nothing stopping you from making/having pumpkin pie or stuffing on a non-holiday. Just sayin'.
   
8. Make it less about the food and more about giving thanks. Focus on the things in your life that you are grateful for and the time you get to spend with your family and friends. 

I feel thankful for so many things in my life right now: my incredible relationship, my wonderful friends & familia, my health and the opportunity to do so many things that I love! Life is pretty sweet and I'm looking forward to having some time to reflect on all of that this weekend. 

I hope these tips are helpful for you this weekend (and give my American friends a head start on their plans in November!) Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone xo

What are you thankful for?
What is your favourite tip for enjoying a healthier Thanksgiving? 

Happy Holidays–Part One

Happy Christmas Eve! Here’s my second annual holiday video (here is last year’s video!)

Part two will be next week where I will discuss the year that has passed, goals and looking ahead to 2011!! Next week I’ll also be blogging about my delicious dinner with Nicole and Meghan – along with an awesome recipe for Nicole’s butternut squash soup.

For my WW members, here’s where I will be/won’t be next week:

Saturday Dec 25 – Carrot Common is closed

Wednesday Dec 29 – Church of the Holy Trinity is closed
Thursday Dec 30 – Forest Hill Loblaws, meeting at 9:30
Friday Dec 31 – Church of the Redeemer, meeting at 9:00
Saturday Jan 1 – Carrot Common is closed

If you can’t make it to one of my meetings, check out the Weight Watchers site for other meetings that are open over the holidays.

I’m so excited to get away from the city and my busy busy schedule for a bit of a break. I’m also excited for all that is to come in 2011. Happy Christmas to those of you who are celebrating!! I hope you have a wonderful holiday and look forward to seeing you soon!

Having a Plan & Sticking To It

Happy New Year lovely readers!

I hope the first few days have been good to you. Have you set some juicy goals? What steps have you taken to work towards your goals so far? I’ve been anticipating these first week of January for quite some time now as I’m starting school on Wednesday! I can’t believe that it’s actually happening. I will be doing a post on Wednesday about my scholarly preparations. It would be easy if I were just starting school, but instead I’m also:

• Training my replacement at my office job during a very busy time in the office (my last day is January 15-yay!)
• Beginning rehearsals for my new show. Read through is on Tuesday, followed by rehearsals on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday
• Leading 6 Weight Watchers meetings

Ahhhhhhhhhh!

I’ve been a bit of a stress case to say the least. It’s been challenging to wrap my brain around it and to ensure that I don’t fall apart I’ve reunited with an old friend: my Time.Mine planner I bought one last year on one of my excursions to Buffalo and absolutely fell in love. I used it daily to keep track of my life. I listed appointments, meetings, budget info, rehearsals, dinner dates, blog ideas and whatever else I needed. I loved all the space for me to write, the full sized monthly calendars and the fact that it was normal paper and not glossy so that I could use pretty pens. When the new year was approaching, I tried to find a new TimeMine, but realized that they weren’t available in Canada. I searched other stores looking for a comparable day timer and was unable to find one that could compare to my previous love and I was not about to settle!  After tweeting to the TimeMine folks about my inability to find one in Canada, they offered to send one to me – score!! I was thrilled when I got it in the mail. I’ve already defaced my planner with details of school, rehearsals, WW meetings and work info. It’s such a great way for me to keep track of my life and I would definitely be lost without it! I’ve tried using online day timers, but I really like having a hard copy and find that I used it more.

Knowing that things were going to be really busy this week, I made a comprehensive meal plan, and dragged Joey out in yesterday’s snow to do a big grocery shop. I’ve just taken to doing my grocery list and meal plans in excel now that we have a home printer (to print schoolwork – yaaaaaaay!) I made a master list (similar to the ones Meghan gave us in her cooking classes) and then a new file for the week. Here is the menu for this week:

Clean Eating Minestrone soup w/ quinoaBaked falafels w/ kugel and asparagus
Squash chickpea lentil stew
Warm rice & lentil salad
Marinated tofu salad
Curried chickpeas, cauliflower & spinachGoing with some old favourites, simple salads and a slow cooker recipe. Many of these recipes will make lots of leftovers giving me things to stock up my freezer with as well as pack for lunches. I made the minestrone soup for supper last night and it was amazing. I used zucchini and omitted and fennel. It’s one of those soups that gets better with every bite and I really liked the white beans and the quinoa. Tonight I’m going to be making some muffins and pick up a few snacky things at a different bulk store, and then I feel like I’ll be set for the week. It’s such a relief for me when my food is taken care of!

My last couple strategies include getting enough sleep and taking some time for myself. I’ve been getting into the habit of getting up early in the morning to do my morning pages, and so far I’m 4 days in and it’s a lovely way to start my day. Amid everything I am committing to working out twice this week. I already had one awesome workout yesterday with Kate. We went to BodyFlow and Zumba together and it was awesome! I can absolutely make it to the gym one more time this week, so it will feel great to accomplish that goal.

I’ve been waiting patiently for school and my show to begin and with a plan and some great tools in my pocket – I feel ready. EEEEEEEEEEEE – I’m a teensy, tiny bit excited… can you tell?

What does your plan for the first full week of January look like? Am I the only person who is totally crazy about what type of planner they have?

What Does Preparing Yourself Mean to You?

Is your calendar for December filling up with social gatherings, parties, dinners and other events? Are you feeling overwhelmed? Now is the time to figure out how you’re going to handle it, by preparing yourself.

At my meetings on Saturday, I asked my members what preparing yourself meant to them and here’s what they came up with:

• Planning – including meals for the day and/or week, Points values for favourite treats as well as activity. Having a game plan means that you’re more likely to make things happen the way you want them to go. While it might seem daunting while you’re doing it, planning ahead saves you time in the long run and makes your life easier.
• Learning from experience – what has worked or not worked in the past? Where were you at this time last year and what are you going to do differently or exactly the same this year? Take these lessons learned and apply them to your intentions for the holiday season.
• Asking for help – getting support from others to help you through the challenging times is so important. Talk to friends. Read blogs. If you’re a WW member, make your meetings a priority. You’re not alone in this and will always have people to help you be successful.
• Taking care of yourself – Putting yourself at the TOP of your busy to do list even when you’ve got parties to attend, presents to buy or meals to make allows you to achieve balance. You can do this in whatever way feels good to you. Maybe it’s having a nap or going to bed an hour earlier. Taking an afternoon off work to do a bit of shopping. Finding some quiet time to do yoga or read a book. It’s an easy time of year to forget about the #1 person in your life – you. Putting yourself first, puts you in a better place to take care of everyone else in your life.
• Making healthy options available – Stocking up your pantry and fridge with healthy choices and easy grab n go options, making it easier for you to make good choices even when you’re super busy. Or if you’re attending a pot luck, bringing a healthy dish so you know you have at least one great option available to choose.
• Mentally rehearsing – Practice makes perfect! Who are you going to encounter? (I’m going to talk more about this next week when the topic is managing food-centered relationships…) What are you going to say? Where are you going to position yourself? What are you going to eat? Rehearsing these things ahead of time makes it a lot easier to actually do them when you get to the event.
• Keeping your goal in mind – When you have a goal, you have a direction and know what you need to do in order to get there. Is having a whole box of Turtles or skipping out on exercise for a week because you “don’t feel like it” going to help you get to where you want to be by December 31st? What needs to happen for you to reach your goal? What are some ways that you can remind yourself of your goals when things get busy? Maybe you could write them on a sticky or card to keep in a prominent place at your desk or stash in your purse.

It was great to hear my members’ thoughts on preparing themselves. Between all of them, I think they came up with some really great ideas and strategies and it was great because they were able to do almost all of the talking! Thinking about these strategies now is so important because the objective is that you’ll feel less overwhelmed and stressed by the time that you’re up to your ears in holiday baking, wine, and wrapping paper. Preparing yourself is setting yourself up for success!

How are you preparing yourself for busy times ahead?
Where would you like to be by December 31st 2009?
What needs to happen for you to get there?

Beat the bloat at the buffet

Last week at our company offsite we were presented with this table at lunch:

While buffet is defined as a meal laid out on a table or sideboard so that guests may serve themselves, it could really be considered a nightmare situation for many people whether you are watching your weight or not. Here are my tips for making better choices at the buffet table:

• Grab a salad/dessert plate - Smaller plate = smaller area for food, making portion control a lot easier.


• Survey the buffet - Have a look at the whole table or area before you start loading up your plate. We've all had the experience of starting to put food on your plate at the beginning and ending up with a mini mountain by the time we get to the end and find the things we actually want to eat.


• Fill half your plate with veggies and/or fruits - We worked on this during the 4 weeks to 5 servings challenge last month, and while it's a great strategy for everyday eating, it's an even better strategy at the buffet! Most buffets have a salad bar or veggie area, so stock up there before you check out your other choices.


• Eat the things you're excited about, ditch the things you're not - There's no sense in eating food that isn't fun, enjoyable or good. Just because it's on the buffet spread, doesn't mean that you have to eat it! Grab some of the stuff that you really enjoy and leave the rest.
  
• Cancel your membership in the CLEAN PLATE CLUB - It's either going to your waist or to waste - it's your choice. If you're feeling satisfied or the food just isn't doing it for you, don't feel obligated to finish everything off. It's okay to leave some stuff or take a doggie bag!
  
• Keep it simple - While I'm all for trying new things, it's probably good to stick with what you know at the buffet, so go with fruits and veggies, lean sources of protein and whole grains. Try to steer clear of sauces, coatings, batters, dressings and other extras that will just pile on the calories

Here is what I grabbed at the offsite:

So I didn't really have much of a choice but to fill my plate up with veggies and fruits as the rest of it was wraps, cheese & crackers and cookies so I went with half a plate of salad with a drizzle of dressing, a bit of coleslaw, some grapes and melon. It looked really full, but I was just trying to stock up on salad! I had also brought a larabar and some almonds with me which helped me to feel satisfied! I ended up going back for more salad and I found myself munching on the fruit all day.

I think my last tip for success at the buffet is to think about it like any other meal - what kind of choices would you make if it wasn't a buffet? It's not "The Last Supper" so you don't need to treat it as such. Go in with a plan, think about these tips and make the best choices possible. You can do it!

Do you have any tips for buffets or special occasion eating?

Ashley takes a vacation and makes a video

I am going on vacation so I made a video for this post. Please be patient with me as this is my first video and I do apologize for whirring noise that kicks in after a couple of minutes! I hope you can still hear me okay. This was fun and I may begin doing videos once in awhile. Let me know what you think (or if you would prefer I stick to writing my posts)

I found Cream Hill Estates Gluten Free Oats at Wholesome Food Market at 2234 Queen Street East (at Beech Ave). They had 500 g or 1kg boxes of the oats and I also noticed that they carried the oat flour as well.

Meal recipes:

Snickerdoodle oatmeal (I blended mine to be super creamy!)
Cran Apple Salad
Veggie Wraps


In-a-Rush Curried Hummus

(This is an approximation because I was seriously rushing... I think next time I would use more curry powder)

1 can chickpeas, rinsed
1 tbsp curry powder
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp oil of choice (I used EVOO)
pinch salt

Whirl everything together in your food processor.
Great with veggies or crackers

As I said about 8 times in the video, I hope you have an amazing week and I will be back this weekend with a recap of the vacation goodness!

Eat healthy. Be Active. Save Money

I was watching The Next Food Network Star a few weeks ago and the contestants were given a challenge to talk about their biggest money saving tip in a 30 second TV spot in front of Tyler Florence. Some people really bombed, but others shone, like Melissa, the stay at home mom (and winner), who provided a neat tip for green onions: If you put just the white part in a glass of water, a new green part will grow, giving you fresh new green onions for free.

Here are some of my tips for saving money while still eating healthy and staying active:

• Make a grocery list - I've shown you guys my system, and I can't tell you how much time and money this saves me. My method might seem a little anal and crazy, so figure out what works for you!
  
  
• Eat your veggies - In July we focused on getting in 5 servings of fruits and veggies each day. Why not use that as momentum and begin to make our colourful friends the focus of your meals? I think we have a tendency to plan our meals around a protein and/or grain, but why not put veggies in the starring role?
  
  
• Get outside - Summer is a great opportunity to take advantage of the nice(r) weather and do your workouts outdoors! Take a long walk or run around your neighborhood. Grab your bike and take it down to a local path. Grab your yoga mat and practice in the park. Make your own Booty Camp and do some step ups on a park bench. The possibilities are endless and they are a great opportunity to get some fresh air and take advantage of the sunshine!
  
  
• Eat less meat - Recently I've been making an effort to choose organic/naturally raised sources of meat which can be pricey. My solution? Eat less of the stuff. Meat can be expensive, so cut down on your consumption to save some money. Choose other sources of protein more often - beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, tofu, tempeh - and you'll find your grocery bill decreasing. Meghan has some great classes coming up in the fall on vegetable-based protein - I highly recommend it if you're looking for some ways to spice up your meal routine and get some new ideas.
  
  
• Visit your local library - I've recently rediscovered the library. It brings me so much joy. The Toronto Public Library has so many books on every imaginable topic and it's as easy as searching for what I want (by topic, author or keyword), placing a hold and picking up the item at my local branch (5 minutes from my house) I get to use that book for 3 weeks (or 1 week if it's a DVD) and then return it in the drop box. I've gotten fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, resources on weight loss/gluten free living/vegan living as well as workout DVDs. It doesn't get much easier than that, or cheaper than FREE! They also offer a selection of magazines at each branch, so you can check out your favourite cooking or workout magazine, get the ideas/recipes you want without paying the $4.99+ price tag.
  
  
• Go on the internet - Seems silly (since you're already here reading my blog and all) but there are millions of websites and resources out there waiting for you. I get so much information from websites and blogs and forums. Not only does doing my research and spending some quality time on Google save me money, but it also helps me to make educated decisions when I do decide to spend money on things.
  
  
  
• Host/Attend a swap - One person's trash, can really be another person's treasure! This is a great solution when you're in the process of losing weight. New clothes can be expensive, especially when you know you're not going to wear that size forever! Get a few girlfriends together and bring in some items that no longer fit or things you're no longer using (like cookbooks, DVD's, exercise equipment, kitchen appliances etc.) It can make for a fun social event and it's great way to recycle.

What are some of your money saving tips?

My green onions alone are saving me at least $0.50 every week!

The cause of the bitter taste in my mouth

Earlier this week I commented to Joey that I had a weird bitter taste in my mouth. It started on Friday afternoon while I was eating lunch and then I really noticed it when I was eating my stir fry at dinner. Lo and behold, Joey was experiencing the same thing! We figured it would just go away, but thought it was a strange coincidence that we were both feeling this way.

Over the weekend we began checking in with one another to see whether we were still tasting the bitterness. Mine sort of started to go away today, but came back as soon as we were eating dinner. Joey was starting to get concerned so we went ahead and googled it, fully knowing that we could be on our way to discovering that this mysterious symptom was the first sign of impending death. He googled "bitter taste in my mouth while eating" and after reading a few forums and blogs we discovered the cause:

[source]

Pine nuts.

Remember how I was raving about that eggplant cannelloni I made last week? The faux ricotta in the eggplant shells contained pine nuts. And it turns out that some pine nuts (apparently many from China) can leave those who eat them with a bitter aftertaste in their mouths. I don't know where my pine nuts came from because I just scooped them out of a bin at the bulk store.

It's been dubbed "Pine Mouth" and the symptoms of the bitter, sometimes metallic aftertaste can appear up to three days after a person has consumed the nuts in question and can last up to four weeks!! We read tonnes of stories and comments of people who had experienced the exact same thing mere days after eating pine nuts. A botanist in the UK wrote a blog about it and links to a paper written about it in the European Journal of Emergency Medicine.

Sigh.

I like pine nuts and that eggplant dish was phenomenal so I'm a little sad right now. It's bittersweet because at least I know that I'm not crazy or dying.

Has anyone else experienced pine mouth? Anyone know any cures or have any suggestions on how to get rid of it? I really don't want things to taste this bad for a whole month!!

Meal Planning & Grocery Shopping - the Ashley way!

Since I started meal planning, grocery shopping has gotten a lot easier! I've always been one to make a list, but meal planning for the week makes it a lot easier to figure out exactly what I need. I wanted to give you some tips on how I do my meal planning and weekly grocery shopping trip:

1. Figure out your week - this might seem like a weird first step in grocery shopping, but it's an incredibly important part of meal planning as I learned during my show. The amount of prep time you have each day/night to cook is really going to dictate what your menu looks like. When I was rehearsing and performing in my show I relied heavily on my crockpot. Now that the show is over I've got more time at home to prepare meals. You want to determine when you and your family members are going to be home, any activities you have planned or any dinners out you may have scheduled.
   
   
2. Scope out your kitchen - get a sense for what's in your fridge, freezer, pantry and cupboards. This will help when you're going through the recipes and determining what you need to pick up at the store(s). Are you out of basics (milk, flour, frozen fruits/veggies etc.)? This is a good time to figure it out. 
   
   
3. Get out your cookbooks - or recipe cards or start surfing the net and figure out which recipes you are going to make. This is going to help you figure out what you need at the store and it also helps to keep things interesting throughout the week. Are you going to stick to old favourites? Or try something new? It also helps me to figure out if I'm going to have enough leftovers for lunch so I'll know if I'll need to plan to make a soup or something else to fill the void. I usually do this on Sunday morning while I'm eating breakfast. I pull out my cookbooks and start reading!
   
   
4. Write it out - I usually start with an 8.5x11 sheet of recycled scrap paper and fold it in half. On one side I write Sunday - Saturday and on the other side I have my grocery list. As I decide which recipes I'm going to make I write them in under the chosen day (sometimes the days I make things change, but I generally try to stick to the plan) I then write in the items that I'm going to need on the other side of the piece of paper. I usually list them by type of item - fruit/veg, protein, liquid or dry goods/pantry - so they're easier to find on my list when I'm in that section of the store.
   
   
5. Head out - I make three stops when I do the grocery shopping. This may seem like a lot, but the three stores cover my needs and allow me to get the best deals possible. 

• Bulk Store - We have a cute little bulk/health food store very close to our house and I love it! Here I pick up herbs & spices, cereal for Joey (he likes to make his own "raisin bran" with bran flakes and raisins - it's incredibly cost effective), stuff for baking, dried beans, brown rice pasta, nuts, canned goods and larabars ($1.69 each which is the cheapest I've seen in Toronto so far) They also have a great selection of teas and nut butters and today I actually bought tofu there because it was cheap! 
• Health Food Store - I feel so lucky to live so close to The Big Carrot, because I love it there! Here I get bread, meat, dry goods, soy & almond milk, oils & sauces and sometimes fruit and veggies. They also have a wonderful take away counter where they make amazing vegetarian food and list all the ingredients. 
• Fruit & Veggie Stand - I try to buy organic as much as possible and I love one particular fruit & veggie place near me because they often have tonnes of organics and local produce for low, low prices! The price of their regular produce is amazing and the quality is great. Today I got cauliflower, 2 pints of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, 3 green peppers, 1 red pepper, celery, zucchini, asparagus, and 5 lemons for $19.06 and about 40% was organic. 

After I stop everywhere I need, I head home and put it all away. It's quite a task, but I always feel very accomplished when I'm done, and I know that I won't be halfway through making a recipe one night and realize that I don't have a particular item. 

Do you have any tips for meal planning and/or grocery shopping?

Just keep tracking, just keep tracking...

Are you singing the song yet? 

Here are some tips for tracking that came out of the meeting room today. Please post a comment if you have any to add!

- bring your tracker with you wherever you go. You're more likely to track if it's with you rather than sitting on the kitchen counter 

- if you have a blackberry or cell phone, make a "note" for yourself with the date on it and write down the things you eat as you go through your day (if you can't have your tracker with you). If you track-as-you-go, you're less likely to miss something 

- one of my members suggested this really great tip today - if you're at work, compose an email at the beginning of the day. Write in the foods and Points as you go through the day and at the end of work press send and sent it to your home email. 

- if you bring your meals/snacks to work, track everything up to dinner in the morning. It's great for planning ahead and really helps you to see how many points you have left for the day