Tag Archives: baking

Over the course of my new working stint so far (which I have still neglected to talk about – sorry about that. One of these days…soon…I hope… However, refer to #1), I have realized a few things:

1. I suck at blogging – Yeah really.
“Oh yeah, I’ll be back to regular blogging soon!”
“Oh yeah, I’ll write this, that, and the other thing about my new work scenario.”
Oh yeah… didn’t happen. I also apparently make false promises. MY BAD.

2. I suck at taking pictures of my food. – Yup, I essentially quit doing it. Once upon a time it was a fun hobby. And then everyone and their mother got a food blog, and a fancy schmancy camera with 10 different lenses, and fancy schmancy light box setups for optimal food photo lighting, and customized layouts to make their blogs sparkle and shine…etc etc etc.

And I did none of that. Hello simplicity. Hello tumbling downward into food blog oblivion. Hello not being excitable enough about the whole trend to do much else about it.

(Not knocking all of the stellar fancy schmancy food blogs out there. It’s pure admiration only, dears. I just don’t quite care enough to go that far myself… at least not right now!)

3. I CAN, in fact, become an early morning exercise superstar. – Before, I never quite understood how people could drag their buns out of bed and find the energy enough to get a workout in before the sun rose. But it’s all mental, people. Mental and restful. Get a good night’s sleep (aka reduce your bedtime by an hour or two) and convince yourself that you want to work out in the morning (it’s ridiculously nice to have the workout DONE and the evenings completely FREE) and you’ll get the hang of it in no time. Early morning pre-workout coffee helps too.

(A beach to run on would also be nice)

4. How to make the easiest, fastest poached egg EVER. – I don’t remember where I learned the technique (I’ve read at least 12 internet tutorials for poached eggs over the last year) but here it is:

Take a small ramekin or glass bowl. Fill it halfway with water and add a splash of vinegar. Crack an egg in it and poke the yolk with a fork. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Put in the microwave for 45 seconds. Check it, then put it in for another 10-15 seconds. (If I put it in for a minute straight it gets too hard.). Remove from the water with a spoon. Break that egg seal and let the yolky goodness run free.

Voila Breakfast!

A good, ol’ flash in the pan runny egg does the trick too.

5. No amount of green smoothies or citrus fruits can cure my invincible cold. – I’m probably the most hated person at work. I’ve had an undying cough for over two weeks now. I don’t think that’s normal. If I laugh… it immediately turns into a coughing fit. Running… I stop every two minutes to clear out my lungs.

Why so many false promises, green drink of not-so-glory?

Why are you not working your magic, Mr. Orange?! Such a jip. Vitamin C my tushy.

I’m going to try to squeeze myself into the doctor’s tomorrow… by this point I think meds are my only option.

6. Baking is one of my favourite pastimes. – Okay fine, so I had this realization a long time ago. But it has only been solidified by the fact that now, even though my free time has been reduced, a good chunk of it still goes towards whipping up some of the many (many) recipes bookmarked on my computer.

Muffins!

Chocococonut Style

Guess who got my brother to eat BEANS in his dessert…and LIKE it…Katie did! With her Deep-Dish Cookie Pie – a MUST make (I halved it and used a normal cake pan and it turned out perfectly…and was gone in a day).

Well folks, the fact that I actually updated this thing is PROGRESS. And in my opinion, any progress is a good thing. So here’s to progress… and hopes upon hopes for more even better progress to come.
(I do miss this but I also hate my suffering-from-senioritis laptop that I still have yet to upgrade. Goal for the next week or so – Buy a MAC!).

Oh oh, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

(source)

Plethora of Pictures: Plates Edition Part 2

July 12, 2011

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Random food pictures part 1?

Here’s some more. No sentiments, just pics.

Breakfast Time

Fibre One cereal with frozen banana, cocoa powder and almond milk

Strawberry smoothie

Strawberry cocoa smoothie with Chocolate Cheerios and red toes

Strawberry spinach smoothie

Coffee cocoa spinach strawberry smoothie in a peanut butter jar

And since this peanut butter jar is clearly now empty, I am out of peanut butter. How to solve such a dilemma? Take the easy route and buy another jar? Or…

Make a fresh batch of almond butter –>Better plan.

This smoothie got coned. And then the cone got…smoothied? Smoothies are about 1.3x more fun when eaten out of a cone.

Greens and Misc Garb

Raw veg and cold potato morning snack with salsa ranch dressing and the end of Eat, Pray, Love

Greens salad topped with potoato bites, salsa, crumbled turkey burger and hummus

Spinach and slaw salad topped with sundried tomato tuna

Another random pile of vegetable junk.

Kale Salad Oh She Glows style

Turkcauli burgers with mustard, baked potatoes, greek salad

Baked potato stuffed with hummus, spinach, melty cheddar, and topped with sour cream

Sweet and white potatoes and broccoli roasted in sundried tomato vinaigrette

Couscous and mixed bean salad with red onion, red pepper, cucumber and the same sundried tomato vinaigrette as I roasted the above potatoes in. (I was using up the bottle since it was a little gag-worthy on top of salads but worked significantly better when tossed among other more substantial foods.)

Some of those earlier roasted potatoes on top of some kale dressed in balsamic vinegar.

Grilled chicken Petita from Pita Pit stuffed with a garden of veggies and honey mustard (I usually get baba ghanoush but I find it doesn’t hold me over very long so I thought chicken might do a better job. It didn’t really, and I missed my baba.)

Veggie burger salad: cabbage slaw, tomatoes and pickles topped with a grilled veggie burger and grilled potatoes, all of which were topped with ketchup and mustard latticework.

Raspberry almond butter cookies based off of Lauren’s cashew blueberry recipe. (like my appealing bitten and battered display?)

Aforementioned cookies with apple slices and black coffee

And to end it all on a simple summer note: a popsicle

Good times.

Back to slightly more regular/less giant food recap style posting…soon? As long as this food relationship of mine starts becoming a little less abusive. Food and I are really going through a rough patch right now. I’m very resentful of him and his taunting ways. Time to start laying down the law!

Or…something. I think a baking hiatus is in order. All of my half assed, half delicious attempts that no one else cares to touch are doing nothing more than finding their way into the garbage disposal that is my stomach, their then crushed and condensed remains housing themselves snuggly onto my thighs. And along a similar note, a sugar hiatus would also be very helpful, though likely less plausible. A sugar decrease, however, is not an entirely crazy idea.

(weheartit)

**Recommendations for a desperate food addict needing to tone the insatiable sugar cravings down? Aside from a kick in the bum and a hefty dose of willpower, those are (sad) works in progress.

I can’t stop complaining about this relationship until Food and I are finally on the same page again, what can I say. It’s an arranged marriage with divorce as a non-option so somehow we’re gonna have to make it work.

A Day in the Kitchen of a Grazer

July 6, 2011

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Word on the street says that there are a lot of grazers out there.

I am a grazer. Through and through.

I knew today was going to be quiet and uneventful – The perfect recipe for a grazing day. So I decided to give myself a challenge: Try to photograph everything I ate for the day.

I wasn’t aiming to capture perfect portions or every bite since I grab chunks, spoonfuls and nibbles rather than measuring or plating out 3/4 of what I eat. I just wanted to see if I could capture a glimpse of each food thing that entered my mouth today.

Verdict: Almost successful.

This was tough! I’m impressed with people who can actually capture every.single.thing they eat (even more impressed with those that can actually plate their snacks and bites before eating them. I do not have enough patience for that). I definitely forgot a few things along the way but I think I got the majority.

SO here’s a sample of A Day in the Kitchen of a Grazer (This is a sample of my habits, not necessarily of my regular daily food choices. Though most days are similar enough, my food choices do have quite the day-to-day variability)

Warning: the quality and appeal of today’s food is rough. Avert your eyes or scroll past quickly as needed.

Breakfast

As I’ve been mentioning lately, smoothies are the name of the game in the mornings. This morning was no different on that front. Before said smoothie is made, a pre-smoothie snack always seems to happen. Don’t ask me why, weird habit.

Today’s contenders: leftover grocery store sushi …

…and a chunk ripped off a slice of bread.

Which was then dipped in roasted red pepper hummus.

Then finally the smoothie got made. A coffee cocoa spinach strawberry smoothie to be exact.

Vanilla soy protein powder + chilled coffee + almond milk + cocoa powder + spinach + a handful of large frozen strawberries + ice + stevia + the gums

This one actually turned out perfectly. Best smoothie I’ve had in a long time. No idea what I did differently but I’ll likely be making this exact combo again tomorrow with crossed fingers.

Perfection smoothie was paired with hot green tea.

Followed by a splash of coffee with vanilla creamer.

Enjoy my ten course breakfast?

Mid-Morning

After a little digestion time I was in the mood for baking. I’ve been meaning to make cornbread for a while now and it was finally time.

Except…this cornbread was awful. AWFUL. I was half following a couple recipes, half winging it, full out failing miserably.

I tried sampling some with butter and jam but it was still pretty inedible. I wrapped the rest up and threw it in the freezer since I prefer to Waste Not…but I’m really not sure how I’m going to be able to revive that mess.

For sweet redemption (since my first baking attempt definitely didn’t satisfy any baking urgers), I decided to use up the last of my peanut flour in the best way possible since I can’t buy it around here and it will be a while until I see some in my pantry again.

In an Inside Out Peanut Butter Cup Cake! I’ve made it before with amazing results and today was no different. I saved this baby for later though.

First it was time for …

Lunch

Since the oven was already hot and ready from my baking attempts, I decided to throw in an acorn squash for lunch. I ate some of this mashed beauty with a pat of light margarine alongside a kale salad, a hard boiled egg and another chunk of this morning’s bread slice with plain hummus.

Then it was time for…

Workout

I did a duo sesh – long treadmill session followed by Jillian Michaels Shred. The in-between required a breather… and a grazing session.

The rest of this morning’s bread slice was dipped straight into this jar of salsa. And here’s where a picture fail happens – I missed getting a shot of the rice crackers and triscuits that also got drowned in the salsa.

I didn’t forget to grab a shot of the acorn squash I ate with a spoonful of peanut butter though. Well… I almost did.

There were a few spoonfuls into here today… and into my other natural (aka not-so-fake) peanut butter jar. And I was going to take a break from peanut butter this week… maybe tomorrow. Or never. Whatever.

Dinner

When dinner finally rolled in I was in the mood to mess around with my panini press. Pizza quesadillas were born – aka jarred pasta sauce and cheddar squished into a wrap. Culinary expertise right here.

I didn’t actually eat these. I just made them for kicks, chopped them up and threw them in the fridge. I eventually had a quarter or two though. Half the cheese ran right out so they were a tad on the bland side.

What I did eat for dinner: more kale salad topped with chopped cheddar and hard boiled egg. With a side of rice crackers topped with pasta sauce and cheese. I guess I was in a pizza mood tonight. Okay so more of a cheese mood than anything. Sometimes there’s just nothing better than cheddar.

Evening

The time when grazing can really go haywire. This must be why they say you’re not supposed to eat after a certain hour. I don’t agree with the rule but I do understand it… It’s not because your body can’t metabolize it but it’s because all caution goes to the wind at night. I could easily take in a day’s worth of food post dinner on a lonely, boring night of snacking!

This evening started out with a nice chunk of my earlier made peanut butter cup cake (which is actually more like a thick, creamy peanut butter pudding and I’m a-okay with that!) served with peach yogurt.

I don’t like “Fruit Bottom” yogurts because that “fruit” is just weird jelly. I scoop it out and trash it. The yogurt is already sweet and flavoured without having to stir the gunk in anyway.

I also had one last tiny Tbsp of peanut flour that I was saving specifically for THIS:

Peanut butter “ice cream”- aka frozen almond milk cubes blended with sweetener, peanut flour and a splash of liquid almond milk. Not the most successful ice creamy texture when trying to do this with my little Magic Bullet but the taste was darn fine.

I also dipped a couple dried prunes into my “ice cream”.

I let a little time go by before digging into an apple.

And then some apple and orange slices. With peanut butter.

I then scrapped picture-taking because I already downloaded the pictures to my computer and didn’t feel like doing another download session to prove that I just finished off: A bunch of cold acorn squash; a mug of peppermint tea with cocoa; and a container of silken tofu blended with cocoa, stevia and frozen raspberries that had instant oats stirred into it and was topped with peanut flour drizzle.

And I’m spent. Time for the grazing monster to go to bed.

[With all this recent talk about portions, people not eating enough when showing their daily meals etc etc, please remember: What you see on the plate or in the bowl is what I ate but not necessarily the amount I ate. In many cases I had quite a bit more than what is shown. I just ate it before it made it onto the plate ;).]

Are you a grazer or a mainly meals eater?
I think the fact that I’m not on much of a schedule right now definitely contributes to my grazing habits. Some days I probably eat ten times a day. On a schedule I do a little better… either way I’m a snacker at heart though :)

Positivity Among Epic Failures

June 23, 2011

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The quest to de-snug my shorts has not had the most successful of beginnings these past couple days. One could even say it has been nothing short of an epic fail.

But I’m avoiding the Negative Nancy syndrome and trying to embrace a mentality of positivity and “every day is a new day.” Even these “epic fail” days have their good moments and mini lessons to be learned.

For example:

Ordering a tuna salad plate for lunch.

Common nutritional knowledge says that tuna salad is not one of the most waist-friendly meals you could choose (snug shorts say what?). But in my defense, the tuna pile looked small and non-threatening in the picture.

Lesson: Don’t trust the picture.
Positive: Got the olive oil dressing on the side. Definitely not even needed. The tuna mountain was the dressing.
Positive #2: It tasted good!
Positive #3: There was enough tuna for TWO lunches. Economical!
BONUS Positive: They forgot to give me the side of panini bread. I had half a mind to ask for it (Hey, it’s supposed to be there!) but secretly my shorts were pretty relieved with that accidental omission (The tuna was plenty filling).

Continuing along with the so-called “epic failures” of the last couple days, our fridge and cupboards are looking pretty bare, leading me to do some major digging.

I accidentally dug up this gem – Yakisoba Four Cheese Flavour instant noodles.

Common nutritional knowledge says, “Put it down and step far, far away.”
Kristie says, “Hmm…this has been hiding in here for a while. No one is ever going to eat it. I better make sure it doesn’t feel neglected.”

I’m pretty sure it would have been just fine without me. Actually, it probably would have been even better in the trash. But alas, I tried some over spinach with Frank’s and then put the rest away.

Lesson: Four cheeses in powder form taste like plastic. Cheesy salty plastic.
Positive: I satisfied the curiousity that has gotten peaked every time I’ve seen that darn package sitting in the cupboard and now I’ll never have to be tempted by it again.

While noting the short food supply of my kitchen, the baking bug kicked in. Now my shorts were getting pretty irritated with me.

Banana Bread “light” style – made with stevia baking blend among other “healthier” (aka lower fat) ingredients.

Lesson: I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that faux sugar baking blends just can’t replace the real thing in baking classics. And banana bread should never be cheapened with faux sugar. It doesn’t work.
Positive: I won’t be inhaling this loaf all by myself in the next three days.

Among my kitchen escapades, I did manage to whip up a couple more palatable things, such as this peanut buttery chickpea dip: 1/2 cup chickpeas, 1/4 cup applesauce, 2 T sugar free maple syrup, 1 T peanut flour, splash almond milk.

I didn’t really expect much out of this but it was Good.
Lesson: Chickpeas are perfect. Always.

And when I discovered a jar of peanut butter that was on its way down to empty… well clearly I had to make flourless peanut butter cookies out of the remainders (my shorts continued to be very upset with me at this point).

Positive: Umm… I managed to walk away without eating the whole batch?

So you see, I may not have started out with the spryest of feet in my quest to hunker down on my snacking habits and questionable food choices (there were several more than pictured), but there are positives that can be dug up in any situation, and there’s always the next day, the next hour, and even the next moment to do it better.

And at the end of the day, when you feel like you’ve hit your peak of “epic failures”, hunker down, throw in some Jillian Michaels’s No More Trouble Zones and sweat it out until your arms turn to jelly. Then wind down and enjoy a hot and bubbly evening bath to wash away your sweat and troubles (This was my first in months. Might need to become a routine ritual).

(weheartit)

Think about a negative or annoying moment that you had today. Got it?
Okay now twist it and find something positive about it. Just for fun. You’ll suddenly and magically feel better about it, I promise.