Rained Out

Yesterday was supposed to be a pretty crazy day. 

Up before 4am. 

Pick up my sister and arrive at Turkey Point before 7am. 

Swim 1500m in Lake Erie. 

Home before 11:30am for a shower and a quick lunch. 

On the golf course by 1pm for a golf tournament. 

Dinner around 6:30pm and collapse into bed by 8pm. 

And then it rained...

Rained the way I'm guessing it rained when Noah was putting the finishing touches on the ark. 

It started on Saturday morning about 30 minutes after I came in from my run and it ended on Sunday morning around 11am. 

My sister, whose job gives her some extra insight into such things, insisted that we could not swim. After that much rain, the water quality would be very very poor. It's not worth our health to swim this race she said. I had no problem agreeing with her. 

I'm ok with swimming in cold water. I'm ok with currents and waves. I'm not ok with swimming in water that had a 'red alert' on its water quality status. 

So the race was off. 

Twenty-four hours of steady rain on a clay-based golf course meant that the bunkers and the fairways had turned into water hazards so the golf tournament was cancelled as well. 

I got up early anyway and headed to the pool, figuring I could at least get a good swim workout in. And since the pool had just re-opened after three weeks of closure, I was really looking forward to a good swim. 

I drove through the rain and made my way to the main doors hidden under my rain coat. A sign on the front door made my heart drop. 

"Lane pool closed."

Apparently all the rain had caused a power outage which had messed up the electrical system which meant that we couldn't swim until the electrician showed up and fixed the problem. I was home again by 8:15am and switched my swim workout to a weight/core workout in my living room.  

So Sunday became a quiet day. We watched Sunday Morning. We completed some of the final touches in our 'paint the entire house' project. We put on a pot of homemade bolognese sauce to simmer. We watched golf. 

Not the day I had planned but quite nice nonetheless. 

Our Little Restaurant

Céline and Doug are on a new recipe kick.

Saturday evening, we tried the latest recipe on the Oh She Glows blog. It's called Warm and Roasted Winter Salad Bowl (you can click on the recipe title for the link). We made a few small changes right off the bat. The green beans were substituted for asparagus and we did not add avocado because the salad was already calorie dense enough (which I discovered after adding all the ingredients into My Fitness Pal) AND I had already eaten an entire avocado with my lunch.

The salad was quite tasty. No surprise there as I have rarely tried an Oh She Glows recipe that wasn't full of flavour. We did add a bit more red wine vinegar than what was called for but, other than that, we enjoyed it as instructed. We have two servings left over for lunch this week that I am already craving.

On a fun side note, Oh She Glows is going to be putting out a second cookbook. She put a call out for recipe testers and I put my name in. Wouldn't it be fun if I got picked? 

I also have two recipes bookmarked for later this week and they are both from my latest cookbook (Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi). Yotam is an Israeli chef who lives and cooks in London, England (oh how I wish it was London Ontario). He has several restaurants, releases a gorgeous cookbook every year or so and also wrote a cooking column in the Guardian for several years (not sure if it's still up and running). Plenty is a vegetable cookbook (he is not vegetarian but seems to have a knack for creating delicious vegetable recipes). We also own Jerusalem, one of his earlier cookbooks, that is chock full of recipes that remind me of my trip to Israel.

Here is the cover photo with a delicious-looking roasted eggplant recipe that is on my list to try. 

Speaking of trying, I'm trying out two recipe from Plenty this week.

The first is a roasted vegetable soup that involves roasting three eggplants, two red peppers and some tomatoes. Toss them into a pot with a few red onions, some oregano and basil and broth. Blend well and then toss in some lima beans. Ladle into bowls and top with a dollop of greek yogurt There is no picture of this soup in the cookbook. I'm picturing a rather odd coloured mixture that looks even odder with lima beans floating in it. But I'm also imagining that what it lacks in looks it more than makes up for in flavour.

The other recipe I'm trying is a pasta and zucchini salad recipe that involves grilled zucchini, bocconcini cheese, lots of basil and parsley, lemon, capers, edamame and red wine vinegar.

This one has a picture and it looks delicious.

In the next little while I hope to tackle the lentil salad topped with grilled eggplant recipe, a mushroom ragout topped with poached duck eggs (if I can get them. Otherwise, good ol' chicken eggs will have to do), the grilled eggplant recipe that is on the cookbook cover and a surprise tatin that is basically a potato pie served upside down. It looks quite stunning.

The tatin (aka tart) for your viewing pleasure)

Doug and Céline may be opening a restaurant if we keep this up for much longer.

My Fitness Pal - Observations

I've been using My Fitness Pal faithfully for almost three weeks.

In exchange for my diligence:

- I now use about 10 fewer units of insulin per day which means that I am getting an extra day before I have to refill my pump. No complaints there.

- I lost another pound for a total of 3. Slow and steady folks.

- I feel better. I know, that's a little vague. The best way I can explain it is that my body just feels happier because it's getting all the food it needs but isn't getting more than it needs. I'm running on full rather than on overfull.

- Doug and I have tried several new recipes. Tilapia tacos being the latest one. Some are ok. Some are good. Some are delicious. No matter the result, it's fun to play in the kitchen.

Also:

- I seem to be spending more on groceries than ever and am going through veggies at an alarming rate.

- leftovers last longer in the fridge because, when I package them into a healthy serving size rather than what I used to think was a serving size, we end up with more servings.

- because I feel like I'm just eating a slightly healthier version of my typical diet, I don't feel deprived in any way. Which means that everything I am doing will be easier to stick with in the long run.

Who knew that little app would turn out to be so useful?

Post-Run Lunch

Saturday morning I went for a very cold, tough, snowy but overall quite lovely run.

I got home around 10am, had a chocolate milk, two pieces of homemade Irish soda bread with almond butter and a banana, took a shower and then headed out again to pick up some groceries.

I had no plans for lunch so I figured I'd see what looked tempting in the veggie aisle.

I ended up putting a portobello mushroom in my cart. Plus a container of grape tomatoes (which are surprisingly tasty this time of year) and some spinach.

Add that to a few ingredients we had at home already and I was all set to make something warm, healthy, tasty and filling.

Step one: chop the mushroom and tomatoes, add some green onions and toss into a frying pan with a smidgen of canola oil. Grind some pepper on top. Stir fry until mushrooms and tomatoes start releasing their juices. 

Toss in several hands full of chopped spinach. Stir until wilted. 

Add in two eggs whisked with a bit of water and stir until cooked. 

Put on dramatic black plate. 

Slice an avocado. 

Enjoy!

P.S. A dash or two of Franks Hot Sauce would be a delicious addition. As would, I'm guessing, a wee bit of curry in the eggs. 

Plans for next weekend's post-run lunch are already forming in my head. 

Easing My Way Back Into Reality

Today is my first day back to work after being off for just over two weeks.

It also happens to be the morning after the premiere of this season's Downton Abbey which means that I will have stayed up extra late the night before I have to get up extra early for the first time in two weeks.

It's going to be a bit of a shock to be sure but worth it to see what Mr. Carson and the gang have been up to.

Over the holidays I was able to maintain some pretty good habits, test out a few new recipes and come out feeling better than I felt on the way in.

In the time I was off I worked out 12 of 17 mornings. Running and cycling mostly with two swims thrown in late last week to see if my body remembered how to move in the water.

When we weren't partaking in holiday fare, Doug and I tried several new recipes that we enjoyed and have a few more printed out and ready for upcoming dinners. None of them are so good that they need to be included here but they were good enough that we kept them in our repertoire for future meals.

We also found a few recipes for homemade snacks (like bars, muffins and cookies) that have much less bad stuff and much more good stuff than the store-bought ones tend to. We tested the Glo Bars from the Oh She Glows cookbook and both of us agree that they are absolutely delicious. So good in fact that a) we made a second batch for the first week back to work and b) I'm adding the link to the recipe for your enjoyment.

Diabetes-wise, things went rather well actually. Fewer highs and lows than I usually have and, interestingly, much less insulin used. Typically, I use at least 40 units a day and average about 45. During the last two weeks I only hit 40 four times and never went above 45 once. The other days were mostly in the low to mid 30s.

What's up with that?

Since I didn't change my basal, the difference was entirely due to the amount of insulin I bolused for meals and snacks.

Perhaps a combination of moving around a bit more since I was not sitting at my desk + not snacking as much + stocking the house with healthy snack options and actually eating them.

Example: I entered the holidays with three chocolate bars in the cupboard and left the holidays with the same three chocolate bars in said cupboard (unopened).

Here is to a new year and a renewed effort to keep those healthy habits of the last two weeks and carry them with me into the craziness that is my working life.

An Israeli Supper

Two years ago we were getting ready for my sister to come home for Christmas. While she was here, she and I planned my big adventure to go visit her in Israel the following March.

I visited, ran the Tel Aviv half, gorged on hummus, halva and baklava, drank my weight in pomegranate juice, travelled from one end of the country to the other and, in the process fell madly in love with Israel.

This past weekend I was flooded with memories of that wonderful adventure and decided that, if I can't go to Israel, I can bring Israel to me.

Or, more precisely, to my kitchen.

So I pulled out my beloved Jerusalem cookbook and set about making my first batch of from scratch traditional Israeli hummus.

I soaked the chickpeas overnight.

Sunday afternoon I boiled them and removed as many as their skins as possible.

I tossed the mushy mess into the food processor, added tahini, freshly squeezed lemon juice, freshly crushed garlic and iced cold water.

I blended until absolutely smooth.

I put it in a bowl under plastic wrap to let it 'settle'.

A few hours later, pour souper, I spread the hummus on a plate and drizzled olive oil and lemon juice over it the way they did it for us in Jerusalem. Topped with pan heated pine nuts and fresh parsley = delicious!

Fresh pitas ripped by hand and crunchy veggies were used for dipping.

And, for dessert?

Pomegranates and baklava of course!

Just a little hummus teaser for you.

5-Minute Oatmeal

As a gluten-eating, carb-loving, salt and sugar-craving carnivore, I sometimes find it a little odd how much I love the blog called Oh She Glows.

Oh She Glows tends to post recipes of the gluten-free, refined sugar free, sodium free, vegan kind. And yet I own her cookbook and have made more recipes from her blog than from most other online recipe sources.

She just has a way of creating ridiculously healthy dishes that look appealing, taste delicious and leave you completely satisfied. Plus, as an added bonus, she seems to gravitate towards one-dish meals you can eat from a bowl. The only utensil needed is a spoon.

My kinda cooking.

The other day she posted her latest recipe. It's called 5-minute oatmeal and it appears to have been inspired by the time-restricted routine of being a new mom and the fact that she no longer has time in the mornings to make a decent breakfast.

I am not a mom but I do know all about time constraints in the mornings.

I am also a huge fan of oatmeal.

So the other night I dutifully mashed a banana into a bowl. I measured out my rolled oats, my chia seeds, my almond milk and my cinnamon. I gave it a few stirs for luck, put plastic wrap on top and went to bed.

The following morning I woke up to a congealed version of the previous night's concoction. I poured it into a pot and heated it up. Took about three minutes to go from cold to hot.

I poured the mixture into a bowl. I tossed a little ground ginger, allspice and cinnamon on top. Added a few pumpkin seeds, some pomegranate seeds and raspberries.

Five minutes from fridge to table.

Super easy. Delicious. Nutritious. Guaranteed to keep you satisfied until lunch rolls around. And all sorts of other things like vegan and gluten free and whatnot.

Neither of these cell phone pictures do it justice but I was too busy eating to care about taking a better photo. 

Trust me. Click on her recipe (above) and go make yourself a bowl tonight to enjoy on Saturday morning.

Go! 

Sunday Afternoons

All summer long Doug and I looked for every opportunity to get out on the golf course. Most weekends involved two to three games, preferably 18 holes if we could manage it.

I loved it. He loved it.

Saturdays usually included a long run first thing, a shower, lunch and then off to the golf course. Home in time for dinner.

Sundays looked a lot like Saturdays except that the long run was traded for a bike ride.

Now that the temperatures have dropped, and our next golf game is months away, I am rediscovering the joy of having time at home.

Take yesterday for example. We got up relatively early and headed down into the basement for a cycling workout. Cycling, breakfast, leisurely coffee and a shower were done by 11:00am. Then I went to town.

I put on a pot of split pea and ham soup to take advantage of the ham bone we had left over from last weekend.

I put on a squash to roast in the oven.

I seeded four pomegranates.

I did two loads of laundry and some hand washing.

I cleaned out the linen and toiletry closet.

I cleaned up the kitchen after all the cooking, put on a pot of tea and listened to the latest episode of Serial (a very interesting podcast for anyone interested) while I painted my nails.

I wrote today's blog. I prepped for my presentation next weekend. I read Châtelaine (en Français).

All of this between 11am and 3pm.

The exact amount of time that it takes to play 18 holes of golf.

I miss my golf course and my 10k walks in the fresh air.

But it sure is nice to have those Sunday afternoons back...at least for a while.

Broccoli Lentil Soup

On Saturday it seemed like everyone in my neck of the woods was freaking out because the temperature had dropped. It was rainy and windy out. A few snowflakes fell and I was alternately pelted by raindrops and ice pellets on my morning run.

It took me a few hours to warm up despite coffee, a hot shower and a comfy blanket in addition to my sweats and fuzzy socks. 

While I shivered and watched the rain fall, I was inspired to whip up something warm and healthy for lunch. Something that would ideally make me a few lunches for the week as well. 

What was in the fridge? Broccoli came to mind. Followed immediately by broccoli lentil soup. 

We make a lot of soups during the winter months. They are all delicious and full of flavour. I am NOT a fan of mild-tasting soups. I want flavour and lots of it. That usually involves plenty of ingredients, spices and lots of taste-testing to get it just right.  

Broccoli lentil soup defies all of my hard-earned soup-making logic. 

It takes about ten minutes to prepare, 30 minutes to cook, and requires only mild-tasting ingredients and no spices. 

Sounds delicious eh? 

It is. Surprisingly so. And hearty. And healthy. 

In case anyone is interested, here's the recipe.

1 onion chopped

2 gloves of garlic chopped

1 stalk of celery (I used 2) chopped 

1 large carrot chopped

1 bunch of broccoli chopped

4 cups of broth (I used one carton of Campbell's vegetable broth because it is what I had on hand. It's not exactly 4 cups but it worked just fine)

3/4 cup of green lentils

Don't worry too much about chopping the veggies into perfect sizes. They will all be blended into mush at the end.

Fry up onion, celery and carrot for 5 minutes. I added a bit of pepper at this point. 

Toss in garlic towards the end and fry that up too. 

Add broccoli, lentils and broth. Bring to a boil and then simmer, lid on the pot, for 30 minutes 

Blend as much or as little as you like (I use an immersion blender)

Done. 

Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese if you're feeling decadent. Dip bread or hearty crackers in if you feel like it. 

A great way to clear out some less than perfect veggies in the fridge. 

Perfect for a cold autumn afternoon. 

Autumn Harvest

I bring my lunch to work five days a week. I'm not a big fan of buying my lunch partly because of the expense but mostly because I prefer what I can whip up at home. It's tastier and healthier. So making my lunch every single day is part of my morning routine.

During the summer months, I am content to forage in the cupboard and the fridge. I'm happy to bring any combination of Rivita Crackers with almond butter, some cottage cheese, some veggies, perhaps kefir and granola, fruit or an avocado. I try to make sure I have carbs, protein, healthy fats, fruits, veggies and calcium options. But I don't worry too much about making a 'meal' out of it.

As soon as autumn hits, things change. The cooler temperatures combined with the farmers markets overflowing with the bountiful harvest kick start my domestic goddess genes into actions and all I want to do is make delicious, warm, healthy meals with tons of leftovers.

On Saturday I met up with my sisters and we headed to one of the many markets in their area. We spent almost two hours exploring all the booths and, between us, we slowly made our way back to my car, weighted down with 8 large bags overflowing with local produce.

Once we had divvied up our purchases, I headed home with four sweet potatoes, a huge bunch of kale, some yellow beets and a butternut squash. Doug had already stocked the fridge with local apples or I would have bought a bunch of those too.

Sunday, after I ran outside in single digit temperatures for the first time in months, I headed into the kitchen and started pulling out pots and roasting pans. I cut two of the sweet potatoes into thick slices (leaving the peel on of course), drizzled them with olive oil, sprinkled a bit of salt and pepper and set them in the toaster oven to roast. I put on a pot of quinoa to boil and I steamed 2/3 of the kale. Add a can of black beans and some goat cheese and I have tasty, nutrient-dense lunches for the week.

Next on the menu will be a pot of squash soup which I'll make partway through the week once my lunch stash gets a little low. I'm also thinking I'll try roasting beets for a salad. I'll toss in the remaining kale into that, add some pumpkin seeds and be good for another day or so.

Next weekend, I'll head to our local market and grab some of those colourful bunches of carrots. I've been meaning to try my hand at homemade hummus (like the kind I feasted on in Israel) and I have a bag of dried chickpeas ready to go. Some carrot sticks, naan bread and a few other local veggies should make for a tasty appetizer on Thanksgiving weekend non?

My biggest challenge this time is year is pacing myself. Most often than not I end up making too much food and can't get through it all before it goes bad. So this year I'm going to try to space things out a bit so things stay fresh and delicious and I get through one batch before moving on to the next one.

That's one of the benefits of cooking with autumn produce like squash and sweet potatoes. They last a wee bit longer than the spring asparagus and baby spinach leaves do.

Oh She Glows

There is a blog I have been following for a few years now. It is written by a fellow Canadian lass named Angela Liddon.

It's not a diabetes blog.

It's also not a running, swimming or triathlete blog - although she does talk about exercise sometimes.

This may or may not come as a surprise to you but it's a vegan blog called Oh She Glows.

I discovered Angela a few years ago when I decided to look online to see if there was a way to make homemade Larabars. I loved (still love) Larabars and was going through them at an expensive rate. Considering the ingredient list on most of them was three or four items long, I figured it couldn't be too hard to make them on my own.

I found Angela, printed out her recipe and discovered Oh She Glows.

The larabars were delicious. As were the energy bites recipe I tried. And the roasted tomato soup. And the green monster smoothies that made her famous. She develops her own recipes, grows a lot of her own ingredients and taught herself to take some pretty stunning food photography.

And despite being a meat-loving, gluten eating, kinda girl, I kept coming back to her blog.

Why?

Because Angela makes delicious recipes. I could care less that they are vegan and I don't avoid any foods or food groups so the fact that most recipes are gluten-free, dairy free, processed sugar free etc didn't make one ounce of difference either.

I just really really like her recipes and am constantly impressed at how tasty she can make foods that are, rightly or wrongly, are often thought of as tasteless. Plus I like the fact that it gets me to try stuff I wouldn't normally try - like spelt berries and chia seeds.

A few weeks ago, Angela released her first cookbook.

A few days ago she announced that her vegan cookbook make the New York Times bestseller list. In less than a month.

Imagine.

I bought her cookbook and have tried three recipes so far.

A cauliflower lentil curry soup. An African peanut stew. And a protein goddess (her name not mine) salad.

All were easy to make. All were super healthy. All were delicious. All made for wonderful leftover lunches. Most importantly, all were satisfying and kept me satisfied despite some tough early-morning workouts that usually leave me super-hungry all day.

I already have two people in mind for whom I will be buying this cookbook.

I also have a bunch more recipes bookmarked that I will be trying.

This gluten-loving carnivore gives the Oh She Glows cookbook her stamp of approval.

Goals 2014 - A Work in Progress

The start of a new year is always a good time to try new things. It's not the only time to try new things of course, but when the calendar switches over to a new year and a blank page, the timing just feels right.

On December 31st I entered my last run into my 2013 running log and saw the grand total appear.

Eight hundred and eighty-eight kilometres.

Not the 1000k I had hoped for back in January 2013 but a very fine number nonetheless.

On January 1, 2014, I did not start a new running spreadsheet. Instead, I registered online at a website that allows me to upload my Garmin results and track all of my workouts (bike, run and swim) in one handy location. Doug has been using it for a while now and talked me into it back in November. I, being one who likes things to be neat and tidy, decided to wait until the new year to start. And I did.

On January 1st, I logged my first session on the trainer. On the second I logged my 2000m swim, on the third, I logged another bike workout and, on the fourth, a 10k run.That ended the first week and I was able to see a pretty graph and weekly summary that told me the total time and total distance I worked out as well as the total time and distance for each of the three activities.

It also tells me fun facts like calories burned and, if I decide to upgrade beyond the free version, lets me enter all sorts of other information like meals, training plans, pace goals etc. For anyone interested - the website is trainingpeaks.com

Speaking of goals, I guess it's time to set some 2014 goals down on paper isn't it? Last year, I had a list of them and did a little monthly report on how things were going.

This year, I'll still do that but some of my training goals will have to unfold as they get closer. This year there are a few important family events (a wedding! and some milestone birthdays (hello 40!)) that are making it a little tricky to pick which triathlons we want to do this summer. Wedding dates and birthday celebrations must be booked first of course and then triathlons can be chosen on weekends that don't conflict.

So I have a pretty good idea what I want to do - I just can't officially do anything about it quite yet. In the meantime I'm tossing a few goals out there to get me started and will firm them up as we go. Everyone ok with that?

Running goals

I'd like to run the Chilly half marathon on March 2nd in Burlington. I've never run that race before and I figure it will keep me honest and force motivate me to keep training through the worst of the winter.

I'd also like to run the Niagara Falls Women's half marathon again on June 1st.

A fall half marathon would also be good but I'm not sure if I want to do Niagara Falls again or try a different one. I'll decide as it gets closer.

Finally, I want to race on Boxing Day again. It's such a fun day and a perfect post-Christmas workout. Having so many running friends there makes it even more enjoyable.

Swimming goals

I definitely want to complete a few more open water races this summer. The schedule isn't up yet so I'm not sure the dates or the distances but I'll aim for two and see if I can squeeze any more in.

Realistic goal is to race two 1.9k races. Ambitious one is to try a 3k or a 5k race.

Triathlon goals

I'd love to do four tris this summer. I'd love it even more if two of them could be Olympic distance. There aren't too many of those 5150s around so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the family events don't conflict. I have already compiled a list of all possible triathlons within reasonable driving distance so, once dates are set, it's a matter of deciding what we're doing, signing up and figuring out a training plan.

Other goals that have nothing to do with physical fitness

I want to learn how to make proper Israeli hummus. The kind made with dried chickpeas and drizzled with high quality olive oil that I enjoyed all over Israel last year. I've already bought the dried chickpeas and I have a traditional Israeli recipe (as well as a sister with lots of experience in Isreali cooking). I also want to serve it with properly warmed pita bread.

I want to learn how to braid my hair properly. I taught myself how to French braid but I'm not very good at it yet and the braid slips out because I can't seem to braid it tight enough. There are so many fun hairstyles with braids and my goal is to figure out how to do one of them nicely...before they go out of style again.

I want to continue working hard to pay down my debt. I made a lot of progress last year which I'm proud of. I also renegotiated my loan in December and, by increasing the payments, cut the remainder down from three years to two years. My credit card survived Christmas with a manageable balance that I should be able to pay down within two months and get back to zero again. I want to keep it there. Doug and I have two big trips planned this year and saving has already begun in earnest. Ideally we can save enough to not come back with any extra debt.

I want to improve my golf game this summer. Last year I played with Doug as well as a few girlfriends who were all at my level of skill. Let's see if I can build up my courage to perhaps join a women's league or other regularly scheduled golf game with people I don't know who can push me to get better...and help me get over my nausea of playing in front of strangers.

I want to do more things related to diabetes and advocacy. Last year I did a presentation to a group of local diabetes educators and loved it. I also wrote an article about how to support someone with diabetes and loved writing that too. I'd love to do a few more presentations this year - those really jazz me.

Goals I haven't yet decided if I actually want to do or not

Buy a wetsuit. Jeff, I know what you're going to say about this one but, as the time approaches for me to start seriously thinking about getting one, I'm getting all heebie-jeebies about it again. I feel like a little kid who prefers to run around without a diaper on rather than be constricted in layers of padding and clothes. For the record, I do not swim in a diaper, nor do I swim naked (at the local pool anyway). What I do at the lake at the cottage when no one is looking is my own business. 

Increase my running speed. Of course I want to do that - I always want to run faster than I do. I'd love to run a half marathon in under 2:15. I'd love to knock another minute or two off my Boxing Day run. I just worry that, if I set this as a goal, I will push too hard and get injured...again. For now, I'll focus on running well and running strong.

I'm sure I'll add more as the year unfolds but that's what my goal list looks like at the moment.

Here's to another year of setting goals...and reaching them.

Habits - Some You Gotta Have. Some You Wanna Have.

It's interesting to see how quickly I can turn something completely new and different into a habit.

Take last night's dinner for example. It was one of my home-alone concoctions that involved a toaster oven (for roasting sweet potatoes), a small pot (for making quinoa), a larger pot with a strainer on top (for steaming kale), a can opener and strainer (for the black beans), a package of goat cheese and some olive oil and soy sauce.

Each items takes a different amount of time to cook and this must be carefully timed so everything is hot at the same time. All dishes must be washed, dried and put away before eating dinner because I hate washing and drying the dishes alone. When Doug is home, we do them together after we eat and it's easy and fun. When I'm alone, I want to linger over dinner while sipping wine and reading something - I don't want have to worry about clean-up.

So all dishes must be washed, dried and put away before eating.

When I make the meal I made last night, it also makes several lunches. That means that I need various sized plastic containers for each ingredient to store them in the fridge. Plus I need to make sure I have a large enough container left over so I can use it to create the yummy mix of ingredients that becomes my lunch.

I've only made this dinner a handful of times. I made it up after eating at Fresh in Toronto with my little sis and loving a dish I had ordered.

The first time I made it was a bit of a shot in the dark. It worked out beautifully and was delicious. A cooking and eating adventure.

By the second time I had it all figured out and now it's an easy routine.

A habit.

Just like rolling out of bed before 5am and getting myself to the pool. Every step from waking up to arriving home is worked out - well except for the workout which is always a surprise. Turning early morning workouts into habits prevents me from forgetting something essential like my goggles or my underwear and also ensures that I have my towel, shampoo and soap for after my swim. I've seen people wake up before dawn, drive all the way to the pool only to discover they have forgotten something critical and be unable to swim.

No thank you! Not after getting up at that hour.

Changing my infusion site for my pump?

Habit.

The first time is so confusing with all the buttons and warnings and packages to open. The second time is hesitant but better and within two weeks I could change my infusion site, separate all the waste into garbage and recycling and still be done in under five minutes.

Easy peasy.

Don't even get me started about testing my blood sugar.

Some things become habits because they need to be. Diabetes management is like that. I can't afford not to be on top of things so making things a habit ensures that I don't forget the important stuff. Like testing my blood sugar before bed. Or before exercise. Or making sure I have carbs with me when I go swimming, cycling or running.

Other things become habits because I love them and do them so much that I've figured out the best way to enjoy the entire process. Like making my dinner last night. While things were happily roasting, simmering and steaming, I was perched at the kitchen counter writing about how much I love making this dinner.

Raising the Salad Bar

It's getting darker in the mornings. And in the evenings.

I know, I'm sorry, I should stop mentioning such horrible things because it makes people sad.

But it's important for my story.

See, when it's bright and sunny out from 5am to 9pm, I am happy eating pretty much whatever is quick, tasty and easy to make. Like grilled meat with grilled veggies on the barbecue. Or grilled fish with grilled veggies on the barbecue. Corn on the cob on the side. You know, summer stuff.

Then it starts getting darker in the mornings, and darker in the evenings and I start wanting to cook again. I mean chopping veggies, turning on the oven, using three pots kinda cooking.

On Monday night, I was in charge of dinner. I picked up some salmon (you know, to grill on the barbecue) as well as a pack of baby spinach, mushrooms, a zucchini, red pepper and a red onion. I wanted to experiment and make a healthy, hearty, warm fall-worthy salad.

I also wanted to experiment because we are going to be at a cottage in just over a week and are in charge of making dinner one evening for six adults. Six adults with a variety of tastes and dietary lifestyles. And I figured a hearty, healthy salad would not go amiss.

I did not take pictures because I was too busy cooking. So I'll try to paint a word picture for you.

I prepared some quinoa (1 cup of red quinoa cooked in two cups of broth - cook on low for 18ish minutes until broth is absorbed).

I put a tray of veggies (red onion, red pepper, zucchini and mushrooms) in the oven to roast (no oil, salt or pepper).

In the meantime, I rinsed a can of chickpeas and tossed it into a bowl.

Once roasted, I chopped up the veggies and tossed them on top of the chickpeas. Followed by the now cooked and still hot quinoa.

I prepared a dressing (equal parts pesto, olive oil and white balsamic vinegar) and poured that on top.

Stir until bright, colourful and well mixed.

Lay baby spinach on the plate. Top with warm salad. Put some feta cheese on top.

Add a piece of grilled salmon on the side.

Smile like the proud chef you are.

Enjoy.

Looks like we found our cottage salad recipe.

(And just imagine how sinfully good it would be with avocado on top. Or goat cheese. Or lemon juice and olive oil. Oh the possibilities!)

Time in the Kitchen

Sunday morning was busy with a gorgeous and hilly spring bike ride. Including a superfast trip down the Brock Hill (for those of you who live in Niagara you'll know the place) where I managed to keep fairly close to the rest of the group and gently used the brakes rather than my usual death grip.

Sunday after lunch we went to a friend's house to pinch some of their periwinkle ground-cover and then headed home and planted it in the cursed part of our yard where nothing else seems to grow. Fingers crossed that this hearty sun-loving plant takes hold.

Afterwards, I headed to the kitchen with three goals:
- whip up a wicked salad that I can keep in the fridge and turn into easy lunches.
- chop all ingredients so that we can make homemade pizza for dinner
- bake a batch of fruit and nut energy bites - a great recipe I discovered at Oh She Glows last year.

90 minutes later, the dishes were washed, the pizza was in the oven and I was sipping wine on the couch.

My salad was inspired by the amazing salads of Israel. A big bowl full of kohlrabi, red cabbage, carrots, celery, cucumber and red pepper. A ton of chopped cilantro and a can of chickpeas. Hearty, vitamin rich, tasty and so so good for you. Every morning I'll scoop a bunch into a container and, at work, I'll top it off with avocado or goat cheese and a simple dressing of olive oil and tamari. At home I'll mix up some tahini, olive oil and fresh-squeezed lemon into a traditional Israeli dressing.

The energy bites are delicious. They make a great mid-morning treat at work and are the perfect go-to snack for busy days and, I'm guessing, four-hour golf games. If you do decide to try the recipe - I have found that dried cherries work well and I like to trade half of the dates for dried figs. Lots of fun flavours in every bite.

My body always feels better when I eat well every day. And the easiest way to do that is to spend a bit of time on the weekend making healthy options to see me through the week. It's going to be a tasty one!

I learned...

Things I learned this week.

1. I learned that communication, no matter how hard or awkward it is at the time, it better than no communication. As you know, I decided to go with Animas for my new pump. Talking to them was easy and fun. Talking to Medtronic was not but I did it anyway. I could have just disappeared from their radar, quietly mailed back my pump in a few weeks and gone about my business.

I chose the high road and emailed the local Medtronic rep to tell her about my choice. She called me. I saw her number on my call display and agonized for a few seconds about whether or not to answer. I answered. I told her why I made my choice and she was wonderfully supportive about it. No hard feelings and she's even willing to keep my name on her list of presenters in case she organizes a panel discussion and can include me. It might never happen but, still, I'm glad we chatted.

2. I learned that a decision made that is immediately followed by a feeling of relief is probably the right decision. I made two decisions this week. One was about my pump. I signed on for five years and felt immediate relief. The other was about whether or not I want to take University courses to upgrade in order to apply for a Masters. A decision to do this would have meant me starting classes next week and being in school part-time for five years. I decided, for a variety of reasons, that this is not a good idea and felt immediate relief.

3. That being said, no decision, no matter how positive, happens without regret. I will miss my Medtronic pump. And I am sad that I won't be adding Masters student to my list of pursuits (at least for now).

4. I learned that homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are really tasty. So is homemade curried celery soup.

5. I learned that I follow baking recipes to the letter. I use cooking recipes as guidelines and scribble all over them so I remember the changes I made for next time.

6. I learned that people make the weirdest cakes for baby showers. Check this out if you need a laugh.

7. I learned, again, that diabetes is crazy. Like possessed. I swam on Wednesday like I always do. I hopped in the pool with a blood sugar of 5.8 AND I bolused 0.3 units just to keep me in line. I left the pool to discover that I was 14.4 instead of my usual 7.0. I changed my site, bolused for breakfast, waited 20 minutes and was 18.9. I bolused again (the full amount for a second time), waited 20 minutes and was 16. It took an hour for it to drop low enough to eat and then it shot right back up again to 18.

By lunch, I was fine and have been ever since. Crazytown.

8. I learned that I can indeed master the super tough Bending Crank Arms cycling workout. It's rated a 9.5/10 for difficulty (which I only noticed on my fourth time doing it thank goodness). I now finish the workout feeling energized instead of wanting to die and I no longer walk around for two days afterwards with aching muscles. Only took four times.

9. I learned that it's really hard to describe things in words sometimes. I was writing a basic iPad user manual for work and couldn't believe how hard it was to describe all the different gestures we use when using an iPad (like pinching two fingers together to shrink a page). Try it for yourself. Do a specific gesture with your hands and then try to figure out how to describe in words what you did. Hard.

10. I learned that it is really nice to sit after work with a glass of wine and chat with a good friend, or with my parents, or with Doug. This week I had the chance to do all three and each conversation was stimulating, hilarious and wonderful.

Thirty Minutes from Fridge to Table

This week is kinda crazy in our house. It's back to work after the holidays week which is always a bit of a transition but it's also the Winmar curling bonspiel week which means that Doug is racing out the door before 6pm and doesn't pull in until after 9pm.

On Tuesday night I had to work later than my usual 4pm and knew I wouldn't get home until just before 5. Doug had a meeting and wasn't going to be home until 5:30pm. He would need to eat pretty much as soon as he walked in the door so he could then head out again before 6.

"Let's just have sandwiches" he said that morning.

I wanted something a little more substantial and interesting than a sandwich for dinner so I pulled out our recipe folder of tried and true favourites and decided that, with a little luck and a lot of focus, I could pull of a Greek pasta salad and grilled salmon for dinner. I made a grocery list over breakfast and had everything picked up when I walked in the door at exactly 4:55pm.

Here is what happened next.

4:55pm - put on pot of water to boil
4:56pm - take off coat, scarf, gloves, use the ladies room and brush teeth
5:00pm - turn on toaster oven to 350C, put salmon on baking sheet, add a bit of oil, seasoning salt, pepper and brown sugar. Put in oven.
5:05pm - add pasta to now boiling water. Chop cucumber, tomatoes, red onion and olives. Mix pesto and sour cream for dressing. Toss feta cheese in compost because of excessive mould (sad day).
5:15pm - strain pasta and run under cold water to cool off. Set table.
5:20pm - mix all salad ingredients together and put salad on table.
5:22pm - wash dishes, dry and put away
5:28pm - check salmon (almost ready)
5:30pm - Doug arrives home

Thirty-five minutes from start to finish, including setting the table and washing the dishes.

Instead of a sandwich we enjoyed a healthy, tasty dinner and now have lots of pasta salad leftovers for lunch.

So yes, it is indeed possible to make something homemade and delicious in as little time as it takes to prepare something pre-packaged and not so healthy.

Here is the link to the Greek pasta salad recipe and a great blog. We have tried several of their recipes and they are always simple to make and delicious.

So go on - make a grocery list and prepare something delicious tonight!

Bibimbaping in the Kitchen

Last night I was alone for dinner. This doesn't happen that often. Doug and I don't always eat dinner together if we're both running here and there but one of us will usually make dinner for the other person to eat when they can.

Sometimes Doug is out for dinner so I'm alone in the kitchen.

Those are the nights when I play around creating dishes that make me happy but that don't exactly turn his crank. He always knows I'm planning something 'yummy' when the grocery bag has things like kale, sweet potatoes and quinoa in it.

My latest go to meal is a hybrid dish that I invented but have not yet named. It's based loosely on a dish I had in Toronto a few months ago with my little sister but the way I serve it is inspired by bibimbap, my favourite Korean dish.

The end result is colourful, not very pretty but super healthy and, in my humble opinion, very very tasty. Plus it makes leftovers for three or four lunches. And who doesn't love leftovers?

Here's what I do.

Step one, bake two sweet potatoes. This takes about an hour in the toaster oven at 400 degrees so I'll usually put them on and then sit at the kitchen counter to compose the next morning's blog (which is basically what I'm doing right now).  When they are nice and soft, remove them, toss them in a bowl and mash the heck out of them with a fork. I always keep the peel on because I'm all about squeezing as many nutrients as possible out of my food.

Step two, slice up an entire bunch of kale and steam it.

Step three, cook some quinoa. I like to mix red and white because red is prettier but white has more iron. I cook 1 1/2 cups of quinoa in three cups of water.

Simmer on low for 10 minutes, remove from heat, let sit for a few minutes and then remove lid and fluff with a fork. I'm not sure if that last step is critical but fluffing is fun and having a fork just gives me an excuse to steal a few bites.

To prepare my bibimbap-inspired dish I put a bunch of quinoa at the bottom of a deep bowl. I then put some mashed sweet potato on top, some kale beside it and then, wait for it, a big hunk of goat cheese beside that (oh so good!). When I have an avocado that's ripe enough to eat, I'll chop that up and toss it on top as well. The ones at the store were kermit green so they'll be ready for leftover lunch number two.

I drizzle some olive oil (straight from Israel courtesy of my little sis) and a bit of tamari on top.

And then I nibble away, feeling my iron levels climb with every bite.

Note: my apologies for the picture quality. I was too lazy busy cooking to grab my big girl camera so these were taken with my phone. They will NOT be making it on to the Céline Parent Photography website any time soon but at least you get a visual of what I'm talking about. Bon appétit! 

The Kitchen Diva

A while back, I got an email asking me if I'd like to receive a free copy of a new cookbook.

Sure!

Last week, this arrived in the mail:

(minus the 'click to look inside' caption of course)

The Kitchen Diva's Diabetic Cookbook by Angela Shelf Medearis

Last night, I sat down to read through it. 

I discovered that it's a pretty helpful cookbook for people who are looking for healthy cooking options and for people who want (or need) to know nutritional information. 

In fact, that was my favourite part of the entire cookbook - the fact that every recipe listed nutritional information including carbs, fibre, calories and fat. They even included carbohydrate choices and exchanges for people who prefer that route. Extremely important information for all sorts of folks, not just those with faulty pancreases. 

Some of the recipes were pretty appealing and the pictures are tempting. (Doug doesn't like cooking without having a photo to refer to so I always pay attention to the photography.) I haven't tried any of the recipes yet but I like the fact that they cover a variety of types of cooking - from Asian to Cajun and back again. And none of them look particularly difficult or time consuming to make. 

I also liked the added information that was scattered in between the recipes like 'how to prepare an eggplant' and 'how to hard cook an egg'. Also helpful were the 'quick snack fix' ideas she included with many of her recipes. There would be a recipe for a fruit smoothie that would be followed by a few quick snack fix ideas with frozen fruit that I'm sure a lot of people would find helpful. 

The one thing that I didn't like was that all the recipes that called for sugar asked for Splenda or stevia sweetener instead of white or brown sugar. I do understand that the audience for the cookbook is primarily people with type 2 diabetes and I certainly respect the need to reduce sugar in the diet.  

I, however, never cook with artificial sweeteners so I would be replacing her suggestion with real sugar - meaning of course that the nutritional information for the recipe would no longer be accurate. 

Overall I think it's a good cookbook that people who are looking for healthy, simple meals will find very helpful. It will be a great addition to our cookbook shelf in the kitchen but I think I'll stick to the main course and side dish recipes rather than the dessert ones. 

A Change of Focus

Happy April everyone!

In the last 24 hours we've had sun, snow, thunderstorms and +17 degrees.  If March goes out like a lamb, April apparently comes in like a schizophrenic dragon who has been off his meds for a while.

March: the month of the longest runs of my life that culminated in the longest race of my life.  I survived and, looking back, it doesn't seem like it was all that hard.  I guess that in itself is something to be proud of.

April is shaping up to be less about me and my running pursuits and more about experiences, friends and food.  April 2011 means 4 things:

1. Dinner guests
2. Boston!
3. A week by the coast
4. Seafood galore

Bring it on.

The month begins with a Monday night dinner with our friend Erin (see, I write about you in my blog!). Erin has agreed to join us for a few glasses of wine and some culinary experimentation.  Two new recipes in one night.

Coriander Scallops with Orange-Ginger dressing to start followed by Rosemary and Mustard Pork Loin with Artichokes, Shallots and Vermouth Juice.

Could be delicious...

...or we could be ordering pizza.

Either way, it will be a fun dinner and perhaps a discovery of two new favourite dishes.

Cooking has evolved from something I did to something I liked to something that I truly enjoy.  With every new experiment, Doug and I are getting braver in the kitchen.  We've made appetizers, marinades and dressing, experimented with new vegetables, grains and meat, baked desserts and hosted a pile of dinner parties.  It's been a great way to discover how much fun cooking can be.  Combine it with friends and it's even better.

I'm glad that my race is over and that, for the next two months, I will be running to run rather than to train.  It means I can focus on other things - photography, cycling, cooking and sharing great meals with great people.

Train hard

Rest well

Eat good food

Share with friends

Repeat