Ethiopian is what's cooking! (AUGUST-22-2013)

...is what's cooking at the Ethiopian restaurant down the street, because lord knows I wouldn't be able to cook that Injera myself.

I got really lucky last week! One of my very best friends was in Toronto doing a rotation at Mount Sinai, so dinner was a must. I get updates every few days from WagJag (kind of like Groupon, if you haven't checked it out, you should!), and it just so happened they had a 1 appetizer, 2 entrees and 2 dessert coupon for $18 at this Ethiopian restaurant at the Church/Dundas intersesction. I'd never tried Ethiopian before but figured the deal was pretty good, so I bought it. A few days later I was wondering "why in the world haven't I been eating Injera every day?!?!?!?!" It's traditional Ethiopian "bread" but its only ingredients are teff flour (gluten-free), water and a starter culture. If anyone out there knows how to make Injera, I will pay you... milions of dollars. I'm just saying. I liked this place so much I went back there today with my friend Joel (Cambodia shout-out!). I told Joel that Monique (that's the pretty lady up top) had said Injera looked a lot like tripe (cow stomach)... from this reference Joel told me that when he was living in South Korea he had been accidentally eating tripe (he's a vegetarian, btw) for months because he thought it was coral reef. Lunch and a good laugh, what a great day! (and, the cherry on top was that Joel brought me a bag of fresh vegetables that he'd picked from his garden... thank you for all the wonderful herbs Joel, you now know that I never buy them for myself!).

Last Saturday we had a 50th wedding anniversary to go to as well (my biological grandparents-in-law... is that right? Betty and Ged, more informally :). Mom always makes treats (everyone knows Mom is a stellar baker), but I threw my hat into the ring and said that I would bring gluten-free goodies for all the anti-wheaters at the party too. I emailed my usual gf baker, but she never got back to me, so I decided to enlist the help of my familial expert!

In case you haven't noticed, Rice Krispies now make gluten-free cereal, and marshmallows are already gluten-free (and vegan! See how easy it is to be a gluten-free vegan?), so durr, Rice Krispie Squares!!!! I also made some sandwich cookies, because I had to do something myself or I would feel like a total putz. And apparently it was suggested that I can't be trusted with delicious treats, because when I opened up the fridge the next morning I found the treats had been cleverly disguised as inedible... (thanks, Mom)

The party was an absolute blast, and I'm sure I burned off all those calories on the dance floor! I have recently discovered about myself that I could just dance all night if given the chance, which is exactly what Khalid and I did at this and the two parties prior to that (I'm sure there is some cheesy reference here to finding your life's 'dance partner,' but I'm not going to make it. All I'm saying is that I could happily do the running man for hours with my guy, even if we were the only people on the floor... which we often are. Should we read something into that? I feel I am digressing...).

I also need to share with you that for the first time I can remember I actually went to the Pickering Farmer's Market! And, because they are drawn to me, do you know what I found? Another gluten-free bakery!

And do you know what the very best part was? She is SO reasonably priced! A loaf of gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free bread cost me $4. If you are gluten-free, you know how crazy that is! She also does catering and makes a rocking pad thai sauce. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say she is the best gluten-free baker I have found so far! The food was great and the price was right (home-made strawberry jam from my mother-in-law-to-be not included). Please please please go and check Marmalade's out, this is the only place you can find her so far (other than online)! (pick up some butter tarts for me too, would you?).

Are you ready for a random interjection? I just found out that through work I can get a discount at The Brick, so Khalid and I decided to go and shop for something to replace our couch. It's been forever since I've been to a furniture store, so you'll have to tell me, what is happening to all the furniture?! For example, is this a couch or a chair I am sitting in? It is labeled as a chair, but I do not remember chairs this big ever existing before. Whatever, I love it. I would have bought that chair if Khalid hadn't been there. But then you still have fancy couches like the one on the right. Or is it just a table for fancy cushions? It's hard to tell (who would even want to sit on this? The pillows look territorial).

Lastly, I was going to share with you a sandwich I had at a great restaurant in Oshawa, but I'm actually going back on Saturday, so maybe I'll wait and share both meals with you at once (if I can convince myself to try something different when the sandwich was so delicious...).

All my thanks to Monique, Joel, Mom and Khalid for featuring in this blog post! My regards to Ethiopiques for making me want to go to Ethiopia despite the pirates, to Kellogg's for acknowledging that barley malt is clearly not a crucial ingredient, to Marmalade's for the best bread-and-jam-for-breakfast I've had in awhile and to The Brick for that stellar 20 minute power nap (even if you did send a sales associate over to reprimand me for drooling on the chezbedcouchchair).

I leave you with a pictures of these things that were wandering around Dundas Square today:

All by myself!!! (AUG-10-2013) with a cryptic crossword?

Eid Mubarak!!!!

This weekend was a Guelph weekend, so I was all excited that only four days after my last Guelph weekend I got to see my very favourite person AGAIN! Except that he clearly was not as excited to see me, because he decided to go camping in Niagara Falls. So I'm all alone in the apartment, which means it's the perfect time for a blog post!

(by the way Khalid, I just ate all your peanut butter AND drank all your Coke Zero. So... ha HA! You're lucky I can't have dairy anymore, otherwise that butterscotch ice cream wouldn't be safe either...). Now I will dazzle you with my weekly adventures while I try not to Jiffy the keyboard.

Let's start with this, proof that I AM training for the CN Tower stair climb in the 25 floor stairwell of my building. On Tuesday my sweater even matched the railing. That was the highlight of my Tuesday (don't worry, my week got slightly more exciting).

On Thursday I went searching for a speciality food shop that one my friends told me was in Sick Kids hospital. I think it was at least two times she had brought it up and I just happened to remember this day on my lunch break. People. Have you ever been to Sick Kids? If you go in through the University street entrance it is totally boring... BUT! If you go in from the Elizabeth street entrance it is WONDERLAND!

Khalid was joking that I am a kid at heart, so of course I would like this place, but really I think that anyone who likes anything would like it. But how would I find this speciality shop somewhere in this vast fairy place? Well, of course they have a touch screen that shows you where to go. Of course they do.

 And then, the shop was found...

 Holy cow! Sooooo much gluten-free stuff I think I might die and go to heaven (or just come here every single day on my lunch break?). I ended up being completely sensible and getting a seed and dried fruit mix... but only because I was planning on having a cookie later in the day.

Anyway, rock on Sick Kids, I never would have guessed you would be so on top of the food allergies (Oshawa General, you could take some notes here).

And then, I just had to take a picture of this plaque they had describing their various categories of benefactors... because who donates $9,999,999? That extra dollar was just too much? I'm just saying, in for a penny, in for 10 million.








And without further ado, here is that cookie I was saving myself for! This "fast food" joint opened up in the PATH less than a year ago and they proudly claim to be "wheatless and meatless!" So all you GF vegans out there, check this place out! Kupfert and Kim do great breakfasts, you can get quinoa with bananas and cashew butter... or oatmeal, or smoothies, or all sorts of other great things (like their own spiced tea blend with... cumin seeds?! I know, but it works). My favourite though are their cookies they make with oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, cranberries and chocolate chips. No butter, no eggs... no calories!!!! (as far as I'm concerned, anyway). And for your breakfast they offer all sorts of toppings like fresh fruit, nuts and every possible alternative milk you can imagine. Come say hi if you're passing through!

[I usually buy two for the train, but they never actually make it to the train.]
http://kupfertandkim.com/

And that was my week! Today (Saturday) I went to the YMCA after seeing Khalid off to camping, noticed that the high score on the Stairmaster this week was 421 floors, which I am going to crush tomorrow. I also went to the Farmer's Market, where I saw the biggest zucchinis of my life.

But that was not the highlight of the trip!!!! (if you've read even one of these posts you should know by now that I found something sweet... probably something with frosting... what could it be?)

CUPCAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(I need you to imagine the ground shaking when you read this)

Oh please, be still my heart. And these cupcakes will still your tachycardic heart, because they are totally vegan, so basically they are a vegetable. I had the lavender, and it was magical. I had a nice chat with the guy manning the table too (how does he not eat ALL of them?!). It's such a sweet start up business, come and give them your support if you're by the Farmer's Market some Saturday!

Also check out their facebook page where they have pictures of everything they make (including a totally hilarious graduation cake).
https://www.facebook.com/FairlyFrosted
I think it's also important to note that the cupcake photo was taken outside because after the first bite I literally ran to my car so I wouldn't buy a thousand more.

I would like to thank Sick Kids, Kupfert and Kim, and Fairly Frosted Vegan Cupcakery for all of my delicious tales this week. Please be advised that I am not a medical professional (although I play one on TV) and don't actually recommend cupcakes for tachycardia... but I do recommend them for break-ups and "why-did-my-fiance-leave-me-for-a-camping-trip?" life dilemmas.



And now, to finish with something totally non-food related...

...cryptic crosswords

What are these things, and who are the people in this world that can actually complete them? I took the one from Friday's Toronto Star home with me on the train thinking that "hey, I'm not awful at regular crosswords, how bad could I be at these?" The answer turned out to be: "the worst". I literally just stared at the thing the whole way home. At one point I attempted an answer, only to realize that I wrote it Across when it was for a Down clue (and it didn't fit Down, and I did it in pen... so double fail). So then I got home and googled how to complete a cryptic crossword and got this link:
http://www.crosswordtools.com/cryptic-crosswords.php

And now, if you're too lazy go to this link, let me just give you a sampler:
Question: Accomodation that's barred for flappers (4-4)
Vicki's forethought: what would possibly prevent a 1920s flapper from entering a hotel, or some other type of accomodation? A bouncer? Could the answer be "BOUNCER"?
Answer: BIRD-CAGE
Vicki's afterthought: WHAT?! Oh wait... a birdcage is "accomodation" that has bars and holds "flappers," birds. Oh that's just silly. Okay, kind of funny. How do people get these things?

But then it just gets progressively more ridiculous.

Question: It's indecent to let little Albert roam around inside (6)
Vicki's forethought: is this a sexual joke? If it is, I don't get it.
Answer: AMORAL
Oh but wait for it, here is the explanation: "‘Little Albert’ is substituted for AL (‘little’ indicates an abbreviation rather than a small child). ‘around’ is an anagram indicator saying that the letters of ‘roam’ need to be moved around, in this case to make MORA and ‘inside’ says that they go inside AL. Placing MORA inside AL spells out the answer!"
Do you like how they cap off the explanation with an exclamation mark? As if you now both must be thinking "Ooooooh, of COURSE!"


WHAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?!


Okay, let's do one last one together:
Question: "Widest and best way inside" (8)
Vicki's forethought: That's what she said. Okay, but no, seriously Vicki, you have two degrees, you can do this. Apply yourself. Maybe "way inside" means the answer is made up of the letters in the middle of the word "inside"? INS. INSD. DINS? DINOSAUR! But what do they mean by "widest and "best"? Vicki, that's half the clue. IDE. DIE. The widest and best way to die? DIE. COFFIN. JOHNNY-IN-A-COFFIN. JOHN JACOB JINGLEHEIMER SCHMIDT!!! Well now you're not even trying. 
Answer: "BROADEST"
Vicki's afterthought: ...

Just kidding, there was no afterthought, I was already on youtube watching cat videos.

Lastly, THIS:

If you listen closely, you can almost hear my childhood weeping.

Just kidding, we are all so happy for you, Mom!!!!!!

Later days,
Vicki

Happy Long Weekend!

I don't know about you all, but I had a supra-long weekend! I took Thursday and Friday off, so I've been in Guelph since Wednesday night.

It was such lovely weather this past week that I tried to get out as much as possible. One of our coworkers sent us a link about a flowering agave plant at Allan Gardens in Toronto, so I thought I would run over there on one of my lunch hours.
http://www.thestar.com/life/2013/06/21/beanstalk_breakthrough_at_torontos_allan_gardens.html

Apparently agave plants can take up to a century to bloom, and they only do so once before dying. They estimate that this one is 75 years old and has been in Allan Gardens for about 50 years, never doing much. I guess it realized that it's biological clock was ticking though and shot up so high and fast that the staff cut a hole in the roof of the greenhouse to accomodate it. They say it will flower for a few weeks and then die. If you are in Toronto, it's worth checking out (and Allan Gardens is totally free, so walkthrough the greenhouse while you're at it!).








You know what else happened last week?

THIS!----------------------------------------------------->
Hard to believe that after more than two decades the Nowell family is actually moving. Where will we be moving to? I don't know, you will have to stay tuned. Will we even be staying in Canada?! I know, so suspenseful.

For those of you who have sold your homes before, I now feel your pain of house showings. What do you mean I can't leave my underwear on the floor? I think it gives a house that "lived in" feel. No? Okay, I'll just throw it in the closet with half of the other things in my room (there was no more space under the bed).

Vicki, isn't this supposed to be a food blog? You're right. Here's a picture of a blueberry scone.

In other news, doesn't it make you so mad when people without handicap (handicapped?) parking stickers park in the handicapped spots? This happens all the time at the Whitby Public Library and I feel like I should start carrying window markers in my car so I can leave them messages. You know, the washable ones they use at car dealerships? Who's with me?! Nothing terribly rude. Maybe a picture of a trashcan with the saying "You stink, don't park here!" I don't know, I'm still working on it. And if it's you that's doing this... stop it right now! It's the worst!

Okay, but back to the food part. I got my delicious scone-for-the-road at Cup of Tea Bakery in Whitby where they bake a lot of gluten-free and vegan treats. You can get scones, cookies, cupcakes. They do GF bread every day too. My absolute favourite are the chocolate krinkle cookies though, check them out!

What's the difference between a regular sweet potato and a Caribbean sweet potato? Perhaps the Caribbean sweet potatoes will give me a bikini body? BAZINGA! (I want you all to know that I take these random photos with my phone throughout the week because I see things and think "hey that's fun." But they don't all go coherently together. Just go with it).

 I ate some other fun things this week (aside from some regular sweet potatoes, which were cheaper than the fancy tropical ones). I made some lazy salads (meaning: "hey, what's in my refrigerator? Sure, that could go in a salad"). I used my Blendtec to make a vegan tahini dressing, and then I ended up mixing it with some mustard, which made it look sort of gross... but I swear it tasted delicious. Have you ever tried putting mustard on your salads? It's the bomb. And fat free. And sugar free. And gluten-free. So try it. Also, throw some olives on there because I think that's got to be better than olive oil, right?

 I also started making some parfait inspired breakfasts, without the yogurt though because dairy is on my no-no list. I've been using berries, walnuts, dried dates or figs, sunflower seeds and shredded coconut. Sometimes I even throw a little honey or agave on there (and by "sometimes" I mean "everytime." Maybe next week I will go back on a sugar free detox... but that's next week).

I brought one of these to Khalid Wednesday night and he totally loved it. Wait for Bulk Barn to post their $3-off coupons online every 2 weeks or so and load up on all your favourite fixings.

Random insertion, Dear Future Shop: this does nothing to inspire my confidence in your products. (Khalid and I had a good laugh at this).

So this weekend I picked up a book from the library called "The New Persian Kitchen" and decided to try out their version of Pilau (a rice dish that Khalid's parents make on special occasions). Because I'm a noob I only took photos of the ingredients and not the finished product, but maybe the next time I make it I will remember.


 Other than the rice, you add carrots, almonds (I used walnuts) and onions fried in some oil with cinnamon and turmeric. Then you add in your pistachios, orange zest and honey before mixing it all in with the basmati rice. There are definitely some things I would change next time (like not accidentally using parboiled rice... sorry about that, Khalid!), but overall it turned out really tasty. The orange zest was the best part.








 On Saturday we had some beautiful weather, which means... BBQ with the famjam! We got to christen the brand new grill that Khalid built with some veggie and lamb kebabs (I know, how badly do you want to barbeque with us?!). We also had some more veggies and my very favourite rice, which has lots of cooked mung beans (maybe I'll post a recipe next time Madar Jan makes it?). Then we had dried dates and tea for dessert while I smoked Khalid at cards ;)

On Saturday night my friend Ashley had a Housewarming/Birthday party. There was lots of great food and as usual everyone went out of their way to make delicious treats for me! Ashley made lots of great appetizers and Marilyn brought some excellent brown rice pasta. Of course, I think everyone would say that the highlight was the Bonfire (or the Telestrations game? It's a toss-up), which included SMORE KITS (Khalid's very first ever smore!). We didn't bring any safe graham crackers so I just had a few roasted marshmallows... and by a few, I mean 16. Did you know that marshmallows are gluten-free and dairy-free? (of course they are, Vicki, they're made entirely of spun sugar. Hush! Next week, next week I swear!). So if you happened by my facebook wall the next day and saw that I climbed 500 floors on the Stairmaster... and if you happened to think to yourself "wow, what dedication!"... now you know that I was climbing 30 floors for every marshmallow, lol. Eating half a package of marshmallows turns out to be excellent motivation for CN Tower training!

I almost drove back to Whitby on the Sunday night, but then Khalid reminded me that we had a bunch of rented horror movies from the library still to watch. How can you resist that? Especially when he makes you delicious spiced potatoes for dinner too!

I clearly had a great long weekend, what about you? Oh! And by the way, the next public climb for the CN Tower is on Saturday, October 19th. That means you have 2 and a half months to get cracking on those stairs! I will be there, I might even be there on the Thursday as well for the Corporate Climb. Don't forget that it's a fundraising event for United Way, so not only is it great for your heart, it's great for the world too! (and no, there is no time limit, you can go as slow or as fast as you want :) There are snacks, water breaks and paramedics every few floors, so there's nothing to worry about. Hey, you even get a free T-shirt!).


Without you, there would be no way... up 1776 steps, GO GO GO!

So this is awkward...

Judging by this blog, Vicki got green for about the first two months of the year and then got... brown? Actually, Vicki got into a whole host of food insensitivities and spent many months eating little more than cucumbers, and who wants to blog about that? But now Vicki got herself a panel of IgG food intolerance testing and is ready to get back on the bandwagon! (the third person references stop here).

Now that I have a handy dandy memory card in my phone, I can take pictures of all the wonderful things that I eat in the great cities of Guelph and Toronto and share them with you all :) I'll keep it short for today, here is what I had for lunch:

 

I found this place on the Happy Cow website when I was looking up vegan places to eat. It's called Superfood Eateries Inc. and it's at 268 Adelaide Street West in Toronto. Their whole menu is vegan and gluten free, and I just had to try their breakfast granola with cashew cream. It was delicious, but mostly I was hyper aware of how easy (and cheaaaaaaaaaper) it would be to make this at home. I bought myself some kasha (read buckwheat) today at Bulk Barn, so maybe I'll get cracking on that next week (even though the convenience of having someone else sprout your buckwheat is so... convenient). 

My relationship with the Stairmaster is also BACK ON, anyone want to climb the CN Tower with me this fall?!?! Come on, you get a free shirt and everything :) I have a GoodLife membership for Durham region too, so if there are any other GoodLifers out there who want to crank out a BodyAttack class with me... I'll be on the Arc Trainer watching Cake Boss, come find me.

If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to message them to me! In the cue I want to make some sugar-free, fat-free sweet potato cookies (what?! Yes, you heard me) and I also have a ton of vegan/gluten-free gems to share with you. I'll probably also share my IgG results with you at some point, would that be saavy?

Okay friends, keep fit and have fun! (anyone else rooting for Joanne and Hal on Amazing Race Canada? Woop woop!)

You put WHAT in your laundry?! (and why you should too... because it's cheaper)

I recently had an adventure in the laundry room. Not that kind of adventure, get your mind out of the gutter, people! Given that certain fabrics irritate my skin (polyester, I'm looking at you), I got to wondering if the corny detergents and dryer sheets I was using could be doing the same thing? Then I stopped wondering about it because I figured it would be super expensive and a giant hassle to try and replace detergent and dryer sheets.

Fast forward a few weeks to when I was wandering through a store and came across soapnuts. Now, if you are a lover of Dragon's Den (like myself), you will remember that soapnuts came through a few years ago and landed a deal with the Dragons... I have been wanting to try them ever since (they are actually fruits, so they are sometimes called soapberries. They contain saponins and work just like soap). So, I picked up a 1 kg bag for $22.99. Holy crap, I would NEVER pay that much for laundry detergent! Except, here's the math: it takes 6-8 soapnut halves for 2 loads of laundry. 6 soapnuts weigh ~10g (I would know, because I just weighed them for you). Because you can use them twice, that's ~5g per load. 1000g/5g= 200 loads for $22.99, which is $0.11/load. Now, a quick perusing through Walmart tells me that a 2.95L container of Tide is $15.95 and is advertised for 40 loads. $15.95/40= $0.40/load.

Wait, that can't be right? Except it is, because I totally nailed University calculus and my logic is flawless (even if you take into account that no one actually uses the amount of detergent recommended on the bottle). So soapnuts cost $0.11/load and mainstream detergent costs $0.40/load. Why would you ever buy detergent again? (see, and I didn't even have to tell you about chemical detergents and their affect on our clean water supply!).

 Okay, but Vicki, what about fabric softener? One word: vinegar. I swear it! And I won't even bother with the math to convince you that 1L of vinegar is cheaper than 1L of fabric softener (and no, it doesn't actually make your clothes smell like vinegar). Add 1/2cup of white vinegar to your final rinse cycle and everything comes out super soft. In addition, vinegar doesn't leave behind the residue that fabric softener does, so things like towels and cloth diapers don't lose their absorbency. BAM! What else can I solve for you today? I'm totally on a roll.

Oh right, the dryer! After conquering the washing machine, I thought: "well, I don't want to do undo all this environmental and corny do-goodedness by throwing my clothes in the dryer with Bounce... perhaps I will just not use the dryer sheets?" And of course, anyone who has lived through Canadian winter will tell you that is a terrible idea. And so it was, and I found myself on google once more. My first concern was static, naturally. The solution: super expensive dryer balls imported from Italy. Just kidding, aluminum balls! Take out some aluminum foil, roll a few sheets into balls and toss them in the dryer. I find 3-5 work best, depending on the size of the load and how many unnatural fabrics you have in there (polyester, I'm looking at you). No math required to prove the fiscal incentive for this trick, because the aluminum balls can be used forever it seems.

And so, lastly, how can I make my clothes smell pretty without the artificial fragrances of detergent and dryer sheets? This one is super easy too. Throw a damp facecloth into the dryer with a few drops of essential oil. Essential oils are everywhere these days, so you shouldn't have a problem finding them, AND, you can pick whatever fragrance you want! I picked "Clove," so now I smell like chai tea. I would also like to try Orange and Lavendar. The possibilities are endless.

I have absolutely no idea if these changes will be less irritating to my skin, but who cares? I'm rich!!!

What's in your rice cooker? (and other miscellaneous thoughts)

This weekend I was in Guelph with Khalid, where his parents made me the best cabbage ever and my favourite rice dish, brown rice with mung beans. That got me thinking about rice cookers. I have had lots of friends and family tell me that they would never buy a rice cooker... but why?! Unless you are a raw foodist, a rice cooker is such a great addition to your kitchen! (and a slow cooker too, but that's probably another blog post). You can make just about any grain in a rice cooker, including legumes like red/green lentils and split peas. If you are trying to go gluten-free, get yourself some grains and embrace your rice cooker.

Here's what's in my rice cooker tonight!

 Ingredients:
-1 cup washed red lentils
-2 cups washed green lentils
-Handful of fresh spinach (not washed, because I never wash my produce... worst microbiologist ever)
-Handful of frozen rapini (I made a trip to MacMillan farms today and went crazy in the frozen veg aisle)
-*Fresh ground black pepper, coriander seed, cumin seed and sea salt
-**1 tsp olive oil

...just add water! (6 1/2 cups for me)

 *If you are corn-free, like myself, do yourself a favour and invest in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Most packaged (ground) spices contain cornstarch to prevent clumping, or even dextrose in the case of iodized salt (dextrose... read corn!). I just bought a mortar and pestle from Winners today for $10 and ground my spices fresh (there's nothing compared to the fragrance of freshly ground spice).

**Khalid used to tell me when my rice cooker bubbled over it was because I didn't wash my rice well enough (how insulting, I wash EVERYTHING so well...), but actually the secret is to add a little oil. Who knew? Now you do, and you too can make froth-free rice.

 

Last week I bought some split peas from bulk barn and got totally gluten-ed. Unfortunately, bulk barn is not a gluten-friendly place, and the wheat flours have a way of floating into bins where they are not welcome. I usually don't have a problem, but maybe I've just been lucky so far! So, I took my upset psoriasis to the Superstore in search of some packaged beans/lentils. I found this brand, Bella Tavola, which looks safe (avoid NuPak, they process their beans/lentils on the same equipment as wheat).


I have some other leafy greens to make smoothies and salads out of for Monday and Tuesday lunches. I picked up some sesame seeds, raw olive oil and apple cider vinegar that I'm hoping to make some salad dressing with tomorrow (I'll let you know how it goes!). Did you know that in 2006 the makers of Mastro EVOO were convicted of false advertising because they were mixing in 50% sunflower oil? What a scandal. What was I talking about?

Here's a salad I ate last week (in the spirit of trying to share my eating adventures with you). It had romaine lettuce, carrots, almonds, green peppers, cucumber, avocado and hemp seeds. I rarely use dressing on my salads anymore, and it's definitely not necessary when you have creamy avocado mixed in there. Note that if you are going to make yourself a salad, do away with the dinky "soup" bowls and get yourself a behemoth popcorn bowl, or even a mixing bowl. I can't even fit half my lettuce in those puney side bowls... clearly they were designed by carnivores.

In closing, I wanted to send a big shout out to my Australian friend Nicole who just went back to Nepal and did a great job of raising money for HCCH! Naturally this has made me super nostalgic for my past travels with such wonderful Aussies. In the spirit of our beloved snacks, I've been eating carrots and peanut butter for the past few days. Don't knock it till you've tried it, mate! Make sure to buy the natural peanut butter, otherwise you're just eating glorified icing sugar.





How are your New Year's Resolutions going? It's been a week since I've been to the gym, but at least I had a salad. Right? Right?!

I'd better go do some push-ups...

Ewwww, Brussel sprouts

I forgot to bring my camera with me a few times over the past few days, so you are definitely missing the giant burger I had at Lonestar... but it was bunless and I got a house salad on the side! (but it had cheddar cheese and bacon... call it a draw?).

For lunch I threw some leftovers from New Years in the pan, and in went some old Brussel sprouts. I so regret the Brussel sprouts! I clearly did not cook them for long enough so they were hard, and they had that nasty Brussel-sprouty taste (you know the one I mean). Usually I'm a huge Brussel sprout fan, but then I usually cut them into halves so they cook better. Oh well, the rest was a success.

Today (January 3rd) was grocery shopping day, check out my haul! Thanks go out to my wonderful inlaws who gave me a President's Choice gift card for Christmas (is there anything better than free food?). Those cucumbers were only $0.25/ea. I know! Okay, enough excitement for one day.

I made some red cabbage with onions, using my massive new electric skillet (thanks, Khalid!). I got too lazy to do the green beans next, so I just threw them on top as is. It looks pretty boring, but I'm bringing along some nuts and dried fruits.. and I'll put an avocado on top, because all the cool kids are doing it. But Vicki, what will you have for breakfast? Enter... Green Smoothie!





Some of you may know that for Christmas I got a Blendtec blender from my wonderful Aunt and Uncle. I've been using it to make smoothies for Khalid, but I've been patiently biding my time for when I could blend a MASSIVE HEAD OF KALE! Why are you making that face? Get excited! These Green Smoothies get totally addictive. In addition to half the head of kale I threw in some pears and frozen blueberries. It took great restraint not to drink it all tonight. (and to wash the blender, you just blend water and dish soap. I love this thing!)

That's all for today. What New Year's resolutions did you all make? Would you like to see photos of me doing hilarious work-outs at the gym? Because that might be a thing in the spirit of being healthy in 2013. Perhaps a short video of my step class? 80's headband included.

Happy cucumbers,
Vicki