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

2013, getting started!

So it's 2013! My New Year's resolution this year is to try a number of "greeny" diet programs and chart how they affect my psoriasis. At this point, I know that gluten, corn and sugar are big no-nos, and I'm hoping that by blogging this year I will be able to stay the course of healthy eating. My inspiration came from a recent trip to the St. Lawrence market where I found Cruda Cafe, a totally raw vegan (and gluten-free!) take-out restaurant. I had their Pizzeta, which they describe as follows: "tomato flax thin crust topped with our house creamy cheese, tomato, olives, avocado, sprouts, paired with a small salad." And you know what? It was delicious!

For dessert I had raw vegan cheesecake. Yes, you heard that correctly! They get the "cheesecake" texture by using raw cashews. How clever. Of course, next time I will suggest that they don't serve it to me on a corn husk... but we live and learn :) (even Khalid gave this cheesecake an 8/10 on the vegan cheesecake scale.)

Now, you know that it's really easy to find excuses to cheat, especially around the holidays, so New Year's Eve was a big test for me. Usually we have steak (yum) and lobster (bluh), so I made sure that I had lots of veggies around. I even splurged and bought myself some whole walnuts, avocados and colourful carrots (I'm sure they have a specific name, but I couldn't tell you what it is).

So here was my meal! Carrots, asparagus and sliced cucumber with raw cashews, hemp seeds, fresh walnuts and half an avocado. Always come prepared!

 (and here was my contender, staring me down)

And we can't forget dessert! I had some almonds, organic dried figs and pomegranate. And at the end of this meal I was totally content, I didn't even get into the cherry ice cream in the freezer (which probably would have happened if I hadn't planned dessert for myself).

You don't have to have psoriasis to enjoy these posts, maybe you just want to see how someone else is getting their recommended intake of veggies and fruit, or maybe you have a similar resolution! If you have any recipe ideas, please send them my way (I have green smoothies and homemade raw vegan cheesecake in the works, so stay tuned!).

Hello and Goodbye from January 1rst, 2013
Vicki