The Spiralizer- You can't help achieving your healthy lifestyle goals when you have cool tools

It's been a while- you know- busy with work, school, kids, celebrating and living the healthy life!

June was filled with celebrations for birthdays, staff lunches, Father's days... you know, I counted 16 meals this month that were 'out of the norm' for me. I am very grateful for the love, the celebration and the social fun times this month brought. I reconnected with old friends and made healthy choices and 'celebratory choices'  living 'The Month of Celebration'. 

I visited the Wharton Clinic this past weekend and was pleased with my progress living my healthy lifestyle despite all my celebrations. I lost an additional 3.4 lbs and 2 inches. Yeah me!!! A total of 75lbs lost since the beginning of my journey, now that's a great milestone!

I credit the reason for my success being that I continued with my valiant effort at being a 'Workout Warrior' and making fresh food fun!  Check it out my new toy, the Spiralizer!

Thanks to my sister and her family for this wonderful new gift that I have wanted to try for months! I got a spiralizer and wanted to try and make fresh veggies fun for my family.

Check out my spiralized cucumbers! I got my daughter involved and she had so much fun...' I wanna do it, I wanna do it!" she yelled.

Here's what I made with those spiralized cucumbers:

Cucumber Cilantro Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 cucumbers
• 1 red pepper
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 bunch cilantro

Dressing

• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• S&P to taste

Prep all your veg, mix your dressing and assemble! You can add your favourite veg or fruits... both my daughter and I immediately mentioned that mango would be awesome in this salad.

So after a delicious meal, a night of aquafitness and pool dancing with my daughter, I showed up to the office before 7am the following day and totally owned the day, the short new hair, the hippie blouse and the honest truth about living life in a balanced and healthy way.

Healthy Lifestyle Update- Power on with Protein Balls

I'm happy to share with you that I went to the Wharton Clinic over the weekend and was down 3lbs and 2 inches since last month! This is a total loss of 72 lbs since I started my journey/blog!

It's definitively progress.... but slower than I would like. My goal is to lose about  1.5lbs a week... so I ran through the past month to see what some of the issues that may have slowed my progress down a bit:

• Stress (makes you hold on to fat for some reason)
• Less sweat inducing exercise this month. For various reasons, I missed about half of my 1 hour zumba/aerobics classes this month.
• Eating close to 1700 calories, rather than the 1600 calorie range I like to stick to
• Eating more simple carbs and less protein than I would like

Thanks to myfitnesspal.com,, I was able to analyze that the quality of my food choices, on a nutrient, clean eating scale value, was not where I wanted to be. The amazing BR I met with at the clinic suggested ensuring that I meet my protein goals at every meal and snack to help me achieve my weight loss goals and suggested making these Protein Balls for quick energy snacking after working out.

Here's the breakdown she suggested:

• 10-15g protein for breakfast
• minimum of 20g of protein with lunch and dinner
• always have protein with every snack

So, I went on a search for a good recipe for these illusive protein balls and found this really easy to make recipe.

The recipe suggests that it makes 20-24 balls, but I ended making 28 smaller balls, at about 70 calories and 4g of protein per ball.


Protein Energy Balls 
(adapted from http://www.thehealthymaven.com/2015/08/no-bake-oatmeal-protein-energy-balls.html)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup vanilla whey protein powder (about 2 scoops)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 T chia seeds
• 1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter (or any nut butter)*
• 3 T natural honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup raisins, chocolate chips, craisins or preferred add-in
• 2-4 T liquid (almond milk, milk, water etc...)

Instructions

Add oats, protein powder, cinnamon and chia seeds to a large bowl.

Add in peanut butter, honey and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.

Add in raisins (or preferred add-in). Mixture should be slightly sticky but still crumbly.

Slowly add in liquid 1 tablespoon at a time and using hands (get dirty!) combine until it comes together in a sticky ball that holds together. If mixture is too dry, add in more liquid but not so much that it won't hold shape.

Roll into balls using hands.

Place in a container to set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Store in fridge until ready to eat.

Time for Tex Mex Burgers

Well BBQ time is upon us in full force! With the thermometer rising, it’s a perfect time for me to share my take on a ‘healthified’ Tex Mex Burger.

Here’s what I do. Take some lean ground beef, add in some Tex Mex  seasoning, Worcestershire sauce and form patties, cut some colourful peppers into strips now you are ready for the grill.

Now get your BBQ Chef (Brent) to grill the burgers and peppers while you prepare the sides- homemade oven fries and a fresh vegetable salad and there you have it! A wonderfully yummy, colourful and nutritious meal. We added salsa to our burgers to go with our Mexican theme and they were delicious!  You could add some guacamole and jalapeno- which the BBQ Chef did!

Curvy Expo- The Embodiment of the Body Positivity Movement

I wanted to share with you a wonderful event I attended over the weekend.  The first ever Canadian Curvy Expo (http://curvyexpo.com/). I brought my beautiful curvy daughter who was so excited to participate in this incredible body positive event.

I am SO pleased to live in a decade where this body positive movement is now part of the vocabulary, where super models like Ashley Graham grace the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue and People’s most beautiful women. Where actresses like Melissa McCarthy and Rebel Wilson are so busy making movie after movie and in such high demand. We need more of this!!!!

This is so different from the way I grew up in the 80's. I used to hide the stores my clothes came from for fear of being embarrassed and shy away from any body discussions with friends or family.  As I was mentioning to Meghan Bradley, the show director and former model (pictured below), in my day there was nothing like this. No celebration of who we were but just body shame really. I mentioned that I was so happy that my little girl could be part of this amazingly positive shift in our society – the body positive movement- and I how I was so grateful for this show, this venue and the community of support that is around us curvy girls because of people like her.

The energy was positively electric! It was a sisterhood of love and support for the curvy woman.

Seminars and an amazing fashion show kept us interested all day. Curvy Bloggers everywhere, from my daughter meeting some amazing younger bloggers who totally reflect the cool, urban vibe in their shirt designs, Flaws of Couture (http://focapparel.storenvy.com/), to me meeting my own curvy fashion superstar, Assa Cisse of My Curves and Curls, (http://www.mycurvesandcurls.com/).

How awesome is it that my daughter feels so confident in celebrating her curves?  Just look at her shirt….  Thanks Addition Elle for your cool fashion-forward clothes. #iamsizesexy , she got so many great compliments about it all day. Perfect shirt to reflect the perfection of this event!

The entire tone of the event was just so supportive and celebratory. From the seminars on loving yourself inside and out, body positivity, fashion and makeup tips from curvy TV personalities. Oh and not to mention…. the great coupons and free bras. Thanks Penningtons!

The loving your curves and body positivity movement does not mean I'm giving up on my healthy living focus. It is in fact loving who you are now, with your curves, with your amazing heart, mind and soul. A remarkable ‘a-ha’ moment for me was when one of the seminar leaders,  Liis  Windischmann (http://www.liisonlife.com/)  mentioned that we need to focus on LOVE, and I know that… I just forgot about it for a while… If you negative body thoughts in your mind like – I hate my flabby arms (sounds like me), you need to refocus that hate into love. Instead, think of a way to love your arms. Instead, say to yourself, 'I love my arms because they allow me to hug the ones I love and make delicious meals for my family'… now THAT’S LOVE!  

Liis was displaying a page from an online adult colouring book (so popular these days), it really caught my attention as I saw a plus size woman on the front of the cover running. I later went home and checked out this totally mind-shifting, body loving website.

Bold Strokes, a colouring book for plus size athletes can be found at the Born to Reign Atheltics website (http://www.borntoreignathletics.com/)  
I immediately logged on and subscribed to receive the link to the printable pages.  Krista Henderson, the website’s creator, is a plus size athlete in triathlon who “…started to train like an athlete in response to her commitment of living an active and healthy lifestyle’. This part is amazing and resonates so much with me- “…she constantly felt the need to ‘fix’ herself by solely focusing on losing weight”. “…the foundation of the athletic lifestyle is rooted in properly fueling your body, working out with a purpose and getting plenty of rest”. Ok sign me up!

So you ask me, am I giving up on my journey….Oh no, I am still a healthy living warrior, in fact, it's completely motivated me to be a super athlete, a super fashionista and continue being a delicious food creator and blogger. I just now see that I need to love myself and my curves every step of the way.

I can’t wait to go back next year and get even more involved in the Curvy Expo! Thank you to Meghan Bradley and all the amazing curvy women who helped make this day so memorable.

Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Scone -it's time to celebrate!

Celebrate what, you say? 

Well it's been a great few weeks of triumph and discovery. First off, I went to the Wharton Clinic to check on my progress and I have lost another 6 lbs and I measured myself and lost another 4 1/2 inches. 

Awesome, I'd say!  It's a slow steady pace, but this is what is needed when you plan to live like this for LIFE.  Changing the way I eat, plan and prepare meals and live with activity. This is the way I live now, it's never about a diet. I hate that word- 'starting a diet' implies that you will 'end a diet'. Well guess what? This is not something I will ever 'end', I will continue to eat healthy, well-balanced meals, I will continue to strive to get activity every day.... for the rest of my life!

For the rest of my life I will also constantly re-evaluate what I am doing, where I want to be in my career. After some soul-searching moments, I have decided to take a post-graduate course in Human Resource Management through McMaster University. Yep, I'm going back to school! Online of course, so I can continue working and living my healthy life!

So part of being a successful, healthy living being is to prepare some food in advance for the week. Most of my recipes include whole grains and healthy fats, but sometimes..... I just need to enjoy a little spark of something homemade, fresh and delicious. I head to Pinterest and search... I needed to use some part-skim ricotta cheese and below is the final product.

Taste testers living and visiting my home over the weekend mentioned it was the best scone they have ever tasted. I would say it was the moistness of the ricotta, but also I doubled the lemon rind and lemon juice required and barely used any sugar for the glaze- mostly all lemon juice

Here's the recipe. I used skim milk ricotta and milk and it was still divine!

Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Scones (adapted from http://bakerbynature.com/blueberry-ricotta-scones/)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, VERY cold and cut into tiny pieces
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup (Whole Milk) Ricotta Cheese
3 tablespoons Whole Milk
8 ounces blueberries, fresh or frozen (If using frozen, do not thaw first)

For the egg wash:
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon milk or water
2 tablespoons sugar, for sprinkling

For the (optional) lemon glaze:
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup confectioners sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°(F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a large bowl mix together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and lemon zest.
3. Cut the butter into small cubes then quickly work it into the mixture (using your fingers) until lit resembles a coarse meal.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, ricotta cheese, and milk, then add to flour and butter mixture. Use a fork to stir everything together until just moistened.
5. Add in the blueberries and gently fold them into dough with a spatula - don’t worry if some of the berries break up a bit.
6. Pour the shaggy dough out onto a clean, floured work surface and shape the dough into an 8-inch circle. Cut the dough into 8 wedges and carefully transfer to the prepared sheet.
7. Lightly brush each scones with the egg wash, then sprinkle the top of each scone with sugar.
8. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden brown.
9. Cool for about 10 minutes, then make your glaze.
10. For the glaze:
11. In a small bowl whisk together the lemon juice and confectioners sugar. Drizzle over warm scones and serve at once.

Bright and Sunny California Quinoa Salad

Let me share with you a delicious recipe for an awesome and nutritiously dense way to get your protein. With 11g of protein and 8g of fibre per serving, you know it's going to be satisfying... and it's so good for you.

Quinoa is a great grain alternative. The protein in quinoa is complete, meaning that it contains all the essential protein building blocks that our bodies need. The addition of edemame and almonds just adds even more protein, but what I think makes this salad so delicious is the lime zest, it makes it bright and sunny.... just like California!

My source calls it a 'copy cat' recipe to the Whole Foods version of this salad, so here's the recipe.

California Quinoa Salad

(adapted from http://damndelicious.net/2014/06/07/whole-foods-california-quinoa-salad/)

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• Zest of 2 limes
• 1 mango, peeled and diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup shelled edamame
• 1/3 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Instructions

In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook quinoa according to package instructions; set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together balsamic vinegar and lime zest; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine quinoa, mango, bell pepper, edamame, red onion, coconut flakes, almonds, raisins and cilantro. Pour the balsamic vinegar mixture on top of the salad and gently toss to combine.

Serve immediately.

Fruit & Veggie Fun Snacks - A Healthy Way to Enjoy Peanut Butter

I want to share with you some great fruit and veggie snacks that are healthy and look so FUN, you're gonna think,  hey, this stuff can't be good for me?  But it is!

It's important for me to have protein with every snack and I like to turn to peanut butter to fill that roll. And what better way to enjoy it then part of some creative fruit & veggie snack ideas.

Some of you may have grown up with these: Ants on a Log.  I introduced them to my family last week and now they are hooked! 

Celery- the wonderful food that contains less calories than you can expend by chewing it- 1 TBSP of peanut butter, or any nut butter or your choice and some raisins, you could substitute with cranberries or even chopped nuts. It's crunchy, smooth, sweet and salty all at once. Oh, yeah, don't forget- FUN too!

This is another one of my favourite healthy treats to make. I call them Apple Nachos. Gorgeous right? 

All you need to do is thinly slice an apple, melt 1 TBSP of peanut butter, drizzle it on top of your apples with whatever else you like, some melted dark chocolate and dark chocolate chips, chopped nuts, granola.... Whatever you do, you know it will be a hit with that melted peanut butter.

I've said it before... we eat with our eyes.... so when your food looks fun, whimsical and inviting, you can't help but enjoy it, and when it's packed with nutritious ingredients, well, then you are WINNING!

Chicken Parmesan - Spaghetti Squash Style

Well, it looks like Winter's back... in Spring no less!! !  Perfect time to make a new recipe filled with heart-warming flavours using my new favourite veg... the Spaghetti Squash!

It's a version of the Chicken Parmesan stuffed Spaghetti Squash you see on social media... you know.... the movies.  I decided to give it a try,  and I was not disappointed.  It was delicious- and no pasta involved, just the squash that looks like pasta.

You just need to bake your squash in the oven (see recipe below) and in the meantime, cook your chicken in a pan. You'll be amazed at how little ingredients you'll need.

Then you just assemble it- marinara sauce, chicken, more marinara sauce and then a little cheese on top.

Here's how you do it:

Chicken Parmesan stuffed Spaghetti Sauce (adapted from http://goddessinthehouse.com/2015/02/chicken-parmesan-stuffed-spaghetti-squash/)

Ingredients

• Spaghetti Squash
• 1 jar Marinara Sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• 2 Breaded Chicken Breast, cooked (I hand breaded with the trio flour/egg/breadcrumbs)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp Olive Oil

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375°. Prepare a baking sheet with foil.
2. Cut your spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise. Take the 1/2 tsp of olive oil and put 1/4 tsp on each half of the spaghetti squash. 
3. Using your salt, pepper and garlic powder, sprinkle all over each half of the spaghetti squash. 
4. Place the spaghetti squash face down on the baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes. 
5. Using a fork, gently pull the strands of squash away from the sides of the squash.
6. Cut up your cooked chicken breast and place the chicken breast on top of the spaghetti squash.
7. Either make your own marinara sauce or use your favorite jarred sauce. Spoon the sauce over top of the chicken and spaghetti squash. 
8. Sprinkle your desired amount of Mozzarella cheese on each half and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly!

There you have it! So delicious served with a side of broccoli- that's right- more nutrient filled veggies! It's really a new family favourite!

Chocolaty Bird Nest Treats

With a lot of hard work at the gym, following healthy eating goals 98% of the time, comes a time for a special little Easter treat, so here's something for that 2% special occasion-  dark and chocolaty, crunchy, sweet and salty... a little bit of every taste sensation fulfilled!

Chocolaty Bird Nest Treats

Ingredients:

2 cups dark chocolate chips (or semi sweet, butterscotch or peanut butter chips)
3 cups crunchy chow mein noodles
30-50 small egg-shaped candies

Directions:

Melt your chocolate in a microwave, 1 minute at a time and stir until all is melted.  Add your crunchy chow mein noodles to the bowl and stir to combine. Drop teaspoon full on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and place a small dent in the middle of the treat.
Fill with whatever egg-shaped candies you like- I used almond M&M's- but Cadbury mini eggs would be great, as would jelly beans.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Best served cold.

Healthy lifestyle update - in 'Egg'cellent condition

Oh, pardon the funny pun, but seeing as how we just celebrated Easter... I just had to!

I wanted to share with you some more exciting updates on my Healthy Lifestyle progress.

This picture really explains it all. Since my last visit, I have lost an additional 6.2 lbs, but the best news is that I have also lost 6 1/2 inches in total across my neck, chest, waist and hips! Hip, Hip Hooray!

With my healthy eating, and 4 days-a-week gym habit- 2 of those being 'muscle building' days, my body is shrinking faster than the 'scale' is admitting to. As I have explained before, I am building muscle and loosing fat at the same time- so my great piece of advice for you is don't be angry like the green egg- be happy and confident in the knowledge that there are different ways to measure your success. If you do muscle building workouts, eat well-balanced meals and take your measurements once a month you will see how awesome the difference will be every time.  The blue egg knows!

Success comes in many forms my friends- loose pants and tops, needing to wear that belt one notch tighter... just look in the mirror and be proud of your effort. When you work hard, the rewards come showering down from a variety of ways!

Delicious and Healthy Party Food

I am about to blast you with some delicious recipes for some nutritious and heart-healthy party food ideas. We recently celebrated my husband's birthday, and with our focus on eating and living well, I wanted to create options that were fresh, healthy and colourful- so we came up with a Mexican themed menu.

I prepared some shredded Mexican chicken breast, some taco seasoned lean ground beef, some Mexican beans and had hard tacos, soft tortilla shells and loads of veggies and 'fixins' for everyone to build their own Mexican Masterpiece.

No Mexican fiesta would be complete without some salsa and guacamole. With parents, and children joining us for the party, I didn't want to make anything too spicy, so here is my homemade version of these 2 'spiced down' favourites.

Pineapple Salsa

Ingredients

• 1 fresh pineapple cut into tidbits
• 1 plum tomato diced
• 1/3 green pepper diced
• 1/3 red pepper diced
• 2 green onions diced
• 1/4 cup cilantro finely chopped
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tsp sea salt

Directions

Chop all ingredients and mix in bowl. Juice lime over salsa and add salt. Stir and taste for seasoning. To add a bit of spice you can add some fresh chopped jalapeno. Place in fridge for flavours to marinate. Serve cold with some tortilla chips.  This would also be delicious served over a grilled chicken breast or fish.

Guacamole

Ingredients

• 4 avocados
• 1/2 red pepper diced
• 1/3 cup cilantro finely chopped
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• Sea salt to taste

Directions

Scoop flesh out of avocados, mash them to desired 'chunkiness' consistency. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate. Serve with your Mexican favourites!

We love the Organic Neal Brothers Blue Tortilla chips. It's also delicious on your Mexican tacos, tortillas, nachos, quesadillas or even on your burgers!

BIRTHDAY TREAT TIME!!!!

Ok, ok, so I kept a little treat for the end. It was, after all, my husbands birthday party and when I asked him what special desert I could make for him he said 'trifle'. Different, right?  So I thought of a way to add a bit of 'nutrition' into this and decided to make a Banana Trifle.

Here's the recipe I loosely followed to make his creamy, dreamy whipped banana pudding trifle dreams come true!

Birthday Banana Trifle

Ingredients

• 3 bananas, diced
• 2 packages of banana instant pudding
• 4 cups 1% milk
• 1 container of light cool whip
• 1 Pound cake, diced
• 1/2 pack of Nilla wafers

Directions

Make the banana pudding according to package directions. Cool in refrigerator until ready to assemble. In your trifle bowl, layer half of the ingredients at a time. Start with the pound cake, banana pudding, bananas, crumbled Nilla wafers, place some around the perimeter of the bowl to create a nice pattern, then the cool whip. Repeat step with remaining half and reserve some chunks of cake, cookies or bananas.

Brent loved his Birthday Banana Trifle! It looked so beautiful and was a little different than the usual cake. It's OK to have a little treat on your birthday... especially when you go to the gym the next morning and work it off!

Thanks to all our family who came to celebrate and to my beautiful daughter for hosting some great party games!

Amazing Adventure- Rattlesnake Point and Soupy Sunday Finish

Today I want to share how awesome my Sunday was. It was actually much more than our hiking adventure and delicious soup. It started with a great power workout in the morning, followed by a delicious brunch with my parents. Love them so!  Then the 'serious' stuff started.

Before my daughter and I left for our hike, I put all the ingredients for this incredibly delicious Stuffed Pepper soup in my crockpot and ran to the hills. (recipe at bottom).

My daughter wanted to go for a hike to a place she'd never been...in the snow... in winter, Sigh!

So I say, 'anything to support my daughter's healthy living efforts', and we headed off to Milton to Rattlesnake Point. I remember this place way back in high school when my friend Janice and I would hike through the hills with our headbands, lip smackers and leg warmers... this time though, my daughter and I had the right equipment and spirit.



See, there was lots of snow, but it was patted down and fairly easy to hike on.

Look below this incredible selfie (LOL), we are up high on the mountain (ok, escarpment).

We read that this park was established in 1964 and the proof is carved into the rock.

Look at the gorgeous Melanie just looking out over the escarpment. The sun was amazing with just a little wind blowing. I captured the essence of her joy and excitement at trying something new and exploring the world around her. I LOVE this picture!

Interesting wooden tee pees.

Looking over the escarpment...

... and looking up at the cliffs, we saw some people climbing with their mountain climbing gear- just like my brother used to do.  I am so grateful for my beautiful daughter. I would not have gone out again after a big, sweaty gym workout in the morning, but she pushed me to try something new and it was amazing!

And now the Soupy Sunday part of this post.

Crockpot cooking is the best! After our hike, we came home and our dinner was ready!

I love sharing my Soupy Sunday recipes with you - especially when it's so effortless and really delicious. 

Here's the recipe.

Stuffed Pepper Soup (adapted from www.recipesthatcrock.com/slow-cooker-stuffed-pepper-soup/)

INGREDIENTS

1lb lean ground beef

1 diced onion

1 diced clove garlic

28 oz can diced tomatoes with juice  

2 chopped green peppers

1 chopped red pepper

4 cups low-sodium beef broth

½ T dried basil

½ T dried oregano

½ t paprika

½ t dried chili flakes

Salt and Pepper

2 cups cooked rice

INSTRUCTIONS

Brown beef with onion and garlic in a skillet over medium heat. Drain fat from beef and place in crockpot. Add all the rest of the ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Meanwhile cook some rice. When ready to serve, put some cooked rice at the bottom of the bowl and spoon soup over.