This week is going to be incredibly busy. I am over-the-moon excited about a speakers series that we're doing at the law school for students regarding management of life, law and the pursuit of happiness... Our first week focuses on student debt and its remedies. Our second week will focus on planned expenses. Our third week will talk about how to attract as much funding as possible to minimize the first two, and the fourth week will review lifestyle choices, particularly fitness and FOOD.
And what this all means is that there will be absolutely NO time leftover for me to be running to the grocery store, trying to pull a meal together. Furthermore, since January is birthday month in our house, two parties and gifts for the guys in my life has left me very conscious about sticking to the budget. And (just like Christmas), I managed - but just barely.
How? Because before paying for anything else, I just PAID ATTENTION first.
Before I left the house, I rummaged through the fridge, the pantry and the freezer. Leftover cauliflower from Harrion's birthday party. The second package of (expensive) fresh basil that I used to garnish the pasta shells and tomato sauce last week. A can of coconut milk. The bottom of a bag of dried red lentils. Some frozen vegetable stock.
Instead of just starting from something brand new, I want to use up what I already have. There isn't any point to stocking my pantry with NEW items, when I have existing supplies. So the shopping list was short, and topped out at about 43 bucks, including the expensive organic lemons which I gladly pay more for because of how often I use the zest, and I just don't think that pesticide makes a very good garnish.
The smell of an indian curry is wafting through the house, and the rice cooker is on. So I have about a half an hour to blog. Fresh ginger, garlic, basil, lemon, cilantro and coconut are perfuming the air.
Dinners this week are:
Indian Cauliflower Lentil Curry over Brown Rice
In the covered casserole dish is the leftover cauliflower florets, one jar of indian korma sauce, about two cups of lentils, some coconut milk, and some garlic.
Lemon Pesto Pasta and Caesar Salad
In one magic bullet container is the leftovers of some fresh basil, two garlic cloves, and the juice and zest of one lemon, buzzed with some olive oil. It'll go over the colourful vegetable fusili I bought for about 1.50.
Thai Coconut Curry Soup and Pad Thai Noodles
In the other magic bullet container is some more garlic, pureed ginger, a handful of cilantro (stems and all) some red curry paste and a can of coconut milk. The veg stock is thawed so when I'm ready to eat I'll just warm the stock in a pot (or I could have just poured a box of premade stock into the pot, too, if you don't have your own), heat it and add the pureed aromatic boost. I bought some clear rice stick noodles (of pad thai fame) and will heat them like pasta, maybe toss them in a peanut garlic hot sauce sesame oil dressing, garnished with carrot slivers, spouts and crushed peanuts and serve beside the soup.
Harrison's sandwiches are all made for the week, and bagged up in the fridge, ready for school lunches.
Obviously the smell of everything has drifted upstairs, since I just heard "MOM - how much longer until dinner?".
I always find it empowering to start the week with dinners ready to go, and ready for whatever the week throws at us. Hmmm... what to do with all this peace,
and quiet,
and TIME?
Instead of sitting still and finishing my remarks for tomorrow, I'm going to race the rice cooker and make a batch of sweet potato banana breakfast muffins.
I guess I'm just not the "peace and quite and time" kind of girl, after all...
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Redefining Easy, Cheap and Healthy
I'm learning quite a few quick subtitutions for plant based food which, quite surprisingly, have added even more edible hours to my day. Here are just a few:
Veggie Burgers (I love Amy's California Burger) go on a George Foreman perfectly, and with a soft whole wheat hamburger bun, some traditional burger fixings and 5 minutes, they are my NEW definition of fast food. No worries about ground meat, "well done" cooking temperatures to prevent contamination, and a very easy clean up.
Soup. I remember watching one of the first daily cooking shows in law school, an old Vancouver chef named James Barbour, and his assertion that all soup begins by cutting up an onion. Then, you just add whatever ingredient for the kind of soup you want to have, plus some salt. If you keep vegetable stock on hand in your pantry, this is a very cool trick. What could be easier?
Here's 10 soups in 60 seconds:
Onion + sweet potato + stock?
Onion + lentils + stock?
Onion + squash + stock?
Onion + broccoli + stock?
Onion + garlic + stock?
Onion + black beans + stock?
Onion + red pepper + stock?
Onion + leeks + stock?
Onion + tomato + stock?
And the easiest? Onions + stock.
Most stocks contain the trinity of aromatics, which are onion, carrot and celery, so you will get flavour by just pouring into a pot and then give it a whirl in a blender. If you train your palate to appreciate a simple soup in a hearty bowl, you will be rewarded with your own trinity. Time, energy and health.
BREAKFAST: If you do not yet own a magic bullet, you are really missing out on a modern miracle. Smoothies are impossibly simple in these, and a great way to start your day. Try any kind of frozen berry, a banana, some OJ, somt Apple J, or some almond milk. Yum. Plus you can easily knock off two servings of fruit, and introduce some stabilizing, antioxidant rich energy before you even leave the house.
Popcorn I LOVE salty snacks, especially chips. But I get the same snacky, crispy, treaty, crunch from a nosh on some popcorn. It is a whole grain, and without the butter, a nice source of fibre. I sprinkle mine with hot sauce.
Vegetable Muffins. Think carrot cake, zucchini bread, and apple muffins, and expand your mind to include things like grated sweet potato, beets, squash, pumpkin, berries, nuts, seeds, and even chocolate. Beets and chocolate are a PERFECT pair, and add a moistness to muffins. Once a week spend a half an hour baking off a batch, and you'll have a healthy grab-and-go breakfast, a tasty dessert or an after school snack at your fingertips.
I had to explain to Harrison this morning what the expression "time is money" means. I perform better in all areas of my life if I have proper fuel, and these quick tips can really add performance to your week, too.
Veggie Burgers (I love Amy's California Burger) go on a George Foreman perfectly, and with a soft whole wheat hamburger bun, some traditional burger fixings and 5 minutes, they are my NEW definition of fast food. No worries about ground meat, "well done" cooking temperatures to prevent contamination, and a very easy clean up.
Soup. I remember watching one of the first daily cooking shows in law school, an old Vancouver chef named James Barbour, and his assertion that all soup begins by cutting up an onion. Then, you just add whatever ingredient for the kind of soup you want to have, plus some salt. If you keep vegetable stock on hand in your pantry, this is a very cool trick. What could be easier?
Here's 10 soups in 60 seconds:
Onion + sweet potato + stock?
Onion + lentils + stock?
Onion + squash + stock?
Onion + broccoli + stock?
Onion + garlic + stock?
Onion + black beans + stock?
Onion + red pepper + stock?
Onion + leeks + stock?
Onion + tomato + stock?
And the easiest? Onions + stock.
Most stocks contain the trinity of aromatics, which are onion, carrot and celery, so you will get flavour by just pouring into a pot and then give it a whirl in a blender. If you train your palate to appreciate a simple soup in a hearty bowl, you will be rewarded with your own trinity. Time, energy and health.
BREAKFAST: If you do not yet own a magic bullet, you are really missing out on a modern miracle. Smoothies are impossibly simple in these, and a great way to start your day. Try any kind of frozen berry, a banana, some OJ, somt Apple J, or some almond milk. Yum. Plus you can easily knock off two servings of fruit, and introduce some stabilizing, antioxidant rich energy before you even leave the house.
Popcorn I LOVE salty snacks, especially chips. But I get the same snacky, crispy, treaty, crunch from a nosh on some popcorn. It is a whole grain, and without the butter, a nice source of fibre. I sprinkle mine with hot sauce.
Vegetable Muffins. Think carrot cake, zucchini bread, and apple muffins, and expand your mind to include things like grated sweet potato, beets, squash, pumpkin, berries, nuts, seeds, and even chocolate. Beets and chocolate are a PERFECT pair, and add a moistness to muffins. Once a week spend a half an hour baking off a batch, and you'll have a healthy grab-and-go breakfast, a tasty dessert or an after school snack at your fingertips.
I had to explain to Harrison this morning what the expression "time is money" means. I perform better in all areas of my life if I have proper fuel, and these quick tips can really add performance to your week, too.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Hereditary Evangelism and going back to the "easy" way
I have always (ALWAYS) been very opinionated, and make no apology for it. I inherited that from both my parents.
The other thing I inherited was the way we ate. My mom is a great cook, cooking from whole-food ingredients almost every single day. She is from another era, where "dinner out" was a big deal, and cooking from scratch was the way one cooked. She honours our family every day with her cooking, and is imaginative, authentic and cooks with integrity. Almost.
Dad is a traditional guy too - loves a good hearty Canadian meal, but isn't prone to the excesses. The food he likes certainly isn't bland, but it isn't exotic either. He wouldn't know what to do with a knob of ginger, a vanilla pod, or even a hunk of celeriac. His favourite spice is black pepper. He is a simple, healthy eater. ALMOST.
When one transitions to veganism - and one is prone to being opinionated to begin with - you can't help but get somewhat evangelical about how good it feels for every area of your life. You lose weight, you feel more energy, you feel calmer, your skin clears up, you lose that stuffy cloggy feeling, you spend less money, you have more time, everything from waking up in the morning to flossing your teeth at night is just BETTER. ALMOST.
Almost everything is good about a whole food, plant based diet. Everything EXCEPT your interaction with others. There, it feels like a bad decision. Sometimes, I just want out of the whole damn thing. I want to go back to cholesterol, weight, and risk factors, for the ease of ordering in a restaurant, ease of navigating a menu, - the sheer facility of eating a standard north american diet. I almost want to go back to "worrying" about e coli, or salmonella contaminating my hands, washing them furiously after a chicken meal, even though I have no such worries at my house now.
Both of my parents have very high blood pressure. Both are carrying extra weight. Both have hereditary risk factors (mom with cancer, dad with coronary issues). Both people are important to me, and as much as they drive me nuts sometimes, I would love to have them around for years more than their current lifestyles indicate that they will be.
I know I can't change them.
I know I can't change years of what is normal for them in the way they cook and eat.
I know I shouldn't preach at them about their consumption of butter, factory raised chicken, farmed fish, and battery farmed non-organic eggs.
Have you ever heard the joke quote "insanity is hereditary - you get it from your children?" :) I wish that could be true.
I wish dad could inherit my new 120/81 blood pressure and I wish mom would inherit my new 22.5 BMI. It would also be great if my Atkins-opinionated brother would outgrow his obsession with eliminating "carbs", and my other brother would absorb a smoke-free lifestyle.
Being surrounded by their bad habits and their resistent and ingrained way of thinking and eating makes me feel like I know something good, but can't change the way it is. Like one of those farmed salmon being fed coloured pellets, wondering why my food doesn't taste like actual fish, or like a caged egg-laying chicken perplexed at why all those eggs I lay never hatch, or like a sloppy pig wondering where we are all going on such a big truck. What's worse? Not knowing, or KNOWING but being to powerless change it?
I feel like I've been let in on one of life's great secrets, and yet I'm feeling quite helpless to change those I love. Part of me misses the ease of just doing it the way we've always done it - regardless of the consequences.
I can only hope for that hereditary thing to kick in soon, maybe they'll get it eventually.
I do not feel very Zen tonight, and no amount of plants is going to change that.
The other thing I inherited was the way we ate. My mom is a great cook, cooking from whole-food ingredients almost every single day. She is from another era, where "dinner out" was a big deal, and cooking from scratch was the way one cooked. She honours our family every day with her cooking, and is imaginative, authentic and cooks with integrity. Almost.
Dad is a traditional guy too - loves a good hearty Canadian meal, but isn't prone to the excesses. The food he likes certainly isn't bland, but it isn't exotic either. He wouldn't know what to do with a knob of ginger, a vanilla pod, or even a hunk of celeriac. His favourite spice is black pepper. He is a simple, healthy eater. ALMOST.
When one transitions to veganism - and one is prone to being opinionated to begin with - you can't help but get somewhat evangelical about how good it feels for every area of your life. You lose weight, you feel more energy, you feel calmer, your skin clears up, you lose that stuffy cloggy feeling, you spend less money, you have more time, everything from waking up in the morning to flossing your teeth at night is just BETTER. ALMOST.
Almost everything is good about a whole food, plant based diet. Everything EXCEPT your interaction with others. There, it feels like a bad decision. Sometimes, I just want out of the whole damn thing. I want to go back to cholesterol, weight, and risk factors, for the ease of ordering in a restaurant, ease of navigating a menu, - the sheer facility of eating a standard north american diet. I almost want to go back to "worrying" about e coli, or salmonella contaminating my hands, washing them furiously after a chicken meal, even though I have no such worries at my house now.
Both of my parents have very high blood pressure. Both are carrying extra weight. Both have hereditary risk factors (mom with cancer, dad with coronary issues). Both people are important to me, and as much as they drive me nuts sometimes, I would love to have them around for years more than their current lifestyles indicate that they will be.
I know I can't change them.
I know I can't change years of what is normal for them in the way they cook and eat.
I know I shouldn't preach at them about their consumption of butter, factory raised chicken, farmed fish, and battery farmed non-organic eggs.
Have you ever heard the joke quote "insanity is hereditary - you get it from your children?" :) I wish that could be true.
I wish dad could inherit my new 120/81 blood pressure and I wish mom would inherit my new 22.5 BMI. It would also be great if my Atkins-opinionated brother would outgrow his obsession with eliminating "carbs", and my other brother would absorb a smoke-free lifestyle.
Being surrounded by their bad habits and their resistent and ingrained way of thinking and eating makes me feel like I know something good, but can't change the way it is. Like one of those farmed salmon being fed coloured pellets, wondering why my food doesn't taste like actual fish, or like a caged egg-laying chicken perplexed at why all those eggs I lay never hatch, or like a sloppy pig wondering where we are all going on such a big truck. What's worse? Not knowing, or KNOWING but being to powerless change it?
I feel like I've been let in on one of life's great secrets, and yet I'm feeling quite helpless to change those I love. Part of me misses the ease of just doing it the way we've always done it - regardless of the consequences.
I can only hope for that hereditary thing to kick in soon, maybe they'll get it eventually.
I do not feel very Zen tonight, and no amount of plants is going to change that.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Student-Debt Hangovers and Remedies
I love being back at the office, surrounded by students. Although they are happy to be back, and had a great holiday away, many of them are now heading back to school to begin again the life of being a law student. This usually means funds are limited. Many of them are coming back to serious holiday student-debt hangovers which might be as much as 7 years old. And while many of them are studying "Remedies" in class, few are able to implement one for their finances. They are longingly looking forward to articling salaries as a solution. With my newfound internal "raise" (I calculate the grocery budget's been slashed by approximately $100 per week, or $5200 per year)I feel I have some insight to share.
Being a busy professional doesn't lessen the pressure. Starting out with their first legal job takes even more energy than they devote to law school. They have even LESS time to prepare meals, to recharge their physical selves, and to shop, prepare and eat healthy food.
It still doesn't stop once they get established because they're now looking to grow their practice and often are making major life-decisions (spouses, new families, new homes, etc..) in the process. To say that the life of a twenty something-turning-thirty lawyer is "busy" is quite simply an understatement.
This semester, I would love to chair some kind of food group for the students where we could at least share some tips for keeping the food healthy, real and cheap. They are often a FONT of knowledge for what is cheap, but from my conversations with many, "healthy" is hard to rate.
Even with my new vegan outlook, I don't remotely think that all of them should suddenly give up animal food. Rather, by increasing grains, veggies and legumes, they could just stretch their budgets a bit, trim their waistlines a bit, maintain their energy just a bit more?
I love the students I work with, and saw a great quote recently. "If you live like a lawyer when you are a law student, you'll be living like a law student when you're a lawyer"
Food for thought.
Being a busy professional doesn't lessen the pressure. Starting out with their first legal job takes even more energy than they devote to law school. They have even LESS time to prepare meals, to recharge their physical selves, and to shop, prepare and eat healthy food.
It still doesn't stop once they get established because they're now looking to grow their practice and often are making major life-decisions (spouses, new families, new homes, etc..) in the process. To say that the life of a twenty something-turning-thirty lawyer is "busy" is quite simply an understatement.
This semester, I would love to chair some kind of food group for the students where we could at least share some tips for keeping the food healthy, real and cheap. They are often a FONT of knowledge for what is cheap, but from my conversations with many, "healthy" is hard to rate.
Even with my new vegan outlook, I don't remotely think that all of them should suddenly give up animal food. Rather, by increasing grains, veggies and legumes, they could just stretch their budgets a bit, trim their waistlines a bit, maintain their energy just a bit more?
I love the students I work with, and saw a great quote recently. "If you live like a lawyer when you are a law student, you'll be living like a law student when you're a lawyer"
Food for thought.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Beans Three Ways and Home Equity Renovations
I am going to renovate my kitchen!! I hate the current placement of a peninsula which completely limits the usable space, and blocks both traffic flow, and cuts up the room into two tiny cubby holes. If I can keep the grocery budget under control, I can power through the next few months to pay for the reno. I think it's pretty cool that I can spend what I was spending on meat/eggs/dairy, (not to mention extra gym classes to burn off what I was unnecessarily eating) and INSTEAD pump it into my home's equity:) What a nice additional reward!
So? I pureed two cans of (organic) tomatoes and poured it into three separate preparations : a slow cooker, a soup pot, and an oven casserole. Next, I cleaned out the veggies in the fridge. Carrots, Celery, and some leftover oyster mushrooms. Sauteed them in some olive oil with a diced onion until soft. Pulsed the veggie mixture so it was lightly chunky for the red beans, and the pasta sauce. Pureed the rest until completely smooth for the soup.
Ever a label reader, I'll compare the beans for protein, calories and fibre:
1 cup of red beans has 18 grams of protein, 260 calories and 12g of fibre.
1 cup of white navy beans has 13 grams protein, 210 calories and 10 g of fibre.
1 cup of lentils has 36 grams of protein, 480 calories and 21 grams of fibre.
Last minute distinguishing additions?
Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice? Add 1 tsp of cajun seasoning, (I love Tony Chachere's), 1 cup of frozen chopped red pepper, and garnished with chopped celery leaves, green onion, and hot sauce to taste. Slow cook for 2 hours on high. Serve over rice.
Stovetop Lentil Soup Added some salt and pepper, to taste and it's perfect just the way it is. Simmer for half an hour on low. Serve with a green salad.
White Bean Pasta Sauce? Added some oregano, thyme and rosemary (frozen from my garden, but you could add a dried Italian spice blend) a splash of red wine and some additional chopped garlic. Bake for an hour at 350. Serve over a large whole wheat pasta like rigatoni or polenta (shown above).
FINAL DINNER NUMBERS: 10 Bucks, 18 meals (.55 per meal), half an hour of preparation, 4 cans, 3 pots, 2 grains and one happy woman heading into a busy week.
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