Juicing "The Redlist"

My new favourite show is "The Blacklist" starring James Spader - playing the complex and magnetic Raymond Reddington - "Red".  Now that he is maturing, I find him much more attractive than he was in "Pretty in Pink" where we were first introduced to that devilish, charming speaking style with an inimitable way of pronouncing his "S"s.

In last week's episode, the plastic surgeon to the criminal world remarks on Red's glowing skin.  "Are you juicing?"

Red remarks "Beets, mostly.  Some celery.  Loads of ginger.  No kale. It makes me dyspeptic".

So I guess this would be the Red list?

One of my new favourite students remarked on a particularly green smoothie on my desk this morning. "What is in that?"  After telling her, she remarked - "Your organs must be so clean!".

Today was one of those "GREAT" mornings.  Where I've slept, where I am raring to go at work, and where I've packed a healthy raw lunch and begun my day with a great, healthy breakfast.  I wish they were all like this (they're NOT) but today is, and I'm going to enjoy it.

This morning's smoothie was surprisingly easy and delicious - despite looking like swamp juice.  And despite all the red contained therein, kale trumps red and the smoothie was still surprisingly green.

It contained a cup of raspberries, a cup of kale, a banana, half an avocado, two tablespoons of coconut oil, two tablespoons of flax seed, two teaspoons of hemp seed, a celery stalk, an orange beet (skin on) and enough coconut milk and water to bind the whole thing together.

I LOVE my Vitamix.  That thing can puree anything to a smooth, velvety liquid better than any other blending device.  I would love to become someone who "juices", but because I can't stand the cleanup I will just stick with the fibre blended into the juice.  I keep the seeds on the counter, the kale prewashed in the fridge and the raspberries in the freezer.  It takes me less time to blend everything together than it takes to brew my coffee.

Greens have an extraordinary way of cleansing your blood and organs.  It's the photosynthesis.  Since green is the opposite of red it is a particurlarly great way of balancing out the acidity of everyday life.  On the days when you don't get it right, add some reds and greens.

So, I am going to polish off the smoothie, get a tonne of work done and anxiously await tonight's episode.

Triathlon Energy

It's finally triathlon season!  After doing all the mental preparation (reading "Triathlons for Dummies", one issue of Triathlete magazine) I decided I was really going to start training for the Sprint Triathlons this summer.  

So what better way to train than to just register for a race and do it?

While my time was a painfully slow 2 hours one minute, I did surprisingly well in both transitions (between the swim and the bike, and between the bike and the run).  Most notable was the fact that I wasn't remotely sore the next day.

For this, I credit Brendan Brazier and all my nutrition reading.

The day before the race I drank lots and LOTS of water so my muscles were hydrated even before I started.  No amount of water during a race will compensate for being dehydrated when you start.

Gave up wine.  Sad, but true.

The night before I had some seriously crispy gluten-free crackers and some cashew cream cheese.  Lots of slow burning carbs, great fats and protein.

The morning of (that's 4 am!) I had a half cup of Red River Cereal - full of serious whole grains which burn slow and fuel long!

While driving to the race I had a blueberry, roasted beet, chocolate almond milk, flax smoothie.  Purple and delicious.

During the race I had my favourite fruit gummies (Florida's Naturals) which were taped to my bike and literally all that kept me going during the against-the-current 750m swim.

Power bar during the bike leg was made of raw cashews, raw chocolate, sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, coconut, dates, lemon zest and agave.  Sticky but fuelling.

Finally, after the race I made a high energy recovery gel from dates, lime and lemon zest, agave and arame (a seaweed) for iron.  Squished it into my mouth after surviving the run.  

Lots of water always, a high colour meal afterwards (sweet potatoes, spinach, avocado, tomato) and even a few of my dreaded nemesis - Salt and Vinegar Miss Vickies chips.

Can't believe I finished & can't wait to see where I can go next with some actual training!!

Shrex Appeal : Ogres are like Onions

Because they stink?

No.

Because they make you cry?

No.

Because you leave 'em out in the sun and they start sprouting little white hairs?

NO!

L A Y E R S!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When my son was younger, my favourite Mom moment, BAR NONE, was sitting on the couch watching Shrek.  Pure boy joy.

I adore this movie - the adult humour mingled with the kid humour.  I love the character development.  I love the juxtaposition of royalty and ogres.  But most of all, I love the food talk.  "Parfaits?  Everybody loves parfaits.  Parfaits is delicious!!"

And hence, my Shrekilicious reference to layers.

Mushroom pasta is like ogres.  The layers make it great.

To some (my friend Scott comes to mind immediately), mushrooms are a vile fungus unworthy of edibility.

To others, they are a meaty, flavourful delicacy.  But in order to coax the best out of mushrooms, you must MUST layer the flavours to maximize their sex appeal.

Mrs. Q.  :  Any mushroom dish is enriched by truffles.   Truffle oil.  Truffle Paste.  Truffle Salt.  Truffles are mushroom royalty.

Charming:  Dijon anything.  Grainy mustard AND smooth dijon mustard will add an indescribable uniqueness which the dish would be the poorer for.  You should always have dijon in your fridge or pantry.  

Sir Shrek:  When you pull them out of the ground, wash off the dirt and peel back the layers - ogres are like onions.  So use them - in the form of onions, chives or leeks (my personal fave).

Princess Fiona:  About a quarter cup of wine - table wine if that's all you have, and fine, complex wine if that's what's going.

Pinocchio, Gingy and the Big Bad Wolf?  Who can forget this supporting cast of thong wearing, huge-girlfriend stalked, piggy porn reading gems?  This group is your steak spice - perfect, even if you add just a dash or two.

Donkey?  Yep!  You guessed it.  The stinky, annoying, never goes away interference of garlic.  Mushroom dishes just aren't the same without it and are better because of it.

Puss in Boots?  Every movie needs an iconic, villanous hero.  Something which in large doses are unbearable, but appropriately used are just perfect enhancements to a dish.  Mushrooms LOVE toasted sesame oil, even if the position of annoying talking sidekick has already been filled:)  lol.

A few other supports?  Miso (mysterious and exotic), Soy Sauce or Tamari (salty and briny) and last but never least - pepper.  Don't leave it out.

This combination of layers will have you coming back for every sequel.

     

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

Veggie burgers are showing up on menus everywhere, and make me feel like a normal eater.  But rarer is the downright decadence of a bacon cheeseburger.  Few restaurants have a vegan cheese and fewer still - I mean NONE - have coconut bacon to be added.

Seriously, coconut bacon has revolutionized my life lately.  That smoky, salty crispy deliciousness is getting added back into our menus in so many ways.

Today's was a bacon cheeseburger meatloaf!

There are some really good ground beef substitutes out there for the vegetarians who might want to indulge in a sumptuous, beefy burger every now and then.  Even though the crumbles are a processed food, I usually buy a bag once a month to add some "ground beef" to either a pasta sauce, or a shepherd's pie, or a stew.

President's Choice makes a great ground beef crumble, but many brands including Gardein are great also.

I took some leftover lentils and rice in a large bowl and mixed in 2 tablespoons of yellow mustard.  I loathe the taste of ketchup, but since it's the world's most popular condiment, you could add some here as well to give the rice a burger flavour.

I browned the 'ground beef' in a pan, and added in some chopped garlic and onions.  When it was cooked, I incorporated it into the rice.  It mixed into a nice consistency, which I put into a bread loaf pan to make a meatloaf.  As I was about to put the loaf into the oven, I had a stroke of bacon cheesburger genius.

I had some coconut bacon in the fridge, and some daiya cheddar in the freezer.

I took about half the mixture out of the pan and layered in the cheddar and the bacon.  Then I topped it off with the rest of the ground beef.

Baked it for about 40 minutes at 350, along with some sweet potato crinkle cut fries.

When the smell of a bacon cheeseburger wafted through the house - I could tell it was done.  And it was smoky, rich, cheesy, and hearty.

Slices of this cheeseburger loaf would make a fabulous snack wrap.  Just add a thick slice to the centre of a tortilla, squirt a little mustard, ketchup, relish or dijon on top and roll up for lunch or for the freezer, when you need a quick burger fix.

Coconut bacon is opening up my world again, and I can't contain my excitement!

The Genius of Culinary Parchment Muffin Wrappers

Busy.

The word actually sounds exhausting, like a bunch of bees working away.

One of my favourite tricks is to make a large batch of either cookies or muffins and separate them into plastic baggies - just ready for the wet ingredients.  Then I write the wet ingredients needed on a post-it note and throw that in the bag.

The hardest part about making cookies or muffins is locating the ingredients and the measuring spoons.

So - once I have a recipe, and ingredients AND spoons A N D motivation to make something, I multiply that exponentially to pay it forward.

I will often do 10 bags at a time.  I take 10 coffee mugs and put them on the counter.  Put 10 baggies in the cups and roll the openings over the tops of the mugs.

1 cup flour - 1 cup flour - 1 cup flour ........
1/2 tsp baking powder - 10 x
1/4 tsp salt 10x

So now your favourite recipe has 9 versions just waiting to be made on a day when you want cookies but have no time to do it. This is (of course) the impetus behind cake mixes, muffin mixes, pancake mixes and cookie mixes, but you can really do this at home with better ingredients, less sugar, salt, fat and processed chemicals.  Take one Wednesday night after dinner & treat yourself to this little project.  It's like you're your own factory!

At the end of the day, Harrison wanted something sweet.  I grabbed a bag of muffin mix, added a 1/2 cup of cocoa, some oil and enough coconut milk to bring the mixture together.  Scooped the batter into 12 muffin cups using an ice cream scoop with a release valve so that all the muffins came out evenly.  Sprinkled some vanilla sugar on the tops and studded three dark chocolate nuggets into the top for a dash of extra decadence.

This was my first time using culinary parchment made specifically for muffins and I am positively hooked.  Everyone knows that nothing sticks to parchment, but these muffin containers are absolute genius.  They are beautiful - like little culinary tulips.  Secondly NOTHING sticks to them, so the muffins release easily from the wrapper.  I hate wrappers that cling to baked goods.

Finally, they actually come up over the muffin instead of just covering the stump, so they pack nicely into a lunch bag.

Most of the muffins at the grocery store have huge amounts of fat (some as many as 23g in a single muffin) and sugar (30g???) and loads of calories (480?)  Seriously?

Personally, I like the DIY.  I can use whole wheat flour, coconut oil instead of butter and control the sugar to my taste.

Asparagus Hollandaise and Fresh Pasta

I have really missed asparagus!

And Lily of the Valley....

And the smell of Lilac...

And NHL playoffs.  Except after watching a heart-wrenching defeat of the Maple Leafs, I'm kind of sensitive right now.  And being a Windsorite, I feel like more of a Red Wings fan than TO, but that's the beauty of the hockey.  It draws you in!

Spring is such a delicious, fragrant season.  And it's BUSY!  There is yard work to do, exercise to perform, school to finish, and summer plans to make.

So "what's for dinner" gets simplified to the most basic level.

I threw 2 tablespoons of grainy dijon mustard in a bowl.  Added in 1/4 cup of heavy condensed coconut milk.  Zest and juice of 1 lemon and a splash of soy sauce.  And a healthy dash of Cayenne Pepper.

Whisked in the bottom of the bowl as if I was making a classic caesar salad dressing.

Cooked up some fusilli and added to the dressing.  The heat smoothed out any solid bits of the coconut milk, and coated the pasta in a creamy sauce.

I added some added some thinly sliced young cucumber, some fresh tomato and some blanched asparagus segments for a fresh, creamy, lemony spring dinner.

Please forgive my grainy photos - promise to fix that over the long weekend.

"Saving It For Later"

Have you ever found yourself "saving" a luxurious, delicious splurge "for later"?  And then having it go bad?

This week, I scooped out the flesh of three mangos that I splurged on.  They are called "champagne" mangos - because of their delicate flavour and burst of yellow colour.  They are smaller than regular mangos, and sweeter.  They are an unusual find, so I bought 5 (two ripe and three under-ripe).

And then I proceeded to "save" them for 2 and a half weeks.  I skipped adding them to my oatmeal in the morning.  I declined to have one as an after work snack while I was getting dinner ready.  I declined to cut them up and offer them to the guys as a delectable dessert.

Nope - they just sat there, disappointed, as I passed them by, day after day.

If you've ever heard of the marshmallow test that they give 2 year olds, you know that the ability to defer gratification is an important part of growing up, being responsible, and being practical.  It can determine the person who can put off the instant gratification of impulse shopping, because their money is allocated to more important priorities.  It can determine the person willing to stick it out in a long term career plan requiring more education when all of your friends are getting on with their lives and getting real jobs.  It can be the difference between wanting everything NOW and wanting everything all in good time.

I like to think that I am the kind of person who is up for the unexpected, but the reality is that I am probably more practical than I should be.

I will "save" my expensive vanilla bean paste instead of putting it into every dessert I make.  And sometimes it will crystallize from sitting too long.

I will "save" my truffle paste when making a delicious mushroom risotto and use only 1 teaspoon instead of two.  Sometimes I save it so long that it gets moldy and I have to throw it out.

The difficulty in always living as if today was your last day was that you will run out of truffle paste, luxurious vanilla and that extravagant Parisian chocolate.

The difficulty in saving it is that you might not indulge in daily pleasures as often as you should.

I guarantee that, when one looks back at a life lived, that no one ever says that they wished they'd enjoyed their food less!

I think the "saving" impulse is rooted in the fear of scarcity.  If you believe that pleasures are abundant, then the risk is less.

One of the yogis on our cruise illustrated how perspective colours our judgement.

Take three pails of water, one hot, one cold and one at room temperature.

Put one hand in hot water, the other hand in cold.  Wait a while.

Then plunge them both into the room temperature water.  To one hand, the water feels warm.  To the other, it feels cool.  It's all about perspective.

The mangoes were great - I got to them just in time.  That day I bought three hard ones and two ripe ones.  The ripe ones were wasted because I waited too long.

So here's the thought of the day:

Life is too short to waste a perfectly ripe mango.