Added incentive

If you do decide to come over and make me some soup, I will make you THIS for dinner sometime!



Although, if you decide to stay home (I understand some of you are snowed in...) you can make this feast yourself!

Just get a nice pork loin roast, some fresh basil (rip it into pieces and put it on top of the meat) a bit of salt, and a drizzle (like seriously a drizzle) of olive oil...cover in foil...and cook in an oven heated to 350 degrees for about, um, I dunno, not long - like 30-40 minutes?




Pork cooks super fast! While that's cooking, start your orange almond couscous (whole grain couscous!)...whatever the cooking directions are - use half the water and use orange juice for the rest...add small handfulls of slivered almonds, rains, chopped dried apricots (sans preservatives - they look really brown!) and boil....then add the couscous and POOF (it really does go POOF)...fluff with a fork and enjoy....


p.s. I know this isn't necessarily a balanced meal because there's no greens on my plate - but I had a MAJOR hankering for corn, and since this was my Thansgiving meal, I felt I could have whatever the heck I wanted! :)

Can someone please come over and make me some Chicken Noodle Soup?

I already did the hard part yesterday by slow cooking a whole chicken and reserving the juicy juice...actually, that part wasn't hard at all (why are people afraid of cooking whole chickens? Now I have tons of chicken for dinners, salads, and sandwhiches!)


All I did was rinse the chicken and pat it dry, stuffed it full of apple slices to keep it juicy (even if you're oven roasting it, you want to stuff it with something...like apples, or lemons, or even oranges!) then I roughly cut up a whole spanish onion and put it in the bottom of the crock pot with about 3/4 cup of vegetable stock.




Then I mixed a bunch of spices like sea salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, fresh basil, and fresh dried rosemary (did you catch that? my rosemary plant died, so now it provides fresh dried rosemary! always look for the silver lining!) and I rubbed that yumminess all over the chicken, plopped it on top of the onions and cooked it on low for 8 hours (and then it stayed in there 'warming' for probably another 2 hours until I got home!).

BEFORE

AFTER


In any case, I already did all that - AND I even separated all the meat from the bones (which was easy too because it literally falls right off) and removed the juicy juice and refrigerated it overnight - so it's all ready to be strained (removing some of the fat in the process!)

All you need to do is come over to my house (wear your winter comfies - I don't even mind if you come over in your pajamas) and make the soup part! I can yell directions from the couch (because I still have my voice!)

Seriously, it'll go something like this:
Chop some onions, smoosh some garlic, chop up some carrots and celery
Put a little bit of canola oil in the bottom of my stock pot, and cook the veg until the onions get all translucent
Add strained stock...if you need more liquid, add some water or there's some vegetable stock in the fridge
Reduce to a simmer.....pick your pasta - I have TONS to choose from - there's Quinoa Penne, Quinoa & Kamut spirals, Udon noodles, hell, there's even a scary variety of rice up in my cupboards - you can use any of that if you want instead (I don't care, I just want the healing powers of the broth!) Then either cook the noodles in the soupiness (you have to make the rice seperately...make sure the rinse the rice first please...maybe you can make some extra for my lunch tomorrow! hahahaha) After the noodles are just about cooked, chop up some of that tender chicken and plop it in for me! And I will LOVE YOU FOREVER! I'll love you even more if you manage to bring me some hot apple cider....and I would be forever grateful if you also ran me a hot bubble bath before you left!

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xo
J

I outdid myself! RECIPE

I made mushroom soup again, and taking a cue from that yummy creamy spicy carrot soup I made, I decided to alter my previous recipe for mushroom soup...and OH MY GOD! It was soooooooooooooo delish, I shared the 'recipe' ('cause you should know that my 'recipes' are usually 'experiments' that I am documenting here) with my friend in an e-mail and as a lazy blogger, I am copying and pasting it here for you to enjoy too!


JeNetty's FREAKING AWESOME MUSHROOM SOUP: (The original title for this was a little more profane, but I thought I'd tone it down for public consumption! But seriously, that's how good this soup is!)

A bunch of organic mushrooms (I used a whole container of organic button mushrooms plus two GIGANTIC portabellos (like the caps were bigger than my hand!) - chop up the portabellos, but just leave the others whole
About 1.5 cups of low sodium organic vegetable broth in a tetra pack
Plop everything in a pot and bring the sucker to a boil...then cover and let simmer until the mushrooms are tender but not smooshy (I dunno, about 10 minutes)
Let cool for a bit while you get out your food processor....
Plop 'em in the food processor and add about 1/3 of a can (yes I said can, this doesn't seem to be available in Canada in anything BUT a can! I was spoiled in Bermy) of unsweetened coconut milk...process until the mushrooms are pulverized and no longer recognizable (LEAVE THE VENT THING OPEN BECAUSE THE SOUP IS HOT AND YOU DON"T WANT AN EXPLOSION OF MUSHROOM SOUP IN YOUR KITCHEN!!!)....add about 1-2 cups of Almond milk (depending on how soupy you like your soups)
add salt and pepper to taste (pepper to taste = ALOT for me!) then process again...quick easy and one of those "HOLY CRAP I CAN"T BELIEVE I MADE THIS MYSELF" foods that took, seriously, like 15 minutes to make! (There will be tons!!! I had a cup for dinner, a bunch for lunch, and I have TONS left over - but it freezes really well! AND IS FREAKING YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

I will post more later (as I have more yummy and easy recipes for ya with pics) but now I am off to Whole Food Market to see what they're all about.
I also am going to do some research for you because I saw a blip in a magazine that Canadian milk contains no hormones or antibiotics, and I want to find out if that is true so I can maybe save some money on organic milk if I have to....

:)

Dinner Party!

So my sister and her family are coming over for dinner tonight and she has directed me not to cook any of that 'healthy crap'....pfffft...I do not take direction well so I am making a whole food extravaganza and she'll never even know! Hahahahahaha!
Well, until I tell her!

I am making my world famous (well, family famous) pot roast with veg and gravy (that is so yummy I believe my brother in law would eat it with a spoon!) as whole-food as possible (until I figure out otherwise that is!) and the meat is crap-free, the veg is alllll organic, the mushroom soup is home made, I could not come up with a suitable replacement for powered onion soup mix, so that stayed in...put it in my new roasting pan (woke up this morning and discovered that I did not have one, so made a quick run to the store!) et voila! I am even making ceasar salad with organic lettuce, homemade croutons (I use bagels, olive oil, garlic & salt and toast them in the oven) and real bacon (that sadly isn't crap free - BUT I am happy to have seen an organic butcher not to far from my place and he's gonna get a visit from me very soon). Top that all off with a loaf of whole grain bread (not organic) and some yummy lemon soda (fresh squeeze lemon juice, cane sugar, sparkling water) and we're done! For appetizers I am just putting out some salsa (fresh) and some organic corn tortilla chips, and some olives (because I freaking LOVE olives!) and we're done! :)

For dessert, I have no idea what my sister is bringing (don't care as long as I get to play with my niece) but I bought a huge pomelo which is like a GIANT grapefruit - it's from Asia and they have all kinds of neat produce there! The taste is very mild, and not very juicy- it's hard to describe...but it is refreshing and yummy!




Look at the pithe on that baby! I bet someone somewhere candies that rind and it's deeeelish!

Fall cooking!

Ok, so, I haven't had "Fall" in about 5 years and I missed it terribly! There's tons of stuff to catch up on for me (like just a walk in the park to shuffle through beautiful red leaves!)

In between all of this, I have to maintain my sustenance, and I thought, what is more "Fall" than PUMPKINS? (Okay, maybe APPLES! But I've already had my apple fix for the year!)



Yummy "Pie" Pumpkins for eating!


Scoop 'em out just like any other squash and prep them for baking! (No more canned pumpkin for us!) - Why not make extra and freeze it for when you need more? Any recipe that calls for a 15 oz can of pumpkin can be substituted with approximately 1.875 cups (so, about 2 cups minus 1 tablespoon).


Pop 'em in the oven at 400 degrees for approximately 40-60 minutes (until they brown slightly and get really soft)


Scoop 'em out, pop 'em in a blender and smoosh 'em up, then drain through a sieve overnight...et voila, you have pumpkin (sans BPA) that you can use in ANYTHING - I also saved the drained juice and froze it because I am going to plop that in my next soup creation...

I'm hearing of a trend recently where people are adding pumpkin to pasta sauce, and I think it would be a FABULOUS addition (next time I have pasta, I am trying that!) But I prefer things of a sweeter variety!


SPICED PUMPKIN MUFFINS WITH MAPLE CREAM TOPPING (in lieu of cream chese icing) I took these puppies into work, and I have to say, I am quite a popular young lady! :) I have very good reviews on this recipe that I converted to whole foods (I even use 100% whole wheat flour and it still turns out light and fluffy and YUMMY!)

I know I also have been posting a bunch of 'new' recipes for everyone, but how about converting a classic favorite to a whole foods version?
How about a nice SHEPPARD'S PIE?


Easy and YUMMY (and everybody loves a good SHEPPARD'S PIE with tons of ORGANIC KETCHUP! MMMMMMMMM!)

Everyone has their own recipe for this time-tested favorite, but here's how you convert it to whole foods (EASY!) 1) makes sure your potatoes, onions, garlic, corn, and any other veg you plop in there are FRESH (or frozen) - brownie points if they're all organic and locally sourced! (Mmmmmm brownies!) 2)This is important - use ground meat that is 'crap-free' (or as my grocer calls it:Free Form) No antibiotics, no growth hormones, fed what the animal is supposed to be fed (i.e. vegetarian meals for cows! hellllloooooo!) more brownie points if the meat is locally sourced! Cook as normal, et voila! Whole foods Sheppard's pie! Easy Peasy!

APPLES!!!!!

OMG Do I ever have an abundance of APPLES! Anyone have any good recipes for apple stuff? I need to use these up!

(p.s. amazing time to go apple picking right now!)
I was lucky enough to sneak in an apple picking session in Hemmingford Quebec las weekend! It was so fun grabbing fruit from the tree! And there were SO MANY varieties, alot of which I have never even heard of before! This week has been chock full of apple taste testing! And not a single variety tastes the same, so I am not getting sick of eating apples everyday! :)



And this week, I will also be making my yummy Pumpkin Spice cake with fresh pumpkin (and whole wheat flour - I only mention this because this is the only recipe that I have that converted really well to whole foods! I'll post it after I make some for the peeps at the office so you can enjoy it too!!!! YAHOOOOO!)

I've been waiting for this for a LONG time!

Ahhhh! FINALLY! A post about Whole Food that I made and ate :)

But first...you really should make this soup I'm posting the recipe for at the end of this entry! I got it from the Clean Eating Magazine newsletter that they e-mail me...and it was SO EASY! AND SO YUMMY (and freezes really well!)! It's got a little zing to it, so if you're not into spicy stuff, then cut back on the spices...and I could only find coconut milk in a CAN - which SUCKS but, it's an exception! Maybe they'll have cocunut milk in a different kind of container at WHOLE FOODS MARKET in Yorkville! I will go there as soon as I have a moment of downtime! Then I'll really be reporting about my "Adventures in Whole Foods" Market! HA!

Sorry, that was cheesy...but speaking about cheese. I have come to realize that i don't like pasta (there's a link here, be patient). I am not a rigattoni person, and puh-leeze don't ever put a plate of spaghetti in front of me! But I like pastas like lasagna, and manicotti...which are technically more cheese than pasta....so, I have come to the conclusion that I don't like pasta - I like cheese! Well, all of that changed when I met Quinoa pasta...very light in flavour yet still tasty, goes with ANY sauce (whereas, whole wheat pasta is soooooo dense and really only goes with a light tomato sauce!) But, there is NO QUINOA PASTA AROUND CANADA! (that's a lie, I found some at a health food store, but it was $$$$ and I didn't really like the brand, and it got really mushy)..but today, I found Quinoa and Kamut pasta, which wasn't bad at all...

So, I made a pasta dish that had NO CHEESE in it whatsoever! AMAZING OR WHAT! I mixed the pasta with tomato pesto (sundried tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, a smidge of parmesean, mixed in a food processor) and some grilled chicken thighs and tossed with fresh basil! MMMMM YUM! It took all of 15 minutes and I made a huge bowl, so I also have some for lunches (I plopped it in single serve containers for the freezer!)


EDEN ORGANIC makes Quinoa pasta - I KNOW! I'VE HAD IT! But when I asked for it at several different stores, the people look at me like I've sprouted 2 heads! So, I'll have to settle for this then...p.s. Eden Oragnics is a REALLY GOOD COMPANY!




My little fresh herb kit that my Mommy got for me!

Eating whole food and eating well can be VERY HARD! Especially if you're unsettled like I have been, or travelling or out and about! We really need to have better choices made available to us! I've noticed in Toronto, that some convenience stores are starting to sell fruit - fresh fruit. THIS IS GREAT!! But, you seriously have to plan ahead for stuff and as I am slowly moving back to being a dilligent whole-foodie, I am realizing how much work actually goes into eating! Sheesh!

But I am SLOWLY getting my kitchen in order!


Beans and grains and my cereal! NOTE the mason jars....what do they say?


Oh hell yeah, they say JEANNETTE :) (that would be ME!) They're from the 30's or 40's and were standard issue Mason Jars from the Jeannette Glass Co. in Jeannette PA, USA. Thank you e-bay! I love them! They are in absolute PERFECT shape and even have the original lids with ceramic inserts! Ahhhhh! Small things amuse me!

FREAKING YUMMY SOUP RECIPE FROM CLEAN EATING MAGAZINE (and it's a very pretty colour of orange too!):

Creamy Low-Fat Soup



Creamy and low fat? How can it be? Cream-based soups typically call on full-fat dairy for their thick, rich texture, but in our version a clever blend of light coconut milk, potato and vegetable broth combines with exotic spices to create a clean, creamy soup with uncompromising taste.

Serves 6.
Hands-on time: 25 minutes.
Total time: 55 minutes.

As the richest vegetable source of vitamin A carotenes, carrots protect vision, particularly night vision, and help curb the formation of cataracts. Year-round availability and cost effectiveness make this versatile root veggie the perfect produce pick for families on any budget.


INGREDIENTS:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 lb carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup unsweetened light coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt or to taste
6 tbsp Basil Walnut Pesto, optional
6 tbsp nonfat plain Greek-style yogurt, optional

INSTRUCTIONS:
ONE: In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 7 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add ginger, curry powder, cinnamon and red pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 more minute. Add carrots, potato and broth. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

TWO: Using a hand-held or countertop blender, purée soup in 2 batches. (Caution: Do not overfill blender with hot soup. Also, allow steam to vent occasionally between pulses.) If using a countertop blender, pour soup back into pot. Stir in coconut milk and salt. Serve immediately. Garnish each bowl with 1 tbsp pesto and 1 tbsp yogurt, if desired.

Nutrients per 1-cup serving:
Calories: 127, Total Fat: 5 g, Sat. Fat: 2 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2 g,
Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5 g, Carbs: 19 g, Fiber: 4 g, Sugars, 7 g, Protein: 2 g,
Sodium: 222 mg, Cholesterol: 0 mg

Basil Walnut Pesto

Serves 6.

INGREDIENTS:
1 tbsp unsalted walnut halves or pieces
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp grated reduced-fat Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS:
ONE: Heat a dry skillet over medium-high heat. Add walnuts and cook, stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes or until just slightly darkened. Remove walnuts from pan as soon as they start to brown and let cool slightly. Transfer walnuts to a mini-food processor and pulse several times until chopped. Add basil and garlic and pulse a few more times until combined. With processor running, slowly add oil. Scrape down sides of bowl, add cheese and salt, and pulse again until blended.

Nutrients per 1-tbsp serving:
Calories: 32, Total Fat: 3 g, Sat. Fat: 0.5 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2 g, Polyunsaturated
Fat: 1 g, Carbs: 0.5 g, Fiber: 0.25 g, Sugars: 0 g, Protein: 0.5 g, Sodium: 53 mg,
Cholesterol: 1 mg

Recipe and photo by Nicole Hamaker

What's in your food

Here's an interesting little slideshow about the crap that is in your everyday food...and not 1 word about BPA in the whole thing :)

More about plastics in your kitchen!

So, having moved and having to reassess my kitchen treasures, I totally cleaned house and ditched *most* of the plastics in my kitchen (including utensils - I just need to find a suitable spatula option). I know metal scrapes alot of cookware - especially non-stick stuff (which isn't all that great for you to begin with) sooooo I opted for wood. I am pretty fortunate to have collected a lot of kitchen implements while travelling (Asia has GREAT wooden options as did Costa Rica!) These make great souvenirs, but, also make a healthier cooking option! :)

I also splurged and got myself a wonderful all metal cookware set! Beautiful beautiful!

Here's an article that's easy to read to get you started regarding ditching plastic!
Thanks to our reader (and winner) Susie for this!

p.s. get your questions for Chef Jeff Crump in!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to everyone who entered the Earth To Table book draw! And sorry I'm delayed in posting the winner! (new job, moving, no internet anywhere, no time to find any! ARGH!)

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR READER SUSIE B. FROM KITCHENER-WATERLOO ONTARIO CANADA!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOU WON A JEFF CRUMP AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF EARTH TO TABLE by Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann!

WOOT WOOT!

I hope everyone else checks out this book the next time they're at the bookstore! IT'S BEAUTIFUL! Then we can discuss it! (And all the yummy recipes inside!) And maybe have a taste-testing party at my new apartment (while we soak in the MAGNIFICENT VIEW I scored! OMG - soooooo beautiful!)

Ok, now on to some MORE fun! Mr. Crump offered to do an interview for our blog! He is the EXECUTIVE CHEF at Ancaster Mills in Cambridge AND an Author people - at our complete disposal to answer YOUR questions!

***LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!***

Think of any questions you'd like to ask Jeff relating to whole foods, LOCAL and SUSTAINABLE eating, SEASONAL cooking, bread-baking (he's just opened a Bread Bar in Hamilton!)and the like....and e-mail them to adventuresinwholefoods@gmail.com

I'll assemble all of these into a nice little e-mail (or rather, BIG e-mail because you all know that I have a huge list of things I want to ask! Oy vey! Poor Mr. Crump didn't know what he got himself into when he offered to be interviewed! hahahahahahahahahaha! I may be shy in person, but online- LOOK OUT! :D) and send it out to him!

What's a good target date for everyone? End of September?

YIIIIPPPEEEEEE!

(Sheesh - I cannot wait to tell you about my adventures in moving house and trying to maintain a whole foods diet...I know I've said this before but THANK GOD FOR AMY'S FROZEN DINNERS!

Last night, I was getting my kitchen (which is a glorified closet)in some semblance of order - and LONGING for the day (Monday hopefully) when I can COOK again! I am DYING for some slow cooked spicy lentil soup....or my YUMMY Chicken Tajine! OMG I CANNOT WAIT!

CONTEST DEETS!

Hi Peeps:

OK - Here are the details for the contest to win an autographed copy of Earth to Table by Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann!

You must be a member of my Facebook group Adventures In Whole Foods OR a subsriber to this blog. If you are not already a member/subscriber, then feel free to join now.

You must send an e-mail to adventuresinwholefoods@gmail.com between Monday August 23rd 2010 (12am) - Tuesday August 30th 2010 (midnight again).

This part is IMPORTANT: In the subject line, you have to put your answer to this skill testing question: WHAT WHOLE GRAIN STARTS WITH A 'Q' AND ENDS WITH AN 'A'.

On August 31st, I will go to the inbox and the 15th e-mail from a Facebook Group member OR blog subscriber with the correct answer in the subject line will win the book- YIPPPEEEEE!

Enter as many times as you like, but only 1 e-mail per day will be counted...

If less than 15 eligible e-mails are received, then the LAST e-mail from a Facebook Group member or blog subscriber with the correct answer will win.

Postage will be funded by me to whatever corner of the world you live in!

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

REPORT: Conscious Food Festival Toronto - August 14th & 15th

As promised, here is a report from the trenches of the Conscious Food Festival in Toronto this weekend!



Summary: OMG I HAD A BLAST! (and got educated all at the same time!) - oh, and there was ICE CREAM!

Where to start, oh where to start? Aside from the highlight I posted about earlier, these are the booths I was most impressed with - somewhat in order of impressiveness to me, but mostly going in order of how I remember them - because I was pretty much equally impressed with everything!


GEEZ LOUISE! Is that a tomato in your pocket or are ya just happy to see me?

First and foremost, I am going to start with the last booth we visited, because I was very impressed with this organization. It's called Second Harvest and basically, they are trying to tackle two problems in Toronto at once - HUNGER and FOOD WASTE. Ever wonder where the 'not-so-pretty-but-still-perfectly-fine produce from the grocery stores go? Normally, they go to the trash - but this organization is trying to collect it to feed to people! I just think it's a fabulous program. If you have extra food - instead of tossing it out, call them up and they'll come and get it for free. Note that 40% of their recipients are children! Go to www.secondharvest.ca for more information OR TO VOLUNTEER.

The second booth that I was most impressed with was ChocoSol Traders a) because they deal with CHOCOLATE (hellloooooo!) and b) they used a modified bike to ground up corn to make tortillas (that you could get filed with CHOCOLATE). I, myself, indulged in the "Drinking Chocolate" which was most YUMMY to say the least! My friend was rewarded (for grounding up the corn for her own tortilla) with a bean tortilla which was exquisite!



From their website www.chocosoltraders.com:

ChocoSol is a community of innovative and dynamic individuals engaged in a trans-local trading relationship that goes beyond mere commerce to intercultural dialogue and reciprocal relationship building.

You can find them at Farmer's Markets all over the place (see their website) or you can visit them at 6 St. Joseph Street (off Yonge, 1 block North of Wellsley (sp?)).

Do you want to know the best part? I am copying all of this information from the notes I took because they don't have any cards or pamphlets or ANYTHING because they are all about minimal waste!

They can also be found on FB!





Curried Cabbage with Nasturtiums (from the 18th century)courtesy of Fort York's Officer's Mess Hall kitchen and garden and volunteers...the RECIPE is from the late 1700's or early 1800's, the actual cabbage/curry/nasturtiums were recently harvested (from the kitchen garden at Fort York). I have never been so bombarded with "kitchen history" before in my life and I loved every minute of it! I learned a bit about curry, a little about how people cooked back in the day, a little about gardening, a little about baking breads in an old-timey oven, a little about volunteering at the Fort, and even got some info on open houses and classes :) I'd say we easily spent the most time here, and got to taste a treat of curried cabbage (FULL OF BUTTER! 2 pounds of butter per about 4 smallish heads of cabbage!)





Juicy tidbit: The earliest recorded recipe for curry was back in 1747.



For those of you who are unfamiliar with flower eating (I went through a phase in the early 90's with the rest of the foodies and have had 'flower salads'and dandelion tea- this piece of trivia will matter a little bit further on too!) Nasturtiums (pronounced like "nisturshioms") are a nice little peppery flower! Very tasty! And they are pretty too!





For those of you who are interested, there is an Open House planned for October and a Hearth Cooking Class planned for October - check out the Fort's website for info or check back here because I think I may be going to each of these events! :)

Next we must talk about ICE CREAM because I had some delish samplings at the Festival! Would you like to know the most unique flavour of ice cream I have ever had (let alone heard of!) - DANDELION - and it was SO YUMMY!!!! I love dandelions, and this is a great way to use them!!! If you ever get the chance, TRY IT! It's one of Mapleton's Organic signature flavours! Another delish option is the Chai ice cream! Mapleton's Organics also has a farm that you can visit, with tons of fun things to do!!!



I also had frozen Kefir - which was beautiful! It was much sweeter than regular ice cream, and didn't have that tartness that alot of frozen yogurts have, but was les rich than ice cream! It's sweetened with xylitol (which according to the pamphlet, is a natural insulin stabilizer, is found in fruits and vegetables an has 40% fewer calories than regular sugar and 75% fewer carbs. It was also served in bamboo cone/cups which I liked ALOT! You can find frozen kefir from Yogalicious.ca

I was highly impressed that the festival did not hand out leaflets and maps or any other paper waste that you get at other events like this. I was also very highly impressed that no one was selling bottled water anywhere! It was available at a tap for FREE. LOVED IT! (but felt like a goof for not bringing my trusty canteen with me, and had to refill a plastic bottle that I had used earlier). AND - allllll of the containers and utensils used for all food samples were 100% biodegradable if not 100% compostable! EXCELLENT!!!!

There was also a booth where you could pledge to 'shift $10 per week to certified local sustainable food'. I think this is a FABULOUS project because as we all know, we 'vote' with our dollars! Check this out at localfoodplus.ca

Foodland Ontario was also there (and I suspect they were the ones who were handing out peaches, but I could be wrong...although peaches are in season RIGHT NOW and they are cheap cheap cheap and sooooooo yummy!)

And the Vancouver Aquarium Conservation Program was there to remind us to be Ocean Wise with our fish and seafood choices. Y'all might know that the "ocean" is a cause very close to my heart, and if haven't yet heard me rant on and on and on about how we are KILLING THE SEA, just wait, because you will be subjected to it at some point (people should know never to mention 'long line fishing' within earshot of me) - and I don't even eat seafood (some fish). I also happen to love the Vancouver Aquarium and I support everything they do!


Organic Oysters



They were HUGE!



I also got to talk to some peeps from a local Toronto restaurant (REALLY local to the festival as it wa sonly a few blocks away!) called Marben - I found them very passionate and very knowledgeable. I need to find some dining out options around the city, and although I am eating whole foods, I am not transforming into a 'granola kid'. I still eat meat, and like to have some options available to me in that regard (read this as: I am pretty tired of going out to eat and having to choose vegetarian options, or fish (if they have wild Talapia)...lately, for convenienec sake, I have been eating whatever meat, but I am definitely feeling the after effects and with that also comes GUILT!. In any case, not only does this restaurant only serve 'clean meat', the butcher also helped start up a side business like a beef cooperative called West Side Beef Co. - where the restaurant acts as the liason between the local farmers where they get their meat and the consumer. So, you can sign up for a 'portion' of a side of beef - you know what I mean yes? They have these types of deals where you buy a side of beef and then stock your freezer. Well, this is sort of the same thing, except the restaurant buys a side of locally sourced humanely raised 'clean meat' beef and divvies it up for anyone who's interested. They also make beef stock as part of your order so very little of animal goes to waste. I LOVE IT! I asked if they would do the same thing with poultry or pork in the future and they said they are considering it, but are sticking to beef for now. Apparently it's hard to find people who would buy a 'case' of chickens...I don't know what a 'case' of chickens means, but if you're someone like me, that case would go pretty fast because I eat alot of chicken - especially if I could pay a little extra and have some of it chopped up by the butcher!

I haven't even really gone into depth about all the fantasticness of the Festival! They had TONS of vendors there to talk about their products- whether it be cheese, or wine, or meats, or beer or what have you. IT WAS A GREAT EVENT! If you missed it this year, you should plan on hitting it up next year - OR, if you live somewhere other than Toronto, keep an eye out for a Conscious Food Festival near you (and tell me so I can post it here!)


Organic Beer!


Poutine is EVIL no matter what!

Housekeeping

Hey peeps:

If you ever want to send me an e-mail regarding this blog, you can send it to:

adventuresinwholefoods@gmail.com

AND....I added a "Share" bar at the bottom of each post so that if you feel the need to, you can automatically plop this on your FB or Twitter or whatever you like.


AAAAND - WTH happened to my pretty blog template? I have to figure out where all the flowers and colours have gone! Or find a new template :( Or just make my own! :)

The News You've All Been Waiting for! - Earth To Table edition

Hi Peeps!

I almost couldn't sleep last night because I really wanted to type all about my AWESOME day yesterday! :)

If you haven't been keeping up, I went to the Concious Food Festival in Toronto yesterday with my good friends -one old and one new!!! (Hi Jenn! Hi Holly!) and we had a BLAST tasting all the concious food (and wine and beer) available in Toronto. My best pick? THE ICE CREAM! But we'll get to the full review of the Festival in my next post.

This post is about the specific HIGHLIGHT of my day (and most definitely in my entire short career as a blogger)! One of the tents was the "Earth to Table Bread Bar". Now you may have heard me talk about the book "Earth to Table" once or twice in this very blog, and if we actively chat about food, then I have talked about this book as the be all and end all of whole foods cooking! In fact, my posts about breadmaking (see in the first pic, there's the open book at page 281 for the Oatmeal and Molasses Bread!) and mayonnaise were thanks to this book because that's not only where I got the recipes from, BUT, they made it seem that IT WAS EASY TO MAKE BREAD (and mayonnaise, and well, EVERYTHING ELSE!) - and I totally believed them! And yay for me because bread is my FAVORITE thing to make - and I feel the most happy when I make it!


Beautiful Book!

So, onto the exciting part! I saw the book sitting on the table and I told my friends that they HAD TO get that book because it was THE MOST AWESOME BOOK EVER! It teaches you all about responsible, seasonal, local eating AND it has easy to accomplish recipes! And, as my friends and I were eyeying up all the gorgeous treats in this tent, I recognized one of the authors, Jeff Crump behind the table!!! I got so excited! At first, I wasn't sure if that was him or not, but I pointed him out to my friends...they encouraged me to go and talk to him, but (and if you know me, you'll wonder what was wrong with me) I got SHY! Yes, people, I got SHY! I couldn't think of one intelligent thing to say - all I could come up with in my head was "Me like book. Me make bread" And I didn't want to go up and make an ass of myself...so my darling friends did it for me! AND I AM SO GLAD THE DID! While I was in line waiting (and waiting and waiting and waiting) for some "Concious Poutine" (I'm Quebecois, so, if there is poutine within a 50 mile radius, I MUST HAVE IT. It's not my fault, it's in my blood!) my friends were over chatting it up with Mr. Jeff Crump. As I still couldn't think of anything even remotely funny/intelligent to say to him, I just stayed in line because, again, we had to sort our priorities here people - look like an ASS in front of someone I admire, or get poutine - so the Quebecois in me made me stay in line...and as I was gazing longingly over, I saw that my friends were getting books signed :'( My heart got a little sad because *I* would've liked MY copy signed!!! Ah well...at that point I was glad that my friends got a copy of the book in any case!

I'm going to fast forward a little bit from the "I finally got my poutine" to the "I GOT TO MEET JEFF CRUMP" part!



How FANTASTIC is that????!!!! My awesome friends told him about my blog, and for all you guys know, he could be reading it RIGHT NOW! (Hi Jeff!)

He was SO NICE! And, I completely did not know what the heck to say to him! I was completely 100% tongue tied! BUT, he offered to do an INTERVIEW for the BLOG!!!! AND...my heart got very happy because he gave me A SIGNED COPY OF HIS BOOK:


<3 =:D


And, now onto the part that YOU might care more about:



Why are there TWO copies of the fabulous Earth to Table book in this pic you may ask...well because Mr. Jeff Crump GAVE US A COPY OF HIS BOOK TO GIVE AWAY ON MY BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!

So, we are going to have a contest! ON MY BIRTHDAY! Yipppeeeee!!!!!
I have to figure out the logistics and if there are any legalities etc. and I will announce the details on this blog within 1 week (I will also post a note on the Facebook Group when the details come out!)

YAY AND YIPPPPEEEEEEE!!!!! On August 31st, one of you lucky readers can have your very own copy of Earth to Table by Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann!!!!! Then maybe YOU can make bread, or pizza, or forage, or make your own mayonnaise, or learn about sustainable farming and CSA's (this book is where I first learned about them!)!

Conscious Food Festival - UPDATE

All I have to say to my Toronto peeps is:

GO TO THIS ON SUNDAY IF YOU DIDN"T GO TODAY! I'm serious! I will post a full review tomorrow...but don't wait for my review....GO NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND - WATCH THIS SPACE! We have our first ever CONTEST coming up!!! I'M VERY EXCITED TO TELL YOU ABOUT IT!

Conscious Food Festival

Attention Toronto:

August 14th and 15th will see a celebration of sustainable food at the Conscious Food Festival!. I believe I may have to go to this! Going to these kinds of things in Toronto will be so much easier when I FINALLY move!

Tickets are $26, but, for a limited time, you can go to Groupon (sign up here) and get tickets for HALF PRICE! Groupon is a fabulous site that offers all kinds of deals around your city (from restaurants to spas to services)...I've gotten some ridiculous deals already, but I am looking forward to getting some more when I FINALLY move!

EDITED: Tickets are $18 each, but you can get two for $13 on Groupon!

There is also a fabulous Organic Food DELIVERY service available in Toronto called Green Earth Organics. I learned about them on Groupon as a matter of fact! I will be sure to use them when I FINALLY move!

In case you haven't yet picked up on my subtle craving, I am hoping to FINALLY move to Toronto soon (within the next month). Eating "Whole" has been a SUPER challenge for me these last 2 months, and as I move into the 3rd month, I am feeling the effects in a big way! I am tired ALL the time (even though I seriously don't do anything all the live long day), I am moody, and I can't seem to get motivated to do anything. I haven't totally abandoned eating whole foods (i.e. NO CANNED FOODS, and I found a readily available all natural mayonnaise (even though I like mine better)), I do it when I can, but not having your own kitchen to cook in is killing the effort. Also, organics are SO EXPENSIVE in Canada. Not like in Bermuda where they were a couple of dollars more, here, they are ALOT of dollars more! That's going to take some adjustment, so this whole "Adventure" is taking on a new life as we will definitely have to move towards a "Frugal Adventure in Whole Foods". I also live in a city that worships McDonalds and Walmart...so good food on the go is next to near impossible to find...and for the most part, I have thrown in the towel and made some pretty bad choices! :(

Once my life settles into normality (i.e. I get back to work and get a place of my own) then this will settle too, I am sure of it!

Switching to whole foods could save you 13%!

Ahem, yes, organic food is expensive (especially in Canada - holy shiznitz!!!!) and it is a challenge to find (for me right now in Barrie)... BUT, come tomorrow, I'll be saving 13% more than people who are buying most packaged foods :) sooooo that makes me a little happier.

Why, you may ask...well it's all thanks to 3 little dreaded letters: HST. For those outside of Canada that means "Harmonized Sales Tax" and it's wreaking havoc on our world right now...there's no harmony about it! Things that used to be taxed only 1 tax (of what was it? 5,6 or 7%? I lost track) are now being taxed a whopping 13% (I still feel bad for the peeps in the UK who have their 20% VAT to pay!!!). THIRTEEN PERCENT! They are combining the 2 taxes that we used to pay on most items (which totalled 13%).

The government, in all their infinite wisdom, has continued to exempt all basic grocery items from this new HST. But, what does "Basic Grocery" mean? Well, the CRA (Our IRS) doesn't even fully know :) hahahahaha! Here's an interesting article for you to read called "Let Them Eat Cake".

As an aside, I went to a beautiful little cafe for lunch yesterday called Bohemia. I had this AMAZING sandwich on whole wheat pita - what was the filling? Spicy Lentil Spread - and WAS IT EVER YUMMY! now I have to figure out how to make it - there was a tomato based spread, then this yummy lentil spread - it was SO GOOD! I am going to saunter down there tomorrow and grab another order so I can 'test it' and come up with the recipe!

Anyhoooo- if you're in Barrie - go to BOHEMIA on Dunlop Street (next to Fitzy's crab shack)for some beautiful food (and fairly traded coffee and tea!)

How to start to eliminate canned foods from your cupboards (and BPA from your body)

I just e-mailed a friend some advice on how to start to eliminate canned foods from their diet, and I thought I'd post the same stuff here (because I am a lazy blogger! Hahahahaha) If you've been reading my blog, you'll know that I have tons of links to to informative articles with the details on how bad for you BPA is (I am NOT a science person so I always refer to the articles for that kind of stuff - search BPA on my blog and there will be a number of posts with links to articles that come up). I started to put two and two together with regards to estrogen and 'girl problems' because it just seems like a lot more women are having some severe issues in the last 10 years, and it could just be that we are more open to talking about them, but I think it's also that there are more issues pushing us to be more open to talking about them - I AM NOT A DOCTOR or a scientist or any kind of health care professional, I'm just a regular schmuck who documents her adventures more for her own use than anything - but I'll never specifically mention how omitting BPA from my diet has helped me because I don't want to be sued for giving out medical advice on a public forum, but in conjunction with eliminating most soy from my diet (not that I was going out and eating mountains of tofu or anything, but I did drink soy milk, and there's soy or a soy by-product in TONS of our food and soy also replicates estrogen which messes with our bodies (male and female). And yes, you'll see once or twice that I have eaten tofu, but everything is fine in moderation!). You should note however, that eliminating BPA from my life has reaped TREMENDOUS benefits and I will ALWAYS stand behind that.

Moving BPA tainted packaging is a hard transition to make - that's for sure....EVERYTHING comes in cans or plastic!!!! Maybe you can start by eliminating most canned food (especially avoiding canned highly acidic foods like TOMATOES (which I love) - this is the hardest thing to avoid ever because have you ever seen tomato paste sold in anything BUT a can? Pasta sauces come in jars now so that's easy, and you can start by buying soups in tetra packs (although those also have some evil in their lining too!)) , then move on to sodas, and other things that come in cans. It's such a shame....even cans that are labelled as "BPA FREE" are not :( -and switch completely from canned veg to frozen....frozen is supposed to be better for you anyhow (some are even saying that frozen veg has more vitamins and minerals than fresh because it's flash frozen right at it's peak ripeness (usually in season), whereas fresh produce lies around and loses vital vitamins every day until it's eaten.)

Some things you'd never even think twice about coming in a can - because how else does it come (hello beets! hahahaha) I mean, like beans - I had never in my life bought dried beans, I mean, what the heck are you supposed to do with them? :) Well, I'll tell ya - you are supposed to cook the whole bag at once in a giant pot, then freeze them in "can sized" portions (2 1/3 cup = about 19 oz) to use in favorite recipes. I even go so far as to make my own tomato sauce (haven't figured out the paste yet! but I will) and freeze that too.

As an added bonus to eliminating canned foods,you'll also be eliminating a TON of salt and preservatives...TONS!

Challenging!

So...I am finding things a bit challenging lately. #1 - I cannot seem to find a really good store in Barrie to get organic fruits and veg...The farmer's market here is only on Saturday mornings and so far, I have been SWAMPED on Saturdays...I am also having a really really really hard time finding 'whole' meat with no antibiotics or hormones and that comes from humanely treated animals....I found some wild mahi mahi, I found some chicken, and I found some eggs (HOLY CRAP are the 'good' eggs here SO EXPENSIVE - like $7.00/carton!That's how much they cost in Bermuda!!!!!)

#2 - I'm also at a loss because my cookbooks are 'in transit' with the stuff that I shipped (which is apparently somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle as no one seems to know where it is) so, I haven't been making bread etc. (Thank goodness for my Clean Eating magazine subscription!)

On the flip side, I have been cooking up some stuff, and on Sunday I made hummus for my niece's party and people LOVED it. I made ALOT of it, and my sister took it to work and it was GONE - so that made me feel really good! (Secret for good humus - put TAHINI in it....sheesh!Some people omit the tahini.)

I don't really have a 'recipe' for hummus, but this is what I do:

Cook up some chickpeas (no cheating and using cans! :D)
Put about a large can's worth of beans (about 2 1/3 cups)into a food processor and pulse a bit so it's chopped up.
Add some water (1/2 cup to start) olive oil (1/2 cup to start) lemon juice (1/2 cup to start) 4-5 cloves of garlic (to start) maybe a teaspoon of sea salt and a teaspoon of cracked black pepper, 4 tablespoons of tahini (which is ground up sesame seeds - most places will carry this with their ethnic food, some health food stores carry it with their nut butters - I had to buy a HUGE jar of it, so look forward to some suggestions on what the heck to do with tahini other than using it for hummus soon!) and plop on the food processor to mash it all up.

If it is dry, add more water and a little more oil...mash again....taste it - if it tastes too 'bean-like' add another tablespoon of tahini. If it tastes too bland, add more lemon juice and garlic. Blend it up....now (and this is seriously my secret ingredient) add about 1 tablespoon of paprika....and turn on the food processor until the whole concoction is nice and smooth...then plop it in a dish and cover it with paprika - serve with pitas (whole wheat) toasted or plain, crackers, vegetables, whatever you want to dip in here is fine!

Notice how little salt is added...if you used canned beans, you would have a TON OF SALT already so don't add any more unless you like high blood pressure!

This was lunch yesterday - just a plate of leftovers and some boiled eggs (note the hummus sitting on top of the pita?):


And, I finally got my act together and have pics for you guys (with another yummy recipe idea for the YUMMIEST soup I have made to date!)

Yummy pork stirfry:


This tomato and bean soup was TO DIE FOR! And it was totally off the cuff! I was going to make tomato sauce and make a vegetable casserole with beans, but then my sister asked me to make the stir fry above instead...soooo, as I already had the tomatoes (about 5 of them) stewing on the stove and a TON OF BEANS cooked, I decided to make something up. So - stewing tomatoes is easy as I've said before - chop 'em up, rinse off the seeds, throw 'em in a pot of boiling water (not too much water, just enough to cover the tops of them)and simmer - I like to add some Italian seasoning to the mix right away...and some garlic too...this time, instead of straining the water after the tomatoes cooled, I plopped everything into a blender and pureed it, then I added about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup each of black beans and chickpeas and pureed it again...then I poured some in a bowl and threw some fresh parmesan on the top et voila - YUMMY soup - or gazpacho (because it was yummy cold too!)

Speaking of which, I don't even really know what Gazpacho is, so I looked it up - and now I have a ton of more ideas for what to make!

And this is a lunch that I made a few days ago - a ground pork patty with havarti cheese, garlic navy beans, and tomatoes....


I have been looking through my pics of my meals and I noticed that I am slightly tomato obsessed :) Just wanted everyone to know that I have eaten TONS of corn since I've been back (which is in season and is SUPER CHEAP at $0.25-$0.60/ ear!!!! and Strawberries......mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

More on BPA

THIS article is really good!

I'm looking into whether tetra paks are an acceptable substitute for cans...sadly, it seems they are not as there are other chemicals in their lining that aren't very good either :(

Glass seems to be the way to go!

I'll keep you posted!

Abundance!

So - I was a little overwhelmed with catching up on this blog because I have read sooooooo many great articles and learned some great new things - I didn't even know where to start...so, I thought I would just start with what I've been up to this week, and the rest will fall into place as I type in the days to come :)

This is a brand new week, and I am dedicating it to BEANS. I've already fallen in love with lentils and how easy they are to use in stuff, so I felt that I was up to the challenge of cooking with dry beans. Why beans you may ask? Well because:

Beans beans, they're good for your heart
The more you eat, the more you fart
The more you fart, the better you feel
So eat more beans at every meal!

I TOTALLY couldn't resist that :)

In any case - as a side note - in the 'You On a Diet' book by Dr. Roizen & Dr. Oz (I love you Dr. Oz!)you can read all about farting (tooting, passing wind/gas, flatulating (is that a word?)) and how it works in our digestive tracts...I love that book for all the 'easy-to-understand' info it provides about how our bodies work!

I am allowed to talk about these things because I earned some kind of badge of honour after having spent the last week with the poopiest baby on the planet!

***Side note ended***

So, today, instead of going downtown to the OHIP office (that's our provincial health insurance for any peeps who don't know) and reinstating my coverage like I should be, I was inspired to COOK...OMG I haven't COOKED in FOREVER! And I miss it! I soaked some beans overnight (ok, 'some' is an understatement as I poured out a whole bag of Chickpeas because I thought it didn't look like quite enough for the things I had planned - we are going to be having a TON of hummus at my niece's 1st birthday party this weekend- hahahahahahaha!)and I cooked them this afternoon. And as they were cooking I got a tons of ideas. You can also cook a whole bunch of beans ahead of time and freeze them - this is WAY better for you than buying canned beans which are FULL of SALT and whatever other preservatives-du-jour they throw in there.(lest we forget that the cans are also lined with TOXIC BPA). And, like making your own bread, it isn't hard to do at all - it just takes a bit of time to soak then boil and simmer them - but seriously, how many of you guys sit and watch a couple of hours of TV at night? (I know I never bought dried beans before because cooking them seemed so daunting - it's EASY)

In any case: last week I made navy beans for my sister and her husband as part of their dinner. I wasn't sure how well that would go over so I added butter and garlic - because like chocolate, butter and garlic makes EVERYTHING taste yummy (prime example: escargots - people (not me) eat them with tons of garlic and butter - otherwise, I think no one would eat them because they are yucky SNAILS) - but, my sister would have none of it (of beans nor escargots) but my sweet little baby niece however - ADORED the beans, and my brother in law didn't complain - actually, the leftovers are gone from the fridge - so SOMEONE must have liked them.

My sister then told me that she HATES beans. She said "The ONLY beans I will eat are the baked beans that come in a can." "oh really?" I replied in more of a 'you-just-totally-gave-me-a-challenge' voice than I had intended. So- today, I made the Garbanzo bean chocolate torte for her to have FOR DESSERT and we'll see how much she doesn't like beans now :) I'll keep you posted! To my knowledge, she doesn't read this blog (and if she does: HI CATHERINE!)so, I feel pretty safe sharing my evil plan with you all - mwuahahahaha!

NOTE: to convert the recipe - instead of using a 19oz can of chickpeas - use 2 1/3 cup of cooked chickpeas.

OK, so yesterday, I had McDonald's. I have to admit and confess my sins. The reason I had McDonald's is because I was STARVING and I seriously didn't have any food made up that I could eat in a quick minute, and we were coming in late from a soccer game, and and and and everybody else was doing it!

I feel like, in the world of whole food, I have committed the worst sin imaginable by eating fake food at Mc Donald's. Now, I haven't had MickyD's in AGES - like years - because I a) don't like their food too much to begin with b) it is seriously not good for you c) I lived on an island in the middle of the Atlantic with no McDonald's and d) IT IS SERIOUSLY NOT GOOD FOR YOU! (hellloooooo anyone see "Supersize Me"?)

In any case, although it filled up the hole in my tummy, it didn't taste good at all - and all it was was a bunch of empty calories and fat and salt and sugar and chemicals and CRAP. Then i woke up this morning STARVING for my cereal! So I am guessing that eating well really does pay off...and I've been reading about one way it does: You loose the cravings....

I was reading a super fantastic article in Red (UK) Magazine (May 2010 issue) that talked about being "addicted" to food. When people first came out and starting saying they were "addicted to food", I thought that they were maybe just looking for an easy excuse. It seems to me that a lot of people look for an easy way out for losing weight (magic pills & miracle diets) and/or look for any excuse to explain why they are fat. I am probably venturing into some pretty controversial territory here, but I am just going to say it (and as a fat person, who has been fat all her life, I feel like I can) people are fat because they eat too much (and too much of the wrong food) and don't exercise enough. Well, according to this article and a Dr. Kessler that they quote a lot (he has a book out that I have to read now)- processed food is engineered to be addictive (which makes sense - corporate greediness and all). Lays Chips is probably the only honest product out there with their "Bet you can't just have one" slogan...because you SERIOUSLY can't just have one...because they SERIOUSLY are addictive!

Here is a really good example: Chocolate - if I have organic dark chocolate, I can have a square after a meal and feel (very) satisfied with that. If I have a Snickers bar, I have to eat ALL of it (and since we're being honest here, I am no stranger to the king size bar)- can we imagine why? Because Snickers is actually the PERFECT mix of addictive qualities (they even state that in the article!) Sweet/Salt/Fat/Chewy/Crunchy.

Give it some thought - what's a massive fake-food craving of yours? Chips/crisps? Candies? Deep Fried? Can you skip it for a week (even if it means swapping it for a whole food version?)

Try it...see what happens!

I'm off to puree some stewed tomatoes for the vegetable and chickpea and black bean casserole that I am making up as I go along for tonight (all my cookbooks are in transit, and I feel creative today anyhow!)

Someone please remind me to tell you guys about the product I saw in the supermarket for the LAZIEST consumers EVER! (I might have been one of them in a previous life where convenience mattered above all else!)

Long time no speak! Whole foods Round 2 - for keeps!

Hi Peeps! (Yes, Daniel you are one of my peeps!!!Hi!!!)

Tons of blog postings will be coming soon! Just because I have been on hiatus from posting on the blog while I am relocating, does NOT mean that I am on hiatus from research and practicing a whole foods lifestyle (except it was VERY HARD during my last 2 weeks while I was 'in transition'! Thank goodness for Amy's!!!)In the mean time - GO get the newest issue of Clean Eating Magazine! go go go go - there's a whole section on yummy 'foil packed' meals that are super quick, easy, and NO CLEAN UP (foil is 100% recyclable too!) GOOOOOO!

It is very very very very hard to maintain a whole foods lifestyle if you don't have anywhere to cook or anything to cook with! It's also very hard when you're eating out for a lot of your meals! If you've been keeping up with stuff here, you know that I cannot stomach the thought of all the hormones and chemicals and CRAP they feed our animals that we use as a food source - let's not even get into inhumane treatment here! As such, when I can't have 'humanely treated - hormone/chemicals/crap free' meat, I will either go vegetarian, or order locally caught fish (wild fish!) - or, pork - because did you know that it is ILLEGAL to give hormones to pork...but they can give them therapeutic antibiotics and even some growth promoters (even though that's more common in the cattle industry than in pork, but you never know!)

Let me tell you that because of the crappy way I have been eating in the last month or so I have once again suffered joint pain, poopy moods, and sleeplessness and then fatigue.

I am very happy to tell you that I am 100% back on the bandwagon again, and am going whole food whole hog - along with my side-quest to eliminate as many toxins from my life as possible (found a pretty good deodorant at LUSH U.K. - hope they have it in N.A.!)

And I am hoping to dedicate at least 1 post to BABY STUFF (because I am taking care of my sweet baby niece this week and I am crashing with her and her fam for a while, and I am a little dismayed at the CRAP they put in baby food and baby products!)

Sabattical

Hi all:

Sorry I haven't been posting lately, but I am SO BUSY repatriating myself to my home and native land!

Move date is May 30th! Wish me luck!

I'll be back soon! Until then - keep eating well!

Foraging

Hey peeps! I just wanted to talk a little about something that seems to be very 'au courant' in fancy kitchens these days: FORAGING.

I, myself, have always loved to forage. I think it's awesome to just pick something off a tree and eat it. Living in Ontario, however, does not lend itself to mighty fine foraging (or so I thought), so I have been making up for lost time in Bermuda. Contrary to popular belief, there are not banana trees everywhere that you can pick from. BUT, alot of people have banana trees in their back yard and if you ask nicely, they give you bananas! FOR FREE! Fresh crazy wild BANANAS. Yum! Something that is everywhere right now and equally as yummy are loquats. This little beautiful fruit is a cross between a grape and a pear in taste (I find). They can be used for all kinds of fun stuff like jams and jellies, I've had loquat cake and a loquat dessert (mixed with whipped cream!) and, of course, they can just be picked and eaten right off the tree - which is by far the best way I have had them! I think I'll go grab a couple from the tree in my yard right now...

Mmmmmmm yum!


Yummy Loquats

They have a large stone in them, but it's easily removed!

Walking along the railway trail (which is a large trail that is pretty much left to grow naturally) you can find TONS of stuff. Pawpaws (which is papaya btw, only not ripe - did you know that a pawpaw is classed as a vegetable, nd then when it ripens it is classified as a fruit? Strange but true!) Anyhoooo I'm not a giant fan of pawpaws, so I don't forage for them, but they're there! Locals will peel them, chop 'em, boil them, then put them in a casserole dish with butter and breadcrumbs and bake them until soft.

I am having a tea right now that I made with allspice leaves that I foraged and dried and scrunched up and it is the first time I am having it, and I already know I will miss it! :( I wish the internets were scratch and sniff because HOLY this tea smells SOOOOOOO COMFORTING and YUMMY! It has a mild taste, but a very robust taste (so you wouldn't want it to be any stronger!) I think I will have to go forage a huge bunch of these leaves and dry them and ship them home!



To make this tea as local as I could, I plopped in some local honey from Bee Keeper #5! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!


(See my coolio tea infuser that I scooped up in the Vancouver BC Market?)

Also, remember a while ago, I talked about Bermuda oranges ? Well, that tree has since EXPLODED in blossoms so hopefully it'l have a ton of fruit in the next season (even though I won't be here to steal it!) I swear, Bermudians have no idea what they've got!



In the book "Earth to Table" they talk about foraging in Ontario A TON! And then they give you recipes on how to use the stuff. The funniest thing in there, that I cannot wait to try are Fiddleheads. Not only do they have a hilarious name, they look hilarious too!

Now, while foraging on the internet for a pic of fiddleheads, I totally found a new interesting website to peruse, so, off I go!

Have a great day everyone!!!