Wednesday, 18 December 2013

WIAW- What I Ate Wednesday

I never got into playing games on my iphone (candy crush or whatever it’s called?) but I am extremely good at killing time on food blogs. I love looking for new recipe ideas, interesting ingredients and often some pretty sweet giveaways. A lot of blogs do What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW), and thought this could be a fun addition.

Note: This is not meant to show you how, what, or how much you should be eating because everybody’s life and nutritional needs are different. It’s more meant as a fun way to inspire you with some cooking ideas if you have nothing but an empty fridge and take-out for the past week, which is really easy to do here in Toronto given the hundreds of cheap and tasty restaurants. Further, I don’t believe in ‘shaming’ someone into making them change their dietary habits. Case and point, I was at the Whole Life Expo a few weeks ago when someone from a skin boutique approached me and asked what skin care products I use. When I gave my response, he went on to tell me how BAD these products were, how DAMAGING they were to my body, how I need to change IMMEDIATELY, and how his beauty line was the ANSWER. Do you really think I’m going to buy your product after you’ve basically told me I’m a terrible person? Same thing goes with food, you shouldn’t make someone feel ashamed or guilty about what they eat or what size they are. Instead, motivating and supporting them through change has been proven over and over to be significantly more effective in helping someone live a healthier and happier life.

Breakfast
I like my (read: small) 8oz cup of coffee in the morning, but its awkward to drink with a smoothie. Why not combine the two? I made a smoothie with coffee ice cubes, maca, vanilla protein powder, frozen cherries, and chocolate almond milk, delicious! Yes, my ice cubes are shaped like brains, I’m an anatomy nerd.





Post workout snack
I leave for the holidays in two days and I’m trying to get rid of any perishable items in my house, and therefore have not gone grocery shopping in over a week. I simply took a huge scoop of peanut butter and swirled it on top of some Greek yogurt I had put in the freezer for ten minutes. Voila, instant homemade fro-yo with peanut butter sauce.


Lunch
I was lucky enough to have lunch at Hunter’s Landing today. It has a really cool vibe, and awesome menu that clearly labels which items are GF, lots! My steak salad with dressing on the side was huge and delicious, definitely coming back here to try more menu items.

Snack
I needed a little something to help me make it to dinner. I had a small handful of walnuts that I had soaked overnight then toasted in my oven for a few minutes for a nice warm and hearty flavour, goes great with pumpkin tea from Teavana. In fact, it was so good I forgot to take a picture, sorry.

Dinner
People procrastinate studying different ways. For me, I cook. This meant cooking an entire 11 pound turkey on Monday night and eating leftovers for days. I already froze the carcass and tons of meat to make homemade soup in the New Year, yum! I also roasted a huge combination of onions, beets, mini potatoes and heirloom carrots in the oven (hello botanical medicine on a plate) and coated them with a simple molasses, coconut oil and grated ginger glaze. I sauteed the last of my boxed spinach and smothered it in some turkey gravy for extra flavour. The secret to a good gravy? When there is about 45 minutes left, take the turkey out of the oven, pour the pan drippings into a bowl in freeze. When you go to make the gravy, take out of fridge, remove all the fat from the top and heat with stock on the stove, along with the last pan drippings from the turkey. To make it GF, I made a roux (thickener normally made from flour and butter) with 1tsp xantham gum and a few tablespoon of chicken stock whisked together in a bowl, let it stand for five minutes, then slowly added to the gravy, whisking constantly for at least 10 minutes until it starts to thicken.



I hope I have now inspired you with some healthy and delicious eats for the week, Happy Wednesday, and good luck to all my fellow classmates on our last exam tomorrow

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