A rainbow begining

My day started with a rainbow:

Pears, apples, carrots, kale, parsley and a banana.

Everything went into the juicer and out came this:

I feel very orange now :-) Oh, and I did add in 1 tsp. of Udo's oil to the drink.

I decided to try this - 

A 1/4 cup of the pancake mix went into a bowl along with an egg white, soy milk, wild raspberry honey, canola oil.

The result? one perfect pancake.

Topped with maple syrup.

And just so you know, I didn't juice the banana.

 

Here is hoping for a very productive day...

Time to face facts

So on Saturday night you may remember I went out to eat here:

And I ate this:

And it was delicious. I enjoyed every bite. 


But as I sat up that night with raging heartburn, I realized it was time to face facts.


My family (at least the female half) all have with age - developed a sensitivity to high fat foods.


I have been in full blown denial that this oh-so-fun-genetic-legacy had finally started to affect me. Sure, I made small concessions but I never took it that seriously.


My sister's were completely unsurprised when, after they had seen what I had posted as my dinner, I was stuck home the next day nursing a bum stomach.


Two of my sisters (yup, I have more than two) said they enjoyed blissfully calm stomachs following Tracy Anderson's 30 day method diet. I was pleased to find that I actually had a copy of the book in my bookshelf.


While I read up on what might have been the reason for my sister's happy tummies while on that eating plan, I am gingerly sipping on a smoothie.

1/2 a banana, one scoop of Amazing Grass, 1 packet of blueberries and young coconut juice.

It doesn't look very pretty but it tastes OK and so far feels soothing on my tummy.

Connor got a couple of bites of banana because it is his second favorite (after peanut butter, of course).


And, yes, there was a point to this post. From now on I am going to have a go at embracing my gastrointestinal reality with a positive attitude (someday - right now I am still wallowing in bitterness and self-righteous indignation).


So there will be a shift towards a lower fat diet. Hopefully, I will figure out how to go about this without being stuck surviving on a diet of steamed veggies and rice...

Little house on the Prairie kind of morning

When I was at the store yesterday I spotted this.

I haven't eaten cereal for breakfast in years - the occasional bowl of oatmeal? sure - but never cold cereal.


But I was intrigued by the amount of Omega 3's and that it contained flax - something I have been wanting to include in my diet.


And it did make me feel very old fashioned that the first ingredient was sorghum. I think the last time I saw anything about sorghum was in the Little House on the Prairie books.

And the cereal was pretty yummy. It had a slight malty taste and just a hint of sweetness.

Topped with banana slices.

And the fact that the cereal were shaped in teeny tiny balls? Very cute.


I will definitely come in handy to have this cereal in the cabinet on mornings I don't want to cook.


I have also been trying to include more beans into my diet hence the chili I made yesterday. And since I cooked my own beans - I had a lot left over.

I almost always store things in freezer bags otherwise if I can't easily identify what is in the freezer - it tends to stay in there for years.


And now I will have a ready supply of beans for things such as tacos, soups or salads.


I was going to get a bunch of stuff done today - but it is working out to be a lazy Saturday. 


I might make it outside after I bolster myself with caffeine.

Cinnamon rolls

I like to cook. This will not be a surprise to anyone that reads this blog.

This morning I felt like making cinnamon rolls.

I had plenty of these left in the freezer:

Puff pastry squares.

The base of the roll: one with yogurt, one with mashed banana and one with butter.

 After choosing the bases - I added on toppings.

I topped the yogurt with brown sugar and cinnamon. I sprinkled pine nuts over the mashed banana and just a simple sprinkle of cinnamon over the butter.

All rolled up.

I didn't want them to unroll too much in the oven so I put the cut pieces into a muffin tin.

They went into a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

The dogs enjoyed the banana and pine nut roll.

Did I eat them for breakfast? Nope. I felt like making them - I didn't necessarily feel like eating them. Yes, my sister's are perplexed by this habit too.


I had this for breakfast.

Turkey, a plum, greek yogurt and half a banana.

And coffee.

Happy Friday, oops, Thursday everyone!

Recognize this?

Do you know what this is?

If you know what that is - I bow to your superior knowledge.


I had no clue. I did buy it anyways because it was pretty and smelled yummy.


As most of your probably already know - It is a dragon fruit.

I had a late breakfast as I am still recovering from the dreaded migraine - no headache but I am just still running slow.

Croissant, coffee, orange, banana, and dragon fruit.

I made sure to include some potassium - 

Banana.

And some caffeine -

My intention of going off caffeine has been shelved for the moment.


I will have to devise a moderate and reasonable plan for that later...

Cravings and surprises

I was craving oatmeal this morning. For me, the only proper oatmeal is McCann's Irish Oatmeal - but I am probably biased :-)

Oatmeal with a dollop of peanut butter, banana and drizzled with honey.

People tend to shy away from their cravings. But I am of the firm belief that a craving is your bodies way trying to get you to take in the nutrients it needs. Now, I am not speaking about emotional eating - that's a different kettle of fish.

For example, if I suddenly have a craving for potato chips - I don't run out and eat a whole bag of Lays. I stop, think about it, and usually decide I am low on healthy fats or trace minerals (which for me usually results in a craving for salt).

And speaking of cravings, the dogs were a surprise this morning. You'll notice that I have peanut butter on my oatmeal. This usually results in Connor having apoplectic fits of anticipation. 

But not today. He didn't even notice when I made that dish. 

To my shock, BOTH dogs started getting really excited when I started making this:

I used a seasoned strip of nori - wet one edge with water and sealed in into a tube. I carefully removed any chestnut nuggets from some of the leftover chestnut and mushroom quinoa from last night (I know I am a good doggie mom :-)).

I filled the nori tube to the top with quinoa and topped with a tiny dollop of yogurt. 

At this point the dogs were following me around like sou chefs. Little hairy sou chefs that don't help with anything and only want to eat...

I am still trying to figure out what part of this concoction they were craving??

Maybe some caffeine will help get the brain cells working.

Smoothies and toothaches

A certain fuzzy girl was up all night with a toothache (((

Poor Abby. 

Recently, at her yearly checkup, the vet noticed that one of her canines was chipped and part of the root may be exposed. It hadn't been bothering her - until last night.

And this is Abby after finding out I will have to make a dental appointment for her.

So, suffering from exhaustion, I assembled the ingredients for a smoothie.

I blended up a handful of blueberries, some red leaf lettuce, 1/2 a banana, a scoop of Amazing Grass - Green Super Food, 1 Tablespoon of Udo's oil and 2 Tablespoons of apple sauce.

Nope, it is not pretty - but it tasted great.

The dogs treat:

This is one of my favorite mixes to give the dogs: Kyo-green + yogurt + Udo's oil. The yogurt aids in digestion (if given in small quantities), the healthy greens in the Kyo-Green makes the pigments in the dogs coats really pop and the EFA's in the Udo's oil helps give them a glossy coat. 

That is nutritional info - but as anyone can tell you - presentation is everything...

I am not looking forward to a day filled with errands - or making the call for Abby's dental appointment...

Bad Bananas and Oats

This morning I woke up to this horrible sight.

 My mother would always make banana bread with over ripe bananas but I had a better idea. I wanted to use these ugly shriveled things but I didn't necessarily want to be the one that eats them...

And so enters the idea of an oat cake. I decided on a savory oat cake for me and some banana/peanut butter oat cakes for the dogs. 

Oats are a great source of manganese, magnesium, zinc and selenium and baked up as a cake/cookie - they are a great way to get a little bit of extra nutrients into the dogs.

I started by cooking Irish oatmeal for 30 minutes and let it cool. Then it was time to add the extras.

 For my version I sauteed 1/4 of a yellow onion in olive oil. After the onion became translucent I added in some garlic, dried basil, sage, thyme and black pepper.


The dogs got this in their mix. 

Bananas, peanut butter and honey.


I did forget to mention that while the oats where cooking I mixed in a tablespoon of coconut butter (which I ordered from Open Sky store at KathEats - thanks Kath!)


Enter the egg

I added about 1/3 of the beaten egg to my mix and the rest to the dogs mix. 


But at this point both mixes were too wet and my mix looked a little lacking - and so enters - 

A bit of panko added to each mixture (if your dog(s) are sensitive to wheat you can substitute potato flour) and I had some fun with the Laughing Cow cheese.

A little surprise hidden in each of my cakes!


I made the dogs cakes a bit smaller since I wanted them to be snack size rather than meal sized.

They went into a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. 


And here they are fresh out of the oven

The dogs banana/peanut butter cakes

My savory and cheesy oat cakes.

The dogs version came out of the oven redolent with the smell of peanut butter - Connor came running like a shot! Abby was more interested in my savory cakes - she is not the crazed peanut butter fiend that Connor is :-)

My cakes were crunchy on the outside and nice and moist on the inside - the nugget of cheese did add a nice touch - but I didn't add any salt into the oats - I think my savory cakes could have used a dash of salt. 


I am having a craving for sushi - and fish is Abby's favorite - I will see what I can come up with for dinner...