Have you ever been fighting a cold, you have the sniffles, the scratchy throat, but you don't want to admit that you may be sick because that would be giving into the cold? And if you have a cold, that might mean that all of your healthy habits don't give you super human strength?
From mid November until mid January at least one person in my house (excluding yours truly) was diagnosed with pneumonia. Me - I remained healthy and assumed the role of family nurse and chauffeur to the doctor's office. And now out of no where I have the runny nose and sore throat - I do not have a cough - thankfully.
So after a dinner highlighting the wonderful tastes of raw garlic and an intense yoga class to try to sweat it out, I am now soothing my throat with my favourite homemade tea.
Lemon Ginger Tea with Honey - this is such a simple tea, but it makes everything feel better. The taste reminds me a lot of NeoCitran but doesn't make me groggy. Its as easy as it sounds to make...
Lemon Ginger Tea
1/2 lemon cut into slices
1 thumb size piece of ginger peeled & cut into strips
boiling water
honey
Place the ginger slices in a tea pot and crush with the flat end of the handle on a knife. This releases the juices in the ginger and keeps it in the tea pot. Add the lemon slices. Pour boiling water over lemon and ginger. Let steep for at least 5 minutes. Pour into your favourite mug and sweeten with honey.
I have been told by many people this is basically a Hot Toddy - so if you want the loopy side effects of NeoCitran add rum or whatever alcohol is added to a Hot Toddy. Sweet dreams.
No - I didn't run the Miami Half Marathon - this girl did. I want to send out a congratulations to my friend Gina! She ran the Miami half marathon yesterday and rocked it. She ran this race on 3 hours sleep in 2:12!
Look at her, she doesn't even look like she ran let alone for 2 hours starting at 6am!
Gorgeous and look at how well coordinated she is, her shirt matches her bib and medal - wow!
All kidding aside - I am inspired and motivated to pick a race and write up a schedule. Enough of these gym workouts - I need a goal race!
Now back to breakfast....
I've seen a ton of recipes on line about baked oatmeal. I was intrigued, but then I started thinking about Apple Crisp and couldn't stop. So I figured... Apple Crisp has oatmeal in it...right? Apple Crisp has apples - duh - so it was to be a bit healthy. And sometimes I put brown sugar on my oatmeal.. What if I just make it a bit healthier?
Could Apple Crisp could qualify as breakfast? If I added some ground flax seed, hemp hearts, and walnuts - sure. Served over Greek yogurt... sounds like a healthy breakfast to me!
Apple Crisp Healthified!
5-6 apples peeled,cored and sliced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 butter or margarine melted
1/4 olive oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
2 tablespoons hemp hearts
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Place apples in a 8 inch glass or metal baking dish. Toss with first amounts of cinnamon and sugar.
Mix remaining ingredients in bowl until crumbly. Spread over apples. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until oatmeal mixture is slightly browned and crispy. Serve warm or cold.
This weekend I completed one of my requirements for my Personal Trainer certification. I took my First Aid and CPR course. I would be lying if I said this course was exciting. But this course also gave me a new found respect for all of the St. John Ambulance volunteers I see at the races. They have to sit through many more hours of these courses and actually apply what they've learned. And they are doing it all for free.
In addition to completing this course, I also found out that I passed my theory exam for my PT certification. I didn't realize until I received the email Saturday morning telling me I passed exactly how much waiting for my results had been weighing on my mind. So I did it.. I passed with a 93%! Ya me!!! Now all I have to do is complete the practical part. But I won't think about that for now.
Tonight we went out and celebrated at a local restaurant that opened in 2011 called Mill Street Bakery & Bistro. http://www.millstreetbakerybistro.com/index.html I've purchased cupcakes from the bakery portion of this restaurant but never eaten in the restaurant. Scenery-wise the best time of year to eat here would be the summer or anytime you could be on the patio. That wasn't an option for us tonight. The decor inside is ok although there is nice local artwork on display.
The staff is incredibly friendly and helpful regarding the menu. From a vegetarian perspective, the menu choices are quite limited - with only two entire selections. I'm sure if I had asked modifications could have been made to the menu.
It didn't matter as I chose to have their Fire pot which was a curried vegetable and bean mixture topped with fruit and served with a side (read super thick slice of fresh homemade bread). This dish was very good. My husband even enjoyed it the curry. The portions was generous as well - I had enough to take home for my lunch tomorrow.
Dan order the Wild West burger with fries. He also enjoyed his meal. As you can see, the burger is hand made. The fries were amazing. If I ever have a craving for fries that I can't shake this is exactly where I'll be headed.
When we paid, we standing in front of the bakery counter and couldn't leave empty handed. Dan took a butter tart that he ate before I could get a picture and I left with this...
Its called Mary's Mistake. The story behind this dessert is they (I'm assuming Mary) accidentally used shortbread dough as tart crusts. The dough didn't stay together and they didn't want to throw it out so they created these squares. Basically these squares have a chocolate cake crumb base, butter tart filling with shortbread pieces and chocolate chips mixed through and topped with more chocolate chips. Sweet mother... this is amazing but beyond rich. Invite 6 people over to eat this.
As for me for the rest of the evening - I'll be on the elliptical to work off this dessert and missing my run yesterday.
I know I've mentioned quite a few times, how winter hasn't quite happened they way it normally does in Southern Ontario this year. But... last night after an entire day of warnings from Environment Canada and all of the local radio stations we had freezing rain which was followed by a bit of a snowfall. This has meant one thing in our house - the buses are cancelled and we are home. I'm very fortunate in my job that I work from home if the weather is bad or I have a sick child.
And for whatever reason this morning, my body decided it was time to wake up a 4:30 am. So I've been up for a while and I've been working for a while. It has left a lot of time for other things... like a big breakfast that is typically reserved for Sunday mornings.
I also went out running in the snow that had fallen. It was a slow, messy run but I went out with one purpose....the view.
Well.... maybe also to burn off my breakfast which was this....
I've decided to call this Almost Eggs Florentine. When I think of eggs Florentine I think of a creamy buttery sauce covering poached eggs sitting on spinach and English muffins. For my recipe, I cook fresh spinach in a little bit of water, add red peppers and top with brie cheese and chopped parsley. Oh my this is good, but wow is it rich and a far cry from my usual oatmeal I have for breakfast during the week. But my taste buds were happy.
Almost Eggs Florentine
2 cups of fresh spinach
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 red pepper seeded and chopped
1 clove garlic peeled and minced
1 teaspoon each sea salt and pepper
2 eggs
1 English muffin toasted
2 thin slices brie cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Steam spinach in a small amount of water until wilted. Remove from heat, let cool slightly and squeeze excess water, set aside. Saute red pepper in olive oil until tender crisp. Add salt pepper and garlic cooking until garlic has browned slightly, but is not burned.
Using a wide shallow pan, filled about 3/4 full with water and 1 tablespoon of vinegar, bring to a simmer. (The vinegar helps prevent the eggs from spreading out in the water and is not detectable when you eat the eggs.) Crack eggs one at a time into a small dish and carefully pour into simmering water. Once the eggs have set on the underside, about 2 minutes, carefully flip them over in the water to cook the top. Continue cooking for another 2 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the English muffins on a plate, layer the cooked spinach and top with the red peppers. Using a slotted spoon remove the eggs one at a time from the water, allowing as much water to drain as possible. Gently set on top of the red peppers. Top with the brie cheese. Sprinkle the chopped parsley over the cheese and season with freshly ground pepper.
Have you ever been the recipient of a random act of kindness? I occasionally do nice things for the people around me, but typically its related to a birthday or to return a favour. I don't expect anything in return either. I usually get a bit of a warm fuzzy feeling when I've made someone's day.
But when the tables are turned and someone does something thoughtful and kind just for you - especially first thing in the morning it can be a game changer. I was having a usual Wednesday morning... I accidentally cut someone off on the way into work. I do emphasize the word accidentally. But other than that, it was the usual mid week routine. Until I arrived at my desk as saw this.......
My co-worker Deb who is an awesome cook discovered Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips and made the recipe on the back of the bag. She brought a lot of the cookies just me! I did share these with a few people in the department - including the two guys I ran 8k with at lunch. Ok - I bribed then with the promise of cookies if we picked up the pace a bit. I also shared with my kids... geez this sounds like the magic porridge pot of cookies.
Nonetheless the fact that she would bring these cookies in a share them with me totally made my day. They were amazing too. Here is the link to the recipe. http://www.hersheycanada.com/en/recipes/recipes-by-type/6/Cookies.aspx?ICID=CH1434 The next time I'm out and about I'm picking up a bag of these. I think this recipe would make a great valentine's treat for the kids or maybe just me.
Let's just focus on the first part of that title for now.....
New shoes... friends for these ones - wild things also named Elixir 8 by Mizuno... they should have asked me about the name first... Wild Thing is way more fun.
So here are the new shoes - Mizuno Inspire 7 but I'd like to give them a different name... let's call them Older Sister to Wild Thing. The aren't quite as fun looking - but they have a great personality.
I took these shoes for a test drive on the treadmill today... guess what my 5k time was almost a minute faster in the Big Sister shoes. Ok, I did ramp up the speed but I really couldn't tell the difference between the two shoes. Maybe the next time I'll shake things up a bit and wear one of each... just kidding that would be ridiculous.
Ridiculous like thinking you could make fries out of turnips. Ok I know you can make fries out of pretty much any vegetable, but making fries out of turnips and having your husband who used to think it was normal to drink a can of Pepsi before 8 am get excited when you make them is impressive.
These fries are a bit of work to cut up and take a little longer to cook than if you were roasting potatoes for oven fries. Roasting the turnip caramelizes it a bit giving the fries an slight sweetness you don't taste when you boil the vegetable. I like to serve these fries with a spicy sauce on the side. Feel free to make the dip or enjoy the fries on their own.
Turnip Fries
1 turnip peeled and cut into strips like french fries
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons of your favourite seasoning salt (I used herbamare)
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Toss turnip in olive oil and seasonings. Spread onto a parchment lined or non stick cookie sheet. Roast in an oven at 375 for 50 minutes or until the fries are done to your liking. Stir and flip fries over 20 minutes or so to ensure even cooking.
Spicy Dip
1/4 cup sour cream or unflavoured yogurt
1/4 mayonnaise
1 clove of garlic minced (cooked if you want a milder flavour)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less depending on your taste)
1 teaspoon sea salt & pepper
Stir all ingredients in a bowl. Let sit in fridge for 30 minutes to allow flavours to blend.
Today at lunch I skipped my planned metabolic workout to have a eating workout at The Works. http://www.worksburger.com/ Which has newly opened in downtown Guelph. Because this restaurant is new - its pretty busy especially at lunch.
Our server was pretty good. The menu is quite complex. Basically burgers, but also salads, poutine, drinks and desserts. With the burger selection though there is a page and a half of topping selections along with your choice of burger type and sides.
I went to lunch with my friends Katherine and Carey. I had previewed the menu first so I had a good idea what I wanted but if I hadn't I would have taken a long time to decide.
Katherine and I started with milkshakes. I ordered a chocolate shake with double fudge. It was awesome. The double fudge was an extra chocolate burst every now and then. I love the fact that the drinks come in a measuring cup.
I ordered the veggie pesto pizazz burger with sweet potato fries. The veggie burger is a typical soy veggie burger, but the toppings were great. My burger came with pesto, sun dried tomatoes, black olives and brie cheese. I love this combination. The sweet potato fries were standard. I also had the beach sauce to dip my fries in. The only way I can describe the sauce as was weird. It tasted like a strange salad dressing. I wished I'd just ordered a side salad and not wasted the extra calories on fries.
Katherine ordered the Groovy Gryphon. It came with avocado, bacon and Gouda cheese She said it needed mayo or a sauce or something. She had the same opinion about the sweet potato fries that I did. But all of the toppings were fresh and the presentation looked nice.
Carey ordered the Olive Oyl. It came with black olives, spinach, tomatoes, garlic sauce, and feta cheese. She said it was ok as well. The last time she ate there she ordered the pesto pizazz and would order that burger again. Carey ordered the spicy die cut chips as a side which are like potato chips but made to order. She really liked these and would order them again.
I would go back - and maybe try the onion rings and a different burger. I usually have a two visit rule for restaurants. I also found the staff very helpful. I think its pretty clear that staffing is a priority for the restaurant which always makes for a good dining experience. The decor of the restaurant is fun - it looks like a factory sort of with chain link fencing.
All in all I would return to this restaurant again if I was in the mood for a burger and I'd recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fun burger and fries type dining experience.
