Fruit Christmas Tree

A party at my house with all of my workmates inspired me to make something festive to munch on. 

With everyone else bringing snacks to share, I thought a healthy snack might be a good choice this time.

So I went about building a Christmas tree out of fruit! 

Step one: Cut of the bottom of an apple to stabilize the tree structure.

Step two: Cut a hole in the top of the apple, just slightly bigger than the width of your carrot and stick the carrot on top. Make sure it's a tight fit!

Step three: Cut up all the fruit you want to use, and stick each piece on a toothpick to be inserted onto the apple/carrot structure.

(we actually found it easier to put the toothpick in first, and then put the fruit on)

This was the fun part :)

Done! Garnish however you like and serve! 

We made it the same day that we served it - a few hours early so that it was still fresh.
None of our guests wanted to eat the fruit at first. I think it looked too pretty to wreck. But once they started, the tree disappeared in no time :)
Enjoy!

{xoxo}

Healthiness in a Cup

Let me introduce: Our new best friend :) 

We got this lovely gift from my best friend for my birthday in September. 

The juicer is simply amazing! 

It's not something I would have thought I needed in my home, but now I don't know if I could live without it!

My husband and I rarely buy juice at home. Really only if we are having guests over.
I just know that it's better for me to drink water. If I have juice - I will drink juice. And take in all of its artificial goodness.
But this new juicer changes everything!
Now we can have juice, and know EXACTLY what goes into it.
We don't add anything to it (i.e. sugars or sweeteners) and it always tastes amazing.
We also throw in anything from our fridge.
Oranges. Apples. Carrots. Spinach. Banana. Lemon, Pineapple.
Somehow it's all tasted good so far!

I'm sure I'll share some of our favourite recipes soon. 

For now we're buying oranges by the dozens and making freshly squeezed orange juice for all out evening snacks - seriously a millions times better than store orange juice! 

{yumm}

Staying Active During Pregnancy

I'm trying to be a good pregnant mama. 

Trying to choose the right foods and avoid the wrong ones (although some junk foods definitely slip in!)

Attempting to get the right amount of sleep, although often unsuccessful. 

Doing my best to stay active. 

This is hard though.

I can't run anymore, mostly because I just don't feel comfortable. I know people say you can run if you're in a routine (which I was), but I just felt like every time I struggled for breath, that it was affecting the baby. I'm sure the baby was fine, but for my own piece of mine, I cut out running. I can't push myself too hard like I did in bootcamp last summer. I can't lift too much. Or work too hard. Or get too tired. 

What else is left to do??

I'm still trying to be purposeful about some outdoor activities, such as gardening, but as the summer winds down, I know my time outdoors will take a hit as well. 

So I found three activities that I can keep doing throughout the year and feel comfortable with.

Walking. Swimming. Yoga. 

This is my new fitness routine. 

When life isn't overtaken by holidays, I'm walking every day, swimming once or twice a week, and taking prenatal yoga classes once or twice a week. 

Walking is just a part of life for me with two dogs at home. No big change here. Just continuing to walk whenever I get the chance. Hopefully this continues in our -20 or -30 degree winters too!

 I have always liked swimming, but now it's become purposeful. It feels great to have my growing belly feel weightless again in the water. Plus I feel like I'm getting real exercise doing laps - like if I wasn't in the water, I'd be sweating. But I don't feel like I'm overdoing it or out of breath like I did when I was running.
It's great exercise! 

I'm new to this whole yoga world, but so far it's fantastic. Prenatal yoga takes out all of the "dangerous" moves and keeps it simple. On top of that, my yoga instructor gives tips all the time such as "This is great if you have swollen feet", "This is a great way to relax during contractions", and "This is a great position for stretching out your lower back". I love it! It's also super relaxing. I honestly do feel like it takes away my weekly stressors when I do yoga. This activity will continue for as long as my body allows!

Hopefully this good exercise will continue as my belly continues to grow! 

{xoxo}

Kohlrabi Home Fries

I was in shock when I received this strange purple vegetable... who knew this existed?

Kohlrabi? 

Sounds made up.

But it's not, and apparently a lot of people had heard of it before, lol. 

A lot of people suggested that we eat it raw, which I'll have to try next time because in the midst of our cooking, I never even popped a piece in my mouth! 

We decided to make Kohlrabi Home Fries - hence the title ;)

They were very easy to make and tasted great!

1. Chop Kohlrabi into homefry sized pieces

2. Fry them in lots of oil. (note: they cook very quickly!)

(

3. Mix together 1 tbsp of cumin, 1 tbsp. of chili powder, and 1/2 tbsp of sea salt. Sprinkle on top after cooking and spread evenly.

4. Enjoy!

Not something I expected to eat at the onset of the week, but it was a happy change from the ordinary meals and vegetables :) 

There's a 100% chance I'll try this again if I get more kohlrabi this year! 

{xoxo}

CSA Update

So I thought I should update everyone on our CSA investment. 

If you missed the prelude you can read about how and why we chose to join with Summer's Gold this year to get fresh vegetables during the summer. 

As I had stated in the previous post, I was definitely worried after the first couple of veggie deliveries. 

The amount of veggies we received was disappointing. Not really vegetables we used on a daily basis to begin with (i.e. radishes, green onions), but also not nearly enough to get by without going out to buy our own. But as the weeks have rolled on, the veggies have become more diverse and the amount has substantially increased. Even after giving one third away to our friend and fellow shareholder, we've had tons of vegetables for the week. Here's some pictures of a load we got somewhere in the middle (potatoes, cucumber, lettuce, beat greens, broccoli, radishes and a tomato): 

Last week we received cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, peas, green beans, potatoes, & dill. 

We're now at the point where we can't always finish the veggies before the next load gets here. 

Having the fresh veggies have been amazing. I pick up the odd things to supplement what we already have, such as carrots to make coleslaw, and tomatoes for salads, but we can mostly make do with what we're receiving from the CSA. 

This weeks [pictured below] we received potatoes, peas, cucumbers, cabbage, carrots, turnip, and kohlrabi. What's kohlrabi you ask?? I have no idea! I've never heard of it. But I am gonna learn how to cook it!

Here's a closer look at my new purple friend, kohlrabi :) 

Stay tuned to find out what I decided to do with kohlrabi and turnip.
Should make for some interesting meals this week!

At this stage, I would say that we will definitely be ordering from the CSA again next year, but I'll keep you posted as the summer goes on :) 

{xoxo}

Saskatoon Berry Picking

I got an invite from a friend to pick some of the infamous Prairie berries from her property this year and I jumped at the chance. 

First Saskatoon berry picking was a huge success if you ask me! 

Here's what they look like: 

For those who haven't tried them before (I'm speaking to all you Ontarians...) they are the size of blueberries, but more of a purple colour (sometimes reddish). 

They are not as sweet as most other berries, and they are full of seeds (think raspberries full of seeds).

They have a nice natural sweetness and they're quite good actually! 

After a good long soak in some salt water (to remove the worms... *shudder*) they are ready to go!

These berries are going to get cooked into a nice Saskatoon berry pie!

And possibly some muffins as well :) 

{yumm}

Fruit Infused Water

All I drink these days is water. Water, water, and more water. The wine and coffee have stopped flowing because of the whole "growing a child" thing. Tea is too warm for most days in the summer. Juice is too full of artificial nonsense and sugar. I haven't been drinking juice for ages. So that leaves me with the occasional glass of milk (which has increased since the Babykins started craving some), the occasional ice capp, and water.

So I decided to give fruit infused water a try. It works well for me because I often have an abundance of fruit in the house. It really just tastes like water, with a bit of flavour. I don't think Mr. A particularly liked it... he's more of a "sugar-and-artificial-nonsense-in-his-drinks" type person. I liked it though. The two I made below were peach infused water and strawberry/kiwi water. The strawberry kiwi one was best. Mostly because the peaches just weren't ripe enough to add the proper natural juices to the water (Or so that's my theory!). I'll keep experimenting and let you know what other concoctions I make up!

Drink up! 

{xoxo}

Easy Radish Dip

So now that I've signed up for this CSA in Grande Prairie. I have to figure out how to use up all my veggies before the next batch arrives! If I had a whack of corn and potatoes, I could polish those off no problem, but instead I have radishes. What do people do with radishes?

There's the obvious... add them to salad! Which was actually a great idea. Adds some colour and flavour to my salad. I never would have bought these, but I can see myself doing it in the future now just for the added texture and interest. Also, the taste is very muted in the salad so it wasn't as strong as putting a whole radish in your mouth.

But that still left me with more radishes... so I found an easy radish dip and made an appetizer for my guest and husband. The husband really liked it and kept eating it all week actually! It's super easy!

Ingredients

I block cream cheese

6-7 radishes

4 cloves of garlic

Steps

Mince garlic and radishes in food processor, then add cream cheese and blend.

(add radishes to make it even healthier, and add garlic if you like things really garlicy)

We found the dip strong at first, and then the taste was a bit muted and better the next day.

{yumm}

Summer's Gold CSA in Grande Prairie

Getting pregnant means BIG changes in your life. Or at least I'm told it will..... and with this change comes a certain level of responsibility. I feel more obligated to eat healthy foods, and to get my recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, and to exercise (at least a little bit) each day. I still go off track from this... clearly... but it's always in the back of my head that I'm being healthy for two now.

The tricky thing is that I don't want to get caught up in all the "do this"/"don't do this"'s that I read on the internet. I'm obviously not drinking alcohol or smoking or anything, but if I read that I shouldn't eat deli meats I get really hung up on all the deli meats I may have eaten accidentally, and how much of it, and whether I should eat things that may have deli meats, etc. etc. You can probably find it written to avoid anything while pregnant if you look hard enough. I still want to be cautious, I just don't want to be paranoid.

So I'm doing things that I know are good - like building up my inventory of vegetables! Not only do I have my veggie garden at mom's house growing ample potatoes, onions, carrots, etc., but Mr. A and I also signed up for a CSA (community shared agriculture) in Grande Prairie called Summer's Gold. I was told the portions are huge and the food's amazing. The food is grown locally, and they deliver packages each week to GP. And the price isn't bad, so we went for it.

We purchased the small portion (you can pick small or large), and we decided to split it with a friend (who gets 1/3 of the haul each week) because we had no idea how much to expect! Our first package came a couple weeks ago with radishes, lettuce, green onion, and strawberries.

Honestly, I thought the portions were smaller than I was lead to believe. But the owner assures me that they will get bigger as the summer goes on! The fruit and veggies were all very good. No denying that. My other concern is that I'm going to get a truck load of veggies that I have no clue what to do with! I managed to finish my green onion from week one, but now I have some lingering from week two while I await my week three package tonight! I'd rather have twice as many strawberries - if I could choose! But maybe it'll force me to be creative. I have to learn what I'm gonna do with an abundance of radishes, squash, zuccini, etc. that I don't ever purchase in a typical grocery trip. 

Here's to my healthy eating vegetable experiment! 

{yumm}

Avacado and Black Bean Lettuce Wraps

I try to be relatively healthy, but I'm not very good at it. I seem to be drawn to foods that are bad for me. I know everyone says that... but I believe them all! In order to force myself to be healthier, I make my lunches (90% of the time) and try to make healthy ones. For me that usually consists of a salad of some sort, fruit, and possibly a yogurt. Salad gets boring. I've tried everything. They're all good, but after a few full weeks of salad... salad gets boring. So I welcome variety in my lunches! 

This lunch I ate at home, but you could easily transport it to work! Here's all you need: 

large lettuce leaves (I used Romaine)

1 avocado

1 can black beans

 onion

red pepper

salsa

garlic

2 tsp cumin

lime juice

shredded cheese to top

Just soften up the beans and avocado and then add everything else to your tastes. Put the mixture in the lettuce wraps and sprinkle on some cheese. 

My husband ate them, so although they're very good for you, they still taste good! 

{yumm}

Healthy ME!

Christmas is on the horizon! With Christmas comes a multitude of great friends, family, parties, crafts, etc. It also comes with massive dinners, turkey, potatoes, Christmas cookies, stocking treats, nuts & bolts, etc. 

In an attempt to maintain my weight over the Christmas season, I've vowed to start being healthier now. That means that over the holidays, if I want to eat nuts & bolts at the end of the day, I have to eat healthy food the whole rest of the day. This is no easy feat for a cheese and carbohydrate lover. 

Anyway, here's a delicious recipe that I found on Pinterest to motivate some healthy meals! 

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup quinoa

- 1/2 an avocado

- 1/3 red pepper

- 1/4 of a cucumber sliced 

- tbsp of lime juice

- dash of minced garlic (I buy it in a ready-to-use jar)

- tbsp olive oil

Steps: 

1. Boil water and add quinoa. Let quinoa simmer for approx. 10 minutes until soft

2. mix lime juice, garlic, and olive oil to form a dressing. 

3. Chop cucumber, red pepper, and avocado. 

4. When quinoa is ready, drain it and add it to your plate. Add veggies (really you can put whatever you want, and whatever quantities you want, but I strongly recommend the avocado!). Drizzle on some dressing and voila! 

It was really delicious the first time I made it. I added on of my carrot muffins to the side of the meal - obviously avoiding starch is not my strong point! lol. This is a start though! 

If I find some more healthy recipes I really like I'll try to post them here too :) 

Smoothielicious

Just like 60% of other North Americans, I'm starting some healthy lifestyle changes this month. Hopefully these changes will lead to weight loss, increased love of exercise, and increased energy. I took a suggestion from some friends and decided to buy some greek yogurt - good source of protein! Unfortunately, I bought the plain greek yogurt (instead of vanilla or berry), so I decided to turn it into smoothies. They were quiet good. Here's a quick list of simple ingredients:

- 1/2 cup of greek yogurt (ish - I never really measure)

- 8-10 fresh strawberries (or an equal amount of any other fruit you like)

- half a cup of ice

- tbsp of honey

- add water til the cup is full

Simple. Easy. Delicious. Try it!