Oven Roasted Jerk Chickpeas

In my new ongoing quest to find quick snacks that are also healthy, I came across roasted chickpeas.

Believe me when I tell you that these are incredibly easy to make and are so tasty - especially if, like me, you can't enjoy nuts.

You can use pretty much any kind of seasoning you want. 

I used jerk seasoning because I had a lot of it on hand.

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Open a can of chickpeas and drain out the liquid. Spread the chickpeas out evenly on a baking sheet.
• Sprinkle with desired seasoning.
• Bake for about 30 mins. Then let cool and enjoy!

This snack is about 125 calories per 1/2 cup and is loaded with protein and fibre! A much healthier alternative to chips....or chocolate, if we're being realistic about my snacking habits. 

Healthy Homemade Granola Bites

For book club I really wanted to make something. I also wanted to make some healthy and filling snacks that I could easily shove in my mouth while entertaining a 3 month old.

I googled granola bar recipes and came across a tasty-sounding one from Oh She Glows.

(You can find the original recipe here)

I changed it up a bit as I didn't want any nuts and didn't have any seeds. 

So here's how to make my Oh She Glows inspired granola bites

• Start by dehydrating some fruit. I used strawberries and pineapple because I had them on hand and like the way they taste dehydrated. Thinly slice your fruit and put them on parchment paper, or tinfoil, or a silicone mat and bake in your oven at the lowest setting (mine was at 170 degrees) for about hours.
• On another baking sheet, toast 2 cups rolled oats in the oven at 350 for about 10 mins.
• In a bowl, mash 3 bananas (heat them in the microwave first for about 30 seconds for easier mashing) together with 1 tsp vanilla extract. 
• Stir in the toasted oats and chopped dried fruit (plus whatever else you want to add - nuts, seeds, etc) plus 1 tsp cinnamon.
• Spoon mixture into a pan lined with parchment paper and press down to make the surface as even as possible. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 mins until firm and slightly golden along the edges. 
• Let cool for 10 mins then remove from pan. Allow bars to cool for at least another 10 mins in the freezer (or longer in the fridge) before cutting into bites or bars.

(Based on the recipe above, sans nuts and seeds, and cut into 25 bites, each bite is about 42 calories)   

The bites are tasty but if you like them a bit sweeter brush the bites with a bit of maple syrup.

2014 Hopes & Dreams Recap

At the start of last year I decided that instead of making resolutions that I would inevitably break that I would instead come up with some hopes and dreams to try and guide my year.

So, how did I do with my 10 Hopes & Dreams for 2014?

1. Run at least one of the following distances: 21 km (my 4th half-marathon), 30 km (Around The Bay or A Midsummer's Night Run), or 42 km (my first - and most likely last - full marathon)

Didn't do this one unfortunately. I found out I was pregnant in April, which is usually around the time that I start ramping up my running and to be totally honest, I was usually too tired to go for a run. I even skipped the Sporting Life 10 k last year. 

2. Start a family. (temporarily) Gain 30 + lbs.

Done! And just before timer an out on 2014 too! I might be most proud of this one. 

I have a daughter and I am a mom.

3. Put away $5000-10,000 into savings for a house.

Also accomplished this one! Thank goodness for my tax free savings account! We also moved into a rental house this summer so our urgent desire to buy a house isn't so urgent anymore. We're happy here with our increased space and backyard until we have a solid down payment for a house of our own.

4. Stop telling myself I need to get lean/put on muscle/workout to be healthy. Do it only to be happy. Walk long distances with the dog, swim in cold lakes, get lost on runs, ride my bike to work, hike/canoe/portage through nature.

Done. Except I didn't really go for many runs because of the whole pregnant thing. But I did go on many many long walks with the dog, and I did go on a hiking camping trip this fall.

5. Make a Happy List on the blog once a month and be thankful for all the wonderful things in my life. 

Almost did this one. I did the 100 Happy Days Challenge instead.

6. Learn how to speak French again. A patient at work speaks only Swahili and French. While my French is passable (barely), having her laugh, kindly, at my attempts to communicate with her have made me acutely aware of how badly I wish I was bilingual. 

I took French classes but didn't stick with it. I missed a few classes because of work and other obligations but it was fun to get back into it for a bit. 

7. Appreciate my friends & family more and make sure they know it.

I hope I did this!

8. Become more of an activist for HIV/AIDS. Attend more conferences, correct common misconceptions, become a better nurse. 

I did attend a few conferences and workshops and tried to correct misconceptions when I heard them. This is one of those goals that I will work on throughout my career. It'll never be checked off as completely done. 

9. Knit more. Maybe learn to crochet.

I didn't learn how to crochet but I did knit 2 baby blankets, one with a cable stitch, and 3 hats this year! New skill accomplished.

10. Go on lots of dates. With John, friends, my parents, etc. 

I also think I accomplished this one. Maybe more friend dates could have bee planned but, like number 8, this is one that I continue to work on forever.

So all in all, it looks like 2014 was a successful year!

Another Month, Another Fitness Goal

As seems to be the trend at the beginning of each month, I have once again resolved to live a bit healthier.

This means being more active on a regular basis and eating more home cooked meals instead of opting for the easy but costly (and terrible for you) drive-thru purchases.

 

I have challenged myself to run 75 km this month.

I have signed up for bootcamp classes.

I want to see if I can do yoga once a week.

And I got this great app that walks you through a bunch of exercises as well as short workouts.

It's called My Fitness Buddy and it might be my new favourite.

 

 

 

I did one of the glute workouts, an 11 minute series of exercises doing 20 reps of each with 15 second rests.

You can choose to use your body weight or to add weights.

There are a pretty decent number of workout routines to choose from that I don't think I'll get sick of it for a long time.

It doesn't give you any cardio though so you have to incorporate your own.

 

 

As I mentioned before, it walks you through each exercise which is perfect for people like me who know all of 5 exercises to do in the gym.

 

I'm hoping in the next 2 months to put on some muscle and to get in the habit of incorporating strength training into my routine.

 

I'm very excited to try this bootcamp out today.

I anticipate being very sore tomorrow.

And maybe crying a little bit.

 

I don't do well with being yelled at.

 

 

Red Velvet Cheesecake Minis

 

On Thursday night we had some friends over for dinner.

I obviously was quick to use it as the perfect excuse to break my cleanse.

I did, a little, and it was like heaven had been revealed to me.

Pita! Dips! Cheese! Pasta! *gulp* Cheesecake! Wine!

 

Our original plan was to have a lovely outdoor dinner on the patio and use one of our buildings rental BBQs. But ol' Ma Nature decided to veto that plan with rain and chillier than seasonal temperatures.

 

So we BBQ'd indoors!

 

On the menu was shiskabobs.

Chicken, orange peppers, onions, zucchini (some with muchrooms) and halloumi

& Spicy Italian sausage with yellow peppers and onions.

 

The appetizer was pita bread with 4 dips - hummus, tzaziki, spinach, and artichoke & asiago.

 

The sides were a pasta salad with a roasted red pepper & artichoke tapenade and a caprese salad.

 

 

 

Then for desert, since I was breaking my cleanse, I wanted to get as decadent as I could.

I made mini cheesecakes with a red velvet cake base. I tinted the cheesecake pink to go with the red.

They were pretty good but I used a boxed red velvet mix and it wasn't as rich as I was hoping for.

Could have been my fault for only making 1/3 of the box and probably messing up the ratios of ingredients a bit.

 

 

Anyway I won't post the recipe because all you need is a recipe for Red Velvet Cake like this one, and a recipe for Cheesecake, like this one.

 

Mix 'n' match with any and all of your favourite deserts and flavours.

 

In other news, I decided today that I couldn't go back to the sparse diet of the cleanse after allowing myself such indulgence. I did well during the day at work, fruit for breakfast, brown rice and veggies for lunch. But when I got home to the left overs from dinner I devoured them.

 

And subsequently am still - almost 12 hours later - dealing with the consequences.

I'm bloated and gassy and crampy and uncomfortable.

 

All signs seem to point to dairy though as the source of the trouble.

I did have cheese, dairy based dips, chocolate, and a mug of coffee that was easily 1/5 cream.

 

I think I'm lactose sensitive.

I won't say intollerant because I think I have to have a fair bit of it to make it an issue.

 

So back to the cleanse.

Tomorrow/today I plan to let my digestive tract have a break and then slowly start to include dairy but not so much that it gives me trouble.

 

But there's a good chance I'm stopping at Tim Horton's in the morning to get a donut.

 

 

Cleanse: Mid-week ranting

**Late Post written on Wednesday**

As you are probably well aware, this week I've been on a cleanse diet.

If you ever want to stop time and make it feel as though a week is the longest week of your life, try this diet.

I can't believe it's only Wednesday.

I've been surviving on fruits, veggies, brown rice, chicken, water and herbal (decaffeinated) teas.

It sucks.

Well that's not entirely true.

I actually quite like brown rice. It has a nutty flavour to it that makes me feel as though I can enjoy nuts sans annoying allergic reaction.

And I've been purchasing and eating a lot of really delicious fruit, especially stone fruits like cherries, peaches, nectarines, and apricots.

I did add in beans last night too and so far so good.

I've been less bloated, not crampy, and generally do feel better although I've been sleeping a lot more.

I suspect this is either due to my need for a good thick steak (first food to be added back in is red meat) or the fact that my body is actually detoxing from the copious amounts of caffeine it's used to receiving.

After red meat I'm bringing coffee back. Although my headache that's was almost my constant companion since Saturday has since let up so maybe I should take htis opportunity to drink less coffee.

On Sunday night (day 2 of my cleanse) I was faced with the greatest temptation of all:

birthday cake.

And creatively decorated cherry-chip cake! My brother in law and his girlfriend set to work on icing this bad boy and the entire thing was almost gone before the end of the night.

I sipped tea instead.

As soon as I feel confident I won't re-aggravate my stomach I'm going to eat the biggest burger I can get my hands on. Hopefully the Holy Chuck Burger. That's on my radar.

Then all breads, all cheeses, big breakfasts....

Sorry stomach, I wish I knew how to quit you.

My eyes are bigger and they win every time.

I just need to stay strong for 4 more days on this cleanse then I can reward myself with a beef burger - hold the bun and condiments.

Or a tenderloin steak.

That seems like a good compromise!

Detoxing Home & Body

In my bid to redo our bedroom I finally got around to putting some pictures on the wall above our bed.

I went to Ikea and - after trying to make a budget version myself - caved and bought the framed Picasso sketches that I love so much.

I then went on a bit of a Picasso binge.

 

 

The quality of my pictures isn't so good because of the glare from the window but this is what the Ikea picture looks like:

 

 

In other news, I've been having some stomach issues off and on for awhile. I can't pinpoint what exactly it could be that makes me so bloated and uncomfortable.

It happened again today seemingly out of the blue.

I get bloated to the point where I convince myself I've been pregnant for 3 months and am just starting to show.

It's bad.

And it's uncomfortable. When the bloating hits I have to lie on my stomach or with a pillow pressed up against my midsection just for some relief.

 

So I decided that I would try something my best friend tried a few times before she conclusively knew she was gluten intollerant:

 

The Brown Rice Cleanse.

 

I don't think I'm gluten intollerant. I eat a lot of bread. And generally there are no ill side effects. I don't think I'm lactose intollerant either cause I eat a fair bit of cheese, again, with generally no ill side effects.

But I feel like dairy might be the culprit...

 

Anyway, the cleanse works like this:

for one week (7 long days) you eat only foods that are gentle on your digestive tract which gives your body a chance to heal any damage done by foods that don't agree with you.

Sounds like a fantastic plan.

But basically you have to eat the most boring diet - brown rice, vegetables (but no corn or mushrooms and I also saw one incredibly restrictive diet plan that said to cut out tomatoes too but I'm going with the less harsh plan because if I followed the serious one I'd either die or John would find me hiding under the bed eating a 20 lb wheel of brie and then what good is the cleanse?), fruits (no bananas, no citrus other than lemons and limes)...

...you know what?

Computers have the copy and paste function for a reason

 

(From corehealthmuskoka.com)

 

"What’s allowed on the diet?

1)Brown rice, preferable organic

2)Fresh vegetables, any kind you like, lightly steamed. Onions are especially good for cleansing and are very sweet and tasty when steamed. Try a plate full with some fresh garlic.

3)Fresh fruits, any kind, except oranges and orange juice. With fruits and vegetables, it is best to consume only organic produce whenever possible. However, as this is not always possible, buy in season and locally grown fruits and vegetables, and wash them thoroughly befreo eating. When buying dred fruit, purchase only unsulphured dried fruit.

4)Fresh garlic and ginger

5)Cayenne pepper and/or non-salt herbal seasoning (e.g. "Vegit")

6)Vegetable and fruit juice – the best is fresh pressed from a juicer, otherwise juices with no additives, sugar, chemicals, and little or no salt (can be found in health food stores)

7) Other foods allowed are lentils, rice cakes, sesame seeds, ocean-going fish, free-range chicken, humus, tofu, and tempeh

8)Absolutely no shellfish (i.e. shrimp, oysters, scallops, clams, lobster, etc.) or catfish "

 

 

In a nutshell, I'm pretty sure the first few days, if not the entire week, are going to be miserable.

But I want to fix this bloating and find out what's wreaking havoc on my digestive system.

 

Here's hoping by the time next Saturday rolls around I look & feel like this:

 

Even though I can guarantee with almost 100% certainty I will look and feel more like this:

 

Mainly because caffeinated beverages are a big no-no and coffee is my life force.

 

Also the girls at Sugar Mountain are going to wonder what happened to me.

I'm almost a regular there.

 

Wish me luck.

I'm pre-writing a lot of this week's posts because otherwise I think if they're written in the moment they'll be very angry.

If you follow me on twitter get ready - I anticipate running the gamut on emotions this week.

 Desperate, bored, rejuvenated, clean, bargaining.

But probably a big dose of hangry.