Thursday, July 1, 2010

Finally some eats!

Hello Everyone!

Happy belated Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians!!! Hope everyone had a great day wherever you were in the world:) I puttered around the house, got a workout in, made lunch for my mom, went for a run with the hubby, and made some grilled veggies:) But you know what? I didn't take in any Canada Day events at all...uggh..does that make me a bad Canadian? I hope not because I already gave my shout out to the world about the stereotypical great things about my country! To my defense the weather was not nice at all, yet, the weather network promised pure sunshine for that day..boo! Did you take in some parades, food fairs, or fireworks? I know my American friends are going to be having a celebration too this weekend. Happy 4th of July to you!!

I'm finally going to share with you some eats. Yes, I have been eating some great things!! Even though I haven't posted food in FOREVER! Any readers left out there? HAHA! So, today I'm going to make up it, big time:) Enjoy!


Jicama fries!! I was quite skeptical to make these because I just didn't see how a raw potato -like veggie was going to compare to the cooked version. Oh I was wrong!! These were fantastic and I can't wait to pick up another jicama. Obviously these don't have that greasy, deep-fried, overly salty taste but trust me your taste buds will be happily surprised. And this root veggie is packed with healthy vitamins and minerals like beta-carotene, B complex, vitamin C, calcium, iron, and potassium.



I almost didn't want to save any for the hubby but I was nice and left him half...okay..3 haha! I used the base recipe from Brigette Mars on Care2 but had to adjust it because I didn't have chili powder on hand. Instead I used cayenne powder, paprika, cumin, and garlic salt. Yum!! These are like kale chips, play around with your favorite flavors!

I also had this big bag of Bulgur that I just kept forgetting about! I finally decided it was time for tabouli because my mint plant was just bursting with flavor and I was craving a good grain salad. This salad is beyond simple, super cheap to make, and so healthy! To "cook" the Bulgur I just put hot water over it and let it sit...simple and easy,anyone? I used this recipe as a guideline and had to change it a bit because I didn't have the full amount of parsley (used cilantro for the remainder) and didn't have the full amount of lemon juice (added a splash of rice vinegar). Even with the changes, it was fantastic and made a super huge bowl!!

Dessert:) I bought two of these gorgeous pineapples and they were beyond juicy and sweet.


Oh these pictures make me want to run to the store right now...Mmmm!


I have been loving my local health food store. The owner is super nice and will order in anything that they don't normally carry in store. Love that! Check out this sea salt I picked up. I love that they kept the grey color which is due to a local seaweed:)



I don't use much salt but sometimes a recipe just needs it. I was going to buy some kelp salt that they usually carry but it was sold out. The salt I usually use is the Himalayan salt..but I like trying new products too!

Love the big granules!!


I love Brazil nuts. They are probably my favorite nut! I love the mild, buttery flavor. I read here that you do not need to soak them. Does anyone know if this is the case?


According to Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, she recommends eating 2 Brazil nuts a day as they contain the cancer protective mineral selenium.

I picked up some D3 too! This product is made locally which I thought was pretty cool!

With the essential oil and orange flavor it actually goes down pretty easily! And only 5 drops a day.

I needed to stock up on my sprouting supplies so why not go for the fitness mix?


In case you couldn't see what the seeds were this package contained white radish, mung beans, and wheat!

What's a girl supposed to do when her food processor goes caput and she needs to grind up some chick peas? She gets creative that's what!


Haven't you ever wanted to get some anger out using a frying pan? Well here was my chance to do just that...to a bag of chick peas!


Here is the victim result! Not too bad..could have used more pounding lol! I finished the rest off with a fork!


All that work for some fantastic egg-less salad. This was for my moms as it was not made with vegenaise! Although I need to pick some up because this salad is so awesome..especially loaded with pickles..yum:)

I served the egg-less salad with some organic chibata buns that I scored at my work open house the other weekend.


I also made some of Nikki's hummus which turned out to be more of a yellow zucchini sundried tomato dip. It wasn't as thick as I usually have it because I didn't' have a whole cup of zucchini and I used almond butter instead of tahini (about half the amount she used!). Still tasted amazing:)


I also made a salad with greens out of the garden - butter lettuce, romaine, kale, and mustard greens!

Check out the size of that mustard green leaf! Mmm spicy!



I haven't had chick peas in so long! I love them in salads, there is something about their soft, fluffy centers that makes me digging around the greens for more!!


My mom was so kind to save me a couple handful of bloobs!! OH BLOOBS how I have missed you:) These are my first (but definitely not last!) of the season and they are so sweet and yummy!




After our run, the hubs and I fired up the BBQ. He had a burger, I went for Asian marinated grilled veggies! I could eat grilled veggies everyday (with lots of raw veggies mixed in, of course)

You are getting very sleepy!!! haha


I made this chocolate dream pudding for the hubby. This amazing recipe is from Kelli's blog. Thank you Kelli for telling me about it because it sure is dreamy and delicious! I was still full from all the grilled veggies so I didn't have any (call me crazy!) plus I'm on the last month of my TT contest so I'm tightening up the diet a bit!



Hope you have a wonderful weekend! I'm going out for dinner tonight with my MIL and her hubby, going shopping with Mom tomorrow, going to hopefully pick some raspberries, and have a bbq at the casa on Sunday! Summer is officially here..wahoo! Let's hope the sun says hello soon. I'm still wearing jeans..in July:( Talk to you all soon!!
PS I appreciate you all and am sending you BIG HUGS!!















































































































5 comments:

Camille (Raw Candy) said...

Wow, lady! I can't even get over all the good food in this blog post. I had a salad from my garden tonight as well and it was pretty much the best thing I've ever eaten.

Hope you had a great Canada day too :)

ac said...

Hey Melissa!

Happy Canada Day to you too! I had a blast outdoors chillaxing with family friends over barbecue :-)

Like Camille, I can't get over all the good food in this post either!! AHHHH!!! My eyes are drooling!! LOL. I think the best part is that your food is real--organic or local or just totally awesome. Or all of the above. And that makes a huge difference. :-)

Keep us posted on the TT progress! I'm always so impressed by the before/after shots on Craig's site!

warm wishes
Aletheia

Melissa said...

Hi Camille! - Thank you for stopping by. I overloaded the food picts hey? I think I definitely made up for lost time:) Oh I know..fresh salad greens are beyond amazing!

Hey Aletheia!! - sounds like a fab Canada day:) I'm all about the whole foods lady..its da bomb lol! As for progress picts...they are coming in a month or so...just a little suspense:)

Anonymous said...

Hey lovely! Oh wow, this post was packed to the brim with food. You certainly made up for the lost time.
And it all looks delicious!
I just stole my mother's huge food processor so I'm excited to make my own hummus..I might use that recipe..it looks good. I love how you improvised and smashed your chickpeas with a pan...I definitely think its a good way to get out your frustrations (right up there with screaming into a pillow).
I love grilled veggies too (and raw veggies...and all veggies!) Wish I could have come to your place for some fabulous veggie meals...jicama fries look great too! Wow, this comment has been totally out of order from how you posted but oh well, that's the scattered way my mind works at this time of night (actually, it's already morning for me now...)
Oh, and don't feel bad about neglecting Canada Day...I felt very unpatriotic, but on Canada day I went home to bed and read blogs and spent the night alone...no fireworks or celebrations for me. I was exhausted.
Sending you hugs back!

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

all this food is beautiful melissa!

love the jicama fries. i eat jicama every now and then but it gets a little boring...these would defi jazz it up!

and the D3. So important! many of us are depleted and cannot rely on the sun for all our D needs so you are so smart to supplement a bit !