The Jig is Up

Do you see anywhere on this ad that says you have to buy one to get it free? Me either.

I had a dentist appointment this morning before work. I skipped breakfast and thought it would be the prefect Friday treat to have one of those Starbucks Vivvano smoothies for breakfast since it sounds pretty nutritious and is 280 calories which is the amount I aim for in a weekday breakfast. So by the time I get down there after my dentist appointment, it's 9:30 and I'm starving and can't wait for my smoothie.

Turns out you have to BUY 1 to get your free one! Who in the heck needs 2! Honestly. I would have just opted out of it, but I was so hungry and my other options would have been sub-par oatmeal or pastries I'm seriously ticked off.

Don't mess with me with I'm hungry. :-D

I even bit the bullet and registered my starbucks card to get the stupid thing and the only reason I got the starbucks card was to use the free internet.

They got me. They got me good.

At least I had a treat to bring into work this morning and someone else's Friday was brightened.

Okay, better now :-D

Edit: The next time I visited Starbucks I checked the balance on my card and I was not charged for the smoothie(s). So basically I was rewarded by getting TWO free Vivano smoothies on account of the Baristas' misinformation. Karma people. Karma. :-)

Organic No Better Than Conventionally Grown? Ha!!

It was an actual sunny and hot day in Halifax yesterday and it finally felt like summer should! I spent my lunch hour at Local Joe Cafe & Market (I seem to becoming a regular there) and I enjoyed another tasty Joe’s fizzy lemonade:

And I sat by the window enjoying the breeze, shade and some bloggin’:

I had the most fun burning almost 300 calories after work jumping on the trampolene. I’m tellin ya you guys, it’s hard work! I had a major sweat going on and I had my heart rate in the high 160’s. My butt and abs are sorrrrrrrrrrrre this morning! (More than from Tuesday's Bootycamp!) So fun!

Supper was soooooooo goood, I had to share it with ya’ll.

It was a salmon salad which consisted of:

• can of wild pacific salmon
• sweet farmer's market carrots
• english cucumber
• cherry tomatoes cut in half
• red pepper
• fresh farmer's market organic spinach
• sliced black olives
• corn off the cob
• avocado
• Hellman’s EVOO mayo
• dijon mustard

on a bed of fresh greens. HOLY YUM! I’m enjoying some for lunch today!

P.S. I love saying "fresh farmer's market" 'cause it makes it sound so much tastier doesn't it?!

On a related noted, today's latest buzz in the health food world is that "there is no evidence of a difference in nutrient quality between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs." Published today in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is a systemic review of sources of research and publications including PubMed, Web of Science, and CAB Abstracts for a period of 50 y from 1 January 1958 to 29 February 2008, and which also including contacting subject experts, and hand-searched bibliographies and included peer-reviewed articles.

The review consisted of 52,471 articles and of those, they "identified 162 studies (137 crops and 25 livestock products); 55 were of satisfactory quality. In an analysis that included only satisfactory quality studies, conventionally produced crops had a significantly higher content of nitrogen, and organically produced crops had a significantly higher content of phosphorus and higher titratable acidity. No evidence of a difference was detected for the remaining 8 of 11 crop nutrient categories analyzed. Analysis of the more limited database on livestock products found no evidence of a difference in nutrient content between organically and conventionally produced livestock products."

The analysis concluded, "On the basis of a systematic review of studies of satisfactory quality, there is no evidence of a difference in nutrient quality between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs. The small differences in nutrient content detected are biologically plausible and mostly relate to differences in production methods. "

Here's the thing though, maybe this review may sway folks that there may be little nutritional differences between the two, but this analysis has nothing to do with the affect of pesticides both physiologically on humans or environmentally. I hope that folks who get wind of this information do not discount the other benefits of organically grown produce and livestock because there are other important reasons for choosing organic!

In days where many people are pinching pennies, while many people simply cannot afford to buy organic, many people have expressed that they would still not make that sacrifice and pay the higher premium. I wonder now, in light of this new information, will it now sway people to relax their "rules" on choosing to buy organic. I'm thinking maybe not because those people who are "sticking to their guns" and choosing organic in tougher economic times are, in my opinion, likely more informed about the concerns of pesticides and the use of hormones and antibiotics and not just nutrients alone.

I know that it is far more difficult in Canada, or at least in Nova Scotia (compared to the U.S.) to buy organic (especially meats), due to cost and accessibility (even though it is steadily improving and becoming more accessible and slightly more affordable), so it does mean making a financial sacrifice to do so. While I don't buy 100% organic, I am steadily doing it more and more and for me, I sometimes choose buying organic over a new pair of shoes and this information hasn't affected my view.

Opinions:

What do you think? Do you buy organic? Do you buy local? How easy or how difficult is it for you? In light of this information, does it change your mind?

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down

Thumbs Up:

Farmer’s Market fresh whole wheat roll, fresh FM greens, Fox Hill jalapeno gouda cheese, schmear of Hellman’s EVOO mayo, leftover roasted chicken breast.  Seriously awesome:

Best Bowl o’ Oats in a long time on the patio taking advantage of what little sunshine and/or non-rainy weather we can get:

• 1/3c rolled oats
• 1/2c unsweetened vanilla almond breeze, 1/2c water
• 1/2 medium banana
• 1 tbsp sprouted chia
• splash of vanilla, dash(es) of cinnamon, pinch of sea salt
• Toppings: 1 tbsp chocolate PB2, tbsp cashew/almond butter, 1/2tbsp artisana cocoa bliss, mini dark chocolate chips, sprinkle of unsweetened coconut

\

It was nutritious and calories dense and perfect brunch food that kept me going for HOURS.

Thumbs Down:

I have the last of the Vega packets I wanted to sample and I had hoped that it being chocolate that at maybe it would be the “secret Vega weapon” that would knock my socks off and especially since the other products I tried I didn’t like at all, the vibrance bar that was “okay” but not getting again and the sports drink which was only “drinkable” and not “must dump out.”

Unfortunately this chocolate flavoured health optimizer was also a flop.  In an effort to give it the benefit of the doubt, I did blend it up with several other things to make it a complete staying power breakfast, so maybe it was the combination of things that was intolerable?  Probably not.  I have these other ingredients all of the time in my smoothies and am always pleased.   I blended it up with 1/2 frozen banana, frozen strawberries, sprouted chia, unsweetened vanilla almond breeze, 3c baby spinach.

I drank about 1/4 of it and dumped it.  Sorry Vega.  I’m not a fan.

So far the best protein powder that I have tried has been Ultimate Protein and I love both the tropical vanilla and chocolate.  They have no chalky taste to them at all and I definitely give them a thumbs up!  They are great stand alone with milk or to add to your smoothies.  While I don’t rely heavily on protein powders, I do like to add them in once and a while and especially if I’m doing well in the exercise department which lately I’ve been getting my booty kicked!

Real Food Worth Sharing

A yum-o day of eats to share with ya’ll!

Toasted Ezekiel english muffin with cashew-almond butter and a half of a mashed naner on top:

  

 

Joe’s lemonade  (complete with a few berries) from Local Joe’s Cafe and Market

 

 

 

Plain organic Liberte yogurt with rhubarb from the Farmer’s Market, mixed with pureed strawberries from Farm Girl’s farm a few week’s ago:

 

Portobello mushroom burger (marinated in EVOO + balsamic, on a whole wheat roll with Fox Hill goat cheese, basil and grilled red pepper), side salad of purple lettuce, cherry tomatoes, basil, goat cheese & balsamic vinegar with roasted red pepper on the side:

  

Mmmmm basil…

 

Roasted red peppers on the BBQ:

 

And a side of edamame for some protein with a dusting of sea salt:

Thought it was worth sharing :-D

Free Bootycamp a la Jaime!

Jaime's giving away a free 4 week bootycamp ladies! So go on over there and sign up! We've had tons of fun and major improvements in our fitness so far! :-)

Blogger Buddy Love

Last week in my video post, I spoke about a special thoughtful momento from our Toronto Trip in June that I received in the mail from my blogger buddy Cat .  I think it is safe to “Let the Cat out of the bag” (omg I crack myself up! lol) and share with you all the framed photo that Cat sent:

 

This is our first night together in Toronto at our “Wine & Cheese”.  From left to right: Amy, Jen, Cat, Jaime, Tasha, and me in the front. 

We all know how hard core Amy is about exercise and sports and she is so much so that she skipped out for a while to play baseball with an old friend who lived in the area and then met back up with us.  I think by the time she returned we all were sufficiently professional wine “tasters” by that point I can tell yas that much!  It was the perfect way to kick off our weekend of fun in Toronto at Tasha’s house.

With the photo came the cutest card:

 

With the sweetest note that made me cry…yes..it’s true:

I promptly put it up on my fireplace mantle and fits perfectly there with my fresh purdy flowers (I think it was the fact that they were my wedding colours that drew me to them):

 

Thank you again Cat, you are quite a special and thoughtful gal to send that gift.  I will be forever touched. ;-)

P.S. Tasha is currently in Nice and says that so far Barcelona has been the most fun city yet and something about having to take it easy on the wine for a while ;-)

I live to receive her email updates!

Halibloggers Do Halifax Farmer’s Market

Okay so not the whole Haliblogger crew, just Lynn and I, but the perfect way to spent Saturday morning spent with Lynn Haliblogger style!

We met up at Cabin Coffee which is right across from the Keith’s Brewery and since I knew I was having brunch at Cora’s, I tide myself over with a Cashew Cookie Larabar and a maple skim milk latte.  Turns out it’s majorly inconvenient to walk around the Farmer’s Market with a cup of anything in your hand!  Note to self for next time!

Lynn and I were like kids in a candy store with all of the beautiful fresh produce everywhere!  We didn’t even know where to start:

     

I love Halifax.  You just could never tear me away from here.  I love the smell of the ocean and I love the waterfront (and even the not so pleasant smell, I love it), I love the old historic buildings and everything about it. 

  

…and good ol’ Alexander Keith’s:

 

More market tents:

   

 

 

I got some red swiss chard…

 

 

 

 

 

Some fresh juicy carrots:

 

 

  

 

All of this lettuce for $1.00!  Ya can’t beat that!  Methinks this week will be salad week!

 

 

 

The next thing we knew our arms were getting pretty heavy with all of our loot, so we were ready to head off for brunch at Cora’s.  Although I forgot to snap a pic, at the Farmer’s Market I ended up with:

• 1lb spinach
• salad greens
• 2 bunches of lettuce
• red swiss chard
• beets
• rhubarb
• carrots
• beans
• zucchini
• new white potatoes
• basil
• whole wheat bread
• whole wheat rolls
• Fox Hill jalapeno gouda
• Fox Hill feta

I figured it was enough for one trip.  Since I’m the only veggie eater in my house, it would be a shame for it to spoil.  So that was enough to keep me going for this week!

I had the smoked salmon benedict at Cora’s only we asked not to have the hash brown potatoes and they instead put some tomato slices on the side which I thought was great!

   

Hollandaise on the side:

 

It was wonderful and Lynn and I just chatted away.  We eventually made our way over to Starbucks where I had a shaken iced tea lemonade which was perfectly refreshing on a humid hot day.

I got home and put one of those whole wheat rolls and jalapeno gouda to the test pretty quickly with this amazing sammie:

 

• whole wheat bun
• fresh salad greens
• sliced roasted chicken breast (leftover)
• schmear of Hellman’s EVOO mayo (I love this stuff)
• Fox Hill jalapeno gouda

 

It was soooooooo gooood!

P.S. You should see how SKINNY Lynn looks!!

And Then There Was One…

…stand alone Haliblogger to start off the second half of the 8 week sessions with Bootycamp Fitness.  Farm Girl had a hot date with her hubby for their anniversary, Jaime had lots to do for her trip to Ontario tomorrow, Lex is away to Edmonton for vacay and a wedding and Lynn is trying to take it easy to recover from being sick.  So there I was a lonely Haliblogger thrown amidst the newbies just starting their sessions and a few familiar faces from our original group.  I chatted with a newbie and gave her a warning about how much her legs will likely kill her for the next couple of days!

It turns out that Heather injured her shoulder and isn’t going to be able to teach the rest of our sessions, even though she was there on the sidelines to watch, and we endured the stylings of Eszter who teaches the Downtown Halifax session.   It was nice to experience the class from a different instructor to get a comparative perspective.  Heather is a great instructor and has some of that tough love quality that you expect when you sign up for a “boot camp” and Eszter’s approach was quite different in the fact that her enthusiasm was bright and perky the entire time and she explained everything with the same “easy peasy” tone that made everything sound easy and simple.  There was more kickboxing which I really liked it!  I wonder if this means we won’t be getting into more nutritional stuff that Heather talked about?

BTW Halibloggers, you can do your “make up” class from when it was cancelled on any of Eszter’s classes at the Commons.  I think I will try to get it in on Monday.

I came come and devoured the rest of the bean-corn-salsa mixture in the form of a tex-mex salad:

   

• bed of salad greens
• chipotle Guitless Gourmet  chips
• black bean-corn-spinach mixture, warmed
• chopped avocado
• light marble cheese, shredded
• dolop of sour cream

DEEEEELISHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Sweet Potato, Corn, Black Beans & Salsa – Who Knew?!

Instead of doing a “play by play” with the food blogging, I’ve decided to share with you meals which I think are worth sharing with you.  Yesterday it was 2 out of 3 meals. 

Lunch was a delicious salmon filet salad.  I baked the salmon in the oven the night before with S&P and the maple balsamic vinaigrette that I had leftover from my guest post @ ZestyCooks when I made Maple Walnut Salmon over Beet & Goat Cheese Greens a while ago and it went fantastically well over salad greens, some red onion, cucs, red pepper, julienned carrots and Dill Quark Cheese (from Fox Hill).  I also had a few splashes of Fig Balsamic vinaigrette over the greens:

 

After my video post last night, I had some fantastic post-run EATS!

I can’t rave enough about this meal!!!!!!!  I bookmarked it and have planned to make it since Dani posted it and tonight was the night.  It was:

Black Bean and Kale Topped Sweet Potatoes w/ Avocado Mash

but I made a few modifications and you guys, OMG it was so good I’m having leftovers today and am making it again really soon!

Ingredients

• 1 sweet potato
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• 1-15oz can of black beans
• 1 cup of frozen or canned corn (see below)
• 2 cloves of chopped garlic
• ½ onion, chopped
• 2 heaping handfuls of kale (I used fresh baby spinach instead)
• *I added about 3/4c salsa to the mixture when it started to get a little dry
• *I also added about 1/2c minced fresh cilantro
• Juice of half a lime
• 1 tbsp cumin
• ¼ cup lite shredded Mexican cheese blend

Avocado Mash

• ½ avocado
• 1 tbsp limejuice
• 1 clove garlic
• Pinch of salt

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 425. *I cooked my sweet potato in the microwave cut in half and poked with a fork
2. Poke a bunch of holes is your sweet potato and pop into the oven for about one hour or until fork tender.
3. Heat one olive oil in a small saucepan and add in onions and garlic.  Sauté for about five minutes or until your onions are translucent.
4. Add black beans (along with the liquid) and cumin and cook until the beans are heated through.  Stir in the kale, corn and limejuice and cook for about five more minutes or until the kale has wilted down. *This is where I added the leftover salsa I had in a jar in the fridge along with the minced cilantro.  It needed more moisture and it was PERFECT I’m tellin’ ya!
5. While your beans are cooking, combine half an avocado with one clove of crushed garlic, a squish of limejuice and a pinch of salt.  Mash up with the back of a fork and then set aside.
6. Split your sweet potato in half and top each with two tablespoons of cheese.  Then pile one cup of the black bean and kale mixture over the top and  finish each potato with half of the avocado mash. 
7. Enjoy!
   Serves 2.  (You will have one extra serving of beans and kale).

Nutritional Analysis

Calories: 375; Total Fat: 10.4g; Saturated Fat: 2.5g; Cholesterol: 10mg; Sodium: 557mg; Carbohydrate: 58.5g; Dietary Fiber: 13.6; Sugars: 10.9g; Protein: 15.4g

Tip:

I had some grilled corn leftover from the night before and by the way, I learned this tip on the Food Network some time ago and it’s a good one.  Use a bunt pan to help you slice the corn kernels off of your ears of corn!  I use it more for this purpose than baking actual bunt cakes!

   

This incredible easy dish is now easily in my top five favourites!

 

Everything was perfect about this dish.  There was an amazing combination of sweeeeeet from the corn and the sweet potato and spicy from the salsa & cumin and the combination of textures was perfect too.  I just loved it.

TRY IT!  Everything about it was super healthy too!