Excellent documentary on Wasted Food

Can’t get enough salad and fruit…

Click on pic for spud.ca

I’ve been eating tons of organic oranges this week, and this is the 4th day in a row I’ve eaten a large salad for or with my dinner. Yeah! Spring is here… I always get in a veggie funk in the winter cause nothing tastes fresh to me. Now that the temperature is finally warming up around here, I’m enjoying fresh produce again. You can’t even imagine how happy this makes me.

I find I crave oranges when my immune system is being attacked, and sure enough, I started coughing and my sinuses are getting stuffy. I downed 6 Kyolic garlic capsules, a mug of neocitran (yeah, I know… not “natural”, but I want to sleep tonight) and lots of fresh whole foods today.

My Green Report Card

I thought it would be fun to share what we’re doing right and wrong, and welcome any suggestions or comments. Maybe you’ll get some ideas, and I’d love to get some new ideas from my readers.

Things I need to work on:

• Beat my coca cola addiction
• Find an earth friendly ant poison for when I want to get rid of ants in the house
• Take shorter showers
• When the recycling bin is full, take the extras to the recycling depot instead of throwing them in the garbage
• Buy a wagon and walk to the store to pick up groceries instead of driving (it’s only 1 km away)
• Use that same wagon to pick up my son from school (it’s less than 1 km away)
• Buy less frozen packaged organic foods for convenience and pre-cook meals for quick lunches and dinners
• Set up a cistern to collect rainwater to use for watering the garden

Things I am doing well:

• No toxic cleaners in the house
• About 80% of our groceries are organic
• We’re growing an organic veggie garden this year
• We’re growing organic fresh herbs
• We donate our unwanted stuff (clothes, furniture, toys, etc) to our local recycling centre for resale
• We donate our pop/juice/wine bottles & cans to a charitable organization to return for a refund
• Most of our house lights use low-energy bulbs
• At night we turn all the lights off except for one small lamp in the room we’re using
• We have a fuel efficient compact car and combine all our big errands into one trip into town every other week
• We use canvas shopping bags when we go shopping
• We purchase local produce
• We support local businesses and artists
• I am vegetarian and my husband eats vegetarian meals at home
• We rarely eat out and enjoy trying new recipes at home
• We use a Brita water filter jug instead of buying bottled water
• My son wears good quality (free) second hand clothes passed on from friends
• We try to buy second hand clothes and furniture if possible
• We try to utilize the library for books and DVDs instead of purchasing them new
• Both my husband and I work from home and have no commute
• We use the local freecycle group for donating stuff we’re no longer using, or to find stuff we need
• Our computers and accessories are on power bars that we switch off at night
• We recycle everything we can, compost kitchen food scraps, and have very little trash going to the landfill
• When I was singing in a local community choir I carpooled every week with three other women
• We supplement our electric baseboard heaters with a wood burning stove, and use it to burn all our leftover paper/cardboard/newspaper/flyers
• Instead of using a space heater in our unheated bedrooms in the winter we bought electric blankets and only use as needed

Did I miss anything?

How’s your Green Report Card Looking?

Fresh Basil Rotini Salad

I made this for a church home goup potluck and it was a huge hit! So fresh and flavorful. Perfect for a summer picnic too.

Ingredients

1 box whole wheat rotini

2 ripe vine tomatoes, diced

fresh basil, shredded

1/2 large red onion, sliced

1 cup feta, crumbled

2 t diced garlic

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 T olive oil

Instructions

Prepare pasta as per instructions on box. Prepare fresh ingredients. Gently mix pasta, tomato, basil, red onion, garlic and feta. Drizzle with vinegar and oil. Toss. Serve warm or chilled.

Optional: Add any other fresh veggies you like… diced cucumber and bell peppers would be yummy… Maybe some olives and banana peppers for extra flavor.

Easter Sunday Dessert – Banana Cream Pie

Image credited to Kraft Foods site

I decided I needed to make a Banana Cream Pie, but didn’t have a recipe for it, and had never made one before, so I sort of made this one up from a few different ones I saw online… It was AMAZING!

Crust:

2.5 cups graham crumbs

0.5 cup melted butter

0.5 cup brown sugar

Mix the ingredients and press into the bottom of a large cake pan.

Filling:

Package of vanilla pudding prepared (I used an instant organic mix package and sweetened it with 3 T of organic sugar, and made it up with skim milk)

1 cup sour cream (I used organic full fat)

Large container of frozen cool whip (thawed in fridge overnight)

2 to 3 bananas (depending on size)

Slice the bananas and layer on top of the crust. Mix the sour cream into the pudding while it’s still warm, and then gently fold the cool whip into the pudding mixture. Layer on top of the bananas.

Chill in the fridge for at least a few hours to allow the pudding to set fully.

Oh yum.

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LOW CALORIE VERSION

Crust:

1.25 cups graham crumbs

0.25 cup melted butter

Mix the ingredients and press into the bottom of a large cake pan.

Filling:

Package of vanilla pudding prepared (I used an instant organic mix package and sweetened it with 3 T of organic sugar, and made it up with skim milk)

1 cup low fat sour cream

1 package of dream whip made up with skim milk

2 regular size bananas

Slice the bananas and layer on top of the crust. Mix the sour cream into the pudding while it’s still warm, and then gently fold the cool whip into the pudding mixture. Layer on top of the bananas.

Chill in the fridge for at least a few hours to allow the pudding to set fully.

Makes 12 servings (4 WW pts/slice)

Sprouts!

I have started tracking my food on Calorie King, and it has come to my attention that my protein and fibre intake is sadly lacking. I *knew* that intuitively, but now I’m seeing it in black and white. I found a few lists of high protein vegetable foods, and at the top of the list was sprouts. I did a little googling around to find out how to grow them myself and came across this handy youtube tutorial:

Everything you need to know about growing sprouts. My mom used to grow sprouts when I was a kiddo, and I’ve always loved them on a hummus or cheese sandwich.

Tip: If you don’t have a lid with a screen, you can cut up a pair of panty hose to put over the lid.

Added bonus is my son is learning about seeds at school right now, so this will be a fun project to do together.

Vegetarian Corn Chowder

The weather turned cold again this week so I adapted a few chowder recipes I found online, and Brent made the following soup Monday night. Unfortunately my camera was dead when this happened, so there are no pics. It was pretty through!

He served it with artisan bread from a local baker, but it could also be accompanied by these yummy looking Cheddar Dill Beer Biscuits.

Creamy Corn Chowder

3 cups frozen whole kernel corn

1 finely diced red onion

4 peeled, bite-size diced white potatoes

4 cups of boiling water

4 veggie bouillon cubes

1 t dried thyme or chopped fresh

2 t paprika

4 T butter

1 370 ml can evaporated milk

salt & pepper to taste

fresh chopped parsley (for garnish)

Directions:

Melt butter over medium high heat in a large pot. Add diced onion and thyme and saute till onion is transluscent. Add paprika and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Dissolve the bouillon cubes in the boiling water and add to the pot. Add potatoes and corn. Bring to a boil and then reduce hit and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until the potatoes are soft but not mushy. Squish a few potato chunks against the side of the pot with a fork, stir, and cook for a few minutes to thicken the chowder.

Reduce the heat to low, add the can of evaporated milk, heat through, but do not boil. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with chives.

A step closer to a healthier diet – Sugar Free

On February 26th I went off cane sugar, white flour, and white rice. I have to do things cold turkey, or it just sneaks back up on me.

After 8 relatively painless days of being free of sugar and white stuff, I decided to have an intentional sugary treat. My treat of choice was a bottle of coke and a piece of key lime pie. I enjoyed them, sure, but I wasn’t bowled over by their amazingness. The next day I went right back to being sugar free without experiencing any regrets or cravings.

I think I can confidently say that my diet as good as it’s going to get now. I posted more details about my diet choices on my PCOS blog if you’re interested in reading more about the healthy changes I’ve made.

Eating Seasonally

I’ve been feeling frustrated by the quality of vegetables right now, and I got to the source of the problem today. I’m wanting to eat fruit and veggies that aren’t in season right now like tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers… The tomatoes are the worst. EW! I keep buying organic vine ripened tomatoes and am sorely disappointed not only in the flavor (none!) but also how quickly they rot.

Today I was looking around online and came across these charts on the Act Now BC site and am going to start planning my menu around which fruits and veggies are in season. Easily done from July to September. Not so easily done from Dec to Feb.

I have some seasonal recipes I need to dust off… Borscht, a dish I haven’t eat since childhood but LOVE! Nothing like a big bowl of borscht with a dollop of sourcream or yogourt and some toasted rye bread on a cold winter night…

Another favorite of mine is roasted turnip (I just realized I wrote turnip, and I HATE turnip! LOL), squash, potatoes, onions, and beets with a side of hot basmati rice. Last time I made them, I brushed them all with pesto, baked them till they were browned, and OMG… DELISH!

You must have a GOOD Chef’s knife

Mine is a Wüsthof Classic Ikon. My DH picked it for me because it’s light, it’s meant for cutting veggies (I’m a vegetarian, so that makes sense) and good quality. I have carpel tunnel syndrome and most chef’s knives are too heavy and make my arm and hand go completely numb after only a few minutes. This one is perfect and I actually look forward to chopping veggies these days. If you like to cook and you haven’t invested in a decent chef’s knife, as Nike would say, just do it. Today. You won’t regret it…