More Matters

What? I am talking about fruits and veggies of course!

You see, I bought this 2 pack of cucumbers at my local grocery store and this is what the wrapper said. I am all about eating more fruits and veggies and 'imposing' my staunch views on my families. Our goal is to eat 5 fruit and 5 vegetable servings a day! We are maniacs (or trying to be)! So, this just tickled me pink!

Here is the other side of the wrapper. Canadian cucumbers, gotta love them!

Awesome way of Raising Hope

Lately, I have been needing to shop for some smaller-sized clothes... going to stores like Winners and finding fun, colourful clothes... like this!

This was a t-shirt, with awesome, amazing words about being a woman, going through some life-changing experiences... I had to buy one, and one for my sister... and my special friends too!

Look, it's a great cause. What an awesome way to clothe yourself and support women who need some help. Thanks Winners for these great t-shirts!

Fruit Pizza - Fabulous Brunch Idea

Look what I made for one fine morning brunch one day!

Fruit Pizza!!! Perhaps the best ever kind of pizza!

Here's what you do:

Oat & Yogurt Fruit Pizza

(Adapted from : http://www.theyummylife.com/Healthy_Fruit_Pizza#EmbedRecipe_304)

Ingredients

FOR YOGURT PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING:

    2 cups (16 oz) Greek yogurt - (I used low fat vanilla)

    2/3 cup peanut butter (I actually omitted this all together)

    1 teaspoon vanilla

    3 tablespoons honey

 FOR OATMEAL COOKIE CRUST:

    1/3 cup grapeseed, vegetable, or coconut oil

    1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

    3/4 cup packed brown sugar

    1 large egg

    1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

    1-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or half white and half whole wheat flour)

    3/4 cups rolled oats (not instant)

    1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

    1 tablespoon flaxseed meal (optional)

    1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

 FOR FRESH FRUIT:

 Varied colors make a pretty presentation. Choose from sliced strawberries, kiwi, bananas; halved grapes or cherries; whole blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries; canned mandarin oranges or peach slices (drained & dried)

Directions

(1) MAKE THE FROSTING:

In medium bowl, add frosting ingredients and stir until well combined. Taste and add more honey, if needed. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.

(2) MAKE THE COOKIE CRUST:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-inch pizza pan with parchment paper, extending it 1 inch from the pan edge on at least 2 sides; set aside. In large bowl, whisk together oil, applesauce, brown sugar, egg, & vanilla until well combined.  Add flour, oats, baking powder, & flaxseed; stir with wooden spoon until well combined. Stir in chopped walnuts. Transfer dough to center of parchment-covered pizza pan, and spread with back of wooden spoon evenly to edges of pan. Bake 15 minutes until starting to slightly brown around edges and is firm in center. Cool 15 minutes in pan on cooling rack. Use parchment paper "handles" to remove crust from pan and transfer to cooling rack; cool completely. Invert onto serving plate; carefully peel off parchment paper. Turn crust over.

(3) FROST AND TOP WITH FRUIT: Frost crust with chilled yogurt frosting, spreading evenly all the way to the edge. Arrange fresh fruit on top in circles, beginning on the outside edge and filling towards the center. Serve right away, or chill for up to 4 hours before serving.

MAKE AHEAD TIPS. You can make the crust and frosting ahead and store for up to 24 hours in advance so they're ready to assemble the next day. Bake the cookie crust, cool, cover, and store at room temperature.  Mix the yogurt frosting, cover and chill in fridge. The next day, frost the crust, slice and arrange the fruit, and it's ready to serve.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION for one serving using 2% Greek yogurt in frosting:

--Using peanut butter (or other nut butters) in frosting: 336 calories, 18.2g fat, 34.6g carbs, 3.1g fiber, 19.2g sugars, 11.3g protein 

And now, the step by step photos... make the giant cookie....

Let it cool (I did it 2 days ahead), and put it on your platter.

Spread the yogurt mixture... I LOVE GREEK YOGURT.

Place your lovely cut up fruit... fresh ones for me only.... and make a lovely pattern. And there you have it, a delicious, nutritious and beautiful desert/brunch/snack idea!

evolution of smooth

Ok, new favourite product plug. Have you met these? eos, the evolution of smooth.

They are totally awesome spheres of smooth. 100% natural and 95% organic- sorry about you last 5%!

They come in a rainbow of colours/flavours. Here is my collection. I have a few, you see I am addicted to lipbalm and need one everywhere... in my purse, nightstand, gym bag... and a spare of course.

This is what it looks like when you unlock the sphere of love, a big round smooth ball. My current favourite is sweet mint... check out some of the other flavours! http://evolutionofsmooth.ca/

Nice Nails - Bikini so Teeny

Well, I finally found a bikini that fits!

LOL, well, it's a nail polish colour that I saw last summer on a friend's nails and I have been looking for it ever since... finally this spring I found it at Walmart... of all places! Anyways, the it's like a periwinkle blue, you know the colour of forget-me-not flowers. So of course, I had to add a flower on one of my nails.

Did I ever mention how I love nail polish names... that's a job I would love, naming colours!

Marilyn Monroe- what does she know about coffee?

She would know that tired moms love pretty coffee shops! Happy Mother's day to all the moms out there. This special gourmet coffee shop if just perfect for moms needing a nice break!

So check it out.... this is the inside of the Marilyn Monroe Cafe downtown Oakville. Fabulous right? Totally glamorous in it's decor, white, gray, modern, and pictures and silent films of Marilyn Monroe everywhere.

Here's my dearest friend Janice- who is a mother- checking out the menu... so delicious!

So here's what we picked, a decadent red velvet cupcake, we were sensible... and we shared!

Nice close up for you!

Ok, had to show you how everything is branded with the marilyn monroe cafe. With the dot on top of the i as a star, because we are all superstars just like you Marilyn when we eat at your cafe...

... or spend 3 hours chatting like mom's who love to take a break from life and relax and revel in the cool, modern surroundings of your cafe.

Real Homemade Maple Syrup- now that's natural!

I love how we are all connected... someone knows someone who does this or that... and then you end up with 2 litres of fresh, real, from the farm maple syrup.

Thanks to my friend and colleague Kim's family- her parents run a farm just outside Peterborough. I was able to place my special order with the Smith Family Farm for some fresh, authentic, no additives, no preservatives maple syrup.

This is a picture Kim took of her family's real honest to goodness old-fashioned maple syrup making equipment. That's all, maple tree drips into a can, they collect it and boil it! I LOVE IT!

And here I am making Kim proud... Kim's favourite thing on earth is Tim Hortons coffee, this one's for you Kim. Homemade French toast with your family's maple syrup- clean and pure... next to a Timmies coffee, well... not so pure :-) . It's all about balance folks!

Artsy Fartsy

I have been meaning to create some more pretty art pieces to hang in my 'newish' bedroom. Since art is so expensive to buy, I decided to make my own... 'cause that's how I roll.

I took some of my brother's old canvases and painted the exact wall colour of my bedroom over them (thanks Charles!). I then got some inspiration, because of my bed linens to cover them with wild flowers. Using the colours in my bedroom, I made pretty white, purple and green circles.

... oh and I did that twice and added some plaint 'splotches' for drama!!!

Then I went to my local dollar store and bought some fake flowers and glued them on some of the circles, my favourites are the white and green 'balls'.

So here you have it, hanging above my bed two pretty, flowery masterpieces, and the hot glued balls have not yet fallen on my head!

Oh yeah, one more thing, I needed something in my bathroom for the other wall, I found these lovely art cards at Ikea and frames... so I matted them in white and voila! Fun, don't you think?

Tangerine Dreams- trying to find healthy alternatives in the restaurant world

We recently celebrated my friend and colleagues birthday by visiting a local restaurant called Tangerine Asian Cuisine.



Nice close up, eh! Here's the link for more dets. http://www.tangerineasiancuisine.com/
There's the girls, birthday girl Nancy, there in green!

Nancy ordered the Pad Thai. Real good, portions are ginormous!!!!

Here's what I did... I really wanted the General Tso (you know fried crispy golden nuggets of chicken in a spicy tangy sauce)... but I know how big the portions are here and having a giant plate like that in front of me might be hard to resist. So instead, I opted for a dish that had lots of vegetables. Just look at my Chicken and vegetable dish. It was fantastic and sooooo huge that it doubled- as my lunch the following day. Love those big bold broccolis!

Here's another, green cury chicken, it was sooooooo  spicy and creamy (coconut milk), so I was glad to accept a bite from a friends dish.

Here's another plate of crispy fried chicken love... Spicy Manchurian Chicken. Again... had a little bite.

There you have it, a snipet into our Tangerine dream birthday lunch. It's great to go out and celebrate, it's great to order yourself the healthiest, greenest dish... and it's also great to have a little bite of your friend's dish to spice it up!

Nice Nails- Bahama Mama

Time to have some fun with nails again. Really it's my new love for this brand of polish called essie. It's really a good brand that is 'good' for your nails too. The colour are bold and vibrant or soft and gentle... what ever flavour you are interested in.

Well, this is what I did... this fun colour is called Bahama Mama so I lacquered it on and you know I can't just have 'plain' nails, I have to 'jazzify' it up, so this time, I opted for sparkly gold tips. What do you think?

Better Butter Chicken... well healthier!

Thanks to my dear friend Sue, I have to share the wonderful, easy crockpot chicken recipe with some Indian flare.

   

Take about 6 chicken breasts and put them in your crockpot.

Cover them with this delicious Blue Menu product. Butter Chicken Cooking sauce. It has 60% less fat and 40% less sodium than their regular butter chicken sauce. Cook in the crockpot on low for about 6 hours.

Get your cilantro going! Chop up as much as you want and put it on top of the chicken.

Warm up some Naan. Should have used the Blue Menu Naan though.

Here's what I did... I shredded the chicken still in the crockpot so that every lilttle piece could soak up the Butter Chicken sauce.

Ta da! Serve over a little basmati rice and lots of broccoli on the side. A delicious and easy Indian dish your whole family will enjoy!

Green Soupy Sunday Asparagus Soup- Masters Edition

A few weeks back we were invited to my parents home to watch the Masters- the big golf tournament where the winners take home a green jacket. So in honour of the colour green, I decided to try and make a green soup... here's my stab at Asparagus soup.

This was going to be a challenge because my husband doesn't like asparagus, but loves watching golf!

Here's where we begin...

Asparagus Potato Soup

(original url: http://api.allthecooks.com/asparagus-potato-soup.html)

Ingredients

1 pound - Asparagus; trimmed, -and cut into 1-in lengths

1 large - Baking potato; peeled and cut into 1/2-in cubes

1 medium - Yellow onion, peeled and cut into slim wedges

3 1/2 cup - Chicken broth

1/4 teaspoon - Ground mace

1/8 teaspoon - Ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon - Salt

1/4 teaspoon - Freshly ground pepper

6 tablespoon - Freshly grated Parmesan

Serves 6.

Directions

1 PLACE ALL THE INGREDIENTS except cheese in a large saucepan.

2 Bring the liquid to a simmer over moderate heat, then adjust the heat so that it bubbles gently.

3 Cover the pot and simmer the broth for 30 to 35 minutes, until the vegetables are very tender.

4 Cool the broth, still covered, for 20 minutes.

5 Puree the broth and the vegetables in batches, in a blender or in a food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade.

6 Return the puree to the saucepan, set it over moderate heat and bring the soup just to serving temperature.

7 Ladle the soup into heated bowls and top each portion with 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan cheese.

Et voila, the finished soup. It really was delicious... and Brent even liked it!

  

My mom made a 'green' ceasar salad.

... and served 'green' honeydew melon.

I had some leftover carrot cupcakes I brought over (they freeze quite well). I added some golf flags, sorry no green here though.

Here's the 'taped' Masters.... we had to pause for dinner of course.

Here's Brent enjoying the Masters with his green track pants.

... and here's the cutie who won the Masters- Australian Adam Scott, hey I wonder if my brother and his family know him (they live in Australia, that's what folks say about Canada!!!)