Well, 'tis a new year full of promising new beginnings! Our family,
along with the Milners started the New Year off with a bang at
Disneyworld followed with a Caribbean cruise! It was nice to get away
after a hectic Christmas. And though, sadly, Colin Firth didn't happen
to cross our path - our male flight attendant bore a striking
resemblance to him. OK, so not really - it was the hair - he had Colin
Firth hair! Even my 14 year old son noticed and commented on it as we
debarked the plane!
The day after we got home I came down with a terrible cold, as did the
whole surrounding area. The weather here has been unbearabye cold this
month - I can't remember a winter in all my 40 years that was ever this
cold for so longggggggggggggg. Needless to say, it was hard getting
back into the groove. I didn't get to Curves the first week back at all
and it showed when I resumed last week. My energy level had bottomed
out, but I'm on my way to recovery now! Curves started a new Jillian
Michael's workout this month which they run 3 times a day. This is what
I happened to walk into my first day back. Let me tell you, it's
tough! Basically it is a more intense exercise during the recovery
stations and can include planks, squats, jumping jacks etc. I was sore
and achy for the next 2 days. Yesterday I tried it again and I really
do like it! I think it's just what I need to push my metabolism to the
next level as I'm struggling to lose the extra weight. Silly me, I
thought I'd lose weight on this cruise like I did on the Mediterranean
one in May - but no - in fact, I passed the 140 lb mark. Yikes!!
Cruising on the back end of Christmas - not recommended, unless you want
to have "thighs the size of tree trunks"! But we did have great times,
great food, and memories to last a lifetime - and it just means I need
to work extra hard to get back to where I was. I mean, I swam with a
dolphin in Cozumel! I tried new foods- oyster, squid, turtle and
escargot even! The important lesson here is not to feel defeated and
depressed because the scale decided to visit it's past life, because
that's all it was - a visit, but to savour those morsels and memories
and resolve to fight harder. So scale, it's time to come back home and
move forward (or downward depending on how
you look at it!).
And speaking of new foods, I'd like to get back to my alphabetical
culinary challenge and cover D, E and F. Some letters are have more
abundant selections than others. For "D" week, we have daikon,
dandelion, dragon fruit, fresh dates, dill, Dijon mustard and demerera
sugar.
The daikon is the elongated white vegetable and tastes like radish. I
had never had this before and it was rather tasty. I washed and peeled
it and then grated it and served it to everyone just like that - so
very simple! Daikon is excellent for aiding digestion and is low
calorie, rich in fibre, vitamin C, and potassium.
Dandelion greens - blech!!! I wish I could love them as there are so
many health benefits associated with them, but they taste terrible!
Perhaps I should try a different method before I give up on them
entirely. They are helpful in purifying your blood and lowering blood
sugars. Dandelion is also high in fibre and potassium. I just
remembered that I tried dandelion ice cream a couple of years ago at an
environmental fair in Toronto - and I actually liked it! So maybe
that's the way to go! Hmmm...I think it was a pale yellow colour though
so maybe it was the flower and not the leaf.
Dragon fruit is just plain fun - the name is fun, it has a pretty colour
and surprises you on the inside. When you open it up you will find a
white pulp mixed with little black seeds. The fruit is low in
cholesterol, high in fibre and vitamin C and therefore a good
antioxidant!
I'm sure you have all tried date squares before, and that's likely how
you consume your dates. I found fresh dates at the grocery store. They
were yellow and attached to a woody vine. Dates are one of the
sweetest fruits of all and the high sugar content can lead to tooth
decay and weight gain. The benefits however are the high mineral
content and antioxidant vitamins that help reduce cancer risk, bone
loss, heart disease and anemia.
One of the new recipes I tried was a Mushroom Dill Pasta that I found on Pinterest. The link to the recipe is
http://www.sweetpaulmag.com/food/mushroom-dill-pasta.
If you like mushrooms and dill or just want to try something new, it's
quite tasty! Dill is high in calcium and fibre and protects against
free radicals and carcinogens.
I added the demerera sugar as a healthier alternative to regular refined
sugar. Demerera is only partially refined and maintains a natural
colour. It differs from brown sugar which attains it's colour from
molasses added to white sugar.
Dijon mustard is high in selenium and magnesium which may help prevent cancer and high blood pressure.
Next, we have "E" as in eddoes, eggplant, endives, edamame, eggs. empire
apples and escarole. The most unusual item here is the eddoe
resembling a potatoe in size and colour but has a rough exterior like
the cassava and reminds me of elephant skin with the bristly
hairs. Eddoes are to the Caribbean what potatoes are to the Irish. It
is a main staple. When googling what to do with them I read that some
people may get itchy when peeling them so it was recommended that you
put some vegetable oil on your hands first as protection. I peeled them
as you would a potatoe and cut them and boiled them for about 20
minutes. The texture of a boiled eddoe is very much like that of the
potatoe but as Jacob announced after swallowing a bite - "These are
in"Eddoe"ble!". I had to admit that his wit was both clever and
amusing to all - although I wouldn't necessarily agree that they were
inedible!
Eggplants, otherwise known as aubergines, as my British friend Amanda
calls them, are high in fibre and antioxidant nutrients and good for
overall heart health. This time I sliced the eggplant into disks and
coated them with some panko and make eggplant fries. Alas, my family
still has not acquired a taste for them.
Endives have an unusual taste that can take some getting used to. They
are high in vitamins and minerals and beneficial to overall heart
health. The vitamin E may be beneficial for stalling the onset of
Alzheimer's. As my grandmother suffered with Alzheimer's I think I'll
be adding more endives in our diet!
I could only find a bag of frozen edamame so I prepared them the same
way I would frozen peas. Edamame is rich in antioxidants, protein and
fibre.
There is considerable debate over eggs and whether or not they are good
for you. I've read that the yolk is where you find the high
cholesterol, but it is also where the nutrients are. They are a source
of protein, vitamins and potassium. My opinion is that once in awhile
eggs are ok - just don't go overboard - and choose eggs that are
labelled "free-range" meaning that the chickens are able to roam freely
and eat what they choose the way they were meant to before agricultural
giants took over and thought bigger was better and more profitable and
began stuffing birds into overcrowded coops and proceeded to then stuff
them with antibiotics and steroids!
Escarole lettuce shares the same benefits as other green leafy vegetables in the high fibre and nutrient content.
And lastly we have the "F" - flax seed, fennel, frisee lettuce, Fuji apples, filberts, fettuccine and my favourite - figs!!
Flax seed is good for preventing heart disease, lowering cholesterol,
minimizing symptoms of menopause, reducing risk of cancer and preventing
constipation. I often just add some to applesauce or a smoothie. In
"Foods That Harm, Foods That Heal" published by Reader's Digest, a study
performed at University of Toronto found that consuming 25-50 mg of
flax per day helps to lower blood cholesterol significantly. As I'm
reading this again I'm reminding myself to try to have some everyday as I
have another diabetic appointment in March!
I've written about fennel before and commented on it's alien-like
appearance - a larger replica of another alien-like looking vegetable -
kohlrabi! Fennel is great in salads and roasted vegetables. It is full
of fibre and beneficial for maintaining blood pressure, cholesterol and
blood sugars. The seeds can be used in tea to alleviate bloating and
flatulence.
Frisee lettuce is a good antioxidant as it is rich in vitamin C.
Filberts, also known as hazelnuts were my favourite nut when I was
young. When my parents bought bags of mixed nuts to shell over the
holidays, I took all the filberts! You know when a host/hostess puts
out a bowl of mixed gumdrops and afterwards all that are left are the
boring white and black ones - yup, that's how I always was with my
filberts! The black and white gumdrops were the Brazil nuts and
walnuts! Nuts provide you with protein and fibre and vitamins.
Filberts can increase your good cholesterol and lower the bad
cholesterol.
I made a new recipe found on Pinterst - Fettuccine with Bacon, Almonds
and Orange which was absolutely delicious! Here is the link
http://www.cookingclassy.com/2013/01/fettuccine-with-bacon-and-orange/
. A friend emailed me a recipe for a fennel and apple salad that I
paired with it. What a delectable and enjoyable pasta dish it was!!!
This year I have been extolling my love affair, not only to Colin Firth,
but to the fig! Figs are so good for you and tasty too! They
help prevent heart disease, cancer, and diabetes as they are full of
fibre and potassium!
...And we cannot forget fish! Full of omega-3 and protein, it is
important to include fish in your diet to help prevent heart disease,
stroke, inflammation and memory loss. We usually have fish (primarily
salmon) on Wednesday nights.
"F" week happened to fall on the week of Halloween and dinner that night
consisted of Freekeh and spiders! The spiders are hot dog wieners with
spaghetti noodles poked through and boiled to look like spiders (just
something fun I do for the kids on Halloween) and Freekeh is a grain
that looks very much like quinoa. I made a salad with it adding
cucumber, tomato, basil and lemon juice. Of course if the kids wanted
to go out trick-or-treating, they had to eat their spiders and freekeh
first! My very tactful daughter Kristen announced rather vehemently
that it was 'freekeh'n' gross!! Oh, my little drama queen!!! Amy and
James came over and they both tried it - in fact Amy ate lots of it and
became my favourite Milner kid that night!
Last, but by no means, least, I've left the best for last! Frog legs!!!
Oh, I had sooo much fun with this one. I kept telling the kids we would
be having frog legs for "F" week and they weren't happy about it to say
the least. Turns out I couldn't find them when I needed them anyways.
But alas, when searching for octopus for "O" week, I discovered some in
the frozen fish section. Why didn't I think of that before?? Well,
it's because I've been buying fresh fish from the counter and I never go
to the frozen food sections anymore. I've had frog legs several times
in the past, but it's been probably 18 years or so. I remember the
first time John and I spent a weekend in Quebec City and I ordered the
frog legs! The great thing about frog legs is they are bendy! So of
course I grossed John out by having my frog legs leap and dance across
the fancy tableware!
The squeals of disgust and adamant disdain coming from my kids relating
to the their pending meal I'd worked so hard to prepare was utterly
priceless! It might seem somewhat cruel as to how much pleasure I
gained from all of this! I waited with bated breath for Matthew to take
his first bite and then asked, "What's wrong Matthew - do you have a
frog in your throat?". Guess you had to be there but it turned out to
be a pretty comical endeavour! Of course, the meal would not be
complete without entertainment, so I had my frog dance an little Irish
jig for everyone!
Well, kids, that's payback for telling me that my meals are In"eddoe"ble and "Freekeh"'n Gross!!!
And speaking of "F".....I still need to watch my new "Fever Pitch" movie I got from Santa!
