Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Italian Fries

I've recently discovered Polenta and to my surprise I liked it more than I thought I would. I remember always seeing the tubes of it in the grocery store and for some reason I always thought it was some kind of processed cheese, like Cheeze Whiz or something. I'm not sure what made me buy it the first time a few weeks ago but I'm glad I did.
I poked around on the internet to learn more about it and found out that Polenta has been around since ancient Roman times and used to be considered peasant food. Whoops, I thought it was a Mexican dish! So here I am soaking black beans all day today to have with the Polenta and I'm all wrong. Anyways, I cut the Polenta into sticks, brushed on some olive oil and then sprinkled them with salt & pepper. Baked at 450 until they tuned golden brown and voila, instead of French Fries, we have..ahem..Italian Fries?

Monday, April 28, 2008

"Chicken" Noodle Soup

Today is one of those blah days with dreary weather and I just want to curl up like a cat and spend the day indoors. Days like this make me crave comfort food, but sometimes I don't have time to devote to making a really hearty meal because I'm busy with the baby. This soup practically makes itself. It's so quick and easy I don't know why I don't make it more often.
1/2 pkg yves chicken
1 litre no-chicken/vegetable broth
1/2 cup uncooked pasta noodles*
1/4 cup carrot, sliced thin
1/4 cup peas
1/4 cup corn

Cut the chicken tenders into small pieces. Pour broth into a large saucepan and add remaining ingredients. Boil for 5 minutes on medium-high heat. Then simmer on low heat for 1o-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Enjoy!

*I used alphabet pasta today, but I often use broken-up spaghetti noodles.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Spring Has Sprung

We finally have some spring-like weather and it inspired me to make this snack. Well, that and my friends are worried I'm not getting enough protein. According to my sources I should be getting 60-66 grams of protein per day as a nursing mom. This has 5 of them: Peach-mango tofu. On its own I don't really care for it but paired with some fresh berries it is a great snack. I'm not sure if it photographs that well but trust me it tasted really good!

Friday, April 25, 2008

Just like every penny counts, every plastic bag counts.

We hope you made a difference this Earth Day on April 22nd. Here's Naimah spreading the word. It's important to do what we can every day, not just once a year, but Earth Day deserves to have its day. Increasing awareness will help save our planet by making more people concious of what they can do to make an impact. My next move is to go completely paperless with my bills. I already pay most of them online but I still receive the notices in the mail. Time to save some trees!

Friday, April 18, 2008

The Sentra and the Deer: Gone but not forgotten.

Early this morning while on a road trip to visit relatives we were involved in a horrible accident. A deer came out of thin air it seemed like, and there was no way we could avoid a collision. It had darted across the road and then paused right in front of us. My car is completely ruined as you can see, but thankfully we are okay.
I wish I could say the same for the deer.
The way that I came to own the car and lose it both came about because of death. The previous owner had passed away and his son sold me the car as he did not need it. And the car is now a write-off from its encounter with the deer.
There is something to smile about though...somehow baby Naimah slept through the whole thing.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Guaca-Salsa

My version of a guacamole & salsa fusion. I have been making a batch of this every other day it seems like. It tastes great on polenta or tortilla chips. You can easily double or triple this recipe if you have company coming over.



2 ripe avocados
2 cloves garlic, pressed (or finely diced)
2 stalks green onion
3 tomatoes, diced and drained
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3/4 tsp lime juice
sea salt & fresh ground pepper
In a small bowl, mash avocado with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughy. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Earth Day April 22nd

Mark your calendar! Earth day is coming up on April 22nd. What is it? A day intended to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth's environment. Earth Day Canada has listed the top 10 things you can do right now to help save the environment. How lovely is it that number 3 is to go veg for a week? I've posted their list below.
1.) Park It - Leave your car at home for a day (or a week or a month) and try walking or biking. If work is too far away to walk, take public transit or carpool. One city bus eliminates the emissions of 40 cars.
2.) Shut Down - Turn off the lights, the computer and the TV when they are not in use. Using only highly efficient and money saving appliances can reduce the electricity consumption of an average household to one tenth of the US average.

3.) Where's the Beef? - Try eating meat-free at least one day a week. A meat-based diet requires seven times more land than a plant-based diet. Livestock production is responsible for more climate change gasses than all the motor vehicles in the world.

4.) Eat It - Choose foods produced organically, locally and in season. Support your regional farmers & farming industry: buying locally and in season is better for the environment than buying foods that have been shipped hundreds of kilometers to your local market.

5.) Let It Rot - Put a composter in your backyard or use your green bin to reduce household waste. Composting organics has two key benefits: it reduces the amount of waste going to landfills and when added to your garden, helps nourish soil and plants.

6.) Dont Be Idle - Turn off your car's engine if stopped for more than 10 seconds. If every driver of a light duty vehicle avoided idling by five minutes a day, collectively, we would save 1.8 million litres of fuel per day, almost 4500 tonnes of GHG emissions, and $1.7 million in fuel costs each day (assuming fuel costs are $0.95/L).

7.) Keep Your Eye On The Temp - Set your thermostat above room temperature in the summer and below room temperature in the winter. For each degree you adjust, you can save five per cent on your utility bill and one per cent on your energy use.

8.) Bright Ideas - Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs). A CFL uses only 25 per cent as much energy as an incandescent bulb and lasts 10 times longer.

9.) Don't Dump It , Blue Box It - The simple act of recycling has more impact on the environment than the average Canadian thinks. The amount of wood and paper North Americans throw away each year is enough to heat five million homes for 200 years.

10.) Tell Someone - This is a great opportunity to brag. Tell someone what you’re doing to make the world a better place. Support the cause. Encourage them to get involved too!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Dancing Queen

Here's my little eskimo baby ready to go for a stroll in the park. I just thought I'd post that picture because it's so cute! But what I really meant to post about was the fact that Naimah has a favorite song. It is hard to imagine a three month old baby having a favorite song but every morning I play some music and when this paricular song comes on she starts dancing. So I posted it on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7ma3rkVJPI