Whole Wheat Blueberry Oat Muffins

I decided to change things up from my usual banana-based weekend baking and made some of these instead:

I used the recipe from The Lean Green Bean as a base and made a few minor modifications. They turned out perfectly – bursting with berries, moist, sweet but not too sweet, and very much toddler approved. Little dose he know, I snuck a big old zucchini in there ;). They’re perfect for a quick snack or breakfast and were also insanely quick and easy to make, basically the most important factor according to me.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Oat Muffins (adapted from The Lean Green Bean’s recipe) ~ 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cups organic, naturally sweetened vanilla yogurt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 small to medium sized zucchini, finely grated
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2/3 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, plus another 1/4 cup to place on top of muffins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° and either grease or line a 12 cup muffin pan.
2. Mix together coconut oil, egg, yogurt, vanilla & grated zucchini until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients together.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients; mix well.
5. Fold in 2/3 cups blueberries.
6. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full.
7. Gently press 2-3 blueberries on top of each muffin.
8. Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle of muffin comes out clean.
9. Let cool for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

I made these on Sunday and put 1/2 in the freezer for safe keeping. That way i’m not tempted to finish a dozen muffins in half a day ;). The modifications that I made were omitting the sugar, using vanilla instead of plain yogurt (since I omitted the sugar), coconut oil instead of butter & the addition of a zucchini. I was a little worried that they would have that really flour-y taste that can come with using whole wheat flour, but they absolutely did not.

And here, because I just can’t help myself:

I could just take a bite out of those little legs. I won’t, obviously :D.

Have a great Tuesday!

A Touchy Subject ~ Part III

I wanted to write this post before Christmas because it’s pretty specific to the holidays, but better late than never!

During the peak years of my disordered eating, I loved and dreaded the holidays. On the one hand, there was always an overload of food to binge on. I could eat and eat (and eat) until I literally had no room left in me. But then I would make room. And do it all over again. I’m not kidding when I say this, but I had zero self-control. I was basically a robot that shoved cookie after cookie and chip after chip into my mouth. In my mind, there was no point in eating anything at all unless I was going to eat everything.

On the other hand, I dreaded knowing that I’d have to be really sneaky so that my family wouldn’t catch on. I couldn’t eat masses of food in front of them, because I honestly ate abnormal amounts. They’d wonder why I wasn’t 400 lbs! And it was embarrassing. I certainly wasn’t going to help myself to thirds and fourths while everyone else struggled through their second helping. So I would consume as much as I could at any opportunity when no one was around.

I also dreaded the whole “getting rid of it all” part. In a house full of people, the bathroom is a hot commodity. “Shannon, are you STILL in there?” Because you see, I had to make sure not one tiny scrap of food was left in me. That took time. And then my face would be red, my nose would be runny, and my eyes would be watery. I’d have to spend a few minutes cleaning myself up before facing anyone.

Frankly, it was a huge pain in the ass. But I’d go for Round 2 anyway. Maybe Round 3 if there was time. I’d feel increasingly guilty with each bite, especially during the holidays. There were starving kids all over the world and here I was, wasting huge amounts of food. I really did hate myself for that.

To be honest, all these years later I do have quick bouts of panic that are very reminiscent to my past when I eat more than usual. But they are tiny in comparison and they don’t come with the warped perceptions about food and my body that I used to have. They also serve as reminders of how lucky I am to have fought and won this battle.

The holidays should be something to look forward to, not fear. Thankfully, I do look forward to them now, knowing very well that I’ll indulge more than I should. But I also know that that’s ok. It’s not something I do on a daily basis and if I gain 1 or 2 lbs, that’s ok too. Food is meant to be enjoyed and I am so grateful that I can do just that.

It’s funny (ok… not haha funny), but I get a little choked up writing these Touchy Subject posts. It’s actually a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. I fear that I’ll be judged or that readers will think that what I’m sharing is really inappropriate. I also can’t help but feel a little embarrassed, even though I know it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. But at the same time, I realize with each paragraph that I write, this is something I needed to do. I never went to therapy, (it never even crossed my mind to do so), and I never talk about it with friends or family. I guess I figured, “I’m ok now, there’s no need to talk about it.” Turns out, I really did. So thank you for listening. YOU are my therapy :).

You can check out Part I and/or Part II here if you haven’t already.

Have a great FRIDAY!!!

A Touchy Subject ~ Part II

Hello & happy Friday & can you believe Christmas is in a week??!!! How did that even happen??? I’m ready-ish. Just a few more little things to buy (which i’m sure will turn into a lot of little things), and a few more cookies to bake. I have my work holiday party later today at a fancy restaurant that I could never afford to eat at otherwise, so that’s pretty exciting. And if we get a little break from the rain this weekend, I’m hoping to check out a couple of Christmas events.

OK, now onto a more serious note. You can check out A Touchy Subject ~ Part I if you want to get up to speed, as this post is a continuation from that.

I should probably mention how this all started. I was in grade 9 at the time. One night I made myself a bowl of ice cream with hot chocolate powder and Rice Krispies sprinkled on top. It was really good, so I decided to have another. A little while later, I went to have a shower but before I got in, I took a look in the mirror and for the first time, I saw a bunch of flab that seemed to have appeared overnight. I basically felt like a giant cow and I couldn’t believe I had let that happen to myself. And then I thought about the 2 bowls of ice cream I had just eaten and decided that it just couldn’t stay in my body. So, it didn’t. I remember thinking, “well that was easy.” And there you go. From that point on, for way too long, a vicious cycle had begun. In my mind, it was win-win. I could eat whatever I wanted but not get fat because I would simply get rid of the food.  And when I ate, I ate. Anything and everything in sight. I went back and forth between that and not eating anything at all and the weight just came flying off. I started to feel weak and sick, but it just didn’t matter.

It didn’t take long for friends and family to start commenting on my weight loss. Compliments quickly turned into concern, which was an even bigger compliment to me. One day, I went to the mall with my boyfriend at the time and I fit into a pair of size 1 pants. I was elated. My boyfriend basically said that I looked sick and gross, and as sad as it is, that made me happy.

It’s hard to believe that my body put up with that phase of my life. For a solid year at high school, my lunches consisted of a small bag of gummy bears and a can of diet coke. And nope, no breakfast to start my days. Even worse, I smoked cigarettes throughout high school and used them to curb my appetite on a very regular basis. I was consuming roughly 500 calories a day, sometimes less, which is way too low. Dangerously low. And those calories usually didn’t include an ounce of nutritional sustenance. But guess what? I was wearing size 2 jeans! Worth it, right? Not one little bit.

I had a part time job that I usually went to right after school which was great because I could get away with not eating dinner. I might have a few carrot sticks or rice cakes, maybe a plain bagel on a good day. If I happened to be at home, I’d sit down and eat dinner with my parents. Lots of dinner. Then I would sneak off after…and you know the rest.

I remember being at a friends party one night when I was about 15. Her parents ordered KFC for everyone and WOW did it ever smell delicious. Of course there was no way in hell I was going to let myself have any of the chicken, but I did give in and have one of the small little dinner rolls that came with it. I was SO mad at myself after. Seriously, just livid. I felt like a complete failure that had absolutely no self-control. When things like that happened, I would tell myself “ok, well tomorrow you have to make up for it,” and I’d basically eat nothing.

The farther I get in my nutrition program, the more I realize how lucky I am. There are so many health consequences that can result from eating disorders, both short and long-term, which for the most part, I was able to avoid. I deprived my body of the vital nutrition that it needed to keep me going, yet somehow it still didn’t fail me. I call that a miracle.

Thank you for tuning into Part II. As I mentioned before, writing about my disordered eating journey isn’t easy, but it’s good for me and I think it’s something that I really needed to do at some point, even all these years later. It’s helping me understand now what I couldn’t understand back then. A healing process that was a little delayed.

Have a great weekend and I’ll talk to you soon!

 

 

Weekend Things

For those of you who tuned into A Touchy Subject ~ Part I last week, you might agree that it wasn’t the most upbeat post. But, much like everyday life, it can’t all be rainbows and butterflies because that’s just not real. I plan on continuing to post on the topic every week or so because there’s a LOT to tell. And like I mentioned in the post, I know people out there can relate. I follow certain blogs strictly for that purpose; I feel like I can somehow relate to the author.

And also, thank you for tuning in, if you did. Every word was straight from the heart and 100% honest. Or better yet, Real Talk.

OK, onto some Weekend Talk. On Friday Ryland and I went to the happiest place on earth (IMO), Trader Joe’s. I LOVE that store and basically everything in it. So I bought basically everything in it…even though the Canadian dollar has seen better days :/. But their prices are low so I figure I still beat the system. If not there, then I still saved on gas!

But either way, I bought tons of my favorites, these being one of them:

Have you tried these??? If not, you just have to. They’re crunchy, delicious, basically guilt-free and just the best snack ever. Ryland and I ate the whole bag in one sitting and patted ourselves on the back after for eating so much green ;).

I also bought some stone ground tortillas and whipped this up:

I spread some garlic tomato sauce on the tortilla, sprinkled it with oregano and shredded Havarti cheese, and topped it with spinach and red onions. It went into the toaster oven at 375° for about 8 minutes and was consumed in half that time. I gave the kiddo some, positive that he’d peel off the spinach, but nope! It was a good  lunch. So good that this happened:

He’s literally asleep here. What a guy.

I baked some cookies too because ‘Tis the Season. I went with my favorite, Cake Batter Cookies. Not only because they’re delicious, but I’ll admit it, they’re SO easy to make.

I brought a bunch to a Christmas party on Saturday night and one of my friend’s called it “the perfect cookie.” I’ll take it ;). I’ve made these the last few years and always follow this recipe. Warning – don’t go to this website unless you’re prepared to drool heavily. Sally is a baking goddess.

What else can I tell you…well I won’t talk about how it was windy and rainy and miserable out for most of the weekend because that’s just depressing. We watched a couple more overly cheesy Christmas movies and as mentioned before, we went to a Christmas party at our friend’s house. An Ugly Sweater Party to be exact. It was really fun, especially because there were lots of kiddies there in ugly sweaters too. Ryland stayed up wayyyyy past his bedtime but he was just the cutest little party animal. He was pretty worn out on Sunday and spent some quality time catching up with his beloved elephant blankie.

Ok…I’ve talked your ear off enough today. I’ll see you in a few!

Creamy Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

I don’t know about where you are, but it rained and rained and rained all weekend here in Vancouver. But it also warmed up a little, so that’s a plus.

There were a few different outdoor Christmas events that we wanted to check out, but they just wouldn’t have been all that fun in the downpour, especially with a toddler. It was more of a stay-inside-and-read kinda weekend.

It was also an oatmeal-for-breakfast kinda weekend, and I put together a pretty delicious and extra healthy pot on Saturday and Sunday morning. It was full of apples, cinnamon, and creamy vanilla yogurt. It was like having dessert for breakfast, but with zero guilt. Win win. I love oatmeal, I think that’s because it reminds me of my childhood.

Creamy Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal ~ 2 servings

Ingredients

• 300 ml cold water in a small saucepan with lid
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 cups quick oats
• 2 small apples, diced into small pieces
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt

Directions

1. Bring water and salt to a boil in a small saucepan covered with a lid.
2. Add oats, apples, and raisins to boiling water, stir, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 4-5 minutes.
3. Mix in yogurt and sprinkle with cinnamon.
4. Enjoy!

Well of course I need to talk about why this bowl of oat-y deliciousness is so good for you. Lets start with the oats:

• lower bad cholesterol > reduces risk of cardiovascular disease
• control blood pressure
• high in antioxidants
• high in soluble fiber, particularly beta-glucan, which strengthens the immune system, making it better equipped to fight bacterial infections
• beta-glucan also stabilizes blood sugar and reduces the risk of Type II diabetes
• great alternative to those with a gluten allergy (as long as the oats are certified GF)
• play a role in preventing childhood asthma

The list goes on, but you get the idea. Oats are basically EXTREMELY good for you.

And so are apples.

• rich in flavanols which help to reduce to risk of certain cancers
• high in soluble fiber > reduces cholesterol and stabilizes blood sugar
• detoxifies lives
• boosts immune system
• high in antioxidants, some of which play a role in the prevention of cataracts
• chewing on apples increase the production of saliva which reduces tooth decay

And so on and so on.

Yogurt is full of calcium and probiotics*, and cinnamon not only adds a delicious, warm flavor, but it is also an excellent blood sugar stabilizer.

Ryland loves oatmeal, which is great. Duncan…I’m working on it.

In case you’re wondering, there are only 18 days left until Christmas. Can you believe it??? I’m currently watching a super cheesy Christmas movie. The cheesier the better :D.

Have a great day!

*Not all yogurts have probiotics. It will generally say somewhere on the container whether or not they’ve been added in.

 

 

Yams, Brussel Sprouts &…Christmas!!!

How are you on this frosty Monday?? Not frozen, I hope. It was freezing but super sunny all weekend. Perfect winter weather in my books.

I’ve talked about my love of Brussel sprouts before, but lately it’s turned into more of an obsession. Of all things, hey? But roasted with some olive oil & sea salt…YUM. I love yams too. The nutritional value of both is way up there, so lots of bonus points right there.Yams are full of the antioxidants beta carotene and Vitamin C, both of which tell the cancer-loving free radicals to beat it. They’re a great source of potassium which works to prevent high blood pressure, and they’re also high in fibre and complex carbs which equals good digestion and stable blood sugar. Loooots of other benefits that i’ll tell you about at some point.

Brussel sprouts are loaded with fibre and antioxidants as well, but that’s not all. They’re rich in a compound called isothiocyanates which not only fight, but possibly even prevent certain cancers and cardiovascular disease. They’re high in lots of other vitamins and minerals that make our bodies very happy :D.

My love for these healthy eats made this happen:

It was on the side of some roasted chicken, which wasn’t really all that picture worthy. But this really does make a fantastic side dish, especially during the holiday season.

Roasted & Sea Salted Brussel Sprouts & Yams ~ serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients

• 4-5 small to medium sized yams
• 2 cups Brussel sprouts
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil.
3. Wash yams and dice into bite size pieces.
4. Wash Brussel sprouts.
5. In a large bowl, toss together yams, Brussel sprouts olive oil, and as little or as much sea salt as you desire. I ground about 1 tsp into my bowl.
6. Spread evenly on baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes.
7. Dig in!

My parents are doing a turkey for Christmas so I think i’ll add this to the side. My dad and Duncan will turn their noses up at the Brussel sprouts…more for me!

I put up all of our Christmas stuff over the weekend, basically because it’s never too early for that, in my opinion. As long as it’s after Remembrance Day of course.

Our tree is small, and sadly not real, but it’s a good size for our condo. And as much as I love real trees, I don’t mind not having to sweep up pine needles every 3 minutes. Nothing beats the smell of them though. NOTHING.

I also got a ton of Christmas shopping done on Black Friday at some outlets. The deals weren’t that great, but i’m about 80% done which is kind of a relief. I looked at the calendar and I don’t even think i’ll have time to sit down between now and Santa’s visit from the North Pole ;).

On Wednesday i’m going to tell you about some fluffy, light chocolatey Chocolate Carrot (but you can’t taste the carrot) Mini Muffins that I whipped up. I hope you’ll be back for that :). Have a great day!

Friday Favorites

Hi!

Seriously, TGIF. It was nice to have a little break from work on Wednesday, but it was so busy the other 3 days that I felt like my head was spinning. In case anyone’s interested in what I do for a living, I’m a legal assistant. It’s a good job, great company…do I want to do it for the rest of my working life? Not so much. I’m really hoping to go somewhere with the whole nutrition deal.

Anyway.

A few blogs that I follow do this “Friday Favorites” thing so I thought I’d have a go at it. But first, here’s a picture from a Remembrance Day parade that we went to. It was a really great event. I started to get choked up thinking about my Grandpas and all of the other amazing men & women out there. There really is a lot of good in this world.

Before we went to the parade, I put together this smoothie bowl.

It was super tasty and refreshing, and of course packed full of nutrients.

I. LOVE. PEANUT BUTTER. Usually just the all natural, unsalted, unsweetened stuff, but I bought a jar of this stuff and it’s ridiculous.

How much is too much PB??

They have a few different flavors which you can bet I’ll be trying as soon as this jar is done. Which will probably be in the very near future :/.

It’s currently cold, grey, and rainy, but it was gorgeous on Remembrance Day. There’s just something so beautiful about fall colours. Not to mention that handsome fellow sitting all pretty for the camera.

And then there’s this face, my favorite face in the world. I just can’t get enough of this guy.

Sometimes I miss how tiny he used to be (well all the time, actually), but he’s just so much fun these days! A few weeks ago he started giving us really tight hugs…my heart explodes every. single. time.

And of course Fridays themselves are a favorite of mine. Even though they’re just a little different since Ryland came along ;).

A few girlfriends and I are going out for a little girls night tonight so I’m pretty excited about that. They definitely don’t happen as often as we’d like…life is really friggen busy when you’re a grownup! We also have a mini family photo shoot on Sunday so I should have some pretty awesome pictures to share next week. Other than that…the usual weekend chores will surely be calling my name. Yay :/.

Have a great weekend!

Cornish Hen Success!

Hi! I hope you had a fabulous weekend :).

A few days ago I mentioned that I was going to try to come up with something edible with a Cornish hen, and it happened! I popped it into the crock pot, covered it with a little of this and a little of that, and 6 hours later, Cornish deliciousness!

Thanks to the crock pot, the hen was perfectly juicy and tender and fell off the bones very easily. We had some rice and roasted carrots on the side. Lots of YUM. This dish will be a repeat around here for sure.

Crock Pot Cornish Hen ~ serves 2 (and a toddler)

Ingredients

• A Cornish Hen
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• Fresh ground sea salt and pepper

Directions

1. Place hen in crock pot
2. Top with lemon juice, crushed garlic, sea salt and pepper
3. Cook on low for 6 hours
4. Remove from crock pot and remove meat from bones
5. Serve with your choice of sides

It really doesn’t get any easier than that! I also made some chocolate chip cookies over the weekend and they were GOOD. Like really, really good. I’ll tell you all about them on Wednesday.

And then there’s this guy.

Have a good one and I’ll see ya soon!!

“Fast Food” for Extra Busy Days

Something that stresses me out immensely is trying to come up with nutritious and tasty meals that all 3 of us will enjoy. This is especially difficult on days that are go, go, go from sun up until sun down. I really want to be one of those people that can write out a 5 day meal plan and spend 5 hours on a Sunday doing food prep, but i’m just not quite there yet. I also know it would make life sooo much easier so I’m going to try my hardest to become “one of them.” But for now, there are times when the basics have to make do.

I love my crockpot. And one of my favorite meals is this Turkey Chili. I can get everything ready the night before fairly quickly, throw it in the crockpot before work, and come home to a ready-to-eat dinner. This gives me some extra time to hang out with Ryland which is always my goal.

And then there’s good old breakfast for dinner. Scrambled eggs with green onions & wholegrain toast topped with hummus, cucumbers, feta cheese and fresh ground black pepper. Yes, a gallon of hot sauce was added to my eggs post-picture.

And lunch for dinner? Why not?! Sometimes a sandwich & smoothie is on par with steak & prawns. No?

This basically couldn’t be more basic. But no matter how simple some of our meals might be, I try to make sure they include healthy fats, protein and complex carbs (because if I haven’t already mentioned it, meals without carbs just ain’t my thing).

I currently have a Cornish hen cooking away in the crockpot. I’m not totally sure what I’m going to do with it yet, but if I come up with something decent, I’ll share the details on Monday. If there is no mention of Cornish hens, then it clearly ended in disaster.

On another note, I was up with a very congested and unhappy toddler from about 12-2:30 am so i’m just a tiny bit tired at the moment. Excuse me while I  zombie walk to the kitchen to pour my 18th cup of coffee :/.

Basically.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Beauties

Hey there, Friday! It’s good to see ya!

I’m going to do less rambling today and post pictures of pretty things instead.

My office is walking distance to one of the most beautiful spots in Vancouver. It’s called Coal Harbour, which is very close to the world renown Stanley Park, and it’s just gorgeous. I spend a lot of my lunch breaks going for walks along the water there and I’m reminded every time of how lucky I am to live and work in this amazing province. I took these pictures last week on an exceptionally nice fall day. I felt like a tourist in my own town!

I like to pretend I’m a millionaire and pick out which one of these is mine.

Living on a houseboat…or floating home…whatever they’re called…would be so cool. Well, for a bit anyway.

A house in the sky.

Isn’t this the cutest bike rack??

On days like those, it takes a lot of willpower to get my butt back to the office ;).

There’s a community garden not too far from my house. I don’t have a plot there but I like to wander through it, admiring everyone’s else’s goodies. I really do want my own garden…I just haven’t found my green thumb yet.

A tomato…patch?

Minty freshness.

You can’t tell from the picture, but this sunflower was about 6 feet tall!

This picture makes me want to put rosemary on EVERYTHING.

And I took a million pictures at a local pumpkin patch a few weeks ago, but only posted a couple which revolved around my kiddo. Here are a few others that I think are pretty cool:

Squash squad.

The cutest little farmers market I’ve ever seen.

And finally, this. I personally wouldn’t eat mushrooms if someone paid me, but I thought it was picture-worthy anyway.

Meet the Mushroom Family.

I sure hope you felt like looking at pictures today. And I also hope you have a great weekend! Happy Halloween Eve!!

Halloween 2014