JAMAICA

Soooo, I've just come back from a lovely trip to Montego Bay Jamaica.  It was my first trip ever to Jamaica and I will be returning again next year for sure. The place is absolutely fabulous. The people are friendly and Jamaica is beautiful.  Sun, sand, surf and fabulous food...  what else could a girl ask for.

star apple

The morning breakfast buffet was filled with all kinds of yummy local fruit.  I especially loved the fresh mango and the papaya.  So delicious and sweet.
There was a purple fruit called the star apple that was kind of jelly inside but was quite tasty and sweet.
Also offered  was a Jamaican apple.
This fruit was bright red on the outside and white on the inside it had the texture of a hard pear and was very mild and almost a bit bitter in flavour. Not my favourite, but I am happy to have been able to try it.

Jamaican apple

The morning buffet also offered a wide range of juices and milkshakes.  My favourite juice combo, that I liked to  mix up in my glass was cucumber, beet and carrot.  Yummmmmy!  I had a glass every morning.  I also filled my travel mug with more juice so I could sip it throughout the morning.  So good I can taste it now!

Papaya juice, fresh orange juice and  the fresh pineapple juice were all very tasty and fresh too.  The two milkshakes were banana and strawberry and just banana and milk and ice.  Soooo good too.  I could drink these all day.

Talk about eating well naturally.  Nothing is better than fresh, ripe tropical fruit and their juices first thing in the morning on a beautiful sun shine filled day.

Among a few alcoholic drinks with great names like, Purple Rain, Big Bamboo and Dirty Banana, I enjoyed a few young coconuts filled with coconut water throughout the week.  Very  rejuvenating.  So hydrating too.

It's super easy to make your own banana milkshake for your own tropical paradise breakfast.  Put lots of peeled bananas, milk and ice into a blender.  Blend well.  Enjoy.
Now close your eyes and imagine the sun shining on your face and sitting at the beach or around the pool and take it all in.
Ahhhhh!

Eat Well
:)

BERRY DELIGHT

I just recently purchased a birthday gift for my niece, Becka.  She had asked for a blender, as she didn't have one yet.  This post is dedicated to her to give Becka some ideas for the use of her blender. I'm sure, you, the reader will get plenty of ideas on your own too.

Here's some ideas...
salad dressing
smoothies
"ice cream"
milkshakes
daiquiris
pina coladas
margaritas
and fruit sauce,
among many other ideas, these are obviously just a few.

After a Zumba workout today I needed something to eat to get my energy levels back up.  I had a couple of packages of berries in the fridge to use up, so I came up with this yummy Berry Delight. It's all raw and totally delish.  This dish can be used for a meal for one or dessert for two. Double the ingredients and use for a dessert for a gathering.  Oh, and by the way, this is super easy.

BERRY DELIGHT


INGREDIENTS

1 lg pkg raspberries (about 12oz or 340g)
1 lg pkg blackberries (about 12oz or 385g)
2 medjool dates
1/4 cup or so of frozen mango
splash water


INSTRUCTIONS

In a blender, blend up a handful of the raspberries with the dates, frozen mango and the water.  You can add more or less of the water to reach desired sauce consistency.  I like it quite thick, so I only used a splash of water.  Blend until smooth with no more lumps.
Wash and pour all of the fresh berries into a bowl.
Pour your fruit sauce over the top of the berries.
Done!!! Easy and yum, yum, yum.
Enjoy.

Any berries can be used for this recipe.  Only have strawberries and blueberries, try those. I'm sure any berry combination will turn out just a tasty.  The colour might be a bit different but the taste will still be there.
You can also use a combination of fresh and frozen berries for the sauce.  No need to use the mango.  I threw in the mango for the extra creaminess to the sauce.  Feel free to use frozen and fresh raspberries for the ultimate raspberry delight.  Mmmm.  If you happen to not have any dates, they can easily be substituted with honey, although more fruit or frozen fruit may need to be added so the sauce doesn't turn out too runny.  And heck to make this recipe even easier, throw all of the ingredients in a blender, add a little more water and make the berry delight smoothie. Wow!

I had forgotten to take a picture.  I was so excited to be eating this creamy berry creation, that I had forgot, so in the pic, the bowl is already half empty. It was quite a full bowl of yumminess.  I didn't even get a chance to give you a pic of the ingredients, I ate is so fast!  Oops:}

Eat Well.
:)

EASTER

Cadbury Cream eggs, solid chocolate Easter bunnies, marshmallow chicks, oh my!!!
Easter is a diet disaster waiting to happen.
All that chocolate and sugar. Turkey and all the trimmings.
Well there is a bright side to all of this Easter overindulgence.

First have your mind set on eating healthy.   If only unhealthy options like deep fried cheese filled jalapeno appetisers, mashed potatoes made with cream and butter, fat dripping filled gravy, white rolls, etc. are available, choose the best you can.
There are always options. You can choose the pumpernickel bread and mayo based dip or you can munch from the veggie sticks platter.  If you are asked to bring something. Make it a healthy option.  So what if everyone else brought that fattening, calorie dense dip, you can always fall back and load up with your healthy veggie sticks, right!
Decide to choose wisely. Again, there are always options!


If you are hosting, choose a smaller dinner plate to set your table, if possible.  Most companies like to make their dishes at a whopping 11" in diameter. That's 2" more than what they were years ago.  And that's  2" more on your waistline.  Ugh!  You and your guests will thank you later. If a larger plate is the only option than fill your plate only 3/4 full.  And that's not loading it up and piling it high to the height of that solid chocolate bunny's ears.
 Eat until you are comfortably full. You don't want to overeat, that just causes unwanted bloating, gas and the "I don't feel good" feeling we've all felt one time or another.  Besides no one wants to be rolling their guests out their door.  If the weather is nice outside, go for a walk before the dessert course.  Hey, every little bit helps.  And walking helps digestion too.

Choose a fruit option for dessert rather than the high calorie cheesecake and pies.  If these are all that's available, you can choose NOT to have a piece of cheesecake or you can have a SMALL piece. If you choose to indulge, fine, eat it but eat it alone.  Don't start to load that small piece of cheesecake with processed fruit topping and whipped cream and chocolate shavings.... remember all those little extras are just that, extra calories on your waistline.    There's a little saying about that for us ladies.. "Once on the lips forever on the hips". Oh, how true!

But don't fret.  If you do overindulge a little or even a lot, make tomorrow a better day. Make the next week a better week.   Drink lots of water and eat lighter meals.  Your body will need the break anyway.  Eat plenty of fresh fruit and veggies.  Have a yogurt parfait for breakfast, a salad for lunch and lots of veggies and a smaller portion of lean meat (maybe leftover turkey) or fish for dinner.  Have fresh fruit for a snack and a few nuts and dried fruit. And by the end of the day your body will thank you and you will feel much better about your choices and much better than the day before. Maybe even a small piece of that dark chocolate bunny will cure any leftover sweet Easter cravings you may still have.  You did good today, you deserve it.

Happy Easter,

Eat Well.

TROPICAL INSPIRATION

This morning the sun wasn't as bright as it had been for the last couple of weeks. Clouds have moved in and the sky was grey. I wanted to continue the feelings of sunshine and happiness so I checked my fridge for some inspiration for breakfast and found some leftover coconut milk and some papaya.  I created a tropical smoothie to keep the momentum going with all of the warm summer weather we've been having lately. The temperature was 24 degrees Celsius yesterday.  Yes, if you check the date this was posted it is actually still March. It is very unheard of to have such warm weather here in Southern Ontario this early in the year.
Anyways, try this smoothie, its full of vitamin rich fruit, protein from the coconut milk and omegas 3, 6 and 9 from the flax seed oil, which helps for healthy and glowing skin. Any protein powder can easily be added for that extra boost of protein.  The banana is not pictured in the ingredients but had already been added to blender.

TROPICAL SMOOTHIE



INGREDIENTS

1 banana
1 handful frozen chopped mango
1 large handful or more of fresh papaya, seeded, peeled and chopped.
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 Tbsp organic flax seed oil
2 ice cubes

INSTRUCTIONS

Place all ingredients in a blender and whir until smooth.                                                                                                            

Pour into tall glass. Insert straw.  Enjoy some tropical sunshine.
Serves 1.

SPRING

The first day of Spring has finally arrived. So much to look forward to....
New blossoms budding on the trees from their long winters nap.
Placing my grapevine wreath covered with bright yellow silk forsythia on my front door.
Fresh green grass that fills all of the yards throughout my neighbourhood and beyond.
Colourful tulip and freesia bouquets at every local grocery store and farmers market.

Daffodils and crocus start to show their bright yellows and purples in flower beds everywhere.
I've even seen magnolia trees in bloom today.
This has surely been a stellar year so far with warm weather.  St. Catharines and the surrounding area has been blessed with temperature in the high teens and low 20's for a couple of weeks now.  And I'm loving every warm sun shining day.

Oh, and of course Spring cleaning.  But not only our homes need a good cleaning,  so do our bodies. A detox if you will.  Try going on one of  Dr. Gillian McKeith's detoxes, I bought her book  "You Are What You Eat"    at Chapters book store. I tried her step by step detox day, and being that I feel I am pretty healthy already, all I really did was urinate a lot that day because the detox included drinking a lot of fresh juices, tea and water. I didn't get any of the upset feeling or after effects that may come from a detox diet. You can also try a juice cleanse or the Master Cleanse, aka the lemonade diet ( the book for this cleanse can be purchased at White Meadow Maple Farm, or on the net at http://www.amazon.ca/) or just eat raw fruit and vegetables for a day or two, try any detox formula's on the market, but I do recommend to check with your doctor to make sure the product is right for you.  any of these detox ideas will give your digestive system a well deserved break.

One more thing that comes with Spring are fresh herbs in the garden making their way out of the ground. Fiddleheads with their spiral heads, fresh bright green peas and asparagus peeking their pointy heads up toward the sun.
Asparagus was my total inspiration for this soup recipe.
During my visit with my mom during the March Break, reminiscing and looking through some of her cookbooks, I came across an asparagus soup recipe.  I used this recipe as a guide for my own version of this delicious asparagus soup. Even my very skeptical dad and picky non asparagus eating teenage son enjoyed this Spring Asparagus Soup.

Dice up 1 onion  and saute in a soup pot on medium/high heat in  about 2Tblsp butter and 2Tblsp. olive oil, and brown lightly. Add about 4Tblsp. flour  to make a roux.  Stir together flour and onion for a few minutes on medium heat to cook the flour a bit.  Add 2 chicken or vegetable bouillon cubes breaking them up with your fingers as you drop them into the pot, and 4 cups of water.  Stir.  Add in a bunch of asparagus(washed , trimmed and cut into bite size pieces).  Turn down heat to med/low and let the asparagus simmer until tender crisp, about 5-10 minutes.  (Do not add the tips, they will be added in the end)
Squeeze in 1/4 of a lemon ( about 1Tblsp or so) and 1 tsp. ground coriander. Simmer for a few minutes while flavours combine.  Meanwhile steam asparagus tips in a small saucepan with a little water on med/high heat until tender. Using a hand blender, mix up soup breaking up the asparagus. Now stir in 1/2 cup milk and cooked asparagus tips.
 That's it your done.
 Enjoy.
Serves 4 to 6.