On the 3rd Day of Kitchen

On the 3rd day of kitchen I sorted out my tea cupboard.  Yes I have an entire cupboard devoted to storing tea.  We like tea.

Before

After

So I was sick and then my husband got some time off work and we have been working on our downstairs bathroom.  That's right our family of 4 now has a second toilet and drum roll... a tub!  I have been waiting for a tub for 9 years!  Our upstairs bathroom is small so we decided to just have a large shower in it and we'd put a tub into the eventual downstairs bathroom.  So now I have one!  Pass me the Epsom salts, I'm taking a bath and I may never come out!

On the 2nd Day of Kitchen

It has finally happened.  I woke up feeling like crap this morning, I have caught the cold my kids have/had.  I guess you can only be around sickness for so long before it gets you.  I was just thinking the other day how wonderful it has been not having a cold so far this fall/winter, it serves me right.  After lunch I gathered my strength, grabbed a Sharpie and a chair to sit on and sorted through the cluttered spice cupboard.

Before

After

Before Shelf 1

Before Shelf 2

After Shelf 1&2

Before Shelf 3

Before Shelf 4

After Shelf 3&4

After

After

It's official I have a lot of spices!  Consolidating doubles and in some cases switching to bigger or smaller jars was required.  I'm tired, it sucks being sick when the simple act of sorting makes you want to take a nap.  But in the end day 2 is done and the spice cupboard has some space in it again.

On the 1st Day of Kitchen

The Baking Cupboard

This cupboard was quite the disaster and it took me longer than I thought it would to sort and tidy it.  I made the switch to being completely gluten free this past year and in doing so I spent quite a bit of time and money playing around with different flours trying to find substitutes for some of my favourite foods.  Today I ended up getting rid of some flours and starches that I had bought but ended up not using in my cooking and I took my glutenous flours that I had for special Christmas baking downstairs to the storage room where they will sit until the next time I need them.  I also exchange my egg cartons each week when I get fresh pastured eggs from a local farm so there were quite a few of those in there.

Before

After

Before

After - You can see I broke my lazy Susan with too much weight.
The upper one is cracked as well.  I'm going to get metal ones next time.

After - All my sweeteners together in a bin.  I debated
storing these downstairs because I don't really use them
anymore but decided there was enough room for them.

After - Flours, I will thin these a bit more as well.
I have found brown rice, arrowroot and almond flour are my favorites to bake with.

Before

After

Tomorrow Day 2 I tackle my spice cupboard.

The 12 Days of Kitchen

Christmas and New Years is done and my kitchen is a complete disaster.  Somehow the cupboards have become so full I have a hard time closing the door on my glass jar cupboard and a few are just so messy I take too long to find what I need (spice & baking cupboard).  Also my fridge is in need a really good cleaning.

The prospect of tackling it all in one day is far too overwhelming so I have decided that this January will be the first annual 12 Days of Kitchen.  Each day I will tackle an aspect of my kitchen and after 12 days the whole thing will clean as a whistle at least for a little while.

Day 1 - Baking Cupboard
Day 2 - Spice Cupboard
Day 3 - Tea Cupboard
Day 4 - Pantry
Day 5 - Cupboard Fronts & Back Splash
Day 6 - Stove, Oven & Oven Drawer
Day 7 - Fridge
Day 8 - Pots & Pans
Day 9 - Lid & Storage Container Drawers
Day 10 - Silverware Drawer
Day 11 - Cookbook & Medicine Cupboards
Day 12 - Glass & Mug Cupboards

I will let you know how it goes!

Yummy Food!

Burgers for Lunch - Gluten Free Hamburger Bun Recipe

My lunch

Lily's Lunch

Ryan's Lunch

Gluten Free Buns

In a large bowl whisk together to blend

1 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup each ground flax seed, arrowroot flour, sweet rice flour and white rice flour
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar

In a small bowl mix together and let sit for 5 minutes

1 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
2 tablespoons of hot (potato) water (see below)

Add gelatin water to flour mixture.  Add the egg, olive oil and enough water to make the dough into a pancake like consistency.  

1 egg
2 Tablespoons first cold pressed olive oil
1 cup + warm water or potato water (the leftover water used when boiling potatoes)

Cover with a towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour.  Preheat your oven to 400 F with cast iron mini cake pans inside.  After dough has risen to about double the flour will have absorbed a lot of the water.  Add more water until the dough is once again like a pancake batter.

When the oven is hot, take the pans out and grease with olive oil or bacon grease so the crusts won't stick.  Pour about 1/4-1/3 cup of batter into each cup and bake 6-7 minutes until firm, cool on a wire rack while you are getting your toppings ready, or for a more crispy crust flip and bake another 6-7 minutes on the other side.  Cool.

Chin Up Update

Okay folks I am super excited, today I did 5 chin ups in a row on the pull up bar!  I have to tell you it really feels amazing to be able to say that in a little over 2 months I have improved from being able to only do 2 consecutive chin ups to 5.  I have also gone from 0 pull ups to being able to do 2 in a row (they are so much harder).  I feel so strong!  I am well on my way to my goal of 8 in a row.  I love setting and working toward a goal.  What are your goals?

Grain Free Salmon Loaf

Everyone in our family likes salmon loaf so it is a big go to protein dish for me.  I will often turn this recipe into salmon patties which are a great take along snack for a busy family.  This recipe is easily doubled.

Drain water from a can of salmon and reserve.  Mash up the salmon with a fork or a pastry cutter.

Add 1/4 cup almond flour.

Add a small onion chopped, 1/8 cup chopped celery and a pinch of salt and pepper.  (I subbed 1 Tablespoon of dried parsley because I was out of celery.)

Mix it all together and add 1 beaten egg.

Add reserved salmon water and 1/8 cup cream or milk.

Mix and press into a 5x7 inch pan.  Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!

I will post the fry recipes tomorrow.

Coconut Curry, Butter Chicken and Creamy Eggplant Curry Recipes

On Fridays Blog Talk Show we talked about our favourite recipes and both Lily and I said that Indian was our number one favourite food so I will share my favourite recipes with you

Coconut Curry

This curry is fabulous!  It's great tasting, great for you and when made with another dish like butter chicken you end up with at least a second meal for a family of four.  You can use whatever vegetables you want in it, whatever you have on hand.  Prepping is super important when making Indian dishes so before you start cooking measure out all your spices into a small bowl, blend the tomatoes and chop up all the veggies.

3 tablespoons coconut oil

1/2 cup mustard seeds

5 cloves garlic, finely grated

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped

3 teaspoons garam masala

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoons powdered turmeric

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 796ml/28oz can diced tomatoes, pureed

1 400ml/14.5oz can coconut milk

1 large sweet potato, peeled, thinly sliced

2 large carrots, peeled, thinly sliced

1 bunch of asparagus or 1 head of broccoli

Warm the coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add mustard seeds and cook until seeds pop (2-3 minutes).  Add onions and saute 5-7 minutes until soft and translucent.  Add garlic, ginger, jalapeno pepper, spices and salt and saute another 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes and coconut milk, adding water to the can to get all the milk out.  Mix well.  Add vegetables (if using asparagus wait until the other vegetables are almost done before adding) and simmer over low with the saucepan lid cracked for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Enjoy!

Creamy Eggplant Curry

Poke a few holes into an eggplant and bake in a 350F oven for 1 hour.

3 Tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds

3 small onions

In a small saucepan over medium heat fry mustard seeds for 1 minute lower heat to low and add onions and caramelize the onions while the eggplant is cooking stirring occasionally until golden.  

1/2 teaspoon each fenugreek and salt

1/4 teaspoon each tumeric and corriander

1/8 teaspoon each cumin, ground black pepper and cayenne pepper

Add spices to onions and cook for a minute stirring.  Blend onions, tomatoes and eggplant in blender until smooth.  Pour into a ovenproof dish and bake at 425F for 20 minutes.

And last but not least my favourite butter chicken recipe.

Butter Chicken/Murgh Makhni

I found this butter chicken recipe here.  The first time I made this I thought it was very complicated but so delicious I have made it many time since.  Each time I make this recipe it gets easier and easier.  Below are my notes to make this recipe easier.

Rub for Chicken

500g boneless chicken

50g/1.8oz garlic and ginger paste

1/2 teaspoon salt

65ml/2.2oz natural yogurt

1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garam masla

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1) Wash and dry the chicken.

2) Season chicken with premixed sauce.

3) Marinate in the fridge no less than 4 hours preferably overnight.

4) Broil for 10-15 minutes.

5) Cool slightly/cut chicken/cover and refrigerate.

Sauce

40ml/1.5oz olive oil
4 sticks cinnamon
5 green cardamon pods
5 cloves
2 1/2 large bay leaves
6 green chilies
15g/0.5oz ginger root
750g/27oz tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
75g/2.6oz raw cashew nuts

1 tablespoon honey
1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons ground dried fenugreek
50g/1.8oz butter
60ml/2oz single cream

1) Peel and grate ginger.
2) Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan.
3) Add cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, bay leaves.  Stir for 2 minutes.
4) Add ginger and cook for 1 minute.
5) Add chilies and tomatoes and STIR for 2 minutes.
6) Add 100ml water, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes.
7) Remove from heat and take out any whole spices and blend until smooth straining out any lumps, adding a bit of water to get everything out the blender.
8) Bring back to a boil.
9) Meanwhile blend cashews (I blend all the cashews contrary to the video as I prefer my butter chicken not to have whole nuts on top), adding a bit of water to make a paste.
10) When the sauce is boiling add tomatoes paste and cashew paste.
11) Add chili powder and honey and stir for 3 minutes.
12) Add butter and stir until melted.
13) Add salt, "a generous sprinkle"
14) Add ground fenugreek and simmer for 20 minutes.
15) Fry chicken in butter for 3 minutes on high heat and add to sauce.
16) Add cream, stir simmering for 3 minutes.

Enjoy!

I will post pictures the next time I make these!

My Food Journey

Born and raised in Canada I have been very active all my life.  Growing up my mom liked to cook from scratch at home and we always sat down to eat family dinners.

I have fond childhood memories of eating bacon, eggs and home fries regularly as well as 2 slices of toast dipped in a very, very chocolaty hot chocolate for breakfast.  Cereal was also very big in my house.  Bowls of chips and diet pop were a regular Friday and Saturday night treat.

As a kid I had lots of digestive troubles.  Chronic constipation combined with bouts of very painful diarrhea.  Diagnosed as lactose intolerance.  My skin has always been very dry, with bumps which I now know are keratosis pilaris.

I was a bit of an anomaly in my family in terms of exercise.  I was the only one that was good at pretty much any sport or exercise I tried and exercise has always made me feel really good.  As a teen I started smoking and drinking.  My diet was terrible, corn chips for breakfast and a burger and fries for lunch, a lot of junky fast food but in spite of that I never lost my love of sport.

I married young at 20.  I quit smoking and drinking and had my first baby at 21.  My daughter was born and at 6 weeks we were told she was blind.  Shocked but resilient I made the best of what life gave me turning the focus of my life to being as healthy as I can be.

I started cooking everything I could from scratch.  Luckily for me I have never believed all the low fat mantra.  I've always preferred to use real ingredients like butter over margarine, thank you Mom.

I went on the blood type diet for a while in conjunction with a 40/30/30 plan and it worked well for me.  I worked out out a few times a week lifting weights and interval running and got in great shape.  Then somehow I went off that eating plan, I can't remember when or why.  Probably because trying to keep track of the ratios proved to be a pain.

Fast forward 5 years and I was pregnant with my second baby, working at Tim Hortons (a coffee and donut shop) to make extra cash while my daughter was in school.  I gained quite a bit more weight with my second pregnancy than my first.  Damn you bagels and donuts!  I went from 125 to 160.

I lost most of the baby weight though and then after watching a few videos on the PITA website I decided to become a vegan for humane reasons.  Such a bad idea for me in retrospect, I was a horrible vegan and I gained 10 lbs in a year while still exercising at the same level.

For Christmas that year I was given Nourishing Traditions by my mother in law and a lot of what I read in the book made sense to me.  I was unhappy with my weight gain and constantly hungry on my vegan diet so I started sourcing out humanely raised, grass fed local dairy and beef and pastured eggs and chickens.  I wanted to eat meat because my body craved it, but it had to be from animals that were treated well.

So I started eating meat and dairy again.  I found and joined the website Sparkpeople and put myself on a restricted calorie diet to lose my extra weight and as someone who had never paid attention to calories before I was shocked to discover that breads, pasta and grains all contain a ton of calories. But not only that, the nutrition they provide in terms of vitamins and minerals was so low that to me they became not worth eating because I considered those calories wasted.

I guess I am considered low carb now, I usually eat under 100g of carbs a day.  Although I don't track my foods anymore.  I found not only was constantly tracking a huge time suck it also isn't necessary when I eat the way I eat. A whole food diet consisting of lots of vegetables, meats, fats and some fruit.  I have also come to discover that this way of eating is Primal/Paleo although I do make some treats for the family that are not 100% Primal/Paleo.  What can I say, kids like muffins and cookies (husbands like them too), so I make some tasty gluten free ones that have all real food ingredients to satisfy those needs.

So that has been my journey so far.  It feels really natural to eat this way and I am feeling so good right now I can't imagine changing how I eat.

Thanks for reading,
April

Pull Up Bar

This is not me.  I lost our camera in the summer and am going to buy a new one very soon.  Getting pictures from my I Phone onto the blog has proven to be a pain and I really want to take some great pictures to go on the blog.  Coming Soon!

     Last week I ordered a pull up bar online and I was so excited this week when it arrived.  I decided on the Ultimate Body Press because it had really good reviews and I liked the clean look of it, my gym is in the dining room after all.  So it arrived and Adam installed it for me on Friday night and the whole family was fighting over who got to use it first.

     When it was my turn I pumped out a measly 2 chin ups and I could do 0 pull ups!  Granted I had done a workout earlier in the day but I was a little disappointed in just 2 and 0.  I hopped on the net to check out how to do pull ups and I was introduced to a "walk the plank" technique where you just lower yourself slowly for 8 reps in order to build strength so eventually you can achieve actual pull ups.  I did a couple sets of those and then did some hanging leg circles for my core which worked amazing.

     The kids each did a few sets of assisted chin ups, pull ups and some hanging knee raises and Adam bless him can actually do chin ups and pull ups!  One of the best things about the bar I've discovered is that it is great for stretching.  My upper body was/is pretty sore from being introduced to the new exercise and I must have hung on the bar 6 different times yesterday just to stretch because it feels so good.

     I will keep you posted on my pull up progress.  I will be super pumped when I am able to do 8 straight!

Ponds and Strawberries

A few years ago when we moved into our house we ripped up all the grass in the front yard and mulched it planting plants and shrubs.

6 years ago it was pretty barren.  A friend who I didn't know at the time has since told me she wondered what the heck we were doing to our yard, she thought all the mulch looked terrible.

The recyclers made a big mess one morning but the picture shows what the yard used to look like.

This year the front yard is looking lush.  BTW, my friend loves the yard now.

The dreaded annual pond clean up.

I did it last year, your turn.

Blooming right now.

The strawberries are starting!

I planted a few strawberry plants in the front yard 3 years ago and they have spread like mad.  It should be a good crop this year.