Getting Back On Track and Staying Mindful of My Physical Well-Being

Soundtrack: Arcade Fire - Suburban War

So I've been trying to be more mindful in my eating of  late (says she who is currently munching on Party Mix). I've been a chubbier girl most of my life; certainly from adolescence onwards, though by no means am I the "f" word but I do tend to be over a healthy BMI for my height. I've struggled with depression over the years and one of my coping mechanisms has always been food. Plus, eating is a huge source of pleasure in life for anyone. I take great pride in cooking an amazing meal for people and I love trying new restaurants. Food is a way for me to travel without springing for a plane ticket.

I've had some medical issues over the last decade or so and wasn't able to be as active as I might like, which also made it really easy to sit at home watching DVD's and stress-eating. I used to demolish a pint of a certain brand of ice cream from Vermont in one or two sittings on a regular basis.

I had to have surgery in December 2008 and again in April 2009. This forced me to weight myself as the anaesthetist requires that info. I was forced to confront the fact that I was inching my way closer and closer to 200 lbs, which was a shock (I'm only 5'3. Well, 5'2.5 but it's easier to say 5'3).

Starting in early 2009 (as soon as my doctor cleared it) I began to make a conscious effort to walk more, plus I began taking salsa dancing lessons. I was living in Vancouver at the time and it was very easy to be active year-round. In May 2009, I had lost 15 lbs on my own when I realised I needed help to move beyond that. I joined an internationally recognised diet company and started attending weekly meetings. By June 2010, I had lost 60 lbs in total and felt great.

Unfortunately, the last two years or so have been really rough for me personally and I've been slowly creeping back up. Lately it's been creeping up at an alarming rate. I think you can all understand why I've needed to be more mindful recently - or at least try. I can't afford to go back to weekly meetings, but I do know the strategies and how the program works. I'm attempting to go it alone in my own way bit by bit but without the rigidity I had when I first started the program. I just don't have the will or discipline to limit myself like that. This blog is part of my strategy. It's forced me to actually prepare my own food instead of eating out - saving me calories and money.

So in the interests of being very virtuous (as well as trying to get in more veggies) I bring you:

Spinach Salad with Strawberries and Walnuts

2 cups raw baby spinach
4 strawberries, washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
5 walnut halves, chopped

Toast walnuts in a dry pan at med-high heat until they smell toasty and get a little brown, making sure not to burn them. Remove from pan and put to the side to cool a bit so they don't wilt your spinach.

In a bowl, rip up the spinach and put the chopped strawberries on top. Sprinkle with walnuts and top with about a tablespoon or two of your favourite balsamic vinaigrette.

Serves 1 person as a side or add some chicken to make it a meal.

I didn't make my own dressing this time, but I often do (I'm assuming I'll likely post an actual recipe at some point in the future, but today is not that day). If you are, I suggest making the dressing in your serving bowl before adding any other ingredients. That way, you can save on washing one more dish. I usually do a 3:1 oil to balsamic vinegar ratio and add some sort of mustard and a little salt. Make sure you use good-quality oil or you might as well just use store-bought. I'm serious about this. I've found amazing bottles of salad dressing-quality (ie. Not to be cooked with, only to be used raw) extra-virgin olive oil at my local gourmet market for $10, so it is possible to find good-quality oil at a discount if you're on a budget. Most gourmet markets have oil and balsamic vinegar samplings on weekends so you can try before you buy.

Anyway, enjoy my efforts to be virtuous (but not too virtuous!) and eat well.

Missing China and some provincial fusion

Soundtrack: Al Green "Let's Stay Together"

Hullo all!

I went for dinner last night with a friend after an afternoon of thrift shopping. We checked out the amazing Whippoorwill Restaurant and Tavern at Bloor and Lansdowne. It was my first time there and the food was fantastic! The staff couldn't have been nicer, and I know we'll be back there soon.

Earlier in the day, I'd been combing Chinatown in an unsuccessful mission for a jar preserved ya cai, which is a sort of Chinese mustard green pickle that comes all ready to go (I've found it before so fear not). I use them for Sichuanese Dan Dan noodles, plus there are a host of other dishes you can use them for. I've been re-reading "Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper" - Fuchsia Dunlop's incredible autobiography about her time living in China lately, and that has had me missing China and wanting to make old favourites from her phenominal cookbook "Land of Plenty" which is a staple reference in my kitchen.

Well last night, I got to chatting with Tyler Cunningham - who is the chef at Whippoorwill - as he and his sous Adam were trying to come up with some future menu items. I started reminicing about my days in China and all the amazing food (including Over-the-Bridge Noodles, which I have yet to attempt but want to desperately in future).

So long story short, I'm home sick from work today but even so, a girl's gotta eat. I wanted something easy, not hugely involved. I remembered that I bought a new sauce in Chinatown, had some leftover white rice in the fridge, and had roasted off some Sichuan peppercorns before I left the apartment yesterday. So I now bring you my own lazy twist on my beloved Dan Dan Noodles, incorporating a fermented black bean chili sauce from Guizhou province, and Sichuan peppercorns:

Michelle's Chinese Provincial Fusion Fried Rice

1 tsp chopped ginger (I cheated and used jarred ginger. Hey, I'm sick. Don't judge me)
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns (toasted in a dry pan, cooled and ground to powder)
2 tbsp Guizhou Black Bean Chili Sauce

5 oz ground pork
1 1/2 - 2 cups baby spinach (I tore it into smaller bits but you can chop it if you like)
3/4 - 1 cup cooked long grain white rice (I love basmati, but use any good quality rice you like)

Saute ginger, peppercorn powder, and chili bean sauce for about a minute in a med-high pan or wok so the ginger cooks. Add in the pork and cook until it is no longer pink.

Toss in the spinach and cook until slightly wilted. Add the rice and cook until rice is warmed through, the spinach is cooked and everything is incorporated. Season with salt if need be, though I didn't need any as the fermented black bean sauce has some saltiness to it.

Yields 2 smaller portions or one huge portion.

This one turned out amazingly well and I would love to make it again. I might add some shitake mushrooms or some bok choi as well as the spinach next time just to add some more nutrition. Enjoy!

Layers

Soundtrack: Basia Bulat "Go On"

Good morning all!

I had meant to post something new a couple of days ago, but there have been a lot of stressful changes at work this week, so I've been giving myself a pass in terms of how much I've been requiring myself to get done over the last few days.

I've been thinking a lot about layers this week. Layers of bureaucracy, layers of management, layers of emotion, layers of music. I'm part of an amazing choir that meets every Tuesday at a bar here in Toronto. Every week, our fearless leaders teach us two songs, we drink beer, catch up with good friends, make new friends, and laugh A LOT. No matter how shitty your week was, you know you'll have at least one night in your week where you will feel pure joy and love. We divide into three groups - lows, mids, and highs - then we layer each part and finally, finally record it and post what we did that night on Soundcloud.

So, how does me being inspired by layers translate to food? I have a favourite dessert/light breakfast/snack that is a staple in my food rotation and I thought I'd share the goodness! I offer this picture as an amuse-bouche:

Excited yet? As a single gal, I'm going to offer this up as a single-serving recipe.

1 square (12.5g) Lindt 70% cocoa dark chocolate (or the equivalent of whatever dark chocolate you like). Dark chocolate is the way to go on this one as the rest of the ingredients are so sweet.
3/4 cup lemon-flavoured yogurt (I used Liberte brand)
1 cup blueberrries (I used blueberries this time, but raspberries are particularly lovely. Blackberries or strawberries would also be wonderful)

Chop the chocolate (as in the picture above). In a bowl, layer fruit and yogurt as you like, then sprinkle with the chocolate. Feast!

I also do this with granola instead of the chocolate and call it breakfast. I like a nice thick Greek-style yogurt as it feels more indulgent and satisfies me more.

Have a great week guys!

Michelle xoxo

After two years of radio silence...

When you don't blog for two years after a hurtful break up, it's hard to know what to make. What does one post as their first article in a very long while? What subject, recipe or discussion merits being your first post in two years?

To be honest, I allowed my mojo to be taken while I dealt with the fallout from how I had been treated. I stopped cooking for the large part. So here I am, two years later, 20 pounds heavier, and it's time for a change. My depression wasn't all about the boy. I was hurt at the lack of support shown by many people in my life (though very impressed at how some unexpected people stepped up). On top of all that, just as I was starting to get better, my beloved Granny died a year ago and I fell off the rails again.

It's been a tough year, but also a year with many blessings and healing. I've joined a choir, been very lucky to have some amazing people come into my life, and I've done some things I thought I would never in a million years do.

It's time I got back on the horse - so to speak - and got back to writing. Time to move on. In that spirit I bring you my first recipe post in two years. Bring out the big stockpot; you're gonna need it!

Michelle's Thai Fish Ball Breakup Soup

Ingredients:

1 tbsp vegetable oil (I used canola)
3 cups long beans, chopped into 2 cm batons (they taste a bit grassier and are more delicate than regular green beans)
3 - 4 cups sliced mushrooms (I used cremini, but do use whatever you like/have)
7 cups bok choi chopped, whites separated from greens (you can use any dark leafy green you fancy, and yes they do wilt so don't be afraid of the quantity I've cited)
1/2 tsp salt
2 - 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3/4 cup beer (I used Mill Street's Oktoberfest Beer which was part of a seasonal sampler, but you can use what you like as long as it's not too dark)
5 cups hot vegetable or chicken broth mixed with 2 tbsp green curry paste (adjust proportion of curry paste to taste)
4 cups fish balls (Mine were assorted kinds and frozen when I put them in the pot, but feel free to use fresh. You will just have to add the bean sprouts a bit earlier and not cook as long in the end)
3 cup soybean sprouts

Method:

In a large stockpot, heat oil on medium heat. Add the mushrooms, beans and bok choi bottoms (if you're using bok choi) with the salt until they are partially cooked and the bok choi whites start to look translucent. Toss in the green tops of the bok choi and cook until wilted. Add the garlic and cook for a minute of two so the garlic cooks. Add the beer and cook until the alcohol burns off (your kitchen will start to get that delicious yeasty, bready scent). Mix in the stock/curry paste mixture, the fish balls, and the sprouts. Cook until the fish balls are warmed through and the sprouts are tender. Season to taste. Makes a huge stockpot's worth of soup so you'll have leftovers for days. Or a large party.

I found that between the saltiness of the stock and the big flavour from the curry paste, I did not need more salt but do season it to your taste. I also think this would do very well as a noodle soup and certainly more filling that way. I almost added a can of coconut milk and some peanut butter to this, but the broth tasted so nice that I decided to save those for a hearty curry at a later date.

So there you are guys. Back to writing after two years of silence. Do enjoy and I hope to have more articles on here more often than not ;)

Love,
Michelle xoxo