week one complete

When I first started this plan I thought how hard could it be to give up added sugar, wheat/gluten, eggs, corn, soy, fruit juices and processed food for one week? The first day I was patting myself on the back, the second day the reality hit. While I made a few meals including Flying Apron’s Fennel and Carrot soup I was not prepared for how hungry I would be or how much I would crave chocolate and bread. I packed my meals for the day but found myself wanting more despite great food options. This week I made Martha’s millet bowl, blended healthy shakes every morning, snacked on a handful of mixed nuts (minus peanuts), I had quinoa and salmon, lentils and salmon, salad after salad and fruit snacks. While all of them were delicious I really felt I needed more. I was a healthy bottomless pit. But as the week progressed I became less hungry and by day five I no longer craved chocolate even when J waved a one kg Dairy Milk bar from the UK at me (he’s been doing it as well but had to break it when that sucker came out. Chocolate is a hard thing to resist).

I’m now on day seven and tomorrow wheat gets to come back in (for J not for me, back to gluten free) and the restrictions loosen up. I have to say that the food was delicious but it was hard preparing everything for the day and making sure I had options so that I would not give in to a flaky chocolate croissant (best of both worlds I gave it death stares but didn’t pick it up). I do feel better physically and I’m finding it easier now, but I definitely need a snack that is not a fruit or some nuts. This next week should be easier with eggs coming back in. What I’m really excited about is finally being able to do Flying Apron’s recipes especially since I had such success with the soup.

The Fennel and Carrot soup was made out of necessity instead of want. I had a bunch of carrots about to go off and I knew I could make a soup out of it. I picked up a fennel bulb and went to work. What came out was something both unexpected and delicious. I was never a big fan of fennel but have come to appreciate its light flavour and what it brings to a meal. The combination of the fennel and the carrot was amazing. It had a nice balance to it and when you incorporate coconut milk in and you’ve got probably the most grown up soup I’ve ever made. I’m glad I had those extra carrots otherwise I would never have had the joy of drinking this soup. This simple to make soup definitely gave me confidence in the rest of the book and it also made me jealous that I don’t live in Seattle. And now it’s time for the baked goods!

new year, new resolutions

This past week I’ve had a cold and I went back to work. It seems as if those two items combined make it impossible for me to blog or even think about it (the robot shot above captures my feelings of the past week). But I’m feeling better and it’s the weekend so here I am. During the holidays I really enjoyed doing more than one book and hope to review at least two every month. This month I’m doing something a little different.

Every New Year I start with resolutions on reducing stress, eating better and getting in shape. I always start with the best of intentions but no plan. Without a plan I find it difficult to focus. This year Martha Stewart’s Whole Living magazine outlines a simple action plan for both mental and physical wellbeing for 28 days. I can do 28 days! So that’s the New Year resolution, 28 days to a purified me.

The first week is a reduction of common allergens and other bad things (good-bye added sugar, you’ve been a dear friend). Gluten/wheat is back out as well. With that in mind I decided that I would try Flying Apron’s Gluten-Free and Vegan Baking book. Seemed like a good match to Whole Living’s plan. I seriously love me a baked good so I’m going to be realistic and try to do more responsible baking. Wish me luck I’m may be a little crazy after a few days of no added sugar…

But before I do that I have one more Kylie Kwong recipe to review.

I love noodles. We grew up not knowing the true name to any dish referring to them as the big flat one, the one with soup or the worm one; the worm one being a particular favourite. That was why I decided to do the Hokkien Noodles Stir Fried with Chicken. Once again it was a blend of different sauces to create an easy to make dish that was rich in flavour and delicious. Before I got this cookbook I didn’t really know who Kylie Kwong is and now I’m sorry I hadn’t been introduced to her sooner. She’s definitely sparked my desire to learn how to cook Chinese food and furthered my appreciation of the food my dad just whips up in the kitchen.

what i've been up to...

December has always been a crazy month both personally and professionally. At the end of the week I usually collapse on the couch and enter a television stupor. As the weekend progresses I find that couch potato-ing is not enough and turn to my other stress reliever: food. I find baking relaxing. There is something therapeutic in filling a scoop with fluffy flour and leveling it off.

For the past two months I've whipped up baked goods on what I like to call "the Sunday bake". I've made loafs, cookies and brownies amongst other baked goodies. Martha Stewart released her annual holiday magazine and this year's theme was cookies. I love cookies because they are small sugary bite size goodness...my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I went back and forth between smoked bacon ginger cookies and macarons...macarons won out.

Thanks goodness for my KitchenAid! I have literally burned through four hand mixers in my history of baking. I've tried cheap to mid-level ones. My relationship with them has always been tenuous and has always ended with a terrible burning smell. When my last one began to go up in smoke I decided that I had to fully commit to the KitchenAid. I haven't in the past because it was heavy and a bit cumbersome, but it really came in handy with the macarons. I spent 90% of the cook time whipping the eggs. After my first attempt was successful I decided that this would be my hostess/host gift for the holidays. I have done a mixture of black tea (cream of avalon or earl grey)-apricot jam macarons and chocolate-strawberry jam ones. Although these are not as good as Lauduree I'm still really happy with them, especially with a nice sprinkle of curry. Yum! I'm still figuring out some transport aspects but overall A+.