The World's Fastest Chocolate Mousse - Food Network Canada

The World's Fastest Chocolate Mousse - Food Network Canada

Oh my oh my. Behold. I've made the mousse before and tried to feed it to non-vegan friends without telling them its made from tofu. Friends wife wouldn't eat it cause she just... doesn't eat anything. I dont even know what she eats besides white rice. Her hubby ate his AND her serving. Mwahaha. TOFABULOUS!

Confession

I'd like to start by asking, what sort of health and fitness blog would this be if I had a relapse, a failure of sorts - and lied to you about it?

"There is no failure except in no longer trying." - Elbert Hubbard
"It is on our failures that we base a new and different and better success." - Havelock Ellis

I am not giving up, nor did I give up... just slipped. I tend to do that when I've been sick. I can't eat a thing when I am ill. I starve myself unintentionally. Then, I binge once I'm feeling well again. My routine of going to the gym is shot to hell with 2 weeks of sickness. I'll find my way again.

One thing I am really, really struggling with during this economic barf fest we're having - is how to eat healthy, organic, nutritious food on a shoe string. Is it my fault that a box of pasta is not only cheaper, but lasts a lot longer than a bundle of new potatoes and free range chicken? I really haven't mastered the art of eating well on a BEYOND tight budget. The "health foods" that I enjoy eating are, lets not fool ourselves, much pricier.
I welcome other bloggers to help me with this and share opinions and ideas.
Perhaps the art is in eating different things, quinoa, lentils, not pasta. Grilled white fish, tuna, tofu - not chicken. Veggies are cheap. Yes... bloggers... help!

The other small matter I am facing, is my personal life is something of a stress-case right now, and I am comforting myself with food. Bad food. I had a really good long shower last night and WASHED the lazy off of me. (I'm gonna wash that man right outta my hair - cept, I washed the lazy right outta my bones) and I am going to force myself to get to the gym. I've proved it to myself time and time again that I feel like a million bucks when I'm active and like a million UPchucks when I'm not. It's like night and day. I guess in writing this I am regaining my accountability to the blog world, but also creating a positive affirmation for myself of things I already know. Sometimes writing it helps.

When I begin p90x I will be taking a photo once a week. There will be no hiding.

I also appologize for no asana last week, so I will make it up to you this week.

I'm truly back now. I promise.

xoxo

I'm back!

Well It is Monday afternoon. I am still sick as a dog, but definitely on the mend. I have a little bit of energy back and have been playing with Kona and chasing him around.



I'd like to share a really neat yummy with you. Buy a jar of Tikka Masala sauce (I really love Sharwoods) and a can of chick peas. Chop up some onion and red pepper and sautee it, then throw in the chick peas and the sauce and cook according to directions on the Jar. It's really yummy and a great vegetarian substitute for chicken. Chick peas are a great source of fiber and protein and have a very low calorie count per serving.

Chickpeas, mature seeds, cooked no salt Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 160 kcal 690 kJ
Carbohydrates
27.42 g
- Sugars 4.8 g
- Dietary fiber 7.6 g
Fat
2.59 g
- saturated 0.269 g
- monounsaturated 0.583 g
- polyunsaturated 1.156 g
Protein
8.86 g
Water
60.21 g
Vitamin A equiv. 1 μg
0%
Thiamine (Vit. B1) 0.116 mg
9%
Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.063 mg
4%
Niacin (Vit. B3) 0.526 mg
4%
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.286 mg
6%
Vitamin B6 0.139 mg
11%
Folate (Vit. B9) 172 μg
43%
Vitamin B12 0 μg
0%
Vitamin C 1.3 mg
2%
Vitamin E 0.35 mg
2%
Vitamin K 4 μg
4%
Calcium 49 mg
5%
Iron 2.89 mg
23%
Magnesium 48 mg
13%
Phosphorus 168 mg
24%
Potassium 291 mg
6%
Sodium 7 mg
0%
Zinc 1.53 mg
15%

As you can see they are quite the little super food! I love having this with a 1/2 cup of brown basmati rice cooked in coconut milk with a bit of naan bread on the side. You can actually get whole wheat naan too! I prefer the white stuff - its an exception to my rule hehe.

In other news... once me and the MR. are over this horrible cold we are going to start doing p90x together. For those of you that don't know what that is - it is a seris of butt busting cardio, pliometrics, resistance training, weight training, kick boxing and yoga that you do over 90 days.



I'll keep you in the loop as I journey through that.
I was thinking of keeping a photo journal of my mid section, arms and back throughout the 90 days. (3 pictures weekly) I think it would be a great way of marking my progress, but I'm a little shy to put my current "flabby" pics up hehe.

What do you think?

Quick Recovery

Well... a day and a half off work isn't that bad. I slept from 8:30 at night till 11:30 the next day. I usually can't sleep past 8am. WOW... anyways "Feed a fever, Starve a cold"
I basically ate a few almonds, some yogurt, a couple bites of beef dip, then slept, and slept... and slept........ The chills are gone. I'm still stuffy and sick but definitely a far cry from Tuesday. I was seriously in tears every ounce of me ached and hurt.

Today I have some super healthy vegetarian chili for lunch! MMM. Luckily for me my work has unlimited assorted Tazo teas. My wonderful fiance' took pictures of him prepping a pineapple, so I'll have those up soon. For those who are scared of the big thorny tropical fruit therefore limit themselves to canned pineapples? FEAR NO MORE. Its dead simple. So I'll get those to you.

LOOK what a girl from weddingbells.ca put together for me to help with my color theme for my upcoming wedding:

Isn't it fantastic and saucy? You're welcome to check out her blog as well:

http://sailing-into-the-mystic.blogspot.com/

I was thinking that if I go with red... perhaps I will buy my first pair of Christian Louboutin shoes HAHA! Well my fiance is buying his kilt and his whole ensemble is going to cost a grand - why the heck not have fantastic footwear?

Blog is on Hiatus

I am deathly sick right now. I'll be eating healthy soups at least, but no posts till I'm better. Body aches - no fun.

Weekly Asana - Tree Pose

Tree Pose (vrksasana) is the name of the game this week. It is a balancing pose. They say balancing poses are at the root of meditation, because only when your mind is still can you balance.

Tree is actually my favorite posture, it is so beautiful and I love how it feels I could stay there forever. It is fine to sway a bit while in this pose.... trees sway with the wind, but your foot should be rooted to the ground.

Standing in tadasana (mountain pose) your feet should be hip width apart, hands at your side palms facing forward. Look ahead of you and find a dristi; a focal point that is not moving, if you can look out a window... at a tree, you will find this very calming and inspiring. On your next inhale, bring your right foot up and place the sole of your foot on your left leg, either just below your knee on the inside of your shin, or just above your knee on your inner thigh. Do not place your knee as this will put pressure on the joint and ligaments. You can use your hands to adjust your foot or clothing so that it does not slip. Breathe. Inhale and bring your hands to your heart in prayer position. Keep breathing. When you are ready, you can bring your hands into full tree, extending up towards the sky, just like branches, keeping your hands in prayer position. Remember to keep your shoulders relaxed down, keep breathing. The longer you can remain still here, the better. Enjoy the posture and just feel the energy circulating throughout your body. Your arms are actually forming a mudra - a circle of energy above your 7th chakra. When you are ready exhale your hands back to your heart in prayer position, take one more breath here, then exhale your hands and your right leg down back into tadasana. Give your legs a little shake to relax the muscles, and when you are ready, repeat on the other side.

Namaste.

My weekend summed up!

Well all in all it was a good weekend. Saturday night saw me a 1 bar, 1 club and 1 afterhours club. Dance Dance DANCE. I figure it counts as exersize!! Especially in a 6 inch pair of Manolos.
(Who am I trying to kid... I don't own Manolos, or Jimmy Choos, Christian L's.... nope) I actually wore flats. Just for the record... if you want to party hard, but ixnay the calorieay - do shots! Alcohol is still not conducive to good dieting in any way, but if you must drink, leaving out the high calorie sodas and juice is always a good way to go. Club Soda and Lime is nice too. I'd like to take this opportunity to give my partner in crime, Annica, a HUGE shout out and many snaps for being a trooper! Cheating, lying, scheming boyfriend who took her (and her savings) for a ride, a certain teacher who couldn't see it in his heart to give her an extra 3% for participation in order to pass her, despite knowing she'd been through hell and back.. and she still walks with her head high and is just a rockstar. Simply put. Another shout out to my long lost best friend Karina who has become my inspiration. I barely recognized this girl as she has recently lost 25 lbs of weight she carried her entire life, and she looks RAVISHING! So much so that if I don't get with the effing program, I will be jealously making her wear sleeves on her bridesmaid dress so she doesn't outshine me haha. JK.

So now I'd like to tell you about the BEST BREAKFAST EVER. I almost forgot to take a picture, but salvaged it at the very last bite to show you. Pardon the grotesque shape it is in. Anywho... you could use a belgian waffle, or a whole wheat/flax waffle. If you can find whole wheat belgian waffles all the better! I take frozen blueberries and raspberries, maybe a little less than a half cup combined, microwave it until it bubbles and becomes syrupie, put this over the waffle and top with a generous spoonfull of non-fat vanilla yogurt. YUM! It tastes soooooooo naughty, but its SOOOO good. How bad can a whole grain waffle, fruit and yogurt be for you? Right?

Oh that really is a bad picture lol. It was too delicious, I just devoured it!

My other "love" at the moment is baked perogies. When you bake em, they still get nice and crispy but without all the butter! Calorie wise... sour cream isn't horrible (it does pack alot of fat however so watch out)

Wine and cheese, bread and butter.....

ALMONDS AND GREEN TEA!

Yum. I should try and make a recipe that calls for both. So good together.

TGIF!!!!!

So I have to say... my cereal... (All Bran Buds) look a lot like bunny pellets. haha. They're yummy though! Very crunchy, with a nice subtley sweet flavor, and whats best? They're chalk full of healthy fiber! YAY FOR FIBER! I have them sitting in vanilla Source yogurt by Yoplait. MmMMMmmMMm. Last night I had a really healthy meditteranian themed pasta. My fiance was all for the white penne, I would have prefered whole wheat but whatever. It had cherry tomatoes, red pepper, red onion, fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, boccacini, and some freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese. YUM! I had lemon merangue pie for dessert. I was wondering if lemon merangue pie is really that horrible for you? As opposed to say - cheesecake? The topping is whipped egg whites which contain no cholesterol, fat and tonnes of protein, and the filling is just gelatin. Hmm. I know theres alot of suger, but... um... its a DESSERT! lol. The crust can't be good, but oh well. This weekend will be fun, my girlfriend and I are having a long awaited GHETTO FABULOUS saturday night. I say ghetto, because Ghetto-chic is the new black, during this economic upheaval. In laymans terms, we are flat off our ass broke, and don't even have nice high heels to wear out, let alone anything else glamorous, but we're not letting that stop us from having a night out. A little guest list here... a little Sailor Jerry's there... badabing badaboom! I might spring for some new heel lifts for my patent leather Franco Sarto stilettos, so that I'm not skating around on steel spikes. Heh Heh. Blisters here we come. Oh well, its a calf work out! Well... guess thats enough for now. Happy Weekend!

Spicccccy!

OK... so... I decided to try a spin off on a classic fav. BUFFALO wings! mmMmM

Wings, unfortunately are full of cholesterol and saturated fat. Not to mention... wings are meant for flying freee not eating!! I've also learnt along the way that few things depend on texture to make them great, usually its the flavor we crave! Spicy, vinegary, rancy dressingy goodness.

Being in a hurry to get to bed last night and not wanting to spend alot of time making my lunch for today, I grabbed some tofu, tossed it in flour, pan fried it, then doused it in Buffalo sauce and packed along some ranch dressing with me. I gotta say.. YUM! I microwaved them, so the breading went a bit soggy :( but they still taste amazing! I mean, I did this in a hurry too - I'll bet if you actually breaded them properly then deep fried them and served them hot and fresh they'd be delic!

My chili recipe below, by the way SUCKS with corn in it. (If you hate corn like I do) I really hate corn. The rest is great though! I love that recipe its so simple. Never again corn though for me, and definitely if you use corn make sure that you dont used the sweetened stuff or it will taste NAST.

I will be posting pictures soon!!

Chili - It's whats for dinner! (recipe)

DEAD easy vegetarian chili
4-5 button mushrooms sliced

1 small white onion chopped

1 red bell pepper chopped

1 table spoon olive oil

1 can kidney beans

1 can deep brown beans

1 can beans in tomato sauce

1 large can diced tomatos

1 can chick peas

1 can black beans

1 can plain corn kernals (no sugar or salt)

3 teaspoons wheat germ

2 table spoons chili powder (or to taste)

dash of tabasco sauce (or to taste)
Salt and Pepper

In a large pot sautee the onion, pepper and mushrooms in the oil, until they become slightly soft. This creates A LOT of flavor! Add the salt and pepper and chili powder and stir. Remove from heat for now so your veggies don't scorch while you add everything else. Add all your canned goods and give it all a good stir! Place back on medium high heat, stiring often. Once it starts to bubble... minimize the heat maybe around 2 or 3 on your burner. Put a lid on it and let it simmer for - basically as long as you want, 30-40 min is usually good though. Making sure to stir occasionally. Just before you serve you can add the wheat germ and any extra tabasco and chili powder to taste. You want to add SOME chili powder in the begining so the flavors can marry, but spices develope heat AS you heat them, so adding too much in the begining can mean it will be too spicy. Adding it closer to the end of cooking will ensure you get the spice you bargained for.

Serve piping hot with fresh crusty buns. A dollop of light sour cream or even plain yogurt on top is a great substitute for cheese, but a little cheese never hurt anyone either especially when you're about to down this much protein and complex carbs!

SUNNY SUNNY weekly asana!

Because this is such a sunny sunny day the Asana for the week is SUN SALUTATIONS! *Suryanamaskar* Should you beeeeee soooo lucky. Sun salutation is more of a sequence of asanas that gets your blood pumping and really feels cleansing. I recomend doing it on a day like today near a window and do just that - SALUTE THE SUN! We love it. It's great.... heres how its done:

Stand facing the direction of the sun with both feet touching. Bring the hands together, palm-to-palm, at the heart. Exhale. Inhale and raise the arms upward. Slowly bend backward, stretching arms above the head.

Exhale slowly bending forward from the hips, let your upper body gracefully fall towards the earth with your breath, until your fingers touch or graze the floor by your feet.

Inhale and move the right leg back away from the body in a wide backward step. Keep the hands and feet firmly on the ground, with the left foot between the hands. Raise the head and Exhale

Inhale, bring your left leg back to join your right, straighten your body using your arms for support as you come into Plank Pose, hold the breath, then exhale as you lower your body slowly to the ground with control.

Inhale, push up with the palms of your hands, leaving your legs and hips sunk into the ground you will use only the strength of your arms coming into Cobra pose. Do not lock your elbows.
Exhale, tuck your toes under, push back out of your palms, and ease into downward facing dog, stay here for a while and breathe. Finding the variation that is most comfortable for you. Make sure your fingers are spread widely for grounding and to ease tension on the wrists.

Inhale, move the right leg back away from the body in a wide backward step. Keep the hands and feet firmly on the ground, with the left foot between the hands. Raise the head.

Exhale slowly bending forward, touching the earth with respect until the hands are in line with the feet, head touching knees.

Inhale and raise the arms upward. Slowly bend backward, stretching arms above the head.

Exhale your arms down to each side of you, and inhale bringing your hands back into prayer position in front of Anahata, your heart chakra. Repeat as desired. Namaste.

Sunny Sunny Hump Day!

SO... today is sunny and super! I think I might go for a tan after work. Yes I fake and bake. Whatever. After having worked at a salon last summer and COMPLETELY over-doing it, I realized how bad my skin had gotten. *wrinkle wise* I was also an overzealous tanner when I was age 15 - 18. MAN o man. If any of you youngins read this... please take heed. Fine lines are not something that you can delay till you're 30 if you are tanning every day. 20!...... 20 years old I noticed my crows feet, jowels, and forehead wrinkles. *puke* ANYwho... I still love tanning, and I still do it once a week (not every day) and cover my face. Torrents of beautiful self tanners on the market for your visage. Use them. I'm going to hit up the gym today. Yesterday I ate really healthy, but splurged for dinner - drank lots... etc... couldn't do yoga, i'll get to this:

Breakfast:
Danone vanilla yogurt with All Bran Buds.

Snack:
Unsalted Almonds mixed with Salted sunflower seeds

Lunch:

Inspired by Sarah - Tofu, cashew butter, and sprout sandwich (with a drizzle of peanut sauce) on wg bread of course ;) and sliced fresh pineapple on the side!

Snack:
Bran granola bar

Dinner... ohhhh dinner..... We went to Metro after work so I could pick up my amazing fabulous Jesus Pants from Lululemon that had just been hemmed. http://www.lululemon.com/products/womens/bottoms/pants/jesus_pant

And didnt want to cook - we were going to go to Cactus Club where I planned on either getting the artichoke quesedila, or Kung Pow or the Bandera Salad - but instead we went to Gooooood Ole... WHITE SPOT. Where I instead got a massive pint of beer, and fish and chips. LOL

I didn't realize how much a pint was... should have gotten a sleeve. Needless to say my teeth were floating! SO MUCH beer. When I got home I couldn't do yoga as I planned, because I would have probably emptied my stomach onto my mat while in Downward Dog.

Could I have made a healthier choice? Yes. Without a doubt.

Do I feel guilty? Nope! It was delicious.

Will I compensate today? Absolutely.

I'd also like to add that pineapple is super easy to prep at home and its super sweet, and really healthy. It also containes Bromelain which aids in appetite suppression and weightloss. You can actually BUY bromelain pills... but why bother when pineapple is just so tastey!?

Maybe when I get my new blackberry I'll take some pics of step by step pineapple prep and post them.

For now I will post a picture of my running buddy - Kona! (Its at the top incase you didnt notice)

HELLO!

Well... Here's my first post, I'll introduce myself and give you a little idea of what my blog will contain.

I am your average 23 and a half year old girl who has tried EVERYTHING; except to change my lifestyle to SUIT my lifestyel! I am due to be married to my long-time love in Aug 2010. I am an aspiring hatha yoga teacher, and am currently working for Lululemon in the logistics department. I love logistics and customs, and the comfort and safety that desk work affords me. I took a brief hiatus from the wonderful world of container ships, air import and "is it cleared?" to become a yoga teacher, although I am certified, I have yet to teach my first full class. I returned to the work force, and eventually landed this SWEET ass job at Lulu. The company embodies many of the same core values I hold dear. Someone (Lets call him Dave, cause... that is literally his name) lol pulled some strings for me and I will be teaching a couple hatha classes per week here at work. So, then... I really will be doing everything I LOVE! We get unlimited tea, did I mention that? Sorry... tangent..

I am on a journey to not only lose a few pounds, but to unlock the key to "optimal health and fun" for life. Yes I'd love to look ravishing in a bikini, who wouldn't? I've tried the crash diets, cleanses, toxic pills, overzealous exersize with harsh calorie restricting. None of these have offered me an enjoyable, permanent lifestyle change. Maybe a few water weights dropped...thats it. Yoga is huge for me... try holding Warrior II for a few minutes and tell me that isn't a glute work out? Cha! As far as diet goes... I will be trying lots of things in the coming days, most of which I will try to post about. Especially if they are particularly gross, or delicious! My moto is not to restrict any one thing (carbs, meat, fat) but to enjoy everything in moderation and try to ask myself "Could I have made a healthier choice?"

This blog will follow the details of any super amazingly fun activities, work out tips, my quest to become a regular part time yoga teacher, recipes I encounter, and any other daily events. For yoga affectionatos, I will also post my favorite asana of the week, why I love it, and how to do it.

xoxo