Gluten Free Pasta Salad

Made it to Thursday!

Started my day with a strawberry-banana smoothie with greek yogurt, honey, almond milk and kale. I'm starting to get used to the kale and it isn't as bitter as I once thought. the only thing I can't get used to is how chunky the kale stays. Spinach blends up nice and smooth but kale just ends up chunky. Still I'll keep eating it!

My soup has been great for lunches and the veggies and hummus have been great snacks. I'm doing well resisting my sugar cravings and have found that the more days without it the less I crave it. Still, thank goodness for dates and frozen mango for a blast of natural sugar when I need it!

Today was the first day I've missed caffeine in a week. Headed into work I was thinking about a nice cup of coffee when I got to my desk. I resisted the urge and filled up on water. I actually drank SO much water today! It sounds silly but I discovered that drinking water out of a straw makes me drink more of it faster so I reach the daily quota. I'm not gonna fight it if it works!

The weekend is quickly approaching and I'm starting to get nervous. This is usually when I fall off the bandwagon. I have a couple of get togethers with friends and I'm worried about the food options. Tomorrow night I'm headed out to a pub around the corner. I've already checked out the menu and I don't think I'm going to get away with no sugar AND no gluten. I can either go with a salad and dressing (I supposed I could skip the dressing if the toppings are good) or have a sandwich with wheat bread. What do I do in that situation? When you're out with friends at a restaurant that doesn't comply with your diet how do you react? Suggestions?

Saturday I'm headed out to a housewarming. Rather than have my host worry about providing me food I can eat I offered to bring my own. I decided on pasta salad with gluten free pasta! This is really easy to make and everyone can enjoy it!

This is also a recipe for my sister. She's in school finishing up her BFA and has a really busy schedule. I suggested she make a batch of pasta salad or bean salad that she can keep in the fridge for a week and easily take for lunches or eat as a late dinner - no reheating required!

This recipe is really versatile so don't be afraid to try different, less or more vegetables like cucumber instead of zucchini or green peppers, green onions and olives.

Ingredients
1 package of your favourite pasta
2 zucchini's chopped
2 cups chopped grape tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 cup chopped feta (or a little extra if you're feeling cheesy!)
1 small yellow pepper chopped
1 small orange pepper chopped

Dressing
1/2 cup veggie stock
1/4 cup white wine and cider vinegar*
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 cloves chopped garlic (or to taste)
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil

Directions
Cook you pasta according to the package.
In the meantime, chop all your vegetables and put in a large bowl.
In a small bowl mix up your dressing.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. Mix with the vegetables and feta and pour your dressing over top and mix well. Refrigerate for an hour a serve!

This is one of those great left over dishes and tastes better the longer all the ingredients sit together.

*you can use red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar or plain white vinegar, what ever you have

Simple Veggie Soup

How is it only Tuesday?! I don't know if it's the changes in my diet, the weird weather we've had, the insane workouts I've done or the exhaustion my body and brain are starting to feel but this has been the longest two days of my life!

I haven't missed the sugar too much so far but avoiding gluten is just plain annoying. With a big pot of nothing made on Sunday night I found it hard to scrape something together for lunch and I couldn't just go and grab a quick sandwich. Thankfully there is a grocery store near work and I was able to pick up a few random things. The last two days my lunches have been a mish-mash of gluten free crackers, tons of raw veggies, hummus and bean salad (quite the spread at my little desk!) and I've been spacing it out a little more through the day, sort of grazing.

Tonight, after a long, hard BodyCombat class I was able to feast on a hearty veggie soup I threw together.

Before I go into detail take a look at this video a couple friends of mine posted. They are working on their first feature they've written and directed and just finished recording the score. Yay! This is a little behind the scenes at one of their record days. It's really sweet! Their film is called Hills Green and you can check out there blog here.

I was lazy and didn't manage to take any pictures of my soup but I'm not gonna lie this soup isn't anything special. It brown and full of all kinds of veggies. I went with a wild mix of carrots, parsnips, mushrooms, leeks (had to use them u from last week!), onions, bell peppers and potatoes.

I used the corn chowder recipe I made a couple weeks ago as a starting point but instead of adding corn and milk I stuck with veggie stock and water. You can do the same and add your favourite veggies. It was super easy and now I have enough soup to last me the week or freeze some for later.

Instructions:
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 cup leeks, chopped
1 cup orange and green bell pepper, chopped
½ cup onion, chopped
½ cup carrots, chopped
½ cup parsnips, chopped
½ cup potato, diced
¼ cup amaranth
½ cup quinoa
¼ tsp dried thyme
¼ tsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp Brewer’s yeast (or to taste)
3 cups veggie stock
1 cup water


Directions: 

1. Throw the coconut oil in a large pot and stir in all the veggies, leaving the mushrooms last. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until veggies are soft.
2. Stir in the veggie stock and amaranth, bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes. 
3. Stir in quinoa, rosemary and thyme. Add the extra cup of water and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Add in your yeast. I found the flavour of the yeast really took over so start with a little and add more to taste. 
5. Spoon in a big bowl and enjoy! 

I liked how simple this was and how filling it really is! the possibilities are endless in regards to the kind of veggies you throw in there, corn, celery even some spinach would taste good if you want to try something different.

New Month, New Challenge

What a great weekend! I am so sad to see it ending. There was a lot of snow up in Huntsville this weekend and we were able to do some cross country skiing, tubing and a little hiking. With the snow up to our knees and even higher in some places walking through the snow was pretty difficult! This was the first time I'd ever gone cross country skiing and I loved it! I had a hard time in the beginning and kept trying to walk with the skis but as soon as I started thinking about gliding and having the skis work for me I became a pro! Downhill skiing scares the bejesus outta me, so the little incline and declines in the x-country trails were just perfect for me. I loved the fact that you were on the trail and had the freedom to stop and look at things along the way, like the little creek that had not frozen over and the stable with horses (next time we're riding!).

All the activity was rightfully balanced by tv watching (we don't have cable at home so we were spoiled with the cable in our room!), drinking (have you had a rocket yet? Half a glass of your favourite beer mixed with half a glass of Smirnoff Ice. Trust me, it's delicious and works with cider too!) tasty treats (popcorn, chips and brownies) and yummy meals (quinoa and couscous salad, butternut squash soup, a Montana's veggie burger that was WAY better than you'd ever expect and all you can eat breakfast with buckwheat pancakes). 

Today I started my day right with an hour yoga class at the Toronto Reference Library for Power of Movement. It was an event put on to raise money to beat arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. It seemed to be a successful event with lots of people at all different levels. There were even some kids who really seemed to enjoy themselves. It was nice to get out of the house early and practice not only for me but for a good cause with some good friends.

Now that's enough fooling around! Now that the weekend is behind me and we are beginning March I've decided to set some new goals and start a new challenge. After talking with my nutritionist a few weeks ago she suggested I cut down on processed sugar, caffeine and gluten and that is what I am going to do. Starting Monday for 6 weeks I am going to cut out all the processed sugar, caffeine and gluten in my diet. I really got my fill of all that this weekend (except for caffeine, which I said I was going to cut this weekend and did!) so I think this first week might be a little difficult but as the days go on it should get easier, finger crossed. And this is going t be a great time to try out some new recipes, and give that graham cracker recipe another try.

I think this is really great timing as it is also the last 4 weeks of my bootcamp. I haven't really paid attention to my diet for the last 4 weeks and that really counter acts the work I've been doing at the gym. By getting my diet under control I will be more likely to see results from class and in turn more happy and proud of myself! And that is the whole point of taking care of your body, no?

To start my week right I've already made a batch of homemade, sugar-free salad dressing. In a glass bottle in the fridge this dressing should last at least week (thought the recipe says two months, I find the dry ingredients get soggy after a while) and is much better for me than the delicious dressing I buy from the grocery store. Yes, as you can see I'm already missing the store bought dressing but with so many recipes out there I'm sure I'll find a dressing I can make at home that really does it for me.

This Greek Style dressing is adapted from A Michigan Mom - At the Dinner Table.

Dry ingredients:

1 teaspoons of garlic salt1/2 teaspoon dried oregano1/2 teaspoon dried basil1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Wet: 1/4 cup olive oil 

1/4 cup white wine vinegar 

1/8 cup water

Splash of cider vinegar 

Shake and use or place in fridge for up to 2 months.