Losing It! An Urban Mom's Weight Loss Blog

A Little Liberation

I was lucky enough to spend the entire month of December with my two daughters visiting with my family in Southwestern Ontario (I normally find myself situated in Calgary, and my youngest sister is a Londoner now), hopping around from one person's house to the next, living out of suitcases and generally dining out on the hospitality of people who pretty much have to love me, no matter what I look like in the morning:

It's especially bad when it's a five year-old on the other side of the lens.

And just so me and mine wouldn't be too much of a drain, I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and shopped, chopped, cooked and served a few meals to the folks on whose generosity I was so happily depending. It was nice: I love to cook and (usually) people love to eat what I cook. Especially when it has lots and lots and lots of celery in it. And peanuts.

But there were days when things were hurried and the cooks were harried, and that's when we gratefully relied on the generous gift of two cousins, who had chopped and mixed and packed and frozen at least half a dozen entrées for us from SupperWorks. One of my sister's friends also generously donated some fabulous dinners (including an amazingly kid-pleasing shepherd's pie and a lusciously creamy mac 'n cheese), and an aunt arranged a wonderful catered dinner for Boxing Day.

These gifts of food turned out to be gifts of equally important commodities: time and peace of mind.

The meals were so much appreciated that I decided to book myself a session at Calgary's The Liberated Cook, so I can try it out for myself. For about the same cost as groceries, I will go to their kitchen and assemble five meals; amazing mouth-watering things like pulled pork enchiladas and bacon-wrapped chicken and a long-time family favourite: beef stroganoff. Then at dinner time, all I have to do is heat and serve. Liberated is right!

So to everyone who gave their own time to help feed me and mine last month, I thank you. And now that I'm off to be "liberated" - feel free to drop by my house for a meal any time!

New Holiday Cuisine Classics

Just like everyone else, I have my favourite holiday foods:

• Turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce
• Mashed potatoes and gravy
• "Nibble Bait" (a kind of party mix my mom and little sister make each year)
• My mother-in-law's gingerbread cookies
• Egg nog with nutmeg

But, you know, I'm adventurous and willing to try new things. So this year, when President's Choice asked me if I'd like a selection of their new products for Holiday 2008, I willingly (and gratefully) accepted. I was so excited when the package arrived - almost as much for the PC "green" bag that it came in as for the contents of the bag!

The "green" bag was full of an amazing array of holiday goodies, and we've managed to sample nearly every one of them so far:

The Decadent Hot Chocolate Mix

Okay. It's made with real chocolate shavings, and 65% rich dark chocolate and definitely lives up to its moniker! Only drawback? This ain't your boil the kettle, stir in the chocolate hot chocolate. No, you have to brew this stuff in a saucepan on the stove with milk. But the result? Well, what else can be said? Decadent.

President's Choice Lingonberry Sauce

Put up your hand if you've had lingonberry sauce anywhere other than the IKEA cafeteria. I thought not. So of course, the first thing I thought of when I saw the jar of lingonberry sauce was: Swedish meatballs. But the serving suggestion is as follows: Excellent as a topping for pancakes, crêpes, waffles, yogurt and ice cream or as an accompaniment to meats and poultry. I tried some on pancakes and crackers (delicious) and we plan to try some on our turkey on the 25th.

Okay, okay, I did go out and buy a box of PC Swedish meatballs and kicked it old school, too. Also delicious.

President's Choice Dark Chocolate Candy Cane Bark

Now I make a similar candy cane bark every year to ship off to far-flung family and friends, so I was skeptical that a commercial product could live up. But I gotta give the prez credit: this stuff is good!

President's Choice Dark Chocolate Covered Caramels with Sea Salts

Ahhh, but the all-time favourite on the list this year has got to be the Dark Chocolate Covered Caramels with Sea Salts. They aren't branded "The Decadent" but they truly are. The soft caramel on its own would be a treat, but covered with wonderful dark chocolate they are transformed. And just to please both sides of the palate (and the salty/sweet debate), they're sprinkled with PC Memories of Sicilia Sea Salts. Yummm...If it weren't for that pesky Jiminy Cricket warning me off after two caramels, I might have finished off the box. They're just that good. Only drawback? 50% of the children we tested these on didn't like the salt. Then again, that might just be considered a really strong benefit - if half the kids aren't eating them, there's that much more for the grownups.

And then there's one thing that I picked up on my own at the grocery store. It didn't come in Santa's big "green" bag, but it looked so good I just couldn't resist. And I'm glad I didn't.

President's Choice Candy Cane Egg Nog

The folks at the PC food labs sure do know how to do marvelous things with candy canes...the candy cane bark, PC Candy Cane Chocolate Fudge Crackle Ice Cream and now Candy Cane Egg Nog. I will admit, I bought it on a whim - I mean really...egg nog and candy canes? Together?? But it is, actually, a perfect combination. If it's possible to make egg nog taste more like Christmas, this is how to do it.

There was a lot more in the goodie bag, including a bottle of PC Célébration Sparkling De-alcoholized Wine (blanc), which my Dad and I each drank two glasses of (he's a tee-totaller, I was the designated driver - a job that's hard to back out of when the other two people in the car are eight and five).

We liked it. It tasted, actually and surprisingly, like champagne. A bit more fruity, maybe, and without the giggles (although it had enough bubbles to blow the cork off the bottle while my sister was still untwisting the wire!) But certainly a respectable alternative to the Dom Perignon if (for whatever reason) you don't drink the hard stuff.

Cheers!

Three Lunches in Italy

You know, I never thought I would love Italy so much. When I was in high school, I had a lot of Italian friends, and I thought I had a reasonably good grasp of the culture and cuisine of that country from having dined in countless downstairs kitchens, drinking homemade wine out of juice glasses or else being served Brio Chinotto (or "Italian Coke" as it was fondly known) by tiny, squat, black-clad Nonas.

But that wasn't Italy at all. That was Sicilian immigrants in Toronto. BIG difference, as it turns out.

So last week I had the extreme good fortune to spend three days in Italy. First in Naples (or as I like to remember it, Napoli): the birthplace of pizza. We actually didn't spend any time in Naples itself, but rather toured Pompeii and then drove along the Amalfi coast to Sorrento and then traveled by hydrofoil to the island of Capri (yes, I wore capris!) where we dined on traditional Margherita pizza. Margherita pizza is named after Queen Margherita, who originally requested a pizza made with only tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and basil. Here is mine:

It was, in a word, superb. As was the view from the restaurant:

On Day two in Italy, we saw Rome: forever Roma to me now (or as much of it as can be squeezed into eight short hours). The Eternal City deserves its name, with ancient ruins right beside busy highways, and spectacular works of art around every corner. On such a busy, busy day, we only had time to grab a panini from a roadside vendor outside the Pantheon. We went classic again, eating tomato and mozzarella on toasted slices of bread. All six in our tour group agreed it was the best sandwich we'd ever eaten.

Sorry, I missed photographing the food, but here is me inside the Pantheon:

But Day three. Ahhh...Day three. It started out simply enough, with a quick drive from the port of Livorno to Pisa, to snap pictures of the famous leaning tower. Then an hour's drive through Tuscany (you cannot believe how beautiful the Tuscan countryside is!) to Florence, forever to be remembered by me as Firenze: the City of Art. Everything in Florence just effuses art...even the buildings are works of art! Marble inlays are everywhere, castles are converted to shops or restaurants and even the most mundane of buildings are decorated with elaborate and beautiful frescoes.

I and my five companions decided that Florence was the place where we would sit and have a real Italian meal at a real Italian restaurant. Our guide recommdended one and we spent two delicious hours there, enjoying each other's company and eating what is easily the best meal I've had in my life, accompanied by the best wine I've ever drunk. Here are a few photos:

And for dessert? Michelangelo's masterpiece David, in the Galleria dell'Accademia. It is absolutely stunning. Far and away the most amazing sight I saw in my three days in Italy, and even better than Michelangelo's other famous masterpiece, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (which, admittedly features a fun image of God's bum!). Cameras are not allowed in the Accademia, but here's a shot I grabbed off the net:

And, just for fun, here's the ORIGINAL POSTERIOR. Yes, that's Him in the pink robes: on the left he's creating the earth, on the right, the stars and planets).

In the end, I must say that you have to hand it to the Italians: food and wine, art and culture - they OWN these things! Do yourselves a favour and try to get to Italy at some point in your life. I guarantee you will NOT regret it!

Arrivederci!

Mmmm... Malta!

Okay, just dropping in for a super-quick post (internet access on cruise ships is sloooow and costly!).

But I had to share with you the unbelievable restaurant I went to in Mdina, Malta today. It was called (go figure) the Medina Restaurant, and it was in a tiny little courtyard down a winding, medieval alley. The food was very nice, but the atmosphere was spectacular!

Sangriaaahhhh...

Remember I told you I was going on a Mediterranean Cruise?

Well, we spent our first day in Barcelona before boarding the boat, and for that first dinner I went with two friends to a traditional Basque restaurant, called Txicitera. There I shared a 1litre pitcher of what was simply the best Sangria I've ever tasted. Honestly. It was more like dessert than a beverage.

The meal was equally good:

And I was having a ball, too!

We Have a Winner

Well, two winners, actually.

In Days 4 and 5 of the Fruitsational 5 Day Menu Planner, lunch features a Baked Apple Chicken Roll-Up and Homemade Chicken Fingers, respectively.

And in my house, with my kids, chicken is evidently the way to go.

They loved both the roll-ups and the chicken fingers. Plus, using Mott's Fruitsations Country Berry fruit snack as a dip was a fun new treat for them.

Here's what the kids had to say.

Big Sister: I liked the chicken roll best, and I actually dipped it in the apple Motts. I'd like to have that again in my lunch, please!

Little Sister: No, I liked the chicken fingers best. But not as much when they're cold. The dip was yummy too.

Mom's Take: Again, I tend to be a bit more lazy about lunch preparations, but these two recipes are certainly worth trying. I would make them and send them on the days when my kids have access to a microwave at school, because they really are much better hot. However, they were SUCH a hit with both girls, that I will definitely be making them again.

Fruitsational!

When I got this menu plan from the nice people over at Motts, it just seemed like a fun thing to try with my kids, not to mention a potentially time-saving solution to the school-lunch mad rush we go through daily. So I put the idea to my eight year-old daughter: if I get this stuff and make these recipes, will you try them and give me your opinion? After vetting the meal plan to make sure it didn't contain any "gross" foods, she was on board, 100%.

Oh, and her little sister wanted in on the fun, too. She just happens to be in Kindergarten, though, which is great, except that in these parts Kindergarten is a half-day proposition, which means she brings only a measly snack to school, and not a full-blown lunch like her big sis.

However. In the spirit of fairness, she has been eating the same lunch (in a different setting) and has been taking Motts Fruitsations for snacks so that she can be part of the panel, as it were.

So here we are on Tuesday evening, with two Motts meals under our belts, and what do the most important people (the kids, of course!) think?

Big Sister: I liked the beef burrito (recipe here) today better than the tortellini yesterday, and I also loved the purple Motts (Blueberry Delight) the best. Did I have to dip my veggies in the Motts? Can you buy the purple one again?

Little Sister: I love them all! Can I have them for snack too? But Mommy, remember I didn't like the burrito really. I only like cheese and sour cream. But I like the snacks (Motts).

Mom's take: This is, to tell the truth, more work than I might normally go to every day for school lunches, but if we had made spaghetti for dinner on Monday then putting together the burritos for Tuesday lunch would have been a snap, so I can see that once you start to think about lunch in this way it will work out to be a time-saver. Plus, popping a Motts into their lunch bag for a snack is super quick and easy, and I know it's a healthy treat that the kids will like (hitherto they have not been huge fans of the applesauce-like snacks, so this is a nice development!).

My older daughter doesn't have access to a microwave for her school lunch (except on Thursdays when there is a parent volunteer - me - to operate the machines) so that is an issue as not all of the choices on this meal plan work well cold. For instance, Monday's whole-wheat tortellini went in the thermos and I think it lost some of its lustre through dissipation of heat. I'm really excited about the homemade chicken fingers for Thursday, though, as I know she will be able to heat those up, and it looks like a really nice recipe.

All in all, I think this is such a refreshing take on cooking for kids' tastes. The recipes are sophisticated enough (especially Wednesday's apple chicken roll ups) for adults, but I know they will appeal to my daughters, as well. And although my particular girls didn't go for dipping their veggie or fruit wedges in the Motts, it was only because they liked eating the Motts so much that there was none left for dipping!

Tune in on Thursday for our take on the next two days.

Very, Very Veggie

My little sister is a vegetarian. A full-on, doesn't eat any meat, doesn't eat any foods made with meat or meat products vegetarian.

Once, six years ago, I was a vegetarian, too. For six months.

Really!

For six months I didn't eat any meat or anything related to meat. Well, okay, I did eat cheese and eggs, which officially made me a lacto- ovo-vegetarian. But I didn't eat any chicken, turkey, beef, pork, ham...hot dogs (do they count as meat, anyway?). Heck, I didn't even eat Oreos, for the love of Pete. (They're made with lard, in case you were wondering.)

And then, on Boxing Day 2002, I wanted a hamburger. I really, really wanted a hamburger. A juicy, tasty beef patty, with melting cheddar on top and a crispy dill pickle on a warm, soft kaiser bun.

How good does that sound?

But where do you find such a beast on December 27, and in Calgary, which is well-known for its dearth of good burger places (believe me...we've tried them all)? Nowhere. So I had a Whopper.

Which was a really big let-down.

Ever since then I've sorta regretted it, that Whopper. In the ensuing years I've probably had a dozen or more Whoppers, and each time I've thought, "Gee. That's the burger that broke my vegetarian streak." It's not that I think there's anything intrinsically wrong with eating meat, or with Whoppers, even. It's just that I took it as a point of pride, my vegetarianism. I sought out new, healthy recipes. I fed my family well. Very well. I had a toddler whose first finger-food was brown rice and curried lentils, for goodness sake! We even nick-named her Broccoli because she loved the stuff so much!

So, where's this going? Am I out here announcing my renewed veggie-exclusivity?

No.

Well, not really, anyway. But interestingly, while in the UK recently visiting said vegetarian sister, I read an article about the high environmental cost of the "typical North American diet". The article pointed out that the biggest contributor to this environmental impact is beef. Not only are they big and costly to feed, cows are also major contributors to greenhouse gases (high levels of methane in bovine farts, apparently). The largest positive impact one could have, according to the article, would be to give up red meat. My hubby read the same article and mentioned it to me.

So we agreed to try it. So far this week we've tried polenta (for the first time, but not the last...yum), spicy beans with mango salsa and saffron rice. I also roasted a spaghetti squash (that stuff is so yummy) and baked carrot muffins. For dinner this evening I made the kids piggies in a blanket, with whole wheat Pillsbury crescent rolls and Yves veggie hot dogs. They loved em!

So far so good!

Vintage Cookie

For years and years now (seriously, like ten years) I've been wandering grocery store aisles looking for my favourite old cookie that I remember from childhood. Every now and then it would hit me and I'd think, "boy, I wish I knew where to get some of those cookies with raisins in them", and I'd ask someone if they could remember them as well.

Problem was, almost nobody could. Except my husband. I'll give the guy credit, he totally remembered them and would sit and scratch his head in nostalgic frustration along with me as we tried to pick our way through the accumulated minutiae of a lifetime's worth of thoughts and memories, pulling at the cobwebs like so many fishing lines, only to have them come away in our hands empty, no name attached.

I'd labouriously explain to people: "they were like crackers, sort of, with raisins baked right inside. No. Not Fig Newtons. Nope, not French Cremes, and no, not those Cinnamon Danish cookies either."

Frustrated, I began to feel like maybe I'd imagined those cracker-like cookies, kind of like a stoned wheat thin, minus the wheat and salt, but with raisins baked right in. You could snap off the pieces just like a stoned wheat thin.

I gave up hope of ever finding them again, although I couldn't help tossing a half-hopeful, half-wistful glance up at the shelves in the cookie aisle on grocery day. But I never found them.

So what prompted me to be scanning the contents of the shelves in the Asian snack food section of our local Real Canadian Superstore I'll never know. Now, it's not like I don't like Asia in general or Asian food in particular, but I do find Asian snack food, well, peculiar. Troubling, even. To wit:

These fruit puddings look more like little tubs of paint, to me, and they are, disturbingly, not refrigerated.

And then there's this weird treat from Japan that my daughter got in a birthday party loot bag once:

They're kind of like pretzels, dipped in (what I think is) strawberry yogurt. The things you can buy at the dollar store, I tell ya!

Anyway, so there I am gazing at the neon fruit puddings and Hello Kitty fruit pretzels when I see it...staring me in the face!

And it hits me. SULTANAS. That's what they were called! But I don't think the ones we snacked on in Oakville, Ontario in the 70s were made by KHONG GUAN and imported from Singapore. (But seriously, if you remember who made the ones we ate back in the 70s, please let me know. I have googled repeatedly and can't find them...was it Peek Freans? Or Dare? Mr. Christie?)

Of course I bought them. And tried them. And - YES! EUREKA! They are the same (or at least a close enough facsimile)! Although I have to admit, at 3 points per 5 biscuits (one full row) they're maybe not going to top my treat list while I'm still on Weight Watchers. Oh. And my kids hate them. And so do their friends.

Still. It was so great to find them again, and if the kids hate them, well, so much the better, because it just means MORE FOR ME!

A Tale of Cream Gone Bad

Yesterday afternoon I decided to treat myself. I was at a coffee place (no need to name names) and got one of those lovely summertime treats: the frozen coffee beverage with whipped cream on top. Now, I love whipped cream so much that I usually save it for last...that's the beauty of whipped cream on a FROZEN bevvie; it doesn't melt into the drink, and you can slurp it up solo (with the choco-sauce drizzled on top) at the very end. YUMMM...

Now I will say that when I ate the whipped cream off my drink yesterday, it just didn't feel quite right. It's not that it tasted bad, it's more that it was just, well, sorta wrong: a bit greasy, a bit stick-on-the-lips-y. I was slightly disturbed, but put it down to the chocolate sauce, that perhaps the cream was a bit frozen? Whatever. It was not quite right, but I ate it anyway.

WRONG DECISION!

Just a few short hours later, as I was putting my kids to bed, my head started to reel, I broke out in a cold sweat, I could hardly make it to the bathroom in time. I was SICK. So sick that when my husband got home from work, even he was worried (this is a man who is not easily phased by other peoples' illness. His own, yes. Other peoples'...not so much). I had such bad spins that I couldn't focus on anything...but closing my eyes only felt worse. I was dizzy, nauseous, and HOT! but I didn't have a fever. I was sweating and shivering and my body was availing itself of every means it could find of expelling the badness from within. I thought for a while it must have been food poisoning, then speculated on the possibility of West Nile Virus (of course I don't even know what the symptoms are and don't really have any mosquito bites to speak of). I even had one dark, dark moment where I thought I might be pregnant again.

This morning I was still sick enough that I made the short trip to the doctor's office. And even she remarked with dismay how bad I looked! But at least she was able to diagnose me. It is official. It has been Verified. By The Doctor. I HAVE FOOD POISONING.

It is death. It is worse than death. I have personally had strep throat and pneumonia, and neither one of them has anything on food poisoning. I am on a restricted diet of nothing but gatorade, and even that is next to impossible to get down. Gravol brings a measure of relief, but just enough to take the raging, dizzy sickness down to a dull roar. I have been told to expect at least another day of it before it is completely out of my system.

Some treat, eh? I tell you this, anyway. It's going to take a while before I am up to eating anything with whipped cream on it!