it can be done…

Wow, long time no post. I guess this is just what happens when you have a baby, and they take up more and more of your time as they grow. My son is 8.5 months now, and very demanding! Am taking the opportunity during nap time to tell you all that I am moving to the UK at the end of this month. We are going for a year and are excited and nervous about our big adventure. I had all these plans of blogging about what I’ll miss about Toronto, but that never came to pass. So, I am going to talk a bit about something I am NOT going to miss about Toronto, but that I look forward to in the UK – more foods made without artificial colours.

The other day I picked up some UK smarties (made without artificial colour) at a candy store and thought I would compare them to their North American counterparts, which use artificial colour.

Well, you tell me – is the difference so much that you or any kid you know is going to be heartbroken if they have to eat the ones coloured naturally? It’s crazy. I actually like the way some of the naturally coloured ones look better. And of course, the taste is the same, as far as I can tell.

So the big question is, why does Nestle in the UK make candy using natural colours, but cannot do the same thing in North America? Yes, I know the answer ($$$?), but I’d like to really know the answer they would give if I wrote a letter and asked them.

I feel lucky that I am going to be making my 1 year old’s first birthday cupcake in a country where I will have more options for going wild with the decorative toppings, along with my own naturally coloured frosting. Fun should not have to be artificial…

 

get your ABCs naturally at bulk barn

Bulk Barn is one of my favorite stores. What is not to like about a place where you can get all sorts of baking supplies, whole grains, organic ingredients and british candy all under one roof with the added benefit of buying in bulk? As I have mentioned before, my trips years ago to the Bulk Barn used to be all about the candy, and the rows of brightly coloured goodies are still mighty tempting, but now I see them in a different light. Most of the stuff is artificially coloured and flavoured, not to mention other yucky things like preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, etc. So, the other day I thought I’d see if I could find any candy that was relatively “natural” which I could use as fun toppings on my cupcakes. Well, the interesting thing was there was a small section of “natural” candies which were made with real fruit juice, but only ONE of the candies had ONLY natural colour and flavour – alphabet gummies. My only problem was after scooping out quite a few, I ended up with not a great variety of letters, much like a frustrating game of scrabble. I will have to go back and take a closer look at the letters in the bin – it would be nice to be able to spell something!

Oh and yes, they taste and feel like real gummy candies. Nice to know I can get something like this close to home rather than making the trek to a large natural foods store…

 

morning lemon – easy peasy green tea lemonade

Another successful copycat beverage – green tea lemonade. The natural foods store around the corner from me is having an awesome sale on Santa Cruz lemonade (regular and raspberry which is highly addictive) $1.99 a bottle – you should check your local natural store!

I brewed up green tea (I like Yogi brand) – 2 tea bags in approx 2 cups just-before-boiling water – and put into an empty lemonade bottle, which filled it up about halfway. I topped it up with lemonade, gave it a good shake and popped it in the fridge. A bit later over ice it was perfect.

 

almo(st) mochaccino

It was big news when Starbucks opened in my neighborhood, which is made up of mostly small independent shops and cafes. Of course it had to open near the end of my pregnancy, when I was desperately craving chocolatey/milky things daily. My husband and I got a bit too used to the 2 minute walk around the corner and also chose to ignore the significant amount of money flying out of our wallets. Well, now that baby is out, we have cut back significantly. A big reason for me besides spending too much is that too much dairy consumption by me noticeably affects my boy – in a spit up way! Not that it is causing him discomfort, but I was getting a bit sick of changing my/his clothes a couple of times a day.

Taking all this into account, I decided I still needed a daily treat (trust me, when you are taking care of a newborn, you need this) but I didn’t want to spend lots of money, and I didn’t want to have dairy or soymilk. So, I decided to invest in a thermo-cup and create my own version of a mochaccino – 1/2 instant coffee, 1/2 chocolate almond milk. Of course it doesn’t taste like a Starbucks mocha, but more money in the bank and less laundry makes it worth it. Besides, I love almond milk, and it does taste pretty dang good.

If you don’t like to have too much dairy and you have never tried almond milk, I highly recommend it. It has a nice consistency – thinner than soy milk but not as thin as rice milk, and it tastes great (not too almondy like you would think). I use the original unsweetened on cereal, have used the vanilla for baking (makes cupcakes extra moist!) and the chocolate is good straight up in a glass.

Stay tuned for another faux Starbucks drink attempt soon – green tea lemonade!

 

cupcake hero brought me back

Hello! Wow – it has been a long 4 months since my last post. For those who don’t know my baby boy was born naturally at home Feb 9 with no complications. It was an amazing birth, and life is going along here with lots of love and little sleep! It is hard to adjust to someone else’s needs and wants coming first, but I have managed to squeeze in a few moments to think about nutrition, scope out new products, and of course, make cupcakes – ha! These are all things I will need to do for my little guy anyway once he gets those chompers.
There is a blog called quirky cupcake that has a cupcake contest every month based on a theme ingredient – May’s ingredient was cocoa powder. I absolutely had to participate, seeing as I love to make chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting using organic fairtrade cocoa powder (my brand of choice right now is cocoa camino). To make it even more about the cocoa, I topped them with natural chocolate sprinkles and shasha bread company cocoa snap hearts, which are both also made with cocoa powder. I call these cupcakes – cocoa loco!

 

snowy welcome to a new life?

Woke up to predicted snowstorm this morning. Today is supposed to be my baby boy’s birthday. What a welcome! The question is – will today really be his birthday? If only there was some way to know for sure. For now, we just wait. It’s no longer the calm before the storm, it truly is the storm!

I will probably be away for awhile after today. Thanks to everyone who continues to read this blog, and hopefully before too long I’ll be back with some new, fun and informative nutrition tidbits!

 

a pregnant girl’s breakfast treat

Multigrain bagel toasted, spread with almond butter and a bit of nutella swirled in, generously sprinkled with ground flaxseeds. It’s all good.

 

be like the squirrel, girl

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – Monday mornings are in dire need of some really good music. One of my favorite bands is The White Stripes, and I have become completely obsessed with their song Little Acorns. It’s one of those things where all the elements are absolutely perfect to me. I love the garage-band sound, and I think it’s totally awesome that they sing about a squirrel. But the icing on the cake is the words of wisdom in the speech at the beginning of the song:

When problems overwhelm us and sadness smothers us,
where do we find the will and the courage to continue?
Well the answer may come in the caring voice of a friend,
a chance encounter with a book, or from a personal faith.

For Janet, help came from her faith, but it also came from a squirrel.

Shortly after her divorce Janet lost her father, then she lost her job.
She had mounting money problems but Janet not only survived,
she worked her way out of dispondency and now she says life is good again.

How could this happen?

She told me that late one autumn day when she was at her lowest,
she watched a squirrel storing up nuts for the winter. One at a time
he would take them to the nest, and she thought if that squirrel
can take care of himself with the harsh winter coming on, so can I.

Once I broke my problems into small pieces I was able to carry them,
just like those acorns, one at a time…

Thank heavens for great music.

(sorry, no video, only sound!)

 

 

perfectly pink smoothie

One banana, a handful of frozen raspberries, 4 spoonfuls of yogurt, a few splashes of pineapple juice, a sprinkling of flaxseeds. A perfectly pink drink to lift the spirits on a chilly, blustery day.

 

morning lemon – a soothing natural cold remedy

When I was young and had a cold, my Mom would fix me a simple drink of lemon, honey and hot water. Like always, Moms know best – why reach for something like NeoCitran which contains some nasty non-medicinal ingredients (here’s a little sample: D&C yellow No. 10, FD&C yellow No. 6, flavours) when all you may need is a vitamin C blast from the lemon, and some antibacterial goodness and energy from the honey to get you feeling better. Plus, it’s really the warm steamy liquid itself that goes a long way in soothing your body and soul.

What could be easier:
- slice up some lemon, squeeze and throw slices into cup
- add a generous squeeze of honey
- add just before boiled water and stir
- enjoy!