Blogging a cathartic experience, who knew???..

What I thought I'd write about today is the importance of a well stocked pantry but something funny happened on the way to the forum...

written by Linda Gauthier

Cowichan Bay. I used to ride my bike here when I was a kid. Ah Memories, hasn't changed much. Love it!

It seems I have always cooked and cooking has always played an important role in how I see myself.  I grew up in, by today's standards, a large family: 4 sisters, 1 brother, 2 parents and my grandfather and umpteen dozens of cats, dogs, chickens and pigs. It was wonderful, loud, busy and happy.  We didn't have much, but we didn't know it. It is funny but we never realized we were relatively poor.  We always had full stomachs, clean clothes and we always had each other. 

Where we grew up was considered in the country, in an area outside of a small town on Vancouver Island.  We were a typical family for that time, my dad worked as a mechanic, my mom stayed home to look after the family and the home.  She was a wonderful mom, she was always teaching us how to express ourselves, how to be creative, how to find our talents and our strengths.  She was also sneaky. Why would I say that? Well, with me, she saw I loved to be in the kitchen and I loved cooking and she also noted how when someone complimented me on my cooking, I stood a little taller and smiled a lot more.  What better way to pass off the chore of cooking dinners than to compliment "miss eager beaver" on making the best meat loaf, or stew, or chowder, so by the time I was twelve, I was making a lot of the dinners.  Baking breads and cakes on weekends and doing canning and preserves in the summer and fall.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a chore, it was love.  My first love, love of food, and you never quite get over your first love.  Not that it is a bad thing, but I have in the past used food as a crutch to help me through the bad times.  To wrap the feelings associated with it, the warmth of the emotions I associated with it, around me to drown out the issues I was dealing with during those particular times.  Whoa, whoa, whoa!  Where did that come from?  Who knew blogging was cathartic?  Sheesh!  Back on track Linda.

My Mom also taught me to keep a well supplied pantry, and that is what I started to write about before the little trip down memory lane and onto the psychiatrist's couch, so back to business. 

The importance of a well stocked pantry:

When you are trying to be more mindful of the types of foods you are eating, what they contain and how they are made, it becomes even more critical.  If you have the basics on hand, you can always create a meal.  It may take a little thinking, but you can do it.  I can remember my kids always saying "Mom, you have all this stuff, but NO food."  What they were saying is I didn't have the quick foods they wanted or it wasn't in the form they were used to seeing.

So here we go.

My Pantry:

Items from my pantry

This is a list of items I always try to have on hand:

• all purpose flour, white and whole wheat, chickpea flour, rice flour                  
• sugar, brown and white
• honey
• baking powder, yeast, baking soda, cream of tartar
• corn starch
• Cocoa powder for baking, drinks, sauces, etc
• shortening
• oils, olive, sesame and canola
• corn meal, quick cook oats
• rice, white and brown
• quinoa, couscous, assorted pastas
• chicken, beef and vegetable broth.  All low sodium
• vinegars: apple cider, white, balsamic
• sauces: soy sauce, fish sauce, Worcestershire, Kikkoman Ponzu (citrus seasoned soy sauce), prepared mustard, horseradish
• peanut butter, smooth  (you can use this in baking, on toast or making peanut sauce)
• beans, lentils, peas, dried and tinned 
• potatoes, sweet and white, yams, onions, garlic
• canned cream corn for soups, fritters, corn bread, etc. 
• tinned salmon and tuna
• tinned tomatoes, stewed and whole.  Great for quick sauces, soups, etc.
• bottle of soda water.  This is ideal when making light batters, for instance, tempura, or for fritters or in case of a kitchen emergency a Vodka soda with lime, of course!

Extras I like to have on hand:

Wasabi, pickled ginger and anchovy paste.  A lot of my cooking is influenced by Asian cuisines.

My top 10 gotta have herbs and spices are as follows:

These are all Epicure Selection of course!

1. 3 Onion Dip Mix, you can use this in eggs, soups, meatloaf. Anywhere you'd like a little punch of onion
2. Bruschetta, dips, spaghetti, salads, a little bit of Italy in a jar
3. Guacamole, dip of course, but oh so much more.  Use your imagination, it's great.
4. Madras Curry, great in egg salad, curries of course, this is nice full flavored curry but not overpowering
5. Seafood & Fish, barbecue salmon, steamed fish, when cooking mussels, on and on
6. Herb & Garlic Dip, just the best, great in a dip on pizzas, in sauces, the list goes on and on I love it
7. Tzaziki Dip, great in salads, on chicken, pasta and of course in the dip  Tzaziki  Dip in yogurt and a little lemon makes a great marinade for chicken.
8. Tomato & Parmesan Cheese Ball, in macaroni and cheese, scrambled eggs, sauces. No Sodium, really good. I mean really, really good!
9. Mango Curry Dip, just the best ever. I use it in soups, curries, dips, marinades, etc.  If you like Thai or Vietnamese cooking, you need this, its wonderful; add lime leaves (Epicure Selections of course ) and coconut milk, and you have an easy Thai curry for chicken, vegetables, etc. Serve over noodles, rice and Voila! pure magic.
10. BLT Bacon Leeks and Tomatoes, mild onion flavour of the leeks with soy, bacon and tomatoes.  Sooo good, sprinkle in tomato soup, in sauces, in egg dishes, really good 

I also have salt, pepper and all the Epicure Sansel products (low sodium salt replacements) and cinnamon.

So there it is.  I've laid my cupboards bare and, so it seems, my soul.

I'd also like to let you know that if you're interested in any of the products I mention in my recipes, or you have any questions just email me.  If you are living in Canada and you do not have an Epicure Selections Consultant and you'd like to buy any of the Epicure Selection products please follow these steps:

• Go to my website, look through the online catalog, and if you decide to place an order 
• Follow the links to the order form, place your order
• Epicure Selections will ship it directly to your home, usually within 72 hours from time of placing your order. Orders over $50 shipping is free.  We do get extremely busy during the month of December however, so place your order early if you decide to buy any as gifts.  Gift items could be delivered within Canada to your intended recipients
• If you and a few of your friends want to place an order together, contact me and we can set your order up as a catalog party, with the designated Hostess receiving the order and the Hostess' gifts.  If you are in my area and you don't have an Epicure Selections Consultant, and you would like to host a party; or talk to me about becoming a Consultant please contact me, I'd be happy to help you. Have fun, explore and enjoy the recipes on the site.

Here's one of my favorite Epicure Soups, great for fall lunches or quick dinners.  Enjoy!

Epicure's Cream of Vegetable Soup

A delicious purée the whole family will love

Makes 4 servings
Cost Per Serving: $0.85

Ingredients:

2 tbsp (30 ml) butter
1 small onion, diced
2 tbsp (30 ml) all-purpose flour
4 cups (1 L) milk, heated
1 lb (450 g) cooked vegetables, your choice
1 tsp (5 ml) Epicure's Seasoning for Cheese, Chives & Bacon Dip
Epicure's Sea Salt, to taste
Epicure's Black Pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Make a white sauce by sauteing diced onions in melted butter over medium-high heat in Epicure’s 12-cup Multi-Purpose pot. Sprinkle flour over onions, stirring for 1 minute. 
2. Slowly add heated milk, whisking continuously. 
3. Bring to a slow boil until sauce has thickened. 
4. Puree cooked vegetable and Seasoning for Cheese, Chives & Bacon Dip. 
5. Add to white sauce, season to taste with Sea Salt and Black Pepper and heat until steaming.

Per serving: Calories 250, Fat 11 g (saturated 7 g, trans 0.4 g), cholesterol 35 mg, sodium 350 mg, carbohydrate 29 g (fibre 4 g, sugars 6 g), protein 11 g.

Variations:

1. Broccoli with 2 - 3 tsp (10-15 ml) Epicure's Lemon Dilly Dip Mix. 
2. Wilted spinach with 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) Epicure's Nutmeg. 
3. Cauliflower with 2 - 3 tsp (10-15 ml) Epicure's Seasoning for Cheese Chive and Bacon Dip . 
4. Green peas with 2 tsp (10 ml) Epicure's Mint. 
5. Tomato: add 1 x 19 oz can (540 ml) diced tomatoes with juice and 1 tbsp (15 ml) Epicure's Pesto Herbs.

THINK OF THE POSSIBILITIES

Talk to you soon,

Linda

Sunday Mornings are the best...

Sunday Mornings are the best.
written by Linda Gauthier


Sunday Mornings are my favorite time and day of the week.  Gary's home and Nicole is not with her caregiver, and we all get to enjoy each others company.  We get up a little later, I usually get up, put the coffee on, turn on my favorite music, at the moment it is either the Black Keys or John Butler Trio.  We sit around, enjoy the first cup of coffee and then I start breakfast.   
My routine is missing a little something right now, but it still is my favorite day, because usually, while I'm cooking I'm dancing.  Until recently, my son would come in and tease me about my dancing and we'd laugh, which in turn would result in us all laughing.  However, he has gone off to travel the world for a year, and it has left a gap in my routine and a small hole in my heart.  Last year, my daughter left and she now lives on the East Coast in St. John's, Newfoundland.  As much as I missed her, I still had her twin brother here, but now they are both gone and my Sundays are not quite the same.  We do however still have our Nicole at home with us, so it is not a bad thing, just different.  Why am I telling you this?  Well, I don't really know, other than this is a time of change, change in life, change in lifestyle, change in cooking style.  Which brings me to my recipe today.
I have never done any baking in the microwave and neither have I ever made corn bread, so this is a first on all fronts.

Microwave Sausage Chile Corn Bread was a pretty good success but... The flavour was good, the texture overall was pretty good, but there were a few areas which may be improved upon.  They may be attributed to my inexperience in baking in a microwave.  I found the timing quoted in the recipe may be too long for my microwave.  The outer crust was crisper and darker than the rest, and the middle portion bottom felt moist or sweaty, but it was cooked through.  On a personal note, it was more a textural thing rather than outright failure.

The flavour was good, the spices and the turkey sausage was nice.  I used a Jalapeno turkey sausage, browned it and then cut it into small pieces.  The cooking time was very quick, so was prep and the clean up was easy.  There is enough leftover for use later in the week or you could freeze it.

Microwave Sausage and Chile Corn Bread

Notice the darker crust it seems to be slightly overdone. May need to adjust cooking time.

square Epicure Silicone Steamer $24.99, I love it :)

5 portions left after feeding 3 for breakfast. will use for lunches.

PLAY IT AGAIN SAM....

So we meet again...
written by Linda Gauthier

words to live by

Week 1 down, several more to go, but I have taken that first step, and it's been a good one.  I'm happy with the results. It has been fun working on the recipes, and I'm finding that I am not missing my old way of cooking or eating.  Using the smaller plates and making each meal an event or at least being mindful of what I'm eating is really helping.  It also helps eating 3 meals a day and not skipping a meal.

I've always eaten a lot of vegetables, but I have also always eaten more meat and bread than I'm allowing myself now.  My old way of eating contained far more oil than now as well.  These few simple changes have truly made a difference. 

With this new attitude and determination, I'm finding I feel better. I'm also noticing when my cravings are hitting, and what is causing them, for instance the other night I was feeling bored, nothing on TV etc. etc. when I found myself standing in the pantry staring into the shelves looking for something to eat.  Not hungry mind you, just wanting something to nibble on, so I made myself some black tea and read my book instead.  Redirecting my attention away from food, which I didn't want or need in the first place.  

You will find this weeks menu and recipes at this link.

Week two menu  I have used recipes from Company's Coming Healthy Choices and Weight Watchers in 20 minutes.  I have tried to make the menu quick and easy for people with busy schedules.

Have a great week I know I'm going to.  I'll post more pictures and comments during the week.  bye for now

A change is coming

       

written by Linda Gauthier

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.   "Maya Angelou"

This has been my mantra all week and today is the day of truth.  Has my hard work paid off?  Week 2 Weigh In Day, Drum Roll please...

Ta dah !!!

I'm down 6.6 lbs  I would suspect mainly water however it feels good .  :)

Oh, Oh having sugar twitches....Help

Sweet Tooth Satisfaction

I told you last that I created a new recipe to satisfy my sweet tooth. So here it is:
Note. I didn't remember to jot down, or measure the ingredients this time out, so as to give you an exact recipe, but I promise I will, and post it, in the near future.
So for now, here is the outline of what I did and the rationale behind it. You poor souls.  You get to see the inside workings of my creative mind.  Oh well, here goes.

I wanted to create something that was slightly sweet, that I could use as a breakfast bar to send to work with Gary and to help me if I was hungry.  I also wanted something that I knew what was in it.

So my first stop was to my pantry where I found a nearly empty box of All Bran cereal, another of Kashi Puffed Grain cereal, and on the baking shelf, a partial bag of ground almonds.
What can I do with this?  Hmm, what about making it like a graham wafer crust, but without all the fat.  Ok, let's try. Do I add sweet?  Yeah, I guess so, but not just sugar, then what?  Hey, how about some honey with a small amount of brown sugar?

So that is what I did for the base:
It turned out a little more crisp than I wanted, its flavour is good, a tad sweeter than I'd like, but that can be adjusted.  Has great texture, with the nuts and the puffed cereal.

Crispy cookie-like base

Now what?  Do I eat it just like this?  No.  I think I want a little decadence, so I've got the plums I've been canning and a few are getting a little soft.  What can I do?  Hey, I saw a recipe for roast plums at this site, what did they do?  I followed her recipe pretty well to the letter, but with a few additions of my own.  Of course!!

1. Instead of using just the thyme, I added some Epicure Fines Herbes[sic], because I didn't happen to have enough fresh thyme on hand. (my plant seems to be dying).
2. I didn't add regular sugar, but instead gave it a dusting with Epicure Maple Sugar.
3. Next when it was cooked I gave it another dusting of the Maple Sugar and here is the real surprise.  I gave it a quick shake of Epicures Maple Bacon Sea Salt.  Total amount of sugar is less than a quarter of a teaspoon.  Total amount of flavour, awesome!

Roasted plums

But being me I still wanted to add a little more, so what about a creamy texture?  Hey, I've got Greek yogurt.

So that is what I did:

On each serving, I placed 1 1/2 tablespoons of Greek plain yogurt, topped with 2 plums.  It tasted great and to top it off, I was very pleased with myself. :)  I have no name for this recipe yet, but I'm working on it.

The left over plums will keep in the fridge for at least 3 days in an air tight container, to be used in other recipes.  They'd taste great with pork or chicken or oatmeal.  I added the extra juice I saved to some balsamic vinegar and made a reduction to be used on salads or meat dishes, that I'm keeping in my fridge for future use.

I tend to be a sauce junkie, so in a future post I plan on creating a page with easy, calorie-safe, sodium-reduced sauces and dressings. Also so I can rid my fridge of all those half bottles, etc.

Part of my adventure is to become more aware of what is going into my body in all those little things we don't think about, like the sodium intake in dressings, soy products, the hidden fat and other unnecessary things in our food.  Basically, I'm trying to clean up my act so I can live long enough to see nieces and nephews grow up, their children grow up and someday, even grand-children to be born and to celebrate life with, in a healthy, active body, because I plan on being here until I'm at least 100.

written by Linda Gauthier Photos by Linda Gauthier

Feeling spicy today, puttin a little wiggle in the jiggle

Cuban Style Beans and Rice

Yummy recipe, worked great, flavour was great, hubby's approval rate also great, overall a pretty darn good review.  
To add to this dish, I had 4 oz of chicken breast and 4 prawns.  
Here is what I did:

1. I tossed the Epicure Cuban spices in my non-stick pan, warmed the spices to bring out the flavour; 
2. added some fresh chopped garlic; 
3. added the chicken breast first to cook; 
4. then during the last 8 minutes, added the prawns, cooked them until they were just about ready;
5. added 1/2 c clamato juice and 2 handfuls of baby spinach;
6. gave it all a quick stir until the spinach wilted and served it on top of the beans and rice. 

By doing this, I added more protein to the dish and more color and texture.  Bringing my point value for this dish up by 2-3 points, which I had room for. 

written by Linda Gauthier Photos by Linda Gauthier

Rain, rain go away come again another day..

Good Morning,

Here on the Pacific coast in beautiful Victoria, B.C., we are having another glorious sunny day.  You can however, begin to feel fall in the air.  I love fall, but it means our rainy winter will be returning sooner than I'd like.  Kids are back in school and the neighborhood is sadly quiet. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend.  We had a quiet weekend, but it was very nice.  My husband and I are just getting used to not having our young adult children around.  They are off forging their own lives and memories, and we are back to getting to know each other as ourselves and not Mom and Dad.  It is nice, scary and fun all at the same time, but I must say I'm rather liking it.

This weekend I had fun creating the food outlined in my menu and  I never once felt cheated or overly hungry.  On Monday, I had a bit of a sugar craving, but I managed it by creating a new recipe, which I will tell you about later.  I have to admit though, I have been changing the menu around a bit, depending on the food mood we are in. (my hubby is eating exactly the same as I am)

For Monday's breakfast, we had the Poached Egg on Corn Tortilla.
It turned out great, but there are a few things I might change for the future though. 

1.  The recipe is fine, but when I was creating it, I decided to make my own fresh salsa. Therefore, less salt and fresher veggies!  What I found was that it may have been too moist for the tortilla, so it may have been a good idea to lightly toast or warm the tortilla in a nonstick fry pan to slightly crisp it, to try prevent the tortilla from becoming soggy.
2. I had warmed the tortilla in the microwave.  This was fine, but I don't believe it brought the flavour of the tortilla out as much as toasting it in the pan would have. 

written by Linda Gauthier Photos by Linda Gauthier