Sunday Night Football Comfort Food

Hey Everyone!! How was your weekend? Mine was great! We hung out with some friends, had dinner at my moms house and played some Monopoly....I won! Yesterday was really relaxing. My husband is a football fan, so our Sundays are spent watching all the games. I do manage to clean the house, go grocery shopping and do laundry however.  For the evening game, the husband wanted one of his favorite comfort foods. Ol'school Shepherds Pie. This recipe is adapted from my moms. I wanted to make a little more healthy version of hers. 

Sunday Night's Shepherd Pie

This recipe can be adjusted and made for vegan/vegetarians/meatatarians. My husband is lactose intolerant so I make it dairy free.

Yield: 6 servings(or 4 in my house)

Ingredients:

• 1lb extra lean ground beef, veggie ground or TVP
• 2 large potatoes, cubed (I use yukon gold potatoes)
• 1cup onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1/2 cup carrots, chopped in small pieces
• 1/2 cup green peas
• 1tsp basil
• 1/4 cup  cheddar cheese (I used daiya vegan cheese)
• salt & pepper to taste.
• a dash of paprika

1. Preheat oven to 400c.  Boil cubed potatoes till cooked, drain and mash. Put to the side

2. Fry up ground beef and drain. *A trick I learned from my mother in law is to rinse the ground beef off under water for a few moments to remove any grease or oil*  

3.Saute onions and garlic till clear, add tomato and spices. Add all other vegetables and cook for a few moments. Add ground beef and cook for 5-7 min longer till spices and veggies have mixed. At this time add more spices if needed.

4. Pour meat mixture into a large casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes, sprinkle cheese and garnish with paprika. Bake uncovered for 30-35min till cheese is melted and potatoes have a slight golden baked colour.

Enjoy!

My husband loves bread, so I warmed up some french bread in the oven.

I also made some of Angela's Vegan Gravy from Oh She Glows

The guys loved it! And all our plates quickly looked like this

Tonight we are going to the Jets Game!! I hope they win!!!!!!

jambalaya love

With all the wines I got this past weekend I needed to create equally amazing meals to match with them. I got this great fresh Pinot Gris called "Mount Fishtail Wine". It is dry but finishes very smooth. LOVE IT! The weather today has been horrible, living in Winnipeg it can snow one day, be +20 the next day and rain with a +10. Well today was a rainy, cloudy day. And I needed a little 'heat' to make me feel better about it.

What better way then to make some hot YUMMY jambalaya!!!

 

      Spicy Jambalaya Love

      Adapted from Eat Live Run

      

      Yield: 3-4 servings

• 3 Cajun hot sausages, chopped into bite-size pieces(remove from casing)
• 10 medium shrimp
• 1tbsp EVOO
• 1.5tbsp of whole wheat flour
• 1 large onion
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 2tbsp of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• half of a red pepper, green pepper, orange pepper, chopped
• 2 celery sticks, chopped
• 1.5 cup of cooked brown long grain rice
• 1 16oz can of diced tomatoes in juice
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1.5 tbsp of  Thyme
• 1tbsp of Chili Flakes
• 1-2 Drops of Hot Sauce to taste (optional)

Cook brown rice as per directions, fluff and put to the side

In a pan heat oil and add chopped sausage. Brown and lower heat.

In a large sauce pan, cook oil and flour over medium heat to create a roux, when it is golden colour toss in your garlic, onion (small dice), peppers (with seeds removed) and celery. Sautee your vegetables until just tender. Add cooked rice, can of tomatoes, chopped parsley and spices. Cover and cook on low-med heat for several min, string occasionally.

While your rice is simmering, add shrimp to your cooked sausage, pour white wine over top and cook only for a min or two making sure to flip the shrimp. Don't over cook the shrimp as it will cook quickly and you don't want it chewy. Once done, add to your rice pan.

Cook for another two minutes stirring with a spatula.

Add hot sauce if desired and serve!!!

 

 It was so full of flavor and colour

 My fiance suggested next time we put it into a yellow flour tortilla.

Writing this blog and editing the photos, I realized I haven't introduced my helper. She is always in the kitchen with me while cooking or sitting on my desk helping me edit or write. Her name is Tia!! She is almost 9 year old and a bengal kitty!!

 She is also such a showoff!

Isn't she just way too cute?

Super Bowl Insanity

This past Sunday was of course the Super Bowl. Now in my house this is HUGE! Even more so since my fiancés favorite team is the Green Bay Packers! As tradition would dictate I would be making Chili and other snack foods for a bunch of football fans.

Normally I would be making a very healthy dish of chili if this was a normal day. But I spoiled my fiancé and made some that wasn’t so much. However healthy substitutes can be easily made!

1lb Extra Lean Ground Beef

1lb Hot Italian Sausage

4 (15oz) cans chili beans, drained

2 (28oz) cans diced tomatoes with juice

1 (6oz) can of tomato paste

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 green chili peppers, seeded and chopped

4 cubes beef bouillon

½ cup beer

¼ cup chili power

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon sugar

Process:

1 Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Brown ground beef and sausage. Drain any excess grease.

2. Pour in chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste

3. Add onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, chili peppers, bouillon and beer.

4. Season with chili power, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika and sugar. Simmer on low eat for at least 2 hours. 

5. After two hours I will taste and adjust for spices if needed. I then let it cook another hour. The longer it simmers the better it tastes. I always make this the day before so it sits all night in the refrigerator.

Just reheat on stove the next day on low.  Serve with buns.

The boys LOVED it!

Now we had many sides, one which was Restaurant-Style Buffalo Chicken Wings. I baked these instead of deep frying them. I may be letting my fiancé cheat a little....but that was just TOO much. The boys seemed to really enjoy these as well.

We also had Guacamole I made. This recipe is great!!

On top of all that we had some smoked dried homemade meat my fiance's father makes, it's delish! We also had 3 year old cheddar cheese and crackers. As well as salmon slices, salsa and I think that's everything???? All I know is I have soo much food left over!!

And for the big game that inspired all this food.....well that was a HUGE WIN FOR THE PACKERS! Good job boys :)

Parchment Salmon Delish

One thing about me is I LOVE to cook, and what I love even more is cooking for someone else. Before I met my fiancé I never cooked. But after we moved in together I found it quickly becoming one of my favorite hobbies. When I started my healthy lifestyle my cooking had to change, and it became more challenging. Not a bad challenge, a great one! I now strive to find delicious healthy meals.

This is one of our favorites!  We have this at least once a week. The vegetables for the sides change depending on what I have on hand.

Salmon is amazing! From a health stand point it is just jammed packed full of Omega-3 fatty acids. And every 4-oz serving will provide you with nearly 30gm of protein!! Oh and don’t forget it tastes awesome!

This recipe is pretty quick and very easy.

Ingredients:

2 Salmon fillets
1 Lemon
Fresh dill on stem
2 tsp of EVVO
Pinch of kosher salt
Pepper for taste

Process:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Fold a large sheet of parchment paper and cut out a heart shape about 3 inches larger then the fillet. Unfold paper and place the fillet near the fold.

 Take a very small pinch of kosher salt and rub it on the fillet. I try not to use salt in food, but just a tad rubbed on the salmon adds a nice bit of flavor. You can use Sea Salt, but I like to use kosher salt as I feel I can grab a pinch of it easier. This step is optional if you are on a low salt diet.

Cut a lemon into 4 halves, take one half and squeeze it over a fillet. A trick I learned is to squeeze lemon over your hand to catch any seeds. Don’t throw away the lemon half, as we will use this later. Drizzle a bit of EVOO over the fillet

Place a stem of dill on top of the fillet. Take left over lemon half, cut it into two and place both on fillet. Sprinkle pepper over for taste (optional).

 Fold paper to enclose the fillet, and make small overlapping folds to seal the edges. Start at the curve of the heart.  I usually will brush EVOO on the edges before I roll them up.

Place in oven for 15min or till salmon flakes with a fork.

For my side dish today, I had asparagus and brussels sprouts on hand. I just threw them in my vegetable steamer. For taste, ill squeeze some fresh lemon over top of them.


 Enjoy!!!

 Nom Nom Nommmmm........

My Journey....



Okay, here goes… My name is Destini. I am a 27 year old Graphic Designer/IT Nerd. Just over 4 years ago I met the love of my life, and lo and behold… we’re getting married this September!! When I first met my man I was 110 lbs., but with the comfort of love, restaurant dating and happiness, that quickly changed.

My journey for healthy living started in November 2009, when I went to see my doctor and weighed in at 164 lbs. That was a devastating day, but also a wake-up call. Something needed to change, even more so with my best friend’s February wedding fast approaching.

At the suggestion of a friend who had lost weight with Herbal Magic, I contacted them. I’m not sure whether Herbal Magic is a gimmick or not, but I know it worked for me. They taught me a lot about my body and healthy choices for food. REAL FOOD.  However, the initial cost is quite high and there is a constant need for supplements, which can be a significant factor in making it work for some people. You invest a lot, and I knew personally I couldn’t afford to not make it work. My program was for one full year. My goal for the weight loss portion of Herbal Magic was to lose 30 lbs. at 2 lbs. per week for 15 weeks. After reaching my goal, I’d be moved to stabilization for 8 weeks where they would slowly raise my calories, followed by maintenance for the rest of the year. I actually lost the 30 lbs. in less than 15 weeks, so I was able to continue losing more weight on top of that.

After I was moved into stabilization I stopped going. Now, this isn’t something I’d recommend for everyone. But my reasoning for stopping was that I wanted to know that I could do this on my own and without the supplements. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone else unless they feel quite confident with their body. When I was finished with Herbal Magic in April 2010, I weighed in at 129lbs. And I was very, very happy with no regrets!

I was able to keep the weight off, though it did go up and down over the next 7 months. During this time my boyfriend (now fiancé) proposed to me and we set our wedding date for September 24^th, 2011!! If you haven’t been engaged or planned a wedding, let me tell you this: Everything goes SOO fast. All of a sudden, 16 months to our wedding date became 9 months and soooo much needed to be done. Including things I felt I needed to do with myself.

So this brings us to December 11^th, 2010. My best friend (who is also my maid of honor) and I went to start “browsing” for wedding dresses. I saw this wedding dress in a store window and contacted the store to find out the number. I knew from the moment I saw it that it was “the one”. I tried it on and fell in love! I put down the deposit on it that day. The only things I felt that needed some TLC were my arms and my back. I may have lost the weight, but still had some extra “meat” (as I call it) that remained from my heavier times. This got me to contact my personal trainer whom I had oddly met dancing at a local club. We set a date and time to meet at the YMCA. To say I was nervous is an understatement. I’d never been an avid gym member so this would be something new. On December 15^th I weighed in at 131lbs, a little more than when I left Herbal Magic, but all in all a good starting point.

Fast forward to today…I’m about 6 weeks into my program with my lovely personal trainer Kim. So far it’s been a hard, sweaty journey but I’m starting to see results and couldn’t be happier. With my social and wedding quickly approaching, my goals have never been more clear, which brings me to why I am doing this blog; I know losing weight is never easy. Dieting and working out is INCREDIBLY hard. I know if it wasn’t for other people’s stories of inspiration and encouragement I wouldn’t be where I am today.

I have decided to document this journey all the way to my wedding day, not only with stories of working out, but also with healthy recipes that I enjoy and my wedding plans. Every day, people get engaged, they create healthy choice goals, and they struggle/succeed with it all. This is my journey; this is my story of running to the aisle.