Healthy Slow Cooker Ribs

Ribs are a food I just started eating a few years ago. Mike's mom makes really good ribs (with sauce that I could drink!), and so I got her recipe and made them a little while ago. Of course with something that tastes as good as her ribs, it is not clean at all! Brown sugar, vinegar, and ketchup are the main ingredients of the sauce. I wanted to try to make a healthier version, and so I came up with this recipe for the slow cooker.

Ingredients:
-centre cut ribs (the smaller ones)
-1 cup water
-1 cup clean bbq sauce (I use an organic one called "Amazing Dad's BBQ Sauce" that I found at Fortinos)
-1 tbsp jerk seasoning
-fresh ground pepper
-1 medium onion chopped

1. Sautee onion until translucent. Place in slow cooker.
2. Rub jerk seasoning and pepper on ribs. Place in slow cooker.
3. Add water and bbq sauce and combine well.
4. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

I served mine over brown jasmine rice.

Rose Coloured Glasses

I have been trying to change my outlook to be a more positive one as of late, and this has made a huge difference in my life. Not only has my outlook been more positive, but I have really started to notice where my thought patterns are going astray, and that awareness alone has made it possible for me to ignore my ego from time and time and let love shine through.

After a very powerful book club meeting, and some conversations about teacher training at Power Yoga Canada this summer, I felt like I needed to make a huge change in my life. I got really amped up, and felt that the words of others were truly motivating me. I also received a message from a blog friend that evening asking me why I don't try to find a way to make my passion for yoga and fitness a career. That was it, I had the "signs". I was going to go to teacher training, at $5000, for 2 intensive weeks in August.

Of course this news did not sit well with Mike. He immediately questioned where this idea was coming from, how I would come up with the money when I am still paying off other debts, and why did it have to be now? Why not save? It is not logical. It's a bad time. Why haven't I talked about teacher training lately? Why all of a sudden do I need to do the training NOW? 

My bubble of excitement and happiness had burst, and reality set in. I had been looking at this through rose coloured glasses.
Yes I would have the training completed in only 2 short weeks (instead of the usual 9 week program they offer), but I would be further in debt, which would then cause me more stress. I would also be taking ALL of my available vacation time from work at once, and would not have any vacation time left to spend with my husband or family.

Yogis might tell me that everything will work itself out in the end, the money will come, and that may be true. But I want to be secure in the fact that I can pay off my debts first, save the full amount for whatever training I decide to do, and then be able to enjoy it without worrying about money. Things WILL work themselves out, the way they are meant to for ME. Maybe for someone else putting $5000 on their credit card now and paying it off later on down the road is ok, but for me it's not. I have worked SO hard to get myself out of debt, and the $0 remaining balance is so close I can taste it. If I continue to work hard, make the right money decisions, and save, my time will come. And that time will mean even more to me because I will be able to fully enjoy the experience and soak in all the training that I crave.

This has also opened my mind up to different training options that are really speaking to me.
I AM SO EXCITED about what is coming up in my life. I know what I have to do, I am so motivated to do it.
For now, I have decided to attend workshops that interest me, commit to more home practice, and continue with the positive books I have been reading. I have also started to journal, which has helped boost me when I'm not feeling so confident.

I have taken off those rose coloured glasses, that make you see a masked world.

I can feel a shift coming, and I am ready to propel myself forward and be the best me I can be!




Namaste!



Avocado aka. Mayonnaise Substitute Extraordinaire

Not really sure why it never occurred to me to use avocado as a substitute for mayo when making tuna or egg salad sandwiches, but I'm glad it finally did!

Apart from the fact that I'm obsessed with avocado, these were both so yummy, and almost as easy as scooping mayo out of a jar.

***use half an avocado, and mix into a can of tuna, or mash with 2 hard boiled eggs. 

Mixing with tuna

Tuna

Egg Salad

Forgiveness

I started reading Spirit Junkie by Gabrielle Bernstein recently for a book club. I didn't really know what to expect out of the book, but it's description was very intriguing. Little did I know that it would open up a whole spiritual world to me, and provide so many moments of clarity when reflecting back on my own life. The book is very easy to read. It tells us her story, and how spirit came into her life in different ways and at different times. It is her journey into becoming a "spirit junkie" and miracle worker, all the while pulling teachings from A Course In Miracles  by Dr. Helen Schucman ("a complete self-study spiritual thought system" as described by their website).

In the past, like Gabrielle, I would also shy away from spiritual readings, simply because I thought they would focus on a God, or a religion. In the very beginning of this book, Gabrielle talks about how when she first started reading A Course In Miracles, and would see the words "God" or "Holy Spirit" she would get freaked out. I felt the same way! When I began reading the book, and she would instruct readers to pray, or talk about God or the Holy Spirit, I would get a squirmy feeling inside. I have never once in my life prayed, so this was a very foreign concept to me. I didn't grow up with religion in my life, my parents had always wanted me to make the choice myself when I got old enough to understand what religion was. They didn't want to choose a religion for me, they wanted me to be able to learn about them if I wanted to, and choose the one that I felt was right for me.
As a child, I often when to church on Sundays with my best friend at the time and her family, it was a part of our Saturday sleepover. In my teens, I went to church and youth group with friends I was close with at the time. When I met Mike, I would go to church with him and his family for weddings, baptisms, and other rights of passage. I never felt a spiritual connection in any of these settings. I was always polite, and followed others when they stood, and sat back down, but it just wasn't something that I felt was for me.
This book introduced me to the idea that praying doesn't have to be to "God", but that I can speak to my inner guide, the spirit within me. Once I had a grasp on that, I was able to fully embrace the book, and everything it had to offer me.

When I reached the chapter on forgiveness, I thought maybe it was going to touch on the old saying "forgive and forget", but it was about much more than that. It gave me a different way of looking at forgiveness, and since then I have looked at past and present situations differently. I was holding onto a lot of things, not willing to forgive, and wanting it to be their fault and not mine. The book taught me to forgive not only the people I was having a hard time with for things they may have done, but also to forgive myself for allowing the reality of what happened be skewed by the thoughts my ego was planting in my head. This is where I think of the term "stories". My ego was creating all these stories around the situation or around the person that I felt they were thinking about me, when in reality those were just perceptions I created in my mind that carried no truth. These perceptions were causing me to have a lot of anxiety about the situation, or the feeling that I had to defend myself constantly in order to prove I was not in the wrong. In the end I let that stuff go. It is to a point where it a)it doesn't matter anymore b)the damage to the relationships have already been done and c)it was time for me to stop living in the past and move on without that weight of negativity. What a HUGE relief. I haven't felt this free and happy in a few years.

This book really changed my life, but this chapter in particular really hit home. I am no longer consumed with the anxieties and thoughts my ego was creating to keep me in a state of fear. Fear that they won't like me, fear that they are saying bad things about me, fear that they are telling other people I'm a bad person, fear that they think I'm a bad person, the list just goes on. I don't want to live like that anymore. So I forgave myself, and those I needed to, and made the decision to move forward, away from fear. 

I choose LOVE

Healthy Slow Cooker Roast Beef and Veggies (with gravy)

Roast beef. I've eaten it maybe 3 times in my whole life. Not usually a huge fan unless it is covered in gravy. Roasts were on sale last week, so I thought I would pick one up and give it a try in the slow cooker, mainly for Mike. The roast I got was very lean, I didn't even have to trim any fat off of it. I added all of the usual vegetable suspects, plus some tasty extras that I like. This was the most surprisingly tasty meal to me, and I will definitely be making it again soon. 

I didn't follow a recipe I just threw it together sort of like how I would make a beef stew. 

Ingredients:
-1 beef roast (whatever cut you like is fine, I chose whatever looked the least fatty)
-3 large carrots cut into sticks
-2 small onions cut into large pieces and left together (no need to separate each slice)
-1 green pepper cut into large pieces
-2 small sweet potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes
-1 large portobello mushrooms cut into large pieces
-4 large white mushrooms cut into large pieces
-1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
-1/3 cup white balsamic vinegar
-1 tbsp parsley
-1 tbsp garlic powder
-2 tsp paprika
-fresh ground pepper
-1 tbsp olive oil

1. Heat oil on medium in a large pot. Add roast and season generously with fresh pepper. Brown all sides, hen place in slow cooker.
2. In same pot add veggies and cook for 4-5 minutes, then add to slow cooker
3. Mix broth, balsamic vinegar, and all spices. Pour mixture over meat and veggies in slow cooker. The veggies do not need to be covered in the broth. 
4. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Gravy:
1. Collect the liquid from the bottom of the slow cooker, and place in a small pot.
2. Heat on medium until it comes to a slow boil.
3. Add in 2-3 tbsp of whole wheat flour and whisk continuously until the sauce thickens.
4. Remove from heat and serve on roast and veggies.

Mike and I both loved this roast! The meat reminded me of pulled pork because it literally felt apart on the plate and just melted in your mouth. This meal had SO much falvour, and I didn't feel bad about eating a big plate because it's all healthy!

8 hours until melt in your mouth goodness

YUM! A healthy take on a Sunday favourite.

Clean Eating Slow Cooker Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup

Spring is finally here...or is it?! Although it is mid April, I woke up yesterday morning to a temperature of -4 and windy snowy blizzard. I was automatically craving warmth, and so I decided that the left over roasted chicken would be used to make some chicken noodle soup in the slow cooker. Everyone loves a nice hearty chicken noodle soup on a cold day!

Ingredients:

-1/2 roasted chicken (I had one of the grocery store roast chickens left over from dinner the previous night)

-4 cups low sodium chicken broth

-3 medium carrots chopped into 1/2 inch chunks

-1 medium onion

-1 potato cut into 1 inch cubes

-handful of spinach loosely chopped

-2 cups cooked noodles of your choice (I used whole wheat omega bowties)

-1 tsp basil

-1 tsp rosemary

-1 tbsp parsley

-1 tbsp garlic powder

-1 tsp fresh ground pepper

-1 tsp thyme

1. Break up chicken into small pieces. Place in slow cooker.

2. Saute all vegetables until onion is translucent. Add to slow cooker.

3. Boil noodles half way so they are still a little hard, they will continue to cook in the slow cooker. Add to slow cooker. 

4. Boil potatoes half way as well. Add to slow cooker.

5. Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker.

6. Cook on low for 4 hours.

***you can add in any other veggies you would like.

All ready to cook...slowly

All ready for my belly

Kale Chips

Kale has been coming up a lot when referring to healthy food options. I kept hearing about kale chips, and decided I would give them a try. I had never tasted kale before this, so I had absolutely no expectations about the flavour. I assumed it would taste sort of like spinach. I looked up a bunch of kale chip recipes and they are all very similar just varying amounts of ingredients and oven temperatures. It would be pretty hard to mess up this extremely easy snack.

Ingredients:

-1 bunch of kale

-1.5 tbsp e.v.o.o.

-sea salt (the amount is up to you, I used about a tsp)

-lemon juice (you can use anywhere from a sprinkle to half a lemon, I used 1/4)

1. Heat oven to 275 degrees

2. Tear kale away from stems. Each stalk should yield about 8 pieces or so, think chip sized chunks. Wash and dry. It is very important to get as much moisture off the kale as possible. I wash mine and leave it in the fridge overnight.

3. Add olive oil, salt and fresh lemon juice. Mix with your hands until kale is evenly coated.

4. Bake on a baking tray covered in parchment paper for 25-30 mins. You can check if it's crispy enough around 25 mins, if not leave it in for another 5 mins.

The lemon and salt together make these just the right combination of tangy and salty. They get very crunchy and really do satisfy that craving for a chip type salty snack. Just without the super high amount of sodium, and they aren't fried so fat content is low. Just beware, a whole bunch of kale only makes a cereal bowl full of chips and you will want to eat them all!

Kale chips just out of the oven

Ready to eat!

Clean Eating Ginger Beef

Whenever we eat Chinese food (which has been maybe 2 times in the past year), Mike always wants ginger beef. Because I'm new to cooking and eating beef, I decided I would take a stab at this Chinese food favourite.
I think this is going to become a weekly dinner in our house. There is SO much flavour and freshness, and it is a fairly quick meal to prepare.


Ingredients:
-fast fry beef cut into strips (I buy mine pre sliced from the grocery store it's pretty cheap!)
-1 cup low sodium chicken or beef broth
-2 tbsp low sodium tamari
-1 tbsp rice vinegar
-2 tbsp roasted sesame oil
-2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
-2 cloves fresh grated garlic
-fresh ground pepper to taste

-2 cups brown jasmine rice
-1pkg baby bok choi washed and steamed
-1 medium onion sliced
-mushrooms of your choice (I used white and portobella) sliced

1. Combine all ingredients for marinade (less sesame oil) and add beef. Marinate for any desired time. I let mine marinate for about 30 mins.
2. Sautee onion and mushroom in  1 tbsp sesame oil and set aside.
3. Steam baby bok choi (I always cut the ends off mine and use my steamer).
4. Cook rice according to package directions (I use a rice cooker).
5. Heat 1 tbsp sesame oil and add beef and marinade. Cook for 4-5 minutes until beef is cooked through. Add all veggies and cook for another few minutes.
6. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Clean Eating Asian Sesame Salad Dressing

This is a really quick and simple salad dressing with lots of flavour!

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup olive oil
-1 tbsp roasted sesame oil
-2 tbsp rice vinegar
-2 tbsp low sodium tamari
-fresh black pepper to taste
-sesame seeds

Combine all ingredients well and serve over your choice of greens.

Clean Eating Balsamic Pork Chops

Pork isn't something I'm used to cooking, nor do I particularly enjoy eating (unless it is smothered in some kind of sauce aka. ribs or pulled pork). Mike said these were really good, and other than getting used to the texture of pork, the taste was great for me too.

I took this recipe from Clean Eating Magazine's website which you can find here. I adjusted cooking method and did not do the peaches.

1. Prepare marinade according to recipe.
2. Brown pork chops on medium heat for 4 minutes each side.
3. Bake in the oven with remaining marinade at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

I served the chops over brown jasmine rice, with some sauteed portobella mushrooms, and a side of spinach salad.

Clean Eating Spaghetti and Meatballs

Mike and I both love pasta, and I especially love a good meat sauce. I have never actually made meat balls from scratch before, and so I was pretty excited to try something new. Who doesn't love a meat ball?

I came up with this recipe by adapting what I would use to make a hamburger. Basically I threw in the same things, just changing up the spices a little. You can also make this with ground turkey, but since we are trying to add more iron into our diet I used extra lean ground beef.

The meatballs:
-approx 1 lb extra lean ground beef
-1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning
-1 tsp crushed chili peppers
-1/2 tbsp garlic powder
-1 tsp onion powder
-1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
-1 egg white
-1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

1. Mix together all ingredients using your hands.
2. Roll into 1-2 inch balls.
3. Bake at 425 degrees for about 7 minutes or until browned.


The sauce:
-1 jar crushed tomatoes with basil (no salt added, I use the Italian brands you can get at the grocery store)
-1 can no salt added tomato sauce
-1 tbsp garlic powder
-1/2 tbsp onion powder
-1 tbsp Italian seasoning
-t tsp fresh ground black pepper
-chopped mushrooms
-chopped spinach
-1 medium chopped onion
-1 zucchini chopped
-you can add in any other veggies you would like

1. Saute veggies, except spinach (you can use olive oil, I use my olive oil cooking sprayer).
2. Add in tomatoes, sauce, and all spices.
3. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Add spinach in about half way.

Add in meatballs and cook for another few minutes until well combined.

Serve over pasta of your choice. I used Kamut spaghetti.

Delicious!