Eating well in a rush

I'm a busy person. We're all pretty busy. It may be kids, it may be dogs, it may be our jobs, our hobbies, or other things in our life.

But, if we don't take time to eat well, we won't have the right type of energy to keep up. I have a habit of esorting to coffee to keep me going when I'm running on empty, which isn't really a healthy or sustainable choice. Coffee is great and everything, but shouldn't be what keeps you moving.

Here are some quick snacks I keep handy to eat when I'm in a rush. Having them around makes it less likely I'll reach for a cup of coffee and a cookie to push me through a low point.

Steel Cut Oats - every Sunday I cook up a pot of steel cut oats. 1 cup of oats to 4 cups of water, simmered until they are soft and tender. I keep this in the fridge and take out single portions (about a quarter of the batch) at a time. I reheat, chop some banana on it, and sprinkle some walnuts. A sprinkle of brown sugar and a splash of milk, and I have a breakfast or snack in two minutes. This keeps me going for a good three hours before I need to eat again. Oats are also a good source of fiber, including soluble fiber which can lower cholesterol. Oats are also the only food source of GLA (gamma linoleic acid).

My family's yogurt muesli with berries

Yogurt muesli - My mom adapted this recipe from the Movenpick restaurant's delicious Swiss Muesli (Before they were bought out by Peachtree foods in Canada).

2 cups of plain yogurt
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup currants
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup of frozen berries
1 apple, grated or finely chopped
1 tbls honey

Mix all this together and store in a contained in the fridge for up to 3 days. Add a bit of milk if it is too thick for you. Makes a delicious snack, breakfast or dessert. My family also traditionally makes this on Christmas morning, so that the family can eat at their leisure while we are opening presents.

Mixed unsalted nuts - I always keep a jar of unsalted mixed nuts around. A handful of these have protein, fiber and healthy oils, everything I need to give me a mid afternoon energy boost. I'm careful not to overeat nuts, as they are also calorie dense. But, they beat a chocolate bar any day.

Banana shake - I often have a bottle of plain kefir around, which I don't like on its own but I love blended with a ripe banana and a small scoop of cocoa powder. The sweetness of the banana balances the sour of the kefir, and makes a refreshing, filling and tastey snack on the go in under 2 minutes. Have I mentioned I love probiotics, and I try to get a variety of different ones into me on a regular basis (thus the yogurt and the kefir).

All of these choices are also easy on your budget, when you compare them to what you would pay to eat a snack outside of the house. $2-3 for a toasted bagel, add another two for a coffee, and you have lightened your purse but not filled your body with much that will really help it.

A tofu story: Soy milk continued

1. Boil your mash. So, you've now got a bunch of soy mash boiling on the stove, with a total of 454 grams, or 1 pound, of soybeans and about 22 cups of water. Cook this for about 20 minutes on medium. Stir frequently, as the soy will stick to the bottom of the pan. You want to avoid this from burning. If your soy mash threatens to boil over, stir or add a little cold water. Your soy milk is ready for the next step when the solids have separated from the milk. It should look like the picture on the right.


2. Strain your milk. Line a colander with muslin, or use a fine meshed strainer (like I did!). Carefully pour the mixture through the strainer to separate the soy fibre from the soy milk. It's best to use muslin so that you can squeeze all the soy milk out of the mixture and to avoid any graininess in your soy milk. 


3. Enjoy your milk! If your aim was to make soy milk, then you are done. Soy milk in this manner won't keep as long as that which you buy at the grocery store as it has no preservatives. I have never tasted a better cup of soymilk than my fresh soymilk with a touch of maple syrup and a splash of vanilla!

 I'll add the instructions to make tofu soon.

You will have a bunch of soy fibre left over, and shown on the left. This is called okara. Don't throw it out! It contains a lot of fibre, and a good amount of protein. Okara can be stored in the fridge, or frozen or dried for future use.

I'll do a post in the future about okara uses, but as a quick idea, you can use it to bulk up your morning oatmeal, cutting calories and increasing fibre and protein. I made oatmeal with 1/2 cup rolled oats and 1/2 cup okara cooked with about 1 1/2 cups of water (or more, depending on how long you cook it for and how moist you like it). This oatmeal is rich, creamy and very delicious!

These instructions are my variation of those found in The Tofu Cookbook by Bauer and Andersen and by Makiko Itoh at http://www.justhungry.com/2006/03/milking_the_soy.html 

A tofu story: Starting with soy milk

This weekend I undertook making my own tofu. I had found a fabulous book at the used book store on Tofu, from the early seventies (before I was born)! It didn't look too difficult, and since I've already made cheese, and the process is fairly similar, I was game. The first step is to make a batch of soy milk.

First step: Find your ingredients. Dried soybeans and some sort of coagulant. I found gypsum at T and T in the spice section. You can also use epsom salts or nigari.

Second step: Soak your beans (I did 454 grams or 1 pound) in lots of water overnight. Drain the water, and rise the beans one more time in hot water to warm them up.


Third step: Prepare your pot and gather your blender and kettle. NOTE! I used the Cornell University process to grind my beans which requires boiling water. This reduces the "grassy" or "beany" flavour of the resulting soymilk (which is an intermediate step in the tofu making process). If you choose to use boiling water to grind your beans be VERY careful. You can also just use cold water, it will just result in a stronger tasting soy milk.

Put about an inch of water in your very large pot. Heat this up until almost boiling. Wrap your blender in a towel if you are using boiling water to blend the beans. IF you are using boiling water, please make sure you are using a high quality blender that can handle the heat and will not crack or break. If you are not using boiling water, there is nothing to worry about!

Fourth step: Grind your beans. Take your blender, and put a cup of soaked beans in it. Pour in enough boiling water to cover the soy beans (about 1.5 cups), and blend on a middle range speed.If the mixture is too thick, add some more water. Stop blending when you have a creamy (although grainy) mixture.


Fifth step: Add your beans to the pot.  Pour the bean mixture into the pot that has water almost boiling in it. Add enough water so that you have added a total of 22 cups of water for your 1 pound of soaked beans.

To be continued!

These instructions are my variation of those found in The Tofu Cookbook by Bauer and Andersen and by Makiko Itoh at http://www.justhungry.com/2006/03/milking_the_soy.html

Healthy, tasty grain-free breakfast cookies

These cookies are super yummy, full of energy, and have no added sugars. Dates and fruit are used to sweeten. Almonds, coconut and eggs provide healthy fats and protein.

• 1 chopped apple with skin
• 1 banana (without skin)
• 1 cup raw almonds
• 1 cup shredded coconut unsweetened
• 2 Madjool dates
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp of coconut oil, melted
• 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 C.

Chop the red apples coarsely, and add them to your food processor. Pulse until they are uniformly chopped into small pieces. Put into a mixing bowl.

Pulse almonds, coconut and dates until they are a uniformly chopped into small pieces. Put into mixing bowl.

Mix dry ingredients well. Mix vanilla, melted coconut oil and eggs. Beat together. Add to dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Drop cookies by large spoonful onto baking stone or baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool for five minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Adapted from: http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/grain-free-goodies/apple-banana-cookies/

Lazy Saturday bread

Continuing the theme of waste not, want not, I had some leftover oatmeal in the fridge that needed to be used up this morning. I wasn't sure...should I make muffins? pancakes? And then I remembered that I ate the last of my homemade bread yesterday, and thus, needed a new loaf.

I found a recipe online for bread machine bread made with cooked oatmeal. While my oats were not steel cut (these take too long in the morning, so I opt for large flake oats on weekdays), the recipe looks like it should yield a nice loaf. I used a cup and a half of spelt flour in place of part of the regular flour, and brown sugar instead of honey or maple syrup, and added some butter.

My "new" recipe now looks like this:

Cozy weekend oatmeal bread

1.5 cups of cooked large flake oats
1 cup of water or whey (from my cheesemaking activities, this is a great way to use up your leftover whey)
1.5 cups of spelt flour
2 cup of white or whole wheat flour
1 tbsp of brown sugar
1.5 tsp of real salt (I use salt from Utah that is full of trace minerals)
2.5 tsp of bread machine yeast
1 tbsp of butter (I like to add a little bit of butter or oil to my breads, as it adds to a lovely crust)

Assemble ingredients in the order listed in your bread machine. Choose grain setting if you have it. If the dough is not pulling cleanly from the sides during the kneading cycle, add a little more flour. Flour quantities vary depending on its moisture level.

Enjoy, warm, with butter and honey, or homemade apple butter. Yumm!

It's in the machine now, and will be ready this afternoon, just in time for a late lunch. I will post a picture later.

What a cozy way to start the weekend!

In the Left Coast

The great thing about Vancouver -- Cafe Artigiano. I'm in town to give a workshop on a super geeky topic...but off hours I hope to geek out on food.

I still remember the coffee from my last business trip over two years ago. I wish I could find coffee this good back in Ottawa!

Maybe on Friday night I'll be able to get to the Granville Market. Tonight, dinner was from the grocery store. Hippy food - balkan yogurt, bananas, blueberries and meusli...and Mighty Leaf tea to top it off. Heaven. And now, I'm off to bed. It may only be 8 pm in Vancouver, but it is past my bedtime back home.

It's Friday! Veggie box time...

I love Fridays. On Friday, I get a few days of family time. I also receive my organic veggie box and that makes me happy! Having a box of healthy fruits and veg delivered to my door every week means that as long as  I have staples on hand (cooked beans or meat in the freezer, tofu in the fridge, rice, noodles or bread), I can always whip up a healthy meal.

That my box costs me less than a meal out doesn't hurt, either. This week: bok choy, carrots, cauliflower, sweet potatoes (or yams?), tomatoes (two ways!), celery, parsnips, sugar snap peas, bean sprouts, oranges, apples, a lemon, blueberries, apples. I get my box from Ottawa Organics, and have for almost two years now. I've become really adept at not letting food go to waste, which takes some time to get used to, but is better on the budget and the environment and your health in the long run.
I've begun to realize that when I let food go to waste, I'm also tossing a long chain of effort and resources into the compost heap. There's nothing like a little reflection to figure out what is really important.