Eating Out for 400 Calories or Less: Tim Hortons

If you can manage to stay away from the treats, Tim Hortons actually has a number of pretty reasonable meals. I’ve had the chilli quite a few times, but I have to admit I’ve pretty much always eaten the whole bun. And sometimes now that I know the calorie count, I still might if it was my big meal of the day. Spending some extra calories on some whole wheat bread is not the worst choice I could be making. In this instance though, I ripped the bun in half, putting me right on my 400 calorie target.

Was it good? Was it satisfying? I love chili and Tim Hortons’ chili is actually pretty good. This definitely doesn’t feel like diet food.

Special Instructions:None
Substractions: I only ate half the bun to save 100 calories. The butter is pictured but I didn’t use any.
Additions: None

For a chilli and half a whole wheat bun: Calories – 400, Carbs – 39g (4g sugar), Fat – 19g, Protein 30, Fibre – 6.

Sometimes Food Tastes Like Love: Chocolate Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pitas

You may have noticed that I don’t make a lot of desserts. I actually didn’t make this one either. I was having a nap after putting Gordie to bed and when I woke up my husband had made this for us and even took pictures so I could blog about it. And if that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pita Recipe

• 2 whole wheat pitas
• 1 handful of mini marshmellows
• 1 small handful of chocolate chips
• 2 (ish) tbsp of peanut butter
  

Directions

1. Spread peanut butter down the centre of the pitas. Top with marshmallows and chocolate chips.
2. Fold the pitas over and grill for about 5 minutes in your indoor grill. Alternatively you could bake them in the oven or cook them in a non-stick frying pan. The insides should be melty and squishy when ready.

 

 

These were really sweet and really messy. A nice quick treat that would be great to make with the kids too.

Chocolate Hazelnut Hummus

Hazelnut butter is the only nut butter that I’ve tried that might give peanut butter a run for it’s money. It’s just so good. So it was almost inevitable that my hummus experimentation would end with Nutella inspired hazelnut hummus. It was way better than the peanut butter hummus. I ended up leaving it a little chunkier than I usually do with hummus which gave it a really nutty feel. I ate the whole batch with apples for dipping (over a few days of course!) And I didn’t even share. Yes, it is that good.

Hazelnut butter is not as easy to find as peanut butter or even almond butter. In the superstore by my house you can find it in the aisle with the organic food, soy, and gluten free products. Not in the peanut butter and jam aisle.

Chocolate Hazelnut Hummus Recipe
1 can (16 oz) Chickpeas ; rinsed and drained
4 Tbsp Hazelnut butter or 2 TBSP hazelnut butter and 2 Tbsp peanut butter (I just used a big spoon – more if desired)
1/2 teaspoon Sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa powder
4 Tbsp maple syrup (you can adjust this to taste (2-8 Tbsp)
1/2- 3/4 cup Water (depending on the texture desired)

Cooking with the Kids
The kids can:

• Measure and pour the ingredients
• Rinse the chickpeas and put them in the food processor
• Run the food processor (with supervision)

Directions 1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. 2. Add all the ingredients to the food processor (you can use a blender, but it’s not really  not as effective. I have tried and don’t recommend it. I ended up buying a food processor so I could make hummus). 3. Run the food processor until the hummus starts to appear to bounce up and down (this won’t take a really long time) . Alternatively just check it every 10 seconds or so. You’ll want to scrape off the sides of the food processor because I find some chickpeas tend to stick to the sides and then give it another quick blend. If you are finding it’s not as well mixed or creamy as you would like just add another 1/4 cup of water.

Serving Ideas With apple slices, as a sandwich spread, sauce on a dessert pizza, on crackers, with pita

Wordless Wednesday–Who Needs Presents?

 

 

 

 

 

Guilt and Parenting

One of the things that has surprised me the most since becoming a parent, is how much I would be plagued with guilt and doubt. For me this was especially true when Gordie was a small baby. Everything was so new and it seemed I was constantly having to make decisions that had no real right answer.

But the guilt and doubt I felt over these day to day decisions was nothing compared to how I felt when Gordie turned 1. That was when we found out that he wasn’t growing as expected. His weight was at the 3rd percentile. Now I realize that sometimes this is nothing. Some kids are just small. But the reason that they take weight and height measurements is because sometimes something is wrong.

When Gordie was born he was 9 lbs. That put him at the 85 percentile for weight. So being at the 3rd percentile after 12 months was definitely concerning.

It turned out that he was having a problem digesting dairy. He seems to react negatively to the protein in milk products resulting in a host of problems some of which I recognized as a problem and others that I didn’t until they went away.

It has now been a year and I still struggle with the guilt that I feel over this.

• Why didn’t I realize what was happening sooner?
• How could I have been feeding my baby what basically amounted to poison (for him)?
• How could I not have noticed how small he was, how little he was eating, how cranky he was, how little he was doing?

It really shook my confidence as a mother. I was second guessing all the choices that I had made with regards to how I chose to feed him, sleep choices – everything.

Now I know this is not particularly rationale. I know I’m a good mom. I do. And I know that Gordie’s problems with milk were not my fault. In fact when I look back, I had realized that something was the matter and I was doing everything I could to figure out. I can’t even think of anything that I really should have done differently. And I know that it was in large part because of me that we figured it out as soon as we did.

Gordie is currently thriving and as of his 2 year check up is now back up to the 25th percentile.

And yet. The guilt is still there.

I do my best to forgive myself and to have realistic expectations for myself as a mother. Most of the time I think I succeed. But I still can’t quite shake the guilt I feel over this.

The Infectious Enthusiasm of a Toddler–Snow in April Sucks

Last night it started to snow. In April. Not even early April, but April 13th. I was not impressed. I’m quite done with winter and snow in particular.

Gordie on the other hand looked out the window and said “It’s snowing!” with the enthusiasm of a child who had been hoping all Winter for just one day of snow.

This morning when I looked outside there was over a foot of wet, heavy snow. Seriously? I am almost desperate for Spring. I need sunlight again. And grass. Remember grass? I don’t ever want to leave the house again.

But Gordie takes one look and demands to “Go play in the snow!” He couldn’t have been more excited.

So I grabbed some things for a snowman and spent 20 minutes getting us both into our snow gear. Gordie had the best time and honestly, it was the best part of my day too. Usually the snow in Calgary is too dry to stick together, so it’s nearly impossible to make snowmen and it’s usually unpleasantly cold at well. Today the snow was perfect and it was right around freezing.

It’s hard to stay in a bad mood when someone around you is having so much fun. That being said – snow in April still sucks.

Cinnamon Raisin No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread

Ever since I  first posted about No-Knead Bread I’ve been thinking about what kinds of variations I could try. Cinnamon raisin was first on my list. I love raisin bread, but I hate that you can just about never get it on whole wheat bread. So I gave it a go and it is awesome. Seriously I just want to eat this all day. Gordie loves all the bread I’ve made so more. He asks for Mommy’s bread all the time.

This recipe and directions are almost identical to my Whole Wheat No-Knead Bread Recipe. There is the obvious additions of raisins and cinnamon, a slight increase in the amount of yeast because cinnamon inhibits yeast production and a little extra water.

Note: you will need an oven proof dish with a heavy lid to make this -  Dutch ovens are perfect for this but other oven proof dishes like casserole dishes can work too.

Cinnamon Raisin Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
(Adapted from Calgarian Julie Van Rosendaal’s take on Jim Lahey’s no knead bread method on babble.com)

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup raisins

1/2 tsp yeast

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups water (this is more than the standard recipe because whole wheat flour is thirstier than refined flour and it’s even more than my regular whole wheat flour recipe because the raisins soak up some of the water)

wheat bran, cornmeal or additional flour for dusting (wheat bran worked really well)

(I use Robin Hood – Best for Bread Flour which works well as it is high in protein as most Canadian flours are which is necessary for making good bread)

Directions

This looks like a lot of steps but is really very little work and not very hard. Check out this youtube video where Jim Lahey demonstrates the process.

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl stir the flour, yeast, salt and cinnamon together with your hands. Then add the raisins.
2. Add 2 cups of the water. Mix the dough and water together with your hands until you can no longer see dry flour. You can run your hands under the tap to wet them if you are worried about the dough sticking to them, but it’s not really necessary.
3. Check your dough, it should look wet but the flour should absorb all the water. You couldn’t knead this dough if you wanted too. If your dough still looks dry add a little at a time and mix until it looks wet. I found 2 1/2 cups of water to be perfect.  Don’t stress out too much about it though, I’ve made it both too dry and too wet and the bread still turned out fine. It was just a little dense when it was too dry and it was harder to move when it was too wet.
4. Cover the bowl with saran wrap and leave it on the counter for 12-24 hours. Whenever it is convenient for you. The dough should have risen noticeably and you’ll probably see some little bubbles at the top.
5. When you are ready sprinkle wheat bran, flour or corn meal on the top of the dough as well as on a large tea towel.
6. Use a spatula to loosen the dough from the bowl and drop it onto one side of the tea towel. Fold the dough over on itself a few times and then sprinkle the flour (or whatever) on the top.
7. Roll the dough onto the other side of the tea towel and coat the other side with flour (or whatever) again. Fold the tea towel over the top of the dough ball and leave it out for 1-2 hours. (Don’t leave it on the stove it will get all sticky and attach itself to the tea towel when you are preheating the stove – trust me).
8. In the last half hour preheat the stove to 450F with your oven safe heavy lidded pot inside to make sure it’s nice and hot.
9. Take the pot out of the oven and dust the inside with flour, this will help keep the raisins from sticking and burning to the bottom (or whatever). Roll the dough into the hot pot, place the lid on and stick it in the oven for 30 minutes. Then, take the lid off and bake for 15 more minutes.
10. For best results, let the loaf cool before eating, but if you really want warm bread, you can cut it right away and it’s still really good.

I’m sure this would be lovely with some butter or cinnamon cream cheese,  but I eat it straight up.