Ohh and breakfast the following morning!

Our special Eggs Benedict...( will be featured in my cookbook!)

use a splash of leftover champagne from last night to make a nice mimosa to start the day!

Family Dinner- All involved!

The prep work started in the morning...

Alyssa made cocktails: " pink drinks" from her American Girl magazine! ...basically, strawberry sorbert, yogurt, orange juice, apple juice and banana. She sprinkled red sugar sprinkles on top!

I made a black bread terrine with camembert, roquefort, filberts and raisins, served beside a green salad, and aged balsamic.

Alan made his Lemon Risotto. Always SO good!

Marshall made a hunter's style of mini braised short ribs (onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, garlic, thyme, paprika ,vermouth and mushrooms soaked in red wine) with a nice ragout served on creamy , parmesan mashed potatoes.

Dessert: Marshall made a Pavlova from his International Kids Cookbook. Turned out great! He even made the whip cream from scratch! very good!

of course the champagne, from Italy ( we brought home with us, from our last trip. Claudio's vineyard!) brought back memories.

Then a few more special wines Alan picked out to compliment the meal...kids had sparkling water!

Gourmet Family Night!

Alan and I use to always pull out the big old French Cookbooks and spend hours deciding on a meal and  making it together on the week-ends. You know those ones! The ones with odd ingredients that you have to search out...the ones with 25 different steps, the ones that are presented on a plate like a piece of art. Yes, we have all seen those in magazines and books, and normally we skip by them, as WHO has time for THAT!?

Well we use to enjoy doing that together. But once we had kids, things changed a bit.  We had to find something we could make under an hour or two!

But now our kids are older, and they really appreciate  food like us. I am quite happy we have always exposed them to different cultures of foods, and have always made them TRY a bite before they are allowed to say " I don't like that!". That never works in my house. One must ALWAYS try one bite. If you still don't like, it, fine. GO and make yourself something else to eat! HA!

So they are pretty good eaters now. Which is nice, as we can basically eat out anywhere. Plus I know my kids can eat at a friends house and I don't have to worry about them. I know they will eat just about anything! lol

Tonight we have decided to have a GOURMET family food night. Each person in this household is responsible for atleast one dish. We pulled out all of our dusty, fancy big elaborate cook books and we have all picked something to make.  Alan and Alyssa are off getting the groceries now. Stayed tuned for a wonderful meal!  From ALL over the world! We have quite a mix of food for tonight.

OH! and you KNOW I will be taking pictures like crazy! ;-)

What to order at Fast Food Places- you're starving!

Ok, as I have mentioned earlier...I always pack my little nifty lunch purse.  I even bought a new one. You like?

oh! but these are pretty cute too!

BUT, if you find yourself in a situation where you have to eat fast food. I have compiled  a list of the better options for you.  It is amazing how something that sounds HEALTHY can be equivelent to 3 big macs! no joke! all salads are not equal. Then there are a few soups or chili's and you think..oh gosh no! That can't be good, but they are. So here is what I have come up with so far.

the good news is, you can now go on-line and find the Nutrtional value to most fast food chains!  Which is nice, so we can make an educated healthy decision.

Swiss Chalet:
usually my first choice as I can get a baked potato, skinless chicken breast, and steamed veggies.

Harvey's:

Grilled chicken sandwich, or the veggie burger. Great choices. Load up your burger with all the healthy toppings.

Wendy's
Not alot of healthy options: did you know the mandarin salad is over 1100 calories?  yikes
Stick to the chili, and the grilled chicken sandwich. Even the baked potatoes are loaded with fatty toppings.

Tim Horton's
The soups are pretty good. Even the cream of mushroom!  not high in fat at all.  Just skip the donuts.  The wraps are all pretty healthy as well.

Taco Bell
They have a new healthy menu! YAY to Taco Bell!
Beef Fresco soft taco
Chicken Burrito Supreme Fresco
Steak Soft Taco Fesco...Fresco seems to be a theme here!?

Boston Pizza
Not too many options there. But I do like their salad with shrimp or chicken skewers. Problem is, I am starving again within the hour.

more to come! I am working on it!

Just some food pornography for ya!

That is what my husband calls me! I food Pornographist!  ( is that even a career or actual word!?) HA!

I just love taking pictures of food! 

Just a few for my cookbook!

Lean Indian Butter Chicken, Vegetable Curry, Salad and Naan

Pita Pizza for lunch

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia, Seasoned baked potato wedges and  garden salad

My new love! the STEAMER! 

meat, veggies, seafood, seasonings, and voila! healthy, moist food!

OH! and  I can't forget today's Breakfast!

 Spinach, Tomato, Mushroom  and Cheese Eggwhite Omelette

ps. This can be made in 2 minutes!

Stay Tuned!

I've been pretty busy lately!
But also quite excited, as I am in the process of making my very first cookbook!


From reading this blog you can see I love good food, good wine, entertaining, having fun, yet I want to keep my healthy BMI and cute jeans! What's a girl to do? BUY my book, ofcourse! :-)

So I am creating a book that focuses on healthy alternative recipes, splurges on the week-ends and special occasions...what to do when you only have 10 minutes to make a quick meal for your family? what to bring to the school bake sale, entertaining tips, table settings, casual and formal stuff! It will be the " FABULOUS woman's COOKBOOK!" for the woman that might not have the time to do it all ( do any of us?) yet, wants to throw fabulous dinner parties, stay healthy and fit, be a fun-loving mom, wife, everything! Without the extra work! FABULOUS! lol

It should be a fun and quirky book with a good sense of humour! I am pretty excited! can ya tell?

YAY! I lost my Holiday gain!

I weighed myself today and I am back to normal again! I lost my 5 pound holiday fun! --- It was completely worth it though! ;-)


SO happy to see those numbers come back down, but most importantly, I FEEL 110% better. My stomach feels " happy" and back to normal,  no bloat, I have energy again and just feel good.

The skiing and snow shoveling has helped alot. We had a wonderful big dump of fresh powder and the girls and I were on the slopes! I ski with a few girls that are pretty HIGH energy and very fit, so they keep me going all day long....my leg muscles are killing me, but I am off to ski again tomorrow and Sunday! Winter is fun. ( so far!)  

Tuna Melts

These simple ingredients made me a filling, healthy lunch today!

1-Presidents Choice Blue Menu Bunless Whole Wheat bun
1 can of tuna-reduced sodium packed in water
1 tbsp fat free mayo
1 tbsp fat free ranch dressing
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup diced red or green pepper
salt and pepper to season
2 slices of fat free cheese ( ok the real deal would have been better, but I am trying to keep the fat away right now!)


mix together and place on buns. Broil until crispy, and hot..then add the cheese until melted. I couldn't eat both of these...too filling!
So I say this makes 2 servings.

per serving: 1/2 bun
135 calories
1 gram of fat.

Can't beat that!

Embrace this glorious white stuff and winter!

For those that hate snow....ummm....either move or get over it!  Like it or not, it will be here every single year.

I use to hate it, but then I discovered skiing. Now we are huge fans of the white fluffy stuff! I am good with it until about April..then I want it gone-IMMEDIATELY!!  ( that doesn't quite happen, and we get the mucky, muddy, dirt and uglieness afterwards, until the sun greens things up again) but for the time being, I think the snow is quite pretty. My son will be out in it for hours each day and I have to drag him in. His favourite season is WINTER.

Shoveling snow: Someone my size can burn off 355 calories per hour doing that everyday northerner's chore? So get out there! 

Skating!? Get some skates and get out there..530/calories an hour!  Speed it up!

Tobaganning--the kids will LOVE you for it!  415/calories an hour, unless you are going down our CLIFF in our backyard...we call the hill "  the cardiac arrest!"

Down Hill Skiing? Who knew you actually  burned off 400 calories an hour doing that!? helps with the Apres Ski afterwards! :-)

Snow-shoeing: depends on what type of snow you are going through...I laugh at the people walking along the road...after the plow has gone by....if you are going to do it...GET out there and do it!  Go into a wooded area and enjoy nature around you. It is quite fun actually. Plus you will burn off over 500 calories per hour. Not bad at all!


Then there is Hockey: The #1 sport that gets me huffing and puffing!  I get so competitive out there and I suck at it, so I have to work so hard...500 calories per hour. And in my league we are always short players, so we don't get any resting time...and we play at such a late -god -awful hour, out in the middle of the boonies, that they let us have the ice as long as we want!  I am dead at 90 minutes though!

I have to say though...if you are going to get outside in the winter and you live in a Northern Climate..it is ESSENTIAL to have proper snow gear. I have to laugh at people that hate the cold and then I see what they are wearing!? umm....I can see WHY you hate it. Dress appropriately and you will learn to enjoy it a heck of alot more!

So we really do invest in good Ski Gear in this house...as like I said, we tend to LIVE outdoors all year round...so we have to be ready for all the elements.

January 1st- 2010

Well here we are....the holidays, parties, fattening food, cheese, wines, champagne, chocolates.....are very much enjoyed and now all sitting on our hips. Well perhaps YOU were good during the festivities, but I wasn't. I do this every year, and I will admit. I know I am going to gain a few extra pounds and feel like crap when the parties are over...so I do my best to get into the best shape I can prior.

Well I did a pretty good number on myself this year!

I tried to get into my skinny cute little Bebe jeans that I splurged on last year. LOVE those babies! I call these my WAKE UP CALL jeans. I can only fit into them when I am in good shape, and taking care of my body....well guess what?
I got a big slap on the face!, hips! They weren't just tight, I seriously could NOT get them over my thunder thighs! I couldn't even get them on.

blah!


I am NOT going to stand on the weigh scale right now, as I am not ready for that yet. Plus I tend to continue to gain a few days after my induldgence, so the number wouldn't be true. All I know is that I feel icky, bloated, and unhealthy right now. That is enough.

Time to face reality and what a perfect day to start. I am so happy that as of today --  (  oops! correction after breakfast- as I had company and I couldn't  possibly serve them egg whites and all-bran now could I?)  I am  back on TRACK! I am cleaning out my body...getting back into my healthy routine that fuels my body so I can feel good about myself, and have the energy to enjoy my day.

YAY! It feels great! HAPPY 2010!