This Life is Not a Rehearsal

I am about to embark on the biggest adventure of my life.  Not like those times I went to Europe... Or traveled around the states... Or that road trip I took with my family when I was 12.  This adventure sees me changing the fabric of my life.  As I leave my friends, my community, my lifestyle behind... I wonder what's really next for me.  Every time I tell somebody what I'm about to do, I inevitably get the question "why?".  Every time.  I guess the real reason is: why not?

There are a lot of good reasons: Time for change, itchy feet, because I can, to explore new opportunities, I love a new challenge and an adventure and I'm ready to up the bar on all of those things.  This change offers me all of these things.  The change?  I am taking a permanent vacation to beautiful British Columbia, 4000km from where I was born, in the shadow of the CN Tower.  I have no plans to come back, except for the occasional visit.

I always sort of knew I'd do it eventually.  Some of my very favourite growing up memories take me back to my many visits on Vancouver Island.  I love the fresh air, the mountains, the view, the ocean, the wild seals that do tricks for frozen fish heads and the ones that follow you as you kayak the Pacific.  I love the possibility of year long outdoor sports.  I'm in love with the possibility of creating the life I want for myself.  So, this month I start the road trip to my new life.  This summer, I begin my Pilates teacher training in Van City and in 2015 I return to school for Athletic Therapy.

Why?  Because this life is not a rehearsal.

But How Do You Have the Time!?

... BUT HOW DO YOU HAVE THE TIME!?

This is a question I get a LOT.  People generally assume I either live in the kitchen or have a house elf. I assure you, neither of those is accurate.  You don't have to spend all day every day slaving in the kitchen to get three, healthy, square meals a day... this I promise you.

You want to know my secret??

Cook in batches.

Yup.  That's it.

As I probably spend only a handful of waking hours a week at home, I devote one hour or so per week on the weekend preparing some stuff for the week.  This generally includes:

1.  Cooking one cup of black rice
2.  Cooking one cup of quinoa
3.  Cooking one cup of steel cut oats
4.  Making coconut milk

These are some staples for me.  Admittedly, the steel cut oats are new as a recent visit with my friend/nutritionist opened my eyes to the fact that I wasn't eating enough carbs to support my level of physical activity (total duh moment...)... but all three have similar cooking times and instructions.  I cook them plain and garnish them appropriately for each meal.  There are so very many things you can make out of those 4 main ingredients.  All three can be used in breakfast for porridge by mixing in a little honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup (...or whatever seasoning you like in your porridge) and heated in a bowl in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.  When it's heated you can add some fruit, nuts, seeds and enjoy!!  You can make salad with your quinoa.  You can make sushi, fried rice, etc out of your rice.  There are no shortage of options.

Quinoa Porridge

(coconut milk, maple syrup, cinnamon, pinch sea salt, hemp hearts, chia seeds, strawberries)

French Toast Casserole!

Not sure what to do with that leftover loaf of bread from Thanksgiving going stale in your pantry?!  Turn it into this delicious masterpiece!  It's so easy and tasty!  It's also free of white sugar and is vegan friendly!

What you need:

2 tsp chia seeds

1 1/2 cup milk of your choice (I used homemade coconut milk)

5 tsp Water

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 tbsp raw honey

2 drops vanilla extract

Pinch sea salt

Loaf of bread of choice

1/2 tsp baking powder

Soak chia seeds in water for 15 minutes, until gelled.  Add coconut milk, gelled chia seeds, 1 and 1/2 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, baking powder and vanilla to a blender and blend until thoroughly mixed.  Tear bread into chunks (I used half a loaf of leftover sourdough) and add to a casserole dish and pour batter over bread.  The batter should come almost to the top of where the bread sits.  Top with remaining cinnamon and bake in oven pre-heated to 375 degrees for 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the batter isn't soupy.  If your bread is really stale, you may want to let it soak for a couple of hours or overnight before baking.

Once ready, remove the casserole from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes.  Serve with real maple syrup or your favourite fruit syrup!

Bon appétit!

Talia

Crab Apple Cider!!

After a brief hiatus, not for me I've been plenty busy, but for my blog... We've returned with a classic, Canadian fall fan fav (say that 3x fast!).  Hot apple cider, with a little, very local twist!!  Crab apples!!!  Just wait, before you judge... I know crab apples in toronto were the height of annoying.  I remember plodding through tons of these as a kid on my way to elementary school... Feeling the squish under your new kicks and then walking around on the tile floors at school on sticky soles.  I blame this on that gross feeling I get in the pit of my very being when I step on anything that feels squishy.  Or maybe raising puppies. Either way, crab apples were a gross annoyance to a child.  You can't eat them, you can't play with them... What good are they to a kid?!

Maybe this apple cider will change your mind!  Crab apples not only give it a pleasant, almost citrusy note, but they give it an appealing pink colour!  It's super easy, super delicious and is the ultimate comfort on a rainy fall day!

What you need:

3:1 apples of your choice to crab apples

Water

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Raw honey

Cut apples into medium sized slices, put in a pot and add water, enough to cover the apples by an extra inch or so.  Bring to a boil.  Boil for 10 minutes and turn down to a simmer.  Add honey, cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.  Simmer for 1 hour covered.  You can even add your own favourite spices at this point!

After 1 hour, remove lid and mash apples.  Re-cover and simmer for another hour.  Strain out apple flesh and enjoy!!  You can even use the leftover apple for apple sauce or in your favourite recipes calling for puréed apple!!

Enjoy!

Like Mr. Noodles? Don't eat'em! Eat these instead!

If you're like me, several Mr. Noodles packs a week was not only acceptable but it was considered a delicacy in university: the early years.  With age (sometimes) comes wisdom and with wisdom (sometimes) comes the knowledge that MSG is disgusting... And the staple ingredient in our favourite freeze dried noodle-y treat!  What if you could make a tasty, savoury, delish noodle bowl that is chemical garbage free??  Here's how!

What you need:

500ml water

1 bundle wakame soba noodles

2 handfuls nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 pinch raw cane sugar

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp minced chives

Add all ingredients to boiling water and simmer for 5 minutes.  Enjoy!!

Bon appétit!

Talia

That time I had an MRI: part 2... The results!!

At a time when most of my friends are posting photos of the insides of their uterus to showcase their growing bundles of joy... I recently spent 1 hour waiting for photos of the insides of my mangled hip joint.  Why?  Because something life altering is happening to me too... Only it's less of a miracle and more of a blow.

I had been operating under the notion, for the past almost 2 years, that the pain, stiffness and other discomfort I was experiencing in my hips/back/groin were related to something, some injury, that I could recover from.  Now I am coming to terms with the fact that the only thing that will fix my problem and prevent further degeneration in my achy hips is surgery.  A surgery which is extremely invasive, not proven effective and has a year long recovery time.

So just what is FAI exactly?  FAI stands for Femoral Acetabular Impingement aka Femoroacetabular Impingement or more simply: hip impingement.  It's not well understood and until about 10 years ago, wasn't even a thing.  So in my case, cam deformity, I was born with the predisposition to develop an abnormally shaped femoral head as my hip joint formed.  What this means is that there is extra bony tissue on the ball part of what makes up the ball (femoral head) and socket (acetabulum) that makes up the hip joint.  Allow me to illustrate:  

What it is NOT: a wear and tear injury.  Running did not cause FAI, dancing did not cause FAI... However, using the joint causes complications, injuries and pain associated with it.  Every time I walk, run, squat, dance, sit, stand, shuffle, walk up stairs... That extra bony tissue is bumping (and potentially causing damage to) the cartilage in and around my hip joint which can cause tears and arthritis... Both of which I now also have.  So, my choices have now become: have a surgery that may not work and takes me out of everything I love doing for a whole year of my life or wait until the hip joint is so damaged that it needs to be replaced and spend 3 months recovering from that surgery.  In my mind, the answer is a no brainer.  I am being referred to an orthopaedic surgeon for a consultation and plan to go into it with open ears and an open mind... However, I am quite sure I have already made the decision to manage the pain until the time comes when, like my father before me, I need a new hip when I'm "way too young". 

Cashew cream

In my quest to find alternatives to everything... You know, just to mix it up... I discovered various recipes online for this bad boy.  Like every other recipe, I can't just do it the way it's written in other recipes, I came up with this based on what I learned, what I had in the kitchen and what I like.

Cashews are a great source of calcium and magnesium, which build and maintain healthy teeth and bones.  They're also a great source of omegas!  Cashew flesh is really soft making it a great nut to play with creating various textures of cashew milk and cream.  Unlike almonds, where if you didn't strain the meat out of your almond milk you'd end up with minuscule cashew pieces that land in the back of your throat and make you cough for several minutes... Cashew flesh blends up totally smooth.

Check out this recipe for vanilla cashew cream!  The texture ends up being similar to yogurt.

What you need:

1 cup raw, unsalted cashews (not roasted)

1/4 cup water

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 tbsp raw honey

Soak cashews in freshly boiled water for 30 minutes (cover cashews by about an extra inch of boiled water to account for absorption).  Strain out soaked cashews and add all ingredients to a blender.  Blend until smooth.

I would encourage you to play with this recipe!  You can add some orange juice and zest to the mix to create orange cashew cream, for example!

My favourite way to eat this is over fruit for dessert :-)

Bon appétit!

Talia