Christmas Eve Day

If only I lived there!! In an idealistic painting with faulty electricity! Instead we're dealing with rain and mud, maybe even a thunderstorm! And it's +9c!! I just checked the forecast for the next few days and not once does the temp dip below 0c. Unbelievable!

Therefore, there's only one thing I can do!

DANCE in the kitchen with hot chocolate and Bailey's!

HAH! You thought I was going to say "sit outside on the patio and drink a cold beer" didn't you?? And I would have, just for the sake of this blog, if everything wasn't stinking wet and covered in mouldy old leaves!! So...the kitchen it is! (I'll have a beer later when we're watching National Lampoon's "Christmas Vacation!" Chevy Chase and beer just go together don't you think?

Thanks for the hot chocolate Michelle!! Kazi added a spoonful to her coffee and Baileys this morning and thought it was delicious!!

Oh, and snacks!! Dancing, hot chocolate, Baileys and snacks!! Pumpkin tarts, peanut butter balls and lemon cheesecake squares...well, the squares were there a minute ago, I swear!!

Don't worry, I already ate my vegetables...

...a whole bowl full! Homemade ratatouille is a Christmas Eve tradition - trying to balance out all the sugar, fat and carbs! Hah - in my dreams!!

Finally....Christmas Eve wouldn't be complete without.....Santa?.....hanging stockings with care?.....last minute shopping?  

No.....KITTENS!!

Keeping their eye on my case of beer outside on the patio! Good girls!

Somebody needs to lose weight!

Peace on Earth

Merry Christmas everyone! See y'all soon!

No/low Spend

I had a nice day today, I am happy to report. I got up a little earlier and went to have coffee with my brother Gord and sister-in-law Pat. We chatted for almost 3 hours! Then I went to my Asian grocery store as I needed more cucumbers for juicing and some zucchini for making Ratatouille.

While I made soup I listened to the World Junior Hockey Game (Canada vs Finland) on my laptop. I don't have cable TV anymore, just Netflix, so I listened to a live audiocast of the game. Unfortunately my team took a lot of really stupid penalties - like a 10 minute misconduct for a stick to the head of a Finnish player. We deserved to lose that game. Tomorrow Canada will play for bronze at 9am and guess who will be listening while she does her school prep?

Tonight I am going to see The Life of Walter Mitty with a girlfriend. I watched the trailer and it looks pretty inspirational - just the kind of kick in the pants I need.

So while I didn't have a NO Spend day I consider it all money well spent. I made a huge pot of soup that I'll take to school for lunch saving me mega lunch money. And I'll make coffee or tea at school instead of spending $2.00 daily at Timmy's.

For the price of a coffee I got to see family members and listen to my brother ramble on about birdhouses and motorcycle trips. And for the price of a movie I get to spend time with a girlfriend who understands my life right now.

So all in all I spent ($2.00/coffee + $12.00/vegetables + $9.00/movie) for a total of $23.00. No, I won't be having popcorn. This is Day 4 of my Juice Fast and I'm doing great! I've had two mostly green juices today (kale, chinese broccoli, celery, cucumber, carrots and a fruit thrown in to sweeten it up - blueberries in one and an apple in the other. Delicious. Really. I mean it.

I'm beginning to notice more energy and more clarity in thinking. And my immune system really needs the boost. One more day and then I move on to Ratatouille and a root vegetable stir-fry. Can't wait! I use potato, sweet potatoes, turnips and onions and believe me when I say it is sooooooo tasty!!

No time for biking today but that's OK. I was really feeling it in my knees today so I'll postpone til tomorrow. And I did do 16km last night. So, I'm on track for spending, on track for biking, on track for juicing and on track for getting out there and socializing.

Yup, a good day. Hope yours was just as good...or better!!!

PS - I never thought I'd say this but I just told Kazi to have fun at Bingo!! Now who's the old lady?!

RERUN! Ratatouille Part Two!!

Today was pretty cold and rainy, only 7c when I took Michael to work at 8:30am. It was a really really good day anyways though because the cold reminded me of all the things I enjoy about winter! I bought BOTH the Globe and Mail and the National Post newspapers early this morning and enjoyed a nice cozy read INSIDE in my lazyboy!  Lest you think that's all I did today I also did the laundry and made my first pot of Ratatouille of the cold season. Nothing better than reading the paper with a great cup of joe, the smell of soup cooking wafting through the air and the rattling of the dryer in the background. The only way the day could have been ANY better was if Michael was home with me too! He's one hurting unit today let me tell you but that's a story all it's own for another day:)


In honour of "soup season" I am rerunning a post I wrote 2 1/2 years ago in March of 2009:) Yup, I've been blogging for quite a while, since 2007 I think. Tell me what you think - is my writing style the same? or different?



OK, the miracle is that we still cook (some of us anyways) even though we're surrounded by the convenience of pre-packaged, processed, partially & fully cooked, vacuum-sealed, individual serving sized "food". For those folk who care about what they put into their bodies and care about what all that packaging is doing to the environment this post is for you. This soup is also meatless and therefore kinder to our land and our water. And a lot CHEAPER!


Shown above are the ingredients for a mouth-watering ratatouille, a recipe given to me by another homemade meal maker, my sister-in-law Pat, but with a few variations of my own.


You will need: a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, a 19 oz can of red kidney beans (or any legume of your choice - I've used chickpeas too), a couple of onions, fresh or minced garlic, a handful of carrots, 2-3 medium sized zucchini, and a nice plump green pepper. You'll also need a few spices: salt and pepper to your taste, oregano, Mrs. Dash and a couple of All Vegetable Bouillon cubes, either beef or chicken for body and flavour. Plus any other spices that you like in soup.

Throw a dollop of olive oil in a soup pot, let heat on medium-low for a few minutes and start tossing things in: diced onion (this recipe is great for getting rid of wilted veggies in that bottom drawer you dread looking in - today I used up some old green onions, previously I've used up mushrooms, broccoli and cauliflower).

Toss in chopped up green pepper once the onion is looking brown and yummy.

This recipe doesn't call for carrots but I threw in some old ones once and now always include them as they taste so good. Cut up the zucchini (wash but don't peel). Add in oregano, salt and pepper, minced garlic giving it all a good stir.

Dump in the cans of tomatoes and kidney beans, don't drain the beans or you'll lose good flavour. Fill the tomato can about 2/3's full of hot water and dump that in too. Add bouillon cubes. Stir, stir, stir. Your veggies should be just slightly submerged in liquid so add more water if needed.

Give it a taste test and adjust spices accordingly. I also add in half a package of onion soup mix too if I have it on hand, adds flavour and body.

Cover and bring to a boil, then lower heat, uncover and let simmer about 20-30 minutes depending on how soft you want your veggies. 20 minutes if you still have all your own teeth!

Add an ancient grains bun (from the Real Canadian superstore of course!) and a piece of fruit and you have about a 300 calorie meal that will keep you satisfied at a cost of less than $1.00 a bowl. Put the $30+ you would have spent on buying your lunch into your RRSP. Or, if already retired you will need cheap, nutritious eats! (You want to stay alive as long as possible to get the most out of that pension!) You will have satisfied your needed servings of vegetables in one meal, you'll have lots of protein without resorting to a bloody piece of meat, and you'll have great fibre from the soup and the bun. And God knows you need fibre!

I make this soup about once a week and take it for lunch at school everyday. I swear that it keeps me from succumbing to all those germs my runny-nosed kids bring with them as I haven't had a cold for 2 years or more.

You're welcome!


(*I'm blaming my current cold on the fact that I wasn't eating my soup!!!)