saturdays and watercress

saturdays are long and busy days. 3 kids and moi. 

all. day. long. 

our mornings start like this.

aidan then might have a drum lesson or we head over to the wychwood barns farmer's market

sometimes i get adventurous in the kitchen 

(other times we have mac and cheese and i take a nap)

  i'll show you the adventurous side. 

marinating organic tofu skewers

or

veggie sandwich on pita break's one bun with watercress, tomato, avocado and olives. 

it was divine. (obviously, the kids did not eat this....)

did you know that watercress tops the list of "powerhouse" fruits and vegetables?
take a look at this link to read more about it. who knew?

 

Popsicles

We went to the Evergreen Brickworks on Saturday for the market. We had a wonderful time. Surrounded by nature, great food, the kids were thrilled. We got these ice pops that were coconut pineapple flavoured and I decided to re-create something similar at home. A healthy and delicious popsicle treat.

1/2 pineapple, cut into chunks
1/4 cup unsweetened organic shredded coconut
2 scoops of GH proteins + (I use the whey, but they have a vegan protein as well). A simple way to get some extra protein into my kiddies.
I put all of the above in a blender and topped with a almost a whole can of coconut water.
Coconut water is rich in electrolytes (and a much better option than gatorade).

 drinking the leftovers. makes a great smoothie too!

 couple of pranksters making bunny ears over their little brother. it's only just begun.

Granola Bars

These are simple, super quick to make and delicious.

We also break them into small pieces and eat as granola.

Most store bought granola bars are filled with excess sugars, glucose-fructose (another word for high fructose corn syrup), perservatives (ie. BHT) and food coloring. Bleh.

an action shot of my helper mixing.
 

finished! so pretty.

4 cups of rolled oats

1/4 cup flour (your choice)

1/4 cup brown sugar

add in whatever ingredients you want (more likely have!) ie. cinnamon, unsweetened coconut, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, almond slivers, dried cranberries, chocolate chips.

in a separate bowl mix 1/2 cup of olive oil with 1/2 cup maple syrup.

mix the wet into the dry.

bake on parchment paper for 35 min. at 375F

cut into pieces once cooled. 

enjoy!

modified milk ingredients.

 

we had a big outdoor family dinner tonight at my parents, which of course included some ice cream for dessert. a well known brand, on sale, what can be better, right? 

so i read the ingredients for all. i stop at the first one. modified milk ingredients. it has the word milk in it, so it must be alright? wrong. i am always the (food) buzz kill. 

 by definition. 

“modified milk ingredients: any of the following in liquid, concentrated, dry, frozen or reconstituted form, namely; calcium-reduced skim milk, casein, caseinates, cultured milk products, milk serum proteins, ultrafiltered milk, whey, whey butter, whey cream and any other component of milk the chemical state of which has been altered from that in which it is found in milk.” Food and Drug Regulations.

huh?

Basically, they are chemically tampered components (hence modified) of milk that have been altered from their natural state and contain a blend of dairy by-products ie. whey mixed with skim milk powder. This allows the manufacturer to use a generic description for milk and change formulations at a later date, depending on the supply without re-doing the label.

you will find modified milk ingredients in dairy products such as ice cream, cheddar cheese, cream cheese etc. to maintain the texture of the dairy at a reduced price.
unless you only buy organic or higher end items, chances are pretty good you have this in your fridge right now.
go take a look....
what to do? consume real milk and cream. support local and organic. buy the higher end items that use real dairy and not the modified kind. it's simple to spot. read the label and make sure it does not say modified milk ingredients.