Queen of Food Prep

Happy Hump Day!

I've had a lot of requests through instagram, Facebook, and the blog, the past few days regarding food prep. Amanda and I are basically the Queens of Food Prep. I'm not trying to boost our egos, or sound like we're full of ourselves but food prep is something that we do really well. Every Sunday, we know that we need to go grocery shopping, in the morning and spend an hour or two: cutting, cooking, bbqing, baking, and prepping food.

I'm not going to lie, there are days where neither of us want to cook but we force each other to do it and crank it out as quickly as possible. We know our duties and we know what we each do well and we stick to it. We have a routine of sorts, and this helps us to move quickly and crank out meals for the entire week in the shortest amount of time as possible.


We are both firm believers that if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.

If I don't spend an hour of two getting everything ready on Sunday, I will eat like crap all week and my weight-loss and my bank account will suffer because of it. I know myself, and I know that if I don't have my lunches ready for the week, then I won't eat healthy. I'll buy lunch everyday and it won't be good.
Obviously everyone is different, and if you're able to make your lunch fresh every morning, I admire you. I simply cannot.

I never get sick of omelet's. They are hands-down my GO-TO meal.

We switch up our meals every week - but we have a few 'staple' items that we always have prepped and ready to go in the fridge:

• Lean ground turkey
This is a must have in our fridge. We go through about 2lbs of turkey per week in our house. Seriously. I can't get enough of this stuff.
Amanda and I use it for omelets, salads, stir-fry, or just eating it on it's own as delicious lean protein.
For prepping it, I keep it pretty basic. I cook it on the stove top, in a frying pan, with coconut oil. After the turkey is almost cooked all the way through - still a bit pink - I drain it in the sink (with a cullender), and get rid of any excess fat and liquid that's cooking with the turkey. I throw it back in the frying pan and finish cooking it. This is when I add all of my favorite spices. Add whatever you like and then store it in a sealed container. Should be good for up to 5 days - if it lasts that long in your house.


• Turkey Bacon
I think we buy Lilydale - I don't remember. It's low in sodium, and low in calories. Read the label before you buy turkey bacon - they're not all healthy. Always be aware of how many calories, grams of fat, and mg of sodium you're consuming in 1 or 2 pieces of turkey bacon.


• Sliced Bell Peppers
I could eat bell peppers everyday (literally) and never get sick of them. I always have a container or two of sliced bell peppers washed and ready to go at all times.

Apart from the 'regulars' listed above, we prep quite a bit of other foods. We wash, cut, and package fruits. Wash, cut, and prep any other raw veggies we're having that week. Amanda usually bakes squash, and we prepare salads for the first day or two of the week.

Most weeks we BBQ chicken breasts to have available in the fridge (for the same purpose as the ground turkey). We will use it in a stir-fry, eat it on it's own, put it in a salad, or eat it with veggies. This week I'm eating my chicken with spaghetti squash. Speaking of spaghetti squash, I'm pretty sure that deserves an entire post of it's own.. but I'll leave that for another day.

Here is a list of what we cooked/prepped this past Sunday and what is currently in our fridge for lunches and dinners this week:

Spaghetti Squash
Veggie Spaghetti Sauce
Lean Ground Beef Meatballs (baked with cilantro, green onion, and spices)
BBQ Chicken Breasts
Spicy Baked Cauliflower & Sweet Potato
Turkey Bacon
Sliced Peppers
Lean Ground Turkey
Kale, Broccoli, Walnut, and Apple Salad
Hard Boiled Eggs

As you can tell, we're big on protein...
Some other meat that we eat often: fish (tilapia, salmon), pork, and lamb.




Fish tacos from last week: tilapia, salsa, avocado, hummus, peppers, lettuce (instead of tortilla).

In addition to the food that requires food prep, here are the other foods in our fridge that don't require any prep work:

Eggs
Spinach
Goat Cheese
Almond Milk
Hummus
Salsa
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Watermelon
Avocados
Bananas

This is basically all that I can think of. I will try and do some recipe posts for some of our favorite Go-To healthy meals.

Top (Left - Right)
one. typical breakfast - Ryvita crackers with natural peanut butter and some kind of fruit - blueberries, bananas, raspberries, or strawberries.
two. a huge bowl of spaghetti squash, chicken, sauce, and avocado on top - with a ryvita cracker on the side to dip in the sauce.
three. a whole bell pepper, ryvita crackers with goat chesse, and BBQ'd tilapia on top.

Bottom (Left - Right)
four. whole bell pepper, grilled lean pork, hummus, and banana for dessert.
five. bell pepper, onion, zucchini, spinach, and green onion stir fry - topped with avocado and a piece of BBQ'd tilapia.
six. omelet (spinach, goat cheese, turkey, and turkey bacon), topped with avocado, bell peppers, hummus, cracked pepper, and sriracha.

FYI - Everything that we cook is completely made up by us. We do not follow recipes, and we are often creating new dishes. I will do my best to answer questions about cooking or food prep but I am not a chef. With that being said, please feel free to ask me anything that you want to know about the types of food I'm eating every week, what my lunches look like, what my dinners look like, etc.



Finally...
A HUUUUGE Happy Birthday to the Princess of Shenanigans.
Sami, I'm so happy to be able to call you a friend! If i wasn't on this whole 'clean eating' kick, I'd have a drink (or five) and a big piece of cake for you... but since I can't have it for you, I really really hope that you will allow yourself to indulge today. I hope you have the most amazing birthday, and I hope that 24 is amazing to you - you deserve every bit of it. Love you!

The Vulnerable Truth

Happy Thursday my loves.
Today I'm going to get real with y'all...
Last time I was this real was when I did The Ugly Truth post.

This post has been sitting on blogger as a 'draft' for quite some time because I didn't want to post it. Heck, a huge part of me still doesn't want to post it - but it's time to be honest with myself (and apparently the whole interwebz, no big deal). I'm going to warn you now, this is going to be long.
Okay, so here we go.

I'm fat.

Okay, so that wasn't as hard to say as I had expected - phew.

Here's the thing, I have been overweight my ENTIRE life. I was raised in a house where food was cooked with 'love' (butter, fatty oils, etc). Lots and lots of love. My parents changed the foods we ate when I was 16 and we started eating much healthier versions of the fatty foods we has previously consumed on a daily basis. Goodbye white bread, hello whole wheat bread. Goodbye ground beef, hello extra lean ground beef (or chicken, or turkey).

I had never really considered dieting until I was 19-20, which is when I told myself I'd 'start on Monday' every friggin' week. Seriously, I would tell myself every week that it would be my last week of eating fast food, or sitting on my ass butt at home, being lazy. 'Next week is the start of a whole new me' I'd tell myself, ALL of the time. I tried not to vocalize this to anyone because it made it easier when Monday rolled around and I decided I wanted to eat fast food for lunch. Now as much as I'd love to push the blame off on anyone else for why I became so fat, I really have NOBODY to blame but myself. I know this. Don't worry mom, I'm not blaming you!

I came from a family where everyone was big, so I felt okay with who I was. I was raised in a house with so much love. The amount of love, affection, and protection that my Mom & Dad have for my brother and I is like nothing I've ever seen. I was taught (from a young age) to love myself, so I did. So what if I was 25, 50, or even 100 lbs heavier than my classmates or my friends? If it didn't matter to my friends or family, it didn't matter to me - and that was that. Yes, I got bullied. I've been called every name that you can possibly imagine and I quickly adapted to the mentality of 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me'. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it didn't hurt, because it did. I'm also not going to sit here and tell you that I even attempted to do anything about it, because I didn't. By the time I realized that I really should lose weight, I had TWO DECADES of bad habits under my belt.


This was me, through and through. I wanted it... but not badly enough to DO anything about it.

Instead of taking care of myself and changing my lifestyle when I was 20 years old (like I obviously should have done), I started eating more. I guess you could say I was an emotional eater. I would typically eat when I was bored - not when I was sad, angry, etc. Boredom is what caused me to eat. How absolutely ridiculous is that? Who eats out of BOREDOM?! The worst part is that I didn't even care what I was consuming. I would eat anything and everything, it really didn't matter to me. Instead of my weight going down, it just kept going up, and up, and up until I officially hit my heaviest weight at the age of 21. I can't believe I'm about to post this publicly, but this was me on my 21st birthday. Woof.



When I think about where I was at this point in my life - I was just sad. On the outside I was happy, and I've always been the 'funny girl', but inside - a large part of me felt numb. So numb, and so bored... so I ate. I ate, and ate, and ate. I didn't even like food - I actually hated food, but that didn't stop me from eating it. I'm pretty sure it made me eat even more. When I think about it, it makes me sad that I couldn't see what I was doing to myself - but as they say:
Ignorance is BLISS.

Just after my 22nd birthday, my best friend (Amanda) and I decided that we wanted to flip our worlds upside down and move across the country. We literally changed EVERYTHING that we knew about our lives, packed up and moved 6,000km away to the other side of the world country. Everything that was familiar to me was gone in an instant. When I got to Vancouver I didn't have a car (or anyone to drive me anywhere), or a job. This meant I needed to walk or take the bus anywhere I wanted to go. This was new to me - when I lived at home I drove everywhere. I worked a 20 minute walk from my house for FIVE YEARS but drove to work every day. The comfort of a car (or having someone drive me anywhere) was gone.

I was no longer living with my parents, which meant that I was now cooking every meal for myself - every day. Instead of my mom doing the grocery shopping and constantly having a supply of my favorite foods on hand whenever I wanted, I actually needed to go shopping and buy this stuff for myself. The catch was that I had to go grocery shopping with Amanda, my best friend - the health nut. Obviously I couldn't exactly buy a bag of chips, frozen food, or cookies in front of her - so I bought healthy food. After a few months of buying healthy food to show her that I'm not always such a fat ass, these habits actually started to stick. I started loving a lot of these healthier foods, and found myself no longer drawn to the unhealthy crap that I had become so accustomed to eating. Also, since moving to Vancouver - I discovered that I'm lactose intolerant. There was a 3 month period of time where I was literally sick to my stomach every day and thought it was 'normal'. Nope, not normal. It just so 'happened' that I had lactose intolerance...

So, this new lifestyle (actually walking places and eating healthier food) helped me lose a good chunk of weight in the past two years, since moving here! I don't know what my weight was when I moved here, and I don't know what my weight is now, but I feel better and I look better. Here is a side by side comparison of where I was, and where I am now:



I'm happy to say that I've managed to drop between 3-4 pant sizes since moving to Vancouver, and that's only from changing my lifestyle. I can assure you that I definitely have not been 'trying' to lose weight. I was just a wisher, dreamer, and insanely hopeful that the weight would 'fall off'.
Don't worry guys - I'm no longer in denial.


This is where I am today, friends.
I'm not longer wishing or dreaming to be healthy. I'm doing it.

Obviously, I'm still a big girl. I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me, but that's what this post is all about.
I need to make this public. So here we go:

Dear friends, family, WORLD;
I promise that the girl on the left (comparison photo) will NEVER be back, and the girl on the right will soon be gone. I promise to work towards the goals that I'm setting for myself, and I'm prepared to work for every pound that I need to lose. I don't want to be 'skinny', I just want to be healthy. I will fall off the tracks sometimes and have 'cheat days', but I promise that 'cheat days' won't turn into 'cheat weeks' or 'cheat months'. I promise that the blood, sweat, and tears will be worth it, and I promise that I won't let any of you down.
All my love,
Faith

why I don't eat mushrooms

Why did the Mushroom get invited to all of the parties?
'Cause he's a fungi!


But seriously guys, I'm funny. Come on... that was good...

For as long as I can remember, I have really disliked mushrooms. I've tried to like them - honestly, I have - but I just can't bring myself to enjoy them. The texture (especially when cooked) is just disgusting. Why are they slippery? It's confusing and gross at the same time.

I'm no mushroom-expert, but I'm pretty sure there are a lot of different kinds of mushrooms, and really... why? Isn't one kind enough? No? Well to me - they're all the same. Disgusting.
I don't like mushroom flavored things, raw mushrooms, cooked mushrooms, heck - I probably wouldn't even like the 'fun' kind of mushrooms that get you high (don't worry mom, I've never tried them!).

Like I said, I have tried to 'like' them numerous times since everyone in my life seems to be obsessed with them and I'm always the annoying kid who picks them out of my food. Basically every time I try and eat them, my face looks a little something like this:


Fun fact: I made this EXACT same face when I tried a Caesar for the first time (and only time). That drink seriously should not exist, I'm pretty sure I hated it 100x more than any mushroom I've ever had. Legit.

The good thing about having people in my life who LOVE mushrooms: they eat them for me.
My cousin, Jennifer, and roommate, Amanda, are my go-to mushroom eaters. I don't have to worry about mushrooms being in any of my meals anymore because if I have one of them with me, they'll eat the mushrooms for me.
Note to self, requirement for future husband: must be willing to eat my mushrooms, but must not force me to cook them for him.



Obviously mushrooms don't grow at such a rapid pace - but this GIF seriously creeps me out. Eww.

Somebody please tell me that they don't like mushrooms either. I feel like I'm the only person on this planet who doesn't like mushrooms. Anyone? Anyone at all? Bueller?

I feel like this post wouldn't be complete without a list of why mushrooms suck:

• They're slimy - that's just not okay.
• They taste mushroom-y. 'nough said.
• They're fungi (yes, this fact makes for an oddly funny joke), I'm pretty sure that fungus is NOT meant to be consumed.
• If we were supposed to eat mushrooms, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't grow in creepy dark places, under logs, buried in the dark depths of spooky forests...
Which is a perfect segue for my next reason.

• Some of them are POISONOUS. Come on guys, lets be realistic. You could probably die get an upset tummy if you eat the wrong kind. Don't pick shrooms in the woods. Just say no.
• The worst hairstyle known to mankind: the 'mushroom' cut.
• Toadstool = fun way of saying "frog shit" Yes, I know that toads aren't frogs.
• They look disgusting. I don't enjoy their phallic shape:

I'll end on that slightly inappropriate hilarious note. Friends, this is why I don't eat mushrooms.

Happy Friday - I hope it's mushroom free (it's the way to be)!

tasty treats

Hi friends

I've had a few people ask for the recipe for this delicious snack/meal. This is one of my favorite inventions so far. Keep in mind that this is completely made up, and I did not follow any recipes.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Pork Balls

*Sorry for the iPhone pictures, but you get the idea*

These bad boys are TO DIE FOR. Seriously. I'm lactose intolerant and giving up cheese last year was one of the hardest things. I was so excited when I found out that I could have goat cheese, and I honestly use it so much. Most things that I cook have goat cheese in it because it's just heavenly.

Here are some of the ingredients that I used:







Ingredients

• 1 lb Lean ground pork
• 1 small yellow onion
• Goat cheese (any flavor)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tbsp italian spice
• 1/2 tbsp montreal chicken spice
• 1 tsp seasoning salt
• 1/2 tsp greek spice

As you can see, I use a lot of spice. I like a lot of different flavors, but I recommend using whatever type of spice are your favorite. I do not ever measure my ingredients, but I took a guesstimate at how much I pour into the bowl.

• Preheat the oven to 400F.
• Put pan in oven for 1 minute so it gets warm-ish. Put coconut oil on pan and it will instantly melt. Spread oil around to coat entire pan (you can use olive oil, cooking spray, whatever you prefer).
• Cut off a large chunk of goat cheese. Roll it in your hands like Play-Doh, forming a large ball (this should only take about 5 seconds). Pull off a small piece and roll it into a ball and set aside. Do this until you've rolled as many small balls as you can. I like to make smaller pork balls, so I usually get 16-18 balls out of this recipe.
• Chop onion - I dice mine as small as I can. I love onion, but I don't like the onions to be too chunky
• In a large mixing bowl - mix pork, onion, spices, egg.
• Now the fun part - mix everything in the bowl with your hands. Mix everything thoroughly so the spices/egg are evenly coating the pork.
• Once everything is coated: pull off a piece of mixture, form it into a patty, put one of the pre-made goat cheese balls in the the center, pull meat up around the ball, and roll mixture in hands. I usually squish the ball down into a little patty (it'll plump up in the oven) - or you can leave it as a ball.
• Do this with all balls/patties and line cookie sheet (I recently tried using a muffin tin and keeping each ball/patty separate and it worked great).
• Put cookie sheet in oven and set timer for 25 minutes.

I flip the pork balls around the 12 minute mark so that they can be cooked evenly and all the way through.

Wait until the balls cool down and enjoy.
I promise your friends and family will love these delicious treats.