In love with DAVIDsTEA

My coffee loving heart was stolen yesterday by DAVIDsTEA !!!

I haven't jumped from the Coffee Lover's ship just yet but if I was going to, it would be to hitch a ride with DAVIDsTEA ;)

The staff at the Kingston location were so cheery and helpful.  After smelling and swooning over the delicious scents of the various teas I settled on three to take home to sample and one for the road!

Alpine Punch is a rooibos tea (which I don't normally like) with a smooth blend of almond, apple and cinnamon flavours that are reminiscent of marzipan.  It was the perfect introduction to DAVIDsTEA and paired well with my lunch hour Christmas shopping!

Last night when I was headed to the rink I brewed up a cup of Ceylon Star which is December's Tea of The Month.  This black tea was full of chocolaty flavour and warm spices.  This was a much deeper flavour sensation and soothed the senses.

Today I am in full on Vanilla Orchid mode and onto my second cup!  The beauty of Oolong tea is that it can be resteeped so you can continue to enjoy blissfullness again and again!  This tea is soft and subtle, I could see it being an easy crowd pleaser.

I have yet to try the Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait herbal tea but let me tell you it smells amazing!!!!  I can't wait to try it out but have decided to save it for today's afternoon treat!

Tea has many amazing health benefits and can treat a long list of ailments in a natural, soothing manner.  While I will never leave my first love of coffee, I can see myself having a love affair with tea!

Cheers,
K.

Curious about KALE

Curiosity has gotten the better of me and I decided to jump on the Kale band wagon to see what all the fuss was about and you know what??? ....  I love it!!!  I have always been a a fan of cabbage and frequently munch on it instead of crackers or chips when I crave a crunch so when I read that Kale was from the Brassica oleracea family and was a cousin of cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower I knew I would likely become a follower.

I have heard a lot about Kale Chips and have even purchased some super yummy versions at our local Farm Boy store, they come in various flavours but my first try was with Rythm Superfoods Zesty Nacho rendition and they were fabulous.  I shared them with a coworker but he wasn't nearly as excited as I was but then I guess if you are expecting nachos you might be a little disappointed!  They had lots of flavour, some crunch and you can't beat the health benefits associated to Kale.  That was a few weeks ago, this past weekend I picked up a bunch of Kale and decided to experiment on my own!

Start off by tearing up Kale into large pieces (they shrink as they bake so don't make them too small) and toss them in a bowl of water to thoroughly clean them.  Be sure to dry the pieces off well to reduce the amount of moisture that needs to bake away.  In a large bowl toss the Kale pieces and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and dig in with your hands!  Really massage the Kale ensuring that easy piece has some EVOO on it.  Fight the urge to add more oil, just more to cook off and potentially burn, remember .... less is more!  On a parchment lined baking sheet place the Kale in a single layer .... if you double up the process will just take longer or not work at all.   I sprinkled my Kale with some Garlic Powder (not garlic salt! Salt of any kind will draw the moisture and leave your chips chewy ... not good!) and Paprika that I had mixed up in a shaker.  This was straight flavour without the sodium content and really perked these babies up!  Experiment with different spices and if you feel you must use salt, save it for the end and sprinkle it on your chips once they have crisped up :)

Place your baking sheet in a pre-heated 275 degree oven for roughly 20 minutes.  I checked on them after 15 minutes and did some flipping and rearranging to ensure they were all getting equal baking time.  I also pulled a few out early, if you let them go too long they will brown up and get too bitter.

Remember how I said these little babies shrink up?  Hard to believe what a huge bunch of Kale can be reduced to in less then an hour eh?
I left them on the baking sheet for quite a while to be sure they were "dry", store them in a container and much away!!!


Because I couldn't stand to part with the tasty stalks and a few leaves that I had left over I decided to try "steaming" them .... I chopped up the stalks getting rid of the thicker, woodier ends and added a crushed clove of garlic and some water to a non-stick frying pan and sauteed them until the stalks were tender.  Texture wise they reminded me of asparagus, taste wise more like broccoli!  I'm glad I didn't throw them into the compost bin!!!

I'm not sure that the kids would go for Kale Chips or Kale on their dinner plate but I will definitely be having it much more frequently.  High in Calcium, Vitamin C, Potassium and a show stopper on the Vitamin K front (the cancer fighter) I feel foolish for not jumping on this band wagon sooner!

Soups On!

I just found out we are having another United Way fundraiser at work next week .... last week was Chilifest, next week is the Soup Kitchen!!!  Now the dilemma of which soup to make???  I have a tendency to always make recipes that include beer ... not healthy I know, but you can sell anything if you tell people there is beer in it, honestly!

One of my favs would have to be Great Canadian Chowder ... Beer, Bacon and Cheese.  A great trifecta when you are trying to appeal to the masses, not so great on the waistline but for these fundraisers I like to go for the wow factor.  I suppose I could make two soups, my other fav is my mother in law's recipe for Carrot Garlic Soup still has lots of flavour and certainly isn't your run of the mill chicken noodle soup.  Thank goodness the temperature has dropped in K-Town, should help with the soup sales!

Cheers!
K.

Seaweed say what???



Roasted Seaweed from Costco box of 24 for only $6.99!






So we have been slightly obsessed with seaweed recently.  After a trip to TO earlier in the month we tried the most light yet flavourful snack .... roasted seaweed!  After finding out you could stock up on these little wonders at Costco we figured that we wouldn't be able to find them at our local Costco in Kingston but guess what ... we are now officially stocked up!

Paper thin and light, they have just enough salt to make you feel like you are snacking but you get the benefits of iodine that is oh so good for you and only 30 calories for the entire package!  They almost melt in your mouth, most people have had a version in sushi but I find these ones much more delicate, in texture and taste. 

Are you a seaweed fan???

Walkin' the Walk

So I am not completely new to blogging, I have a foodie blog Spread The Recipe that shares my family's tried and tested favourite recipes but a health and fitness blog is absolutely foreign to me! 

You see I am the shy type, I never assume that anyone would want to hear my story so I usually keep things to myself.  Only trouble is keeping too much to myself and sticking to my comfort zone has left me out of shape and in need of a new approach ... which brings me to this new journey.

I need to be accountable and focus on #mycommitment.  I have been so inspired by the communities that I have found via Twitter through @FitFluential, @CommitmentDay, @FitApproach, @girlsgonesporty and @therunchat that I can't help but stick with this!  Everyone has been open, supportive and encouraging .... and they don't even know me! 

I compare blogging to my old approach of entering details into a food/fitness log where I counted every calorie and curl ... but this is way more intense!  I'm not certain to what extent I will post details of my journey, I suppose as I become more comfortable I will share more but making this lone statement of committing to change my health and current none existent fitness routine is a huge step to start with.  I know I won't have a problem sticking to the changes, my challenge is going to be sharing them with the world.  Crossing my fingers to progress and perseverance!!!