Pumpkin Butter

It's been oh... 2 years since my last post! But I have been eating so many wonderful things lately that I wanted to try doing the whole blog thing again. 

I've joined Tone It Up and if you haven't heard of it, look into this amazing system here. It's basically super clean eating (which I've been doing for quite some time) but it's portioned, timed and spaced perfectly throughout my day. I think last time I blogged I was excited to be at 149lbs and I can't believe that my weight goal THIS WEEK is 124lbs (and Monday is only 2 days away!) Wow. I have come a long ways! 

The owners of the community Karena and Katrina are having a Fall Recipe swap so I decided to blog about my latest amazing Fall recipe! 

Pumpkin Butter

This stuff is delish! So far I have added it to chai tea (Pumpkin Chai!), plain Greeky yogurt and tomorrow I am planning a Pumpkin Butter Latte with some almond milk. A teaspoon of this stuff will make any dish scream Fall and cozy! 

First you'll need to make some Pumpkin Pie Spice, which pretty much deserves a blog post itself because of it's versatility. Mix it up and add it to anything. It's amazing in coffee with a little extra ginger for a Gingerbread Latte, smoothies, oatmeal, you name it. 

To make an addicting Pumpkin Butter you are going to need: 

14oz. can of pumpkin 

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil 

4 Tbsp maple syrup 

1 tsp maple extract

1 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice 

1 Tbsp Cinnamon

Mix all of your ingredients together in a pot. Heat over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Stir constantly because it can burn easily. Refrigerate for about 2 weeks. 

Indian Butter Chicken

Weight: 154 lbs. (steady as she goes...)

Okay, so I've been slacking in the blog world and perhaps slacking in the kitchen... you know when you have a week off and you have all these plans and then you just.... don't do any of it? Yeah.. that's me! But now that spring break is over and the days are getting longer. I feel ready to take on the world!

Things are pretty good in the body department. I am feeling great and looking pretty good too. I haven't noticed a whole lot going down on the scale but I definitely can see improvement! I had the most intense cardio boxing sesh yesterday and then hit up the Wii for some EA Active. I am one hurting unit today.

I realize I haven't done any chicken recipes and that is because... we don't really eat it! It's pretty hard to move over to white meat when you buy bison by the animal from your in-laws. It's also pretty expensive because it is one of the things that I cannot buy non-organic. 

The Perfect Loaf of Banana Bread

Weight: 153.6 (down .6 lbs or 6.4 lbs from the beginning!)


I don't know about you but I love banana bread, I mean I LOVE banana bread. For the last couple of years I have been desperately searching for a healthy recipe that does not sacrifice taste. Ladies and gentlemen, I think I have found the perfect loaf of banana bread!

This blueberry banana bread will blow you away. It is so moist, delicious, filling and get this... not one drop of butter or oil in it! It's whole wheat, it's flax-y, it's low-calorie, it's low-fat, it's high fiber, it's healthy, it's amazing!


Since I have discovered this recipe about a month ago, I have been poping 2 piece in the toaster every morning for breakfast and having it with 1/2 a cup of yogurt and I can honestly say it keeps me full until lunch... a good 4 hours!

Bust out those old, bruised bananas and eat your heart out people!

Perfect Lunch

I worked out at a gym yesterday (I haven't been to one in awhile, I love stay home in my humble abode to work on my fitness) but I enjoyed it! My girlfriend and I worked HARD and we are both happy to be feeling it today! I also went to a movie on the weekend and refrained from allowing anything harsh to enter my body! Yay for will power!

Today's recipe: Roasted Onion and Garlic Bisque with Whole Wheat Garlic Knots (can we all say 'yum' together?!)

Don't only enjoy this meal to ward off vampires - garlic is full of calcium, potassium and vitamin C. Parsley is an herb that is chalked full of vitamin A, C and K, as well as folic acid. Onions support cardiovascular health, especially because

Low-Fat Almond Biscotti

Weight: 156.2

No more falling off the bandwagon during the weekend (time to test the will power starting today... FRIDAY!) I was down to 155 and 1 weekend of not calorie counting ended up like this... it's now 1 week later and my weight hasn't gone back to pre-weekend blunder weight. Not going to lie, I am feeling pretty discouraged.

I was very active this week and watched my calories. I was busy with wii fit, boxing, swimming, water aerobics, chasing kids around the indoor playground and I even made and effort to walk instead of drive many times this week... what the heck?!

Anyways... I tried out a recipe for low-fat almond biscotti in my Clean Eating cookbook and it is heavenly! So I had to share. Biscotti goes wonderfully with

Another Day

Weight: 156.8 lbs (up 1.2 lbs!)

Huh... up in lbs eh? I know what the problem is at least! Does everyone have a problem behaving themselves on the weekend? I know that I do for sure! Calorie counting goes out the window, I guesstimate my caloric intake, working out doesn't happen... it's all together, not so good! Next weekend will be different now that I see what 2 little days can do.

I read somewhere that people who weigh themselves daily were more successful at losing weight than people who stepped on the scale less frequently and I have to say, I believe it. You think about your choice more because of the number you seen that morning and remember that you will be doing it again the next morning.

I am keeping up on my EA Active. That program really makes you work! I went downstairs to my heavy bag yesterday and had no ambition to work out so I went upstairs and tried EA Active. I ended up working out for a tough 30 minutes. I was really sweating by the end and burned 142 calories in the process!

Okay! Now for the good stuff....

Fresh and Simple Bread

If you haven't read or heard of Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food, I suggest you run to your local library or book store and grab a copy. It changed my life by completely re-vamping the way I eat. One of Pollan's eating suggestions that really changed me was:

Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. Imagine your great grandmother at your side as you shop. You are at the dairy case and she picks up Go-Gurt Yogurt tube - and has no idea what this could possibly be. Is it food or toothpaste? If she wouldn't think it was edible, don't put it in your cart! Let's consider bread now... your grandmother would tell you that bread is made using a remarkably small number of ingredients: flour, water, yeast, and a pinch of salt will do. But industrial breads have become much more complicated. Here's is a complete list of ingredients in Sara Lee's Soft & Smooth Whole Grain White Bread.

Here we go...

As I was driving to work today, listening to CBC radio (I know... I'm old...) I heard a couple U of A student talking about blogging while losing weight. What better way to make you more accountable then telling the whole interweb about every victorious pound gone (or every annoying pound up...)

If you think you can only eat chicken breast and broccoli while losing weight... THINK AGAIN! I love, LOVE to cook (and eat...) I strive to make clean (meaning not from a box) & healthy meals daily. Why not tell you all about the yummy things I cook up while loosing the pounds that I gained over Christmas.

Oh, that part I said about gaining weight over Christmas... not entirely true. I did gain weight over Christmas but I kinda stopped working out and generally caring about my weight in August. You see, when you train for the Death Race (24km mountain run!) harder than you have trained for anything and some bitch from Edmonton was placed on your team and took pictures of the race instead of RUNNING the race and you don't make the time cut off so you do not even get to run the flipping race... in your defeated stupor you might be inclined to quit working out completely... yea, that was in August.