winter wonderland december 2016

we don't normally see this much snow, this early, in december. but we got a bit over the past few days and it doesn't look like it is going anywhere....yet.

jambaloney shoveled off all of the roofs, decks and steps, plowed the driveway and did all the cat paths - all before noon! here are some cat paths he makes with the atv - the cats love the paths!

he shovels/atvs paths all around the house for the cats!

we have received questions about going dairy-free and gluten-free and how it impacts our diet. first off, we aren't completely "dairy-free" - just "casein-free" - we still eat eggs and butter and hard, aged cheese. secondly, we have found that for the most part in the case of gluten - it's a matter of portion control. after going completely gluten-free (no bread or other wheat products) for 2 weeks, we have slowly introduced a piece of toast here, a sandwich there...just not everyday. it works for us. and using those terms just helps us explain a little of what we are doing with our diet.

some people have wondered if we were going vegan or vegetarian...uh...um...that would be a big NO WAY! but only because we do enjoy all different kinds of meat, including the kinds of meat that other people scoff their noses at but that we enjoy. and we love, and have access to, too many different varieties of fish and seafood to ever give that up. but again - it's all about portion control.

if you've followed our blog for a while, you will notice that i normally only show our meals on a black plate. that plate is always portioned with meat, carb, fruit, veg, raw and fermented food - normally. but what you might not know is that for the most part, that one plate is to feed the 2 of us. after i take the pic for the blog, i scooch some of the the food (1/3) from the black plate and jam is left with 2/3. as i normally only show a few slices of each piece of fruit or raw veg, that means there is more waiting in the sidelines. and i always make extra food for "tomorrow's dinner", so there is more food if one of us wants a little extra. but we are very conscious of portion control.

anyway, some friends have asked specifically about breakfast and dinner (which some people call lunch). they said that they can't imagine breakfast or dinner without bread. well here's a delicious boiled egg and spicy, homemade kimchi bean sprouts that make a wonderful breakfast! (as this is not shown on a black plate, it is not shared. this is a full breakfast for one of us)

here's a half a grapefruit and some spicy kimchi for breakfast.

whenever certain types of food are available, jambaloney buys up a ton and i make kimchi with it - yummeh!

you want an egg salad sandwich for dinner but can't have bread? how about an egg/potatoe salad with radish and celery with pickled bean sprouts on top rolled up in a nice piece of lettuce? trust me, you won't miss the bread!

a delicious fatoush-inspired shrimp salad for dinner or supper with organic corn chips (no gluten)...(on a black plate which means it was shared - that's 2 portions on one plate)

another black plate...it means the food is shared....

notice the size of the piece of grilled chicken? also shared. with kimchi, raw bean sprouts, tomatoe slices and a ton of grilled veg.

a small bowl of chicken noodle soup for breakfast, or morning snack or afternoon snack.

want a perfect meatless stir fry? prep all of your veg beforehand!

cabbage, green onion, broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, celery, turnip, onion, ginger, bean sprouts. served up with brown rice and 2 raw fruit (on a black plate so this was shared. we both went back for a little more stirfry but there was plenty left for the next day's dinner)

you still want a sandwich? ok - how about a beautiful BLT with the L playing double duty. here's a delicious dinner of bacon, lettuce, tomatoe and bean sprouts on romaine lettuce leaves acting as the "bread" with a ton of mayo, salt and pepper. (black plate which means i ate one BLT and jam ate the other 2)

we eat meat and/or fish at least 4 suppers a week. here's some yummeh steak with onions, grilled sweet potatoes, grilled mushrooms, pickled bean sprouts and some orange wedges. (black plate - shared meal)

this is a salad that you can make in the morning and then eat on it all day long. it's especially smart to make a salad like this if you know that you are going to be busy, the both of you, for most of the day, don't want to have to stop to make food, but know that you will be eating healthy.

it's chock-full of raw and fermented ingredients. this, of course, was shared throughout the day and we didn't need to stop our work to cook. next up - everyone's favourite! butter-fried haddock, smashed potatoes and parsley, some raw apples, raw pomegranates, sweet corn and spinach that was frozen in season. (shared plate)

we are big believers in eating 6 times a day. 6 times???? yes - 6 times! we can't always control that if we have to go into town or when jam is on site at work, but we do our best. a nice filling small breakfast, a morning snack, a delicious, portion-controlled dinner, an afternoon snack, supper, and another snack (or 5) in the evening. i like to put extra effort into our afternoon snacks. like this one:

gluten-free crackers with wasabi mayonnaise, our own smoked trout, lemon and our own dried dill with some fermented onions, peppers , kimchi and pomegranate seeds - yummeh!

it's all about portion control and making sure that you have raw, cooked, fermented food daily. if you can handle dairy - fill your boots. same goes with bread. those are both delicious foods that many people enjoy! we just found that by removing them from our diet has helped and we have slowly started letting gluten products back in - just not too much at a time. it works for us. sorry if i have bored anyone but i have received questions and i love sharing our meals with you all...but if any of you have anymore questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

it's funny that we are all "preppers" of one sort or another and i have always found it interesting that when preparing food, it's called "prepping"....prepping the food. prepping your food can't be highly rated enough. and i don't mean storing 4 years worth of beans...i mean prepping your daily, weekly, monthly food.

for example, we just went through a winter snowstorm advisory over the past few days. we didn't get hit with much snow but many other places in the province got belted. however, when jam told me that me that we might be getting hit - we "prepped" our food for a few days. first, we chopped a cup of fresh garlic to have on hand to add to food (all of our food contains fresh garlic), as well as 3/4 cup of fresh chopped ginger. then we made a bucket-load of hummus. then we made a bean salad. then we made a kick-you-in-the-face parsley and red onion salad. we made some hard-boiled eggs. and some chicken noodle soup - enough to last for 3 or 4 days. so if the power went out - no worries. we would pull all of that food, plus some fresh fruit, shove it in our cooler, shove the cooler in the snow and no worries about what we would eat for the next several days. but it's nice to have that stuff handy even if the power doesn't go out....after breakfast, we stop for a mid-morning snack and eat a couple of chips and hummus. bean salad for dinner. parsley salad for afternoon snack. and then we cook, or not, for supper. that's how we like to make meals weekly - we like to have stuff already "prepped" and made to eat during the rest of the week.

here's early this afternoon...the sun already going down:

and this is about 4pm....the sun definitely beginning it's descent - it is dark here by about 5pm.

and then out of nowhere this big, ominous looking guy appears:



no storms or snow expected for tonight. should be back to normal temps tomorrow. we are pretending it's summertime and having shrimp/vermicelli/coriander rolls for supper - bahahahahah!