[Recipe] Savory butter bean appetizer

Savory butter bean appetizer

I first tasted a very similar appetizer at my Uncle D's house after he and my aunt returned from a trip to Portugal. Although I am not a huge fan of beans, this appetizer blew me away. It was fresh with a bite from the garlic and onion. It was light but packed a flavorful punch. I immediately started my hunt for butter beans or mini Lima beans to recreate the dish with my own twist. I experimented with mashing the beans to help the "dip" stick to the cracker and infused more flavor into the beans by boiling them with garlic and a bay leaf. The result was fantastic!

Prep: 1 1/2 hrs (less if using canned beans)
Serves 10

Ingredients
1 cup dried Butter beans/mini Lima beans (or 2 cups prepared/canned)
1/2 small onion, diced small
2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp parsley, minced
3 cloves of garlic, separated
1 bay leaf salt and pepper

Instructions
1. If you are using dried beans, place them in a bowl and cover them with 2 inches of water. Soak them overnight. If you are using canned or prepared beans, skip this step!
2. Rinse the beans and add them plus 2 crushed garlic cloves and the bay leaf to a medium sized pot. Cover with fresh water by at least 2 inches and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, simmering gently for about 1 hours or until tender. If you are using canned or prepared beans, skip this step and just rinse them well. 
3. Once tender, drain the beans and remove the bay leaf and garlic. Add half the beans to a mixing bowl and mash.
4. Add in the rest of whole the beans, the onion, parsley, olive oil and vinegar. Mix carefully. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If you are a fan of olive oil, drizzle some over the top before serving.

Why I won't be modifying any of my holiday recipes to be cleaner, lighter or healthier.

There is one surefire way to reduce the stress of holiday cooking: stick to what you know.
However, in this world of "clean eating" and never-ending hacks on how to lighten recipes, it can be hard to feel comfortable preparing traditional recipes.
Here is the secret: there IS a way to get through the holidays without being fearful of holiday weight gain or overeating even if you eat special holiday foods (hint: it has nothing to do with skipping meals, switching out sugar for agave syrup or passing up your favorite foods and feeling deprived)- it is called mindful or intuitive eating.

Let me be clear- I am not against changing up a recipe to better suit modern tastes and ingredients. I am, however, against cutting calories or using specialty ingredient to the detriment of recipes, your budget and meal satisfaction. So, before you go out and buy expensive or hard to find ingredients that won't even change the healthiness of the recipe; before you lighten-up a recipe and feel compelled to eat too much of it because it just doesn't taste good, hear me out.

You could lighten up your recipes if you really wanted to... or you could eat more according to your hunger levels. I know that "eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full" has been thrown around a lot these days and is usually met with an eye roll and sigh of exasperation. HOWEVER- this is not the full story. There are 3 things you can do to help yourself use your hunger (rather than emotions or appetite) to guide your eating:

1. Allow yourself to make the recipe again, later in the year.
2. Refuse to jump into a crazy diet in January.
3. Listen to your thoughts and emotions before eating.

Let's be realistic, you probably won't all of a sudden learn how to eat mindfully over the holidays. It takes practice and time to understand why you are eating. But starting to see food and eating in a different light and feeling less doomed to over eat can make the holidays a lot more enjoyable.

Make that recipe again and again
A table full of foods that come around only once a year is just begging you to eat too much. How easy is it to stop eating when full if you won't get another chance for another 364 days? Practically impossible. On top of the scarcity of these dishes, if you throw in feeling guilty for eating foods you've labelled as fattening or forbidden then your odds of walking away feeling full but not stuffed is almost zero. Allowing your favorite dishes to be enjoyed more often can take away the glamour of them. The more we eat a food, the less we put it up on a pedestal and the better we can judge it's true flavors. You may be surprised at how less tasty it is the more you allow yourself to eat it slowly without guilt.

Ditch the diet resolutions
Knowing that you are going to pass through January in a daze of hunger in the hopes that your self esteem will miraculously improve when you lose weight (ahem...it doesn't), only fuels cravings and appetite during the holidays. Often people think of it as the "last supper" or "last chance to eat what I want" before starting an ineffective diet.  With this frame of mind how can you NOT eat to bursting with the thought of physical and mental starvation looming ahead. Take dieting, deprivation and hunger out of the equation for January and just see how you eat.

Pause to listen to your body before eating
Before sitting down to a meal or entering a party, take 30 seconds to check into your body and mind. How hungry are you before you see and smell the food? Are there any emotions that may push you to eat more than you want (stress, anxiety, sadness)? Are there any thoughts running through your head that may lead you to eat when you are not hungry ("Get it now while you still can, the diet starts tomorrow!", "there is no point in trying to eat healthy, you always screw it up and stuff your face" or "So-and-so is not here to get on my back about eating this. I better eat it while I can!"). Simply understanding why you are eating when no longer hungry can help you eat less. The goal is not to eat only healthy foods or walk away hungry- the goal is to better understand why you continued to eat when already stuffed so that next time you can eat AND feel comfortable leaving the party.

You could set yourself up for a night of painful over eating by skipping lunch to make room for a feast at supper. You could make food that tastes like cardboard and is disappointing. You could go out and buy a host of expensive or hard to find ingredients that don't improve the nutrition of your dish. Or you could eat a delicious lunch and head into supper hungry (but not starving), eat the foods you really love and leave the table feeling satisfied and full.

Baking is a science and there is only so many changes you can make to a recipe before it becomes something entirely different. Of course, there is no harm in trying to make a dish contain less bad fat or more veggies, but if it leaves you in tears, or worse, encourages you to over eat just because it is healthy, than the point is lost.

Understanding the difference between true hunger and appetite, acknowledging when emotions are dictating what, when and how much you eat and removing guilt and judgement about food are all helpful ways to eat healthier over the holidays. Rather than scouring Pinterest for hacks to make your favorite dishes (so called) healthier and hoping for the best when these hacks are put to the test- try following the traditional recipe and embracing mindful eating.

Download this reminder card and keep it handy over the holidays!

[Guest post] How To Keep Our New Year's Resolutions

I came across Dr. Laura Van Schaick-Harman's advice while searching out what other health professionals recommend to successfully make changes. Perhaps not the typical information you'd expect a dietitian to research, but as I have mentioned before, dietitian's jobs have quickly evolved. With Pinterest and Instagram and countless blogs about healthy eating, a dietitian's job has evolved from telling people what to do, to motivating and supporting them to make the changes they have decided upon.

Most of my clients know what they want to change but struggle with how to make the change and seeing the barriers that get in the way. With the New Year almost here I thought it appropriate to share some wise advice on how to keep those resolutions we are inclined to set.
Although I am not a big advocate for setting New Years resolutions and certainly discourage anyone from setting unrealistic resolutions, I think a healthy dose of advice on how to keep those that we set is always welcome.

Dr. Laura has created an amazing resource called "The 3 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Trying to Change a Behavior or Habit". It is FREE and you can sign up to receive it here: http://changebehaviorsnow.blogspot.ca/p/meet-new-you.html

Here is Dr. Laura's advice on "How to actually keep our New Year's Resolutions?":
(you can find the original blog post here.)

This is a question that is asked each year, usually by the end of January. New Year's Resolutions are essentially goals that we set for ourselves to accomplish during the year. These goals, however, may not be met and are set to be the following year's resolutions. Why does this happen? How can we achieve our resolutions?

In my practice, we spend the first session or two, and then as often as needed, discussing long term and short term goals/objectives. These are different terms, to be discussed below. Often, a New Year's Resolution is a long term goal (e.g., "I want to loose weight," "I want to have a good bathing suit body," "I want to get a new job," "I want to quit smoking") and it does not reflect the certain attributes that are needed to actually be successful in attaining this goal.

If we want our resolutions to be kept, we need to have an understanding of what healthy goal setting looks like. Long term goals are the broad aspirations that we would like to achieve later in the future. They are the end destination in a particular area of our lives. Long term goals may be large or small. Short term goals or objectives are the steps on the ladder to get you there. We don't jump on the roof of a three story building from the ground without climbing each step on the way up (unless we are Spider Man or another superhero-which is highly unlikely). For example, a long term goal may be for a child to learn how to wash their hands independently. Now, this may seem like a simple task and too simple to be a long term goal. However, take a moment and think of all of the objectives that need to be accomplished before the child achieves the long term goal of washing their hands independently. If you need some help, here are just a few of the steps on the ladder: walk to appropriate sink, turn water on, wet hands, pump soap, lather hands (both hands, between fingers, palm and outer hand), rinse soap off, turn water off, and dry hands. The child needs to be able to complete each of the objectives in order to achieve the long term goal.

Why am I writing about hand washing steps? If we have a resolution to go to the gym and loose weight and we have never been to the gym before, we are not likely to start going 4 times a week and maintain this schedule for long. If we haven't been looking for a new job, we are not likely to get hired by a company with a 50% salary increase by January 15th. There are objectives and short term goals that need to be accomplished first.

Goals need to be measurable (go to the gym 2 times/week for 30min each time), attainable (look for a new job to earn more money, not win the lottery), specific (target one behavior-eating, drinking, or exercising, not "be healthier") and realistic (learn 2 new healthy dinner recipes, not become a famous gourmet health chef on TV within 1 month).

When we set long term and short term goals, it can be helpful to make sure that we have enough steps on the ladder (objectives), a realistic long term goal, and that we make sure each goal is measurable, attainable, specific, and realistic.

Let's not confuse goals with dreams. You can dream about winning the lottery or becoming famous. These just don’t make for good resolutions or goals.

Consider revising your resolutions so they have enough short term goals and are measurable, attainable, specific, and realistic. It's never too late. If you noticed, I noted earlier that goals are discussed as often as needed throughout treatment in my practice. Goals can and should be revised whenever needed. Circumstances, desires, feelings, and finances change. Be flexible with your goal setting and enjoy climbing the ladder!

What are your revised New Year's Resolutions?

Dr. Laura offers free resources, tips, and help with behavior problems on her blog: http://meaningfulpsychservices.blogspot.ca/
Sign up for the Live Life With Meaning Newsletter http://ow.ly/QSbYT

Here is a little insight to Dr. Laura's advice on the 3 biggest mistakes to avoid when trying to change:

[Recipe] Tex-Mex Meal in a Bowl

Mexican Meal in a Bowl

I love the tangy and spicy flavors of Mexican food. However, I don't always have taco shells or tortillas in the pantry. This recipe is perfect for those moments when you may be missing some traditional ingredients. Dive into the fridge, freezer and pantry and find the odd ends of veggies and anything that may need to be eaten pronto and throw it in.
Serves 2

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup (~1/2 of a 454g package) firm tofu, crumbled or 1 cup of you choice of ground meat, chicken or even whole shrimp
2 tsp oil
1/3-1/2 package of taco seasoning (depending on how spicy and salty you like your filling)
1/2 cup corn
1/2 avocado, diced
1 small carrot, shredded
1/2 red pepper, diced small
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 small tomato, diced small
4 mushrooms, sliced
2 cups brown riced, cooked
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp hard cheese, grated
Sprinkle of your favorite hot sauce

Instructions
1. In a small, non-stick pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the tofu, seasonings and garlic. Cook until heated through (if using minced meat, heat until cook through).
2. Add red peppers, mushrooms, and corn and cook until browned, about 5 min.
3. Add 1 cup of warmed, cooked brown rice to each bowl. Top with half the tofu/meat & vegetable mixture.
4. Sprinkle with the rest of the ingredients: avocado, carrot, tomato, cilantro, cheese and hot sauce.

[Recipe] Panettone bread pudding

Panettone bread pudding
Panettone is a type of sweet bread originally from Milan. It is buttery and has deep flavors similar to a fruit cake but is much lighter in texture. These loaves come in all sorts of flavors like candied fruit, chocolate or lemon, and are perfect on their own as a dessert. To up the ante I wanted to make bread pudding using this unique bread. Also, the raisin and candied fruit panettone that I recently bought was not really to my liking when eaten on its own.
This bread pudding is easy and quick to make and you need only about 15 minutes to prepare this dish for the oven. It is a lighter version of a bread pudding partly because I just used what I had available in the fridge and partly because the I wanted the challenge of trying healthier ingredients (the original contained 9 tbsp of butter along heavy cream.)

Serves 16


Ingredients:
1x 2 lb. panettone,
3 tbsp. butter, plus extra for greasing,
2 tbsp. white sugar,
1 tsp. vanilla extract,
1¼ c. milk,
1 c. 10% cream,
4 large eggs,
⅓ c. light brown sugar,
3oz white chocolate, chopped,
1/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips.

You will need an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
2. Wrap the tart pan in aluminum foil. Grease the foil with butter.
3. Sprinkle the sugar into the pan, shaking it around to coat.
4. Slice the sides off the panettone using a serrated bread knife. Use these pieces to line the bottom and the sides of the tart pan. Press together gently to compact.
5. Cut the rest of the panettone into large cubes for the filling. It will look like a lot to fit into your pan, but trust me- once you soak it in the custard, it will fit nicely.
6. For the custard, place the vanilla into a pot with the milk, cream, and butter. Simmer until the butter has melted. Remove from the heat.
7. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until smooth.
8. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the eggs. This is called tempering the egg mixture and it is done slowly to avoid scrambling or cooking the eggs.
9. Pour ⅓ of the custard mixture into the base of the tart to soak into the bread lining the pan.
10. Add the bread cubes to the rest of the custard and soak briefly, about 30 seconds to one minute.
11. To assemble, layer the bread with the chocolate tucked in.
12. Place the tart onto a rimmed baking sheet. Bake in the center of the oven for about 25-30 minutes. The tart is ready when puffed and golden brown. Let the tart rest for 10 minutes before serving. Remove from the tin and cut into slices.