Baking in the BBQ

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..and wheat free doesn’t mean carb free

After reading Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD, one quickly realizes that eating gluten and wheat free foods doesn’t guarantee weight loss. There are more and more gluten free products on the market than ever, especially in the snacking and bakery sections of the grocery store. If you were to read the ingredient lists you would discover that many of these products are high in sugars, fats and alternative starches and the calorie count is high for what you’re getting.

I was feeling somewhat liberated when I found gluten free flour at Costco and I was somewhat disappointed when I couldn’t find a gluten free banana bread recipe in Dr. Davis’ book. After using a regular recipe and substituting the gluten free flour for regular flour it started to dawn on me that I don’t normally eat bananas, let alone banana bread, even though I love both. I’ve always known that bananas are high in carbs and the bread goes without saying. It was when I added the 2 cups of sugar, the 1 1/2 cups of butter and 6 cups of flour that I started to question what I was doing.

So why was I baking banana bread when I’m still trying to lose weight? It just so happened that we were going to celebrate my friend D’s birthday on Sunday and she suggested that we bake something special. Besides she had some sour milk that needed to be used and I had some very ripe bananas. I went through my cottage cookbooks and lo and behold I found a recipe that used both those ingredients.

As you know from previous posts I don’t have electricity and I do the bulk of my cooking on the BBQ, including any baking that I might do. Over the years D and I have developed a knack for baking muffins, cakes and breads in the great outdoors. One of the tricks is to use smaller pans so that dough cooks through to the middle in a shorter length of time. The bread in the bundt pan was finished first, or so we thought. If you look closely at the cut slices you can see that the middle is a little too soft.

The two breads in the loaf pan took a little longer but were a better texture. One of the differences with using gluten free flour is that the bread was much denser than a normal banana bread and for some reason tasted much sweeter. If I were to do this again (for my friends who are truly gluten intolerant) I would definitely add less sugar and maybe even experiment with some kind of substitute that isn’t aspartame or saccharin. I’ve heard that applesauce is a good replacement for sugar in some baking recipes.

I had one and a half slices of the bread on D’s birthday and I ate one slice for breakfast the next morning. I’ve always found that if I’m going to eat carbs it’s best in the morning and then avoid them for the rest of the day. Maybe I should clarify that when I say carbs I mean breads, pasta and primarily flour products. I still eat lots of healthy carbs in the way of vegetables, some fruit and dairy products along with lean protein and healthy fats.

I’m going to have to read the Wheat Belly book a little closer and try to figure out how to fit it into my daily diet without increasing my carb intake. Maybe some of you have a gluten free, wheat free recipe, low in carbs, fat and sugar that I could try. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The following pictures are of D and D’s birthday/anniversary dinner that they kindly invited me to. Afterwards we relaxed around a beautiful bonfire as the sun set over Christian Island.

Delicious lamb, fresh tomatoes, green salad with avocados and Ontario corn on the cob. Yum!

Happy Birthday, D!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..38 years and still going strong

Today K and I celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary. Wow! Looking back through the photo albums it’s clear that we’ve changed physically but how we’ve grown and matured emotionally and socially aren’t as obvious.

K still has all his hair and there is very little grey. No, he does not use Grecian Formula. The big difference is that he likes to keep it really short. Drives me crazy because I’m the one who cuts it. Just when I start to like the length he insists it’s time for another buzz. I, on the other hand, still have very blonde hair but I do cover my grey and I’ve been wearing it longer.

We’ve both gained weight over the years. K used to run marathons when we were first married and even when the kids came along. Except on our wedding day, I’ve always weighed more than my husband. Even at my thinnest, 132 pounds, K weighed 2 pounds less (at the peak of his marathon running days). Although we’re both heavier now we’re probably fitter than we’ve been in years. We walk anywhere from 5 to 10 k every day and we eat pretty healthy meals.

I’ve always worked as a teacher but at numerous different schools and I’ve changed specialties over the years. K on the other hand has had a lot of different jobs but he’s happiest working on his own. He’s been self employed for over 20 years.

People often ask what our secret is to maintaining such a long relationship. There really is no secret. We have our rough patches just like everyone else but we work through them together. We also give each other a lot of freedom to pursue our interests. K has always supported my little business adventures over the years and encourages me when I take courses and classes. I do the same for K. A few years back K was travelling to Ireland on his own almost every year. I knew it was important to him to keep in touch with his family and travelling in June or October made sense, money wise. Of course that meant that I couldn’t go because I’d be working. On the other hand, however, I have the cottage and I spend a great deal of time there during the summer.

When we were first married I did most of the cooking but K has become a very good chef and he prepares at least 75% of all our meals. I can’t tell you how envious my friends are.

One of the most difficult periods of our marriage took place about 3 years ago when K was diagnosed with cancer, CLL. Last year he underwent 6 months of chemo and I’m happy to say that he is in remission for now. We know that it will return but we’re hoping that it will be later rather than sooner. Today he went for his routine three month check-up and everything looks good but more importantly he feels good. This is the best anniversary present for both of us.

July 2013 at Howth, Ireland

A Farm in the Middle of Canada’s Biggest City

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….another 5.3k walk to add to this morning’s 5.0k

Actually it’s already Wednesday but I’m writing this as if it’s still Tuesday. After this morning’s walk I came home to a message from my friend, D, inviting me to join her for lunch at a little bistro in Cabbagetown and then go for a stroll to the Riverdale Farm.

I called her back and arranged to meet her at her condo, downtown, park my car and then together we would walk over to Parliament Street and have lunch at the Merryberry.

The walk took us past numerous churches and Allan Gardens. The area has really changed in the last 20 years. There are more upscale restaurants and the old victorian homes have all been renovated, numerous times to accommodate the design needs of their predominantly upper middle class owners.

The restaurant, The Merryberry, is situated directly on Parliament, just north of Carlton. When we got there we were greeted in a friendly and welcoming manner and offered a choice of eating indoors or sitting out back on the patio. We chose to eat outside. There were lots of light fare lunch options. The soup of the day was a tomato peaches n’ cream soup. Both D and I decided on a half bowl of the soup and D had a salad and I ordered a ‘mash up’. A mash up is a sandwich with egg, goat cheese, avocado and chickpea salad served between two slices of multi-grain bread. I’m trying to eat less bread so I asked for it to be served open face. No problem.

When we finished our meal, D informed me that lunch was on her. It was an early birthday present for me. The big day is in two weeks. We ordered a lemon lime mouse to share for dessert. It was heavenly ….. light and tasty.

After lunch D and I started to walk toward the Riverdale Farm. It used to be the Riverdale Zoo and I remember going there with my parents when I was very young. Today the zoo animals are all gone and have been replaced with farm animals. It’s a great place to take city kids. There were lots of them there today, either with their parents or with a daycare or summer school group.

After walking around the barns and the pens there are several hiking trails that one can use. We walked down a very steep embankment toward a pond that has been restored to its original condition. If it wasn’t for the noise from the cars on the Don Valley Expressway you wouldn’t know that you were in the middle of Toronto.

Wildflowers in T.O.

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..back to our morning walks

Today started out as an exceptionally beautiful day.

As hard as I try, I can’t keep up with my husband and the dog on our morning walks. I watched from a distance today and counted K’s steps and discovered that we both take the same amount of steps in the same amount of time but my stride is so much shorter, due to my shorter legs.

Frances runs twice as far as both of us but today she kept running back to me to make sure that I was okay. How sweet! I’m not upset that K walks ahead of me and he doesn’t worry about me. It works for both of us and so when I stop to take photographs I take my time to get that perfect shot and then continue on my way. Sometimes I run to catch up and occasionally K will stop at one of the benches and waits until Frances has one more swim and I come into view. Here are a few of the wildflowers that I observed on our walk this morning.

Back from the Cottage

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….3 glorious days with my girls and my husband

Friday of last week I spent four hours waiting to see my doctor. After the last trip to the cottage I came home with a slightly scratchy throat. Over the next three days it got much worse and very sore. I had to keep a bottle of water with me at all times to keep from choking,…..it was that bad.

When I finally saw my doctor he was very apologetic for the long wait and checked out my throat. Apparently it didn’t look that bad but he said that my glands were definitely swollen so he prescribed me with an antibiotic and a special throat rinse that actually numbs the tissue.

When I got home I packed the car for the cottage and picked up my oldest daughter and her partner and headed north. I was worried about leaving so late on a Friday but the traffic wasn’t too bad and we made pretty good time getting to the ferry dock. My husband, our younger daughter and the two dogs had left much earlier in the day and were already well into cottage mode when we arrived.

We had perfect weather all weekend. I avoided the water, except for one day, because of my throat but we all got much needed rest and by Sunday I started to feel a lot better. On Saturday evening, after dark, the four girls headed toward the beach with our blankets and cameras to watch the Perseid meteor showers. The best night is actually tonight but we managed to see some spectacular shooting stars in the first few minutes at the beach. As far a photos go we weren’t very successful capturing the night sky.

We all shared in the preparation of meals and on Sunday night we invited our cottage neighbours over for a pizza fest. A and J really wanted to bake pizza in the BBQ so they bought most of the toppings and I bought the pizza dough from our local Italian bakery.

Doing pizza in the BBQ is a bit tricky but after experimenting with the heat settings and raising the pans off the grill we managed to make 5 delicious pies. One was even made with gluten free dough for two of our neighbours who are gluten intolerant. We also made two huge salads to round out the meal. Of course what would pizza be without a glass or two of good red wine?

All of us were able to spread the weekend over to Monday. My husand, my daughter G and the dogs left on one of the earlier boats and A, J and I stayed a little bit longer. After cleaning up the cottage and packing the car, A and J went for one last walk along the beach. We relaxed for a bit on the deck and tried to get some photos of the hummingbirds.

Like I said we ‘tried’ to get photos of the hummingbirds. This camera is much better than the one I used last year so I think I’ll try it again when I go back up later this week.

The trip back on the ferry treated us to some beautiful cloud formations over the lake. I’m inspired to try painting these beauties.

Highlights of My Trip to Ireland

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….my most memorable moments

Time Spent With the Irish Cousins

Checking out Dublin With Our Son

Meeting Our Son’s Beautiful Girlfriend

Our Trip to Westport

Our Day at Howth

The Museums, Art Galleries and Beautiful Gardens

Spending Time With My Wonderful Husband

….and Finally, Finding a Good Cup of ‘Coffee’ in Ireland (something we had a hard time finding 9 years ago)

Time for a Clean Sweep

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….in my library office

I love a clean, well organized space. If you came into my office in the last couple of months….well lets be honest…..for most of the year you would have been assaulted with a chaotic mess. It’s been a challenge trying to keep my art materials organized and maintaining a school library at the same time. I’m glad to say that the library itself was mostly tidy and organized, thanks to my library helpers and parent volunteer. As for my office, I was able to close the door and put posters up on the class windows to hide the mess.

The end of the school year is always hectic and there never seems to be enough time to do everything that needs doing. On top of that it seems that the art teacher gets to inherit anything and everything that other teachers don’t want. Every time something new was donated to my art program I’d tell the donor to just put it on the counter, table or desk in the office and I would look at it later. Well later didn’t happen for a long time.

This week a few of us returned to school to finish doing things we couldn’t get to before school was out. I thought I could do it all in one day but it took me three days. I’m happy to report that the office looks great and I didn’t just stuff things into drawers and behind closet doors. I actually threw things out and organized materials onto shelves and into boxes.

There are still two carts in the office that contain art supplies, neatly organized mind you, but I’m hoping to clean out the storage room down the hall in August and make some space for most of my art papers and paints. This way the library office can once again be used for library work. The only thing that I need for my art classes is the use of the sink in that room.

It leaves me with a good feeling, knowing that the room if finally clean and organized. I can now enjoy the rest of my summer.

Before After

In Honour of Pride Week

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..a great video that Dorothy from Scotland shared with me this week

Dorothy from Jings and Things sent me an email this week with the link to this video. It looks like Scotland, in the very near future, will be joining the ever growing number of countries in the world that recognizes same sex marriages. Earlier this week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that legally married same-sex couples should get the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples and cleared the way for same-sex marriage in California. We can only hope that the remaining 37 states will give same sex couples the same rights.

A few months ago I shared with you the video of New Zealand’s parliament passing the bill that recognizes same sex marriages and how the visitor’s gallery erupted spontaneously into song.

Namaste

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…. thank you Maureen Rae for your wonderful restorative yoga class

It was a calm yet productive day today. No early morning soccer practice, no meetings and no Girls on the Run. I had time this morning to work on my art lesson, clean up the stockroom, process some books, help students put some finishing touches on their art projects and take down some art work and return it to students and make room for new work.

It was treat day in the staffroom at first recess. Val makes great chocolate chip cookies and banana bread. I literally broke off a small piece of each just so I could have a taste. Sometimes that’s all I need and I’m satisfied.

The students in my art class were unusually attentive and engaged. I introduced my Picasso lesson to the entire class and then those students that were finished all their other projects started on their Picasso style portraits. The rest of them worked very hard to finish their stitching projects and/or the op art project they started last week. It’s amazing how much work they can produce when they’re focused and not socializing with their peers.

In the afternoon a shipment came in with all the skipping ropes and literature for our Jump Rope for Heart campaign. In past years I’ve always had my homeroom students help me organize and deliver the packages that get sent home. At the end of the day I sorted through all the boxes and bundled up the literature for each class and left it on the table in the staffroom for teachers to pick up and distribute to their students.

When I plan to go to yoga I always stay late at school on Wednesdays. After I organized the Jump Rope for Heart packages I spent some time organizing the library and my art supplies. When I finally left for yoga the skies opened wide and I got caught in a huge downpour on my way to the car. Of course today is the day that I parked in the last spot on the lot and I was soaked to the skin by the time I got to my car. My friend and colleague who goes to yoga with me left a minute after me and also got drenched.

We both go to Maureen Rae’s Yoga Studio on Dundas St. in west Toronto. I’ve been going to Maureen’s studio for about four years but V introduced me to restorative yoga two years ago. It’s so relaxing and every session focuses on different parts of your body. Maureen has a very soothing voice and talks you through and demonstrates every move. You are always encouraged to do what you can and to never push yourself beyond your comfort level.

: My attempt at a warrior’s pose.

Since I’ve lost over 30 pounds yoga has become even more enjoyable. Some of the moves, that I found difficult in the past because I couldn’t get my arms around my knees or I couldn’t bend because my stomach got in the way, are no longer a problem.

All in all, today was a great day. I stayed on track with my eating and I got back to yoga.

Cheers!

The Best Mother’s Day

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….despite the crazy weather

Spending time with my adult children is the best way to celebrate Mother’s Day. Unfortunately this year two of my three children are out of the country so having them all together was impossible. The day, however, was close to perfect.

It started with breakfast in bed, made lovingly by my husband; strawberries and yogurt, a feta and spinach omelet, bacon, toasted baguette and great coffee. Later in the morning I got a long distance phone call from my son who lives in Rotterdam. It was so nice hearing his voice and catching up on all the news in his life. I could have talked much longer but my husband and I were invited for a special lunch at our youngest daughter’s apartment.

Lunch at G’s and B’s place was relaxed and informal. We had a smorgasbord of cured meats, cheese, fresh bread, a citrus fennel salad and a rapini pesto with olives. After lunch the weather had cleared and the sun started to peak through the clouds so we decided to take the dogs, Lucy and Frances for a long walk through Sherwood Park.

My son-in-law and the girls.

The weather held out for our walk and actually started to warm up. Earlier in the day we experienced rain showers, gusty winds, cold temperatures and on the drive to the apartment we drove through a torrent of hail. When we returned to the apartment we stopped at Dufflet’s (situated just below the apartment) to pick up a couple of tarts to share and enjoy with our coffee.

On the drive home the weather changed again. The temperature dropped, the wind picked up and it rained heavily. Just before arriving home it started to hail again and people on the street were covering their faces and running to find some kind of cover.

When we arrived home I got back in my car and went shopping. I needed to buy some things for school but that particular store closed as I drove up. At that point I decided to check out Marshall’s and boy am I glad I did. I needed a new spring coat that I could wear with dresses and skirts. I found that perfect coat plus 2 skirts, a short one and a long one and 3 summer tops.

When I got home my oldest daughter ‘skyped’ me from Argentina. Like her brother it was so nice to hear her voice but also to see her face. We had a few problems with the video portion of our exchange and we had a couple of laughs when the screen froze on a silly expression or when it started to loop over and over again. My day was perfect. I had a special moment with each of my children. Thank you, all! Love you!