On May 6th I ran the Toronto Half Marathon and then for some unexplained reason I got lazy.  I haven’t run….I haven’t been to a body pump class or even a zumba class. I have done NOTHING . Well not exactly. I have excelled in the sport called “eating”. Infact,  I have morphed into MOMWHOEATS.  That’s right….I have been eating and eating and eating and there seems to be more calories going in than going out.

I was looking in the mirror and noticing that I was getting puffier by the nano second. Finally I said “ENOUGH” !! Time to do something about it. However I love food so much that I knew if I went the “low intake” approach…it wouldn’t work for me. So I decided to try something that worked for me eight years ago. I broke up with carbs.

This means:

-no more bread (ouch)

-no more pasta (double ouch)

-no more cereal

-no more bananas, apples, and oranges

-no more poutine (don’t get me started)

-no more chickpeas, kidney beans, legumes

However I have been enjoying:

-kale smoothies

-plenty of great salads with cheese and nuts

-blueberries/strawberries with whipped cream (its allowed)

-low carb beer.  A huge thank you to Molson for creating Molson Canadian 67 Sublime. It’s not perfect but it will do the trick. (67 calories, 1 carb)

-plenty of egg whites with sauteed mushrooms

-tuna burgers, salmon, sole. I even bought sardines but havent brought myself to open the tin yet

–Silk True Almond, unsweetened, vanilla. (30 calories with 0 % carb per cup). Totally impressed with this product.

– tofu shirataki noodles!! I can “pretend” Im eating pasta. Emphasis on the word “pretend”.

It’s now been almost two weeks since I broke up with carbs. It hasn’t been a picnic to give up sandwiches, cereals and all the other carbs I use to enjoy on a regular basis. However I can tell you this – I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER.

Curious to find out if you have ever tried this “lifestyle” before? or how many of you are trying not to eat wheat, sugar, etc?

Visiting a Trader Joe’s was on my bucket list for 2012 but I’m proud to say that as of last week, I can now tick it off. I finally went to a Trader Joe’s on my visit to Detroit last week.

I will repeat this story again because I think it’s the coolest story ever: When I was in Trader Joe’s, I approached a random sales person to guide me around the aisles and said: “Hi I’m a food blogger from Toronto” and he replied “Are you Mom Who Runs? we have been chatting on twitter”. Naturally we became fast friends, cameras were whipped out and photos were taken of me and @JoeFoodie.

Here’s what I bought:

Item #1:

This chocolate bar was 99 cents. Thats right..99 cents. I bought 4 of them and should have bought a dozen!

Items #2 and Item #3: Marcona Almonds with Rosemary and Rosemary Pecans and Cranberries, that are too good to describe, so I won’t.

More items: @JoeFoodie suggested I buy these Chocolate Vanilla Bean Cookies and he was bang on with this suggestion. Definitely not an Oreo. As for the Gorgonzola crackers…I bought them because one of my facebook friends told me to buy them. (I’m easily convinced…can you tell?)

@JoeFoodie suggested I buy these quinoa and black bean tortilla chips plus these beers. Again – I’m kicking myself that I didn’t buy more.

This happens every time I shop in the States…I simply don’t buy enough!! Why can’t I get it right?

The good news: I will just have to return to Trader Joe’s. I hear they are opening up on in Rochester so perhaps it’s time to eat my way thru Rochester. Road trip anyone?

 

 

Once again, I went to an event as a result of a tweet I saw on twitter between @redhunttravel and @InnisGunnCanada.  The event was an Innis & Gunn Beer Dinner at Fynns Temple Bar. (489 King West). What’s not to like?  I was SO going to this event.

Here was the menu that was presented by Chef Patrick Narain:

One: Mulligatawny Soup and a Mango Chutney Crostini

Two: Dark Chocolate Chicken Wings served with a Roasted Corn, Jicama and Mango Salad

Three: Tender Lamb Stew with Root Vegetables, wrapped in an Arugula Boxty

Four: Cranberry Bread Pudding topped with El Dorado Rum Custard

The above dishes were paired with the following beers (note: I did not eat at this event – I was strictly interested in the beer)

-Innis & Gunn Original

-Innis & Gunn Rum Cask

-Innis & Gunn Spiced Rum – a new beer for me to taste

-Innis & Gunn Winter Beer 2011 – another new beer for me to taste

-Innis & Gunn Highland Cask – yet another new beer for me to taste. (which is why I wanted to attend this event).

Each beer was described ….color, nose, palate, finish and food suggestion. Naturally I enjoyed all of them (in moderation of course, I’m not even sure I consumed 8 oz in total last nite). There is something so unique about this beer – I must admit, I really do like it.

As a result of last nites great event, I ran to the LCBO to buy 3 gift packs. I can’t think of a better gift for my beer loving friends.

Cheers!!

P.S A special thank you to the team at Innis & Gunn for accommodating me as a last minute guest.