Woman in Real Life

Can you believe it's Wednesday already? That means What I Ate Wednesday...to me anyway. I'm into stuff like that.

We had an unseasonably warm day a couple of days ago. Well, in the morning anyway. In the afternoon, it turned cold and rainy. All of that is to say that normally, from September to...oh, about May, we have good soup weather around here.

As the day goes on, my enthusiasm for cooking generally wanes. That's why I love the slow cooker. Throw a simple soup together when my energy is high in the morning, add bread and a salad in the evening, and dinner's on the table! On this particular night, pictured above, I paired the soup with a corn muffin, made from a recipe in How it All Vegan. This black bean sweet potato slow cooker soup is based on a recipe in Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, a book I highly recommend. I have mixed black beans and kidney beans and added some sweet potato. I also reduced the amount of thyme, because I don't like a strong flavour of thyme. The recipe follows. If endorsements might convince you to try making this, you should know that my kids actually said this soup was good. That kind of high praise doesn't often come from those two...when it comes to healthy meals anyway.

I'm not going to lie to you. Halloween is here, and I'm going to be dipping into some treats.

Okay, truth be told, I have already had a few treats. I might have indulged in a couple of small packets of Swedish Berries...and a couple of chocolate bars.

I'm going to limit myself from eating too much candy though. How am I going to accomplish that? Why, by baking of course. If I have some homemade treats to consume, I won't be so tempted by the chemical-infused packaged goods.

Now for a What I Ate Wednesday look at what I ate on the weekend...besides candy of course.

If you are like me, some days you enjoy cooking and/or baking, and some days you would rather clean the bathtub, organize your closet or do basically anything but cook.

Maybe it's the approaching fall weather grabbing hold of me, but, for whatever reason, I felt like trying some new recipes this past week.

It started with Laura's recipe for no-bake Toasted Coconut Brownie Bites (above). They are formed mainly from peanut butter and ground flax, with just a bit of agave for sweetening. They are healthy and yet strangely addictive. I used to love coconut-covered doughnuts. These aren't quite the same, but they are a fun treat nevertheless, and much healthier.

When I woke up this morning to the sounds of a Toronto radio station, the morning radio host was talking about his company’s campaign to feed needy children in Canada.

With 36% of food bank clients being children, I feel fortunate to be able to feed my children healthy, nourishing food every day.

This What I Ate Wednesday, I am looking back at some highlights of meals from the past week. This week, I am seeing them with a different set of eyes.

Wouldn’t it be great if all children (and adults for that matter) had access to healthy, fresh meals and snacks each and every day?

Top photo: my favourite kamut udon noodles with a simple homemade pasta sauce.








Fresh juice. My crappy little juicer comes out about every two years. I think I would juice more often if I had a good one. If anybody knows of a reasonably priced juicer that works effectively, let me know...please. Juice recipe below.