Lately, I’ve been having consultations with the lovely Caroline Marie Dupont who wrote what is perhaps my favourite food book, Enlightened Eating: Nourishment for Body and Soul (Cheaty HIGHLY recommends):

In our most recent meeting, some mornings ago, Caroline invited me into her kitchen and made me a chai — because she knows I have that, erm, wretched little GRANDE STARBUCKS SOY CHAI LATTE addiction. I didn’t expect much, to be honest, because nothing thus far has compared to Starbucks’ chai, and I’VE TRIED EVERYTHING. But, I decided to humour her, and I watched with great interest as she pitted the dates (best sweeteners, by the way, for smoothies).

Much to my surprise, this chai FAR SURPASSED Starbucks’. Yes, Caroline did it again. So, I told her I HAD to share it with my readers. And, since this recipe is not in her book, she typed it up just for us. Enjoy! But, first, Caroline’s cat — because LOVE….

ALMOND CHAI (SERVES 4)
A richly spiced creamy treat.  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup soaked almonds
4 cups fresh water
1 ½ Tbs ginger
2 tsp cinnamon, or 2 inches cinnamon stick
½  tsp nutmeg
½  tsp cardamom
1 tsp allspice
¼ tsp black pepper, or 4 black pepper balls
pinch sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup soft dates, or soak ½ hour
2 Tbs raw honey (vegans who don’t eat honey can substitute with 1.5 tbsp agave nectar, or to taste)

INSTRUCTIONS
Rinse soaked almonds and blend with water and all other ingredients at high speed until smooth.  Pour through a fine strainer, pressing with a spoon to remove all milk. Or, use a nut milk bag available through naturallyalive.ca (or do a search under “nut milk bags” on the internet). Taste and adjust sweetness if desired.

Serve slightly warmed, chilled or at room temperature.

Serves  4

Caroline and I sipped our smooth sweet chais during the consultation in THIS lovely room that OOZES spirituality (an area in which I have been GRAVELY lacking of late)….

BLISS!

Love!

xo Haley-O

Hi Gorgeouses! I hope you’re enjoying the holidays!

As New Year’s approaches, I’m really thinking about my resolutions. Of course, most of them have to do with my diet. And, one of the resolutions I’ve made already — early! — is to have a healthy breakfast every day. NO MORE STARBUCKS CHAI TEA LATTES. HOLLAAHH!

So, for about 3 days now, I’ve been having a HEALTHY smoothie every morning. This means that, by morning, I’ve had at least 2 fruits and maybe a, erm, VEGETABLE! That’s a GREAT plan for making my quota of 5-10 fruits and veggies a day! I also like to sneak in some flax oil — maybe a 2-3 teaspoons — to ensure I get my omega 3 fatty acids (the vegan way). Omega 3 fatty acids are essential for everyone. So, if you’re not a fish eater, you might as well sneak some organic flax seed oil into your diet, and a smoothie’s an excellent place for that.

My morning smoothies are usually a mishmash of things. Here’s what I blended up today:

1 cup Fortified Rice Milk (this helps me get the nutrients I need as a non-milk drinker)
1/2 Frozen Banana
1 cup Frozen Blueberries
1 tbsp Flax Seed Oil
1/2 cup Frozen SPINACH
1 scoop of Hemp Protein Powder

I couldn’t even TASTE the spinach. It was fab.

I actually try to put pureed spinach in anything and everything…like these banana-chocolate-chip muffins I made yesterday:

You can see a TINGE of green. But, I assure you, the kids (and JOSH) tasted no spinach. They had no idea it was in there MWAHAHA! And, they’ve been devouring them! I’ll give you the recipe soon. I’m just obsessed with muffins — because they’re so easy to bake. And, this blog is turning into MUFFINS GALORE! In fact, I’m thinking I should rename it CHEATY MUFFINS. But, there’s something not quite right about that…. By the way, the pumpkin seeds? Purely aesthetic. They help diffuse the green….

So, there you have it. We’re drinking smoothies daily to start the day off right. No more Starbucks mornings. I’m so dunzo with that. We’ll see if I can manage to sit and read there with a mint tea…. Not as exciting, but, you know….

Do you have any dietary resolutions? Please share in the comments!

Love!
xo Haley-O

It’s a love-hate relationship. I LOVE that friggin’ Starbucks-Soy-No-Water Chai-Tea Latte perhaps more than I love myself — well, at least, more than I love my own body because, MAN, my body HATES that thing. HAAAATES! Oh, but my soul…or, erm, my sugar-addicted tastebuds, blood cells, LOVE.

Anyway. I went for my third appointment with Lori, my holistic nutritionist, this afternoon, and I finally told her about my little addiction….

She googled it right in front of me to see exactly what the nutritional breakdown of this EVIL drink is. And, when she found it? Her face. HER FACE was enough to turn me right off chais FOREVER (here’s hoping)…. It was a look of… of… of… HORROR!!! and… and… and… DISGUST!

And, it didn’t end. She kept talking about the chai, and checking and rechecking the breakdown IN UTTER DISBELIEF (no, I know I tend to exaggerate and get over-dramatic about stuff, but I’m being totally FACTUAL right now), with that same look of HORROR and DISGUST on her face!

Then, she said the one thing that — aside from that unforgettable look of HORROR and DISGUST – should turn me off of the chai FOREVER. She said…she said…, “It’s like a……..COKE!”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You don’t understand. I am the ANTI-COKE. I hate it. It’s like GUM to me. I will NEVER TOUCH it. It’s like a CIGARETTE. The DEFINITION OF UNHEALTHY. It’s everything I don’t want to be! Heh. Now, I’m as good as DRINKING IT? EVERY DAY?

WOAAAAHHH!

Needless to say, I will not be drinking this…this…Coke anymore.

I AM NOT A COKE ADDICT!

The LOVELY Karen (who co-designed our FAB site!) has also been trying to help me shake this HORRID chai-tea latte habit. She sent me this recipe she found in the Women’s Health Training Guide, which I hope to try SOON, and I thought I’d share it with you. CHECK IT!

Chai Latte Hot Cereal

1 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
1/2 water
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
3/4 cup rolled mulitgrain cereal (like Mother’s 100% Natural)
4 tsp honey
1/2 cup fresh raspberries

1. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup soy milk, water & spices to boil over medium-high heat.

2. Stir in cereal. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, until cereal is tender but still chewy and liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes.

3. Stir in remaining soy milk and honey. Divide cereal between 2 bowls and top with raspberries.

Makes 2 servings.

Nutritional Info:
235 calories
1 g fat (0g saturated)
74 mg sodium
45 g carbohydrates
6 g fiber
8 g protein

Mmmm…. YUM! THANK YOU, KAREN! MWAH!

Guess who’s coming to right for us REALLY REALLY SOON! Like, NEXT WEEK, like — if she can get her PREGGERS SELF up to the task! LORI THE NUTRITIONIST!

To start, she’ll be answering SARAH’s question about ENERGY BARS, has a HOT TIP about making the best QUINOA, and MORE to motivate, inspire and inform us! So, look forward to that!

If you have questions for the nutritionist, please send them to me here!

In response to yesterday’s post, I got lots of emails and comments asking “WHY WHY WHYYY forgo the CHAIII”!? You wanted to know why I couldn’t just opt for the “skinny” chai, and call it a day. Oh, I wish it were that simple.

First of all, I do order the skinny chai. Either that, or I order the soy, which has basically the same number of calories. I would NEVAH order anything from Starbucks that wasn’t either nonfat or soy. NEVAH! You see, for me, it’s not the calories or the fat that’s the problem; it’s the SUGAR. There is an OBSCENE amount of sugar in the chai tea latte. And, while that’s aiight for some (most) people, it doesn’t fly with me. At least not now, when I have so many preggers pounds to shed. My new theory is that all that sugar is ruining my appetite for anything healthy the rest of the day. You know what I mean? So, it’s not that easy for me to have JUST THE CHAI, and not that delectable holiday loaf or blueberry muffin…. No, that chai is totally CRACK, Gorgeouses, and even you said it in your comments. It’s all CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK! It’s CRACK!

CRACK!

And, I am addicted. Hopelessly. So, I DEFINITELY have to quit it cold turkey if I ever want to get back into shape again. I just KNOW IT. Trust me on this, Gorgeouses, there’s no halfway. I need to quit. QUIT. QUIT. Totally.

So, I’m technically in withdrawal right now. It’s been two days.

My strategy has been to smoke cigarettes instead…. I KID!

I’ve been having the tazo chai TEA BAGS — aka boooooooorrrring! — instead.

And, at night, I’m enjoying another boooooring tea….

To spice up my fabulously boooooorrrring teas, I’ve been using my handy-dandy Starbucks mug, which it’sgrandma bought me for Hanukkah (can you say, “PERFECT GIFT”!):

I love cupping it in my hands. Mmmm. Comfort.

By the way, I think the rascal’s in Starbucks withdrawal, too…BECAUSE HE’S BEEN CRYING ALL FRIKKIN EVENING! I was crying myself because the constant WAHH-ing so NERVE-GRATING! Aaaaaarrrrrgh!

I don’t know what the rascal’s story is tonight. He’s reeeeeeeaaally fussy. He’s sleeping on Josh-O’s chest right now, though. So, ahhhhh!

I also have an update on the blender situation. Because I know you’ve all been sitting on the edge of your seat in suspense. What WILL she do about her blender???!!!???

NEW BLENDER NEW BLENDER NEW BLENDER NEW BLENDER!

And, it’s even better than the last one in so VERY many ways! Check it:

We exchanged our KitchenAid and got the Breville blender. Even Josh-O is in love with it. And, he was in love with the last one! (It was SO hard to convince him that the plastic issue was a good reason to schlep back to crowded Yorkdale and return it…. He totally thought I was having one of my WACKO episodes.) Anyway, the Breville is apparently the King of All Blenders — with the latest technology, etc..

And, the jar is glass. Love.

Amid all the crying tonight, I managed to get out a good long gossip roundup — loads of gossip and pictures there! CHECK IT:

And, GORGEOUSES…..

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thank you so much for being the best readers in the world this year. I totally love you! Yes, you! LOVE! Looking forward to a GREAT 2008!

Have fun tonight!

xoxoxo Haley-O