Hi everyone,

Happy Friday!

Wish the weather was a bit more cheery but then again, it is Novem­ber in Toronto. What else should we expect?

Today, I thought I’d share with you a list of some of my favourite things. Things that I pretty much eat or use on a daily basis. Things that I just can’t seem to live with­out. Here goes.…

Quaker Oat Bran. I know I’ve men­tioned this before but I’ve fallen in love all over again with this creamy, ultra-​filling bowl of heaven. I like mine sim­mered in equal parts almond milk and water. Just a dash of cin­na­mon to top it all off and it’s ready to go. ¹⁄₂ cup makes a BIG bowl and should keep you going for hours. Yum!

Home­made Apple­sauce — The best part about apple sea­son is try­ing out all the dif­fer­ent vari­eties and decid­ing which apple ranks high­est for you. Top of my list right now are Fuji’s and Golden Deli­cious. I love them raw and sprin­kled with cin­na­mon for a quick and deli­cious snack. But, my most favourite way to eat apples is in a home­made apple­sauce. It has been my after din­ner go-​to for the last few weeks and I can’t say that I’ve grown tired of it. I typ­i­cally just add cin­na­mon, vanilla and a touch of nut­meg to mine but you could cer­tainly be more cre­ative and add pears, berries, cran­ber­ries, raisins, nuts, nut butters…you get my drift. The pos­si­bil­i­ties are end­less. Best of all, you don’t have to add any sugar because they’re just per­fect with­out. I warm my apple­sauce up just slightly before dig­ging in. A per­fect after din­ner treat with zero guilt.

Green Cab­bage — Huh? I know, it doesn’t seem all that excit­ing but for what­ever rea­son, I’m lov­ing this veg­gie a whole lot lately. My favourite way to enjoy it is roasted in the oven till it’s soft and sweet. I toss it first with a tbsp of olive oil, sea salt, gar­lic pow­der and crushed red pep­per flakes before plac­ing it in a 425 degree oven for about 40 min­utes. I find after about 20 min­utes or so, it’s a good idea to get in there with some tongs and move it around a bit to pre­vent burn­ing. I add it to my sal­ads or just eat it on its own for a healthy and yummy snack. Of course, I also like to make a deli­cious, low calo­rie soup with it, using canned toma­toes, onions, gar­lic and fresh dill. And, the other night, I whipped up a big batch of rice-​free cab­bage rolls, using lean ground chicken, grated car­rots, onions and mush­rooms for the fill­ing. Del­ish! Even my daugh­ter gave them the thumbs up.

Orange-​flavoured Fish Oil — I’m sure most of you have been using the Nutra-​Sea lemon flavoured fish oil for some time now. If you haven’t been, then shame on you! Out of all the sup­ple­ments out there, fish oil should be at the top of your list. Any­how, this fish oil actu­ally tastes really good! It makes a tasty salad dress­ing when com­bined with bal­samic vine­gar and a spoon­ful of dijon mustard.

Low-​fat Ricotta Cheese — Now, as you all know, I’m not a big fan of dairy. But, ricotta is dif­fer­ent, in that it is made from whey not milk, mak­ing it a high pro­tein offer­ing. I love it in my egg white veg­gie omelets or stirred into a home­made mari­nara sauce for added creami­ness. Add a dol­lop of it to your favourite pureed soup, such as squash, car­rot, broc­coli or zuc­chini. It also makes a yummy bed­time snack when com­bined with a table­spoon of low sugar fruit jam. Tastes just like a cheese­cake, espe­cially when you sprin­kle a table­spoon of gra­ham cracker crumbs over top.

That’s my list! I have a few more favourites to share but I think I’m going to save them for another post…

Have a won­der­ful week­end. Get in some good work­outs, enjoy some well-​needed rest-​time and fuel the body right.

Cheers!