It is feeling a lot like the holidays around here!
Last night, Eric and I put up our tree, outdoor lights, and decorations and we also received our first snowfall overnight. :)
You may have assumed that I had the holiday decor up weeks ago, but the truth is, we didn’t have a chance until last night!
I’m glad the decorations are up now though…except for a couple that really creep us out…
They are a Liddon family heirloom, that is all I’m going to say about that. ;) Sketchie’s tail poufs up when he sees them by the staircase. It isn’t pretty.
Thank you for your support for my Challenge #9 Project Food Blog post yesterday! It is crazy to think that this challenge has been going on since September and we are down to the final round this coming Sunday!!
I feel like I have aged 30 years and sprouted about 100 new grey hairs. bahaha. Good times, good times. ;)
They are cutting 12 contestants down to just 3 this Friday, so your votes will make all the difference in helping me advance to the final 10th round. All you do is click the heart to vote and if you don’t have an account, simply enter your email and username to register. It is quick to sign up! It will also help out if you re-tweet your vote on Twitter and ‘like’ the post on Facebook.
Click here to be taken to the page and thank you in advance for sticking with my crazy self throughout this contest!
Staying Healthy During the holidays
It is that time of the year when my healthy eating can take a nosedive and I find myself losing motivation as the days get shorter and shorter.
The urge to hibernate is strong my friends.
Sketchie knows what I’m talking about. He has been sleeping beside the heat vent for days on end, only to move when he hears a clinking sound in his food dish.
Luckily, with each new day we can commit to making healthy choices, even if the odds do seem to be stacked against us!
On December 1st, I made a commitment to myself:
Every day for the month of December, my goal is to get a hefty serving of vegetables into my diet in some form. This could be in the form of Green Monsters, salads, soups, or other foods loaded with veggies.
So far, it has been going well and I am feeling more energized than I was in November!
Yesterday, I talked very briefly about the salad and dressing that I adapted from The Coup Cookbook and I wanted to go into more depth about it today because I am head over heels in love with this salad.
It is my new favourite salad and I will be eating it frequently over the holidays to keep me energized and satisfied.
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Club Med Salad with Tahini Lemon Garlic dressing
This salad is incredibly delicious, filling, and a great way to pack in a ton of vegetable servings in one meal.
Adapted from The Coup Cookbook.
Makes 1 large salad.
Ingredients:
- 3-4 cups of Your favourite greens (I used organic mixed greens)
- 3-4 pickles (I used sweet pickle slices), chopped into small pieces
- 6 black olives, pitted and chopped, optional
- 1/2 Red banana pepper cut into rings OR 1/2 regular red pepper, chopped
- 1/4 orange pepper, chopped
- 5-8 sundried tomatoes
- Handful of sprouts
- ½ avocado, sliced
- 1/4-1/2 cup carrots, shredded
- 1/4 cup beets, shredded
- 1-2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2-3 tbspTahini Lemon Garlic Dressing (follows below)
- 1/2 cup chickpeas or my Crispy chickpea bites (https://ohsheglows.com/2010/10/28/crispy-chickpea-bites-in-the-oven/)
Directions: Place all ingredients into a bowl except the dressing and sesame seeds. Drizzle on dressing and lightly toss. Sprinkle on sesame seeds and serve. See below for dressing recipe.
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Tahini Lemon Garlic Salad Dressing
This salad dressing is creamy and thick with a sharp, peppery quality. It is my new favourite! Use it on salad or even as a delicious dip for vegetables.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Directions: In a food processor, process all ingredients until smooth. Makes about 1.5 cups.
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This salad really knocks my socks off and Eric even said it was delicious! This is good news coming from a former vegetable hater. :)
The dressing also just takes 5 minutes to throw together.
For the past few days I have been having a nightly snack of chopped veggies and dressing. It is a wonderful snack that leaves me feeling satisfied thanks to the healthy fats.
Creamy and thick.
Have you made any goals to stay healthy over the holidays? What are your tips and tricks for staying on track?
As part of my next post I will be showing you the workout music that has been keeping me motivated during my workouts!
Angela, this salad looks absolutely amazing!!!!! You never cease to surprise me with your fabulous recipes and pictures.
Not only does that salad look beautiful, it sounds delicious… I have a similar goal up until I go home for the holidays: to down one green juice everyday. I’m prepping my system for what is going to be one amazing week of indulging- I’ll just go ahead and admit it now ;) I’m off to vote!
Very nice post, as usual;). I have planned to stay healthy over the holidays by eating at least one vegetable of every colour a day. That means some red berries, some orange pumpkin or orange, white or tanned beans, yellow pepper, violet plums or beets, black lentils…It’s fun and it works pretty well because your plates also look nicer when there are all kinds of differnet colours on them and the best about it all:you get all the nutritions you need every day:)!
First off I just have to say…I’ve been reading for a year or so now and you are just fantastic. Angela you’ve went from learning about yourself through blogging to being yourself. Your photography and writing has elevated..your recipes are beautiful and your stories are heartfelt. I’m a young woman myself and I find you to be a big role model in my life to eating healthy, viewing myself as beautiful and striving each day to be more positive. Watching your work during the project food blog contest has just left me modivated and inspired to reach my goals. You are just soaring like a eagel! Thanks for this fantastic recipe and thank you a million for being such a great woman blogger..your going places :)
Maggie
mybreakfastblog.com
That means so much to me, thank you. Support like that makes the hard work so worth it. :)
i’m just going to have to second this to a ‘T’ – well said, and I couldnt’ be more proud of you Angela!
Those are certainly some… unique decorations. ;)
I love your tact in just saying that the carolers are a Liddon family heirloom. That certainly says it all! I’ve actually been having quite a few Green Monsters lately. I didn’t think that I would want one this time of year in the cold, but I’ve found that my body has been craving something lighter and fresh to compensate for some “heavier” indulgences that I’ve been having this time of year.
Haha I love the creepy decorations. I think they’re perfect!
Yum! Looks delicious! Love that tahini dressing! Good luck with PFB!
That salad looks AMAZING! I can’t wait to re-create it! ;)
Uhhhh…yeah…those decorations…wow.
hahah no words right?
Haha, that couple IS creepy!
that salad dressing is *so* my style and i am making it tonight!
i also just want to say that i was incredibly impressed with your latest project food blog entry – the fact that you went beyond the typical restaurant review to actually go home and make the food yourself was a wonderful idea and so appropriate for the way you blog. congrats on all your successes so far! your story continues to be a joy to read.
Thank you! It just felt….wrong not to bake something up in my post. ;) When I found the cookbook it was a sign!
I can totally relate to the “family heirloom” decorations, I think my aunt has those exact dolls!
One “stay healthy” trick I use which is extra helpful over the holidays is to avoid undereating at meals. If I undereat, I am much more likely to snack on sweets later in the day!
Also, I get my “heap” of veggies at lunchtime by packing a big salad to take to work, the nigh before.
I love that twig spoon! So adorable!
Ive made the same commitment to eat more veggies! I guess great veggie minds think alike ;)
I definitely want to UP my veggies this season. Try to snack on the healthy things rather than the cookies, and bring some of my own snacks because i know for a fact there won’t be a heck of a lot of good food around haha
Yummy!!!!!!! All of your pictures are beautiful!!!!
WOw so colourful! Looks amazing!!
I’ve already voted, and I’m rooting for you to win. Your blog has been one of my very favorites since I first discovered it, and I can’t imagine anyone who deserves it more!!
I had a huge salad with lots of veggies for lunch today. So filling and nutritious- I always have a burst of energy after eating one!
thank you Gabriela :)
YUM! I love tahini so I’ll be making this soon :D
I have been talking about staying healthy during the holidays lately. I have been battling the a cold for the past week and I made a comittment to ease up on the holiday baked goodies. I think I can somehow justify them when they are made of whole ingredients :) I also can get in such a rut with food so I’m going to start shaking up a bit and going to incorporate different veggies into my diet.
That salad has made my mouth water by the way. Maybe i’ll start with that :)