I'm back!

Wow, I've been away from my blog for a long time! Hopefully my few readers will still be around to read this new post.

My trip to Alberta was amazing - a great chance to see some of the most beautiful parts of this country, to spend time with my family, and to get away from it all. It was the first trip I've taken (that wasn't work related) in about two years so I really appreciated it. Healthwise the vacation wasn't too bad. I didn't take my exercise chart with me, but we did do a lot of walking - and stair climbing! There were some not so healthy food choices (yes Olive Garden and Red Lobster, you do have healthy choices, but let's face it...that's not what I came for) but a lot of my meals were homemade, healthy, and delicious.

Now that I'm home I'm trying to get out of vacation mode and back to the healthy (and frugal - no dinners out for awhile!) lifestyle. Here's how I'm doing so far:

- I went grocery shopping and stocked up on lots of healthy foods. I avoided wheat, dairy and refined sugar. I'm not planning on giving these things up entirely, but I'm trying to reduce my consumption of them for a few reasons. For one, it's thought that these foods trigger breakouts, and as I have a constant struggle with bad skin, I'm willing to try just about anything that might improve it. Also, dairy and sweets are huge trigger foods for me (as in, I eat one piece of cheese or one chocolate and I never want to stop) so best to avoid buying them for home and save them for special occasions. As for wheat, I wanted the opportunity to focus on other whole grains. I've got lots of brown rice and bulgur to use up, and I bought quinoa and brown rice pasta to try for the first time (for super cheap - I love you Bulk Barn!)

- I haven't gotten back into an exercise routine yet, but I plan to change that this weekend. I was considering joining the gym again but my brain keeps saying, "why spend all that money each month when you can exercise at home for free?" I just need to motivate myself to do so. I'm looking into some new workout dvd's in order to shake things up (one that I'm really excited about and if I can find it to buy you will hear about on the blog soon!).

- Made my first dinner for myself in two weeks!

Mmm....kale. I only tried kale for the first time about a year ago but now it's one of my favourite vegetables. If you haven't tried it yet, please do! Try not to be turned off by the monster bunches in grocery stores. Yes, they are huge, and cashiers might laugh at you when you buy one, but you can use a large bunch up fairly quickly - like spinach, kale wilts when it's cooked, so you can use lots of it. Kale is amazing when paired with a peanut type sauce as I have used here. Bear with me as I try to remember what I threw into this dish...

Kale (about 10 large leaves torn into bite sized pieces)
1 large tomato, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 cup vegetable broth
Peanut butter - about 2 tbsp? I just added spoonfuls until it was as peanutty as I liked
Curry powder and cayenne to taste
Green onions

Saute the garlic and ginger in a small amount of olive oil for 1 minute. Add the kale and cook for about another 2 minutes, until it's starting to shrink down. Add the tomato, broth and spices and cook until the kale is wilted. Turn off the heat and stir in the peanut butter until smooth. Serve over brown rice and top with green onions.

If you're planning to serve this right away you may want to play around with the spices. I found it a little bland when I first made it, but my leftovers for lunch the next day were amazing! If you make it let me know how it goes!