how instagram impacted lunch time & other ways I'm crazy

So it took me a year and a hiatus to finally learn the ~art of packing a lunch~ and I found it.

GET YOURSELF A BENTO BOX. (and instagram)

It changes everything, I swear.

All of a sudden my lunches went from Ziploc container chickpeas on top of yogurt on top of celery sticks on top of cheese, to this:

That's right, organized, healthy lunches that are perfectly instagrammable.

Lunch:

• Carrot sticks
• 2 dates
• Almonds & hazelnuts
• Goat cheese
• Salad: radish, cherry tomatoes, smoked salmon, and goat cheese on a bed of arugula

What did you have for lunch today?

Watch it! Counting cals and working out

For a couple of weeks, I've been completely uninspired food-wise. Big life changes can bring on really bad eating habits and the truth is, I was also massively cheating on Project Pack a Lunch. The reason? I recently got a new job right in the middle of Ottawa's Little Italy and there's a good reason for it being nicknamed Carb Alley. For the first two weeks I worked there, I was eating nothing but sandwiches, pastas, and desserts. Anyone ever heard of a magical place called Simply Biscotti?

I've cut down on the cheating, although I am in no way about to give up a monthly tiramisu or a lobster tail (think crispy phyllo filled with Bavarian cream). However, I have made a decision to start monitoring my daily intake (using MyFitnessPal - add me! username: mayashouc) and after 2 years of telling myself I would do it tomorrow, I've finally finally finally joined a gym.

They can get a little messy...

Realistically, I know absolutely nothing about working out or counting calories. I barely even know what to wear to the gym on a regular basis and no, I will not purchase Lulu anything (100$ for a pair of yoga pants? No thanks). Having a gym buddy has definitely made things a little easier, although she did influence me into a poutine the other night! It's really just been a work in progress. And hopefully I only need a few more yoga sessions before I can finally touch my toes.

So tell me, what do you do to stay fit? What's your gym workout? And most importantly, what in the world do you wear?

Ingredient obsession: Paprika and Chickpeas (Fish stir fry)

Every now and then, I go through ingredient obsessions where all my food starts to taste the same. For a while, I couldn't stop pouring soy sauce and ginger onto everything. Another phase was spinach, mushroom, and cream (still in love with it to be honest). Right now, I'm hooked on paprika and chick peas. Seriously, I've been using chick peas in everything lately, and paprika adds the perfect flavour to them. Salads, stir fries, I even made chick pea burgers the other day which I'll share in my next post. But most importantly, we can't forget that chick peas equal hummus!

Not only are chick peas cheap, they're incredibly filling and healthy. They're low in fat, sodium, and cholesterol and they're an excellent source of iron. This recipe combines cod fillet and veggies with my two new favorite ingredients, chick peas and paprika.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Servings: 5-6

Ingredients:

• 3 cod fillets
• 5 large mushrooms
• 1 small onion
• 1 small green pepper
• 1 small yellow pepper
• 1/2 cup chick peas
• Parsley (optional)
• Paprika
• Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Creamy butternut squash & pear soup

I love squash. Any kind of squash: spaghetti, acorn,  zucchini, pumpkin, butternut. Especially butternut squash. It's delicious, versatile, filling, and despite being almost impossible to cut and peel, fairly easy to cook. One of the easiest and best ways to use it is to make it into a creamy soup, which I do a lot. You can test it out with different ingredients too - sometimes I mix it with carrots and celery, sometimes apples. This time I used pears since we had an enormous amount at home (this happens often thanks to my mom's need to fill those grocery bags to the very top).

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Servings: 5-6

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash
• 2 small white onions
• 2 pears
• Butter
• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cups chicken/vegetable stock

Shrimp in Creamy Parsley Sauce (and Nutella Sugar Cookies for Dessert)

We can talk about how I've been failing miserably at Project Pack a Lunch over the last couple of months or (even better idea!) we can just talk about all the delicious food I've been making.

Starting with these:

I'm on a "diet"

That's right, Nutella sugar cookie sandwiches. Really I should just stop at Nutella and everyone should be all over them, but they're also so easy to make and absolutely delicious. I followed this recipe and was even running after two year olds while making them.

Now for the shrimp. My friends and I have a new obsession with making our food look as pretty as possible. (Thank you, Pinterest). I've seen a lot of photos of hollowed out avocado shells with food inside of them so I decided to do my own take on it. Since I can follow NO directions when it comes to cooking, this is what I ended up with: creamy parsley sauce with shrimp.

They passed the picky brother test!

No real recipe for these today, but here's what you need to make them:

- Sautée onions and garlic in butter
- Add the shrimp
- Add lots of chopped up parsley
- Let it all simmer
- Add in half & half cream (bad bad bad, but so good)
- Stir in 2 teaspoons of flour so that the cream thickens
- Let simmer for 3-5 minutes


- Hollow out avocado, make a side salad out of the avocado!
- Scoop some rice onto the avocado shell and scoop some shrimp sauce on top

Enjoy!