Way back in January, I bragged about my resolutions to become a lean green cooking machine. I cleaned out my pantry, became more aware of food labels, and revisited healthy cooking techniques.
Fast forward three months and not only are the marshmallows back in my pantry, they are also in the sugar cereal that is in my pantry that my children smuggled into the house and have been consuming secretly after I leave for work.
Our family had officially hit rock bottom.
Feeling hurt and betrayed, I asked the guilty parties what had caused them to eat this food. Their answer? Boredom. They were bored of the eggs, oatmeal, muffins, and other healthy breakfasts they’d been eating since school started in September. Not only that, they were bored of lunch and had been subsiding on recess snacks and the occasional birthday-treats cupcake! I got the feeling that if I dared make one more turkey sandwich, I’d have a full-out mutiny on my hands.
My bag of tricks was officially empty. And the I got the call.
A few days after the confrontation, I got an invitation from Loblaws asking if I’d like a personalized tour of the Maple Leaf Gardens location by the resident nutritionist, Nema McGlynn as part of National Nutrition Month. For real? This sounded too good to be true. And then it got better.
In order to prepare for our meeting, Nema wanted to know what I was most interested in learning about. I told her I was looking for new and exciting healthy options for me and my children. I also told her that while I do love to cook, I was also looking for fast and easy snacks my kids could make for themselves.
When I got to the store, Nema suggested we start off in the produce section since that is where the bulk of diet should come from. I asked her opinion on all the latest super-foods, like kale and pomegranates. She said that all fruits and veggies are super-foods but that as a general rule, the brighter the colour, the more super they are. For example, red delicious apples are healthier than Macintosh. She suggested that I forget about concentrating on eating a specific super-food and think more about eating at least three colours of produce a day, inspiring me to write this little poem:
Before you got to bed,
Eat purple, orange, green, and red.
After the produce section, Nema brought me to the most unlikely place to find healthy breakfast options: the cookie aisle. It was there that she introduced me to their new Blue Menu Banana Bran cookies. She explained that I could make it into a complete meal by topping them with peanut butter and then serving them with a side of fruit.
Breakfast? Check. Now onto lunch.
Nema asked my what my biggest concerns with were for lunch and I told her that my kids want meals that are fun, quick, and easy to eat. Now that its spring, they want to eat as fast as possible so they can get outside and play as soon as possible. I also told Nema that it was a challenge to think of a good lunch protein that wasn’t meat or peanut butter. Nema reminded me that depending on the brand you buy, many pastas can have as much as 10 grams of protein per serving; that’s 25% of the recommended daily intake! She also reminded me that dairy, particularly Greek Yogurt has tons of protein. She suggested using the yogurt and frozen fruit to make parfaits (the frozen fruit will keep the yogurt cold and defrost just in time for lunch) and homemade veggies and dip (recipe below).
Overall, my personal shopping trip at Loblaws with Nema was amazing. She gave me tons of new ideas for meals and snacks, and introduced me to some great new Blue Menu products. But that wasn’t the best part of the experience; I learned that many other Loblaws locations have a nutritionist on staff and that anyone is welcome to make an appointment to have a personal shopping experience. For free. I highly recommend checking it out. To find out which location nearest you offers this service, search this Lobaws store finder.
Green Goddess Dip
This my version of the original Green Goddess salad recipe created in 1923.
Not only is my version way healthier that the original, it is ridiculously easy to prepare and keeps in the fridge for 3-5 days. Make a batch on Sunday night and you’ll be dippin’ all week long.
Ingredients:
½ cup of low-fat mayo (I used Veganese, a vegan, organic option to mayo)
½ cup plain Greek Yogurt
¼ cup finely chopped baby spinach
¼ cup finely chopped arugula
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 tsp white wine vinegar
s & p to taste
Directions:
1. Toss it all together and blend or whisk until smooth. I used an immersion hand-blender.
2. Taste and adjust seasonings.
That’s it! You’re done! Really!
P.S. Not only did my family LOVE this dip, my daughter LOVED the cookies and peanut butter for breakfast. I’m pretty sure I had her at “cookies for breakfast”.