It’s official – Jess and I are now published writers!  FAJO (fashion journalism) Magazine approached us a little while ago and asked if we’d be willing to contribute an article on healthy living.  Of course we replied with an enthusiastic “YES”!!!

Check out the article we wrote for this month’s issue: Fit, healthy, and sexy – in 12 weeks

-Tess

Enjoy!

I am: a 26 year old quirky, type-A, young professional trying to make sense of this thing called “mid-to-late 20s”

I think: far too much at times

I know: enough to know I don’t much at all

I want: to continue to avoid studying for my GMAT. Eventually, I will have to give in.

I have: a lot on my plate and that’s just the way I like it.

I dislike: meat, incompetence, ignorance, rudeness, “firsts” on facebook posts- get a life, please.

I miss: Dustin (yeah, yeah, I know “aww”)

I fear: failure

I feel: overwhelmed at times

I hear: selectively.  Cubicle-working has allowed me to develop a knack for blocking people out when necessary.

I smell: the half-drunk cup of coffee sitting on my desk

I crave: carbs, and Lays Old Fashioned BBQ chips. They are the ultimate junk food for me.

I cry: when I am really, really, (like really) stressed

I usually: hit snooze at least twice before actually dragging my sorry self out of bed in the morning. Me <— Not a morning person.

I search: for information.  People really need to stop asking me a question they can answer themselves. I’d like to introduce you to a search engine called “google”, perhaps you’ve heard of it? (cc: Liz)

I wonder: what my life will look like in 5 years time

I regret: only 1 thing in my life.  After that experience, I’ve learned that we must live with the choices we make as we are the only ones who can make the final decision. If you are unhappy with the choices you’ve made it’s okay to be unhappy about them, but take that experience and learn from it. No, I’m not referring to the Gold Boots.

I love: my family and friends. Living away from home, my friends have become like my extended family in many ways.

I care: too much about little, inconsequential details at times

I always: call my parents every Sunday to see how they’re doing.

 I worry: about deadlines, blog posts to be written, and my never-ending “to-do” lists.

I am not: afraid to speak my mind.

I believe: everything happens for a reason.

I sing: horribly off-key

I don’t always: admit my true feelings

I argue: when I feel it’s worth fighting for. Or when I know I’m right

I write: words.  Sometimes I’ll even make sense of them.

I win: at multitasking.

I lose: my mind during the spring and fall months at work

I wish: I had more time to get more things done.  I have too many goals I’d like to achieve at the moment.

I listen: when someone is speaking to me

I can usually be found: at work, in my kitchen, or out and about the beautiful city of Montreal.

I am scared: of letting people down

I forget: how many cups of coffee I’ve had today.

I am happy: when things go how I planned them to.

-Jess

The best way to target that sometimes-hard-to-reach region is through bent leg hip hyperextension exercises, such as Bridges and Hip Extensions (kneeling or standing).  Today I’ll cover the former.

Even people who already have nice glutes can benefit from the following exercise.  It targets your hamstrings, adductors (inside thighs), core, erector spinae (back muscles), and of course your glutes.

Setup

Lay face-up on a mat with your knees bent and feet on the floor, toes pointing away from you.  Your feet should be hip-width apart and close to your bum.

Set-up

Execution

Press through your heels and drive your hips up towards the ceiling.  Keep your knees still, abs tight, neck relaxed, and your shoulders flat on the mat.  Press up at high as you can, but don’t hyperextend your back.  Squeeze your glutes HARD at the top of the motion.  Gently lower your hips, then, as soon as they touch the floor again pop back up.  Glutes are mostly slow-twitch muscle fibres, so they’ll benefit from a high rep range – try for 3 sets of 20 reps.

Execution

If you find you can do all 20 of these pretty easily, you can make this exercise harder by a) putting your feet on a bosu ball, b) doing it one leg at a time (rest your ankle on the opposing thigh in a triangle position), or c) resting a medicine ball or barbell on your hips to add some resistance.

Incorporate these puppies into your workout routine for the next couple months, and you may just find yourself filling out your jeans a little better this summer

-Tess

Once a month two of my good friends, Tania and Willy, and I try and get together for dinner.  Faced with busy schedules of travelling, work, and life in general, we figure if we book one night a month that’s one time we’re guaranteed to see each other and catch up.  This month was my turn to host dinner, and it was also Willy’s birthday.

In order to properly celebrate, we extended the invitation beyond the three of us to a few more of our friends for a night of good food, good wine and good company.  Since I got to host I got to take care of the food portion and boy did I come up with a killer appetizer style menu featuring these bad boys:

Jumping on the “sliders” bandwagon, I put a vegetarian spin on them using cremini mushrooms.  Taking the concept one step further, I decided to offer two different flavours.

The first one featured Friday’s pesto along with a red pepper aioli and mushrooms marinated with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

The second one took a more traditional burger approach with smoky bbq sauce, balsamic-caramelized onions and sharp white cheddar.

When on the hunt for “slider buns”, in which they were nowhere to be found in two bakeries and a grocery store, I found these mini pita breads and they turned out to be the perfect solution.   If you do manage to find slider buns feel free to use those, but I found the pita’s to give the perfect bread : mushroom ratio.

Let’s just say these did not last very long and Dustin has since requested I make them again. The next time you host a party, I recommend you make these.  They are quite the showstoppers.

Mini Mushroom Sliders

16 medium cremini mushrooms

¼ c. olive oil

2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2-3 tbsp bbq sauce

¼ c. pesto

¼ c. red pepper aioli (recipe below)

16 thin slices of sharp white cheddar

¼ c. caramelized onions (recipe below)

16 mini pitas

Directions

Preheat your broiler

Clean and stem mushrooms and place on a rack over a cookie sheet.  Brush tops and bottoms of mushrooms with olive oil and then coat 8 of the mushrooms with balsamic vinegar and the other 8 with bbq sauce.

Place mushrooms into broiler and broil for 5 minutes, flip, and then broil for another 3-5 minutes until tender.

Open up the pitas and spread 8 halves with pesto, the other halves with red pepper aioli.  Divide the caramelized onions among the remaining 8 halves.

Place the bbq glazed mushrooms on the halves with the onions, top with sharp cheddar.  Place the balsamic glazed mushrooms on the pesto/aioli pita halves.

Serve and enjoy

Roasted Red Pepper Aioli

½ roasted red pepper

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 clove of garlic

½ c. olive oil

In a blender, combine egg yolk, garlic, and vinegar, blend until smooth.  With the blender still running, slowly pour in olive oil and allow mixture to emulsify.  Once it has reached a thick mayonnaise consistency, pop in the red pepper.

Balsamic Caramelized Onions

1 large Vidalia onion, thinly sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

¼ tsp sea salt

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Heat oil to medium heat in a large skillet, add in onions and salt.  Stir until softened then lower heat and continue to cook until the onions have reduced to more than half and are a caramel colour, approx 15-20 minutes.  Pour in balsamic vinegar and cook for another 5 minutes.

Rather than fret over what to do for this edition of One Dish Two Spoons, we put the pressure onto Dustin and John to select a dish for each of us to make.

Jess’ Take

Since Dustin was once again making the trek up to Montreal from Toronto for the weekend, I figured the least I could do is make a nice healthy dinner for him when he arrived.  When I asked what sort of dish he’d like me to make, telling him it was the theme for this week’s 1D2S segment, he immediately began to think of all kinds of dishes I could make. He then presented me with two options: Tex Mex Salad or Pesto Pasta.

At first, I was drawn to the idea of the Tex Mex salad (anything involving guacamole is immediately in my good books).  That was until I spotted the delicious and fragrant basil in my grocery store, I then quickly switched over to pesto. Dustin didn’t seem to mind either.

The key to pesto is to keep it simple and keep it fresh.  You don’t want to mess with a good thing by adding in too much stuff and drowning out the basil.  We served ours with some sautéed cremini mushrooms and sundried tomatoes served over a bed of whole wheat spaghettini pasta.  Perfection, alongside a glass of red wine, of course.

Pretty Pesto with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Mushrooms

30-40 fresh basil leaves

¼ c. extra virgin olive oil

100g grated asiago cheese

1 clove of garlic

¼ tsp sea salt

2-3 cremini mushrooms, sliced

½ c. sun-dried tomatoes, sliced

2 handful sized bunches of spaghettini pasta

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add in pasta and cook until al dente.  Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile combine basil, olive oil, asiago, garlic and seat salt into a food processor and process until smooth.  Taste and adjust seasonings.

Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high-heat and add in mushrooms, cook until softened and moisture has been released ~2-3 minutes.  Add in your sun-dried tomatoes, 2/3 c. pesto and stir well to combine, cook until heated through.  Serve over pasta with grated asiago cheese.

Serves 2

-Jess

Tess’ Take

“What would you like for dinner on Saturday, hun?” “Pork” “Why?” “We haven’t eaten it in a while”.  Seems like a good enough reason to me.

Having a very wide array of options for dishes that include pork, I went straight to my tried and true cooking bible to help narrow my search: Clean Eating Magazine.  You know what I love about this magazine?  The index!  They list all of the dishes by theme “appetizer, poultry, dessert, salad” at the back and list all the recipes and corresponding pages for easy navigation.  Organization…. I need more of that in my life.

Pork Chops with Peppers, Onions, & Olives

Ingredients:

-4 boneless pork loin chops

-S&P

-1 tbs olive oil

-1/2 each green, red, and yellow bell pepper, and red onion.  All cut into 1/4 inch slices

-1 tbs *tomato paste

-8-12 Kalamata olive, pitted

-1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

*I forgot to buy tomato paste, so instead I used ketchup.  A good substitute would have been a thick, plain pasta sauce, but we didn’t have any on-hand.  Ketchup seemed to work fine though.

Directions:

1.  In a large skillet, heat oil over medium.  Season both sides of pork and add chops to pan, cooking 5 minutes per side until cooked through.  Meanwhile, cut up your veggies.

2.  Transfer chops to serving plates and cover with tin foil to keep warm.

3.  Add the peppers to the same skillet and cook for 2 minutes.  Add onion and cook 3 minutes until both peppers and onion are tender.  Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.

4. Add olives and broth and cook about 2 minutes until broth is reduced to a thin glaze.

5.  To serve, top pork with vegetables and glaze.  I also served this dish with a side of wild rice.

Serves: 2-4 (depending on how many pork chops you want!)

Calories: 204, Fat: 9g, Carbs: 6g, Protein: 31g (according to the magazine)

John’s verdict: “really good”.  Gotta love males’ simplicity, eh?  In a more elaborate recap, I really liked the flavor of the glaze.  For those of you who aren’t keen on olives, you’ll be happy to know that they weren’t overpowering at all, though they really did make the dish so don’t skip them!  You could also change up the pork by using chicken or a white fish (such as halibut) instead.  The glaze is flavorful enough that you’ll want a mild meat so as not to compete with it.

Recently, Dustin discovered my shoe closet.  And by discover I mean he pushed away my body blocking his path, thrust open the door to my poor excuse for a closet and realized just how many shoes I own.

We’re not going to discuss the purses and handbags, that’s a disease all its own.

The funny thing is, most of the shoes in my closet, like many items I covet, have a story to go with them.  Anecdotes, memories, and the “should I REALLY buy that 5^th pair of black pumps”, immediately leap to my mind when I explore pairs I haven’t worn for a while.  The gold stiletto boots are no exception.

The year was 2008 and I had been living in Montreal for under a year, trying my damndest to keep a dead-end long distance relationship alive.  After many fights, tears, and butting heads, I was working at an event in Toronto when I received the call (on February 14^th I might add).  We were over, done, kaput. He wanted nothing more to do with me, and my 21 year old self was devastated.

Still wondering why I hate Valentine’s Day?

Anyway, after a sniffling phone call to my Mom, who told me in no uncertain terms to get my ass in the shower, get dressed and enjoy the big fancy dinner I’d organized, I called Tess.   None of my friends were particularly shocked over the breakup, given that this was the 2^nd year in a row that he’d dumped on Valentine’s Day.

My hatred for February 14^th should be crystal clear to you, by now.

That weekend, Tess showed up to my parents house where I was staying and we went out for a day of shopping.  Retail therapy= the best kind of therapy.  After purchasing some new make-up, probably a new purse, and a few other non-essentials, we strolled into a shoe store and there they were.

Not at all the classically pretty and sophisticated style I go for with my heels, these were blatantly “sexy” (it was 2008 give me a break on style, please) totally impractical, and would have made Nancy Sinatra stop and say daaamn! I wanted them; no- I needed these boots.  So I bought them.

I may have only worn them maybe a handful of times, but every time I donned them, I felt my confidence go straight through the roof and any thoughts of my ex were of the F-U variety.  They were my bowl of Ben and Jerry’s and box of chocolates, without the calories and saturated fat.  They were a symbol of my new-found independence and really, I would never have bought them if Tess hadn’t been there to talk me into it.

That’s what friends are for, right?

-Jess

I am…

I am: sitting at my computer

I think: that the best is yet to come for me

I know: I need to clean the apartment, but

I want: to watch tv instead lol

I have: bed head

I dislike: slow walkers, cigarette smoke, and maple syrop on bacon

I miss: my dad

I fear: divorce

I feel: stiff… I need to stretch.

I hear: trucks and buses all the time!  I can’t wait to move into a quieter neighbourhood.

I smell: peanut butter.  Probably because I have some on my fingers and face.  That stuff gets everywhere!

I crave: bread, chocolate, fruit salad, and zucchini oatmeal

I cry: when I’m happy, more so than when I’m sad

I usually: don’t answer the phone… I prefer to text or email

I search: for the “why” to everything!  As a true Sagittarian should.

I wonder: what life would have been like if I hadn’t been born (in an existential way, not a depressed way)

I regret: not pursuing my dreams earlier in life

I love: easily, and without much hesitation

I care: about my health

I always: brush my teeth twice a day

I worry: about money.  All day long.

I am not: very cautious about germs

I believe: that every life (human, insect, plant, etc.) has a soul which is EQUALLY valuable, and that no one being is superior or more worthy of living than another.  Please reconsider killing the spider in your shower

I sing:, wishing I could be a better singer

I don’t always: clean my dishes right away

I argue: if someone else started it, or if I feel that my personal choice or freedom is being threatened

I write: every day, because it straightens out my thoughts

I win: some

I lose: some

I wish: I’d been better with my money as a teenager

I listen: but don’t always remember

I can usually be found: at home or at the gym

I am scared: of someone breaking into the house when I’m alone

I forget: unless I write it down

I am happy: from the moment I wake up in the morning

-Tess

If you don’t know me personally, I realize you’re probably expecting some mushy and sentimental post in honour Valentine’s Day.  Sorry, but that’s just not going to happen. I’m not that kind of girl.

I don’t mean to sound like I’m the Grinch of Valentine’s Day… well, maybe I am. I do look good in green after all. Minus the hairy beard and everything.  Anyway, I’m not big on the day but I will admit this: I am a sucker for cinnamon hearts.  They are one of my favorite candies and I could (and usually do) eat them by the bucket load.

So what better way than for me to try and have something positive to say about February 14^th than with a fun li’l cookie recipe inspired by this delectable confection? Using the sugar cookie recipe from my Christmas Cookie Sandwiches, subbing the chocolate for smashed cinnamon hearts seemed like the appropriate recipe.

Cinnamon Heart Sugar Cookies

1 c. butter, softened to room temperature

½ c. white sugar

½ c. brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 ¼ c. all purpose flour

¼ c. crushed cinnamon hearts

Icing:

¼ c. icing sugar

1-2 tbsp water

Drop of red food colouring

Preaheat oven to 350F

In a large bowl, beat flour and butter until fluffy, then beat in egg and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, and baking powder.  Stir flour mixture into butter mixture then stir in cinnamon hearts.

Form dough into ½ inch balls and place onto baking sheets, 2 inches apart from each other.  Using a flat-bottomed glass, flatten the balls into rounds. You may need to dampen the glass slightly every few times.

Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, for 12-15 minutes or until the bottoms are slightly golden- watch carefully as sugar cookies tend to burn fast.

Remove the cookies from the oven and place on cooling rack.  Once the cookies of have cooled place them on a sheet of parchment paper.

Mix the icing sugar, water and food colouring and drizzle over the cookies.  Top with extra cinnamon hearts if desired.

Happy Valentine’s Day

-Jess

After looking up some fun breakfast ideas for our most recent 1 Dish, 2 Spoons segment I came across two very cool uses for avocado.  Now, in Jess’ own words, she “knows her way around an avocado”, but I’ll bet even she hasn’t thought to use it in the following contexts:

1) Avocado and Egg Whites

Very simply, you boil some eggs, cut up the eggs whites (either discard or save the cooked yolks… for dog owners, this makes a great treat for your little buddies!) and mix them up with some cubed avocado.  I used 3 eggs and 1/2 avocado.  I then sprinkled it all with some S&P, and lightly drizzled it with olive oil.  Simple, quick, easy, and full of clean protein and healthy fats.  Eat it along with some toast for a complete breakfast, or alone as a snack.

2) Quinoa Avocado Breakfast Bowl

Again, very simple.  I had some quinoa leftover from dinner the night prior, and of course half an avocado remaining from the snack above.  Heat up your quinoa, slice the avocado, chop up some nuts of your choosing (I used almonds) and drizzle with honey.  Boom, you’ve got breakfast.  I wasn’t sure how I’d like this one, but the avocado has such a mild taste that it just ended up adding a cool texture to the otherwise sweet dish.

So, the next time you’re making home-made sushi, pick up an extra avocado and try these two great recipes.  Your heart will thank you

Dustin came up to Montreal this past weekend, and as is quickly becoming the ritual, Friday is stay-in and cook dinner night. When we first began dating, I was a bit apprehensive over being with someone who enjoys cooking as much as I do as I’ve never been one who is good at sharing kitchen duties. Ask Tess, I take over pretty damn quickly when no one’s looking.  However, we’ve quickly established that while I am pretty good at coming up with creative dishes and flavor pairings, working in kitchens for the past 10+ years has given him the skills. His prep work is far quicker and prettier than mine.  So we’ve figured out a system that works: I tell him what to do, and he listens

I was particularly excited for this Friday as he was going to teach me how to make sushi!  I’ve always wanted to learn how to make sushi but was always more than a little intimidated. So when Dustin proposed we make some on Friday, I was more than happy to give it a shot.

Obviously there are a few tools and key ingredients needed in order to make sushi successfully:

- A rolling mat

- A very sharp knife

- Nori sheets

- Sticky rice

When making the rice, I would recommend you’d use a rice-cooker if you have one.  I don’t and definitely found the texture to be slightly “off”.  Still worked, but I’m sure a rice-cooker would do a far better job.  Earlier today, I was looking through one of my cookbooks and an adapted sushi recipe recommended adding 1 tbsp of rice wine vinegar to your cooked rice.  I’d recommend giving that a shot as we felt the rice was lacking something.

We used 1 cup of dry rice and found that this would have been more than enough for 3 rolls. If you’re unsure of what type of rice to buy, we used Calrose Medium Grain rice.

For the stuffing we used some of mine and Dustin’s favorite flavors: sweet potato and avocado.

We paired the sweet potato with jalapeno for one roll and then we did a vegetarian spin on the California roll with carrot, avocado, cucumber and red bell pepper.

The process:

Step 1: Prep the veggies into the appropriate shapes. Dustin julienned the carrots, sweet potato, bell pepper and jalapeno but left the avocado and cucumber a bit thicker.   We also steamed the sweet potato and jalapeno for 2 minutes after they’d been julienned.

Step 2- layout your rolling mat flat on an even surface and place on sheet of nori on top

Step 3- take ½ to ¾ of a cup of sticky rice and spread it evenly over the nori, be sure to press it in firmly and get it into the corners.  Make it as even as possible.
Tip: keep your hands wet as this will make it much easier

You now have 2 options: you can leave it like this and have the nori on the outside, or flip it over to have the rice on the outside.  We did one of each.

Step 4- take your ingredients and place them evenly over the bottom fifth of your nori sheet- make sure they are evenly distributed so each piece of the roll will have the same ingredients.

Now comes the fun part.

Step 5- firmly take the rolling mat and lift it up and roll the bottom of the nori tightly over.

Keeping a tight grip, curl your fingers around the mat pulling the roll in tighter, but at the same time allow the end of the mat to push out.

Keep rolling and pulling, forcing the mat to form the nori into a complete roll.  Once done take the mat and wrap it firmly around the roll to seal the edge

If you’ve done the reverse roll with the rice on the outside, sprinkle with sesame seeds.  I did this by scattering the seeds over my cutting board and rolling the roll over top to coat them.

Step 6- take your sharp knife and slice into individual pieces.  You may need to rinse your knife a few times as you do this.

Serve with Soy sauce (REDUCED SODIUM) and wasabi.

If you and your significant other are looking for a fun way to spend Valentine’s day together, I would recommend giving this a shot.

I wouldn’t recommend you take a page out of Samantha’s book a la Sex and the City, though.

-Jess