A Happy Fork for Happy Eaters?

I just learned about the HAPIfork which tracks your eating patterns: such as number of forkfuls, time between mouthfuls and total eating time. I like the idea because most people eat very automatically and without awareness. However, one interesting thing I read about the tool is that it sends out a warning if you go over a certain number of forkfuls, which they have set to 75 for one meal. Seventy-five forkfuls!!! I don't think I eat 75 forkfuls in an entire day.

Portion size can definitely be an issue for folks and so many of us eat past the point of satiety. How many forkfuls do you think you eat per meal? Try counting sometime......

Feb 11, 2013

Breakfast: poached egg on gluten-free cheese bread, fresh blueberries
Lunch: cauliflower leek cream soup, roast chicken
Dinner: chicken cacciatore with red peppers, fresh carrot sticks and hummous

Feb 9, 2013

Breakfast: yogurt and granola, with several slices of banana
Lunch: Amy's split pea soup, wedge of melted Brie cheese, half an avocado and brown rice chips
Dinner: Beef stir fry on brown rice, gluten-free recipe here

Feb 4, 2013

Breakfast: plain yogurt with homemade granola and fresh raspberries
Snack: mandarin orange and 6 cashews
Lunch: Bacon root vegetable soup (from the Leon Fast Food cookbook), smoked salmon on 10 rice crackers
Snack: Delicious gluten-free carrot cake made by my husband, yum!!
Dinner: Lamb slow cooker stew (lamb chunks, chick peas, butternut squash, onion, rosemary, garlic, beer, tomato sauce, cinnamon, garam masala)

Making your own Granola

I've written many times about homemade granola which is incredibly easy to prepare. By making your own granola you will avoid eating poor quality ingredients like refined sugars and oils. Customize your granola however you like: you'll need large flake oats, a good oil (like unrefined olive or canola or ideally coconut oil), honey, and your favourite granola ingredients: nuts, seeds, dried fruits.

Turn oven to 350C.
Place 10" x 13" pan in oven for 10 minutes to heat it up. Remove from oven and place two Tablespoons coconut oil in pan; it will melt.
Put 2 cups large flakes into pan and spread evenly.
Sprinkle with 1 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, sweet spice of your choice.
Bake for 8 minutes, then remove from oven.
Drizzle with 1/3 cup honey, then stir gently to ensure that all is evenly distributed.
Put back in oven for 6-10 minutes depending on level of brown-ness  you prefer. Keep an eye on the pan because it will brown quickly.
Remove from oven and add in 1/2 cup each of raisins, sliced apricots, pecans, almonds and sesame seeds.
Cool for five minutes then stir up with a spatula to ensure cooling granola does not stick to bottom of pan.

January 29, 2013

Breakfast: "Food for Life" Gluten-free rice tortilla with sliced half a banana with 3 tsp of peanut butter and 1 tsp sugar-free jam.
Snack: 1/2 cup of fresh pineapple
Lunch: baked salmon with half an avocado, homemade vegetable soup, handful mixed deluxe nuts
Snack: 2 fibre bars and half a bottle Naked Green Machine juice
Dinner: 2 slices gluten-free salami, 3 ounces havarti cheese, 5 brown rice tortilla chips, green side salad with cucumbers, pistachios

Jan 27, 2013

After last night's nausea-inducing meal, I decided to eat mostly fruits and veggies today, and choose lighter meals.
Breakfast: 1 banana with 1 teaspoon almond butter, 4 strawberries.
Lunch: mixed veggie soup, 1 slice turkey
Snack: smoothie 1/2 banana, 1/2 c blueberries, 1 c flax milk, 1 tsp honey, 1 large leaf kale
Dinner: Baked rainbow trout, boiled kale and rapini drizzled with olive oil, brown rice