Smoked Salmon Scrambled Eggs

This is one tasty breakfast. I had some friends over on a Sunday morning so I served up these fancy scrambled eggs with some oatmeal buttermilk pancakes and chopped up fruit.
I just served the scrambled eggs in a big bowl and let everyone help themselves. I am not a huge huge fan of smoked salmon, or scrambled eggs for that matter, but this dish hit the spot with everyone including me. I actually found the recipe published on the internet so you can take a look for yourself by clicking on the link below.
Smoked Salmon Scrambled eggs

SERVED WITH: Pancakes, fruit and coffee

COOKING TIPS: Being able to serve everything all at once was a little tricky. I had my husband tend to the scrambled eggs while I finished off the pancakes.

RATING: 7. Very rich and flavorful. You don't need a huge helping of these eggs.

Fish Burger

Ever since my husband and I went on vacation to Nova Scotia this summer we have been craving the delicious array of seafood we consumed in mass amounts while there. One of our favorite meals was a simple fish burger. Now of course the fish burgers we ate while on vacation were anything but good for you, deep fried fish served on white buns with a side of fries, delicious but fattening! So we have been on the look out for a healthier version we could prepare at home. We happened to stumble upon a recipe in an old issue of a Canadian Living magazine I had lying around, and we were not disappointed. Of course it was not quite the same but it still tasted good and reminded us of our relaxing vacation. The funny thing is I never would have attempted to make this meal in the past. Before our vacation a fish burger would not have appealed to me at all.

Click here for the recipe from Canadian Living.

Part of the recipe is a simply delicious spread that you serve with the burger. It also tastes amazing when you dip your fries in it. But I warn you, the spread uses mayonnaise as its base. It is light mayo but even the light stuff is a yellow light item! All the other ingredients are GI approved (as long as you choose a whole wheat bun).


SERVED WITH: Sweet potato fries baked in the oven.

COOKING TIPS: This recipe did not call for any sort of coating on the fish. I think the next time I would look up a breading of sorts from the GI Diet Cookbook and use it on the fish for a crispier burger. This recipe also uses catfish. Since I am not a fan of that particular fish I used haddock. It was rainy the night I made this so instead of grilling it I had to pan fry it.

RATING:7. With a few alterations it has the potential to be a 9.

Ham and Split Pea Soup

Making soup is so easy! You just chop every thing up, throw it all in the pot and let it simmer. This recipe does however require a little bit of time as you have to leave it on the stove for an hour and a half. I had the day off so I spent the morning in the kitchen preparing a few things for the week so I would not have to cook every night. I assembled this first and by the time I was done everything else the soup was done. When we ate it the next day I actually had to add in some more water as it was pretty thick. I also added a touch of salt and pepper to taste.

SERVED WITH: A piece of whole wheat toast. It makes a great meal on a chilly fall day.

COOKING TIPS: This was the very first time I had used split peas and I didn't understand why the recipe said to wash and sort the split peas first. So I looked it up on google and found out that the purpose of sorting the peas is to make sure no random stones or chunks of dirt have made it into the bag and inadvertently into your soup.

RATING: 7. It is definitely better then the canned versions I am used to and now that I know it is so easy to make I doubt I will go back.

Black Bean Burritos - Take 2

I made these black bean burritos again, this time with better results. The first time I attempted to find a healthy version of a soft tortilla shell without any preservatives and ended up with a pasty version that was rock hard and difficult to fold after only seconds of being heated. This time I stuck with the usual slightly less healthy but much more tasty tortilla shell and I enjoyed the meal even more. This time around I did discover two new products:
Armstrong cheese - a surprisingly good light style cheese. I purchased the old variety. I usually find light cheeses to be tasteless but this brand is very flavourful.
Newman's Own salsa - is a salsa made of all natural ingredients with low sugar and salt levels.

If you want to see my original post click here
SERVED WITH: All on their own. I ate one and half and was stuffed full.

COOKING TIPS: If you like your food spicy then double the amount of chili peppers the recipe calls for.

RATING: Still an 8.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

If you are in need of something a little sweet these cookies will do the trick. Even though this was my first time making the cookies I played around with the recipe a little. Instead of using Splenda or other sugar substitute I used real sugar but cut the amount in half. Now I know the point of the GI Diet is to try to eliminate sugar from your diet but I am not a fan of artificial sweeteners and I find most recipes turn out well and still taste sweet enough if I use just a touch of real sugar. I won't make these cookies all the time, not because of the taste but because I would consider this a special treat and my 10% cheat of the week. (on the GI Diet you are allowed to cheat 10% of the time)


SERVED WITH: A cup of coffee or tea

COOKING TIPS: Don't over bake the cookies. The 10 minutes cook time suggested is just perfect.

RATING: 8. These cookies don't have the chewy texture of a traditional cookie and are a touch dry but still a nice treat.

Sun Tea

I came across the idea of sun tea while browsing through one of my favorite blogs, Design Sponge. I don't drink much else other then water, coffee, tea and the occasional glass of wine. Sometimes it would be nice to have a cold drink with a little more flavour but most juices and pops are laden with sugar. That is why sun tea caught my interest.

I looked up several recipes but they all vary widely. So tonight I just decided to make up my own sun tea by throwing a bunch of stuff into a glass jar (or large measuring cup because that was all I could find in the cupboard) I had some left over mint sprigs and lemon from my dinner so that is what I used.

Traditionally, you throw your herbs into a jar, fill it with cold water and let it sit in a sunny window to brew all day. At the end of the day you pop it into the fridge to cool for a few hours before you serve it in a tall glass with a few cubes of ice. Other sites I came across suggested speeding up the process by adding boiling water to the jar instead of cold and placing it in the fridge as soon as it cooled down a little. I went with speedy version. If you want to read a more detailed post about sun tea visit the Design Sponge blog by clicking here.

The end result...it was good. I was not blown away but it was different way to enjoy a refreshing glass of water. I actually diluted it with a little more cold water to tame it down a little. It would even be nice with a splash of vodka (not that alcohol is allowed on the GI Diet)

SERVED WITH: This would be a nice accompaniment to any meal.

TIPS: When you boil the water and add it to the herbs it discolours them a little so they are not as pretty to look at. I imagine if you made it the traditional way the herbs would maintain their bright green appearance.

RATING:7. I think if I experiment with some different flavours I could come up with a mixture that I would really enjoy.

Chicken Fried Rice made with leftover Coffee and Spice Rubbed Chicken

I have had this post sitting as a draft for quite a while. I just haven't gotten around to writing it out.

So basically what I did one time way back when I made some coffee and spice rubbed chicken was use my leftover chicken to create a new meal. I simple took some left over chicken and brown rice and fried it up with some peas, carrots, and low sodium soya sauce. Just when it was about ready to serve (once the veggies were tender and hot) I stirred in a whisked egg. This is my version of homemade chicken fried rice.

SERVED WITH: Nothing at all. I make this when I have leftover chicken and am not in the mood to spend 30 minutes in the kitchen.

COOKING TIPS: Throw in whatever veggies you want. Celery, bok choy, and even white beans or chick peas would taste good.

RATING: 7. It's an average meal for a night when you want something speedy.

Black Bean Burritos

I am getting hungry just looking at the pictures above. These black bean burritos are yummy and hearty. This is another one of those vegetarian GI Diet meals that you would swear has meat in it. Not because of the flavor but because of how delicious and filling it is. I did however have a hard time finding a soft tortilla shell that I would consider to be healthy and ended up with a pasty version that hardened quickly after being heated up. But despite my tortilla fiasco I still enjoyed this dish and would certainly make it again. If I find a better shell the next time I will definitely let you know.

SERVED WITH: Feeling lazy that night I served them all on their own. But they would have been nice with a healthy garden salad.

COOKING TIPS: Heat up your tortilla shells as you eat them. No matter the variety of shell they will go hard if left to sit to long after being heated up.

RATING: 8. Imagining I made them with better shells.

Lemon Linguine with Smoked Salmon

I was saving this dish for a friend of mine. I had a feeling she would enjoy it so I waited to make it on a night she and her husband could come over for dinner. I am not a huge huge fan of smoked salmon or green peas but this dish was quite pleasant. The tangy lemon flavor was particularly suitable for the warm summer evening we enjoyed it on.

SERVED WITH: You could serve this meal with a side salad but I found it filling all on it's own, it is pasta after all.

COOKING TIPS: It is so super simple to make. The shape of the linguine was a nice change from traditional spaghetti noodles.

RATING: 8. It was enjoyable to eat and was simple and quick to make. The perfect dish for entertaining.

Quick Strawberry Jam

OK so this recipe is definitely not from the GI Diet cookbook but I thought I would share it anyways. I have been feeling like a home body lately and into experimenting in the kitchen and I decided I wanted to learn how to make jam. I was browsing through some old magazines and I came across this recipe for "Quick Strawberry Jam" . This is not jam in the traditional sense but if you want to whip up a tasty treat it will do the trick.

This recipe has a lot of SUGAR! so be warned. The next time I make it I am going to experiment a little more and cut the sugar in half and then try it without any sugar at all. After all fruit is usually sweet enough on its own so it may work out. Although sugar sometimes adds to the texture of the finished product. I will let you know once I polish off this jar by having it on my toast every morning. So much for completely getting back on the GI Diet

SERVED WITH: Toast and tea

COOKING TIPS: If you don't mind using Splenda or another sugar substitute I am sure you can make this jam a sugar free treat. This jam is quick and easy to make.

RATING: 7. It is a little to sweet for my liking.