Brock Skywalker

For lunch today · 28 February 05

3 eggs
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1/4 cup chopped red pepper
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 Tbsp. crumbled (chicken or turkey) bacon
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
2 cloves of garlic
1 pinch of pepper and oregano

1. Vigorously stir eggs in a mixing bowl.
2. Add ingredients and combine.
3. Pour mixture into a well-olive oiled pan.
4. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes (until eggs are good and cooked).
5. Fold in half and serve wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla
6. Suggested sides: sliced tomato and avocado.

Bon appetite!

Comments [3] | Permalink

What’s the harm? · 7 December 04

“For the record, France – the country that started the whole “drinking is good for you” craze – now has one of the highest rates of liver scirrosis in the world. And public health officials there consider alcohol public enemy number one.” – cbc.ca

The CBC wouldn’t lie… would they?

- Related post -

| Permalink

Pistachios, who knew? · 6 December 04

- Choosing pistachios can help you reach your dietary goals. DASH diet, Mediterranean diet, Weight Watchers and even the Canadian Food Guide, they all highlight nuts in their healthy eating plan.

- Pistachios are an excellent, although a lesser-known, source of antioxidants, which are thought to fight cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s.

- Women who consumed more than 150 grams of nuts per week had a 25% lower risk of cholecystectomy (removal of the gall bladder) than did women who never ate nuts or who ate less than 30 grams per month.

- Significant amounts of the antioxidant, lutein, have been found in pistachios. In addition, there are a number of studies that show higher lutein intakes are associated with lower incidence of eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (breakdown of the central portion of the retina) and cataracts.

- Eating nuts, such as pistachios, may help reduce the risk of heart disease when eaten as a part of a diet low in saturdated fat and cholesterol.

I am going to stop and buy some on the way home!!

* Everything you need to know about pistachios.

Comments [1] | Permalink

Enjoy the moment · 16 November 04

I just had the best soy latte of my life!
Everyone, flock to Zuppa and order one!
It will make everything else go away.

| Permalink

The afternoon coffee · 12 October 04

It always seems like a good idea. 3:00 rolls around, there is still an hour and a half left in the work day and your head is bobbing like an armless-legless man in a swimming pool. So you go down to the local *$s or 2^ndCup or whatever (the walk probably is enough to wake you up sufficiently… especially in January) and get a big coffee or a fancy latte or frapamacino or something. You trundle back to your desk to partake of the piping hot (or lukewarm if it is January) bevereen. About 20 minutes later the world starts to crash down on you. Everything seems like it is much more important than it actually is, the pile on your desk seems to be laughing at you maniacally and time is going much too slowly for this time of year (especially if it is January)... so what do you do about it? You write a blog entitled The Afternoon Coffee.

Comments [1] | Permalink

Sunday certainty · 10 October 04

The only thing I know for certain is that if I eat even the tiniest bit more I will burst my main seam… and yes, I know it is monday but it is a long weekend… so it is sort of Sunday.

| Permalink

Ichibad! · 29 September 04

I have gone on tirades about this stuff before and I will do it again… right now!

Ichiban soup. Yes, they are cheap. Yes, they are fast. Yes, they are soup (barely). BUT NO, they are not good for you. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look shall we?

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 33g (why does it say 100g on the package?)
Servings Per Container 3 (Who eats a third of a package?!?)
Amount Per Serving:
Calories 160 (so really 480. A Quarter Pounder at McD’s has 420.)
Total Fat 8g (X 3 = 24. A Quarter Pounder WITH CHEESE has 25.)
Saturated Fat 3g (that is the bad kind)
Sodium 700mg (really 2100. It is recommended to have 1500/day, not /meal)
Total Carbohydrate 19g (whatever… carbs are good)
Dietary Fiber 1g (you get more fiber from swallowing a pen cap)
Sugars 2g (not bad…)
Protein 3g (quarter pounder gives you 24gs of good old protein)
Vitamin A: 3% (these are not significant amounts of vitamins)
Vitamin C: 1% (quarter pounder has 3% of your daily vitamin c)
Calcium: 2% (osteoporosis here you come!)
Iron: 12% (not bad for food with NO NATURAL COLOUR)

Now, by no way am I saying “go to McDoodles and eat a Quarter Pounder instead of eating your Ichiban Soup”! A quarter pounder is still bad for you and it is way more expensive (although at least you can see where all the fat is coming from. I mean… it’s a burger. It’s not soup!). Somehow we all know McD’s is bad but we think “hey it is soup, it must be good for me… or at least not bad for me” (The lack of nutritional information on the package does not help… I thought that was illegal). I just wanted to draw the parallel between something we know and something we fear. You make your own choice… Or I will make it for you!

That is all I have to say about that.

McD’s Nutrution info

Ichiban Nutrition info

| Permalink

Salmon, ribs, popsicles and sleep · 26 September 04

It was a pretty great weekend.

Friday night was a quiet one. Made some yummy salmon for dinner. I was going to steam it but when I remembered my steamer was still packed in a box in my sister’s basement I just plopped the fish on top of the veggies I had stir-fried up and steamed it like that. It was delicious! I used 5 cloves of garlic in the oil so by the time the veggies and salmon were all cooked up I had a great garlic infusion. I did use a little too much terriyaki. It tasted fine but was a little saltier than I usually like.

Saturday morning I had a meeting with my publicist and designer. I love saying things like that. I sound so professional! Then Dave Banks picked me up and off to Calgary we drove in a fancy rented sedan. It was a sunny gorgeous day and we were out on a rooftop patio the whole afternoon. Thanks to all the good folks at Ceili’s for such a good time… my ribs still hurt… and I am not sure why.

Sunday morning (Dave and I got back to Edmonton at about 4:30am… I slept most of the way… sorry Dave) at noon I joined Heather Hutchison on stage at the CNIB dog walk-run-jam-eat hot dogs party in Rundle Park. It was a sunny clear morning and lots of folks were there to enjoy the event. I was late… but I enjoyed what I saw. Heather played and sang excellently (I know she will give me guff about saying that so I will qualify it by saying that she did make a couple mistakes BUT like a pro she didn’t get flustered and more than made up for it in the performance and that is all that matters. I won’t even think about how many bad notes I hit at Ceili’s the night before!). We talked in the sunshine, had some popsicles and then I went home. I napped most of the rest of the day.

When I woke up again Eleanor and I went to see Shaun of the Dead. It was GREAT! I don’t even feel the need to give it a review because it is simply a funny, slightly gross, ridiculous, great film. Go see it. Way before you go to see Sky Craptain. It is even worth seeing at full price!

Dulcie just posted one of our Friday after work adventures. It is fun to have urls, footnotes and photos to document your life.

| Permalink

Beer news: good and bad · 16 September 04

I found this thanks to Paul Bellows’ blog. I found a need to post it here aswell because I deemed it to be too important to risk it being missed by anyone!

Here is the skinny version:

   Trevithick said the study shows that drinking one bottle of beer a day reduces your chances of contracting cataracts or atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries caused by the buildup of plaque) by 50 per cent.

   You and I might think that if drinking one beer a day can help you live longer, then drinking five will help you live forever. (This is also why you and I are not scientists.)

   In fact, the study showed that drinking two bottles of beer a day is not as healthy as drinking one bottle a day, because it reduces the risk of various aging diseases by only 10 per cent.

   And the bad news is that drinking three bottles of beer a day actually causes the blood to become pro-oxidant and increases the risk of such diseases 30 to 40 per cent.

So there you have it. Good and bad. Beer, can’t live with it… pass the nitro.

Comments [1] | Permalink