Simply Pho Soup

 

Do you have certain food cravings that are stronger then others and just hit you out of nowhere? I have that for Asian food. Especially for Asian soups. It doesn’t hit often but when it does, I have to have it now!

It used to be that I reached for the phone and ordered from our favourite Chinese or Vietnamese take out restaurant but since we moved further out west, I can no longer reach out to these places for help to quench my cravings: they don’t deliver this far out and if we did venture out ourselves to pick it up, well, let’s just say that by the time we got back home and started eating, the craving would have certainly passed!

So I did what any other motivated foodie would do, I learned how to make some of my favourite Asian dishes and on top of that list was Pho (pronounced fa). Pho is a bowl of noodle soup, generally thin rice noodles, in a rich aromatic broth, topped with bean sprouts, lime, Thai basil, cilantro and your choice of vegetable mix, tofu or meat. You can add spicy chilli sauce, hoisin sauce or tamari sauce to finish off the dish… It’s simple yet absolutely delicious and soul satisfying!

The beauty of making such a simple dish is that it can be adapted to suit the cravings of that moment or, what’s in your fridge. Unless I set out to make a traditional dish for a specific reason, I never let the constraints of what my food should be like, define what it actually turns out to be. You get me? So I make my Pho to suit my craving for that day and add ingredients that you probably wouldn’t find in a traditional Pho, like the one I made for dinner the other night, with caramelized onions and mushrooms.

What I also love about this soup is how easily it can be put together. The broth is what requires the most time but since I didn’t have much time the other night, and like I said, I don’t let tradition dictate the outcome, I made a miso base broth and it was glorious. Miso is a paste that comes from fermented soybeans. It brings an amazing umami flavour to any dish and the health benefits are endless (it provides probiotics, helps improve digestion, levels out blood pressure, provides copper, vitamin K, manganese…)

When combining caramelized onions and mushrooms with rice noodles simmering in a miso broth and top it with fresh basil, bean sprouts and a squirt of lime, trust me you’re in for one deliciously filling meal! Even my toddler loved it. I put a little less broth in his bowl and cut up the noodles. Let’s just say he had a great time eating it and mommy had a not so great time cleaning everything up!

This soup is also a great meal for entertaining a group of friends. I make a large batch of the broth and let the noodles sit in it in the center of the table. I spread a few different toppings on the table: cubed tofu, edamames, mixed vegetables, caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, basil, cilantro, lime wedges, bean sprouts, spicy chilli sauce, hoisin and tamari sauce. That way, everyone can create his or her own soup and since it’s all gluten free, it will suit everyone’s dietary restrictions.

On a side note, I mentioned to you guys the other day that I started reading the book “May cause Miracles” by the amazingly talented Gabrielle Bernstein. Well I just started reading chapter 3 and it’s all about body image. Up until now, I was very comfortable with the assigned exercises. I can even say that I did them wilfully and with ease. I can’t say the same now… This chapter is really hitting home for me and I’m struggling. I want to share this experience with you guys, as I believe it can be of help to others, but I understand some of you may only want my recipes (which is totally cool!) so I’ll be creating a separate page on my blog. My new page will be up tomorrow so you can start reading about my journey…

 

Simply Pho
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 portions
This soup is easy to put together and can easily be adapted to suit your cravings of the moment. Just let your imagination leas the way.
Ingredients
  • 6 Cups of water
  • 6 Tbs miso paste (I use red miso paste but white works well also)
  • 1/2 package of vermicelli rice noodles (about 200 grams)
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • 1 medium red onion
  • 2 Cups mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/2 lime
  • Optional toppings: bean sprouts, basil, cilantro
Instructions
  1. In a sauce pan, melt the coconut oil on medium high heat.
  2. Add the onions and cook for 3 minutes.
  3. Add the mushrooms and cook another 5 minutes.
  4. Set aside.
  5. In a large pot, bring the water to a boil.
  6. Add the miso paste and whisk.
  7. Add the vermicelli rice noodles and allow to cook for 3-5 minutes.
  8. Juice the lime into the broth.
  9. Separate the broth and noodles between 4 bowls and top with onions and mushrooms.
  10. Top with your favourite toppings and enjoy.

 

P.S. As you guys may have noticed, some adds have been added to my blog and you will now find some affiliated links. I now participate in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites. Please rest assured that the products I link to, are all products I personally use and love.

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Overnight festive oats

 

Good morning,

Did you sleep well, did you wake up fully rested and ready to start the day, was your morning rushed or flowing flawlessly?  Do you need a hearty breakfast to get your through the morning hustle or do you crave something creamy and cozy to go with that steaming cup of coffee or tea? Whatever your night or morning has been like, this breakfast will bring a little festive feeling to your day and I’m sure will put a smile on your face.

It’s no secret that I love breakfast. I always have. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I wake up hungry most mornings but even more so with the types of food that is served at breakfast: protein smoothies, pancakes, waffles, fresh fruit bowls, warm porridge, overnight oats. I was never one to have dinner leftovers for breakfast. No, I crave breakfast food! I’ve actually been know to have breakfast for dinner many times, mostly when my husband is out and I’m home by myself. He doesn’t really fancy pumpkin pancakes with strawberries for dinner. Funny enough, I consider that a treat! Hahaha

That being said, I did, at one point in my life, try intermittent fasting or IF. It was all the craze back in early 2010, when the paleo/warrior/primal diet was all the rage in the dieting/health scene. After reading quite a bit on the subject, including the popular Eat Stop Eat book by Brad Pilon, I thought I’d give it a try. According to some scientific research, intermittent fasting has a lot of benefits for your body such as  improving biomarkers of disease, reducing oxidative stress and preserving learning and memory functions, according to Mark Mattson, senior investigator for the National Institute on Aging, part of the US National Institutes of Health. According to M. Mattson, there are several theories about why fasting provides physiological benefits. The one that him and his team has studied a lot, and designed experiments to test, is the hypothesis that during the fasting period, cells are under a mild stress,” he says “And they respond to the stress adaptively by enhancing their ability to cope with stress and, maybe, to resist disease.”

So what is intermittent fasting? According to an article written by Greg Nuckols over at Stronger By Science, Martin Berkhan, was one of the pioneers for bringing IF mainstream (Leangains, as he termed it),  and his approach is pretty straightforward: Eat all of your daily calories in an 8-hour window and fast the other 16 hours of the day. During the fasting window, you can drink zero-calorie beverages (and you can sip some BCAAs around your workout if you have to train in the middle of your fasting window), but restrict anything with any caloric content.

So how does this apply to your daily life? Well your day would look something like this:

6 am -7 am: wake up
8 am: water and coffee or tea but no sugar or vegan cream added (no calories)
12 pm: breakfast
3 pm: lunch
6 pm: dinner
7:30 pm: snack which is your last bite of food for the day
10 pm – 11pm: bedtime

Essentially, you’re skipping breakfast and eating around lunch time!

If you workout in the morning, you would do so on an empty stomach and could sip on BCAA during your training. If you workout later in the day, you’d have food in your belly to fuel your workout.

Now most people apply IF for weight loss purposes as some experts believe that working out in a fasted state forces your body to release fat stored in your fat cells for energy. This is still up for debate.

Now here’s the tricky part that very few experts discuss: you still need to eat within your caloric range and the proper foods if weight loss is your goal. If you are so hungry by the time the clock hits noon that you scurf down twice the size of your regular breakfast and can’t stop yourself from snacking the rest for the day because you are still so hungry, well you’re missing the point and you won’t see much result, at least in terms of weight loss. Improved health, perhaps. But weight loss, no. You might actually experience the opposite and notice your waistline is expanding instead of shrinking. IF is not about eating all you can shove in your mouth within a smaller window of time, it’s about eating the same things you would normally eat, or preferably less, within a set, narrower, timeframe.

And that was exactly my downfall: I would be so hungry by the time lunch rolled around, that I would eat twice and even three times the amount of food I would normally eat at one sitting and I would still eat my regular portion meals and snacks for the rest of the day. Actually, I was simply hungry all day.  As if I was never fully satisfied and my body was trying to catch up to my missed meal. The worst days were when I trained in the morning (which is pretty much the only time I have in my day to exercise!). Those days, I could eat continuously! And I felt like it was just not never enough food…

So after a few months (yes, I did stick it out for about 6 months – I wanted to see if my body would finally adapt to this new way of eating – it didn’t!) I came to the realization that this IF thing was just not for me: I need my breakfast in the morning, preferably within one hour or so of waking. I need fuel to start off my day and I need more fuel to sustain me throughout the day. So I would say my eating window is 11 hours: from around 8am to 7pm. That’s what works for me. And if there’s one things I’ve learned through my years of reading science articles on the latest diet and nutrition trend is that no matter what experts say, your body knows whats best. I’m not talking about your cravings, I’m taking about your actual body needs to strive. I’ll discuss Intuitive Eating in a later post.

In the meantime, if breakfast is as important to you as it is to me, here’s a festive overnight oats recipe to get your day started off right.

Hope you guys enjoy this recipe. Leave me a comment to let me know if you’ve tried intermittent fasting and if it worked for you.

xx

Overnight festive oats
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 portions
These overnight oats are super easy to throw together and make for an easy peasy breakfast on busy mornings. Get your children involved and let them choose and prepare their toppings the night before. Have some sliced fruits and nuts available and a few glass jars. It’ll make for a fun family activity.
Ingredients
  • 3 Cups gluten free rolled oats (I like instant oats better as I find they absorb liquid faster)
  • 2 Tbs chia seeds
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground
  • 12 drops of liquid Stevia
  • 4 Cups nut milk (I use pea milk for added protein)
  • 1/2 Cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1/3 Cup dried cranberries (try to buy sulphite free)
  • 1/3 Cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
  • 1 Cup fresh cranberries or other fresh or frozen fruits such a bananas, pears, peaches or blueberries
Instructions
  1. In a mixing bowl, combine the oats, chia seeds and cinnamon.
  2. Divide amongst 4 glass jars.
  3. Divide and add the milk and 3 drops of stevia in each jar. Stir to combine.
  4. Let set overnight in the fridge or at least for 4 hours.
  5. In the morning, top each jar with walnuts, dried cranberries, shredded coconut and your choice of fruit.

 

Autumn Carrot & Turnip soup

 

 

Hello my beautiful friends,

It has been far too long… I had originally written almost an entire post (just not complete enough to publish it!) on Canadian Thanksgiving with more tips and tricks about hosting a stress free gathering, along with the soup recipe I was going to serve. Unfortunately, my son got very sick the week before Thanksgiving and everything came to a halt. And I mean everything came to a halt. At that moment, nothing else mattered other then figuring out what was going on with Adriano and getting him better. It is such a nerve racking experience to see your child get sick and feel so powerless… Because Adriano is only 14 months, he can’t tell me what’s wrong and it makes me feel completely at a loss and unable to help him. It’s quite a humbling experience…

That being said, I am happy to say he is now almost fully recovered but it was a very scary two weeks. When Adriano finally started eating and drinking again it’s a huge relief and I knew things would get better from there… And they did.

And so needless to say, we completely missed Thanksgiving! I did manage to serve this soup I had made and kept in the freezer, alongside some mashed potatoes, cranberry stuffing, marinated tempeh (for which I’ll post the recipe later on this week because it is completely to die for… or should I say, to be thankful for! lol) and a green salad. It was far from the celebration I had prepared for (I’ve been hosting Thanksgiving for years now and it’s one of my very favourite holidays alongside Easter!) but considering everything (did I mention I got pretty sick also, spending 2 full days barely being able to move from the couch!), I think it turned out pretty good.

What I missed the most this year was spending time with my family. Because Adriano was sick, and so was I, and doctors couldn’t figure out what was going on with him, we didn’t want to chance it and have my sister, her kids, my parents or my in-laws exposed to whatever virus or whatever else was going on. So we stayed home… I won’t lie, not being able to see my family or part take in our yearly post meal soccer game made me realize just how thankful I am to have such an amazing family. It made me realize how lucky I am to have so many great people in my life that I can count on, on a moment’s notice. It also made me realize how grateful I am for my husband and my son and how precious they are to me…

When something is taken away from you, regardless of how benign or little it is, it wakes something up in you and makes you realize just how lucky you are… Or at least that’s how I feel. Thankful and grateful. And even though my husband Chris and I didn’t get to have our traditional Thanksgiving, we were so thankful we were even able to even have a thanksgiving meal and that our son was home with us.

So even though this soup recipe won’t make it to your Thanksgiving table, it is totally worth making because it is easy, delicious, nutritious and heart warming… Oh and did I mention you can freeze it and keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Perfect for when you are pressed for time and need to crab something to feed your family. This soup is hearty enough to make a meal on it’s own, served with some crusty bread for dipping or a side salad.

I hope all of you had an amazing Thanksgiving, that you took the time to say thanks for everything you have in your life and be grateful for everyone that shared the day with you.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you guys did for Thanksgiving and what made it to your table!

xx

 

Carrot & turnip soup
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6 portions
This is such a versatile soup. If you don’t have turnips (or you don’t like them!), you can add squash or other root vegetable you have on hand and that your family enjoys. You can serve it topped with some vegan sour cream and chopped chives for a pretty finishing touch.
Ingredients
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 3 garlic gloves, minced
  • 1 leek, white part only, sliced thick
  • 2 celery sticks, sliced thick
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbs cumin, ground
  • 1/2 tsp all spice
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds, ground
  • 7 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 1 turnip, cut in cubes
  • 1 medium white potato, cut into cubes (I used a Russet potato)
  • 8 cups vegetable broth
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil on medium high heat.
  2. Add the diced onion, garlic and leek.
  3. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add the spices and coat the onion mixture. Cook for an additional 2 minutes until the spices become fragrant. Be careful no to burn the spices so stir frequently.
  5. Add the remaining vegetables and coat with the onion spice mixture. Cook for another 2 minutes.
  6. Add the broth and bring to a boil.
  7. Once the soup is boiling, bring the heat back down to medium low and let simmer for 20 minutes.
  8. With a fork, check to make sure the carrots and potatoes are well cooked (cooking time will depend greatly on how thick or thin you cut the root vegetables). Add another 5 minutes if not cooked through.
  9. Once cooked, allow the soup to cool slightly then with a hand blender, blend the soup until you reach a nice creamy consistency.
  10. Serve with vegan sour cream and chives or allow to cool completely, transfer to glass jars and freeze for alter use.