Date Night Recipe: Slender Sliders

Written with love, by Sarah-Elizabeth Labelle (not for long!)

We meet the perfect person and spend countless hours boring our friends about how they are the love of our life. We take a hundred selfies together and go for endless amounts of romantic strolls (we become professional romantic strollers). Then you blink and they are down on one knee asking the question you’ve always dreamed about. Before you know it, people begin asking you about colours, vows, and dresses – all the dresses! You totally immerse yourself in the bridal lifestyle and there are days you begin to question your sanity (truly, if you don’t, you will). But then one morning you wake up, and start to think..."This time next year we’ll be married. This time next month, we’ll be married. This time next week I’m getting married."

It starts to click that this isn’t about a wedding that makes the day so special, it’s that year or years that you spent planning together, growing together, and learning about your future spouse. All that stress may have not been ideal, but you stuck it out and realized there was no one you would rather argue about cake flavours with. As my engagement and bride-to-be journey comes to a close, I want to take a moment for all the stressed brides and grooms. Take a deep breath and remember that for better or for worse, you’ll always have someone to go pick up the wine.

During that last week of wedding crunch and countdown, remember to take time to make yourself healthy, smart meals that keep you fuller longer! This one allows you to take advantage of some partner cooking and of course the BBQ! Slender Sliders are the healthier hamburger that won’t make you feel guilty about a second serving!

Ingredients

·         1 lb ground turkey

·         1/2 onion chopped or diced

·         2 tsp. garlic

·         1 tsp. parsley

·         1 tsp. basil

·         Lettuce

·         Avocado

·         Tomatoes

·         Sliced cheese

Directions

1.       In a large bowl hand mix ground turkey with onion, garlic, parsley and basil

2.       After thoroughly mixing, take a golf ball sized handful and between your palms squish down until patties are roughly 1’ thick

3.       BBQ on the grill. If cheese is desired then cook top side first, flip and add cheese. If cooking on a frying pan, begin with 1 tbs. of olive oil on medium heat. Use the same process as the BBQ

4.       Add any toppings you desire!

Date Night Recipe // Spiced Chicken Curry

Written with love, by Sarah-Elizabeth Labelle

One way my fiancé and I love to spice up our date nights is to cook something new and exciting. A tag team effort to cook supper always reminds us of  how well we bump into each other. Between our tiny kitchen and a dog or two on the floor between us, it can be more like musical counter tops than anything else. In the end we always wind up laughing as I usually tear up from the onions, and he has to check the recipe one too many times, all while the pot of potatoes are bubbling up (easy fix for that, by the way, is to rest a wooden spoon on the top of the pot). It’s a great way to remind each other why you are the great team everyone knows you are.

With my very own wedding just around the corner, with final payments and unexpected costs popping up everywhere, date night becomes ever more important as a way to take a deep breath. The last few weeks up to the wedding can be the most stressful time for a bride, and believe it or not, the groom as well. Take time out for one another, so you’re not at each others' throats!

Ingredients

·         ½ cup of diced carrots

·         ½ cup of chopped onions

·         3-4 chopped garlic cloves

·         2 tbs of curry powder

·         ½ red pepper, diced

·         3 tbs of olive oil

·         1 tsp of cinnamon

·         1 tsp of paprika

·         1/3 of a ginger root, diced

·         1 cup of chicken stock

·         1 tbs of tomato paste

·         ½ cup of plain yogurt

·         ¼ cup of coconut milk

·         ½ head of cauliflower

Directions

1.       Dice up potatoes, and cauliflower and let steam for 10 minutes

2.       Dice up chicken into small cubes, spice and let sit in fridge while you create the curry sauce

3.       In a large pot, on low-medium heat, add olive oil, onions, garlic cloves, red peppers and ginger root

4.       After 1-2 minutes of stirring, add in curry powder, cinnamon, and paprika

5.       Brown chicken in a separate frying pan

6.       Next add in chicken stock, potatoes, chicken and cauliflower, mix well

7.       Turn up the heat to medium; add in tomato paste, yogurt, and coconut milk

8.       Mix well on medium heat for 10 minutes, serve

Veggin' Out // Two easy side dishes to add to your meals!

Written with love, by Nikki Lian

Feel like you’ve been busting your butt in the gym and not seeing the results you want to?   Sprint to the finish line by adding some veggies to your diet.  Vegetables contain copious amounts of vitamins and minerals you may be missing from your every day meal plan.  Vegetables also contain fiber, that helps regulate the body’s sugars and will keep your blood sugar and cravings in check.  Try replacing your rice and pasta this week with a couple of my favorite vegetables and let me know how they come out!

Brussels Sprouts

These wonderful little green cabbage look-alikes have a bad reputation if you’ve never tried one.  But in my opinion, they are in fact, delicious.  Not only do they have high levels of Vitamin C and K, they also contain sulforaphane, a phytochemical containing anti-cancer properties. 

Here’s how I cook them:

Chop off the bottoms so their leaves start coming off.  Spread the pieces out in a pan and shake on some salt and pepper.  Sometimes I even spray a little olive oil.  Bake them at 425 degrees for 12-18 minutes depending on your desire of crisp (I even put mine in the broiler for a few minutes so they get extra crunchy). 

Here you have a nice little side dish that goes with any type of protein you want to add to it.  Who needs complex carbs?

Yams

Yams contain antioxidants, which are compounds in plants that protect your cells from damage.  Yams also contain a ton of fiber and Vitamin A, which are great for your immune system.  You have to stay healthy with all this flu madness floating around!  I like to eat these when I’m craving French fries.  And believe it or not, it does the job. 

Here’s how I like to prep them:

First I wash them really, really well, especially if I’m going to keep the skin on.  Although the skin contains the brunt of the carbohydrates, it also has a lot of the fiber.  If you’re not a skin-on type of person, then you can peel the skin off.  Then slice them down.  Again I like crispy, so I slice them thin.  Sometimes I’ll feel a little fancy and cut them into the shape of French fries.  Either way, spread them on a greased (with olive oil) pan and add some sea salt.  These need to be in a bit longer than the Brussel sprouts.  I usually leave them in for about 20 minutes at 425.  You can stick these in the broiler as well, but make sure you keep an eye on them.  Bake them to your desire of crunch. 

Once prepared and cooled off a bit, you can eat them like that or, you can have your own home-made sweet potato fries and add some ketchup.

Look, I’m no Paula Dean, but I don’t have tons of time to be in the kitchen and like a lot of you, I get bored from the same old salads.  Add a boost of nutrients to your meals and take some time to vegg out!!