Life is busy, and I need to take a food-blogging break. I need to live in the real world for a little while.

(I’ll still be reading your lovely blogs as much as I can!)

Hope to be back to writing soon.

p.s. The winner of the Locavore book giveaway is #31, Allie! Congratulations

Sarah Elton, author of Locavore, is not an ‘all or nothing’ local eater. In the first chapter she states that she buys products that would otherwise be off-limit to a 100% local Canadian eater: bananas, oranges, olive oil and rice.

Instead, her point of view is, “if you can grow it here, I won’t buy it from there“.

From this point on, I knew I would love this book. This is exactly how I feel about local eating; you don’t need to give up the bananas, but you can buy the eggs/meat/dairy/wheat/root vegetables/summer produce that you do have available. And when you start looking, you’ll be surprised how much is available!

If you are a fan of In Defense of Food, Animal Vegetable Miracle, or Food Inc, you will love Locavore. It touches on many of the same issues – such as how we’re not eating real food anymore and  the power of Farmer’s Markets – and expands on what’s happening all over Canada with respect to Local Eating. From a farmer-run food coop in New Brunswick, to organic and heritage wheat in Saskatchewan, to an urban farm in Vancouver, Locavore optimistically tours Canada.

And while Canadian-focused, I’d be willing to bet that across the US similar stories are occuring. You don’t have to be Canadian to enjoy this book!

Sarah’s tips for eating locally include:

1. Ask Questions. Whether at a Farmer’s Market or grocery store, ask where your food is from.
2. Eat in Season. It tastes better anyways.
3. Avoid Processed Foods. It’s healthier too.
4. Choose organic and humanely raised meat. The largest impact you can have for local eating, and your dollar spent.
5. Voice your opinion. Tell your grocery store manager you want local potatoes

Want to win a copy of Locavore for yourself?

{The Giveaway}

One Eat Clean Live Green readers will a copy of Locavore!

{how to enter}

Leave a comment telling me what your city/province is known for growing or producing!

{extra entries}

Leave another comment for each of the following (up to 4 chances to win!)

• Follow @EatCleanLiveGrn on twitter, and tweet about the giveaway: @EatCleanLiveGrn is giving away a great read: Locavore! www.eatcleanlivegreen.com

• Link back to this giveaway on your blog

• Subscribe to Eat Clean Live Green

{details}

This giveaway will end Friday, April 30 11 at 10 PM, MST. Winner will be drawn at random, selected from random.org. Contest open to those with Canadian shipping addresses only.

(sorry US readers! More giveaways coming soon!)

I was sent a copy of Locavore for free to review, but this review is entirely my opinion!

Happy Earth Day! 

Living green isn’t about being perfect – no one is asking you to trade in your car for a bicycle, or to never use a paper cup again. But -riding your bike to work is great exercise, so if that’s a possibility for you, give it a try! Take the bus or walk – sometimes. Stash a reusable bag in your car, so it’s always there when you stop for groceries. While you’re at it, why not stash a reusable mug at your desk, in your purse or in your backpack?

Because Living Green isn’t just for Earth Day – it’s the changes you make year round that add up to make a difference. Earth Day should get us thinking about what we can do until next year, to make a difference.

Make an Earth Day Resolution

I’m going to start composting! To be honest, there is no good reason I don’t do this already. But rather than focus on what I haven’t been doing, I’m going to start now!

Composting takes the waste from your yard (leaves, grass) and your kitchen (food scraps) and over time, transforms into organic matter, microbes and nutrients that are pretty much wonder food for your garden. 

You can compost so many things:

You can build your own composter, or buy one. 

The other benefit to composting is the decrease in garbage your house will produce! I don’t pay garbage collection fees per bag I put out, but if you do – just think how much money you could save!

What is your Earth Day Resolution?

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There are some wonderful comments on ‘what is healthy‘! They are inspiring to read!

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Coming up on Eat Clean Live Green: the book you’ll definitely want to read if you enjoyed In Defense of Food or Animal Vegetable Miracle – and a chance to win a free copy!

What does it mean to be healthy? The word is tossed around (it’s everywhere!) easily – without reasoning as to what healthy actually means. There have to be countless definitions – to name a few:

• non processed
• high protein
• a preferred ratio, such as 40/40/20 (protein/carb/fat)
• whole grain
• low calorie
• vegetarian
• vegan
• organic
• low-fat
• raw

There really is no right or wrong – healthy can vary day to day and person to person. What we consider healthy is constantly evolving – it can be hard to keep up. Saturated fat was bad, now it’s maybe not. Low carb and high protein was golden, now we know how important complex carbs are.

My definition of a healthy meal varies. Sometimes I’m looking for something higher in protein. Sometimes lower calorie. But in general, my definition of healthy is balanced: some protein, some healthy carbs in the form of whole grains, fruits and/or vegetables, and a moderate amount of fat, all made from real foods.

There really is no right or wrong – but I’m curious – what is your definition of a healthy meal?

Are you wanting to make more vegetarian meals, but don’t think your boyfriend/husband/children will be on board? Is your family cringing when you mention beans?

No one likes what they don’t know – and if your family isn’t fluent in bean-based meals, they don’t know there’s nothing to be afraid of.

Don’t Cut Out – Add In

How about a ‘less is more’ approach? Adding beans to your meals is a great way to add volume, without tons of fat or calories. In exchange, you can use less meat - saving money, and familiarizing you and your family with how easy and satisfying a bean-based meal can be.

Intro to Lentils 101: Spaghetti and Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 3 cups tomato sauce
• 1 cup dry red lentils
• 1/2 pound lean ground beef (optional)
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 box whole-wheat spaghetti

Directions

1. Rinse lentils, until water runs clear.
2. Place in a large pot with 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to med-low and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. If using, brown ground beef in a large skillet.
4. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti as per package directions. Once cooke, drain, and set aside.
5. Combine cooked lentils, ground beef, tomato sauce, red pepper flakes and red wine. Let simmer atleast 5 minutes.
6. Serve spaghetti topped with tomato and lentil sauce, and parmesan cheese if desired.

It’s still spaghetti and tomato sauce – bulked up with lentils.

I don’t run because I’m particularly good at it. I’m not, I’m fairly slow.

I don’t run because I expect to win any races.

I don’t run because I think it’s the best possible workout – in fact, I think a combination of strength training and high intensity interval training is much better.

I run because it’s difficult. Every run is an accomplishment.

I run because I’m getting better. I dropped 7 minutes of my 10k time this winter. Imagine how much I’ll improve over a summer of being routinely able to run outside – and not having to face the treadmill!

I run because every once in awhile – not every run, but some – I zone out, and afterwards my mind is filled with clarity and optimism.

I run because it gives me a goal to work towards.

I run because it’s stress relieving.

I run because Runner’s High is a real thing, and it’s amazing.

Why do you run? If you don’t run, how and why do you like to exercise?

Usually deep-fried, calorie and fat-filled and greasy, Taquitos can be found in the frozen food aisle and 7-11. Those neon lights aren’t exactly flashing ‘healthy’.

But taquitos are fun.  Like a burrito, but minature. This version cuts the fat and calories by replacing the ingredients with real, whole foods – but keeps all the flavour, and lots of spice!

The star of these taquitos are these Sprouted Corn Tortillas made by Food For Life. I found these at Superstore, so I’m sure they are easy to find in most grocery stores – and at $3 for 12, they don’t break the bank! The ingredients are so simple: Organic Sprouted Corn, Filtered Water, Sea Salt, Lime.  2 tortillas clock in at: 120 calories/2g fat/3g fiber/3g protein.

Eat Clean Taquitos

Ingredients

• 12 corn tortillas
• 1.5 cups (1 can) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1.5 cups (1 can) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1-2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup reduced fat cheddar, shredded
• canola or olive oil spray

Directions

1. If using frozen, thaw tortillas. 
2. In a food processor, combine pinto beans, half black beans, spices and oil. Process until smooth.
3. Combine mixture with remaining black beans and cheese.
4. Microwave tortillas, 1 or 2 at a time, for 10 seconds, until soft.
5. Place approximately 1/3 cup bean/cheese mixture in the center of each tortilla. Roll into a cylinder.
6. Place seam-side down onto baking sheet, sprayed with non-stick spray.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 for all tortillas.
8. Spray tops of taquitos with canola or olive oil spray. (Alternatively, use a pastry brush, and brush about 1 tsp of oil over the taquitos)
9. Bake at 400* for 10 minutes, or until crisp.

Serve with as much hot sauce as you can handle, and with sour cream, salsa or guacamole to dip in. Enjoy!

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The winner of the Nature’s Path Giveaway is:

#30, Valerie! Congratulations

It’s windy, and kind of cold outside. Or maybe it’s really too hot out. You ate too much/too little. Did not drink enough water. There’s something good on TV. There’s just not time to workout.

We’ve all been there, standing and looking out the window, rationalizing why we just can’t work out today. And while, sometimes, there really is a good excuse, most times it’s exactly that: an excuse.

What do you do when you want to work out, but just don’t want to workout? (and please don’t tell me this has never happened to you. I don’t believe you, you liar!)

9 Tips and Tricks to Get You Working Out (even when you don’t want to)

What’s your best “i want to workout but i don’t want to workout” tip?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve read variations of the following on different popular food blogs:

• “don’t worry, I didn’t eat that butter”
• “i have no control over nachos”
• “i ate way too many cookies”
• “i didn’t want to eat any vegetables with dinner, but added them for the blog”
• “i won’t go out to dinner without reviewing the menu, and planning ahead of time”

and my personal favourite: “i’m never going to calorie count again. i want to listen to my body, not diet and not have to be accountable. but i’m going to take pictures of everything i eat”

(Image: Blueberry Topped Stuffed French Toast)

Don’t get me wrong – I enjoy reading food blogs. I love discovering new ideas for workouts, snacks, meals and new products to try.

But for some (and it was for me) posting everything you eat can be a slippery slope – describing each meal, and justifying your choices to an audience can add a lot of pressure, and the need to seem healthy, all the time.

For me, I like posting select meals and snacks that I’ve tried and enjoyed – I feel like this lets me be creative with Eat Clean Live Green, but no feelings of guilt if I eat 2 bowls of ice cream, or not enough vegetables in one day.

I haven’t been able to get one line, from one popular blog out of my head for a few days now: “i didn’t eat that butter”. It’s not right or wrong for that blogger to have eaten the butter, but it really left an impression on me, as if it would have been “bad” to eat the butter, and it was “good” to not eat it.

Sometimes I just want to shout – on the internet – to stop stressing about food. Knowing that these bloggers have in general, very healthy lifestyle habits (regular exercise, lots of whole grains, fruits and vegetables) a little butter won’t hurt you. Neither will an extra cookie.

It doesn’t even have to be justified as a splurge. It’s just life.

What do you think – do you post your all of your daily eats on a blog? Do you feel pressure to eat healthier because of it?

I’ve recently started using dried beans instead of canned – it’s cheaper, tastes better, and no crazy amounts of sodium to worry about. And I promise – it’s really easy!

I resisted using dried for a long time – all the instructions I could find to soak/cook dried beans were confusing, and when I tried to cook them, the beans ended up still crunchy, and it felt like it took a really long time.

But the truth is, cooking dry beans is easy – it does take some time, but it’s mindless cooking. 1 cup of dried beans will result in 2.5 cups of cooked beans – to minimize preparation time, I make a large batch at once, and freeze in meal-sized portions (1 can of beans = 1.5 cups cooked beans).

Soaking Dried Beans

1. Rinse dry beans, to remove any dust or small particles.
2. Place beans in a large bowl with a lid – cover with water, so that 1-2″ of water sits on top of the beans.
3. Cover with lid, let sit at room temperature for atleast 8 hours.
4. Drain, and rinse beans.
5. In a large pot, place soaked beans and again cover with water, so that 1-2″ of water sits on top of the beans.
6. Bring to a boil – do not add salt.
7. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer (med-low heat).
8. Let beans simmer 1-1.5 hours, stirring every 20 minutes or so. If beans absorb all water, add more, again to cover.

How do you know once your beans are cooked? Taste them! If they’re still crunchy – keep cooking. I find I need the full 1.5 hours to get beans cooked to my liking.

If you’ve never cooked beans from dry before, you’ll be surprised how much more flavour they have than canned! These plain beans could be eaten alone as a snack

Cooked beans can be stored in the fridge for about 1 week, or frozen for 3-4 months.