Busy Night? Easy Sweet And Sour Spare Ribs

Tonight is one of those nights when everyone in my family is on a different time schedule. This is when I prepare a meal that can sit on the stove or hold in the oven and still taste good whatever time it is eaten. Easy Sweet And Sour Spare Ribs are one of my favourite comfort foods, a meal my mom used to prepare for us during the cold winter months while living in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
I have revamped mom's old recipe to include a few more of my own ingredients like ginger, sesame oil and green peppers, but the result is equally as good as mom's.
Easy Sweet And Sour Spare Ribs

Post Workout Nutrition

The post work-out meal is probably the most important meal of the day for anyone who cares about proper nutrition or wants to build muscle, lose fat or improve their body. But there is often confusion over what to eat, if anything at all.

Other than the obvious - water, which is necessary to re-hydrate, the body requires 2 important things after a workout: protein and carbohydrates, however, not fat. Fat slows down digestion, so in this case it would be slowing down the digestion of  much needed protein and carbs. Although 'good' fats are instrumental in building healthy cells, help absorb vitamins and they are good for the brain, the skin and aid in making hormones, there is another time and place to replenish fat than after a workout.

Restoring nutrition typically should take place within an hour after the workout - I usually have my meal about 10-15 minutes after my workout. My favourite post workout meal is a fresh smoothie, because its quick and easy to make plus it is absorbed into the body much quicker than solid protein (meat) or carbs (bread, grains).

I am not a great fan of whey protein powder, instead I prefer to use nut proteins like pumpkin seed or Brazil nut powder. A good rule of thumb for the amount of protein and carbs required is .15-.25g of protein per pound of body weight and .25-.04g of carbs per pound of body weight -for example a person who weighs 140 lbs should take in about 28g of protein and about 45.5g of carbs. 

Pumpkin protein powder is a whole food protein, which unlike other protein powders does not contain additives, fillers, preservatives, wheat, yeast, dairy or sugar. It contains all 18 amino acids including the 10 essential amino acids. It tastes great and easily dissolves into a smoothie.

For added nutrition, I add fat free yoghurt, chia seeds and hemp hearts to my smoothie.


Post Workout Smoothie

Ingredients:

2/3 cup orange juice

1/4 cup non fat yoghurt

1/2 banana

1/2 cup frozen berries

1/2 cup frozen peaches

25g pumpkin seed protein powder

1 Tbsp chia seeds

1 Tbsp hemp hearts

Place ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Natural Fabrics

Have you ever heard of Yak Down or Lyocell? These are some of the new resources that are being woven into 'greener', more sustainable textiles found in some of the most obscure places around the world. 

The Bee's Knees

Ok, so I woke up the other morning with a puffy eye that was red and itchy...could it have been Pinkeye?!

I am not one to automatically turn to Pharmaceuticals to treat every ailment that comes my way, instead I prefer to go the 'natural remedies' route as it often doesn't involve a cost and is much easier on the body...

HOW I CAME TO BE A FOODIE...

Wow – since this is my very first food related post, I thought I would begin by sharing with you how I became so enamored with food in the first place.

My passion for cooking really began when I was just 11 years old. While living in Germany in the early 1970's, I was fortunate to spend lots of time with Oma Ruth, my beloved grandmother.