This was inevitable...

Look out, because I am about to join the ubiquitous masses of people who start raving like lunatics as soon as September hits...

Because PUMPKIN SPICE!

There's a good reason why there's pumpkin spice everything in the fall - it's freaking delicious. I don't think I can be friends with anyone who disagrees on that point. But I do think it's just a little bit sad that we tend to get so sick of pumpkins and cinnamon that by thanksgiving nobody really wants to eat pumpkin pie, don't you? Only a little, though, because pumpkin is so awesomely versatile that it would be a crime to not take advantage of  it while it's in season.

So. At the beginning of each week, I chuck a lot of stuff into my crock pot and make breakfasts for the week. (I didn't get it done last week and every morning it made me weep a little bit to have to actually make breakfast...but I discovered some fun alternatives to the crock pot breakfast that I will post in here another day.) This week's crock pot breakfast offering is...yup, you guessed it. And it's gonna go great with my brewed pumpkin spice coffee (which is just coffee with pumpkin pie spices thrown in with the ground beans).

**I may get hit by lightning for saying this but I am actually not a PSL fan. Sorry, Starbucks - sweetening coffee is against my religion.

Pumpkin Power Oatmeal
This stuff is magic - it makes my mornings a happy place, and while it's cooking it smells amazing.

1 cup steel-cut oats
1 can pumpkin purée
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup chia seeds
1/2 cup hemp hearts
1/2 cup buckwheat
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 diced apple
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
Pinch of cloves

Toss it all into the crockpot and cook on low until it's done (I'm very scientific that way). Usually about 4 hours, depending on how chewy you like your oatmeal. It'll keep for a week or so in the fridge...IF it lasts that long. Et voila, you have breakfasts for the week! Serve it up with Greek yogurt (I'm a fan of plain but you can always use vanilla if you want it sweeter)...OR:

Are you ready? Here's where the awesomeness hits the fan: if you have extra time and want something a little different, cut your oatmeal 1/2 and 1/2 with eggs or egg whites, whisk it up and fry them like pancakes. BOOM.

Stressed over Desserts?

"You're a personal trainer who makes custom cheesecakes? How does that work?" is a question that is asked of me with some regularity. I wasn't kidding when I promised to publish recipes for the best desserts on the internet!

Dessert gets a bad rap sometimes. Ever feel guilty about eating it? Ever turn it away because you shouldn't? Because it's baaaaaad?

It's taken me a long time to get to where I can even ponder dessert without getting stressed: how will I make it and avoid eating it? What's my strategy going to be to deal with dessert in front of me? What are people going to think of me if I eat dessert? Am I a hypocrite?

When I was in my early 20's and on Weight Watchers, we were taught to eat around what we really wanted. Want a fresh, soft chocolate chip cookie? Here, try these Snackwells! Want ice cream? Have
some sugar-free pudding! Which led of course to eating way too much of the wrong things. Later, when I was dieting with a well-known former body builder, he told me I was a mess. I didn't WILL those cravings away which meant that I was weak and pathetic and had seriously misplaced priorities. Registered Dieticians said to have the dessert but only 150kCal of it.

With all the mixed messages out there, is it any wonder that dessert - what is supposed to be the culmination, the jewel in the crown of a good meal - has turned into something to stress over and strategize for? Or maybe the problem is that generally we just eat too much shit. That could be, too.

Here's what I think. Desserts DESERVE to be awesome. They NEED to be amazing. If they aren't, then there's no point in eating them. Hands up, who feels good after eating a sugar bomb that tastes like cardboard with edible-oil-product icing? Gross, right?

Right. I have gotten seriously picky about desserts; I don't eat them often so when I do decide to have a dessert, it better induce some rockin' multiple mouthgasms.

So with that in mind, here is my recipe for a basic New York Cheesecake -  this is serious guys, I have not shared my cheesecake recipes with anyone, ever. THAT's how much I love you!

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and grease an 8" springform pan with butter. No substitutes. Actually, no substitutes or shortcuts for anything - you want amazing cheesecake, so do it right. I promise it's worth it. 

2. Combine 1 cup graham crumbs, 2 tbsp melted butter, and 1tbsp cane sugar in a bowl until the mixture looks like wet sand. Press that wet sand into an even layer on the bottom of your springform.

3. In a giant bowl, mix 1kg cream cheese (I said this was serious shit, right?), 1/2 cup cane sugar, and 2 tbsp cornstarch. When that's evenly mixed, add six eggs, mixing after each 2.

4. Put the electric mixer away and use a spoon from now on. Gently stir in 1/2 cup whipping cream, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, 1 tbsp vanilla bean powder, and 1/4 cup spiced rum.

5. Gently and lovingly pour the giant bowl of cheesecake batter into your springform, being careful not to disturb the crust, and place it in the centre of the oven.

6. Bake at 350F for 20min. Then bake at 200F for 2.5 hours. Then turn the oven off but leave the cheesecake in for another 8 hours. Chill in the fridge for 12-24 hours. Congratulations, your cheesecake is ready!

Garnish with fruit or Kahlua sauce or whatever tickles your fancy, then find a warm rock to lay down on while you enjoy your sense of oneness with the universe.

YYYEEEAAAAHHHH.

Epic Turkey Taco Feast!

Come into the GAG, my pretties, and I will bestow upon all of you the awesomeness of the Epic Turkey Taco Feast! Why?

Because lots of you asked for it when I posted the pic on FB.
Because it's a crowd pleaser.
Because it's LOADED with so many veggies that my children were actually ANGRY at me when they found out.
Because TACOS, that's why!!

When I do the ETTF, I make a ton of everything so that I don't have to cook for a couple of days afterward, because it's rather labor intensive and I generally don't feel enthusiastic about prepping food or even stepping into the kitchen until the trauma has passed. In other words, it is not a quick and easy option...but it is so, SO worth it.

To put the awesomeness into perspective, I have a ten-year-old daughter who would live quite comfortably on breakfast cereal and olives if I let her - any food outside these two very broad umbrellas is met with the lukewarm reception normally reserved for fishing cold wet food bits out of the drain after washing the dishes. Today is our third day of eating tacos. She sat down and ate FIVE.

Are you sold yet? Excellent; here's the recipe:

TURKEY with lots of other hidden stuff

1lb ground turkey
1 can rinsed black beans
1 onion, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
200g baby spinach leaves, buzzed to a green pulp in the blender
1 cup dried mixed mushrooms, ground into powder in the blender or a grinder (or hey, put them in whole if you like - my kids don't like mushrooms so in order to get the earthy loveliness of mushrooms into a recipe they must be unrecognizeable.)
2 tbsp chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the turkey in a big frying pan and add the other stuff a bit at a time. Very scientific.

GUACAMOLE

2 ripe avocados, mashed
1/2 a sweet onion, diced
1/2 a red pepper, diced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp roasted garlic
salt and pepper to taste
squeeze of lime juice

Mash it all together and let sit for 15min before eating. If you can. 

**you can add lots of other stuff to guacamole to make it a little more dressed up, like cilantro, various chili peppers if you like it hot, tomatoes, green onions, etc. Play around with it - I mean, it's guacamole, what could possibly NOT taste good in it?

SALSA

Oh salsa, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...
You can basically make salsa out of any combination of veggies and fruit, as long as you have tomatoes. The recipe you see below is one of my favorites.

4 tomatoes, diced
1/2 a sweet onion, diced
1 orange pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
1 mango, diced (I said this was labor intensive, right?)
1 tsp roasted garlic

1 tsp smoked paprika 
salt and pepper to taste, cilantro if you like it, a squeeze of lime juice

Throw it all together in a glass or metal bowl and let sit 15min before eating.

Okay, so once you have those three dishes together the work is basically done. I heat up some store-bought taco shells in the oven, put sour cream, shredded lettuce and spinach mixed together, and shredded cheese (double-smoked cheddar is the favorite at the Gray house) on the table and it's FEAST TIME!

Note: you can just as easily do taco salads with this 'do; eliminate the taco shells and make a big-ass salad instead. Usually I do a salad for myself and let the rest of my family have the taco shells....but there's no feeling deprived in my corner!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Gray Area Galley! Hang onto your seats dudes, because awesome stuff is going to happen in here. If you are arriving from Facebook or my lifestyle blog, Gray Area, you already know me a little bit....but if we haven't met before, here's the Coles Notes version. Ready?

I am a mom, a personal trainer, nutrition coach, and musician. I struggle with a lot of the same stuff as everybody, I think: weight management, finding time and energy to cook healthy meals, getting my children to eat enough vegetables, getting it done on a budget, and...finding the space to do it in a tiny little galley kitchen. (Incidentally, the pic above is A galley kitchen but it is not mine. I'll post a pic one day if I decide to clean it.)

So this is not a place where you'll hear me say that I have all the answers, because I totally don't. Actually I'd submit that nobody does; everyone is a little bit different and has to develop their own strategies that work. I'm here to share what works for me and my family, what didn't work ('cause believe me when I say that I've tried some real stinkers  - they always make for entertaining reading), and possibly supply some inspiration to fuel your creative fire in the kitchen!

You may be wondering if I am aware of the appetizing acronym I've created with Gray Area Galley, and the answer is a resounding yes! The GAG is a nod to my first inspiration behind getting a foodie blog going, which was (wait for it) a series of experiments where I was cooking with crickets and mealworms.

Haha, see? There will definitely be some entemophagous edibles coming your way probably in October. And seriously, keep an open mind about that stuff because if you can get past the IDEA of eating insects, they are a great source of nutrients. And environmentally friendly. And delicious if you prepare them right.

Wait, don't close your browser window in disgust! There will also be quick and healthy meals for the nights when there are no groceries in the house, protein-packed breakfasts of champions, kids' lunch ideas, and possibly the most awesome sumptuous desserts on the Internet. Not even joking a little bit on that last point. Stick with me, it'll be a fun ride!