Nella Cucina Pics!! Finally!!

Here are some pictures from Tuesday night's event. It was a great time. Yummy food and some equally wonderful people. I think my belly is STILL full!

Chef extraordinaire, and my friend Joanne, and me aka. "Peas and Carrots"


Making good, clean food in the Nella Cucina kitchen...

Leigh-Ann and me getting cut! Look at those crazy triceps... good for cooking and tank tops!


The group... most of them...


Raquel and me with hors d'oeuvres...


Ready to cook ladies???


In case you think I don't know how to get my hands dirty! I do. And I learned a thing or two.

Eating Clean Tonight

Tonight is our Eat Clean Cooking Class at Nella Cucina in Toronto. I CAN'T wait to meet some fellow Clean Eaters all while learning to cook like a pro!! Here's what's on the menu tonight:

Reception
Olives & Flatbreads
Hummus & Edamame Hummus
Caprese Salad Skewers

Hands-On Cooking
Mini Frittata Muffins with Ricotta, Rapini, and Roasted Tomatoes
Sun-Dried Tomato and Artichoke Tapenade in Tortilla Cups

Soba Noodle Salad with Ginger Tamari Vinaigrette
Couscous with Dried Fruit, Almonds, and Sunflower Seeds
Grilled Red Pepper & Asparagus Salad on Arugula & Watercress with Harissa Vinaigrette

Garlic & Cumin Flat Iron Steak with Chimichurri
Grilled Chicken with Preserved Lemon & Olives

Spring Orchard Granola Crisp
Oranges with Rosewater

I will share pics tomorrow!

-TR

Cook With Me!

Interested in learning to cook Clean Eating style with me by your side?

On May 12th my friend Joanne Lusted with be hosting Eat Clean with Tosca Reno at the Nella Cucina cooking studio in Toronto.

Click here for more details - enter the Cooking School and select May from the calendar on the right-hand side of the screen. Sounds like a yummy Mother's Day present! Bring your girlfriends, your daughters, your mothers, your husbands, your friends, or anyone who could use a few lessons, some yummy food, great wine, and even better company!

Here are some pics from last year's event:

Great Recipe

If you've been following this blog for awhile you've heard me gush about my dear friend Joanne Lusted. She runs Nella Cucina in Toronto, Ontario. She has done countless meals for my family, hosted Clean-Eating cooking classes, and hosted a cooking class for my family over Christmas. Well, she has just written a great CLEAN recipe for The Toronto Sun that you may enjoy for your dinner tonight. Check it out at the bottom of the article:

http://www.torontosun.com/life/2009/01/14/8016506-sun.html

-Tosca

p.s. Answers to Blogger questions coming later this week!!

Hello Sistahs in Iron, Women of Strength and All Those Who Support Us!

This is it! 2008 will become a memory in a matter of hours, minutes and seconds. The ups and downs of an entire year can soon be put to bed with a few sips of champagne and a kiss from your special someone. Even if you don’t have a special someone, make an effort to reach out to that person who has been your nemesis, enemy or obstacle in your life. Forgive and forget! Life is such a brief moment – too brief to remain mired in the negative. Seek out the positive. Forgive yourself, forgive others. Get in touch with your hidden strengths – I know you have them. I believe in you.

Throughout the year we have learned so much. The lessons to be found in pursuing your dreams in any arena of life including improved health and fitness are many. I cannot face any day in good form without taking good care of myself through Eating Clean and physical exercise. My wish for you is to also discover the nurturing that comes from practicing these good principles. If all else in your world is falling apart at least you can derive satisfaction from the discipline of training and eating well. I reflect on my own lazy, fat days and remember how difficult it was to climb even a set of stairs. I was lazy and out of ignorance chose not to look after myself – I scarcely knew how. Now that I have discovered how to do so life and food is no longer perverse. It is a joy! A sheer joy!

2009 promises to be as exciting and challenging as the one we will soon put to bed. Looking forward I will continue to strive towards reaching goals I have already set for myself and new ones. Achieving success comes from developing a system in which to gain it. Make a plan, as I did. Write it down! Read it and feel it! Do it every day! No one will give it to you. You must make it happen for yourself. I want to take my dreams and make them commitments – the real thing. To that end I know I will physically and emotionally be in the moment striding towards success each day I am granted on this giant mud ball called Earth. I feel the winds of change not only for myself but for our continent.

Remember I am always listening to each of you. I am your Sister in Iron. I learn from you and you from me. Together we will become what we are destined to be – our best!
2009 is the year for you and I to be successful. Can you feel the power? I can!
Your friend,
Hugs and best New Year wishes to you all,
Sincerely,
Tosca

Christmas Party Moments

I had a great time on Friday night hosting a dinner party for a fabulous group of friends. We spent the evening enjoying delicious food and drinks.

My friend (and fellow Clean Eater) Joanne Lusted and her fantastic catering crew from Nella Cucina Toronto prepared a fantastically clean spread for us including a plethora of yummy apps, spinach salad with goat cheese and nuts, broth-based soup, and a choice of beef tenderloin or halibut with mashed chipotle sweet potatoes and a bunch of in-season roots veggies. Joanne and I chose a menu with in-season and locally available options. Joanne's clean, citrus cheesecake dessert (can you imagine!) topped off the evening perfectly with coffee and tea.

I really enjoy hosting dinner parties, but they can be stressful so I chose to keep the decor simple. After setting up the tree in the great room I set the table with festive red linens, sparkly chargers and warm candles.

My husband and I opened up my home to our closest friends. It was a late night, too! The party didn't close down until 1:30. Well, that's late for me considering I usually wind up in bed somewhere around 9 or 10pm.

Holiday parties can make maintaining your Clean-Eating habits more than difficult, unless you are the one choosing the menu. When I am attending a party that I know will not have clean food I do my best to fill up on clean foods all day before the party so I am not starving for food at the event. I will nibble on the cleanest food I can find at the party. Otherwise, I will make that meal my treat meal for the week.

As wonderful as the holidays are, they can also be difficult when high stress and little rest takes over. Keep your clean treats with you when you are on your shopping hunts, and limit your decadent splurges. Feeling good about yourself will make the holiday more enjoyable AND may help you focus on other resolutions other than weight loss when you ring in the New Year.