Backhand Bars: Updated ingredient list and price...

Hey everyone...so This is the updated ingredient list for the Backhand bars...I can now afford (sorta) to switch to all natural peanut butter (Ingredients: peanuts - that's it) but the price has gone up to $21 dozen. Please remember that the point of these bars is to be as pure and essential as possible and the price will reflect the quality of the ingredients. Thanks!

BACKHAND BARS – The Essentials:
Organic quinoa, organic whole oats, soy veg protein, organic coconut, seed mix, vegetable protein powder, cocoa powder, natural peanut butter, organic almond butter, organic raw blue agave, organic honey, organic coconut milk, natural crushed pineapple, organic hemp hearts. DAIRY FREE

Retail samples ready to go...

Red chard and asparagus tips with chicken n quinoa

Does it seem weird to anyone else that a) there are working pay phones still and b) that said pay phone had a telephone book delivered to it?

Unmanageable oven- unmanageably busy!

Jumper Cable Bombs 12-15g of protein/hemp heart crust/70%organic/21$ dzn call 250 885 1366 to order

Building a salad around my Jersusalem artichokes from the farmers market: salad great! achokes? - meh.

The Jerusalem artichoke (aka sunchoke or sunroot , a relative or version of the sunflower-???- that looks like ginger, has a bland taste and a radish-like texture), was part of my earlier-mentioned 'bounty', which, Chris and I decided to build a salad around. I went the route of a nicoise and it turned out beautifully:

shaved Jerusalem artichoke,
smoked tuna loin
spinach leaves
avocado
yellow tomato
red and green onion
red and orange peppers
heart of palm
capers
kalamata olives

dressing: extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, blended capers and their juice, sea salt and cracked pepper.

ps: forget the Jerusalem artichokes and put in boiled eggs

pps: apparently the Jerusalem artichoke was part of an elaborate American agricultural pyramid scheme.

ppps: it's only real use, according to Wikipedia, is for making booze. The more you know....

Loving the thought of a winter farmers market and then realizing I can't afford 'the bounty' I accumulated as a result of said idea

It's true...my need for grapefruit marmalade and island-grown Jerusalem artichokes seemed much greater when I was getting a charming back-story from the artisan farmer hocking the above mentioned goods . Nonetheless, I now posses these edible wallet-bruises and will find a equally charming way to use them. In all honesty, this is what I tell myself to justify these useless purchases, as I think many of us do. Tell me: WHEN DID CHARMING AND QUAINT BECOME A FOOD GROUP???!!!

setttttle.....I did, however, meet some really neat people; Like the guy who made me pose 'as a farmer' behind his stall. And Matt, a local bread maker baking his wares off at Cafe Brio...as I am still sifting through my bread-making fiasco, he graciously gave his email to answer any questions I might have. And David Wood of Saltspring Island Cheese, who braved the fidgid elements to provide info on his generous samples of amazing goat cheeses (I bought a Montana semi-hard sheep cheese I'm going to use atop a pizza tonight - the rind going into this weeks bread making experiment...stay tuned).

I really do love being at farmers markets, though. It gives you an opportunity to find out what we can consume locally and what is possible to grow and make on our own. In fact, that's one of the best parts: these people aren't geniuses they are just passionate about one thing and do it really well - which is why we call them artisans, I suppose. But I encourage all of you, as this blog often does, to try things like making your own cheese, bread and jams and growing your own sill-side beans and edible flowers...you might just find a pint-size farmer's market of your own making right in your kitchen...good luck! It gets messy...

LADIES ONLY...

UNMANAGEABLE OVEN VIC PICK:

B.B.B. - best Brazilian ever!!! Inexpensive, fast and as close to comfortable as you can get... Ask for Katerina.
Deco De Mode Nail Spa
1014 broad st
250.380.6533

Fresh artisan bread...from my unmanageable oven

If my oven can produce this beautiful loaf so can yours...

The Unmanageable Fruit Bowl

Just caught a glimpse of my "fruit bowl" on my work table... Thought this would sum up the reason I'm still up at 11:42pm packaging jumpercables n backhands.

So much blog...too much blarg.

Pure pumpkin puree, chocolate mousse....






Sue Pritchard and Olivia Keane: victoriabootcamp.ca























CURRENT FACEBOOK STATUS: drinking diet pepsi straight from the 2ltr n blogging - fml...get me a cat - one with a disease that gives him patchy hair and a leaky anus.


I have been MIA, I know. That no faaking excuse. In my defense, it all relates back in one way or another to this blog. Things have kinda taken off on the business side of the Unmanageable Oven, in no small part to all of you out there (mostly due to my noted pushy sales tactics). In any case...can't forget where I came from so back to basics:

I OWE A SHOUT OUT...Olivia Keane and Sue Pritchard (above...not the mousse...that's mousse) who are teaching a nutrition class at Studio 4 as an extension of their top-rated bootcamp. The class not only dispels some major mainstream notions of what heath food and nutrition are but also guides us through meal planning, grocery shopping and in-depth info on a variety of things such as protein needs, sugar cravings, healthy fats, amino acids, etc. I've only had two classes so far but I feel like I am well on my way to making healthy eating manageable and affordable - really, if you know me, 'manageable' isn't really my forte - but I'm #$%*@! working on it (that's 'Wingdings 2' for certainly). Anyhow, the mousse below is killer and right up my alley... packed with protein, complex carbs, chocolate and a low sugar content (no refined!). Just one of the many fantastic ideas from Sue and Olivia- (pure pumpkin, cocoa powder, coconut oil, protein powder, agave and cinnamon).
For those of you who don't know, I'm a long distance runner and am training for my first marathon in June. I've also taken up boxing and squeeze in bootcamp a few times a week...couple this with telecommuting, running an underground bakery from my apartment, a relationship (he makes it easy, xo), maintaining a blog and trying to stay sane and you get unmanageablity, no?. So, this class, while it is one more thing on my plate, is perfect for my lifestyle and will help me become more accurate and knowledgeable in giving tips to you guys. That said...I gotta go to bed...crazy but awesome weekend and got a hellova coming up - it starts again and we try to be better than the last -'try' being the operative word.
I do promise to be more diligent in my posts and to expand the content a bit more as i figure out my mobile uploads etc. Keep reading and I'll keep trying to wade through the bullshit and chaos and make some sense of this. Its more for me than you anyway...but you knew that, right?

To contact Olivia and Sue for bootcamp inquiries, personal training and nutrition seminars please visit victoriabootcamp.ca or:

Sue Pritchard
250-514-8465 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 250-514-8465 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Olivia Keane
250-507-4641 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 250-507-4641 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

victoriabootcamp@hotmail.com

Insanely good real vanilla bean cream cheese sour cream icing for pineapple carrot cake

Typo on carrot cakes $22/ HALF dzn

Sent from my iPhone

Choc chip banana bread with chocolate chunk hearts and peanut butter cream cheese icing

$22/ half dzn 250 885 1366

Mini carrot caked with cinnamon cream cheese icing

60% whole wheat, reduced sugar, low fat cream cheese icing $22/dz

Brad Williams making us dinner at Cook Culture

Last class of artisan bread making (sourdough...check in tomorrow for my results)
www.cookculture.com for more info on classes.

Thanks Jed & Brad....

EPICLOGUE: Sink Cheese a 2 Part Series

So lets wrap this up...maybe. You saw that I did use the Sink Cheese in a delicious and healthy meal...but what did I do with the whey??? I did something amazingly experimental with it, of course:
psst...if you haven't watched Part 1 and 2, pl,ease start there for the sake of continuity and my appearing sane

EPICLOGUE

as viewed via Youtube, svp.

Sink Cheese: It has a Practical Application...believe it or not

Quinoa salad with marinated chicken, avocado, green pepper, green onion, tomato and SINK CHEESE dressed with Frank's Red Hot and Chili salt.

Fast, easy, super healthy and delicious...for serious.

Modified recipe from my 12 week nutrition course with Olivia Keane and Sue Pritchard through Studio 4 Athletics... More on that shortly!

Sink Cheese: The 2nd Part of a 2 Part Series

K so if you haven't already watched Part 1 of Sink Cheese: A 2 Part Series go watch it or this wont make sense...
However, if you are too damn lazy are not wise to computer technology...I am making Sink Cheese and here is the second part of that attempt.

Without further ado....


Part 2 -"Sink Cheese": A 2 Part Series"

You have to watch it on Youtube, cuz apperantly I am not wise to computer technology.

VLOG DEBUT: A 2 Part series - "Sink Cheese"

So I just shot my first vlog. I did it in two parts because I am shooting continuously with an IPhone with a dresser i dragged onto the threshold of my kitchen as a tripod (class act: this guy) What you will witness is the definitive and essential essence that is the Unmanageable Oven. The first in the soon-to-be-prolific two part "Sink Cheese" series gives us hope and inspiration that the everyday man or woman can produce tasty cheese in the comfort of their own unmanageable kitchen. The second part...not so much.

PART 1




Part 2 en route....

Multi batch today....upgraded recipe with agave, organic coconut milk and pineapple.

Mini cakes packed for delivery! See blog for menu and ordering.

Marathon baking, marathon eating....

Yesterday got craaaaazy. I had intended on making samples for distribution but as luck would have I ended up baking for customers. I was operating at almost full capacity in my tiny apartment which became like a little oven in and of itself. I got it done but not before 1 am,a lovely dinner of peanut butter from a nearly empty jar some seeds. Wow...my dinner was an arts and craft project a three year old made for a bird.
In any case, I am alive and kicking but kinda beat this morning. In addition to trying to start what I realize now is an online bakery I'm also training for a late spring marathon. As is characteristic of my mornings I TRY to reserve an hour of down-time which never really happens...I also have problems sitting in one place for extended (extended= more than 3 minutes) periods of time. There is one thing however that has managed to give me pause - breakfast. I never used to eat breakfast until I started long-distance training and I've come up with a doozie for all you slackers...
I stand by oatmeal as a staple for breakfast but with the following twists you'll get your protein, amino acids, essential fats and slow-digesting carbs all in one sincerely satisfying and delicious bowl:
I make a big pot of quinoa at the beginning of the week and add it to most of my meals (don't be scared off by meal planning...so easy, cost effective and a great time saver...I swear by it...more about that to come!)

Jumper Cable Oatmeal:
Prep: 5-7 mins
Organic quick oats (bulk foods aisle...i live in it)
1/2 cup of quinoa (pre cooked)
maple extract or cinnamon
honey, splena or stevia sweeteners
diced apple or pear (or whatever -raisins, cranberries)
top with hemp hearts n flax seed and almond milk

CRAZY GOOD AND WILL KEEP YOUR ASS IN HIGH GEAR FOR HOURS

k I'M RUNNING LATE AS PER USUAL. sorry I wasn't screaming that i just left the caps on.

More to come today, promise.

NOW EAT YOUR GD OATMEAL AND GO DO SOMETHING!
(i did scream that one)

Mini low fat whole wheat chocolate peanut butter banana bread. Good as they look. No blague about it...

The oven is open for business! 1st orders packaged and ready to go...indiv pkgd $18/dz