Norway Travel: The Food
I’m a vegan for Lent. Or, I was until I boarded the plane for Norway.
I figured that eating vegan in Norway was going to be tough but I really had no idea how tough. After asking for a vegetarian meal on Scandinavian airlines and being given a fish dish instead I was quick to throw my hands up in the air and give myself a week long hiatus from Lent.
Given the proximity to sea and the farming practices of the country, which are primarily livestock and feed grains, you can bet there was lots of dairy, meat, and fish to be eaten.
One thing to note about dining out in Norway: it’s not cheap. Not at all.
The Meat:
I was not so secretly hoping to be able to eat one of these on my trip:
Reindeer.
Don’t worry, this guy is just taxidermy. I’m no hunter. The meal looked more like this:
It tasted pretty good. Not my favourite meat (that award still goes to lamb). It was a bit on the tough side with a mild taste (not as game-y as I was expecting) similar to venison.
This reindeer stew came from the cafeteria restaurant Kaffistova in Oslo that serves lots of traditional Norwegian dishes from smørbrød (open faced sandwiches) to hot stews like this one to fish dishes.
Dinner for two at this cafeteria with no drinks 320NOK ~ $56 CAD.
The Fish:
Fish is BIG in Norway. Huge, really. I’m a big fan of fish and I’m pretty familiar with Norwegian fish dishes like gravlax and stockfish (salt cod) that I’ve cooked before so I was excited to eat it! Matt and I got a recommendation to go to the fish restaurant Lofoten in the Aker Brygge harbour neighbourhood of Oslo.
We started with a raw marinated scallop with scallop mousseline and lemon creme, and mussels steamed in white wine.
The scallop was tasty but I much preferred the mussel dish. The mussels were huge, meaty, and perfectly steamed.
For a main dish I went with panfried cod with onion tart and Matt had the baked arctic char with cauliflower cream. I`m not a big fan of these fancy schmancy deconstructed type dishes. While the fish was perfectly cooked, it was under seasoned. Everything else on the plate was over seasoned. It`s like you had to mush all the components of the dish together to get the whole thing to taste right! I don`t know about you, but I prefer my dish constructed.
At least the dessert made-up for the main… it was delicious. Black currant souffle with black currant sourbet. There were warm melty chunks of chocolate in the not too sweet souffle that mixed perfectly with the tartness of the sorbet. I was in heaven. It was almost worth the $20.
Dinner for two with 2 courses each, 1 dessert, and 1 glass of wine: 1180NOK ~ $205 CAD
The Dairy:
Probably my favourite part of Norwegian cuisine was the dairy. Seriously, it was amazing. And given the amount that I ate the fact that I only came home with 2 tiny pimples made it all the more worthwhile.
First the skyr: super thick and not too sweet this Nordic yoghurt had the consistency thicker than sour cream and could hold a spoon upright. And the vanilla flavour actually had vanilla beans in it. Awesome.
Then there was the butter. Best. Butter. Ever.
I know I talked about Irish butter before and how delicious everyone says it is. If it’s anything like Norwegian butter then I believe every word. Because Norwegian butter is amazing. It tastes like you used to imagine butter would tasted back when you were 5 years old and you pretended you were Amish and had an imaginary butter churner. For real.
And then there’s the best cheese in the world. Gudbrandsdalost or Brown Cheese.
(source)
Made from the caramelized whey leftover from the goat cheese making process this cheese is soft and sweet and is amazing on toast with or Wasa crackers with coffee. … I snuck some home in my suitcase to save until after Lent again. 
Related Norway Posts:
Norway in March
Exploring Norway by Train, Boat, and Bus
Active Pursuits in Norway
Homecooked Meals
Black Beans and Mangoes
So it’s been just over a week of my Holiday Health Challenge so I thought I’d check in on my progress so far.
- Keep a food journal – check! I’ve been really good about this and have learned that I eat a hell of a lot more than I think I do.
- Eliminate processed sugar – check! Although this week I want to make some real cookies for the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies so following through is going to be TOUGH.
- Increasing my daily physical activity – check! I’ve been pretty good with using my Gruve to keep tabs on how much I’m moving throughout the day and it’s been really helpful!
- Practicing yoga twice weekly- Nope. I only got around to going once last week : /
- Flossing my teeth every day- Almost. I forgot to floss on Friday night. Weekends ruin my routine.
How have you been doing with your Holiday Health Challenge?
One thing that I’m going to add to my list is:
- I commit to refrain from eating dairy.
The reason for this is my sensitivity to dairy that causes me to break out. I ate some of a cheeseball at a friend’s house on Saturday and woke up on Sunday with a great big pimple plus a few little ones. Not Cool. I want to be acne free on January 1st (although, I can’t do much for my hormone related acne)
Last night I made a really delicious dinner of Black Beans and Mangoes. It was awesome. Try it.
Black Beans and Mangoes
Ingredients
2 T olive oil
2 small red onions, diced
1 scotch bonnet pepper, minced
1 T fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1.5 t salt
2 t. cumin
4 limes
2 ataulfo mangoes, diced
black pepper to taste
handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
Directions
Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add onions, pepper, ginger, and garlic and sautee until the onion softens ans turns slightly brown.
Add the black beans, salt, cumin, and juice of 2 of the limes. Once the beans are heated through (~5 min), transfer the pan contents to a bowl.
Return the pan to the stove, reduce the heat to low, and add the mangoes, juice of the remaining 2 limes, and black pepper. Cover and let the sauce develop for about 10 minutes.
Mix the mango sauce into the black beans. Serve topped with fresh chopped cilantro.
day 160: chocolate pudding mask
I have terrible skin. I can’t remember not having pimples. My acne peaked probably in grade 10 (as did my weight, but that’s another sob story for another rainy day) and I endured Accutane for 8 months to be “cured” from zits. Well, I wasn’t cured but my skin did improve a lot. I still get pimples though. All. The. Time.
After doing a 3 week elimination diet (no dairy, no red meat, no gluten, no seafood) that my naturopath recommended, I discovered that my skin doesn’t like dairy and hates crustaceans. It’s unfortunate that my tongue doesn’t feel the same way.
That result was eye-opening, yet thoroughly explained why my acne was so bad as a teenager when my dietary staples were a daily pint of ice cream and obscene amounts of cheese (did I mention I was obese?). It’s particularly hard for me to stay away from dairy, but I’ve been doing quite well lately by cutting out my daily yoghurt/cottage cheese and by eating my bread with avocado or tahini instead of butter. I definitely do notice the pimples creeping back whenever I decide it’ll be no big deal to slather my homemade bread with butter or to reach for the cheese tray.
I do love my skin though and (aside from the occasional dairy) I do take good care of it. I put oil on my wet skin right after a shower to lock in moisture. I moisturize my face and body regularly. I stay out of the sun whenever possible and wear sunscreen regularly. I have cleanser, toner, body butter, day cream, night cream, and hand salve that I use regularly just to try to keep my skin feeling smooth.
Lately I’ve been intent on buying products that score well on the Cosmetic Safety Database that are free of fragrances and phthalates and other concoctions of cancer causing chemicals. When I went to Chicago a few weeks back I fell in love with Mojo spa in Wicker Park and went on a tiny shopping spree there buying up soaps and creams.
Mojo Spa, Chicago
I’m now flirting with the idea of making some this stuff for myself in my kitchen, with real ingredients.
Here is my first foray into the world of homemade body care. It’s not an anti-acne mask, but it is very smoothing and nourishing (and it was fun to make!).
Moisturizing Banana Coconut Face Mask
(from Making Love in the Kitchen)
1 ripe banana
1/2 avocado
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs coconut oil
1/4 cup almond meal
1 tbsp coconut flakes
1 Tbs cocoa powder
Puree together until smooth.
The oils in avocado penetrate the skin quickly and provide moisture and vitamins. Bananas are known to soften the skin and create a glow. Both cocoa and coconut have anti-oxidant properties that prevent free radicals from damaging the skin’s collagen and elastin. And, of course, coconut oil also moisturizes the skin. Almond meal provide a source of Vitamin E while gently exfoliating the skin and absorbing excess oils.
- Moisturizing – avocado, banana, coconut oil
- Glowing – banana
- Exfoliating – almond meal, sugar, coconut flakes
- Firming – cocoa, coconut oil
- Nourishing – almond meal, avocado
I found that after leaving this on my face for 10 minutes my skin felt tingly, tight, and very smooth.
Confession: whatever leftovers that I didn’t use on my face, I ate! It was delicious.
day 64: the naturopath – follow-up
Yesterday I had my one month check in with my Naturopath. I LOVE her, by the way.
I had some good and bad news.
The bad news is something that I’ve already discovered through the first part of my reintroduction of foods after my cleansing diet. I’m sensitive to dairy.
The first food that I reintroduced was milk for 2 days. No reaction.
Then yoghurt for 2 days. 1 pimple on day 1 and 1 pimple on day 2.
Then cheese for 1 day. 1 more pimple.
Evidently I have a small tolerance level for dairy before my body reacts. I’ve decided I’m going to try as best as I can to stay away from dairy foods and Dr. Natasha agreed that this is a good idea.
Damn. I heart cheese.
My next reintroduction was gluten containing grains which I added back into my diet on Monday and Tuesday. I didn’t have any reaction, but as I write this I found another pimple is starting to surface on my face. Hmmm…
But on to the good news: I’m more fit than I think!
I had a bioimpedence analysis (BIA) done. The doctor attached electrodes to my right hand and right foot which ran an electric current through my tissues and fluid to determine my body composition. Apparently this method is more accurate than my home foot-to-foot BIA scale because when the current sent up one leg, across the belly, and down the other it’s basically measuring body composition in the belly and thighs — my fattiest areas. Not pretty.
When she printed out the results she said, “Wow! This looks good.” That’s always a relief.
I learned that my body fat percentage is actually 25% which is normal, and my muscle mass is 40% which is high. I also learned about the phase angle which measures cellular health, a factor that helps determine longevity. Apparently my phase angle is quite high (7.3, if I remember correctly), meaning I have a LOT of healthy cells! She told me that taking Omega 3’s can help to improve this number cell membrane health.
The whole outcome of my appointment with her was that she placed me on a diet for 6 weeks that is specific to my caloric needs (based on my BMR of 1541 and my activity level) which she simplified by giving me specific numbers of servings of each food group to eat per day. In 6 weeks I go back to see if my BIA results improved.
I’m stoked!
Don’t for get to stay tuned tomorrow for my giveaway post 
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