The smell of books and new dishes

Tonight made new dish as published in Sobey's recipe magazine - sweet potato rice pilaf, pretty fall colours and delicious spices - happy that I can have a tiny bit more for a lunch treat tomorrow... Also happy with book I picked up at my library - author Neil Pasricha talks about little things to be grateful for such as bakery air, and the smell of books - Awesome!

New foods to try out!

As we have a tiny chokeberry bush growing in front of our 'workshop', I wanted to see if you can eat the black berries - turns out, you can. They are full of anti-oxidants, however, they also contain oxalic acid. You can wash and eat the berries raw, in fruit salads or baked goods. The couscous salad was another new recipe we tried out on the weekend - nice to have a different grain. (not sure if the guys loved the tofu, however!)

Real Food

Reading both these books about food - one is by the author Bill Phillips (of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Body for Life) with a book titled 'Eating for Life'. I can not believe the foods he recommends in this book, from sugar free jello puddings and soy protein powders to sugar substitutes such as Splenda. He focuses mostly on fat-free foods and products that substitute for sugar.

On the other hand, author Nina Planck of the book 'Real Food' highly recommends you eat your foods the way your grandmother prepared them - with the skin, cream, butter. She focuses on traditional foods and how they are healthy for you. I just started reviewing this book and got so hungry for a 'real' egg, that I picked up a few dozen free-range eggs from my local farmer - can hardly wait until we have our own girls in the back!

Crispy Fall air and Crunchy apples

With the leaves changing colour and the temperature dropping, I get the urge to cook and bake up something new - lucky me, found this cookbook at the library by Rose Murray 'A Year in My Kitchen'. The book is divided by seasons so new Fall recipes I will try this week include Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables and Apple Crisp!.

Hardworking guys and a Happy Mom

When I see the work all the guys are putting into the workshop, I feel as happy as this sunflower - a healthy treat to keep them happy would be something topped perhaps with a touch of chocolate -
Blend 1 cup of low-fat vanilla yogurt, 2 TBS honey, and 1/2 tsp. almond extract in small bowl until mixture is smooth. Divide this mixture into two dessert dishes - make sure they are equal! Place raspberries on top, garnish with 1 TBS sliced almonds, and some grated dark chocolate.

I have a thing for beans...

and the colour orange lately - lucky me, found a three-bean salad recipe in the Alive magazine with three types of beans and mandarin oranges:
In large bowl, mix 1 can navy beans, 1 can kidney beans, 1 can chickpeas (drained & rinsed), 4 plum tomatoes (I will use my garden cherry tomatoes), 1 can mandarins (drained), 2 celery stalks (sliced thinly), 1/2 red onion (chopped fine), and 1 cup curly parsley (chopped). For dressing, whisk together 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 Tbsp. agave syrup, 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, and salt & pepper to taste. Add and mix dressing to beans, may drizzle with lime juice. Chill in fridge 2 hours - It would be nice to add to healthy lunches the following day!

Disrupting our food supply

As I was taking these photo's I could not help wondering where all the bees were this year. Went online to do some research and found a recent Toronto Life article; the author states that Indian researchers released a new study that links cellphone radiation to the drastic drop in bee populations throughout Europe and North America. The radiation interrupts bees' navigational systems.

Think about this - about one third of the food we eat, such as apples, nuts, and squash, depend on these important pollinators!

Yummy Summer Berries

After going for an afternoon walk with my son and pup today, we came across two types of berries which both belong to the Rosaceae family. Chokeberries (Aronia) are often mistakenly called chokecherries. Earlier this year, the chokeberry bush showed off its gorgeous tiny white flowers. I've read that chokeberries can be used to make jam, syrup, and wine. We harvested some blackberries and used them in a yoghurt and smoothie treat ... yum!

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

After watching his shows on TV, I was able to get my hands on a copy of his 'Food Revolution' Cookbook - so far have tried one of his curries (even the boys liked it!), his spring bean soup, the roasted chicken with a whole lemon stuffed inside (which was delicious!) and tonight on the menu is his sweet potato soup... love the photographs in this book, his style of writing, but would have also liked nutrition information, such as calories, carbs, etc. However, the most important point is getting the family together around the dinner table eating a home-cooked meal, yum!

Good health to you!

After spending a day at Emergency for my mom (all tests results ok!) and hearing my niece underwent dental surgery (she told me she's ok!) I am again reminded how our health is top priority. As I went downstairs to check on my seedlings, I noticed the cherry tomatoes are coming up; they will taste good in this avocado ceasar salad recipe I found in a magazine - to make it:
-place 8 cups coarsely chopped romaine lettuce on a platter,
-top with 4 sliced green onions, 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes, 1 sliced avocado and perhaps some sliced radishes, croutons and bacon bits/beans. Add 1/4 cup ceasar dressing - Avocadoes are a good fat, source of Vitamin C and excellent source of fibre. Wishing you a happy and healthy day!

Great addition to salads!

Just finished growing some fenugreek sprouts - they are on the large side and should taste yummy on my salad or I can put them in a sandwich made with multi grain bread, spelt bread, or a tortilla wrap and add some veggie fillings such as cucumber, colourful peppers, and more greens... ok, I am getting hungry here! Fenugreek has a unique scent, and is known as the traditional herb for colds and flu.

Mom, may I have another muffin?

Few days ago, I made a wonderfully warming bowl of mushroom barley soup with some colourful cabbage salad on the side ...yum! Speaking of warming, the herb cinnamon has hot energy and is used in this Mott's Fruitsations Blueberry muffin recipe:
In large bowl, whisk together 2 cups all purpose flour, 1/4 cup wheat germ, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp. salt.

In another bowl, whisk together 2 containers unsweetened fruit snacks, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 canola oil, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Pour over flour mixture, stir in 1 cup blueberries. Spoon into 12 muffin cups, then combine 2 tbsp. flour, 2 tbsp. wheat germ, 2 tbsp. brown sugar, 1 tbsp. canola oil, sprinkle over muffins. Bake 350F (180C) for about 20 mins until centre comes out clean. A+ from the guys!

Food Matters

I thought it was great that 'Oprah' had Michael Pollan on the show yesterday - I highly recommend you also watch the 'Food Inc' and 'Food Matters' documentaries.


Here is a picture of my 'pup' taken two years ago - look at that snow! A friend had specifically requested a picture of her as only the kittens have been shown on my blog - fair is fair!

Head and Heart in Haiti

You can see some of the healthy goodies that went into my new batch of sauerkraut. As I was putting the batch into the jars, I couldn't stop thinking about the Haitian people - have they had something to eat or drink by now? My heart goes out to the Haitian people, and all those courageous people trying to help. The least I can do is donate money - I know my local licquor and pharmacy stores are collecting money, so you know where I am going next...

Long, but lovely day in the kitchen

Look what I created on one crispy day - beautiful plain and poppyseed whole wheat breads - I tried a new recipe from the Tassajara Bread Book by Edward Espe Brown - was delicious, worth the time it took!

Also, made an autumn-coloured Fall Pinto Bean & Yam Soup from the book 'The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook' by Alissa Segersten - you should have smelled the house! Some of the good digestion ingredients were pinto beans, garlic, onion, yams, carrots, cumin, and paprika. It tasted absolutely heavenly and luckily there was a little bit left over for lunch the next day...

yellow everywhere...

During this week, I took some pictures of our sunflowers and went on a couple of healthy bike rides with my youngest son - we saw lots of goldenrod growing in the neighborhood (even he recognized this plant!). We are trying to get a few more rides in before his yellow schoolbus shows up at the door - speaking of yellow, I made the pizza recipe in Barbara Kingsolver's book 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' and decorated the pizza with an interesting combination of pepperoni, pineapple, yellow peppers, and herbs - yum!

It's been a green week!

You could call me crazy, but I just felt like knitting again - I am only a beginner knitter, but I decided to knit myself a nice cozy wrap in 35C (hot!) weather in a beautiful leaf green colour.

Speaking of green, I harvested some green beans for dinner and freezer. If you look closely at the photo with my green beans, you will also see some gorgeous swiss chard, which I will start using in future green smoothies - here is a photo of my very first green smoothie made with mango and baby spinach - it was quite tasty!

After hours of weeding in my vegie garden, I was rewarded with a first harvest of green beans! I made a delicious spicy potato & green bean salad from recipe in book 'ExtraVeganZa' by Laura Matthias. Then in the evening when I went for a stroll just in the back of our property, I found some beautiful pink-purple flowered plants with purple stems - used my trusty library Peterson Field Guide copy to find out it was sweet Joe-Pye-Weed.