Berry Delightful Cranberry Sauce #Molkosanberry

I love all Thansgivings, Canadian and American. But I don't love that heavy feeling of eating too much food after one of those huge family meals. And sometimes I think I could use a little extra help disgesting my meal and that's where Molkosan comes in.

Molkosan is made from milk from the Swiss Alps (but I promise it tastes like berries and not milk, beacause the fat, sugar, and protein was extracted and only the whey was left behind), and the lactic acid helps with digestion. 

Using Molkosan Berry, I've made a new delicious Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce that would be perfect to help with digestion after a huge family meal, either full of turkey or tofu-key! 

Salad Frenzy #Molkosanberry

I have been participating in the Molkosan Berry "21 days to a happier tummy" challenge and today is day 14 . Before the challenge, I had never heard of Molkosan Berry but now I know that it's is a unique lacto-fermented whey product that works to improve our natural pH balance. And I have to say that this Molkosan Berry is already starting to make me feel great.

So far I've had Molkosan Berry stirred into smoothies and apple cider and both drinks have tasted great. But because Molkosan Berry is a mix of sweetness and tartness, I thought it might be the perfect ingredient for a new salad vinaigrette. But don't just trust me, try it for yourself!

July's Crazy Ingredient Challenge

July's Crazy Ingredient Challenge is a little less crazy than most months, it's combining cranberries and shallots! But while I think that's the perfect combination for Thanksgiving, but it's a little more challenging for the summer.

I came up with a shallot and dried cranberry compote butter that would amazing when tossed with veggies, but I felt like making something a little different for this challenge. So I took a look in my fridge and found a head of cauliflower. Then I looked in my garden and saw that my basil was bright and beautiful. I knew I would make a gorgeous summer soup out of the cauliflower and top it with tart little dried cranberries and bright basil.

This soup was one of my best so thanks to Dawn from Spatulas on Parade for, what turned out to be, a perfect summer combo!

Berry Nice Dressing

They say the best things in life are free? I say the best things in life are homemade, especially salad dressing.

I have bought many a bottle of salad dressing, though usually to use as a marinade or when I'm rushing to a backyard party, and I am almost never satisfied with what comes in the bottle. Store bought salad dressing is usually a little thick, a little too salty or sweet, and just not right. Homemade dressing takes seconds to mix together and tastes however you want it to taste.

Try my new go-to summer salad dressing, Strawberry Poppy Seed. It tastes as good as it looks and it's all natural!

Puffed Quinoa and Goji Berries

Do you ever make NewYear's resolutions and wonder why you ever thought you could keep them going strong throughout the year? I think that around April every single year.

In January, I decided to try one new food per month for all of 2014. I'm still keeping my promise, in fact this month I actually tried two new foods, but it's much harder than I expected because there are only so many foods in the world to try!

In January I finally tried chia seeds and made a yummy chia seed pudding. In February I tried something I had never heard of, amaranth, and made a note worthy amaranth porridge with strawberries. And in March I tried raw cashews and made a truly delicious pasta dish with a vegan raw cashew sauce.

This month I was walking around the Bulk Barn, because that's where I've been finding all my new foods to try so far, and was worried that I might run before December. Then I decided to throw caution to the wind and made a yummy salad topper using two new foods for April. I realized that if I run out of new foods to try at the Bulk Barn, I can just head over to China Town or my Farmer's Market, it might get a little harder in December but if I keep trying I can fulfill this set of resolutions.

Read on for my recipe for Roasted Cauliflower and Sausage with Puffed Quinoa Salad Topper. It might sound a few bit familiar if you read a recipe I shared a few days ago for Puffed Quinoa and Peeps Tarts with Lemon Curd and that's because I used my Puffed Quinoa Salad Topper for the tarts! It turns out that a salad topper makes a pretty awesome tart!

Berry Delicious Pudding

Easter is one of most "egg"-citing times of the year and a time I "carrot" very much about. I love spending time figuring out what will "turnip" on my table for Easter dinner. And I am always the first one awake calling out to everyone to "lettuce" see what the bunny left for us.

This year I think I've found the perfect quick treat for my Easter dessert. It's almost as much fun as my puns and takes mere minutes to make, especially if you choose to skip the step of making your own edible dirt and substitute a cup or so of Chocolate Cheerios pulsed in a food processor.

I can't wait to dig into a bowl of this "Dirty" Chocolate Pudding with Chocolate Covered "Carrot" Strawberries so I know I'll need to make another batch for Easter. Chocolate anything doesn't even last a day in my house! 

February's Crazy Ingredient Challenge - Strawberries and Mustard!

Things have been busy for me recently, so I took a few months off from the Crazy Ingredient Challenge. But this month, I'm back. When I first heard that this month's challenge was to create a delicious dish using strawberries and mustard, I wondered if I should take just one more month's break. It's sounds hard to make anything yummy out of strawberries and mustard...

Than I had an idea. I would share one of my favourite salad recipes. It hasn't gone up on my blog yet and it's delicious. It's a spinach salad filled with goodies - pumpkin seeds, strawberries, feta, and avocado. And it's covered in a honey mustard vinaigrette. But the idea wasn't crazy enough for this challenge so I decided to try something new.

Here's my new recipe for Honey Mustard Salmon with Strawberry Salsa. I know you're going to love it!

Birthday Wishes

I love birthday cakes. It doesn't matter who's birthday cake it is, as long as I get a taste of it, I love it. Chocolate, vanilla, ice cream, angel food, chiffon, boxed or home made - it doesn't matter. Birthday cakes are made with loving thoughts of that one special person and I know that I taste those thoughts when I am eating each and every bite.

Today is my sister's birthday and while we celebrated each other's birthdays (mine was just a few days ago) together last month, it sure would be great if I got to bake her a cake today. Instead I hope that this post containing a yummy little lemon cake will do. I know that whoever bakes her a cake will thinking all the loving thoughts I would have thought so it will be fantastic.

Happy birthday, Mary. I hope your day is great today!

Red and White Breakfast

It's February so, if you remember my New Year's resolution to try one new food a month, that means it's time for me to bring you something new. This month my new food is amaranth seeds and, in a weird way, the new recipe I made with them is bringing back some old childhood memories.

I was inspired by a recipe for Amaranth Porridge that I saw in Pinterest and one taste of it made me remember sitting in my Nana's kitchen and asking for big bowls of cream of wheat. These memories set my dish up for something special, but when you factor in that amaranth is full of protein and other healthy benefits, it's a real winner.

Plus, I top my Amaranth Porridge with beautiful red strawberries and tasty white coconut and yogurt covered raisins, so it's perfect for serving on Valentine's Day and for cheering on our Canadian Olympians!

Blackberry Crumble Muffins - My Canadian Love Affair

I love digging into the first bite of anything delicious. But my favourite first bite is always one from a fruit pie or crumble. I love fruit pie and crumbles so much that I'd love to eat a big helping each and every morning, but sadly my waistline doesn't agree.

So in when I heard that this month's Canadian Food Experience Project's challenge was to write about  My Canadian Love Affair, I knew exactly what recipe I'd share in my post.

Today's recipe isn't exactly a pie, instead it's a healthier breakfast version of a pie - Blackberry Crumble Muffins. And to make them even more Canadian, I've used the blackberries that grow wild in my own backyard.

What's Better than a Stuffin Muffin?

I know most of my posts this month have featured healthy recipes, but I still pine for hearty comfort food too. I love a good stick to your ribs, make you feel warm, or take you back to Mom's house kind of meal.

For me, that kind of meal almost always comes out of an oven. It almost always involves roasted veggies and hopefully some of kind of baked bread, bun, or bread pudding. Some of you might choose to serve a roast chicken with your meal and I think that today's recipe would go perfectly with one.

Today's recipe is a Stuffin. They are muffins made out of stuffing. I don't want to pretend that I made them up, I thought I might have but I looked up a stuffin on the Internet and found out that they sadly already existed, but the recipe I came up with is pretty darn delicious. They're quicker to make than a big casserole of dressing so they feel a little less thanksgiving and a little more weekend comfort food.

Read on for the recipe!

A Canadian Christmas Tradition

I don't know about the majority of people in Canada, but baking cookies is one of the biggest traditions we have during the holiday season. My mom and Nana used to bake tins of all sorts of types of cookies and froze them for the holidays. Then they would pull out little platters of them for dessert and tea throughout December. Now I do the same. 

The only thing that's different about my cookie baking is that I cannot decide on the list of cookies I should be baking. Any of my family could tell you Nana's list of holiday baking, but my list is ever changing. 

This year my cookie platters will have some of Canadian Living's new Cranberry Pistachio Tree Cookies, and as much extra effort as they are, I am very glad I made them. Just be sure to follow then recipe when it says to blanch and peel your nuts because it helps them stay a beautiful bright green. And learn from my mistake, you can actually buy shelled pistachios!

Japanese Desserts

I was reading about a local Victoria, BC tea shop called JagaSilk and how they had delicious looking Strawberry Daifuku treats. I had no idea what those treats were, but I knew that I wanted to get my hands on one of them. The only problem was that this tea shop was open only from Tuesdays to Fridays and only from 12:00-5:00pm. I knew I would never get there. 

So I did what I do best, I researched how to make the treats myself. And I'm actually happy I did it this way because I'm pretty proud of the dessert I created. They look and taste great, plus I learned a new technique! 

Read on the recipe, inspired by one from Just One Cookbook, it's easier than you might have thought! 

One Dish Veggie Thanksgiving

Since this Thanksgiving I won't be serving a turkey, I've been experimenting with lots of veggie friendly options for the big day. I have looked at tofurkey and quite honestly, I'm not impressed. They look a little grey and unappetizing. Instead I'm going the veggie side dish route and lots of them! 

Side dishes have always been my favourite Thanksgiving food anyway, so why not just enjoy lots of yummy sides? I'll make sure that there's some protein in there, but it won't be the star on the plate. It might be a mix of beans in a yummy filling served in a squash instead. 

Here's one of my first 2013 Thanksgiving experiments. This dish is almost exactly out of a recipe from last month's Canadian Living magazine. I just swapped their rapini for broccoli because I love broccoli and changed the dressing a little too. I think it turned out great!  

Minted - Christmas Cards and More!

I know many of us are busy focusing on back to school right now, but it's also creeping closer to my favourite holiday season and it will soon be time to think about planning Christmas and holiday cards. It might sound too soon to some of you, but I know I start receiving cards at the beginning of December which means they must have been mailed in mid November, must have been personalized in early November, and in homes ready to go in October. It's going to be September in a just a few short weeks, so it's now time to start planning to stay ahead of the game!

Minted is a new website that I've just discovered and I am loving Minted's beautiful Christmas photo cards. I also love that choosing Minted cards means supporting independent designers and that the cards are reasonably priced. 

One of my favourite of Minted's Christmas photo cards is the template below. You can customize your photo card with five of your own photos and choose from a selection of colours for the background too.  I love this card because I love to include a simple holiday recipe in my Christmas cards and I would love to include a photo of my recipe as one of the photos. 

This year I am thinking about including a recipe for a simple Christmas fruit salad in my Christmas cards. Read on for my recipe and for a few great holiday gift ideas from Minted!

A Whole Mott of Happiness

I have a love / hate relationship with people at work who have a bowl of delicious sweet little candies on their desks, just begging me to indulge. It's hard to stop myself when I walk by their desks, but I try to say no to be healthy.

Now imagine being a child and seeing all the yummy snacks that the other kids are bringing to school and you're stuck with carrots and celery sticks because mom wants you to be healthy. I feel those kid's pain. Luckily this school year will be different because of Mott's Fruitsations and Veggie fruit snacks!

These fruit snacks are naturally flavoured, made with pear, apple, and carrot juice, gluten free, and have only 80 calories in each package. These fruit snacks are going to make kids and moms happy. And I know I'm going to be bringing a few packages to work to eat when I want one to be digging into the candy bowls.

And Mott's and Life Made Delicious are going to help us out in another way too. We can enter Mott's Fruitsations and Veggie Fruit snacks' contest from the Life Made Delicious Facebook page that could make back to school shopping a lot easier because there are three $500 gift cards up for grabs! And while you're on Life Made Delicious' Facebook page, pick up a $0.50 off coupon (while supplies last) to use when you buy your first (or second) box!

I also couldn't resist baking up some Mini Raspberry Filled Chocolate Cupcakes from the Life Made Delicious website. I topped my cupcakes with some of the berry flavoured Mott's Fruitsations and Veggie fruit snacks and they were gobbled up faster than ever!

Summery Grilled Cheese

When you think of grilled cheese, I bet most of you think of two pieces of crispy bread sandwiching together soft melted cheese with maybe a little ketchup on the side. Maybe a few of you think of something a little more gourmet like an aioli on the side or a spread in the middle, but I don't think any of you think of what I'm about to share with you. 

Today I made Life Made Delicious'  Cedar-Planked Brie and Berries and it was awesome. The cedar plank added a smokey delicious flavour, the honey drizzle added a sweetness, and the fruit added a little extra tang. I can't say that I've ever thought to grill a wheel of Brie before, but now I can't imagine not doing it again! 

Open your eyes to a new world of summery grilled cheese with this delicious recipe! 

Flavour Bombs

I have a favourite recipe for banana muffins so I am always unsure about trying something new. So even though when I heard that Janet and Greta Podleski's Bananaberry Bombs were too good to pass up, I almost passed them up. 

After just one bite, I was happy I tried out the recipe. They're now my favourite banana muffin recipe and these flavour bombs really shouldn't be missed! 

If you don't like bananas, or don't have any super ripe ones, I would suggest trying these muffins with apple sauce in the banana's place. I often substitute mashed banana and apple sauce and have always gotten great results. 

Read on for my version of Bananaberry Bombs (AKA Applebarb Bombs) or visit the Looneyspoon's website for their original delicious version. 

A Cup of Happiness

I love heading to my local Farmer's Market and picking out fruit for a weekend brunch fruit salad, but I'm always looking for new ways to make my fruit salads sparkle. Sometimes I add in special fruit like gooseberries with their little wrappers still on or star fruit cut into slices and slipped onto the sides of bowls for a special garnish, but today I've topped all my previous tricks. Today I've finally made successful Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups to serve my fruit salad in! 

I've tried to make chocolate chip cookie bowls before but I've failed miserably every single time. I think my biggest problem was that my dough has always been too soft and wet so my cookie bowls slid down their moulds into sloppy messes. This time my dough was very dry and my cookies stayed in place and baked to perfection. 

Now my only problem is that I'm going to need to go to the Farmer's Market again because we've eaten all the fruit in my Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups! 

Canadian Love

Every Canada Day I like to make a new Canada Day themed dish. Once day I'll get away from my thoughts of red and white food parties, but not this year. The dish I've sharing today is at least slightly more elegant than some I've created in past years, but it's still a red and white dish.

I ended up making a salad this year that could complement any grilled main, or could even be dinner on its own. It's made with beautiful roasted red beets, toasted white hazelnuts, orange segments for a burst of extra colour, tart fresh raspberries, maple syrup, and a little torn purple basil. I was going to add in some crumbled goat cheese for little extra white, but I stopped myself. I knew the salad didn't need cheese especially with the maple syrup, and I was only going to add it for the colour. That's a first step to no more colour themed dishes, right?