Want to impress over the holidays? Want to do it with minimal effort? Yeah, that’s right. I said it. Let’s be lazy and still impress! (Insert wink here). If you have 15 minutes to slowly heat and cool chocolate (plus add the fixings), and another 60 to let it set in the fridge, you’ve just made chocolate bark! You go girl! I mean, well, after you’ve actually made it. But you go girl! Traditional fixings are nuts, seeds, and dried fruit, but feel free to get creative. The beau

Want a fast and healthy smoothie recipe that doesn't compromise on taste? Try my pina colada recipe! Rum optional. Nutrition mandatory.

Did you know that cheesecake was served to athletes at the first Olympic Games in ancient Greece? Now that’s worth all the training. Right? Yet, New York style cheesecake wasn’t created in the early 1900s after New Yorker William Lawrence developed cream cheese. Fast forward to the present and cheesecake still stands the test of time. It’s one of those classic desserts that draws “oohs” and “aahs” from everyone at the dinner table. It’s the dessert you eat a little less dinne

I’m stumped as to what to write about these stoopid Brazilian cheese buns. Pao de Queijo, commonly known as Brazilian cheese buns, originates from Minas Gerais, a neighbouring state of Rio de Janeiro. Today its popularity rivals potato chips or donuts in North America and are now sold by fast food chains, coffee shops and street vendors. One bite and it’s easy to see why its popularity has soared: the crunchy crust on the outside and the chewy cheesiness on the inside. In ter

Ever thought about taking a cheese making class? Do it! You’ll learn a lot and have fun. Chef Marnie taught my friend Deb and me how to make paneer cheese. She even held our hands through some nervous moments. Well, not literally but you get the gist. So, go for it. Make paneer. When you finally hold your own freshly made cheese you’ll glow with pride. Paneer is a fresh cheese with a mild flavour and crumbly texture. It’s often used in Indian food like curries. Still, why eat

Eighteen grams? - That’s a big number when you’re talking about fibre! And that’s the exact amount of fibre you’ll get from one cup of peas and one avocado. To illustrate further, that’s almost 75% of what many Canadian women need for daily fibre (25 grams). Men need more (38 grams). Age will also factor into how much fibre your body needs. There are two types of fibre. Insoluble fibre acts like a broom to keep you regular. Soluble fibre dissolves in water and becomes a gel t

The Collins dictionary defines comfort food as something enjoyable to eat that makes the eater feel better emotionally. Would you agree? And if you’re anything like me, mushroom stroganoff ranks in my top five comfort foods. Everyone has their own description of comfort food and mine is slightly different than Collins: You step in out of the cold on a chilly winter evening. You sigh as you take off your boots. . You hang your coat in the closet and begin to notice the subtle

How did you feel when the Cookie Monster started to eat carrots on Sesame Street? Did you cheer? Did you shout the word ‘no!’? Did you feel conflicted? Today you eat healthier than ever before but let’s be honest: aren’t cookies really your first love? Confession: You’re not alone if you eat the cookie dough when know one else is looking. I do too and I love it. This cookie dough energy ball will tick all your boxes: does it have the goodness of oats? Yes! Does it have fibre

The struggle is real: our biggest battle can be eating enough fruits and vegetables in a day. You’ve just gotten home from work, everyone’s hungry (including you) and tired (including you). Fight the temptation to have Skip the Dishes come to your rescue. Try a hands-off dinner instead. And it really doesn’t get more hands-off than roasting vegetables. Roasting vegetables is easy. Cook ‘em and forget ’em! Well, maybe set the timer first. Next potential roadblock: you’re bore

3 Days to Christmas! That’s 72 hours away. Are you ready? If you answered YES, I salute you with my coffee and Bailey’s. Cheers! If you answered NO (pssst I’m there for you) and want a recipe in 30 minutes, you’ve come to the right place. The holidays are all about feelings of ‘home.’ What does home mean to you? Hmm. Is that a loaded question? Let’s simplify. If you had only 3 words to describe home, which ones would you choose? I would pick family, friends and food. The magi

Tired of green beans? Bean there done that? You might groan at the Dad joke but you won’t groan at this recipe! The tomato sauce and fresh dill put the ‘spring’ back into the green bean’s step. In addition to huge flavour you’ll also get the nutritional benefits of fibre, vitamins K, A and C, along with the mineral manganese. Serve these beans as a side dish, or top them with chickpeas and Greek feta cheese (from sheep) to enjoy as a main entree. Following the low FODMAP die

Nostalgia is a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning of some past period. After Christmas (yup I said it) Halloween wins the nostalgia award. Do you remember your favourite Halloween costume as a kid? Do you remember emptying your pillowcase filled with candy and going back out trick or treating? (Wait, what?) Do you remember carving pumpkins with your family or friends? My favourite pumpkin design is of my pug Indy that we made at a pumpkin carving contest a few years

Soup is universally loved at any time of the year, but you can’t help argue there’s a nostalgia factor when the weather gets chilly. Is soup one of your comfort foods? Is soup one of your go-to’s when you’re sick? You’re in good company if you answered yes to either question. Soup is also versatile and helps you use up the fruits and vegetables in your fridge that might otherwise go to waste. A report by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation found that up to 400 kg of

As you reach for your first sweater of the season it’s official: fall is here . It’s Saturday morning, and after finding your fuzzy slippers you walk downstairs to the smell of fresh coffee. It’s dreary outside and you feel chilled even while wearing your sweater. You decide to cozy up with a warm bowl of oatmeal. You’re tired of boring old oatmeal and you crave something different. Roasted plums to the rescue! Right? It’s easy yet so mouthwatering that you’ll thank yourself

Want to hop on the cauliflower bandwagon? Whether the cauliflower trend sticks around or fades away it’s one trend you can feel good about following because just one cup (250 mL or 113 grams) of cauliflower has 28 calories, 2.2 grams protein, 5.6 grams carbohydrate, 2.2 grams sugar and only 0.32 grams fat. Okay so what does that mean for you? It means it’s really versatile. You can cook it as is, chop it into cauliflower rice (or buy ready-made), even make it into a pizza cr

If you are anything like me, I love to eat good food. And if you are like me you also probably don’t want to waste time slaving away in the kitchen. You might gravitate towards simpler concoctions that have multiple uses like Cream of Mushroom soup. You can toss it into tonight’s casserole. You can use it to make stroganoff. Create a pot pie. Or just enjoy it on its own. I recently ran into a problem while making a tuna casserole: I had no gluten-free cream of mushroom so