Granola is one of the easiest things to make and just a little bit goes a long way to dress up a bowl of oatmeal or plain yogurt. Artisan granola is quite expensive but if you buy the ingredients in bulk it can be a very cost effective homemade endeavor. The stars of this particular granola are walnuts and cranberries. Continue Reading →
Olive Penguins
Our mashed potatoes are getting a special addition for Christmas dinner this year. These little olive penguins are easy to throw together with just three ingredients. Continue Reading →
Candied Almonds on Roasted Pears
Making a dessert healthy doesn’t mean making it completely sugar and fat free, instead using fresh and nutrient dense ingredients guarantees that your body will benefit from it. I really like to make baked pears or apples and top them with granola or candied nuts and finish it off with some full fat plain Greek yogurt (it is so thick and creamy that it looks like ice cream in the photos). Here I roasted some pears in the oven and toasted almonds on the stove with a mixture of honey, butter , spices and palm sugar (it is lower GI than most sugars and a deep brown color with lots of flavor), which come together to taste like rich caramel sauce. Continue Reading →
Kombucha Winter Sangria
Kombucha is a slightly effervescent fermented tea. Here in North America those of us who follow modern diets tend to miss out on anything fermented. The fermenting process changes the components of a food or drink, leading to an item high in probiotics and other nutrients. From a digestive and nutritional point of view we can all benefit from consuming probiotic rich food because the good bacteria helps to balance out the bacteria in our large intestines (colons), a.k.a. our gut flora, so that the potentially bad guys (like Candida) don’t go on a rampage and start causing health issues. The proper balance of this intestinal flora has a great effect on our health in many areas, ranging from our energy levels to the strength of our immune systems. Continue Reading →
Roasted Chestnuts
Chestnuts are soft, dense and sweet, tasting kind of like yams but a bit more mild. Warm, fresh out of the oven they are a really delicious and hearty snack all on their own, with no seasoning or dips required. They are lower in fats and higher in complex carbohydrates than other nuts, as well as high in fiber, vitamin C, several B vitamins and the essential minerals manganese, copper and potassium. All of these nutrients play different roles in the body from stabilizing energy levels to improving digestion to helping red blood cell formation to boosting the immune system to acting as antioxidants. Continue Reading →
Pomegranate Orange Massaged Kale Salad
Kale is so hardy, it’s one of the very few vegetables that can survive through frosts. This is great for farmers and gardeners but it’s dense fibrousness can be found unappealing. The secret to softening kale up is to massage it. Literally… you add some oil and a pinch of sea salt and massage it with a hand or two until it softens and decreases to about half its original size. Most leafy greens don’t last long, becoming slimy, once they come into contact with dressing, massaged kale however will last for a day or two so you can make extra and have easy left overs for lunch the next day. Continue Reading →
Santa Strawberries and Cream
Coconut is a surprisingly versatile plant, from it we can derive sugar, flour, electrolyte rich water, milk and the fruit flesh itself either fresh or dried. Best of all, we can make it into whipped cream. Cans of full fat coconut milk separate into coconut cream and coconut water, the trick is to chill it in the fridge so that the cream part hardens up at the top of the can and becomes easy to separate from the coconut water. Continue Reading →
Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
One of my first choice for treats is the dark chocolate peanut butter cups from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory but they are huge and not the kind of thing you only eat part of and save for later, so I made these mini ones to keep my indulgences in check. These are very easy to make, require only a few ingredients and do not require any baking. Chocolate and peanut butter is a pretty classic combination but almond or any other nut butter would work just as well. Continue Reading →
Poached Eggs on Avocado Toast
Avocado on toast has become quite a food celebrity, endorsed by human celebrities and healthy foodies far and wide. If you are not yet on the bandwagon I suggest you give this a try, and if you’ve “been there, done that” it can be brand new again with some additional toppings. Continue Reading →
Homemade Ferrero Rocher
One of my brother’s favorite treats is Ferrero Rocher so I wanted to try making a homemade version with clean and simple ingredients. He has a major sweet tooth so I wanted to make sure these fulfilled that but could also sneak some nutrients into him. I said to use dark chocolate in the recipe below because it’s a bit healthier and I made a couple for myself with it and they turned out well. For the majority of them I used milk chocolate instead because it makes them taste more like actual Ferrero Rochers and my brother doesn’t like dark chocolate, I have to accept that I have to take baby steps with him (last time I saw him make himself lunch it was a white bread sandwich with Nutella and three Oreos on the side)- so that is an option for pickier eaters. Continue Reading →