Recipes

From summer potlucks to a cozy winter dinner, lasagna is just one of those pasta recipes that taste great no matter what time of the year it is. Get ready to shake your pasta maker, because we’re going to make the world’s best lasagna.

Strawberries, peaches, blackberries, and blueberries – those little gems of the fruit family are nutritious on their own, but when you bake them up and wrap them in buttery crust or turn them into an icy-cool summer dessert? That’s when summer really kicks off at my house.

Mints! Not the surgery candy treats you get at the restaurants but the herbs grown in the garden.  Mint compliments our guilty pleasures like cocktails and ice cold treats, but it also gives a nice kick to any meal. Not to forget, it makes refreshing beverages that are both satisfying and detoxifying. Let’s get started on the 6 ways to use mint: 

Throughout November Shelly has been featuring recipes from across Canada. She began in British Columbia, where she now lives. Last week she wrote about the prairies, where she was raised.  This week she asked me to guest post, since my family is originally from Southern Ontario before we headed west to BC. We love the west coast, but still cherish our French Canadian heritage, especially the tradition of serving our family’s version of tortière for Christmas

Baby, it’s cold outside! Whether you’re on the East Coast, West Coast, or somewhere in the middle, the temperatures are dipping into the polar zone and thoughts are turning to warm fires, hot chocolate, and bundling up.   But there’s one thing that can take the edge off the chill outside, and that’s comfort food! What is comfort food exactly? I think it means something different to whoever is eating it. For some a certain dish brings back sentimental feelings or a sense of nostalgia, for others comfort food is a go-to dish they make when they’re feeling under the weather, have had a bad day, or want a pick-me-up in the middle of a busy winter week.

 You can prepare delicious side salads to go with any vegan BBQ. Or you can serve a hearty salad as a meal, by loading it up with lots of different proteins (just not meat, chicken, or fish) and other ingredients such as quinoa and rice.

 Feelin’ hot, hot, hot? It’s summer, so embrace the heat. If you live in the East, you know you have to because winter isn’t fun. But you guys on the West Coast, with your scaled-down version of “winter,” should also appreciate the warmer weather. Save

Calling a Blendtec Blender a “blender” is somewhat of a misnomer. While it’s true that it can blend and puree like nobody’s business, it can also knead dough, make ice cream, juice whole fruits, and even grind meat and coffee beans to perfection, which is all pretty impressive for one machine. But wait, there’s more! The Blendtec Designer Series can also turn whole vegetables into warm healthy soup in minutes. That’s right. Prepare your favourite healthy soup recipes right in a blender.

We’ve said goodbye to all things kale and hello to cauliflower, given up on the cronut and opened our ovens to the southern buttermilk biscuit. Thanks to the latest food trends, menus this year are going to be seriously delicious. Here are a few recipes you can try at home to tap into what’s hot in food for 2015.

I’m a big fan of herbs, especially basil. I grew up in a Persian household and herbs were always served with dinner. Wrapping feta cheese and fresh mint, dill, parsley or basil in warm Persian bread is especially delicious. I could live off that meal and never get tired of it. But I could never figure out how to get my herbs to last for a long time. I turned to Pinterest for a solution, and discovered the Prepara Herb Savor. I then noticed that Best Buy carried it, and asked them to send me a sample of this kitchen gadget to review.