Do your kids eat differently when they are at other people's houses? After a recent lunchtime playdate at her friend's house, my daughter came home raving about the awesome meatball submarine sandwiches they had. Meatball subs?! A dish I have suggested on numerous occasions, but which has always been met with "No, that sounds gross"? I decided to take advantage of the successful lunch date introduction and get down to making our own turkey meatball subs.
Now that the kids are back to school and the after school activities have started up again, weeknights are busier than ever. With a little planning and preparation, a delicious and quick dinner can make it to the table in 20 minutes - beginning to end.
Grab a bunch of kale and an inexpensive flank steak on your next trip to the market. Create a deliciously simple flank steak with kale pesto that everyone in your family will love.
Halloween is all about costumes and candy - lots of candy. Perhaps a bit too much candy? The candy struggle can be especially difficult when you have little ones. They want to get in on all the Halloween fun, but you might not want them to indulge in that much sugar. Here is the answer - Homemade Halloween cheesy crackers.
Watch out turkeys; we are heading into turkey eating seasos! It is time to brush off those basters and get roasting. The best part about making a huge roasted turkey for a big family gathering has got to be the leftovers. Do not throw those turkey leftovers away. Turkey leftovers are so versatile and can be stretched for many meals to come. Do you remember the episode of Friends (am I dating myself) when someone in the office ate Ross' turkey leftover sandwich and he lost his mind?! Turkey leftovers are gold.
You know you have an awesome recipe when the kids walk in the front door at the end of the school day and say "Mom, what are you making? I need to eat it, now." That was both of my daughters' reactions when I made this delicious slow cooker butternut squash soup. Fall is the season of squash, the markets are filled will every variety. Our favourite squash to make soups with is the classic butternut squash. After a long work day there is nothing quite like being greeted with a warm slow cooker full of homemade soup.
Everybody loves a field trip - especially kids. What if the field trip involved farm fresh food, cheese, wine, and beer? Pretty great field trip, right? The best part about field trips is how much learning takes place while everyone is having fun. There are so many amazing ways to get kids (and adults) excited about food, right outside the grocery store door. With a little planning you can embark on a culinary adventure with the family this weekend.
Okay, this is one of those unbelievable recipes. If you have never tried this before, you will not believe me until you try it for yourself. Did you know that cauliflower can be totally transformed, become light, fluffy, and be completely unrecognizable? All you need is one head of cauliflower and a food processor. That is all you need to make cauliflower couscous.
Our garden has finally hit its stride. The herbs have grown into savoury scented hedges, our beets and carrots are ready to be picked, and our tomato plants are flush with ruby red jewels. All this late summer bounty means that the time has arrived to make one of our all time favourite summer dishes: glorious summer gazpacho. This chilled soup is packed with the fresh flavours of the season; tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onion, garlic and basil.
There are few things worse then starting Monday morning off with the discovery of an uneaten lunch rotting in your child's lunch bag all weekend. I'm not sure which is most disappointing; the wasted food, the hard work wasted, or simply the stinky, gross food that now needs to be scraped out of the lunch bag. This familiar scenario is repeated time and again from September to June in many households. This school year things are going to be different. This school year the kids are going pack their own lunches and eat them too.
Our current food obsession is peaches. When peaches are in season they are remarkably sweet, soft, and delicious. In fact, this is one fruit that I never purchase out of season, because it's always so disappointing. When it is peach season we take full advantage and find different ways to eat them almost every day. Since peaches have a firm flesh they are perfect for grilling and adding to a salad, and don't be afraid to freeze fresh peaches. Simply slice them and place in a single layer on a baking sheet, then pop the sheet in the freezer.
You are out hiking through the woods with your kids and someone starts complaining that they have been stung by something, but there isn't a bug to be found. What you do see is a tall plant with multiple, jagged edges on the dark green leaves. You have run into the common wildflower, stinging nettle. Stinging nettle is native to Canada (and most of North America, Europe and Asia). Often thought of as a weed, stinging nettle has been valued over time and across many cultures as a healthy, nutritious and fibre packed plant.
