So-called “superfoods” intrigue me. In a mission to bake less and eat healthier, I decided to do some research on quinoa, which has been classified alongside such items as blueberries, turmeric and acai as a superfood.
Cranberry Peanut Butter Granola Clusters
Since we have been featuring a lot decadent desserts lately, our goal over the next few weeks is to post more healthy recipes. After all, we only have 3 more months until official bathing suit season!
The challenge of featuring healthy food alternatives is that we still want them to be flavourful. I always look to the experts in healthy, delicious recipes – Janet and Greta Podleski of “Looneyspoons” and “Eat, Shrink and Be Merry” fame. I love their cookbooks. If you recall, we featured their Peanut BETTER Gingersnap Cookies on our blog not too long ago! This recipe was adapted from their Looneyspoons Collection cookbook recipe. These pumpkin-flavoured granola clusters are simple, packed with deliciousness and perfect as a healthy treat.
Edamame-berry Salad
Yesterday Claudia showed up at my house with, what looked like, 17 recycle bags full of food. She wanted to cook. She wanted to cook BAD. After a few hours and painful cramps in my feet, we were able to crank out a few great recipes for the blog! This salad is a newer addition to Claudia’s rotation. She was very eager to share it with you all. Not only is it super pretty, but it’s super healthy, fresh and delicious.
Roasted Veggies
First off, Happy New Year! How many resolutions have you broken already?! Ah, don’t be ashamed. Like most people, I also tend to break them within the first few days. That’s why I do my best not to make them anymore.
I figured I would post one of my all-time favourite recipes that will help you keep your healthy living resolutions for 2012. This is probably one of the simplest, most delicious vegetable dishes I have tried. It is adapted from the Looneyspoons Collection cookbook by Janet and Greta Podleski. These ladies are amazing at creating delicious dishes that are super healthy and simple. I highly recommend you pick up one of their cookbooks and give some of the recipes a try. You won’t be disappointed. These roasted vegetables are flavourful, hearty and totally diet compliant.
Grilled Turkey Burgers
Claudia has been on holidays these past few weeks and getting some much needed rest and relaxation in our second family house in Saskatchewan. I will be taking the 5 hour drive out to meet her shortly to spend some time fishing, canning veggies from the garden (stay tuned for recipes!) and relaxing with the family. The house in Saskatchewan is probably one of my favourite places in the world. The house was my grandparents, and growing up I would spend every summer out there. The house is literally in the middle of nowhere. A very small community of 6 or 7 houses make up the town. Actually, the place is too small to be an official town. According to the 2006 Canadian Census, it is a hamlet with grand total of 15 residents. It is so peaceful and quiet out there. Reminds me of a simpler time, really.
I haven’t been out to the house in Saskatchewan for almost 2 years. The last time I was out there Claudia made these Grilled Turkey Burgers. I believe the original recipe called for Stove Top Stuffing Mix, and since we were in the middle of nowhere, we had none. So she improvised. I personally like these a lot better than the original recipe. They are juicy, healthy, delicious and the simplest dinner you will make.
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Cucumber & Tomato Salad
Before I get into the featured recipe, I wanted to introduce you to our newest addition to the family. I have had my eye on a sleek entry-level DSLR camera for quite some time. As I am quite loyal to the Canon brand of cameras, the EOS Rebel T3i was an easy choice. Therefore, from this moment on all my photos will be captured by this beauty. I hope you enjoy! Moving on…
This featured salad is my all-time favourite. It’s super light and simple to make. Plus the colours are gorgeous. My boyfriend makes this salad regularly for potlucks and it’s always a huge hit. Tomato, cucumber, onion and parsley. Perfect use of all your garden vegetables!
Broccoli Salad
I am not a vegetable person. I never have been. I probably never will be. Any time while growing up when I would complain to Claudia that I was hungry, her immediate response was “have a carrot”, or “have a cucumber”. This infuriated me, as I clearly wanted a cookie…or cookie dough (see image top right of the blog). I would react by pouting. I did a lot this as a child. Broccoli and cauliflower were my two veggie enemies. I despised them. Even to this day, I am not a part of their fan club. However, if integrated correctly, such as cauliflower in Claudia’s Curryflower Soup, or broccoli in this Broccoli Salad recipe, I could eat veggies all day.
This dish is the ultimate summer salad. I’ve already had this salad about 5 times in the past 2 months, and it isn’t even summer yet. Perfect for potlucks, BBQ’s and even lunch. There are many variations to Broccoli Salad. I find this one of Claudia’s is by far my favourite.
Million Dollar Salad
Happy belated Easter! We hope yours was as fun and food-filled as ours! We sincerely apologize for our lack of posts over the past month. With Claudia vacationing in Arizona and my work schedule becoming a little more hectic these days, we simply lost track of time. But enough excuses…we’re back and it feels great!
With all the snow gone in Winnipeg (hopefully for good this time) and the grass beginning to turn green, we decided it was time to feature a lighter dish with this post. We receive a lot of comments on our postings, mainly on the delicious, gooey desserts that we love to feature. A huge thank you goes out to each and every one of you who have taken the time to comment and try our recipes! However, we received a particular request from my dear friend Richard in Ottawa who wanted us to feature a delicious yet healthy recipe. So Richard, this post for Million Dollar Salad is for you!
This salad is pretty much the easiest thing you could possibly make. The hardest part is chopping some lettuce and onion. The rest is pretty basic. You even get a workout shaking the salad dressing. This salad is simple but definitely does not hold back on any flavour. The fruit is sweet and the dressing is tart. It’s the perfect combination.
Chicken Fajitas
I have absolutely no idea where Claudia got her Mexican cooking skills from. This recipe is one of the many dishes that has wowed not only my family, but my friends as well. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that there were a few times during my younger years when I would come home from a fun evening of dancing with my friends and we would search my parents the fridge to see if there were any leftovers. On the instances where we found Chicken Fajitas, we felt as though we had won the lottery. This dish is a very healthy and delicious addition to anyone’s dinner repertoire.
Hearty Soup
I’m not really a carboholic. I’m more of a sugarholic. I like sweets..the more chocolate in those sweets, the better. However, there is something to be said about the weather changing your eating habits. As the weather continues to flirt with below freezing temperatures, I find myself craving heavier foods. Casseroles and soups have been my addiction the past few weeks. I can’t get enough. Not to mention this is probably one of the busiest times for me professionally, so the easier that carb-loaded meal is to make, the happier I am.
Hearty Soup is probably the easiest recipe Claudia has in her cooking repertoire. It’s so easy that while my Dad watched me and Claudia make this soup for the blog, he proclaimed that even he could make it and continued to copy the recipe for his own meal arsenal for an upcoming hunting trip. Beats his pickled eggs recipe he currently has that’s for sure. This soup is so delicious, it leaves you wondering how something so simple can be so good.