Take Back Thursday Gingerbread Delights #TBT

Since Chrismas falls on Thursday this year, I thought it would be fun to re-use my favourite Christmas cookie recipe today and show you how I decorated my gingerbread cookies this Christmas. I'm just posting early since I know I'll be a little busy tomorrow!  

This year I bought a reindeer cookie cutter and created little reindeer and Santa combos to munch with milk, eggnog, or whatever our hearts desire tonight. And, if there are any left, Santa will get some too! 

Enjoy your holiday tomorrow! Best wishes from my home to yours! 

Tangy Chocolate Christmas Cookies

To me, chocolate is the king of desserts and cookies are the king of Christmas desserts. So that means that chocolate cookies must top the list, right? I like to think so.

This Christmas I felt like making a few new cookie recipes in addition to my tried and true favourites,  just for the fun of it. And clearly that meant trying a new chocolate Christmas cookie.

I taste tested my way through a few different recipes, a really tough job, and finally create this recipe - one so good that it will be pulled out all through the year! These cookies are tangy, rich, decedent, and pretty healthy too because it's almost all chocolate and that's dairy!

So let's get down to the recipe for my new Tangy Chocolate Christmas Cookies! You have to try these!

Grinch Cookies!

I love everything about about Christmas, but watching a Christmas movie while munching on homemade cookies would have to be my very favourite holiday activity. And to make this year's favourite activity even more festive, I made a new cookie that's inspired by one of my favourite holiday movies, the Grinch Who Stole Christmas!

I've enjoyed matcha tea, a powdered green tea, in lattes for awhile but adding it to a batch of cookies is the perfect way to naturally dye my cookies a delightfully grinchy green. And simple pink piped hearts, three sizes too small, adds to the Who-ville experience in a way I know every single one of you will agree.

So get out your mixing bowls and cookie sheets to bake up a batch of what I think is going to turn into everyone's new holiday favourite - Grinch Cookies!

Berry Delightful Cranberry Sauce #Molkosanberry

I love all Thansgivings, Canadian and American. But I don't love that heavy feeling of eating too much food after one of those huge family meals. And sometimes I think I could use a little extra help disgesting my meal and that's where Molkosan comes in.

Molkosan is made from milk from the Swiss Alps (but I promise it tastes like berries and not milk, beacause the fat, sugar, and protein was extracted and only the whey was left behind), and the lactic acid helps with digestion. 

Using Molkosan Berry, I've made a new delicious Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce that would be perfect to help with digestion after a huge family meal, either full of turkey or tofu-key! 

Easy Holiday Dinners

Christmas is still over a month away, but I am already that holiday rush. Every time I sit down I remember something I forgot to do and immediately have to get up again. So something had to give and that something was making busy dinners.

But giving up busy dinners doesn't mean that I'm eating fast food or frozen pizzas every night. I've just started cooking smarter. 

Instead of making a big dinner ever night, I might roast up a pan of squash on the weekend and turn that into easy dinners for the next week. Maybe a squash soup for Monday, a pan fried fish and squash salad for Tuesday, and some totally amazing Cheesy Roasted Squash and Mushroom Wraps for Wednesday.

I think I pumped you up for wraps, so that's what I'm sharing today. Read on for the recipe, perfect for the busy holiday season.

Salad Frenzy #Molkosanberry

I have been participating in the Molkosan Berry "21 days to a happier tummy" challenge and today is day 14 . Before the challenge, I had never heard of Molkosan Berry but now I know that it's is a unique lacto-fermented whey product that works to improve our natural pH balance. And I have to say that this Molkosan Berry is already starting to make me feel great.

So far I've had Molkosan Berry stirred into smoothies and apple cider and both drinks have tasted great. But because Molkosan Berry is a mix of sweetness and tartness, I thought it might be the perfect ingredient for a new salad vinaigrette. But don't just trust me, try it for yourself!

Beet-za Pizza!

Most people think of pizza being made from pizza dough, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni. I agree, that's pizza. But I think that pizza is so much more than that too.

One of my favourite pizzas is my Butternut Squash and Arugula Pizza  and it doesn't have any tomato sauce on it at all. In fact it has maple syrup on it! One of my other favourite pizzas is my Provençal Pizza and it's covered in pears and lavendar! 

If you think either of those pizzas sound like something you might be interested in tasting, keep on reading because this pizza is incredibly yummy too. It's my version of a pizza created on the Roasted Root, but done in an even more beet-y way to incorporate the earthy flavour of beet greens. 

Beet Pesto

I love a good pesto on pasta, burgers, as a dip, or on veggies. I love it made from basil and pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, or really anything. I just love that it's a super flavourful and vibrant sauce.

Today's recipe takes vibrant to a new level. It's a sweet, rich, and über vibrant Beet Pesto and it's perfect for serving in place of any of your favourite pestos.

If this recipe reminds you of something else you've seen on my blog, it might be because it's really similar to my Alien Spaghetti I made for Halloween last year! But considering this recipe has cheese in it and is a little hardier, I like it even more!

Winter Salad

It's still October, but I can feel winter's cold breath on my cheeks when I bike to work in the morning. And while most people wouldn't be excited about crafting up a salad for dinner this time of year, I think that's pretty much a perfect choice.

No, I'm not crazy or having a hot flash. I just mean a different kind of salad than a bright summer salad. I'm not using juicy, grilled peaches or fresh off the vine cherry tomatoes, instead I'm using cooler weather ingredients to make my perfect winter salad. It's full of bright citrus, bitter radicchio, walnuts, and dates. To me, it's a perfect winter salad and the thought of it gets me through those chilly winter bike rides (especially when it's paired with a glass of white wine!)

Soup for a Dark Day

Is it just me or did it just get super dark in the mornings all of a sudden? I wake up, I look outside, it's dark, and it's 7:00am? It feels like a prank, but sadly it's not.

These dark days make me yearn for hot, silky, creamy soup. The kind full of goodies and deliciousness. The kind of soup that makes you want a second bowl. Maybe the kind with a little heat in it, so you don't feel cold anymore. Do you know the kind I mean?

If you can't put your finger on the kind of soup I'm talking about, don't worry. I have your back. It's the kind of soup I'm sharing today - Thai Coconut Noodle Soup. It's perfect for the days you want to stay in bed, and the other days too.

October's Crazy Ingredient Challenge

I missed last month's Crazy Ingredient Challenge because life just got a little crazy, so this month I made sure to participate. The challenge was a little greater for me this month though because it was to combine pumpkin and bacon and if you know me, you know I don't eat bacon!

Because of my no bacon rule, I took a few liberties with the challenge and used tempeh bacon instead of the real thing. But if you really love bacon and beef,  I know you could substitute regular bacon and regular meatloaves in my recipe if you wanted to. Either way, the best part of the recipe is baking it in a little pumpkin!

I know this recipe is sure to get you in the mood for Halloween, or Thanksgiving if you live in the US. It's too perfect for either one of those holidays! So before you read on, just be sure you are ready to get into the holidays!

Plum Lucky

I just got back home from visiting my family and I'm ready to start sharing recipes again!

First up is a great scone recipe that my mom and I put together one cold morning at the cottage. We didn't have all the ingredients we needed so we subbed in what we had and came up with a winning combination.

Here's to the delicious Zesty Plum Scones we made. It's lucky we had a big stock of plums!

Spoon Worthy

I love pumpkins in every shape and form. Pumpkin patches, jack-o-lanterns, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pie, Cinderella's carriage, and pretty much pumpkin anything. But when I eat pumpkin treats, I really love when said treats are sprinkled with cinnamon.

Today's recipe are Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes frosted with plenty of Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting. This frosting is so yummy that I coined a new phrase, spooky worthy. It's definately tasty enough to dig into a bowl of it with a spoon.

Carrot Fever

Now that it's almost (gulp) October, I am doing my best to eat up all the veggies left in my garden. This means that all carrots I pulled and am featuring in today's recipe are a little bit less than perfect looking.

But looks say nothing of their taste! They taste fantastic! For this recipe, I merged together two of my favourite things, gingery carrots and my old favourite sauce for chicken or turkey. Now I know this sauce goes perfectly well with carrots so I think I will try it with tofu next!

Mexi-Style

I have been on a wrap kick for the last few weeks and really enjoying that kind of dinner. There aren't a lot of dishes, it's not messy, no cutlery is required, and it's not a lot of work.

I know if that's all I was looking for, I could just head to the nearest McDonalds. But I also like a few vitamins in my meals. And home-cooked wraps provide all the vitamins I could ever want. I'm making them, so I can put just about anything I'd like into them.

Today's recipe is more than just a wrap. It's a whole Mexican dinner stuffed into a wrap. And, if you're into wraps, it's great served as a casserole and just topped with avocados and cheese. I've happily eaten it that way more than once!

Salad Toppers

Have you ever tried corn nuts? I haven't until now and I am surprised to say that I like them. They look a little like the corn I used to buy from vending machines at farms to feed to the animals, but they taste like crunchy, salty, bites of goodness. And they are great as salad toppers!

The best thing I found about corn nuts is that they taste great on top of any salad I've tried so far. But I have to say that the salad I'm sharing today is pretty fantastic when topped with corn nuts.  Maybe it's the vinegary bite of the pickled beets with the salty corn nuts, creamy avocado, earthy lentils, and sharp green onions, but I think it's a great pairing!

Chickpeas in Asia

If someone told me that I could make a dinner that is easy, quick, yummy, and contains only six ingredients, I would tell them they're either crazy or just warming up a frozen dinner with a bagged salad.

Luckily today is not frozen dinner and bagged salad day. Today is Asian Chickpea Sweet Potatoes day and that day might come around a few times in the near future too. It's even easier than Twice Baked Mexican Sweet Potatoes day and just as yummy!

Saturday Morning Muffins

My favourite meal is breakfast. I know you are probably thinking it's dessert. But if I had to choose one meal to live on for the rest of my life, it really would be breakfast.

I mean, you can have cake for breakfast, right?

This recipe is not only a cake recipe, but it also celebrate how amazing summer fruit is right now. I love throwing in peaches, pears, or whatever fruit is ripe and plentiful in my fruit bowl. I also toss in coconut and speckle each muffin with lots of raisins. I guess that's why I call them Goody Muffins, because they're chock full of goodies.

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

I love Mexican food for the spicy, bright, and big flavours I always find in it. Fresh herbs, creamy avocados, bright veggies, citrus, and hot peppers make me smile. And I love that Mexican food always seems to be smothered in a flavourful sauce. 

My mole sauce is one of my favourites and I'm planning on sharing my new recipe for guacamole soon, but today seems like a good day to share my recipe for enchilada sauce. It's rich with tomatoes and spice, delicious on enchiladas, and too easy to ever to search the shelves for ever again. 

Big Appehtite

One of my hobbies is cooking up new recipes to enter in cooking contests and sometimes I win big. Recently I entered quite a few recipes into contests put on by Maple Leaf through Appehtite and I am excited to share that I won with one of my favourite quick and easy sandwich recipes.

I have shared my winning recipe before, but it's too yummy not to share again, especially when it just made me $1000 richer! Check out my recipe for my Italian Steak Sandwiches on my blog or on Appehtite.

And be sure to check out one of Appehtite's current contests for a chance to win $1000 yourself!

"Fake-on" Bacon Bits

If there is one thing I miss about giving up meat, it's bacon. I truly, madly, deeply loved biting into a slice of crispy bacon and I miss it. I don't miss it enough to eat it again, but I do miss it enough to try making an odd "fake-on" version of bacon.

I'll start off by saying that it's made with a secret ingredient and it somehow looks and tastes exactly like I remember bacon tasting like. Plus, it's really much healthier!

I know I'll be snacking on this treat and coming up with tons of fun recipes to use it in. So get ready for some veggie friendly bacon recipes! You'll be seeing a few pop up here over the next few months!

Great Veggie BBQ

When most people think of barbecuing, I don't think they think about great vegetarian food. Burgers, hot dogs, chicken, ribs - sure they all to come to mind. And maybe a veggie burger might slip into a few people's minds, but not great vegetarian food. 

But today I hope to show to you that you can grill up some truly delicious vegetarian food, and not go anywhere near a veggie burger. I've made grilled polenta, BBQ sauce smothered grilled veggies, and fresh tomatoes and basil. I think it's a winner.

Thai One On

I never thought I'd be one of those girls that could order a salad for dinner and be satisfied. And, to be fair, normally I'm not satisfied. Normally I'm still hungry after eating just a salad.

But the salad I'm sharing today is different. It's full of Asian flavour, filling because of the peanuts, and incredibly healthy so you don't feel bad going back for seconds or even thirds.

Ok, so maybe I ate a lot of the salad and that's why I was full.... But I swear, it's a good one!

Crazy Ingredient Challenge - Beets and Eggs!

Beets and eggs are two of my favourite foods so hearing that they were chosen for August's Crazy Ingredient Challenge's ingredients made me very happy. And even more than two of my favourite foods, this month's ingredients allow me to do one of my favourite things - bake!

I dabbled with ideas of what to make this month, coming up with recipes I thought were unique like Gnocchi with Beet Greens and Fried Shallots or Tie Dye Devilled Eggs, but I was craving to bake and I really wanted to eat chocolate cake.

So, in the end, I decided to revamp one of my favourite recipes and make it beet-friendly. I think it turned out earthy and amazing. Read on for my Beet-iful Chocolate Brownies and check out everyone else's recipe too!

Crazy for Creole

I am so grateful for hot summer days this year, but the hot summer nights I could use a little less of. To counteract feeling a little too warm during hot summer nights I do one of two things - I either eat cool salads or spicy hot foods.

Cool salads seem to be eaten a little more frequently in house, just because they're easy and there's no cooking involved, so today I'm sharing a spicy dish. It's not too much work, but it looks impressive. And you can as much heat as you like, depending on how hot it is outside or how hot you like you food.

Ready for a mouthful of happiness? Read on for my Creole Bay Scallops and Rice.

Ribbons of Happiness

My mom rarely let's me buy her anything, so when she let me buy her a spiralizer, I knew it must be something she really wanted. To me it just looked like another one use kitchen gadget, the kind that you keep in your cupboard to collect dust until you finally have that urge to pull it out and do that one thing it does.

I might sound a wee bit like an infomercial, but it does so much more than one thing. And it's so much fun to use too!

I have spiralizer so many fruits and veggies for salads, cooked my spiralized ribbons, and fried them too. I now love my spiralizer and use it often. So it's time for me to share another delicious recipe that can be made with a spiralizer or even just with a grater, a mandoline, or some crafty knife work. Your choice.

Homegrown Lettuce

It's August and I think this is the first year I've kept my resolution all the way to the eighth month of the year! I promised myself that I would try one new food each month for all of 2014 and I'm proud that I've actually kept it up.

This month isn't quite as adventurous as other months, but it did take a lot more work than just pursuing the isles at the Bulk Barn. This month I tried homegrown lettuce!

I have grown lettuce before but for some reason it's always been a little too bitter for me to really enjoy. But this lettuce is different; it's tender, sweet, and a real treat to eat.

I paired my homegrown lettuce with some other yummy summertime ingredients - barbecued peaches, a light lemon vinaigrette, salmon, and blue cheese. I think I came up with a winning salad, but read on for the recipe to see if you agree.

Oatcakes, Oat Biscuits, Oat My

I was recently given products from Nairn's Oatcakes to try and enjoy. And, after just one bite, I was hooked. Nairn's Oatcakes are simple, healthy, wholesome, and a perfect pairing for a decadent topper.

Who am I kidding, though? Half of my family is from Scotland, so I am pretty much born to eat oats. Oatcakes, oat biscuits, oat anything is truly yummy to me. The only problem for me when eating Nairn's Oatcakes was when I tried to pick a favourite flavour. I liked them all!

So instead of choosing a favourite flavour, I worked on the perfect topper. What I came up with was something that was incredibly easy and incredible tasting. It's a Salmon Pâté that bursts with flavour and goes perfectly with Nairn's Oatcakes. Visit Nairn's Oatcakes on Facebook to learn more.

Bananas For Breakfast

There is nothing I love more than a leisurely long weekend breakfast. I love throwing a big breakfast for friends and enjoying one with my sweetie in our pjs. If you asked me to choose which I loved more, I don't think I could do it.

For BC Day this year, I made one of my most simple pancake recipes and topped it with a truly decadent sauce. It's a little reminiscent of bananas foster, but or so simple and perfect for a leisurely long weekend breakfast.

Ready for my Brandy Banana Nut Pancakes? Read on for the recipe!

Summer Salad Frenzy

I have truly enjoyed finding one new ingredient to try using each month of 2014 and I am proud to say that July's ingredient was something I grew in my garden. It's pineapple mint.

Pineapple mint tastes exactly what you would expect a mint and pineapple fusion to taste like and I have no idea how anyone could have made it happen. It's fresh, bright, and delicious. And you might not believe me, but it's perfect with seafood.

The dish I made to first taste pineapple mint is a fresh summer salad and I know it's going to find it's way back onto my dinner table throughout August. It's too simple and perfect to serve on a warm day.

Flavour Explosion

Whenever I bite into a tart dessert, I feel happy. Lemon, lime and rhubarb are pretty much heaven to me. I just love the feeling of wanting more and light, bright, tart, fresh flavours always seem to make me want more.

This summer I've made a lot of rhubarb desserts, but this time I wanted something a little extra rhubarby. I wanted a rhubarb cake with a rhubarb sauce. I wanted it all. And since I had plenty of rhubarb, I could it all to myself as a little treat.

Ready for flavour explosion? Read on and discover a cake and sauce recipe that unlocks my heart.

Chocolate for Breakfast?

When I find a breakfast I like, I make it a lot. But I don't like to make it exactly the same each time, so I come up with new versions of my favourite concepts. This is how I came up with the dish I am sharing today, my Chocolate Chia Pudding with Bananas.

I love the fact that this breakfast is super quick to whip up the night before you eat it, it travels well, it's pretty healthy (considering you could be choosing a donut or sugary cereal), and it tastes great. Plus, bananas and chocolate are always a great combination.

Ready for the recipe? Keep reading.

July's Crazy Ingredient Challenge

July's Crazy Ingredient Challenge is a little less crazy than most months, it's combining cranberries and shallots! But while I think that's the perfect combination for Thanksgiving, but it's a little more challenging for the summer.

I came up with a shallot and dried cranberry compote butter that would amazing when tossed with veggies, but I felt like making something a little different for this challenge. So I took a look in my fridge and found a head of cauliflower. Then I looked in my garden and saw that my basil was bright and beautiful. I knew I would make a gorgeous summer soup out of the cauliflower and top it with tart little dried cranberries and bright basil.

This soup was one of my best so thanks to Dawn from Spatulas on Parade for, what turned out to be, a perfect summer combo!

Sex Tape and a Giveaway #BedroomSpice

One of my favourite kind of dates is watching a movie with my sweetie. I love snuggling up on the sofa with snacks and laughing along as a great movie plays and I am always on the lookout for what to watch next.

On July 18, 2014 Sony is releasing what looks to be a seriously funny movie, Sex Tape. Just watch the trailer to see what I mean! In the movie, the two main characters try to spice up their relationship by making a "romantic" video and that video somehow gets uploaded to the Cloud and gets shown to all their family and friends... I can't even imagine that happening!

Luckily the ways I keep the magic alive are a little more tame. I love packing a picnic full of my sweetie's favourite foods and taking it somewhere romantic. Or spending the weekend hiking and camping in a tiny little tent. And if we just snuggle up on the sofa with a new movie, making a Spicy Chocolate Sauce for ice cream sundaes with a movie never hurts. I always serve mine with cinnamon flavoured kiss jujubes too!

MasterChef Hopeful

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be chosen to audition for MasterChef Canada in Vancouver, BC and I had such a fun time. My dish held up well over the terrifically long day and tasted great, I wasn't as nervous as I had been last year, and I met a lot of lovely people.

Last year my food turned out great too, I made a Pimm's Cup Upside-Down Peach Cake, but I knew I didn't win a seat on the show. I stood in front of the judges full of nervous laughter, shaking knees, and every single thought in my head poured out my ears as I walked through the doors. This year, anything is possible and I might be one of the lucky ones.

Want to know what I made? It's a combination of a lot of great dishes I've made before. I called my dish Chocolate and Orange Profiteroles. It was pretty yummy.

20 Minute Dinners

I am love with quesadillas. I love them done in a pan, on the BBQ, or in the oven. I love them filled with anything, but gooey cheese should always be involved. Basically I don't think anything is wrong with them.

But this recipe is one of the best. Smokey black beans mashed up with garlic powder and cumin. Lots of gooey cheese. Avocados smeared over everything. And they're quick to whip up. Perfect? I like to think so.

Fungi Nights

If I had to eat one thing every single night of the week, I don't even have to think about what I would choose. I know it would be pizza. Pizza can be done in a million ways and not one of them are bad. Plus, almost every single pizza I've ever eaten contains cheese in some form and if you know me, you know how much I love cheese!

Today's pizza is my version of a fungi pizza. It's not a first date pizza because of all the roasted garlic and blue cheese, but it's certainly the pizza I'd choose to make for a 10th date. It's a real winner.

Summertime Tabbouleh

I feel very comfortable cooking most cuisines but middle eastern food has never been one of my favourite foods to eat or cook. But when I first tasted a new version of tabbouleh, filled with fresh Canadian corn, I knew I would be revisiting middle eastern cuisine all summer long.

The tart lemon and sweet corn are a perfect match in this dish. And the roasted baby tomatoes and salty feta cheese don't hurt either. I like to eat a big bowl of this tabbouleh with nothing else, but I know it would be great served as a side dish with something grilled too.

Sailing Snacks

I love going sailing on a sunny Sunday afternoon and while I am may not be the most knowledgeable sailor in board the boat, I do have a very important job. I am the snack-tician. 

A tactician plans the course of the race and it's their job to anticipate any problems that might arise. A snack-tician's role is even more important because it is their job to plan out snacks prior to the leisurely sail and ensure that there are enough goodies to enjoy for the entirety of the sail. 

But what makes the perfect snacks for sailing? That's a tough question. It needs to be finger food so it can gobbled up quickly. And it needs to be clean because where you put the napkins on the boat? And really, my stomach gets upset on a boat so having something to comfort it wouldn't hurt. 

That's when I had the perfect idea, gingerbread cookies, shaped like sailboats for a little extra cuteness.  They're finger food, clean, and the ginger would help anyone's stomach if needed. 

Once You Pop, You Can't Stop

It can be hard to find yummy vegetarian game day snacks, but yummy vegan game day snacks you can pretty much forget about. Unless you count raw veggies with hummus, but I don't that as a yummy game day snack. 

Veganricha made an awesome vegan Jalepeno Popper dip that I definitely count though. It is rich and cheesy but contains no cheese whatsoever. I made a few changes to Veganricha's recipe to quicken up the process but the original pretty delicious. It just takes a little more time than my version. 

The Grilled Pizza Caper #Herbamare

I love pizza, but there are a few things I am not sure should ever be eaten on one and fish (besides the weirdly popular anchovies) is one of them. All that changed when I tried a smoked salmon flatbread at a restaurant though; it was amazing and seemed so easy to recreate at home.

All I did was grill up some pizza dough, top it with some herby cream cheese, smoked salmon, dressed baby kale, and crispy capers. It might sound like a lot of steps, but trust me, they are all small steps. I know you'll love this recipe.

One of my best tips is to use Sodium Free Herbamare when dressing your baby kale. There is a ton of sodium in capers so I try to cut back on it in the other parts of this dish as best I can. And using Sodium Free Herbamare is an easy way to do that.

The Great Salad Caper

This month's Crazy Ingredient Challenge was an easy one for me to come up with something yummy to make. I heard the ingredients were capers and cantaloupe and for some reason I immediately thought of a watermelon and feta cheese salad. I knew I could do something similar with my fresh melon and salty capers and I also knew from eating watermelon and feta salad that my dish would be great.

So thanks to Dawn from Spatulas on Parade for helping me come up with a great new dish, my Cucumber and Cantaloupe Salad with Crispy Capers. I would never have thought of it without this month's Crazy Ingredient Challenge. 

Wheat Berries for Canada Day

I love being Canadian and I love sharing my love of being Canadian through food. Every year I create fun red and white dishes for Canada Day and this year I started a little early so I could share it with you now.

I decided I wanted to try wheat berries for my dish and I'm happy to say they turned out great. I learned a lot of them too.

1. Wheat berries are similar to farro, but much less expensive.
2. They can be toasted in the oven prior to cooking them but they have a nice nutty taste even if you don't do toast them first.
3. They need to be cooked for a really long time, about 50 minutes or more.

Ready for my newest dish, Wheat Berry and Grapefruit Salad? Read on for the recipe.

Banana Boat Fun #SummerWithChex

Summer is finally here and, for me, it wouldn't be complete without plans for camping. And camping wouldn't be complete without plans for lots and lots of s'mores overflowing with marshmallows and chocolate.

When we went camping last year, I somehow managed to forget graham crackers and I didn't remember until I was sorting through our food to get ready for dinner. Luckily I am pretty resourceful (plus I always seem to pack enough food for an army) and figured out a new dessert to make our camping treat complete. 

So what did I do? I just took some of the Chex cereal and a few of the bananas I had planned for a breakfast and created delicious, Banana Boats. I love that Chex is gluten free and a little healthier than graham crackers, so this year, I am not sure if I will even bother to add graham crackers to my shopping list for camping. My Banana Boats were that good.

How Do You #Herbamare?

I am a big fan of anything that means I have an easy (but still delicious) cooking experience and Herbamare recently gave me samples of their products to prove to me that using their natural sea salt infused with organic herbs and veggies was a great way for me to achieve that experience.

I've tried all three flavours now - original, zesty, and sodium free - and it's been the Zesty Herbamare that has spoken most loudly to me. I tried Zesty Herbamare in a Healthy Caesar and that inspired me to make my own salad version of the delicious Canadian drink, a Caesar Salad with Salmon.