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.

My Canadian Voice

Over the past year I have participated in writing monthly posts with Valerie Lugonja from A Canadian Foodie in the Canadian Food Experience Project. I've really enjoyed each post because they made me think about what it is to be a Canadian food blogger.

Canadian food bloggers are more than just foodies. We reflect on what we've eaten and created, we spend time taking photographs of our work, and we share it with the world. Our posts are full of a wide range of delicious creations - farm fresh produce, local food heroes, gardening, preserves, and food from all cultures of the world. We are a pretty great bunch and I am proud to be one of us.

The recipe I am sharing today is a really quick recipe for a week night meal or even a lunch. And I think it sums up me as a Canadian food blogger. It's a Fresh Salmon Wrap and features locally caught salmon, a homemade corn relish from last year's BC corn, cucumbers from a local farm, spinach from my garden, and a whole lot of happiness.

Chocolate and Cherry

Sometimes I wonder what I like more, chocolate or cherry. Chocolate is rich and I usually get happy with just one or two little pieces, but cherries are healthy so it's ok to eat a big bowl of them. It's a hard call to make what option I should choose.

Luckily today's post combines the best of both worlds. That's right, the shortbread recipe I am sharing today is full of chocolate and cherries. No more deciding which option I'll get to enjoy because I get both in one deliciously easy to whip up cookie.

And can you imagine these shortbreads as ice cream sandwiches? I'm drooling just thinking about it!

Winner Winner, Veggie Dinner

As everyone who knows me knows, I love to win. I don't think of myself as a sore loser, in fact, I have often apologized to others when I win and they lose. But I think we can all agree that winning is an amazing feeling.

This month I won Chatelaine's Cooking Club and finding out that I won made me very excited. It's not just the prize, although that is nice, it's more the happiness I felt when I realized that Chatelaine thought that my photo and cooking was the best.

For the contest, I made Chatelaine's Grilled Halloumi and Vegetable Salad, but of course I made a few tweaks to the recipe to make it my own. I love chickpeas straight up, but I thought the salad needed a little more crunch, so I crisped mine up in my oven with one of my favourite recipes - my Sweet and Smokey Crispy Chickpeas. I also wanted a little more freshness so I made some zucchini ribbons to add to it too.

Ready for my adapted recipe? Read on for it!