Review: Sweets from the Earth

Ok, get a glass of soy or almond milk ready. I picked up some cookies at Melissa's One Stop Gluten-Free Shop. I had never seen cookies made from cashews before, of course I had to pick it up. These were Gluten-Free Vegan Cashew Cookies made by Sweets from the Earth.

Review: Melissa's One Stop Gluten-Free Shop

Today, I made my first trip to Melissa's One Stop Gluten-Free Shop. I have been dying to go since I walked past it some time late May. Yes, it's taken me this long to actually step foot into the store. Every time I take a trip to Downtown Brampton the store is usually closed. If I do get there early, it doesn't open until 11AM. I guess I should pay more attention to their store hours. LOL!

Happy Halloween From Buzz Lightyear and Bob the Builder :)

Happy Halloween!! :)

Renovations Complete...

...Well for my blog at least. LOL! I have been trying to find a template that would work for me (and look great) for months now, but nothing has really felt right! But I think this one, I think it's THE one!! Yay!!

Post a comment and tell me what you think of it. I certainly think it's pretty swell!! :)

Happy Reading!! :)

Gluten-Free Quinoa Southwest Burritos

I think I mentioned before how I love cabbage rolls. For about a week, I have been trying to put together a vegan lentil filling for cabbage rolls but I couldn't concentrate. My mind keep wondering to my favourite Quinoa and Black Bean recipe, so instead of fighting my instincts, I decided to create a different  flavour of cabbage roll, not 100% vegan, but vegetarian. My husband doesn't like cabbage so I put the filling in some tortillas. (I guess, they would be burritos for him.) To make the "burritos" gluten-free, I used cabbage leaves for the rest of the family. Boy was it good!! :)

Wrapped with Cabbage

Wrapped with Tortilla

Vegetarian Breakfast Burrito

I don't always eat the most nutritious breakfast, but today I was determined to make a fabulous breakfast for my husband. He's been working non-stop for weeks. And on his days off, he'd go help out family members with their computer or technology problems.

While on Facebook a few days ago, I notice a post from Diabetic Living: Our Best Breakfast Recipes. I came across two recipes that really peaked my interests: Eggs Benedict and Knife and Fork Breakfast Burrito.

Today, I made Knife and Fork Breakfast Burrito. My husband doesn't really care for Eggs Benedict. I know right? Who doesn't like Eggs Benedict? 

Review - MDC Housewares Inc./Chloé’s Kitchen Bakeware

At the recent Canada's Baking and Sweets Show, I picked up a 6-jumbo muffin pan, 2 silicone mittens and 2 cupcake carriers at fabulous prices from MDC Housewares Inc. or Chloé’s Kitchen Bakeware.

Nominated for Top 25 Canadian Mom Blogs list on Circle of Moms

I cannot believe I was nominated for the Top 25 Canadian Mom Blogs list on Circle of Moms. I am over the moon with the nomination. I have never been nominated for anything. If you like my little blog, please vote for me. I don't expect miracles, but how cool would it be if I actually won!! WAY COOL!!

So if you would like, click the little Circle of Moms icon and look for my blog. :)
I guess I'll find out if I make the Top 25 list in 21 days! 
Happy Reading!! (and possibly voting!!)  :)

Review: Forks over Knives

A couple of nights ago I finally got my hands on a copy of Forks over Knives. I heard about this documentary a couple of months ago. It was pretty random, I think it was one of the advertisements on Facebook.

Zombies + Food Trucks = Leftovers

When I saw that Chef Michael Smith tweeted about Leftovers, I HAD to check it out.

Let me tell you, there is nothing more I love then Food Trucks and Graphic Novels. (Well, I guess both will have to be after food in general.) . Zombies - not so much. Yes! I'm a fraidycat! LOL! But this makes me want more. I can't wait until Wednesday for the next installment. Wait today is Wednesday...maybe there will be a new one today. Yay!! :)

Happy Reading!! :)

Greek Ribs with Potato Cauliflower Mash

My sister-in-law has been raving about Greek Ribs and Cauliflower Mash! I just haven't had the time to throw it together. This week, I made a meal plan which included them. Yes, I made another meal plan. I'm actually enjoying it a lot more then I use to, go figure! LOL!

 

Pumpkin Caramel Apple French Toast

While on Twitter, I heard of this cute little French Toast Challenge. I happen to LOVE French Toast, actually I love anything to do with breakfast or brunch! This is also my favourite time of year. So why not make a totally yummy French Toast recipe around that. Ever since I saw this challenge, I knew what I was going to make: Pumpkin Caramel Apple French Toast topped off with some Pumpkin Syrup. I was totally drooling at the thought.

Of course I had to challenge myself a little further. I decided to make the syrup and caramel sauce with Coconut Palm Sugar instead of regular sugar, way better for those watching blood sugar. And OH MY GOD! It was so good!!

Meal Plan - October 10-14

As you all know, I really hate to meal plan, but this week was a different story. I actually enjoyed it. Weird..I guess there is a first time for everything. :)

Last weekend was our Canadian Thanksgiving. I love holidays, I just hate all the stress involved in the holiday. This year was pretty laid back, thank goodness!! So Monday was a holiday and we just had some leftovers for dinner. Yay! A simple meal for once. :)

Tuesday was turkey Tuesday. Although, we just had turkey on Saturday, I had some ground turkey in my fridge and I had to use it or it was going to be tossed in the trash. I HATE throwing out food. HATE IT!! So I started looking up some recipes, and stumbled upon this great one, Cranberry Turkey Meatballs. They were making my mouth water at just the thought of them. I did make some changes, but boy were they ever good!!

Thanksgiving Meatballs served with
mashed potatoes and Swiss chard topped with some yummy gravy.
(Mashed potatoes, Swiss chard and gravy were
left overs from Thanksgiving.)

Wednesday was another leftover day. This time it was left over butternut squash ravioli filling and roasted chicken. I'm not a big fan of leftovers, but my meals are getting better, so my leftovers are getting better too. I guess I should have thought of that way sooner. LOL!

Zucchini Apple Pecan Cake

I love zucchinis! They're so yummy! I bake it, roast it, bbq it, stir fry it, and bread it, so I always have lots in my fridge. Since, it's apple season, I have tons in my fridge too. I don't usually have nuts kicking around in my house, but I did make pralines recently. I was craving zucchini cake (or bread) but wanted to change it up a little. I have been working on this recipe for a little while now. I have tried making a vegan, sugar and gluten free version, but haven't had much luck. However, when I used all-purpose flour and sugar, it was great! :)

Meal Planning

Although I love to cook, I really hate meal planning. I really REALLY hate meal planning.

Problem is: Not only do I love to cook, I love to eat! I only like to cook what I want to eat. So there is no planning around that. Plus, I cater around my kids and husband too much. Plus, near the end of the week I have to start planning my meals around what is going bad first. So many factors. :(

At least, I know what they like to eat. They have pretty simple tastes. At the same time, Kat's favourite food is sushi. Alyssa and Logan  both love Vietnamese food, especially vermicelli. Garrett loves his comfort food. This is actually his favourite season.

Garrett loves the fall and winter months because he loves Chili, Sheppard's Pie, Beef Stew, etc. You know, all the stuff mom (well, not my mom, seeing that I'm Asian) use to make to warm up the house. I know my mother-in-law did at least. She used to make lots of stews and other hearty meals in the winter. My favourite one she makes is her Lazy Man's Cabbage Rolls (basically cabbage rolls, just not nicely wrapped up). Funny thing, it is my husband's least favourite of his mom's stews. He doesn't like anything that has cabbage as a main ingredient. Needless to say, I never make this at home.

Butter Chicken

I love LOVE Butter Chicken! It is my favourite Indian dish. I really enjoy Indian food, however it is was the only cuisine that gave me grief in my own kitchen. I can make pretty okay curries. I have never made a successful Butter Chicken recipe at home. Most of the time, I finish the recipe and we end having pizza or a really quick pasta. Yes, it ends up that bad! Not this time!

Squash Day

Today was my ode to squash day. :)

On the menu today was Pumpkin Syrup, Homemade Butternut Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter Sauce, and Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes topped with Cream Cheese Buttercream, Pumpkin Syrup and Cinnamon. It was a pretty aggressive cooking day for me, especially making homemade ravioli.

The Pumpkin Syrup took longer then expected, so I was a little discouraged. (We didn't get to eat it over our pancakes.) But I sucked it up and on with the next recipe, homemade ravioli. I have been looking forward to this dish for a while. Making the pasta was pretty simple, a little time consuming, but worth the time and effort. I love fresh pasta, but always thought it was too complicated to make it at home. I decided to do the "easy" method and use my food processor. Never again! It wasn't any easier. I still had to kneed the dough, so not much time saving. Here's a YouTube video I found, which made pasta making not so scary. But here's my finished product. :)