The other day I hankerin’ for cornbread. (Did I just say hankerin’…?) The fact that I felt like cornbread is pretty weird considering I’ve eaten it about twice in my life, and the most recent time was several years ago. I told my mom, and she was down. I searched for a few recipes, looking for one that might use a healthier flour than white flour, and I settled on Heidi’s recipe for ‘Firecracker Cornbread’. I didn’t change too much in her recipe, but I baked the bread in a …

I can honestly say that dill pickles are literally one of my favourite things in the entire world, and they always have been. I have been known to polish off a jar in a day or two the odd time, and it’s mandatory that they are always in my fridge. They are essential after a night of a few too many drinks, and I have always said that they cure any stomach ache I may have. I also used to drink the pickle juice when I was little but that’s …

This has to be one of the most delicious ways to eat kale. It’s such a simple preparation but I could munch away on these kale chips forever! Forget potato chips or chocolate- this is my kind of treat!
Kale is an amazing vegetable. Besides looking super cool, it is rich in Vitamin K, Vitamin C, and calcium. There’s about a bazillion other nutrients you get when you eat kale and all for extremely few calories. I’ll definitely be adding kale to my ‘to-grow’ list for my garden!

Baked Kale Chips

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I really love having healthy muffins on hand for snacks- I just keep them in the freezer and then heat them up whenever I need a little boost. I really find that so many muffins are more like dessert than healthy snack so I think it’s better to just make them at home. These ones are fantastic- very little sugar, healthy protein packed quinoa, flaxseeds, and great flavour. I topped these muffins with a bit of butter and honey or almond butter. The quinoa makes them have a unique chewy …

Earlier in the week, in one of my culinary classes, we were all asked to bring in a dish that represents comfort food for us. We then headed to the kitchen and go to explain the dish we brought, and then share it with the class. One of my favourites was what my Chef brought in. He is from the Middle East, and he made beautiful, soft, homemade pita bread with hummus, a fava bean dish called Fool Meudane, and wonderful falafel. I was so impressed and inspired that I …

So I have dabbled in a couple of raw food dishes, such as the raw cheesecake I tried in the summer. I’m feeling a bit less than myself lately and was sick over the past week or so. Because I am in pastry school, I find myself consuming a lot of sugar, and I basically went from a near zero sugar diet, to one where I’m bringing home cakes, pies, tarts, and bread several times a week, and while a lot gets shoved in the freezer right away, it’s the …

I’m totally obsessed with yams and sweet potatoes, as ya’ll probably know, and here’s one more recipe for when I have to satisfy my craving! These are sesame baked yam fried and they are served with an almond butter dipping sauce. I recently made an almond butter dipping sauce to use with my spring rolls, and it was quite different to the one used in this recipe. This one, to me, tasted just like ketchup, so I added some ginger to try and make it taste a bit more interesting …

Lately I have been wanting to create a recipe for healthier spring rolls. When I was younger I used to love eating spring rolls, dipped in plenty of plum sauce, but these days I rarely eat them. I thought about making spring rolls that were baked, instead of deep fried, and when one of my classmates in culinary school was offering up a package of spring roll wrappers, I jumped on the chance. They sat in my freezer for about a month- until tonight, that is. I have been trying …

As you may know, I’m unable to taste many things in my culinary school due to meat stocks or meat itself being used in the cooking process. I took it upon myself to make a vegetarian vichyssoise at home, as I was intrigued and had never before tasted this cold potato-leek soup. The texture was so rich and creamy at school, and duplicating it was not difficult at all. In fact, this recipe comes together very quickly, minus the 45-minute simmering time. I was happy that I made this soup, …

I happen to love granola. I could probably eat it everyday without getting sick of it- with yogurt, almond milk, crumbly, or in bar form…. Unfortunately, almost all granola in stores is loaded with sugar and/or various kinds of corn syrup and even ingredients I cannot pronounce. I recently bought Ina Garten’s “Back to Basics” book which I am making the Cookbook of the Month for September. It has some really great recipes that all rely on fresh, good-quality ingredients. The first recipe I tried from the book happened to …