Currently my favorite caffeinated iced drink (I was obsessed with this horcatta iced latte for awhile too), it beats any iced latte drink you can order at SBux.  Although I was thrilled that Starbucks recently started offering almond milk option, it still comes out of a carton.  Nothing compares to homemade nut milk.  Nothing!  Before you think there is no way you have time to make this, think again.  Besides the passive time required to soak the nuts (see note below re soaking), it takes about 15 minutes to make a batch which can be savored over a week of lattes. That's a pretty solid ROI if you ask me! 

Of course, you can drink the nut milk straight up.  It is so, SO delicious!  But what isn't improved with a shot (or two) of nice strong espresso?  I think you know the answer my friend.  Cheers!

Ever since my family moved to a diet with limited dairy, my girls have been begging for mac & cheese.  This is a dairy-free version which satisfies all the cravings for the real thing.  They love it so much I literally have to cut them off before they gorge themselves silly on it.  

Guess what!  I have another awesome mash-up for you.  OKONOMIYAKI WRAPS 

First of all, what is okonomiyaki?  Other than that it's fun to say (rolls off the tongue doesn't it), it is a Japanese savory pancake originating from Osaka, Japan.  The pancake batter itself is traditionally flour-and-egg based, with finely shredded cabbage mixed right in.  The name itself translates to "grill as you like it", meaning you can adapt it by adding to the pancake batter a variety of different ingredients from veggies (i.e. corn, mushrooms, potatoes) to meats (i.e. pork, beef, chicken) to seafood (i.e. shrimp, squid, fish).  When we lived in downtown Toronto, we were lucky to be a 2-minute walking distance from Okonomi House, a small Japanese-run restaurant that specializes in - you guessed it - okonomiyaki.  It was there that we discovered this ultra tasty food.

If you love a little pucker with your sweet with a little tropical twist, you'll go mad for this tart!

I wrote about my daughter's grain-free / dairy-free (essentially "paleo") diet in a previous post here.  This meant our beloved weekend pancakes became a fond memory.  Until NOW.

I have been looking forward to sharing this recipe for months...I just had to make it a second time to make doubly sure it was a winner.  IT IS.  If you know miso's intense brininess and gochujang's savory pungency, then you might hesitate to believe me that using both of these together in this recipe results in a braised pork roast that is deeply flavorful, yet mellow.  Wonderfully mellow. Believe.

I'm so happy to kick off the new year with a recipe I'm rather excited about as it uses an amazing and wildly flavorful ingredient that is a relatively recent discovery for me - tamarind.   I didn't grow up with tamarind, but I have made up for that lost time by how much I love it now.  Are you thinking what even is tamarind anyway? 

Every celebration cake I make feels special, of course.  But this one was exceptionally so, because I made it for my daughter's 6th birthday according to precise specifications ('white cake with chocolate frosting and those crunchy yellow things on top').  It was also extra extra special because we decided to suspend all dietary restrictions (primarily, grain and dairy) to thoroughly enjoy the celebration and all the trimmings that a young girl's birthday celebration should have, including a little magic and a damn good birthday cake.  

In my previous post, I wrote about my family's (temporary) grain-free and dairy-free diet. Since then, we had our follow up visit with the naturopath and received an 'okay' to consume rice, oats and quinoa in small amounts.  I won't pretend to understand naturopathy at all. I don't. As a fairly science-based household (my husband is an intellectual property lawyer with a specialty in biotechnology and medical devices, while I worked nearly a decade at a global pharmaceutical company in a Finance capacity), this venture into alternative medicine is a giant leap of faith.  A leap we had not choice but to take since traditional medicine failed to help my daughter beyond full-body topical steroid cream applications to treat her eczema and absolutely nada to diagnose or treat her mild but persistent, daily stomach aches.  

Being prescribed a grain-free diet by my daughter's naturopath just before the holidays is like getting sick right before vacation ... or scoring free drink tickets only to get bar rail liquor ... or finding a hole in your sock the moment you take off your shoes at someone's house ... or dripping yellow mustard on your brand new sneakers (that stuff's like dye and never completely comes off!) ... or getting an unexpected visit from Auntie Flo when you're totally unprepared OK THAT IS GOING TOO FAR.  

A cycle that repeats.  Healthy, healthy, healthy all week long then BAM the most indulgent of treats to celebrate the weekend! Like these pear frangipane tarts topped with salted caramel sauce & earl grey ice cream I made two weekends ago. Supple pear slices atop a moist and nutty frangipane filling baked inside a crunchy tart. That's an impressive dessert right there.  But why stop there?  For an off-the-Richter impressive dessert, top it with salted caramel-y love and homemade Earl Grey ice cream because what pie or tart didn't get 1000x better with the a-la-mode treatment?  None, that's what.  

If you've been the New York City, then you've seen the plethora of street food carts selling pretzels or nuts or bagels that fill the streets with their amazing aromas.  But I don't waste my money there.  

This cake was a huge hit at a family gathering over the weekend. I'm finicky when it comes to chocolate + fruit combinations in a cake (as in, I don't always love it), but I have to say this cake was reaaally scrumptious. Uber moist chocolate-y sponge cakes are layered with a simple vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream and gently poached sweet cherries, blanketed in dark chocolate ganache and topped with fudge-y brownies (update: I went for fresh cherries and chocolate curls on top on the version in the updated images). It is decadent without being overly sweet or heavy. This is one of the best cakes I've ever made!

Beef Stroganoff is a Russian dish and I'll be the first to admit to know nothing about Russian cuisine or whether my version is authentic.  Probably isn't?  I use flank steak in mine which deviates from the sirloin, tenderloin or chuck I typically see in recipes. After having tried all of those cuts for Stroganoff at some point in the past, I stand by flank steak as the ideal cut to use in this recipe.  When sliced uber thin, the melt-in-your-mouth flank pieces are at harmony with the sauteed soft mushrooms and tender egg noodles.      

I made this the other day because I had hella pumpkin puree to use up.  It's only mid October and I'm still on my annual pumpkin (and pumpkin spice) bender and I wannit in EVERY. SINGLE. THING.  

I got coerced to join my friend in renting a table at a 'mom to mom' sale this weekend where dozens of of us will set up in a school cafeteria to sell used baby and kid stuff to other parents. I spent the better part of yesterday and today collecting, sorting and pricing out the things my girls have outgrown. Actually I had to price everything TWICE after I realized I was inflating the price of everything due to emotional value.  

It doesn't get any more simple or nourishing than this!  This smoothie is filling, nutritious, free of refined sugar yet delightfully kissed with just a bit of sweet.  It is a perfect breakfast, post-workout snack or even a light meal.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, they say, and yet it seems rather over-represented with not the healthiest options involving bread, fatty cheese and salty meats.  When my first born was around 2 years old, I somehow got away with serving her oatmeal cooked in unsweetened almond milk with a sprinkling of raisins (no sugar) every single day for an entire year!  Then she got wise.  

[ October 2018 ] This recipe was updated with improvements! I switched to using roasted chickpeas for an amazing gluten-free alternative for the breading! (see image above) Note the use of store-bought, snacking kind of roasted chickpeas (like Watusee Foods roasted organic chickpeas; not sponsored) which I blitz into a coarse crumb in a blender or food processor. They also have ready-made chickpea crumbs if you can find it (I don’t have access to that in Canada). Home-roasted chickpeas would likely be too moist to achieve the same results.

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This one's a home run at my house!  And I am willing to bet it would be at your's too, if your peeps like crispy little chicken sandwiches on warm soft brioche buns served with a good schmear of creamy tartar-y sauce goodness.  The best part about it is, it's a lightened up (healthier) version that is EASY to make (less than 30 minutes) with NO COMPROMISE in taste! What is this voodoo magic, you ask? Read on friend…