This season, Vitamix came up with this Winter Spice Seasoning of cinnamon sticks, crystallized ginger, cardamom, pink peppercorns, cloves, dried orange peel, salt and brown sugar (tip:  sub coconut sugar for Paleo / refined sugar free version!) blended into a fragrant seasoning of warmth and WINTER MAGIC. 

Vitamix and theFeedfeed partnered up to sponsor this post so that I can bring you this recipe I created using that heavenly seasoning mix.  Can you smell it in your mind's eye...eerrr, nose?  I want to put it in everything, both sweet and savory!

I'm giddy with excitement this time of the year when holiday season is in full ramp-up mode!  It's my favorite.  I love that the season is about giving to others.  While I don't condone frivolous over-consumption (which is admittedly a huge downside associated with the holidays), I really enjoy putting careful thought into the gifts that I am giving to the special people in my life.  There's a dizzying joy and smug satisfaction when I just know I've found the perfect gift for someone. 

I'm still giving myself pats on the back for the Aesop hydrating cream for my mom / sister, and the fold-able (brilliant!) vegetable spiralizer for my brother-in-law last year.  We won't talk about the socks I gifted my dad tho - he's a hard one to buy for!

'Tis the season for winter squashes!  I love the variety of pumpkins and squashes in the markets now - my favorites being pumpkin pie pumpkins (those small round guys), buttercup pumpkin and when lucky enough to find them, kabocha squash aka Japanese pumpkin.  Good ol' butternut squash is excellent all year 'round too and is particularly loved by my girls.  All of these squash varieties can be used in this recipe.  Choose your favorite and the flavor of it will shine through in this simple yet delicious sauce. 

Toronto weather can be pretty bipolar.  We just had a sudden 10-degree (or 50f) swing from near 30c (86f) back down to more seasonal temperatures.  I guess Summer wanted a last hurrah.  I was okay with that! 

Now that it is Fall, for real, it's time to embrace all the upsides it brings including pumpkin things, crisp air fragranced by wood-burning fires, over-the-knee boots and cozy meals exactly like this Chicken Stew with Almond Flour Biscuits. 

With the start of school and adieu to summer vacation, I begin to accept that Fall is just around the corner.  Every year when I spot the first copper-y dried leaf fallen on the sidewalk, I think of (lower your device's volume if you're at work haha) this old KFC commercial where the woman is screaming and pointing at something. The camera then turns to the sidewalk in front of her, showing a single fallen maple leaf on the ground with the voice-over saying "summer can't last forever".  She then bolts in the other direction.  I feel exactly the same way!  Does anyone else (Canadian) remember this one?  Best.  Commercial.  Ever.  My favorite. :)

Cauliflower has been having quite a moment in the sun.

Have you seen all the clever and creative uses of cauliflower lately?   The popular ones that spring to mind are cauliflower steak, cauliflower pizza crust, cauliflower buffalo 'wings', cauliflower tater tots and even using cauliflower as a smoothie ingredient to provide bulk without the added sugars of bananas and other fruits (can't say I'm sold on that one ... yet).  

So despite it's pale and unexciting appearance, turns out this cruciferous veggie kinda has superpowers!  And cauliflower RICE, for me, is the most super-y-est of them all because of it's ease of preparation (including how much faster it is to cook versus rice), superior nutritional value over rice, it's versatility and above all, how satisfyingly well it stands in for rice.

Hiya!  It's been a minute since I posted. How has this month flown by so fast?  Oh I remember now.  It's because I've had my hands full with the girls who are on summer break.  Why even is there a summer vacation?  People who work don't get 2 months off their jobs (I mean other than school-related staff).  Stay-at-home parents don't stop cooking / dishes / laundry / vacuuming / groceries / chauffeuring and all of that for a couple of months every year.  Why do children get 2 months off school?  Isn't school basically their job?  Seems like a good idea to keep their minds sharp all year round.  Maybe next year I will sign the girls up for math camp all summer heh heh. #tigermomgoals

This one is my favorite twist on banana muffins.  I am a die-hard fan of the distinctive flavor of black sesame seeds.  In these muffins, I especially love how its earthy nuttiness balances the sweetness of the bananas.  A liberal sprinkling of extra black sesame seeds and coarse sugar give the muffins delightfully crunchy tops, making them extra special.

I am super excited to share this recipe as a follow-up to last week's Everyday Veggie-Loaded Ragu share.  For forever, it was a no-brainer to make a lasagna later the same week I make up a big batch of my go-to ragu.  I literally don't know a single person who doesn't like lasagna, do you?  But when we began limiting dairy and gluten consumption (among other things) at the end of 2016, it seemed our lasagna days were over.  Bye bye.

Or so I thought.

Does the internet really need another 'spaghetti sauce' recipe? For a year and half since I started this blog, the answer to myself was consistently NO. Yet here it is.

Instead of seeing it as too pedestrian to be blog-worthy, I now see it as invariably delicious, nourishing and actually an excellent representation of what we eat hence what I like to bring to the blog. A ragù (an Italian term) is a sauce made with ground meat and vegetables usually used for pasta. This is my take on the ubiquitous dish. It is uncomplicated yet deliberate in ingredients to maximize both taste and nutrition. It is beloved in my universe (my family). It is tried, test and true.

The girls showered me with their praises when they tasted this loaf.  And since I thrive off flattery and compliments (heehee), I made a second loaf immediately for next morning's breakfast which was greeted with the same gleeful enthusiasm.  

Stroke stroke stroke.  My ego.  

Never you mind that the judging panel was comprised of a 6 year old and a 3 year old.  I decided I would definitely share this recipe on the blog with you so you too can have your ego stroked.  Or at the very least, have your breakfast sorted.

I assume most people's mornings are just as hurried as ours.  Mine goes like this:  wake up, get self ready (aka barely splash some water on face and put a bra on), dress children, make breakfast, pack lunches and most importantly drink that coffee that's getting cold dammit.  The saving grace of warmer mornings now is more simple options for breakfast, such as chilled overnight oats or overnight chia puddings.  Lately the girls have been obsessed with chia pudding parfaits and they really get a kick out of choosing their own fixings and assembling their own little parfaits.  Which is a complete score for me.  I can sip my hot coffee while they take over that part of the morning routine.

Besides hurried mornings, this Do-It-Yourself concept translates really well for overnight guests or a weekend brunch gathering with friends too, as the main event (as it is definitely filling enough) or a hands-off component of a larger spread.  The assortment of goodies is more or less the same, although you may add more options to make it extra special (see my suggestions further below).  All you need to do is scale up in quantity.  The best part is how it can be styled beautifully into an impressive spread, as I've done for this blog post.  Isn't it pretty?  As a mama of a daughter with food restrictions, it's bonus for me that it is suitable for both adults and children, as well as people with dietary constraints since the entire set up is dairy-free, gluten-free, refined sugar free, vegan and paleo-friendly (if the granola is omitted from the parfait for those individuals).  

I'll concede that as far as food trends go these days, you're much more likely to see a chia pudding appear on your Instagram feed than a tapioca pudding! You might even say the latter is a little old-school. But to me, this MANGO TAPIOCA PUDDING has a special nostalgia and holds a supreme ranking as far as desserts that delighted me as a child. And as an adult :)

These CHEWY SALTED CHOCOLATE PECAN NO-BAKE BARS are the answer to your cravings for something salty-sweet, chewy, nutty and chocolate-y......buuut still kinda healthy and definitely not tooth-achingly sweet.  They’re perfect for stashing in the freezer for a quick treat. Enjoy a square (or three)!

The selfish part of me doesn't want to publicly share how ah-mazing beef cheeks are for braising!  Beef cheeks are at once lean and tender.  When slow cooked or pressure cooked, it is extremely flavorful and yields lusciously to your fork.  Or should I say, spoon because that's the utensil to use for this dish.  It's how wonderfully tender it is!  

Sometimes a classic flavor combo just beckons.  Like this CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH STRAWBERRY MASCARPONE BUTTERCREAM.  Classic chocolate cake with a simple American style buttercream made more luxurious with the additions of mascarpone cheese and homemade strawberry puree (or really good strawberry jam).

When I discovered a package of frozen udon in the freezer, I was delighted.  My cravings spoke loudly and decisively.  I knew instantly that I wanted to enjoy it in this easy coconut curry noodle bowl. Since we limit grains including wheat these days, we rarely slurp down any noodles (made from wheat) at home anymore.  I cherished this bowl of udon with my entire being.

Due to popular demand, I'm putting up this recipe which is an oldie I found through the Food Network website and have made it again and again.  These days we are limiting gluten and refined sugars but I make exceptions when I'm baking for others or just as an occasional treat.  Believe me I don't go wasting that 'quota' just on anything.  I have to tell you, these shortbread cookies are well worth it.  

This BRAISED RICE CAKES WITH NAPA CABBAGE, SHIITAKE AND PORK recipe is an easy one-pot meal that is also total comfort food. The magic happens in the final simmering when the starches released from the rice cakes combine with the liquid cooked out of the cabbage to create a velvety, luscious sauce. Utterly delicious and satisfying!

After my theFeedFeed snapchat takeover last week making this Maple Almond-Cashew Iced Latte, I wanted to immediately follow up with this post.  This is a game changer, friends.