Warm up with a bowl of Creamy Onion Soup

This is going to be a pretty interesting winter for me as this will be the first year I have ever lived somewhere that actually has proper winters. I am both excited and nervous about the prospect of the experience. So in preparation for the cold weather I have been trying my hand at both new and old recipes that are perfect for cold days.

This particular one was a recipe I created years ago after trying something similar at a restaurant. It is so creamy and warm and the best part is as long as you have sweet onions the rest of the ingredients are pretty much stock items that you will probably have on hand any way. So it is a perfect soup to make up quickly when you have no idea what to do for dinner or even lunch.

Gluten-Free Cornbread Stuffing

Today is Thanksgiving and it is an extra special one for me, because not only is it the first year with my baby girl but it is also a first time for my fabulous in-laws to celebrate it with us (actually their first time ever) and my brother and my NEW sister-in-law to be. My brother proposed to her yesterday so today is a day filled with excitement and so many things to be grateful for. Now my sister-in-law is gluten-intolerant and I wanted to make sure that this year we had a meal for her that she could feel safe to have anything from the table. So the first thing I set out to create was gluten-free stuffing. I had never made cornbread without flour before but I figured that it would be to hard to find someone that had, so after an hour of research I found what seemed to be a fantastic recipe on the blog, Veronicas Cornucopia. Now not only did this turn out fantastic for my stuffing recipe but I also discovered a new blog that I love.

Once I had the cornbread it wasn’t too hard to throw together an amazing stuffing recipe that had everyone happy.  So this year for Thanksgiving I am very thankful for wonderful family and for a wonderful feast that everyone can enjoy.

How to get lots of protein on a vegetarian diet

Last week I met up with a friend of mine who 5 weeks ago gave birth to two beautiful twin boys. She has struggled to breastfeed the boys and the doctor informed her that one of the reasons she has struggled is because she doesn’t have enough protein in her diet. You see she is a vegetarian and that is something that she has always struggled with, in fact during her pregnancy it got so bad that she had to start eating meat just to be able to keep up with providing her body with enough protein to help grow those little boys. 

Now I remember what it was like when Morgan was 5 weeks old, so I can only begin to imagine how hard it must be for her with two, plus as her husband was way things were very stressful. So Chris and I decided that we would go over and give her a hand with the boys and provide a dinner that would help give her the protein she needed without having to compromise her diet.

Thankfully it didn’t take long to decide how to do that because it was a dish that was already on my menu for the week, Southwest Quinoa Salad a double dosage of protein goodness.

An old Scottish Family tradition

My mom's grandfather is originally from Scotland. While there aren't many traditions from the MacLeod family still in our family today one has continued to be a tradition and the making of shortbread. I have so many wonderful memories of my mom baking these when I was growing up and now I am excited about eventually making these for my daughter.

Having family traditions is wonderful way to create a sense of identity. As our society becomes more and more multicultural it is important for us to not loose that sense of individuality. Whether it comes from old family traditions that can be traced back generations or just a simple family tradition that you started two years ago, having that helps us feel more secure in who we are. Helping to create a strong sense of comfort and nostalgia that we often lean to when we are adults. It's something that your children will treasure when they are older, so if you have old family traditions or if you don't, find something and make it your own special family tradition.

Having a baby changes everything

My cheeky monkey

Four months ago my life changed in ways that even now I can't quite grasp, I gave birth to the most precious, baby girl. She is the absolute apple of her mommy's eye and occupies my every waking, and sleeping moments. And I have to say that it isn't always easy to keep up with things like laundry, dishes, cooking and especially blog postings. Some how they all seem to fall along the wayside. I am not sure what I expected to happen with my time after having a baby, but I have to confess that I didn't expect it to effect me this much. A baby takes so much time and attention away from the little things that you need to do during the day, that often times the whole day can go by without something productive happening. It is quite a change to have to get use to.

The other day I found myself looking through another persons food blog and I found myself feeling slightly intimidated by how amazing everything was. The writing was flawless, the photos put mine to absolute shame and their following was strong as it deserved to be so. I found myself thinking I could never complete with that and felt myself wanting to give up. Now sure maybe those thoughts were fueled by the higher amounts of hormones that seem to be pumping through my body these days but none the less it was something I had to work through. So I did have a long think about things, trying to figure out if I was giving my all to my work and if there was anything else I could do to improve. But you know what then the baby cried and I had to take care of her and then I realized something, sometimes as mums for some reason we think that we need to be perfect in all that we do. We need to have the perfect children, a clean house and just be all around amazing, super mums. But the truth of the matter is all we can do is give it our best and don't expect any more then that. My blog might not be the best blog out there with the most stunning photography, but it is real and comes from my heart and that is all I can ask of myself.

So I want to challenge you, no matter where you are in your life, don't expect more from yourself then you can give. All you can do is give it your best and let the rest fall away. Right now the most important job I have is taking care of my daughter everything else is gravy.

Easy Spicy Beef, Lentil and Veggie Stew

I am not sure why it is that kids will often decide that they don't like certain foods but then years later when they are adults they come to find out that they do like it. I have had quite a few surprises as an adult with delicious foods that I would have hated as a child. And now that I have a child, who is still a few months from being weaned, I find myself thinking about those little food oddities about children and wondering what I can do to make it better for my daughter. I know it is possible because I have met some amazing children that just loved everything you put in front of them, and they were always willing to at least try a bite. I have such strong hopes for my daughter, that she will grow up with that healthy of an attitude about food. Not only is it a wonderful behavior in children, it is an even better quality when they are an adult. There is nothing more frustrating then an adult with child-like picky eating habits. It can be very insulting when you go over to someone's home and they prepare you a nice meal only to have you say, 'oh I don't like green veggies' or 'I don't eat potatoes'.

So from an early age I want to do my best to equip my daughter with what she needs to have well developed taste buds and an adventurous attitude about food. I actually have a few theories about why it is that children can be so picky that are purely my own, I have no knowledge if there are any studies to back this up. But from my experience I have noticed how children are often given very bland food, at least that is often the way with children in western cultures. We have this idea that spices aren't good for children so from a very early age we give them things that are steamed, boiled or pureed. Now I am not talking about giving my 4 month old a hot, spicy curry, and when they are first weaning their bodies wouldn't be able to handle much. But I have noticed that this need to serve children bland food seems to continue until a much later age. I have known 4 year-olds who were only served meals like, fried chicken fingers, mashed potatoes and some steamed veggies. Now truth be told there is nothing wrong with serving this, it is some what of a balanced meal. But at that age children should be able to handle herbs and spices so why not allow them to try it. Instead try some fish, grilled with lemon and parsley served with a lentil pilaf and some spinach sauteed in garlic. There is no reason why a 4 year-old shouldn't enjoy food like that.

Speaking of lentils, that was one of the food items that I 'hated' as a kid, but in all truth I only ate it once. Now I can't even imagine not liking lentils, they are an amazing and versatile bean. But I got it in my little head that I didn't like it and it wasn't until I was in my early 20's that I gave it a try again and discovered that I actually loved it. I am now often trying to come up with new and fresh ideas on how to cook this tasty bean, forever trying to expand my list of recipes so that when my daughter is older I am equipped with enough of a variety of recipes to expand my daughter's horizons. I am not saying it is going to be easy but it is worth the challenge.

Caramelized Leeks in a Creamy Pesto Sauce

I love experimenting with food, it is a gamble but often yields unusual and delicious results. This particular dishes came out of a combination of using up what was on hand and a craving. I knew that I wanted to do a creamy pasta dish, I have such a weak spot for it, but I wanted to make it unusual. At first I resigned myself to just add some pesto to the sauce and be satisfied with that. But then I noticed the leeks in the fridge and I thought it would be fun to add some to the dish. But I didn't want to just saute them, I wanted to really bring out the sweetness of them, so I decided to caramelize them. Now I had caramelized onions before so I guessed that it wouldn't be too dissimilar. In the end I threw in some onions as well. The dish turned out wonderful and get my taste buds wondering what else I could do with caramelized leeks.

Healthy Burrito Lunch

For me lunch is sort of an odd meal. It is often the one that gets skipped, either because I don't have enough time to put it together or I just the lack of inspiration to know what to eat. I love sandwiches but who wants to eat a sandwich every day? I for one love variety. So I am trying to challenge myself to be more disciplined about my lunches. Every night I prepare a packed lunch for my husband. So I have decided that I need to start preparing both of our lunches this way, that way I have no excuses to eat a healthy lunch because it is already prepared. But like I said before, while I do love sandwiches, I get bored and crave more options. So I came up with a quick burrito filler that is good hot or cold. And to make it even better, it is a much healthier burrito option. You can have fun with a lot of different fillings like this, just prepare it the night before and roll it up in a tortilla for a tasty, different lunch. This kept well for three days in the fridge so it was a great lunch option for both my husband and I for the week.