Imagelicious

Affordable Canned and Smoked Salmon Rillettes

Imagelicious — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 13:22:00 +0000

Affordable Canned and Smoked Salmon Rillettes is delicious, elegant and easy to prepare. Perfect to serve as an appetizer for a fancy dinner or family brunch.

After breakfast and desserts appetizers are my favourite. Maybe it's a Russian thing as we always had a table full of various salads, hor d'oeuvres and snacks before the main course. Russian dinners were always long and fun with food and drink and more food. Main course would usually be a couple of hours into the dinner when everyone was full on deli meats, pâtés, cheeses, pickles, salads and many more appetizers. First time my husband went to a Russian restaurant to celebrate my friend's birthday he ate for a couple of hours and once he got full he ate some more. Then they brought more food. He was surprised. He never saw that much food brought in after that much food. That dinner was six courses. Most people are full after the first - appetizer course.

Appetizers are my favourite! I love nibbling on olives and cheese and stuffed anything. I love spreading food on other food. I love dipping various breads and crackers and veggies into even more food. It's fun. It's delicious. And it's not boring.

I love smoked salmon and I use it often when I host dinners or brunches but I am always aware that it's not the most affordable ingredient. So, I like creating appetizers that pack the flavour and punch of smoked salmon but are not crazy expensive, like my Smoked Salmon and Dill Mini Pancakes for example. This recipe for Salmon Rillettes is great for serving at any elegant dinner party yet it's also affordable as it uses canned salmon and only a small amount of smoked salmon. I discovered Rillettes a few years ago and I've been making them for holiday entertaining since then. In short, Rillettes is a course pâté and it can be made from pork, chicken, or, as in this case, salmon.

This Canned and Smoked Salmon Rillettes is not only affordable but also very quick to make as salmon doesn't need to be cooked. It's delicious and great to serve for an intimate Valentine's Day dinner or an elegant Oscars Viewing Party with a glass of bubbly or white wine.

To make Canned and Smoked Salmon Rillettes you don't need any fancy equipment, not even a food processor - just a knife and a chopping board to dice smoked salmon and a bowl and a fork to mix everything together. And the best thing about this recipe, besides it being delicious and affordable, is that it needs to be made in advance and stay in the fridge overnight to develop the flavours, thus making it ideal to serve at a party.

Affordable Canned and Smoked Salmon Rillettes

Onion, very finely diced - 1/4 cup
Dill, finely chopped - 1/4 cup
Canned salmon - 1 can (213 g)
Smoked salmon, diced - 1/4 cup
Egg, boiled - 1 large
Plain yogurt - 1 tablespoon
Mayo - 1 tablespoon
Lemon zest - 1/2 lemon
Lemon juice - 1/4 lemon
Dijon mustard - 1 teaspoon
Cayenne pepper - 1/4 teaspoon (optional)

Dice onion very finely and place in a small bowl, pour boiling water over the onion and let stand for one minute, then drain. This makes the onion sweeter, but if you are using sweet or spanish onion then you can omit the boiling water step.
Drain canned salmon and discard any skin or bones. Note, if you have cats then cats would love the drained salmon water.
In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients mashing the canned salmon and egg until a course pâté forms.
Place rillettes into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge overnight.
Serve with crackers.

Lentils and Brussels Sprouts Skillet

Imagelicious — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 13:18:00 +0000

This Lentils and Brussels Sprouts skillet is a delicious way of incorporating filling lentils and healthy vegetables into your weeknight meals or meatless mondays. Very quick to prepare the Lentils and Brussels Sprouts are great on their own or as a side to your favourite protein.

I am very happy to say that I was asked to participate in the #LentilsLoveVeggies campaign, sponsored by Canadian Lentils and Half Your Plate. Although I have been compensated, all the delicious opinions are my own.

When I was planning my wedding six years ago I went a little bit crazy. The whole affair was unique and handmade. It was beautiful and incorporated tons of personal details, one of which was table names for the seating chart. Instead of standard table numbers, we went with traditional food pairings to name the tables: salt and pepper, peanut butter and jelly, fish and chips, spaghetti and meatballs, bread and butter. However, one combo was missing from those table names - lentils and veggies! And now, more than half a decade later I know that veggies love lentils and #LentilsLoveVeggies.

My husband loves various pulses, but lentils are his favourite. He actually has some strange obsession with lentils. Sometimes when he wants a midnight snack or if he's home alone and needs a quick dinner, he doesn't make fried eggs or grilled cheese sandwich. Instead, he makes lentil soup! I am not even kidding here. There were too many times to count when I woke up in the middle of the night to the smell of cooking lentils at 2 or 3 in the morning. It sort of makes sense as lentils are extremely easy to prepare and unlike beans or peas they do not require any soaking before cooking, just simmer on the stove and if you are using red lentils you can have a delicious soup in under 15 minutes.

Barring my husband's obsession with lentils I also really like using them. They are perfect to add to vegetables to create complete filling and nutritious meal. I try to include vegetables in my dinner as much as possible. In most cases I go for just sliced tomatoes and cucumbers as a snack. We roast broccoli on BBQ during summer and I love plain steamed cauliflower as a side or even as a full meal (I seriously can eat a whole head of that vegetable at one sitting).

Brussels Sprouts have a bad reputation for some reason, but cooked properly they are some of the most delicious vegetables you can have. I love them sprinkled with sea salt and pepper and simply roasted with some olive oil -simple, quick, easy. Combining Brussels Sprouts with cooked Lentils is not only a delicious and healthy meal, but it's also very affordable in the winter as brussels sprouts are harvested from September to March.

So, how is this Lentils and Brussels Sprouts skillet made? It's super easy! First, you need to cook green lentils, I love making them a day in advance this way the actual dinner takes very little time to make and I can cook more lentils to incorporate in other meals throughout the week. The part that takes the longest is getting brussels sprouts prepared, but it all depends on the actual brussels sprouts. Depending on where they are bought some have more dirt in them under the outer leaves than others. I usually chop about 1/4 inch off the end of the sprout and then peel the outer leaves and cut the sprout in half. Once this is done the rest is easy, sauté some sliced onion and garlic and chili flakes if using, add brussels sprouts and fry until they are crisp tender and start to caramelize, add cooked lentils, salt and pepper and cook through. Finish with a squeeze of lemon and serve. This recipe makes quite a lot, so you can mix the leftovers with tomato sauce and add to pasta for a quick and delicious meal the next day.

Lentils and Brussels Sprouts Skillet

4 servings

Green lentils - 1 cup
Brussels sprouts - 2 pounds
Olive oil - 1-2 tablespoons
Onion - 1 medium
Garlic - 3 cloves
Chili flakes - 1 teaspoon (or to taste)
Salt, pepper - to taste
Lemon juice - half a lemon

Cook lentils: place 1 cup of green lentils into a medium size pot, cover with 3 cups of boiling water, close lid and simmer on medium until water is absorbed and lentils are cooked, about 15-20 minutes. You may have some water left, if that is the case, just drain and cool a little bit.
While lentils are cooking prepare the brussels sprouts. Wash them thoroughly. Chop 1/4 inch off the end, peel outer leaves and cut in half.
Half an onion and slice into thin half moons.
Thinly slice garlic cloves.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet, add onions, garlic and sauté for 3-4 minutes until soft.
Add chili flakes if using and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Add prepared brussels sprouts and cook mixing occasionally for 5-10 minutes until brussels sprouts begin to caramelize and are crisp tender.
Add cooked lentils and cook for another 5 minutes until everything is mixed together and heated through.
Add salt, pepper and more chili flakes if needed to taste.
Add lemon juice and serve.

Soft Almond Cookies

Imagelicious — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 13:00:00 +0000

These Soft Almond Cookies are soft and reminiscent of bite size little almond cakes - delicious and delicate! Perfect to end a romantic dinner or start a day with a cup of coffee.

Two dessert posts in a row can only mean one thing - it's some kind of holiday or event on horizon. It's February and I'm looking forward to this year's Valentine's Day. I'm not really into this holiday actually but I spent a few hours yesterday going through hundreds of iPhone photos and making a photo book of my baby's first difficult six months and the estimated delivery day is February 14th. So, this year I'm really looking forward to that date.

I actually think that I'll be celebrating Valentine's Day more often than not over the next few years. I wrote a few times about traditions and I hope to have as many celebrations with my baby as possible. I want her to have memories of silly red hearts and pink candies and maybe balloons and flowers in February even if it's an artificial holiday that makes not much sense. Celebrating love as a family is something I am now really looking forward to experience.

Once again I teamed up with a group of bloggers for a Valentine's Day collaboration and I am happy to be part of a delicious collection of Valentine's Day recipes from breakfast to dessert #FoodBlogGenius.

Be sure to check all other delicious Valentine's Day recipes:

Strawberry Chocolate Pancakes from Sarah - The Fit Cookie
Stuffed French Toast with Ricotta and Berries from Kirsten - Treat Yourself Sweeter
Strawberry Mimosas from Arlene - Flour on My Face
Spicy Shrimp Pasta from Melissa - My Wife Can Cook
Slow Braised Red Wine Lamb Stew with Moroccan Spices from Gloria - Homemade and Yummy
Easy Blackberry Mousse from Veena - Veena Azmanov

If you are making a romantic dinner and want to finish the meal with something delicious and chocolate then I urge you to try my lighter Chocolate Kefir Cake but if chocolate isn't your thing and you want something light and delicious and sweet and fun to eat then Soft Almond Cookies will hit the spot!

I remember first three things I cooked for my husband. I made date chutney to bring to his place to accompany cheese and wine. He politely ate a tiny bit but not more. Later I found out that he doesn't like savoury and seeet flavour combination. Third time I cooked dinner for him; I don't remember what I made as the main course but i started the meal with Lentil soup which he adored and finished the whole pot. In between chutney and soup I baked these Soft Almond Cookies. I remember A. taking a bite and saying that they reminded him of something from childhood. Later, once I became a fixture at his family gatherings, I found out what he meant. Dutch have lots of almond desserts and these cookies reminded him of those familiar Dutch flavours.

I made these Soft Almond Cookies many times, trying different dairy and playing with amount of almonds and flour. Funny enough, cookies turn out equally delicious with any dairy I use. I made them with sour cream, mixture of kefir and plain yogurt, and greek/balkan style thick yogurt. As usual I tried to reduce sugar a bit from my original version. These cookies are soft and remind me of bite size little almond cakes - delicious and delicate! Perfect to end a romantic dinner or start a day with a cup of coffee because on Valentine's Day you can have cookies for breakfast! It's the rule!

Soft Almond Cookies

24-30 cookies

Sugar - 1/2 cup minus 2 tablespoons
Plain yorgurt (thick greek or regular) - 1/2 cup
Egg - 1 large
Butter, melted - 1 tablespoon
Almond flour (ground almonds) - 1 cup
Flour - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
Almond extract - 1 teaspoon

Preheat oven to 375F.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl whisk together sugar and yogurt really well.
Add egg and melted butter and mix.
Add almond flour, regular flour and baking powder and whisk until well mixed.
Add almond extract and mix.
Scoop small spoonfuls of batter onto a prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart. I use a small ice cream scoop.
Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on the oven. My oven takes longer so I bake closer to 20 minutes.
Cool and enjoy.

Note: if you use thinner yogurt then the batter will be thinner and cookies will spread more. If you use thicker greek yogurt then cookies will be thicker. If you prefer thicker cookies but only have thin plain yogurt, you can add a bit extra almond or regular flour.

Chocolate Kefir Cake

Imagelicious — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 13:19:00 +0000

This Chocolate Kefir Cake is moist and delicious. It's lighter than regular chocolate cake but still has intense flavour and is perfect to end any meal. Great for Valentine's Day dessert.

If I had to choose between cooking and baking I'd choose baking. Since I was little I always had a soft spot for magic (yes, I am obsessed with Harry Potter) and baking is a way to bring magic into our everyday mundane lives. Flour, water, yeast - first it's just a clump, then minutes later it transforms into silky dough and in a few hours it magically rises and gets all soft and pillowy. Chocolate, sugar, butter, eggs melted and mixed together make the most luscious chocolate cake without even a tablespoon of flour - isn't that magical? Flour, sugar, eggs, butter - mix these four and you get so may delicious goodies - pancakes, waffles, biscuits, scones, cakes, muffins, cupcakes!

I love baking! I love science and magic behind folding and creaming and mixing and rolling all the ingredients. If I had lots of time and three times as many bowls and whisks and spatulas as I currently have and if I wasn't worried about all the sugar and oil and butter and cream and million of delicious calories, I'd be baking elaborate layer cakes with whipped buttercream concoctions. But unfortunately my waist can't afford all the eclairs and donuts and cupcakes my heart desires and the baby wants me to play with her instead of making napoleon frostings and pralines. So, I stick with lighter and easier cakes. Cakes that are still delicious but take almost no time to make. Cakes that satisfy the sweet tooth and late night cravings but don't leave you feeling too guilty.

This Chocolate Kefir Cake is perfect for a casual weeknight dessert or for an intimate and cozy get-together. It's lighter on calories and sugar so you can have a slice or two after a nice dinner. Perfect way to end a family celebration or a romantic Valentine's Day meal.

I made this Chocolate Kefir Cake a few times with a few variations. I like my dessert less sweet and I often reduce sugar in recipes. This cake has 3/4 cup of sugar which I find works perfect with the glaze. However, when I made this cake to bring to a dinner party I attended a few weeks ago, I soaked the cake in simple syrup made with 1/4 cup of sugar as most people prefer sweeter desserts. Kefir is a Russian version of buttermilk and can be found in almost any grocery store, however, if you can't find Kefir you can use Buttermilk instead.

Chocolate Kefir Cake

makes 1 8-inch round cake

Flour - 1 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup (see note below)
Cocoa powder - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Baking powder - 1 1/2 teaspoon
Oil - 1/4 cup
Apple sauce, unsweetened - 1/4 cup
Kefir or Buttermilk - 1 cup
Orange juice - 1/2 cup
Orange oil - 1 teaspoon

Chocolate chips, semi-sweet – 60 g
Icing sugar – 1/2 cup
Water – 2 tablespoons
Orange oil – 1/4 teaspoon

Preheat oven to 375F.
Butter an 8-inch cake springform pan and dust it with cocoa powder.
In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder.
Add oil, apple sauce, kefir, orange juice and orange oil.
Mix together until smooth batter forms and all flour disappears.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Once cake has cooled, make the glaze:
Melt the chocolate over a water bath or in a microwave in a small bowl.
In a separate bowl mix together icing sugar, water and orange oil until smooth.
Add the melted chocolate to the icing sugar bowl and mix well.
Pour the glaze over the cake and enjoy.
OR
Slice the top off the cake since it'll be domed anyway. Finely crumble the sliced top of the cake and add 1 or 2 spoonfuls of the glaze to the crumbled cake. Add 1 spoon of rum (or to taste). Form balls and decorate the cake as in the pictures.

Note: If you prefer sweeter cakes, then use 1 cup of sugar instead of 3/4 cup. OR make simple syrup with dissolving 1/4 cup of sugar in 1/4 cup of water, then soaking the cake in the syrup, this makes the cake super moist.

Recipe Nod: Apple Pie Oatmeal with Maple Candied Pecans

Imagelicious — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 13:03:00 +0000

For the past few weeks I've been thinking about food blogging a lot, which is not really unusual since I blog about food. However, this time I wasn't thinking about recipes; I was contemplating the pressure of food blogging. I've been trying to post twice a week. Think about it! twice a week for a year means 104 posts. Over a hundred recipes! How sustainable is it?

Some recipes come out perfect the first time I make them and often it'll be the last time too since there's this race to post more, create more, And some meals require tweaking to get the taste or texture or flavour or timing or many other things right. Who am I kidding? Sometimes recipes are a flop too. So, with all this the math just doesn't add up. I am not blogging full time. I actually have a 9 to 5 job (well, 8 to 4 in my case). I am on a maternity leave right now which means that my current job is actually 24 hours and 7 days a week without breaks.

So, how am I supposed to test recipes, photograph them, edit, post and at the same time cook foods that my husband asks for on occasion and keep up with twice a week schedule?

I am not sure what other bloggers do and how they survive this marathon, but for me it means taking a step back. I still will post twice a week when I can. But when I can't, I think it's ok to only publish one recipe. One recipe that I know will work, that I tested and cooked and loved!

Now, what is today's post all about? My second post for the week, by the way. What is a #RecipeNod? Back in December a few bloggers got together and decided to do a unique collaboration. We keep trying to come up with new things all the time, modifying existing recipes, adding ingredients, changing techniques, but this collaboration is different. It's taking a recipe from a fellow food blogger and cooking it. Not trying to put your own spin on it, just making food that someone else made and loved! I was assigned to do a recipe from beautiful Justine of JustineCelina.com who is not an exclusive food blogger, instead she has a fashion and lifestyle site where she posts recipes as well. I've been a long time admirer of Justine's style and eye for details. Her photos are absolutely gorgeous and exquisite!

I chose to make her Apple Pie Steel Cut Oats with Candied Maple Pecans. I actually modified the recipe a tiny bit since I didn't have Steel Cut Oats and I also didn't have time to cook them for 30 minutes. I used regular oats which made the breakfast a lot easier but still delicious. I also did not add any milk at the end as I love my porridge to be quite thick. It was a delicious, healthy, and comforting breakfast! The Candied Maple Pecans were amazing! I made half the portion of the oats but full portion of the pecans! I urge you to check out Justine's site, take a break and cook someone else's recipe!

Pulled Pork and Peppers Pie

Imagelicious — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 13:32:00 +0000

Pulled Pork and Peppers Pie is a great way to use up left over pulled pork. It's delicious warm with a side of salad or cold as a quick snack.

It took me a bit longer to continue with my series of Pulled Pork Posts as there were other recipes that I wanted to share, but now that it's January and winter and it's cold and dreary outside, it's perfect time for some comforting foods such as Pulled Pork and Peppers Pie made with mayo. I've talked about mayo pie for the first time a little bit over a year ago. The idea is that the batter is made with mayo, yogurt, eggs and some flour. The result is sort of a savoury cake and it's perfect many various fillings. I made it with cabbage and eggs before, but it can be made with fish or chicken or, as in this case, pulled pork.

I love pulled pork - juicy, smokey, delicious. Making it in a slow cooker means that there is a lot of the meat which is great on a sandwich but gets a little bit boring after a couple of dinners. I developed a series of Pulled Pork Posts to share various ideas on how to utilize Pulled Pork in interesting and unique recipes. Making a big batch of Pulled Pork means that dinner for the week is going to be quick and easy.

This Pulled Pork and Peppers Pie is exactly that - delicious and easy weeknight meal. Sauté onions and peppers in a skillet, add cooked pork and the filling is ready. While peppers are cooking, make a very quick pie batter: mix mayo, greek yogurt and eggs, add some flour and it's done. Now just spread some batter on the bottom of the baking dish, add the filling and cover with the remaining batter. Bake for 45 minutes and you get a delicious savoury Pulled Pork and Peppers Pie. No butter in the crust and it's relatively low carb too as there's not a lot of flour used in the recipe.

Pulled Pork and Peppers Pie

8 each pie plate or cake spring form

Pulled Pork - 1 cup
Sweet pepper - 1 large
Onion - 1/2
Olive oil for sautéing

Mayo - 1/2 cup
Greek yogurt - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 4 large
Dijon mustard - 1 teaspoon
Sugar - 1 teaspoon (optional)
Baking powder - 1 1/2 teaspoons
Flour - 3/4 cup

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Slice half an onion into thin strips.
Slice the pepper into long thin strips.
Heat some oil in a medium size pan and sauté onions and peppers until they start to soften on medium heat, about 5-8 minutes.
Add the pulled pork, mix and cook for a few minutes to make sure that all the flavours are melded together.
In a large bowl whisk together mayo, greek yogurt, eggs and mustard until the mixture is smooth.
Add sugar if using.
Add baking powder and flour and mix until flour disappears. The resulting batter will be similar to pancake batter.
Line a pie plate or spring form with parchment paper.
Spread a thin layer of batter at the bottom of the form, add the pulled pork and peppers filling and pour the rest of the batter over. It will seem like there's not enough batter but it'll be enough.
Bake for 45 minutes until it's golden brown and spongy.

Chicken and Chickpea Stew (with slow cooker and stove options)

Imagelicious — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 12:30:00 +0000

This Chicken and Chickpea Stew requires minimum prep and delivers maximum flavour. Easy, delicious and healthy it will become your favourite weeknight meal.

Contrary to what this blog details, I don't just survive on breakfast and dessert (I wish I did). There's actually a main dish, some kind of entree, on the table most of the nights. But the foods that I make are so easy that I feel they do not deserve a blog post. I cook simple and easy: roast chicken with whatever spices I have on hand placed on sliced onion and lemon and garlic, all of that goodness becoming a delicious sauce; burritos with pan-fried pepper and onions, rice, black beans, cheese and veggies; 5-minute prep lasagna with good, store-bought tomato sauce, no cook noodles and ricotta mixed with spinach. Comfort food, easy food, fast to prepare food. After having a baby I rely more and more on these quick and almost no-prep recipes.

This Chicken and Chickpea Stew is the kind of recipe anyone can make even with a crying baby, so it's a total mom-recipe. It requires almost no preparation and comes out thick and comforting, filling and delicious. The recipe makes a lot, so it's perfect for a few week nights with some starch. I like it with rice or buckwheat and I am almost positive it would be great as a sauce with pasta. I also added this Chicken and Chickpea Stew to lasagna and it turned out amazing.

Cooking healthy on weeknights should not be complicated. Check out these 12 Healthy Weeknight Dinners at the end of the post by a group of very talented Canadian Bloggers. I'm sure you'll find something for every taste in this delicious compilation of recipes.

Now, this Chicken and Chickpea Stew is super easy. All you do is chop some onion and sauté it in a dutch oven, then add boneless and skinless chicken thighs, a can of chickpeas, a can of diced tomatoes, some dried herbs and let it cook. If you are making it on the stove, then bring it to boil, then transfer the pot to the oven and cook for a couple of hours. Shred the chicken with two forks and serve over your favourite starch. Slow cooker version takes longer (obviously) but it's even easier as there's no need to sauté the onions and transfer the pot to the oven. Both versions taste equally delicious.

Chicken and Chickpea Stew

6-8 servings

Onion, diced - 1
Oil - 1 tablespoon for the stove option only
Chili peppers - 4 (optional)
Chicken thighs, skinless and boneless - about 3 pounds (enough to cover the bottom of the pan, 6-8 thighs depending on the size)
Chickpeas, undrained - 1 can (540 ml)
Diced tomatoes - 1 can (796 ml)
Dry rosemary - 1 teaspoon
Dry thyme - 1 teaspoon
Dry parsley - 1 teaspoon
Mrs. Dash no salt seasoning - 1 teaspoon
Salt, pepper to taste
Chicken stock - 1/2 cup or 1 cup depending on how "soupy" you'd like the stew

For the stove option
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Heat oil in a dutch oven.
Add diced onion and sauté until softened. Add whole chili peppers if using.
Place chicken thighs in the pot. Add a can of chickpeas (no need to drain, add all the liquid) and a can of diced tomatoes.
Add dry rosemary, dry, thyme, dry parsley, Mrs. Dash no salt seasoning and salt and pepper if using.
Add between 1/2 and 1 cup of chicken stock (I use 1 cup as I like the stew to have lots of juice for the starch).
Cover the dutch oven with a lid and bring to boil.
Transfer the pot to the oven and cook for 1.5-2 hours.
Once everything is cooked, shred the chicken with two forks right in the pot, mix and serve over your favourite starch like rice, quinoa or buckwheat.
For the slow cooker option
No need to sauté the onion, just place everything in a slow cooker and cook for 8 hours on low heat.
After 8 hours shred the chicken with two forks right in the slow cooker, mix and cook on high for another 1/2 hour.

As with most stews, you can add different herbs and spices. I like to add salt right in the bowl and don't add any to the stew. I've been using a lot of whole chili peppers since I bought a big package but dry chili flakes can also be used, or omitted all together.

As mentioned earlier, this post is part of a collaboration by #CDNFoodCreatives. For more delicious and healthy recipes, check out these 12 Healthy Weeknight Dinners from Canadian Bloggers:

Roasted Tomato Pasta Dinner by A Pretty Life Blog
Apple and Acorn Squash Soup by I Say Nomato
Mexican Ground Beef Zucchini Skillet by 365 Days of Easy Recipes
One Pot Chicken, Barley and Veg by My Kitchen Love
Parmesan Polenta with Poached Egg and Spinach by Un Assaggio of Food, Wine & Marriage
Chicken and Chickpea Stew by Imagelicious
Lentil Tacos by Cocoa Bean,The Vegetable
Lighter Mac n Cheese by Fuchsia Freezer
One Pan Baked Salmon and Roasted Veggies by She Bakes Here
Steamed Rice with Red Curry Coconut Squash by Sugar Love Spices
Citrus + Soy Shrimp Lettuce Cups by Killing Thyme
Tofu Fajitas with Guacamole Crema by The Refreshanista

Bubble and Squeak Potato Cakes

Imagelicious — Wed, 11 Jan 2017 19:54:28 +0000

Bubble and Squeak or Potato and Brussels Sprouts Cakes are a delicious side dish and perfect way to use leftover potatoes. These cakes are vegan and gluten-free and can be made with variety of leftover vegetables and different spices.

If it Bubbles and it Squeaks, then what is it? I think this is they funniest name I've ever heard. Bubble and Squeak. Who came up with it? A quick search online revealed that the name might have been created to refer to the sounds that are made when this dish is cooked. I don't know... I've been waiting for my cakes to squeak or at least to bubble, but they didn't. Despite the fact that the cakes produced no sound, they turned out amazingly tasty.

First time I made these Bubble and Squeak Potato Cakes was back in 2009 when I went vegan for the first time. Since then I've done vegan months relatively regularly, but eight years ago it was all new to me. I remember I was amazed at how delicious something this simple could be. I blogged about it then, so I'm just updating that post with new photos and a slightly modified recipe.

I made these cakes many times over the course of last few years. Traditionally these Bubble and Squeak Potato Cakes are made with leftover potatoes and vegetables, but I always cook them from scratch. I am not vegan, so I serve them with chicken or pork, but they would work great as part of a dinner salad or even as appetizer if made smaller. These Potato Cakes are vegan and gluten-free so they'll accommodate variety of diets. I love serving them with a simple sauce of ketchup, horseradish and lemon juice.

Bubble and Squeak Potato Cakes

makes about 10 cakes

Potatoes, peeled and cut into medium chunks - 2 pounds
Oil - 3 tablespoons
Brussels sprouts - 1 pound
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for pan-frying

Boil the potatoes.
While the potatoes are boiling, prepare the brussels sprouts. Chop the ends of the sprouts and remove the outside leaves and quarter the sprouts.
In a separate pot, boil the prepared brussels sprouts for 5 minutes or until they are tender.
Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot. Let them dry for a couple of minutes on a very low heat.
Mash the potatoes together with oil, salt and pepper. You may need to add a bit more or less oil depending on how dry the potatoes are.
Add the brussels sprouts and mix well.
Check for the seasoning.
Form the cakes.
Fry them in a lightly oiled pan for 3-4 minutes on each side or until the side is nicely caramelized and the cakes are heated through.

Notes: I like adding finely chopped chili pepper or dried chili pepper flakes to the cakes. I also add herbs, whatever I have on hand - dill, cilantro, parsley. As noted earlier, these are great with horseradish and ketchup sauce and with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.

How to cook perfect mushrooms every time

Imagelicious — Mon, 09 Jan 2017 16:20:12 +0000

Cooking perfect mushrooms every time isn't difficult - use these tips to cook perfect golden mushrooms without any fuss.

There are three things I don't eat: celery, honey, and mushrooms. Well, that's not entirely true. I don't eat other things like tripe or chicken feet or beef tartar, but those aren't very common. As for the common foods that everyone seems to consume but I don't - it's those three mentioned above. For years I couldn't stand the smell of honey, taste of celery, and texture of mushrooms. But as it turned out, tastes change and I am opening up to mushrooms. In fact, I've been buying them semi-regularly at Costco. They sell big containers of organic sliced mushrooms for under 6$ - I like the convenience of not needing to wash and chop them and the price is the same as if I bought whole mushrooms.

There are tons of classic mushroom recipes but I decided to start learning and appreciating mushrooms with something simple: sauté mushrooms. I began pan frying mushrooms in a big skillet, painstakingly stirring them with a spatula, reducing the heat as they started to brown, adding very little oil. In the middle of it all, the pan would be filled with bunch of liquid from the mushrooms and they'd be steaming and boiling instead of sautéing. I did it again and again thinking that this is just how mushrooms are - they have lots of liquid inside and that's the way to cook them. That is until I came across an article on Food52 explaining how to cook mushrooms in a different way. Unfortunately I did not save the link to that page and I couldn't find it again, so if anyone has a link, I'll be really grateful as I'd like to link to it here. That article changed how I cook mushrooms now - there's no dreaded steaming, there's not even stirring. It's just cooking! Mushrooms come out perfectly brown and cooked - no chewy texture, no bland flavour!

These Perfect Mushrooms are great with steak, amazing to add to warm winter salads, delicious addition to pasta and omelettes. Whenever I buy that big container of mushrooms at Costco, I cook them this way and if we don't eat them right away, I store them in the fridge for a few days and add to various recipes.

So, how do you cook perfect mushrooms every time? It's easy! It comes to three things: heat, fat, time. You need high heat; not the highest that would burn everything, but high enough to actually sear the mushrooms and not steam them. I usually use medium or medium-high, but it depends on your stove. Then fat - you do need fat and more of it than you'd normally use if you are like me and always try to reduce the amount of cooking oil or butter. I never measure how much I use, but it should be enough to generously cover the bottom of the pan. I prefer butter or vegan butter, not oil, but oil can also be used. I buy soy butter at Russian stores, it's really good, tastes delicious and vegan. You'll need butter (vegan or regular) in the beginning of the cooking process and in the middle - don't be tempted to skip that step, it really adds flavour! And now the main secret tip: do NOT stir the mushrooms! Add the mushrooms to the pan with melted butter, stir once and then forget about them. Depending on the amount of mushrooms, size of the pan and your stove it could be 5 minutes or it could be 10-15 minutes. Just. Let. Them. Be. Do not stir no matter how tempting it is. You'll know when to stir - they'll reduce by half most likely and you'll see them starting to get golden edges. This is when you add more butter and stir/flip the mushrooms and then let them cook without stirring again. Easy peasy!

If you don't believe you can do it, check out this video to see how to cook perfect mushrooms every time!

How to cook perfect mushrooms every time

Wash and dry mushrooms. Mushrooms need to be completely dry. Slice the mushrooms
Heat enough butter in the pan to cover the bottom.
Heat the pan to a generous medium to medium-high heat.
Add the mushrooms to the melted butter, stir and then let the mushrooms cook without stirring.
Let mushrooms cook without stirring.
Let mushrooms cook without stirring!!!
Once mushrooms reduced by almost half and you start to see golden edges and there's no more steam, no more liquid and they sound and look like they are going to start burning soon, then add more butter and stir/flip the mushrooms.
Let the mushrooms cook again without stirring. This will take less time than the first part.
Add salt, pepper in the end.
Add herbs if using. I prefer lots of fresh dill, but you can add parsley or thyme.

Vegan Chickpea and Eggplant Dip with Dill Pesto

Imagelicious — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 14:00:00 +0000

Vegan Chickpea and Eggplant Dip with Dill Pesto is full of bright and bold flavours, yet easy to make and very healthy. It's vegan and gluten-free and will satisfy even the pickiest eaters. Perfect appetizer or snack.

My husband and I love to play this game where I hide eggplant in various recipes and see if he notices it or not. Well, he actually doesn't even know that he plays this game with me. A. doesn't like eggplant and I do. On occasion I cook it just for myself, but I often try to make something where it's not the main ingredient. For example, I'll roast many different kinds of vegetables and mix them together - eggplant will get lost in the medley of flavours and textures. Or I make dips and spreads. Eggplant gets smooth and creamy when blended, so it's perfect to enhance beans which my husband loves.

I play this hiding game with many other foods - I hide quinoa in meatballs. I add avocado to chocolate. Prunes - to brownies. Sometimes when I list all the foods that he doesn't eat it feels overwhelming, but I learned to cook around it. It's the flavour combinations that I miss: sweet and salty isn't something he likes. I don't eat some ingredients either. Celery, for example, is something I absolutely cannot stand in any shape or form. I also don't eat honey and only recently I started to eat mushrooms.

As I mentioned in my last post, I don't really believe in New Year resolutions, yet eating healthy is always on my mind and January seems to be the month to do that (right before the chocolate coma of February starts). This Chickpea and Eggplant Dip with Dill Pesto is part of a Light and Healthy collaboration between a group of bloggers and I am happy to participate in it #FoodBlogGenius

Be sure to check out all other Light and Healthy creations:

Easy Healthy Spicy Sweet Shrimp in Endive Cups from Gloria - Homemade & Yummy
Lentil soup from Melissa - My Wife Can Cook
Cheesy Buffalo Ranch Cauliflower Casserole from Arlene - Flour on My Face
Quick and Easy Black Bean Coconut Curry from Veena - Veena Asmanov
Salted Caramel Chia Oat Balls from Kirsten - Treat Yourself Sweeter
Green Smoothie from Sarah - The Fit Cookie

This Chickpea and Eggplant Dip with Dill Pesto is one of those "hiding" recipes. It's not really a hummus since it doesn't have tahini and is much thicker. It's healthy and easy and has only few ingredients - chickpeas, roasted eggplant, lemon juice and oil for the base and dill, pecans and garlic for the pesto. Vegan and gluten-free, it's full of nutrients and bold and bright flavours. It's also super easy to make and it totally goes onto my list of Mom-recipes. I roasted the eggplant a couple of days before making this dip. Then when I finally had time to make it, I just placed a can of chickpeas and the eggplant into a food processor, added a bit of oil and lemon juice and let it whizz and whirl until smooth. I then used a smaller food processor to make my pesto. I added pecans, dill, garlic and a bit of oil and processed until a thick and flavourful paste formed. That's all that it takes. You don't need to use two food processors either. You can start with pesto and then make the Chickpea and Eggplant Dip in the same processor, no need to clean it either. Minimum ingredients, minimal time, maximum flavour! Serve it with toasted pita or vegetables as a healthy snack or appetizer.

Chickpea and Eggplant Dip with Dill Pesto

Eggplant - 1 medium (about 1 pound)
Olive oil for drizzling on the eggplant
Chickpeas, drained - 1 can (540 ml)
Olive oil - 2 tablespoons
Lemon juice - 1/2 a lemon
Salt to taste

Dill, roughly chopped - 20 g (about 1/4 or 1/3 cup)
Pecans - 40 g (1/3 cup)
Garlic - 1 small clove (optional)
Garlic salt - to taste
Olive oil - 2 tablespoons
Water - 1 tablespoon (or use extra tablespoon of olive oil)

Preheat oven to 350F.
Wash and cut the eggplant in half lengthwise.
Cut the top part with the stem off.
Drizzle the eggplant with a bit of oil, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper cut side down.
Bake for about 30-45 minutes or until the eggplant is soft when pierced with a knife.
Let it cool. You can keep it in an air tight container in the fridge for a few days.
When ready to make the dip, roughly chop the eggplant and place in a food processor.
Add the drained chickpeas, oil, lemon juice and process until smooth.
Add salt to taste.
To make the dill pesto, combine all the pesto ingredients in a food processor and pulse until thick paste forms.
I add a bit of water to make the pesto smoother without adding extra calories, but more oil can be used too.
Garlic clove is optional but adds a great flavour.
To serve, place the Chickpea and Eggplant dip in a bowl and scoop the Dill Pesto over it. Drizzle with more olive oil if desired. Eat with toasted pita or vegetables.

Giant Double Banana Pancakes

Imagelicious — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 13:41:00 +0000

These Giant Double Banana Pancakes are full of mashed banana, yogurt, and healthy oats. They look pretty and impressive and are a perfect sunday breakfast.

Just like with my last post of 2016, I feel that I should write something profound in the first post of 2017. Maybe something about the future and goals and peace on earth. Or maybe something about my family and how last year put everything in perspective. Instead I keep thinking about what New Year used to mean to me when I was a child. It's New Year's Eve and New Year celebration that is the most important and anticipated holiday for Russians. It's our version of Christmas with food, family, friends. With Santa bringing presents and festivities going for hours on end. With drinks and games and tv specials. With fireworks and toasts and memories.

January 1st is almost as important as December 31st. Tired and hungover and happy and still full of belief in magic we eat the leftovers - tradition January 1st breakfast. Mayo laden salads, herring, sprats, cheese, deli, caviar - it's all consumed for a few days after the celebration thus making such common New Year resolution of eating healthy a non-existent phenomenon for many Russians.

I don't believe in New Year resolutions. They rarely work. Also, why this arbitrary January 1st date? Why not December 1st or at least first Monday of the month? I don't start eating healthy in January, instead I try to eat healthy-ish throughout the year. I still eat sugar and butter and bread but I try to not over-indulge. I try to use less oil or cheese or cook vegan. And if I feel like I want to eat cake or cookies or a nice grilled cheese sandwich, then I eat them and don't feel guilty.

So, as the world consumes tubs of non-fat yogurt with sugar-free granola this first week of January, I eat these delicious Giant Double Banana Pancakes for breakfast (after finishing my traditional mayo salads). They are full of plain yogurt, mashed banana and healthy oats and cinnamon. I suppose whole wheat flour could be used to make them even healthier, but I don't usually have it in my pantry so I can't comment on that.

I wanted to add even more banana flavour to the pancakes by adding whole pieces of banana to them. Instead of making regular size pancakes and adding sliced banana rounds on top, I decided to make Giant pancakes and placed long slices of banana - they look pretty and impressive and I just wanted to make something a bit different. I used a small 8-inch pan and made 4 giant pancakes. I served them with Dulce de Leche and this breakfast was reminiscent of the classic English Banoffee pie.

Giant Double Banana Pancakes

makes 4 7-inch pancakes

Mashed bananas - 1 cup (2 large bananas, may need to use more depending on the size)
Plain yogurt - 1 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Vegetable oil - 1 teaspoon (optional)
Brown sugar - 2 tablespoons
Quick cooking oats - 1/3 cup
Cinnamon - 1 teaspoon
Flour - 1 cup
Baking powder - 2 teaspoons
Bananas sliced lengthwise - 3 or more depending on the size of bananas
Coconut oil for frying

In a large bowl combine very well mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, and oil if using. Mix really well.
Add oats, cinnamon, flour, and baking powder. Mix until flour disappears. Do not over mix. Batter will be lumpy.
Heat a small 8-inch pan on medium heat. Note: 8-inch pan usually has only 7-inch cooking surface, so you'll get 7-inch pancakes.
Add coconut oil and melt it to cover the bottom of the pan.
Spread 1/4 of the batter in the pan, add about 3-4 long slices of banana on top and press slightly inside the batter.
Cook on medium or medium-low heat for about 5-6 minutes. Since the pancake is really big, it takes a bit longer to cook.
Once the top of the pancakes stops being glossy and little bubbles start to appear, flip the pancake using a large spatula. Note: you can also slide the pancake off the pan onto a large plate, then place the pan over it and flip the plate and pan together, this way the cooked part of the pancake will be facing up. I tried both spatula and the plate flip method and plate flip was easier.
Cook for another 3-4 minutes until bananas caramelize and the pancake is cooked through.
Wipe the pan with paper towel before cooking another pancake.

Tip: since the pancakes take almost 10 minutes each to make, keep them warm in the oven at 200-225F.

Smoked Salmon and Dill Mini Pancakes with Horseradish Dip

Imagelicious — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 14:40:53 +0000

These Smoked Salmon and Dill Mini Pancakes with Horseradish Dip are a perfect appetizer to serve with a glass of sparkling wine and an excellent addition to any brunch.

Well, hello, last post of 2016! I am supposed to write something profound now, something full of nostalgia, lessons learned, new year resolutions and hopes. I am not going to do that. I'll keep this last entry of 2016 short and sweet. It was a difficult year, full of pain, both physical and emotional, turmoil, and fear but it was also full of hope, wonder, amazement, joy and love. I am ready for this year to end and I am looking forward to the next 2017 year. I have a good feeling about it!

Now, lets talk about these Smoked Salmon and Dill Mini Pancakes with Horseradish Dip! It sounds complicated, but I promise you it's easy. I love smoked salmon but it is not the cheapest of ingredients. I usually buy a big package at Costco when I am entertaining. I love creating a smoked salmon platter with a large heap of fish, surrounded by softened cream cheese, capers, lemon and dill, served with rolls or even homemade crusty bread. It's delicious, impressive but not very budget friendly. I am a big believer that entertaining doesn't have to be expensive. That's why I love creating recipes that are still delicious, elegant and impressive yet much easier on the wallet. The Smoked Salmon and Dilli Mini Pancakes are exactly that recipe!

These mini pancakes are perfect to serve with a glass of sparkling wine at New Year's eve party and they are an excellent addition to any brunch. Only half a cup of smoked salmon is used in the recipe, so it's very affordable, yet you still have the wow factor that comes with serving smoked salmon. I added dill and capers to compliment the smoked salmon flavour and recreate that traditional sandwich experience. These pancakes can be made in advance, early morning before the evening entertaining or even a night before making it a perfect recipe for hosting parties. And, let me tell you a secret, you can use your favourite pancake mix and just add smoked salmon and dill to it, thus saving even more time! Horseradish dip is a great addition to the pancakes and it's super easy to make, just mix softened cream cheese, some plain yogurt and a spoonful of horseradish.

Smoked Salmon and Dill Mini Pancakes with Horseradish Dip

makes 20-22 mini pancakes

Flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 teaspoon
Salt - 1/8 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Baking powder - 3/4 teaspoon
Freshly cracked pepper - to taste (about 4-5 grinds)
Dill, finely chopped - 1/2 cup (~10 g)
Capers - 1 teaspoon (measured, then finely chopped)
Smoked salmon, diced - 1/2 cup (~ 70-80 g)
Egg - 1 large
Buttermilk - 1 cup
Olive oil - 2 teaspoon
Oil for frying

Cream cheese, softened - 1/4 package (~60 g)
Plain yogurt - 1 large heaping tablespoon (not measuring spoon) (~30 g)
Horseradish - 1 heaping teaspoon (not measuring spoon)
Salt - to taste

In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients.
Add chopped dill, diced smoked salmon and chopped capers. Mix well to incorporate all the ingredients.
Add the egg, buttermilk and olive oil. Mix until flour disappears. Do not over mix, it's fine to have lumps.
Heat a large nonstick pan to medium and brush with oil.
Place teaspoons of batter onto the pan to make 2-inch diameter pancakes.
Cook 2-3 minutes on one side until the top stops being shiny and bubbles appear. Flip and cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust the heat on the pan as needed.
To make the horseradish dip, mix all the ingredients well and add salt to taste. You can use mixer for a smoother texture, I used just a spoon.

Blue Cheese, Pecans and Dates Bread

Imagelicious — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 13:12:00 +0000

Blue cheese, Pecans and Date Bread is an excellent addition to a cheese platter. It's full of salty cheese, sweet dates and crunchy pecans - perfect to satisfy those sweet and salty cravings.

Savoury or sweet? What is your flavour of choice? I love sweets and desserts and can't imagine not finishing a meal with some kind of sweet treat, but my snack of choice is usually savoury and salty. And my favourite flavour combination is sweet and salty together. I remember many years ago I was recovering from a failed romance and for a few days consumed mostly potato chips with dark chocolate. Not so healthy, but oh, so delicious. Couple of year ago I hosted a Chocolate themed dinner party and one of the hors d'oeuvres were chocolate dipped potato chips, along with chocolate dipped bacon and spicy chocolate popcorn.

With plethora of salted caramel and spicy chocolate and cheese and fruit recipes out there I am not sure why savoury cakes or savoury quick breads aren't more popular. First time I made a savoury bread was a few months after my potato chips and chocolate diet. I made it for my annual holiday brunch and it was a hit. Since then it's been a signature recipe that I make when I have people over. I wish I could make it more often, but since hubby is one of those people who actually doesn't like salty and sweet together and I can't (or shouldn't) eat an entire loaf by myself, I don't make it if I'm not entertaining.

I made a few changes to the original recipe over the years. I reduced the amount of oil without compromising the texture of the bread, adjusted the amount of cheese and used many different kinds of fillings sticking to the tried and true formula: blue cheese, some kind of nuts, some kind of sweet fruit. In the summer I made this with strawberries. In the fall - apples and pears. In the winter I used cranberries (one of my favourite combinations). This particular Blue Cheese, Pecans and Dates Bread recipe uses dates.

As most of my recipes, it's not really complicated, just mix everything together! But it requires some prep since one cheese needs to be grated and the other one crumbled, fruit and nuts need to be chopped, flour and the rest of dry ingredients - measured. Still, it's an easy recipe to make and you can view the video below to see that.

This Blue Cheese, Pecans and Dates Bread is an excellent addition to a cheese platter, I like eating a slice of that with a smear of warmed brie or some cream cheese. The bread is soft and full of complex flavours and textures. There's the crunch of pecans and softness of blue cheese; chewiness of the dates and crispiness around the crust and edges. Salty cheddar, pungent blue cheese compliment the sweetness of fruit and the buttery taste of pecans. This bread is great to serve at holiday parties and would be perfect for an elegant New Year's eve celebration.

Blue Cheese, Pecans and Dates Bread

makes 1 loaf (either 9x5 or 11x4)

Eggs - 3 large
Vegetable or canola oil - 3 tablespoons
Milk - 1/2 cup
Flour - 1 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1 tablespoon
Blue cheese, crumbled - 2/3 cup
Pecans, chopped - 1/2 cup
Dates, pitted and chopped - 1/3 cup (~5 large medjool dates)
Cheddar, grated - 1 cup

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Butter and flour a loaf pan (or you can line it with parchment paper).
In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, oil and milk until smooth.
Add flour, baking powder and mix.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until well incorporated.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the bread comes out clean. My oven notoriously takes longer to bake everything, so I'd start checking after about 35-40 minutes.

Festive and refreshing Sparkling Campari Orange cocktail

Imagelicious — Mon, 12 Dec 2016 13:22:00 +0000

Sparkling Campari Orange is a festive and refreshing cocktail that is extremely easy to mix. It tastes delicious and looks gorgeous. Perfect for a holiday party!

I am not much of a drinker. I am short and small and a "cheap drunk". More than two drinks and I start dancing on tables. My drink of choice is beer. I love red wine too, but beer is still my favourite. Cocktails and I aren't friends. I actually love various cocktails, but since they often don't taste very strong I tend to overindulge and then I start dancing on tables again.

A little bit over a year ago A. and I went to an all-inclusive resort in Cuba. As usual we enjoyed cold and refreshing beers most of the time. And as usual I tried a few cocktails. In all my travels to all inclusive resorts I keep trying various cocktails and I am always disappointed. I don't like the cloying sweetness or the harsh liquor. However, that time reading through the menu I saw Campari-Orange listed. I vaguely remembered that Campari wasn't sweet and since I like more bitter and sour flavours in my drinks I decided to try it. Oh, how I loved that drink - slightly bitter, sweet and cold, it was perfect in the humid Cuban heat. The next day I tried ordering it again and it wasn't the same - too much campari, too strong for my taste. So, I asked the bartender to add a little bit of sparkling water to dilute the alcohol. It worked! And it also made the drink better. I kept ordering it throughout our stay. I got home and bought a bottle of Campari. I knew I'd be making it again and again! After I finally came home with the baby a few months ago, this Sparkling Campari Orange was the first drink I had since I got pregnant.

This Sparkling Campari Orange cocktail is extremely easy to mix. Fill a glass with ice, add an ounce of Campari, two ounces of orange juice, and an ounce of sparkling water. Watch all the colours mix and swirl and sparkle! The drink looks gorgeous and festive with reds and oranges mixed together. Its flavour is bright and refreshing and reminds me of grapefruit! A little bit bitter from Campari, sweet from orange juice and bubbly from the sparkling water. I use SodaStream to make sparkling water, it's on my Holiday Gift Guide 2016 for Foodies as one of my most used appliances in the kitchen.

View the video for this cocktail below.

Sparkling Campari Orange

1 drink

Ice
Campari - 1 ounce
Orange juice (no pulp) - 2 ounces
Sparkling water - 1 ounce

Fill a glass with ice.
Pour campari, pour orange juice, pour sparkling water on top.
Mix and enjoy.

To be honest, I don't usually measure the ingredients for this drink. The idea is that for one part of campari you add two parts of orange juice and one part (or more if you'd like) sparkling water. You can also add more campari if you like a stronger drink.

This post contains affiliate links.

Holiday gift guide 2016 for foodies in your life

Imagelicious — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 15:56:58 +0000

I google "gift ideas" many times during the course of a year. I look for inspiration for birthday gifts for my husband, my mom, my best friend. During holiday season I devour these gift guide posts like candy. Even if I have a perfect gift idea in mind for this year, then these posts often help me organize myself for another year too and who wouldn't want some help with Christmas shopping?

Recently I looked around my kitchen and realized that there are a few items that I keep recommending to my friends over and over again. Certain books and gadgets and products that I use daily and wouldn't imagine not having them. I give them as gifts to my friends and family. If I like them so much, then I'm sure other foodies would love them too.

This is a gift guide for foodies and it has stocking stuffers, medium size gifts and more expensive items too, so it'll appeal to various budgets. Please note that there are affiliate links in this post.

Toastabags - reusable non-stick sandwich in-toaster grilling bags

Now that I'm staying home on maternity leave, I don't use these too often. But when I was working in my office, I used these nifty Toastabags a few times a week. Assemble a sandwich at home, place it into one of these toastabags and pop it into a toaster - bread will get nice and toasty, cheese will melt into a delicious gooey layer and all other toppings will get warmed up for an ultimate grilled sandwich experience without a pan or a grill. I converted quite a few people at the office and they all now use these bags!!

Round silicone bowl lids and Rectangular silicone lids

My mom gave me these lids a few years ago and I was pretty sceptical at first - why would I use them when I can use foil or saran wrap? But now I use these lids all the time! They work great for covering bowls and pans and placing them in the fridge thus eliminating unnecessary waste of plastic wrap. These lids also work in the oven. I use square lids on casserole dishes all the time. Round covers also work on the stove. I have many different size pans and not all of them have regular lids, so these silicone lids are perfect for that. I linked to the ones that I have, but there are different kinds that are less expensive, although I haven't tried them.

Pure orange oil

I use this orange oil all the time when baking. It's my secret ingredient in banana bread, chocolate cakes, waffles, brownies and many more! Half a teaspoon goes a long way, so the bottle lasts for a long time. I highly recommend this product as it makes any dessert just a little bit more special and every single person always asks what is it as they can't really tell what that hint of goodness is, they just know that it's delicious. If you live in GTA then you can find it at Golda's Kitchen store too.

Hario drip coffee decanter

We were given this for Christmas last year and haven't really used it until a few months ago. Now I use it daily. It's my ritual while baby is taking a morning nap. I make myself a big mug of coffee and unwind before the start of a hectic day. This Hario decanter is a perfect way to have a cup of coffee without committing to another appliance and it also looks beautiful on a table if you are hosting brunch.

Rachel Ray set of 3 spatulas

I have these spatulas in green and I use them daily. I have quite a few different spatulas and some are made out of really soft material, so they can't be used for mixing thick doughs for example. These spatulas are sturdy enough to mix cookie dough by hand, but soft enough that they won't scrape non-stick pans. Out of many different brands of spatulas that I have these are my favourite.

Nigella Christmas

This is one gorgeous, cozy, inspirational, festive, delicious Christmas cookbook! I love just leafing through it in november and december. I made many recipes from it and they all turn out well. It's not new, but it definitely one of my favourite cookbooks! If you love Christmas and love cookbooks then it's a must have!

Barefoot Contessa - Cooking for Jeffrey

This is the latest book in Barefoot Contessa series by Ina Garten. I have all of her books and they have a place of honour in my kitchen. I love her recipes, her photos, her stories. She's not shy about using butter and sugar, so I usually try to adjust her recipes to my taste, but the flavours are incredible and very inspirational. If you want to invest into just a few cookbooks, then I'd recommend Ina Garten's series.

Nespresso

Why do I have both drip coffee decanter and nespresso on this list? Well, both coffee makers serve different purposes. Drip coffee is perfect for those long mornings when you want to relax with a big mug of coffee. Nespresso is great for a quick afternoon pick me up or when you want to make a nice cup of latte or cappuccino. I use it almost daily although I mostly make decaf for myself. We actually have two Nespresso makers, one at home and one at my husband's office. I also gave it as presents to quite a few people. It's just an amazing gift to give.

Calphalon pans

Over the years I tried many different pans. I once purchased a 500$ pan (yes, one pan) at some food show because they promised that it'll last forever and will be non-stick. In a year it was garbage. Calphalon pans, however, stood the taste of time. I have a pan that I got five years ago and although it needs replacing, it is totally my fault since I didn't care for it as I should have. And even now it still works great, it just looks ugly. Other Calphalon pans that I have still look new after five years.

Sodastream

I wanted a SodaStream for a few years and kept bugging my husband who was really against yet another appliance on the kitchen counter. Finally he gave up and got it for me two years ago for Christmas. It is now one of the most used items in my kitchen. I don't use any syrups for the soda water, but I make sparkling water multiple times a day. It is an investment in the beginning, but if you love sparkling water and buy Perrier or San Pellegrino on regular basis, then this will definitely save you money in the long run. It is also better for the environment!

So here you have it, 10 gifts that any foodie would love. I use some of the items daily, some a few times a week, but I use them all regularly. I've given some as gifts over the years and I recommended many of them to my friends.

What are you favourite Foodie Finds that you love, recommend and give as gifts? I'd love to hear about your favourite gadgets, cookbooks and "secret" items in the kitchen!!

Smoked Salmon Croissant Strata

Imagelicious — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 15:39:59 +0000

Smoked Salmon Croissant Strata is a perfect brunch dish to make during holidays. Elegant, savoury and a little bit indulgent it's a sure way to please everyone at the table without breaking a bank.

It's December and it feels like I lost a year. This feeling of loss is so tightly intertwined with joy that I don't know where one ends and the other begins. I found out I was pregnant just a few days before the end of January and on February 1st my morning sickness started. Pregnancy didn't bring me glowing skin or happiness. I counted the days until it was over and it was way too soon, much sooner than I was prepared for. The following weeks in the hospital and hectic months at home now bring me to December. Ten months have past in a year that I lost, in a year that changed my life.

It's December and as usual I feel nostalgic. I keep thinking about my childhood, my grandparents, and the magic of holidays. I wrote about traditions just over a year ago and I can't believe how much changed since that post. Now, more than ever, I want to bring rituals into my life. I want to instil the sense of security and stability into my baby's path. I want her to have traditions that would make her happy and would fill her with a sense of wonder and joy for years to come.

For the past seven years that my husband and I have been together, it's not just the traditional Russian New Year festivities that happen during holidays for me; it's now filled with Christmas celebrations too. I may not understand Christmas as well as I do New Year, but I love all kinds of celebrations, especially when there are twinkle lights and presents involved. I asked A. many times about his childhood Christmas morning traditions, yet he failed to convey the importance of them. This year, my baby's first Christmas, I hope to start our own family traditions and that includes a fun and delicious breakfast (even though baby isn't eating solids yet).

When I host brunches (and I host them often enough), I love making strata or savoury pudding as some know that dish. It's perfect for the occasion since it needs to be prepared a night before, thus removing the stress of last minute cooking. Even with brunches I follow my tips for easy and stress-free entertaining. I set the table a night before, I make cheese platters and dips, and I prepare a savoury strata. I've made many kinds over the years with meats and cheeses and fish and vegetables. I used baguettes, brioches, challas, croissants. All are delicious and all are impressive. But this Smoked Salmon Croissant Strata is my favourite - it looks impressive, it tastes festive, and it's just a little bit more special than your average ham and cheese dish with the addition of smoked salmon, dill, and capers.

I measured ingredients for this recipe, but in reality, the only items that should be measured are eggs and milk (and even that I most often than not pour freely). Smoked salmon, dill, capers, and cream cheese could be adjusted to your taste. The idea is that smoked salmon sandwiches are made with cream cheese, salmon and capers, and how much of each ingredient you use is up to you. What I like about this recipe is that smoked salmon, which is not the cheapest ingredient, can be stretched to make am elegant meal that is still not very expensive.

Smoked Salmon Croissant Strata

makes 2 large portions or 4 smaller portions if there's something else served for breakfast

Please read the recipe instructions first, as the strata needs to be refrigerated over night and can't be assembled just before breakfast

Small butter croissants - 4
Cream cheese - 40 g
Smoked salmon - 60 g
Capers - 5 g (1 teaspoon)
Dill, chopped - 10 g (~1/4 cup)
Eggs - 5 large
Dijon mustard - 2 teaspoons
Milk - 1/2 cup
Cheddar, shredded - 60 g (~1/2 cup)
Salt, pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Slice croissants crosswise for sandwiches, place on a parchment lined baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 7-10 minutes until edges just begin to turn golden brown and the croissants are dry.
Meanwhile, butter two 5"x5" ovenproof dishes and finely chop capers.
Place cooled bottom parts of the croissants into the baking forms, spread cream cheese evenly dividing between all croissants.
Add roughly torn smoked salmon to each croissant, sprinkle chopped capers, sprinkle dill all over the croissants and around them.
Cover the sandwiches with the top parts of the croissants.
In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, mustard and milk until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour the milk-egg mixture over the croissants.
Tightly cover the baking dishes with plastic wrap and place in the fridge over night (or a minimum of two hours).
In the morning, preheat the oven to 350F and take the stratas out of the fridge to come to room temperature.
Just before baking sprinkle shredded cheese over each dish.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until egg mixture is cooked and firm.

Notes: as I mentioned earlier, I wouldn't really measure cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers, dill, and even cheese when making this. The idea is that you are making smoked salmon sandwiches, so add as much or as little cream cheese and smoked salmon as you'd like. I personally love dill, so I use it a lot especially with fish, but if you are not a fan of dill, then you can use less dill or parsley or omit it all together. Same with shredded cheese - you want to cover the strata with it, so if you want it to be cheesier, then by all means add a bit more cheddar or for a healthier spin don't add any on top.

I used two 5x5" baking dishes, but you can use one larger dish too. If you are using a larger baking form, the cooking time may need to increase a little bit, just make sure that eggs are cooked in the middle of the dish.

Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork

Imagelicious — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 13:12:00 +0000

This Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork is easy to prepare, feeds a crowd, tastes delicious and is a little bit lighter than traditional recipes. Perfect for winter months and entertaining.

Last year my best friend hosted a little get together around holidays. She had a wonderful and delicious spread waiting for us on the dining table: cheeses, smoked salmon rillette, veggies, dips, and for the main event a big bowl of sweet and smokey and savoury pulled pork that she made in her slow cooker. She told me that it was the famous Dr Pepper pulled pork from Pinterest.

A few weeks later I bought a package of pork loins at Costco and knew that it was my time to make pulled pork. I also knew that I had to use a different recipe. It's one thing to have that at a friend's house but my husband wouldn't like anything made with pop at home. He also isn't a fan of BBQ sauce (I know, crazy!) and the amount of sauce would need to be adjusted. Enter this Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork. I have to say I am not sure if beer is much better than Dr. Pepper, but it feels better in my mind. I don't go too heavy on spices and add a little bit of BBQ sauce right in the beginning of cooking along with beer. Once it's cooked, I add more BBQ sauce onto my own portion and my husband adds cayenne pepper and garlic salt onto his. This is what I love about this particular recipe - the end result is the pulled pork that tastes light and clean and is perfect to use for other meals.

And with that I am announcing a new series of Pulled Pork Posts on my site!! There will be Pulled Pork Pies and Pulled Pork Pizza and Pulled Pork Waffles! Yes, that's right, I took Pulled Pork and stuffed it inside crispy waffles and topped them with an oozing poached egg. I spent weeks coming up and testing various ways of using Pulled Pork in anything other than a standard (yet delicious) sandwich. And if you are looking for a delicious Pulled Pork Sandwich, then may I suggest my Cottage Cheese and Jalapeño Rolls from a few weeks ago? They are the ones I used in the photos. These rolls are sturdy enough, yet fluffy. They also have this subtle jalapeño kick that goes so well with the Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork.

Did I also mention how easy this recipe is? The only difficult part is chopping an onion and I have to be really honest - you don't necessary need an onion, you can totally omit it, although it's better with the onion! So, even though it takes 9 hours to make, I am filing this under Mom recipe since it takes under 5 minutes to throw it together. And you also get to finish that bottle of beer after using 250ml in the recipe and I love this excuse to drink beer in the morning!!

Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork

Makes a lot of pulled pork

Onion, diced - 1 large
Pork tenderloins - 3-4 pounds or 3 tenderloins
Spicy smoked paprika - 1 tablespoon
Mustard powder - 1 tablespoon
Dried parsley - 1 tablespoon
Garlic salt - 1 teaspoon (or more to taste, I use very little salt usually)
Beer - 250 ml
BBQ sauce - 1/4 cup

Add all the ingredients to slow cooker.
Cook on low for about 8 hours.
After 8 hours use two forks to pull pork apart and cook for another 30-60 minutes.
Serve with more bbq sauce and spices to taste.

After the initial 8 hours of cooking it'll look that there's a lot of liquid, but once the pork is pulled, the liquid will coat all of the little pieces and will become sauce. If there's not enough liquid after pork is pulled apart, then add a little bit more water or stock or beer.

Vegan Gingerbread Cake

Imagelicious — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 13:28:00 +0000

This Vegan Gingerbread Cake is perfect for breakfast with a mug of coffee or an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. It's deliciously spicy and soft and light. Easy one-bowl dessert that can be made even during the busiest holiday season.

I was supposed to post something else today just not to have two cake posts in a row, but I can't wait to share this creation. It's a variation of my Pumpkin Spice Vegan Cake but although it's similar it's still very different. The aroma of this Vegan Ginger Cake permeated the air in my kitchen for a few days. Every time I'd go downstairs to get a cup of coffee or tea I could smell the wonderful spicy ginger and warming cinnamon. I made this cake twice last week it was so good. And I ate them both almost entirely by myself. My husband isn't into sweets too much and he's not a huge fan of gingerbread spices either. So, I ate at least three quarters of both of the cakes. I feel a little bit guilty, but not really as I am planning on making this cake again and again and again.

Gingerbread flavour wasn't popular in Russia during holiday season. We had our own version of Gingerbread but it was more peppery than gingery. It was also eaten all throughout the year, not just during winter. December for me smelled like mandarin oranges. Back when I was little, when Russia was still Soviet Union and store shelves were bare, those small orange jewels were a wonderful holiday treat - rare and precious. We even hung clementines on the christmas tree as decorations. Cinnamon was primerily a fall spice and ginger was foreign and unfamiliar. Now that I've lived in Canada for almost two decades, gingerbread means holidays. I started listening to Christmas music last week and we just put up our Christmas tree and this Vegan Gingerbread Cake was a perfect accompaniment to the songs and twinkle lights.

The recipe is super easy to make - just mix everything in a bowl and pour into an oiled and floured cake pan. It totally goes onto my Mom-recipe list. I use unsweetened apple sauce instead of eggs and some oil; it also adds some sweetness. Brown sugar and molasses add a distinct punch of flavour and colour. Ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves mingle together in the batter and make the kitchen smell like home and childhood and magic. I started making vegan cakes a few years ago and I haven't looked back. I really don't miss butter or eggs or milk in them - if made properly they are moist and soft and absolutely delicious!

Check out the video of me making the cake below. I even did my nails for the first time since I had the baby!

Vegan Gingerbread Cake

makes one 1-inch cake

Flour - 1+1/2 cup
Brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Baking powder - 1+1/2 teaspoon
Ginger - 1+1/2 teaspoon *
Cinnamon - 1 teaspoon *
Nutmeg - 1/4 teaspoon *
Cloves - 1/4 teaspoon *
Vegetable oil - 1/4 cup
Fancy molasses - 1/2 cup
Apple sauce (unsweetened) - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup

Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients and mix well making sure that there are no lumps.
Add all the wet ingredients and mix until flour disappears.
Grease and flour an 8-inch cake pan.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 50-55 minutes or until cake is baked through and there are no crumbs sticking to a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake for testing doneness. Note: my oven usually takes longer for everything, so start checking after 40 minutes or so.
Dust with icing sugar and eat either warm or cool. It stays soft and moist for a couple of days if it lasts this long.

* You can use your favourite gingerbread spices instead of what I listed. You'll need 1 tablespoon of the spices or a bit more if you'd like a more pronounced gingerbread flavour.

Pumpkin Spice Vegan Cake and RawSpiceBar Giveaway

Imagelicious — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 13:03:00 +0000

This Pumpkin Spice Vegan Cake is soft and pillowy, delicate and wonderfully spiced, no-one would ever guess that it is vegan.

I received product in this post for free but all opinions are my own. I actually used and loved the product for many months before the company contacted me.

I love subscription packages. There's nothing like opening your mailbox and getting a parcel not knowing what will be inside. It reminds me of opening presents during holidays except you get to do it every month so it's even better. Most of the subscriptions that I had were makeup or lifestyle but I had two food related packages also. First one was a breakfast box that was given to me by a friend and that sparked my subscription addiction. Second was RawSpiceBar kits. I discovered the spices almost two years ago and thought they were an absolutely perfect gift, so I gave a subscription to my brother for Christmas. Then my sister in law kept telling me about all the amazing meals he made her with the spices and I knew that I had to subscribe myself too.

With RawSpiceBar subscription you get a small parcel every month that contains three packages of various spices from around the world. You also get recipes to make with the spices. I had this subscription for six months and didn't resume because I was pregnant and thought that I'd never ever want to cook or eat anything again, but I made many different meals using their recipes and flavours.

It was a pleasant surprise when RawSpiceBar reached out to me a few weeks ago with an offer to send me their November spices to try out their service. I jumped onto this opportunity as I already love them!

Since I subscribed to them last year they changed the packaging. Spices used to come in brown paper bags and now they use these super cute colourful little pouches. They also now send two different recipes for each spice mix which is great as you have a choice of what to make. The actual spices are fresh, vegan, sugar-free, and gluten-free. Also, unlike most other subscriptions they cost very little, only 6-8 US$ a month with free shipping even in Canada.

With holidays coming up it's an absolutely amazing gift for a foodie in your family. I am also super excited to announce that I have a giveaway for December spices from RawSpiceBar. I asked the team behind RawSpiceBar and not only December spices are Holiday themed, but they also feature Icelandic flavours - I have a feeling that I'm going to subscribe for that month too! And if you don't win, fear not! RawSpiceBar offered a 50% discount off a 1-month subscription if you use code 'imglcious'. Scroll to the end of the post to enter the giveaway!!! Giveaway is open from November 21 to November 25 to US and Canada only. Skill testing question is required. Contest is now closed.

I received a November package which included a lovely assortment of fall inspired warming spices. One of the mixes was Unpumpkin Spice, which although sounds cool and funny tasted pretty much like a really good Pumpkin Spice. Recipes provided were good, but I didn't have the ingredients to make them, so I came up with my own recipe. Oh my! I am rarely this pleasantly surprised by my baking. This cake turned out soft and pillowy, delicate and wonderfully spiced. I didn't even notice how I ate quarter of the cake in just a few minutes. Good thing is that it's also vegan and although it's not totally oil-free, it only uses quarter of a cup of oil. I have a sneaking suspicion that I could reduce the oil to even 1/8 of a cup, but I haven't tried it myself. You could also definitely reduce sugar by 1/8 of a cup in this recipe if you are ok with less sweet desserts. It's not that sweet as it is, but it could definitely use an adjustment if you'd like to make it a little bit healthier.

I also consider this recipe a Mom-recipe as it requires one bowl and one spoon to mix, no mixer or food processor or multiple bowls needed. You do need measuring cups, but there's no going around it when baking unless you use scales to measure all the ingredients. Batter is mixed in less than 5 minutes, so if you'd like to bake the cake you actually need to turn on the oven way before you start making the cake otherwise it won't be hot enough when you need it.

Pumpkin Spice Vegan Cake

makes one 8-inch cake

Flour - 1 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1 1/2 teaspoons
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Brown sugar - 3/4 cup (you could reduce to 1/2 cup)
Pumpkin spice - 2 teaspoons (I used RawSpiceBar Unpumpkin spice mix)
Unsweetened apple sauce - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/4 cup
Water - 1 cup

Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients and mix well making sure that there are no lumps.
Add all the wet ingredients and mix until flour disappears.
Grease and flour an 8-inch cake pan.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 50-55 minutes or until cake is baked through and there are no crumbs sticking to a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake for testing doneness. Note: my oven usually takes longer for everything, so start checking after 40 minutes or so.
Dust with icing sugar and eat either warm or cool. It stays soft and moist for a couple of days if it lasts this long.

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My NICU story: born 11 weeks early

Imagelicious — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 13:27:00 +0000

I debated for a long time whether I should post this or not. After all, this is a food blog. But I wanted to share my story. I needed to write about it.

When I first ended up in the hospital, there was a resource available to talk to parents who have gone through premature births and NICU experience. I declined that opportunity. Talking meant crying and I couldn't handle even more tears. Yet, I longed for the stories, I needed to know what other people went through. I spent hours searching online and read about other's experiences. Those posts provided a lifeline, a connection to the future. To the time when life would go back to normal. To the time when there would be no fear, no sorrow, no grief.

Today is November 17, World Prematurity Day. Today I want to share my story. I hope that it'll help someone just starting out on their difficult and devastating journey. I hope it'll bring hope and peace and connection to the future when there are no wires, no alarms, no incubator.

First time I saw my daughter was nine hours after she was born; eight hours after my husband saw her. I was wheeled into NICU a few minutes past midnight and nurses put my tiny baby on me. She hiccuped, I cried. The fact that I technically didn't see her the day she was born still haunts me.

An hour or two after I regained consciousness following the emergency c-section that I received instead of being at work, a nurse came to ask questions. I barely was able to grasp the conversation still being groggy from the general anesthesia and morphine coursing through my veins. "Are you going to breastfeed eventually?" Yes. "Do you want to rent a hospital breast pump?" No. "Do you have your own breast pump?" Also no, since it was on my baby registry list and I was supposed to have my baby shower in five days. (Note to self, cancel the baby shower.) Well, she said, you have to start pumping as soon as possible. She then looked at me, saw how confused I was and graciously allowed me to start doing it the next day.

That evening I sent my husband home with detailed instructions on how to purchase the pump on his way to the hospital the next day. It was his last night of uninterrupted sleep in a while.

I, on the other hand, didn't get the luxury of one last full night sleep. I was woken up by the nurse every two hours who took my temperature, measured my blood pressure, checked for signs of infection and fed me pain pills like they were mints or candy.

In the morning I got questioned again about pumping. I tried to hold off the nurse, explaining to her that the store only opened at 10am and that my husband would be here by noon, but she only gave me a little time. Just before lunch she said that we couldn't wait for the pump anymore. She closed the curtains around my bed, unceremoniously grabbed my breast and started squeezing it. I kept alternating between muttering how weird it was and how it's too early in my pregnancy and I won't have any milk. A minute or two later a glistening drop appeared on my nipple; the nurse looked at me triumphantly. Laden with bags and boxes my husband appeared by my bedside just as the nurse started squeezing my other breast.

After the milking session Alan wheeled me to the NICU as I was still in too much pain to walk and we saw our baby together for the first time. I cried. Again. As I'd be crying every time I saw her tiny body in the incubator for many days.

Next week was a blur. I was healing from a major surgery, we were feverishly rearranging our lives to accommodate the unexpected birth of our daughter and re-living and re-telling the story of her arrival dozens of times.

It was a perfectly normal Tuesday, I was on my way to work and I had a routine OB appointment at 8.30am. Later that day I was going to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a work event until Thursday. Alan was supposed to join me for a little getaway on Friday. Saturday I was supposed to have my maternity photo shoot (I only have one photo of me being pregnant from the weekend before her birth). Sunday was supposed to be my baby shower.

During the routine appointment Doctor discovered some abnormalities with my baby's heartbeat. He sent me to the hospital down the road. I waddled there crying while calling my husband in panic. After an hour of observation I was admitted to a room and after another hour or so a team of doctors came to talk to me about what it would be like to have a baby that day. I wasn't impressed by the possibility of having my daughter at 29 weeks and 2.5 months ahead of schedule, so I mostly ignored what they were saying.

After a steroid shot to help baby's lungs develop, magnesium for her brain, emergency ultrasound, IV line and a few papers signed everyone calmed down a little bit and we were left alone for two hours. Then suddenly there was a dozen of doctors and nurses in my room and I was whisked away to the operating room. I saw my husband running after me and heard him yelling that I had no allergies as they didn't know my history and then I saw him disappear around the corner (it still bothers me that I didn't get a chance to say bye to him), I had oxygen mask over my face and was shaking violently from shear panic. Doctors were deciding if they had to knock me out fully and operate immediately or if they had time to do local anesthesia so that Alan could be present. As it turned out there was no time and before I knew I was unconscious. Last thing I remember is that they didn't have time to wipe my belly with antiseptic, so they simply poured a bucked of it over me. Then I was being woken up by someone saying that I had a baby girl. How could I have had a baby was my first thought? I didn't even remember being pregnant.

My husband later told me that they took me away at 2.54. At 2.57 doctors came out of the OR and started scrubbing in. At 3.01 someone poked their head out and told Alan that it was done. It took seven minutes. He told me he cried. Many weeks later as I was reading discharge papers for my baby I found out that she didn't breathe and it took doctors six minutes before she was able to do it on her own (with help from machines). I am thankful that no-one told us that right away. I cried when I found out.

First week after the birth of our daughter we were in shock and survived mostly on adrenaline. Second week we were establishing routine. Third week was when the reality of the situation hit me. That's when I realized that I was coming home every day no longer pregnant but without my baby. I couldn't hold her when I wanted. I couldn't breastfeed her. I couldn't see her face. In fact, the first time I saw her beautiful face without and tubes and tapes and wires was three weeks after she was born. It was only a few minutes and then the nurse inserted the feeding tube, secured it with tape and put on the breathing mask again. I sat on the chair by her incubator and cried.

I cried a lot over the weeks spent in NICU. At first I cried every time alarms went off in our room, that was before I learned to differentiate between bad alarms and not so bad alarms. I cried every time I saw how tiny she was. I cried every time I saw a healthy term newborn leaving the hospital in their bucket car seat, longing for the experience that I didn't get to have. There were happy tears too, for every ten grams that she gained, every feed that she didn't spit up. I cried when she was out of her isolette and wore her first clothes. I cried the first time she breastfed. I cried when she finally went home.

Both Alan and I were tired. No, exhausted. He went back to work a week after she was born and had to deal with the guilt of not being by her side. He came to the hospital with me every morning just to say hi to her and then every evening after work to help change the diapers and sit with her. I spent 10-12 hour days at the hospital, surrounded by constant beeping machines, grief and fear, separated from my baby by a pane of plastic.

Days no longer followed familiar pattern of morning, afternoon, evening and night. Instead they were split into 2-4 hour chunks punctuated by pumping sessions. At the hospital I was on my own, but at home pumping was a team affair. In the beginning when I was still hurting from the c-section Alan gently woke me up a few times a night and helped me sit up. He talked to me and timed the pumping for the allotted 15-20 minutes while I sat there with tears running down my cheeks. Later, when my belly, soul, and breasts stopped hurting, he still sat with me and then went downstairs to pour my breast milk into containers and wash the bottles. Even though she was fed through a tube, she at least could have my milk. Pumping was one of the few things I could do for my baby. Breast milk was the only tangible care I could provide.

After one month we were transferred to a different hospital. She was no longer considered critical and required less supervision. She needed to learn to feed and to grow. This change, although a big step towards going home, was hard on me. New NICU was different - communal space, less privacy, loud. Care was exceptional but less strict. There was no familiar military precision routine. I could pick my baby up and put her down when I wanted to. Nurses weren't there checking on her every few minutes. It should have been easier, but the sudden change in routine after I only got adjusted to the new normal didn't go too well. Baby blues that I thought were under control came back and I cried again and again from feeling helpless. True, I could pick up my baby from her cot and put her down but I didn't know how and was afraid to hold her. I felt scared changing her clothes and breaking her tiny little body. I felt isolated with my fears in this communal space seeing how other moms were doing all those things so much better than me.

Gradually I pulled myself together. I found new routine. I met new people. I became friends with other moms. We talked in the pump room, compared notes and were really happy for those moms that were leaving the hospital soon. And then suddenly it was my turn. After 52 days at the hospital we were discharged and sent home.

I was lucky. Lana was lucky. She had no complications. She took a bit longer to start breathing without any help. She took her sweet time learning to breastfeed, but after all those big milestones she didn't need any medical help. She went home at 36 weeks and 4 days of her gestation age. Three days before officially being considered term.

I was lucky that I had my doctor's appointment when I did.

I was lucky the hospital was near by.

I was lucky. I keep repeating it to myself over and over every time we see one of many doctors and specialists that follow her, every time she cries and I feel frustrated.

Now, after being home for many weeks, after passing her official due date, I can't imagine what it would have been like not to see her tiny little body, not to meet her when I did, not to see her grow and develop.

The NICU experience broke me, changed me, rebuilt me.

I stopped crying since I went home.

More info:

Pictures are from Pinterest. Most didn't have links, but I think they are from Preemie Support and Awareness site.

Canadian Premature Awareness Foundation

Breastmilk is one of the most important things you could give your preemie. Lots of moms obsess about it in NICUs. I was definitely obsessed: Importance of breastmilk for preemies

Absolutely beautiful story that I read two, three, five, ten times. It brings tears to my eyes every time: What Parents of Premature Babies Know for Sure

NICU nurses - Angels in scrubs

Video about NICU in the second hospital where we spent 3 weeks. These familiar faces brought back memories and tears: St. Michael's NICU staff

And just for fun, because no matter how difficult the time at NICU is, you still need to laugh and hope and dream of future, Chris Pratt also had a preemie baby