Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops

Under Construction!

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 19:47:00 +0000

Hello there! How are you all? I'm so sorry about my absence - it turned out to be a much bigger one than I had anticipated, but the last 2 years (yes that's how long it's really been!!!) have been full on! Full on in a good way - actually in a great way, but unfortunately just not in a way that's allowed me to blog.....and I've missed it. Not initially in all honesty as I was needing a break but now I am chomping at the bit and desperate to get back at it! However there is one problem... Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops is in need of a major, MAJOR, overhaul. What was a great start up platform is now tired and pretty sad looking and more so, not at all what I envision my blog to be like. So with some nervous anticipation I am going back to the beginning and starting over.

Unfortunately since I'm not nearly as computer savvy as I would like to be (read: not at all these days!) it is going to take some time. Looking at this little blog you probably wouldn't guess it but when it comes to things like this I'm actually a bit of a perfectionist which is why I can no longer stand to look at this blog! Everything it seems is wrong (layout, design and the terrible quality of photographs - just to get started!) so my next one - we'll call it Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops Take 2 - is going to be a labour of love and I won't be sharing it until I am completely and utterly happy with it. So I'm asking that hopefully you can bare with me a little longer for the new and improved Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops. I'm keeping my name because I still love that but I'll be updating most other parts. A lot of recipes will be transferred but some need the chop so if there are any in particular that you love and want to see transferred please let me know! My aim is to have a much more user friendly website so all future recipes will be printable. Of course I'll still be reviewing cookbooks - in fact it's my aim to review more and more as time goes on - and I plan to have a bigger focus on meal planning, but if there is anything else you would like to see please don't hesitate to let me know.

It's been a long time coming but hopefully I can get things up and running sooner rather than later! Thank you to all of you that have continued to follow along despite my absence and don't forget you can follow me on Facebook and Instagram as well for more regular updates.

Can't wait to talk to you all soon!

Lynds x

What's Cooking?!........

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 02:05:00 +0000

It’s hard to believe it has been 6 months since my last blog post! Seriously… where has this year gone?! However with that being said it’s not really surprising when I think about what has been happening over the last 6 months!

When we started the year all cozied up and warm sipping Champagne by the fire at my parent’s house in Scotland we knew that 2015 had some big changes in store for us, and for the first time ever at New Year I was a little apprehensive about the coming year, rather than my usual optimism of fresh starts and new opportunities.

Over the previous few years Scott had been away from home for work more and more and so finally we accepted that the only way to stop that from happening and to have him at home more was to move from Vancouver Island over to the Mainland which would completely cut down on his travel time and absences from home. It wasn’t an easy decision, especially for me, as it meant moving to a new city where we literally knew no one and starting over. My last big move had been from Scotland to Canada and one that at the age of 25 I perhaps hadn’t fully thought through. I moved to follow my heart but didn’t appreciate how hard it would be over time being so far away from my family and friends, especially as we all got older and had our own families. So we thought long and hard and by the time we had gone through all of the pros and cons we realised now was the time to make the move especially since Ben was starting Kindergarten in September. So our house was put on the market in March, we spent some time on the mainland finding an area that we loved to move to and everything was a go! After that life just seemed non-stop! We sold our house, bought a house, said our goodbyes, attempted to enjoy the summer while homeless for six weeks (although found an amazing place to stay!), had my Mum & Dad over (thank goodness – what a help!) and finally moved in to our new home just before Ben started school!!

Of course since we never do anything by half measures while all of that was going on we were also going through the gruelling treatment for infertility. After two failed IUI’s earlier in the year we opted for a round of IVF which took place right in amongst all of the packing and moving! Thankfully for us it worked and so I am delighted to say that although my cooking has taken a bit of a nose dive it’s because I have the most amazing, precious thing ever being made in my tummy!! At 20 weeks pregnant things are finally returning to normal but it has been quite a difficult few months. Those lucky few ladies that sail through pregnancy with nothing but a glow are alien to me! I WISH I was one of them but no such luck! Instead I have been horrendously sick with all day “morning” sickness since I was 4 weeks pregnant! Yep that means 16 weeks or 4 months or nausea and sickness every.single.day. Not the best thing for someone who loves food and cooking! It is literally only in the last couple of weeks that I have been able to actually start enjoying cooking again (much to my husband’s relief!) although admittedly not on a regular basis. So as you can imagine blogging about food was moved to the bottom of my priorities…. In fact anything related to food was pretty much down there at the bottom of the list! Thankfully though despite still being on anti-nausea medication I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and start cooking again and that involves needing a little inspiration to make up for all those lost months which brings me to my new library….

You might remember my “Cookbook Room” from our previous house. It was my library/spare bedroom! Great for anyone that loved food and cookbooks (as they never wanted to leave); jaw-dropping for the other 95% of guests we had to stay!!! This time however with a new bigger house the collection is no longer in the spare bedroom but in our delightfully cozy family room… or should that be our library?!

Last time due to size restraints I had 3 large shelves and 1 half sized shelf which were overflowing with my books and sagging with the strain… You might remember them…..

Needless to say they did not survive the move! Instead we opted for new stronger shelves to match our “white” house and literally they just finished being properly installed (by my wonderful and patient hubby!) last night after coming home from a weekend away! Aren’t they pretty?!.....

So now the task of emptying approximately 75 boxes of books begins and honestly I am SO excited! I know, I know but I LOVE my cookbooks and it has pained me to see them packed away in boxes for so long. I’m ashamed to admit that some of these books haven’t seen the light of day since they were packed up in Scotland from Mrs D’s house and shipped to me 6 years ago because we simply did not have room for them in our last house which means basically that Christmas has come early for me! It’s going to take a good few days to get the books from boxes to shelf, especially with my ever expanding tummy getting in the way but I can’t wait to see it when it’s all done!

So there you go – no blog posts because it has been a CRAZY 6 months! Actually make that a crazy year(!) but hopefully everything is now set to improve (touch wood!)…. That it is until babe arrives and I am reminded what it is like to have no sleep! In the meantime make sure you check out my ‘Recipes’ pages for true and trusted recipes from the last few years and keep an eye out for an updated Cookbook Room page!

I hope you are all well. Thanks for reading and don't forget to keep in touch! xxx

Pack up a Picnic with a little help from GLAD

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Tue, 05 May 2015 20:50:00 +0000

Who doesn’t love having a picnic? When the sun is out it’s all I want to do! For some reason food eaten outdoors seems to taste better so whenever the opportunity arises we pack up some food, grab our blanket and head for a picnic. It doesn’t matter if it’s a grassy park, on the side of a river or on a sandy beach, it’s all about being outside and enjoying some delicious food while soaking up the sun’s rays!

When packing a picnic you need food that is portable so I love lots of different types of picky food! Transporting the food in one piece is key and with the help of GLAD products it is effortless.

Some of my favourite foods to make for a picnic include Chicken Drumsticks which we barbecue ahead of time and slather with our favourite BBQ Sauce. Served with some homemade Coleslaw it makes a fantastic picnic treat that everyone loves.

I absolutely love GLAD Lunch To Go Containers which have a separate little dressing cup attached inside to the lid for your salad dressing! No more soggy salads as you simply dress your salad as you are about to eat it. Genius! You could also use them for veges and dip which I always grab for a picnic. It takes moments to prepare, is healthy, delicious and again every loves it. Or how about making some homemade Hummus and popping some good quality extra virgin olive oil in the dressing cup to drizzle over the hummus at the last minute… Or if you are a chilli addict like me fill the little cup with some of your favourite hot sauce, such as Sriracha and then you can add a spicy kick to your dips. Yum!

For something sweet and refreshing I can never resist wedges of Watermelon and fresh Strawberries which I again just pop into a GLAD container. I pack a Snack bag for any Strawberry Husks to be thrown into which makes for easy clean up and don’t forget the wet wipes for sticky hands which I pop into Medium Storage Bags.

Snack bags are also great for individual snacks for any young family members. I pack raisins, crackers and even baby biscuits in them for a quick and easy bite to eat.

Of course if your picnic is a last minute adventure then there is nothing wrong with making up some quick and easy sandwiches with everyone’s favourite fillings, and if you are really stuck for time stop at your local supermarket or grocery store on your way and grab some of your families favourite foods.

So what are you waiting for?! The next time the sun is shining and you have a day off, pack up some of your favourite foods or head to your local deli, pop it all in a cooler or hamper and find a nice spot for you to enjoy. It’s what sunny days are made for and with GLAD products it’s easy!

Here are a few more of my favourite Picnic foods:

Quinoa Salad

{Easy to make and great for anyone unable to eat Gluten.}

Scotch Eggs

{Such a treat and make for an ultimate picnic! Just don’t forget the ketchup!}

Pan Bagnat

{The ULTIMATE picnic sandwich!}

Smoked Salmon Sandwiches with Dill & Lemon Cream Cheese

{For an extra special treat!}

Pasta Salad

{Who doesn’t love a good Pasta Salad!? If needing to be Gluten Free substitute the Pasta for a GF alternative – my fave is Corn Pasta.}

Duck & Soba Noodle Salad

{Kicking things up a notch and making this an extra special picnic!}

Hummus

{If you want to surprise children why not try Beetroot Hummus or Carrot Hummus for some fantastic all natural colourful food!}

A selection of Cheese, Hams and Cold Meats

Olives

Lemon Drizzle Loaf

{Transports well and doesn’t need to stay chilled. Simply wrap in Cling Wrap.}

Lemon Coconut Bars

Passion Fruit Lemonade

Classic Lemonade

Limeade

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Picnicking!!

Curried Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 12:00:00 +0000

It’s amazing how comforting and nourishing a hot bowl of soup can be. This is a perfect soup to warm you up on a rainy day and it takes no time to make at all. Even better it is a delicious, filling soup that is completely gluten and dairy free!

I made this recently because I’d received some vegetables from my Mother-in-law as they were moving and she was emptying her fridge. I used what I had but don’t worry too much about exact quantities – if you have 1 sweet potato use it all, you just might need to add a little extra stock. I like this particular soup to have texture which is why I grate the veggies but if you prefer you could easily blend it for a smooth, thick soup.

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil

2 leeks, cleaned and sliced

4 carrots, peeled and grated

½ good sized sweet potato, peeled and grated

2 cloves of garlic, crushed or grated on a microplane

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated

1 tsp curry powder

200ml coconut milk

1000ml vegetable or chicken stock

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large pan then add the leeks. Cook for a few minutes until softened but not browned, then add the grated carrots, sweet potato, garlic, ginger and curry powder. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring to make sure nothing catches and then add the coconut milk and stock. Season with some salt and pepper and bring to a gentle simmer. Leave to cook for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Taste to check the seasoning and adjust if necessary then ladle into bowls while piping hot!

*For extra spice add some fresh chilli, finely chopped and if you find the soup too sweet you could add a spritz of lime juice.

Change of Diet ~ Entering the World of Wheat Free and Limited Dairy....

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 15:42:00 +0000

*Image courtesy of logo-kid.com

Yes you read the title right!! For various personal reasons our Dr. has suggested that we try a Wheat Free Diet with limited dairy. Now if you know me (or have looked at the amount of recipes I have under the pasta section!) you'll know that giving up wheat (albeit temporarily) is a b-i-g thing for me. Without doubt one of my favourite things in the world is a big bowl of Spicy Tomato Pasta and as for French Bread.... don't even get me started! However I am more than willing to give this a go so I thought if I'm going to do it I would share my experiences with you.

Now I know going Wheat Free isn't exactly a new thing and for many different reasons millions of people have jumped on the Gluten Free Band Wagon, I just didn't think I would ever be one but here I am! I'm not going to lie, when I initially started doing some research and looked for delicious wheat free recipes that were also limited in dairy it was overwhelming. My moods have been up and down over the past 5 days but I finally think I am getting there.... well to grips with it anyway. I still have a long road ahead and know I will have my cravings but today I am definitely feeling positive about things.

So what have I done? Well for starters, I haven't thrown out every item that has wheat in it. For now it's just been put to one side and instead today I replaced it with some gluten free alternatives. After doing some research I decided to try Corn Pasta rather than the Rice Pasta (which I have had in the past and really didn't like). I have also stocked up in Gluten Free Crackers (which I have yet to try) and lots of super crunchy Rice Crackers which I absolutely love anyway so no issues there. Since toast features heavily in my breakfast routine I've had to come up with some new ideas so today I made a giant batch of Granola* for us as well as some Granola Energy Bars courtesy of Dorie Greenspan's wonderful book Baking Chez Moi. I also have plenty of eggs in the fridge and this morning I had a delicious breakfast of Scrambled Eggs with Spring(Green) Onion, Tomatoes, Chilli and Coriander (Cilantro) with some Avocado on the side. It was delicious and I certainly didn't feel like I was missing out! A lot of Smoothies and Juices are going to be appearing so today I also stocked up with plenty of fruit (including frozen fruit for things that aren't quite in season yet), spinach and kale as well as Pomegranate Juice, Coconut Water and Almond Milk. I also bought some Coconut Yogurt which is another new item for me and yet to be tried (I'll let you know how I find all the new things!).

By coincidence I was about to start reviewing a new book called Everyday Grain-Free Baking by Kelly Smith so I have been scouring every page and bookmarking what recipes I want to try first. The first recipe to be put to the test is Easy Everyday Bread which I am really excited about. I just hope it's good as I know Gluten Free Bread is probably the hardest thing to get right. If it works I'll be pairing it with some Chunky Minestrone Soup for dinner tonight.**

I did spend quite a large sum of money today on my Wheat Free Shopping quest but I am stocked. The biggest expense by far was the Ground Almonds/Almond Flour but I did buy a lot. I also added Coconut Flour and Coconut Sugar to my pantry which are more firsts for me.

So there you go - as of now (well 5 days ago!) I am officially in the Wheat Free Club! I'll try and share some recipes that I make - both my own and ones from other sites and if you are also eating a Wheat/Gluten Free diet then please share some of your favourite recipes with me! It's definitely a big adjustment but I'm excited to see how I feel. In honesty after 5 days I'm definitely feeling less bloated than normal so that's a definite plus! As for now, it's time to make some Wheat Free Bread!

*Although Oats are considered to be Gluten Free they can be contaminated with Wheat products so if you have allergies to Wheat make sure you buy oats that are certified Wheat Free. Some people who are following a strict Wheat Free Diet will eliminate Oats however we have decided not to.

**After writing this post yesterday I made the bread and it was a complete success!! As with most Gluten-Free Breads it is quite heavy so you don't need much but we were both very happily surprised by this. Success!

My Meat Free Week

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 16:05:00 +0000

Having just completed Meat Free Week I thought I would fill you in with my experience of the week I just had where I wasn't able to eat any meat, fish or seafood for 1 week....That's right 1 week, 7 days, 168 hours.... in reality a very short time. To all the vegetarians out there I apologise as what I'm about to say sounds pretty pathetic but this 7 short days actually felt relatively long and it turned out to be harder than I thought!

When I decided to accept the challenge I did it purely for myself...I wanted to see how I would feel going meatless for a week. Generally we eat meat free meals about twice a week and in all honesty I never thought anything of it. Eating meat 7 days a week is a big no-go for me... I simply find it to be too much. Cost aside (which would be far too much for my budget!) meat everyday is just overkill (sorry, no pun intended!).

For years I have been an advocate of buying better quality meat and simply eating less of it and I really do stand by that. There are many issues associated with our global meat consumption, notably the impact it has on the environment, animals (increased consumption has lead to inhumane farming practices for a start) and of course our own health. As posted on the Meat Free Week website "the U.N. has identified the livestock industry as one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems" so we really do need to stop and seriously think about how much meat we eat.

So how was my week? Well since we eat meat free a couple of nights a week the first couple of days were absolutely fine, although it did present a challenge that I didn't expect on day 2. When the option of not eating meat, fish or seafood is taken away from you, you suddenly realise how much meat there is EVERYWHERE! On Tuesday we were out of town and had to stop for a quick lunch. Since we had a couple of things to grab we opted for the mall food court. Ok so I know not the best but with roughly 8 different vendors we thought we would be fine.... Wrong! Suddenly it hit me just how limited the vegetarian options were. It was meat, meat and more meat! Since I'm not a fan of fast food anyway all burger joints etc were out especially since I didn't fancy a fast food veggie burger (if they even had them - I didn't hang around to check!). Pizza seemed to all be adorned with pepperoni, ham or salami and even one place that offered Mac & Cheese as a side dish had thrown in Bacon for good measures.... It was a real eyeopener! In the end we went for Vietnamese and I had a bowl of Vegetarian Tofu Pho which I might add was absolutely delicious.

The next thing that I discovered was that with all of the food magazines that I have, the majority of recipes once again feature meat, fish or seafood of some description! Of course there are vegetarian recipes but really they were very limited. An innocent side dish of sprouting broccoli was enhanced with chilli.... and then anchovies.... A beautiful salad full of crisp bright vegetables was topped with croutons... and crispy chorizo... And so it went. Having recently discovered the wonderful Zinio Digital Magazines App I had purchased quite a few backdated food mags and as I read through them realised that maybe 90% of recipes do not cater for strict vegetarians.... It was another eyeopener. Of course I have read food magazines for years and years and never once noticed just how limited the vegetarian recipes are... until now.

As the week went on I started to realise that I was actually beginning to miss meat which kind of shocked me to be honest. I thought I would manage a week without any problems but I was wrong. The meat recipes in the magazines were jumping out at me and I found myself mentally planning next week's meal plan to feature some of them. I really enjoyed all of the vegetarian meals that I had but towards the end I wanted some chicken.... or a steak... or randomly, sausages (didn't expect that)!

Interestingly I did notice I seemed moodier than normal. It could have been a complete coincidence and perhaps just my hormones but I definitely noticed a change in my mood, especially as the week progressed. I was also woken in the middle of the night on Thursday with the most horrendous stomach cramps and nausea.... That night I had eaten my beautiful Dhal... Whether it was caused by that or it was a bit of a bug I'll never know but it was a bit of a setback in the week.

With all of that said though I am happy to report that for 7 full days I ate absolutely NO meat, fish or seafood and I feel really good about it! On top of that now that the 7 days are done I kind of feel like I am over the hump and could actually quite happily eat another vegetarian meal tonight! Unfortunately Scott has already requested that we please have meat tonight!! Doing the challenge has definitely made me a lot more aware about the impact of eating so much meat. There is no denying it I simply could not be a vegetarian, however in future I will pay a lot more respect to the meals that we eat that include meat and not just take it as a given, expected entitlement. We'll continue to have 2-3 meals a week that are vegetarian and really enjoy them and the fact that they don't have meat in them, and I urge you to do the same.

Whether you took part in Meat Free Week or not it is definitely worth looking at your eating patterns and seeing just how much meat you eat.... That Ham and Tomato Sandwich for lunch, or perhaps maybe a nice Tuna Mayo Baguette followed by more meat or fish for dinner.... I've done it, I'm sure you have too, but from now on I'll definitely be paying more attention to that and aim to have a few days a week that are completely meat free. As for now I'm off to read my latest Kindle purchase.... Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Veg Everyday!

~~~~~~~

To make things easier for you if you want to eat more vegetarian meals, here are a few vegetarian meals that I really enjoy:

Slow Cooker Quinoa, Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chilli

(I tried this for the first time last week and we all absolutely loved it!)

Grilled Halloumi with Quinoa & Beetroot Salad

Spicy Tomato & Mozzarella Gnocchi

Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles (with added Tofu)

Tomato & Mozzarella Tart

Penne Arrabiata

Jamie Oliver's Brilliant Veggie Burger

(A little messy to make but really delicious and worth it!)

Vegetable Jalfrezi

Cauliflower & Potato Curry

Meal Plan for Meat Free Week

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 21:08:00 +0000

Monday (March 23rd, 2015) is the start of Meat Free Week, a global campaign to create awareness of how much meat you eat and the impact that it has on our health as well as the animals and the environment. The challenge is to go meat free for a full week which includes ALL meat, fish and seafood.

Although we do eat quite a lot of meat I always try to have at least 2 nights a week where we eat vegetarian meals so I'm excited to have a full week of delicious vegetarian food (breakfast and lunch included), and no there isn't a nut roast in sight!

To make things easier for you if you are interested in taking part in Meat Free Week, I decided to share my weekly meal plan which is packed with delicious, nutritious recipes. All recipes have a link included so you can join me for the week or pick and chose as you like any recipes that appeal. For more meal ideas why not have a look at the recipes provided on the Meat Free Week website or alternatively check out Jamie Oliver's recipes dedicated to this fantastic campaign, or if you have a favourite vegetarian meal please feel free to share links in the comments section!

So what are you waiting for? Join me and hundreds of other people and go meat free for a week!

Monday March 23rd ~ 29th

Monday - Slow Cooker Quinoa, Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chilli

Tuesday - North African Squash & Chickpea Stew
Wednesday - Spicy Tomato & Mozzarella Gnocchi with Green Salad

Thursday - Grilled Halloumi with Quinoa & Beetroot Salad

Friday - Deliciously Dhal

Saturday - ~~Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles with Tofu~~ Brilliant Veggie Burger

Sunday - Vegetable Jalfrezi

Cookbook Review ~ The Wellness Kitchen by Paulette Lambert

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 21:02:00 +0000

The start of a New Year is always the time when resolutions are made to eat better, exercise more and generally lead a healthier life so it was the perfect time for me to put The Wellness Kitchen: Fresh, Flavorful Recipes for a Healthier You by Paulette Lambert to the test.

The Wellness Kitchen is a cookbook designed to show you how you can transform your body with simple, easy steps and wholesome flavourful foods. Paulette Lambert is a registered dietitian with 32 years of experience that includes appearances on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition and The Dr. Oz Show. It is not a diet book containing specific restrictions, fads or concepts that are “of the moment”. Rather this book is about presenting the reader with “the latest scientific knowledge regarding nutrition and health” and making healthy eating a very easy, accessible way of life that anyone can achieve.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part is information about health, how to use the book for you in particular as well as general nutrition guidelines and a handy section on pantry basics and a 21-Day Food Plan for Health and Weight Loss. The third part is Caloric Meal Plans.

Part 2 of the book features the Recipes with chapters dedicated to Breakfast, Appetizers, Quick and Easy Main Dishes and A Little Sweet to name a few. With more than 100 recipes included there is plenty of choice that will tempt your taste buds and help to improve your health. With so many recipes to choose from it was hard to pick but in the end I tested 4 recipes.

Tested Recipes:

Broccoli Salad

Peanut Sesame Noodles

Curried Coconut Carrot Soup

Tofu Curry with Summer Vegetables

For a large family meal I made the Broccoli Salad as the first recipe to be tested. It was simple to make but the dressing was far too runny and the final salad was met with very mixed reviews. While I liked the flavour others found it to be too sharp from the Tabasco and vinegar. One thing that did surprise me was the amount of sugar in the dressing as there was a lot which seemed unnecessary and especially surprising in a book dedicated to healthy eating! Unfortunately the general consensus of this recipe was that it was a fail so I won’t be making it again.

Next up was the Peanut Sesame Noodles which were absolutely delicious and I will definitely make again. The recipe was easy to follow, straightforward and a perfect vegetarian meal. Top marks for that one!

Recipe number 3 was the Curried Coconut Carrot Soup which was easy to make and tasted very good although I personally preferred it without the final addition of fresh lime. Another recipe success and one that I will make again.

The final recipe to be put to the test was the Tofu Curry with Summer Vegetables. This was a really fantastic recipe that felt super healthy as it is literally loaded with bright, vibrant vegetables and tofu. It was absolutely delicious, my only complaint was that by the time I was ready to serve it there wasn’t as much sauce as I would have liked, however I have since made it again and simply doubled the sauce quantities and it was perfect. A big success and a recipe I will continue to make.

As well as the above 4 tested recipes I have also bookmarked many more that I am keen to try, including:

Blueberry Banana Bran Muffins

Crab Cakes

Farmers’ Market Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash*

Chipotle Cilantro Slaw*

Bouillabaisse

Curried Squash and Lentil Soup

Homemade Corn Bread

Grilled Naan with Herbs and Feta

Spicy Beef with Hoisin and Cucumber Relish*

Fresh Ahi and Soba Noodle Salad with Cucumber and Coconut Dressing*

Crispy Fish Sticks with Homemade Bread Crumbs*

Hoisin Salmon Burger with Ginger Aioli

Chicken Parmesan with Basic Tomato Sauce*

Chicken Tinga Mini Tostadas

Pulled Turkey Sandwiches with Cranberry BBQ Sauce

Turkey Meatballs Al Forno

Spicy Tofu with Green Harissa

Quinoa Chili Rellenos

Fruit Crisp (many variations)

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing*

For a book dedicated to helping you become healthier it certainly has a lot of recipes that can be incorporated into anybody’s regular diet without feeling like you are making major sacrifices. The variety of recipes would appeal to the whole family meaning everyone can enjoy the same meal. It delivers on its promise to provide clear and simple recipes with step-by-step instructions. There aren’t photographs for every recipe but they are there for the majority. Accompanying each recipe are “nutrition basics” which provides information on the recipe, the ingredients or sometimes just provides ideas for substitutes.

Specialty Ingredients?

No – all of the recipes contained everyday easy to find ingredients. I was and continue to be surprised by the amount of sugar in some of the recipes. For me it is too much as it’s a lot more than I would ever generally use and taste wise it didn’t need it so I would cut down that quantity in future.

Learn anything new?

No, however I did enjoy the recipes and find having all of the nutritional information very helpful and important.

For a book that is focused on healthy eating I really enjoyed it. The recipes were fabulous (only 1 fail out of 4) and honestly as far as I was concerned they were meals I would make all of the time anyway. It definitely didn’t feel like they were trying hard to cut calories and be super healthy, they were just delicious, sensible meal choices. I really liked Part 3 of the book which featured Caloric Meal Plans with sample Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks and Dinner Menus for different calories values.

With the combined nutritional information and delicious, varied recipes this book has everything you need to eat a healthy balanced diet and therefore The Wellness Kitchen by Paulette Lambert gets the Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops Stamp of Approval.

The Wellness Kitchen by Paulette Lambert is available to buy now from Amazon.com as well as other online book suppliers and all major book retailers.

*All opinions expressed for the purpose of this review are my own and have not been influenced by any other party.

Happy Valentine's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 17:42:00 +0000

If you are looking for some fun last minute Valentine's Day projects then these Cookies, Cupcakes and Cake Pops are the ideal sweet treat! And of course I had to share some of my favourite cocktail recipes as well! Have a great day x

Drinks

Wild Hibiscus Royale

Raspberry Moscow Mule

Valentine's Kiss

Rhubarb Mojito (not pictured)

Sweet Treats

Valentine's Cake Pops

Valentine's Cupcakes

Valentine's Cookies (Vanilla)

Valentine's Cookies (Chocolate)

Pink Champagne Truffles (not pictured)

Cookbook Review ~ Whitewater Cooks with Passion by Shelley Adams

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Wed, 04 Feb 2015 03:32:00 +0000

Shelley is back and this time she is cooking with passion! The fourth and latest book in the Whitewater Cooks series, Whitewater Cooks with Passion, sees Shelley cooking new recipes using inspiration from her trusted family and friends as well as plenty of inspiration from around the world.

The paperback book continues with the same theme as the other books in the series with lots of beautiful, mouth-watering photographs to accompany a lot of the recipes. There are 7 chapters dedicated to recipes including Breakfast, Starters, Soups, Dinners and Desserts.

It didn’t take me long to start bookmarking plenty of recipes and in the end I tested 6.

Tested Recipes:

Green Curry Chicken with Roasted Eggplant and Red Peppers

Mango Cucumber Salad with Mint and Sweet Chilli Vinaigrette

Italian Wedding Soup

Red Velvet Beet Cupcakes with Raspberry Icing

Chickpea Flatbread

Indian Artichoke Hummus

The first recipe to be put to the test was the Green Curry Chicken with Roasted Eggplant and Red Peppers. We love Thai curries so I couldn’t resist this recipe especially as it was so easy to prepare – you literally put the ingredients in an ovenproof dish and pop it in the oven and forget about it. I was very hesitant about the amount of curry paste suggested but since I had the same brand as she suggested I stayed true to the recipe and I am so glad I did! The end result was absolutely delicious. It was a perfect Thai curry made without any fuss. I would serve this to friends coming round for a relaxed dinner without any hesitation. I did skip the cucumber you put on at the end because I couldn’t get the mini cucumbers suggested but also because I served the curry with the Mango Cucumber Salad with Mint and Sweet Chilli Vinaigrette which takes me to the second tested recipe.

I absolutely love mango salads with Thai curries so I had to make this to accompany the above recipe. The recipe does have quite a lot of ingredients but it’s still simple to make and really just a case of some chopping and assembling. The dressing makes a lot and to honest in future I don’t think I would use quite as much oil but it was delicious and full of wonderful flavours. As for the salad it was packed with bright flavours, great texture contrasts and lovely fresh and vibrant flavours. It was also a huge hit and brought a wonderful ray of sunshine to our plates and palates on a miserable rainy, grey January day!

For recipe number 3 I couldn’t resist the Italian Wedding Soup for a perfect post-hockey meal that I could make ahead of time. I opted for the choice of sausage meat for the meatballs (she suggests minced beef or Italian sausage) and it was a huge success. I have never seen a version of this soup that includes Marsala but it was so good and added a wonderful depth of flavour to the broth. We all loved it and enjoyed it for several days since the recipe makes enough to serve 10-12. I can’t wait to make this again as it really is a complete meal in a bowl and didn’t take long to make.

For something sweet there was no escaping the Red Velvet Beet Cupcakes with Raspberry Icing. The recipe was perfect because although I love Red Velvet Cake I’m really not a fan of the red dye that goes into it which this eliminates and also because I had all of the ingredients needed on hand! The recipe was straightforward to make but it does make a lot of batter so I would advise using jumbo cupcake cases as I used large and they were a little small. The recipe suggests baking the cakes for 15-20 minutes so I checked after 15 but as I suspected they were nowhere near ready and unfortunately opening the oven door seemed to cause them to drop quite a bit. In the end they took about 23 minutes in my oven so not too bad compared to what was suggested. The end result was a very light and incredibly moist chocolate cake. The icing was so-so. The flavour of the cream cheese overpowered so in future I would add more raspberries as really we couldn’t taste them. Other than that though the overall cupcake was really good, it just needed a few extra raspberries.

I was going to stop there with the testing but I just couldn’t resist trying the Indian Artichoke Hummus served with the Chickpea Flatbread and a family Birthday party (with a gluten intolerant Birthday girl!) seemed like the perfect day to try it! The Hummus was incredibly easy to make as you just pop everything in the food processor. Unfortunately though I didn’t like the final taste…..it was far too vinegary and just not pleasant. I was so disappointed.

As for the Chickpea Flatbread it was a complete disaster. The batter was far too runny so when I poured it in the pizza dish and transferred it to the oven it spilt everywhere (and I didn’t even use it all). On top of that there was far too much oil in the pizza dish. Although it smelt delicious while cooking, the final result was inedible. I was so upset and frustrated and ended up having to make a last minute stop at the shops to get a different appetizer for the party. Not a great way to end the testing process but sometimes you just never know and that’s why I put recipes to the test!

As well as the above tested recipes I bookmarked:

Chai Tea

Petie’s Red Quinoa Breakfast

Buckwheat Waffles with Fresh Ricotta and Citrus

Star Anise Duck Cones with Avocado Wasabi Cream

Lamb Meatballs with Cinnamon and Pomegranate Jewels*

Roasted Garlic, Carrot and Cauliflower Soup*

Moroccan Vegetable Soup with Couscous*

Bengali Chicken Soup*

Duck Pho*

Kale Caesar*

Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad*

Seared Scallop and Crispy Prosciutto Salad with Passion Fruit Vinaigrette

Beef Tenderloin with Chimichurri Sauce

Drunken Prawns*

Fennel Sausage Risotto*

Mediterranean Lamb Shanks

Red Snapper with Tamarind Sauce

Butter Chicken Bowl*

Miso Gravy*

Smiley Creek Sauce

Tropical Mountain Loaf*

Jan’s Hornby Island Oat Crackers*

Lime and Pistachio Loaf

Lemon Curd Tarte in a Nut Crust

Date and Walnut Cake with Butterscotch Cream

I love the diversity of recipes within this book. Worldwide inspiration literally leaps from page to page with recipes from Italy, Cuba, Asia (to name a few!) and of course there is plenty of Canadian inspiration using fresh ingredients that are locally sourced.

As well as the diversity of international cuisine the book maintains its usual healthy approach to cooking and features recipes from her very health conscious daughter that have an emphasis on a gluten-free diet. In addition to so many of her own recipes, there are a lot of additional recipes which have come from friends and family and have been shared as they are some of Shelley’s favourites. Not all recipes are accompanied by photographs but the ones that are are beautifully presented and captured and look delicious.

Specialty Ingredients?

Generally no. By far the majority of ingredients should be available from your local supermarket, however there are a few ingredients that she notes she buys from her local specialty food stores (for example lime leaves, galangal and a few different Asian sauces and or condiments). I guess it really comes down to where you live but for the most part everything should be easily accessible.

Learn anything new?

No, although there is definitely plenty of fresh inspiration in this book.

The overall feel of this book is that it is one to be enjoyed and shared with your family and friends. Whether it’s a casual midweek meal or a get-together at the weekend, there are plenty of recipes to try out, share and ultimately love. It is a vibrant feel-good cookbook that will put a smile on your face just reading it (and a grumble in your tummy!) and a bigger smile once you cook from it.

That being said I can’t forget about the recipes that didn’t go as planned. I was definitely upset about the last two recipes failing so miserably, however the first four were so good and ones that I will absolutely make again…and again…and again! Therefore Whitewater Cooks with Passion gets the Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops Stamp of Approval.

This book is available to buy from Amazon.ca, Chapters.ca and other good book retailers.

*All opinions expressed for the purpose of this review are my own and have not been influenced by anyone else.

Cookbook Review & Giveaway ~ How to Cook Everything Fast by Mark Bittman

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 13:00:00 +0000

It seems that for the most part everyone is just too busy these days and in order to continue to get food on the table and eat well we need food that is nutritious and delicious but in record speed. I’m not talking about every day because there are days (weekends especially) when I like to slow down and really take my time to cook, but during the week there are definitely days when I need something delicious for dinner that doesn’t take long to prepare and cook and will keep everyone happy. I’ve tried using my slow cooker which is ultimately long slow cooking (where you do nothing) with fast and easy preparation but so far have yet to be wowed so How to Cook Everything Fast by Mark Bittman seems like the perfect solution…Good food fast.

When I received my copy of How to Cook Everything Fast by Mark Bittman it was like Christmas had come early! The doorstopper of a book (and I mean a doorstopper) has over 1000 pages and is packed with 2000 recipes and lots of invaluable advice on ingredients, cooking techniques and plenty of other information that is both important and very helpful. When you flick through the book the first obvious downfall is that there are absolutely no photographs. It’s probably just as well since it is already a monster book and photographs would just add to it but if you are someone that has to have photographs you will be disappointed. Ordinarily I am that someone but for some reason it didn’t really bother me with this book once I had gone through it…. Maybe because it seems more like a culinary encyclopaedia ….regardless, with this book I was ok without the pictures.

The book has 14 chapters devoted to recipes including Soup and Stews, Pasta and Noodles, Beans and Tofu and Meat as well as additional chapters on how to prepare your kitchen for speed, how to shop for speed and lots of others fast strategies.

So what about the recipes?! Well the downside to reviewing a book with 2000 recipes is that it is virtually impossible to narrow down that many recipes and pick only a handful to test, especially because there were so many I wanted to try. In the end however I had to pick what really appealed and I finally chose 5 recipes which admittedly doesn’t do the book much justice when there are so many other hundreds and hundreds of recipes I want to make! Still time restraints and a limit to how long this review could be was of major importance so 5 recipes it was!

Tested Recipes:

Cabbage Soup with Smoked Sausage

Potato & Spinach Saag

Noodles, Shrimp and Sweet Potatoes in Curry Broth

Smoky Tofu & Black Bean Chilli

Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

~~~

Recipe number 1 to be put to the test was quite an unusual choice for me as Cabbage Soup with Smoked Sausage isn’t generally something I would gravitate towards, however by chance we had some Kielbasa sausage needing used so it made sense at the time! The recipe was as expected very straightforward and super easy to make and was made within the time icon shown (in this case 16-30 minutes – it took me 30 but with the cooking times you couldn’t really make it any faster). The end result was surprisingly delicious and we all really enjoyed it. I wouldn’t necessarily make it again just because of our individual tastes but nevertheless it was tasty. A good start to the testing process with a strong like!

Next up was Potato and Spinach Saag which was also listed with the same time icon as above and again took me 30 minutes to make. The longest process was chopping up all of the spinach but everything else was really simple and straightforward. I’ve never made Saag before so wasn’t exactly sure what to expect but it was delicious. Not perhaps the healthiest version as it has a lot of cream in it and so I may be tempted to change that a little in future. In all honesty it kind of reminded me of an Indian inspired Creamed Spinach with potatoes through it! Still there were no complaints and despite how much spinach was in it Ben even loved it. I will definitely make this again in future but I think I would perhaps serve it as a side dish to a curry feast rather than a main course. Still it was a success so another point to the book.

The third recipe to be tested was Noodles, Shrimp and Sweet Potatoes in Curry Broth. More curry yes but being a lover of all things curry and all noodles I just couldn’t resist. I’m not going to lie as I was cooking this I was more than a little hesitant….the broth seemed far too watery with not much flavour but I persevered and followed the recipe and the final result was fantastic. I did vary the amount of fish sauce suggested because I have been down that road before and I know each variety can vary enormously and it’s better to add it bit by bit (the recipe called for 3 tbsp, 1 turned out to be perfect for us). Anyway the final meal was wonderful and we all loved it. It really was a one pot wonder and I will definitely make it again. As per the 2 other recipes this took me 30 minutes from start to finish so another success.

Hot on the heels of recipe number 3 was the Smoky Tofu and Black Bean Chilli. Again I had some major hesitations as I was cooking this and to be honest it definitely does need longer than the suggested 30-45 minutes (which Bittman suggests under the ‘If you have more time’ section). After the full 45 minutes the chilli was still quite watery and bland so I cooked it for another 30 minutes then had to leave it to sit for a couple of hours before I reheated it and served it. By the time we ate it with all of the accompaniments suggested it was absolutely delicious and Scott and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It fails for the time limits but definitely passes the taste test.

The final recipe to be put to the test was the Coconut Oatmeal Cookies which again were super simple to make (especially if you use a free standing mixer as I did!). The recipe made 36 cookies for me (says 36-48) and although the overall process took longer than the specified time, the first batch was definitely made within 30 minutes. The end result was a lovely soft almost spongy cookie which was so delicious and loved by us all. I will definitely make these again.

As well as the above tested recipes I also made Pasta e Fagioli which was a wonderful soup packed with great flavour and hearty Italian goodness, and I also have the Pasta with Spicy Eggplant and Tomato Sauce on the meal plan for this week.

I have also bookmarked a lot of recipes so here’s a snippet of more that I want to try:

Bookmarked Recipes:

Crab and Celery Root Remoulade

Fresh Tuna, Avocado and Green Bean Salad

Asparagus and Kale Caesar Salad*

Greek Salad with Orzo and Shrimp

Broccoli Tabbouleh with Charred Tomato and Lemon*

Sriracha Shrimp Salad Roll

Seared Tuna Sandwich with Wilted Bok Choy and Soy Mayo

Blackened Chicken Sandwich with Pickled Red Onions*

Chickpea and Couscous Stew with Moroccan Spices

Homemade Chicken Ramen

Spicy Peanut Soup with Chicken and Collards*

Sausage, Cannellini and Kale Soup*

Thai Coconut Soup with Chicken, Bean Sprouts and Snow Peas*

Hot and Sour Soup with Bok Choy and Pork*

Spaghetti with Garlicky Fresh Tomato Sauce

Spaghetti with Nearly Instant Bolognese*

Cold Peanut Noodles with Whatever You Have*

Caramel Stir-Fried Beef and Green Beans

Stir-Fried Beef and Broccoli with Scallions and Ginger

Beef and Mushroom Kebabs with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Pork and Onion Carnitas

Orange-Ricotta Pancakes

Panfried Olives

Skewerless Chicken Satay

…..plus many, many more!

The recipes are very simple and straightforward and generally don’t contain lots of ingredients. Although the volume of the book might be intimidating I would seriously recommend this to both people looking for speed and those just starting to cook because it has very clear, concise step-by-step instructions. The recipes do not contain long lists of ingredients so again in some ways it’s quite basic cooking which would appeal to the beginner home cook or someone that isn’t very confident in their current cooking skills. That being said although the recipes might be quite basic with manageable amounts of ingredients, the final dishes were packed with flavour and really delicious.

The biggest downside to the book for most people would be the lack of photographs but if you can get over that then I think you would really like the book. It delivers on its promise of Fast Food as the recipes I made took the time specified (other than the Tofu and Black Bean Chilli) which is major brownie points.

Specialty Ingredients:

No. For all of the recipes that I tried everything was easy to buy from local supermarkets and shops.

Learn anything new:

I personally didn’t but I think a lot of people would. As well as the chapters on recipes there are lots of pages advising how to organise your kitchen to be setup for speed, prep shortcuts for fruit and vegetables and various other fast setup tips.

When it comes to cookbooks that claim to be full of delicious recipes that you can get on the table in record speed I am always a little nervous but this book delivered. Unlike previous fast food books I have reviewed (Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals and Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals) that have amazing recipes but can leave you exhausted, stressed, overwhelmed and a kitchen looking like a tornado hit it, this book had the tasty recipes but none of the negative accompanying attributes. Maybe if you were to include more optional sides it might complicate things but for the main recipes they really are straightforward and easy to make. The book has literally a recipe for everything which is great but there are definitely some recipes that I would skip such as BBQ Baby Back Ribs and BBQ Chopped Pork and Slaw Sandwich because really they do deserve the slow treatment but each to their own and if you want these recipes cooked quickly then they are here for you!

Although the recipes I tested haven’t even made a dent on this book I loved what I tried and will continue to try more recipes and so How to Cook Everything Fast by MarkBittman absolutely gets the Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops Stamp of Approval.

The book is available to buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and other good book retailers but for one lucky reader I have a signed copy to giveaway!

Giveaway!

Win a signed copy of How to Cook Everything Fast by Mark Bittman.

*Open to Canadian Residents Only*

If you are in the need for speed, live in Canada and fancy your own copy of this fantastic book, simply leave a comment below telling me what you like to cook at home when you need something fast and you will be entered with a chance to win!

For additional entries follow me on Twitter and retweet “Win a copy of How to Cook Everything Fast by @bittman via @VanillaCloudsLD. Enter here.” (Or something similar in your own words).

Or like Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops on Facebook and leave a comment under the blog post/ giveaway alert sharing your favourite meal to cook at home when you need something fast.

As noted above, this giveaway is only open to Canadian residents. All entries will be added together and one lucky winner will be randomly chosen on January 31^st 2015.

**This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the lucky winner Laurie Christine Burns who won the Signed Copy of How to Cook Everything Fast by Mark Bittman.**

*All opinions expressed for the purpose of this book are my own and have not been influenced by anyone else.

A New Year and a New Direction......

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 18:07:00 +0000

Happy New Year!! Sorry it's a little late but I've been on the down low for the last month as I was back in Scotland staying with my family for Christmas and New Year. I had the most amazing time (as usual!) but unfortunately the time flew by and we're now back home in Canada. That being said I am excited to get back into things, especially where this blog is concerned.

For those of you that read Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops on a regular basis (well as regularly as I update!) you will notice that last year I didn't post nearly as much as I wanted to or had initially planned to. It was all down to time I'm afraid and a lack of it. I'm still cooking as much (and still loving it as much) it was just hard to find the time to develop new recipes, test them a few times and then photograph them and write the post. You may also have noticed that what I was posting, especially the last few posts, were book reviews which I really enjoy, and so for the time being I will be focusing on that. If I get the opportunity to post a new recipe then I absolutely will but for now I want to concentrate on reviewing and testing out cookbooks.

For me, reviewing a cookbook takes some time. To truly test and review a book I think that you have to test the recipes. It's all very well saying a cookbook looks great, is filled with mouthwatering photographs and that the recipes sound good but what if they don't work? In my opinion it's a major fail because honestly why would you want that book?! Therefore I go through each book several times, reading the introductions and initial chapters and bookmarking the recipes that appeal to me. I then test as many as I can but for the point of the review always 3-4 which are tested by following the recipe exactly. If you have read any of my reviews you will know they tend to be quite lengthy but again that is because I am really testing the book and trying to provide as much information to you as possible.

Pros and Cons I see within the book are always top of the list, whether you need Specialty Ingredients that are difficult to buy and if I have learned anything new all feature in my reviews. Basics like whether there are photographs to accompany the recipes are always included and by providing a list of recipes that I have bookmarked I try to share a range of some of the recipes included and not just the ones that I have tested.

As well as that though I am always open to suggestions of anything else you consider important when deciding whether you want to buy a book or not, so please feel free to comment on what you want to see from a cookbook review.

I hope that despite a lack of my own new recipes (all my existing recipes can still be found in the Recipes Page) and rather a concentration on reviews you will continue to read Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops and enjoy the reviews that I do. With that being said I am really excited as I am currently reviewing three cookbooks (with more on the way) and can't wait to share them with you!

Happy New Year again! Let's hope 2015 is a wonderful, happy, healthy and safe year for everyone.

Lynds x

Cookbook Review ~ Eat Yourself Pregnant by Zita West

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 13:00:00 +0000

I’m not going to lie, when I was asked if I would review Eat Yourself Pregnant by Zita West I was a little hesitant, because to be honest I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to broadcast on my blog that we are trying to get pregnant, but then I thought why not because it’s not exactly a secret, even if I don’t talk about it that much. The reality is that my husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for the last 3 years and are dealing with Secondary Infertility. I’m not going to get into all of the specifics with you but it’s a long, emotional and very difficult journey that we never saw coming and so I will take any advice I can (within reason!), so considering that I love food, cooking and cookbooks and I am trying to get pregnant I decided why not?!

Zita West is a fertility expert and midwife based in the UK. During her career she has also worked as a nutritional advisor and then as an acupuncturist so she is more than qualified to be writing this book! The recipes however come courtesy of Christine Bailey an award-winning nutritionist, food and health consultant, chef and cookery teacher.

The 160 paged paperback is packed with information about getting your body ready for pregnancy as well as 65 healthy recipes to ensure you get all of the vital nutrients required for conception in your diet. There are questions to help you assess your overall health such as ‘How healthy is your digestion?’ ‘How toxic are you?’ and ‘How stable is your blood sugar?’ and a recommended fertility cleanse if you think you need it. As it turned out everything seemed good for us so I skipped the fertility cleanse and opted to pick and choose my own recipes from the book (the fertility detox is just a detailed meal plan with all recipes taken from the book).

The recipes are divided into chapters including ‘Boosters & Breakfasts’, ‘Light Meals’ and ‘Main Meals’ and the majority are accompanied by beautiful photographs. They literally all sounded so good so I really had a hard time narrowing down which ones to test and in the end have so far managed to test 6 recipes (with more made outside of the testing and more to come!). Since I did test so many I’m keeping the information about the recipes shorter so that I don’t have a novel on my hands!

Tested Recipes:

Bacon & Spinach Frittata

Avocado Antioxidant Fruit Blend

Green Energizer

Chunky Minestrone Soup

Breakfast Wake-up Bars

Sicilian Quinoa Bowl

You can imagine my husband’s delight when I told him that according to the book bacon is good so the first recipe to be put to the test was the Bacon & Spinach Frittata. We love frittatas anyway and this looked and sounded so good. It was really easy to make and absolutely delicious and the perfect weekend brunch. I can’t wait to make this again!

Next up and I moved onto the “Boosters” section and tried the Avocado Antioxidant Fruit Blend. With mango, strawberries, avocado and pomegranate juice in it I knew it was going to be good and it was! Super easy to make because you just pop everything into a blender, blitz then enjoy! Even Wee One loved this breakfast smoothie.

Following hot on the heels of the Avocado Antioxidant Booster I was excited to try the Green Energizer the next day. I was a little more dubious about this one since it had cucumber and spinach in it but the worry instantly passed with the first sip because it too was fabulous! Again you just put everything in the blender so super easy to make and I felt good having it!

Recipe number 4 to be tested was the Chunky Minestrone Soup for a lovely healthy lunch on a cold day. Again easy to make (just lots of chopping of vegetables and some stirring) however I did have to make a few adjustments. I had to double the quantity of stock to make it a soup (and to look like the picture!) and I also added 1 tablespoon of tomato puree, some dried herbs and a touch of chilli because it was a little on the bland side if I’m being honest! However by the time that was done it was perfect and I loved it! (Scott enjoyed it as well but not quite as much as me.) My quantity definitely served more than 4 so we were able to enjoy it for a few days for a really hearty, nutritional and delicious lunch.

I was enjoying cooking from this book so much that on the same day that we had the last two recipes I also made the Breakfast Wake-up Bars. Unfortunately these weren’t quite such a success as all of the previous recipes. The paste you make was so thick so it was really hard to mix everything together. In the end I had to use my hands. The finished result was as I suspected really dry, to the point that some of the bars just deteriorated into a pile of granola when I tried to cut them! Still the taste was good so I would make them again but perhaps would try adding some apple juice or something else to make them not so dry and I wouldn’t include so many goji berries as the ones on top burnt. Mine definitely did not resemble the ones in the photograph although they still tasted good!

The final recipe to be tested was the Sicilian Quinoa Bowl which I made for lunch. Made with tomatoes, celery, olives, roasted peppers, red onion and a herb-packed dressing I was super excited to give it a go. It was straightforward to make – just a bit of chopping of the vegetables and the cooking of the quinoa. The dressing is made in a food processor so very easy. The final result was delicious…. And I mean DELICIOUS, however there was too much stock in the quinoa so it didn’t absorb enough of it… In the end between the soggy quinoa and the amount of dressing it was definitely what I would call sloppy but the flavour was fantastic. I will definitely make this again although I will cut back the amount of stock v quinoa!

As well as the above “tested” recipes I have also made the Zucchini & Chocolate Brownies (Very nice and not as dense as I was expecting – a lovely treat that wasn’t too sweet) and I am making the Roasted Butternut Squash & Ginger Soup with Hemp Pesto for lunch today.

As well as all of the recipes I have tested or made I have also bookmarked the following recipes and can’t wait to try them out….

Indian-spiced Onion Hummus

Indonesian Chicken with Buckwheat Noodles

Roasted Butternut Squash & Ginger Soup with Hemp Pesto

Lebanese Fattoush Salad with Sumac-roasted Chicken

Spiced Chicken Patties with Mango & Cilantro Salsa

Spinach, Walnut & Roasted Pear Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Mixed Seed Crackers

Vietnamese Turkey in Lettuce Wraps

Pomegranate-glazed Lamb with Herbed Couscous

Sensational Spaghetti & Ragu Sauce

Chilli-glazed Salmon with Cucumber & Lime Salad

Quinoa & Feta Burgers with Tomato Relish

Specialty Ingredients? Yes – lots! For this book a trip to my local health food store was definitely in order but I really enjoyed buying the new ingredients and felt quite virtuous in doing so!! Some of the things I had to buy included Shelled Hempseeds, Almond Butter, Nutritional Yeast Flakes, Xylitol and a few more items. Everything else I pretty much had or was able to pick up from my local supermarkets. It’s not cheap but worth it for me.

Learn anything new? I was reassured to know that we already eat all of the main foods she suggests and therefore have a very balanced healthy diet. Obviously we tried some new recipes with new ingredients which I loved and I will definitely continue to make and use those ingredients.

The recipes are really easy to follow and the majority of them are accompanied by beautiful photographs. I did have an issue with a few recipes but they were easily fixable so definitely not what I would consider to be a fail.

There is so much important, useful information in this book for anyone wanting to adopt a healthier diet. I know this is targeted at couples wanting to get pregnant but really to me what that is saying is to get pregnant you want to be as healthy as you can be so ultimately this is just a really fantastic book for ensuring you get all of the vitamins, minerals and nutrients you need for a healthy body. It’s definitely not a diet book as calorie counting is not a part of this but it is full of amazing recipes that I loved and want to make over and over again! I almost wish the book had a different title as I really do think it would appeal to many people who would otherwise be put off by the name, however whether you are thinking about starting a family, adding more to your family or even just want to eat that little bit healthier then this book is for you! It has so many fantastic recipes that will leave you feeling in tip-top shape and I love it!

Eat Yourself Pregnant by Zita West absolutely gets the Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops stamp of approval!

*Eat Yourself Pregnant by Zita West is available to buy from Amazon.com and other good book retailers.

**All opinions expressed for the purpose of this review are my own and have not been influenced by anyone else.

Cookbook Review ~ Third Thursday Community Potluck Cookbook by Nancy Vienneau

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 13:00:00 +0000

The second Southern Cookbook to be added to my collection, Third Thursday Community Potluck Cookbook by Nancy Vienneau is a treasure of recipes and stories that celebrate local, seasonal food with family and friends.

What started off as a couple of friends wanting to get together once a month to share good food and company turned into a hugely successful monthly gathering and a cookbook to boot! The book features just over 150 recipes (taken from their monthly potlucks) and the chapters are divided into months which I know I have said before but I personally love! There are quite a lot of photographs throughout the book however a lot of them are for ingredients rather than the recipes which is worth noting. The theme is potluck but this is no ordinary potluck….Instead it is a group of friends getting together to celebrate the local bounty with new and innovative dishes. What each guest brings is a total surprise as there is no RSVP, no assigned dishes and absolutely no rules!

Quite honestly I didn’t even know where to start with this book because I bookmarked SO many recipes (the book was literally a sea of yellow post-it notes!!), however I finally managed to narrow things down and in the end I tested 4 recipes.

Tested Recipes:

Silky Butternut Squash Bisque

Fresh Dill-Feta Quick Bread

Cara Cara Cashew Chicken

Italian Meatballs in Hearty Italian Tomato Sauce

The first recipe to be put to the test was the Silky Butternut Squash Bisque since it looked delicious and I love Butternut Soup. The recipe was straightforward and I really liked the idea of roasting the vegetables first which added another level of flavour. I tasted the soup after each stage (and each new addition of the final ingredients) and I’ll be honest, for me it tasted best before the Greek Yogurt and Vanilla was added. I was definitely hesitant about the vanilla and in all honesty I wouldn’t do it again. It was a nice soup, definitely a bit different from any type of squash soup I have made before but I didn’t love it. It’s unlikely that I would make it again.

To accompany the soup I couldn’t resist trying the Fresh Dill-Feta Quick Bread. The recipe was once again very straightforward and definitely quick to make, however after that it all went downhill. After the suggested 25 minutes the bread was nowhere near ready so I put it back in. Eventually after it had an additional 15 minutes I thought it seemed ready so took it but when I attempted to get the bread out of the tin I had a total disaster. The top part fell off in chunks and the middle (which was firmly stuck in the pan despite me following the instructions to oil it) was still uncooked. Needless to say at this point I was less than impressed. I tried to piece it all together then returned it to the oven for a further 12 minutes… By the time it came out it was finally cooked (just) but it was not a nice loaf and unfortunately even the taste couldn’t save it (since I wouldn’t have minded eating it in chunks if need be!). It was too salty and just not good. I was so disappointed as I hate when recipes go that wrong and more so hate wasting ingredients which is exactly what happened here as this bread went in the bin…. Major recipe fail.

Determined not to be discouraged I moved on to recipe number 3 which was the Cara Cara Chicken which is their version of Orange Cashew Chicken. I’ll admit right away that unfortunately I had to make do with my normal marmalade since I had no Cara Cara Oranges to make the marmalade suggested for this recipe, but I hoped it wouldn’t matter and it didn’t. I had to half the recipe again as it was to serve 8-10, however it turned out there wasn’t nearly enough sauce and definitely nothing like in the picture so I wished I had kept that to the normal quantities. Despite that though we all enjoyed it (although me more than hubby) and I would make it again but with more sauce.

Considering this book wasn’t turning out quite as I planned I went for a safe option for my next recipe to be tested and chose the Italian Meatballs in Hearty Italian Tomato Sauce. Since we all love Meatballs and Spaghetti I hoped I couldn’t go wrong with this recipe, especially because it sounded delicious. The meatballs were easy to make and came together really well so I was happy with that although was a little worried about them being “dense” from the over-mixing suggested. The sauce was also straightforward but again I had a doubt or two. In the end the things I was worried about happened… The sauce was really bitter (which I put down to too much tomato paste) so to ‘save’ it I had to add sugar to the sauce and quite a bit of water, and the meatballs were really tasty but way too dense and solid. If I was to make this again I would use the meatball recipe but mix it far less and as for the tomato sauce, honestly I would give it a miss. For that reason this recipe was unfortunately also a fail….

As I mentioned above I literally bookmarked this entire book so as well as the above tested recipes I also bookmarked the following:

Plumgood Roast Chicken

Smoked Gouda & Spring Pea Risotto

Italian Cheese Dumplings with 3-Herb and Arugula Pesto Sauce

Tomato & Goats Cheese Tart with Olive Oil Crust

Zesty Gazpacho with Shrimp

Honeycrust Fried Chicken Tenders

Blueberry-Peach Coffee Cake

Buttermilk Peach Ice Cream with Salted Caramel Sauce

Bourbon Pecan Bars

Roasted Fig, Prosciutto and Gorgonzola Pizza

Brown Butter Honey Cake

Fried Green Tomatoes with Bacon-Horseradish Cream Sauce

Jessi’s German Pretzels with Spicy Old-World Mustard

Rich & Garlicky Roast Round of Beef with Horseradish Mousse

Not Your 70’s Green Bean Casserole

Spicy Kale Chips

Sweet Potato Quesadillas with Lime Zest Crema

Santa Fe Pork Stew

Flourless Chocolate Cayenne Cake with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

Kale Caesar

Cathey’s Euphoric Raspberry Mojitos

Crab Macaroni and Cheese

Blanched Chilled Asparagus with Green Goddess Aioli

I really, REALLY wanted to love this book. The recipes sounded so good and the photographs included were beautiful. I am a huge fan of using local, seasonal produce so it really did appeal to me. That being said there were some definite lows to this book…. Realistically this is a book for entertaining as the serving sizes are so big. For the majority of recipes I tested I had to half the quantities and even then had lots. However for entertaining it would work. The photographs that were included were beautiful but they were definitely limited which again is a not great in my opinion… On the positive though it really does focus on local and seasonal ingredients and they have come up with some great variations of classic recipes such as Kale Caesar Salad.

Learn anything new? Honestly no… well perhaps to keep the vanilla out of my soup! It didn’t work – well not for me anyway.

Specialty Ingredients? There were definitely a few ingredients that aren’t perhaps that easy to find as they are very specific to the area the author lives in which is fantastic for them, but less so for readers/ cooks in other areas.

This book really stumped me…. I expected it to be amazing and for me to be cooking from it regularly. On paper it had everything: seasonal, local ingredients, beautiful recipes and ones that served many people which is what you need for entertaining. Unfortunately though the recipes fell far from the mark and were a real disappointment. I want to say I will try more as you can see from above how many I bookmarked but there is only so many fails you can take and that is really off-putting. As much as I hate to say it with three recipe fails out of four, Third Thursday Community Potluck Cookbook does not get the Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops Stamp of Approval…..

Third Thursday Community Potluck Cookbook by Nancy Vienneau is available to buy from Amazon.com and other good book retailers.

*All opinions expressed for the purpose of this review are my own and have not been influenced by anyone else.

**If you have this book and have some recipes that you love please let me know.

Christmas Shopping with Ten Thousand Villages

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 05:05:00 +0000

Unless you are one of the super organised, chances are you, like me, are trying to get organised for Christmas! I still can’t believe that we’re already in December and the official countdown to Christmas has well and truly begun, but it has!

I’m always on the lookout for something different for presents and so I was delighted when I was asked if I would review some food products from Ten Thousand Villages. Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit organisation and is the oldest and largest Fair Trade organization in North America. The website is packed full of beautiful artisan gifts, home décor, jewellery, stationery and of course my favourite - food products. But it’s not only an online store, Ten Thousand Villages Canada has many shops across the country. What really makes it stand out however, is the fact that the mission behind Ten Thousand Villages is “to create opportunities for artisans in developing countries to earn income by bringing their products and stories to our markets through long-term, fair-trading relationships”.

The products I was sent included a bottle of Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Palestine, a bag of Za’tar spice mix and a beautiful square serving plate which could be used for multiple purposes. Both the Olive Oil and the Za’tar came from a company called Zatoun which is a volunteer-run organisation that provides marketing aid to olive farmers in Palestine.

Photographs courtesy of Ten Thousand Villages

I thought it was only right to taste the products at their best and therefore most basic so I simply poured some of the vibrant yellow oil onto the plate and sprinkled over some Za’tar. I then simply dipped some fresh bread into it for a delicious Middle Eastern inspired treat! The olive oil was fruity and very full flavoured. This Cold Pressed oil is definitely of exceptional quality and for that reason is best used for drizzling and finishing dishes with because if you cook with it the heat alters the flavour of the oil and you destroy the wonderful taste (use a basic olive oil for cooking with!). Za’tar is a blend of sesame seeds, thyme, sumac and sea salt and was also really lovely. I’ve bought Za’tar before and used it several times but this version was a little different as the prevailing flavour was the thyme so it was very fragrant but incredibly delicious. I can’t wait to try it with some chicken or lamb or even in soup or on a Middle Eastern inspired pizza! There are lots of options for the beautifully fragrant spice but the combination of the Za’tar and the olive oil is wonderful and would definitely make a great gift.

As well as the wonderful food products I also received a beautiful Christmas card which was by far one of the nicest cards I have seen in a long time. Unbelievably it was handmade by artisans in India who are deaf, blind or physically disabled….. It was truly amazing.

The gifts I received from Ten Thousand Villages were really wonderful and I love them! I would absolutely recommend them to anyone looking for something a bit different as a gift for someone special or even as a treat to yourself!

For more information on Ten Thousand Villages you can visit their website here, and remember you still have time to order someone special something extra special and support fair trade at the same time!

*All opinions expressed for the purpose of this review are my own and have not been influenced by anyone else.

Cookbook Review ~ The Loving Kitchen by LeAnn Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 00:16:00 +0000

Out of all of my hundreds and hundreds of cookbooks that I own, I am ashamed to say that I don’t have any Southern American cookbooks on my shelves! I know, I am embarrassed but I was delighted therefore when I was offered the chance to review The Loving Kitchen by LeAnn Rice so I could finally try out some good old Southern comfort food!

The Loving Kitchen is described as “a collection of comforting recipes straight from the kitchen of popular food blogger LeAnn Rice”, and I have to say it didn’t take me long to agree that this book is full of comfort food recipes perfect for sharing with your loved ones. The chapters are divided into courses including Morning Fare, Bountiful Breads, Soup and Sandwiches, Entrees and Desserts (plus a few others) and with more than 130 recipes I had plenty to choose from. In the end I managed to try out 4 recipes.

Tested Recipes:

Pasta in Creamy Savory Pumpkin Sauce

Lasagna Pinwheels

Cottage Herb Bread

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

The first recipe to be put to the test was the Pasta in Creamy Savory Pumpkin Sauce. I was a little dubious as it did sound pretty heavy/ insanely rich(!) with the amount of butter, cream and parmesan but both hubby & Wee One love creamy sauces and it was Autumn so I thought it worth definitely worth a go, especially as it was completely different from anything I would generally make. The recipe was straightforward to follow and didn’t take long to make. The only downside was the ingredients were listed on one page with the instructions on the following so I had to keep switching back but that is me being super fussy! The final result was that the meal was enjoyable. Hubby liked it more than me but that’s just because I found it very rich. Since there was so much sauce left over I made some fresh pasta the following night then added some sauce along with some cooking water from the pasta and I have to admit I enjoyed it even more than the first night. There was SO much sauce though that I had to freeze what was left as it was just too much but it makes for an easy mid-week meal in the near future! If you are a fan of rich, creamy pasta you will enjoy this.

The next recipe to be put to the test was the Lasagna Pinwheels. We all love Lasagna and it looked and sounded delicious so it had to be tried. Again the ingredients and instructions were over two pages which was a bit of a pain but I survived! Anyone that has made Lasagne before knows that this is a labour of love and this was no exception although once all of the different components were made it was very straightforward and I even managed to rope Wee One into helping which he loved. The final dish was delicious and worth every moment of labour! My only slight criticism was that I honestly didn’t think that the dish needed the chicken through the sauce so I would definitely miss it out next time and keep this as a delicious vegetarian meal.

Recipe number 3 to be put to the test was the Cottage Herb Bread because it just sounded so delicious (there is no accompanying photograph for this one). Made with Cottage Cheese and flavoured with dill and onion there was no way I couldn’t give it a try, especially since one of hubby’s favourite breads ever is a Dill & Onion Bread from our local Famers Market. Admittedly it was a very different recipe from any I have used to make bread in the past but it was so worth it. When I first took it out of the oven I was nervous as it hadn’t risen as much as I expected and it was a really dark brown, however as soon as I cut that first slice I knew it was all going to be ok, and it was….Better than ok, it was amazing and seriously gave our usual Dill & Onion Bread a run for its money! Hubby LOVED it so I know this recipe is going to be a firm favourite in our house and will be made a lot. By mistake I used Dill Weed (dried dill) instead of the dill seed and I have to say I’ll be making it with Dill Weed from now on as it was amazing.

Although I had planned to try a few more recipes the last one that I tested was the Pumpkin Spice Pancakes since I had leftover Pumpkin from the Pumpkin Pasta. Unfortunately this was a recipe fail which I hate but it just didn’t pass our family taste test. To start with the batter was far too thick – so much so I could barely get it off the ladle(!) so I had to add extra buttermilk to thin it a little. Then when it came to eating them, although the flavour was fantastic the texture wasn’t as it was gummy. I have made Pumpkin Pancakes in the past and they were great so unfortunately I won’t be using this recipe again.

Despite the last recipe being a fail we thoroughly enjoyed the other 3 recipes and I do plan to try out more recipes that I have bookmarked including: (Recipes with a * are top of the list)

Baked Crab Dip

Italian Stuffed Mushrooms

Hot Sausage & Spinach Dip

Caprese Poppers

Chicken and Harvest Vegetable Soup

Butternut Squash Bisque

Crab and Corn Chowder

Granddaddy’s Spicy Stew Meat

Sunday Pork Roast

Crispy Southern Fried Chicken

Sea Bass with Berry-Mango Salsa

Lemon Herb-Crusted Fish Fillets

Fiesta Noodle Bake

Sausage and Pepper Linguine*

Poblano Popper Stuffed Portobellos

Green Bean Bundles

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Pie*

Cinnamon Spice Donut Muffins*

Key Lime Pie*

Chocolate Mousse

Pumpkin Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

So out of the 4 recipes I tested 2 I can’t wait to make again, 1 I enjoyed and will probably make again but wouldn’t be high priority and the last I won’t make again unfortunately. Still that’s pretty good if you ask me, especially when there are so many other recipes I’m looking forward to trying.

As it is a US cookbook measurements are in Cups and Ounces. Included in the book are some really quick and easy recipes for last minute entertaining using pre-bought ingredients that she just adds to (such as the Herbed Dinner Rolls which uses frozen, un-risen dough rolls). The majority of the book however is recipes that you make from scratch and cover every aspect of entertaining for family and friends in a casual and very relaxed manner. There are no overly complicated recipes – it’s straightforward, Southern-style family food.

Specialty Ingredients? There were a few things I saw that I couldn’t easily obtain (for example Key Lime Juice) but nothing really out of the ordinary and I’m sure all could be substituted with something else that I could easily get.

Learn anything new? Not really, although as I said before it was my first “Southern” Cookbook so I guess that’s a first and something new!

The book really is crammed full of honest good old Southern charm and really good recipes for comfort food. The downsides I found to the book were there aren’t that many photographs and the ones that do have photos aren’t really very good quality. As well as that a lot of the recipes serve large numbers which is great for when you are entertaining but for us for everyday eating it was just too much. And there is the issue of the ingredients being on one side and the instructions on the other which happened several times, but that is me being ultra fussy! Other than that though, it really is a great cookbook which I would certainly recommend if you want some good, simple and delicious family food!

The Loving Kitchen by LeAnn Rice gets the Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops Stamp of Approval.

*The Loving Kitchen by LeAnn Rice is available to buy from Amazon.com and other good book stores.

**All opinions expressed for the purpose of this review are my own and have not been influenced by anyone else.

Pomegranate & Granola Yogurt Crunch

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 18:19:00 +0000

I seriously debated on what to call this…. Parfait, Pots and Crunch were all up there and to be honest I’m not sure if ‘Crunch’ is the right choice, however what I can assure you is that this is absolutely delicious and the perfect way to start your day!

I love eating this for breakfast and so I decided it was only fair to share it with you, especially since not only does it taste fantastic and is healthy but it looks so pretty that you could easily serve it to friends or family coming over for brunch. I use my own homemade Granola (click for the recipe) but you could easily use your favourite Granola instead – be it homemade or bought! It is so easy to make and the fruit can be changed throughout the year to whatever is in season, but I’ll be honest Pomegranate is my favourite!

Serves 1 generous portion – or enough for Wee One & I to share! (Easily doubled)

175g/ ¾ cup Fat Free Plain Greek Yogurt

1 tbsp honey (or to taste)

3 tbsp Granola

½ fresh pomegranate

Mix together the yogurt and honey and stir well before spooning half of it into the bottom of a glass bowl (or alternatively you could use glasses – either pretty tumblers or wine glasses). Sprinkle over 1 tablespoon of Granola and ½ of the pomegranate then repeat with the layering, finishing with the pomegranate.

(Approximately 340 calories per portion however, that will depend on the Granola and Yogurt that you use.)

Meal Planning Mondays Nov. 10th ~ 16th

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 13:00:00 +0000

A short post this week but I am delighted that I have finally finished reviewing another cookbook (so look out for my review of The Loving Kitchen later in the week!). This week therefore I have moved on to another book - The Third Thursday Community Potluck Cookbook - another Southern cookbook packed with recipes that I can't wait to try, so once again 'Meal Planning Mondays' meets 'Cooking the Books'! Great for us (with so many new recipes to try out) but not so great for you as there aren't too many links available for this week's menu. That combined with the fact that we are out this weekend for meals (yay!) means this week is a little on the short side for Meal Planning Monday so I'm going to share some of the things I will be making throughout the week instead.

I hope you all have a great week with family, friends and of course good food!!

Bacon & Broccoli Pasta

Italian Wedding Soup

Silky Butternut Squash Bisque

Fresh Dill-Feta Quick Bread

Cara Cara Cashew Chicken

Italian Meatballs in Hearty Italian Sauce

Chocolate Ice Cream

Meal Planning Mondays & Cooking the Books!

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:57:00 +0000

I have been so quiet lately as not only have I been super busy but I was also lucky enough to have my Mum, Sister and amazing nephew/ God Son stay with us for the last 3 weeks! It was so much fun and meant there was no time for blogging even though I was still planning my meals like normal and cooking up a storm (nothing like cooking for family - it is by far my favourite thing)! Now I have a bit more time so Meal Planning Mondays are back, however for the next few weeks I am going to be focusing on some book reviews that are long overdue! I love reviewing cookbooks and putting recipes to the test, however it doesn't make for very exciting Meal Plans for you since there are no or minimal links for recipes, so for the next few weeks forgive me and instead I hope you look forward to reading the reviews! Once I am caught up with the three books I am currently reviewing I'll be back with more recipe links, hopefully some new recipes as well as even more new and exciting book reviews!

So since we are already on Wednesday of this week rather than posting my usual Meal Planning Mondays Menu, here is a list of some of the things I will be making and eating this week (links included where possible):

Pasta in Creamy Savory Pumpkin Sauce

Curried Squash, Lentil & Coconut Soup

Lasagna Pinwheels

Halloween Cake Pops (hopefully will have a pic to share!)

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

Cottage Herb Bread

French Onion Soup

Key Lime Pie

So there you have it! Next week will be much the same with recipes coming from the books I am reviewing. If you are interested to see what books I am cooking from here they are...

Have a great week folks x

Challenge Update!

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 16:26:00 +0000

Well I am happy to report that so far so good! The Glad Fresh Food Challenge has really opened my eyes to how much food I would usually waste and so I have spent the last week really paying attention to what’s in my fridge and pantry and coming up with new innovative ideas of how to prevent wasting my food.

One thing I have to say is that when it comes to saving food, the freezer is your absolute best friend and I don’t know where I would be without one! This past week my freezer has seen the addition of some finely chopped herbs (which I put into little bags and labelled ready for next time I need them) and bread crumbs. I have to admit that when it comes to bread it was high on my list of items being wasted, admittedly not always...but quite a lot. This week I have just taken the time to get out my food processor and whizz up the left over dried out pieces into breadcrumbs and put them into bags and into the freezer. Never again will I buy breadcrumbs….I have plenty right at my fingertips waiting to be used!

Another great use for your freezer is for meat and fish. I am lucky to have a large chest freezer in our garage so it works best for us to buy meat in bulk (it’s cheaper that way). The key to making this work however, is to break things down into portions. Separate chicken breasts, pork chops and steaks into individual portions before you freeze them (in either freezer bags or try Glad Press & Seal for extra protection) and weigh items such as mince, ground beef or chicken thighs into 1lb portions and freeze in bags that are clearly marked with the contents, weight and date. I do this every time I buy meat and it means I waste nothing. If you want to be extra organised (and a bit of a geek like me!) stick a white board on the wall above your freezer and keep track of everything you put in and take out of the freezer so you always know exactly what you have! It works wonders and I love it!

So there you go, week 1 of the #GladFreshFoodChallenge is complete and so far I am on track!

How would you manage with this challenge? If you waste food why not try it, you will be surprised at how much you usually throw away and aware of how much money you can save if you stop!

Meal Planning Mondays Oct. 6th ~ 12th

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 16:10:00 +0000

Last week I was commenting on how Autumn was definitely here and so I guess it was only a matter of time before somebody got the first cold of the season! I was worried about it being Wee One with him being back at preschool and going to swimming and hockey lessons, but it turns out I am the first victim. Worse still it pretty much appeared out of nowhere and has knocked me for six! Anyway the good news is it's only a cold so I'm sure it will be gone in a couple of days!

This week is SUPER exciting because my Mum, Sister and beautiful nephew are coming to visit! Yay! We are so excited to see them (another reason why I need to get over this cold quickly!!) and are on full-on countdown! But we have a few days before their arrival and so I want to make the most of using up the food we have in the fridge. The Glad Fresh Food Challenge is going well and is really making me conscious of what I can save but I'll write more about that on Wednesday.

So what's on the menu this week? Well it seems like quite a lot of pasta! Saturday night's Cook Club was so much fun and everything worked out well. The theme was 70s food and it was just so much fun. The main course was fondue so I am using the leftover cheese and making a delicious Mac & Cheese for dinner tonight. Tomorrow is leftovers as we have lots! Still it makes for an easy meal so no complaints there. Wednesday night and I couldn't resist a delicious Middle Eastern Bowl which was featured in a supermarket magazine from the Summer. I'll admit it's not very Autumnal but I have all of the ingredients and it looks great. Thursday's meal is my classic Fresh Tomato Pasta - my standard recipe for family arriving after a long journey! It's delicious but not too heavy and we all love it. Friday is our standard hockey night so I am hoping to make something in the Slow Cooker but I'm still undecided as to what at this moment but I'll update it as soon as I have decided. For Saturday I couldn't resist my homemade BBQ'd Pizza and then Sunday we will be with family celebrating Thanksgiving!

So there you have it! Have a great week everyone with family, friends and of course, lots of good food! x

Monday October 6th ~ 12th

Monday - Macaroni & Cheese

Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - Middle Eastern Bowl

Thursday - Fresh Tomato Pasta & Salad

Friday - TBD

Saturday - BBQ'd Pizza

Sunday - Thanksgiving Dinner with Family

How much food do you waste?

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 14:00:00 +0000

As I mentioned in my Meal Planning Monday’s post I am so excited to be taking part in the Glad Fresh Food Challenge (#GladFreshFoodChallenge). My reason for initially signing up for it was because unfortunately as much as I hate it I am just as guilty as the next person of wasting food every week. I try not to but inevitably something always ends up in the bin. Usually it’s leftovers but occasionally fruit and vegetables that have been forgotten about and are past the point of being revived are thrown away as well.

As I said though, I am not alone with this issue. It turns out that the average Canadian household spends $5572 per year on groceries. Unfortunately, on average 13% of that food is thrown out which is the equivalent of $725 worth of food ending up in the garbage every year per family[1]. Worse still however is a recent report from the US that states that 40% of food is wasted every year amounting to a shocking $165 billion a year in waste. Of that total 14% of that waste comes from households throwing away food[2]. And in the UK it is reported that around 15 million tonnes of food is thrown away every year with almost 50% of that coming from UK homes. That is the equivalent of the average household throwing away 6 meals a week![3]

The results are staggering and quite simply unnecessary, so it’s time to stop and make a change. The fact of the matter is that a lot of that food just doesn’t need to be thrown out and so with some careful planning, taking the time for some basic food preparation and having the knowledge of how to use or preserve your food, we can all attempt to cut down on the amount of food we are throwing out every year. If you can do that not only will you prevent so much food from being unnecessarily wasted but at the same time you will also be saving yourself big bucks!

So as of today, October 1^st, I am starting the Glad Fresh Food Challenge. My challenge is to waste NOTHING for 2 weeks….not even a single lettuce leaf. After researching the issue of food waste and finding out just how much of a problem it is, I am genuinely excited to accept this challenge. My hope is to share new ideas, tips and tricks of how to save food and stop it from being thrown in the bin. I’ll update my blog in 1 week with my progress but I will be updating my Facebook page every day so stay with me and see how much food I can actually save in 2 weeks and keep good food from going bad! Even better why not join me?! Let the challenge begin to keep good food from going, stop wasting and start saving!

[1] Information provided by Glad

[2] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041123095923.htm

[3] http://england.lovefoodhatewaste.com/content/how-much-food-wasted-total-across-uk

Cookbook Review ~ The Macaroni's in the Basement by Fran Claro

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 12:30:00 +0000

When I was given the opportunity to review The Macaroni’s in the Basement I couldn't resist. The name alone sold me on this book so I was really excited when it arrived. The book is a collection of stories and recipes from author Fran Claro involving four Italian-American grandmothers who lives in post-WWII Brooklyn revolve around family, church events and of course food.

The book is divided into Seasons and accompanying each reminiscent story is a traditional Italian recipe courtesy of one or more of the Nonne. As you would expect from 4 opinionated, no nonsense Italian Grandmothers (Maddelana, Giuseppina, Concetta and Aniella) there are many disagreements as to whose recipe is the best but it is accompanied by wit and charm that makes you instantly feel right at home with them and more so eager to pull up a chair in their kitchens and fill your plates with their wonderful food.

Within the book there are 66 recipes and out of those I tested 5.

Tested Recipes:

Fig Pizza (From ‘Covering a Fig Tree’)

Chicken Milanese & Salad (From ‘Fire Hydrant Days’)

Sausage and Peppers & Bread Salad (From ‘Hurry Up…. The Bride’s Getting Out of the Car’)

The first recipe to be put to the test was the Fig Pizza. I couldn’t resist this due to my own experience with an Italian Nonna on my last trip to Italy and her generous Bucket of Figs. Additionally figs were perfectly in season at the time so I just had to try it. The recipe doesn’t include a recipe for the dough but rather suggests you use either store-bought or homemade so I instantly set to work making my favourite pizza dough. Since my figs were so large I also reduced the quantity from what was suggested and it was just as well as this pizza would have been laden with them! The pizza was easy to assemble although there was way too much ricotta. Unfortunately there was also too much oil for our liking so the end pizza took longer to cook (in order to get a crisp crust) and was far too oily. That being said, the taste was fantastic so I would definitely make this again with a few modifications. Next time I would half the amount of Ricotta cheese and do without the garlic oil, reserving it instead for after it comes out of the oven and just drizzling a very small amount over. Taste wise though this was a great recipe.

Next up and I couldn’t resist the Chicken Milanese & Salad, since Wee One absolutely loves chicken strips (which is basically what this Chicken Milanese is). I have never baked them before so I loved this idea and dipping the chicken in olive oil rather than traditional egg was a lovely touch and felt very genuinely Italian. They were very easy to prepare although I didn’t sprinkle the chicken with the remaining oil from dipping as I felt there was enough. They took a little bit longer to cook than the recipe suggested (possibly from the lack of oil helping to crisp them up) but other than that everything went well. The Salad that you served them with was very straightforward and full of plenty of delicious flavours and was a great accompaniment to the Chicken Milanese, however one thing I did find strange (and Scott agreed with me) was that it suggested serving the salad on top of the Chicken Milanese….. I didn’t as I prefer it on the side or alternatively with the chicken on top of the salad so that it doesn’t go soggy, but you do as you please! Another win as I will definitely make the chicken like that again. The salad was certainly good but nothing new so really you could serve it with any salad you like.

The final recipes to be put to the test were the first two recipes from the book, Sausage and Peppers and Bread Salad. I love the flavour combination of Sausages and Peppers (who doesn’t?!) so I was really keen to give this a go for a nice mid-week meal. The only problem was I couldn’t get any “Italian green frying peppers” so I opted for yellow and orange bell peppers instead since I seriously dislike green bell peppers. The recipe was fairly straightforward although I did find a couple of the directions a little confusing, (for example it tells you in the ingredients list to cut the (raw) sausages into 1-inch slices and then later in the instructions to pierce the sausage…. I decided to ignore the piercing part since they were already cut!) however I continued on determined to make it work! In the end the dish was really delicious. At first I felt it was missing something and I wasn’t entirely convinced with what it should be served with but with each bite I forgot about it and just enjoyed it on its own! The sausages were really delicious with so much flavour from the wine and our only complaint was that the peppers were far too oily which I had already anticipated, so next time I would half or even quarter the amount of oil used to sauté the peppers. I made the Bread Salad which accompanied the story to go with it although I’m not entirely convinced if that is the intention but it sounded lovely so I thought it would work. The Bread Salad was easy to make and right up my alley and even though Scott doesn’t like fresh tomatoes he was able to work around it to enjoy the delicious tomato-soaked bread. I have to say it really tasted like I was eating a delicious sun-drenched bowl of bruschetta (which makes sense since it is all of the ingredients used to make bruschetta but a lot easier to eat!). This was another recipe success and everyone enjoyed it so I will make it again but again with a few of my own modifications.

As well as the recipes I managed to test I have bookmarked the following recipes to try in the future. Those marked * are top of the list!

Friday Night Fish Soup

Porchetta or Roast Pork*

Romano Beans in Sauce

Baked Pork and Beans*

Caponata

Slow-Fried Hot Peppers*

Pasta with Peas and Pancetta

Macaroni and Gravy

Eggs in Purgatory

Ribollita

Beef Paprikash*

Biscotti*

Codfish in Tomato Sauce

Calabrese Calamari

I love how this book is divided up into Seasonal Chapters with every recipe being accompanied by a recipe or two. Some of the stories are about the recipe, others are just lovely tales from days gone by with a seasonal recipe included. One big downside to this book is that there are very few photographs which is always a big disadvantage to me and unfortunately the ones that did accompany the recipes I found to be of not the best quality. My final criticism was that I found some recipes and instructions to be a little vague and confusing and at times missing steps although it didn’t involve anything major where I noticed it.

Specialty Ingredients?

There are a few ingredients that I wasn’t able to get (for example the Green Peppers) however these ingredients can be substituted or I’m sure sourced from a good Italian deli if you have one close to you. Since it is an American book measurements are in cups which I’m not a huge fan of but I didn’t have any problems with the recipes that I tried.

Learn anything new?

Well it was my first time dipping chicken in olive oil (which I would do again) so I guess that is something new, but as far as for techniques and so on, then no.

I’m not going to lie I had a hard time deciding whether this book was getting the Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops Stamp of Approval or not. In all honesty when I asked myself would I buy it myself the answer would be probably not, however, that being said the recipes that I tested I did enjoy. They might need some changes but really at the root of it they are nice recipes that we all enjoyed they just need a few tweaks. On top of that I did enjoy the stories as they instantly transported you to the Nonne’s corner of the world and into their bickering but generous and caring lives.

For the purpose of this review I don’t think I would really count this as a cookbook but rather a collection of loveable stories intertwined with recipes and so for that reason The Macaroni’s in the Basement does get the Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops Stamp of Approval…. Just!

*The Macaroni's in the Basement is now available to buy from Amazon.com and other good book stores.

**All opinions expressed for the purpose of this review are my own and have not been influenced by anyone else.

Meal Planning Mondays Sept. 29th ~ Oct. 5th

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 18:49:00 +0000

Well Autumn/Fall is officially here and with it comes comfort food! I know I mentioned last week that I love the transition from lighter Summery meals to more warming comforting Autumn dishes but I really do! For about 3 days last week it absolutely poured with rain but since we were tucked up nice and warm inside (for the most part!) it was actually really nice to watch. When you have had an amazing Summer there is something very relaxing and enjoyable about watching rain lash against the windows, curled up with a hot cup of tea or even better a big bowl of steaming hot homemade soup. I absolutely love soup so it will start to feature pretty regularly in my meal plans, whether for lunch or dinner, I love how easy it is to make and the variations are endless! It's also great for using ingredients you have in the fridge that otherwise you are unsure what to do with, which brings me to my Meal Plan for this week. I am excited to be taking part in the Glad Fresh Food Challenge which starts on Wednesday October 1st. The challenge is to not waste ANY food at all - nothing, not even a piece of lettuce, for 2 weeks. I'm not going to lie, after just throwing away the remains of our Bread Salad that we had last week I am happy to be accepting this challenge because I really hate to waste food which is something that I know the majority of us do. I'll write more about the challenge on Wednesday and I'll be updating on my Facebook page daily with how I am getting on and will honestly report any food that I need to throw out with the reasons why.... In the meantime though here is this week's meal plan!

Tonight is good old leftovers - my new favourite for Mondays! Tomorrow is once again about using up leftovers but this time I am taking them and transforming then into a new meal. Last night we had Barbecued Pork Chops so I'm going to take the leftover Pork and make my Pork & Udon Noodle Soup. Wednesday (and the start of my challenge) and we have a very busy day so it has to be something quick and easy so I'm making my Leek Carbonara. Thursday isn't so busy so I am going to make Chicken Korma, a favourite in our house. Again I'm using up what I have so that I don't need to buy anything but more so so that I don't waste anything. Friday and it's back to Slow Cooker Friday's and this time I am putting my chilli to the test by making it in the Slow Cooker which I have never done. Here's hoping it goes according to plan but I see no reason why it shouldn't work! Saturday and I'm excited as we are hosting Cook Club. As of now the theme is a surprise but I'll update once it's done. Finally Sunday is our usual undecided meal for now as it really depends on what we decide to do! As for now I'm off to experiment with a new recipe for soup! (I told you soup is going to feature a lot!) I have a beautiful yellow courgette needing used as well as a leek. I could make Nigella's Happiness Soup but I am in the mood for something smooth and creamy... I'll let you know how I get on!

So there you have it! Have a great week everyone with family, friends and of course, lots of good food! x

Monday September 29th ~ Oct. 5th

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Pork & Udon Noodle Soup
Wednesday - ~~Leek Carbonara~~ Tomato & Pea Pasta

Thursday - Chicken Korma with Basmati Rice

Friday - Spaghetti Bolognese

Saturday - Cook Club

Sunday - Barbecue Beef Stew with Fresh Pasta

Meal Planning Mondays Sept. 22nd ~ 28th

noreply@blogger.com (Lyndsey) — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 22:32:00 +0000

Well today is officially the first day of Autumn and it certainly feels like it! After the most amazing send-off to Summer at the weekend (temps of 27C and nothing but clear blue skies) the clouds rolled in yesterday and today it hasn't stopped raining! Still no complaints here (other than I couldn't find ANY of my umbrellas this morning!) as it really has been the most amazing Summer ever. So now I am caught between using up the last of the best Summer ingredients and starting to edge more towards warming Autumnal Soups, Stews and Roasts. I'll be honest I like this time of year and I love the food so I'm looking forward to making the transition.

This week's menu is a mixture of using up what ingredients we have leftover from last week, and a few new recipes that I saw online and couldn't resist! Last night we used the remaining pizza dough and ingredients from Sunday for a lovely quick and easy pizza. I have to admit cooking a pizza on the barbecue really is so amazing and doesn't compare to the oven. We had it 2 nights in a row and I could eat it again tonight - I just love it! Tonight is the first of the new recipes, this one courtesy of Delicious magazine. It's another Vegetarian meal which I am happy about as I am trying to cut down our meat intake a bit. This looks so amazing so I really hope it delivers with taste and is straightforward to make. Wednesday night is another new recipe, this one however from a cook book that I am reviewing. This will most likely be the last recipe I test (for the review anyway) so I should get that review up next week. Thursday is the third and final new recipe of the week and I found this recipe on Pinterest and couldn't resist it! My mouth waters every time I look at it so I can't wait to try it. Friday is now hockey night so it has to be something quick and easy. I'm giving the Slow Cooker a rest this week and making my Spicy Tomato & Mozzarella Gnocchi instead which I will serve with a nice green salad. Although the slow cooker is having a rest on Friday I will be starting my 'Slow Cooker Fridays' link party on my Facebook page so make sure to have a look at that for some new ideas and inspiration and please share your favourite recipes! Saturday and I have been craving a really good, fully loaded Burger so it's on the menu! As it happens as of now with all of the rain forecast for the next week, amazingly they are calling for Sun on Saturday so hopefully it shines and we can enjoy our Burgers outside and don't have to stand in the wind and rain while barbecuing them! Sunday and as usual it's still to be decided but I'm not going to lie, I'm craving a roast of some sort so that might make an appearance!

So there you have it! Have a great week everyone with family, friends and of course, lots of good food! x

Monday September 22nd ~ 28th

Monday - BBQ'd Pizza with Garlic & Thyme Mushrooms

Tuesday - Mint, Pistachio & Courgette Polpette
Wednesday - Sausage & Peppers with Bread Salad & Green Salad (Review)

Thursday - Gyros with Greek Chicken, Tzatiki & Homemade Pita

Friday - Spicy Tomato & Mozzarella Gnocchi with Salad

Saturday - Burgers with Caesar Salad

Sunday - Barbecued Pork Chops with Potato & Leek Gratin & Steamed Broccoli