Seems the April showers are a bit delayed this year, but I really don’t mind. I love the gloomy grey skies, getting to wear big boots and my bright yellow rain jacket, and how fresh all the rain makes the air feel. Plus it definitely helped our garden along: I came back from a week-long family vacation in the Dominican Republic only to discover some giant rhubarb, loads of mint and lemon balm, and some asparagus and garlic sprouting out of the earth!
We have recently been getting into a good stride with meal planning. It’s something we’ve tried off and on for a while but it never really picked up momentum until now. It’s such a game changer, seriously. Even if we don’t follow the plan to a T (cause you know, life happens), it’s still made our lives a heck of a lot easier. I’ve started batch cooking a grain and a pulse/legume/bean/whatever at the beginning of the week, as well as making granola, yogurt, and date energy bites on an as-needed basis. This planning has also streamlined our grocery list and helped to trim our grocery bills and food waste –> double happy dance. It also means my cooking is slowly but steadily improving, and that we are covering a lot of territory in our cookbook collection. Often times we will each grab a couple cookbooks, sit down at the kitchen table, and bookmark a few things we each want that week. This totally prevents a cooking rut: a wide array of spices and a couple different …
Lately I’ve been getting my dose of world news from an unexpected place: the gym. I’ve been trying to get into running, so a couple days a week I find myself running in place staring at a TV (best case: watching the CBC, worse case: watching one of apparently a million poker tours). Throughout the process of piecing together the headlines, sublines, and closed captioning, I’ve become increasingly aware of my minor outbursts while watching the news. And by outbursts, I mean the occasional gasp or very audible “UGH” in disbelief at whatever asinine views or proposals the Trump administration is presenting that day. His plan to better fund the Department of National Defence (aka build the border wall) in his just-released budget means drastic cuts across the board, most significantly to the Environmental Protection Agency. His budget chief said that climate change efforts are a waste of time. A WASTE OF TIME YOU GUYS. The whole thing is so infuriating, and yet I keep moving. I guess the anger pumps my blood faster and propels …
A favourite past time of mine is reading my favourite food blogs and flipping through our ever-expanding library of cookbooks. I love the glossy photos, learning the story of how a recipe came to be, just completely immersing myself in someone else’s kitchen. I love the insight into other people’s everyday lives, even the seemingly mundane details of what’s in their pantry. I imagine how perfect their lives are, how the light falls perfectly into their kitchens; how they just uncorked some spectacular vintage while an incredible meal is simmering away on the stove; and it’s all captured in an effortless yet perfectly styled Instagram photo. At which point I proceed to curse the lack of light in our kitchen and living room, the continuous clutter despite the constant organizing and cleaning, and my inability to take a proper freaking picture (ie my major frustration with photographing this stew). Thankfully I have a partner who knows how to be encouraging, but is also able to calmly tell me to get a grip. I’m teaching myself new skills. Some …
I think as a general rule of life, breakfast on a weekday morning is always rushed. Even if I try to get up a few minutes earlier (a real struggle when it’s so cold and dark) there isn’t time to slowly savour and enjoy the beginning of my day. Winter weekends are a great opportunity to ease into the day gradually, and lately I’ve been really digging the slow pace of it all. I love being able to sit quietly on the couch with my tea, and think about all the possibilities of the day ahead. I’m trying to prioritize a ‘taking it easy’ mindset, since my usual tendency is to schedule large chunks of my weekend (ie meal prepping, cleaning, making bread, working on the blog) so I don’t feel like I’ve ‘wasted’ my free days. The downside to having accomplished so much is that when my weekend is over, I feel as if I’ve worked the whole time. My focus now is on having weekends with more balance so that I feel rested …
Happy Thursday! This hearty winter salad is a pretty great compromise to any healthy resolutions you might have made a couple weeks ago. It’s got your servings of veg covered as well as a bit of bread and cheese (#balance) so you can feel virtuous about starting the new year off right, while not feeling entirely limited to green juices (but if you thrive on those, more power to ya). Particularly in the dark days of winter, I think we could all benefit from a little more colour in our meals on occasion: not only from the wide array of vitamins and minerals, but also to brighten our spirits because we still have a lot of winter ahead of us. Fortunately even winter produce provides an enticing colour spectrum, from red and yellow beets, orange-hued squashes, vividly purple cabbages, deep green brussels sprouts and kale. I think it’s good to find a balance between the bright, energizing foods as well as the simple home-y staples like oatmeal, rice bowls, and good bread. I’ve ramped up …
This has been my go to bread while I have been without a sourdough starter (somehow mine ended up in the cupboard instead of the fridge, RIP). It’s almost entirely whole wheat, but it tastes surprisingly sweet due to a recent addition to my pantry: white whole wheat flour. White whole wheat flour IS 100% whole wheat, so don’t let the name fool you. The whole wheat you’re probably used to seeing in the grocery store is made from red wheat, which has a darker colour and stronger flavour. White whole wheat flour is made from white wheat, which is lighter and much milder. I tried chestnut jam for the first time when I was in France WWOOFing on an organic farm last month. Since they grew their own chestnuts, their confiture de marron was homemade and a staple on the breakfast table each day. I slathered it onto my bread and stirred it into my porridge, so taken by the earthiness and subtle sweetness of this spread. I knew I needed to make it when I got home. …
