Category: recipe

December 7, 2015

Add Spanish Flair to Your Holiday Cooking with Persimon®

The holidays are all about family, fun and food. It is also the perfect time to switch up your regular holiday meal time favourites to enjoy the tastes of another culture. What better way to try something new then by adding some Spanish flair to your holiday table this year with Persimon® persimmons, a fruit that is grown in the Ribera del Xuquer Valley near Valencia, Spain.

The versatile Persimon® , given this name to distinguish it from other persimmons because of its characteristics which includes that it is ready to eat as soon as you buy it – no waiting for it to ripen. I thought it looked similar in appearance to a bell pepper or even a tomato but it has the sweet taste of a mango. They are completely seedless, pitless and do not require peeling (although some people may prefer to peel the skin similar to an apple).

This unique fruit is perfect to eat on cereal, yogurt, ice cream (my personal favourite!!) or even on a salad. It gives a Spanish flair to the every day, something I think we can all appreciate during the long, cold months when the regular routine becomes bland and boring. The Persimon® Says website is full of mouth-watering recipes for you to try (many of the ingredients you will find in your home so don’t worry about not having them on hand!).

Our family loves their bread (must be the Italian in us, we always have to have a loaf of bread at a meal or as a snack) so we couldn’t wait to try the crostini with Persimon® and manchego cheese. The recipe itself was incredibly simple needing only olive oil, spinach, baguette, Persimon® and manchego cheese. Instead of a wine reduction we drizzled the recommended apricot jam on top. It was a wonderful explosion of flavour when you bit in the crostini. You had the sweet with the taste of spinach and old cheese with the crusty bread. It was definitely a taste I have never experienced before but it was well worth it. The flavours combined to make an appetizer that we gobbled up right away. The crostini had such an amazing flavour to it that we just couldn’t resist!

Make sure you head into your local Food Basics or Sobeys to pick up a case of Persimon® persimmons before it is too late – they are only around until mid-January. You can also follow Persimon® Says on Twitter to keep up to date with news, recipes and more.

How do you enjoy your Persimon® persimmons during the holiday baking season?

September 22, 2015

Healthy Southwest Macaroni and Cheese #GetNudged

Fall is the perfect time of year to enjoy a nice, warm bowl of macaroni and cheese. I know my two boys are HUGE fans of all that cheesy goodness. As a family we like to add a little bit of variety to our bowl of macaroni and cheese (keeps meal time exciting!).

The Nudge macaroni and cheese product line has quickly become a favourite in our home. The four different types of macaroni and cheese are all:

made with organic ingredients
made with grass-fed dairy
peanut free
non GMO ingredients
no artificial colours, preservatives or flavours
a source of Omega 3 fatty acids (from the grass-fed dairy and flax pasta)

Awesome right?

To spice it up a little, try a spin on one of my favourite recipes, Southwest macaroni and cheese.

Ingredients

one box of Nudge macaroni and cheese
2 tbsp margarine or butter
5 tbsp of milk
1 tbsp of coconut oil
one green pepper
one cup of black beans (drained and washed)
one cup of diced tomatoes (I like to use fresh but you can also used canned)
three garlic cloves

Directions

Prepare the box of Nudge macaroni and cheese as directed and set aside.

In a frying pan, warm up the coconut oil and add in the green peppers and garlic gloves. Allow them to cook until softened and golden.

Add in the black beans and cook for one to two minutes.

Add in the cup of diced tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes are softened. On a medium setting on our stove this took just under five minutes. You can use salt or pepper if desired to taste.

Mix in the tomatoes, black beans and green peppers with the macaroni and cheese.

Enjoy your southwest macaroni and cheese! Do you have a favourite macaroni and cheese recipe?

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product free of charge. All opinions expressed are my own.

September 16, 2015

Five Ingredient No Bake Granola Bars

I love simple, good for you recipes. When it comes to crunch time, I need something I can make in a big batch, quickly and with little mess. Granola bars fit these requirements to the T but I don’t want granola that is full of extra ingredients. I want something natural and as few ingredients as possible.

These simple to prepare and even simpler to make no bake granola bars are my favourite. I can make these quickly on a Sunday night and have a weeks worth of granola bars ready for us to enjoy on the run or as a healthy snack before dinner. They have quickly become an easy and satisfying snack to consume on the run to work, between practices or even as a sweet tooth craving at night.

Ingredients:

four cups of oatmeal
1 and 1/2 cup of peanut butter
3/4 cup of honey
3 boxes of raisins
1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Directions

Cover a rectangular pain in parchment paper and set aside.

Combine all the ingredients into one bowl. Mix the ingredients together well and until all the dry ingredients are ‘wet’ and sticking together.

Transfer the mixed ingredients into the rectangular container on top of the parchment paper (this will help with easy removal of the granola afterwards). Push down to ensure the ingredients bind together well.

Put the container in the fridge and allow it to remain in there for at least two hours.

When you are ready to eat the granola, cut yourself out a piece and enjoy!

This granola recipe stayed well in our fridge for the entire week.

September 11, 2015

Make Meal Time Easy and Healthy With Nudge Foods Vegetable Mac N Cheese #GetNudged

Simple Weeknight Gluten Free Mac N Cheese with Nudge Foods

It is hard to resist the creamy, satisfying and just overall goodness of macaroni and cheese. It is a meal that all family members love but making it from scratch can be difficult during the busy school week, we just don’t have time for that. What I am not okay with is unhealthy ingredients that make you cringe not to mention that you can’t even say the names on some of the boxed products.

So how do you find a simple boxed macaroni and cheese that helps you eat better? Enter Nudge Foods. The Nudge team set out to create a product that not only tasted great but also be a product that you would be confident to bring into your home.

The result: four macaroni and cheese products that are:

made with organic ingredients
made with grass-fed dairy
peanut free
non GMO ingredients
no artificial colours, preservatives or flavours
a source of Omega 3 fatty acids (from the grass-fed dairy and flax pasta)

My family and I were quite impressed with the creamy taste of the macaroni and cheese, good doesn’t have to taste yucky!. The gluten free shells were fantastic and delicious, sometimes gluten free pasta can be quite textured and almost mushy tasting but the shells maintained their shape and texture with a great taste.

While the Nudge Macaroni and Cheese variety is perfect on its own, why not shake it up a little bit and add in vegetables to not only fill you up faster but add even more nutrient value to your meal.

Ingredients

one box of Nudge Foods Gluten Free White Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese
margarine or butter (2 tbsp)
milk (5 tbsp)
one zucchini and one carrot (other great vegetable combos are: spinach and red pepper, mushrooms and green beans)
one tbsp of coconut oil
ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Prepare the macaroni and cheese as directed on the box.

While the macaroni is cooking, cut up your carrots and zucchini. I like to quarter my zucchini and shred my carrots. In a separate pan, add the coconut oil, zucchini and carrots and cook until tender. Add the black pepper as desired.

Once the macaroni is fully cooked, drain the pasta and mix in the butter/margarine and milk. Add the cooked vegetable mixture to the macaroni and cheese and mix.

Serve and enjoy!

Make sure you follow Nudge Foods on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date. Watch out for another simple, week night recipe using Nudge Foods that your children will love.

Watch out next week for a new recipe using my kids favourite the elbow macaroni and cheese!

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product free of charge. All opinions expressed are my own.

August 14, 2015

Strawberry Oatmeal Cups

As part of my committment to healthy living and cleaner eating, one of the first areas I needed to clean up was my breakfast. I used to always opt for quick and easy which sometimes meant I was not choosing the healthiest options that I could have. So I wanted to combine my favourite ingredients, oatmeal and strawberries, to make a simple, clean and easy to eat on the go breakfast item.

These easy to prepare oatmeal cups were a huge hit not only in my house but also at work. They are light on the stomach (no flour!) but still sweet and satisfying will all the fruits that are added in.

Ingredients

one egg
one tsp vanilla extract
one cup unsweetened applesauce
one banana (mashed)
1/4 cup of honey
2 1/2 cups of rolled oats
one tbsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
1 1/4 cups of milk (or almond milk)
seven to eight strawberries thinly sliced

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Mix together the egg, vanilla extract, applesauce, mashed banana and honey all in one large bowl.

Add in the oats, cinnamon, salt and baking powder. Make sure to mix these ingredients together well.

Add in the thinly sliced strawberries to your mixture and mix well.

Evenly place the mixture in muffin liners in a tray. Pour roughly enough mixture to fill about 3/4 of each liner.

Cook in the oven for roughly thirty minutes or until a toothpick is inserted in the middle of each muffin and comes out clean.

Enjoy!