Category: Nutrition and Recipes

Holiday Treats

Posted on by Martina Frost

With new gathering restrictions in place, many of us are facing a holiday season unlike any other we’ve had in the past. For my family, we always travelled to the houses of relatives to spend the holidays together. This was lucky for me as Grandmothers’ houses are always filled with memorable baked goods. My sisters and sisters-in-law would also bring tasty goodies. I would contribute one or two items as well, but always left the more traditional treats to experienced hands.

This year, my family will be staying home and having Zoom calls with relatives. We have shipped our gifts to family members far and wide and will open them together, virtually. The distance is not so bad for gift opening and socializing thanks to the day and age we live in and the technology at our fingers. However, the classic holiday treats my family has grown accustomed to having this time of year is in short supply! Therefore, with a bit of proactive bakers shopping,   I started getting my hands dirty…

These recipes provided below are from the more experienced bakers in my family but are also age appropriate for a few little fingers too. If you feel up to it, give them a whirl with your little helpers! I hope you enjoy them!

Preparation Tips

Some tips before starting the baking process are start with a clean workspace and end with one as well. Nothing is more daunting than a pile of dishes, so it’s best to clean as you go. You also want to be careful with hot surfaces, sharp objects, and food safety before baking with children. Remind them to wash their hands, and to ask for help when needed. And if you are going to double, or triple a recipe, I find it easiest to write down the number of ingredients I need (e.g. instead of 1 cup, write down 2, or 3 cups as to not alter the recipe too much). Lastly, if you do deviate from the recipe, be sure to write it down in your cookbook. This helps you replicate a favourite treat later, and it makes for a great memory book year after year to pass on to your children.

So let’s get cooking (rather, baking)! Be warned, although I like to substitute healthy ingredients in my recipes all the time, these recipes are holiday specific in my family. Therefore, they really are treats!

Whipped Shortbread Cookies

 Ingredients:

1 cup softened butter (can’t use margarine or oil)

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup icing sugar

½ cup glazed cherries

Parchment paper

Steps:

  1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
  2. Mix the butter, sugar, and flour with an electric mixer for approximately 10 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
  3. Lay the parchment paper out on a baking sheet. Put roughly tsp sized dollops of the mixture spaced evenly on the parchment paper.
  4. Put a half glazed cherry in the centre of each dollop. This is the step kids like to help with most!
  5. Bake at 325° for 15 minutes, until very light brown.
  6. Let cool and enjoy!

Source: Grandma’s Recipe!

Newfie Snowballs

Ingredients:

½ cup softened butter (can’t use margarine or oil)

½ cup evaporated milk

¼ cup cocoa

¾ cup sugar

1 tbsp vanilla

2 cups coconut shavings

2 cups oats

¾ cup coconut shavings (for coating)

Steps:

  1. Bring butter, milk, cocoa, sugar, and vanilla to a boil over medium heat.
  2. Mix in coconut shavings and oats.
  3. Stir the mixture and pour into a medium sized bowl and allow to chill until cold (around 2 hours).
  4. Once cool, roll small dollops into 1 ½ inch balls. Perfect step for little helpers!
  5. Roll into the coconut for a coconut-y coating.
  6. Keep chilled and enjoy!

Source: Auntie Krystle’s Recipe!

Holiday Cookies

 Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp sugar

3 tsps baking powder

½ cup shortening (or butter)

¾ cup milk

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
  2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
  3. Cut in shortening (or butter) using two knives until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. I personally like using my hands. It’s messy, but I find I get too impatient with the knives. Plus, the kids love to help with this step!
  4. Pour in the milk slowly, stirring as you go. Pour in and mix until the dough leaves the sides of bowl and starts sticking together.
  5. Now you can place the dough on a lightly floured surface and begin kneading. Knead roughly 10 times.
  6. Roll or pat the dough until it is roughly ½ an inch thick.
  7. Cut with holiday cookie cutters. Another kid favourite step!
  8. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet approximately 1 inch apart.
  9. Bake in your preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
  10. Once done, remove from the oven and remove from the cookie sheet, leaving on a counter or plate to cool.
  11. Enjoy!

Source: Auntie Julie’s Recipe!

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Squares

 Ingredients:

½ cup butter or margarine

1 cup smooth peanut butter

1 (300g) bag of butterscotch chips or chocolate chips

1 (200g) bag of mini marshmallows

Steps:

  1. Put the butter, peanut butter, and butterscotch chips in a pot on the stove and melt together at a very low heat stirring constantly.
  2. Once melted, cool for a bit off the burner but keep the mixture in the pot.
  3. Stir in the mini marshmallows.
  4. Pour into greased pan. I like to use a glass pan with roughly 2 inch sides.
  5. Let sit or put into the fridge for faster drying.
  6. Cut up and enjoy!

Source: Auntie Rocky’s Recipe!

Nothing Says It Like The Smell of Baking!

Hope you enjoy these holiday treat ideas! They really make my home smell and taste like the holidays. If you have a special recipe that your family enjoys during the holidays and want to share it, send it along to me! We can all use some more sweets this season. Take care!

Nutrition and Safety

Posted on by Martina Frost

It was recently brought to my attention that nutrition is a huge component of safety. Now, for those avid readers of my blog, it’s no secret that responsible nutrition is a passion of mine and I’ve written other blogs on it. In this blog, I hope to examine the nutrition component of safety and how we can use this knowledge to make safer choices for ourselves and our families.

Dr. Mike Wahl has used this analogy to describe safety and how we currently view safety.

Imagine Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson sitting in a tent in the middle of a field at night. The reason they are out there is because there is a thief in the woods and they are staking it out in order to catch him. Dr. Watson turns to Sherlock Holmes and asks, “What do you see?”

Sherlock Holmes replies with, “I see stars. There are probably planets around the stars. Probably a few of the planets are like ours. That means that some of the planets probably have lifeforms. And maybe some of those lifeforms are intelligent. Which means that someone else somewhere is looking back at us and asking ‘what do you see?’”

And Dr. Watson replies, “I see the stars too, which means our tent was stolen.”

And the thief makes off with the tent.

This analogy shows that we’ve dived so deep down the rabbit hole that we don’t see what’s right in front of us. We are so focused on parts of safety that are, in all likelihood emergency type scenarios, but are so unlikely to happen to us, that we aren’t focusing on the everyday safety. And a very large part of the everyday safety is what we eat.

Sugars

First off, let’s look at sugars because it’s the culprit we all struggle with. I’m also going to come back to sugars later in another example, but for now, let’s look at the different kinds of sugars.

Why is it that when we Google ‘sugar,’ a big picture of granulated white dust with a logo pops up? No matter where we turn in our modern lives, sugar is there. The reason – the people selling it are fully aware that it is addictive.

But we need sugar to survive, right? Correct, we do need it. But there are different kinds of sugars, and for the sake of our health, it’s important to recognize and understand the differences.

So what is the difference? Well, the difference is the package it comes in. Back in the day before processed foods ever made it on to grocery store shelves, sugar only came in the form of fruits, vegetables, breastmilk, honey, and other raw foods. Throughout human evolution, our bodies adapted to eating these forms of sugar – sugar that lasts a long time in our bodies because it comes in a package that contains other healthy ingredients, like fibre, vitamins, and minerals. These are called complex sugars (complex carbohydrates). Our bodies are genetically designed to digest these packages slowly, giving us a sustainable amount of sugar to go about our daily functions.

So what is the difference from natural sugar packages and processed sugar packages? Well, that’s just it. Natural sugars come in a package that takes time to digest and only a portion of the package is sugar. Processed sugar packages are not packages at all. They are 100% sugar. And it takes no time at all to digest it and society on average eats ten times what our great-grandparents used to eat.

That’s right, more processed sugar and in greater quantities.

What does this mean to our health? Imagine taking a leisurely stroll through the park. This lovely and relaxing walk takes you 20 minutes to complete and you’ve travelled probably 2 km. This is what it’s like to eat natural sugar packages. Now say you’ve decided to take a jet plane home. You travel the same distance in 20 seconds. Your knuckles are white from clenching the seat in front of you as your eyes are about to pop out of your head. Your mind is buzzing, going “What on earth just happened?”

Yes, that’s what your body is saying when you eat refined, processed, quick to digest, no-package sugar. It isn’t sustainable and your body feels overloaded.

So what does your body do to combat this overload? Well, when we have elevated blood sugar levels, our bodies release insulin, which is like a key to opening our cells for storage. It takes the high levels of sugar out of circulation so we don’t damage our blood vessels. Sugar in the blood stream really is like little razor blades. It causes little scratches all along the walls. The insulin keys, thankfully, take it out of our circulation system and store it in muscle cells, liver cells, and fat cells.

Problem solved, right? Unfortunately, when I eat fish, I’m the only one who doesn’t smell it. That’s because I’ve been sitting around it for so long, I’ve been desensitized to the smell. Even more unfortunately, insulin can become desensitized too. It doesn’t recognize the sugar after a while because it’s constantly there. This, very unfortunately, can lead to diabetes.

So why are we hungry again after eating sugar? The reason is because of insulin spikes. If we sit down and demolish a box of cookies (I’m guilty of this from time to time), our body reacts by pumping out insulin to counteract the huge amount of damage to our blood vessels. We actually pump out so much insulin to protect ourselves that our body is in a binge mode – “it’s too much, don’t keep any of it, get rid of it all as fast as possible!” This insulin spike lasts about an hour before dropping off. We didn’t use any of the sugar we just inhaled, we stored it all. Now our body is looking for more and we experience this as hunger. Also worth noting, these spikes and drop-offs greatly affect moods and can even result in depression.

Why is sugar so addictive? Simply, sugar releases endorphins. This, shockingly, is the same hormone we get from some kinds of illegal drugs. But, upliftingly, it’s also released when we hug our children, smile at someone, or go for a run!

What can we do instead of eating processed sugar? Well, again, we need sugar to survive. We need sugar that is meant for our bodies in order to get energy to move, function, think, and feel. We can eat natural forms of sugar! Sugar that comes in a package with other ingredients and gives us sustainable, long-lasting energy. So bust out that bag of apples!

Proteins

Now let’s move on to our bodies and how we are built. Dr. Mike Wahl likes to use the analogy of building a house, and when I blog about raising children, I like to use a house as well. So I’m going to use it here too.

When you are building a house, you have a budget. This budget can be like calories. We count calories like money, and have a certain budget when it comes to consumption. So if we are building a house, and we spend 95% of the budget on one thing, like the landscaping (dream come true), the rest of the house can’t be built. That’s why we need to think of every aspect of the house, and every aspect of our diet. And split the costs evenly throughout the different food groups.

To build a house, we need three things: the construction materials, the workers, and the transport. The construction materials are like proteins. They hold stuff up and keep the structure strong. When we think of proteins, we think of meat. Don’t worry about it, everyone does, even Google again.

But the best kinds of proteins come from foods without legs. In fact, leg counting is key to eating the best proteins with the least amount of unhealthy additives.

Let me explain. Beans, lentils, eggs, fish – none of these have legs and they are the healthiest sources of proteins. What comes next – chickens, which only have two legs. Chicken breast is healthier for you than the drumstick, and it’s also farther from the legs (spatially on the chicken). Then comes pigs and cows. The more legs, the less healthy the protein.

One super cool research topic that I read about recently (last night) was about the Blue Zones. This term was coined back in 2005 and I stumbled across it while doing some personal research. The Blue Zones are areas on the planet where people appear to live a very long time. It’s not uncommon for people in these zones to live to 100 years and lead very healthy lives. One researcher went to all of these zones to compare the eating habits of the local peoples and found that their main source of protein was beans! Ninety-five percent of their diet is plant-based, meaning they only eat meat around five times a month. If you are interested in following up, you can check it out here.

Sugars (Again)

Let’s come back to sugars again now that we are aware of the different kinds.

In our house analogy, sugars are the workers. Fruits, roots, vegetables, and legumes give us the energy we use throughout the day. The reason we need the packaged or complex sugars is that it comes in small amounts and lasts all day.

Imagine your worksite. The building materials (proteins) are all there lying on the ground. You need workers to start work. You eat a bunch of jellybeans.

Instead of having a manageable amount of workers complete tasks all day, you have an overload of workers for a very short period of time. The plumbers, electricians, scaffolders, and everyone else shows up at once! The supervisor, which is your brain, doesn’t know what to do so you send them all away to wait on the sideline. Now you have a bunch of material still laying on the ground and a crowd of people not doing anything. Wouldn’t it be much better to have a steady amount of energy that lasts the entire day? The right workers showing up at the right time?

Fats

Lastly, we have fats. Fats have a negative stigma around them simply because they are called fats and everyone is on a “low fat” diet. That is because different kinds of fats were only discovered recently (within the last couple of decades). And, just like sugars, there are good and bad kinds. And we need the good ones.

Good fats provide the mode of transport. They literally grease the roads to move faster. Bad fats cause plaque in your arteries which is also known as high cholesterol.

If you have a three lane highway (a major artery in your body), and you clog up two of the lanes, things begin to move rather slowly. Even if you have the best workers (sugars) trying to move the best building materials (proteins) calories can buy, it won’t matter if they can’t make it to the job site. And that can be a problem.

But good fats to the rescue! Because good fats actually slick the roads up again and get things moving! You can reverse any damage by eating the good kinds. Wonderful, huh?

So how can you tell the difference between the good and bad kinds? Well, again like sugar, it’s easy. Take a look at the foods at room temperature. If it is liquid at room temperature, it is a good fat. Nut oils, fish oils, avocado oils, and others are good fats. If you don’t cook much (guilty), just eat the fish, nuts, and avocados!

Bad fats are things like butter, bacon, steak, etc. At room temperature, they are solid and clog up our transportation networks in our house analogy and in our own veins running through our bodies. I learned this about a year ago, before which, I used to love butter. Now when I look at butter, all I can see is it smeared throughout my circulatory system and, I’m sure you’ll understand, I don’t crave it anymore!

Again, I can’ take credit for this analogy. I was inspired by Dr. Mike Wahl and wanted to tell a little of his story to you. To see more from Dr. Mike Wahl and how nutrition can influence your daily life and longevity, check out his story here.

In Summary

So you see, nutrition has an extraordinary ability to affect our health and safety, and it’s our choice whether it affects us positively or negatively.

How is your house coming together and what foods do you think should make the cut? How did reading this change or not change your mind about foods and how they affect your and your family’s safety? We covered a lot of topics and even took brief looks at diabetes, depression, and high cholesterol. Nutrition really is the closest and most attainable health choice we can make for our families. I know that after writing this blog, I feel like I need to go over my grocery list again!

But first, I will leave you with this one final tidbit that I was given a long time ago by my grandfather. It really helped before I was so nutrition savvy – if in doubt, stick to the outside perimeter of the grocery store. It covers most of the good, raw foods. The inside isles are where one can get lost.

Good luck and please reach out with any questions!

Growing an Herb Garden

Posted on by Martina Frost

Growing an indoor or outdoor herb garden can be just as useful as it is fun! My boys and I have been working on a few projects since the beginning of 2020 and growing a successful little herb garden has been one of them. Of course it always helps if you have or know of someone with a green thumb. For me, that’s my sister! She taught me a lot of valuable insights when it came to taming chives, splitting parsley pods, and fluffing up basil bushes. If it wasn’t for her, my indoor creations would have been a flop. So now that I’ve mastered a few of these tricks, I’m going to share them with my KARA family! But first, let’s check out the benefits!

Herbaceous Benefits

Herbs have a wide variety of health benefits, including fighting infections (basil), reducing nasal congestion from allergies (rosemary), and relieving nausea and IBS symptoms (peppermint). They are also known to keep teeth healthy and freshen breath! Check out more benefits here.

Michigan State University also advocates that gardening has plenty of developmental benefits for children! Zipping around the lawn with tools and bags of seeds provides practice for gross motor skills. Pinching little seeds and grasping hand tools help develop fine motor skills. Playing with water and soil helps provide children with sensory play. Children are also able to develop reading skills when looking at garden tags, math skills when counting seeds, and a love of nature through nutritional education. And let’s not forget all the fresh air and exercise that are good for every family member! Check it out here.

Green Goodness

So now that we are familiar with the goodness of these greens, let’s start making our own from scratch!

What we need is:

  1. A medium to large pot with holes in the base
  2. Gardening soil (or a glass jar for sprouts)
  3. Seeds of desired herbs

Seeds that we planted included basil, garlic greens, sunflower greens, alfalfa sprouts, and a very cool little plant called burgundy oxalis. We also inherited a pot of chives that we have been mothering diligently.

I chose these plants because they are very easy to grow and work for a variety of dishes. I did try my hand at favourites like cilantro and parsley but found these extraordinarily temperamental. The cilantro came up all spindly and the parsley didn’t even germinate. Oh well – I’ll just have to keep practicing!

So let’s get down to the whys and hows of the plants that were successful! Oxalis burgundy shamrock grows wild in Alberta. Purple basil – nutmeg and basil. Lemon basil. Garlic greens! Alfalfa sprouts 5 days. Sunflower greens. Pea sprout 3 inches

Chives

Chives are the only plant I haven’t kept in my kitchen herbarium. That’s because they do so well outdoors! Chives are a perennial plant (they come back year after year) and can easily be grown indoors and out. Be careful with them though because their beautiful flowers spread seeds like crazy as they try to invade and take over your entire garden. Very edible and delicious, they are an onion that can be used in any pasta dish and can even be enjoyed raw from the garden.

I was lucky to inherit my already well established chives from a friend who planted them in their own large pot. This prevents them from getting out hand. However, as I understand it, chives are best planted and grown in cooler seasons like spring. In early May, my outdoor chives are already starting to bloom! They also prefer sunny spots and to be planted in well-draining, well-composted soil. Ensure that they are planted in the ground or a pot with holes in the base to prevent drowning. Sow seeds 2 inches apart and no more than ¼ inch deep (quite shallow with a sprinkling of soil on top). Harvesting them actually produces more chives if done properly as you can take one third of them by thinning them every couple of weeks. Just pick one stock for every three and you will always have happy chives!

Basil

Basil thrives in a sunny window in well-drained soil. It is super sensitive to cool weather so it sits in my south facing window right next to my kitchen sink. I find some herbs smell even when not cooking and basil is certainly one of them! Its powerful aroma is very pleasant though and really makes doing dishes more delightful.

Sowing seeds is very easy but must be done 10 to 12 inches apart. I only planted one as space was a commodity in my little herbarium, but that didn’t stop the basil from becoming one of the main attractions! It grew into a little tufty plant and if I kept taking leaves from the top, the basil got bushier and bushier on the bottom! Another super cool thing about basil is that you can take a cutting and germinate a new plant! Select a 4 inch section of basil that has not yet flowered and place it in water. Roots should form within a week and you can gift it to a close friend or make a second thriving plant. Totally awesome!

Another note – if you decide to plant purple basil instead of the regular kind, it tastes like nutmeg!

Garlic and Sunflower Greens

This was one plant that resulted from trial and error. My husband decided to grow his own garlic from a clove bought from the store. He brought home some garlic, ate almost all of it, but saved the last clove and buried it in a corner of the herbarium. Within a couple of days it had sprouted into what looked like a green onion stalk, and it didn’t stop there… My husband and I even started measuring its growth day by day, it was growing that fast! We placed a few bets too to see when it would outshine my other plants.  I called my sister to see what her thoughts were. She said that although it would never produce new cloves, the garlic green that was growing, at a surprisingly fast rate, was deliciously edible and very much worth the short amount of time it took to grow. We would chop off the green top little by little to munch on as a snack – absolutely scrumptious!

We later found out we can also do this with sunflower seeds (not roasted ones) harvested from our sunflowers. They make nice little greens that taste great in a salad!

Alphalpha Sprouts

These quick to germinate little sprouts are very easy to grow – and you don’t even need dirt! Just a glass jar and paper towel will work! Place about 2 tablespoons of alfalfa seeds in a glass jar and let them soak in 1½ cups of water overnight (6+ hours). Drain them through the paper towel (or cheese cloth or dish cloth). Put them back in the jar and add ½ cup of fresh water. Swill them around to wash them and drain again. Then leave the jar on its side with paper towel over the opening to allow them to spread out and the moisture to be partially trapped. Repeat the rinsing and draining process every morning and evening for 4 days, always leaving the jar on its side. The sprouts will be roughly 3 to 4 cm in length with green tips when ready to eat. You can then put them in a sealed container in the fried until needed. I also noticed that they lasted longer when wrapped in paper towel then in a baggie. Add to sandwiches and salads for a delectable treat!

Burgundy Oxalis

By far the coolest thing I’ve ever grown, this bushy plant grows easily and tastes exactly like a crisp green apple! For someone who is allergic to apples, this was a very welcome treat. Also known as purple shamrock, this plant is a type of clover. And with that said, it does contain a small amount of acid which can be toxic in high doses. Used in many foods found in the supermarket, the US National Institute of Health notes that it is safe for people who eat a variety of foods.

This plant tends to prefer shade but I’ve left two in my indoor herbarium facing a south facing window and they seem to love it! Both plants have grown into bushy clusters that overtake a few others. If planted in the garden, beware as it likes to get out of control.

Plant burgundy oxalis in well-drained soils and keep it well watered. Plant it in a shadier spot. If you want to keep it growing big but control it from spreading, pluck the little yellow flowers before they bloom. All the leaves, stems and flowers are edible on this plant – but refrain from eating too much!

Our Blossoming Best

So, there you have it. With minimal supplies, you can easily start your own growing adventure. While we’ve discussed several plants, there really are endless possibilities. I recommend that you plant what you most often use in your own cooking. This can be heavily influenced by your favourite cuisines, so if you love Italian food, perhaps basil and thyme might be good choices. If you enjoy Mexican, perhaps cilantro and oregano. Just remember that it’s always nice to try new things! I hope this has been helpful and has inspired you to start down the incredibly rewarding path of beginning your own small garden!

Dinner Recipes

Posted on by Martina Frost

As a parent, cooking tasty meals that our kids will eat can be difficult. Too often, our lives get busy and we lose ambition in the kitchen. We may even end up ordering pizza or some other form of take‑out to battle the blank faces we get in the grocery store. My husband is here to help! He has a few delicious, quick, and inexpensive meal ideas that might get you into that apron again! But be warned, he’s a huge fan of garlic! So I’ve written each of his favourite go-to recipes with half the amount of garlic he normally uses!

Pan-fried Salmon

Let’s start with the salmon because it’s my favourite! I request it whenever there’s a good sale on. Salmon is an excellent choice for the healthy–minded too! It’s high in vitamins, very high in protein, and contains antioxidants. To get started, get yourself a 250g (approximately half-pound) filet of salmon for a family of four. Pink Salmon is the least expensive option on the list, but other types have distinctly different tastes. Go with your gut (literally) on this one. The best tasting is Sockeye in my opinion. Pair it with rice and asparagus (also pan-friend in butter) and my kids and I go nuts for it! If asparagus is out of season, go with broccoli with melted cheese. Mmmmmm…

Required Ingredients:

250g or ½ lb of salmon, cut into desired portions

125mL/½ cup of butter/margarine

3 cloves minced garlic (double if you’re a fan)

2 tsp basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Empty butter/margarine into large skillet/frying pan.
  2. Turn heat to medium on large burner.
  3. Mince garlic.
  4. Add garlic and basil to pan once butter has melted/begins soft boil.
  5. Place salmon skin-up on skillet.
  6. Wait for salmon to grow pink-white half-way though; flip – ensure butter/margarine fills space under filet.
  7. Continue cooking until salmon is fully cooked.
  8. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

That’s it!

Another note: Many people don’t like the skin on their fish, so if you have a dog, give it to them! They love it and it’s very beneficial to their coat.

Butter Chicken

Next is his butter chicken on rice. This one is actually his go-to, favourite comfort food. He typically buys the Asian Home Gourmet powdered spice, which is always at Save-On-Foods and it’s the best priced by far! Try to stay away from the larger brands like VH sauces. I made this mistake once and it didn’t contain a lick of taste. This recipe is very budget friendly, as chicken can be extremely inexpensive, and one packet of spice will make two meals for a family of four (that’s eight husband-sized servings!).

Required Ingredients:

500g/1lb chicken breast

1 package [sauce]

2 cups rice

1 cup milk/coconut milk.

½ cup butter/margarine

Garlic to taste

Directions:

  1. Set rice to cook depending on your preference – He normally finds a rice cooker produces best results. I prefer the pot.
  2. Pour milk into medium pot, set burner to medium-low.
  3. Add sauce mix – whisk immediately, and every minute or so thereafter.
  4. Empty butter/margarine into large skillet/frying pan.
  5. Turn heat to medium-high on large burner.
  6. Mince garlic.
  7. Add garlic to pan.
  8. Cut chicken into 1cm cubes – add to skillet/frying pan.
  9. When sauce reaches just slightly under desired consistency, remove from heat. Let final thickening occur as it cools.
  10. When chicken is completely cooked, mix with sauce.
  11. Pour sauce/chicken mixture over rice on plate.

Enjoy! But there are no leftovers for puppies here! The spice doesn’t mix well with them so best to enjoy all of it by yourselves.

Tasty Tortellini

And finally, my husband’s favourite pasta recipe! He typically tries to avoid using premade tomato sauces as they’re loaded with sugar. A healthy oil sauce may be similar calorie-wise, but with less of the negative effects of a high-sugar meal. Like the other recipes, this one only requires a pot and frying pan, along with a chopping board.

Required Ingredients:

1 package tortellini

Mushrooms or veggies (zucchini is great) to your preference

1/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1/3 cup of your favourite cooking oil

1 tbsp butter/margarine

5 cloves of garlic

1 tsp basil

Directions:

  1. Heat oil and butter in large frying pan/skillet.
  2. Boil tortellini in large pot.
  3. Mince garlic.
  4. Add garlic and basil to frying pan/skillet.
  5. Chop mushrooms veggies. Add to frying pan skillet.
  6. When tortellini is cooked, drain.
  7. Add parmesan cheese to frying pan skillet. Whisk until cheese melts into oil/butter mixture.
  8. Add tortellini to frying pan/skillet; stir to coat tortellini in sauce.

Ready to serve!

Full Bellies

I hope you give these a try. With minimal cleanup and only about 20 minutes start to finish, these meals will satisfy both your stomach and your schedule, while allowing you to avoid the fast food trap. Leave me a note if you try any of them or want to share your own recipes!

Nutritious Desserts!

Posted on by Martina Frost

Nutritious Desserts!

Do you have one or more picky eaters at home? Do you struggle with kids who like candy too much? Do you like providing your munchkins with healthy dessert options? Are you a parent with limited meal prep time?

If you answer yes to any of the above questions, I recommend giving this blog a good read, because I’ve compiled some of the best dessert recipes and info on healthy dining that I’ve come across over my last few years of being a Mom!

First Thing’s First, The Basics of Nutrition

Good food provides our children with nutrients and energy. Nutrients, both macro and micronutrients, support the reactions cells have in our bodies and provide us with energy. Energy allows our bodies to function. The two together make for one healthy individual.

Macronutrients are the calories needed for energy. The term “burning calories” is very real as our bodies live off of this “fuel.” Macronutrients come in the form of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. Most foods contain high amounts of these macronutrients, so I won’t dive too deep into their importance.

Micronutrients are composed of vitamins and minerals. We need a smaller amount of micronutrients than macronutrients, but they are still essential to healthy living as they help support our cells in their ability to regenerate. Cells make up our entire being, organs and all. Click here to learn more!

So children, with organs and tissues still developing, and more energy than we can sometimes handle, need the perfect mix of these vitamins, minerals, and fuel. As a Mom with children who live for chocolate‑themed holidays, how do I put the health back into our desserts? A little help from our new Canada Food Guide has given me some clues.

The Canada Food Guide

You may have noticed that the new Canada Food Guide has done away with portion sizes and redirected its information towards the importance of certain foods. This is a wonderful adoption as no person is the same and we don’t all require the same amount of food. Children going through growth spurts eat a lot, as do athletes, as they are really active.

My toddlers are exceptionally active. More active than me as I sit at my computer desk telling you this. 😊

Vegetables and Fruit

Vegetables are a mix and match when it comes to what they provide us. Starchy vegetables, like corn and potatoes, have carbohydrates and vitamins. Dark green veggies pack plenty of protein and minerals.

Fruit contains a perfect blend of carbohydrates, vitamins (like Vitamin C and Vitamin B-9 (folate)), and minerals (like potassium). They also have plenty of fiber, which is indigestible, helping to clear our bodies of waste.

According to the Canada Food Guide, healthy living suggests half of our diets should consist of vegetables and fruit.

Protein Foods

Protein foods, such as plant-based foods, provide vitamins and minerals in addition to proteins.

Plant-based protein food, like nuts, seeds, beans, peas, and lentils, provide more fiber and less saturated fats. Try to choose these types over animal-based ones.

According to the Canada Food Guide, healthy living suggests one quarter of our diets should consist of protein foods.

Whole Grains

Known for their high-fiber content, whole grain foods, such as quinoa, pasta, rice, and oatmeal, also provide us with vitamins and minerals.

Foods with high-fiber content help rid our bodies of waste, preventing diseases associated with digestion. Fiber also helps slow the rate that sugar is absorbed, helping regulate our sugar levels.

According to the Canada Food Guide, healthy living suggests one quarter of our diets should consist of whole grain foods.

So it’s clear that vitamins, minerals, and fiber are just as important as those high fuel foods we enjoy so much! How do we get them into desserts that usually don’t include them? Luckily, I have a few recipes up my sleeve that are packed with these micronutrients and still taste delicious!

Chocolate Pudding

Yes, you read that right. I have a very fast, very healthy chocolate pudding recipe that my kids (and I) love!

All you need:

A big container and lid, like a tupperwear

Chocolate flavoured almond milk

Chia seeds

What you do:

Mix the almond milk and chia seeds together with a 1:1 ratio in the container. Place the lid on and shake vigorously. Place the pudding in the fridge for 24 hours. Serve cold.

What it gives you:

Apart from it’s wonderful nutty flavor, almond milk also has Vitamin D and calcium added to it, just like regular milk (both are enriched, meaning we added it after pasteurization). Almond milk has less proteins and carbs than cow’s milk but more Vitamin E. Chia seeds have a lot of everything, including fiber, protein, nutrients, minerals, and even antioxidants. What is particularly impressive about them, however, is their ability to bind to toxins and carry them out of our bodies!

Coconut Cookie Dough Balls

Get ready for this one, it’s a no-bake cookie recipe!

All you need:

A food processor or blender

2 cups of pitted dates

1 ½ tbsp. of coconut butter

What you do:

Blend everything together in your food processor and scoop out with a spoon. Roll 1 to 2 inch balls with your hands and place in the fridge. FYI – my younger son loves these as is, but my older one typically won’t eat them unless there’s mini M&M’s in them. You win some, you lose some. Place in the fridge and serve cold.

What it gives you:

Dates are packed with fiber. For anyone that has eaten too many of these at one time, you don’t need me to go into details. Coconut butter though, this one is worth explaining. It’s packed with healthy fats that provide us with clean fuel, but it also has lauric acid (which is a really powerful antibiotic if you didn’t catch my breastmilk blog), one of the very few foods that do.

Purchasing tip: Coconut butter runs at high prices in grocery stores since its health benefits hit the newspapers, but it is still very reasonably priced at Asian food markets.

Acorn Squash Custard

This one is an old family secret, although many families seem to have co-authored it online, which must mean it’s a good one! It takes a bit longer but has little actual work time.

All you need:

A sharp knife

A spoon

A baking sheet

1 acorn squash

½ cup of brown sugar

¼ cup of butter

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place both halves face down on the baking sheet and bake for 1 hour. Once baked, it should be tender enough for a fork to pass through, like butter. Turn the halves over, face up, and add the brown sugar and butter to one of the halves. Put the two halves together (place one on top of the other) and put them back in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove them from the oven, peel off the skins, and blend with a fork or blender. Serve warm.

What it gives you:

Squash is the healthy ingredient here, so I will elaborate on it. It packs vitamins, folate, minerals, and fiber! The mineral manganese, which it is rich in, helps boost bone strength and your body’s ability to process carbohydrates and fats (which is good since these are this custard’s other ingredients)!

Added bonus: acorn squash seeds are just like pumpkin seeds! Roast them up in your already preheated oven with some salt and you have a fiber-y snack for the next day!

Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

I always buy too many bananas. We used to do our best to buy the right amount, but their brown, spotted bodies always seemed to stare me down at the end of each week. I had to come up with an alternative to watching them deteriorate. Luckily, this recipe came to the rescue and no ice cream maker was required!

All you need:

A blender or food processor

A baking sheet

Baking parchment paper

4 spotty bananas

2 tbsp. of peanut butter

What you do:

Cut up your bananas into slices and lay them on your parchment papered tray. Put them in the freezer until frozen, about 2 hours. Pulverize them in your blender a few times, using a spoon to scrape the sides when needed. Once a creamy texture, add the peanut butter and blend one more time. Serve cold.

What it gives you:

Peanut butter is a plant-based protein food, containing mono-unsaturated fats. This means they are easily digestible and give you healthy, clean fuel. It’s also very rich in vitamins and minerals. Bananas are a powerhouse when it comes to nutrients. They are packed with vitamins and minerals, most famously, potassium, which helps regulate muscle control like your breathing and heartbeat. Their also easy to digest since their rich in fiber. The combo is simply delicious – and no more spotty bananas!

More Information

If you like these healthy, low cost recipes, I know you’ll enjoy KARA’s Collective Kitchen program, which also packs in the nutritional information and easy how-to creations! Call KARA to register for this one as soon as possible because it can fill up quick!