Archives for January 2015

by on January 27, 2015   •   20 Comments Dinner

Sunday Dinner: Beef Stroganoff with Roasted Mushrooms & Meyer Lemons

I think my Monday may have gotten the upper hand, had it not been for my Sunday dinner leftovers.

Soft egg noodles, bits of buttery beef in gravy, roasted mushrooms and slivers of Meyer lemon to cut the richness. I ate them from a bowl with a kid’s fork, standing in my kitchen looking out at the bare trees brushing a blue sky. It was a moment of quiet; a reset in a day that was rowdy, hectic and loud.

The beef stroganoff had graced our table for Sunday dinner, our main meal of the day, and everyone had murmured their approval between bites. Fortunately, I had the big camera handy before we ate, and through its lens, this dish is now conveyed to you. I think you’re going to like it.

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by on January 22, 2015   •   14 Comments Bakeshop

Vegan Pumpkin Seed Cocoa Brownies

We’re more cookie people than brownie fans around here, and you’ll find more recipes for pies than bars in the archives.

In fact, this is the first brownie recipe I’ve published in five years. Now, I get the appeal of brownies; I really do! It’s just that most recipes require so much white sugar and butter, I can’t make them for my family in good conscience. Until now, that is.

My editor recently sent me a cookbook that happened to arrive just in time for my January pantry purge. At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen: Celebrating the Art of Eating Well is an absolute gem of a book, not only for the sheer wealth of information it offers on healthy eating, but for the line-up of incredible recipes begging to be made.

Today’s brownies are adapted from Amy Chaplin’s book. Finally I have a brownie recipe for the lunchbox, my afternoon tea and basically any special occasion. These are brownies well worth a five year wait.

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by on January 19, 2015   •   16 Comments Nourishment

Simple, natural kitchen cures for a cold

It felt like I was beating off a cold for the better portion of the holidays. You know that feeling when you wake up and go ‘Uh Oh’ because your throat feels dry and your head aches slightly. Yeah, not fun.

Because I was party planning and had house guests, I didn’t want to get laid up for a minute. It was time for some cold-curing home remedies.

Back in October, when I was yet again battling the onset of a cold, I asked my friends on Instagram what they do to kill a cold. Of course their response was swift and ever so smart. I saved their tips for my own reference, but I can’t keep them all to myself.

Should you be as unfortunate as to find yourself similarly sick, my hope is that you can turn to your kitchen for a natural cure using one or two of these suggestions.

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by on January 16, 2015   •   12 Comments Dinner

6 Slow Cooker Recipes for Winter Days

If your slow cooker has a permanent place on the counter during these cold winter months, you’re doing things right.

Mine hasn’t vacated its post either, turning out batches of beans, chili, oatmeal and pea soup. January is flying by, and sometimes I feel as though our slow cooked dinners are the only way I am surviving the busy days.

In case you’re looking for a few new ideas, allow me to spotlight a few recipes from the archives. Simple Bites is coming up on five whole years of recipes, and there are plenty that are well worth remembering. Here are six of my favourites for cold days.

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by on January 14, 2015   •   39 Comments Giveaways

Pre-launch jitters are a thing

If you’ve ever wondered about the lead-up to a book release, I can assure you that pre-launch jitters are a thing.

There are nightmares about arriving at your first book signing event only to discover that your work is nothing more than a ratty 3-ring binder with no pictures to speak of. That dream ends with everyone leaving disappointed, including you.

There are evenings when you look at the mess under your kitchen sink and think it’s positively unbecoming of a published cookbook author to conceal such a disaster. And so you empty the cupboard and scrub it clean at 11 o’clock at night.

Nervous energy can’t be helped. Heart palpitations. Stress eating. Bumbling email requests. It’s all party of the (my?) process and I’ll get through it. Right?

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