¾ cup plain greek yogurt (I’m sure normal yogurt would be just as good)
2 tsp. maple syrup
¼ tsp. cinnamon
Pancakes
1 cup flour
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
dash both ground ginger and cloves
1 cup milk
¼ cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
Directions
Maple Cinnamon Yogurt
Mix together all ingredients thoroughly making sure there are no clumps of cinnamon.
Pancakes
In a medium sized bowl mix together all your dry ingredients.
Add the rest of your ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Heat a pan on medium and butter if it is not nonstick.
Once the pan is hot pour about a ¼ of a cup of batter and cook until bubbles are not breaking the surface as rapidly and the edges are not glossy anymore. Flip and cook for about another minute.
Serve with maple cinnamon yogurt and maple syrup. Eat!
Recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats: pumpkin spice pancakes.
In high school one of my friends made a 4 minute speech about pumpkin pie being the best. To this day I cannot eat a slice without thinking, yep it is the best! -S
Ingredients
1 ¾ cups pumpkin puree
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground ginger
dash salt
Directions
Move oven rack to bottom third of the oven then heat the oven to 425°
In a medium sized bowl mix together all ingredients thoroughly.
Pour in to a pre prepared pie shell and bake for 15 min.
Turn the temperature down to 350° and bake for another 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cool for 10 minutes. Serve with whipped cream. Eat!
½ cup chocolate chips(just a guideline.. the more the better!)
Directions
Heat oven to 325° and butter and flour a 9x13 pan.
In a large bowl whisk together butter, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and buttermilk.
Add the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and cloves and mix until combined. Then add the zucchini and chocolate chips.
Pour mixture in to the pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool for about 15 minutes. Eat!
*Don’t go out and buy buttermilk if you don’t have it. Simply add 1 ½ tsp. of white vinegar to half a cup of milk. you can do this for any recipe that called for buttermilk, the rule for thumb is 1 Tbsp. white vinegar to 1 cup milk.
Adapted from The Best of Bridge’s Best of the Best: Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Everyone loves chocolate chip cookies. My housemates are no exception. With the added allure of reaching in to our dino/rhinoceros cookie jar the disappear pretty quick. -S
Ingredients
2 ¼ cups flour
½ tsp. baking soda
1 cup butter (at room temperature)
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups (approx. 12 oz.) chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda.
In medium sized bowl or bowl of an electric mixer combine butter and both sugars. When thoroughly mixed add salt, vanilla and eggs. whip the mixture until light and fluffy.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Line a baking pan with parchment and arrange balls of dough about 2 inches apart on it.
Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until just golden around the edges.
About two weeks before I headed back to Guelph my little sister showed me this recipe. Now I don’t like oatmeal, I call it goatmeal or gloop, but I will happily eat. I was so sad because two weeks wasn’t enough time for me to eat it so much that I got sick of it and I didn’t think I would be able to find maca powder in Guelph. I mean have you ever even heard of maca before? But low and behold on my first ever expedition to bulk barn I found it and will now live healthily ever after. -S
⅓ cup oats
⅓ cup water
⅔ cup almond milk
½ tsp maca powder
1 tsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp hemp hearts (seeds)
pinch cinnamon
Directions
Put all the ingredients except for the cinnamon into a pot and cook on medium.
Stir occasionally making sure the oatmeal doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
When It reaches your desired consistency remove from heat sprinkle with cinnamon. Eat!
*I find the oats really absorb the cinnamon when cooking so I like to add it after so I can taste the yummy maca.
I’ve meant to make these for quite a while and just never got around to it. This is mostly because of all the work they require. However, as a reward for all the hard work you put into these little buggers they come out tasting like rich chocolate heaven. -S
Ingredients
Macaroon
1 cup icing sugar
½ cup almond flour
3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large egg whites
5 Tbsp. sugar
Filling
15 dried prunes
2 ½ oz semisweet or dark chocolate chips (or finely chopped bar)
2 Tbsp. Grand Marnier
Directions
Macaroon
Macaroons (cookie part)
Heat oven to 350° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
Combine powdered sugar, almond flour and cocoa in a food processor or blender and blend until well mixed ( about 30 seconds)
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment beat the egg whites. During this as soon as the egg whites turn opaque white add the granulated sugar. Continue beating until the mixture forms stiff peaks. (approx.. 2 minutes)
Gently fold in half of the dry ingredients with a spatula, in to the egg whites. When combined fold in the second half. Make sure everything is mixed together and there are no pockets of dry mixture.
Fill a pastry bag with an approx. 2cm round tip. (if you don’t have all this fancy stuff use a zip lock bag and cut a bit of one corner off)
Pipe the batter on to the baking sheets in 1 inch circles spaced about an inch apart.
Hold the pan about 10 cm above the counter and drop. Do this about 4 times. This will flatten out the batter.
Place in the oven and let bake for about 15-18 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets.
Filling
Cut the prunes in half and soak in hot water for a couple minutes then drain
Place the prunes in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
In a double boiler melt the chocolate and Grand Marnier together, stirring constantly.
Add the chocolate mixture to the prune puree. Let cool completely.
Putting it all together...
Pair the macaroons in similar shapes and sizes. On one of each pair spread about 1 Tbsp. of the filling then sandwich with the other.
Let sit for a day. Eat!
Recipe Adapted from David Lebovitzs’:French chocolate macaroon recipe
Making a whole dish with food just outside my door was probably the most rewarding and exciting thing I’ve ever done. Whenever I make something or grow something that I usually buy I expect it to be flawed even if just in appearance, but this salad was perfect in every way. -S
2 kale leaves
1 handful blackberries
1 small pear
Directions
Go outside and pick everything… Fine I guess you can buy it too
Break up the kale into bite sized pieces and slice pear
Put everything in a bowl and dress with your favorite vinaigrette. Eat!
Sofi can make a lot of different cakes, which makes deciding what kind of cake I want for my birthday quite the challenge. I had to settle on this tasty cake for a couple of reasons, the first being I love brownies, the second being I love peanut butter, and the third being I love cheese cake. -J
1 box brownie mix (plus ingredients called for making the mix)
1 ½ cups hot fudge sauce
16 oz. cream cheese
1 ½ cups peanut butter (smooth or crunchy.. your choice)
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 ½ cups whipping cream
2 tbsp. icing sugar
2 packages Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Directions
Prepare brownies as directed on package. (If you want to use your own brownie recipe we’re sure that would be much better!)
When done and cooled cut into bars. Then press half into the bottom of a 9” springform pan.*
Spread a layer of Hot fudge on top.
Whip whipping cream in a medium bowl until stiff, adding the icing sugar half way through.
In a large mixing bowl, whip together cream cheese and peanut butter. (if you don’t have an electric mixer get your hands in there and squish away!). Then add condensed milk and whipped cream (keep a ½ cup of whipped cream to the side).
Spread half the peanut butter mixture over the hot fudge and brownies. Then sprinkle half of the remaining brownie on top of that, as well as half the Reeses’s. Now spread the rest of the peanut butter mix over everything.
Top with the remaining whipped cream, brownie and Reese’s Pieces. Drizzle with the remaining hot fudge sauce.
Cover and refrigerate for between 4 and 24 hours
*If you don’t have a springform pan simply line a normal pan with saran, tin foil or parchment leaving enough overhang to grip. When it is time to serve the cake simply pull up on the lining et voila!
Adapted from Nicole’s Brown Sugar: Peanut Butter & Brownie Cheese Cake
These tasty treats are a health-fanatics dream come true. Filled with various delicious and high energy super-foods, they are a tasty, vegan and gluten-free snack. -S
Ingredients
2½ cups rolled oats (regular or quick cooking)
½ cup pumpkin seeds (raw)
½ cup raisins
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. maca powder
2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup almond butter
½ cup maple syrup (honey is good too)
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
¼ cup shredded coconut
Directions
In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients except for the coconut.
In another small bowl mix all wet ingredients thoroughly.
Spread the coconut on a plate.
Combine the dry and wet ingredients well. get your hands slightly wet and roll the dough into 1 inch balls then roll in the coconut.
place your finished maca balls on a plate or sheet pan and place in freezer for about 20 minutes. Eat!
You can store them in a regular tupperware container in the fridge for a snack on the go.
My little sister is an athlete, so of course she is always hungry and looking for snacks; the other day she whipped up these little muffins. They are always a great snack to have around the house, as they're awesome when you are looking to grab something to eat while on the run, and they're just as good to settle down and munch on with a nice warm drink to start off the day. To top if off, they are packed with nutrients and flavour that will keep her going and won't weigh down her rest of the day. -S
Ingredients
3 cups almond flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1½ tsp. cinnamon
1½ cups cranberries
½ tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup honey
3 eggs
Directions
Heat the oven to 350° and line a muffin tin with paper muffin cups.
In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients, stirring them together.
In another medium sized bowl mix together the cranberries, vanilla, honey and eggs.
Add the the dry ingredients to the wet making sure to mix well.
Fill the muffin tins evenly. Don't worry about them being very full the muffins don't rise much.
Place in oven and let bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for another 30 minutes. Eat!
Healthy smoothies are incredible. They are one of those things where you can cleverly mix together some not so appealing flavours in with a blast of berry goodness. Combing both kale and chia in with some other yummy ingredients, this smoothie will not only stock you up on energy for the day, but also taste great whilst doing so. -S
Ingredients
1 Tbsp chia
2 Tbsp water
¾ cup frozen blueberries
1 banana
1 leaf of kale
¾ cup almond milk
Directions
In a small bowl pour in chia and water and let soak for 5 min
Put the rest of the ingredients in to the blender making sure to remove the stem of the kale as that won't blend nicely. Blend until smooth, adding more almond milk or water if needed.
Add the soaked chia seeds into the smoothie and blend again for another 30 seconds. Pour into a large glass. Drink!
Throughout the months of August and September you will find me perpetually nicked and scraped. This is due to a long standing tradition in my family of extreme blackberry picking. However, today I found out that my beloved family tradition of making as many blackberry crumbles as possible in these months has been a hoax. We have not been making crumbles we have been making crisps! Apparently there is a difference, and it looks like I'm going to have to go pick a new batch and bake it under the right name! -S
Ingredients
3 cups fresh blackberries
⅓ cup butter (we used coconut butter to veganize it)
⅓ cup flour, plus extra for sprinkling
1 cup brown sugar
⅔ cup rolled oats
1 pinch of salt
1 generous pinch of cinnamon
zest of ½ a lemon
Directions
Heat the oven to 375°.
Rinse blackberries and pour into an 8 inch square pan. Sprinkle with a generous pinch of flour first, and then cinnamon so the exposed surface of the berries are lightly dusted. Then sprinkle the lemon zest overt top.
In a medium sized bowl combine all other ingredients and scrunch together between your hands until the butter is evenly distributed.
One handful at a time start sprinkling the topping over the blackberries until they are completely covered.
Place in the oven and let bake for 45 minutes. When done let it cool for another 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream or even yogurt. Eat!
My cat decided to help me weed my garden the other day and accidentally knocked an arm of rhubarb over. So, Instead of letting it go to waste I brought it into the house for experimentation. The result was this drool worthy syrup. -S
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 arm rhubarb (I think approx. 1½ cups), chopped
Directions
Pour all the ingredients into a thick pot and turn on to high.
Stir occasionally and bring to a boil. Hold it at a light boil until the syrup coats the back of a spoon.
Let cool then pour over ice cream, pancakes or whatever your dear heart desires. Eat!
This little innocent salad is a meal unto itself. Packed with nuts, fruit, avocado and home-grown kale, it is a yummy way to eat healthy and get the energy you need for the rest of the day. -S
Salad
1 bunch kale
1 avocado, diced
1 nectarine, diced
¼ cup each sliced almonds, pine nuts, and craisins
¼ cup dried apricots, sliced (fresh would be yummy too!)
Dressing
3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
½ tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. honey
Instructions
Break kale up in to small bite sized pieces and place into a medium sized bowl.
Add all other salad ingredients to the bowl.
In a separate small bowl whisk together all the dressing ingredients with a fork. Use a piece of kale to test the dressing adding more of whatever it needs.
When dressing is to your taste add to salad. Toss making sure spread around all that yummy dressing. Distribute into serving bowls. Eat!
I am a big fan of pancakes. The classic, fluffy formula is something that has succeeded at getting me out of bed on Saturday mornings for the past 20 years; Sofi's whole wheat pancakes are no exception to this, and coupled up with some fresh berries makes this meal the perfect thing to settle down and watch some morning cartoons with. Trust me. -J
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp ½ tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
1 egg
1 ⅓ cup milk
3 Tbsp butter, melted (plus more for pan)
1 cup each blueberries and raspberries
Instructions
Mix together all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
In a separate bowl lightly beat egg to break yolk, then add the milk and butter. Mix them together.
Add the liquid mixture to dry and stir leaving small lumps. Then gently mix in berries. The mix should be rather thick.
Heat a large pan on medium and butter when hot. If you have a griddle heat it to 200° then butter.
Pour ¼ cup of batter on to the cooking surface and let cook until bubbles have stopped rising to the surface and the edges are no longer shiny.
Flip and let cook for around another 2 minutes. Flip on to plate and smother in syrup. Eat!
Got some egg whites left over from previous baking adventures; then why not make some pavlova! This light healthy dessert was inspired by a Russian ballet dancer who had an affection for bon-bons. It's the perfect sweet treat to satisfy a skinny girls sweet tooth. -S
Ingredients
4 egg whites
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. white vinegar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
whipped cream
1 1/2 cups each of the berries you want to use (we used blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries)
Chocolate sauce
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 180° and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Pour the egg whites and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. beat on highest setting for 1 minute or until firm.
With the mixer still running on high add the sugar and continue beating until it forms stiff, shiny peaks.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and sift in the cornstarch as well as add the vinegar and vanilla. Fold it all together gently with a rubber spatula.
Pour the mixture on to the center of the baking sheet and spread out until you are happy with the size and thickness. I would say for baking purposes try too keep it between 1 - 2 ½ inches in thickness.
Place in oven and bake for 1.5 hours. When that time is up keep the oven door closed and turn off the oven. Let the meringue sit in the oven undisturbed for another hour.
Spread whipping cream on top, sprinkle with berries and drizzle with chocolate sauce. Slice. Eat!
Whoever said eggs benny is hard to make must have never tried Fairholmes blender hollandaise! Also, poaching eggs is just as easy as frying them. There is no reason you shouldn’t have eggs every day! -S
Hollandaise Sauce
3 egg yolks
2 Tbsp. and ½ tsp. lemon juice
pinch cayenne
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup butter
Eggs Benedict
4 eggs
2 english muffins
4 slices black forest ham
1 Tbsp. vinegar
Instructions
Hollandaise Sauce
Microwave the butter for 30 seconds. It is okay if there is still a bit of un-melted butter, simply stir it around and the already liquefied butter will melt it.
Place all the ingredients except for the butter into the blender and blend for 10 second on high.
Take the lid off the blender and with the blender still running slowly pour in the liquified butter.*
Once you have poured in all the butter keep on blending for 30 seconds.
* if you have a blender where you cannot blend and have the lid off at the same time simply pour it in, in 3 rounds. (Pour ⅓ of the melted butter into the mixture, blend for 10 seconds, pour in another ⅓ , blend for 10 seconds, pour in last ⅓ , blend for 30 seconds.)
Most recipes say serve immediately however we tested it out and you can use it the next day as well. Pour the finished sauce into a small bowl, cover with saran wrap and place in the fridge. the next day while you are heating up the water for the eggs place the bowl in the water (make sure the bowl is tall enough so the water from the pan doesn't get inside it) and stir occasionally. Remove from the water when it returns to its original consistency or just before the water starts to boil. Give it one more good stir right before serving.
Eggs Benedict
Turn oven on to 350°.
Slice the english muffins in half to create 4 open faced halfs. Toast lightly in toaster.
Fill a large skillet with two and a half inches of water and add vinegar. Set on the stove on high.
While waiting for the water to boil place the toasted english muffins on a baking pan open face up. Fold one piece of ham on to each piece and place in oven.
When the water in the skillet boils turn the heat down to a simmer. One egg at a time gently strike the egg shell on a hard surface, hold no more than an inch above the water simmering water and let the egg slip into the water. Do not stir or touch. It is perfectly normal for bits of the egg white to become detached and form a white froth that floats on top of the water.If impairing your vision of the eggs you can skim the top with a slotted spoon to remove the froth only.*
Let cook for 2-5 minutes depending on how thoroughly cooked you like you egg.
Just before the eggs are finished cooking remove english muffins from oven and move to serving plates. When the eggs are done gently remove them from the water with a slotted spoon making sure to allow all the water to drain away from the egg. Place on top of ham.
Take your hollandaise sauce and spoon desired amount over egg (I usually do 3 heaping spoonfuls) Eat!
*If you are like Jesse and are nervous about the step. Whether it be the coordination or having your hands so close to the hot water try this way. Simply crack one egg into a small bowl then tilt the bowl into the water. (The bigger the bowl the farther your hands will be from the water)
Adapted from: Sylvia Main’s Fabulous Fairholme: Breakfasts and Brunches.
