Giada De Laurentiis New Cook Book

Today I just bought Giada De Laurentiis' new cook book.

It's called Giada's Feel Good food

This is a good one.  If you are Canadian, you can find it at Costco for just $20 + HST.

The book is full of fresh new recipes that use all the fresh and healthy ingredients that are so popular right now.  

The book boasts many recipes that are either Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy Free or Gluten Free.  

It features a modern approach to food and recipes, even how things are served - a burger with no bun...very low carb, if you require that.

Her smoothie recipes use regular ingredients you tend to have on hand in the house, and look fantastic.

Giada's cookbooks are always full of recipes that are very user friendly to the home cook, and also delicious.

Check it out on line at Amazon, or swing by your local Costco and pick up a copy.  You'll be glad you did!

Thanks for reading,

Cassie

Giada De Laurentis Basica Marinara Sauce - Preserving Tomatos

It is the fall season.
For a couple of very busy weeks, we have been juggling the back to school rush and also preserving of tomatoes.  We have made a lot of jars of marinara sauce.

This is just a few of them.  There are many more than in this picture.

I know I haven't been writing for a while, as my life has been very busy, but I hope to post more in future dates.
Our family is on a very focused health initiative, and it is a whole foods, plant based diet.
We aren't quite vegan, but 90% vegan.
We feel better, weigh less, and are saving a bit of money too.

I can't wait to tell you more.  It will have to wait for future entries.

Our marinara sauce recipe is from Giada De Laurentis cookbook (Everyday Pasta) so all credit goes to her - the chef superstar!  Her cook books really have good and user friendly recipes.  I strongly recommend picking up one of her cookbooks to add to your collection.

Here is the recipe, but some of it we made skipping the olive oil to make it even more low fat and healthier, and we did add a bit of onion powder to boost the onion flavor:
We did this recipe, times X3.

BASIC MARINARA SAUCE:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (or 1/2 bushel of fresh roma tomatoes to triple the recipe)
2 dried bay leaves

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.  Add the celery, carrots and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.  Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour.  Remove and discard the bay leaves.  Season the sauce with more salt and pepper to taste.
(The sauce can be made 1 day ahead.  Cool, then cover and refrigerate.  Rewarm over medium heat before using)

Honestly folks - this marinara sauce is so delicious!  Try it today!

Thanks for reading,

Cassie

Waiting for Spring

If you live in Canada, and more specifically southern Ontario, you will know what I mean when I say that spring is just around the corner and you're dying to see it.

We have snow, and then plants pushing up out of the ground, and then is snows on top of them again.

We are so eager to get outside again and clean up all the sticks that have blown into the yard over the winter, but it's still so muddy because the ground is so soft, that the post winter clean up isn't that practical yet.

And now, in late April it's the rain.  One day it's cold and raining, then next day a bit warmer, but still raining.

Half the time the sky still looks grey like this, and we have these little ponds of water in the grass from the melted snow.

The funny thing about the area we live in, is we tend to get these mild winter-like temperatures well into the spring season and then WHAM! It's summer!  In the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) we live in, we don't get very many days of classic spring temperatures between 15 - 20 degrees.  

So what do you do with rainy days and weather that's still a bit too cool?  

- walk the dog like the lady in the picture above is (a Brampton Picture)

- catch up on house projects inside

- Plan your garden and outdoor projects on paper.

So there you have it, hang in there, before you know it the nice weather will be here.

Thanks for reading

Cassie

Dog Walking

Did you get that hint of spring in the air this week?
The weather has lightend up a bit, and there has been a lot of snow melting.

This was really needed as we got so much snow that you couldn't even see over some of the snow banks, and our driveway was losing width to snow banks, which made it hard to park the cars.

Now, we are seeing bits of grass and temperatures as high as 10 degrees!  Yay!

This is our dog Skye.

Windgates is the name of the breeder she came from, in case you're wondering about the name on the photo.

She is also eagerly awaiting spring.  There isn't too much for a dog to sniff when the snow banks are 3 feet high in most places.  And it's too wet to play frisbee because she loves to do this dive-roll action.

I have been doing some reading on Shetland Sheepdogs (Shelties) and they require quite a bit of exercise.  More than we have provided for this little one lately.  In the deep of winter I am guilty of the 10 min around the block because it's cold and dark out.  She would have to wait until Saturday for a proper walk.

My new goal for the spring is 30 minutes every morning and 30 - 60 minutes in the evenings.  This will also help me get back into better shape too.  Good for dog, and good for me.  So far she is enjoying more time outside that what she had in January and February on weeknights.

Do you have a dog?  Have you considered how many hours a day he/she needs walking?

Shelties also require lots of mental exercises.  They are the 6th smartest dog breed and they need a job to do, or else they make their own job of barking at everything in sight, or chasing things.

My next goal is to find some fun games that go beyond the frisbee fetching to figure out how to challenge this sweet friend of ours.

leave a comment if you have a dog and share with me how often you walk yours.

Thanks for reading,

Cassie

Veggie julienne

January 21, 2013
Below you will find a post that I had prepared in December, and for some reason I did not post it.
There is some great looking food and nice ideas for dinner.  Enjoy!
I have been exceptionally busy over the Christmas break and into the new year.  When my responsibilities are busy, I have no choice but to let the blog fall into the category that it really is...a hobby.  Much thanks to all of you who have been checking in and reading.

Going forward into the new year I want to explore more and more on whole foods eating, and also vegetable gardening.  Planning and organizing shopping and cooking to eat foods as natural as possible also.

Dec 6, 2013 
Here is some parts of an awesome dinner we made tonight.

Menu:
Kale salad served with julienned carrots, daikon radish, zucchini, and some red collards.
Purple Organic grown potatoes,
A bit of Chorizo sausage from a local butcher who only uses hormone free, local raised animals.

Purple Organic Potatoes

I should add that our family budget does not allow for organic grown  produce most times.  We found a local grower in Caledon, Ontario, who is supplying produce until December 23rd.  We have obtained purple potatoes, purple carrots, parsnips, red collards, brussel sprouts, 2 kinds of squash, etc.  So cool, and so healthy.  Check out what you can still buy local.  You just might be surprised.  We can buy from this  supplier until December 23rd.  You might find a local supplier that can provide awesome produce for you too!

Try to cook with reduced amounts of oil and substitute water or juice or vinegar appropriate to the dish when cooking/pan searing.    Keep your meat and dairy  to 3-4 oz per day as a total combined, and increase your fibre through whole grains and whole foods, and you'll be on your way to good healthy nutrition.

Plus, this stuff just tastes great, and increases your energy. 

Hopefully the pictures inspire you to get busy in your kitchen.

Thanks for reading,

Cassie