Spicy Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I used to eat them all the time with veggie burgers but they prove to be great on their own too. And you won’t believe you’re eating healthier as well. Also, for extra flavour, add in some seasonings like brown sugar, onion powder, paprika or cajun seasoning. Truthfully, these fries are delicious plain. For extra flair, dip in honey mustard sauce, ketchup, chipotle mayonnaise or even guacamole- more texture for your mouth.

Hot Apple Cider with Rum

This spiced, hot apple cider with a twist of rum is an excellent drink throughout the frigid fall/winter months, and is perfect during any festive holiday season: i.e. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Serve the steamy beverage in attractive glasses and float a cinnamon stick on the top for that extra touch. Depending on preference, you can remove the cinnamon stick before drinking. Although, leaving it in makes this cider even tastier.

These are just a few items that I love in the fall. What are some of your seasonal faves?

Richard

- Start by “cleaning” the interior. Remove the seeds and the white fibers with a knife.
- Then, brush the exterior with some olive oil and add salt and black pepper to taste.
- Third step, put it on the grill with the skin on… but don’t roast it too long! As soon as the skin is slightly black, remove the peppers from the grill.
- Finally: remove the skin and enjoy.

Another great trick is to roast the peppers al dente and refrigerate it a few minutes. It will regain its original form and you will be able to fill it with rice or your favourite vegetables. It’s a great side dish to meat or fish!

You have some great BBQ tips to share with us? Send them! I love hearing from you.

Take care.

Warren

It helps to eat the right things to keep on movin’. ‘Cause as soon as the Christmas Holidays come around, everyone loses sight of any sage advice about healthy meals.

In the meantime, I wanted to pass along some notable meal recommendations that I received over the summer; meals that I really enjoy and which will give you great taste. I also recommend drinking a lot of water with these meals. If you get bored of regular water, mix-up your favorite juice with sparkling water; less sugar content with a carbonated punch.

BREAKFAST

Vegetable Scramble

chopped mixed vegetables (try tomato, peppers, onion or mushrooms) and scramble with eggs. Serve with 1 slice whole grain toast. (If the eggs won’t work, try using chopped, medium-firm tofu instead.)

Bagel Pizzas

Toast a whole grain bagel half and top with tomato sauce, a slice of deli turkey or chicken, chopped peppers and a little grated cheese. Place under the broiler to melt the cheese.

LUNCH

Thin-Crust Taco Pizza

Spread a tortilla with tomato sauce, cooked chicken, sliced peppers and a sprinkle of grated light cheddar cheese. Broil until warm and golden.

Tabouleh Salad

I could eat this all day with loaves of pita bread. Enjoy this impressive, yet easy meal salad. Make by combining cooked, whole wheat couscous with fresh parsley and tomatoes. Season with a favourite light vinaigrette dressing.

SNACKS

- red and green grapes with low fat cheddar cheese
- apple slices with peanut butter or yogurt (or occasionally melted dark chocolate)
- pita with hummus or tzatziki sauce

DINNER

Easy Seafood Burgers

Enjoy one of these patties (made of tuna, salmon, or lobster) on a whole grain bun with a lettuce leaf and slice of tomato. As an alternate, enjoy the patty as the protein component of a salad meal.

Eating right for a new season is as important as eating right for the last. Lemme know what new meals you’re excited about this season.

Richard

Starting a new school brings new challenges and many adjustments, so giving him one less thing to worry about can only help. Stocking the fridge for easy lunches and letting him fend for himself (fyi no teen wants their Mom around at lunchtime – or any time really) is always a safe bet. Already washed and cut fruit, veggies, yogurt, bagels & cream cheese, stuff to make your own subs… Basically anything grab and go works for us. And if you didn’t know already, teens tend to eat A LOT! For a while, I was convinced that Houdini lived in our pantry because boxes of cereal simply disappeared when they’d come home from the grocery store.

I loved coming home for lunch in high school to get a break from it all. My down time would consist of an hour of back-to-back rerun episodes of cartoons. Coming home for lunch as a teen isn’t all about the food (but it helps). It’s about recharging your batteries in a safe environment that’s accessible and low maintenance. If you get organized and stock up on quick and easy food your teen will actually eat, they will be more likely to come home instead of eating a bag of chips on the fly or grabbing fries and gravy from the cafeteria everyday. Balance is the key.

Good luck with your back to school quest, a little organization goes a long way in the kitchen and hopefully it can be one more piece in the teen puzzle and help you all stay a little more sane during these crucial years. Just remember the old adage …you are only as happy as your unhappiest child!

If you have any organizational tips to share, I would love to hear them!

Happy back to school shopping!

Jack

Eaten as one medium-sized fresh cob, corn provides about 160 calories, 32 grams of carbohydrate, 4 grams of protein and 3.5 grams of fat. It is low in sodium (unless way too much salt is added) and is a valuable source of vitamin B6 and thiamin. Corn is a significant source of fibre providing nearly 5 grams per cob.

When fresh corn is turned into frozen kernels or canned without excess sodium or added ingredients, it can be enjoyed as a side dish to a meal. About ½-¾ of a cup of kernel corn is an appropriate serving size. Corn is also a colourful and tasty addition to a Tex-Mex style salsa with fresh tomatoes and cilantro, or black bean salads.

Because corn is sweet and tasty, it can be tempting to eat too much of it. Like most foods, too large of a portion of corn will add up to too many calories. The carbohydrate count is also high when large portions are consumed. Although a great way to add variety to the diet especially when in season, corn is not considered as nutritious as the superstar vegetables in the cabbage family namely broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts and cabbage itself. Corn is not nearly as rich in disease-fighting antioxidants. But it doesn’t have to be avoided by any means. Simply enjoy moderately as part of your usual well-balanced meals and definitely take advantage of the fact that it is currently in season!

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS), widely used in the food industry for its affordability, is a sweetener made from corn. It is common in processed foods ranging from soft drinks and candy to baked goods and soups. As always, when selecting food for your family, read labels Fresh from the garden corn-on-the cob: a fantastic way to eat corn.

Patricia

P.S. All this talk about corn has me craving one of my favourite snack foods – another corn product, popcorn. I think I’ll go make a bowl. It’s a good source of fibre and not so bad if you go easy on the butter, salt and portion size. How about you, how do you like your corn?

Most people use regular white mushrooms you can buy at the grocery store but I think wild mushrooms are just as great in a recipe.
Portobello mushrooms, nightshades and Oyster mushrooms are three great examples of wild mushrooms you can use in a recipe. They are also great on the BBQ. You just grill them whole, add a little salt and pepper, and voilà!

Another great wild mushroom is truffle. Now I know that truffles are very expensive – sometimes up to 100$ for a piece – but if you have the opportunity to taste some, don’t hesitate. They aren’t called “the diamond of the kitchen” for no reason! The reason why truffles are so expensive is because they are hard to find. People who collect them need specially trained pigs or dogs to sniff them out. And although most people associate truffles with France, they can be found in many countries – including Canada!

I also recommend removing the stem of the mushroom when you cook it since I find the taste too “woody”. (I know “woody” is not a real culinary term, but you get the picture.)

Another tip: Do not wash mushrooms in water or they will absorb all the liquid and become spongy. Use a wet paper towel instead to scrub them lightly.
One last thing I want to share with you. It is vitally important to understand that not all wild mushrooms are edible. Many are even quite poisonous. The best way to know if a wild mushroom is good to eat or not… ? Show them to someone who is knowledgeable, or simply don’t eat them!

See you next time!

Warren

But when the outdoor temperature rises and refreshment is the goal, hot soup typically isn’t the first choice for a meal or snack. But it’s worth thinking about. Soup hydrates, it can offer tremendous nutritional value, be very satisfying and is quick and easy to make. Soup doesn’t have to be reserved for wintery days. On warm days, consider serving a perfectly seasoned chilled soup.

Although not a common practice for many of us, the idea of serving soup cold has been around since at least 1917 when a cold, creamy potato and onion soup was served at the Ritz-Carlton in New York City.
The soup was named Vichyssoise, after the hometown of its creator, chef Louis Diat. This soup made from fresh garden potatoes, fresh leeks and onions adds a couple of servings of vegetables to a meal and makes a perfect accompaniment to an open face ham or roasted chicken sandwich with a summer-fresh green salad.

Gazpacho, perhaps the most common chilled soup, is a delicious idea for using fresh from the vine tomatoes chopped finely with onion, cucumber, bell peppers, celery, parsley, cloves and garlic. Fresh lemon juice, a little sugar and tomato juice add to this zippy soup that can be enjoyed as a meal, an appetizer or an accompanying “vegetable” to grilled meat or fish. Invented in Spain, gazpacho makes an ideal addition to a Mexican-themed meal. Consider it for your next backyard gathering.

Borscht, common in Ukrainian and Russian cuisine is another perfect way to enjoy the garden harvest – this time beets, carrots, cabbage, onions, green beans and more while benefiting from disease-fighting antioxidant nutrients. Borscht is equally delicious served hot or cold. To keep it light and refreshing, if intending to serve it cold, use vegetable stock rather than a meat-based stock. Enjoy it as an appetizer to a Ukrainian barbecue of grilled smokies, perogies and of course sauerkraut.

And for summer’s bounty of fresh fruit…a simple, elegant idea is dessert soup. Yes, soup for dessert. Ginger Peach, Melon, Raspberry, Strawberry-Rhubarb and Blueberry are just a few delicious, nutritious examples that make for a light and refreshing ending to a meal.

If you love to cook, but haven’t yet discovered the versatility of chilled soups, have fun browsing cookbooks and online recipe collections where you’ll find great inspiration. Let me know how you make out!

Patricia

Meticulous planning went into our day at the EX. Proper foot wear and versatile clothing in the case of in climate weather was to be considered as was scheduling the appropriate amount of down time between food consumption and going on the rides. (FYI, trust me no one likes a kid with a full belly and bad case of motion sickness, I know from which I speak, but I digress.)

The food building was always a favourite spot for our family to explore. My Dad would wander around for hours and you could easily find him at one of the following favourites; the homemade donuts stall, the pea meal bacon on a bun place, and/or the toasted waffle ice cream sandwiches stand. The food building had meals from around the globe; Italian spaghetti and pizza, Greek souvlaki, Chinese noodles all in the same row. This was well before food courts were in every mall so the sheer excitement of each kid getting exactly what they wanted for lunch was simply remarkable to a family with nine kids.

I’ve tried to duplicate these summertime foods from my childhood but somehow they never quite taste the same. How did those toasted waffles not melt the ice cream filling? What mustard did they use on those amazing Montreal smoked meat sandwiches? Why do dill pickles taste so much better on a stick? Maybe they made all that food with a secret recipe; one part carnival air, two parts excitement and a dash of good old innocent fun. Things always taste a little sweeter in our memories I guess.

After a day filled with Crown and anchor, guess your weight and whack a mole games, and our arms filled with brightly coloured stuffed animals, we’d make the long pilgrimage back to our parking spot. Just before we’d leave the grounds through the big gates of Lakeshore, my Dad would give us the choice of an ice cream cone (which he would eat half of under the guise of cleaning up the drips) or a red candy apple to go…I always chose the candy apple-my theory was, it lasted longer. And every year my Dad would make sure the birthday girl got the special seat at the very back of our station wagon where I could let my head hang out the back tailgate window…he was a very smart man.

Tell me your vacation food memories!

Happy carnival food consumption all!

Jack

Jacmel, Haiti

Three signs one can always depend on when it comes to discovering good Haitian breakfast: low cost, big flavor, and a squadron of people with accents flaring in what sounds like an argument, but is in fact friendly banter. Amid a menu of stewed foie (liver) for breakfast and boulette poule macaroni (macaroni and chicken) for lunch, the most important phrase to remember is: Griot Complete, (Gree’ Yo Come Plet), a platter of fried pork chunks prepared in all its juicy, fatty glory and served with rice and beans, Bonnon, fried green plantains, and a small container of Pikliz — a pickled spice mix of vinegar, chopped cabbage, carrots, onion, scotch bonnet and sometimes a clove on top.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

KL’s a great city- very green and very clean but breakfast is another story. All I can say is “rich” and “tasty.”

Egg foo yong is a Malaysian staple – rich scrambled eggs with crispy bits of shallots and plump pieces of chopped shrimp. Accompanying the eggs is Kaya toast – thick-cut white bread toasts served with eggy kaya custard spread & butter on the side (note: this is one of the food items which Singaporeans can do better than Malaysians). Look out for Roti babi, a sort of deep-fried sandwich filled with shredded jicama, minced pork, Chinese sausages and other goodies. Like I said, tasty.

So many places to see, so many breakfasts to eat. Do you have a favourite destination where you had the most amazing breakfast? We’d love to hear about it!

Richard

The important thing when buying corn on the cob is to buy it fresh. A great way to do that is to buy it from a small local producer. Where I come from (near Gatineau), there are as many local producers as there are cornfields!
Most people enjoy corncob boiled but I prefer to grill it on the BBQ. My favourite way to do it is to grill the cob a few minutes with the leaves on, and then to peel them off and grill it a second time with some butter. Mmmm!
As for boiling corn, don’t overdo it. 10 to 15 minutes is about right or it’ll tend to be too mushy.
By the way, if you have leftover corn, don’t throw it away. Remove the kernels with a knife or fork and freeze them. You can then use them in your favourite recipe or prepare a traditional (and delicious!) Québec dish: pâté chinois.
What’s “pâté chinois”? It’s shepherd’s pie!

What about you, how do you like your corn? Share your corn ideas with us!

Enjoy your summer.

Warren

P. -S. By the way, blue corn meal may sound like some new trendy food but it has been cultivated in North America for centuries. The Navajo people – in southwest USA – actually give blue corn meal spiritual and healing powers!
As the name implies, blue corn meal has a blue or violet hue. The taste is also quite sweet and it can replace regular corn flour in a recipe.