If you are like me, you struggle with work lunches! Why? Because…
-I often overlook the importance of eating lunch. -I often forget to make it the night before and then I don’t feel like making them in the morning. -I often forget to grab my lunch on the way out the door. -I never know what to make. -I get bored with what I make.
I had a wisdom tooth removed at the start of the summer and I lived off of smoothies. I found some AMAZING recipes; tasty and easy to make. Check them out!
1. From Lisa Bryan @ Downshiftology: Mango Smoothie 2. From the team @ Fit Foodie Finds: Apple Pie Smoothie 3. From Cassie Johnston @ Wholefully: No Banana Greena Colada Smoothie 4. From Ashley Fehr @ The Recipe Rebel: Healthy Strawberry Smoothie 5. From Sara @ Dinner At The Zoo: Frozen Fruit Smoothie
Drink… Lemonade is a MUST for a picnic; I featured a few of my all time favourite variations on a previous blog post; you can check them out HERE: Lovely Lemonade
Appetizer/Snack..
Deviled Eggs 8 Hard boiled eggs (for the perfect egg check out Simply Recipes) 4 Tbsp Miracle Whip 1 Tsp Mustard Pinch of salt and pepper Sprinkle of paprika
1. Cook, peel & cool eggs 2. Slice lengthwise and remove the yolk; put in a separate bowl 3. Add Miracle Whip, mustard, salt and pepper; mix 4. Fill center of egg with the yolk mixture; sprinkle each lightly with paprika 5. Refrigerate overnight Main…
1. Slice buns in half 2. Spread olive salad on both halves 3. Layer: ham, mozzarella, salami, provolone, mortadella; REPEAT 4. “Close” sandwich; wrap in saran wrap 5. Refrigerate Sides…
Make Ahead Three Bean Salad 14 oz can Kidney beans 14 oz can Cannellini beans 14 oz can Garbanzo beans 1 cup Onion (red or white) 1 tsp Italian seasoning 1/3 cup Vinegar 3 Tbsp Olive oil 1/3 cup Vinegar (apple cider or red wine) 1/4 cup White sugar
Pinch of salt & pepper1. Drain and rinse the beans; combine in a large bowl 2. Finely dice the onion; add to the bowl 3. In a separate dish combine the seasoning, vinegar, oil, sugar & salt and pepper; whisk until well blended. 4. Pour dressing over the beans and onion; toss until well coated 5. Refrigerate overnight Caprese Salad 4 Heirloom tomatoes 8 oz FRESH Mozzarella cheese 4 oz FRESH Basil Balsamic Vinegar Olive Oil Pinch of salt & pepper
1. Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella 2. Arrange the tomato slices, mozzarella slices and basil on a platter (alternating) 3. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar 3. Sprinkle with salt & pepper Desserts… Easy Fudgy Brownies From Scratch →Literally THE best recipe out there! From: Inspired Taste Rainbow Lunch Fruit Kebabs 10 Raspberries 10 Strawberries 10 Orange slices 10 Nectarine cubes 10 Pineapple chunks 10 Kiwi slices 10 Grapes (green) 10 Grapes (red) 20 Blueberries 10 Wooden Skewers
1. Wash, peel/hull/cut fruit 2. Skewer 1 piece of fruit in the following order: raspberry, strawberry, orange, nectarine, pineapple, kiwi, green grape, red grape 3. Skewer 2 blueberries at the end after the red grape
I spent a few days downtown Edmonton with a few of my closest girlfriends. We stayed on the Gold Floor at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald; they take such good care of us there.
We enjoyed the most amazing food on the Patio and from the Harvest Room restaurants and yummy breakfasts and snacks from the Gold Lounge…
We went swimming, walked through the beautiful garden. We did venture “off campus” after we finished our professional development sessions and went to the Art Gallery of Alberta as well as The Royal Alberta Museum. Taste of Edmonton was also happening so we walked through that; the smell was incredible. We also took the funicular and walked the trail to the foot bridge to see the indigenous art installation. We met up with some other friends at Craft; I highly recommend the jalapeno mac and cheese. In the evenings we worked on a Case File.
Dips are great because they are multi-functional. From being a protein boost, to helping us incorporate more fruit and vegetables into our eating habits; adding flavour to the mundane, they are easy to make, and satisfy people of ALL ages when feeling ‘snacky’ between meals. These following dips are all of the above…
Flatbreads are a great summertime snack. An alternative to the traditional pizza; with the chance to try out adventurous topping combinations and of course they are great for sharing. The ones I love to serve up to friends include the following… Squash, Caramelized Onions, Sausage from Clean Eating Brussel Sprouts and Bacon from Gimme Some Oven Roasted Tomato, Corn and Zucchini from Blue Bowl Recipes
One of my favourite things about summertime is picking strawberries from the garden. In addition to being delicious, strawberries are rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber and have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Today, I am sharing with you all the ways I love to enjoy them.
Strawberry Shortcake Ingredients 1 can Pillsbury Grands! Southern Homestyle Buttermilk Biscuits (8) 1 tub Cool Whip Original Whipped Topping 6 cups sliced strawberries 1/4 sugar Directions -Mix the strawberries and sugar together in a bowl; place in fridge -Bake the biscuits according to the instructions on the package -Slice the biscuits in half -Layer bottom of biscuit with strawberries and whipped cream -Place top of biscuit on the filling
Simple Small Batch (Ready to Eat) Jam Ingredients 2 pounds of fresh strawberries 4 cups sugar 1/4 cup of lemon juice Directions -Wash the strawberries and remove the stems -In a large bowl mash the strawberry -Add strawberries, sugar and lemon juice to a saucepan on low heat; mix together -When sugar dissolves; kick the temperature up to high -Boil for about 10 minutes; stirring often –the mixture will be ‘gel like’ (you can test consistency with the ‘back of the spoon’ or ‘frozen plate’ method) -Put jam into mason jars and refrigerate
Note: If you are not going to consume the jam right away; you will need to process the jam in a water bath!
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Ingredients 6 cups chopped rhubarb 3 cups sliced strawberries 2 cups granulated sugar 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp AP flour 3/4 cup Quaker Quick Oats 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 cup butter (or margarine) Vanilla ice cream (optional) Directions -Mix rhubarb, strawberries, white sugar, and 2 Tbsp AP flour together in a bowl -Pour into a greased 9X13 baking dish -Mix brown sugar, oats, 3/4 cup AP flour, and cinnamon together in a bowl -Using a pastry blender; cut butter into brown sugar mixture until crumbly -Sprinkle the brown sugar/butter mixture over fruit mixture -Bake at 375F for 45 minutes; “crust” should be golden brown -Serve warm with vanilla ice cream
Rosé Slush Ingredients 1 bottle of Barefoot Rosé 4 cups of strawberries (sliced) 8 cups of ice (crushed) Directions Combine all the ingredients in a blender; blend until slushy Serve & enjoy!
Spinach Strawberry Salad
Ingredients 1/2 cup of thinly sliced red onion 9 oz bag of baby spinach 3 cups sliced strawberries 1/2 cup sliced and toasted almonds Kraft Creamy Poppyseed Dressing
Directions –Combine the first four ingredients together in a large bowl -Drizzle with dressing; toss and serve immediately!
Most of the time I eat my lunch on the go; walking the halls on supervision, gulping it down during my prep or at “five minute break,” or I eat my lunch as a super early dinner at 4 when I get home because I didn’t have time to eat it during the day. I know none of these scenarios is ideal.
To be honest there is a lot of garbage convenience food out there. But as a “convenience food connoisseur” I know which ones taste the best!
One of my friends is expecting; which is super exciting, but she has been pretty unimpressed with the mocktails she has ordered lately. For her shower and other parties this spring, I set out to find some delicious (and easy to make) mocktails based on her favourite cocktails and these are the ones that have and will pass the test!
1. Stirred “Stirred cocktails are spirit forward, boozy drinks that typically consist of a base spirit, a sweetener, and modifiers such as bitters, additional spirits, liqueurs, or fortified wines.”
Old Fashioned from veryobsessed.com *Most non-alcoholic recipes call for bitters; however they contain trace amounts of alcohol; which is important to note; always check with your pregnant guests. 2. Shaken (Sours) “Sours are shaken cocktails that are composed of something acidic, something sweet, and something strong.”
Margarita from acoupleofcooks.com 3. Highballs “Highballs are called “long” drinks as they are usually a sour or stirred base that is lengthened by the addition of carbonated water…served in the iconic highball glass.”
Hurricane from Taste of Home 4. Flips, Fizzes, Swizzles, and Smashes “A smash begins with muddled herbs and/or citrus, which are then shaken with a spirit and sweetener and served over crushed ice.”
