Tag Archives: Edmonton

3 Creative Ways to Eat Chickie Dough!

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If you haven’t already heard, Karmel Walters and I are the RD duo behind Edmonton’s fav cookie dough hummus – Chickie Dough. The use of pulses in desserts and baked goods was NOT main stream by any means 2.5 years ago when Chickie Dough made it’s debut, but things are changing quickly (in large part due to WHO naming 2016 the International Year of Pulses). We have definitely gotten our fair share of crazy looks over the years as we ask if people would “like to try our cookie dough flavoured hummus.” But the way their eyes light up when they try it for the first time and realize it is actually ridiculously delicious make’s our job so much fun!

One of the MOST common questions I get is – how do you eat it? So, I thought it would be fun to do a quick blog highlighting three ways to eat Chickie Dough other than using it as a dip.

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Chickie Dough Toast – those of you who have read a food blog or scrolled through Instagram in the last year know that toast is “so hot right now”. I’ve completely jumped on the bandwagon and I think Chickie Dough toast is just about the most decadent (but still nutritious) thing I’ve ever tasted. The best combo, in my personal opinion, is Chocolate Chip Chickie Dough with fresh strawberries on a grainy whole wheat bread. But honestly, the combinations are endless!

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Chickie Dough Ants on a Log – now this one is something that I tell people to try all the time, but I have this strange feeling that no one ever does. You really should. Seriously. Peanut Chickie Dough is the flavor with the least amount of sugar, making it extremely versatile and the PERFECT filling for crisp celery. It makes for a super light, but satisfying snack after work or a guilt free treat after dinner when you are trying to curb your sweet tooth.

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Chickie Dough Parfait – so I don’t know about you, but I’m ridiculously excited for pumpkin spice season!!! I’m not sure I ever liked pumpkin spice anything before we started making Pumpkin Spice Chickie Dough, but now…I have fully converted. The Chickie Dough Parfait was inspired by the uncanny resemblance between pumpkin pie and Pumpkin Spice Chickie Dough. This baby is the equally as tasty, way less fattening cousin of pumpkin pie, topped off with fat free cool whip and crushed up graham wafers.

What is your favorite way to eat Chickie Dough?? Leave a comment below – I would LOVE to hear from you.

 

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Vegan “Nice” Cream – Two Ways

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Yesterday was National Ice Cream Day!!

If that doesn’t get you excited – then I’m not sure we should be friends…

(Just kidding! – but honestly…)

I LOVE ice cream – but really try to practice moderation in it’s presence. Lucky for me this ice cream is healthy enough to be consumed at breakfast, lunch and dinner (in my personal opinion)!

I clearly could not decide on just one flavor, so you’re getting two:

Strawberry Coconut Cream
&
PB Banana Chocolate

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Strawberry Coconut Cream
(2 servings)

Ingredients:
– 1 banana, sliced and frozen
– 8 strawberries, quartered and frozen
– 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk
– 3 strawberries, finely diced
– 2 tbsp coconut flakes

Instructions:
– Add frozen banana, frozen strawberries, and coconut milk in a food processor and blend until smooth
– Combine ice cream mixture with diced strawberries and coconut flakes in a small bowl
– Freeze ice cream mixture overnight or until solid

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PB Banana Chocolate
(2 servings)

Ingredients:
– 2 bananas, sliced and frozen
– 2 tbsp peanut butter
– 2 tbsp chocolate chips
– 2 tbsp peanuts, chopped

Instructions:
– Add frozen banana and peanut butter in a food processor and blend until smooth
– Combine ice cream mixture with peanuts and chocolate chips in a small bowl
– Freeze ice cream mixture overnight or until solid

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Low Sugar Roasted Strawberry Jam with Balsamic and Basil

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Where did this month go?! Alex and I have been super busy the last few weeks decorating our master bedroom. In January, we (with the much needed help of my dad and brother) painted our living room, staircase and master bedroom WHITE. I absolutely love it. Seriously, can’t get enough! Alex has been careful not to leave the house for long periods of time because he knows if I get the chance I’ll continue right on into our kitchen and there won’t be a color left in site, except for my fast growing collection of copper accessories, of course. I actually bought a hair brush today because it had copper bristles – is that too much?? Anyways – the master bedroom. I have been swooning over white brick and really wanted to do a feature wall. I came across a textured white brick wallpaper on the target website and promptly ordered 4 rolls. I have heard serious horror stories about wallpaper but luckily this was a peel and stick version that was insanely simple to apply, remove and re-apply (which happened on multiple occasions!). We were in the mood to DIY over the long weekend, so after finishing the wallpaper, we hit up Home Depot and bought a ridiculous amount of copper tubing and 2 white marble floor tiles and created white marble and copper side tables for our bed and a decorative copper ladder! I’m not going to lie, I am shocked at how well it all turned out. Maybe this should be a home decor blog?? (joking, I promise).

Anyhow – all of that has nothing to do with the dang tasty jam that I dreamed up this week! With summer right around the corner, the YEG produce sections have been seriously more plentiful, the fresh berries especially. I have a thing for PB and J and as a result have about five varieties of jam in the fridge right now. Why not add another?? I was inspired by a blogger I follow, Joy the Baker, who recently posted a Roasted Strawberry Shortcake with Basil Cream. My brain immediately translated this to… roasted strawberry and basil jam mixed in to homemade yogurt! Same delicious flavor profile, ridiculously lower in calories (because let’s be serious – bathing suit season is coming). If you try this recipe be sure to leave me a message in the comments below and let me know what you thought 🙂

Low Sugar Roasted Strawberry Jam with Balsamic and Basil

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Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs fresh strawberries, sliced
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a bowl, mix the strawberries, balsamic vinegar and sugar.
  3. Spread mixture evenly on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes.
  4. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
  5. Combine roasted strawberries, chia seeds and fresh basil in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
  6. Transfer jam into a clean jar and refrigerate.

 

 

Homemade Yogurt

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My husband and I carpool to work. We haven’t always, but over past year we have been lucky enough to both work in the same general area, which happens to be about ten minutes from home! I love carpooling – we save a bit of money on gas and my husband makes me laugh before 7 AM just about every day. Because we are so close to home, we usually head there for our lunch break (bonus: that means I don’t have to spend time thinking about what to bring for lunch).

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About two weeks ago we were on our way home for lunch and a commercial came on for a one day sale at The Bay. Le Crueset French Ovens on sale for $159, regular $400!!! I have been dreaming about a french oven for quite some time and that was a smokin’ deal (in my personal opinion). Long story short I immediately got Alex to turn the car around and head straight to The Bay.

Homemade yogurt was one of the main reasons I was wanting to purchase a french oven. I had no idea how easy it was to make yogurt at home until about a month ago when I came across an article from The Kitchn. For those of you who know me well, you know that I can be very frugal when it comes to grocery shopping. Yogurt was one of the products that I feel is totally overpriced. $7 for a tub of greek yogurt seems a little high – am I right?! Needless to say, I will NOT be purchasing yogurt again anytime soon cause I am totally pumped about what I can make with a 2 L of milk and a little bit of patience, right in my own kitchen.

Here is what you need:

  • French oven or heavy sauce pan with lid
  • Instant read thermometer
  • 2 L of milk (I used 1% cow’s milk)
  • 1/2 cup of plain commercial yogurt with bacterial cultures (I used a plain non-fat PC brand greek yogurt)

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Instructions:

  1. Heat the milk over medium heat. Stir gently throughout to avoid the milk from scorching.
  2. Once the milk reaches 200 degrees F – remove from heat. Allow the milk to cool to 115 degrees F. Stir occasionally to help reduce the temperature  more quickly or put the french oven in an ice bath.
  3. Remove 1 cup of warm milk and combine with 1/2 cup of commercial yogurt in a separate bowl. Whisk until smooth.
  4. Pour the thinned yogurt back into the warm milk and whisk gently.
  5. Cover with a lid and transfer into a room temperature oven (I tried this after cooking something in the oven and it was too hot and did not work!). Turn on the oven light to keep the milk warm while it sets.
  6. Let yogurt sit overnight. Avoid stirring the yogurt until it has fully set.
  7. Once the yogurt is set – remove it from the oven and drain off any whey from the surface of the yogurt.
  8. Whisk the yogurt prior to transferring into jars for a smooth and cohesive texture. Cover and refrigerate.
  9. Make sure to save 1/2 cup of your homemade yogurt to use in your next batch! The yogurt will stay good in the fridge for about two weeks.

This is a traditional yogurt – not a greek yogurt! If you want a thicker texture you can drain out some of the whey using a strainer and a cheese cloth, use a higher fat milk, or add 1 cup of skim milk powder to the fluid milk during the cooking process.

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PS. I added 1/4 tsp of coconut extract and 1 tsp of granulated stevia to 3/4 cup of homemade yogurt and topped it with toasted coconut and sliced strawberries and it was pretty unbelievable. I’m on the coconut bandwagon and I am NOT getting off. But really, the sky is the limit when it comes to mix ins!

Aurora: The Perfect Patio Beer

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So how about this weather???

But actually…it has been friggen beautiful outside in the YEG this spring! All this vitamin D has me dreaming of sipping on ice cold beverages out on the patio with friends. It doesn’t get much better than that (in my personal opinion). So it was pretty much fate when our friends, Kristen and Josh, brought a pack of Aurora over to our place for dinner.

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Let me tell you about it.

I am going to be completely candid with you – I would not call myself a beer drinker, but this beer does it for me! It is totally refreshing, has a bright floral/citrus flavor profile, and is brewed locally in Canmore, Alberta (#shoplocal). One of the first things I noticed about Aurora was the subtle carbonation. I often feel uncomfortably full after drinking a beer, but this is not the case here. The five simple ingredients used to brew Aurora were chosen specifically to maintain nutrient content and reduce bloat – sign me up!

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If you happen to drop by this summer, you will definitely find a can of this beer in our fridge/in my hand.

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PS. Use this super handy website if you want to know where to find it!

PPS. I snacked on Sweet Chili Pistachios while photographing/drinking this beer and it was delish 🙂

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Cheers!

Birthday Month: Ampersand 27

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Seven months ago I got married and at that moment I went from having three wonderful parents to having eight! Blended families are pretty much the norm these days, but I think my husband and I take this to a whole new level. I didn’t know it yet, but at that moment birthdays went from a weekend event to a month long celebration. All I can say is – I am not complaining!

Last night I celebrated my birthday for the third time this month at Ampersand 27. I tend to be the most adventurous family member when it comes to food, so I was pleasantly surprised when I was told to put together a charcuterie board for the table to start. I wanted to choose items that I knew everyone would enjoy and this is what we ended up with:

  • Prosciutto de Parma
  • Bison Smokies
  • Appenzeller
  • Pecorino
  • Pickled Asparagus Spears
  • Hummus
  • In House Bavarian Pretzel
  • Blueberry & Port Chutney
  • Maple Grainy Mustard

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I think it’s safe to say I chose well, because the food disappeared in about 2.5 minutes flat. My personal favorites were the appenzeller cheese (perfectly firm and creamy swiss style cow cheese), the bison smokies, and the pretzel with honey mustard (plus it was in the shape of an ampersand – how cute is that??). It was clear that the asparagus had been pickled using fennel, which is kind of unfortunate, as most of the table really dislikes the black licorice flavor it gives. But, overall a huge win.

The “Butcher’s Pride” feature was a meatloaf made with 90% bison and 10% beef, served with tricolor baby potatoes and kale. The “Captain’s Catch” feature was a seafoood green curry with scallops, shrimp, mussels and salmon over coconut rice. I instantly knew what I was going to order – I am a sucker for green curry! Between the five of us, we ordered two of the “Captain’s Catch”, two of the “Butcher’s Pride” and one Organic Free Range Chicken (Apple Hickory Smoke, Honey, Herbs, Little Gems and Vegetables).IMG_3941IMG_3944IMG_3943

Everything was delicious and we all left absolutely STUFFED. It was brought up that we were charged $1 per person for water, but when I saw this on the menu I was totally on board:

“Proudly Serving Q Water – In an effort to reduce our carbon footprint & support charity all are welcome to our unlimited filtered still or sparkling water at the cost of $1 per guest. Partial proceeds of Q Water sales will be donated to Mealshare. Thank You”
Mealshare is an organization that partners with restaurants to raise money for individuals in need. If you want to learn more about what Mealshare is all about check out their website: http://www.mealshare.ca/
I would definitely recommend Ampersand 27 as a place to meet friends for cocktails and charcuterie or to go for dinner on a special occasion. The service was amazing and the decor is absolutely beautiful. Check it out!

Chicken Milanese with Celery Root Puree

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Over the past summer I have had the opportunity to spend many Saturdays at the Farmer’s Market and it has really opened my eyes to availability and seasonality of foods. When you shop at the grocery store you see the same fruit and vegetables stocking the aisles nearly every month of the year but at the Farmer’s Market you see exactly when food is available and at it’s peak – because if it’s not, you probably won’t be able to find it. I’ve also found that if you are looking for something a little bit more unique you likely won’t find it at Superstore or Save On but you can almost always find it at the City Market on 104 Street!

Celery root is something that I have never used before in cooking and I actually didn’t even know what it looked like. So when I was wondering around Kuhlmann’s I had to ask someone to send me in the right direction and boy am I happy they did! Here’s a photo of what celery root or celeriac looks like:

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Anyways, I found a recipe for Chicken Milanese with Celery Root Puree on the Canadian Living website and I was excited to try it out (after looking at three different grocery stores for celery root and finally finding it at the Farmer’s Market). Chicken Milanese is a Latin American dish where breaded meat fillet preparations are known as a milanesa. I lightened this one up by baking the chicken rather than frying it and getting rid of the cream in the puree and substituting milk instead.

This would be a great dish to make for friends because it is delicious, not overly adventurous for those picky eaters and looks beautiful!

Chicken Milanese

Ingredients:

4 chicken cutlets
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 egg
1 Tbsp grainy mustard
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp lemon juice
3 cup arugula
1 cup celery root leaves (I added them in because they were just so dang tasty!)

Celery Root Puree:

1 celery root, chopped
1 russet potato, chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/3 cup gruyere cheese, shredded
1/4 cup skim milk
1 Tbsp margarine
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Place flour in shallow dish. In separate shallow dish, whisk egg with mustard. Place panko in third shallow dish. Dip chicken into flour, shaking off excess; dip into egg mixture, letting excess drip back into dish. Press into panko to coat. Place on waxed paper–lined rimmed baking sheet; refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Using an olive oil mister or cooking spray, lightly coat baking sheet. Place breaded chicken on sheet and lightly coat chicken (to get a nice golden crust). Bake for 15 minutes or until inside is no longer pink.

Celery Root Purée: Meanwhile, in large pot of boiling water, cook celery root, potato and garlic until tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain; return to pot. Dry over low heat, shaking pan often, for 1 minute. Transfer to food processor; add Gruyère cheese, milk, margarine, salt and pepper. Purée until smooth.

In bowl, whisk olive oil with lemon juice toss with arugula and celery root leaves. Serve over chicken and celery root purée.

TEDx Edmonton – Food For Thought

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Last night, at the beautiful Mercer Warehouse, myself and my good friend Karmel made it out to the TEDx Edmonton Salon #4 on Food For Thought.  The loft setting housed hundreds of foodies awaiting to hear about the future of food.

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Upon arrival there were food samples provided by Pangea Deli (located north of Jasper Avenue on 104 Street) including an oat cookie sweetened with dates, pork sausage, and pearl barley salad, followed by complimentary bottles of Steam Whistle. We settled into the middle of the pack and started to recognize a number of faces.

The night included 3 short talks provided by the guest speakers with a discussion session to follow. The three guests included:

Tom Lynch-Staunton, Gentec

Tom Lynch-Staunton has a strong practical and lifetime experience in the livestock industry. Before joining Livestock Gentec, he and his brother co-managed the family-owned Antelope Butte Ranch (est. 1885), a mixed 1,000 head cow/calf operation in southern Alberta. The Antelope Butte Ranch has been genetically improving its herd for increased efficiency and profitability since the 1980s. Mr. Lynch-Staunton received a Bachelor’s in Marketing and International Business from Simon Fraser University, and completed a diploma in Spanish in Mexico.

Mr. Lynch-Staunton is Livestock Gentec’s Director of Industry Relations. His role is to work closely with the executive team to create connections with various sectors of the livestock industry for collaborative projects, two-way communications and genomics education. He is also Director of Marketing for Delta Genomics, and assists in business and market development for both Livestock Gentec and Delta.

Megan Dear, Founder, Localize

Meghan Dear is the founder of Localize, an Edmonton-based start-up that is testing ways to strengthen the relationship that consumers have with food producers through an innovative approach to grocery shelf and product labelling.  She has a degree in Biology and Agriculture, and has worked in the management of analytics research in food and agriculture for the Government of Alberta.  She has also worked for the Government of Ghana to develop and scale a unique platform to share crop market information with small scale farmers using private and public sector data, seeing first-hand that information can be a tool to empower both consumers and farmers to make better decisions. Localize’s shelf-labelling initiative is now operating in 42 Alberta grocery stores, and is expanding rapidly.

Carol Neuman, Founder, 10 Mile Meal

Carol Neuman spent her childhood on a farm near Pigeon Lake where she was immersed in the then-unglamorous local food scene: weeding her mothers’ garden, raising rabbits and, occasionally, milking cows. Today, she returns to her roots as founder of the 10 Mile Meal. Through local sourcing of ingredients and inspiration, the 10 Mile Meal celebrates the culinary and cultural traditions of farming communities in the greater Edmonton region.

Some of the most memorable discussion settled upon the differentiation of genetic or genomic selection and genetically modified organisms, which cuisines should be considered traditional in Alberta (Aboriginal vs Settler), and how to rate the level of “local” in food products.

Overall, I had a great night surrounded by like minded Edmontonian’s engaging in discussion about food.

PS. I can’t wait to check out Pangea! Small samples make it hard to form a solid opinion but they showed a lot of tasty promise.

TEDxEdmonton

The Dish Bistro

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In the past couple of weeks I have experienced more life altering milestones than any sane person should ever submit themselves to. My dietetic internship and 5 long years of post secondary education came to a close, I packed up my life and moved from Grande Prairie back to Edmonton after living in the snowy north for four months, I moved in with my boyfriend, Alex and therefore adopted a puppy by default, and I started my first “real” job with NAIT Food Services. Needless to say I was in need of a serious catch up with my best friend, Janelle, and a soon-to-expire groupon led us to The Dish and The Runaway Spoon (which we have both lived across from for a whole year without ever making it in to). I was pleasantly surprised to see a “You’ve Gotta Eat Here” poster, as John Catucci came for a visit last May to film an episode for Season 2 of his series. It MUST be good if it’s on the food network!?

I was the first of my twosome to arrive and I was seated at a quaint table within the 40 seat bistro.

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After a lot of chatting and very little focus spent on the menu, we decided to share the Curried Turkey Burger and the Sticky Orange Chicken. The service was quite casual which worked well for the intense gossip that was going on at our table but may not be ideal for all circumstances.

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This curried turkey burger came with a citrus fennel and apple slaw which had the perfect balance of acidity, richness, and crisp and a side of fresh root vegetable chips that gave me the kick of salt that I look for in any meal. The burger itself was extremely flavorful and moist, but the bun seemed soggy to me (likely from the aoili). I would definitely order this again and I may have even been upset that I didn’t get to eat the whole thing by myself!

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The chicken came with chive and garlic mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables and it looked amazing! I’m not sure if it’s the dietitian in me but I was a tad disappointed to see chicken thighs rather than chicken breasts..I just can’t stand a soggy, fatty chicken skin. I was expecting a punch of citrus from the chicken and it left me wanting.

Still looking forward to their appearance on the next season of “You’ve Gotta Eat Here” and wouldn’t be opposed to giving it another shot, but my socks were not knocked off.