Girl Scout Cookies on TODAY

If you are like us, you bought way too many Girl Scout Cookies.  Then you realized how many you had, and started handing them out to family, friends and complete strangers.  Of course, after finishing the boxes you DID keep, you felt very sad.  But I have a solution!  Make homemade versions of my personal favorites - Tagalongs and Samoas - at home!  I was on the Today Show this morning demonstrating my recipes.  If you missed it, you can view them and the segment here.

Photos by the lovely Samantha Okazaki

New Westminster - Food Skills for Family Program

Food Skills for Families (Sapperton)



Looking to learn how to eat and prepare healthy foods? Can you commit to 6 Tuesday morning sessions? Then join Family Services of Greater Vancouver for their hands-on program for healthy eating.



Where: Knox Presbyterian Church, 403 East Columbia, New Westminster (map)



When: Tuesday Mornings from 9:15 am to 12:15 noon from April 5 to May 10, 2016 *



* Note: You must be able to attend all 6 workshops.



Cost: Free!



How to Register:

Call: 604-764-1358

Email: CommunityKitchens@fsgv.ca



Register early as space is limited.



Childcare is available, if required.



Who Should Attend:

Parents, seniors or anyone who would like to learn how to eat healthier!



This is a great program to learn how easy it is to cook with fresh ingredients, learn about nutrition and healthy eating. There will be an opportunity to even tour a grocery store with a dietician. Don't forget, you will also meet new people too! Great way to make new friends and share cooking experiences and knowledge too!

Cheddar Cheese Turkey Meatloaf Bites

In my never-ending quest to try and sneak vegetables into my children, I recently tried these bite-sized, delicious, flavorful, cheesy, tiny meatloafs that are prepared in a mini muffin tin.  They are so good that we (Carson and I) ate half of them, and I froze the rest.  The 7 year-old shrugged and said, "yeah, they're ok" and the 19 month-old liked them (but she only eats if she's running in circles these days, forget about a chair!).  The 3 year-old is trying to send me to the looney bin, but that's a story for another day (someone remind me she won't be wearing diapers when she's 10).  Ok but honestly, these are so good and they are packed with vegetables that you pulse into teeny, tiny pieces (see below) so if you also have picky eaters, try them!  If they won't eat them, you will.

Recipe here.  

Tune into the Today Show tomorrow to watch me make something much, less, healthier :)

Turkish Omelettes for CBC's Weekend Morning Show

This morning, I presented the following recipe for CBC's Weekend Morning Show, with host Terry MacLeod.  I made these omelettes often on the boat in Turkey.  Easy to prepare, with great and simple ingredients.


Turkish Omelettes

2 eggs per person
1/4 cup crumbled feta per person
good pinch each of dried oregano and marjoram
pepper, to taste

butter, in the pan

Whisk together all ingredients.  Ladle out one small portion in a hot pan with melted butter and get the mixture throughout the pan.  Fold omelette into quarters, pie shaped folds and serve immediately.

I�m using Nature�s Farm eggs which are available in the St. Norbert�s Farmer�s Market, at their outlet in Steinbach,  Neechi Foods, and Tall Grass Prairie Bakery.

Enjoy!

Can Salt Increase Calorie Intake?

The debate rages on over whether dietary salt (NaCl) increases the risk of cardiovascular events, with no clear answer in sight. Yet few people are paying attention to another, more insidious effect of salt: it may increase our calorie intake, and eventually, the size of our waistlines.

Introduction

Humans are born with specific hard-wired food motivations, which guide us to food properties that kept our ancestors alive and fertile in times past. We have an instinctive attraction to sweetness because, in the world of our ancestors, it indicated ripe fruit or honey-- both important sources of calories and other nutrients. Most of the other food properties we're instinctively drawn to, such as starch, fat, and glutamate, signify high-calorie foods.

Yet one of our hard-wired food motivations stands out from the rest: our attraction to salt. Since salt is calorie-free, salt appetite is one of the few instinctive food drives that doesn't relate directly to acquiring calories. Interestingly, salt is the only essential micronutrient (vitamin/mineral) we can taste at the concentrations normally found in food. Not only our brains, but also our tongues, are hard-wired to seek salt above all other micronutrients.

Read more �

Panama Travel

Facebook keeps reminding me that around this time last year, I was in Panama. I just realized I hadn�t posted photos here!


I never would have chosen Panama myself. I truly had never even considered it among my top destinations. I�ve found that when I go to a place with high expectations, having done tons of research and planning, I tend to be a little disappointed. It seems to never live up to all the photos I�ve seen and all the travel blogs I�ve read. But, when I go to a new place with little or no expectations, I�m usually blown away. This is true for all of the best trips I�ve been on.

My sister works at Expedia, as a geographer, and spends all day at work looking at maps, researching hotels, and basically daydreaming about travelling. She also has insight to good deals, and gets special perks and discounts. So, last year when she suggested Panama, even though I had never considered it and only knew it for it�s hats and canal, I said yes. Yes, yes, a million times yes. (I probably didn�t say it like that). The four of us (me, Evan, Amanda, and her then boyfriend-now husband Pete) spent a few days in Panama City, and the rest of our time on Isla Col�n, an island in Bocas Del Toro province. 

Here are my faves. All photos taken with our iPhones. 

In Panama City
Casco Viejo/ Casco Antiguo is the historic district of Panama City. Take in all the beautiful architecture and old churches and ruins. Eat at the Fish Market food truck (not to be confused with Mercado de Mariscos, the actual fish market), which is inside the ruins of a cleared out old building, where nature is taking over, and you can sit under twinkly lights eating fish tacos. Magic. Get coffee from Unido Coffee Roasters, which is a hip little spot that sources it�s beans from local Panamanian growers. 

Mercado de Mariscos: This is a huge fish market, between the downtown core and Casco Viejo. Pick a food stall, order ceviche, eat it on a cracker, chase it down with an icy cold can of Panamanian beer.

Panama Canal: We just went to the Miraflores visitor center, rather than on an actual boat tour, and it was awe-inspiring. You can watch boats (the biggest boats I�ve ever seen) go through the locks, and learn about all about the history of the canal. Very cool stuff!

In Isla Colon / Bocas
We stayed at Turtle Beach House bed and breakfast, and loved every second of it. My review is here. Watch parrots fly around in the trees outside the B&B, spy on the sloths, eat and drink at the beach bar!

This was the "road" to the beach house! 

Rent ATVs from Flying Pirates, check out Noriega's ruins, where he supposedly had an airstrip in the jungle and buildings for his operation (ps. after being there, the episodes of Narcos where they mentioned Noriega were pretty rad to watch). Adventure around in the jungle and get muddy, get freaked out by the howler monkeys, find your own private beach, repeat.
ATV into town, find out where the locals get their fried chicken. We went on a boat tour, which would have been a lot better if wasn't stormy that day, but there was a lot of cool stuff to see, like dolphins, little red frogs, mangroves, and pretty scenery.

I give Panama an enthusiastic two thumbs up! Would visit again!

Looking to garden in Burnaby?

Burnaby Association of Community Inclusion (BACI) - Still Creek & Filby Court Community Gardens



Interested in growing good food & great friends? Join one of BACI�s community gardens at Still Creek or Filby Court in Burnaby!



Register to attend the Registration Meeting for the Still Creek garden!



When: Monday April 4, 2016

Time: 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Where: 2702 Norland Avenue in Burnaby





Or join the Registration Meeting for the Filby Court garden!



When: Tuesday April 5, 2016

Time: 6:00 pm -7:30 pm

Where:  3755 Banff Avenue in Burnaby





How to Register to attend:

To register or to request a plot:



Visit: http://gobaci.com/news/baci-community-gardens-register-now/

OR contact steve.sale@gobaci.com 

OR call 604-299-1279.