I have no idea why I have never owned  a Waffle Maker before. However I’m thrilled that I now own a Breville No Mess Waffle Maker.

This waffle maker really made my FIRST experience making waffles super easy!!

 

Features that I liked about the Breville No Mess Waffle Maker:

– it has a wide wrap around moat that catches the over flow. Which also makes cleaning up, really easy!

– you can select your preferred color from light and fluffy to crispy golden brown. #loveit

-the best part? It BEEPS when the waffle is ready. How cool is that?

I’m delighted to announce that this is what my morning breakfast looked like!

Here’s the recipe I used. (taken from www.bettycrocker.com)

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil or melted butter (I used melted butter of course)
Fresh berries, if desired

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the waffle maker

2. In large bowl, beat eggs with wire whisk until fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients except berries just until smooth.

3. Pour slightly less than 3/4 cup batter onto centre  of hot waffle iron. Close lid of waffle iron.

4. Bake about 5 minutes or until steaming stops. (I simply had to wait for my waffle maker to BEEP!!)

5. Carefully remove waffle. Serve immediately. Top with fresh berries. Repeat with remaining batter.

I promise that you will continue to make waffles on a regular basis as the Breville No Mess Waffle Maker really delivers.

P.S. Now it’s time for me to host a brunch with a Waffle Bar. I’m already thinking about the topping options – whipped cream, strawberries, blueberries,  raspberries, banana chips, nutella, chocolate chips, chopped pecans etc. OH MY!!

Disclosure: The waffle maker was provided to me, however all opinions are my own

Here’s a round up of a few new places to check out. After all…it’s summer so it’s the perfect time to get out there and embrace the warmer temperatures and introduce your taste buds to some new restaurants:

a) BareBurger: This is a hot hamburger chain in NYC that has recently opened their first franchise in North America. #luckytoronto. Bareburgers’ menu embraces vegan and vegetarian menus. Observers of paleo and glutenfree and low carb diets: and of course, lovers of meat, game and poultry! They are also committed to organics.

What to try? Any of their salads, a hamburger (of course) and save room for their the ice cream sandwich for dessert!!

b) Booyah Ice Cream Parlor: This new ice cream parlour just opened and it’s a few blocks from Dutch Dreams. So if you ever see 50 people in line and don’t have time to wait – you should really walk one more block and try one of their ice cream sandwiches. I tried a GRAPE NUT ice cream sandwich and was a happy camper!!

c) ZaPizzeria: This new pizza restaurant has my name all over it. I simply fell in love with their Oh Canada Pizza! (maple syrup, bacon and potato chips). This combination of sweet/salty and crunchy is exactly the type of combination that I adore. However I sampled their entire menu and seriously they were all equally tasty!!

Disclosure: I was invited to media events at BareBurger and ZaPizzeria however all opinions are my own.

For more information:

Bare Burger, 111 Dundas St. W, Toronto (647 345 2273)

Booyah Ice Cream Parlor, 16 Vaughan Road., Toronto  647-347-2001.

ZaPizzeria,, 402 Bloor St. W, 647 345-9292 

 

I stumbled across this banana cake recipe online and it intrigued me for these two reasons:

a) You bake it at 275 degrees for 1 hour and 10 min.

b) You transfer the cake right from the oven into the freezer for 45 minutes.

So I tried it and it was SO good that I made it three times in one week. Not to mention I had these two compliments;

a) my mom said it tasted similar to the Sara Lee Banana Cake (that we use to eat decades ago)

b) my aunt actually tried it and then made the recipe the following week. She’s an amazing baker so this was a huge compliment!

Here’s the recipe for you to try (in your spare time ..of course)

CRAZY BANANA CAKE WITH CREAM CHESE ICING (credit: www.happyhooligans.ca)

• 1.5 cups very ripe bananas (3 fresh bananas or 4 thawed, previously frozen bananas)
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
•  3/4 cup soft butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1.5 cups buttermilk (OR milk soured with one tbsp vinegar or lemon juice….I used this method as I didn’t have buttermilk hanging around my fridge)

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat oven to 275º F, and grease and flour (or spray), a 9×13 cake pan.

Mash banana and mix with lemon juice and set aside.

In a med bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

If you’re making your own buttermilk, combine milk and vinegar (or lemon juice) in a small bowl, and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. ( I used a mixer for this step to make it light and fluffy)
Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Stir in vanilla.

Beat in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk.

Stir in bananas.

Pour into greased/floured (or sprayed) cake pan and bake at 275º F for 1 hour and 10 mins (or until knife comes out clean).

HERE’S THE INTERESTING STEP:

Immediately place in the freezer for 45 minutes. (if not completely cool upon removal from freezer, let cool further before icing).

No need to cover the cake, but you’ll want to place it on a thick, folded towel to protect items underneath.

FINAL RESULT:

Cream Cheese Icining: (which as you can see from the photo I did’t make as I think it’s amazing on it’s own)

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temp.
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3.5 cups icing sugar (also known as powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar)

1. Cream butter and cream cheese.
2.  Beat in vanilla and icing sugar on low until combined, then high until smooth.

Note: This makes a ton of icing so you might want to halve the recipe.

Happy Baking!!

 

 

Now that the Sporting Life 10k is behind me, I feel that it’s time to sign up for a Sprint Triathlon. I haven’t done one since 2011 and I miss the cross training.

To psyche me up for this new goal, I did a few things:

a) I bought a road bike. This was a huge step for me (ie huge investment) but it feels good. I went to the EnduroSports annual swap event, and bingo I walked out with this beauty for $500. #totallyscore

b) MEC (otherwise known as Mountain Equipment Co-op) helped me out in regard to some accessories. For example, a pair of sun glasses (which are critical when you are out there riding), and a pair of gloves (again, critical) .

Of course, I needed a pouch to hold my beloved Samsung Galaxy S5, keys, and gel packs.

I’ve actually been a huge fan of MEC ever since the kids were little and I bought a MEC snowsuit. To this day, I still think they are the most brilliant snowsuits out there!!

To be honest, when my cousins were visiting from Israel, we put MEC on the list of “tourist attractions” as it truly is a spectacular store with quality products and service.

Now it’s time for me to get in the pool, get out there and ride, and continue to run. Wish me luck.

Promise to keep you updated

Disclosure: Some products were provided to me that were mentioned in this blog post, however all opinions are my own

For many years, every time I travelled to Ottawa we would stop at SUBWAY for lunch in Kingston. It was right off the highway and offered us a quick and healthy meal.

My relationship with SUBWAY continued as I recently turned 50 and served my guests a 6 ft subway. It was a HUGE hit with my guests (sorry..couldn’t resist the joke). Take a peek at this enormous box that it’s packed in!!

Not sure if you know this, but there’s a Build a Winner contest that is taking place now, that invites SUBWAY Canada fans on Facebook to build out their unique sandwich combination!

There’s weekly draws for a $100 SUBWAY cash card, and a grand prize of $1000 up for grabs.
Please click on this link for further information http://bit.ly/1Gbmdzx.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SubwayCanada

Twitter: @SubwayCanada

Hashtag; #BuildAWinner

Hope you get a chance to enter this contest soon as the contest ends May 31st, 2015!!

Disclosure: This blog post is sponsored however all my opinions are my own

 

I have a relative who rarely snacks in between meals. I kind of envy his discipline but not quite sure I could ever adopt that lifestyle! I absolutely adore “noshing” on stuff in between meals. A chunk of cheese, a few berries, a few nuts or even a few crackers will do the trick!

Notice that I’m not snacking on chocolate or ice cream? I really do prefer snacks that are savoury vs sweet. All the better if the snack is crunchy!!

Goldfish® Canada would like to invite you to share your own “snackable moments” using the hashtag #GoldfishSmiles to show them that Goldfish Crackers brings little smiles to your family.

The winning smile will win $500 and a year supply of Goldfish® Crackers to enjoy. Yes – that’s 48 packages!!

Here’s my smile!

Here’s some interesting facts about Goldfish® Crackers:

-they are BAKED with REAL cheese

-they contain no artificial colours or flavours

-they have zero trans fats

So sit back and feel good about eating your favorite snack that smiles back.

Here’s another announcement: I’m tickled pink to announce that Goldfish® Princess Crackers have now arrived. This is a limitation edition cracker so make sure to grab a pack before it’s too late.

There’s many varieties of deliciousness to choose from – try them all! Original, Chedddar, Cheddar made with Whole Grain, Cheese Trio, Colours, Pretzels, GIANT Cheddar, Flavour Blasted, Atomic BBQ, Screamin’ Salt & Vinegar, Xplosive Pizza, Xtreme Cheddar, Vanilla Cupcake Grahams, Honey Bun Grahams and Cholcolate Brownie Grahams.

In the meantime, I’m grabbing a few Goldfish® Crackers to take with me on an outing to Crawford Lake!!

 

For more information:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoldfishCA

Instagram: GoldfishCanada

Disclosure: I was compensated for this blog post however all opinions are my own.

It’s that time of year when I get super busy going to as many events as possible so I can embrace Spring and Summer as much as I can.

Here we go:

1. Currently I’m busy watching as many films as I can at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, which is taking place till May 10th. I’ve watched the first three episodes of the Israeli hit TV Series “Hostages” and will be back for more!! Seeing as I’ve just returned from Israel…this is the perfect festival for me.

2. I’m off to Ottawa on Sunday May 10th to see the Canadian Tulip Festival. I think this Festival which is taking place May 8 to 18th, is nothing short of spectacular… so I try not to miss it. Check out http://tulipfestival.ca/ for more details.

2. On Saturday May 9th it’s the Mount Pleasant Village 3rd Annual Kids’ Fun Day. Nothing beats a community festival. Not to mention, I’m a huge fan of the restaurants/bakeries along this street!! Check out www.mountpleasantvillage.ca for more info about all the fun events that will be taking place.

3. Recently I was introduced to U-Feast. Their tag line is:  Exclusive Food and Wine Experiences for people with a passion for life. UM…Hello…That’s ME!!  Lucky me, I will be attending their upcoming event on May 19th called: Campagnolo’s Greatest Hits 2010 and 2015.  Believe it or not, I’ve never been to this restaurant so I’m super excited. Check out their website for more details  about all their upcoming events. www.ufeast.com

4. The Stop’s Night Market will be taking place on June 17 and 18th at a new location!(181 Sterling). This event will SELL OUT fast. This is what you need to know: Mark down – May 13th at noon and PRE REGISTER your account. Important details are here:  http://nightmarket.thestop.org/#details. Seriously this event is NOT to be missed.

5. The Social Good Conference, on May 25th and May 26th at the Telus Centre, has caught my interest too. I especially like the “pay it forward” registration fee. Not to mention there’s a wide variety of speakers.

 

Have I missed any other events. LOL. I’m sure there’s lots more!!