Remember the roasted cauliflower recipe that I blogged about a few weeks ago? Well, there was no way I was going to eat that whole cauliflower by myself. Therefore I needed to figure out what to do with it.

So I went on Pinterest and found a Cauliflower Potato Salad – without the Potatos!! I thought to myself – PERFECT.

Here’s the recipe: (adapted from www.nelliebellie.com)

Ingredients:

1 roasted cauliflower or steamed cauliflower

2 hard boiled eggs, grated

1/4 cup of mayonnaise

3 ribs of celery, diced

Fresh parsley or dill (fresh herbs will make a huge difference)

Directions:

1. Roast or steam the cauliflower. Click here for the Roasted Cauliflower recipe)

2. Grate the cauliflower till you have 2 cups

3. Combine the grated cauliflower, grated hard boiled eggs and celery together with the mayo.

4. Add salt and pepper and fresh herbs – to your taste.

FINAL

This is a fantastic alternative to potato salad.

It’s also perfect for someone like me who is trying to cut down on carbs.

T’is the season to embrace salads, don’t you think?

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It’s that time of year where we all attempt to eat healthier. Including me. I’m really trying hard to eliminate carbs and eat more protein. Therefore this Activia Challenge is perfect for me.

You see on Jan 1st at noon, I treated myself to Poutini’s and I haven’t had a carb since that special treat.

According to a recent survey by Leger and Activia, Canadian women have an overwhelming tendency to make New Year’s resolutions related to their health, including doing more physical activity (88%) and eating a healthier diet (87%).

The bad news? We’re setting ourselves up to fail. More than half (55%) of Canadian women will keep their healthy living resolutions for less than a year (and some for as little as 2 weeks!), with the most common reasons being a lack of motivation, a lack of lifestyle fit and a tendency to make resolutions that are overly ambitious.

Mid-January will mark the turning point for whether or not most Canadians will keep their resolutions. Guess what? It’s mid January and so far so good I’ve been pretty good with my attempt to incorporate less carbs in my life (yay for me).

Here’s my tricks:

-I’m incorporating more yogurt into my day. The Activia Challenge is currently encouraging women to eat 2 Activia yogurts a day for two weeks. (specifically Jan 11 to Jan 21). I’m in. Are you?

-I’m staying away from beer and wine. However Vodka is fine. Hello Martini.

-I’m eating more salads…specifically Kale salad which I find is SO filling.

Professional home economist, cookbook author and Cityline celebrity, Mairlyn Smith has a few suggestions as well. She’s actually serving as an Activia Ambassador! Here’s one of her easy recipes which is an easy way to transform Activia yogurt into a delicious trifle.

Raspberry Trifle (serves 4)

Ingredients:
• 4 lady finger cookies
• 1 cup (250 mL) frozen local raspberries, thawed
• 4 – 100 g 0% fat Greek Activia Vanilla yogurt

Directions
You’ll need four 1 cup/250 mL glass desert bowls or parfait dishes

1. Mash the thawed raspberries with a fork, set aside.
2. Break the lady finger in half and place in the bottom of each of the four bowls.
3. Spoon 1/4 cup (60 mL) of the mashed raspberries over top.
4. Open 1-100 g container of the Activia yogurt and spoon over top of the raspberries. Repeat with all four of the desserts. Place in the fridge. To soften the lady finger the dessert needs to set for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Each serving includes 127 Calories, 0.5 g Total Fat, 0 g Saturated Fat, 0 Trans Fat, 9.1 g Protein

I hope you join me in this Activia Challenge!

To follow along on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, please use the hashtag #ActiviaChallenge

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

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I’ve been on a no carb diet since early June, and needless to say I’m a bit bored of my breakfast options:

• Kale Smoothies
• Egg Whites
• Yogurt with berries (Iogo ….sugar free….is my brand of choice this days which has ZERO carbs. YES…ZERO)
• Almonds and a coffee

Then I received the Milk Calendar and said to myself “Vicky – you need to find a new breakfast option. It’s time”. Not to mention, I wanted to include more milk into my diet.

I discovered these Mini Crustless Quiches from a website called Smells Like Brownies. It’s exactly what I needed/wanted.

They are so so easy to make as you only need FOUR ingredients: ….eggs, milk, spinach, and grated cheese. Could life not get any simpler?

Here’s the recipe:

Crustless Mini Quiches

inspired by Laura Rees
makes 12

Ingredients:
½ head broccoli, cut into stems and florets (I didn’t have any broccoli in my fridge and the recipe came out fine)
⅔ cup spinach leaves, roughly chopped (I used frozen spinach that was thawed and drained)
⅔ cup shredded sharp cheddar
6 eggs
1½ cups milk
salt and black pepper

***my two cents: throw in some fresh thyme, or parsley. I really think this recipe needs some fresh herbs to give it more “oomph”.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a regular muffin tin with cooking spray.
Blanche the broccoli, then drain very thoroughly. Layer the broccoli, chopped spinach, and cheese into the muffin cups. Cups should be nearly full with veggies and cheese.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, and seasonings until smooth and slightly frothy. Pour over the vegetables, filling the muffin cups about ¾ full.
Bake for 25–30 minutes, until the tops are slightly puffed and golden.

Happy Breakfast!!

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It’s been a year since I moved into my apartment so I thought it would be an ideal time to celebrate that occasion. Here’s a list of key ingredients to hosting a great party.

1) The Invite List: I included some twitter friends and some “real friends”. A perfect mix. Just look how everyone is chatting away in this photo. There were 12 women in total and it was just the right amount given the size of my apartment!!

There were 12 women in total and it was a perfect mix.

2) CREWMEN & Co: I had a (gorgeous) bartender for the evening, courtesy of Crewmen & Co and let’s just say that my guests “loved” the eye candy and the fabulous cocktails that he created. I would hire this company again in a heart beat. Our bartender was engaging, professional and knew his way around the bar.  He was certainly a highlight of the evening!!

Um..hello…can I have a martini please?”

3) The Drinks: I had a great line up of Skyy Vodka, Great Lakes Beer (the Pumpkin Ale was just released, by the way) bottlegreen Sparkling Presses , 3 types of juices, wine, club soda, and tonic water, limes and lemons. Everyone was happy. I was thrilled to find out that Skyy Vodka has the fewest impurities among leading vodkas AND ZERO CARBS. This vodka was perfect for my #nocarb diet!!

Something for everyone!!

4) The Food: I served some amazing nosh that I had been “saving” (no I am not a hoarder) from my trips to Ottawa, Buffalo, Montreal and even Detroit. The black garlic was a hit…that’s for sure. Oh yeah – the Chocolate Chex got a lot of love too.

Black garlic that I bought in Montreal. Hope to find it here in Toronto one day soon

5) Good Music: I finally subscribed to Rdio but there was so much chatter that I’m not sure anyone heard the music.

6) Creating an atmosphere: This is my favorite part. I finally had an excuse to visit my favorite flower shops on Avenue Road and Davenport. Not to mention, I brought out  some pewter serving dishes that hadn’t been used in a while. Here’s what the table looked like:

Seriously….. throwing a party isn’t hard work and I can’t wait to throw another one. Nothing like surrounding yourself with new and old friends on a Saturday nite.

Try it!!

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On Wednesday I had the opportunity to spend an incredible day with Farmers Feed Cities. We started off the tour with a visit to Quiet Acre Farms in Niagara on the Lake, where we had an up close and personal visit with their peach orchards.

Peaches, Peaches, Peaches!!

But what caught my attention were these round zucchini at their roadside stall.

Bought Two. What was I thinking?

It was exactly the type of inspiration that I needed to get back me into the kitchen, seeing as I have done ZERO cooking for the last month. Have you noticed my blog posts (recently) have been about every topic except recipes? Well that has all changed. This trip really inspired me.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI RECIPE

Ingredients:

1 round zucchini

1/2 a container grape tomatoes, cut in half

small chunk of feta cheese

8 black olives (I like Unico ripe oil cured…in a jar)

1/2 onion, chopped finely

1 garlic clove, minced finely

Italian seasoning

METHOD

1. Slice the top off the zucchini and scoop out the inside.

step one

2. Fry the onions and garlic till aromatic . Then add the grape tomotoes, olives, italian seasoning till everything is kinda soft.

Oh So Good.

3. Stuff into the hollow space of the zucchini. Top with some crumbled feta. Bake on a baking sheet in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Voila…dinner.

Perfect for My No Carb Diet

Please note that I’m on a no carb diet, otherwise I probably would have added some bread crumbs to this recipe.

If you see these round zucchinis at a farmers market – please pick some up!! You won’t find these in a grocery store. I promise you. For more information about farmers markets, please click here.

Upcoming Blog Post: Canning Peaches!! Stay tuned.

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