When I was pregnant (back in 1998), a lot of my friends gave me this piece of advice: Do NOT buy a diaper bag.

I actually listened to this piece of advice and instead I bought this particular knapsack in 1998.

It was indeed a great piece of advice and I loved this knapsack for decades. It got me thru two pregnancies, day trips, numerous flights, festivals and events.

Fast forward to 2016. It was time to upgrade my knapsack to this gorgeous beauty by WillLand Outdoors. I love the shape, the straps, and the colour too.

Check out their range of backpacks by clicking here. They also have luggage/travel backpacks and backpacks for exercise and sports. Not to mention camping accessories too.

Who are WillLand Outdoors? They are a company that believes in the combination of QUALITY, DURABILITY, and SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. I love their commitment to: NO QUESTIONS ASKED WARRANTEE, and their determination to keep all of their customers happy with a 100% HAPPINESS SATISFACTION GUARANTEE.

Not to mention they are a Canadian Company. #supportlocal.

Can’t wait to use it as I envision myself going on a few day trips over the summer and I know this backpack will come in handy!

Website: www.WillLandoutdoors.com

Disclosure: The backpack was provided to me, however all opinions are my own.

 

I made Gazpacho the other night for the first time in a long time. I truly forgot how refreshing this soup is.

Seriously it took about 10 minutes to chop the veggies and in no time at all you will be enjoying a fabulous summer time soup.

This weekend is going to be H-O-T, so this soup would be ideal.  In fact I purposely didn’t post this recipe till today! (there is a reason behind my madness. LOL)

See these ingredients? Simply wash them and start dicing.

Soon you will have gazpacho once you add those diced veggies into the tomato juice! (plus some spices and other goodies)

My Favourite Gazpacho recipe is from Moosewood Cookbook. 

Ingredients:

4 cups tomato juice (I use V-8)
1/2 cup finely minced onion
1 medium clove garlic, crushed
1 medium bell pepper, finely diced
1 teaspoon honey
1 medium cucumber, finely diced
2 scallions, minced (I didn’t have any and my gazpacho was just fine)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup minced parsley or cilantro.
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups diced fresh, ripe tomatoes (peeled, seeded)
Salt, pepper, cayenne to taste

Directions:

1. Finely dice the onion, cucumber, green pepper, tomatoes, garlic

2. Add vegetables into the tomato juice

3. Add lemon juice, lime juice, honey, oil and spices.

*you could puree all the ingredients but I like my gazpacho chunky

4. CHILL and enjoy

Final Result

Happy Summer Cooking!!

 

 

In the event that you don’t have a cottage or you aren’t taking a summer vacation – DON’T WORRY.  I swear to you, that there’s no shortage of events and festivals right here in Toronto.

BlogTO recently posted: Top 54 Festivals in Toronto this summer. Click here to read that list. It’s quite impressive.

BlogTO also posted: Top Ten Food Festivals near Toronto this Summer. Click here to read that list. Again – quite impressive.

I love BlogTO. Don’t you? May I suggest that you subscribe to them or download their app so you can stay on top of all the fabulous events/restaurant openings, etc that are taking place? #hint.

There’s also neighbourhood events like the Mount Pleasant Village Shop, Dine and Wine on June 16th.

My Summer Bucket list includes:

–Camping: Went last year to Elora. As you can see from this photo we picked a pretty quiet spot. #score

-Hiking in the Hamilton area to see waterfalls. Specifically Webster Waterfalls. (which I keep seeing photos of on the internet)

-Learning to row. (I say this ever summer)

-Biking along the lake shore and on county roads. Believe it or not I bought this used bike in the Spring of 2015 and have never used it. ARGGHH

-Visiting a pick-your-own- cherry farm.

Let’s see what I can accomplish. Time will tell.

Have a wonderful summer everyone!

I’m a big fan of community events and love to support them. Therefore I’m blogging about a community event called Shop Wine and Dine, that I thought I might share BEFORE the event takes place. I know how much you hate when I blog about something AFTER an event.

So mark your calendars for the Mount Pleasant Village Shop Wine & Dine event on June 16th from 5 to 9 pm. FYI – Mount Pleasant Rd is located between Eglinton and Davisville. RAIN OR SHINE.

Retailers and restaurateurs will “roll out the red carpet” for local residents, people who work in the neighbourhood, shoppers, and commuters heading home. Guests will be entertained by live bands,    shopping sales, and order from specialty restaurant menus created exclusively for this event.

The event will feature 4 to 6 live bands along the street which will certainly create a festive environment. Plus many retailers will be offering specials. For example: Manor Hair Salon will be offering FREE braids and Healthwinds Spa will be delighting visitors with free hand massages. You can even drop into Saati Fine Jewellery for an inspection and cleaning. Please note that parents can leave their kids for $5 at Kidnasium  (limited space – call ahead to book) while they walk along Mount Pleasant. Click here for more information about this great service.

Trust me, the whole street gets involved and it’s a lot of fun.

I encourage you to spend some time on their fabulous website so you get acquainted with the shops and services along Mount Pleasant. It truly is a fabulous community with lots to offer.

Website: www.mountpleasantvillage.ca

Twitter: @Mt_Pleasant_BIA

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

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

 

 

Do you Love Krispy Kreme? Me too. I can still remember the first time I had a Krispy Kreme donut in Florida.
I also remember when Krispy Kreme arrived in Mississauga. Oh how I remember.
I’m sure you remember too as it appeared that everyone at one point or another had lined up for one of their hot delicious donuts.

I’m pleased to let you know that Krispy Kreme has recently opened their latest Café at the historic corner of Spadina Avenue and Nassau Street.

The iconic brand plans to offer classic menu options as well as share new innovations with loyal Krispy Kreme fans. Downtown Torontonians will be able to enjoy the new shop, featuring a “served hot experience”.

Naturally I was all to happy to attend this event which had this very cool Krispy Kreme cruiser outside the cafe.

But I admit, I spent most of my time inside inhaling a hot original Krispy Kreme donut.

It wasn’t an easy choice for me to make as there’s quite an assortment of donuts to chose from! See what I mean?

For more information:

Krispy Kreme, 400 Spadina Avenue,  Toronto ON

Website: www.KrispyKreme.ca

Twitter and Instagram: @KrispyKremeCan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KrispyKremeCanada/

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?

 

I’m been a fan of cereal since I was a kid.

True stories: I have fond memories of my sister and I, spilling Raisin Bran on the counter and then picking out the raisins.

I also remember that I would often invite my high school friend over after school to have a bowl of Life cereal and then watch Days of Our Lives.

I also have a strong memory of Weetabix. It was one of those pure cereals that would absorb the milk just perfectly.

At a recent Weetabix Lunch and Learn, I found out that Weetabix has a manufacturing plant in Cobourg, Ontario where it produces Weetabix and Alpen.

Here’s some cool facts:

Alpen has a cereal with NO SUGAR ADDED. Something tells me that this would appeal to a lot of people.

Weetabix has only 2 grams of sugar per serving and contains 4 simple ingredients. How awesome is that?

If you are looking to increase your daily fibre intake, then these two cereals should be in your cupboard!!

Here’s a recipe that was served at the event that I thought I would share:

Weetabix Adult Mac and Cheese (recipe credit: Jeremy Parsons, 360 Gourmet)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of Macaroni

3 cups 18% Cream

1 cup of shredded Gruyere

1 cup of shredded Cheddar

1 cup of shredded Pecorino

Salt and Pepper to taste

CRUST

2 Weetabix

3 tbsp garlic butter

 DIRECTIONS

1. In a non stick sauce pan, add cream and shredded cheese stirring constantly until well combined.

2. Add salt and pepper to taste and keep well heated and reduce so the sauce will stay on a spatula

3. Cook pasta.

4. Combine the pasta and the cream sauce.

5. Spoon into greased ramekins

6. Melt butter and shred Weetabix into the melted butter

7. Sprinkle the “crust” over each ramekin.

8. Place under broiler until brown. (5 minutes)

For more information about Weetabix:

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

Discolour: This is a sponsored blog post, however all opinions are my own

Appleseed Cider Fest took place on Sunday May 29th at Wychwood Barns.

I decided to stop by as I enjoy the occasional cider and love the venue. Plus I wanted to support this unique festival as that’s the way I roll. (It’s true).

I had the chance to chat with the festival organizer, who told me that he use to run a beer festival in London, Ontario and now that he was living in Toronto  he wanted to continue to run festivals/events.

Naturally I wanted to try some new ciders and this was the perfect venue to do that. There was no shortage of ciders. This is definitely a growing category!!

I had 3 tickets and not a lot of time (story of my life).  Here’s the three ciders that I tried.

1. Ernest Cider: This cider has recently been launched and it’s not to  to sweet, nor too tart; Ernest Cider is a new, lightly filtered, hand-crafted hard cider. Not to mention, it has an alcohol content of 6.4 per cent and has two to three times less sugar than the mass-produced domestic or imported cider. #LOVEIT (plus I like their branding and I’m a total sucker for great marketing)

2. Coffin Ridge – The Old Orchard Organic Seasonal cider that I sampled was also perfect. I asked where I could find it and the vendor mentioned that it was going to be available at a new cider bar. I replied “tell me more”.  He mentioned that it’s a new restaurant/cider bar called  Her Father’s Cider Bar and it’s at 119 Harbord. Can’t wait to visit this new concept!

3. The last ticket was shared on two ciders (a little bit of each) that DID not appeal to me. (repeat; DID NOT APPEAL TO ME).  There’s very few items that I taste that I don’t like and I simply could NOT finish either cider. It was indeed funky!!

Congratulations to the organizer of this festival. Looking forward to attending the festival in 2017.!!

Have you ever wondered what it means to “Have it All”. Well, lately I’ve been thinking what that means.

When I was in my 20’s I was definitely “having it all”. I had a job a month after university, shared an apartment with a room mate, did some travelling and was enjoying living in Toronto.

In my 30’s, I continued to “have it all”. I was busy having kids, lived in a lovely house, and still managed to travel.

In my 40’s I still had it all but “having” it all meant being more responsible with $$ seeing as the kids were growing and there were definitely more expenses.

I’ve always been budget conscious but I was now paying more attention to my grocery bill, the cost of clothing etc. As for the car I drove – it was always second hand. I loved the idea of buying second hand so much so that I even owned a consignment store for 3 years.

“Having it all” is possible at any age but I really do believe it means being mindful of how much you spend and knowing what your priorities are.

At this stage in my life, (early 50’s), I continue to have the desire to travel and I’ve also added home renovations to that list.

Seeing as I’m a food blogger, I entertain quite a bit. I love throwing small parties and having friends over for brunch or dinner. I  also love setting a nice table (see blog post here).

All of the above, requires more groceries which can add up. I try my best to create seasonal menus and cook/bake vs buying store bought dishes/desserts. Again, I’m aware that entertaining is an additional expense but it’s definitely important to me.
No question Food Basics knows what I mean by “having it all”  and offers their customers great value. I will continue to look at grocery prices so I can travel, entertain, renovate and save for a rainy day too!!

News alert: Beginning on June 3rd, Food Basics will be launching the I Want It All Event.
Here’s what you need to know:

Film a 5-15 second video answering the question: “If you won free groceries for an entire year, what would you do with the savings?” Upload the video to www.foodbasics.ca/videocontest for a chance to win one of three prizes of groceries for a year—$1,000 in Food Basics gift cards!

In-store teams will walk around with cameras to ask customers what “I want it all” means to them for additional chances to win

Share what having it all means to you on social media with the hashtags #iwantitall #foodbasics

Check out this video to learn more. Check out complete contest rules by clicking here.

Note: To be entered in the contest, videos must be uploaded to the web, sharing on social media won’t count as a contest entry.

Happy Grocery Shopping!

Website: www.foodbasics.ca

Disclosure: This is a sponsored blog post. 

Long Weekend: Montreal – Part 2

I hadn’t been to Montreal since 2014 so I was due for a visit. When it comes to food, this city is right up there with New York, Vegas and Chicago. (in my humble opinion)

Day 1:

How could we not stop at the epic Gibeau Orange Julep (7700 Boulevard Décarie) . It was the perfect way to say “Hello Montreal. We have arrived!”

Then we continued to Jean-Talon Market (7070 Avenue Henri Julien). I absolutely adore this market. It’s one of my favourites for so many reasons. I bought a new yogurt I had never seen, (which I hope we will see in Toronto one day) a cheese I had never tasted (Tahlia) goat cheese curds and a gorgeous mustard with black sesame seeds.

Sadly I found out that the butter I use to buy is no longer available. I use to buy this butter on every visit and was so sad to hear that they went out of business. Sniff.

Then we went to the Montreal Biodome (4777 Avenue Pierre-Coubertin) to see something other than food!! We encountered an oasis of beautiful birds, penguins and more. So glad we included this in our itinerary. This special space is accurately described as an indoor zoo, an aquarium and a botanical garden wrapped into one space!

Naturally a trip to Montreal wouldn’t be complete without visiting Au Pied Du Cochon. (536 Avenue Duluth E). We couldn’t get reservations but showed up at 5 pm and scored a table on their outdoor patio.

I already know what I’m ordering next time (I’m a planner – can you tell?) – this incredible looking hot chicken sandwich.

Day 2:

Woke up and headed directly to Patisserie Au Kouign Amann (322 Avenue du Mont-Royal E) for their incredible Kougin Amann which I was introduced to in 2012. (see blog post here). I’m almost grateful that I’ve never seen this pastry in Toronto!

Again, a trip to Montreal would not be complete without a trip to Schwartz’s Deli (3895 Boul St-Laurent).  The smoked meat sandwich I inhaled is the real deal.

After lunch, we walked thru Old Montreal and the Port. My new Keen shoes were a pleasure to wear as we walked and walked and walked.

Seriously, these Keen shoes saved me. By the way, if you haven’t seen this colour before it’s because this colour is one of their newest colours. #loveit

On both days we were wiped and never made it out of the hotel after 8 pm. Just. Too. Tired.

Day 3:

Went for breakfast with a childhood friend at Maison Christian Faure. (355 Place Royale).  This almond croissant is something else and the best part is that they are coming to Toronto in September.

Last stop before heading on to the highway was La Diperie. (68 Avenue De Pins E) OH MY. OH MY. OH MY. This soft serve ice cream shop has 30 different dips (turtle, cookie dough, milk banana, baileys, espresso, cheese cake etc) and a variety of toppings (pretzels, pistachios, almonds, coconut etc).
I decided to order Becky’s Fave from their menu – which was soft serve vanilla ice cream dipped into ginger dark chocolate and topped with pistachios.

As for our hotel: We stayed at the beautiful Loft Hotel which was located at 338 Terrace St. Denis. Our room was just stunning and complete with a FULL kitchen i.e. dishwasher, pots and pans, etc etc. I couldn’t have been happier with the space and the location. Would stay there again in a heart beat.

Hope you get a chance to visit Montreal one day soon!

Please click here to find out more about Montreal attractions, festivals, events and more.