Sweet as Sugar

I love sweets, they are the solution to any problem. Feeling blue- m&ms, running low on energy- jellybeans., feeling pekish- hot chocolate. If I let my cravings rule what I ate I would be big as a house and even more cavities. Natural sugars (from fruits) always make me feel better but I enjoy the occasional indulgence enough to want to know what I am putting in my body.

I read an article in the April 2010 issue of Chatelaine and was amazed and chagrined to find that while I have been eating brown sugar for years thinking that it was good for me. Brown sugar is in fact just white sugar with molasses, used for its richer flavour not nutritional value (in relation to granulated sugar).

Demerara is actually the raw, corse cane sugar I thought brown sugar was. It has a toffee-like flavour and is sticky with molasses.

As far as nutritional value they are almost identical:

Brown Sugar-1 tsp 17 calories 4.5 g of sugar from carbohydrates (from caloriecount.about.com)

Demerara- 1 tsp 15 calories 4 g of sugar from carbohydrates (from the thedailyplate.com)

But they are NOT the same! They are very different in texture as well as taste. I am actually very excited to experiment with some Demerara, which they sell in small bags at the grocery store, perfect for experimenting with!

Whole Wheat Pizza with Fresh Veggies

I love making pizza, it is perfect for a day of studying because it has different stages and punching pizza really get the blood flowing after long periods of staring at a screen. Also perfect for a ladies night in, a romantic dinner for two or for just for your parents.

Makes 1 pizza that serves 2, an easy recipe to double or triple J

Ingredients
• 2 tsp dry active yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp salt
• A couple tablespoons of some kind of pizza sauce (either canned, pasta sauce or pesto)
• Enough cheese to cover your pizza (if you are using feta you may only need half a cup but you will need a cup of mozerella)
• Sliced vegetables (red onion, tomatoes, red pepper, green pepper, mushrooms, baby spinach, pineapple, olives)

My favourite pizza toping combinations:
The Sweetie Pie- tomato based sauce, mozeralla, red onion, red and green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms and pinapple
The Savery Pie- tomato based sauce, mozeralla, red onion, red and green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach and olives
Pesto Pie- basil pesto and mozerella
Greek Pizza- tomato based sauce, feta cheese, red onion, tomato, red pepper and olives

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 350*
2. Mix dry active yeast with sugar and add warm water. Let sit for 10 minutes
3. Use a wooden spoon to stir in 2 cups of whole wheat flour until well mixed, then add last cup of flour and salt (it will become increasingly hard to stir so you may need to take it out of the bowl and kneed it in), kneed for 6-7 minutes until smooth and elastic
4. Place dough in a pre-oiled boil (so that dough does not stick to inside of bowl as it rises) cover with a dry dishcloth and put on top of warm oven so it can rise
5. After dough has doubled in size (1- 1 1/2 hours) beat it down and roll onto greased tray (like many students I do not have a pizza pan or a rolling pin so I use a cookie sheet and a drinking glass)
6. Put back on top of oven for another 30 minutes then smooth on desired sauce, desired cheese and desired vegetables and place in oven
7. Bake for 30- 40 minutes and eat!

Fresh Strawberry Daiquiri

There is nothing more relaxing than sitting in my backyard with a nice glass of this drink on a sunny day. Of course this drink can also be made without the alcohol or even made into frozen popsicles.

Ingredients
• 1.5 oz rum
• 1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1 1/2 tsp honey
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 3-4 ice cubes

Directions
1. Blend
2. Pour
Enjoy

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas

These are delicious in the summer, winter, anytime really. If you want to serve them all together you can put the others in the oven until the rest are fried.

Serves 4
Ingredients
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 green onions, sliced with white and green sections separated
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
• 1/2 tsp each salt, pepper and ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (use scissors it works much better then a knife)
• 4 whole grain tortillas, 10 inches
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions
1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook white sections of green onion, celery, sweet potato, beans, salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder until onions become soft and sweet potatoes start to brown
2. Stir in red pepper and jalapeno, cook stiring often until sweet potatoes are tender (around 10-15 minutes)
3. Remove from heat and stir in the rest of the green onion and cilantro
4. Arrange some sweet potato mixture on one half of the tortilla, sprinkle with feta and fold in half
5. Fry on medium heat in oil, turning once, until it is golden and crispy on both sides

Serve it…serve with low-fat sour cream, salsa and a lime wedge

Rise N' Shine Granola

My Auntie Debbie gave me this delicious granola recipe to keep me full until lunch. It always reminds me of BBQ’s and swimming at her summer cottage on the Ottawa River.


Ingredients
• 4 cups large flaked oats
• 1 cup chopped nuts (personally I like 2/3eds pecans and 1/3 pistachio)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds
• 6 tbsp canola oil
• 1/2 cup REAL maple syrup
• Pinch salt
• 1 cup dried fruit
Fruit combinations I like:
Tropical Sunrise- dried pineapple, banana chips, dried mango, dried papaya, candied kiwi, shredded coconut
Orchard Basket- apple rings, dried apricot, golden raisins, dried cranberries
Berry Chocolate- (!warning! this may be too sweet for some people in the morning, when I make this type I tend to put in less maple syrup to compensate) dried blueberries/strawberries/cranberries/acai berries and dark chocolate chips or carob chips

Directions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350*, spread oats on a pan and toast for 8 min
2. Mix toasted oats, nuts, seeds, oil, syrup and salt in a bowl and spread out on pan, toast 15-20 min stirring half-way
3. Let cool for 5-10 min and mix dried fruit

Store it…in an airtight container, will keep as long as regular cereal (aka if you don’t leave it open or get it wet it will last a long time)

Serve it…with fresh fruit (sliced banana), milk and a dollop of yogurt

Fresh Pad Thai

I loved pad thai when I was in Thailand, I literally ate it three times a day so I knew I had to learn how to make it before I left. I had to modify the ingredients slightly when I came home but they should all be available at your local China Town or Asian Supermarket, loved for both their cheap prices and fresh produce.

Thai food is usually cooked quickly over high heat so the veggies need to be finely cut and all the ingredients need to be ready before hand so that you can quickly add them when needed so you don’t over cook anything.

Serves 2 or 3 if your hungry


Ingredients
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups grated carrot
• 2 cups grated cabbage
• 1 cup chopped pre-deep fried tofu (can be found at Asian grocery stores)
• 2 green onions cut into 1/2” pieces
• Rice noodles, cooked (enough for 3 people)
• 2 tbsp fish oil
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp chicken stock
• 6 tbsp pad thai sauce (see recipe below)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 cups bean sprouts
• Quartered lime, sliced green onion and chopped peanut to garnish

Directions
1. Heat pan and add oil. When it is warm add garlic and crack eggs on top, scramble in pan.
2. After a couple minutes add cabbage and carrot and fry until cabbage starts to soften (around 5 minutes)
3. Add tofu and green onions after a couple minutes add rice noodles. fish oil, sugar, stock, pad thai sauce and soy sauce. Fry until carrot is cooked but still firm to the bite (around 5 minutes)
4. Add bean sprouts, take off heat and serve after a couple minutes so that sprouts soften.
5. Garnish and serve

Pad Thai Sauce
You can store in the fridge for up to three weeks in a sealed container but since I tend not to make pad thai more then once a month I just freeze the rest for the next time I get the craving.

Ingredients
• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 3 chopped shallot cloves
• 1 tbsp tamarind sauce
• 1 large red chili with seeds removed (I used 5 small ones instead because I couldn’t find a large one)
• 1 tbsp chicken stock
• Dash of Salt

Directions
1. Boil coconut milk
2. Add all of the other ingredients
3. Simmer for half and hour
4. Allow it to cool and blend.

Vegetable Spring Rolls: Fresh or Crispy

I learned to make these in Vietnam at a cooking course I took there. It took a long time to explain that I am a vegetarian; they seemed to think that if someone can afford it they should eat a ton of meat.

Ingredients
• All vegetables should be thinly sliced like matchsticks. Quantities are not specified because it depends how many spring rolls you want to make.
• Carrot
• Cabbage
• Boiled white potato
• Green beans
• White mushrooms
• Green onion
• Yellow noodle, cooked
• Deep-fried tofu (can be found at Asian supermarkets)
• Chopped peanuts
• Round rice paper (can also be found in Asian supermarkets)
• Vegetable Oil (enough to cover, not just coat, the bottom of the frying pan you are using)
Dipping Sauce
• 1 tbsp chopped peanuts
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp hot chili sauce
• Dash of fish sauce

Directions
1. Prepare vegetables, tofu and yellow noodles
2. Cut in half, half as many rice paper sheets as spring rolls you plan to make (each spring roll consists of one and a half sheets with the vegetable mixture on the double layered portion.
3. Moisten and fold a dishtowel placing one full sheet of rice paper as well as one of the half sheets in between the folded dishtowel.
4. Leave for a minute then place the half sheet of rice paper on the full sheet.
5. Arrange vegetables, tofu and peanuts on the half sheet. Roll as you would a burrito and tuck in the ends
6. If you are eating the spring rolls fresh move on to making the Dipping Sauce and enjoy, if not heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan on medium heat.
7. When the oil is hot drop the first spring roll in (you will know its hot enough because the roll with crackle when dropped in the oil) carefully fry all sides of the roll until it bubbles. Be careful not to burn the spring rolls, rice paper is delicate and burns easily if left.
8. After frying place rolls on a folded paper towel to remove excess oil.
9. Prepare dipping sauce and enjoy!