After a long day at work and a then a tough workout, unwinding is necessary.  Seeing watermelon in abundance right now and my love for fresh mint have inspired me to create this smoothie.  This is so easy to make and you can enjoy with or without alcohol, frozen in popsicle form, with or without chia seeds, and as a snack or cocktail. Ingredients: -  2 cups seedless watermelon – 1.5 cups of strawberries -  6 ice cubes – juice of 1 lime -  4 mint leafs -  1 tablespoon of palm sugar 1)  Place everything in the blender and [...]

I call these parsnip bites because they are definitely not chips; they lack that crispiness.  That being said, they were a great substitute for chips this nice Sunday afternoon. High in fibre, low in fat, and free of preservatives, this is a great snack, as a side dish, or even as an appetizer served with a dip.  I also make these with sweet potatoes. You can also play around with the flavorings:  cinnamon and nutmeg for something sweet, or even use curry powder.  I do not recommend adding pepper to parsnips as they are already very peppery. Recipe:  Parsnip Bites [...]

Dark chocolate is considered a super food because it has many health benefits.  Dark chocolate can: 1)     Lower blood pressure 2)     Decrease risk of developing heart and cardiovascular diseases 3)     Can help reduce headaches; dark chocolate helps with my migraines 4)     Fight free radicals that harm the body due to its high content of antioxidants 5)     Improve how your body absorbs vitamin C Dark chocolate can also be eaten by people who follow different eating regimes, i.e vegan, raw, etc.  Fitness and health professionals like Bryce Wylde and Tosca Reno eat it and advocate for its health benefits. While dark [...]

Cornmeal cookies are quite the treat in Cote D’Ivoire.  These cookies are wonderfully simple and very tasty.  I encourage you to give these cookies a try. Enjoy!

I have never been a fan of rice pudding, always running away from what appeared to be near frozen snot.  I approached this recipe with trepidation, but as with many of the dishes I’ve made and tried for this series of articles, I wasn’t ready to back down and I put all my prejudices aside. Made with coconut milk, this recipe is sweet, tangy (orange peel) and spiced (cinnamon, raisins, vanilla) just right!  It took 60 minutes to whip it up, but you’ll quickly discover it was all worth the effort! Ingredients 4 cups Milk (I combined fat free and [...]

Kale is a superfood that anyone can grow.  I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this leafy plant as a decoration in outdoor planters.  Basically if you have a square foot of space you can plant a few kale seeds and end up with an amazingly versatile food. Kale can be sauteed, eaten raw (it can be bitter if the leaves are large) and in our house baked.  My kids love eating these green crunchy chips.  This time I made them on our BBQ while making sausages. Ingredients: – a bunch of kale (7 or 8 leaves) – garlic powder – small [...]

This post is an account of a very strange craving I had, how it was influenced, and a recipe to follow. On Saturday, I had a craving for something sweet, creamy, crunchy, and smooth.  In the past, a craving like this one would take me to the nearest DQ for a Blizzard, grocery store for a tub of ice cream, convenience store for an ice cream bar of some kind, or to a cafe for a slice of cake.  A craving like this one can lead one to eat way too much refined sugars, fat, carbohydrates, and processed food.  Even [...]

The other day our local grocer had whole beef tenderloin on sale to celebrate Father’s Day (it was a 2 day sale that saw the meat leave the shelves at $6.99/lb!) and I decided to nab a roast to make filet mignon steaks. It turns out I had quite a bit of leftover, the topmost area of the roast is essentially 3 narrow chunks once you’ve removed the fat and connective tissue, so I thought it would work perfectly for homemade jerky.

Since we’ve now got our very own Big Green Egg smoker/grill, it’s high time to make some jerky that is low in sodium and high in flavor. The following images and discussion chronicle the process we went through, capping the article off with a few recipes for marinade that are sure to please all palates.