*Excuse the low res photo – my daughter was taking photos today and I couldn’t track down my digital camera, so I used my Blackberry. Lemme give a totally unpaid plug to Fuji for making an amazing, yet affordable digital camera that I can let my two year old play with – yes, it’s shock proof (drop it all you want!), water proof (seriously!) and dust proof – did I mention cute too? I am not kidding…. google it,... 

I’ve got a lot of zucchini in my house these days, and zucchini bread is a great way to use it up! It’s my friend Val’s fault that all this lovely zucchini has found it’s way into my home, as she has become a little gardener this year. It’s not only zucchini either, she’s been bringing over onions, garlic, green beans and strawberries too! Her zucchini’s are HUMONGOUS! One yielded over the three cups I needed... 

It looking like it was going to be a dreary, rainy day on Saturday so I thought I would make some Play Dough (Playdoh) for my two year old daughter, Ysabella. I remember at least one occasion that m mom made homemade play dough for me when I was growing up and I think it’s imprinted in my brain that ‘it’s a mom thing to do’. I’ve made play dough a couple times myself: one time I was playing Cranium and we realized the... 

Personally, I think whole wheat sucks. If you are eating that sliced, bagged spongy bread that lasts three weeks, than maybe you are not noticing too much of a difference between the regular white bread and whole wheat bread, but in a nice artisan bread with no sugar, high fructose corn syrup, dough conditioners, preservatives, “gums” and other things that really don’t belong in bread – you really notice the difference in... 

I know I posted recently “the ONLY bread recipe you need” and I do stand by that claim, but if you aren’t home to babysit the bread through all the rising and proofing, or you don’t have an electric stand mixer (thanks mom!) to do the kneading, then this is a much faster and easier recipe. This recipe is from a book I have called “200 Fast and Easy Artisan Breads”. Because there are a few shortcuts (namely, no... 

Stroganoff Word History & Origin: name of a beef dish cooked in sauce containing sour cream, 1932, from Fr., from name of 19c. Rus. diplomat Count Paul Stroganov. (Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper) Part of Speech: noun Definition: a dish of tender beef strips, mushrooms, and onions cooked in a sour-cream sauce and served with noodles or rice; also called stroganov, beef stroganoff, boeuf stroganoff Dictionary.com’s... 

When it comes to cooking, I’m a little more Rachel Ray than Martha Stewart. I’m not really into fussy recipes and stuffy etiquette. Like Ray-Ray, I’m also not much of a baker. Yes, I do try, sometimes… but nothing ever turns out amazing. I think it’s because I have a really hard time sticking to recipes. Although I have about a zillion recipe books, and I LOVE them, I really only use them to look up a specific question... 

“Save time by using easy to prep veggies, fast cooking noodles or leftover rice and thinly sliced, fast cooking meat!” -Tanya When I’m short on time, I often turn to a quick stir fry. What makes it so quick is that I’ll use pork chops, thinly sliced – if they are frozen, its okay, thaw slightly in cool water or the microwave and slice as thinly as you can. Slightly frozen meat actually slices up easier than fresh... 

HELLO there… Today, I thought I’d share my brunch! I made a super simple omelet  for Bella and myself. INGREDIENTS: 4 eggs (free run or better yet, free range) splash of skim milk a little butter and oil (a quarter size pool of oil and a tiny slice of butter for flavour) sprinkle of feta cheese KS & P (kosher salt and pepper) Side: slice of toast slice of aged white cheddar for me Nutella spread for Bella Garnish: small... 

My husband LOVES a good hash. It’s pretty much my go to meal when I want to make him a big Sunday brunch. Here are the basics: Potatoes (new potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, russets) If you have leftover potatoes you can use those, if not, a good option is some new potatoes or red potatoes. I like to keep thin skinned potatoes on hand all the time because I love to leave the skin on, it’s more healthy and delicious! I also like to do...