Tag Archives: Food

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Do You Enjoy Shopping? Why or Why Not?

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

Generally, no, I do not enjoy shopping because of how consumeristic and expensive it can be.

Closeup of eco-friendly mesh bags. Two are black, two are white, and one is yellow. They are all arranged in a circle against a white background. I replace clothing and shoes as they wear out or no longer fit me, but I find it wasteful to replace perfectly good stuff just because an advertisement says that a certain pattern or colour is no longer in fashion this year. (This is not a criticism of anyone who loves fashion, only of an industry that often strongly encourages people to purchase things they may not need or even want a few months from now).

Due to planned obsolescence and how many items are not being constructed in ways that makes repairing them easy or even possible in some cases, it can be harder to do this with stuff like electronics or small appliances, but I do still try to get as much use out of them as I can.

I used to like visiting the grocery store and occasionally the local chocolate shops before inflation increased the price of  everything so terribly.

It was once relaxing for me to pick out the freshest produce I could find and browse new dairy-free products so long as I went at a quiet part of the day. There was nothing like the thrill of finding a new vegan cheese, dark chocolate bar, or less common fruit or vegetable to try that was only a few dollars but might become a new favourite of mine.

Chocolate shops always smell so good that I used to go there just to sniff around and see if there was any new vegan chocolate for me to buy.

With prices for everything rising and my budget having less wiggle room, I do not find as much joy in these things as I used to….unless I happen to stumble across a fantastic sale or something which does happen every so often.

The only shopping-adjacent thing I enjoy these days is browsing the new section of my local library or the new additions page on their website.

I love the thrill of seeing books by favourite authors pop up in these places and either realizing I can borrow them immediately or that the waitlist for them is beautifully short.

This isn’t even to mention all of the other stuff libraries offer: concerts, authors giving talks, discussion panels, book clubs, job hunting advice, movies, festivals, events, and more.

Thank goodness for libraries, I say!

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: My Favourite Food

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

A table decorated for a fancy meal. The focus of the shot is one place setting upon which three white plates of various sizes that have green and pink floral designs printed on them are stacked on top of each other. The biggest one is on the bottom and the smallest on top. There is a light brown cloth napkin rolled up in a darker brown napkin holder that is sitting on the smallest plate. A clear wine glass is sitting to the right of the stack of plates, and there is a striped grey and red tablecloth on the table. Everything else in the background is out of focus, but it looks like there is a thick light brown candle surrounded by greenery of some sort in the centre of the table. Strawberries are my favourite food.

When they’re in season, I eat them every single day by themselves, mixed in with almond milk and a little honey or sugar as a fairly healthy dessert, as a topping for pancakes, cereal, or ice cream, in a mixed fruit salad, or occasionally as strawberry shortcake.

When they’re not in season, I buy frozen strawberries for smoothies and might buy strawberry jam to put on my toast, too.

I like the occasional bit of tartness you find in strawberries. I prefer completely sweet berries, of course, but it is fun to be surprised by other flavours.

They complement so many different types of snacks and meals. I can’t get enough of them.

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: What I Eat in the Average Day

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

I know this week’s prompt is asking about our average eating habits, but mine shift throughout the month. I’ll begin with what’s typical during the colder months of the year when I don’t have a migraine.

As I mentioned in the morning routine prompt last November, I normally have almond milk and oatmeal with fruit, nut butter, and chia seeds for breakfast.

Close-up of penne noodles evenly covered in a marinara sauce and sitting in a white bowl. There are two sprigs of basil sitting on top of the pasta. Lunch is my biggest meal of the day. It’s common for me to eat dishes like pasta, rice and beans with various seasonings and vegetables added in, stir-fry of various sorts, tacos, fajitas, or chilli.  I batch cook a couple of days a week, so these are often leftovers from previous meals.  During heat waves, I switch to cold options like sandwiches, hummus and pita, large salads that include a source of protein, etc.

Typical dinner foods include options like smoothies, baked beans, big plates of raw and/or cooked vegetables, fruit, some leftover meat or other high-protein foods, eggs prepared in various ways, or other light and healthy meals. This remains pretty consistent throughout the year. I can get heartburn if I eat spicy food or too close to bedtime, so I try to eat just enough of something mild (ish)  to keep me full until morning.

We do order takeout occasionally as well, but I try to cook at home as much as possible.

Sounds pretty healthy, right?

If I’m at any point in the migraine cycle, things change. Strong cravings, generally for sugar and salt,  are one of the early signs that I’m going to have a migraine within the next few days, and it’s really hard for me to resist junk food on those days.

The closer I get to needing to take my migraine medication, the more painful it is for me to chew hard foods like, say, carrot sticks or apple slices. If you’ve ever had a toothache, it’s similar to that but in multiple teeth on one half of my face.

I experience nausea that makes my body finicky about the texture, smell, and taste of the food that it will allow to remain in my stomach. My sensitivity to noise as the migraine looms closer also makes it impossible for me to use something like a blender then.

So my diet shrinks down to soft foods that have mild scents and do not require noisy preparations until my medication kicks in and I’ve slept off the worst of the rest of it. Sometimes we’ll order in pizza on those nights instead of me trying to cook something.

I will often roast some sweet potatoes and hard boil some eggs a day or two in advance to give myself some healthy options, and I’m always on the lookout for other dairy-free foods to add to my rotation when I can’t chow down on raw, crunchy stuff.

Luckily, I’ve been able to reduce my number of migraines by figuring out my triggers for them,  avoiding triggers as much as I possibly can, and following a strict sleep and meal schedule. I can’t avoid every migraine, though, and so that’s how they influence my diet.

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Weirdest Food You Love

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

About a dozen kohlrabi’s sitting on top of each other. They are whole and unwashed. I’m bending the rules this week and giving two answers to the prompt because I know we’ve had at least one vegetarian participate in the past. I don’t want to make them read about something that might bother them.

My Vegetarian Answer: Kohlrabi. Sometimes it’s also known as a German Turnip. The flesh of this vegetable is white and looks and feels like a lot like a radish. The taste is quite mild and delicious, though. My grandmother grows them in her garden and serves them as a snack on their own or sometimes sliced and then put on a piece of buttered bread just like you would with radish slices.

My Non-Vegetarian Answer: Frog legs. I grew up in a rural part of North America where people ate such things at home as well as in local restaurants! It’s definitely an acquired and gamey taste, but I sure liked it when I was a kid.

I do not think my answers are actually that unusual, but we’ll see what the rest of you have to say in your posts!

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Vintage Science Fiction Month: Unusual Food and Drinks

glass of alcohol on white surfaceVintage SciFi Month was created by Little Red Reviewer and is moderated by Red Star Reviews.

Any science fiction film, short story, play, or book released before 1979 is eligible for this celebration of classic science fiction. Click on the links above to participate, read other entries, or for more information in general. 

One of my favourite things about exploring a new science fiction universe is finding out what they eat or drink that is not available in our world (or that humans don’t generally consume for whatever reason).

This week I challenged myself to come up with as many unusual foods and drinks that were mentioned in pre-1979 science fiction stories as I could remember.

Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster in The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Yes, this was from the 2005 film, but the book was published in 1978 and the idea remains the same.

 

Spice (gigantic sand worm secretions) from Dune.

 

The Low-Carb, High-Protein, and High Fat diet from Woody Allen’s 1973 film Sleeper.

 

captain kirk from star trek bringing a cup of liquid down from his lips and looking stunned

I couldn’t find a copy of it online, but I was also always mesmerized by the brightly coloured food on Star Trek: The Original series. It looked so futuristic and delicious!

How many of these items would you to eat or drink? What would you add to this list?

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Top Ten Tuesday: My Favourite Halloween Treats

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A pumpkin tin filled with candy corn. Tin cutouts of a pumpkin's eyes and mouth are sitting next to the candy on a linen tablecloth.Okay, so that title wasn’t super bookish. Let’s amend it to be My Favourite Halloween Treats While Reading.

Sometimes there’s something to be said for snacking on festive foods while reading something spooky.

My mind has decided that all orange foods are vaguely Halloween-ish. It’s made the same association with crunchy stuff like apples, celery, and popcorn because they’re foods I tend to eat more of during the cold half of the year in Ontario.

Everything else should be fairly self-explanatory, I’d imagine.

  • Apple Cider (the non-alcoholic kind)
  • Popcorn
  • Carrots
  • Apples
  • Orange Sweet Peppers
  • Celery
  • Jokerz (a chocolate, peanut, nougat, and caramel candy bar that’s similar to Snickers)
  • Cleo’s Peanut Butter Cups
  • Candy Corn
  • Skittles

Due to my food allergies and intolerances, I can’t eat many of the most common candies and other sweets that are sold at this time of the year. This has taught me to be grateful for what I can eat as well as for all of the awesome allergen-free substitutes out there.

Happy Halloween to everyone who celebrates it! I love this holiday and am still coming up with ways to celebrate it this year.

What are your favourite snacks to eat during Halloween season or during the cooler portions of the year in general?

 

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Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Things to Eat/Drink While Reading

 

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Seriously, how fun was this prompt? I had such a good time coming up with my list this week, and I’m looking forward to seeing how everyone else answered it, too.

1. Mint Tea

Caffeine tends to make me anxious, so I try to stick to caffeine-free beverages and foods as much as possible. Mint tea both smells and tastes nice.

2. Vegan Yogurt

I’m not vegan, but I eat a lot of products marketed to that demographic group due to my milk allergy. Non-dairy yogurts have gotten pretty good these past few years, so thank you to the vegan community for creating a demand for them. You’re awesome.

3. Salted Pistachios or Other Mixed Nuts

Nuts are such a satisfying snack.

4. Fresh Fruit

It’s hard to remember the last time I tried a new type of fruit and disliked it. Just about any sort of fruit is delicious to me.

sliced and whole Kohlrabi sitting on a cutting board. There is a knife placed beside them.

This is what kohlrabi looks like.

5.Crunchy Vegetables

I love crunchy vegetables like carrots, celery, radishes, or kohlrabi. It’s so satisfying to munch away at them, especially if I’m reading something a little frightening or atmospheric. Somehow having a plate of food to snack on makes me feel a bit less nervous in those circumstances.

6. Hard-boiled Eggs

I eat hard-boiled eggs with a little salt and pepper. They’re amazing. As soon as I pick up another bottle of hot sauce at the grocery store, I might try them that way next.

7. Cinnamon and Sugar Toast

This has been one of my favourite snacks since childhood. It’s even better if the toast is whole grain. My mom always bought healthy bread like that when I was growing up, so I developed a strong preference for it.

8. Grape Jolly Ranchers.

Will I eat other flavours of jolly ranchers? Absolutely, but the grape ones will always be my favourite. They are so delicious.

Peanut Butter spread on a sliced apple9. Almond Butter.

Honestly, any nut butter is appealing to me. it can be spread on toast, apple slices, celery, and so much more.

10. Sardines

I totally expect to be the only Top Ten Tuesday blogger who mentions this snack this week, but I love sardines. They have such a unique taste, and I find them really filling. They’re also a good source of certain nutrients like calcium and Vitamin D that I need to make sure I consciously include in my diet due to my milk allergy .

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favorite Food and How I Use (+ Recipe)

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Fellow participants, I have one word for you: strawberries.

They’re in season in June and July here in southern Ontario. My grandmother serves strawberries, milk, and sugar to relatives as a light supper on hot days when no one is that hungry and she doesn’t want to heat up the kitchen.

Most of the time, I slice them up and eat them plain. They’re so sweet and juicy that they really don’t need the extra sugar in my opinion.

Occasionally, though, I make my family’s shortcake recipe and eat it with almond milk and sliced strawberries.

This is a pretty forgiving recipe. You can use half the sugar if you’re serving it someone who needs to watch their sugar intake. It works well with many different combinations of flour, fats, and types of milk, too, so feel free to play around with it if you need to avoid certain ingredients for whatever reason.

I should warn you that the shortcake this recipe makes is denser than what you might find in the store, though. Think something heavier, not a fluffy baked good like angel food cake. It’s made that way on purpose so that the shortcake will soak up all of the milk you’re about to pour on it and gradually crumble into cold, soup-y deliciousness as you reach the bottom of the bowl.

Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of flour (i generally use half whole wheat and half white, but 100% white flour works well, too)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk  (soy or rice milk works well, too)
2 tablespoons butter (oil or margarine works well, too)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Toppings:

Sliced strawberries
Whipped cream
Table sugar
Milk

Directions:

Stir the three dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Beat eggs, milk, vanilla, and melted butter together in a separate bowl.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients together. Mix everything until it’s moist, but be careful not to overmix it. The batter might look a little lumpy. That’s okay.

Pour the batter into a greased 8 or 9 inch cake pan. A square 8×8 pan also works fine for this recipe.

Bake at 375 Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes. You’ll know it’s finished when you can stick a butter knife or toothpick into the shortbread and have it come out again without any batter sticking to it.

Serving Size and Presentation

This will make about nine servings of shortbread depending on the size of your pan.

Serve with sliced strawberries, a sprinkling of table sugar, a little bit of milk, and (optional) whipped cream.

I nearly always choose strawberries for this dessert because I love them so much, but this also works nicely with other types of berries if anyone reading this dislikes or is allergic to strawberries. Like I said before, there is plenty of flexibility in this recipe. That’s one of the reasons why I enjoy it so much!

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question. The image below is the list of upcoming prompts for this blog hop.

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: What to Read to Learn About Canadian History

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

To the best of my knowledge, I’m currently the only Canadian who participates in the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge. (If I’m wrong about that, please do speak up!)  I thought it would be interesting to share some of my favourite books about our history with everyone else. Let’s begin with the serious titles and end with the lighthearted ones.

The Serious Titles

Check out these books if learning about history is a hobby of yours or if history was your favourite subject in school.

Canada: Canadian History: From Aboriginals to Modern Society – The People, Places and Events That Shaped The History of Canada and North America by William D. Willis.

The Blacks in Canada: A History, Second Edition by Robin W. Winks.

Your Country, My Country: A Unified History of the United States and Canada by Robert Bothwell.

Through Feminist Eyes: Essays On Canadian Women’s History by Joan Sangster.

On a Lighter Note

I regularly read nonfiction books about history, but they’re generally not about the sorts of topics you’d learn in a formal class on this topic. Instead, I tend to be drawn to descriptions of things like the food or social customs of people who weren’t wealthy or famous. There’s something incredibly interesting to me about learning about what the daily lives of ordinary people were like a few or many generations ago

The Donut: A Canadian History by Steve Penfold

What’s to Eat?: Entrées in Canadian Food History by Nathalie Cooke (Editor)

Snacks: A Canadian Food History by Janis Thiessen

Brew North: How Canadians Made Beer and Beer Made Canada by Ian Coutts.

Does anyone else here like to read about history? If so, what parts of it do you find most appealing?

 

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