Category: Food & Your Family
The Canadian Dinner Table – Easy Peasy Cinnamon Rolls
The crew here are bakers. That may be a mild term for how much all of us love to whip up and chow down on delicious baked goods. But, cinnamon rolls have always seemed just out of reach in the everyday foods department. Some recipes call for a double rise. Some…well…they just always looked way [...]
The Canadian Dinner Table – Black Bean & Artichoke Heart Chili
These early spring days make for challenging cooking in any house. Mostly, we suspect it has a lot to do with the reality that most Canadians have had their fill of root veggies and other seasonal goodies. Craving the fresh, bright flavors of the garden, we are starting to think lighter meals that have a [...]
The Canadian Dinner Table – Down East Oatmeal Bread
No matter where you sit down to dinner North of 49, there are classic Canadian foods that make us all feel at home. That cozy, warm feeling of freshly baked bread takes all of us back to snowy days of childhood. A house full of the scent of baked goods just coming out of the [...]
Quick, Healthy Eats – Cheesy Roasted Broccoli Patties
We are always on the hunt for tasty, fast, healthy recipes that result in lunches that are gobbled up by our kiddos around here. Cheese and broccoli are a super delish combination. So, when we recently whipped up this vegetarian recipe for our picky kiddos and watched them eat it up and ask for more, [...]
5 Easy Kid Lunches in 15 Minutes
In the land of the pre-schooler, lunch time can be akin to pulling teeth. Getting our kiddos to sit down at the table and chow down on healthy meals that they love and don’t take us ages to make is a modern parental priority. It’s also a monumental modern parenting accomplishment. Picky kids are par [...]
Six Weeks of Canadian Soups – Week 6, Beautiful Borscht
As we wrap up our six-week celebration of Canadian soups, it seems fitting to finish with one that – from Victoria to Halifax – can truly be considered a Canadian winter staple. The root veggies and tasty meat-based stock that are at the heart of a tasty borscht has warmed the bellies of folks on [...]
Six Weeks of Canadian Soups – Week 5, Chinese Dumpling Soup
Taking part in Chinese New Year celebrations this past weekend, the crew here at OBE wondered how to replicate the amazing spread of traditional foods that brought people throughout Canada together. The delicate combination of ingredients that make a good Chinese soup come together are a bit of tasty magic. Dumplings are a fan favorite [...]
Six Weeks of Canadian Soups – Week 4, Sweet Potato Soup
At the daily farmer’s market here in Halifax the other day there was a big discussion about what can actually be found when it comes to Canadian produce this time of year. February is the dregs of sorts. Not a whole lotta greens, last of the apples. But, there is definitely no shortage in the [...]
Six Weeks of Canadian Soups – Week 3, Braised Pork Stew with Garlic Mash
A winter in the Canadian Rockies, where temperatures cheerfully dip down past -20 and Jack Frost is a familiar site, finding the perfect meal that wraps you up in a cozy warmth, satisfies and hard-working appetite and tastes amazing is often bundled up in the art of cooking up the perfect stew. Although soup purists [...]
Six Weeks of Canadian Soups – Week 2: Butternut Squash Soup
When it comes to winter soups, as Canadians we all think about a lovely Alberta beef stew or a delicious Saskatoon borscht. But, no soup finds itself on dinner tables from Quebec to Kelowna more than a tasty roasted squash soup. Wherever you are, the winter farmer’s market, the local grocer, squash is a seasonal [...]
Family Holiday Baking for The Non-Baker
We here at OBE – with Sue in her cozy home near the shores of Qualicum Beach, B.C. or Robin’s crew looking out at the Halifax skyline – love baking. Especially holiday baking. Now, that doesn’t actually mean that either of us are baking genius. We simply love, in our minds, the IDEA of baking [...]
Pumpkin Pie That Isn’t Just for Thanksgiving
I whisper it very quietly because most people would wonder if I was born on another planet – I’ve never really liked pumpkin pie. (gasp) It’s not that I have a hate-on for pumpkin. In fact, I totally crave pumpkin squares, pumpkin soup, freshly roasted pumpkin seeds. But, me and pumpkin pie just don’t have [...]
Summer Treats – Coconut Carob Pops
Editor’s Note: My pal Tree Haverner has been hanging out with me on the Internets for one heck of a long time and she has also been sharing her foodie goodness for that long too. In fact, that’s how we first met – FLICKR and food that lead me to her blog, Tiny Morsels. We first [...]
Adventures In Family Eats
When I think back to childhood summers spent almost in their entirety at my grandparents and aunt’s house in Niagara Falls, the things I remember most involve food. From the loaves of fresh Italian bread that we would sit on the kitchen floor, buttering and eating for breakfast to stealing pizza from my uncle’s bakery, [...]
Eating Out With Kids – 5 Tips For Toddler Restaurant Dining
You know exactly what we’re talking about. It’s 5 p.m. and the kids are hungry. A home-cooked meal isn’t on the agenda and rolling through the drive-thru nixed off the list. You want a nice meal – whipped up by someone else, with actual silverware and a nice glass of wine to boot. But, the [...]
Cupcakes: You Know You Want One!
I arrived at kindergarten a few minutes earlier than usual so I sat in my car leafing through the newest Avon book dropped off the day before. I’ve found the odd nifty gift through Avon though not to mention their catalog fits in my bag. Perfect for when I get that sacred minute for myself. Avon’s [...]
Think Spring, Think Veg Delivery, Think Faires Farms
With all of this gorgeous Spring-like sunshine here on Vancouver Island it’s no wonder that many of us have gotten our kitchen mojo back after a long Winter’s nap. The urge to whip up some new and wonderful culinary delights makes Spring so much fun. It also makes us long for a regular fresh veg [...]
CV Literacy Week – Literacy In The Kitchen
When it comes to spending time with your family in the kitchen, reading and writing isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But, making bread and even whipping up some mac n’ cheese isn’t always as easy as it may seem. Getting kids into the kitchen with you at any age is a great [...]
Join The Wealthy School Revolution
As every parent with school-aged kids knows, we are called upon regularly to contribute and lend a hand with paying for extras as a part of our kid’s education for everything from gym equipment to sports programs. Candy bars, cookies and hot dogs are great. But, what if you could give back to your local [...]
Mayo vs. Miracle Whip
It’s a long-standing feud in our family – mayonnaise versus Miracle Whip salad dressing. It’s pretty much a fight to the death that no one will win. Mayo is beloved by some. Miracle Whip, beloved by others. There will be no changing of the minds, ever. The debate flares up fairly regularly – actually just [...]
Summer Eating Means The Chance to Go Local
Now that the sun has finally burst through the clouds and summer is in full swing it also means that Comox Valley produce is in full swing as well. I totally love this time of year as berries, tomatoes, salad mix and so much more comes into season. The other great discovery is that there [...]
Learning How To Can
When I was a kid, summers were filled with fresh food. My mother would drive out to the same roadside stands every year to buy a bushel of peaches and tomatoes, two bushels of pickling cucumbers, sometimes even plums. Then, in the heat of the season, we’d spend days and days blanching, washing, skinning, stuffing [...]
What Kinds of Foods Do Your Babies Like to Eat?
I can’t believe we are already there at the point where the wee one is busily chowing down on her first foods. Our oldest daughter has always been a championship eater, even from the early days, snacking on everything from fresh fish and avocado to broccoli and oatmeal. I wondered if the wee one would [...]
Local Food is Sexy…Seriously
Are you inspired or tired of all of this talk about local food? The 100-mile diet may have come and gone, but eating local remains one of the most buzzed about food conversations throughout North America. You don’t have to spend your weekends at the Farmer’s Market (although I highly recommend heading out there), love [...]
The Incredible, Edible Egg
When our daughter was born nearly six years ago we lived just outside San Francisco and were fortunate to have a holistic pediatrician whose philosophy on health care for kids was treating the whole person – diet, medicines, exercise all working together to help kids be there best. Some of our friends questioned our rather [...]
Crush of the Month – Vegan Baking
You could call me mildly freaky about cleanliness in the kitchen. I’ve always had this thing about not licking the bowl (I’m so boring, I know) after making cookies and never ever touching anything twice after handling eggs. My fussiness about it all got even more intense after having kids. Salmonella is no one’s friend. [...]
Top Ten Things We Know Better Than To Feed Our Kids (and still do)
I pay for my parenting guilt with food. Yes, I know all of the rules against it, how it makes kids into food-obsessed adults, how placating your children with treats and goodies is, well, not so good in the parenting universe according to the royal “They” who tell us the rules. When I was a [...]
Nutritious Solutions for Young Kids
Well, we’re not quite to the solid food stage with our newest little one. But, in getting ready for it I’ve been doing a fair bit of reading and in the process found myself reminded of all of things that I should (and more than I like to admit don’t) be doing to make sure [...]
New Years Resolution – Hit the Kitchen with Your Kids
It has become remarkably apparent to me over the last couple of months that some of the best loved times spent in our family are those spent baking, making dinner, sharing a homemade snack or learning through spending time in the kitchen. I think I suspected learning how to create different combinations of food would [...]
Crush of the Month – Annie's Rice Pasta Mac N Cheese
Can you L-O-V-E macaroni and cheese? I dare to say that I have singlehandedly proven that it is possible, even probable, that mac and cheese can serve as a most beloved friend when in need. Even when your kiddo is desperately allergic to wheat. That’s all because of Annie’s Homegrown Rice Pasta Macaroni and Cheese [...]
Creative Kids – Learning Through Baking Bread
When I was a kid, spending the day in the kitchen with my mom or grandmother was always a treat. It meant a chance to eat leftover cookie dough, make some of our favorite pastries or just spend some time together without worrying about what the world outside that kitchen was doing. My brother and [...]
Parenting Food Tricks – Bribe Your Kids Out of Their Candy
A while back, I discovered The Tale of the Great Pumpkin. I heard it in conversation. I read it on website after website, this spookytacular tale of bribing the kiddos out of their candy. I am convinced that one brilliant parent out there came up with this remarkably savvy tool for reducing the sugar buzz [...]
What's For Dinner…Mom's Not Cooking – 10 Un-Dinners
Admit it, by the time 5 p.m. rolls around every day the last thing on most of our minds is “Oh it’s a lovely day and I’ve been dreaming of this moment during which I can wrangle the kids, remember that I didn’t get half of the groceries I needed and still make the most [...]
Back-to-School 2010 – Breakfast, The Most Important Meal
Editor’s Note: As your groggy crew rolls out of bed this morning and gets ready for another day of school, it’s time to consider what we are putting into our systems to fuel up for the busy school year ahead. Dr. Heather Manley – a Canadian naturopath now living in Hawaii – is here this [...]
Kids In The Kitchen = Healthy Eating
Editor’s Note: Good morning! Karen Pantuso-Swanson is here with a look at the importance of getting kids involved in food preparation. Enjoy. Here she is: “Did you ever stop to taste a carrot? Not just eat it, but taste it? You can’t taste the beauty and energy of the earth in a Twinkie.” – Astrid Alauda [...]
Spring Time is All About Shoulder Season Eating
It’s that time of year when gardens are being dug up, seeds are being sown and day dreams of fresh vegetables seem so close, yet so far from reality. For me, it’s all about tomatoes. I know that bright red goodness from the garden is months away. But, a girl can dream. I keep thinking [...]
Develop A Kids Cultural Palette-Learn to Make Sushi
Editor’s Note: Good morning. Sarah Stromquist is on site this morning sharing her recent adventure in making sushi with her lovely girls. She definitely inspired me to give it a whirl. Here’s Sarah: Straying from my usual barrage of recipes, I decided to focus on one idea in hopes of convincing people to undertake their [...]
A Raw Food Q & A with the Crew from Zen Zero
As my adventures in the necessary retooling of my diet evolves, I’ve been digging deeply into all kinds of eating options that have anecdotal evidence of helping overcome disease, fatigue and general malaise. The one that keeps resurfacing for me is raw foods. But, honestly, the only thing I’ve seen in the past when I [...]
Tips for Making Hearty Food Fit For Your Family
Editor’s Note: Happy middle of the week! This morning we have food lover Sarah Stromquist dishing up tips on a year of positive eating. Here she is: I no longer make unrealistic resolutions for the New Year, only to later feel the guilt of not sticking it through. That sense of failure does nothing for [...]
Year In Review – Hottest Family Food Fun of 2009
It has been an excellent year for eating (especially eating local) here at Our Big Earth. We’ve loved learning lots of new and delicious recipes that are perfect for that family meal and really enjoyed learning how to create new and different dishes from a multitude of yummy ingredients. Our recipe book is getting better [...]
Eat Local – Learn What's Available This Winter
Whoa weather, what have you done with the garden? My mother in-law’s magic green thumb meant we were still getting tomatoes, strawberries, even swiss chard and other loveliness out of the garden as late as last week. I though we might just have veggies all Winter this year. Alas, Mother Nature took a dump in [...]
Family Eats – Winter Comfort Foods
Editor’s Note: This morning we have Sarah Stromquist on site dishing about some of her favorite comfort foods that help get her through the Winter doldrums. Here she is: Idon’t know about you but I can’t resist the temptation of comfort foods, especially during the winter months. You know, those foods that bring back pleasant childhood memories, [...]
Taking The Farmers Market Indoors for Winter
I was only half joking yesterday when I updated my Facebook status to “It’s now officially toque season.” It’s COLD outside and it will take me a bit to adjust from the luxurious amount of gorgeous Fall sun that marked the end of September. When the toques, gloves and scarves come out, I tend to [...]
SPROUTS – Getting The Most Out of Tomatoes
What’s growing in the garden? Some tasty treats to eat, bake, blend, and freeze! Toe-may-toe. Toe-mah-toe. Yummy yum yum. Now that Summer’s in full swing and my tomatoes are nearly 2 meters into the sky, each day brings me closer to harvesting these glorious red goodies! So far we have had about 15 grape tomatoes [...]
Family Eats – A Day of Local Food Meals
Editor’s Note: Good morning. There are some seriously exciting events going on today as a part of the Eat Real. Eat Local 30-Day Food Challenge. Join us out at Simms Park near the Kiwanis BBQ for NeighbourWood Eats where families gather for a potluck lunch and are learning how to Winter garden with the Comox [...]
Canada = Community = Family-Friendly Local Food Guide
Editor’s Note: The Eat Real. Eat Local 30-Day Food Challenge officially kicks off tomorrow morning! If you have your passport and haven’t registered, get on it! You have to be registered to be eligible for prizes and you get access to lots of local eating info when you do so. Click HERE for the registration [...]
What to Do When Kids Cook – Chill Out
At the end of a rather exhausting day, my oldest asked “what’s for dinner?” Feeling a little cheeky I retorted with “I don’t know. What are you making?” It’s a little game my husband and I play when we should cook but want to eat out. K didn’t catch on. An unmistakable glint of excitement [...]
Mom Poll – B.C. Coffees, Who's Got The Best?
Good Morning. If there is ever a day of the week to talk shop about coffee, it’s Monday morning. I am a non-functioning blob of glue without my morning jolt of java and in the years since university where we’d drink anything remotely full of caffeine, I’ve become a little bit more fussy about my [...]
Green-e-ology – Equitable Eating's Many Forms
Genetic engineering. Antibiotics. Pesticides. Additives. Air pollution. Animal welfare. Economics. Irradiation. Hormones. rBGH. Water pollution. Now that I’ve got your attention, do you think about any of the above before making food choices? If so, then you’ve likely been far ahead of me for years. I’m a little slow with the food. [give that head [...]
Lower Grocery Bills with Smart Food Planning
Editor’s Note: Sarah Stromquist is here this morning with her supermom advice (she’s amazing) on how to shop, cook and plan smart while keeping to a strict grocery budget. That leads me to our Earth Day thought for the day. Think local. I know, I know. It’s all the rage. But there’s a good reason [...]
Fostering A Community Without Hunger – LUSH
Food security is a hot topic these days and one enterprising local non-profit is putting the Valley on the map when it comes to sustainable practices. The folks at Lush Valley Food Action Society are seriously committed to the health and well-being of us Valley folk by offering a whole load of fun and encouragement [...]
Mom Poll – Tips to Sneak In Food Kids Won't Eat
It’s the ultimate parenting dilemma – how to get your kids to eat healthy foods. There’s always the theory that if you never give things like candy and cookies, pizza and McDonalds to them that kids will never know what they are missing – until a friend of yours catches your kiddo in the corner [...]
Family Eats – Getting Your Kids In The Kitchen
Editor’s Note: Good Morning and welcome to our first installment of Family Eats – a journey in getting kids back into the kitchen – with lovely local mama Sarah Stromquist and her family. Sarah lets us peek inside the food-friendly evolution of her family and the family-friendly evolution of her kitchen, offering insight, tips, recipes [...]
Best Family Food of 2008
I love to eat great food. My mother, brother and father all duked it out over time in the kitchen when I was a kid. So, I enjoyed being out of the mix, eating rather than creating. (there’s a pattern surfacing here. My parents suspected I came out of the womb a career girl) But, [...]
Help! My Kiddo Hates Veggies (for now)
So, well… …our daughter, who has always been a wonder in the eating good food department, is on strike. Where I used to be able to set down bowl after bowl of carrots, broccoli, cabbage or swiss chard now lives empty space. I was sharing with a pal last night that it’s like she’s put [...]
Holiday Family Cooking with Kids
I am NOT the queen of the kitchen. Growing up in a family of pretty darn great cooks, I never bothered doing much of it myself. It was something so much more beloved to other people. I happily watched while they created. What I discovered years later, when I finally felt confident that our daughter [...]
Sugar-Free Holidays
So, there we were – Christa and me – brainstorming at 11:30 p.m. when both of us knew we should be asleep. What the heck was today’s post? Then, just as she e-mailed me about her sugar-free baking experiments, I found myself recalling all of the conversations I’d had lately with moms trying to cut [...]
Starting Family Holiday Traditions
It’s Thanksgiving Eve around these parts and alongside the onset of the holiday season comes the nearly compulsive desire by practically everyone I know to pull out some utterly fantastic family tradition that is yet to have been test driven. I sooooo love the day dreams in my head of cozy holidays during which the [...]
Talking Turkey
Are you as underprepared for the the onset of the holiday season as I am? With Thanksgiving less than a week away, I’m starting to think I should be concerned that my parents will be here tomorrow and I’ll be lucky to have the bathroom cleaned much less have gotten all holiday-ish (although, we did [...]
Dress Up That Salmon
I’m in a food rut. Seriously, I have five dishes that work for me and we eat them every week. It’s ugly and the family is starting to notice. So, this morning I dusted off my e-mail folder that holds the billions of recipes from sites I subscribe to yet never, ever use. They all [...]
101 Uses for Hemp Milk
A while back, after CVK mom Reesh recommended Hemp Milk, I started doing a bit of research into it all. Cow milk is no friend to us, and the whole goat’s milk our daughter has been downing for a year or so is now – I’m told – a bit too fatty for her to [...]
What to do with all of that fruit
We eat a ton of fruit around here. From bananas and apples to as many berries as can be consumed in one gulp, fruit is definitely the big snacky fave. That means I’m always buying fruit, and people are always buying it for us. I swear my mother-in-law and I have the same brain because [...]
Pattison Organic Farm Stand
I am always on the lookout for the least expensive way to eat organics. Going the organic route with food has become more and more important to us – especially after the tiny person came along and I started reading up on the effects of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides on the immune systems, mental health [...]
Food & Your Family – BBQ Faves
The minute we realized around here that Victoria Day weekend was on the way thoughts of non-stop BBQ festivities danced through our heads. You know that person standing out on the back porch BBQing in 2-degree weather? That would be one of us. All year, any time, everything is better on the grill. But…it’s even [...]
Food & Your Family – Digestive Tea for Babies
Colic has got to be one of the most common newborn ailments around. When our daughter was younger, her tummy was a major issue and – especially in the first few months – figuring out how to calm a kiddo who was pretty obviously unglued by a sour stomach made for many a near nervous [...]
Food & Your Family – Dairy Alternatives
When other moms discover that our tiny person is allergic to wheat, dairy and soy the first reaction is almost always, “Oh my God, that must be horrible,” immediately followed by questions about how we make it work and revelations that their tiny people deal with some food reactions too. On the other side, I’m [...]
Food & Your Family – Make it Fresh
I heard the groans from the gallery as soon as you busy parents out there read the words “Make It Fresh” in the headline. Fresh definitely doesn’t give off the aura of fast and easy, which for working parents with a house full of kiddos can be almost untenable. I think a lot of parents, [...]
Food & Your Family – Secret Sauce
OK, time for a quick poll. Any parents whose kiddos will, upon request, sit down and chow down on a giant plate of veggies – or any meal in which veggies are visible – raise their hands. …no takers??? …no surprise. I’m always surprised at what a monumental chore the daily requirement of instituting childhood [...]
Creative Parenting – Snack Time
If there’s one toddler dilemma parents face, it’s food. Even once-fantastic eaters start asserting their independence when it comes to what makes the grade. For the adults in the group, the time from about 18 months on is about the time we all wish we’d first taught our kiddos how to grocery shop and cook [...]
