Revive Your Senses in Nature

I spent the long-weekend in a cabin located by Algonquin park for my Birthday.

I love going up north at least once every few months because it clears my mind and rejuvenates my soul.  Whenever people say that all humans need to connect with nature, it kind of sounds cheesy… but totally true.

Just a moment by the water, in a forest, on a mountain, anything away from the city or the modern world can do wonders on your physical and mental health.

If you think you don’t have time for it, make time at least once in a year.

Plan a getaway and leave everything behind, even if it’s for a day!

Simple and Healthy Recipe – Maple Greek Yogurt Snack

Greek yogurt seems to be *the* yogurt for anyone wanting to eat healthy. I’ll have to agree with most, it has a great thick and creamy texture and so much easier on my stomach compared to standard yogurt (it’s either lactose-free or very low in lactose). The only problem with buying Greek yogurt all the time is that it’s generally more expensive than other types of yogurt, sometimes even more than lactose-free types. To help keep it a little more affordable, I now buy plain Greek yogurt (always the cheapest of the lot) and add my own ingredients from home.  It’s a great way to save a little extra money and you get a different tasting treat each time.

Here’s a list of the ingredients that I added the other day. It was delicious!

3 heaping tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon Canadian Maple syrup (you can adjust to your sweetness level)
2-3 tablespoons granola
1 small handful of dried raisins

That’s it!  Mix it up and enjoy as a healthy treat for anytime you crave something a little sweet.

Almond Flour Pancakes

In an effort to find out which foods affect me negatively and which ones can be good for me, I’ve begun looking for new recipes for every day foods that sound good and are also healthy.  Not too long ago, I decided to skip standard white flour and make almond flour pancakes instead.  At first, the batter didn’t look very appetizing but I decided to go ahead with it anyway.

(Here’s the recipe via Wellness Mama: Almond Flour Pancake Recipe)

How did they taste?  Delicious!  I added fresh berries and real maple syrup and it was one of the nicest pancakes I’ve had in a long time!  Try it yourself and see!

Banana Coconut Cake Recipe

As usual, we bought too many bananas and some of them were getting a little too ripe to eat on their own, so I decided to make a banana cake. Since I was feeling a bit tired of standard banana cake, I decided to throw in a few more ingredients to make it a little different.  I checked the kitchen to see what I had on hand and managed to find mini dark chocolate chips and shredded coconut. I thought to myself, why not?

I was happy to find it tasted great!  The flavours and textures mixed well, not to mention it seemed to turn out lighter than standard cakes.  I liked it so much that I’m sharing the recipe with you 😀  Enjoy!

Banana Coconut Cake Recipe

Bake at 350F for approximately 1 hour

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½-¾ cup cane sugar
¼ cup coconut sugar
2 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil or shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk (you can substitute almond milk as well)
3-4 tablespoons shredded coconuts
3-4 ripe bananas

Simplified Procedure:

1 – Mix wet ingredients together in one bowl (mash bananas into the mix).

2 – Add sugar to wet ingredients and mix until dissolved.

3 – Sift and mix dry ingredients in a second bowl.

4 – Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients.

5 – Place batter into a cake pan and bake for 1 – 1½ hours. Pierce the cake with a skewer to make sure it comes out clean. When it does, the cake is done!

Craft City Guide – Toronto, Canada (Featured on Cut Out + Keep)

Hi All!

I just wanted to share with you my featured article about the crafty city of Toronto! Please check it out (here) and let me know what you think. I know I probably left out a lot, but it’s a good start for anyone new to the city.

Can Candy Making Kits be Educational?

I have subscribed to RRcherrypie on Youtube and can’t help but watch through all of the videos just to see how all of the different candies are made. When I lived in Japan, I noticed all of these different candy making kits but never thought to buy them since they are for kids, but the more I see how fun they are, I realize that I’ve missed opportunities to teach my old class something educational from something fun.

Each candy making kit can easily be a fun science lesson for children of all ages. You can show them how a combination of a powder and liquid can form a solid, you can show colour changes by mixing different colours, teach them to be patient and precise when combining mixtures and you can get the kids excited about making their own “food”.

Luckily, it’s not just restricted to people living in Asia. You can find the same candy making kits on Amazon, I’ve linked to a list here.

If you would like to see just what I’m talking about, here’s one of RRcherrypie’s videos: