Gillian Young

1. Do not worry about finding “the one”.  There is no rush, and the more you worry, the more you’ll attract the wrong kind of people anyways.
2. It’s ok to make mistakes.  Stop beating yourself up.
3. Do not let anyone take ownership of you, and do not try to take ownership of anyone else.  When we love unconditionally the world offers itself to us.
4. Diet coke and potato chips are a miracle hangover cure no one ever told you about.
5. Always keep at least one bottle of bubbly chilling in your fridge.  If you have really great friends, keep at least two.
6. Do not diet.  It is not the time in your life to isolate yourself from your friends or any opportunity to have a great time.
7. Do not worry about going to the gym.  Go out and walk, dance, run in the open air and take the stairs.
8. Tell your girlfriends how beautiful they are.  Even the ones you don’t think need to hear it.  They do.
9. If your friend is going through a breakup let them cry.  Then bring out that bubbly I mentioned earlier.
10. Travel.
11. Spend your money on concerts, plane tickets, train tickets and nights out rather than things.
12. Do not envy anyone elses life.  Just because someone’s life looks glamorous on Instagram doesn’t mean they’ve got it all figured out.  Enjoy your own.
13. Do not wait for the perfect person, job, or opportunity to make you happy.
14. Forget regret.
15. Wear what makes you feel good.  Fuck fashion trends.  Fuck dressing for your shape.  You look great.
16. The less you care about what other people think, the more you attract the people who should be in your life.
17. It’s ok to put yourself first.
18. It’s ok to spend all day in bed.
19. It’s ok if it takes time to learn to apply some of these rules.
20. You’re alright.

These rules can also apply to 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80+ somethings.

I am falling into the pace of life here.

The other day I sat on a stoop with two beautiful French sisters drinking tea in the sunshine.  The young girl who lives across from us came up and embraced me.  A young boy came up to his mom with a bowl full of edible flowers and asked if she could make beignets in the evening.

Today I escaped the countryside for a day in the city of Toulouse.  I had plans for a tattoo but it looks like it will have to wait for Berlin.  So I took myself vintage shopping, bought a scarf and suspenders, stopped for a long leisurely hearty French lunch with a glass of rose, picked up some cheap summer duds and drank a couple of espressos.  I felt content.  It seems no amount of rain clouds can out-shadow the gratitude I’m feeling right now.

In the evening I did yoga with a friend who is German but teaches in French.  Slowly I grow accustomed to her directions and can follow along with my eyes closed, breathing into my heart and joints, pains and pleasures.

I drift between wanting more stimulation and being so perfectly content with the silence and slow pace of life.  Last night I dug through old journals and realized I have always had this restlessness.  This hunger for love.  For something more.  In some ways I am happy for it as it keeps me searching and asking questions.  I also realized how much more at ease with myself I have become.

A sweet friend sent me this today.  It hurt to read but was therapeutic and timely.

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

- Derek Walcott

Sweet scribblings from my journals of teenage angst.

I am not a natural born runner.

In fact, I’m the furthest thing from any type of athlete.  But there are times in my life when it makes sense to run.

I spent the first four months of this year sitting at a desk in an office every day and lying in bed every evening.  I had no energy.  I felt lifeless and vulnerable.

Now that I’m back in the countryside and preparing for my next solo adventures I want to feel strong.  So little by little, I’m hitting the country roads and gaining strength.  It’s a little easier with songs like this.

Woodkid – Run Boy Run (Official Video HD) from WOODKID on Vimeo.

Woodkid (Yoann Lemoine) is one of my favourite musicians.  He’s a French music video director, graphic designer and singer-songwriter.  I love how hauntingly beautiful his voice and his videos are.

I am slowly building strength.  Strength I’ll need while I’m building and doing manual labour at my workaway job next month, while leading excursions in Paris, and while feeling safe on all of the trips to come.

With physical strength comes mental strength.  I am adjusting to the idea of being on my own.  Of being okay with that.  Even getting excited about it.

When I’m running through a trail I let my fingers glide along the wet blades of grass.  I look up into the sky.  I am in the moment and I am happy.  I sometimes think “If the world were to suddenly to end now that would be ok.”

But there’s a lot to look forward to.  So I’ll keep running and becoming stronger.

*If you’re a runner you also need to try this pre-run yoga video.  The stretches are delicious.

Sometimes life is very generous.

It’s been eight years since my friend Aimée was here last.  It was the end of summer and I was suffering from a younger kind of heartbreak.

We danced in the rain, hitchhiked to a wine festival, to the next town to buy whiskey, pancake mix and chocolate, slept in a borrowed car during a storm, got into a lot of trouble, and laughed until it hurt.  It is one of my best summer memories.

When I found out she would be visiting with her parents in May I wanted to embrace the universe.  If there were ever a time for my friend with the contagious laugh and big beautiful heart to come back into my life, it is now.

And like all good things in life, not much has changed.  Our lives have gone different ways but we are the same young girls who love to drink and dance and find the humour in everything.

I could tell you about our visit to the market, or the winery for her dad’s birthday, or her perfectly cooked risotto, or the cheesy DJ we danced to last night, but I really just want to express how grateful I am.

Good friends don’t come easily.  Friendships that start when your young and hold their strength over the years are gold.  Friends that look at you and tell you straight up “You’re the whole damn package” light up your whole damn world and make you feel worthy.

I’m grateful for my friend, for her loving family, for laughing with tears in our eyes as we confessed our teenage sins.

Oh baby it’s a wild world, but with good friends it’s worth the ride.

And because all good times come with good recipes, you can find a recipe for Celebration Muffins here.

I love creative approaches towards charity.

I don’t think that going door to door or soliciting people in the street is the best way to spread a message.  Especially now, with the power of social media and clever marketing, there are so many great ways to get people involved.

This Share My Dabba system is the perfect example of a clever charity.  No one is losing out, less food is being wasted, and kids are getting the nourishment they need because of an easy to use program.

I would love to see this expand to cities all over the world.

From the program…

What is Share My Dabba?
Share My Dabba is an initiative to get uneaten food in dabbas (lunch boxes) to hungry children on the street. It’s not charity but an attempt to create a practical, every day system for food relief.

Why Share My Dabba?
300 million children across the world will go hungry today. 200 thousand in Mumbai, with 2 starving to death. All this while we leave behind food. In the dabbawala system itself, out of the 120 tons of food transported, approximately 16 tons is wasted. Wouldn’t you rather share this with a hungry child than throw it in the bin?

How does it work?
On a diet? Not feeling that hungry? Skipped lunch? More food than you can eat? If you have any food uneaten in in your dabba, all you need to do is put a Share sticker on it. The sticker allows the dabbawalas to identify the ones Shared from the ones empty. When the dabbas, on their way back, go through sorting the ones with a Share sticker are kept aside. This gives volunteers a window to open these dabbas and give the food inside to children. They then repack the dabbas and keep them back while the children finish the food.

I love it when charity is approached in a creative way.

There is a way to improve the world without knocking on doors or soliciting people in the street. Especially with the power of social media and clever marketing skills.

When do the children get the food?
Right after lunch, barely an hour and a half after it’s eaten.

What about the quality of food?
It’s the same food you would share with your colleagues or friends during lunch. Or that you would eat off your colleague’s plate. Some of it does go cold by the time it reaches the children, but remains just as nutritional. As far as transmitting germs through the food goes, would you share your food with a friend if you were ill? We expect participants to follow the same logic. If someone does paste a sticker with malicious intent, it will be traced back to them.

Will this program come to my city?
We hope so. All we need is a strong food network we can attach ourselves to. But first, we’re trying to make this work in Mumbai.

Can I help?
We will need all the help we can get. Please send your mails to happylifewelfare@gmail.com with the subject Share My Dabba.

Like the Facebook page here

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

by Mary Oliver

For mother’s day my mom requested lamb and roasted potatoes for dinner.

She’s a true Irish woman I tell ya.  Wanting to make my mama proud, I whipped up some lamb chops and the world’s best crispy roasted potatoes (video tutorial to come).

One of my favourite lamb recipes is Vij’s lamb popsicles.  I’ve made this Indian twist on lamb popsicles more times than I can count and am obsessed with the flavour combination of tumeric and fenugreek.

This time I lightened up the sauce by making a yogurt dip with similar spices to eat with the lamb and potatoes.  It was absolutely delicious.  If I was given this dip with a bowl of roasted potatoes alone I’d be blissfully happy.

Most importantly, my mom loved it.  And paired with a wonderful red wine and conversation with her two sons, she went to bed knowing she is appreciated by all of us.

Lightened up Lamb Popsicles

Lamb:

• 9 lamb chops
• olive oil
• 1 tsp Dijon
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
• Rosemary, chopped finely
• 1/4 cup white wine
• salt and pepper

Yogurt dip:

• 1 cup Greek yogurt (plain)
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 2 tsp ground Fenugreek flakes (known as ‘kasuri methi’)
• Juice from one lemon
• Salt
• Fresh parsley

1. Mix olive oil, Dijon garlic, rosemary, white wine and salt and pepper in a large bowl.
2. Add lamb; turn to coat. Let marinate at room temperature at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add lamb; cook until browned, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer skillet to oven and roast lamb chops to desired doneness, about 10 minutes for medium-rare.
4. Mix yogurt dip and top with fresh parsley.
5. Transfer lamb to platter, cover, and let rest 5 minutes.
6. Serve with rice or roasted potatoes.

Sometimes I am terrified of living the life that I want.

Since I was young I have held back from doing things that I want to do out of fear.

It’s why I still can’t drive or ride a bike.

While in some ways I have been very brave, like moving to Ireland at 16, moving to Paris after a year of university, daring to write a book and finding the strength to let go of relationships that no longer serve me, I have a long way to go.  This is hard to write and hard to admit to myself.

I can’t count the number of opportunities, even if they are as simple as invites to a concert or a party, that I have turned down out of fear.  Fear of not fitting in, looking good enough, not being liked, or wanting to leave too soon.

I have also wasted a lot of precious time doing things that do not make me happy.

For example, in my late teens and early twenties I would spend a lot of time in stores.  I didn’t buy a lot, but I was always in malls, clothing stores or grocery stores looking at things to buy.  And the truth is I hate shopping.  I love beautiful things but I am much happier out in nature, going to a museum or a gallery or spending time with someone I care about.

When my last relationship first started my partner brought out the best in me.  He was adventurous and inspired me to do more of what I actually loved.  We went hiking, visited markets, went to galleries, checked out new restaurants and were often spontaneous in our outings.  While this faded a little over time I’ll never forget how good it made me feel.

It reminded me of the life I should be living.  Of the life I live when I am happiest and most in tune with myself.  It is the kind of life I am trying to rebuild for myself now.

I have made a big change and leap in my life but now I’m working on the little things.  I’m spending more time outside.  I’m saying yes more.  The other night I danced by myself under the stars.

I don’t want to waste any more of my life buried in fear or missing out on opportunities.  The beauty I crave is out there, even within myself, and waiting to be explored.

Today my best friend turns 25.

I should be with her I’m not.  So the least I can do is smother her in love from afar.

Since she always sends me the best lists I wanted to make her one.

It’s hard to put in to words the love I feel for this incredible woman but I’ll do my best.

25 reasons you’re my best friend

1.  You are the most loyal person I know.  I have been traveling and moving from city to city for the past 10 years.  My friends have grown to accept that I am hard to reach and that I can be distant.  While our friendship started casually it has blossomed into something so strong and beautiful that you feel like a long lost sister.  You are the one person I feel comfortable calling in the middle of the night in tears or sharing my darkest fears with.

2.  You are brave and you inspire me.  You have successfully written, produced and starred in your own one woman show.  You packed up and moved to LA on your own.  You drive around the city like a boss and are creating a life you can be proud of.

3.  You are hilarious.  You are funny as hell and somehow even get my humour.  I never laugh as much as when I’m with you.  Even in between tears we manage to find something hilarious.  You are my favourite medicine.

4.  You are grateful.  You are the one person who never turns down something I’ve made.  You always show an extreme amount of gratitude for anything I’ve done for you and always make me feel appreciated.  It never goes unnoticed.

5.  You love delicious food.  I love how we can go to a restaurant and order everything off of the menu even when we’re broke because we love to eat.  There’s something special about a friend you can go for a snack with and order fries, salad, cheesecake, and three kinds of gravy and dip.

6.  Your smile.  Even though I make fun of how you smile in photos I secretly love it.  You are so beautiful but you ham it up in a way that is perfectly charming and disarming.

7.  Your style.  You can pull of things I never could and are the one person I take fashion advice from.  You have a way with clothes and beauty and I love being your real life Barbie doll.

8.  You go the extra mile.  There have been so many moments when you have gone out of your way to make me feel better.  I see you do this with everyone you care about.

9.  Your generosity.  You literally clothed and housed me in the worst four months of my life.

10.  You’re better than Oprah.  I have never met anyone who can talk things out as well as you.  I can be ready to jump off a bridge, and by the time we’re done talking, I want to strap on some 4 inch heels and go dancing.

11.  Our friendship knows no boundaries.  You have powdered my naked body so that a dress wouldn’t stick to me in the summer.  Enough said.

12.  You value family.   I don’t know anyone who talks to their grandmother more than you.

13.  You do the best impersonations.  Every time I see your play I am blown away by how such a beautiful woman can transform into a male taxi driver, a gay Spanish man and a child.  You do what only the best actors do by making the audience forget who you are .  You take us right into your character.

14.  You make the best Persian food.  And then say you can’t cook.  But that rice, oh my god, that rice.

15.  You are a part of my family.  You have only met my parents once but are already an honorary daughter.

16.  You like to live well.  I love that no matter how broke we are we somehow manage to live like we’re loaded.

17.  You make any situation fun.  Whether it’s folding laundry or dining at the best restaurant in the city, it’s always hilarious and fun.  You brighten any dull moment.

18.  You love to travel.  I love that you flew to London for your birthday, fly back and forth from Toronto to LA, and visit your family in Spain.  I predict some European adventures in our future.

19.  You are honest.  I never have to guess what you’re thinking because you’ll tell me straight up and clear the air right away.  Even when it throws me off guard I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.

20.  You have the best hair.

21.  You always smell nice.

22.  You look great in red lipstick.

23.  You’re Iranian and I’m Irish but I’m browner than you.  But I’m Irish Canadian and therefore also Iranian.

24.  “Whyyyyyyyyyyy?!”  This and all the other moments where our lives parallel each other in inexplicable ways.

25.  You love me.  And I love you.  A lot.  They say that’s all you really need in life, so I guess we’re set.  Thank you.

We all desire to be happy.

I am happiest when I feel balanced, creative and true to myself.  I am happiest when I love myself, when I’m in love, or sharing my love with others.

It’s not always so simple.  I was reading Bourdain’s 5 keys to a happy life yesterday and thought I’d sum up my own.  While this year has been a struggle for me, I have also have had some incredible moments of happiness that make all the rest worth it.  The following has helped:

Love over fear

I am drawn to fear.  Fear of never being good enough, of things not working out, of failure and of how others see me.  My mind can be a spinning wheel of destructive thoughts but I am learning to choose love over fear.  I immediately tell myself “These thoughts are not serving you and they will not make anything better.”  And I drop it.

My friend recently told me about a man who changed his life by repeating the mantra “I love myself” over and over in his head every day.  I’ve been coaching myself out of some difficult moments and deeply rooted insecurities successfully with this one and will continue to.  Funny how much a little self love can change your world completely.

Fear does not serve us, or anyone else.  Love sets us free.

 It’s all an adventure

My mother always told me that adaptability is a sign of intelligence.  She was right.  The definition of intelligence is the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations.

So when life changes, I try to adapt.  To embrace change.  And when the situation is really terrible or uncomfortable, I tell myself it’s an adventure and will make a great story one day.  My mom and I have an ongoing joke that I’m the ideal travel partner because when things go wrong I smile and say “It’s an adventure!”  

Be present

This is so hard for me. I am constantly looking into the future and worrying or planning.  Lately I have gotten better at living in the moment.  The second I stop and look around me I feel grateful.  This is it.  Sometimes we all need to put down our phones and agendas and be present.

Moderation

I joke that I’m an all or nothing girl.  But I know when I find that perfect balance I am at my best.  I once read that the perfect day involves time to yourself, time to socialize and play, time outside and time to work.  Anytime I have achieve this I feel so perfectly content.  Same goes for moderation in all of life’s indulgences.

Be passionate

Follow your passions.  Whether it’s cooking, singing, dancing, writing or painting murals, make some time for it.  When I neglect my writing I neglect myself.  When I forget to go for long walks outside I neglect my body and my peace of mind.  When I forget to make time for art and creativity I feel stifled.  It’s important to make your passion your priority once and a while.

What makes you happy?  What are your keys to happiness?

Hello friends, it’s Ayah! How’s life? I just looked back through the archive and saw that I haven’t posted a recipe since JULY! Holy cow, I feel like we have so much to catch up on. I am now the mother of an amazing 6 month old boy. Motherhood is a wonderful, messy and heart expanding business, and I am blogging about that adventure over here if you want to know more.

Let’s talk about what I’ve been eating. I’ll confess that in the early months of having a baby I was in survival mode. There were many wonderful comfort foods brought over by friends, burritos picked up on the fly, and much pasta with sauce from a jar consumed. It was winter. It was dark. What I lacked in sleep, I made up for in cookies. Just when I felt like I was getting the hang of things, I went back to work part time and fell back into a spiral of shells with cheese, and nachos. So it goes.

Now, 6 months in to this journey I am finally feeling like I’ve found a groove. Spring is in full swing, the produce is excellent, and my tiny garden is starting to produce greens. Yesterday, I picked a bunch of arugula and decided to make a quick pesto. With no walnuts on hand, I decided to use some sunflower seeds, and it was a happy decision. I had some zucchini that needed to be eaten so I sliced it into ribbons, and blanched them. Some people call these zucchini noodles, and I, respectfully, call those people liars. It is a very loose usage of the sacred and delicious noodle category. Let’s not be crazy! Let’s be real and call these zucchini ribbons, and accept them for being delicious on their own merits. I tossed these ribbons with pesto, and with some chickpeas and feta thrown, it made for an excellent side dish. Look at this color, people! It’s spring on a plate.

I love French food.

The past month has been a celebration of duck confit, steak frites, pungent cheese, and rich desserts.  I have been blissfully content and enjoying every minute of it.

But when my sweet friend left me behind some healthy goodies before heading up to Paris I was elated.  I miss coming up with healthy delicious treats to share with you.

These goodies included two of my favourites: shredded coconut and goji berries.  I have been eyeing the goji berries at the health food store here but they were a little over my budget, so this little bag is gold to me.

I was craving a little something sweet this afternoon and had a small carton of coconut milk in the fridge that I’d opened for a stir fry the night before.  I decided to experiment and came up with these deliciously simple coconut goji bites.

You’re welcome to play around with the recipe as you like.  If the coconut milk seems a little heavy, you can sub part of it for a lighter nut milk.  You can also replace the stevia with a sweetener of your choice.

The only rule about these delicious little morsels is that you keep them in the freezer.  That way they stay together and are also like little bites of coconut ice cream.  Yum.

Life has brought on some big changes lately.

While Ayah raises a beautiful baby boy, I have packed my bags and moved to Europe.  I am starting my journey at my home base in the South of France and will see where life leads me next.

Last week my family and I had the joy of welcoming in my friend Aimee and her parents to our little village.  We ate and drank like kings, visited the market, danced at the town fetes, and had a special winery picnic lunch to celebrate Aimee’s dad’s birthday.

Because all celebrations call for something freshly baked, I contributed some of these celebration muffins, packed with zucchini, carrot, apples and lots of love.

The winery welcomed us with open arms and gave us a tour before we set up our tablecloth and picnic in the cellar.

Along with roasted chicken, artichoke, cheese and salad, the muffins were a success.  I’m told they go very well with goat cheese.

The celebration continued into the night with more wine, food and laughter, and we continued to enjoy the muffins over the next couple of days.  I’m happy to say they keep very well and make for a perfect afternoon snack.

I hope to share some more recipes with you from France and my travels.  In the meantime I will continue to celebrate life and all its offerings.

Looking for a high protein breakfast or snack that comes in a sweet little package?

I felt like experimenting more with coconut flour this week since it’s such a great high fibre baking ingredient.

I decided to make some protein muffins to help recover after a workout, or to enjoy as a mid-day brain boosting snack.  These muffins are packed with protein from eggs as well as a big scoop of protein powder.

The good news?  They taste much more indulgent than a protein bar and so far have pleased some tough critics.

If you love the taste of coconut, these muffins are for you!  Enjoy!

Ayah gifted me this wonderful cookbook for my birthday this year.

I’m overwhelmed by all of the amazing recipes.  They’re all very approachable, healthy, family friendly, affordable vegan recipes that you can toss into your slow cooker as you go about your day.  

Even with a meat loving husband, there are a ton of recipes in here that will go over well in our household.  The first one to catch my eye was this smokin’ chipotle bean dip.

Over here, we love anything spicy, especially if it involves chipotle.

The recipe is very straight forward and combines pinto beans, salsa, water, chipotle and chili powder for a hearty crowd pleasing dip.

It gives you the option of serving with shredded vegan cheese on top, but I served this naked with a side of Mary’s crackers before dinner.

If you were having a crowd over you could easily use this as a base for a layered dip.  If the crowd is vegan, maybe layer with some guacamole, cashew cream and Daiya cheese?  The options are endless.

Here is the recipe, have fun with it!

The weekend started off cold, windy and wet.

Last night I was craving a warm comforting stew.  I looked over a list of recommended recipes a lovely nutritionist recently gave me, and immediately knew I had to try the African Nut Butter stew from Julie Daniluk’s book Meals That Heal Inflammation.

Since I’m not one to ever follow recipes precisely, I made a few modications, but you can find the original recipe here.

This is one of the most comforting stews I’ve ever tasted.  I’m going to have to pick up a copy of Julie’s book for myself.

Stay warm and enjoy!

Ever since I was a little kid I’ve loved a hearty plate of pasta and meat sauce.

Since it’s not always the most nutritionally dense dish, I amped up my version with brown rice pasta and bison and snuck in some healthy greens.

Bison is a very lean meat.  It has 1/3 the fat of beef and is packed with loads of zinc, iron and protein per serving.  

I like picking up some Carmen Creek Bison from Whole Foods since it’s additive and hormone free. Their animals are raised naturally on wide open pasture, with unrestricted access to clean air and fresh water.  Carmen Creek Bison are raised on pure vegetable feed and are not in contact with any animal products.

I stewed my bison with a jar of organic tomato sauce and added kale, spinach and broccoli to the mix.  Topped on brown rice pasta and served with a salad, it made for a perfect mid-week meal and even better leftovers the next day.

I love bringing Asian flavours to my table.

They brighten up regular old dishes and give them new life. This miso peanut dressing has the power to do that for various dishes.

I highly recommend doubling or tripling the recipe below so that you can use it on a variety of recipes.  Starting with a simple kale slaw…

This salad is inspired by Ayah’s amazing spicy kale slaw. I mixed up this dressing using what I had on hand and was very pleased with the results!

Since I made a huge batch of miso peanut dressing, I also threw a splash of it into my marinade the other night when I wanted to dress up a simple stir fry.  A small amount went a long way and really made this dinner extra special.

Yesterday, when I wanted to use up some leftover salmon and greens, I threw them all together in a hot cast iron pan, splashed on some miso peanut dressing, and came up with a gourmet dish.

So what are you waiting for?  Do up your dishes this week with this simple dressing.  Let me know what you think!

It’s the time of year when healthy living bloggers go crazy for all things orange.

Pumpkin, squash, sweet potato, bring it on!

This recipe combines two of my personal favourites, sweet potato and pumpkin, with a spicy chipotle twist.

This soup is easy enough to throw together for a week day meal, but you can also dress it up for a dinner party with a fine drizzle of balsamic reduction, a touch of lightly roasted and salted pumpkin seeds, and a few soft hunks of your favourite white cheese.

I used feta in this recipe, but I think a creamy goat cheese would be a fantastic touch.

This soup is even better heated up the next day, so go on and make your coworkers jealous.

With summer over I am still making an effort to eat my greens.

But light green salads don’t cut it on a cool fall day.  These days I crave heartier lunches that will get me through until dinner if needed.

This miso kale salad is  perfect.  It’s hearty, filling, comforting, and very green.

The miso dressing is one of my absolute favourites.  You can find the full recipe for miso ginger dressing recipe here.  The ginger is optional and this time I went without (powdered ginger also works in a pinch).

For my miso kale salad I simply washed my kale, dried it, put it in a big bowl, and massaged it with the miso dressing.

To add some protein and fats to the salad, I bulked it up with some quinoa, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and garlic flax.

The result is a healthy salad, packed with good things and great flavour that will keep you satisfied for hours. Enjoy!