Author Archives: Crystal Clarke

Not from Spain “Spanish” Rice

  By Crystal Clarke | September 13, 2013 - 3:15 pm | , , ,
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Not from Spain Spanish Rice

After my last post about the not-my-mom’s banana bread I got to thinking about food that my parents used to make when we were kids. One of our favourite meals was one that my parents called “Spanish rice.” I’ve never heard anyone speak of this dish before or since then and I haven’t had it in years. What sparked this memory is the fact that I attempt to cook for two teenagers who have never really eaten vegetarian food and have a bit of a bias against it. I’d be lying if I said that this didn’t hurt my feelings , … Keep reading →

Not as Good as my Mom’s Banana Bread

  By Crystal Clarke | September 9, 2013 - 7:58 pm | , , ,
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Banana Bread Collage

For many years, and my siblings and my entire childhood, my grandma and my mom co-existed in the same farm yard. Now that I’m an adult and have experiences with mothers-in-law and family dynamics, I have a serious appreciation and respect for both of these women for making it through those years without killing one another. And more than that, they are still very close! The joke in our house whenever my mom made one of my grandma’s recipes w  was that the secret ingredient is a mother’s love. No matter what my mom made, it was never as good … Keep reading →

Streusel-iscious muffins

  By Crystal Clarke | September 6, 2013 - 9:10 am | , , ,
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This whole Vegan MoFo thing has been a big learning experience for me. Today I learned what streusel is! From dictionary.com, it is: streusel [German stroi-zuhl; English stroo-zuhl noun a topping for coffeecake, consisting of crumbs of blended sugar, cinnamon, flour, butter, and chopped nutmeats. Origin: 1925-30; <German: literally, a sprinkling; I have no idea what a nutmeat is, but maybe I’ll look that up tomorrow! And, obviously, there is no butter in this vegan recipe. Today’s recipe is adapted from The Garden of Vegan (again). I used flax eggs for this one to add some good omega oil and because … Keep reading →

Tuscan FAIL!

  By Crystal Clarke | September 5, 2013 - 10:02 pm | ,
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Tuscan Shepherd's Pie

In my experience trying new recipes can go either inspiring or disappointing. Today’s recipe from Forks Over Knives is the Tuscan-Style Shepherd’s Pie was really disappointing. It started with the polenta, which was the top crust of the shepherd’s pie. Yesterday when we were shopping in the city I had both corn flour and corn meal in my hand. Written on my grocery list was “corn meal/flour.” I thought about getting both of them, but decided to get one. I could not remember which one was used in polenta. So I bought the corn flour. Of course, that was wrong. … Keep reading →

Look at those Steaming Buns

  By Crystal Clarke | September 4, 2013 - 9:26 pm | , ,
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This is what a steamed bun looks like.

My Vegan MoFo plan for today was to make a Shepherd’s Pie with polenta, but that was put on hold when our trip to the city went longer than expected (I should know better by now). By the time we got home, the kids and us were hungry to my honey made a fried rice that was pretty yummy. Today’s vegan culinary adventure consisted of a steamed bun from The Green Spot Cafe in Regina. I would have put up a post while I was sitting there, but there was no wireless internet creating chaos in my mind*. I went … Keep reading →

Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

  By Crystal Clarke | September 3, 2013 - 3:48 pm | , ,
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Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

In an earlier post today I said that I was going to focus on workout food. Today’s food post, however, is all about yummy and healthy! Before last spring I had never cooked for teenagers before. The two teenagers that I live with (my love’s kiddos, a 15-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl) have not eaten a lot of vegan food. That being said, I’ve had very little experience cooking for other people. I mean, it wasn’t uncommon for me to eat rice and lentils with no seasoning at all other than some Braggs. One of the kiddos is super … Keep reading →

Vegan MoFo Introduction

  By Crystal Clarke | September 3, 2013 - 1:36 pm | ,
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Today is the first day of Vegan Month of Food or Vegan MoFo, for short. I literally just heard about it about 5 minutes ago and I said YES! I’m going to cook and write about food every weekday or more for the month of September. This is a lofty goal for a currently inconsistent person like myself*. Whenever I decide to do something, I know that I need a plan. A plan to keep myself going. Luckily, I love food and have been wanting to cook and bake more instead of eating processed foods. My professional life is also … Keep reading →

40 Day Challenge One Month Update

  By Crystal Clarke | July 10, 2013 - 11:31 am | ,
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Thanks to Chad Bennett for this awesome photo of the line of bikes.

The other day I kind of cheated on the 40-day exercise challenge that I have been doing. I weighed myself. I’ve been feeling pretty good about getting out or just doing some kind of exercise every day. It turns out that I lost 2 pounds. It was nice to see that, but I won’t weigh myself for a while longer. It’s been 4 weeks since I started this and I have been pretty consistent. Some days, like I said before, I have done very little, but at least it is something. I do SOME kind of exercise every day. Sometimes … Keep reading →

40-day challenge update – day 13

  By Crystal Clarke | June 25, 2013 - 9:36 pm | ,
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Firefly

Over the last two weeks there have definitely been some super lame “workouts” that I’ve claimed as exercise. However, I feel like I’m actually progressing! It’s those days of weak exercise days that I can convince my mind as being successful and keeping this thing going. Yes, I’m playing Jedi mind-tricks on myself. I’m so gullible! Anyway, consistency of ACTUAL exercise is happening these days. Last week I got out on my bike three times and went on numerous walks. The last two days I have went walking with my hunny. Last night we even convinced the teen and pre-teen … Keep reading →