*sigh*…oh, the classic taper week. The week that all runners love to hate.

To clear their heads, some people have a therapist, some people are just plain angry, some people eat a lot of cake…and I run. It makes me feel strong and happy and free all at the same time. So naturally, a taper week (less running) doesn’t allow me to do that. It’s torturous!

During this week my boyfriend just happens to be on a fishing trip up north, so without him to keep me busy I’ve been visiting with friends every day, going for long walks and bike rides, doing the short runs I’m allowed, and making so, so, many salads and dips. With this hot weather, they carry me over so I don’t have to turn on the oven too much or do too many dishes. It’s a win-win situation really. Plus, dips and salads are healthy!

To make this roasted garlic hummus (the best hummus), start by roasting a head of garlic. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Cut off the very top of the garlic clove (about 1/4″) so that the tops of most of the cloves are exposed slightly. Coat with a little olive oil and wrap securely in tin foil. Roast garlic in oven for 1 hour.

Remove from foil and allow the garlic to cool.

Using your fingers, squeeze the soft, roasted garlic out of each clove into food processor (this is easily done when the garlic has cooled completely). Set aside 3 garlic cloves for later use. Rinse and drain chickpeas. Add them, and all other ingredients except olive oil and the 3 roasted garlic cloves you set aside, to the food processor and blend until completely smooth.

Scrape ingredients off the sides of your food processor to make sure it blends evenly. Finally add one tablespoon of olive oil at a time until you have reached the desired consistency. Add it very slowly, allowing the mixture to combine fully before adding more liquid. For a tasty garnish, mince the 3 roasted garlic cloves you set aside and toss in a tiny bit of olive oil and place on top of hummus.

Enjoy!

Roasted Garlic Hummus
Recipe taken from The Novice Chef

Ingredients:
2 cups canned chick-peas or cooked chickpeas
3 tablespoons tahini
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup warm water
1 extra large head of garlic
1 lemon, juice of
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F Cut off the very top of the garlic clove (about 1/4″) so that the tops of most of the cloves are exposed slightly. Coat with a little olive oil and wrap securely in tin foil. Roast garlic in oven for 1 hour. Remove and allow cool.

Using your fingers, squeeze the soft, roasted garlic out of each clove into food processor (this is easily done when the garlic has cooled completely). Set aside 3 garlic cloves for later use. Rinse and drain chickpeas. Add them, and all other ingredients except olive oil and the 3 roasted garlic cloves you set aside, to the food processor and blend until completely smooth.

Scrape ingredients off sides of food processor to make sure it blends evenly. Finally add a tablespoon of olive oil at a time until you have reached the desired consistency. Add it very slowly, allowing the mixture to combine fully before adding more liquid. For a tasty garnish, mince the 3 roasted garlic cloves you set aside and toss in a tiny bit of olive oil and place on top of hummus.

Serve at room temperature with pita, crackers, or veggies. Also you can add it as a condiment to a wrap! Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to a week.

Fresh pie just screams summer to me. I love it, and find myself looking for excuses to make it.

Friend: “Oh hey Katrina, wanna go out for coffee tomorrow.”

Me: “Sure, that will probably require me to bake a pie.”

Strawberry rhubarb pie is my boyfriend’s absolute favorite pie. He’ll beg for it. He will go out of his way to find rhubarb, bring it home, place it in the frige, and mention nonchalantly “there’s rhubarb in the fridge if you’d like to bake something with it”.

Lucky for him I DO!

Although I loooove this pie, I personally prefer plain ol’ rhubarb pie, but if you’re like my man this pie is for you!!

To begin, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. On a well-floured counter, roll half of pie dough into a 12-inch circle and carefully transfer to a 9-inch pie plate.

Stir together rhubarb and strawberries….

…and juice that pretty lemon.

Stir together rhubarb, strawberries, sugars, lemon, salt and tapioca in a large bowl.

Mound filling inside bottom pie crust and dot with bits of unsalted butter.

Roll second half of pie dough into an 11-inch circle. Transfer it to center over the pie filling. Trim top and bottom pie dough so that their overhang beyond the pie plate lip is only 1/2-inch. Tuck rim of dough underneath itself and crimp it decoratively.

Brush egg yolk mixture over dough and cut slits into your pie.

Transfer pie to a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until the pie is golden and the juices bubble visibly.

Transfer pie to wire rack to cool. When fully cooled (several hours later) the juices will gel.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Recipe taken from Smitten Kitchen
Makes 1 9-inch round pie

Ingredients:
1 recipe for double-crust pie dough (I always use the Pioneer Woman’s recipe)
3 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds, untrimmed) rhubarb, in 1/2-inch thick slices
3 1/2 cups (about 1 pound) strawberries, hulled and sliced if big, halved if tiny
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a well-floured counter, roll half of pie dough into a 12-inch circle and carefully transfer to a 9-inch pie plate.

Stir together rhubarb, strawberries, sugars, lemon, salt and tapioca in a large bowl. Mound filling inside bottom pie crust and dot with bits of unsalted butter. Roll second half of pie dough into an 11-inch circle and cut decorative slits in it. Transfer it to center over the pie filling. Trim top and bottom pie dough so that their overhang beyond the pie plate lip is only 1/2-inch. Tuck rim of dough underneath itself and crimp it decoratively.

Transfer pie to a baking sheet and brush egg yolk mixture over dough. Bake for 20 minutes then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until the pie is golden and the juices bubble visibly.

Transfer pie to wire rack to cool. When fully cooled (several hours later) the juices will gel.

Note: Pie should keep for up to three days at room temperature.

Besides wanting to drink in a pub while singing an Irish bar song in Ireland, I also have a few things that are a little more right now instead of in the futre. One of those things is to cook my way through a book from cover to cover.

When choosing a book I had to take two things into consideration. The first is that I am a vegetarian so I can’t choose a book with meat in it, and the second is that I like the way my body is shaped now and didn’t think choosing a baking book was the best idea. I bake once to twice a week already and that’s more than enough!

Lucky for me I work in a book store so during my breaks I had a ton of cookbooks to look at. After browsing many, many, cookbooks I choose Canadian Living’s The Vegetarian Collection and have made 6 recipes from it so far – all delicious! This was the first recipe I made and the very first recipe in the book. I hope you enjoy this lovely, healthy salad, and this new segment on my blog!

To begin, toast almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often until golden, about 5 minutes.

Whisk together your oil, vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper.

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add lentils and garlic; reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water; drain again. Disgard garlic.

Add lentils, cucumber, tomatoes, onion and parsley to a large bowl.

Toss with dressing to coat.

Stir in almonds and about ¼ cup of feta cheese. Sprinkle remaining feta just before serving.

Enjoy!

Lentil Feta Salad
Recipe from The Vegetarian Collection
Makes 4 regular and 6 small servings
Per 1 of 6 servings: 305 calories | 14g protein | 18g total fat | 25g carbohydrates | 6g fibre

Ingredients:
½ cup slivered almonds
1 cup dried green lentils
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup extra virgin olove oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp dried oregano (or fresh)
salt and pepper
1 ½ cups cucumber, diced, seeded and peeled
1 cup halved grape (or cherry) tomatoes
½ cup red onion, diced, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
¾ cup feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:
In a small dry skillet, toast almonds over medium heat, stirring often until golden, about 5 minutes.
Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add lentils and garlic; reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water; drain again. Disgard garlic.
In a large bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper. Add lentils, cucumber, tomatoes, onion and parsley. Toss to coat.
Stir in almonds and about ¼ cup of feta cheese. Sprinkle remaining feta just before serving.

Now don’t get me wrong, I looooove breakfast foods, I just don’t seem to make enough of them. My bookmark list of breakfast items is exploding and I have decided that from today on, I’m going to try new and exciting breakfasts a few times a week. Starting with this oatmeal. It’s simple, it’s delicious, and it’s something that makes me want to start a new breakfast habit of only oatmeal…but I won’t. I WILL be making this again though. It’s so scrumptious, and I know you’ll like it too!

To make this, mash up your banana.

Then place water, milk, banana, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and brown sugar (or maple syrup) in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Stir in oats.

Simmer over medium heat for 8 minutes or until desired thickness. Stir in walnuts just before serving.

Enjoy!

Banana Walnut Oatmeal
Recipe taken from Kitchen Simplicity
Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk (I used 1%)
1 banana, mashed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
pinch salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar (or maple syrup)
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Extra brown sugar for topping

Directions:
Place water, milk, banana, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and brown sugar (or maple syrup) in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Stir in oats. Simmer over medium heat for 8 minutes or until desired thickness. Stir in walnuts just before serving.

I spotted this beautiful recipe a while ago and have been saving it for a good enough occasion to eat like a maniac indulge in a big time sweet treat. Exam time was the perfect occasion, and these cupcakes got me through some tough organic chemistry problems. I mean, brownies and cookies together to make a cupcake? Puuuuulease!

That semi-naked brownie below gets me hot.

Anyway, to begin, preheat your oven to 350 and line 12 muffin tins with cupcake liners. Then slice store bought refrigerated cookie dough into 12 1/4 inch slices.

Place one slice of cookie dough in the bottom of each lined muffin tin. You can eat any extra…I demand it in fact! You can always make your own cookie dough too, but I needed these bad boys FAST and making everything myself was not an option that day. Waiting stinks.

Mix up that awesome store bought brownie mix following the instructions on the box. I used Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge.

Spoon brownie batter over the cookie dough, filling cups to about 2/3 full.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until brownies are set.

Remove from oven and cool on a cooking rack.

When the cupcakes are all set and cooled, get your frosting ready.

In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter, vanilla, and milk on medium-low speed until smooth and combined. Add powdered sugar and cocoa powder and beat on low until just combined. Add chocolate syrup and increase speed to high. Beat for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.

Using a spatula, fold in marshmallow creme, just until swirled throughout. You don’t want it to be completely mixed in.

Pipe or frost icing on cookie brownies. Enjoy!

Cookie Brownie Cupcakes with Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting
Recipe taken from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
For Cupcakes:
Brownie batter (use homemade or mix, I used Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge prepared for cake-like brownies)
Regular sized tube of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough

For Frosting:
2 sticks salted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons milk
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons chocolate syrup
7 1/2 oz jar marshmallow creme (I used fluff)

Directions:
For Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350. Line 12 muffin tins with liners.

Slice cookie dough into 12 1/4 inch slices and place one in the bottom of each lined muffin tin. Don’t worry about any left-over cookie dough you might have–you will be eating it later.

Spoon brownie batter over the cookie dough, filling cups to about 2/3 full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until brownies are set. Remove from oven and cool on a cooking rack.

For Frosting:
In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter, vanilla, and milk on medium-low speed until smooth and combined. Add powdered sugar and cocoa powder and beat on low until just combined. Add chocolate syrup and increase speed to high. Beat for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.

Using a spatula, fold in marshmallow creme, just until swirled throughout. You don’t want it to be completely mixed in.

Pipe or frost on cookie brownies. Enjoy!

My parking space is just outside of this woman’s apartment and pretty much every day I can see a kitty sleeping in the window – it’s always such a pleasant surprise. Today I saw cat number 7. I am not kidding.

SEVEN cats! First I saw a short haired black kitty, then a long haired black kitty, then 4 more and then today I saw lucky cat number seven. A white fluffy kitty was sitting in the window. Is this allowed?? Who knew crazy cat women actually existed?? I’m here to tell you that they do. And am unsure if I need to call the pet shelter…but that’s another matter. On to these wraps!!

To begin, heat butter over medium high heat. Add eggs and fry until cooked through (I scrambled mine).

Mmmm….

Heat the tortillas in a frying pan.

Layer the black beans on the warm tortilla.

Add fried eggs and cheese.

Top it off with cheese, salsa, slices of avocado and cilantro. Be careful to leave room so you can wrap up your tortilla!

Enjoy!

Huevos Rancheros Wraps
Recipe taken from Eat Live Run
Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 large whole grain tortillas
8 eggs
1 avocado
1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch cilantro, minced
Salsa
Vegetable oil to fry eggs

Directions:
Heat oil or butter over medium high heat. Add eggs and fry until cooked through (you can either scramble or keep the yolks whole).

Heat the tortillas, then layer black beans, fried eggs, salsa, slices of avocado and cilantro in each. Be careful to leave room so you can wrap up your tortilla!

To make a closed end wrap (like mine), fold both the right and the left edges over the filling and roll from the bottom. Then cut the wrap in half with a sharp knife and enjoy!

With this massive snack craving, and with little time to make anything too wild, I thought of putting some of my favorite flavours together on some air-popped popcorn.

It was a good idea. Such a good idea that this popcorn lasted only two days! The peanut butter and honey come together to make an almost caramel-like consistency on the popcorn. I’m in heaven.

To begin, place wax paper on a large baking sheet and spray with baking spray. Pop your popcorn either with an air popper, on the stove top, or with bagged popcorn.

Place popcorn in a large bowl.

In a small saucepan, combine sugar and honey. Bring to a rolling boil.

Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth.

Add vanilla.

Pour peanut butter syrup over popcorn and stir to coat.

HELLO!

Spread out on to a cookie sheet to cool for a few minutes.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter and Honey Popcorn
Makes 8 cups (serves 6-8)

Ingredients:
8 cups popped popcorn (air popped or unbuttered microwave popcorn)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Place wax paper on a large baking sheet and spray with baking spray.

Pop your popcorn either with an air popper, on the stove top, or with bagged popcorn.

Place popcorn in a large bowl.

In a small saucepan, combine sugar and honey. Bring to a rolling boil.

Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth. Add vanilla.

Pour peanut butter syrup over popcorn and stir to coat.

Spread out on to a cookie sheet to cool for a few minutes and enjoy!

Last September I enrolled in a new College program in hopes that a Biotechnology diploma might make me a bit more hireable. So even though my life has gone in a different direction then I had planned originally, the end goal is really the same. I’m happy. This summer I’m in Canada and can spend more time with my family, I get to do a marathon in my home city on a known route, and I get to spend all the time in the world with my partner. What else could a girl ask for really?

Cookies you say? I agree! I created some magic in my kitchen recently. Remember these? Yeah, I added cocoa and fudge to that recipe to make a chewy, heavenly, cookie-baby. I’m in love.

To make these add butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla to a large bowl.

Cream them together until fluffy.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and mix until combined. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and mix until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips..

…and crushed Oreos.

Refrigerate dough for at least 2-3 hours. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350, roll into balls and set on baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Let cool completely.

Enjoy! I sure did…a little too much.

Double Fudge Oreo Cookies
makes about 3 dozen cookies
Recipe lightly adapted from How Sweet It Is

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter (or 2 sticks), at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup (9 oreos) chopped Oreo cookies

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.

Add flour mixture to egg mixture and mix until well combined.

Fold in chocolate chips and crushed oreos.

Refrigerate dough for 2-4 hours (or more).

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350, roll into balls and set on baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Let cool completely.

But I recently stumbled upon this recipe for gingerbread granola and it caught my eye right away! It packs a spicy punch that reminds of of Christmas morning. Interesting choice with this warm weather we’ve been having, but I knew I needed to try it.

This goes great with plain or vanilla greek yogurt, milk, or ice cream. It’s such a nice switch-up to my regular granola and I love having it as a snack after a run. Speaking of which, I JUST finished a 10 km race! I finished in 46:48 – a personal best for a short 10 km race, so I’m ecstatic!

Anyway, back to granola! To make this whisk together molasses, brown sugar, honey, and oil.

In a separate bowl mix salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, oats, raisins, coconut and nuts until evenly mixed.

Stir in molasses.

Spread onto two large rimmed baking sheets sprayed with baking spray. Bake at 325ºF for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until oats are golden brown (if cooking both sheets at once, swap positions half way through baking time).

Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container, and enjoy!

Gingerbread Granola
Makes 10 servings
Recipe lightly adapted from Kitchen Simplicity

Ingredients:
1/3 cup molasses
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup brown sugar (optional for extra sweetness)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup pecans (or walnuts), chopped
1/2 cup raisins

Directions:
Whisk together molasses, brown sugar, honey, and oil.

In a separate bowl mix salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, oats, raisins, coconut and nuts until evenly mixed. Stir in molasses.

Spread onto two large rimmed baking sheets sprayed with baking spray. Bake at 325ºF for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until oats are golden brown (if cooking both sheets at once, swap positions half way through baking time).

Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

A KitchenAid stand mixer!! Yes, for Easter. My man is full of surprises, and decided to take me on an Easter egg hunt to find it. Not your normal Easter egg hunt though. I had to solve a clue that lead me to the next clue, and so on. Here are some examples of the clues I got:

CLUE: The wavelength of light between 300 MHz and 300 GHz.
ANSWER: Microwave
The next clue was in the microwave, and yes, I had to Google this answer.

CLUE: “Turns out they were all dead the whole time…”
ANSWER: Lost.
The next clue was in the DVD box.

CLUE: “What ingredient fo all of these recipes have in common? 1. Jamie Oliver’s Crunchy
Garlic Chicken, 2. Joy The Baker’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Ball Cookies and 3. Pioneer Woman’s Fancy Mac & Cheese”.
ANSWER: Flour
The next clue was in the flour bag.

As you can tell, this hunt wasn’t easy. I EARNED that stand mixer! Not only did I have to use the internet for half the clues, but each clue came with an envelope with a letter on it, and I had to “unscramble” the words at the end. It ended up saying “My Closet”. The stand mixer was waiting for me in there. HURRAY!!

So naturally I baked in the stand mixer the next day, and can’t believe how easy it is to use! I’m in love with a machine…I’ve heard warnings of this happening.

I made bread. Are you as obsessed with banana bread as I am? I can’t get enough of the stuff and I love trying new combinations of flavours with it. This is certainly a new favorite of mine. It’s filled with bananas and sweet potato puree that meld together like a puzzle piece. Who knew these two were meant for each other? I dig it.

To begin, make your sweet potato puree. First roast 1 large sweet potato for about 1 hour in a 350*F. After the sweet potato is soft and cooked, let it cool for about 20 minutes. Peel the sweet potato and place it into a food processor until smooth and has the consistency of canned pumpkin. Add banana and puree again.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with baking spray.

Put the puree in a bowl, add the sugar and oil and beat together until fluffy.

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy.

In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine into a batter.

Add the milk and mix in.

Aww, yeah.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan.

Bake the bread for 1 hour 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Banana Sweet Potato Bread
Recipe adapted from Heather Christo
Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
1 cup very ripe banana, mashed (2 1/2 bananas)
1 cup sweet potato puree (1 large sweet potato)
1 cup sugar
½ cup oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 ¾ cups flour
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ginger
1/4 cup milk

Directions:
To make your sweet potato puree, roast 1 large sweet potato for about 1 hour in a 350*F oven. After the sweet potato is soft and cooked, let it cool for about 20 minutes. Peel the sweet potato and place it into a food processor until smooth and has the consistency of canned pumpkin.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with baking spray.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat together the banana and sweet potato until smooth and fluffy.

Add the sugar and oil and beat together until fluffy.

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy.

In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and combine into a batter. Add the milk and mix in.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan.

Bake the bread for 1 hour 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Slice and Enjoy!