Author: Melissa

Vegetable Spring Rolls

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Happy Chinese New Year! To celebrate the Year of the Rat, I am serving up lots of delicious Chinese dishes for this big day, including one of my most favourite Chinese recipes: Vegetable Spring Rolls! One of the Best Crowd-Pleasing Recipes These Vegetable Spring Rolls are a crowd-pleaser for many reasons. They are warm, crispy and full of delightful vegetables and noodles. Plus, they can be enjoyed by everyone—vegetarians included! For the filling, I combine shredded carrots, cabbage, woodear mushrooms, scallions, rice noodles, and a few key Chinese sauces and oils. Then, I wrap the filling in store-bought spring roll wraps (yay for convenience!) before they are plunged into a pot of oil and are deep fried until crispy. I have another recipe for Baked Spring Rolls that works great too, but I like to deep-fry these when celebrating special events such as Chinese New Year. Once they come out of the fryer, I drain the excess oil and serve them warm with a side of Plum Sauce for dipping. As I was crunched for …

Beef Chow Mein

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Chinese New Year is just a few days away and I’m getting around to finalizing my menu for the big day!  With any Chinese New Year menu, including a noodle dish is a must as it symbolizes having a long life. So make sure you don’t cut the noodles– the longer the noodle the better!  A Bit about Chow Mein Noodles There are so many noodle dishes that you can make, however this year, I opted for making a homemade Beef Chow Mein. You can find chow mein noodles in just about any grocery store these days, and they take just a few minutes to make. Plus, I love the texture of these noodles since they are so thin as well as the fact that they can pick up any flavours you pair with them! With most brands of chow mein noodles, you have to boil them separately for a few minutes before adding them into the vegetables since they are uncooked. It only takes just a few minutes since the noodles are so thin!  …

Apple Cider Citrus Fizz

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I am starting the year off strong with my new favourite drink recipe: Apple Cider Citrus Fizz! This concoction my sound strange, but it tastes delicious and packs a bunch of health benefits that can help you start off the New Year on the right foot! But really, you can enjoy this drink at any time….I especially can’t wait for the summer to enjoy this on the patio! The Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar and Citrus The health benefits of this drink are mainly derived from the apple cider vinegar and the citrus juice that I add to this drink recipe. Apple cider vinegar has risen in popularity in the past few years in the health community. It is known (and actually has proven scientific evidence) for its benefits for lowering blood sugar levels, lowering cholesterol, and even helping you lose weight if consumed regularly. Plus, it  contains beneficial bacteria that promote gut health that will keep you feeling good! *Note- guidelines suggest consuming only up to two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar per …

New Years Intentions & Upcoming Events in 2020

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Happy New Year!🍾✨ As we begin a new year (and new decade!), I always try to set some goals and intentions to improve my life in the coming year. These goals and intentions are framed a bit differently than traditional resolutions, which to me, feel more pressured and like you have to achieve no matter what. My goals and intentions are things that I truly want for myself and my wellbeing. I don’t feel immense pressure to achieve them, and I’m working on them at my own pace and on my own terms. If you’re setting your goals and intentions for 2020, you can get some ideas on things you may wish to achieve in my post down below and you can see my process on how I plan my goals and intentions for the year! And apart from setting goals and intentions, I also like to plan out the year so that I can look forward to all the fun travel and exciting life milestones that are in store for 2020. And this year…I …

Cheese & Thyme Gougères

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We are on the last day of 2019 and I can’t believe what an exciting (and tasty) year it’s been! From making tons of delicious recipes to doing my first paid collaboration to starting a YouTube channel (!), it’s been so fun and so rewarding to have this outlet to do what I love and share it with so many others who love food! Of course, I could not let this year go out without a bangin’ recipe, so for the final post in my #AppyHolidays series, I am sharing this wonderful recipe for my Cheese & Thyme Gougères! These are the perfect treat to ring in the new year and go great with a glass of bubbly! 🍾 What are Gougères? Gougères are these little delicious cheesy puffs that are incredibly light and airy. The base is made of choux pastry, which consists of flour, water, and butter. These are cooked over the stove until the dough comes together in a nice smooth ball. After that, whole eggs are mixed in one at a …

Holiday Brunch Menu

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I’m getting my house ready for our guests that will be visiting this holiday season, and I’m feeling so festive! I’m excited to cook a bunch of meals for them, especially this Holiday Brunch Menu! This year, we are hosting Christmas at our house and we are going all out…even with brunch on the big day! However, I didn’t want to be slaving away for hours in the morning, so I’ve planned out a whole menu where all but one recipe can be made the night before! Watch my YouTube video by clicking on the image below! On our brunch menu, we have my Sausage & Leek Breakfast Casserole, Oven-Baked Hashbrowns, Maple Bacon, and a refreshing Citrus Fruit Salad! Everything apart from the Maple Bacon can be made the day before and kept in the fridge overnight to bring out on the big day. You can even make my Oven-Baked Hashbrowns a few weeks before and freeze them, then cook from frozen! Even better! Recipes: Sausage & Leek Breakfast Casserole and Oven-Baked Hashbrowns I have …

Eggnog Rice Pudding

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We are on to day seven of my #12DaysOfChristmas series, and today I’m giving you a delicious recipe that can be served as a holiday dessert or even as a holiday breakfast. This recipe for Eggnog Rice Pudding is very festive and will warm you up and keep you energized this holiday season. Thanks to my friend Pauline who suggested this idea as a blog post for this series! Which Variety of Rice to Use? I’ve made (and eaten) lots of rice pudding in my day, so speaking from experience, I have a key variety of rice that I like to use in my rice pudding recipe. Arborio Rice is my favourite because it is short-grained and really starchy. These properties really make the rice pudding nice and sticky and thick, just like the rice pudding should be! Unlike most recipes, I do not like to pre-cook my rice. I find that it doesn’t turn out creamy enough and the milk doesn’t get a chance to really infuse through each rice grain. So instead, I …

Holiday Gift Guide 2019

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We are on to our sixth day of my #12DaysOfChristmas series! Have you been liking this series so far? Today, I have a great collection of gifts to give this holiday that will be perfect for any foodie on your list! As a bonus, all of these products are all local to Vancouver Island! Not only do I love these products and have used them time and time again, supporting local businesses is a great way for your money to feed directly back into local communities and the local economy. In my opinion, that’s much better than my money going to big corporations! And with the amazing quality of these products, they are much better than any shopping mall gift any day!  Picot Collective Honey Tobacco Candle  This has been my favourite candle discovery of the DECADE thanks to my friend Alex! She introduced me to this local company, Picot Collective, and I have loved their signature fragrance: Honey Tobacco. Apart from what you may infer from the name, the candle does not smell like …

No-Cook Party Appetizers for the Holidays

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We are exactly ONE WEEK away from Christmas and I am super excited for the big day! While it can get to be a hectic time entertaining friends and family, it can become even more hectic when you have unexpected guests drop by (or invite themselves over last minute!).  Today, I am giving you three of my favourite No-Cook Party appetizers that you can whip up in a flash when you have guests coming by. These are all really simple and can be made with just a few ingredients. Plus, you don’t have to cook anything! Total bonus! Of course, while these recipes are simple, it’s important to use high quality ingredients to get the best flavour! Citrus Marinated Olives My Citrus Marinated Olives can be made right before guests come over or can be made a few days in advance and kept in the fridge. I use castelvetrano olives in this recipe since they have a nice buttery consistency, and they’re not overpowering in flavour or salt.  To marinate these olives, I add olive …

Cream Cheese & Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms

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It’s Tuesday and you know what that means… I am back again today with another #AppyHolidays post! This week, I am sharing my Cream Cheese & Bacon Stuffed Mushroom recipe. These Cream Cheese & Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms are the perfect little appetizer that your guests can pop right into their mouths and savour during a cocktail party or right before a festive holiday meal. They are also very easy to make and can be served straight out of the oven or at room temperature. These mushrooms are fabulous either way! I particularly love this recipe since mushrooms are in season and widely available. Plus, during the winter here in Canada, we don’t always have fresh local produce year round (other than greenhouse veggies in the winter)! However, mushrooms are available year-round thanks to the amazing local mushroom farmers! While you can stuff mushrooms with just about any filling, I went for cream cheese and bacon this year. I think that these ingredients make it so rich and decadent, and isn’t that what the holidays are …