Category: Desserts

Nutmeg is a bit embarrassed to admit that after many months in France, they have barely explored all of Provence.  The departments within Provence are all beautiful and vastly different. The departments include Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches-du-Rhone, Var and Vaucluse. So much to visit! Clearly a break from their holiday was in order!!  Nutmeg booked two nights in a lovely chambre d’hotes (B&B) called Les Quatre Saisons near the village of le Castellet, in the Var.  Le Castellet is a medieval village dating from 1153. It is a fairly well preserved town on a hill, so there are magnificent views from the top.  The town buildings are highly picturesque. Les Quatre Saisons is easily accessible from the major regional centres, and it is a true oasis.

The weather was smoking-hot, reaching 32C under cloudless skies. Patrice cool, calm and well practised in the kitchen. He and his partner Didier ran a small Parisian bistro for nine years and then a restaurant…

Recipes & Travel:
Cooking Classes in Provence, Easy healthy desserts, Exploring the Var, French Food, Provence Travel, Recipes with Peaches, Tiramisu with Peaches, Travel in France

Nutmeg has learned a few things about technology in the last couple months including:

It is a brilliant idea to keep back-up files
Software version updates can cause problems
The benefits of saving documents to a cloud

Luckily, there are a few loyal readers including CardaMOM, who prints everything.  Nutmeg has rebuilt the recipe database on this blog over the last few weeks, and she has been able to recover 99% of the recipes.  The new format is much better for printing.  Rather than make you search back through old posts for the French recipes, some of them are captured below (click the links) and enjoy!

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Recipes & Travel:
Easy Beef Recipes, Easy healthy desserts, Easy sweet tart recipes, Food in France, French Food, French Recipes, Recipes with Pears, Stew Recipes, Tart Tatin

Back in August, Nutmeg published a blog post on Nu-Roots Nutrition in Canmore.  In the past few weeks, she has had the pleasure of getting to know the three ladies involved a little better; Sam, Tori and Joanne.  These three ladies offer a winning business combination of holistic nutrition (individual and corporate) and a storefront where they sell fresh small batch quantities of gluten free, raw food.
If that sounds strange or yucky, think again….  Nutmeg has tried the “Nutella” spread and it is too die for AND good for you.  The granola comes in two varieties a buckwheat and a cacao version both delicious.  There are all sorts of other great things including; decadent brownies.  Want to learn more?  The store is open Tuesday – Friday and they offer raw cooking classes about every two weeks.  Below is an article from their most recent newsletter and a really easy recipe.  BE TEMPTED! (more…)

Recipes & Travel:
Cobbler Recipe, Easy healthy desserts, Food Nutritional Facts, Healthy Apple Recipes, Raw food

As the kids head back to school and everyone gets back into the post summer routines, including work or work-outs you may need something for an extra energy boost. Do you workout in the morning?  Do you have a mid-morning crash after dropping off the kids, doing groceries and cramming in a workout?  Do you need a snooze after lunch?  If any of these scenarios sound familiar you may need a healthy pick me up snack.  Of course you should balance these little treats with adequate fruits, vegetables and fluids.  These Nutty Energy Bars are delicious, easy to make, do not melt in a lunch box and last for a couple weeks in a sealed container (if you can restrain yourself).
Nutmeg has adapted this recipe slightly, you can play with the ingredients to use your favorites – so far almond, dried cherry is the winner.  Check out the recipe for Nutty Energy Bars and enjoy.  No more energy lows.
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Recipes & Travel:
healthy snack bar recipes

As you may have gathered, Ginger and Nutmeg are both reasonably athletic. Nutmeg might be a bit more dedicated, regardless Ginger will still beat her every time.  Nutmeg does not prescribe to commercial “power bars” on a regular basis although they are handy for endurance activities or outdoor sports, particularly if weather can be a factor.
For longer endurance exercise, such as road riding, you do need a power boost (and may not even realize it). Choose energy bars with the right ingredients or better yet make your own.  The challenge is the array of meal replacement bar products are vast,  and include a range of questionable snacks, many of which are barely better than a good old chocolate bar.  Not to mention an expensive option.  Nutmeg has a recipe for a homemade version if you are so inclined (printable recipe below):

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Recipes & Travel:
Easy healthy desserts, Healthy Granola Bars, healthy snack bar recipes, Recipes with Dates, Recipes wth Oats

As you might have gathered Nutmeg is in the desert and it is not that warm so she has some time to add to all the really useful food information in this blog.  So the question about dates came to mind… Here are the facts:
The Date Palm (scientific name Phoenix dactylifera), also known as the Medjool palm is a tall, beautiful and majestic tree that is known for its edible sweet fruits, the dates. The tree belongs to the Arecaceae family and the genus Phoenix. The Date palm produces true real dates. It is the second most known and most useful palm tree in the world after the Coconut palm tree.
The Phoenix Dactylifera is one of the world’s oldest trees. It has been grown for thousands of years in hot, dry, desert regions throughout the world. It is an important multi­purpose tree in the Middle East, Asia and North Africa. The Date palm tree is a holy symbol. It was historically mentioned…

Recipes & Travel:
Easy healthy snack recipes, Healthy Granola Bars, healthy snack bar recipes, Recipes with Dates

Nutmeg has tested this chocolate desert recently and confirms it is quick and easy to make.  Great for the holidays with seasonal ingredients (nuts and dried fruit) and Nutmeg is very happy to confirm it is nothing like traditional fruit cake.

Print Chocolate Nut and Fruit Tart Recipe type: Dessert Prep time:  2 hours 15 mins Cook time:  12 mins Total time:  2 hours 27 mins Serves: 6-8   Try this quick chocolate dessert and you are bound to impress your friends and family. Enjoy! Ingredients 1 Pie crust, refrigerated ¼ Cup Raspberry preserves, or jam of choice ½ Cup Heavy whipping Cream 12 oz Bittersweet Chocolate Chips 1 Cup Assorted nuts (pecans, sliced almonds, pistachios and hazelnuts) toasted, chopped coarsely 1 Cup Assorted dried fruit (cherries, raisins, cranberries and blueberries) 1 Large pinch Kosher Salt ½ Cup Toffee bits, for…

Recipes & Travel:
Chocolate recipes, Easy healthy desserts, Recipes with Dried Fruit, Recipes with Nuts

Nutmeg as you already know is quite black and white on most issues and this is definitely one of those.  Chocolate only comes in one acceptable format – dark and really dark.  White “chocolate” is about as real as marshmallows and about as good for you as MSG, trans-fats and saccharin.  For those interested here are some fast facts:

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Recipes & Travel:
Biscotti Recipes, Chocolate recipes, Easy Cookie Recipes, Easy healthy desserts, Easy healthy snack recipes