Posts tagged: Easy healthy desserts

Spring starts early in the south of France. Nutmeg was shocked to learn that the cherries on the neighbours’ tree would be ready to eat by the middle of May!! Under perfect conditions, local BC cherries only start arriving in Calgary farmers markets in mid-July. Sure enough the white flowering trees quickly turned to producing the luscious red fruit, and all of a sudden the orchards were laden with produce. The problem with cherries is you can only eat so many before they start spoiling.
The cherry is a stone fruit within the Prunus species, related to plums and apricots. As a fruit, the cherry has been consumed for millenniums, with references even in Roman times. There are numerous varieties of cherries globally. However, the most commonly known strains in North America are the wild cherry (or sweet cherry) and the sour cherry. The red pigment in cherries is called anthocyanin, and it has been shown to provide some pain…

Recipes & Travel:
Cherry dessert recipes, Clafoutis, Easy healthy desserts, French Food, Provence Travel

Apricots will always remind Nutmeg of her grandmother, Charlotte.

Nutmeg never asked if her grandmother liked to cook, it was just assumed that she did as her Hungarian lineage prevailed in hearty meals and traditional sweets. It was not unusual for Charlotte to spend an entire day preparing for a meal. The group would gather around her formal table, set with family china, polished silverware and sparkling crystal to enjoy Charlotte’s paprika chicken, beef goulash, stuffed peppers, gnocchi and other classics.
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Recipes & Travel:
Apricot, Apricot Recipes, Easy healthy desserts, Easy sweet tart recipes, Recipes with frangipane, Tart

Literally as old as the hills, the fruit of the apricot tree are confirmed to have been domesticated since the Bronze Age. Although, the exact origin of the tree is debated;

there is evidence of consumption of the fruit in both China and India between 3-4,000 B.C.
the apricot in dry format was certainly exchanged along Persian trade routes.
the scientific name, is Prunus armeniaca (Armenian plum), likely as a result of the ubiquitous presence in Armenia since antiquity.
The fruit was eventually introduced to the Greeks and then adopted by the Romans.

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Recipes & Travel:
Apricot Recipes, Easy healthy desserts, Easy healthy snack recipes, French Food

Is it possible more flavour and less fat? Yes!

Italian cuisine is known for its’ simplicity and high-quality ingredients. Gelato is one such example. The Italians have been perfecting this frozen desert since the days of the Medici family of Florence. In 1565, a Florentine chef, Bernardo Buontalenti, served his frozen concoction to Catherine de’Medici. Since that time, the popularity of the dessert and the wide variety of flavours has exploded. Today, gelato can be found all over Italy and many places around the globe.
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Recipes & Travel:
Easy healthy desserts, Easy Italian Recipes, food info, Gelato, Travel in Italy

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 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

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