This recipe is the perfect thing to make if you have some extra time on your hands one night. I made this last weekend, and thoroughly enjoyed myself throughout the entire process. It is a bit of a slow cooking meal, but ohhhh boy is it worth it. If you feel like taking your time one night and making a delicious meal for friends, this is the perfect dish!

Disclaimer: this recipe becomes even more fun if you consume a very generous glass (or two…..) of wine. 😉

And I knowww that pasta is not a healthy meal. But, I am all about balance! If you are craving pasta one night, have the pasta! Just not every night and keep the portions reasonable. I make my bolognese sauce “Skinny Belle” by using turkey instead of beef! Way less fat and way better for you.

What’s in it:

• 2 pounds ground turkey
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 3 large diced peppers (red, yellow)
• 1 large white onion
• 2 finely shredded carrots
• 5 garlic cloves minced
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cans 28 oz crushed tomatoes
• 1 small tomato paste can (4 oz)
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• small handful of fresh (or dried) basil
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• ¼ cup fresh parsley finely chopped
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese

Get your wine ready friends… because here are the steps (which are unusually long for me haha!)

1) Chop up all those yummy veggies.

2) Cook 2 lbs of turkey in a non-stick frying pan, and set aside once its done. It should be browning just a little bit.

3) Get a nice big pot out. Seriously get the biggest one you have because this recipe makes lots. 😛 Put your olive oil in, heat to medium and add in the onion, carrots, and peppers. Add in the garlic last. Cook all this together for about 3 minutes.

4) Add in the wine and let simmer for about 1.5 minutes.

5) Now, toss in your basil, thyme, and oregano.

6) Add crushed tomatoes and the tomato paste.

7) Put in the salt and bay leaves.

8) Simmer for an hour. This is when your friends and wine come in realll handy 😉 )

9) And FINALLY, add in parmesan (<– cheese is my first love in life) and parsley. Simmer for another 25 mins.

10) Remove the bay leaves, and ENJOY!!!

I don’t usually make meals that take quite this long, but this was SO delicious it was definitely worth the wait! And it makes so much that I have tons of leftovers. Great news for everyone.

Comment below and let me know if you give this a go, or share your own bolognese recipe! And a big Happy Thanksgiving to my friends in the United States! <3

x,

Okay so I would by lying to you guys if I didn’t tell you all that I eat at La Taqueria on a very regular basis… like every two weeks if not more. Why? Because it is freaking AWESOME and I love it. I feel like the Mexican food scene in Vancouver has only recently started to improve in the last few years, and in my opinion La Taqueria was one of the first major players in Mexican food game. 

Now just to be clear, we aren’t talking about nasty fast food “Mexican” food… but the real traditional and yummy good stuff. AKA tacos. ALL. THE. TACOS. La Taqeuria makes “pinche” tacos, which are authentic soft shell Mexican tacos. And oh boyyyy do they make them well. Drooling just thinking about them again haha.

I wasn’t so hungry when I went the other day, so I only ordered 3 tacos. Usually I get four (for only $9.50 such a steal!!) and pretty much instantly regretted not getting the 4^th taco. Anyways, my favourite tacos are: Al Pastor, Tinga De Pollo, and Pescado. If you go to La Taqeruia you have to try these out. Promise? Check out their full menu here to see the other flavours they serve!

So I have this weird habit of trying to sound like I speak fluent Spanish when I go La Taqueria, and order my tacos in my attempted Spanish accent. I feel like they look at me funny when I do it, but I will forever and always continue because it makes the experience way more fun. Haha!! 😛 Also, if you don’t live in Vancouver and are having a major taco craving after reading this, check out my homemade fish tacos! They are also super yummy. 

Hope you are all having a great day! 

x,

Hi everyone! Hope you are all having a great week so far. Today I wanted to share one of my favourite salads. This one is super simple and only has 4 ingredients! Quick & easy, my kind of salad. 😉

Spinach is crazy good for you. From improving your skin/hair to bettering your bone health, this little leafy green does it all! As for the yummies (see my other salad recipe for what a “yummy” is), this time I used avocado, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, and red onion. AKA the most delicious things! 😀

What’s in it:

• Spinach
• Avocado
• Feta Cheese
• Red Onion
• Cherry Tomatos
• Your favourite balsamic dressing
• OR a simple homemade balsamic (2 tbsp olive oil, 1.5 tbsp balsamic vinegar, squirt of Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and a drop of maple syrup)

Start by putting as much spinach as your heart desires in a bowl. Now take that beautifulll red onion and slice it up really thin. Add that in. Throw in your cherry tomatos, and chop up that avocado into large chunks and add that too. Hungry yet? 😛 Finally, add the best ingredient of all… FETA!

Surprise surprise, I love cheese. Haha. Keep in mind everything in moderation though. Your salad should be sprinkled with feta, not made of 90% feta (which if I am being real is what I want to do all the time… but, self-restraint friends.)

Finally add your favourite balsamic dressing, or use the recipe I put above! And that’s it! SO delicious and nutritious. Make sure to add some more protein (ie chicken) if you are having your salad as a meal.

Do you have a favourite homemade balsamic that you make? Let me know in the comments below, it is always nice to get new recipe tips! 😀

x,

Gold. I hit GOLD, everyone. Seriously I just threw this Pumpkin Pie Granola together the other day and did not even realize what sort of wizardry I was concocting. Then I tasted it…. The best. 🙂

I knowww that the official pumpkin-mania month is over, but you can still enjoy as many pumpkin flavored treats as you like! Not to mention, this skinny “treat” is super good for you! No guilt added here.

This recipe has no refined sugar, and every ingredient is whole and natural. The fiber in oatmeal actually helps with weight control as oatmeal makes you feel fuller for longer! So chow down my friends.

What’s in it:

• 2 cups raw, whole rolled oats
• ½ cup (or more, I definitely put more lol) chopped pecans
• ½ cup sultana raisins
• 4 tbsp real maple syrup
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• pinch of fine sea salt
• 3 tbsp pumpkin spice mix (I found mine in the bulk section of my grocery store!)

Mix all the delicious ingredients above into a bowl. Bake at 300 degrees farenheight for about 10 minutes! Enjoy on top of non-sweetened greek yogurt, and add some fruit if your heart so desires. Hope you love this recipe as much as I do!

x,

Okay so that title might have been a little bold, I don’t actually know if this is the best steak in the world because I haven’t tried all the steaks in the world…. But it’s pretty damn close if you ask me! Since the weather has been so great in Vancouver (these past few days,) I figured I would share my favourite BBQ steak recipe. I learned this recipe from my Grandma, and it is seriously unreal! So simple, and so delicious.

What’s in it:

• Beef tenderloin steaks (Costco sells great ones!)
• Mustard (Maille Old Style Whole Grain Dijon is my fave)
• Fresh pressed garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil

Start by covering your steaks in as much fresh pressed garlic as you like. I am really generous with my garlic because I find lots of it gets lost in the BBQ anyways. Next, generously cover those steaks in your mustard! The last step is to cover them in extra virgin olive oil. Let these babies sit on the counter and marinate for about 30 minutes, to get that flava flave right in there.

After your steaks are done marinating, fire up your BBQ and let it heat up. To make a great steak the BBQ should be really hot (around 500 degrees.) Once the BBQ is at the right temp, throw those steaks on for about 6 minutes per side. How long you BBQ them for really depends on how rare you like your steak and how thick the cut of meat is. So use your judgment on this one! Just make sure the BBQ is really hot so you get that delicious seared outside. Yum, yum, YUM!

I served my steaks with a simple salad and BBQ’d potatoes. For the salad I mixed together butter lettuce, chopped strawberries, sliced red onion, cherry tomatoes and fresh basil leaves. I served my favourite Yogurt Tahini Dressing as the dressing on this beautiful salad.

My potatoes are magic. I’m telling you… MAGIC! All you do is take some small potatoes and boil them until they are cooked. Drain the potatoes and put them in another bowl. Cover em all up in olive oil, and whatever spices you have in your house. Here I used dried basil, oregano, thyme, and parsley. Add some salt and pepper, and toss them on the still-hot BBQ! They only need a few minutes and they will brown right up and have that awesome BBQ flavour.

Brave the chilly weather and fire up your BBQ to enjoy a beautiful steak dinner!

x,

Disclaimer: I have a slighttt obsession with peanut butter. Seriously, I love it. It makes me so happy. So it is only appropriate that I share with you my absolute favourite snack that I had today… Apples and peanut butter! Ohhhh how I love that sweet and salty goodness 😀

Peanut butter is a great snack because it has lots of protein and will keep you full until your next meal. It also contains lots of healthy (and unsaturated) fats, similar to those found in avocados and olive oil. The above factors make peanut butter a great skinny snack, because it keeps you full longer and helps stop you from giving in to those nasty junk food cravings!

Another super important thing… Buy REAL peanut butter. What is real peanut butter? Well, the only ingredients on the jar should be peanuts and salt. The majority of peanut butters on the shelf have the first ingredient as being icing power. Icing powder = cake icing = frosting for breakfast = NO. It’s gross, just don’t do it. Buy the real and delicious peanut butter that will better your health instead of yucky sugar disguised as a nutritious product. Keep an eye out for peanut butter labeled “natural” when you are shopping, as it will most likely be the real stuff! But check the ingredient list just to be safe. 🙂

What’s your favourite snack? I also really like this pink hummus recipe. Let me know in the comments below!

x,

This weekend I visited Yolk’s Breakfast for brunch. They have a food cart, food truck, and a restaurant which is located on Hastings and Clark in Vancouver, BC. When we arrived we pretty much knew that our meal was going to be unreal simply by how great our server was. All of us at the table were debating if our server was a part-owner of the restaurant or something, because she was THAT good. Turns out she was just really good at her job, but she made our experience great right from the get-go.

The restaurant location itself is nothing to fuss about, but its old-school style gives it that unique Vancouver charm that I love. The menu is super fun, it looks like one of those magazine quizzes we did when we were kids to see if you were a “tomboy” or a “girly-girl” haha! Check out Yolk’s full menu here.

I ordered Yolk’s classic Poached Free-Range Egg Sandwich, but I got mine made over Truffle-Lemon Hashbrowns instead of an english muffin… because HOW could I not. I mean seriously… TRUFFLE LEMON HASHBROWNS!! It was just the best. The other dish we tried was their Braised Beef Shortrib Eggs Benny. It had these amazing beer batter onion rings on top, which were sprinkled in blue cheese. Basically a heart attack on a plate. The braised beef just melted in your mouth and the whole time I was just wishing that the meal would never end. 😛

One thing that I really loved about Yolk’s Breakfast was that the eggs were free-range. I only eat free-range eggs at home and I find it makes such a difference in the taste and appearance of the egg.

If you can’t tell already, I had a great time at Yolk’s and highly recommend it it anyone looking for a beyond-delicious brunch!

For another brunch recommendation of mine, click here!

x,

Halloween is almost here!!! I absolutely love Halloween because it is such a great excuse to dress up and have fun with friends. That being said, I get super excited for any holiday/event where there is a bit of a theme. The sorority girl in me just can’t be tamed… any excuse to dress up and I’m there! 😉

To get ready for the Halloween festivities I decided to make some candy apples. They kind of count as being a not-so-awful Halloween treat… I mean, there is apple in there! Does that count as nutritious? Sure, lets just say this is a “healthy” Halloween treat…

These were super fun to make and ohhh so simple. I decided to decorate mine with chocolate, candy corn, and Reeses Pieces. You can really use whatever candy treats you like though!

What’s in it:

• Green apples
• Bag of mini caramels
• Treats to decorate with (this is all up to you!)
• 1 tbsp milk
• Sticks

Unwrap all those little caramels and put them in a pot on the stove (probably invite some friends over to do this because it took forever haha.) Then add your 1 tbsp of milk to the caramels and melt them on low heat. While you are stirring the pot of caramel and waiting for it to melt, put whatever you chose to use for your stick into the apple. I used black bamboo shoots for an extra spooky look! Then, dip your apples into the caramel and cover them in a fairly thin even layer. Put your apples on a wax sheet and let dry!

If you want to add decorations with candies or chocolate, add them before the caramel on the apple hardens so you can just press them on! This Halloween treat is super fun to do with friends, and a great way to spend your Halloweekend!

Can’t wait to share more Halloween fun with you guys. 😀 Hope you are having a great week! Talk soon.

x,

Fish tacosssss. Yesssss. I am SO happy that I decided to make these… twice in one week. It happened, don’t question it.

This recipe absolutely had to be shared with you guys, because it is SO simple and so delicious. I made this for a few friends one night, and we had a Mexican inspired dinner party with lots of fish tacos and a margarita or three. 😉 As I’ve said before, I am allll about efficiency. I love to make things that are simple, nutritious, an delicious. These fish tacos are all that. To keep this recipe easy, I used frozen pre-breaded fish and store-bought guacamole. I want to let you guys in on my favourite homemade guacamole recipe another day… So let’s just stick with the easy peasy store bought guac for now.

What’s in it:

• Soft mini taco shells
• Frozen breaded pacific cod
• 2 – 3 tomatos
• Handful of cilantro
• ½ a purple onion
• Coleslaw mix
• Limes
• Guacamole (store bought)
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• Tabasco sauce

For our dinner party, we did a “make your own fish taco bar” so that everyone could customize their fish tacos! So the first step would be to put out your limes, coleslaw, guac, and Tabasco. Next, put the fish in the oven and follow the directions on the package of whatever brand you bought.

The only thing you really need to “make” in this recipe is the salsa. And ohhhh boy is it worth it. Homemade salsa is a full on game changer. All you do is chop up the tomatos, onions, and cilantro and mix them together. Squeeze about half a lime on the mixture and voila! The best, freshest, salsa you will ever have. And that’s it! So so so simple, I love it.

Give this recipe a go and let me know what you think in the comments below! <3

x,

Okay everyone, time for a real serious topic today. GRANOLA. That’s right, I’m going there. 😛 But in all seriousness, pleaseeeee do not buy the store-bought granola that literally is worse than eating a bag of candy. Many granola brands that you buy in your local grocery store have the one of the first ingredients as refined sugar. Bad news all around.

I believe in balance. Each food item you eat throughout the day adds up to either be a healthy or unhealthy day. You should always try to have the majority of the foods you eat be as healthy as possible throughout the day, and keep that balance leaning more towards healthy. Granola IS a healthy food, but only when the proportions of ingredients are correct. Give this Skinny Belle Granola recipe a try, and see how delicious granola can be when it is filled with only wholesome natural ingredients! 

What’s in it:

• 1 cup raw, whole rolled oats
• ¼ cup sliced almonds
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup dried unsweetened coconut
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup (or more if you’re feeling rebellious lol)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of fine sea salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees farenheight. Combine all the above into a bowl, and mix it all up! Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes.

I’m in love with this recipe because 1) it is SO quick and aint nobody got time to be spending hours making breakfast foods 2) the coconut and dried cranberry combo is just to die for.

Now one last thing… what should you eat your granola with?? Unsweetened (aka natural) greek yogurt is my favourite! This way you skip the gross refined sugars that are added to flavored yogurt and get 18 grams of protein per ¾ cup instead! Good stuff all around. If you want to sweeten up your plain greek yogurt, mix in some honey or maple syrup! Both are great natural sweeteners that are actually good for you!

x,