Anyone else’s roses in bloom? It’s spring, and as days get longer we experience the perfect time for al fresco meals—and that idea needn’t just extend to grand family dinners where your kids must exhibit perfect manners. Family dinners have actually always been slightly intimidating to me, and I’ve always slinked away from the judgmental moms who ask with disdain why we are at the park eating takeout and NOT HAVING A FAMILY DINNER at the table. So, if dinners are difficult, you can imagine how breakfast suffers.
Dads are hot. Yes, you read that right.
DADS. ARE. HOT!
And they also like hot things. And cool things, because they’re also kind of cool.
It’s pretty commonly accepted around town that husbands and dads aren’t the bomb-diggity anymore and single guys have all the game. But, a man who can be an amazing life partner, help his little girls play softball, teach his son how to drive, and cook us all an amazing dinner—I’m telling you, that is the real definition of hot.
When asked about a typical family recipe, I’d have to say stir-fry. I don’t know how my father learned to make it. He has never been to China, but somehow for as long as I remember, my father has been making these tasty and healthy meal that could be made in no time whatsoever. It was such a typical recipe and I later asked him to teach me to make stir fry. Of course, I make it for my family and it is always a favourite of ours.
Visiting my closest friend in Hamilton, Ontario, our four boys played until exhaustion. And then some more. We were all starving and she whipped up the best vegetarian chili I’d ever had.
One of my favourite cities in the world is NOLA, the beignet capital of the world. While you can get different flavours and spice mixes in just about every restaurant, jambalaya universally contains okra. We planted okra in our garden last summer, and very quickly, New Orleans jambalaya became a mealtime favourite.
After just returning from the Philippines, and having traveled to several countries less fortunate than Canada over the past few years, I can’t stop thinking about the effect of food on the health of a community. In Liberia, for instance, citizens had access to potatoes, fish, coconuts and chicken but scarcely few fruits and vegetables. Last week in the Philippines I witnessed intense poverty, but the prevalence of fruit trees, rice fields (photo below) and meats made the communities far less taxed and happier. Even in our thriving country of Canada, we have some severe food shortages. From now on, we should think about how to ‘feed it forward’.
It is always a challenge to get kids involved in meal preparation but we encourage you to turn off the tech and make some beautiful memories in the kitchen with your loved ones. Food is always a huge part of any family tradition, and involving the kids in the kitchen will teach them life skills as well as cutting down your chores. Especially during the busy winter months with short days, snowy activities and homework, mom and dad need all the help you can get.
As you will see in the video – the whole family is ill right now! This Greek Lemon Chicken Soup is a nourishing, delicate recipe that punches with flavour and hopefully makes everyone in my house better! This recipe calls for couscous, but you can replace this with quinoa, orzo or larger-format Israeli couscous.
I call this recipe ‘secret’ because it is just so good. It’s my ‘secret weapon’ when I forget I’ve invited people for dinner and haven’t had time to cook anything spectacular, so I pull this from the freezer and douse a bit more wine on top as it bubbles away in a favourite Le Creuset casserole.
Just over ten years ago I moved from Ontario to British Columbia. In addition to the three hour time change and milder climate, I was baffled that prices could be so different in the two provinces. Fitness studios, manicures and spas are a much better value on the west coast, but life’s staples are considerably more expensive. It’s not just the million dollar teardown homes that blow family budgets, but gas and groceries take a huge dent out of monthly paychecks compared to what the family spent in Ontario.