Food Mamma

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marathon mouth, the ebook

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I think the best part of any road trip is discovering the food on your journey. When we travel, checking out the local eats is always high on our priority list.

My friend Bill Corbett has an amazing food blog called Marathon Mouth. His blog highlights great roadtrip eats in the Western US and Canada. Besides the bright pictures of the food and places that he has visited, Bill provides personal tidbits about the restaurants, owners and the food.

Bill has released his fourth book, Marathon Mouth, which highlights nearly 900 cafes, diners, coffee shops, bakeries, food trucks and brewpubs. He gives his suggestions on where to eat  and even provides links back to the various establishments. This book is a must-have for planning your next trip!

Click here to find out more about where to buy the ebook or buy it from Amazon.ca here (affiliate link). 

back to the dinner table with canada beef

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A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to the Canada Beef Centre of Excellence for the Canada Beef Family Dinner. The evening featured the launch of the new Canadian Beef brand, a burger cookoff and some delicious beef eats themed around the Family Dinner.

We filled our bellies with beef short ribs, beef sliders, roast beef with barley and beef tacos while we watched local food personalities compete in a burger cookoff. We were also treated to a performance by Canada’s country music superstar, Paul Brandt who is featured in Canada Beef’s latest video. It was a great evening with foodie friends and Canada Beef.

Growing up, both my parents worked hard during the day. Dinners were the one meal that we could spend time together and catch up on everyone’s day.  We would all rush off to evening activities but not before having a hearty meal with our loved ones.

Now that I have my own kids, eating dinner together remains an important part of the day. It’s a great way to find out about what’s going on when we aren’t together. Sometimes all it takes is a delicious meal with all of us on the table to get the little guy to open up about school and friends and life as a seven year old.  The days we have activities in the evening, just means we eat earlier or later but still together.

Food is always the center of any kind of celebration. I love how it brings people together, and provides an excuse to spend time with the ones we love. When thinking back on these family dinners, Canada Beef plays an important role. From pot roasts for Sunday suppers to juicy steaks for birthdays, food is as big a part of the memories as the moments we spend with each other.

Looking for ideas to incorporate Canada Beef into your family dinner? Mexican Pasta Shells and Taco Casserole make the perfect weeknight meal.

Weekends are perfect for slow cooked meals like Pot Roast or Slow Cooker Beef Ribs. Get more inspiration and tips with Canada Beef’s The Roundup app.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for the #makeitCDNbeef influencer program. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

strawberry burst

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It has been an amazing April so far while we have enjoyed an early summer. In fact, we broke a 100 year old record yesterday with temperatures climbing to 28 degrees! Needless to say, most people were outside, enjoying the patios or having drinks on their decks. While we bbq’d up some jerk chicken and lamb chops, we enjoyed this refreshing drink – strawberry burst!

This is the perfect drink to cool off on a hot day and great for parties. It’s nice to have some fun drinks for those that don’t drink alcohol or for the responsible DDs.

Fill your glass with ice and Sprite, or your favourite lemon-lime soda, add 3 TB of crushed strawberries and a squeeze of lime. Cheers!

menchie’s scratch and win

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Menchie’s is always great to have some frozen yogurt and to get your chocolate fix. Here’s another reason to love them.

Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt has a new digital Scratch & Win contest! Participants who scratch are entered to win the GRAND PRIZE  of a 7 night trip for two to the Mayan Riviera!

Participants are able to “scratch & win” (no purchase necessary) on mobile and on their computers. When participants scratch, they’re scratching for instant win prizes, however the most exciting part is that when they scratch, they will receive a pin to enter to win the grand prize:7 night round trip for 2 to the 5-star Dreams Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa in the Mayan Riviera (ARV $5,000). *Certain restrictions apply. Full rules: www.menchies.ca/smile

The contest goes until Sunday, May 15, 2016. Click here to enter! I’m really excited to try their new flavour – Skor!

Want to know more about Menchie’s?

Menchie’s has 106 Canadian locations with new locations coming to Brampton, Manitoba, BC and Alberta.
Custom made cakes are now available made with your favourite yogurt and toppings.
Menchie’s yogurts are gluten-free, vegan and certified Kosher.
Menchie’s has 128 flavours to choose from and over 50 toppings to choose from.
Coming soon (and now available at some locations): Menchie’s Smoothie Bar! Smoothies are made with 100% natural fruit, no artificial colours or flavours. There is 4 servings of fruit per 16oz cup.

spinach dip

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My little guy turned two last week. Two! He is so precious, always ready to greet everyone with his mischievous smile.

Normally, I plan out birthday parties weeks in advance, giving me lots of time to prep and plan. This time, I decided to do a very last minute gathering for our family and close friends.  Not having the luxury of time, I needed to do things that didn’t require a lot of effort.

This spinach dip is a crowd pleaser and takes just a few minutes to throw together. You do need to make this the day before though, allowing the dip to chill overnight.

Put the dip into a bread bowl and serve with bread, crackers or veggies and voila, an easy but delicious appetizer. I’ve been making this dip for years and it is always a hit!

Spinach Dip

2 cups sour cream
1 cup mayo
1 package chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 package dry vegetable soup  mix

Combine all the ingredients together. Chill overnight. Serve in a hollowed out sour dough bread loaf.

creamy coconut cassava with chicken (mogo)

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One of my favourite East African meals to eat is Mogo. It’s a chicken or
beef dish with cassava in a creamy sauce. It’s pure comfort food but
also a great way to feed a crowd.

There are so many different ways to make this – with creamed coconut or
coconut milk, chunky or blended… This is my family’s version, the way I
grew up eating it.

Top this off with some cilantro and crushed up potato chips, a drizzle
of tamarind chutney, and you’ve got yourself a delicious dinner.

Creamy Coconut Cassava with Chicken (Mogo)

1 lb chicken, cut into pieces or cubes
2 tsp ginger
salt
2 1/2 cups water

800 g cassava, cut into cubes (2 small packages)
3 1/2 cups water
2 tomatoes, chopped
salt
1 150g box of creamed coconut
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp garlic
1 tsp cumin powder
cilantro

Cook chicken with ginger and salt until the chicken is cooked.
Boil cassava with tomatoes and salt and cook until the cassava is fork tender.  Add the cooked chicken along with the liquid, the coconut and spices and cook for about half an hour. Add a handful of chopped cilantro and stir it into creamy mixture. Serve topped with cilantro and tamarind chutney.

win with terra foods!

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One of my favourite places to shop in Calgary is the Italian Centre Shop. It’s a great place to pick up some bread, some great sauces, thinly sliced beef salami and of course mouth watering pastries. Terra Foods has graciously offered some amazing products, most of which are available at the Italian Centre Shop. This prize package consists of:

Rao’s Tomato Basil Sauce
Rao’s Artichoke Sauce (new and exclusive to Italian Centre Shop)
Rao’s Pizza Sauce (one of Italian Centre Shop’s best sellers — perfect with the homemade dough in our coolers!)
Rao’s Lemon Cooking Sauce 
Brickstone Fine Foods Cheese Pleasers — Peppery Mission Fig, Cherry & Calvados, Maple Walnut, Apple Pecan and Jalapeno Apricot…These are condiments to accompany cheese — non GMO, from Montreal 
Hint Water — 6 flavours (3 flat/3 fizzy) — no additives, no sugar, gluten-free, all natural. 

Rao’s products are gluten-free, with no preservatives or additives. I had their Artichoke Sauce the other night and it was delicious!

Leave a comment and let me know your favourite things to pick up from the market. Increase your chances of winning by sharing on social media. Good luck!

Pick up from Calgary is required, so please only enter if you will be able to pick up the prize. A winner will be chosen by random draw and will need to answer a skill testing question. Once the winner is contacted, they have 24 hours to respond before another winner is chosen.

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win with robert rose books!

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I’m excited to have Robert Rose Books participate in our giveaway! I love perusing through cookbooks, being inspired by the recipes on the glossy pages. Robert Rose has a great assortment of books from cooking to health and wellness to parenting.

We have a few books to give away courtesy of Robert Rose, which means we can pick a few winners! Enter below to win one of the following books:

Baby Care Basics (with Hospital for Sick Children)
The Complete Brain Exercise Book: Train Your Brain: Improve Memory, Language, Motor Skills & More
The Diabetes Comfort Food Diet (with Editors of Prevention magazine)
150 Best Spiralizer Recipes
The Complete Wild Game Cookbook: Includes 150 Recipes
The Best Baby Food: 125 Healthy & Delicious Recipes for Babies & Toddlers 
The Cancer Fighting Diet: Diet & Nutrition Strategies to Help Weaken Cancer Cells and Improve Treatment Results

Leave a comment and let me know which book you would want to win. Increase your chances of winning by sharing on social media. Good luck!

Contest open to residents of Canada and the United States. A winner will be chosen by random draw and will need to answer a skill testing question. Once the winner is contacted, they have 24 hours to respond before another winner is chosen. 

 

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