our favorite meal of the month | Asian noodle stir fry

Just a quick little check in today, sharing with you our favorite meal of the month.
*Maybe this could be a reoccurring thing for 2015? Favorite meal of the month? FMOM? Let me know what you think!

Since the beginning of 2015, I made it a quiet resolution of mine to experiment with new flavours, foreign dishes, and trying to make said dishes as authentic as I can in my own kitchen. Experimentation and new flavours really is what drives me in my kitchen, otherwise I’d probably throw in the towel and eat a soft poached egg on toast every day. For me, one of the new ingredients I introduced was miso. Albeit, I hear that western versions of miso are pretty sad in comparison to the real thing, but for now, I’m satisfied.

Miso is a really strong flavor, and a little goes a long way. You may need to track it down at a local health food store, or an Asian market if you have one, but it is pretty inexpensive and it will last. First I used it in making my very own ramen noodle soup, which I hope to perfect in the coming year, but our favorite use was this honey-miso noodle stir fry that I’m about to share with you.

I’ve used the sauce for a ton of things, even just as a glaze for pan-roasted brussle sprouts and carrots (SO MUCH YUM), so if you take nothing else from this recipe, just take the sauce.

As I’ve mentioned before, I *never* follow a recipe when cooking savory dishes. Consider this recipe more as a guideline, substituting as need be – however, I strongly recommend using sesame oil in the sauce, as it really takes the Asian flavour to its full potential.

new year | our daily bread: honey spelt loaf

happy belated christmas, and new year, folks!

i hope the last few weeks that i’ve been away have treated you all well! i certainly can not complain.

it is pretty damn cold over here in atlantic canada (-18 today with a windchill of -28 tonight………), so i’ve been busying myself about inside my (sometimes – when the heat pump doesn’t shut down from the cold) cozy house. i’ve been doing the 30 days of yoga for the last week with Adrienne, whom i’ve been following for a couple years now and absolutely adore. of course, i’ve been just as busy in the kitchen – you likely know this if you follow me on instagram; i’ve been experimenting with challah, double pie crusts (vegan AND flakey, whaaaaaaat!?), and even homemade butter made in the kitchenaid! 

honestly, for me it has felt like 2015 for months now – i feel like SO much has happened since the beginning of 2014 that it couldn’t possibly have just been a year ago. last january marked the first time since i was 5 of not attending school, as i decided that university was notttttttttttttt my thing. i was struggling with depression and anxiety and my weight was no where near in a healthy range due to my poor relationship with my body and with food. i bought my first car in february. a couple months after that, i traveled to ontario and had full intentions on moving there. i came back in late april and filled my free time with muffin baking and sad attempts at bread. i got a job in a small cafe for the spring and summer. i quit said job in august. i continued making sad attempts at bread. i made my first successful sandwich loaf in late october and have been baking our bread weekly ever since! throughout all of that, i reconnected with myself and reattained a healthy relationship with food and am now back at my healthy weight for the first time in 2 years. i am happy – the last few months i have said this and actually meant it for the first time in many years.

2015 marks the beginning of a year that i have started off happily and healthfully. i do not make resolutions generally, but i am resolving to complete this year in the same condition that i began it.

with all of that, i am about to share with you the recipe that has been in productions for months and months and months – our daily honey spelt sandwich loaf. many times i have failed painfully at variations of this bread, only to throw the scraps out the back door for the crows whom i swear began to eat every meal here… assuming that crows have meal times.

warming from the inside out | roasted sweet potato and carrot soup

before this year, i’d never been much of a soup person. i’d have some of your typical campbell’s tomato soup with a grilled cheese when i was younger, but to just sit down and have a bowl of soup, nooope.

i’ve been sitting on this recipe for a few months now. i’d stumbled upon Love and Lemon’s curried sweet potato soup and roasted carrot turmeric soup and was inspired to make a hearty homemade soup. as i’ve mentioned previously, i’m not much of a recipe follower unless it involves yeast and rising time. so, i made a combined version of these two soups 3 or 4 times and have narrowed it down to a flavor that i really love.