Diet, Dessert and Dogs

Hi Everyone! Hope you’re all having an awesome week and enjoying some down time outside (here in Toronto, it’s been in the high 20s/low 80s and sunny all week! Can’t ask for better than that.

I was a bit MIA last week, but did get a chance to check out your delectable entries to Wellness Weekend. From the Frosted Vanilla Cupcakes to the Raw Coconut Fudge to the Mexican Chili Salad Wraps to the Vegan Cheese Biscuits, I loved ‘em all! My “to make” list is just getting longer and longer. . . !

Continue reading Wellness Weekend. . .

Hi Everyone!  Welcome back to this week’s Wellness Weekend!

I’m popping in to say that I may be absent for a few more days on the blog. I hadn’t expected to be gone for a whole week this past week, but have been having some health challenges and I’m not sure when things will be resolved.  For now, I’m going to take a little hiatus until things are sorted out. I’m hoping that will be soon.

So, I apologize that there are no Newsy Tidbits this week. I hope to be back up and running by next week’s event.

In the meantime, thank you all as always for your support. And please do share all your wonderful recipes this week! I hope to peek in and see what you all have cooked up.

I look forward to chatting with you all again soon!

Hugs,

Ricki

Continue reading Wellness Weekend. . .

Hello there, Wellness Weekenders!

We had 38 mouth-watering entries last week, with everything from TWO Banana-Based pies to Earth Day Rice to Gingerbread Almond Butter (mmm!) to shakes, soups and sandwiches. As always, your recipes impressed me with how delicious and creative they are! Keep ‘em coming!   And now, for this week’s news. . . .

Continue reading Wellness Weekend. . .

Hi and welcome to this week’s Wellness Weekend!

I couldn’t start tonight without mentioning the horrific events that have touched so many people across the US this past week.  I’ve been walking around with a heavy heart and keep thinking about all the victims whose lives have been changed forever (and those whose lives have been taken away), both in Boston and in Texas. I don’t have any great wisdom to add to what’s already been said, but I wanted to share my love and positive thoughts for those who are dealing with the aftermath of such senseless violence. I’ll be hugging the HH and my Girls a little tighter today.

There haven’t been too many blog-related items amassed with the focus on Boston and Texas, but here are a few newsy tidbits for you this week. . .

 
Continue reading this week’s Wellness Weekend post. . .

Hi Everyone and happy Thursday! I’m still sulking because it isn’t *quite* spring yet here in Toronto (in fact, as I mentioned this morning, we had snow today!! SNOW. On April 11th! Yes, that was me you heard sobbing in the background on your way to work. . . . ).

Well, at least Wellness Weekend didn’t suffer any lingering effects of winter! Last week’s recipes were bright with the promise of spring. I loved all the colorful cakes, the Sweet Broccoli Juice, the pancakes and green naan (yep!), the homemade BBQ sauce and more. Check out the 35 entries from last week for yourself!

 
Continue reading this week’s Wellness Weekend post. . .

I’ve got a new Facebook page–and I hope you’ll visit me there! I’m perpetually grateful to all of you who’ve “liked” my Diet, Dessert and Dogs page, but it’s time to move on. With a new cookbook on the horizon and lots of other cool sugar-free, anti-candida and allergy-friendly offerings in the works, I wanted a Facebook page that reflected all of that (along with DDD too, of course!). To keep it simple, this one is just called “Ricki Heller,” and I’ll be posting all the same things I now do on the DDD page (which will be shut down on August 31, 2013).  So please hop over to the new page and “like” it so you won’t miss out when things switch over this summer!

Hard to believe, but today is the HH‘s and my 16th anniversary! (Wait, how is that possible? I still feel as if I AM sixteen–well, internally, anyway. Externally, it’s more like, “where did those 16 new wrinkles come from?” or “how did I suddenly acquire 16 new aches and pains in my knees?” or “sixteen new gray hairs?! Wahhhh!!!”.  Okay, I guess that every kind of “sixteen” tends to creep up on you).
Click here to read more about our relationship (and pizza). . .

Thanks for visiting Wellness Weekend again this week! I love, love, LOVE all the good-for-you dishes you share here each week. 

Last week featured some amazing coconut waffles, Italian kale chips, Apple Cinnamon Buckwheat Granola, Grain-free Cinnamon scones, and all kinds of yummy Easter treats. Totally delicious!

Newsy tidbits:

• Did you win the signed copy of Wild About Greens? Head over to the contest page to check–and please email me if you won! If you’d still love the book anyway, you can buy it from amazon.
• Lexie’s Kitchen is giving away Molly’s Suds natural cleaners! These all-natural cleaners sound fantastic. Details are here. Until April 6th.When I first changed diets, I dreaded dinner invitations because I knew there’d be nothing for me to eat. No more! Here are my tips for how to handle those invites gracefully--and so you can enjoy the meal!
• There’s an AMAZING recipe contest going on over at Go Dairy Free–win a $500 gift card for Williams Sonoma, and more! All the details here. Until May 17th.
• Summer is almost here! Is your skin ready? This week on the Balanced Platter, I share tips on how to eat for glowing, healthy skin.
• Wellness Weekend has its own Pinterest board! Now you can find all your favorites in one place. Check it out here (and be sure to follow!)

Do you have a blog linky event or giveaway you’d like me to mention? I also will occasionally mention new courses that bloggers offer their readers. Send me an email with the details to dietdessertdogsATgmailDOTcom and I’ll include three or four each week. Please note that I cannot always accommodate all requests.

PLEASE DO NOT ADD YOUR GIVEAWAYS OR CONTESTS TO THE LINKYS BELOW–THEY ARE FOR RECIPES ONLY.

This Week’s Picks:

In honor of not one, but TWO greens-related posts last week, I thought it only fitting to make the theme here a green one, too.  And so, green veggies it is!

Dandelion Greens and Mushroom Soup from Rebel Grrrl Kitchen. Dandelion greens are one of my faves, and I don’t have them often enough!

Lupini Bean and Brussels Sprouts Slaw from Wayfaring Chocolate. Hannah uses a rare bean for this slaw. I’ve tried lupinis once–bet they are great in this dish!

Dill-icious Kale Chips from Rock My Vegan Socks.  Another flavor of kale chips–never too many, I say!

And This Week’s Readers’ Choices:

Readers’ Choice, Savory:

Lentil Bread from Awaken Your Taste Buds. I love the simplicity of this bread. So cool how it works!

Readers’ Choice, Sweet:

Super Safe Carrot Cake from What Smells So Good. Carrot cake for everyone–yay!!

Thanks for joining in and sharing all your healthy, sugar-free and vegan recipes. I love seeing what you whip up each week! And I hope you’ll also share on twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, too!

Here’s How to Participate:

The event occurs once a week, starting Thursdays at 8:00 PM my time and running until the following Monday at midnight.

1. Simply link up a vegan recipe you made (and posted about) that contains health-supporting ingredients. This means any good-for-you whole foods, especially those with antioxidant properties or “functional foods” (ie, offering naturally medicinal or health-promoting qualities–such as garlic, coconut oil, all vegetables, fruits, herbs, etc.)–but any fresh, real food is welcome! No-no’s include white flour or sugar, highly processed foods, or animal products. Definite no-no’s include: cane sugar (evaporated or otherwise), sweeteners ending in -itol, margarines, or faux meat products.Items like vegan protein powder, grain or bean flours, or coconut milk are fine even though they are technically “processed,” since they either contain a single ingredient, or could technically be made at home. Also, please note that this is a vegan recipe event. A minor ingredient with a vegan option is fine, but if the main ingredient is intended to be meat or other animal product, your recipe likely belongs in a different link up event.
2. This is a recipe event. Your blog post must contain a recipe.
3. You may link up older posts from your archives as long as they contain a link to this post. Please do not link up any posts you have previously shared at an earlier Wellness Weekend event.
4. Please link the post with your recipe, NOT your blog’s home page or another event page.
   
5. You may submit up to three recipes, but please follow the guidelines for each one individually. ONLY ONE THUMBNAIL FROM EACH BLOG POST, PLEASE.If your post contains two suitable recipes, link up once and people will still see all your fabulous recipes when they click on the linky.
6. Please mention this event and include a link back to this post so that others can find all the recipes posted!
7. Feel free to use the blog badge, above (or see the left sidebar of this page–if you need the html code, let me know and I’ll send it to you). Many thanks to Adrienne of Whole New Mom for setting up the badge code for me!

PLEASE NOTE: In order to promote your posts and the event, I like to occasionally tweet, mention on Facebook, or pin your blog post(s). On occasion, I will repost your photos in the following week’s Wellness Weekend as well. If you prefer that I NOT use your photos or links, please let me know in the comments below, or send an email to me at dietdessertdogsATgmailDOTcom. Thanks!

I will reluctantly remove any links that don’t comply. I apologize, but I will no longer be able to leave a comment telling you that I’ve removed a non-compliant link. I hate to have to remove links! PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES BEFORE POSTING!

And now. . . what have you been cooking up lately? Please share!

DDD READERS: It May Be Time To Update Your Subscription!

I know that many of you, like me, read your favorite blogs via Google Reader. Well, if that’s how you keep up with DDD, be warned that Google Reader is closing down as of July 1, 2013! (I know–boo hoo).

I am always so grateful for your visits and your comments on the blog and I don’t want you to lose touch! To ensure that you continue to receive notices whenever I add a new blog post–or to get updates on the new cookbook or other happenings here at DDD–you can easily subscribe via email.  That way, you won’t miss a thing!  Just click here to receive every new DDD post right in your Inbox.

Thanks so much for reading. (And if any of you know of other good readers to use, please feel free to share in the comments!).

© Ricki Heller 2013.

After my post on Wild About Greens the other day (and don’t forget to enter the giveaway here!), I thought I’d extend the Greens Love one more day. So today’s post is all about my very favorite leafy green in the bunch. . . KALE!

As you may remember, I’ve aimed to consume more greens each day ever since my osteopenia diagnosis way back in 2008. And it made a huge difference–just check out my progress report, here.

I was besotted with kale from the first taste back in nutrition school in 2003.  Raw, cooked, shredded, rolled, blended into a green smoothie. . . it’s all good!

[Kale salad, anyone? Clockwise from large photo: Kale Salad, Fully Loaded; Uber Healthy Kale and Seaweed Salad; Crazy Simple Kale Salad; another variation of Kale Salad, Fully Loaded.]

That’s why I’m so delighted to take part in this launch party for the new ebook, Crazy for Kale, which I received last week. (Note: I was not compensated for this review and I am not an affiliate. I was not asked to write something positive about the ebook; the opinions here are all my own.).
Click here to read more about Crazy for Kale, and my top kale recipes . . .

For those of you celebrating Easter, I hope you have a great long weekend and enjoy your holiday! There are some great last-minute recipes in a previous roundup post. 

For those of you celebrating Passover, I hope you had a great start to the holiday! If you’re looking for more Passover friendly recipes over the next few days, you’ll find a whole bunch in that roundup post as well.

As always, your recipes blew me away last week. Since I barely had time to sleep, let alone cook on my own, I just drooled over your dishes instead: Almond Butter No-Bake Bars, Better Than Nutella Cheesecake, Savory Cous Cous, Peanut-Free Tagalongs, Smoky Carrot and Cabbage Salad, and so many more! Check them all out (and 34 more!) here.

Now that major book work is done, I had time to lift my head from the keyboard and look around blogland a bit more. Here’s what’s been going on.

Newsy tidbits:

• Do you sometimes feel like sugar controls your life? I’ve been there (and sometimes, I’m still there). Could you go two weeks without sugar and see what happens? A new course from functional nutritionist Andrea Nakayama, “You’re Not the Boss of Me: Control Your Blood Sugar Before it Controls You,” examines issues of blood sugar, getting control of sweets cravings, and detoxing from sugar with a 2-week program with live support. I’m delighted to be part of this course (I developed all the recipes and will offer insights into the emotional and psychological aspects of sugar addiction). To listen to a free audiotape about Why Blood Sugar Matters, or to learn more about the course, check out Andrea’s website, here (early bird discount applies until April 1st).
  
• Sonnet from For the Love of Food is giving away a prize pack of savory teas! Totally intriguing, right? I hadn’t heard of these, either, but they sure do sound good. To read Sonnet’s description of the teas, learn more and enter the giveaway, check out Sonnet’s blog. Ends this Sunday.
• If you’re anything like me, mornings can be hectic, and it’s not always easy to prepare a good breakfast. Here are some of my best tips for breakfast on the go.
• The “Orange Foods” blog event continues over at The Blissful Chef with a month of orange recipes! If you love porridge but are trying to cut down on grains, I’m sharing one of my favorite recipes for grain-free “porridge.” Head over to Christy’s blog to check out the recipe!
• There’s a great Dairy-Free Chocolate Easter Bunny (and more!) roundup over at Go Dairy Free. If you’re looking for allergy-friendly treats this Easter, check it out!
• I’m giving away a SIGNED, PERSONALLY INSCRIBED COPY of Nava Atlas’s Wild About Greens! For a sample recipe and to enter, see this post. Ends at midnight, Wednesday, April 3rd!
• Wellness Weekend has its own Pinterest board! Now you can find all your favorites in one place. Check it out here (and be sure to follow!)

Do you have a blog linky event or giveaway you’d like me to mention? I also will occasionally mention new courses that bloggers offer their readers. Send me an email with the details to dietdessertdogsATgmailDOTcom and I’ll include three or four each week. Please note that I cannot always accommodate all requests.

PLEASE DO NOT ADD YOUR GIVEAWAYS OR CONTESTS TO THE LINKYS BELOW–THEY ARE FOR RECIPES ONLY.

This Week’s Picks:

I’ve been blending like mad since I finally got my repaired Vitamix back from the company (did you know they will take it back, fix it, and then ship it back to you for free if it’s still under warranty? I love my Vitamix!!).  Naturally, this week’s picks all focus on the theme, “raw & blended recipes”:

Raw Spicy Garden Soup from Gluten-Free Cat. This would be a perfect first course for any meal, but especially with warmer weather coming up.

Fruit Tray Smoothie from Gluten Free Easily. Shirley shows us a great way to repurpose party leftovers!

Chocolate Cherry Basil Smoothie from Sweet. Smart. Vegan. Oooh. . . I’m drooling just at the thought of those flavors all melding together. Mmm!

And This Week’s Readers’ Choices:

Readers’ Choice, Savory:

Raw Sunflower Seed Butter from Small Footprint Family. I love making my own nut butters, and happy to see you all like the idea for seed butter, too!

Readers’ Choice, Sweet:

Fudgy Sweet Potato Brownies from The Healthy Maven. These hardly need an introduction–I mean, they’re brownies! And fudgy! With sweet potato!

Thanks for joining in and sharing all your healthy, sugar-free and vegan recipes. I love seeing what you whip up each week! And I hope you’ll also share on twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, too!

Here’s How to Participate:

The event occurs once a week, starting Thursdays at 8:00 PM my time and running until the following Monday at midnight.

1. Simply link up a vegan recipe you made (and posted about) that contains health-supporting ingredients. This means any good-for-you whole foods, especially those with antioxidant properties or “functional foods” (ie, offering naturally medicinal or health-promoting qualities–such as garlic, coconut oil, all vegetables, fruits, herbs, etc.)–but any fresh, real food is welcome! No-no’s include white flour or sugar, highly processed foods, or animal products. Definite no-no’s include: cane sugar (evaporated or otherwise), sweeteners ending in -itol, margarines, or faux meat products.Items like vegan protein powder, grain or bean flours, or coconut milk are fine even though they are technically “processed,” since they either contain a single ingredient, or could technically be made at home. Also, please note that this is a vegan recipe event. A minor ingredient with a vegan option is fine, but if the main ingredient is intended to be meat or other animal product, your recipe likely belongs in a different link up event. 
2. This is a recipe event. Your blog post must contain a recipe.
3. You may link up older posts from your archives as long as they contain a link to this post. Please do not link up any posts you have previously shared at an earlier Wellness Weekend event.
4. Please link the post with your recipe, NOT your blog’s home page or another event page. The post must contain a recipe.
5. You may submit up to three recipes, but please follow the guidelines for each one individually. ONLY ONE THUMBNAIL FROM EACH BLOG POST, PLEASE.If your post contains two suitable recipes, link up once and people will still see all your fabulous recipes when they click on the linky.
6. Please mention this event and include a link back to this post so that others can find all the recipes posted!
7. Feel free to use the blog badge, above (or see the left sidebar of this page–if you need the html code, let me know and I’ll send it to you). Many thanks to Adrienne of Whole New Mom for setting up the badge code for me!

PLEASE NOTE: In order to promote your posts and the event, I like to occasionally tweet, mention on Facebook, or pin your blog post(s). On occasion, I will repost your photos in the following week’s Wellness Weekend as well. If you prefer that I NOT use your photos or links, please let me know in the comments below, or send an email to me at dietdessertdogsATgmailDOTcom. Thanks!

I will reluctantly remove any links that don’t comply. I apologize, but I will no longer be able to leave a comment telling you that I’ve removed a non-compliant link. I hate to have to remove links! PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES BEFORE POSTING!

And now. . . what have you been cooking up lately? Please share!

Never miss a recipe–or a comment from The Girls! Click here to subscribe to Diet, Dessert and Dogs via email. (“We love subscribers, Mum. . . almost as much as we love treats!”).

What was the inspiration for Wild About Greens? How did the book come about?

For a long time I kept the two paths pretty separate, but I find that my skills as a food writer, designer, and visual artist are merging, and they intersect in a number of ways. I used my experience in writing recipes to create Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife , a faux-1950s cookbook in which the “recipes” and altered ads comment on contemporary relationships and issues still faced by women. I’ve also started a series of artworks under the umbrella title of “Meat Science,” all of which comment on the ethical dilemmas and environmental disasters caused by animal agriculture — which ties in neatly with my vegan ethics. In my artwork, I like to use humor and irony to explore difficult subject matter.