bowl of Minestrone soup

Drop those extra pounds – sensibly

Recipe Swap: Tried and True Minestrone, and Lentil Calzones

January is when we start to follow the ‘10 tips’ and ‘20 ways’ and ‘quickest ways’ to lose weight, and they all work miracles in no time, right? Wrong. For starters, we generally don’t stick with any plan, especially if it’s overly ambitious. As the saying goes, resolutions ‘go in one year and out the

Waldorf Berry Salad (see recipe below)

You can’t eat your lawn but…

Recipe Swap: Tomato and Zucchini Gratin and Waldorf Berry Salad

Is a lawn “beautiful?” Is a vegetable garden “ugly?” Or is it the other way around? It depends who you ask. A press release plinked into my mailbox from the folks with Food Matters Manitoba last week announcing their second annual Manitoba Garden Makeover Competition. It’s urging Manitobans to convert their lawns into an “edible



Reena answers your questions

Dear Reena, Is there a way to remove perfume from clothing? My pedicurist doused my legs with fragrant oil and I am allergic to perfume. It won’t happen again, but in the meantime just washing my cords has not removed the odour. Flora Dear Flora, Soak your pants in either white vinegar (the smell of


Horsemeat holds a place of honour in French cuisine, but few eat it now

Consumption of horsemeat has fallen by 80 per cent in the last three decades as a more squeamish younger generation turns away

In a dingy Parisian back street, diners at a one-of-a-kind bistro tuck lustily into breaded horse brain, pan-fried heart of horse and broiled cheek, along with prime rump steaks the chef cuts from the bone himself. Seasoned aficionados queuing at one of the few horse butchers left in Paris say they prefer theirs raw as

Dry Australia cuts wheat forecast

sydney / reuters / Australia has cut its forecast for wheat production in the 2012-13 crop-marketing year by about seven per cent from its previous forecast to 22.5 million tonnes. And it’s warning yields may fall further if rains don’t arrive soon in some areas. Australia had a record 29.5-million-tonne wheat harvest last year, but


Recipe Swap: Use more pulses, wholegrains for a gluten-free diet

  You’re probably seeing more gluten-free products on your store shelves lately. But while all those new pastas, breads and cereals help those with a diagnosis of celiac disease or gluten sensitivity manage their complicated eating plan, they aren’t the most nutritious foods they could be eating. Why pulses? Pulses are naturally gluten free, but

Social media: Lending credibility to marketing in the digital age

Just being good isn’t enough. Being special can elevate products like canola oil to new levels and increase sales

Low in saturated fat and high in healthy omega-3 fatty acids canola oil, offers clear health benefits to consumers. But marketers can’t expect the product to sell itself — they need to grease the wheels. Kit Yarrow, a consumer psychologist, author and consultant spoke at the Canola Council of Canada’s convention in Washington, D.C. about



Tips For Drying Tomatoes

If you have an abundance of cherry tomatoes that you cannot keep up with, why not make dried tomatoes out of them? They can be added to salads and breads during the winter. How to dry: Wash, cut in half, place on a parchment- lined cookie sheet, sprinkle with coarse salt and bake at 170