goji berries

Merged with my obsession with food, comes an other obsession with gardening fresh ingredients to use in my recipes. The real madness began a few years ago, just before I decided to put all my belongings in storage to live a nomadic life. As I’m writing this, my traveling is behind me (for now) and it’s time to grow cute little green babies again!

A few weeks ago, I started planting some of those seeds and here’s what my urban garden looks like today. Nothing’s better than to surround yourself with thriving nature while the outdoor nature is sleeping under a big pile of snow. Spending relaxing minutes looking at the green of their leaves or simply watch them grow while drinking your morning coffee is my definition of a perfect moment.

Currently, many seeds haven’t hatched yet, and a few needed to be re-planted but it’s pretty great start.

The Greek basil is the only plant giving me a little trouble with a few “burnt” or “dried” leave tips which is apparently due to either too much water or not enough. Not sure what happened to it yet but I’m still trying to find the proper watering schedule to avoid further damages.

Stay tuned for many more urban gardening galleries and soon recipes featuring these gorgeous little creatures.

: Goji berries

: Greek Basil

: Sweet marjoram

: Red bell peppers

: Sage

: Yellow chard

: Shishito peppers

I could never be 100% paleo. Pretty much like I couldn’t be 100% vegetarian or vegan. I’m just one of those people who strongly believe that almost everything can be good in moderation unless there is some sort of medical condition going on. Since food is part of the simple pleasures of life, I don’t like to have constraints when it comes to be creative in my kitchen. Some days I’ll be vegan or vegetarian. Others, I’ll jump on a big juicy steak with baked and stuffed potatoes.

Every meals or snacks will be influenced by my mood and I will always follow these simple life’s food rules:

1- Try to eat a little bit of (almost) everything in moderation.

2- Try to always eat more vegetables, fruits, mushrooms than meat.

3- Prior fish to red meat. Choose tofu, tempeh and seitan over fish and meat.

4- Eat food that are alive, like kimchi, miso, tempeh, sprouts etc…

5- Drink lots of teas, everyday.

6- Make sure that in those daily teas there is at least 1 matcha tea and 1 mushroom infusion.

7- Stay Active, work out.

8- Everything is always better homemade, so make it!

Beside that I’m pretty loose. Eat what your heart desire, try to always choose a healthy, non fatty alternative to your munchies and push your boundaries, get out of your comfort zone to discover new tastes and textures. Don’t close your mind to other culinary cultures and jump in.

Although I do not like to have constraints when it comes to my personal foodie life, it’s still fun and challenging to create recipes that are following a certain regiment. Have you heard of the Paleo or Caveman diet? Here’s a little Wiki article if you are curious to learn about what it mean to be 100% Paleo.

The basics you need to remember; Dairy Free – Grain Free – Gluten Free and Legumes Free. All potatoes are a big no no but you can still eat some sweet potatoes sporadically. All soy products are off limits but miso is accepted because the fermentation will make the soy beans easier to digest. Flours made of Coconut and Almonds are your best friends, coconut oil and olive oil should be your preferred fat.

A good friend of mine have a condition that could be helped by becoming Paleo but I really don’t see him being able and/or wanting to follow all these rules. Just because I knew he was coming to dinner last Saturday, I decided to create an entire Paleo menu from scratch and today I’m presenting you the decadent dessert I made. Seriously, this is by far one of my favorite desserts ever. Paleo or not, I’ll be making another batch of these very soon and I know that you might just become addicted if you dare trying it.

For the people who likes very chewy, almost gooey brownies, these are for you! The soft texture of the carob brownie and the crunch of the nutty topping is really making these little bites fun to eat. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I’m enjoying eating it. …right now, as I’m writing

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Winter gardening…

Chewy, Decadent Paleo Brownies with Nutty Topping.