Hello and happy new year to you. 2026 will mark 15 years of blogging and posting recipes for me–something I don’t take for granted! Thank you for continuing to show up here, and for always motivating me to make the recipes better. I have lots of tasty, super achievable things planned for this year.

I also went in on a little vlogging camera setup to make short form videos for social media over the break. I have resisted that aspect of the work for so long and realized that I wasn’t open to the possibility that I could make something that is helpful to others. It’s easy to complain about brain rot and the divisiveness found on social networks–I do it all the time. I’m going to try contributing rather than complaining for a bit. Let’s see how long that lasts lol.

I hope that you’re taking care out there! Our usual stuff below.

5 Things I’m Reading:

1. How to Establish a Daily Practice of Almost Anything via Lion’s Roar
2. What I Saw When I Peeked Over the Edge of Consciousness via The New York Times (gift link)
3. Is Birdwatching Cool Now? Maybe. Is It Healing? Definitely. via British Vogue
4. How Sweetgreen Became Millennial Cringe via The Atlantic (non-paywalled)
5. reclaiming my brain in 2026 via Pizza Friday by Front Yard Veggies on Substack

5 Things I’m Enjoying:

1. This episode of Your Undivided Attention: The Crisis That United Humanity–and Why It Matters for AI
2. Seeing a happy dog get adopted always, always makes my day better
3. In awe of David Easterbrook’s bonsai world
4. The Pitt is back–one of my fave shows that came out last year
5. I finally tried Dieux’s Instant Angel moisturizer and I don’t know if I can use anything else. My skin just does not like fragrance at all anymore, so the unscented aspect is great (and honestly rare). This cream is rich, super hydrating, and does not leave an oily film at all. It’s also tamped down redness in my cheeks considerably–something I’ve always struggled with. Five stars from this 40+ sensitive skin girly.

5 Questions:

1. Favorite grocery store produce right now?
   A lot of people in Ontario asking me about grocery stuff lately! In the off season, I mostly shop for produce at Food Basics and Farm Boy. Staying consistent with these two spots and shopping the sales has kept my grocery bills pretty similar over the last couple years. I’m lucky that I live by a really nice, new, and very well-stocked Food Basics store. I also have to say that I don’t totally get the expensive reputation that Farm Boy has when it comes to produce. For fruit and veg, I find them pretty reasonable and the produce from there always lasts longer.
2. Any tips or recipes for cooking with frozen veg?
   Frozen veg works perfectly in recipes where soft texture is the goal. Soup, stew, pasta, curries, casseroles/bakes, and anything puréed. As long as you’re not required to sauté for the purposes of caramelization, go ahead and use frozen veggies. They are just as tasty/nutritious as fresh and are so, SO convenient sometimes.
3. Your favorite high protein breakfasts?
   I may not be the best person to ask this! In the last year or so, I haven’t been super hungry for breakfast most days. This is why I make a smoothie about 95% of the time. I can load that up with berries, protein powder, chia, flax, hemp, nut butter, soy milk, everything I need, and it goes down pretty easy. I love a little tofu scramble or chickpea flour frittata once in a while if I want savory and high protein, but it’s honestly rare! If I’m going for a full on weekend breakfast, I generally want pancakes or something that’s a little more carb-y haha.
4. What butter to use now that I can’t buy Miyoko’s?
   Where I live in Ontario, I generally go for the President’s Choice plant-based butter for baking (available at Loblaws-owned stores). If I want fancy vegan butter for a sauce or something where the flavor will really come through, I like Nuts For Butter–this one also works great for baking if you’re more particular on ingredients.
5. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Professionally/personally to the extent that you care to share?
   I’m guessing a different job than this one, but who knows. Google’s AI summaries in search and ChatGPT are coming for recipe creators. One of my biggest traffic-generating recipes got wiped out by a Google AI overview “recipe” that combined bits and pieces from top search results for a sort of Frankenstein soup method. My site is doing fine, but unless the powers that be do a total 180, I can see this line of work becoming less and less viable. I overheard someone at a holiday get together talking about how they use ChatGPT for everything and it irked me so much in the moment, but it’s also just the way the world is now and in a way, I kind of understand. Of course folks want ease and as little friction as possible! Life is hard enough sometimes. At the core of my work is curiosity, artistry, and the human experience of cooking. I will keep sharing that from my point of view for as long as I can. I also know that there are lots of people who reject AI when it comes to creative pursuits and this is reassuring. The short form answer to this question is: I don’t know and I’m okay with it :)
   

5 Seasonal Recipes:

1. Lentil Soup with Coconut, Spinach & Lime
2. Chopped Kale Cabbage Salad with Sweet Mustard Dressing, Chickpeas & Avocado
3. Creamy Vegan Gnocchi Skillet with Pesto, Lentils & Broccoli Rabe
4. 30-Minute Hearty Vegan Chili
5. Sticky Marmalade Tofu