Woman in Real Life

11 Plant-Based Recipes I’m Loving Again, Thanks to a Local Strawberry Haul!

There’s something truly special about spending a morning at a local U-pick farm—especially during peak strawberry season. We went recently on a hotter-than-usual day, and I’ll admit, I felt a little lightheaded after wandering the rows under the sun. Thankfully, my husband stepped in and picked most of our overflowing basket while I took a breather. (I did manage to eat a few sun-warmed, chemical-free strawberries straight from the vine!)

Despite the heat, the experience was sweet in every sense—and we’ve already made plans to head back this week before the short Ontario strawberry season wraps up.

Back at home, with a kitchen full of juicy, sun-ripened berries, I found myself returning to some of my favourite plant-based recipes—dishes that showcase the fresh, vibrant flavour of strawberries in both comforting and creative ways. Whether you’re juicing up a strawberry lemonade, churning some easy dairy-free strawberry ice cream or baking a plant-based treat, these 11 recipes are perfect for helping to the most of every berry. Let’s dig in!

*This post is sponsored by Giant Tiger. All opinions are authentic and my own. Thank you for supporting the awesome companies that partner with Woman in Real Life!*

Summer is just about here and I am once again joining Dannyelle from Life is a Party and other Canadian bloggers to celebrate the season with a party. Last season, my party was a Celebrate Spring Party with a veggie burger toppings bar and vegan root beer floats.The idea is called "A Year of Feasting," and it involves holding one themed party per season in order to spend more time with family and/or friends. As Canada Day falls on July 1st, and it's the country's big 150th birthday party this year, we decided to theme our parties this month around Canada Day. Hopefully you will take away some ideas you can use to celebrate Canada Day in style. If you are American, just convert the maple leaves to stars and you're good to go! Be sure to check out the other bloggers' party ideas via the links at the bottom of this post. Such fabulous ideas!

Although I always look forward to picking strawberries during our blink-and-you-miss-it strawberry season in Ontario, that doesn't mean that picking day is always idyllic. Far from it. Last year, while we had a nice time in the picturesque strawberry fields, I recall that there was some fighting among the children on the car ride home.

So this year, when brother and sister started beating each other up not two minutes from our house, the husband and I gave them a warning (which they promptly ignored) and then returned the kids home. Now that they are big enough to stay by themselves for short periods we chose to pick strawberries in peace. Mind you, they called me about 10 times on my cell phone until I told them, "emergencies only."

Happy Canada Day to my Canadian peeps! I hope you have a fun-filled day with friends and family and lots o' good food! We are just over a week into summer and it has been a whirlwind of activity already. We must take advantage of warm weather when we can! And there will be rainy days on which to relax (from the looks of it so far, quite a few rainy days!). Hence the soup.

This What I Ate Wednesday, I'm starting with a photo of the minestrone soup I made recently on a chilly, rainy day. There wasn't much in the house in terms of groceries, but you can always whip together some sort of soup, right? I used small spelt pasta shells, yellow peppers, carrots and spinach. Plus I had slices of fresh baguette spread with hummus on the side.

Now that it's mid-February, it's a good time to check in on our resolutions and goals for the new year. Have they been neglected, abandoned, put on hold? Perhaps they are still going strong? I'm not one for setting resolutions, but I did have some "gentle goals" for 2015. Mainly my focus has been on eating healthier - incorporating more fruits and veggies in my diet and ensuring I put an emphasis on extra nutrients and antioxidants.

I am thrilled that 2015 sees me once again acting as an ambassador for Almond Breeze. This tasty almond beverage has been helping me along with my new year's goals for happier, healthier living. Almond Breeze is a lactose free, gluten free and dairy free source of calcium. It can be easily incorporated in all of your favourite recipes for a healthier alternative to cow's milk that's perfect for those with dairy intolerances, vegans and anybody seeking a diet lower in fat.

I couldn't think of a better way to spend the kids' first day of summer vacation than picking strawberries at a beautiful rural strawberry farm. We took the kids and a friend to Spring View Farms in Leaskdale, Ontario. They have lovely, chemical-free, pick-your-own strawberries for a very short time in June. While the kids were a bit skeptical about a long car ride (it really wasn't that long!), they were more than excited when they got to the strawberry farm. As was I! I love strawberry picking and the chance to get out in nature for a bit.

Celebrate Strawberry Season with These Vegan Strawberry Banana Muffins

There’s something truly special about strawberry season in Ontario. It comes in like a whisper—just a few precious weeks in June—and if you blink, you might miss it. But while it lasts, it’s a time of joy for families like mine, who love picking, eating and baking with these juicy, sun-kissed berries.

To make the most of this sweet and fleeting season, I’ve created a brand new muffin recipe that’s quickly become a family favourite: Vegan Strawberry Banana Muffins.

This recipe is a happy marriage of two of my all-time favourite muffin recipes. It combines the fruity brightness of strawberry muffins with the cozy texture and natural sweetness of spelt banana coconut muffins. The result? A moist, golden muffin with subtle banana flavour and plenty of fresh strawberries in every bite.  Check out my other favourite muffin recipes - these strawberry muffins and these spelt banana coconut muffins.

When the thermometer is on the rise, it's nice to kick back with a fresh, homemade juice. Juicing can help you increase your consumption of healthy fruits and vegetables. Plus, the water content can work to prevent dehydration. If you have kids, you might possibly get more veggies into them too. In our family, my son will happily try any juice, even if it contains celery or cucumber. My daughter can only be tempted with fruit. But carrot juice is sweet, has a lovely orange colour and is easy to hide among the fruit juice!

We are once again midway through the week and I'm taking a look back at some of the meals I have eaten lately. I'll keep my complaining brief - there's a cold weather warning here today and it feels like spring may never come. Malaise has set in. There, I'm done. Except to say, this kind of winter-should-be-over-by-now feeling calls for easy meals. But then I also say summer heat calls for easy meals! I guess I just like easy meals!

One day for lunch I went old school and just threw some fake turkey slices on a bun with lettuce, tomatoes and mayo. I added sliced strawberries on the side because...well, strawberries are awesome.

On Sunday, I showed you photos of our family trip to the strawberry farm. As I mentioned then, we came away with 10 litres of strawberries. As you know, strawberries lose their freshness pretty darn quick, so I got to work right away preparing a jar of simple, fast Breadmaker Strawberry Jam. Did you know you can make jam in your home bread maker?

I've said it before - the strawberry season is so short in Ontario, I hate to miss it. It lasts maybe a week to 10 days and that's it! So, we go to the farm just as soon as we can. This week, our only free day fell on a gloomy Saturday, with a 60 per cent chance of rain in the forecast. It was also pretty hot, hence my little girl's shorts with rain boots combination.

We dropped my son off at a friend's birthday party and headed for the farm. I made the mistake of writing down simple (seemingly simple anyway) directions and not consulting a map. One wrong turn made and we ended up driving about 30 km out of our way. A little head kept popping up in the back, my anxious girl calling out, "Are we lost?"

The kind people at Crofter’s Organic recently sent me samples of their strawberry and blueberry organic premium fruit spreads. 

Truth be told, I buy Crofter's jam all the time. I don't like nasty extra ingredients in my jam. Crofter's spreads are mostly made up of organic fruit. They are sweetened with Rainforest Alliance-certified organic cane sugar and contain one-third less sugar than standard jam. The strawberry is my absolute favourite, with chunks of tasty organic strawberries.