Make the Best Sugar Shack Feast

Sugar shack

You probably heard of sugar shacking, this mysterious springtime activity Canadians from Eastern provinces partake in every year. If you ever wondered what a Cabane à Sucre (sugar shack) is all about, what really happens at these festive gatherings, and how to experience it DIY, read on.

The romance and nostalgia of sugar shacks is unmistakable. Traditional feasts, wood fires, maple taffy on fresh snow, sleigh rides, and energetic folk music are woven into the fabric of a northeastern Canadian springtime.When the sugary sap begins to flow during le temps des sucres, friends and families head to their local sugar shack for a day of family-friendly activities and a feast of maple-soaked delicacies designed for sharing at long communal tables.

Did you know?

Cabane à sucre (sugar shack) is a small building built in a maple grove where maple products like maple syrup, maple butter and maple taffy are prepared.

An Indigenous tradition lives on

Settlers observed indigenous peoples making maple sugar every spring that would be used to get them through the tough winter months. With the help of their technology, the settlers improved on the process of tapping maple trees and making crystallized maple sugar, which was the preferred method of conserving the sap (syrup was introduced later). The sugar was then broken down into slices or shaved directly over dishes.

While the process of collecting and transporting maple sap has modernized since the Amerindians first tapped maple trees with their tomahawks, the transformation process itself has remained close to its roots. To convert the sap into syrup by evaporation, wooden shelters were eventually invented to protect the syrup. The romance and nostalgia of sugar shacks is unmistakable. Traditional feasts, wood fires, maple taffy on fresh snow, sleigh rides, and energetic folk music are woven into the fabric of a northeastern Canadian springtime.When the sugary sap begins to flow during le temps des sucres, friends and families head to their local sugar shack for a day of family-friendly activities and a feast of maple-soaked delicacies designed for sharing at long communal tables.

Bring the cabane à sucre home

Come on a journey with us as we bring the cabane à sucre home with rich, indulgent sugar shack feast recipes.

Did you know?

Canada accounts for 72% of the globe’s maple syrup output. Québec produces 91% of Canadian maple syrup.

The traditional cabane à sucre meal includes pea soup, thick-cut ham, sausage links, bacon, omelet, fried pork rinds called “oreilles de crisse,” roasted potatoes, pickles, pickled beets, baked beans, fresh-baked bread and, most importantly, lots of maple syrup. 

Maple syrup is central to sugar shack meals. It’s basically the law: Everything — we mean everything — on the table must be doused in sweet sticky maple syrup. That includes all the savoury items! Every dish either contains or is bathed in maple syrup: thick-cut ham, baked beans, sausages links, omelet, pancakes… Savoury dishes like: Pea soup and bacon rinds (colourfully known as oreilles de crisses) balance out this sweet extravagance. To cover your bases, you should probably stock up on a few bottles of maple syrup. Dessert is the pièce de résistance of this feast. Traditional desserts include maple sugar pie, pouding chômeur “poor man’s pudding” — a Depression-era sweet treat served warm and topped with vanilla ice cream. At the end of the meal, you always have a little room for maple taffy, poured warm on fresh snow.

Let’s break down the 3 main categories of food required for a truly traditional sugar shack meal.

Breakfast foods

Sugar shacks feature plates upon plates of everyone’s favourite breakfast foods.

Serve your guests the classics: 

Don’t forget to keep your guests happy with warm coffee and juices.

Salty foods

What goes better with sweet than salty? Nothing, that’s what! Supplement your breakfast spread with a few salty dishes. The traditional savoury dishes include:

The star of the show: Dessert

Sugar shack begins and ends with maple. Classic sugar shack desserts include:


La crème de la crème of any sugar shack experience is none-other than maple taffy “tire d’érable”. Kids and adults go crazy for the sticky, chilled delight that is maple taffy. No worries, it’s a lot easier to make than it looks!

What to do other than eating?

Other than eating, what creates a traditional sugar shack experience? That answer is simple… music! Nothing brings us to the romantic world of traditional shacks like folklore Quebec music. We created a spotify playlist to share with you the joyful soul of the Cabane à sucre tradition.

In Québec, many sugar shacks offer horse sleigh rides to visit the property, walk or hike in the woods, traditional music and dancing, petting zoos and snowshoeing. 

When we host our sugar shack meals we love to go for a walk around Wascana lake and dancing to traditional music.

Did you know?

Canada produced 13.2 million gallons of maple syrup in 2019 which contributes $750 million to Canada’s GDP

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Fun Way to Get Fit – Kettlebell Kickboxing

Blog author: Jodi Barrett
CEO of Kettlebell Kickboxing Canada
Master Level Trainer- KBIA and MKC Certified
BA -PAS F/L

After 13 years of being a stay at home mom Jodi found Kettlebell Kickboxing! She
now runs Kettlebell Kickboxing Canada in Regina and Certifies trainers across
Canada in KBIA!

Website: www.kettlebellkickboxingcanada.com
Instagram: kettlebellkickboxingcanada

Let me introduce you to Kettlebell Kickboxing, you have never experienced such a full body workout that has fused the Russian Kettlebell with Martial Arts Motion! It increases your cardio, your strength and mobility like no other! While training Kettlebell Kickboxing you will find the program implements the 5 Pillars of human movement. Allow me to show you Kettlebell training with the 5 Pillars.

Kettlebell Training …Why We Need 5 Pillars!

When training we always want to look at a balanced training program. In today’s busy life we need to embrace this holistic approach to help create a positive healthy habit that can carry you forward.

First, what is even exercise today? We all discuss it or the lack of it but when looking at exercise it is crucial to know exactly what exercise is. There is widespread confusion about what constitutes recreation and what constitutes exercise. This confusion inhibits
people from reaching their best potential, getting the most benefits from their training, or worse, injuring themselves and losing the healthy lifestyle all together. Exercise should make you stronger, more mobile and it should be measurable. Exercise is injury prevention and performance enhancement.

So now that we know what exercise is, we need to dig a little deeper and look at how to find a proper exercise program. Your fitness class/training program should train the five human movement patterns, Pushing, Pulling, Level Change, Rotation and Locomotion!

Now let’s build what that looks like:

Exercises Using Your Pillars:

1.Kettlebell Push Ups (Push- horizontal)
Overhead Press (Push -vertical)
2.Kettlebell One Arm Rows (Pull- horizontal)
Pull Up (Pull- vertical)
3.Kettlebell Full Mobility Swing (Level Change-hip dominant)
Kettlebell Goblet Squat (Level Change-knee dominant)
4.Windmill loaded with Kettlebell (Rotation)
5.Kettlebell Farmer Carry (Locomotion)

Increasing your weight as you progress, making it a measurable and progressive workout!

Why, train these pillars? To remove risk of injury that comes from muscle imbalances.

For Kettlebell Kickboxing we can incorporate each pattern with a kettlebell other than the pull up, which we include without the kettlebell as it is a vital part of the equation. When training our bodies, we need to be aware that our training is functional, hence the 5 pillars.

At the end of the day if you are not able to have functional ability you will be lacking in longevity. Your fitness program should make you stronger. Finding a class or program that has the 5 pillars will give you a holistic approach towards your success! Physically, you deserve the right to feel capable, powerful and able-bodied. Training with the pillars gives you a program that you can take full pride in, enjoying your newfound abilities to move successfully. Mentally and physically as you train you will become a stronger and a more confident person, giving you a strong mind as well as a strong body!

Blog author: Jodi Barrett
CEO of Kettlebell Kickboxing Canada
Master Level Trainer- KBIA and MKC Certified
BA -PAS F/L

After 13 years of being a stay at home mom Jodi found Kettlebell Kickboxing! She
now runs Kettlebell Kickboxing Canada in Regina and Certifies trainers across
Canada in KBIA!

Website: www.kettlebellkickboxingcanada.com
Instagram: kettlebellkickboxingcanada

Make the Best Sugar Shack Feast

Sugar shack

You probably heard of sugar shacking, this mysterious springtime activity Canadians from Eastern provinces partake in every year. If you ever wondered what a Cabane à Sucre (sugar shack) is all about, what really happens at these festive gatherings, and how to experience it DIY, read on.

The romance and nostalgia of sugar shacks is unmistakable. Traditional feasts, wood fires, maple taffy on fresh snow, sleigh rides, and energetic folk music are woven into the fabric of a northeastern Canadian springtime.When the sugary sap begins to flow during le temps des sucres, friends and families head to their local sugar shack for a day of family-friendly activities and a feast of maple-soaked delicacies designed for sharing at long communal tables.

Did you know?

Cabane à sucre (sugar shack) is a small building built in a maple grove where maple products like maple syrup, maple butter and maple taffy are prepared.

Maple Taffy

Making your own maple taffy is super easy, fun and DELICIOUS!

What do I need?

  • maple syrup (about 1/2 cup for 4 people)
  • candy thermometer
  • metal spoon
  • pot
  • popscicle sticks
  • snow 

Preparation

  1. Place the maple syrup in a pot on medium heat. Stirting constently with a metal spoon, bring to 238F.
  2. As soon as the maple syrup reaches 238F, remove from the heat – the syrup will be bubbly. 
  3. Spoon the hot syrup in lines on the snow. Using a popscicle stick, turn the taffy on the stick.

An Indigenous tradition lives on

Settlers observed Indigenous making maple sugar every spring that would be used to get them through the tough winter months. The sugar was then broken down into slices or shaved directly over dishes.

The sugar shacks and maple syrup are of great importance in the cultural identity of Canadiams, it is to the Indigenous

An Iroquois legend describes the piercing of maple bark and the use of its sweet sap to cook game, which is said to be at the origin of the culinary tradition of cooking with maple. Maple syrup is so central to traditions,  the Ojibway also call the sugar season “maple moon” or “sugar month”, since it lasts 4 to 6 weeks, from March to April.

In the 17th century, the French, who began to have permanent installations in North America, in turn began to collect maple water. 

The romance and nostalgia of sugar shacks is unmistakable. Traditional feasts, wood fires, maple taffy on fresh snow, sleigh rides, and energetic folk music are woven into the fabric of a northeastern Canadian springtime.When the sugary sap begins to flow during le temps des sucres, friends and families head to their local sugar shack for a day of family-friendly activities and a feast of maple-soaked delicacies designed for sharing at long communal tables.

Bring the cabane à sucre home

Come on a journey with us as we bring the cabane à sucre home with rich, indulgent sugar shack feast recipes.

Did you know?

Canada accounts for 72% of the globe’s maple syrup output. Québec produces 91% of Canadian maple syrup.

The traditional cabane à sucre meal includes pea soup, thick-cut ham, sausage links, bacon, omelet, fried pork rinds called “oreilles de crisse,” roasted potatoes, pickles, pickled beets, baked beans, fresh-baked bread and, most importantly, lots of maple syrup. 

Maple syrup is central to sugar shack meals. It’s basically the law: Everything — we mean everything — on the table must be doused in sweet sticky maple syrup. That includes all the savoury items! Every dish either contains or is bathed in maple syrup: thick-cut ham, baked beans, sausages links, omelet, pancakes… Savoury dishes like: Pea soup and bacon rinds (colourfully known as oreilles de crisses) balance out this sweet extravagance. To cover your bases, you should probably stock up on a few bottles of maple syrup. Dessert is the pièce de résistance of this feast. Traditional desserts include maple sugar pie, pouding chômeur “poor man’s pudding” — a Depression-era sweet treat served warm and topped with vanilla ice cream. At the end of the meal, you always have a little room for maple taffy, poured warm on fresh snow.

Let’s break down the 3 main categories of food required for a truly traditional sugar shack meal.

Breakfast foods

Sugar shacks feature plates upon plates of everyone’s favourite breakfast foods.

Serve your guests the classics: 

Don’t forget to keep your guests happy with warm coffee and juices.

Salty foods

What goes better with sweet than salty? Nothing, that’s what! Supplement your breakfast spread with a few salty dishes. The traditional savoury dishes include:

The star of the show: Dessert

Sugar shack begins and ends with maple. Classic sugar shack desserts include:


La crème de la crème of any sugar shack experience is none-other than maple taffy “tire d’érable”. Kids and adults go crazy for the sticky, chilled delight that is maple taffy. No worries, it’s a lot easier to make than it looks!

What to do other than eating?

Other than eating, what creates a traditional sugar shack experience? That answer is simple… music! Nothing brings us to the romantic world of traditional shacks like folklore Quebec music. We created a spotify playlist to share with you the joyful soul of the Cabane à sucre tradition.

In Québec, many sugar shacks offer horse sleigh rides to visit the property, walk or hike in the woods, traditional music and dancing, petting zoos and snowshoeing. 

When we host our sugar shack meals we love to go for a walk around Wascana lake and dancing to traditional music.

Did you know?

Canada produced 13.2 million gallons of maple syrup in 2019 which contributes $750 million to Canada’s GDP

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6 unexpected reasons you should eat breakfast

Breakfast is the meal most often skipped by Canadians. In a cross Canada study, the most common reason to skip it is the lack of time. 

Many under-estimate the value of a balanced breakfast. With the rapid rythm of life and the growing popularity of intermittent fasting, breakfast is often not given the attention it deserves or is completely skipped.

Most health professionals agree: Breakfast is foundational to a healthy lifestyle. 

Whole grains, protein, fruits and vegetables, and good fats are all components of a balanced breakfast. No one should face the day without a good balanced breakfast! Here are six reasons to fully enjoy breakfast every morning.

Breakfast is an easy meal that can be prepared and eaten in a few minutes and provide many hours of productivity.

6 unexpected reasons you should eat breakfast
1. Support brain health

Carbohydrates are essential for healthy brain functioning. A number of studies show kids who eat breakfast tend to have improved cognitive skills and perform better at school. Eating a balanced high-fiber breakfast, promotes memory and concentration levels, as well as improve mood and lower stress. Who doesn’t want that? There is no better time than breakfast time to replenish our carbohydrates. High-fiber carbohydrates are found in oats, whole grain bread and fruits.   

2. Support Healthy Weight

Sometimes we may be tempted to skip breakfast to avoid extra calories. Skipping breakfast to lose a few pounds is a bad idea. Eating breakfast tells our body that we are not in starvation mode and will eat again during the day. Breakfast gets our metabolism started and helps us burn more calories throughout the day.

Studies have shown that eating a high-fiber, nutrient-sense breakfast greatly decreases hunger and cravings throughout the day.There is a correlation between skipping breakfast and having difficulty maintaining a healthy weight Studies even show this correlation with children. Children who skip breakfast tend to have a higher body Mass Index (BMI) and are up to 200% more likely to be overweight than children who eat breakfast regularly.  Eating three balanced meals a day contributes to maintaining a healthy weight.  

3. Family time

We often discuss the importance of eating dinner as a family. Breakfast is also a wonderful opportunity to connect as a family around the table. Are you ready for your volley ball game? What are you excited for today? We can enjoy the early morning hours to connect and spend quality time with our family.  

Are you thinking you won’t have time? No excuses! Let’s set the alarm a few minutes early and create beautiful memories with our loved ones. 

4. Skip that 2 pm feeling

Skipping breakfast has significant impact on the quality of our day. Are you familiar with that 2 pm feeling? There a good chance you can notice a correlation between skipping or eating an unbalanced breakfast and the 2 pm feeling. 

Balanced breakfast are filled with fibers which contribute to stabilize blood sugar. Sugar drops cause a number of symptoms: difficulty concentrating, head aches, sugar cravings, and low patience.  Test it out! Tomorrow morning, treat yourself to a balanced breakfast and see how you feel throughout the day. 

5. Reduce snacking

The 2pm feeling is often associated with cravings. The lack of nutrient provided by a balanced breakfast always catches up with us.  By skipping breakfast, it is highly likely that you will have cravings for chips or cake during the afternoon or evening.

To prevent these cravings, ensure to have a balanced breakfast high in fiber and proteins. When you have a hectic morning, plan a super quick breakfast you can eat on your way to work or at your desk. An example of super quick breakfast is overnight oats. You make them a few days ahead to just grab it and go in the morning. You will find a FREE breakfast recipe pdf at the bottom of this blog which includes a number of overnight oat recipes. 

6. Develop healthy habits

Most health professional recommend to eat more fruits and vegetables. Breakfast is a good opportunity to add fruits and vegetables to our diet and to support a healthy life style.

When we have time to treat ourselves with a nice breakfast we can spend time with our loved ones preparing a more elaborated breakfast filled with vegetables and fruits. Some examples include: Omelettes, frittatas, blueberry pancakes, and breakfast burritos. 

FREE breakfast recipe book

Are you sick and tired of the 2pm feeling?

Do you want to optimize your productivity throughout the day?

We got your back! Here are super easy and quick breakfasts that can be assembled a few days ahead. These breakfasts are so easy and delicious you won’t even want to skip breakfast again. Download this FREE pdf to learn how easy your next breakfast can be. 

Happy breakfast!

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New Canada Food Guide

A new version of the Canada Food Guide was released in January 2019. This new version of the Food Guide is a significant change from the previous Food Guide. The new Canadian food guide encourages Canadians to eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, whole grains foods, to chose protein that comes from plant more often, to cook more and to limit processed foods. Rather than recommending portions of the different food groups, this guide focuses on three food categories: 

  1. vegetables & fruits
  2. protein foods
  3. Whole grain

Changing one’s eating habits can be a serious challenge; ZestyKits simplifies cooking at home by planning weekly meals and providing pre-portioned ingredients and hand-made sauces to prepare delicious healthy meals. The new food guide encourages Canadians to increase their food skills and food literacy.

An example of a delicious and easy recipes that follows the recommendations of the Canadian Food Guide is the Green Curry Coconut Bowl.  Find the recipe (including the sauce and spice blend) here! 🙂

Healthy eating is more than the foods you eat

Healthy eating is more than the foods you eat. It is also about where, when, why and how you eat.

Be mindful of your eating habits

Benefits of being mindful of eating habits is being aware of a variety of aspects of your eating habits. These include but are not limited to:
– how much you eat
– why you eat
– what you eat

Being aware of your eating habits provides a number of benefits including:
– make healthier choices
– notice when you are hungry and full
– create a sense of awareness around your every day eating decisions

How to be mindful of your eating habits

Create a healthy eating environment by trying to eat in an environment that makes it easy to make healthy choices 

Use your senses. Eating uses all your senses. Try to pay attention to the smell, textures and flavours of your food.

Consider your eating habits by asking yourself questions about what you ate. Some questions may include:
– How fast you ate?
– Did you pay attention to what you ate?
– Did you eat with others?
– Where you bored?
– How much did you eat?

Cook more often

There are multiples benefits of cooking.  These benefits include but are not limited to:
– eating less processed foods
– lean cooking skills
– opportunity to be creative
– control salt and fat
– choose healthy ingredient

How to cook more often

You can make cooking faster and easier with the following tips:
– You can cook a larger batch so you cook once and have leftovers. You can also make large batch recipes likes: stew, soup, chili, casseroles, lasagna,… 
– You can cook extra rice or quinoa to use in other dishes later that week. 
– Reinvent your leftovers into new recipes. For example: Chili can become burritos or spaghetti.
– Use time saving tools like slow cookers and pressure cooker.
– Keep healthy ingredients handy by having a ready to cook grains in the pantry, canned beans, frozen pre-portioned fish, frozen vegetables, spices as well as a variety of fruits and vegetables.
–  Try healthy and low fat cooking methods like: baking, boiling, steaming, and grilling.

Enjoy your food

There are many benefits of enjoying your food which includes being open to trying new flavours and developing a healthy relationship with food. Knowing that you are making healthy choices and supporting your healthy lifestyle can help you enjoy your food even more. 

How to enjoy food

You can enjoying your food in numerous ways including:
– Spending quality time with loved ones at mealtime.
– Shopping in new specialty stores to find new foods and flavours.
– Cooking new recipes.
– Growing your own food.
– Getting to know your farmers and producers.
– choose foods that you like, that fits in your budget, lifestyle and that reflects your culture and beliefs.
– Try new foods to find a sense of wonder and even adventure.
– Take care to create a nice environment to eat. This can include eating with other,listening to music and setting the table nicely.

Eat meals with others

Enjoying healthy foods with family, friends, neighbours or co-workers is a great way to connect. It can provide many benefits and contribute to a healthy lifestyle. Eating with other can help you enjoy food by giving you the opportunity to share food traditions across generations and cultures. Food is usually the main part of celebrations; however, eating as a group can make a regular night a special event. 

How to eat with others more often

With our busy schedules, making time to enjoy meals with others requires some planning.  You can plan to eat with loved ones by:
– Having a regular family meal.
– Planing an activity nigh that includes games and making dinner together.
– Start a dinner party with friends and everyone takes a turn to host.
– Host a potluck with friends or family.

To really enjoy eating with other try to put away distractions like phones, take your time and use the meal experience as a time to connect.

Kids especially benefit from regular family meals as they are starting to develop their eating habits and behaviours. Eating together as a family can help kids:
– learn cooking skills.
– be creative which helps improve self-esteem.
– explore healthy foods.
– establish healthy eating routines.

Guidelines

Next weeks’ post will discuss the 3 guidelines of the Canadian Food guide:
– Guideline 1: Foundation for healthy eating
– Guideline 2: Foods and beverages that undermine healthy eating
– Guideline 3: Importance of food skills