Tag: book club

Book Club Tuesday: Green Kitchen Smoothies

~ shipshapeeatworthy ~ 3 Comments

img_6131

Summer is finally arriving here in Halifax — yesterday it was 68F in the house and today it was almost 80! My kitchen is in full summer-mode — my oven and stove are off most of the time and we’ve been favouring meals consisting of fresh fruits and veg. I’ve also been experimenting with fermenting kefir water (great recipe in Emma’s first book My Darling Lemon Thyme! I never knew kefir water was a thing — thanks to Maria at Seeds Roots Greens for opening my eyes to the joys of making my own brew!). That’s what this season is all about — being unfussy, eating “rustic” meals, and enjoying the freshest and best of what the local markets have to offer. One of the simplest things to make with fresh fruits (and yes veggies too!!) are smoothies. TBH I’ve never been a big smoothie Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Green Kitchen Smoothies” →

Book Club Tuesday: The Love & Lemons Cookbook / Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking

~ shipshapeeatworthy ~ 5 Comments

My toddler is killing me at dinnertime! But I totally had an epiphany — if I wanted a more harmonious dinnertime we needed to eat earlier. Not too early, but earlier. Lately I’ve been feeling down in the dumps because my two year old pretty much says “Yuck!” to everything I place in front of her (and I as you can probably guess I put much time and effort into cooking, so I try very hard not to take it personally). My secret hope is that it’s just a phase (new molars perhaps?) but I’m worried that this will last longer. As far as I can remember I’ve always eaten everything, my sibling on the other hand was/is super picky (I think it’s a texture thing). So my fingers are crossed that it’s just a phase. But I’m not very convinced… I mean, “yuck” to cheese pizza?? Really?? Who doesn’t like homemade cheese pizza?? If I was a kid I know I’d be thrilled!  Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: The Love & Lemons Cookbook / Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking” →

Book Club Tuesday: Mamushka

~ shipshapeeatworthy ~ 1 Comment

img_6138
That’s me. Oh about a million years ago! Although not Ukrainian-born but brought up in a family with a rich Ukrainian heritage (on my father’s side) my folks decided to send me to an Ukrainian Bilingual school when I was younger. I think this photo was taken probably during Easter because it was one of the few times we would dress in “traditional” clothing and take part in holiday activities. Easter was my favourite because Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Mamushka” →

Book Club Tuesday: Fresh

~ shipshapeeatworthy ~ 1 Comment

Fresh 1
Hey! Happy April! Maybe it’s just me but I feel like by the time March comes around I’m “phoning” my meals in. I feel unexcited, uninspired, and gray. Then spring happens and everything starts to feel new and fresh again. Produce looks better at the supermarket and I feel more inspired to make simple meals that are a combination of grains, legumes/pulses, fruit, and veggies. “Big Salads” (can’t ever help not to think of Seinfeld when I use this phrase!) are what I gravitate towards and TBH this type of meal has been creating a lot of dinner harmony between adults and toddler here. What could  be better? She can pick what she likes from the bowl while we can eat everything else. It’s all healthy and I love to see her experiment and try new things — instead of getting her “yuck” face.  Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Fresh” →

Book Club Tuesday: Cookbook Roundup

~ shipshapeeatworthy ~ 2 Comments


Lately I’ve been getting lots of questions from friends and family regarding cookbook suggestions. So I think this week I’ll spend a little time talking about how to optimize your time in the kitchen and which cookbooks you could try based on your level of culinary expertise or interest. I’ll only be referring to the cookbooks and magazines I’ve reviewed so far. TBH I’m running out of cookbooks to review — don’t get me wrong I have loads of cookbooks but none that I’ve cooked enough from where I feel comfortable giving an honest review. Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Cookbook Roundup” →

Book Club Tuesday: Food 52, The Piglet, & Cookbook Criticism

~ shipshapeeatworthy ~ Leave a comment

FPIG1

Now that I have a few posts under my belt and I can see that they’re being read (btw thank you so much! I appreciate you taking the time to stop by!!) I think a lot about whether what I post will encourage/discourage people from buying a particular cookbook. With cookbooks (and books in general) rising in price every day I get a slight shutter (feeling like my subjectivity will cause a person to waste their money) when I wonder if people are happy with the cookbooks they’re purchasing? Maybe I  think about cookbooks and cooking waaaay too much. That being said, It’s one of my favourite times of year on the web — Food 52‘s The Piglet competition is beginning! While reading over the list of cookbooks chosen for the 2016 tournament, the way they choose cookbooks has me reflecting on how I choose my own cookbooks. It also has me reflecting on how much merit I give to online reviews, cookbook criticisms, and what role I play by writing my own reviews.

Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Food 52, The Piglet, & Cookbook Criticism” →

Book Club Tuesday: Green Kitchen Stories

~ shipshapeeatworthy ~ 4 Comments

GKS1
Just look at those Baked Pistachio & Herb Falafel! Devine! Looking at this dish I’m reminded that not long ago this type of recipe wouldn’t have even been in my consciousness.  As I’ve said before, I haven’t always been a vegetarian and it took almost 7 years with my vegetarian husband before I became a vegetarian (truth be told it wasn’t even anything my husband said much to his chagrin, it was an afternoon spent watching Oprah and  Michael Pollan discuss food that changed my mind). However during those first 7 years I never prepared any meat dishes at home but in the same breath we hardly ate any vegetables either. The truth hurts, so when I read the intro to Vegetarian Everyday I really identified with David’s comment: “I was the unhealthy vegetarian (yes, they do exist) who basically lived on pasta, pizza, sweets and ice cream.”  We lived on lots of pasta. Lots. Is there such a thing as a carb-atrian?! So when I decided to become a vegetarian I knew I had to emphasize the “veg” in vegetarian.

Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Green Kitchen Stories” →

Book Club Tuesday: Short Stack Editions

~ shipshapeeatworthy ~ 2 Comments


It’s Tuesday! You know what that means…but before I get into my review and food talk let’s talk a bit about my life before food. Full disclosure: I am a “whim” person. At least that’s what my husband calls it (I think it’s just a nice way of describing how I become obsessed with something for a short period of time). Is it my fault that when I get interested in something I go all in? I love having a hobby, I mean, who doesn’t love to have something to do? So over the years my “whims” have taken me through card stamping, knitting, quilting, vintage jewelry collecting, fashion, and if you believe my husband, cooking. But I’ll be honest here — I think the bus stops with cooking.

Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Short Stack Editions” →

Book Club Tuesday: Go Gluten Free Magazine

~ shipshapeeatworthy ~ 2 Comments

GGF covers

If you’re reading this or have ever looked at my IG photos you know that I love to cook. In fact, I usually take great delight in preparing and cooking 3 meals a day. Yesterday’s dinner was a different story. The morning was grey and cold. Wind picked up as I pumped gas into the car — the forecast called for a huge blizzard (at least 30 cm! Everything closed or cancelled) so I knew that running on empty wasn’t a safe option (even though there was no snow on the ground and nary a flake to be seen). A quick trip to the grocery store and then it didn’t matter when the onslaught of bad weather happened because we were prepared. Lunch ended up being a breeze — I made Margherita Pizza Dinner Waffles that were insanely quick to make and delicious to eat (Sweet Potato Chronicles — need I say more?). By mid afternoon I was starting to feel chilled and head-achy (probably a cold — every man, woman, and child within a 50 km radius of us has been sick) and I was in no mood to cook. This is where Go Gluten Free Magazine comes in.

Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Go Gluten Free Magazine” →

Book Club Tuesday: The Penlee Recipe Book

~ shipshapeeatworthy ~ 4 Comments

So if you’ve been following Shipshape Eatworthy, you know that Tuesday is my day! This week I’ll be reviewing a vegetarian cookbook that is 100 YEARS OLD! That’s right! Exactly what I said — The Penlee Recipe Book (or at least my particular edition) was published in 1916. The other exceptional thing to note is that I’ll be giving my impressions of this book without actually having tried any of the recipes — so no Instagram photos or link throughs to flashy websites — and you’ll come to hear how I came by this remarkable book in a pretty unremarkable way.

The first part of this story begins in Ottawa (Ontario, Canada) about 14 years ago. At the time I was still a grad student and my then boyfriend (now husband) was a vegetarian. Since vegetarianism was so new to me I was really keen to learn more (although not keen enough to change my diet — that still took another 8 years). Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: The Penlee Recipe Book” →