After switching to a completely dairy free lifestyle, I was a little dissapointed by not being able to eat ice cream. Although of course it is very easy to find dairy free sorbet at places like Whole Foods, they are pretty expensive. Particurly because I am also eating sugar-free. Now, it has always boggled my mind why there is a need to add so much sugar to something like fruit sorbet. Presumably, fruit is already pretty sweet, so adding sugar really doesn’t seem that necessary to me.

Last week, I did find a fantastic orange mango sorbet at my local Whole Foods. At $6.40 for about half a litre (and it lasted me only one day), it does get a little expensive. The other added inconvenience is that Whole Foods is a good 5km hike from my home, so it’s not a place I can easily go to to pick up a tub of ice cream on a whim.

Inspired by my purchase though, I bought a Cuisinart Automatic Ice Cream Maker yesterday. It’s fabulous! I produced this fantastic strawberry sorbet in about 20 minutes.

Here is my dairy-free, gluten-free, and sugar-free recipe for homemade fruit sorbet:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 box of strawberries (about 15 medium sized strawberries)
• 1 cup of almond milk (or rice milk)
• Agave nectar

Preparation

Combine strawberries and almond milk in a blender and blend until smooth. Set up the ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions (the Cuisinart has to sit in your freezer for at least 12 hours prior to using it, so plan accordingly!). Turn the ice cream maker on, and pour the strawberry mixture into the machine. Add agave nectar to taste (about 1-2 tbsp).

You can get creative and add other things to this recipe as well. Cut up some strawberries into pieces and add them in while the ice cream maker is turned on to mix them in properly. Or add in gummy bears for a fun chewy taste.

Yesterday I went to a salsa club that offers a wednesday night special on mojitos. Given my new commitment to a (refined) sugar-free lifestyle I wasn’t sure I’d be able to enjoy my usual mojito. I wasn’t really in the mood to pay double for a glass of wine, and at the last minute I came up with an interesting alternative solution to the usual sugar added to mojitos. I asked the waiter to make me a mojito without any sugar, and instead sweetened with maple syrup. I’m not kidding when I say my Canuckito (Canadian mojito) was even tastier than the usual sugary version.

Here’s how you can make your very own Canadian Mojito!

Ingredients:

• Mint leaves
• 1 lime
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 2 ounces white rum
• 2 ounces club soda
• 1 sprig of mint (garnish)
• crushed ice

Preparation:

Put the mint leaves in a glass and squeeze the lime over them. Add the maple syrup, then muddle the mint, lime juice, and maple syrup together. Add the crushed ice. Now, stir in the rum and top off with club soda. Garnish your Canadian-style mojito with a mint sprig. Enjoy!

Refined sugar in any foods causes it’s glycemic index to shoot right up. Skip the white stuff, and you’re on your way to a lower GI food or drink. Classically, our favorite summertime drink can contain tons of sugar, I have a just-as-sweet alternative without so much as a sprinkle of refined sugar.

Here’s what you do to serve four people with refreshing delicious sugar free lemonade:

Ingredients:

• 5 Lemons
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup
• 1 quart sparkling water
• 1 handful of mint sprigs

How it’s made:

Juice 4 of the lemons; slice the other lemon and set aside. Blend juice with applesauce and maple syrup. Stir in sparkling water. Pour mixture into large pitcher over ice. Garnish with lemon slices and mint sprigs and serve.

The details:

80 calories per serving, 0 g fat, 22 g carbs, 0.6 g fiber, 0.3 g protein

Photo credit: dtcreations from morguefile.com

We’re just two months into the new year, and perhaps you have already fiscally recovered from the Holiday season. If you’re not quite there yet, or you’re getting tired of the dinner-and-a-movie routine where you sit across the table from each other and find out you have little to say.., here are some creative ideas you can use to keep some money in your account and break the monotonous boredom spell plaguing a lot of long term relationships.

1. Exercise together

We all know we eat to much and move too little. Most of the time people feel they are too tired for even mild exercise after getting home from work. As a result, either dinner out or hanging in front of the TV together to fall into a carbohydrate-induced coma is as exciting as the date is going to get. Ironic as it seems, exercise isn’t going to make you as tired as you think. In fact, exercise will actually give you energy, and can help improve your sex life. After all, if you are too tired to do anything in the evening, do you really think it’s going to get very exciting in the bedroom?

Some ideas to get you moving:

1. Beginners who feel low on energy can start by just walking along a shopping street and checking out the window displays. At night, chances are you won’t be spending much on this trip.
2. If you have a Wii-Fit, use it together! Get a new program (this is relatively low cost compared to other date ideas), and step out of your comfort zone. Try some Yoga, it will improve flexibility, and guess where you can apply those new found skills?
3. Train for a marathon together. If you’re already going to the gym separately, go together. Working towards a common goal strengthens the relationship.

If you need new fitness gear you can get 10% off at the Fitness Magazine apparel store with this coupon code: FIT10OFF. Another benefit of exercising together is that support from a partner or spouse is paramount in reaching fitness goals. If you’ve set a fitness goal for yourself this year, get your partner involved and kill two birds with one stone!

2. Abuse your library membership

You don’t necessarily need to visit the library together, but having a library membership gives you incredible advantages you may not be aware of yet. For example; pick up an exciting cook book if you are a foodie, and take your date into the kitchen. Try some new recipes, and enjoy together! Get a copy of the kamasutra, if you’re in a more adventurous mood. You can even find books that help you get through tricky home renovations together. Some of my best memories involve paint brushes and lots of mess, and again you’re working towards a common goal. Besides, women find handy men (or even not so handy men who try!) incredibly sexy.

3. Make day to day chores into a date

A date doesn’t have to consist of going out, spending money, or doing those things that are traditionally considered “date like”. Just like you can go rock climbing as a date, who says you cannot do more ‘mundane’ things, and enjoy each others company? The trick is in making day to day things more fun, not just by doing them together but by adding an extra element to the ‘chore’. For example, if you need to set up a budget for yourself, because you are saving for a vacation, new gadget, or just your future, why not get your partner’s input? Unless you severely disagree on financial matters (in which case you should really discuss it at some point), there is no reason not to involve each other in the process. Sit down together with a treat (lattee anyone?), and work through what you perceived before as being a chore. You’ll accomplish four things at the same time: you get it done, you have more fun at it (because presumably you have a partner with a good sense of humor), you spend quality time together, and you get to know more about the person you are with. You’d be amazed at how much you can find out about someone’s character by actually engaging in real day to day things together.

4. Explore your city with your date

If you live in a fair size city, I bet there are tons of neighborhoods and parks you have not explored yet. Why not take an afternoon and stroll through a new area you have never been to before? Try finding some free community events, such as concerts and art shows.

5. Teach your date a new skill or hobby!

Share your hobbies or teach each other a new skill. Do you know how to salsa? Have killer carpentry skills? Know your way around the golf course? Take your date for a spin around your (livingroom) dance floor, go into your garage and build something together or take her for a round on the driving range. Major benefit of this is that you are likely better at whatever you are teaching than your date, so you get to do a little showing off as well. And there is nothing wrong with looking good in your partner’s eyes!

Many of us, particularly those going steady, entertain the occasional shopping date together to the mall or plaza. For those who have become financially and mobility-challenged due to world economic woes and local weather conditions, a new trend has been developing: monitor-shopping. Similar to window-shopping, this trend trades going out for being in. Though it may not be as glamorous and typical as a trip to the mall. Snuggling next to your significant other while browsing internet shopping sites has its benefits. There is not so much pressure to dress up, there are no traffic delays or parking frustrations, and it is as easy to compare prices by having two windows open at once.

Aside from eliminating the hassle of venturing out in what could be bad weather and/or bad company, going on an e-tail shopping trip with your loved once can be a serious money saver. There are no pushy salespeople, rude patrons, or shrill holiday music piped into your skull. Being in a private home also allows for more intimacy. Having snacks at home eliminates expensive and typically unhealthy food court fare. The ability to comparison shop with the click of a mouse saves time and money. Some websites out there will even collect data for an item from different stores and give the best prices. Most stores lower or eliminate outright shipping costs to attract holiday shoppers. And in these days of FedEx and UPS, an order can even be delivered within a few days of purchase.

To further enhance the lure of forsaking the mall for the home, many e-tailers are offering coupon codes and promotional codes for the season. Some kind souls have even taken it upon themselves to compile these codes/deals, keep them updated, and post them by category or website. One example of this is www.shoebuycoupon.net that collects and posts up-to-date and valid free coupons for Shoebuy.com a big online shoe and luggage retailer. There are many other similar sites that cover coupons, promotions, sales, rebates, and other deals for every conceivable product out there. To use them, just click on the link, and follow the instructions, entering the given code where applicable.

With benefits such as these, more and more couples are looking to turn a trip to the mall into one to the computer, particularly in this economic and seasonal climate.

Marie Claire has published an article about the practice of force-feeding young girls in Mauritania. This form of, what we perceive as, child abuse is performed in order to improve a girl’s chances at finding a husband, Apparently, Mauritania has some fairly archaic views on body size that stem from nomadic times. Basically, a woman was a status symbol for a man back in the day as much as it still is now. Men who had large wives were deemed to be wealthy, basically because it showed they could feed their wives. This concept is taken to an extreme when considering girls as young as 12 are sent to force feeding camps where they are manipulated into consuming 14.000-16.000 calories a day to become obese as fast as possible. In practice, it does not say anything about a man’s wealth anymore, because parents are sending their girls off to force-feeding camps before they are married off. Somehow, obesity is considered to be sexy in this culture. Unfortunately, there are serious health concerns associated with forcing young women to become obese.

Millions of women in the west try to get rid of, or prevent, stretchmarks. These annoying scars are considered the ultimate turn on in Mauritania! Everything the Western world depicts as unhealthy, unappealing, and grotesque is held in the highest regard in Mauritania. We know obesity causes a number of very serious diseases, and considerably shortens life-span, however, the Mauritanian traditions dictate that a girl is not beautiful or worth marrying unless she is tremendously obese. The culture is so ingrained that even women find a healthy body weight unattractive and “sickly”.

Although each culture has their own views on what is considered attractive or sexy, there is a problem when women are forced to adhere to a certain ideal and this ideal causes them (no pun intended) bodily harm. As much as anorexia might be a problem in our culture, obesity in Mauritania is a much bigger issue than we will ever face in North America.

This article is definitely one worth reading, and I look forward to hearing what you think in the comments.

Christmas has different meanings to different people. Some celebrate it from a spiritual perspective, others see it as an excuse to spend time with family and indulge in food, wine, and gifts.

Whatever your approach, here are the top ways to celebrate the holidays:

Stuff to do on your own around Christmas:

• Volunteer at a local soup kitchen
• Go see a play, concert, or ballet
• Rent movies
• Put together a ’singles Christmas party’
• Take your nieces and nephews ice skating (or to the beach if you’re lucky!)
• Do some Christmas decorating

Activities for One, Two, or Many!

Whether you’re on your own, spending time with a significant other, kids or extended family… here are some great activities to keep you busy.

• Make your own Christmas ornaments
• Make your own Christmas Cards, here is a nice idea
• Make a cool looking Christmas Wreath, for less traditional DIY wraths, use stuff around your house. Here is a geeky “PC Junk Christmas Wreath”
• Here’s where you need help, but worth the effort: set up musically controlled and synced Christmas lights.
• Dig out last year’s Christmas cards, and do something creative with them.
• Make your own Christmas gifts

Holiday Fun with Kids

If you have kids, keep them busy with some fun Christmas themed activities

• Make magic reindeer food
• Track Santa with NORAD
• Bake Christmas cookies
• Go ice skating
• Sing Christmas carols, if you have a piano and a fireplace it is an even more perfect ‘Christmas-y’ event

If you’re still at a loss for what to do, look at this list of 150 ways to save money and have some fun during the Holidays.

Ever wonder about the real meaning of “S.O.S”? Blogging Tips published some commonly used abbreviations, and S.O.S is short for the latin phrase “si opus sit.” Which means “if there is need” or “if necessary.”

Today I read an interesting article titles “Marriage and Money: Can Love Overcome Financial Incompatibility?” and I can’t help but link to it and wonder: how much financial incompatibility can someone live with? The situation described in the article sounds like a clear case of financial delusion and a sure trip into debt, bankruptcy and possible divorce… I hate to blame the girl, but from what I read it sounds like it is the woman who does not have a grip on reality, and is living in a dream.

Is it really her fault though, or did her life style given to her by her parents rob her from a sense of reality? After all, she doesn’t need to make ends meet with her own pay cheque.

Perhaps it is easier to be financially compatible once you can be financially realistic. Nothing gives you a better sense of reality than living on your own, without financial help from mom and pop.

This is without a doubt an interesting topic that can be explored endlessly!

After reading this article, and hearing many other similar stories, I’m starting to think financial incompatibility is almost as detrimental to a relationship as sexual incompatibility. At least in finances you can learn to moderate your spending, without feeling a pinch. However, with sex there really is little you can do to change your tastes. Having said that though, money habits can be as hard to break as a ‘undesirable’ mating ritual…

With tough economic times pinching the budget, at-home dates are bound to grow in popularity. However, you don’t want to sit on the couch staring at each other either.

Keeping your date indoors isn’t the only way to save money at home, but it’s a great start when you need to save money or reduce your debt load.

Here are some cheap indoor dates

• Not great in winter, but when weather permits stargazing is a great opportunity to just be silent, or talk about whatever is on your mind. In winter, take out a blanket and sit by your fireplace.
• Get a DVD at your local library or Blockbuster, and have a movie night at home. I prefer this to going to the theater anyways, because I love snuggling up on the couch with a blanket and some good food.
• Hold a poker night or play a (sexy) board game.
• Hold your own wine & cheese tasting: instead of shelling out big bucks, get a variety of different cheeses and some different wines, and set up your own wine tasting. Light some candles, and you’ve got yourself a romantic, and relatively cheap, evening.
• Pamper each other with a foot massage or back rub. Get some nice massage oil, light candles and take a relaxing bubble bath together. Life is stressful enough, just taking your time to unwind together can really help set a great mood.

An evening in doesn’t mean you are not having fun. I can think of many times I’ve gone out, spent money, and had a lousy time. Staying home, and setting up an evening filled with activities you like, you can have a load of fun, while taking the pressure off your pocketbook.

Of course there is nothing like balance. You can’t stay home every single date-night, and you can’t expect to go out every night either. Tipping the balance a bit more towards the home-front, can definitely save you a bundle of cash.

What do you like to do on an ‘at-home date’? What is your main reason for going out instead of staying in?