Made With Love CookBook, Interview, Review And More

We are excited beyond words to be able to post an interview with Kelly Childs and Erinn Weatherbie the authors of Made With Love, More than 100 Sweet and Savory Plant-Based Recipes For Every Moment in Life.

 

See that gorgeous cover? Doesn’t it make you want cookies? All photographs are that delicious looking.

The book is sectioned off as Drinks and Smoothies, Breakfast and Lunch, Soup and salads, Sides-sauces and condiments.

Some of our favorites are Kelly’s Bikini Season Tonic, Lemon-Basil Lasagna (I thought I hated mushrooms, until I made this recipe), Best Ever Caesar Salad, Fettuccine Alfredo, Baked Mac ‘n’ Cheese, Grandma’s Apple Crumble and I like the Sriracha Sauce. Kayla hasn’t tired the sauce. I can’t wait to try these next: Cauliflower wings, Yummy Vegan Quiche, Grilled Cheese Sandwich, and Ranch Dressing. Then the rest of the recipes. I will be making every single recipe in this book- sooner or later. Kayla is eyeing up their Sweet potato and Quinoa Burgers, ginger chocolate cookies- I can’t remember what else she said, but she was raving about how wonderful these recipes looked and if she’s wanting to make them, you know the recipe has to seem easy. (She doesn’t like long winded recipes with a list of ingredients that doesn’t seem necessary)

Their bakery Kelly’s Bake Shoppe, located at 401 Brant Street Burlington, ON L7R2E9 offers plant-based, gluten-free, dairy free, egg-free and peanut-free, and all is made with natural organic ingredients. In fact their bake shoppe is THE FIRST Gluten free bakery in Canada. Their Lettuce Love Cafe is located at 399 John St. Burlington, ON L7R 2K3. Their cafe is also Canada’s FIRST Gluten free restaurant. With Made With Love they have shared recipes from their award winning Bake Shoppe and Cafe.

We hope you enjoy the interview as much as we do.

Q1: Kelly, We read that your dad, Russ Childs, had built an outside play kitchen and bakery in the backyard ravine. He provided you with pots and pans, muffin tins, and basically everything you could want to be able to create mud pies and dirt cake. Is this what inspired you to start your own bakery? Or what was the moment you knew that having a bakery would be your passion/hobby?

A1: Back then when I was 5 or 6 years old, I didn’t know I wanted to be a baker but I knew I loved the deep feeling of magic within my soul. My dad sparked a passion within me to always be tap into my creative talent and go that extra mile to be different and to make people feel good about themselves. So whatever I did, I did at full warp speed. The bakery “AHA moment” was in 2010, at our restaurant, and I saw how many people LOVED what we were doing in the bakery dept of the cafe. People were begging for healthy options in a world that did not always provide that. Erinn and I were so excited to be able to provide this to our customers, families and friends and worked day and night on our incredible recipes.
Q2: Kelly or Erinn, have either of you taken any cooking/baking classes/courses, or did your love for cooking/baking wholesome, nutritious food and desire to be healthier play a big part in where you are at now with the success of your bakery, restaurant and cookbook

A2:We are both self taught! We’ve always been avid home cooks testing and trying out the latest and greatest new recipes. We love baking and cooking and it was just natural for us to open up Lettuce Love Cafe and Kelly’s Bake Shoppe.

Q3: Kelly, we know you were diagnosed with two masses on the liver and afterwards you found The China Study and with your plant based lifestyle you were able to get a clean bill of health. We hear so many struggling with giving up food that contains animals – but where do you get your protein, but I could never give up cheese- but bacon…. We’ve heard it all, and know at one point in time you loved cheese- what one piece of advice would you give to those who struggle to give up those foods?

A3: After my life-changing year in 2008, I delved deep into learning about the truth of the nutrition in our food system. Why we’ve been told we need a certain percentage of daily protein, why do we think that the only source of protein is from animal products, why do we think we need to drink milk or any animal-based product for that matter. I decided to get my protein where the cows, horses, apes, ox, and other herbivores get it from…. From plants. For me, it was cleaner, more sustainable and more readily available for my body to assimilate and use to make me healthy. I feel great!

Q4: Erinn, we know you became plant based for ethical reasons- was it just that one trip to Farm Sanctuary that convinced you, or did you do more follow up research to back up how you felt during your road trip?

A4: Farm Sanctuary was the catalyst for adopting a plant based diet for sure. I did a ton o research and realized that our current food system has had a very negative impact on the environment, animals, and our bodies. After learning all of this information there was no going back for me.

Q5: What advice would you give someone that is thinking about going plant based?

A5: I would tell them to take it slow, and to not feel like you have to go all in 100%. Make little changes to your diet here and there, and by eating a plant based meal even a few days a week, you’ll notice a huge difference with your body and the planet!

A5: I agree with Erinn. We always suggest for people who are plant-based curious, to take it one meal at a time or maybe even one full day at a time. Treat ‘plant-based’ cuisine as you would Thai, or Chinese or Italian food and like it is another genre of food. We feel that the proof is ALWAYS how you feel after a meal. Don’t feel stressed that you have to commit to long journey of eating this way. Reflect of your body after a meal and pay attention to your mind, your stomach and your energy levels. Do you feel good? Do you feel less bloated? Do you feel more energized? With plant-based foods, you will see a noticeable effect on your moods too but don’t listen to us…try it our for yourself.

Q6: What recipe from Made With Love would you recommend someone who’s just starting their journey to the plant based lifestyle?

A6: I love our smoothie recipes in the cookbook. They’re so fresh, fun and delicious, they’re bound to convert even the toughest critics.

A6: (Kelly) Yes! Smoothie are instant nutrition. They are in your blood-stream in 5 minutes. Quick, easy and really, no excuses. We always have our blenders on the counter.

Kelly and Erinn, we thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions. We know you  have been really busy with your cookbook launch, on top of taking care of things at the Bakery and Cafe. We are glad to have met you, even though it’s been only online. One of these days, Kayla and I need to take a road trip to Ont- just for your food. But for now, this cookbook will be like having your home cooking/ baking all the time.

This juice is nice and refreshing and in our opinion a good anytime juice. In fact, this has been our go to juice lately. I like my juice in general ice cold, and while this is perfect ice cold, I don’t mind drinking this straight from the juicer.  We hope you like it too.

KELLY’S  BIKINI  SEASON  TONIC

K   This was a best-seller at Kindfood from the day we opened. Women, especially, love that it helps them  to lose body fat. it’s perfect for the summer or any time  you think you need a quick  detox. Chosen for their  fat-flushing properties, these ingredients will make you feel vibrant and healthy.

Active time: 5 minutes Total time: 6 minutes Makes 2 servings

1 red grapefruit, peeled and quartered

2 red apples, cored and quartered

2 cups kale, including stems

½ cup fresh mint leaves

1 lemon, peeled and halved

1. In the order they are listed, add the grapefruit, apples, kale, mint and lemon to a juicer.
2. Juice, then serve as soon as possible to get the maximum vitamin C

from the citrus fruits.

By juicing in this order, the lemon cleans  out  the machine and pushes  through the mint and kale.

Excerpted from Made with Love by Kelly Childs and Erinn Weatherbie. Copyright © 2016 Childs and Weatherbie Inc. Cover and book photography: Alyssa Wodabek and Chris Sue-Chu. Excerpted by permission of Appetite by Random House, a division of Random House of Canada Ltd. a Penguin Random House company. All rights reserved.

Contest is now closed. Congratulations CINDY R!! You have won a copy of Made With Love 🙂 

Appetite by Penguin Random House did send me a copy of Made with Love to review, and is going to give one lucky winner a copy. Click here for your chance to win Made With Love

The winner will be contacted by email and any social media name if they have used it and will have 24 hrs to contact us with their info. If we don’t get a response within 24 we will have no choice but to announce another winner.

When you enter the giveaway make sure you  leave a blog comment, we want to know your answers 🙂 If you don’t want to enter or can’t, let us know your favorite juice combo’s anyway- fresh juice is the best! Cheers 🙂