Avocado Toast with a Twist

Avocado toast is a currently popular, healthy, lectin-free alternative to peanut butter or jam, or PB&J.  Breakfast, lunch, or an anytime snack are great reasons to give avocado toast a try.

Add Pesto for a Twist

I love avocado toast, especially with my signature twist of homemade, also incredibly healthy, pesto.

Featuring fresh basil and garlic from my backyard garden, my version of pesto can be quickly whipped up by adding parmesan, almonds, and just enough virgin olive oil (for the healthiest version) to create a paste. I use my Pampered Chef blender, love how well it works for this recipe.

Sorry, I never measure the ingredients when I blend a batch of pesto.  Or many other things for that matter.  You could Google a proper recipe for a guideline though.  Although traditional pesto recipes call for pine nuts, I prefer to use always-available-in-my-pantry almonds instead.  Remember, almonds contain healthy fatty acids.

I scrape a batch of pesto into an icecube tray, then freeze.  A few hours later, pop the cubes into a sealable container and store them in your freezer. 

Avocado toast
Cube of pesto

Uses for Pesto

My pesto cubes get added to soups, pasta, sauces, and more.  Just today I had pesto avocado toast with a few pieces of bacon left over from yesterday’s breakfast. 

Avocado toast
Crispy bacon

Pesto also makes a healthier substitute for mayo in a toasted tomato sandwich or a BLT.  I haven’t tried this yet, but can you imagine a macaroni or potato salad with pesto instead of mayo?

Use your imagination! The possibilities are endless. Let me know your favourites.

Giant mosquitoes called psorophora ciliata and nicknamed gallinippers discovered in Ontario

Pest management supervisor says long winter may reduce mosquito numbers around Saskatoon.

A new breed of humongous mosquitoes has now been detected in Ontario from Ottawa to the Niagara region.  Called Psorophora ciliata, and nicknamed Gallinippers, these mosquitoes are approximately 20 times the size of the mosquitoes we are used to.

This is another article about why some people get more mosquito bites than others.  Apparently they are attracted to the heat and sweat on our bodies and the carbon dioxide we exhale.  Eating certain foods has not been scientifically proven to attract or repel mosquitoes.

My brother took this picture of one of these mosquitoes he found at his home in Ingleside, Ontario.  You can see how large it is in comparison to the quarter it is lying on…

I hate using chemical concoctions on my skin, so look to more natural remedies or repellants.  I read recently that rubbing the leaves of a perennial geranium on your skin will repel mosquitoes.  The leaves do release a strong scent when touched, so it may work…

Another plant that repels mosquitoes but does not need to be rubbed on your skin is basil.  I just might plant some of that in my gardens at home and at the cottage.