Winter is all about comfort food. The cold weather makes most people want to curl up with something rich and delicious and ride out the storm. Its very important to eat your vegetables in winter because you are more prone to illness during the colder months. The Timbercreek team has a list of 10 ways to get your vegetables this winter.

Start With Soups

A hot bowl of soup can be incredibly comforting on a cold winter night. This basic vegetable soup recipe is easy to make. All you need is vegetable (or chicken) stock, lots of veggies and a little salt and pepper. You can use any vegetables you have on hand. Prefer broccoli instead of cauliflower? No problem. This recipe is so easy to follow, it’s hard to make a mistake.

Sneak Veggies Into Hearty Meals

A great way to get some extra veggies into your everyday life is to sneak them into a hearty meal. This Veggie Bolognese Pasta is satisfying and substantial. The meaty sauce is secretly full of veggies like carrots, cauliflower, zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes (technically a fruit, but let’s count it here). We promise you won’t miss the meat.

Roast Them For A Sweet Treat

Roasting veggies brings out their delicious sweet flavour as their natural sugars caramelize. When you come in from out of the cold, hot roasted root veggies can be deeply satisfying on their own or as a side dish. Leftover roasted veggies taste delicious cold the next day.

Sip On Them In Smoothies

Green smoothies are a great way to get some extra veggies in. This Veggie Cocktail, is a healthy take on a Bloody Mary, complete with a classic celery stalk garnish. This version of the cocktail is packed with 2 cups of kale! That’s a lot of greens in a delicious package.

Hide Them In Pancakes

Having trouble getting your kids to eat their veggies? Hide some spinach in your next batch of pancakes! Hulk Pancakes are delicious, healthy and vibrantly green. Kids will love their fun name and bright colour, and won’t be able to detect their healthy secret. 

Embrace Stew

Hearty beef stew with veggies is perhaps the perfect winter meal. The stew’s flavour is so rich and meaty you’d never guess this recipe packs in so many vegetables. Make a big pot of it, keep it in your fridge, and heat up a bowl to warm you up whenever the craving strikes.

Turn them into pasta

Spiralized vegetables offer an amazing new way to eat your veggies. Zucchini Noodles are the most common and a great option if you are looking for grain-free pasta or a way to pack more vegetables into your diet. They are easy to make, all you need is a vegetable spiralizer or mandoline. Add your favourite sauce with even more veggies and you’re on your way to getting your five a day.

Turn Them Into Wings

If you love the taste of buffalo wings, but are trying to eat more vegetables, consider whipping up a batch of cauliflower wings. This video will walk you through the process of preparing your cauliflower and buffalo sauce. Serve them with some blue cheese dressing, carrots and celery sticks.

Bake With Them

Is there anything cozier than baking? Vegetables aren’t just for savoury recipes. This winter, bake a warm loaf of Zucchini Bread to share with friends and family. Grated zucchini keeps the sweet loaf moist and delicious. It’s basically a spice cake with the added benefits of vegetables!

We hope these ideas will help you sneak extra veggies into your meals this winter. To learn more about Timbercreek’s rental communities across Canada, please visit our website.

Making New Year’s resolutions is pretty easy, but not keeping them can be even easier! Before you give in, you should know that there’s an app for that. Check out our top picks in today’s blog post.

Clear up some brain space

Whether you’re committing to a healthy new grocery list or a project with your coworkers, sticking to your resolution is going to require a place to save and share ideas, reminders or lists. We love apps that clear brain space. They help you get things done in an organized way without having to remember much. If this sounds like a dream come true, check out Evernote and OneNote.

Watching your wallet?

For money-related New Year’s resolutions, Mint is a must. We love this app because it connects all of your accounts, credit cards, loans, bills, etc., in one place, providing you with a more honest view of the money that you do (or do not) have. Create savings goals, budgets and overspending alerts to keep yourself financially focused for the next 12 months.

My Fitness Pal

What more could you wish for than a healthier, happier 2017? There are a ton of different apps to choose from when it comes to monitoring your health and fitness goals. My Fitness Pal is our top pick because of its extensive food log, making calorie counting super easy. You can also use My Fitness Pal to track your exercise, helping you stick to your workout schedule.

Don’t go it alone! Download an app that can help you keep your New Year’s resolutions all year long, Timbercreek’s amazing apartment communities are located in several provinces across the country. For more information, please visit our website today. 

Winter is the perfect time of year to enjoy hearty, rich foods. They fill you up and warm your soul on cold, blustery days. But rich foods can become overwhelming after months of indulging. Your body may be ready for something light and refreshing. Try a tasty detox this week with one of our top 10 winter salads.

Apple Pecan Arugula Salad

Peppery arugula pairs brilliantly with crisp apples and crunchy pecans in this Apple Pecan Arugula Salad. Make your own (vegan!) dressing and throw this salad together in just 15 minutes. Best of all, you only need 8 ingredients!

Warm Mushroom Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette

We love this Warm Mushroom Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette. Mushrooms are amazing for your health and will help you ward off the flu this season. The warm temperature of the salad will also leave you much more satisfied than a typical cold salad when it's cold outside. Pro tip: simmering some oil with garlic will create the perfect flavourful base for your mushrooms-of-choice.

Warm Quinoa, Sweet Potato and Kale Salad

Quinoa, sweet potato and kale is an amazing superfood trio. Try it for yourself in this Warm Quinoa, Sweet Potato and Kale Salad which packs a powerful punch of protein, vitamins and minerals. Give yourself 40 minutes to cook everything and combine all the ingredients of this healthy and tasty weeknight winter meal.

Winter Spa Salad with Lemon Chicken

Brightly coloured cara cara oranges, avocado, pomegranate and fresh herbs come together in this stunning Winter Spa Salad with Lemon Chicken. Marinate the chicken as you prepare the rest of the salad for approximately 30 minutes. This recipe tutorial includes a recipe and instructions for the marinade, as well as step by step instructions for an easy homemade salad dressing that you’ll want to drizzle on everything.

Crunchy Thai Kale Salad

If you haven’t embraced kale, we don’t blame you. On its own its bitter, hard to chew and very green. Despite being hard to love for its taste, your body loves kale and you should try to add it to your day whenever you can. We LOVE this healthy alternative to Thai takeout. Make this sweet and savoury Crunchy Thai Kale Salad, it may just make you love kale.

Kale & Butternut Salad with Ginger-Miso Dressing

Turn an ordinary combination, like kale and butternut squash, into an extraordinary pairing by topping it with a bold Japanese dressing. For this Kale & Butternut Salad with Ginger-Miso Dressing you will need rice vinegar, miso, sesame oil, honey and finely grated ginger to finish.

Fig, Prosciutto and Goat’s Cheese Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

If you’re looking for a delicious salad that borders on indulgent, this Fig, Prosciutto and Goat’s Cheese Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette is for you. A perfect balance of creamy (goat’s cheese), sweet (fig), salty (prosciutto) and sour(citrus), take just one bite and you’ll be hooked!

Brussels Sprout Salad with Chicken and Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

For a weeknight meal that calls for the seasonal brussels sprouts you snagged at your local market, try this Brussels Sprout Salad with Chicken and Warm Bacon Vinaigrette. If you’ve never paired brussels sprouts with bacon before, you’re in for a treat! The combination takes the cruciferous vegetable to a whole new level of deliciousness. This recipe is easy to make and ready in less than 30 minutes. Best of all, this salad is hearty enough to be enjoyed as a meal.

A “Christmas” Salad

The holidays may have come and gone, but you can keep the festive spirit alive with this Christmas Salad of Winter Greens and Fruit. We love the combination of crunchy cabbage, radicchio and kale with sweet and tart organic cranberries and pomegranate. Top this festive salad with a homemade clementine-coriander vinaigrette.

Chickpea Shawarma Salad

Chickpeas are hearty and tasty, loaded with protein, easy to throw into any salad, and make delicious leftovers. If you love them as much as we do, you have to try this vegan Chickpea Shawarma Salad. This salad is healthy, light, and bursting with shawarma flavours thanks to a delicious blend of middle eastern spices. It also has a great balance of crunchy and creamy textures.

Give your body a little love this winter with a tasty salad, like one of these 10 amazing winter salads from our foodies at Timbercreek Communities.

For more information about Timbercreek Communities apartments, located nationwide, please visit our website today. 

Your bathroom is one of the most regularly used rooms in your apartment so why not make it your own? Adding a touch of style to your bathroom can be easy to do and completely reversible (in case you want to switch things up in the future). Get started this weekend with one of these creative bathroom decorating hacks.

(Photo: 236 Richmond Road)

Put Up a Stylish Shower Curtain

A new shower curtain can add a little personality to any bathroom, no hard hat or tools required. Pick up an affordable curtain from your local department store, or go big with a unique curtain created by an independent artist on Etsy.

Add a Statement Rug/Bath Mat

You’ll thank yourself for finally adding some style to your bathroom each and every time you walk into the room or step out of your shower. Save yourself a trip to the store, and a few extra dollars, with a fun and affordable DIY bath mat project.

Arrange Some Art

Sometimes it’s more about the arrangement than the art. Just about anything can look stylish when arranged and hung creatively. Consider a cool gallery-style display using ceramics you already have on hand, or mimic this creative arrangement made with postcards. 

Get a Plant

We recommend plants that are happy in humidity and fine without direct sunlight. Favourites include the Boston Fern, a Spider Plant or bamboo, each of which offer their own unique aesthetic and air-freshening capabilities.

Store Things in Style

What’s better than functional decor, especially in the bathroom? Create a stylish storage box that’s both full of character and completely practical, or try one of these witty ways of storing toilet paper.

Give your bathroom the love it deserves with a mini makeover. Start this weekend with one of today’s home styling tips that are easy and reversible. For more information about spacious Timbercreek Communities apartments, please visit our website. 

Let’s face it, winter in Canada can be rough! The cold, dark days of winter seem to last forever. During the winter months, it's easy to just want to curl up on the couch with a good book, and that’s fine, some of the time. But don’t let winter beat you! Winter may be the most important season to stay active. Keeping your workouts fresh and challenging is a great way to stay motivated. Timbercreek Communities knows how tough this time of year can be, and we’re on your side! Check out our list of 5 ways to avoid a winter workout rut.

Go for a Winter Run

In the dead of winter, you might not be able to control the weather, but you can control your reaction to it. It’s winter, it’s cold, keep going! We recommend working in an invigorating outdoor run (at 60% to 80% of your maximum effort) once or twice a week. Running in winter helps you burn more calories because of the combination of exercise and keeping your body warm. If you are looking for a challenge, running in snow is more difficult due to the resistance the snow creates for your body. The added intensity allows you to get more done in less time. Before you lace up your running shoes, check out these winter running tips to stay safe and motivated.

Treat Yourself to Some New Gear

Whether you plan to working out outdoors or not, some new workout gear may be a good idea to avoid a winter workout rut. If you are going to be outside, you’ll need to be warm and you’ll need footwear that works in the snow. If your are going to be indoors at the gym, or even working out at home at your Timbercreek Apartment, some new clothes can help keep you motivated. You’ll look better while working out and you’ll want to justify the new purchase. There's no need to over spend on the highest end gear, buy what you can afford -- just enough to remind you that you are worth the investment.

Set Goals

When you find yourself in the dead of winter, it can seem like there is no end in sight. Try to keep in mind that no matter how long the winter drags, Spring is just around the corner, and after springtime, comes summer. If you want to feel good and look good by the summer, you need to put in the work in the winter. Set goals for yourself. Whether you are looking to lose weight, get stronger or get faster (or all three), it’s important to set concrete goals that are MAT: (M)easureable, (A)chievable and (T)imed. Even if you don’t succeed in hitting your goals, having something to work toward and charting your progress will help motivate you through a long, cold winter.

Join A League or a Team

If you’re having trouble staying motivated during the dark, cold months, consider joining a league or team. Most cities across the country including Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton, offer organized leagues or pick up games throughout the year. It’s a great way to have some fun and meet some new people while you stay in shape.

Have Fun

Exercise can be fun! What's your favourite winter activity? Do it as much as you can. It can be downhill or cross country skiing, ice skating, running or anything that gets you out there. Simply getting outside during the winter months can have a huge beneficial impact on your health, fitness and mood. The lack of sunlight in the winter can cause serotonin levels (a mood enhancing chemical in the brain) to drop. That can have a negative effect on your mood as well as make you feel more tired, hungry and craving more comforting carbs. Exercise, especially outdoors, can help combat this condition.

We hope these 5 ways to avoid a winter workout rut help you power your way through winter. For more information on Timbercreek Rental Communities across Canada, please visit our website.