Heavenly Hemp Pancakes

Yum yum, give me some! These pancakes are made with hemp protein and a touch of cinnamon, and are sure to please :) I make them a couple times a week, and it's the one thing I know the kids will always eat! Haha

Preheat griddle or frying pan (non stuck), to 375 degrees (just below medium). 

1.5 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup Manitoba Harvest hemp pro 70       protein powder

2 Tbsp baking powder 

3 Tbsp raw sugar

1/2 tsp sea salt 

1.5 tsp cinnamon

2 cups soy milk (original)

1 cup very hot water

1/4 cup oil (I used avocado)

Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine all the liquid ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir until combined. Don't over mix! 

Using a 1/3 cup measure, pour the pancakes onto the griddle on frying pan. Cook until bubbles start to form and the edges start to cook. Flip and cook for another couple minutes until golden brown and cooked through. 

Serve with your favourite toppings! 

Veggie pot pie

While I don't have a complete recipe for this dish, I wanted to share. I made the pastry using coconut oil instead of shortening, and I made a "cheese" sauce using butternut squash. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp ground chia seeds
6 Tbsp warm water
1 cup all purpose flour
1.5 cups sprouted whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup non dairy chocolate chips 

In a small bowl, mix the ground Chia seeds and the water together. Set aside. 

Cream together the peanut butter, coconut oil, vegan margarine and sugar in a large bowl. Once smooth and a little fluffy, add in the maple syrup, chia mixture and vanilla. Mix to combine. 

In a separate bowl, sift together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the chocolate chips. 

A bit at a time, add the dry ingredients to the wet. Mix until it is thoroughly combined. Roll dough into balls approximately 1.5 inches in diameter, and place on parchment lines cookie sheet. Flatten with the bottom of a cup or fork until they are about 1/2 inch thick. Bake at 375 for about 13 minutes. 

Remove from oven and let sure for about 5 minutes before transferring. Store in an airtight container. 

Farro Chickpea Veggie Burgers

Veggie Burgers- using farro

I recently picked up a bag of farro, and I was trying to figure out what to do with it. I decided to make some veggie burgers yesterday, and figured that would be a good way to use it. I basically took my previous recipe and just tweaked it a bit.

You will need:

2 cups cooked Farro (cooked in veggie stock)
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup walnut halves
3.5 cups finely chopped mushrooms (raw measure)
3/4 cups finely chopped onion
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 Tbsp tamari
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 + tsp sea salt

Cook farro according to instructions on the package. For me, I cooked 2 cups farro with 3 cups veggie stock, then drained the excess liquid once it was cooked. This will make about 2.5 cups.

Pulse the walnuts in the food processor a few times until they are fairly finely ground. Set aside.

Next, pulse the chickpeas a couple of times so that they are broken down slightly, but not so much that they are the consistency of hummus!!  Set aside.

Next, heat 1 Tbsp of the oil, and saute the onions and mushrooms until soft. Add a pinch of salt to season. Once all the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated, add in the walnut crumbs and cook for a couple minutes.

In the food processor, combine half the mushroom/onion/walnut mixture, half the chickpeas and half of the cooked farro. Place the other half of all these ingredients in a large bowl. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp of olive oil, 2 Tbsp of tamari, 1 Tbsp of maple syrup,  and puree until you get a somewhat smooth paste.

Add the contents of the food processor to the large bowl and add in the nutritional yeast, panko, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano and salt. Mix together and if the mixture seems too wet, add in some extra panko as needed. Add extra salt if needed. My chickpeas were canne and had salt, so if you are using salt free chickpeas, you may need a little more.

Preheat oven to 375.

Form into balls approximately 2" in diameter and flatten into a patty about 1/2 -3/4 " in diameter ( should make 12 patties). Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and bake at 375 for 16 minutes. Flip over carefully and bake another 16 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for at least 5 minutes before removing. They will be a little fragile, but should get less fragile as they cool.

Creamy Smokey Red Lentil Soup

You will need: 

2 tsp coconut oil

1 cup chopped onion

1.5 cups of chopped carrots

3/4 cup chopped celery

9 cups water

3 vegetable stock cubes

2 cups chopped mushrooms

3 cloves of garlic, minced

3/4 cup red lentils

2 cups cooked white beans 

2 cups cashew milk (1/2 cup cashews blended with 2 cups water)

1/4- 1/2 tsp liquid smoke

4 cups chopped baby spinach 

Salt n pepper to taste. 

Heat oil in large pot on medium high. Add onion, celery carrot and garlic. Sautée until soft (but not brown). 

Add in water, red lentils, mushrooms and stock cubes. Simmer on medium until lentils are soft (about 15 min). 

Add in cashew milk, liquid smoke, white beans and spinach. Simmer for another 10-15 min. Soup will thicken while it cooks from the white beans and cashew milk. Remove 3 cups or so, purée and add back in for a thicker soup. Add salt n pepper to taste. 

A Change of Direction

So many of us have been there. That moment in your life when you think to yourself, "Something needs to change. I can't go on feeling like this anymore!". The problem often is, that we just don't know how. We are stuck in a rut. Believe me, I know that feeling all too well. There is no magic pill, as much as we all wish that there was, but there are changes that we can make, in order to start living our lives in a way that makes us feel ALIVE and HAPPY. In the past couple of months, I have made 3 changes in my life that have helped me do just that. Exercise, clean, portion controlled eating, and personal development. I had the help of my wonderful friend and coach, Tatiana Amico, and it has changed my life so much in such a short period, that I want to pay it forward to others who are struggling like I was.

This is my story. If any of this resonates with you, or you think you could benefit from incorporating clean eating and exercise in your life, please don't hesitate to contact me via Facebook or email (jaime@jaimerubeniuk.com). I'd love to help you! 

I am 35 and mom to 3 beautiful boys, ages 5, 3 and 4 months. To say that they keep me busy in an understatement! Lol. I love them with all my heart, but I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty crazy a lot of the time. I've struggled with depression a lot of my life, as well as negative thinking, binge eating, and people pleasing. Pile 3 crazy boys on top of all that, and you have a recipe for disaster. I've always been really great at faking a smile and pretending everything is okay, but who the heck wants to go through life like that? Not me. 

A huge part of my struggle as a mom, is that I have never really focused on myself. Once and awhile, here and there, sure, but I have  never made a serious commitment to take care of me. I'd always hear people say that in order to take care of anyone else, you need to take care if yourself first, but those words never fully sunk in. The same goes for loving yourself. If you don't take care of yourself, you start loving yourself less, and when you don't love yourself, you don't take care of yourself. It's a vicious cycle. 

With each pregnancy I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, as well as post partum depression. I did really well controlling my diet during pregnancy and never had to take insulin, but as soon as baby was born, BAM!! GIVE ME FOOD! And not healthy food (well, some), but it was like I had to make up for all the carbs and sugar I missed out on during pregnancy. I stayed strong during my pregnancies for the baby inside me, but couldn't seem to do the same for myself afterwards. 

I've also always been emotional eater. If something good happened, it was an excuse to celebrate, with food. If something bad happened, it was a reason to curl up in the couch and shove my face full of food. Family gatherings, food. Baby shower? Food. Birthday? Food. And booze. Let's not forget that. You get the idea. 

My PPD this time around has been far less, although I do believe it was my worsening condition that prompted me on this journey. I felt great right after birth, but then started binge eating again and quickly started feeling horrible, I was headed for rock bottom pretty quickly, and decided I had nothing to lose. By no means am I saying that lifestyle changes can cure PPD, as it is a very complicated condition, but I do believe it can help immensely.

So fast forward to today. I've been on a journey of learning to love myself and treat myself with respect, through exercise, portion control, eating REAL whole foods, and reading/listening to personal development. Eating poorly and not exercising made me into a grumpy, unhappy, mom, who had a really good chance of developing type 2 diabetes in the future. I'm changing all of that. I am in control. This is my life, and I'm taking it back. I'm becoming the mother I want to be, being an awesome role model for my kids (ps. They are eating much better now too, yay!), showing them how to live a healthy lifestyle, and LIVING my life. Not just surviving it. I cannot emphasize enough how much of a difference these changes have made in my life. I still have a long ways to go, but the future is looking bright :) Oh, and looking more fabulous each day is definitely an added bonus! ;) 

Here is a picture of my physical transformation so far. 

I'm still here!

I'm still here! Haha. I don't want my blog to disappear for being inactive so long, so I figured I had better post! We welcomed baby #3 into our family about 4 months ago,so things have been pretty busy! I haven't been spur creative in the kitchen lately, due to the fact that we are currently in a bachelor suite that has only a toaster oven and a couple elements, but once we get back to living in a house, I hope to post more recipes!