"Chicken" Noodle Soup

Now that the weather is cool, today felt like a chicken noodle soup day..... So I made some!:) Chicken free of course! And the kids actually ate it, so that's always a bonus. They have both been on a bit of an eating strike lately, so if they eat anything at all I am extremely happy! So if you are feeling the chill in the winter air and are craving a nice warm bowl of something nostalgic, try this!

You will need:

1 Tbsp oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped carrot
1 cup finely chopped kale
6 cups veggie stock
1 cup diced "chick'n", seitan, or crumbled tofu (Your choice)
1 tsp poultry seasoning (I used Mc Cormick brand)
1 tsp italian seasoning (I used Clubhouse brand)
1/2 cup (approx 44 noodles) linguine or spaghetti, broken into small pieces

Heat oil on medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrot, and cook until onions are translucent, being careful not to brown them. Add veggie stock, noodles,"chick'n", poultry seasoning and italian seasoning, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until noodles are almost done. Add the kale in for the last couple minutes of cooking (just so it doesn't get overcooked). Ladle into bowls and serve with crackers if desired. Makes about 4-6 bowls, depending on the size.

Smoothie Time!

Having a toddler means that there are going to be many times when the majority of a meal may end on the floor, and not in their mouth! My oldest son is almost 2, and although he is a pretty good eater, I always want to make sure that he is getting all of the nutrients that he needs. I'm guessing that he gets a far wider variety of foods than a lot of other kids do, just because I love to try new things and experiment in the kitchen, but to err on the side of caution I often like to throw a smoothie with kale or spinach etc into the mix. I also like to add a source of omega oils and DHA. Let's talk about DHA for a minute. DHA is important for many reasons.DHA plays a crucial role in the growth and development of the central nervous system as well as visual functioning in infants. Most likely you were taught to believe that fish is where DHA originates, and to get it you either need to take a fish oil supplement, or eat fish. Well it does come from fish, BUT the fish eat microalgae, and that is where they get it from. So really, the original source of DHA is actually a vegan source:) Yay!

For this smoothie I used:

1 handful of kale
1/3 cup frozen blueberries
1/4 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 a banana
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tsp Udo's oil (vegan DHA, 3,6,9  blend)

To get the smoothest result, I add the kale and almond milk to my Magic Bullet first, and blend it until the kale is pureed. I then add the other ingredients, and blend until smooth. You can use any combination of fruit that you like, and use and kind of "milk" that you prefer. You could also add a scoop of protein powder to the mix if you are looking for a protein boost. One of my favorites is Nutribiotic Rice Protein. The only ingredients are rice protein and natural vanilla flavor, one tablespoon gives you 12g of protein, and it's made with non-GMO brown rice.
Update: My new favorite protein is Manitoba Harvest Hemp Pro. And I now have a vitamix, so making smoothies with greens is so much easier! :)

Caeser Salad...............Made with KALE!

That's right.... kale! I had made some of my Vegan Caesar Dressing, and then went to get the lettuce, only to find that it was a little too old to use. I was pretty bummed, as I was really looking forward to some caeser salad. Then I spotted the kale in the fridge, and thought "why not?". So I gave it a whirl and it cam out great! Obviously the texture was a little different than romaine lettuce, but the flavour of the kale was masked very well by the garlicky-ness of the dressing. It's great to know that I can enjoy a big bowl of Caesar salad AND get my dark leafy greens all at once!

Mmmmmm... looks delicious hey? What I did was, rip the kale into bite size pieces (after washing and removing excess water), and then "massaged" the kale with a little salt and canola oil. Just a sprinkle and drizzle of each, respectively. |This just softens the kale a little so that is is more manageable to eat. Once this is done, add the dressing and the croutons, and toss until the dressing is evenly distributed. Serve with a sprinkle of vegan parm, lemon wedge and fresh ground pepper. Yum! :)

Kale Chips

If you have never tried kale, it is a must have in any diet! Kale is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties and kale is also considered to be anti-inflammatory. It is a good source of calcium, which is great for vegans!:) There are many ways to prepare kale; add it to soups, stir-fry, steam it, add it to fruit smoothies etc, but if you are looking for a different way, these kale chips are perfect! They are crispy, with a touch of salt and seasoning. a great alternative to traditional potato chips!

You will need:

1 large bunch of kale
2 tablespoons olive or grapeseed oil
1/8 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder/granules
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/4 cayenne
(You can leave the chipotle and cayenne out if you aren't a fan of spicy food.)

Preheat oven to 200. Baking these works best if you line the baking pan with parchment paper. I reused mine 3 times, as it took 3 batches to bake these.
Wash kale, and pat dry and make sure there is no water left on it.. Separate leaves from the stems, and rip into pieces that are approximately 3 inches squared. The kale will shrink when it bakes. Toss the pieces in the 2 tablespoons of oil in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Sprinkle the dry mixture over the kale pieces and mix until it is evenly distributed amongst the kale. Place pieces on baking sheet (they can be touching, as they shrink as opposed to expanding like cookies), and bake for about 30 minutes. Check them and if they require more baking, flip and bake for another 5-10 minutes. Once baked, slide off baking sheet onto a plate or large bowl. Mine have never lasted more than a day or two, but I always leave them in the open air, as putting them in a sealed container could make them go softer? I'm not sure.... haha.. but like I said, they never last that long anyways!:)

Massaged kale salad and vegan latkes

So tonight for dinner we tried a new recipe, vegan latkes, which are pretty much a potato pancake. They were really good! I made a veggie burger patty (Amy's Texas Burger), and ate it on top of a latke. We also has massaged kale salad. It is called "massaged" kale salad because you massage the kale with the salt that is in the recipe, and it helps the kale wilt down a bit. So good! Kale is such a healthy vegetable, and I love finding new ways to use it! I got the recipe for the vegan latkes from one of my favorite websites, thekindlife.com, and you can find it here http://www.thekindlife.com/post/vegan-latkes

The recipe for the kale salad is as follows:
Adapted from http://vegandietitian.blogspot.com/2009/03/massaged-kale-salad.html


1 bunch of Kale (or enough to fill a big salad bowl) stem removed and ripped into salad size pieces.
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup dried cranberries, raisins. cherries etc, your choice
1 small apple diced
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (out of the shell). I toasted mine in a pan until slightly golden
pepper to taste

Wash kale. Pat dry. Place in salad bowl and sprinkle salt on it. Massage kale for a few minutes until it becomes somewhat wilted. If it doesn't wilt, you can add a sprinkle more salt. Now add the rest of the ingredients and toss. Add toasted sunflower seeds to each portion individually when ready to serve. This will help stop them from becoming soggy. You can change this reacipe up to make it however you like it really. You could use balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar. You could add whatever veggies you think you'd like. Go for it!:)