My New Favorite Breakfast

Nothing fancy or new, and no real measurements in the recipe, but it's my new fave for breakfast or a snack, so I just wanted to share! :) 

Take half an avocado, mash it in a bowl with about 1.5 tsp coconut oil, a pinch of salt, a sprinkle of garlic powder and a few  crushed red chili flakes. Spread it on toast, and voila! Simple and delicious :) Enjoy!! 

Dinner Tonight

Tonight I had some roasted poblano peppers in the fridge that I needed to use, some corn tortillas that I had made a couple days a go and needed to use, a few avocados that were on their way to being overripe. My original plan was to make some sort of tacos with the corn tortillas that I had made, but they weren't co-operating and kept breaking when I folded them. Another part of my plan was to make a sauce with the roasted poblano peppers. That part of the plan worked out well, and I will post the recipe below. I ended up making a "taco beef" type mixture using walnuts, onion, mushrooms, with a homemade taco seasoning, a roasted poblano and cilantro cream sauce, rice, guacamole, fried strips of the corn tortillas and salad... lol. I made a wrap with a store bought flour tortilla, rice, poblano sauce, "taco beef", guacamole, salad (greens, lettuce, cucumber mostly), and salsa. My mom and hubby made a taco salad type dish using the strips of fried corn tortillas, salad mix, "taco beef", guacamole, rice and poblano sauce. So everything worked out in the end even though it was a hot mess until the very end!! haha. And we have lots of fried corn tortilla strips left over for snacking! :)

Roasted Poblano and Cilantro Cream Sauce

Roasted Poblano and Cilantro Cream sauce

You will need:

1/4 cup raw cashews
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
2 roasted Poblano peppers peeled and seeded* (See roasting instructions below)
1/3 cup water


Combine all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Simple as that!

*To roast poblano peppers, heat oven to 425 degrees. Rub peppers with olive oil. Place on cookie sheet and roast for approximately 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes, until they are softened and turning blackish. Remove from oven and place in a container, cover and let sit for 30 min. Once they have sat for 30 min,  peel and dicard peel, seeds and stem. Store the skinned pepper in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use (for 2-4 days max I'd say).

Taco "Beef" Mixture

You will need:

8 large mushrooms, halved
1 cup roughly chopped onion
1 cup walnut halves
Homemade Taco Seasoning (one batch, you may want to decrease the salt slightly).
1 Tbsp oil (I used grapeseed)

Place onion, mushroom and walnuts in food processor. Pulse until you get a crumbly type mixture... not too fine, you don't want it pasty, but not too chunky, and you don't want to be getting big pieces of walnut. I don't have a picture, but next time I make it I will take one for sure!! Next, heat oil in a frying pan and add the the walnut mixture. Sprinkle in seasoning and fry on medium high until the moisture and left the mushrooms, and it is getting a nice brown crust on it. Now it's ready for whatever you want to use it on! Tacos, burritos, nachos... your choice!

This was my wrap. I know it doesn't look like much, but it was tasty! I layered rice, Poblano Sauce, salad (greens lettuce, cucumber), Taco "Beef", guacamole, and salsa.

Broccoli and Cheeze Rice Casserole

One of my favorite foods when I was vegetarian was those packaged "broccoli and cheese" rice side dishes. Except it was my main meal and I ate the whole package.... haha. Anyways, today I decided to attempt a vegan version of this dish. I used the sauce in this recipe I LOVE from Kid Tested Firefighter Approved... well a version of the sauce anyways. .. with just a few tweaks to fit this recipe. I love that sauce so much I could drink it! Lol! Anyways, dinner is in the oven so I had better make this snappy!!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook approx 2.5 cups of rice. I used 4.5 cups of cooked rice in the recipe.

You will need:

4.5 cups cooked rice (I used brown sprouted rice)
4 cups broccoli florets

1/4 cup cashews (soaked for a couple hours if you don't have a vitamix or similar)
2/3 cups unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup water
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 roasted red pepper
2 tsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients except broccoli and rice in a vitamix or blender and puree until smooth.
Place rice and broccoli in a casserole dish and pour sauce mix over top and mix together with a spoon.
Cover and bake at 350 for 35-40 min or until broccoli is tender.

"Healthier Than Average" Chocolate Chip Cookies

But they still taste like regular chocolate chip cookies! :) Now these aren't healthy by any means, just healthier... haha. You could probably replace some of the oil/margarine with applesauce, it will just result in a softer cookie. What I've done is replaced some of the white flour with sprouted whole grain flour, replaced some of the sugar with stevia (but not enough to be detectable), cut the amount of chocolate chips by half, and replaced half of the margarine with grapeseed oil. I also used ground chia and water as the "egg" in place of the egg replacer powder. This of course adds some extra fiber, omega 3's, and other great nutrients! :) You could add some chopped walnut or raisins, or both to this recipe if you'd like as well! My recipe is based on this recipe  from About.com

You will need:

1 cup sprouted organic spelt flour
1 1/4 cups all purpose organic flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup coconut sugar
40 drops stevia
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp groung chia seeds
4 Tbsp warm water
3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 large cookie sheets or line with parchment or a silpat mat.
Mix the ground chia seeds and the warm water in a small dish and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flours, sea salt, baking powder. In another bowl, beat together the oil, margarine, sugars, vanilla, stevia and chia mixture. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, and add in the chocolate chips. Mix until all ingredients are combined. Roll into balls, about 1.5 inches in diameter and place on cookie sheet (should make about 28-30). Gently press down to flatten (to about 1/2 inch thick). Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container. They should last for 5-7 days, but chances are they will get gobbled up before then!

Artichoke Dip

Don't let the name fool you.. it is MUCH more than an artichoke dip... haha. I just wasn't quite sure what to call it since there are so many elements to it. This is a great alternative to the traditional spinach and artichoke dip, and it is far more healthy! It would be great served with chips, bread, pita, whatever you have! Unfortunately I didn't plan ahead, and I have none of those, so I have nothing to eat it with! haha. A trip to the store is in order!

Before baking 

For this recipe you will need cooked white navy beans (soaked and cooked, or canned), and soaked raw cashews (soak for a couple hours at least in warm water). So make sure you have that ready before you start.

You will need:

1.5 cups cooked white navy beans

1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked (measured before soaking)

1/2 cup Sour Supreme (vegan sour cream)

1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1.5 tsp Italian seasoning (mine has salt in it)

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

3 cups of baby greens (once cooked it is about 1 cup) (I used Earthbound Organic Power Greens, but just spinach will do too)

3/4 cups sliced black olives

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped (I used the kind packed in oil)

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 tsp salt

oil and salt for sauteing 

Optional ingredients:

1 cup vegan cheese, shredded

Jalapeno slices, chopped up OR 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

In a frying pan on medium heat, add about 2 tsp oil and saute onions until golden. Add in garlic and cook a couple of minutes more. Add in the greens and cook until just wilted. Add a couple pinches of salt while cooking just to season it a bit. Set aside.

In a food processor, add the navy beans, soaked cashews, sour cream, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt (and cayenne is using). Turn on high, and puree until smooth. This might take a few minutes.

To the food processor mixture, add in the chopped artichokes, the onion/garlic/greens mixture, sun dried tomatoes, and black olives (and jalapenos if using). Pulse a couple of times, just to incorporate and chop slightly. Don't pulse too many times, or else you will have a completely smooth mixture. You want it to still have small chunks of everything visible. If you are using shredded vegan cheese, mix it in by hand. Transfer mixture to a baking dish and bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. If you aren't adding the "cheese" you can serve without baking, but I like mine a little warm. Serve with your favorite dippables! :) 

One of the best veggie burger's I have ever created! Mmmm

This is my latest creation, and I could not be happier! I love veggie burgers, but I don't always like the ones you get at the store, and until now, my attempts at making a delicious and satisfying one have not been so successful. This baby changes everything! You I have made these a few times, and changed a couple of ingredients each time, but they turned out great every time.

You will need:

2 cups cooked rice cooked in veggie stock (I used sprouted brown rice, but any kind will work)

1 cup chickpeas

1.5 cups chopped mushroom

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp maple syrup

2 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce

2 Tbsp oil, divided

1 chia "egg" (1 Tbsp ground chia mixed with 2 Tbsp warm water)

1 cup walnuts, ground (measured before grinding)

1/3 cup bread crumbs (or panko)

1/8 cup nutritional yeast

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

Oil 2 baking sheets and preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook your rice if not already cooked. Grind walnuts in food processor. Caramelize onions. Saute mushrooms (using 1 tbsp of the oil for the onions an mushrooms... add a little salt too!). In food processor, combine half of the full amounts of the following ingredients: rice, chickpeas, mushrooms, and onions. Put the other half of all these ingredients in a bowl. In the food processor add the lemon juice, tamari/soy/ 1 tbsp oil/ maple syrup, and chia "egg". Puree until you have a paste. Add to you bowl with the other half of these ingredients. Add in the rest of the dry ingredients (everything left on the recipe list), and combine until well mixed. Scoop out approx. 1/3 cup at a time and form into a ball. Put onto baking sheet, and then press into a patty shape. Drizzle with oil. Bake fore 30 min, flipping half way through.

Before baking

After baking

Tonight I made this recipe, but subbed the breadcrumbs for panko, and half of the walnuts for cooked lentils (added to the food processor part). Turned out great! You could add whatever spices you'd like I'm sure too! These are just so yummy! I had mine on a whole wheat bun with bbq sauce, vegenaise, lettuce, tomato and avocado. So good! Enjoy!! :)

Yummy Banana Loaf

Last night I made Chef Chloe's delicious Chocolate Chip Banana Cake. I have made it before, and stuck right to the recipe, and it was super good, but I wanted to try and make it a little healthier this time, so I did, and it turned out great :) Basically I subbed some of the white flour for whole wheat, and replaced some of the sugar with medjool dates.

Don't mind the picture.. there isn't much of the loaf left! haha 

You can see the original recipe by clicking on the link above, and below is the recipe with the changes I made:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 medjool dates, pits removed
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup mashed bananas (approximately 2 very ripe bananas, mashed on a plate using the back of a fork)
• 1 cup canned coconut milk, mixed well before measuring
• ½ cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoons white or apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (dairy-free)

Combine flour(s), sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg in a bowl. 

Combine dates (pits out), bananas, coconut milk, oil, vanilla, and vinegar in a blender (I used my Vitamix), and puree until the dates are no longer chunky. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and fold in chocolate chips. Mix until just combined. Spread the batter into a greased and floured loaf pan, and bake at  350 degrees for 50-60 min (until a knife/toothpick comes out clean).