Bites of Summer

Summer is slowly fading out. While our furnace has yet to be turned on, we have spent fewer days on the beach and more days finishing our yard before frost sets in. A fresh crisp breeze is drifting in the window while hazy light filters through the clouds. It is beautiful and peaceful. Yet I'm still enjoying the last bits of summer, including the bounty from the farm fresh gardens! One way to enjoy all the fresh produce available right now is in sandwiches - no heat required meals are my favourite when the heat goes above 20*C. This sandwich is something special I learnt from my birthday lunch! My Mom arrived with the most amazing spread of delicious food! Watermelon salad, hummus and fresh vegetables, and quinoa salad sandwiches! Oh and the most incredible coconut cake, but I need to get that recipe from Mom before I can share it - she created it for my special day! We enjoyed the sandwiches so much that I recreated them that very week, and enjoyed them for a few days...for both lunch and dinner. When I like something I tend to go over board.  If you like nutritious food that leaves you drooling for more, this is a recipe you need to try! It is more of a guideline than a recipe as it is a 'what produce you have in the fridge is what you want to use' sort of recipe. And the amounts are up to you too - as this is completely customisable. So really, here's the list of what my mom and I liked in the ones we created, and you can create yours with your favourite vegetables too!

Quinoa Salad Sandwiches

an original recipe from my Mom!

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cooked qunioa -roughly 2 cups
black beans
chick peas
kidney beans
pumpkin seeds, raw and unsalted
kale
carrots
cucumber
red and yellow bell peppers
red cabbage
red onion

Strain and wash all the beans and place them in a bowl with the cooled qunioa. The chop all the vegetables into little pieces and add them to the bowl until the desired ratio has been achieved. Dress with your favourite dressing [mine was olive oil based with herbs and lemon juice] and serve in pita  bread. I enjoyed my best with spinach and hummus lining the pita before putting in the quinoa salad - but really it comes down to personal preference.


What has been your go to meal this summer? Are you favoring those recipes that neglect your oven? Or do you brave the heat in favor of a cooked meal every night? Now that fall is swinging into season my oven and i may just be rekindling our relationship, but I will keep this sandwich in play year round.
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How to Battle a Sugar Craving

How are those sugar cravings coming along? Have the all but disappeared now? We're on day six of Strike Sugar September with Tosca Reno and the Eat Clean Diet, and I for one am loving it! At this point I really don't crave sugar at all, and am feeling great. My boys are enjoying less 'treats' and more fruit. I am powering through my workouts, running after two little hoodlums sweethearts all day, and yet still find myself naturally waking up early feeling rested and ready for the day ahead. It's a great feeling!

The fabulous people over at the Eat Clean Diet have come up with a info graphic to help you wend your way through a sugar craving and WIN! To download your free copy, head on over to Eat Clean Diet's resource page. Post it on your fridge, or snack cupboard if you have one as a friendly reminder of what to do when a craving hits!

Just Keep Going....

If you're new to the no sugar way of life, then you may be needing a little extra boost right now! Keep going - the worst part of ridding sugar from your diet is the withdrawal [yes, withdrawal] that your body goes through as you detoxify. Sugar is addictive, in all its forms. You will find a whole world of wonderful tastes open up to you as you indulge in fruits and vegetables, instead of something packaged as brightly as fruit yet packing the nutritional punch of a Slurpee.

JUST KEEP GOING! 

 

 

Strike Sugar September

My love of lifting weights, sweating it out on a long run, and preparing healthy clean foods was not something I was born with shocking I know. Every deadlift, hill sprint, and qunioa salad has been a step in a healthy direction, and a building block for a future of whole body/mind/spirit happiness. I have gathered information along the way from many experts, and many wannabe experts whose advice was later cast to the curb and one of my absolute favourites is Tosca Reno. Tosca is known most prominently for becoming a fitness model, author, and columnist after the age of 40. She turned her life around completely from being fat and frumpy to fit and fabulous - and owes it all to clean eating and a love of iron! Every month she and her teams at Oxygen Magazine and the Clean Eating Diet and hosting a challenge to reawaken health and vitality - and I thought I would pass on Septembers challenge! September is Strike Sugar month and I plan on hitting it hard! Read through Tosca's tips, and she'll continue to post more throughout the month!

Here's to health, happiness, and hitting the gym with purpose!

Chocolate Chip [Lentil] Cookies

A friend of mine asked me to teach her how to incorporate beans and lentils into her diet in ways that aren't common ground [like chili for example.] So, being the ambitious person I am, I quickly said yes before realising that I myself rarely use lentils, even though I do enjoy them. Lentils are one of those unique pulses which takes on the flavor of just about anything you throw at it!  Not only is is a versatile pantry staple, but it is choke full of goodness!  Here's a little blurb on the amazing little pulse we're talking about to entice you to try them if you haven't already: "With about 30% of their calories from protein, lentils have the third-highest level of protein, by weight, of any legume or nut, after soybeans and hemp.^[3] Proteins include the essential amino acids isoleucine and lysine, and lentils are an essential source of inexpensive protein in many parts of the world, especially in West Asia and the Indian subcontinent, which have large vegetarian populations.^[4] Lentils are deficient in two essential amino acids, methionine and cysteine.^[5] However, sprouted lentils contain sufficient levels of all essential amino acids, including methionine and cysteine.^[6]
Lentils also contain dietary fiber, folate, vitamin B₁, and minerals. Red (or pink) lentils contain a lower concentration of fiber than green lentils (11% rather than 31%).^[7] Health magazine has selected lentils as one of the five healthiest foods.^[8] Lentils are often mixed with grains, such as rice, which results in a complete protein dish."Source 

Dal Baht is the daily dish enjoyed in Nepal, and made primarily from lentils and served over rice. While this is always the first dish I think of when faced with a bunch of lentils, I decided it was time to branch out in honor of my friends request. So, I started searching...and found lots and lots of cookies! What I didn't find were cookies recipes that left me drooling, or cookie recipes that would pack a real nutritional punch, or better yet, cookies that delivered both! So, naturally I created my own. With many taste tester approvals I have now deemed this recipe ready for its big reveal - I hope you and yours enjoy it as well!

Chocolate Chip [Lentil] Cookies

an orignial recipe created by me!

1/2 cup vegan butter, softened

1 cup naturally creamed honey

1/4 cup pure maple syrup [I'm not talking Aunt Jemima's hear, I'm talking about 100% PURE maple syrup! Don't use Aunt Jemima's or you will have made these really sickly sweet!]

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 flax egg*

1/2 cup lentil puree**

1 cup zucchini puree***

1 tbsp baking powder

2 cups fresh ground whole wheat flour

4 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 cups dark chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350*.Cream the butter in a large electric mixing bowl. Once light and fluffy, add in the honey and maple syrup and continue beating. Add in the flax egg, vanilla, lentils and zucchini then set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients [leave out the chocolate chips] and slowly add to the wet mixture blending as you go. Once the dough is mixed, add in the chocolate chips. Drop by the cookie scoop full [about the size of a rounded tbsp] onto silpat lined cookies sheets. Bake at 350* for 12-15 minutes [12 for darker pans and 15 for lighter is what I found.]

Yield: 4.5 dozen

I hope you're little cookie monsters gobble these up - they are a certifiable hit in our home!



*to make a flax egg simply mix 1 tbsp freshly milled flaxseed with 3 tbsp cold water and let it sit for 10 minutes. It will gel together as it sits and act as a binder in this recipe.

**to make your own lentil puree blend together 4 parts cooked lentils with one part water. i.e. 1 cup of cooked lentils and 1/4 cup of water.

***zucchini puree is simply made by blending up whole zucchini in the blender.

Drooling

I love Pinterest! I find ideas, inspirations, and like minded people all in one place! Recipes are some of my favourite things to collect, try, and read and Pinterest helps me get my fill of eye candy when it comes to new food ideas. One recipe in particular caught my eye today and I simply had to try it.Right. Now. So I did. And now you need to!

 

Is your mouth watering yet? This recipe is titled 'Asian Slaw with Ginger-Peanut Dressing' and it is as drool worthy as it looks! I ate this bad boy right up at supper time, and my little Eli even gave it a go then opted for the Butternut Squash Soup I had made instead.  If you would like to enjoy this colourful dish from heaven, hop on over to Once Upon A Chef to find the recipe. Oh, and this is easier and faster to prepare than anything you'll find. Even hot dogs shudder.

Comfort Food

When I was first married, I didn't know my way around a kitchen - unless I was baking cookies of course. My Handsome Husband cooked ALL our meals, and when he was at work or away I simply ate left overs or something from a can. This really didn't bother me in the least, and he enjoyed cooking, so it was a good arrangement for us. Fast forward a few years, and we were expecting our first babe, I was sicker than a dog, bouncing back and forth to the city for specialist appointments, and off work. With all my newly found free time I thought I should at least have supper waiting when my better half walked in the door from work. At first the meals were meager, burnt, and left a lot to be desired. Thankfully, My Man choked down the gruel and encouraged me so that I was able to have the courage to keep on cooking and make it to the place I am today - creating new recipes! What a gift it is to have his unconditional belief in me!
One of the first meals I prepared was straight from a can, and tasted horrible, but of course received two thumbs up. We laugh about my humble beginnings in the kitchen now, but seriously guys, this was no laughing matter. How did he choke down that stuff??? In honor of that early disaster, I recreated the meal - this time completely from scratch, using whole food ingredients. No cans required.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

an original recipe, created by me

6 cups water

3 tabs low sodium veggie broth

6-8 cups fresh broccoli florets, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, pressed

3 tbsp - ¼ cup water, for sauteing

¼ cup flour

2 cups almond milk

¾ cups nutritional yeast

¾ cups soy yogurt, plain

1 can strained and washed white kidney beans

½ tbsp garlic powder

1 tsp sea salt

Fresh ground pepper to taste

Bring first three items to a simmer in a large pot, and let simmer for 15 minutes.

In a skillet, sauté the onion and crushed garlic until transparent, then add the flour and milk, stirring constantly until a thick paste forms. Add this mixture to the broccoli pot.

Add nutritional yeast, and soy yogurt to the pot, then seasonings. After stirring everything well, ladle into a blender, and blend until desired consistency. Leaving some soup in the blender, add in the beans and emulsify completely. Add this thicker mix to the soup pot, and stir to combine. Serve warm with fresh focaccia bread – so good!

We made this soup while winds drove rain sideways against our windows. It was quite the comfort food amidst the storm :) Darius really wanted me to take a picture of him with his soup, as he would emphatically praise the soup after every slurpy bite. Life definitely becomes more entertaining when kids are on the scene!