Banana and PB warrior smoothy

Amazing anytime snack! I've discovered this new raw vegan protein powder.  It doesn't have all the added bonuses of Vega one, but it is an amazing alternative to the crappy vegetarian stuff I've been using.  Plus it tastes just fine with almond milk (or coconut milk) and ice!

Smoothy - can eat it with a spoon its so thick! 

- 1.5 frozen banana
- 2 tbsp natural peanut butter
- scoop of warrior blend (vanilla) 
- handfull of ice 
- cover with coconut/almond milk 
- I needed to add a bit of water because it was too thick for my ninja

Day 10- Reinventing Shepard's pie

 

So this was my version of tonight's diner!  Vegan, clean, veggiful and colourful!

As you can see my hungry family chowing down on "regular Shepard's" pie, or as it's known in our house as paté chinois. This is how I made my vegan clean friendly version.

 

 

This is lentils, garlic, onions and tempeh mixed with some chili seasoning (I know it's weird, but it's what our family is used too, because I refuse to allow Mark to use the packages for Shepard's pie or even use gravy since it has too much salt) mixed with the water from the boiled sweet potatoes.

 

 

 

Mashed sweet potatoes with just some of the water and some onions.

 

 

Athletes (Cooking Greens) mixed with a bit of frozen corn.

 

 

Assemble and bake at 375F for 30mins (or so).

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Today's eats:

 

Breakfast (same as yesterday)

 

snack

1.5 cups of tomato tempeh soup

water

decaf tea with unsweetened almond milk

 

Lunch

can of low sodium tuna

a head of romaine lettuce

1/4 cup salsa sauce

1/4 cucumber

2 tbsp olive oil

water

 

snack

 

a large handful of veggie chips (the ones from bulk barn with probably too much oil)

water

about 3 sun dried tomatoes in olive oil (while I was making my diner)

 

Diner





a serving of my version of Shepard's pie

water

 

After diner snack...

 

a pot of herbal tea  (Caramel Almond Amaretti) and some vanilla almond milk (yes I know the sweetened kind... ) But this is desert!!!

 

 

 









Day 9- The best part of cooler 1 in the fall is the SOUP!!!

Well I am happy to report that apparently ranting to the universe pays off because this morning when I got on my scale FINALLY I lost some weight! Thus began a great day :)  Well pretty much nothing can tarnish Wednesdays in my view since I only teach 2 periods in the morning (yes I am only 68%) so that means I do have time off school.  Today after school I rushed to the yoga studio and did a hot class, then browsed the Chapters looking for some cute Halloween books for my kids, then it was back home for some lunch. After a very late lunch I got to go on a fantastic bike ride because the weather was absolutely perfect for it!  I rode up North of my place and the fall leaves are just stunning, yes the route north is uphill, but damn if it isn't worth the ride to see the sights. Plus what goes up must come down, my ride back home was easy-peasy.  Did I mention the temp was in the 20's!!!! So yes today was awesome!  So anyway here are my eats...

Breakfast
1/2 cup GF oats
3 tbsp hemp hearts
1tbps almond butter
1 tbsp ground flax
4 strawberries
unsweetened almond milk
water
decaf coffee with soy milk (because that's what they have at Strabucks- I know I'm working towards quitting)

Snack
3/4 of an orange pepper
2 cups of carrot ginger chick pea soup
water

Lunch: (this was slightly warmed up)
can of tuna (low sodium)
1/2 cup of salsa
1 large tomato diced
water
decaf coffee with unsweetened almond milk

snack (before bike ride)
brown rice cake (lundenburg)
water

Diner:
tomato tempeh soup drizzled with olive oil
green juice (collards, zucchini, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 apple, 2 carrots, 3 green tomatoes and mint)
water
tea with almond milk

Ok so yes tomato soup with tempeh is strange... but it worked because it's all blended up together!  And come on who doesn't like, tomatoes, garlic, basil and olive oil???? 

I sort of just threw a bunch of tomatoes from our garden about 7 or 8 in a pot
with a jar of Mark's tomato's sauce
lots of garlic
1 onion
1 carrot
some broccoli stems
about 2/3 of a pack of tempeh (plain, no salt, no flavour)
some dried basil and parsley
a dash of cinnamon
water

Day 6- really that's it?

Honestly I feel like I haven't had a refined carb in sooo long! I miss the crunch of rice chips, the warm crust on my little GF vegan diner rolls...umm with their soft chewy centers...ahhhhh  Oh and scoops of natural peanut butter right out of the jar...ohhhh  And the worst part is I think I'm not going to lose any weight!  This morning the scale told me I went up???  really!! Come on... I've only been cheating a bit, but I wonder if because I'm feeling so hungry I'm in fact eating more calories? sigh** I guess I'll keep going and give it a few more days before actually throwing my hands up in defeat.  So here's what I had to eat today! 

Breakfast:
1/2cup GF oats
4 strawberries
1 tbsp raw almond butter
3tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp chia seeds
unsweetened almond milk
water
decaf coffee with soy milk (I know..I know I have to give this up!)

snack:
- 1 cup of sweet potato curry humus
- 5-6 stalks of celery
-1/3 cucumber
- 1 roma tomato
-water

Lunch:
-pack of Norri (seaweed paper)
- med. apple
- cup of carrot/chick pea ginger soup (see pic)
- decaf tea and water

snack: (or second lunch)
- 4 kale leaves (chopped)
- 4 romaine leaves (chopped)
- 1/4 cup salsa sauce
- can of tuna
- 2 tbsp of humus
-decaf tea and water

Diner: (see pics)
- asparagus stalks (about 8)
- broccoli florets (about 5)
- small onion
- garlic
- 3 slices of tempeh
-sauce made of 2 tbsp carrot soup and 2 tbsp humus
-decaf tea and water

So here are the pics for the carrot ginger chick pea soup...

 

Just your basic carrot soup recipe: simmer till soft then add chick peas and ginger and blend!
1.5 lbs of carrots
couple of stalks of celery
an onion
a clove or two of garlic
1/2 sweet potato
1/4 zucchini (bc it was left over from the other day)

These aren't organic and they probably have BPA in them but they have no salt and were available in a pinch!



The chick peas make this soups so thick!  It's amazing.

 

 It was amazing outside today so I had this on the back deck, with my book and hot tea!

And for diner because I'm obsessed with this humus and can't stop eating it with nearly every meal, I found a way to add it to my soup and used it as a sauce for my "power bowl" 



 

Sometimes all I want is cookie dough!

And so I make it and eat it..

With these 6 ingredients. 

1 cup soaked dates
1 cup of natural peanut butter
a can of chick peas
a cup of oats (more if you need to thicken it up)
a couple of tbsp of chia seeds (for nutrients and to lower the GI of this treat)
a dash of cinnnamon
and a few drops of water if your food processor can't cope with the above 3 ingredients.

Process... and process... and process....

 And then eat!  Nom nom nom... and of course you can always bake them into cookies if you can part with the dough.

Bake at 350F for aprox 18 minutes or until bottoms are golden and tops are getting crispy.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who enjoys a good batch of cookie dough from time to stressful time.  I can't say I'm exactly stressed but my life is certainly different.  I'm a working mom, my handy fix it husband keeps taking on projects in our house (because now he is the stay at home parent) BUT... the casualties of his "handyness" is a persitant messy house.  I'm also struggling with getting to the gym as much.  When I was home with the kids full time it was easy to run out the door when Mark got home to workout, but now I'm suffering from  severe mommy guilt when I leave the house in the evenings.  And I have never been a morning person, but that is nothing but a big fat excuse and I will have to start working out in the AM before school.  Wish me luck!

Pina Colada... vega good!

Vega style!

About 1/4 pineapple, 1/2 can coconut milk, vega smoothy pack, and ice.  Blend!

Serve and Enjoy!!!

Vegan Update

In 2 days I will have been vegan for two full weeks.  I think I passed the ultimate test this past week.  Saying no to both bacon and GF non-vegan treats.  Actually I truly don't miss the meat.  I've been eating so many new dishes because I'm being forced out of my comfort zone.  I realized that if I really wanted bacon, I could make it from young coconut.  Or just go to the Naked Sprout, they have a vegan BLT!

 Anyway I wanted to share with you that being vegan in a house of meat eaters isn't that hard.  Last night I made nacho's for 5 of us.  Mine was vegan, Patrick's was dairy free, Luke's didn't have tomatoes, Mark's had no peppers... you get the point right.  Everyone likes their food just a little different from the other.  Sooo this is what it looks like in my kitchen on a typical diner!

Right: ground chicken with garlic and chili powder... Left can of aduki beans, mushrooms, chili powder and garlic

I heated it until the mushrooms wilted and turned dark.

The assembly station. 

In the oven at 350F for 20 minutes. 

So just for the record, I didn't go vegan because I have any animal right's issues.  I've gone vegan to try to clean out my system.  I want my body to run as efficiently as possible and from everything I read meat as a source of protein just isn't what I want.  I am amazed at how much my training has improved over these last few weeks.  In fact I can't even remember the last day that I took off training.  I've done something every single day and doing it well at that.  I biked 52km yesterday and today ran 7km.  Tomorrow I've got a 25k planned and a short run. Tuesday is power yoga and tri-training with the club, Wednesday is swim/bike....you get the picture!

 I'm eating tons of seasonal fruit (I love that I can do that) I am not hungry because I eat often and really well, my body is shedding the extra weight it gained in July, I am able to run further, bike further/faster, swim faster, with less rest needed between, and all while keeping a lower heart rate!  All in all, not to bad.  I've also been reading Brandon Brazier's The Thrive Diet book and learning tons of fun new tips.  Like how yummy nutritional yeast is, but to boost it's already awesome nutritional content, put it in the coffee grinder with raw sesame seeds, place in a shaker and add as a "cheesy" topping!

 Tonight I made air popcorn, melted coconut butter over it, and used my new topping (plus a dash of salt)... wow it was amazing! I also put a bit of chili powder on it to see if I would like them together... Duh! of course they went well together, chili cheese popcorn!  Clean and healthy!

Quinoa burgers

Tomorrow we are having friends over for a BBQ and I asked Mark to pick up some veggie burgers.  Guess what the 3rd ingredient is???  Wheat gluten!  Go figure.  So I decided to give quinoa burgers a try. I made quinoa the other day and had some left over. I should or could have looked up a recipe, but you know me... They never completely suit my needs so better to just improvise with what I had on hand (or in the garden, as it may be).

  So I contemplated what I would need to make the quinoa "stick together"... like an egg in some hamburgers, but since I'm nearly vegan I thought I would try something else.  I added ground flax seeds instead, as a binder.  Then I added a bit of extra water so the flax could actually bind and create a jelly (not like I could see this happening) But I figure I'll just go through my thought process.  So base done; now to add flavour, I grated up some red onion (from garden), zucchini(from garden) and sweet potato(I've been told we can't grow these... too bad).   Added some seasonings  (I used garlic powder and oregano), they smelled amazing at this point.  But something was missing, I still didn't think these would actually hold so I added about 2 tbsp of coconut flour.

 Now for these I fried the bottom in coconut oil in my cast iron pan, then transferred them into 400F oven for 25minutes.  I ate 2 tonight, couldn't help myself... They are crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. 

The brown top is from the coconut oil in the cast iron!  (ok so slightly labour intensive but sooo yummy!)

They stick!!!!! (together I mean... not to the pan or baking sheet)

Ready to toss on the grill to re-heat tomorrow! 

Raw Asparagus Salad!

So we all know what BBQ season means!  Tons of meat grilled with lots of extra grams of saturated fat (in the beef burgers). But I challenge you to try something different this year.  When everyone is grabbing stuff to throw on the grill why no go raw instead!  You will feel so good about it!!!  Have you ever eaten raw asparagus?  Well assuming it's the good stuff either from a farmer's market (local and organic) or from your own garden like mine, it is amazing raw! The tender white center is so sweet, sort of like the tender inside a broccoli stem!  (Please tell me you don't compost this part, it is sooo good, just peel away the tough outside and the inside is delicious)

 This salad has massaged kale and spinach (in olive oil), asparagus, red peppers, carrots (I got these at Organic Garage, the kids love how they are pre-cut), tempeh, humus and beanitos.

What is Dahl???

It's vegan  (or can be) and it's Indian, but I just made it with my own ingredients.  Meh who cares, I made my dish even before looking up what dahl is.  I had tasted the dahl made at The Naked Sprout. and decided to see if I could replicate it, without knowing what was in it.  I'm proud to say I'm happy with the results.  Now I just need to find out how off or close I actually was.  I know mine was slightly different because I didn't have any chick peas or lentils left in my house (apparently those are the main ingredient) go figure I make dahl without them..
I used crushed tomatoes, a can of beans, and a can of coconut milk, then I just added sweet potato, carrot, celery, onion, grated zucchini, parsley (I'm not sure why, it just looked so pretty in my fridge I wanted to use it) and curry powder. 

Well it looks weird I must admit, it tasted fine. But I think if I did it again, I would cut back on the tomato and add something to make it sweeter.  I would also steam the sweet potato first and obviously add chick peas and lentils.  It's kind of more like Dahl Soup! 

Raw Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream (for breakfast)

So I told everyone that I would be going vegan AND raw today!  Ha ha, look at the date however.  I do love vegan food and raw food but I can't give up salmon or rice just yet!  But in honor of april fools I made strawberry ice cream for breakfast.  It was so good, I had to share most of it with my kids! 

So I did manage to get into my young coconut this morning.  Not too bad.  I shaved of the top, made a couple of holes (to drain the coconut juice), then used the bottom of my blade to crack the top off, then I just pealed the inside out with the spatula. 

I found these yummy snack at the local grocery store!  Awesome find if you ask me. The kids love them.  GF, Vegan and raw! score and 3$ a bag!

Hard to see what I mashed into my bullet, but about 1/3 of the coconut flesh, 1/2 the coconut juice, a handful of frozen strawberries, a tbsp of chia seeds, a scoop of vegetarian protein powder, juice of 1/4 lime and some water to fill.

Blend, scoop, serve with buckwheat snack.  (I actually got 3 cups like this) so my kids happily ate this all up!

Surprisingly creamy!  BUT no dairy, no gluten, no sugar, and vegan!