Recipe: (Non-Alcoholic) Pineapple Mojito Smoothie

0

I'll be honest... I've been going a little smoothie crazy lately. I seem to always crave them as soon as the weather warms up a little bit. I plan on experimenting with different, interesting ingredients and sharing all my smoothie-masterpieces with you guys- starting with this one! It's light and refreshing and perfect for the spring and summer. Plus, it not only makes a great quick addition to your breakfast or snack, it can be turned into an awesome cocktail smoothie by adding some rum

Makes 1 serving

Here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen pineapple

3/4 cup water (use 1 cup if using frozen pineapple)

4 fresh mint leaves

the juice of 1 lime

Blend all ingredients together for about a minute - or until the mint leaves are distributed evenly throughout the smoothie. Sprinkle with a bit of raw cane sugar if you please! Enjoy :)

Read More »

Recipe | Garlic & Herb Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Zucchini

0

Makes 3-4 servings

1/2 box whole grain spaghetti
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 zucchini, quartered and then chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
3 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
3 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Set a large stock pot filled with water over high heat for the spaghetti. Set a large skillet with your olive oil over medium-low heat.

While waiting for you pasta water to boil, add your onions and garlic to your hot olive oil. Saute the onions and garlic until the onions become translucent/slightly browned (about 5-7 minutes) and then add some salt and pepper. Add your zucchini to the onions and garlic and and saute for another 5-7 minutes. Salt and pepper the mixture once again.

At this point, your pasta water should be boiling. Generously salt your water and drop your pasta in. Occasionally stir throughout the cooking process to make sure the spaghetti is not sticking together.

While your pasta is cooking, turn the heat off for your zucchini, onion, and garlic mixture. Add your tomatoes to the pan and stir to combine. The goal is to just heat the tomatoes through and give them a chance to lend their juices to your sauce - you don't want to actually cook the tomatoes and make them mushy.

When your spaghetti is ready to be drained, reserve 1/4 cup of the starchy cooking water and add it to the pan with your veggies. Drain your spaghetti and add it to the pan. Fold the pasta in with the sauce and make sure everything is coated. Add your fresh herbs and some more salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Read More »

Recipe | Loaded, One Pan Breakfast Scramble

0

What you'll need:

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 red potatoes, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tomatoes, diced

4 eggs, whisked

1/4 cup fresh mozzarella, cubed or shredded

1 avocado, diced

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp coriander

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp turmeric 

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Set a large, oven-safe skillet to medium-high heat. Start sauteing your potatoes in the olive oil until they start browning - about 10 minutes total, flipping occasionally. Next, add the onions, and once they start becoming translucent (after 5 minutes or so) add the garlic. Add some salt and pepper and stir to combine.

Turn the heat down to medium-low and add your whisked eggs, spices, tomatoes, and more salt and pepper. Scramble the egg mixture until they begin to set up. Add the mozzarella to the top of the mixture, and then transfer the pan to the oven. Bake until the eggs are cooked through and the cheese is melted, about 5-7 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and top with your fresh avocado. 

Enjoy!

Read More »

Recipe | Super Grain Veggie Bowl

0

What you'll need:

• 1 cup Super Grains mix (mine was from Whole Foods with red & white quinoa, buckwheat, and millet)
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 10-15 grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 carrot, shredded or thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler
• 1 cup frozen edamame
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

*to make this a complete meal, add some sauteed tempeh or seitan

Combine the super grains, vegetable stock, onion, garlic, and some salt and pepper in a pot and set over high heat. Bring the mixture up to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed. With about 5 minutes left of cook time, add the frozen edamame to thaw.

If you're adding tempeh or seitan to the dish, start sauteeing in some olive oil on medium heat while the grain mix is cooking. This should take about 5 minutes on each side.

When the grains are done cooking, add the tomatoes, carrots, crushed red pepper flakes, and some more salt and pepper to taste. Fluff with a fork to combine everything. 

Enjoy!

Read More »

Recipe Tips | Healthier Smoothies

0

With the warmer weather in full bloom around here, a smoothie is a quick and refreshing snack to indulge in to keep yourself cool and satisfied. While they're easy and pretty much fool-proof, it's very easy to end up ingesting hundred of calories and lots of sugar and fat if you're not careful. Here are a few tips and things to look out for to ensure you're getting the most out of your smoothie!

1. Try and avoid a dairy base

For my own personal taste, this tip is easy for me to follow because I'm not a fan of creamy, yogurt-based smoothies. If you share a similar taste to mine, you can used the following to replace milk or yogurt in your smoothie recipe to achieve a thinner consistency:

• Water - adds a liquidy base to your smoothie without any fat, sugar, or calories.
• 100% Fruit Juice - if you choose this route, just make sure you're not using a fruit juice cocktail - those are loaded with unnecessary sugars. If you can, juice your own fruits/veggies to add to a smoothie!
• Almond, Soy, Rice, etc. Milk - if you still like a milky texture for your smoothie but don't want to use dairy, try these instead

For a thicker smoothie, still without milk or yogurt, try the following:

• Applesauce - make sure you buy the kind that has no added sugar - apples are sweet enough and don't need any help with that! Adding pplesauce in smoothies is a great way to achieve that desired consistency with some extra flavor while not overdoing it on the calories, fat, and sugar
• Chia seeds with water - chia seeds develop a jelly-like consistency when introduced to water -  perfect for thickening up your smoothie while also adding lots of nutrients
• Bananas - perfectly sweet way to thicken up a smoothie
• Avocados - gives your smoothie perfect thickness and a unique, delicious taste if you're feeling adventurous to try it out 

If you insist on using yogurt in your smoothie, try and avoid full fat yogurts with syrups/sugars added. Go for plain, low fat or non fat yogurt, Greek yogurt, or a non-dairy yogurt like soy, almond, or coconut yogurt.

I personally like the combination of water and applesauce the best. I like to mix chia seeds in afterwards because I enjoy the texture.

2. Use fresh fruit only when in season and ripe enough

A lot of people add sweeteners like agave, honey, or maple syrup to smoothies, which is not necessarily a bad thing if you do it in moderation. However, you can avoid this step altogether by using only in-season fresh fruit and subbing any out-of-season fruit with their frozen counterparts. Using fresh fruit when it's out of season can cause your smoothie to taste sour, bitter, and overall just not delicious. This is when people try and compensate that off taste by adding unnecessary sugars.

Frozen fruits and vegetables, much like the canned versions, are picked and packaged at the peak of their ripeness, so they'll always taste the way they're intended to. Plus, the combination of frozen and fresh fruits gives your smoothie the perfect consistency.

3. Be creative!

Don't stick to the normal strawberry banana smoothie everyday - it'll get really old, really fast. Incorporate your favorite fruits into your smoothies and keep making different variations of them to keep them interesting. Add leafy greens like baby kale or spinach to add more nutrients and an interesting spin on your typical smoothie - I PROMISE your smoothie won't taste weird!

Top your smoothies with something crunchy, like my homemade vegan granola, to play up different textures. Or add things like protein powder, flax seeds, and nuts to bump up the protein level and make it into a sustainable snack. 

Most importantly - have fun! Smoothies are a great way to get lots of fruits and veggies into your daily diet. You just want to make sure you're not undoing all the benefits of the fruits and veggies by adding lots of fats, sugars, and calories.

Read More »

Recipe | Spicy Mustard and Grapefruit Vinaigrette

0

I'm not entirely sure what compelled me to use a grapefruit in a dressing, but I've been wanting to do so for quite some time. I was really nervous about how it would come out, but this vinaigrette is absolutely fantastic... I was pleasantly surprised.

Pour this over your salad, use it as a dipping sauce or marinade, or... check back soon for a delicious spring-time recipe utilizing this vinaigrette :)

In a mason jar or a small mixing bowl combine the following:

the juice of 1 grapefruit - about 1/4 cup

2 tbsp spicy brown mustard

1 tsp raw agave nectar (maple syrup or honey would work just fine)

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

*if you're using a mason jar, just pour all the ingredients together and shake them up. If using a mixing bowl, slowly whisk in the olive oil at the end to combine all the ingredients.

Enjoy! :)

Read More »

Update + Recipe | Post Workout Breakfast

0

Woops, I let another month go by without updating this blog. Sorry! A huge thank you to the people who have stayed with me on Bloglovin', and to the new people that just started following me! Hey! You guys are great :) I'm really gonna try and update more regularly! I promise!

A quick recap: March arrived, along with more snow and more schoolwork and more stress. I had a seriously low point last week, but I'm feeling much, MUCH better now.

My birthday was last Monday and the preceding weekend was AMAZING thanks to my wonderful friends/coworkers and Chris. I am so thankful to have made friends with such a loving group of people at work and to have an equally amazing boyfriend.

Now I'm on spring break (it's almost over!) and I was surprised with a couple days off from both of my jobs, so I jumped at the opportunity to come home and visit my mom (and dogs!)... since I haven't been home since winter break.

Anyway, on to the point of this post. One of last week's gym days was followed by a breakfast that I think is worthy enough of it's own blog post. It's easy, filling, and full of the necessary protein and energy needed to replenish what you've spent working out.

• 1 egg, scrambled with a tbsp of salsa
• small handful of "power greens" (or any greens) topped with two slices of sauteed tomato
• 1 slice of whole grain toast (mine was double protein whole grain... 6g per slice!) topped with some sliced avocado with  salt, pepper, paprika, and onion powder.
• 4 slices smokey tempeh bacon (mine was the tofurky brand. serving size is 7 slices, but I had enough food on my plate and didn't need that much)

Couple with a mug full of Blackberry Mojito tea from Teavana, this breakfast was perfect.

What do you guys like to eat after a good workout?

Read More »

Update | Friday Thoughts

0

With graduation rounding the corner quicker than I had realized it would be, I'm finding myself experiencing some anticipated, but still not welcome, anxiety. I am extremely excited to start working in the field I've been passionate about and studying and preparing for for the past four years, but it's a bit scary. I've been trying my best to focus on the present and just deal with things as they come, but I still find myself constantly thinking about the future and what I'm going to be doing after graduation.

In an attempt to calm myself down, I've been trying to schedule some "me time" whenever I possibly can within my schedule of going to class, my internship, working at the coffee shop, and babysitting. Today is one of those me-days. I have an unexpected day off! I was supposed to babysit from 6:30am-2pm, but I was told I actually wasn't needed for the day, and since the schedule was already made for the coffee shop & I requested off for babysitting, I wasn't scheduled to work there either.

I started the day kind of sluggish, but in a good way. I set my alarm for 8am (even on a day off, I feel like I'm wasting the day if I sleep past 8. I know... I'm working on being less crazy about this). I guess by body is getting used to my routine of waking up earlier than that most days, because I naturally woke up around 7:30. I tossed and turned for a while, trying to snag a few extra minutes of sleep, but my body was already awake and it was not going back to sleep for anything.

So I laid in bed for a while, talked to Chris, checked twitter and instagram, and snuggled with Benji - the normal situation before I got out of bed, ate a banana, got all ready for the gym, and then whined and complained to Benji (yes, my cat) about not wanting to walk outside because it was 12 DEGREES OUT. Eventually I made myself feel as guilty as possible about not going, and dragged my butt over to the gym and had a mostly cardio-focused work out.

I came home, showered, and ate this delicious breakfast:

...which was VERY easy to make:

1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/4 chopped avocado
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp (or more) of your favorite hot sauce
a pinch each of salt, pepper, onion powder, and paprika
1 tbsp chia seeds

Cook the zucchini over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until they start to brown. Scramble in the eggs. I usually whisky the hot sauce directly into my eggs, but you can add it separately if you want. Add in the spices and cook your eggs to your desired done-ness. I usually cook them VERY dry. Add the zucchini and eggs to a bowl, stir in the chopped avocado and chia seeds, and enjoy!

I would have liked to add some chopped tomato and some onion instead of the onion powder to this as well, but I don't have any on hand at the moment. Today is a day for doing anything and everything that calms me, so grocery shopping might be on the list for later today. Yes, grocery shopping is definitely something I consider me-time. I love it. I'm also a big fan of cleaning, which is another thing I will be tackling today. And lastly, reading. It may be reading for my abnormal psychology class, but the book we're required to write a paper on for Tuesday is actually extremely interesting, so it doesn't seem like a chore. Maybe I'll do a review on it for the blog... who knows.

If you've made it to the end of this unnecessarily long blog post, thank you for reading. Sometimes you just need to let your thoughts out, and this blog is one of my outlets for that. I hope you're all enjoying your Friday!

xo Sam

Read More »

Recipe | Roasted Eggplant and Sweet Potato Quinoa Burger

0

As promised, here's the recipe for the burgers I used for my burger-bar set up for me and Chris on Valentine's Day.

Yields 10-12 burgers, depending on how big you make them.

1 small eggplant, chopped
2 sweet potatoes, chopped
1 large white onion, roughly chopped,
1/2 cup quinoa cooked in 1 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp chipotle hot sauce
1 tbsp spicy brown mustard
couple tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350°F

Spread your chopped sweet potatoes on a lined or greased cookie sheet. Season with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and half of the paprika. Pop that in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. When the sweet potatoes start to soften up, remove them from the oven and add the chopped eggplant and onion to the mix. Season with some more olive oil, the remainder of paprika, salt, and pepper. Cook together for another 15-20 minutes.

While your veggies are cooking, prepare you quinoa - 1/2 cup dry quinoa to 1 cup of water (or vegetable stock). Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.

When the sweet potato and eggplant mixture is cooked, remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before adding to the food processor.

Once cooled, Add the veggie mixture to a food processor with the 1/4 cup vegetable stock. Pulse until the mixture is at your desired consistency. I liked mine to be slightly chunky, but this step is totall up to you.

Add the veggie mixture to a big mixing bowl. Throw in the oats, cooked quinoa, hot sauce, mustard, and some more salt and pepper. Mix together thoroughly and form into patties.

Now, you can either bake the burgers off in the oven, since it's already heated up. Or you can sear them up in a pan with some olive oil. If you choose the former option, they'll take about 10 minutes on each side in a 375° oven to get a nice golden brown color. On the stove, they'll take about 5 minutes on each side over medium heat with about a tbsp of olive oil.

Enjoy!

Read More »

Health Tip | 5 Tips for a Healthier Lifestyle

0

To start off the new year, a lot of people jump into healthier eating habits, exercising, and taking care of their body. However, most of these practices start fizzling out by mid February and don't really ever turn into "habits".

I got into working out and developing a healthier lifestyle during my sophomore year of college. Since then, I've lost about 35 pounds. I've had some fluctuations with my commitment here and there due to a busy schedule, wanting to see my boyfriend, and trying to go back home to see my mom whenever I had the time to. Although I still have a relatively healthy diet, recently I've been missing the way I used to feel from going to the gym 4-5 times a week. I realized I had fallen into a slump that I desperately needed to get out of. Yesterday I had an unexpected day off from both babysitting and barista-ing. I took advantage of this free time by getting up early, having a good breakfast, and getting my butt over to the gym and having a particularly sweaty, awesome workout.

What does all that have to do with this blog post? Well, I came up with 5 tips to help anyone who might just be starting to get into the workout/healthy eating lifestyle, or anyone who, like me, has falling into a lazy slump and needs some help getting out of it. Here we go:

1. Be realistic

Face it, you're not going to end up running 5 miles non stop on your first try at the treadmill and you're not going to lose 30 pounds in a month. These are not realistic expectations, nor are they necessarily healthy. Losing weight and getting healthy takes time, and the more patient you are with your transition, the better your results will be and they will LAST. With that being said, I have 2 sub-tips that go alongside with this one:

1. Listen to your body: It's okay to take breaks and it's okay to not go as fast or for as long as the person working out next to you. You want to push your body, not punish it. If your leg starts cramping up, take a break. If you're running out of breath, take a break or slow down your pace. If feel faint or woozy or nauseous, stop working out and rest for a while. Pace yourself and your body will thank you later on.
2. Give yourself some rest days: It's unrealistic to workout 7 days a week, every single week of the year. Your body needs to have rest days to recover from previous workouts so that you're workouts will actually pay off and not result in injury. Designate some rest days within your workout regime. If you don't, you're risking an injury and you'll end up taking a month's worth of rest days at a time and screw up your routine. 

2. Don't get discouraged!

You won't drop 5 pounds after your first workout, sorry darling. Just because the scale isn't showing you what you want, doesn't mean you should give up! You're not working out and eating right for nothing; your body just needs to time to show you your well earned results. If your weight starts fluctuating, don't let that get you down either. Just remember that muscle mass is heavier than fat, so when you're building muscle to replace fat, your weight may fluctuate, but your clothes will fit you differently and you will look leaner and feel a hell of a lot better, trust me.

3. Set goals & rewards - don't set deadlines!

It's important to keep yourself on top of things while getting into a new workout routine. To do this, I think it's important to set goals and rewards instead of going by deadlines. Bodies are weird and unexpected things happen and sometimes our bodies can't work as fast as we want them to. Telling yourself that you will lose X amount of weight in Y amount of time will most likely leave you disappointed when you couldn't make your own deadline. Setting goals and then rewarding yourself when you reach those goals (buying yourself a new piece of clothing, going out to dinner with some friends, going out on a fancy date with your significant other, etc.) no matter how much or how little time has passed will leave you much more satisfied. This way, you're not only working for the reward of a healthier body, you're working for a physical reward that you've earned for yourself. 

4. Figure out what motivates you

Motivation is the number one thing that will keep you striving for a healthier lifestyle. Some people find motivation in weighing themselves once a week. Others find motivation in sticking photos of people with ideal bodies all over the place to remind them of what they're after. Is your motivation fitting back into your high school prom dress? Maybe you're trying to feel a little more comfortable in your bikini this summer. Or maybe you just want to develop a fondness for working out because you know it's good for you. Whatever your motivational source is- just use it.

5. Stop making excuses

I understand that there are certain obstacles that get in the way of working toward your healthy goals. However, if these "obstacles" come up more than once a week, chances are you're fishing for excuses for yourself, and the sooner you realize this, the better off you'll be. If you really want something, go for it, and stop coming up with reasons for why you can't.

I hope this helps! I'll be keeping these in mind while I get back into the swing of things back at the gym. Here's to a happy and healthy new year to you all! :) xo

Read More »

Recipe | Zucchini Pizzas

0

Pizza?! On zucchini?! Well, I'm sure you've had a veggie pizza with zucchini on it, so why not the other way around? These zucchini pizzas are a healthy and delicious alternative to everyone's favorite carby, cheesey food!

I made these tonight for dinner, so this recipe will only yield enough for one or two, if pairing with a side dish.

1 zucchini, sliced in half and seeded
some extra virgin olive oil
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
about 1/4 cup crushed tomatoes - use however much you want, really
roughly 1 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced or diced
1 tbsp fresh parsley
1 tsp fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350° F.

Take your halved and seeded zucchini and drizzle with some olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Pop that in the oven for about 10-12 minutes, or until the zucchini is starting to soften up.

Once the zucchini is roasted a bit, take it out of the oven and start assembling your pizzas. Split the crushed tomatoes between the two halves, as well as for the fresh mozzarella. Put the zucchini back in the oven for another 5-7 minutes, or until the cheese melts.

Sprinkle with the fresh parsley and basil and enjoy! :)

Read More »

Recipe | Vegan Granola

0

A lot of granola recipes aren't vegan-friendly because honey is used as the sweetener/binder. This recipe is 100% vegan because agave is used in place of honey. Maple syrup is another good substitute if you don't have agave on hand

2 cups old fashioned oats (rolled oats)

1 cup steelcut oats

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup chopped pistachios

1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup raisins

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 cup agave

1 tbsp coconut sugar OR brown sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup canola oil

a pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 325° F.

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Make sure you mix everything well so all the oats, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit are coated with the agave, canola oil, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, and salt.

Line a baking sheet with tin foil or parchment paper. Spread the mixture onto the baking sheet and bake at 325 for 15 minutes, or until the granola starts to brown.

Let the granola cool off before transferring to an airtight container.

Enoy! :)

Read More »

Recipe | Vegan Pumpkin Maple Walnut Scones

0

This recipe was loosely based on this pumpkin scone I found here. I had never made scones before, let alone vegan ones, and needed something to base my measurements off of.

Makes 10 scones.

1 cup raw walnuts
2 cups brown rice flour (or any flour you have on hand, really)
1/4 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup solid coconut oil
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 400° Fahrenheit

Spread your walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast them for 3-5 minutes in your preheated oven. Remove them and chop them into tiny pieces.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and walnuts.

In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, maple syrup, almond milk, and vanilla extract.

Cut the solid coconut oil into the flour mixture until it becomes crumbly and lumpy. You can do this with a fork or if you're fancy, with a pastry cutter. The you can introduce the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.

Mix until the dough starts to come together.

Remove from the bowl and onto a lightly floured clean surface. Form the dough into a about a 1 inch thick circle.

Use a circular cookie cutter, a cup, mug, or some sort of small circular object to cut your scones into rounds. You could also cut them into triangles, but I'm partial to the round scone... I think it's because Ireland really only had round ones when I was there.

Place your scones on a lightly greased, or lined with parchment paper, baking sheet.

Bake for about 12-15 minutes, depending on your oven, or until lightly golden brown.

And there you go! A delicious addition to your morning coffee routine, afternoon snack, or just an anytime treat.

Enjoy! :)

Read More »

Update + Recipe | Happy Thanksgiving!

0

No, this Friday I am not bringing you my face or the products used on it... mainly because I didn't feel like doing my make up. Instead, I thought I'd just make a little Thanksgiving-themed post since yesterday WAS Thanksgiving and all... for Americans at least.

My mom, sister, nephew and I drove up to my aunt and uncle's house for the holiday and it was really a nice time. I hadn't seen my cousins, aunt, and uncle all together since Liam's baptism back in September, so it was nice to see everyone again.

The night progressed as usual for our family get-togethers... political arguments, making fun of each other, and attacking the vegetarians of the family, and eating delicious food... just the way it's supposed to be!

Liam and I, before heading out to Thanksgiving Dinner

I am so thankful for the family I have been blessed with. They've helped me get through the roughest points in my life and I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to raise me and watch me grow up into the woman I am today :)

Now, for a recipe.

My mom gave me freedom to do whatever I wanted with the sweet potatoes we were bringing for the dinner, so I came up with this easy and delicious recipe for spiced, mashed sweet potatoes

8-10 sweet potatoes

2 tbsp butter OR butter substitute to make this a vegan recipe

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 - 2 tbsp dried, ground sage

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit 

*You can peel the sweet potatoes if you want. If you choose not to, make sure you scrub them really well

Bake the sweet potatoes for an hour, or until they are soft and mashable. Transfer them to a bowl and add the butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, sage, salt and pepper. Mash with a potato masher or with a hand-held or stand mixer... whatever's easiest for you... until you reach the desired consistency.

Enjoy letting people guess what the spices you used are!

Read More »

Recipe | Baked Vegetable Eggrolls

0

This is more of a process suggestion rather than a recipe. You can add whatever vegetables you have on hand in your egg rolls, this is just how I chose to prepare mine.

This will yield 6 egg rolls.

6 egg roll sheets... mine were vegan but that's up to you
1 bell pepper, any color, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
1 large or 2 small carrots, cut into matchsticks, or julienned
1 cup alfalfa sprouts, or any kind of sprout
a couple tbsp water

Preheat your oven to 425°F

Evenly distribute your veggies among the 6 egg roll sheets, layering a few pieces of each veg ontop each other

To wrap up your egg rolls, fold in the left and right sides of the egg roll sheet, so that your filling is partially covered. Then just roll over your filling until the bottom of the wrapper is facing up at at you. Then take a dab of water on your finger, and run it across the final edge of the wrapper so that it sticks to itself and doesn't come undone in the oven

Repeat this for all of your egg rolls. Place them seam side down on a baking sheet prepared with tinfoil/parchment paper and/or spray cooking oil.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the wrappers are golden brown.

I didn't salt the veggies inside the wrappers because I didn't want to bring out all of their moisture and make my egg rolls soggy. I served mine with some soy sauce mixed with grated fresh ginger, honey, and crunchy peanut butter and that was all the seasoning I needed.

Enjoy! :)

Read More »

Recipe | Spicy Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Burgers

0

1 small eggplant
1 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
a couple tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 scallions, roughly chopped
1/4 cup chili lime spiced cashews
1/2 cup quick-cooking or instant oats
2 tbsp chia seeds
1/4 cup vegetable stock
2 tbsp sriracha hot sauce (or your favorite hot sauce)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

To start off these burgers, you're gonna want to roast your eggplant. I used a small one, but whatever size looks good at the grocery store will work fine. A larger eggplant will yield you an extra burger or two and you might need to add a little more of the spices.

Anyway, preheat your oven to 450° Fahrenheit, line your baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Slice your eggplant in about 1/2 inch slices and line them on the baking sheet. Drizzle the slices with olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper on them. Roast them for about 5-7 minutes on one side, flip them, and then roast the other side for about 3-5 minutes.

While your eggplant is roasting, you can start processing your other ingredients. I have a really small food processor, so I needed to process everything in steps - that's how I'll write out this recipe. If you have a large food processor, go ahead and just dump all the ingredients into it and pulse away.

Anyone with a small food processor, here's what you can do:

Start off with the cashews - you want to get them to a crumbly consistency, but not like bread crumbs. Pulse them for 10-15 seconds to achieve this texture and then add them to a big bowl.

Next, you might have to do your can of beans in two steps. Just pulse it until the beans are mashed up a little bit. I like a chunkier burger, so I didn't process my beans for a long time. It's up to your personal preference though. Add your mashed up chickpeas to the bowl with the ground up cashews.

Take your roughly chopped scallions, oats, chia seeds, cumin, coriander, turmeric, onion powder, salt, and pepper to the food processor and pulse for 10-15 seconds, or until everything looks evenly combined. Add this mixture to the bowl. 

You can add the sriracha, or whatever hot sauce you chose, 1 tbsp of olive oil, and vegetable stock right to the bowl and bypass the food processor. Stir up all the ingredients to combine and evenly distribute all the spices.

At this point, your eggplant should be finished roasting  Remove the eggplant from the oven and turn the temperature down to 400°.

Go ahead and roughly chop up the eggplant - CAREFULLY since you just took it out of the oven and it will be hot! (feel free to let it cool off for a little while) - and then add it to the food processor. Pulse for 15-20 seconds, or until it's at your desired consistency. Add the eggplant to the bowl with all the other ingredients and give it one last stir and a taste to check for seasoning.

Grab a handful of the mix and start forming your patties. I was able to get 7 burgers when I made this. I just put the patties on the same baking sheet and foil I used to roast my eggplant - I just added a little more non-stick spray. Line your patties up and bake them for 7 minutes one one side, flip them, and bake for another 5-7 minutes on the other side. 

While your patties are cooking, you can get your burger toppings ready. I just served mine on some toasted organic whole grain bread with mixed baby greens and tomato slices topped with honey mustard.

Enjoy!

- Sam :)

Read More »

Recipe | Spicy Lettuce Wraps with Seitan and Sauteed Peppers

0

Okay, so they're not really wraps because they're small... but I didn't know what else to call them. They're delicious, though, and that's all that matters.

Makes 12-15 lettuce wraps

A couple tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 12oz package of Seitan strips
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 tomato, diced
1 head of any sturdy lettuce. I used bib lettuce, but romaine would work fine too. Just pull off the leaves, wash them, and pat them dry. Keep in mind that iceberg lettuce has basically no nutritional value, so try and stay away from that if at all possible
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsp Chile Lime hot sauce (I used Cholula brand)
Salt and pepper to taste

Feel free to add more or less of the hot sauce. I enjoy spicy foods, so I was pretty generous with it.

Set a large skillet coated with olive oil to medium heat. Start browning off your seitan to get it nice and crispy. This should take around 7-8 minutes. Keep the seitan moving in the pan so it doesn't burn. Once the seitan is crispy, go ahead and add the pepper slices. Sweat them for about 5 minutes and then add the cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Spoon the seitan and peppers into your little lettuce cups and top with your chopped tomatoes. I topped mine with some honey mustard as well to balance out the spice.

Enjoy! :)

Read More »

Recipe | Vegan Blackberry Jam

0

If you're anything like me, you love a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich... quite frequently. However, buying organic jellies and jams all the time can end up being expensive. Not to mention, a lot of times companies will use gelatin (an animal product) to thicken their jellies and jams. So, a simple solution to these issues: make your own! This recipe is really simple and very easy to customize to your own preferences.

12 oz bag of frozen blackberries (or any frozen fruit, really), thawed
A few tbsp raw sugar (I used about 4 tbsp)
The juice of one orange
The juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tbsp calcium water
1 tbsp fruit pectin

A couple things that should be explained right off the bat:

1. I think it's standard that all packets of fruit pectin come with a separate packet of monocalcium phosphate to activate the pectin to do its job. Mine did, and that's what the "calcium water" in the ingredient list refers too. My box of pectin called for that to be mixed with water and added to the recipe before the pectin. Just follow the directions on your box and you should be okay.

2. I enjoy a jam that is less sweet and a little bit more runny/not as gelled up. Therefore, I did not add nearly as much sugar as some recipes call for and I added less than the suggested amount of pectin to my fruit mixture. Customize this recipe to cater to your preferences! It's very adjustable.

Combine the bag of thawed, frozen fruit, orange juice, and lemon juice in a sauce pan. Begin mashing up whatever fruit you chose. Mash it to the consistency that you desire. I left mine quite chunky. Bring to a simmer on low heat and dissolve the sugar. Add your pectin according to the directions on your box. You can transfer your fruit mixture to whatever you plan on storing it in, leave the lid off, and put it in the fridge for a few hours to cool off. It will continue thickening as it cools.

If you actually go the length to steralize a mason jar for this, your jam should last for quite some time in the fridge. I'm impatient so I just washed my mason jar really well. I don't expect it to last very long in my fridge because I'll eat it all before it has a chance to go bad.

Enjoy! :)

Read More »

Update + Recipe | An Apology and a Quick Recipe

0

I haven't blogged in quite some time, and it's mainly because I've been prepping to move out of my old apartment and into a new one for the past couple weeks. I haven't had any new recipes because I haven't been grocery shopping to make any remarkable dishes for you guys since I'd end up having to lug all my new groceries to my new apartment (it was bad enough transporting the little groceries I DID have in the scorching heat).

So, just a little recap on my life: I am finally all moved into my new apartment. I'm living alone now because my roommate Rachel graduated and to be honest I just can't tolerate living with anyone other than her, so this is the best option for me, lol.

Last Monday was Memorial Day and I got to go home and spend it with my family, and Chris came over which was nice. My sister visited from Virginia with the baaabbbbbyyyyyyy which was awesome since I hadn't seen her or Liam since Easter weekend. I made quiiiiiite a large spread for just my mom, my sister, my aunt, my sister's friend Dana, Chris, and I but I was too frazzled to photograph anything. I was cooking a bunch of things at the same time and I didn't have the time nor energy to capture all the steps and outcomes. I did write down the recipe to the vegan black bean and avocado burgers that I made, but again, I didn't take any pictures of the finished product. But I'll still probably make a post about the recipe soon.

I did, however, make the chickpea and avocado dip, which went over quite well with everyone who tried it! So that was nice :)

Now I'm back down by school for the majority of the summer. I babysit down here and I soon will be starting to work with a professor as a reading and grading assistant on campus, AND on Monday I have an interview at a coffee shop about 25 minutes away, so I'm hoping that goes over well. I might be biting off more than I can chew, but we'll see how everything goes :)

Tonight I had a simple dinner but it was delicious enough to be blog worthy :) It's not really a recipe... it's more like an idea: Vegan BLT

So for this I just took 4 slices of smokey tempeh, sauteed it over medium heat in some extra virgin olive oil in a skillet to get it crispy on both sides (about 5 minutes on each side). Then I added those crispy slices to a club roll from my supermarket's bakery with some slices of fresh tomato and some red leaf lettuce. The whole thing was gone in about 5 minutes. That's how good it was.

If I had more options in the fridge I probably would have added some sprouts or used kale or spinach instead of the lettuce. I was also gonna add some avocado but mine just wasn't ripe enough to slice.

Enjoy! :)

Read More »