You think this is genius?

Confession time.  Ever since I started buying pineapple, I've had a bit of a problem.  I always cut the whole pineapple, and well eat it in one sitting.  I mean, it's not that it's entirely a bad thing, it's not as if it's a whole bag of potato chips, or a tub of ice cream, or even mounds and mounds of cake slices (as I used to do all of these previously), but it's still a lot of pineapple for one sitting.

When I moved back home from Montreal, and then my trip to Korea in the middle of October I realized that this was getting far out of hand.  I don't know how many pineapples I was eating while I was in Korea, but they were not cheap, and I feel like I was walking to the grocery store a lot to just pick up pineapple, (I even had my ex stopping by after work to pick some up for me), yup, it was getting out of control.

By the time I returned, I decided that I couldn't cut my pineapples up in one go, I'd have to cut them as I need it, so I can portion control and see how much of the pineapple I'm actually eating.  So far, this has been a great tool.  I cut the crazy green leafy part off, and then just cut layers off as I go.  Now a days, pineapple lasts' for a good four to five days, depending how long I'm willing to keep it around for.  With all that being said, it is difficult for me to keep pineapple in the house.  When I find recipes that include pineapple, I need to make sure that I make those recipes at the beginning of the week or else I probably won't have much luck creating that recipe.

Prime example, this mornings breakfast.  Now, I originally saw this recipe a few weeks ago, and I had planned on making it the following day, however the day I saw the recipe I ate the remaining pineapple chunks.  So, I planned on making it the following week, well, the following week turned into almost three weeks.  This morning, I finally was able to go through with it, and holy moly, it was worth saving some pineapple to make this breakfast/snack/dessert, whatever you want to call it, it is amazing!

As said, in yesterday's post, as well as other numerous posts', pancakes have an incredibly special place in my heart.  That in combination with some of my ever-so favourite fruit is something that I just melt at. Tropical pancake battered pineapple.  OOOOHHHHH MYYYYYY GOSSHHHHHH!!!!!!!!  I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was.  This was one of the most amazing ways to start my day, and definitely got me in the mood to go to the gym.  Now, I have to admit, these were a little timely.  I mean, I did cut up some additional fruit while preparing these, as well as cleaning along the way, but I started at 9:35 am and didn't start eating until 10:05 am, and I was not dilly dallying either.  The process seemed a bit longer than usual when it comes to making pancakes, but the result was so worth the time.  These were incredible.  I changed the recipe up a bit, as I didn't use coconut milk because I wanted to finish up my almond milk before opening up another carton, and I wanted to make it with what I was craving.  They turned out spectacular, and are an amazing twist on your regular old pancakes.  The thing with these guys too is that, because there is fruit encased, the pancake dough isn't too, too thick so you don't get that heavy feeling you sometimes get afterward when eating pancakes.

I would highly suggest trying this recipe.  It is incredibly versatile and who says you just have to stick to pineapple?  What about apples or pears?  Why not throw in some chocolate chips or whatever else you're fancying?  Try it, get creative, you will be thrilled by the final result!

Tropical Pancake Battered Pineapple Rings


Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients:

• 1 pineapple, sliced into rings about 1/2 inch thick
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• Dash of salt
• 1 tbsp mulled flaxseed + 3 tbsp water (or an egg)
• 1/2 tsp coconut extract
• 1 1/2 tbsp coconut flakes
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 cup almond milk

Directions:


Heat pancake griddle or skillet on medium heat.

Combine all ingredients (except) pineapple in a medium bowl and whisk together.  Add milk as needed to get a good "drippy" consistency.  You want it to be able to stick to the pineapple but still allow the excess to drip off.

Once griddle is heated, grease and dip one slice of pineapple into the batter and then place on the griddle.

Cook for 2-3 minutes and then flip.  You might want to sear the sides too depending on how thick your slices are.  Repeat for remaining slices.

Serve immediately, top with fresh mango chunks, almond slivers, coconut flakes, and amaretto agave nectar.

Have you ever tried pancake battered fruits?

Mmmmmm

A day of delightful foods.

Oooookkaaaaayyy.  Hold the phone!  I have found, I think what I have to call my all time favourite breakfast/post work-out protein shake.  I have shared, dozens upon dozens of incredible, savoury, protein-packed, iron-filled, healthy shakes, that I have said time and time again, you HAVE to make this one, or, this one is my favourite, but, but, but, I think I found it, and to my surprise it incorporates one of my least favourite fruits - blueberries.

Recently, as I've mentioned about two or three times now on my blog, that my go-to shake, when I don't feel like thinking, or looking up recipes is a really easy Green Strawberry Mango shake (I really should take a picture and post the recipe so when I do talk about it I can link back to it).  However, I now have this incredible Green Blueberry Mango shake, that I think tops my go-to, and that is saying something, because I absolutely loooooooooove that shake.

When I made this one this morning, I'm not sure what made me think of this concoction, or to think that mango and blueberries would even be a good match, but they are a match as peanut butter and jelly are, it is incredibly, without a doubt divine.  This shake was so creamy, sweet, filling, it was just out of this world.  I can't even describe the flavour pairing, it's just something you have to experience, and luckily for me, I will be experiencing it again after tomorrow mornings work out.

Do yourself a favour, and try this out, heck try it out and try to describe to me the flavours that the party in your mouth is celebrating because it is surely delightful.  Mmmm, I cannot wait to enjoy this again tomorrow morning!

Green Blueberry Mango Shake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 3/4 cup frozen mango chunks
• 2 heaping cups of baby spinach - fresh
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/3 cup 0% fat blueberry Greek yoghurt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 scoop of protein powder

Also, I want to share with you not only todays post work-out smoothie, but what I ate before I headed out to the gym, because it was incredible.  Now, we all know I love pancakes, I don't make them a lot, but they are certainly tied with oatmeal, and, we will throw in crepes to this category as well, since they are basically just thin pancakes.  When I was in university, I hate to admit this, but I ate crepes a loooooooooot.  The cafeteria food drove me bonkers, and crepes were something that made me feel a bit better about myself since they weren't fried or greasy.  My favourite, and only one that I would get was banana and Nutella, oh my word these were amazing.

Now, I have not found many vegan crepe recipes, and the ones that I have come across, truthfully didn't really sound that amazing to me, so I'd never made any.  A few weeks ago, I'd stumbled across a recipe that instantly got my attention.  I saved it, I had planned on making it numerous times and never did.  Last night, as I was going over the recipe, I was planning on deleting the recipe, but then I figured, no way Jose, this caught my attention I need to go through with it, and decided that I would make it for breakfast when I wake up.  Well thank goodness I decided to keep it, because with the killer banana combo I decided to throw in, it was just, blissful.  I mean, the photograph won't do it any justice, since I'm a horrible photographer, but listen to me, today has been incredible for meals and it all started out with this wonderful breakfast.

Magical Peanut Butter Banana Crepes

Recipe slightly adapted from here

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp ground flaxseed
• 1/2 tsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Dash of salt
• 5 tbsp + 1 tsp almond milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tbsp melted coconut oil

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients and then add wet ingredients.  Mix well until you have a smooth batter with no lumps.

Meanwhile heat a medium sized frying pan with a light covering of oil.  Once the pan is hot add a large spoonful of batter to the pan and move the pan in circular motions to spread the batter into a large circle.  Cook for approximately two minutes and then carefully flip to cook the reverse side for approximately one minute until both sides are lightly browned.  Repeat.

I then topped it with this magical banana beast.

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2-3 tbsp crushed peanut butter Puffins cereal
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 2 tbsp maple peanut butter
• Maple syrup
• 1 tbsp peanut butter chips

Directions:

Crush your cereal and add them to a bowl along with the flaxseed and pumpkin pie spice.  Mix until well combined.

Coat your banana with your peanut butter, and then roll it in the spice combination.

I then cut the banana in slices, topped it on the crepes and made it extra sinful by adding maple syrup and peanut butter chips!

Strawberry Orange Tofu Pecan Salad

Lastly, I want to share a quick salad that I've been throwing together the past few days, and definitely enjoyed again today.  It is so easy to make, and by far one of the best salads I have ever created, and even tried for that matter.  You should definitely give it a shot if you're in a rush, or even in a salad slump, this will get you out, and seeking more and more, trust me!

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups of fresh baby spinach
• 3 small strawberries - quartered and then cut in half again
• 1 tsp black sesame seeds
• 1 batch of orange tofu (recipe to follow)
• 1 tbsp chopped pecans

Orange Tofu

Recipe taken from here

Ingredients:

• 1 block extra firm tofu
• 1 orange
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Drain the tofu and wrap in a paper towel. Squeeze the excess water out of the block of tofu and cut it into triangles or cubes.

Peel your orange and smash it in a medium-small lidded bowl, getting it nice and pulp-y.  Stir in the soy sauce, garlic and 1 tbsp of the oil. 

Place your tofu into the marinade, cover with the lid and shake gently so that every piece is covered with the sauce.  Let it marinate for at least 2 hours.

Once the tofu is done marinating, preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.  Add the tofu (but save the marinade!). Cook for 45 minutes or until golden.

Toss your salad components together, and dress with remaining marinade!

How do you spruce up your salads when you're in a rut?

Pancake Post #2 of the Week

Peanut Butter Chocolate Avocado Pancakes

Recipe adapted from here

Last night as I was typing out my post for Peanut Butter and Jam Banana Pancakes my mouth was literally salivating.  I loved those pancakes so much, I mean, what is there to dislike about my favourite sandwich and pancakes all in one beautiful mesh of goodness?  Nothing, that's what.  Well, obviously I was not going to make the same type of pancakes twice in one week, let alone in a measly four days, no of course not.

Last week as I was making my meal plan for the week following (yes, I usually make it a week ahead, so I can tweak it, and make sure I have the proper breakfasts - especially on work out days, and then the proper post-work out shakes, and a lot of protein to go with it for the rest of the day.  I had stumbled across a recipe for chocolate avocado pancakes.  Needless to say this jumped out to me because avocado is such a great way to get healthy fats into your diet.  When you sneak them into pancakes, protein shakes/smoothies brownies, frostings, truffles, puddings or even ice cream, it makes you feel like you're still doing the body good - and that's because you are!

I remember last year the only reason I started eating avocado on a regular basis (other than trying to up my weight in a healthy way) was simply because it was a good way to sneak in good fat's.  I really hated avocado, the flavour, the texture (even though it's practically Mother Nature's butter), it just had the weirdest taste to me, and I'd only really eat it when I would go out for sushi.  I slowly started adding avocado to my favourite bean salads, and then even sandwiches.  I'm not sure if it was the constant exposure I was putting myself through but I no longer dislike this rich fruit, instead I continually seek out ways to get it into my diet, even if it's just mashing it in a bowl with some salsa, salt and pepper, whatever the case I love it.

One thing that's amazing about avocado is that when you add it to baked goods, it makes a really amazing moist result; these pancakes were no different.  This morning, I decided I wasn't going to go see my personal trainer as yesterday I was in a lot of pain, worked through it nonetheless, but when I woke up this morning I definitely felt it and I definitely didn't want to overwork my body when it could just harm it even more.  So, this gave me a lot of time to make a wonderful breakfast (see, here I am again thinking that pancakes take sooooooo long to make, these took a mere minutes what with the additional mashing of the avocado, and making a flaxegg whoop-dee-do.

Between the Peanut Butter and Jam Banana Pancakes and these ones, I can't really decipher which batch I liked more.  Yes, they are two completely different pancakes other than peanut butter and of course the flour, salt, milk etc... if you want to get technical and all, but this is like comparing apples to oranges.  Oh, I also thought I should add, avocado's are also making me kind of a fan of chocolate too ackkkk.  Nonetheless, these pancakes were like biting into moist chewy brownies.  They were fudgy, not too rich, perfectly sweet, full of flavour and just amazing.  I seriously took about twenty minutes just to eat three medium-ish sized pancakes, I did not want them to go away.  They were incredible especially with the specked peanut butter and carob chips, as well as the peanut butter protein powder I snuck in.  Pure perfection.  This would certainly be an amazing pre-work out meal, I'm sure this would give you energy for a loooooong time, and it leaves you really full (but not the gross bloated full feeling!)

This is certainly one to add to your must-try list, I guarantee you will not regret it!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp peanut butter protein powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp fleur de sel
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/2 rip avocado, mashed
• 1/2 tbsp ground flaxseed + 1 1/2 tbsp water
• 1 heaping tbsp peanut butter chips
• 1 heaping tbsp carob chips + more for garnish
• Maple syrup - to garnish
• Sliced banana - to garnish
• Peanut butter - to garnish

Directions:

In a teeny tiny bowl or cup mix your ground flaxseed and water to make your egg.  Allow to sit and thicken for a few minutes.

In a large bowl mix together your flour, cocoa powder, protein powder, baking powder and salt.  Make a well in the center and add your milk, flaxegg and avocado.  Stir together until smooth.  Fold in your peanut butter and carob chips.

Preheat a large greased skilled over medium heat.  Pour in desired amount of batter and swirl to make round.  Flip pancakes when pin size bubbles begin to form.

Plate and top with your desired garnishes or how I did with carob chips, banana, peanut butter and maple syrup.

Adam - this one's for you.

Peanut Butter and Jam Banana Pancakes

Recipe taken from here

 Okay, I know it's been mentioned more than once, more than twice, and unfortunately more than three times as of late as to how much I have been obsessed with peanut butter, jam and bananas together, yes, and I use the word obsessed.  I know I don't make pancakes far as often as I would like... honestly, I'm not even sure why.  When I think of pancakes, a light descends and the lights from my imaginary heaven open up and shine down on me, yes, I love pancakes.  When I think of making pancakes though, I always think of a million and two ingredients, something that takes a decade to make, with five bazillion pots and pans left to clean.  When in reality, pancakes are rather simple to make, with not so many ingredients, unless you include a lot of spices, and really, it takes one bowl, a whisk, spatula/spoon and a pan, it's so easy and takes barely any time at all, especially if you're just cooking for one, which most of the time is my case.

I save so many recipes for pancakes, and I always include them in my weekly meal planning file, but then I usually tend to make something that I think requires less time aka oatmeal.  Dumb, and well, even dumber. I then usually seem to get rid of these recipes because I save more recipes that I want to try out and think to myself, "you're never going to get through all of these recipes Sam!".  Well, I need to stop doing this because I miss out on a lot of really great meals.  However, this is certainly one recipe I was not going to be getting rid of, and certainly will not get rid of after gobbling them down as fast as a wild forest fire burns (sorry...).

I made these on Sunday (yes, perfect day to have pancakes).  After drooling at all the pancake recipes from dozens upon dozens of people posting numerous recipes for Fat Tuesday I figured I definitely needed to have some in my gut by the end of the week.  My boyfriend, best friend, mom and her boyfriend were all away on vacation, I decided I was going to take a rest day from the gym, and so I figured hey why not treat myself, so treating myself is what I did with a big stack of peanut butter and jam banana pancakes.

These pancakes are why peanut butter and jam go so well together.  It's like before this, whatever you thought love was, it was just a myth.  This is brilliant.  It's complete and utter perfection.  It's as if you were in the dark all these years, and Thomas Edison had never invented the lightbulb for you to light your way, that is, until these pancakes came along.  Okay, okay, I need to stop.  I'm literally starting the psychological stage of digestion by talking about this, my salvatory glands are actually beginning to produce saliva and this is not something I want this late at night, where I've already consumed so much food, should no longer be eating anything (eeek, especially the Peanut Butter Cereal I just inhaled), and should really be hopping into bed soon, darn psychological temptations!  Nonetheless, if you are a fan of pancakes, if you are a fan of peanut butter, jam, and bananas, if you are a fan of healthy, and most certainly if you are a fan of delicious food that feels like it should be a dessert and put on the naughty list than this is for you, so stay tuned, because you will be hooked, and trust me, it's not such a bad thing.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/4 cup non-dairy milk 
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• Dash of sea salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp sugar - which I completely forgot to add in

Topping - 

• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 2 tbsp raspberry jam
• 1 sliced banana

Directions:

Preheat griddle to medium-high heat - about 350 degrees. 

Prepare oatmeal by combinging oats and boiling water in a bowl.  Cover and let set for 5 minutes. 

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add remaining wet ingredients to oatmeal, including PB, and mix. Add wet to dry and stir until just combined. Scoop onto lightly greased griddle in 1/4 cup measurements. 

Note: these take a bit longer to cook than traditional pancakes since the oatmeal gives them a lot of moisture – about 2-3 minutes each side. Top with melted peanut butter and jam (I tossed both in a microwave safe dish for 20 seconds until nice and runny). 

Enjoy :)

Just because it's a cheat day doesn't mean it can't still be healthy.

It's been an incredibly long time since I have had pancakes.  When I think about it, I don't think I've enjoyed some of those bad boys since Montreal.  This makes me a bit sad considering pancakes are one of my all-time favourite foods, especially breakfast foods.  I am the biggest fan of cake, I would love if I could have a piece of cake for every meal instead of real food, but that's just not what my body needs, so pancakes are my way of having a little bit of "cake" in a healthy way for breakfast.

My mom and her boyfriend have been on vacation at a chalet for the past nine days, and to be quite franc I've been using up the remaining foods that were left... let me tell you I'm down to the bare minimum and thank heavens they are coming back on Sunday (yes, I have been that lazy/cheap to go out to the grocery store).  Thankfully, there has been ample food up until about two days ago, and now I'm left with condiments and well, not so much else, however I was still able to make pancakes, a beautiful protein-filled broccoli salad and even pistachio pudding for dessert!

With all that being said, my mom left about five million apples (wow, do I seriously exaggerate that much?  Wow).  Anywho, I've had ample apples left in the fridge, and seeing as I wanted to leave my remaining frozen banana for my after-work out smoothie I needed to figure out something else to come up with to fuel before I hit up the gym for yoga/boot camp class.  As I was perusing Katie's blog because I knew she had single serving pancake recipes, I found one for apple pie pancakes, perfect or what?!  Seeing as I still have quite a few apples left I figured this would be awesome.  And let me tell you these pancakes are divine, and it's not just because I'm a pancake lover to the max, or because I haven't tasted any on my tongue for a long time, it incorporated so many flavours that I absolutely love and it was just a perfect fall-holiday medley of flavours.

By steeping the gingerbread tea bag in the coconut milk, the addition of extra cinnamon (since we all know how much I love fall flavours), and the pieces of chopped apple, oh my word.  I am not a fan of pies, not in the least (cake > pie), and apple pie, ehhhh... but I love the flavours that are incorporated in an apple pie (really, I just strongly dislike the pastry that a pie has, but I love the insteriors), and so this pancake was right up my alley, especially when filled with hazelnut peanut butter + apple butter and topped with slivered almonds.  Yes, today may be my "cheat" day, but it doesn't mean I need to cheat by going into my cupboard and diving into the container of chocolate covered raisins, or opening the freezer door and noming down on some candy cane ice cream that I hadn't finished before deciding I would make this year about throwing away the junk.

Yes these pancakes definitely were pure perfection, oh goodness gracious.  I will certainly be keeping this recipe on hand, and will be making these as soon as possible!

Apple Pie Pancakes


Recipe inspired from here

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
• 2 tbsp oats
• 1 apple finely chopped (or 1/2 cup as suggested, I used one whole medium apple)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2/3 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup coconut milk (or other non-dairy milk)
• 1 gingerbread tea bag
• Hazelnut peanut butter + apple butter - to fill the pancakes
• Slivered almonds - to top

Directions:


In a small pot over high heat, bring your milk and tea bag to a boil.  Let steep for seven minutes for full flavour.


Combine your dry ingredients in a bowl, then add wet.  Mix, but do not over-mix.  Cook on an oiled (or sprayed) pan, on low-medium, flipping each pancake once.

(Check out those apple chunks, yummm!)

How do you like to spice up your pancakes?

Oh Canada...

Hellooo,

Ah, another long weekend, thank you Canada!  Yesterday was Canada Day, and I spent the majority of it lounging in bed.  However, at about four o'clock, I left the house, walked downtown Montreal to meet my friend and her family for some Canada Day festivities.  Was fun, however, the majority of it was spent waiting in line, and zooming past people, or trying to avoid people.  Some people are just crazy when it comes to certain things... and you definitely saw a lot of those yesterday.  Later in the evening I walked back home, and waited for her to get home.  I then drove over to her place and we watched The Doors movie... what a fantastic movie.  Jim Morrison might of died young, and he may of only been famous for a few short years, but he certainly enjoyed himself that's for sure.  I loved the movie to bits, and would certainly watch it over and over as the acting was something that honestly I haven't seen in quite some time.

I didn't make any special Canada Day recipes in particular as I didn't really have anyone to cook/bake for since my mom went to Toronto this weekend.  I did however make some summertime inspired recipes that I cannot wait to share with you guys!

As you all know, the ingredients in a Pina Colada are my favourite flavours: pineapple, coconut and banana.  I love them... I have always been a fan, and that will never change.  It doesn't matter how many banana smoothies, pineapples I eat in one sitting, or how many recipes I adapt to have coconut in it somehow, I continue to love them more and more each time I gobble them down.  This morning I wanted to have a special breakfast... it'd been a while since I had pancakes, and I figured why not, it's the weekend, time to indulge!  So what did I come up with?  Pina Colada pancakes, that's what!  I've made some pancakes before that I've completely gobbled up, but honestly, after having these, I don't know if anything can compare (again I am biased since these are my absolute favourite flavours).  The flavour these had were so similar to a Pina Colada that despite the lack of rum and slushiness I was in absolute heaven.  I will certainly be making these over and over, especially during the summer... perhaps for a dinner meal with an actual Pina Colada alongside ;)

For this recipe I adapted my Pancakes for One recipe, and took a pineapple topping recipe from another blog.  The combination of the two were pure bliss, and I highly suggest trying this out!

Pina Colada Pancakes - one serving


Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup spelt flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup rice milk (I ran out of coconut milk, but I definitely think that addition would be marvelous)
• 1 banana mashed 
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp coconut extract
• 2 tbsp coconut flakes
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• Dash of salt

Directions:

Start by mixing your dry ingredients, add in your wet ingredients, finish by adding blueberries at the end. DO NOT over mix, allow your batter to sit for a few minutes so that the flavours really blend.

Topping

Recipe slightly adapted from here

Ingredients:

• 1 cup diced fresh pineapple
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp rice milk
• Pinch black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• Maple syrup

Directions:

Melt 1 tbsp of coconut oil over medium heat in the same skillet.  Add the pineapple and saute for a few minutes.  Then, add the pepper, cinnamon, and milk to the pan. Saute another minute and let the milk thicken up a bit. Spoon the pineapple topping over the pancakes and drizzle with some warm maple syrup.

I have a confession to make... peanut butter and jam aren't the only "classic" meal/snack/breakfast whatever you want to say that I'd never tried before.  When I told my work friend, and then when she later told her husband I think they both about died of shock.  However, up until yesterday, not only had I never made chili before, I'd never ever tried chili before.  I don't know how I went twenty-two years (as of next Thursday... birthdaaaayy) without ever trying chili.  I admit, part of it is because I'm really not a stew person, second is because I gave up red meat almost ten years ago, and up until only two years or so ago when I started cooking for myself vegetarian chili wasn't really an option.  Yesterday however, I wanted some chili.  As I mentioned, lately, I've been eating legumes like there's no tomorrow, every meal I've been trying to incorporate some sort of legume, I'm not sure if my body is craving it or what but I've been stocking up on canned beans like crazy.

I did not realize how cheap, easy and delicious chili is.  I mean first off, with the amount of food that goes into a pot of chili for such a little price it's amazing.  Especially considering the meals I make at home 95% of the time I'm the sole person who eats them, that's a huuuuge saving's in money.  It amounts to a lot of leftover meals where I do not have to cook, and leaves my belly incredibly full, my body nutritionally satisfied, I get more than enough protein, fiber, fat, iron, magnesium and more minerals, and it tastes' suppppperrrrr good.  If I had of known how amazing chili was all these years it would of definitely been my go-to meal.

Seeing as I'd never had or made chili before I was a little, mmm... shy as to knowing what goes in a chili.  At first I read a few different recipes to get some ideas, but by the end the only thing I kept from the original recipe were the spices since that I wouldn't of had a clue about.  I called this my kitchen-sink chili because I really threw in whatever I had lying around, the result?  Two huge bowls of delicious chili got quickly gobbled down, and me wanting more but knowing I should save some for a rainy day.  I cannot wait to make another batch of chili because... it's just too fantastic to not make again!

Kitchen-Sink Chili

Recipe inspired from here

Ingredients:

• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup sweet red pepper, chopped
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces
• 1 heaping tbsp of minced garlic 
• 1 1/2 cups chopped cremini mushrooms
• 1 1/2 cups chopped leeks
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less, depending on how spicy you like your chili)
• 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• Ground sea salt and black pepper
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, including the liquid
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 box of vegetable broth 

Directions:

In a 4 to 6 quart Dutch oven or stockpot, sautée the chopped vegetables in one to two tbsp of olive oil on medium-high heat. You’ll need to stir the ingredients every few minutes so they can cook evenly.

Once the onions start turning translucent, turn the heat down to medium-low. Add all of the spices and canned ingredients, and stir. Cover for about two hours, stirring occasionally. By the time your chili is done, the sweet potatoes should be nice and soft and the liquid should have reduced a bit, producing the hearty chili consistency that we all know and love.

To garnish your bowl of chili, (this is simply taken from the original recipe... I simply had mine with a side of terriyaki rice crackers, no topping was necessary) - try adding a dollop of sour cream and chopped green onions. Real Simple suggested thinly sliced radishes; frankly, I would go without. Alternately, you could try fresh cilantro and grated cheese.

How did you spend your Canada long weekend?

Did you make any special meals?

Savory snacks and breakfast ideas.

Hello everyone!

Hope everyone is having a good week so far, it may only be Tuesday... but that means three more sleeps then it's a long weekend, woohoo!  I'm not sure what this weekend will bring, but I definitely plan on getting some biking in, as well as shopping on Rue St-Catherine... because well, it's a shopaholics dream!  Thursday I'm going to do boxing with one of my co-workers!  I am so, so excited for this.  I have been wanting to do boxing for quite some time... every time I see people on The Biggest Loser, I feel a huge bout of jealous towards them.  Unfortunately however, one of the things that drew me to this particular boxing gym was that they offered MMA classes... but they cancelled them, so instead I will be doing female boxing.  We shall see what that brings, but I definitely look forward to that.  Perhaps I'll even try some hot yoga this weekend, it's supposed to rain for the rest of the week UNTIL Sunday, really?!  Long weekends are supposed to be beautiful... I'm just hoping that the weatherman is wrong :)!

I'm so excited about this blog too.  This morning I woke up and had a comment... (okay, it's not like I never get comments, but they're not something that happen on a regular basis, and every time I get a comment I always jump with glee).  Well this morning when I got a comment (I had woken up in the middle of the night at about 3:00 am, checked my phone and saw the comment in my inbox.  When I woke up I had a new follower, as well as noticed that my blog post for the Avocado-Lime Whip Fruit Medley Pizza in a Cinnamon Sugar Crust got put on Foodgawker!  I definitely felt like I had won the lottery, then I opened up blogger to write this post and another new follower, two in one day!  That has never happened before, I am so excited :)!  With that I just wanted to say a quick thank you to all of those who do check out my posts!

Now, onto my posts.  This summer one of my goals is to eat a diet primarily from local foods.  My mom and I live only a couple of minutes away from Jean-Talon Marcher, so I mean there isn't really an excuse not to do so.  Eating locally is going to mean beautiful, delicious, juicy, in season fruits and vegetables.  Over the weekend we stocked our fridge with an abundance of deliciousness, we really looked like French people (with the addition of her wine bottles), but it feels great; eating a vegan diet/eating local foods, perfect.

By going to Jean-Talon it has allowed me to give into my fruit-cravings.  I've been trying to curve my sweet tooth... before moving to Montreal let's just say I was going a little crazy with some of the sweets I was eating.  Ever since I started working out more heavily (doing my yoga/strength as well as biking) I've noticed a big difference in my desire for sweets.  If I do crave sweets now, I've been going to fruits... or vegetables dressed up as dessert...

Chocolate Coconut Kale Chips

Recipe adapted from here

 

The first time I made crispy kale... it wasn't such a good experience.  I wanted them to be "crispier" so I had put them in the oven for an additional two minutes... they went from crisp, to burnt, to the fire alarm going off.  I still ate the ones that were intact but... that was not fun.

Then I had tried making Crispy Kale again.  I was in food heaven.  I sat on the couch and just couldn't stop eating them, they are seriously addiction.  When I found this recipe I just about died, coconut + kale, heeeeellllooooo!  I felt as though this recipe was made for me.  Well, needless to say I picked up kale or as the French would say "chou frisee (my computer won't let me put the accent on the e)".  I had soaked my cashews before we left, and a couple of hours I was in the kitchen.  Oh heaven sent is what this recipe was.  Chocolate and all I was in heaven.  I've been munching on these for the past couple of days... trying not to eat more than I packed in my lunch but I wanted them to last more than one sitting, but it's hard to not dig into the container some more when I get home.  These are definitely rated at the high, high peek of my favourite snacks to date.  They are just amazing.  Yeah, there may be some sugar/fat, but it's all healthy!  Plus it's not a potato, it's kale!  Hallelujah!  You can guess kale is going to be on my grocery list again this week.  I'm going to make it a goal of mine to make crispy kale each week so I have healthy snacks if I'm craving any sort of sweets, oh heck yes.  Oh... maybe I'll make a barbecue version this week, meuhahaha.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of kale, washed and ribs removed
• 1/2 cup cashews, soaked
• 1/2 cup raspberry agave nectar
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup coconut flakes
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

Directions:

Soak cashews in water for at least an hour (4-6 hours ideal).  Remove the soaked cashews and add all the other ingredients (except the kale) to a food processor or blender.  Blend until mixture is smooth to make the chocolate coconut coating.  Pour this mixture over a bowl of washed, de-stemmed kale leaves and toss to coat.

Transfer coated kale to a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake at 300F for about 20 minutes.  Flip, and bake for another 10 minutes, give or take.  Watch them closely because the honey/agave/maple mixture can burn quickly and it’s hard to tell with the dark chocolate color if they are burning or not.  

Remove crispy chips one by one if necessary.  

... now, if you have kale in the fridge (or if you don't get into your car and get some) and make these!  You will not regret it!

Now for some breakfasts' and other snacks that I have been enjoying.

Gingerbread Molasses Pancakes for One

Recipe by me

 

Pancakes, pancakes, pancakes.  My favourite.  My love.  My heart's desire.  I love them.  These may not look all decked out, because I couldn't really glorify-beautify them at work... but they're tastes' was definitely glorious.  I took my Pancakes for One recipe and adapted it so that it would feature my favourite flavours; "fall flavours".  Mmmm, these tasted like gingerbread men/molasses cookies, they were frickin' amazing!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup spelt flour (or just use 1/2 cup whole wheat or what you have on hand)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Dash of salt
• 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
• 3/4 tsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tbsp candied ginger
• 1 tbsp molasses

Directions:

Start by mixing your dry ingredients, add in your wet ingredients, finish by adding blueberries at the end. DO NOT over mix, allow your batter to sit for a few minutes so that the flavours really blend.

Cook as you normally would your typical pancakes.

... I took that same recipe and made Raspberry Banana Pancakes for One

 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup spelt flour (or just use 1/2 cup whole wheat or what you have on hand)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Dash of salt
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 3/4 tsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 mashed banana
• Handful of raspberries

Did the same directions etc... then made a Raspberry Compote

Mixed 3/4 cup frozen raspberries + 1 tbsp raspberry agave nectar + 1 tbsp coconut oil = in a medium pot stirred the mix for 4-5 minutes until it looked like the consistency I wanted.

I topped the pancakes with the compote, the remaining of the banana - sliced, and more raspberry agave nectar, they were deeee-lish!

Note: if you're raspberries are tart add more sugar, if they are juicy and amazing you don't need to add sugar unless you have a really big sweet tooth ;)

Apple Cupcakes

Recipe inspired from here

 

Can you go wrong with apples?  I don't think so.  I love apples... in all shapes and forms, desserts, cakes or cookies, I love apples.  When I saw Angela's version of Apple Cupcakes I knew it would be a quick snack to put together, it's healthy and with the addition of peanut butter you have some good fats/protein, win!  This certainly was delicious, and it was fun to eat because I even ate it like a cupcake, haha... it felt weird eating an apple that way but hot dang it was goooood.

Ingredients:

Half number 1:

• Vanilla yoghurt
• Balsamic reduction strawberries (strawberries marinated in balsamic vinegar + granulated sugar overnight)
• 1/2 of a cored apple

Half number 2:

• Blueberry peanut butter - I made this peanut butter over the weekend and it reminded me of being a kid... when my mom would make me blueberry pancakes and I would top them with creamy, dripping peanut butter, mmmmm) - I heated the peanut butter too so that it's nice and warm :)
• Granola
• Coconut flakes
• 1/2 of a cored apple

Directions: 

Core apple and cut in half. Place apple cut side up and add your layers.

Blueberry Peanut Butter

Recipe taken from here

Ingredients:

• 2 cups peanuts
• 2/3 cup dried blueberries (unsweetened)
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Up to 1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a food processor for about 5 minutes; scrape the sides every minute or two, until mixture is smooth and creamy

Taste and add salt if needed; run food processor for another 30 second.

Store in a leftover nut butter jar or tupperware container at room temperature for up to a month.

Cherry Bomb Vegan Overnight Oats

Recipe slightly adapted from here

 

And finally for yesterday's breakfast... it may not be the prettiest looking of breakfast's... I blame that on the rain, but it sure tasted good.  I have always loved eating cherries, but I couldn't eat them.  What?  There is just something about fruits with pits that I can't do... I mean last year, my mom's boyfriend accidentally bought grapes with seeds in them, I literally spent an hour cutting them in half and de-pitting them.  I'm sure I could of used a cherry pitter... but I do not have one, and I love grapes... I just can't do seeds, so I did what I had to do.  It wast tedious and long but well worth it.  A couple of weeks ago however when I was at Costco and found a huuuuge bag of frozen cherries I quickly threw them into the cart before my mom could say anything :D!

Last summer I had seen this recipe but never made it because I did not want to de-pit 1/3 cup of cherries and get red stains all over my clothes (no matter how gorgeous cherry red may be).  Instead I waited until yesterday morning and made it.  It was good, yes it was.  It wasn't pretty, but it sure was easy to eat, yummy.  I will be making this again this summer for sure, especially so I can make the picture prettier ;), until then you can always check out Angela's picture for motivation to make it haha.

Cherry Bomb Banana Soft Serve

• Process 1 frozen banana with about 1/3 cup frozen cherries and a touch of soy milk

Cherry Bomb Vegan Overnight Oats:

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup regular oats
• 1/3 cup x 2 cup soy milk
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of sea salt (tiny!)
• 1 tbsp chia seeds

Directions: 

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl and then add the wet ingredients and whisk. Place in fridge overnight or for 45 mins-2 hours in the fridge. Make Cherry Bomb soft serve (above) and layer in a dish.

What kind of breakfasts' have you been enjoying this week?

Pancakes for one.

As I have mentioned on more than one occasion breakfast is by far my favourite meal of the day. I have also mentioned just how much I love anything in cake form especially pancakes. I usually leave the weekend for my "goodies" day... even though during the week I definitely munch on healthy vegan cookies or some delicious vegan ice cream (scroll all the way to the bottom for recipe). Despite all of this, the weekends are usually my pancake days, because here I can dress them and stuff them with anything I desire since my best work outs are usually on the weekend as well so I feel guilt-less.

With all of this being said, I knew I wanted to have pancakes on the weekend. I can't remember what night during the week (well okay, almost every night last week I slept for a mere hour... yes insomnia really is something I wish I could just kick, but it always seems to come back). Well, that one night after sitting in bed for hours upon hours, thinking and thinking, I decided to get out of bed and make a compote-syrup sort of thing. At this point I was already thinking of my weekend meal and I wanted these pancakes to be spectacular. Well, I had mint, so I figured hey why not use mint? Well I decided I would pair it with blueberries... I thought it would be a weird combination, but funny enough it was actually really tasty. Despite how much mint I actually used, the mint wasn't even overpowering the sweetness from the blueberries went very well with the mint and I'm sure the maple syrup had a little bit of help in there as well!

So here is what I did.

Blueberry-Mint Compote-Syrup

Recipe by me

In a small pot, over low heat I threw together: 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1 1/4 tbsp water... I let it simmer for ~ 10 minutes until it was syrupy. At this point I mashed the blueberries a bit (you could use a potato masher if you don't want any lumpy berries at all, but I did so I left out the masher). At the end I threw in 3 tbsp chopped mint, mixed it together and let it cool overnight.

Now is where the deliciousness with the compote-syrup comes in. I decided to try and make a pancake mix of my own with out looking at any recipes and win it was! (Seriously my insomnia is making me very creative... perhaps its a bittersweet happening)

Whole Wheat Spelt Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup spelt flour (or just use 1/2 cup whole wheat or what you have on hand)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Dash of salt
• 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
• 3/4 tsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/2 tbsp sunflower seeds

Directions:

Start by mixing your dry ingredients, add in your wet ingredients, finish by adding blueberries at the end. DO NOT over mix, allow your batter to sit for a few minutes so that the flavours really blend.

Cook as you normally would your typical pancakes. Between each pancake top with your blueberry mint compote-syrup, top with additional maple syrup, gobble up!

Yields four small pancakes - perfect for one!

What are your favourite pancakes, and do you see them as being weekend treats?

WHOO-HA.

This past weekend my mom and her boyfriend went snowmobiling, and I stayed home, since well, I don't take part in that activity. However, being the end of the week and we do our groceries on Sunday mornings we didn't have much food in the fridge. I was scared to see if I would even be able to find any food for breakfast let alone the whole day. My mom however, being the Saint she is left me $50.00. I was supposed to ask my brother to take me however work called him in early so I was unable to. I then asked my dad and he said he would, but I was really feeling under the weather. I woke up with a really sore neck, nausea, chills, and all around lethargy. I ended calling my dad back and saying that I would just work with what I've got since I really didn't feel up to getting dressed and out of bed.

Cherry Chip Cake Batter Pancakes

Recipe adapted from here

For breakfast I was able to whip something up quite easily. I had really wanted oatmeal, but I am now hooked on mixing banana into my oats since that's what all the recipes I've been following have been doing. The banana gives the oatmeal such a perfect fluff I feel like with out the banana there would be a lack of fluff and a lack of sweet flavour. Then I was going to make a smoothie, but we were all out of fruit, excluding apples, oranges and frozen peaches... and I wasn't in the mood for any of that. I then remembered seeing a recipe for pancakes the other day. However, these aren't just any pancakes. No my friends. This is the heavens gift to the world, or... more like Jessica's gift from How Sweet It Is. Regardless, it's a gift nonetheless, and a perfect gift at that.

This recipe is for pancakes yes, we have already gone over that. But, it's with something I could only dream of having in my pancakes; cake batter! Woooooooo, I can't hear you! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Oh yes, I was so insanely excited when I saw this. I have had a box of cherry chip cake mix sitting in my cupboards for ages. I'm not sure why it's been sitting there forever since I absolutely love them but this was the perfect opportunity to use them. I pretty much followed the recipe except for a couple things. The outcome? Scrumptious. Oh my goodness. I absolutely adored them. I reduced the recipe by more than half since I was only making it for me. I ended up with three cute, but filling pancakes. They were perfect. Cupcake batter flavour + pancake batter density = match made in heaven. I decided to top the pancakes with some healthy plain yoghurt mixed with hazelnut agave nectar sprinkled with cutesy pink and white hearts. It was such a great way to start a sick-feeling morning.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cherry chip cake mix
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 6 tbsp water
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 cups soy milk

Yoghurt Topping:

• 1/4 cup plain yoghurt
• 1 tsp hazelnut agave nectar
• Pink and white heart sprinkles
  

Directions:

In a bowl combine ground flaxseed and water. Let sit for about five minutes until it thickens.

Combine flour, cake mix, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and mix. Add 1 cup of milk, your flax mixture, vanilla extract and stir until smoothe. You want the batter to look like regular pancake batter; not too thin, not too thick. This will vary greatly on the brand of cake mix you use. Start with 1 cup of milk and add more if needed.

Preheat a skillet on medium heat. Pour batter in 1/4 cup measurements onto skillet and let cook until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 minute more. Serve with yoghurt topping and sprinkles.

Tomato Spinach Soup

Recipe adapted from here

Next was time for lunch. The other night I had made a beautiful tomato and spinach soup, thankfully I had some leftover because I’m not quite sure what I would have scraped together. The other night when I had made this I was so overcome with joy. Before this I had only had one other tomato soup, and that was the one I had made in the summer. At the time I really enjoyed that tomato soup. However, after having this one, I would say that that one had nothing on this bad boy. I really enjoyed this soup, it reminded me of when I was younger and my mom would make tomato sauce. She would put the stove on before she went to bed, and would let it simmer all night. With the hours of the tomatoes simmering, by the time we’d awake in the morning the house smelt so ripe and luxurious. I used to love waking up to those warm scents. When I made this all those feelings rushed through me again.

This was chunky, hearty, and overall delightful. We all gobbled this down. With the added homemade bread and cheese it was incredibly pleasurable. I was so glad when I remembered there were leftovers. We never really have many leftovers so today was perfect. However, today I had my soup with a side of cinnamon raisin oatmeal bread oh it was so satisfying.

Ingredients:

• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 - 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
• 1 - 14 oz. can of whole tomatoes
• 2 cups of vegetable stock
  
• 1 tsp of sea salt
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1/2 tsp of fresh ground black pepper8 spinach nuggets - equal to about 2 cups chopped spinach
• 2 tsp oregano
• 3 pieces of bread - toasted
• Parmesan cheese (I used vegan cheese on mine, Parmesan on the others)

Directions:

In a saucepan, saute garlic in olive oil on medium heat for 1 minute - being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the crushed tomatoes. Add the whole tomatoes one at a time, squeezing them into the pan to break them up. Add the juice from the whole tomatoes, as well. Add chicken stock, salt, pepper and sugar. Add the spinach. Cook the soup on medium at a simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve topped with crusty, toasted bread and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

Avocado Soft-Serve

Recipe by me.

For dinner I had the last of the frozen tilapia. I had an orange, and then I had some vegetables. There really wasn’t any food so that’s what I had. At this point it was about 6:15 pm, and I still hadn’t done my work out. I really wanted to do my work out but I was worried as to what I was going to eat for my protein. I had no bananas, and I love having my banana soft serve with protein powder, or mixing yoghurt with protein powder but I just wasn’t in the mood for that. What I really was craving was my banana soft serve but as mentioned there were no bananas. I had however remembered that the other I had frozen a large avocado. I was thinking what I could do with that avocado and my protein powder. Seeing as avocados are creamy, and once you process the banana it becomes creamy I figured why not try making avocado soft-serve, there was nothing to lose.

I grabbed my food process, grabbed my ingredients, and set out. This was… I’m not even sure how to describe it. I love my banana soft serve but this seriously gave the banana soft-serve a run for it’s money. It was so creamy, so delicious, and just overall gratifying. Next time I make my work out and I have to choose between avocado or banana soft-serve I’m not sure which one I will pick, maybe I will make a combination as I did with the banana and strawberries. It was incredibly delightful and I definitely recommend making this, plus the colour was simply stunning. The colour didn't really come through well in the picture since I took this at about 7:30 pm but it was a beautiful peppermint-green, ahhhh. This was definitely the highlight of my day... even more so than the pancakes, scrumptious.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 avocado, frozen
• 1 tbsp soy milk
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1/4 cup plain yoghurt
• 2 tsp minced ginger

Directions:

In the bowl of your food processor start with your avocado and soy milk. Once an “ice cream” consistency begins to form add in your ginger, yoghurt and protein powder. Process until well mixed and creamy.

I'm curious what kind of meals do you tend to make when there is "nothing" left in the house to eat?