An array of smoothies + a batch of cookies.

Like I said yesterday, I thoroughly enjoyed the Peanut Butter Cup Smoothies and knew that I would be seeing them more than once this week.  This morning, I made the smoothie again, however, I added oats to make it even more filling since lunch is going to be later this morning due to the fact that they didn't start filming until a little later today.  The oats are definitely helping, seeing as I ate breakfast at seven this morning, since I woke up at 2:00 am and didn't go back to sleep, and did my one hour of biking at 5:00 am (thankfully my mom didn't awake from the noise), but it meant that my schedule was a lot earlier than usual.  I have to say a mere two tbsp of oats definitely goes a long way.

The smoothie was just as delicious (why wouldn't it be?) and it had a nice earthy-oat additional flavour... it was like an oatmeal peanut butter cookie.  In my morning smoothies, if I'm being lazy, and just want a simple five or so ingredient smoothie I stick to 1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup soy milk, 1/2 cup water, handful of spinach, and 1 scoop of peanut butter protein powder, which don't get me wrong is one of my favourite ways of having a smoothie, but having real peanut butter vs protein powder just makes it that much creamier and smoother.  I have a feeling when my protein powder is done I will be sticking to regular peanut butter from then on, not only is it /cough cheaper (as my protein was $100... yes it was a lot), but it also takes much less cupboard space since I used peanut butter for more than one thing, and those giant protein powder containers can be room-taking.

So, I literally did the same thing for my smoothie this morning, but I'll add the ingredients anyway.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Smoothie

Recipe by me

Ingredients:

• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 cup rice milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 handful of spinach
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp homemade peanut butter 
• 2 tbsp oats

Topped with:

• Peanuts
• Cacao nibs

Coconut Oatmeal Almond Cookies

Recipe thoroughly adapted from here

 

Speaking of oatmeal cookies.  Over the weekend I made some delicious oatmeal cookies.  It had been forever since I've had a hearty, oaty cookie, and I'd been craving a big-fluffy cookie for a few days.  That's when I got into the kitchen and started my masterpiece.  I was going to my families house over the weekend too so it was a perfect reason to make cookies right?  I mean, I have two four year old cousins, what kid doesn't like oatmeal cookies, and what parent doesn't love to give their child a healthy cookie (minus the granulated sugar).  Oh, it felt weird putting granulated sugar into a recipe, it's been months since I've even touched granulated sugar... I reduced the amount of sugar however, and the cookies still came out delightfully.  I changed the recipe quite a bit, and boy were they a hit.  I gave some to the accountant at work though and she thought they were "too full of oatmeal", which made me laugh so she's giving them to her children haha.  I enjoyed them a lot, and oh, so did my mother let me tell you...


Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup grapeseed + 2 tbsp
• 1 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut meat
• 1/2 + 3 tbsp cup sliced almonds
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp raspberry agave nectar
• 4 tbsp rice milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a mixing bowl add all of the ingredients. Combine with a rubber spatula and/or using your hands to mix thoroughly.

Place spoonfuls of cookies 2 inches apart, as they will expand during baking, and flatten slightly with a fork or your fingers.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until they begin to brown around the edges. Cool cookies in cookie sheets for about 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

In my "writer's block" period as we shall call it, I was still cooking... baking not so much, photographing very little, but when I was starting to get back into it, I was simply taking pictures of my breakfasts' as my lunch and dinners were really, really... uninspiring.  I'm just going to post some of my favourite's.  They were all good, and if you like the flavour combination's that they hold then you will probably enjoy them as much as I did :).

This smoothie was very good, thick, and creamy.  It had wonderful tropical flavours, and the avocado wasn't too overwhelming.  I changed up the recipe a bit, just so I could use up certain ingredients, and to also play around with the flavours how I would of liked to see them in the drink.  I enjoyed the drink thoroughly and really enjoyed the minty-green colour of the drink, it was a perfect way to start a weekend as it was very filling!

Pina-vocado Smoothie

Recipe adapted from here 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (therefore it was thinner than store-bought OJ so I added more water to the smoothie)
• 1/2 cup water
• Core of one frozen pineapple
• 1/2 avocado
• 1/2 of a frozen banana
• 1 tbsp rice milk
• Coconut meat to garnish

Directions:

Blend and enjoy.

Choco-cherry Banana Smoothie

Recipe by me

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cherries + 1/4 cup whole cherries
• 1/2 cup chocolate soy milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 tsp almond extract
• Slivered almonds, coconut flakes, carob chips

Directions:

Blend and enjoy.

Tropical Smoothie

Recipe by me

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup mango
• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

Directions:

Blend and enjoy.

Peachy-keen Smoothie

Recipe by me

Ingredients:

• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 frozen peaches
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon + more to garnish

Directions:

Blend top with additional cinnamon and enjoy.

Enjoy :)

Put the lime in the coconut?

Everyone else enjoying their long weekend?

I hope so.  Today was an absolutely gorgeous day.  This morning when my mom and I left for Jean-Talon Marcher it looked like it was going to pour, and thankfully by the time we left the sky was gorgeous, the air was crisp, and the wind was warm.  I was so excited for the rest of the day.  We came home and I immediately hit the kitchen.

I started chopping radishes, grating carrots, cleaning the fridge, moving containers around, etc... I then decided I wanted to make kale chips as I was craving some crunch... but unfortunately that is not what I got... no, not even close.  Some of them were crunchy yes, but... I definitely did not rinse them off enough after I washed them and well it looked like a swamp on my baking sheet, yuck.  I didn't even think of trying out the crispy ones to see if the flavour was good I just threw them out... I'm kind of regretting that now as I really want to know how they tasted.  I decided to do an Asian flavoured chip... so I will have to try it again this week once I get another bunch of kale, which will probably be tomorrow as my mom and I want to return to the marcher.

After my kitchen-work I biked for twenty minutes, I really wasn't feeling it today.  On another note, I really wish I had a speedometer for my bike since I bike in my living room but I'm at a constant speed and I don't stop at all (i.e. downhill) for 20 minutes and don't have a clue as to how "far" I am actually going.  After I did my work out I went to go get ready for the day, then I started my day off in sort of a gluttony way.

Last night I made some of the most amazing muffins ever.  I've been craving muffins so much lately and unfortunately I didn't have my muffin pan in Montreal until last night (since yesterday the accountant from Toronto her husband came to visit so my mom's boyfriend dropped off more of my baking supplies at their house)!  Needless to say I was incredibly, incredibly happy.  I had been eying a coconut muffin recipe for about two months now and until last night I hadn't made it.

Well let me just say, these muffins are going to kill me.  I love them so much.  I had three this morning.  Seriously I felt like such a glutton, but it was so worth it, I love them, even my mom has snuck a few into her stomach ;)

Very Coco-Nutty Muffins

Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup spelt flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup grapeseed
• 1 cup light coconut milk
• 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, lightly toasted + more for sprinkling on top
• 1 tsp vanilla (or coconut extract)

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the spelt flour/whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine the banana, maple syrup, grapeseed oil, and coconut.

Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir just to combine.  Fold in the coconut flakes. Spoon the mixture into a muffin pan lined with muffin cups and garnish with more coconut, if desired.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Store muffins in an air-tight container at room temperature.


After chowing down on three delicious, moist, coco-amazing muffins I made an amaziiiiiing breakfast.  Oh my goodness, I seriously thought I was going to die.  I didn't think my breakfast was going to trump my muffins but oh boy... between the two I don't know which was better.

Banana Split Overnight Oats


Recipe inspired from here

 

Holy moly... this was sooooooo good.  My mom who usually doesn't comment on the looks of my food even said it looked delicious,  yes, it looked gorgeous and tasted a million times better.


I started with my overnight oats:


Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup oatmeal
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbsp coconut cream
• Dash of sea salt
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:


Mix all ingredients together, cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit overnight in fridge or for at least two hours.


Next I chopped a banana in half.  Added my oats on top of the banana.  Added raspberry jam.  Then dumped a gigantic dollop of peanut butter, and added flaked coconut.


This was coco-nutty, jammy, and full of delicious peanut butter.  It seriously was one of the most perfect breakfasts' ever.  This is why I love weekends, they always seem to bring the most memorable breakfasts'.  This is just as easy to make during the week, but on the weekend I can actually sit to really savour and take in my meal and this was so freakin' good!


My mom and I then headed out to do some shopping!  Oh, I definitely spent money, but the clothes I bought were so beautiful I can't wait to wear them!  At 2:30 pm, we then headed to get facials.  My face feels like a babies bottom, I love it.  I had never gotten a facial done before and boy was it wonderful.  I love the way my skin feels... how it looks however, not so much.  I have red spots all over, but... the softness, ahhhh!


By the time we came home I was starving... I decided I wanted to put more flavours of the tropic into my diet... I already started off with so much why not add a little bit more?  Oh I did, and oh I loved it.  My mother was quite impressed.


Tropical Fruit Salsa

Recipe inspired from here

I've never been much of a fan of salsa... but when I recently came across for a salsa with fruits I couldn't pass it up, especially when it were fruits that I consume into my diet each and everyday.


I loved this salsa.  It was refreshing.  It was tropical.  It was filling (also because I made ginger terriyaki tofu), but it was wonderful.  This really was a good match to go with the salsa.  I loved this and will be making this again.  This would be wonderful with cinnamon sugar pita chips, oh... I may just have to do that sometime soon =D!


Ingredients:

• 1/2 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into small pieces
• 1 banana, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 1 mango
• Flaked coconut - to taste
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/2 lime, juice
• 1 handful cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Mix everything, serve and gobble away.

 

How was your Saturday?  Did you check out your local Farmer's Market?