Garlic Tomato Polenta

Fast, easy and full of garlicky goodness! This is one of my go-to meals. It's really filling and so cheap - A package of polenta lasts quite a few meals and it is really nice to my budget.

Baked Polenta with garlic tomato sauce and nutritional yeast.

Ingredients:

1c Polenta
Nutritional Yeast (to top)

For the Sauce:
1/2 c diced tomatoes
1 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Slice polenta into rounds of about 1/2 cm thick and place in a baking pan.
3. In a bowl, combine the spices and dices tomatoes, then pour over top of the polenta.
4. Put the baking pan in the oven and let bake for 18-20 minutes.
5. Once the polenta is done, send it to the plate and top off with some nutritional yeast!

Blue Smoothie Bowl

This smoothie bowl features the antioxidant filled berry - Blueberries! Simple bowl, filled with lots of goodness.

Blue Smoothie Bowl topped with some super foods!

Ingredients:

1 Banana
1 c frozen blueberries
1 c unsweetened, plain almond milk

To top:
Pumpkin seeds, hemp hearts, goji berries

Directions:

1. Blend together the banana blueberries and almond milk until it is all smooth! I use a Kenwood hand mixer, but anything from a vitamin to a magic bullet would work!

2. Pour it into a bowl and top it off with hemp hearts, pumpkin seeds and goji berries.

Salted Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal

Oatmeal for breakfast is something I will never get tired of. It's quick, filling and oh-so versatile. This is a favourite of mine- It reminds me of Tim Hortons Hot Chocolate and makes me smile. Another great thing about oatmeal is how many extras you can add to make it even more beneficial, like chia and flax!

Salted Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal - A mature, breakfast twist on Timmy Ho's Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:

1/4 c Quick Oats (I use Only Oats brand - they are guaranteed gluten-free)
3/4 c water
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp plain, unsweetened almond milk
1 tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
Pink Himalayan Rock salt to taste
Whole, unsweetened cranberries to garnish

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pot, combine the water and oats and set stove to medium heat. Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally so the oats don't gunk up.

2. While the oats cook, get a bowl and mix together the cocoa powder, chia seeds and flax seeds.

3. Once the oats are done, pour into the bowl and combine with the cocoa, chia and flax. Once well mixed, add the maple syrup and almond milk. Stir until well mixed.

4. Add some Pink Himalayan Rock salt (the stuff is fab) to your taste preference and mix in.

5. Top off with some cranberries, because cranberries and chocolate were a match made in heaven. 

Start your day right with a hearty bowl of oats!

Chocolate Cashew Cups

THESE. These were a little something I whipped up for Valentines Day for some of the people I love dearly. These are vegan, gluten free and naturally sweetened! (except for the chocolate cup and hearts) Decadent chocolate loving in 3 layers and a secret caramel filling! They have been approved by my taste testers so here it is.

Chocolate Cashew cups for some beauties- J, A & R.
Shout-out to them for encouraging me to start this blog. xo

Ingredients:

For chocolate cups & hearts:
Enjoy Life chocolate mini chips

For layer 1:
1c jumbo cashews
8 dates (soaked for 2hrs)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 c maple syrup

For layer 2:
1 c jumbo cashews (soaked for 2 hrs)
2 tbsp cashew butter
2 dates (soaked)
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/8 c maple syrup
1/4 c & 1 tbsp coconut milk

For layer 3:
3/4 c jumbo cashews (soaked)
2 dates (soaked)
2 tbsp almond milk

For caramel filling:
1/4 c coconut milk
1/4 c maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Place the chocolate chips in a bowl and melt them down. I like putting them in a glass bowl and placing it on top of a small sauce pot of boiling water to avoid burning the chocolate. I find it also melts it very smoothly. Once the chocolate is melted school some into cupcake moulds and spread it up the sides to give yourself a chocolate cup for the base. Place these in the fridge and let them harden. Fill an icing bag with some of the melted chocolate and pipe out whatever shapes you'd like (I went with the hearts and initials in hearts etc) onto some wax paper laid on a baking sheet then moved them into the fridge to harden.

2. While the cups are hardening get started on layer one. Blend all the ingredients together in either a food processor or with a hand mixer until fairly smooth. Depending on your taste you can blend it all together very well or leaving some chunks. Both are still delicious. Once it is all blended bring out your chocolate cup and spread a layer at the bottom of each cup then place the cups back in the fridge.

3. Take all the ingredients for layer 2 and blend away. Once it is blended to your desired consistency (I like it fairly smooth) bring back your chocolate cups and top off another layer. When doing this, leave a small space in the centre open. DO NOT USE ALL OF THE FILLING! You'll need some later. Get to direction 4 and find out why! (ou, anticipation!) Once this is done, send the chocolate cups back to the fridge.

4. Caramel time! Grab a small sauce pot and put in the coconut milk, maple syrup and vanilla extract. heat on low (about 2 or 3) until it is simmering. Whisk the mixture every so often until it begins to thicken. You should be good after about 10 minutes. Then remove the sauce pot from heat and let it cool a bit (approx. 8 minutes) Remove the chocolate cups from the freezer and guess what… fill the empty space you left in the last direction with caramel! You can let the caramel overflow a bit so you have a nice layer of it. Once the warm caramel his the cold cashew filling, it solidifies fairly quickly-while still staying chewy!

5. Remember that layer 4 filling we saved a bit of? Now it is time to whip it out and top off the cashew cup, covering the caramel so it remains a secret surprise!

6. Layer 3, lets go. Blend together your cashews, dates and almond milk until it is well blended. I like it as kind of a whipped topping, so I took out my beaters and whipped it up  a bit after I blended them, but either way works! Top off your chocolate cashew cups with this making it pretty.

7. The aesthetics aren't done yet! It's time for chocolate hearts, or whatever else you want to make. Take them out of the fridge and stick 'em on.

Note: Keep these desserts in the fridge! Otherwise it will get kind of gooey. They also just taste better when they are a little chilled. Now eat them! Now!

Happy Valentines Day J, A & R xox

Strawberry Banana Smoothie Bowl

Another smoothie bowl. For good reason- They are delicious! Seriously though, they are so fast, easy and not too hard on the wallet. Here is a simple recipe, but depending on how artistic you are feeling - the toppings can make it look really pretty. 

Ingredients:

1 very ripe banana (brown spots are great - no need for added sweetener!)

3/4c frozen strawberries (sliced)

1 scoop Sunwarrior raw vegan protein

1 1/2c unsweetened almond milk

Toppings:

1 tbsp hemp hearts

2 tbsp goji berries

Cashews

Maple syrup (to drizzle on top)

Directions: Blend it all together. Seriously that's it… Top it off with the toppings in whatever artistic design you're feeling. 

Strawberry Vanilla Smoothie Bowl

I love smoothie bowls, they are a great, quick snack or small meal. There is something comforting about eating soup, and this is a fast soup-like meal. Toss in some protein powder and you're set. I'm in love with Sunwarrior Raw Vegan protein.
This is a classic smoothie bowl flavour - Strawberry Vanilla!

PS! Blender-wise, for this… just use anything that blends! I like my Cuisinart hand blender. It's fast and super easy to clean afterwards.

Ingredients:

1c frozen strawberries (sliced)
1c unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 1/2 Tbsp Vanilla extract
1 scoop Sunwarrior raw vegan protein blend
1 Tbsp maple syrup

Toppings:
Hemp Hearts
Pumpkin Seeds
Goji Berries

Directions:

1. Toss in the strawberries, vanilla extract, protein power, maple syrup, then almond milk and blend away. Presto! Cold, delicious, sweet soup.
2. Once blended to your liking, pour into a bowl and top off with some hemp hearts, pumpkin seeds and goji berries. They are all really good for you, plus it makes the smoothie bowl look really pretty.

Avocado & Sprouts Salad

For my first post I figured I'd go with a classic rabbit meal : the salad. This salad is one of my favourite to throw together quickly. It's fast, filling and makes me feel like an adult. It also contains one of the best (in my opinion) ingredients to ever exist… avocado. It's also so affordable. Whoo!

Avocado & Sprout Salad

Recipe:

The Salad:
5 leaves iceberg lettuce
1 ripe avocado
3/4 c sprouts

For the dressing:
2 Tbsp EVOO
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

Directions:

1. Start by cleaning off your lettuce, chopping it, and putting it to the place. 
2. Slice your avocado and toss it on. 
3. Grab your sprouts and top it off
4. Stir together to EVOO, Balsamic and maple syrup until well blended, then pour over top the salad.

Rabbit food ain't bad.