March 24, 2014

Cinnabanana Smoothie Bowl

I think cinnamon is one of the most underrated spices around. It's benefits are abundant and it's just so tasty. Here is a simple little smoothie bowl featuring bananas and cinnamon and our sweet friend, the date. 
Cinnabanana Soothie Bowl topped with a date


Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas (the riper, the sweeter)
1 1/2 c plain, unsweetened almond milk
1 scoop vanilla raw vegan warrior blend protein (any other protein works fine too!)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (plus a little more to sprinkle on top)
1 tsp maca root powder
1 date, chopped

Directions:

1. In some form of blender, pulse the bananas, milk, protein powder, cinnamon and maca powder until smooth.
2. Pour into bowl, sprinkle with cinnamon and some chopped date and you're good to go.

*Note: If you're in a hurry or just don't like eating smoothies from a bowl, just drink up.

Stay kickin', cinnamon lovers

March 22, 2014

Zucchini Noodle Soup

Soup, soup, soup! I love soup. It's always such a comfort food and really easy to make. This is a bit of a combination between chicken noodle soup (sans the chicken of course) and a vegetable soup. This is the recipe I like using, but feel free to add as make veggies as you'd like!

Zucchini Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

3 c vegetable broth
3 stalks of celery
1/4 spanish onion
1/2 yellow pepper
1 small zucchini
1/2 bunch green onion
Hot sauce for some extra kick (I like Cholula brand - great spice and full flavours!)


Directions:

1. Bring the vegetable broth to a boil whilst chopping up all the veggies.
2. Once the broth is boiling, toss in the celery, onion and pepper and let boil for about 12 minutes.
3. While the vegetables and broth are boiling, make some zucchini noodles (with a spiralizer or julienne peeler, or a regular peeler for that matter! Depending on the shape of noodle you'd like.
4. Once the vegetables in the broth have softened, turn the heat off and add the zucchini noodles and leave sit for 3-5 minutes. I like mine to have a little crunch to the, but if you'd prefer them softer just leave them for a little longer!
5. Pour the soup into a bowl and top off with some green onion and hot sauce and let the comfort eating begin!

*Note: This recipe makes 2 servings worth.

Keep it spicy loves!

March 18, 2014

Kale Avocado Pear Salad

Hello! So I've recently subscribed to Organics Live - this is a service that delivers a box of organic fruits and vegetables to your door each week! I got my first box this week and it was SO exciting. This salad was inspired by the box and the ingredients used all came from the box (aside from the ingredients for the dressing). This salad is really filling and just oh-so scrumptious. Sweet and savoury ingredients are brought out by the dressing - one of my favourite go-to dressings: Lemon Tahini! It sounds and tastes very fancy but can be whipped up in a snap.

Kale Avocado Pear Salad w/ Lemon Tahini Dressing


Ingredients:

For the salad:

1/2 bunch red kale (green kale works too!)
1 green pear
1/2 avocado (or a full one if you're feeling wild)
2 tbsp cranberries
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds

For the dressing: (This makes enough for a single serving)

1 tbsp tahini
2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (fresh is always better!)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
A dash of salt and a pinch of pepper

Directions:

1. Start by de-stemming your kale and tossing it into a large bowl.
2. Chop your pear and avocado and toss in the bowl.
3. The cranberries and pumpkin seeds : toss 'em in too.
4. In a smaller bowl, combine the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper and whisk them together until smooth and creamy.
5. Mix the dressing in with the fruits and veggies then presto! A nice winter to spring transition salad.

Keep it zesty, folks.

March 12, 2014

Soul in my Bowl - Zuchinni Alfredo!

Hello everyone! Today I've got a very special post featuring one of my favourite vegan products - Soul to Bowl Vegan Alfredo sauce! It's so creamy, delectable and clean. It's a great comfort food, without the guilt! It's also really fast, this took me five minutes to make…. and about the same amount of time to eat because it was just so good.
Zuchinni noodles and cherry tomatoes topped with Soul to Bowl Sauce

By the way- The zucchini only cost me 68 cents…. #rawfoodwin

Ingredients:

1 small zucchini
8-10 cherry tomatoes
1/2c Soul to Bowl Vegan Alfredo Sauce

Directions:

1. Heat your Soul to Bowl in a small sauce pot on low-medium heat and stir frequently.
2. While the sauce is heating, use a spiralizer to make some raw zucchini noodles then toss into a bowl
3. Halve the cherry tomatoes, then add to the noodles
4. Pour the creamy vegan alfredo sauce overtop, mix and eat!

*Note: If you don't have a spiralizer, you can make noodles using either a julienne peeler (at most cooking ware stores for about 8-14$0 or a regular peeler and make ribbon like noodles! If you are a raw food junkie however, I would definitely recommend getting a spiralizer!

This sauce is incredible, check it out on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/soultobowlsauces

March 1, 2014

Chocolate Maca Porridge

This is a lovely little oatmeal dish. Full of great things like cacao, maca powder, chia and flax seeds! It is super easy and fast to make. It tastes sweet enough to be fun, but healthy enough to enjoy for breakfast. Top it off with some bananas and cranberries and you are golden.


Ingredients:

1/4c oatmeal (quick oat is preferable, unless you pre-soak!)
1 tbsp cacao powder (it's different from cocoa powder! Cacao has more benefits)
1/2 tbsp maca powder (can be found at almost any health food store)
1 tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp flax seeds
1 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup
2 tbsp almond milk (sweetened, unsweetened, vanilla, plain, anything you want!)
1 banana
Some cranberries to top it off!

Directions:

1. Cook up some oats, however you prefer. I like to do it in a sauce pot with 3/4 of water.
2. While the oatmeal is cooking, combine the cacao, maca, chia and flax in a bowl.
3. Once the oatmeal is done, place it into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix it all up.
4. Add the liquids (maple syrup and almond milk) and stir until you've reached your desired consistency. (I like mine fairly smooth, but thick)
5. Top off with a banana and some cranberries and voila! A breakfast full of goodness.

Oat meal is a good meal.

Coco Cupcakes

These little guys are a treat I made for my beautiful friends for their period study. These are a basic chocolate cupcake with a lovely coconut frosting. This also works well as a loaf- Make it in a cupcake dish or a cake dish, versatility! Whoo!

Chocolate cupcake topped with a coconut frosting

Ingredients:

For the cupcake:

1 1/2 c gluten-free flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c cocoa
1/3 c sunflower oil
1 1/2 c plain, unsweetened almond milk

For the frosting:

1/2 c coconut milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 c icing sugar
1/4 c earth balance (or other butter substitute)
1 1/3c shredded coconut

Directions:

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Sift together all the dry ingredients in one large bowl.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl, whilst whisking. (That was a fun alliteration)
4. Once the batter is shell whisked and at a smooth consistency pour it into your containers.
5. Pop these little guys in the oven and leave for 20 minutes. Double check to make sure they are cooked by using the old knife trick. (Stick a metal knife into the centre of one- if wet batter doesn't come out, you're golden.)

For the frosting:

1. Toss all the ingredients in a bowl.
2. Blend it all together (I used my hand blender)
3. After the mixture has come together and become gooey and frosting-like, bring back the whisk and fluff it up! The only thing better than coconut frosting is fluffy coconut frosting.

Decorate them up and make it pretty. Eat the happy food, and be happy.