Happy 4th of July!

Hi Friends!

   Even though I don't live in the States anymore, I still celebrate all the holidays!  It's Independence Day today and I wish I was back home celebrating along side other American's.  There is just something about the way we celebrate everything that is pretty amazing.  Everyone is just so patriotic and proud to be an American.  I kind of wish more Canadians were like that.  I'm probably not helping matters much because as a Canadian citizen I probably fly the American flag way more than I fly the Canadian one.  Shhh... don't tell anyone.  It's a bad habit, like nail biting (except that I don't actually bite my nails), that I've been trying to break for years.  No joke.

Whether you're living in America or you're an American living in another part of the world have a wonderful 4th of July week/weekend.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I am definitely celebrating this weekend.  And maybe, just maybe I'll be making these...

If I do, I'll post the recipe.  And if I don't, I'll still post the recipe!

Happy 4th y'all!

Love,
Ves xx

WIAW #28 The Weekend Edition

Hi friends,

Welcome to another edition of What I Ate Wednesday!  This week I decided to do things a little differently.  Instead of showing you my Tuesday eats like I normally do, I've decided to show you what I ate on Sunday.  To be honest, my weekly eats are slightly boring (not to me, but you're probably sick of looking at the same ol' food) and not very pretty to look at since I use containers and not dishes to bring my food to work.  Plus, it's always fun to shake things up a bit.  So without further ado, I give you my Sunday eats.

Breakfast:

   I had originally planned on making pancakes for breakfast but I got an enormous craving for something mint chocolatey.  I made this smoothie which turned out to be so thick I poured it in a bowl and ate it with a spoon.  Loved it!  I'll post the recipe tomorrow. 

   To go along with my smoothie I had one of these raw coconut macaroons that I had made the day before.  They were melt-in-your-mouth delicious!  And they only get better with age. ;)

Lunch:

Sunday turned out to be a gorgeous day so I took advantage of it and went out for a super long walk.  I love that the weather is warming up and everyone is out!  When I came back in I made this kale salad with chickpeas, tomatoes, and organic edamame (I love edamame!).  I dressed it with lemon and sprinkled some nutritional yeast on top (after the photo was taken, of course).

Dinner:

I made this Epic Sweet Potato Lasagne that I wrote about in yesterday's post, and invited my sister over for dinner.  We had it with a side salad of swiss chard, peppers, apples and my mustard vinaigrette.  Oh so yummy and second's were definitely had by both of us.  I said it yesterday and I'll say it again: You have to make this Lasagne!  You will not be disappointed, I promise.

Snack:

I ended the day with my fave snack:  Apples with cinnamon and a squirt of lemon.  I'm a little obsessed with this and eat it everyday! 

Throughout the day I also had several glasses of lemon water and a mug or two of tea.  I'm still not drinking coffee (will this cleanse ever end?) but I'm counting down the days until it becomes my daily obsession again.


I absolutely love Sunday food, don't you?  It's so nice to be able to take your time and make every meal with love.  I get that from my mom.  She would spend the entire weekend in the kitchen cooking just because she wanted to and because she loved to feed her family.  We all used to sneak tastes of whatever she was making, not being able to wait for the meal to be ready.  That's one of the things I'm looking forward to when I go and visit my parents this summer... Mom's cooking!  Can't wait.

Love,
Ves xx

Lemon Pistachio Cookies + Crazy Weather

   Hi Friends!

   I hope everyone enjoyed the lovely spring day we had yesterday.  Or as I like to call it, my California winter day.  We reached an insanely out of season temperature of 15C here in Hamilton.  I wore my spring coat but wrapped a scarf around my neck because I didn't believe the weather people on TV.  I promptly removed my scarf as soon as I got outside.  How is it possible that it was 15 degrees yesterday with rain, and Monday my school was closed due to a snow/ice day?  I officially live in crazy town.

   In honor of the spring weather, I thought I would finally share this fabulous cookie recipe with you.  I got this recipe from my mom who made it for her baked goods stall at the farmer's market in her town.  The original recipe calls for oranges but the organic oranges at my local store looked really sad around the time that I wanted to make these cookies so I subbed in lemons.  At some point I will have to try this recipe using oranges, but for now, I absolutely love it with lemons.  I am offering this up as a "springy" type recipe because lemon's remind me of springtime (even though I consume them all year long).  Plus, I promised to share this recipe around the holidays, which is when I made these cookies, so I figure it's about time.

On to the recipe...

Icebox Lemon Pistachio Cookies
Makes about 4 dozen

Ingredients:
3/4 cup Earth Balance Coconut spread
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. Chia seeds + 3tbsp water
1 tbsp. lemon rind
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/4 cup arrowroot
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup finely chopped pistachios (I took a ziplock bag, put the nuts in there and then pounded them with my rolling pin.)

Directions:
Whisk together chia seeds and water in a small bowl.  Place the bowl in the fridge for at least 15 min. 
Cream the butter and sugar for 2 minutes, then beat in the chia mixture, lemon rind, and vanilla. 
Whisk together flour, arrowroot and salt and add to the butter mixture and blend on low speed until combined. 
Divide dough in half and roll each piece into a log about an inch in diameter and roll the logs into the pistachios to coat.  Wrap in plastic and put in freezer for a few hours.

Preheat oven to 350.  Slice each log into cookie rounds and bake for 10 minutes.  They should remain light colored on top but a little golden on the bottom.

For Frosting:  2-1/4 cups icing sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1 tsp melted coconut oil or Earth Balance butter.  Blend together and ice the cookies when they've cooled.  Decorate with a little chopped pistachios.
Enjoy!

I didn't really change the recipe except for making it vegan.  So thank you, mom, for sharing it with me so that I can share it with everyone else!

Love,
Ves xx

WIAW #23 OR Sweet Tooth Satisfaction

   Hello All!

   I don't know about you but, everyone around me has been super germy lately!  It was inevitable that I should catch whatever was going around (I work with children, after all).  I was attacked on Saturday with major body aches and since then I've been OD'ing on Oil of Oregano.  I forgot to take it the other day and I definitely think that's why I got worse.  I quadrupled my dose today and I can already feel myself getting healthy as I type this.  Ha! 

   Since I've been sick, my food has been a bit boring.  I haven't really had an appetite and when I do want something to eat, it's been the same thing:  soup.  orange juice.  toast.  That's pretty much all I've been craving.

   So, instead of What I Ate... I thought I would show you What I've Been Baking up this month.  Let's face it, baked goods are always more fun to look at than day to day meals.  That could just be my opinion but, I really do love dessert... WAY more than "regular" food.

Mmmm.... Cookies!

Cranberry Shortbread Cookies and Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Lemon Pistachio Cookies and my little Patchie Girl!

Chewy Fruit 'N' Nut Cookies

Spice Cake Cookies

Magical Coconut Bars

Stay tuned because I will be posting recipes for some of these cookies!

Until next time...
Happy Hump Day and stay healthy my friends!

Love,
Ves xx

Thanksgiving Recap... OR: WIAT

   Two Thanksgiving Dinners down and one full happy belly!  I hope everyone enjoyed some yummy food and fun family time on Thursday.  We celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday and Saturday, since I had to work on Thursday.  Yes, two Thanksgivings!  My belly was doing a happy dance all week.  Which is probably how long I've been planning and preparing this meal!  Ha.

   Even though I planned and prepped ahead of time, it still wound up being a race to the finish.  And I must admit, even though both parties were a success in terms of yummy food, Saturday's was way more calm and relaxing for me.  I served the Stuffing and Lentil Loaf from the day before, and made the Sweet Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts and Gravy fresh.  I also made the Appetizers and Pecan Tarts on Saturday, as well.  So, it's not like I did any less, but maybe I was just less stressed on day two?  Hmm?

Here's What I Ate on Thanksgiving:

Appetizers: 

Grilled Cheese and Apple on a baguette (click here for the recipe)

Herb and Cheese Drop Biscuits

The Sides:

Garlic Mashed Potato and Parsnips, Biscuits, Brussels Sprouts and Gravy + a bevy of fun juices and of course, some wine!

 Mashed Sweet Potatoes

The Main: 

Glazed Walnut Apple Lentil Loaf and Apple Sage and Sausage Stuffing (click here for the recipe)

My Dinner Plate - Day 1

We had a simple green salad with Balsamic dressing because I ran out of time to make a dressing.

My Dinner Plate - Day 2:

We started with an Apple Cranberry Pecan Salad with a homemade vinaigrette. 

PLUS the usual suspects!

The Dessert:

Sweet Potato Pie with Pecans and a Gingersnap Crust (click here for a similar recipe... I tweaked it a bit)

Apple Pie Pudding with Ginger cookie crumbs (click here for the recipe)

Pecan Tarts

Deconstructed Sweet Potato Pie

Nephew approved!

   So there you have it!  What we ate on Thanksgiving (or the day after, and the day after that!)

For more yummy meal pics head over to Peas and Crayons and check out other mouthwatering Thanksgiving dinners!

I'm off to go decorate my tree and work off some of these holiday calories... before stuffing my face with leftovers!  Ha.  

Love,

Ves xx

Chocolate Cookies... RAW! Vegan MoFo #4

   Hi Friends!

   This is my second to last recipe using my Homemade Vegan Almond Milk recipe and it's a good one!  I hope you enjoyed yesterday's Pancake recipe and I hope you try it... soon! 

   I love eating RAW foods and I love baking.  When I can combine the two and unbake some delicious treats, I'm in heaven! 

   This recipe is super simple and you don't need a dehydrator to achieve the end product.  Also, we use the leftover almond pulp from the Almond Milk recipe which is a bonus if you don't know what the heck to do with it.

RAW Chocolate Macaroons
Ingredients:
2 cups shredded coconut
1 cup raw cacao powder
1/2 cup almond pulp
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup coconut butter (the solid version of coconut oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
*You can add a tablespoon or two of almond milk if the mixture is too dry.

Almond pulp is what is left after making Almond Milk

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and mix thoroughly. Roll into balls, flatten and dehydrate for 6-8 hours at 115◦F.  I flip mine over half way through.  If you do not have a dehydrator you can place them on a cookie sheet and stick them in the oven on the lowest setting, leaving the door ajar.

The mixture after it's been combined.

Ready for the dehydrator.  I like to add parchment paper to my trays and cut it to size.

Ready to eat!  Chewy, chocolatey and delicious!

   Have some fun with this recipe.  Every time I make these cookies I switch up the ingredients a bit depending on how I want them to taste and turn out.  I never make them the same twice, so don't be afraid to play with it!

Have a chocolatey good day!

Love,

Ves xx

WIAW #15 and Vegan MoFo #3 + Pancakes!

   Hi Friends!

   I hope you are enjoying this mighty fine Wednesday.  As I said yesterday, my parents are in town so I've been spending all of my free time with my mom.  They happen to be staying at my brother's house which means I've also been spending all of my free time with my Godson and my baby Niece (when my Godson let's me).  It's been a fun few days so far but I'm looking forward to the weekend and the following week when I'm on vacation and can properly enjoy their visit.

   Even with all of this family love, I have some yummy eats to share with you plus a yummy pancake recipe!

So let's get to it!

 {Pancakes!  OMG these were so yum.  Scroll down for the recipe!}

 {Smoothie!  Homemade almond milk, mango, banana, celery.  Delish!}

 {Salad!  Farmer's market greens and spinach, tomatoes, avocado, nooch and lemon dressing.}

 {Homemade vegan stuffed peppers.  Thanks Mom!}

 {Raw chocolate cookies.  Stay tuned for the recipe!}

** Not Pictured:  WATER, WATER,WATER!  And some coffee! ;) 

WMNAW - What My Nephew Ate Wednesday

{Whole wheat elbow macaroni and vegan stuffed peppers + some of my mom's homemade applesauce.  He loved it and I love him! xx}

Thanks Jenn for hosting this fun foodie link up party!

Onto the pancakes!

   Sticking with my Vegan MoFo theme, here is a super easy and yummy recipe using homemade almond milk.

   Over the weekend I was craving some pancakes and finally decided to try a yummy looking recipe from the PPK.com.  Let me tell you, it did not disappoint!  You can hop on over there for the Puffy Pillow Pancakes Recipe.  Say that five times fast!  I pretty much followed it to the "T" except that I used my own homemade almond milk in the recipe and substituted the canola oil for coconut oil.  I also used coconut oil when I cooked the pancakes.  Because of my milk, the pancakes had a subtle but delicious cinnamon flavor.  I definitely recommend adding cinnamon to the recipe if you do not make your own almond milk with cinnamon.

The batter... make sure to let it sit!

In the pan they go!

Ready to eat!

   I toasted up some walnuts and then added some pure organic maple syrup to the pan.  After warming it up I drizzled it on top of my pancakes.  Talk about heaven on a plate!  So freakin' delish!  I had leftover pancakes for a couple of days.  My favorite way to reheat them?  Pop them in the toaster!  I don't own a microwave, but even if I did I would never warm them up in there.  Can we say soggy?  Next time you want to warm up leftover pancakes use your toaster - you'll get toasty warm pancakes that are far from soggy.  You're welcome! ;)

Love,

Ves xx

WIAW # 13 OR My Lucky Number!

   Hello party people!
   It's the middle of the week and you know what that means.  You guessed it - another installment of What I Ate Wednesday!  I've grown to love these WIAW posts because I get to post pictures of food but also, because I get to ogle food pics from other blogs.  Let's face it, who doesn't like to look at yummy food? 

So let's get on with it, shall we?

First thing - As always, I start my morning off with some room temp water, a squirt of lemon, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Next - a cup of coffee.  I love my coffee.  It holds a special place in my heart and I hope that I never have to stop drinking it. 

Breakfast - It's been a little bit chilly in the mornings so I felt like something a bit more warming then my usual breakfast.  I whipped up some oat bran with cinnamon, raw cacao powder and bananas.  

Late morning snackage - carrot sticks and dijon mustard.  This never gets old - I love dipping my veggies in mustard.  And because I do it so often, I've even inspired some of the kids at work to start doing it, too!  Hey, it's better than ranch dip so who am I to deny them?

Lunch - Always a salad and no, in case you are wondering, I never get sick of them!  This one has spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, and a sprinkling of nori.  The dressing is simple: Lemon, nutritional yeast and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Dinner - Garden Burger with tomato and avocado on a bed of kale salad.

Early evening snackage - this is probably my second or third peach of the season.  I haven't come across too many organic peaches so when I saw these at my health store I snatched up a couple.  This peach was super soft (in a good way) and super sweet.  Definitely worth the wait!

Sweet tooth snackage - I made these peanut butter cookies over the weekend because I was having some visitors.  I put the rest in the freezer for the occasional sweet tooth and pulled a couple out to have with my tea.  It totally hit the spot.

   And since this month we are talking about our goals and falling into good habits, I figure that I should share that I am vowing to be more punctual.  This mostly pertains to work (and I really hope that my 'higher ups' do not read my blog... fingers crossed) because even though I rush in the morning to make sure that I get myself ready and get everything done in time - I never seem to get out of the house any earlier!  In fact, I find that whenever I have time to spare, I usually give myself another task because I feel like it's "free time".  And thus, I end up being late or arriving with seconds to spare.  Ugh!  Well, from now on, not only will I be on time, but I will arrive to work EARLY (I hope).  I can do this!  Wish me luck!  Actually, I might not need it as this is my 13th WIAW post and like I said in the title, thirteen is my lucky number.  I think that's all the luck I'll need.  But you can still cheer me on if you'd like! ;)

Have a great Wednesday and remember, it's only two more days until the weekend (yes, I'm counting down)!

Love,

Ves xx