WIAW #4 OR What I've Been Nibbling On...

   Guess what time it is?  That's right, it's time for another episode of What I Ate Wednesday! Or actually, what I've been snacking on lately.  My meals have been a bit boring these past couple of days, so I thought I'd share some snacks with you instead.
Let's dive right in, shall we?

Coffee! 

You may not think of it as a snack but I'll have one anytime, not just in the morning.

Blueberry Smoothie

I got this at my health food store.  It was my treat while grocery shopping. Yum!

Fruit and Granola!

This was a morning snack and it was so tasty.  Strawberries, grapes, banana and a bit of granola sprinkled on top.  With a side of almond milk... So good.

Trail Mix!

Veggie Sticks

Late afternoon snacking.  Yum!

No soy, no dairy, just almonds!

I'm most excited about this snack because I haven't had yogurt since I became vegan.  I can't stand the taste of soy so I was super excited when I found this Almond yogurt!

Peanut Butter Cereal!

This happened to be on sale at my health food store so I snatched up a box.  It's vegan and has about 5 ingredients which I love.  I added this cereal to my yogurt bowl.

Yogurt Bowl!

 Peanut Butter Puffins, blueberries, ground flax, and almond yogurt.  Yum-o!

Green Smothie

I made this after my workout and it totally hit the spot.  Spinach, blueberries, banana, sunflower sprouts, hemp seeds, flax seeds and maca powder.

Nighty Night

When I need a little help falling asleep I brew this organic Nighty Night Tea.  It works like a charm and tastes delicious.  Even if you're not a fan of tea, I think you'll like this.

That's it for my snacks.  Thanks as always to Jen for hosting this link up party!

Love,

Ves xx

 

It's a Lean, Mean, Clean, Green Kind of Day!

   The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, my cat's napping and I'm feeling kinda green today.  Huh?? Okay, maybe I'm not feeling green, I'm just seeing it!  As in, every time I open the fridge.  So, I've decided to make it a theme... Today is GREEN FOOD DAY!!  Man, I probably should have saved this one for St. Patty's Day! Ha.  Oh well.

   I should start off by saying that my body is going to be sooo happy with me today!  Green foods are one of the best foods to feed our bodies as they are the most nutrient-rich foods on the planet.  I know I sang chlorophyll's praises here but it doesn't get old. Chlorophyll is known to help cleanse the body, help heal wounds, fight infection, and promote the health of the circulatory, digestive, immune, and detoxification systems. And where can we find chlorophyll?  Green foods, of course!  

   I hope I don't shock my body with the abundance of healthy meals it's going to receive today.  I'll probably have a slice of chocolate cake later (vegan, of course) just to balance things out! Ha.  Just kidding.  Or am I? 

   On to the Green Goodness!

Green Juice!

Ooohhh... doesn't that look pretty? 

Lean Green Juice

2 bunches Broccoli

4 Stalks Celery

4-5 Romaine Leaves

1/2 Lemon

2 Wheat grass Cubes

Juice, drink, and be prepared for the abundance of energy that you're about to have!

**I don't like my green juice to be sweet but if you're wanting a bit of sweetness add an apple or pear to the juice.

Green Smoothie!

My green smoothie today was so yummy and easy to make.  You probably already have all of the ingredients (even if you don't have some of the powders) so go ahead and make this for your snack today!

Mean Green Smoothie

1 - 1 1/2 cups of Almond Milk (or water)

1 frozen banana

1 apple

2 large handfuls of Spinach

1 tbsp Almond Butter (you can use natural peanut butter too)

1 tbsp Goji Berries (optional)

1 tbsp Hemp Seeds (optional)

1 tsp Spirulina (optional)

1 tsp Chlorella (optional)

1 tbsp Maca (optional)

 

Add all of the ingredients to a high speed blender and process until smooth.  Pour into a glass add a straw and enjoy! OR do as I sometimes do and add a straw to your blender!  Why dirty a glass?? :)

* I know there are a lot of "optional" ingredients listed above but they will not change the flavor of the smoothie so if you don't have them go ahead and make this anyway.  I'm a little obsessed with adding "extras" to my smoothies. 

Green Soup!

   I made this soup last night because I wanted to use up some of the produce that was in my fridge before it spoiled.  I have leftovers for today which is perfect for my GREEN FOOD DAY!  Oh and just so you know, this is a RAW soup recipe.  Which really just means that I didn't cook it, I made it in my blender. (Man I love raw food!)  If you want a warmer soup you can definitely warm this on the stove until it's just "finger warm" - not hot, that way it's still technically raw (not heated above 108-115 degrees).

Clean Green Soup

1 1/2 cups water

2 (really) large handfuls Romaine/Spinach

1 small handful Parsley

1 large head Broccoli

3 Basil leaves

2 tomatoes, chopped

juice of half a lemon plus rind

3-4 Radishes, diced

2 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt

Pinch Cumin

Pinch turmeric

Pinch cayenne pepper

Place all the ingredients into a high speed blender and process until smooth.  For a smoother soup consistency add a half or whole avocado.  I would have done that except that I never have avocado's lying around - I eat them immediately!  

Pour into a bowl, grab a spoon and enjoy!  If you want it warmer add a pinch more cayenne or see my note above.

If you try any of these recipes let me know by posting in the comments below!

(Oh, and it seems that I have been on a roll with "S" titles in the last 4 posts.  See here, here, here and here.  How weird.  Anyway, this post broke that strange little kick I was on... thankfully.)

Happy GREEN FOOD DAY... AKA Family Day here in Ontario!

Love, 

Ves xx

Salad, Salad, Salad!

   So I'm pretty much settled at the new pad, aka apartment, aka house.  I know it's not a house, but for some reason I can't stop saying house when referring to my apartment.  Weird, I know, but everyone else seems to accept it, so I think it's time you should too.  Ha.  Okay, moving on.
  This week, and last week I've been pretty much living off of salads, which is fine by me as I LOVE salad!  I get really creative and put all kinds of things in my salads.  I also get creative with the dressings that I make.  My mom makes a mean vinaigrette and I love when she makes extra for me.  This week I got a little crazy (and lazy) and was dressing my salad with a mixture of Salsa and Dijon mustard- my two favorite condiments in the world.  And can I just say that they have been the yummiest salads?  Don't knock that combo until you've tried it.  So good!
   Anyway, this brings me to tonight's dinner.  Originally, I was planning on grabbing a vegan pizza and making a side salad. (Hey don't judge me, it's Friday!) But when I got to the store I saw some gorgeous baby bok choy staring at me so I snatched those up instead.  I was feeling like something 'cooked' so this was the perfect start.

image courtesy of userealbutter.com (the name is unfortunate)

    Back at home, after rummaging through my fridge, I pulled out a sweet potato and a red pepper (the rest in my fridge is greens - seriously) and got to work.  I washed the sweet potato and red pepper and then cut them up into 1 inch pieces.  After tossing them in olive oil I put the sweet potato in a baking dish with garlic (I used a microplane), oregano, turmeric, (cause it's good for you - and makes everything yellow!) salt and pepper.  I set the red pepper aside and baked the sweet potatoes for about 20min.  I added the red peppers back at this point and baked for an additional 30min.

   Meanwhile, I washed the Bok Choy and separated the stems from the leafy greens - you don't have to do this, but I prefer it this way.  I heated up a saute pan on medium heat and added olive oil (1 tbs) and garlic (finely chopped, or microplaned <-- if that's not a word, it is now!).  After about a minute I added the stems to the pan and a splash of Tamari.  I steamed it for a few minutes with the lid on until the stems became a bit soft.  Then I added the greens and another tiny splash of Tamari, stirred it and replaced the lid.  After a minute or two the greens were done.  I took it off the heat, added the juice of half a lemon and a sprinkling of Gomasio (toasted sesame seeds and sea salt).  Perfect... and time to plate!
   I always like to have something raw at every meal and even though I was craving a cooked dinner, this meal was no different.  So, in the fridge I went pulling out some baby spinach and broccoli sprouts.  I layered my plate with spinach, sprouts, bok choy, sweet potatoes, and red peppers.  I topped it off with some of the juice from the bok choy and (as always) some hemp seeds and nutritional yeast.  And, if I do say so myself, this was the BEST dinner I've had in a week (or two)! Ha.  Even though it was still just another SALAD! Ha. 
   Anyway, if you're wondering where the pictures are, well, they're on the camera.  My camera broke about a month ago so I've been using my old one, which now belongs to my mom, who's kindly letting me borrow it.  However, all the hardware is at her house so I have no means of uploading any pictures to my laptop. *sigh*  I did take pictures and will add them to this post as soon as I get my hands on the proper cables.  For now, you will have to take my word that the meal looked as delicious as it sounds (at least I hope it sounds delicious, cause it totally was!).

***Update - Feb. 19, 2012***

I finally got the cables to the camera! Woohoo!  Here's a picture of the yummy dinner I had.  And yes, if you're wondering, I do like to glob on nutritional yeast whenever I get the chance!

Happy cooking!
Love,
Ves xx

Ps:  I'm so sorry it's been so long between posts!  I'm constantly hoping that I'll miraculously have enough time in the day to accomplish all the things that I want to.  Of course, that never happens!  It turns out that when you live on your own you actually have more responsibilities (duh) and more things to do (not less).  I think I've been living in la-la land for too long.  I'll get it together soon (I hope).

Go Green or Go Home

  Today I made my first green juice.  Yay me!  Did I mention I don't have a juicer?  How did I do it, you ask?  Well, I've learned that you can juice fruits and vegetables without a juicer, it just takes a little longer.  I used my blender to blend all of the ingredients and then I strained them through a sieve.  So it was more work but definitely worth it.  Through this process I learned two things: 1. I will definitely be investing in a Vitamix and a Juicer in the future and 2. I love Green Juice! For now my little blender will have to pull double duty.
   In case you are wondering, juicing is super healthy!  It is the fastest and easiest way to get all that nutritional goodness into our system.  When you juice you use more fruits and vegetables then you can actually eat in one sitting.  And by separating the fiber from the fruit or vegetable we have access to all the amazing vitamins, minerals and enzymes, which get absorbed that much quicker than if we were to actually eat the fruits and veggies.  Why green, you ask?  Well, making the juice green is especially good for us.  nerd alert--> Chlorophyll delivers a stack of nutrients and oxygen to the body helping to build red blood cells, boost the immune system, detoxify the body, alkalize blood pH, and improve circulation. (Wow!)  So the question is really, why not green? 


Here's the green juice that I made:

This juice looked so pretty I couldn't resist drinking it out of a fancy glass.

Recipe adapted from: Polly Noble's 7 Day Quickstart
1 zucchini

1/2 cucumber

2 apples

1/2 lime

3 large kale leaves (or use whatever leafy greens you have)

Place the lime, cucumber, zucchini, kale and apples through the juicer.  If you don't have a juicer put everything in a high speed blender and then strain through a sieve and drink immediately. 

nerd alert--> Juice tends to oxidize quickly so it's best to drink juice as soon as possible after you make it.

Happy juicing!
Love,
Ves xx