Raw Breaky…

Thank you SO much for all your suggestions regarding lunch – I highly recommend you go back and check out the suggestions!

One of my favourite suggestions was to check out City Life Eats.  I have found SO much inspiration on Valerie’s blog.  I’m trying to make my way through the whole thing!

Her blog has inspired me to have some more raw foods in my life!!  This morning I made a raw breaky!

Swiss Chard wraps

3x chard wraps

slices of red pepper

cucumber

Nut cheese (see below)

Raw Nori

Wrap it all up and nom nom nom

I used more nori than this, but it didn’t look as pretty for the picture!

Nut Cheese

1/2 cup cashews (soaked at least an hour – I did overnight)

1/2 cup almonds

2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp nutritional yeast

1 TBSP sundried tomatoes

Blend everything in food processor until desired consistency

Done!!  It made enough for about 10 wraps!! (yay left overs!!)

Love it!! I’ll see what kind of staying power it has though!! It would be good in lunches too, as the wraps wouldn't’ get soggy.

 

More Raw Goodness!

Dawn from Raw Elements.ca sent me some samples of Sun Warrior Powder!  I was SO excited as I love adding stuff to my smoothies, but I’ve been burned a few times ordering a huge jar and not liking it!

So far I have tried the vanilla and the chocolate and I have to say I REALLY like this product!!  And even better – no tummy problems!!

The vanilla I put in a smoothie with strawberries, banana and water

The taste was subtle, but nice… usually rice powder is gritty, but this stuff wasn’t at all..

I tried the chocolate in a a mango smoothie with Chia seeds

Not pretty, but what can you do?! ha

I really liked the chocolate too, but I think I would order the vanilla because it’s more plain and you can always add cacao powder if you are craving chocolate!

Overall, I really like Sun Warrior!  I still have some left and I think I might make Amazeballs!

Thank you Dawn!!

Also, make sure to check out City Life Eats for a TON of inspiration!!

Question of the day.

What’s your FAVORITE breakfast???

Lunch Ideas!

Hey guys, I am on the look out for lunch ideas!

I’m going to be working in a nut free, kiwi free school, and not sure if I have access to a microwave., and I need some lunch ideas!!  

I know you are all smart cookies, so I look forward to seeing your answers!

So far what I’ve thought of is…

Sushi salad

Mexican food – with chips for dipping!

Bi Bim Bap

Salad of course

Pasta – although not this one, as it has almonds!  Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta

or the Mediterranean Pasta

Salad wraps – minus the peanut sauce (maybe sweet Thai sauce?)

Lettuce Wraps

Pizzas – both pita pizza and regular.

Grainy salads (I could sub sesame seeds for walnuts)  Qunioa, Kale Risotto

Hummus with pitas!!

That’s what I have so far, but I still need more ideas – as some of these take awhile to prep…

Anything you can come up with, will be super helpful!! Free free to link to your blog!

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Hiya!!

Well the long weekend is over, I hope you had a great Easter holidays (if you celebrate it!!)

I will be doing a re cap of ours, we disappeared for a weekend away, and it was GLORIOUS!

Anywhoo… back to the balls!  

The amazing gals that I go to school with have been sweet enough to bring me these amazing balls from a local health food store on days when the teachers brought dairy laden treats (aren’t they the greatest).   I knew that I had to re –create them because they are SO good, and the place they get them is almost an hour away!

Here are the deets.

Easy enough!!  Rolled Oats, Salted Peanut Butter, Honey, Coconut and Carob powder.

Ok… I actually wrote down the recipe down… and then it disappeared!! (OH NO!)

Bear with me, I’ll try to recap it!!

Ingredients include;

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup oat flour (just blend oats together until flour like!)

1 TBSP honey (or agave to make it vegan)

1 TBSP cacao powder

1 TBSP sunflower seeds

1 tsp vanilla (optional)

1/4 cup coconut for rolling!!

Ready, it’s pretty easy peasy. 

Mix all ingredients together (except coconut), roll into balls (makes 6) and roll in coconut.

Ta da!! You have yourself some tasty, purse ready treats!

A little birdie told me these are AMAZING crumbled over dairy free ice cream!

If they are too sticky – add more oat flour -  to dry, add more pb or honey!

Store in the fridge and they should last awhile!! (although you’ll probably eat them before that!!)

 

Get creative too!!  You could use different nut or seed butters, as well as sub chopped nuts for the sunflower seeds (I just like the crunch)

Enjoy!!

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And two new to me blogs of mention!! (I LOVE finding new blogs)!!

http://dalailina.wordpress.com – Great blog, so many different interesting topics (and a super cute family)

Diary of a Vegan Girl – Lauren is just so sweet, and I love getting to know her through her blog (she also has a Whole Foods giveaway going down right now)

 

Hope you have a great Tuesday – don’t forget to BREATHE!!

 

Do you have a favourite “ball” recipe?  Do share!!

Dinner Party Wars

Hiya!!

So it’s been FOREVER since we did “dinner party wars” with our friends, but I figured it was fun and I should post about it!!

The deal was 3 couples, each hosting a dinner party.  Points were set for theme, atmosphere (music, decorations) the food, and the hosting abilities!!  It was SO fun!

The other 2 parties were a Mediterranean Crawl and Mardi Gras!   I will blog about the Med Crawl, but the night of Mardi Gras, I wasn’t feeling well and forgot my camera (but it was AMAZING)

We were up first and we had a Mexican Fiesta!!

We set the menu…

Mexican Fiesta

Drinks Selection

Jamaica Juice ~ hibiscus flowers steeped with a twist of lime

Juicy Blended Strawberry Margaritas (tequila and triple sec per request)

Paloma ~ Sparkling Grapefruit juice with lime, salt and tequila OLE!

Mexian Beer ~ Sol or Pacifico with a twist of lime

Appetizers

Cooked Shrimp Ceviche with Mango served with Fiesta Corn Chips

Molletts ~ toasts adorned with re-fried beans, cheese and topped off with crispy bacon

Dinner

Fresh Homemade Corn Tortillas

Chicken with a Warm Tomato Sauce

Risotto Style Mexican Rice

Slowly Simmered Refried Beans

Coriander Spiced Cabbage, Pico de Gallo, Red Salsa, Green Salsa and Guacamole

Dessert

Cinnamon and Sugar Banana’s Flambéed with Rum served over coconut ice cream

Spiced Mexican Coffee

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We set the scene…

We bought the "table cloths” and turtles in Mexico when we were there for our wedding!

And I made the centre pieces!  I wish I could find the link to the “how to” on these, it was SO easy and they are so pretty!

I didn’t get to snap too many photos of the food as we were SO busy getting it all together.

But these are what I got!

Coriander Spiced Cabbage – which was basically sliced green cabbage, grapeseed oil, ground coriander, lime juice and salt and pepper.  Massage it all together and let it sit.

 

Fresh tomato salsa.  It tasted much better than it looked!

Two more salsas!!  We got the recipes from our Salsa and Salsa tour we did in Mexico (which I still need to do a post about!!)   You can go here for the recipes!

Ok… you try to make refried beans look good!!  

Guacamole – simple – avocados, lime, cilantro, salt and pepper.

Palomas!!!  If you have never tried these, you must.  2.5 cups sparkling grapefruit juice, 1 shot lime juice, 1 shot tequila and a pinch of salt!  SO good!

Strawberry Margaritas!

Hot husband…  oops not on the menu!  

You can see the plates ready for the ceviche and then the mollets.

Of course there was more food, but I was too busy cooking and socializing to snap photos!

 

But then there was dessert,  I almost set our house on fire, but it was SO worth it!

 

Cinnamon and Sugar Banana’s Flambéed with Rum served over coconut ice cream

1/2 banana per person sliced length wise.

1 tbsp butter (I used earth balance)

1 tbsp brown sugar

sprinkle of cinnamon

1 shot glass rum and a match.

Melt butter in a heat proof pan (only melt butter in a space the size of your bananas – does that make sense?!) ha

Add in brown sugar and cinnamon – cook until it begins to bubble.

Add bananas into the sauce and let cook for about 50 seconds per side.

Once bananas are flipped – get the rum and match ready.

(I take NO responsibility for burned anything)

Pour the rum in the pan, light the match and toss her in (and duck)

Let the alcohol burn off

Transfer 1/2 banana onto each plate with some coconut ice cream and drizzle with the rum/butter sauce!

AMAZING!

Just for the record, I used Purely Decedent Vanilla Bean Coconut Milk Ice Cream

(wow that’s a mouthful, but a tasty mouthful!!)

The good people at Turtle Mountain sent me coupons for their tasty treats and this has been one of my favorite things I’ve tried!

I highly recommend it for all your Dairy Free Folks out there!!

Hope you enjoyed!!