Super Easy and Quick Curried Chickpea Dish

Hi!

So this is a recipe I HAD to post for a few reasons:
#1 It’s SUPER easy, fast and cheap!
#2  My meat eating hubby LOVES it!
#3 It may be my kiddos favorite meal
#4 It’s perfect to take to a potluck and is good cold or hot!
#5 Left overs are soooo yummy – it’s actually even better the next day!

Ingredients
1 can chickpeas – rinsed and drained
1 can full fat coconut milk
1 x Bullion cube (chicken or veggie)
1 TBSP Curry powder* (I prefer mild so F can eat)
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 bag of spinach
Salt and pepper to taste (but I find you don’t need it with the bullion)
Serve over cooked rice or quinoa.  We also love it with papadums!
I also add raisins to mine –because I love the savory curry with sweet raisins!

Add chickpeas and coconut milk to a pot and simmer for 10 minutes (helps soften up the chickpeas a bit)  add in bullion cube and curry powder.   About 5 minutes before serving add frozen peas and spinach!  Serve!!!

*you may need to add extra curry powder!   I have 2 different kinds and one I add a TBSP and the other I have to add 3 TBSP! 

That’s all – I said it was easy!!

Please note if serving to little people – the curry powder stains clothes – so I usually give F his when he’s just in a diaper!

Enjoy!!

Lemon-Lime Green Smoothie & China Study All–Stars Collection Review

You all know I love cookbooks!  For me they have to have a few things for me to love them – great color photos, easy to find ingredients, quick to make and of course dairy free recipes!

Loving this China Study All-Stars Collection for all these reasons!  It has recipes from a few of my favourite plant based bloggers (Happy Herbavoire, Plant Powered Kitchen, Blissful Chef to name a few!) and a few that I haven’t heard of yet (but need to look up!)

I always judge a good cookbook by how many pages I have folded down “to make!” And this one is fully dog eared!   Lots of the recipes are kid friendly too (well my little kiddo would be a fan!)

I get a chance to share a recipe with you guys and I decided to choose something that includes a few of my very favourite ingredients –lemon, lime and kale!  Why did I never think to put these ingredients together in a smoothie before? Silly silly me?  This is amazing!

LEMON-LIME GREEN SMOOTHIE

MAKES 1 SERVING RECIPE BY TRACY RUSSELL

1/2 cup water

1/4 lemon, peeled

1/4 lime, peeled

1 small frozen banana, peeled

1/2 cup green grapes

1 cup curly kale, stems removed

1. Add liquid to blender, followed by soft fruit and remaining ingredients. Add the greens to your blender last.

2. Blend on high for 30–45 seconds (depending on your blender) or until the smoothie is creamy.

This smoothie is a bit sweet, a bit sour and perfectly creamy!  Delish!

I decided to pair them with a new energy ball recipes for a perfect quick easy breakfast (or perfect snack!)  Lemon, Lime, Banana, Coconut?  Yes please!

I make these little babies for my little baby!   It was a way to get in a ton of healthy fats into my little monster!

Balls of YUM!

1/4 cup oats

1/4 cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)

1/4 cup chia seeds

2x TBSP softened coconut oil

4-5 medjool dates (1/2 cup soaked regular dates)

Blend oats, chia & pepitas in the food processor until broken down into a flour like consistency. (you can leave them in a bit bigger chunks if you like – I like it smaller for toddlers!)  Add coconut oil and dates and whiz in food processor until all ingredients are incorporated!   Place into the fridge to let the coconut oil harden.  If it’s not sticking together – add more dates – they should easily roll into ball shapes!

Roll into balls!  Size dependant on who’s eating them!  I like to make some larger ones for myself and then I make finger pinching bite size ones for the monster!

These have been toddler approved by 3 kids and a few mommies too! This is just a base recipe also you can switch up ingredients too  (swap quinoa for oats, hemp hearts for chia!) You could also add some spice if you like – cinnamon, a dash of vanilla etc!

 

ONTO THE GIVEAWAY*!

What better way to welcome the spring than with a cookbook full of enticing plant-based recipes that will help clean up your diet!

Want a chance to win your very own copy of China Study All Star Collection! Comment here and tell me why you’d like to win this book & how you like to welcome Spring!

1 entry per person and its’ open to US & Canada (No PO Boxes please), do not have to be a blogger to enter!  Contest closes May 9th at 8pm!

*winner will be announced on my facebook page &  will have 48 hours to respond!

Ready set – GO!

**Review Copy & Give away copy provided by BenBella Books, Inc.

21 Day Fix–Dairy Free Betty Style!

Hi….

It’s been awhile! 

Hope there are a few of you out there still?

Life is crazy around these parts!  I now have a 13+ month old and he’s BUSY!!!!!  Started a business,we are selling out house – I think we are at 25+ showings so far? (and I’m selling my pre-hubby condo) & I’ve been doing a 90 day fitness challenge (Bikini Body Mommy – I highly recommend)! Life is good – but it’s busy!

I’m trying to find a way to get myself back to blogging because I really miss you all!

I knew at the end of my 90 day fitness challenge – I was going to need something to stay motivated – and I saw the 21 day fix and it sounded pretty awesome!  I’ve been LOVING the HIIT sessions with Bikini Body Mommy – >30 mins and can do at home – yes please! So I decided to do the 21 day fix to try to get my food portions in check also!  (PLEASE NOTE – I am not a beach body coach and I paid for this program 100% on my own!)

So – I start tomorrow! (EEK)

I’m thinking it will be great – I’m worried because I love carbs and I’m not sure how I will survive on the carb portions I get – BUT we shall see!   I was thinking of keeping you all updated on the progress – maybe throwing in a recipe here or there?

Another thought I had was blogging about toddler snacks – as I’m having a hard time finding wholesome healthy foods for my little guy!

Curious to hear what you guys would like to see on Dairy Free Betty? I’m hoping to dedicate some more time – start writing out recipes again etc?

(I made AMAZING turkey burgers yesterday – wishing that I wrote down what I put it – would have been a great start!)

 

So tell me your thoughts? What dairy free goodness would you like to see?

Looking forward to hearing from you all!

Jessica

Meal Plan January 13-19

Glad everyone enjoyed the meal plan so much!  It was one of my top posts of all times!

Anyways – here’s what’s on schedule for this coming week! 

Monday – Burger, Homemade Fries & Salad (I’m making myself these Lentil Walnut Burgers)

Tuesday – Chicken Soup with Homemade Bread ( Vegan Irish Soda Bread)

Wednesday – Family Dinner

Thursday -  Chicken & Brown Rice Casserole with asparagus and probably salad  - in the recipe – will sub unsweetened almond milk for milk & use the non condensed milk version.  

Friday – BBQ Pork and Veggies (peppers, onions and zucchini), roasted sweet potatoe (served with sweet chili sauce) – I will likely skip the pork and have BBQ tofu (marinated in hoisin sauce)

Weekend sometime – Turkey with all the Fixins – probably everything here – we went for dinner at people’s houses for Christmas and missed out on Turkey Leftovers!

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Other things I’m making for a successful week – So a bunch of girlfriends and I are doing the 90 day Bikini Body Mommy Challenge – it’s a free online workout challenge and we are officially done week #1!  It’s hard work – but I’ve seen results in the first week – WOOO!

To keep myself eating ok – I need to do prep on the weekend – so I will me making;

Kale Chips (sorry the recipe is a little wacky on here – but hopefully you can read it)

Quinoa Coconut Granola Bars

Some kind of hummus – (likely will be making the curry/raisin one which I love to eat with carrots)

My friend Tasha’s low fat Granola to go in cultured coconut milk yougert!

PS – if you are ever looking for Dairy Free Snack ideas – check out this post – huge list (with links!)

Hope you are enjoying these meal plans!!

Meal Plan January 5-10

Hey guys!

So I posted on facebook last night to see if anyone was interested in seeing our weekly meal plan – even if it didn’t include recipes and there was lots of interest!  So here is the first one!

So a few words about my eating – I have a husband that loves to eat meat – so I always include meat in our dinner meals – I really enjoy chicken and seafood but red meat and pork I could always pass on (and often do!) I typically eat pretty plant based for my breakfast/lunch and snacks.  We don’t often plan for dinner on Saturday or Sunday – we usually either throw something (think soup/stews) together or go out for dinner either at friends houses or restaurants or we plan last minute and make a big dinner like Newfoundland Jiggs Dinner or my husband cooks!! (which I love!)  

Breakfasts – for breakfast I often have toast with avocado, nooch and sea salt; sugar free cereal with fresh fruit and sees/nuts and almond milk; eggs and toast; coconut yogurt with berries and seeds; scrambled eggs with veggies; leftovers from dinner; green smoothies; rice or wasa crackers with nut butters and dates – you get the idea…  Mom’s muffins are one of my favorites!

Lunch – lunch is often the veggie left overs from dinner;  or a snack plate that’s full of veggies, hummus, crackers, fruit; salad rolls are another favorite with peanut butter sauce; stir-fried veggies; quinoa salad etc. 

Snacks – dates stuffed with nut/seed butter; kale chips; tortillas chips with salsa/guac, energy balls; apples or celery with nut butter; fruit & nut trail mix; banana with peanut butter and sunflower seeds; larabars; smoothies.

Are you interested in seeing more posts like this? 

Jessica