Autumn Calling Soup

October is such a great month, I know I have said this before but it really is. Not only is there the changing of the leaves, my birthday, Halloween but it’s the perfect time to eat the squashes and pumpkins that come straight from the garden. I unfortunately do not have a garden because my backyard is a) too small b) gets little to no sunlight because of the trees c) my dogs would tear it apart!! So I rely on the wonderful farmers market on River Street. Its not huge but it fits the needs of us Moose Javians very nicely by supplying us with a great assortment of veggies and some fruit. 

The last time I was there (picking out the pumpkin and butternut squash for this soup) it was there final get together because here in Saskatchewan it gets pretty cold in October. This news makes me so sad, because I now have to go back to eating grocery store cucumbers and tomatoes, which just are SO NOT the same. Oh the hurdles I have to face on a day to day basis. *cue in the song Don’t Cry For Me Argentina* its really a horrible day for my taste buds to have to eat the grocery store knock offs, they do not taste anything like the real thing!

But I digress. Back to this amazing soup. It is so earthy, creamy, rich and warm that it just gets down to your bones and makes you feel all good inside. Soup is truly the ultimate way to ward off the winter time chills, because not only does it warm your hands by holding the bowl, but your face, mouth and your tummy. Plus if you are like me it really fills you up because you end up eating half of the pot in one sitting (its that good!!!)

Autumn Calling Soup

1 small pumpkin – I used a sugar Pie pumpkin, if they are out of season you could use a can of pumpkin puree too.

1 butternut squash

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

7 stalks of celery, diced

3 carrots, diced

1 yellow onion, diced

1 clove garlic, diced

6 cups of water (you can add some vegetable broth if desired)

1 can coconut milk

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp coriander

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Salt pepper to taste

Pre heat oven 450 degrees.

Split the pumpkin and squash in half and de-seed each. Using the melted coconut oil brush on the insides of the squash/pumpkin halves. Place face down on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 25 mins, or until fork tender.

While those are in the oven, dice up your veggies and in a large soup pot fry them in the left over coconut oil on medium/high heat for 15 mins.

Pour in coconut milk and spices and cook for 5 mins, letting the flavours all meld together.

Remove the squash/pumpkin from the oven and using a knife, cut away the skin. Be careful these will be hot!!! You could wait until they cooled but I am impatient so I just used a oven mitt.

Throw the squash/pumpkin and the water into the pot and stir in. cooking for another 5 mins, again letting the flavours all meld together.

Finally blend the soup in a high speed blender until smooth! Serve with roasted pumpkin seeds on top and enjoy!

Thanks for reading 

xoxo -N

Creamy Vegan Potato Salad

I haven’t had potato salad in forever! It used to be one of my favourites growing up, but because it is made with mayo I haven’t been able to eat it since turning vegan. Now with the discovery of Vegenaise I am able to make homemade potato salad and enjoy one of my favourites again.

I have been wanting to make this for a while, but I wasn’t ever in the mood to whip it up. With this lovely summer weather and bbq season upon us, it was time to try out this new recipe and see how it held up to my memories of ‘regular’ potato salad. Other than cooking and letting the potatoes cool it was really easy to make, and it turned out great! Devon, Ashley and Chelsea all thought it was delicious, except Devon thinks the potatoes should have been cut smaller.

 

This recipe isn’t just for people who are vegan, it is also great for people who have egg allergies. If you have an allergy to eggs and haven’t heard of Vegenaise I strongly suggest you go down to your local health food store and pick up a jar. They have many variations of mayo, such as Soy Free, Grapeseed oil, Reduced Fat, and Organic. All of their Veganaise products are Vegan, Gluten Free, Non GMO, Dairy Free, and Kosher, which is nice because its able to reach a number of people with food allergies. 

Ingredients - 4-6 people

2 golden potatoes

3 stalks of celery

2 green onions

Dressing

2 tbsp fresh/dried parsley

2 tbsp fresh/dried dill

1/2 cup Vegenaise

2 tbsp mustard

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 lemon juiced

1 tsp of maple syrup

salt and pepper to taste

Mix the dressing together and let sit in the fridge while potatoes are cooking. Cube your potatoes and cook until they are fork tender. You want to avoid over cooking them because they will turn to mush when you mix the salad together. Let them cool completely. Mix the dressing, celery and onion together. Stir until completely covered and refrigerate until cold.

Other recipes I have used Vegenaise in
* Killar Vegan Ranch Dressing
* Chick*n Salad Wraps 

Thanks for reading!

xoxo -N

Organize Your Juice Cleanse in 4 Easy Steps

Juice cleanse! Yup I am going there again! I had plans on doing another one after Mexico but that kind of fell by the wayside. Technically though, this IS after Mexico so I wasn’t totally lying to myself, I am just a procrastinator, no surprise there.

I had tried starting one about a month ago but I just wasn’t motivated enough and ended up just eating all of the produce I had bought for it instead of juicing it. At least it didn’t go rotten in my fridge! There is nothing I hate more than the forgotten brussle sprouts in the back corner that go rotten, I can literally see money being tossed away and a good meal being wasted.

I found the last time I did a juice cleanse it was kind of hard to get my proportions right and figure out if I had enough food in my fridge to last the rest of the cleanse. I found myself running to the grocery store more times than needed, which can be a bit of a hassle. So this time I thought I would plan out what juices I wanted to drink and make out a list of what I will need. Sounds good right? That should alleviate things a bit and make it easier to get back on the juicing train. BUT! What if I take it to the next organizational level?!
Below I have outlined four simple steps to help guide you in starting your juice cleanse, which is always the hardest part. So here are my tips and tricks to start a successful juice cleanse:

1)    Make a list Do some research and figure out which juices you would love to drink and make out a grocery list of everything you will need.  If you are doing a longer cleanse like 10 days, you can break it up into 2 grocery trips to avoid not having enough room in your fridge. I have listed below some of the juices I am drinking, which are great basic ones that are sweet and delicious.

2)    Wash your produce

This may seem like a no brainer, but it really helps you out in the long run. Fill your sink up with cold water and a cup of vinegar and throw in all of your fruit, veggies and leafy greens. Let them sit for 10 mins giving them a scrub to get off all of the dirt. Aslo you should de stem any fruit or veggies that need to be broken down (not the fruit!). Now when you go and juice its all ready to just throw in.

3)    Pre Package your meals

I don’t know about you but I buy all of my leafy greens from Super Store and they always come in these plastic containers that are a bitch to deal with. So why not use them to pre portion out all of my juices in the fridge so all I have to do is grab a container and bam! Its already washed, chopped and portioned for me to just throw in and juice away!? AND I know that I have enough produce to do my whole cleanse (or half of it) without having to go to the grocery store. Don’t forget to label which one is which, or you can leave them unlabeled and live dangerously! Ooo the possibilities!

4)    Cut down on cleaning

Take a bag – I use the thin vegetable bags you get at the grocery store - and line the container that the pulp goes into. You can then dump out the pulp and reuse the bag for the next meal and save you time cleaning it out. And always, always clean out your juicer right after you are done, if not she will be hard to clean out and you will get frustrated!

 

These are some of the juices that I am going to be drinking throughout the 10 days:

2 apples

4 stalks celery

2 big handfuls spinach

1 cucumber

1 lemon

2 pears

3 stalks kale, de stemmed

3 stalks celery

1 cucumber

1 lemon

10 oranges

2 grapefruit

12 oranges

I am already on day four and I feel great. Other than feeling a little tired during the day and having food cravings (not hunger pains) I feel pretty normal. I am trying to do 10 days but I am not putting any pressure on myself if I don't feel like finishing. I hope my tips and tricks help you out on your journey because I know they helped me!

Vegan Cashew Curry Sitr Fry

You know those days where you eat at like 3:30 in the afternoon and when supper comes along you don’t feel hungry but you still feel like you should eat something? That is what happened the night I made this. It was 8:00 and I was searching the kitchen for something to eat and was coming up with nothing. Not that we didn’t have any food in the house, I just was being indecisive about what I wanted. So I walked back into the living room and started to watch You Gotta Eat Here and what came on has changed my life forever!

It was a recipe for Cashew Curry sauce that was vegan! Holy Moly it looked amazing and really easy to make. I was super intrigued and it even caught the eye of Devon, the curry hater. So now I was torn, because it was 8:20 and kind of late to be making supper but I really, really, really wanted to make this… sooo I did! We decided to serve it over rice, and we were kind of pumped because we found white rice in the cupboard, something we haven’t had in a long time.

The whole meal only took around 35 minutes to make and it was well worth it. My thoughts of eating so late were silenced by the amazing flavours this supper had. I think I said “I love this” about 8 times while eating it, and now as I type this I am thinking about making it again for supper tonight. The sauce is creamy, thick, FULL of rich flavor and its not that high in fat which is a HUGE bonus. Aside from the oil there is only the cashews in the sauce which add fat, there is no milk or cream, the usual culprits in fatty sauces.

The only changes I made to the sauce from the show was that I reduced the cashews from one cup to ½, I didn’t put in cinnamon and nutmeg, and she used 2 large onions and no spinach. As I was making it I thought that 2 onions was a bit much, so what would be a good substitute for it? I didn’t want to add more cashews and I didn’t want to add something that would drastically change the flavor of the dish. That’s why spinach works so well, it adds great color, nutrients and body to the sauce without having to sacrifice any flavour or add any extra fat. It’s really a win, win here!

If you are a curry fan or are someone who is interested in trying it, I would say you NEED to try this! It wont disappoint you or your family and friends. Enjoy!  

Ingredients: 2 - 4 people

Cashew Curry Sauce

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 large yellow onion

½ cup of cashews, soaked overnight or for at least 4 hours

1 sm can of tomato paste

1 ½ cups of water

2 cups fresh spinach

2 tbsp curry powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

Red pepper flakes to taste

Heat up large frying pan, add oil. Sauté onions until they are golden brown, about 15 minutes on med heat. In a bowl whisk together the tomato paste and water until well blended, add to frying pan and stir in. Add in all spices, spinach and cashews cook for 10 minutes. Pour into a high speed blender and blend until smooth.

Stir Fry Vegetables and Rice

1 cup of rice

2 cups of water

2 tsp of oil

1 head broccoli

½ head cauliflower

4 stalks celery

½ sm. container white mushrooms

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup water

While the onions are cooking, I chopped up all of my vegetable and cooked my rice. Sauté the vegetables and garlic until fork tender, about 10 minutes. You could have these cooking in a separate frying pan while the cashew sauce is cooking, to save on time.

Add sauce to the vegetables in the frying pan, and stir in. I try not to waste anything, so after I am done pouring the sauce out, I take ½ cup of water and add it back into the blender, turn it on high to get all the sauce off the sides and pour it back into the pan. Just to make sure its all in!

Serve over rice, quinoa or noodles! Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!
xoxo -N

Cast Iron Shepherds Pie, Vegan Gluten Free

Who loves comfort food!? I do, and so does my husband. With our Saskatchewan weather being so up and down lately some days it still feels like January, which is not fun. That’s where my Shepherds Pie comes in, this dish is bound to warm you up, no matter how cold it is outside.

Like always I was on Pinterest and this recipe caught my eye for a couple reasons. One because it looked amazing, and two my sister Chelsea has a similar recipe that she has yet to share with me. So I decided the wait was over and it was time to make this bad boy. I had most of the ingredients in my house which made it easy to prepare, I only needed the green beans and potatoes and I was set. I didn’t make a ton of changes to her recipe but I did make some, so here is her recipe if you wanted to compare ours. I wont lie, the preparation of this dish is a little time consuming so I would suggest doing this when you know you have around 45 mins to prepare a meal. I will say though, it’s well worth the wait.

I had started making this on Saturday night (having the lentils soaking since I woke up) and at 5:30 Devon got a text asking if he wanted to go to the hockey game. Of course he said yes and I was now all alone for supper. There was no way I was going to put off making this because I was so excited to try it. So as I was sitting there wallowing in my loneliness I thought “lets invite Chelsea over and she can try my recipe out!” And luckily her and her boyfriend Taylor weren’t busy and were happy to come over and eat.

Yay! I'm not alone anymore and they both loved my meal, double bonus! We didn’t end up doing too much, basically watched 90’s music videos on You Tube and Louis ck’s (love him) stand up comedy on Netflix. Which, for me, is a really fun night because who could ask for more than family, good food and funny tv!




Ingredients
2 large gold potatoes
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tbsp of coconut oil
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
½ zucchini, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups green beans, cut in 1″ pieces
½ cup of dry mixed lentils, soaked for 4 - 6 hours or, 1 can of mixed lentils
1 ½ tsp thyme
¼ tsp sage
2 cups baby spinach leaves, packed
1 tbsp gluten free flour or cornstarch
2 tbsp water (or veg. broth)
1 cup of cheddar Daiya cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

Wash and cut up potatoes into cubes, I leave the skin on mine, place into large pot and cover with water. Cook until fork tender and reserve some cooking water for later. Drain, then add the almond milk and mash until smooth. You can add some of the cooking water if too dry.

Rinse off the soaked lentils, place in a medium sized pot and boil for 30 mins, or until soft.

While potatoes and lentils are cooking, make the filling. Heat up large cast iron pan and oil. Sauté onions, celery, carrots and garlic until browned. Add mushrooms, zucchini and green beans and spices, sauté for 5 mins. Add broth and lentils, stir until well combined. Simmer for 15 mins or until all veggies are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
There should be some liquid in the pan, if not add more potato water or broth. Add the spinach and stir until completely wilted.
Mix flour and water until smooth, add to the pan and stir until well combined and has thickened.

Spoon the potatoes over the top of filling and level out. Sprinkle cheese over top and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 mins or until the cheese has melted.

Serve while hot and enjoy!

Pineapple Ginger Stir Fry Revised

When ever I make a stir fry I tend to get carried away with my vegetable proportions. My eyes have always been bigger than my stomach and I chop up way to many veggies which always leads to left overs. Yumm!

Two nights ago was no exception. I had chopped too much that it all couldn't fit into our large cast iron pan. Luckily Devon and I don't mind having the same thing two days in a row, I actually like it because it makes meal planning easier!

So there I was last night chopping up more vegetables and pineapple for another stir fry and I think to myself that I was out of cashews and rice. Crap. Well I just won't have cashews then and I will sub in brown rice vermicelli noodles instead! Then I got to thinking about making a sauce, something similar to last night's but different. I still had ginger and pineapple.... what else. ..? Date caramel sauce?.... Yay I think so!

I acquired this amazing sauce from my sister Ashley who had found it when she went down in the States in January. She had already eaten half of the jar and wanted it out of her house, so I was the lucky recipient. It’s a super thick, sweet, sticky sauce that is made out of just organic dates, organic caramel extract and sea salt. I have used this on top of my bananas, apples and on even on ice cream, it’s that good. This was the magical ingredient that was going to put my sauce over the top.

 

Results? Best sauce ever! Devon and I loved it. I wont lie though, I was tempted to eat the whole stir fry to myself but I am a nice person and saved some for Devon.

.

Ingredients
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 head of broccoli, chopped
1/4 head of cauliflower, chopped
5 stalks of celery, chopped
5-7 mushrooms, chopped
1/2 fresh pineapple, chopped (minus a large handful)
1 small can of baby corn (optional)
1 tbsp Better Than Bouillon broth, vegetable flavor
1/2 cup of water

 

Sauce
Large handful of pineapple
Ginger thumb sized, grated
1 tbsp Date Caramel Sauce
1 tsp soya sauce
1/2 cup of water
Salt and pepper to taste
Chop up all vegetables and fruit. Put aside a large handful of pineapple. Heat up a large frying pan on medium/high, add oil. Once melted add garlic and onions, sauté for 5 mins until browned. Add broccoli, cauliflower, celery, and sauté for 10 mins. Dissolve broth in water and add to pan. Add mushrooms, pineapple, and corn. Continue cooking until vegetables are fork tender.

With your hands squeeze the juice out of the pineapple, place all ingriedients (including the pineapple pulp) in a small sauce pan and put on medium/high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, let simmer until its reduced to a thicker consistancy. Pour into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour over stir fry and serve.

*If you don't have the date caramel sauce, this version wont be as sweet*

Sauce
Large handful of pineapple
Ginger thumb sized, grated
3 large, soaked majool dates, diced
1 tbsp of you favourite sweetener (vanilla, stevia)
1 tsp soya sauce1/2 -1 cup of water
Salt and pepper to taste

In a high speed blender blend the 3 dates with the water, adding a little water, bit by bit until its running smooth then add sweetener. Try to avoid using too much water, you want it to be a paste not a liquid. With your hands squeeze the juice out of the pineapple, place all ingriedients (including the pineapple pulp) in a small sauce pan and put on medium/high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, let simmer until its reduced to a thicker consistancy. Pour into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour over stir fry and serve.
Serve over rice, quinoa, or rice noodles! And Enjoy!!


Thanks for reading!
Xoxo -N

 

Pineapple Cashew Ginger Stir Fry

While walking through the grocery store yesterday, I was completely lost on what to make for supper. Isn't that always the way? You are faced with literally every possibility, and yet I was coming up blank.
That's until I saw the pineapple. They looked really delicious and I even found one that was really ripe. Now what to do with it?... stir fry!? Why not? I am a huge fan of stir fries but unfortunately my husband isn't. If it was just me I was cooking for I would eat one every other day, they are that good.
So my mind got to work on what I was going to mix this with... I had broccoli, cauliflower, celery and mushrooms at home so I didn't need any more veggies from the store but I wanted more flavor. What goes with sweet pineapple? Ginger?!... Perfect! So I picked up a piece the size of my thumb, grabbed the can of baby corn and I was done with supper ingredients!
This was really simple supper to throw together and it didn't take long to prepare or cook. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome of my latest creation. It was both sweet and savory and I know it's good when both Devon and I go back for seconds! I hope you enjoy it!
 
Ingredients
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 head of broccoli, chopped
1/4 head of cauliflower, chopped
5 stalks of celery, chopped
5-7 mushrooms, chopped
1/2 fresh pineapple, chopped
1 small can of baby corn (optional)
Ginger thumb sized, grated
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp Better Than Bouillon broth, vegetable flavor
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of cashews, soaked
Salt and pepper to taste

First get your rice (or whatever you choose) cooking, I use a rice cooker for my brown and wild rice and it takes an hour to cook. Then chop up all vegetables and fruit. Put aside a large handful of pineapple. Heat up a large frying pan on medium/high, add oil. Once melted add garlic and onions, sauté for 5 mins until browned. Add broccoli, cauliflower, celery, and sauté for 10 mins. Dissolve broth in water and add to pan with the soya sauce. Add mushrooms, pineapple, corn, and ginger. Continue cooking until vegetables are fork tender. Stir in cashews. With your hands squeeze the juice out of the pineapple and top your dish with it. Serve over rice, quinoa, or rice noodles! Enjoy!!

Thanks for reading!
Xoxo -N

Juice Cleanse Day 3.... What? Day 3?

...what it’s already day three? Holy that went by really fast! I actually catch myself thinking about the next couple days and what I will be juicing and I have to stop myself because tomorrow I am introducing solids back into my diet. I would really love to continue on this juice cleanse but because I am traveling I wont be able to juice, so I need to introduce solids back in to make it easier on my digestive system.

Day three is like day one and two, I have energy, I feel good, yet a little tired. I woke up this morning and felt the better than normal, still hitting my snooze button 5 times, but still really well. I was super thirsty this morning and ended up drinking over a liter of water, plus my hot lemon water. I walked on the treadmill for half an hour and danced around the gym by myself for a couple songs. So a really great start to my day! 

For breakfast I made my apple juice but instead of kale I used spinach and for lunch I made my pear-ific. I decided not to go with orange juice again because of what happened yesterday, but I think I will try it for breakfast on Saturday morning!

I slept really well last night, going to bed at 9:00 and falling asleep by 9:45, which felt great. I think the sauna helped with that, it relaxed me and helped me wind down from my day. So I planned on going for a sauna again tonight, but it was so snowy out today that indoors seemed like a better idea!

For supper I did a mango, cucumber and coconut water juice, I was not worried about this one because anything with coconut water in it will be delicious. I also drank another liter of water before I went to bed because I was feeling a little dehydrated and tired, which means its time for bed soon. By the looks of the last three days I am thinking day four should go well, but I am excited to introduce some solids back in. Ashley suggested making a juice and blending an apple into it, so maybe I will make my Green Apple juice for breakfast again and just not juice the apple. I only have two more sleeps until Mexico so the next couple days will be a whirl win of getting things together, luckily this juice diet hasn't slowed me down. 

Thanks for reading!

xoxo - N