Sweet & Sour Vegan Meatballs PLUS My first Baby Quilt!

-       Apples
-       Plain Pasta
-       Soda Crackers
-       Cucumbers
-       Doritos

This was my life for almost two months. Having no appetite and throwing up almost everyday.

OH THE JOYS OF PREGNACY.

You guys know me as a foodie, a lover of food and making new and fun dishes to share with you. Well that all changed in December when I was taken over by my baby. I stopped wanting to eat almost all together, well anything with real nutritional value, and the stuff I wanted to eat were things that I didn’t even really care for. But hey the baby gets what they baby gets!

This was my brain before the baby

Spring rolls…….. salad……….carrots…….. smoothies…… bananas………tomatoes……stir fries……good healthy food.

This was my brain on baby

………………..apple………………..crackers………………DORITOS…………pasta……….DORITOS……….apple.................

GET THOSE BANANAS OUT OF MY HOUSE AND DON’T EVEN TALK ABOUT CHICKE PEAS!

I had to take almost two weeks off of work because I literally couldn’t get off the couch, I lost 10 pounds in a week and felt like I was dying. Again, the joys of pregnancy. Luckily that is all behind me and can now eat smoothies and salads and all of my favourite foods again. It feels so good to feel normal again, because there were times where I honestly didn’t think I ever would again.

So I apologize for being MIA the last couple of months, I just haven’t felt inspired lately to make fun and delicious foods. But today is my first post since the beginning of January and I thought I would give you guys both food and fabric!

First for the food!

I was looking through the cupboards for a snack and saw a can of pineapple, and that's all it took to spark my appetite for some Sweet & Sour Vegan Meatballs.

My brain started putting together everything that I would need to make this amazing supper and awesomely enough I had everything to make this except the sauce. I thought about making one from scratch but I was feeling a little lazy and ended up just buying one from Safeway. I think next time I make these I am going to try my hand at a scratch made one, and bake them in a slow cooker. Mmmmm.

Easy Sweet & Sour Vegan Meatballs

Vegan Meat Balls

1 can of chick peas

¼ cup cashews/pecans

3 sprigs of fresh parsley, de-stemmed

½ lemon, juiced

Dash of liquid smoke

½ cup GF quick oats

Salt and pepper to taste

1 jar of Sweet & Sour sauce

1 can of pineapple, diced (drain liquid)

2 red peppers, chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 tbsp coconut oil

In a large frying pan, on medium heat, melt coconut oil and sauté the onions and peppers. While those are cooking combine all of the ingredients except the oats into a food processor and pulse until smooth. Then stir in the oats by hand until well combined.

Form into balls and place in the frying pan with the onions and peppers, brown each side. Pour in the sauce and the pineapple and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Pair with your favourite rice, serve and enjoy!

Now the FABRIC!!

As soon as I found out I was pregnant I knew I wanted to make multiple baby quilts for our newest edition, but where do I start? We aren't finding out the sex of the baby so that limits the themes of baby quilts I can make. If I knew we were having a baby girl I would make a Cinderella themed one, or something really flowery, but I guess I will have to wait!

So what kick ass, gender neutral baby quilt idea did I come up with? HARRY POTTER!!!!!

I am completely obsessed and like most Potterheads I have read and reread the books, and watched the movies a thousand times. AND whats even more awesome, my sisters are throwing me a Harry Potter themed baby shower. I cant fricken wait!!

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesnt love cookies right out of the oven, especially on a snowy Saturday night while hanging out with your sister! We both had nothing to do last night so naturally we decided to hang out together. I just got US Netflix so I asked her to come over so we could watch some of our favourite tv shows and some stand up comedy.

While on the phone she stated that she was craving chocolate and I suggested we make some cookies. I had a can of chick peas in my cupboard and I have heard of these chick pea cookies and was curious to try them. Cheslea was game for trying out something new so she looked up a recipe and came over.

What I loved about the recipe that she chose,was that it was so simple to make and didn't call for that many ingreidents. Basically chick peas, peanut butter, chocolate chips and a few other basics. They turned out warm, gooey and super delicious and we may or may not have eaten about 10 each. Yes they were that good.Plus they are vegan, gluten free and if you substitute the peanut butter for almond butter it's nut free too! The only thing that could have made them better was a glass of Chocolate Almond Milk.

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Chick Pea Cookies
1 large can of chick peas
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 tsp of vanilla powder
4 dates soaked in water until soft or 1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 cup chocolate chips (more if you love chocolate

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchement paper.

In a Vitamix or food processor combine all of the ingredients together, except for the chocolate chips. With the dates: de seed them and add a spash of water to the mix.

Blend the mix until smooth. Make 1 tbsp size balls and place them some what close together because they dont spread out. Bake for 12 mins and enjoy!!

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

 

-N

Quick and Easy Curry Stew

I LOVE CURRY! Like L.O.V.E LOVE  I have made a couple different curry dishes and this is by far the easiest and best I have ever made. I know I have said this about every curry dish I have made, but honestly it just keeps getting better and easier. I was surprised at how quick this meal came together and how great it turned out. 
Like always, when trying a new dish I am always a little wary on if I will like it, but man this is good. Now, I can see a couple of you out there thinking that this might be too hard, you are wrong, it’s only 4 easy steps to awesomeness for this dish. If you are unsure of whether or not you like curry then maybe start off with no curry spices and add little by little instead. For me I used 2 tbsp of curry spice to really bring out that extra punch.

So if you are in the mood for something really fun tonight, why not try out my amaze-balls curry stew, I dare you!

Serves 2-6 people ( I ate the whole pot so really 1-6 people)

Stew
2 garlic cloves

1 tbsp of coconut oil

2 good-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 large red bell pepper, or 2 small ones, chopped

1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 lime

Sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

2 inch fresh ginger, peeled

2 heaping tablespoons peanut butter

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground red pepper flakes

2 tablespoon curry powder

1 tbsp maple syrup

½ can coconut milk

Directions:

Step one – chop up all the veggies

Step two – sauté the veggies, hick peas and oil for about 10 mins in a large pot on medium high, until almost fork tender

Step three – put all of the sauce ingredients into a blender and puree until smooth

Step four – pour sauce over veggies and let simmer for 15 minutes, the longer you simmer the thicker it gets!

Garnish with lime and serve over rice or noodles. Enjoy!

Substitutions

*coconut milk for any that you have on hand

*peanut butter for any other nut or seed butter you have

*sweet potatoes for regular potatoes

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo -N

Vegan Chick*n Salad Wraps

I was searching through Pinterest the other day and came across a recipe for tofu salad sandwiches. At first I wasn’t that interested in the recipe, first because it is made with bread (gross) and also made with tofu (double gross). So I kept scrolling through looking at other randomness that is Pinterest and I got to thinking of the hummus I had to make that night for our families TGIF party. That’s when it occurred to me, like two ideas colliding in my head… what if I used chick peas instead of tofu!? It actually sounded really appealing to me and quite simple too.

So after work on Saturday I told Devon I was going to make us something new to eat, he was a little skeptical but willing to try my new idea. I decided to have mine in a lettuce wrap and Devon chose a pita with lettuce. It only took a couple minutes to prepare, which was really helpful because I was starving!

The verdict? Awesome!! I haven’t had a something like that in a very long time and was it ever good. Devon really enjoyed it as well saying that he would even eat it again! I found that the pickles were the perfect touch to the whole thing, they added crunch and salt and a hint of color in the mix!

I really hope some of you give this a try because it will not disappoint! It is a wonderful substitute that does require any more effort, you buy a can of chick peas instead of a can of chicken or tuna. I know I compared this to a chicken salad but tuna is just as common, if not more. So for the picky eaters in your life that don’t like fish, this would be a good substitute for them to try. Also the nutritional benefits of switching to chick peas from tuna are worth mentioning! Yes there are more grams of protein per cup in tuna, but the fiber, iron, calcium and vitamins in chick peas have tuna beat! Enjoy!

Chick Peas - 1 cup/250 grams

13 grams of protein

7 grams of fiber

340mg of sodium

Iron, calcium, vitamins A and C

Canned Tuna in Water - 1 cup/250 grams

65 grams of protein

0 grams of fiber

760mg of sodium

Iron, but no calcium, or vitamins

Ingredients

6 Romaine Lettuce Leaves

1 cups of Chick Peas

1 tbsp Vegan Mayo

2 tsp Mustard

1 large Pickle, diced

Salt and Pepper

I wont lie to you, I really just dumped in dabs of mayo and zig zags of mustard, but I am pretty sure these are accurate on what I had in my mixing bowl. If you have ever made chicken or tuna salad before you know that you never really measure the mayo or mustard. :)

Basically put all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Fill romaine lettuce leaves and serve!

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo -N

New Year, New Possibilities feat. Mediterranean Surprise Dip

With the ever exciting New Year upon us, a lot of us are thinking about what we might do different in the year 2013. Some may even call these New Years Resolutions. I am personally not a fan of making them because I find it very hard to stick with them. Instead I just give myself a list of things that I would like to see change in the new year. Mostly its things like see my family more, clean the house more, put away the laundry after I'm done it, actually DO laundry, ect. My newest addition to the list is eat fewer chips, they are my weakness and I should really try to cut back. I am not going to kid myself and say I am going to quit altogether because who am I kidding, I don’t want too. I feel like the decision has to come on its own, and I can't force it.

This is how I cut out peanut butter from my diet. When I became vegan I was addicted, it was one of foods that helped me transition into veganism. In the beginning I wasn’t going to give it up (no matter how many times Ashley suggested it), but just this past month I began to really recognize that it was making me feel very ill every time I would eat it. I couldn’t concentrate at work, my stomach hurt and I felt really tired. That’s when the light bulb went came on, PING! No more peanuts. It took me a while to get there, but the decision was my own and I wanted to do it!

Of course there are some of you out there who also want to make health changes but might not know where to start. I would suggest watching the Vegucated documentary, its about 3 ‘normal’ New Yorkers who go vegan for 6 weeks. The movie isn’t that long and I found it quite funny at times. I will warn you that there is some graphic footage (I covered my eyes and my husband let me know when it was okay to re-open them, so I will now suggest a buddy system when you watch it, if you are sensitive like me!). You can find it on Netflix and probably on the internet too.

While watching, I heard one of the woman say something that has really stuck with me:

"A lot of people think veganism as a religion, which is totally wrong, its not that you have to live by certain rules. Its about minimizing suffering, it’s not about being perfect”

She is right, it’s about being happy and comfortable with the way you live your life. Furthermore, it is a total different experience for each person. If you want to make a change to vegetarian/vegan and not sure where to start, why not just minimize the suffering? Gradually eliminate things from your diet at a pace you are comfortable with. For me chicken was the first to go, it was something that always bothered me so that made it easier to cut out. Another easy way to minimize suffering in you house hold is buying wild game. My husbands family are now wanting to eat more wild game such as deer, moose or wild boar, for environmental and ethical reasons. We can all share it as a family which makes it more affordable and by eating wild you are not contributing to the slaughter houses. 

My recipe today is inspired by a conversation I had with my friend Rebecca the other day. She transitioned into vegetarianism in July and she expressed that she wanted to go vegan in the new year. This got me excited! Another person to share recipes with, Woo Hoo!

She then asked me “how do you deal with going to family functions and being vegan?” This is something I get asked a lot because its one of the main hurdles people have when going vegan.  My solution is to bring your favourite dish and share with everyone. If they like it, then great you are giving them a chance to try something new! If they don’t like it, then more for you!
One of my favorite dishes to take to family functions is my Mediterranean Surprise Dip, its very simple to make and is really tasty! 

Mediterranean Surprise Dip 

Humus - store bought or you can use my recipe below
1 tomato, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 cucumber, diced
2 green onions, diced
1/2 cup of kalamata olives, diced and de-seeded
Balsamic Vinegar

Humus
1 can of chick peas
1 clove of garlic
3 tbsp of tahini 
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup of water

Put all of the humus ingredients into a high speed blender and blend until smooth. 

Spread all of the humus onto a flat serving tray, then evenly sprinkle the veggies on top. The last thing is to drizzle balsamic vinegar all over. This is a trick I stole from the restaurant Original Joes, it adds a sweet and tangy taste to the dish, and you can use ANY flavor of balsamic vinegar! Serve with pita bread, or my favorite choice, fresh zucchini and cucumber slices. 

Thanks for reading!
xoxo -N