Spicy Cajun Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes have become very popular in the last couple years in both households and restaurants. I normally would only see this vegetable on holidays whipped with butter and brown sugar and topped with marshmallows (not the healthiest way to eat this amazing root vegetable) but now they are everywhere. From restaurants serving them deep fried with some sort of dipping sauce to moms now substituting them out for potatoes on a regular basis at home.

Ever since I got my Actifry I have loved making sweet potato fries because I find that they come out crispier than baking them in the oven, plus I get to use less oil too. So that got me thinking about what else I could use this thing for and I thought “well they don't have to be fries all the time do they?” I could make thick wedges or even just cube them up like a hash.

So for a snack one day I cubed up 2 sweet potatoes and I was just going to put salt on them but while reaching in to the cupboard I noticed this Cajun spice that we had. Light bulb! Cajun Sweet Potatoes! What a perfect combination! So I tossed the cubed potatoes into a bowl and put two tbsp of this Cajun spice on top and tossed them around. The smell was amazing but I felt like I could go one step more into making these perfect. That’s when I grabbed the cinnamon. It would be the perfect complement to the spiciness of the Cajun while also bringing out the earthy flavours of the sweet potato. 

Results? Of course amazing! It was the perfect twist to one of my favorite snack foods. They weren't too spicy that you wanted to stop eating them and that cinnamon really packed an aromatic punch, especially while cooking. It kind of reminded me of Thanksgiving! A holiday that I can wait for, because I am really enjoying our summer! 

Spicy Cajun Sweet Potatoes

2 sweet potatoes

2 tbsp of Cajun spice

1 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp of cumin (optional)

1 tbsp of coconut oil – Actifry – cook for 20 mins or until tender and crispy

3 tbsp of coconut oil – Oven – bake for 30 mins, or until tender and crispy

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, Vegan Gluten Free

Recently I have had the need to bake something, mainly because I have been craving something chocolate. So I was looking around the internet for some chocolateness and came upon this recipe for chocolate muffins. The recipe looked fairly simple and I had most of the ingredients at my house which is usually a deciding factor for me. If the ingredients list has something new that I have to buy I am reluctant to use it. Mainly because if I have to buy a new ingredient that I will only use in this recipe, what happens if it sucks?! Then I have this random container sitting in my cupboard taking up space, and my kitchen is small as it is.

So after I made that amazing hashbrown casserole (found here) I decided to keep the ball rolling and try out this new recipe. I got the recipe from a vegan website but true to form I needed to make some changes to it. I never do things by the book, its not fun that way. I used zucchini to reduce the amount of oil I used, also I used carob power along with the cocoa to, again, reduce the cocoa in the mix, plus I had it in my cupboard and figured I should use it. If you want to look at the original recipe click here.

The muffins turned out really good, especially for gluten free and vegan. They are a dense muffin but still full of chocolaty flavour. The next time I try them I am going to do a regular gluten batch and I am going to put more zucchini in them, just to see how they compare. Once those are done I will let you know how they turn out!

Ingredients - Makes 12

1 cup of fresh orange juice, about 5 oranges

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 cup of rice flour

1 cup of coconut flour

1 tsp of baking powder

½ tsp of baking soda

¼ tsp of salt

¼ cup cocoa powder or carob powder

½ tsp of cinnamon

¼ cup of coconut oil, melted

¼ cup of zucchini, minced

½ cup of vegan chocolate chips

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and get out muffin pan and liners.

- In a medium mixing bowl combine juice and sugar together, whisk together until well combined.

- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour’s, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and carob powder and cinnamon.

- Add oil and zucchini to juice/sugar mixture and whish until well combined

- Add flour to oil mixture and stir until well blended together. Stir in chocolate chips, you can ever save some to top each muffin with.

- Divide batter between muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes.

- Let cool for 10 minutes and serve!

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo -N

Vegan Egg Nog

Even before I was vegan I hated Egg Nog, mainly for the reason that it was made out of eggs. I just couldn't wrap my head around that and it just grossed me out. So when my sister Ashley told me she made a vegan egg nog I was really intrigued. The night I made my Lasagna Inspired Salad she  brought it over for me to try and after one sip, I knew I was hooked. I thought it resembled the flavor and texture of egg nog perfectly, and it was the perfect holiday drink to share while watching Home Alone. You could even add a little 'holiday spirit', aka Rum, into it to make it even more festive!

Make this a new holiday tradition for you and your family this year!

Banana Nog
- water and meat from one young coconut, or 1 1/2 cups of almond milk
- 2 frozen bananas
- 4 pitted medjool dates
- 1/4 tsp powdered vanilla
- 1/4 tsp of cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp of nutmeg, optional

Blend together in high speed blender and enjoy!!










Persimmon Nog 
For people with banana allergies!
- Water and meat from one young coconut or 1 1/2 cups almond milk
- 2 frozen, peeled persimmons
- 4 pitted dates

- 1/4 tsp powdered vanilla

- 1/4 tsp of cinnamon

- 1/4 tsp of nutmeg, optional

Blend together in high speed blender and enjoy!!

These lovely pictures were designed by my sister Ashley. You can follow her at Naturally Ashley on Facebook! 

Thanks for reading!

xoxo -N

Quinoa Breakfast Style, 7 Ways

I used to love cereal. Like full on obsession. You know how I posted that I loved October? Well cereal was right underneath there. I lived on this stuff when I was going to university and living on campus. We had the typical horrible cafeteria food, that always looked questionable and inedible. But luckily there was a wall of cereal to choose from, it was like a mecca of choices. If I can recall, there was Golden Grahams, Corn Pops, Rice Crispies, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Frosted Flakes, Lucky Charms, Mini Wheats, Honey Combs, and probably 12 others that I cannot think of. I was always thankful for this 'wall of awesomeness' because without it I would have starved!! If you were to ask anyone of my friends from Rez, I am sure they would say that the cereal wall was one of the best things (next to cross track fries) about eating there. Most of the time you would see me carrying out 2-3 bowls of cereal for each meal, plus sneaking ziplock bags full of Golden Grahams for study snacks.

Quinoa with Apples and Cinnamon

Lately, I have been doing a lot of thinking about the food that I eat and what is in it. Right now there are tons of commercials trying to tell you that their products are low fat, no fat, high fiber, high protein, no sugar, no additives, no preservatives ect,  like McDonalds, Activa, and Cheerios. They can all be quite confusing because what do you focus on? For me, I am starting to really focus on simplicity! Simplicity is your best friend when trying to make healthy, wise choices. How could you go wrong with a fresh fruit salad for breakfast, or a lettuce wrap full of fresh veggies for lunch? When you really think about it, the less ingredients, the better. 

I really like the saying, if you can't pronounce the ingredients, its not good for you. I have posted a picture of the ingredients in Cheerios, one of the most popular cereals out there. And two of the ingredients listed are trisodium phosphate and tocopherols .... I have no idea what these are. I know, I could probably Google it, but WHY am I Googling ingredients in my food! That is ridiculous and a bit disturbing. Think of the some of the food that you eat on a regular basis and the possible mystery ingredients that you are possibly consuming.

So with this thought of eating Simply, I came up with a great breakfast dish that I know you will love. It's gluten free, vegan and can be catered to anyone’s taste. It's Quinoa for Breakfast! Yes, quinoa for breakfast, you heard me correctly. I love quinoa, for any meal and for breakfast I think it's a great substitute for oatmeal. It is high in fiber and protein, contains calcium, and it's a seed (not a grain like oatmeal), which makes is easier for your body to digest. It is also very easy to prepare, its a 2 cups of water to 1 cup of quinoa and it only takes about 15 mins to cook. I find that one cup of uncooked quinoa makes about 3.5 cups of cooked quinoa, so that around 3 serving sizes (well that depends on how hungry you are, I can eat the whole fricken pot sometimes!)

Yummy quinoa breakfast!

Basically you treat Quinoa like oatmeal, you can put any type of toppings on in that you like. My absolute favourite is the blended quinoa with coconut milk and bananas. After you blend it, it has the exact texture of oatmeal and if you are a cream of wheat fan, add a little more liquid and blend it longer until you get a silky smooth texture. Also, if coconut milk isn't your thing you could use almond milk, or rice milk!

I have listed 7 of my favourites that I really enjoy and I hope you do too!

Blended quinoa with coconut milk and bananas.

Blended Quinoa with Coconut Milk and Bananas

1 cup of hot, cooked quinoa

1/4 cup of coconut milk (or any milk of choice)

1 medium banana

Put quinoa, milk and half of the banana in the blender, and blend until desired consistency. Cut up the rest of the banana and serve on top!

Dessert Breakfast - Chocolately Quinoa with Bananas

1 cup of hot, cooked quinoa

1/4 cup of chocolate almond milk

1 medium banana

Put quinoa, milk and half of the banana in the blender, and blend until desired consistency. Cut up the rest of the banana and serve on top!

Other ideas

Quinoa with diced apples and cinnamon

Quinoa with frozen blueberries and almonds - I like to leave the berries frozen!!

Quinoa with walnuts and cinnamon

Quinoa with peaches and maple syrup

Quinoa with almonds and dates

****You could also blend any of the other 5 with milk before adding the toppings****

Thanks for reading!!!
xoxo - N