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!!

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!

Fruity Colada Smoothie

On Wednesday I had a not-so filling breakfast of just 3 bananas and 4 cups of spinach with coconut water, blended into a smoothie. Normally I have about 2 cups of berries in there but I was out of my favorite frozen berry blend from Super Store. I thought it wouldn’t make that much of a difference in my day, but boy was I wrong.

While at work I was helping a member and I started to get really unfocused and I had trouble remembering numbers. So I attacked my 3 oranges that I brought as a snack and felt so much better. Thankfully I had a healthy snack with me, because I don’t know what I would have done. Well, I would have probably snuck downstairs to the staff room and grabbed a bag of chips, which is a horrible idea because that isn’t good for me or my body.

So that night I was determined to have a filling breakfast and went grocery shopping after supper. I picked up lots of fruits and veggies, including some pineapple and mango. I had this idea of a pina colada inspired smoothie that day and was excited to try it. Happily, I wasn’t disappointed! The smoothie turned out divine and it is now one of my favorites, even my husband said that it was the best spinach smoothie he has ever tasted. 

As you can tell by the ingredient list it makes quite a lot, around 6-8 cups, depending on how big your pineapple is and yes you drink it all to yourself for breakfast. I know it seems like a lot but you need it, trust me. It lasted me all the way until 11:30 and I felt great, I was alert, I felt full and satisfied, which didn't happen the previous day. So if you ever are craving something tropical and are wanting a really filling breakfast this is the smoothie for you! 

Thanks for reading!
xoxo -N

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