Portobello Mushroom Burger

Have you ever tried to make vegan/vegetarian burgers? There are so many recipes out there that call for different ingredients, everything from quinoa, sweet potato, black beans ect. If you are adventurous you will try some of these recipes out and pray to the vegan gods that they turn out. If not then you will have a stir fry with the mixture instead. I have made a couple and they haven’t been that bad, nothing life changing but not a waste of ingredients. I know I haven’t tried all of the recipes out there, so there is still hope for finding that perfect vegan burger. But what happens when you are craving a BBQ burger but you don’t feel like making something up. Well Portobello Mushrooms to the rescue!

I have only ever cooked these in the oven like a pizza, but I know other people have tried this method before and it was successful for them, so why not me! I had two in my fridge and they were getting old so I wanted to use them up quick before they got moldy. I didn’t have any pizza sauce so I couldn’t make pizzas, so why not try something new like BBQing them like burgers. Devon was feeling a little adventurous and said he would give them a shot, seeing as I had two to eat up.

Result? Super delicious and very satisfactory. I had been craving something BBQ’d for a while because the weather had got so nice and I could smell other people BBQing in our neighborhood, thankfully this totally hit the spot. They only took 15 mins on the grill to prepare, so while those are cooking I cut up all of the veggies I wanted on the burger and BAM supper was ready with not a lot of mess or prep work to clean up.

 

Scrape out the insides of the mushroom and lightly coat with coconut oil. Season with salt, pepper, and Montreal Steak Spice. Cook hollow side down for 5 minutes, then 10 minutes on the other side. For the last 10 minutes, fill with Daiya cheese and let it melt! I put down tin foil on the BBQ to avoid cross contamination and the mushroom cooked just fine.

Top with your favorite toppings like tomato, lettuce, avocado, mustard, ketchup on a bun or in a lettuce wrap! Eat while hot 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

Killar Vegan Ranch Dressing

If you know my sister Chelsea at all, you will know that one of her favourite things to eat is ranch. She was one of those kids that would put it on everything from mashed potatoes, rice, corn, even meat. So when she cut out dairy from her diet she was heartbroken that she wouldn’t be able to eat ranch anymore, what was she going to put on all of her food?

Well being the wonderful sister that I am I decided to make her vegan ranch dressing for her 22nd birthday this past weekend. I love the idea of making gifts for people, especially food, because people love food and they usually aren’t expecting it so it’s a total surprise! And boy was Chelsea surprised! The look on her face was priceless, it was like I told her that she could go live in a village with elephants (another thing she loves).

However it had to pass the taste test, I had the scales tipped in my favor because she hasn’t had it in a while but I was still a little nervous that it might not measure up. Luckily I was wrong! She and (unfortunately) her boyfriend Taylor loved it, to the point that Chelsea had to tell him to stop eating it!

This was a super simple dressing to make and I find that the longer it sits the more the flavours are developed. I would strongly suggest using fresh herbs when available, but dried would work too! This will last in your fridge for around 2 weeks ish, use your judgment on the freshness of the dressing, basically if it smells weird don’t eat it.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup vegan mayonnaise, I use Vegenaise Soy Free

1/4 cup rice milk

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley, minced

2 tbsp fresh chopped dill, minced

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp cider vinegar

Preparation:

Put all ingredients to a bowl and stir until well combined. If you have a food processor you can use that, but it’s not necessary. Now you can enjoy a rich and creamy dressing on all of your fresh veggies and salads!

Thanks for reading!

xoxo -N

Vegan Chili Mushroom Bites

 One of the questions I get asked a lot is “what do you eat at parties, or family get togethers?” Most of the party food out there is either meat or dairy based and sometimes both! So often when I go to parties it is usually slim pickins for me, hence why I am always bringing food with me everywhere I go.

This weekend was my sister in law Brittany’s, 21^st birthday and she had TGIF at her house to celebrate. TGIF is Devon’s families way of staying in touch with each other throughout the weeks. Almost every Friday we all get together at someone’s house for appetizers and drinks and catch up with each other. I usually bring some sort of dip like hummus for me to eat and share with people but this week I tried something new. I’ve been really itching to make these and I was super excited to give them a shot.

Every stuffed mushroom recipe I have come across uses some sort of cheese mixture in them. Which got me thinking, what about stuffing them with other things rather than cheese?!?! I mean it’s not like cheese is the only thing that would taste good stuffed in mushrooms, so what would? CHILI would! And of course I would be using my famous sweet potato chili. Now that I had the main ingredients figured out, what would a good garnish? How about a little Daiya cheese and jalapeno? Devons family haven’t had a lot of exposure to Daiya so why not top off these tasty bites with a little, plus why not add some heat with a bit of jalapeno? Yum! These sounded so good, I knew that they would be a huge hit with the family.

When I make my chili I try to freeze half of the pot in single serving portions. This not only helps me not eat the whole pot of chili but also saves me some time on nights that I don't feel like cooking. I just so happened to have two bags of chili in my freezer, the perfect portion for my chili bites. This averaged about 4 cups of chili, which filled up 3 small pkgs of mushrooms.

These heavenly bites turned out awesome, the whole family loved them and the only thing I would change is the fact that I didn’t make more!

Ingredients

4 cups – appox – sweet potato quinoa chili

3 small pkg of mushrooms, destemmed

2 jalapenos, sliced

½ cup Daiya Cheese

Stuff the mushrooms with the chili, top with jalapeno and cheese. Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 15 mins and serve!

Thai Cabbage Summer Salad

A couple weekends ago I had the great pleasure of going over to a friend’s house for a ‘smoke’ night, and by smoke I mean smoked meat. Yumm…. Not so much. Haha, not really my thing, but exciting for everyone else there. Our friend just bought a new smoker and he was really anxious to try it out and Devon loves any excuse to eat something smoked.

So what was I going to make, seeing as I was not going to eat what they were having? A wonderful salad! Yup I was going to bring salad to a meat party. Don’t think I cant hear you guys out there quoting the Simpsons “you don’t make friends with salad”. Well I was and I did! Everyone who tried it said it tasted great and some (like myself) even went back for seconds!

I was really excited to make this one too, the ingredients are so colorful, and the Thai peanut sauce was making my mouth water. For me anything with a Thai peanut sauce is golden.
This is a perfect salad to make when you have left over quinoa in your fridge, a) because its one less step in making this salad b) the quinoa is already cold! c) who doesn’t love using leftover food, instead of throwing it out later on that week.  
It is such a fresh, crisp and tasty salad it is now in my repertoire of meals that I can either make at home or bring to family suppers.

If you or someone you know have nut allergies, just sub out the cashews and peanut butter for almonds and sunflower seed butter!

Ingredients  4 - 8 people

½ head purple cabbage

2 cups of cooked quinoa
2 carrots, grated

1 red pepper, diced

1 zucchini, diced

¼ red onion, diced
½ cup cilantro, chopped

½ cup cashews

Thai Peanut Salad Dressing

¼ cup organic peanut butter

1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 dates

1 lime, juiced
Combine all of the dressing ingredients together in a high speed blender and puree until smooth. Pour dressing over salad right before serving and fold in until completely combined. 

Juice Cleanse - The Terrible 4's and Amazing Mexican Inspired Food

Well day five of juice cleanse complete and boy am I happy to be half way done! Days 1-3 were good, I felt pretty normal throughout the day, only feeling tired around 11am and when I got home from work. Day 4, on the other hand, was the worst day I have experienced on a juice cleanse. I feel sorry for anyone who might have experienced my evilness on Thursday, if you are one of them I apologize, it was the detoxing not me. It honestly felt like I was PMSing but on a grander scale. Ladies you understand!

So, I got to work Thursday morning and by the first customer I was already annoyed by everything and everyone, to the point of me venting a lot to my co workers David, Jessica and Janelle. I think they might have been concerned for my members that day, but I held it together and put on a smile and got through the day. What I didn’t know was, that night I would be tested way beyond I could ever imagine!

My super awesome sister Ashley was featuring healthy Cinco De Mayo recipes on Global Regina Friday morning and she wasn’t ready. So in order to alleviate some stress, I offered my help. When I got to my moms house where Ash was preparing the food I was hit by the sudden urge to quit my juice cleanse. I was already having such a frustrating and trying day that when the smell of Ashley’s delicious smelling food hit my face I was like “F this I want to eat everything!”

All I wanted to do was eat, not drink, eat. I wasn’t hungry or starving, I just wanted to chew something and what a better thing to quit your juice fast on then Spicy Black Bean Brownies. Okay definitely not the best thing to eat right after four days of not eating solids, but I REALLY wanted one. Then she started making her zesty lettuce tacos with fresh avocados and tomatoes. It was absolute torture, standing there knowing that I could eat everything if I wanted too because it was all vegan and healthy. But in the back of my head there was that voice that told me to stay strong and keep going on my juice cleanse. So when she went down stairs I snagged some tomatoes and sucked the juice out of them! Yup I did, and I know that sounds so weird, but I just had to have something!

I am so happy I didn't give up on day four, because Ashley was right, day four is the hardest to get through. But once you do it becomes easier again - like days 1-3. I am already on day six with only four more days to go and I really hope I can stay strong and get through them. If I happen to fall off the wagon and eat solid food again, no worries because getting to day six is an accomplishment for me and it is something I am proud of!

Ashley did an amazing job on Live TV, she is an absolute natural and her recipes were a big hit at Global. So I thought I would share her recipes with you so you are able to see what she made, just in case you didn’t get a chance to see her.

She made:

Homemade Tortilla Chips

Zucchini Guacamole

Zesty Lettuce Tacos with mushrooms

Spicy Black Bean Brownies

All of the recipes, found here, are gluten free, dairy free, egg free, meat free and 100% pure heaven. I really, really suggest you try the tacos, they smelt AMAZING and I know they would taste AMAZING too!

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!