Recipe: Organic Quinoa and Blueberry Salad

I came up with this totally by accident and now it’s one of my most favorite things to eat morning, noon and night!

This is a quick and easy complete meal in a bowl, full of protein, fiber and antioxidants. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Organic Quinoa and Blueberry Salad: 

Ingredients:

1 cup organic quinoa
1 cup organic blueberries
Optional: balsamic vinaigrette (to taste)

Directions: 

Cook 1 cup organic quinoa, according to package directions.

Allow the quinoa to cool on the stove then, transfer to a large covered bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill.

Once the quinoa is chilled add one cup (or more!) of fresh washed (preferably organic) blueberries and gently toss together.

You can eat this yummy mixture as is or add a splash of balsamic vinaigrette (you can use store bought or make your own.)

Enjoy! 

Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

It’s fall, one of my favorite seasons! I love the sweaters and cuddling on the couch under my favorite blanket, I love long walks in the brisk air and playing in the leaves and I love everything pumpkin!  So it was only fitting that I would find a way to make a healthy vegan pumpkin related treat that I could enjoy with minimal guilt! I’m not so sure that I am the first person to come up with such a thing, so if you have other healthy pumpkin related recipes (shakes, smoothies, desserts etc.)  and you would like to share please do leave them in the comments!

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Recipe: 

You can use canned (organic) pumpkin puree or you can use a fresh pie pumpkin, pie pumpkins are the little ones and they are best because they are nice and sweet. I don't like to use the large pumpkin for this recipe... the one pictured was just for looks, we will be using that one for a roasted pumpkin dish and for seeds!

8oz pumpkin, canned or fresh
10oz coconut or almond milk
Dash of Cinnamon- I actually like cinnamon, so I used a little more than a dash, it was more like a spoonful. :)
Dash of Pumpkin pie spice (if you can’t find pumpkin pie spice - use a little allspice or nutmeg)
Dash of ginger (if you don't have ground ginger on hand, a single clove is also nice)
Ice
Blend all the ingredients till silky smooth and serve!

Bonus:
You can really take this smoothie to another place with a little dollop of vegan whipped topping... I found a recipe for a great one on the Healthy. Happy. Life. blog. It uses coconut milk!!

You can get that recipe here:

How-to: Whipped Coconut Cream from Coconut Milk

 

Happy Fall!!     Enjoy! 

Mack and Cheese... maybe...

Made this over the weekend!

 Looks good right?! It was great!! And.... it’s Vegan! It was amazing!! No one could believe there was not any actual cheese in this Mac and Cheese! I picked up the recipe from a great blog called "That was Vegan?"  I added a little Braggs nutritional yeast to take the cheesy taste up another notch. It was Delish and healthy!!

If you are looking for comfort food without the calories, fat and cholesterol this is the one to try! If you are thinking about converting to a Vegan or Vegetarian lifestyle this is a great intro to what yummy stuff can be created without using animal products! Give this dish a try! Even our children approved this one!

Helpful tips to keep in  mind when making this recipe... I tried roasting my own butternut squash, I made too much so the first batch was more butternut squashy vs cheesy. For the second batch I went with the frozen butternut squash I say go that route, the recipe calls for 10 oz of butternut squash and the frozen package is exactly 10 oz so, no opportunity to screw up.  Also, I am a lazy cook so I put all the following ingredients in the blender

• 2 T Earth Balance
• 3 T flour
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 10-12 ounces of butternut squash, thawed
• 1 cup soy cream

Then I poured it all in the pot to heat it up, and I tossed in the following ingredients:

• 1 small sweet onion very finely diced
• 1 bag  Daiya cheddar
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 
• 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon Herbamere (or salt of your choice)
• Pepper to taste

Once the ingredients came to a bubble I began to slowly add the Braggs Nutritional Yeast one table spoon at a time to taste, and then finally perfected the seasoning, sea salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Here is the link to the full recipe: 

Butternut Squash Mac n’ Cheese 

 ENJOY!!