Rainbow Fruit + Post Holiday Salad

Post holiday is here! I hope everyone out there in the blogosphere had a wonderful, bountiful holiday! Ours was filled with family, fun and of course lots and lots of food. Today I was just like, I need SALAD!

Jenn is obsessed with cutting up fruit...don't ask. She made this lovely rainbow inspired fruit plate on Christmas day! 

Caramelized Onion-Apple-Blueberry-Walnut Salad w/ Dijon Dressing

Handful of mixed greens

Caramelized onions

Cucumber, thinly sliced

1/2 an apple, chopped

Handful of blueberries

Handful of toasted walnuts

Dressing:

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Squeeze of lemon juice

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

Pinch of salt and pepper

Last year's asian inspired post-holiday salad!

Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 11: TAZO tea + Cinnamon Biscotti

Ah it's past midnight but I need to do this post. Just to know that I actually FINISHED something for once. This is an obvious one, but tea is what every health freak wants and needs. You can never have too many boxes of tea in the cupboard in my opinion. A recent favourite tea of mine is the "Zen" green tea from TAZO. It has a very clean taste and doesn't taste like hay for once! (which I find to be the prominent note in most green teas).

teas!

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Have a great christmas morning everyone! :)

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 10: Sacha Inchi + Stevia-Sweetened Hot Drinks

Have you guys ever tried Sacha Inchi seeds? They are the best thing thing since shelled peanuts! They actually taste like peanuts except much healthier, and these little seedlings have omega 3! This little snack bag was only 1.50, 

I also tried to make a sugar-free pumpkin spiced latte. Ehhh, for some reason stevia does not mesh very well with pumpkin. It was more or less a 5 out of 10. But I did manage to make a wonderfully malty and delicious carob-cinnamon drink with absolutely no sugar or caffeine!

Almond milk, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, stevia = 50% good...

Almond milk, carob powder, stevia, vanilla powder, cinnamon = 100% yummy!

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 9: Nutralive Raw Vegan Treats

Good morning! Today we have a rare Canadian treasure to share with you. We've only been able to find these in Toronto (probably because it's a Toronto based company), but the ingredients are so simple I'm sure you could re-create them in your own kitchen!

Just 100% dried fruit and nuts

Close up chewy

Here's some ideas for homemade raw foodie presents:

No-Bake Orange Pistachio Cookies

Coco-Expresso Cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bites

Raw Carob Ely Treats

Raw Macaroons

Maple-Cinnamon Coconut Cookies

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 8: Divine Mint Dark Chocolate + Vanilla-Banana Spinach Milkshake

Mmm mm mm! This shake is so deliciously creamy. The reason why it's a milkshake and not a smoothie is because of the almond milk, bananas, and vanilla protein powder. They just all come together to make a deliciously sweet vanilla drink. And I'm sure all you green smoothie-rs know, you won't taste the spinach!! :P

1 1/2 frozen banana, large handful of spinach, 1 scoop vanilla brown rice protein powder (you could substitute regular protein powder and splash of vanilla extract + stevia), almond milk to blend, top with cinnamon :)

Next on the docket of stocking stuffers is this Divine Mint Dark Chocolate, I love mint-chocolate, like a lot, so it was natural to include this vegan, fair-trade chocolate to the list.

And we got some corn for poppin' but still no snow! Come to think of it, this could be a stocking stuffer too! :)

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 7: Upper Canada Vita Body Spray + Persimmon Smoothie

Christmas is so close I can almost taste it! I went shopping today with a dear friend in downtown Toronto, got some good stuff! My dad is so hard to buy for geez, all I could think of was translucent playing cards and chocolate...(don't worry, he doesn't read the blog that often...)

Anyways Jenn was in a rush and asked me to finish her post...a persimmon smoothie with a granola type topping, not sure what kind of granola though, I will have to get back to y'all on that :P. I commend her for using persimmons, I'm still terrified of them after they numbed my tongue. They have to be super ripe in order to avoid the numbing apparently...

vanilla persimmon smoothie (persimmon, banana, almond milk)

Almond Fresh almond milk! Mmmm! only downside is that it has sugar in it, o well a little sweetness never hurt anyone! :)

Stocking Stuffer #7: Upper Canada Vita-Body Spray. This stuff is awesome! Number 1: It's Canadian, Holla! Number 2: It's super natural with no added chemicals at all! And smells like festive cranberry and orange, mmm.

Hope your Christmas plans are following through as you'd like them to! It will probably be a green Christmas up here, not a snowflake in sight...:(

11 Days - Day 6: PUR Gum + Peanut Noodles + Pudding

Day 6! I can't believe Christmas is like 6 days away, incredible!...I went out shopping today and got lots of ideas of things I can buy for the fam, but I kept second guessing the gifts and didn't end up buying anything! I plan on going shopping some more tomorrow, so we'll see if I can grow a pair and actually buy something!

Anyways my favourite type of vegan/sugar free gum is PUR. I've tried Glee Gum and don't like the texture as much as PUR, Glee disintegrates more quickly and doesn't hold its shape as well. A perfect stocking stuffer, for those who like to avoid aspartame, I know I do! :)

pomegranate-mint and spearmint, sweetened with xylitol!!

It looks like Jenn and I both had peanut parties without even knowing it! Here is a pudding Jenn made involving peanuts:

avocado, banana, carob, almond milk, topped with peanuts!

Peanut Noodles (inspired by Aarti Paarti) see original video. If you haven't gotten into Aarti's videos please do so! (This was before she became the Next Food Network Star, and won her own show)

The best part of this recipe, is that if you watch the video before you make it you'll have "Movin' Right Along" from the Muppets stuck in your head! :)

late in the day photography, still looks delicious! :P

Brown rice pasta (I used spaghetti)
4-5 stalks of asparagus, cut into strips (as shown above)
1/2 red pepper, sliced thinly
1/4 red onion, sliced
1 inch ginger
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
Safflower oil, for frying

Sauce :
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tbsp lime juice
(I didn't add any, but you can add some sugar if you like!)

Boil pasta, drain, set aside. while pasta is boiling, slice up your veggies. Heat oil in a skillet on medium, add onion, cook until onions are tender, add garlic and ginger, continue cooking. Combine all ingredients to sauce in a small bowl. Once onions, garlic and ginger are cooked through, add sauce and sesame seeds to pan. Add in pasta and veggies. Combine everything together. Garnish with cilantro/sesame seeds.

This dish leaves you so full, and at first I was hesitant with the raw asparagus, but now I love it, I actually prefer it to cooked. You can also pack this as a lunch and it will still taste good cold, if you watch the video Aarti brings it for her friends to a movie viewing and it is eaten cold. Mmmm! So yummy, this is definitely a keeper!

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 5: Bakery on Main

We're so close to Christmas! Only 7 more days and I STILL haven't done any shopping. It's typical me to leave everything to the last minute anyway. It'll get done though!

For Day 5 we've chosen:

BAKERY ON MAIN BARS

Bakery on main is an awesome new company that makes gluten-free cereals and bars that are super yums! I've been eyeing their products in the stores and finally got to try them.

So many bars to choose from

Check out the texture yo.

The pb+j was naturally our favourite. Chewy and soft = optimal bar texture.

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 4: Tia's Bakery

Wow this week went by fast. Today's stuffer comes from Tia's bakery; a gluten-free bakery that makes super yummy cookies and cakes. We had the opportunity to try the oatmeal raisin and peanut butter cookies and man were they good! They had that chewy texture of a freshly baked cookie that I've really been missing since going gluten-free.

Our favourite was definitely the peanut butter:

Santa doesn't need these....;)

Nothing is better then cookies in your stocking!

Here's some pics of what we've been eating lately. (No recipe today :( )

Cocoa-berry pudding: Avocado, frozen cucumber, cocoa, berry powder, stevia

Zuchinni noodles cooked in marinara sauce

Tempeh on salad w/ creamy tahini sauce

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Gingerbread Oats + Day 3: Ginger Chews!

It's ginger time! One of my favourite christmas cookies is gingerbread, so I attempted to create a breakfast that would taste just like the in-famous gingerbread (I also have a jar of molasses in the fridge that I don't know what to do with so that played a roll as well ;)

1/2 cup pure rolled oats
1 cup water

(Boil water first and then add oats. Bring to a simmer until water has evaporated)

3 tbsp of coconut sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
Drizzle of molasses
Sprinkle of nuts

A great way to start a ginger day!

And now for Day 3 of our Healthy Stocking Stuffers:

THE GINGER PEOPLE GINGER CHEWS

These chews are so addictive! They come in lots of different flavours (Peanut is our favourite). When you chew them they actually get hot in your mouth from the spiciness of the ginger. It's awesome.

Haha love that ginger guy

Gingy!

Is everyone ready for the holidays? I can safely say that I am not. But it's coming!

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 2: SENCHA Green Tea Mints

It's funny I went through this phase in elementary school where I was obsessed with gum and mints. I always had to have them on me. I for some reason had this goal of trying every single flavour of "Trident". I was also obsessed with wintergreen lifesavers. Oh to be young again....

Now that I've discovered that the gum I used to chew when I was little has asparthane in it I've made the switch to more natural ways of freshening my breath and keeping my chewing muscles strong.

This is where SENCHA GREEN TEA MINTS come in!

These mints come in a little zippy pencil case thing...re-usable much?

These mints use xylitol for sweetness instead of that sketchy asparthane stuff

Am I spelling asparthane right? There's no suggestions in spell check...

Ooops it's aspartame.

Lot's of different flavours too! Pear is our favourite.

I made some ginger-molasses granola the other day and thought what a great homemade gift that would be! Just pour your homemade granola into a jar and tie with a ribbon!

Ginger-Molasses Granola (this is for our e-book so sorry no recipe!)

More granola recipes to give:

Hazelnut-Hemp Granola

Raw "Superfood" Granola

Pomegranate-Coconut Granola

Buckwheat Granola

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 1: Anita's Organic Mill

We decided to do 11 days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers! Hopefully these posts will give you guys ideas on what to give the hard core health freak foodie for Christmas. You guys probably could tell we are product fiends. Every time there's something new at the health food store we simply HAVE to try it. We don't post products that we don't believe in and we hope you guys enjoy looking at all the obscure, new health foods we've been discovering.

So first on the docket:

ANITA'S ORGANIC MILL BREAKFAST BOOST!

We are loving this breakfast boost! It has buckwheat groats (for crunchiness) Chia and Hemp seeds (for omegas) sunflower seeds (for heartiness) and dried cranberries and currants (for sweet chewiness)

I love how there's no added sugar to the cranberries, it's just purely dried.

We found lots of ways to use this booster:

Pumpkin Pudding: pumpkin puree, banana, vanilla brown rice protein powder

Bananas and apples w/ tahini and breakfast boost!

Any self respecting health foodie would jump for joy if they found this in their stocking! I know I would.

Watch out tomorrow for another stocking stuffer! :)

Nacho Supreme Quinoa Bowl + TruRoots

You guys are gonna think this is so weird, but I had a dream last night that I made this and since I had a day off today I decided to follow my dreams and literally make them come true.

And I've recently discovered the BEST and EASIEST vegan cheese sauce. I tried it on noodles and it definitely wins for the best "Mac and Cheese" substitute. Better than our hummus and sweet potato versions.

So what are the ingredients?

Super easy.

Pumpkin Cheese Sauce

Equal parts:

Canned pumpkin puree
Tahini
Nutritional Yeast and
Water
+ a hefty pinch of sea salt

For the bowl I used about 2 tbsp of each as well as a little bit more water cause I wanted to be able to drizzle it. This would equal about 1 serving I'd say.

Here's the sauce mixed w/ some noodles, KD style

But this isn't what you came here to see!

Presenting the Nacho Supreme Quinoa Bowl


1/2- 3/4 cup of cooked quinoa
1 tsp chili powder

Chopped red pepper
Chopped green onion
Black beans
Salsa
Diced avocado
1 sprouted corn tortilla (Baked in a 350F oven for about 10 minutes and crumbled)

1 serving of Pumpkin Cheese Sauce (recipe above)

First you layer the quinoa that has been mixed with chili powder on the bottom of the bowl. Next add your veggies, salsa and avocado (Add vegan sour cream if you're into that kind of thing). Top with tortilla pieces.

Drizzle on cheese sauce and garnish with a lime.

Yum!!!

I didn't have black beans so just pretend they're there

Na na na

Quinoa peeking through

If you don't have sprouted corn tortillas just use crumbled tortilla chips.

Tru Roots sent us some Sprouted Quinoa! You can really tell the difference when the grain is sprouted. It's a more hearty grain. Perfect for bowls!

I was also thinking you could put in some other nacho-ish stuff like maybe some smoked tempeh or shredded lettuce.

Cookie Trials + Our Favourite Hummus

A few months ago, we had the idea of starting up a cookie business, we're not sure if we're actually going to follow through with it but we still like to experiment when we can with some gluten-free baking! 

Sometimes they turn out really good, sometimes they turn out just downright weird! Like these sweet potato cookies, the concept is good, I was so excited about it! It tastes like sweet potato pie (yyyum!), but the texture is exactly what you'd think would be like if you mixed a potato into a cookie. Kind of rubbery and dense...

Sweet potato puree, brown rice flour, tapioca flour, almonds, cinnamon, coconut sugar, vanilla, safflower oil.

These next ones on the other hand turned out great! Chocolate Chip Sunflower Seed Cookies. I just made a small batch, so you will end up with around 1 dozen.

Cookie rounds w/ chocolate chip and sunflower seeds

1/2 cup white rice flour

1/4 cup buckwheat flour

1/4 cup millet flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup safflower oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp water

Dash of cinnamon (optional)

2 tbsp mini chocolate chips

2 tbsp sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl combine sugar, agave, oil, vanilla and water. Pour dry into wet. Stir until combined. Mix in cinnamon, chocolate chips and seeds. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, flatten with hand, and then bake for 13-15 minutes. 

They ended up being soft and chewy which is always nice, but now I'm looking for a way to make gluten-free crunchy cookies!! Anyone have any suggestions??

Next up, I just wanted to share with you guys my favourite hummus of all time: Fontaine Sante Eggplant and Olive!! Mmmmmm. 

Taking the hummus experience to a whole. notha. level.

Half way hummus

Enjoy with crackers!! Pictured here: Sesame-Brown Rice Crackers (recipe soon)

Ready for a sugar cleanse? Check out our ebook for 31 sugar-free recipes.