Awesome Spa Tea Recipe

"The only limit to your impact is your imagination and commitment." -Tony Robbins

Wow I can't believe I've been blogging for a whole month. Thank you to all my friends who are reading my blog it means the world to me. I'm pretty proud of my (slow) growing numbers of views and followers on other social media platforms. 

Today is halloween.... It's not my favourite day in the world. I'm not a fan of dressing up, being scared, watching horror movies or all the sugar-y bad non vegan candy that gets consumed. So tonight after my work out I am going to sit inside, take a bubble bath, read a book and drink this amazing tea recipe. 

I learnt this one from a spa I worked at ages ago. Hence the name spa tea, plus once you drink it you'll feel super relaxed like your at a spa.  It's so tasty and a great substitute for coffee if your trying to cut down. 

Spa Tea

3/4 mug of tea (I used raspberry but rooibos will work as well)

2 mint leaves 

1/4 apple juice (preferably not from concentrate and no added sugar)

Directions 

put mint leaves at bottom of cup, add in 1/4 glass of apple juice. 

Brew tea 

Pour tea over top of mint and apple juice. 

Enjoy with a good book. 

Roasted Butternut Squash Casserole

    Did you know that I didn't always know how to cook?. Up until I was 20 I didn't even know how to cook a piece of chicken or even a fried egg. Little did I know that at age 26 I would never have to know how to cook either of those anyway.
     So how did I learn to cook then? It was really just a survival method. I moved out on my own and couldn't afford to eat out every night, or at all for that matter. I worked in several restaurants throughout my life so I started asking the chefs for some cooking tips. 
"Pan fry the chicken on high for a couple minutes and cook in the oven to keep all the juices in" they would tell me when I admitted to my chicken being super dry. 
"add more salt" when I admitted to my soup having very little flavour. 

   I had soon befriended the chef who was responsible for creating menus at the whole foods across the street form the bar I worked at. The lovely guy would bring me over some truffle oil and fresh peppers when ever he could. He was truly a person who was passionate about food and creating recipes. I learned tons from that guy. 
In very small steps I started learning to cook and create dishes. I would have friends over to cook for them in exchange for bottles of wine. Super resourceful me :) 

And then I kinda stopped cooking for a while. work and travelling took priority and I didn't feel passionate about it at all. Last year I became a vegan, I wanted to learn more about our relationship with food and I especially didn't want to make any sacrifices on flavour. So I started cooking again and now I have this blog. 

 Developing recipes isn't all that easy. for this one I thought it would be a great idea to cook quinao in vegetable broth, because why not!?! After 30 mins of it still being hard with ultra boiling water  I realized maybe the quinoa was unable to absorb anything other than water. so I wasted a cup of quinoa, my only shallot, and a cube of vegetable broth. 
it's a learning experience really.

This recipe has tons of flavour and is a great little side or a hearty full meal. even my Brazilian carnivore husband loved it. 

I hope you enjoy 

Roasted Butternut Squash Casserole With Tahini Maple Dressing

Squash Casserole Ingredients :

1 butternut squash 

1 cup quinoa 

1 shallot 

2 cloves garlic 

1 cup chopped Kale

1 cup of vegetable stock 

1 tsp salt 

1/2 cup bread crumbs 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

Maple Tahini Dressing Ingredients :

2 tablespoon Tahini 

2 table spoon olive oil

1 tsp salt 

1 table spoon maple syrup 

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Squash Casserole Instructions : 

preheat oven to 400 degrees

put squash in oven for 30 minutes. once soft take out of oven and let it cool 

While squash is cooking put 1 cup quinoa in 1 1/2 cups of water let boil until quinoa has absorbed all the water

Put 1 Tbsp olive oil in pan and sauté minced shallot, and minced garlic for 3 minutes on medium heat. add in 1 tsp salt. 

Once squash is cooled down cut into medium sized cubes

mix cooked squash, cut up kale, shallot, garlic, and quinoa in a baking dish. 

Pour vegetable stock over top of mixture 

generously spread bread crumbs over the mixture 

bake dish in the oven for 30 minutes. 

Maple Tahini Dressing :

Mix all ingredients in  bowl 

pour over casserole once it's out of the oven. 

Key Lime Nice Cream

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure."         -Colin Powell

Hello Friends! 
Can you believe it's only 8 weeks until christmas? amazing right! As the days are getting shorter I have to rush home from work and make something super quick for the blog before I lose the daylight. I'll have to start making more on the weekends, I guess. However I am starting to get excited to "vegan-fy" the usual christmas recipes... vegan egg nog anyone? 

Anyway.....Yes another nice cream recipe today. Just can't get enough of it. What I love about nice cream is it's super simple, nutritious, snack that tastes amazing. This is a quick easy nice cream that tastes just like raw vegan key lime pies. 

Key Lime Nice Cream 

2 frozen bananas 
juice of 2 limes
1 tbsp lime zest 
cookie crumble for on top 
matcha powder for color (optional)

Blend all ingredients in a blender. 
Feel free to adjust lime amounts to your taste. 
Enjoy 

Roasted Beet Hummus

"It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves." 

-Andre Gide

Hi Guys, Hope you had a great weekend. 

 The only negative thing that happened to me when I became vegan is, I became anemic. Anemia is when you have an unusually low supply of red blood cells in your body, sometimes caused by iron deficiency. 

Although I do take a iron supplement every night I try to get as much iron as possible from the food I eat. The common misconception is that iron only comes from red meat but that just isn't true. You can get it from soybeans, spinach, lentils, tofu, nuts, pumpkin seeds, and more. But... just today I found out chickpeas are super rich in iron so obviously the first thing I do is make a hummus. 

This hummus is really easy and tastes amazing with tons of flavour (secret ingredient is the apple cider vinegar) 

What are your favourite chickpea recipes?

Roasted Beet Hummus 

Ingredients 

2 medium sized beets

1 19 oz can of chickpeas (drained)

2 Tbsp olive oil 

2 Tbsp lemon juice 

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp tahini 

1 Tsp salt 

1 clove garlic 

Instructions

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees

Wrap whole beets in tinfoil and put into oven for an hour 

Take beets out of oven and let cool before cutting off the peels 

Blend all ingredients including the beets in a blender on high speed 

Spread on toast and sprinkle with hemp seeds or dip your favourite vegetables in the dip 

Enjoy 

Banana Cream Pies

"Eating is not merely a material pleasure. Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship. It is of great importance to the morale." -  Elsa Schiaparelli

Hi Guys. hope you all had a good Tuesday. 

Just wanted to say a quick Happy birthday to my Dad today. That guy is 58 years old, going on 20. :p  I haven't eaten red meat in about 15 years and he is still always offering me hamburgers and pork, as if I'm ever going to start eating it again. 

I wish I had a vegan Birthday cake recipe in honour of his birthday but... all I have are these banana cream pies. 

This recipe is actually one of the first recipes I tried when I became vegan and it really made me realize just how well cashews micmic anything dairy. By now I'm so used to eating cashew based everything that I don't even like the taste of dairy products. Since I've been so obsessed with Nice cream lately I haven't been making these but I'm thinking it might be time to try a baked version... hmmm. I'll let you know how they turn out. 

 Vegan Banana Cream Pies

makes 6 medium sized
5 minutes to make 
1 hour to freeze

Ingredients 

crust 
 1/4 cup walnuts, 
1/4 cup almonds 
10 dates. 

Filling : 
1 banana, 
1 tsp of coconut oil, 
1 cup of banana dessert tofu , 
1/2 cup cashews - soaked for at least an hour 
3 tbsp of maple syrup  
1 tsp of vanilla. 
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp lemon juice 

Instructions :

blend crust ingredients high speed in blender 
fill cupcake liners 1/4 full
blend filling ingredients high speed in blender until mixture is smooth 
pour filling over crust 
freeze for at least 1 hour 
enjoy 

Autumn Buddha Bowl

"To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear." - Buddha

Happy Monday All! 

Today I made an awesome vegan Sante fe salad with a peanut lime vinaigrette that I really wanted to share but I was so hungry when I got home from work that I couldn't take the time to take pictures. All good I had extra dressing left over so I will definitely be making it again this week to share with you guys. 

In the mean time enjoy my super delicious Buddha bowl recipe. 

This bowl is not only really yummy, but it's filling and healthy as well. So many nutrients are packed in this meal, making it a good meal for an athlete. You also don't have to follow the exact ingredients, feel free to take away or add whatever you like. This is just what I put in mine. 

Awesome Autumn Buddha Bowl 

serves 1

Takes 30 mins to make 

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa 

1 beet 

1/4 sweet potato 

1 potato 

quarter medium sized onion 

half avocado 

few lettuce leaves 

dash rosemary (or any other herb you like)

Maple vinegar dressing 

1 tablespoon Apple cider vinegar 

1 table spoon oil (I use olive oil)

2 tsp Maple syrup 

1/2 tsp salt 

Instructions :

Boil 2 cups of water 

add the quinoa to the boiling water 

cook on medium-high until water is gone 

While the quinoa is cooking preheat oven to 400 degrees

cut up the beet, onion, potato and sweet potato 

drizzle with oil and cook for 20-35 mins or until soft 

remove from oven 

to make the maple vinegar dressing, mix all ingredients in a blender for a minute. 

to assemble the bowl, put quinoa at the bottom 

add the roasted vegetable mix

add as much lettuce and avocado as you want

pour dressing over buddha bowl 

and finally sprinkle with whatever herbs you want. 

Enjoy 

please comment below on an recipes you would like me to make a vegan version of. 

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Cheeze Cakes

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” 

― Roald Dahl

   In my opinion, my mom makes the most delicious cheesecake, it's not your traditional style of cheesecake it's a lighter, more fluffy consistency with pineapples mixed in. As I'm writing this I'm thinking I am going to have to come up with a vegan version of her cheesecake because what a shame it would be to never get to eat that recipe ever again.

  This recipe is not light and fluffy but is still absolutely scrumptious. In celebration of fall and pumpkins this was my very first baked cheesecake I've ever created (I've made tons of raw versions). I never follow recipes so it's always a nice surprise when they turn out well on the first try, and these ones did! yay!

I hope you find them as easy to make as I did. 

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Cheesecakes

*Makes 12 medium sized cheesecakes
*30 minutes prep time
*30 minutes bake time

Ingredients 

Base 

1/2 pack Oreo Cookies 

1/4 cup coconut oil or vegan butter

Cheesecake filling 

150 grams (about 1 cup) dessert tofu

1 cup cashews soaked for at least 2 hours 

3 tablespoons of sugar 

1 tsp lemon zest 

2 tablespoons of lemon juice 

pinch of salt 

2 tablespoons of flour 
1/4 cup water

Pumpkin Pie Filling 

Store bought pumpkin pie filling, 

1/2 cup milk 

3 tablespoons of flour

Instructions  Base 
Line cup cake tins with liners
blend oreos and butter/oil 
pat base into the bottom of cupcake liners and put into fridge while making the rest of the cheesecake 

Cheesecake Filling 

blend all ingredients into a high speed blender for a few minutes or until everything is smooth. 
Pour cheesecake over the Oreo crust about 3/4 full. Make sure to leave enough room for about a spoonful of pumpkin filling. 
store in fridge while making the pumpkin pie filling. 

Pumpkin Pie Filling 

mix milk and flour into the pumpkin pie filling. 
put a spoonful of filling into the top of each cheesecake. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 mins

take out of oven and let them cool off 
put them into the fridge to set overnight or for at least a few hours. 

Enjoy 

Follow me on instagram @amandamariegomes

My Week in Pictures #1 +Plus Vegan Gravy

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough." - Oprah Winfrey

Happy Friday Everyone :) 
Mid October! crazy how time is flying... This week was Canadian Thanksgiving, so I ate a lot of salty & fatty food. Believe it or not, not all vegan food is healthy. I did balance it out by drinking juice the whole day before so I guess thats ok right! 

This week I  am super proud of myself. I studied Portuguese almost everyday, sat in my splits for 5 mins a day (I'm almost touching the ground again) and blogged at least 3 days. I have a habit of starting things with tons of enthusiasm and motivation and stopping after a couple weeks so instead of going for a couple days at full speed I'm doing a little bit everyday. Consistency is key. 

I spent Thanksgiving Monday with my family. Since I couldn't eat most of what my family was making, I made my own stuffing, gravy and pumpkin cheesescakes. I wanted to share the gravy recipe with you, because it is soooooo easy and yummy. I actually made it again to put on roasted potatoes after thanksgiving! 

Easy Vegan Gravy 

*Makes 1-2 servings 
10 minutes 

2 tbsp flour 

1 cup vegetable broth

1 tsp rosemary 

1 tsp onion powder

1 tbsp oil or vegan butter

heat oil, and vegetable broth on a medium setting for a couple minutes

turn down to low and add the onion powder, rosemary, and flour.

mix well

*make sure the liquid isn't super hot when adding the flour, otherwise it will clump up.

Enjoy 

Follow me on instagram @amandamariegomes

Apple Pie Nice Cream With Caramel Date Sauce

"If something is wrong, fix it. But train yourself not to worry, worry fixes nothing" - Ernest Hemingway

Hello and happy Tuesday!

  For thanksgiving this week I made gravy, stuffing, pumpkin cheese cake and apple crumble (all vegan and delicious).  *All recipes coming soon. 

I had an abundance of apples from the crumble I made, so I thought why not try an apple pie nice cream. I've had two massive guilt-free bowls already, and I totally wouldn't feel bad about having another. 
 I have no doubt there is going to be many more nice cream recipes on this blog because I am just soooo happy my life long dream of eating ice cream everyday is coming true. 

      Apple Pie Nice Cream with Date Caramel Sauce

Serves 1 

5 mins to make 

Apple Pie Nice Cream 

2 frozen Bananas

half frozen apple 

1 tsp Cinnamon 

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. 

Clean out the blender before you make the date sauce

Date Caramel Sauce

10 dates

1/4 cup water

Blend in blender until smooth

pour over nice cream 

Enjoy 

Follow me on instagram @amandamariegomes 

First Day Raw

"Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication" - Leonardo da Vinci  

I wanted to break up the first round of recipes with an update on how my first raw vegan day went on Wednesday.

Morning -  was great, I made a massive smoothie with beets, cherries and a banana (picture above) once I got to the office my boss had some fresh juice so we did a little swap. I think his had ginger, citrus and pineapple in it. 

Afternoon - I sipped on the smoothie through out the afternoon but then needed something a little more substantial so I made a salad with tomatoes, basil, and avocado. Once I got home I made that delicious black forest banana ice cream from my previous post, and it actually filled me up. 

Evening - because I am eating whole foods all day you need more of them to fill you up, so my first mistake was not being prepared. I realized I probably should have had zucchini noodles to make a raw pad thai, or at the very least more bananas. but I didn't and I wasn't sure what else to make so I caved and ate a bowl of chili which is still very healthy just not raw.

overall I don't think my first raw day was failure, it actually went pretty well and I learnt what I needed for next week. if anyone has any raw vegan recipes that they love please send them my way.

-Amanda

Black Forest Nice Cream

"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it" - Henry David Thoreau

You know what I like about eating raw? is that it forces you to eat whole foods, and you know that your not putting tons of chemicals and preservatives into your body. 
   When I went vegan I did not want to be buying store bought substitutes that are probably not super healthy for you. so i chose to make my own raw sour cream, cashew milk, and cream cheese (totally awesome recipe coming soon) That way I know exactly what is going into my food.

 If you asked me the question, what food would you eat for the rest of your life, if you could only choose one? it would have to be ice cream. The smooth, sweet, creamy flavour is just too good to resist. and guess what?!?! you can make a really healthy one with no added sugar, no chemicals, and no dairy that tastes just as good and it's raw... winning! 

Black Forest Nice Cream 

*serves two 

2 bananas

12 pitted cherries 

1 tbsp of cacao powder

blend all ingredients together. Top with a cherry. 

Enjoy 

Pacific Northwest Bars

"You'll never go anywhere if you go about what-iffing like that" -Roald Dahl 

Today is a typical Pacific Northwest rainy day, so I wanted to share my PNW bars with you. I called these PNW bars because of the abundance of raspberries in the summer here. Super thankful my favourite fruit is grown right in my home area.  
    I'm thinking of doing a raw vegan day once a week to see how I feel only eating raw foods... thank goodness I'll still be able to eat these guys. These were one of the first raw vegan desserts I have ever made and turned out so delicious.

Oh also, I wanted to tell you guys I am spending Christmas on a beautiful island in BC called Hornby island, with my husbands family. I can't wait to take tons of pictures and do some baking with my sister-in-laws and mother-in-law who are all amazing in the kitchen!

Pacific North West Bars

*makes about 12 depending on the size of your muffin tins  

Bottom layer - Crust 

cocoa 

dates

almonds

Middle layer 

3/4 cup cashews soaked overnight
1/3 cup maple syrup 
2 tsp vanilla 
1 cup raspberries
1 tbsp non dairy milk (I like cashew milk)

Top Layer - Raspberry Chia Seed Jam 

1/2 cup raspberries 
1/4 cup maple syrup 
1/4 cup chia seeds

blend all the crust ingredients - divide & press them into the bottom of cupcake liners. set aside in fridge while you make the middle layer. 

blend all middle layer ingredients. Pour over the date crust evenly & fill up to the top. 

Freeze for at least 2 hours. 

for Raspberry jam - Blend all ingredients together. pour into container and store in fridge until your ready to serve the bars. 

Once ready to serve take out of fridge - spread the jam over top of the bars and enjoy. 

enjoy. 

Follow me on instagram @amandamariegomes

Sweet Potato Soup

Delicious Autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns - George Eliot 

oh hello fall! My soul has been aching for your arrival. to me fall signifies a time of  new starts. much like nature you are shedding back layers of your old self. time to do away with the old stories you keep telling yourself and onto becoming who you are meant to be.  

Fall unfortunately can also mean a time of colds and flus. I thankfully am not sick at the moment but when I am my body mostly craves hot soups and tea. this one is perfectly easy and doesn't require many ingredients. Are you starting to get my theme ... easy, vegan and delicious. 

This soup is very simple and with only 7 ingredients. 

1 sweet potato

half onion 

1 clove garlic 

1 cup water (more or less if you like your soap thicker/thinner)

1 tsp salt 

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp cinnamon 

rosemary or your favourite herb for topping.

Roast the sweet potato in the oven at 450 degree for about 45 minutes or until it's soft all the way through. 

pan fry the onion and garlic and oil. 

throw onion mixture, sweet potato (without the peel)water, salt, pepper and cinnamon in the blender. 

top with rosemary when you are ready to eat. 

Follow me on instagram @amandamariegomes 

Quick Apple Crumble

Of all things said or written, perhaps one of the most beautiful is - "the meek shall inherit the earth" But how long can they remain meek after they are given the power and glory - Nan Witcomb 

    
This weekend was quite the busy one. I spent it going from family dinners, to a fashion event, to a football game. I love these kind of weekends where it is so jam packed I know I've truly spent it well. 
There was a bit of time on Saturday where I was craving something sweet and autumn-y  and chose to make a vegan apple crumble. 


To me there is nothing better than making food to share with loved ones, but home alone with a craving I managed to only make one quick bowl for myself. I would definitely make this again except perhaps next time scooping out the center of the apple and filling them with crumble before baking them. or perhaps in a large baking pan, either way I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. 


*this one can also be made raw. 

Quick Vegan Apple Crumble For One

1 Apple 

1/2 Table spoon lemon juice

1 table spoon flour

1 tablespoon brown sugar

crumble :

1/4 cup coconut oil 

1/2 cup oats

4 table spoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon of cinnamom 

Mix all ingredients for apple filling - Mix well 

Mix all ingredients for crumble

Fill small bowl or mug with apple filing and top with crumble 

Microwave for 2 minutes 

   Raw Vegan Apple Crumble 

1 apple 

1 table spoon lemon juice 

1 table spoon brown sugar

1/2 tablespoon almond flour

1/2 cup oats

3 table spoons of maple syrup

1 teaspoon of cinnamon 

For raw crumble I would mix all crumble and filling ingredients together so that you get full flavour in every spoonful. 

Enjoy