Raw Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

These little guys are every where in the vegan community right now, and for a good reason. There is no sugar or gluten in them and they are tasty AF. 
They only reason I'm not making them every single day is because they take hours to make. There's not a lot of labour, but they do need to sit in the oven for about 4 hours. These days I've been able to make them more since I found out my dog has severe separation anxiety and I don't want to leave my house unless I have to (my neighbours hate me).  Usually people make these in a dehydrator but I don't have one yet so I made them on the lowest setting in my oven which is actually quicker than using a dehydrator so I'm winning. 

Raw Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

Makes about 3 medium sized cinnamon rolls 
Takes 4 hours to make (make them when your chilling at home the whole day)

Ingredients: 

2 Bananas

10 dates 

1 tsp Cinnamon 

Instructions :
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees
2. Slice Bananas length wise in 3 slices and put on wax paper (warning if it's not the no stick kind you want to grease so the bananas don't stick 
3. Sprinkle Bananas in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes. 
4. While the Bananas are in the oven make the date paste by blending 10 dates with 1/4 cup water in a high speed blender
5. After an hour and 45 minutes in the oven take out the bananas and spread on the date paste. 
6. roll up the bananas into the size you want them (like a cinnamon roll)
7. Put back into the oven for two and a half hours 
8. Take out, let cool and enjoy 

Tips :
*While baking the bananas wedge a wooden spoon in the oven door to let moisture out, this will bake them faster
*make some banana nice cream to put on top of them and eat them while their hot. 

Lettuce Wraps

"I'm pretty good at sticking to what I know. You don't see me social commentating on health-care or presidential debates. I talk about what I know because I'm petrified of being wrong."- Gary Vaynerchuck

Hi Friends, I've been blogging for a few months now and I love it...but I would love to take my blog into a new direction. I still want to be adding in vegan recipes because I love creating these recipes, however I am still really passionate about fashion (I am a fashion designer for those who don't know). Actually, I was initially really into ethical fashion and then from there I started studying more about veganism and the lifestyle.  I've had a lot of people ask me about sustainable fashion companies and I want to be able to share these companies with all of you. I hope for this blog to morph into an ethical lifestyle blog. 
Plus I can't wait to finally finish the new blog design and share it with all of you. :) 
💕💕💕💕💕

Lettuce Wraps 

Makes 4 wraps 

4 pieces of lettuce

1 avocado 

half a tomato 

1/8 cup of chopped onions 

Spicy Lemon Dressing 

juice of half a lemon 

pinch of Cayenne pepper 

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp of Maple Syrup 

Instructions 

1. Cut avocado and tomato into cubes and mix with chopped onions 

2. distribute onto lettuce leaves

3. Mix Dressing Ingredients 

4. Pour Dressing over the lettuce Wraps 

5. Enjoy 

Raw Vegan Tacos

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting" - E E Cummings

Happy Tuesday everyone. Just want to thank everyone for the love on my last post about adopting Nika. It was my top post to date with lots of views...so happy that she's in our lives.  

I apologize for the not so great picture today. When I got home, I was hungry and so excited to try making raw vegan tacos that I took a total of 4 pictures that didn't turn out amazing. But I promise they taste so good!!! 

   The Jicama taco shell wasn't as big as I was hoping so next time I think I'll use lettuce wraps instead, however they did taste good.  For those of you who have never tried a jicama before, it has the texture of a potato, but sweeter and more flavour. 

I would highly recommend these for those who are trying to eat healthy. They still have so much flavour but nothing unnatural or unhealthy in them. 

Raw Tacos

Raw Ground Beef (not actually beef)

1 cup of your favourite nuts - I choose walnuts, almonds and pecans, but feel free to substitute. 
1 tablespoon of avocado oil 
1 tablespoon of taco seasoning 

1 Tomato 
1 Avocado 
1/4 Onion 
1 Pepper (I used a yellow pepper but feel free to use your favourite ones)
1 Jicama 
Vegan Sour Cream - Find recipe here. 

Instructions:
In a food processor mix nuts, avocado oil and taco seasoning until well mixed.
Slice the Jicama into thin slices - this will become the taco shell 
Cut up all the other vegetables and place them on the taco shell, with the "Meat" and vegan sour cream. 
Enjoy!

Meet Nika Our Rescue Dog

“Who knows what the long-term effects of saving rescue dogs are and the healing lessons and love they bring to Earth? Each one of us has the capacity to influence hundreds - even thousands of people or animals through the way we live our lives.” 
― Jadi Kindred, Intuitive Animal Connections

Hi Guys exciting news here. I adopted the cutest dog yesterday! her name is Nika and she is a chihuahua jack russell mix. 

This was a super random adoption but when the opportunity comes along you just need to take it. 

Being a vegan and someone who has animal welfare heavily on the mind I refused to buy a dog from a store or a breeder, which ever kind of dog it was it needed to be a rescue dog. My husband however wasn't convinced that a rescue dog was the way to go since they do sometimes come with problems. 

Then while randomly looking through BC SPCA website one day we found this little girl in the quesnel center (about a 7 hour drive from Vancouver) we called them and put our application in right away. Since they can't ship dogs anywhere we had to drive 14 hours there and back this weekend. but she is soooo worth it. She is energetic, cuddly, friendly and we haven't heard a bark from her once. I feel so happy to have provided this dog with a home that she'll be in forever. 

*Shirt is from BCSPCA. 

Blueberry Nice Cream

"If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good"-Dr Seuss

As you guys probably already know, I eat nice cream everyday... sometimes even twice a day. I never add extra sugar to my nice creams and like to keep them as simple as possible. this one is as simple as it gets. Just blend 2 bananas with 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries and voila you have blueberry ice cream. How basic!!! 💕💕💕

Blueberries are super nutritious and have lots of benefits a few are: 

They are full of anti-oxidants (the stuff in our body that fights disease, and helps slow down ageing)
Improves memory 
Full of fiber (keeps you full for longer)

So to stay young for longer the trick is to eat more blueberries!!! 

Green Goddess Salad

"Time and health are two precious assets that we don't recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted." - Denis Waitley

Hello Friends. It's been awhile! first I was on Hornby island over Christmas with family and then I was in Las Vegas for work. Meanwhile I was upgrading my website to self hosted, although I'm still not sure if I will be using the website for my fashion label blog (which will include Vegan recipes) or for my personal food blog (this one).  Too many directions!!!

I'll admit I haven't been eating the healthiest lately. Healthy food in Vegas is hard to find!. But now that I am back and hopefully things will slow down for awhile, I'm going to be cooking and posting some really healthy, yet delicious recipes on here. 

This one I made for my friend yesterday and was really just a combination of the green food in my fridge. but the sauce is what gives it some wicked flavour.  It's already one of my favourites.

Green Goddess Salad

Serves : 2

Time : 30 mins 

Ingredients: 

1 Avocado 

2 Broccoli heads 

2 handfuls of Arugula 

10 Brussel Sprouts 

3 TBSP of Walnuts 

2 TSP Butter

1 tsp Maple Syrup 

Dressing : 

1 TBSP Vinegar

1 TBSP Maple Syrup 

1 TBSP Olive oil

1 TBSP Tahini 

pinch of Salt 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Peel Brussels sprouts so they are individual leaves (as much as you can) and put into oven for about 20 minutes. or until the leaves are starting to brown. 

Put Broccoli into boiling water and cook for 15 mins. 

While the Broccoli and Brussels sprouts are cooking prep the salad dressing and the Plate

First mix all the Dressing ingredients together. 

cut the avocado into pieces and put on the plate

Drizzle the avocado with a couple tsp's of Dressing 

add a couple handfuls of arugula on top of the avocado 

once brussels are done mix them in a bowl with 2 TSP of butter and 1 tsp of maple syrup, make sure to mix them well. 

Put the brussel sprouts leaves on top of the salad 

add the walnuts and broccoli on the salad 

Drizzle with some more dressing.

Enjoy!

Vegan Shakshuka

"Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success." -  Louisa May Alcott

▼

My dad gave me a little Oregano plant last time I visited since I've been super interested in growing my own little indoor garden lately. 
I wanted to make something really delicious with the oregano, to me oregano reminds me of something hearty and warm, I was thinking a pasta would be a perfect dish to use my first sprig of oregano in, however, there's a time and a place for pasta and this morning was neither the time or place for it. I wanted something more Brunch like. so I thought why not try an African dish since I love the spices that are used in traditional African dishes (wait until I share my Lobia recipe)
 Also since I am a such big fan of throwing a bunch of stuff into a pot and seeing how it turns out this was a really good dish for me to try.
This dish is so perfect for the snowy cold weather we have been getting in Vancouver lately. You are going to love it!!!

Vegan Shakshuka 

5 Mins prep time 

30 minutes cook time

Serves 2

Ingredients: 

2 TBSP olive oil 

1/4 onion 

1 clove of garlic 

1 potato 

1 can of diced tomatoes

10 cherry tomatos 

1/2 TSP salt 

1/2 TSP cayenne pepper

1/2 TSP cumin 

1/2 TSP oregano 

1/2 onion powder

1/3 cup water

handful of Spinach (optional but as you guys probably know by now, I need to eat tons of spinach for my iron levels)

Instructions

1. Put olive oil in pan and turn heat to medium 

2. put onions and garlic cloves in the pan with the oil let cook for a few minutes 

3. Once the onions and garlic have been cooking for a few minutes add in the can of diced tomatoes and the potatoes let cook for about 10 minutes

4. Add in all spices & the cherry tomatoes and the 1/3 cup water (sauce will thicken from cooking for so long)

5. let cook for another 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Then add in the spinach (spinach will cook pretty much right away. 

6. Let cool and enjoy and with some Vegan naan bread or a bun. 

Carrot Cake Smoothie

 

Yesterday after we could barely make it out of our driveway because of the snow, we headed over to my moms who made this delicious Carrot Cake Smoothie for us. 

I love Carrot Cake but I don't love that a single piece is packed with so many calories and topped with a sugary, heavy cream frosting. I want to eventually try a recipe to make raw vegan carrot cake bars, but in the meantime this smoothie satisfied my cravings. 

This smoothie is for my fellow dessert lovers out there who need some sweetness in their life, plus it's fully raw vegan. Happy Dance! :) :) :) 

Carrot Cake Smoothie

Serves: 3 

Ingredients: 
2 Carrots
1 frozen Banana
2 Cups of cashews
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2" piece of ginger
1/2 tsp all spice
1 cup water
3 medjool dates

Blend everything in a high speed blender. add more water if you don't like it super thick. I ate this one with a spoon it was so thick. 
Enjoy. 

How to Cure a Cold Super Fast - The Natural Way

I believe in north America we have 5 seasons , spring, summer, fall winter, and sick season. Everyone seems to be sick all the time. Not me though. I never get sick. I'm a Vegan so that just doesn't happen. Just kidding, but for real I haven't been sick in almost a year. and I owe it all to these 3 little steps.

as soon as I start to feel even the slightest bit sick I consume these 3 things:

1. garlic
2. apple cider vinegar tea
3. drink lots of water

First step is to eat a whole clove of garlic every few hours. this sucks because it is disgusting and kinda burns the mouth, but it works. If you really can't eat the whole clove then cut it up and put it on a spoon with maple syrup (or honey if your not vegan).

Second step - lots of tea with apple cider vinegar. If you've never read the benefits of this super food you should, it literally heals everything...but you need to be drinking it constantly.

Third step - As if drinking tons of tea is not hard enough, push yourself to drink as much water as you can. Hydration is key.  your pretty much drowning yourself with liquid but it will get rid of that little bug so fast you won't be suffering for days.

These are my 3 awesome steps to not getting sick so next time you get sick try them to see if they work for you and let me know how it goes.

Molasses Cookies & Snow

"Before the fruits of prosperity can come, the storms of life need to first bring the required rains of testing, which mixes with the seeds of wisdom to produce a mature harvest.” 

― Lincoln Patz

Ok so lots of stuff today. First off it's snowing in Vancouver.... pretty hard at the moment. It's a dream come true mixed with a apocalyptic feel, since us Vancouverites don't see it very often and really stop functioning as soon as we do.  I couldn't even drive to work this morning there were soooo many accidents. 

Also I NEED a vacation. like really badly. anyone else ever feel this way, when they are starting to get really close to a vacation. All of my mind functions start breaking down. 

So whats one to do when they are unable to drive any where and feeling burnt out. In my opinion relax and bake cookies. So that is what I did this afternoon while wrapping presents. Happy Holidays!!!!!

Vegan Molasses Cookies

Makes 20 

prep time 10 minutes

bake time 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:  

1/2 cup of maple syrup 

1/3 cup molasses  

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup coconut oil 

1 banana 

1 tsp of vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups of flour 

1/2 tsp of salt

2 tsp of all spice

2tsp baking soda

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

2. Mix butter, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla extract and a banana together in a bowl 

3. In a separate bowl mix flour, salt, all spice, and baking soda together

4. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and mix well

5. drop spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet

6. Bake for 10-15 minutes. 

7. Let cool and enjoy. 

Vegan Sour Cream

“The first supermarket supposedly appeared on the American landscape in 1946. That is not very long ago. Until then, where was all the food? Dear folks, the food was in homes, gardens, local fields, and forests. It was near kitchens, near tables, near bedsides. It was in the pantry, the cellar, the backyard." - Joel Salatin

Guys....super excited me over here. I finished all my Christmas shopping early this year (that never happens) and now I can enjoy the rest of the month before we go to the island for Christmas. 

I have not taken a vacation in a year so I'm starting to get really anxious to get out of here and just relax. 

Todays recipe is definitely not a Christmas recipe, but one that is long overdue. My sister in law has asked me about dairy-free substitutes since she found out her little guy may be lactose intolerant. so here a super yummy sour cream recipe that tastes almost the exact same as the original. 

Vegan Sour Cream 

5 min prep time 

Makes 1 1/2 cups 

Ingredients: 

1 cup cashews soaked for at least 2 hours 

2 tbsp lemon juice 

1 tbsp vinegar

1/4 tsp salt 

1/2 cup of water 

Instructions: 

drain soaked cashews 

Put all ingredients into a high speed blender until super smooth

refrigerate for at least an hour before serving

enjoy 

Weekly Update #2 Plus my New Favourite Green Smoothie Recipe

Wow what a crazy week it's been. As a lot of you may know, I was involved in a market selling my T-shirts yesterday. It was such a good experience and I can't wait to start sharing the designs with you guys.
I've been so busy with the T-shirts I haven't had much time to take pictures of any thing I'm making but I assure you the Christmas recipes are going to be good.

For now I wanted to share my favourite green smoothie recipe with you. This is one I've been drinking every morning to not only increase my Iron levels but to give me energy.

Also I wanted to share with you, my first EVER video.. It's super raw but it actually took me a really long time to learn how to upload and place everything. One thing at a time right! It's something I've been wanting to play around with for a while, so here it is.

Spinach & Pineapple Green Smoothie 

2 cups of Spinach 

1 cup Pineapple 

1 mango 

1 cup cucumber 

1 1/2 cups of water 

Blend all together in a blender until it's smooth and enjoy. 

Carrot Cake with Vegan Cream Cheese Icing

"Slow down. Be intentional. Notice the energy you are bringing into this space and moment"     -Brendon Burchard

 Hi Friends. 
So this one is actually a super easy mug cake that I just made fancy because well... it's Sunday and I felt creative. So no need for the smear of cream cheese or the cut up pieces of cake, you can literally keep the cake in a mug and put the frosting right on top of it. #awesome 
lately I've been crazy busy with 2 jobs, this blog, a T-shirt line and martial arts so I've been thinking of doing a detox/cleanse to at least give my digestive system a bit of R&R ....I was wondering if you guys wanted to see details of the detox here? I would love to start posting more about the vegan lifestyle and fitness instead of all just food recipes posts. so let me know if that would interest you guys. In the meantime though.. enjoy this Carrot Cake recipe. 

Vegan Carrot Mug Cake with Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting 

5 minute Prep time (for cake and frosting) 

2 minutes to make in microwave

Mug Cake Ingredients 

5 Tbsp Shredded Carrots 

6 Tbsp Flour 

3 Tbsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp All Spice
4 Tbsp Dairy-free milk 
1/4 tsp Vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients 

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup Cashews 

1/4 cup Icing sugar
2 Tbsp Coconut oil (or vegan butter)
1 Tsp Lemon juice 
2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

Instructions 
Mix all mug cake ingredients in a microwave safe mug or bowl making sure to mix throughly 
put the mug into the microwave for approximately 2 minutes. 

blend all Cream Cheese frosting ingredients until smooth 
Spread on top of mug cake. 
You can eat it directly from the mug!

Candied Carrots 

5 minutes prep time 

30 minutes cook time 

Ingredients

1/2 cup water 

1/2 cup sugar

1 carrot

1 tsp cinnamon 

Instructions
peel strips of carrots with a vegetable peeler - You want them long enough to twist
Boil water and sugar in a sauce pan. 
Add carrots and cinnamon and let mixture simmer for 15 minutes. 
 preheat oven to 300 degrees
put carrots into strips on an oven rack with a piece of wax paper underneath. 
bake for 15 minutes
take out of oven and twirl the strips around something round (I used a knife sharpener)
they will cool into hard candy pretty quick so you want to twist them before they cool. 

*instead of throwing out the rest of the syrup from the water and sugar mixture I poured it over my cake for an added sugar-y kick of flavour. 

Beet and Sweet Potato Soup

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." -  C. S. Lewis

We woke up to sun and warmth in Vancouver today which was a nice change from the 28 days of rain we received in October. The thing about us Vancouverites, we really do know how to enjoy the sun when it's presented to us. There's just a different mood in the air and everybody is out and smiling at each other. 
After my beet juice this weekend I had a few more beets left from my parents garden and very little groceries so I made this soup with pretty much what was left in my fridge..... and I'm not disappointed with the outcome at all. In fact I may be adding a lot more soups to my recipe archive in the near future. 
I hope you enjoy this one and today as much as I did. 

Beet & Sweet Potato Soup 

45 minutes to make 

Ingredients 

2 medium sized beets

1 medium sized sweet potato 

2 cups vegetable broth 

2 cloves garlic 

half an onion 

2 Tbsp olive oil 

Instructions 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Roast Beets and Sweet potatoes for half an hour or until soft all the way through 

while vegetables are cooking  put 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan and add in half a sliced onion  

cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. 

let onions and roasted vegetables cool 

put all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. add more water if too thick. 

Enjoy 

Beet and Ginger Smoothie

“Oh, it's delightful to have ambitions. I'm so glad I have such a lot. And there never seems to be any end to them-- that's the best of it. Just as soon as you attain to one ambition you see another one glittering higher up still. It does make life so interesting.”  - Anne of Green Gables 

Beets are one of my all time favourite vegetables. I love the earthy, sweet flavour of them and bonus they are super nutritious.  My Dad gave me a whole bunch from his garden and since I didn't have a whole lot of time to cook this weekend I've been making jars of smoothies with them. 

I think smoothies are such a good way to add nutrients into your day. It's tasty, super easy to make, and will  give you so much energy. Just remember to add as many vegetables as you can in there.

Ginger Beet Smoothie 

Prep time 10 mins 

Ingredients 

2 medium size Beets Plus I added the Green leaves on the top. 

1 inch piece of Ginger

1 Banana

1/2 cup Raspberries

1/2 cup water

Instructions

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender. 

Enjoy 

Tomato Galette with Vegan Ricotta Cheese

"Wild animals would not stay in a country where there were so many people. Pa did not like to stay, either. He liked a country where the wild animals lived without being afraid." - Laura Ingalls Wilder

Hi Guys hope you are having a good weekend so far.
Last weekend I went to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch with my best friend and husband. I got a huge bag of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant for $6 and let me just say that fresh farm vegetables are 100 times better than anything you will ever buy in big grocery stores. they are so fresh and tasty. I had a few leftover from making meals with them all week so I made this tomato galette with ricotta cheese.

I feel like a lot of bloggers have the whole vegan cheese thing nailed so I chose to follow a recipe from Vegan insanity for the cheese instead of creating one. It turned out amazing and was so easy to make. It also made a good addition to my tomato galette. Winning!

Tomato Galette with Vegan Ricotta Cheese

Serves 2
45 mins prep time 
40 minutes bake time

Ingredients
1/2 cup Vegan Ricotta cheese
10 small cherry tomatoes
1/2 plus table spoons of flour
1/4 cup butter
2 Tbsp cold water
2 tsp olive oil
fresh herbs for on top

Dough Instructions
mix butter in with flour with a fork. 
Slowly add in the cold water 
dough should be be slightly separating. 
Knead the dough a couple times and put the ball into some plastic wrap or an air tight container
keep in the fridge for half an hour or more

Galette Instructions 
preheat oven to 400 degrees
while dough is in fridge cut your tomatoes
put them in a strainer and sprinkle some salt on them (this will dry them out so they aren't to watery for the galette)
leave tomatoes for about 10 mins 

*this is a good time to make your ricotta cheese as it only takes a couple minutes. 

After 30 minutes take dough out of fridge and roll into a circle (doesn't have to be perfect)
spread some olive oil on the dough 
put a generous amount of ricotta on the dough 
then add your tomatoes - make sure you leave enough room on the edges to fold over. 

Bake your galette in the oven for 40 mins or until it looks golden brown. 
sprinkle on some herbs and enjoy.

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