I really love having healthy muffins on hand for snacks- I just keep them in the freezer and then heat them up whenever I need a little boost. I really find that so many muffins are more like dessert than healthy snack so I think it’s better to just make them at home. These ones are fantastic- very little sugar, healthy protein packed quinoa, flaxseeds, and great flavour. I topped these muffins with a bit of butter and honey or almond butter. The quinoa makes them have a unique chewy texture that I had to get used to- they never tasted bad, I just hadn’t had a muffin with that texture before. Vegan or not, these are very enjoyable and you can feel good about eating such a nutritious muffin!

Almond Quinoa Muffins (adapted from Veganomicon)

• 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
• 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (I used slightly less)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/4 cups cooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup currants or dried blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350 F and lightly grease a 12 cup muffin tin. In a bowl, whisk together the almond milk and ground flaxseed and let sit for one minute. Whisk in oil, maple syrup, vanilla and almond extracts.

In a seperate bowl, sift together flour, almond meal, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in the cooked quinoa and currants/blueberries and mix until the large lumps are gone. Pour into the muffin tin and bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Lately I’ve been trying to incorporate more juices and smoothies into my diet. Spring is here, and I’m ready to start eating lighter as the days get warmer. I’ve become really hooked on the “Green Monster”, which I know many food bloggers have been drinking. I find that having a drink packed with greens in the morning is so refreshing. They actually keep me full for a long time, and give me tons of energy- especially when I add hemp protein to it. I have been using North Coast Naturals hemp protein.

I used to have a major Candida problem and have been conscious of how much fruit I eat ever since- I was addicted to fruit, and combined with candida, my gut was just fermenting- waaaaay too much sugar! Using some greens like spinach really helps to replace some of the fruit that I would have regularly used in a smoothie.

Green Monster

• 1 cup hemp milk (or almond milk, etc.)
• 1 frozen banana
• a big handful of spinach
• 1-2 tsp flax oil (optional)
• 1-2 tbsp of hemp protein (Optional)
• grated orange zest or ginger (optional)

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend. I had a great dinner last night with my cousins/aunts/uncles/etc. The food was delicious, and my aunt made me some super tasty manicotti, some vegetarian gravy and some vegetarian stuffing while the rest of the family had turkey. How nice!!!! Our dinner was made very memorable when we saw two police cars park in front of the house. Two cops got out of the cars and began to walk up the driveway as we all watched. The cops saw us eating Easter dinner as a big family and started to laugh…one walked back to his car and got in. The other came to the door and proceeded to tell us that there had been a noise complaint. My aunt asked if he could hear us from outside and he said that he couldn’t hear a sound. He told us to go back to enjoying our dinner, now with a great conversation topic! Too funny. I guess certain neighbours get a bit cranky when there are a few extra cars parked on the street

For breakfast today, I decided to treat myself to French toast! I generally avoid pancakes/waffles and french toast for breakfast and start my day off with a green smoothie, but today is Easter! I found a recipe in Rebar for vegan french toast and it sounded delicious. I used a flourless bread, and I think it may be wiser to use a bread that contains flour, just so the batter can be absorbed easier. It’s also important in this recipe to NOT soak the bread in the batter. Simply submerge it and then remove it. I served the french toast with some sliced mango, in keeping with the tropical theme of coconut milk and banana.

Tropical Vegan French Toast (adapted from Rebar)

• 1 banana
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp arrowroot powder
• your favourite healthy bread, sliced

Place all ingredients (except bread) in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a shallow bowl. Heat a frying pan and brush with oil (make sure it’s HOT so the french toast doesn’t stick!). Quickly submerge bread in the batter and place in the hot pan. Cook until golden brown, flip, and cook the other side until golden brown. Serve immediately with sliced mango and a drizzle of maple syrup!

I have been dying to try pumpkin oatmeal for the longest time, and finally I decided on a recipe (there are so many floating around the internet to choose from!). The recipe comes from Give Me Some Oven and I chose it because it doesn’t contain a huge amount of sugar, and I was even able to reduce the sugar more. It was delicious topped with some soy milk and I love how it’s served in little individual ramekins.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal Recipe (Adapted from Gimme Some Oven, originally adapted from GoodLife Eats)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup old fashioned oats, not quick cook
• 1 Tbsp. whole flax seeds, optional
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. allspice
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 Tbsp. butter, softened
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup soymilk or almond milk or regular milk

Topping:

• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. butter, softened
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• sprinkle of cinnamon

Method:

Preheat oven to 375F degrees.  Grease 4 individual-sized ramekins.  Set aside.

Combine the first eight ingredients (oat thru salt) in a medium-sized bowl.  Stir well.  In a separate bowl, combine the vanilla, butter, pumpkin, and milk.  Whisk thoroughly.  Pour the pumpkin mixture into the oats, and stir until combined.

Divide mixture evenly between the four ramekins. Place ramekins on a baking sheet (this makes it easier to move in and out of the oven.). Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the topping: chopped pecans, butter, and brown sugar. After the oatmeal has baked for 10 minutes, remove and divide topping mixture evenly between the ramekins. Bake and additional 7 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before serving. Top with a splash of milk and raisins, if desired.

To everyone in Canada, I hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving Weekend- eat lots!!!

Sorry for the lack of posting- I swear I’ll try to work on it!! I’m sure I’ll have LOTS of posts once I start cooking school at the end of September- wooohoooooo!!!

Anywho, this past weekend my family had my cousins over for dinner. One of the things I made for the night was an appetizer of stuffed mushrooms. I’ve used this recipe a couple times before as it takes no time to prep and cook, and leaves plenty of time to focus on the main course!!

The recipe is adapted from KCTS Cooks Appetizers.

Roasted Mushroom Caps with Bell Pepper Pesto & Goat Cheese

10 large mushrooms

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp each garlic powder, oregano, basil, marjoram and salt

1/6 tsp pepper

Red pepper pesto or chipotle pepper pesto

4 oz goat cheese, room temperature

2 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 oz butter, room temperature

Pop the stems from the mushrooms and peel the tops. Toss with oil and herbs.

**Tip, to get the stem out as fully as possible, push it in first, then pull out.

Lay peeled mushrooms out on a pie plate or tray, stem side up. Fill the mushrooms with a (heaping) tablespoon of pesto. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until mushrooms are cooked and pesto is set. (Mushrooms will shrink).

**Allow too cool- these are served cold.

Whip the goat cheese, cream cheese, and butter until smooth. Pipe onto pesto. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

** I use a small star tip for the goat cheese mixture, I have tried a large plain circle tip and it doesn’t seem to work as well.

My new favourite breakfast is actually quite healthy. After being unable to eat sugar for so long due to a candida problem (yeast in the blood) I find that I don’t even want sugar in any of the quantities I used to eat it. Often now, one bite of something sweet is more than enough! It used to be frustrating because when the weekend rolled around I would want waffles or syrupy pancakes or even muffins, as a “treat”. Now I am so satisfied that I can make a healthy dish feel like a treat! I take out a nice, biiiiig margarita glass and fill it up about 1/3 of the way with plain balkan style yogurt. I then add some fresh fruit (my favourites right now are raspberries and blueberries- local of course!) and then add some minimally-sweetened granola. Add a dash of cinnamon and I am ready to ‘indulge’!

While looking for a healthy muffin that I could make ahead to take to work this week, I came across Fat Free Vegan Kitchen‘s Zuchini Muffins. Though I did not make mine vegan (by use of butter instead of margarine, etc), they were fantastic. I thought the bursts of zuchini green were perfectly suited for Leprechaun Day!

I was hungry for breakfast and for some reason I was really craving muffins. I was searching for healthy muffin recipes, and I decided to call on Dreena Burton. Her Banana Salba Muffins offer a nutritious whole-wheat pastry flour base, with little sugar, and the addition of Salba Seed. For those of you unfamiliar with Salba, it happens to be the richest whole food source in Omega-3 fatty acids. In addition, it offers plenty of fiber and happens to provide six times more calcium than whole milk! You can read more about it on their website, be sure to try the Salba Rice Krispie Squares for a healthy, yummy snack! If you’re like me, you will be so hungry and eager to try these muffins that you will forget to add the vanilla extract- they’ll still taste great…but I recommend using ALL the ingredients!

Being a vegetarian, I find it difficult to find breakfasts that include protein- no eggs, no bacon, no sausages…you get the point.

After searching for a wholesome, nutritious breakfast recipe that didn’t take too long to make, I stumbled across a recipe for Quinoa Porridge- just what I had been looking for!

Quinoa is an ancient grain that happens to be closer to the beet and leafy green families than to other grains like oats or barley. I have even seen it referred to as a “vegi-grain”. Quinoa is packed with protein and contains all of the essential amino acids, including lysine (rare in protein-containing cereal grains).

This particular recipe is adapted from Feasts and Fotos.

Quinoa Porridge (serves 2)

• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (rinse!!)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup milk (I used plain Silk, although I think Almond Milk would be delicious)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp chopped pecans
• 1 tbsp raisins
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp plain yogurt (optional)

Add quinoa, water, cinnamon and 1/2 cup of the milk in a pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until most of the water has been absorbed.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup of milk, pecans and raisins and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes or until it reaches your desired consistency (it will gradually get thicker).  Once it reaches the consistency you like, add the honey and the yogurt (yes, yogurt!) and stir to combine. Enjoy!