Clean Eating Vegan Challenge

I don’t know about you, but I’m the type of  person that can eat the same thing for a couple days and never get tired of it.  So when I decided that I was going to do a clean eating challenge where all my meals or at least two meals would be clean I knew I wouldn’t get tired of the redundancy. So with a little bit of research and preparation I made a simple meal plan of  easy clean vegan type meals that i can  prepare or find if I decide to eat out.  With Starbucks  and Whole Foods it was  pretty much a cakewalk. Of course you don’t have to frequent those places to find vegan items , but it sure make life easier. Below I added a few examples of the type of meals I eat when on the challenge.

Breakfast

Hot Tea or Coffee  (unsweetened) with:

Green Smoothie(16 ounce)

or

Super-Antioxidant Oatmeal/ Plain oatmeal with seeds and nuts

 

Morning Snack

Green Smoothie (8-16ounce)

or

Fresh Fruit or Trail-mix

 

Lunch

Hot Tea or Kombucha with:

Lentil Tabbouleh with Kale and  Hummus

or

Nut Butter and Jelly Sandwich with a banana

or

Super-Antioxidant Oatmeal/ Plain oatmeal with seeds and nuts

 

Dinner

Hot Tea or Kombucha with:

Whole Grain Spaghetti with Kale, and California Blend Vegetable (Cauliflower, Broccoli and Carrot)

or

Sauteed spinach and Kale with onions and peppers  with sweet potatoes fries

 

The meals can be interchangeable or tweaked to your liking.The products can be fresh or frozen but avoid canned foods, preservatives and additives as much as possible. Check the ingredients if buying frozen and dried fruits and veggies, and stick to products that have simple ingredients. Check out the recipe  for my Super-Antioxidant  Oatmeal below:

 

Super-Antioxidant  Oatmeal

• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1 cup water or almond milk
• handful of organic raisins,organic goji berries and organic prunes for sweetness
• handful of organic pumpkin seeds and organic hemp seeds for nuttiness

Mix the oatmeal and almond milk and cook for 3-5 minutes, then top with the seeds and nuts of your liking. If  you want more of a sweetness add honey or maple syrup.

FYI: This can be made as overnight oats as well, just add the toppings in the morning.

Happy Cooking!

 

Banana Nog

It’s my favorite time of the year! Not just because its the holiday season, but because its the only time of the year where you can buy an unlimited supply of egg nog. Growing up egg nog was always a staple at all our family festivities, so I’ve grown accustom to looking forward to it.  So while grocery shopping for Thanksgiving this week, I went searching for some new egg nog to try out. I found plenty of  new brands to try but to my dismay all the brands contained carrageenan.  There’s been numerous talk about this additives being bad for your health and possibly carcinogenic so I personally stay away from products that contains it. So I decided this year I would make my own “egg nog”.

I’m personally not a fan of eggs so I chose to do an egg-less egg-nog with very simple ingredients. This recipe was so thick and creamy and easy to make that I will definitely be making this year round. I hope that you do too! Happy Thanksgiving!

Banana Nog

• 3 Frozen Ripe Bananas (diced)
• 1 Cup of Almond Milk (Unsweetened)
• Vanilla Extract
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Whipped Cream (optional)

Blend till you get a thick smooth consistency and top with whip cream for a festive look.

Tip: If you want it more thick add more bananas , more thinner add more milk. If your banana aren’t ripe add some of your favorite type of sweetener.

Leafy Vegetarian Chili

When I first begin to transitions to a whole foods life style, I used to try to substitute any meat type recipe with spinach or broccoli.  From rice to pasta if one of the ingredient consisted of meats  I would throw in spinach instead. It worked great for a while but I still lacked the daily amount of iron needed. So I decided I needed to switch things up  and add natural iron- rich  foods to my meals. The easiest food that came to mind after dark leafy greens were beans . I probably said it before on this blog but I really dislike beans.  So it was pretty hard for me to go along with the idea of making a meal around beans when i pretty much grew up eating around the beans on my plate , but with some research I decided to do vegetarian chili.  Its so easy and simple to make that i make it about every other week with a different special ingredient each time. This week was spinach and kale , check out the recipe below:

Leafy  Vegetarian Chili

• 1 can of No Salt Added Organic Black Beans drained and rinsed
• 1 can of  No Salt Added Organic Kidney Beans drained and rinsed
•  2 cans of No Salt Added  Organic diced tomatoes
• 1/2 a bag of  Organic Frozen Corn
• 1/2 a bag of Organic Frozen or Fresh Spinach
• 1/2 a bag of Organic Frozen or Fresh Kale
•  Organic Spicy Chili powder seasoning
• 1/2 of an onion
• 2 cloves of  garlic
• red pepper flakes (optional)

Dice the onions and garlic and put in a  hot pan with a little bit of olive oil, when softened add the beans and corn. Stir-fry the beans, corn and onions and garlic till they appear tender, than add the diced tomatoes and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add the Spicy Chilli powder packet and stir evenly through the pot and let simmer for another 5 minutes. Mix in the spinach, kale and red pepper flakes and stir,  simmer for about 20 minutes. Serve alone or with tortilla chip, over rice or sprinkled with cheese.

FYI : Adding a small can of  tomato sauce will make this chili more of a soup type chili , you can also add vegetable broth for a richer taste if you don’t mind the sodium.

Happy Cooking!

Rustic Spinach Pie

Very often I get into these food obsession, where I practically find any or every way to consume a specific  food into my daily diet.. My last food obsession was coconut, I tried about every coconut flavored  food out there from coconut cake, macaroons, ice cream and gelato. I’m pretty sure I could have carry this obsession through the end of the year, but I eventually had to give it a break. So in come my latest food  obsession : Spinach ! I’ve always liked spinach but lately I catch myself  eating it in every meal from my green smoothies, sandwiches to lasagna. Spinach is high in vitamins and mineral so I always feel like I’m doing something good for my body every time i eat it. Except of course when I eat it drenched in  cheese (like this recipe for instance). Either way, raw, boiled, cooked, baked I love spinach! So why not make a pie out of it?

I really wanted  to make this pie easy as possible , because I hate recipes that have a million and one ingredients. Its just not realistic for me or my fridge. So I decided to cut corners and bought a frozen pie crust to make my life easier along with frozen spinach and shredded cheese. The ingredients I used were really simple and basic,the prep was barely 15 minutes and didn’t require any cooking. I’ve seen recipes where onions and such are cooked prior to baking but my logic is why cook something over the stove if its going to be baking for a long period of time. If you’re like me and really hate dicing up onions and peppers but want it in your pie, buy a frozen seasoning mix that come with diced onions  and bell pepper and throw that in with the spinach. I also seen recipes where egg is added to give you that picture perfect slice of pie ,but I hate eggs and I was afraid that the pie would end up tasting like a spinach omelette. So I scrapped the eggs and prayed for the best.  Nonetheless the pie came out great!  Check out the recipe below:

Rustic Spinach Pie

• 2 bags of frozen spinach
• 1 container of ricotta cheese
• 1 bag of shredded six cheese
• 2  9″ inch pie crusts (frozen or homemade)
• red pepper flakes(optional)
• 1/2 cup of water (can be substituted with milk)
• 1/2 stick of melted butter (optional)

In a large bowl mix the ricotta and shredded cheese with half a cup of water. Stir until  the cheese become liquify enough to mix in the spinach,  add more water to your liking. Gradually mix the spinach in along with some pepper flakes until everything is coated with the cheese mixture. Butter your pan and place the pie crust in your pie pan. Fill the pie crust with your spinach filling and spread it evenly through the pan. Sprinkle additional red pepper flakes and shredded cheese on top to your liking.  Take the second pie crust and slice them thin and decorate the pie. Take the melted butter and brush the top of the pie crust, drizzle the rest over the pie(optional). Bake for 60 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown.

P.S. : Warm marinara or an herb tomato sauce drizzled on top of the pie when plating  or on the side, takes this pie to a whole other level especially for the non-spinach lovers . Happy Baking!

 

Blueberries Galore

 

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and when its added with chock-full of antioxidants and good for you nutrition it’s even better.  Berries are high in antioxidants and polyphenols, which help fight chronic disease and cancer but they also have high levels of compounds that help widen arteries, which helps blood to flow smoothly. With all these types of benefits why wouldn’t you want to pile them on your plate. With berries being in season at this time of the year, finding them at a reasonable prices at any store is possible. Berries are great on desserts and smoothies but I for one  love them in my breakfast. I love them topped over my waffles or pancakes to get all the benefits that they provide. Listed below is my favorite 5 minute go to breakfast or any time of the day meal that provides a great amount of protein, fiber, grains, and sweetness  to satisfy you throughout the day. I’ve listed the brands I  used to make this dish but really these products can be swapped out  with any product you have at hand or swapped out for your own homemade version which would be even better and more nutritious.

Blueberry Nut Delight

2 Kashi Blueberry waffles

1/2 a cup of  Fage Plain Greek yogurt (I used nonfat in this recipe but full-fat is perfectly fine to use)

Honey or Syrup for the waffles

Handful of Bare Naked Banana Nut Granola ( My favorite granola!!)

Handful of blueberries

 

Prepare the waffles as you regularly would, and top the rest of the ingredients to your liking. This recipe is so good , you probably might find yourself eating it for lunch or dinner too!

 

 

 

Half Day Cleanse -Blueberry Oats and Green Pineapple smoothie

The summer is made to have fun, unfortunately this summer my face has been stuck in the books. I’m realizing more and more each day that the life of a grad student is not so fun.  With the added stress of school along with work i really haven’t been eating the way I’ve like to. Fries, Pizzas, Cake, Lasagna  and anything fried has been on the menu for the past few weeks. So i decided i need to change things up and do a half day cleanse, where the first half of the day its smoothies and a light snack if need be with a  late lunch and dinner as usual. With plans in mind of doing this cleanse, i went to whole foods looking to find a new source of protein , and found hemp seeds. I usually buy hemp protein powder but i hate the chalky texture protein powder in general leaves so i was hoping that this would work.

So in replace of ordinary protein powder,I milled handfuls of  Raw Rolled Oats, Flax-seeds, chia seeds and hemp seeds in my Nutri-Bullet and use it as protein powder.  I used it in my Blueberries Oats smoothies and Green Pineapple smoothie that’s picture below. I also  tried a new addition to my smoothies for a sweeter taste this time: 2 medjool  dates and one dried fig in each batch. They didn’t blend thoroughly but i didn’t mind the the sweet bits that they brought. Down below are the recipe for both smoothies.

Blueberry Oats

• Blueberries (Frozen)
• Protein Mixture
• Coconut water
• Water
• 2 medjool dates
• 1 dried fig
• extra cup of oatmeal (for heartiness)

Green Pineapple

• Spinach(Frozen)
• Pineapple (Frozen)
• Protein mixture
• Coconut water
• water
• 2 medjool dates
• 1 dried fig

I made three for the day, underestimating the power of my protein mixture and only drank one and a half  that morning. If you’re looking to do a full day cleanse, you can do six jars a day with water in between each. I for one prefer smoothies than juicing cleanse for the mere fact that they are more filling  to me. But what’s great about these recipes is that they are so  tasty that they can be made for cleanses or anytime of the day.

Switching things up a bit: Tropical Oats Smoothie

One thing about me is that i like trying new things, Food wise but I’m not much of a risk taker in other aspect. So since transitioning  I’ve been a green smoothie drinker addict. I went from one smoothie a day to sometimes three, I went from super sweet smoothies to barley  sweet smoothies the list goes on.  But I wanted to switch things up a bit cause a girl can only take so much green smoothies. So i decided to do  raw oatmeal smoothies instead, trust me I’m not sure how i came to that decision but it made perfect sense at that moment.   This is very similar to the No cook oat smoothie i did when i first started transitioning, but this has more nutritional and tasty  ingredients. I was excited and nervous to try this recipe because I’ve been on a mission to avoid food and drinks high in arginine for personal reason. So oatmeal was an issue, but i kept it to organic raw rolled oats ( it is said that instant oatmeal has a high arginine content but who knows).  Since I was avoiding nuts all together due to the foods i was avoiding  almond milk was a no go , so i opted  for SO Coconut milk unsweetened vanilla and Chobani Vanilla Greek yogurt.

So after i had those main staples ingredients, i  then added mix ins of fruits, juices and teas and water all to my liking. On this particular day this was what  i like to call my Tropical Oats Smoothie. If you follow me by now, you should know i  free hand everything so i  don’t have exact measurements. But, here’s the run down on my hearty nutritious smoothie

• Organic Raw Rolled Oats
• Coconut Milk Unsweetened (can use sweetened if preferred and any kind of milk)
• Greek Yogurt Vanilla
• Flax seeds
• Chia seeds
• Tropical Blend Frozen Fruits (Banana, Pineapple, Mango)
• a small ripe banana
• Coconut Water (optional)
• Unsweetened  Green Ice Tea ((optional)
• A couple dashes of cinnamon

Mix all that together and you get a satiating tropical  oatmeal smoothie. I find that using the NutriBullet give a  smooth silkiness that i never achieved with my blender ,but if you’re having  a hard time mixing add more liquid to the blender till you get the consistency that you want.

FYI: I don’t add protein powder because I’m not a fan of the gritty taste. If you want a hearty high fiber smoothie for breakfast,  sans protein powder double up on the the yogurt and oatmeal. This smoothie can be made a head of time and stored in the fridge in an air tight container for 1-2 days. A great on the go breakfast option but great for any time of the day as well!

Hearty Muffins

The other day while at home, i flipped the channel on the cooking channel and saw the hungry girl making chocolate muffins with canned pumpkin. Which according to Hungry girl cuts down on the saturated fat from the oil and egg. I was so intrigued by this i told myself  i got to get my hands on some canned pumpkin, pronto! So when i went to do my weekly shopping i picked up a canned pumpkin and a generic brand of  banana muffin mix. I knew before hand i wanted to do this as a hearty breakfast muffin so i tweak the recipe a little bit and it came out great. My mother had a box of Pillsbury Nut bread mix so i decided to mix it with two boxes of Jiffy banana mix cause i really wanted a banana taste. I was scared that it was too much flour for the pumpkin , but with a little bit of elbow grease the small can of pumpkin was actually enough. To make it hearty, i than milled raw rolled oats, flax-seeds,  almonds and walnuts in my Nutri-Bullet and mixed it in the batter. I then scooped them in my muffin tin and also in an 8 inch cake pan, I than sprinkled more flax-seeds and dried cherries and raisin on top and baked for about 30 minutes. My family raved about these muffins, they were so  moist and had a sweet banana taste with a rich pumpkin aroma to them . They actually ended up being a great on the go breakfast muffin/ snack, it went great with my morning green smoothie but it was also great with coffee as well. They were such a great hit  that i now decided to make these muffins as one of my go to staples for breakfast. Thanks for the awesome tip Hungry Girl!

My ode to Caesar (salad)

You ever had one of those days where you just wanted a salad, but not just the ordinary salad? I’m not gonna lie, I rather drink a green smoothie with kale, spinach and collard greens than actually sit there and  eat the actual leaf itself. Knowing me once the dressing hits the salad its no longer healthy, i like my salad drenched in dressing . My favorite salad is the infamous Caesar salad, always has and always will be. But seeing that lately its been  listed as one of the worst salad you can eat I’m slowly backing away from it. So i decided to try this new salad at Publix called Harvest Salad. This pretty much had everything but the kitchen sink in it. This particular salad had lettuce, apples, blue cheese, carrot slaw , candied walnuts, sunflower seeds , cherries and a vinaigrette for dressing.It was a new twist to the usual salads at the grocery store but the vinaigrette was too acidic to my liking. All i could think of while eating this salad was how great it  would be with some Caesar dressing. At that point i realized i hadn’t taken the breakup with Caesar to well. So i wrote a poem to which i call: My ode to Caesar .

My dear Caesar, you’ve truly been good to me. I enjoyed the time we had together . The days, the night we share are memorable bliss. I hope one day , we can meet again and reminisce. Till that day, you’ll forever be in my heart. You’re truly missed .

Let’s go to a Cantina!!

On our mini vacay during Labor Day weekend , my sisters and i decided to go Mexican.  We originally had plans to go to Mexico but scrapped the plans and enjoyed a fun filled staycation.  So in memory of  going to Mexico, we decided on visiting a Mexican Restaurant for the fun of it. So we decided on a restaurant called Cantina Laredo, we’ve had our eyes on this restaurant for a while but never really went out our way to check it out. This wasn’t your ordinary TacoBell or On the Borders Mexican Food this was Authentic Gourmet Mexican Food. They are reasonably priced but some items in my opinion was a bit on the pricey side. At each table they had a bowl  with an avocado and lemon for their top shelf guacamole that the waiters do right at the table. Just out of curiosity i asked the waiter “how many avocados will be used for this $10 guacamole?” he said “this one avocado and lemon would be used to make it”. Knowing that  the night before i seen hass avocados 10 for $10 at Publix we passed on the “top shelf” guacamole and they brought us out complimentary salsa and chips. I know a steal when i see one, and that my friends was not one… I ordered the tacos de pescado aka fish tacos, which came with Mahi Mahi, marinated vegetables, queso fresco and chipotle aioli. .It came with some yellow rice and beans but one thing that i notice from every Mexican restaurant I’ve been to is that their rice are kinda like plate fillers. It fills up half the plate but no one really eats it , the only exception being Chipotle but that’s another story for another day. None the less Cantina Laredo was great, my sisters and i experienced a  little bit of Mexico and i finally got my fish tacos fix.  Life simple pleasures at its best 🙂