Smoothie Fun

Tags

breakfast, comfort food, cooking, easy, food, fruit, fun, green, health, healthy, smoothie, snack, snacks, wellness, yummy

I have recently been trying to focus my energy on planning meals, and eating out less to save some money. Quitting my job to teach yoga full time has been quite the challenge on my budget, so being more frugal with groceries is a huge help. I have started to drink more smoothies for snacks in between meals or including one with breakfast or lunch. I have even had success making some in advance and keeping them stored in mason jars (my new favorite thing!) and they actually taste great the next day and super cold!

Berry Smoothie

• 2 cups of spinach (fresh and washed)
• 2 cups of Almond Milk (unsweetened)
• 1 cup of strawberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1 cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1 banana

Mix altogether in blender and enjoy. Tip: blend liquid and greens first, then add in fruit. Also having one frozen item will make the smoothie nice and chill to drink right away!

Orange Ya Glad Smoothie

• 2 cups of spinach (fresh and washed)
• 1 cup Almond Milk (unsweetened)
• 3-4 oranges peeled
• 1 Banana

Blend all together and enjoy!

Peachberry Smoothie

• 2 cups spinach (fresh and washed)
• 2 cups of water
• 1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1 banana
• 1 orange
• 2 cups of peaches (fresh or frozen)

Blend everything together and enjoy over ice, or add frozen fruit as ice cubes!

Green Machine Peach Smoothie

• 2 cups spinach (fresh and washed)
• 2 cups of water (or coconut water)
• 2 cups of peaches (fresh or frozen)
• 1 banana

Blend all ingredients together.

 

Let me know what your favorite is ❤

Love and Light

Veggie Ash

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Easy Chia Breakfast Cup

Tags

breakfast, chia seeds, comfort food, easy, food, fruit, fun, health, healthy, snack, sweets, vegetarian, wellness, yummy

I am horrible when it comes to eating breakfast, I either don’t have anything, or just inhale any leftovers in my fridge. A friend of mine told me about these chia breakfast cups that she made, and they sounded so easy and delicious I had to try them. The journey then began to find mason jars to put my overnight chia seeds in, let me tell you the journey is still going for them. I eventually found some singles at Michael’s, they have been doing the trick until Canadian Tire gets restocked on the 12 pack of ones I want!

Here’s what you need to get started:

• Mason Jar (or something to let the mix sit overnight in)
• 3 tablespoons of chia seeds
• 1 cup of non dairy milk (I use vanilla coconut milk)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 – 3 teaspoons of honey, maple syrup or agave nectar (I used honey)
• Your choice of fresh fruit, granola and or brown sugar for topping it off

Directions

• Mix the chia seeds, non dairy milk, vanilla extract and your choice of sweetener in the mason jar, stir until you get a good consistency (no clumps of the chia seeds)
• Put in fridge overnight or for at least 2-3 hours, during this time the chia seeds will expand and you will get a thicker consistency
• Open, stir and top with your favorite fruit, granola and brown sugar!
• Enjoy

Note: My favorite combination so far has been chia seeds, vanilla coconut milk, vanilla extract, honey, strawberries, blueberries, black berries, vanilla granola and a sprinkle of brown sugar! I have also gotten in the habit of making three or four at once to make life a little easier if I need an extra one for a snack 🙂

Veggie Ash

Coconut Fruit Dip

Tags

dessert, dips, food, healthy, snacks, yummy

 

Happy Friday everyone. I’m sure there has been a time where you are casually making plans with friends or family for the weekend, and then you forgot about them until the day of and think what the heck am I going to make, or bring. I have the easiest fruit dip recipe that goes great with all types of fruit, and takes less then 10 minutes to make. Simple and quick, what’s not to love right?! Oh and did I mention it tastes phenomenal. 

Coconut Fruit Dip

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup softened cream cheese (half a block)
• 1/2 cup of sour cream
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer and beat for two minutes or until all the ingredients are blended well. Serve with fruits of your choice: pineapple, berries, apples or grapes. Keep chilled if not serving right away.

 

Quick Breakfast Sandwich

Tags

breakfast, food, healthy, vegetarian

Breakfast. The most painful meal for me to make each day. I much rather sleep an extra 10 minutes then wake up to make myself something to eat. A few posts ago I shared some of my favorite smoothie recipes with you which are a classic go to for me, but there are a few mornings when i’m craving something more. I got this breakfast sandwich idea off of Pinterest and added my own twist to it. What’s great about this is that you can make a week’s worth and keep them in the fridge and they are ready to go super quick.

 

Ingredients:

• eggs or egg whites
• spinach (a handful washed)
• half a pepper diced (i used yellow)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• spray muffin or cup cake tins with pam
• pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
• fill with either a whole egg or egg whites (I prefer the egg whites)
• put in a piece of spinach and 3 to 4 small pieces of pepper, top with salt and pepper
• make sure the spinach is under the egg and does not float to top (I use a spoon to assist this process)
• bake in ovel 15 minutes
• Let cool and refrigerate
• in the morning toast an English muffin, warm the egg up for 1 min in the microwave, you can also add a slice of cheese to the egg as well

This is the perfect on the go breakfast and I hope you enjoy making this as much as I do!

Happy cooking 

Veggie Ash ❤

Sweet Potato Pasta with Kale

Tags

dinner, healthy, italian, kale, pasta, vegetarian

 

It has been a little while since I have taken the time to do some serious cooking and writing.  My new year’s resolution is to try and cook something new once a week, and then take the time to share with everybody. Last night I was craving something cheesy, full of carbs and really filling. I cruised through my pasta board on Pinterest and finally decided (with the help of my cooking partner) on sweet potato cream pasta with baked kale on top. It looked great, was veggie friendly, and topped in cheese and greens, perfection. Original recipe found here :http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/03/sweet-potato-cream-pasta-with-crispy-kale/

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato – peeled, boiled, mashed
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 1 shallot – chopped
• 2 garlic cloves – chopped
• 1 table spoon flour
• 1 1/2 cups of skim milk (or whatever you have available)
• 2 tablespoons of shredded Romano cheese
• 1 package of whole wheat pasta (I used spaghetti)
• 1 head of kale (leaves torn from stem)
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of pepper

Directions:

Boil sweet potato for 15 minutes then mash

 

Pre heat over to 350. In a mixing bowl add kale,sesame oil, Romano cheese, salt and pepper. Toss kale using hands to coat completely, approximately one to two minutes. Lay kale on baking tray and cook 15 minutes or until crispy and golden, toss mid way through. 

 

Boil pasta as per instructions.

For the sauce use a large size pan or skillet mix butter, olive oil, shallots and garlic over medium low heat on stove. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until soft. Add in flour, increase to medium heat, whisk to create a roux type texture. Once golden, use whisk to mix in the milk and mashed sweet potato. It will take few minutes to thicken up, once it has come together turn to low and add in about another 1/2 cup of Romano cheese. If the texture is to thick, just add a splash of milk to thin out. Next, mix pasta and sauce together top with more Romano and the baked kale. Also, if you are into spicy feel free to add in chili flakes for some kick.

 

I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did, a glass of red wine goes perfectly.

❤

Ash

 

Smoothie Time

Tags

food, healthy, smoothie, snack

Everyone who knows me, knows about my love for having smoothies, I always have one in my hand! They are so quick and easy to make, I like to experiment with flavors and they are perfect for my on the go lifestyle. Usually I like to make them juice based, but I’ve been trying to increase my calories so I have been using almond milk as a yummy alternative. Below are two of my favorite recipes, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

This has to be my number one smoothie pick, it makes a great meal replacement for lunch or an after the gym snack. It’s filling and tastes amazing.

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of vanilla almond milk
• 1 banana
• 2 spoonfuls of organic peanut butter
• 1 spoonful of vanilla yogurt
• 6-8 ice cubes
• 1 tsp of unsweetened coconut 

Directions:

Add all ingredients except the coconut into the blender and blend on a medium speed for 1-2 minutes, top with unsweetened coconut. You can also omit the yogurt to lower the calorie count. 

 

 

For this smoothie I played around with coconut water and fruits, I have found myself making this the last few days and I just feel so refreshed and renewed after drinking this.

Renew Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of coconut water
• 1 banana
• 5-6 pieces of pineapple
• 5-6 black berries
• 6-8 ice cubes

Directions:

Place all ingredients into blend and mix on a medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes and then enjoy!

Cheers.

Ash ❤

 

Easy Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Tags

breakfast, food, healthy, vegetarian

I don’t know about you, but breakfast is such a hard meal for me to take time for. I always seem to be rushing out of the house in the morning and either forget to eat, or i’m not hungry at the time. I decided to make muffins at the beginning of the week so I would have a pre made meal for the mornings. I searched a few recipes and decided to try a combination of ingredients and make my own mix. Not only were these quick and easy to make, they tasted awesome and I’m still having them in the mornings for an on the go meal!

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cups of oats
• 1 cup of plain low fat greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup of sugar, or sweetener of your choice
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 ripe bananas

Directions:

– Pre heat oven to 400 degrees, spray tin with a non stick cooking spray or put down 12 liners.

-Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender (I used my blender, and it worked like a charm) and then blend until oats are smooth. I added the oats last, and blended in 1 cup at a time.

-Divide batter evenly between all of the liners, put in oven and cook 15-20 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean. (Mine took the full 20 minutes)

*Option – next time I am going to add in half a bag of semi sweet chocolate chips just for a sweeter option!

Happy Eating

Ash ❤

 

Bean Salad. Easy, right??

Tags

healthy, salad, vegetarian

 

Since the summer time, I have had this uncanny obsession with Pinterest. From fashion to food, it has it all. I myself have more boards then most, including specific ones for all my favorite foods and home decor ideas. I don’t know how I landed on starting with this bean salad recipe but let me tell you, you have to try this. The original recipe is found here  http://thewanderingcoconut.com/travelers-bean-salad/ but I will let you know what extra ingredients I put in mine, and how I served it up a little bit differently.

Bean Salad Ingredients:

• 1 (15 oz) can low-sodium or no-salt black beans, drained well
• 1 (15 oz) can low-sodium or no-salt garbanzo beans, drained well
• 1 (15 oz) can low-sodium or no-salt lentils, drained well
• 1 (15 oz) can low-sodium or no salt red kidney beans, drained well
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
• Juice of 1/2 a lime and lemon 
• 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste

Instructions:

• Mix all ingredients together and serve on a bed of lettuce or as a side dish. This stays well in the fridge, and the long it sits, the better the taste.
• Make it into a taco salad by mixing with lettuce or spinach, fresh diced avocado, tomatoes,medium cheese grated and a dollop of sour cream. Serve nacho chips on side. (See picture below)

Extra add ins:

• chopped cilantro, substitute chopped fresh jalapeño for chili powder (to taste), chopped celery, diced tomato, or any other bean you like.

 

Happy Eating 🙂

Ash