Meal Plan January 13-19

Glad everyone enjoyed the meal plan so much!  It was one of my top posts of all times!

Anyways – here’s what’s on schedule for this coming week! 

Monday – Burger, Homemade Fries & Salad (I’m making myself these Lentil Walnut Burgers)

Tuesday – Chicken Soup with Homemade Bread ( Vegan Irish Soda Bread)

Wednesday – Family Dinner

Thursday -  Chicken & Brown Rice Casserole with asparagus and probably salad  - in the recipe – will sub unsweetened almond milk for milk & use the non condensed milk version.  

Friday – BBQ Pork and Veggies (peppers, onions and zucchini), roasted sweet potatoe (served with sweet chili sauce) – I will likely skip the pork and have BBQ tofu (marinated in hoisin sauce)

Weekend sometime – Turkey with all the Fixins – probably everything here – we went for dinner at people’s houses for Christmas and missed out on Turkey Leftovers!

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Other things I’m making for a successful week – So a bunch of girlfriends and I are doing the 90 day Bikini Body Mommy Challenge – it’s a free online workout challenge and we are officially done week #1!  It’s hard work – but I’ve seen results in the first week – WOOO!

To keep myself eating ok – I need to do prep on the weekend – so I will me making;

Kale Chips (sorry the recipe is a little wacky on here – but hopefully you can read it)

Quinoa Coconut Granola Bars

Some kind of hummus – (likely will be making the curry/raisin one which I love to eat with carrots)

My friend Tasha’s low fat Granola to go in cultured coconut milk yougert!

PS – if you are ever looking for Dairy Free Snack ideas – check out this post – huge list (with links!)

Hope you are enjoying these meal plans!!

Pizza Party!

Happy Monday! I say that with a smile because I am DONE!!

Moving on.

I’m sorry about not being able to comment on my blog.  Something wacky is going on and I have no idea what?  I’m trying to install a new comment section so I can reply to your comments too, so if you want to comment, please come to facebook!

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By now everyone should know about my love for PIZZA!

The hubby has been gone for the whole week but I was lucky enough to have one of my BFF’s in town visiting and we had an AMAZING TIME!  She kept me busy!

One night we decided to do a PIZZA party and fun happened!

The one thing that I love about this friend – whenever we are together we laugh bunches – just like we did when we were 15.  On top of that, she is a photographer,  foodie and works with kids – so we have lots in common.

Anyways, pizza making was no different – we had a great time!

 

Our pizza’s were very different – but they both looked amazing non the less;

T’s included Italian salad dressing as the base – mushrooms and cheese!

Mine was hummus base – zucchini, onion, mushrooms, artichoke, sundried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes – Herb de Providence.

So good!

Who says pizza with no cheese isn’t good?  When the hummus cooks – it gives the feeling of cheese to the pizza – at least the creaminess!  

This pizza is awesome cold too!!

I’d share the crust recipe (the BEST crust recipe I’ve found) but it’s found on the back of the pizza yeast jar!

Hope you enjoyed!

ps. Wednesday I’ll have up all my Trader Joe’s goodies!  Rumour has it that the hubby brought me back TONS of goodies! SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!

Healthy Banana Bread

I asked the hubby the other day what we wanted me to bake, and without hesitation he said BANANA BREAD with chocolate chips!   Just the thought of that made my mouth water!!

Okey dokey, I’m on it!!

Healthy Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

First mix together in a bowl

2 c flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

Then combine in a separate bowl

• 3  very ripe bananas squished and squashed!
• 2 chia eggs (2 table spoons chia seed + 6 TBSP water – let sit 15 minutes) or 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup brown sugar ( may want to use less if adding chocolate chips, it was a tad sweet)
• 1/2 c almond milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• zest of an orange

Mix wet and dry ingredients until just incorporated.

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease a bread pan and add mixture.

Bake for an hour or until tooth pick comes out clean!

Slice and enjoy!

Well… a few more hours of work for me and then I am off for 3 days!!  So excited!!

I hope you enjoy your weekend!!

Turkey Chilli with Cornbread

Hey guys!

As some of you know I write a monthly article for the online magazine Our Big Earth!!!

It’s been great fun, and this month marks 1 year of being part of their crew!!

I took a look back to see my VERY FIRST submission to them today and thought it might be fun to put the recipe up here too!!   

Make sure to check out Our Big Earth too, it’s an awesome website full of lots of amazing articles! Lots of them are geared towards kids and being Earth friendly!! 

 

Anywhoo… here is a great recipe, that we make around here often –the Cornbread is amazing too!!

Turkey Chilli with Cornbread

INGREDIENTS:

- ¾ lb ground turkey (or meat of choice),

- 1 tbsp olive oil,

- 1 large white onion diced,

- 2 cloves garlic minced,

- 2 carrots grated or diced,

- 1 green pepper and 1 red pepper diced,

- 1 medium zucchini diced,

- 1 15 oz can white kidney beans rinsed and drained,

- 1 540ml can diced tomatoes,

- Fresh Cilantro to garnish (optional), and

- 1 package of Simply Organic Chili Mix (my fav)*

OR

- 1 tsp ground cumin,
- 1 tsp ground coriander,
- 1 tsp cinnamon,
- 1 tsp oregano, and
- 2 tbsp chili powder (or to taste).

PREPERATION:

- Heat olive oil in a large pot.

- Add onion, chopped peppers, carrots and garlic.

- Sauté for 4-5 minutes or until onions are translucent.

- Add the turkey to the pot and break it apart with a wooden spoon.

- Cook for about 5 minutes or until no longer pink.

- Stir in Simply Organic Chili Mix or cumin, coriander, cinnamon, oregano and chili powder.

- Add in tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. This is a great time to get the cornbread together and toss in the oven.

- Add beans and zucchini, mix well and cook on low heat for a further 10-15 minutes.

If chili seems to thick, feel free to add a bit of water to desired consistency. Serve with chopped cilantro, cheese, sour cream or your favorite chili topper. Serves 4

A few kid friendly alterations:

- Leave the veggies out and serve raw on the side with some dip.
- Serve with tortilla chips to use as spoons (this is still one of my favourite ways to eat chili)!
- Get them to help chop up the veggies. It’s amazing what kids will eat when they are a part of the process.

Easy Corn Bread

I had never made or tasted cornbread before this recipe. Once I made it, I knew there would never be another cornbread recipe in my life It’s the perfect accompaniment to this chilli, or any other soup or stew type meal.

It’s also fantastic the next morning toasted up with eggs or peanut butter and jam. If you have a gluten allergy you can substitute oat flour for wheat flour.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup whole wheat flour (spelt or oat flour work too),
1 cup cornmeal,
¼ cup sugar,
4 tsp baking powder,
A pinch of salt,
2 eggs,
¼ cup oil, and
½ cup milk of choice (I use Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze to give it a very subtle vanilla flavor)

PREPREATION

- Preheat oven to 425.

- Mix all ingredients together and pour into a well-greased 9×9 baking dish or muffin tins.

- Bake 20 minutes or until cornbread is slightly browned on top.

A few possible alternatives: swap shredded cheese and/or pimentos for sugar and add some spices for a more savory flavor.

Both the chilli and the cornbread freeze very well, so if you are on the look-out for great freezer friendly meals, this is one of them.

Hope you enjoyed this recipe!!

Make sure to check out Our Big Earth for so much more good stuff!!

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IF you live in the Comox Valley, their is a link to the fabulous EARTH DAY celebration coming up too! We went last year and had a blast!!

Post fro the Past–Vegan Irish Soda Bread Recipe!

Here is a post that I posted a year ago today…  This bread was SO amazing and SO easy!! 

And since it’s St. Patties Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Here is a Vegan, nutty Irish Soda Bread recipe that is SURE to please!

What attracted me to this recipe was the millet, tahini and sunflower seeds! 

 

I tweaked this recipe a bit…  by using vinegar instead of lemon juice, and almond milk instead of soy!!

Seedy Irish Soda Bread

Please go HERE to see the original recipe!

Makes one 9"x6" loaf

Cook Time: 70 ish minutes

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Lightly oil a 9"x6" loaf pan and set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well combined. Mix in the oats, millet and sunflower seeds until evenly distributed.

3. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the soy milk, lemon juice, olive oil and tahini until well mixed.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until just combined--DO NOT OVERMIX! (The dough will look bubbly and a little lumpy, but that's okay!)

Place the dough in the prepared loaf pan and baked for 65 to 70 minutes, or until golden brown on top and cooked through. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature.

So seedy and delicious…

Of course I had to test it out before I took it to the party.

So sooooooooo good!  It got great reviews at the party too!!

It’s a little salty, very hearty and the seeds add tons of nutritious crunch!

This will definitely go into my list of favourite recipes!!

Give it a go and let me know what you think! 

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Again please check out the original recipe, as my tweaks were due to not having those ingredients!

~A few extra ideas to make this even better!

~Substitute the oil for smashed banana, apple sauce.

~Add in some raisins and spice!

~Looking for a more savoury bread?  What about adding some spices, rosemary would be amazing!

~Sub different nut butters for the tahini (I would use a bit more tahini next time too!)

This bread would be great served with soup or stew… and I may have tested it with coconut peanut butter/honey… AMAZING!