What Does the Fox Say?

So sorry everyone for referencing that terrible "song" for my title; but, it IS quite catchy. So, I just got back home from Europe, where there is also AMAZING food, but I decided to do a food cleanse. So much bread eating occurred in Europe, lots of wine, and lots of chocolate... hey, we all deserve a little bit of cheating. Anyway, today I went on my first run back home. I went about 5 miles I think... between 4 and 5, and when I got home, I made myself a cute, little juice-type drink.

Recovery "Juice"

What's in it?

• a small handful frozen (but recently picked) blackberries from my hometown
• a sliver of fresh, raw ginger (I slice a piece usually the size of a thumbtack)
• one cup of water
• one half of a freshly picked, raw fig

Just blend all ingredients up and bon appetite, you've got yourself a super healthy post work-out drink that will help with recovering your cell break-down from working out as well as provide sufficient energy and aid in reducing inflammation (if there is any). 

Sushi, with a twist

Okay- so this recipe is AWESOME! I was inspired, as usual, by some instagram food accounts... which I follow like crazy. Whenever I'm on my phone, you could bet I'm looking at pictures of food on instagram haha... foodie probs.

Anyway, here's an awesome sushi recipe that doesn't involve the usual ingredients per say.

Zucchini Sushi Rolls:

What you need:

• one zucchini- thinly sliced length-wise 
• coconut aminos
• sesame seeds
• wild rice
• cilantro
• tomato
• avocado

What to do:

1. cook the sliced zucchini in a pan with the coconut aminos (instead of using oil) coconut aminos is an awesome liquid substance that can be substituted for soy sauce! Super healthy and lower sodium. 
2. lay out the cooked zucchini slices on a plate and top with all other ingredients, like you would a sushi roll. Just make sure to modestly top it... they will fall apart if you over-fill them (as shown in my picture)
3. roll up and eat! I would NOT eat with chopsticks... they are easy to fall apart without a toothpick.

They are tricky to eat sometimes, but definitely worth the effort in the kitchen. Yum yum!

Veggie Mexican Sopes

Helloooo,

So I made something wonderful the other day for lunch! It was what felt like a light lunch, but kept me full for a good amount of time. Any of you ever tried Sopes? They are really popular in Southern Mexico, and they are little, fried corn "masa" tortilla-type things topped with typically beans, cheese, lettuce, meat, and tomatoes. I lived off of these delicacies when I was in Mexico my first time, about six years ago (this was before I went vegan). Anyway, I was in the mood for some Mexican food, but I wanted to keep it healthy and nutritious- so this is what I came up with! Feel free to add any extra ingredients to it; I just used what I had.

What you need:

• eggplant
• avocado
• salsa or tomatoes
• cilantro
• onions
• quinoa 
• black beans
• one lemon

What to do:

1. For the "masa", cut up an eggplant in thin slices. Cook the eggplant until lightly golden on both sides. (I used a nonstick pan, so I didn't use any oil)
2. Mash up the avocado into guacamole
3. Layer ingredients onto the eggplant masa: salsa, beans, guacamole, quinoa, onions, cilantro, squeeze lemon juice on top
4. dash of salt on top

And they are as simple and delicious as that! Have a mini fiesta :)

Belated Brussels

Hey guys,

I'm so sad that this blog has been neglected for so long. My apologies. To make it up to you, I will post on multiple different topics. I've been eating mostly salads and smoothies for a long time, not having much time to blog all of the cool recipes. In this post, it's not the most exciting and complicated recipe; however, I've decided to post on Brussels Sprouts- because they are AWESOME! I had a semester-long school project to update a local school's garden, and my team and I ended up planting some brussels sprouts! They are so yummy! They are a low caloric snack or part of a meal that is also high in Vitamin K and C, according to whfoods.org. Check it out! Personally, I've just been steaming mine. You allow water to boil in a pot, and then add brussels in a strainer into the pot (carefully) and put the lid on top, turning down the heat a bit. Usually, they take about 15 minutes to cook. I just poke them with a fork consistently to check if they are soft yet. Anyway, try it out!

Pesto, and all that garb

Hello fellow bloggers/readers,

In spirit of springtime, I decided to use up some of my spring break cooking and eating! I wanted to make something really delicious last night, that could be easily transported to my boyfriend's house to cook when he got off of work. I looked in my fridge to see what I was limited by... and I found a few handy ingredients to toss into this recipe. I remembered making spinach falafels a while ago- sorry, I forgot to take pictures and post them, I know I'm a terrible person, ha, ha- and they inspired me to decide to make dough for little pizza/dinner tortes. Here's what went down:






Ingredients:
(for the dough)

• 2/3 cup garbanzo flour
• 1/2 cup water
• one flax egg (1tbsp ground flax, 3 tbsp water)
• 3 cloves food-processed or minced raw garlic
• 1tsp olive oil
• salt (to tasting)
• 2 tbsp basil

(for the topping)

• 1 little can of cut olives
• spinach
• can of tomato paste (or for better results, make your own tomato sauce/paste- I didn't have tomatoes)
• 1/2 of a sauteed onion

Bon Appetite!

What to do?

1. make the dough- just mix all of the ingredients together- make sure that the dough is the consistency of thick pancake mix. Make sure the dough isn't runny, either, just add more flour or water if needs adjusting.
2. get out a frying pan and pour little circular blobs of dough onto the pan and cook them just like pancakes- it takes like five minutes for each blob to cook until a little bit brown.
3. Top the little pancakes to make them more like pizzas with the toppings suggested above or whatever else that sounds delicious to you!
4. Hint: squeeze a little bit of lemon on top and it's FANTASTIC!

squash it up

Helloooooo! So I've been eating a lot more squash lately, and I think it's because I've discovered how easy it is to prepare and how versatile it is! You could literally eat it with anything- sweet or salty! Personally, I've been getting a lot of butternut squash, but I'm always open to other types; sometimes it's depending on how expensive it is, any sales, etc. The other day, I cooked some butternut squash up and stuffed it with kale and wildrice, which was PHENOMENAL! Yummmmm! I also thought about putting zucchini, onions, and sesame seeds to this recipe the next time- I was just running kind of late, so I didn't have time to be too creative then. Here's how you do it!

Squash:
1. Preheat oven to 375

2. Cut butternut (or any kind) of squash in half
(length-wise), scoop out the seeds

3. spray a little oil on a cooking sheet and flip over the squash halves so that their inside parts are facing down

4. throw in the oven for 20 minutes (note: could take up to probably 35 minutes depending on how big it is! You know by sticking a knife into the top, and if it feels soft, it's done cooking!)

5. take the sheet out and fill the inner parts of the squash with wildrice and whatever you decide sounds good! It will turn out great!

I think I'm obsessed...

So, I've just been, you know, sitting around thinking about kale.... just another normal day... but today, I came upon this cool little chart/picture on pinterest, and HAD TO post it to my blog! Kale is amazing you guys, and it's super easy to get a good serving of it each day. Take a handful and put it in your morning smoothie, cut some up and throw it in your salad, make wraps with it.... anything will suffice. I swear, kale makes me feel like a superhero- just call me Super Kale Girl, my cape would be a giant kale leaf! Okay... well clearly I'm still a little tired ha ha, but just remember that kale is most certainly one of the best foods you could put in your body! Love your body and eat some kale :) Oh.. and happy Friday! Whoo-hoo!

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Try not to cry while you eat

Good (late) morning!!! I'm writing today to give you a brief overview of a food that most normal people don't eat pounds and pounds of; but many people add this food to different dishes and foods as an addition to taste. I'll give you one hint: I only know TWO people (or species) that eat this food by itself, and one of them is Shrek...
Okay, the special food that I'm referring to is ONIONS!!!

Source

Let me just peel away some of these hidden health benefits for you all to educate yourselves about:
Fun Facts:
1. Phytochemicals in onions increase the function of Vitamin C in one's body; which is needed for growth and repair of the body's cells!
2. They are actually known to not only reduce inflammation, but also fight against cancer! Onions are heroic!
3. They increase the High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) Cholesterol, which many people call "good" cholesterol (another myth I might expand on in another posting), which also helps fight against heart disease!
4. Chromium in onions help regulate blood sugar, so that's pretty awesome too!

I know there are more affects onions have on one's body, other than making people cry while chopping, but here are a few that stood out to me I found from Healthy Living so you all can check out that website more if you're interested in learning more! Eat onions, guys! Eat them in salads, soups, casseroles, by the pound (I wouldn't), however you want! But make sure you're getting your onion fix ;)

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holy potato!

Hello to anyone who, by a miracle, is reading this after many months of straight up neglect from me. I'm sorry I have left you all hungry- but hopefully you were all able to cope by making up your own recipes and browsing the internet (using ideas from my blog, of course ;) heehee) Anyway, I feel as if with school and work- I've had barely a minute or two just to do anything off topic- but I made a promise to post tonight- even if it IS brief. Last night, I made this masterpiece and thought I'd share :) It was VERY simple to make, delicious, and healthy- duhhh! Here you go!

Potato Pizza

To make this all you need to do is bake a potato and mash it up as the pizza "crust", Then, I sauteed kale, garlic, onions, and red bell pepper with balsamic to go on top of a layer of tomatoes and a layer of wild rice. The end result: a delicious, whole food, healthy pizza :) top with whatever strikes your fancy- I just worked with what I had but if you have more ingredients and veggies available- pile them on- because "the more the better" definitely works with veggies!!!!! PS: if you eat it on a cute bear plate, I SWEAR it tastes even better ;)

Icecream Sunday

Hello lovelies! Happy Sunday! My family left me this weekend to go on a camping trip so naturally, what did I do? THREW A PARTY!!! The guest of honor was my friend, the green spoon; and the theme of the party was "Eating as much icecream as you can". So me, myself, and I decided to test out my blender and make RAW, sugarfree, nutritious icecream- because hey, why can't one's dessert be good for you too? All of the different flavors I made follows the same "How-To" so I shall explain how to make it and then give you guys a few of the recipes for the ones I tried out!




What you'll need (for the "milk" of the icecream)?

• frozen bananas!
• (maybe) almond or coconut milk (if your blender is having trouble blending)
• (optional) coconut sugar, agave syrup, or stevia

What to do?

1. Freeze two bananas (or more/less depending on how much you want to make- two will make enough icecream for two people)
2. After frozen, thaw the bananas out just for a little bit- for probably 5-8minutes 
3. add any other "flavor" ingredients to the blender with the partially-thawed bananas
4. blend! (here's where you add milk-substitute if your bananas are having trouble being blended)
5. pour (you'll have to scoop it too because it's thick) into a tupperware and put in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour (if you do it longer, it might be too frozen! If that's the case, take out and let it thaw for like 10 minutes)
6. eat!!

It's THAT simple! It's so easy and so FREAKING DELICIOUS!!! Okay, here are some different kinds of icecream I made (all of these recipes have the frozen bananas, so these include what I added to the blender after the bananas):

Peanut Butter Cup Icecream:

Ingredients:

• few spoonfuls of peanut butter
• a few scoops of raw cacao powder
• a possible tbsp or so of almond milk to help blend

 

 Pumpkin Pie Icecream:


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree
•  1 tsp of nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1tsp pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Mousse Icecream:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 avocado (very ripe)
•  few spoonfuls of raw cacao powder
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  
  
  
  
  

Coconut-Mint Chip Icecream:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut shreds
• 2 tbsp raw cacao nibs
• 1 peppermint tea bag (I'll explain how to incorporate this down below)
• 1/3cup or so of coconut milk

 How to incorporate peppermint?
Pour 1/3 of coconut milk into a cup and heat in the microwave to right-before-boiling point. Steep the peppermint tea bag in it for five minutes (longer for extra strength), let it cool in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes and then add to the blender to blend with all of the other ingredients.

Well, host icecream parties for yourselves and try these out! It will probably be the first time you guys will actually feel GOOD about eating a  bowl (or multiple bowls) of icecream!!!! I hope you all enjoy these recipes as much as I did this weekend...maybe I'll make this a tradition, icecream on Sundays is always nice. Heck, icecream ANY DAY really! xoxo!