Another Vegan Butternut Squash Mac n' "Cheese"

Back in January, I raved about a new and quick mac n' "cheese". It was vegan, gluten-free, and basically pleasing to every possible diet except paleo (but - hey, make it with spaghetti squash in lieu of pasta and you're golden!). Before that, I raved about a different kind of mac n' "cheese" using roasted butternut squash.Whoever came up with this whole squash-sauce idea should be given an award.

Honestly.

For those of you who have to be - or choose to be - free of dairy, it is so welcome and thanked to have a creamy pasta replacement for that wonderful comfort food that is mac n' cheese.

For some reason, I have a tendency to want to try new recipes, rather than sticking to the sure-fire go-to's, so I tackled yet another approach to the squash mac n' cheese. Again, the nut-free (substituting almond with coconut milk), gluten-free, vegan, soy-free person can put their hands up in the air to say their praises to these recipe-creators. Amazing.

I will say - though - that my personal taste prefers more salty/tangy flavours, so if I had to create my perfect squash mac n' cheese, I'd likely combine the roasted squash and bread crumbs from the second recipe listed above, with the tahini/apple cider vinegar flavouring of the first mentioned recipe to get that tang.

The one great thing about this recipe, though, was how absolutely creamy the almond milk made this!

I got the recipe from Running with Tongs and copied it almost to a tee, with a few changes:

- Cook Brown rice fusilli

Blend together:
- 15 oz can of organic pureed butternut squash
- 2/3 cup of vegetable broth
- 1 cup of Silk Almond unsweetened milk
- 1 tbsp of curry powder
- 1/2 tsp of salt (I ended up adding lots more after this was done)
- 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp of olive oil

- Add sauce and handfuls of baby kale (I love that they sell this at the Super Store now!!) to the pasta.

If you're in a rush, throw it in the microwave and be done with it. I put mine in a casserole dish and topped it with nutritional yeast in lieu of panko and baked for about 15 minutes at 350 to let the flavours come together.

I topped mine with a TON of hot sauce and more salt. You might not need it, but I personally needed that little bit of bite!

The next time I do this, I'm totally taking what I liked from each of these recipes and making my own super-duper-uber-squash-mac-n-cheese. One of my favourite things about the first recipe and this one is the ability to use organic pureed canned squash, because really - - how often do you have enough time to roast a squash in the oven?

Enjoy!

Because Everyone Craves Poutine Once in Awhile

You read correctly. I'm about to rock your world with a tasty poutine recipe that will satisfy the soy, dairy and gluten intolerant, the vegetarians, the vegans - and the people who simply get a little creeped out by turning a Chicken-embellished package of powder into a "rich" sauce.

Two years ago I would have said I had to give up poutine for good. Today, I thank my lucky stars that Halifax continues to become more awesome with their selection of "speciality" foods and that food bloggers continue to be creative, making it possible for me to welcome this salty delight into my life as frequently as I wish.

One disclaimer I'd have is: yes, this is a "healthier" version of a poutine, but you must accompany it with a salad, or a shot of V8 or grapes for dessert...something. It's clearly lacking in the nutrient department, but that's clearly not the point of a poutine, is it?

Vegan Homemade Poutine

Gravy

Taking this recipe here, I followed along and tried a few things until I got it just right. I basically followed it as is, but have written out my exact measurements and ingredients.

In a saucepan, combine:

1 1/2 cups of water
1 vegetable bouillon cubes (I'm now using GoBio - ingredients are way better than most)
1 tbsp of vegan margarine
1 heaping tbsp of nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp of onion powder
1/4 tsp of garlic powder
A few dashes of coconut aminos (this is the soy replacement I finally found at Planet Organic!! wheeeeee!)

Once the butter and bouillon have dissolved, slowly add in:

1/4 cup ...and a few sprinkles more... of brown rice flour (any will do if you're not gluten intolerant or celiac)

Whisk away while bringing to a boil. Reduce heat and you're done. How easy?

Poutine Assembly

We use the shoestring McCain's french fries - use whatever you'd like. Add on some Daiya Mozzarella (any Daiya would do, but I find the mozza to be the best for this and nachos). Top it (or soak it - whichever is your style) in gravy.

You have your masterpiece!

A Green Treat (Avocado Fries)

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned my love of the idea of avocado fries (have you seen them all over Pinterest?) to J or not, but either way, he found the recipe on his own and decided to surprise me with a Saturday treat. A lovely, lovely treat.

With inspiration from here, he went to work.

What To Do

- We used four avocados, but two would suffice for two people. Cut them lengthwise and carefully remove the pit and the avocado from its skin without disrupting it too much. This means you need avocados that are just hard enough to stay intact, but soft enough to scoop out easily!

- Preheat oven to 350

- We didn't have any panko in the house, so we used a mortar and pestle to crush up soda crackers with a ton of spices. Mix in whatever you want and have fun with it! We used: himalayan sea salt, chili powder, onion salt, garlic powder, celery seed, freshly cracked black pepper, Italian blend.

- Slice your avocados to resemble fries or wedges.

- Dip each piece in egg and coat in the cracker/spice mixture.

- Place tinfoil on a baking pan and a baking rack on top of that (to make it easier to turn the soft avocados over without breaking them).

- Place the fries on the rack and bake for 20 minutes, turning them over at the halfway point.

That's it! Dip it in homemade curried mayo or agave sweetened ketchup and call it a day!

Boy am I thankful for avocados....but who isn't, really.

Fall Harvest Soup

This picture was posted alongside our lasagna roll-ups awhile back. I'm posting the recipe as I made it, although I would make some changes to this the next time around.

The good things about this soup:
1. Other than the chopping, it's a fairly hands-off meal.
2. This is a great way to use up some of your fall vegetables and fruit, without having to use all of anything - it just requires a few of each thing.
3. This is a big match, giving you a healthy dose of fruit and veg for a week.

The not-fave things about this soup:
1. The apples I chose were a bit too sweet, making this soup better as a side or a small lunch. The sweeter the apple, the sweeter the soup (although maybe that's what you dig?)
2. This had a tangy-sweet combo that was delicious for the first five bites but was a bit too much once bite six came along. I'd take it easy on the combination of balsamic vinegar, white wine and apples. A simple change in wine and apples would even make a difference.

All in all, I'd hands down make this again. I'd just experiment a little bit with the ingredients. For example: if you like yams more than parsnips, make more of one and less of the other! I personally like more of a spice taste so I'd go with more masala and less acidic things the next time around.

Enjoy! Now that I've ventured (timidly) into the world of soups, I highly recommend having fun with it. It's extremely easy to do when using the crockpot.

Fall Harvest Soup
A la Allie's Kitchen

Note: these are approximations. I had fun throwing things in the pot this time around.
4 tsp of olive oil
1 large sweet potato, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 small parsnips, diced
2 apples, diced
1 1/2 cups of leeks, diced
1/2 tsp ginger
2 tsp of masala
3 tbsp of white wine
2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
4 cups of broth (I used vegetable bouillon and water)


In a pan, heat oil and add sweet potato, carrot, leek and apple. Heat for 5 minutes then dump in the slow cooker. Stir in ginger, masala, wine and vinegar. Add broth. Cook for 5 - 6 hours on low.

Use an immersion blender (thanks to Gram for this gift!) or a regular blender in batches, if need be. Blend away. Top with croutons and tortillas if you have any and serve.

Step-by-Step: Swiss Chard + Pork Lasagna Roll-Ups (Even With "Ricotta")

I got this idea of this from my sister. Not really sure why I had never thought of it before.

This gets a separate blog post, as I thought it beneficial to show the process in photos. This did take some work to put together in stages (something I usually am too lazy to do), but it was completely worth it - especially when you end up with a 9 x 13 pan full of roll-ups for your week.

A few neat things came out of the creation of this recipe:

1. I no longer have to make lasagna in the old way. Roll-ups can be individually customized and are just so much more fun to plate.

2. I now have a go-to ricotta/cream cheese-ish replacement for future dishes (think consistency, not substitute for exact flavour). 

3. I also have a good generic meat sauce as a go-to for any future pasta dish (or to plop on top of a sweet potato or nacho plate).

Although the roll-up idea came from my sister, the inspiration for this particular recipe came from the market. After spending only $20 at the market on the weekend, we ended up with a lot of leeks and swiss chard (among other things) without a real plan to use it. Add in some defrosted ground pork and some white lasagna noodles to be used up (I'll switch over to brown rice pasta for the next batch), we had ourselves a meal.

Ricotta ("Cheese") Filling

Adapted from GoDairy cookbook

1 cup of pumpkin seeds, soaked in an inch of water (it called for sunflower seeds, but I only had pumpkin seeds)

1/2 cup of water (extra from above)

1 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice

1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar

1 garlic clove

1/2 tsp of maple salt (use any!)

Place all in the magic bullet and blend until it's the consistency you want!

Swiss Chard and Pork Filling

From Allie's Kitchen

1 pkg of ground pork

1 big bunch of swiss chard, leaves removed from the stems (use lots as it wilts down!)

1 leek, chopped (white and green parts)

Italian spices, salt, pepper

2- 1/2  cups of tomato sauce (doesn't need to be exact, just buy a big can - I used plain)

Brown the ground pork. Add the leek, spices and 1 cup of your sauce. Cook for 2 minutes. Add in the swiss chard and the rest of your sauce, saving enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Let simmer on low.

Cook your noodles!

Bring Everything Together:

Pour the remaining tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.

On waxed paper, lay out the lasagna noodles and top each one with ricotta filling then your sauce filling. Roll carefully and place each roll in the pan. Note: save some filling!

Once you have done this for everything, top with the remaning meat filling to ensure the noodles stay moist. 

I topped my dish with Daiya Cheddar Cheese and Nutritional Yeast Flakes. You can top each individual piece with more of the ricotta filling upon serving if you have any left.

Bake covered at 375 for 20 minutes, then an additional 15 uncovered. Voila!

**Notes on Recommended Recipe Alterations: 

- If you want to make this gluten-free, switch to the brown rice noodles

- If you want to make this to paleo, slice a zucchini in extremely thin pieces and use that instead of noodles for your wrap

- If you want to make this vegetarian or vegan, I recommend adding diced eggplant instead of pork

- Swiss chard can be replaced with spinach or kale and will be just as good

- Leeks can be replaced with shallots or regular onions

Enjoy! This one is a goodie....

An Assortment of Recipes + Ideas

Here are a few of the things that have gone in our bellies over the last two weeks...

Baked Salmon with Asparagus + Beets (with an adaptation of added procuitto)
This is the ultimate kind of throw together meal. I cheated and used canned beets (I confess and don't care!) so I threw all of this on two tinfoil packets and in the oven it went. A seemingly gourmet meal in minutes (well, it took longer than the recipe said, but basically..) 

Weekend Breakfast
Breakfasts like this give you reason to get through your work week. I had some procuitto and asparagus leftover from the above recipe (it's all about no waste) so we cooked them up and plopped our egg on top. Delicious saltiness! It went perfectly with our perked coffee and tropical smoothie (fresh pineapple + banana + frozen mango + almond milk)

Egg Muffins
SO perfect for a work week for breakys and snacks. There are variations all over the place for this, but I used what I had in the fridge at the time: 9 eggs (for the above 12 muffins) + cut up red onions + spinach + tomatoes + salt and pepper + Italian spices. Grease your pan, pour them into the cups and put them in the oven for about 20 mins at 350. Breakfast for the week! 

Pork chops, veggie salad and kimchi.
Not entirely paleo, but nothing overtly "do not eat" on the menu I don't think. The pork chop was bbq'd with a mix of spices (anything!) and some lemon + oil. The salad is a simple spinach salad mixed with a little bit of quinoa cooked in broth (little as in most veg, different from how I usually make it) mixed with salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice. J liked this more than the pork I think. 

Bangers n' Mash
Okay - admittedly this photo is not exactly visually appealing and the idea of eating an entire head of cauliflower in one sitting (for two people) seems foreign, but we devoured this. Like: a head of cauliflower and four sausages and we devoured it in minutes. I had a bit of a hard time figuring out what to do with the cauliflower, so it took longer (and made a larger mess) than it probably should have but we were thoroughly impressed. J grew up on meat and potatoes and had an odd eye on me as I tackled this recipe. Luckily he trusts me enough to give it a go...;) A "will try again" (along with cauliflower rice!). (note: the bangers came from Sweet Williams at the market, yummers).

Shrimp Yellow Curry (on it's own)
I filled this dish with a can of coconut milk, + 2 - 3 tbsp of yellow curry + 1 tbsp of fish sauce + basil + lots of onions, broccoli, cooked shrimp and mushrooms. Top it off with almonds. Voila.

Thai Chicken Salad with Almond Dressing
Adaptations: almonds + almond butter in place of peanuts/butter + fish sauce in place of soy sauce +honey for the brown sugar + my salad ingredients: lettuce, spinach, carrots and cucumber
TWO thumbs up, for sure.

Who knew that dinners would be so good (and so fun) after removing all forms of white potatoes, rice, pasta and bread? We definitely did not. Eat your heart out (and feast) my gluten-free friends! I've been trying out a lot of the recipes I've been pinning under Paleo Possibilities and all are free of dairy, soy, gluten and sugar (among other things)....woot woot! Here's a little diagram of what eating paleo is all about. I'll share more resources in another post.

Enjoy :)

It Feels Like Balinese Nasi Campur (Buffalo Shrimp + Balsamic Cucumber Salad)

Nasi Campur is a dish we ordered many times in Bali. Each time it would be different and each time J and I would discuss how we should start eating that way.

You wouldn't exactly know what you would get with each order, but you knew you would get to try a lot of different Balinese dishes in one sitting. The meal always seemed like you would have a piece of meat of some kind and a whole lot of sides - almost like families would make ten different dishes on Sundays and would pick away at each dish throughout the week, a little bit from each one - the opposite from what we typically do here in North America.

As I've mentioned, I'm trying to limit our intake of rice, potatoes, bread and pasta (says the girl who just caved and had a sub). Last night proved to be difficult. I made our shrimp. I made our salad.I just stared at the plate, upset about how bare it looked. I, then, added on the avocado+spinach+blueberry salad and then, again, felt it still looked bare and cooked up a few hard boiled eggs for us.

There you have it. Shrimp. Cucumber Salad. Spinach Salad. Egg. Success.

It filled us up and tasted delicious. Only problem is that we end up craving snacks two hours after eating, but that's not a bad thing if we stick to a celery and almond butter kind of snackk! As I just said above, I just caved with a sub. Shameful, yet laughable. Katie tells me I need to be incorporating more fats to keep the hunger away...so for the future, I'll have lots of almonds (or maybe I'll make a trail mix) at work and more avocado (heck yes). Going on four dinners without the typical "fillers" we usually have is still a positive in my books. What an interesting process... I can't imagine what those of you out there go through who kick this stuff cold turkey - It was hard enough when I made my changes, but I had a transition plan in place that took about 4 months. :)

Buffalo Shrimp
If you haven't stumbled over to The Foodie Physician, then you should. I follow her on Facebook and Pinterest as well. I had pinned this recipe awhile ago and finally got around to it.

I used about 24 large shrimp (not jumbo) and used coconut oil instead of butter. I also didn't grill the shrimp. I used cooked shrimp (tails on), tossed them with the lemon and s/p. I warmed them up in a pan and tossed them with the Frank's hot sauce (original - very important) and coconut oil. Would definitely be good marinated and grilled.

Cucumber Balsamic Salad
There's no need to change anything in this salad - I followed it ingredient by ingredient. Very easy and something a little different for the table. We often have cucumber slices drizzled with a bit of balsamic anyhow for our treats, so the flavor combination was right up our "alley".

Spinach Salad
I love the taste of avocado and blueberries so much that I just added those two things and drizzled the salad with a bit of lemon juice - no dressing.

That's it! Updates on progress, new ideas and changes will keep coming. It's our long weekend - and the best weekend of the year - this week so we'll be having a feast of surf n' turf and lots more "surf" on the side. Can't wait!

Soca + White Bean Spread + Mushroom Walnut Pesto

Warning: For some reason my photos are even more blurrier than usual!

It's March! I know everyone was excited about having a Leap Day yesterday, but I have to tell you that I am much more excited about today: March 1.

March makes me think of warmer weather (although, as we speak, I am waiting for our snow storm to begin..), I think about the first day of spring (yay!), our engagiversary 2 years ago (I know, I know...I'm married now but it's still special!) and I think about St. Patrick Day celebrations (i.e. sugar-free froot loops and beer. More on that later on in the month :P ). This month, I get to add even more excitement with our trip! It's March 1 today and we leave bright and early on March 7 for a full week of warm, warm weather and relaxation - just the two of us as hubby and wife. I cannot wait.

Happy times, indeed.

Speaking of happy times: FOOD. Now that's a happy topic. I cannot believe how I've become a person that is mapping out how dinner will be cooked as I'm eating my morning breakfast. I love it. I spot recipes and I dog ear them and wait patiently for a time that feels "right" to try it out. I'm such a different food person than I used to be...and I love it.

Well. I've been seeing soca recipes around on blogs and in magazines for some time and finally felt the time was right to try it out. This recipe came from the February 2011 Clean Eating Magazine. It's one of the easiest things I have ever made. The only reason I think I had been avoiding it is because it's pancake-ish and I just simply have a bad past with cooking pancakes. Anything batter-like, really, hates me - or they make me feel that way, any way.

As I said, this was so very easy and delicious. The only annoying part was that I had to let it "sit", although I don't know what would happen if I didn't? My friend Roshika said that this is often made in Indian cuisine with a ton of spices like cumin. For the purpose of this first recipe, I made it plain. I followed the recipe as is. For toppings, I followed the same recipe for a bean spread. I also had some leftover walnuts from a previous recipe sitting around and a lot of mushrooms that had to be used, so I made my own mushroom walnut pesto-type thing. We had smoked mackerel on the side so we can top each piece with whatever we wanted to. We love food options! 

Soca (Chickpea Pancake)
Clean Eating Magazine, February 2011
*Note: this does not taste like chickpeas! Had I told J I was making a chickpea pancake, hell would have broken loose: P
1 cup of chickpea flour (besan flour)
1 1/2 cups of water
2 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 tsp of salt

1. Preheat oven to 425. In a bowl, slowly add the water to the flour. Mix until smooth. Let sit for an hour (I let sit for 45 minutes) - wondering what would happen if you didn't?

2. Heat a cast iron skillet on high with 2 tbsp of oil - or use any oven-safe round, flat skillet.

3. Right before you're ready to start cooking the pancake, pour the oil and salt into the batter.

4. Pour batter into hot skillet. Let cook for approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute. Put in oven for 25 minutes.

5. Cut in triangles and eat alone or add things to the top! This would be good as a savoury dish or a sweet dish.

White Bean Spread
Clean Eating Magazine, February 2011


1 cup of white (kidney) beans, drained and washed
2 tbsp of basil
1 clove of garlic, minced (I cooked mine)
3 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of lemon juice (this was my addition)


In a food processor or blender (or Magic Bullet), pulse all ingredients together.  You are done!

Mushroom Walnut Pesto
From Allie's Kitchen


1 1/2 cups of chopped mushrooms (I used a mix of portobello and button)
2/3 cup of chopped walnuts
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 of a red onion
3 tbsp of water
2 tbsp of white wine
2 tbsp of lemon juice
1 tbsp of olive oil
3 tbsp of cilantro

1. In a pan, cook onion, garlic and mushrooms with 1 tbsp of white wine and oil.
2. Meanwhile, pulse the water and walnuts into a paste.
3. The process gets a bit sticky after this, but essentially you want to mix your cooked goods (after letting them cool off a bit) with your walnuts. I added water, lemon juice, wine and oil in as needed so my measurements are a guestimate. The walnuts really dry everything out so it's important to keep adding a wee bit of moisture of some kind until everything is mixed to the consistency you would like.

This would be excellent on pasta, but a lot more liquid would need to be added. For our purpose, we were spooning a dollop out on each of our slices of soca so it worked out.

I took it on crackers with a bit of tuna for lunch the other day - very versatile!

Again: apologies for this low-quality photos....

~~~~~

How's everyone feeling about March?? Exciting? Do anything special for Leap Day? :)

Love Love, Allie

Veggie Goodness Soup

This post was originally going to be a Meatless Mondays post. I made this on Monday for that very purpose. It's now much later into the week so we'll call it - A Very Notable Vegetarian Option For Any Day Of The Week.


Okay. So now that's I've sort-of acknowledged that I haven't blogged in over a week (*giant tear!), I will just move on. I promised myself I would remove all pressure surrounding blog posts and the social media life that follows suit. I also have a lot of blog posts from other awesome people to get caught up on! When your an adult, time just seems to fly by, doesn't it?


When you're having a non-stop week or a week where your brain just won't shut off, it's so important to at least stop for a moment in your day to enjoy moments like this ---->


Seriously. You can't stop to smell the roses in the winter, but you can get some furbaby (and hubby) love. Just as good, if not way better.

Side Note: The other day I tweeted about Gili eating a piece of artichoke and spinach and I think it's the most people-I-didn't-already-know have tweeted back! Funny how we all appreciate the little quirks of our wee little animals. It was a riot to see how many strange things our pets get into. I so want to set up a webcam in the house while we're not home to see what actually goes on. I assume it's mostly sleep, but who knows... I'm not a crazy cat lady (I swear!). I'm just a crazy animal lady. If I had a pet toad, I'd tell you about him, too.


This soup.

I didn't feel like spending a lot of time over the stove on Monday, but did have the time to lightly monitor something while I continued to work. I've had Bob's Red Mill Vegi Soup Mix in my pantry for eons. I've never tried it, although I felt it would be good to have on hand because the ingredients are all great. You can definitely eat the soup on it's own, without adding extra ingredients. You can also make a cream-based soup with this.

We had some swiss chard stems to use up (because all swiss chard recipes seem to only call for the leaves...) so I thought I would give this a go on my own.

Veggie Goodness Soup with a base of Bob's Red Mill Vegi Soup Mix
From Allie's Kitchen

2 cups of Bob's Red Mill Vegi Soup Mix (organic aisle, it comes in a clear bag)
1 cup of frozen corn
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/4 of a red onion, chopped
1 medium sweet potato, chopped in 1/2 inch cubes
2/3 to 1 cup of swiss chard stems, chopped in 1/2 inch cubes
8 tsp of vegetable bouillon powder (or the equivalent of whatever bouillon or broth you use to match water quantity)
8 cups of water
1 tbsp of mixed herbs (fresh, or squeezable fridge herbs)
Season with: Italian spices, salt and pepper

1. In a large soup pot, bring 2 cups of the soup mixture to boil with 8 cups of water + 8 tsp of bouillon (or just 8 cups of broth). Once it reaches boiling, let simmer.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the garlic, onion, swiss chard stems and sweet potato. Saute on high for approximately 8 minutes. (*Look at the color!!!*)
3. Once the soup has been simmering for approximately 30 minutes, add in corn and the sauteed mixture.
4. Continue to let simmer for another 30 minutes.
5, Season as you wish and enjoy!

Note:
-This made a lot of soup. If you divided this in half, you would still have leftovers. We wanted this to last for the week.
- As the soup contains lentils, barley and pasta, the water will absorb in the fridge and the color won't be the prettiest. Don't be shy, though, you can add a wee bit of water to your bowl before re-heating if to make it soup-y again OR just eat the mush like I've been doing. It is SO filling and delicious!

Print this recipe
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How has everyone been doing? It's nice to see that I've finally reached a point where I still get the odd page view on days when I don't blog. It used to be that I would not post anything and would receive ZERO views!


More updates to come soon.... Love, Allie

My Best (Cheese-less) Pizza So Far (Fast Food Fridays)

I have a pretty awesome line-up of songs on. It's my day off and I'm going to enjoy some blogging, pinning, music and reading (maybe a chore or two...we'll see) - all by the fire. Sounds pretty good, right?

To start this post off, you're going to get a list of the songs I'm about to listen to because sharing music is just about as awesome as sharing food:

1. You and I - Ingrid Michaelson

2. Where the Road Meets the Sun - Katie Herzig and Matthew Perryman Jones

3. Flume - Bon Iver

4. Roll Away Your Stone - Mumford and Sons

5. Rambling Man - Laura Marling

6. Be My Honeypie - The Weepies

7. Skinny Love - Bon Iver

8. Relator - Scarlett Johansson and Pete Yorn

If you don't know any of those songs, please introduce yourselves. 

Okay.  Moving on.

Another week is over and now it's February. How did that ever happen? January used to be the longest and most dreaded month of the year - so I thought. We didn't even do much of anything this last month, hid inside most weekends getting our house set up, watching movies and playing a whole lot of Settlers of Catan. 

*Side note: Does anyone play Settlers and have a similar obsession with the game? If so, here's a treat we found on our good 'ol friend, Google, the other day for the foodie-obsessed Catan lovers: Catan Pizza, Catan Cookies and Catan Cupcakes!

I'm not going to ramble on about life too much today (other than what I've already done..sigh). I need to get straight to the point because this was A-MAZING. Every bite 'J' took was followed by a satisfied "mmm..." - the key measure of success. As it's Friday and we all love to indulge in some junk food, eat this! Do it. Make it. This pizza truly does not need cheese! Switch up the toppings... do whatever you like, but make sure to try the sauce and the chicken marinade! Also: If you're a blogger, join in on Fast Food Fridays! If you're not a blogger...why not do a guest post? My blog welcomes you.

Cheese-less Chicken Pizza

From Allie's Kitchen, Quantity: 2 pizzas with a wee bit of leftover sauce

Crust

Spinach Tortilla Wraps (I double J's up, but I just use one). Use any wrap (or pita) that your diet will allow.

Pizza Sauce

1/3 cup of olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

herbs: Lots! I used a mix of basil, marjoram and the fridge herbs we keep. :)

Mix herbs and oil together in a bowl. Fry garlic on high for a minute then add that to the bowl, as well. Let sit.

Chicken

1 piece of leftover chicken (fresh, boneless would work too), sliced very thin.

2 tbsp of Frank's Buffalo Sauce

2 tbsp of Renee's 1/2 Caesar 

Toppings

Quantities enough for what you want, really.

Mushrooms, sliced

Broccolini, cut small 

Baby spinach

Tomato, sliced

Green onions, chopped

Pepper

Optional

On J's, I added cheese and a bit of leftover bacon we had. I didn't add anything extra to mine and loved it.

Assembly

1. Preheat oven at 400. 

2. Using a pastry brush, brush sauce over each pizza (I didn't use all of the sauce).

3. Disperse chicken across each pizza, evenly.

4. Add all of the toppings, adding tomatoes on last. Sprinkle all with pepper.

5. Place both pizzas in oven for about 6 minutes, maybe a bit longer if your oven doesn't run hot. You want the tortillas to be crispy enough that you can pick it up, but not burnt! 

Note:As this is an oily sauce, it may not be super crispy... but easy enough to eat with a fork and knife.

Print this recipe

I've said it already and I'll say it again: Make this. So good. 

On The Side: Our side that went along with this pizza was a simple corn (canned) + avocado + tomato salad mixed together with 1tbsp of both lime juice + olive oil. Easy Peasy.

Any Fast Food Friday clean-er recipes to share? What do you like to make on Fridays? Have a routine? Want to submit a guest post any non-bloggers?? :0) Happy Friday!!

Oh! And last thought...I updated my Travel Page. Still missing a few things, but...check it out! 

Fast Food Fridays {Fish Tacos}

 Twitter caught my eye the other day when I saw Mooshu Jenne tweet about #FastFoodFridays. Who doesn't love fastfood on a Friday?

I know our Friday treat night was one thing we had to change quickly with my intolerances (Confession: I still indulge in many chips...all safe intolerance-wise, but still junk food nonetheless!). It was all probably for the best. Even if you're only pigging out on grease once a week, it sure feels like it takes a whole week just to get your system is back on track - can't be good in accumulation, can it? 

This is by no means judgement. We still eat ramen. Or a bowl of macaroni with cheese (Daiya), things all lacking in nutrients. This is an attempt, though, to join in on promoting some healthier choices and healthier versions of some of our all-time faves. The "healthier relatives" of our old-time faves. The "grown up" versions of classics we've since learned about how they were made. I have been calling these recipes 'pub food' in my recipe index, but thinking I should change it to "Make Home Take Out" or "Dining Out Faves" or "Grownup Junk Food". We'll see. 

For now, I'm bringing in an oldie to participate in my first Fast Food Fridays. This was one of my first posts, 'Mas Pescada Taco Por Favor'. I've chosen it because it's super fun, easy and tasty. I also want to remind myself that this recipe exists! I don't think I've thought to make this since that day, and how good would it be with some of the dip recipes I've discovered over the past year? Guacamole and hummus varieties... endless options that would match this recipe perfectly.

Please note: As this was one of my very first posts, the photos are terrible. You'll have to indulge in your other senses for this one. :)

Fish Tacos
This recipe was given to me from my naturopath. 


Marinade a white fish (I used 3 pieces) for a 1/2 hour in:
- 1 tbsp of fish sauce
- 1 tbsp of lime juice
- 1 tbsp of olive oil

While the fish is marinating...create the sauce (to be used with the tacos!)
- 1/4 cup of Helmans Mayo
- 1 tbsp of lime juice
- 2 tbsp of chopped cilantro
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/8 tsp of cumin
- 1 tbsp of water

Prepare the veggies!
I used... (but think of the variations!)
- 1/2 cup of romaine lettuce cut in strips
- 1/4 cup of chopped red onion
- 1/4 cup of chopped yellow pepper
Toss with olive oil and lime juice

Broil your fish in a low pan for 15 minutes.

Once fish is finished, cut into small places. Serve with salsa, guacamole, hummus (whatever!) and your vegetable mixture on whatever tortilla wraps your diet will allow you to have. :)


Print this recipe

Follow the other ideas on Twitter at #FastFoodFridays or join in by checking out Mooshu Jenne's post above.

Happy Healthy Fast Food-ing...and Happy Friday!

Have any re-creations of some of your go-to fave fast food indulgences?

A Winter Salad Break

I know I've talked about my love for kale, but I think my true favorite raw 'green' is arugula. I know not everyone likes it - and it certainly doesn't work with every dish, but every time I buy it, I throw it in almost everything (only raw, though!).

We got a panini press for my bridal shower way back in April, but have just now started using it. It's hard to remember that you've gotten new gadgets, as it welcomes new things to your already established routine. Any way. We've been eating a lot of paninis lately and arugula has found a happy home in every one of them, including our breakfast paninis.

This salad was inspired by a salad shown in the January/February 2012 Clean Eating Magazine. It's not at all the same, but it's inspiration came from the nut + winter green + onion + egg combination. I didn't have any of the ingredients that that recipe had called for for the dressing, so I made up a different one entirely on my own. If I try out the real thing, I'll make sure to blog about that one too!

Arugula Salad with Egg

Inspired by the Winter Greens Salad in Clean Eating.

Hard boil 1 egg per serving of salad. 

In the meantime, add the following to your salad bowl (quantities really depend on what you want!):

- arugula

- chopped and sliced leek

- walnuts

- parsley (I only did this because I had it on hand)

For the dressing (this is for 2 servings), mix together:

- 1/4 cup of olive oil

- 1 tbsp of lemon juice

- 1 tbsp of maple syrup

Drizzle salad with dressing.

When the eggs are done, cut each in 3 and place on top. You're done! Easy, right? That's all I have to write for now. Today is uber-organizational-day for J and I. Mini get-our-house-in-order projects each day!

PS - I have finally updated the 'About Me' section....it was a tad outdated! I've also added a Good Reads widget along the side if you care to check out some of the cookbooks I own...Enjoy!


What is your favorite greens to use for salads in the winter?? Any gems to share?

The Holiday Rush Begins (Spinach Pasta)

So....we eat a lot of pasta. I recognize that pasta isn't the best thing for us at all times, especially when you look closer and see that it's neither whole wheat or rice pasta. Maybe I'll work on this in the new year, but for now: pasta is easy and easy is a necessity during the rush of the holidays.

On a Tuesday when errands need to be run, who wants to get home from work and spend a ton of time on a meal? I also don't want to go to the freezer and grab something processed from a box.

This brings me to here. Another throw together pasta of my own creation. J says "I'd pay $15 for this in a second" (because we're clearly not eating at any restaurants at the moment that would charge more than $20, that's a big compliment!). This was another one of those times when we intended to have leftovers, but instead gulped it all up before The Daily Show was even half way through!

(Frozen) Spinach Pasta
Note to self: have frozen spinach on hand more often.

1 pkg of frozen spinach
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp of lemon
2 tbsp of butter
2 tbsp of rice milk (optional)
1 tbsp of chickpea flour (optional)
Italian seasoning - to taste...I used lots and lots as I wanted the flavours to be strong!
5 white button mushrooms, cut small
Pasta

Optional add-ins: bacon, chicken, salmon....we had some leftover really-good salami from our Christmas gift exchange party, so I threw some of that in.

1. Defrost the spinach in a pan while the water begins to boil for the pasta. Add pasta.
2. As the spinach started to defrost more, I started sprinkling away with Italian seasoning and lemon juice.
3. I threw in the mushrooms, butter, rice milk and chickpea flour (to soak up some of the moisture) and let it all cook on medium heat until the pasta was done.
4. Drain the pasta and mix it all together!

What are everyone's "go-to" ingredients for an un-planned pasta dinner? I'd love to have a comment or two! Come on....you know you wanna..

Sweet Potato Falafel

I found a new blog that I absolutely love to look at. I feel my level of cooking ability is not at all close to what it would need to be to pull off some of Sarah's recipes, but nonetheless: her blog is like healthy food porn to me. Beautiful photos! Great-looking, colourful recipes! And healthy, healthy, healthy!

So I semi-followed one of My New Roots' recipes. I'd call mine the Impatient-not-exactly-a-falafel Sweet Potato Falafel. To get the original recipe and to swoon over the rest of what she's doing, jump on over to her blog - but don't forget to come back!:)

What I actually had and used:
2 medium sweet potatoes
1 1/2 tsp cumin
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp coriander
1 cup of chickpea flour
2 tbsp lemon

What I did:
1. I roasted the sweet potatoes for about 40 minutes at 425 F. Once the potatoes were cool, I peeled them.
2. In a bowl, I mashed together: sweet potatoes, chickpea flour, cumin, garlic, lemon juice and coriander. I was supposed to stick the mixture in the fridge for an hour but did the freezer for 10 minutes (impatient!).


3. Turning the oven down to 400, scoop the sweet potato mixture our on a pan. I topped each off with a few sunflower seeds, although it called for sesame to give it a little crunch. Mine was more "mush" but I say that word with no intention of it sounding bad. This was filling, but tasty-tasty.
4. Bake until browned.

The best part -the sauce I will most definitely make again:
In the magic bullet, I threw in...
1/2 cup of tahini (so good to have on hand!)
1/4 cup of lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of water


That's it! Throw the above two things in a wrap with cucumbers and tomatoes.. Have it on rice. Have it alone. Everything I eat sweet potatoes, I go on about how much I had forgotten that I love sweet potatoes. Every time it's like I'm discovering them all over again. Yummers.

Mushroom Pesto Pasta

I've been lucky enough to work from home on a few Mondays. The best thing about days of work at home is I get to have a home-cooked lunch with J. This is the kind of meal that would be just as easy to make the night before work (I took some as leftovers and it was still awesome), but I wouldn't have thought to do it. I find my make-ahead lunches are all in such a comfort zone.

Anyway.

I highly recommend this. And I'm very grateful that we have started to use our Magic Bullet and our new food processor. All meals seem to be a bit more creative.

As I only made about three-servings, I just used the Magic Bullet for this one....try it out! Do it. .. Now!

This recipe is adapted from the Maitake Mushroom Pesto recipe found in the January 2011 issue of Clean Eating Magazine.

Mushroom Pesto Pasta

3 tbsp of grape seed oil, divided
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 cup of white onion, chopped
mushrooms, chopped (I just used as much as 'felt right' for the amount of onions and pasta I was using)
1/4 cup of walnuts
basil and parsley (I used what I had: some fresh basil leaves, some basil paste and some fresh parsley, equalling about 1 cup of herbs)
pinch of salt

1. Cook pasta.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add garlic and onion and saute for about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and salt and saute for around 6 minutes.
3. Transfer mushroom mixture to the Magic Bullet (or regular food processor). Add walnuts, basil, parsley and remaining oil. Pulse until finely minced.
4. Add mixture to pasta!
*I, of course, added some parmesan on J's portion*


This pesto would be great on pizza, on crackers, pita - anything - I think. :)


Print this recipe.

Muffins...Finally!

It's been way over a year now since I have had a muffin - an actual muffin. I've had many failed attempts and have eaten a muffin two anyway - just because - but this time....this time was a major success and I couldn't be more excited about having two fall-back recipes.  Breakfasts, mid-morning snacks, dessert..I forgot how great muffins can be.

I know, I know. I sound a bit lame, but this really is a glorious achievement for me.  See.  I was never a baker.  My sister is a baker. My mom is a baker. I never got it.  So to then have to do substitutes? It just never was intuitive to me. I've searched and searched for a recipe (or two) that worked as is and would work with my ability.  So with a little help from my mom and an afternoon of baked good shopping and tea in my kitchen, we put on our metaphorical aprons (although we should have actually used my two adorable aprons - photos to come) and baked 24 wonders. And because she's my mom, she let me keep them all...the beauty of a Mother Daughter day.

Cranberry Orange Relish 
First things first, we had to make some relish (some leftover for use on chicken, fruit bruschetta, fish, etc). Both this and the connecting muffin recipe are found in the November/December 2011 issue of Clean Eating Magazine.

Ingredients:
1 cup of frozen cranberries, divided
1/2 inch piece of ginger chopped, divided
2 oranges (I used one blood orange and one clementine), peeled, segmented and cut into triangles
1 red apple
2 tbsp raw unsalted walnuts, chopped

In a food processor or Magic Bullet, blend 1/2 cup of frozen cranberries, 1tbsp of ginger and 1 orange until coarsely chopped (mine was more than coarsely chopped, but it worked).

In a large mixing bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup of cranberries, remaining ginger, remaining orange and apple.  Fold in walnuts and processed mixture from above.  Use in the next muffin recipe, and refrigerate the rest!

Print this recipe.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

2 cups of whole wheat flour

1 cup of whole oats
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp ground flaxseeds
1/3 cup grape seed oil
1 egg
1/2 cup raw honey
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups Cranberry Orange Relish


Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease muffin plan.

In a large bowl, mix flour, oats, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine flaxseeds with 6 tbsp of water.

In a medium bowl, combine oil, egg, honey, flaxseed mixture and vanilla.  Add egg mixture to flour mixture and blend thoroughly. Stir in Cranberry Orange Relish.

Spoon batter into muffin tins. Place in oven for 25 minutes.  My oven runs a bit hot, so I'll only bake them for 20 minutes.


Print this recipe.

Voila! A cup of Saffron tea and this = bliss.

Banana Muffins
www.thegraciouspantry.com

2 cups of whole wheat floud
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 egg whites
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 ripe bananas, mashed

Ready?  Here is the easy thing about this recipe:  Mix all ingredients together in a bowl using a hand mixture. Scoop the mixture in a greased muffin pan.  Bake for 20 minutes. Again, my oven is hot so we had to rotate the muffin pan once.


Print this recipe.

Guest Blogger: Mom!

Chickpea Salad

1 can of Chickpeas (19 oz)

Add whatever veg you have on hand.  I used a handful of snow peas, handful of grape or cherry tomatoes (halved) and chopped green pepper.  I’ve also added red onion and cucumber before as well.  For the dressing, I used lemon juice and basil.  Whisk together and toss with chickpeas.  Yummy!!!

Great as a quick lunch or as a side dish!

**Thanks for sharing this recipe, Mom! I can't wait to try this out for lunches.....And how nice for me to have my first "guest blogger" :)

Even Your Sandwiches Get Better....

...when you start cooking regularly.  Once in awhile we just run into one of those nights (and sometimes even: weeks) where you just don't feel like standing over a cutting board, the stove or waiting for the oven to do it's thing.  Waiting for a bagel to pop up in the toaster was about all the bum-on-couch time I was willing to give up tonight.

Oprah was on, I had some Facebook and Twitter stalking/lookin' around to do, blogs to read - and I thought that all 4 of my shows were on tonight (and only since realized that we have to go through another two Thursdays without those guilty pleasures of mine: Don't these shows realize that we depend on them to get through some work weeks??!).  Anyway. A year ago, this kind of night would have called for a ramen or kraft dinner.  Definitely.  Throw some boiling water on. Throw in noodles. Mix package contents. Done.

It's not so easy anymore.

After staring at my fridge for the one minute of time I allotted myself, I came up with a delightful toasted sandwich:

Stonehearth (local bakery with dairy/soy free breads) onion bagel
Hellman's mayo
Pine nut hummus
Sliced cucumber
Naturals deli seasoned turkey

Now. Just have to shake away my childhood hate on for lunch-box sandwiches and start enjoying things like this in the middle of my work days!  Mom - they were great sandwiches (because you are a great cook from sandwiches to amazing Indian dishes!) BUT there were a lot of them. Five. Days. A. Week. Bread sticking to the roof of your mouth because the mayo has been on it since the night before.  Maybe I need sandwich therapy or something: I heard that acknowledging the problem is half the battle, right?  So there it is: I have a problem with pre-made sandwiches. And I have a fear a mustard. It's all out in the open now. (ha!) Imagine me when I'm at any kind of a church or fire hall (small town) reception? Talk about difficult!

Thank You Condiments

Coming from a person who really dislikes the pre-made sandwich - and "boring" sandwiches in general - I am so thankful that I am able to have these three condiments:

- Renee's 1/2 Caesar
- Renee's Cucumber and Dill
- Hellmans Mayonnaise 

Being able to keep these three items in my fridge allows me to still make decent salads, sandwiches, dips, and so on. And because it's "creamy", it almost feels like I'm cheating a little!  Now, a person could easily get bored of these things quickly, so I ensure that not all of my salads are caesar - and I ensure that I sometimes add a bit of curry powder to my mayo to switch it up - and so on.

So here's one that works great as a lunch or dinner salad, and leaves behind great ingredients for a work day wrap!


J's Chicken Caesar Creation

Chicken:  cut in thin strips, marinade with basil, lemon and Cajun-type flavors.
Greens:  Anything - we used romaine lettuce and spinach

My Loaded Sunday Salad

Topping Options: Tomatoes, red pepper, cucumber, bacon - anything really.  J had even cooked up some onions, mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes together for some "flare".  Oh - and I found a "lightly seasoned" kind of croutons at Sobeys that are free of the evil ingredients.  Will have to check to see the brand and add it to the Brands I Love Page!

I sometimes forget how easy it is to throw together a really great salad, and then use the leftovers as a wrap the next day.  EASY....EASY, I say.