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....

Fall Has Arrived (+ Standby Slow Cooker Recipes)

My Facebook status today was:

"Yesterday was the first day of fall. As sad as it is to see the summer go, we can look forward to big slow cooker meals on the cheap! I almost forgot how far you can go with just a few cheap ingredients placed in a one-dish fall meal in the crock pot. Yesterday: lentil chili. Today: mushroom risotto"

Many questions follow suit after any mention of a good slow cooker meal. We all know how a slow cooker meal can benefit our weekly routine. We all hope to create a slow cooker plan that we'll actually follow through on, but we rarely ever do. Well - at least I don't. My mom and I always seem to be sharing, saving or pinning crock pot blog and appetizing recipes, but we never seem to actually do anything with them. When I actually do take the little bit of time required to complete something in that little lovely appliance, I'm beyond excited about it and wonder why I don't do it every week.

I finally followed through this weekend. It was easy (as in: quick to throw together). It was cheap. It was appetizing. After a friend and reader requested some recipes, I thought I'd share it with you, along with a few other successes I've had.

Lentil Chili (Vegan-friendly)
Original Recipe from Chum Mom

J and I worked together on making this yesterday. It's one of those dishes where two people can be working on either side of the pot because you literally just need to throw everything in it - order does not matter. The purpose of this meal was to have healthy veggie-filled lunches for the week and we succeeded.

Only differences from the original? Kidney beans instead of chickpeas, no cilantro, mustard powder or cayenne (but did 1 tsp of chili powder and 1 tsp of paprika instead) and halved the entire recipe (we have a small slow cooker). 

The costs associated with this chili are so minimal: 2 carrots (out of a big $2.99 bag), 2 celery stalks (again, out of a clump for $2.99), bouillon cubes, $1.29 can of diced tomatoes, $0.99 can of kidney beans, 1 cup (out of a 2 cup bag for $1.29) of dry red lentils. So cheap considering how far it will take us this week.

Smoky Bacon Chili (Paleo-friendly)

Original Recipe from PaleOMG.

PaleOMG is a blog full of great meat-filled, caveman-lover recipes. If you ever have to make a meal for non-vegetarians that may have dietary limitations, check this blog out - or any paleo blog, really. They're free of most common intolerances. 

This chili is as opposite as you can get to the above recipe. Bean-free and meat-filled, this was still a major hit. I used pork instead of beef and only red peppers (not yellow and green). I added 2 drops of liquid smoke to regular diced tomatoes, instead of fire roasted. I also think I may have made half the recipe (we had this eons ago).

We served this over a 1/2 of a baked sweet potato each (we baked some ahead of time for the week as well!). This was mega J-approved. 

Mushroom Risotto (potentially gluten-free and vegetarian-friendly)
Original Recipe from Allie's Changing Kitchen

I love risotto but never have the time or energy to stand by a stove to make it right, or to find an appropriate parmesan-free recipe. This turned out well, tasty, but I'd definitely play with some more spices and flavours the next time I try it.

Sautee: 1 cup of sliced mushrooms + 1/3 cup of chopped onions + 2 cloves of garlic

Add in: 1 cup of arborio rice + 1/4 cup of mushroom broth (made from mushroom bouillon, veg. would be fine, too). Saute until liquid is absorbed.

Add mixture to slow cooker, plus: 1 3/4 cup of broth (so 2 cups in total) + 1/4 of white wine + 1 tbsp of onion flakes + 1 tsp of paprika + salt + pepper.

Cook on high for 1 hour and 30 minutes (check, because I overcooked mine a little bit).

Once finished, mix in 1/4 cup of almond (or any) milk + 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast. Add more of any of the above flavourings if you want. I topped mine with homemade bacon bits but you could omit to keep it veg - friendly.

Need More Inspiration?
Here are a few other recipes from the past that have worked out well for us. My advice for those looking to get started with using slow cookers to ease the weeknight cooking pain? Stews and chilis. So many varieties. So hearty. Hard to mess up.

Panama Pork Stew
Chicken Curry Stew
Balsamic Chicken

Questions about any of the above recipes? Comment or bug me on Facebook or Twitter!

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

Green With Envy (Guac + Collard Green Chips)

Happy Monday!

I always say that, but never actually feel it. It's pretty much the most dreary day of the week, isn't it? Monday evenings aren't too shabby, but Monday mornings and afternoons? Holy they suck! I guess Monday really had no chance, following a most awesome day like Sunday.

To start the week off, I wanted to share two treats that I threw together over the weekend. It was a very social weekend of dinner parties and bachelorettes (well, one of each but they both deserve to be pluralized) filled with lots and lots of girl time - and food. Those two things seem to go hand in hand in my world!

I think I've confessed my love for guacamole before - and avocados. You can do anything with an avocado and basically just as much with guacamole. I know we all talk about how versatile hummus can be (which I love), but deep down, I'll always be tied to my guacamole. This is a recipe for a very, very basic throw together guac but it's one of my faves. My friend, Lauren, told me to add orange to the next guac that I make but I completely forgot! Next time...

Basic Guacamole 
From scratch: I am specifying this because if you are in a pinch, the easiest thing you can do is mix ready-made salsa with avocado and you're done. And you will be the popular one at the party.
1 avocado
1 small tomato, diced
1/4 of a red onion, diced
1 tsp of garlic salt
1 tbsp of lemon
paprika

Mix everything together and top with paprika. That's it! Double this if you can, I only had one avocado on hand at the time.

Print this recipe

Next in line for green goodness is collard chips. I've made kale chips and loved them, but bought collard greens at the grocery store the other day and thought I'd give it a try with that. I've been trying to buy a different 'green' at the grocery store each week - I.e. swiss chard, kale, collard, etc - and didn't really know where to begin with these giant leaves. Chip form was a wonderful, wonderful, surprising way to start.

Collard Green Chips
From Allie's Kitchen
Collard Greens (I used about 5 or 6 big leaves), leaves pulled off of the stems and ripped into pieces (chip-size)
Lemon juice
Olive oil
1 - 2 tsp of Garlic Salt
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Wash the greens and shake dry as much as possible. In a bowl, toss the leaves with olive oil and lemon juice (don't coat it, toss). Cover a baking pan with tin foil and lay the greens out in a single layer. Sprinkle with garlic salt, salt and pepper. Bake for approximately 20 minutes.

These start to shrivel up pretty quickly so about half way through (10 minutes), I took them out and spread them out even more. If the leaves are on top of one another (which they will be at the start - that's okay), they won't get crispy. I just kept doing this until they were done. When a few were crispy, I removed them and spread the remaining ones out more.

Print this recipe

These were SO good! Recommend!

Enjoy the week! Tomorrow is the reveal post to show you what I got in my Foodie Pen Pal box!


PS - Did you see my new bowl? I'm so excited about it. My mom and I picked two of these up (She got her own) at Home Sense. They come with lids! Love, Love.


Check Me Out On Facebook.

Spinach {Pasta} Salad + {Slow Cooker} Chicken Wings

Happy end of the week!

I have a few good "pub" or "fast food" type meals to share with you - done the healthier + intolerance-free way. During the past week, we've had another really great pizza, some portobello mushroom burgers (which were so good, I basically went back to the store the next day to get more mushrooms...) and the above chicken wings and spinach salad.

It feels like I'm a bit of a kid all over again. Like I was just treated to a week of "junk" food (which as a kid, pizza, chicken nugget or western sandwich nights were clearly your favorite). It's an awesome feeling to know that we can have those same pleasures whenever we want - and without the expense, both literally and physically.
~~~~
I input a little break here because this is the point where my blog decided not to save my previous writing. I have just spent the last hour - yes, hour - sitting here and writing an extremely long blog post. I thought it was pretty good. Unfortunately, my wireless and blog decided to both not cooperate at the same time and now I've lost it all. After a week of having no time to blog, I could just cry but ALAS I won't. I've got a wonderful hubby who just cheered me up with a berry/cantaloupe/vanilla rice milk smoothie so I will move on. :)

I had written a long post about my relationship with chicken wings (admittedly, 2 paragraphs might have been too much anyway), and how my feelings on them have ebbed and flowed over the years. I wrote about my issue of eating meat off of the bone. And how we used to consume many a chicken wing on a Wednesday or Thursday evening in university without thinking twice. Even last year, I was still convincing myself that I enjoyed eating a basket of wings at a noisy bar ~ I guess we all change, right? I've come to learn that I can still embrace chicken wings, just in the comfort of my own home and if J either bakes, bbqs or slow cooks them....
~~~~~~~~~
Instead of heading out for 25 cent wings this weekend, cook at home, be healthier and save the money (because with wings, comes draught beer) - or even better: let the slow cooker do the work for you! (and hey: drink better beer with them at home, too!)

Beer + BBQ Slow Cooker Wings
From Allie's Kitchen (by J)

1/2 of a bottle of Organicville's BBQ Sauce

1/3 can of beer (the cheap stuff!)

A few pinches of your favorite hot sauce (Frank's obviously!)

Plop those chicken wings in your slow cooker and cook for 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low. That's it. Literally: that's all you have to do, 

Notes:

- Although the BBQ sauce is sweetened with Agave Nectar instead of sugra, I just realized it's also sweetened with molasses...sigh! Just use a 1/2 bottle of any sugar, soy, dairy free BBQ sauce. I'll update the product page soon.

- J came home for lunch and put the wings on high for 3 hours. The 6 hour time is just a guestimate for low.
- The BBQ sauce is Gluten-free

Print this recipe.

The one thing I do remember noting in my other really good post was that wing nights were filled with just that: wings. You'd rarely have a vegetable to go along with it (maybe a slice of carrot or celery?). I can't believe that used to be fun! 

Tonight, we were craving a spinach salad...so I tried to switch things up a bit by playing around with the dressing and adding pasta! LOVE. So easy, too.

Spinach {Pasta} Salad or "There's Pasta In My Spinach Salad!"

From Allie's Kitchen

Cook your pasta.

Dressing:
In a small bowl, mix together:
- 1/4 cup of Renee's 1/2 Caesar
- 1/4 cup of Helman's Mayo
- 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

Salad Ingredients:
In a large bowl, mix together:
- 2 cups of spinach, cut/ripped
- 1 cup of tomato, diced
- 1 cup of cucumber, cut small
- 1 cup of Fresh Gourmet Organic Seasoned Croutons, crushed

Once pasta is cooked, drain and let cool. Mix together with dressing then add in salad ingredients. Mix well and serve!

Print this recipe

Aren't these much better options for a Fast Food Friday night?  I think so! I've been cooking with a few different product names as of late and need to update the "Brands I Love" page. I haven't really done that since I "cut out" sugar. I also would like to further explain the way I handle sugar. For example, Hellman's Mayo has sugar listed as the 6th ingredient, so I want to make sure to tell you that on the other page. I'll let you know when I make those updates. I'm also going to remove brands that simply "work" with my diet, and only include truly brands that I love.

Have you liked the new Allie's Changing Kitchen Facebook page yet? It's very new, so bare with me! Go on over to visit. Happy Friday! :)

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!

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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

Foodie Friends + Tea + Choco Mousse

I wanted to take a moment this evening to mention two fun food-filled activities that took place last weekend.

Housewarming Dinners
J and I had dinner at a former colleague and her fiance's new home along with another colleague and her hubby (not using names makes sentences sound so cryptic...and long!). We enjoyed touring their new home (I was trolling for decorating ideas, of course) and quinoa + bbq'd chicken + potatoes + sweet potatoes on their nice, big dining room table. I was fortunate enough to have the seat that had a big, beautiful, brown border collie as my foot rest. :)

I, unfortunately, wasn't thinking clearly and didn't get any photos of dinner until I saw the well-plated dessert.

Natalie made us this for dessert:

I uploaded a picture of this on Twitter and it got a lot of comments - why wouldn't it, right? Chocolate mousse that's dairy, soy AND sugar-free? Obviously it would be popular.

Sadly I don't have the exact recipe right now, but I do know it involves: coconut milk (not shaken, opened and left in fridge overnight, "pulp scooped out) + cocoa + honey + vanilla. The key to my heart...

Note: All shot glasses were mismatched and purchased at Value Village. Cute eh? And Alex placed them on a mirrored tray...genius!

Sunday Tea

On Sunday, while everyone was busy prepping for Super Bowl festivities, I was busy attending a proper Sunday tea. Brilliant, right?  Aimee over at Food, Je T'Aimee - a friend of J's (then I stole her for myself), long before food blogging happened - invited myself and some other local foodies/bloggers/friends over for tea. It was an absolutely splendid time as I have really not branched out or met any local bloggers! I've been canoodling with gals mostly in New York (ladies..you know who you are!). It was an absolutely great opportunity to meet some local ladies that share similar passions - ALTHOUGH they all completely tormented me with their massive array of goodies. It's hard to have tea without the sweetness, isn't it? :)

Cucumber sandwiches + ginger lemon tea + almond butter cookies? Huzzah! A very happy camper. Thanks to Kathy over at Eat Halifax for bringing me some yummy vegan and sugar-free cookies. Someday I'll learn to bake and these will be part of my repertoire!

A big thank you to Ms. Aimee for hosting and for letting me peek into her home filled with beautiful dishes, a massive kitchen and all kinds of little quirks that I greatly enjoy(ed).

Also thanks to her kitty cat, Ethel (probably the 2nd cutest girl-cat name, after Gili :P), for spending the afternoon with me. My own kitty cat sure loved all of that pant-fur I brought home with me. No jealousy issues there at all...

Although I didn't get to chat with every single person at tea...I plan on checking out their blogs. You should, too. Halifax peeps are pretty cool, I tell ya...

Food, Je T'Aimee
Ashley Eats
Love, Me Boutique
Eat Halifax
Kelly Neil
Emma's Eatery
Adsum for Women and Children
Butter Versus Burpees
Alice in Paris Loves Art and Tea

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Hey - by the way! I have stopped bombarding my Facebook friends with blog posts and have created a page. Care to follow? Allie's Changing Kitchen on Facebook

RECIPE ADDITION! 


Natalie just emailed me the recipe she used and turns out she found it from Chocolate Covered Katie's Blog. :) Katie calls it mousse frosting, which gives me the grand idea of actually using it for frosting (you know, when I finally bake something..). Go on over to Katie's blog and check out the original recipe.

Nat says she made it again, since, and added Lindtt chocolate into the cream to make it extra chocolately (note: I'm still struggling to find a dark baking chocolate that is without dairy/soy/sugar?). If (read: when) I make these, I think I'm going to add mape instead of - or in addition to - the honey. It was delicious as is, but I DO have an obsession with maple!  Another variation would be to add fruit to the top (like Nat with her raspberries) OR blend it right in... the options are endless. <3

Meatless Mondays: Fried Noodles (Vietnamese Meets Balinese)

More noodles. Are you shocked?

Listen. When I travel, I basically eat rice or noodles every single day and embrace it. Not only do I embrace it, I crave more! It might be a slight addiction, but if I'm health-ifying it as much as possible, then why not? Koreans eat rice every single day - sometimes three times a day - and their diet is much healthier than that of the typical North American! Spice + Rice + noodles. There has to be some benefit there for your body.

Prior to really learning how to cook, J used to do most of the cooking. I've mentioned this before. Well, his specialty is bringing in a mix of flavours from our travels. We, of course, love Thai food (who doesn't?), but we truly love Laotian, Vietnamese and Balinese food. His meals would typically fall mostly into the Vietnamese category. As I've been trying to do most of the cooking as of late, we've been lacking in this area. Last night I was craving a little bit of mie goreng and a little bit of fried Vietnamese noodles.

When we were in Bali (both times), we spent a lot of our time trying out the various versions of mie goreng and nasi goreng. The "mie" stands for noodles and the "nasi" stands for rice. Each restaurant or street stand served it slightly different, but all were filled with finely chopped veggies and egg (and meat, too - depending on what you fancied). The spiciness of the dish varied quite a bit and you could always add more once it was served.

When I think back to my week in Ho Chi Ming and Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam, I think about noodles. Pho (noodle soup). Fried noodles. Regular noodles. From a restaurant. From a street vendor. All served with a side of extra fish sauce - my first real introduction to the sauce that would later lead to being a star of many, many of our meals. It was heaven.

Top: Fried Noodles in Phu Quoc, Vietnam + Hammocks & Dinner Tables (Not a bad place to relax & eat!)
Bottom: Sukawati, Bali, Our honeymoon balcony overlooking rice paddies + A typical Mie Goreng

Can you see why I'd crave both again - or often? I was torn, though, on which to choose so I tried a make-shift meet-in-the-middle creation of my own.

A Taste of Vietnam and Bali in Fried Noodles
From Allie's Kitchen


What I Used:
5 pieces of bok choy (not baby bok choy), stalks + leaves, cut small
1 cup of eggplant, diced small
3 scallions, diced
1 cup of bean sprouts (mung bean)
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 shallot, diced
2 eggs
1 tbsp basil (I have basil tubes that stay in the fridge - it equals 1 tbsp of fresh)
1 tbsp of lemon grass (same as above)
3 tbsp of fish sauce
2 tbsp of sriricha chili sauce
Chow mein noodles

What I Did:
1. Have everything chopped and ready to go. Have water boiling for noodles.
2. In a wok, add garlic and shallot. Cook on high for a few minutes.
3. Add eggplant, bok choy, basil, lemon grass, 2 tbsp of fish sauce and 1 tbsp of sriricha. At same time, add noodles to boiling water. Cook on high for 3 minutes.
4. Drain noodles and let sit. Add the bean sprouts and scallions to the pan. Push everything to the side and add both eggs. Keep stirring eggs so that it scrambles and remains in little pieces as it cooks.
5. Once the eggs are almost cooked, mix everything together. Add noodles along with remaining fish sauce and sriricha.

Serve warm and top with more bean spouts, fish sauce, sriricha or lime juice - your choice! This would also be great with ground peanuts on top or fresh cilantro. I didn't have these at home.

NOTE: So I made this Meatless Monday meal, all excited to share it as it's my own creation. Then I thought: CRAP. I added fish sauce. Fish sauce is not at all vegetarian. Sigh. So: There is no actual meat added to this, but this meal is still not 100% vegetarian or 100% vegan. I added fish sauce because I love the taste of it, but you could add tamarind or soy sauce (negating my soy-free label) to fully make this veggie-friendly. If you're vegan, you could also add tofu instead of egg. As much as that sounds lovely, the soy-free me has to have mine minus tofu and soy sauce - so forgive me! I promise you this will be just as good with these alterations.


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Enjoy! I actually hope you try this one out because I want you to experience this taste! Soooo good. I served us each a boatload of this and we both ate it all...probably could have (and should have) served 4! Delish. Delish. Going into my Go-To list for sure. Have you had Vietnamese or Balinese food? Have a favorite?

Meatless...Thursdays? (Potato/Veg Casserole)

As the title states: We missed Meatless Mondays this week. We don't eat meat every single day, but we mostly do. We are making an effort to, like so many others are doing, to set aside a day a week (if there are more - great!) to ensure we don't eat meat.

It didn't happen on Monday this week, but it did happen tonight: Thursday. And that's okay.

After seeing some various forms of casseroles on blogs this week, I was craving something but I didn't quite know what. My friend, Sarah, had this easy and great idea of throwing some veg in with quinoa and balsamic and topping it all off with breadcrumbs. Possibly adding in some tomato paste. Although that sounds delicious, I'll save that for another winter day.

I don't know if it was the storm that today was calling for (and we're currently experiencing), but I was craving a hearty mashed potato type meal. To Google I went and adapted the recipe found on the Vegan Family Mains page. They call this a Creamy Vegetable Bake. I'm calling it a Potato/Veg Casserole. Not the most inventive name ever, but it will do. It paints the necessary picture, doesn't it?

If I called it some super duper awesome, secret code kind of name, how would anyone ever find it?

Potato/Veg Casserole
Original Recipe

Ingredients
4 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut in four
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
~1 leek (I didn't use the whole leek), chopped
2 1/2 celery sticks, chopped
3/4 cup of mushrooms, chopped
2 tbsp of margarine
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 cups of Unsweetened rice milk (plus a little bit more)
Vegetable Bouillon (I used 2 packets, use enough for cover 2 cups of liquid)
Italian Seasonings
Daiya Cheddar Cheese shreds (have you tried these yet? Amazing! Dairy and soy free..)

What I Did:
1. Once the potatoes are prepared, add them to a pot with water. Boil and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes, until they are mash-able.
2. While the above is happening....In another pot, melt 1 tbsp of margarine and the bouillon in with all of the vegetables. Stir for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the flour and gradually add milk in with the vegetables. Stir to make sure everything is well mixed! When it's thickened up a wee bit, pour it into a 9x9 dish.
4. Mash the potatoes with your Italian seasonings, a bit of milk and the Daiya. Place them on top of the liquid mixture. I did not do a lot of potatoes like the original recipe. I also didn't treat this like a shepherd's pie. I simply plopped clumps of potato on top!
5. Place in the oven for 20 minutes on 400. After the 20 minutes, I turned the oven down to 200 and left it in until we were ready to eat.

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It's a hit! I thought it wouldn't be as filling as it needed to be for J, but it was...and it was devoured! Woot Woot.

Hey! I've got 98 followers on Twitter now... are you one of them? If not, you could get me to 100! :) 


Thanks for all of the support from those who are reading, commenting and/or following - and a special thanks to the few of you who are making me get my butt up to do something...even if it's just for a squat or two. :)

Our 'Healthy Ladies' Dinner Party

The Dinner Party Crew (minus Ali..and a bit blurry...)

As just about everyone has noted in every possible way: January is about new beginnings. Well, our dear friend Becca has left us for Saskatchewan for a few months. To say our farewells and good lucks, we put together a 'feel good' dinner party. It's a good way to give our hugs, but also for everyone else to kick-start the year with a healthy meal filled with great company, vibes and conversation.  

There weren't really any rules as this was mostly as a way to send Bec off, but everyone did have to bring something to eat - with a goal of it being as healthy and clean as they could possibly make it!

Roshika hosted on her beautiful new dining table

I don't have all of the recipes, but will add them in as I get them. I wanted to showcase the great meal we had anyway! We didn't even plan the whole "you bring a main, you bring a side...and so on" so we were entirely impressed to have covered mostly all of the basis without duplication!

We typically have potlucks and fill our plates with a variety of food. This time, we sat down and enjoyed each "course" on its own. We started off with some Green Tea Pomegranate Lemonade, along with some smoked salmon with Renee's Cucumber and Dill (my fave!) on Melba Toast. (Both brought to you by Ms. Gena...)

We then moved on to some appetizers! Vegetable Spring Rolls (brought to you by Bec..) and deviled eggs (brought to you by Steph..).  The veggie rolls were done so much better than every time I try to make these puppies! I do have the recipe for the peanut sauce, but will add that in later.

The deviled eggs didn't even have mayo in them! Simply avocado and Frank's Hot Sauce mixed with the yolk. They were sooo good and creamy. I've never thought of adding avocado and skipping the mayo!

After that we moved on to....salads! Are you impressed yet with all of the great food we brought together without a big plan? I still am!

Amanda brought a very green salad that included both potatoes and apples. Interesting, right? Never thought to put those two together in a cold salad, but it totally worked. She also made her own salad dressing that was all me-friendly (with the exception of the wee bit of mustard she put in. Eep! I asked not to know whether she meant Frenchy's, powder or dijon. I don't want to know. Overcoming fears because really - who has a fear of mustard? LeSigh.)

Ms. Ali brought us a lentil salad which she said only had lemon juice and olive oil as the dressing. Easy-peasy...completely my cup-of-tea. I'm going to try this one for my workday lunches.

Now on to our main-ish dishes: African Sweet Potato Soup with Peanut Butter and Black Beans. I brought this wonderful dish to the group. I made a few changes from Joanne's original recipe over at Eats Well With Others. I've added the adaptation down below.

Then we have the biryani that Roshika whipped up. Last time I tried her version of this, she simply ground up some cashews and added coconut milk and spices for the sauce. As we have an all-nuts-except-peanuts allergy in the group, she did this same thing but with peanuts. Both were a-mazing. I've always loved biryani from that first time I tried it in Korea (I know, weird. First Indian restaurant in Korea) and I basically lived off of it during my month in India. I'm in love with how many variations there are - yum.

For dessert, we simply drizzled some pure maple syrup (Actually pure. Not all maple syrups are really pure. Check your labels!) over berries. We devoured it in minutes. Amy had worked all day and came in from out of the city, so this was the absolute perfect choice of dessert.

Cheryl made this amazing guac-like dip - with avocado and white beans being the main stars. We contemplated adding this to our meal, but smartly decided to save it for our 'What's Your Number?' girly movie-watching. Beans and avocado together give you that creamy-dip-enjoyment without having to feel sorry for yourself that you're missing out on all those creamy-dairy-filled-asiago-and-artichoke-type dips that are everywhere in the grocery store.

My contribution...

African Sweet Potato Soup with Peanut Butter and Black Beans

adapted from Joanne's recipe @ Eats Well With Others

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp Thai red curry paste

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 medium red onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, diced

1 medium sweet potato, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups of veggie broth

1/2 cup of 100% peanut butter (just peanuts!)

1/2 cup of boiling water

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

3 tsp cilantro (I used those freezer cubes of cilantro as I didn't have any fresh- have you seen them?)

1 1/2 tbsp lime juice

3 tsp maple syrup

Serves 4 - 6 (or 8 small bowls like we did!)

What I Did:

1. Heat oil in a soup pot. Add curry paste and cinnamon. Stir for a minute to coat. Add in onion, garlic, sweet potato and jalapeno. Stir and cook for 5 - 7 minutes. 

2. Add beans and broth. Melt the peanut butter in your 1/2 cup of boiling water. Add that to the pot. Add red pepper flakes and cilantro.

3. Bring to a boil, cover and immer. Cook for about 25 minutes.

4. Stir in lime juice and maple syrup!

This was extremely tasty. If you want to see some visually appealing photos of the original recipe, make sure to pop over to Joanne's blog. Mine are not so great, but I promise you it's good. Peanut butter + sweet potato + beans. You can't really go wrong, can you? This WAS quite peanut-ty tasting, so make sure you're a lover of that flavour before tackling this.

Notes :

- I didn't actually put the whole jalapeno in as I've never cooked with one, myself. Next time, I'd listen to the recipe and put it all in!

- I wouldn't skimp on the cilantro, lime, maple syrup and garlic. Could definitely play around to bring these flavours out more

- My "medium" sweet potato MAY have been too small. I'd use a bigger one next time.

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So - rumor has it that Blogger has made it possible for me to reply to comments. Let's try it out! Comment away and I will hopefully be able to comment back! Also - did you see my new recipe index? The updated about me page? If any blogger wants to learn how to make the index, I can teach!

Berry Arugula "Gritty Goodness" Smoothie (Breakfast Club: The January Detox)

My friend, Aimee, over at Food Je t'Aimee found this great idea for a Breakfast Club over at Fuss Free Flavours. If you visit Helen's blog, you'll see that there are 17 different breakfast clubs being hosted right now, all with a different theme, but all with the general goal of showcasing an array of healthy and not-so-boring breakfast ideas!

Being that it's a new year, and we all take this as an opportunity to re-evaluate a few things, Aimee came up with a great theme for her club: The January Detox. As she says, detox can mean many things to many people. For me, I think ensuring that you are eating whole foods and doing as good of a job as you can to eat "clean", means you're eating detox-ish meals.

To join Aimee's club, you can post whatever breakfast food you feel fits that theme for you. Aimee posted two smoothie options. I am following suit and posting a breakfast drink.

Berry Arugula "Gritty Goodness" Smoothie
1 tbsp of ground flax
1 tbsp of unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup of 100% orange juice
1/2 cup of unsweetened Rice Milk (Regular milk for J's)
handful of arugula
1 cup of fruit (I did half fresh raspberries, half frozen strawberries)
This makes one drink. 


For a treat: Add in some pure maple syrup

This isn't your typical creamy smoothy. It's gritty (and not in a bad way, I promise!). It tastes like healthy in a cup. :P

Warning: This is FULL of flavour. Like: It punches you in your mouth. I love it. The arugula has such a peppery taste (which may not be everyone's cup of tea so spinach would be an easier substitute) went extremely well with the tanginess of the orange juice and berries.

J says the drink is "grip-py" like a deep tannin wine. We love a bold, thick (whatever words I should be using to describe wine. I don't really know wine speak. I just enjoy a good bottle of wine...often) red wine. On a complete side note: There are many awesome local reds here in Nova Scotia, if anyone needs suggestions!


What's so good about it?


Calcium from your milk. Arugula has almost everything including Vitamin A and C, folic acid, antioxidants and more calcium. What doesn't flax help fight (cancer, inflammation, immune system...)? The fruit gives you plenty. We all know that. More Vitamin C, potassium....Need I go on?

Again, If you'd like to join The January Detox Breakfast Club, follow the rules and how-to's over at Food Je t'Aimee or check out the other clubs at Fuss Free Flavours.

Enjoy! :)