Wednesday, August 31, 2011

More food porn for your prying eyes

On Tuesday I had a craving for pasta. A friend at work had one, a meat one, and caused me to want the saucy noodles in my mouth. lol SO that being said, I HAD to make pasta last night. I did the usual working out. Mostly a leg workout and a 30 minute jog on the seawall. GORGE.

I think of pasta as a everything but the kitchen sink dish. You can pretty much put anything in it, sauce it up and it will be good. Since I'm going to Vic this weekend I didn't do much grocery shopping so I used what I had.

1 sweet potato, chopped
1/4 onion, diced
2 stalks kale, stalks removed
Half bag of spinach
1 can chickpeas
3/4 can 680ml Hunts tomato sauce
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp garlic powder
LOTS of Sriracha (I like it HOT)
Salt and pepper to taste

Pan fry onions in a tsp of olive oil for 2 minutes. Add sweet potatoes and 1/4 cup water, cover and cook for 10 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Add chickpeas, kale, spinach, celery and tomato sauce. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add spices and cook for 2 minutes.

Toss with whole grain pasta, rice pasta, or zucchini noodles. At the very least make sure its whole wheat. BUT whole grain is the way to go. Whole wheat still acts similar in the body as white bread. And by that I mean its so processed that it turns to sugar in your body and spikes your blood sugar. Constant spiking of blood sugar is not a good work out for the pancreas.

Here's what it looked like. SO tasty.
As you may or may not remember. I stole some fresh figs from a friend at work. Well she brought them for us to eat. I took 4 to play with. I made a spread. I wanted it to go on a crostini but I was too lazy and effin starving to walk to Safeway, so I picked up some rice crackers at No frills. PS I LOVE no frills. Deals galore. I challenge anyone to a shop off who thinks Safeway is cheaper than no frills. lol

These things look freaky. I can't eat them fresh, they look like worms. lol

Here's the recipe:

Fig-a-licious Spread
4 fresh figs
3 garlic cloves
50 grams walnuts (1/2 100g bag)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil

1. Coat figs and garlic in olive oil. Wrap garlic in tin foil
2. Sprinkle sea salt over figs and place face down on tin foil. Bake for 25 minutes.
3. Put figs, garlic and walnuts into a food processor. Blend for 1 minute or until smooth.
4. Put on a cracker, crostini, or bread and have a love affair.


This dip did not look appealing. BUT it is surprisingly tasty!!! Try it! I'm def making it again. This weekend. I'm thinking about it now. Probs cause I'm starving.

Oh yah, I did laundry last night. Ho hum. I accidentally dried a LBD (little black dress) and it is now a LBS (little black shirt) lol! Well it could be a REALLY short dress or a long shirt. HA

I'm off to hang with some girlfriends. Gonna stuff our faces with some Indian food. I get a night off cooking. What a treat!

My jams: Sophie Ellis Bextor - Off and On, The Saturdays - Notorious, Example - Natural Disaster and Jay Z and Kanye - Who gon stop me

PS I have a new challenge, make some kid friendly healthy recipes. What do kids eat? lol any ideas? Should be fun!

Peace!

xoxo

K

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Reunited and it feels so good!

Last night I hung out with my dear friend Mike. J'adore my hot friend.  Even though we don't see each other often, its like time hasn't passed. We pick up right where we left off.

He's a fitness fanatic like me so we went on a 10km run after he did a workout at the gym. One thing that is different about running with Mikey is that he doesn't run with his ipod and loves to chat. I like to run with my ipod. lol My life is a dance party and music is my religion. It keeps me going, makes me feel good, gets me pumped, all the good stuff. So running and having a full conversation was a little trying. But its kinda refreshing yah know?

Here we are! Look at how gorge he is. You can see his chesticles rippling through his shirt. LOL



Anyways, onto the good stuff. And by good stuff I mean food. ha. I made us a feast. I'm pretty obsessed with portobello mushrooms lately (I ate them 3 days last week!!) And when I cook for a guy, I try to make sure I pack as much protein as I can so that they are satisfied. I made these lovely recipes:

Roasted Portobello Mushrooms

Scrape out the black underbelly of the mushroom and cut the stalk out if you desire. Depending on how much garlic and how many mushrooms you're cooking, Mix minced garlic, olive oil, sea salt and pepper together and brush the inside and outside of the mushroom with it.

Note: For 4 mushrooms I used 3 cloves of garlic and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle sea salt and pepper.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Red fried rice with sprouted beans:

2 cups uncooked red rice
2 cups uncooked sprouted bean mixture (TruRoots Organics of you can just use lentils)
1 inch piece ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 large onion (or 1/2 small), chopped
2 green onions, sliced
2 tsp chili flakes
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp salt
pepper
1 cup veggie stock
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp tahini (optional)

1. Cook the rice and beans separately according to their packages.
2. Heat oil and add garlic, ginger and onion and cook till translucent
3. Add cooked rice, beans and veggie stock and cook for 3 minutes
4. Add remaining ingredients and cook for another 5 minutes
5. Serve and ENJOY!


I topped ours with steamed spinach with garlic. There sure was a lot of garlic!! Nobody is getting sick here. And seriously, you MUST make these mushrooms, this dish is to DIE for. I'm addicted to fungus. HA

This meal has plenty of protein, fiber, and micronutrients. They have about 5 grams per mushroom! That's a lot for a fungus, no? We had 2 each. YUM. Spinach is packed with Vit A, calcium, iron, and Vit C but is high in oxalic acid which makes the absorption of calcium a tad difficult for the body. But not impossible. Red rice that I use is Bhutanese. Its red japonica rice and is red because the bran is left on. Its delicious and has about 5 grams of protein per serving. That with the sprouted beans from TruRoots Organic and we are talking MAJAH protein and fiber galore. Smooth sailing today.

I picked these babies up at Costco. God I love costco. But I dont' drive so holla so we can mutually use each other. Me for your car, you for my costco card....yah?

Back to my evening with Mikey. Have you ever played Bananagrams? Omg, so fun! Well, if you like word games, which I DO! Its like scrabble but harder. AND best part is, it comes in a banana pouch. Mikey took a great pic of me, but I haven't received it yet. Oh well. Mike just got back from Korea and true to his fashion forward style picked up these baddass Jesus sandals. Man these are hilar.
I gotta give it to him though, they were comfy!


My jams: David Guetta ft Niki Minaj - Turn me on, David Guetta ft Jennifer Hudson (or J-Hud) - Night of your life and Dragonette - Liar

REPEAT

xoxo

K

Monday, August 29, 2011

Figs and Finito Soup

I'm on such a peanut butter kick right now. I LOVE it! I dip my blueberries, cantaloupe and strawberries in it. Once I've finished my toast that is.  This is how I ate it this morning: Whole grain Squirrelly Bread, peanut butter, hemp seeds and sliced strawberries. Mmmmmm


Nice little nutritious breaky to start just another manic monday.

Today I tried my FIRST fresh fig. Wow, those little suckers look funny! I noticed them this wknd at the grocery store and thought I should pick them up, but I forgot....as usual. Anyhoo, a friend at work brought some in fresh from her tree! How cool is that?! I seriously didn't want to eat it once I got a look at what it looks like inside. It looks like an alien! I think I can still feel it trying to climb its way back out. LOL (don't my nails look awesome! pink shatter! loves it)

That being said, I am now fascinated with them. I stole 4 from her and am stoked to create something delish. I'm thinking of roasting them and making a spread to put on crostini's. We shall see. :)

Here's a recipe for an Italian inspired soup I made last week. I took it to my work for a potluck of soup and salad and it got a good reception.

Finito Soup:

1 cups dry lima beans
1 cup great northern beans
2 large carrots, diced
4 stalks of kale
2 inch piece of fresh ginger root, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 large zucchini, diced
1 can diced tomatoes or 2 large tomatoes, chopped
2 cups veggie stock
2 cups water
3 bay leaves
1 tsp thyme leaves
1/2 tsp turmericBottom of Form
1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch cayenne or to taste
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

Directions:
1.       Soak the beans overnight or up to twelve hours
2.       Drain and rinse beans before transferring into the crockpot
3.       Add all ingredients to the crockpot and cook for 10 hours
4.       Enjoy!

Very nutritious soup. Lima beans are crazy full of protein and fiber. 1 cup of those beans gives you about 11 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber! This recipe is super easy. I am obsessed with my crockpot. Throw everything in there in the morn and come home to your place smelling absolutely DELISH! and dins is ready.

I gotta give a credit where credit is due. My buddy Nandan was so stoked on the idea of me creating a blog that he has pestered me daily for....god I don't even know, June probs. So Nandan, I hope you are following it. you better! or you know what will happen. lol Even though I was def going to start one, he said I had to because I made him make a video during the playoffs.

Here's the vid, its pretty awesome. If you don't know the song, its by Get Set Go, who have been featured on an old episode of Grey's Anatomy: "I hate everyone" is the song name. This vid is to another one of their tracks "Die Motherfucker Die" (pardon my language):


So thanks Nandan for making this awesome vid. And kicking my ass into gear.

Cheers,

xoxo

K

Sunday, August 28, 2011

It feels so good!

Today was a great day! I ended up bailing on hiking the Chief this morning as I had a few too many drinks last evening......honestly, started at my fam bbq. lol I got to sleep in without awaking to the alarm clock for the 2ND day in a row! Unheard of!

I went on a gorgeous, hot 10km run around the park. Then did about 40 minutes at the gym. Felt so good! Got a smoothie and headed home to shower and get ready for the day. I'd initially thought I'd be a good girl and clean my messy apartment and other chores around the apt but it was SO nice out. So I skipped that and went to the beach! Spent a good 3.5 hours roasting out at English Bay.

Sundays I always like to go grocery shopping and prep food for the week. I usually cook many dishes. This week I made a tofu salad, steamed broccoli and kale in garlic sauce, and put a soup in the crock pot. I'll let you know how the soup turns out tomorrow, cuz I don't know if its good yet. lol

This recipe came from a friend at work. He didn't have any measurements and I don't use white sugar or table salt, so of course I modified it.

Tofu Salad

1 package bean curd
3 stalks celery, sliced thinly
2 green onion, chopped
3 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon sea salt

1. Soak tofu in cold water for 2-3 hours
2. Drain the water and chop the tofu into 2 ince pieces
3. Boil the tofu and sliced celery for 2 minutes
4. Drain and toss in salt, sesame oil, agave nectar and green onions and refrigerate
5. Serve once chilled and Enjoy!

Here is a picture of the tofu. I picked it up at T&T Supermarket.


Next up is the Garlic Broccoli and Kale:

2 heads broccoli, chopped
2 stalks kale, stalks removed
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoon chili flakes
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup vegetable stock
1 teaspoon corn starch

Steam broccoli and kale in pan covered with a lid for 2 minutes.  Add the cup of vegetable stalk, minced garlic, garlic powder and chili flakes and cook covered for another 2 minutes. Mix cornstarch and cold water and add to the broccoli mixture to thicken the sauce. Once thickened, serve with brown rice.

And that was my dinner! Delish.

I am a huge Big Brother fan. I was very, very sad to see Jeff voted out. He's so dreamy. lol. More twists were added which makes it exciting as usual.

PS: the new David Guetta album is awesome! Great running music and if you just wanna have a dance party. :)

I'm outties. Hope everyone had as great a day as me.

xoxo

K

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Gorgeous day in Vancouver!

Today has started off gloriously! I awoke on my own accord, which means no alarm clock! Ahhh, how I've missed that. Once I got my ass outta bed, I got ready and headed out for a run. I live in a very beautiful part of Vancouver, English Bay! Its right outside my door, so running is certainly a pleasure. Today is especially GORG out. Its like 23 degrees! YES! I def got sun kissed. I was feeling great so I ran the entire park, which is 10km. LOVES it!

I'm off to Coquitlam for a fam bbq so I gotta prep some food. I'm gonna bring some portobello mushroom caps to throw on the barby and I'm making a quinoa salad for my hike up the Chief tomorrow so I'll bring some of that too. I haven't hiked the chief in like 5 years! eeek. lol should be fun!

So here's my first recipe for the blog, wha whaaa!!!

Crazy Quinoa:

2 cups quinoa, cooking according to package
1 can black beans (2 cups)
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 green apple, seeded and chopped
2 green onions, sliced
2 handfuls dried cranberries
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili flakes
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons VEGA EFA oil blend (or olive oil)

1. Cook quinoa according to package and cool to room temperature.
2. Rinse the can of black beans (if using dried, make sure to soak them the night before)
3. Chop the apple, celery, green onion.
4. Toss all ingredients together and ENJOY!

Add more chili flakes if you like it HOT like I do!

Great amount of protein in this clean, healthy salad.

I'm off! Have an amazing day!

I'm gonna bbq the shit outta those portobellos! YES.

xoxo

K

First entry ever!!!

Hey! Thanks for checking me out. I'm here to share recipes, nutrition and fitness information. I became vegan in May 1, 2010 and haven't looked back since! Its been so exciting and tasty! I've discovered so many new foods and actually started writing recipes!

Mostly, my posts will be food related. :) BUT I'll also put up my experiences with running and all things fitness. I LOVE to run! Its such great exercise. So good for the heart and not so bad for the bum either! lol. Lets be honest, we all wouldn't mind a smaller be-hind. I'm also probs gonna have a spot for just random ramblings that I may have. Beefs if you will. Or just funny stuff I come across

Since its friday night, after midnight and I'm kinda boozy I shall leave you now. I actually just got home from an awesome night out with my Dad. We went to Panz Veggie, a vegan chinese restaurant, had an awesome dinner then went the the PNE to see Air Supply!!! They were awesome!!! So fun. Then we gambled a bit. I won 10 bucks! lol Big risk taker over here! Ha.

Not sure what made me so ambitious to start the blog tonight, it just felt right I guess. But I'm really excited for this and what it might become.

Night!

XOXO

K