The Master Wrapper

I'm really into wraps right now. I've always liked them for sure. But the last 2 weeks have been wrap-tastic. Collard greens are what I've been using mostly but I've dabbled in some rice paper and lettuce wraps too so that I don't get bored. I put anything and everything in them from tofu to apples and sprouts to cucumbers and avocado to tempeh. Whatevs. I even put a recipe that I tested that I thought was a fail in it because I couldn't bare to waste all those precious veggies.

I got the recipe from VEGA. The company of Brendan Brazier, my vegan god. I thought it looked and sounded wonderful. Used some colourful ingredients and ones that I love, like dijon mustard. But I really wasn't feeling the flavour and I don't like it when a food dyes everything else the same colour, like beets. I rarely use beets even though they are super tasty. You can get the recipe here if you're interested. I changed a couple of things. I didn't use oil or have any chickpeas but other than that I followed it. 

SOOOO, to not waste it I threw it into my rice paper wraps and romaine lettuce wraps along with some other veggies and it was great! Actually I liked it quite a bit like that, just not on its own. Weird. 

Romaine lettuce wraps and sriracha

Refreshing like this. And nice and light. 

The next few photo's are of my dinner last night. I was running late to meet my friend Steve and he kindly gave me an extra 15 minutes so I could eat dinner. Lol. I threw these together really  fast and pan fried some tofu with soy sauce and put that on top of some quinoa for a quick dinner. The wraps all have various ingredients but I find with the rice paper ones is to not soak them for long. Just soak until they are soft, like 30 seconds. And lay down a piece of lettuce so your filling doesn't poke holes in the paper. 

Rice paper wraps

Fillings that I've been using are carrots, sprouts, tofu, avocado, stir fried veggies, red pepper, cucumber, hummus, and jalapenos. Not all at once.

The dip is just low sodium soy sauce and sriracha

Green smoothie and berry smoothie

 The green one has spirulina, hemp seeds, spinach, half a banana, lime, water and carrot. The berry one has half a banana, spinach, lime and water.

Winterized

Its so effin cold in Vancouver right now. There's barely any snow but was like -7 this morning. Felt like -10 though. Even with my ear muffs, leg warmers, boots with the fur and parka I was still freezing. But its supposed to get in the pluses tomorrow. Lets hope they're right. I'm just not built for this kinda weather. Lol

Tonight I'm experimenting with something that may or may not work out. There's a gluten free expo this Sunday from 11-4pm that I might try to check out. You can see the deets here. I'm very interested in going gluten free. I always feel better when I am. And I am for the most part. I don't eat bread very much and I almost never eat pasta or noodles anymore. Usually when I do eat noodles its rice or buckwheat noodles. 

My friend Steve told me about one of his good buddies blog. Its a health/fitness blog and it looks super awesome! Yah I said super awesome. I'm very excited about checking it out some more. There's some seriously good info on there and I think you should check it out. Click here to see. Good tips on keeping fit, which is good for all you resolutioners. Ha

Peace

xoxo

K

Gettin Fresh

I've known the glory of collard greens for a while now. They are probably the best vegetable for a person to eat. They have pretty much everything and beat kale in terms of nutrient density. Although not by a landslide. Kale is awesome. I eat it almost every day. Collards are something I'd like to bump up to almost every day too. 

Here are some facts about collards that I got from this website.

Look at that!!! And at only 49 calories per 100 grams, that's awesome! So instead of using tortillas or other lettuce for wraps, use collard greens. You'll get way more nutrients and more bang for your buck. If you want to know how to use collard leaves as wraps watch this video by Ani Phyo. She's awesome. LOVE her. I really want to add more raw foods in my diet and she is def an expert. Check her out!

Anyways, back to what I made. I picked up some of these collard greens, hummus, cucumber, apple and green onion and made some wraps! OMG they were so yummy. So fresh and delish. 

Collard greens, cucumber, apple, green onion, carrot and hummus. YUMMMMM

My first attempt

Yah baby!

My work space today. 

Collard greens, green onion, apple, cucumber, hummus, homemade pumpkin and hemp seed spread, and homemade mustard.

My lunch: Chickpea lentil veggie soup and some wraps

Look at how delicious that looks! And they are super easy to make. Just wrap and go! I great way to start off the New Year. It is after all International Diet Month. lol I just made that up, but its basically true. Although you would never know by coming to my office. People are still bringing in baked goods and chocolates. Driving me crazy!!! Come on! Everyone's on a diet in January. 

The pumpkin and hemp seed spread I just made up. And I didn't write down a recipe but here's what I did:

Raw Pumpkin Hemp Seed Spread

Soaked 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds for the day. Then added those plus 1/2 cup raw hemp seeds, 1/4 red onion, 2 garlic cloves, a little water, dash of sea salt and blend in the food processor until smooth. 

I've been eating that with carrots and celery and putting it in my wraps. Good source of protein and another million other health benefits. Hemp is so great for you. Its such a versatile plant. I'm almost out of my hemp seeds, looks like I'm going to have to go to Costco soon! Yah for Costco for selling them. Brilliant move. :)

Made a good little Thai lentil soup for tonight's Bachelor night!!! Also gonna roast some veggies and my friend Jessica is bringing the wine. Love it that I have friends who like to eat their veggies, drink wine and watch trashy shows on TV. Ha. 

PS a friend told me that if you click on my pics that you can take a closer look at them. ALL of them at one time. Learn something new every day!

Peace

xoxo

K