Restaurant Review: Las Margaritas

I love Las Margaritas. 

Its that simple. I loved it when I was a meat eater and I love it as a vegan. I took my boys to a play on Granville Island called "Intimate Apparel" on Saturday for their xmas gift. It was really good but kind of a downer. The ending is pretty depressing but I still liked the play. It took place in the 20's or 30's and was about a 35 year old seamstress who is duped by a con artist who pretends to be in love with her. Sigh. A very real part of life I think. The other part of the gift was dinner on me so Las Marg's it is! Its my go-to Mexican restaurant in Vancouver. Its fantastic and never disappoints. 

The problem with this post is that I was SO hungry that I forgot to snap a pic of the massive veggie fajitas I got. We all got veggie fajitas actually, the boys just topped theirs with chicken. The veggies are WAY better int he veggie version than the meat version so if you are a meat eater but who like to eat their veggies, order the veggie fajitas and add your meat of choice. (first non-vegan tip on here. lol). Usually whoever I'm with reminds me to take pics, most ppl in my life are used to it by now but we all forgot. Not even an empty plate pic. I didn't remember until we left. Sigh. 

But I figured I still needed to talk about them as the place is awesome. You can check out their menu here. 

So unfortunately I have no pics for you today, but we all know what's in fajitas. I shall describe it no? Yes, I shall. There was broccoli, zucchini, onions, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, peppers and then served with lettuce, pico de gallo, refried beans, guacamole, sour cream and flour tortillas. Because I don't do wheat anymore I subbed corn tortillas and I opted for no dairy. Duh. I was gonna have no tortillas at all just because I'm trying to eat as little processed foods as possible but I thought I'd just go a little crazy that night. LOLL I had 2. WOAH! Slow down Krystle. lol 

All in all, a pleasant experience. Check it out! Be prepared to wait, they are quite popular. There aren't many Vancouverites who don't love this place. 

Peace

xoxo

K

Protein Balls Round 3!

I had another go at the protein balls this weekend. I REALLY love making them. I don't have to bake and they're super easy. And they are amazingly delish. Addicting really. So much so that I make them continuously and I give them away so I don't eat them all to myself. LOL

K's Tasty Balls
Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups peanut butter, natural
1/2 cup hemp seeds
3 tsp flax seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 1/4 cup coconut flakes
1 scoop VEGA WHO

Directions:
1. Processed 1 cup rolled oats, sunflower and flax seeds in food processor until ground. (You can omit this step if you like them chunkier. I just wanted to experiment with the texture).
2. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Make into balls and ENJOY!!

TIP: they are good right from the freezer. I keep mine in there. They will last about a week.

Yummmmm!!! ALSO they are pretty filling too. The fat content from the nut butter and seeds does that (good fat though) and the rolled oats. SO add one (or 2) of these suckers to your breaky and you'll be good till lunch. This and a piece of fruit. YUM!

Peace

xoxo

K

3 Bean Sweet Potato Chili

Sunday's have a home cooked meal feel to them. If you have a significant other, kids, cats, dogs or whatever, you should make them a nice home cooked meal on Sunday's, its just nice. I have none of those things, lol, but whoever I'm with on Sunday's gets one. Yesterday, I was hanging out with my friend Jason and he requested chili. I did just make a big pot recently but honestly, there can never be too much chili in my world. Lol So I went out on Sunday after my run and picked up all the ingredients and made a big pot on the stove and cooked it all afternoon. I think the best way to do chili is to let it cook for hours and hours. All the flavours combine in a magical way to make a tantalizing and full bodied meal. Yum!

3 Bean Sweet Potato Chili

Ingredients

5 1/2 cups mixed beans (black, pinto, navy)

2 large tomatoes, diced

2 jalapenos, sliced

1/2 large onion (or one small)

2 sweet potatoes, chopped

2 carrots, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans diced tomatoes (no salt added)

2 cups frozen corn

2 cups water

4-5 tsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp dry veggie stock

2 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp chili flakes

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp Italiano seasoning (veggie seasoning)

Sriracha to taste

Directions:

1. Puree the cans of diced tomatoes in a blender until smooth. I did it this way this time because the tomato sauce I had at my grocery store had corn syrup and sugar in it. I bought canned diced tomatoes with no salt or anything. If you use tomato sauce, just try to get around the same quantity.

2. Pan fry the onions and garlic in 1/4 cup water until translucent. Add the carrots and celery. Cook for another 3 minutes.

3. Add the sweet potato, jalapeno, tomatoes, beans and water. Cook on med-high heat for 30 minutes.

4. Toss in the remaining ingredients except for the sriracha and cook on medium heat, stirring semi-frequently for a couple hours. I cooked mine for 4 hours as I did stuff around the apt. Add the sriracha to taste at the end. 

5. Serve with a green leafy salad and ENJOY!!

Mmmmmmmm

Topped with avocado

Side salad

A complete gluten free, vegan meal

I enjoyed this chili a lot actually. I've never made one without using tomato sauce (pasta sauce). I like it this way. Next time I'll just blend up tomatoes for the sauce instead of canned. I did the same for a pasta sauce one time so I'm not sure why I didn't think of that. But if you want it to be convenient, use canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and beans. I used dry beans this time just cause I had them already presoaked and cooked.

The side salad consisted of:

- spinach

- kale

- 1 mango

- cucumber

- sunflower seeds

- hemp seeds

- 1 lime, juiced

Toss all ingredients and serve.

Very nutritious meal. Got tons of fiber, protein, vits and mins. I was tempted to make brown rice to make it a little heartier. I always get nervous when I cook for men because I don't want them going hungry. But I don't think that was a problem at all. And I think he liked it very much, he went back for seconds. J

We also watched The Artist. Its a new movie that's silent! Yes, silent. I loved it! Thought it was beautiful and it totally didn't bother me that there was no talking. It was very old Hollywood. Without the words I payed way more attention to everything. I recommend it. Totally worth seeing. J

PS Jason picked up some vegan ricemilk chocolate!! OMG soooo good. Maybe its bc I haven't had any in weeks but I thought it was yummy. It was like milk chocolate but no dairy!! YES. Try it!

Peace

xoxo

K

The Skinny on Fats and Carbs - Organic Lives Workshop Recap

Last night Kevin and I went to a health workshop at Organic Lives. The workshop topics covered nutrition information about carbohydrates, fats, weight loss/gain, lifestyle and general introduction to healthy living.  We didn't actually touch on weight loss/gain at all and I don't think anyone was there for that reason. I was fascinated by the speaker which is Preet Marwaha, the owner and vision behind Organic Lives. He's pretty inspirational. I took some notes of course (I even sat in the first seat, right at the front. LOL And maintained some fierce eye contact. HA. 

Here are a few things that I took away from this talk:

• Drink water. Eat water. Just get enough water in your system. The water contained in fruits and veggies counts. Drink filtered, ph balanced water. Not just tap water. It has chlorine in it and isn't ph balanced.
• Carbs, fats and amino acids are the only 3 sources of calories. Nutrients such as vitamins and minerals are provided by these calories and what we get from our food. 
• There is no animal that CREATES nutrients. They get the nutrients the same way we do, by eating plants. If they themselves are not plant eaters, then they eat plant eaters. Its that simple. 
• The animals we do eat now don't eat the diet they are supposed to, they eat corn. Then they are artificially injected with vitamins such as B12
• There have been numerous studies conducted that took the milk from the grocery store and fed it to baby calves. They all died. What does that tell you? This milk you drink is supposed to grow a 1000 pound animal not a 150 pound person. All other species are weaned off breast milk, so should we. Its unnatural and weird. There is no other species in the world that drinks another species bodily fluids. 
• 60-80% of the calories in animal products and nuts/seeds come from fat. Not protein. That is all marketing. 
• Skim milk is just milk with water. The calories are still from fat. Marketing again people.
• Protein is a set of ALL the amino acids. There isn't a food on the planet that doesn't have amino acids. Therefore, if you eat food, you will get amino acids. Eat enough variety and you will have COMPLETE set of amino acids which means PROTEIN! 
• Cucumber and celery combined make up an entire set of amino acids. COOL!!!
• When we take in a complete protein source, our body will dismantle it and use it however it needs at the moment. 
• Every amino acid is essential. We need them all. But the ones labelled as essential are just the ones we can't produce. 
• Celery contains 18 amino acids and has the same sodium balance as your body. Combine celery and cucumber, YAH!
• There is no medical term for protein deficiency. It doesn't exist. Protein deficiency only occurs when you're dead or starving. (not hungry, I mean actual starvation).
• If you eat too much protein your body need to get rid of them and they are acids, so your body will need to alkalize itself so it takes calcium and magnesium from your bones to balance the ph. This is the theory behind why milk is the cause not the solution to osteoporosis. 
•  North America has one of  the highest rate of osteoporosis and we also consume the most dairy
• About 10% of your calories should come from amino acids
• Diabetes is not a disease. Its a stress condition. If you take the right steps in your diet and exercise you can reverse it in 30 days. Type 1 could take up to 90 days. 
• Never cook fats. All fats. It denatures it. Denatured fats create free radicals in your body. Your body has no idea what to do with these. These free radicals can cause cancer and age you very fast.
• Use green stevia as a sweetener not the white one. The white one is processed a lot.
• A good recovery drink/foods after a long run/workout is coconut water, wheat grass and a piece of fruit. It will help you repair and recover
• Unsaturated fats have open links. When you eat them your body fills in the links to make it saturated. When you consume saturated fats, the links are filled in and your body can't saturate them with what it needs.

And the last message he said is "Don't worry about protein and eat less fats".

That's the jist of what I got out of the talk. I loved it!!! I was at full attention. Writing notes into my phone. (I forgot a notepad!!!) I also was totally nerdy asking lots of questions. Lol Love it. 

Side bar, he made us go around the room and say what we ate for the day. Me being nerdy and right at the front he started with me. After he heard what I ate, he was taken aback and joked that I should come to all his classes and be a model for what to eat. YES!! That is some extreme validation for me. Not that I ever doubted that the way I eat is healthy and optimal but to hear it from someone like that is amazing. He really likes that I don't cook with oil or fats and that I don't eat wheat/gluten. (which is a new thing). I am reinvigorated and feel great about my lifestyle. And I also know that pursuing my interest in health is something I have a huge passion for and I need to make it happen. Taking this free workshop is just the start. I can't wait for the next one!

Thanks PreetPreet said, you wouldn't fill up a formula one racecar at the local Shell gas station so why would you fill your body up at the same place. 

Eat real food. Eat clean. Eat lean. 

Peace

xoxo

K

Mexican Stuffed Mushrooms and Calabacitas!

I bought some daiya and salsa over the weekend and have been dying to use it. I've been craving some Mexican food but since I'm wheat/gluten free these days, I needed to come up with a dish that was made with rice. Yah, I know, there's gluten free tortilla's and there are corn tortilla (which I'm learning to love) but I want to do it sans tortilla. I came up with this little gem:

Mexican Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

2 portobello mushrooms

4 roma tomatoes, diced

2 jalapeno's, sliced

1 cup black beans

1 lime, juiced

2 cups dry brown rice, cooked

3 tsp tomato paste

1 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp chili flakes

2 tsp garlic powder

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 onion, chopped

Refried beans

Daiya

Directions:

1. Scrape and clean the mushrooms, be careful not the break them. Cut the stem out. Preheat oven to 375

2. Saute the onions and garlic in about a 1/4 cup of water for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, jalapeno's, and beans. Cook for 8 minutes.

3. Add the brown rice and the remaining ingredients (except the mushrooms). Turn down the element to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Add another 1/4 cup of water to prevent sticking. 

5. Spoon the refried beans and spread over the bottom of the mushroom. Don't use too much, about 1-2 tbsp. Fill as high as you can go with the rice mixture. Bake for 30 minutes, the last 10 put the daiya on until its melted. Just add enough daiya to coat the top.

Serve with this next yummy Mexican side dish. Ole!

Calabacitas
Ingredients
1/2 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large zucchini, sliced
1 large poblano pepper, chopped
2 cups frozen corn
1 cup black beans
1 lime, juiced
salt and pepper

Directions:
Saute the onions and garlic in 1/4 cup of water for 3 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients except for the lime and salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes then add rest.

Because of the limited ingredients and flavourings in the Calabacitas I was expecting it to be lack luster but still wanted to give it a shot. It was def not lack luster or flavourless. It was delish. I think its usually not supposed to have lime but I find lime to be a key ingredient in Mexican dishes. It was YUM!

There was lots of leftovers. You could totally have enough to stuff 4 mushrooms. I just use the leftovers in my salads or wraps or just eat it on its own.

Yesterday I had tons of roasted veggies leftover from my roasted veggie salad with Kevin so I made a big ass one at work for lunch. Dayum it was good!

Oh man do I love roasted veggies. And it was a nice treat to have yams. They are so yummy. Its funny how tastes change month to month. For a few months I was ALL about green smoothies. I had like 2 a day. Now I'm ALL about salads. Today I had a big craving for a mango so I whipped this sucker up for lunch:

I just sliced up a mango, half a cucumber, some purple cabbage, a few leaves of kale, tossed in a few handfuls of spinach, juiced a lime, a handful of natural almonds and sprinkled a little salt and pepper. This made 2 big salads. AND it was super yummy!!

Happy Eating!

Peace

xoxo

K

Roasted veggie salad and 3 bean chili

Kevin and I watched Glee last night because Enrique was on. Love that man. He's so purdy. I never watch Glee anymore, its boring. I do love singing and dancing but its gotten so predictable. We stopped after season 2 I think but every once and a while, a guest star will pop on that I wanna see. Or they dedicate a show to you know, Britney. So I watch then. Lol.

I made a massive pot of chili in my crockpot. I never write chili recipes down because every time I make it different and its so easy to make chili. But here's a guestimate of what I put in there.

3 Bean Chili
Ingredients
4 cups mixed beans (navy, black, and pinto)
2 bottles of tomato sauce
1-2 cups water
3 tsp veggie stock (dry)
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 large onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tomatoes, chopped
2 jalapeno's, diced
4 tsp chili powder
2 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
pepper

Directions:
Combine all ingredients into your crockpot (slow cooker) and cook on low for 10 hours. I do it while I'm working for the day. I also used dried beans so I soaked them overnight, rinsed, then soaked again during the day. I did this on a Saturday and used them on Monday for the chili.

I roasted some broccoli, carrots and yams in lemon, garlic powder, sea salt and Italian seasoning for 30 minutes. Threw them on top of a bed of spinach and drizzled some of my lemon-mustard dressing. I sprinkled hemp seeds on it all. If you don't recall, I don't roast my veggies in oil. I just use a lemon.

Lemon-Mustard Dressing

1 lemon, juiced

2-3 tbsp mustard (any kind)

Sriracha, to taste

Combine and drizzle on your salad, your veggies, whatevs!

This was a perfectly filling dinner with tons of fiber to keep things moving smoothly. Plus its gluten free, healthy and DELISH.

Peace

xoxo

K

More balls!!!

I had another go at making some protein balls over the weekend. They have the same basic ingredients as my first ones, which you can check out here, but I put a new twist on it. I added chocolate and walnuts and used peanut butter instead of almond. I'm crazy like that, I like to switch up my nuts. Variety is the spice of life!

Chocolate Peanut Oat Protein Balls

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cups natural peanut butter

1/3 cup agave nectar

3/4 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 scoop Original VEGA WHO

1/2 cup walnuts 

Directions:

Combine all dry ingredients and stir until evenly distributed. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until fully combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes then shape into balls. 

They will keep for a week, but I doubt you will keep them that long. Lol I sure didn't. I made about 20 but it depends on how big you like your balls. I was recently asked why I didn't make them into bars? My response was "then I can't get people to taste my balls!" LOL Its the joke that keeps on giving.

Tornado Salad

I made 2 of these salads one night after a killer workout. I didn't feel bad because it was mostly mixed greens, but I topped it with my Mexican Fried Quinoa with Lentils plus some cucumber, salsa and hemp seeds. Nutritious and filling dinner.

Homemade brown rice sushi

I threw together some poorly rolled brown rice sushi rolls. Personally I like white rice sushi the best, but I don't eat white rice very much. Sorta special occasion rice nowadays. I had limited sushi ingredients so I used cucumber, avocado, mixed greens, veganaise and chili flakes. Super yummy, although next time I'd opt out of the veganaise. It was good but unnecessary. 

Have you joined Pinterest? I just joined this week and am fully addicted. Its a cool way to organize all the things you see online. You can create boards, like a cork board that you pin stuff too. I'm enjoying it thus far. Check it out!

Peace

xoxo

K