Vegan MoFo Day 10: Thanksgiving weekend wrap up

Thanksgiving has come and gone again. I usually do a Tofurkey but I thought I'd do something different. I've been making a lot of veggie loafs lately. Mainly because they have everything you need in one piece and they make good lunches. They are also really easy, I love food I can cook in the oven.

It being Fall and all, pumpkin is on the mind. So I picked up a small pumpkin at my local Asian grocery store. I made some really good squares with it. I have lots extra so I think I'll make a soup out of the leftovers.

Pumpkin chocolate peanut oat bars

1/2 cup all natural peanut butter

1 cup pureed pumpkin

2 cups quick oats

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup agave nectar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp vanilla extract

4 tsp cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients together until fully mixed.

2. Spray or oil a 9 x 9 pan or muffin tins and spread mixture evenly. If using muffin tins, about 1 heaping tablespoon works well. Make sure to level them flat.

3. Bake at 350 for 22-25 minutes.

4. Cool before serving.

I know this isn't going in the order of how dinner would be served but those bars were so tasty I couldnt' help but talk about them. LOL and so easy to make.

This is my loaf. It was good, but didn't stay together like my last ones did. Next time I will add ground flax seed with water. That will keep it in tact. But the flavour was good, very tasty. Maybe next time I'll combine the 2 recipes for an even better one. ha!

That was my meal all together. Steamed veggies, Veggie loaf with brown rice and sprouted beans, and mashed potatoes. Gawd I missed mashed potatoes. I don't think I've had them since last year. Its never something I make. I really should though. YUM!

I ate 2 plates. OMG. I am so full right now. MAJAH food coma happening. I can barely type. Plus we had dessert. My Grannie's famous dessert is Jello made with fruit cocktail. She's been making it since I......well always. We eat it with ice cream or fresh whip cream. Now that I'm vegan, I started making a vegan dessert or eating fruit. This year my Grannie got me some strawberries and we ate my squares!

Mmmmmmmmm right?!!

Now, this weekend if you remember, I went to Victoria to run my first ever half marathon. That's my FIRST one. So I was equal parts nervous and excited. I figured that I'd do it in 2 hours 30 minutes. I can do a 10km in under an hour, so I wanted to do it in 2 hours. But I thought realistically 2 hours 30 minutes was more achievable for my first. Well Hot Damn! Did I ever underestimate myself! I did it in 2 hours and 1 minute!!!  I'm seriously excited about this. Its all I can talk about, which I'm sure is getting annoying. Lol.

That's me after I finished the race. Do you see my cool bat belt? Its slung over my shoulder like one of those wrestling belts. Lol Its super cool and not nerdy at all. Ha.

 Its actually very useful. It carried my VEGA Sport Optimizer and water. It also has a couple of small pockets for whatever else you may need.

I also had another dinner, Thanksgiving, Shigetomi Styles.  It was great. Almost the whole family was there and everyone was getting along. There was tons of food. Tons that I could eat too. Thanks to a couple of awesome, thoughtful Aunts. I even got to take home left overs!

Good right? That's how we do things in my family. We ain't messing around. And if I ever bring you to one of these occasions, when we say eat, eat. We are not polite and will not save food for you. Its every man, woman and child for themselves. Lol. I'm not kidding.

Anyways I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Mine was awesome!

Peace,

xoxo

K

Vegan MoFo Day 8: Chana Masala with Acorn Squash

I love Indian food. Its so full of flavour. I'm also in love with chickpeas. I pretty much always have them on hand. If there's hummus in my house.........well there never is cuz I gobble it up pretty fast. I usually make my own, its so easy, but when I'm lazy I will buy it.

I wanted to make Chana Masala with spinach but I didn't have any. But I did have an acorn squash in my fridge. So I roasted that and used it in my recipe.

Chana Masala with Acorn Squash

Ingredients:
1 green chili
1 inch ginger
2 garlic cloves
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 tbsp tomato sauce
1 acorn squash, roasted
1 can chickpeas
salt to taste

Directions:

1. Roast the squash for 35 minutes at 350
2. Put ginger, chili and garlic in food processor and process until fine
3. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pan, add onion and cook for 4 minutes.
4. Add ginger mixture and chickpeas, cook for 5 minutes with 1/4 cup water
5. Add all the spices and 300ml of water, cook for 5 minutes. Add the paste and tomato sauce.
6. Scrape out squash and add to chickpeas. Stir occasionally. Taste to see if you need to add anymore spices or salt.
7. Serve over brown rice.

Yum! Its almost ready



DELISH!!! That's just green onion for decoration purposes

.



This meal was very satisfying if I must say so. I love how versatile squash is. Who knew it would work so well with this dish. You almost don't even know its there. It adds a little sweetness and heartiness to keep you warm and full all night.

I'm off to Victoria now to run my FIRST ever half marathon. If you don't know, that's 21km. Eeekk, I'm getting pretty nervous. But I'm sure I'll be fine. I'm hoping to finish in 2 hours 30 minutes. I'd rather do it in 2 hours but realistically I'm guessing 2.5 hours.

Its also Thanksgiving this weekend. I have done nothing to prepare for it. My Japanese side will not be celebrating it traditionally. I believe its a Japanese smorgasbord of deliciousness.

Hope everyone has some good food babies this weekend. I'll see what I can throw together for Monday's feast and let yah know.

Peace

xoxo

K

Vegan MoFo Day 7: Greens and Grains

Sometimes when I'm just cooking for me and/or I've feel like I need to get back to square one I steam some greens and cook up some grains. I feel like cooking a simple meal with very nutrient dense ingredients centers me. Its also good for the digestion to eat liquid meals or meals that are very easily digested.

Greens and Grains

Ingredients:
2 baby bok choy
4 kale stalks, leaves removed
4 tbsp coconut meat
1 lemon
2 tbsp soy sauce
splash sesame oil
Sriracha
1 cup dry quinoa
1/2 tsp dulse flakes

Directions:
1. Cook quinoa according to the package. Add dulse flakes once cooked and removed from heat.
2. In a large pan or wok, add the bok choy and kale with 1/4 cup water, cover and cook until bright green. About 2-3 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients, stir and cook for 3-4 minutes.
4. Serve on top of quinoa. Add more Sriracha if you want.

Dulse is a sea vegetable (seaweed). It is a good source of calcium, zinc, manganese, potassium, iron, and magnesium. It is also high in iodine which I talked about before. We need it for our thyroid. It has a strong flavour, so add it in moderation so that it doesn't change the taste of what you're cooking. I bought mine at Famous Foods on Kingsway. I hardly use it because I forget its in my cupboard. But now that I know its there I'm going to start using it again. 

There's quinoa under there, I swear

I'm a  bowl gurl. I have 14 bowls in my kitchen. With many more in my future. I don't like eating off plates but sometimes I need to for the pictures sake. 

You can add or use any other greens you like. If I had broccoli I would've thrown it in too, but I didn't. And in case you're thinking that I'm starving myself over here, withering away cuz I'm only eating greens and grains, you couldn't be farther from the truth. I did make some veggie dumplings I picked up from T&T but I didnt' take a pic. I ate this dish first then made the dumplings. 

Tonight I think I'm feeling some Indian food......Channa Masala it is. I always have chickpeas in the house. YUM. Tonight will also be my last run before D Day. The Victoria half marathon is Sunday October 9th at 730am!!! Say wha? So early. How the heck am I gonna get up and eat before running 21km. I can only get up so early. That's intense. We shall see how that all works out. Lol

Thankfully, this weekend is a long one. Yah! Love them. I love being vegan when its holiday time. Everyone runs from party to party and offices get bombarded with baked goods making everyone gain their 5-10 winter pounds, while I stay the same. (I hope!!). People always try to peer pressure you into eating "just one" cookie or whatever, and now instead of just saying no I can say no because they're not vegan! Woot woot!

I'm not sure what I'm going to make for Thanksgiving. I was thinking I'd just pick up a Tofurkey and make the sides vegan, which is SO easy, but I'm thinking maybe the Veggie Walnut Loaf or some seitan or tempeh. We shall see.

Happy Friday folks! Have a great time making food babies and sleeping it off in your food coma's. I'll just be running 21km's then napping. Lol

Peace

xoxo

K

Vegan MoFo Day 6: The Foundation Review

Main Street is called the Hipster capital of Vancouver. If you frequent the area then you know that to be true, or you are a hipster as well. I do not get down to Main enough. It has some great restaurants though, so I've been trying to explore it. The Foundation is a fantastic vegetarian restaurant with a 70's diner type feel with cool quotes all over the walls and killer hip hop beats blasting in the background. Or foreground since its so loud you can't hear the person next to you. But that is no deterrent to me. I love hip hop. And I love that a restaurant plays it so loudly. It so unconventional. LOVES it.

2301 Main Street

I've only ever gone at night time so we dined by candlelight. Very romantical I know. But because of this lighting, I have no pics for you. But I did find some online. None of the food I had last night but some that I've tried. 

Last night Kevin and I got the hummus to start which comes with a large amount of Que Pasa tortilla chips. Which are the best FYI. They have like 5 ingredients, and you will know them all. YES. Plus the plate also had some Naan type bread and a huge serving of hummus sprinkled with sesame seeds. We can never finish the hummus because its HUGE and all yours for $6.50 (taxes included!).

Side note: Sesame seeds have an abnormally large amount of calcium. SO girls, sprinkle that ish on everything and boys, it helps protect against prostate cancer. So eat up, its good for you. LOL

Next up, I got the First Option. This had tons of diverse veg with a chili-coca sauce on top of rice. The sauce was something I've never tasted before. SO rich and creamy but no cream. Full of intense flavor. I must know how to make this. If anyone knows what coca sauce is please share. It'd be rude not to. 

Kevin got the rogue grain. I've had that before and its amazeballs. Its got diverse veg, chickpeas, spinach and is served on top of quinoa. I think its in a chili-lime sauce. YUM

They make a lot of their dishes with fruit which I freaking LOVE. Cooking with fruit is amazing. So tasty. Here's another dish I've tried, can't recall what its name is.

Mango, broccoli, zucchini, pasta, spinach and a coconut-lime sauce I believe.

Pnut Burger Photo curtesy of OMNOMics

Hipster aside, I LOVE Foundation. You MUST try it. Its like a thousand times better than the Naam. I like that Naam good enough, but I'm never wow'd. I'm always wow'd by the Foundation. People complain about the lines and the service. I say shut up. Its not bad at all. I've never had bad service there. I think they give good service because they're not raping you with their attention. They take your order, bring your food, and bring your bill. What more do you want? I even chatted it up with the hipster that served us too. As for the line, I've had to wait once and it was out the door. Looked crazy but was gone in 20 minutes. Lines for restaurants mean good food. I'll take that. 

Peace

xoxo

K

Vegan MoFo Day 5: Quinoa and Portobello Lettuce Wraps

I have been reading this new book by Peggy Kotsopoulos called "It must have been something I ate". It is full of great information. "Must Have Been Something I Ate spins salads into PMS cures, turns oatmeal into a sleep aid and transforms kelp into a weight loss wonder. This go-to-guide is your personalized resource for discovering the connection between the food you eat and how you look and feel. Whether you’re feeling blue or bloated, bitchy or blemished, this one-of-a-kind companion will become your solution-finding BFF."

There is so much good info in there that its hard to tell you just one thing. I've already mentioned some of it, about sugar and such. But today I'm eating leftover lettuce wraps from last night done with romaine lettuce so I would like to talk about romaine. It is high in a mineral called Chromium.

Chromium is an essential mineral that is used by the body to balance blood sugar levels and support cholesterol. It is also used in the metabolism and storage of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates by the body. It can also regulate hunger and control cravings. So you can see it would be a great weight loss AID. Its not magic but increasing your consumption of chromium can help you in that process. 

If you have high blood pressure, high blood sugar or high cholesterol then increasing your consumption would benefit you immensely.  Foods that are high in chromium are:

- romaine lettuce

- onions

- whole grains

- potatoes

So, when you make your salads quit using regular ole lettuce. Use romaine. It tastes better and actually has some nutrients for you hot body. 

With that in mind, I decided to make some lettuce wraps to take advantage of this new factoid I learned. Learning is fun right?

Quinoa and Portobello Lettuce Wraps:

2 cups dry quinoa

2 portobello mushrooms

2 baby bok choy, chopped

2 carrots

2 celery, chopped

1/2 onion, diced

2 kale stalks, leaves removed

2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp agave nectar

Sriracha

2 green onions, chopped

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package

2. Put carrots, kale and garlic in a food processor and process till small (or chop if you'd prefer)

3. Heat olive oil in a large pan, add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. 

4. Add the processed carrots, kale and garlic and about a 1/4 cup water. Just enough to steam the veggies. Cook for 3 minutes.

5. Add remaining veggies. Cook for 5 minutes.

6. Add the hoisin, soy, sesame oil and agave nectar. Add the sriracha to your own taste.

7. Stir in the quinoa and add more sauce if you need. Fill the lettuce with the filling and enjoy. Makes great leftovers too!

I sometimes get tired with the constant chopping. I know I know. I'm vegan so get used to it right. But sometimes I tire and using the processor helps me out a lot. 

Drool

Yummy

Delish

Totally delish and totally nutrish. Yup, I just said that. Quinoa is full of protein, omega's and fiber. There's protein in the bok choy and kale. Plus all the vit's and min's in the other veggies. Good dins. Good lunch. Another easy one to modify if you don't have some of the ingredients. I find sugar (agave in this case) is found in a lot of Asian cooking so add a tiny bit for that sweetness. Even if you think you don't need it, it works. And a little goes a long way.

Happy Eating!

Peace

xoxo

K

MoFo Day 4: Coconut Quinoa

I didn't have a lot of time last night to cook as I was going to a friend's place to watch a movie so as I was running on the treadmill I thought of what I could create really fast. I came up with this little gem:

Coconut Quinoa

2 cups quinoa
1 cup TruRoots Organic Sprouted Bean Trio (Costco 9.99!!)
4 tbsp coconut meat
1 can low fat coconut milk (160 ml)
2 tbsp hemp seeds
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp sea salt

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa and sprouted beans according to their packages
2. In the same pot as the quinoa add the coconut meat, coconut milk, sea salt and garlic powder. Cook on low for 5 minutes.
3. Combine the quinoa mixture with the sprouted beans and serve.

Sorry this one is sideways, I tried my hardest but for some reason it won't change. Grr

Seriously easy and packed full of nutrition. This meal was a powerhouse of protein. With the quinoa, hemp seeds and the sprouted beans there is tons or protein, iron, calcium, fibre and a whole lot more. Since I had roasted the ish outta some veggies and had half a leftover acorn squash. I scraped out the insides and mixed it with the Coconut Quinoa. Let me tell you, this was SO good. The squash added a nice sweetness to it. YUM!

That squash is full!!! It was delish.

The leftovers were pretty damn tasty too. I gave some to a coworker and she said it was tasty! It would be good stuffed in a pepper or mushroom too or on its own like I had for lunch.

I'm in a quinoa kinda mood right now. I'm trying to reduce the amount of processed carbs like bread, noodles and pasta I eat. Which really actually isn't a lot. But I like how I look and feel when I'm eating mostly whole foods. Tonight I'm thinking I will make some quinoa dish with a Thai kick. I have some lemongrass in the fridge so we'll see what I come up with.

Stay tuned for MoFo Day 5!!!

Peace

xoxo

K

Taste of Health review

October 2, 2011 was the annual Taste of Health fare down at the Roundhouse in Yaletown. It was my first year and I loved it! Full of great peeps, TONS of info and really cool vender's. My only complaint is there should be more food! Not that I wasn't full I'm just greedy like that. I get so excited when I can eat everything.

My mission for the event was simple: get a vegan cupcake. Mission accomplished. I not only had one there but then I bought 6 to take home. I told a friend I would try to have the willpower to save him one (which I did) but man was that hard. The cupcakes I picked up were bite size. That makes it so easy to eat a ton. But since I just got a very tight new dress for a friends wedding, refraining was something that had to be done for the greater good.

That's me with my tiny cupcake! It was Vanilla and amazing! It is from Sprout Vegan Bakery . I highly recommend that you try them. Vegan baking is phe-nom.

Aren't they just the cutest! There once was 6 in this container, but well, I ate one. And more after the pic. I saved 3 for tonight. In this container was 3 cheesecakes and 3 cupcakes. I can't remember the flavours but pumpkin was one of them for sure. Quite tasty.

Look at my haul! My cupcakes, a miso ginger dressing, coconut meat, hemp seeds and tons of info and recipes! There were some classes I'd like to attend too. I'm pretty stoked on the coconut meat. It was from The Gathering Place .

"The Gathering Place Trading Company is a family owned business located on Cortes Island, British Columbia, Canada. The company, owned by Lovena and Ryan Harvey, is committed to organic farming, sustainability, and social responsibility."

My friend Nikki and I thought this was such a great Company that we had to buy something. They search out farms and people who don't get help from local governments and are struggling and help them. They give back to children and schools within those communities. We got 2 bags of coconut meat for $5!! I can't wait to use it. She let us sample some and let me tell you: packed FULL of flavour.

I would really like to try their Sea Salt with Kelp. The single biggest benefit of kelp is iodine.   Kelp is a huge, organic source of iodine, and its iodine that allows for proper endocrine system function.

I also sampled some food from Organic Lives . It is a raw vegan restaurant that is also gluten and wheat free. Its pretty amazing. I had the pizza with a side Caesar salad. Omg. YUM. I love raw veggie bread. Its dehydrated and glorious. Nikki and Kevin tasted it and loved it too. Unfort I was too eager and gobbled it up before I thought to take a pic. Typical Krystle. :(

Nikki got the pecan sushi. And wow. This sushi is a diff spin on the sushi we all know and love in Vancouver. This has no rice. Its got a veggie pate in the middle and filled with sprouts and other veggies. Mmmmmm.

There was so much more to taste and not enough room in my belly. Daiya was there! omg they had grilled cheese sammiches!! and quesidilla's!! Gawd I love Daiya.

I watched one cooking demo on how to make your own nut milk. We were giggling at the girl because she was having such a hard time with the head set. We're such a-hole's. Lol I think maybe some lesson's from Ms Spears might help. Ha.

And we went to one talk. It was Adam Hart: Discovering the Power of food. He was OK. He was more talking about loving yourself and that kinda talk. He talked a lot but didn't say a whole lot. I guess he just wanted you to buy his book. He did say something that resonated with me. He said there's 2 types of food. Alive and Dead. That meant something to me. Its true. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense why people always feel tired and lethargic in the afternoons or can't live without coffee in the morning. Well, when all the food you eat is dead food (meat, dairy, processed crap) then you will feel dead. If you eat a diet rich in living foods (fruits, veggies, legumes and grains) then you will feel alive. Duh.

So, all in all I had a great time at the Taste of Health fare. And I can't wait to go back next year!

Peace

xoxo

K