Purple Power!

Throughout the month of October I did a cleanse (I'll tell you about it another time) which got me hooked on having a smoothie for breakfast.  I can't tell you how good having a morning smoothie makes me feel.  It hydrates me and fills me up with veggies, fruits, and good fats.  And its easily digested so my body isn't expending energy on the digestion process but on other more important functions; like powering my muscles to wrestle my kids into their snowsuits and out the door, or giving my immune system a boost to fight off whatever the germ of the day is.  So here's one of my favourite breakfast smoothies.  It's simple, pretty, super delish and packed with good stuff!



1 1/2 cups almond milk
3/4 cup frozen blueberries
2 scoops of pumpkin seed butter (I basically use a spoon and dig into the jar twice)  
1 date

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.  

What we're eating: a vegetarian dinner plan

I'll be honest, I haven't been meal planning in a long time. I'm in the mode of "let's buy a lot of veggies and see what I can make" kind of mood. But I decided to take the bull by the horns and get back into it... at least for this week. So here's what I'm eating for dinner this week.

Monday: Swiss Chard with Chickpeas & Couscous. I had some leftover spinach and kale so I sautéed that up instead of the swiss chard. I also love roasting cherry tomatoes with shallots to go with this. It adds a bit of extra flavour. Also, I didn't have pine nuts so I toasted pumpkin seeds and it was delish.

Swiss chard with chickpeas and coucous from @real_simple. I added roasted tomatoes & shallots. Yummers.

A photo posted by Stephanie Fazio (@lealoulemonade) on Apr 4, 2014 at 3:47pm PDT

Tuesday: Sweet Potato, Black Bean, and Goat Cheese Pizza from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Wednesday: Spaghetti Squash Tacos from Marin Mama Cooks

Thursday: Chickpea Veggie Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce from Marin Mama Cooks

Friday: Harvest Wild Rice Skillet from Pinch of Yum

Happy Eating!
--Steph

PS: All photos used in this post are were used from their respective blogs except for the first one which was taken by me! 

Coconut Peach Oatmeal Muffins

I am slightly obsessed with coconut.  I've always loved the taste and felt like anything with coconut as an ingredient was delicious.  The fact coconut has so many health benefits makes me a bit more obsessed.  These muffins are inspired by that obsession and by R who requested peach muffins this morning! 

1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 1/4 cups oats
3/4 cup spelt
3/4 cup coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
2 tsp vanilla 
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 1/2 cups - 2 cups chopped peaches (I used frozen) 
unsweetened shredded coconut for sprinkling on top

Combine the milk and oats in a bowl and let sit 5-10 minutes.  Then combine all ingredients.  After its spooned into your muffin pan sprinkle coconut on the top of each muffin (I recommend being generous!)  

Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.  

Enjoy!

Why coconut flour?

Read this post on the Nourished Kitchen about baking with coconut flour!

Why switch to coconut sugar?

"Coconut sugar, more accurately coconut palm sugar, is made from sap of the coconut palm that has been extracted and then boiled and dehydrated. It provides the same number of calories and carbohydrates as regular cane sugar (about 15 calories and four grams of carbohydrate per teaspoon) so you wouldn't be gaining any advantage in these respects by making a switch. However, coconut sugar is 70 to 79 percent sucrose and only three percent to nine percent each of fructose and glucose. This is an advantage, because you want to keep your consumption of fructose as low as possible, and cane sugar is 50 percent fructose. Coconut sugar is caramel colored with a taste that is similar to that of brown sugar and can be substituted for cane sugar in most recipes. (Note: don't confuse coconut palm sugar with palm sugar, which is derived from the sugar palm tree. Palm sugar is often used in Thai dishes.)"  Dr. Weil

Chai-Spiced Pumpkin Bars From The Kitchn

Photo via The Kitchn

Here are some yummy looking bars to make for the fam. Yum! Get the recipe for Chai-Spiced Pumpkin Bars From The Kitchn here!

Creamy Quinoa Casserole!

I found this recipe and modified it slightly as it called for a can of mushroom soup and french fried onions.  It was such a yum comfort food!

1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups broccoli
1-2 cups chopped mushrooms
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
1 cup milk
1/2 red onion chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 2% plain greek yogurt
1-2 tomatoes sliced
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1.  Cook the quinoa.
2.  Steam the broccoli.
3.  Cook the mushrooms in the butter then stir in flour.  Cook for about a minute then add the milk.  Cook till it thickens.
4.  Cook the onion.
5.  Mix the cooked quinoa with the steamed broccoli, mushroom mixture, cheese, cooked onions and greek yogurt.
6.  Put into a baking dish.  Top with sliced tomato and parmesan cheese.  Bake for 20ish minutes at 350.

tank

Just got this in the mail - love it!

Swiss Chard and Roasted Tomato Lasagna

I created my own recipe for the first time tonight and it was a success!  This sounded and looked yummy to me but the reviews were horrible.  I decided to not do it in the slow cooker (as it seemed  like that was the root of the issues, as well as the un-chopped swiss chard) and add roasted grape tomatoes.  My recipe is below!

4 garlic cloves minced
1 onion diced
1 can of plum tomatoes
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp oregano
1 bunch of swiss chard, chopped
1 pint (or more) of grape tomatoes (I used the gourmet mix)
9 lasagna noodles
1 tub of ricotta cheese
About 1 cup (or as much to your liking) Parmesan cheese

Cook the onion and garlic then add the plum tomatoes.  Cook to reduce some of the liquid.  Add balsamic vinegar and oregano.  Roast the grape tomatoes, and cook the noodles.  Mix half the parmesan with the ricotta.

To assemble use an 8 X 12 pan.  Put a bit of sauce to cover the bottom and top with 3 noodles.  Then cover the noodles with more sauce and then all the ricotta and parmesan mix.  Top with 3 noodles.  Sprinkle the swiss chard over the noodles and then layer the all the roasted tomatoes on.  Top with the last 3 noodles.  Top off with the rest of the sauce and then the rest of the parmesan.  I cooked at 325 for like 20 minutes uncovered and then for about another 20 covered.  Those are approximates.

Enjoy!

Wow.

These look yum and nutritious.  I actually just bought some dried cherries today which might be a good substitute for the cranberries.  They are from Farmgirl Gourmet here.

Is it popsicle season yet?

Check out this popsicle mould I got from amazon!  Ring pops!  I'm thinking this summer I will be the queen of making my own popsicles as the kids LOVE them.  Now I just need to find some good recipes.

okay LOVE!

The Esssex minibag on madewell!

Double Broccoli Pesto Quinoa

This is a great recipe if you have lots of broccoli to use up (or if you're like me and you keep getting broccoli in your veggie box and want to use it in a different way...). I've made it several times before and I really like it. It's not one of Mark's favourites because he says there's too much garlic, but I just put two cloves and it's still yummy.

Making this tonight with roasted cherry tomatoes!

My Kinda Cafe (mostly cause I'm lazy)

I really want to check this place out.  It's not far from us.  I think we should meet for brunch there :) I heard through the grapevine they MAY have a train table there??

Tortilla Love!

Honestly fajitas, enchiladas, burritos...whatever you call'em I feel like I could eat anything stuffed into a tortilla.  :)  Found these two recipes on a real food website called Unconventional Kitchen.  If you sign up for her email updates you get free meal plans and shopping lists (although not meatless).  

Butternut Squash Black Been Burrito

Sweet Potato Enchiladas with Carmelized Onions

Spice-Rubbed Fish with Lemony Rice

I know you're not eating fish right now but I made this tonight and it was pretty good! I used quinoa instead of rice and broccoli instead of zucchini because it's what I had

Really?

Seriously thinking about giving this a try!  I really HATE all the other options and feel like this couldn't be worse!

Mine!

I totally thought of this!

http://get.ziplist.com/

However I think this might have been around longer than when I thought of it :)

Easter Wants!

Adorable!  And you save $3 on each when you order 3 or more.  From Lands End!

Need More Sanity

I'm totally going to sign up for the spring Project Simplify from Simple Mom (I think this should be one of our favourite sites).

BUT before that my goal is to make my life 1 little bit saner by organizing my bag AND car.  I've been thinking I need a better system and read this post today and thought the time is NOW!  Honestly I haven't even been carrying a purse for the last 2 months.  I shove mostly everything into my coat pockets.  Well by everything I mean my car key, house key, credit card, phone and license.  Oh and handfuls of kleenex, mittens, lip balm, snacks and periodically a super bouncy ball or two!  I keep a couple diapers and wipes in the van.  Which means most times the wipes are FROZEN solid.  So basically I think I need some sort of car caddy that holds all car essentials and can be brought in and out easily so nothing freezes and/or melts.  I also need to start using my purse again so that my cards stay safe.  I can't say how many times over the past 6 months I've lost my library card, credit card, debit card.  SO frustrating!  Then thinking ahead I need a take to the park bag for the spring/summer.  

I think I might need a new bag again?  ;)  I've been checking out Lug.  I think they are really practical and most importantly perfect for evenings on the beach on PEI this summer!  Speaking of PEI I really think you and Mark should consider going down this summer too!!

The Sweetest

From Lottie Da!

New Shoes!

Yes please!!  Bensimon's on Madewell!