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Friday Night Mexican Dinner

Posted on 07. Nov, 2009 by kris.

Good Morning Everyone!

Saturday’s Rock!  I have a meeting to go to this morning and I am really excited about it because we are meeting at Starbucks!  And you all know I hold a very special spot in my heart for Starbucks and especially Christmas Starbucks!  I heart the red cups

Yesterday was such a great day and I had the most wonderful chat with my ma’ma……it made me realize a few things – are we all living our life to the fullest?  Do we love every single day we wake up?  If you could do anything with your life what would you do, career wise?  I admire everyone out there right now actually thinking about this and those who are truly living their dream life!  I am on my way and am loving the processes that goes along with it!

Last night was a very chillaxing evening – we made dinner, rented GI Joe (not my idea) and I baked some cookies (my idea).  I think we almost ate them all!?!  Hmmm good thing the workout routine starts on Monday!  Tony please whip me back into shape!

When Ryan and I first started dating we would every Friday night go to this little hole in the wall Mexican restaurant, it was delish, cheap and fun!  We have now been eating vegan, so we tend to stay home more for our meals and last night my Friday Night Mexican craving crept back in so I decided to concoct my own vegan taco salad   It was pretty darn tasty!

Kris’ Mexican Taco Salad

“Meat”:

2 cup Mung Beans
4 cups water
2 vegan Bouillons
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp (or more) Organic Mexican Seasoning or Chili Powder
You could also add garlic if you would like to the meat….I didn’t have any so I didn’t.

Rinse Mung Beans in strainer for a few minutes – Place mung beans, water and bouillon in pot, cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer for 20 – 30 min.  Keep checking to make sure there is still water in the pot and the beans aren’t burning.   You might need to add water as the cooking goes along.  Once the beans are done cooking add all the spices and mix – I also added my spinach here when the beans were being seasoned.

Guac

2 ripe Avocados
1/2 Lemon
1 tsp Organic Ground Cumin
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 med diced Tomato (you can omit)
*Garlic if desired

Mix all the above ingredients and Mash Up!  YUM!

Make The Taco Salad! – I added chopped tomatoes, peppers and guac to make up the taco salad!

This is a super easy meal, full of protein and nutrients – Plus I have left overs for tonight! – Mmmmmmm You could always make some Fresh Salsa and add a spoonful of that on top!  Delish

After dins came the cookies!! I found this recipe from balanceisbeauty.ca – I read that Krissy made these yesterday and I knew I had all the ingredients so I whipped these bad girls up!

I did have to alter the recipe a tad and used Oat and Almond Flour instead of spelt, coconut oil instead of canola oil, and Agave instead of Maple Syrup……but they still turned out amazingly!  You can find the recipe here.

Almond flour is the best way for me to bake (almost everything) without using Wheat and I am so grateful that a friend of ours owns a bistro here in Vancouver and she can get me Organic Almonds at wholesale!  I whip all my baking up with these nuts….Hudson loves them so I always “drop” one or two on the floor for him……what can I say I am a sucker for brown eyes

How did you spend your Friday night?  Do you have a Friday Night Ritual??

1 MORE DAY for the Zazubean Chocolate Give Away!  Enter NOW!!!

XXOO Kris

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Good Detox Diet Eats!

Posted on 28. Oct, 2009 by kris.

Hello Everyone!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Humpday!  Mine is going very well.  So far I am pretty busy and it is just going to get busier today!  Last night was the first night in a long time I was able to relax at home.  I finished watching the newest episode of Gossip Girl…..yes I watch that show and I love the muthachucker!  So bad yet so good.  This show, I tell ya, I am in love with their homes, thier  fashion, and their lifestyle!  I mean please ordering martini’s at the age of 17 at an upscale lounge would have been nice! 

Before I snuggled  up for my belated episode last night I had the best detox dinner yet!  This was inspired by this recipe I drooled over on thefitnessista.com earlier today.  Thank you Gina! 

Since I am unable to used canned anything on this detox everything in my dins was fresh and organic!

Kris’ Tomato Mung Bean Sauce with Baked Sweet Potato

2 cups Mung Beans
2 cups water
2 vegan bouillons
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1-2 tbsp organic cumin seeds
2 tbsp EVOO
1/2 med red onion
3 large tomatoes (I used beef steak tomatoes)
1 large yellow pepper
4 cups chopped Kale
2 heads of Broccoli
3 med Sweet Potatoes

Rinse the mung beansand then place them into the pot with roughly 2 cups of water and 1 bouillon.  Bring to a boil and let simmer until done – 20 minutes (ish).

Preheat your oven to 400 and place cut (long ways) sweet potatoes on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil.  Bake the sweet potatoes for 20 min (check them you might need to bake a bit longer)

While these gems are baking up – start your veg!  I use a large frying pan to make my veggies.  Heat the EVOO over medium heat and add the cumin seeds and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add the onion and fresh ginger.  Add the cut up veg and 1 cup of bouillon (I always add my kale in last as I don’t like it too limp) - Let simmer for a few minutes until the rest of the meal is done!

Look at this beauty!

Mung beans are so good for you and easy to digest and quick to cook – which I l.o.v.e!

Today I am working until 4:00 then off to my detox appointment!  Update will be posted soon

Have a great day!

PS. please follow me on twitter and join the iheartwellness fan page on Facebook!

Have you ever thrown a dinner together and fell in love with it??  If so, Fill us in!

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Simple Indian Inspired Dinner & Ninner “Ice Cream”

Posted on 27. Oct, 2009 by kris.

Hola!

Well Monday is almost over and it was a pretty good day!  I am on my last week of my detox and I am really looking forward to treating myself to a cup of starbucks when I am done!  Slap me on the hand if you want……but I can treat myself

After work today I rushed to the detox appointment then raced home to have some dinner to head out again to take my new winter coat back L  I love this coat and for some reason I can only find it in a Medium everywhere and I need a small dang it……I am tall so my arms are long and they fit the medium coat fine, but the body is a bit big….sniff….sniff……I loved this coat so much I even called my Nana from the store to see if she could possibly take it in and make the body fit better.  She declined on trying that project   I did end up getting another coat, but it is not the same….I will rock it anyways with love!

I was able to whip up this delish little number last night for dinner so I was blessed with leftovers tonight.

My inspiration came from this little Indian restaurantwe walk by in West Vancouver when we stop at starbucks for tea before taking the d.o.g for a romp around the beach.  It ALWAYS smells so delightful and I have felt so deprived of spices and food for the last 3 weeks I tried to replicate a dal dish and Indian “rice” as best as I could.  I did not use rice as I was looking for a little more protein so I used Quinoa instead.  I also made some stewed lentils with spices and fresh tomato’s and some Indian veg!  It was pretty darn good if you ask me J

This recipe made enough for Ryan and me to eat 2 dinners and 1 large lunch for him.

Kris’ Simple Indian Dish - Broken Down:

The spices in each item are the same but the flavors of the veg and grains make them taste so different!  I started the lentils and Quinoa at the same time and the veggies didn’t take as long.

Indian Rice/ Quinoa

2 cups quinoa
4 cups water
2 cups frozen peas
1-2 tbsp organic cumin seeds
1-2 tbsp organic curry powder
½ med red onion
1 tsp EVOO

Heat the EVOO over medium heat.  Add the cumin seeds and cook for about 2-3 minutes.  Then add the onions and curry and toss for another couple minutes.  Then add the quinoa, water and peas.  Cover and cook for about 20 minutes.  You might need to add more water as you go along. 

Indian Lentils:

1 cup dry lentils (I used brown lentils)
1 tomato diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp organic cumin seeds
1 tbsp organic curry powder
¼ red onion
1 tsp fresh ginger

Heat the pot over medium and warm the EVOO.  Add the cumin seeds and let cook for about 3 min, then add the onions and ginger and cook until the onions are soft.  Then add the curry powder and the lentils with water.  Boil for about 15 min and then added the diced tomato, cover and cook for another 10 minutes.  Stir occasionally. 

Indian Veggies:

2 small cauliflowers
4 large carrots
1 orange pepper
1 green pepper
¼ red onion
2 tsp fresh ginger
1-2 tsp organic cumin seeds
1 cup vegan bouillon
4 large black kale leaves chopped (I used a bit more)
1 tsp EVOO

Again heat the EVOO with the cumin seeds over medium.  Add the red onion and fresh ginger in and let turn soft.  Then add all the veggies in except the kale and pour the bouillon over the veggies.  Let cook for about 5 minutes then add the kale in and let cook until your desired tenderness.  I like my veggies on the harder side so I didn’t cook mine for too long.  Maybe 10 – 12 minutes in total.

Then assemble your dins!  One layer at a time it was not a true Indian meal……but it will do for now.  After dinner was our treat as we watched the movie “the women” which I did not find as good at I was hoping it to be.  For our movie snack I whipped up some ninner cream!  On deadly detox I am not allowed to eat bottled vanilla…..so I used some vanilla chai flavored Vega and it turned out great….and green  

Ninner “Cream”

2 large frozen bananas
½ scoop of vanilla chai vega
3 tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut

Place all in a blender and blend it!  You might need to freeze if for a few minutes after   The picture does not look like it tastes good….but it really does, I promise!

Enjoy!!

What is the easiest sweet treat you have ever made??  Ninner cream is easy! 

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Quick, Easy, Full of Health Dinner

Posted on 16. Oct, 2009 by kris.

Good Evening All,

Today was a mighty busy day for me between working until 4:00, getting to my detox appointment (only 2 more weeks to go! WOOT) by 5:00, sitting in traffic at 6:00 to get home for 6:45…..I was so hungry when I got home I was so grateful I had leftovers from last night I could just pop into the oven.

My days have been consisting of all raw up until dinner and this is because of the importance of eating raw fruit and veg of course, but also because I do enjoy my squash and sweet potatoes and some grains.

Tonight’s (and last night’s) dinner was Quinoa with Veggies.

Easy Quinoa Dinner

2 cups dry Quinoa
4 cups water
2 med tomatoes
1 yellow pepper
1 big bunch of broccoli
1 red onion
1 avocado
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbs EVOO
1 tsp curry powder (sometimes I add more)

Before I put the quinoa into the pot I added a bit of EVOO and cumin seed and sautéed them up a little. Once they started turning brown I added in red onion and some organic curry.

Then in went the Quinoa and water and some peas.

When the Quinoa was done cooking I added the diced tomatoes, Broccoli, a Orange Pepper. I tossed it all together and then added some fresh avocado on top.

It was quick and easy and yummy! Quinoa is a staple food of mine I always have on hand in case I need a quick dinner.

What is one item in your cupboard that you know you can always rely on??

Kris

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