iheartwellness.com

Survey Time and Free Life Changing Gift

Posted on 15. Jun, 2010 by kris.

Heyyyyy Everyone!

I hope you all are having a beautiful day!  I spent some time soaking up the rays with my sister down at our fave little hangout.  The air was warm and I was in shorts for the first time this year  Perfection!

As you know (if not, you will know now!) I Heart Wellness is going to be all Glamed up! A major reno is happening over here and I am not just talking about the colour of the “walls” I am also going to be overhauling the content and really start sharing my wealth of health, wellness, healthy baking, mindset and over all blogging tips / online marketing tips to share with you and help you as much as I can through this “home” of mine!

Because I love you all, it is really important to me to find out exactly what all of you beautiful people would love to see more of in your life and from your blog, so I put together a short survey and would love for you to fill it out!

Click here to take survey

Of course to show my appreciation of you taking the time to fill out the survey,  I will send each and everyone of you a new video I am shooting on how to make a video vision board.  This is something that has helped me tremendously and I know it will for you as well!

Dream big dolls, cause we are putting some great things on this video vision board!

Just leave me a comment and let me know you have filled the survey in and I will add your name to my video list. The video will be going out early next week!  The new blog makeover should be up very shortly!

Thank you all!

Fill the Survey out here:

Click here to take survey

Side note, I have made some more Fruit & Nut Bark as a way to curb my Banana Bread cravings.  Today I am making the bark raw (coconut oil, cocoa and a bit of maple syrup) and I figured it is better than a hearty loaf!

I recently had a nice chat with Averie from LoveVeggiesAndYoga.com and decided to cut back during the week on my baked goods.  *sigh* I could eat this banana loaf all day long!  But no, it is now my weekend treat.

Do you limit your baked goods or treats during the week?

Have any of you ever used SurveyMonkey.com?  It is so easy!  I used it today to create my survey. I learn something new everyday

XXOO
Kris

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Continue Reading

Easy Vegan Treats that Will Satisfy That Sweet Tooth

Posted on 06. Jun, 2010 by kris.

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I hope you are having a super day!  It is very fab here today.  The sun is shining and the temps are warm…I think summer is actually going to hit Vancouver this year

I took my stylist out shopping today looking for some trendy summer outfits and walked out of H&M with a bag nicely full of goodies!  I love that store.  You can get great trend setting items for so cheap!  Thanks Michelle for the assistance today!

Onto the Baking.  I have been a baking fool around this place since yesterday.  I am not sure if it is because I am feeling a bit stressed and baking relieves me, or if the sun is bring out some creativity in me?  Either way it is great for the taste buds, but not so great for the the waist line.  Cardio was full blown today let me tell you.

Item #1:

Raw Protein Bars:

2 cups oats
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla almond shake & go smoothie by vega
1 mashed banana
4 tbsp (or more) of agave or maple syrup
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Mix all in a bowl and flatten into 1/2 inch thick bar on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Place in the freezer for 30  min.

Cut into bars and enjoy!

The freezer is full of these (I made 2 batches…..they are super tasty!)

Item #2

Chai Spice Cookies:

Heaven!  I am waiting to post the recipe for these cookies

Item #3

Banana Bread Macaroons:

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup cocoa
2 ripe mashed bananas
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix well

Drop batter into 12 cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet

Bake for 25 minutes

YUM!

As I mentioned in my last post I made recipe #2 from the Get Naked Fast cookbook!  I made the most irresistible Indian dish I have ever made!

Sweet Potato Curry

This has to be one of my favourite dinners now….I am so excited for the left overs tonight!

Off to eat dinner and then off to a Movie!  Killers here I come

If you loved these recipes, please pass them along on twitter!

What is your favourite dinner right now?  Do you make enough for left overs?

XXOO
Kris

Continue Reading

Quinoa Cookies?!

Posted on 25. May, 2010 by kris.

Hey Everyone!

Happy Monday!  It was a glorious holiday here for us Canadian.  WooHoo!

Did everyone have a wonderful weekend?  Mine has been jammed packed since our lunch date on Saturday.  I have been investing a lot of time into learning more social media tips and going through a lot of different programs.  It has been such a wonderful learning experience.  I will be implementing it all very shortly

Today as a nice relaxing day at S’Bucks and then to the mall!  I am on the hunt for the perfect baby outfit for friends of ours who are expecting any day now!  This little outfit needs to be stylish, yet cute and most of the stuff out there I find to be poor quality or just “ok”.  I am picky when it comes to baby clothes and I don’t know why!

We had a super early dinner on the patio this evening – Brown Rice pasta with the super expensive sauce and a nice healthy salad with my favourite dressing right now!

Filled the roars in the belly from not having lunch today quite nicely.

Baking was done over the weekend (What else is new!) and I made some more Chocolate Chip Bars!  I can’t seem to get enough of these suckers!  I add a ripe banana and cut the agave down to half.  Perfection!

I also decided to try quinoa flour in a cookie recipe.  I am really understanding the difference of grains lately and how some are more acidic than others.  Quinoa is alkaline so I decided I should consume more of this super grain when I can in replacement of oats, rice, etc.

Not bad at all I have to say!

Quinoa Almond Cookies:

1 cup quinoa flour (ground up quinoa in the coffee grinder until fine)
1 cup brown rice flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp almond butter (I know peanut butter would be divine in these as well!)
1/4 cup almond milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax meal and 3 tbsp warm water)
1 mashed banana
1/4 – 1/2 cup agave (or sweetener of choice)
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Mix flax egg and let sit while making the rest

Add all dry ingredients and mix well

Mash banana and add almond butter, almond milk, agave and vanilla.  Stir well.

Add flax egg to the wet ingredients and mix.

Mix all ingredients together.  If batter is dry add more milk.

Place cookies on parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20 – 25 minutes.

These cookies are pretty tasty!  They turn out fluffy and soft.  The quinoa flour definitely has its own flavour, but they are good! Plus they are a GREAT source of Protein!

*Sigh* I am also making some more Fruit & Nut Bark as we speak!  This stuff is dangerous to have in the fridge!

I have been on the search for a good, not too red, bronzer.  While out at the mall today I think I found my winner!

Meet my new bronzer by Quo:

She is perfectly shimmery and gorgeous!  I use bronzer on my face, chest and shoulders  I am so stoked!

**Beauty Tip! When testing foundations, powders, and bronzers always place a bit on the inside of your wrists.  This is said to be the area on your body that is closest to your actual hue.  I have streaks up my arm as we speak from testing this afternoon

** I have changed the comments on the Blog as I was getting a few comments saying people couldn’t leave a note for me!  So I have upgraded and all should be good.  Please let me know if you find otherwise  I will also be answering questions to your comments in the comment section, so please check back!

Did you bake this weekend?  What is your favourite bronzer?

XXOO
Kris

Continue Reading

Amazingly Tasty Power Bars!

Posted on 26. Mar, 2010 by kris.

Happy Friday Y’all!

What better way to start the weekend off than with a nice, easy, wonderfully amazing recipe??

I was pleasantly surprised when I received my newsletter from Elana at ElanasPantry.com and saw this recipe.  I had all the ingredients and decided to make them right away.

Elana’s Chocolate Espresso Power Bars:

10 dates
2 tsp espresso (I used Starbucks via)
1 1/2 cups pecans
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp agave nectar

If you are using dried dates soak them in warm water for about 5 minutes.

In your food processor place the pecans and coffee and blend into a meal.

Add in the cocoa powder and process.

Drain dates and add to the food processor along with the vanilla and agave.  Pulse until mixed well.

Place in a 8X8 glass dish and press flat.  Place bars in freezer until hard.

Oh my goodness….these bars taste just like the mocha Larabars! They are so delicious and so easy!!

These bars are so fudgy and have the best smooth taste!

Elana’s Pantry is the best site for easy desserts.  Yesterday I also made what was supposed to be chocolate chip cookies, but they turned more into paper mache  as I think I had a tad too much oil in the batter and each little cookie spread across the cookie sheet while baking!  I ended up cutting them into a cookie bar instead  They are very yummy, just a bit on the thin side.

Has that ever happened to you?  Your cookies got their “spread” on?

And of course, my absolute favourite recipe from Elana’s Pantry are these Pecan Clusters - My “Turtles”!  They are freezing as we speak and I am bringing a batch to our dinner party at my Nana’s tomorrow night!  Perfectly vegan and they rock your socks off!

I am off to the Chiropractor and then meeting my Sis for a coffee date downtown!  I hope you all have a great Friday!

What are your plans for the weekend??  What is your best vegan dessert you make?

XXOO

Kris

Continue Reading

Weekend Eating

Posted on 08. Mar, 2010 by kris.

Howdy Everyone!

How was your weekend?  I can’t believe it is Sunday evening already and the weekend is all over.

Our weekend was full of beach visits, meetings, shopping and eating  When we go out on our weekend treks we always bring a whack of snacks with us to keep us fuelled and fresh. I made a total of 3 batches of these orange-cocoa cookies! I didn’t eat all of them myself, I did share and handed some out as our days went on

Today was a tad rainy and when we came home we decided it was a perfect night to make some soup….well it turned out more like stew – Hearty, Beefy, Good.  Minus the Beef of course!  Lentils were the mean protein source of this soup!

Instead of my usual bouillon cubes I went a little more high class today and used this Pacific Natural Foods brand Vegetable Broth – Amazing!

Here is the red soup:

Easy Red Soup:

2 large beets
3 carrots
1 onion
2 broccoli heads
1 large sweet potato
1 1/2 cups lentils
1 tbsp evoo
1 500 ml vegetable broth
2 cups water
sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In your soup pot, heat oil over medium heat and add onion

Cook onion until tender, add chopped carrots and beets

Pour in the broth and water, add lentils, broccoli and sweet potatoes

Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, season with salt and pepper and serve!

This is such an easy and nutritious soup!

Since last week I have been drowning myself in organic pineapples from Whole Foods.  I can’t stop eating them.  On Saturday night we made a special trip to whole foods just for my pineapples….I am that crazy in love with them right now!  I don’t know about you, but my favourite treat is pineapple and chocolate so tonight after my coffee meet up with my good friend Melissa I ate some of this:

Tasty, Sweet, Chocolaty Goodness!

Take some good (It has to be GOOD pineapple) and add some delicious dark, vegan chocolate chips!  I usually melt some chocolate and drizzle it over my pineapple chunks, but I didn’t have the time for that tonight.  Just straight to the goods for me!

Tomorrow I will be sharing something I am starting with you all!

OH!  I almost forgot – Hudson got a new harness today! Isn’t it spiffy?  Thanks mom and dad, you are the best grand doggie parents ever!  I tell ya, this guy is so spoiled.  Last week my sister bought him a bag of all natural peanut butter and parsley treats, and my nana treats him to some good ol’ german sausage whenever he stops by.  He thanks you all

What is your Favourite fruit to drizzle with chocolate or pour chocolate chips over?

XXOO
Kris

Continue Reading

Palm Sugar…..a way to a health nuts heart!

Posted on 05. Mar, 2010 by kris.

Hello Everyone!

Are you having a beautiful Thursday?  I sure am!  Let me tell you why

On my way to the gym this sunny afternoon I decided to check my mail box to see how many cheques (wink, wink) I had received in the mail today, to my surprise I received better – FOOD!

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened my package from Navitas Naturals to see a package of Palm Sugar!

So I quickly did my cardio and weights and rushed back to the kitchen to start bakin’

I feel I have been living in a cave and can honestly say I didn’t know much about these brown, sweet granules, so I googled and learned about so many health benefits this sugar also has.  As you all know, I only use sweeteners with a low Glycemic Index and I was smiling ear to hear when I read how low palm sugar was.  I was loving this stuff when I read the GI levels, but then I continued to read it is high in magnesium, potassium, zinc, iron, and vitamin C and B’s! Wooohoo…..you can have sweets and benefit too

I found this write up on Palm Sugar on the Navitas Naturals site.

What exactly is Palm Sugar?

Collected by hand, palm sugar is the crystallized nectar of the coconut sugar palm blossoms. A natural and healthy replacement for all types of sweeteners, palm sugar enhances just about any recipe.

General Uses:

• Palm sugar tastes, looks, and performs very similar to brown sugar.
• Use palm sugar as a 1:1 replacement for cane sugar, or as a 2:1 replacement for agave syrup, maple syrup, or honey (condensed sugars).
• Palm sugar easily dissolves in hot beverages, and is also excellent for baking.
• Palm sugar enhances the flavors of other sweet elements – in particular fruits, smoothies, and grain-based dishes and sauces.

Ok, ok, so these are what I made:

Orange-Cocoa Buckwheat Cookies

Delightful!

You can find the recipe for these soft, moist cookies here.

For more information and recipes with palm sugar please visit the site www.navitasnaturals.com

To purchase navitas naturals products in Canada please visit - www.isuperfood.com and for my US friends please visit www.navitasnaturals.com

Will this product be a staple in my baking cupboard as of now?  Of Course!

Have you ever used Palm Sugar?  Do you use Navitas Naturals products?  If so, which ones?

Enjoy your Friday everyone!!

XXOO
Kris

Continue Reading

Daily Detox Drops Winner and Date Sweetened Cookies

Posted on 26. Feb, 2010 by kris.

Happy Friday Y’all!

Are you having a beautiful morning?

I am so excited to announce the winner of the Daily Detox Drops Give Away!!

The lovely lady that’s name has been pulled out of the hat has been such a hoot to follow and I really love reading her blog daily.  I seem to leave this blog smiling all the time

Ameena at FancyThatFancyThis.com – You are the WINNER!!!!

Congratulations and I know you will love these drops

Now onto the next topic of convo today – COOKIES!

This is kind of a funny story…..This just shows how many things I have on my mind right now.

I started to bake these cookies and realized half way through I was completely out of vanilla and agave! What the heck?!  This is not like me at all to let my baking stash to dwindle down this low.  So I had to improvise.  Dates.

I soaked some dates in warm water  for 5 – 10 minutes and placed them in a blender and made a paste.  This was my agave

I also added some shredded carrot and pumpkin pie spice to mask the lack of vanilla!

These babies turned out really, really Great!

By Accident Cookies:

2 cups pecans (or nut of choice – almond flour, etc)
1 cup oats
1/2 cup almond butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/3 cup flax meal
1/2 cup date paste
1 small shredded carrot
1/2 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat oven to 350

Place nuts and oats in a food processor or blender and blend until fine

Add spices, raisins, sea salt, baking powder and carrot to the flour.  Mix well.

In a separate bowl add flax, nut butter, date paste and coconut oil.  Mix well.

Add wet to dry and mix.

Roll into balls and place on a greased baking sheet.  Press with a fork.  Bake for 13 minutes.

These cookies are so Healthy!  Great for people who really watch their sugars and have to stay away from sweeteners

Date morning at Starbucks!  Does it get any better?

Chat later!  Congrats Ameena!

Have you ever baked with out a sweetener?  Have you ever forgot an ingredient as making a dish or baked good?

XXOO
Kris

Continue Reading

Vegan Valentines and Birthday Treats

Posted on 08. Feb, 2010 by kris.

Hi Everyone!  Happy Sunday!

I hope you all had a great day?  Today was errand running day.  I usually like to have Sunday’s to relax and do some fun activities, but yesterday was jam packed and we had no time for groceries and Costco.

Yesterday my mom and I had a Mix & Mingle party which was a lot of fun! We had a bunch of friends and family come out and have some treats and coffee and we spoke a bit about the products we are now selling.  The weather was perfect and the company was great! All in all, a fab day

Today at Costco, I found Organic dried Figs……..ooooooohhhhh, how I love dried figs! These are so dangerous to have in the fridge as I could eat half the bag and consume my calories for the day!  Since writing this post I have already had 5….

Tomorrow is my birthday and I figured I should make some treats for me to enjoy on my day!  I can have a little birthday break in the day and enjoy some chocolate covered goodness.  These would also be wonderful for Valentines day which is just around the corner

Chocolate Covered Nature Treats:

1 cup vegan chocolate (melted)
3 dried figs
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup pecans

Melt chocolate in microwave or use a double broiler

Cut figs in half

Add figs to the melted chocolate and coat.  Remove figs from chocolate and place on a plate lined with parchment paper.

Do the same for the raisins and pecans

Place plate in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.

YUMMMMM – Healthy Chocolate Goodness!

These are perfect little treats to aid me through the birthday tomorrow  29 my friends…..I am pulling off “24″ for another few years, you are the only ones that know this  I will be enjoying a wonderful Indian feast with my family tomorrow night at our favourite Indian Restaurant.  They owner there knows us quite well and “veganize’s” my dishes for me  I love restaurants that do that.  It is so important for me that places accomodate to allergies and requests! Dairy and Butter free Chana Masala here I come!!

Dinner tonight was not Indian, it was Mexican.  I made these Wheat-Free wraps, with Guacomole, pan fried veg and black beans. Delicious!

Time to Relax now after a busy weekend!

I am just pulling some homemade crackers out of the oven, making some tea, and going to watch some Couples Retreat.

Enjoy your evening everyone!

Do you love birthdays?  Do you have a special tradition on your birthday?

XXOO
Kris

Continue Reading

Raw Food Diet Made Easy

Posted on 06. Feb, 2010 by kris.

Happy Saturday Everyone!

Wow, what an amazing day I had yesterday. I started my morning with a trip to see Krista (Ryan’s sister) at her new location. Her and Ryan’s mom and other sister started a cosmetic teeth whitening business. If anyone is in the Vancouver area, you must check this site out!

The two of us then attended a woman’s networking group! It was a blast! I met a lot of new wonderful people and enjoyed a cup of joe

After my meet up I went on a date with my sister! Girls night out where we cried our eyes out at “Dear John”! Ahhh Channing you are a beautiful man

I decided I will set up a plan to go all raw here in the next little bit as a test to myself to see if it makes a difference in my energy, sleep, and overall health. I am always up to experimenting with myself like this and I am ALWAYS up for a good challenge. I am however debating if I should wait until closer to the spring when more local veggies and fruit are grown here. Right now a lot of the produce I eat is from far away! Anyone else have this issue?

From the other times I have tried a Raw diet I realized that the diet actually takes a lot of work and time to prepare. So I figured I will set a plan to make this an easy adventure for me. How will I do that? Simple:

1. Cut up veggies for 2 days and keep them in glass containers in the fridge.
2. Make bigger batches of salad dressings and dips to last few days.
3. Soak all my nuts 1 – 2 times a week so they are always on hand ready to eat.
4. Do 1 “dehydrate” day. I will use my oven for now and you can find out how to do that here!
5. Drink a lot of smoothies! I really love my smoothies and I know they are so beneficial and are a super easy meal.
6. Make a bunch of desserts and keep them in the fridge.
7. Buy bulk when I can. This will save me a lot of time and money. I will save time from having to run to the store every day
8. Make a large batch of almond milk and keep it in a mason jar in the fridge. It lasts 3 days nice and fresh.

I am sure I will come up with more tricks that will make this diet easier for me, and I will let you know what they are

I started the Raw theme off early and made this dessert when I got home from the movies.

Raw Apple Pie:

1 cup pecans
1/2 dates
1 medium apple
1/4 cup agave
2 tsp cinnamon

1. Place the pecans and dates in a food processor and process until fine and sticky.
2. Place nut mixture into a 6′ dish and press into a crust.
3. Slice apple thinly and mix in a bowl with agave and cinnamon
4. Arrange coated apple slices on the crust and place in the fridge for crust to get hard.

I am off to a Mix & Mingle Party my mom and I are hosting!! It is going to be a fun day!

Have you ever gone all Raw? Would you suggest starting when the fruit and veg is more in season here?

XXOO
Kris

Continue Reading

Raw Vanilla Nut Butter Cups

Posted on 03. Feb, 2010 by kris.

My Friends!

What’s new with y’all today??

I am still fighting this throat irritant and it is beginning to cramp my style.  It is just hovering at the same soreness for days now.  Normally you get a sore throat, it goes away in 2 days and you are stuck with a bit of sniffles, not yet!  I am actually getting sick of my throat lozenges.

I had such a wonderful day today – My lovely nana took my sister and I out for coffee (not too sick for coffee dates ) It was so nice to see them both and we had a very relax, good time.  Nana’s rock, don’t they?

My body seems to be craving sweets like nobodies business….It can’t be candida because I am taking my daily detox drops so it is my sore throat that keeps asking for the treats.  I caved and made these:

Inspired from the wonderful Elana at Elanaspantry.com

But I “Rawified” them

Raw Vanilla Nut Butter Cups

* Makes 3 large cups

Vanilla Nut Butter Filling:

3 tbsp raw almond butter
1/2 tsp agave nectar
1/4 tsp vanilla
dash of sea salt

Chocolate:

5 tbsp raw cocoa powder
3 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp agave nectar

Mix the chocolate ingredients together.

Add a thin layer of chocolate to 3 medium – large paper muffin liners

Place in the freezer for 10 minutes

Mix up the vanilla almond butter filling

Remove the chocolate out of the freezer and add a ball of nut butter to each chocolate bottom

Cover the cups with chocolate and place back in the freezer for at least 30 min

Ok, so these are as good as the picture looks! Just the right sweetness

On another note, I had another Life Coach appointment today which was fabulous!  Her and I discussed my upcoming women’s groups I will be attending.  I am excited to get out and meet some new people with the same interests in my neighborhood  Networking / Connecting is something I am good at, I love interacting with people and sharing different tips, ideas and all that fun stuff.

We also worked a bit more on “romancing” myself.  Sounds funny, but makes sense. I should absolutely be taking the time to take myself out on a date and connect with myself again.  It has been hard lately as I have been so busy, so I think I have a date with ME on Thursday night.  Now, what should I do?!

Do you ever treat yourself to a “date”?  How do you reward yourself?

XXOO
Kris

Continue Reading