Wednesday Wonders #2 – Cacao “The food of the gods”

The first thing anyone says when starting any diet is “I already want Chocolate!” Well, today is your lucky day because I am about to tell you a very important secret. You can have Chocolate every day.

Now I am not talking about the sugar added, super processed chocolate (You had to know there was a catch here right?). I am talking about the raw cacao bean. WHAT?  Yes. Chocolate is made from the cacao bean with comes from a fruit. I am sure you heard that eating dark chocolate is good for you. Well, what is good is the cacao, which contains a lot of important nutrients for the body. The difference with the raw cacao and the processed cacao you buy at the store for $3 is everything. The typical Dutch cacao is processed with a hydraulic press to squeeze out the oil before alkaline salts are added. Then, it’s mixed with powdered milk and lots of sweeteners and other crap to create the milk chocolate. The reality is, once the cacao is heated, it loses a lot of its nutrient content, much like vegetables do when they are cooked. I guess the secret was more like: You can have Raw Cacao every day.

Let’s take a look at the amazing properties of raw Cacao. It’s a great antioxidant, better than Blueberries, Goji berries, Açai, Pomegranates and red wine combined. It’s also a Good source of magnesium, Ion, Chromium, Manganese, Zinc, Copper, Vitamin C, Omega 6 Fatty Acids and Fiber. I know I don’t even have to tell you all that stuff because everybody loves Chocolate, Healthy or not!

Because I love chocolate like everybody else, I wasn’t about to give it up. The good news is, I have never eaten that much chocolate EVER and I love it! So for all the vegans out there who are biting their nails when scouts are selling chocolate bars at the grocery store, trying to convince yourself that it’s worth eating it for a good cause, I have an answer. More than one actually, but let’s start with one. Now I know there are a lot of ingredients in this recipe but trust me, once you have all these you can make so much stuff! These have actually been tested by my favorite audience, my friends, and everyone loved them!

Raw Chocolate Energy Balls

 

Prep time: 5 minutes    Cooking time: 0    Servings: About 20 balls

Ingredients:

1 cup soaked Buckwheat (Soak overnight, drain and rinse)
1/2 cup Almonds
1/2 cup Walnuts
1/4 cup Raw Cocoa Powder
1/4 cup Shredded Coconut + more for topping (Raw Organic- I challenge you to compare the ingredients with regular it’s scary)
1/4 cup Agave Nectar
1/4 cup grounded flax seeds
3 Medjool dates
1 scoop of protein powder (Vega one French Vanilla is my new favorite)
1/8 cup water
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla extract or half Vanilla Bean

Add all ingredients in a food processor and mix until smooth. If the mixture is not doughy enough, add a bit more water. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes (if you have the patience- I don’t). Roll into balls and top with shredded coconut. Freeze for a few hours and then place in the fridge (or keep them in the freezer if you like them more firm).

Wednesday Wonders - Goji Berries

Hi again. I hope you guys had an amazing Thanksgiving! I sure did! I tried this amazing Lentil Nut loaf from Angela Liddon at Oh She Glows and it was great although I modified the recipe quite a bit from the original. I will share it with you soon (It would be great for Christmas!).

I have been thinking that I am giving you all these recipes but not introducing the foods I am cooking with in so I decided that it is time for you to know all about them! From now on, Wednesdays will be Wednesday Wonders! I will present you something new every week and I hope this will help develop your knowledge and excitement for food because I have never been that excited about food in my life, and it’s wonderful!

Some people find it’s scary to think about veganism or a plant based diet and that’s exactly why I want to share my journey with you. To show you that, not only it will be better for your health, the animals and the environment, but it can also taste great! In fact, way tastier than a regular diet if you ask me! I am not trying to convince you to do anything. I just want to help open your horizons on the subject and share my passion for food along the way. So, Wednesday Wonders #1 here we go…

 Goji Berries- The longevity fruit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Goji berry plant has been grown for an estimated four thousand years. The Goji fruit is usually dried and is comparable to a raisin in texture. There is an Asian and an American variety. In Canada, the plant is growing well in provinces like in Nova Scotia and British Columbia. The Goji berry, named the longevity fruit, is known for its anti-aging effects. As we grow old, the production of the Human Growth Hormone in our body decreases which has been linked to symptoms of aging. The Goji berries help the body naturally produce more HGH which makes it a great anti-aging Superfood!

 

They are also a great source of antioxidants, boost our immune system, increase alkalinity in the body (you really want that), increase liver protection, improves eyesight (as more beta-carotene than carrots) and improves blood quality. It also contains 19 different amino acids and 21 trace minerals including Zinc, Iron, Copper, Calcium, Vitamins B1, B2, B6 and Vitamin E.

And the most important thing of all… they taste great! Now you want to get these berries organic (like everything else) so they are not sprayed with pesticides and/or Sulfur Dioxide. They are a light red colour so be careful with getting really red ones because they could have been dyed (eek!). I like to eat mine just like that, in soup, smoothies or soaked. There’s lots of ways you can use them and one of my favorites is in a jam!

I never really liked jam because I didn’t get the idea of really sweet spread on a toast. But now that I make my own, I actually can’t stop eating it (especially with almond butter wooah!). The funny thing about Goji berries is that once they are soaked in water they turn into a jelly like texture which is perfect for thickening the jam without gelatin (Which is made by boiling of pork skin, cartilage, horns and cattle bones. Yum!) HaHa! I also like to make the jam raw to get the full nutrient value in the fruits.

Blueberry Goji Jam

 

Prep Time: 5 minutes   Waiting time: 30 minutes    Cooking time: 0      Servings: 750ml

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen Blueberries (or fresh but they are almost never available)

1/4 cup Goji Berries soaked

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup Chia seeds

1 Tbsp. Agave nectar

 Soak the Goji Berries in  1/2 cup water for at least 30 minutes (could be longer if you want to do this step in advance). Add 1/4 cup of the soaking water, Goji berries, blueberries and Agave to the food processor and blend until smooth. Add the Chia seeds and stir everything up to make sure the they are well incorporated into the mix. Place in the fridge in a container or jar. It will look a bit watery at first but the Chia seeds will expand in the water and make the jam thicker. Enjoy it on a toast with almond butter or with some crackers!

 

Stay tune for next Wednesday’s Wonder!

 

 

 

 

Orange Blueberry Waffles with Mango Coulis + Apple Sauce Recipe

Its thanksgiving weekend and I started my day thinking about how grateful I am for everything I have. We are so use to think about what we don’t have and what we have to have to be happy. It’s always about the next purchase, the next promotion, the last 10 pounds, the next vacation, etc. When I saw David Wolfe in Edmonton he was constantly repeating that every day is the best day ever. That stuck with me. For weeks I was thinking about how I would love for every day to be the best ever and how far I was from that. Then, I just decided that it was going to be, just because I said so J. It’s actually sooo easy! All you have to do is find out the things that make you happy and incorporate them into your daily life! Doing stuff you love will help you to stop thinking about the things you don’t want, the people you don’t like and everything that upsets you because you will be too busy enjoying yourself! It’s so hard to focus on more than one thing at once, so if you concentrate on the good, you’ll leave all the bad behind. So I guess what I am trying to say this thanksgiving is: I am really thankful that every day is the best day ever!

Bella wants to play so bad she won't let me cook!

 

Ok so, about the waffles… I’ve been thinking about waffles for a month and this morning seemed like the perfect time for it and wow was it ever worth it! If you are not feeling awesome after that breakfast I am not sure what it’s going to take (Maybe a little bit of Chaga tea which I am dying to talk to you about!).

I adapted this recipe from the Citrus Berry Whole Wheat Waffles recipe from Thefamily Kitchen. I made it once before and it was good but I think this version is a bit fluffier and healthier.

Now, before you get all scared about the apple sauce in there, you don’t have to make it yourself. You can buy unsweetened apple sauce at the store if you don’t have time (although home-made is so much better!).  I am including the recipe here because I think it’s always good to have it in the fridge to bake other stuff or even just for snacks. I make a big batch of it every couple of weeks so it’s ready to go when I need it.

One last thing: I now only use Vanilla beans in my recipes instead of the extract and I suggest you do the same. I discovered those a few months ago and they have the most amazing flavour ever! They come in a glass tube of about 5 beans. Once you open the tube you get this addicting aroma and you just want to shove it all in your month (don’t). Even the pets were all after me as soon as I took one out! Cut the bean in half lengthwise and scrape all the black seeds out with a knife. Put it in whatever you are baking and that’s it! If you have sugar at home, you can put the leftover shell in it to get Vanilla flavoured sugar. The vanilla beans are a bit more pricy than the regular extract but so so worth it. You can find them at Costco for cheap ($12 for 10 beans).

 

 

Apple Sauce Recipe

Prep time: 10 min (Try to challenge that by peeling faster! J)  Cooking time: 25 min   
Servings: 3x500ml mason jars

 

Ingredients:

10 Apples

2 ¾ cups of Fruits Juice (I use all natural Pineapple and papaya juice but any kind not from    concentrate is good)

Half a Vanilla bean

 

Peel the apples, cut in pieces and put in a big pot (don’t add the cores). Add the juice and bring to a boil over medium heat. Return the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool down for a few minutes. Transfer everything in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the vanilla (Don’t put in the whole bean! Did you read the note above?) and process 1 minute more. Transfer into mason jars when it’s still warm and seal them.

If you think it’ll take you a while to eat all of it you can do the proper conservation method and warm the mason jars in the oven (150F) for 10 minutes before pouring in the sauce. Keep the metal caps in hot water as well until it’s time to seal. When you hear “pop” and the jars are cooler you can place them in the fridge.

Alright! Now that you know how to make the apple sauce, let’s make those waffles.

*I started writing my post this morning and I then I went for a hike. I just got back and ate another one cold with some apple sauce. It was arguably even better than warm (Only one left already! :S).

Orange Blueberry Waffles with Mango Coulis

Prep time: 10 min    Cooking time: 3 min    Servings: 6 Waffles (Forget leftovers. They won’t make it to dinner time)

Ingredients:

Waffles:

1 1/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour                                                                     
1/2 cup Apple Sauce                                                                                        
1/3 cup Coconut oil                                                                                           

1/2 cup Water                                                                                                     
1/2 cup Almond Milk
2 Tbsps. Agave Nectar
1 Orange, peeled/diced
1/2 Tsp. Orange Zest
2 Tsp. baking powder
1/2 Vanilla Bean
1/2 Tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 dashes cinnamon
1/2 cup Walnuts
1 cup frozen Blueberries
1/8 cup Golden Berries for toping (Optional but so yummy!)

 

Mango Coulis:

1/2 cup Fresh or Frozen Mangos

1/4 cup Water
1/2 Tsp. Agave Nectar

 

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Heat up the Coconut oil for a minute or so to turn it into liquid form. Add all wet ingredients including Coconut oil and mix well. Fold in Blueberries and walnuts. Heat up your waffle maker (rub it with Coconut oil if it has a tendency to get sticky). Pour the mixture in the waffle maker and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes each or until there is no more steam coming out.

While the waffles are cooking, mix all ingredients for the mango coulis in a blender or food processor. If you don’t have mangos don’t go on a rampage trying to find some, just use other fruits! I make it all the time with the frozen fruits I use for smoothies and it’s always good. And if you feel lazy, just use Maple Syrup. I personally don’t like anything too sweet anymore (I never thought I would say that one day!). Top with Golden Berries!

That’s it! Happy (Turkey free) Thanksgiving everyone! J

Red Kale Tomato Pizza with Basil Cashew Cheeze

I hope you guys had a good week! Have you tried any vegan recipes yet?  Let me know which ones you liked or what kind of recipe you would like to see on here! I have been working on some raw desserts for a few weeks and I am almost ready to share them so get ready! Last week was a crazy week because I decided to go to Edmonton on a week night for a blender chef workshop with David Wolfe. It was amazing even if I had to drive back right away and got home at 4am! If you haven’t heard of him already I suggest you learn a bit about him. He is such a great, down to earth guy!

David is co-founder of TheBestDayEver.com online health magazine and is President of The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation with a mission to plant 18 billion fruit trees on planet Earth. [davidwolfe.com]

I learned so much about Superfoods and Superherbs and I am really excited to share all that information with you soon but for now, here is the pizza recipe as promised!

 

 Red Kale & Tomato Pizza with Basil Cashew Cheeze

Prep time: 5 min    Cooking time: 10 min   Servings: 1

Ingredients:

1 Whole wheat tortilla

2 Big Red Kale leaves

¼ cup Basil Cashew Cheeze

10 Cherry Tomatoes halved

2 mini Bell Peppers (Or half of a regular Bell Pepper)

2 Garlic Cloves

3 Big Basil Leaves

Nutritional yeast to taste

 

Pre-heat the oven to 400F

 Spread the basil cashew cheeze on the tortilla and lay kale leaves on top. Garnish with cherry tomatoes and bell peppers. Top with chopped garlic and basil. Add nutritional yeast to taste. Pop in the oven for 10 minutes or until the tortilla is golden brown.

Basil Cashew Cheeze

I hope you guys enjoyed the last few days of summer because fall is definitely here! I love the cold fresh air, the yellow leaves, the snow on the mountains…I love it all! Here is a picture of how beautiful it was on the weekend! I know you guys will think it’s terrible weather but I believe there is a time for every season and we should appreciate them all instead of always looking forward for the next one. Although I have to admit, I’m guilty of drooling over my new dream winter jacket and shopping for cross-country skis! As much as I love eating raw food in the summer, fall is all about soups and warm comfort food. Believe me; my comfort food is nowhere close to yours! But that is ok, because I want to help you try healthy options that will make you feel great every day, rather than tired, bitchy moody and bloated.

 

While we are on that subject, it’s been a month since I became a vegan and I absolutely love it! I have never been so excited about food in my life and I catch myself wishing there were more meals in a day so I could eat all this food at once. I literally have trouble choosing what to eat because everything is too good! I also feel a lot better. I have more energy, no more stomach pains, I don’t get tired after lunch, I am not moody and I almost never crave sweet or starchy stuff! I also recover better between workouts so I can run longer and faster and I get more training in! I think I lost a few pounds too because my new pants I just bought are too big! Oh well, I might just have to go shopping! What a shame! J

Now I told you guys I had a bit of a cooking frenzy last week and part of it was experiencing with nut cheeses. Here is a recipe of a cashew cheeze I came up with. I love it so much! It’s great in a sandwich, with crackers, in lasagnas, sauces… it’s good with everything. I personally love it as a pizza sauce, thanks to Angela Liddon @ Oh She Glows. You should check out her blog, she has fabulous recipes!  Alright! Less chatting, more cooking. Here is the recipe… (The pizza recipe will follow)

Basil Cashew Cheeze

Prep time: 5 min    Waiting time: 4 hours    Cooking time: 0      Servings: Approx. 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup Cashews

½ cup Water (plus water for soaking)

3 Garlic Cloves

7 Big Basil Leaves

¼ tsp Fennel Seeds

¼ tsp Guar Gum

 

Start with soaking the cashews in water for 4 hours or overnight. Rinse and drain. Add to food processor with all ingredients and process until smooth. Keep refrigerated for up to one week.

 

 

Raspberry lemonade with Magnesium

Wow! It’s been a while since I posted anything! I have been working on some new recipes and like everything else; it’s not always perfect the first time so I’ve had a lot of not so good results. The good news is I’ve been cooking up a storm all weekend and I have so many new recipes to share I don’t know where to start!

I made this lemonade a few weeks ago and it was amazing but fall is around the corner and I am already dreaming of soups, apple sauce and butternut squash everything! Fall is always so exciting! Nice fresh air, new fashion, back to warm winter jackets and comfy boots, the snow, Christmas (don’t get me started on Christmas. I have to fight so hard not to listen to Christmas music already!) I love it! Now I woke up this morning and after a week of dreaming about my new winter boots and cross-country skiing, it’s almost 20 degrees out and it feels like summer again. It totally screwed up my mood but I thought hey! Maybe it’s not too late for one last lemonade…

Everybody could benefit from some extra magnesium. It’s great for many reasons including strong bones and teeth and digestion but the most awesome one is helping you relax all your muscles and reducing stress. I was a bit insulted when I first bought it because it says CALM on the bottle, and everyone knows I hate when people tell me to calm down. If I was calm, you probably wouldn’t be getting recipes right now because I would be sitting on the couch watching Harry Potter #17. That being said, I love taking magnesium with hot water before bed because it helps me fall asleep quickly and my body feels really relaxed. If you exercise a lot, it really helps! And for the ladies, it’s particularly awesome for that time of the month…

Raspberry lemonade with Magnesium

Prep time: 5 min    Cooking time: 0      Servings: 2

Ingredients:

½ cup Water

1-2 tsp Magnesium (I buy Natural Calm/ Lemon Raspberry flavour)

½ cup Frozen Raspberries

½ Lemon

1 tsp Lemon zest

1 tbsp Agave Nectar

2 cups Water

 

Start with heating up ½ cup water. Remove from heat and add magnesium. Stir until it stops bubbling. Set aside to cool (if you have some ice cubes try adding on to the water to cool it faster). Grate and press the juice of the lemon. Add the magnesium water mix in the blender with all other ingredients. Process for about 45 sec or until everything is well combined. Enjoy!

The oh so beety burger

I hope everybody had a great weekend! I spent half of mine getting a bike and the other half trying to fix it, so I had to catch up on my cooking tonight! I also went to the Calgary market and it was awesome! Wherever you are, I suggest you find out about the closest farmer’s market and plan a visit! It makes much more sense to buy products from your local grower rather than buying tasteless strawberries from the US or waxy peppers from Mexico! My new favorite things to get at the market this summer are yellow tomatoes! Oh wow! Thank you nature, they are sooo Yummy! I integrated them as a topping in this amazing burger recipe which by the way is by Isa Chandra Moskowitz from Post Punk Kitchen. Before we begin, I want to specify that this is not the kind of recipe you decide to do at 7:30pm on a Tuesday night (Unless you’re like me and you can’t sit still for more than 10 minutes) because it takes a little more work. I like to freeze the extra patties so I can have quick easy meals for long training nights!

This recipe calls for lentils. You can either buy the lentils in cans (buy them Organic and in BPA free cans) or get them in bulk for much cheaper and soak them. Here is the soaking method:

Place 1 cup of lentils in a bowl and cover them with water. Let them sit for 4 hours, drain and rinse. Transfer into a pot and boil them for 15-20 minutes or until they are soft. Let them cool and store in the fridge. I usually plan this ahead of time so I don’t have to wait (Because I absolutely hate waiting!). Same idea with the rice. We talked already about the fact that it’s much faster to cook a bit of rice ahead of time and freeze it so you don’t have to wait while it cooks.

One last thing, you can make your own breadcrumbs easily by grounding your favorite crackers or even a toast in the food processor for a few minutes. I like to use Mary’s gone Crackers.

Prep time: 30 minutes    Waiting time:  30 minutes  Cooking time: 20 minutes  Serving: 6 or 7 patties

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups cooked, cooled brown rice (See notes above)
1 cup cooked brown or green lentils, cooled, drained well (See notes above)
1 cup shredded beets (About one large beet)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel (or finely crushed fennel seed)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
3 tablespoons very finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons smooth almond butter
1/2 cup very fine breadcrumbs (See notes above)

Start by Grating the beets with the shredding attachment of your food processor or using a simple grater. Add the lentils and rice and process using the pulse mode for about 1 minute (20-25 pulses). Transfer this in a bowl with all other ingredients and mix well. Place the bowl in the fridge for about 30 minutes for the mixture to set.

In the meantime, cut out some squares of parchment paper (7 or 8). I like to use a 4” cookie cutter to make big patties that look as nicely cut as the restaurant ones. I believe that food should not only taste good but it should look appealing too!

Waiting time is over! Take the mixture out of the fridge and star making your patties. To make it easier use one sheet of parchment paper and place the cookie cutter on it. Take some of the mixture and start forming the patty. Once it’s all flat and even, gently remove it from the cutter by lightly pressing on it and set aside. Follow the same steps for all the other ones and pile them on top of each other, always using the parchment paper in between (it prevents them from sticking).

The main part is done! When I make them I always want to eat one right away so I cook it in the oven at 350F for about 15 minutes. You can cook them in a pan if you want but I like to use the oven because I garnish it before cooking it! On this one, I used pesto as a condiment and added spinach and yellow tomatoes. Just to make this even better, I also cooked some Butternut Squash hash brown that were pre-cut in my freezer!

If you still have some of that Ketchup from the Tofu &Tomato Risotto recipe, spread it on your bun to make everything even better!

Alright! Time for me to eat… and go to bed!

Good night!