Recipe Update!

I was following my own recipe tonight and noticed I left out a very important ingredient in my Miso Coleslaw.

2 tablespoons of rice vinegar!  It adds the necessary sourness to the dressing.

I've been dragging my legs off the healthy eating wagon in the last couple of weeks.  My trip to Vancouver started it, which I do not regret one bit!  I am a bit of a foodie at heart and when I'm surrounded by friends who love and appreciate food as much as I do it's so hard to say no.  I admire people who can stick with the clean eating 100% of the time.  I guess I'm kind of thankful that LW is not much of a foodie because it makes it easier to eat clean most of the time.

We head to Vegas on Thursday for LW's birthday celebration and I know that it's going to be hard to make the right choices all the time.  I am going to bring my oats so that I can soak them before bed and have in the morning and I want to do either my Ashtanga practice or a BodyRock every morning when I'm there.  I just feel better when I do something in the morning to get my blood pumping.  

I noticed when I was in Vancouver and ordered a fritatta for breakfast how hard it is to reduce fat and calorie intake when you're traveling because as good as the fritatta was I could taste the butter it was cooked in.  I now know that I should ask for some menu items cooked with no fat.  Do I really care?  Part of me does because I am not yet at my goal.  Part of me doesn't, I just want to say fuck it and move on.

It's tough to eat clean.  I have to say that it's one of the most challenging things I've ever done.  They say yoga brings awareness to your self.  So does clean eating.  My body responds so clearly to bad food.  I was making LW cookies for his birthday and well, you know, I love cookie dough and ate a couple spoonfuls.  I paid for it and 100% completely suffered for it.

So, as I sip my scotch and type this, I raise my glass to everyone who is making the effort to eat clean. 

Apple Cinnamon Protein Shake

I love this shake it is perfect for fall.  I found this recipe in an Oxygen magazine and have tweaked it to my liking.  Enjoy!

1/2 apple, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped ginger

1 date or prune

handful of fresh or frozen spinach

1/2 banana

1/2 tablespoon peanut butter

1 cup almond milk, unsweetened

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1) Gather all your ingredients.  I forgot the apple in the photo and the acorn squash snuck it's way in. 

2)  Dump everything into your blender and blend on high.  I do not have one of those high power blenders so I let mine whiz around for a couple of minutes to make sure the spinach, ginger, apple and dates get nicely pulverized.  I also added a half cup of frozen blueberries to make the shake a little colder.

Raw Carrot Cake Muffins

Oh yes I said it, raw carrot cake.  Sounds weird but it is so good!  I found the recipe at Two Blue Lemons and adapted it to my liking.

Raw Carrot Cake

4 cups shredded carrot

1 cup dates

1 cup walnuts

3/4 cup dried apricots

1 - 1.5 cups unsweetened dried coconut

1/2 cup raisins

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/5 teaspoon cloves

1) Grate the carrot in a food processor or by hand.  It took me a while to figure out this attachment on my food processor because I had never used it before but once I got the hang of it, those carrots were grated in seconds.

2)  Change the attachment in your food processor back to the S blade and chop up the dates, apricots, walnuts and raisins.  Chop them until they are well blended but you don't want them to be mushy.  Add the date mixture to your carrots and your spices.  Feel free to add more cinnamon or nutmeg or omit whatever you don't like.

3)  Mix the carrots, dried fruit, nuts and spices all together and transfer back into the food processor in batches.  Process until well mixed.  It will be mushy and you want it to stick together when you press it between your fingers.

4)  Fold in the coconut.  I nearly forgot this step and it is very important.  The coconut adds flavor and helps the the muffins hold together.

5)  Using a measuring cup, scoop the mixture out of the bowl and place on a cookie sheet.  Give the measuring cups a good smack to get the carrot mix out.

6)  This is where I decided to branch of from the original recipe.  The carrot mix tasted great like this but I felt it was a little unfinished so I decided to experiment by some of the muffins in my dehydrator for 12 hours and I baked one lonely muffin at 200 degrees for about half hour.  They both turned out great but I much prefer the dehydrated muffins.  They are slightly chewy and the coconut flavour really shines through.

Getting ready to be dehydrated.

One lonely one for the oven.

All done! Fresh from the dehydrator!

You can top them with a cashew icing but I omitted this step because they taste great on their own!

Enjoy!

Coleslaw with Miso Honey Dressing

I have never liked coleslaw.  The traditional gloopy, mayo kind.  It has always made a little sick to my stomach.  I discovered this coleslaw recipe at the Whole Foods Market website and adapted it to what I had on hand.  It is delicious, simple, and refreshing.  And it gives you something to make from that tub of miso paste you have sitting in your fridge.

I used to have no idea what to do with miso but had heard that because miso is a fermented food you don't want to heat it to boiling because this can destroy the enzymes that are produced during the fermentation process.  Miso is an excellent source of vitamin B12 and contains all essential amino acids which make it a complete protein.  There are 2 grams of protein for each 25 calories in miso paste.

Coleslaw with Miso Honey Dressing

6 cups of cabbage (any kind will do, I used red and green), sliced
3 carrots, grated or sliced
1 apple sliced (optional)
1 cup of sliced jicama (optional)
1 tablespoon yellow miso
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Grate or slice your vegetables.  Or use your amazing Spirooli Slicer that this lovely lady gave me.

Gather your ingredients for the dressing.

Whisk everything together and then pour over the vegetables.

Allow the coleslaw to marinate for a few hours and then enjoy!

You can add chopped apple, jicama, nuts or sesame seeds.  I didn't have any of these on hand but it tastes amazing just as it is.

Sources: World's Healthies Foods
              Care 2

Autumn Apple Crumble

TnT and I went apple picking the other day in a neighbour's backyard.  He wasn't using the fruit and the poor tree was weighed down with a ton of perfect little red apples.  I came home and immediately started chopping them up to make apple crumble.

Autumn Apple Crumble 

3 cups chopped apples
1 cup blueberries
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons coconut oil
cinnamon

Grease a casserole dish with coconut oil.  Chop up the apples.  You can skin them if you'd like, I never bother because I like the skin.  Dump them into your casserole dish.  Add the blueberries, frozen or fresh.  Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and maple syrup.  Stir to mix all the flavours together.

 

Add the buckwheat flour, ground almonds and coconut oil to a bowl.

Add the brown sugar and cinnamon.  I probably added about 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.  I love the stuff so never measure it.

Next, as you would if using butter for a crumble, mix the coconut oil, the flour and sugar together by pressing and combining with your hands.

Cover the fruit with the crumble topping.  Throw the dish in a 350 degree oven and bake until the top is brown and the fruit is soft, juicy and bubbling, about 30 - 40 minutes.

Pour yourself a glass of scotch, if you haven't already been sipping on something, and get comfortable while you wait for the crumble.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving yourself a nice delicious bowl.

Enjoy!

Comfort Food - Raw Brownies

Sometimes life, well, it's just simply annoying.  This afternoon, I developed a general dislike for most of the human race.  When I feel this way I want to eat, I want to drink, I want to crawl into bed and watch Almost Famous.

So in order to solve my eating problem, I decided to go to the grocery store and get the ingredients to make - wait for it - a raw brownie recipe.

 Yes, you read that correctly.  It is a raw brownie.  I discovered the recipe on the My New Roots website.  Sarah Britton has a whole lot of amazing recipes and nutritional information on her blog.

The original recipe calls for raw cacao.  I did not use this, I used plain old cocoa powder.  I did some research on the difference between cocoa and cacao and the opinions are incredibly contradictoray.  Sarah even mentions in her comments that she is uncertain of the nutritional differences.  If you have any ideas, I would love to hear.

I've adapted the recipe to the ingredients I had on hand.


Raw Brownie

1 cup walnuts

1 cup hazelnuts

1 cup cocoa powder

2 1/2 cups fresh dates

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

The original recipe calls for chopped almonds, which you see on the left, I didn't use them

 Chop the walnuts and hazelnuts in the food processor and blend on high until they are finely ground.  

Add the cocoa powder and salt and pulse until mixed together.  

Turn the food processor on low and the dates one at a time through the feed tube while the processor is running.  

The mixture should stick together when pressed in your fingers.  Grease a pan with coconut oil.  Pour the mixture into the pan and press until the mixture is firm.  Allow the brownies to cool in the refrigerator for a few hours.

After chilling, cut and enjoy!  Even LW likes these brownies!

Pumpkin Pie Pudding

I love pumpkin pie.  It is one of my favourite pies, which I find interesting because I never ate much pumpkin pie growing up, it was always Dutch apple pie (which is amazing).  In the last little while I developed my own version of pumpkin pie.  A "pie" that is a little healthier, minus the crust, because the best part is the filling

       Pumpkin Pie Pudding

• 3/4 cup maple syrup or honey
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 eggs
• 1 (14 ounce) can Pure Pumpkin or 1 3/4 cup of pureed fresh pumpkin
• 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice)
• coconut oil to grease casserole dish

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease baking dish with coconut oil.
2. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin, maple syrup and spices. Gradually stir in almond milk. Pour into baking dish.
3. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

 I entered all the ingredients into LiveStrong.  Using my 8.5 by 8.5 casserole dish and estimating 9 servings, the website calculated the recipe to be 111 calories per serving.  Not bad for a little treat (or two) during the day.


One of my favourite things to do with this recipe, is in the Autumn I go down to my local market and buy the sugar pumpkins.  I then roast them in the oven and purée them in the food processor.

I forgot to get a photo post-bake but I swear to you it is as delicious as a pumpkin pie!

Warm Autumn Zucchini Soup

It has started getting a little chilly here the last couple of days.  Today I rode my bike in a hoodie with the rain spattering my sun glasses and all I could think of was some warm soup to have for dinner.

Warm Autumn Zucchini Soup

2 medium zucchinis
1 medium yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 stalk of fresh rosemary
pinch crushed red pepper
salt and pepper
parmigiano reggiano (optional)

In a large pot heat olive oil.  Add the onion and saute a few minutes, add garlic.  Chop up zucchini and add to the pot with salt and pepper, crushed red pepper and the rosemary.  Allow to cook until the zucchini is soft, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the stock and simmer for 15 minutes.  Carefully pour everything in the pot into a blender and puree in batches.  Hold a cloth over the top of the blender to prevent the top from popping off from the heat of the liquid.  If you have an immersion blender you can use it.
Pour the puree back into the pot and keep warm on the stove.  Add parmigiano when ready to serve.
 

Served with raw flax cracker from Cafe Bliss

Flax Crackers

Last night I borrowed my mum's dehydrator.  She used to make us home made fruit leather with this dehydrator from the apples and pears from our back yard.  I found a recipe for flax seed crackers on My New Roots and wanted to give them a shot.

2 cups ground flax seed
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1/4 cup chia seeds
2 cups water
dried basil and oregano
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon sea salt


Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.  Allow to become firm and then scoop onto a solid dehydrator sheet and spread thinly.  Cut the flax mixture into cracker shapes and dehaydrate for 5 - 6 hours.  Check periodically and when the crackers become dry on top, flip onto a mesh dehydrating sheet and allow them to become crisp, another 4 - 6 hours.  Store in a sealed container in the fridge.


They are seriously yummy.


I adapted the recipe slightly.  I found the mixture easier to work with after it had hardened slightly.  I was able to spread it more thinly.  And I found the crackers impossible to "flip" onto the mesh sheet so I slid a knife under them and one by one picked them up and flipped them over.  You could add any kind of seasoning you'd like to them.  I was thinking cinnamon and more honey the next time to make them more of a sweet treat.

Breakfast Pancake

With this new eating plan I am experimenting with, I had to come up with some breakfast ideas other than my standard rolled oats, Greek yogurt and fruit.  What I came up with was a butternut squash pancake.

Take a butternut squash, cut it in half and remove the seeds.  Bake it at 350 degrees until you can stick a fork in to the flesh.  Cut the squash into four equal pieces.  Take one of those pieces and scoop it out of skin and into a bowl.  Mash it up with some cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.  Add in a tablespoon of flax seeds and one egg or a quarter cup of egg whites.  Mash it all together until it is a lovely orange, brown mush.  Heat a pan on the stove and pour your pancake batter into the hot pan.  Fry at medium heat until the bottom starts to firm up - sometimes I add frozen blueberries at this point.  Flip carefully.  It will may fall apart - no biggie - just stick it back together again and finish the second side.  Slide onto a plate and top with whatever you'd like.

I like to top my pancake with Greek yogurt and fruit! 

Chocolate Tofu Mousse with a Walnut Crust

I love to cook.  I love trying new recipes.  And I especially enjoy cooking for people.  At the lovely Lala's request, here is my first ever recipe to be shared here at Yoga Daze.

Don't be turned off by the tofu.  It works - seriously - it's delicious and relatively good for you.  I rarely follow recipes to the T, I often adjust and change ingredients to suit my mood so feel free to play with the ingredients.

Chocolate Tofu Mousse with a Walnut Crust

Walnut Crust
3 cups raw walnuts
2 T brown sugar
3 T softened butter

Preheat oven to 325°.  Chop walnuts in a food processor until crumbly.  Add sugar and butter.  Pulse until well combined.  Press the walnut mixture into a greased 9 inch pie plate.  Bake crust in oven for about 10 minutes or until the edges are brown.  Allow to cool.

Chocolate Mousse

1 package Silken Firm tofu
1.5 cups milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup coffee (optional)
2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp vanilla

Place the chocolate chips in a pot and melt the chocolate chips on a very low temperature so they don't burn.  Add the coffee, cinnamon and vanilla as the chocolate melts.  Meanwhile, place the tofu in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Pour the melted chocolate into the blender and blend with the tofu until creamy and well mixed.  Pour the mousse into the baked pie crust and chill.  Decorate the pie with fruit or serve with fruit on the side.

Enjoy!