Healthy Apple Crisp and other yummy things ...

Easy Healthy Apple Crisp

Ingredients:
5 medium red apples
ground cinnamon to taste
1 cup almond flour (or just pulse some raw almonds in your food processor until you get flour like consistency)
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 cup crushed walnuts
pinch of ground nutmeg

Method:
Layer thinly sliced apples in a baking dish and generously sprinkle them with cinnamon. (I use a mandolin to slice them really thin.)

In a small bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut oil, walnuts, and nutmeg. Then, sprinkle the mixture over the apples. Bake the crisp at 350F for about 20 mins or until the apples are soft. Serve warm.

If you have leftovers, you can put them in a bowl with some almond mylk for breakfast! Yum!

Recipe from: Clean Eats by Alejandro Junger

My local veggie stand had avocados for $1! So, I also made some guacamole and avocado ranch dressing for tonight's salad.



Guacamole

Salad with Organic Lettuce and Beets from our Local CSA, cucumbers, kalamata olives, and green onions

Pesto with Rice Noodles and BEYOND Vegan Chik Strips

Avocado Ranch Dressing

Avocado Ranch dressing and "Bestest Pesto" recipes are in Isa Does It by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Chewie got a haircut today too. XOXO

Deamy Blueberry Smoothie

Dreamy Blueberry Smoothie
(delicious and super healthy!)

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cups water or almond mylk (I use almond mylk)
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if using fresh I throw in 4 ice cubes)
1 soft medjool date, pitted
1-2 tablespoons unsalted almond butter
1 tablespoon chia gel (see recipe below)
1 tablespoon shredded unsweetened coconut
*optional: I also put a teaspoon of spirulina in mine.

Method:

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth on high setting (about 45 seconds).

CHIA GEL: 3 tablespoons chia seeds soaked in 1 and 3/4 cups water overnight

RECIPE FROM: Clean Eats by Alejandro Junger, M.D.

Roasted Cauliflower with Pistachio Dressing



Roasted Cauliflower with Pistachio Dressing

(super delicious!)

 

 

 

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 small red onion, sliced into strips

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

pinch of sea salt

2 teaspoons curry powder

 

For the dressing:

1/2 cup raw pistachios

1 and 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup water

sea salt to taste

 

Method:

Preheat oven to 375F.

 

In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower and red onion with the olive oil, salt, and curry powder. Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet and roast the veggies for about 15-20 mins or until fork-tender and slightly browned.

 

Meanwhile, make the dressing. Toast the pistachios in a dry pan for a few minutes over medium heat. Transfer all the dressing ingredients to a blender and blend until well combined but still a bit chunky. (I had to add a bit more olive oil and water because I thought it was too thick.)

 

You can either serve the sauce on the side and dip the cauliflower into it, or drizzle it over the cauliflower. I mixed the sauce and the cauliflower and it was delicious!

 

RECIPE FROM: Clean Eats by Alejandro Junger, M.D. 

September Cleanse!

So, September is when I like to celebrate the new year ... It feels like a new start. So, this year I'm cleaning out my closets and my insides!

I read CLEAN by Alejandro Junger and his thoughts about healthy eating seem to, for the most part, gel with mine. Part of the cleanse is to do a shake for breakfast, whole foods for lunch, and a shake for dinner. I'm eating whole foods for lunch and dinner, but I'm following the cleanse otherwise; that is, no caffeine, no diary, no processed foods, no alcohol, no soy, no sugar, no corn, no nightshade veggies (potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, etc.), no wheat ... did I forget anything? LOL And, I'm drinking 2 litres of purified water a day.

The withdrawal symptoms following giving up caffeine were rough! I had my last coffee on Thursday, August 27th, and I had a dull headache from that Friday until Wednesday 9/2! I was achy and lethargic ... ugh. I'd been wanting to give up caffeine for a while, so this was a welcome detox in any event.

Now that the caffeine detox is over, I feel great! I've been doing lots of cooking and cleaning. I filled 4 giant bags with clothes to donate to the thrift store and my closets and drawers are still stuffed. haha! Fashionista issues ... I also bought the CLEAN EATS cookbook. It's got some great recipes for super healthy smoothies, salad and dressings, and dips - just ignore the non-vegan recipes.

Here are my favorite things I made this week:

Raw Berry Cream Brownies! These are really, really good and super easy to make! The hardest part is shopping for all the ingredients. The recipe is from Kris Carr's website and you can click HERE to find it. :) My advice is to double the recipe as the original recipe seems to make a teensie tiny bit.

 

Thanks to this week's CSA bounty, I cooked up some delicata squash and beet and collard greens with some pesto noodles for dinner last night. 

And ... OMG! These brown rice wakame noodles are SO FRIGGIN' GOOD! Gluten free, vegan, and delicious. I used Isa Chandra's Bestest Pesto recipe from p.140 of Isa Does It and mixed it with the noodles and some cannellini beans. Delightful.