Boomer Bliss

The Craveable Boomie – A simple way to satisfy your cravings for something crunchy, savory & substantial.  I usually make this during my hour between classes as a yummy lunch, but you can also prep the ‘shroom beforehand and pack everything up separately THEN assemble once you’re ready to eat (it doesn’t keep well for long after you put it all together, the mushroom makes the bread all soggy if it sits for more than 15 minutes)

 

What you’ll need: 

• A Portobello Mushroom cap
• some strips of red onion, to taste
• 2 beefy tomato slices
• 2 slices of the bread that makes you and your body the happiest
• 1 tablespoon of your favourite dressing, some balsamic, mayonnaise (vegan or not), olive oil, etc. The dressing part is easily customizable. I usually use a Annie’s Poppy Seed dressing, but any type of spread will do!
• .5 tablespoon olive oil
• frying pan & a cooking lid that fits well enough to cover the top of your pan
• salt & pepper, to taste

Prep: wash up the mushroom, then chop off a bit of the stem so there’s nothing that sticks out farther than the mushroom’s “umbrella” top. 

Now:

1. heat up your frying pan with the dash of olive oil. The mushroom will get juicy all on its own so no need for a ton of oil. Once it’s good and ready, place your freshly washed and prepped mushroom on the skillet on low heat. Cover and let steam for about 3 minutes. (While you’re waiting for the mushroom to cook, toast the bread!! always tastes better toasted in my opinion!) After 3 minutes it up, flip over the mushroom to the other side, replace cover and let steam for about 3 minutes. Repeat twice, or until the mushroom has started to brown and flatten out a bit.

2. Spread your choice of dressing onto one of the pieces of bread, then place down a tomato slice. Pop the mushroom top on top of this tomato, throw on the onion, the other tomato, then top it off with the other piece o’ bread. Voila! A quick and easy, taste-bud-satisfying and belly-filling crunchy munchy treat!

Mary’s Gone Crackers

Wholesome alternative to prepackaged, processed, sugary snacks that we often reach for when we don’t have time to cook or need to munch on the way to class, the gym, appointments, etc. Making something like this on your own instead of buying prepackaged & uber-processed means you get to know exactly what you’re putting in your body (health is wealth!), plus you save some dough. 

What you’ll need: 

• some kind of cracker (I use “Mary’s Gone Crackers” brand – they’re vegan, organic, gluten free, wheat free, & made out of unprocessed whole ingredients. )
• your favourite peanut butter 
• about 2 minutes

Next: take out about 8-10 crackers & dab on a glob of of PB on half of them right in the center. Put the other half on top of the smeared ones to make little mini sammiches. Wrap them up in a little tupperware for later! In my experience they keep well up to two days. 

 

Ps. This is what the Mary’s Gone Crackers brand looks like:

Petit Déjeuner des Champions – Scrambled Veggies w/a side of Fruit

Get a GOOD full-to-the-brim start to your day with this planty plate ( :

 

What you’ll need:

• frying pan
• 1 egg – > preferably free-range, veggie-fed & local, but i recognize that those kinds of products aren’t available everywhere – sadly )’: 
• 1 navel orange
• 1 banana 
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup blackberries
• 5 grape tomatos, or 1/3 a big vine tomato
• 2/3 cup chopped broccoli
• 1/2 cup spinach
• some chopped onion, to taste (i use barely any, not even 1/4 of a cup) – usually use red, but white will work well too
• 3 crimini (brown/italian) mushrooms, if desired
• tablespoon olive oil
• salt & pepper, to taste

10 Minutes to Yum!

1. Chop up the orange – i like to wash, then cut right through the peel into little bite sized pieces so it’s easy to munch the fruit off the peel. Wash up the berries and chop up the banana into bite sized pieces. Set aside for uno momento.

2. Heat up the stove with a tablespoon olive oil – when it starts getting hot, throw on the onions. While you wait for it to heat up, crack the egg in a bowl and whisk it up so it’s ready to be poured on the veggies at the last second.

3. After about a minute of the onions simmering on low heat, toss in your chopped broccoli. Sauté for about 1 minute.

4. Finally, throw on the spinach & mushrooms and cover the pan for about a  minute while you get the spinach to wilt.

5. After the minute o’ wilting is up, throw on the tomatoes and pour on the egg. Scramble the veggies & egg together until the egg is firm and cooked through.

— > VOILA! Scrambled veggies & a platefull of fruit – you’ll feel super full after this meal, but the uncomfy feeling will go away after 25 minutes and you’ll be super energized and feelin’ nourished!

Good Belly, Good Morning – Break the fast FAST

Sweet Fruity Purple Protein Smoothie for those on-the-go mornings. If you can wash fruit quickly, it shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes to make!! This is my nourishing break-the-fast FAST morning fall back. 

What you’ll need:

• A BLENDER!!
• 1/2 cup blackberries (antioxidants, fiber, vitamin C AND tannin [tannin strengthens/tightens various tissues of human body & keeps blood vessels strong]) 
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1.5 tablespoon ground flax (full of fiber & it’s gotcha on those omega-3 fatty acids)
• 1 large banana or 2 small (B6, B12, &potassium! Also: great at regulating blood sugar levels which is perfect when your intent is to make this your main morning meal)
• 1/2 cup original hemp milk (or cow milk, soy, almond, etc.) – if the milk itself doesn’t have much flavor, add a dash of vanilla to the mix before you blend it up.
• 2 teaspoons agave nectar (or honey, or whatever kind of sweetener you prefer)
• 1 (or 2) cup fresh spinach for some sneaky goodness (can’t taste it at all once it’s covered up by blissful blackberry, promise) -> SPINACH = Phytonutrients and IRON IRON IRON!
• 2 tablespoons hemp protein powder (or whatever kind of protein powder you prefer)
• 3 big ol’ ice cubes

(Serves 1 if you plan on having this as your meal replacement, or share with another as a healthy morning side)

Gettin’ it Started

1. WASH THE FRUIT!! So so necessary – chemicals do not belong in your body, and think of all the icky stuff fruit and veggies come in contact with on the journey from farm to table.

2. Put ice cubes in first, chop up the banana into bite sized pieces, then throw ’em in with the ice. Everything else can be thrown on into the blender in any order you choose. 

3. Blend it up & marvel at the beautiful purple color that the berries grace you with!! Welcome to the world of smoothies, my friends!

MORE SMOOTHIE RECIPES TO COME ❤

 

Choppin’ Up some Green Goodness

Gimme the Greens – super light, super simple & super nourishing! Perfect as a side dish, adds a little green to the daily grind.

What you’ll need: 

• 6 brusselsprouts
• 2 cups arugula (or spinach if arugula is too bitter) – or half and half!
• 1 green apple
• 1 ripe avocado
• .5 cup crimini (brown) mushrooms, if you want (thus, the fungi are optional)
• 1/3 cup red onion
• 2 table spoons olive oil
• 1.5 table spoon red wine vinegar
• a pinch of garlic powder, salt & pepper
• half a lime

(Serves 2 as a side, 1 as a main dish)

Quick nutritional stats: Arugula is a rich source of iron (which we ALL need more of) & folic acid, and it boasts superstar vitamin K levels = healthy bones and brain! Red wine vinegar is awesome at stimulating your metabolism, avocado’s gotcha on those essential GOOD fats, brusselsprouts and vitamin C go leaf-in-leaf, and my nona always says Olive Oil is good for your skin 😉

Here We Go – Super Simple :

1. chop up the brusselsprouts into thin little strips (the long way – in other words, don’t chop across the bud, but from its hardish base to the rounder tip), chop the arugula, chop the apple into thin bite-sized pieces and chop up the onion & mushrooms into teeny-tiny bits. Place these beautiful veggies in a big ol’ bowl.

2. in another bowl, combine the red wine vinegar, olive oil, lime, garlic powder, salt & pepper and whisk up to your hearts content.  Pour over chopped veggies and toss ’em up like the pro you are.

3. Finally, artfully split the ‘cado into two pieces – when pulled apart, one half will harbor the giant pit – naturally. Scoop the pit out with a spoon, then scoop out the avo-fruit from its skin with a spoon, keeping it in its circular shape best you can. Chop the avocado into little cubes to the best of your ability, and gingerly fold these into your veggie mixture.

VIOLA! A mouth-watering, green goodness veggie cabaret. ❤ Bon Appetite!

Note: if you’re not planning on munching right after you make it, wait until the last minute to throw in the avocado – don’t want it to turn icky brown.

Seedergy – Plant-based Protein Power

Super Easy, Very Please-y Yummy Nutty Vegan Seed Bars!!

What you’ll need:

Some kind of sauce pan & 8×8 oven-safe baking dish

3 tablespoons Peanut Butter – I use creamy, but crunchy will do just fine

3/4 cup Steel Cut Oats

2 tablespoons chia seeds

1 tablespoon ground flax

2 tablespoons hemp protein powder (optional) – can also be any other kind of protein powder you prefer – whey, soy, etc.

3/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds

.75 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract

a tince more than 1/3 cup hemp milk (any other kind of milk will do, too: soy, cow, almond, etc)

2/3 cup chopped almonds

olive oil to semi-grease bottom of baking pan

2 tablespoons Agave nectar (or honey)

To Begin:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a saucepan, combine peanut butter, milk, cinnamon, ground flax, half of agave nectar (or honey) & vanilla over stove on low heat until it’s one fluid (yummy-smelling) mixture. As soon as peanut butter is melted, turn off the stove – can switch over to burnt goo very quickly.

3. While peanut butter mixture is still hot, mix in almonds, chia seeds, protein powder, oats & pumpkin seeds. Stir until the dry mixture and the melty-peanutbutter are blended in perfect plant-based harmony ❤

4. Switch seed-y mixture from stovetop to lightly olive-oil greased, oven-safe pan. Pat down mixture until flat.

(Tip: It should be about a half-inch thick, so if pan is too big & mixture is too thin when spread out to the sides, push it all to one side until you’ve got the desired thickness –  it will keep its shape while baking, promise.)

5. Place pan in oven (Set @350 degrees) and bake for about 6-8 minutes.

6. Pull it out after that time, drizzle some honey over the top (or melted chocolate if you so desire!), and put back in the oven for about 3-4 minutes.

7. Take it out (don’t forget to turn off the oven ( ; ) and send it directly into the fridge for about an hour of cooling. After that, it should be safe to take out and cut into rectangles, squares, diamonds, whatever your beautiful heart desires!! ❤

Hint: some bits of the bar will crumble out of shape during cutting, but whatever falls can easily be formed back into a block of some sort after you collect the other runaway seeds. You could take these “crumbs” and use as a compliment to yogurt, on pancakes, on fruit salad, etc.

*please let me know if anything goes wrong with the recipe so I can adapt this post accordingly – don’t want to lead any of you astray!