All posts in “Health”

Granola Bars (raw+dairy free)

February 2, 2016 / No Comments

Ohhhh Granola Bars….. They have such good intentions, most appear to be healthy, (at least that’s how their promoted)  but if you take a closer look at your favourite supermarket granola bar, you may be shocked to learn their is a lot more things in there you thought were doing you good.

I grew up on granola bars. It makes sense for parents. They are typically cheap, have phrases such as “all natural” or “sugar free” and are a super convenient snack to keep stached in your purse or lunch box!

Who wouldn’t fall for that!?

What most people don’t realize is that their are soooo many hidden ingredients in the typical granola bar. You would think that they have maybe 10 ingredients — guess again. Next time your in the grocery store take a little gander at how many ingredients are in your favourite snack. Can you pronounce all of the ingredients? Probably not.

If it doesn’t make sense in your head, it won’t make sense in your gut.

This is why I wanted to share with you an AMAAAAZING granola bar recipe!!!

And I promise your going to drool.

 

This recipe was altered from The Minimalist Bakers website. If you haven’t yet been to this site, it’s an absolute must! So many delicious dairy free recipes to choose from!

 

Heres what you’ll need:

  • 1/2 cup pitted medjool dates
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup all natural Peanut Butter
  • 1/4 cup natural honey (or sub maple syrup for vegan option)
  • 1 cup roasted un-salted almonds
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1 1/2 cups GF rolled oats
  • 1 tbsp flax seeds
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
  • dairy free chocolate chips (or sub dark chocolate)
  • 2 pinches of salt

 

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a small sauce pan, gently warm honey and all natural peanut butter on low. Add in your salt, and stir to combine. ***salt is necessary to cut the sweetness of the dates***
  2. Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper so they can be easily lifted out.
  3. Combine flax seeds and 2 tablespoons of water to create a “flax egg”. Let your flax egg set up for a few minutes – this will help to hold your bars together.
  4. Process dates and cranberries in a food processor or high speed blender until small bits remain. ***I recommend soaking your dates and cranberries for 10 minutes before processing them so their nice and gooey***
  5. Roughly chop your almonds and pumpkin seeds and place that into a bowl with the oats, date & cranberrie mixture, flax egg, and peanut butter/ honey mixture.
  6. Add in your chia seeds and stir to fully combine. Taste the mixture and add more salt if too sweet.
  7. Melt the  chocolate in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
  8. Place mixture into baking dish and pat down until evenly distributed. You want your bars to stick together, so put some muscle into it!!
  9. Spread melted chocolate over top of the bars and sprinkle with coconut.
  10. Place into freezer to let set up for an hour.
  11. Remove from baking sheet, cut into 14 bars and enjoy!!!!

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Xo lauren

 

 

Harvest Soup

November 20, 2015 / No Comments

I recently recieved a humongous box filled with squash, onions, pumpkins and garlic from my boyfriends Grandmas garden. It was just sitting there in my kitchen when I came home from work one night, and I have to say I haven’t been so excited in my life! If you ever want to make me super happy, all you have to do is bring me beautiful, local produce and just like that we will be best friends 🙂

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So with all of this amazing produce, I knew I had to make a crap ton of soup.

When the colder months hit, your body naturally craves warm foods, such a soups, hot tea, and ground vegetables because they are in season. It’s just weird eating strawberries in the middle of winter right? (Plus they taste horrible)

So here is a soup recipe that I totally winged. I didn’t follow any particular guidelines, I just went with the flow and added in whatever I wanted. This is my favourite way to cook because you can let your imagination and creativity fly – and also use up whatever you have in the fridge at the same time! It’s a win win.

Like I said, this is a very versitle dish and you can add in whatever you want, if you don’t have squash, but want to use pumpkin, go for it! The options are endless.

Heres what you’ll need:

  • 1 medium sized onion
  • 1 bulb of garlic (yes the entire bulb)
  • 2 medium sized Butternut squash
  • 4 large carrots
  • 2 Granny Smith apples
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon tumeric
  •  1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 2 table spoons olive oil (or coconut oil)
  • pinch of salt and pepper
  • 3 large stalks of celary
  •  3 parsnips (optional)
  • approx 2 cans (or boxes) of low sodium veg stalk
  • 1 inch of fresh ginger

Alright first things first

Get that squash and garlic roasting!

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F
  2. Grab a sheet pan and place tinfoil over for easy clean up
  3. Cut squash into halves and scoop out seeds and guts
  4. Place onto baking sheet flesh side up, drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper
  5. Grab an entire bulb of garlic, trim the end and place into a  piece of tinfoil. Drizzle with olive oil, and wrap that baby up
  6. Toss into oven for 40 minutes

While that is roasting, lets build our soup.

  1. Grab a large pot and drizzle with olive oil, over medium heat
  2. Add in onions, celary, carrots, ginger and parsnips. Cook for about 5-7 minutes till softened
  3. Next add in your curry powder, tumeric, cumin and salt. Stir to combine. Cook for another 5 minutes
  4. Now we can add in our Veg stalk. We will be blending the soup once it’s done so Depending on how thick you like it, I found the 2 boxes of stalk gave it a nice consistency, but if you like it a bit thicker simply use less stalk!
  5. Let soup simmer on medium-low for 15 minutes.

Once the squash and garlic are done, pull them out of oven and let cool  so their easy to handle. This is something you can do in advance so your not playing hot potato with the squash.

Scoop the flesh of your squash into the pot, and squeeze garlic in as well (my favourite part) . Stir to combine. If you have time you can let that simmer for as long as you want. When your ready blend up your soup with an immersion blender (or hand blender) If you don’t have this tool you can also plop it into a regular blender. You will have to blend in small batches.

Give your soup a taste, add some fresh cracked pepper, and salt if needed. That’s it!

This makes 12 servings, so unless your making it for Sunday dinner, you can freeze half and have ready to go whenever your craving it.

 

I hope you enjoy!

Lauren xo