Snack: Green Smoothie

Green smoothies are coming into popularity now because you can stuff a ton of fruits and veggies and good nutrients into a delicious drink. I usually use mine to supplement a meal, like a breakfast of green smoothie and a Teff Muffin, for instance. I came up with this recipe for lunch after my dentist appointment this morning because I'm hungry, but the left side of my mouth is frozen, and I don't trust myself to chew.  The right side of my tongue says this is pretty tasty!

Green Smoothie

1 cup kale
1 carrot, scrubbed
1 apple, cored and sliced into quarters
1 orange, peeled and broken into quarters
1 banana, peeled
1 can coconut milk
1 Tbsp. chia seeds
6 slices (approx.) ginger 

Put all the ingredients in the blender, and enjoy! Makes 2 servings.
**Note: I love to use my Magic Blender because it's small and easy to clean, and I can drink right out of it. If you use a Magic Blender, too, only about half these ingredients will fit in the blender. I just put the rest away for later use. 

Treat: Decision Cookies

I adapted this family-favourite to use almond butter instead of peanut butter.  They're called "Decision Cookies" because you can decide whether to cook them or not. I usually like them chilled rather than baked, but these ones didn't chill so well. I'm not sure if the almond butter was just that much different than the peanut butter or what. They were pretty tasty baked, though! 

Decision Cookies

½ cup almond butter
1 cup honey
2 tsp. vanilla
½ cup raisins
2 cups wheat-free oatmeal
⅛ cup cocoa powder 

1. Stir together moist ingredients.  Add raisins, oatmeal, cocoa. Mix with clean hands. 

2. Make your decision:

a. Unbaked cookies: Form into balls. Put on plate and chill for 15 minutes.
b. Cooked cookies: Form into balls. Put on cookie sheet and press down with fork. Bake at 350oF for 10-12 minutes. Let cool.

Lunch: Tuna Salad

Tuna Salad

3 cup mixed greens (I used romaine and iceberg lettuce and kale)

1 tomato, chopped

½ celery stalk, chopped

⅓ yellow (or other coloured) pepper

2" (or so) English cucumber, chopped

12 (or so) filberts/hazelnuts

2 Tbsp. dried cranberries*

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 can flaked tuna in water**

The more colour the better for this tasty salad, since different coloured veggies have different nutrients. The cranberries and balsamic vinegar add a nice sweetness, and the filberts gave it some good texture and an extra bit of protein. 

* Make sure your dried cranberries are not sweetened with sugar. I found some sweetened with apple juice at a health food store. 

**Check out Greenpeace's Canned Tuna Sustainability Chart to make an informed choice about the canned tuna you're buying. 

Breakfast: Fruit Salad

When I was growing up, my family used to make these "fruit bowls" for breakfast in the morning and top them with sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and our favourite: shredded coconut. I paired this fruit salad with a Teff Muffin this morning for breakfast.

Fruit Salad

½ banana, sliced
½ apple, chopped
12 grapes, halved
½ orange, chopped
1 Tbsp. sunflower seeds
1-1½ Tbsp. unsweetened shredded coconut

Of course, you can use whatever fruit, nuts or seeds you have on hand. Sometimes I like to go tropical with kiwi, oranges, pineapple, and kiwi, and sometimes I stick to home-grown fruits like apples and peaches. I find a banana always gives it substance.

Dinner: Wild Sole and Pineapple, Fried Potatoes, and Steamed Veggies

DH put this delicious dinner together tonight:

Fried Potatoes

Approx. 6 thinly-sliced potatoes
Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to flavour
2 Tbsp. avocado oil
Fry the potatoes on medium-high heat, turning every so often to cook evenly.

DH fried the wild-caught sole with some cut-up pineapples, and steamed some broccoli and mini carrots of the perfect meal! And yes, that's some freshly-made herbal iced tea on the side. 

Breakfast: Muesli

Both my mother and my mother-in-law made a muesli very similar to this. My father-in-law eats it nearly every morning, so my mother-in-law makes it by bulk. I made my own mini-version this morning. It was pretty tasty, so maybe I'll start making it in bulk, too!

Breakfast Muesli

¾ cup wheat-free oats
2 Tbsp. sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp. raisins*
1 Tbsp. hemp hearts
1 Tbsp. chia seeds
1 Tbsp. ground flax seeds**

When it comes time to serve, add:
2 tsp. maple syrup
½ - ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk (or coconut milk)

* Ideally, your raisins should not be coated in any "bad" oils.
** Ground flax seeds will go bad very quickly so grind the seeds yourself in a coffee grinder and store them in the refrigerator. 

As you can imagine, you can add any variety of things to this muesli, to make it your own. Try pumpkin seeds, almonds, pecans, walnuts, shredded coconut, or other dried fruits like apricots or dates.

Breakfast: Gluten-Free Teff Muffins

My naturopath sent me to Nourishing Meals to get some meal ideas for an Elimination Diet. Apparently, the authors have even written a whole book about it! I found some muffins that I wanted to try for breakfast this week since my husband usually just grabs a muffin from his work's cafeteria for breakfast. This one is gluten-free, and is taken directly from their website. I've labelled it vegan because even though I used honey, there are alternate sources for sweetener that she mentions in the original recipe.

I also modified the recipe slightly in that I used 1½ tsp. of guar gum in place of 1 tsp. xanthan gum, and I discovered I only had ¼ c. left of pecans, so I topped it up with hemp hearts. I figured they taste kind of nutty and would add a big kick of protein. These little guys are certainly filling!