Wholesome Apple Crumble

I hope everyone is having a lovely Saturday night!

My Saturday night may have started the same way yours did: I put on a pretty dress and went to a Christmas party. However, I make no apologies for the fact that I am an old lady at heart. After sampling the buffet and going for two rounds of dessert, I decided that it was time to head home. It was, after all, past 8:30pm and therefore past my bedtime ;)

So here I am in my cozy pyjamas, watching a documentary in bed with the dog curled up on my feet (and under the covers), my pretty dress safely put away in my closet. And as lame is it sounds, this is my idea of a good Saturday night. 

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I made this apple crumble in 4 little ramequins, but feel free to double the recipe and bake it in an 8x8 pan. I just thought it would be neat to have individual portions in the freezer, ready to be baked on a cold winter night. 

Wholesome Apple Crumble: 

The Filling:

- 3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

- 1/2 Tbsp potato starch (cornstarch or arrowroot would work too)

- 2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce

- 3 Tbsp brown sugar

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice (or pineapple or orange juice)

The Topping:

- 3/4 cup large flake oats, divided (1/4 cup processed, 1/2 cup whole)

- 1/3 cup hazelnuts

- 1/3 cup walnuts

- 2 Tbsp maple syrup

- 3 Tbsp melted butter

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

- pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease 4 x 1/2 cup ramequins. 

Mix all filling ingredients in a bowl then spoon into ramequins. 

In a food processor, combine 1/4 cup of the oats with the hazelnuts and walnuts until coarsely ground. 

Combine processed mixture with the rest of the topping ingredients. 

Press topping over the apple mixture in the ramequins. 

Cover with foil and poke a few holes with a fork for the steam to escape. 

Bake covered for 20-25 minutes (35-40 minutes for a double recipe in an 8x8 pan), then remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown. 

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Good night!

Sweet Breakfast Flatbread + Almond Salad + Cilantro/Lime/Tahini sauce

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Mine included some forced relaxation - I have a nasty cold that is cramping my style!
The upside of this: I have time to blog and share of my new favorite recipes.

Starting with sweet breakfast flatbread. Inspired by Oh She Glows' Super Power Chia Bread, this cinnamon-raisin flatbread is delicious toasted and slathered in peanut butter. You can keep it in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days, but I freeze mine pretty much right away and pop a couple of slices straight into the toaster when the craving strikes.

Sweet Breakfast Flatbread: 

- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 3/4 cup oat flour (I just use oats and process them in the food processor for a minute)
- 2 tbsp hemp seeds
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pumpkin spice or cinnamon
- 2 tbsp chopped pecans
- 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 325F. Line an 8x8 pan with 2 pieces of parchment paper, one going each way (makes it easier to lift out).
Mix all the ingredients except for the applesauce and water. When well mixed, add liquids and stir until combined. The mixture will be quite runny - that's normal!
Pour into the prepared pan and lightly press/flatten with the palm of your hand until the mixture is spread evenly.
Bake for 25-30 minutes and let cool on a rack before slicing into 8 pieces.

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Then, we have almond salad. It is a refreshing change from your traditional tuna, chicken or egg salad, and is wonderful in a wrap or pita pocket with raw carrots, peppers and cucumber, although I am sure you will find many different ways to enjoy it!

Almond Salad: 

- 1 cup raw almonds,  soaked for 4-8 hours, drained and rinsed
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 handful fresh dill
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp chopped green onion
- 4 heaping tbsp hummus
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- salt + pepper, to taste

Combine almonds, lime juice, garlic and dill in a food processor and pulse until almonds are nicely flaked (see picture below).
Transfer to a bowl and mix in all the other ingredients until well combined.
Easy-peasy!

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Finally, we have cilantro/lime-tahini sauce. We have been using a variation of this sauce with pretty much everything, from burgers to falafels to a dip for yam fries. It is THAT good. You can substitute the lime and cilantro with lemon and dill and you have yourself another fresh and healthy sauce which would go swimmingly well with salmon, roasted cauliflower and quinoa, etc etc etc.

Cilantro/Lime/Tahini sauce:

- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 handful fresh cilantro
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp water
- salt + pepper, to taste

Give all the ingredients to your best friend the food processor and let him do the work. Process until smooth and voila!

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Take care!

Dates & Orange Breakfast Muffins

Hello everyone!

Life is tasting especially sweet lately. Yes, I have been doing a lot of baking. In the less literal sense though, I have been feeling especially lucky and thankful. No particular reason - it feels like lots of amazing things could potentially happen in the not-so-distant future, and that somehow makes me appreciate the present even more, if that makes any sense. What is there NOT to be grateful for, really, when we are healthy, when our families are supportive, when I am blessed with a wonderful group of beautiful and brilliant girlfriends, when we live in a warm and cozy home?

Speaking of sweetness, this muffin recipe is sure to brighten up your mornings. I mostly used dates as a sweetener, which pair wonderfully with the brightness of oranges. And, wouldn't you know it, there is a green veggie hiding in there! You cannot taste the zucchini, but it adds moisture as well as a boost of potassium and anti-oxidants.
If you are looking for a healthy muffin recipe to grab on your way out the door in the morning, this is it!

Date & Orange Breakfast Muffins: (makes 12 muffins)

- 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 Tbsp water
- 1 cup almond milk
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
- 3/4 cup whole pitted dates (if not soft, cover with boiling water for 10mins then drain)
- 1/2 a small seedless orange, peel and all
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp maple syrup
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup shredded zucchini (about 1/2 a medium zucchini)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a 12-muffin tin.
In a small bowl, whisk the flaxseed and water and set aside - it will thicken to the consistency of egg white in 5-10 minute.
In another small bowl, combine the almond milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside. The mixture will curdle and this is the desired effect. Alternatively, you can use buttermilk and omit this step (and omit the apple cider vinegar).
In a food processor, combine dates, the half orange (no need to chop or peel it - the food processor will work its magic), vanilla extract, maple syrup and olive oil.

Process until the mixture is mostly smooth, then add the milk mixture + the flaxseed mixture to it and process a bit longer to combine. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir until just combined. 

Fold in the zucchini and walnuts

Bake for 16-18 minutes and let cool on a rack. 

Before adding the milk + flaxseed mixtures

The wet ingredients

Before folding in the zucchini and walnuts

Have a great week!

Carrot and Quinoa Salad

Does anyone notice a trend here?

A carrot trend, perhaps? That may have something to do with the fact that carrots are often all that we can find in terms of produce at the Superstore. There is also the fact that I love carrots. They are sweet and healthy - a winning combo in my books.

We came back from a trip to Las Vegas a few days ago, so pardon my lack of recipe experiments lately - I was busy eating out, taking in the sights of the Grand Canyon, walking the Vegas strip, seeing a Cirque du Soleil show and relaxing a whole bunch. Tough life. I am actually amazed at how relaxed I came back from this trip. I usually get a bit frazzled coming back home, finding it difficult to get back into the rhythm of things, unpacking, doing laundry, catching up on my studying etc. Not this time though. I am just happy to be home, excited to be in the kitchen again, and eager to run and even go to the gym.

Seeing the amazing things that the Cirque du Soleil performers do with their bodies inspires me to become even fitter - and noticing how much poor quality food is around (especially in Vegas!) makes me want to eat even better.

Which brings me back to the carrot salad. It is high in protein (from the chickpeas and the quinoa), with lots of healthy fats (from the walnuts and the olive oil), and you get a good dose of beta-carotene (good for your night vision, amongst other things). And if you weren't sold already: it has raisins it it.

Carrot and Quinoa Salad: (serves 4-5)

For the salad:

- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 2 1/2 cups shredded carrots (3 or 4 large carrots)
- 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
- 1/2 cup raisins
- a handful of parsley and chopped walnuts, for garnish

For the dressing:

- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp water
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- back pepper, to taste

Cook the quinoa according to package instructions. One package of quinoa usually yields about 3 cups cooked, so you will end up with leftover quinoa if you cook the whole package. It's a good thing in my opinion (quinoa chocolate cupcakes, anyone?). Let cool slightly.
In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, chickpeas, carrots and raisins. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or two if you can.
In the food processor, combine all the dressing ingredients and process until smooth.
Mix it all together and garnish with parsley and walnuts.

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Here's to a great week ahead!

Carrot themed post: carrot cupcakes + carrot soup

Happy Friday y'all!

It has been another busy week. I was off work on Monday and Tuesday (which means I work this weekend, unfortunately), and was able to spend time doing what relaxes me most: cooking and baking. I have been fighting a cold for a while now, while The Husband has been in full-on man-cold mode. This, combined with the ever-present emotional roller-coaster of the whole infertility/adoption thing, and you have the winning formula for a drained and blubbery wife.
Thankfully, there is always cake to bring me back to sanity.

The flavour of the week: carrot cupcakes with "cream cheese" icing. I am using quotes here, because I actually made my own cream cheese out of cashews using this recipe, but you can just use plain old cream cheese, of course. To get an idea of how delicious these cupcakes were, know that I was planning on taking them to work after The Husband and I sampled a couple. Well, I regret to inform you, dear coworkers, that The Husband and I ended up eating all 10 cupcakes in 3 days. Enough said.

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing: 

For the cupcakes:

- 1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup canned coconut milk, mixed well before measuring
- 1/4 canola oil
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1.5 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup finely grated carrots
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup pineapple tidbits, drained

Preheat oven to 350F and line a cupcake pan with 10 liners.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon.
In another, medium bowl, whisk together coconut milk, oil, applesauce, apple cider vinegar and vanilla.
Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix until just combined. Fold in the carrots, raisins, walnuts and pineapple.
Fill liners and bake for 18-20 mins. Wait until the cupcakes are completely cooled before icing.

For the icing:

- 3/4 cup cream cheese
- 1.5 cups icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat all the ingredients together and spread a thin layer on each cupcake.
Reward yourself with one.

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The carrot recipe that I will share now is quick, easy, and probably healthier than the cupcakes if you are looking for a main course.

Carrot Coconut Curry Soup:

- 1 medium sweet onion, roughly chopped
- 1.5 lbs unpeeled and roughly chopped carrots
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1.5 tbsp red curry paste
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 can coconut milk
- 4 cups veggie broth
- salt + pepper, to taste

In a large pot, sauté the onions in olive oil until they are starting to soften, then add carrots and sauté for a few more minutes. Add cumin, curry and ginger and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add coconut milk and veggie broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes or until the carrots are just soft. Blend the soup in batches, return to pot, season with salt and pepper, and enjoy!

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One more baking effort worth mentioning is that I made bagels. I don't often buy bagels because of the crappy ingredients that most brands contain, which means that we don't often eat bagels....that has now changed, thanks to this recipe.

And for those who are curious to see how my cashew "cream cheese" turned out, here ya go!

Not too shabby!


















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Have a great weekend my friends!

Red curry lentil soup + Slow cooker baked beans

I'm back!

What an amazing experience this Victoria marathon was. We got to catch up with good friends, tour around a beautiful city, eat some delicious food - and I achieved my goal of running the race in under 4 hours. As usual, I started feeling very sick after 25K or so, and the last hour was a struggle. A constant battle in my head that goes something like this:
"Ugh, I'm so sick; let's just walk for a bit" "No, you can't walk, you said you were going to finish this thing in under 4 hours" "How about not finishing at all? We could just stop all together, call The Husband and get tucked into bed!" "Are you kidding me? We didn't come all this way to give up 6 miles back from the finish line!"..... etc, etc, etc.
Positive Me won over Negative Me. And this victory over my self-doubts makes me feel like I can do ANYTHING.

I'm already feeling back to normal, and starting to think about the next marathon. I'm weird like that.

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Back in Whitehorse, fall is definitely here, along with cravings for warm comfort food.

This red curry lentil soup is sure to warm you up! It's not very spicy - just very flavourful. Feel free to add a few veggies in there - I didn't have much on hand when I made this!

Red Curry Lentil Soup:

- 1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tsp red curry paste
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 2 tsp ketchup
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 1/2 cups dried split red lentils
- 1 28oz can diced tomatoes, with their liquid
- 3 cups veggie broth
- 1 can corn
- juice of 1 lime
- salt and pepper, to taste

In a large pot, sauté the onion in olive oil for a few minutes, until soft. Add garlic, curry paste, cumin, nutmeg and ginger and cook for another few minutes.
Add all other ingredients except for lime juice, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer for about 40 minutes.
Add lime juice and season with salt and pepper before serving. Delicious with brown rice, cornbread or homemade biscuits!

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This morning, I had some spare time before work and decided to experiment with baked beans in the slow cooker. They did not disappoint! I will be making them again and again.

Slow Cooker Baked Beans:

- 1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp blackstrap molasses
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp Ketchup
- 5 or 6 dashes hot sauce, such as Tabasco (optional)
- 2 cans red kidney beans
- 3/4 cup veggie broth
- salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a slow cooker and walk away! Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Loved them with couscous and a side of greens.


Have a wonderful and healthy weekend!

My Perfect Pancakes

Happy Friday!

Oh wait. It's Wednesday. It's my Friday though! I am vibrating with excitement, all packed and ready to jump on a plane tomorrow, heading south to run the Victoria marathon!
I feel ready to tackle 26.2 miles. It has taken a lot of running, doubting myself, persevering and finding my confidence again to get to this point.

Another thing that this training has required: FOOD, and lots of it. After stuffing myself every morning with pancakes much hard work, I have finally perfected my pancake recipe. It is the right blend of healthy and decadent - a good fit for a lazy Sunday as well as a busy Monday (you can freeze them and pop them in the toaster and yes, you can have weekday pancakes!).

My Perfect Pancakes: (serves 2)

- 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (you can use all-purpose instead, but it does decrease the health factor)
- 1/4 quick oats
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 medium banana

In a large bowl, whisk flour, oats, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
In a small bowl, combine milk, water and maple syrup.
Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix until just combined. Slice the banana right into the batter and fold in. If the batter is too thick, add water, 1 tbsp at a time.

Let the batter stand while your pan heats up. You know what to do after this.
Serve with chopped walnuts and warm maple syrup. Drool.

Enjoy - I'm going to bed for some much needed rest!