"Ice box" Chia Seed Oatmeal

By: Genevieve Melzer

Hello everybody,

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted and it’s time to get back into sharing recipes with all of you. This week for me was all about preparing meals for the next day. I always work out and eat healthy because that is a part of my healthy lifestyle, but since I have gotten engaged I have really stepped it up a notch.

I eat healthier when I have it mapped out for the day. I love eating oatmeal in the morning because it fuels me for much of my day, so when a friend told me about this easy oatmeal recipe I had to try it.

Start by using a Mason jar or tuber-ware container.

What you will need:
½ cup oats
1 cup almond milk (can use coconut milk or hemp milk)
2 teaspoons of chia seeds
¼ cup blueberries
1. Scoop oats into the mason jar
2. Pour almond milk on top of the oats.
3. Add chia seeds and blueberries.
4. Mix everything together well.
5. Seal Mason jar or tuber-ware container.
6. Place in “ice box” (refrigerator) over night and oatmeal will be ready to eat in the morning.
7. Eat & Enjoy!

You can heat the oatmeal up or just enjoy it cold like I did. Feel free to add any fruit you like besides blueberries, that’s just what I had in the house so that’s what I used. I love bananas and strawberries in my oatmeal so I will probably use those next time. Also feel free to add cinnamon or agave if you need more of a sweet taste.

This Ice Box Chia Seed Oatmeal is the perfect grab n’ go breakfast when you are running late for work or just too tired in the morning to make something. On Tuesday mornings I go to Zumba class and sometimes I am so tired I can’t get up to make breakfast so this is the perfect thing to have in the “ice box” waiting for me.

This oatmeal is vegan, made with all organic ingredients and super healthy for you too. It is a great go to meal when you are super busy with work and life. Post in the comments below what you add to your oatmeal from the garden, I’m always looking for new ides. Until next time eat healthy, live in the moment and keep moving.

Pea and Parsley Risotto

Pea and Parsley Risotto

By: Elizabeth Beals

   Peas are just coming into season this year and it's still a little chilly outside for spring. Risotto is the perfect dish to fill you up and keep you warm. I have come to love this dish so much that I requested it for my 29th birthday dinner. I will be honest and tell you, the first time I made this dish from start to finish it took me two hours! I was still new to vegan cooking and had never made a risotto in my life. I am proud to say that I have it down to under an hour now. What a little bit of patience and practice will do for the cook in all of us. Three tips I want to pass on to you about risotto. Pull a stool to the stove you are going to be there for a while. The wine can be cold, but the veggie broth needs to be warmed. Lastly, please wait until all the liquid has been absorbed each time before adding more. 

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1  white onion, finely diced

1 cup + more to garish fresh parsley, chopped

1 cup arborio rice

1 cup white wine, use what you like and drink the rest

3 cups veggie broth, warmed

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 cup fresh or frozen peas 

1/4 cup basil, fresh chopped

1. Heat oil in your largest pan with a tall edge over medium heat. Cook the onion for a few mins until soft then add the parsley. Watch out because the parsley will pop out of the pan from the hot oil. Lower the heat if parsley starts to brown. Cook until all is tender it will take about 3 mins.

2. Stir in rice and cook until the tips are translucent, stir constantly for 2 to 3 mins. Once tips are translucent stir in wine. When the wine had been absorbed by the rice, reduce heat to a simmer. About 3 mins for the wine to be absorbed by the rice.

3. Stir in warmed veggie broth a half cup to a cup at a time. Waiting until each amount has been absorbed by the rice before adding another cup of broth. Make sure rice doesn’t stick to the sides of your pan and keep stirring.

4. After all cups are absorbed taste to see if rice is tender enough. If not add more broth or water to rice. Cook until rice is tender.

5. Add pepper, yeast, and peas. Cook until peas are hot. Take off burner and cover with a lid. Let it sit for about 10 mins. From onions in the pan to letting it rest it’s about 40mins for me now. Garish with fresh basil.

Keep in mind it use to take me 2 hours when I first started making this dish. That included getting all the ingredients together and measuring everything out then reading and rereading the recipe that I had planned. There's an hour plus right there! We are all working at different skill levels on this journey. Be proud of where you are and keep moving forward.  

Cucumber and Soba Noodle Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

By Elizabeth Beals

    This is a light and refreshing meal that you can spice up or mellow down to your preference. I tend to make it in the spring and summer for lunch a lot. It will help if you have a mandolin in your kitchen to make quick work of the cucumber. If not, it will be a great time to practice your knife skills.

 Peanut sauce:

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup boiling water

2 tablespoons plum vinegar or rice vinegar

1 tablespoons beet sugar or sweetener of choice

4 garlic cloves, minced

crushed red peppers, to taste

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Sriracha or chili sauce of choice to taste

Noodles:

One cucumber, thinly Julienned (aprox the size and shape of the soba noodles)

soba noodles (make sure they are GF, some have wheat flour in them so read your labels)

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/4 cup peanuts, chopped

1. Combine the peanut butter with the boiling water and mix together.

2. Then add the rest of your sauce ingredients together and let it cool.

3. Cook your soba noodles, they won’t take but a few mins. Rinse them with cold water and drain.

4. Mix the cucumber and soba noodles in a bowl with as much or as little sauce as you would like.

5. Garnish with fresh basil and chopped peanuts. Add more Sriracha if you need more of a kick. 

Nuts over Bananas…mini "ice cream" sandwiches

by: Elizabeth Beals

   If you have been following our posts you see that we are nuts over bananas and peanut butter. In the world of vegan cooking, bananas are a wonderful tool to create many different treats and eats. From smoothies, to muffins, and even ice cream can all be made using this amazing fruit. Add peanut butter with the bananas and you have a real treat! This is a no bake dessert, a food processor and freezer are all you will need.

Step 6 In the freezer

Ready to eat

   My desirer was to create a dessert that was healthy, but would satisfy my sweet tooth at the same time. Ice cream sandwiches were a favorite of mine growing up, like many people I know. I hope you try and enjoy my own take on this classic dessert.

Ingredients:

Raw dough

8 dates, soaked in warm water to soften with seeds removed

1/2 cup unbleached raw almonds

1/8 cup pecans

1/8 cup raisins 

1 tablespoon flax seed

Ice Cream Filling

1 banana, sliced

1 teaspoon peanut butter per sandwich

Wrapper

mini muffin tin papers

Tools or special equipment 

food processor 

mini muffin tin paper

Preparation and procedures 

1. Remove the seeds and soak dates in warm water to soften them. Only for a few minutes if soft already.
2. Pulse the almonds in the food processor until you have very small pieces, but don’t over process them or you will have almond butter. Take your almond pieces out and set them aside.
3. Drain the dates and pulse them in the processor until you have a date paste.
4. Add back the almond pieces and all the other dough ingredients to the date paste and pulse together. In 30 seconds or so you will have a sticky dough. It will come together in a ball and when that happens, your dough is done.
5. Take 1 teaspoon of the dough and with your thumb press it down in the muffin paper.
6. Layer 1 sliced banana on top and spoon 1 teaspoon of peanut butter on top of the sliced banana. Place in freezer for 30 minutes.
7. The peanut butter should be semi hard after 30 minutes in the freezer. Take them out and top off your sandwich with another teaspoon of dough. Press lightly down to flatten the dough.
8. Place back in the freezer for 20 minutes. Pull out of the freeze a minute or two before eating.

Cacao, PB2, Banana Muffins

By: Genevieve Melzer

I am notorious for eating green bananas, I like my bananas right as they turn from green to yellow. So I always buy them when they are green so they will be perfect to eat in a day or so, but sometimes I buy too many and as soon as they get any sort of brown spots on them I just don’t want to eat them.

I have a few recipes in my repertoire that involve brown or super ripe bananas but I wanted to make something new. I had 3 overly ripe bananas so I looked in my pantry and two ingredients jumped out at me immediately. The cacao powder and the PB2 (a peanut butter protein powder), I then realized what I was going to make… cacao, peanut butter, banana muffins.

I recently purchased PB2 and am obsessed with it; it is a peanut butter protein powder but doesn’t have any weird additives. It packs 5g of protein in 2 tablespoons and has 85% less fat calories than traditional peanut butter. I have been using it in all my protein smoothies and thought I should see what it’s like to bake with.

You will need:

3 bananas (very ripe)
3 tablespoons coconut sugar
3 tablespoons cacao powder, unsweetened (can use cocoa powder instead)
3 tablespoons of PB2, peanut butter protein powder (can use peanut butter or almond butter instead)
½ tablespoon of vanilla extract
4 tablespoons of earth balance butter
¾ cup of Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill brand)
Pinch of sea salt

Note: The peanut butter taste is not very pronounced from the PB2, you can add more if you like.

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees and place muffin cup liners into muffin baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine banana, coconut sugar, cacao powder, PB2, vanilla extract and earth balance. Mash together until the consistency of the mixture is like that of pudding.
3. Slowly stir in the flour and add the salt. Mix together.
4. When the batter is mixed together completely scoop heaping tablespoonfuls into individual muffin cup liners.
5. This recipe should make one dozen (12 muffins) bake for 20-30 minutes, test for doneness by sticking a toothpick in the middle of one of the muffins, if it comes out clean the muffins are done.
6. Let cool for 10 minutes, serve and enjoy!

BEWARE! These muffins are yummy and once you eat one you will want to eat a few more. They are smaller than regular muffins and have only good ingredients in them so feel free to indulge yourself.

The shelf life of these muffins is around 3 or 4 days if you don’t eat them all before that. Mine only lasted two days because I was all about eating them and so was my man.

The Art of Thinning

By: Elizabeth Beals

As the days grow longer 

and the cold drifts away 

the earth slowly warms 

ready to welcome

new seeds 

and new life.

One of the hardest parts of this garden business hits you right out of the gate.
You've beaten the odds and successfully germinated your carefully chosen seeds. 

Good for you by the way. 

Your instincts are to let them all live and grow into big, beautiful veggies. I doubt you
have ever been warned that you will be faced with Sofie's choice each spring.
In the gardening world, it's called thinning. Sounds harmless, right? Possibly even pleasant.
Thinning, though sometimes difficult, is a necessary evil. Kill the weak and the crowded!
Why kill such a young and helpless little seedlings you ask? They haven't hurt anyone. 

Well, not yet they haven't, but given time and they will.
You must defeat the seedlings before they defeat your garden! 

Dramatic, sure, but I was surprised how difficult it was to do. 

From seed to plate these plants are like my children.  

Which baby beet plant in this picture would you want to kill? (None please!) 

(Answer: sadly, all but one) 

We as gardeners must grow a thick skin, suck it up, and pick the best of the best!

Give our energy towards that seedling and hope it grows into a plant. That will then feed 

and nourish you and your family in return.

If we want a big FAT beet you can't have two of them growing right next to each other. 

You end up with two small flat sided beets. 

Thinning is an important part of vegetable gardening. 

There are good reasons for planting more than one seed in each hole. 

You plant a few seeds in each hole hoping that at least one seed will germinate.  

If more than one does become a seedling, then you need to make a choice. 

Pick the strongest and healthiest when they are only a few inches tall. It's best to cut the stem 

at the soil line so you won't disturb the roots of other young plants you wish to keep.  

It may be hard, but many of the sprouts in your garden are edible and extremely nutritious in their 

young state. Think of alfalfa sprouts on a sandwich or salad. Otherwise, you can 

always throw them in your compost pile and let them live again. 

There are even some cases where you can save the life of your young plants by 

transplanting them. 

Leeks, garlic and some onions are examples of plants that can be moved as they grow, 

but more on transplanting later.

I hope you give a few seeds a chance to feed you and your family. It was what they

were born to do! Come on, what's the worst that could happen, you kill the plant?

Been there (still happens sometimes) but, as a friend told me once "You can't let fear stop you."

Energy Packed Granola

By: Genevieve Melzer

I love making homemade granola because when you make it yourself it doesn’t have any weird additives or animal byproducts. Store bought granola can be packed with crazy high amounts of sugar, when all you really need is a little maple syrup to sweeten your oats.

When I make granola at home I use whatever I might have lying around that would taste good in granola like flax seeds and coconut oil. I like to make granola as filling and energy packed as possible by adding different nuts and seeds.
It is also super easy to make granola and doesn’t take much of your time at all. You basically just combine all the ingredients and mix together and voila your very own homemade granola.

Energy Packed Granola

You will need:
2 cups oats
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup raw pecans
½ cup raw almonds
1 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp hemp seeds
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tbsp of coconut oil
Pinch of sea salt
Pinch of cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl combine oats, dried cranberries, pecans, almonds, flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds and sea salt and mix together.
3. Then add the maple syrup, molasses, vanilla extract and coconut oil. Stir together until completely combined.

4. Spread mixture evenly on an ungreased baking sheet.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes, halfway through baking stir the mixture and heavily sprinkle with cinnamon.
6. When mixture is golden brown (30-40 minutes) remove from the oven and let cool for 10-20 minutes. Then serve with almond milk poured all over it. Makes 5 to 6 servings.

I like to store my granola in a large mason jar when it’s done cooling; it keeps it good for a long time. This granola’s shelf life is probably a couple of weeks, but mine never lasts that long because I eat it so fast.

This granola doesn’t need any added sugar, the maple syrup adds enough sweetener to it, and you can’t even tell it doesn’t have some form of sugar or artificial sweetener in it because it tastes so good.

Feel free to change this recipe as you see fit. If you have some other ingredients lying around that you would rather add go ahead and do it. Other ingredients I sometimes use are coconut flakes, carob chips, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc. Be creative but make sure to add only the foods that give you energy since granola is a great healthy way to start the day.