Category: Gluten Free

Roasted Winter Fruits

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Hello! I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about my love for roasted veggies before- honestly I think that I could eat them all day. They get so tender and caramelized in the oven, making them the perfect addition to bowls, or one of my favourite stand-alone sides. However, when we’re talking about raw, uncooked veggies, I definitely prefer fruit. So I was thinking, what would happen if I roasted fruit?!!??! And, ladies and gentlemen, I can assure you that what happens when you roast fruit is PURE MAGIC.

Seriously. Magic. You get ten times the caramelization that you get with veggies because of the higher sugar content, and everything gets all soft, bubbly, and sweet. I roasted some nice in-season winter fruits that you might not think to roast. We’re talking grapes, mandarins, and apples, all of which release some beautiful juices and get amazingly tender. It all feels so Christmas-y and heartwarming!

There is so little prep that goes into this- just washing some grapes, peeling some mandarins, and roughly chopping an apple. I tossed everything in some allspice before roasting for some extra holiday flavour. Then it all goes in the oven for about forty minutes; this is where the enchantment happens. Halfway through the baking time, I took a fork and smashed some of those mandarins and grapes, just to get the juices flowing. Other than that, you just let those fruits do their thing.

Not gonna lie, I sneaked a few of these fruits right off the pan. They would be amazing over oats, yogurt, ice cream, cake, pancakes, waffles- you name it, these would make it better!! Feel free to add some more spices if you like as well- I know that cinnamon would be a welcome addition to the flavour explosion.

Hope you enjoy these festive fruits!

Roasted Winter Fruits

Serves: 2-3

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 Gala apple, chopped
  • 2 mandarin oranges, peeled and split into segments
  • 1 1/4 cup red grapes
  • 1 tsp ground allspice

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and combine. Spread out the fruits onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
  3. Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast for about 20 minutes.
  4. At this point, remove them from the oven and use a fork to lightly smash the mandarins and grapes, just bursting them so that the juices can escape. Place the pan back in the oven and roast for another 20 minutes.
  5. Take the fruits out of the oven, serve warm and enjoy!

Have a great weekend everyone! Can’t wait for more holiday recipes coming next week:))

Yours Truly,

Olivia:)))

Ginger Oat Cookies

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It’s December, which means it’s time for the holiday baking to begin! I have yet to decorate my room which is kind of sad but last night I baked up some delicious cookies! Baking cookies is so fun and I haven’t done it in a while. I love cutting them out, and decorating them is just so relaxing! These Ginger Oat Cookies are made in one bowl and baked for 15 minutes so that you can get to icing them (my favourite part) in a snap.

I used so many tasty ingredients in this recipe! We’ve got ground walnuts, oat flour, maple syrup, and of course lots of ginger. The result is a golden-brown cookie that is deliciously crumbly and full of oat-y, Christmas-y flavour. And did I mention the chocolate icing?!!!??? It’s probably the easiest icing you’ll ever make- it only consists of cocoa powder, maple syrup, and almond milk. And it’s SO rich and delish! I piped it on to my little ginger-oat men (that’s what I’m calling them lol) and gave them cute faces and outfits:) You can adjust the amount of milk you add to it to make it thicker or thinner, depending if you want to spread it on like frosting, pipe on some details, or flood the whole surface. The chocolate goes so nicely with the warm spices in the cookie.

To start make these festive beauties, I simply mixed together all of my ingredients in a big bowl until it came together to form a nice dough; then I rolled it out, cut out my cookies, and baked them up. Super quick and easy! I cut my cookies into the shape of gingerbread men, but feel free to use any fun holiday-themed cutters:)

I love how healthy these cookies are too. They’re vegan, refined sugar free, and can easily be made gluten free if you use gluten free oats. The oat flour and ground walnuts can either be bought or easily made by throwing either oats or walnuts into a blender, which is what I did. The holidays are definitely about treating yourself, but if you’re looking for something a little lighter or that’s maybe a nice and nutritious Christmas snack, then these are for you.

I hope you enjoy these Ginger Oat Cookies! They’re so tasty and cute:)) I can’t wait to share more of my holiday baking with you guys so make sure to keep checking out my blog!

Ginger Oat Cookies

Serves: Makes about 12 Cookies (I used a cutter that was roughly 4 inches by 3 inches in size)

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Ginger Oat Cookies:

  • 1 cup ground walnuts
  • 2 cups oat flour
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1/2 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup

For the Chocolate Icing:

  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 3 1/2-5 tsp almond milk (depending on how thick/thin you’d like your icing)

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Mix all of the cookie ingredients together in a large bowl. Use your hands to form it into a big ball.
  3. Place the dough on top of a large piece of parchment paper, and cover it with an equally sized piece. Roll it out with a rolling pin so that it’s about 1/4 of an inch thick. Remove the top layer of parchment paper and cut out shapes with cookie cutters, placing the cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
  4. When you run out of room to cut more cookies, collect all of the excess dough into a ball and repeat step 3. Continue to do this until you have used up all of the dough, and you have a pan full of soon-to-be cookies in front of you!
  5. Bake the cookies in the oven for 15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove and let cool completely.
  6. To make the icing, mix together the cocoa powder, maple syrup, and 2 tsp of the almond milk in a small bowl. Gradually add more milk until you reach your desired consistency.
  7. Scoop the icing into a piping bag and cut a small hole at the bottom. Use this to pipe decorations on to your cooled cookies.
  8. Let the icing on the cookies harden and proceed to enjoy! These can be stored in the fridge for about 10 days, or frozen and thawed when needed:)

Have a great rest of your week everyone! I’ll see you Friday with another great recipe:)

Yours Truly,

Olivia:))

Ginger Spiced Brown Rice

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Hey guys! Hope you all had an awesome weekend and are ready to slay the week ahead🙌 (I’m writing from my phone today so we get emojis👍) Today I have a VERY good brown rice recipe that’s a great base for any of your bowls, or an amazing side on its own. It uses fresh ginger, which is so fragrant and delicious!

All of the steps to make this rice are purposely done to extract maximum flavour👌 You start by frying up the ginger and garlic, and then toasting up the brown rice so it gets a bit browned. Carrot gets added in for sweetness, and then that super tasty curry powder! It adds great colour to this dish as well:) This all gets simmered together in a combo of water and almond milk. It might sound a tad weird but it makes the rice a bit creamier!

After about 25 minutes of cooking, the rice should absorb most of the liquid, but not be completely cooked through. So at this point, you add a bit more milk and simmer for a bit longer. When it’s all cooked and seasoned with a generous amount of salt and pepper, this rice tastes like heaven. Legit.

My advice is to make a huge batch of this and store it in the fridge for meal prep all week. Making a bowl? Use this rice. A salad? Use this rice. A burrito? Use this rice. Snack time? THIS RICE. Honestly it’s so flavourful and reminds me of a better version of Uncle Ben’s. Except way healthier and more tasty. Yep, I said it. I love that this uses brown rice too, because brown rice has more fibre, magnesium, and a bunch of other nutrients than white rice. Delicious and nutritious. What a win-win! You can have your rice and eat it too.

I hope that you enjoy this awesome recipe! Can’t wait to see what you use it as a base/side for.

Ginger Spiced Brown Rice

Serves: 2

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
  • 1 carrot, grated
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1/2 cup brown rice
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup + 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. In a medium-sized pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add in the garlic and ginger and fry for about 2 minutes, until aromatic.
  2. Next, add in the grated carrot and cumin, and continue to cook for about 3 minutes. Dump in the brown rice and toast for 2 more minutes.
  3. Pour in the water and the 1/4 cup of almond milk. Stir, season generously with salt and pepper, and reduce the heat so that the mixture is at a simmer. Cover and let cook for 25 minutes.
  4. At this point, the liquid should be absorbed, but the rice not cooked all the way through. Add in the 1/2 cup almond milk, stir, cover, and continue to let it simmer for another 15 minutes, until the rice is cooked all the way through (not too hard when you bite into it).
  5. Remove the rice from the heat and adjust with any more seasoning. Serve warm and enjoy!

Have a great week everyone! I have some great holiday baking recipes coming soon so be sure to check them out:)

Yours Truly,

Olivia:))

Double Pea Fried Quinoa

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Hey there! I just wanted to start off by saying that on Sunday it was my three year blogging anniversary and I didn’t even realize it! I can’t believe it’s been three years already and want to thank you guys for all your support:) I’ve come a long way from just book reviews to lots of food stuff- if you’d like to check out my very first post I’ll put the link here.

So yeah, today we’ve got some Double Pea Fried Quinoa! Olivia is my name and frozen veggies are my GAME. Sorry that was a bit cringy but I just had to assert somehow that I really like using frozen veggies. This dish makes a great side, or base for a bowl or salad. It includes both green peas and chickpeas- hence the double peas. It’s also super speedy and has lots of flavour. Plus the bright greens from the peas and parsley will lift your spirits during the winter months.

I started by frying A LOT of garlic and some onions- you know how I love that garlic. Then I added in the green peas, chickpeas, cooked quinoa, and some parsley, salt and peppered it up, and bang it was done! It’s full of bright, fresh deliciousness and also some protein. And, like most of my recipes, it’s great for meal prep which is a bonus. Today I had this Double Pea Fried Quinoa with some tuna mixed with avocado, sprouts, and hummus for a very tasty and nutritious lunch. Yum:)

I don’t really know what else to say, except that you should probably go and make this right now. Go on!

Double Pea Fried Quinoa

Serves: 4

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small white onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 large cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 cups of frozen green peas
  • 2 cups of cooked quinoa
  • 1/2 cup packed fresh parsley
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. And in the onions and garlic and cook for 4 minutes, making sure that the garlic doesn’t burn.
  2. Add the frozen peas to a pan and stir until they’re defrosted, about 2 minutes.
  3. Add the quinoa and cook for an additional 4 minutes, stirring every once in a while to get even cooking.
  4. Mix in the parsley, season with salt and pepper, remove from the heat and enjoy!!

Simple as that! I hope you enjoy:) I’ll see you on Friday with my December Bullet Journal Set-Up! It’s a good one:))

Yours Truly,

Olivia

Chickpea Stir-Fry

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I know it’s a Monday, but what better way to start off the week than with a delicious stir-fry? This is not a rhetorical question. Go ahead and search your soul. I’ll wait.

Couldn’t think of anything else? THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT. This Chickpea Stir-Fry is full of veggies and flavour, two of my favourite things✌️ We’ve got onions, cabbage (or kale if you’d prefer), carrots and chickpeas in a realllllly simple sauce that brings everything together. But the real flavour bombs are the peanuts and fresh cilantro that go in during the last minute of cooking for some extra freshness😍 Want to take it to the next level? Throw some more of that stuff on top along with some green onion as a garnish. Yup🙌 That’s what I’m talking about.

If you’ve got under a half hour to whip something up, then this stir-fry is for you. With a 20 minute total time and super easy prep, this is one no-fuss meal idea! Double or triple the recipe, and you’ve got meal prep for the whole week. Pretty convenient👌

Finally, I’m going to let you in on a secret. You can use any vegetables you have around to make this stir-fry. ANY. I was running low on veggies myself when I made this, but luckily I had some carrots, onions, and cabbage ready to go. However, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, mushrooms and peppers would all be great in here; customize to your heart’s desire! The important thing is that you’ve got the sauce ingredients and the peanuts and cilantro, because that’s what makes this dish sing. I like serving my stir-fry over quinoa, but you can cook up some white or brown rice, or even couscous, if you’d like.

I hope you enjoy this quick, healthy and delicious meal idea! Let me know what you think🥰

Chickpea Stir-Fry

Serves: 2-3

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1/4 of a large white onion, sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup shredded cabbage or kale
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
  • 1/4 cup ground peanuts
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • Cooked quinoa for serving
  • Sliced green onions + more cilantro and peanuts for garnish (optional)

Directions:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add in the onions and carrots and cook until the onions are slightly translucent, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add the shredded cabbage or kale, as well as the chickpeas and garlic, to the pan. Continue to cook for about 8 more minutes, until the carrots can be pierced by a fork.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, maple syrup, and rice vinegar. Add the mixture to the pan and give everything a good stir. Allow the stir fry to cook for about 5 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Keep stirring.
  4. Mix in the fresh cilantro and peanuts and cook for a final minute. Remove from the heat, and serve over cooked quinoa. Garnish with green onions, more cilantro, and more peanuts!

Have a great week everyone!:)

Yours Truly,

Olivia:))