Cherry, Peach and Quinoa Breakfast Bowls

Hey guys! I’ve been pretty much eating the same things for breakfast during the time we’ve had to stay at home. I either have a smoothie bowl- which are awesome and my favourite- or just a big plate of fruit with some but butter- also very good. But today I had some leftover quinoa so I thought I’d experiment.

Quinoa is a super healthy; it’s a whole grain, contains some protein, and has all 9 essential amino acids. So it’s a great way to start your day! This recipe uses precooked quinoa, for when you have some leftovers and maybe not a lot of time in the morning. I’m starting summer school soon so this may come in handy.

To make these bowls, I cooked the quinoa in some almond milk and allspice, along side some peaches and cherries; two of my favourite summer fruits! The cherries turn everything a nice pink colour, and when you get a little bite of everything it tastes like a fruit pie😍😍😍

Hope you enjoy these Cherry, Peach and Quinoa Breakfast Bowls!

Cherry, Peach and Quinoa Breakfast Bowls

Serves: 1

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup cooked quinoa
  • 1/2 cup almond milk, or whichever milk you desire
  • 1 peach
  • 6 cherries, pitted and cut in half
  • 1/8 tsp allspice

Directions:

  1. In a small pot, combine the quinoa, almond milk, allspice, 4 of the sliced cherries, and 1/2 of the peach, diced.
  2. Bring the mixture to a simmer and let cook for about 5 minutes, until the fruit is soft.
  3. Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl, and top with the reaming cherries and the other half of the peach, sliced.
  4. Enjoy!

Have a great day and I’ll see you tomorrow for my last post of the month!☺️

Yours Truly,

Olivia

Tuna and Avocado Poke Bowls

I’m so excited about this recipe! You don’t even know. Obviously with the pandemic going on I haven’t been eating out as much, and yesterday I was just craving something different. Something that made me feel like I’m at a restaurant somewhere. The ingredients that I had on hand didn’t seem very restaurant-quality (canned tuna isn’t exactly a star protein), but I came up with something that HIT. THE. SPOT.

I love tuna poke- I love raw fish of any kind, really, but getting a big chunk of tuna steak is kind of expensive and it’s not the kind of thing that I just have lying around in my fridge. HOWEVER, I do have a large quantity of canned tuna. I mixed it with mashed avocado, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and ginger to make an amazing mixture that definitely reminds me of delicious poke! Plus I formed it into little balls to serve, which really brought the restaurant vibe!

For the other components of this bowl, I tried to get creative and really have fun. We have some HOMEMADE pickled veggies people! Homemade!! They’re so simple to make and sooooooo tasty! Plus you have some wild rice, which contains tons of good-for-you vitamins, spinach, thinly sliced cucumbers, and a sprinkle of hemp hearts. Delish!

I really hope you give this bowl a try! It’s so fun to make and eat, and makes for a slightly-fancy at home dinner for when you can’t go out. Enjoy!

Tuna and Avocado Poke Bowls

Serves: 2

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Tuna:

  • 1 can of light chunk tuna, drained (I used yellowfin)
  • 1/2 a ripe avocado
  • 1/2 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 rice vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger

For the Pickled Veggies:

  • 1/2 a large carrot, cut in half width-wise and shaved into thin strips with a veggie peeler (see Thai Ribbon Salad)
  • 1/4 of a red onion, sliced very thinly
  • 1 cup white vinegar
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced

For the Bowl:

  • 1/2 cup wild rice
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • A couple of handfuls of spinach
  • 1/2 a cucumber, sliced thinly
  • Hemp hearts or sesame seeds for topping

Directions:

  1. Combine the wild rice with 1 cup of water in a pot. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 30 minutes, until all of the water has evaporated. Then remove from the heat, fluff with a fork, and let stand for 5-10 minutes.
  2. After the rice starts cooking, mix the vinegar, garlic, and chilli flakes in a small bowl. Add in the shaved carrot and thinly sliced red onion, trying to make sure that most of the veggies are covered by the pickling liquid. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a least 35 minutes to pickle.
  3. In a medium sized bowl, mash the half avocado and stir in the soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, sesame oil and tuna.
  4. Once the rice is cooked, stir in the rice vinegar. Split the rice up into two serving bowls, and top with the pickled veggies, cucumber, a handful of spinach, half of the tuna mixture each, and some hemp hearts or sesame seeds.
  5. Enjoy!

Hope you’re all having a great week! See you Friday;))

Yours Truly,

Olivia

Rainbow Bowls

I honestly don’t have any other way to describe these bowls than rainbow😂😂 Ok maybe delicious but that doesn’t work in a title. Anyways, these bowls have EVERYTHING YOU WANT IN A BOWL. 5 million veggies? Check. Sautéed peppers and mushrooms with soy sauce? Check. An avocado filled with delicious peanut sauce? Check check and cheeeeeeck! Did I mention that this bowl also has sweet potatoes? Plus, it’s great for meal prep and will definitely power you through a long school day. After all of my ranting on how good this bowl is, you’d better go make it because IT. IS. LIT.

Rainbow Bowl

Serves: 2

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

For the salad:

  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 carrots, shredded
  • 2 leaves of Kale, cut into strips
  • 1/2 a cucumber, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 5 white mushrooms
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 avocado

For the sauce:

  • 1 tbs peanut butter
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • Chilli flakes to taste
  • Water

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Peel and cut the sweet potato into 1 centimetre cubes. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and toss with 1 tbsp of olive oil, some salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for about 30-35 minutes, until soft and caramelized.
  3. Cut the bell pepper into thin strips, and slice the mushrooms. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan over medium heat and sauté the veggies until soft, about 5-8 minutes. Add in 1 tbsp of soy sauce and cook for an additional 2 minutes, then remove from the heat.
  4. Mix all of the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
  5. Once the sweet potatoes are finished, build your bowl with kale, carrots, cucumber, peppers and mushrooms, avocado and sweet potato. Drizzle the sauce on top and enjoy!!

Hope you fall in love with this rainbow bowl!

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;)))

Soy Marinated Tofu

Hey there! This year I’d like to start eating more plant-based, and exploring different kinds of plant protein. Although everything that I post on MyDayIsBooked is usually vegan, I’m not a vegan or vegetarian myself.

I feel like tofu is a little intimidating to a lot of people, because it’s not something that they cook very often. I cooked it for the first time a few weeks ago, and it’s actually super easy and delicious! In this post I’ll give you the run down on how to cook tofu, plus an awesome marinade to get you started.

Tofu

Tofu is a plant-based protein source made from soy beans. The varieties of firmness range from silken to extra firm. Silken and soft tofu are usually blended up in desserts, and medium to extra firm are used fried, sautéed, baked or steamed. This is because the firmer types stand up better to marinades and being cut into cubes and cooked. Pressing tofu is a common technique that gets rid of extra water in the tofu, letting you achieve a crispier texture. If you’d like to press your tofu, place a block of it on a folded dish towel on a sheet pan, and place another folded dish towel on top. On top of that dish towel, put something heavy such as a book or pan weighted with cans. Leave the tofu to be pressed for about a half an hour. The recipe in this post does not call for you to press your tofu, and it is by no means necessary.

Soy-Marinated Tofu

Serves: 2

Total Time: 40 minutes +

Ingredients:

  • 1 175g block of extra firm tofu
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • Juice of 1/2 a lime
  • 1 clove of garlic, smashed

Directions:

  1. Cut a slit in the package of tofu and drain all of the water out. Remove the block from the package and cuto it into one centimetre cubes. Place them in a large ziplock bag.
  2. Add the soy sauce, lime juice, and garlic into the bag. Squeeze all of the air out and then seal, giving it a shake to combine the soy and lime juice, then placing it in the fridge for at least thirty minutes, and up 4 hours.
  3. When the tofu is finished marinating, heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Pour the marinade form the bag into a bowl, and dump the cubes of tofu into the pan. Cook until slightly browned on each side; about 1-2 minutes per side.
  4. Eat in a bowl with quinoa, in wraps, or in a stir fry, and use the leftover marinade as a sauce. I ate mine in a bowl with sprouts, avocado, roasted sweet potato, quinoa and kimchi;)

I hope that was helpful and that you’ll try tofu sometime!

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;))

Beans and Broccoli

Hey there! Today I have another fantastic recipe that can be easily frozen and is great for meal prep. This take on beef and broccoli uses red kidney beans to make a delicious vegan meal. When the beans are fried, they resemble ground beef, and the seasoning used enhances their flavour. These beans and broccoli are great with quinoa, noodles, or in a salad. Hope you enjoy!

Beans and Broccoli

Serves: 2-3

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tsp + 1 tbs soy sauce
  • 1/2 tbs chili flakes
  • 1/2 tbs garlic powder
  • 1/2 tbs ginger
  • pepper to taste
  • 1/2 a head of broccoli, separated into small florets.
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1/2 tbs sesame oil
  • 1/2 tsp maple syrup
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • quinoa, for serving (optional)

Directions:

  1. In a bowl, mash up the beans, leaving some whole. Stir in 1 tsp soy sauce, the chili flakes, garlic powder, ginger, and pepper.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add in the bean mixture and the broccoli florets and cook for about fifteen minutes, until the broccoli is tender and the beans begin to resemble ground beef in texture; crumbly and firm.
  3. Mix the sesame oil, 1 tbs soy sauce, maple syrup and garlic in a small bowl. Pour over the beans and broccoli and stir, cooking for two more minutes.
  4. Serve over quinoa with green onion and enjoy!

Hopefully this recipe helps you get ahead this week:))

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;))