Category: Nut-Free

Rhubarb Purée

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What the heck do you do with rhubarb other than making a pie or crisp out of it?!!?! This is the question that has faced me as I stared down the rhubarb I had in my fridge for the past while. We got it as a gift and I was kind of like, well I appreciate the sentiment but WHAT DO I DO. I made a crisp and it was delish but I needed some more options! So I poked around Pinterest and decided to purée it.

I came up with my own recipe and let me tell you, this purée came to PLAY. It has some homey spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, plus some maple syrup to sweeten it up (rhubarb can be kind of bitter) and some lemon juice as a flavour-enhancer. You just simmer everything together until it gets nice and soft, which surprisingly doesn’t take long at all, and then blend it up and you’ve got a smooth, delicious purée.

Ok, now you’re like “my question of what do I do with rhubarb has been answered, but WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS PURÉE?”. Valid question, my friend. But don’t worry, there are a gazillion different things you can use this for! Add it into muffins, quick breads, icing, cakes, smoothies or oats, make popsicles out of it, put it on nice cream, or just eat it with a spoon. Think of it as applesauce on steroids. And it tastes so good!!!!!! I froze mine in a freezer bag after so I can take it out when needed.

Hope you enjoy this rhubarb purée, and that you never have to waste any rhubarb again! There will definitely be some recipes that use this coming soon so keep your eyes open!

Rhubarb Purée

Serves: Makes about 4 1/2 cups

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 6 cups chopped rhubarb
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 cups water

Directions:

  1. Add all of the ingredients to a large pot and place over high heat on the stove. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer until the rhubarb is soft. This should only take about 3-5 minutes.
  2. Pour the contents of the pot into a good blender, and blend until smooth.
  3. Let the purée cool, then store in an airtight container in the fridge, or pour into freezer bags and freeze until needed:)

So good and so easy!! See you on Wednesday:))

Yours Truly,

Olivia:)))

Soul-Warming Chickpea Curry

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It’s been so rainy and blah where I live for the past while, and it really makes me feel like cooking, you know? I feel like I haven’t COOKED something in a while, and today it felt right. Also on days like this, I just want a nice bowl of something warm and comforting. Curry is this perfect comfort food, because it’s so flavourful and it warms your soul as well as your body. You can throw as many crazy vegetables as you want in a curry, but I wanted to keep it simple and let the flavour shine through. So I only used chickpeas.

Chickpeas and I go way back. They have protein and lots of fibre, and in this curry they add a bit of texture so everything isn’t just mush. The only other elements in here are onions, garlic, spices, tomatoes, and some basil leaves. I caramelized the onions for maximum flavour, and the spice blend is great! Everything stews together in the tomatoes and melds and becomes something amazing, that feels like a big hug. I served this with wild rice, but any grain works.

Today this curry really took me back to my love of coming up with recipes and slicing things up and stirring things on the stove and smelling and tasting and eating. It’s so fun and just takes me to a place of calm where I’m not worrying about anything but what I’m cooking. I really hope that you guys get to try out this recipe and feed your soul by making it and eating it! That’s my goal here, anyways;)) Enjoy!

Soul-Warming Chickpea Curry

Serves: 3-4

Total Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium sized white onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil (plus more as needed)
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp ground allspice
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 4 small basil leaves
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Cooked grains for serving (optional)

Directions:

  1. In a medium sized pot, heat up the olive oil over low-medium heat and add in the onions. Cook them until they’re nice and caramelized, about 10 minutes. Stir often and add more oil if needed to prevent them from burning.
  2. Add the garlic and spices to the pot, and cook for another minute or two, again watching to make sure nothing burns.
  3. Dump the tomatoes, chickpeas, tomato paste, and leaves of basil into the pot and give everything a good stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a low simmer, cover and cook for 40 minutes.
  4. Remove the curry from the heat, season with salt and pepper to taste and remove the leaves of basil. Serve with a grain of choice and enjoy!

Hope you like this soul food! Have a great Canada Day;))

Yours Truly,

Olivia;))

Cherry, Peach and Quinoa Breakfast Bowls

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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

Mini Berry Protein Muffins

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Hey guys! My phone broke down the other day and so I couldn’t really take and edit my pictures like I wanted, so I decided to just postpone this post for a bit. But don’t worry because the next week or so is STACKED with bullet journal stuff and new recipes (like this one) and a reading challenge update. Make sure that you’re checking in every day because I’ll have new posts going up daily until the end of the month!

To kick off this posting extravaganza, I’ve got these awesome Mini Berry Protein Muffins. I’ve been trying out some protein powder recently, and I actually really like it! I don’t just mix it with milk or water and drink it straight though, I usually throw a scoop into my smoothie bowl which makes it super creamy. I find that it’s a good way to incorporate some protein into my breakfast. The brand I use is Vega and I have their Protein and Greens powder in vanilla flavour. But if you decide to buy some powder to try out for yourself, do some research to find out what the ingredients are and where the protein is coming from. There are all kinds of protein powder; some are vegan, some get protein from animal collagen, and some have some artificial ingredients. Just make sure that your powder is right for you. If you don’t have any protein powder on hand, you can try and sub it out for whole wheat or all purpose flour, although I haven’t tested those out.

Anyways, I needed some new ways to use my protein powder. So why not make some muffins? And mini muffins, while I’m at it! Everything is cuter when it’s smaller. These muffins are naturally sweetened with maple syrup, and I find that the protein powder gives them a really nice flavour, like cake batter or something. There’s also an egg in here, which does give some extra protein and also acts as a binder. All of this protein and some whole grains from the oats, paired with a great taste, makes these muffins the perfect way to start your day! I used them to top a smoothie bowl, because, come on, mini muffins on a smoothie bowl? Does that not sound like the BEST THING EVER?

And I forgot to mention that these muffins have berries in them! I used saskatoons because I still have a whole ton frozen, but blueberries would be great as well. Now that it’s summer you might even be able to throw some fresh ones in there. So yeah, those are all of the delicious details of these cute lil’ muffins. Go find yourself a bowl (that’s right- this guy right here is a ONE BOWL recipe), mix some stuff up, pop these babes in the oven for like 15ish minutes and you’ve got yourself a snack that be lookin like a SNACK! Enjoy;)

Mini Berry Protein Muffins

Serves: Makes about 20 Mini Muffins

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
  • 1 cup oats (I used quick-cooking steel cut oats, but rolled oats also work)
  • 2 tbsp melted coconut oil (mine was pre-melted by the summa heat lol)
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/3 cup fresh or frozen Saskatoon or blueberries

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line 20 holes in two mini muffin tins with paper liners, or grease with coconut oil.
  2. Mix together all of the ingredients in a large bowl.
  3. Scoop the muffin batter by tablespoon into the lined or greased mini muffin tin. Bake the muffins for 15-17 minutes, until a toothpick stuck in the centre comes out clean.
  4. Enjoy on smoothie bowls, oatmeal, as a snack, in cereal, or with yogurt!

Have fun with these mini muffins! Don’t forget about the army of blog posts coming your way. See you tomorrow!!

Yours Truly,

Olivia;)))

Easy Tofu Scramble

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‘Sup people? I’ve been meaning to make a tofu scramble for a while, and this afternoon I finally got down to it. I still love a good old egg scramble, don’t get me wrong. But if you want something plant-based, tofu is a great egg substitute. This Easy Tofu Scramble is awesome in wraps or bowls, on toast, or by itself. It’s also perfect for every time of day- breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Tofu is actually really easy to cook, and in this recipe I just drained it and proceeded to fry it up. But if you’re a first time tofu eater and want to know a little more about it, you can check out my post Soy Marinated Tofu, where I explain what it is and share another awesome recipe as well. To liven up this scramble a bit, I added some tomatoes and green onions, as well as paprika and garlic powder. Tofu can be a bit bland, so you want to make sure you add a lot of flavour.

Lastly, have lots of fun customising this scramble! If you want to add more veggies and different spices feel free to. Tofu is such a great blank canvas! Enjoy this recipe;))

Easy Tofu Scramble

Serves: 1

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 tbsp olive oil
  • 85g of Extra Firm Tofu
  • 1/2 a tomato, diced
  • 1 green onion or chive, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add in the tomato, green onion, and tofu.
  2. Break up the tofu with a wooden spoon, until it resembles scrambled eggs. Cook for about a minute.
  3. Add in the garlic powder. paprika, salt and pepper and cook for additional two minutes, stirring often.
  4. Remove from the heat and enjoy!

Hope you like this recipe! Have a great weekend;)

Yours Truly,

Olivia