Category: Snacks

Chocolate Date Puffed Wheat Squares

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How’s it going guys? Oh, you’re asking what you should do today? Well I have a great answer because you NEED to make these Chocolate Date Puffed Wheat Squares!

I don’t buy dates very often because they’re a tad expensive, but someone gave me a bunch a little while ago so I knew I had to do something special with them. I’ve been eating them by themselves (which is amazing), and I’ve also heard that they’re spectacular with peanut butter, but there are so many awesome desserty things you can do with dates. I decided to make these CHOCOLATE DATE PUFFED WHEAT SQUARES. Sweet, gooey, and a little crunchy, they’re the perfect treat!

These squares are pretty easy to make, too. You just soften up some dates in warm water, them blend them up to make a kind of paste. Then you mix that with cocoa, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla, heat it up a bit, and mix it in with puffed wheat. I let mine harden in the fridge overnight after I pressed them into a greased pan, but you should be good to go in a few hours. That simplicity mixed with the fact that these squares taste AMAZING and have no refined sugar makes them a winner in my book.

So yeah, go make these squares and you WILL NOT regret it:)

Chocolate Date Puffed Wheat Squares

Serves: Makes 9 squares

Total Time: 30 minutes, plus at least 3 hours cooling time.

Ingredients:

  • 10 large Medjool Dates
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 3 cups puffed wheat

Directions:

  1. Heat some water in a small pot over the stove until it just begins to simmer. Remove from the heat and add in the dates. Let them sit for about 10 minutes to soften them up.
  2. Remove the pits from the dates and add them into a blender or food processor. Blend until a kind of paste forms, but don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be completely smooth.
  3. Transfer the date paste back into the small pot and add the cocoa powder, maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla. Place over low heat on the stove for about 2 minutes as you stir to combine.
  4. Remove the date mixture from the heat. Dump the puffed wheat into a large bowl and mix in the chocolatey dates. Press the soon-to-be puffed wheat squares into an 8×8 pan greased with coconut oil.
  5. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge until firm enough to eat; around 3 hours. You can try and speed up this process by throwing the squares into the freezer.
  6. Once the puffed wheat mixture has cooled, cut it into 9 squares and enjoy!
  7. Store in the fridge.

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

Yours Truly,

Olivia;))

Tuna and Sweet Potato Cakes

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Hey guys! I’m like REALLY excited about this recipe- it’s a good one. I had the idea to make these Tuna and Sweet Potato Cakes a while ago and got all psyched up about it, but then I realized we didn’t have tuna! But now we have some so it’s all good, and I was able to whip up these super tasty cakes.

This recipe takes a little while to make, but I promise you it’s worth it. You’ve got the sweetness from the sweet potato and red onion, some garlic powder, and fresh herbs, which all totally transform that canned tuna into an AMAZING fish cake. I used an egg as a binder which I don’t normally do, but it helped these beauties bake up and get some nice colour on the outside.

I served up these cakes in a nice salad bowl, but they’re honestly SO versatile. Throw them in a wrap or sandwich, or just eat them by themselves for a quick protein-filled snack. That’s another great thing about these tuna cakes; they have lots of protein from both the tuna and the egg, plus some good complex carbs from the sweet potato. Healthy and delicious all in one! Hope you enjoy;))

Tuna and Sweet Potato Cakes

Serves: Makes about 9 cakes

Total Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 a large sweet potato, peeled and diced into small cubes
  • 1 can of light chunk tuna, well drained
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
  • 1/4 of a red onion, diced
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp oats
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 egg

Directions:

  1. In a medium sized pot, bring a little bit of water to a simmer and place a veggie steamer inside. Dump the chopped up sweet potatoes in there, cover, and steam for about 20-25 minutes, until they’re very soft and mashable.
  2. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  3. Mash the cooked sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Add in the tuna, parsley, red onion, garlic powder, and oats, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. Add the egg to the sweet potato and tuna mixture and mix until combined. Scoop out heaping tablespoons, form into about 9 patties, and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  5. Bake the cakes for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and use a spatula to flip them over. Proceed to bake for another 10 minutes.
  6. Remove the cakes from the oven and use the spatula to flatten them even further. This will help to cook the insides. Place back into the oven to cook for 5 minutes, then remove, flip, and cook for a final five minutes. (total baking time: 30 minutes)
  7. Take the cakes out of the oven (finally) and let them cool before enjoying in bowls, salads, wraps, sandwiches, or just by themselves!

I love this recipe so much and I hope you love it too! These cakes have such a beautiful flavour, colour and texture. See you Wednesday!

Yours Truly,

Olivia:))

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:)))

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;)))

2 Summer Smoothie Bowls

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Smoothie bowls are my ABSOLUTE favourite breakfast! They’re so refreshing, and make me feel like I’m having a treat on vacation somewhere. You can pack a bunch of veggies in there without even noticing, and the topping combos are endless. ENDLESS!

It took me a while to get the perfect smoothie bowl thickness, but I think I’ve finally cracked the code. You want to have the ingredients as cold as possible, and limit the amount of watery fruits that you put in your smoothie. The base of all of my smoothies is a frozen banana, because that’s what makes them thick and creamy. If you don’t like banana you can try using mango, because I’ve found it has a similar effect. The ingredients might take a little while to come together in the blender, but eventually they’ll form a mixture that’s almost like soft serve in texture. Using a tamper is critical here, because you can continually push the ingredients towards the blender blades.

In this post, I’ve included two different recipes for summer smoothie bowls, because I couldn’t decide which one to pick! One has banana, berries, and spinach, and the other has banana, spinach, kale, and watermelon. Yum! My watermelon didn’t get completely frozen, and so the result was a slightly more watery smoothie bowl. Make sure that you leave it in the freezer at least overnight! These recipes are definitely some of my favourites though, because they TASTE LIKE SUMMER and allow you to get some greens in!

Lets talk toppings. Really anything goes when you’re topping your smoothie bowl, but some ideas are more fruit, granola, dates, nut, seeds, and nut butters. I like a few different toppings on my bowl because it keeps things interesting. Some granola recipes that go GREAT on smoothie bowls are my Nutty Granola and Chocolate Coconut Granola. I’ve also been known to top my bowls with a Seedy Energy Square or two….. it’s so good!

I hope that these recipes get you hooked on smoothie bowls!

Berry and Spinach Smoothie Bowl

Serves: 1

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Bowl:

  • 1 frozen banana (sliced)
  • 3/4 cup frozen blueberries
  • 3/4 cup spinach (not packed)
  • 2 tbsp water

For the Toppings:

Directions:

  1. Add all of the smoothie ingredients to a powerful blender and blend on low, using the tamper to push the ingredients down.
  2. Once the ingredients are starting to come together, turn the speed to medium and continue using the tamper. It may seem like you need to add more water, but continue until a thick, soft-serve like mixture forms. This can take a few minutes.
  3. Scoop the smoothie into a bowl and top with the strawberries, granola, and peanut butter.
  4. Enjoy!

Greens and Watermelon Smoothie Bowl

Serves: 1

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Bowl:

  • 1 frozen banana (sliced)
  • 3/4 cup frozen water melon chunks
  • 1/2 cup kale leaves (loosely packed)
  • 1/2 cup spinach (loosely packed)
  • 1 tbsp water

For the Toppings:

Directions:

  1. Add all of the smoothie ingredients to a powerful blender and blend on low, using the tamper to push the ingredients down.
  2. Once the ingredients are starting to come together, turn the speed to medium and continue using the tamper. It may seem like you need to add more water, but continue until a thick, soft-serve like mixture forms. This can take a few minutes.
  3. Scoop the smoothie into a bowl and top with the chopped dates, granola, and peanut butter.
  4. Enjoy!

I know I’ll be enjoying these bowls all summer long! Thanks for reading and I’ll see you Wednesday:))

Yours Truly,

Olivia