Marinated Mushrooms with Tomatoes

Mushrooms are the best man! They’re so meaty and full of deliciousness. Which also means that they stand up great to AWESOME MARINADES like this one! Honestly, I feel like marinating a mushroom is the only way to eat it after eating these mushrooms. Say that ten times fast. Seriously though, this marinade is full of herbs and garlic and all of the good stuff that you want in your mouth.

After a good hour or so of marinating, everything goes into the pan with some tomatoes to get cooked down and delicious. At this point you can try to resist the urge to eat them all right there and eat them in a wrap, on some avocado toast, or as a little side salad. All of these options are amazing! If you’re not a mushroom fan, I definitely think that this recipe will convert you. Give it a try!

Marinated Mushrooms with Tomatoes

Serves: 2

Total Time: 90 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 8 cremini mushrooms, halved
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 1/4 cup packed fresh parsley
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 stalk of green onion, chopped
  • 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. In a small bowl, mix together the parsley, garlic, green onion, vinegar, oil and salt and pepper. Dump the marinade into a ziploc bag with the mushrooms, seal it, and give it a good toss to make sure the mushrooms are coated. Place the bag and the fridge and leave to marinate for about an hour.
  2. Heat a pan over medium heat, and add in the marinated mushrooms and the diced tomatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the mushrooms and tomatoes are soft and most of the excess liquid has evaporated.
  3. Serve as a side, in a wrap, or on some avo toast!

Enjoy these amazing mushrooms!

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;))

Chocolate Dipped Pumpkin Seed Cookies

So, we have a lot of pumpkin seeds. Like A LOT. We got the 1.2 kilogram bag from Costco. I wanted to make some pumpkin seed butter out of them, because I don’t really like to eat them by themselves. But halfway through the blending process, my vitamix quit on me! This happens sometimes because it’s pretty old, and seeds are a pretty intense thing to blend. So I was like, now what? What can you make out of half-blended pumpkin seeds? It turns out that you can make something pretty fricking amazing.

I added some maple syrup to the seeds, pressed em into cookies, and TRIPLE DIPPED them in chocolate. That’s right. TRIPLE. DIPPED. These cookies are legit amazing. They’re so rich and nutty and sweet and just awesome! You only need four ingredients to whip them up, and if you have a really old blender no prob! It only needs to work for about two minutes.

My go-to chocolate dipping sauce is maple syrup, cocoa powder, and coconut oil. Super simple and so good. All you have to do is melt the ingredients together and you’re good. This sauce could also be used for pretty much anything else, like oatmeal, strawberries, other fruits, nice cream; the list goes on and on. On these cookies, it lends another hit of richness that is definitely welcome. If you’re not feeling the chocolate though, you can always omit and just eat the cookies by themselves. HA! That was a joke! DEFINITELY include the chocolate. I don’t know why you clicked on this post if you don’t like chocolate.

That’s my spiel for the day! I really hope you give these cookies a try because they will change your life. For the better.

Chocolate Dipped Pumpkin Seed Cookies

Serves: Makes 10-12 cookies

Total Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups shelled and roasted pumpkin seeds (I used salted)
  • 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • I’m not kidding that’s it

Directions:

  1. In a STRONG blender or food processor, blend the seeds until they start releasing oil but aren’t too loose. You want the mixture to be something you could form a ball with.
  2. Transfer the blended seeds into a bowl and stir in 2 tbsp of the maple syrup.
  3. Scoop the pumpkin seed mixture by heaping tablespoons and form into balls. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet or pan, and press down to make cookies about a centimetre thick.
  4. Place the cookies in the freezer for at least half an hour. You want them to be pretty frozen so that they’re easy to dip.
  5. Make the chocolate sauce right after you pop the cookies in the freezer. Melt together the cocoa powder, coconut oil and maple syrup in a small pot over low heat. Remove from the burner and let stand until the cookies are ready.
  6. After thirty minutes has passed, take out the cookies and dip them one by one halfway into the chocolate mixture, placing them back on the baking sheet. By the time you’ve reached the last cookie, the chocolate on the first cookies should be hardened because of the cold. Dip all of the cookies halfway again, and then once more to ensure optimal coverage.
  7. Place the cookies back in the freezer for another 10 minutes before serving. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Enjoy these little bites of deliciousness!

Yours Truly,

Olivia

Stove Top Baked Beans

Hey guys! The weather is finally getting nicer and nicer, and I’m really starting to miss those summer barbecues! While we’re all stuck at home, you can still have a taste of summer time. These Stove-Top Baked Beans bring together caramelized onions, garlic, vinegar, and spices to make the perfect side dish.

I feel like all of my recipes are super versatile right now, because it can be hard to get super specific ingredients. You can use pretty much whatever canned beans you’d like in this recipe. I used black beans and red kidney beans to keep it interesting. Beans are so good man! They’re definitely underrated but are a great source of protein. In this dish, they’re great as a side with another protein, or just with some pita or bread. The recipe below makes a pretty big batch, which you can always halve if you don’t want to make too much. Or double it and freeze some for later- I haven’t tried that yet but I’m sure it would be great for when you’re in a pinch and are craving some beans. And lets be honest, that was me all the time before quarantine started. Now I’m still carving beans but I have more than enough time to make em.

I also caramelized the onions more than usual in these beans, to give them extra flavour. You want them nice and soft and brown. Maple syrup gives this recipe some sweetness, and red wine vinegar cuts through the sugar. The result are some seriously good beans! And since I made them on the stove they take less time to make as well. How can you go wrong? Here’s the recipe.

Stove Top Baked Beans

Serves: 8 as a side (I have a lot of bean eating to do)

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 a medium sized yellow onion, diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp shawarma spice (or use smoked paprika)
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
  • 2 cans of beans, drained and rinsed (I used black and red kidney)
  • 2 tsp pure maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent, about 6 minutes. Add in the shawarma spice or paprika and cook for an additional 5 minutes, until the onions are soft and caramelized. Add water or more oil if the pot starts drying out.
  2. Put the beans, tomatoes, vinegar, maple syrup, cumin, and cayenne pepper in the pot and stir until combined. Bring the mixture to a simmer and then turn the heat to low.
  3. Cover the beans and let them cook for about 20-30 minutes. Remove from the heat, season liberally with salt and pepper, and enjoy;)

Hope these beans transport you to an awesome summer BBQ!

Yours Truly,

Olivia;))))

Peanut Stir Fry

Hey there! Stir frys are actually awesome, in case you didn’t know. They’re loaded with veg (one of my favourite things), have a delicious sauce (another one of my faves), and this one has peanut butter (my ALL TIME favourite thing). This stir fry is also pretty much fool-proof and can be served with any type of grain you’d like; rice, brown rice, quinoa, noodles, we’re making it work.

If you really need to, you can also switch out some of the veggies I used as well. Snap peas, red onion, and even cauliflower would work in here. And if you want to add in some cooked chicken or beans for protein then go ahead! What I’m saying is, this stir fry is really versatile and works with pretty much anything.

This sauce is OFF THE HOOK though. You’ve got creamy peanut butter, spicy sriracha, and a little salt from the soy sauce. So good. Enough talk. Let’s get to the stir fry.

Peanut Stir Fry

Serves: 1-2

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Stir Fry:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 a white onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 4 small mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/2 a head of broccoli, cut into small florets
  • 1 carrot, sliced
  • Green onion for topping (optional)

For the Sauce:

  • 1 tbsp creamy natural peanut butter
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp sriracha
  • Sprinkle of red chilli flakes
  • 2 tbsp water (or more if you want a thinner sauce)

Directions:

  1. Mix together all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add in all of the sliced veggies and cook until they’re tender, about 8-10 minutes. Add water to the pan if it starts to dry out, and stir often to prevent burning.
  3. Once the veggies are soft, add the sauce and cook for another minute. Make sure that all of the vegetables are evenly coated.
  4. Remove the pan from the heat and serve the stir fry with noodles, quinoa, or by itself. Top with sliced green onion.

Enjoy this healthy and delicious meal idea! See you Wednesday;))

Yours Truly,

Olivia

Nutty Granola

Hey guys! I have another granola recipe for you today because as you know, granola is one of my true loves. This one is actually really simple, it only uses one…two…three…four ingredients! Just had to count em up in my head there. Plus you don’t need any oil, unless you count peanut butter as an oil. I count it as spreadable gold.

There are also loooots of nuts in this granola, because who doesn’t love a nutty granola? I used almonds and pecans from a jar of mixed nuts. Why not use all of the mixed nuts, you ask? BECAUSE I”M ALLERGIC TO CASHEWS AND PISTACHIOS AND I’M REALLY MAD ABOUT IT! They make my mouth all itchy which is really inconvenient, because like every vegan cheesecake or creamy pasta sauce recipe ever has cashews in it. (Except for my Creamy Mushroom and Hummus Pasta which is an awesome alternative for my fellow cashew allergen people). But anyways, I love me some almonds and pecans so it’s all good. I know you might be running short on supplies right now, so if you absolutely positively cannot get your hands on almonds and pecans, you can use other nuts or even some seeds if you’re super desperate. I’m sorry, but nuts are just superior to seeds. Like would you rather have some peanut butter or like, pumpkin seed butter? I’ve never actually had pumpkin seed butter but based on my experience with peanut butter I’m going to say that it’s better.

Back to the granola. It’s sweet and nutty and crunchy, and you’ve also got some nice big clusters in there. If you’re not using salted nut butter, you could top it off with a little sea salt at the end for an extra hit of perfection. I will definitely be making this recipe again!

Nutty Granola

Serves: 3-4

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 3/4 cup roughly chopped almonds and pecans (you still want some nice chunks in there)
  • 1/4 cup smooth natural peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Mix together the nuts and oats in a large bowl. Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, add in the peanut butter and maple syrup and microwave for about 30-45 seconds, until the peanut butter is nice and melty. Mix together until smooth.
  4. Add the maple syrup and peanut butter mixture into the oats and nuts and stir until everything is evenly coated. Spread the granola out onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes.
  5. Remove the granola from the oven and give it a little stir, trying not to break up any clusters that are forming (because lets be honest, those are the best part). Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 5-8 minutes, until the granola is golden brown.
  6. Take out the granola, let cool and enjoy!

Hope you enjoy this nutty granola! See you soon;))

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;))