Tag: Quick and Easy

10 Healthy Freezer Meals

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Lots of places are starting to open up again, which means a gradual return to our busy lives. I found out a few days ago that I’m going back to school in September, and I’m really excited about it! Hopefully sports and activities can begin again soon too. But something I’ve really enjoyed over these past months is all the time that I had to cook. Now that I’ll have a somewhat full schedule again, I might not have the luxury of taking an hour to make an awesome dinner each night! Not to mention I’ll have to make school lunches again. So I thought I’d do a roundup of a bunch of Healthy Freezer Meals that I’ve posted.

I always like having a few things in my freezer that I can take out for my lunch the night before. Having freezer meals on hand is also handy for busy nights when we’re rushing to different things, and don’t have time to cook. I know things aren’t going to be completely back to normal, so maybe I won’t be THAT busy, but sometimes I’m tired and don’t feel like cooking anyways. My point is, it’s not a bad idea to have some delicious food stocked up and ready to go.

On this list, we’ve got everything from soups and stews to curries and falafel. Not all of these recipes have freezing details in them, but you can pretty much throw any of these meals into a resealable bag and freeze them like that. To reheat frozen soups, stews and curries, just run the bags under some cold water for a bit, then pop the frozen meal into a pot with a bit of water to melt. It also helps if you place the bags in the fridge to defrost the night before; that way you just have to heat up your meal. These freezer meals are all super nutritious as well, which is a bonus for when you need fuel before or after sports.

I like to take a day or two to just make big batches of a few recipes on this list, and throw them in the freezer for emergencies. It’s a fun and productive thing to do on a rainy day! I hope this post helps you out;))

10 Healthy Freezer Meals

Lentil and Barley Stew This Stew is so hearty and comforting! It’s packed with protein and complex carbs to fuel you through your day.

Cauliflower Soup This soup is full of flavour and makes for a great light lunch:))

Soul-Warming Chickpea Curry Curry is one of my favourite meals to make and eat, and this one has so much flavour and texture from the chickpeas. Defrost and serve with pre-cooked quinoa for a quick weeknight dinner, or pack it in your thermos for an awesome school lunch.

Vegetable and Coconut Curry A delicious meal that’s packed with veggies and deliciousness. Add some noodles for an easy lunch.

Falafel These falafel are full of protein, and when defrosted make a great addition to salads, bowls, wraps, and sandwiches! They’re so great to have on hand.

Golden Lentil and Coconut Soup Such a velvety, flavourful, and gorgeous soup! This will definitely both warm you and fill you up! It’s so good:)

Stuffed Pepper Stew Another hearty stew that’s super tasty as well:)) It would go great with a piece of toast.

Lentil and Coconut Curry I love this curry SO MUCH because of its creaminess and flavour. Freeze some for when you want a kick-ass meal!

Beans and Broccoli This is a vegan take on beef and broccoli that is great with rice, quinoa, or in salads, wraps and bowls.

Moroccan Style Chickpea Stew This stew is super delicious and has big chunks of hearty veggies with warm middle-eastern spices. Love it!

Definitely stock up your freezer with a bunch of these recipes! Hope you enjoy them:))

Yours Truly,

Olivia:))

10 Healthy Breakfast Ideas

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Breakfast is probably my favourite meal of the day, mostly because I get to make it sweet. I’m definitely a sweet over savoury breakfast person, because when you get to eat sweet stuff for an actual MEAL why wouldn’t you? I’ve posted a lot of breakfast recipes over the years, but I’d thought I’d compile a list of 10 Healthy Breakfast Ideas that you can make when you’re in a slump.

All of these are super simple and quick to make, and a couple can be made in advance to prepare for busy mornings. No matter how busy I am, I ALWAYS make time for breakfast, because it fuels me for the rest of the day. Fruit, complex carbs, protein and healthy fats are essential to an awesome breakfast, so you can kick butt all day long! Plus, breakfast needs to taste good, and all these recipes are DELISH. they have so much flavour and sweetness without any refined sugar.

I hope you find a couple of recipes in here that you really love and can keep coming back to! Enjoy;))

Pancakes

I have two pancake recipes on my blog: PB and J Stuffed Pancakes and Cinnamon Raisin Apple Pancakes. Both are made with oat flour and are SO YUM. Pancakes are a classic breakfast food, and can actually be whipped up pretty fast. My PB and J Stuffed Pancakes come together in a blender and take only a few minutes to cook. You could even make a big batch of either of these and freeze them, then pop them in the microwave or toaster for an on-the-go breakfast.

Muffins

Who doesn’t love a good muffins? They’re the epitome of a grab-and-go breakfast and taste amazing! My Scrumptious Sugar-Free Muffins are a CLASSIC and are probably my favourite muffin recipe. Then you’ve also got my Carrot and Apple Muffins, and my Mini Berry Protein Muffins. I always have some muffins in the freezer for food emergencies!

Oatmeal

Oatmeal is so good for you and makes such a heart-warming breakfast. Both of these oatmeal recipes come together in under 20 minutes, and are super tasty! On the left is my Carrot Cake Oatmeal– it has lots of spices, carrot, and some dates instead of raisins. Then you have my Vanilla Protein Oats, which have protein powder in them for a little boost in the mornings!!

Granola

I absolutely love granola- whether it’s on top of yogurt or a smoothie bowl, or just with some almond milk. Here we have my Apple and Peanut Butter Granola, Chocolate Coconut Granola, and Nutty Granola!! Granola is easy to make and can be stored in the fridge until you need to use it. Stock up for some very tasty future breakfasts!

Fruit Plates

These aren’t really a “recipe” per se, but whenever I don’t feel like making a fancy breakfast I just cut up a bunch of fruit, add some peanut butter, and go to town! I love fruit so much and I could eat it all day, so this is the perfect breakfast for me.

Smoothie Bowls

Smoothie Bowls are my favourite breakfast of all time. I like using frozen bananas to make them thick and creamy, and so it’s kind of like eating ice cream for breakfast. They’re a great way to eat lots of fruits and veg for breakfast, and the toppings are endless! On the right is my Berry Banana Smoothie Bowl, on the left is my Watermelon and Greens smoothie bowl from my post on 2 Summer Smoothie Bowls, and in the middle is the bowl I’ve been eating almost every day recently- just blend up a frozen banana, some spinach, blueberries, and a scoop of protein powder with some water and top with peanut butter and more blueberries. Yum!!!

French Toast

I have this awesome recipe for Lemon French Toast that you should definitely try out! It’s vegan, made with sprouted grain bread, and tastes so good! Serve with some fresh fruit and maple syrup for the perfect weekend breakfast.

Quinoa Bowls

I’ve been eating more of these quinoa breakfast bowls lately too. Quinoa is super good for you- it contains 9 essential amino acids- which makes it a great way to start your day! I cook it with almond milk and top it with lots of fruit and nut butter. Here’s the recipe for my Cherry, Peach and Quinoa Breakfast Bowls.

Energy Balls and Bars

Energy balls and/or bars are another quick and easy breakfast that you can make ahead! You can add pretty much anything you wan to them, which makes them super tasty and customizable. From left to right, I have my Fig Bites, Seedy Energy Squares, and Chocolate Zucchini Energy Bites.

Cookies

Cookies aren’t your typical breakfast food, but these two recipes are so healthy that eating them for breakfast could become a regular thing! I love both of them- my Chocolate Dipped Pumpkin Seed Cookies, and my Chocolate Peanut Butter Drizzle Cookies. Chocolate for breakfast is now a thing.

Happy Breakfasting!!

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

Thai Ribbon Salad

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Hey there! Today I have a quick and easy recipe for you guys that you can just throw together and top with whichever protein you’d like! This Thai Ribbon Salad looks super fancy, but all you need is a veggie peeler and some veggies and you can whip it up in a snap!

In this salad I used zucchini, which is one of my favourite summer vegetables, along with cucumber, carrots, and bell peppers. Top it all of with some spinach, crispy quinoa, sunflower seeds and a protein of your choice (salmon goes amazing in this salad), and you’ve got a perfect summer salad!

Did I not mention the dressing yet? Because it’s AWESOME. I used the peanut dressing from my Asian Kale and Quinoa Salad with Peanut Dressing. I had to put the dressing in the name because THAT’S HOW GOOD IT IS. I’ll link to the recipe in the ingredients down below. In the meantime, lets get to the salad!

Thai Ribbon Salad

Serves: 2

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 small zucchini
  • 1 carrot
  • 1/2 a cucumber
  • 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup spinach
  • 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
  • 2 tbsp quinoa (optional)
  • 1 batch of Peanut Dressing
  • Protein of your choice (optional)

Directions:

  1. Using a veggie peeler or mandolin, slice the zucchini, cucumber, and carrots into thin strips. Start by dragging the peeler down the outside of one side of the veggies so that you don’t get a piece of all skin in your salad. Then continue to drag the peeler down lengthwise to create thin pieces. Once you’ve reached the middle of the vegetable, you can turn it around and repeat on the other side. It might be hard to get all the way through the middle of the veggies, so you can save that part for a lil snack later;)
  2. Toss the veg with the peppers, spinach, sunflower seeds, quinoa, and dressing. Top with a protein of your choice (or leave as is) and enjoy!

Hope you like this simple summer salad!

Yours Truly,

Olivia

Stove Top Baked Beans

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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;))))