Tag: Vegan

Healthier Thanksgiving Dinner

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I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love Thanksgiving dinner! Stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, the whole shebang. But what I don’t love is the heavy feeling you get after eating all of that stuff. So, just in time for Thanksgiving, I’ve created three side dishes that are DELICIOUS while still being healthier than their traditional counterparts. My recipes for Sprouted Grain Bread Stuffing, Garlic Mashed Sweet potatoes, and Simple Roasted Veggies are easy to make, and serve as great accompaniments to turkey breast. Let’s get into this Thanksgiving feast!

 

Sprouted Grain Bread Stuffing

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Makes 2 Servings

 Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

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  • 2 slices of sprouted grain bread
  • 1 stalk of celery, diced
  • 1/4 of an onion (white or yellow), diced
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tbs avocado oil
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 cup organic veggie broth
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

  1. Toast the grain bread until it’s golden brown on either side. Cut it into cubes and set aside.
  2. Heat the oil over medium heat in a small pot and cook the celery, garlic and onion for about 6-8 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.
  3. Add the broth, oregano, salt and pepper into the pot and bring to a boil. Dump in the cubed grain bread and stir.
  4. Continue to cook the mixture until the liquid has evaporated, but the bread is still soft. Serve immediately, or cool completely and then store in an airtight container in the fridge.
  5. Enjoy!

 

Garlic Mashed Sweet Potatoes

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Serves 2

Total Time: 12 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Wash and peel the sweet potato.
  2. Take a few sheets of paper towel and wet them under the tap. Wring them out so that they’re just damp, and wrap the sweet potato in them. img_9545.jpg
  3. On a small plate, microwave the sweet potato for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Then flip it over and microwave it for another 3 minutes and thirty seconds. Remove the potato from the microwave and cut it in half. If it’s soft all the way through, then it’s ready. If not, microwave it in 30 second increments until it is. This will all depend on  the size of your sweet potato.
  4. Place the sweet potato in a bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher. You will notice that the outside of the potato is still hard and won’t mash well. Remove these parts from the mash.
  5. Add in the minced garlic, salt and pepper, and keep mashing until the potatoes are smooth. Serve immediately or cool completely store in an airtight container in the fridge.
  6. Enjoy!

 

Simple Roasted Veggies

Serves: 2

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of your favourite veggies (mushrooms, cauliflower, carrots)
  • 1/2 tbs avocado oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Wash and dry your veggies. Cut them into bite-sized pieces. I used mushrooms, and cut them into quarters.
  3. Place your veggies on a sheet pan covered in parchment paper. Toss them in the oil with your hands. Sprinkle on the salt and pepper.
  4. Bake the veggies for about 20 minutes. Serve immediately, or cool completely and store in an airtight container in the fridge.
  5. Enjoy!

 

Now all you need is some turkey, and you’re off to the races! I hope that these sides give you the homey flavours of Thanksgiving, but still leave you feeling like you could run a few laps around the pumpkin patch! Anyways, I hope you all have an awesome long weekend. Thanks for checking out this post;).

 

Yours Truly, MyDayIsBooked

Super Simple Tomato Sauce

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Hello there! I see that you’ve all survived the first week of school-congratulations! Today I’m sharing another freezer friendly lunch recipe: Super Simple Tomato Sauce. One batch of this makes seven or eight servings of sauce, which freezes really well and can be heated up on hectic mornings. I usually eat this over lentil pasta, which takes about six minutes to cook (making it great to make in the morning), but any other pasta works fine too. Here’s the recipe:

Super Simple Tomato Sauce

Makes 7-8 Servings

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbs olive or avocado oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 3 cups spinach, optional
  • 1 small can of mushroom stems and pieces (optional)
  • 2 794ml cans of diced tomatoes
  • 1 6oz can of tomato paste
  • 5-6 fresh basil leaves or 1 1/2 tbs dry basil)
  • 2 tbs fresh oregano leaves (or 1 tbs dry oregano)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

  1. Cook onions and garlic in the oil over medium heat, until the onions are translucent, about 5-6 minutes.
  2. Add in the tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and spinach and mushrooms if using. Stir and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes-1 hour.
  3. Once done simmering, season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over lentil or whole wheat pasta.
  4. To freeze, wait until the sauce has cooled completely and spoon individual servings into ziplock bags. I recommend putting the frozen sauce in the fridge to defrost the night before you want to heat it up.

 

And there you have it! I apologize for the lack of pictures; as I was making this I didn’t think that I would post about it. If you have any questions, though, leave a comment down below and I’ll be happy to answer them. The spinach and mushrooms are listed as “optional”, but I really think that they enhance the sauce. Anyways, thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time!

 

Yours Truly, MyDayIsBooked;))

Black Bean Quinoa Burgers

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‘Sup everyone? School has started, and making lunches is a struggle once more. Fun times! In keeping with this theme, my next few posts will be simple lunch recipes that can easily be made and frozen so that you can defrost them during busy mornings. Today we’re making Black Bean Quinoa Burgers, which are delicious, easy, and freezable; important qualities for our purposes. You can whip up a big batch and have burgers for days while your friends glare at you enviously. Sounds great, right? Well, you have to make them first. Let’s do this.

Black Bean Quinoa Burgers

Makes 5-6 burgers

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
  • About 3 cups fresh spinach that has been wilted (not 3 cup of wilted spinach), or 1/4 cup frozen corn, or both, or none
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp chile powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne powder (add more or less to taste)
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Couple cracks o’ pepper;))

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F
  2. Pat the black beans dry and dump them into a medium sized bowl. Mash them with a fork (or with your hands) until you can form a bit of a ball with them, but there’s still some whole beans in there.img_9397
  3. Add all the spices, quinoa, wilted spinach or corn if using and mix with your hands until combined.img_9398
  4. Scoop 1/3 cup of the mixture at a time and form it into patties; they should look something like this:img_9400
  5. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip and bake for about another 25 minutes.
  6. Cool completely before eating or freezing. Freeze the burgers laying flat in a sealed freezer bag.

I love eating these between two pieces of sprouted grain bread with some sliced pickles, tomatoes, spinach, and a little bit of pesto, bet heck, they’d be great in a bun or a wrap with veggies and tzatziki. MMMMMMM! Hopefully these burgers help you out in a pinch, or just give you something great to munch on. Stay tuned for more freezable school lunch recipes coming soon!

Yours truly, MyDayIsBooked;))

Nutty Apple Crumble

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Hey guys! I for one love a good apple crumble, and with fall coming up (ewww), I thought that this would be the perfect time for this post. This crumble turned out great, and I ended up using peanut butter instead of the recommended coconut oil (surprise surprise), which makes it unique. But you can totally use coconut oil if you prefer. Almonds give a nice crunch, and using oat flour instead of regular flour makes it healthier.  Scroll down for the recipe.;)

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

  • 4 Gala Apples, peeled and sliced
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup oat flour (make by grinding oats in your blender)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 cup melted natural peanut butter (or sub melted coconut oil)
  • 1/4 tsp salt (omit if you’re using salted peanut butter)
  • 1/4 cup whole almonds
  • Drizzle of honey (optional)

 

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  2. Mix together the oats, oat flour, cinnamon, allspice, salt and almonds in a medium sized bowl.img_9245
  3. Add in the peanut butter (or coconut oil) and mix until combined. You may need to get in there with your hands to get rid of chunks of peanut butter or oil.
  4. Place the peeled and sliced apples in a parchment lined baking dish.img_9246
  5. Sprinkle the oat mixture over the apples evenly.
  6. Place the crisp in the oven for about 40 minutes, until the apples are soft.
  7. After 40 minutes in the oven, take out the crisp and drizzle a little but of honey on it. Place it back in the oven for another 5 minutes. (If you’re not using honey, just bake it for a full 45 minutes;)).
  8. Remove the crisp from the oven and enjoy with ice-cream, peanut butter, or more honey. Or all of the above!b50d553f-1135-4d82-b8c7-dd4d3cdd468c-1340-0000004593f2a867_file

Boom! Simple, easy, healthy and delicious! I hope that you enjoy my version of this classic fall dish!

 

Yours Truly, MyDayIsBooked;)))