Pumpkin-Spice Muffins

It's been a cooler than usual summer around here, which makes me think of fall.  And when you think about fall, who can't think about pumpkin!!!  So, I decided to make up a new pumpkin recipe -- pumpkin-spice muffins!  These are so good -- they are dense and moist -- a great treat for the sweet tooth, but with no refined sugar, they are good for you too!!!  Hope you enjoy them as much as I do -- I've been snacking on them daily since I made them!

This is one of my super easy, pour everything into the Vitamix recipes!  I used canned pure pumpkin for this recipe.  You can probably swap it out for sweet potato too, which would also be extremely tasty!

So here is what I did:  To the Vitamix beaker, I added 1 can of pure pumpkin puree (398 mL can), 2 cups of regular rolled oats (not the quick cooking kind), 1 egg, 1 cup of egg whites, 1/2 cup of almond milk, 2 bananas, 1 tbsp vanilla, 1 tbsp coconut oil, 2 tbsp coconut flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1-1/2 tsp baking powder, 1.5 tbsp pumpkin pie spice.  Blend it together until smooth (it's rather thick, so you will have to use the plunger to ensure it is mixed well.  Pour the batter into a large bowl and whisk in 2 scoops of vanilla whey protein powder.  

Use a 1/4c ice cream scoop to portion into muffin tins.  I line my muffin tins with papers and spray them lightly with oil.  Pop them into a 350F oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let them cool and enjoy!!!  Recipe makes about 21 muffins.

Here is the nutritional info:

Asian Turkey Salad

A few years ago, I had an Asian-style beef dish that a friend had prepared from "Supper Works".  It was quite tasty, so I replicated it at home.  I've switched out the beef for turkey in this recipe, but any lean ground meat would work well with the flavours!

This is a super easy dish to make -- it's quick and would be a forerunner for a busy weeknight dinner!  Here's the step by step:

Warm a heavy pot or large frying pan over medium-high heat and add in 2 onions that have been diced and sautee until golden brown.  I usually add a dash of salt for flavour as well while I am sauteing the onions.  I use my Le Cruset pot so I don't need any added oil, but you may have to give your pan a light mist of oil to fry up the onions. 

Once the onions are translucent, add in 1lb of extra lean ground turkey.

Break it up with a spoon and cook it until it's almost done.

While the turkey is cooking, strain one can of sliced water chestnuts and chop them up into a large dice.  

Add the water chestnuts to the turkey mixture along with 3 tbsp of Hoisin sauce.  You can buy Hoisin sauce, or you can make your own clean version -- like this one or this one.  

Chop up a few green onions and a handful of fresh basil (Thai basil works best if you have that available to you) and add it to the works just before serving.

Easy as that, dinner is ready!  I simply chop up a bed of lettuce and add the Asian Turkey ontop and finish it off with a little more fresh basil!  Yum!!  Enjoy!!

Asian Turkey Salad

Makes 3 - 4 servings

2 onions (about 200 g each), diced
1 tsp salt
1 lb extra lean ground turkey
1 can water chestnuts, chopped
3 tbsp Hoisin sauce
1 bunch of green onions (green part only), chopped
large handful of basil, finely chopped + additional for garnish
1-2 heads of butter lettuce, chopped

1. Over a large skillet or Le Cruset pot on medium-high heat, sautee the onion until translucent.  Add in a pinch of salt or so for added flavour.
2. Add in the ground turkey and break it up with a spoon, while mixing occasionally
3. When the turkey is almost done, add in the water chesnuts and Hoisin sauce and heat through until the turkey is finished cooking
4. Before serving, stir in the green onion and basil.
5. Chop up the lettuce and arrange on dinner plates
6. Top each plate of lettuce with the Asian turkey and garish with some additional basil.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

Fall is here and this is the perfect fall recipe!  The other morning I had run out of blueberries for my normal bowl of oatmeal; however, I had a can of pumpkin sitting on my counter waiting to be turned into pumpkin muffins.  The wheels started turning and it hit me, why not make pumpkin spiced oatmeal?!  Well, this is now my new favorite breakfast -- and super easy to make!  

In addition to rolled oats, you will need pumpkin, egg whites, coconut sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and vanilla.

I use regular rolled oats (not the quick cooking kind).  I bring 2 cups of water to a boil and then add in 2/3 cup of rolled oats.  Stir them occasionally as they cook.  While the oats cook, I prep my ingredients:  Measure out 2/3 cup of pumpkin, 1 cup of egg whites, 1 tbsp coconut sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp ground ginger, 1/8 tsp all-spice, and 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg. 

When the oats are done to your desired consistency, and most of the water is gone, stir in the egg whites.

To avoid any egg white "chunks", I vigorously stir the oats, while slowly pouring in the egg whites.

What you are left with is a creamy looking oatmeal.

One the egg whites are combined into the oats, add in the pumpkin, sugar, spices and 1-2 tsp of pure vanilla.

Stir the mixture over a medium-low heat for a few minutes to allow the flavours to meld together.

Portion out into two bowls, and enjoy -- I like mine with a nice latte made with my homemade almond-hazelnut milk!   Yum!!

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

Serves 2

2 cups water

2/3 cup rolled oats

1 cup egg whites

2/3 cup pumpkin puree

1 tbsp coconut sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground all-spice

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1-2 tsp pure vanilla

Bring water to a boil and add in the oats.  Stir occasionally over medium-high heat until the oats are cooked.  While stirring vigorously, slowly pour in the egg whites to get a creamy consistency to the oatmeal.  Add in the remainder of the ingredients and stir over medium-low heat for a few minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

Almond Hazelnut Milk -- two step filtration process

I've started to make my own nut milk!  I thought the process would be too time consuming, so I held on to buying the carton type -- well, so glad I finally tried making my own! It is so easy and tastes so good!

I tried making pure almond milk during my first attempt.  It was OK, but I've never been a huge fan of almond milk in my coffee.  Then it came to me, I love hazelnut coffee, so why no try an almond-hazelnut milk!  It's so good, and one of my new favorite nut milks!  The first nut milk I made was also a bit "gritty".  After trying a number of different methods, I have decided that is one is my favorite and works great every time!

First, measure out your nuts.  I use 1:1 almond to hazelnuts (1/2 cup of each).

It is important to soak your nuts -- I put them into a ziploc container filled with water, and let them sit in the fridge overnight.  You could also soak them on the counter for about 4-5 hours.

After the nuts have soaked, the water they were in will be quite dirty looking -- drain that water and give the nuts a quick rinse.

Place the nuts into a high-powered blender with water.  You will need a 4:1 ratio of water to nuts -- so if you use 1 cup of nuts, add in 4 cups of fresh water.

Blend the nuts and water on high for about 2 minutes.

Now comes the fun part -- straining the works.  I place a nut milk bag over a pitcher, then pour the milk mixture into it.

Leave the nut milk bag to hang for a while to let the milk seep out. Do not squeeze the bag to get more milk -- I find it changes the flavour of the milk you get, and not for the better.

This used to be where I finished my nut milk making process, but I didn't like the sediment that would come with the nut milk....

Here is my ingenious idea to get rid of the sediment!  A super-fine coffee filter!  You can buy these reuseable coffee filter baskets at most hardware stores.

Place the filter onto a sieve that is overtop of a measuring cup or pitcher and pour the nut milk into it.

I was amazed at all the fine sediment it was able to extract!

Voila!  What you are left with is super creamy nut milk with no yucky grittiness or sediment!!

It can be used as-is, or add a splash of vanilla to the works before pouring into a jar for storage!

The nut milk for last for a few days in the fridge.  It makes the most amazing latte -- smooth, creamy and delicious!!

Enjoy!!

What I Ate Wednesdays: Wednesday August 6th

Today was a day of yumminess!!!  Even made a new recipe up!

Breakfast was an easy and filling egg white scramble.  I sauteed an onion until it was translucent, and then added in 2 tbsp of nutritonal yeast and 3/4 cup of egg whites.  Once the egg whites were cooked, I plated it and topped it with some fresh chopped basil.  Easy, quick, delicious!  Of course, I enjoyed my coffee on the side!

Morning snack was a Mocha-Chocolate Smoothie.  Super easy to make!  I used 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 heaping tsp of ground coffee, 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder, 200 g of spinach and about 12 ice cubes.  Blend well in the Vitamix and enjoy!!

Lunch today was super yummy!!  I made a Basil Cucumber Pasta Salad with Shrimp!  Soooo good -- I'll have to make this one again real soon!

My first afternoon snack was a familiar favourite:  Turkey-zucchini meatballs with a side of veggies (red pepper, cherry tomatoes and pickles).

My second afternoon snack was an open-faced turkey and avocado sandwich on a slice of toasted Steady-Eddie bread, which was served alongside some garden-fresh cucumbers and an Energy Bite!

Dinner was another favourite -- so yummy!  Grilled steak, served with a side of grilled balsamic broccoli and grilled mushrooms.  YUM!!!!

Basil Cucumber Pasta Salad with Shrimp

I love this recipe -- it makes a great lunch, or you can also use it as a side dish.  You can add in any veggies you like, but I really enjoyed this combination.

First, set some salted water on to boil.  Once boiling, add in 50 g of corn pasta (I used Suzie's organic corn pasta) and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.  Feel free to substitute in your favourite pasta.

While you are waiting for the water to boil and the pasta to cook, place 200 g of frozen cooked shrimp in some cold water to defrost.  Once defrosted, remove the tails and chop into small pieces.

Prep your veggies: chop up ~150 g of english cucumber, and ~100 g of sweet red pepper.

In a medium bowl, combine the shrimp, cucmber and red pepper.  Pour in 1 tbsp of plain yogurt (or 1 tbsp of Renee's Dill and Cucumber Yogurt dressing) and stir to combine.  Chiffonade some fresh basil and stir it into the salad, along with salt and pepper to taste. Once the pasta is ready, drain and rinse under cold water.  Add the cooled pasta to the rest of the ingredients.  Stir to combine.  Feel free to add in a few black sesame seeds for a pop of colour.  You could also substitute couscous or quinoa for the pasta -- both would taste great!

Enjoy immediately, or the salad can be put into the fridge and enjoyed the next day.

Raspberry Lemon Mint Iced Tea

Who doesn't love a nice cool drink on a hot summer day?  I make this unsweetened tea all the time -- love it!  It's great to sip on when you want something other than water to hydrate.

The recipe is pretty variable, but here is what I do.  I add 2 tea bags (or 1 large iced tea bag) of a berry tea into a large pitcher, along with three earl grey tea bags.  I then add 2 litres of boiling water to the pitcher, and let the tea steep for about 5-7 minutes.  Then I removed the tea bag, add a large splash of lemon juice (about 1/4 cup), a few sprigs of mint, a few frozen raspberries and then top off the container with ice.  Let it chill in the fridge until cold and enjoy!

What I Ate Wednesday: July 2nd

Ok, so I've been a bit behind in my posts as of late....things have been extremely BUSY!!  So here is a "What I ate Wednesday" from July 2nd.  This was a busy day where I started my day at 4am and needed to be in the office early.  It's all about planning ahead and packing easy take-along meals.

Breakfast:
Chocolate PB smoothie loaded with kale and spinach along with an iced coffee.

Morning Snack:
Rolled oats, cooked with egg whites and topped with frozen blueberries and fresh strawberries.  I made this the night before and just heated it up in the microwave at work.  I added a bit of water to the oatmeal prior to warming it up.

Second morning snack:
I was hungry that day, and had a second snack before lunch -- cherries!!!  I have been eating so many cherries this last month -- they are so good, I just can't get enough!!

Lunch:
I like to keep it simple!  Lunch was 4 turkey-zucchini meatloaf balls with a side of veggies:  cut up red pepper, cucumber and yellow cherry tomatoes.

Afternoon driving snack:
Exact same as lunch! 

Dinner:

Super easy salad of fresh arugula tossed with some olive oil and lemon juice and topped with cooked shrimp sprinkled with a few black sesame seeds.  I needed a bit more protein, so I also had some leftover goat meat.