Day #1 of Cleanse & Tasty Veggie Wrap

Hello all! Welcome to the first day of my cleanse. I must say so far, so good. I was up bright & early this morning (thanks to my hubby who is away and thought he'd call and say "good morning") and ready to get my 'cleanse' on. So, I got busy making my green juice.

What an amazing, healthy breakfast to feed to your body. 

In the juice, I put baby spinach, kale, celery, pear, green apple, broccoli stems and ginger. Once everything was juiced I added a shot of wheatgrass juice. It was good....but not great. I liked the juice immediately after I finished the juicing, but I had another glass with my lunch and I literally had to choke it down. It did not taste good at all. My juicer is not the best one out there, so I found that it took alot of time, had a lot of waste (I strained out a few extra ounces of juice from the pulp) and my kitchen still looks like a green veggie bomb exploded!

I have a problem when I'm in the kitchen...I am messy and this project was really messy!!

At the end of the day, I did drink about 30 oz of juice, but tomorrow I think I am going to go back to my tried and trusted green smoothies ~ for those of you who are foreign to the green smoothie movement, stay tuned; I will be posting some of my favourite recipes in the days to come. 

Even though I got an early start today, I didn't get out the door to get groceries and run some errands until 11 a.m. By the time I got home and got everything put away, I was starving. I wanted something easy and satisfying...and I wanted it fast!!  

So I pulled out something new I just bought that I was super-excited to try. Food for Life brown rice tortillas.

With wraps, there are no recipes or rules - personally, I use the following steps:

1.  Get "saucy" ;-)

Choose your favourite dressing, condiment or sauce. My all-time favourite is hummus. But, today I thought I'd step outside the box and try something different. I used 1/3 of a large avocado and mashed it in a small bowl. I added a squirt of lemon juice and some Extra Spicy Mrs. Dash.

 2. Pick your favourite filling.
I packed mine full of veggies. Any veggies will do - I used red pepper, carrots, cucumber, crimini mushrooms, alfalfa sprouts and sweet pea sprouts.

Olives also taste amazing in veggie wraps when you are using hummus!

3. Build your wrap.
I first heated my tortilla in the microwave for 5 - 10 seconds. Then you slather on your sauce.

Next, add your veggies.



I am a lover of salt, so I added a sprinkling of spicy Herbamare (sea salt) at this point. I think with the avocado it would have been bland without, but you can spice your wrap up with whatever you love.

4. Wrap and enjoy.

Mmmmm.....so good.

Now if you are a blogger and you are planning to do a post about your lunch, this is where you would insert a picture of  the final product - a gorgeous wrap with ends tucked in and veggies all snuggly inside. Well, that would have been a nice idea and I would have loved to share that with you, but I was so darn hungry that I dug in before I ever thought of getting a final shot. Oops ~ better luck next time ~ I promise next time I will practice a little self control ;-)

Well, it's now the middle of the afternoon and I've got to find some elbow grease and tackle the green beast that is my kitchen. By then it will be time for dinner and I am not sure what exciting recipe I am going to try, but I promise if it is something good, I will get a good shot of it to share with you :-) 

What are favourite sandwich/wrap fillings?

What are your favourite green smoothie combos?

I hope you're having a fun-filled Saturday!

Andrea

Veggie Plate with Hummus and Chocolate Cashew Dip

What a great long weekend it has been with my mom! We have been to the movies, visited with family, gone out for dinner and brunch, driven all over Southwestern Ontario searching for a book that I have been wanting to buy and eating.....lots and lots of eating CARBS!!!

We have had banana cake, sweet potato cornbread, ravioli, gnocchi, spaghetti, toast and the list goes on and on. Today, I decided we needed to amp up our veggie and fruit intake and add some healthy dips to go along side for a healthy lunch.

I had some organic carrots, pears, kiwis and apples that I need to use up, as well as some leftover green onions from Saturday night's dinner. I also added some vegetable crackers that I needed to use up.

Doesn't that look refreshing?? I have been craving something green for days!

It won't take you long to figure out that I am a total sucker for dips. In fact, I can eat an entire bowl of dip in one sitting, so it's best if I have some healthy choices that I can whip up quickly and easily rather than digging into store bought dips that are full of fat and empty calories.

Hummus
Adapted from Oh She Glows

1 19 oz can organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tsp spicy Herbamare (sea salt)
3 cloves of garlic
juice from 2 fresh organic lemons (approx 5 tbsp)
3 - 4 tbsp of water
1 tsp Frank's red hot
1/2 c tahini
1 tbsp olive oil

Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. Unfortunately my food processor bit the dust today, so I had to blend this in batches in my very old blender :-( 

Right before serving, drizzle with an additional tbsp of olive oil and sprinkle with paprika.

This hummus is fantastic~it tastes great with fresh veggies, on crackers, in veggie wraps or on whole grain toast.

I also wanted to have something sweet, so that I could dip my fruit. I have been having a love affair with cashew butter lately and I only had a wee bit left in my jar....what better combo than to mix my favourite nut butter with a chunk of chocolate? The only question more pressing is why has it taken me so long to try this combination??

Chocolate Cashew Butter Dip
2 - 3 tbsp of all natural cashew butter
1 square of dark chocolate

Place in microwaveable dish and heat in 30 second intervals until melted. Stir after each 30 seconds.

Absolutely decadent!

I really loved this dip with the apples. I think it would also be divine with animal crackers.

This was such a great lunch - it was satisfying and healthy and provided us with lots of fruits and vegetables that our bodies were so badly craving.

My mom really loved the hummus (I did too), but I really loved my chocolate cashew butter dip. Thank goodness I only had enough to make a small little bowl because I finished every last bit!

Wishing you a wonderful Monday evening and lovely end to your long holiday weekend (if you were lucky like me to have one).

Andrea

PS - If you're craving something a little sweeter and more decadent, check out my girl, Kris's, contest at i heart wellness. Enter to win 6 of her bakery's decadent Chocolate Chip "Chips Enjoy" Cookie Sandwiches - they are vegan and gluten free!! Click the link above to enter. I'd wish you all good luck, but you're going to have to beat me to get these tasty treats!!

Vegetable Stew with Heart-Shaped Biscuits

Stew is something I have always loved. Before becoming a vegetarian, I would whip up a big pot of beef stew from scratch---I just loved the stuff! Lately I have found myself craving stew, but I've never attempted to make a vegetarian version, so yesterday I thought what the heck, I was home alone so if it didn't work out, no one would be the wiser....but I have some fabulous news....it turned out absolutely amazing!! I am feeling like a proud mama about this stew because it is the first recipe I have developed completely from scratch that I can call my own!! Of course, in keeping with the Valentine's Day theme and my new cookie cutters, I had to whip up a batch of whole wheat biscuits (cut into cute little hearts) to serve on the side.

This stew is full of delicious, healthy veggies, which are smothered in a red wine mushroom gravy....are you drooling yet??

Vegetable Stew

2 Tbsp Earth Balance (or butter)

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 potatoes, chopped

1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped

2 carrots, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

2 c. mushrooms, sliced

¼ c. dry red wine

5 c. mushroom or vegetable broth

1 – 2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp rosemary

4 tbsp cornstarch

½ c. water

Place Earth Balance in a large pot over medium heat. Once melted, add in onions and cook for 3 minutes. Add garlic and 1 tsp salt and continue cooking for another 3 minutes.

I could eat this mixture with a spoon - adding the salt brings out the flavours just perfectly.

Add in carrots, potatoes, sweet potato, celery and mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes.

You will have to stir frequently so the veggies don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Add red wine and stir to coat veggie mixture.

Add mushroom or vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. You can add rosemary while the pot is simmering.

In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water until dissolved. Once veggies are tender, add to simmering pot. Allow to cook for a few more minutes until stew is at the desired consistency. Add additional salt and pepper, if desired.

This stew is rich and savoury and very filling. Derek came home several hours later and asked what was cooking...the aroma was still mouth-watering!

Heart-Shaped Biscuits

1 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. white all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 c. Earth Balance (or butter)

3/4 c. unsweetened original Almond Milk (or regular milk)

Pre-heat oven to 375 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Blend together flours, baking powder and salt.

Cut Earth Balance into the dry ingredients.

Add the milk and stir. Once you get it started, you will need to finish mixing with your hands. Knead the dough until all of the ingredients are mixed and the dough is smooth.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out until to a 1/2" thickness. (the easiest way would be using a rolling pin, however mine seems to be MIA, so I pressed it out with my fingers which worked as well)

Cut biscuits into squares or circles or use your favourite cookie cutter (mine of course were cut into little hearts ;-))

Place onto baking sheet and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with the stew. These little guys are best when served immediately.

Mmmmm....I guarantee you are going to love this meal....& if you're lucky (like I was) you will have just enough leftovers to have for lunch the next day. I have a feeling the stew might even be better on day 2.

Wishing you a happy Sunday....put your feet up and get in some good ol' rest & relaxation.

Andrea