Summertime Lunch

Oh sunny day - I hope the weather is as glorious where you are as it is here in Southwestern Ontario. It is sunny and gorgeous with just a slight breeze to keep the temperature comfortable. I am LOVING this day!

Today's forecast in my neck of the woods - awesome!!

Someone forgot to mention to my poochies that today was Sunday, which means sleeping in. I had wet noses in my face just after 6 a.m. and obviously they both had ants in their pants because they wouldn't stop squirming around until I finally got up and let them out. At first I was unimpressed, but once I was up and moving I thought I'd take advantage of my early start and get all my 'chores' done early, so the rest of the day could be mine to enjoy. I had a quick breakie,  folded laundry, washed our bedding, cleaned the bathroom, fed the dogs, went to the grocery store and the bank all before hitting the gym for a 10 a.m. circuit class followed by some weights. How productive am I?

When I got home, I was ravenous. I went to a local farmer's market yesterday and I knew exactly what I was going to whip up for my lunch. I've been seeing so many amazing meal ideas from my fellow bloggers and these two have stuck with me since I saw them earlier this week. 

First I made an amazingly delicious iced coffee. I got the inspiration from Leanne at Healthful Pursuit. I used one cup of chilled brewed coffee, one cup of unsweetened soy milk, not quite 1 tablespoon of cocoa and a squirt of agave nectar to sweeten it up. I threw all of the ingredients into my Magic Bullet and whipped it up. I added the sweetener slowly because I don't like my iced coffees too sweet. Then, using my pink cup of course :-), I poured the coffee mixture over lots of ice. It was AMAZING! I will being having these every single weekend this summer! 

Then, it was on to lunch. I made myself a whole wheat veggie wrap. First I mashed up 1/3 of an avocado and mixed it with a tablespoon of salsa and some nutritional yeast (you could use cheese). I spread that onto the tortilla followed by some baby spinach leaves. Then I lightly steamed some asparagus, green onion, yellow pepper and portobello mushrooms and added that to the wrap. I rolled 'er up and went to town. It was fantabulous! I am really loving mashed avocado on everything lately! This idea was courtesy of Kris at i heart wellness and all I did was change it up slightly to suit my tastes.

So now my belly is very happy and satisfied, all my chores are done and I have nothing left that has to be done. I think I'm going to head outside to plant a few tomato plants I bought and play with the dogs. It would be a sin to let this day slip by without soaking in at least a little Vitamin D!

Derek is finally on his way home from his weekend away and I can't wait for him to get here. I am feeling a teensy weensy bit lonely without him --- we haven't seen much of each other this week! I think it's safe to say dinner is going to be something on the barbecue. I have a couple of ideas and alot of fresh produce, so it's sure to be something utterly fabulous! Keep an eye on Wednesday to see the recap of our creations.

What does your 'perfect day' look like?

Do you love wraps as much as me? Favourite fillings?

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday,

Andrea

Lemony Penne with White Beans & Spinach

Happy Monday!! Sadly our gorgeous sunny weekend has sped by and we're back into yet another work week. Are you still enjoying warm weather in your neck of the woods? It was warm and humid here and our office building was so hot! I struggled to keep my eyes open all afternoon because it was so warm. It felt great at the end of the day to step out into the cool breeze and get some fresh air. It's supposed to cool off into single digits tonight but I really hope the Spring weather is here to stay!! (I'm knocking on wood right as I type this :-))

This morning I woke up and thought to myself "I have no idea what I'm going to blog about!" I've been trying to decide what recipe I wanted to feature next and nothing has been exciting me....that was until I started catching up with all my favourite blogging buddies to see what everyone had been up to over the weekend. There were so many fabulous recipes posted over the past few days ~ I think I have inspiration to last me at least a week or two. I've bookmarked several new recipes that I must try in the very near future!

Lemony Penne with White Beans & Spinach
Adapted from The Healthy Apron

This is a fresh lemony pasta that tastes great and packs a healthy dose of beans and greens! Make sure you put the full half cup of reserved liquid into the sauce at the end. I thought 1/2 c would make it watered down, so I used 1/4 c and I can see that my leftovers are going to be drier than I would have liked.

2 1/2 c dry brown rice penne (your fave penne will do)
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 orange pepper, sliced
2 handfuls baby spinach
4 green onions, sliced
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
juice of one lemon
1 tbsp tahini
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
pinch black pepper

Cook your pasta according to the directions ~ remember to salt your water ;-)  Reserve 1/2 c of cooking water for the sauce.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and pepper and saute for 2 - 3 minutes. Add sundried tomatoes and spinach. It was at this point that I found 4 green onions tucked way back in my crisper, so I sliced them up and tossed them in as well. They were a wonderful addition!

Once the spinach has wilted, add the beans and pasta.

In a small separate bowl, combine lemon juice, reserved cooking water, tahini, salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper to taste. Toss with pasta mixture. Cook for 3 - 4 minutes until the sauce has reduced slightly.

Serve and enjoy ~ garnish your dish with a lemon wedge - it tastes fantastic with a fresh squeeze of lemon right before digging in!

PS - Happy Birthday to my sweet hubby. Yesterday we went out for dinner with friends. I got my Bellini. He got a Ceasar...or two. We even got to enjoy our dinner on a patio. Life is good.

Even the dogs got in on the birthday celebrations. Don't they look impressed ;-)

Have a wonderful evening!

Andrea

Greek Style Quinoa Salad

Have you had a good weekend?? I certainly have! Who knew I could enjoy so many wonderful meals while doing a cleanse. I think I have a new found respect for delicious salads!

For dinner tonight, I made a fantastic Greek Style Quinoa Salad. I absolutely love greek salad (and all greek food for that matter), so I thought I would experiment and make something wonderful, sans the feta of course!!

Greek Style Quinoa Salad
1 c. quinoa
2 c. water
1 c. baby spinach
1 diced scallion
1 roma tomato, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 c. zucchini, chopped
1/4 c. oil-cured black olives

Dressing
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp water
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp agave nectar (or your favourite sweetener)
pinch of sea salt

Bring water to boil. Add quinoa and cook according to the package directions.

As soon as the quinoa has finished cooking, add the spinach and onions and mix well. Cover and let stand for 5 - 10 minutes.

By doing this, you allow the spinach & onions to soften without losing all of their precious nutrients.

Tranfer the quinoa mixture to a mixing bowl. Add the remaining veggies and olives and mix well.



Now you need to whip up your dressing. Place all of the ingredients into a blender (or Magic Bullet works great for this) and blend everything up until smooth.

Add the dressing to the quinoa salad and mix well.



Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and then serve!

The subtle flavours of the dressing and raw veggies make this salad so refreshing!

Enjoy!!

Now I'm off to drink some decaffeinated green tea while I catch The Amazing Race.

Andrea 

Veggie Burger & Sweet Potato Fries

We all have some nights when we are either too busy, too tired or just don't feel like spending alot of time in the kitchen after a long day at work. I had one of those nights recently, so I decided to splurge and treat myself to my favourite ready- made veggie burger. Let me introduce you to the President's Choice Thick & Juicy Portbello Swiss Vegetarian Burger.

Ohhhh Yeahhhh....

I think these burgers are only available to us Canadians, but man are they good! They aren't as low fat & low calorie as I typically like, but once in a while a girl has got to go crazy and let loose...so what if you have to undo the button on your pants after dinner....we'll make it up with a good workout tomorrow right ;-)??

These burgers are great on the barbecue, but since our barbie is covered in 3 feet of snow, I decided to throw it under the broiler - it still tasted great!

When I have a good veggie burger, I don't like to overpower it with all sorts of toppings. I am not very exciting when it comes to topping a burger: I like carmelized onions (doesn't everyone??)...I actually put an entire onion on my burger ... I just couldn't help myself :-) I also like a little mayonaise (you can use your favourite vegan version if you'd like)  and a handful of baby spinach.

Doesn't this burger look amazing ~ I know my mouth's watering  :-)

As a side, I whipped up some baked sweet potato fries. These are so easy to make!

Sweet Potato Fries

serves 1

1 sweet potato

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted (or oil of your choice)

1 tsp of sea salt

Preheat oven to 375. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or non-stick spray.

Chop your sweet potato up into wedges or fries - I was watching Hawaii 5-0 while I did this, so mine are cut a little funky, but they still tasted great.



Add the oil and salt and mix thoroughly.

Place fries onto cookie sheet. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes making sure to flip the fries halfway through. You may find that they take a little longer depending on your oven and how crispy you like the fries to get, so keep an eye on them.

I am a lover of the salt shaker, so I do add more salt once they are cooked ~ it really depends upon your taste ~ personally I think everything tastes better with salt.

If you realy want to get crazy, you could make a larger batch of fries and mix sweet potatoes and regular potatoes - this is quite a hit at my house because it satisfies my sweet tooth and love of sweet potato fries and Derek still gets his normal, "not fancy" taters.  

Voila! An easy and delicious meal without much effort or clean up.

Wishing you all a wonderful Tuesday evening!

Andrea