cherry chia banana oat cookies

maybe i just need a cherry pitter, but right now, cherry season, i find it super messy to give my toddler cherries ;) strange, huh? i don't want her to have to navigate the pit, yet after cutting or biting off pieces to give her, there is juice everywhere. so... it's been cherry smoothies and cookies over here!

ingredients:
3/4 cup soaked almonds
1/4 cup mix of sprouted brown rice flour and coconut flour
1 cup shredded coconut
2 tb maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 banana
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup fresh cherries (pitted please! hehe)
2 tb chia seeds
1/2 cup rolled oats (gf if you require)

steps:
preheat oven at 350 degrees. throw everything into the food processor and process until you are pleased :) i wanted the almonds to be super processed so i watched for that. i used a spoon to scoop out small parts of dough and flattened and sort of rounded them on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. i baked for about 10 minutes (until edges are golden brown) and then let them cool before storing them. they were a hit with the toddlers (and adults) who tried them! yay!
ps. this is the post that inspired this recipe.

miso into sweet potatoes and gravy!

this past year, i have become so in love with baked sweet potato slices, i don't know how i wasn't before! they are the best!
the other night, i surprised paul by making a miso gravy to go with them.
next level stuff.
my attempts at gravy have never been very well-executed, but this time, i followed a recipe (well, as much as i can follow a recipe) and it was GLORIOUS.

my tweaked version as follows:

• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp unrefined sweetener (i used maple syrup)
• 2 large cloves garlic pressed
• 1 Tbsp shredded ginger
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup sprouted brown rice flour
• 4 Tbsp amano miso paste 

mix all ingredients (except miso) together in a pot, boiling to thicken. pour into blender (you may need to wait for it to cool a bit!) to make sure it is completely smooth (i.e. no ginger shreds!) and then mix in the miso paste. YUM!

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it's so easy being (slightly) green... cookies

i'm always looking for easy to eat (and pack up) toddler snacks! tonight, while debating going to the store to get some snacks for the continuously-eating-when-not-running-around toddlers i'm watching in the morning but knowing going to the store really just means i want an excuse to buy ice cream, i remembered some 3 ingredient cookies i made (though with dried cranberry) with one of my kindergarten classes that the kids loved (though some moms were disappointed with! i.e. no chocolate. ha).
i figured i could do something similar to try out on the girls tomorrow.
well, they came out of the oven and since my daughter was snacking on shredded coconut already (hurrah for extra vacuuming tonight), we did a quick taste test. she is onto her third cookie as i type this.

here is approximately what i did/what you're welcome to do!

preheat oven to 350.

mash one banana (the riper, the better tasting and easier this is!)
add a sprinkle of cinnamon and spirulina
add oats (gf ones if you need to be careful) and shredded coconut until you have a firm, moist mixture of something!

i used basically an ice cream scoop to divide the mixture but then ended up splitting the little mounds and flattening them to make them an easier size for trying and less of a loss if dropped while walking to the park ;) i baked them for about 10 minutes - when the coconut started to brown.

looking forward to testing these on my daughter's friend tomorrow and see if she asks for more too!

ok, so maybe i don't want to quit this blog quite yet... plus, veggie pot pie

i thought i wanted to blog about vegan pregnancy, birth, baby, etc. but the idea really hasn't gotten me going. i guess it felt too separate from me somehow? and then today i thought about starting a blog about wholesomeness which i couldn't tell you what i would be doing ("wholesome" was the word i fixated on while pregnant) as it's not like i've started sewing or baking bread yet (but i REALLY want to buy a sewing machine if my tax return is a good one!) i think "wholesome" to me is organic, homemade everything and little-to-no screen time (i'm close to quitting my social medias again), more outside time than inside and doing as much as possible myself.
anyways, i think i'll just continue this blog! during the last couple days, i've given my brain a break from school and have been finding delight trying new recipes! yesterday, i really wanted to make lettuce wraps, being inspired by us picking up an iceberg lettuce! exciting, right?
and i found some gluten-free vegan ready-made pie shells at WF and have been dreaming of a veggie pot pie ever since. today, i tried out this recipe from treehugger. i made the dough (just half - for the top - as i already had a shell and i wasn't going to make the individual pies) and prepped most of the veggies before going out.
 
it still took awhile when i got back home to get everything going but wow, was it worth it!
upon sampling the filling, i added a bunch of braggs, onion powder, herbamare and nutritional yeast when it was seeming kinda bland.
 
i also wish i didn't add quite so much rosemary as, though i love the smell, i don't love biting into it as much. but ahhhh, this guy is delicious now! pretty hilarious topping, huh? ha, i think i need a bit more pie experience!
 
i'm hoping to try at least one new recipe per week to start getting more variety in my cooking life. i've been scared of cooking for awhile since raw food i seemed to do quite well but i tend to cook blandly which SUCKS. so, i'm working on it!

the most perfect (and most easy) gluten-free pancakes!

after several fails to replicate a nice saturday morning pancake recipe with gluten-free substitutions, i was quite excited to try a mix given to me in amongst a whole basket of vegan, gluten-free treats! (yes, i do feel incredibly blessed and touched to receive such a perfect gift!)
the mix is by a company i hadn't seen before and i wonder if it's available only in the states for now? called the cravings place, i am convinced they make a wonderful product to have on hand for brownie emergencies and the like (yes, i have also tried the brownies and they were also ridiculously easy to make and delicious!). all of their products are made in a dedicated gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and nut-free facility and they package items containing sugars (ie the chocolate chunks in the brownies are not yet completely beet sugar-based, some products still have cane sugar) separately in the case you are avoiding sugar! most impressed.
the pancake/waffle/biscuit mix contains: whole grain brown rice flour, non-aluminum baking powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, bicarbonate of soda, non-GMO cornstarch, mono calcium phosphate), vanilla bean powder (vanilla beans, corn-based dextrose), sea salt, baking soda, and xanthan gum. it's not organic unfortunately but i appreciate very much that the corn is non-GMO. and i can't say pancakes are something i make more than once a year so i will forgive myself for the "conventional" production.
i was amazed by the simple, no-fail directions. basically: scoop some of the mix in a bowl and stir in cold water until smooth and desired thickness (ie more water for a thinner pancake) and let sit for a few minutes. i love a thick, fluffy pancake and so i kept my dough slightly runnier than a glop. and wow, they cooked up so fast and they were heavenly light, fluffy things! i put some bananas and farmers market maple syrup on top and finally, i have achieved some gf vegan pancake perfection!
 
now, next time i will have to try creating my own recipe!

crave conscious

i was just reading about a north vancouver company called crave conscious in the straight and then i discovered a demo in my neighbourhood! yay!
i tried the pear yoga (almond yogurt) drink and found it bitter so i bought a blueberry one to try at home, which i am enjoying while i type this!
i also excitedly bought vanilla almond yogurt (made with just almonds, brown rice, sugar, vanilla and cultures and all organic, vegan, gluten-free greatness!) and a plain yogurt that i'm excited to use as vegan yogurts seem to always be sweet and then you can't use them for tzatziki and other savoury dishes and dips!
and i also bought the cookie mixes (a blend of gluten-free flours and goodies) for triple seed and chocolate chip cookies. i thought i had bought a "dutch spice" mix and figured that was the cookie i sampled (the mix with oil and apple sauce added to it) - they reminded me of enjoy life cookies. i'll have to look next time for that mix! (though it's totally possible i was looking at something else and "dutch spice" isn't one of CC's mixes! ha)

i'm super excited for this local company and to be able to get these products so conveniently!

no-pumpkin pie custard-like smoothie!

oh goodness, is this delicious!
smooth and thick like a custard, cold and refreshing as a smoothie, comforting like a pumpkin pie, though i can't remember the last time i had a pumpkin pie! the last "pumpkin" pie i had was at organic lives (last year maybe?) and it wasn't made with pumpkin either!

ingredients:
-1 cup almond milk
-1 frozen banana
-1 frozen persimmon
-1 nub of ginger
-a good-sized shake of cinnamon
-a sprinkle of lucuma
-a sprinkle of mesquite
-a small splash of maple syrup

heirloom dinner.

on thursday night, for the first time in what seems like ages, i met up with sarah and went out for dinner! yay!
we checked out heirloom, just off granville on west 12th, which had just opened up the week before. it's an all vegetarian restaurant with many labelled vegan and raw and gluten-free options! hurrah!
we got the popcorn ($3) to start which was awesome. although i normally eat my popcorn with coconut oil and nutritional yeast just as heirloom does, the added beet powder that the restaurant uses was perfection! best popcorn ever!
i got an algae lemonade to start ($5) that i definitely have to start doing at home - e3 live with lemon and maple syrup? yum!!! so refreshing and invigorating! i think it would do me well to sip on in the mornings at work, though, maybe more so in the warmer months!

we shared the avocado fries ($7? i can't remember) and the raw slaw ($6.50? i can't remember either. oops!). the avocado fries are deep fried in a chickpea batter and served with a homemade catsup which has a strange sweet taste, at least to me and sarah. i kept using it as a dip though because the fries are drying and in my opinion, really need the dip dimension. i think they would go better with a salsa. the slaw was pretty good. sarah mentioned the sesame taste being too much. the slaw was really carrot-y and light. i appreciated the basil garnish and would have enjoyed more basil. 

i would definitely go back to heirloom to try more food. so far, the highlights for me are the beautiful space, my friend vanessa serving (and creating her amazing holistic drinks!), the popcorn, and my company, sarah! 

i'm super excited that vancouver keeps opening up new and beautiful veggie-friendly restaurants!

b-ham and time with the fam!

this week i have been hanging out with my parents in chilliwack and on wednesday, i went down with my mom and aunt to bellingham. before i show off some things me and my mom have been making for meals this week, i gotta introduce a new crepe place in bellingham (as of april this year) called ab crepes on railroad, near everything i wanted to see in bellingham (terra organica, buffalo exchange, digs...)

this place is great as they have vegan/GF crepes and regular crepes. i got a southwest crepe, without cheese of course. they didn't have daiya but the girl helping us mentioned they had several people asking about it within a couple days so they were considering it! ^_^

the gluten-free vegan southwest crepe (basically salsa and avocado), cucumber instead of cheese

at terra organica, i got some chocolate for paul (because i ate his stash out of the freezer! oops!) and my mom got some snacks for us, including one of my beloved nori sticks from gopals. i hadn't tried this kind (texas barbq) and me and my dad loved it! he agreed it was like pepperoni and it had a nice kick of spice!

back at my parents's place that night, my parents had pizza and i made a salad for their sides and for my dinner! the salad consisted of greens from my mom's aunt's garden on the island, beet tops, and mushrooms with a dressing of blended lemon, garlic, walnuts, ACV, salt pinch and some salad booster. super delicious!

on tuesday night, we made ani phyo's raw chili to top a collard green leaf and some beet greens with ground walnut taco "meat" and avocado on top of that. awesome! i love that my parents have been enjoying the food that i enjoy. i must be doing something right! it's also been super nice that my mom is paying close attention to what she buys as she has a gluten allergy and dairy sensitivity. so she looks out for a lot of the same things i look out for!

i made smoothies every morning this past week for me and my parents which was fun. my first one was a chocolate banana one for my dad (frozen banana, cacao powder, mesquite, maca, coconut milk and a bit of ginger). this one was frozen mango and banana, apricots, lemon juice, a bit of camu camu, mesquite, ginger and goji powder with water.

this smoothie is lettuces from my mom's aunt's garden, apricots, frozen mango and banana. 

and this morning, i did the last collard leaf, some more of my great aunt's garden greens, some parsley, 4 apricots, 1.5 frozen bananas and a fresh mango. my parents are loving these smoothies and i'm excited that they will continue to do them when i am back home! i think it's such a great and yummy way to "get your greens"! ^_^

yesterday's lunch was an avocado/cucumber/lettuce sandwich on silver hills chia chia bread. my mom took me to the silver hills shop in abbotsford on our way home monday and it was awesome to see the assortment of raw and organic foods they are stocking! 

for dinner last night, my mom sliced up a zuchinni into noodles and rinsed the kelp noodles and we tossed them into a sauce i made out of 1.5 avocados, a garlic clove, juice from 1 lemon, a splash of ACV, a sprinkle of cumin and salt and a bunch of fresh basil before serving on top of a collard green leaf. SO YUMMY!

tonight we roasted marshmallows in the backyard with my friend since grade 2 (!!!) and her 4 (!!!) kids. it was so much fun! and it was awesome that it wasn't even noticeable that i had vegan/gluten-free graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows (though the dandies were noticeably smaller than the kids'  marshmallows!

it was a wonderful week off and definitely a vacation being at my parents' place! 

now i have to start using my dehydrator again when i get home! ^_^

treats and eats in quebec city!

i am so grateful i had places to go to in quebec city that had organic and/or vegan treats and eats! i was there for just under 3 weeks to learn french language and culture!
the grocery store, or l'epicerie,  (provigo) closest to the campus i was staying at actually had a number of organic things which was amazing (as organic doesn't seem to be all that in demand out there!) and i would buy the president's choice brand of organic quinoa and brown rice pasta (and as mentioned before, their frozen fruit mix) and then was able to get the following produce organic: avocados, bananas, arugula, mixed greens, romaine, apples, carrots and mushrooms.

there was also the health food store le crac/le carotte joyeuse... on rue st-jean (the home of the oldest north american grocery store and a chocolate museum and other fun shops) which i called "le carotte joyeuse" or "le gros carotte" as that's how my new friends referred to it! (gros = large in french)
each time i went to this store, i tried a new snack.

le maison moisan (epicerie fine) - possibly the oldest grocery store in north america!

look at how big this fennel is! (at la carotte)

just some of the non-dairy mylks at la carotte! wow, blurry photo. wish i had taken another! i didn't use any but i'm really curious about the quinoa mylk! i love quinoa everything!

despite my chocolate sensitivity, i was keen on the sweets from the earth peppermint nanaimo bars and chocolate pecan caramel bars. hehe.

these chocolate treats really helped as i was mad craving chocadel's salted raw chocolate but it's on sale back home so it was hard for me to justify buying out there. before i had discovered it at "le carotte", i emailed the company in my broken french to mention how much i loved their fleur de sel bar and to ask where their chocolate retailed in quebec city. my reply? "merci beaucoup". hehe.

and what was super fun was discovering some raw food treats made in quebec!

 (i ended up leaving the crubec cookies as i think some of them had cashews and, well, i'm on a budget!)

 (these raw "chocolate chip cookies" from rawsome, which is also a quebec company, were so good i ate the whole package in one night!)

 (i'm not one for flavoured water but this lemongrass mint vanilla from ayala's seemed pretty legit and organic and it was on sale and less than $1.50! it was super soft and refreshing water. i loved crubec's sesame/maple/chia snacks and i definitely plan to try making my own!)

 (i got more of crubec's sesame snaps and tried bio-sphere's spiru-lyn(?) crackers that were super green but crunchy and satisfying!)

(more of the ayala's water and some rawsome italien herb crackers! they were super tasty! a bit soft perhaps because they are thicker than i'm used to with organic lives veg crackers but also perhaps because of the humidity in quebec!)

now in terms of eating out in quebec city, i made sure to go to the vegetarian buffet, le commensal (a quebec chain/manufacturer with a toronto location), a couple times. it's on the same street (rue st-jean) as la carotte joyeuse! loved that street for all of its food glory!

le commensal is not the best buffet i've been to (loving hut achasan, anyone?), but i loved that they label their dishes so it's easy to eat vegan and i was able to TRY to avoid gluten though i wasn't as picky as i'd be at home (and i brought a papaya digestive enzyme to help with eating gluten). i still have never tried greens & gourmet (a veg buffet in vancouver) so i really should get there some time! it's hard, though, with all these new vegan and raw-friendly places opening up in vancouver! (like the new fine dining veg place, the acorn!)

anyways, check out this veg bounty:



i went to a chain, le cochon dingue, with my roommates one night. we had gone there as a whole group (of 50 or so?) at the end of one of our activities earlier that week and i was impressed with how accommodating and friendly the staff were and i was able to have a bean salad the first time there and i ordered pasta there this time! pasta that isn't quinoa or brown rice-based for me is a real odd thing but i guess since i'm not celiac, i can afford some discomfort sometimes to eat "regular-people" pasta. and i craved it several times in quebec! i think because i was doing hours of walking every day - up and down giant hills and walls?

dinner at a "sugar shack" or "la cabane à sucre". i took a picture of the vegan pea soup i had to start but for some reason neglected to take a photo of the MASSIVE dish of roasted root vegetables on couscous they had prepared for me while the non-veg heads had meats and such. i must have been distracted by the pouring of maple syrup on everything! 

after dinner, check out this delight! i went back for seconds and thirds... hehe. maple syrup on ice!

yum!

after a few late night ice cream stops at glacier aberdeen (just off of cartier, the cutest street near the college) for carlos, i noticed on the price board "tofu aux fruits" and decided to be brave and order it. the young girls working there were super sweet (and let me practice my french) and blended up one of the packaged frozen tofus with some frozen fruit i chose. and bam! frozen non-dairy yogurt type thing!

i met up with my roommates at DAVIDsTEA(a montreal company) one day as my friend is super keen on their tea. i love the label design and paul had texted me the day before to show me his most excellent iced soy matcha from one of the stores in toronto. anyways... before even having any tea, i fell in love with this tea carafe. i have smashed 2 glass ones within 5 months this year but i still prefer drinking out of glass! i love this one with the wood lid! i hope to get it someday! ^_^

anyways, this is my iced soy green tea latte. i'm not sure how the one paul got in toronto was $2 cheaper than mine (did i order wrong?) but it still was fabulous. look at that foam! on a cold drink!
*update: i now know that ordering the green tea with soy as a latte is what cued the $2 extra charge for frothing*

speaking of green tea lattes and the like... i ended up having a cold green tea latte (with soy, minus ice cream! glad i checked on that one) at le musée national des beaux-arts du québec. the funny thing was my friend patrick being offered the extra of my drink in the blender which was the same size as mine. so we basically got 2 for 1. always looking for deals, you know. 

my last night in quebec city and at the end of our last day of classes, we went on a boat cruise of the st. lawrence river which was super nice. there was a buffet dinner, which i managed to find some things to eat from, but there was also a vegan hot dish prepared! how sweet!

and beautiful fruit for dessert...

and, thus concludes my mega post about food finds in quebec city! i was disappointed in the lack of organic foods but grateful and encouraged by the helpfulness and friendliness of all clerks and servers i met! 

merci beaucoup, quebec!