Banana Ice Cream

I am one of those, "I'll believe it when I see it," (or in this case taste it) type people. There seems to be a craze right now of banana ice cream. So I froze about 5 bananas (pre chopped), put them in my vitamix (do small amounts at a time because the banana gets stuck under the blades), scooped it out and mixed it with some caramel (Coldstone style), and bam - banana ice cream that totally hit the ice cream spot without a bunch of fat and calories. I will totally make this again. I will say that the bananas that I used were super soft/ripe. I would think you need them to be for a natural sweetness.

Mixed Veggies - Indian inspired

So I am a fan of the whatever is in the fridge type recipe. You come home tired, you open the fridge, and you see what veggies you have and magically turn that into a quick meal.

What I used: Turnips (I didnt have potatoes and this is a lower carb alternative anyways), carrots, swiss chard, and cauliflower.

Take garlic to taste, and sautee the turnips and carrots with olive oil (I used a jalepeno pepper olive oil. You can just add the pepper instead).

After they soften add the cauliflower, sautee about 2 min,
In a bowl mix - 1/4 tspn turmeric, 1 tspn cumin, 1 tspn coriander, 1/2 cup water
Then add to the sizzling veggies. Also add the swiss chard - mix, and steam about another 5 min.

Indian inspired, healthy, all veggie, satisfying mixed veggie meal. Say Yum!

Vegan Paella (kinda)

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I saw a vegetarian recipe for paella and decided to give it my own twist. It was wonderful! 

Take olive oil, green onions (I used two, including the green and white parts), 1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, a tblspn of garlic, and one box of veggie broth. Bring to boil then add 2/3 a cup of lentils and 2/3 a cup of quinoa. At same time add 1 tsp of saffron threads. Cook for about 10 min then bring down to a simmer. Add broccoli (I used two large heads), and 1 bunch of kale. Cook until the lentils and quinoa are tender (about another 10-15 min). 

Say yum! 

Vegan Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

I tried about four different versions of this, which all tasted great, but fell apart. Finally I found an egg replacement that worked!

1 cup of peanut butter (I use the organic, no sugar - just peanuts stuff. Trader Joe's has a great one)
1/3 cup of raw agave nectar dark
1 tablespoon flax seed mill (I just used the scoop that comes with my flax seed protein powder).

Mix all ingredients together until there is no flax seed mill powder lumps and it all looks like wet peanut butter. Use a tablespoon measuring aid to scoop out 1 tablespoon cookies (should make about a dozen) onto a cookie sheet (I use olive oil to make them not stick), and then flatten the cookies with a fork and bake on 300 for about 10 minutes (I started with 5, then checked them at 8, then checked them and took them out at 10). Let them cool for about 20 minutes and you should be able to scoop them off and eat them like a regular cookie without them falling apart.

Tacos

So I am back to doing the grain free (although it is debatable that corn is a fruit, a veggie, or a grain), dairy free, vegan, sugar free diet (actual sugar not stuff like agave and honey). It is way easier than you would think. I do this for a few months a couple times a year. It makes me feel great and helps me lose a few after the holiday pounds.

Today for lunch: veggie tacos. These are some of the purest ingredients and some of the best tacos you'll find.

1 zucchini, 1/4 of a bell pepper, 1 handful of spinach, 2 carrots
to taste: garlic, pepper, olive oil, and jalapeno pepper (if you have a jalapeno flavored olive oil a drop of that will work best).
1/2 cup cooked of pinto beans.
3 corn tortillas (I used the Mission tortilla thins so I get a better calorie bang for my buck).

Saute the veggies, beans, and to-taste items for about 7 min.
Cook your tortillas separately. I get them almost burnt
Add a slice of avocado or guacamole to each taco ... and say yum!

Foodcation - Portland, OR

So I went on a foodcation - to vegetarian food heaven, also known as Portland, Oregon. Never has it been so easy to be a soy free vegan (well mostly vegan). Everywhere you they have vegan options, gluten free options, etc. Even my four travel companions, all meat eaters, were happy with the vegan options that I purchased and the few vegan restaurants that we went to.

Voodoo Doughnuts - Although I was underwhelmed by their regular chocolate and maple, the vegan peanut butter oreo doughnut was freaking AMAZING!

Prasad - This is a vegan, raw, restaurants that is next to a yoga studio. They have cooked and raw food all of which was amazing.

Cocotte - So if you want a fancy restaurant this is the one. They have a couple of vegetarian options. The vegan option, a stuffed squash was just okay, but the prices were not too bad and the meat eaters in the group were obsessed with their food.

Petunia's Pies - Vegan cakes and pies, lots of gluten free options and they all taste amazing!

Everywhere you go in Portland there are food carts, so we ate at a ton of those. The above are essentially the only sit down restaurants that we tried. The food carts pretty much all had vegan options as well. It has never been so easy eating green!

Olive Oils

I don't venture into expensive shops very often. However in both Sacramento and San Diego, I found myself being walked into Olive Oil boutiques by the husband; forced to taste quite a few of them. As weird as drinking olive oil and balsamic vinegar still is to me, we did find a few diamonds.

Mix up your regular meals by adding flavored olive oils --> jalapeno olive oil adds a zing to a quesadilla or grilled cheese sandwich. You can also use it in stir fry. Be careful not to add too much -- it is a very thin line.

Create a salad dressing with raspberry balsamic vinegar, or use a lemon balsamic in your fajitas.

These little things give old dishes a fresh spin.