Honey Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins from ambitiouskitchen.com

Today I made these Honey Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins from ambitiouskitchen.com!

I substituted the egg with a flaxseed egg - 1TB ground flaxseed and 3 TB water - mix and let sit for a few minutes.

The Sequel!

I am so excited about this movie!! Can't wait to see it! I hate the title, but I guess they really wanted to catch people's attention. I LOVED the first movie. It changed my life.

It is in select theatres now, and it will come out on DVD (and I'm hoping Netflix) in December

Wagner Muesli

Dry Ingredients:

Bulk measurements:

14 to 15 cups regular oats/42 ounces of oats

1 cup Chia seeds

1/2 cup whole flaxseed (opt)

4 cups shredded unsweetened coconut

3 to 4 cups dried fruit (raisins, or Craisins, etc.)

4 to 5 cups chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc.)

Individual serving: - 2/3-3/4 cup uncooked rolled oats
- 2 TB. unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2-3 TB. dried fruit (ie. craisins, raisins, chopped dates, etc.)
- 2 TB. raw unsalted sunflower seeds
- 1 TB. whole chia seed
- 1 TB. ground flaxseed
- Optional: any other nuts you would like to add: almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc.

Tip:
- Making a huge batch is really the best use of time, and it lasts for a while. But if I am doing individual servings, I like to make a week's worth and put them in sandwich bags or Tupperware. It makes for a very quick, easy and healthy breakfast!


Add-in Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups almond or coconut milk (or milk of your choice)per 1 cup dry muesli
- 1/2 - 1 banana, diced
- other fresh fruit (ie. berries, 1/2 diced apple, a peach, etc.) 
- Use agave to sweeten if desired 

Directions:
1. Soak your dry ingredients in your milk for at least 5 minutes. I like to soak mine for 15-20 minutes to get the oats a little softer. You can even soak your Muesli overnight in the fridge like the Swiss do. That's our favorite way.
2. Cut up your banana and any other fresh fruit into your Muesli and enjoy!

Overnight Wagner Muesli by Emily Wagner 2015

Dry Ingredients- Bulk measurements:

- 14 to 15 cups regular oats/42 ounces of oats

- 1 cups Chia seeds

- 1/2 cup whole flaxseed (opt.)

- 4 cups shredded unsweetened coconut

- 3 to 4 cups dried fruit (raisins, Craisins, etc.)

- 4 to 5 cups chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc.)

One serving is about 1 cup of dry ingredients. So if you are making the muesli for more than one person, plan accordingly.

Add-in Ingredients per serving:

- 1.5 to 2 cups *almond, soy, or coconut milk (or milk of your choice)

- 1/2 to 1 banana, diced

- Fresh fruit, diced (any kind of berries, 1/2 diced apple, a peach, etc.) 

- Use 1 tsp. agave to sweeten if desired (this is a friendly option for anyone with sugar level problems)

Directions:

- The night before you want to eat your Muesli, pour your dry ingredients in a bowl or container that has a lid. (We do 3 cups of dry ingredients for the 3 of us.)

- Add the desired amount of almond milk and stir. You want it to be a soupy consistency when you put it in the fridge so that the oats, flax and chia seeds can expand. Cover and soak overnight in the fridge.

- In the morning, stir your Muesli and add more milk if you would like it to be less dense. Add your banana and berries (or other fruit). Enjoy!

Alternate Directions:

1. Soak your dry ingredients in your milk for at least 5 minutes. I like to soak mine for 15-20 minutes to get the oats a little softer.

2. Cut up your banana and any other fresh fruit into your Muesli.

*Almond Milk has 50% more calcium than dairy milk and way less fat calories. If you want to up the protein level, you can do half soy milk and half almond milk.

CHALT Sandwich

Cucumber

Hummus

Avocado

Lettuce

Tomato

Put all that on Hearty whole-grain bread

And you can add any of these delicious ingredients that you have on hand.

Pickle

Bellpepper

Olives

Veganaise or light mayonnaise

Mustard

Red onion

Sprouts

Cauliflower Leek Soup

Cauliflower Leek Soup Serves 6 Ingredients: - 1 TB olive oil - 2 TB minced garlic - 1 large head of cauliflower - 3 leeks, cut into 1 inch pieces - 7 cups veggie stock or water (and a veggie boullion cube if using water) - 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed - 1 cup cashew cream - 1 TB lemon juice - 2 TB nutritional yeast (in the bulk section of your health food store) Directions: 1. Heat the olive oil, in a large pot over medium heat, and saute the leeks, cauliflower, and garlic for about 10 minutes adding sufficient amounts of water to keep it from sticking or burning.  2. Add veggie stock/water to the pot and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to a simmer, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  3. Remove the soup from heat. Blend the soup with an immersion blender or hand mixer.  Mix in the cashew cream, lemon juice and nutritional yeast and continue blending until smooth. 4. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Tips: -You can garnish the soup with anything you like really, cashews, sliced spinach, cilantro, bell peppers, avocado... you name it! - You can use this as your main dish, as a side, as a base for another creamy soup. The sky is the limit! - And don't be afraid of substituting other veggies. Use what you have.

Pasta Fresca a la Wagner

I should write the recipe for this down sometime, but it is just so easy to throw together with whatever veggies I have in my fridge. Tomorrow is grocery store day, so we were trying to figure out what we could eat, and we had a zucchini, a bell pepper, and onion, some green onions, some cilantro, garlic, and some whole wheat pasta. So we just sautéed veggies, added some soy sauce and other spices, mixed it all together with a cup of pasta water and a quarter cup of nutritional yeast. Garnish with avocado, and you've got dinner in 20 minutes!

BLACK BEAN, AVOCADO & MANGO SALSA

Our friends, Sam and Emily Barker made this amazing meal for us. You have got to try it! It is going to become a staple dinner for us :) at least during mango season. 

BLACK BEAN, AVOCADO & MANGO SALSA from http://www.thedivineaddiction.com/

INGREDIENTS

For the Salsa:

2 (16 oz.) can black beans; rinsed and drained

2 avocados; diced

2 small (or 1 large) mango; diced

½ cup red onion; small dice

Juice of 2 fresh limes

Sea salt & pepper; to taste

¼ tsp ground cumin

Fresh cilantro; chopped finely; to taste

Happy Wrap

Tonight for dinner we had what I am going to call happy wraps. Doesn't it look like it's smiling? Delicious and nutritious! And for you meat lovers out there, you can substitute chickpeas with tuna. But I would recommend having both if you're going to have tuna :-)

Ingredients:

Chickpeas drained and rinsed

Romain lettuce leaves

Sliced olives

Sliced tomato

Sliced cucumber

Hummus

Avocado

Sliced or diced red onion

Directions:

Double tube romaine leaves together, and assemble your wrap with all the toppings you like, and enjoy!

PS. John enjoyed eating raw red onion tonight for dinner. Actually he ate all of this except for the lettuce. :) I love it when dinner works out for all of us! (it doesn't always, lately)

Superbowl Recipes

Well, I know it's not the superbowl now, but these are some awesome recipes!

I'm going to make this one tomorrow :) Enjoy! Forks Over Knives Super Bowl Recipes

Update - We made it, and it's amazing! You should try it, especially during tomato season!

TheColorfulKitchen.com

My friend Beth is seriously the best at finding excellent new recipes online! This week she shared 2 AMAZING recipes with us from thecolorfulkitchen.com
Delicious doesn't even cut it to describe this pasta, and have you ever thought of making cookies and brownies out of beans? Well, you should try it. It's amazing!

Easy Cheesy Pasta - Seriously, this is going to become a weekly staple in our house!

Black Bean and Oatmeal Brownies - Add a handful of chocolate chips, and a bit extra agave, and these are excellent!



 

Chickpea Chocolate Chunk Cookies - I could eat these everyday! And I could feed to my husband and son everyday without worrying about their health!



A blog that is vegan and gluten free is a dream come true, and this site is definitely that! Check it out!!!

 

thecolorfulkitchen.com

Put Nightmares in Proper Perspective

I have a lot of dreams, usually every night, and they are usually pretty intense and often frightening. I'm learning about these nightmares and how to view them so that they don't bother me as much. My counselor sent me this helpful article,

"Put Nightmares in Proper Perspective"

Put nightmares in proper perspective for better sleep

A surprising number of people are often disturbed by nightmares, disturbed to the point where it affects their ability to consistently get a good night’s sleep.  Here’s a few ideas to help put nightmares in proper perspective for better sleep.
First, rest assured if you are having a nightmare that you are in fact actually sleeping, and for those with trouble sleeping that’s a good thing right there.
Dreaming is a continuous process through sleep cycles, but typically the most vivid dreams occur during REM sleep. This suggests a nightmare is normally experienced during REM sleep, which means you can be assured of several more benefits beyond the fact that you are actually sleeping.
REM sleep normally occurs at the end of much deeper sleep phases.  So if you have a nightmare, you are in fact benefiting from the most restorative and physically refreshing stages of deep sleep that usually precede REM sleep.
Even if the nightmare is disturbing, in balance the physical benefits you receive from experiencing deep sleep are likely far more important to your overall well being.
Second, although the exact function of sleep and dreams is still not completely understood, many sleep experts believe dreaming and especially REM dreams help consolidate memory, process events, and help re-set one’s mood for a new day.   So even if you have a nightmare you can be assured that you are in fact processing events in your life as you should be through your dreams.
Some psychologists suggest that recurring nightmares are a symptom of trauma, stress, and anxiety experienced during waking hours.   If you are experiencing unusual stress or anxiety that affects your daytime functioning, counseling can help.  In this way professional counseling might also help reduce the frequency and intensity of bad dreams.
Finally, at the risk of stating the obvious, nightmares are in fact only dreams. They are not real. Reminding yourself of this might help you let them go, be less disturbed by them, and just accept them for what they really are — including the aforementioned significant benefits.
Putting nightmares in a realistic and accurate perspective might help you say what many of us say when we experience them: “Whew, I’m glad that’s only a dream!”
Nightmares are only dreams.  They can’t hurt you.
For more sleep tips and information on ways to sleep better naturally, or if you have a sleep-related question, feel free to contact us.

Vitamin E

Today I'm learning about Vitamin E, and it's natural sources. I love the website http://whfoods.org/ It is SO helpful to learn about vitamins and nutrients, why we need them, where we can get them naturally, etc.

So check out Vitamin E

A brief synopsis of what I learned is that Vitamin E protects us from free radical damage (cancer), as well as heart disease. Cool!! Give me some of that!

Here is part of their chart of the foods you can get it from. Click on each food to learn more about it too!

World's Healthiest Foods ranked as quality sources of vitamin E
Food	Serving Size	Cals	Amount (mg (ATE))	DRI/DV (%)	Nutrient Density	World's Healthiest Foods Rating
Sunflower Seeds	0.25 cup	204.4	12.31	82.07	7.2	excellent
Spinach	1 cup	41.4	3.74	24.93	10.8	excellent
Swiss Chard	1 cup	35.0	3.31	22.07	11.3	excellent
Turnip Greens	1 cup	28.8	2.71	18.07	11.3	excellent
Asparagus	1 cup	39.6	2.70	18.00	8.2	excellent
Mustard Greens	1 cup	36.4	2.49	16.60	8.2	excellent
Chili Peppers	2 tsp	15.2	2.06	13.73	16.2	excellent
Almonds	0.25 cup	132.2	6.03	40.20	5.5	very good
Broccoli	1 cup	54.6	2.26	15.07	5.0	very good
Bell Peppers	1 cup	28.5	1.45	9.67	6.1	very good
Kale	1 cup	36.4	1.11	7.40	3.7	very good
Cayenne Pepper	2 tsp	11.4	1.07	7.13	11.2	very good
Tomatoes	1 cup	32.4	0.97	6.47	3.6	very good
Avocado	1 cup	240.0	3.11	20.73	1.6	good
Peanuts	0.25 cup	206.9	3.04	20.27	1.8	good
Shrimp	4 oz	134.9	2.49	16.60	2.2	good