Exotic fruits and veggies

I love buying and trying new and exotic fruits and veggies I've never tried before. This week we got a star fruit. It was beautiful, but unfortunately not very tastey. I wonder if that is because it was picked unripe, covered in wax and shipped across the world... Probably. 

I think I remember having one in Guatemala, and it was yummy.

Citrus winter

 one thing I love about winter is all the citrus fruit! I love it when I open my fridge and see this! 

Raw Pad Thai Salad from thecolorfulkitchen.com

I am so excited to try this Raw Pad Thai Salad from thecolorfulkitchen.com!

Raw Pad Thai Salad  - Update: We tried it, and it's awesome! Seriously amazing. I might eat it every week in the summer time, but even in the winter, it's great!

Seth got me a veggie spiralizer for Christmas, and this salad is going to bring it out quite often!

Sweet Quinoa and Rice Salad

My parents got me a yummy Quinoa and Brown Rice blend for Christmas, and with it, I created this delicious salad!

Sweet Quinoa and Rice Salad

Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups uncooked quinoa/rice blend (or one of the two) - Cook with water or veggie stock according to directions
- 3 large handfuls of organic spinach, chopped
- 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes,halved
- 1.5 cups frozen sweet corn, thawed (or canned)
- 1.5 cups (1 can) chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

- Avocado for serving

Sauce:
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3 Tb. Tamari or reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 3 Tb. apple cider vinegar
- 3 Tb. agave nectar (or honey)
- 1 Tb. of your favorite dried spices (oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary, etc)
- fresh cracked pepper

Directions:
1. Cook Quinoa and rice according to instructions
2. While it is cooking, combine all Sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir
3. When quinoa and rice are cooked, put in a bowl for about 10 minutes. Add all other ingredients, and then pour sauce over the salad and mixed until combine.
4. Garnish with avocado. Serve warm or cold.

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!