Portobello Mushroom Sliders

Serves Two – Vegetarian

Ingredients:

• 4 mini or large portobello mushrooms
• 2 tbsp soyasauce
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 avocado (thinly sliced)
• 1 roasted red pepper (cut in half)
• Handful of spinach
• Red onion (thinly sliced)
• Cheese
• Rice noodles (optional)

Method:

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• Cook rice noodles as directed on package
• Preheat oven to 400•F
• Place mushrooms (hollow side facing up) on parchment paper in a baking pan or dish
• Add oil & soya sauce to mushrooms
• Bake for 25-28 minutes
• Drain mushrooms and start building your slider, place ontop of a bed of rice noodles

Enjoy!

Sauteed Mushrooms & Pasta

Tonight is pasta night!
I was craving mushrooms, and they are a good source of protein, so I thought I would make a pasta dish out of it!

Serves 2-3

What you need:

•A pack of whole mushrooms
•3 cups Pasta
•2 tbsp pesto
•2 tbsp olive oil
•2 tbsp butter

Optional:

•1 small avocado – diced
•Sprinkle of diced radicchio
•Goat cheese

Method:

•Cook pasta as directed on package
•Drain and add pesto to pasta (set aside)
•Heat olive oil in a pan
•Place mushrooms in pan and leave for 5 minutes on med-low heat
•Add butter, cover mushrooms and saute for an additional 5-10 minutes, until mushrooms are golden brown
•Add mushrooms to pasta, stir it up and serve!

Spinach | Pasta & Spicy Shrimp

Serves 3
Cook time: 25

Ingredients:

•1 cup of diced spinach
•3 cups of pasta (your choice)
•2 cups of your favorite pasta sauce or cream sauce
•30 small shrimp, thawed, peeled & divined
•3 tbsp hot sauce
•1 tbsp lemon juice
•2 tbsp olive oil
•Parnesan cheese (optional)

Method:

•In a medium pot, cook pasta 3 minutes less then directed on package
•In another medium sized pot bring sauce & spinach to a simmer
•In a saucepan heat oil, add shrimp, hot sauce & lemon juice – cook for 3 minutes on medium heat until shrimp are pink and curled
•Drain pasta
•Add pasta to sauce and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes (taste pasta to make sure it’s cooked)
•Cool & serve
•Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top if desired

Egg Muffins

6 eggs
Handful of spinach – diced
Half of 1 roasted red pepper – diced
Black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
7 muffin liners

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl
Place mix in liners
Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and the eggs are fluffy!

Snacks: On The Go!

Whether you’re planning a road trip, need some new ideas for healthy snacks for you or the kids, or are in snacking mode… here are a few fruit and vegetable alternatives to satisfy your cravings!

If The Bulk Barn is close to home, they carry hundreds of healthy options, from organic to gluten free. The prices on some snacks can be a bit pricy, so making them at home is a great option too!

Here are a few ideas for the sweet & salty lover in you:

•Roasted peanuts – Rich in energy & high in Vitamin E

•Greek Yogurt covered cranberries – dried cranberries are high in fiber + yogurt is a good source of calcium

•Dried Figs – A great source for calcium, fiber & iron

•Kale Chips – Good source of protein, Vitamin A, fiber & more!

•Roasted Chickpeas – Great source of protein

•Dark Chocolate = A healthy heart, high in antioxidants, magnesium & iron

•Sweet Potato chips – High in Vitamin B6, good source of Vitamin C & D

A few more!

•Homemade fruit & yogurt popsicles
•Dates
•Apple Chips
•Banana Chips
•Homemade Granola protein bars
•Dried Fuit & Nut Mix

Sweet Potato Vegan Chili

Fall is in the air! It’s finally soup season!
So to I thought I would try something new tonight. I scratched the usual chili beans, and solely voted for sweet potatoes instead!

Serves 2-3 people

Here’s what you’ll need:

•1 jar of marinara sauce or pasta sauce
•1 large sweet potato – diced
•3 cups of spinach – shredded
•1/2 red pepper – diced
•1/2 tsp pepper

How to prepare:

•In a medium sized pot bring all but the sweet potatoes to a boil
•Once boiling, add in the sweet potatoes
•Continue cooking on medium heat for 25 minutes or until sweet potatoes are soft (taste test, by running cold water over a piece of potato)
•Simmer on low for 10-15 minutes

Let cool and enjoy!

Gourmet Naan Pizza App!

Serve as an appetizer or a meal, this vegetarian dish can be whipped up in 20 minutes, served warm or cold.

2 servings or 12-16 appetizer servings

What you need:

2 naan flatbreads
4-5 tbsp pesto mix
1/2 cup diced kale or spinach
1/2 cup diced red peppers
4 tbsp goat cheese
6 green or black olives, sliced
Fresh lemon

How to prepare:

Preheat oven to 325°F
Cover baking sheet with parchment paper
Brush pesto mix onto naan bread
Distribute kale. Peppers, olives and goat cheese
Bake for 12-15 minutes
Squeeze fresh lemon juice on top of pizza if desired

Vegetable Soup!

Fall is just around the corner! So to celebrate my favorite season, I’m cooking up a warm vegetable soup on this beautiful but chilly day!

Vegetarian
Serves 4

What you’ll need:

•5 tablespoons of Epicure’s Dry Vegetable Broth (no msg added and low in sodium) or 2 cubes of Knorr Vegetable Broth
•4 cups of water
•2 cups of diced celery
•1 cup of diced carrots
•1 large baking potato
•1 green onion (all of it!)
•Pepper (don’t be shy!)
•1 tsp of salt
•Dry basil (a couple dashes)
•3 cups of pasta: ‘Shells’ or any other kind

How to prepare:

•In a large pot bring water, broth, vegetables, onions, basil, pepper and salt to a boil
•Reduce heat to medium for 20 minutes
•Then simmer for 15 minutes on low until celery and carrots are soft

•Cook pasta as directed on package in a separate pot
•Combine the soup and pasta together
•Let cool

Serve with fresh pada, or any other fresh bread!

Happy Soup-ing!

What to do with all that kale?

So you’ve purchased a bunch of kale, made a couple salads, but still have a few pounds of kale left!

Salad is fun, a couple times a week! But what are you to do with all of that kale?

Here’s are 4 easy and healthy ideas to help ensure those leafy greens won’t go to waste!

But firstly, what are the benefits of kale?

•Kale has 2.5 grams of protein per cup
•High in Vitamin K (bone health)
•High in fiber
•Antioxidant (cancer fighting)
•Good source of Vitamin A & C
•High in calcium

Now let’s get cooking!

1. Kale Wraps!

Make these veggie kale wraps in under 5 minutes! Just add some peppers, kale, cheese and honey dijon!

2. Quinoa Topper!

•Cook quinoa as directed on package
•Dice up kale, green onions, peppers, and or tomatoes
•Add 1 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tsp of lemon juice per cup of quinoa
•Mix it up and enjoy

3. Pizza night!

Pizza kits are the best! With whole wheat & thin crust options now available, you can make a homemade pizza that the whole family can enjoy!

We made half meat and half veggie (for me) The left side toppings include:

Giant olives, orange & red peppers, cheese and kale!

You can also substitute the pizza sauce with a pesto mix and scratch the cheese.

4. Scrambled eggs!

Some other great ideas to incorporate kale into your meals are:

•Smoothies
•Kale chips
•Stir fry
•Soups

Taco Bowl Night!

Restaurant inspired, this taco bowl dish just take a little prep time and can be served in so many ways… with soups, salads, stir fry’s and more!

We went with a Mexican style dish tonight! It’s almost like a personalized healthy nacho platter! Mmm 🙂

Serves two

What you’ll need:

•2 large tortillas
•1 ripe avocado
•1/2 red pepper
•1/2 green pepper
•2 cups romaine ettuce
•1 cup shredded cheese
•Salsa
•Sour cream
•Your choice of meat if desired

For the taco bowl:

•Heat oven to 40O°F
•Place tortillas in the bowl
•Bake for 10 minutes
•Let cool and set aside

Toppings:

•Shred lettuce
•Dice up the peppers
•Grate cheese
•Dice avocado

Method:

•Place 1 cup of lettuce into each bowl
•Divide peppers and avocado, distribute on top of the lettuce
•Top with sour cream, salsa and lastly cheese!

Enjoy!