Sundried Tomato & Mixed Greens Salad

This is my lovely salad which I had for dinner last night. I am a huge fan of salad as it is a light yet nutritious meal with so many different combinations! For my salad I combined some mixed greens, cherry tomato's, red peppers, sun dried tomato's, strawberries, pumpkin seeds, grilled chicken breast and feta cheese. For a dressing I just mixed together some wine vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and some raspberry jam for sweetness, it was delicious! 

Vegetables on the Grill in Tin Foil

During the summer this is yet another way I love to do my vegetables on the BBQ! For today I used carrots (peeled), green beans and asparagus. I placed them on the tin foil, added a few tbsp. of water, a tsp. amount of butter, salt & pepper, wrapped them up and they were ready to be placed on the BBQ. I grilled them at medium heat for approx. 15-20 mins. and they turned out great ! I am a huge fan of vegetables that are prepared simple, no unnecessary fats or ingredients, the natural taste of veggies is what I love about them!

Raw Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake

This is the dessert I made last night for my family and it was delicious! It is fairly easy to make, the ingredients are not hard to find and it tastes so pure and clean. I love making desserts that don't make me feel guilty after eating them, and this one definitely doesn't! So i hope you try it out and enjoy it as much as me and my family did!

What You'll Need: 

Crust: 

1 cup hazelnuts

1/2 raw almonds

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

12 dates, pitted

2 tbsp. coconut oil

pinch of sea salt

Filling: 

1 1/2 cup raw soaked cashews

2 medium lemons, juice and zest

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 melted coconut oil

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

Top Layer: 

1/2 cup raspberries

1/2 lime, juice

raspberry jam

1. Grind nuts in food processor, until coarsely chopped. 

2. Add dates, coconut oil, sea salt and mix until it blends together.

3. Press it into a 8- inch non stick spring form, place in fridge while preparing the filling

4. Clean food processor well, warm coconut oil + maple syrup in sauce pan until they become liquid.

5. Place cashews, lemon juice + zest, vanilla, coconut oil, and maple syrup in food processor, blend until very smooth. ( Approx. 10 mins.)

6. Pour over pie crust, place in freezer until set.

7. Place raspberries and lime juice in blender, blend until smooth. Add jam 1 tbsp at a time until you reach your desired sweetness. 

8. Pour over your filling, place bake in freezer for 30 mins, remove from freezer 15 minutes before eating, enjoy!

Tropical Colada Parfait

A healthy snack idea: Parfait

- coconut greek non-fat yogurt, topped with a layer of fruit, in my case pineapple, kiwi and grapes and a layer of gluten free granola

- one more layer of coconut greek non-fat yogurt, again topped with fruit and a light sprinkle of gluten granola on top!

This is a healthy, clean snack, one of my favourite things about it is the unlimited combination you can make, so great creative and enjoy!

Gluten Free Turkey Wrap

Quick dinner idea, wraps, which are another food item that I throughly enjoy. There are endless combinations you could throw together to make a health, clean wrap, which is one of the main reasons I enjoy them so much!

In my wrap I put some romaine lettuce, cherry tomato's, turkey deli meat, red peppers, chick peas, and some feta. I also included a light layer of spicy hummus on my Gluten Free tortilla. 

Gluten Free Chicken Stir Fry

What You'll Need:

Veggies: red peppers, broccoli, carrot, purple cabbage, soya beans

Cook chicken breast

2 cloves garlic

Gluten Free Rice Noodles

Sauce: Black Bean

1 cup chicken stock

3 tbsp. black bean sauce

1 tbsp. corn starch

1 tbsp. rice vinegar

( Combine all ingredients and mix well) 

- Cook your noodles, put to the side, prepare your veggies and chicken , place them to the side as well.

- Add a drizzle of peanut oil to your wok, cook chicken & garlic for 3-5 mins

- Remove chicken from wok, place to the side. Add hardest veggies to wok first, as they will need more time to cook ( carrots, purple cabbage,broccoli). Cook for 10- 12 mins, then add softer veggies ( red peppers, soya beans).

- Add half a cup of your black bean sauce, allow to cook and thicken for 7-10 mins. 

- Pour remaining 1/2 sauce into a pot, bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 2 mins. 

- On a plate place, rice noodles, topped with veggies & chicken, drizzle with desired amount of sauce. 

Chicken Salad w/ Walnuts & Pumpkin Seeds

My lovely dinner from lastnight. I always enjoy a healthy, clean salad, it is fast and obviously easy to put together. 

For my salad I seasoned my chicken breast with some spices and garlic, then grilled it on the BBQ until tender. I then combined it with romaine lettuce, spinach, arugula, cucumbers, red peppers, cherry tomato’s, broccoli, red onion and shredded carrots. 

I topped it with walnuts, pumpkin seeds, alfalfa sprouts, feta cheese and finally a drizzle of Kraft huile d’ olive oil greek feta salad dressing. 

Feeding the Body & Feeding the Soul

In order to lead a healthy, well balanced lifestyle it is important to not only feed your body the nutritious healthy foods it needs but to also feed your soul. By that I mean giving into those sweet tooth cravings once in a while and eating that piece of cake after dinner, one piece of cake or a bowl of chips will not make you unhealthy. It is finding the balance between health foods and "cheat foods" that makes a clean eating lifestyle doable. 

For me personally, I know that if I totally cut out all junk food, I would end up binging on it in the end. So for my lifestyle to be as healthy and clean as possible I created a balance. Everyones balance between healthy food and junk food will be different but thats how it should be, we are all different so obviously our bodies wants and needs will be different too. Using me as an example I, eat healthy 85- 90 % of the time, the other 10-15% of the time I allow myself a treat. This could be an ice cream, a piece of cheese cake or my favourite candies, liquorice allsorts. I am careful to monitor how much of this stuff I eat and tend to only eat this type of stuff once every week or so, of course that is not always the case, so it is important to realize if you do eat more "unhealthy" foods then you intended to that week, don't stress there are many weeks in a year so plenty of time to continue eating healthy. 

Internal guide lines I tend to live by are pretty simple, and self made, they work for me and my body. I am a firm believer that everyone needs to create a type of "plan" that works for them. I limit my dessert to once or twice a week, also I will swap out the more unhealthy version, like a vanilla soft ice cream, for the more healthy version a greek yogurt smoothie bar, which contains less calories and more protein. By doing this I feel basically guilt free but still get my sugar fix. Another guide line for myself is if I eat junk food one day, I will eat completely clean the next. My biggest guide line I follow is to listen to my bodies needs, if it is screaming for a piece of candy, I will give it what it needs, one little treat will not ruin all your progress and healthy ways. All my daily meals ( breakfast,lunch,supper) are healthy and clean so indulging once in a while is good for me, and good for you too :) Feed your body & don't forget about feeding your soul.

Quinoa & Veggie Bowl with Chick Peas & feta

My quinoa and veggie bowl with feta and chick peas is a quick, healthy lunch recipe I love to make for myself. It has tones of vitamins and nutrients from the vegetables, and protein from the chick peas and quinoa, plus quinoa is a super food so it is extra good for you! 

What you’ll need: 

1 cup quinoa

1/2 cup chick peas

Feta Cheese

Vegetables , in this case I used broccoli, red peppers,onions and cherry tomato’s

1. Cook your quinoa, it is 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water. Make sure you rinse your quinoa first then add it to the water once it is boiling.

3. Pan fry your veggies until tender.

4. Add approximately half the quinoa to your veggies once it is cooked as well as 1/2 cup chick peas, and 2 tbsp kraft balsamic vinaigrette. Allow for all combined ingredients to cook together for 3-5 mins. Top with feta cheese

5. Plate, serve and enjoy!

* I tend to make extra quinoa so I have left overs to eat throughout the week. If you want to make just enough for this dish then the measurements would be 1/2 quinoa to 1 cup water. 

Gluten Free Chicken Burgers

This is what I made for dinner last night, it is a really simple recipe but tastes so good. I never buy pre-made burgers, it is easy and much more healthy to make them yourself :)

What You'll Need: 

1 package ground chicken breast

1/2 onion (finely chopped)

2 cloves garlic ( finely chopped) 

1 tbsp. burger spice

1 tbsp. weber Roasted Garlic & Herb seasoning

salt & pepper 

- Combine all ingredients in a bowl & mix well. Form into 3-4 equal sized patties.

- Grill on the barbecue at medium heat for 15-20min, then serve and enjoy! 

This is how I plated mine, I served my chicken burger topped with grilled veggies ( red peppers, zucchini & onions) beside a garden salad, which contained romaine lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, cherry tomato's, topped with feta cheese and Kraft huile d' olive oil greek feta salad dressing. I also had half a sweet potato as well. I like to incorporate as many different vegetables as I can with my dinner. 

 

Summer Coslaw

What You'll Need: 

1 green pepper (thinly sliced)

3 medium carrots (shredded)

half green cabbage ( thinly sliced)

1/4 purple cabbage ( thinly sliced)

garlic, salt & pepper ( to taste)

1/4 white sugar

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup water

3/4 canola oil

1. Bring wet ingredients to a boil in a pot, add to sliced cabbage, peppers, and carrots. Let sit for about an hour to soften. 

 

Chicken Mango Skewers

What You’ll Need: 

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 ripe mangos

1/2 tsp. chilli powder

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. ginger

salt & pepper

skewer sticks

1. Cut your chicken breast into 3/4 inch strips

2. Dice mangos into tiny pieces, put in a blender/ food processor and blend until smooth, mix in chilli powder, garlic powder, ginger, and a pinch of salt and pepper

3. Marinade chicken in mango sauce for 30 mins to 8 hours, put some sauce to the side as it will be used later on the chicken

4. Once chicken is finished marinading put 2-3 pieces on each skewer and grill for 7-12 minutes

5. With the mango sauce remaining on the side, put in a pot, bring to a boil and drizzle on top your chicken skewers before eating

* make sure to soak your skewer sticks in water so they do not burn on the grill

Grilled Vegetables

This is my favourite way to prepare vegetables in the summer. I just chop up some peppers, onions and zucchini ( you could use whatever veggies you wanted of course) add them to a pie pan, drizzle with olive oil and allow them to grill on the bbq for 15-20 mins. 

They are clean, simple, and healthy and have a lovely summer vibe :)

Gluten Free Balsamic Vinaigrette

What You’ll Need: 

3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 tbsp. warm water

1 tsp. dijon mustard

1 clove minced garlic

salt & pepper

1 tsp. jam (I used blueberry) 

1/3 cup olive oil

1. Combine all ingredients, mix well, serve over your favourite salad!

* This is a healthy, clean, gluten free dressing, that is made of ingredients that most people have in their homes already. Home made dressing is the way to go, it is easy to make and so much healthier then store bought!