Monday Munchies: Citrus Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Everyone loves sweet potatoes. Here is quick recipe to add a little zing to your roasted beauties. Serve this with a superfood kale salad.

You will need:

1 large sweet potato, peeled (or two smaller potatoes)

2 tablespoons Mrs. Dash Caribbean Citrus Blend (or use individual spices such as sweet chili pepper, thyme, black pepper, allspice, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, ginger, cinnamon)

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil, drizzled

1 to 2 tablespoons coconut oil, drizzled (tiny chunks sprinkled on top if it’s solid), optional

Salt and fresh squeezed lemon, to taste

Preheat oven to 375F and prepare a baking sheet with a Silpat liner, foil, parchment paper, or spray well with cooking spray. Peel the sweet potato and slice it into sticks or chunks. Place potatoes on baking sheet, sprinkle seasonings, salt and pepper, and drizzle the oil. Toss potatoes with your hands to coat evenly. Bake potatoes for 30 minutes, then flip them. Bake for another 10 to 20 minutes, and use your judgment based on browning levels, the size of your potatoes, and personal taste preferences. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Saturday is Here!

Do a dance or jump on the bed... it's Saturday! Have a lovely weekend everyone. Make time for a little fun.

Pinterest Picks- Precious Animals

We love animals. Companion animals, farm animals, exotic creatures, backyard friends; we love them all. There are so many great photos of animals all over the internet and on websites like Cute Overload and National Geographic. You can also find tons of images on Pinterest... and here is a selection of some of my recent favorites. These just make me happy.

That's all.. just cute animals. {photo credits}

Just Because...

{TinyWhiteDaisies}

Monday Munchies: Delicata Squash Bisque

Yummy Monday. Get warm and cozy with this delicious squash soup from VeganYumYum.

3 Pounds Delicata Squash

Oil for roasting
4 Cups Vegetable Broth
1 tsp Thyme
Lots of Black Pepper
1 1/2 tsp Salt, more or less to taste

Cashew Cream
1 Cup Raw, Unsalted Cashews
1 Cup Vegetable Broth, divided

Preheat oven to 400º F. Peel, halve and scrape out the seeds of the squash. Place on a baking sheet cut-side down and brush lightly with oil. Bake for 30-40 minutes until tender and beginning to brown. Flip squash before the baking is finished if needed to prevent burning.

Meanwhile, add the cashews to your blender and 1/2 cup of veggie broth. Begin pulsing to incorporate, eventually turning the blender all the way on while slowly adding the other 1/2 cup of broth. Once all the broth is added (1 cup total), let the blender run for 1-2 minutes until very, very smooth. Set cream aside.

Remove squash from the oven. Using a spatula, transfer it into a large soup pot. Break up the squash into chunks with a spoon or your spatula and add 4 cups of veggie broth, thyme, and black pepper. Bring to a boil then turn down the heat and let simmer for 20 minutes, covered.

Working in batches if needed, blend the soup until very smooth, being careful not to overfill your blender. My 64 oz blender fit the entire batch of soup.

Return the blended soup to the pot and add all but 1/4 cup of the cashew cream. Season with salt and more pepper. How much salt you add with depend on how salty your broth is to begin with. I thought 1 1/2 tsp salt was perfect for my batch, but yours might differ.

Spoon soup into bowls (or mugs!) and garnish with extra cashew cream drizzled on the top and some fresh black pepper.

The Company Store

I remember how excited I was to shop for my own stuff when I went off to college. Bedding, dishes, towels... I am not sure why, but I loved it. My favorite purchase was a yellow comforter (and striped sheets) from The Company Store, based in LaCrosse, WI. Fast forward quite a few years and I am in the market for a comforter again.

I have used down in the past, but once I learned about the down industry, I immediately stopped those practices. Which is where The Company Store comes back into play. Although they sell down, they also have an amazing selection of beautiful, warm, and colorful down alternative options that make my heart sing.

I am waiting patiently for my new LaCrosse Primaloft Deluxe Comforter in grey. It should be arriving on our doorstep in the next few days! Other goodies include throws, pillows, quilts, sheets, duvet covers and towels. I love that you can choose the weight of your comforter when you order it. Genius.

They also have this amazing program called Buy One, Give One, where they donate a comforter to a homeless child for each one that you purchase. Be sure to consider these guys for future purchases.

Earthy Mountain Soaps

I just discovered the beautiful and sweet smelling soaps and body products from Mountain Girl Soap (etsy shop). The packaging, cuts of soap and styling is just so lovely! I really want to order some.

Mountain Girl Soap is a vegan business specializing in high quality soaps made from moisturizing vegetable oils. Think thick lather, fresh scents and long lasting.

Great gift idea for your mother, sister, or yourself!

Monday Munchies: Detox Salad

The time has come to detox and get back into the swing of healthy food and lots of exercise. This recipe looks delicious and I am adding the ingredients to my grocery list so that I can make it this week. It also has lots of produce that is available this time of year. 

*serves 2

1 small bunch broccoli, raw or quickly blanched 

2 tangerines, peeled and segments separated, plus 1 for dressing

1 pomegranate, seeded

1/4 cup shaved or thinly sliced fennel

1 avocado, sliced

1/4 cup walnut pieces

extra virgin olive oil 

Toss first 6 ingredients together in a medium bowl. Drizzle olive oil and juice of one tangerine over salad. Season with salt and pepper to taste. You can also put the whole salad over some brown rice, quinoa or barley to make more of a meal out of it.

Myth Busting: A Vegan Diet is More Expensive

When I am talking about a vegan diet, I mean a whole foods plant-based diet... not one centered on processed and convenience foods. Let's be honest, food is a very political issue. The government (USDA) subsidizes meat, dairy and eggs, as well as the corn and soy fed to the animals. The USDA was created to support agriculture and eventually promote the products of animals, and, they are the same group that creates the nutritional guideline for us all. Conflict of interest? The government subsidies encourage farmers to produce more, which creates excess and leads to artificially cheap meat. Then the excess is dumped into school lunch programs… giving our kids unhealthy, fattening crap (butter, milk, cheese, beef and pork).

One problem is poor food distribution. We are feeding the animals the food that could be fed to the hungry around the world. Over 90% of all grain produced in the US is used to feed livestock. We get back only 1 pound of beef for 16 pounds of grain.

What about healthcare? Healthcare costs are climbing at least 6% a year... an unsustainable level. Bypass surgeries, drugs, medication for lower cholesterol, surgeries for diseases of excess... and on and on.

Plant protein is less expensive than the equivalent amount of animal protein: Eat your beans. Stop wasting food by shopping more often for fresh food. Eat less; many people eat way more food than they need. Buy in bulk. Buy local. Buy seasonal. Grow your own!

We also can’t forget about the high cost of non-veg diets on things like the environment, the animals, and our health.

Denver Neat Market

Happy Thursday everyone! One day closer to the weekend, and that's always a good thing. Just a quick post to let you know that I am selling some vegan snacks (under my Vegan Hostess biz name) at the vegan shop-up, Neat Market.

I am baking Cheezy Crackers and roasting Chai Spiced Almonds. Of course, there will be pretty packaging and handmade labels. I am really looking forward to meeting new vegans, picking up some hard to find vegan goods, and hanging out with the lovely volunteers from Plants & Animals Denver. Come on by, Colorado friends!

Juicing It Up

Anyone who saw us over the holidays most likely already knows that we got a juicer for christmas. It was our big gift to each other, and has already paid itself back in sheer joy. Seriously. The thing is amazing... we got the Breville Ikon Multi-Speed Juice Fountain (using a 20% off coupon from BB&B).

When we got home from the Midwest we hit the grocery store and stocked our fridge with tons of fruits and veggies. We juiced A LOT the first week... making all kinds of delicious concoctions.

{Healthy. Happy. Life.}

Some of our favorite juice "recipes" include:

Basic Green Juice

1 green apple
1 inch knob ginger
5 large stalks celery
1 cucumber
1 large handful parsley
5 stalks kale

Sunrise Juice

1 grapefruit, peeled

1 apple

3-4 carrots

1 inch knob ginger, peeled

1/2 small lemon, peeled

Kale Pear Lime Ginger Juice

1 bunch kale

1 pear

1/2 lime, peeled

1 inch knob ginger, peeled

Spunky Green Juice

1 cup fresh pineapple, peeled

2 cups spinach

1/4 cup kale

1/2 lemon

1 green apple 

1/2 inch knob ginger, peeled

a bit of mint

Monday Munchies: Fusilli with Beets, Kale and Pine Nuts

Happy Monday everyone. Another week is upon us... another chance to start out right and eat something healthy and tasty. This recipe (Choosing Raw) is creamy and cozy, which is great for January. Beets are so colorful in this dish... love it!

8 oz whole wheat dry pasta
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 large red beets, trimmed of stems and roots
4 heaping cups washed and chopped kale
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsps olive oil, separated

1 recipe of cashew alfredo

1) Heat oven to 400 degrees. Wrap your beets in tinfoil and roast for about 40-45 minutes, or until a knife pierces one of your beets easily. Remove beets from oven and run them under very cold water. When they’ve cooled sufficiently, you can just slip their skins off. Skin them, chop them, and set aside.

2) Place pine nuts in a small frying pan and toast for a few minutes. Set aside.

3) Place a pot of salted water on the stove to boil. When the water is boiling, add pasta and cook till tender, but still a little al dente. Drain pasta, toss with 1 tsp olive oil, and set aside momentarily, while your greens finish cooking.

4) Per the above, while pasta is cooking, heat 1 tsp oil in a large sautee pan or pot. When it’s hot, add the garlic and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Add the kale, along with a few tablespoons of water and a nice pinch of salt, and allow the greens to cook and steam, stirring occasionally, for about 5-10 minutes. You do NOT want to wilt the kale entirely—it should retain some crunch and form. When it’s just right, remove from the heat.

5) Place cooked pasta, kale, and roast beets in a large serving bowl. Pour about 1/3-1/2 cup of the alfredo over the pasta and veggies, and mix well. Top with toasted pine nuts, and serve.

Superfood Spotlight: Quinoa

Quinoa(pronounced keen-wa)is unquestionably one of the most super of all foods. Quinoa is actually a little seed, but acts and tastes a lot like a grain. It's delicious, a bit nutty and very versatile.

Nutritional benefits? Here we go:

Protein- Quinoa contains all 9 essential amino acids that are required by the body as building blocks for muscles, making it a complete protein.

Magnesium- Magnesium helps relax your muscles and blood vessels and effects blood pressure. Quinoa contains high levels of this vital nutrient.

Manganese and Copper- Quinoa is a good source of these minerals that act as antioxidants in your body to get rid of dangerous cancer and disease-causing substances.

Calcium-  A cup of cooked quinoa contains 30 mg of calcium. Calcium builds and maintains bones and teeth, helps regulate the contraction of the heart, and facilitates nerve and muscle function.

Iron- 1 cup of cooked quinoa offers 15 percent of the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance of iron, which helps to deliver oxygen to the blood, boosting energy and brain power.

Quinoa can act in place of rice or other grains in dishes like veggie stirfrys, burritos, pilaf, and paella. Quinoa is also great as a base for delicious salads or as a side with some salt and lemon.

Quinoa recipes to try:

Lemony Quinoa with Butternut Squash
Pumpkin, Lentils & Quinoa Salad
Quinoa Salad with Avo Radish and Lemon
Meatless Burrito
Quinoa Apple Cake
Quinoa Granola Bars
Tomato, White Bean and Quinoa Soup
Chocolate Multigrain Mini Loaf
More...

Myth Busting: Isn’t Fish a Health Food?

Recent studies have given us plenty of reasons not to eat fish:

• Farmed salmon contain such high levels of PCBs, dioxins, and other toxic chemicals that a study in the journal of Science recommends that people should not eat it more than once a month.
• Nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of mercury, some in much higher levels. So much that even the EPA recommends pregnant women, nursing mothers and children not eat it.
• The EPA estimates that over 600,000 children are born each year at risk for lowered intelligence and learning problems from exposure to mercury because their mothers ate fish.
• Four-fifths of the US salmon is farm-raised. The Environmental Working Group estimates that 800,000 people in the US face an increase cancer risk from eating farmed salmon.
• Salmon and other fish flesh contains high amounts of artery-clogging cholesterol and fat.
• In the wild, hundreds of billions of fish, along with "nontarget" animals, including sharks, sea turtles, birds, seals, and whales, are caught each year in ocean-ravaging nets or dragged for hours on long-lines for the commercial fishing industry. (PETA)

What about the fish? While fisheries would like you to believe otherwise, numerous studies, including a recent one by the Roslin Institute and the University of Edinburgh, have found conclusive evidence that fish do feel pain, as they have a nervous system like all other animals.

What about omega-3 (and omega-6) you ask? We require essential fatty acids in our diets to stay healthy and keep our brains functioning. But, like milk and calcium or meat and protein, there is a common misconception that fish is the best and only place to get these fatty acids.

High amounts of omega-3s can be found in: flax seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, brazil nuts, avocados, dark leafy greens and hemp seeds. Omega-6 can be found in flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, pine nuts, olive oil, pistachios and sunflower seeds. To ensure that you are getting enough you can simple add ground flax to smoothies, sauces, baked goods, etc. You can also take a DHA supplement for an added fatty acid punch.

Monday Munchies: Cinnamon Rolls

Some of us have one last day off from work. So enjoy a lazy morning with some fresh baked cinnamon rolls and mouthwatering pressed juiced... maybe from the new juicer that you got for Christmas? These beauties come highly recommended via VeganYumYum.

Seethe recipe and instructions here.