A short work week!! Could we ask for anything more?! lol It's been very busy at work these days and I am more excited to have a break, can ya tell?! So last week while Sean was away, I was able to really have some fun with my suppers. He likes to try new things, but only to a certain extent :) One night, I was feeling very hungry but of course I wanted something very clean. I chose an organic veggie burger on an ezekiel sprouted hamburger bun. On the side I made a huge spinach salad and a few slices of avocado. YUM!! Then, the next night I wasn't feeling as hungry but still wanted to have something just as good. I made one huge kale avocado salad. I massaged the kale first with extra virgin olive oil and then added chickpeas, walnuts, cranberries and feta. It proved to be one of the best salads yet. Finally, on Sunday I made one of my famous quinoa dishes so I would have lunches throughout the week for work. Lately, I have been craving coconut milk AND quinoa. I had researched a couple recipes but came up empty. But that didn't stop me. I thought I would just play around with something and see what happens. Coconut Veggie Quinoa - 1 cup uncooked organic quinoa - A bunch of kale, chopped - Organic broccoli, steamed, chopped - Can of organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed. - Half - full can of organic coconut milk - Feta cheese - Cayenne Pepper - Tumeric - Curry - Salt & Pepper Method: 1) Cook quinoa with 2 cups water. For directions on cooking quinoa, see here. 2) Once you had let the quinoa sit for a few minutes, start adding in all your veggies. Before you add the kale, massage it with a dash of extra virgin olive oil. Steam your broccoli and then chop it into small pieces and then add to quinoa. After all your veggies are in, add half - full can of coconut milk and mix. 3) Add your spices and feta cheese and combine until it is all well incorporated. I always find quinoa a bit dry, so the coconut milk really gave it a great texture and a great taste! I love it. And then I slice up some avocado as a side and it is the perfect dish! OH!! And thanks to Chantal Beam, one of our faithful blog readers I found the most amazing deal on quinoa and wanted to share it with you guys. She told me a few weeks ago she found Organic Quinoa at Costco. It is a large bag for only $8.99 BUT the day I went last week, it was on sale for $6.99. An amazing deal since quinoa is usually on the pricier side. So! Thanks girl and everyone else should go take advantage of this buy. I may even approach Costco to see if they would be able to bring in more organic items. I have blogger friends in the USA and their Costco's have SOOO many more organic food items. It would be nice if we could get the fraction of what they have. Wish me luck! Well, I hope you guys all have an amazing Easter weekend. Happy EASTER!!!!
Lots of love, Metaxia
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I hope you guys had a nice weekend! Mine was quiet and lazy. I finally got sick with a cold. I take pride in the fact that with my clean eating and active lifestyle, I haven't gotten sick in well over a year. But it finally happened. Friday night and Saturday was the worse but I quickly shook it off and I am feeling much better. Last week at the SFL event, Bruce had spoke of Cayenne Pepper and its powerful effects. So, I took his advice and added it to my quinoa lunch everyday and I think that helped me get healthy quicker. I have a post in the works right now with a list of all of the green products I use on a daily basis that isn't food. Stuff like beauty products, hair care, homemade facials and lastly green cleaning products for around the home. I just thought it would be nice to give you guys ideas on ways to stay [clean] not ONLY with the things you eat. Hopefully, it will be on its way soon :) Today I thought I would start the week off with a yummy recipe I got from The Kind Diet that is a twist on an old classic - rice crispy squares! Have a look... Crispy Almond Butter Treats with Chocolate Chips - 1 box of brown rice crisps cereal - 1.25 cups of brown rice syrup - pinch of sea salt - 3/4 cup natural almond butter - 1/2 dark chocolate chips (or vegan grain sweetened choc chips) - 1 Tbsp ground flax Method: 1) Pour the brown rice cereal into a large bowl. 2) Heat the brown rice syrup with a pinch of sea salt in a sauce pan over low heat. When it liquefies, add the almond butter until well combined. Then pour over the rice cereal and mix with a spoon. 3) Once the mixture has cooled, stir in your chocolate chips and ground flax. Make sure your mixture has cooled or else your chocolate chips will melt. 4) Pour the mixture into a 9" x 13" baking dish and with a wet spoon, press the mixture evenly into the pan. Then place into the fridge and let it cool for an hour before cutting into squares. Why Brown Rice Syrup??
Brown rice syrup is made by fermenting the cooked brown rice by adding sprouted barley to it that has active enzymes. Brown rice syrup has a low glycemic index and does not cause a sudden spike in blood sugar after consuming it like most refined sugars. It is also a good source of minerals, magnesium, potassium and iron. Brown rice syrup is very similar to honey and you can substitute it for refined sugar in most recipes. For more information on Brown Rice Syrup. Happy Monday!! Lots of Love, Metaxia Happy Wednesday Guys!! It has been a great day. It was so beautiful out and the sun was shining all day. I got home and felt very tired after a busy day at work... I worked out this morning but a little voice inside kept telling me I should go for a jog. There I lay.. on the couch not sure if I was able to actually get my butt up. Then I remembered a post on the Eat Clean website this week that said "when you are feeling tired and having a blah day.. really PUSH yourself to get that work out in and it will make you feel better." So.. I got my workout gear on and went for a jog. It was such a nice night and then as I was doing my cool down walk towards the apartment building I came face to face with 4 beautiful deer!!! What a sight! They are such amazing animals and in the Greek culture they are very good luck to see. So all in all, I couldn't have made a better decision to get out and go for that jog tonight. Today's recipe is a dish I LOVE to make on any occasion. It is great when I am home alone and just want to make something quick, and it is even good for both Sean and I paired with a nice side salad. Pita pizza's are just how they sound... a mini personal size pizza you make from pita bread. The combo is as follows: [Superfood] Veggie Pita Pizza - Organic whole wheat sprouted pita bread - organic salsa [medium] - organic chickpeas - kale, chopped - avocado, chopped - light cheese - feta cheese Method: Preheat your oven to 350. 1) Put about 2 scoops of salsa onto the pita bread and with a spoon, even it out. 2) Place your chickpeas on first. As many as you'd like! I get the canned organic chickpeas from the organic aisle. Make sure you drain and rinse them so you get rid of all the sodium. 3) Next I wash about a leaf of kale and chop it up into pieces and place it onto the pizza. 4) Then, I cut about a quarter of an avocado into cubes and place it on top. 5) Lastly I sprinkle for shredded light cheese on top. Don't put too much! You don't want to ruin the healthiness of the pizza. I also top it off with a tiny bit of feta... cause... i love it :) 6) Place it on a small pan and into the oven for about 10-12 minutes. Until the cheese is nicely melted and the pita bread crisps up. The base almost turns into a pita chip consistency.. so yummy! 7) Cut it into 4 triangles and it feels like a very satisfying meal. This pizza is made with all organic foods (except the cheese, but you can fix that) and it is the perfect quick dish. If you have a partner that doesn't love clean foods... make them this and they will think you stopped at a pizza place on the way home! *Tip - The organic sprouted pita bread is a great find at Sobey's in the freezer section. Only 99cents!! That is cheaper than most regular packages of pita bread! I also wanted to share this find with you. I was at the bulk barn after work and found these All Natural Kamut puffed cakes.. they had a few different kinds but I grabbed the kind sweetened with Agave. They were $3.29 I think and thought I would give them a try. They are great! I put a little bit of almond butter on one and they almost tasted like a healthy version of the caramel rice cakes. I think it was a great purchase!!
Well that's it for today. I hope you are all having a great week. Lots of love, Metaxia Well... I'm sure you have all noticed my MIA last week. It was a busy one and my nights were occupied prepping for the event Granola Girls were attending on Thursday night. It has probably been the best event for us in awhile. It was the perfect mix of people who were there to learn about health and wellness from none other than Bruce Sweeney, owner of Simply for Life. Since our bars are Simply for Life approved, members were eager to add these tasty bars to their routine. We sold out and got the word out to many people. It was a success. We actually just recently purchased new sleeves for packaging our bars and this was our first chance to put them to action. The packaging is eco friendly compostable and biodegradable... so they were the perfect match for this small green company. And the bonus is they looked fabulous! It was also great to meet some of our blog readers! So THANK YOU! It means alot to have all of your support. Today's recipe was put to the test Saturday morning. I had just got back from a long bike ride and was hungry but didn't want anything too heavy. Just then I had remembered a concept I had read on Katheats blog called a "Smoothie In A Bowl" (SIAB). The smoothie part was inspired by the SFL smoothie I posted a couple weeks ago. I changed it up a bit due to what I had in my fridge... the mixture was as follows: Blueberry Kale Smoothie - 3/4 cup Almond milk (or skim milk) - 1 cup kale - 1/2 frozen blueberries - 1/2 banana - 3 frozen strawberries - 1 scoop protein powder - 1 Tbsp ground flax - 1 Tbsp hemp hearts - 1 Tbsp chia seeds Method: 1) Put the milk and kale into your blender first and pulse. This is to make sure the kale really gets blended well. 2) Add the rest of your ingredients and blend. Pour into a bowl. 3) Then I topped it with a dollop of almond butter and in honor of the theme of today's post, I crumbled up half of a Granola Girls bar and put it on top! Not only delicious but a gorgeous dish :) I am glad to be back into a routine this week even though I am missing a certain someone :( Bella and I have been having some major bonding time which has been nice. Nothing like girl time <3 BUT I can't wait till Friday!!
Have a great Monday!! Lots of Love, Metaxia Hey Guys,
Sorry I have been a bit slack on the blog this week but it has been a very busy week preparing for the event taking place in Saint John this Thursday, April 7, 2011. Granola Girls will be attending the Simply For Life Motivational Event Learn. Laugh. Live. as a vendor. It is going to be a great event to learn more about clean eating and it will be a chance to hear Bruce Sweeney talk. He is the owner and founder of Simply for Life and he has a lot of great insight on this particular topic. AND it is going to be fun!!! Granola Girls will have a table there so please come and visit us! Do you read our blog?? We would love to meet you! We will be the girls in pink! :) |