Asia Eggplant Dip

If you love Baba Ghanoush you might now want to hear that most store bought prepared Baba can be loaded with fat and calories. Now you know I’m not afraid to eat fat (hello nut butter!) but the kind of fat you will find in these dips doesn't typically land in the 'good fat' category. Also keeping it more veg and less fat gives makes for a perfect snack that you don’t have to feel guilty about.  This can easily be used as a dressing for salad or mixed with rice and beans adding something a little extra for taste as well as bumping up nutrition.

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• coconut oil 
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 tsp dried cumin (optional)
• 1 tsp of Tahini 
• Lemon juice
• water
• Pepper to taste
  
  
  
  
  

To start you need to roast your eggplant. THis is pretty simple.  Heat oven to 400.  Cut your eggplant length wise.  Rub the outer skin with coconut oil.  Cut side down roast in oven for 20 minutes.  

Once cooled add your eggplant and remaining ingredients to your blender.  Wiz it up. Voila.  You have a yummy dip for veggies or mix with rice or quinoa.  

ENjoy!

xo

Ashie Girl 

Roated Kabucha squash Taco's with purple cabbage & quick Guac

Mini Yam Bread

YOu know when you are going low carb and you NEED just a little something.  This was my solution today.  My day was crazy town from start to finish.  This tasted sorta like pumpkin pie but in a loaf.  I had a little chunk with Almond butter on it with my tea and it fixed me right up.  The rest is sliced up and in the freezer until the next low hits.  Being prepared with healthy go to snacks is crucial to success.  I still think this recipe could use some work since it reeaaallly didn't actually rise like bread.  But I found it valuable today so I wanted to post it anyways.  Also I used my blender to puree the yam then added all the other ingredients to the blender.  At this point it wasn't really blender worthy so I used my long spatula to incorporate the rest.

prep tins with coconut oil - pre heat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:

-200 grams of cooked Yam (about 1 medium sized Yam)
-1 1/4 Cup Almond Milk (un sweetened)
-1 3/4 Cup Rice Flour
-1 tsp Cinnamon
-1 ts Baking powder

Combine ingredients.  Add to tins.  Bake about 1 hour.  Cool.  Slice. Enjoy.
Xo Ashie Girl

Hippy Muffin's for back to school

These muffins are inspired by one of my fav bloggers Sarah Britton of 'My New Roots'. These freeze beautifully. Keep half out for your fam jam to munch on, and once cooled, put the others in a thick plastic bag in the freezer. Take some out in the morning, put one in your kids lunch AND DONT FORGET put one (or two) in your bag for an afternoon snack at work. You will thank yourself for being so prepared and healthy!

Ingredients

-1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
-1/3 cup olive oil
-1/3 cup maple syrup
-2 Tbs. Tahini
-Grated zest of 1 organic, un-waxed orange
-2 cups whole grain flour (spelt, kamut, or whole wheat)
-1 cup rolled oats
-1 tsp. baking powder
-1 tsp. baking soda
-1/2 tsp. sea salt
-1 cup fresh or frozen berries.
-pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prep a 12 Cup muffin tin.

2. Put the orange juice, oil, syrup, tahini, and orange zest into a medium bowl and whisk until well combined.
3. Mix the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl until well combined. Add the orange juice mixture and combine, using as few strokes as possible so you do not over mix the batter. Fold in the blueberries.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each approximately 3/4 full. Sprinkle with seeds. 

Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean (about 20-25 minutes).

Gingerbread

This recipe is inspired by a rainy day.  It's halloween and it doesn't feel at all like it!  Our energies lately have been all about work for myself and especially Grego. For Boden his many activities and new passions.  We even skipped carving a pumpkin. Boden has declared himself too old to trick or treat...he IS only 11 but as he looks down at me towering my height my inches now I support his choice.  Baking something with pumpkin, molasses, and pumpkin pie spice could not be missed.  

This recipe was inspired by Oh She glows.  I love cruising all my fav blogs for new recipes but more often than not it is Angela's recipes that get me making a mess in my kitchen.  Our house smells like fall and that at least feels a bit like halloween.

This recipe is vegan and soy free. Angela's recipe calls for pumpkin puree but since my mind is still foggy from a nasty cold I have been fighting I found myself half way deep into the recipe until I remembered the important ingredient I needed  CRAP.... and then quickly I improvised.  Enter a nice big orange Yam.  The recipe also calls for pumpkin pie spice of which I did not have in my spice cupboard but luckily Angela provides a quick recipe for this as well... I  have also amended this since I have discovered I REALLy don't care for nutmeg OR cloves.  But without these two it still is an outstanding pumpkin spice if I don't say so myself.

Pumpkin Pie Spice:

-4 tsp cinnamon

-2 tsp ground ginger

-1 tsp ground allspice

Angela's recipe also calls for:

-1 tsp grated nutmeg

-1/2 tsp ground cloves

...if you are into those sorts of things (gag)

Gingerbread!

1 TBSP Chia seeds

3 TBSP water

1 Cup cooked Yam

1/3 Cup melted coconut oil

3 TBSP pure maple syrup

1/2 Cup packed brown sugar

1/4 Cup blackstrap molasses

1 2/3 Cup all purpose flour

1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 Cup raw pumpkin seeds

Method:

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees

prep bread pan with parchment paper OR prep muffin tins

In a small bowl mix together chia seeds and water and let sit for maybe 3 mins.

In your blender carafe, add all wet ingredients.  Dont forget to add your chia blob (this is your egg sub and it works like a dream  ALSO adds nutrition to your recipe :)
Blend till combined and smooth.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add wet ingredients from blender.  Mix just till combined. Once batter is in your loaf pan or in muffin tins sprinkle with pumpkin seeds.  

Cooking time for muffins is 22 mins.  For a loaf give it about 50 mins. 

Happy Halloween Y'all!  

xoxo Ashie girl 

Blueberry Spelt - Millet Muffins

Today is the last day of a very beautiful week off from work.
The weather has been beyond amazing.  I am so grateful to have had my brother and sister in law with us for this week.  Their visit was a very special one since they brought with them their 5 month old baby girl Kate.  To say she is precious and beautiful is just the tip of the ice berg.  She is  as sweet as pie, beautiful, and calm natured.  She remains unquenchably happy while fighting jet lag, heat and baby exhaustion.  Top all that off with the most fierce case of FOMO I have ever witnessed and you have our Kate :) Our Boden has graduated from grade five and has started his summer of achieving glory.  Paddle boarding is slowly becoming an activity we are able to enjoy more and more and I feel as though I have caught up on some much needed R & R.  I even a managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Quadra to visit my parents and my best friend Fairleigh.  This was much needed since we see each other never.  Three hours just wasn't enough.  Still missing her.....

My car was full as I headed home from the island with fresh Quadra island cherries and Raspberries and a new pile of vegan magazines that my mom collects for me with brand new recipe inspiration.
Since I have been home I have tackled two recipes that both turned out awesome and work perfectly for the busy week ahead.  I made and froze 'oh she glows' veggie burgers and these yummy blueberry muffins.  I modified this a bit to suit what I had on hand and they tuned out really yummy.  I am thinking they will be perfect grab and go healthy food for Boden :)

If you are able to wake up early to brave turning on your oven I hope you will give this recipe a try!
They are packed with antioxidant power of blueberry and Goji berries and crunchy millet.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Spelt flour (I used ww)
1/3 cup millet
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar (I used regular sugar since but wished I had this healthy alternative)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp sea salt

2 small banana's, mashes
3/4 cup + 2 TBSP coconut milk (I used almond)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup frozen blueberries (I was lucky enough to have fresh ones)
1/2 cup goji berries (I have never tried these...totally yummy..sort of like dried cranberries)

pre heat oven to 350
lightly coat a 12 cup muffin pan or line with muffin papers

Make Muffins:

In a large bowl, using a fork, stir flour with millet, coconut sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
In another bowl, stir bananas with coconut milk until blended.  Stir in maple syrup, vinegar, and vanilla; then lastly stir in coconut oil.  Pour over dry mixture and stuf just till mixed.  Fold in blueberries and goji berries.
Divide mixture between cups in muffin pan and bake for 25 minutes.  Muffins will ruse only slightly above fill level. These are a dense and flavourful snacking muffin!   Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.

Buckwheat Chia Pancakes

Happy Monday All!

This recipe is amazing.
Okay... I say that in many MANY previous posts but this one really takes the cake
the PAN cake that is
Har har...sad I am a dork
I discovered this simple but beautiful recipe while hunting for a new buckwheat pancake recipe this morning.
You see....I crave carbs.  But I reeeally want high quality carbs.
High protein...high fibre...gluten free..and dairy free too.
Do you think this is too much to ask?
NOPE!
Enter the best lil protein pancake recipe I have discovered yet.
They are quick to make and the only real mess is giving your blender canister a rinse.
These will be the prefect little carb on the go I need to get me through my busy non stop days.
The blogger I have to thank for this little gem is Kim Lam of Lettuce Be Happy

Thank you KIM!

Ingredients:

1 Cup Buckwheat Flour
1 1/3 Cup Almond Milk
1 Large Banana
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 tsp Salt
4 tsp Chia Seeds
2 TBSP Melted Coconut Oil 

Make em:
SO easy!
Pop all the ingredients in your blender in no special order.  Blend to combine. Make Pancakes.
ENJOY!
xoxo
Ashie Girl