Dairy? Kale?

Hey There!

So I've pretty much come to terms with the fact that I"ll never be one of those people who blogs all the time. At least not during the school year, I just don't have the time. I guess I could make time, but that would take away from other things I enjoy doing and need to do. As much as I love blogging, it's just not worth it.

Some friends and I on 80's day and Western Day this past week. This is a big deal as we usual wear uniforms!

I know everyone has different reasons for eating healthfully; my main reason for eating healthy is because I feel much better when I eat well. That being said, for many years I have had a lot of issues with headaches. I'm beginning to think that the cause of said headaches are diet related. So, I'm doing some experimenting to see what food could be causing the headaches. Currently, I'm thinking it may be dairy. I'm working on totally stopping eating dairy to see if the headaches go away. I'll let you know. Aside from the headaches, I'm leery about consuming dairy anyway. The whole idea of drinking an animal's milk seems weird to me and there are so many hormones and chemicals added to the milk that is available in stores today. So fortunately, almond milk and I are already close friends. Coconut oil and I have been growing closer in recent weeks, too.

In honor of my lack of dairy and a salute to coconut oil, I made HEAB's Oreo Truffles and boy am I glad I did! I used coconut oil instead of butter and used chocolate that did not contain dairy. These are so delicious. Seriously, even my mom who doesn't even like Oreos loves these. Even after I blended the Newman O's into a fine powder and added plenty of coconut butter, once hardened the truffles had such a fantastic texture. Overall, I love these little truffles. Thanks Heather!

Served up with a glass of almond milk. Sorry dairy, but I haven't been missing you :)

A few other recent eats

Zucchini and Spinach with Tuna

Quinoa and Turkey Stuffed Peppers

Whole Foods Inspired kale salad.

I had bought kale and couple of times and attempted kale chips without much success. I was beginning to give up hope that I would ever be a kale fan. But, the other day I was at Whole Foods and saw a delicious looking kale salad in their raw/vegan food bar. Having some kale at home that needed using up, I checked the ingredient list and decided to create my own kale salad. The result? I am now a kale fan!

Annie's Guacamole Kale Salad

1 small bunch kale (washed, dried, and torn into pieces)

1 avocado

1/4 of a red onion chopped

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Salt and Pepper

Direction: Mash up avocado with a fork and add the onion, lemon juice and salt and pepper to form a guacamole type mixture. Massage avocado mix onto the kale. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours. Serve and enjoy! 

1. What is your opinion on dairy consumption?
2. Favorite non-dairy recipe?
3. Are you a kale fan?

Have a glorious week!

-Ann Claire

Score One for the Sweet Potato

Remember last post how I told you I didn't like sweet potatoes? Well, just a couple days after I wrote about that my mom made something involving sweet potatoes that I absolutely loved! What could have possibly gotten this sweet potato hatin' girl to enjoy the previously loathed starch? Thai-spiced Sweet Potato Soup. This stuff was delicious. Creamy, bursting with flavor, the perfect way to fill the tummy on brisk fall evenings.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon canola or peanut oil (coconut oil would probably work well too)
• 1 onion -chopped
• 3 cloves garlic -chopped
• 2 teaspoons red curry paste
• 2 pounds sweet potatoes-peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 cup red lentils
• 5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar (my mom says she thinks agave would work well, will be trying that next time)
• 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and red curry paste and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the sweet potato, red lentils, stock, coconut milk, fish sauce, and brown sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool a little. Puree the soup in two batches in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return to saucepan and stir in the citrus juice. Serve garnished with cilantro.

I highly recommend this soup. It's really so delicious; the Thai seasonings give the soup lots of flavor while the coconut milk and sweet potato contribute to the great creamy texture, not to mention add lots of flavor themselves.

What is your favorite fall food?

I"m really going to try to post more regularly in the future. I made numerous yummy dishes recently that I look forward to sharing with you. I've been experimenting with making homemade whole-wheat bread. I"m still working on perfecting the recipe but certainly be expecting that soon. I'm currently in the process of making some home made nutter butter cups, so I better go check on those. Yum!


Thanks for reading,
Ann Claire