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Weekend Snacks

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

First thing, I would like to thank all of my readers and to those of you who comment on my Blog!! It is so awesome and truly means more than you know to me! Food is my passion, and I am so happy to be part of a blog atmosphere of passionate foodies:) Okay…on to the food.

The beauty of weekends seems to be the lack of structure. Structure guides our lives monday through friday (or at least my life!), and I do enjoy it from a productive stand point. The weekends, however, provide a nice change of pace. Rather than having to eat what I find time to pack in the morning for my busy days, I have the luxury of eating the food I crave WHEN I crave it. There is also more time for food presentation fun:)

“didn’t your mother ever tell you not to play with your food…?” ummmm…yeah.

Kabocha Squash Fries (yes, I eat ALOT of kabocha!) w/ Ketchup + Tobasco dip

I sliced the leftovers from a whole roasted kabocha squash into “fries” and roasted them at 350 while broiling until crispy (20 min?)

Roasted brussel sprouts + tofu (400 for 20 minutes) seasoned w/ginger powder, garlic powder, tamari, chili powder, onion powder and soy

of course ketchup + tobasco dip

Ak-maks + parm slices

Protein power snack: Sun Warrior Protein Powder + PB + almond milk and water, all topped with dark choc chips (looks like a cookie!)

Plus a plain greek yogurt and dark chocolate chips

Plus pumpkin puree

All eaten together and used as a dip for a Honey Crisp apple

Next up: MORE kabocha fries! + raw broccoli, cauliflower, a carrot, celery, cherry toms, and nori

Dipping sauces= peanut butter sauce + pumpkin butter + pumpkin and of course ketchup + tobasco for the fries

Apple + carrot + celery dipped in almond butter + PB2 (yes dark chocolate chips managed to make their way into this snack)

Another delish veggie snack plate

Dipping sauces= pumpkin butter + peanut butter

How do you eat on the weekends? Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner, or all day grazing….

If I had my choice, I would opt for snacking consistently throughout the day as opposed to meals everyday. For me, large meals (especially during the day) weight me down, make me sleepy, and lower my level of productivity. I tend to eat my largest meal at dinner time for this reason.

I hope you enjoyed this snacky-post!! What is your “go-to” or favorite snack??

Posted in Uncategorized, snacks | 3 Responses »
Tags: apples, greek yogurt, healthy, kabocha squash, leftovers, pumpkin, seaweed, snacks, tofu, veggies

My Very First Protein Bar (high raw, vegan, gluten free)

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

My favorite food bars are those which contain healthy vegan, soy-free protein and a short ingredient list. I realize that food bars are not the healthiest way to get one’s nutrients, but there are times in which my schedule leaves me no choice! When I am running late in the morning and don’t have time to pack a “well rounded” meal, I grab a protein bar and greek yogurt to go. They are also awesome for traveling. Well, they are also quite pricey! (meaning wayyyy overpriced for what you get!)

Well, my recent obsession with Nugo Bars and Rebars inspired me to create my own version… this was a completly random and on the spot creation, no pre-meditation!

Ingredients:
-Peanut Butter/Almond Butter or PB2, 1/4 cup
-Agave, 1 tablespoon
-Coconut Milk, 2 cups (I use So Delicious Unsweetened)
-Cornstartch, 2 tablespoons
-Vanilla Extract, 1 tsp
-Stevia (optional), 4 drops
-Rolled Oats, 1/4 cup
-Chia Seeds, 2 tablespoons (optional)
-Brown Rice Puffs, 5 cups + 1 cup
-Protein Powder, 6 scoops (I use Sun Warrior)

1. Toast oats in oven at 350 for about 5 minutes
2. Dissolve cornstartch in 1/4 cup of cold coconut milk
3. In a large bowl, mix together 5 cups of the rice puffs and the 5 scoops of protein powder
4. Bring remaining coconut milk to a boil, once boiling remove from heat and immediatly add peanut butter, agave and stevia and stir until beginning to thicken
5. Add cornstartch mixture and continue to stir (note: my mix above did not thicken as I wanted it to, so I added cornstartch)
6. Once it has slighly thickened, add rolled oats and chia seeds (optional, will make batter “gummy”)
7. Gradually add the rice puff-protein mixture to the peanut butter mixture until combined
8. If mixing is difficult (as it was for me) transfer to a food processor and lighly pulse just until combined
9. My mixture was paste like, so I folded in 1 cup of the rice puffs at this point
10. Roll mixture out onto parchment paper, using extra protein powder as “flour”
11. Press in extra rice puffs during the process if needed to make rolling easier
12. Dehydrate for at least 30 minutes @ 118 degrees, or use your oven on the lowest setting with oven door ajar
13. Remove from dehydrator or oven and slice into even “bars” (I made about 16)
14. Make ganche!

rolled out dough with puffs “pressed” in for ease…

Chocolate Ganche
1/4 cup non dairy milk
4 oz of semi sweet chocolate chips (or about 7.5 tablespoons)
Pure Maple Syrup

1. Bring milk to a boil
2. Immediatly remove from heat and add chocolate and maple syrup and stir until smooth and creamy
3. Dip the smooth side of your bars into ganche and return to wax paper.
4. Refridgerate until dry

If anyone attempts making these, please tell me if you do anything different! I am going to be creating another version of these as my goal was to make them more crispy. I am thinking of doing a “rice crispy treat” inspired protein bar next time to acheive the lightness I want.

Nevertheless, these are very tasty and boost 12 grams of protein/bar

Posted in Raw, Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegan, snacks | 7 Responses »
Tags: gluten free, healthy, protein bar, Raw, snacks, Vegan

Recent Eats: Protein Power

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Some recent eats around MyVeryFirstKitchen, and for lack of a better theme to tie everything together, we will go with PROTEIN POWER snacks/meals

1. Baked tofu + green beans

(extra firm tofu, pressed with paper towels & baked for 20 minutes with seseme oil + bragg’s liquid aminos + spices, flipped half way through, at 425)

2. Smoked salmon chunk + carrots + peanut and pumpkin butter + brussels sprouts and parsley from the garden

3. Spicy Black Beans from scratch (these have such an amazing texture compared to canned beans. Plus, NO SODIUM!)

Instructions: Soak beans overnight (or in the morning before you go to work/school) with double/triple the water. After 8-12 hours, rinse beans thoroughly. Add fresh water (double the amount) to your pot/pan and with the rinsed beans and slowly bring the water to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1-2 hours, or until your beans are the consistency you want and the water is absorbed. Easy!

4. Snack Plate: Celery + almond butter + raisins, pumpkin and cinnamon

5. Tortilla Pizza + Veggies + Cheese
(high protein La Tortilla Factory tortilla’s or Flat Out Wraps)

6. Dessert lately has been alot of Greek yogurt + toppings:
Raspberries + dark chocolate chips + pom seeds + crushed Newman’s o cookie

Random eats but good ones, especially the new addition of yogurt to my dessert menu (18 grams protein/serving)

*some snacks/meals that don’t exactly follow my protein theme of the day*

Brussels Sprouts + Shallots (before)

After:

These were awesome! I have never pan “fried” brussels sprouts before, I always roast them in oil + maple syrup

Lots of veggie salads + Annie’s salad dressing (the best!)

ORGANIC DARK CHOCOLATE

Sorry for the overload of eats!

Posted in Dinner, snacks | 6 Responses »
Tags: almond butter, Dessert, greek yogurt, peanut butter, pumpkin, salad, snacks, tortilla, Vegan, veggies

Product Review: Jamfrakas Bar by Larabar

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

We all love our LARABARS, but I was super excited to find these Jamfraka bars for kids at the store! They are about half the size of a normal Larabar and thus contain about half of the nutrition. Larabar is a company I will always trust, so the more products by them, the better!

From their website:
Our company name comes from an ancient belief that food falls into two categories:
BECKONING FOODS, which beckon consumption again and again, sapping the body of energy without any real health benefits, Today, they’re called “junk foods.”
HUMM FOODS on the other hand, resonate with energy in a whole, natural state. When consumed, they cause you to feel vibrant and alive.
You can expect an unmistakable urge to humm after every LÄRABAR bar you eat.

Pros:

-smaller size for when you want a less filling bar
-soy free, dairy free, gluten free
-USDA organic
-CRUNCHY/CRISPY!
-contain fruits + nuts + honey + whole grains
-contain about 10 vital minerals and vitamins in each bar
-and of course, trans fat and high fructose corn syrup free!
-fun flavors: Apple Crispalicious, Chocolate Chip Cosmocrisp, Banana Chocolate Blastocrisp, Strawberry Crispiscrumptious, Peanut Butter Blisscrips

Cons:

-not raw or vegan
-less flavor options
-flavor less pronounced
-higher in sodium per gram
-longer and less attractive list of ingredients

Jamfraka Review: Peanut Butter Blisscrisp

INGREDIENTS: Organic Peanuts, Organic Dates, Organic Rice Crisps (Organic Brown Rice Flour, Organic Honey, Organic Raisin Juice Concentrate, Sea Salt), Organic Honey, Sea Salt

NUTRITION PROFILE per bar:
calories: 120
Fat: 5g
Carbohydrates: 15g
Fiber: 2g
Protein: 3g

Texture: Slight crisp/crunch. In comparison to the Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar, the Peanut Butter Blisscup is much less chewy. The flavor has a interesting aftertaste to it that I can not figure out. It is not bad, I just couldn’t find a word to describe it! I actually prefer it to the Larabar Peanut Butter Cookie bar.

Lastly, I found this bar less filling obviously than a Larabar, however it did hold me over longer than anticipated during class. I have yet to try the other flavors, but look forward to doing so!!

Overall, I would recommend you give these a try, kid or not! Although I also eat kids gummy vitamins… so what can I say!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Responses »
Tags: gluten free, healthy, Jamfraka, Larabar, nutrition bar, Product Review, snacks

Product Review: Go Raw’s Banana “Bread” Flax Bar

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Ah, living raw foods. Raw food was actually how I first developed a love for preparing foods and reading recipes. Prior, I had no interest in cooking, preparing meals, grocery shopping, ect. I think it may have been the challenge presented by the raw food lifestyle and way of preparing foods that intrigued and motivated me. My first raw cookbook was actually Ani’s Raw Kitchen (Ani Phyo).

I started by making dips and spreads, and then saved up for a dehydrator!! I was ESTATIC! Looking back on that time of my life is intriguing. I spent hours looking for different recipes to experiment with (which I do do now, but it was so NEW to me!) I think I made just about everything in Ani’s book, minus a few desserts! Although other desserts were definitly in the works. Cheezecakes, pies, tarts, puddings ect! Well lets just say I “over did it” on the nuts/seeds!!

Rather than thinking simplictically about raw foods (as I do now and so does the wonderful Gena, whom I have learned alot from!) I was making EVERYTHING with tons of nuts/seeds! So just a heads up, if embarking on raw foodism, try to limit your nut/seed consumption to one meal per day!! TRUST ME!

Annywaysss…I still do LOVE raw foods, hence my raw snacks all day long! But I also love warm comforting foods too:) While checking out the blogworld today, I noticed that Gena of Choosing Raw and Jenna of EatLiveRUn are restarting their Raw Food Wednesday Challenge! I have decided to join this fun challenge:) So from my snack photo today, you can omit the Kombucha and string cheese! It was random that I chose my raw banana bread flax bar today for a snack, but was surely meant to be, as I was planning a PRODCUT REVIEW for you all!

So without further ado…

The ingredient list is spectacular:
Sprouted Organic Flax Seeds
Organic Banana
Organic Coconut (unsulphured)
Organic Date
These are SO awesome for people trying to increase their raw food consumption but don’t have enough time for food prep! They are also perfect for your children’s lunchbox And let me just tell you, they are absolutley delicious! If you like bananas or banana bread, you will fall in love with these!

Texture: they are soft, chewy and quite pliable. The texture might be my favorite part, as I have tried the other flavors of this bar, which include pumpkin seed, spirulina and flax granola which are much more crunchy/cracker-like.

Nutrition: In one bar there are 120 calories, 5g fat, 15g carbohydrates, 6g fiber, 4g protein as well as Vitamin C, Calcium and Iron!!

I highly suggest you try these (obviously!) and if you like them, I find that it is best to buy them in bulk as they are more pricy than your average food bar. But hey, they aren’t full of FAKE and GROSS ingredients. They are made with integrity, all the nuts/seeds in their products are sprouted (which makes for easier digestion and nutrient absorption) and they are made with REAL FOOD!

Okay, so there is my rant for you today!! Here were the snacks I packed for the day from which you can omit the string cheese and kombucha and you can ADD a handful of almonds and guacamole! Good thing for NO cheese, as it is VEGAN MOFO month! So in celebration of such, let me just mention that I will be making some vegan treats this week/weekend!! I have been vegan for long periods in my life, so I am excited to be a part of the third year of Vegan MoFo month! Click the link to see all participating blogs!

So there you have it, my raw foods for the day! For dinner I have dreaming of creating some sort of pumpkin souflee but healthier type thing!? It will most likely NOT be raw because I have been craving tofu latley too! But ya never know, I might save that creation for tomorrow and do a bit more brainstorming! Well, you will find out soon enough!

Here is a quick preview of the raw dessert I will be indulging in tonight!! My famous (in my family at least!) Raw Nanaimo Bar!! Click the link if you aren’t even sure what a ‘normal’ nanaimo bar is!! Needless to say, they are amazing, if I do say so myself!!

xo,
D

Posted in Health Tips, Product Review, snacks | 1 Response »
Tags: Dessert, health tip, Product Review, raw food, snacks

School Snacks

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

I am still fine tuning my school snacks to figure out what works best for me. School snacks AND work snacks I should say! Here are some of today’s.

These are my absolute favorite raw food bars! (This flavor too!) …product review soon!

Sorry for the terrible photo! I was running late this morning for school. My snacks include an Oikos yogurt + My Moja Mix + Grapes + 1 orange bell pepper (which I ate like an apple at work, I didn’t have slicing time this morning!) The Oikos + granola filled me up SO well! Must be the carb/protein mix!

One of my classes moved buildings today, and now I have to walk CLEAR across campus (about a mile) with my super heavy backpack! It was TERRIBLE! The new building we are in is awesome, but my car is so so so far away:( I wouldn’t mind if my backpack didnt hurt me:( So I am doing Pilates tomorrow morning before school in the hopes of stretching out my back and shoulders.

Dinner tonight included leftover Kabocha squash + leftover tortilla pizza from dinner Sunday + a HUGE salad!

My salad started with a layer of spinach, then a layer of mushrooms, tomatoes from our garden, 1/4 of an avocado, raw broccoli, DULSE per VeggieGirl’s suggestion! + flax oil and lemon. It twas refreshing!

Look what I found on one of my Dulse pieces!!

See the little shell guy?? It was STUCK on there! I use to call them sombrero’s or something as a kid when I found them on the beach:)

VeggieGirl, have you ever tried the little sweet/salty seaweed snacks that come in those small little packages??

After dinner palate cleanser included an not-pictured small shard of Theo 70% dark chocolate and then this:

Traditional Healing Peppermint Tea + 1 Lucy’s Gluten-Free Cinnamon Thin! (Product Review on these manana)

I never showed you all my eats from dinner at my parents Sunday (which is where my leftover tortilla pizza came from). My mom made corned beef which I passed on. I have not been consuming red meat for a few months so I avoid it most of the time because I know that it will upset my stomach. And why would I want to feel sick when socializing with the fam! My mom DID make a TWO BEAUTIFUL veggie plates!! Yes, I attacked them!

Dipped them into the yogurt/dill dip she made!

The boyfriend made a smoked salmon spread:

Here is my veggie pizza with lots of veggies and 1/4 cup of cheese:

My dinner plate: sweet potato, Caesar salad, cabbage, tortilla pizza!

Hasta Manana Bloggies!!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Responses »
Tags: dulse, granola, kabocha squash, leftovers, oikos, pizza, salad, snacks, tortilla, veggies

Benefits of Seaweed

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

Time for a seaweed lesson! But first some quick eats! I have been so busy I haven’t had time to post my recent eats, so here is a recap from the last few days!

Snacks for school:

This tortilla pizza contained mushrooms, zucchini, bell pepper, broccoli, 1/4 cup part skim mozzarella and spices! The veggies were literally piled a couple of inches high! The boy and I split this and each had a salmon burger + asparagus!! Delicious:)

He even took a picture of HIS plate for you all!

Here is my plate:

Those are Whole Foods Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon Burgers and they are TO DIE FOR!! We ate them with horseradish and doused our pizza in Tabasco!

While preparing dinner I snacked on this!

More seaweed salad!!! SOO good! If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend that you do ASAP!

And here is some motivation to try it! I found these seaweed facts on this website

Health Benefits of Seaweeds :

Kelps correct mineral deficiencies.
A good protective food, valuable in overcoming poor digestion, preventing and overcoming goiter (because it is the richest source of iodine), and rebuilding and maintaining the proper function of all glands.
Reported to aid in brain development.
Offsets deficiencies of an inferior diet.
Kelp helps prevent osteoporosis.
Beneficial for those suffering from impotence, anemia and emaciation.
Helps to detoxify the body.
Helps to increase metabolism.
May help in controlling obesity because it dissolves fatty wastes through the skin.
Seaweed bath helps maintain hormone balance for a more youthful body.

Seaweed suddenly sounds quite delicious huh? Well, IT IS!!

Here is an amaazing dessert creation of mine, which is Raw and fabulous! Recipe to come soon if you wish!

Farmer’s Market loot:

6 bell peppers
1 kabocha squash (YUMMM!)
Carrots

I am off to bake my squash now! Later in the week I am hoping to have some product reviews + raw dessert and vegan dessert recipes for you all!

Enjoy the rest of you Sunday!

xo,
Dara

Posted in Health Tips, snacks | 4 Responses »
Tags: asparagus, Health Tips, pizza, salmon, seaweed, snacks, tortilla

My Very First Kitchen

musings from a student with her own very first kitchen!