Veggie and Egg Pie

Ingredients

. small onion

. 2 cloves of garlic smashed

. 1tbsp of olive oil

. 10 -12 free range eggs

. 4 cups of vegetables

. 1/2 cup milk

. 1/2 cup to 1 cup of goat cheese

. fresh herbs ( my favourite is fresh basil)

.sea salt and ground pepper to your taste

Directions

Heat the oil in a pan add onion and garlic. Cook until onion is soft. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Add to veggie mixture. Spread your 4 cups of veggies into a glass pie plate. Whip eggs and milk lightly. Add in chopped fresh herbs. Pour mixture evenly over the veggies. Sprinkle goat cheese through out egg mixture. Cook at 350 for 40 minutes. 

Quinoa Burgers

I am always looking for looking for new recipes for inspiration. I love experimenting and making them my own. The following recipe is one of such experimentations inspired by a few recipes I found on Pinterest. I hope you enjoy it I sure did!

Quinoa Burgers

Ingredients:

3 cups of quinoa, cooked
1/2 cup shredded carrot
3/4 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup finely chopped broccoli
3/4 cup of gluten free bread crumbs
4 cage free eggs
1 tsp cumin
1 small garlic clove minced
sea salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Mixture should be moist. If it feels too wet add more bread crumbs. If your mixture seems a little dry add a bit of water.
Form the mixture into patties. Cook in olive oil, browning each side. Top with Lemon Yogurt Sauce

Lemon Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of finely chopped cucumber
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp tahini
1 small clove of garlic minced
1/4 tsp pure honey
sea salt and pepper to taste
Sprinkling of hot sauce ( optional)

Mix ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to use.

Quinoa is delicious and wonderful plant based protein!

Yummy way to start the day!

                    Cinnamon Granola

This granola has become my go to snack or breakfast food. There is always a fresh jar of granola on my counter. After much trial and error I have finally perfected my recipe. I do admit I love to change up the recipe according to tastes that day. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and I do!

Ingredients:

4 cups of cooking oats

1 cup of sunflower seeds

1 cups of pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup chia seeds

1 cup of ground flax seeds

1- 1 1/2 cups of almonds 

3 heaping tbsp of virgin coconut oil

4 tbsp of pure maple syrup

3 tsp of cinnamon

1/2 cup of raisins

1 cup chopped dates

Blend 1 cup of the oats into a fine flour. Pulse the almonds until they are small chunks. Add all of the seeds, flour and oats into a large bowl. In a saucepan add coconut oil, maple syrup and cinnamon. Heat until liquid. Pour onto the seeds, nuts and oats. Mix until dry ingredients are well covered.

Spread onto a baking pan.

Place in the oven. Bake for about an hour at 300 degrees Celsius. Stirring every 15 minutes so it browns evenly.

Add the dates and raisins. Cool. Keep in a jar on the counter. Enjoy! It is delicious mixed with coconut/ almond yogurt, berries, with almond milk or my favourite- topping baked apples!

For Emma

                                 Broccoli Soup 

Ingredients

1 1/2 heads of broccoli

2 carrots

1/2 onion

2 stalks of celery

3-4 cloves of garlic

5 cups of vegetable broth 

1 tsp of of dried basil or 5-6 fresh basil leaves

1/2-1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup of  1% -2%milk or coconut or almond milk

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

Chop onion and garlic, cook in olive oil until the onion is translucent. 

Chop 1 head of broccoli, carrots, and celery into bite size pieces. Place in a sauce pan with the vegetable broth. Add in onion, garlic and basil. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Puree mixture, return mixture to sauce pan. Chop up remaining broccoli into small pieces, add to sauce pan. Heat on medium heat  for about 5 min until broccoli softens. Add in the milk and 1/2 cup of cheese. Heat until cheese is melted. 

Serve in soup bowls. Top with remaining cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Celebrate the Simple Things

The sun, the beach, my Aunt Cyndy and my dog Dublin are 4 of my most favourite things! Last Sunday as I walked my dog along the beach, the sun warming my face chatting to my Aunt Cyndy I smiled life was good! We spent the afternoon walking along the beach remembering my grandmother.  Later as we drank tea and shared a apple crisp I had brought her still hot out of the oven, I looked at my Aunt who has been courageously battling cancer for almost 5 years and thought what an amazingly positive person. Nobody had to remind her to celebrate the simple things in life, it was her daily practice. 
I went to sleep that night thinking the smell of apple crisp will always remind me of this perfect afternoon!

I thought I would share my recipe for my apple crisp .. a recipe for the perfect afternoon! 

8-12 apples peeled and sliced
cinnamon to taste
1 1/2 cups of oats ( gluten free)
1 cup of oat flour ( ground oats)
3-5 tablespoons of butter
1/4 cup of coconut sugar or brown sugar ( add more sugar if you like it sweeter)

• slice and peel the apples.. place them in a pie plate or small glass dish... sprinkle with cinnamon ( your apples should resemble a small mountain)
• in a bowl mix the oats, oat flour and sugar until it resembles a crumble 
• spread the mixture on top of apples

place in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until the top is brown and the apples are slightly mushy 

MY SECRET INGREDIENT
I bake my crisp in a pie plate that belonged to my gramma. It's liking getting a big hug from gramma every time you take a bite!

My Aunt Cyndy and my daughter Molly  ( an old photo but a favourite!)