Mediterranean Tofu Scramble

This recipe was created for the 2021 Recipe Reset and it was an instant favourite. Say goodbye to that dry tofu crumble. This dish is quick and easy and packed with flavour your whole family will love! In this recipe you will find a few great ideas for pantry items to have available such as olives, artichokes, sundried tomatoes and pickled vegetables. Having these flavour boosters in your fridge or pantry make throwing together a meal so much easier! I buy a lot of these items at Costco and keep them at the back of my pantry when I need a last minute meal such as pizza toppers, brunch additions and an easy flavour boosters for salad! This is an excellent brunch item to serve as it can be kept warm in advance and feeds/pleases a crowd of all nutritional needs as its dairy/egg/gluten free! I suggest serving this with a bit of feta or vegan cheese to be added at the end, topped with some parsley and fresh tomatoes . It would be delicious in a breakfast wrap as well. If you want to follow the same recipe with eggs it would work well too. You could even do half and half to incorporate different types of proteins.

Dressing

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon garlic

powder

2 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste

1 lemon squeezed

1 block firm tofu

Filling: Optional

1 cup artichoke

1/2 cup olives

1/4 cup sundried tomatoes

Onion or top with pickled onions

Kale or spinach

2 Tbsp capers

Parsley chopped

Feta cheese to top

Greek Yogurt/Sour cream to top

Method:

1. Crumble your tofu (I do this with my hands) and place in a small bowl. Heat a skillet with a bit of oil I use my cast iron because I like the crispiness it gives. Mix your spice mixture together with the oil and then add to the tofu.

2. 2. Let your tofu sit and marinate while you add the olives artichoke sun-dried tomato, capers, greens and if you're using, red onion to the pan. Let this cook together for about 5 minutes so that the greens and onions saute.

3. 3.Mix in your tofu mixture and make sure it is all evenly coated in the sauce. Let this cook for about 20 minutes on medium low heat. You want it to get a bit crispy on the bottom. Alternatively you could cook this in an ovenproof skillet and transfer it to the oven at 375 for 15-20 minutes.

4. Top with feta, pickled vegetables or hot sauce. This makes great leftovers!

Bowl Of Oats Breakfast Smoothie

I am a big fan of starting my morning with oats, I am also known for eating oats at dinner- that’s how much I love them. But as we see temperatures rise, it becomes less appealing to start our day with a steaming hot bowl of any kind. It is for this reason that I invented the Bowl of Oats Smoothie. The perfect way to get the goodness of oats in a quick, easy and nutritious way!

Ingredients

1/2 cup frozen berries

1 whole frozen orange

1/4 cup rolled or quick oats

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup cold water

1 date (depending on how sweet you like it)

greens- I prefer spinach for the smoother texture

Extras- hemp hearts, flax seed, protein powder

Banana Oat Muffins

As you read this, we are currently in the midst of a global pandemic, most definitely a very odd feeling. In the state of panic, many have decided to purchase large quantities of dry goods, one of those items being flour. This has lead to shortages across Vancouver grocery stores and so this muffin recipe began. I had lots of both rolled and quick oats in my pantry, lots of very ripe bananas and a desire for a recipe packed with goodness. I adapted this to my liking from another recipe, where I removed sugar and flour and replaced it with more bananas, flax meal and oats! I hope you find them as tasty as we did!

• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or olive oil

• 2 eggs

• 3 mashed ripe bananas

• ¼ cup milk of choice or water

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 1/2 cups ground quick or rolled oats

• 1/4 cup ground flax seeds

• ⅓ cup  rolled oats

• 1/4 cup hemp hearts

• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, or nuts/dried fruit

Method

Preheat your oven to 350’. Whisk your eggs, add banana and mash. Proceed with all the rest of the ingredients and slowly mix in the flour 1/2 cup at a time. I like to do it this way as I hate dishes (also don’t have a dishwasher) and so this is the easiest way to keep sanity first thing in the am when I make muffins.

Grease, or line a muffin tin with 12 cups. Spoon your cups about 3/4 or right to the top, depending on how big you like your muffins.

Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Simple Steps To Homemade Oat Milk

2019 was the year I fell in love with Oat Milk. But really, it truly hit all my ‘must-haves’ affordable, sustainable, easy steps,nutrient dense and quick!

The best part about making oat milk is no soak time! These little oats are good to go right from the start! Simply add 2 cups of oats to your blender, pour in the water and whatever flavours you enjoy. Blend quickly for about 25-40 seconds (be sure to not let it go too long or else it gets really gooey).

Once blended pour through a fine mesh strainer or a nut milk bag. I like to do this into a large bowl and let the strainer sit over the bowl to continue to leak through. Once it’s totally strained, you can pour back into your blender and then use that to cleanly pour this back into a jar. Seal this and enjoy for up to a week.

Low Waste Hack: Use those dried out oats in smoothies or baking! I added it to my muffin recipe last week without a hitch! It adds a bit of fiber and means you aren’t losing all the nutrients when you make your milk! I think it’s important to remember ‘experimentation’ when you make different foods at home. I hate throwing things out and so I have random bags and containers of all sorts of stuff- trial and error can be a lot of fun!

Remember that Oats are naturally very mucilaginous and so it will be thicker than store-bought Oat Milk as the enzymes are not added. You will need to give the jar a good shake before using to get everything mixed in!

Ingredients

4 cups water

2 cups rolled oats

2 tsp natural sweetener (I like molasses as it’s a great source of iron)

1 tsp cinnamon

14/ tsp salt

Susgrainable Cookies

There is no baked good more comforting to me than than a fresh baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. When they are packed with fibre and help to reduce food waste that's even more appealing!

These cookies are ooey gooey and made with beer. Well not beer per se, but with flour that is made from spent grain used in the beer making process! I first heard of spent grain at the Mt Pleasant @vanmarket in the summer and was instantly intrigued! The thought of a product that was created from food waste and was packed with nutrients seemed pretty incredible- and it really is! @susgrainable is the brand behind this intriguing product and has delicious cookies and baked goods available and is in the midst of creating breads! I purchased the flour and have used it in all sorts of creations. Remember it's not like normal flour and is much more dense, so it's important to consider this when making these cookies!

You can find @susgrainable products at retailers in Vancouver and online! Check them out!

1/4 cup butter/coconut oil

1 cup Susgrainable flour

2 cups rolled oats

2 tbsp nut butter

1 tsp baking powder + baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp Hemp Seeds

3 eggs

1 Very Ripe Banana

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 cup Chocolate Chips/crushed Chocolate Bar

1/2 cup milk (add this sparingly so to avoid overdoing it)

Optional: dried fruit like cranberries or raisins

Add all wet ingredients to your bowl and then slowly mix all dry ingredients in! Once the texture is thick but not too dry, mould into balls and cook in the oven for about 15 minutes or more depending on the size!

Sweet Potato Date Bliss Balls

I love getting to work with young promising cooks in the kitchen and that’s why I love being involved with Sprouting Chefs! This week we are getting back into the swing of things with our school programs and I can’t wait for what’s to come in 2020!

Earlier in the winter Barb and I taught a workshop for a Burnaby Youth Leadership program. It was so much fun working with these students to create meals that served them through a busy day, providing alternatives to processed convenience foods.

We made these delicious Sweet Potato Date Bliss Balls and they were a hit! We were working to reduce the amount of sugar and being in a school setting we also did not use nuts!

This was definitely experimental as we worked with the students to create a texture and taste that would be nutrient dense and still delicious!

When following the recipe try to slowly add in the ingredients until you reach your desired consistency (you want it to maintain a ball shape) and depending on the size of your potato there can be variation!

Ingredients

1 medium cooked sweet potato

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

6 dates

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 tbsp flax seeds

1 -2 tsp nutmeg/cinnamon/cardamom (your choice)

1/2 cup Rolled Oats

Milk of choice as necessary

Method

Add dates to your food processor and pulse until they form a ball. Add remaining ingredients slowly and pulse in between to keep things mixing.

You may need to add more dry ingredients like oats, or wet like milk and potato, keep playing with it until you find the right texture!

Once mixed, roll into balls. We put these in the fridge for an hour and then rolled them in coconut and stored them in the freezer for the youth to have during their program days.

Breakfast Traditions: Dutch Baby A New Way

I have always been a breakfast fan. It’s that time of the day where though it tends to be a rush, it can actually be quite relaxing. I love getting up and knowing the next meal is around the corner...I also love food.

My family has always been big into Saturday brunch, growing up we would all pile into our (tiny) kitchen and join in the fun. Nowadays we all live around the country and so it’s actually become even more special as we are often together on holidays. This means no timeline and lots of caffeine :)

Dutch Pancake as my family refers to it as, is a family favourite! It’s simple and you most often have all the ingredients, it’s also just a whole lot easier than making a bunch of individual pancakes. Now it’s a staple in my own apartment and with many of my brunch dates.

Though it’s delicious there is something about breakfast that really makes me want to get all the goodness out of a meal. It’s the first food that will hit your stomach and it really does set the tone for the day. For that reason I love to mix up the traditional recipe and instead pack it with all kinds of goodness!

I often alternate Conventional Flour with Oat Flour. There is something about those Oats that really get me. They are an affordable grain, I always have them in my kitchen and they are packed with vitamins and fibre!

For this recipe I simply blend them in my coffee grinder and though it makes the pancake a bit more dense- I still love it. You could even just sub in a bit of the Oat Flour!

Ingredients

6 eggs

1/4 cup butter/coconut oil

1 1/2 cup milk of choice (coconut would be nice too)

1 1/2 cups Oat Flour (or can stick to All Purpose Flour)

1/4 tsp salt

Method

Place butter in 425 degree oven. Let melt (but watch so it doesn’t burn).

In a large bowl mix eggs, milk flour and salt until just mixed. Pour the batter over the melted butter and return to oven for 20-25mins. I often will add something directly to the batter such as berries, or something savoury like cheese. You can also make a Chia Jam (check out my recipe) and add it when serving!

I serve mine with yogurt, syrup and fruit but you could also add cheese and serve it with tomatoes and avocado and take the savoury route!

Punch Packing Fat Bombs

Do you ever get those creative blocks or a rush of anxiety or stress and you just need to take a break? When that happens to me I usually head to the kitchen, for me it’s cathartic. I am very into tracking my cycle and I was pretty sure that based on the timing of this escape, I was in need of some hormone balancing foods. Instead of reaching for the refined carbs, I keep a few of these little balls in my freezer to enjoy when I’m feeling like a satisfying treat! Don’t get me wrong a salty chip or toast and honey is a lovely treat, but sometimes your body and blood sugar is demanding a little bit more.

I struggle with a lot of recipes that require 200 dates and 3 cups of maple syrup (okay a slight exaggeration). Of course these taste great they are almost pure sugar- which is fine but I wanted to find an alternative to holding these balls together!

I decided on substituting Tahini for dates and syrups which add a nutty taste without the sweetness overload. With the addition of nut butter the consistency worked out well just perfectly! I also add a bit of liquid whether it’s a milk or water, this helps to bind the oats and chia seeds and they naturally hold together!

I begin by placing all the dry ingredients in my food processor. I blend until nice and chopped up but not to adust or flour! I then add the Nut Butter, Tahini and a bit of liquid and blend. This is when I test the consistency and if they will stick together and hold their shape. You can either add more dry if they are too sticky or Tahini/Nut Butter if they are not sticking well. Keep playing around and they will work out great!

I keep mine in the freezer for a few weeks for the onset of a craving!

Ingredients

Seeds: Sunflower, Flax, Pumpkin, Chia, Sesame (white+black), (1-2) tbsp each

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter

2-3 Tbsp Tahini

1 1/2 cups Rolled Oats

Cocoa Powder

A Few Tbsp Almond Milk

Chocolate Chips (optional)

2 Tsp Cinnamon

The Seeds of Hormonal Health

With busy schedules, late nights and snoozing alarms, breakfast can be the last thing on our mind in the morning, and coffee the first. The thing is, breakfast is such a great meal to pack in much needed fuel for your day and an opportunity to fill your plate, bowl or cup with foods that get you what you need. For women these fats are especially important as they support our hormone health and ensure we are providing our body with the appropriate building blocks.

I find that through my cycle my needs at breakfast can change. As I move through Ovulation and approach PMS I need a fattier more sustaining breakfast that is satiating and filled with good healthy fats. Throughout my Period/Menstruation my appetite changes and a simple smoothie with some ground flax and hemp protein is what my body needs. Whatever it is your body is asking for, be sure to listen and to incorporate a variety of these fats, specifically Essential Fatty Acids- these are the building blocks of our Hormone Health and essential for women throughout their cycle! EFA’s are found in all sorts of nuts and seeds and are a simple addition to our daily meals.

I love to keep a variety of seeds stocked in my pantry and fridge to easily throw into salads, on top of toast, in my oatmeal and ground into my smoothies. They add awesome crunch, fibre and provide a great source of these EFA’s our bodies crave! A few of my favourites are

• Hemp Seeds, I keep mine in the fridge or freezer for freshness, also Canadian grown and a sustainable crop

• Flax Seeds , be sure to grind these little guys, otherwise it’s difficult for our body to absorb

• Pumpkin Seeds, awesome on salads and pretty much anything

• Chia Seeds, my favourite for making jams and toppers with leftover fruit

• Sesame, awesome on sweet and savoury foods and even better when toasted!

• Sunflower Seeds, my go to for making salad dressings, for that creamy texture without the nuts and dairy

Oatmeal to me is the ultimate blank slate for creating a delicious and hearty breakfast. I use rolled oats as they are less processed and still maintain their texture and chewiness! I cook them with nut milk for creaminess, add cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg and a finely chopped apple. I top them with all sorts of seeds, nut butter (another great healthy fat) and some type of chia jam to add flavour. I often keep these chia jams in my freezer in the winter as a simple addition to my meal!

If you don’t already, I highly recommend adding seeds to your shopping list. They are often quite affordable in bulk sections, or Costco, have a long shelf life and provide women with much needed nutrients!

Banana Oat Pancake with Chia Strawberry Jam

I absolutely love breakfast, whether it’s brunch on the weekend or a quick breakfast on the go- I don’t think flavour and nutrient density should be compromised! With this recipe it is easy to make ahead, making it possible to enjoy this delicious and hearty breakfast on any day of the week!

I cook up my pancakes in advance and keep a container to add the jam, yogurt and some other toppers such as nuts and seeds when I am ready to enjoy! You can make the pancakes thinner and use as more of a crepe wrap-up, or thick almost like a Mexican Sopa topped with all your favourites!

I love to include seeds in my daily diet, not only are they packed with hormone supporting fats for women’s health, they are also full of Omegas and are a very affordable addition to any meal or snack! Keep some stocked in your desk at work or in your glove box for an easy blood sugar balancing treat!

I love pancakes, but have found that a classic flour pancake with syrup doesn’t serve me well when starting my morning. Instead I like to pack a variety of phytonutrients, fats and proteins into the recipe to encourage healthy blood sugar and a helpful start to my morning!

Feel free to mix up this recipe and change up flours, add more or less eggs and different spices, it can really by a Choose Your Own Adventure recipe!

Banana Oat Pancake

3 eggs

3 mashed bananas

1/2 cup Flour of any kind

1/2 cup Rolled Oats pulsed but keep some flakes in tact for that perfect texture

1 tbsp ground flax seed

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cardamom

1 tbsp honey

2-3 tbsp coconut milk or milk of choice to reach desired texture

Mix all wet ingredients (except milk- only added at end to find your perfect consistency), add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well. Add Milk if necessary! I love to do all my recipes in a single bowl because- dishes. Be sure to let this sit for a few minutes so the oats have some time to soak up the liquid!

I recommend making all of the pancakes in advance and then heating them, or just enjoying them cold!

Almost Spoiled Strawberry Chia Jam

This name isn’t exactly appealing BUT this is honestly the best way to make this jam! I scour the reduced rack for those strawberries that look beyond end of life and save them for this perfect recipe! I hate to see food be wasted and also berries can be expensive so this is a great opportunity to use them!

Wash and chop off any sections that may be too far gone. Toss these into a pot with a few tbsp of water and let it boil down, stirring occasionally. I add in cinnamon but no sweetener as these types of berries are usually quite sweet on their own! Once it’s a soupy but a chunky texture- really depending on your own discretion- I remove from heat. I then add about 1/4 cup of chia seeds and WHISK (important as they will clump otherwise).

This can be served immediately or can be refrigerated and used for on the go breakfast or a perfect topper on yogurt, ice cream or in smoothies! I love putting these on my pancakes and add more seeds like hemp, pumpkin and some nuts!

Easy At Home Eggs

Eggs are the classic clean out the fridge meal for any time of the day! I begin by sautéing my chopped greens (kale, spinach whatever you may have). Once soft, I add in any veg that may be lying around like cabbage, zucchini even shredded carrot.

I then chop up any ‘dead-end’ herbs that I have, such as dill/cilantro/parsley- including all the stems, chopped up nice and fine.

I let this all cook for a few minutes to infuse the flavours, adding salt to taste. While this is cooking I whip a few eggs together (2-3 depending on portion and size of eggs) and then I let them nestle into the nooks and crannies of the veg and cook away. I sometimes even add a bit of quinoa or other grain that is cooked in the fridge.

Top this with some salsa, ferments like sauerkraut or kimchi and a drizzle of oil and it is the best 10 minute lunch around!

Fresh 5 Minute Salsa 

My five minute salsa is out of pure laziness. Jamie loves fresh salsa and instead of spending 20 minutes chopping everything I let my food processor do the work.

I start with a bit of garlic, red onion, lime juice and a handful of cilantro and then I toss the tomatoes in, depending on size chopped into quarters.

I add salt + pepper to taste and voila, the easiest salsa around. This is a great way to use up all those on the edge of extinction tomatoes! I often buy from the discount rack and use those!