Thai Peanut Ginger Tacos with Soy Honey Tofu and Spicy Slaw

For the last two weeks, we have been experimenting with Vegan or Vegetarian food for most of our meals. (probably 80% at this point) It has been way easier than we thought and we have had some incredible meals so far. 

Why are we doing this you may ask?? Well, it's been a few things. Most recently, I have been watching way too many documentaries on Netflix. These have led me to the conclusion that eating meat every day is not good for 3 huge reasons:

1. Our environment (see movie Cowspiracy)

2. Our personal health (see movie Forks Over Knives)

3. Animal cruelty (common sense)

I don't have the will power yet to go all the way Vegetarian or Vegan... but what we can do at home for now is try to eat a more plant based diet. If you want to read a much better explanation of why this is important, read the recent blog posts from Jillian Harris or Erin Ireland.

Now, for the recipe! I made this one up due to the fact that I LOVE tacos and I really love Thai food. So what could be better than Thai Tacos? Am I right?

Oh and my all time favourite food blogger Half Baked Harvest has been posting lots of new Vegan recipes lately. Check them out here!  (these are my fav: Chipotle Quinoa Sweet Potato Tacos)

Ingredients:

Serves 3-4

Peanut Sauce (you can make this ahead of time if you like)

• 2 tbsp unsweetened peanut butter
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• dash of Sriracha (more if you want it spicier) 
• 1 tbsp water

Tofu

• 1 package organic firm tofu
• 1 tsp olive oil
• dash of soy sauce
• dash of honey

Slaw

• 1-2 cups red cabbage (finely chopped)
• 1 carrot (grated)
• 1 green onion (diced)
• 1/4 cilantro (coriander)
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• Opional: 1 small red chilli (diced) - only if you want it spicy

Other

• 6-8 corn tortillas (or whole wheat flour wraps if that's all you have)
• 1 avocado
• 1 handful cilantro (coriander) to garnish

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients (except water) for sauce in a small bowl. Add small amounts of water and stir until you get it the consistency you like. Set aside.
2. Mix all ingredients for slaw in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Cut tofu into small cubes. Heat frying pan with olive oil. Once hot, add tofu and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add dash of soy and honey, Turn up and cook until all cubes are nice and seared on all sides.
4. Slice up avocado and cut some cilantro for garnish.
5. Heat corn tortillas in oven or microwave. 
6. Serve with slaw, then tofu, avocado, sauce and cilantro.
7. Enjoy!!

Fletcher enjoying the leftover avocado

Super Blueberry Coconut Bircher Muesli

I ordered "Blueberry Muesli" a few weeks ago when on holidays down in Newcastle and fell in love. Not sure if it was the vibrant colour, the natural sweet taste or the idea that it is actually good for me! As I sat next to Nathan eating Eggs Benedict, I was only slightly jealous - which is a first for me!

We got home and I decided to try to replicate this recipe for myself. It took 4 or 5 tries but I think I have a winner! All I knew for sure is that they soaked the oats in coconut water overnight, but the rest of the ingredients were a mystery. I thought this was a great idea since I had always used Milk in the past.

I will include a very basic 4 ingredient version... but try all the extras for a super charged breaky!

(by the way... is it called Bircher Muesli or Overnight Oats?? I can't seem to figure it out. Anyone know the difference?)



Ingredients: (serves 3)

1 cup unsweetened Coconut Water
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 banana
1 cup rolled oats

Optional:
1 tsp chia seeds
Handful fresh spinach

Garnish:
1 tbsp Coconut yogurt
1/2 banana cut up
a few blueberries to top (or any fruit available!)
a few mint leaves

Directions:

Mix Coconut Water, blueberries, banana, spinach and chia seeds in a blender. I used the Nutribullet and its the perfect size and way less to clean up!

Pour into bowl or jar and add rolled oats. Stir and set in fridge overnight.

Enjoy in the morning with yogurt and fresh fruit on top!

Vanilla Chia Pudding

If you like rice pudding, Chia Pudding is an amazing healthy option for breakfast or dessert! It's super easy and you can dress it up with different fruit each morning.

Ingredients: (makes 2-3 portions)

1 cup natural unsweetened yogurt

1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or other milk)

1/2 cup chia seeds

2 tsp honey, maple syrup or agave (or sprinkle in morning)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Mix in bowl or tupperware and place in fridge for 30 minutes (it will expand). Give a good stir and leave in fridge overnight or at least 4 hours. 

Add fresh fruit, seeds or nuts in morning. I like banana, strawberries, raspberries, pepitas and passion fruit.

Roasted Macadamia & Dark Chocolate Healthy Oat Squares

So it's been quite awhile since my last post! 4 months and 6 days ago, I pushed out a 6 lbs, 15 oz beautiful baby boy. Since then, it's been many nights with no sleep, 100's of dirty diapers and very little free time! (no, he is definitely not sleeping through the night yet)

I have been attempting to eat healthy for the last few months and lose the rest of the baby weight (still have about 6 lbs to go). One way that has been helping is to have healthy snacks on hand that I can grab and go. I'm usually eating with one hand and have him in the other. I found this recipe for simple oat squares on the blog Oh She Glows and adapted it a bit.

I experimented with a few different baked oat squares/bars but this one was by far the best. I have been baking them every Sunday night and having them on hand as snacks for the week. I just cut them up and stick them in the fridge in tupperware containers.  Nathan loves them at work to get him through the long days too.

Dry Ingredients:
1.5 cups Rolled oats
1 cup Oat flour (use rolled oats in food processor to create this flour)
3 tbsp Chia seeds
1/4 Almonds (or other nuts)
1/4 Pepitas (optional)
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:
1.5 cups Almond milk
1/4 cup Honey (or maple syrup)
2 tbsp Natural (no sugar) peanut butter
1 tsp Vanilla
1 large Banana (chopped small)

Toppings: (Optional)
1/4 cup Dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup Chopped Macadamia nuts (or other chopped nut)

Directions:
1. Preheat over to 350F (180C) and line an 8 inch pan with parchment paper
2. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl
3. Whisk together the wet ingredients in another bowl until no clumps remain (might need to sit out about 10 mins to fully blend)
3. Add wet to dry and mix with wooden spoon until combined
4. Pour mixture into pan and smooth out
5. Add toppings (optional) Press down into mixture so they don't fall off after being baked
6. Bake for 30-40 min until golden brown
7. Cool on rack for at least 20 mins then place on cutting board and cut into squares

Original recipe: http://ohsheglows.com/2012/01/20/on-the-glow-basic-oatmeal-squares/

Roasted Beet, Goat Cheese & Walnut Salad

I absolutely love getting Beet Salads when I'm out at restaurants but had never tried making one at home before. Since we have been going to the local farmers markets every weekend lately, I have been able to buy the most amazing local beets.

Beets from our local Farmers Market

You can always roast a bunch of beets ahead of time and keep in fridge. Then when you want to make a salad, just take them out and slice them up!

Ingredients:

• 2 Golden Beets
• 2 Red Beets
• Bag of Arugula (or Rocket)
• 2 tbsp of Goat Cheese
• 1/2 cup of walnuts
• Dressing - Mix the following: Balsamic Vinaigrette (or Apple Cider Vinaigrette), Olive Oil, Honey, clove of Garlic, Salt, Pepper

Roasting Beets:

1. Cut off top and bottom of beet
2. Clean beets
3. Place 1-2 beets in aluminum foil bags
4. Place all bags on baking tray in oven (place additional foil on tray to prevent beet juice spilling)
5. Bake for approx 45 min on 350F (will differ with size of beets)
6. Ready to go with knife easily slides into beet
7. Let cool 
8. Slice into bite sized pieces\
9. Enjoy on arugula with sprinkled walnuts and goat cheese

Thai Red Curry Salmon Patties with Sweet Chili Ginger Sauce

We recently built new bookshelves at our house and now all the cookbooks are right there in front of me! There are two asian cookbooks made by a restaurant on the Sunshine Coast called Spirit House.

New bookshelf made from reclaimed timber

Spirit House is probably my favourite restaurant I've been to here in Australia so far. It is Thai/Indonesian food and in a gorgeous small town setting. Here is the description on the website: "Set in lush tropical gardens nestled around a tranquil pond, at sunset it turns into a magic wonderland which will take your breath away". I definitely concur. A must stop when you are on the Sunshine Coast. You can check out their details here: http://www.spirithouse.com.au/restaurant 

So this recipe was taken from the cookbook and adjusted a little for the ingredients that I had in the house. This cookbook is called "Hot Plate" and features Asian-Inspired Barbecue recipes. If you don't want to make the sauce, just enjoy the patties with some plain natural yogurt and your favourite veggies.

Ingredients:

Salmon Cakes
(makes 7-8 small patties)

• 400 grams fresh salmon, chopped
• 3 tbsp red curry paste
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 2 tbsps coconut flour
• 2 tbsps fresh cilantro (coriander), chopped

Sweet Chilli Ginger Sauce (optional)

• 4 long red chillies
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsps fresh cilantro (coriander)
• 4 tbsps ginger, shredded
• 1 cup coconut vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar (we used 3 tbsps palm sugar instead)
• 1 tbsp fish sauce

Grilled Coconut Green Veggies

• 1 head broccoli 
• 1 cup green beans
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• sliced almonds to sprinkle on top

Directions:

Sauce: Pound together the chillies, garlic and cilantro in a mortar and pestle to form a paste. Heat the paste, ginger, vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 mins and then add fish sauce. Let cool and place in fridge. Serve once cooled. Sauce will store in fridge indefinitely. 

Patties: Put the salmon, red curry paste, egg, fish sauce, chia and coconut flour in a food processor and mix until it binds together. (I didn't have food processor so I chopped ingredients by hand and mixed everything by hand - turned out nice and chunky) Mix in cilantro. Shape into patties and place on plate. Store in fridge for at least 1 hour. Spray with coconut oil cooking spray (or other) and grill on BBQ a few mins on each side until cooked through. Serve on hot quinoa. 

Veggies: Heat pan with coconut oil. Mix in broccoli and green beans. grill until almost cooked through then add in spinach and grill until heated through. Sprinkle with sliced almonds. 

Sweet Potato Pecan Brownies

I didn't believe it. I really didn't think you could make delicious brownies without tons of sugar, butter or dairy. I didn't believe you could use sweet potato and make such an amazing dessert. But here is the proof. An amazing dessert with some healthy ingredients.

I served these last week at a dinner party with some vanilla ice cream and a coconut/chocolate sauce. It was incredible... But even after a few days in the fridge, these are great treat when you have a chocolate craving. 

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato, roasted or steamed
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 3 tbsps coconut flour (or flour of your choice)
• 3 tbsps raw cacao powder
• 2 tsps cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda or powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup pecans (save some for garnish)
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips 

Directions:

1. Mash roasted or steamed sweet potato and let cool
2. Preheat oven to 350F (180C)
3. Combine wet ingredients (sweet potato, eggs, coconut oil, honey, vanilla) and mix well
4. Add in dry ingredients (flour, cacao powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder and salt) and mix
5. Add in pecans and chocolate chips
6. Grease an 8x8 baking dish (or use baking paper to avoid sticking) Another option is to use muffin or mini muffin trays for brownie bites
7. Use fork to smooth out
8. Add pecans on top to garnish if desired
9. Place in oven and bake 30-40 mins or until toothpick inserted in the cener comes out clean (15-18 for muffins)
10. Cool, cut and serve!