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Thursday, 7 March 2013

Five Ways to Eat Fruit for Breakfast

When I was told that it's healthy to eat fruit for breakfast, I thought, "How you you survive until lunch on just fruit?" I tried and it didn't work - I was snacking by ten o'clock. Here's where I went wrong: It had been drilled into my head to only eat one or two servings of fruit a day, so I would eat one banana and one apple for breakfast. No wonder I didn't make it to lunch time. You've got to eat way more than that. 

Normally I try to stick to eating one type of fruit or one family of fruit for a meal, like just berries, or just melons, just oranges. But some days I like to put a little effort into it and make something fun and delicious. Here are five ways that I do fruit for breakfast: 

1. A Great Big Smoothie!

I will blend 6-8 bananas or a bag a frozen mango or whatever sweet fruit I have by themselves or with some greens. I always stick to one type of greens per smoothie- like just baby spinach, or just kale. I find the taste results are better this way. When adding greens, start with a small amount and slowly increase. Sometimes I get creative and try to mimic tropical drinks like pina coladas but I find that sticking to simple 1-2-or 3 ingredient smoothies taste best. Keep it Simple! I also make at least one litre of smoothie for breakfast to get me through until lunch. Some of my favorite recipes are:

  • 6-8 Bananas (optional add ins: Spinach or Kale, Dates, Mango, or Blueberries)
  • 10 Oranges and Spinach
  • 3 Apples, 3 Medjool Dates (pitted) and Spinach (Sprinkle of cinnamon optional)
  • Bag of frozen Mango, Spinach (Dates or Blueberries are good add ins!) 
  • Coconut water, 1/2 Pineapple, 2 frozen Bananas and 3 pitted Medjool Dates



 2. Cut a Watermelon in Half and Eat it!

Or grabl 6-8 bananas and eat them, or any large serving of RIPE sweet fruit. No prep, no mess and super easy in the morning. I can't wait until watermelons are back in season! I've been making meals out of bananas and mangos lately: the only thing required is peeling the fruit.



3. Banana Cereal

Sliced Bananas and Banana Milk. Slice 5-6 Bananas into a deep breakfast bowl. To make Banana Milk: Blend 2 bananas and 1 cup of filtered water in blender and pour over sliced bananas for your cereal. Can use one frozen banana for cold milk. I also sometimes add blueberries and dried mulberries for a a little crunch! (Pictured below I blended the dried mulberries for a granola topping. I also usually add way more milk!)



4. Fresh squeezed OJ!

One - two litres of fresh squeezed Orange Juice is a great way to start the day! Sometimes I just eat a bag of oranges, but there's a couple ways to get fresh OJ: Cut them in half and use an electric citrus juicer (not too expensive), or use a glass handheld citrus juicer - very inexpensive! I've even resorted to just squeezing them myself. You can also use a blender and blend the oranges well, pouring the contents into a nut-milk bag and straining the contents. 



 5. BAD Fruit Oatmeal.


Bananas, Apples and Dates! When Blended remind me of my old morning oatmeal. I throw two sliced apples in the Vitamix or food processor with two ripe brown spotted bananas and pulse blend a few times to chop the apples. Then I add three chopped and pitted medjool dates and pulse a couple more times to mix them in. The dates taste like brown sugar in this recipe. You can add a touch of cinnamon as well if you like, or blend up some banana milk and pour it on. I enjoy it plain- it's one of my fav ways to do fruit for breakfast. A sure winner with the kids if you have time to make it. (In the picture below, I tried making it with persimmons, which tasted great too!) 



I enjoy fruit for breakfast because it gives me a bunch of energy without weighing down my digestive system, and if you eat enough, it will get you through until lunch. Give it a try today. 

Naturally Ashley 



Friday, 1 March 2013

Pineapple Salsa and Cauliflower Fried Rice


This was a super tasty meal. I cut up half of a head of cauliflower and tossed it on a bed of romaine lettuce. Then I added a whole bunch of pineapple salsa to the top. It was extremely satisfying.  I really enjoyed the sweetness of the pineapple with the savouriness of the cilantro, green onion and tomato. And the cauliflower added the crunch I was looking for.




I absolutely love cauliflower. I used it as my "chips" when I make my sweet potato hummus dip or guacamole. I also use it as my rice in sushi rolls, or just eat it like rice with a squeeze of lemon and blueberries! The next recipe I want to try is cauliflower popcorn in the dehydrator! I will keep you posted on how that turns out, but until then here's a recipe I saw the other day for cauliflower fried rice that looked simply amazing: ( I tweaked it a little to dis-include animal products)

CAULIFLOWER FRIED RICE

INGREDIENTS:

1 head organic cauliflower- cut into florets and steamed

2 stalks celery
1/2 small red onion minced
3 garlic cloves minced
2 Tbsp fresh basil finely diced
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 tsp sea salt (optional)


DIRECTIONS:
  1. Place steamed cauliflower in a food processor and pulse a few times to break up the florets into a rice-like texture. You can also do this with a potato masher or fork in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the onions, garlic and celery. Saute for 3-5 min. 
  3. Add the cauliflower, basil and sea salt and saute another 7-10 minutes until the veggies are tender. Serve and enjoy! 

Give it a try and let me know if you like it!

Naturally Ashley

Sunday, 24 February 2013

Happiness is a Choice. A Beautiful Choice.


Life is beautiful. I am grateful for this day and everyday. I see beauty everywhere and I smile. A lot. I often get asked how I can be so gosh-darn happy all the time. My response is that Happiness is a choice. I choose it everyday.

How do I do this? I was very lucky to be raised the way I was, I think my dad may be the happiest guy in the world. But I attribute my awareness of happiness as a choice to the Singing Substitute Teacher. I remember him 'subbing' our class when I was 14/15 years old. He usually brought his guitar, which the cool kids thought was dorky and used this time to goof off or skip out. But I listened very diligently, being a rule-following dork myself, and am very happy that I did because he taught me a lesson, not in science or in math - a lesson about happiness.

He came in one day and taught us that anger and happiness are not thought and feelings that can be caused by others. That someone cannot make you angry. That anger is a choice that YOU choose in reaction to a situation or another person's actions/behaviours.  And so with that happiness is also a choice, and if you choose to be happy, to see the positive in even a bad situation, you can have a beautiful life.

This lesson has stuck with me ever since and when I get angry I often think of this day when the Singing Substitute Teacher came in and taught me an amazing life lesson in how to be happy 101. It's not that I don't get angry at all anymore, I just am more aware that I am the one choosing these thoughts and feelings, and when you are aware, it makes it easier to choose happy.  Who doesn't want to choose and be happy? I can't help but think 'why wasn't this in the curriculum???'







Wednesday, 13 February 2013

Love Truffles

I went to my friend Stephanie's house today to see two of my favorite little girls and give them some Valentines hugs and kisses (not the chocolate, real hugs and kisses!) While I was there, Averee was telling me about the Valentines treats she was making for all of her friends tomorrow- she's such a sweetheart! 

When I got home, I decided to make some healthy V-day treats for myself!  I have been craving chocolate truffles ever since I came back from Sedona.  They had a raw/vegan friendly restaurant called the Chocola Tree that had these amazing raw chocolates. My favorite was Lulu's Love Truffles - raw vegan perfection! 


                                         
                                                    -Lulu's Love Truffles


                                   The Chocola Tree - Sedona, Arizona

I tried to find a recipe online for raw chocolate truffles, based on ingredients similar to Lulu's Love Truffles.  I found one that was similar on Raw Food Recipes website -rawfoodrecipes.com, and adapted it to my taste.  I used almonds because that was what I had on hand, but next time will make them with hazelnuts! You can also add mint extract, coconut flakes or other ingredients to make them fun. I just wanted sweet and simple chocolate today though.  I ate half of the batch and saved three balls to enjoy tomorrow on Valentines Day. They reminded me of little brownie fudge balls. So good!

Here is my recipe, try them out and let me know how much you love them:



Happy Valentines Day!

Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Naturally Ashley's Favortie Smoothies


Tropical Pineapple Smoothie























Ingredients
  • 10 dates
  • 2 cups frozen pineapple
  • water from one young coconut (or a can of coconut water)
  1. Shuck your coconut using the heel of a lagre knife, pour into blender
  2. Pit and soak the dates in the coconut water 1/2 - 2 hours
  3. Add 2 cups frozen pineapple
  4. Blend and enjoy!

Caramel Apple Smoothie

Ingredients
  • 3 organic apples
  • small head of lettuce (romaine, green or iceberg)
  • 3 pitted and soaked dates
  • small stalk of celery
1. Pit and soak dates 1-2 hours (I just pit and throw them in if I dont have time)
2. Chop up apples and celery
3. Rinse lettuce
4. Blend all ingredients until smooth and enjoy!


Green Banana Energy Smoothie

Ingredients
  • 6-8 ripe brown spotted bananas
  • 1/2 - 1Lb spinach 
  1. Peel bananas and throw in blender
  2. Along with desired amount of spinach
  3. Blend until smooth and enjoy!

Medjool Caramel Dip


Looking for a healthy snack or fun dip to take to your girls night? This medjool date caramel dip is a hit at parties. I made it for two christmas parties this winter. Gluten-free, dairy-free, raw, vegan, fruity goodness! 

I shuck 1 young thai coconut and put 10 medjool dates inside to soak in the water for at least an hour. When they are done, take them out and remove the pits and put in blender.

Measure 2/3 cup of coconut water and set aside. Save the rest in another container and scoop out the meat. Should be around 2 tbsp of meat.

Place the coconut meat in a blender along with the dates and 1/3 cup of coconut water. Add 1.5 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp vanilla powder and a pinch of salt (optional). Blend, adding more coconut water 1 tbsp at a time until you get the desired thickness. 

Serve with sliced apples, carrots, or celery and enjoy!

You may substitute the young thai coconut for canned coconut milk - start with 2/3 cup and add more as needed, and soak the dates in water. I'm sure this could also be done with almond milk as well!

Banana's about Blogging

I am going to try my best to make time for writing blog posts. Between nutrition school, running my facebook page, doing workshops, waitressing, painting, photography, taking care of three crazy dogs and working at a care centre, I don't have a lot of spare time. But I would like to post about my favorite recipes and have them organized and easy to access. Wish me luck. 
Naturally Ashley