Judd's "go-to" Seed Blend

Since I travel for work a lot, I like to bring a premixed blend of seeds to add to a lot of my meals. Not only does it add flavor, it also gives you a extra boost of nutrients!  You can mix any blend you like, but my favorite is a chia, hulled hemp seed, sesame and sunflower seeds combo.  All you need is an empty spice jar and the seeds of your choice!  Add to soups, salads, or most any entrée.  Check out The Top Five Healthiest Seeds for a long list of the benefits of adding seeds to your diet.

P.S. Don't forget to pack your Nutritional Yeast also!

Slow Cooker Lentil Soup

We recently made this easy, delicious Slow Cooker Lentil Soup from EveryDayMaven™!  We added one peeled and cubed sweet potato to our batch at the suggestion of our daughter's friend Shelby who shared this recipe with us.

If you don't have a food processor, or just don't want to deal with cleaning it up, you can just chop your veggies by hand.  We did!

This is the perfect meal to make in the morning and forget about until you're ready for dinner.  It's one of our new favorites!

Image Courtesy of  EveryDayMaven™

Coconut BLT's

Coconut "Bacon", Lettuce and Tomato Sandwiches

This is the best BLT you will ever eat. You will need to get a few things for your "pantry",

 but they can be used for many other recipes.  This recipe makes approximately 6 BLT's.

3 cups Organic Unsweetened Coconut Flakes

2 Tb. Maple syrup

2 Tb. Raw Coconut Aminos*

or

Bragg's Amino Acids*

1 Tb. Sesame Oil

1 Tb. Liquid Smoke

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 350'

Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl until coconut flakes are well coated.

Spread flakes on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Stir and cook for 10-15 more minutes making sure they don't burn.

Remove from oven and let cool to get crispy.

On your choice of bread, use Vegan mayo, fresh sliced tomatoes and organic romaine lettuce.

Top it off with fresh sliced avocado, if desired.

Enjoy!

*A note on Bragg's Amino Acids (300mg):

It's the same as soy sauce but 1/3 the amount of sodium (900mg)

& Coconut Secrets Aminos have only 115mg. 

Pick up a bag of UNSWEETENED Coconut Flakes
at your local health food store for less than $4.  It goes a long way!

Mexican Quinoa Casserole

We recently found this recipe on Pinterest and just had to make it!  

Check out A Whisk and Two Wand's recipe for Mexican Quinoa Casserole by clicking on this link.

Image courtesy of  A Whisk and Two Wands

We used Red Quinoa and Fiesta Blend Vegan Gourmet Shreds
 by Follow Your Heart to give it a spicy flavor.

Chia Seeds

For the vegan pantry:

Chia gel

Chia Seeds

Benefits:  Chia seeds are a great source of Omega 3's, similar to flax seeds, however Chia seeds contain much higher amounts of antioxidants than flax seeds, so they can be stored for long periods of time without becoming rancid.  Chia seeds are high in both protein and fiber, and unlike flax seeds, they are easy to digest and don't need to be ground or mashed to release their nutritional benefits.

Uses:  You can add Chia seeds to just about anything...soup, yogurt, protein shakes, breakfast cereal, salad dressing, etc.  Use Chia seed gel as a firming agent for dishes in place of eggs.  We use it in our lentil loaf, a recipe we will adding to this blog shortly.  Judd makes a Chia gel using water or apple juice, stores it in the refrigerator to add to his morning oatmeal.

Vegan Hash Brown Casserole

Vegan Hash Brown Casserole

1 package Hemp & Sage Sunshine Burgers (3 patties)

2 C. Chopped Bell Peppers (top left photo)--We use 1 bag of organic

 frozen mixed bell peppers

1-16 oz. packed of Alexia frozen hash brown potatoes 

1 package organic frozen mixed vegetables

1/2 package of Daiya Cheddar "Cheese"

*NOTE:  This recipe is Vegan because we are a vegetarian and vegan family.  However, if you desire, you can replace some or all of these ingredients with the products of your choice, but we hope you don't!  This recipe is DELICIOUS as-is, whether or not you eat meat and dairy.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Let veggie burgers partially thaw.  Break into bite-sized chunks and spread in a 1 1/2 quart, 

lightly greased casserole dish.  Put a generous layer of your favorite 

organic ketchup on top of the burgers.

Saute the peppers in a frying pan until tender.  Turn heat to low and add the potatoes.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and break apart the frozen potatoes. (top right photo)  Stir in 1/2 bag of 

Daiya cheese and set aside.

Layer one bag of frozen mixed vegetables to the veggie burgers in the casserole dish.  (I boiled the veggies briefly on the stove top first, then drained them well.)  

Next, add the potato/pepper mixture on top. 

Bake uncovered until top is browned, approximately 25-30 minutes. 

ENJOY!

**If you try this recipe or any others that we post on our blog, we'd love to hear back from you!** 

We're back!

Wow...we've severely neglected this blog for the past several months, but we're back!  I (Kristen) will be teaching Judd how to post recipes as well, so that when I'm busy he can take over.  

This past weekend our local health food store, Love Whole Foods, held a customer appreciation event that we were fortunate to attend.  They had lots of product samples, and we absolutely fell in love with a vegan hash brown casserole we tasted!  Therefore, today's first post will be the recipe for this delicious dish.

Thanks for stopping by!

Kristen & Judd