Two super easy, super healthy recipes!

Happy Saturday Everyone! I hope you are enjoying a restful and relaxing weekend. You deserve it! Today I wanted to share with you two super yummy, super easy recipes I've enjoyed lately. Before I do though, make sure to follow me on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates/ fun wellness stuff! @JMartinez621 and https://www.facebook.com/BeWellLoveJulie  .

Ok, now for the deliciousness! This first recipe was inspired by a Tara Stiles Video (aka  it is basically the same, but I didn't have actual curry sauce- which actually probably makes this version lighter) So, credit to her! Yes, she is my new favorite person. I just read Yoga Cures on my kindle, and it was amazing. Simple, eye opening, life changing. I'll have to do another book list soon!

Curried Rice and Lentils with Veggies ! 

You'll need: 

- A lentils and rice mixture, or any grain of your choice. I did a medley of brown rice, wild rice, and lentils from whole foods

- Vegetable broth

- Earth Balance, olive oil, or a non-stick cooking spray

-Orange Bell Pepper 

-Red Onion

-Celery

-Greens of your choice 

-Any other veggies you desire/ would like to substitute with 

- Curry Powder

- Chilli Powder

- Ground Tumeric 

-Salt and Pepper

As usual, my recipes are more like guidelines. I'm not a professional chef, and everyone's appliances and tastes are different. Alter this as necessary to make it work for you, choosing the correct amount of ingredients for your portion size!

1. Prepare grains per package instructions. I like to use vegetable broth instead of water to give it more flavor. Make a big batch and save leftovers for later in the week! I use a half cup as one serving 

2. Heat a large pan on medium high heat, add a tablespoon or so of Earth Balance (or other choice). Just enough to add some flavor without adding mega calories. 

3. Chop onions and add them to the pan.

4. Do the same with the peppers and celery. 

5. Let these sauté a while until they are nice and soft.

 6. Once the veggies are at their desired texture, turn down the heat a little bit and add grains. 

7. Add a pinch of curry powder, chilli powder, and ground tumeric. Add any more depending on your tastes. 

8. Add the greens, sauté until everything is nice and warm. 

9. Salt and pepper/ season more to taste

10. Enjoy this nutritious and flavorful meal! 

Lemon Pepper Zucchini with Quinoa and Marinara Sauce 

This one is something I just whipped up on my own with random pre-made things I had in my fridge. I love making lemon pepper zucchini and having it ready to throw into any recipe. Also, having a good quality marinara sauce is a wonderful way to easily add flavor to any meal. I like Whole Foods 365 and search for types with no crazy ingredients. I apologize for the messy plating! It didn't occur to me that I should blog about this when I took the picture!

What you'll need: 

- Quinoa

-Vegetable Broth

-Zucchini

-Fresh Garlic

-Greens of Choice

-Marinara Sauce

-Olive Oil

-Lemon Pepper Seasoning

-Italian Seasoning

-Fresh Lemon Juice

-Salt and Pepper 

1. Prepare quinoa per instructions with vegetable broth. 

2. Chop up a few gloves of garlic, depending on portion size

3. In large pan, heat a small amount of olive oil (again, just enough for flavor) and garlic. Use a medium heat so things don't burn! 

4. Meanwhile, chop up zucchini and add to the pan 

5. Sauté zucchini on medium high heat, adding lemon pepper and italian seasoning as desired per your taste. 

6. Squeeze in a little bit of juice from a lemon and continue to sauté zucchini until it reaches desired texture. 

7. Salt and Pepper to taste.

8. Reduce heat and portion out the amount you would like to save as left overs. 

9. To the amount remaining in pan, add quinoa, greens, and marinara sauce. 

10. Stir until everything is warm and delicious

11. Enjoy! 

I also make this by throwing all the left over components into a bowl and microwaving! Do whatever works for you that day =) 

I hope you enjoy these quick and easy recipes! They are simple, and full of whole, nutritious, satisfying ingredients. Why bother with anything else? As I'm sure you can tell, there is an easy formula behind these two recipes. Grain, veggie, greens, seasoning. What other combos can you come up with? Experiment with your favorite flavors! Mexican, Asian, Mediterranean? The possibilities are endless. I'll continue to post anything I find extra easy and delicious! 

Be Well.

Love, Julie

Super Easy Eggplant!

I’ve been loving eggplant lately. I have no idea why I do not buy it more!!! Someday I hope to make an amazing eggplant caponata. However, since I am currently in school, and ridiculously busy, I tend to go much more basic. Again, pardon my not so exact recipes. Hopefully this will just give you some inspiration and ideas! Notice there are no added oils in these recipes! Water does just fine as a binding agent.

I’ll start with the more complicated:

Super Easy Vegan Eggplant Parm:

You will need:

1 eggplant (or more depending how many people you’re making it for.)

Cornmeal

Whole Wheat or almond flour

Vegan Parmesan Cheese

Vegan Mozzarella Cheese

Your tomato sauce of choice (I go organic and usually get one with basil and spices for flavor)

1. Preheat the oven to 375.

2. Cut up your eggplant into half inch slices

3. Combine a mixture of one part flour and one part cornmeal (say about a half cup of each). You can also throw a little pepper/basil etc in there if you want!

4. Lightly coat each slice of eggplant with water and dip it into the flour mixture, just giving it a light covering. Then place each piece onto a baking stone or baking sheet with foil.

5. Put the eggplant slices in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until they get a little golden.

6. Meanwhile, give the bottom of a glass baking pan a light coating of cooking spray. The size of your pan will depend on how much eggplant you are using. You want to be able to create two layers of eggplant.

7. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan.

8. Once the eggplant is slightly golden and out of the oven, place a layer of the eggplant over the sauce.

9. Cover the eggplant with another layer of sauce.

10. Sprinkle on your desired amount of vegan parmesan and mozzarella ( a little can go a long way!).

11. Create another layer of eggplant, sauce and cheese. This time make sure the sauce completely covers the top.

12. Place in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

11. Feel free to add any of your favorite Italian spices etc and enjoy!

Lately however, I have been in a much simpler mood, not needing all of the cheese and “breading” on my meal. So, I have been whipping up some… 

Deconstructed Eggplant Parm

You will need:

1 Eggplant

Italian spices (basil, salt, pepper, Italian mix, oregano, whatever is your favorite)

Tomato sauce of your choice

1. Preheat the oven to 375

2. Slice your eggplant into half inch slices

3. Coat each slice lightly with water and place on a baking stone or cookie sheet with foil.

4. Sprinkle desired spices over eggplant pieces, flip them and do the same on the other side.

5. Pop them in to over for about a half an hour. This will really all depend on your oven and the thickness of the slices. They will be done when they are golden brown and tender.

6. In the last few minutes, warm up your tomato sauce.

7. When the eggplant is done, pour sauce over and poof! Delicious, nutritious, simple meal.

This goes amazingly well  with spaghetti squash! (Check out my spaghetti squash 101 post from December)

I also love to use the left over eggplant plain in salads etc. So delicious!

Enjoy!!!

Be Well.

Love, Julie

Super Simple Winter Sides

What do you usually have as side dishes for dinner? Mac and Cheese? Mashed Potatoes with milk and butter? Veggies? Sure, they may not be the star of the meal, but side dishes need love too! They play a very important role in making sure your meal stays healthy and wonderful for you. What’s the point of that healthy main course if it is surrounded by calorie-laden sides? Luckily, it’s super simple to make delicious additions to your meal that fill you up, without all of the extra bulk of added fat, artificial ingredients, and extra calories. As I have mentioned before, I am far from being a gourmet chef. However, even I have some tips to share in this department!

Let’s start with Brussels sprouts (just figured out it’s “Brussels’, not “brussel”…weird). For some reason, I always remember old sitcoms documenting people talking about how much they hated Brussels sprouts. Was it maybe in an American Girl Book too? I’m not sure. Anyway, ever since my palate matured, I absolutely love them, and am quite unsure of why they were so taboo. So, go ahead to the grocery store and get yourself a bunch. Did you know they sometimes come on something like this…?

I didn’t until my mother brought this thing home recently. I couldn’t quite tell you what it is. Is it a stalk? A stem? Again, I’m not sure. If they come on this…thing…just snap them on off, and follow these instructions:

You will need: Brussels sprouts, fresh garlic, white onion, salt and pepper, olive oil, a baking sheet or baking stone

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2. Prep your sprouts. Rinse. Make sure to remove any gross leaves from the outside. Chop off the stubby stem, and halve or quarter them, depending on your preference. Place them into a large mixing bowl.

3. Peel a few cloves of garlic (enough to have a uniform presence throughout however many sprouts you are preparing). Then, crush/mince/or chop the garlic up into small pieces and add to the bowl. I personally love to smash it with the side of a large chopping knife like they do on the Food Network. However, per usual with my “recipes”, there is no exact science to this. Just chop it =)

4. Take about a third (or more depending on the size batch) of the onion. I like to leave the onion in long, skinny pieces, simply separating the layers. If you don’t like onion, it’s perfectly fine to leave this out. Add to the bowl.

5. Then, very gradually, pour in a small amount of olive oil a little at a time, mixing it into the sprouts. I usually use my hands just to toss it. You want just enough to lightly coat everything. We don’t need over oily/soppy sprouts!

6. Give a light sprinkling of both salt and pepper.

7. Place on either a cooking stone or baking sheet with foil and roast in the oven for about a half hour, or until there is a light char/crispiness to your dish. All ovens are different, so it’s best to just keep an eye on them, testing them, and taking them out when you prefer. 

Up Next: Roasted Butternut Squash!

This one is even easier. I have not yet experimented with super intense flavor combos, but when this squash is roasted, it is completely wonderful on its own. For this all you need is cubed butternut squash (a little bigger than home fry size), cooking spray, salt, pepper, and a baking stone or cooking sheet.

1. Preheat oven to 400

2. Place your cubed butternut squash on either a baking stone or cooking sheet with foil

3. Give your squash one spray of cooking spray, to gently coat the batch.

4. Salt and Pepper

5. Flip the squash cubes over and repeat on the other side.

6. Pop in the oven for around a half an hour, or until tender.

Want something even easier? How about a sweet potato?

Potatoes get a bad rap. I will discuss this in more depth in a future post, but the reason is mainly because of how we prepare them. Try just having a plain old baked sweet potato. Indulge in the simple orange goodness. I usually have one half at a time. I poke a few holes in the skin with a knife or fork, and simply cook it in the microwave either on the baked potato pre-set, or for about 3 minutes at a time. It will start to steam, so per usual, cook it just a few minutes at a time, rotate it, and keep an eye on when it becomes tender. Then, I simply cut it open, and sprinkle on some pepper. Boom. Perfect, whole food, wonderful, filling, nutritious side dish.

One last side suggestion I have is soup!

I absolutely love Dr. McDougall’s organic, whole food soups. My favorite is the low sodium chunky tomato. It is made with all natural and whole ingredients. Dr. McDougall is a plant based nutrition expert and author of The Starch Solution, an amazing resource for plant based nutrition. Therefore, I truly trust all of his products. Enjoy a cup of this warm soup for only 90 calories!

And there you have it! A few simple ideas for guilt-free side dishes! Tweak them as you like, spices don’t add calories. If you have a favorite spice combo for your squash or potatoes, go for it! Just avoid the extra butter, cheese, excess oil etc! The key is to recognize that we can enjoy the same flavors without all of the extra add-ins that take a toll on our health. Try simplifying your favorite dishes, and get to know the natural taste of your food!

Be Well.

 
Love, Julie

My health inspired holiday recap!

Hi everyone!!! I hope those of you who celebrate Christmas had an amazing, wonderful, restful, and joyous holiday. I feel like I have been running all over the place and haven’t written in so long. But have no fear, I am back in action!!!

If you think a vegan can’t enjoy a wonderful holiday meal. This post is to prove you wrong.

My family had our main big meal on Christmas Eve this year. I called our efforts “semi-homemade”. Between me, my mom, dad, brother, and sister-in- law, we have three different diets (regular for the boys, vegetarian for my sister-in-law, and vegan for me and mom). So, clearly, along with gift preparations and church plans, we couldn’t make every option for everyone from scratch. All the mains were homemade, turkey, salmon, etc. My brother and sister-in- law picked up some of their favorite sides at a restaurant. We got my dad some of his favorite sides from Stop and Shop (which surprisingly has a quality a la carte section), made rolls, prepared some vegan desserts, and bought some regular sweets as well. It was a little complicated but all worked out! I must admit, Thanksgiving was much more of a plant-based takeover. However, with more people come more personal preferences, and during the holidays sometimes the “eat healthy talk” is just not worth the effort. Anyway, here’s what those of us who are more health conscious enjoyed: (Excuse the picture, I forgot to take it until I was half way through my meal!)

Happy Herbivore Hippy Loaf! – A delicious blend of black beans quinoa, mushrooms, and vegetables. This is a great go-to option for a plant-based entrée. Nice and low cal so you can enjoy lots of sides with it as well! http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/hippie-loaf-gluten-free/

 

Sautéed Broccoli- A kind of figure it out as you go dish. For this we simply:

-          Added olive oil to a sauté pan over medium/medium high heat

-          Added a bunch of freshly chopped garlic (depending on the amount of broccoli you are using). Let the garlic sauté for a bit, getting to a golden brown.

-          Then we added the broccoli

-          Add in some dry white wine ¼ cup at a time as needed.

-          Mix all together, and sauté until the broccoli is bright green and cooked to the tenderness you desire.

-          Salt and Pepper to taste!

Low fat Vegan Pumpkin Pie- A repeat from Thanksgiving, this pie is to die for. Amazingly delicious. Made simply with pumpkin, maple syrup, silken tofu, and spices with no eggs, or condensed milk! When looking at recipes try and find ones with the most whole, recognizable ingredients and with the least amount of refined sugars/flours etc. I find that often times the outer edges bake more quickly than the inside, so it helps to take strips of foil and cover the outer edges to protect them while the middle continues to bake, when there is about a half hour remaining in cooking time.  

http://vegweb.com/recipes/tofu-pumpkin-pie

Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie- This was my first time trying this out! I had no idea what to expect, and it was absolutely incredible. The combination of unsweetened cocoa powder, maple syrup, soy vanilla creamer, silken tofu, and coconut oil created the richest chocolate filling. (Both this and the Pumpkin Pie are taste approved by my very non-vegan father. He loves them!) This recipe calls for agar agar, which is a gelatin thickening agent. I couldn’t find this last minute, so my pie ended up a little soupy. Delicious, but not as firm. Research I’ve done says you can use other vegan gelatin or pectin in its place. I will definitely make this again using one of those and let you know what happens! Also, it calls for pink sea salt. I used regular, all was not lost. http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2011/09/chocolate-cream-pie-vegan.html

On Christmas day, we went to visit my Grandma at her house and had a fun Christmas picnic in her living room. The star of the show for everyone was Mom’s festive hummus rollups. These are super simple to make and can be customized in any way you like. I definitely will be making more of this easy snack in college. The hummus gives a great protein kick! Here’s a quick tutorial.

-          Take a tortilla of your choice, spinach, sundried tomato, whole wheat… (we did red and green for Christmas)

-          Spread on a layer of hummus…you could use any type of hummus you would like for your flavor profile

-          Add some spinach, shredded carrots, and roasted red peppers

-          Roll them up!

-          Roll up in saran wrap and put in the fridge for a bit so they can set.

-     Cut roll up in to slices for nice little pinwheels!

 Needless to say it was a delicious holiday for all. I won’t lie. I’m feeling the effects of feasting over the past few days a little this morning. But, like I said in a previous post, all there is to do is reset, get a great workout in, and eat a clean mean diet. I decided to start Chalene Johnson’s Turbo Fire back up today after my small Bikram Hiatus (more on that to come). I know that woman will whip me back into shape!

One last thing to wrap up my Holiday Recap, presents! I was so blessed to receive some awesome gifts this holiday Season. My family knows me all too well, showering me with vegan cookbooks, gift cards to Whole Foods and Barnes and Noble, and presenting me with my first Veggie Spiralizer! Zucchini Noodles anyone??  With all of these new things there are definitely many more health inspired adventures to come! 

Be Well.

Love, Julie