Meatballs for kids

January 10, 2016 / livelycravings / 1 Comment

These meatballs are for kids and they can customize them for their lunch. They will feel proud and actually eat them. I’m always trying to get the kids involved in lunch making. Every ingredient is optional so make them any way you want. Adults will enjoy these meatballs too.

Cheeseburger meatballs

Ground meat

1 egg

Heaping spoonful of ketchup

small Spoonful of mustard

Spoonful of relish

Equal amounts of diced pickles, diced onion, diced cooked bacon,

and shredded cheese

Large dash of garlic powder

Dash of salt and pepper

As a side – serve with ketchup, pickles, veggies and plain chips.

Why not make a cheeseburger meatball sub or a salad with meatballs? Dress your salad with a mixture of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and relish.

Taco meatballs

Ground meat

1 Egg

Equal amounts of diced onion, diced red pepper and shredded cheese.

Jalapeños, optional

Spoonful of tomato paste

Many large dashes of chili powder

Couple dashes of paprika, cumin and oregano

Dash of garlic powder, all spice, salt and pepper

As a side – serve with salsa, red pepper, avocado and nacho chips. Try a Taco meatball salad too! So Yummy!

Shepherd’s pie meatballs

Ground meat

1 Egg

Equal amounts of diced onion, corn, shredded potato,

and shredded cheese

A few large dashes of parsley

Dash of marjoram, optional

Dash of sage, garlic powder, salt and pepper

As a side – serve with ketchup, veggies and roasted potato.

Prepare a broiler pan with parchment paper and cut slits in the paper for the fat to fall through.

Mix the egg and all the ingredients then add the meat; mix until combined.

Bake at 375 for about 20-25 minutes. Cooking time depends on the size of the meatballs. I use a meat thermometer until it reaches 170 degrees.

Shredded cheese makes a mess when it melts so do not use too much. I cubed some cheese and moulded the meat around it but it still leaked out.

Remember everything is optional so be creative and add anything you like.

Why not try adding quinoa, cabbage or oatmeal in your meatballs.

Have fun!

Happy New Years resolution

January 1, 2016 / livelycravings / 1 Comment

I never used to believe in new years resolutions because I had to give something up or make a unrealistic goal. I now make a goal that makes me a happier person.

In 2013 my new years resolution was not to go crazy over little things. I did most things half ass and I didn’t worry about what needed to be done because I had a one, five and seven year old. For me to be a good mom I had to relax and not stress. For 2014 I decided to expand my perspectives and 2015 was to get organized, I stayed on top of things the best I could and well I didn’t get it all done I am still very proud of myself. When you do the best you can you should have no regrets! I am very excited for 2016 because I resolve to follow my passions and live for the fun of life. Cheers to optimism!

My recipe today is to start each day with lemon juice because it helps the digestive system and a healthy gut is a happy mind. My passion is to our earth and to prevent autoimmune diseases and cancer by illuminating and trying new foods. So I will tell you why you should start your day with lemon juice and maybe that would be a realistic resolution.

Squeeze a small lemon or one-half of a large lemon and drink it straight down. It is best done on an empty stomach so first thing in the morning and never at night. Try to drink it like a shot or a straw because it can strip the enamel on teeth. After drink a glass of room temperature water and it’s best not to eat for 20 minutes unless it’s fruit. Lemon juice is a good stomach acidifier which helps with digesting. It also kills the bacteria in the throat so you are less likely to get a sore throat. It is most effective to take it for a week to 3 weeks in a row because it is a expeller of heavy metals from the body. The heavy metals come up in the mouth for the body to eliminate so gargle with sea salt or swish with coconut oil for 5 – 10 minutes.

Healthy and Happy New Year everyone!

Fancy Chocolate covered cookie dough balls

December 8, 2015 / livelycravings / 1 Comment

This is a wonderful dessert to add to your Christmas platters. This recipe is a fancy version of my no measure raw cookie dough recipe. You will enjoy and get compliments. The chocolate covered cookie dough will remind you of peanut butter balls. It is worth the effort and kids can help. My daughter has fun dipping the balls and sprinkling the toppings and the mess it easy to clean up.

Dough

2 big scoops of honey

3 big scoops of peanut butter or other nut butter

3 big scoops of coconut oil

2 big scoops of butter

Vanilla

1 little scoop of coconut sugar

2 big scoops of sunflower seeds

1 scoop of coconut

2 cups oatmeal

Pinch of salt

Mini chocolate chips

Blend the honey, peanut butter, coconut oil, butter, vanilla and sugar until creamy. Grind and add the oatmeal and sunflower seeds. Also mix in coconut, salt and mini chocolate chips.

Place dough in the fridge for 10 or 20 minutes. After, roll into 1 inch balls and place in the freezer until you are ready to dip them into chocolate.

A double batch makes about 100 balls and a single batch makes about 50 balls.

Look at the sugar content. If I know how I would highlight it.

Chocolate

100g Camino 100% cacao unsweetened

100g Camino 56% cacao semi-sweet

Or leftover chocolate that you want to use up but mixing with 100% chocolate will reduce the sugar.

Toppings:

Hemp hearts

Coconut

I have a double boiler from pampered chef that fits on any pot but melt the chocolate in the microwave if you want.

Melt chocolate slowly in your double boiler with stirring a lot.

Line a big baking sheet with parchment paper.

Dip dough balls with a fork and let the chocolate drip off a little and place on parchment paper, the chocolate dries fast so sprinkle with toppings soon after.

Place toppings on chocolate balls. My favourite toppings are hemp hearts and coconut.

Store in fridge or freezer.

Chocolate Bark Recipe

(Make this recipe with your leftover melted chocolate)

Almonds or seed of choice

If you are bringing this to a party why not add marshmallows and pretzels. Get creative.

Roast almonds on parchment paper lined baking sheet at 350 for about 7 minutes. Let cool for at least 10 minutes.

With the leftover chocolate cover the almonds and/or other ingredient that you may be craving in your bark.

Sprinkle the rest of the topping over to finish them off.

Place in the fridge for the chocolate to harden then break into pieces.

Store in fridge.

I am totally new to computers and photography so please excuse my imperfectness. I am not a perfectionist and often forget about the details.

I use my blackberry phone as my camera and I am learning much about lighting and such. I am doing this out of passion and go at my own pace. So far I am enjoying sharing my ideas and I have many more. I cant wait to find the time. Thanks for reading! Enjoy every minute of life!

Festive Brussels Sprouts Soup

November 23, 2015September 26, 2019 / livelycravings / Leave a comment

Not in my wildest dreams would I have ever came up with Brussels sprouts soup but I was moving and I didn’t want to fill my fridge so I used what I had. Amazing! It was devoured and loved. I knew that I had to share this soup idea. I originally used my own chicken broth but I don’t have any this time. I brought this soup to share with others so to be on the safe side I made it vegan. For my protein I like assortment of mixed canned beans or lentils or quinoa or with whatever you have. I named it Festive brussels sprouts soup because it has a lot of red and green.

Oil ( coconut oil or olive oil)

1 diced onion

2 diced celery

3 garlic cloves

4 diced carrots

2 diced red peppers

1 liter broth

3 cups water

4 cups cut in half Brussels sprouts

salt

Dried Parsley to taste

Pepper

Prep the vegetables. In a large pot fry the onion for a couple minutes then add celery and fry for a couple more minutes. Add carrots, garlic, pepper and parsley, fry for a few more minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil, turn down heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.

This makes a lot so half the recipe if it’s not feeding a lot of mouths. This is enough to feed my family twice and a little extra for my lunch.

Prepping takes a while so trim and cut the brussels sprouts in advance.

Awesome Healthy Brownies

November 12, 2015May 24, 2016 / livelycravings / 2 Comments

It sounds weird but it’s totally awesome and worth trying it out to prove it taste totally normal. I love making desserts that I can have seconds and eat without feeling guilty. Lowering the sugar content is the first place to start. Feel free to substitute some of the ingredients, thats the fun of it, making it the way that suits you. I have a feeling that these brownies will be famous once people try them!

1 3/4 cup cooked pureed green lentils

1 cup pureed pumpkin

2 eggs ( flax egg or chia egg ) 2 Tbsp ground flax or chia with 6 Tbsp of water

1/2 cup coconut sugar or another sugar

2 Tbps maple syrup
1/4 cup melted coconut
1 tsp Vanilla
2 Tbsp arrowroot flour or tapioca flour
2 Tbsp coconut flour or flour of your
Pinch of salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup cacao powder (raw cocoa) or cocoa powder ( I mix them together)

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Parchment paper a 9X11 pan.

Follow instructions on the lentil package. Puree the lentils and split the batch in half which will give about 1 3/4 cups. In a large bowl, prepare the flax or chia egg and let sit for 5 minutes. Blend in the sugar, maple syrup, oil, vanilla, pumpkin and lentils. Mix in the dry ingredients, then fold in half the walnuts and chocolate chips. Pour batter in the pan and top with the rest of the nuts and chocolate chips.

Bake for about 32 minutes, until a tooth pick come out almost clean. It is very important to cool the brownies completely in the fridge. The inside of the brownies are very gooey when warm and set when cooled.

Someone told me you can bring your old Halloween pumpkins to Wild at Heart and they feed some animals. It’s a nice idea!

Maple seeds and nuts

November 5, 2015November 5, 2015 / livelycravings / Leave a comment

This is the quickest snack or treat to make when headed out the door and realize “shit” I should bring something. I have you covered, this will make people think you went out of your way and really it took you an easy 10 minutes. Nothing against making energyballs but the tedious task of rolling sometimes gets to me. Plus there is only one bowl and spoon to wash. It makes a great vegetarian alternative to breakfast and tops well on many dishes or muffins. Organic pumpkin seeds are twice the price so I occasionally splurge. Bulk barn is more affordable. I buy most of my nuts at Costco. Maple seeds and nuts are also an alternative to candy.

Maple syrup

Cinnamon

If you want another spice

Salt

Raw shelled Pumpkin seeds or Pecans. Other nuts work too.

Preheat oven to 350

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Wet seeds or nuts in a bowl with maple syrup and sprinkle cinnamon and or spice. I sometimes let them marinade.

Roast pumpkin seeds till some start browning about 6-7 minutes. Take out of oven and stir a little, it’s easier to eat when they are clumped together. They are so hot that they continue to cook so if you want to move the parchment paper to a cool spot to stop them cooking or let them hang out on the pan to cook a little more.

OK we should go over shelled pumpkin seeds. I find boiling them first helps the chewing process but I still find them to hard to chew.

I hope you had a nice Halloween and you enjoyed some pumpkin seeds. I moved so it was a little overwhelming. I finally have unlimited internet so all I need is time to sit.

I’m wishing everyone health and happiness!

No mess up Pumpkin molasses cookies

October 16, 2015September 21, 2019 / livelycravings / 1 Comment

Pumpkins are more than just a Halloween project. They’re amazing to add to many recipes. I decided to experiment my pumpkin cookies this past thanksgiving weekend on my family because my youngest and me love them, but does other people love them too. Well it’s unanimous, its a winning recipe. I decided to try many variations of this pumpkin cookie and every time they turned out great. I used different flour combinations, but I always used half coconut flour. I wanted to be able to feed them to anyone with allergies so I used sorghum flour instead of almond flour and used ground flaxseed and water to make an egg alternative. I used crappy dollar store measuring cups and the handles broke off so when I was measuring the flour I thought I was measuring 1/4 cup, I was actually using 1/3 cup and I realized after but they still turned out great. I also want to mention that fancy molasses taste way better than cooking molasses. I also tried unsulphured blackstrap molasses and it was really good too. I don’t think you can mess up these cookies.

1 egg or 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed with 3 Tbsp water and let sit for 5 minutes

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 Tbsp melted coconut oil

1 or 2 Tbsp molasses

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup almond flour or another kind

1/4 cup coconut flour

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice or use a spice you like

1/2 tsp baking soda

Beat wet ingredients in a large bowl, and mix dry ingredients into wet.

Scoop dough cookie size onto a baking sheet with parchment paper.

preheat oven to 350 and bake for about 25 minutes.

Makes 12 cookies.

Roast pumpkin ahead of time. Cut the top off so that it is easy to scoop out seeds and the top stays on. Sprinkle the inside with cinnamon and put the top back on and roast at 375 for about 35 minutes. When cooled the skin should peel off easy and puree the pumpkin and put them in 1 cup glass containers in the fridge or it freezes well so you can make cookies whenever.

Butternut squash soup

October 7, 2015October 31, 2020 / livelycravings / 6 Comments

Always a hit with my kids! My daughter licked her bowl clean and that’s how you know it’s really good soup! I love making soup because there are so many benefits like finishing off extra veggies, lots of health benefits and I make a big batch to eat for leftovers. Feel free to add more or less of something, also cauliflower is a great addition or use leeks instead of onion.

In a big pot start by frying coconut oil with an onion for 2 minutes, then add Celery for a couple more minutes, then add Butternut squash and carrots for a few more minutes then add garlic, salt, pepper and herb de province, until you smell the garlic. Add broth and simmer until veggies are tender. Cool for 10 minutes then blend. My blender works better than my food processor. It’s a bit of a challenge transferring the soup so use a large glass bowl or large glass measuring cup. If you have an immersion blender you can use it.

Coconut oil

1 Large onion chopped

3 Celery stock chopped

2 Carrots chopped

2 Garlic chopped

1 Butternut squash chopped

1/2 cup of white beans

Salt or herbamare

Pepper

Herbes de provence

1 carton chicken or vegetable Broth

I use the beans as added protein and creaminess. Feel free to substitute with potatoes or cauliflower and sprinkle with hemp seeds later for added protein.

Tomato Kale Quinoa Casserole

September 18, 2015September 18, 2015 / livelycravings / 1 Comment

Tomato kale quinoa casserole is one of our family favourite meals and I am so happy to share it with everyone to enjoy! It’s something out of the ordinary, very delicious and uses up extra kale and tomatoes. I loaded up last weekend at the fall fair farmers market, my favorite is the spaghetti squash but I love all the vegetables. My favorite vendor Mary Bridget shares her recipes with me and how to cook certain veggies like the black Spanish radishes boiled with potatoes and mashed. I tried and it was yummy! Up until last year I never cooked squash but Mary Bridget told me how to cook each one and with a little practice I also mastered it. No more canned pumpkin for me. I look forward to blog about squash.

Mix in casserole dish

1 cup uncooked quinoa or rice

1 cup stock

Mix the following in a bowl and put half on quinoa and stock.

1 can diced tomatoes and any extra that needs to be eaten

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin mix

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp 0regano

1/2 tsp salt and pepper

This picture is missing kale

Fry ground meat, any kind then add

small onion chopped

1 chopped red pepper

1/2 cup frozen or fresh corn

1/2 cup black beans

4 cups chopped kale

Then add the rest of tomatoes

then finish with

1 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 cover with foil and bake for 40 min, remove foil and bake for 10 min more.

Top with avocado and maybe more shredded cheese.

Feel free to add any extra veggies you may have, such as jalapenos.

Also nacho chips on the side goes well.

I get pretty excited when I have so many locally grown organic veggies!

I wish health and happiness to all!

Go to Guacamole

September 12, 2015 / livelycravings / 1 Comment

Two ingredients avocado and salsa mashed up and paired with Mary’s crackers, nachos or chips is my favourite go to snack for work. It is so satisfying and it gives me the boost I need to work hard. It can be made so many ways. Some people think they don’t like it because they tried some they didn’t like, well I bet they never tried it with bacon, green onions and chicken. I especially add garlic when I feel my immune system is weak and I don’t care if I have garlic breath because it keeps me from getting sick. My friend Debbie makes it the traditional way with equal amounts avocado and fresh tomato, cilantro, minced garlic, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon or lime. Plus it’s tomato season so this is a great recipe to use them up.

All I do is mash up some avocado and add a scoop of salsa.

Tip:

-infuse a little bacon in anything and it will get eaten.(unless you don’t eat meat)

-Buy the avocados green and put in a paper bag to ripen. Then put in fridge and eat within a couple days.