Green Smoothie Challenge: Day 1

Green Smoothie Challenge: Preparation
Green Smoothie Challenge: Day 0.5

Yesterday was the first full day of our Green Smoothie Challenge, and it went surprisingly well. I did have a slight headache throughout the day but other then that I felt good.

I also have two of my own recipes to share with you: Italian White Beans and Gomae. Enjoy!

I think the hardest part for both Jem and I is going to be staying warm. The weather’s pretty cold and damp around here, making the idea of a ice-cold smoothie less than desirable (especially when you have to have it before the sun comes up or the heat comes on) and we sure were looking forward to a big bowl of hot soup for dinner. We have been combatting the cold with lots of hot herbal tea, which does help some. Putting stevia in the tea also helps combat our sweet-tooths’ cravings.

The past couple days I’ve been having one smoothie for breakfast, a salad and soup for lunch and dinner, and then another smoothie in the evening. The evening is when Jem and I both crave snacks and sweets the most, so sipping on a semi-sweet smoothie at this point really helps.

Just a reminder that you can find more info and all the recipes mentioned below (unless I give a different link) here.

What I Ate (Monday October 21)
I started the day with 2 cups of lemon water, then made a Tropical Colada Smoothie. I used 1/2 cup of our Greens Puree in place of the spinach, used only 1/2 of a banana, and left out the coconut. I don’t have a cup big enough for these smoothies, so I put half of it in the freezer for about 45 minutes, while I drank the other half. This made the frozen half like a slushy by the time I  ate it so I used a spoon, and enjoyed it even more than the first.

Mid-morning I snacked on a little bit of hummus with cucumber and carrots.

Around 1pm, I had a big salad for lunch that included romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, carrots, zucchini, cucumber, artichoke hearts, Italian White Beans, and Tahini Cream Dressing. I love this simple salad dressing; tahini and lemon is always a winning combination!

Italian White Beans
1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Let simmer, stirring occasionally, until heated through and most of the liquid is gone.

I actually made this salad too big. I couldn’t even finish the whole thing!

During the afternoon I had 2 cups of rooibos tea with vanilla stevia and another 2 cups of water.

For dinner, Jem and I had about 2 cups of the Cheezy-Smokey-Spicy Black Bean Soup, and a small serving of home-made Gomae. This gomae isn’t made from freshly roasted sesame seeds like is traditional, but it is much simpler, and every bit as tasty. No, the challenge doesn’t really allow for sauces like this on the unlimited steamed vegetables, but we decided since we didn’t use our allotted 1/4 cup of salad dressing on our lunch salad, that this would be okay.

I did end up pureeing the soup again to get a smoother texture and I enjoyed it much more than the other day.

Gomae (Serves 4 as a Side)
2 large bunches spinach, rinsed
3 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
1 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp coconut sugar or 5 drops liquid stevia
2-3 tbsp warm water

Note: If I hadn’t made this for the Challenge, I would have also added 1 tsp of sesame oil to the sauce, for a stronger sesame flavour.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Turn the heat to medium-low, add the spinach to the pot and let cook it cook for 2-3 minutes. Transfer the spinach to a colander and rinse it with cold water. Over the sink or a bowl, press on the spinach to release excess water, then let it sit while you prepare the sauce.

For the sauce, just mix all the ingredients together in a blender or by hand. Press on the spinach once more to release any more liquid, place some spinach in a small bowl, and drizzle with 1-2 tbsp of the sauce. Sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds if desired.

After dinner I got on the elliptical for the second night in a row! I did a 30 minute program and then 10 minutes of stretching.

Later on, I added the second half of my Apple Pie Smoothie (from Day 0.5) into the blender and blended it up with 1 cup of frozen blueberries and 4 drops of vanilla stevia. Yum!

Jenn and I ate pretty much the exact same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but she had a different smoothie in the evening: the Blueberry Vanilla Smoothie. She used 1/2 cup Greens Puree in place of the greens, used vanilla stevia, and left out the water and ice to get a thicker texture (which we both feel makes the smoothie feel more like a milkshake/dessert).

P.S. – Between all the herbal tea and water I drank, I made it up to 11 cups of water again! (Not including anything in the smoothies or other food.)

See you tomorrow!

Green Smoothie Challenge: Day 2

Green Smoothie Challenge: Day 0.5

Have you read about our Green Smoothie Challenge: Preparation?

Rather than fully start the Green Smoothie Challenge yesterday, we used the day to ease into it a bit. When choosing a start day, we didn’t realize that we would both end up with (non-challenge-approved) leftovers from a pre-planned dinner out on Saturday night, and Jem didn’t know that she had an impromptu late Thanksgiving dinner to go to on Sunday night.

So, yesterday, Jem had the Chocolate Covered Blues Smoothie for breakfast, and then ate regularly for the rest of the day. She did include 30 minutes of elliptical in her day. I ended up having one and a half smoothies, a serving of soup, and some hummus and raw vegetables, and rounding it out with some non-challenge-approved foods. The photos below show what I ate for the day.

I started the day at 6:30am with a Chocolate Covered Blues Smoothie. I choose to start with this one because it is very similar to my favourite smoothie of frozen blueberries, Chocolate Vega One, greens, and almond milk. I used only half a banana (because I really don’t like them), choose 1 tbsp of hemp protein powder for the flax/hemp/chia option, used 1/2 cup of my Greens Puree in place of the spinach, and didn’t add the water. The smoothie turned out the perfect texture for me, and I really enjoyed it, even though I was freezing!

Jem had the same smoothie for breakfast, except she used a full banana as the recipe states.

To help warm me up, I had a hot cup of orange pekoe tea with vanilla creme stevia right after I finished my smoothie. Yes, this tea has caffeine in it, but a lot less than the coffee I usually have every morning. I figured it would be a good stepping stone to the next week without any caffeine. And I didn’t have any coffee for the whole day!

After a 30 minute walk to work, I had a few almonds and one piece of the fig date bread pictured below.

At noon I had 1 1/2 cups of the Cheezy-Smokey-Spicy Vegan Black Bean Soup and a piece of toast. I really love the taste of this soup, but just like last time I made it, I’m not really a fan of the texture. Right now it is about half pureed, but I may try fully pureeing it before I have any today.

We did make some changes to the soup, so I’m going to write our version below.

Cheezy-Smokey-Spicy Black Bean Soup 
1 medium onion, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 chipotle pepper in adobo, finely diced and seeds removed
2 carrots, diced
1/2 large zucchini, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp smoked paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 cans low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp liquid smoke
4 cups water
2 tbsp tahini
3/4 cup nutritional yeast

In a large pot over medium heat, water sauté onions and garlic until translucent. Add the carrots, zucchini, bell pepper, chipotle pepper, and spices and cooking stirring for a couple of minutes. Add black beans, liquid smoke, and water, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for at least 10 minutes. Stir in nutritional yeast and tahini. Pulse a few times with a stick blender to desired consistency.

Around 4pm, I had another small meal of hummus with raw cucumber, carrot, and yellow bell pepper. I also had the other piece of my fig date bread and some green tea.

At 5pm, I had another 30 minute walk from work.

For dinner, around 6:30pm, I had a small bowl of leftover pasta from the night before.

Around 7:30pm I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes of yoga stretches.

After my workout, I made an Apple Pie Green Smoothie, and drank about half of it. Then I had some lemon ginger herbal tea with stevia to warm me up. I liked the taste of the Apple Pie Smoothie, but didn’t like the texture. My blender probably just isn’t powerful enough to blend the apples smoothly. It was drinkable, once I blended it with ice, but next time I think I’d use applesauce in place of the full apples.

I was also drinking water throughout the day, and made it to a grand total of 11 cups! This includes herbal tea, but doesn’t include the water in the smoothies and other food I ate.

Looking forward to starting the challenge off for real today!

Green Smoothie Challenge: Day 1

Green Smoothie Challenge: Prep

My sister Jem and I are planning on starting this Green Smoothie Challenge tomorrow and continuing it for at least one week. If you don’t know about this challenge, Somer of the blog Vedged Out created it and shared it earlier this year, then posted about her experience of it every day for a week. The timing didn’t work for me at that point, but I did try some of the recipes, and thought of the challenge earlier this week when Jem suggested to some type of cleanse.

What’s great about this challenge is that, while it focuses on nutrient-dense whole foods, with no grains, nuts, added sugars or oils, animal products, caffeine, or starchy vegetables, it is absolutely not about deprivation. Each day you can have two 4-cup green smoothies, a huge salad, two cups of soup, and up to one cup of hummus with as much raw or steamed vegetables as you like. I haven’t started yet, but I feel like I may not even be able to finish all four meals each day!

You can get the complete details and recipes for the Green Smoothie Challenge here.

Preparation:
On Thursday we went through all the recipes and made a rough grocery list, making sure to include ingredients for the recipes we absolutely have to make. Most of the list was estimates, so we will probably have to do a small shop for some more produce later on.

Today (Saturday), we took a few hours and did a bunch of prep so that we are ready to start first thing tomorrow morning (Sunday). I’ll be going to work early on Sunday, so being prepared ahead of time was key to starting off right.

What We Made Today:

Cheezy-Smoky-Spicy Vegan Black Bean Soup – I’ve made this soup before and it is great, so we thought it would be a good one to start with.

Hummus – This is the oil-free recipe from the challenge, and it tastes great!

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Tahini Cream Dressing

We also made a big batch of Greens Puree, to help our non-power blender along with the green smoothies, and ensure we get a smoother textured smoothie. This is essentially the same as what I make for my Frozen Greens Cubes, but we won’t be freezing it because it will all be used up in a few days.

We also prepped a couple bunches of lettuce like this, so we are all ready for salad making.

All this delicious food is actually making me really excited to start the challenge! Which is good, because it means I’m not fretting too much about all the things I won’t be having for the next week (like coffee, chocolate, and my beloved Silver Hills bread).

Stay tuned! I’ll be posting throughout the week to show and talk to you about the food we are eating, and update you on our progress.

Butternut Squash Black Bean Burritos

I’ve mentioned in a few posts before that I had made a batch of burritos to keep in the freezer for quick meals. While they were pretty good for a first try, they were made before I started this blog, so I didn’t take photos or really write anything down. And, I knew I could make better ones.

Well, as promised, I’ve made another batch of burritos for the freezer and I have the recipe for you this time.

These are definitely an improvement on my last ones. They have a smoky chipotle heat that pairs great with the sweet creaminess of butternut squash. The combination of black beans and butternut squash was inspired by these Black Bean and Butternut Squash Burritos, but the recipe is my own.

I know burritos usually have rice in them, but I chose not to include it in these. I’m sure it would taste great, but didn’t feel necessary. And I really didn’t miss it. The combination of butternut squash, black beans, and a whole wheat tortilla feels like more than enough to satisfy any hunger. But, if you’d like to add rice, I’ve included it as an optional ingredient.

Butternut Squash Black Bean Burritos (Yields 7 large burritos with 1/2 cup filling each, or 8 if including rice)
1 cup cooked black beans, canned or from dry
1 cup roasted butternut squash cubes
1/2 cup cooked brown rice (optional)
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced bell peppers
1/2 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne powder (to taste)
Large soft tortillas, your choice (I don’t recommend corn, as they are usually very breakable when rolling)
Tinfoil, for freezing

Notes:
– To roast squash, peel and cut into 1 inch cubes, spread on a baking sheet, and bake at 400°F for 30-40 minutes, stirring halfway through. You want the squash to be fork-tender, but not overcooked, or it will fall apart in your soup (though it would still taste great). You can also steam the squash, but I’ve never done it so I’m not going to tell you how. Also, roasting the squash in cubes results in deliciously caramelized edges (my favourite part).
– For gluten free burritos, choose gluten free rice and tortillas.
– When making burritos, I find it easiest to prepare the filling (or at least cook the beans, squash, and rice) one day and then put them together the next day.
– I designed this recipe to put the whole batch in the freezer for quick meals later on, but you can serve them fresh. Just serve the filling warm, in the tortillas and add your choice of toppings/fillings, such as lettuce, cabbage, avocado, salsa, vegan cheese, vegan sour cream etc. 

Add the minced garlic and a tablespoon of water to a pot or saucepan on medium heat. Cook, stirring for one minute, then stir in the carrots, corn, and bell peppers. Let cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the carrots and corn are almost cooked. Reduce heat to medium-low, and stir in black beans, butternut squash, spices, and remaining water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until there is no more liquid and the butternut squash is partially broken up. Let filling fully cool before assembling burritos.

When you are ready to assemble burritos for the freezer, first tear 7 or 8 pieces of tinfoil (depending on how many you are making), each one just a bit bigger than the size of your tortilla. For each burrito, lay down a piece of tinfoil down with a corner facing you (so it looks like a diamond from your perspective, not a square) and centre a tortilla on top of it. Scoop 1/2 cup of the filling onto the centre of the tortilla. Fold in the left and right sides of the tortilla, then the side closest to you, and roll it up away from you. Fold the tinfoil over it in the same way. Repeat for each burrito. Place in a large plastic bag and place in freezer. Make sure they are labeled so you don’t forget what they are.

When you want a burrito you can either reheat it in the microwave or the oven. I like to top my hot burrito with vegan cheese, avocado, or spicy hummus (or a combination of any of these).
Microwave: Remove foil from burrito, wrap in a paper towel and place on a plate. (I’ve been folding up my tinfoil and setting it aside for my next batch!) Microwave on high for  3-5 minutes, removing paper towel and cutting burrito in half, after 2 minutes.
Oven: Place on baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes at 450°F. Remove from foil, place back on baking sheet, and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until crisp.
Microwave + Oven: Remove foil from burrito and place on a plate. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 450°F, until crispy.

Enjoy!

This post has been submitted to Healthy Vegan Friday #32.

You May Also Enjoy:

Butternut Squash Miso Noodle Soup with Kale and Edamame
Southwest Confetti Quinoa Salad with Chipotle Vinaigrette
Smoked Paprika Lentils