Getting Ahead

There is always a sense of accomplishment when you feel organized, when you have more things checked off the list than not. One item that is always on my list is to have a healthy breakfast. But, who has time to do more than toss some cereal into a bowl and pour milk?

Well, I found this recipe from savvymom.ca. It takes only 10 minutes to prep and you have a healthy breakfast for the next day! 

via savvymom.ca

Make-ahead Breakfast: Overnight Oats

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 3 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
• 1 cup plain yogurt (2% or more)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2-3 tablespoons raisins or currants
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 apple peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries.

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients, except raspberries, in a glass bowl or container with a tight fitting lid. Pour raspberries over top. Put the lid on and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours).
2. In the morning, stir in the raspberries. The oats can be served on their own, or with additional maple syrup, sliced fruit, nuts, and/or granola.

Enjoy!

Make-ahead Breakfast: Overnight Oats

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 3 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
• 1 cup plain yogurt (2% or more)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2-3 tablespoons raisins or currants
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 apple peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries.

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients, except raspberries, in a glass bowl or container with a tight fitting lid. Pour raspberries over top. Put the lid on and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours).
2. In the morning, stir in the raspberries. The oats can be served on their own, or with additional maple syrup, sliced fruit, nuts, and/or granola.

- See more at: http://kiwiandbean.com/overnight-oats-bircher-muesli/#sthash.ByVZPais.dpuf

Make-ahead Breakfast: Overnight Oats

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 3 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
• 1 cup plain yogurt (2% or more)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2-3 tablespoons raisins or currants
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 apple peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries.

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients, except raspberries, in a glass bowl or container with a tight fitting lid. Pour raspberries over top. Put the lid on and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours).
2. In the morning, stir in the raspberries. The oats can be served on their own, or with additional maple syrup, sliced fruit, nuts, and/or granola.

- See more at: http://kiwiandbean.com/overnight-oats-bircher-muesli/#sthash.ByVZPais.dpuf

Make-ahead Breakfast: Overnight Oats

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 3 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
• 1 cup plain yogurt (2% or more)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2-3 tablespoons raisins or currants
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 apple peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries.

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients, except raspberries, in a glass bowl or container with a tight fitting lid. Pour raspberries over top. Put the lid on and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours).
2. In the morning, stir in the raspberries. The oats can be served on their own, or with additional maple syrup, sliced fruit, nuts, and/or granola.

- See more at: http://kiwiandbean.com/overnight-oats-bircher-muesli/#sthash.ByVZPais.dpuf

Make-ahead Breakfast: Overnight Oats

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 3 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
• 1 cup plain yogurt (2% or more)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2-3 tablespoons raisins or currants
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 apple peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries.

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients, except raspberries, in a glass bowl or container with a tight fitting lid. Pour raspberries over top. Put the lid on and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours).
2. In the morning, stir in the raspberries. The oats can be served on their own, or with additional maple syrup, sliced fruit, nuts, and/or granola.

- See more at: http://kiwiandbean.com/overnight-oats-bircher-muesli/#sthash.ByVZPais.dpuf

New Traditions

Image from beedivinedesigns.com

It's always amazing when you get a lot of support from friends and family. It makes you feel loved and that you are on the right path. Lee and I get unbelievable support and we wanted to thank everyone who help us on our Domistyle journey.

We decided to have a thank you party to show our appreciation. It's generally tough to get everyone together on a weekend evening with a shortage of baby sitters and general life busyness. So we thought a brunch would do the trick.

We had a great turn out with about 25 people and served up Overnight Berry French Toast (recipe below) and gluten free quiche...both a big hit. We also picked up a bunch of pastries from our local bakery, lots of fruit and a mixed green salad on the side.

Everyone seemed happy and full. What a great way to get everyone together on a Sunday afternoon. We hope this will be a continuing tradition as we grow our Domistyle family.

Thank you to EVERYONE who has helped and supported us over the years.

Love,
Penny and Lee

Overnight Berry French Toast

1 cup brown sugar, packed (I replaced with date sugar and Sucanat)
1/4 cup butter, melted (I used Earth Bound)
1 cup berries (I used a combo of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries and had a bunch extra on the side for topping)
1 1/2 cups milk (I used rice milk)
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
12 slices bread (I used whole wheat from the bakery and did a separate gluten free one with Kinnikinnick Soft Multigrain bread
5 eggs
1/2 tsp salt

1. Combine sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter. Mix well. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mixture evenly on bottom of 9 x 13 pan.

2. Cover with 6 slices of bread. Sprinkle another 1/3 of sugar mixture over bread and scatter berries on top.

3. Place remaining bread on fruit. Sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture.

4. Beat eggs, milk and salt together. Pour evenly over bread. Press down lightly. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or let stand at room temperature for 2 hours.

5. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 40 - 45 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Serve warm with maple syrup and any extra berries.

One of a Kind Prep

So it only took a week to get over jet lag from the West coast. I, like others I'm sure, was never good at time change. Even daylight savings time seems to put my sleep pattern into a tail spin.

While in my zombie-like state I found this scrap piece of paper with a recipe on it, and I have no idea where it came from. I know I didn't rip it out of a magazine at the doctor's office. That drives my crazy. I find a recipe I like while flipping through a magazine in the waiting room, I pull out my pen and paper to write it down and when I get to the page, it's been ripped out. Grrrr.

I have been prepping lots of good food for the marathon stint at the One of a Kind Show. So this salad seemed perfect as it has healthy ingredients to keep me full and energized: green beans, pasta and kidney beans.

Green Bean and Pasta Salad (from I don't know where)

Cook 1 1/4 cups of penne pasta adding 1 cup of green beans halved crosswise during the last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain and run under cold water. Toss pasta and green beans with 1 cup kidney beans, 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp lemon juice, and salt and paper.

I'm hoping this will help keep me away from desire to eat lots and lots of chocolate while in the booth...we'll see :P

See you at the show! It starts today. We are in booth I-26

xo
penny

Peacekeeping Lasagna

I had a bit of a dilemma this week. I was having a few people over for dinner but it was a mix of hard-core meat lovers and vegetarians. I wanted to make something satisfying for both. I knew that the carnivores would revolt at the sight of tofu but I wasn't going to roast meat and traumatize my veggie friends.

Vegetable lasagna was the perfect answer. It is filling and satisfying for meat lovers, and vegetarians will not feel ostracized. I found a great recipe from Canadian Living that was remarkably unfussy and quick. It was extra easy because I used oven-ready lasagna noodles. I added pesto to the sauce along with a splash of red wine (one for me and one for the sauce) to take it up an extra notch.

I served it with crusty rolls and a crisp salad, along with lots of red wine and everyone was happy and united. I love it when things are easy!

Fall Cleanse?...Yep.

I don't want to alarm you with the word "winter" so I won't say it again in this post. But we do need to prep for the colder weather and it's actually important for us to cleanse not only in the Spring but in the Fall as well.

I discovered this post from Organic Authority which talks about why we should cleanse this time of year and has some easy recipes for juices and meals such as Butternut Squash Soup with Sage.

So like how we get everything else ready for the upcoming season: snow tires for our car or bike, weather stripping for the home and shoes for the dog, why don't we do it for ourselves too? I know I will...

Happy Cleansing! Keep me posted on how you are doing or if you come across and great recipes to share.

xo
penny

Thanksgiving Dinner - Chinese Style

Thanksgiving is coming this weekend and for many of us it's the time to see family we may only see once or twice a year. I come from a really big Chinese family and the gatherings are always crowded, loud and a super good time!

And of course there is TONS of food. It is a tradition for us to have "two meals" at every holiday. We would have your typical turkey, stuffing and potato side dish. But then we would also have a big assortment of Chinese food. It may seem like an odd match to have turkey and potato salad on the same plate as fried rice and baby bok choy. But it always seemed to make total sense to us.

I don't think we are alone, I'm sure there are many Canadian families who are combining the past with the present or trying out many different types of cuisines. Food has a way of bringing people together and is a wonderful cultural symbol.

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday, add something different and try out this vegetarian friendly recipe from Kopali via Gourmet Sleuth.  It's an Asian style Wild Rice Stuffing to go with your turkey (or tofurkey). It's a great way to put a little twist on your usual Thanksgiving dinner!

Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

xo
penny

Breakfast of Champions

How about a little pie for breakfast?? It's true! 

A healthful way to start your day, this Raw Chocolate Avocado Pie is full of vitamins, antioxidant and protein. It's also gluten free, delicious and no baking involved :) 

**You can make it vegan by switching out the honey for agave.

 

Ingredients

Crust

·      3/4  cup raw almonds or macadamia nuts

·      ½ cup raw pecans

·      8 pitted Medjool dates

·      1/2 ripe banana (for those that like the banana chocolate combination, or omit)

Pudding Filling

·      2 ripe avocados

·      2 ½ tsp vanilla extract

·      ¼ cup raw cacao powder

·      ½ cup raw honey (more or less to taste)

·      1 tablespoon organic coconut oil

Directions

Crust

Blend crust ingredients in a food processor until they form into a sticky ball. Don’t over process. Using wet hand, press this mixture into the base of a pie pan (10", give or take). Set aside. Clean out food processor.

Pudding Filling

Seed and scoop out avocado into the food processor. Add cacao powder, honey, vanilla, coconut oil. Blend until smooth.

Spoon avocado mixture onto the crust and spread it evenly. Put into the freezer for 30 minutes before serving.  Store in the fridge.

If desired, top with fresh raspberries if not adding banana to crust or banana slices. 

Enjoy!

Stealing, Cheating and Envy...

We all have those friends who seem to do everything with ease. They manage a balance between work and play, and nothing really rattles them.

ENVY is my first response. But then I realize we can really learn a thing or two from them.

So, after attending a stellar dinner party where they made a colourful and delicious Tricolour Quinoa, I decided to steal the recipe and serve it at one of my own parties. I even made it easier on myself by using pre-made pesto (don't tell anyone!)

Best swipe ever :)