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Lentil Curry

Recipes

I love a good curry! I love it even more when it is easy for a week night meal. This recipe is one of my favorites, and it takes about 30 minutes to make.

Ingredients

  • 1 Medium Onion
  • 1 Large Carrot
  • 1 Medium Sweet Potato
  • 3 Cloves of Garlic
  • 1 Inch Fresh Ginger
  • 1 Cup Lentils (I like using green for this recipe)
  • 3 Tbsp Curry Powder
  • 2 Tbsp Cumin
  • 1 1/2 tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tsp red chili flakes
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 Can Full Fat Coconut Milk

Directions

  1. Chop onion, carrot, and sweet potato. Heat on in over medium for 3-5 minutes.
  2. Stir in grated ginger, garlic, curry powder, cumin, and turmeric. Heat for 2-3 minutes.
  3. Add vegetable broth and lentils.
  4. Cook over medium for 20 minutes to cook lentils.
  5. Add coconut milk, and simmer until desired thickness (generally 10 more minutes).
  6. Serve over rice.

Mediterranean White Bean Salad

Recipes

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup white beans **
  • 1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts
  • 1/4 cup hearts of palm
  • 4-5 cherry tomatoes cut into quarters
  • 1 mini cucumber (1/4 cup) chopped cucumber
  • 1 tbsp oregano
  • 2 tbsp parsley
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • hefty pinch of salt

Directions

  1. Chop and combine ingredients.
  2. Serve over your favorite mixed greens, or in a tortilla.
  3. Enjoy!

**I have been making all beans in the instant pot. IT IS A GAME CHANGER. For this recipe I put 3/4 cup white beans with 1.5 cups of water and 1 tsp of salt. Pressure cook on high for 20 minutes.

White Bean Kale Sunday Soup

Uncategorized

I love soup. I would eat it everyday if I could. My husband, however, is not the biggest fan. So, soups in our house need to be hearty, delicious, and filling. This Sunday Soup is the perfect set and forget kind of soup.

Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion
  • 3 small roma tomatoes
  • 3 medium carrots
  • 1 small sweet potato
  • 4-5 large handfuls of kale
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 can or 15 ounces great northern beans (garbanzo beans would also work)
  • 1.5 cups of vegetable stock (you can add more if you like more liquid to your soup)
  • 2 tbsp parsley
  • 1 tbsp thyme
  • 1/2 tbsp rosemary

Instructions (See below for crock pot instructions)

  1. In a Dutch oven (or medium stock pot) heat a drizzle of olive oil.
  2. Chop: onion, carrots, sweet potato into half inch cubes. Add to the pot. Heat 3-5 minutes.
  3. Add minced garlic, and diced tomatoes.
  4. Heat for 5-7 minutes or until onions are translucent.
  5. Add vegetable stock and beans
  6. Bring to a boil; then reduce to a simmer for 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are almost fork tender.
  7. Stir in parsley, thyme, and rosemary. Simmer for another 10 minutes.
  8. Turn off heat. Mix in rinsed kale and enjoy!

Crockpot instructions

  1. Add all ingredients-BESIDES KALE-into a large crock pot.
  2. Cook on high for about 3 hours, or until potatoes are tender(aprox. 6 hours on low). Turn off heat, add kale, and enjoy!

Happy Eating!

Love, Liv

Edible Cookie Dough

Recipes

Base Ingredients:

  • 1 1/3 cup Flour (gluten free or non-gluten free)
  • 1/2 cup Butter (vegan or dairy)
  • 1/4 cup White Sugar
  • 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
  • 3 tbsp Milk (vegan or dairy)
  • Pinch of Salt

Ways to customize your cookie dough:

  • 3/4 cup Chocolate Chips
  • 1/2 cup Peanut Butter
  • 3/4 cup Oats
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp Espresso Powder
  • 1/2 cup Cocoa Powder

Directions:

  1. Heat flour to kill of any bacteria. Either microwave for 1.5 minutes (stir half way through), or heat in a 350 degree oven for 3-5 minutes (stir half way). Cool.
  2. Cream butter and sugar together.
  3. Add vanilla, milk, and any other custom ingredients.
  4. Mix in flour.
  5. Try not to eat the entire bowl in one sitting.

It stays in the fridge for up to a week. Personally, I love to keep it in the freezer, and eat it like ice cream. Freeze in an air-tight container for up to a month. You can also make an awesome cookie dough dip by adding 3/4 cup of yogurt (vegan or dairy). It is the perfect summer snack.

Love, Liv

 

Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad

Recipes

Ingredients:

  • 1 cucumber
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 shallot/small red onion
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp dill

Directions:

  1. Half tomatoes.
  2. Chop cucumber into quarters. Then slice quarters into 1/2 inch slices.
  3. Cut avocado into 1/4 inch cubes.
  4. Dice shallot/red onion.
  5. Zest and juice lemon.
  6. Add dill, salt, and pepper.
  7. Mix.

This is such a refreshing and simple salad. Also filling! It is sure to brighten up any summer party. Eat up!

Love, Liv

French Onion Soup

Recipes

Ingredients:

  • Aprox. 5 cups Yellow Onions (4-5 Medium onions)
  • 3 cloves of Garlic
  • 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1/2 cup Aminos (or 1/3 cup soy sauce)
  • 1 Tbsp Savory Seasoning
  • 1 tsp Thyme
  • 10 cups water or broth

Directions:

  1. Roughly chop onions. Saute over medium heat until soft.
  2. Add garlic and a pinch of salt. Keep sauteing until onions are translucent.
  3. Mix in balsamic vinegar and aminos. Cook for 5-10 minutes to thicken.
  4. Add savory, thyme, and water/broth.
  5. Cook over medium low for a minimum of 45 minutes. BUT, it really tastes best when cooked for 2.5-3 hours. The longer you let the soup cook, the better it tastes. Time is the best thing for this soup.

Serves 4-6 people

I strongly suggest using aminos rather than soy sauce in this recipe. Aminos are liquid amino acids taken generally from soy or coconuts. It makes a richer, meatier sauce. Side bonus it is lower in sodium and naturally gluten free.

We love this recipe. Serve with a crusty piece of bread, or even a (vegan) grilled cheese. It also makes a great onion gravy that we love to eat over mashed potatoes. You can find that recipe below:

Onion Gravy:

  1. Warm up left over soup over medium heat.
  2. In a separate dish add 1-2 tablespoons of arrowroot powder or pure corn starch to 1/4 cup of soup to make a slurry. Whisk until smooth.
  3. Add the slurry to the rest of the left over soup.
  4. Heat until thickened.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Love, Liv

Red, White, and Blue Jicama Salad

Recipes

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium sized Jicama
  • Blackberries
  • Blueberries
  • Strawberries
  • Lime
  • 1 tbsp. Agave Nectar
  • Pinch of salt

Directions:

  1. Chop Jicama into 1/2 inch cubes. Roughly chop Strawberries.
  2. Add Blackberries and Blueberries.
  3. Add the zest and juice of one lime.
  4. Mix 1 tablespoon Agave Nectar and a pinch of salt.

 

I love summer. There is nothing better than fresh fruits and vegetables. Jicama is  is a globe looking root vegetable; the interior is sweet and starchy. I would describe it like a sweet water-chestnut, or a starchy cucumber.  It is easy to make sweet or savory, so be watching for more jicama recipes from me this summer. I hope you love this fresh salad as much as I do!

Love, Liv

Sweet Potatoes with Mexican Quinoa

Recipes

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium sweet potato
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 can diced chilies
  • 1/2 cup quinoa
  • 1.5 cups water
  • 1 tbsp. taco seasoning
  • 1/2 jar of your favorite salsa

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Directions:

  1. Chop onion and sweet potato. Saute over medium heat for 5 minutes
  2. Add diced chilies, and quinoa. Cook for 2 minutes.
  3. Add water, taco seasoning, and salsa. Cook until quinoa is tender.
  4. Top with your favorite taco toppings.

Serves 2-4

This recipe makes perfect tacos, quesadillas, nachos, or just on its own. Enjoy this simple dinner!

Love, Liv

The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Hemming

Lifestyle

For most of my life, I have been considered vertically challenged. Now, I LOVE my height, but I am always needing to hem my pants. It can get old real fast. So, I have the lazy way to hem pants. This makes the process so much easier, and it takes less than 10 minutes.

Here is the perfect example of pants that are WAY too long. So, we are going to fix them.

Long Pants
Long Pants

Pre-Hemmed.jpg
Pre-Hemmed

This whole process is three steps, and so simple. I used a sewing machine, but you could also do the sewing by hand. Here we go:

Step One: Put on pants INSIDE out. Pin just above where you want the pants to sit. Be extremely careful when removing the pans with pins in them. You do not want to accidentally stab yourself (definitely speaking from experience here)

Pinned Pants

Step Two: Sew around the bottom edge.

Step Three (Optional): For skinny jeans, you will need to take in the sides to get that perfect slim pant leg. Once again, put the pants on inside out. This time pin along the outer edge. Careful when removing.

Taking In the Outer Edge

Then you are DONE! So easy.

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I hope this helps you, and makes your life A TON easier.

Love, Liv

Pad Thai Spaghetti Squash

Recipes

I love Asian inspired dishes. They are sweet, salty, tangy and delicious. I do not love all the preservatives, MSG and other gross things hiding in most soy sauces in the grocery store. SO! I have a clean version for you that won’t break the bank to make.

Let’s talk about coconut aminos. It is the sap from coconut palms. After the sap ferments, salt gets added; this process gives the coconut aminos a very similar profile to soy sauce. BUT there has 73% less sodium than most soy sauce. Not to mention, the amino acids and B vitamins that are packed into the sap. Overall, it is a great replacement for soy sauce.

Hornstail Terrariums

Ingredients

  • Spaghetti Squash
  • Peas
  • Red Bell Pepper
  • Yellow Bell Pepper
  • Carrots
  • Onion
  • Garlic

Dressing

  • 3 tbsp coconut aminos (or a clean soy sauce)
  • 1/2 tsp agave nectar
  • 1/2 tsp chili paste
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 1 1/2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (omit if you want non-spicy)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Roast spaghetti squash for 45-55 minutes or until fork tender.
  3. Mice garlic. Dice carrots, peppers, onion, and peas.
  4. Over Medium-High heat, saute vegetables for 5-7 minutes.
  5. Pull spaghetti squash out of oven, mix in vegetables and dressing.
  6. Enjoy!

This is such an easy dinner; it is perfect for a week night meal. I hope you enjoy it!

Love, Liv