Tag: easy

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

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

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.

20190525_213011.jpg

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

Love, Liv

Sweet Potato Curry Soup

Recipes

Another snow storm, another soup. We are preparing for life to get shut down again this weekend as more snow get dumped on us here in Wisconsin. Whenever the weather starts to look gloomy, I start to crave soup. Because we have a record breaking year of snow fall, we have been eating soup by the gallon. I have for you a Sweet Potato Curry Soup. It is sure to fill you up, and warm your soul.

This recipe is SO easy. It is perfect for a week night meal. You dump everything in a pot, and wait about 30 minutes. I love recipes you put in one big container, let it hang out while you get homework with the kids done or a quick load of laundry, and BAM! Dinner is ready. Plus, everything is in one pot, so clean up is a breeze!

Introducing

Ingredients

  • 2 large garlic cloves
  • 2 large sweet potatoes
  • 5 medium yellow potatoes
  • 2 medium yellow onions
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 yellow bell pepper
  • 1 orange bell pepper
  • 2 tsp curry powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • Pinch of red pepper flakes
  • 2 bay leaves
  • salt and pepper
  • 8 cups vegetable broth

Sweet potatos, yellow potatoes, and onion

Directions

  1. Place 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a large stock pot over low heat.
  2. Add two minced cloves of garlic.
  3. Roughly chop: sweet potatoes, yellow potatoes, and onion into cubes. Add to the stock pot.
  4. Raise heat to medium. Stir frequently for 5-10 minutes, or until the onions start to release their juices.
  5. Add 8 cups of vegetable broth. 2 tsp curry, 1 1/2 tsp chili powder, pinch of red pepper flakes, 2 bay leaves, salt and pepper.
  6. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender, and reduce to medium low heat.
  7. Roughly chop red, yellow, and orange bell peppers into 1/2 pieces. Add to soup.
  8. Simmer for 10-15 more minutes.
  9. Remove Bay Leaves, and Enjoy!

You can top with coconut cream at the last second to tone down the heat if needed.

This is a new household favorite-I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Love, Liv

Vegan Sand Dollar Cookies

Recipes

I am really excited for this recipe. It makes me dream of a warm place without 6 feet of snow, digging my feet in the sand, a over sized, floppy hat, and those fun drinks with little umbrellas in them. We are making Vegan Sand Dollar cookies today. Now, this recipe is not an every day cookie recipe. This is one of the recipes we have on special occasions because of how much sugar is in the cookies. You could substitute the sugar for maple syrup or agave, but it just does not have the same taste. Plus, it makes the dough extra wet, and you need so much extra flour. SO. Once in a while, we all need a “treat yo’self” recipe, and this is a house hold favorite.

Vegan Sand Dollar Cookies
Let’s talk about this raw dough. It is AMAZING. If you have an upcoming girl’s night or just need some raw cookie dough to eat, this is the cookie dough for you. It reminds me of eating full tubes of Pillsbury’s cookie dough when I was in college with my roommates. I would not advise eating the full batch of batter, but it is so easy to in this recipe.
Make sure to use organic sugar to ensure it is vegan
Dry Ingredients:
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose baking flour
  • 1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • dash of salt
  • 1 1/2 tbsp ground flax seeds (you could use chia seeds, but they leave little dots in the cookies. Flax seeds blend into the batter, and are undetectable)
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Wet Ingredients:

  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp almond extract
  • 1 cup room temperature vegan butter

Topping Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 slivered almonds

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
  2. Combine all dry ingredients. Put through a sieve/strainer. Make sure all the lumps are out.
  3. Add vanilla, almond, and butter. Mix thoroughly
  4. Place ping pong sized dough balls on a greased cookie sheet
  5. Press 4-5 silvered almonds into each cookie
  6. Bake in oven for 12-15 minutes or until cookies start to tun golden brown around the edges.
  7. Combine sugar and cinnamon.
  8. Once the cookies are done baking, coat in the sugar cinnamon mixture..
  9. ENJOY!

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

I hope you love these cookies!

Love, Liv

 

 

Pasta Salad

Recipes

I am going to give you a super simple pasta salad recipe here. It is perfect for any potluck, family gathering. Plus, it is so simple. The homemade dressing is a basic Italian dressing seasoning. I was looking in the store at ingredients in most Italian dressings, and they contain everything from processed sugar to dyes. WHY?! So, if you want to ditch the processed ingredients, this will be your new favorite dressing.

Pasta Salad

For my pasta salads, I use an organic rigatoni pasta. I think the dressing coats the noodles best, and it has the best noodle-vegetable ratio.

Dressing Ingredients

  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1/8 tsp paprika or turmeric
  • 1/2 tbsp Italian Herbs (or 1/4 tsp of each: basil, marjoram, oregano 1/8 tsp of each: rosemary, thyme)
  • zest from one lemon
  • juice from 1 lemon
  • 2 tbsp vinegar (balsamic, apple cider, white, really any vinegar works here)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil

And get creative with your Vegetables, throw whatever you have in the fridge in with the pasta. All of the measurements are for 1 box of pasta worth of noodles. I prefer the vegetables to be dices in about 1/2 inch cubes

  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 7-8 cherry tomatoes
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • 1 head of broccoli
  • 1 bag snap peas
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 bunch asparagus
  • 1 box rigatoni pasta (or gluten free pasta)

You really cannot mess up this recipe. It is perfect to use up left over vegetables, or to have a fresh side salad for dinner. I hope you love the dressing!

Love, Liv