La Belle Vie Holistic Living

Last summer I fell in love with parsley. It's not that I minded it before, but I was never a huge fan. Then suddenly one day I'm adding it to my salads and marinated kale dishes. By some miracle, my husband found a whole bushel at loblaws! I heart loblaws. I decided to finally make a tabouleh recipe. I made it with quinoa instead of the traditional couscous for gluten-free goodness, whole grain wonderfulness and that protein punch. I'm currently finishing it up (it didn't last long) and daydreaming about my next batch that I'll make with cilantro, black beans, cherry tomatoes, avocado, red onion, black olives, portabello mushrooms, and jalapenos. To make 1c quinoa, soaked and rinsed (to remove the saponins ) 1.5c water 1c cherry tomatoes, halved 1/2c fresh parsley, chopped 1/2c olives, sliced 4-5 mushrooms (I used mushroom, but cremini would be really nice) 1-1/2" wedge of red onion, chopped dressing ingredients juice of half a lemon 2T olive ...

Happy New Year! Here's to a 2011 full of healthy, delicious food! I've decided to make some resolutions this year, something that I haven't done for the past few years. I have a couple of them, but the general idea behind them all is being a healthier, happier me.  When I think about it and about the steps it takes to be a healthier, happier me - creating and eating delicious food, being around people I like, traveling, drinking tea -  it seems pretty stupid that I've put it off this long. The slush, freezing wind and damp chill of winter can make it hard to have the energy and enthusiasm needed to go out after our goals. Here's a hearty winter soup that will warm you up and keep you going through the next couple of months. Ingredients 1 small yellow or white onion, sliced 2 tsp canola or grapeseed oil 1/2 cup brown rice 1 cup brown lentils 4 cups water 1 low-sodium boullion cube 1 large carrot, sliced 2 Tbsp ginger 1/2 litre low-sodium vegetable ...

Every year I get lofty ideas about all the great holiday gifts I'm going to make. And every year, about a week before the actual day, I give up on the dream and say "next year." This year, with the help of Organic Body Care Recipes: 150 Homemade Herbal Formulas (strangely, there are 175 recipes in the American version...) and Anarres Natural Health *, I whipped up most of my gifts in one afternoon. I made chocolate orange body butter, and vanilla and sweet orange bath salt, lip balm and body wash. They all smell delicious, feel great and are free of the chemicals found in most of the products out there. There are a lot of things that are unappealing about conventional bath and beauty products. With no real regulation of the industry, many cosmetic products are made with chemicals that have not been properly tested for human and environmental safety. In fact, many of these chemicals are linked to such health concerns as allergies, cancer and developmental and re...

I've moved! Visit my new blog La Belle Vie for more recipes and healthy living tips. Don't forget to update your bookmarks. xoxoxo I heart nanaimo bars. My friend Shannon also loves them. I've seen gluten-free vegan ones, and eaten the delicious ones from LPK culinary groove. But traditional nanaimo bars are a heavy-on-the-refined sugar affair and both of us wanted to create one that steered clear of the white stuff. We both thought of recipes  separately and came up with almost identical ones - funny how that happens. The base and the chocolate ganache were easy to create. The middle layer, however, which gets its flavour and texture mainly from the sugar, was more of a challenge. The vanilla almond cream is delicious in its own right, but not quite like the sugary yellow filling of a nanaimo bar, leading this tasty square to be dubbed by Shannon's husband the Tofino Bar. To make base 1c macadamia nuts 1c cashew nuts 1/2c coconut, shredded ...

Omg I just made raw vegan turtle truffles!!! They were ah-mazing!!! A huge hit at christmas dinner take 1. Stay tuned I'll have a photo and a recipe for you soon!!!!

I've moved! Please visit my new home at  labellevienutrition.blogspot.com for more recipes and healthy tips. Don't forget to update your bookmarks! xoxoxox I heart thanksgiving with my family. When I was young, we'd go to a family friend's and enjoy the three amazing pies they'd make. And for the past while, we celebrate with delicious fall dishes, such as wild rice salad and oven roasted root veggies. Well, last year my parents were in Korea and Japan for Thanksgiving. And this year they were going to be in Turkey. After not having a dinner last year, we decided to simply postpone the holiday this year. And that instead of the usual faves, my sister and I would do all the feast-making. We didn't really coordinate our different menu responsibilities, but somehow ended up with a completely gluten-free, vegan, pumpkin-y thanksgiving! I'm the only vegan in the family, but we're all of the mentality that delicious food is delicious food. My siste...

I'm reading Victoria Boutenko's new book, Green for Life, right now (stay tuned for a review and some sneak peek recipe fun!) and am getting more and more excited about green smoothies. However, since I'm trying to stay away from sweet fruits, enjoying green smoothies has been a little harder than expected. I tried a grapefruit-orange-spinach combo...unless you like very bitter morning drinks, I do not recommend it. I gave up on the dream for now of enjoying sweet smoothies and have embraced the savoury smoothie. Here's a delicious veggie smoothie I came up with this morning: Happy Monday Green Smoothie 1 handful spinach 2 med tomatoes, quartered 3" long piece of cucumber pinch cayenne pepper blend until smooth. refreshing. spicy. delicious. a great way to wake up. I can't wait to experiment with adding some lemon, or coriander, or avocado!