Toddler Tuesdays :: Choosing his own snacks

He can open the fridge by himself now.

I in no way influenced this decision.

Raw Lemon Bars (Where We Eat An Entire Tray of Lemon Bars Before They Are Set)

I made this recipe from one I found on pinterest here from This Rawsome Vegan Life
(this should be an Oh How Pinteresting!)

And Oh Goodness it's good.
I made a couple of changes to the original recipe, but in essence it's the same.
(I swapped out the oats for ground almonds, and put my coconut for the topping inot my spice grinder to whiz it up really fine to smooth out the texture)

And I've made it twice in two weeks!
 I feel no shame, it's all raw and healthy!

And yes, we DID eat the first tray entirely before the Lemon Topping had set up.
But you would too, so I suggest you give it a try.

Fridge Fudge

Let me share a very good thing with you.
This is Fridge Fudge.

It is HEALTHY.  It is technically GOOD FOR YOU.
The fact that it is insanely delicious has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on it's goodness.

And it's really, really delicious.

I usually make it in a rectangular pan, lined with parchment, but I received these great little silicon muffin cups for christmas and I am kind of using them for everything right now, so I thought I'd give the Fudge a try.

Total Success.

They just pop right out and you can inhale or savor.  Whatever your style may be.

(forgive me these pictures, it was a DO It Now Before They Are All Eaten situation this morning, and I am not set up as a food stylist!)

Here.  Make some!

Fridge Fudge
1/2 c nut butter (I use almond butter most of the time, but I've done it with tahini and they were great too)
1/3 c coconut oil
1/4 c agave or honey or maple syrup
pinch of salt to taste (I really like a hit of salt so I am pretty generous)
dash of vanilla
1/3 c cocoa powder or carob powder (I was reading yesterday that cocoa has crazy iron in it so eat up!)
1 c combination of almond meal, nuts, seeds, oats, dried fruit
     (this is the great this about this recipe.  The Fudge pictured above is almond meal, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, craisins and hemp hearts! But I've made it before with candied ginger, walnuts, raisins, coconut, slivered almonds... you can even swap the vanilla for almond extract.  THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!)

On the stove over low heat, melt the nut butter and coconut oil until smooth.  Remove from heat and stir in everything else.

Pour into a little dish lined with parchment, OR if you've got them, these silicon muffin cups worked great!  It made 12 cups last night.

Put your dish or cups into the freezer for 30 minutes and then they are set and ready to enjoy!
They keep in the fridge once they've been set, but they have never lasted longer than maybe 24 hours around here (IF they were lucky!) so I can't tell you how long they would keep for if you didn't eat them for some reason.

I DARE you to try to not eat them.

xo

Sushi cones for lunch (or as I have started to call them, Sushi Burritos)

Calling them burritos is totally unfair.  They are delicious Cone Rolls and I shouldn't be obnoxious.
But I had never tried one before a few weeks ago, where on a whim, and an open minded food choice feeling (when you've got restrictions like we do trying new foods is hit and miss) I ordered one when I was out for lunch with my Sister and my Mom and I am HOOKED.

The first thing I thought was "Oh it's a delicious sushi burrito!" and it stuck in my head.

Oh and they are SO GOOD!
I decided to try and recreate them at home last week when we had a friend staying with us from the mainland and it was the perfect build your own lunch!

We usually have sheets of nori around for Sonny, as they are nice healthy snacks and the kid LOVES it.  And we had everything else in the pantry just waiting for me to figure it out.

I made a simple salmon salad with a can of sockeye and some vegan mayo (Sonny and I are off eggs) and sliced up avacado and cucumbers and prepped the brown rice with some rice wine vinegar.

Some braggs and tamari on the side and we were rolling (har har!)

I found a photo tutorial on rolling the cones here via Pinterest.

I expect that we will be eating these a lot around here for a while!

Juicing!

Geoff and I are big fans of fresh juice. We got a juicer when we lived in Halifax and we used it so much that we blew the motor.
I am not even kidding.

And we received a new one as a wedding gift (thank you Michaela and Ben!) and holy crap it's heavy duty.
I actually have to hold on to it because the blades spin so fast that it MOVES ACROSS THE COUNTER.

Seriously.

It's super awesome.

And it's been really nice this past week while we've both been sick (hit with the head cold unfortunately) to have fresh enzymes working their magic.
I honestly believe that I would feel WAY worse if I wasn't drinking fresh juice everyday. I am hoping that I will be all better by the weekend in fact.

Anyway, typically we juice something like this:

2-3 carrots
1-2 apples
4-5 stalks celery
ginger
parsley
and then whatever else we've got on hand. (cucumber, kale green lettuce, whatever)

Geoff made some juice with beets yesterday that was super delicious.

These things usually make just over the perfect amount for 2.
(we'll fill a glass each, drink the top half and then top off with the remaining juice)

If we're feeling even the slightest bit off, fresh juice will make us both feel better instantly!