Salsa!

Hello Everyone! Today I'm going to show you how to make a very basic (and delicious) salsa.

The other day I posted this picture on my instagram:

I love to make rice and beans with caramelized onions and plantains on top. My favorite part of the whole meal is topping it with a homemade salsa. This salsa isn't a thick chunky kind. I like to make an almost sauce like salsa to add on top. It goes so well with the other ingredients.

You will need:

• 5 plum tomatoes (any kind you like will do)
• Juice from 1 fresh lime
• Fresh cilantro
• Onion
• Salt
• Food processor  

First you will want to chop up your tomatoes. How big or small you cut them up depends on how big your food processor is. I have a small one so I cut each tomato into about 6 slices and then cut those in half.

Get your lime and cilantro out. The amount of cilantro you use is really a matter of taste. I use a small handful. It must be fresh! 

I use a half of a medium size onion. You can add more or less. Cut according to the size of your food processor.

With my food processor I find it comes out better if I add only 2 tomatoes, some onion and some cilantro then blend. After that is nicely blended I'll add 2 more tomatoes with more onion and cilantro. I keep repeating this until all the tomatoes, onion and cilantro are blended. After I will add the lime juice and salt and give it one last blend. I add about 1/2 teaspoon salt.

                       

The finished product! It is so good I could just eat the whole thing by itself! Enjoy!

Portabella Philly Cheese "Steak"

   These philly cheese "steak" sandwiches are so good and easy to make! You can easily make them vegan or vegetarian-your choice.
You will need:

• Large onion
• 2 bell peppers
• Pack of baby bello mushrooms (portabella caps work too)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• Hoagie roll or vegan bread of choice (makes about 3-4)
• Cheese or cheese alternative
• Tin foil
• Oven/Toaster oven

Gather all ingredients!

                                     

              Slice up your veggies into thin strips!

Heat your pan to medium heat. Add your olive oil. When the oil is heated up add your onions and peppers. Let those cook for about 10 mins until soft. You can cook for longer or shorter depending how you like your veggies. After they are soft you can add in your mushroom for another 5 mins.

               It should look something like this!

                             Top with your cheese or cheese alternative.

                      Scoop into your roll!

Roll into foil & put in oven for 15 mins @ 350

     

           Dive into your delicious sandwich and enjoy!

Vegan Pancakes with Caramelized Bananas

               Good morning! This morning I woke up craving something heavier than a smoothie, oatmeal or fruit. I wanted a comfort food breakast. Vegan pancakes to the rescue! These are so good and pretty easy to make. You will need:

• 2 ripes bananas
• 1-2 tablespoons coconut or brown sugar (depending how sweet you like it)
• 2 teaspoons earth balance
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tsp himalayan pink salt
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

First start with the bananas. You want to heat a pan to medium heat. Add the earth balance and 1-2 tbs sugar depending on taste. Let that heat for a moment and then add 2 sliced up bananas. Let cook for 10-15 mins stirring occasionally. 

While bananas are cooking grab a large bowl. Add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix all together. Add coconut oil, milk and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Heat skillet to med-high. Pour batter and you're good to go! You flip and cook the same and you would regular pancakes. Top with bananas and anything else you like.

Hope you try and enjoy these. Next time I will try to have step by step pictures but both kids were up early this morning so I had to cook fast! Have a beautiful day!

Conscious Box Review

The nice people over at Conscious Box were so kind to send me a July box. It was my first time getting a conscious box and I was very excited! I had heard about them before and thought it sounded like such a good idea. If you're not familiar with the company it is a monthly subscription service. They send out a box filled with samples of all natural, eco friendly and mostly organic products. You have the choice between 3 boxes: classic, gluten free or vegan.

First of all, I love the design of the box. I believe every month they have a different theme. This month it was to take in the beauty of summer nights.

All the products inside the box.

Here are all the products inside of my box. As you can see there is a little of everything. There are food products, health and beauty products, tea, eye drops etc. I love the idea of something like this. It's a really cool way to try out a bunch of products and brands that you may have never had the opportunity otherwise. If you fall in love with a product you can always go and buy the full size version! Here is a close up of all the products...

There you have it! It cost $19.99 a month so it's up to you if you think all these products are worth it. If you decide you want to try it out you can use the code "instagram" to get 25% your first box! Love and Light.

Raw Foods Dinner

Today I decided I wanted to have an all fruit dinner. This may sound strange to some people but if you're a raw foodie this is perfectly normal. There are many different ways that people incorporate their raw food meals. Some only eat fruit during the day and have a big salad with veggies at night. Some are gourmet raw foodies who make a lot of fancy recipes using nuts and other higher fat fruits and veggies. It's all up to you and what your body wants. I am not a raw foodist thought I enjoy raw meals. It was back in 2006 when I first heard about raw foodists. I thought it was so cool. I got some books on raw recipes and stayed raw for a couple months. It wasn't something I could do long term but I love incorporating meals into my diet. 

The first raw food book I ever bought.