September inspires me. More than January. I am deep into ‘nose to the grindstone’ mode and loving it. What will you make happen this month? These tunes…heavily hip-hop based (language alert!…will get you pumped and ready to take on the world. Just don’t forget to take care of yourself in the process!
xo,
Desiree
Photo by Jake Blucker on Unsplash
This salad SCREAMS summer 🫐
Wandering out to my garden to pick fresh kale and blueberries gives me a ridiculous amount of joy. So I put that joy in a salad. THIS salad.
No wallflowers here…this salad has PERSONALITY! It’s got layers of flavour and texture, with juicy, spicy beets and blueberries, crunchy almonds and chickpeas and kale massaged until it’s tender and infused with flavour.
Oh, and remember to take it easy: buy the pre-roasted chickpeas and the precooked beets. 💆🏻♀️
Why? Because it makes this salad seriously low effort so you can eat it on a Thursday. When it’s too hot to even think about turning the oven on. But you still want something extra delicious.
This salad makes a great dinner or a BBQ side. I’ve even got instructions on how to keep this one low FODMAP on the blog if you need it…full recipe at http://www.desireerd.com/recipes or via the link in my bio!
#easyveganrecipes #plantbasedrecipes #veganfood #kalesalad #blueberries #veganrecipes #plantbased #plantbaseddietitian
Cashew queso-style sauce with the magic of nutritional yeast 🪄
Nutritional yeast is NOT living yeast…it’s the inactivated solids of a yeast ferment.
It’s rich in B vitamins like folate, B12 and riboflavin and it even has a bit of iron, potassium and protein. It’s like a B complex and umami booster in one!
I sprinkle it over pasta and grain bowls instead of parmesan and it makes the BEST popcorn topper with a bit of coconut oil and salt. 🍿
It’s also essential for adding depth to cashew-based sauces, and it makes this ridiculously easy cashew queso-style sauce SO delicious you’re going to want to eat it every day.
Just pop these into your blender and blend on high until smooth, about a minute.
1 ¼ cup cashews
1 cup water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
Hot sauce to taste
Pour over nachos, tacos, grain bowls or roasted veggies.
#plantbased #plantbasedrecipes #easyveganrecipes #veganqueso #cashews #veganfood #nooch #nutritionalyeast #vegannutrition #plantbasednutrition
This creamy, dreamy, veggie-packed pasta salad will be the hit of your next BBQ
If you see me at a party awkwardly sitting off to the side staring into space it’s because I’m actually a massive introvert and have a really hard time making small talk but luckily, this epic pasta salad is extroverted enough for the both of us!
It’s got a creamy maple tahini dressing that is packed with flavour (and no one will guess it’s vegan!) and a ton of colourful green veggies but you can customize it with whatever is taking up space in your fridge.
And it’s a big enough recipe to feed a crowd because my love language is acts of service, not words. Self-awareness is queen 👸🏻
Make it gluten free or low FODMAP depending on who’s coming over or boost the protein with a legume-based pasta or diced smoked tofu to make it a meal.
It’s just not summer without a good pasta salad, and this one really delivers!
Recipe at http://www.desireerd.com/recipes or via the link in my bio
#easyveganrecipes #veganpasta #pastasalad #BBQrecipes #plantbased #glutenfree #healthyrecipes #veganlowfodmap #lowfodmaprecipes
It’s easier than you think to eat 40 grams of fibre! (AD)
If there is any point in all of these what I eat in a day videos, it’s getting inspiration for adding new foods or recipes to your life to help you bust ruts and love what you eat, minus the icky diet culture stuff.
And we ALL know we need to eat more fibre…we need 25 - 38 grams daily depending on our energy needs but the secret to making it easy is to load in a few fibre allstars into your day, like @silverhillsbakery sprouted grain breads.
Each slice of Squirrelly bread contains 4 grams of fibre, making it a fibre-rich swap for your usual slice.
Here are some other amazing fibre helpers to help you hit your goals!
🫐 Berries: cherries and blueberries are actually a “lower fibre” berry, with 4 grams per cup. Raspberries and blackberries are loaded: 8 grams per cup! Hear that, summer? Bring on the berries!
🌱 Ground flax and chia seeds: ground flax has 2 grams of fibre per tablespoon and whole chia has almost 4 grams of fibre per tablespoon!
🥜 Nuts: peanuts and pistachios have about 3 grams per ¼ cup, while almonds have almost 5
🌱 Legumes: it varies from 4 grams per ½ cup for chickpeas to a whopping 8 grams for black beans
🥑 Avocado: like I said.. 6.5 grams of fibre in ½ a medium fruit
I’ve got a whole blog with 25 high fibre foods to help you power up but PSA: you need to add fibre to your diet SLOWLY to give your body time to adjust. So maybe swap your bread this week, and next week, start adding that chia!
PS…Reboot your avocado toast with this delicious miso tahini spread: just whisk together 2 tablespoons of tahini, 1 tablespoon of miso, 1 teaspoon of maple syrup, 1-2 teaspoons of water, a pinch of salt and a pinch of chile flakes together and store for up to a week!
#silverhillsbakery #sproutedgrains #plantbasednutrition #easyveganrecipes #wholegrains #whatieatinaday #whatIeatinadayvegan #wieiad #vegannutrition
Keep your cool with these luscious peaches and cream popsicles (AD)
Is there anything better than biting into a ripe, juicy peach?!? Stone fruit season is officially upon us and I, for one, plan on taking FULL advantage, with my friends @halfyourplatecanada !
When peaches are at their peak, they are so flavourful, fragrant and yes, good for you. They contain tummy-friendly fibre as well as vitamin-A carotenoids and vitamin C for healthy skin as well as plenty of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory polyphenols.
Buying fruit in season means it’s more affordable too…so if you find peaches on sale, buy as many as you can and don’t put them in the fridge until they are ripe (fruit should be fragrant and yield to gentle pressure). What to do with an abundance of ripe fruit?
You can bake them into a crumble or galette, slice and freeze for later, add to smoothies…OR make these super delicious and SIMPLE peaches and cream popsicles!
Just pop these 5 ingredients into your blender and blend until smooth!
3 peaches
1 cup coconut cream (not coconut milk - should be 20% fat)
2 tbsp cane sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
…and a tiny pinch of salt
Popsicles need 6-8 hours to set. When you eat them while they are just set, they have more of an ice cream vibe and as they harden up in the freezer they’ll become more like a true popsicle.
Enjoy!! Full recipe at www.desireerd.com/recipes
#halfyourplate #plantbasedrecipes #veganrecipes #popsicles #peachrecipes #summerrecipes #easyveganrecipes #plantbaseddesserts #peachseason
5 reasons why this yummy strawberry hemp milk is a gut health all star ⭐️
🌟 It’s low FODMAP, so it’s bloat friendly and non-irritating for my IBS girlies
🌟 One cup contains 1.8 mg of zinc, which is an important mineral for gut cell metabolism and immune function
🌟 Plus, it’s got about 2 grams of gentle fibre to help keep your gut moving
🌟 Strawberries are rich in vitamin C, an antioxidant vitamin that is thought to contribute to barrier function
🌟 …And each delicious cup contains 6.5 grams of protein and a full day’s worth of omega 3 fatty acids!
It’s also perfect for using up super ripe strawberries at the tail end of the season. 🍓
Want to take good care of your gut this summer?
Summer produce makes it so much easier to maintain plant diversity and fiber intake…stay hydrated, choose mocktails over cocktails more often and just keep eating those plants (in between veggie burgers and ice cream because hey, it’s summer!)
#veganrecipes #easyveganrecipes #hemphearts #hempmilk #strawberryrecipes #plantbased #plantbaseddiet #plantbasedrecipes
PMID: 33964955 30640128 33707052
We talk about the gut microbiome all the time but forget that our mouth is actually a part of our gut, and it has its own microbiome!
Researchers believe there are approximately 700 different bacterial species that make up the oral microbiome. We know that dysbiosis in the oral microbiome can cause inflammation in the form the telltale bleeding gums of gingivitis…but researchers believe that inflammation in the mouth may actually impact the inflammatory status of rest of your body, and vice versa.
For example, early research suggests that oral microbes, as well as inflammatory markers in the mouth, may enter the bloodstream and impact systemic inflammatory responses.
What’s more, for folks with the inflammatory bowel diseases, these diseases can manifest in the mouth, making taking care of your oral health all the more important. There also appears to be higher rates of gum disease in rheumatoid arthritis.
So what can we do? There is still a lot we don’t understand about the “gum-gut” axis, but a good place to start is with microbiome-friendly self-care.
Be mindful of your intake of added sugars, which can drive the growth of unfriendly bacteria in the mouth and consider introducing xylitol, a sugar alcohol that appears to work like an oral prebiotic.
And of course, take good care of your oral health: brush, floss, all that good stuff! My friends @beforecompany make an awesome, microbiome-friendly toothpaste (with xylitol!) in fully recyclable packaging.
#gutmicrobiome #oralhealth #digestivehealth #guthealthnutrition #beforelifehappens
An (almost) effortless rhubarb crisp because summer is for living, not for spending hours in the kitchen ☀️
I know that not all of you are fully on board with rhubarb because it doesn’t have the PR of say, berries, so let me appeal to your adventurous side because there is SO much more to this blushing stalks than meets the eye!
When properly sweetened, cooked rhubarb reveals a complex fragrance and the most perfect sweet-tart flavour that keeps you coming back for more…
…but I’m going to be real with you, in order to love rhubarb you need to add enough sugar to make the rhubarb taste like dessert!
I’ve also popped a few little nourishing touches in there like rolled oats, hemp hearts and ginger because I don’t buy into the false healthy/unhealthy binary ok?
I love crisp because you can make it with any ripe, seasonal fruit – just take the sugar down to ¼ - ½ cup depending on how sweet your fruit is.
Also, FYI, a crisp and a crumble are two distinct things…a crisp has a topping with rolled oats, which add a heartier texture while a crumble has, well, more a crumbly topping made from flour.
Are you team crisp or team crumble??
Grab the full recipe at http://www.desireerd.com or via the link in my bio!
#easyveganrecipes #plantbasedrecipes #veganfood #rhubarb #summerdesserts #rhubarbseason #plantbasedfood
The information on this site is intended as educational only and cannot replace one-on-one consultation with a registered dietitian.
We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Coast Salish peoples–Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nation.
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