Vega One Starter Kit & Colada Smoothie Recipe

As a health coach I come across a lot of people who don't know how to incorporate more protein into their diets. Especially when they are super busy working out, being parents and working on their careers. I'm a huge fan of Vega Plant Based Protein Powder and recommend it to all my clients! Not only does it provide 15g of protein into one package but it also includes a whole list of added benefits such as:

Vega One Starter Kit

• 50% daily intake of vitamins and minerals
• 6g of fibre
• 1.5g of Omega-3's
• 3 servings of Greens
• Antioxidants
• Probiotics

It's perfect for on the go (shake n drink) or if you are looking to create a delicious smoothie for breakfast or lunch. Super bonus for me is I can recommend it to my clients who have food sensitivities as it's gluten free, soy free, dairy free and no sugar added.

Well Vega has made it easy for my clients to try out the flavors. They have introduced the Vega One Starter Kit that includes:

• 2 Packages of Chocolate Vega One 
• 2 Packages of French Vanilla Vega One
• 1 Package of Berry Vega One
• Tips & Recipe Brochure 

5 days worth of shake goodness for you to try!

I was so happy to see this new product that I decided to create a new smoothie recipe for the occasion.

Enjoy!

Choco Banana Colada Smoothie Recipe

1 frozen Organic Banana
1/2 cup of Organic Pineapple
1/2 cup of Coconut Water
1/2 cup of Almond Milk
1 Package of Chocolate Vega One 

Blend well and drink up!

-Michelle
Certified Holistic Health Coach

Back To Basics - Roasted Vegetables

A common question I hear amongst my health coaching clients is "How do I incorporate more easy to make vegetables into my diet? So I thought I would share with you all my #1 solution  - Roasted Vegetables.
It's my go to dish during the fall and winter months and quickly adds a ton of veggies to any meal.

 

I will admit, I used to be intimidated by these roasted veggies until one day I had no choice to do it myself. Funny thing - It's crazy how easy this dish is to make! Toss in all different kinds of veggies like brussel sprouts, sweet potato, carrots, potato, yams, peppers, and for flavor onion & garlic. You can also add in half way through any softer veggies such as broccoli, zucchini and mushrooms.

 

Roasted Vegetables

 

Wash, Chop, Bake and Eat!

 

1. Wash your veggies, give them a good cleaning.
2. Chop them up into cubes, think baby blocks style. Be sure to that they are all relatively the same size. I like to cut the onion and garlic a bit smaller so the taste can really get in there.
3. Throw everything into a casserole dish and drizzle olive oil all over. Add some sea salt and salt n pepper. Mix it all up.
4. Cover with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees F for 50 minutes. Half way through - toss the veggies up a bit, cover again with tin foil and place back into the oven.
5. Once they are done you should be able to place your fork through the vegetable without effort.

They make for great leftovers. There you go - lunch planned now too!

 

Enjoy!

 

-Michelle
Certified Holistic Health Coach

Dirty Apron Cooking School in Vancouver

We had a blast this past weekend at The Dirty Apron Cooking School.

The whole experience was all around exceptional. It's in this brick building tucked in Downtown Vancouver. The 4 of us took a cab over as we didn't want to be cooking in soaking wet clothes from the down pour of rain coming down. We were greeted with welcoming smiles and a lovely glass of sparkling wine. There was about 20 people in the class and we all gathered to sit and watch the chef teach us our first course. After teaching us our first recipe he let us free to find out cooking stations.

Chef and his Students

Our first course was a goat cheese and arugula ravioli in a walnut sage sauce. For the first time in my life, I made fresh pasta people! I'm never going back and Scott & I are investing in a pasta machine. After we were done cooking the appitizer we all got to take our dishes back to a long dining table to enjoy it. Yum! The common comment around the table was "I made that?!".

Our main entree was grilled lamb sirloin with ricotta herb gnocchi and chanterelle sauce. They were nice of enough to provide a piece of black cod for me (being the veg and all). It was also nice that the gnocchi wasn't potato based but instead a ricotta base which made it much lighter. It was all super easy to cook and the staff was great at coming around to check on your progress and offer tips.

Again we came back to the long wooden table and enjoyed the meal with our friends over a delish glass of wine. Our desserts, lemon panacotta that we made were brought out to us after we were finished our entrees. I accidentally forgot to put the gelatin in mine (oops lol). Mine came out like a soup but it was great to dip my biscotti in!

The whole experience was exciting and worth the money. It's something different to do with friends if you are looking to change up your typical dinner night. We got to take our nice aprons home and the recipes we made. The only flaw I encountered is the food is a bit on the unhealthy side but it was nice as a treat.

How was your weekend?
-Michelle

Healthy Weight : Keeping Smoothies Skinny

Beware: Smoothies are usually considered a meal and I'm a Smoothie Freak! Love em!
 

Smoothie Art

A large percentage of smoothies that are offered at on-the-go places have the same amount of calories as a meal. Liquid calories can be dangerous! There is also a large amount of sugar in smoothies (natural or added) and should be consumed in the morning or early afternoon so your body can burn off all that extra energy/sugar.

There's also healthy smoothies and then there's "smoothies" which are actually just milkshakes in disguise. Smoothies can be a great meal replacement if made correctly and be amazingly beneficial to your health. Adding Kale into your smoothie everyday is an easy way to get those extra greens.







A run down of some of the smoothies offered at "on-the-go" places:

Jugo Juice - a fav "on the go" one

Mc Donald's Peach Smoothie - 545g serving

320 calories / 70g carbohydrates (sugar) / 65g of sodium

Dairy Queen/Orange Julius - Strawberry Banana - 587g serving

320 calories / 82g carbs / added sugar and fructose corn syrup

Booster Juice - Mango Hurricane - 24oz

336 calories / 78g carbs (sugar)

Starbucks Strawberry Banana Smoothie (soy) - Grande

290 calories / 58g carbs (sugar)

To give you an understanding of how it compares to a restaurant breakfast:
A waffle at IHOP (no syrup/no butter) is

310 calories / 37g of carbs

Now I'm not saying go grab a waffle instead of a smoothie but I'm showing you that a smoothie is pretty much a meal and can sometimes be considered an unhealthy meal if you don't know what's going into it.

The BEST thing to do : Make them at home so you know what is going into them and how much is going into them. That way you can also make meal sized or snack size.

Here's an example of a smoothie I make at home most mornings for breakfast:
  

Magic Bullet - your best friend in the kitchen!



• 1 small frozen banana
• Handful of frozen mango chunks
• Handful of blackberries
• Large handful of Kale
• 1 scoop of Vega (Natural) Energizing Protein Powder
• 1 tablespoon of Flax Seeds
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of almond milk

Blend! and slurp!

Amazing added ingredients for smoothies:

Kale : High in Vitamins A, C & K. Great source of Iron and fights fatigue. I can notice a huge awesome difference in my skin when I add Kale.
Flax Seeds: Great source of fibre and Omega 3's.

Chia Seeds: High in calcium, iron and magnesium. They also contain Omega 3's.
Coconut Water: Filled with potassium and 5 different electrolytes. My favourite brand is Zico.

To milk or not to milk?
I'm not a fan of using milk but instead I like to use almond milk or soy milk. I find that milk is not easily digested by anyone and causes more harm then good.

What do you put into your smoothies? Are you a smoothie lover?

-Michelle



Healthy Recipe : Salmon Cakes

A favourite healthy recipe created by Scott and loved by all our friends!

This recipe originally started off as a salmon burger. Scott had made them into patties and stuffed them in to a fresh whole wheat bun. It was delicious but it was too much. We all sat around holding out stuffed bellies claiming it was the BEST salmon burger we've ever tried but it was just way too much food.

Ta-da : the salmon cake was born. So the next week (it's that good) we made them and tried it without the bun. The flavors are so incredible that it was amazing on it's own. The curry sauce underneath compliments it perfectly. You don't have to have the sauce but it's a nice touch.



This recipe is unlike the "cakes" that you get in restaurants that are filled with stuffing's and are not healthy for you. This is full of fresh ingredients and a touch of panko crumbs to hold it together. I like to add a salad on the side as you are getting a ton of protein from the salmon. We've also had baked sweet potato fries and quinoa as a side. It goes great with anything.


Salmon Cakes

This recipe will make four 8 ounce salmon patties.

600 grams of salmon ( I found that a rough chop for this patty works
best for flavor and it will juicier)
1/4 cup of chopped green onion
1/4 cup of chopper red bell pepper
1/4 cup of panko (may need to use more with different salmon)
2 egg yolks
salt
pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and lightly mix. You don't want the salmon to be torn apart.
Preferably refrigerate for 20-60 minutes to let in bind and the flavours combine. Separate the mixture into 8 balls. Lightly press them down to form more of a pattie than a ball.

In a frying pan with coconut oil, lightly crisp the salmon cakes on both sides to get a crunch. Then put the cakes in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Optional:
a nice squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

As for the light mayo for the plate:
Light mayo mixed with Thai red curry paste (this tastes absolutely
amazing, the stronger the mix the better it goes with the salmon cake)


This is now a staple meal in our house.
Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

-Michelle

Weekend Warm-Up : Labour Day Long Weekend

Did you read that? woop woop it's another long weekend! 
What do you have planned for this lovely long weekend?



The last of the Summer Flowers

 I'm taking this weekend to rest and go with the flow.. mostly. I think I will be heading out on Sunday for a very early morning adventure to the beach to listen to the waves and smell the sea. I'm really looking forward to it.

I also plan on taking this weekend to read a large part of my book "The Charge" by Brendon Burchard. I've always been interested in how the brain works and how to get the most of it. So far the book is great.

Photography - a must for this coming weekend. I don't know what has been holding me back from getting out there and taking some photos (which I love doing). Maybe I'm bored with what is right in front of me. It's time to go roaming and appreciate the little things. Hopefully I'll have some awesome pictures for you guys next week. I want to brush up/learn new skills - anyone have some awesome YouTube tutorials they would recommend?

• WestJet airlines proposed a question: Where would you take 135 of your friends if you had a jet? I said I would take everyone to one of my favourite resorts in Punta Cana. We would celebrate family and friends.
• I've been lazy at cooking this week as I'm a bit tired. This would be perfect to throw together on the BBQ and ta da it's done and ready. Dinner is served!
• And the talk of the town.. FALL. It's just around the corner. You can sure feel it's colder in the mornings and evenings. Time to get a new jacket. This one is perfect for keeping warm while active.
• Diner En Blanc -Vancouver took place last night. The pictures posted on Twitter were gorgeous. It was a beautiful summer night for them. I would love to go next year. I just found out about it last night. Oops a little late.
• Beautiful performance and song! How will you leave your mark on the world?

To leave you with a quote to ponder.
It's shown up in couple places in my life this week :

"Ask not what you are getting from the world but, rather, what you are giving to the world"

Have a wonderful weekend!
-Michelle

Weekend Warm-Up : Food & Recipes

Can you tell I'm hungry this Friday?


Smoked Salmon Crostini's


 Food is on my brain and I'm itching to try out so many recipes this weekend. Okay, let's be honest here... I won't be doing the cooking but I'll suggest some ideas to the cook in the house, Scott (BF). We went out for dinner last night and by changing up my usual eating routine in the week it got my stomach wanting some new tastes. It doesn't help that Pinterest is amazing for some food photos. Now I just have to convince him to cook healthy food. He still loves his butter and fat, like every other meat & potato's man.

We have come a long way from the first days of dating though. I swear I gained 15lbs when I first started dating Scott. I couldn't refuse his home cooked meals. It was just such a sweet offering. After several plates loaded with dairy (cheese!) and covered with condiments, I just couldn't take it any more and had to start suggesting alternatives to the fat ridden ingredients. Slowly but surely we've come up with healthy versions of the classics. He also used to be a huge meat eater who loved his steak, ribs, and chicken. Scott has also started to incorporate more fish into his diet which makes it easier to plan meals together.

What are you eating this weekend? Are you splurging and having a "cheat day" or are you sticking to your healthy nutritious meals?

A few healthy recipes I've found this week from across the web:

• Pasta for lunch? Smoky Tomato Roasted Pepper and Arugula Pasta
• My friend Angie over at "Dishes Undressed" featured a Mid West Vegetarian Burger. I might have to try this one out this weekend.
• The clouds have been making an appearance around town. Time for some soup!
• Beautiful natural vibrant salad. I could eat this every day for lunch.
• Any one use Tofu on a regular basis? I'm not an average user but these Tofu Triangle Bites look good.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Don't drool too much over all the recipes ;)

-Michelle

Healthy Recipe : Halibut on Beet & Zucchini Salad



Beet & Zucchini Salad

This week we decided to have my mom over for a nice evening dinner. Well that's what we had hoped. Like always, things didn't go as planned (but we love it that way). My mom's doctor appointment ended up going longer than expected and then a nice surprise, my aunt stopped by to say hello. We ended up eating dinner around.... say 9:30pm lol.

This recipe is great for a light meal. It's fresh and the dill combined with the beets and zucchini is amazing! Besides the salad having to marinate the recipe can actually be made very quickly. We were lucky enough to receive our beets from a friend who has a garden in the city. There is nothing like fresh organic vegetables. The difference in taste between organic and not organic is astonishing. If you ever want to test the difference, try buying a piece of celery from organic and not organic.

Halibut with Beet & Zucchini Salad

1  zucchini

3  beets

4  3-5 oz halibut fillets

3 tbsp fresh dill (chopped)

2 cups of arugula

3 tbsp toasted pine nuts

Cut zucchini and beets into paper thin rounds. In a large bowl toss zucchini and beets with 2 tbsp of Vinaigrette (recipe below). Set aside and marinate for 20-60 minutes.

Preheat pan over medium-high heat. Brush halibut fillets with 2 tbsp of vinaigrette and cook till almost fully done, about 3 minutes per side.

Before plating, toss dill, arugula and pine nuts into zucchini mixture.

One each plate: lay a portion of salad mixture down and top with halibut. Spoon small amount of vinaigrette over fish and salad. Serve immediately so the salad doesn’t wilt.

Vinaigrette

2 tsp of lemon zest

½ cup of lemon juice

2 cloves of garlic (minced)

½ tsp of sea salt

1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp of fresh oregano (chopped)

Grounded black pepper to taste



Halibut on Beet & Zucchini Salad

Enjoy!

-Michelle