Quinoa Pinto bean salad with Avocado Lime sauce

Hey Lovelies

As you may know I have a love affair with food and cooking!  

In the kitchen is where I feel most comfortable. My mother and grandmother instilled a sense of pride in cooking homemade food from scratch with love!! 

And they both blessed my sister and I with the cooking bug, mine didn't come until later in life but I'm happy to say I have also passed it on to my daughter who is now 17 and she makes a mean creamed eggs!! I got her a leather bound journal and she keeps all her favorite (usually family) recipes in there! 

Which makes my ❤️ shine! 

Jessica with her brother Corey 

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AFTER ALL the holiday indulging my body was literally screaming at me to eat something green and fresh. As I LOVE anything Mexican that is my go to so last night I sat thinking about what ingredients I had on hand and what I could make that would satisfy my craving. 

Lucky for you I came up with this delicious fresh salad that tastes better the day after. Flavors need to sit together and marry if you will... 

What's in It and how did I make it I bet you are wondering?

If I would have sat down and thought out this recipe and had everything on hand it would have had a few per things like smoked paprika and cilantro BUT... I used what I had on hand and it turned out just fine. Feel free to add what you like and make it your own!! 

Because I FIRMLY believe SHARING IS CARING, I'm here to share the recipe with you! 

Quinoa & Pinto bean salad with Avocado lime sauce

2 cups cooked white quinoa

1 can drained and rinses pinto beans 

1 cup thawed frozen corn

1/2 finely chopped onion 

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 cumin powder

1/2 tsp coriander 

1/2 tsp oregano 

1 sm Clive garlic minced

Pinch sea salt

Pinch red pepper flakes 

Juice from half a lime 

Mix everything together set aside 

Avocado lime sauce 

1/4 jalapeño with or without seeds is up to you, I used seeds from one side 

1 avocado

Juice from half a lime

Pinch sea salt

Sm clove garlic

1/4 cup sour cream (I would have preferred to make this vegan but used what I had on hand) to make vegan use vegan sou cream or plain unsweetened coconut milk yogurt 

A little water to thin it out

Add everything into a magic bullet or blender ( I don't own a blender as a I LOVE my magic bullet and it never fails me for any job I have from making oat flour to my daily superfood shake) 

Add water to your desired consistency 

DONE!! Let me know how you like it and if any, substitutions you make

HAPPY EATING and keep a look out for my Ecookbook coming this summer to a PDF near you 😊

Sloppy Joes Vegan style

 Hey lovelies 

I'm craving comfort food. It happens when it gets cold outside, at least to me! 

But I didn't want to use all my calories on rich Mac n cheese or lasagne! 

These bad boys HIT.THE.SPOT! 

Even my 20 yr old and 16 yr old loved them! In fact my 16 yr old said they are teenager approved 😀

There is just a hint of sweetness from the coconut sugar and a nice kick from the cayenne. 

These didn't last long and I think they will make another appearance very soon. 

Vegan soppy Joes 

2 1/2 cups cooked lentils 

1 carrot chopped 

1/2 red, orange or yellow pepper chopped

1 shallot chopped

1/2 head of fennel chopped 

1 onion chopped 

2 cloves garlic chopped

1Tbls chili powder

1 tsp paprika

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 -1/2 tsp cayenne 

1-2 tsp mustard 

2 Tbls vegan Worcestershire 

3 Tbls tomato paste 

2 15oz cans tomato sauce 

Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté veggies until soft, add in remaining ingredients and simmer until done! 

I usually end up adding more spices once I taste test it so feel free! 

The second day I had these they were even better, but I need a bit of a crunch so I added some purple cabbage. It was a great combo and the purple cabbage doesn't have a very strong flavor so it was a great option! 

Thinking next time I will make some blue cheese coleslaw to go with them. 

This is an amazing delicious recipe http://www.closetcooking.com/2010/05/blue-cheese-cole-slaw.html

TASTY TUESDAY RECIPE ~ Sriracha cucumber hummus

HEY THERE . You AMAZING SOUL!  

I have started doing something called TASTY TUESDAY. Every Tuesday I will make something I haven't had before and share it with YOU!! 

I found this amazing hummus recipe in a magazine somewhere and recently cleaning out my phone pics I stumbled upon it!! 

The only thing I would do differently is I would shred the cucumber (that actually is blended with the chickpeas) and squeeze the water out. 

The hummus is a bit looser consistency than reg hummus and I couldn't figure out why.. DUH... The water content in the cucumber! 

Here's the recipe 

1 English cucumber peeled 

1 can garbanzo beans drained

4 cloves garlic

1/4 cup Tahini

3 TBLS Sriracha 

Juice of 1 lemon

2 TBLS Extra V Olive Oil

1TBLS Cumin

2 tsp Smoked Paprika 

Salt and pepper to taste

**I'm writing the how to like I will do next time**

Cut about a 1/4 off the peeled cucumber, set to the side for garnish

Grate cucumber then squeeze out as much excess liquid 

Then put everything into a food processor and whiz it up!! 

Dice up the remaining reserved cuc, add hummus into bowl, add diced cucs in center with a drizzle of olive oil or Sriracha. 

Makes 2 cups

Keeps in fridge up to 1 week

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! 

I would love to hear what your thoughts, leave em below! 

MOTIVATION DOESN'T COME EASY

Motivation to do something you know is hard doesn't come naturally! 

But it does come when you start to do it, whatever IT may be. 

For me it's working out! I'm human and not always motivated to do it. Especially now when it's cold dreary and gets dark sooooo early! It's so much easier to say tomorrow! But tomo will be spring then summer then I will be back where I am now b/c summer bodies are built in the winter! 

Motivation comes once I start!! Once I get my breath moving and blood pumping. Then the sweating and endorphins let loose!  

After my workout I feel AMAZING! Like I could conquer the world. That is my motivation.

I remember how good I felt the day before and I want to feel that good again! So I do it! 

The fit body, hard abs, and no jiggle in my wiggle are the bonus by product of being motivated!