I moved over to the blogger platform where I get to test out my design skills (for free!), and also create my own domain at a price that fits in my budget.

Elvajane.com will be a creative lifestyle blog, where I’ll continue to share my recipes along with any other creative urge that inspires me.

I’m super excited about this new blog and hope that you’ll join me over there!

Have a fantastic Saturday,
Fiona

ps. Check out my first post, Greek Poutine!

You want to use up old vegetables? Need a simple, versatile dish?
Seriously, it’s magical.
An especially perfect dish for a grey day!

This is more like a method than an actual recipe, and can be customized in infinite ways.
Pre-heat your oven to about 400-425°F
Start with say…about 4 cups of chopped up veggies.
Toss your vegetables with a little oil so that they don’t dry out. (olive, grape seed, coconut, ect.)
For seasoning, a little sea salt and pepper is good. However, I usually go for something with a little more umph. My current go-to is salt/pepper/fresh sage/garlic/apple cider vinegar. Another good one is salt/pepper/garlic/Italian herbs/balsamic vinegar. But seriously, the possibilities are endless, do you have any favourites?
Now that you’ve tossed your veggies with oil and seasoning, place them in the oven for about 40 minutes. Check on them every so often and turn them over when necessary.

Serve them with mashed potatoes, quinoa, on a piece of toast, with pasta, or whatever the heck else you can think of!
Store leftovers in the fridge and take them for lunches!

*Tip for broccoli: make sure the florets aren’t hanging out near the top of your veggies, or they dry out and taste icky. You can make sure they are covered by other vegetables or make sure they have a little oil in them.

Ps. This current mix of vegetables is:
-Carrots
-Fennel
-Bell Pepper
-Cauliflower
-Broccoli
-Green Cabbage
-Enoki Mushrooms
-Tomatoes
I think that’s all….

Happy roasting!

Yummy breakfast featuring home grown goodness was eaten.
A walk in the rain was had, puddles were jumped.

Bath, book, and tea were enjoyed. (In our lovely claw-foot tub, with a view!)

Paintings were painted.
Kale chips were eaten.
And shortly homework will commence. (Not so lovely, but it must be done.)

These kale chips are pretty much the same as Cheesy Nacho Spinach Chips, but I prefer using kale from time to time. Kale is thicker and easier to work with than baby spinach. It is also not as fragile, and is better to use for travelling (lunches, parties, ect).

Cheesy Nacho Kale Chips

Measurements will depend on personal taste and amount of kale.

Bunch of clean, dry Kale (With stems removed)
Oil (Olive, Grape Seed, ect.)
Chili Powder
Cumin
Garlic Powder
Nutritional Yeast
Pinch of Salt and Pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
2. Add kale to a large bowl. Add enough oil to lightly coat the kale, but not drench. Stir until evenly coated.
3. Add seasoning, gradually while mixing.
(For seasoning I used about even amounts of garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder, more nutritional yeast, and a little salt and pepper .)
4. Lay one layer of kale on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. You don’t want to have kale overlapping or it won’t dry out evenly.
5. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes. You’ll probably want to check on them at about 8-10 minutes, and after that keep an eye on them until they’re crispy!

Baking will depend on your oven temperature, we recently moved and I now have to turn my oven much lower than 350°F. So if you think you have a hotter than average oven, I would lower the temperature to about 300°F and check on them at 6-8min into bake time.

Ps. Isn’t this kale awesome!

It’s called Lacinato or Dino kale (nifty name!). I picked it up at a farmer’s market while visiting my parents. A nice change from the regular curly kale sold at the grocery store!

Happy Sunday!

Watermelon Mojito Granita
1/2 a Seedless Watermelon (about 4 cups)
1 cup White Rum
1/2 cup Sugar
Juice of 2-3 Limes
2-3 tbs Chopped Mint Leaves

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender.
2. Pour into anything to freeze, a shallow baking dish would work well and be fastest. (I hollowed out the half of the watermelon and added the liquid to it to freeze. But that took quite some time to freeze, I think next time I would freeze separate, then serve in the hollowed out half.)
3. Once the liquid is frozen, scrape with a fork to loosen the ice crystals. This should make a crystal-y slush. Serve and enjoy!

So I may have only made hummus about three times before, but this one is a winner. Plus you get the extra veggie bonus from the zucchini!

If you like a dry hummus, this is probably not the hummus for you, but if you are looking for a hummus that is a great dip for veggie sticks, look no further!

Green Hummus
2 cups Chickpeas
2 cups Chopped Zucchini
3-4 Roasted Garlic Cloves
1/4 cup Olive oil
1/4 cup Tahini
1.5 Lemons (Juiced)
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Chili Powder
1-2 tsp Sea Salt (to taste)
Water – if needed

1. In a blender, add zucchini, olive oil, tahini, and lemon juice. Blend well. Add a little water, if necessary.
2. Add roasted garlic, and chickpeas gradually into the blender, blending well.
3. Add seasonings into the blender, mix well.
4. Serve and enjoy!

Chocolate Banana Green Smoothie
1 Banana (Frozen for thicker smoothie)
2 tbs Cocoa Powder
Big handful of spinach (Lots is fine, you can’t taste it. If you were worried about that.)
Approx 1 cup Milk (Or water/nut milk/ect.)

Add all ingredients to a blender, blend well. Enjoy!

Even though I have summer semester starting on monday, at least I’ll be able to study in the lovely sunshine! With one of these delicious popsicles, of course.

Serve these tasty guys up for desert or a snack. With no sugar added, and lots of healthy goodness, you can even munch one for breakfast, guilt free. Plus they couldn’t be easier!

Berry Coconut Popsicles
1 can Coconut Milk (400mL)
1 cup Blueberries
1 cup Strawberries
1 cup Water (or juice)
1/2 cup Honey

1. Add all ingredients to a blender, blend well. Add liquid into whatever you are using as a popsicle mould, and freeze.

**I mixed half the ingredients with Strawberries, and half the ingredients with blueberries so my popsicles would have marble-ish look. But that is absolutely not necessary, just means more time and dishes.

Hope you like ‘em as much as I do!

Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

Pumpkin Quesadilla
2 Tortillas
1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree (NOT pie filling, 100% pumpkin)
3/4 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Cumin
1 Minced Clove of Garlic
Dash of Nutmeg

1. Mix Pumpkin, Cheese, and spices in a bowl.
2. Spread over one tortilla, then place the other on top.
3. Cook in a large pan over medium heat, browning slightly each side and melting the cheese inside.
4. Slice it up and enjoy!

(You can also add other things to it if you wish, spinach is good)

Ps. Look where I was last week!

Playa Flamingo, Costa Rica for my sister’s wedding! More info soon about the restaurant I was at when I took the picture on the bottom left!