veggiessima

Enjoy a happy, healthy long life by making nutritious and delicious choices today. I hope I can inspire you! Twitter: @veggiessima

My love for cranberries has no bounds. I've been in cranberry heaven for the last couple weeks since they showed up at my local grocery store.

I've made lots of dishes using dried cranberries in the past, but my experience with baking fresh cranberries is mostly in baked oatmeal, like in this dish:

Cranberry pear baked oatmeal

Today I experimented with some brussels sprouts and loved the results. I need to experiment a bit more with the liquid amount but here's what I did:

I combined 2 ½ cups of brussels sprouts, 1 green apple and 1 cup of fresh cranberries with 1 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar, 3 Tbsp of maple syrup and ¼ tsp of salt. I started with 2 Tbsp of maple syrup and added 1 more, but maybe just 2 Tbsp of maple syrup would have been enough. It wasn't too sweet with 3 Tbsp but it was a bit too much liquid.

Baked for 20 minutes, pulled from the oven, stirred and baked for another 20 minutes at 400F.

While the mix was roasting, I toasted ¼ cup of pecans on medium heat for 6 minutes or so.

Added the toasted pecans at the end of roasting.

I wasn't sure how the cranberries were going to behave. They fell apart very quickly and their juice got mixed to the brussels sprouts and apple, resulting in this delicious combination of sweetness from the maple syrup and tartness from the green apple and the cranberries.

If you read some of my articles, you know I cook with little to no oil, I didn't use any oil for this dish. If you're used to using oil when roasting vegetables, you may want to add some. Either way, the flavor will be delicious!

https://cinnamon.video/watch?v=441286808706221557

More cranberry ideas:

Cranberry cream

Cranberry orange dressing

Cíntia

There are so many lovely varieties of Winter squashes! I love them all but find some of them a bit tricky to handle. That's the case for Kabocha squash, the one in the middle of this picture:

A couple weeks ago I got one of those in my CSA box and wasn't sure what I was going to do with it at first.

I looked at my fridge and my pantry and decided to combine the squash with beans & apples and make a curried soup. I also added some greens for extra nutrition.

It came out fantastic!

Here's what I did:

https://cinnamon.video/watch?v=438588963469395128

I used my pressure cooker for this soup since the beans take a while to cook, but it could certainly have been done on stovetop.

I could have added all the ingredients together in the beginning, the soup would not have ended as up chunky, but the flavor would still be great.

Main message: Winter squash, beans, apple & curry powder is a wonderful Fall combination.

Cíntia

I've been busy in the kitchen after scoring some bags of fresh cranberries last week :–)

I have a few ideas for cranberry salad dressings and this was my first attempt:

🌿 1 orange

🌿 1 cup cranberries

🌿 2 large pitted dates (or 4 small)

🌿 ¼ cup unsalted cashews

🌿 ¼ cup unsweetened non dairy yogurt

🌿 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

🌿 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

Blend everything until smooth.

Keep in the fridge for 3 to 5 days. If too thick when ready to use, add water, 1 Tbsp at a time.

Enjoy in a variety of salads.

With lettuce and pistachios:

With iceberg wedge and roasted chickpeas:

(Check this article for the roasted chickpeas recipe:

Roasted chickpeas)

https://cinnamon.video/watch?v=437867350411183275

More cranberry recipes:

Cranberry pear baked oatmeal

Cranberry cream

Cíntia

Roasted chickpeas are just one of the many ways chickpeas can be used in recipes, I make them often. Packed with fiber and super easy to make, roasted chickpeas can be used in salads, soups or simply as a healthy and nutritious snack.

Using oil is optional, I've roasted chickpeas in tons of different ways, with and without oil, but if a crunchy texture is important to you, you might want to add at least a bit of oil.

I don't have tons of time to cook a new meal each day, so I rely heavily on batch cooking and usually double or triple this recipe. It keeps well in the fridge for a few days, but it won't be as crunchy as when first taken out of the oven, so for an ideal crunchiness, roasting the amount to be consumed right away is the way to go. For me, having food ready to eat when I'm busy is more important than the ideal texture, so I always make sure I will have leftovers.

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Smoothies can be a good way to sneak in some wholesome ingredients that we have a hard time adding to our daily meals but they can also add **lots** of unnecessary calories. Even if we make a smoothie with wholesome ingredients only, they may not be something we want to have in excess at once. It's just too easy to overeat when we drink a smoothie.

I've been making smoothies for years, the header pictures are from some of my experiments, there are literally endless possible combinations for smoothies. I remember when I first heard about the concept of adding greens to smoothies, they were called blended salads. Now we call them green smoothies.

My smoothie preferences have changed quite a lot over time as my awareness of nutritious ingredients has grown. In our home we slowly transitioned into a less sweet smoothie changing the fruit/vegetable ratio slowly.

A couple months ago, I made one of those Wordless Wednesday posts with just pictures showing a very wholesome smoothie:

How many wholesome ingredients can you fit in a blender?

That was actually the smoothie we make the most nowadays, with a few variations depending on what we have in the fridge. We don't measure the ingredients exactly, but the basic combination is this:

🌿 1 or 2 lemons depending on the lemon size

🌿 A few Brazil nuts, usually 4 for some daily dose of Selenium

🌿 1 banana – room temperature or frozen

🌿 Fresh ginger – we love the gingery flavor so we use a large piece

🌿 Hemp seeds

🌿 Flax seeds

🌿 Water

🌿 Unsweetened non dairy yogurt – some days we use a bit less water and add about ¼ cup of yogurt

🌿 Frozen peas

🌿 Frozen broccoli

🌿 Frozen berries – mixed or just one type of berries

Greens – we rotate between these greens, sometimes we add a bit of each, sometimes just spinach or just kale, it really depends on what we have in the fridge

🌿 dandelion greens – has a strong bitter flavor

🌿 beet greens

🌿 baby spinach

🌿 kale

🌿 collard greens

This is not a sweet smoothie, the predominant flavors are lemon, ginger and dandelion greens. We really enjoy it but it's not for everyone. Years ago we would have added more banana, less lemon, less ginger and no dandelion.

*Creaminess:*

Here are some ingredients that will make smoothies creamier, these are wonderful especially when making smoothie bowls instead of a drinkable smoothie:

  • frozen bananas - if you read my Refreshing Summer Treats article, you saw how frozen bananas can turn into several wonderful and colorful deliciousness, they really contribute to the creaminess of any blend. Never let a banana go to waste! When they start to get overripe, just peel them, chop them and freeze them. Make sure to spread them in a bag like this, otherwise you will end up with a clump of frozen bananas that are hard to pull apart when you want to use them.

  • frozen peas - ½ cup of frozen peas add some creaminess to smoothies and also add an extra protein boost without adding any flavor.
  • avocado – definitely contribute to smoothie creaminess but be aware that avocados add lots of calories despite being a nice healthy fat. Definitely not an ingredient to add in large amounts if the amount of calorie intake is a concern.
  • Yogurt instead of water or milk – depending on the amount add some thickness or some creaminess, remember to use unsweetened versions to avoid undesired extra sugar in your smoothie!
  • flax or chia seeds – a couple Tbsp of either seed will contribute to a thicker smoothie, not necessarily creamier, and if you don't consume it right away, the texture may end up a bit funky as the texture will continue to thicken for a bit.

I enjoy smoothies and especially smoothie bowls as a post workout meal, I find them to be a nice way to refuel after workouts where we can add quite a few nutritious ingredients. I also find smoothies to be quite handy when we have those super busy days where it's hard to find time to prepare nutritious meals, they are an easy way to make sure our body is well fed. And I'm not saying we shouldn't ever enjoy a delicious fruity smoothie, I'm simply pointing out that we can very easily pack lots of extra calories in a drink and not notice we're consuming lots of simple sugars at once. It all depends on our goals, if the goal is weight loss, smoothies should likely be avoided unless there are more vegetable rich with just low calorie fruits.

Here are some other smoothie ideas I shared in older articles:

Pear ginger smoothie

Celery & Brazil nuts drink

Cantaloupe & berries drink

Cranberry cream

And here are some fun smoothie bowls I've made:

Tip: for bowls use more frozen ingredients and less liquid.

Topping ideas: cacao nibs, coconut chips, flax meal, chia seeds, goji berries, mulberries.

Cintia

This frittata is one of those dishes where we can be creative and use different vegetable combinations, zucchini & leek is a wonderful one. The light texture of shredded zucchini combined with thinly sliced leek is incredible.

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One year ago, Oct 11 2019, I timidly created my first Coil article and published it.

I shared one of the sauces I make most often:

Cashew cream sauce

Back then, I didn't really know how things worked and had no idea how much I would love being part of the Coil & Cinnamon family!

I didn't really start contributing to the platforms until 7 months later after that first cashew cream sauce article, but thought this would be a good moment to step back to look at my content and organize it a bit.

Most recent article

Gala node using VPS on Vultr – Mac guide

Food

#PancakeMaster #ChallengesByCin – Vegan pancakes with mango sauce

Banana spinach mint ice cream

Black bean brownies

Cantaloupe & berries drink

Cashew cream sauce

Celery & Brazil nuts drink

Chocolate cherry oatmeal

Chickpea pancakes

Chipotle butternut pasta bake

Clean the fridge dinner

Cooking with the seasons – Summer – Plum sauce/dressing

Cooking without oil

Cooking-therapy and a whole food plant based lifestyle

Cranberry chocolate chickpea bites

Cranberry cream

Cranberry orange dressing

Cranberry Pear baked oatmeal

Cranberry pear oatmeal with oat groats

Cucumber mint dressing

Curried squash apple bean soup

Delicata squash

Details that make a difference (#1) Thinly sliced collard greens

Details that make a difference (#2) Leafy greens

Details that make a difference (#3) Raw sweet corn

Details that make a difference (#4) Oat groats

Farro

Fennel greens – do not discard them!

Hearty chili

Kamut

Kitchen experiments

Lentil stew and pan seared tofu

Maple roasted brussels sprouts with cranberries, apple & pecan

Pasta and beans soup

Parsley & ginger synergy

Pear ginger smoothie

Plant diversity & art in a bowl

Pomegranates

Red curry lentil and vegetable soup

Roasted cauliflower soup

Roasted chickpeas

Salad dressing

Simple details that make a difference

Simple, wholesome and delicious

Smoothing it out

Super creamy vegan corn chowder

Sweet potato chocolate spread

Thyme potato leek casserole

Tofu scramble – Endless possible combinations

Two lentil veggie soup

Unprocessed

Wordless Wednesday – Food edition – Colors of Nature

Wordless Wednesday – How many wholesome ingredients can you fit in a blender?

Wordless Wednesday – Plant based desserts I've made

Wordless Wednesday – When salad is the main dish

Yay! It's CSA day. Time to get creative.

Yummm...Refreshing Summer treats

Zucchini leek frittata

Zucchini pea quiche

Health & wellness

Are you doing what you can to avoid cognitive decline?

Team Sherzai – Building healthy brains together

Snow

Above the clouds

#ShowMeTalent #ChallengesByCin – A snow love story

Do what you love. Do it again. Repeat.

Finding peace

Lessons from the mountains

Never stop playing! Happy New Year!

Playing on the snow with the gopro 360 max

Sometimes dreams do come true

Wordless Wednesday – Revelstoke

Wordless Wednesday – snowboarding edition

Your hobby exposed #ChallengesByCin

Trails & Hiking

Fun things first

Hike the Adirondacks!

Hike the Adirondacks! – Part II

Indian Head and Rainbow Falls

Mount Van Hoevenberg

Rooster Comb Trail

Wordless Wednesday – Hiking the Adirondacks

Wordless Wednesday – My neck of the woods edition

And on other notes..

Drive to serenity

Gala node using VPS on Vultr – Mac guide

Growing up in a city under construction

Never stop playing

Run for the hill of it

The simple basic skill of taking a break

We could all use some magic tricks right now

What is Elrond (ERD)?

Wordless Wednesday – Beach edition

If you enjoy my articles and would like to support future content, please consider signing up for Coil with my affiliate link:

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Cintia

I love cranberries! I look forward to this time of the year when fresh cranberries start to show up at the grocery stores. Every year at the end of the season, I buy some extra bags and freeze them, this way I can make some cranberry dishes even when they are not available. Some stores will sell frozen cranberries when they are not in season, but I freeze some just in case I can't find them!

Today I made this baked oatmeal dish using the last few frozen cranberries from last season I had in the freezer.

Baked oatmeal (a combination of oats, milk, spices, fruits & nuts) is one of those comforting dishes that are a perfect breakfast and also a great filling snack.

Today I made some, using one of my favorite fruit combos: **Cranberry and pear**

Baked pears are already a very perfect wonderful food on their own: tender, sweet, melt in your mouth kind of feeling.

Combined with the cranberry's tartness they go to an even higher level of deliciousness. If you enjoy these two fruits and haven't tried them together in a baked oatmeal dish, you must try this recipe ASAP!

Here's what you will need:

🌿 2 ¼ cups unsweetened non dairy milk

🌿 1 medium ripe banana (can use frozen)

🌿 1/3 cup pitted dates (about 4 medium to large dates – can use ¼ cup of maple syrup instead of dates or can remove this completely if you like it less sweet or prefer to drizzle the maple syrup when serving)

🌿 2 tsp vanilla extract

🌿 2 cups rolled oats

🌿 1 tsp cinnamon

🌿 ½ tsp ginger powder

🌿 ¼ tsp salt

🌿 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal

🌿 2 pears (I like the pears chopped into large chunks, about 1 inch)

🌿 1 cup cranberries (can use frozen)

🌿 ½ cup pecans or walnuts (optional)

✋🏾 Preheat oven to 350 F.

✋🏾 Combine dates, milk, banana and vanilla extract in a blender. Blend until smooth. If your dates are dry, let them soak in the milk for about a half hour to make them softer and easier to blend.

✋🏾 Combine the oats, cinnamon, ginger, salt and flaxseed meal mixing well.

✋🏾 Add the wet mix to the dry ingredients and mix well.

✋🏾 Fold in the chopped pear and the cranberries.

✋🏾 Pour the mix into a baking dish (9x9)

✋🏾 Sprinkle with the chopped walnuts/pecans if using, pressing them slightly into the oatmeal.

✋🏾 Cook for 45 minutes.

✋🏾 Let it cool for at least 15 to 20 minutes before slicing.

Cranberry and pear is my favorite combination but this dish is also delicious using other fruit combos like apple & pear for example.

Note: the mixture will look a bit soupy at first but the oats will absorb some of the liquid. You can play a bit with the oats/liquid ratio to get a firmer or softer result depending on your texture preference.

https://cinnamon.video/watch?v=424075146622404339

Check this article for more ideas using oats:

Oat groats

More cranberry ideas:

Cranberry chocolate chickpea bites

Cranberry cream

Cranberry orange dressing

Cranberry pear baked oatmeal

Cintia

A few years ago I made black bean brownies for the first time. Since then, I have tried quite a few variations and have tried to make them as wholesome as possible.

This is my favorite creation, it's made with no oil, no flour, no refined white sugar (except for the chocolate chips). It's delicious while quite wholesome.

And easy to make!

🌿 1 ½ cup black beans

🌿 ½ cup rolled oats

🌿 ½ cup pure maple syrup

🌿 ¼ cup almond butter

🌿 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

🌿 ¼ tsp salt

🌿 ½ tsp baking powder

🌿 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

🌿 ½ cup vegan chocolate chips

🌿 Chopped walnuts or pecans to sprinkle on top (optional)

✋🏾 Preheat oven to 350 F.

✋🏾 Combine all ingredients in a food processor, except chocolate chips and walnuts/pecans. Blend until smooth.

✋🏾 Stir in the chips, then pour the batter into a pan lined with parchment paper.

✋🏾 Sprinkle with the walnuts/pecans if using, pressing them slightly into the batter.

✋🏾 Cook for 25 minutes.

✋🏾 Let it cool at least 15 to 20 minutes before trying to slice.

Notes:

  • Black beans – Use unsalted beans. If using canned beans, make sure there is no salt added and drain the liquid from the can before combining the beans with the other ingredients.

  • Cocoa powder – You can use 2 Tbsp of cacao powder instead.

  • Almond butter – You can use peanut butter instead. When buying nut butters, make sure there is nothing else added in the list of ingredients, some jars of nut butters have oil and salt added.

These brownies are even better on the next day after being refrigerated.

The last time I made this recipe I asked my husband to help me pick some add-ons for the brownies. Can't say we agreed on all ingredient choices, but it's all about having fun in the kitchen :–)

This was the final result:

This is our entry to this month's #ChallengesByCin #JustTheTwoOfUs making brownies:

https://cinnamon.video/watch?v=418161306638485138

And here's a video showing the original recipe:

https://cinnamon.video/watch?v=421604810811246269

Cintia