orange ginger sesame bliss balls

We all need a little ball of bliss every once in a while. These little beauties are sure to put a spring in your step, great for after a yoga session or in between classes at school. My inspiration came from these  delicious lemon poppy seed bites, and turned into an orange version of bliss balls.

And its just too easy...

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• about 15-17 dates, pitted and roughly chopped
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 3-4 Tbsp orange juice
• 1 Tbsp sesame seeds + 3 Tbsp for rolling
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds

Combine walnuts and sunflower seeds in food processor and grind into a coarse meal. Add dates, ginger, orange zest, 2 Tbsp orange juice, 1 Tbsp sesame seeds, and 1 Tbsp chia seeds. Blend into a thick dough, add more orange juice if needed.

Form into little balls and roll in remaining sesame seeds. Refrigerate and enjoy anywhere, anytime.

salty, sweet, and spicy carrot pasta

I love pasta but sometimes I don't like eating all those carbs. And let's face it, even if you are substituting brown rice pasta (which I did in this recipe) you are still getting a lot of starch. So, make the veggies part of your pasta and you'll be getting more of what feels good inside (and you can eat more of it too :))

With just a normal vegetable peeler you too can make carrot fettuccine! All you do is strip carrot with peeler all the way down to the core, I rotate the carrot as I go to use as much of the carrot as I can. Now, add carrots to your sauce and cook about half as much pasta that you would normally cook. When pasta is ready, toss everything together for a hearty meal with an extra veggie punch!

Salty, sweet, and spicy carrot pasta

This recipe combines salty capers, sweet carrots, and spicy red pepper flakes for a pasta experience like you've never had before. This combo isn't for everyone, but you can make it with your favorite pasta sauce, just like you always make it, just add the carrot strips at the end, use half the amount of pasta that you normally would do, and bam. Same concept, different flavor. You could also experiment using zucchinis instead of carrots, which is my next mission!

• 1/2 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 4 carrots
• 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes 
• 2 Tbsp capers
• fresh basil
• crushed red pepper
• black pepper

 Chop onion and garlic. Strip carrots as directed earlier. Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan. Add onion and garlic and cook until transparent. Throw tomatoes in the blender and 1/2 blend, so there are still a few chunks. Add tomatoes to saucepan. Add black pepper and red pepper flakes. The amounts of both of those are entirely up to you. I don't even know how much I do because I just eyeball it. But I suggest you go easy on the spice because you can always add more! Cook the tomatoey sauce for 5-10 minutes.

Boil water for pasta and throw in enough fettuccine noodles for one serving (half the amount you would do when cooking for two.) Again, this one is up to you, it really depends on how much pasta you eat! But the whole point of this meal is to cut down on the amount noodles and replace them with carrots! Cook pasta as directed.

Add stripped carrots to your sauce and cover to help cook, stirring occasionally. They should take a good ten minutes to get soft enough to resemble a noodle. Add capers and chopped fresh basil. Drain and rinse pasta. Toss pasta with sauce and you are ready to eat! Don't forget to taste along the way to make sure it is salty and spicy enough! I don't need to add any salt to this recipe because, for me, the capers are enough. But everyone has their own taste for salt!

coconut curry soup with mushrooms and bok choy

Mmmmmm. Such a good combination. I found a recipe for a coconut bok choy soup on pinterest but it was raw. I'm sure it would have been amazing, but I thought those same ingredients would make an incredible hot soup for dinner... I was right. 

• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1 Tbsp Bragg's Amino Acids
• 13.5 oz can of coconut milk, I used lite
• 1 cup veggie broth
• 2 cups water (plus extra to mix with cornstarch)
• 2 Tbsp corn starch
• 9 white mushrooms
• 3 heads bok choy
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Heat a tiny bit of olive oil in a pot and throw in the onion and garlic. After a few minutes add all spices and Bragg's, cook for a few minutes to toast spices. Add coconut milk, veggie broth, and water. Mix the two Tbsp corn starch with enough water to dissolve it. Add to soup. Cut mushrooms into bite size pieces and add to soup. Cut ends off bok choy heads and rinse each leaf, thinly slice. 

When mushrooms are nearly cooked add the chopped bok choy. Cook to your liking. It's nice to have the green still very green but be sure to cook it long enough to soften the stalks. I do a lot of taste testing  while mine is cooking, no timer needed. 

I added my fresh chopped parsley right before serving the soup into bowls. I have it in my garden so it literally goes into everything! Its nice but not necessary.

And with all of this spring rain, it just feels like a good night for soup! Mushrooms are a natural source of vitamin D (needed in rainy weather like this) and bok choy is a good source of calcium.