Despite what you may think, living with a food blogger is not always peachy! Aside from the new dishes, plentiful leftovers, and a freezer packed with goodies, there are dishes, messes, computer troubles, steep grocery bills, minor breakdowns, and taste-testings gone wrong.
Despite all of this, Eric’s biggest complaint is that I rarely make the same dish more than once! In the name of new blog content, I try to make new recipes so I have fun things to post for you guys, but in the process I often leave fabulous recipes in the dust.
So last weekend, we came up with a few favourite recipes from our past and I said I would make a couple off this list each week to bring back some classics!
Currently on our favourites list:
- Ultimate Vegan Lentil Walnut Loaf
- 15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta (probably the most popular recipe on the blog!)
- Back on Track Wheatberry and Bean Salad (or other bean salad)
- Easy Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto
- Enchiladas with ‘cheeze’
- Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheeze
- Baked vegan doughnuts (Eric’s dessert request!)
The Ultimate Vegan Lentil Walnut Loaf, which I adapted from the Clean Food Cookbook (original cookbook recipe is here), is first on the list. Last night, I set out to make the loaf once again, but I decided to add sweet potato for a fun twist.
How can you go wrong with sweet potato? You just can’t.
Ok, maybe there was that one time.
For brevity’s sake, I won’t type out the entire recipe again, but I will tell you what changes I made for this version:
Modifications to Ultimate Vegan Lentil Walnut Loaf:
- 3/4 cup grated sweet potato
- 1/2 cup raisins (instead of 1/4 cup)
- Increased toasted walnuts to 1 cup (amped up the crunchy texture!)
- Omitted carrot and apple
- Added 1/2 tsp Italian seasonings
- Increased thyme to 1.5 tsp
- Added pinch of garlic powder
First version is here.
We usually have applesauce and sautéed greens on the side, but I was out of both, so I made a salad.
I sprinkled romaine with Energizing Protein Power Salad, added some chopped tomato, and homemade Better than bottled balsamic vinaigrette. It was delish!
So which version did I like better?
The first version because it held together better. Taste wise? They both taste awesome. This version had a more crunchy and chewy texture thanks to the increased raisins and walnuts.
I’m thinking about all kinds of mix-ins you could use for this recipe. I’m sure it would work with many ingredients and it would probably be amazing with fresh herbs too.
For breakfast, I started with a super green juice blend.
Cleansing Green Juice
- 1 apple
- 1 lemon
- 1 cucumber
- 1 cup Dandelion (blended in after)
Instead of juicing the Dandelion, I blended it in my Vita-mix with the juice. My juicer (Breville Fountain Juice Plus) does not juice greens well and I find it to be a waste because not much juice comes out. I prefer to juice ‘worth while’ veggies only and then blend in any greens afterwards. I feel like I get more bang for my buck this way. The clean up for 2 machines is not great though so I don’t do this often!
Not long after, breakfast was calling my name from the fridge! Don’t you love it when the breakfast fairy prepares breakfast for you?
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Strawberry Banana Crunch Vegan Overnight Oats
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup regular oats
- 2 tbsp raw buckwheat groats (the ‘crunch’, optional)
- 1.5-2 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 cup non-dairy milk
- 1 banana, chopped
- Pinch cinnamon
- 2-3 strawberries, chopped
- Maple syrup, to taste
Directions: Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and place in the fridge overnight or for at least 2 hours. Serve cold in the AM without cooking.
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Yum.
Updates:
1) In case you missed it on the weekend, I have a brand new Search bar installed on the right side bar of the blog. If you have tried searching the blog before you probably were frustrated that it didn’t work well. This new one is amazing and I hope that you will be able to find things much quicker! I’m very impressed with it so far. Go check it out and give it a try!
2) My Recipes page is up to date from the past week.
3) Check out this post for a homemade & all-natural drain cleaner (only two ingredients!) that I’m loving lately.
Happy Birthday to my Best Bud Allison! She is a new mommy, a new dentist, and one of the most awesome girls I know. XO
man anything with sweet potatoes + meatloaf is a winner to me! :)
This sounds delish Ange! I loved your lentil walnut loaf at Thanksgiving and I’m pretty sure the sweet potato version would be the bomb!! I also have a habit of always making new recipes, rather than going back to my tried-and-tested, already-posted ones. I think I might revisit a few this weekend. :)
Ohhh! I love a little crunch in my oats! Looks so good!
I love lentil loaves and this one sounds amazing with the addition of sweet potatoes! I actually have a bunch on hand so I might have to try this out. I love sweet potato ff too but often burn them I feel like they go from raw to charred in minutes if you dont watch out haha :)
Those oats looks wonderful, I’ve been looking for a way to use up some of my strawberries!
I made this lentil loaf from your website…it is amazing….i could eat the glaze with my finger…oh wait i did…
no shame ;)
That is exactly why I could never blog every day. I repeat recipes…a lot! I find a new love and then want to eat it all the time :)
I am totally going to go clean my drain! I have never been so excited to clean…but it sounds so easy!!
it is like a mad science experiment…so much fun!
Was totally at a loss of what to make for dinner, with some sweet potatoes calling my name, I am now making lentil loaf! Thanks for providing me a sense of direction.
I LOVED the look of the orginal loaf, and this one looks even BETTER if that’s possible!! I HAVE to make this!! :D
I have never tried a veggie loaf of any kind, this looks like a great one to start with!
We love the lentil walnut loaf! It’s been a while since we have made it as well so I need to get that back in the rotation soon!
YUM! I love lentils, walnuts and sweet potato individually but I’ve never thought to try them together. That’s why I love your site! So many inventive ideas!!
That’s oatmeal doesn’t look half bad either ;)
what a brilliant idea to blend the greens in! thanks for sharing!!!
I’ve been meaning to make that lentil loaf for a while now. Love the addition of sweet potato!
Soooo happy about the new search bar! I had a heck of a time finding your recipe for hummus soup- I ended up having to Google it. Ha! :)
hehe I know my old search was HORRIBLE! I used to have to google my own recipes hahah
Oh yum, I want this for breakfast! If only I were at home to make and enjoy this instead of work… ;)
It’s so great to see what your favorite recipes are–it’s true, there are so many on here that are worth repeating on a regular basis! Eric must be very glad to have such an innovative cook in the house :D
I haven’t had OO in such a long time and made a batch of original for this morning. Let’s just say I woke up and was out of bed BEFORE the alarm went off :)
I was thinking of doing up a meat-loaf the other day and remembered your lentil loaf once. I have cans of lentils but don’t know what to do with them.
I should try this :)
all your juices looks so so refreshing lately! I am super obsessed with VOO right now, esp with the warm weather right around the corner. they are so refreshing and cool in the morning + all your parfait pictures give me grrr-eat ideas. love love love. I wish I could eat breakfast (OATS!!!) for every meal :)