Easter Dinner-Festival in a bowl!

Happy Monday everyone!

Hope you all had a fabulous Easter! As we are away from both of our families, it was pretty quiet but relaxing at the same time. In the morning we went to Oso Negro for coffee, where else! It's so nice to sit there and take the atmosphere in and relax..ahh! I'm still on my dandelion latte with rice milk kick. I don't think I'll ever tire of that delicious drink...mmm! We then did our grocery shopping for the week. I had a gift certificate for one of the stores I go to so that was awesome. Free groceries there meant more money for me to spend at the coop...yay! I picked up some vegan chocolate chips, quinoa flour, amaranth raw cashews, raw peanuts, and some mung beans, plus a lot more!

I'll let you know what I did with those ingredients in the rest of this post:)

To start off, I love sprouting mung beans. I find them really easy to work with and the sprouts are really cool looking and super tasty! I'll take a picture when they are ready.These sprouts are powerhouses of vitamins A,B, C, and E. They are also rich in the minerals calcium, iron, and potassium.

You may have already guessed what I made with the quinoa flour and the amaranth. Yep, I made the blueberry-amaranth muffins again. I couldn't resist:) They are just soo yummy! I put more blueberries in the time which helped sweeten them up a bit more because I didn't have quite enough maple syrup.

Love these and if you can try working with quinoa flour. It has a superb nutrient profile and its the least allergenic.

The raw cashews and some of the chocolate chips went into making Averie's High Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls. I've been eying these forever and I finally remembered to pick up some cashews. As Averie is so good at the fast and easy treats, I knew these would be awesome and FAST. And oh man these were fast all right..fast to be devoured. These treats were so delicious and taste like real cookie dough.

Oh ya baby! Doesn't it just feel a little rebellious eating cookie dough? I love it even though this is a raw recipe!

Here they are in their messy glory! I couldn't wait for these to be ready so I didn't take any time to make them pretty. Mmm! Definitely give these cookie balls a try. Your kids (and husband) will love these and they are cheaper than buying cookie dough ice cream. Plus, a lot better for you! You won't be sacrificing anything, trust me!

So, I kind of had dessert before dinner. I think that's suitable for Easter don't you think? I don't do that often so its all good. Plus dinner was very light and refreshing just how I'm liking them these days. I grew up in a family that loves to feed you so the more you ate the happier they were. This stuck with me and so my dinners were always so big, always cooked, overly carb-o-riffic. I've been on quite the journey to change this and now I'm quite content eating a large salad with a small amount of lightly cooked foods (or just the salad on its own). I still struggle with the fullness factor. I used to have to feel full, really full, before I would stop eating. I've learned that it takes the brain 20 minutes to relay the message that you have eaten enough. So, after 20 minutes I would feel gross and sorry for myself that I ate so much. I'm trying to train myself that being content is a better feeling than overly full. I work on this every day along with stopping the negative feelings and thoughts.

So, what was my light and refreshing Easter meal? I made a lovely thai noodle salad from All recipes awhile back for a potluck with Ryan's school buddies and it was a real hit. The guy who hosted it kept telling people to try it "and it's vegan" he would say lol! I love it when people love vegan food..especially guys:) So, for Easter I decided to try it with wild rice instead of noodles. It was just as delicious and added a whole different texture that went so well with the crunch of the raw veggies. Speaking of veggies, check out the mixture I used for the salad....

The hubby even commented on how gorgeous this salad was:) It had red pepper, red cabbage, celery, broccoli, carrots, cucumber, green onions, and cilantro.

Here it is all mixed up. Ready to be dressed in the most amazing peanut sauce!

Here are the toppings! Some crushed raw peanuts and peanut sauce! If you want a high raw version check out this recipe.

This is the trifecta (love that word)!. Raw veggies, wild rice, and peanut sauce (plus peanuts:) The festival in a bowl is what I like to call this as the flavour are so FULL. You've got so much going on in your mouth-one bite might be all crunch, another all soft, one may be sweet and salty, the next sweet and spicy...yumm! I love a dish with complex flavours that is easy to prepare. Plus you get your fair share of great raw veggies:)

Have a great rest of your Monday! I think we are going to leave the gym for tomorrow and go out for some Java instead..need I tell you where?

PS Averie is having an amazing giveaway on her blog. You will not want to miss this one!

Another cool giveaway is taking place on the Helping Mommys Win Blog. Who wants a flirty apron?