New Year; New Recipes

Oh 2015, you have sneakily arrived yet again. 

I have decided to go into the new year with a positive outlook towards everything including bettering my health and the decisions made in my daily diet. I also want to become more active and put exercise back into my daily routine. 

With school craziness it's been so hard maintaining an active lifestyle and making smart food choices becomes harder and harder too. 

I am determined to overcome these obstacles to get to a healthier (and "better feeling") me. 

For the first time ever (yes, ever) I decided to make a (somewhat) traditional New Year's Day meal. 

This meal consisted of your typical greens (a mix of kale, mustard, and collard), basic black eyed peas, sweet potato mash, corn, limas and (in case the corn before just wasn't enough) slightly sweetened vegan cornbread. 

All of the dinner deets are as follows...

Slightly Sweet Vegan Cornbread,

1 1/2 c. Cornmeal

1 c. Gluten Free Flour or baking mix (I used baking mix that already had xangthum gum)

2 tsp. baking powder

2 c. Almond milk

2 tsp. Apple cider vinegar

1/4 c. Agave syrup or maple syrup

1/4 c. Melted vegan butter

Mix almond milk and vinegar together and let sit for 5 minutes or so. Mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry and pour in a lightly greased square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes and a golden brown.

Sweet Potato Mash

3 large sweet potatoes

2-3 tbsp. maple syrup 

1/4 c. Orange juice

1/4 c. Almond milk

1 tsp. ground cinnamon 

1/2 tsp. ground ginger 

Bake sweet potatoes and scoop out insides. Mash with all other ingredients and pop in the oven in a slightly greased pan until warmed for about 15-20 minutes.

Basic Black Eyed Peas 

1 c. Cooked black eyes peas

1 tbsp. tomato paste 

1/4 c. Vegetable broth

Salt, pepper and oregano to taste

Combine everything and bring to boil and simmer until thickened for about 20 minutes or so.

"Not yo Granny's Greens"  (because just "greens" is not nearly as exciting...)

5 c. Mixed greens; chopped (I used mustard, kale, and collard) 

1/4 c. Veggie broth

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 

Cracked pepper, sea salt, and cracked red pepper to taste 

Toss greens around in pan with oil then covering with broth ever so slightly. Pile on the seasoning and place the lid on for 5 minutes or so. I cook mine until just soft enough but not mushy. These were my favorite part of the meal! 

The rest came out of a can....(just between you and me of course...)

So there you go! Take that 2015...

Here's to a "feelin good" new year!

~Crago