Christina Najjar

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie (Paleo, Vegan)

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For someone who doesn’t eat sugar, the struggle to find a pumpkin spice smoothie recipe can be real. Recipes tend to be sweetened with bananas, maple syrup, or honey (or any combination of these). For those who can tolerate natural sugars, that’s great.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Smoothie Christina Najjar

I’ve been focusing on completely sugar free foods for a number of reasons lately. For one, my hormones haven’t been cooperating with me. Over the last two months, all my sugar has come from vegetables (except for the occasional alcoholic beverage). It’s funny how much of a difference that alone can make. My energy levels are up, my moods are more stable, cramps have significantly reduced, and I’m more in control of my body in general.

The other main reason I’ve been experimenting with sugar free foods is that there has been a need for it with my clients. People who find their way to my office have all kinds of health concerns that require completely cutting out sugar. This ranges from Lyme Disease to leaky gut (digestive disturbances) and PCOS.

And of course, the issue that most people who go see a nutritionist have in common, adrenal fatigue, improves much faster without eating sugar. Click here to read more about adrenal fatigue. It’s the kind of health issue that needs to be addressed right away to improve most other health concerns.

This pumpkin spice smoothie is surprisingly good. I was actually kind of skeptical it would be palatable when I was making it. I find that protein powders have a way of reducing the enjoyment factor of most smoothies. Usually, the stevia is too overpowering for me. It just blended right in with this recipe though. The texture is also great. It’s thick and creamy, no chunkiness. It tastes like a dessert which is perfectly acceptable to have for breakfast.

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie (Paleo, Vegan)

Ingredients
1/2 cup ice
1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used my homemade almond milk)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I used Genuine Health Fermented Vegan Proteins+)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp allspice
OR can sub in pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice
Optional: A few drops of Stevia

Directions
Combine all the ingredients in a blender in the order listed. Serve right away. Makes 2 cups (1 serving).

Green Tea Muffins (vegan)

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I usually keep my posts nice and short, but this week, I want to bring up the issue of body image. If you would like to skip ahead to the green tea muffins recipe, scroll down to the picture.

For a very long time, society has told us that beauty meant being thin. While the definition of beauty has been expanded to include a bigger variety of body types, there still seems to be this ideal in place that being thin is attractive.

I raise this issue from the position of a small girl. I’m 5’2″ and wear size 00 or 0, depending on where I shop. It’s not that I’m unnaturally skinny; I just have a small build. I have what some people would call an “ideal” body shape: a small waist, and curvier hips.

So, what’s the issue? Let me bring up a few examples to demonstrate my concern. I work in retail, and my store has recently relocated. The new location has skinny mirrors, meaning that these mirrors that are designed to make people look thinner. I personally dislike the mirrors, but many customers seem to become excited at the sight of them.

Clothes shopping feels like an ordeal to me because I have such a hard time finding things in my size. Yet, when I complain to friends or coworkers about it, they’ll often take a sarcastic tone and reply something along the lines of, “Oh, poor you, you’re thin”.

Sometimes, conversations will turn to the topic of complaints we have about ourselves; “My feet are too big…” or “I’m so small that I never get taken seriously, since I look so young…”. What shocks me about these conversations is when someone’s complaint is dismissed with “Yeah but men like that”.

That should be plenty of examples to illustrate my concerns. Simply put, we are still letting society think for us. Rather than accepting our unique, beautiful bodies, we get stuck on how to fit a practically impossible mold in order to be perceived a certain way by others. That becomes exhausting quickly. Or maybe that’s just me.

The only person standing in your way is you. I know you’ve heard this many times. I feel that it applies here. Think of how much time to truly accomplish yourself would open up if you stopped getting stuck on the size of your thighs. On your deathbed, you won’t complain about how you wish you had toned your belly muscles more.

I have a lot of work to do that in that regard, but it’s always good to reflect upon these things. Hopefully, you’ll join me in my reflection in order to unleash your potential!

Green tea muffins

Now, the green tea muffins! I’m a fan of matcha powder, but it’s on the expensive side. I had 5 free bags of tea to claim from David’s tea so I ended up getting 4 bags of matcha powder. Not bad, huh? I decided to make these green tea muffins as a solution to my boredom with my breakfasts lately.

Green Tea Muffins

Ingredients
1 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch
3 tbsp potato starch
1 tsp xanthan gum
3 tbsp organic cane sugar or alternative
1 tsp matcha powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup oil

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 6 cups of a muffin pan. Avoid using muffin liners. No, seriously. The muffins will stick to the paper.

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients and mix well. Spoon into the greased cups of the muffin pan.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Gluten free Cinnamon Raisin Bread (vegan)

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When I was younger, when I went to Calgary with my mom, we would go to the Eau Claire market and get the best cinnamon raisin bread ever. The memory of that bread stayed with me. Since I can no longer buy amazing raisin bread, I took it upon myself to make beauty happen.

Homemade whole grain cinnamon raisin bread

I’ve officially lived in four different apartments in the last year. I moved again last week, hopefully for the last time in a looong while. I decided to downsize because my last place was costing me more than I could afford. I found a nice roomy studio with a great kitchen. This one will save me a few hundred dollars a month. Plus, now I live in my favourite neighbourhood in town.

I finally got settled in yesterday. I spent several hours unpacking box after box. I do still have a few boxes to unpack, but all the important stuff has been taken care of. I’m glad, because I ate pre-made meals for a week straight, while all my pans and utensils were held hostage in cardboard. It was too late yesterday to make bread by the time I was done working on the apartment, but I set to it when I woke up this morning.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Ingredients
2 cups water (room temperature for bread machine, slightly warm for oven)
3 tbsp flax meal or chia meal – this will be part of the wet ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp maple syrup (or try honey)
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup teff flour
1/2 cup starch (tapioca, potato, arrowroot, or a combination)
2 tbsp sweet rice flour
2 tbsp sorghum flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp xanthan gum
2 tsp cinnamon
1 package regular yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 cup sultana raisins

Directions
In the bread machine:
Add all the ingredients in the order listed, except for raisins. If your bread machine has a gluten free function, use that one. Otherwise, a regular function will do. This recipe will make a 2 lb loaf.

When the first mix cycle is finished, check on the dough to make sure there are no lumps left.

Remove the loaf from the bread machine immediately when it is done. Otherwise, it will become soggy. Wait at least ten minutes before cutting it.

In the oven:
In a small bowl, combine water, maple syrup, and yeast. It should take about ten minutes to proof the yeast (foam will form at the top). If the yeast doesn’t proof, it’s no longer good. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. When the yeast has proofed, add in the rest of the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones and mix well.

Transfer the dough to a greased loaf pan. Cover with a towel and let the yeast rise for an hour in a warm place (try over the fridge).

Heat the oven to 350F degrees. Once it reaches that temperature, put the loaf in the oven and bake for one hour. Let the loaf cool down before cutting.

Make Your Own Coconut Milk (paleo, vegan, sugar free)

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If, like me, you go through tons of coconut milk, it may be advantageous for you to start making your own. First of all, it’s more economical. I can make it for $1 (or less) using coconut shavings, or I can buy it for $3.29 in Ottawa. Additionally, making your own is healthier. You get to control what goes into your milk; no weird binding agents or preservatives.

I’ve also been trying to be more conscious of reducing my waste. I could easily go through 2 tetra packs of coconut milk per week. That waste accumulates really quickly! I would much rather use and reuse my mason jars.

Coconut milk you can make at home

Make Your Own Coconut Milk (paleo, vegan, sugar free)

What you need
1 cup shredded coconut
3 cups boiling water
Blender
4 cup (1L) mason jar
Funnel
Fine mesh strainer or nut milk bag

What you do
Combine the boiling water and the shredded coconut in the blender. LET IT COOL DOWN. I didn’t wait, and I ended up burning myself. Because of the higher temperature, more pressure is required on the blender lid to stop it from overflowing. Avoid accidents by letting it cool down.

Once cooled down, blend for a few minutes. You won’t be able to get rid of all the coconut pieces so blend it until it’s to your desired thickness. Then, if you’re using a strainer, place your funnel in the jar mouth and the strainer on top of the funnel, and pour the coconut milk. If you’re using the nut milk bag, place it in a bowl and pour the coconut through the bag.

You can add a bit of vanilla and a liquid sweetener for taste, but it’s not necessary, if you want to skip that step.

Refrigerate for up to 5 days. A solid block of fat will form at the top. This can be blended in smoothies or heated to melt.

Pudla (Vegan Chickpea Flour Pancakes With Veggies)

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When I went to see my naturopath last week, she told me that I need to eat more protein with breakfast. Because breakfast is a rare occurrence around here, I wasn’t surprised to hear that. While I do try to make overnight oats for any day that I start work at 8 or earlier, I always seem to think I’ll have time for breakfast with later shifts. But who am I kidding… I did do some research and found this thing called “pudla”.

Forums are loaded with good ideas, though those ideas don’t all work for me. Pudlas, however, seem to work well for me. They’re chickpea flour based vegetable pancakes from Indian origin. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned how much I love Indian food, but I LOVE IT. Oh what? Half my recipes are Indian food? Oh, I guess I must have mentioned it before!

To be honest, I have no idea if my pudla recipe is anything close to the real thing. I found guidelines for making these pancakes and I added the spices with inspiration from onion bahji. If you don’t have fennel seeds, you can skip them, but it brought these savory pancakes to a whole new level.

Chickpea flour pancakes (pudla)

Pudla (Vegan Chickpea Flour Pancakes With Veggies)

Ingredients
2 cups chickpea flour
1 tsp each: baking soda, salt, turmeric, cumin powder
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 medium sized white mushrooms, sliced
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
Oil for frying (optional)

Directions
Combine the dry ingredients. Mix in the wet ingredients. Add the veggies.

Heat a bit of oil (if using) in a frying pan over medium heat. Pour a quarter of the batter into the pan and spread evenly. When the top looks like it’s not liquid anymore, flip the pudla over and cook for another couple of minutes. Makes 4 pancakes.

Make Ahead Meals in Jars (vegan)

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You may have already read my post about slowcooker freezer bags. If so, you know I’m a fan of preparing food ahead of time to cut down on preparation time when my schedule gets hectic. Right now, it’s getting hectic. I have a lot on my plate, and not in the tasty, big belly, burping kind of way.

With my upcoming move, I need to empty everything in my pantry.  On the plus side, I’m guessing I’ll be saving on groceries. But on the downside, it could get boring quickly. So, I’ve attempted to make some interesting dry meals in jars to keep things interesting.

Make ahead vegan meals in jars

Make Ahead Meals In Jars

Apple Raisin Oatmeal

Make ahead vegan meals in jars

Ingredients
2 cups oats
1/2 cup each: coconut shavings, raisins, and chopped dehydrated apples
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions
Add the mix to 5 cups of boiling water. Cover it and let it simmer. Stir occasionally. Remove it from the heat after 10 minutes and let it sit for 5 minutes before serving. You can add a few tablespoons of sugar to the dry mix, but I’d rather add a sugar free sweetener once it’s cooked. Serves 4.

Curried Coconut Red lentil soup

Make ahead vegan meals in jars

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups red lentils
1/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup dehydrated onion flakes
2 tbsp parsley flakes
1 1/2 tsp turmeric – replace the cumin and turmeric with curry powder if you’re missing one of them
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground ginger
1 veggie bouillon cube*

*I buy mine in the bulk section of natural food stores. Make sure to read the ingredients, as some contain gluten and/or corn. The ones I buy have a bit of maltodextrin, but I haven’t been reacting to them. I’m supposed to mix them with two cups of water, but I find it makes everything too salty, so I use 1 cube per 3 cups of water.

Directions
Add mix to 7 cups of boiling water. Simmer covered, stirring occasionally. Cook for 30 minutes. Serves 4.

Note: the amount of spices in this recipe reduces the required amount of broth, which is why 1 bouillon cube is enough for 7 cups of water.

Apple lentil soup

Make ahead vegan meals in jars

Ingredients
2 cups green lentils
1/2 cup dehydrated apple slices, cut up
3 tbsp dehydrated onion flakes
1 tbsp parsley flakes
1 tsp ground ginger
2 veggie bouillon cubes
1 bay leaf

Directions
Add mix to 7 cups of boiling water. Simmer covered, stirring occasionally. Cook for 30 minutes. Serves 4.

Quinoa Rice Bowl

Make ahead vegan meals in jars

Ingredients
2/3 cup quinoa
2/3 cup rice of choice (make sure its the 2:1 water to rice ratio kind) – I use Uncle Ben’s Wholegrain Perfection
1/3 cup dehydrated veggies
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 veggie bouillon cube

Directions
Add mix to 3 cups of boiling water. Simmer covered, stirring occasionally. Cook for 20 minutes. Serves 4.

Note: you can play around with the quinoa and rice proportions as long as you have 1 1/3 cup total of rice and quinoa. I would usually put more quinoa, but I ran out this time.

And there you have it, 4 meals prepared in jars in next to no time!

Apple Chicken Breakfast Sausage

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I have recently found out that I can’t peacefully digest regular sausage. This quite saddens me, because the Sausage Kitchen in the Byward Market here in Ottawa makes amazing gluten free sausage. I’m thinking the problem might be the high fat content. But hey, no biggie, since I have a healthier alternative anyway.

So, you thought low fat food had to be bland? Think again. I buy extra lean ground chicken sausage and use molasses to stop it from being dry. I like to fry it on the stove top with a bit of oil, but you could make it in a non-stick skillet without oil, or probably in a non-stick pan in the oven.

This recipe is really simple, and yet seems complicated enough to an outsider to be able to make this to impress a carnivore. I find it’s also really nice as leftovers.

Apple Chicken Breakfast Sausage

Apple Chicken Sausage

Ingredients
1 small package ground chicken, about 1 lb
1/2 apple, chopped finely (Granny Smith works well)
2 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp rosemary leaves
1 tsp salt
Black pepper to taste

Directions
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least three hours, though overnight is preferable.

To form into patties, I suggest using plastic gloves, especially if you have long nails. Because of the molasses, the mixture will be stickier than most ground chicken recipes. Patties of about two inches in diameter seem to be perfect. Alternatively, you can roll them, but keep in mind that it may need to cook longer, which could possibly make them turn out less moist.

Place patties in a lightly oiled skillet. If you don’t want to use oil, make sure your skillet is non-stick. Cook on medium heat for about 7 minutes. Turn the sausage and cook for another 5 minutes. Using a lid makes it cook faster and more uniformly. Makes about 4 servings.

Tofu Scramble (vegan)

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I bought a package of silken tofu to try to make a vegan version of cream cheese icing, but after reading online about how awful that was going to taste, I decided to repurpose the silken tofu. I’ve always been a bit curious about tofu scramble, especially since I started liking tofu.

I’ve noticed that many carnivores think vegetarianism is terrible because tofu tastes bad. Ignoring the fact that many vegetarians don’t actually eat tofu, it’s important to understand tofu before deciding it tastes awful. Yes, tofu is tasteless. That’s what makes it beautiful. It’s super versatile! You just have to make sure to add tons of flavour to tofu, and you may just have yourself an amazing meal.

The tofu scramble is made to resemble eggs, but don’t expect it to taste like eggs because it won’t. If you decide to modify the recipe I provide you with, just remember to add a lot of flavour to it.

Tofu scramble: vegan breakfast staple

Tofu Scramble

Ingredients
1 package silken tofu
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 bell pepper, chopped (I used green)
1 tsp turmeric
1-2 tbsp oil for frying
salt and black pepper to taste

Directions
Add oil, onion, and garlic to a large frying pan over medium-high heat and toss around for 1 or 2 minutes, until it’s nice and fragrant. Throw in the silken tofu and mash it a bit (not too much) with a fork. Add turmeric, salt, and pepper, and toss around to coat evenly.

You want to make sure the water evaporates so that your scramble isn’t soggy. It took mine about 15 minutes to reach the point that I like, but it’s a matter of tastes. Make sure to toss the scramble around every few minutes to help the water evaporate faster. About five minutes before it’s done to your liking, add in the bell pepper. Makes 2-3 servings.

Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats (vegan, no added sugar)

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Overnight oats are such a convenient concept. They take just a few minutes to put together, and then time and your fridge do the rest of the work. If this is your first time trying overnight oats, I’m warning you that some people don’t enjoy the texture. Personally, I’m really picky with textures, but I really enjoy overnight oat texture.

Overnight oats are versatile too. I like apple as a breakfast flavour, but really, you can keep the milk, oats, and chia seed proportions intact and flavour it as you wish. Some of my other favourite flavours include pumpkin spice and chocolate nut butter.

You can make a few tweaks to boost the nutritional content of this recipe. Chia seeds are a great source of healthy fats, but our bodies can’t access the fats in whole chia. While this may alter the texture a bit, you can grind the chia seeds before throwing them in, making the fats more available.

Additionally, if you’re only going to eat adequate protein for one meal, breakfast should be that meal. It helps “set the tone” for how your blood sugar levels are going to behave that day. This is especially important for diabetes, hypoglycemia, and hormonal conditions like PMS, PCOS, endometriosis, and infertility. To boost the protein in these overnight oats, I like to add some ground hemp hearts or hemp protein powder.

Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats

Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats (vegan, no added sugar)

Ingredients
3/4 cup non-dairy milk
1/3 cup gluten free oats
2 tbsp chia seeds
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Splash of vanilla extract
3 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 apple, chopped
Optional: maple syrup, honey, or stevia to taste

Directions
In the evening, combine all the ingredients except the apple sauce and the apple in an individual bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, add the apple and the apple sauce before serving.

Saturday Morning Pancakes (vegan)

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The biggest chunk of my morning routine consists of delaying getting up. This leaves me little time to do everything else one does in the morning, so I end up having to choose what’s more important to me. It’s sad to say, but doing my hair is higher on my list of priorities than breakfast. I drink my cup of lemon hot water and my shot of apple cider vinegar while I do my make up, I brush my teeth, and then I’m out the door. I tell myself I’ll just eat a nut bar at work (if I had a nickel for every time I also skipped the nut bar…). As you can imagine, pancakes before work are as likely as beach weather in January.

Vegan pancakes that can be made without sugar

On the odd day, I do like to have a nice breakfast. There’s nothing like pancakes to keep you full until your next meal. I’ve experimented a lot with vegan and gluten free pancakes. It should be said that it hasn’t been an easy one to figure out. This recipe is the closest I’ve ever gotten to gluten-textured pancakes, but it’s not quite the same, so be warned.

Vegan Pancakes

Ingredients
1 flax egg – 1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp warm water
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup starch – I do half potato starch, half tapioca starch
1/2 cup + 1/3 cup brown rice flour
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp corn free baking powder*
4 tsp maple syrup
1 3/4 cups non-dairy milk
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla
Oil for frying

Directions
Start by preparing your flax egg by mixing the water with the flax. It needs to sit for about 5 minutes. Beat well until it looks frothy.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then, in a separate bowl (or a large measuring cup), combine the wet ingredients. Pour the flax egg and the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix well. The batter will be thick, but it should be a bit runny. If it doesn’t spread out in the bowl on its own, add more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time. You still want it to be thicker than gluten-containing pancake batter.

Pour oil in a frying pan and let it warm up over medium heat (or slightly lower). Using a ladle, pour a bit of batter in the frying pan. You’ll need to spread it with the back of the ladle. After about 3-4 minutes, flip it and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

*For a more crepe-like consistency, omit the baking powder and increase the amount of milk until the batter is quite runny.

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Christina Najjar - Natural Nutrition

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2122B Montreal Rd
Ottawa ON K1J 6M7
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