Cucumber-Dill Dip

Robyn Lilley

This is a very fresh and creamy dip!

1.5 cups to 2 cups of chopped cucumber

1 whole sliced cucumber (for serving, not for the dip)

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds

1/3 sunflower seeds

Juice of one lemon

1 tbsp Braggs or coconut aminos

2 tbsp dill weed (dried – or use 4 tbsp fresh)

Blend all ingredients into a blender until smooth.  For a runnier dip, or to create a salad dressing, simply add more cucumber.  For a thicker dip, add more pumpkin or sunflower seeds.  Keep this dish simple and garnish it with either fresh or dried dill, or a sprig of parsley.  Serve it with the freshly sliced cucumbers.  This smells and tastes amazing.  A party favourite!

Enjoy!

Robyn

Green Smoothies - my favourite breakfast drink!

Ummm….What exactly is a GREEN Smoothie?  I’m scared!

Don’t be scared.  Get excited!  A green smoothie is typically a smoothie made of about 60% fresh fruit and about 40% “greens” (green leafy vegetables.)  Drinking something that is green may sound a little questionable, but TRUST me, these smoothies (depending on what you put in them) can be truly delicious and are a great way to get more nutrition into your body.  Imagine consuming five or more servings of leafy greens for breakfast!  All things are possible with that magical blender of yours!

Some Examples of Greens:

Spinach, romaine, lettuces (green leaf, red leaf), kale, beet greens, celery (stalks and leaves), bok choy, cilantro, collard greens, swiss chard, parsley, dandelion leaves, plantain, lambsquarters, alfalfa greens, mint, and sprouts.  There are many more, but these are ones I have tried and like.

Some Examples of Fruits:

Apples, avocados, bananas, pears, apricots, cherries, cucumbers, dates, figs, peaches, plums, berries (strawberries, blueberries, huckleberries, saskatoon, cranberry, gooseberry, etc.) grapes, raisins, gogi berries, citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, mandarins, clementines, grapefruits), nectarines, peaches, guavas, passion fruits, papayas, coconuts, dragon fruits, durian, pineapples, lychee, mangos, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, persimmon, rhubarb, kiwifruit...just to name a few!

Other Possible Smoothie Ingredients:

I love the taste of just fruit and greens, but occasionally I might add one of the following ingredients: spices such as cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice;  Nut milks such as almond, hempseed or cashew milk; Nuts and seeds such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, hemp seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and chia seeds.

While fresh produce is usually best, frozen fruits are great to always have on hand in the freezer so that…shazam!…a smoothie could be whipped up at any moment and you don’t have to worry about rushing to the store!  Oh, the possibilities!  If you will be making smoothies for the entire day, you may help preserve them by adding a bit of lemon juice, or by blending your smoothie with ice to keep it cold.  Alternately, you could keep it stored in a cool thermos with some ice if you will take it with you to work or school.  It is also possible to freeze green smoothies if you will be traveling and will be unable to make fresh smoothies.  (This is a great idea for camping.)

Here are some examples - but you can use whatever you have on hand and get creative!  I make mine different every time! 

“Popeye’s Dessert”

• Large handful or two of spinach leaves
• 1 cup of blueberries
• 1 cup cherries
• 1-2 bananas
• 2 cups pure water

“Romania”

• Large handful (or two) of romaine lettuce
• few sprigs of cilantro
• 1-2 bananas
• 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries or strawberries
• 1/2 cucumber
• 2 cups pure water

“Kale Goodness”:

• 2 large handfuls of kale leaves
• 1 large mango (fresh or frozen)
• 1 cut up apple
• 1-2 celery stalks
• 2 cups pure water
• optional: some freshly grated ginger

Directions: place all ingredients in your high-speed blender and blend well.  Add more water if needed. Add ice if you plan to keep your smoothie cold for a long period of time. This is an awesome way to get your greens into your diet anytime of day.  I prefer to drink it in the morning. I feel good knowing that I have had my greens before 7am…if I can do that I can get on with my day knowing I've put some awesome nutrients into my body and I'm ready to face the day! 

with love and gratitude,

Robyn 

Delicious Chocolate Almond Butter Bliss Balls

I make these slightly different every time, but here is the recipe for some awesome Chocolate Almond Butter Bliss Balls I made the other night:

 

Ingredients:

2 cups almonds

3/4 cup medjool dates (sliced in half and pitted)

1/4 cup cocoa powder

3 tbsp maple syrup (the pure stuff - no Aunt Jamima sugar syrup here!!)

pinch himalayan sea salt (or another kind of high quality sea salt

1/2 tsp vanilla powder (you can just use liquid vanilla extract if you don't have vanilla powder).

 

 

Directions:

In a food processor fitted with an S blade, process the almonds until broken down, but not into a powder, while the food processor is running, add the pitted medjool dates, and let process for a minute or so.  Next, add the cocoa powder, sea salt, and the vanilla.  Lastly, add the maple syrup slowly until the mixture starts to stick together a bit more.  Usually, the whole mixture starts to form a sort of a big clump as it goes around and around. This is good.  What you don't want is to add too much maple syrup too quickly so that it gets too sticky and the mixture sticks to the side of the container. This makes it more difficult and messy to form into balls.

 

Stop the food processor and start rolling into balls.  I think the batch I made made about 25 or so bite-sized balls.  I ate 5 on the way to the party I made them for - couldn't help myself....they are so darn tasty! lol. Enjoy!!

 

Tip: sometimes I add in other random bulk ingredients from my pantry, like a small handful of gogi berries, raisins, pumpkin seeds, or hemp hearts!  You can also experiment by substituting other types of nuts such as walnuts or pecans.  So yummy.  I know you will enjoy these!

 

Robyn

http://www.prairiepost.com/news/alberta/item/3691-coaldale-teacher-sees-value-in-exchange-programs.html

Hello all!

It's been a while since I've written on my blog.  I had an absolutely amazing time in Australia, on my teaching exchange.  I learned so much about teaching, but most importantly about the world, about Australia, about myself, and about my place in it!  I would love to visit Australia again soon to visit all the friends I made while I was away.  It is hard to believe it has been a year since I have been back in Canada.  Time has seriously flown by so fast!

I've been meaning to hop on this blog thing to see if it works.  I actually totally forgot all about it!  Anyways, here I am, saying hello to you again.  So….hellooooooo:)   Are you out there?

My plan is to start using my blog more often.  I want to start adding recipes, links, and other fun bits of information that I come across.  Most things will refer to health and wellness, but other topics might include teaching (I am a grade three teacher!), hula hooping, salsa dancing, making superfood icings, making healing and medicinal teas and elixirs, singing funny songs, reading good books, and creating amazing and edible lip gloss (which I am quite obsessed about lately!), crafting body butters and natural skincare products, and about eating all sorts of delicious things. I looooooove food - both eating it and wearing it - especially on my face as part of a face mask!

Here's me at the Urban Grocer with my latest shipment of Chilly Lilley Bliss Balls.  Cheryl is the owner of the store, and she has been kind enough to feature them in her store and sell them for me.  When I went in today I saw that they are almost out, so it is almost time to make more very soon!

The Urban Grocer is having an open house on Thursday, December 5th, of which I will be a part of. I will be making some gift pack sample sizes of my beauty care products and food products, for people to purchase as Christmas gifts!  Hope to see you there.  I will have gift certificates available for my upcoming classes.

Ok….I'm feeling much more productive now that I have reconnected with my blog.  Yay!

See you again soon…I'll let you know how Thursday night went!

Robyn xo