As the weather cools, I am inspired by the crisp, fall, and sometimes salty sea-mist, air in Seattle. It's a sign that autumn is here and time to warm up the mind, body and home. And with a box of Explore Cuisine's Organic Edamame Spaghetti Noodles, I decided to create an Asian-inspired soup. 

Healthy, hearty and whole, these are my newly found favorite noodles. I discovered these noodles while exploring the booths at the IDEA World Fitness Convention in Las Vegas. Impressed by their samples using these noodles, this bean-based spaghetti is more versatile than I realized.

​From Italian to Asian, we don't have to always use spaghetti the traditional way. The best part is that we can consume noodles without wheat. This is not only perfect for people with gluten allergies, but it gives our digestive system a break so we can still consume the things we love without eliminating it from our diet. Plus, this pasta is lower in carbohydrates and higher in protein - in fact it's 24 grams per serving! Between the fresh herbs, spices and vegetables, this is one powerful plant-based meal!

I don't know anyone who doesn't love Asian food, but sometimes there are mysterious ingredients when using premade sauces. Sodium, msg and preservatives, the secret to cooking Asian food is through the spices. I like to make my food flavorful without high dosages of sodium. All natural and food being as clean as possible is important to me.

​So get ready to explore a world of cuisine that is flavored (and inspired by nature). 

The original recipe below is best served for 2 to 3 people. However, the box of noodles can serve four bowls. Double the broth recipe for four people, that way there is plenty of broth to go around. 

I hope your heart and home stays warm this autumn and be sure to check out Explore Cuisine's Organic Edamame Spaghetti Noodles and other products on their website. 

Disclaimer: I have not been compensated for my review, but have been given the product directly from Explore Cuisine.  

Coconut Vegetable Soup with Explore Cuisine's Organic Edamame Noodles
​Prep time: 10 minutes
​Cook Time; 20-3 minutes
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
1 box ​Explore Cuisine's Organic Edamame Spaghetti Noodles
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Vegetables:
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 head of broccoli, chopped
1 cup cabbage, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
pinch of salt + tamari (or soy sauce)
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Broth:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 inch knob of ginger, quartered
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, diced
5 inch fresh lemongrass, cut in half
1 tbsp thai basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
2 cups vegetable broth
7 oz (200 grams) coconut milk (1/2 can)
splash of lime juice
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Optional garnish:
thai basil
cilantro
lime wedge 

Directions:

Noodles:
Cook noodles according to the package's directions.

Broth:
In a pot, cook the onion, garlic, lemongrass, thai basil and ginger in oil for 3 to 5 minutes on low heat. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer on low for 20-25 minutes. 

Vegetables:
Wash and prep the vegetables. Sauté the vegetables with oil in a skillet on low heat for several minutes. Add the salt and tamari and stir fry for several minutes until the vegetables are edible but still crunchy. 

Place noodles in a bowl and top with vegetables. Ladle as much broth as you prefer and top with the optional garnish. Serve warm! 

​*NOTE: If you want this to serve four people, double the broth recipe.  

Happy Fall Equinox! 
​
Looks can be deceiving. This is not exactly my finest photography skills, but I had to run to teach a yoga class within thirty-minutes of removing the pie from the oven. 

I had a hankering for something cheesy and hearty. Something au gratin sounded good. I picked up some late-summer zucchini and squash at the Queen Anne Farmer's Market and decided to concoct a cheesy, zucchini/squash pie. 

The pie is simple to make and solidifies once the pie has been completely cooled. As you can see in the above image, the cheese sauce "bled" through the open segment, but if you want to serve the pie completely solid, let it cool and then reheat  after cutting.

This recipe is extra quick if you use a pre made pie crust. If not, I recommend using your favorite recipe. If you don't have a recipe, a quick Google search will do the trick. I recommend using vegan butter instead of coconut oil to capture the buttery and savory flavor that compliments that nutritional yeast. Enjoy!  

Vegan Zucchini Squash Au-Gratin Pie
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients:
1 premade dairy-free pie crust
2 large zucchini + squash
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1 cup cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
1 cup nondairy milk (used almond)
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper + onion salt
splash of apple cider vinegar

Directions: 
Preheat the oven to the 350 degrees. Press the crust into a 9-inch pie pan and set aside. Thinly slice the zucchini and squash. Next, place all of the au gratin sauce ingredients into a blender and mix until smooth. 

Layer the slices in the pie crust in a circular pattern, alternating between zucchini and squash. When the pie is half full, pour some of the cheese sauce on top. Next, continue layering the vegetables until there is about a half to a one inch space from the top of the crust to the zucchini. Pour the remainder of the cheese sauce on top, filling any open holes.

​Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Enjoy!

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Lemon and dill go together like peas and carrots. Everything I think, smell or taste dill, it reminds me of childhood of my Ukrainian great grandmother cooking borscht or seasoning potatoes with dill. Dill is an interesting herb that is common in Eastern European cooking, but is an herb we don't use on a regular basis in America. 

But nothing tastes better and more pure than a freshly picked batch of homegrown dill. I picked up a bundle for a couple bucks at the Queen Anne Farmers Market this summer. When the weather was hot (a little late posting this!), I craved a cold pasta dish.

Inspired by the complimentarily flavors of lemon and dill, I share this recipe in hopes to ignite healthy cooking on a budget. All you need are some fresh, crisp vegetables, pasta, oil and lemon. 

Many of our seasonal foods are boxed, packaged products, which contributes to inflammation in the body. They are foods that are stripped from their nutrients and remain a mystery on why so many people consume these foods on a regular basis. 

Healthy, whole foods cooking is not difficult and this dill-lemon pasta contains anti-inflammatory properties.  

Dill is used for culinary and medicinal purposes known for aiding digestion and respiratory health and preventing insomnia. It's ironic that with the cooler climate in Eastern Europe, dill is one of the best herbs to consume to prevent chronic respiratory issues.

The plant is native to Russia and parts of the Mediterranean and West Africa. Dill is even mentioned in the Bible and ancient Egyptian writings. The Greeks and Romans prized dill for its medicinal properties. Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, used dill in a recipe to clean the mouth and supposed ancient soldiers applied dill seeds to heal wounds. 

​If our ancestors loved dill so much, why not resurrect the use of dill and try this pasta, a simple and easy-to-make recipe that is perfect for the work week. All you need to do is make and then take! 

Vegan Lemon Dill Pasta Salad
​Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients: 
2 cups uncooked pasta (used small shells)
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cucumber, chopped
1/2 orange pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp salt

Directions: 
Cook pasta according to package dressing. Mix the lemon juice, dill, garlic, salt and olive in a bowl. Set aside while you prep the vegetables. 

Drain and cool the pasta. Once cool, mix everything together in a bowl and serve chilled. Enjoy!

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The season is shifting and the planet is ten days away from the fall equinox. As the weather cools, it's time to bring some warmth, nourishment and "roots" into our body. And nothing is more earthly than the potato, a food that has nourished humanity for thousands of years.  

Americans, especially fitness professionals, have this "thing" with potatoes. It's a "bad" food because it's starchy and Americans over consume French fries. 

I am the potatoes' number one fan! It's not necessarily the potato that is the problem, but HOW we prepare the potato and HOW MUCH potatoes we consume. 

Various cultures around the world survive off of, and use the potato as part of their regular diet. The Irish, the Germans, Eastern Europeans, East Indians - everyone uses potatoes, but these cultures either boil, baked or lightly stir fry the potato. The potatoes aren't dunked in a vat of cooking oil and laden with chemicals. 

This soup, similar to the taste of a pierogie, is simple, easy and an affordable recipe. I've made this several times and there is a trick to this soup, the size of the potato definitely matters! The smaller the russets, the more you'll taste the onion and garlic. The larger the potato, the more potato flavor you'll have. Please follow the notes below on this recipe. 

As we kiss the summer sun goodbye, enjoy this late-summer/fall soup to bring heartiness and warmth to your home. 

Vegan Potato Parsley Soup
Prep Time: 7 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
2 tbsp vegan butter
4 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped** (see note below)
4 cups of vegetable broth (used low sodium) (or 4 cups water w/ 2 bouillon cubes)
7 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small onion, chopped (if the potatoes are small use around 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt (depends on broth, low sodium may need up to 1/2)
1/8 tsp pepper

Directions
Chop the onions and garlic and peel the potatoes. I cut the ends off the potato and then use a knife to slice off the skin (with the widest end of the potato on the cutting board). Melt the butter in a pot and cook the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes. 

Meanwhile, add the potatoes. Cook for 1-2 minutes and then add in the broth. *NOTE: Now, I've made this a couple ways, the smaller the potatoes you may not need all four cups of broth. You would want to at least cover the top of the potatoes with broth. If the potatoes are really large, you'll need all four cups. Look in the paragraph about flavoring. 

Simmer until the potatoes are edible. Remove the pot from heat. Puree the soup along with the almond milk in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour back into the pot and place it on the warm burner. Stir in the parsley and from here either let the parsley sit or cook on low heat for 3 minutes. 

Serve warm! 

When observing a freshly cut peach and sunflower, you notice the similarities between the two. Darker on the inside and lighter on the outside, this stone fruit and flower are symbolic to human nature. 

Most people who struggle in life, spiritually, are "dark" or hard on the inside. Whether they're hard on themselves, or have yet to purge the negative voice inside their head, the more we clean up our insides, we tend to lighten up and vibrate beautifully on the outside. Alleviating the pain or hurt from your heart (like a stone-cold heart), and allowing the light to come within, healing is the most important thing to do on a continuous basis to accept life's challenges. 

Take a lesson from the sunflower, that no matter how much you are hurting, keep reaching for the light. Eventually, with time and healing, our inner worlds will blossom to become whole, healthy and complete. 

Inspired by the beauty of these two, I decide to make a vegan peaches-n-cream crockpot. I love the slow cooker because it's easy to use for people who struggle with time management. Our lives cannot get any busier and the crockpot alleviates much time spent cooking. Plus, most crockpot meals tend to be budget-friendly too. 

For the "cream" I used coconut yogurt, which any dairy-free vanilla yogurt will suffice. 

You can throw everything in the crockpot or "spice" up this oatmeal with a peach compote to add to additional flavor. Enjoy! 

Dairy-Free Slow Cooker Peaches-n-Cream Oatmeal
​Setting: 8 hours (cooked for 5 hours)

​Ingredients:
1.5 cups of steal cut oats
5 cups of nondairy milk (used unsweetened almond milk)
2 tbsp flax meal (or seed) 
4 peaches (1 used for the compote)
1 6 ounce tub of vanilla coconut yogurt (or other nondairy yogurt)
pinch of salt, cinnamon + splash of vanilla
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Compote:
1 peach, chopped
1-2 tsp coconut oil
2 tbsp maple syrup

Directions:
Blend three peaches in two cups of milk in a blender. Pour the milk with peaches, steel cut oats, flax meal, spices and the remaining milk into the crockpot. Place the crockpot on the 8 hour setting. Around five-six hours, I found the meal to be "complete."

From here, mix in the yogurt and sauté the compote ingredients on a skillet for about one minute. Mix the compote into the oatmeal and adjust any of the flavors or add additional milk to thin out the oats. Serve warm! 

We are all good at something. Some of us are great at business where others are excellent artists. In the digital age, I believe everyone wants to be and do everything. In the material world where we're all trying hard to fit into some category, it's easy to lose authenticity. 

It's why some people love small businesses because that business showcases it's authentic roots. We all live life differently and will continue to seek, find and discover our own truths. And these truths will change with time. Be bold. Be beautiful. Be YOU! 

​One way I am trying to share my "lifestyle inspired by nature" gift is through blogging and creative pursuits. I have applied for Weleda's Global Garden Contest in hopes to travel to their various farms, meadows and gardens to write and undergo many creative projects. I made it to the top 6 in North America & the finalist will be selected on Tuesday! I of course hope its me! 

As always, inspired by the sun, 
Elizabeth

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Blackberry season is coming to an end. Nothing is more enjoyable than walking the paths less traveled in Seattle to find blackberry and raspberry bushes in full bloom. Whether it's a nearbybush, or a wall of berries stretched alongside a bike path, there is no shortage of blackberry bushes in the city.

And inspired by nature, I wanted to create something with blackberries thanks to the local harvest season and these tiny purple flowers that also look like blackberries. 

I photographed these after making the energy bites, which promotes a deep purple color while kissed by the setting sunlight. Overnight, the balls harden and transform into a lighter purple color, like what you see in the flowers. 

Whenever I create raw or almost-raw foods, I try to enjoy food in its natural state. You can always add more sweetener to make the bites more enjoyable. 

"Raw" Blackberry Energy Bites
Prep Time: 10 minutes 
Makes 10-13

Ingredients:
1/2 cup blackberries
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup + 2 dates
1 tbsp rolled oats (optional)
3 tbsp flax meal
3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp - 1 tbsp maple syrup or agave nectar (add more for sweeter taste)
pinch of salt

Directions:
Begin by pulsing the dry ingredients. Next, add in the remaining ingredients and blend until combined, like a sticky dough. Scoop the mixture and roll in between your palms. Once finished, store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. 

The balls harden once cooled in the refrigerator.