Like many of you living in York Region today was a snowy, blustery, stay-at-home-if-you-can kind of day and I did just that! What this kind of day also meant was that I was not going to be heading out to the grocery store so I needed to make do with what I had and still prepare some healthy meals for the day and evening dinner. I now, 3 meals, 2 baking experiments and some 10 hours later have affectionately termed this day ‘Whatever Wednesday’ definition – use whatever I have left in the fridge to cook for the Fam…

Here is a peek at a few things I came up with:

By the time lunch rolled around I had used any bread we’d had at breakfast to go with our eggs and fruit so when I Decided to make tuna for lunch I needed a back up plan of how to make this interesting enough for my 2 year old and 4 year old to eat.

I sliced some cucumber and spooned some tuna on top of each, added some whole grain crackers, made up a quick nutrient dense salsa using jarred salsa, 1/2 avocado, 1/4 can of black beans and 1/2 cup corn…delish, then I added to the plate some carrots, sliced pickles, red and green grapes – voila! Complete protein, healthy fat, fiber, color and complex carbs.

Later in the day we tried out two new recipes – Black Bean Brownies and Spelt Flax Maple Cookies

Black Bean Brownies

2 Tbsp 70% dark chocolate squares

1 1/2 cups rinsed black beans, canned

1/4 cup applesauce

1/2 cup honey or maple syrup

2 eggs plus 1 egg white

2 tsp olive oil

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

tsp vanilla

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Instructions:

1.  Pre heat oven to 350′ and grease 8 inch pan

2.  Melt chocolate with a little water in saucepan.

3.  Combine all ingredients including melted chocolate in food processor and blend until smooth

4. Pour into pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Spelt Flax Maple Cookies

2 cups spelt flour

1/4 cup flax seeds

tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup sunflower or olive oil

Pre heat oven to 350′ and line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

1.  Whisk all dry ingredients together.

2.  Add liquid ingredients until dry ingredients are absorbed.

3.  Roll the doll into walnut size balls placed evenly apart on the sheet. Use the back of a fork to press down lightly on balls.

4.  Bake for 12 minutes. You may also add 1/2 cup chocolate chips if you choose

Now what about dinner?

Open Freezer…nothing but some shrimp which we have yet to give our 2-year-old, some frozen fruit, edamame and veggies, fig and brie appetizers, flour, nuts, seeds and ice…WOW what a variety to choose from:)

Open Fridge…somewhat the same; nuts, seeds, fruit, a mix of a little veg here and a little veg there, some condiments, yogurt, humus, cheese, left over plain kamut pasta spirals, wine and salad greens.

So here is what I came up with:

I sautéed some carrots, greens beans, green onions, celery, sweet potato, bok choy and zucchini with olive oil. Then I added a carton of vegetable broth and 1 cup of water. I found a can of diced tomatoes and black-eyed peas and added those along with some spices and a piece of fresh ginger I found. I did all of this with one pot, one cutting board a can opener and one knife…so super quick and easy.

I also found some Ezekiel wraps (found in the freezer section of most health food stores) that I cut into triangles, brushed with olive oil sprinkled with sea salt and rosemary and lightly crisped.

And there you go a lovely ‘Whatever Wednesday’ soup with toasty triangles!

Hope you enjoy:)

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