How To Pack Food For A Weekend Away In An Hour! (Plant-Based)

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We’re off to a wedding, a birthday party, my in-laws, and then to visit my grammy (Adriana gets to meet her Great-Grammy!) over the long weekend. This means we’re going to clock a ton of hours on the road, so I am coming prepared! Even though a lot of our meals will be made for us (such as dinner Saturday and Sunday night), I like to fill in the blanks by packing some light meals and healthy snack options to have on hand.

After I made the recipes Eric said, “Whoa, that didn’t take you long at all!” – and he was right, it took me just over 1 hour to prepare 4 recipes. Granted, I was going turbo mode, but still. I purposely selected quick and easy recipes (many are from the 2-day meal plan) which I also tend to have most of the ingredients for in my fridge and pantry. And if I don’t have all the ingredients I just improvise! So when Eric commented on how quickly the packed foods came together it struck me that this would be fun to share on the blog. I hope you’ll enjoy this glimpse into what I’m packing for a weekend away. (Keep in mind this isn’t intended to cover all of your meals – just to supplement when necessary. Feel free to tweak it as you see fit.)

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What I made (click the links to the brought to the recipe!):

  1. Chickpea Salad with butter lettuce “wraps”
  2. Gazpacho (amazing for summer – no cook and super refreshing)
  3. Energy bites – I’m still perfecting the recipe in the photo above so rather than sharing it before it’s ready, I recommend you try these amazing Dark Chocolate Cherry Energy Bites! <—a fav!
  4. Vegan Overnight Oats (note: I doubled this recipe, plus added 2 extra tbsp chia seeds, and 2 small chopped bananas for more volume. If the mixture gets too thick, you can thin it with a bit of almond or coconut milk)

Not shown: I’m also packing a few of my Coconut-Cardamom Overnight Oat Parfaits for the car! If I had more time I would’ve also made a batch of my Lightened Up Summer Granola.

What else I packed:

Hummus, portable fruit, homemade maple cinnamon almond butter (or store-bought), my favourite crackers, food for Adriana. Eric says he’s bringing the Vitamix to make green monsters at his parent’s house. Who is this guy? I don’t know how we’re going to fit everything in the car…especially with a stroller, baby stuff, and my shoes for every terrain (rustic, outdoor wedding!). Should be interesting…

Tips:

– These are my go-to glass storage containers. Mason jars also work lovely!

– Pack several ice packs to ensure the food stays cool and fresh. You don’t want to arrive at your destination with room temperature food.

– Pack the energy bites on top so they don’t get squished.

– You can improvise with these recipes a lot. I make all kinds of versions of Gazpacho, the energy bites, and the chickpea salad. For this chickpea salad I didn’t have any celery so I just used a whole red bell pepper (diced) instead. It’s pretty forgiving so don’t worry!

– Pack the gazpacho in a thermos if you want to save room in the cooler. Otherwise a large 2-quart mason jar will hold the batch.

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Ok, now I’m turning it over to you. Which foods do you like to pack for trips? Share your favs below!

Well guys…I seriously cannot believe it’s August 1st. *still in a 2015 time warp* I hope you are enjoying the dog days of summer. Soak it up and have a fun + safe weekend!!

Oh She Glows

My Cookbook + a Bonus Pack of Recipes

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Dear friends!

It’s hard to believe that in just a few short weeks my cookbook, My New Roots: Inspired Plant Based Recipes for Every Season will be landing in stores, your homes and hands. Bah! Pretty exciting stuff. I know the wait has been long, but we’re nearly there. Your support and unabashed enthusiasm for this project has filled me up and fueled me these past months while I waited with knots in my stomach just to see it, and I can say with great relief and pride that I am thrilled with how it’s turned out. Now I have my fingers crossed (and toes and arms and legs and eyes) that you feel the same way.

Here is a trailer for the book – and clips from the year that I made it.

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So to tell you a little more without giving too much away…
The book opens with the techniques and processes I use in my kitchen every day, which form the foundation of all plant-based cooking: how to cook beans and grains and how to make nut and seed butters are just a few examples. With detailed yet easy to follow, step-by-step instructions, you’ll master these simple methods in no time and be well-equipped to cook the recipes from the book as well as have the confidence to be creative on your own.

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The recipes follow, with 100 all-new, never-before-seen recipes with a couple of your favourites from the blog, just because I thought you’d appreciate them in print. Some of my favourite recipes are Savoury Spring Hand Pies, Raw Cashew Yogurt with Maple and Blackberry, Grain-Free Hemp Tabbouleh, Sparkling Mint Melonade, Apricot Rhubarb Clafoutis, Sunflower Sesame Seed Brittle, Trippy Tie-Dye Soup, Vanilla Rose Apple Cider, Chunky Banana Bread Granola, and Raw Mint Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches. All of the recipes are vegetarian, most of them vegan, and many of them gluten-free. I have some stellar raw recipes that go beyond just salad, hearty breakfasts, meals to take to school, the office, and road trips. Beautiful drinks to quench your thirst, soups and dips and sandwiches. Simple family fare, and meals to impress your best guests.

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The book is laid out in seasons, five in fact, which you will learn more about once you read it. I wrote the recipes and photographed in “real time”, as the weeks rolled through the year, inspired by what was around me, growing in the garden, available at the market, and the dishes reflect this. When I look through the pages, the photographs pull me back to the places I was, the slant of daylight, temperature of the air, who I was with in the kitchen. It is, very much like the blog, a diary of sorts: a collection of more than just food, but moods and memories.

As we are counting down to the book’s launch, I’ve put together a bonus pack of six exclusive recipes not in the cookbook (plus two that are, for fun) for all of you who want to preorder to the book, and also for those that already have. It’s easy: pre-order the book from your retailer of choice, here, and then go to this page, insert your purchase order (PO number), personal information and you can download the Bonus Pack PDF immediately. No matter where you live in the world or where you are buying / have bought the book, you can get the bonus pack!

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This book represents so many things for me. After eight and half years (!!!) of blogging, it seems like the natural next step to become three-dimensional, to enter the world as a published author. I am very proud of my journey, and this book is a culmination of that. I truly never imagined that I would be sitting here, cradling this collection of recipes from my heart, holding it out for you to take. But it feels right. And now is the time. Thank you for making this possible and for taking this journey with me.

Now let’s go cook.

In love and gratitude,
Sarah B.

 #MNRcookbook

PREORDER and BONUS PACK QUESTIONS ANSWERED
1. You can download the bonus pack from anywhere in the world that you ordered the book from. Here is the link: http://app.snapapp.com/MyNewRoots

2. You can download the bonus pack anytime. That means  if you ordered the book five weeks ago, or five minutes ago. There is no time limit, the offer will not expire until the book is officially released on March 31st. Here is the link: http://app.snapapp.com/MyNewRoots

3. If you live in Australia or New Zealand you can order the book from here:
https://www.dymocks.com.au/
http://www.bookworld.com.au/
http://www.booktopia.com.au/
http://www.readings.com.au/

4. If you are in any other country not listed, check your country’s online book vendors and you will also be able to download the bonus pack.

5. The bonus pack is a PDF (a digital file). It is NOT an extra book that will be sent to you in the mail. If you want a hard copy of the recipes, simply download the bonus pack and print the document.


My New Roots