Good morning everyone! I hope you are having a great start to your week! This week, I’m challenging myself to drink more water. What is your challenge? Every week I try to make a small goal that is attainable to achieve! Anyway, got home yesterday from my amazing trip with Heather! I will do a full recap tomorrow on the blog   The flight went great…probably because I had good company.

Jillian Michael’s & Gaby Bernstein joined me along with some Whole Foods noms of eggplant salad & lentil fennel salad.
SO GOOD. With a side of Starbucks unsweet green tea, per usual.

For our “X” high light – we wanted to feature the Amazing Megan from Instagram.

• @gamene searched far and wide for an “x” themed dish for the challenge! AND of course she found it – XACUTI

Here is Megan’s amazing explanation of this dish – “X is for… XACUTI! I searched far and wide to find a suitable dish or ingredient to highlight on “X”-Day! And man did I hit the jackpot with Xacuti (pronounced SHA-kooti), a Goan (South Indian) curry dish traditionally made with chicken, but here veganized using chewy seitan. It’s absolutely delicious and will definitely be added to my regular dinner rotation — the leftovers only get better as the flavors marry further; it’s good hot or cold (making it a good take-to-work option); it would be good over rice or quinoa, or even in a whole wheat wrap. So, THANK YOU again Heather and Kasey — without this alphabet challenge I might not have ever discovered this gem! The key to xacuti is the curry paste that you grind from a combination of exotic spices. Although the different recipes I sourced used slightly different combinations of spices, my recipe below uses the ingredients that were most commonly repeated from recipe to recipe. You don’t have to go out and buy a whole new spice cabinet’s worth of ingredients to make this, but please do yourself a favor and try out this process of blending your own curry paste — it’s a sensory experience and really make the finished dish your own.”

Isn’t she amazing? IF you’re not following her on Instagram I highly suggest you do!

So, today is “Y” Day for #plantPOWER

Yam Boats
stuffed with Caramelized Brussels & Sweet Cinnamon Hummus.

serves 4-8

This is a really cool combo of sweet & savory!

*one day, I will have a nice camera & better pictures, I promise!

Ingredients

• 4 Yams/Sweet Potatoes (whichever you prefer)
• 1 pound of brussel sprouts (washed & chopped)
• 1 small yellow onion (washed & chopped)
• 1 bunch of asparagus (washed & ends chopped)
• 2 TB Coconut Oil

Oil Free Sweet Cinnamon Hummus

• 1 can of drained & rinsed chickpeas
• 3 TB Tahini
• 1/2 cup unsweet coconut milk (or nut milk of choice)
• May need additional to make hummus thinner.
• 1 TB of fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 3/4 TB Cinnamon
• 2 tsp Nutmeg
• 2 tsp Ground Ginger
• 1 splash of vanilla extract
• Sea Salt to taste
• (If you like it really sweet, you can add some stevia of your choice)

Directions

1. Wash & cut yams down the middle.
2. Wash & cut off the ends of the asparagus then lay on a cookie sheet & spray with oil of choice.

3. Place halves of potatoes on a sprayed piece of foil on a cookie sheet.

4. Bake the yams & asparagus at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes until tender.

– Yams may need a few more minutes then the asparagus.

5. While the yams bake, add your 2 TB coconut oil to a pan on the stove over medium heat.

6. Chop & add in your small white onion and cook until tender.

7. Add your chopped brussel sprouts & sauté together until browned.

8. Make your hummus by adding the ingredients into a food processor & process until smooth.

**TIP to make hummus smooth – take the time to peel off the skin of each chickpea.

(if you’ve got time to sit & do this…it takes time…trust me.)

9. When yams are cooked, take them out & let cool for a few minutes before spooning out the inside to make “boats”.

Don’t forget to save the insides to make some other awesome recipes!

10. Place the boats back into the oven & bake for another 10 minutes until they harden a bit.

11. Once twice baked, stuff with caramelized brussel sprouts & top with sweet cinnamon hummus.

– I also sprinkled with some hemp seeds & served the asparagus on the side!

Also, check out my girl Heather’s post today & listen to her amazing words!

This girl will change the world with her passion to help others. Mark. My. Words.

Don’t forget you have a few more DAYS to enter the GIVEAWAYS!

• Almond Breeze giveaway
• Brad’s Raw Foods giveaway
• Nutrex Spirulina giveaway
• BAMR Bands giveaway
• Julieanna Hever giveaway
• Mary’s Gone Crackers
• NRG Matrix Giveaway
• Real Food Barre Giveaway
• Shakeology Giveaway
• VEGA Giveaway

You have until February 26 at 5:00 p.m. EST to enter ALL giveaways! GOOD LUCK!!