This is one of those 'not really a recipe recipes'. I have a serious love for dragonfruit and when we first moved to California and I saw it at the farmer's market I was determined to make something summery and fun with local dragonfruit. Just look at it, it's so beautiful! (read)
Early in 2011 my husband and I watched way too many documentaries on food and health in general. The three that affected us the most were Food Matters, then Food Inc, and then Forks Over Knives a few months later. Ouch. It was hard to watch as a meat / dairy / processed foods eating couple. Since then we eat a lot less meat and dairy, and the meat and dairy we do eat now is organic. I have always been really big on making as much as possible from scratch, but my concept of 'as much as possible' is a lot different now - even though with homeschooling and adventuring around LA we have less spare time than ever, it's totally worth it to find the time. (it's a good busy)! (read)
This is a great recipe for people who avoid dairy on the regular and need a chemical-free alternative to ice cream. It's also a great recipe for people who don't avoid dairy but are dieting! I wont give an official calorie count for this recipe because it can change a lot depending on what kind of peanut butter / tofu / sweetener you use. (read)
Generally, a bowl of strawberries doesn’t need any dressing up around here. All of the kids will devour a bowl without any sugar on them, without them being dipped in chocolate (though that never hurts, especially if it’s dark chocolate). Sometimes, though, I feel like a little something and these little somethings are just the thing. No dairy, just a little hit of sugar and a tofu punch at the same time! Totally impossible to eat just one. (read)
What I love about this dip is it works just as well as a base for an oatmeal parfait concoction - which we have used the second half for every time I've made it so far. Wee One #3 basically eats it like pudding, not so patiently dealing with the bits of oatmeal and flax and berries in her way. It's a rough life, right? (read)
Isn't that a cute name? Double Chocolate / Single Chin?! I recently made these for a friend that isn't big on brownies and he loved them.
So I know that I posted a Peas and Thank You treat yesterday and refused to give you the recipe, and I'm doing it again. BUT I also posted those raw brownie bites! The more recipes I make from this book, the more I push it because it honestly is that good. I will make a list next year of all the recipes from this book that have become staples - because there are already a few that I turn to on the regular (Crack Wraps and Tofu Nuggets are made alarmingly often). (read)
These brownies are raw, vegan and pretty good for you! Since they're packed with nuts (heh) they're about 170 calories each, not including whatever fruit you top them with (though at their size, it's not like you can top it with much). More importantly though, are these notable vitamin counts (these percentages are for each brownie bite); 19% vitamin B6, 21% vitamin E, 99% copper, 39% magnesium, 77% manganese, 29% phosphorus, 21% zinc and decent levels of calcium, iron, niacin, pant acid, potassium, riboflavin, and thiamin. (read)
So I'm a big fan of the Happy Herbivore blog. Ever since one of my besties introduced me to it about a year or so ago, I've been checking in almost daily for inspiration, ideas and of course recipes. I also follow on Twitter and Facebook because I'm a sucker for that stuff. About two weeks ago, I saw a tweet from @happyherbivore with a recipe for instant vegan cookie dough(read).
In my quest to cut out the fake food around here, I embarked on finding just the right recipe to give fruit roll ups a try. This one does not involve any stove top cooking or even any pureeing, it's just good quality jam and corn starch really. That and a little patience.
The wee ones all love these and maybe I do to. They're excellent in lunch boxes and diaper bags (and in my Anthropologie purse). (read).
I had been trying my hand at vegan baking for a few month when we made a friend with a pretty severe milk allergy. 2/5 of us are lactose intolerant so we are no really that big on milk anyway, but I have always left dairy in the recipes I use and it never seems to bother us the way a bowl of ice cream might. But even a cup of milk in a batch of muffins was too much for our new friend and I had made fudge for the kids that he had to miss out on.
Thankfully, I found this kick ass recipe on Averie Cooks and it was super simple to make and even more importantly, it's delicious and free of chemicals and rando garbage store bought fudge is full of! (read).
Another vegan win! Sweet enough to quiet the sweet tooth, not so sweet that it's overwhelming (and it wont make you crave sweets for days after like other indulgences). They are very good.
I made these for my Dad when he came up for a visit to the woods and not only did he say he loved them (Dads just do that to make us feel good, yes?), I totally caught him eating them in the wee hours of the night! <3
(read).
Yes, yes. I know. Another raw vegan recipe. Yes people, it is another raw vegan recipe and it is amazing! Getting into raw vegan cooking doesn't mean I'm only going to ever eat raw or even that I'm only ever going to eat vegan, but I'm looking at it the same way a lot of people look at quitting smoking. Every cigarette a person doesn't smoke is better for them, right? So I really think that every vegan or raw vegan meal I eat is better for me. Plus with raw vegan desserts like this, it's pretty hard to go wrong!
(read).
One of the best intros to a vegan diet, or even just helping people to be less put off by vegan food in general, is with vegan desserts. Strawberries are always amazing, whether you think bacon is a good idea or not. Amirite?!
I made this for dessert one day and my husband wasn't really interested in it. He's a trooper though so he tried and it he was sold! He ate one individual pie and asked for a second one. Then he insisted Wee One #1 try one, and as reluctant as he he, he tried it too and also loved it! Hooray for strawberries!!(read).
Last year I fell head over heels for vegan food blogs, and one of my hands down faves is The Domestic Vegan, and though she hasn't posted anything new since September, it's a kick ass blog and is FULL of great recipes! Plus, I have at more than one point, gone months and months without blogging only to resurface so you never know if she'll pop back up again! (read).
As I write this there is about a foot of snow in my backyard and maybe 3 feet or so in the drifts on the side of the house. Ice Pops are not necessarily on the minds of my neighbors, I know but I? Am always thinking of summer. Don't get me wrong, I'm a stellar Canadian and I love the snow and all the ridic things that we as a culture do in the snow, aside from the average fare like snowmen and forts and snowball fights we as a family are big on riding the quad through the snow, going even further north to my husband's parent's house to go sledding and snowshoeing and abuse their snow machines. Way fun. Almost 18 months ago, we moved to the 'snow belt' of Ontario and holy shitballs living in snow valley can really make playing in the snow get old pretty fast. So I will make ice pops and think of the beach, thankyouverymuch. (read).
Over the last year or so I have discovered that I absolutely love dates. Maybe three years ago my dear friend Gill brought over a snack of dates stuffed with almonds and I was all 'um, oooookay, whatever Gill'. Not only was chocolate not involved at all but this was nature stuffed with nature. It reeked of health, and at the time that soooo wasn't my bag. Now though, I am all over that shit. Loving dates or at least liking the general taste and texture of dates is a serious plus when experimenting with vegan desserts, especially raw vegan desserts. My favorite kind of raw vegan desserts (and man there are a lot of them) are the kind that are sweetened mostly with dates and made by smashing all the ingredients together in the food processor. They're always so so dense and gaaaah, just so good. (read).
So I know this will sound like gushing, and we have only 'bumped into each other online' a couple of times, but I'm a little in love with Mama Pea of Peas and Thank You. If you read her blog with any regularity at all I have no doubt you are a little in love with her too. Last week, for example, 'Tonight we all needed a little comic relief (or a horse tranquilizer)...', I read that and thought, HOLY CRAP!! THAT'S MY HOUSE! Also? One of her blog tags is 'pissing and moaning'. Love!! (read).
I have a pretty serious problem with these candied pecans. I mean, I don't want to admit this but in the interest of full disclosure, I ate all of them. Not in one sitting mind you, but I ate every single pecan. They really are that good. Of course they are though, right? It's not like I'm going to post a loser recipe on my blog.
One other side note about these little babies is they're vegan! Hooray! (read).
I was inspired by a recipe found on Oh She Glows, but I just HAD TO add peanut butter and switch it up a bit. Instead of making coconut butter, I used peanut butter and rolled the freshly coated banana pieces in coconut. So so so good on the back deck in the summer!!(read).
Recipe number 10 this year from Deceptively Delicious, this was a huuuuuuge hit. All five of us loved these little treats. They honestly taste like a baked chocolate doughnut, but surprie - there's no chocolate (or even any cocoa) in them! The sweetness comes from the sweet potato and the treaty taste comes from the cinnamon. Plus kids will eat just about anything with icing sugar on it, wont they? (read).
Here we go with recipe #9 from Deceptively Delicious, it's another hit and miss. My husband and I liked them and I have made them maybe 5 or 6 times since. 2/3 of the kids immediately sensed something was different about them and wanted nothing to do with a second bite, Wee One #3 though, she was happy with them. They do taste different than my usual brownies but that's a good thing - and at just 88 calories each (if you cut them into 18 squares), that's a very good thing! (read).