Use Your Resources

I cook….a lot. My friends are always saying “you’re always making such delicious food” mostly because it’s so crazy to them that I can get this creative in an average kitchen with only vegan ingredients. I challenge myself to use my resources and take whatever is in my kitchen to make a kick-ass meal! This is probably how I come up with my favorite meals and find the best recipes. I ask myself “what can I make?” when I realize I have too much of a certain ingredient I know will spoil soon or when I just need to add a little morenooch to my life. Google has become my best friend and it’s that exploration that has made being vegan so much fun.

It all started when I realized I had too many ripe avocados. So I made Avocado Chocolate Muffins and Avocado Froyo!

Then I had a serious chocolate craving and a can of black beans that was wasting space in the pantry. And that is when I discovered these Black Bean Brownie Bites, just 100 cals each! 

Then I always want to add nooch to anything I can for its amazing nutritional benefits. So I took some raw almonds and made this amazing Raw Sweet and Tangy Chikn Salad with 2 tablespoons of nooch added to the ingredients…

…and Eggless Egg Salad (UNBELIEVABLY GOOD!)

Last, but not least. I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of (quickly spoiling) strawberries packed into the container my mom bought at Costco so I found a great recipe for Strawberry Bread (like Zucchini or Banana bread).

So go explore, the internet is a hotbed for new ideas! I never thought I would enjoy a mock chicken made entirely of almonds or ice cream a la avocado. But it’s that endless appetite (haha) for something new that keeps veganism from being restrictive or boring. 

Are your eyes still hungry? Click here for the rest of my vegan cooking. I post the majority of my pictures on Facebook so that my friends can see how exciting my life is as a vegan foodie ;)

Vegan Buttermilk Flaxseed Pancakes

I’ve been working on this recipe for a while! And finally I’m excited to introduce these deliciously low cal pancakes. I honestly hadn’t had pancakes in maybe a year, never sought them out once I went vegan in the way every vegan searches high and low for the perfect vegan pizza or cupcake. But then I found this quick 5 minute vegan pancake recipe and decided to tweek it (a lot) because the amount of baking powder it called for had enough sodium for days! I also worked on reducing the calories by getting rid of the vegetable oil and reducing total carbs while increasing the fiber content and nutritional value by replacing some of the flour with flaxseed meal. The last big change was making these buttermilk pancakes! Buttermilk is really easy to make and adds a unique flavor to these awesome pancakes. I topped mine with homemade raspberry sauce and Speculoos Cookie Butter from Trader Joe’s!! Way better than traditional maple syrup since it melts on the warm pancakes.

Debbie’s Vegan Buttermilk Flaxseed Pancakes

Tools: frying pan, cooking spray, spatula 

1/2 cup almond milk (or try coconut for something richer!)

1 tbsp cider vinegar (or regular distilled)

1/2 cup minus 2 tbsp flour

2 tbsp flax meal

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/16 tsp salt

In a small bowl mix the almond milk and vinegar to make the buttermilk. Let sit for 10 minutes. In the meantime, mix together all the dry ingredients in a separate container. Add the buttermilk to the dry ingredients and mix until smooth with no lumps. Heat and spray your pan and when ready pour the batter in for 3 medium pancakes, or 2 big ones. The trick I was always taught is that when you start to see bubbles in the batter the pancakes are ready to flip! That’s pretty much it, now you have a low calorie, filling breakfast (or lunch… or dinner) with protein, fiber and healthy fats.

Nutrition Details: 284 calories, 6.5g fat (0.1 saturated), 51.8g carbs (5.8g fiber,  7.3g sugar), 8.3g protein

Helloooo Blog!

And buh-bye Tumblr! I can't even handle this excitement right now, I'm using Blogger finally after a year on Tumblr. Check out my old blog here! I will transfer the posts over later this week but right now I'm focused on my layout, planning future posts, learning everything about the Blogger platform, and juggling real life.

I'm happy to be here, so far I love this new design. It expresses my style so much more since I got to customize the colors (everything should always be pink and green, everything.) and the different gadgets let me organize my blog more efficiently!

Refreshing green juice (refer back to "everything should be pink and green"). Cheers to life! 

Chocolate Protein Pudding for Breakfast!

Haha soooo this was supposed to be a pancake recipe but when I poured the batter into the skillet, the gooey-ness prevented the middle from cooking, while the outside got a thin crust that stuck to the pan. Oh well, I decided to just try the batter alone and realized it was pretty delicious!

Debbie’s Chocolate Protein Pudding

Tools: food processer

1 banana (sliced)

1 pack silken tofu (mine was 12 oz)

1/2 cup chocolate protein powder (or unflavored/vanilla powder +2 tbsp cocoa powder)

3 tbsp flaxseed meal

1/4 cup almond milk

1 packet stevia (you could add more of your sweetener of choice, like agave, because my protein powder was lightly sweetened)

Put all ingredients in food processor and go! This makes several servings, I eat mine in a small bowl so it will last me 4 days maybe. Store the leftovers in the refrigerator. 

Optional toppings: a few chocolate chips, slivered almonds, whatever floats your boat!

Other variations: add some melted chocolate chips into the mixture for an extra chocolate kick.

Enjoy!

EatPastry Vegan Cookie Dough

Warm gooey cookies have become a quick and easy treat thanks to break away dough or quick scopes from premixed jars onto a cookie sheet. But an egg and dairy free lifestyle means no more convenient cookie extravaganzas until I discovered THIS: EatPastry cookie dough! And for those of you who aren’t egg free but just love cookie dough, now you have a great alternative that does not have the danger of raw eggs. I actually don’t like raw dough (or at least I thought) until the sales associate at Root’s Market told me I had to try the dough itself. It was delish and now I love both. The dough comes in 5 all natural flavors, including a gluten free. They use mostly certified organic and fair trade ingredients and are working on getting the their full products certified organic but right now are still a small company working towards that top standard. Their story is REALLY sweet (both literally and figuratively), read it here.

Kale

Kale is king. The rich flavor makes it a serious contender with common staples like spinach. The playing field is further tilted towards this green because it is richer in fiber than other greens, keeping you fuller longer. It is also rich in vitamin A, C, and K, calcium, and beta-carotene, an antioxidant. Kale is amazing in soups, salad, and (my personal favorite) simmered with other veggies. I love to dice up 1 tomatoes, 1/2 a white onions and 4 white mushrooms and saute them in a tablespoon of olive oil plus some spices for a few minutes then add in 3 raw cups of kale for just 5 more minutes. It’s not good to cook the greens too long so that the nutrients are not lost.

The ToneItUp ladies Katrina and Karena have some amazing recipes to further introduce you to this green powerhouse!