Coffee or Tea?

The age-old question is coffee or tea? And for my response I like to quote Ironman and respond: “Is it too much to ask for both?”

Why does it have to be coffee or tea? I love both beverages and generally resort to coffee when I need a lot of caffeine and tea when I have more time. I have a Keurig and it makes coffee faster than I can make tea. I also need more of a kick in the morning. But there are so many people who like tea, think coffee is some scary beverage that kills people and then there are people who just drink coffee and that is their beverage of choice. Nothing is wrong with either choice (although my boyfriend jokes that coffee is the Devil’s drink) but am I the only one who drinks both regularly? I love my coffee black or with stevia and it has to be dark roasted and my favorite teas are almost anything herbal along with green tea. Starbuck’s Vanilla Rooibos herbal tea is also one of my favorites and it does not contain any natural flavors. Arbonne’s Detox Tea is also a favorite of mine although it will help out your digestive system (read: will make you poop).

I do have an issue with black tea (including chai even though it has ginger in it). Black tea gives me the worst stomach aches and I am not sure why. Some websites say it could be the caffeine but coffee has more than black tea and I have no issue ‘stomaching’ coffee.

Both options are healthy (as long as no sugar or cream or much of anything is added), but the reason I would like to post this is feel free to enjoy both. Why limit yourself on healthy antioxidants? Eat and drink a variety of healthy food and drinks and you will find yourself a healthy person.

My favorite coffee right now.

Vegan Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

SO GOOD!

Got it from this website: http://snapguide.com/guides/make-healthy-vegan-chocolate-banana-ice-cream/

REALLY SIMPLE! REAL Good. Real healthy.

3 chopped frozen bananas
1/3 cup unsweetened soy milk
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons of cocoa powder (I used some fancy organic but I am sure any will do)

Just blend everything in a food processor or blender and ENJOY!

My Favorite Way to Serve Chili

Necessary Ingredients:
Chili (about two cups)- My favorite to use here is Amy’s low-fat Black Bean Chili but any chili will do.
One avocado- pitted and sliced in half
1 Cup of baked potato- I used 3 small red potatoes for the picture but one normal sized potato should work

Bake the potato, warm up chili (not necessary especially if potato is hot), and place one avocado or just half if you like.
Warning: High Flatulence beans + avocado are both high in fiber

Acorn Squash Wraps with Chickpeas

I made quinoa toritillas using the recipe from

http://www.queenofquinoa.me/2014/05/quinoa-tortillas/

Only I used brown rice instead of millet flour because that is what I had on hand.

The Tortilla Recipe is

“

Ingredients

• 2 cups toasted quinoa flour
• 1/2 cup millet flour
• 3/4 cup – 1 cups water
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon oil + more for cooking (optional)

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl to form a thick dough. Divide dough into 10 – 12 equal parts and roll into balls.
2. Place each ball between two pieces of parchment. Place into a tortilla press or roll out with a rolling pin.
3. Remove one side of parchment and place into a skillet over medium heat. Remove other piece of parchment and cook until browned and small bubbles are starting to form, 1 – 2 minutes. Flip an cook for another 1 – 2 minutes.
4. Repeat until no more dough remains”

To make the acorn squash, I cut one in half and roasted it in the oven for 1 hour at 450 with a pat of coconut oil in the little whole where the seeds were. I placed parchment paper on the bottom. After 20 minutes of acorn squash being in the oven, I added probably 2-3 cups of chickpeas I had cooked but you can easily used canned. I roasted the chick peas with the squash for about 35 minutes when I smelled they were done. Then just add some squash with the chickpeas to the tortilla and WALL-AH! Deliciousness. Feel free to add any spices to both the chickpeas and squash. I always suggest nutritional yeast on everything.

 

Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookies

 

Here is where the recipe is from: http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2009/10/gluten-free-vegan-pumpkin-oatmeal.html

I didn’t have any oat flour or gluten free rolled oats to make them so I changed the flours.

Most (note not all) of 1 cup coconut oil

1 1/4 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup coconut sugar

1/8-1/4 cup maple syrup

15 drops stevia

1-2 tablespoons vanilla

1/4-1/2 cup flax seed

1 cup garbanzo bean flour

1 1/4 cup brown rice flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Himalayan pink salt

4 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

I mixed the coconut oil and beat it will the sugar, vanilla, spices, stevia, baking soda and flax seed. Let sit for 10 minutes or so then add the maple syrup and flours. Add the himalayan salt, probably less than a teaspoon mine grinds it on the spot and I ground it like 4 times.   Bake 12-15 minutes at 350 until fluffy and slightly browned on the bottom. Serve with a nice tall glass of soy milk . My friend says these may be the best thing I have baked for her yet.

Happy Easter

I hope you are having a wonderful, cruelty free Easter. In lieu of the holiday, I decided to make some vegan fried egg using the recipe from http://luminousvegans.com/2013/10/17/the-vegg-vegan-egg-yolk/ 

It really turned out amazing and I gobbled it up too fast to take any pictures. But the Vegg really surprised me and the tofu, when cut thin enough, really does have the same consistency as an egg, just hope yours doesn’t crumble as mine did. I used extra firm tofu, cut in thin slices, fried in coconut oil with some of the Vegg mixed in water (I just beat it in a fork like one would an egg to make scrambled eggs), microwaved it for a 45 seconds, put on top.

It would be interesting to add the Vegg to the pan and crumble the tofu next time to make a scrambled vegan egg recipe. 

But this recipe is great for anyone who likes their eggs, just not the torture that comes with it. 

Happy Easter!

Banana Bread- A different recipe

http://www.thehealthymaven.com/2014/01/best-ever-banana-bread-gluten-free-vegan.html

“Ingredients (Yields: 12-16 pieces)

• Dry:
• ¾ cup brown rice flour*
• ½ cup + 2 T gluten-free oat flour (ground rolled oats)*
• ¾ cup potato starch*
• ¼ cup tapioca starch*
• 1 tsp xanthan gum**
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• Wet:
• ½ cup applesauce, warmed up and then mixed with ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
• ½ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
• 4 ripe bananas
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Optional: 1 cup chocolate chips or nuts (or a combination)

*Or replace brown rice flour, oat flour, tapioca flour and potato starch with 2 1/4 cups + 2 T of regular all-purpose or whole wheat flour.

**If using regular all-purpose or whole wheat omit xanthan gum

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with coconut oil or non-stick spray (bread is big so don’t use a smaller sized pan)

3. Combine all dry ingredients and set aside.

4. In a separate bowl mash up bananas. Add in warm applesauce (premixed with baking powder), melted coconut oil, maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla and stir to combine.

5. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just combined.

6. Add in chocolate chips or nuts if desired.

7. Scoop batter into pan and bake for 55-60 mins.

8. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 30 mins before removing from pan and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

9. Will keep in a sealed container on counter for up to 5 days.

*Can also be made into 12 large muffins (bake for 25-30 mins or until top is brown and springs back)”

I added chocolate chips, a tablespoon of molasses and three tablespoons cocao powder (with an extra teaspoon baking powder in case the cocoa powder made the dough heavier… and I didn’t do exact measurements for the liquid ingredients because I couldn’t find the half cup). I also added lots of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. I made a combo of coconut oil, coconut sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and put it on top as a “cinnamon crumble”.  I also omitted the salt because I forgot to put it in. I also added all the wet ingredients into a food processor because I was feeling lazy about mashing the bananas. The result was ABSOLUTELY delicious.

My New Favorite Thing

I have been obsessed with lattes recently and I really wanted to know how to make one at home instead of paying almost $6 at Starbucks for my venti soy latte with an extra shot of espresso. I never thought I would become one of those people who buy those complicated drinks but here I am. I also wanted to be able to make one without any fancy machinery and a lower sugar one (Starbucks soy milk has lots of sugar and I prefer unsweetened beverages myself. If I am feeling something sweet though I like to add stevia because sugar wreaks havoc on your health. Sugar is okay once in a while but not everyday as I have started to consume these lattes everyday. It is difficult when Starbucks is part of your meal plan and on your college campus.) So I googled “how to steam milk in your microwave and came up with this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4leislQVGA . And it has worked perfectly for me every time. I mean the soy milk at Starbucks is still better steamed than this, but it is so good it will do. I am also in love with Westsoy’s soy milk (yes it has natural flavors but I never seem to like any milk I make at home and I have tried to make lots (almond, oat, coconut).)

Here are some photos of the process

I made the coffee/espresso in the keurig while adding soy milk to the glass jar and heating it in the microwave for 60+ seconds (depending on how hot you want it). When the milk is done in the microwave, take it out, put the lid on it and shake it to your hearts desire. Reminded me a little of the shake weight but foam starts to appear on the milk in the jar. Pour the milk on your coffee or espresso and wall-ah! A latte you can change to your tastes, add a little cinnamon or stevia to sweeten and enjoy. If you don’t have a glass jar to use, west soy’s idea was to put it in a blender, which will work but that is a lot to clean.

(Fun Fact: the only difference between a cappuccino and a latte is a latte has foam at the top so west soy has it a little wrong with the foam on the top of their cappuccino.)

Tofu Scramble Pizza

SOOOOO DELICIOUS. I probably made this way more complicated than necessary but it was delicious. You can probably leave out the raw seed cheese I made, because I am sure the tofu scrabble will be enough. 

The three recipes I used to compile this recipe was 

http://www.veganricha.com/2014/02/hemp-tofu-scramble-breakfast-pizza.html

http://fitfoodiefinds.com/2013/09/garbanzo-bean-flatbread-pizza-crust/ 

http://www.superfoods-for-superhealth.com/seed-cheese-recipes.html 

 

The tofu

1 package firm tofu 

A LOT of spinach, I used almost a whole container of organic fresh spinach

italian seasoning

curry

nutritional yeast 

garlic 

whatever other seasonings you want

I really just added all to a frying pan of water and steamed it while baking the crust. 

The crust was pretty easy with 

2/3 cup garbanzo bean flour

italian seasoning 

garlic 

salt 

1 tsp baking soda 

2 tsp apple cider vinegar 

and I had made the original seed cheese recipe. 

After I baked the crust, I put some tomato sauce on top with some of the seed cheese spread out and toasted it for maybe five minutes. I then added the tofu and spinach on top with some more tomato sauce and nutritional yeast (only because I LOVE tomato sauce and nooch). 

 

Here is a delicious gluten free, nut free, healthy alternative to pizza!

Pumpkin Cornbread (gluten free, vegan)

There’s half of the cornbread left- it smelled really good and tasted about as good. It was a little complicated to make because I don’t have any baking powder so I had to google how to make a substitute for baking powder from baking soda. I found one here http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Substitute-Baking-Powder where you use vinegar and a little less baking soda than baking powder. I also took the recipe form http://www.thehealthymaven.com/2013/11/pumpkin-cornbread-gluten-free-vegan.html and substituted a few things and added some spices to make the delicious cornbread posted above. It is oil free, can be made soy free, not too sweet and refined sugar free. 

1 c brown rice flour 

1c corn meal 

10 packets stevia (I had those raw, stevia packets that the ingredients are dextrose and stevia) 

3/4 tablespoon baking soda 

1 tablespoon organic apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup (plus some) puréed pumpkin (I used a largely mounded scoop)

3/4 cup soymilk+1/4 water (i used sweetened soy milk, if you use an unsweetened milk here add more stevia) 

1/3 cup water with 2&1/2 tbsp chia seeds jelled 

Pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract

I only had to bake mine at 350 for 10 minutes because of the pan I used, which is pictured above. I am not sure what size pan it is but I call it a brownie pan.