Sketch-free Vegan Eating

Curried Vermicelli Noodles w/ Veg

2012-01-31T07:35:00.000-08:00

I usually visit Jenn in Toronto over the weekend, last weekend we went to a cute vegetarian asian-style restaurant. Jenn ordered the curried vermicelli noodles with veggies and tofu. I ordered a rice bowl with goji berries and lemongrass, we usually swap plates half way through so we can try both dishes. I must say though I preferred the curry vermicelli, I never considered adding curry powder to my noodles, but it ended up being a great and delicious idea!

King Soba sent us an array of their noodles, this recipe used their organic and fair trade vermicelli noodles made out of...brown rice, how cool right? And all you have to do is give them a quick soak and they're ready for use.

The dish at the restaurant had bean sprouts in it, bean sprouts have been getting a bad rap for some reason lately. So instead I substituted julienned zucchini which kind of mimics a bean sprout...

Golden sun noodles

6 oz brown rice vermicelli
1 zuchini, julienned
1 cup juliened carrots
1 red pepper, julienned
4 green onions, sliced
1 cloves garlic, minced, 1 inch piece of ginger, minced
1/2 a chili, seeded and minced
1 1/2 tbsp rice bran oil for frying
3 tbsp tamari
4 tbsp water
3 tsp curry powder, more or less depending on curry powder potency
Juice of 1 lime
3 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
Chopped (1 tbsp chopped) + garnish
Pepper, to taste

Soak vermicelli in hot tap water until softened. Heat oil in pan, add in garlic, ginger and chill, cook for 1 minute. Add in green onion and rest of vegetables. Cook until vegetables are tender. Add curry powder, cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Add tamari, water and lime juice, continue cooking for 1 more minute. Add vermicelli, sesame seeds and cilantro. Toss and cook for another minute. Serve hot. Makes 2 large servings or 3 regular sized servings.

Pickled Cucumbers + Lunch Bowl

2012-01-27T05:57:00.000-08:00

I don't know when my appreciation for pickled foods started. But I must say I'm hooked! You can actually make pickles in just one day using a brine of apple cider vinegar, water and spices. This recipe is based off of In the Raw's Icebox Pickles, I so appreciate the use of apple cider instead of regular vinegar! yay :)

Funny "pickle fact" about our family: My sisters and I went to drama camp when we were kids. As an activity the camp stood around in a circle and said tongue twisters. Our little sister, Brooke had one in mind and wanted to share it with everyone, it was: Mr. Pickle went into a Pickle, with his friend Pickle. Haha It didn't make any sense! Priceless moment...

Cukies

Pickled Cucumbers:
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup water

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Chili flakes (for heat)

1/4 tsp mustard seed

1/4 tsp dill leaves

Combine ingredients for brine in a small jar, add thinly sliced cucumbers. Let sit overnight in fridge, and That's it, pickles! You can even reuse the brine, store it in the fridge and keep putting pickles into it.

Now for the bowl. I love making these bowls because it means I will have a good lunch for the few days :). Everything can be prepared ahead of time and just stored in the fridge until ready to eat. I topped it with kasha (toasted buckwheat) which gave it a nice surprise of crunch! Drizzle with olive oil and you're good to go!

pickled cucumbers, quinoa, red pepper, kale salad, mushroom/onion sautee, lentils, topped with kasha and olive oil

bowly bowly bowly bowl

Simple Wilted Kale Salad:
1 head kale
Salt, to taste
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp olive oil
Pepper, to taste

De-stem kale and slice into bite size pieces. Add rest of ingredients and massage until broken down.

Mushroom/Onion Sautee:
7-8 mushrooms, sliced
1/3 onion, sliced
salt, pepper
1 clove garlic
oil, for frying

Fry onions in oil for 2-3 minutes, add rest of ingredients, cook until mushrooms and onions are tender.

We made a bowl like this before for our Sketch-Free Student Eating series a while back too. Check it out!

We submitted this to Ricki's Wellness Weekend this week.

Cinnamon-Pear Buckwheat Bake

2012-01-23T08:29:00.000-08:00

We're finally giving in to the the buckwheat bake craze! We were of course inspired by edible perspective's many renditions of this quick and easy breakfast. This turned out surprisingly good considering how simple the ingredients were.

1 cup buckwheat groats, finely ground
2 tbsp raw buckwheat groats, whole
1/2 tsp baking powder
PInch of salt
1 pear, pureed
1 banana, pureed
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
About 1/4 cups of water

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Blend up banana and pear, water and vanilla. Dump into dry and mix until you have a thick batter. Pour into a greased cake pan and spread out evenly. Bake in a 350F over for 45 minutes. Spread with cinnamon almond butter!

Cinnamon-Almond Butter

2 tbsp almond butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Splash of water
About 3 drops stevia

Perfect breakfast for two

It's pizza!

P-I-Z-Z-A

We topped our bake with this super yummy Quin-ola from Your FItness Dish

We submitted this to Ricki's Wellness Weekend this week.

Veggie, Rice & Bean Burrito w/ Chickpea Tortilla

2012-01-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

I've never made a burrito before but it turned out to be crazy easy. Just cook the veggies, throw in rice, beans, spices and salsa (and a few other things). I made about 8 of these and have 7 left waiting in the freezer for convenient consumption. The wrap is made out of just chickpea flour, like a super thin socca. Delish :)

Atop a salad

1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 zuchini, chopped
1-2 tbsp oil (for frying)
2 cups brown rice
2 cans pinto beans (or 1 large can)
6 tsp chili powder (my chili powder is not very strong)
4 tsp cumin
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 cup salsa
3 cloves garlic
Handful of cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper, to taste
Chili fakes (extra heat)
Dash liquid smoke

Chickpea wraps:

1 cup chickpea flour

1 cup water

Salt, to taste

Cook onion, red pepper, zucchini, and garlic in a frying pan with oil. Once veggies are cooked through add salsa, beans, rice, spices and nutritional yeast. Cook for a minute or 2. Add in rest of ingredients.
To make chickpea wraps: Mix ingredients for batter, heat an oiled pan on medium, spoon mixture onto pan and swirl batter around as if making a crepe. Flip over to cook other side. Leave wraps to cool, and assemble burritos. Makes 7-8 burritos.
To reheat, place burrito in toaster oven and bake on 350 until heated through.

How to wrap a burrito

Tempeh Breakfast Sausage Patties

2012-01-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

I was at the health food store the other day and was looking at all the oils, I usually go for the cheapest (sunflower) for my frying and popcorn needs, but this time I decided on Rice Bran oil.

I remember reading in a post by Sarah from My New Roots explaining how some oils have a low smoke point such as olive oil and shouldn't be used for cooking. She recommends ghee (which is clarified butter) but there is a vegan option! Rice Bran Oil, it has a very high smoke point and is perfect for stir frying. I was like alright I'll try it, it has a nice nutty flavour and you just feel confident that you're not somehow tarnishing the little molecules in the oil.

I have been dreaming lately about vegan breakfast sausage. This recipe has soy in it but it has the two types of soy that I feel good about eating: tempeh and miso. Both are fermented so it digests easier. Miso gives these patties a wonderfully rich flavour, the liquid smoke is optional but makes it so good and well, smokey! :) I loved those big greasy breakfasts before going "Sketch-free", these patties are just as good and healthy too!

On top of ol' smoookey

1 block of tempeh (250 g)
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp rice bran oil (or other oil of choice)
3 tbsp Gluten-free flour blend (brown rice, GF oat and buckwheat)
1 tbsp miso paste
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp liquid smoke (optional)

Steam/boil tempeh until cooked through. Mash well with fork until small crumbles form, mix with remaining ingredients. Form into patties and fry in frying pan with 1 tbsp rice bran oil (or oil of choice, stay away from olive oil though because they may burn). Cook on both sides until browned and cooked through. Makes about 8 patties.

Spaghetti and Beet Balls

2012-01-13T06:15:00.000-08:00

We made this a loooong time ago but never got around to posting it! We made this dinner for our little sister's birthday. Our sister is the type to eat an entire pot of kraft dinner (we couldn't be more different). So we decided on something carby and rich: Classic Spaghetti and Meat Balls. Of course we had to make it vegan and gluten free, but she still liked it! This is a good ol' family meal for veggies and meat-eaters alike.

2 beets, grated (or 4 small ones)

1 can of adzuki beans

1 1/2 cups cooked red quinoa

1/3 cup oat flour

3 tbsp tamari

liberal salt and pepper

3 tbsp olive oil

chopped parsley

1 tsp dried oregano
Liquid smoke (optional)

Dump beans into mixing bowl and mash dramatically with a potato masher until thick and...mashy. Add in remaining ingredients and mix well. Roll into balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes in 350F oven. Serve with rice pasta and spaghetti sauce!

Balls!

mmmmm

really great

Oh how I've missed good ol' spaghetti and meat balls. Beet and quinoa are a waaaay healthier meat substitute to things like seitan and tvp. Plus they end up a nice purpl-y pink colour.

We submitted this recipe to Ricki's Wellness Weekends! Check it out.

Avocado-Lime Smoothie

2012-01-11T08:42:00.000-08:00

Whoa man this smoothie is really good, considering it has no sugar / or banana in it! Lime and avocado go well anyway, and gives this smoothie a creamy key-lime pie taste. I noticed that stevia goes really well with lime, because lime seems much more complex than lemon (it has some existential issues to figure out haha), there's a fun, vibrant flavour there that is just lovely in smoothie form :). The lime zest is vital btw! Without it, it will taste flat.

And on top of all the yumminess, the lime actually helps to break down fat in the avocado for better digestion. What's not to love in this smoothie!

If anyone is embarking on a sugar-free cleanse/diet, check our Inner Ecology ebook, it has all sugar-free recipes (and is fruit-free except for cranberry, lemon and lime).

1/2 avocado
1/2 cup cucumber, diced
Juice of one small lime
Zest of one lime
8-10 drops stevia
Water to thin
1 ice cube

Mix ingredients together in a blender, add ice if desired. Makes one serving.
Topped with QuinWow Quinoa Crisps, I've been enjoying these a lot on my smoothies/puddings for an extra crunch.

Frozen Carob-Tahini Balls

2012-01-09T15:48:00.000-08:00

So you probably could have guessed me and Jenn are back on the sugar-free train. And you know we can't go on without treats. I made a batch of these after I organized my cupboard, because, well it was all organizey and nice and I wanted to put it to good use. So I used all of my uniquest ingredients to come up with a yummy, sugar-free treat!

I used this Quin Wow's quinoa crisp in this recipe, it is a unique ingredient and is only found in health stores in Ontario and Quebec, unfortunately for you Americans! (although you can order it online on their ordering site). If you can't get your hands on this ingredient, you can use crunchy granola or rice cereal as well.

Crispy candy! Cut in half.

4 tbsp tahini
3-4 tbsp water*
20 drops stevia
1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder (or extract)
3 tbsp carob
6 tbsp oat flour
Tiny pinch of salt
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp quinoa crisp (or other crispy grain cereal, optional but so worth it!)

Start by mixing the tahini and water together until thickened, it should be the consistency of a pudding, *depending on the type of tahini you have you may need to add less or more water/tahini to get proper consistency. Mix in stevia, vanilla powder (or extract) and salt, then mix in all other ingredients until you have a dough. Add in sesame seeds and crisp, you can also add in shredded coconut, different seeds, chia seeds. Roll into balls and store in freezer.

New E-Book is out! "Simple Sweets"

2012-01-02T17:15:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to release our second Ebook: Simple Sweets. We've been working on it for a good 6 months now, and we're finally finished!

About the book:

Over 25 new and original recipes created by yours truly that have not been featured on our blog
High quality photo for each recipe
Gluten-free and Vegan
Recipes use only natural sweeteners such as maple syrup, agave and coconut sugar
We also have a few recipes that contain only stevia to sweeten
All recipes are low cost to make and use easy to find ingredients.

If you're interested in purchasing this ebook click here. Or click on Ebook tab above.

If you do buy it, make sure to turn off your pop up blocker so you can receive the download! :)

Our 11 Best "Cafe-worthy" Recipes of 2011

2012-01-01T14:15:00.000-08:00

Hey peeps, so apparently it's 2012 now...hmm, time for some reflection. This should be exciting...:) We're going back in time! Actually back to when our recipes were pretty extensive, we've gotten simpler since then because of school and such.

These are all the recipes that are 100% amazing and that would be featured in a cafe, if we ever open one ...probably not until we have our midlife crisis in 30 years.

Lucuma Chip Ice-Cream (this tasted like butterscotch ripple amazingness, it's all the lucuma)

Raw Chocolate Mint Pie (man, if you like chocolate and mint and creaminess, this is pretty much heaven)

Awkward pie picture, it's hard to take pictures of slices of pie, don't ask! lol

Thai Peanut Soup (a ravenously addicting, pad thai inspired peanut soup)

Curried Pea Mash (creamy + delicious, there's something about curry and peas that is just so comforting)

Sunbutter Chocolate Bars w/ Stevia (these are so cheap to make and snap like real chocolate bars)

Sweet Potato Vanilla Patty Cakes (Amazing cakes, kind of like potato latkes, except sweet)

Mocha Tart (this is totally sugar-free, it's so light and fluffy and uses a coffee substitute, true yums)

The Sweetest Potato Brownies (the sweet potato just makes these ultra-fudgey and amazing)

Buckwheat Graham Crackers (Gluten-free grahams, these taste just like the real thing!)

Pistachio Orange Cookies (Pistachio + orange create an amazing and unique flavour in these little gems! )

Vegan "Booster Juice" (title says it all...)

It seems like most of our faves were sweet things last year. That's so funny, because we are planning to release our second ebook which is completely Sweet! (with some sugar-free dessert recipes as well).

Rainbow Fruit + Post Holiday Salad

2011-12-26T21:48:00.000-08:00

Post holiday is here! I hope everyone out there in the blogosphere had a wonderful, bountiful holiday! Ours was filled with family, fun and of course lots and lots of food. Today I was just like, I need SALAD!

Jenn is obsessed with cutting up fruit...don't ask. She made this lovely rainbow inspired fruit plate on Christmas day!

Caramelized Onion-Apple-Blueberry-Walnut Salad w/ Dijon Dressing

Handful of mixed greens

Caramelized onions

Cucumber, thinly sliced

1/2 an apple, chopped

Handful of blueberries

Handful of toasted walnuts

Dressing:

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Squeeze of lemon juice

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

Pinch of salt and pepper

Last year's asian inspired post-holiday salad!

Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 11: TAZO tea + Cinnamon Biscotti

2011-12-24T22:37:00.000-08:00

Ah it's past midnight but I need to do this post. Just to know that I actually FINISHED something for once. This is an obvious one, but tea is what every health freak wants and needs. You can never have too many boxes of tea in the cupboard in my opinion. A recent favourite tea of mine is the "Zen" green tea from TAZO. It has a very clean taste and doesn't taste like hay for once! (which I find to be the prominent note in most green teas).

teas!

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Have a great christmas morning everyone! :)

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 10: Sacha Inchi + Stevia-Sweetened Hot Drinks

2011-12-23T06:42:00.001-08:00

Have you guys ever tried Sacha Inchi seeds? They are the best thing thing since shelled peanuts! They actually taste like peanuts except much healthier, and these little seedlings have omega 3! This little snack bag was only 1.50,

I also tried to make a sugar-free pumpkin spiced latte. Ehhh, for some reason stevia does not mesh very well with pumpkin. It was more or less a 5 out of 10. But I did manage to make a wonderfully malty and delicious carob-cinnamon drink with absolutely no sugar or caffeine!

Almond milk, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, stevia = 50% good...

Almond milk, carob powder, stevia, vanilla powder, cinnamon = 100% yummy!

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 9: Nutralive Raw Vegan Treats

2011-12-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

Good morning! Today we have a rare Canadian treasure to share with you. We've only been able to find these in Toronto (probably because it's a Toronto based company), but the ingredients are so simple I'm sure you could re-create them in your own kitchen!

Just 100% dried fruit and nuts

Close up chewy

Here's some ideas for homemade raw foodie presents:

No-Bake Orange Pistachio Cookies

Coco-Expresso Cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bites

Raw Carob Ely Treats

Raw Macaroons

Maple-Cinnamon Coconut Cookies

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 8: Divine Mint Dark Chocolate + Vanilla-Banana Spinach Milkshake

2011-12-21T08:18:00.000-08:00

Mmm mm mm! This shake is so deliciously creamy. The reason why it's a milkshake and not a smoothie is because of the almond milk, bananas, and vanilla protein powder. They just all come together to make a deliciously sweet vanilla drink. And I'm sure all you green smoothie-rs know, you won't taste the spinach!! :P

1 1/2 frozen banana, large handful of spinach, 1 scoop vanilla brown rice protein powder (you could substitute regular protein powder and splash of vanilla extract + stevia), almond milk to blend, top with cinnamon :)

Next on the docket of stocking stuffers is this Divine Mint Dark Chocolate, I love mint-chocolate, like a lot, so it was natural to include this vegan, fair-trade chocolate to the list.

And we got some corn for poppin' but still no snow! Come to think of it, this could be a stocking stuffer too! :)

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 7: Upper Canada Vita Body Spray + Persimmon Smoothie

2011-12-20T06:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas is so close I can almost taste it! I went shopping today with a dear friend in downtown Toronto, got some good stuff! My dad is so hard to buy for geez, all I could think of was translucent playing cards and chocolate...(don't worry, he doesn't read the blog that often...)

Anyways Jenn was in a rush and asked me to finish her post...a persimmon smoothie with a granola type topping, not sure what kind of granola though, I will have to get back to y'all on that :P. I commend her for using persimmons, I'm still terrified of them after they numbed my tongue. They have to be super ripe in order to avoid the numbing apparent...

vanilla persimmon smoothie (persimmon, banana, almond milk)

Almond Fresh almond milk! Mmmm! only downside is that it has sugar in it, o well a little sweetness never hurt anyone! :)

Stocking Stuffer #7: Upper Canada Vita-Body Spray. This stuff is awesome! Number 1: It's Canadian, Holla! Number 2: It's super natural with no added chemicals at all! And smells like festive cranberry and orange, mmm.

Hope your Christmas plans are following through as you'd like them to! It will probably be a green Christmas up here, not a snowflake in sight...:(

11 Days - Day 6: PUR Gum + Peanut Noodles + Pudding

2011-12-19T05:57:00.001-08:00

Day 6! I can't believe Christmas is like 6 days away, incredible!...I went out shopping today and got lots of ideas of things I can buy for the fam, but I kept second guessing the gifts and didn't end up buying anything! I plan on going shopping some more tomorrow, so we'll see if I can grow a pair and actually buy something!

Anyways my favourite type of vegan/sugar free gum is PUR. I've tried Glee Gum and don't like the texture as much as PUR, Glee disintegrates more quickly and doesn't hold its shape as well. A perfect stocking stuffer, for those who like to avoid aspartame, I know I do! :)

pomegranate-mint and spearmint, sweetened with xylitol!!

It looks like Jenn and I both had peanut parties without even knowing it! Here is a pudding Jenn made involving peanuts:

avocado, banana, carob, almond milk, topped with peanuts!

Peanut Noodles (inspired by Aarti Paarti) see original video. If you haven't gotten into Aarti's videos please do so! (This was before she became the Next Food Network Star, and won her own show)

The best part of this recipe, is that if you watch the video before you make it you'll have "Movin' Right Along" from the Muppets stuck in your head! :)

late in the day photography, still looks delicious! :P

Brown rice pasta (I used spaghetti)
4-5 stalks of asparagus, cut into strips (as shown above)
1/2 red pepper, sliced thinly
1/4 red onion, sliced
1 inch ginger
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
Safflower oil, for frying

Sauce :
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tbsp lime juice
(I didn't add any, but you can add some sugar if you like!)

Boil pasta, drain, set aside. while pasta is boiling, slice up your veggies. Heat oil in a skillet on medium, add onion, cook until onions are tender, add garlic and ginger, continue cooking. Combine all ingredients to sauce in a small bowl. Once onions, garlic and ginger are cooked through, add sauce and sesame seeds to pan. Add in pasta and veggies. Combine everything together. Garnish with cilantro/sesame seeds.

This dish leaves you so full, and at first I was hesitant with the raw asparagus, but now I love it, I actually prefer it to cooked. You can also pack this as a lunch and it will still taste good cold, if you watch the video Aarti brings it for her friends to a movie viewing and it is eaten cold. Mmmm! So yummy, this is definitely a keeper!

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 5: Bakery on Main

2011-12-18T14:23:00.000-08:00

We're so close to Christmas! Only 7 more days and I STILL haven't done any shopping. It's typical me to leave everything to the last minute anyway. It'll get done though!

For Day 5 we've chosen:

BAKERY ON MAIN BARS

Bakery on main is an awesome new company that makes gluten-free cereals and bars that are super yums! I've been eyeing their products in the stores and finally got to try them.

So many bars to choose from

Check out the texture yo.

The pb+j was naturally our favourite. Chewy and soft = optimal bar texture.

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 4: Tia's Bakery

2011-12-17T06:38:00.000-08:00

Wow this week went by fast. Today's stuffer comes from Tia's bakery; a gluten-free bakery that makes super yummy cookies and cakes. We had the opportunity to try the oatmeal raisin and peanut butter cookies and man were they good! They had that chewy texture of a freshly baked cookie that I've really been missing since going gluten-free.

Our favourite was definitely the peanut butter:

Santa doesn't need these....;)

Nothing is better then cookies in your stocking!

Here's some pics of what we've been eating lately. (No recipe today :( )

Cocoa-berry pudding: Avocado, frozen cucumber, cocoa, berry powder, stevia

Zuchinni noodles cooked in marinara sauce

Tempeh on salad w/ creamy tahini sauce

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Gingerbread Oats + Day 3: Ginger Chews!

2011-12-16T06:31:00.000-08:00

It's ginger time! One of my favourite christmas cookies is gingerbread, so I attempted to create a breakfast that would taste just like the in-famous gingerbread (I also have a jar of molasses in the fridge that I don't know what to do with so that played a roll as well ;)

1/2 cup pure rolled oats
1 cup water

(Boil water first and then add oats. Bring to a simmer until water has evaporated)

3 tbsp of coconut sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
Drizzle of molasses
Sprinkle of nuts

A great way to start a ginger day!

And now for Day 3 of our Healthy Stocking Stuffers:

THE GINGER PEOPLE GINGER CHEWS

These chews are so addictive! They come in lots of different flavours (Peanut is our favourite). When you chew them they actually get hot in your mouth from the spiciness of the ginger. It's awesome.

Haha love that ginger guy

Gingy!

Is everyone ready for the holidays? I can safely say that I am not. But it's coming!

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 2: SENCHA Green Tea Mints

2011-12-15T05:39:00.000-08:00

It's funny I went through this phase in elementary school where I was obsessed with gum and mints. I always had to have them on me. I for some reason had this goal of trying every single flavour of "Trident". I was also obsessed with wintergreen lifesavers. Oh to be young again....

Now that I've discovered that the gum I used to chew when I was little has asparthane in it I've made the switch to more natural ways of freshening my breath and keeping my chewing muscles strong.

This is where SENCHA GREEN TEA MINTS come in!

These mints come in a little zippy pencil case thing...re-usable much?

These mints use xylitol for sweetness instead of that sketchy asparthane stuff

Am I spelling asparthane right? There's no suggestions in spell check...

Ooops it's aspartame.

Lot's of different flavours too! Pear is our favourite.

I made some ginger-molasses granola the other day and thought what a great homemade gift that would be! Just pour your homemade granola into a jar and tie with a ribbon!

Ginger-Molasses Granola (this is for our e-book so sorry no recipe!)

More granola recipes to give:

Hazelnut-Hemp Granola

Raw "Superfood" Granola

Pomegranate-Coconut Granola

Buckwheat Granola

11 Days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers - Day 1: Anita's Organic Mill

2011-12-10T12:52:00.001-08:00

We decided to do 11 days of Healthy Stocking Stuffers! Hopefully these posts will give you guys ideas on what to give the hard core health freak foodie for Christmas. You guys probably could tell we are product fiends. Every time there's something new at the health food store we simply HAVE to try it. We don't post products that we don't believe in and we hope you guys enjoy looking at all the obscure, new health foods we've been discovering.

So first on the docket:

ANITA'S ORGANIC MILL BREAKFAST BOOST!

We are loving this breakfast boost! It has buckwheat groats (for crunchiness) Chia and Hemp seeds (for omegas) sunflower seeds (for heartiness) and dried cranberries and currants (for sweet chewiness)

I love how there's no added sugar to the cranberries, it's just purely dried.

We found lots of ways to use this booster:

Pumpkin Pudding: pumpkin puree, banana, vanilla brown rice protein powder

Bananas and apples w/ tahini and breakfast boost!

Any self respecting health foodie would jump for joy if they found this in their stocking! I know I would.

Watch out tomorrow for another stocking stuffer! :)

Nacho Supreme Quinoa Bowl + TruRoots

2011-12-09T12:16:00.001-08:00

You guys are gonna think this is so weird, but I had a dream last night that I made this and since I had a day off today I decided to follow my dreams and literally make them come true.

And I've recently discovered the BEST and EASIEST vegan cheese sauce. I tried it on noodles and it definitely wins for the best "Mac and Cheese" substitute. Better than our hummus and sweet potato versions.

So what are the ingredients?

Super easy.

Pumpkin Cheese Sauce

Equal parts:

Canned pumpkin puree
Tahini
Nutritional Yeast and
Water
+ a hefty pinch of sea salt

For the bowl I used about 2 tbsp of each as well as a little bit more water cause I wanted to be able to drizzle it. This would equal about 1 serving I'd say.

Here's the sauce mixed w/ some noodles, KD style

But this isn't what you came here to see!

Presenting the Nacho Supreme Quinoa Bowl

1/2- 3/4 cup of cooked quinoa
1 tsp chili powder

Chopped red pepper
Chopped green onion
Black beans
Salsa
Diced avocado
1 sprouted corn tortilla (Baked in a 350F oven for about 10 minutes and crumbled)

1 serving of Pumpkin Cheese Sauce (recipe above)

First you layer the quinoa that has been mixed with chili powder on the bottom of the bowl. Next add your veggies, salsa and avocado (Add vegan sour cream if you're into that kind of thing). Top with tortilla pieces.

Drizzle on cheese sauce and garnish with a lime.

Yum!!!

I didn't have black beans so just pretend they're there

Na na na

Quinoa peeking through

If you don't have sprouted corn tortillas just use crumbled tortilla chips.

Tru Roots sent us some Sprouted Quinoa! You can really tell the difference when the grain is sprouted. It's a more hearty grain. Perfect for bowls!

I was also thinking you could put in some other nacho-ish stuff like maybe some smoked tempeh or shredded lettuce.

Cookie Trials + Our Favourite Hummus

2011-12-01T09:31:00.001-08:00

A few months ago, we had the idea of starting up a cookie business, we're not sure if we're actually going to follow through with it but we still like to experiment when we can with some gluten-free baking!

Sometimes they turn out really good, sometimes they turn out just downright weird! Like these sweet potato cookies, the concept is good, I was so excited about it! It tastes like sweet potato pie (yyyum!), but the texture is exactly what you'd think would be like if you mixed a potato into a cookie. Kind of rubbery and dense...

Sweet potato puree, brown rice flour, tapioca flour, almonds, cinnamon, coconut sugar, vanilla, safflower oil.

These next ones on the other hand turned out great! Chocolate Chip Sunflower Seed Cookies. I just made a small batch, so you will end up with around 1 dozen.

Cookie rounds w/ chocolate chip and sunflower seeds

1/2 cup white rice flour

1/4 cup buckwheat flour

1/4 cup millet flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup safflower oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp water

Dash of cinnamon (optional)

2 tbsp mini chocolate chips

2 tbsp sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl combine sugar, agave, oil, vanilla and water. Pour dry into wet. Stir until combined. Mix in cinnamon, chocolate chips and seeds. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, flatten with hand, and then bake for 13-15 minutes.

They ended up being soft and chewy which is always nice, but now I'm looking for a way to make gluten-free crunchy cookies!! Anyone have any suggestions??

Next up, I just wanted to share with you guys my favourite hummus of all time: Fontaine Sante Eggplant and Olive!! Mmmmmm.

Taking the hummus experience to a whole. notha. level.

Half way hummus

Enjoy with crackers!! Pictured here: Sesame-Brown Rice Crackers (recipe soon)

Ready for a sugar cleanse? Check out our ebook for 31 sugar-free recipes.

Cheezy Steamed Potatoes + Sunwarrior Protein Puddings

2011-11-27T07:43:00.001-08:00

There's nothing like a rainy sunday. It's one of those "do-nothing" days and the perfect time for some comfort food. How about some cheezy potatoes? It's very simple and very yummy. All you need is tahini and nutritional yeast and water to thin it out.

I didn't measure exactly when I made the sauce but this is around how much I used:

2 tbsp tahini
1 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 cup water
Generous pinch of sea salt

About 3 medium red potatoes, steamed

Serve on a bed of greens.

Simple and Easy

We tried SunWarrior Protein Powder for the first time and loved it! We received a chocolate and a vanilla in the mail. I of course made protein packed puddings with them.

Avocado, Frozen cukes, vanilla protein powder. Topped with buckwheat groats and hemp seeds

Avocado, Frozen cukes and chocolate protein powder. Topped with almonds and hemp seeds.

I love how it's raw and contains no sweetener except stevia. It had a really natural taste and it wasn't chalky like I expected.

Thanks SunWarrior!

Chili-Lime Guacamole Mac + RISE bar

2011-11-22T18:19:00.001-08:00

Hello lovely readers! We've been receiving some great stuff to review lately including these RISE bars which is the old pranabar "reinvented", hope you don't mind all the products. We're kind of nerds that way, we could spend hours browsing the aisles of health food stores. It's the packaging that gets us! Why is health food always in such pretty packaging?... I think they're onto something marketing wise...

I made the most random weirdest dish because I was basically out of normal food and all I had was an avocado, brown rice noodles and limes. So what did I make??...

Chili-Lime Mac!

I know I know, it's almost like we make an effort to be weird...

It was pretty good! Basically like guacamole mixed into pasta.

For the sauce:

1 large avocado
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
A very generous pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Whizz up in your blender (I used my magic bullet of course)

Enjoy over some piping hot pasta!

Oh and one more thing, we received a whole package of rise bars in the mail!

What could be inside!

These are comparable to lara bars except they have more of a texture to them. They are primarily comprised of fruit and nuts with some popped amaranth for extra chewiness.

Lots to choose from!

Our favourite was definitely the coconut-acai and we loved how unique the flavour combos were.

Flickering in close up

Order your own box of RISE bars HERE

Miso-Tahini Pumpkin Noodles + Pudding + King Soba

2011-11-17T08:13:00.001-08:00

You probably already know we are big fans of tahini. 1. because it's cheap 2. because it has a low glycemic index and 3. because it actually tastes really good! I made a super yummy asian inspired miso-tahini sauce that you can use as a dressing or poured over top of noodles. In this case I used King Soba's Pumpkin-Ginger Noodles. We love this gluten-free noodle company (especially the packaging) and they're organic too! Double score! They sent us some other noodles to try so we'll also be posting recipes for those when inspiration strikes.

So to make your noodle dish first mix together the sauce:

2 tbsp of tahini
1 tsp miso paste
1/4 cup hot water (or more depending on consistency of tahini)

Mix together the miso and hot water. Add in tahini and stir until well combined. It should have a dressing consistency.

Pour over cooked noodles and wilted spinach or arugula (or whatever greens you'd like). Toss in the dressing. Eat!

Into the miso abyss

Greens!

I hope you guys don't mind the simplicity of the dishes we've been making. Hopefully when the holidays come we'll get a bit more crazy.

King Soba!

Here's a pudding I made...guess what's in it...

It's avocado and kiwi! (w/ cinni and hemp seeds on top). Simple, low-glycemic and filling. We love our avos!

How to Make Coconut Water Kefir (w/ boxed coconut water)

2011-11-14T12:19:00.001-08:00

I've always wanted to try coconut kefir but the thought of carting home a case of young coconuts home on the subway was not very encouraging. I decided to try making it with boxed coconut water and it totally worked! I used the ZICO brand because I saw that it didn't contain any extra additives so I'm not sure if other brands will work...

So first you dump the entire container (1 liter) of coconut water into a glass jar. Make sure the coconut water and the jar are room temperature.

Next, add in the powder from two probiotic capsules

This could totally be in a photography gallery! I've never seen such a professional looking picture of pills....

Be sure that your probiotic capsules contain "lactobacillus acidophilus" bacteria.

Stir in the powder and screw on the jar lid tightly. Place in a warm environment for 1 1/2 - 2 days and make sure it's warm, I tried just putting it on the counter and it didn't work (I ended up putting it on a heat register with a towel over it to keep the heat in). You will know it's ready when it becomes significantly cloudy.

Store in the refrigerator and enjoy with meals to aid digestion and get a hefty dose of probiotics!

Drink up me hearty yo ho!....

The boxed coconut water is not as "fresh" so the kefir will be a more yellow-y colour (it was even yellow-ish in the beginning), but it's just as fizzy in my opinion! You'll know it's done when it tastes like beer and no longer contains the subtle sweetness coconut water is famous for.

This is such a powerful drink! Click HERE to read all the amazing benefits of coconut kefir!

Also check out our EBOOK if you're looking for more fizzy recipes

Cinnamon-Butternut Buckwheat Biscuits + Pudding

2011-11-11T07:13:00.001-08:00

I've decided to go on a sugar cleanse for a while and have been experimenting with stevia lately. I was craving some sweetness after 3 days of no sugar. Can't believe it! So I baked these cute biscuits made with butternut squash and cinnamon that's also oil/fat free! And also, if you are on a sugar cleanse and need recipes check out our ebook!

These would be perfect for thanksgiving dinner or with some soup.

Here's the team!:

1 1/2 cups raw buckwheat groats, ground finely
2 tbsp chia seeds, ground finely
1 tbsp cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp powdered stevia
1/2 cup butternut squash puree
1 cup of water

Mix all together and you should have a dough that's slightly sticky. Spoon onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes at 350F.

The biscuits are crisp on the outside and chewy and soft on the inside. You could also substitute pumpkin for the butternut.

For breakfast this morning I had a delightful acai berry pudding made with avocado and frozen cucumber! Oh the insanity!

In the pudding: avocado, frozen cukes, about 2 tbsp of acai berry powder, a sprinklin' of stevia.

Check out our other sugar-free pudding recipes on our recipe page

Have a great 11/11/11 !

Raw Apple-Cinnamon Overnight Buckwheat + JOVAN'S

2011-11-08T05:05:00.000-08:00

Good morning! It's a bit of a dreary day today but that's expected after yesterday's beautiful fall weather. I can't believe it hasn't snowed yet in Canada this is just insanity!

I made a fall-inspired breakfast this morning, actually I made it last night and just dumped it in a bowl and sprinkled on some apple pieces, super simple.

2 tbsp of hemp seeds blended w/ 1 cup of water (or 1 cup of nut/seed milk)
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp chia seeds
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp raw buckwheat groats

Combine all ingredients in an air tight container and store in the fridge over night

Awaken to a yummy low-glycemic cereal! Sprinkle with apples.

We got to try these yummy whole food veggie crackers from JOVAN'S. The ingredients are so pure and natural which we are of course big fans of.

The Zesty Tomato was our favourite

Zesty Tomato and Taste of Tuscany Crackers. Crunchy

That's all for today! :)

Creamy Hummus Pasta w/ Spinach and Nuts + Cookies

2011-11-05T07:31:00.000-07:00

Looks like we've been in a bit of a temporary hiatus, don't freak out though it's just temporary (30 Rock fans?) It feels kind of weird to not be posting almost everyday like we've been doing this past month for Vegan MoFo. It was fun to figure out something to post everyday but I'm also glad that the pressure's off!

I came up with an absolutely delicious, easy vegan and gluten-free lunch. It tastes like pasta in Alfredo sauce (basically...)

This is enough for 2 people:

2 fist fills of brown rice pasta (I used spaghetti)
1/4 cup hummus (store-bought or homemade)
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
Liberal sprinkling of sea salt and pepper
Splash of olive oil (optional)

2 handfuls of spinach
About a quarter cup of chopped nuts (I used almonds)

Boil noodles until tender. Drain in a colander, rinse off starchiness and set aside. Add a bit of water (a couple tbsps) to the pot and return to stove. Add in spinach, cover and steam for about 30 seconds. Remove pot from stove, add in hummus, water, yeast, sea salt and pepper. Add in noodles, and drizzle with a bit of oil (optional). Stir in nuts. Serve!

Creamy tangle

This was a perfect lunch! Feel free to add any sort of vegetables or legumes or nuts to the pasta.

And we made the best chocolate chip cookies! Aren't they cute? We're thinking about opening an Etsy store to sell our baked goods. We'll keep you updated with that endeavour.

Also check out our cousin's blog! She does catering in Ontario!

Double Take Pudding + Giveaway Winner Announcement!

2011-11-02T06:25:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I've got two quick and easy puddings to share with you so let's get on it! I'm loving avocado puddings for breakfast lately. Mainly because I had a bag of avocados in my fridge I forgot about (how is that even possible?!) So I've been whipping up a storm! I like the combination of avocado and banana together but you can substitute any fruit you'd like. For more pudding recipes check out our recipe tab!

Spinach-Avocado Pudding

For the Spinach-Avocado Pudding I put in:

1 hefty handful of spinach
1 banana
2 small avocados
1/3 cup water

*It's a good idea to blend the water and spinach first so you don't get leafy bits in the pudding

Carob-Banana Pudding

For the Carob-Banana Pudding I put in:

2 bananas
1 small avocado
3 tbsp carob
1/3 cup water

And now for the giveaway winner!

The winner is...

Stacey Renee Groth from Guiltless Raw Goodies!

Stacey please email us so we can forward your contact info to iherb.com

Thanks to everyone for participating!

Soft and Fudgy Carob Pebbles (low-glycemic)

2011-10-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

It's friday and it's time to break out the treats! We admit we've been going crazy on the sugar lately so I made these gluten-free, sugar-free, chocolate-free treats. I called them pebbles because thats what they look like, not because they have the same consistency! This recipe only makes about ten pebbles so double it up if you want a bigger batch.

2/3 cup buckwheat flour (I ground mine from raw buckwheat groats, that's why it's a bit grainy looking)

6 tbsp carob powder

1 tsp powdered stevia (or two packets, or around 30 drops)

2 tbsp tahini

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp water

Pinch of sea salt

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl (you may want to whisk the water and tahini first). Dollop onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for around 17 minutes at 350F.

And you've got cute little pebbles to nibble on without getting buzzed off the chocolate and sugar. :)

I should probably invest in a cookie dough scooper...

Unlike real pebbles these are soft on the inside...

And if you haven't already entered, check out our giveaway for 60$ at iherb.com!

CLOSED: iHerb 60$ worth of Madre Labs Giveaway! + Fruit Salad + Banana Tiramisu

2011-10-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! We've got an awesome giveaway for you courtesy of iherb.com and Madre Labs. I'll get into the details and how to enter in a moment. Let me just share with you first what we've been making!

A slice of berry life

Fruit Salad with Berry Syrup

Just mix together 1/2 tbsp of berry powder with 1 tbsp of agave syrup and 1 tbsp of water and drizzle over your favourite fruit!

We used Eureka Berries which literally contains every berry in existence!

Every berry under the sun in one container

We also got to try out a coffee mushroom blend called Cafeceps and used it to make tiramisu. Instead of cookies
though, we used bananas and soaked them in the coffee until they were completely buzzed.

Bobbing for bananas

Banana Tiramisu

1 large banana, sliced vertically and cut into three (you'll have 6 pieces)
1 tbsp Cafeceps + 1 1/2 cups of water (or 1 1/2 cups of coffee)
chopped almonds
1 can of full fat coconut milk, chilled in the fridge
1 1/2 tbsp of agave nectar or maple syrup

Soak the bananas for around 15 minutes, or more if you want them extra strong. Spoon about a 1/2 cup of the chilled coconut milk into a blender (I used a magic bullet) and whip until it is the consistency of whipped cream. Fold in syrup. Layer half the bananas on the bottom of a ramekin or dessert bowl. Sprinkle with chopped almonds. Spoon on the coconut cream and top with another layer of bananas and finally layer the rest of the coconut cream on top.

The coconut cream is so fluffy and soft. Sprinkle with cocoa.

Ok so now for the good stuff.

To enter the giveaway you can do a multitude of things! (make sure you post a separate comment for each thing)

1. Post a comment telling us your favourite recipe on Sketch-free Vegan

2. Like Sketch-free Vegan on Facebook

3. Like iherb on Facebook

4. Tweet about this giveaway (make sure it links back to this page)

5. Leave a comment on our Facebook page!

What will you win? 60$ worth of any Madre Labs products of your choice which will be shipped to you from iherb.

This contest will be closing Halloween (October 31st) at midnight.

Pumpkin Smoothie (the "Sketch-Free Vegan" way)

2011-10-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

We've been blogging for a year and a half now, and one thing that always stumped us was pumpkin. Why was everyone so obsessed with it in the vegan world? I've only ever used it in pumpkin pie...that's it. Well since getting acquainted with vegan blogging, I've come across pumpkin enthusiast blogs that have helped me in formulated my own pumpkin recipes. The pure2raw twins recently posted a myriad of their healthy pumpkin recipes here.

I've seen many pumpkin pie smoothies out there, and usually have smoothies for breakfast so I wanted to keep mine low-glycemic, with no refined sugars. A few blends later, and this creamy drink was the result:

3/4 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 banana (frozen or fresh)
1 large ice cube (if using fresh banana)
2 tbsp lucuma powder (so good in this, can't even describe it)
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Let the pumpkin shine in!

On another note, look what I found at the store!! It's banana powder, like what?! All there is in it is bananas, can't wait to try it out, I don't really know what to use it in...any ideas?

And a random salad ;)...

Greens, avocado, red pepper hummus, salad topper (from Living Intentions), and cucumber

Cheez-y Crepes

2011-10-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

We have been obsessed with crepes lately and there's good reason! First of all they are so so easy to make. All you need is buckwheat flour, water and salt. Easy. And you just fill em with whatever you fancy. We made pumpkin cream crepes a couple weeks ago and they were to die for.

We decided to go the savory route this time and made a cheez sauce using sweet potatoes.

Heres the recipe for the cheez sauce:

1 large sweet potato, steamed and peeled

1/2 cup almond milk or water

1 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp miso paste

1/2 tsp sea salt

Blend it all up and pour over a stir fry of whatever veggies you like. We used potatoes, broccoli and red onion.

For the crepes:

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1 cup water

pinch of sea salt

Mix ingredients together and pour into a hot and oiled frying pan over medium heat. Cook for about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes on each side. Makes 3 crepes.

Spoon the filling onto one side of the crepe

classic combo of broccoli and cheese

Then fold it over and top with cheez sauce and crunchies

Cha cha cheezie

The crepe possibilities are endless!

We submitted this recipe to Ricki's Wellness Weekends, check it out!

Coconut-Curry Tempeh Salad and...Pickles?

2011-10-23T18:33:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, Jaclyn here! I finally got a new macbook! (I broke my old one), so I haven't been able to post while at school. Jenn has been posting like crazy everyday for Vegan MOFO, thanks Jenn for being a dolly! :P

So anyway, I was perusing the grocery aisles after weeks of rice, beans and sweet potatoes. I was feeling like something different, something...radical! I usually stay away from tofu but spotted some coconut curry tempeh that looked delicious and was gluten-free. The brand is Turtle Island, and they are so delicious! You just cook them like bacon and voila, tasty strips of tempeh!

Greens, coconut-curry tempeh, sweet potato, and spiced pumpkin seeds

On a side note, I also somehow convinced myself that I needed pickles. So I opted for these. I quickly resented my purchase after a few days, I mean, you can only eat so many pickles then you sort of need to wait awhile before eating them again. Am I alone on this pickle philosophy?

The nice thing about these pickles was that they tasted just like the ones we have every year for Passover. Oh Nostalgia! :)

Green Chocolate Monkey

2011-10-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

There's something to be said about having chocolate for breakfast. It sounds so wrong but sometimes you need a little pick me up in the form of concentrated caffeine aka raw cacao.

During our raw food cleanse we ate a lot of raw cacao. We should have known that "raw chocolate" is too good to be true. We eventually figured out that we shouldn't be having it everyday because it was making us a wee bit too hyper, so we started substituting dark roasted carob which basically tastes the same.

But today was different! I broke out the bag of raw cacao and made myself a green chocolate monkey inspired by the Laughing Vegan's Green Monster Smoothie.

What's in it??

7 (ish) leaves of organic green swiss chard (ripped off the stems)
2 frozen bananas
1 fresh banana
1 tbsp hemp seeds
1 tbsp raw cacao
1 tsp reishi mushroom powder
1 tbsp lucuma powder (other sweetener of choice like stevia or some kind of syrup)
1 tsp vitamin C powder
1/2 cup water

Blend it up and sprinkle with more hyperness! (cacao nibs)

This monkey is OFF THE WALL!

Did anyone notice we didn't post yesterday for MOFO? Shhhhh

Have you heard of the All Canadian Gingersnap?

2011-10-19T05:59:00.000-07:00

We had the honour of guest blogging for xgfx.org, a super site for vegan, gluten-free eating. Check out our post for the full recipe and leave a comment!

Thin and Crisp

We are "fans"

2 Smoothies

2011-10-18T16:53:00.000-07:00

Didn't get a chance to post this morning! But I'm posting now so it still counts right?

Here's 2 smoothies:

Papaya and Mango

Banana Kiwi and Arugula

What's your favourite smoothie combo?

Coconut Water Chia Pudding w/ Tropical Fruit + PRANA

2011-10-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

Are there any chia fans out there? I will admit I've never tried to make a chia pudding before today. We've used chia seeds as an egg replacement and to make raw jam and sprinkled on top of salads. But never pudding...and after seeing the many chia puddings on pure2raw (one of our fav blogs!) I figured it was finally time!

For this pudding I used half coconut water and half hemp seed milk. You can use any kind of nut milk you'd like, or even coconut milk! That would make sense now wouldn't it? The coconut water is naturally sweet so I didn't even add any syrup or stevia. There's no need!

1/2 cup coconut water

1/2 cup hempseed milk (or other nut milk)

1/4 cup chia seeds

Combine all ingredients in a bowl or container and store in the fridge overnight. Top it off with fruit. I used mango, kiwi, banana and papaya because they go well with coconut.

A taste of the tropics!

The chia seeds we used was from a sample sent to us from PRANA. They also sell trail mix, nuts, superfoods and snack mixes. And get this, everything is gluten-free and vegan!

They also have an online boutique that sells hard to find dried goods. A lot of which I've never even heard of like dried barberries, dried jujubes and golden cherries. We also got to try two of their flavoured nut varieties: Tamari Almonds and Maple Nuts. Naturally the maple nuts were our favourite. Just can't help that sweet tooth!

I didn't even notice that japanese style house in the background!

The maple nuts were the perfect addition to this creamy avocado-pear pudding.

This is just avocado, pear and banana blended up. I'm not a baby I swear!

XGFX!

2011-10-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

The week is almost through and I just realized I have nothing to post today! I've been a busy busy bee this weekend with auditions and dance stuff, so I thought it would be fun to do the Vegan MoFo survey from xgfx.org, which we will be contributing to on the 19th so keep your ears open! Here we go!

What's your favourite gluten-free flour?

Buckwheat! It's the best GF flour because it doesn't need to blended with anything else unless you are making cookies. But for muffins and bread and even thin and crispy crackers; buckwheat's the man.

What have you always wanted to de-glutenize but haven't yet?

I'd probably say...japanese style dumplings. We're big dumpling fans.

What's one of your favourite xgfx meals to make?

Lately we've been loving our "bowls". It's just brown rice or quinoa on the bottom and steamed veggies, avocado and a sprinklin' of crunch on top.

You're biggest gluten-free success that's made you most proud?

Crepes! You only need three ingredients!

Most epic xgfx fail?

We made these disgusting banana-oat cookies with no oil or sugar in them...they needed the oil and sugar...

What product do you wish was gluten-free but isn't

I wish there was such thing as gluten-free wonton wrappers...hence the dumpling obsession

If you could pass along one gluten-free tip to a gluten-free newbie, what would it be?

Embrace the garbanzo bean flour. It tastes bad when you use too much but if you add just a little bit it really helps to bind together your bakes.

What's your favourite xgfx product?

I think this maybe only available in Toronto but Kristine's Energy Circles are the best gluten-free, vegan cookies in town! They have a shortbread-like texture which is refreshing for a gluten-free-er.

Any xgfx techniques you've learned that have been most helpful?

One thing that I've found helpful is to use fruit or vegetable purees like banana, apple or sweet potato to make whatever you're baking more moist and less crumbly.

Is there anything you miss being gluten-free?

Dumplings!!!!!!

Have you found a gluten-free pizza dough recipe that makes your heart sing?

Funny you should ask because we've created a couple different versions of pizza dough. The best one we've made is our brown rice flax seed tortilla used as a pizza crust.

Xanthan gum. Do you? or don't you?

We've never used xanthan gum before, mainly because it's kinda scary sounding (legitimate reason right!) and you don't really need it unless you wanted to bake a loaf of bread with yeast and everything.

Favourite gluten-free pre-packaged bread?

Silver Hills Chia Bread it's actually edible right out of the bag! No toasting necessary.

What's your favourite way to nosh on quinoa?

Bowls!

Name five of your most coveted pantry staples

1. Tahini

2. Buckwheat groats

3. Carob powder

4. Gluten-free oats

5. Brown rice

If you could only buy 3 gluten-free flours to last you for 3 months what would they be?

Well this is obvious! Buckwheat flour to make crepes, crackers and fluffy things like muffins, gluten-free oat flour to make cookies...I really would only need those two. Maybe chickpea flour too to make soccas!

Any xgfx ingredients you are intimidated about trying?

Hmmm...well I was afraid of potato flour but then I realized that it's just dried potato ground up and I've used mashed potato in a pie crust before so I used potato flour instead of an actual mashed up potato in the pumpkin pie crust and it worked the exact same way!

Favourite place to buy food?

Qi Natural Foods in Toronto and the millions of fruit/veg markets along bloor

Favourite meal when dining out?

I recently had the best xgfx diner style breakfast at Hogtown Vegan. We love going out for breakfast!

Freebie question!...hmmm....What's the most awkward moment you've experienced because of your xgfx ways?

Asking if there's wheat in the piece of cake being offered to me and having everyone think I said weed....oh shame...

Here's a survey question for you guys! Whether gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, omni or whatever else I'm forgetting...

What are the top 3 ingredients you can't live without?

Our top 3 would definitely be:

Avocados

Bananas

and Sweet Potatoes

How about you?

Raw Reishi Mushroom Brownie Bites + Madre Labs "Cococeps"

2011-10-15T09:11:00.000-07:00

It sounds kind of crazy...Mushroom brownie bites? The mushroom is "Reishi" which is a chinese medicinal mushroom that has many benefits including boosting the immune system. The Reishi is mixed with Cordyceps which is another type of medicinal mushroom famous for promoting energy and longevity. Mushrooms are generally beneficial to all areas of your health and can really "balance out" your emotional and mental state. We sometimes drink Reishi tea or put some Chaga mushroom powder in coffee for an extra balancing boost. It also calms you down while making you feel very aware. It's a very nice feeling especially if you've been stressed.

So considering we're already fans of medicinal mushrooms we were very happy when Madre Labs offered to send us Cococeps, which is a Cocoa-Mushroom blend. In celebration, we decided to make Raw Brownie Bites!

Here's the recipe:

1 cup raw pecans

1 cup dates

1 tbsp Cococeps or cocoa powder

Pulse nuts first in a food processor. Add in the dates and after it's all blended add in the powder. Form into a flat disc and chill in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Cut into little bites. Chill until ready to serve.

Little bites of benefit

Hearty Guaca Kale Salad with Chickpeas

2011-10-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

Hey all you health freaks! I've been on a "green" kick lately. I've had a green smoothie almost every morning and I recently bought some black kale at an organic grocery store near my house. It looked like the deepest, darkest, richest green vegetable I could see in the produce section so I picked up a bunch to use in my smoothies. I decided I wanted a massaged kale salad because I haven't had one in a million years (since our raw food cleanse) and I felt like pulverizing something (note: punching kale can help release anger).

This salad has very simple ingredients: Kale + Chickpeas, and a very simple dressing: Avocado + Salsa + Salt. I don't really need to write down the recipe right? I should mention that you should massage the kale for about 3 minutes to get it nice and wilted.

I personally like non-salady salads...I mean, I like salads that you can really stick your fork into. None of these frail salads with feathery lettuce leaves and thin slices of cucumber.

Feel free to add cherry tomatoes or any other veggies you desire!

Kale salad is hard core

Do you guys like seeing daily eatings or do you prefer recipes? Or both!? We're enjoying the simplicity of posting daily eats with recipes here and there and will probably continue that once MoFo is over. Although we probably won't be posting everyday like we've been doing the past 2 weeks.

See you tomorrow!

-Jenn

Lots of Snackers!

2011-10-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot about my Student Eating Snack Attack post! Don't worry (because I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat...), it's coming soon! Here's some random eatin'!

Bananas + Tahini again! It's a really good breakers because it fills you right up!

Gluten-free toast w/ hummy and toasted pumpy seeds (yeah, we give food nicknames sometimes)

I made sweet potato crackers but forgot to add oil! Nooooo! Will be attempting this recipe again.

Banana - Avo Pudding w/ GF Toasted Oat O's (not cheerios) Jac regrets this because she doesn't like the Oat O's. Shame Jac!

Golden Beets + Smoothie

2011-10-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

Whoo! I can't believe we've posted every single day! It's a miracle! It's kinda fun just posted everyday pics instead of planning out recipes. I think after this month of posting everyday we'll continue to do more everyday stuff along with recipes as well. It's just more interesting to look at!

Anyway, this weekend our uncle brought us a bunch of stuff from his garden including golden beets which I've never cooked with before. We decided to make a citrus-beet salad, but I added avocado which kinda ruined the texture...it was still pretty good though!

Golden beets basking in their glory

Golden beet-Citrus Salad made w/ golden beets (roasted), orange segments, cherry tomatoes, avocado, chopped mint, and dressing made with lime juice, orange juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

I couldn't believe how long the beets took to bake! it took about 1 1/2 hours at 425F. Maybe I didn't have them on a high enough heat?

He also brought us swiss chard which I blended up into a smoothie. Made with bananas and frozen peaches!

Green-y and smooth-y

Pumpkin Attack!: Pumpkin Creme Crepes and Pie

2011-10-11T06:24:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! So we went a little crazy this Thanksgiving weekend in the kitchen. Specifically with the pumpkin. We made a Pumpkin-Orange Smoothie which was surprisingly really delicious. We also made the most amazing breakfast involving pumpkin....ready?....Banana-Pumpkin Cream Crepes! These were sooo good and sooo easy to make. I couldn't believe how easy it was to make the crepes. Here's the super simple recipe:

1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp of water (it should be more liquid-y than regular pancake batter)
Pinch of sea salt
That's it!!

Combine all ingredients. Pour onto a hot and oiled pan. Fry for a little less than 1 minute on each side. And you've got yourself a gluten-free pliable crepe!

Pumpkin Creme:

1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup coconut milk
A little squeeze of agave or maple syrup
A sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice

Layer bananas on one side of the crepe. Dollop on the creme and sprinkle with chopped almonds. Fold crepe over so it's half moon shape. Drizzle with more pumpkin creme, maple syrup and sprinkle with more nuts. Eat!!

Thin and soft, just how a good crepe should be

Drizzled with pumpkin creamy goodness

Peeping tom bananas

We also made a pumpkin pie using flying apron's recipe

It was pretty good! We used dates instead of dried apricots and just reduced the sweetness a bit. The filling got firm because the dates get dehydrated in the oven. We've finally found a good pumpkin pie recipe!

Pumpkin-Orange Smoothie

2011-10-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like a refreshing glass of pumpkin in the morning. It sounds so wrong but if you're a fan of pumpkin pie you will love this smoothie!

We were out at a restaurant a couple weeks ago and they had freshly squeezed pumpkin-orange juice and I just HAD to get it. And it was actually really good! I've never had pumpkin juice before but I can imagine how healthy it must be.

Oh and this smoothie is best when you use freshly squeezed oranges as opposed to the high acidic bottled OJ.

1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 banana, frozen

Blend it and sprinkle w/ additional spice

Smooth pumpy

Seeds from Blackbird Naturals + Fruit + Lucuma Pancakes

2011-10-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

So Jac and I ordered seeds from Blackbird Naturals and they finally came! I realize that it's kinda too late to plant a vegetable garden. But I'm gonna experiment with planting some of the greens inside by the window and we'll just save the seeds for spring. We are just in LOVE with the packaging! (so typical) I ordered the "greens collection" and some seeds from the superfood collection and Jac ordered the "veggie patch collection". We aren't affiliated with Blackbird or anything, we we're just really impressed with the company and like how they promote growing your own organic heirloom veggies!

Greens Collection and Superfood Seeds

Veggie Patch Collection in a little wooden box. Perfect gift eh?

The seeds are already "planted"! Trippy....

Superfood seeds. Wild Cherry Tomato, Holy Basil and Goji Berries

We also made pancakes this morning with lucuma powder. They tasted all caramel-y and shortbread-y. And what's a pancake breakfast without a huge plate of fruit!

Fruit! Cantaloupe, grapes, oranges and pine

Lucuma pancakes.

Ice Cream, Toast and Cookies

2011-10-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon everyone! Hope you're having a fun-tastic weekend. It's so sunny and nice here in our part of Canada and plus it's Canadian Thanksgiving so get ready for a pumpkin explosion!...(?) So as promised here's more daily eatin'!

Banana-Papaya Soft Serve w/ cacao nibs = best ever! I don't really like the texture of papaya when it's fresh but frozen is fine with me!

Cranberry, pistachio, quinoa flake cookies.

Avo on toast w/ spicy pumpkin seeds

Kelp Noodle Fun Time

2011-10-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to try kelp noodles after seeing everyone using them in raw recipes and I must say that I definitely prefer zucchini noodles because they're softer and have a more neutral taste. Kelp noodles on the other hand are a bit more rubbery and have a salty taste, unless you soak them of course, which I didn't do, I only rinsed them. I'm sure if you soaked them for a bit they would get softer and thus more pasta-like. But I will admit they are really fun to un-tangle!

I made a deeeeelicious avocado cream sauce to have with my kelp noodles. It's just 1/2 an avocado, a bit of water to get it blending, salt, lemon juice and smoked chipotle powder. If you've never tried this stuff....the time has come.

Same thing, just all mixed up and confused.

Classic combo of baked sweet potatoes and cinni!

Silky smooth banana-avocado pudding with carob and coconut shreds

Green Smoothie in the Morn

2011-10-06T04:44:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a freshly blended green smoothie in the morning!

This one has banana, apple and spinach w/ probiotic powder stirred in :)

This weekend is Thanksgiving for Canada so I hope you're ready for some intense recipe posting!

Happy Thursday!

More Daily Eats!

2011-10-05T06:42:00.000-07:00

Jenn here with more daily eats!

Love fruit in the morning! This fruit bowl has bananas (of course), kiwi and apples. Sprinkled with cinni

Store-bought hummus with celery. Nothin' to see here kids, move along...

Banana Coconut cookies I made using chickpea puree, bananas, coconut sugar, millet flour and coconut. Fat free, but it needed some kind of oil.

Dinner: Spinach, kelp noodles, which I tried for the very first time. You definitely need to soak them for a bit to soften them up, love em though! And the yellow stuff is yams, I actually thought I was buying a sweet potato but it was yellow inside, but it was still sweet which was fine by me! Drizzled with a smoky tahini sauce.

Bananas w/ tahini! I saw on the pure 2 twins ' blog and had to try it. And you know what....its good.

Banana frosty made with chocolate-beet powder. I think my banana obsession is coming out through these posts.

Sketch-free Vegan STUDENT Eating 301 - Dinner

2011-10-04T05:40:00.000-07:00

So for post numero 3 I will be showing you three options for quick, easy and cheap dinners. I'm notorious for not eating dinner, it's usually the smallest meal of the day for me so if I don't have a proper dinner I just end up snacking on whatever instead, which is fine as well! If you're one of those people who loves a hot dinner then these options are perfect to end the day.

I recommend having a salad with every meal or some sort of raw veggie. It just makes the meal more balanced. Just grab a handful of baby spinach and drizzle with dressing and you've got yourself a grade A salad!

So here's

Option #1: "Fast and Filling"

Baked Sweet Potato

I loooove baked sweet potatoes. They make the whole house smell like toasted sugariness. All you need to do is bake it in the oven at 425F for about 40 minutes depending on how big it is (prick it with a fork first). A really big one will need about an hour. Then cut it open and top it with whatever you please! A popular choice is obviously hummus. You could also just sprinkle some cinnamon on top or maybe some tahini or nut butter. Sweet potatoes can be both savoury or sweet depending on what you put on them so the sky's the limit!

Sweet potatoes as most of you already know have a very high source of beta-carotene as well as vitamin A compared to regular potatoes. Plus they just taste way better.

This sweetie is topped with spicy hummus and sprinkled with smoked paprika. Smokay!

Option #2: "Stir without the fry"

"Steam"-Frys

A lot of you may have heard that it's bad for you to cook with olive oil, but that's actually true with most oils to a certain degree (pun intended). Besides, you get way more benefits from ingesting oil raw especially really good quality olive or coconut oil. But we're students here! We can't afford 30$ bottles of oil! That's why Steam-Frys are the new frontier for any one concerned about heated oil.

All you need to do is steam some veggies in a double broiler. I used broccoli, carrots, mushrooms and chickpeas. I made a tahini-miso sauce by mixing one tbsp of tahini and 1/2 tsp miso paste in a bowl and gradually pouring in hot water until it becomes creamy and of a sauce consistency. Add in whatever other spices you desire and then toss the steamed veggies in the sauce. Serve over brown rice and there ya go!

Love the miso flavour in this sauce!

You could also make a spicy red pepper sauce by blending up cooked red peppers and spices. Or if you're feeling kinda lazy, just drizzle on some tamari and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Option #3: "The Holy Grail of all student dinners"

Mac and Cheese

This is a dorm room classic. But just incase the neon orange powder kinda freaks you out, I've developed an easy, cheap way to make the best vegan mac and cheese ever.

First boil your noodles (I used gluten-free rice macaroni elbows). While they are boiling blend up one peeled and cooked sweet potato, a splash of apple cider vinegar (preferably organic cause it's not as acidic and pungent), 2 tbsp of nutritional yeast (or more depending on how cheesy you like it), a bit of water to get it to a saucy consistency, and sea salt. Now you've got a bright orange creamy cheese sauce. Pour the sauce over the hot noodles and stir until completely coated with cheesiness.

Yummy!

If you missed Breakfast and Lunch click on da linkz!

Sketch-free Vegan STUDENT Eating 101 - Breakfast

Sketch-free Vegan STUDENT Eating 201 - Lunch

Watch out for next week: Snack Attack!

Doing something different this month

2011-10-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

October is a very vegan month, what with Vegan MOFO happening and everything, so for our Vegan month of food we are going to be posting random eats as opposed to recipes mainly because we don't really have time to be constantly creating recipes like we usually do. But there will still be recipes! Maybe just one a week though. We've got some crazy pumpkin creations coming your way too! So here's what we've been munchin' on lately:

buckwheat bowl w/ bananas and shredded coco

millet w/ peas, sweet potatoes, carrots and salsa

chocolate chunk cookies!

pb and j pancakes

banana frosty

fruit bowl w/ bananas, apples and organic grapes

acai smoothie made w/ frozen banana, fresh kiwi and acai berry powder

Tomorrow's post is gonna be another student eating 101! See you there!

Sketch-free Vegan STUDENT Eating 201 - Lunch

2011-09-27T05:39:00.000-07:00

Last year I would have the exact same thing for lunch every single day. A salad with quinoa/sweet potato, a piece of fruit and rice cakes or g/f bread with nut butter...but if you care that your lunches are interesting, here are some tried and true options that are super yums and super healthy too.

Option #1: "Colourful and Healthful"

Super Salad

There's nothing like a fresh salad for lunch...can I get an amen? There's so many different veggies and fruits you can mix in and you feel like such a nutty health nut after you eat it!

Keep in mind though that vegetables are not the highest in calories so if you eat a salad of only lettuce and carrot shavings with just a wee bit of dressing you probably won't have enough energy to stay awake and energized for the rest of the day.

To give your salads that extra energy boost add in high calorie items like dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, chopped apricots), fresh fruit (berries, orange segments, diced apple), avocado (can you say healthy fats?), nuts (almonds or walnuts that have been soaked overnight) and seeds (pumpkin seeds are cheap and give a nice texture).

Now what to use for dressing??

Buying dressing from a bottle can get expensive so here are some options that are just as good and will save you money in the long run:

- Salsa from a jar
- A dollop of hummus (I love that word...dollop)
- Raw Sauerkraut (It's scary if you've never made it before and laughable if you have. Check out Yum Universe's site for instructions on how to make it. You should consider adding this to your diet especially if you have stomach issues)
- Tahini (Mix a little lemon juice, salt and pepper to your tahini and you've got dressing!)

Here's a super salad with mixed greens, red cabbage, shredded carrot, almonds and crans drizzled with a dijon mustard dressing made by Jac.

Onto

Option #2: "It's cold outside and I'm feeling asian-ish..."

Miso Soup with "Asian Ingredients"

I hope I didn't offend anyone by saying "Asian Ingredients" ha! But you can't just put frozen peas and macaroni noodles in your miso soup. It's gotta be asian inspired! Am I right??

So all you really need for miso soup is white miso paste which you can buy for pretty cheap and you've got soup for a long while! Just boil the water and add in a spoonful of miso paste and it will slowly dissolve into a broth. Next just add in your asian ingredients!

So in my version I put kelp that I soaked and sliced thinly and chopped shiitake mushrooms which were previously dried. The mushrooms were a much needed "meat type item" for the soup and the thinly sliced kelp was sort of like seaweed-y noodles.

Oh yeah and about this "kelp" business. You can buy it dried at basically any health food store and you just have to soak it for a couple minutes before you add it to the soup. It has essential minerals like iodine which a lot of people seem to be low in. It's also a great addition to your diet if you have a sluggish thyroid. (fun fact?)

So what else could you add to your miso soup? Oh I dunno...maybe....

-Tofu cubes
-Tempeh (we prefer this over tofu...less sketchy)
-Other kind of seaweed...like wakame
-Green onions
-Baby bok choy
-Soba noodles
-Brown or wild rice
-Handful of greens like spinach or arugula
-Edamame beans

The soup got pretty cloudy so I had to wait until the cloudiness sunk to the bottom.

Ok the colour is pretty ugly...it's hard photographing soup ok!

Anyways, this one is alot more visually appealing..

Option #3: "Filling and fun to make"

Bowls!

Ok has anyone ever been to Urban Herbivore? It's a vegetarian restaurant in Toronto and you can build your own salad or "bowl" which consists of either black rice or quinoa on the bottom and whatever you want on top drizzled with dressing and a crunchy topping. I decided to make my own "bowl" out of simpler, more economical ingredients. I used millet for the grain (probably the cheapest gluten-free grain besides rice) and topped it with roasted sweet potato, avocado, salsa, green peas and raw sauerkraut. Topped with a dressing made with raw carrots, hemp seeds, lemon juice and salt all blended up.

Perfect lunch!

If you missed Breakfast, which you should never do ;) Click HERE

Watch out for next week's post:

Sketch-free Vegan STUDENT Eating 301 - Dinner

Freebie Recipe from our E-book - Sweet Carrot Ginger Probiotic Soda

2011-09-22T05:04:00.000-07:00

So this is one of our favourite recipes from our e-book "Inner Ecology Cookbook" which uses only ingredients approved by the Body Ecology Diet. If you have had trouble with your digestive system this is a great book to check out.

I've bought the "Zukay" brand probiotic drinks in the past and they were always pretty good. I knew that I was drinking something healthy, I could basically FEEL the beneficial bacteria jumping about. I tried to recreate the drink at home and it totally worked! I'd say it's even fizzier than the Zukay drinks. If that makes sense....The one I made is a bit tangier because of the apple. And if you are avoiding fruit...good news! The probiotic bacteria eat up the sugar while in the fermentation process.

So all you need is:

3 large carrots
1 apple
1/3 of a cucumber (crucial! I tried making it with no cucumber and it didn't ferment)
2 inch piece of ginger (about the size of a golf ball)
2 cups of water
1/4 tsp sea salt
The powder from 1 probiotic capsule

Either juice the veggies and fruit through a juicer and then add the water OR if you don't have a juicer you can blend them together with the water in a blender and then squeeze though a cheesecloth or nut milk bag. Add the salt and probiotic powder. Pour into a clean mason jar and close the lid firmly. Let it sit at room temperature for 48 hours or until significantly fizzy. Refrigerate and enjoy the bubbly!

Check out more fizz-tastic recipes in our e-book HERE!

Sketch-free Vegan STUDENT Eating 101 - Breakfast

2011-09-19T06:35:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Jenn here to show you how to eat vegan on a student's budget. Even though I'm not starting school until January I still feel like I'm in student mode since I'm living on my own in a student house and sharing a kitchen with 7 people. Oh lord. Any way, let's get on with the food!

So I'll separate these posts into 4 categories:

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner and

Snack Attack!

And just bear in mind that not everyday can be perfectly balanced with the right amount of greens, fruit, grains, protein and fat sources. I have some days where I eat a lot of grains and some days where I eat a lot of fruit and some days where I don't really keep track. I however always try to get greens in even if it means mixing green powder with some water in a desperate attempt to down those greens! One other thing I should mention now that I'm on the topic of water. Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning. It's just what you need to rehydrate yourself after sleeping all night. I have the glass beside my bed the night before and just drink it right when I wake up.

Ok so what are some economical, nutrient dense, energizing breakfast options?

Option #1: "Super Healthy"

Green Smoothie

It's a classic vegan staple! And it's so simple. Just fruit (fresh/frozen), handful of greens (or green powder) and water. So simple.

It's funny, Jac and I just don't agree on what the best smoothie texture is. I like mine thick and creamy and jac likes hers a bit more like a slushie. So she puts ice in hers but I don't. It's all about what your preference is.

If you like your smoothies creamy I suggest using half frozen fruit and half fresh fruit.

So for a perfect creamy smoothie I suggest the following fruits:

Frozen: Banana, Mango, Pear, Papaya or Avocado. These will give your smoothie an "ice creamy" texture.

Fresh: Oranges, Grapefruit, Berries, Pineapple, Kiwi

I usually add in another fresh banana just because.

Next add in a great big handful of greens. Some good options are Kale, Spinach, Arugula, Swiss Chard or a scoop of green powder.

Next add in as much water as you desire depending on how thick you like it. Blend. and Voila!

The great thing about green smoothies is that you get your greens in early in the day. So if you don't have time to make a salad you feel better about just grabbing a few bananas, some oranges and a carrot as your lunch. That's whole food eating at it's best....

Now onto:

Option #2: "Comfort"

Buckwheat-meal with Bananas

This is soooo good. Really great for people who like a hot bowl of something in the morning, especially in the winter. Although I mostly have smoothies in the morning, I like to have a bowl of buckwheat once in a while to change it up.

So all it is is a 1/2 cup of buckwheat groats simmered with 1 1/2 cups of water until absorbed (about 20 minutes). Mix in some cinnamon and chopped banana on top. So yums! And buckwheat is actually a fruit so it combines well with the bananas. Mix in a bit of coconut sugar or maple syrup for extra sweetness. You could also soak the buckwheat overnight and just heat it up in the morning in the oven for a couple minutes.

I just love the texture of the buckwheat. It's a little chewy, sort of comparable to barley. It's especially good with coconut sugar mixed in.

Buckwheat groats are a little hard to find but if you live in Canada you can order buckwheat groats online at well.ca and it's free shipping! Also you can use coupon code "sketchfreevegancoupon: for 10$ off.

Option #3: "I feel like ice cream..."

Avo-Fro-Yo

This is the best thing since...pancake mix! Ok maybe a bit better than that. All you need is a ripe avocado and some type of frozen fruit. Scoop the avocado into your magic bullet or high speed blender and add a bit of water (so that you can easily blend it without shaking it constantly, all you magic bulleters out there know what I mean). Add in your frozen fruit such as banana, strawberry, mango, or whatever! This is also a good vehicle for any powders or concoctions you've been meaning to take like maca, vitamin C, ashwaganda, protein powder or just leave it as is! You could also add in carob powder, avocado's best friend! Blend it all up and you've got a super yums ice creamy treat for breakfast.

This one is made with frozen banana and pineapple. So yummy!

Sketch-free Vegan STUDENT Eating 201 - Lunch

Coming soon to a blog near you!

Mishaps and Failed Photos Galore

2011-09-15T05:08:00.000-07:00

We thought it would be hilarious to post some of our recipes that didn't quite make the cut to the blog. We were just looking through our photo library at some of the shameful photos we took of our failed recipes. It was quite funny though. Hope this makes some of you laugh!

This was our VERY FIRST recipe we ever did. Raw Falafels. Not really sure why we didn't post it....

I think this was a kale curry dish...??

Our very first attempt at pancakes....and taking pictures in the sunlight...

We made this mango-kale salad at night so the lighting wasn't the best. Good salad though!

Don't really remember what this was..Some sort of tempeh stew??

These were pretty good! We couldn't post them because we didn't write down the ingredients. These were Socca Cheez Sticks.

The filling here is alot of onions, celery and garlic blended up. I rolled up the nori and dehydrated it. But it ended up tasting like thanksgiving stuffing. Not the best thing ever.

Quinoa milk...

Blurry picture of "Mock Chicken Salad" made w/ zucchinni. I thought it was good but Jac said the dressing looked icky. I suppose so....

Carrot quinoa-meal. Blaaaaand.

Almond flour pound cake. It tasted pretty good but we just couldn't get a good enough shot!

Hahaha! These were a production! They were supposed to be strawberry chia jelly tarts w/ fresh strawberries at the bottom. Jac decided to add mint to the filling and we all know that mint and berries don't mix.

Asian cucumber-y salad? The colours were kinda ugly.

These were passable, a bit crumbly. Banana Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.

Haha! Can you guess what this is?? It's supposed to be a zucchini pakora. Shame.

I was actually going to post this but Jac said no :P It's coconut-basil pesto.

Jac made these mini raw cheesecakes and put them in the freezer. I for some reason though they were cinnamon and put apples on top. Apparently they were lemon. Sorry!!

Failed lemon-poppy seed muffins. Too crumbly.

The beginnings of banana-oatmeal cookies w/ no sugar. They needed the sugar.

No recipe today! But now you all know our secret failed attempts!

Madagascar Pink Sticky Rice w/ Vanilla Bean and Raspberries

2011-09-13T07:19:00.000-07:00

So this recipe was made in the summer and we just never got around to posting it! We received a generous helping of rice samples from "Lotus Foods" and we were especially intrigued by the "Madagascar Pink Rice". A lady I worked with is from the Philippines and she was talking about a sweet sticky rice dessert she makes with coconut milk and mango. I didn't have any mango, but I had raspberries and vanilla bean! There is such a HUGE difference between vanilla extract and vanilla bean. If I'm making something vanilla flavoured now, it's gotta be with vanilla bean. Try it in your next vanilla concoction, you'll see.

2 cups cooked rice
1 can coconut milk
2 tbsp syrup (agave or maple)
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean pod

Combine all ingredients in a pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer until thick and creamy (about 15 minutes). Spoon into glasses and top w/ raspberries and shredded coconut. Let chill before serving.

Sticky Rice in it's natural habitat

Juicy berries!

Check out that creamy texture!

Delicious!

Easy Peachy Dressing + A Sneak Peek

2011-09-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

It's the end of summer :( I can't believe it's over! I feel like I didn't really have a real summer. Mainly because I was working the whole time. But now I'm rollin' in the benjamins! (Or should I say Queen Elizabeths?) Any way. There was a peach on our counter and we haven't been eating as much salad as we should this summer, so we made a peach salad! Are you happy now peach? Geez!

Easy Peach Dressing:

1 medium peach
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt

Whiz together in a blender. That's it! Drizzle over a salad of your choice. And don't forget the pecans!

Dive into the Peachy

We also have something else to show you! Some preview pics for our new e-book! I just want to explain the first picture you see because it's made with a crazy ingredient...wild rice flour! We were sent wild rice from Goose Valley and we were feeling kinda crazy one morning so we made a Canadian inspired pancake recipe using the wild rice ground into a fine flour. And they were actually really good! They tasted like a morning in cottage country. I hope you enjoy the pics!

Just wanted to show the pretty packaging of Goose Valley!

Woodsy Wild Rice Pancakes with Black Cherry Blueberry Sauce

Creamy Carob Fudge

All Canadian Gingersnaps

Baghetti and Beet-Balls

Toasted Coconut-Cocoa Cashews

Cocoa Pancakes with Peanut Butter Sauce

Pistachio-Orange Coffee Shop Cookies

Chocolate-Beet Ice Cream + Matcha Milkshake + Madre Labs Review

2011-09-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

The kind people at iherb asked us if we would sample and review one of their products, amongst them this fantastic new product: Madre Lab's Coco Cardio, has definitely won our hearts. The ingredients are simple: Cocoa powder, Beet Juice powder and Hibiscus powder. These all combine to create a deep and earthy cocoa flavour. I've actually never tasted anything like it before. And if you like the taste of beets, you will like this product! Jac isn't soo fond of the beet taste, hey you either love em or you don't right? Well thankfully I do because beets contain so many nutrients, just the colour itself is enough to convince you how healthy they are for you.

1 can full fat coconut milk
1/3 cup cocoa cardio
1/3 cup water
1 tsp agar agar
2 packets stevia
1 tbsp agave nectar

Combine the agar agar and the water in a small pot and boil until it becomes a thick, jelly consistency. Add all ingredients to blender, including agar agar jelly and blend until smooth. Churn in an ice cream machine or freeze in a container and just stir every so often. Top w/ cacao nibs!

Topped w/ cacao nibs

Next on the menu is Midori Green Powder which includes "Matcha" green tea powder and Wasabi. Crazy right? But if you add just a little of this stuff to your morning banana smoothie, it turns it into a Matcha Milkshake that is creamy, simple, and super healthy! I like my smoothies sort of milkshake-like and Jac likes hers icy. This is one of the ONLY things we don't have in common. If you like your smoothies more icy, then add a couple cubes of ice, but this is really meant to be a milkshake. Since the Midori Greens have matcha powder, I've been adding it to smoothies because it actually tastes good! Not just thinking it'll add to my daily green intake. The matcha actually over powers the green taste!

2 frozen bananas, sliced
Enough water to almost cover bananas
1 tsp midori greens

Creamy Dreamy Sunny Yummy

Avocado Cream Berry Crunch Parfait

2011-09-04T15:17:00.000-07:00

So Jac and I are big time South Park fans and thought it would be hilarious to make a "Mint Berry Crunch" parfait. Here's a link if you don't know the power of the crunch:

So no one told us mint + berry is not the best. Jac said it tasted more like a toothpaste parfait. That must be the secret to his powers, driving people away with bad flavour combining ;). So we made it again in a more simple way with just plain ol' avocado cream and strawberries and you know what? It was deelish!

Berries:
6-7 strawberries, stemmed
1 tbsp coconut sugar

To start, let berries and sugar sit together in a bowl until the juices are released and it's a jammy sort of texture and taste.

Avocado Cream:
1 avocado
1-2 tbsp agave nectar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Whiz together in food processor until totally smooth.

Layer cream, berries and granola/coconut on top of each other in little glasses. Sprinkle with granola or coconut or whatever you please!

So we are both moving to Toronto for school for the year and will probably not be able to keep doing elaborate recipes like we've been doing all summer. We think it will be a nice change to do more student-friendly simple recipes that are still exciting and yummy! So expect more recipes like this Avocado Cream Berry Parfait and more everyday eats. Happy September everyone!

Apricot-Almond Lara-Bars + Giveaway Winner!!

2011-08-31T14:54:00.000-07:00

Thank you friends for entering our All-Canadian giveaway! The winner of our Favourite Baked Treats and e-book, is (RANDOM.org generated) comment #11: Junia! We are so happy to send you some treats and our e-book! Please send us your mailing address by email to jac_909@hotmail.com

In other news, here's another treat to try out:

I’m sure you are familiar with the ever so popular Larabars. Dates are the main dried fruit used in these bars, however; I thought it would be interesting to use both apricots AND dates. They turned out slightly less sweet and had an earthier flavour. Apricots are lower in the glycemic index, while dates are QUITE high. Try substituting dried apricots for dates in your next recipe for a lower-glycemic treat.

I use un-sulphured apricots, they are the brown ones. (Tends to produce a richer more date-like flavour).

½ cup almonds, ground in food processor

½ cup apricots, packed

¼ cup dates, packed

¼ cup almonds, roughly chopped

2-3 tbsp oat flour

Pinch of salt

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp vanilla extract

Grind nuts in food processor, add dried fruit and process until combine, add in rest of ingredients and process until a dough forms. Form into a flat square about 1 ½ inches thick. Cut into bars and store in fridge and eat these on the go! Makes 6-7 bars.

And more news still! We were recently featured on Glamour's "Vitamin G Health and Fitness Blog" for our Pistachio Pudding! Check out the post here.

Our Favourite Bakes and Ebook Giveaway! For our fellow Canadian friends :)

2011-08-29T08:15:00.000-07:00

Before school starts, we've decided to host a double dose giveaway. Over the summer we were especially into baking for some reason and created some really yummy treats. It's been just over a year now since we started blogging, we wanted to celebrate by sending one of our fabulous readers some of our favourite bakes! As well as a copy of our new e-book: Inner Ecology. So you can eat the treats, then detox out the sugar later with the ebook recipes...lol. Note: these bakes are not made in a dedicated gluten-free kitchen.

Included in the package (two have not been released on the blog yet):

Chocolate-Chia Macaroons (recipe not released yet)

Buckwheat Graham Crackers

Apple Cinnamon Soft Baked Cookies (recipe not released yet)

Chocolate-Banana Muffins (they will be mini muffins)

And of course our EBOOK!

Unfortunately the giveaway will only be open to Canadians! I know, for once eh? Just because we want the treats to be as fresh as possible. So to enter this marvelous giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment, any old comment will do!

For additional entries:

Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Facebook
Tweet about this Giveaway

(And let us know you did in a comment below)

The giveaway closes tomorrow at midnight!

Peanut-Butter Coconut Cookies

2011-08-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

I'm on such a peanut butter kick you guys! I buy this brand: Maranatha, it's honestly the best peanut butter I've ever tasted. Straight out of jar? I think so... Unlike your average peanut butter cookies, these ones include coconut, so when baked it gets slightly toasty, yyyuum. Make sure to use natural peanut butter with nothing but peanuts and maybe salt in the ingredients list for optimal results.

½ cup oat flour
¼ cup buckwheat flour

¼ cup brown rice flour

1 tbsp ground flax seed

1 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt (don't add if salt is listed in peanut butter)

1 cup of natural peanut butter
1 cup coconut sugar
¼ cup coconut oil
½ cup shredded coconut
¾ cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix dry ingredients together (flour, baking, soda, flax and salt.) Set aside. Mix sugar, oil, peanut butter, water and shredded coconut in a large bowl. Gradually add in dry mixture and stir until you form a thick dough. Roll into balls and press with a fork into cookie shape. Bake for 12-13 minutes at 350F. If over bake them they will get dry, so keep a close eye on them.

These were very chewy, though not as dense as your usually peanut butter cookies. Still really good!

Banana Snack Cake w/ Peanut Butter Icing

2011-08-17T06:59:00.000-07:00

My oh my banana pudding pie! I know this cake looks pretty simple, but it's so moist and tastes so good with the PB icing!

I was getting so excited over this snack cake, Jenn thought I was being weird, like she usually does when I obsess over silly little things like this. But hey, trust me, this is definitely something to obsess over.

I know what you're thinking, banana cake, isn't that sort of like banana bread!? No, it's not! It's lighter and sweeter in my opinion.

The icing went so well with it too. Really takes me back to pb and banana sandies. So the icing, when you add water to pretty much any roasted nut butter, the oil in the butter will coagulate and turn it whippy like. I usually do 1 part nut butter to 1 part water and then add a little stevia to taste.

If you're intolerant to peanuts, roasted almond butter, or even a chocolate-tahini icing would be a yummy alternative.

Avalanche of PB

1 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup gluten-free oat flour

4 tsp flaxseed meal

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Pinch salt

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup banana puree

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup water

Icing:

1/4 cup natural peanut butter

1/4 cup water (or enough for it to appear whippy (depending on type of pb))
Drops of stevia to taste

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift dry ingredients together into a medium bowl. In a larger bowl combine all wet ingredients + coconut sugar. Stir until combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stir until further combined. Pour batter into ashallow casserole dish, bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and it's nice and golden brown on top. Leave to cool (Important! or else icing will turn more into a glaze, unless you like that...) Combine ingredients for the icing in a small bowl, Spread liberally onto top of cake. Top with chopped peanuts, bananas, chocolate chips, coconut, (sky is the limit for toppers).

Makes enough snackery for 6-8 people.

Coconut Curry Quinoa Croquettes

2011-08-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

We recently received a very generous sampling of "Mary's" crackers in the mail. My favourite GF crackers ever! I went through a phase of addiction with these, for real, thank god they were gluten-free!! These crackers are so so crunchy, and all of the seeds and whole grains give it a nice varied texture and create different dimensions of crunch.
It was hard to think of a recipe that uses crackers as an ingredient, but then I remembered seeing "croquettes" on the food network once and then came up with the genius idea of making quinoa croquettes! Not to mention Coconut Curry Quinoa Croquettes.

2/3 cup quinoa, cooked
1 large carrot, finely shredded
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
Pinch of cayenne
1 1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp psyllium husk (for sticky-togetherness)
1/2 tsp salt

For crumb crust:
1/2 cup mary's crackers, ground finely (or alternative gluten-free cracker)
1/4 cup ground unsweetened shredded coconut

Cook the quinoa in a small pot. Once it's finished cooking add the carrots, psyllium and spices and let it sit for about five minutes with the lid on. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until cool. Prepare the crumb coating. Roll quinoa mixture into balls and flatten slightly. Roll in crumb coating, brush both sides with water and then roll once more in the coating. Fry in coconut oil on both sides until golden. Serve with chutney or whatever sauce you fancy!

I put ground up shredded coconut in with the cracker crumbs and it makes the coating toasty and golden.

Coconut Fields Foreva

Serve these little guys with a generous helping of mango chutney or whatever sauce you care for.

It's Daaaavey Croquette!

Vegan "Booster Juice"

2011-08-12T07:42:00.000-07:00

I. Love. Booster Juice. So much so that I spent a good portion of my meal plan on them everyday during my year at University. Eventually I ran out of money, and had to lay off of them. I was so addicted, but they were healthy so that's okay right?

Booster Juice smoothies aren't vegan, although you can ask for one without yogurt. I don't drink them all that often anymore, cause I mean, come on, smoothie master over here! You can make smoothies at home that are cheaper and actually taste alot like the almighty booster juice: such as this recipe I have crafted up for any vegan longing for that frosty, thick, fruit-filled drink.

A key to really great smoothies, that I've recently discovered, is that by using half frozen and half fresh fruit, you get a more uniform texture and an easier blend. That's why the mango is unfrozen, by I'm sure you can use for example, frozen mango, frozen strawberries and fresh banana, or another combination as such.

1/2 ripe large mango (unfrozen)
4-5 frozen strawberries
1/2 frozen banana
Juice from one passion fruit (this is flavourful stuff!)
1/4 cup guava juice (I used this brand)
1/2 cup orange juice (or more to induce blending)

Stick everything in a blender and blend away!! Add more juice as necessary to desired consistency. Keep it as thick as you can, a straw is a must for this one!

This was a take on the Mango Hurricane, my absolute favourite! I would LOVE to see if anyone else can recreate their favourite booster juice, it was surprising how much it tasted like the real thing.

As seen in: Ricki's Wellness Weekends

Grilled (Cheese) Eggplant Sandwich

2011-08-09T03:48:00.000-07:00

It all started about a week ago when my dad was having one of his barbecue dinners. He loves to barbecue, I suppose it's relaxing to be by an open flame grillin' away. I never understood it, but I leave the grilling to him.

He made burgers, and of course some yummy portabello mushroom burgers for us! :) But when he makes burgers they have to be the fancy kind, topped with carmelized onions, grilled eggplant, mushrooms and fancy relishes. Hey no complaining here!

The carmelized onions and eggplant are my favourites. It's amazing how much a vegetable can change from a bitter displeasing taste to a sweet, rich flavourful food.

The eggplant surprised me the most, I noticed it wasn't getting lots of attention against the onions, mushrooms and of course the ketchup and mustard. So I took a few for my burger, took a bite...and...cheese!

"Hey, grilled eggplant sorta tastes like swiss cheese." I guess that was enough for the rest of the fam to try some eggplant! Seriuosly though it tastes so much like swiss cheese, so much that Jenn and I just HAD to make grilled cheese with it!

1/2 an eggplant (for two sandwiches)
Sea salt
Sundried Tomatoes (or other veggies)
Hummus
4 slices bread (we used a sprouted grain gluten-free bread)

Slice eggplant in half vertically. Then each half in half again. Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices. Put slices on a few layers of paper towel in a hollow pan or in the sink. Sprinkle on a hefty amount of salt (don't wory, you'll be rinsing it off later). Make sure both sides are salted evenly. Allow to "sweat" for at least 2 hours, the longer you wait, the better. Set oven to Broil, or if you don't have a broiler, set to about 450F.

Rinse of eggplant thoroughly, it may be a good idea to taste the raw eggplant, just to make sure you don't over salt it when you broil it. Dry off rinsed slices, arrange on a parchment/aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Brush each side with oil. Salt as needed (side facing up). Broil until roasted and beginning to carmelize. You can cut off the skins if you like for a more "cheese" like look.

Heat a frying pan with 1/2 tbsp oil. Assemble sandwich, place in frying pan and cook while pressing down with spatula. Flip once golden brown and continue cooking until ready.

Makes 2 scrumptious sandwiches!

Portrait of an eggplant

I know the eggplant part seems like a lot of work. But if you do it the day before and just store it in the fridge you could have grilled cheeses for the next few days!

We submitted this sandy to Ricki's Wellness Weekends this week, if you have your own wellness inspired recipe, hop on over there and submit it!!

No-Bake Orange Pistachio Cookies

2011-08-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I just found a post that I forgot to publish! Because I published it first at One Green Planet, whoopsies, I love finding surprise posts, they make my day :)

Actual date made: July 27th...

Jenn, my little sister (Brooke) and I are obsessed with dreams, we love having dreams, waking up from dreams, telling each other about our dreams. Just everything about 'em.

Sometimes I bring my dream world into my everyday life, drawing on the inspiration and such...

Well, last night I had a dream I was making vegan cookie dough, I guess I'm subconsciously vegan too. lol. Anyways the cookie dough in my dream had raisins, buckwheat flour and almonds in it.

After I woke up I saw it as a sign to make some vegan cookie dough, and let my intuition go crazy! whoa!

Creativeness ensued, and these little gems were the result. Pistachio and orange are amazing flavours when combined together. Love it!

1/2 cup raw blanched almonds (ground finely)

1/4 cup pistachios ground fine (mine were roasted, and you can keep the skins on)

1/3 cup oat flour

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp agave nectar (we used raw honey, sorry not strict vegans :P)

2 tbsp coconut oil

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2-3/4 tsp orange extract (depending on how orangey you like it)

Top with cacao nibs (this is good to balance the sweet flavour but not necessary)

Combine first four ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix with hands until it forms a malleable dough. Tear off pieces and shape into cookie shapes, top with cacao nibs. Makes 6-7 cookies.

I'm never doubting my dreams again because these cookies are amazing, I am definitely going to make them again, maybe in a baked version. They taste very elegant and fancy with the orange essence. Very yummy stuff!

I also submitted these to Ricki's Wellness Weekends! Mosey on over there and submit your own healthy recipes!!

Sweet Chili Heat Corn Muffins

2011-08-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

No we didn't make muffins out of doritos....that would be taking it too far ;)

I was always weary of corn muffins until recently. It just sounded like a weird thing to make, but after trying these I now know the wonder of a hot corn muffin fresh from the oven with imaginary butter on top.

As they cooled they definitely got kind of crumbly, so serving them hot would be a good idea.

These are usually made with jalapenos but we didn't have any so we used chili powder which gave them a nice kick! After trying one I could only imagine how good these would be dunked in an actual bowl of chili. I'm officially converted to corn muffins!

1 cup of cornmeal
1/2 cup light buckwheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/3 cup coconut sugar (or other cane sugar)
2 apples pureed with 3/4 cup water

Combine apple puree and coconut sugar in a large bowl. In a seperate bowl combine remaining ingredients. Gradually sprinkle dry into wet ingredients. Mix until fully incorporated. Spoon into a muffin tin lined with muffin cups. Bake at 350F for 20-22 minutes. (We baked ours a bit too long at 26 minutes, as you can see by the cracked tops)

It's cooorny collins!

Don't look at me like that

Buckwheat Graham Crackers

2011-08-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

If you haven't gotten into buckwheat flour already...well...get on it! A gluten-freeer's best friend. I liken it to wheat flour except denser with less starchiness. You can substitute buckwheat flour for wheat flour in cookies, pancakes, and crackers without adding xanthan gum, potato starch etc. other gluten-free ingredients. Buckwheat can make your baked goods a little dry, as most gluten-free bakes tastes. But that's a small compromise for the ease and benefit that comes with using buckwheat flour (did I mention it's cheap?).

Buckwheat doesn't crumble like brown rice flour, it actually keeps its shape pretty well. Not as well as wheat flour mind you, but close enough.

I mostly use light buckwheat flour, cause the dark is well..dark and more gritty.

1 cup light buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup water

Cream coconut oil and sugar together. Add vanilla extract. In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients.
Add water sparingly until a doughy consistency is achieved. Don't add too much! Once you combine the dough with your hands you may find if becomes wetter that way. Form dough into a 1 inch round disc shape, wrap in plastic wrap and put in fridge. Roll out completely flat on a piece of parchment by placing plastic wrap on top and rolling it out with a rolling pin. Peel off plastic wrap. Cut into rectangles and poke a couple times with a fork. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes.

Slabs of graham

Graham-lita

These are literally exactly like boxed graham crackers. Wahaaaa!

We love our grahams!

We submitted these to Ricki's Wellness Weekend, submit your own recipe that promtoes wellness too!

Puttanesca Sauce w/ Rice

2011-07-31T06:04:00.000-07:00

What does Puttanesca mean? I think it means very few ingredients, which is exactly my kind of meal.

This is a super quick vegan supper if you are in a time crunch and the ingredients are super simple, you probably have most of them in your cupboard right now!

This was inspired by a recipe by Jamie Oliver. I made it a couple years ago when I first began experimenting with "meat-free" recipes and it was so yummy! I love the taste of the black olives with the oregano and tomatoes. It's a very tangy, sweet, herbal sauce that can be spooned on top of rice or gluten-free pasta.

Puttanesca Sauce:

1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/3 cup kalamata olives, de-pitted and halved
1/2 tbsp green capers
1 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano leaves
6-7 whole tomatoes (from a can) chopped
A couple spoonfuls of liquid from can of tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion, garlic, olives, capers and spices in a frying pan until soft. Add salt pepper, tomatoes and juice. Let simmer for about 5 minutes. Add more liquid if need be. Serve on rice or pasta!

Saucy brown rice!

Pile on the Puttanesca!

Raw Banana-Kiwi Ice Cream

2011-07-25T05:52:00.000-07:00

I have a confession....I am addicted to banana soft serve. Am I alone on this?! What makes it even better is when you mix in another frozen fruit. I used kiwi, but you can use anything! Strawberry, pineapple, papaya, mango, peach or our personal favourite...blueberries!

What you need:

3 bananas, sliced and frozen

3 kiwis, sliced and frozen

A splash of water

Pulse in a food processor to get it going (or in blender). Blend until smooth and fluffy. Transfer to a flat container and freeze. Stir every 15 minutes until desired consistency.

Cool, creamy and collected...

This is what I'm living on this summer! It's so healthy and so yums!!

Muffy and Friends' Strawberry Snackeroodles!

2011-07-23T04:26:00.000-07:00

We love Arthur it was our favourite show growing up (we still watch it now and then when it's on shhhh). This episode WOULD be one of our favourites because it involves creating a recipe and lord knows we love doing that.

We made Muffy's Strawberry Snackeroodles! They were surprisingly good considering they are gluten-free and vegan and we got the recipe from a cartoon....Just make sure you give everyone who helps you make these credit, or else drama will ensue....

1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
3 tbsp ground flax
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup coconut sugar
2 bananas, mashed (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla
about 10 strawberries, chopped
1/2 peach, chopped
a small handful each of raisins, dry roasted peanuts and chocolate chips

Combine dry ingredients in small bowl and bananas, sugar, vanilla and water in a large bowl. Slowly add in dry mixture and dump in mix-ins. Bake at 350F for 20-22 minutes.

Chewy chewy treat!

Banana was my idea! Without me there would be no banana!

On another, more healthy note...One of my co-workers gave me some cucumbers from her garden....does anyone have any ideas on what we should make with them?

We submitted these little guys to Ricki's Wellness Weekends, submit your own recipes too!

E-book release! Inner Ecology Cookbook

2011-07-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

We have a surprise for you guys!

While you were innocently reading our blog posts this summer. Something was happening behind the scenes. Little did you know that we were creating new, completely original recipes to be released via this E-book which we've finally gotten around to putting together.

The recipes are inspired by the Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates.

Because as many of you know, a happy digestive system = a happy life...apparently...for most of the time ;)

But seriously, we've experienced the benefits of eating a diet low in sugar and high in fermented foods. The only problem was that it lacked the creativity and variety you get from using for example: sugar for cookies, or fruit for smoothies. You need something exciting every once and a while especially on restrictive diets.

We've created smoothies, granolas, ice cream, slushies, pizza, pasta, and even fudge! (I don't want to sound like a typical sales person, but there's much more too!) that all adhere to promoting a healthy digestive system, while also killing off some candida.

*This book could be used for any Candida Diet and for anyone who wants to browse some

healthy, interesting and creative recipes!

About the book:

Over 30 yummy, original recipes that have not seen the light of day (on our blog)
High quality photo for each recipe
Only stage ONE ingredients are used
Completely sugar-free
Fruit-free except cranberry, lemon and lime
Doesn't use hard to find products (coconut kefir, young coconuts, kelp noodles etc...)
Most follow proper food combining rules
Most are vegan

If you guys are interested in purchasing it, click on our E-BOOK page above. Or you can click HERE.

Butterscotch-Tahini Bars

2011-07-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

Remember our Sunbutter Chocolate Bars? Well this is the butterscotch version! And Lucuma is the secret ingredient.

Lucuma is a delicious raw, fruit-based powdered sweetener that tastes like shortbread-y caramel-ness. So it was necessary for these butterscotch bars.

We used tahini, but you could also use cashew butter for a richer taste. Tahini is just cheaper and off sets the sweetness a bit.

1/3 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup lucuma powder
pinch salt
20 drops stevia
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Black sesame seeds to top

Creamy and snappy! Sprinkled with black sesame

2 butters are better than 1

I am loving these butterscotch bars! Butterscotch is always left in the dust while chocolate gets all the glory, am I right? Well this time butterscotch is in the spotlight! ;)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with Cinnamon Spread

2011-07-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

Hey all you gluten-freebies! Did you now you can make cookies with just ONE type of flour instead of combining all this craziness together (like potato starch, xantham gum, rice flour etc.)

Gluten-free oats is the word!

Think of these cookies as baked oatmeal, you know how gluey oatmeal can get, it sticks together no matter what! That was kind of the concept I was going here using oat flour.

And they are a great chewy oatmeal cookie texture, yes they're not going to be like regular oatmeal cookies, but they really get the job done. Add some cinnamon spread for extra moistness because, as you know gluten-free doesn't always come moist :P.

And the giveaway winner, (sorry we're late with that) is Alex! who said that her favourite fruits were: Watermelon!!!!! Totally watermelon! And mangoes too! :)

Congratulations Alex! We will be sending your book and bars soon! Please email: jac_909@hotmail.com your shipping address.

1 cup gluten-free oats
3/4 cup gluten-free oat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Dash of cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
2 tbsp agave nectar
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1/4-1/3 cup water

Cinnamon Spread:
2 tbsp tahini
Water to thicken (about 1-2 tbsp)
1 tsp cinnamon
Drops of stevia to taste

Preheat oven to 350F. To make cookies combine oats, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, raisins and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate, smaller bowl combine the honey and oil. Add honey and oil mixture to dry ingredients, add 1/4 cup water, you may need to add more so have some water more handy. Spoon cookies onto a cookie sheet and flatten slightly with hand. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and deliciously smelling! :)

Prepare cinnamon spread by combine all listed ingredients, if it's not spreadable enough add more tahini. Another great addition would be lucuma, yum!

Mango Salad w/ Spicy Thai Dressing

2011-07-06T07:28:00.000-07:00

I've been trying hard for the last few days to eat entirely raw while also cutting back on fats. I obviously have been eating a lot of salads, but without the dressing. Until I made this super yummy mango salad made out of 100% fruits and veggies, even the dressing.

I couldn't even tell I was eating a gigantic bowl of fruits and veggies!

This would be perfect for bringing to a potluck picnic or family barbeque. You can keep it dressed in the fridge for several hours because there's no lettuce that will go soggy.

1 almost ripe mango, julienned
1/2 red pepper, julienned
1 small bunch of kale, chopped and massaged until wilted
1 zucchini, grated
2 carrots, grated
small handful of cilantro, chopped

Dressing:
1 almost ripe mango
1/2 red pepper
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp thai yellow curry paste
2 tsp lime juice

Blitz dressing in your blender and dump over salad. Mix up and eat!

Sweet and Spicy

Mix it all together and you've got a summer salad!

I love the sweet mango with the spiciness of the curry paste. If you don't have curry paste put some cayenne pepper and a garlic clove. That should do the trick.

This salad made it easy to make a change and STICK TO IT!

Spirulina Hawaiian Dream Smoothie

2011-07-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

If you've read our previous posts, you know that I'm always trying to find ways of consuming my spirulina, which I still have from last summer! Good god when will it end! I have maybe half of the jar left.

I know that some people can tolerate the taste of spirulina, but I'm just not one of those people...

I've discovered that, as you could have guessed, it's best to combine sweet fruits like banana, dates and pineapple to spirulina to mask the taste.

Best colour evaa!

I got back from a run and was low on brown rice protein powder, so I substituted some spirulina to get the usual amount of protein for post-workout repair fuel.

Honestly, with this spirulina smoothie recipe you will not taste the spirulina at all, maybe just lightly on the palate as an aftertaste, but other than that it tasted delicious!

1 banana, frozen

2 chunks of pineapple

1/2 tbsp spirulina

1 scoop vanilla brown rice protein powder

Dash of lime juice

Water to thin

Blend all ingredients until well combined. Enjoy as a post workout or anytime smoothie.

DQ-Style Ice Cream Cake + OneGreenPlanet

2011-06-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

Jenn and I are proud contributors to OneGreenPlanet.org, it is an article publishing site that focuses on green, eco-friendly, and ethical material. They also publish vegan recipes, which is something more or less in our arena of knowledge :P, so we've submitted our first one that was just published today!

Check it out!

DQ-style ice cream cake...awww yeah!