Soft and Fudgy Carob Pebbles (low-glycemic)

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

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)

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

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?

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

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?

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

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

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!

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"

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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