Brownie Batter Pancakes & Insight into a new month!

sorry for the rushed pic, was on my way to work!

Warning: These pancakes are not for the faint-hearted!

I wish I had a Halloween post, but I've been sick all day (vomiting, sleeping, attempting to eat, and vomiting again...) and just never had the energy to get into a festive spirit.

So I bring you healthy chocolate pancakes from CCK that also happen to be vegan! These are single serving, and make about 6-7 silver-dollar pancakes. They're also only 130 calories per serving so you can have other breakfast goodies or go all-out on the toppings. For a healthier chocolate syrup, try whisking some cocoa powder with agave!

Brownie Batter Pancakes serves 1

• 1/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat, though all-purpose probably will taste better)
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1-2 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1/16 tsp salt
• 1+ 1/2 tablespoon applesauce (or oil)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon almond milk (or other nondairy)

Mix dry ingredients together, mix wet ingredients together, and combine the two! Perhaps add some mini chocolate chips? Make pancakes!

November month:

It's been quite a long October on this vegan diet and though it took some getting used to in the beginning it's pretty easy to live with. In some ways, it is pricier (nondairy milks are a lot more expensive...) but otherwise you don't have to purchase any of those "extras" such as yogurts or countless dairy containing products and goodies (muffins, cookies, etc). Oh and tofu's pretty cheap too. But cost-aside, I got to taste some vegan alternatives like SOY CHEESE and let me tell you, I did not like it at all haha! There's still half a block in my fridge for any grabbers out there! Being a vegan did make me feel hungrier most of the time, since all I was eating mostly veggies and lacking in the protein department when I didn't have my tofu or beans.

November: I'll be exploring a high-protein diet made by expert New York fitness coach, David Kirsch. He has worked with numbers of actresses and models such as Heidi Klum and Liv Tyler, and is well known for his quick methods of getting into shape! I read one of his books called "Sound Mind Sound Body" which consisted of a 6 week nutrition and work-out plan, which I followed loosely and actually lost about 10-12 lbs from! This guy knows what he's talking about! I'll be revisiting the high-protein diet in hopes of curbing hunger daily and effectively exercising. His work-out plans were always fun and they make you feel awesome. :) I'll be posting more info hopefully tomorrow when I get more time. For now, I'm off to bed to try and sleep this tummy ache off! Happy Halloween!

Blueberry Buckle

Try this easy blueberry buckle for a lazy weekend brunch, or a quick-fix when last minute company is coming over! You can use fresh or frozen blueberries (I still have mine from the summer) to make this moist cake, and feel free to add to your streusel topping! Maybe walnuts? Oats? Pecans?

I veganized this recipe but the original ingredients from Becky Bakes is in parenthesis.

Enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea! :)

Blueberry Buckle

Streusel:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance (or butter)
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds

Cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance (or butter)
• 1 *flax* egg = 1 tsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water (or 1 egg)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup almond milk (or milk)
• 2 cups blueberries (or other berries, perhaps?)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Topping: Mix sugar with flour, cinnamon, and almonds. Cut or rub in butter with a pastry cutter or knives until crumbly. Set aside.

Cake: Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream the butter with sugar, egg, and vanilla. Alternately add the milk and flour mixture, ending with the flour mixture. Don't over mix. Fold in blueberries.

Pour in a greased and floured 8" square cake pan. Sprinkle topping over the cake. Bake for 40-45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Self-Frosting Peanut Butter "Cup"cakes (the best cupcakes I've ever had)

It's uncharacteristic of me to rank something #1 immediately, but I know for sure in a moment when something surpasses all others. I made these cupcakes quite spontaneously after school yesterday to surprise my dad as an early birthday gift, since he's leaving town tomorrow. Cupcakes are easy to make, they're quick, cute, convenient, and make great gifts. I never expected them to taste THIS good. My brother taste-tested one and actually asked for another (I told him 'no' because we had to bring them to my dad). My MOM even told me they were delicious and requested I make them again...SOON (she's my harshest critic, by the way).

When it comes to cakes and cupcakes, there are two kinds of people in this world. Cake people, and Icing People. The Cake people (me) will usually leave dollops of icing on the side of their plate or scrape it off entirely and gladly eat the cake itself. The Icing people are the people who eat the icing by the spoonful! This cupcake, self-frosting, means that the icing gets baked with the cupcake so it looks like its swirled inside the batter and incorporated, but as soon as you take a bite, you get the chocolatey-peanut butter frosting still really gooey, smooth, and icing-like! It's like the baddest cupcake in the world had a love child with the yummiest frosting.

Maybe it's because I'm a die-hard fan of anything with peanut butter + chocolate, but I'm almost certain my opinion isn't biased. These are seriously amazing. A moist peanut butter base with swirls of sweet chocolate-peanut butter FROSTING. Go make yourself a batch. Right now. You can thank me later!

Did I mention they're vegan? I swear on my life NO ONE will be able to tell.

Self-Frosting Peanut Butter "Cup"cakes makes 12 cupcakes

From the cookbook My Sweet Vegan, Hannah Kaminsky

Frosting:

• 2/3 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp soy milk (I used almond milk, you can use dairy)

Cupcake:

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup soy milk (or other milk)
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds*
• 1/4 cup water*
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

*flax seeds and water are replacements for eggs. You can try using 1 egg to replace (not vegan) and tell me how it works? :)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 12 cupcake tins with paper liners.

Using a stand mixer (or food processor) mix/blend frosting ingredients until smooth. The consistency should be like Nutella. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk flax seeds and water, set aside. In another bowl (stand mixer) mix soy milk with vinegar and let stand until frothy. Beat in sugars. Beat in flax mixture. Add peanut butter, applesauce, and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture until smooth. Using a standard ice cream scoop (1/4 cup measure), scoop batter evenly into 12 cupcake tins. Add about 2 tbsp of peanut butter-chocolate frosting on top and swirl into batter using a toothpick.

Bake for 22-25 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes before cooling completely on a rack. To test doneness, you can check by inserting a toothpick (not into the icing part) to see if it comes out clean from the cake (the icing will always stay gooey!) Enjoy!!

(Oh and try not to eat the batter or frosting BEFORE it goes in the oven? You'll be in serious trouble once you start....) ;)

Dance soothes my soul...and so does this Sweet Potato Soup!

This cake is ACTUALLY a deep and beautiful autumn orange colour, but you know how my camera is...

Dance today was alright for the most part- all work for my first two classes, but my last one was interesting because we have a sub right now, her name is Miss Thies and she is amazing. Although she talked for most of the class and I had a very hard time grasping her concepts, she's really really knowledgeable about the anatomy of dancers, different muscles, etc so it's awesome to have her around because you can ask about your body. And if something hurts, there's a 99% chance that she can fix it. I've seen it happen! I've had it happen! She always has some kind of hands on method to strangle your leg or foot in a way that just HEALS it, I swear, it's like witchcraft. This one time she straddled a girl's leg and like, shook it so violently while dropping it on the floor multiple times, and shaking it again...and after a few repetitions of that...I, and 15 other witnesses SAW the girl's leg actually grow longer than her other leg. It was NUTS. So of course, Miss Thies had to do the same to the other leg to even it out. I was a skeptic until that moment.

We had an audience today but we weren't doing much dancing, just a whole lot of talking and listening. At the end though, she split us into two groups, put on a Josh Groban tune and told us to do a minute and half of improv on the spot. Wait, what!? In front of an audience!? First of all, ballet teachers never EVER do this. Everything is very structured in a ballet class, everything is taught the way it is supposed to be taught- you don't make things up on the spot...I was absolutely TERRRRRIFIED to get up there. I totally thought I was going to blank out on the spot but kind of took it on a more positive level and pretended like no one was judging me. And guess what? I never thought I would enjoy the experience but it was so liberating to just listen to your body and what it wanted to do with the music. I just wanted it to go on forever. The rush...the freedom...and the courage it took to get out there and just DANCE was an extremely satisfying experience. A parent even came up to me after and told me it was beautiful! :)))

Anways- this soup...it tastes SO good on these chilly nights where you want something light but filling! I like my soup two ways, either chockful of veggies and so chunky it's a stew, or pureed like baby food. This is the pureed kind and it's absolutely wonderful. So smooth and creamy without cream! Non-vegans, you can serve this to your guests with a small pitcher of cream if you want that extra-richness, but I personally think it tastes just as wonderful all by itself.

This sweet potato soup is garlicky and lemony with aromatic hints of fresh rosemary! It tastes like YAM FRIES in a bowl.

Sweet Potato Rosemary Soup (Vegan and Gluten Free) serves 4

• 1 large sweet potato (750 g), peeled and cubed
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 sprig of rosemary, leaves only
• zest of half a lemon
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 2 cups water
• 2 tsp olive oil
  
  In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat and cook onions, garlic, and sweet potato for 5 minutes. Add rosemary, lemon zest, stock, and water and let simmer for about 30 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Transfer to a food processor or blender (you may need to do this in batches) and puree the soup until smooth. Strain soup over a sieve and serve! Enjoy!!

Falafel-Inspired Veggie Burger

Hello! I've been so busy lately, it seems like there's not even enough time to cook, yet alone have the patience to take pictures and blog about it. Well, this is what I had for dinner last night- a chickpea burger! It tastes like a falafel, minus the deep fryer! It's great with a slather of tahini on top and a couple of cucumber slices too. It's super easy to make, all you need is a food processor or blender!

A little more than a week until my vegan month is over, and I'm still not missing meat, but I do envy those ice cream and chocolate-eaters lined up at the Purdy's...and I will definitely not miss the miso-soup consistency coffee ;)

Eating vegan is really no different than eating vegetarian, except you really have to watch what has eggs/dairy in it, and sometimes that can be hard (and teasing!) A lot of the time, I would have to turn down many different kinds of cereals or snacks at the store because they have "modified milk ingredients".

I'm still thinking about what November's going to look like but I'll keep you posted as soon as it's decided!

In the meantime, enjoy this veggie burger if you can! It's super healthy, easy to make, and great for the non-tofu-eaters. And if you like middle eastern food, hey, it's perfect for you!

Falafel-Inspired Veggie Burger makes 4 patties

• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas (1 1/2 cups), drained and rinsed
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander (I omitted this)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.

Pulse chickpeas in a food processor or blend in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add rest of ingredients (except bread crumbs) and mix until combined. Slowly add breadcrumbs until the mixture holds together, you may need more or less. Shape into 4 patties on the cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Flip patty and bake another 10-12 minutes on the other side. Alternatively, you may fry this in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil. Serve on buns or pita pockets!

Yes, you can eat a bowl of cookie dough! Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip= Heaven.

Oh sweet mother of pearl...

Hey! Long time no blog, hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I had a rather busy one cause there was lots of homework for me to do! I'm still catching up in school after missing two full days at a retreat...

For the next few days I'll be posting some old recipes (by old, I mean I had them planned out for blogging but never got around to doing it) from last week because I'm off food for the next 2 days! What!? You're not eating?!

Nope!

Are you crazy!?

Nope! Well maybe just a little, but right now I'm just about completing my 30th hour without food because I am doing a 80 hour juice-detox. Sounds a little nuts, but I'm doing it in hopes of restarting my system a bit after this hectic long weekend. I haven't been eating TOO well for the last 2 weeks, and this long weekend just totally put my body in shock. So much food! Like, all the time! At strange times! At unworldly intervals! Basically, I've just been feeling sluggish and really weighed down so it's time to restart on a clean slate. What is a juice detox? Some people call it juice fasting, others call it juice feasting...but I don't really think I'm doing either. I just drink fruit and veggie juices in lieu of my meals, and when I feel hungry... It's not quite starving yourself because you are still getting nutrients from the juice, but the whole point of the detox is that your body is not spending energy breaking down food fibers and metabolizing foods, but using that energy someplace else, such as detoxifying! A juice fast/detox is followed by a period where I will slowly regain a stability by eating raw and minimally processed foods. I started yesterday evening at 5:00! Today was a bit hard, but it's always the first day that's the most painful. I'm not feeling hungry at all right now, although my body is fatigued.

Anyways! I need to tell you about this FANTASTIC recipe. Yes, I know you're probably wondering "Why on earth would you eat a bowl of cookie dough!?" well I ask you, "Why wouldn't you?!" It's absolutely delicious, but I didn't dare use the "H" word in my title to scare all of you away (the H word being Healthy). Honestly, how can eating chocolate chip cookie dough be possibly healthy!? You're about to find out!!

This recipe is from Chocolate Covered Katie, my new FAVOURITE blog EVER. It's a vegan dessert blog, but here's the catch, everything she makes is HEALTHY (there's a difference between low fat, sugar-free, reduced-calorie and HEALTHY) and although I'm always skeptical at first to try the daring recipes, they are SO delicious!!!!!

This cookie dough is meant to just be eaten by spoonfuls- I did just that, but also threw in a plateful of pretzels to use as a cookie dough dip! So yummy! It works well with all kinds of fruits too like apples or strawberries. It's great for the kids! Everyone loved them at our Thanksgiving dinner! What's in the cookie dough? Obviously not raw eggs or flour, but what makes it healthy and gives it that gooey cookie dough foundation are chickpeas. I know, but PLEASE take this with an open mind and if you have a can of chickpeas at home PLEASE try this recipe! You will not be disappointed! You can't taste the chickpeas at all, they are such neutral-flavoured beans, but it gives it just the perfect cookie dough texture! All you need is a food processor or blender!

Beans are actually my favourite things to bake with right now, when I want to make something sweet but healthy. I've used chickpeas in baking blondies, snickerdoodle bars, and brownies so far! The results are flawless! :) So go ahead! Make the cookie dough, and check out CCK's blog for other variations such as Brownie Batter Dip, or Snickerdoodle Dip.

:D

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

• 1 1/2 cups chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup nut butter (I used peanut butter)
• up to 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (start with adding 1 tbsp at a time, until desired consistency)
• 2/3 cup brown sugar (you can get away with subbing a part of this with sweeteners or Splenda)
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp baking soda (I omitted this)
• pinch salt
• 1/4 cup oats (optional, but so good with it!)
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips (vegan chocolate chips if you are vegan...)

Add everything except chocolate chips into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth, adding the milk by the tablespoonful until you have a desired thickness. Blend until chickpeas become a smooth mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. There you go! Now, don't say I didn't warn you- try not to eat the whole bowl!

What are some other ways of eating this? Why not spread it on toast for breakfast? Blend it with soymilk (or regular) for a cookie batter milk shake? Sandwiching it between cookies? Crackers? There are so many ways but seriously, do what I did first- just eat it by the spoonful...

Curried "Egg Fried Rice"- 5 Minute Vegan Dinner

I usually cook my dinner the night before if I have dance the next night, so I like making something super light and quick- usually a salad. Salads usually won't keep me going for 4 hours so I'll usually grab a protein bar and I'll be good to go BUT I JUST FOUND OUT TODAY that the protein bars I eat have milk ingredients in them. WHY!!! So in comes Plan-B: 5 Minutes Dinner fixes that are super easy to make, super healthy, and super filling. Superrrr!

The title is in quotations not to trick you into thinking this is some faux-egg or faux-rice because it's not, it's NOT real eggs or rice, it's just better. :D

Quick veggie lesson here: Cauliflower, among brocolli, arugula, kale, and cabbage are a part of the vegetable kingdom categorized as "cruciferous vegetables". Cruciferous vegetables have excellent cancer-fighting properties, and they help our bodies break down potential carcinogens. Cruciferous veggies also help reduce stress, are full of vitamins and minerals, and phytochemicals. They also have a lot of fiber, and keep you feeling full for a long time! It's suggested to sometimes skip the bread or potatoes at dinner and just have some broccoli or cauliflower!

In this recipe, the the 'egg' was actually tofu, and the 'rice' were cauliflower florets! It was super easy to make, and delicious too! Besides, who needs all that carb anyways?

5 Minute Curried Egg Fried Rice serves 1 hungry dancer, or 2 as a side dish :)

• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/8 package (about 6 oz) smooth tofu
• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 1/2 cup frozen vegetables of choice
• 2 tsp curry powder (more or less to suit your taste)
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• salt and pepper to taste

Using a food processor, pulse the cauliflower florets just a few times to make it into fine little pieces.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over med-high heat. Saute the tofu with the frozen vegetables, breaking the tofu with wooden spoon to resemble 'scrambled egg' texture. Add cauliflower and season with curry powder, cumin, and salt and pepper. Cook for another 2 minutes.

Ratatouille- A Hearty Vegan Stew!

It's only been three days, but I can really feel the 'veganism'. It's not too drastic of a change to what kind of foods I've been eating before, but it is a little bit different.

It hasn't been too bad at all, really! There are inconveniences, but they're all tolerable. I'm just having a little trouble reminding myself that I can't have yogurt for breakfast, or milk in my coffee.

I found out today that soy milk does not sit well in my coffee mug- it begins to separate and then it looks like miso soup! The taste is quite bean-y also, but nothing too terrible. I'm guessing almond milk would be better, but we ran out yesterday! Oh, did I mention that I also get some special treatment at Starbucks? I love all their soy subbed drinks, in fact, if it wasn't for the extra $$ they charged for their soy I'd be getting soy lattes and cappuccinos all the time! Back when I had a steady retail job I could afford to get an order of flavoured steamed soy. I KNOW-it may sound weird and pretentious but if you like soy milk and don't mind spending $3 for hot soy milk....you should try it. Ask for "steamed soy with a shot of ______". My favourite syrup shots were raspberry (this turns your soy milk pink :D), peppermint (weird combo but so tasty), hazelnut (ask for sugar-free), and of course chocolate. Okay okay I'm rambling, but the point is soy milk is amazing but it is usually overpriced to sub. But instead, when I get my Earl Greys or coffees, I just ask for them to put soy 'on the bar' and they automatically know I'm vegan (or maybe lactose intolerant) and they're really nice about it! They just give me the whole carton of soy so I can add however much to my drink. Awesome. :)

Also, when they say veganism is 'cleaner eating', they're not lying. And they're also not just talking about the Earth. Well, so far for myself, I've noticed that the restrictions are really keeping me balanced and aware of what I was eating. I notice that I try to snack less now, and also because I'm eating so healthily with so many veggies, it's given me motivation to maintain a good exercise routine again!

Anyway, about this recipe- I came home Sunday night from work exhausted and my mom had this on the table! I love this ratatouille. She makes it occasionally, and it is just so great to have on a cold night! A steaming bowl of stick-to-your-ribs stewed veggies and a slice of rye bread is the perfect dinner to leave you toasty and full. Ratatouille is very low-fat, and quite versatile. We add chickpeas to our ratatouille for some extra fiber and protein!

It's super simple, so if you're looking to make a quick, healthy, and delicious weeknight dinner for the fam, this is it!

Ratatouille serves 4-6

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 onions, diced
• 1 large eggplant, cubed
• 2 bell peppers, chopped
• 4 small zucchinis, cubed
• 4-6 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped or 1 can (796 ml) diced tomatoes
• 1 can (594 ml) chickpeas
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/4 thyme
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• salt and pepper

Heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan or medium pot. Add garlic and onions, cook until softened. Add eggplant and peppers. Add tomatoes and herbs, cook for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Add chickpeas and zucchinis, cooking for another 10 minutes. Finally stir in the fresh basil, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Coming soon! Wonderful recipes with TOFU (seriously there's nothing this magical food can't do...) and also some Vegan Thanksgiving recipes!