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Date Caramel Candy Apples

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Ringin’ in the New Year with some festive sweet treats that you can feel great about treatin’ on. This recipe is a nice way to ease into the healthy resolutions you might have after indulging in all of the Holiday goodness.

You see, these treats are a trick.

They look indulgent. They taste indulgent. They aren’t indulgent. But don’t tell your taste buds that.

The base of these are made from whole foods! Of course, topping them off with things like sprinkles or chocolate chips will take them to the level of indulgence that you may have been experiencing over the holidays. You don’t have to go that far though. You could even stop at the date caramel layer and call it a super delicious day!

Layer 1: The powerhouse of nutrition that you know well, the apple.

Layer 2: Caramel made from the delicious date. Nothing more (except vanilla and a bit of sea salt, that is). A whole food sweetener at it’s finest, still packed with all the fibre a fruit should have, plus minerals and vitamins from that glorious date.

Layer 3: Your choice. Loved the popcorn layer. You could throw in some coconut ribbons, raisins, cacao nibs, hemp seeds, pecans…. or go for gold and roll it in some vegan chocolate chips.

See? Healthy! But, totally indulgent looking and delicious tasting.

The kids will love it, and so will your ‘new year, new you’ YOU.

Date Caramel Candy Apples
 
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Date Caramel candy apples to make your taste buds sing, and your waist line happy! A great festive way to ring in 2019 and ease out of the totally indulgent experience of the holidays.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert, Snack
Serves: 3
Ingredients
  • 15 dates, pitted and soaked 10 minutes in warm water, then strained
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch of sea salt
  • about a ¼ or a bit more of coconut milk (add a bit at a time, just enough for the caramel consistency)
  • 3 apples
Instructions
  1. Blend dates, vanilla, salt and water in a mini food processor or small blender until a smooth paste forms.
  2. Stick a wooden skewer into the bottom of a couple apples (I like honey crisp!).
  3. With a spatula, spread the date caramel evenly over each whole apple.
  4. Roll it in your choice of toppings! I used Nooch Pop sweet + savoury popcorn + coconut ribbons for one, and vegan chocolate chips for the other).
  5. Place in fridge for at least 30 minutes to let firm up slightly (it will still be gooey delicious).
  6. Enjoy!

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Peachy Rainbow Soba Summer Rolls + Zesty Orange Sesame Sauce

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Hot summer days call for fresh, crisp, rainbow soba summer rolls… on a patio… with a side of white wine spritzer…and a super fresh seasonal corn on the cob.

This has got to be the best way to get in as many raw veggies as possible.

Soba noodles give you that tasty filler, smoked tofu provides the surprising twist of flavour, and any raw veggies you have kickin’ around the kitchen make these rolls so satisfyingly crunchy & fresh.

This recipe gives you A LOT of sauce. Which is definitely on purpose.

Making extra is key because the party this zesty orange sesame sauce is having doesn’t stop at these rolls. Don’t be afraid to use it on anything, everything and all the in betweens. Here’s what I’m thinkin’:

  • douse your veggie BBQ skewers 
  • smother your soba noodle salad in it
  • drizzle it on roasted veggies
  • spread it on a sanny
  • squirt it in a wrap
  • dunk your raw veggies in it
  • water it down and use it as a salad dressing!

Sauce is what makes the world go ’round.

Kids will love getting in the kitchen to help fill the rice papers, and having them create the rainbow, gets them excited to actually eat the rainbow 😉

I would have to say, since I love dipping and crunchy freshness, this is up there as one of my most favourite recipes. Ever.

We just made this on Hornby Island, at my parent’s place which is totally outdoor livin’. An airstream trailer, a deck attached, a teepee guest bedroom and a beautiful long picnic table to dine on while we watch the sunset. Simple. Perfect. Summer.

We threw in a side salad, packed with beets, green onion, heirloom tomatoes and butter lettuce, but you’ll be getting more than enough veggies without adding that in. Maybe put some of the lettuce in the wraps and call it a day of delish nutrish.

Peachy Rainbow Soba Summer Rolls + Zesty Orange Sesame Dipping Sauce
 
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A fun recipe that packs the nutrition into the most delicious handful you could ask for. Crunchy, fresh and perfect for a summery eve.
Author:
Recipe type: dinner, lunch, summer,
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients

  • Wraps:
  • Rice paper wraps (we made 15)
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 cup purple cabbage
  • 1 peach
  • 1 cube smoked tofu
  • 1 large cucumber
  • 2 carrots
  • 1-2 bell peppers
  • 2 cups sprouts of choice (sunflower seed sprouts are crunchy and delish)
  • 1 package soba noodles (this will make more than you need, but they're great leftover with the sauce)

  • Zesty Orange Sesame Sauce:
  • 1-2 tsp zest of orange
  • Juice of 1 orange (medium navel)
  • ½ cup almond butter
  • ½ cup tahini
  • 3 tbsp braggs liquid aminos OR tamari
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cm fresh ginger
  • 1 clove garlic
  • ½ cup water
Instructions
  1. Cook soba noodles according to directions, then strain, let cool for 10 minutes
  2. Slice all veggies and the tofu thinly & vertically
  3. Make your sauce by blending all sauce ingredients in a food processor until smooth
  4. Set up your rolling station: fill a wide plate with water (for rice paper), have your bowl of noodles, have your veggies/tofu laid out on a plate, have a cutting board to roll on, have an empty platter ready for your finished rolls
  5. Make your rolls: soak a rice paper in water for 2 seconds, then place on the cutting board. Fill the paper with all the fixin's, then roll the rice paper like a burrito (fold two sides towards each other to cover the ends of the veggies, then roll the opposite ends until the paper is closed)
  6. Serve them up on a platter with individual dipping bowls and a plate!
Notes
If the rice paper is breaking, double them up and use 2 per roll!

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This week was all about the Good Food Institute and the future of clean meat and plant-based proteins.

Blueberry Banana Coconut Cream Milkshake | Vegan

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The dog days of summer call for something frosty, creamy and nostalgic. This vanilla blueberry banana coconut cream milkshake is the answer…always.

Creaminess, frostiness & blueberries…something magical happens when these 3 collide. The blueberries become much more than the usual blueberry you’d expect. It reminds me of getting blueberry milkshakes as a kid at the Hornby Island bakery. They came as a massive glass filled with a blue galaxy of creaminess. It was packed with dairy though, so this one is infinite galaxies better.

The amazing taste and mouth feel is still all there.

Here we have a dairy-free version with all the thickness, creamy goodness and decadence that I remember.

On a hot summers day, there’s nothing better than a slow sip-full of this masterpiece.

It’s ridiculously easy to make.

It’s refreshingly frosty.

It’s melt-in-your mouth decadent.

It’s blueberry banana coconut cream milkshake heaven with a touch of vanilla deliciousness.

Top it off with some cookie crumbles (I used Anna’s Ginger Snaps), extra fruit … or maybe some coco whip from this pumpkin cheezecake recipe?! (Drooling as I write this).

Let’s talk blueberries for a sec. They’re packed with antioxidants (especially wild blueberries) to combat free radicals and protect you from all forms of disease, aging and viruses, plus they’re high in vitamin C to boost your immunity. At just 80 calories per cup, they’re a megadose of nutrition, so eat them by the handful!!! They are part of the dirty dozen group when it comes to organics, though. This just means you should make blueberries one of the ingredients that you always get organic! Buying them local is also always best. If you can grow your own, amazing… but if not, find a local farmer. I stock up on Hare’s Farm’s blueberries from Pemberton every year throughout the summer and try to have a freezer full of them to last me at least a month of winter (they go down fast around here!)

You can order 10lb frozen boxes from JD Hare directly through email: haresfarm1993@gmail.com or find his blueberries at the Whistler Farmer’s Market!

On to the recipe!

Blueberry Banana Coconut Cream Milkshake
 
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A thick & frosty treat for that hot summer's day, still packed with benefits.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert, Snack
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 2 cups blueberries
  • 1 cup vanilla coconut ice cream (I used Coconut Bliss)
  • 2-3 cups vanilla plant-based milk (I used Califia Vanilla Almond)
  • 2 frozen bananas
  • Toppings (optional):
  • Extra blueberries
  • Crumbled cookies (like vegan graham crackers or Annie's ginger snaps)
  • Banana slices
  • Coconut Whipped Cream from this cheezecake recipe (oh man that would be so good!!!)
Instructions
  1. Blend all mylkshake ingredients together in your blender. Start with just 2 cups of milk, then keep adding until you have the consistency that will slowly move through your straw.
  2. Pour into your favourite jar, and top it off with your choice of toppings.

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Last week was all about ~ anti-aging & antioxidants ~

Mermaid Bowl ~ Raw Vegan Soft Serve with Boosh Chunks

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Gaze away at this swirly masterpiece…OK, now go make yourself one. This mermaid bowl is ready in no time and provides all the dreamy, guilt-free spoonfuls your taste buds desire.

Just in time for the LONGEST day of the year. Bring on that sunshine and those mermaid bowls, who’s with me?

The base? bananas.

The colour? phycocyanin.

The topping? fermented kombucha bar chunks (from Vegan Rob’s).

The result? The bowl of my dreams.

In just a few minutes you’ll have an antioxidant packed mermaid bowl filled to the brim with live phytonutrients and fermented goodness! Ahh.

I brew my own ‘boosh‘ at home, but I never had heard of kombucha being in the form of something you chew on – like a granola bar. Well, it’s possible! Vegan Rob‘s just came out with their Kombuchabar (what?!)… So I topped off this mesmerizing soft-serve with chunks of it for some nice texture and added probiotics for digestive and gut health.

The beautiful blue-ness comes from the crazy sounding and intense looking active ingredient in spirulina (phycocyanin). I found a small package of it here. More on the benefits of it below…. I personally love it just for the crazy mermaid colour it gives to anything, because who ever made up that whole.. ‘don’t play with your food’ thing anyway?

Benefits:

  • Phycocyanin is a super potent antioxidant powerhouse. It’s the active blue pigment protein complex of the blue-green algae, spirulina. Phycocyanin is used for photosynthesis in the algae, as it directly absorbs sunlight. In humans, when ingested, it’s complex structure resembles the powerful antioxidant ‘bilirubin’ and it has the same intense affects on our body as bilirubin. It’s an immune enhancer, disease preventer, and anti-inflammatory, this stuff is magic.
  • Kombucha Bar that I’m using to top off this magical mermaid bowl is the first bar I’ve found that has the probiotic benefits of kombucha…but in the form of solid food! Crazy talk. The fermented kombucha in these bars help the gut microflora thrive. Fermented food are a must, because 90% of the cells in our bodies are bacteria cells and just 10% are human. Most of our bacteria live in our micro-biome/gut, so we have to make sure we’re feeding our gut the right things to help the cells flourish…and fermented foods is where it’s at.
  • Bananas are a staple around our place. I get a case of smoothie-ready bananas every week from Spud. I freeze half of them for bowls like this, and the everyday green smoothie I whip up. They’re packed with potassium to help balance your blood pressure, and iron to combat anemia.

 

Mermaid Bowl Soft Serve
 
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This bowl tastes just as magically delicious as it looks. Packed with fermented benefits and a mega antioxidant-boost!
Author:
Recipe type: breakfast, dessert, snack, smoothie bowl, ice cream
Serves: 1-2
Ingredients
  • 5 frozen bananas, halved
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter
  • 1-2 tsp phycocyanin powder
  • ½ cup plant-based milk (almond, coconut, cashew, hemp)
  • 1 kombucha bar, chopped (found at Vegan Robs)
Instructions
  1. In food processor, blend all ingredients except the kombucha bar until smooth. Add a bit more milk if you want a softer texture.
  2. Spoon it into a couple of your favourite bowls and top it off with kombucha bar chunks.
  3. Devour.

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Last week was all about acting with love instead of fear throughout your life, biz, relationships and to yourself.

How to Make an Aquafaba Whipped Cream Parfait | Blueberry Matcha | Raw Vegan

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If you’re breakfast looks like this, your day is complete by 9am. This raw vegan aquafaba whipped cream parfait is taken to the next level with a snickers bar made by the lovely Laura.

And even though it’s whipped cream for breakfast, it’s still good for you.

But, how?

~ The snickers bar created by the raw vegan treat pros over at Little Tucker is raw, vegan and made with nuts, dates, some maple syrup… and it tastes heavenly because these girls got skills!! If you’re going to be at Veg Expo this weekend at the Vancouver Convention Centre, go say hi to Laura and the girls to sample some of their goodness.

~ The whipped cream is made of the magical ingredient, aquafaba. Yup, the juice of the chickpea, that’s right. You threw that down the drain without thinking twice before you read this, didn’t you? Don’t worry, I did too. Aquafaba creates a wonderfully stiff, yummy, and very low calorie alternative to your typical whip. It’s also a great egg-replacer in vegan baking (3 tbsp = 1 egg).  Who knew?!

~The base is made from my breakfast cereal, Jules Fuel. Matcha Date and Blueberry Cacao Overnight Buckwheat Oats that I soak in homemade hemp milk, or any kind of plant based milk kickin’ around. It’s packed to the rim with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, plant protein, and fibre. You can order it internationally from Vegan Supply, or locally at Spud Vancouver.

Layer it all up with some fresh berries and you’ve got yourself a true breakfast of champs.

You can get Jules Fuel overnight buckwheat oats (blueberry cacao, or matcha date flavour) online from anywhere in the world at Vegan Supply! Or, locally in the Vancouver/Whistler area from Spud online, or Be Fresh, Green Moustache, and any Whistler Grocery store. You can find the Little Tucker snickers bar here.

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Aquafaba Whipped Cream Parfait with Jules Fuel | Raw Vegan
 
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Not your typical parfait! Aquafaba whipped cream, matcha blueberry oats, and a raw vegan snickers bar to top it all off!
Author:
Recipe type: breakfast
Serves: 2
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In separate jars, soak ½ cup blueberry cacao Jules Fuel with ½ cup plant milk, and ½ cup matcha date Jules Fuel with the rest of the ½ cup of plant milk for at least 30 minutes (overnight if you can!!)
  2. Make Aquafaba Whipped Cream: add all whipped cream ingredients to an electric hand mixer with the whisk attachment. Mix on high for at least 5 minutes. The longer you mix, the stiffer it will become! Watch the magic happen.
  3. In 2 jars, scoop in one of the Jules Fuel oats, then some berries, then some whipped cream, then another layer of the other Jules Fuel oats, then go crazy with the whipped cream, and top it all off with the snickers bar.
Notes
Store extra whipped cream in the freezer, and use as you would 'cool whip'. Keeps for one month

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