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Sweet Potato Toasts | Easy GF Snack

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It’s toast.

But it’s potato.

But…it’s toast.

Sweet potato toasts!

When I first saw this, I thought…GENIUS.

Alllllmost as genius as when Einstein said:

“Nothing will benefit health or increase chances of survival on earth as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”

Or this:

“Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion”

Anyways, sometimes it’s the simplest combination of action, taste and texture that creates the best experience.

Action: Toast

Taste: Savoury sweetness.

Texture: Chewy tastiness.

These little pieces of art are perfect for summer. You don’t have to touch your oven to enjoy your taters. And, if you’re like me, sweet potato is a must for every season.

Get creative with your toppings (perfect for the kidlets to join in on).

Go sweet … cover it in berries.

Go savoury … smother it with avo & nooch.

Go tangy … sprinkle it with sauerkraut.

Go spicy … sriracha!

Whatever you do….take a picture and tag me on Instagram so I can see your beautiful creations ( @hookedonplants ).

Channel your inner childhood summer camp arts & crafts hour and get crafty.

Whoever said to not play with your food…must have not enjoyed eating it. Some of the best food is the food you put the time into making pretty. You enjoy every. single. chomp.

Benefits:

Sweet Potato is the staple of some of the longest-living humans on this earth! The Okinawans base their plant-based diet around the sweet potato and their area is one of the most populated areas with centenarians around. Sweet potatoes are packed with fibre, vitamins, antioxidants, minerals and ready for your body to utilize and thrive off of. Don’t be afraid of carbs when they come in their whole, unrefined form.

Sweet Potato Toasts
 
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A fun and nutritious snack that you can get creative with!
Author:
Recipe type: snack, lunch
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 sweet potato, sliced in ¼ inch discs
  • Choice of toppings:
  • Peanut or almond butter
  • Berries & bananas
  • Avocado
  • Nutritional yeast
  • Sauerkraut
  • Basil
  • Sprouts
  • Hemp seeds
  • Chia seeds
  • Fresh herbs
Instructions
  1. Toast your sweet potato 2-4 times depending on the heat your toaster or toaster oven brings! When it’s browning, you’re ready to go to the next step
  2. Top it! As I said, get creative and make art 🙂

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This week’s email was all about antioxidants, anti-aging, and lifestyle over diet.

Warm Vegan Pumpkin Spice Banana Milkshake | 3 Ingredients

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Sometimes all you need is something warm to put your hands around. Enter: pumpkin spice and bananas.

With just 3 ingredients and a blender, you will have this delicious pumpkin spice banana milkshake (minus the dairy) to knock your cozy socks off.

The taste?  Pumpkin pie in a cup (but, actually good for you).

Fall is definitely upon us, and this comforting bevy will be the cherry on top of your Netflix n’ chill sweatpants.

Tis’ the season for pumpkin everything. Let’s make the most of it.

Benefits:

Bananas should be enjoyed be in their ripe form (with spots). They’re amazing for digestion, high in potassium and rich in fibre.

Pumpkin Pie Spice gives us that spicey cinnamon and ginger, both bringing us great benefits. Ginger is a well-known immune-booster, and cinnamon? The king of lowering those blood-sugar levels.

Vanilla (the pure extract) is anti-inflammatory, helping you fight disease, and allowing your body to thrive.

Warm Pumpkin Spice Banana Milkshake

On to the recipe!

Warm Vegan Pumpkin Spice Banana Milkshake
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Warm Vegan Pumpkin Spice Banana Milkshake

Recipe by julesCourse: breakfast, snackDifficulty: Easy
Servings

2

servings
Prep time

4

minutes
Cooking timeminutes

Ingredients

  • 3-4 ripe bananas

  • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

  • 1 cup hot water (or steamed plant milk)

Directions

  • Blend all ingredients in high speed blender for 2-3 minutes, until warm! (If you don’t have a high speed blender, blend until smooth, and warm on low, stirring constantly in a pot for 2-3 minutes)
  • Pour into your favourite mug and enjoy!

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‘Avo Nice Day Mousse | Easy Raw Vegan Summer Dessert

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For those times when simplicity sounds like perfection.

This avocado mousse lays down a huge tick in the simple check box.

With just a few ingredients, a food processor, and a bowl, you’ll have yourself a dessert to impress!

This is always a go-to when I have people over, and I completely forgot about the dessert part. I mean, I love dessert, but this happens.

Just grab yourself some ripe avos, throw a couple raw flava flaves in there, and you’re back on your game!

Avo mousse is another example of the ease and possibility of achieving that creaminess without that dairy. Win.

It would be cute to serve it up in individual little mason jars, with berries on top! If you do that, take a picture and tag me on instagram so I can see your creativity (please:)).

‘Avo Nice Day Mousse | Easy Raw Vegan Summer Dessert
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‘Avo Nice Day Mousse | Easy Raw Vegan Summer Dessert

Recipe by JulesCourse: DessertDifficulty: Easy
Servingsservings
Prep time

5

minutes
Cooking timeminutes

Ingredients

  • 3 ripe avocados, halved with pit and skin removed

  • 1/4 cup maple syrup

  • 2 tbsp cacao powder (can sub cocoa powder)

  • 1/4 tsp himalayan salt

  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

  • 1 tsp cinnamon

  • 1-2 bananas, sliced

  • 1 cup mixed berries

Directions

  • Blend all ingredients (except bananas and berries) until smooth in your food processor
  • In a bowl place half the banana slices and a few berries at the bottom, cover it with the avo mousse, and top it off with the rest of the banana slices and berries
  • Pat yourself on the back and enjoyyyyy!

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Pop-in-your-Mouth Chocolate Blueberry Clusters | Easy Vegan Dessert

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Easy, pop-in-your-mouth, delicious and delightful lil’ morsels! These chocolate blueberry clusters are mind-bogglingly drool-worthy and refreshing.

Have no time?

Looking for something special to bring to the 4th of July potluck?

These are your ticket.

Thanks to Dana’s Dad at our weekend’s get away to the Okanagan for introducing these into our lives!

These clusters just happen to be PACKED with antioxidants too (hello blueberries and chocolate), and by the way vegan chocolate means no dairy, no problem.

On that note, if you’re looking for an all-in-one resource for going dairy free, why it should be done, and the science behind it, check out Dotsie Bausch’s @switch4good !

Head here to see what the experts are saying.

Delightful Chocolate Blueberry Clusters
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Delightful Chocolate Blueberry Clusters

Recipe by juliaCourse: Dessert, SnacksDifficulty: Easy
Servings

16

servings
Prep time

40

minutes

Ingredients

Directions

  • Cover a plate with parchment paper and set aside
  • Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler (place water in the bottom a medium sized pot and find a pot or glass or stainless steel bowl to sit on top. Make sure the water underneath is 1/2 inch below the upper bowl or pot. Place the chocolate chips in the top pot or bowl, and then heat the water to a low heat. Stir the chocolate constantly until it is melted. The water in the bottom of the double boiler should not come to boiling while the chocolate is melting). Or microwave (on high for 1 minute, then take out and whisk vigorously… if it’s not completely melted, microwave another 10 seconds and take out to whisk… don’t over heat!)
  • Add the blueberries to the chocolate, and stir until fully coated
  • With a spoon, scoop out the chocolate covered blueberries (about 8 per spoon-full), and place in a cluster on your parchment-covered plate
  • Leave these in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to harden
  • Store them in the fridge or freezer in a tupparware

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Vanilla Date Almond Milk | Milk Yer Nuts

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Keeping it simple this week with a go-to recipe around here. Vanilla Almond Milk for your next latté, overnight oat soak, or just for that plain ol’ comforting glass of milk with your Peanut Butter Quinoa cookies, or Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies, or these classic Black and White cookies.

Making your own milk doesn’t have to be complicated.

3 things you’ll need are:

  1. Nuts
  2. Blender
  3. Mesh (nut milk) bag.

Today we’re using almonds, and feeling a little flavourful…so we’ll add some date sweetness, cinnamon and vanilla goodness with a pinch of salt.

There’s nothing like a fresh batch of homemade plant milk.

Store bought plant milk is pretty darn good these days, but making your own gives you the advantage of knowing every fresh ingredient you put in there.

Of course, I’ve got to mention that ditching the cow’s milk is going to bring mega benefits to your body, the animal’s lives, and the environment.

Check out this video to see what Dr. Neal Barnard has to say about why humans are physically addicted to dairy and cheese. 

Benefits of Ditching the dairy:

  • Clearer skin – less inflammation and hormones
  • Less gastrointestinal issues – by decreasing any potential lactose sensitivity
  • Less fractures and healthier bones– contrary to popular belief, according to the Nurses’ Health Study dairy may increase risk of fractures by 50 percent! Plus, the countries with the lowest rates of dairy consumption (like Africa and Asia) also have the lowest rates of osteoporosis.
  • Improved digestion – that diarrhea, constipation, bloating, gas and nausea could very likely be from a lactose sensitivity or intolerance (65-75% of the world’s population is lactose intolerant)
  • Weight loss – by taking out the hormones, animal proteins, lactose, and saturated fat found in the dairy products, many people find excess weight coming off easily. This is because dairy milk is naturally meant to help a calf grow into a cow (it’s a growth fluid)
  • Cancer prevention – there has been a strong link between dairy consumption and cancers because dairy consumption increases the body’s level of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), a known cancer promoter that encourages tumour growth. 
  • Stronger bones – because the animal proteins in dairy are difficult for humans to digest, calcium is actually leached from the bones to help absorb with digestion. It’s better to focus on more absorbable sources
  • Better for the environment – the dairy industry has a big impact on air quality (greenhouse gas emissions), soil quality (land use, pesticides), and water quality (run offs of antibiotics, pesticides, pathogens, waste products and hormones). The plants grown to feed these cows to produce dairy could instead be eaten directly by us, saving vast amounts of resources.
  • Reduce your exposure to antibiotics and hormones – which are used regularly in the US dairy industry to reduce infection and increase production
  • Reduce the suffering of the cows – the less we demand dairy, the less it will be mass produced 🙂

Something to think about:

The majority of humans naturally stop producing large amounts of lactase (the enzyme needed to metabolize the sugar in milk, lactose) between the ages of 2 and 5. This is normal for most mammals once they have been milk been weaned, because we simply don’t need to produce the enzymes for properly digest and metabolize milk anymore. Our bodies just aren’t made to digest milk on a regular basis, especially as adults (we are the only mammals who continue to drink milk after weaning, let alone the milk from another species).

Most scientists agree that it’s better for us to get calcium, potassium, protein, and fats from other food sources, like whole plant foods —, fruits, beans, vegetables, whole grains, seeds, nuts, and seaweed.

Vanilla Date Almond Milk
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Vanilla Date Almond Milk

Recipe by julia

Ingredients

  • 1 cup raw almonds, pre-soaked (overnight or for 1 hour in hot water)

  • 3 cups water

  • 1 tbsp cinnamon

  • 2 dates, pits removed

  • pinch of sea salt

  • 1 tsp vanilla

  • Optional flavour ideas: 1 tbsp molasses or 1/2 tsp cloves or 1/4 tsp spirulina or strawberries or banana or 1 tsp cacao… get creative!

Directions

  • Rinse almonds (after the overnight soak their nutrients are more absorbable because they started the sprouting process, plus they’re soft to blend)
  • Blend almonds and the rest of the ingredients in your blender. Start by pulsing a few times, then blend on high for 2 minutes
  • Pour the milk through a nut milk bag over a bowl. Squeeze the milk through the nut-milk bag. What you should have left is a dough-like almond pulp.
  • Pour the milk into a mason jar. Store in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Notes

  • Left over almond pulp uses:
    – Binder in veggie burgers, veggie meat loaf or veggie balls.
    – Replace some of the flour in pancakes or waffles, cookies or muffins.
    – Add it to smoothies for a protein kick
    – Make into almond flour by using your dehydrator (110F for 12 hours) OR your oven:
    1) Pre-heat oven to your lowest setting
    2) Spread out almond pulp on a pan
    3) Bake for 2-3 hours
    4) Blend into a flour
    5) Use in your favourite recipes that call for flour

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“It takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal” – Joaquin Pheonix

Tag me if you make these! (@hookedonplants on instagram)

I love seeing your recipes.

For more inspiration and info on eating plant-based, sign up to my emails for bi-weekly inspiration, recipes, plus a free PDF on How to Get Hooked On Plants!

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