A Perfect Taco Dip for the Super Bowl!

Taco Dip Recipe:

2 cups raw cashews, soaked for 2-3 hours and rinsed
1/2 cup water
1/2 red bell pepper diced
Juice from 1 lime
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons taco seasoning
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper (if you want more spice)

pinch of salt

1/2 cup of water (if needed)

Veggies of choice, I love it with jicama, peppers, carrots, tomatoes. ( For dipping)

1) Combine all ingredients (besides your dipping veggies) into a high speed blender until smooth. If needed add a little bit of water at a time to loosen it up.

2) Place in the freezer until cool. Serve or keep in the fridge! 

3) Enjoy!

Make it into a taco salad dip! Layer black beans, this taco dip, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado.

Also, this can be a dressing, it is amazing over a romaine salad with carrots and tomatoes on top. 

Mini Twix Bars!

I tried Katie's twix bar recipe over at Chocolate Cover Katie. 

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2013/01/11/healthy-twix-bars/

The Kitties were helping!

I changed a few things but most of it was the same. 

I used peanut butter instead of sunflower seed butter and added a few dashes of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla to the date mixture.

For the chocolate, mine was really thick so I just had to add a few teaspoons of milk.

Over all this was delicious! My boyfriend doesn't like chocolate so I just left his with the date mixture and cookie. I love them both ways. 

Only complaint I have was with the chocolate. I am not a fan of the chocolate chips we got. So find an amazing chocolate that you love!

Berry Syrup

Berry Syrup Recipe:

3 tablespoons maple syrup

1 cup blue berries

1/2 cup strawberries

1/3 cup black berries

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cornstarch + 1 teaspoon water

1) Heat the maple syrup over medium heat, add your berries. Cook them down until a sauce forms but not too much, I love having berries still in the syrup. About 5 minutes. Add the vanilla. 

2) Mix the cornstarch and water then pour into the berry mixture. Simmer for 5 minutes.

3) Serve over your favorite pancake, waffle, or ice cream recipe! 

Orange Cranberry Granola

Granola Recipe:

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped almonds or pecans
1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons flax seeds
1/3 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup dried fruit
1/2 cup of fresh orange juice

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1) Spread on a baking sheet rolled oats, chopped almonds, flax seeds, and pumpkin seeds. Stir!

2) Add salt, cinnamon, dried fruit and orange zest. Stir!

3) Drizzle the maple syrup, orange juice, and canola oil. Stir until all covered evenly.

4) Pop in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes then stir it around. Repeat till light brown and crisp, like the photo, 2 photos below.

This batch was cooked perfectly! (photo below) The one with the milk, was not cooked perfectly.

Add some almond milk, fresh fruit, and it makes an amazing breakfast! - Lost track of time and over cooked a little ! haha 

Easy Trail Mix!

 Inspired by my Uncle Greg, every time we go to his house he has a jar of mixed nuts out and it is a great snack to grab when you are hungry.

We use to get a lot of seeds and nuts and we would never touch them because they were hiding in the cabinet. Now that I put them on the kitchen table everyone is taking a few hand fulls a day.

Layered just for the picture, mix in a bowl before you put in the jar. :)

 All you do is pick your favorite seeds and nuts and mix them together! I always add something sweet like raisins, golden raisins, goji berries, mulberries, or cocoa nibs or all of them!

I will have more seasoned recipes soon. :)

Our Vegan Christmas Eve!

We do Christmas eve every year and this is our first year on a meat and dairy free diet. We kept it traditional with a twist!

[sorry the pictures are bad, had to take them quick because everyone was hungry and it was dark...]

For appetizers (no pictures) we had spinach artichoke dip, veggies tray with hummus, a fruit bowl with maple cream, butternut squash soup, and a salad.

We had 4 veggie pot pies, all of the crusts made from scratch, mashed sweet potato crumble, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, garlic green beans with pine nuts, asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts with apples and red onions, stuffed quinoa acorn squash, and cranberry sauce.

For dessert we made an apple cake, 2 cranberry pies, pumpkin pie, truffles, peanut butter, chocolate chip, ginger, and sugar cookies. 

If anybody wants any of these recipes please leave a comment and i'll be more than happy to post them. :)

Peanut Butter Oat Bars

I tried Kathy's recipe for her easy peanut butter oat bars and they were delicious and very easy! I will defiantly be making them again.

It is much better to make things like this homemade just because you know exactly what you put in it and it is easy! I don't see why I never did this before. I guess I never knew how easy it really is. :)

I wrapped them in press & seal for easy grab and go.

My kitty had to get in the picture! 

Chia Seed Pudding!

A delicious pudding high in omega-3s.
I am trying to replace my boxed cereal with this pudding, it's been easy so far since its amazing!! Keeps me full longer then boxed cereal too.

Chia Seed Pudding Recipe:

Serves 1

3 tablespoons of chia seeds

2/3 cup of almond milk (or any non dairy milk)

1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup

1 dash of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Fresh fruit

and if you want chocolate, add some non dairy cocoa powder!

I always have to make this every other night and triple the recipe, it goes fast around here. 

1) In a bowl add the chia seeds, milk, and maple syrup, stir until all mixed together. Cover and put in fridge over night or until thickens, usually about 5 hours.

2) When thickened add the cinnamon and vanilla, stir. 

3) Put your fresh fruit on top and enjoy!

Some fun with the blueberries !

Healthy Vegan Nachos!

 This is the stuff that helps so much when you're having those unhealthy cravings of something gooey and delicious. A healthy alternative to nachos. mmm! 

Nacho Recipe:

Serves 2

1 can of refried beans - I use Amy's

1 red bell pepper - diced

1 jalapeno pepper - diced no seeds (unless you like the spice)

2 tomatoes - diced

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons cornstarch (non GMO)

1 tablespoon ketchup 

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 avocado

1/2 a lime

4 handfuls of tortilla chips (non GMO)

1) In a medium sauce pan heat a tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat. Add peppers and cook till tender. When peppers are tender add tomatoes and refried beans.

2) While the peppers are cooking, put avocado in a bowl and mash with spoon, add lime and mix. 

3) In a small sauce pan add 1/2 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, mix. Add the 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast and stir for about 2 minutes or until thickens. Add your ketchup, garlic powder, and salt. Stir. I added a little more water at the end so it wasn't thick.

4) Assemble with chips on the bottom, refried beans, "cheese" sauce, and then guacamole. 

The Real Breakfast of Champions!

My mom always had a problem with finding something to eat for breakfast and would always want left overs from the other night. So this breakfast is great for her and she loves it.

Very Veggie Breakfast recipe:
Serves 3-4

4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 head of broccoli - cut bite sized
1 bunch of asparagus - cut bite sized
1 red bell pepper - diced
1/2 onion - diced
6 button mushrooms - sliced
1 bok choy - dice the bottom and save leafy green
4 handfuls of spinach
half an inch of fresh ginger - minced
8 small potatoes - cut

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, oil a baking sheet and add the broccoli and asparagus. Oil the top of the broccoli and asparagus. (We use a oil spray bottle) Bake in oven for about 20 minutes.

2) While your waiting for your oven to preheat you can boil water for your potatoes. Put potatoes in and cook for 15 minutes. Potatoes are ready when fork can go through smoothly.

3) Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium heat. Add your mushrooms, pepper, onion, and the bottom of the bok choy. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Add greens of bok choy, spinach, and ginger in at the very end. Stir.

4) When your potatoes are ready, heat a pan with 2 tablespoons of oil to medium heat. Cook the potatoes until crispy on both sides. Season with salt and I love them with some onion powder!

5) Season everything with a little salt! Enjoy.

Vegan Cranberry Crumble Pie!

My favorite pie recipe! 

Cranberry Crumble Pie Recipe:

Inside pie-

1 pound of fresh cranberries
1 & 1/2 cups of sugar (less if you like it more tart, more if you want it more sweet)
1/4 cup of unbleached flour

Topping-

1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of pecans
1/4 cup of unbleached flour
1 tablespoon of earth balance butter

Pie crust-

I love this crust recipe

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Flour your pie crust so it doesn't stick and don't forget to bake your crust before you add the filling for about 9 minutes!

2) Put the cranberries into a food processor until smashed. Move cranberries to a large bowl and stir in sugar and 1/4 cup of flour. Pour the filling into pie crust.

3) Smash pecans into small pieces. Stir in the packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup of flour, and butter with the pecans. The mixture should be crumbly, if not add a little more butter till it becomes crumbly. Sprinkle over pie.

4) Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

5) Enjoy!

Simple Vegetable Stir Fry

Perfect dish for a Friday! Quick and easy. Took me under an hour to make, take a picture, and eat!

Vegetable Stir Fry Recipe:
Serves 2-4

3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of salt
3 portabella mushrooms - cut bite size
1 onion - diced
1 red bell pepper - diced
2 cups of broccoli - cut bite size
3 yellow squash - cut bite size
2 cloves of garlic - minced
2 cup of cooked brown rice
soy sauce to taste (I did 2 tablespoons)
teriyaki sauce to taste (I did 1 teaspoon)


 1) Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a different smaller pan

 2) Add your bell pepper, broccoli, squash to the larger pan and the mushroom and onion to the smaller pan

 3) Cook for about 20 minutes on medium heat, mixing occasionally (or how tender you like your vegetables)

4) Add salt and garlic to your broccoli mixture, cook for 2 minutes

5) Add soy sauce and teriyaki sauce to the broccoli mixture, mix immediately

6) Put brown rice in a big serving bowl, then broccoli mixture, then mushrooms on top!

7) I usually put a little more soy sauce over that, then serve!

Vegan Protein Packed Lentil Tacos!

We used this Lentil Taco Recipe and this Taco Seasoning Recipe

We made a few changes to the recipe. We used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and didn't put the salsa in, just put fresh tomatoes on top.
With those changes we absolutely love this recipe! It's our go to quick and easy lunch or dinner.
Use corn taco shells for GF!

In one cup of cooked lentils there is 16.44g of protein!

 Also I love this lentil recipe over a salad. Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, and hemp seeds.
Or you can use it for a taco dip! :)

Vegan Soft Ginger Cookies!

First off, I'm Felicia, my Mom and I decided to share our recipes, our experiences, and reviews on other recipes. 

My Mom (Vonda), Dad (Bob), boyfriend Ed, and I decided to start eating healthier back in December 2011. We switched totally to organic foods, including meat. My Uncle Greg sent us a movie, Forks Over Knives; it opened our eyes to what the food industry is really doing to our health, the environment, and the animals. Reality. 

Lets move on to our first recipe! 

Something perfect for the holidays. When we went vegan we thought we could never have these cookies again and I was so upset. Then we researched how to bake without eggs, milk, and  butter. EASY! :D

Soft Ginger Cookies Recipe:

- all ingredients are organic. GO ORGANIC! :)

Yields 24 cookies

2 1/4 cups of unbleached flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup earth balance butter

1 cup sugar

flaxseed egg replacer (down below)

1 tablespoon water

1/4 cup molasses

1 tablespoons sugar

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2) First, make your egg replacer. Add 1 tablespoon of fine ground flaxseeds with 3 tablespoons of water.

Mix till thick and gelatinous.

 3) In a medium bowl sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.

4) In a large bowl, cream together butter and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flaxseed mixture and cream together. 

5) Stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture.

6) Shape dough into walnut sized balls, roll them into the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly. 

7) Bake for 8-10 minutes in preheated oven. Wait 5 minutes then put them on a wire rack till cooled.

8) ENJOY!