Brownie Bites

Finding healthy snacks in the stores seems to be close to impossible, unless of course all I want to eat is fruit and veggies.  Which don’t get me wrong that’s the best food ever, but let’s face it I have a sweet tooth and a craving for chocolate now and then, okay more like all the time.  So I need a treat that is healthy, gluten free and tasty.  Not hard if you are in control of the ingredients right?  Right!

What You’ll Need:

1 ½ cups of peanuts (or whatever type of nut you prefer)

Pinch of sea salt

13-15 dates, pitted

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

What You’ll Do:

Put nuts and salt in food processor, process until finely ground.

Add remaining ingredients and process until all mixed.

Remove brownies from the food processor and press into a square shape.  Cut into small bite sizes, enjoy or put in fridge to harden and enjoy later.

Kale Chips

We have so much Kale in our garden and are having fun trying out new recipes with it.  So what do with all that Kale?  Make Kale chips, of course!

What You’ll Need:

A bunch of kale, washed and thoroughly dried

1 -2 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt, for sprinkling

Nutritional yeast, for sprinkling (optional but good)

What You’ll Do:

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

Tear the kale from the ribs in to pieces.  In a large bowl drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Toss thoroughly.  Lay kale on a baking sheet and bake until crisp, turning the leaves halfway through, about 20 minutes. 

Serve as finger food.

Cinnamon Coconut Milk Yogurt Fruit Dip

I use to make this recipe with cow’s milk yogurt, but haven’t made it in a long time.  Until, that is, our most recent summer visit to Connecticut.  My sister needed something to bring for ‘snack day’ at work.  I gave her a few options, and wouldn’t you know… she loved the sound of everything.  So I chose my old favorite and it was settled.  I was in the kitchen for the rest of the evening preparing snack for tomorrow’s ‘snack day’. Oh don’t feel bad - we all know the kitchen is my favorite room to be in!

The Results? When she came home from work the next evening, she was so excited to tell me how much people loved the snacks.  Especially the fruit dip she brought! I was beaming as she told me how they ate every last bit.  They even resorted to dunking the brownies in the dip when the fruit was all gone! Not a bad idea actually.   

Anyhow, I was so thrilled about my sister’s reviews, that I decided to make it again for an upcoming family BBQ.  Only this time, I ‘veganized’ it by using the coconut yogurt.   The results? Well, when I went to pick up my plates at the end of the day – there was nothing left.  That’s a great sign! 

 

Now I really don’t believe we need to add sweeteners to fruit - it’s already so sweet and delicious by itself!  But sometimes, I like to change things up a bit and make them even more special.  Well, this is the dip that does it!  Enjoy. 

What you need:

1 cup of coconut milk yogurt

2 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Lots of fresh fruit

Mix ingredients well and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Serve with lots of fresh fruit.
 
*If you can’t find coconut milk yogurt you can substitute with soy yogurt.

**If you are interested in making a simple homemade raw vegan coconut yogurt, here is a link from a newly discovered favourite blog that’ll tell you how.

 
http://www.choosingraw.com/greek-yogurt-raw-vegan-style/

Salad Rolls

Salad Rolls are a healthy alternative to spring rolls. They make a great appetizer, snack or the perfect lunch. I made these this weekend and they turned out just great. Quick and easy with so much flavor. What more could you ask for?

The great thing about salad rolls is really you can add any veggies (or even fruit) that you like. So what are you waiting for? Get moving and make some salad rolls!

What You’ll Need:

1 package of baked tofu (I liked the teriyaki one)
1 cucumber, remove the seeds and cut into thin strips
2-3 medium carrot, shredded
1 mango, cut into thin strips
Salad greens
Large round rice paper wrappers
Dipping Sauces of choice (I like the Sweet Chili sauce and Plum sauce) or better yet stay tuned for our peanut sauce

What You’ll Do:

Soften 1 rice paper wrapper by immersing in warm water until soft (about 10-20 sec), carefully remove and place flat on a large plate or cutting board. Be careful not to let the paper fold on itself when removing the wrapper from the water.

Place veggies in the middle of the wrapper, making sure not to add too much. Roll rice paper as you would a burritos, tucking in the sides, it should stick to itself easily. Repeat for the remaining wrappers.

Cut in half and serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Vegan Banana Bread

I haven’t had banana bread in years. It’s just not one of those things I ever think about making. But, I had a few over ripe bananas and my freezer was already well stocked with frozen bananas…. so I figured -why not?

All of my old recipes called for milk and eggs, so I made a few modifications and came up with a new version that is just as tasty. This version still had to go through the same old trusted and true taste test procedures though, my kids! I called my ‘taste testers’ to the kitchen to report for duty. Two thumbs up!

What you’ll need:

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed bananas (2-3 bananas)
1/2 cup vegetable Oil
Ener-G, 5 tablespoon water + 3 1/2 teaspoon powder)
1/3 – 1/2 cup vegan-buttermilk - combine 1/2 cup soymilk with 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar.
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

What you’ll do:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Mix bananas, oil, and buttermilk in a medium mixing bowl.
Combine the banana mixture with the large bowl containing dry ingredients, and stir well. Add the Ener-G Egg Replacer, and stir well again. If using walnuts add them now.
Pour into a greased 9x5 inch bread pan.
Bake in 325 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a knife in the middle comes out clean.

Variation: Add chocolate chips for a banana chocolate chip treat.

Popcorn

Yay! It’s movie night at our house! There is nothings better then curling up on the couch with your family to watch a movie and enjoy a nice warm bowl of homemade popcorn. You agree, right? I’m not talking about putting a bag in the microwave and letting radiation cook my food, no way. I’m talking about good old fashion pan popcorn. I know, I know…. you don’t have time for that. My goodness, haven’t you learned anything from us? This is quick and easy. It takes just as long as the microwave does, minus the radiation, unnecessary food coloring, and TBHQ….yeah, I didn’t know what that was either. All the more reason not to eat it. Here’s a rule to eat by: Can’t pronounce it, don’t know what it is? Don’t ingest it. Period.

For now though, let’s appreciate this yummy (and much less scary) popcorn.

What you’ll need:

3 Tbs olive oil
1/3 cup corn kernels
2 Tbs butter substitute, melted
Salt

Put olive oil and some salt in pan and let it heat up on medium high. To make sure oil is heated enough, throw a few kernels in and wait for them to pop, then, add the rest and cover with the lid slightly ajar and wait and listen. Soon you’ll hear pop, pop, pop and you’re almost done. To avoid burning your pan, be sure to shake it during the whole process. When the popping slows down to one or two pops a second remove from heat and pour into a large bowl. While stirring pour butter substitute over popcorn, don’t forget to add the salt to taste.

Simple right? Really now, what did you expect from us?

Want a cheesy flavored popcorn? Well, here’s a way to change up this recipe and add some Vitamin B at the same time. After the final step, add some nutritional yeast to your popcorn and there you go! Now you can feel good about the movie snacks you choose to give your family, I know I do.

Bananas in a Blanket

My son helped create this tasty snack, which can be enjoyed anytime of the day. Who doesn't love peanut butter and bananas? This is the classic scrumpious combination with a twist.

Ingredients:

1 tortilla
1 banana
1-2 Tbs creamy peanut butter
1 -2 Tbs whole grain nugget cereal
1-2 Tbs maple syrup, honey, or agave

Spread the peanut butter on the tortilla. Sprinkle with nugget cereal. Then place the peeled banana on tortilla. Roll banana in the tortilla. Drizzle with maple syrup, honey or agave. You can even garnish with extra nuggets. YUMMY!!