Vegan Chocolate Chipper Cookies

I LOVE chocolate chip cookies...I always have, but I don't eat pre-made, processed, conventional ones anymore because of some food allergies and personal ingredient choices. 

After experimenting with many cookie recipes over the last 8-9 years, I feel that this is the best at-home, veganized one so far.

I think that these really tatse like warm, yummy chocolate chip cookies and not like a bad, sad reproduction!

Let me know what you think...

Vegan Chocolate Chipper Cookies

½ cup vegan butter substitute, like Earth Balance

¾ cup organic sugar of choice

2-3 teaspoons of vanilla extract

3 (or more) tablespoons of water

2 cups whole grain flour

½ cup finely ground walnuts

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ to ½ cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to ◦350

In a large bowl, blend the butter substitute, sugar, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of water until well mixed.

Stir in the flour, ground walnuts, baking powder and salt. Keep stirring until it forms together like dough. If it is too dry and crumbly add more water one tablespoon at a time, just until a small piece of the dough will hold together when formed into a little ball.

Form small dough balls and press onto an ungreased cookie sheet. When pressed, cookies should be about ¼” thick.

Bake for about 15 minutes and check. They should hold together but be sure the bottoms are not burning. My batch took a bit longer and I checked them about every 2 minutes.

Let them cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

Apple Pie (Green) Smoothie - Recipe

So, it's fall in New England and I have been craving apples!

Tonight I wanted something simple...something that had greens but wasn't a salad. I was also thinking about apples. I went online to look up apple smoothie recipes for inspiration and ended up creating this one.

It was yummy. So yummy that I drank almost all of it before I could take a picture!

I liked it just the way it was...room temperature and creamy but my husband and son said they would prefer it cold. So they put theirs in the fridge.

Let me know what you think.

Apple Pie "Green" Smoothie

2 apples, rough chopped (I used red apples)
4 pitted, soft dates

1 cup rice milk, vanilla or plain

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

a pinch of sea salt

2-3 tablespoons agave syrup

1 tablespoon Lecithin (optional)

3 generous sprinkles of "apple pie spice"

1/2 of a peeled cucumber, rough chopped

1 extra large hand full of romaine

Blend it all in a high speed blender (I use a K-tec) and enjoy!

* it made two large glass fulls!

Vegan Spinach Dip - Recipe

At Last!

I have always loved creamy, gooey, rich spinach dip.

We used to make it for parties and it was always such a treat.

After giving up most dairy, I just sort of forgot about it but today I decided to create a vegan version of our beloved dip. I was inspired by some vegan recipe books I have been reading to expand our food repertoire. They all have some type of creamy spinach dip...sometimes with stuff added like artichoke hearts.

Some are cold...some are hot.

Below is what we did...just try it and see if you can tell that there is no dairy or eggs!

Simple and Safe Vegan Spinach Dip

1 box or bag of frozen spinach, thawed, with the water squeezed out

1 container of vegan sour cream (12 oz.)

1/3 cup vegan mayonnaise (you can add a little more if you want it creamier)

1 can drained and chopped water chestnuts

1 package of dried vegetable mix

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl making sure to break up the clumps of squeezed spinach.

Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours or so (if you can wait to dive in) to bring out the flavors.

We have used this as a dip with veggies and chips or you can use it to stuff tomatoes or olives.

Serve it in a pretty bowl, a martini glass or a scooped out loaf of bread.

Non-Dairy Premade Chocolate Syrup - AH!LASKA

So creamy and good!

This non-dairy chocolate syrup tastes great over our raw, vegan (non) ice cream as a special treat.

We found it at our local health food store.

Dairy Free

Gluten Free

Kosher

Natural or Organic Ingredients

Vegan

Wheat Free

Click here to visit the website for Ah Laska

Wheat and Gluten Free Bread and Bagel Mix - Pamela's

My son was a bagel freak!

So you can imagine his distress when he found out about his allergies to wheat and eggs.

We gave them up for a while but then found this mix...note the word "bagels" on the front!!

Yea!

They didn't come out pretty but they actually tasted really good...just like real bagels.

(Especially when they were crispy and toasted.)

Wheat and Gluten Free Pancake Mix - Pamela's

This is our favorite pancake mix...mmmmm

So simple to make and totally yummy!

We use an egg replacer and rice milk so they work within our allergy guidelines.

Click here to see my post for the Egg Replacer we use

Sometimes we use the pig griddle just for fun!

Gluten, Dairy and Egg Free Premade Cookies - Lucy's

A yummy find...

My son and I have many food allergies but were thrilled to find cookies that actually taste good and that fit within our dietary guidelines.

This company has other flavors but these are our favorites.

Wonderful dunked in rice milk...

Give them a try!

Vegan Caesar Dressing - Recipe

We visit a veg cafe (Native Foods in Palm Desert, CA) while visiting my parents and one time they had this recipe in their newsletter menu.

We tried it and LOVED it!!

Thought I would pass it along.

Click here to visit the Native Foods website

Let me know what you think...

Enjoy!

Creative Vegetable Party Display - Tip

This is a variation on a simple way to serve veggies and dip for your next party.

I use a large oval, glass baking dish as my base container. This time I lined the bottom of the baking dish with a coordinating, colorful napkin. You could also leave the dish exposed and fill it with streamers, holiday ornaments, glitter, tissue paper...the options are endless.

Then I find glasses in a variety of heights and widths. I have bought a few individual glasses at the dollar store to supplement what I already have.

I like to cut the veggies long and ragged and have them be sort of organic in shape as opposed to symmetrical.

You can fill tall glasses with long carrots, celery and even bread sticks. Medium glasses are great for bell peppers sliced lengthwise and strips of jicama. Short glasses work well for shorter cut veggies and olives. Specialty glasses like Martini and Margarita are perfect for dips, sliced cucumbers and marinated items.

I think it makes a pretty presentation and I like how little of the landscape the whole collection takes up. When entertaining, sometimes space can be tight.

Creative Cupcake Frosting - Tip

I learned this tip...no pun intended...a long time ago and it has been very useful.

If you don't have fancy frosting tools and tips or if you simply don't want to get them all out and have to clean them you can try this simple trick.

Take a sandwich size ziptop baggie and snip a tiny triangle off of one of the bottom corners. Be sure the bottom is flat and that it doesn't have a gusset. I have made that mistake before and ended up with two streams of frosting! aghh!

This part takes a little finesse...while loosely holding the cut bag end in one hand, with a spoon, neatly scoop a bunch of frosting into the baggie through the open end. Then seal the top and carefully twist the top section of the baggie to force the frosting down towards the cut tip.

That's it. Instant frosting tool.

Not fancy and a little more homemade looking but still tasty!

I think the frosting is the BEST part of the cupcake anyway.

Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce - Recipe

I have NEVER liked bell peppers!

I don't like the way they taste or smell.

In fact, it is sort of a standard statement from me when ordering in a restaurant ..."no onions or peppers, please"...just automatically.

So you can imagine my utter surprise when I fell completely in love with a recipe that has peppers as one of it's main ingredients!

Shocking.

I actually like it so much I took a break halfway through writing this blog post to go whip up a batch...
can you say compulsive? It was worth it.

I stumbled upon the recipe online and it intrigued me because I haven't been able to eat dairy products for a while due to food allergies.

It is called "Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce" and you would NEVER, EVER know that it has no dairy and is actually a raw-vegan recipe.

We dipped chips in it, poured it over rice and my son had it with chicken...at different meals. He actually packed it in his lunch himself!

Click the link below to see a short video on how easy it is to make this and to get the recipe...

Click Here for Kristen's Raw Chezzy Hemp Nacho Dip Recipe

The wonderful creator of this recipe is Kristen Suzanne, a Raw vegan chef, author and teacher. You can visit her website for more information. http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/

Check out her books too...amazing, live, healthy, positive ideas!

Enjoy!

And please let me know what you think about this...

Palm Greens Cafe - Restaurant

A great find on one of our trips to visit my parents.

When we travel, I always google the area for new healthy restaurants and cafes...places we can eat with our personal food choices and multiple food allergies.

I have spent many, many years in Palm Desert and Palm Springs but this was a new find for me.

Lunch at The Palm Greens Cafe was such a treat that we went back two days later for dinner!

There were many organic/vegan/vegetarian/gluten and dairy free options...from stir-frys to wraps to blueberry pancakes. I was even able to have have pizza! The best part was an amazing vegan ranch dressing that would fool anyone.

If you are ever in the area...I highly recommend it. It is a small unassuming place and the food was really good.

Palm Greens Cafe

A Natural Alternative

611 South Palm Canyon Drive, #6

Palm Springs, California

760-864-9900

www.palmgreenscafe.com

Righteously Raw Chololate Bars

I choose not to partake in conventional dessert...loaded with fat, dairy, refined sugars, bad oils, etc...but I do enjoy raw, live treats, made with real food.

A raw foods chef and teacher (Kristen Suzanne) turned me on to these beautiful raw chocolate bars and I wanted to pass along the gift.

I tried the Righteously Raw Caramel...which I LOVED

and the Righteously Raw Maca...which I really liked

I found them at Whole Foods and a local natural foods market while visiting my parents in Palm Desert, CA.

I visited their website and was really inspired by their mission and story. Check it out...

Enjoy!

http://www.earthsourceorganics.com/index.php

Carrot (Pulp) Cake - Recipe

We love to juice!

Anyone that has juiced carrots knows that you end up with a humongous amount of pulp/fiber.

We didn't want to through away it's goodness so I hunted for some easy recipes to utilize it.
I found one for a raw carrot cake type thing...it was amazing!

A bit more like pumpkin pie and completely decadent.

Throw all ingredients in a food processor and press in a pan.

See the link below for the forum that had the recipe we use.

After a bit in the fridge...

this is what you end up with!

Yes, that is raw carrot pulp!

http://goneraw.com/forum/carrot-pulp

(Forum post #1 by sunshineandstars )

We added a vegan (un) cream cheese frosting...recipe also found online.

Enjoy!

Dairy-Free Cheddar Cheeze Dip - Recipe

So I will start by saying that I am truly sorry that I can't give credit where credit is due. I found this recipe somewhere and for the life of me can't remember where. I searched online and didn't come up with anything. If this is yours, please let me know.

With that said, this is one of my favorite raw recipes!!!!

It is so thick, creamy and cheesy

super easy to make

non-dairy, raw, vegan...

Amazing!

We use it as a dip, a spread, a topping...whatever.

When I bring it to parties I am ALWAYS asked for the recipe and the funny thing is, I don't even like red bell peppers! I think it is a texture thing for me. When they are all mashed up in something like this, I don't mind the taste.

I have tried substituting other nuts but it wasn't the same.

Let me know what you think.

Cheddar Cheeze Dip

1/2 large red bell pepper

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup raw cashews

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1 tablespoon tahini

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Blend all ingredients  in a high speed blender until smooth and creamy.

Dip and enjoy!

....mmmmmm

Juice Recipe - Valentine's Fruit Punch

A happy accident...

Last Valentine's Day Steve whipped up this random juice.

We simply used what felt good and what we had in the fridge.

The result tasted like sweet fruit punch and was very pretty.

The perfect color for Valentine's Day.

This recipe makes a lot...

about 4 large glasses to share!

Valentine's Fruit Punch

1-2 heads of romaine lettuce

1 lemon

3 red beets

5 or 6 apples

1 pear

1 inch of ginger

half a cabbage (we used napa)

half a cantaloupe

wash well and then run all through a juicer...

Pour and enjoy!

Let me know what you think.

Sun Butter Cups - Recipe

OMG!

These were so good!

I waited to post this recipe until I had made it a few times...

thinking it was a fluke that they tasted so good.

No way could these be "safe" for us.

They were actually better each time!

This is our altered recipe, due to our food allergies.

Try it...see what you think.

They are super easy and can be ready for a party or special event in a short amount of time.

We have plans to try different fillings...

Raw caramel? Mint? Berries?

Sun Butter Cups

This recipe looks long but it is so easy!

Once you do it once you might not even need to look at this again.

1 to 1 1/2 cups of sunflower seed butter

1/3 cup organic powdered sugar

2 to 2 1/2 cups vegan chocolate chips

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

10-14 paper or tin muffin cups

Melt about 1 1/4 cups of the vegan chocolate chips...90 seconds - 2 minutes on half power in the microwave or use a pot on the stove top. Stir. Be sure not to burn the chocolate.

Using the back of a spoon, press a thin layer of chocolate into the muffin cups... along the bottom and into the groves of the sides, stopping about half way up. If you want taller cups bring the chocolate higher up the sides. We preferred a thinner layer of chocolate to a thick one.

Don't expect them to be "perfect"...have fun, get messy.

They will taste good and some of the rouge chocolate will break away later, when you remove the muffin cups.

I placed my muffin cups on a cookie sheet or platter for easy transport in and out of the freezer or fridge.

Place the chocolate muffin cups into the freezer or fridge to harden.

In a bowl mix the sunflower seed butter and salt.

Fold in the the powdered sugar, breaking up the clumps as you go.

Make sure the chocolate cups have hardened. If they have, move on to the next step...

Warm the sun butter filling in a pot on the stove or in the microwave for about a minute. Let the filling sit for a minute.

Spoon the sun butter filling into the hardened chocolate cups, leaving room for the top layer of chocolate.

Place the filled cups back into the freezer or fridge while you prepare the rest of the melted chocolate.

Repeat what you did in step 1...melting the remaining chocolate.

Spoon the melted chocolate over the filled cups, gently working the melted chocolate into all edges.

Place the completed cups back in the freezer or fridge and wait (if you can) for them to set and harden.

Once set, peel the muffin cups off and enjoy!

After, I stored mine in the refrigerator and they kept for several days.

We couldn't tell for exactly how long because everyone ate them!

Dairy Free, Homemade, Raw Ice Cream Tip

After giving up conventional desserts about 8 years ago

and then discovering an allergy to dairy products,

I just figured my ice cream days were over.

Then I discovered raw ice cream! Yea!

By adding a few extra natural ingredients,

you can turn almost any smoothie

into creamy, delicious, decadent raw ice cream.

The best thing would be to google “raw ice cream recipes” for specifics

but most of them simply add coconut oil, young coconut meat and sometimes nuts

to a fruit smoothie type thing.

Throw it all in the blender and blend till smooth.

Then you chill it in a bowl in the fridge.

Later you can add things like vegan chocolate chips, fruit or chopped nuts.

An ice cream maker isn’t imperative

but it does help with the consistency when freezing.

I picked up an “out of the box” Cuisinart model for about $30

at a national bed and bath store.

I just load the chilled mix into the frozen bowl,

turn on and wait about 30 minutes.

Just think, in the time it takes to clean up the kitchen after dinner,

you could have a custom blended, healthy raw treat

that you feel good about putting in yourself and your family!

I store the bowl from the ice cream maker in the freezer
so that it is always ready to go!
If you put it in a plastic bag
it won't get frostbite.

Spreading the Word!

New calling cards are on the way...Yea!

I am so excited to be able to share what we have learned.

Posting on a blog will be much easier than responding to individual recipe requests via email!

Having everything in one place where people can visit, at their convenience, is a wonderful thing.

My wish is that this blog helps others to not feel so helpless when it comes to food issues.

I also hope that we enable people to feel empowered and grateful for the abundance they have.

Juice Recipe - Tropical Sunrise

.....mmmmm

Steve whipped this refreshing juice up one morning

just pulling from what we had in the house

The color was amazing...it almost glowed!

One sip and I was transported to a sandy beach on a lush island...

all that was missing was a fancy glass and an umbrella.

It was sweet and  tropical...

it sort of had a Pina Colada flavor.

I have an allergy to pineapple, so discovering a tropical flavor like this (without pineapple) was a treat for me.

Tropical Sunrise Juice

6 Carrots

2 Apples

1 Pear

1/2  Cantaloupe

1/8 Watermelon

1 inch of fresh ginger

Run all the goodies through a juicer.

Pour and enjoy!

Let me know what you think!