Vegan MoFo Day 3: Restaurant Review: Acorn

When I first heard about Acorn opening up in Vancouver I was super excited. There are not many vegetarian fine dining restaurants in Vancouver so whenever something a little nicer than the Naam opens up I'm super excited. It's great to have a nicer spot for a celebration dinner or a date perhaps. 

Acorn has vegetarian, vegan, raw, and gluten free dishes! BOOM. Speaking my language. They mark every item on the menu with codes to indicate if there are vegan, raw or gluten free options but all are vegetarian. Whenever I go to a restaurant where I can eat everything or almost everything on the menu its super hard to choose. LOL It's like Christmas!  Thankfully I went with 3 girlfriends, one of whom is vegan and 2 that are semi-vegetarian. So we all agreed to order different items and share. MY FAVE! I love trying as many items as I can off a new menu. So here goes it:

Ladies night!

Apple

I didn't try these delicious looking balls (shocking I know) but they have cheese inside. I know I know, its VEGAN month of food, but I had to show the picture. They looked wonderful and the plating is beautiful. And the comments from my non-vegan friends were awesome. 

Artichoke

This was tasty. Kind of like a hummus but with artichokes. It does not come with enough croustini's but they will give you extra. The pate was light but flavourful. 

Beet

In terms of plating, this one is my fave! Looks SO gorgeous. I love the red and yellow contrasting colours. I love nut cheese so the addition of macadamia nut cheese is to die for, along with an odd pairing with grapefruit sorel was WONDERFUL! I loved that. I love combining ingredients that are unusual. It worked very well in this dish and the cider glaze was like icing on the cake.

Zucchini

Again, plating in this place is just fantastic! Every dish is so beautiful. The colours are vibrant and contrasting to make them pleasing to the eye. I quite enjoyed this dish as well. The sauce was a cashew rose sauce which really complimented the zucchini noodles. It was rich enough to add a lot of flavour but not so much that it overpowers everything else. I'm not a fan of olives, but not a big deal.

The special (potato salad)

I liked the use of the different types of potatoes in this dish. It also had avocado which I love. Super colourful and a nice spin on a potato salad. It wasn't homely which is what I think of potato salad. Its usually all mayo and egg but this was nothing like that. It was good but not a dish that stood out for me.

Mushroom

This was my fave entree of the night. When I saw king oyster mushrooms on the menu, it didn't even matter what else was with the dish. I LOVE oyster mushrooms and they are not utilized enough. It says spelt on the menu but mine was done with quinoa. The peppercorn sauce was SO yummy!!! I didn't waste one drop. lol It was powerful and complimented everything else. Freaking fantastic.

Rhubarb

My first choice for dessert was obviously chocolate and peanut cuz that is one of the best combo's ever but I still wanted to try another dessert. The other vegan option was the rhubarb so my friend Marina and I shared both. And to my surprise, the rhubarb was my fave. I didn't even think I liked rhubarb but apparently I do. The sorbet and rhubarb combo was so satisfying. The tartness of the sorbet went amazingly well with the rhubarb. I ate it all. lol

Peanut

This was obviously good but not awesome. Basically anything with chocolate is good. It gets me every time. Its hard to complain when ur eating chocolate. But it was not what I was expecting. It was a little hard and not as flavourful as I expected. Kind of light in terms of both chocolate and peanut. The coconut whip was delish though. But the dessert itself was kinda just average. 

So overall I liked Acorn a lot. The food is REALLY good. Like I said, if you have a celebration or need to take a date somewhere a little nicer that a burrito joint than here it is. But don't think you're going to get great service. That is my one complaint. Service was crappy. I almost wanted to strangle the bartender. He was not nice. Not friendly at all. The server was a little better but still attitude was really lacking there all around. As long as ur ok with some average at best service but some good food then you'll be fine. 

Oh yah, no reservations which is kinda typical these days in Vancouver but also, they won't seat you till your whole party arrives. I think that is total BS. Its one of those places. 

Peace

xoxo

K

Product review: Zimt Artisan Chocolates

A few weeks ago, Ethical Deal had a daily deal for Zimt Artisan Chocolates.  Zimt chocolate is raw, vegan and fair trade gourmet chocolate that will make your heart melt and your taste buds sing. I honestly can't remember any chocolate I've had that tastes as amazing as Zimt.  Its not your average chocolate. Its gourmet. :)

Its a raw product and is sweetened with coconut nectar. The only thing in there is cocoa and coconut. There is no refined sugars, no fillers, just amazingness. Even the packaging is ethical. Its biodegradable, organic and eco-friendly. Its truly a product that you can feel good about buying and that makes you feel on top of the world!!!! If you have a chocolate fetish like I do then you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

With the deal, I got 3 bars. Chocolate coconut crisp, salt of the earth and sugar and spice. All amazing! But I'd have to say that the chocolate coconut crisp is my fave. And although I really loved the salt of the earth, its not crazy salty or anything, it was my least fave. Just a personal preference thing though. I just don't do salty chocolate. I know some peeps who love it. And believe me, I did not waste it by any means. I ate the ish outta these bars.

I chose to pick up the bars at my FAVE vegan bakery Fairy Cakes on Fraser. So of course I had to grab a couple goodies. One of them had a cookie baked INSIDE!!! How she does it, I don't know but I feel like its magic. 

Gluten free cookies

Chocolate w/ Pina colada and Vanilla w/ cherry and a cookie

These cupcakes were also gluten free. They have just regular vegan ones too but I opted for gluten free........this time. lol I didn't eat lunch this day. Just cupcakes and cookies. Perfection if you ask me. LOL I haven't had such a sugar rush in ages, but man was it ever worth it. I just wish they were closer so I could get them more often.

MAGIC!!!

check Zimt's site for a list of places that carry them. You can get them at most Whole Foods except for Robson. That location is the worst. Its my go-to but they are always outta stuff or don't carry products I love like tempeh bacon. LOL and these bars. BUT I know that the Loving Hut Express food truck just started carrying these bars so now when I get my amazing burger I can get my amazing chocolate bars. BOOM

Peace

xoxo

K

Raw Banana Coconut Cream Pie

OMG! I made my first RAW dessert! Raw desserts I think are my new fave. Because...wait for it..............you don't have to bake them!! lol I'm not a very skilled baker. But I'm def getting better at it. Anyways, I recently had some raw desserts from Gorilla Food, some pie in fact. SUPER yummy! I cannot wait to make one with avocado. I wanted to this time, but alas, I made guac and ate it all. lol One of my favorite ingredients to cook with is coconut. I have an addiction to it. Any recipe that says coconut milk catches my attention and owns my heart. It makes food so yummy!

So I looked around at various raw recipes to get the lay of the land. I had an idea about the crust already from eating similar desserts. And then came up with this:

PS I used all raw ingredients, but if you don't have them, roasted will do just fine.

Raw Banana Coconut Cream Pie

Ingredients

Pie Crust

1/2 cup almonds

1 tbsp ground flax seeds

1/2 cup shredded coconut

3 tbsp agave nectar

1 tbsp grapeseed oil

Filling

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1 tbsp grapeseed oil

2 tbsp agave nectar

1 tbsp lime juice

1 banana

Directions:

Pie Crust: Add almonds to a food processor and processor for 30 seconds. Add remaining ingredients and process until well combined and chopped very small, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Press in a pie plate or like I used a loaf pan. This recipe didn't make a lot, thank god, cuz I ate it all. lol So double it to fill a pie plate. Place in the freezer while you make the filling.

Filling: Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. Use a little coconut milk/water if needed. I found that I didn't need to. If doubling the crust, double the filling, duh. ;)

Remove crust from freezer and pour the filling mixture over top. Spread lightly so it covers the crust evenly. Put back in the freezer for 2-3 hours before serving. I couldn't wait and ate it after 1 hour. It was goooooooooooood. :)

This is just one tiny piece but dayum! So yummy! I will def make this again. In an actual pie plate. Maybe I'll do that when I have company so I dont' eat it all myself......nah that's just crazy talk.

I also went to Gourmet Warehouse again and got a few goodies that I'm loving! I juice about 2 lemons or limes a day so I'm not sure why I never got a citrus juicer before. But I am digging it!

Action shot!

It makes it like crazy easy for me to juice my lemon for the morning, to add to smoothies, and to add to my cooking. :) Pick one up and make ur life easier. lol

Peace

xoxo

K



Gluten free peanut butter cups

I can't get enough nuts! Lol I know how that sounds, and I intended it to sound that way. But it could not be more true. I love nuts! Love em with my whole heart. I especially love nut butters. Almond is da bomb but peanut butter is numba one. Tried and true. I of course get all natural peanut butter. No added salt or sugar or the 100 other ingredients that's in crappy peanut butter. If you live in Vancouver, and particularly in the West End, the Safeway at Denman and Robson has a nut bar. You can make your own nut butters. The freshly made organic, almond butter with no salt is AMAZEBALLS!!! Like woah. I have never tasted almond butter like this before. But its hella expensive. I've only gotten it once because it was pretty pricey. So get a small container if you decide to try it. But its seriously deeeelish!

Back to the task at hand, protein peanut butter cups with coconut. I picked a jar of coconut manna last week and have been dying to try it out in a dessert recipe. I used it to saute my Thai Fried rice leftovers which was yumtastic. I like that the coconut manna is Whole Organic Coconut. Not just the oil. Which I'm sure I'll try sooner or later but this is a cool product.

WARNING!! These are addictive and will give you feelings of euphoria and intense pleasure. Consume at your own risk.

Protein peanut butter cups with coconut

Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut manna

1 cup peanut butter

2 tsp vega (or protein powder of your choice)

1 tsp stevia

1 tsp agave nectar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup hemp seeds

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 160ml low fat coconut milk

Directions:

Melt the coconut manna in a small saucepan on med-low heat. Once melted add the peanut butter, protein powder, stevia, agave nectar, vanilla and hemp seeds. Stir until well combined. Remove from heat. In another saucepan or in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips. Once melted stir in the coconut milk.

Put 2 tbsp's of each in a muffin tin. Peanut butter mixture first, chocolate on top. Put muffin tins in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Once set use a spoon or butter knife to pop them out. Cut around the edges, but be careful. Keep them store in the freezer. Natural peanut butter is less solid then the crappy stuff.

ENJOY!!!

There could be many ways to alter this cup to your desires. I've made them before with rice crisp cereals and that's really good. But I wanted to keep this grain and gluten free. They are very rich and delish. Maybe graham cracker crumbs would be good. Or ground flax seeds. Yum

Heaven

Seriously, I'm hungry again just looking at that damn picture. LOL Although these are not low fat, sugar free or whatever. They are jammed packed with nutrition. So indulging in one (lets be honest, 2 or 3) of these puppies once in a while is OK by me! I get protein, vitamins, minerals (iron and calcium) omega's, tons of good stuff.

Coconut Manna

I very much have enjoyed this product. I wonder what else I can do with it. I have also never used any of Nutiva's products before. I'm gonna have to check them out. They must have a coconut oil. Maybe I'll try that when I decide to finally give into the current food fad. lol But try this coconut manna product. SO yummy! Its all hard inside but I just scraped it out. I think some ppl melt it in the jar. Adds such a great flavour to your foods. Maybe it would be good in a smoothie......

Happy gorgeous day in Vancouver folks!

Peace

xoxo

K

Vegan Protein Energy Balls

This week my cousin Alex has a dance workshop downtown Vancouver and they live in Coquitlam. So its been a lot of driving back and forth, so Thursday and Friday night I'm having my cousin over for some girl time. I felt like such a mom yesterday. I picked her up at dance class. We went and got groceries, then I made her lunch for the next day and prepared us dinner. LOLballs.

I thought it might be nice to have my balls in her lunch. Good fuel for her 4 hours of dance that she has to do. Plus these are SO easy to make as you DON'T have to bake them! Bonus! My kinda baking. :)

Vegan Protein Energy Balls

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups peanut butter, natural

2 cups rolled oats

1/3 cup agave nectar

1/4 cup ground flax seed

1/2 cup hemp seed

Directions

Grind half the rolled oats in a food processor for 30 seconds. Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Chill dough in the refridgerator for 30 minutes before forming into balls. You can store them in the freezer. They are really good straight from the freezer. :)

I think I made 20 with this recipe. But it really depends on how big you like your balls. I have made a couple extra ball recipes. Check them out here and here and here.  All different variations, some with chocolate and walnuts, some with VEGA powder. All easy, all delish and all good for you BUT all very addictive.

Enjoy!!!

I gotta go pick the kid up at class. LOL

Peace

xoxo

K

Thai Green Curry Soup and Baked Whole Apple Pie!!!

I was a little grumpy yesterday and totally didn't want to go to the gym or eat healthy. But I knew that was just the mood so I persevered through it, ate healthy and worked out. I didn't think I'd make it through my workout. After 2 minutes running I wanted to quit, go home, make a pizza and eat the whole thing. LOL Even after my workout, I thought I would make myself something naughty, but I came out of Safeway with a sweet potato, broccoli, bananas, and oranges. HA!! I just figured that I need to keep it clean and at the end of my journey, I will reward myself. AND on Sunday I ate A LOT of chocolate, so I should be good. I felt good about my will power. 

My next idea for something a little more naughty than usual for my meals was to have noodles. I was gonna make a stir fry and put it on top of some buckwheat noodles. Buckwheat noodles are awesome! And very Japanese. BUT I read the ingredients and they're made with wheat flour! BAH!! SOOOOO disappointed. I need to check out if they are all made this way or if there's a non-wheat version. Such BS. 

OK, time for the food. The reason you come here. Lol

Thai Green Curry Soup

Ingredients

1 head broccoli, chopped

1/2 onion, diced

1 tomato, diced

1 carrot, sliced
1 mango, diced

2-3 cups sui choy, chopped

half bunch kale, bite sized

1 160 ml low fat coconut milk

1 tsp dry veggie stock

1.5 cups water

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp green curry paste

2 tsp chili flakes

1 can black beans

Directions

1. Pan fry the onions in 1/4 cup water until translucent, about 4 minutes. 

2. Add all remaining ingredients except for the coconut milk, simmer on medium-high heat for 10 minutes. Add coconut milk and taste. Add any additional seasonings to your own taste.

3. Serve in a big bowl with rice noodles or like me, with nothing. YUMMY!!!

I also roasted the whole sweet potato with a lemon, sea salt, garlic powder and veggie seasoning. OH man was this meal satisfying. Then I went and made dessert. How I had time for all this plus a workout.....I have no idea. Lol It really didn't take much time at all to prep and make all this.

All I did was hollow out a green apple and blend together the following ingredients which I stuffed into the apple and baked for 20 minutes. Another 5-10 minutes would be a little softer, but I'm like mine a little crunchy still.

Baked Whole Apple Pie

Ingredients

2 green applles

1 cup rolled oats

2 tbsp peanut butter

2 tsp agave nectar

Directions:

1. Cut the top of the apple off, and hollow it out. 

2. In a food processor blend all the ingredients, except for the apple, until well mixed. Stuff the apples and bake for 20-25 minutes. 

3. Eat it up!!

A little cinnamon would have been good but I forgot. Another idea for next time would be to use mixed berries. Mmmmmm

Peace

xoxo

K

Protein Balls Round 3!

I had another go at the protein balls this weekend. I REALLY love making them. I don't have to bake and they're super easy. And they are amazingly delish. Addicting really. So much so that I make them continuously and I give them away so I don't eat them all to myself. LOL

K's Tasty Balls
Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups peanut butter, natural
1/2 cup hemp seeds
3 tsp flax seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 1/4 cup coconut flakes
1 scoop VEGA WHO

Directions:
1. Processed 1 cup rolled oats, sunflower and flax seeds in food processor until ground. (You can omit this step if you like them chunkier. I just wanted to experiment with the texture).
2. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Make into balls and ENJOY!!

TIP: they are good right from the freezer. I keep mine in there. They will last about a week.

Yummmmm!!! ALSO they are pretty filling too. The fat content from the nut butter and seeds does that (good fat though) and the rolled oats. SO add one (or 2) of these suckers to your breaky and you'll be good till lunch. This and a piece of fruit. YUM!

Peace

xoxo

K

3 Bean Sweet Potato Chili

Sunday's have a home cooked meal feel to them. If you have a significant other, kids, cats, dogs or whatever, you should make them a nice home cooked meal on Sunday's, its just nice. I have none of those things, lol, but whoever I'm with on Sunday's gets one. Yesterday, I was hanging out with my friend Jason and he requested chili. I did just make a big pot recently but honestly, there can never be too much chili in my world. Lol So I went out on Sunday after my run and picked up all the ingredients and made a big pot on the stove and cooked it all afternoon. I think the best way to do chili is to let it cook for hours and hours. All the flavours combine in a magical way to make a tantalizing and full bodied meal. Yum!

3 Bean Sweet Potato Chili

Ingredients

5 1/2 cups mixed beans (black, pinto, navy)

2 large tomatoes, diced

2 jalapenos, sliced

1/2 large onion (or one small)

2 sweet potatoes, chopped

2 carrots, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans diced tomatoes (no salt added)

2 cups frozen corn

2 cups water

4-5 tsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp dry veggie stock

2 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp chili flakes

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp Italiano seasoning (veggie seasoning)

Sriracha to taste

Directions:

1. Puree the cans of diced tomatoes in a blender until smooth. I did it this way this time because the tomato sauce I had at my grocery store had corn syrup and sugar in it. I bought canned diced tomatoes with no salt or anything. If you use tomato sauce, just try to get around the same quantity.

2. Pan fry the onions and garlic in 1/4 cup water until translucent. Add the carrots and celery. Cook for another 3 minutes.

3. Add the sweet potato, jalapeno, tomatoes, beans and water. Cook on med-high heat for 30 minutes.

4. Toss in the remaining ingredients except for the sriracha and cook on medium heat, stirring semi-frequently for a couple hours. I cooked mine for 4 hours as I did stuff around the apt. Add the sriracha to taste at the end. 

5. Serve with a green leafy salad and ENJOY!!

Mmmmmmmm

Topped with avocado

Side salad

A complete gluten free, vegan meal

I enjoyed this chili a lot actually. I've never made one without using tomato sauce (pasta sauce). I like it this way. Next time I'll just blend up tomatoes for the sauce instead of canned. I did the same for a pasta sauce one time so I'm not sure why I didn't think of that. But if you want it to be convenient, use canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and beans. I used dry beans this time just cause I had them already presoaked and cooked.

The side salad consisted of:

- spinach

- kale

- 1 mango

- cucumber

- sunflower seeds

- hemp seeds

- 1 lime, juiced

Toss all ingredients and serve.

Very nutritious meal. Got tons of fiber, protein, vits and mins. I was tempted to make brown rice to make it a little heartier. I always get nervous when I cook for men because I don't want them going hungry. But I don't think that was a problem at all. And I think he liked it very much, he went back for seconds. J

We also watched The Artist. Its a new movie that's silent! Yes, silent. I loved it! Thought it was beautiful and it totally didn't bother me that there was no talking. It was very old Hollywood. Without the words I payed way more attention to everything. I recommend it. Totally worth seeing. J

PS Jason picked up some vegan ricemilk chocolate!! OMG soooo good. Maybe its bc I haven't had any in weeks but I thought it was yummy. It was like milk chocolate but no dairy!! YES. Try it!

Peace

xoxo

K

More balls!!!

I had another go at making some protein balls over the weekend. They have the same basic ingredients as my first ones, which you can check out here, but I put a new twist on it. I added chocolate and walnuts and used peanut butter instead of almond. I'm crazy like that, I like to switch up my nuts. Variety is the spice of life!

Chocolate Peanut Oat Protein Balls

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cups natural peanut butter

1/3 cup agave nectar

3/4 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 scoop Original VEGA WHO

1/2 cup walnuts 

Directions:

Combine all dry ingredients and stir until evenly distributed. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until fully combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes then shape into balls. 

They will keep for a week, but I doubt you will keep them that long. Lol I sure didn't. I made about 20 but it depends on how big you like your balls. I was recently asked why I didn't make them into bars? My response was "then I can't get people to taste my balls!" LOL Its the joke that keeps on giving.

Tornado Salad

I made 2 of these salads one night after a killer workout. I didn't feel bad because it was mostly mixed greens, but I topped it with my Mexican Fried Quinoa with Lentils plus some cucumber, salsa and hemp seeds. Nutritious and filling dinner.

Homemade brown rice sushi

I threw together some poorly rolled brown rice sushi rolls. Personally I like white rice sushi the best, but I don't eat white rice very much. Sorta special occasion rice nowadays. I had limited sushi ingredients so I used cucumber, avocado, mixed greens, veganaise and chili flakes. Super yummy, although next time I'd opt out of the veganaise. It was good but unnecessary. 

Have you joined Pinterest? I just joined this week and am fully addicted. Its a cool way to organize all the things you see online. You can create boards, like a cork board that you pin stuff too. I'm enjoying it thus far. Check it out!

Peace

xoxo

K

Easy appetizers and Vegan Brownies!!!

I needed to bring a small dish/appy to a girlfriends house on the weekend and needed something quick. This salad is so easy to make and has 2 of my fave ingredients: quinoa and black beans. YUM.

Mexican Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
2 cups dry quinoa, cooked according to package
1 can black beans
1 jalapeno, minced
1 cup chopped cucumber
1 lime, juiced
2 carrots, chopped finely
1/2 red onion, diced
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
pepper

Directions:
Let the quinoa cool. I popped mine in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to cool it off faster. Combine all ingredients and add any more seasonings if you need it.

DELISH!

 My friend Bre made these cute little appies! Pita bread, hummus, falafel, tomato, cucumber and avocado!!! LOVE this idea. They were super yummy and look fancy to boot.

A little pick me up. 

Vegan brownie!!!!!!!

My gf Jessica made these kick ass vegan fudge brownies! omg. Obvs I got the recipe from her, because well, these need to be in my belly more often. Even though I'm training hard right now. Sigh. Maybe after. lol But sharing is caring, so here's the recipe folks!

Vegan Fudge Brownies

yields 12 squares

1 1/2 cups (360mL) unbleached flour
1/2 cup (120mL) cocoa
1 1/2 cups (360mL) brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp (7.5mL) baking soda
3/4 tsp (4mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5mL) salt
3/4 cup (180mL) soy milk
3/4 cup (180mL) coffee
1/3 cup (80mL) vegetable oil
1/2 cup (120mL) walnuts, roasted & chopped
1/2 cup (120mL) carob chips

glaze
7oz (210g) dark, belgian chocolate
5oz (150g) vegan margarine

1.) Pre-heat oven to 325 F. Prepare a 9"x 9" pan by greasing it and then lining it with parchment paper.

2.) Sift together the flour, cocoa, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together the coffee, soy milk and vegetable oil. Combine the wet and dry mixes and stir well. Stir in walnuts into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle the top with carob chips, and bake for 25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Coool the cake on a wire rack.

3.) When the cake is cool, prepare the glaze. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and vegan margarine. Whisk together very thouroughly to get a smooth, rather than a streaky finish. Pour the warm glaze over the cake, smoothing it out over the surface. Place the pan in the fridge to set. Divide the pan of brownies into 12 squares and enjoy!

I def recommend making these delish brownies. Looking at the recipe the only thing I'd change would be I'd use almond milk. Just cause that's the one I love.....Oh man, now I want a brownie!

Must resist. I've started a new training program. I'm doing the official Tough Mudder workout and its hard! I love it to death but man. I gotta keep my diet in check! And I need a new protein powder. I'm a HUGE vega fan. Love all their products but I'd thought I'd check out a different one. Switch it up a bit. Hmmm, so far the consensus from my fellow vegan pals on FB and Instagram say Sun Warrior. We shall see.....

Peace

xoxo

K

I heart balls.

Who doesn't love balls? I love them that's for sure. Especially when they're as tasty as the balls I'm going to present to you today. The recipe for these protein balls is not my own, although I did make some changes. I got the recipe from a girlfriend who got it from a blog called Smashed Peas and Carrots. You can get the original recipe here but I will give you the one that I made. I only made a couple minor changes. One being that I didn't use honey so that it would be vegan. And I also didn't have any vanilla left and I didn't use chocolate chips........this time. Oh and I used almond butter, and double the amount. Plus I used some hemp seeds too. lol

Sidebar: there is a great debate on whether or not honey is vegan. But what it comes down to is that bees are an animal and honey is produced by bees, therefore its an animal product. But that being said some believe that because we are not taking anything from their body that we aren't harming them. It is a product they create during pollination. It is not their bodily fluids nor their "meat". I don't have any strong feelings towards this, I'm a dietary vegan not an ethical vegan. I do avoid honey when I can. I've probs had it twice since going vegan. Meh. I'm not too worried about it. 

I digress, Back to my balls.

No-Bake Protein Balls

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats

1.5 cups almond butter

1/3 cup agave nectar

3/4 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1/4 cup hemp seed

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls and pop in your mouth!!! Store in an airtight container. They will store for a week.....if you can keep them that long. 

TIP: I warmed my almond butter in a pot on the stove with a couple tbsp's of water to loosen it up. Mine is natural and the oil had separated so it was a little hard. This loosened it up. Also, I grind my own flax seed, and added half the rolled oats to it too to grind.

I couldn't wait, I ate some from the bowl!

Oh yah! Best balls you'll ever taste

Seriously, these balls are so tasty in your mouth. You should make them. They are super easy and are loaded with nutrition. Lots of protein, iron, calcium, and other vits and mins. If you can hold onto them for the week then you're a better person than me! Lol I had 2 this morning with my blueberries.

Breaky!

So yummy! And the balls kept me full until 1130am! That's unusual for me. I usually eat at 8am and then again at 10am. Lol.

You should make these balls. Or the original recipe. They are super tasty. I'm also gonna make some more. My own recipe. Or modify other ones I've found. Great way to snack or add some good fats and protein to your day.

Has everyone been working out these days? I know my gym has been packed. I hope everyone is getting their fitness on. I work out like 6 days a week, 5 on a bad week. I'm gonna start this 100 push up challenge. You can check it out here. I did a test of day 1 last night and I can barely move my arms. Sheeettt. Lol

Planking but not on a million

I wonder if anyone will get my planking reference? ha

Peace

xoxo

K

Vegan MoFo Day 10: Thanksgiving weekend wrap up

Thanksgiving has come and gone again. I usually do a Tofurkey but I thought I'd do something different. I've been making a lot of veggie loafs lately. Mainly because they have everything you need in one piece and they make good lunches. They are also really easy, I love food I can cook in the oven.

It being Fall and all, pumpkin is on the mind. So I picked up a small pumpkin at my local Asian grocery store. I made some really good squares with it. I have lots extra so I think I'll make a soup out of the leftovers.

Pumpkin chocolate peanut oat bars

1/2 cup all natural peanut butter

1 cup pureed pumpkin

2 cups quick oats

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup agave nectar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp vanilla extract

4 tsp cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients together until fully mixed.

2. Spray or oil a 9 x 9 pan or muffin tins and spread mixture evenly. If using muffin tins, about 1 heaping tablespoon works well. Make sure to level them flat.

3. Bake at 350 for 22-25 minutes.

4. Cool before serving.

I know this isn't going in the order of how dinner would be served but those bars were so tasty I couldnt' help but talk about them. LOL and so easy to make.

This is my loaf. It was good, but didn't stay together like my last ones did. Next time I will add ground flax seed with water. That will keep it in tact. But the flavour was good, very tasty. Maybe next time I'll combine the 2 recipes for an even better one. ha!

That was my meal all together. Steamed veggies, Veggie loaf with brown rice and sprouted beans, and mashed potatoes. Gawd I missed mashed potatoes. I don't think I've had them since last year. Its never something I make. I really should though. YUM!

I ate 2 plates. OMG. I am so full right now. MAJAH food coma happening. I can barely type. Plus we had dessert. My Grannie's famous dessert is Jello made with fruit cocktail. She's been making it since I......well always. We eat it with ice cream or fresh whip cream. Now that I'm vegan, I started making a vegan dessert or eating fruit. This year my Grannie got me some strawberries and we ate my squares!

Mmmmmmmmm right?!!

Now, this weekend if you remember, I went to Victoria to run my first ever half marathon. That's my FIRST one. So I was equal parts nervous and excited. I figured that I'd do it in 2 hours 30 minutes. I can do a 10km in under an hour, so I wanted to do it in 2 hours. But I thought realistically 2 hours 30 minutes was more achievable for my first. Well Hot Damn! Did I ever underestimate myself! I did it in 2 hours and 1 minute!!!  I'm seriously excited about this. Its all I can talk about, which I'm sure is getting annoying. Lol.

That's me after I finished the race. Do you see my cool bat belt? Its slung over my shoulder like one of those wrestling belts. Lol Its super cool and not nerdy at all. Ha.

 Its actually very useful. It carried my VEGA Sport Optimizer and water. It also has a couple of small pockets for whatever else you may need.

I also had another dinner, Thanksgiving, Shigetomi Styles.  It was great. Almost the whole family was there and everyone was getting along. There was tons of food. Tons that I could eat too. Thanks to a couple of awesome, thoughtful Aunts. I even got to take home left overs!

Good right? That's how we do things in my family. We ain't messing around. And if I ever bring you to one of these occasions, when we say eat, eat. We are not polite and will not save food for you. Its every man, woman and child for themselves. Lol. I'm not kidding.

Anyways I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Mine was awesome!

Peace,

xoxo

K