WALNUT & DATE ENERGY BITES!

Okay lets face it, sometimes throughout the day you crave a snack and what you end up choosing can really make or break your diet. One way to avoid making such an easy mistake is to be prepared! These energy bites are both vegan and paleo and taste AMAZING! When hunger strikes or you need a boost of energy grab one of these babies and feel guilt-free! They last for about 7 days when stored in the fridge and are so easy to make that you have no excuse lol ;) Happy eating my friends!

VIDEO POSTED BELOW

INGREDIENT:

1 Cup of Walnuts
1/2 a Cup of Unsweetened Coconut
16-18 Pitted Dates
1 TSP of Cinnamon
1/3 Cup of Almond Butter
1 TSP of Vanilla Extract
3 TBSP of Hemp Hearts
2/3 Cup of Oats

DIRECTIONS:

Place walnuts and unsweetened coconut in a food processor and pulse until the walnuts have been broken down into small chunks.

Add in dates, cinnamon, almond butter and vanilla extract and continue to pulse until the dates have been broken down into small chunks.

Transfer contents to a bowl, add in your hemp hearts and oats, and mix all ingredients together with your hands.

Once nicely mixed start to roll the ingredients into balls and place on a lined baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Allow balls to sit for 30 minutes to dry and harden.

*You can store them up to a week in the fridge in a sealed container!

ENJOY!!!!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Bon Appetite!!!

VEGAN AND WHEAT FREE CARROT CAKE

So to start I must admit I am not vegan nor have a gluten free diet but this past weekend I was browsing my bookshelf and remembered this vegan cook book I have and decided to pull it out (for anyone who is interested in knowing more about the cookbook I will post a link below). As I perused the pages I came across this carrot cake recipe I 'dog eared' (weird expression I know) and decided to try it out. The results were a very nice and moist cake that I am sure will make any vegan person jump for joy.

INGREDIENTS:

Can of vegan, oil based non stick cooking spray
3/4 Cup Garbanzo Bean Flour
1 1/4 Cup Rice Flour
2 TSP Xanthan Gum
2 TSP Baking Soda
1/4 TSP Salt
2 TSP Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Apple Sauce
1 Cup Canola Oil
1 Cup Water
1 1/4 Cup of Maple Syrup
1 TSP Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Grated Carrots

Frosting - choose whichever flavor you like (mine was cream cheese) pre-made or I can list ingredients below.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
8 OZ firm Silken Tofu
12 OZ Soy cream cheese
1 Cup of Powdered Sugar
1 TSP of coconut extract
1/2 Cup of Unsweetened Coconut
2 TSP of Xanthem Gum (for thickening)

DIRECTIONS: - SHORT VIDEO BELOW

*Like with most cakes you start by mixing all the dry ingredients together in one bow.. mixing all the wet ingredients in another bowl and then combining them together...vegan baking is the same

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

Grab a 9 inch bread baking pan and coat it in non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl mix your garbanzo bean flour, rice flour, xantham gum, baking soda, sat and cinnamon together.

In a separate medium bowl mix your applesauce, canola oil, water, vanilla extract and maple syrup.

Next mix your wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until it is well incorporated. Then add in your grated carrots and mix well.

Pour cake mix into the coated baking pan and bake in the over for 75-80 minutes

Once finished remove from the oven and allow to cool before adding icing on top.

To make the frosting simply place all ingredients except the unsweetened coconut in a food processor and blend until smooth. Stir in the coconut after by hand. If possible you can make this the night before and refrigerate so it has more time to set and thicken.

 

 

For those who are interested in the cookbook I got this recipe from 'Sinfully Vegan' by Lois Dieterly.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Bon Appetite!!!

CINCO DE MAYO SPICY SHRIMP TACOS

Cinco de Mayo is one of my favorite holidays! That's mainly because it's another great excuse to eat tacos more than once a week. I have been doing some experimenting and have come up with an amazing shrimp taco marinade which of course I just had to share with the world. I will warn you that this marinade is spicy (not kick-you-in-the-pants spicy but has-some-bite spicy) so if you're not into spicy stuff you probably wont enjoy this as much as my other recipes. If you can stand a little heat then more to ya my friend!!!!! Enjoy!

Makes 4 Tacos - VIDEO BELOW

INGREDIENTS:

16 Shrimp (de-veined with shells removed)
1-2 TBSP of Olive Oil
1/4 TSP Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 TSP Chili Powder
1/4 TSP Paprika
1/4 TSP Cayenne Powder
3 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
1 Lime Zest and Juices
1.5 Cups of Shredded Cabbage
1 Stock of Green Onion (Chopped)
Salt
Avocado (sliced)
4 Tortillas

Garnish:
1/4 Cup of Cilantro
Sprinkle of Cotija Cheese or Feta Cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Mix shrimp, olive oil, red pepper flakes, chili powder, cayenne powder, minced garlic, pinch of salt and lime zest in a bowl. Allow to marinate for 15 minutes or so.

In another bowl mix together the shredded cabbage, lime juice, chopped green onion and a pinch of salt.

Warm up a skillet on medium heat and add in the marinated shrimps, cook for about 5 minutes or until pink. You can add more oil if you think you need it.

Warm tortillas up under oven broiler for a minute or two.

Plate your tortillas, add your avocado slices, cooked shrimp, cabbage slaw, and garnish with cilantro and cheese.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can!  Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!