SUPER SNACKS FOR THE WEEK

Here are 2 more snacks to help you eat right during the upcoming week!

CRAVING CREAMY AND RICH?
* Try 1/2 cup Fage greek yogurt with 1 tbsp natural peanut butter. To make vegan, switch out the greek yogurt for some plain or vanilla soy yogurt. For added sweetness, you can top it with a drizzle of honey or agave nectar. Delicious and deceptively healthy at only 150 calories!!

CRAVING SALTY AND SPICY or SUSHI?
* Try Seapoint Farms Dry Roasted Wasabi Edamame. Vegan, non-GMO, and packed with protein and fiber! This stuff, pictured in this post, is amazingly tasty and is GREAT for when you want to snack mindlessly without packing on the pudge! You can get it at your local supermarket, or you can purchase through our aStore under "Vegetarian/Vegan Living".

VEGAN COCONUT MACAROONS

One of my favorite treats in the whole wide world are coconut macaroons. They're creamy, coconutty, and deliciously moist! I have, however, had trouble finding a healthy version of these tropical morsels; especially one that is vegan.

After some experimenting, I have finally created a decent recipe! Not only is it tasty, it's low-fat, low-calorie, vegan, and super easy to make, AND you can also eat it as a RAW dessert! Just skip the baking step :)

So, without further adieu, here it is:


VEGAN COCONUT MACAROONS

2 cups shredded UNSWEETENED coconut
1 medium sized banana
1/4 cup agave nectar (you can add more or skip this all together based on desired sweetness)
1/4 cup diced almonds or almond flour (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract

*water, unsweetened applesauce, or additional banana can be added to reach desired consistency. I like mine thick and chewy, so I chose to add banana as needed.

1) If cooking, preheat oven to 350
2) Mash banana, either by hand or in a blender
3) In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, including banana, until well mixed
4) Place 1 tbsp dollops of mixture onto spray-oiled cookie sheet
5) Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, or until tops are lightly browned

Voila!! Simple, healthy, and delicious!

HEALTHY HOLIDAYS: PART ONE

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and at least for me that means family, friends, and a whole lot of not-so-healthy and not-so-animal friendly food.

The time around the holidays fosters eating patterns that can snowball into long-term weight gain and diet sabotage, so today I begin the first of a multi-part series dedicated to strategies and recipes for a healthy, indulgent, and fun holiday season!!


PART ONE: Tasty Thanksgiving Treats!

1) Pudge-free Pumpkin
HERE is a recipe for fabulous vegan pumpkin muffins! Replace your slice of fat-filled pumpkin pie with one of these delicious, portion-controlled substitute to save calories without sacrificing taste. Great for the whole family, vegan or not, and left-overs make a great breakfast!

-To add a little extra sumthin-sumthin to these, whip up an easy vegan frosting:
1/4 cup soybean margarine
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup soymilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

2) Meat-Free Main Course
HERE is a recipe for a delicious vegetarian"nut loaf" (think meat loaf but tastier, less greasy, and more humane). This is NOT VEGAN, but to make it vegan just switch out the butter with Earth-Balance and use egg substitute. If you are having thanksgiving with some meat eaters, your friends can still enjoy this dish in addition to their turkey.

-To up the "yum" factor of your loaf, whip up a quick vegan brown gravy! Recipe available HERE

3) Not-So-Sinful Stuffing
HERE is a recipe for a sweet cranberry stuffing that is vegan AND low calorie! To make heartier AND healthier, mix in some cooked quinoa and chopped pecans for a healthy dose of filling-fiber and protein! ALSO, since most dried cranberries are covered in added sugar, replacing the cranberries with pomegranate seeds will up the antioxidant punch in this dish! Mmm mmm mmm!

4) Bulge-Free Beverage
HERE is a recipe for a lower-calorie hot cranberry-apple cider. Warm liquids are great for digestion after a large meal and this drink can serve as a low-cal dessert on the nights before and after the big feast. Only 80 calories per serving!!


Look for my next post in this series. I'll be addressing holiday portion control, staying social without creating a diet disaster, and fun activities for the whole family to help keep your holidays active!

DELICIOUS DIET-FRIENDLY DESSERT

I found am amazing recipe for simple to make, vegan blackberry lime tartlets!! The photo in this post is of the finished result. Not only are they low in fat and calories, but they're bite size, so you can watch your portions!



BLACKBERRY LIME TARTLETS

24 mini phyllo shells (buy pre-made in freezer section)
1c plain soy yogurt (or regular, is you aren't vegan)
1 tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp lime zest (scrapings from the skin of a lime)
1/4c apple juice
1/3c organic sugar
2 tsp Agar powder
6oz Blackberries

1) Bake phyllo shells for 4min at 350F (to make them just hard enough to not soak up the filling)
2) Mix soy yogurt, lime, and lime zest in a medium-sized bowl
3) Put apple juice and sugar in to a medium sized sauce pan and heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Sprinkle in the Agar powder and continuing heating until completely dissolved.
4) Add the apple juice/sugar/agar mixture to the yogurt/lime/lime zest. Stir until an even consistency.
5) Divide yogurt filling among the phyllo shells, chill in fridge for about an hour.
6) Place blackberry on each filled phyllo (or, for even more flavor, puree the blackberries and place the puree on each filled phyllo), SERVE AND ENJOY!!

***4 tarlets contain approximately 158 calories, so enjoy without regret!!

SUPER SNACKS FOR THE WEEK

Here a some more snacks to help you eat right during the upcoming week!

CRAVING SALTY?
* Try air-popped popcorn drizzled with a little olive oil and some sea salt. Absolutely delicious and so much healthier than chips!

CRAVING CREAMY AND CHEESY?
* Try Annie's brand mac & cheese (look for whole grain organic) made with non-fat yogurt. I make half of the pasta in the microwave (cover with water and cook 4 minutes for al dente) and save the rest for future dishes. All natural, low calorie, and great for cheese cravings.

CRAVING CHOCOLATE?
* Try fresh berries dipped in fat-free sugar-free instant chocolate pudding made with fat-free milk or soymilk (berries covered in some light whipped cream are also pretty delicious). You can buy the pudding at any local supermarket and the berries add sweetness to the bitter of the chocolate. Low fat and calorie and satisfies the craving! You can also go all the way and make a parfait with the pudding, berries, and angel food cake. I'm drooling just thinking about it...

VEGAN GELATO!

Watch below to see a video with a VEGAN VANILLA GELATO recipe! Step by step guide, so you can cook along! Healthier than ice-cream and more animal and planet friendly!



If you can't find all of the ingredients at you supermarket, check out VeganEssentials for any vegan pantry needs!

NOT VEGAN?? Try THIS RECIPE instead! The video is a little easier to follow and makes it seem much simpler than the video above.

YUMMY VEGAN POPSICLES!

Craving something creamy and sweet but don't want to dive into a bucket of ice cream? Below is an awesome and easy recipe for creamy-fruity popsicles you can reach for when your next craving hits! You can decide how much of each ingredient to use based on how creamy you want them to be (and I guess-timate all my recipes, so sorry for the lack of measurements!)

Vegan Cream-sicles:
*Pomegranate juice
*Mango (or strawberries/raspberries)
*Soy Milk (or Vegan cream replacement if you want it to be even richer! Vegetarian: try Greek Yogurt.. mmmm!)

Put all ingredients into a blender. Once full integrated, pour mixture into an ice tray and place toothpicks into each ice-cube space (either put them in on an angle or wait for the creamsicles to solidify slightly and place in the center).

Enjoy!!

GREEN ENERGY SMOOTHIE

Mmm mmm! Try this recipe from natural health magazine for a pick-me-up. Great as a breakfast replacement:

Ingredients

2 cups orange juice
1½ cups apple juice
1 cup kale, roughly chopped
2 bananas
Crushed ice

Directions

Combine orange juice, apple juice, kale, bananas, and crushed ice in a blender and blend at the highest speed until kale is thoroughly integrated into juice. Allow ingredients to settle and foam to rise to the top before serving. Pour into glasses filled with crushed ice.

Nutrition Facts

Per serving: 160 calories, 1 g fat (0.13 g saturated), 39 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, 2.2 g fiber, 12 mg sodium (0.5% Daily Value).