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MEG'S VEGUCATION


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Simple Smoothie

A smoothie for breakfast or lunch is quick & fast! I do this often on my way out the door during the school year so I can 'eat' breakfast in the car, or in the morning before I work out (I'm not one of those people who can go without eating before my workout). I go back and forth between almond butter/banana & fruit/banana. This morning I went with fruit. I would say go for fresh in the summer, but I have multiple bags of frozen berries from the spring, so I used those. This is also very refreshing & wonderful for summer! 

Simple Fruit Smoothie:

Ingredients: 

1 cup of coconut water (plain or flavored)

1/2 cup of water

1 cup berries (frozen or fresh)

1 banana (I like frozen, it makes the smoothie thicker)

1 tablespoon of chia seeds or hemp seeds 

Ice (optional)

Blend & Drink Up! 

ENJOY! So delicious!!

Best Paleo Pumpkin Bread!

This is the best gluten free item I have made thus far. It was fluffy, moist & I couldn't stop myself from eating loaf after loaf of it.
Adapted from The Unrefined Kitchen

Best Pumpkin Paleo Bread

Ingredients:
2/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (ginger, nutmeg, etc. will also do)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2-3 small very ripened bananas
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup nuts or raisins (optional, I sprinkled some walnuts on top)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine dry ingredients (coconut flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice).
Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl (puree, bananas, honey, vanilla extract) & mix well (until smooth).
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well. Fold in nuts or raisins.
Spray pan or line with parchment paper.
Pour into bread pan (I used a mini bread pan, 8 loaves).
Cook bread for 45 minutes if using one loaf, 30 minutes for mini loaves.

Blueberry Lime Coconut Ice Cream

I tried my hand this weekend at ice cream... It's that time of year & being dairy sensitive, it's so hard being out with everyone at all the creameries & not being able to participate in all of the fun! When I do pick up ice cream, my favorite is coconut based Larry & Luna's Coconut Bliss Ice Cream. I highly recommend it. Anyways, the only snafu I really had was that I probably should have put my ice cream in single serving size containers, the tupperware I put the ice cream into is hard to scoop out of. Lesson learned, but the flavor is still amazing.

Based on Fragrant Vanilla Cake's Raw Double Blueberry Ginger Lime Ice Cream
Ingredients:
Ice Cream:
1/2 cup coconut water
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
2 cups blueberries
4 cups soaked, raw cashews (at least 4 hours to soak, then drained)
pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup honey or agave
1/4 cup coconut oil, warmed to liquid
Blueberry Swirl:
1 cup blueberries
1/4 cup coconut water
4 medjool dates, pitted & soaked (at least 4 hours, then drained)

How to:

Begin with making sure that your dates & cashews are soaked! This will make a big difference in the creaminess of your ice cream & sauce

Put all ice cream items in a blender & put aside in a bowl if you are going to freeze on your own (without an ice cream maker) or go ahead & throw it all in the ice cream maker if you have one (I have one, but haven't taken it out of the box yet). 

Blend blueberries, coconut water & dates (blueberry swirl)

After making my ice cream in a big tub, I think it would have been better if I had made it in small cups for individual servings (just would have been easier to dish out that way). 

Create layers with the ice cream & the sauce & then throw it in the freezer until it's done (I left mine in over night). 

This flavor is seriously delicious! 

Homemade Sushi

I have always loved sushi... So this fall I decided to give a shot to making my own (non-fish) & it worked out pretty well. Jake (husband) never cared for sushi, but has since started eating it. For mine, I just use veggies (carrot, cucumber, etc) but for his I will flour/egg/bread crumb the shrimp & stick it in the oven for 20 minutes or so to make him my own version of 'tempura'. 

Ingredients:

1 cup (uncooked) Brown sushi rice (I get this at my local Asian Market, for those of you that live in NH, I go to Saigon Asian Market on Maple Street, caddy corner to South Willow Street. This is also when I got my sushi mat for only $1!) 

Nori Sheets

Veggies/Fish

Wasabi/Soy Sauce (I like using Bragg's Liquid Aminos) 

*the ingredient list could really be as simple as a few items, what you choose to roll inside is up to you, shrimp, cooked or uncooked fish, vegetables, even fruit! 

I suggest wrapping your sushi mat into a large ziplock bag, it just makes it easier to roll. This is a great video on How to Roll Sushi (less than a 3 minute demo too). 

ENJOY!

Healthy Pizza

One of the most major food items that I love that I just cannot have is pizza. I am in a bind even if I go to a place that offers gluten free crust (more common these days), because it's really the dairy that gets me the most. There is this:

 & this....

but they are still frozen.. I'm waiting on this one, due out this summer, because I love daiya products: 

Until daiya hits stores, I will continue to make my own... I highly recommend Rustic Crust, I have found they have best gluten free pizza crust (non-refrigerated, in the bread section). It's also low sodium, which I also watch (if you buy Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix it's a total sodium bomb). Anyways, Jake wanted pizza tonight, so I made my own while he went to Sal's. Not eating Sal's with him used to bother me more, but now that I know what it does to my stomach, I can't even think about eating it. 

 (red pepper, slice tomato, mushrooms, & cheese) 

Paleo Lemon Chia Seed Muffins

I haven't had too much experience with non-flour muffins (using almond flour, coconut flour, etc. instead). These tasted awesome, but were not as fluffy as other muffins I have made, so some people may have some issues with consistency. I'm wondering if all gluten free muffins are like this? Anyone ever try this & get the same non-fluffy texture? Or is it just because I cut back on some of the honey & coconut oil to make them less fattening/less caloric?

Regardless, they still tasted delicious.

Paleo Lemon Chia Seed Muffins
modified from Just Eat Real Food
Ingredients:
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon gluten free flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
5 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 lemons, juiced
zest of 2 lemons
1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons of chia seeds or lemon poppy seeds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
In a large bowl, mix together honey, vanilla, eggs & lemon juice.
Melt the coconut oil (I put it in the microwave for 45 seconds) & mix that in with honey, vanilla, eggs & lemon juice

 

In a separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients. 

Then mix the wet & dry ingredients together. Do this slowly so it doesn't get too lumpy! 

Add mix to each muffin lining (if desired) & fill 1/4 full. 

Bake in the oven for 22 minutes! 

Watermelon Mojito Salad

This also went over well from Father's Day... & it was such an easy make!

Ingredients:
1 whole (personal) watermelon (or really, as much as you would like)
2 cups cucumber
2 or 3 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
juice from 2 limes
zest from 2 limes
1 tablespoon of basil

Chop all ingredients & mix together! It's really as simple as that. This is a great side dish or dessert! Very cool & refreshing & light for the summer time.

No Potato Salad

Welcome to Meg's Vegucation Blog!

Because of Father's Day, we had a barbecue. For me, of course, this entails lots of veggies, but I brought (& tried) a few of my own dishes that were a huge hit. I fooled my meat eating family & they really loved this one. It tastes like the real thing, but healthy, I swear! 

No Potato Salad (Paleo recipe, contains eggs, a healthy spin on potato salad)
Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower, chopped into small florets
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
generous handful of parsley, chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, shelled & chopped (or leave out completely)
2 tablespoons of veganaise (or regular mayonnaise)
1 tablespoon spicy mustard
optional: I added 7 slices of tempeh (bacon flavored) you could also use regular bacon here

Instructions
1. Chop cauliflower & steam.

2. Steam cauliflower until slightly tender, about 10 minutes after water begins to simmer (don't overcook! you want the consistency to be slightly hard).

3. Drain cauliflower & rinse with cold water to cool. Place the cauliflower in a large bowl.

4. Add celery, onion, parsley, & egg. 

5. Stir in mayo & mustard

6. Serve immediately or stick it in the fridge for later!