I’ve Discovered a Dairy-free Yogurt Made From Almonds!

I’ve tried a few different non-dairy yogurts since becoming vegan (soy, coconut..), but there hasn’t been anything I have been overly fond of. I came across a new product when shopping at an organic market – Amande Almond yogurt! I like the flavor and texture; it’s a good find. It’s not packed full of sugar but has a nice sweet taste. You also get a good sized tub for the price, unlike the coconut yogurt. Make sure if it looks liquidy, just give the whole tub a good stir. The good stuff hangs out in the liquid so don’t dump it out!

Just wanted to share my discovery!

Yummy Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

This is a great tasting, healthier muffin I love to make. I adapted this from an old recipe I used to make in my “pregan” days, so this version is eggless, cholesterol free and even more delicious! 🙂

Ingredients:

• 9 large bananas
• 1 3/4 Cups  agave, or you could use white sugar but use a bit more (agave is sweeter than sugar)
• 1 1/2 Cups unsweetened organic applesauce
• 3 tsp baking soda
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 1/2 Cups whole wheat flour
• 6 Tbsp ground flaxseed or more as desired (optional)
• Mini chocolate chips, to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375
• Mash bananas – I used potato masher

• Add agave/sugar
• Add applesauce

• Add dry ingredients

• Mix in chocolate chips

• Grease muffin tins or use liners instead. Fill up about ¾ with the batter.

• Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean

These are crazy moist and good, and no oil! The recipe makes a big batch and you can freeze them so you always have something you can defrost and run out the door with.

Non-dairy Milk and Breakfast Smoothie

I have a smoothie for breakfast almost every morning, so I stock up on a variety of non-dairy milk to always have on hand for smoothies. They have a good shelf life so why not stock up, especially when anything goes on sale.

I use unsweetened varieties in my smoothies – the fruit is sweet enough, so there is no need to add any sugar. I use the sweetened variety for coffee. If you’ve never tried Hemp milk it is definitely worth looking into; it has great nutritional content including plenty of calcium, Omega 3’s and 6’s to name a few.

When I make a smoothie, I don’t use a recipe. I basically just throw in frozen fruit and whatever else I feel like that morning, and then add enough liquid (non-dairy milk) to make a nice thick consistency smoothie. Start off with a little liquid and keep adding if it’s not blending well due to not having enough liquid. If you’ve never made your own smoothie, you get the hang of it after making a few.

Recently I’ve started adding greens into my smoothies. You can not taste them at all and it’s also a great way to not only get your greens, but use up whatever you have in the fridge!

Kale, spinach, berry blend, banana, almond milk, Vega Whole Food Optimizer (Vega One)

Usually my smoothies include Vega One (formerly Vega Whole Food Optimizer), which is a plant based nutritional supplement. You can put whatever fruit, etc. into the smoothie and it always takes on the flavor of Vega One. Meaning you could probably put a ton of greens in the smoothie and it will still have the Vega One flavor. I also put things such as cooked oats, flax and sometimes natural peanut butter in the smoothie also. So experiment with whatever you have!