Almond and Cashew Cherry Yogurt (Vegan!)

When I first went vegan I thought yogurt was going to be the hardest thing to give up. I had grown to love plain greek yogurt with fruit and granola for breakfast, so the thought of giving it up made me sad. While it was hard to stop eating it the first week, I soon found different things to eat for breakfast that made up for it.

The longer I've been vegan the more I've begun experimenting with harder recipes. A while back I finally started researching homemade yogurt. I would occasionally buy non-dairy yogurt at the grocery store, but it's so expensive that I wanted to learn how to make my own. And I did! You can check out the recipe here!

While my homemade yogurt became a staple in my house, I still wanted to find a yogurt substitute that didn't take hours of incubating to make. Not long after, I came across Deliciously Ella's Cashew and Almond yogurt and it sounded delicious to me...and unfortunately expensive. I decided to make a few substitutes and try it out and, voila! This delicious, fruity yogurt was the result! It takes a fraction of the time to make, is thicker, and has more consistent results.

Yum!

Almond and Cashew Cherry Yogurt

(Make about 4 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1/4 cup cashews
• 1/4 cup dates
• 1/2 cup frozen cherries (or any frozen fruit)
• 1 1/2 cups water, divided
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch (or other thickener)

Directions:

1. Soak the almonds, cashews and dates in a bowl for about 4 hours.
2. Drain the nuts and dates and place them, along with the frozen berries and 1 cup of water, into a blender. Blend until smooth.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup water and teaspoon of cornstarch until dissolved. Pour it into the blender and blend with the other ingredients until combined.
4. Pour the contents of the blender into a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat. Let the mixture heat slowly while whisking often until the "yogurt" thickens. You can know when it's ready when your whisk leaves marks in the yogurt.
5. Pour the yogurt into a jug and place in the refrigerator to cool.
6. Serve with fruit and granola for a delicious breakfast!

Eat Consciously,

Faith

Sweet and Salty Protein Trail Mix

I'm currently in New York City and it's bliss! Brett and I are here to scope out locations for where we could possibly live when we move here in July. Since we got here on Friday it has been beautiful and warm and we've loved exploring the city. It's still surreal to me that I'm going to live here. 

When we arrived on Friday we went straight to Flushing and got some amazing Chinese food with a friend. I got a vegan dish with thick, chewy noodles, seitan, and veggies. It was delicious and a great way to kick off our trip. Yesterday we spent most of our time in Manhattan and today we walked all around Union Square. There is so much life in the city and you never run out of things to look at and do.

I knew coming into this week that we'd be walking a ton so I decided to prep some snacks to take with me. Food can be pretty expensive as you all know, so I figured I could save us some money by planning ahead. This isn't really a recipe that I'm sharing with you, but more of a concoction that popped into my head. And it's delicious.

First I roasted some chickpeas coated in agave nectar and sprinkled with cinnamon. I poured 1 tablespoon of agave nectar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon over 1 cup of cooked chickpeas and roasted them in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Every ten minutes or so I would use a spoon to move the chickpeas around so that they wouldn't burn.

These little nuggets are subtly sweet and crunchy once they cool.

I then used those roasted chickpeas to make this amazing Sweet and Salty Protein Trail Mix. Deliciousness.

Sweet and Salty Protein Trail Mix

(Makes 5 servings)

 Ingredients:

· 1/4 cup cashews

· 1/4 cup almonds

· 1/4 cup craisins

· 2 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips

· 1 cup agave roasted chickpeas

Directions:

1. Roast 1 cup of chickpeas using the above directions.

2. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.

3. Get your fill of protein!

Notes: To be honest, you can use whatever nuts or dried fruit you like or have available. I just happen to be biased to this combination.

My stash of goodies for the week:

 Eat Consciously,

     Faith

Homemade Lara Bars: Cashew Cookie (Three Ingredients)

I recently found out about Lara bars when I was looking for vegan granola bars at the grocery store. I saw "vegan" on the packaging and when I looked at the ingredient label I couldn't believe most of the different flavors used only two or three ingredients. I doubted how good they could be, but ended up loving them. Unfortunately they are pretty pricey, but no worries, you can easily make them by yourself at home. To make at home it cost me $2.54 for four bars. When I buy them at the store it averages out to about $4.80 for four bars. So you save over $2 to make them at home. Not bad!

And here's how you do it:

Cashew Cookie Lara Bars

(Makes 4 bars)

 Ingredients:

· 1/2 cup whole, unsalted cashews

· 3/4 cup pitted dates

· Pinch of sea salt

  Directions:

1. Start by roughly chopping the dates. Place them in a food processor and process until they turn into a sticky ball of dough. Remove from the processor and set aside.

2. Next place the cashews and a pinch of sea salt in the processor and process until they are a course meal. Don’t over process or they will start to make nut butter!

3. In a bowl, combine the date dough and cashew crumbs. Using your hands mash the nuts and dates together until they are fully incorporated and all the cashew crumbs are stuck to the dates and a dough has formed.

4. Place the date/cashew dough on some wax paper and form it into a 4 x 6 inch rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut the rectangle into fourths and wrap individually. Store in the fridge or eat right away!

I was so pleased with the result! I felt like I was having a cookie.

Nutrition: Cals: 163; Fat: 6.5g; Carbs: 26.5g; Fiber: 3g; Sugars: 16.25g; Protein: 3.25g

Eat Consciously,

     Faith