Easy Fried Plantains

Right now my house slightly in chaos. Brett and I are packing up all of our belonging while trying to sell somethings in the process. We are also traveling to West Palm Beach for a week the day after we move out of our house. Then right after we get back from that West Palm we are going to China for five weeks! We have so many different trips we're trying to pack for in addition to moving that it's hard to keep things straight in my head. 

One thing that has made the packing process less painful is that I've been taking frequent breaks throughout the day to cook delicious food...like fried plantains! Seriously, yesterday when I was minutes away from finishing up the laundry, I stopped to fry some plantains. I just got hit with intense hunger so decided to run with it. Laundry can wait.

I've eaten fried plantains a lot when overseas and I've even bought plantains a few times in hopes that I'd do something with them, but never did. I was never sure when they were ripe or when I should bake them verses fry them. I saw a little recipe card at the grocery store the other day for Fried Plantains and decided to give it another go. The recipe said to look for black plantains when you are going to fry them. That means they are overly ripe and sweet, but still hold their shape. 

It only takes three ingredients to make this delicious snack: a plantain, coconut oil and sea salt. You can serves these as a side with dinner or eat them as a snack. The plantains themselves are sweet and then you get little hints of salty with the sea salt. Addicting I tell ya!

Fried Plantains

(Serves 1-2)

Ingredients:

• 1 plantain, black 
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil
• sea salt (optional, but so good!)

Directions:

1. Peel and slice your plantain on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons of coconut oil in a small skillet over medium heat. 
3. Fry the plantains on one side for about 4 minutes until browned. Flip them over and fry about 4 minutes more.
4. Pour them onto a paper towel lined plate to soak up any excess oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

Eat Consciously,

Faith

Strawberry Coconut Shortcake: Perfect for a Mother's Day picnic!

I know you're probably thinking I'm confused about my holidays with the red, white and blue theme in the picture, but I did indeed make this Strawberry Coconut Shortcake recipe for Mother's Day last week. And man, it turned out great! 

I had been wanting to experiment with coconut oil and biscuits for a while, but I didn't know if savory dinner biscuits made with coconut oil would work. When I had to make a dessert for Mother's Day I jumped on the opportunity to try out strawberry shortcake with coconut oil. Paired with Coconut Milk Whipped Cream and sweetened strawberries it became an amazing combination perfect for a family picnic outside. 

The biscuits were moist and sweet and gave off the most amazing smell as they baked in the oven. They flattened out more than I thought while they were baking, but were still thick enough to slice and had lots of surface area to layer on tons of strawberries and whipped cream. 

I wasn't sure what my non-vegan family would think about the Coconut Milk Whipped Cream, but everybody loved it and keep reaching for more. That's when I know something I make is a winner. 

This recipe is perfect for spring and summer and will wow your friends. They'll never guess it's dairy free! 

Strawberry Coconut Shortcake

(Serves 8)

Ingredients:

• 2 pints strawberries, chopped into bite sized pieces
• 1/4 cup sugar
• juice of 1 lemon

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (+ more for dusting)
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons coconut oil, chilled
• 1 cup almond milk + 1 tablespoon
• 1 recipe Coconut Milk Whipped Cream

Directions:

1. In a bowl mix together the strawberries, lemon juice an sugar and set aside. 
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
3. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
4. Using a pastry cutter or two knives cut in chilled coconut oil until you get a course meal. Make sure there are no coconut oil chunks bigger than pea size.
5. Pour in 1 cup of almond milk and stir to combine. 
6. Lightly dust a clean surface with flour and pour the dough onto the flour. If it's still to sticky, sprinkle more flour on top and continue to turn and add flour until you can handle it.
7. Press the dough down until its about 1 1/2 inches thick. Use a biscuit cutter or a cup to cut out circular biscuits. Cut out as many biscuits as possible and then gather up the scraps, reform the dough and repeat until you get 8 (6 is fine too) biscuits. Brush the tops lightly with more almond milk and then place the biscuits on a parchment paper lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
8. Bake the biscuits for about 25 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the tops are starting to turn golden. Remove from the oven and let cool.
9. To serve, slice the cooled shortcakes in half, spoon strawberries on the bottom half of the biscuit, cover with the top half of the biscuit and dollop Coconut Milk Whipped Cream on top.
10. Enjoy!

Notes: Adapted from Martha Stewart.

In a large bowl stir together the chopped strawberries, lemon juice and sugar. Set aside.

Whisk together the dry ingredients for the shortcake.

Add in the chilled coconut oil.

Cut in the oil with two knives or a pastry cutter.

Add in the almond milk and stir until dough forms.

Pour the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and add more flour if it's too sticky.

Flatten the dough until it's about 1 1/2 inches thick.

Cut out 6-8 biscuits.

Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Brush with almond milk.

Bake for about 25 minute until the tops begin to turn golden brown.

Let the cool on a wire rack.

Assemble your Strawberry Coconut Shortcake and dig in!

Eat Consciously,

Faith

5 Ingredient No-Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars!

We've all had them. Those chocolaty, chewy oatmeal cookies made with tons of butter and sugar. While they can sometimes look like little cow pies, Chocolate No-Bakes Cookies are delicious. 

One of my first memories of Chocolate No-Bake Cookies was the summer after my freshman year of college. I was out in Colorado being a camp counselor at an outdoor adventure camp. I was living at 9,000 feet, hiking, making forts out of tree trunks, swimming in freezing water and running after energetic kids from the inner-city. It was an amazing fun job...if you're into that kind of thing. And I was!

My mom, being the thoughtful person that she is, probably knew that I was expending tons of energy everyday living at such a high altitude and constantly being active. So throughout the summer she sent me care packages of delicious home-made goodies. 

The first package she sent me had no-bake cookies in it. Wow oh wow. I had never had them before and I couldn't get enough. Let's just say they didn't last long, especially once my friends found out about them.

While your typical, no-bake cookies are stinkin' delicious, I'm not a huge fan of the amount of processed sugar and butter that can be packed into them. The other day I figured I'd try out my own recipe. I'm on a peanut butter kick so I thought I'd keep that the main flavor. I knew I'd have to sweeten them some, but I didn't want to use white sugar. I also knew that there had to be an ingredient that would hold everything together. 

I only experimented once and was happy with the result! There are only five ingredients and these bars are dairy-free and sweetened with agave instead of white sugar. I also used coconut oil to hold everything together. They're chalk-full of energy and are delicious! Soon I'll be experimenting with no-bake bars that are only sweetened with bananas. I'll keep you posted:)

Peanut Butter No-Bake Oatmeal Bars

(Serves 16)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup almond milk

Directions:

1. Spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium sized sauce pan combine the peanut butter, agave, coconut oil and almond milk. Slowly increase the heat while mixing constantly until the mixture starts to boil. 
3. Let the sauce boil for one minute while you continue to stir.
4. Remove the sauce pan from the heat and stir in the rolled oats 1 cup at a time until all the oats are fully covered in the peanut sauce.
5. Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish and use a spatula to even everything out. Use your hand or the spatula to firmly press the mixture into the pan so that when everything cools, the oats will stick together.
6. Place the baking dish in the refrigerator for about 30 to 1 hour until it has cooled. 
7. Cut into 16 squares and enjoy!

Eat Consciously,

Faith

A Dream Come True: Ireland Sister Trip! (Plus Date-Sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookies)

It still seems surreal.

My sister and I have been dreaming of backpacking Ireland for 14 years and it finally happened! 

This trip couldn't have gone better. We never got lost and it only drizzled once for about five minutes. We landed in Dublin early Thursday morning and with heavy backpacks on our backs bussed to four different locations and stayed at three different B&Bs before Sunday. A lot of walking, eating, talking and laughing took place and we kept saying that we couldn't believe our dream was actually coming true.

I wasn't sure how trying to eat mostly plant-based would go, but overall it was never a problem. We even brought some snacks with us (oatmeal, granola bars and homemade, Date-Sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookies - recipe at the end of this post!), but I didn't need them most days. The Irish really know how to cook and Ruth and I fell in love with their Brown Bread and ate it every chance we could. Tea also became a big staple in our diet.

Lunch on our first day in Cashel

Ross Castle in Killarney

Killarney was both Ruth and my favorite city. We got up early after a deep, jet-lagged sleep and ate a big Irish breakfast before walking 45 minutes to Ross Castle. It was a perfect day and we kept on having to remove layers of clothing because we were getting too hot. After checking out the Castle we walked another 30 minutes or so into the city center of Killarney where I had my favorite meal of the entire trip.

We ate a place called Dyne and started our meal with some french-pressed coffee. We each got salads with a side of brown bread. My salad had chickpeas, roasted veggies and tahini dressing and it was fantastic. We stayed and talked for a couple of hours and enjoyed another cup of coffee with one of my Date-Sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookies. A perfect lunch.

Another one of our favorite parts of the trip was going to the Milk Market in Limerick. After showering and eating some breakfast we walking into town to scope out the huge tent full of different vendors. We were in heaven! Fresh bread and scones, coffee shops, produce out the wazoo and much more. We made sure we saw all of our options before deciding on some olive bread and oranges. Yes, a weird combination, but it was delicious!

I love the way people in Ireland do life. They never seem to be rushed and take their time at meals to savor their food and enjoy the company around them. It only took Ruth and I a day or so to get into this mindset.

The second half of our trip was actually spent with Ruth's 14-year pen pal and her family. Yes, 14 years of writing letters and they finally got to meet in person. And...they have the same name! "Irish Ruth" met up with us in Galway and we spent the evening in the city before sharing a room at another B&B. The next morning, after another filling Irish breakfast, we drove to the Cliffs of Moher.

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day! There wasn't a cloud in the sky and we no longer had to walk around with our backpacks because "Irish Ruth" generously offered to drive us to the Cliffs. I couldn't stop taking pictures. 

After soaking up the Cliffs, we drove back to Navan (a city near Dublin) where Ruth's family lives for the last few days of our trip.  We ate delicious home-cooked food, shopped around Dublin and had some awesome girl time with Ruth and her sister.

Lunch in Dublin at Bewleys

It was bittersweet to leave such a beautiful country and the people we met, but Ruth and I couldn't help but be thankful that our dream finally came true and that everything went so well. We hope it wont be too long before we go back!

Now for some cookies.

I made these cookies specifically for this trip and they turned out so well. I love the ingredients and they make the perfect snack or healthy dessert. I was worried I didn't bring enough after Ruth and I put a dent in my stash just on the plane ride over!

Date-Sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats (processed into flour)
• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons water)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/3 cup dairy-free chocolate chips, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Whisk together 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water and set aside.
3. In a food processor, process your oats until you get flour. Pour the oat flour into a bowl and whisk in the salt, cornstarch and baking soda.
4. Chop up your dates and place them in the food processor. Process them until they begin to break down into a sticky dough. Add in the coconut oil, flax egg and vanilla extract and process until as smooth as possible.
5. Add in the dry ingredients and pulse to combine. I used my processor's dough blade for this part, but you don't have to. Remove the dough into a bowl (or just remove the processor blade) and add in the chopped chocolate chips and mix well to combine.
6. Form the dough into balls and slightly flatten them before placing them on your baking dish.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes. They will still be somewhat soft right after you remove them from the oven, but they will harden as they cool. Place them in the fridge after they've mostly cooled to help them set.
8. Store them in an airtight container for a few days or in the fridge for longer!

Eat Consciously,

Faith

8 Ingredient Coconut Cranberry Scones! {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free}

Does anyone else really miss cooking when you're traveling? Or is it just me? Yet again, Brett and I were gone this past week for a five-day work training and the whole week I kept thinking about cooking and baking. I always seemed to have a recipe swimming around in my head or a new flavor combination I wanted to try. It was killer!

The training was actually held where Brett works, which is only 25 minutes away from our house, but we still opted to stay on campus for the week. There were a lot of sessions after dinner and the days started early, so we figured it would be nice to not have to drive back and forth each day.  

Brett's office is right by a lake and it's actually where a KOA campground is located. We were blessed to be able to stay in "Deluxe Cabin #1" for the week which was right on the lake. We had a porch with a swing where we could enjoy the sunrise in the mornings and the cool breeze at night. One morning we even took two kayaks out to watch the sun rise on the water. The cabin itself was great too. The "master" bed was pretty small, so Brett ended up sleeping on the futon in the main room while I had the bed to myself. We like our space when we sleep.

Even though I wasn't able to experiment in the kitchen all week, I was blessed with some amazing vegan goodies. The hospitality team that cooked all of our meal for us was so sweet. One girl on the team is around my age and is vegan too, so she baked me special, vegan desserts! She made some amazing almond butter snicker doodle cookies, no-bake cookies and brownies. I definitely ate more sugar than I have in a while! Everything was delicious, which just added to my desire to experiment in the kitchen even more. 

The training finished up on Friday afternoon and I'll admit that by Friday evening I had already whipped up these Coconut Cranberry Scones as well as some Curry Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas for one of my new favorite salads. I had been thinking about making scones using coconut oil and coconut milk all week and I'm so happy with how these turned out. They're moist and flaky, easy to make and only require 8 ingredients. They're even refined sugar free!

Here's a list of some of the goodness that you'll find in these scones:

Coconut Oil

Ground Flaxseed

Craisins

Agave Nectar

Gluten-Free Flour

Coconut Cranberry Scones

(Serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups gluten-free flour (I used Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Baking Flour)
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/4 cup light coconut milk (from a can or carton)
• 3-4 tablespoons agave nectar
• 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons water)
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• Optional: 1 tablespoon coarse sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a bowl prepare your flax egg by whisking 1 tablespoons of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water. Set aside to thicken.
3. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Using two knives or a pastry cutter, cut in the coconut oil until there are no clumps larger than pea size. 
5. Add the coconut milk and agave nectar to your flax egg and stir to combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
6. Fold in the craisins.
7. Place the dough in the middle of your baking sheet and use your hand to flatten it into a circle about 1 1/2 inches high. Cut the dough into 6-8 equal wedges, but keep the dough together in a circle.
8. If using the coarse sugar, sprinkle 1 tablespoon on top of the wedges and gently press it into the dough so they don't rub off.
9. Bake for 17-20 minutes until the scones are cooked through and the bottom is golden.
10. Eat warm or store in an airtight container for a few days.