Vegan Lemon Bars

Hey, Hey, Hey! It’s been a minute and I know I made a promise to do better with blogging. Forgive me! .*Gives virtual air hug 6 ft away*. So, I bet you are cooped up at home and eating up everything in sight??…ME TOO! Thank God for breastfeeding.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I made some yummy vegan lemon bars that were gone in just 2 days. Now, this dessert is not healthy..but right now, while we are all quarantined in our homes..anxiously crossing our fingers for better days… take a BITE of the super sweet, tangy lemon bar. (FYI I personally cut the sugar amount in half and it was still super sweet. Do as you wish. The original recipe is still posted below) I will no longer promise I will be constantly posting recipes on time. Though I am at home- the introvert in me is in heaven, loving all the quality time I am having with my husband and baby girl. The world has slowed down and I have been able to work from home, meditate, pray, drink ( haha) and goof off with my best friend.

Stay Safe, Wash your Hands, and your Butt.

Recipe by NoraCooks.com

Shortbread crust:

1/2 cup vegan butter, melted
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Lemon filling:

3/4 cup lemon juice from about 4 large lemons
optional: 2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups full fat coconut milk, using mostly the white part
6 tablespoons cornstarch
tiny pinch of turmeric, optional for color (1/8th teaspoon)

For serving:

powdered sugar, for dusting the tops

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8 by 8 inch pan with parchment paper, leaving a little overhang for easy removal.
Make the crust: In a medium bowl, add the mix together the melted vegan butter, sugar and salt. Add the flour and stir until combined. The dough will be thick. Press it into the pan with your hands, evenly and firmly. Bake for 16-18 minutes until the edges are very lightly browned. Set aside.
Make the filling: In a medium saucepan, add the lemon juice, lemon zest if using for even more lemon flavor, sugar, coconut milk and cornstarch + tiny pinch of turmeric for color, if desired. Whisk well to dissolve the cornstarch. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens. (see photos in post above for reference)
Spread the filling over the crust evenly, using a spatula if needed to smooth. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes. Transfer to the refrigerator for an additional 1-2 hours, or overnight, until set.
Lift the bars out of the pan with the parchment paper, dust generously with powdered sugar and cut into 16 squares.
Leftover bars will keep for up to 1 week in a covered container in the refrigerator. They freeze well, too. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

For gluten free vegan lemon bars, use an all purpose gluten free flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Serving: 1serving Calories: 203kcal Carbohydrates: 32g Protein: 1g F

The 2020 Naturally Green Challenge!- ( I did it for my edges!)

Happy New Year!

I know, I know…its been way too long! And if you follow my Instagram or facebook- you are aware that we are near the end of our 2020 NATURALLY GREEN CHALLENGE!

Originally, I planned to have this blog posted at the beginning of our challenge so I could bring about a bigger audience but SO much has happened! I have a new job and even though it is a blessing, like every new job, it takes a few months to really find your groove and get comfortable.

Gabrielle is 6 months now! She is talking ( she says dada of course lol) and she crawls and eats real food. She is so much fun and I love her dearly. When I am not juggling motherhood and work, I still try to manage to be the wife my husband fell in love with. Making time to love on one another can be challenging but it’s so necessary and needed. Then the remaining 3% of me that is left is either spent hanging out with friends, working out or having self care me time… and this blog is self care to me!!

I will do better and my goal is to post every Friday/Saturday or every other week!

The Challenge: We have 2 days left of the 2020 Naturally Green Challenge, but you can still hop on board and create your own timeline. The rules are: For 30 days you are to include one GREEN Vegan Meal a day. I say green because its very easy to eat a meal (for me anyway) that is Vegan. However, it is not as easy to add fresh green produce in it. Green veggies don’t get the kind of praise they need. They are packed with Vitamin A and C. A great source of potassium and fiber and they are low cal! Which means, eat up sis, they won’t make you fat! I encouraged all participants to take a picture and hashtag #naturallygreenchallenge. I encouraged others to write out there goals. Whether it was to lose weight, to cook more, to be healthier..anything.

I wanted the challenge for my edges…. Yes my hair edges. My hair went through post partum shedding and if you are a mom you may be familiar with post partum shedding. One minute your luscious hair is down your back and then three months later, you look in the mirror and your edges are BALD! I couldn’t believe it. My stylist said this was normal but I need to add more greens and vitamins- of course, my know -it- all self told her “ Im a nutritionist, I know what to do”. But really… I had no clue. I eat healthy right? So I assumed but in reality- I ate a ton of processed vegan food! Which is vegan but NOT HEALTHY! Anyway, I managed to style my hair in a way no one could see them and kept my day consumed with eating healthier for REAL and drinking water. I wanted others to join in because I knew people were looking to achieve healthy goals in 2020 and it’s so easy to achieve them in a group.

Anyway, take the challenge. Find your own goals. And follow my food page: naturally.cocoa for more help with eating greens and new meals. Have fun and see yall soon.

Vegan Pecan Pie

Its holiday season folks! Bring on the cheesey music , games and laughter. But let’s not forget the pie! My instagram family voted for pie as a dessert to make and I couldn’t have been more happier. This Pecan Pie is so easy to make and so good— it’s a must for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The special ingredient…coconut milk brings a nice surprise to the flavor. Check it out and let me know your thoughts.

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoon vegan butter (I like Miyokos)
1 and 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 cup unsweetened full-fat coconut milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 prepared pie crust

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350°F then parbake your prepared pie crust for 7 minutes. Set it aside to cool. In a measuring cup, combine the coconut milk and cornstarch then whisk until smooth.

In a saucepan, melt the vegan butter over medium heat. Add the pecans and toast in the pan for about 30 seconds while stirring continuously. Pour in the maple syrup, coconut sugar, coconut milk mixture, vanilla and salt. Whisk until smooth.

Remove from heat then pour the mixture in the pie crust until filled to about 1/4-inch of the top of the crust. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until filling appears mostly firm when you gently jiggle it. Cool on the counter for 2-3 hours then cover and store in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, ideally overnight. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least an hour before serving. If it’s too cold then it will be firm but serving it at room temperature makes for the perfect texture.

Photos

Vegandale Food Festival

Hey yall- I lovvveee festivals. Margarita festivals, Caribbean festivals, food festivals— >> especially Vegan Food Festivals. Although I am not complete 100% Vegan, I am aware of the wonderful benefits behind the lifestyle! You’re helping the environment, the animals, your health..but no one told me about the really great food festivals in this benefits package. Vegandale Food Festival makes its way to several big cities throughout the year and when it made its stop in Houston on Saturday, I knew I had to check it out.

A few of the vendors I was already familiar with such as:

Agape Juices
Cinnaholic
Soul Food Vegan

However, they have 25+ vendors and I wanted to explore. Our first stop was Pythagoras conscious food philosophy. We stopped and grabbed a pizza. The wait was a bit much but that is a good thing for business. The pizza was very yummy. The pepperoni taste like the real deal and they warmed each personal pizza in the small oven. While waiting on pizza, I slid to the booth next to us called Cascabel. They had tacos with the original fixings of jackfruit and soy crumble. To me…I could make these same tacos at home BUT the sauces they had gave it a good punch. Hubs loved the spicy red sauce on one taco and that sold me as well.

We washed everything down with a Dragon Moon Punch from Pythagoras Conscious Food Philosophy. The punch was $4 but it wasn’t much in the cup. I was handed a open cup of roughly 6 oz. Tony and I gulped it down in 2 seconds, disappointed we didn’t have more juice. But that’s apart of the healthy food world. Food is pricey. So we went to what we knew, which was Agape Juices. We received a 16 oz. (edit original) for about $8 of freshly pressed juice. Pricey as well but its black owned so we let it go lol. I received a sunshine drink made of oranges, turmeric and ginger. Very tasty. It wasn’t sweet but I figured since oranges aren’t in season this was the reason. Tangy with spice. Loved.

Next we made our way through the crowd with our baby stroller to another booth. Side note: Next time I would suggest they chose a larger park. The Sam Houston Park was packed and it was a struggle going through certain areas. Maybe they didn’t anticipate the high turnout but I think Discovery Green might have been a better location. Tony went to a booth that advertised vegan crab cakes po boy. I stayed in a line that advertised vegan buffalo chicken sandwich. This booth was called Snackrilege and I’ll admit I was nervous going up there. Looked a bit demonic with the symbols and horns as such. BUT Never judge a book or booth in this situation, by its cover. Everyone was so nice and friendly. And the sandwich—literally >>>the BEST FOOD ITEM I HAD ALL DAY. Hands down- they won! The texture of the meat substitute was great. It didn’t leave an aftertaste like some products I have discovered. They also had great buffalo sauce but the star of the sandwich is the “blue cheese” dressing. Its mixed with shredded cabbage or slaw and it was out of this world. So amazing. It sucks they aren’t located in Houston. They are all over Cali and of course, Austin. Hubs swore that he would go back the next time he has an audition in Austin for them. He even followed them on social media. Yup it was that good.

Last but not least, we needed something sweet. I heard great things about the donuts booth towards the front but Tony really wanted the ice cream. We had to choose since our little one was with us and I knew she would be getting fussy pretty soon. We went for the ice cream. Eggloo company (based in New York) had a long line for their waffle cone and ice cream. Tony ordered cookies and dream but they were out of that ice cream so we had to sub it with vanilla. I got the strawberry. The line was super long but we made friends with the people in front and behind us. The friendly couple behind us offered a mozzarella stick from another long vendor line and we greatly appreciated it. Tony and I split the stick. Though there was clearly no pull, leaving the hot stick in your mouth gave a pleasing taste. Very yummy. I was impressed but not enough to get in line. After we got our dessert orders we sat on the bench and finished it off. The waffles were soft which is a plus because I hate hard shelled waffle cones (which is everywhere). The ice cream was good. I wasn’t super impressed by the ice cream. Ben and Jerry’s makes an amazing dairy free line that has made my taste buds spoiled so now I am a snob when it comes to vegan ice cream.

After we ate we made our way home. Our 3 month old received many compliments and honestly she was such a good baby there. Once home, the Howard family collapsed from food comma. Can’t wait for the next vegan festival!

Halloween Caramel Candy Apples

Halloween is one of my fave times of the year! Between the costumes and scary treats, its a great time to let your creativity rise. Even though this year Tony and I did not dress up ( we were a pb and j sandwich last year…which is around the same time we created baby girl lol), I still wanted to have some fun with the treats. This is a great recipe to use in the kitchen with children. It’s also pretty healthy since we created the caramel sauce with medjool dates. Try it and let your taste buds soar!

Medjool Date Caramel Apples

Prep Time15 mins

Total Time15 mins

The easiest way to make caramel apples ever! No candy thermometers, no working with hot liquid sugar. This is a safe, easy, and HEALTHY way to make a caramel apple. Vegan, dairy free, no bake. Course: DessertCuisine: American, Canadian

Servings: large caramel applesCalories: 386 kcal

Author: Sam Turnbull • It Doesn’t Taste Like ChickenIngredients

16 Natural Delights Medjool Dates, pits removed
1/4 cup non-dairy milk, (such as soy or almond)
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 1/2 tablespoons peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 granny smith apples

Additional toppings (optional):

Chopped peanuts
Coconut flakes
Mini vegan chocolate chips
Sprinkles
Melted vegan chocolate
Vegan candies
Melted vegan chocolate

US Customary – MetricInstructions

Add the pitted dates to a food processor or blender along with the non-dairy milk, melted coconut oil, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. Blend well, stopping to scrape down the sides often until you reach a smooth caramel. It will be thick and sticky, so it might take awhile and lots of stopping to scrape the sides before everything is blended well.
Push a stick into the center of each apples to create a handle. Use a spatula to evenly spread a thick layer of caramel over the apples. If you don’t want any toppings, you can smooth the caramel down by wetting your fingers and lightly rubbing away any bumps. This is just for look and is optional. If you want to use toppings, you can skip that step and just roll the caramel apples into toppings of choice. Drizzle melted chocolate on top for extra glam.
Put the apples on a tray and chill them in the fridge for an hour. The caramel will firm up, and if you used melted chocolate, it will set. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 386kcal For decoration I added candy eyes, which took this treat right to the Halloween Level.

Vegan Bacon Mac N Cheese

Really? A dish like this actually exist?! Heck yeah it does, and it’s pretty easy too. Now I will admit, while creating this dish I noticed some things that needed to be fixed. I should have soaked the cashews or just throw away my cheapo ways and get a LEGIT blender- to make the dish prettier. Also, I could use a dehydrator, which would have made my vegan bacon crispier. REGARDLESS, when I tell you its the cheesiest mac ever- I am not exaggerating. Try it out and let me know your thoughts!

Vegan Bacon Mac N Cheese

Author: Veronica Howard

Servings: 10

Ingredients:

½ cup of fresh water

2 cups of Viola Mozzarella Cheese (Vegan)

1 cup of Daiya Cheddar Shredds (Vegan)

½ stick of Earth Balance Butter

½ cup of flour

1/2 cup of Almond Milk (or any Dairy Free milk you prefer)

2 packages of mushrooms ( any you prefer)

2 tbsp of Liquid Smoke

4 dashes of Soy Sauce

1 package of noodles

Shake of Salt

Shake of Pepper

Shake of Slap ya Momma

Instructions:

Make noodles according to package, set aside when complete.

Soak your raw cashews for 3 hours or longer (for smooth cheese). Add water and blend in blender.

Add nutritional yeast, garlic, and lemon juice with the cheese as well and blend.

In stove pot, add butter, milk and flour and stir slowly on low heat. Add Vegan Shredded cheeses in the pot. Stir for 3 minutes. Add cashew cheese into stove pot and stir on low.

Mix noodles with cheese. Top with leftover Vegan Shredded Cheese.

For Vegan Bacon:

Pre-heat oven at 400 F

Slice mushrooms into very small, thin slices. In a bowl add liquid smoke, salt, pepper and soy sauce together. Add mushrooms. Let marinate for 15 minutes.

Place mushrooms on pan. Make sure they are not touching each other and spread out evenly. Put in oven for 25-30 minutes.

Sprinkle on macaroni when completed. Add Salt, Pepper and Slap ya Mamma seasoning at the top.

Spicy Taco Bites

Hey yall! It’s been a minute. If you follow me on Instagram ( Vmarie725) you know I have quite a few recipes that need to be posted on the blog. I promise I am working on that! I have been momm-ing a little hard core now because I have one more week of maternity leave and if you are a mom, you know it’s tough to let go!

Anyway, here are the yummy spicy taco bites recipe that is made by yours truly! Try it and let me know if you like it.

Author: Veronica Howard

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Serving: 10 cups

Ingredients:

1 package of vegan meat crumbles. I used Morning Star Chorizo Crumbles with this recipe
10 flour tortillas
½ tsp of olive oil
1 cup of raw cashews
3 tbsp of chopped garlic
¼ cup of white onion
½ cup of nutritional yeast
2 tbsp of lemon juice
½ cup of pico de gallo ( I purchased fresh package from HEB)
Several dashes of Slap ya Mamma
3 slices of jalapeno
A squirt of siracha
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup of water

Instructions:

For Cashew cheese-

Soak cashews in a container of water for at least an hour for smooth consistency in blender. You can also add the cashews with hot water in the blender but fyi- it wont be as smooth
Take cashews out of water and put in blender with garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and fresh water (makes a difference instead of keeping the soaking water in blender)
Blend for several minutes until smooth consistency
Toss in jalapeno slices, siracha and salt and pepper

For Tortilla Cups-

Set oven at Broiling Stage
Take all 10 tortillas and stack them in one pile
Cut all sides until it looks like a square
Place square tortillas in a muffin pan cup
Push the middle of tortilla down very gently
Leave in oven for 15 minutes or until a light browning of the tortilla appears. The tortilla cups are meant to be crunchy

Filling-

Warm olive oil in pan and add onions
Put Morning Star Crumbles in pan and follow cooking directions on package

Once tortilla cups are finished in the oven, begin layering the crumbles, cashew cheese and pico de gallo. Season with Slap ya Mama Seasoning. Enjoy! Optional: vegan sour cream, cilantro

Mind.Body.Baby, part 2

Welcome back! This is the second part of the series Mind. Body. And Baby and in this segment, I will be discussing my pregnancy- the highs and lows. So I did it! I got pregnant. And you would think that I would settle down and get fat and happy. No… in all honesty, between work and my own personal life, I felt like demons were trying to bring me down. Being pregnant in the summer leaves you with little patience for ANY B.S. Hormones are raging, you no longer fit any clothes and people want to try you.

I went through prenatal depression. It’s similar to postpartum but you get it while you are pregnant. So many feelings…all at once. Until you feel a child move around you, you are scared. Or at least I was. For some reason, some family and friends enjoyed telling me horror stories they have heard about labor and miscarriage. FYI that is selfish to put your fears on a pregnant woman. Keep them to yourself and only bring about encouragement and love!!!!!!!!!

My heart rate was REALLY high as well. Primarily due to my asthma medicine but medicine + anxiety = 135 beats per minute which is insane. I wasn’t gaining as much weight as I should either. I kept eating and eating and it never stuck on me. Meanwhile, I was also puking every other day but not much to keep my weight low. I continued to eat pretty healthy which was the BEST thing for me. No coffee and liquor, kept my already anxious nerves, subdued (the best it could anyway).

Exercising saved me too. Although I couldn’t do much at the gym- that little bit helped my body, mind and spirit. Those endorphins are really amazing and whenever I felt super lost- the treadmill was my answer. I received a few stares but for the most part, people minded their business and I was able to get my relaxation in my own “sanctuary”.

“Your cervix is still closed”- was pretty much the repeated line my doctor gave me. So after a tearful breakdown of a change in plans- we scheduled baby girl’s delivery for a few days later. I went to work on my due date- which now that I think of it, worst plan ever. As I proceeded to curse out a few people that day, my personal angel pulled me away and I left work early.

My big day was amazing and my little one came without any complications. Recovery was a breeze but Breastfeeding was a nightmare….. TO BE CONTINUED

What is your motivation?

Healthy is in. It is the flashing topic in today’s society and yet Americans are still extremely overweight. In my profession, I am used to hearing people push back on their healthy goals with me.

Here are a few memorable quotes:

“This scale is broken.”
“I just ate- that must be why the scale’s numbers are off because at home I have a different weight”.
“No, we do not snack throughout the day – I don’t allow it”

I’ve even had someone plead with me that all of their lab work is wrong .

Yet they still come back.

They still believe that they can do the work. And a lot of them can. The first few weeks or even first few months are a breeze. Weight starts to drop. You get compliments non- stop. Hell, you start buying new clothes and giving people advice. Then temptation comes into play… you have a cheat meal. No biggie, you make it up by working out 20 minutes longer than normal…then you miss gym day. It’s okay, I’ll make it up next week… . Next week never shows and then you’re stuck wondering if it even matters because you’re meant to be sick. The main culprit everyone tells me “GENETICS”.

I have heard the word genetics be thrown into every health case possible… so…how does one stay motivated to remain healthy? Why do they keep coming back?

Sometimes it takes a few months or even a few years for patients/clients to return. However, I was curious as to what keeps people motivated to remain healthy? I asked various friends and family from different generations, on what motivates them. The people I selected are those who I see always working to maintain good health. Whether it’s through eating, working out or both- they have all lasted their healthy living journey longer than a year. And now it’s a lifestyle. Below are some of the stories:

“Healthy shits motivate me. With a healthy diet it’s so much more satisfying to number 2”
“I want to live as healthy of a lifestyle as I can so that I can remain active well into old age. I want to be able to do adventurous activities with my kids and their kids”
“The energy it gives me in the day to day life of having so much to do. My workouts are better when I put the right things in my body”
“ We are living longer, but good health is key to enjoying longevity instead of waiting to die”
“I desire to live my best life.”

So clearly, everyone feels so good when they are healthy but- why is it so hard?! That’s another topic I’ll dive in at another time..’

Anyway my goal for this post is for you to evaluate your goals & motivation. I’m not perfect and I must reevaluate my own health journey from time to time. Write down your short term goals in sticky notes and post them on the mirror. I do this and I promise you, it helps!

Being required to look at them everyday- sends you a reminder. Have a friend hold you accountable for your short term goals. Make sure they call you at certain points in the day (EVERYDAY) and be honest with them. Last but not least.. Keep going!

Vegan Crab Rangoon

First off— this appetizer is officially on my top 5. I’ve always loved the original crab Rangoon so I had strong doubts that a VEGAN version would satisfy my mature pallet ( insert sarcasm).
Bruhhh….
Amazing! Loved it and it taste exactly the same as the original recipe. My tastebuds exploded with this creamy cheesey crunchy goodness.
And it def didn’t hurt that when i tagged the author, Ashley from Eat Figs not Pigs- gave me praises in recreating her dish. Meanwhile, my husband, whom every other day vows to eat less, threw half of them in his mouth (Ashley was so amused she added the video of him eating it onto her instastory).
No leftovers again. Check out the recipe below + let me know your thoughts

VEGAN CRAB RANGOON

PREP TIME30 mins

COOK TIME15 mins

TOTAL TIME45 mins

Wontons are filled with a delicious and creamy imitation crab rangoon filling, then deep fried to a golden crisp perfection that make the perfect appetizer to share or eat all by yourself!

Author: Ashley

Recipe type: VeganCuisine: American Chinese

Serves: 18-22 wontonsI

INGREDIENTS

1 – 14.1 oz can sustainable Hearts of Palm, such as Native Forest, drained
¾ cup room temperature vegan cream cheese
2 TBS fresh chives, chopped + more for garnish
1 TBS fresh garlic, minced
½ tsp Old Bay seasoning
½ tsp vegan worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp red pepper flakes, optional
Salt and Pepper to taste
20 Vegan friendly square wonton wrappers
2 quarts Vegetable or Canola oil, for frying
Sweet chili saue, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large bowl, add the drained hearts of palm. With a potato masher or the back of a fork, mash the hearts of palm until they resemble a crab-like consistency. Add the cream cheese, chives, garlic, Old Bay, worcestershire sauce, onion powder, and red pepper flakes. Mix to combine all the ingredients thoroughly. Taste and add salt and pepper if you’d like.
Fill a small bowl with water.
Spoon about 2 teaspoons of filling into the center of the wonton wrapper. Using your fingers, lightly dip into the water and moisten the outer edges of the wont wrapper.
Bring two opposite corners of the wontons together and pinch them together. Then, bring the other two opposite corners together, making a purse shape. Seal the edges together, carefully removing any air bubbles.
Repeat this process until all the filling is gone.
Heat oil in a large pot until it reaches 350-375 degrees F.
Once the oil has reached temperature, fry the vegan crab rangoon 5 or 6 at a time, making sure not to overcrowd the pot.
Fry until they are golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack or paper towel lined plate. Repeat until all the wontons are fried.
Garnish with chopped chives and serve hot with sweet chili sauce.
ENJOY!