Hey everyone! Are you ready for Valentine's Day sweets??? I know I am! I know for me, it doesn't matter what I do for Valentine's Day as long as I get something sweet (usually chocolate) to munch on. This year I have a special recipe for you from my favorite ladies at Tone It Up. It's their Valentine's Day Cupcakes. I had to veganize them of course, and thankfully some of the vegan ladies on the Tone It Up nutrition plan were able to help. These cupcakes cut down on carbs but not on taste, so give them a try and let me know what you think. :-)
Tone It Up's Valentine's Day Cupcakes
Combine dry ingredients... 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 cup vanilla protein powder 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp sea salt 1/3 cup organic sugar 3 tbs natural stevia powder... or 6 packets of stevia natural sweetener
Add one at a time to dry mix with a whisk... 1 Tbs of ground flax plus 3 tbs of water 3 tbsp canola oil 1/2 cup soy yogurt 3 tsp vanilla extract
Frosting With a hand mixer 1 cup vegan cream cheese 2 tbs soy yogurt 2 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 cup organic powdered sugar 1/4 cup stevia powder
Hey Everyone! I hope you all are enjoying this Christmas time with your family and friends. :-) I just wanted to do a quick video to show you what I'm up to while getting ready for some Christmas cheer. I have an awesome recipe for you from The Tolerant Vegan. The delectable treat is a Cranberry Pecan Sheet Cake...oh my gosh, I'm still drooling over how delicious this dessert is! I'll leave the recipe below the video. Have a Merry Christmas Everyone!
Cranberry Pecan Sheet Cake
Cake ingredients:
3/4 cup Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread
1 1/2 cups refined sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/4 cups vanilla almond milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar (I didn't have white so I used apple cider vinegar)
2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen, chopped
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
2 tablespoons orange zest
Frosting ingredients:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup dairy-free cream cheese, softened (I used Trader Joe’s This is Not a Tub of Cream Cheese)
1/3 cup Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, mix together the Earth Balance and refined sugar on low-medium speed until combined. Stir in the applesauce, almond milk and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and flour. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on low-medium speed until fully combined. Stir in the vinegar and then gently fold in the cranberries, pecans, and orange zest. Pour the batter into a 9×13″ pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly. Allow the cake to cool completely before adding the frosting. To make the frosting, place all ingredients in a bowl and mix on low-medium speed until combined. Spread the frosting on the cake and take a big bite!
Yum Yum Cookie Dough! I heard about Eat Pastry through other vegan blogs and they raved about how delicious this vegan cookie dough is. So, I tried it and I have to agree with all of them. This cookie dough is scrumptious! My absolute favorite is the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip...drooling...it's just so yummy! I usually make cookies from scratch but sometimes you just have to take the night off!lol
Has anyone made hot chocolate yet? I made some last night to get into the Christmas spirit! I used some Almond Milk, a scoop of unsweetened cocoa, a scoop of cacao powder, cinnamon, and some maple sugar. Oh, and I added some vegan marshmallows! :-) How do you prepare your hot chocolate?
Sunday, I had the privilege of attending Urban Food Crawl's first ever Vegan Cupcake Competition. When I first heard about the event I was so psyched! I mean, who doesn't want to load up on cupcakes and vote for their favorite??? The art was amazing, the people were enthusiastic, and the cupcakes were fantastic! There were so many different sweet and delectable flavors to choose from, I could barely keep up. I tried to pace myself but that was impossible because my eyes kept darting to the next tasty treat awaiting me. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures because I was so busy stuffing my face but I did manage to get some cool video footage. Please check out the event below:
Here are the list of the Cupcake Companies from the event: Amanda's Bakery & Cafe Babycakes NYC Bake You Happy Clara's Cakes Courtesan Cupcakes Crushcakes & Cafe Jamaica's Cakes No Udder Desserts Raw Bites Sweet Alexis
Hey guys! Isabella's Cookie Company has the most amazing vegan peanut cookies I've ever tried. I've been hiding these delicious cookies from you because they usually have a limited supply at my whole foods...and I was afraid there wouldn't be any left if you found out how scrumptious these cookies are!lol But, now I've decided to cave and share with you how much you need these in your life, especially if you're a cookie lover.
Also, I'm doing another giveaway! This time it's a t-shirt that says "Go Vegan!" Check out the video for more details.
Hey Peeps! I decided to make a yummy vegan halloween treat yesterday. For those of you who love peanut butter cups, you have to try this scrumptious recipe from Alicia's Silverstone's book The Kind Diet or you can check her website the kind life. Hope you enjoy the chocolaty peanut buttery goodness!! :-)
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of joining a group of very hungry people for my very first food crawl. I didn't have much of an idea of what to expect on a food crawl other than eating a lot of food...and I was not disappointed in the food department. I first found out about this event on quarry girl's blog and after checking out urban food crawl's website, I knew that this was something I definitely needed in my life.lol
Okay, so basically Urban Food Crawl is a walking tour of some of downtown LA's vegan restaurants. We visited six different locations in the area, grubbed until our bellies were full beyond capacity, and burned off some calories with a good walk. We even got a little history about the downtown area and a few of the buildings. The tour lasted a little over three hours and at the end of it we got a huge goodie bag. :-) Jen and Shari were our amazing tour guides and they did such a great job at making everyone feel comfortable, explaining the food and giving us some history info., and answering questions to the best of their ability. There were some non-vegans on the tour and they really seemed to enjoy themselves...there were a lot of "yums" and "mmm" going on in each place...they asked questions and took a real interest in the food we were eating.
Our first stop was Two Bits Market. They serve fresh, local, and organic produce...along with deli sandwiches, and snacks. The owner was really cool and very enthusiastic about food...which I love.
Rupee Sandwich
Bean Puree with artichoke, black olives, squash, and arugula puree on a baguette.
Next up was Nickel Diner...this place is far from vegan but their stuffed avocado is AMAZING! If I had room I would have had two servings of this.
Stuffed Avocado
With Quinoa Salad - black beans, red peppers, squash, corn, and cilantro.
Pitfire Pizza has amazing pizza packed full of flavor and cheesy goodness. We started with a roasted peach salad and some bread. They served us three different pizzas and one of them had gluten free crust...Yum! I guess for some reason I was too hungry to take a picture of the third pizza but I assure you it was delicious.
Roasted peach salad.
hungry peeps!
Heirloom Tomato Pizza
Fresh local heirloom tomatoes and basil with Daiya Cheese. This was everyone's favorite.
Field Mushrooms Pizza
Crimini, Oyster, and roasted shitakes with daiya cheese. This was one good but not my favorite.
We had a pit stop at the Bradburybefore our next meal.
Mas Malo a vegan menudo restaurant with a range of classic and unique dishes.
Traditional style Mexican Menudo made with tempeh, tofu, chiles, and hominy. Veg. ground beef and pickle taco. This taco was the bomb...crunchy, a little greasy, and messy...I loved it!
Casa Cocina y Cantina is a very modern Mexican restaurant with a cool vibe and fabulous outdoor seating.
Enchiladas de Espinaas y Papas
Sauteed spinach, pan-crisped potatoes, and soy chorizo wrapped in flour tortillas with red tomatilla enchilada sauce. Served on a bed of cilantro rice.
And last but certainly not least we have Babycakes! I posted about my last trip there a little while ago and I was so glad to be back with some sweets!
Blondie Sandwich
Two chocolate chip blondies with frozen vanilla frosting.
Oh my gosh! I was so stuffed and happy by the end of this tour! If you ever want to hit up some vegan restaurants, meet some new people, or are curious about trying something different please check out Urban Food Crawl, it was such a blast!
So, this is part two of my vegan sweets adventure in New York. I visited Lula's Sweet Apothecary, a vegan ice cream parlor, which is located on the lower east side of Manhattan. I mention in my video that I believe it's the only vegan ice cream shop around the city but I've been informed that there are a few more. Lula's is deliciously decadent and divine. I had a scrumptious ice cream brownie sundae with two scoops of creamy yummyness. Check out my video below:
While visiting New York last week for my friend's wedding I had the opportunity of finally stopping by NYC's vegan bakery Babycakes. When I walked in I was immediately hit with the delicious aroma of cupcakes baking in the oven. I love sweets and this place has definitely got the goods...cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and vegan doughnuts! So excited I finally got to try a vegan doughnut...can't wait to try these again with a nice cup of coffee...Mmm. Check out my video and pics below for my full experience.
Chocolate brownie, vegan doughnut, and lemon poppy seed cake.
Chocolate crunch vegan doughnut..
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake.
Chocolate Vanilla Cupcake. I got a little hungry before I took the pic.lol
