Vegan Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
3 bananas, mashed
1/4 c. coconut oil, warm
1/2 c. applesauce
1 t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1 c. unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 c. almond meal
1/4 c. ground flax seed
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1 c. dark chocolate chips
1 1/2 c. rolled oats

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.In a large bowl mash the bananas with the oil, applesauce, vanilla, cinnamon & salt.
3. Add coconut, almond meal, flax seed, walnuts, chocolate chips and oats. Stir to combine.
4. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Vegan Banana Raspberry Baked Oatmeal

I made this for breakfast this morning. This is the before picture (not yet baked). After smelling this delicious creation for 40 minutes my family was too impatient to eat for me to get an after picture. It was one of those things that smells so good it's like torture having to wait for it to finish baking. It was so tasty we ate the whole thing! Oink!

Ingredients:
2 c. rolled oats
1/4 c. brown sugar (or other sweetener)
1 c. chopped walnuts
1 c. raspberries (fresh or frozen)
2 bananas, sliced
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1 T. vanilla
1 flax egg (1 T. ground flax + 3 T. water)
2 c. almond milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, sugar, walnuts, berries, banana, cinnamon & salt.
3. In a small bowl, combine vanilla, flax egg & almond milk.
4. Gently add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Pour into a greased casserole dish.
5. Bake for 40 minutes.

Cucumber, Tomato & Onion Salad

Thank you Paula Deen for helping me consume the large quantities of cucumbers and tomatoes from my garden! You can eat this salad immediately, or make it ahead of time.

Ingredients:
2 cucumbers, peeled & thinly sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 onion, (any sweet white variety)
2 T. fresh parsley, chopped
2 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. evoo
Salt & pepper

Grilled Veggie & Corn Salad

Here's another yummy salad from Oh She Glows. It's my favorite vegan food blog. She's pretty much my vegan hero! It's yummy the first day, and just as good as leftovers.


Salad:
3 bell peppers
2 medium zucchini, halved
2 red onions, peeled & sliced in thick rings
6 ears corn, husked
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

Dressing:
3 T. evoo
1/2 c. fresh lime juice
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 t. maple syrup
1 t. dijon mustard
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Heat your BBQ grill. While the grill is heating, prep your veggies.
2. Cook bell peppers (until blackened), zucchini, onions & corn.
3. Remove veggies from the grill as they finish cooking (it won't happen all at once). Peel the skin from the peppers. Chop everything up and toss with the black beans & dressing.

Chickpea & Tomato Salad

We made this delicious salad for lunch today from Green Lite Bites. Reminds me of a lighter version of a caprese salad, since it doesn't have all the cheese.

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 c. chopped fresh basil (about 25 leaves)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. apple cider vinegar
2 t. olive oil
1/2 T. honey
Pinch of salt

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine chickpeas, tomato & basil.
2. In a smaller bowl, make the dressing by combining the garlic, vinegars, oil, honey & salt.
3. Toss salad with dressing and let sit for at least 5 minutes.

Vegan Oil-Free Zucchini Bread

Another yummy recipe from Oh She Glows. I omitted the raisins from her original recipe. Just doesn't seem like raisins belong in zucchini bread. This bread is incredibly moist even though it has no oil. And not too sweet, just the way I like.

Ingredients:
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. chopped walnuts
1 flax egg (1 T ground flax + 3 T water, mixed and set aside for 5 min)
1 1/4 c. shredded zucchini
1 T. lemon zest
2 t. fresh lemon juice
1 T. maple syrup
1 1/4 c. almond milk (soy would work too)

Streusel Topping:
2 t. margarine
1 T. sugar
1 T. flour
1/2 t. cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix flax egg & set aside.
2. In a stand mixer, combine dry ingredients: flour, baking powder & soda, salt, cinnamon & sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients: flax egg, lemon zest & juice, maple syrup & milk.
4. Add wet to dry and mix until just incorporated. Add zucchini and walnuts and stir just a bit more.
5. Place batter in a well greased loaf pan. Combine streusel topping and sprinkle on top.
6. Bake for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

My New Favorite Sandwich

Have you ever eaten a sandwich that was so good you were sad to finish the last bite. Yeah, I made that kind of sandwich today for lunch. When I finished, I wanted another one (or at least a few more bites). I never thought that I'd love a veggie sandwich that much. In fact, I remember being a teenager and giving weird looks to the people who would order a veggie sandwich at Subway. Seemed like an oxymoron to me or something...a sandwich without meat. But here I am, more than a decade later, drooling over a meatless sandwich, and already planning on making another one tomorrow...sigh

Ingredients:
2 slices whole wheat bread, toasted
1 T. hummus
Cucumber
Tomato
Bell Pepper
Red Onion
Avocado
Alfalfa sprouts

Vegan Potstickers

     In my quest to find healthy, vegan recipes for my family, I knew that I would have to find a suitable potsticker substitute. My kids love potstickers. So much in fact, that my two-year-old can eat seven or eight in a single sitting. My five-year-old said that they were the "best he's ever had." I think his hunger helped them taste better, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.
     It is important that you follow step 4 in the directions. The secret to a potsticker that stays together, and doesn't open up while you cook it, is that the filling cannot be too wet. Too much moisture and your dumpling will fall apart before you can take a bite.

Ingredients:
2 c. grated carrot
8 oz mushrooms, cleaned & diced
1 pkg. tofu, crumbled
1 medium zucchini, grated
1 bunch green onion, sliced
8 oz. bean sprouts
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
3 T. tamari
2 T. sesame oil
1 T. canola oil
1 T. rice vinegar
1 T. agave
1/2 t. salt
1/4 c. chives, chopped

Directions:
1. Wash, chop, prep all your veggies.
2. In a large pan, heat sesame and canola oil. Add carrot & mushroom and cook for a couple minutes.
3. Next add tofu, zucchini, garlic, ginger, tamari, rice vinegar, agave & salt. Cook until tofu is warmed through.
4. Last, add bean sprouts, green onion & chive. Turn off heat and drain in a fine mesh colander.
5. Wet the edges of your potsticker wrapper with water, put a spoonful of filling in the middle and press the edges closed firmly.
6. Heat a little more canola oil in a skillet (make sure it's one with a lid) over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the potstickers and cook until one side is golden brown. Flip them over, add a few drops of water (literally just a few drops or they'll be soggy), and cover with a lid and steam until the other side is brown too.

Vegan Apple Pie Pancakes

I'm always looking for good new breakfast recipes. It's my kids favorite meal of the day. After my husband tasted these pancakes his exact words were, "Mmmm, these are blog worthy!" I think you'll agree.

Ingredients:
2 c. flour (whole wheat, spelt, kamut, white, oat, whatever you want!)
2/3 c. rolled oats
1/4 c. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1 T. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1 t. vanilla
2 c. soy milk (almond would also work)
4 c. apples, peeled & diced

Directions:
1. Combine the dry ingredients.
2. Add the soy milk, vanilla & apples.
3. Stir until just combined.
4. Cook on a hot griddle or pan. Serve with maple syrup.

Strawberry Banana Ice Cream

I made this yummy (not to mention healthy) ice cream for some friends a few nights ago. It was so much better than the plain banana version I've seen going around Pinterest. I tripled the recipe to feed 5 adults and 4 kids. The recipe came from The Primal Home.

Ingredients:
1 banana, sliced & frozen
1 handful of frozen strawberries
2+ T. Coconut milk
1 t. vanilla

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Keep adding coconut milk until it starts to blend well and come together. Add one tablespoon at a time, being careful not to add too much.

Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:
3 bananas, mashed
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/4 c. ground flaxseed
2 c. oats
1/4 c. almond milk
1/2 c. raisins
1 t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients together and drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Superfood Kale Salad

I used to hate kale. I mean really despise it, especially raw. Maybe it's the fact that growing up, my mom would make her dreaded "green juice" which was comprised mostly of kale. I prefer to eat my leafy greens, not drink them, thank you. As of late, I've discovered that I actually like kale. It reminds me of broccoli but in a leafy, rabbit food sort of way. I used the Light Tahini Dressing from Oh She Glows, and changed up the ingredient list a little. If you are a fellow kale hater, try this out and see what you think...

Salad:
1 small head kale
1 cucumber
1 c. cherry tomatoes
1/4 red onion
2 carrots
1 red bell pepper
1 avocado
1 c. fresh peas
1/4 c. raisins
1/4 c. goji berries
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/4 c. sunflower seeds
1 c. cooked spelt berries
1/4 c. fresh parsley

Dressing:
1/4 c. tahini
3 cloves garlic
1/2 c. fresh lemon juice
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
4 T. evoo
1 t. kosher salt
1/4 t. black pepper
3 T. water

Directions:
1. Wash, peel, chop all your veggies.
2. Combine all the salad ingredients (except avocado) in a large bowl.
3. In a food processor, blend all ingredients for dressing until smooth.
4. Toss salad in dressing until well coated. Add avocado and gently toss again.

**Makes 6 servings. 458 calories/serving**

Just for fun, let's see some nutritional highlights for one serving of this salad, shall we? I've only posted the values over 100%, it has lots of other good stuff too.

Vitamin A                                324.8%
Vitamin B-6                             185.8%
Vitamin C                                200.4%
Niacin                                      108.6%
Thiamin                                   236.9%
Potassium                                876 mg

Greek Yogurt Pancakes

Fluffy, melt in your mouth pancakes! These are in fierce competition for my favorite pancake recipe. They are delicious cooked with some chopped fruit mixed into the batter too!

Ingredients:
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 T. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 c. greek yogurt
1 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla

Directions:
1. Combine dry ingredients: flours, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, sugar & salt.
2. In a separate bowl combine wet ingredients: yogurt, buttermilk, eggs & vanilla.
3. Cook on a hot griddle and try not to eat the whole batch. They are seriously that good!