Berry Banana Soft-Serve

A healthy dessert! I just purchased a mini food processor (costco $30) and I wanted to try it out on a yummy treat. All I did was take a frozen banana and a small amount of frozen berries from trader joes (blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries) and a tiny amount of almond milk and blended it all in my food processor. I got a delicious soft-serve that was great for a summertime snack.

Love, Meg

Cacao, Kale and Banana Smoothie

Good Morning Everyone!!! 
Although breakfast is my favorite meal, lately i've been finding it difficult to come up with new and exciting recipes for the morning time. Luckily, I concocted this incredible green smoothie recipe! One of the main ingredients that makes it taste so unique and delicious is the raw cocoa powder. Natural, unsweetened cocoa powder is considered a superfood, contains many antioxidants, and gives you a natural source of energy! I use a brand of cocoa powder called "TerrAmazon" and I buy the "Organic Cacao Powder with Maca". "Enjoy. 


p.s: DON'T be afraid of the kale in this smoothie, you can't even taste it as a result of all the other delicious stuff in it! 


Ingredients:
1 frozen banana 
1/4 cup frozen blackberries
1/4 cup frozen mangos 
1/2 -2/4 cup organic chopped kale 
1-2 organic medjool dates (pitted)
1 tbsp of cacao powder 
1 tbsp of ground flax seed 


Directions: Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender (I recommend purchasing a vitamix). Then, simply sit down and appreciate the wholesome ingredients that you're about to consumer :) 

Sorry...it's backwards.

Love, 
Callie.

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE (ice cream/almonds/and strawberries galore)

As a vegan, it can sometimes be extremely hard to find something to satisfy an intense sweet tooth (which I definitely have). Lately, I've been trying out new dessert recipes in order to solve this dilemma. Tonight, was no exception. Over the course of the day I made, chocolate chip blondies (blogged about those in an earlier post), dark chocolate covered strawberries, almonds, and cashews, and last but not least, homemade cocoa ice cream. For the chocolate covered stuff I simply purchased a bag of 70% dark chocolate chips from Whole Foods and melted the chocolate chips in a double broiler, dipped all of the ingredients into the melted chocolate, placed the finished product on aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, and froze them for about 3 hours. The final product was fantastic! For the ice cream, I followed a recipe from "Sketch-Free-Vegan-Eating) but instead of using carob I used raw cocoa powder and substituted the stevia with 1/3 cup evaporated cane juice. The link is below.

http://sketch-freeveganeating.blogspot.com/2011/02/creamy-carob-ice-cream-w-stevia-vegan.html

All of the goodies served on top of some delicious soy vanilla ice cream from Trader Joes

My homemade cocoa ice cream with grain sweetened chocolate chips

Happiness and Gratitude, 

Callie

Urth Caffe

I went to Urth Caffe with my mom last night for dinner. This was her first time at this adorable restaurant and she proclaimed that this was the best meal she has had in a while! Everything is organic and delicious. I got the Umeboshi plum rice wrap and a green tea blended boba with almond milk. I love that they offer soy, almond, and rice milk as alternatives to cow's milk. It was such a good dinner and I can't wait to go back and try more!

love, Meg

Cafe Gratitude

Tonight, my family and I went to a new restaurant on Larchmont called "Cafe Gratitude". This restaurant is completely vegan and has raw food entrees, appetizers, and desserts as well. The decor and overall atmosphere of this restaurant was warm, trendy, exciting, organic and welcoming. I wasn't surprised that I loved this restaurant however I was surprised that my little sister, older sister, step-dad, and mom (all non-vegans) loved it as well! All of the items on the menu had a different title that read, "I am..." For example I ordered a veggie burger by the name of..."I am Magical". Eating at this restaurant was an incredibly grounding and enjoyable experience!

"I AM MAGICAL"
 Veggie Burger with a side of spicy cashew sauce

"I AM GRACEFUL"
Quinoa, Kale, Tomato, Sprouts, Brazil Nut Parmesan, and Hemp seed pesto bowl

"I AM TRANSFORMED"
Taco Plate


-CALLIE!

"I AM PURE"
Seasonal Market Salad

CHOCOLATE CHIP BLONDIES

GREETINGS WORLD!
I had a very productive and exciting day today in terms of food! I started out my morning by trying out a recipe for vegan chocolate-chip blondies from one of my favorite vegan food blogs, "Chocolate Covered Katie". Although the photos don't make this dish look like the MOST exciting treat, trust me, they were really delicious...especially when crumbled over some homemade cocoa ice cream.

The link for the recipe:
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/18/chocolate-chip-blondies-and-theyre-good-for-you/

love,
Callie!

Banana Soft Serve...For Breakfast

Good morning everybody! 
Today, I woke up a little later then usual so I wanted an energizing breakfast that would allow me to still be hungry for lunch! I decided on making a banana soft serve (place one whole frozen banana in a blender with a tbsp of nut milk of your choice) and topping it with goji berries, raw almonds, cocoa nibs, and date. 

Love,
Callie

Not Just a Vegan Cake...But a THREE LAYER VEGAN CAKE!

I woke up extra early today and decided that in between my morning green smoothie and going to the gym, I would make a cake for my graduation party tomorrow! I found the cake and frosting recipe from this recipe, (http://cupcakesandkale.blogspot.com/2011/06/vanilla-cupcakes.html). I decorated the cake using grain-sweetened chocolate chips (the brand who makes them is called Sunspire) 

Trail Mix: A Truly Beautiful Thing

Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I LOVE trail mix. Before I began my health-food/vegan journey I was a victim of store-bought trail mix. I soon realized that it would be both a money-saving and delicious decision to make my own trail mix by buying various superfoods in bulk and mixing them together. Below I have listed the ingredients used for my favorite trail mix of the moment. Making trail mix is great because you can add whatever you want in order to satisfy your unique taste buds.

Callie's Satisfying/Healthy/Delicious Trail Mix 
1. Raw Almonds

2. Goji Berries

3. Pumpkin Seeds

4. Raw Cashews

5. Sunspire Grain-Sweetened Chocolate Chips

Optional Add-Ins For Your Homemade Trail Mix
-Unsweetened shredded coconut
-dried unsweetened and unsulfured fruit
-different variety of nuts and seeds (walnuts, macadamia nuts, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, brazil nuts etc)
-cocoa nibs

Good Luck!
love, 
Callie

Vegan Mud Pie

On our senior trip, we were reminiscing about childhood memories, one including our friend Daniel's unforgettable birthday treat, mud pies. I got the idea to try and make a vegan version. A mud pie includes:
chocolate pudding
oreo cookies
gummy worms

I got vegan chocolate pudding from whole foods, newman's mint vegan 'oreos', and fruit sweetened gummy worms.
Granted, this is in no way a healthy treat, but it was fun to recreate a childhood dessert that was so good!

-Meg!

A Balanced Dinner

Hello Everyone! 
Sorry, we haven't posted anything new in a while but don't worry we're back! After a great weekend of hiking in Malibu at our senior retreat, I was ready for a hearty meal that would leave me feeling balanced and centered. I went to Gelson's and made a huge salad at their salad bar and made some organic short grain brown rice. I topped my salad with some raw almonds, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. For the brown rice, I sprinkled some olive oil, salt and pepper on top. 

-Callie!