I personally want to say a huge THANK YOU to John from Minimalist Baker who created a series of amazing videos all about setting up Foodie Pro theme from Genesis. I knew doing this on my own would be almost impossible since I am computer-illiterate but John makes it easy; it was like he was right on my computer with me saying, “Ok Jess, this is how we technology…” and with his guidance I felt empowered over every little widget, plugin and coding that I set up. Technology can also be a verb right? This just shows how un-techy I am. If you want to switch up your theme to Foodie Pro, I cannot stress it enough to check out his step-by-step guide.

There are a few other changes around S&C that I have been fiddling with over the past week and I hope that everyone is ok with. First, there are now ads on my static page. If you do see any ads that are about “diet pills” or “sexy singles in your area” or anything explicit please email me at: jessica [dot]demarra[at]gmail[dot]com. I have blocked these ads from my Google AdSense account but if you see an ad that is offensive or explicit, email me! Side note: There are no sexy singles in your area, sorry. This ad placement is just to cover the cost of my domain hosting. Blogging does have its expenses besides the food, photography, props etc. so the mere few dollars I make off the ads is not for a profit in the least. Secondly, a subscription sign-up has been added. It took me forever to figure out how to do this and now I feel silly over how easy it was. If you want to be notified about new post, just sign up on the sidebar! P.S. This also guarantees you will receive your free copy of my eBook coming out this summer!

With that technical stuff done, let’s get to the part I actually enjoy…the food!

You know what grinds my gears? Secret recipes. I loathe it when I am at a function of some sort and I try something I love but the maker of the delicious treat coyly smiles and says, “Oh it is a secret recipe.” On the outside I may say, “Oh I guess I have to eat my fill now!” but on the inside I am giving them two thumbs down and blowing a raspberry in their face. To me, recipes are meant to be shared, enjoyed and passed along to a friend who passed it along to their friend etc. I call BS on secret recipes. I personally think that the maker of the infamous secret recipe is really just doing it for attention, their teeny moment of stardom amongst the Christmas Cookie Exchange or potluck dinner. Sharing is a good thing so don’t be selfish. Instead of the title of “Oh, she makes the best cookies but it is a secret,” people will say “I got the best recipe for cookies from so and so.” See? It is still nice and I promise I won’t give you cut-eye from across the room when you aren’t looking. Just to be clear, I am not very good at party going.

I recently purchased a cookbook that a popular vegetarian restaurant published; I flipped through their pages and happened upon one of their most famous dishes. I got really excited since this restaurant is nowhere near my home but I could still enjoy their recipe. I read the notes of the recipe and it said, “This recipe is similar but not exactly the recipe we use in our restaurant. We are keeping that one a secret.” Excuse me? The rational side of me says, “Oh ok, I mean they are a business blah blah” but my irrational side was shaking my fist at the book. I was so cheesed! Damn the secret recipe!

Recipes evolve from sharing, how you change them to suit your taste or add in an extra ingredient or two to make it someone else’s favourite. I would be nowhere without people sharing recipes with me, especially with baking. I am a better cook than a baker and without shared recipes I would not know where to begin to make any sweet treat. Sharing recipes is not about “giving up something” since the recipe is still yours but you are simply allowing someone to create something that you love as well. A big thanks to those who share their recipes, without you I would be starving. 

No Bake Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough Balls {Vegan & GF}

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

20 mins

 

Quick, easy and delicious oatmeal cookies with no oven required. Kids will have a great time forming these into balls of cookie dough that they can eat right away since it does not contain any raw eggs. I found myself eating a lot of it right out of the bowl! This recipe can be made gluten free by purchasing certified gluten free oats and nut free by replacing the cashew butter with your favourite brand or homemade sun butter.

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: vegan, no bake, gluten free

Cuisine: Vegan

Serves: 15-16 balls

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats, divided (gluten free if necessary)
• 2 tablespoons raw cashew butter
• 2 tablespoons virgin coconut oil
• ¼ cup agave or pure maple syrup (I used agave)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1 tablespoon ground golden flax seed
• 3 tablespoons raisins or another dried bite-sized fruit (I used golden raisins and dried cranberries)

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a food processor, process 1.5 cups of oats until fine flour forms. Add the rest of the oats and pulse 3 times. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the cashew butter, oil, agave, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together until completely smooth. Add the oats, flax and dried fruit. Stir with a wooden spoon until completely combined. Let the mixture sit in the refrigerator for 5 minutes before forming into balls; I found the mixture to be too warm and sticky to form right away.
3. Take the mixture out of the refrigerator, measure out with a measuring tablespoon, form and continue with the remaining dough. I store the cookie dough in a sealed container in the fridge since slightly chilled cookie dough tastes amazing.

3.3.3070

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Though it has been challenging thinking of new recipes to post 4 times a week there are so many bloggers who made this experience look easy. I am sure they are hustling and sweating behind the camera like the rest of us. Well at least I hope I am not the only one with shaky caffeine hands and a kitchen that looks like a bomb went off.

These are just a few of my favourite VeganMoFo bloggers:

Fork and Beans 

She has turned the ghoulish into adorable (I mean terrifying…) vegan AND gluten-free Halloween treats for everyone to enjoy. Bravo!)

Vegetarian Snob 

LOVE the Lazy Sunday recipe idea! Especially the Tempeh Bacon Quiche, the Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls, all of them really!

Olives for Dinner

I have drooled over these recipes and amazing photography.

Popcorn and Nooch

I am glad someone loves movies and television as much as I do and then recreates it into amazing meals.

Zsu’s Vegan Pantry

Burgers for an entire month? Sign me up! Thanksgiving, Irish, Eggplant Sriracha, Gyro….the list goes on! 

To the fine creators of VeganMoFo, I applauded your hard work to build an annual vegan food-sharing community. Because of this event, I discovered sites and accounts that I fell in love with and have bookmarked to check on the regular. My hat goes off to you!

 Now why would I include a borderline dessert as a staple? This is not just your average dessert since it has protein (from the hemp hearts) and omegas (from the chia seeds). I feel it is important that every kitchen have a little something-something kept the freezer for your work/school week because it always kept me from buying (although vegan) the not-so-good for you “snack foods” out there. I would be in a store after school or work and could tell I was getting a little hangry, I just needed something to get me home but thankfully with these guys in the freezer waiting for me I could talk myself out of grabbing a chocolate bar or a bag of chips. I would think to myself “Why waste the calories/money in a treat that I don’t really want?” and put that snack down and wait until I got home. Now I pack one or two in my dinner that I take to work since I don’t get a break (ever!) but need a little boost when it is blindingly busy or when a table is particularly rude to me.

They are quick, easy and can be made in one bowl. Hooray! Oh did I mention that they are vegan, gluten free and insanely delicious, especially right out of the freezer. The roasted almond butter melts as you chew it, revealing new flavours like coconut, nutty oats, caramel-y dates and chocolate. Swoon! For this recipe I used my One-Ingredient Roasted Almond Butter (another staple!) to make these balls however I am sure any almond butter of your choice will do.

So if someone asks why a little protein-filled dessert is considered a staple, tell them to try it first and if they still don’t get it, just stop talking to them. You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life. Haha! Saw that one on Pinterest and I felt it applied.

It has been such a pleasure for me to share with you some of my favourite recipes that I make every week. Thank you all so much for the lovely comments and blog love! I am so grateful for all the readers of my site and there is plenty more coming from my kitchen after VeganMoFo has ended. Check out Tuesday’s post for the final recipe of this month long vegan food fest. I have been saving the best for last. 

Happy Sunday!

The post One Bowl Chocolate-Caramel Almond Balls {No-Bake, Vegan & Gluten-Free} appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

A lot of it was breaking habits: Mark no longer got a beer after work, skipped his morning, afternoon and mid afternoon coffee and I no longer reached for fries at work as a snack. We both are in a weird sort of daily schedule since we both attend school in the day and go straight to work at the same restaurant at night so we are gone from 7:30am and don’t return home until well after midnight. Did I mention we don’t get a break at work? This is true from all restaurants I have ever worked in so whatever we want to snack on has to be super quick.

How many super foods can you fit into an energy ball? I counted 5! 5 super foods ah ah ah! (Oh how I miss the Count from Sesame Street)  I Googled “super foods” and while it varied from resource to resource these five foods stayed fairly consistent: quinoa, chia seeds, hemp hearts, cacao (including cocoa powder) and goji berries.

I went to Pinterest (I am on there too!) and the site boasts a toooon of recipes for energy balls but a lot of them contained a serious dose of sweetener and nut butter. While I am not against these things I wanted to make a recipe that everyone could enjoy and that would give you tons of energy in a hurry. These Super Energy Balls (I thought about naming them Super Balls but Mark giggled so that was a no-go) are lightly sweetened, super chocolately and contain awesome nut-free, gluten free, oil free and refined sugar free ingredients for a little boost mid-day or at 7pm when the dinner rush is hitting you hard and you need to make a million hot waters with lemon.

Makes 20 1-tablespoon sized balls

•  1 banana
• 6 pitted Medjool dates
• ¼ cup chia seeds
• ¼ cup hulled hemp hearts
• 2 tablespoons raw cacao nibs
• 2 tablespoons goji berries
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ – ½ teaspoon kosher salt (start with ¼ and add more to suit your taste. The salt helps bring out the flavour of the cocoa)
• 1 cup puffed quinoa

In the bowl of a food processor or blender, add the banana and pitted dates and blend until well incorporated and makes a paste. Add the banana-date paste to a large bowl, add all the ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. With a 1-Tablespoon measuring spoon, measure out the mix and roll in your hands to create a ball. They may seem a little soft at first but the chia seeds will firm them up. Continue with the rest of the mixture. Makes 20 balls.

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