Can you believe that this month has gone by so fast? Tomorrow it is going to be October!? Say what? In 12 days it will be Thanksgiving?! No way. 

This is my second time participating in Vegan MoFo and this year has been the best! I loved e-meeting all the new faces and have looked forward to seeing what everyone brought to the table each day. Vegan MoFo is a great blogging community event and we all owe its creators and monitors a huge thank you.

You may have noticed I did not do all 30 recipes like I said I would on Day 1. Sometimes goals need to change when they aren’t going according to plan. I found myself wasting food, the ultimate sin in my opinion, since I was creating something new almost everyday. 30 recipes in 30 days is just too much for Mark and I to eat ourselves. But I will discuss more on food waste in a later post…. For now, it is all about celebrating the end of another year of Vegan MoFo! I wanted to share some recipes that caught my eye over the month. I use to think blogging was some sort of competition but it about coming together to make something amazing. I said it in my Day 13 post, without other bloggers I probably wouldn’t even have a blog!  Here are some posts from other bloggers that I think you will enjoy:

Summer Farewell Peach Pizza from Plant Crush

Golden Avocado Toast with Spicy Kimchi Sauce by Spabettie 

California Quinoa Rolls from Rock My Vegan Socks

Caramel Apple Buckwheat Brownies from Kelli’s Vegan Kitchen

Lentil, Tomato, & Basil Brushetta from Vegan Chow Down

Vegan Malt Shop Burgers and Shakes from House Vegan

Marinated Eggpland Sandwich by Seitan is my Motor

We Got the Beet Bloody Mary by Vegan Crunk

If I haven’t made it to your site over the month, leave your link below in the comments! I will be so happy to check them out. In the meantime, I will be deep cleaning my disorganized kitchen, snuggling my cat, and recipe testing like a crazy person for Thanksgiving. Not all at the same time of course. 

Here are some of my new favs that I have created over the month:

Day 3: Savoury Za’atar Socca 

Day 7: The Big Kahuna Burger

Day 8: Chocolate Hazelnut Torte featured on Tofu for Thought Day 10: Peach Millet Salad with Blueberry Vinaigrette I hope everyone had an enjoyable, but probably chaotic time, with Vegan MoFo. If you are a new blogger and wanted to sign up next year but feel you are too new or too shy, my advice: just do it! It is a positive community and you are always more than welcome. 

Until next year MoFo….

Stay connected on the daily by following me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.  Made a recipe from this post? I would love to see it! Use the hashtag #screcipe on your social media. 

Matcha Mango Chia Seed Pudding

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

Chia seeds are packed with fibre, protein, and omegas so why not enjoy them in a dessert-like snack? This recipe is inspired by the ice cream you get after a sushi dinner. The sweet mango and grassy green tea are quite the pair! The total time does not include the chill time. This recipe is vegan, gluten free, grain free, soy free, and mostly raw.

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: snack

Cuisine: vegan, gluten free

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• ½- 1 teaspoon matcha green tea powder (start with ½ and add more to taste)
• 3 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1 ripe mango, peeled and cubed

Instructions

1. In a blender, blend the milk, syrup, and matcha powder until combined. Put the blender on your lowest setting and slowly add the chia seeds. You don't want to pulverize the seeds but I find it is easiest to mix them in a blender.
2. Transfer to a glass container and set in the fridge until the chia seeds plump up, about 1 hour. You want to stir this occasionally so they don't clump together. You can leave this mixture overnight and give it a good stir in the morning. If the mixture is too thick for your liking, add a splash of almond milk and stir.
3. Layer with mango and serve!

3.3.3077

The post Day 30 Vegan MoFo: Matcha Mango Chia Seed Pudding appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Chia seeds are considered a super food since these seeds pack a serious nutritional punch. For every ounce of chia seeds, you get 11 grams of fibre to keep your tummy happy, keeps your brain healthy with all those all important Omega-3 fatty acids and has 4.4 grams of protein. This heart-healthy seed is so beneficial to your body and a great staple in any diet. I constantly keep chia seeds in my pantry and add it to mostly smoothies, breakfast pudding and if I am in a crazy rush I even add it to my water bottle with a bit of lemon juice or this drink. Chia seed pudding is great to layer in a Mason jar with frozen fruit and topped with some raw buckwheat grouts and refrigerate until you are ready to go. Since chia seeds are a tad on the pricey side, I usually make a little pudding parfait for breakfast verses just straight up chia pudding.

I tried making blended carob pudding with banana as the sweetener but turns out I am not a fan of carob. It looks like chocolate but certainly does not taste like it. Scratch that ingredient off my pantry stock list. I just like chocolate too much to try to replace it with anything else. However, carob is good for those people who may be sensitive to or avoiding caffeine since it is naturally caffeine-free. 

Mark who is indifferent to chocolate, say what??, asked me to make him a non-chocolate version. First thing first, do not blend a non-chocolate (or any dark coloured) pudding since it turns into a grey mess. Ok now that we have established that we can go to the recipe. Other than chocolate desserts, lemon is my second favourite flavour, especially the creaminess of lemon bars. This recipe can be made without the soaked cashews but they do add a lot of creaminess to this pudding so I highly recommend it.

I had this snack with frozen blueberries on top before my first ballet class! It kept me feeling energized and light, ready to take on all the French dance moves and positions. Turns out you can sweat a LOT by just bending and stretching. I thought I was the worst one in the class but every woman in the change room of the studio also made the same remark about their performance. It was the very first class ever and apparently we thought we would all be professional ballerinas after a mere hour and a half class? If only it were that simple. I had a great time and felt really accomplished that I pushed myself out of my comfort zone. I am very much looking forward to next week’s class. Special thanks to my mother who purchased the class for me as a birthday present (as well as the beautiful bracelet that I am wearing in my A Champagne Birthday photo shoot by Holly Bowman.)

 Anything you want to try out? Something that maybe you tried once before but gave up? Perhaps a class you always felt too embarrassed to take? What would it take for you to push yourself out of your comfort zone and really give it your all? Leave any comments or positive messages to other readers below! Or your own story on overcoming your fear of looking silly and really immersed yourself in your passion.

The post Raspberry-Lemon Chia Seed Pudding appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.