There is something special about a season changing; when the green leaves start to turn bright colours, ice cold glasses of fizzy kombucha turn into mugs of steamy tea, and we all get cozy in our thick knit sweaters. I hate to see Summer end but I love when Fall begins. The farmer’s market changes from berries, peaches, and corn to squash, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes. I no longer fear of turning on my oven and welcome roasted vegetables.

When I think of Autumn, I think of pumpkins. I don’t love roasted pumpkin so I usually stick to the canned version to make dessert or lattes. Raw canned pumpkin reminds me of baby food but when cooked in a recipe with lots of spices, it turns into a favourite. What else is my favourite? Chocolate.

Brownies may not seem like an Autumn Equinox recipe but when paired with pumpkin and warm spices, it gives me reason to celebrate shorter days and cooler weather. Mark, who claims not to love chocolate or pumpkin, loves these brownies. They are rich, fudge, and spiced with seasonal favourites. What isn’t to love about that?

What are your favourite Autumn eats?

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Gluten Free Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Brownies

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

36 mins

Total time

51 mins

 

Fall and baked goods go hand in hand. Perhaps because we no longer fear turning on our ovens now that it has cooled down. I love the mixture of chocolate and pumpkin spice, the spices enhance the chocolate taste. These guys are rich, warming, and crazy good. The total time does not include the cooling time and I know it is hard, but don't be tempted to take them out of the pan until they are fully cooled. I promise it is worth the wait! This recipe is vegan, gluten free, and soy free.

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten Free

Serves: 12-16

Ingredients

• 3 ounces vegan dark chocolate, chopped
• 5 tablespoons coconut oil + more for greasing the pan
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla
• 1½ tablespoons ground flax seed + 4 tablespoons warm water
• ⅓ cup + 2 tablespoons pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 cup organic cane sugar
• ¾ cup Bob Mill's 1:1 GF Flour Blend
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice blend
• 1 cup raw nuts (I used a mixture of pecan and almond), ground into a course nut flour

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8×8 inch pan with coconut oil. Create a sling using two pieces of parchment paper placed perpendicular to each other in the pan. Set aside.
2. In a non-reactive bowl, add the chopped chocolate and set over a pot with a few inches of simmering water. Melt the chocolate until almost all the chocolate is completely melted. Add the coconut oil, cocoa, and vanilla. Stir until completely smooth and mixed. Set aside to cool.
3. Meanwhile, add the ground flax seed and water together in a large bowl, mix, and side aside until it becomes gel-like. Add the pumpkin puree to the flax mixture and stir.
4. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the bowl and stir until fully combined. Add the sugar and stir again.
5. Add the flour, cornstarch or arrowroot, baking soda, salt and spices. Gently fold these ingredients into the chocolate mixture. Add the ground nuts and fold until completely combined.
6. Transfer brownie batter to the prepared pan. Using your fingers, smooth out the batter until it is evenly distributed. Bake for 36-38 minutes.
7. Allow the brownies to cool completely but taking them out of the pan and cutting. The batter is very soft when warm so this recipe needs some time to cool down.
8. Serve with a Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte if you fancy!

Notes

**This recipe is adapted from The First Mess "Salted Coconut Caramel Brownies"

3.3.3077

The post Day 23 of Vegan MoFo: Gluten Free Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Brownies appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

There is no one particular person that inspires my plant based life but it is the community of bloggers. I look to their sites not only for food but for motivation, inspiration, and guidance. Without these things I learn from other bloggers, I wouldn’t have started my own site. If you wanted to start your own site or have started one, I highly suggest looking at these sites. They speak blog fluently and they make some pretty food too.

I thought the food would be the most difficult part of starting a website, however, I was wrong. Creating great content is my #1 priority but how do I get that content out there? Thankfully, that is where these bloggers come to save the day! 

Without….

Pickles and Honey’s eBook on SEO, I wouldn’t even know what those initials stood for or how important it is to get your photos and content out there. A long but highly recommended read. Amanda from Pickles and Honey is a former SEO Manager so take her word for it and it is worth the $29. 

Minimalist Baker’s Foodie Pro Genesis Child Theme Master Set Up, my site wouldn’t look this good! I love my redesign and it is thanks to John. They do receive a commission from Genesis when you purchase this WordPress Theme through their site however it does not increase the cost to you and consider the commission your way of saying thanks for making the BEST videos on how to set it up. With John’s guidance, I was able to set up the redesign in an afternoon and he covers everything from the recipe index to that little icon on the URL bar. The rest of their Blogger Resources made me feel empowered and confident, like “I could really do this!” Also if you ever want to publish your own eBook, I used their course on how to do that as well. Again, soo worth it if you are as tech-illiterate as I am. 

Eat Your Beets’ eBook, Eat Pretty Things, my photography would not have evolved into what it is today. Trisha taught me how to fully utilize a program I was already using, Adobe Lightroom (a must in my books!), and how to transform my photos from plain Janes to capturing a story through photography. Plus when you subscribe to her site, you get some real-deal, no nonsense emails about the power of Instagram and how to back up your website (something I didn’t know existed!). 

Pinch of Yum also have a great list of blogger resources that you can start using to grow your site or how to start your own. Plus at the bottom of the page for starting your own blog, they have a great (and free!) eBook on 10 Mistakes that Bloggers Make and How to Fix Them. It is always kind of nice to see that even the best of the best made all the crazy mistakes I did (and still do sometimes). 

Love and Olive Oil’s tutorial on how to make a distressed backdrop, my photos would look rustic or polished. I was using white paper from the Dollar Store (a fine choice, don’t get my wrong) but I wanted to make it look a little more fancy. 

I hope that these resources help you in your journey. No blogger listed above has compensated me for this post. These are all tools I have used personally to create and evolve my site. 

Now for the food, my favourite part. 

I wanted to share some photos of the recipes I have made from other sites since they are a source of inspiration to me. Most of these can be found on my Instagram, my favourite social media outlet. 

Minimalist Baker’s 30 Minute Cheesy Kale Chips

Minimalist Baker’s Roasted Jalapeño Hummus with roasted sweet potatoes, tomatoes, hemp hearts, and cilantro leaves on a bed of green with lime + olive oil dressing. 

The Big Kahuna Burger, which Laura from The First Mess allowed me to adapt from her “veggie burger of my dreams” post. 

Salted Coconut Caramel Brownies from The First Mess. I made this recipe recently and oh.em.gee they are chocolately, gooey, perfectly salted, and gluten free. Mark, who “claims” not to love chocolate, ate these with no hesitation. The photo is mine but to find the recipe, click on the link above. 

If you are feeling overwhelmed by blogging, it is ok. Every blogger does. I had the misconception that blogging would be this nice little hobby that did not take so much of my time but in reality, I spend a lot of time at my desk and in my kitchen but it is all worth it. By making my blog, I was able to find my passion, something I thought did not exist for a while. If you are unsure or feeling that all of this is too much, just take it one step at a time. I will leave you with this positive message: 

Photo Source

18 posts down, 12 more to go! See you tomorrow for Day 19: Lunch on the Go. Missed Day 17? Check it out here.

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. 

The post Day 18: Blogger Inspiration + Resources appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

This is the big announcement part….

Moving forward, each recipe featured on Sprouts & Chocolate will be 12 ingredients or less! My archived recipes will remain on my site for you to access but any new recipe posted will follow this new rule. What counts as an ingredient? Any ingredient that isn’t water, salt or pepper.

I am excited to start this new chapter of my site and I hope you readers love these easy methods and ingredients! Within this eBook, there are over 15 vegan and gluten free summer recipes that don’t require an oven or stove PLUS are 12 ingredients or less. Recipes include:

Frozen PB+ Fudge Squares (on cover)

Rainbow Kale + Cabbage Slaw No-Cook Tomato Sauce over Zoodles Black Cherry Nice Cream Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Pops This project was challenging but whenever I started to waiver, I remembered that any accomplishment started with trying. I feel a lot of us drown ourselves in the details of a project, creating long to-do lists and feeling defeated before we even started. I know I did with this eBook but I just looked at my list and started. Just start. The first thing I did was pick a topic, and from there, one by one, my tasks list became smaller. A person can only do one thing at a time, so pick your one thing and start today! You just have to try. 

You don’t have to do it alone. Two months ago, I knew nothing about creating an eBook so I reached out to fellow bloggers. With their experience, they become an invaluable source of information to me. I attended The Healthy Maven‘s How to Create an Ebook seminar and purchased Minimalist Baker‘s How to Publish and Sell Your eBook video tutorials. With these resources, I went from being technology-illiterate to creating my own eBook. A huge thanks to Minimalist Baker for creating the best and most comprehensive video tutorials. If you want to create your own eBook for your site, I highly recommend purchasing this tutorial package.

Crossing this goal off my list has made the unpleasant parts of this experience worth it. Yes, even that time I had to restart my entire eBook because my external drive wasn’t plugged in all the way. Each struggle I faced getting to my goal has made the accomplishment that much better.

So how do you get your FREE copy of Sprouts & Chocolate: Uncooked? Subscribe on the sidebar, confirm your address and you will receive an email on how to download it to your device at zero cost to you.

Thanks again to my readers for continuing to follow me throughout this experience! Here is to another year blogging! 

Sincerely,

Jessica DeMarra
Sprouts & Chocolate

The post Sprouts & Chocolate: Uncooked eBook + Big Announcement! appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Sorry about the delay in posting but I have some good news. Exams are done, I repeat, exams are done! Isn’t that just the best feeling?

After my exam, I came home to Mark, who had a sandwich and coffee ready for me, hooray! Also the cookbooks I ordered, My New Roots: Inspired Plant-Based Recipes for Every Season and The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon: Simple and Inspired Whole Foods Recipes to Savor and Share had arrived, double hooray! Unfortunately, all I wanted to do was sleep. My brain needed a little R&R.

The next day, I couldn’t shake these feelings of anxiety and guilt. I paced around my kitchen and checked my calendar to make sure I wasn’t missing an appointment but I did not have anything planned. I puttered around the house, sorted laundry and scrubbed the tub but I still felt anxious, almost sick to my stomach. I texted my friend Kristen telling her I was really living it up on my first day off school and told her I thought I was coming down with something. She explained that the anxiety I felt was brought on by not studying for class. She said my brain is in the routine of worrying about studying and when I am not hitting the books, my brain is in panic mode.

I wandered around my apartment, disoriented by not knowing what to do and far too distracted to actually sit down and do anything productive. I put on my jacket, laced up my shoes and headed out of the door. I went for a long walk, something I haven’t done in months since it has been so cold out. The cool air, the empty streets, my music coming through my headphones and the steady pace of my legs helped me clear my head and left me feeling refreshed.

I know I have a hard time relaxing; to truly enjoy doing nothing productive except maybe read a non-food related book or to drink a cup of coffee without looking at my phone. My mind tends to race when I “try” to relax, I feel like I should be doing laundry, cleaning, editing my photos or literally anything on my to-do list for that day but I need the time to unplug. Mark can clear his mind and relax so quickly while my mind is like a live wire, whipping around and shooting sparks in all directions. I asked him for some advice and he told me to just concentrate on my breathing, thinking of nothing else but the air travelling in and out of my lungs. Telling me to “not think of anything” seems to trigger my brain into thinking of EVERYTHING like remembering that time I embarrassed myself at that party when I was 21, running through my recipe checklist and the groceries I need to get for them and anything else that comes to mind. Mark, being the nice boyfriend that he is, let me use his Mala beads to help me concentrate on nothing. I placed the sandalwood beads in my hand, counted them all along its string and concentrated on my breathing. It honestly helped with my fidgety hands and busy mind. Everyone’s method to relax is different and I strongly urge you to find out your own, whether it is running, yoga, meditating, walking or reading a book, find it! I thanked Mark for his help by making him this pudding.

What do you do to relax? Leave comments below with your suggestions.

This recipe is vegan, gluten-free and tree-nut free. The FDA classifies coconut as a nut, even though it is technically a fruit. This recipe is adapted from Oh She Glows: {Almost} Instant Chocolate Chia Pudding. Not crazy about chocolate? Check out my Raspberry-Lemon Chia Seed Pudding.

*Disclaimer:  I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program which means I do earn a small commission on the affiliated links.* Something I am trying out and if it works out, great  but if not I will take it down. 

Print

Yum

Coconut-Chai Chocolate Pudding

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Serving Size: 1-2

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut milk
• ¼ cup chia seeds
• 3-4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch of ground cloves
• Pinch of ground cardamom

Instructions

1. Add all the ingredients to a high power blender and blend until completely smooth. At this point, the pudding may be warmed. Transfer to a serving bowl or cup, cover and refrigerate until the pudding is set and cool. Top with coconut, mulberries, granola or fresh fruit.

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This process happened slowly then all at once, much like falling asleep as described by John Greene in A Fault In Our Stars. This decision has been weighing on me for a while now and I constantly questioned my choice of going back to school to get a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition from a prestigious university in Toronto. I had the grades to get in, dare I say excellent grades that would have landed me a few bursaries but (and this is a huge BUUUT) after auditing a few classes, I simply do not want to do it. It is not that I am lazy or find it too impossible a task but I just lacked any drive or passion to sit in a huge lecture hall to discuss the structure of proteins, carbon bonding and take not one, not two but THREE statistics classes?

On a dark early morning a few days ago before I headed to my Advanced Functions class, I sat on the edge of my bed and wept; we are not talking about a single rolling tear down my cheek but sobbed so hard and long that I had to catch my breath. I was alone, Mark had already headed to school, and I felt helpless, overly dramatic and cursed myself for letting my emotions get the best of me. I wiped my tear-streaked face dry, put on my coat and headed to class. This was the first sign of my need to change.

 With Advanced Functions, I am also retaking my Grade 12 English credit to increase my grade average (oh how I could shake my 18-year-old “my-boyfriend-is-the-most-important-thing-in-my-life” self) and my English teacher asked me why I was headed back to university.

“To get my BSc for Nutrition,” I replied.

“What for?”

“I don’t know…” this quick reply even stunned me. I really didn’t know. I said I have a vegan recipe blog and it went hand-in-hand. “It would be beneficial to the site, I guess…it would benefit my readers, I guess…I think I might be good at it, I guess…” I stumbled over my words trying to justify to my teacher a good reason about why I was upgrading my credits to obtain my nutritional degree, feeling the blood rush to my face out of sheer embarrassment. There sure was a lot of guessing for such a commitment. This conversation was the second sign.

The third and final sign of my decision was actually inspired by the writer of Orangette, Molly Wizenberg. I was looking for a book to read on the subway to go to school and saw A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table sitting on my shelve, quickly shoved it in my bag and headed to school. I have read this wonderful written book twice previous to this but this time her book hit me hard, as all good books do. When I read these memoirs of Wizenberg’s life it is like I am sitting with her at her kitchen table and she is telling me these stories herself over a cup of coffee and maybe a fat piece of pain au chocolat. I cried in public while reading her book detailing her father’s cancer and passing, I giggled over her early love affairs in Paris and swooned over the pages when she met Brandon, her now-husband.

One entry of her book hit me the hardest and made me look at my own life in a new light. She describes going back to Paris to research power study and the body for graduate school but after awhile she realized that this work bored her stiff. Wizenberg states, “Paris has a way of getting your priorities straight,” since she spent most of her days reading cookbooks, visiting pastry shops and kitchen supply stores and decided to quit graduate school. Shortly after this, she started her blog.

This was a sort of revelation to me. I didn’t need a degree in Nutrition to be a food blogger. To me, it has always been about the food: the smell of roasted garlic cloves on a warm piece of baguette, the fresh taste of a perfect smoothie combination, the sweet transformation of slow-roasting tomatoes, the cool creaminess of a cashew cheesecake and not the dephosphorylation of adenosine triphosphate (though it is important).

I think I went through all the stages of grief in a single day. I tried to convince myself out of making this decision, I imagined myself getting my acceptance letter and the feeling of pride that comes with it, questioned my sanity and all the while I just wanted to get back into my kitchen and maybe bake something. I laugh at that thought now, having a mental breakdown about my life and future but wanting to bake. How clear my priorities are now.

The academic upgrading was not for nothing and I will continue taking English with the stress of mathematics and unhappiness lifted off my shoulders. Damn, I feel better already.

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