I wanted to make oven fries since deep frying at home is pretty unsafe and I am sure I would set a small fire in my kitchen. At first, I was setting my oven a little too low for those really crispy fries that I wanted so be not afraid of cranking your oven up! Also it is important to make sure that you preheat your oven so the potatoes go into a hot oven to achieve maximum crispiness. You can omit the spice mixture and just use salt if you don’t like spicy foods. The milkshake is simple and unlike diner-style milkshakes, this one does not have any dairy or refined sugars. The salted peanut butter and chocolate combination is the best as any Reese’s cup lover would understand. The bananas make the milkshake thick and creamy. What would we vegans do without bananas?? What weird food combos do you love? 

4 recipes down, 26 more to go! See you tomorrow for Day 5: Best Sandwich Ever! Missed Day 3? Check it out here.

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

Day 4 Vegan MoFo: Salted PB Chocolate Shake

 

Save Print

Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

This sweet and salty milkshake is naturally sweetened with bananas and dates, has a touch of cacao, and big peanut butter taste. This recipe takes almost no time to make and satisfies a sweet tooth. This recipe is vegan, gluten free, soy free, and refined sugar free. This recipes makes about 3 cups of milkshake.

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: Drinks

Cuisine: vegan, gluten free

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• Salted PB Chocolate Shake
• 1.5 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 2 frozen bananas
• 2 tablespoons roasted peanut butter (I buy unsalted)
• 1 tablespoon cacao powder
• 2 pitted Medjool dates
• 8-9 ice cubes (more if your bananas aren't frozen)

Instructions

1. Add all the ingredients to a high powered blender. Blend until smooth. Serve and enjoy!

3.3.3077

Day 4 Vegan MoFo: Spicy Oven Fries

 

Save Print

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

Crispy fries in the oven are possible! Deep frying at home can be dangerous so opt for oven fries instead. These fries are made with russet potatoes since they have a high starch level which results in a crispier fry. They are seasoned with a spicy mixture of paprika, garlic powder, and ancho chili powder. If you don't like spice, feel free to omit the ancho. Served with the milkshake above or ketchup.

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: Sides

Cuisine: vegan, gluten free

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 2 large russet potatoes, washed and cut into fries (peels on)
• 1.5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon ancho chili powder

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, coat the cut potatoes with the oil, salt, and spices.
3. Transfer the potatoes to the baking sheet and spread them out into a single layer.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.
5. Remove from oven once they are golden and crispy. Depending on how thick you cut your fries, the cooking time will vary. After you flip them, keep an eye on them. No one likes burnt fries!!
6. Serve with the milkshake above or ketchup.

3.3.3077

The post Day 4 Vegan MoFo: Salted PB Chocolate Shake + Spicy Oven Fries appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

I was feeling really overwhelmed with the upcoming year and ashamed of myself for not taking more chances or more opportunities. A bunch of why’s flooded my brain; why do I still work in a restaurant? Why haven’t I updated any skills to put on a resume? Why didn’t I decide to update my high school credits sooner? Why am I turning 28 and done nothing with my life?!?

All these feelings flooded over me and turned into tears so naturally like the grown up I am, I called my mommy. After telling me all the nice things that mothers are suppose to say when you call them crying she told me that everything is going to be ok. I didn’t believe her and I felt like everything was taking a really long time and I was at a stand-still, despite actively being in school, doing my site and working a full time job. Strange how you can be doing so much and yet feel motionless. She told me that her twenties were very difficult raising two children on her own but after that it got much better. Her husband also told me that sometimes his life was a disaster also raising two children, losing this job to a machine and then having to travel all the time for a lower paying position because it was one of the few jobs available. He mentioned that when the mother of his children became pregnant for a second time, he had a mortgage and no job. The stress was intense but after a lot of hard work, things did in fact get a little bit smoother.  They said that sometimes it felt like things were always going to be bad but thankfully their situations did get better with a little help, love and support from the people around them. They said neither one of them had it all figured out by the time they were 30 and I really shouldn’t put that much pressure on myself when it comes to figuring my entire life out. I was looking at their lives now but did not see the struggle to get there. I was comparing my path to their destination. It was a good prep talk and turned my attitude a full 180 and got down to planning. 

I decided to prepare some birthday goals, which are unlike resolutions have an action plan attached to them. I will give myself until my next birthday to accomplish them since some of them aren’t things that can be accomplished in a week (and thats ok!). I am not one for New Year’s resolutions since I find they are empty but having an action plan can be empowering. Each time I check an item off the list, big or small it is a victory in itself!

My first and most important goal this year is to dump someone that has been dragging me down. This person that is doubting my every decision, embarrassed by the decisions that I have made in the past, someone who doesn’t believe in me and compares my efforts, actions and accomplishments to other peoples. She sighs when she sees someone else’s post or recipe or photograph that is better than mine, thinking I will never be as good as them and might as well just give up entirely. This person is not on Team Jess when I sometimes need her to be so badly. All my friends are on Team Jess, rooting for me in the wings, cheering me on with words of encouragement, support and love but just not her.

This person is myself; that little negative voice in my head that tells me that I simply can’t. I don’t need that little voice telling me I can’t or I shouldn’t or what will people think? I am delaying goals I have had for the longest time because of this and for what? Because of what a stranger may think of me when they see that I am in fact a terrible dancer or so inflexible it is almost laughable or that people in a writing class will hate my ideas? These are not good enough reasons to not pursue the things that I want to do. Who is winning here? Not me. We are always hardest on ourselves but isn’t the world hard enough without our own little voice telling us we aren’t good enough? This is why my number one birthday goal is to stop ruining my own life. 

On that note, I hope you take a little time today and make that goal for yourself, it may not be your birthday or New Years but it is an important one to practice daily. Enjoy these muffin tops with a cup of tea and get your list going. 

The post Carrot Cake Muffin Tops {Vegan & Gluten-Free} appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

in a city not so far away there lives a girl who loves green. Green is her favourite colour since it matches her eyes and her favourite sweater. She tries having green in all aspects of her life since she now realizes how important it is to love green food. She uses green vegetables in her cooking and smoothies but that wasn’t enough for this girl: she wanted green milk. Rich, cool, creamy and lightly sweetened green milk. Sounds crazy right? But this girl believed in the green!

She summoned the assistance of her Vitamix cauldron to concoct the perfect green milk. Double double turbo trouble! ITS ALIVE!!

The Green Monster Milk was ready to go out into the world, spreading the goodness of green for everyone to love and enjoy.

The only problem was this milk didn’t look like the rest of the milks in the world. On the surface he looked a little different but inside he had so many good things to offer: vitamins and minerals, those important micronutrients but all anyone saw was his green colour.

He was sad and lonely so he went on a journey through the spooky Collard Green Forest in hopes of meeting others that would understand him and his greenness.

Just when he thought he wouldn’t find any green monsters like him, he finally met some! And people who loved all his green goodness that he wanted to share!

He finally found his calling and that is bringing people only the best source of green power: plant power! He lived happily ever after. Definitely not THE END of this recipe.  

Happy Halloween from our new friend Green Monster Milk!

I made this milk for those who do not like green juice (I have yet to be sold on it!) but I do love green milk! It tastes just like my Homemade Vanilla Almond Milk but with all the green juice goodness. The milk is completely raw, vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar free since it is sweetened with dates! So if you are not a fan of straight green juice this milk is a great alternative.

For complete step-by-step instructions with photos visit my Homemade Vanilla Almond Milk post, just add the chopped greens and dates with the almonds instead of just the almonds. Warning: if your nut milk bag is made of a natural fibre like hemp, it will slightly discolour the bag. Wash right away for minimal staining. Trust me….

This is a great recipe to use if you need a little detox after a Halloween fete. If you are anything like me and stuffed your face with sweet bubbly punch and tons of candy, you will need this green milk in the morning. 

The post Green Monster Milk 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.

The post Super Food Energy Balls appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Though at one point of my life I was considered fairly active, I certainly have let that exercise habit die out. I went from working out at a gym with a trainer at least once a week and on my own 3 times a week to nothing. How easy it was for me to give it up even though I had been so intensely devoted to it for almost a year. The thing about my old fitness regime was that I was committed to a low carb; high protein and no dairy diet so I was constantly exhausted. I just didn’t feel well.

I was drinking about a half of a pot of coffee a day plus a 50mg pill of caffeine and then a handful of Tylenol since I was having a lot of migraines from all the artificial energy. For lunch (my largest meal) was a half of a chicken and a large salad with no dressing and for dinner a sugar-free (insert chemical filled) whey protein shake. The crazy part was that this was all recommended to me and I was paying a large sum of money a month for this advice. I admit it did work for a little while since I did lose weight but at what cost? I was so worried about how my body appeared to others I was willing to be uncomfortable all the time and in the end really damaging myself internally.

Thankfully, I became a little more educated about health and nutrition and my diet did a complete 180. By diet I mean the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats and not what “diet” means today which is cutting calories or limiting meal size. Once I change my own definition of the word “diet”, it got a whole lot simpler.

In the movie, Hungry For Change (watch trailer here) Daniel Vitalis really lays out an excellent example of what the word “diet” should mean. He asks the viewer if humans were put in a zoo, what would they be fed? This got to me since I am sure it wouldn’t be burgers and Buffalo wings, which I was habitually eating before making the switch to a plant-based diet.

Watching one particular movie (did I mention I love watching movies?) was the defining moment of me telling myself “Yes I need to change my lifestyle.” That movie was of course the very popular Forks Over Knives documentary, which promotes eating a whole foods plant based diet to prevent the chronic and degenerative diseases that plague North America. The evidence in this movie changed the way I saw food, my eating habits and the possible outcome of my health and body if I continued to eat the way I previously did.

What is a whole foods plant based diet?

From the FOK website:

The experts in Forks Over Knives advocate a whole-food, plant-based diet. The program is based on whole or minimally processed plants, primarily fruits, vegetables, whole grains, tubers, and legumes. It excludes or minimizes animal-based foods such as meat (including poultry and fish), dairy, and eggs, as well as refined foods like bleached flour, refined sugar, and oil.

Now you are probably thinking, “But Jess you are already a vegan!” Yes I am but I do dip into some seriously unwholesome vegan foods: frozen soy protein burgers, vegan mayo, fries, vegan baked good made with refined sugar, convenience foods, caffeine etc. This is a challenge for Mark and myself to really own up to what we are putting in our bodies and feeling (and seeing) the results of switching to a whole foods diet. We want to feel better and truly improve our health verses just feeling “good” from caffeine and sugar.

For the next 6 weeks Mark and I are taking the Forks Over Knives Challenge! I will be posting our transition into a more whole plant based diet on the blog so you will be able to follow our progress, successes and I’m sure some failures. Over the next few weeks Sprouts and Chocolate will be featuring awesome whole food plant based recipes, how-to, meal plans and of course chocolate desserts. I hope you readers take the plunge with me and try out a more whole foods approach to your plant based diet. Maybe you are veg-curious and want to try it out? Now is the time!

Now for the big surprise!

Sprouts and Chocolate is doing its first giveaway!!! Hooray! I have been sitting on this for a while and it wasn’t easy to keep a secret but I am so glad I did.

What will the winner be given? Three amazing prizes: Forks Over Knives documentary DVD, Forks Over Knives Cookbook AND Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health. Enter and share with friends and family who also seek to gain health and feel better!

Q&A

Do I have to do the Forks Over Knives 6 week challenge to quality to participate?

No but I strongly encourage you to try it out and not because of the giveaway but I promise you will feel awesome! And who doesn’t want to feel awesome?

How do I enter this amazing giveaway?

Check out contest details below!

Contest Details:

This contest is open to US and Canadian residents and it will run from today (May 3) and closes on May 12 (8am). Please see below for the multiple ways you can enter!

The winner will be chosen at random after the contest closes on May 12. The winner will be notified and announced on the site! Good luck to all who enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Exciting News + Big Surprise! appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.