Free radicals are highly unstable molecules that damage your cells by scavenging your body looking to pick up or donate electrons. While free radicals are impossible to avoid, we can take preventative measures to make sure our bodies have the defenses they need.

Eating foods that are antioxidant-rich, like raspberries and blueberries, are the best way to combat these damaging free radicals. I am not a professional nutritionist but I find the best way to get in my vitamins and minerals is to make a smoothie. Smoothies are my little insurance policies to my health and now have become a part of my daily life. Before giving up meat and dairy, I only had  sugary food court smoothies but making your own tastes way better and are easy to make! 

I am so pleased to share these recipes from my e-Book! I have made these two smoothies more than a dozen times, usually in the afternoons before heading to work. I find the natural sugars give me a boost without the crash like coffee. Easy, quick to make, and nutritional dense, make a smoothie when you are feeling a little sluggish. These two smoothies were my go-to when I was developing the e-Book, it helped me feel alert on days where all I did was stare at my computer screen. While I don’t entirely skip my morning coffee, because of smoothies I no longer need the whole coffee pot to stay alert. Hooray for smoothies! 

Food is the best way to get the nutrients you need, so drink up! 

Since I am not a nutritionist, I got my antioxidant information from this source. 

11 recipes down, 19 more to go! See you tomorrow for Day 12: Favourite Cookbook. Missed Day 10? 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. 

P.S. You can get your copy of my free e-Book, Sprouts & Chocolate: Uncooked, by subscribing to my site. It contains 15 vegan and gluten-free recipes that do not an oven or stove!

Antioxidant Power Smoothie, Pink & Purple

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

This antioxidant-packed smoothies are full of nutrients, fibre, and vitamins. They are quick, easy, and nutrient-dense to keep your energy up for the day. I like the addition of hulled hemp hearts to add a little bit of plant based fat. This recipe is vegan, raw, gluten-free, soy-free, grain-free, and serves 1 large or 2 smaller smoothies.

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: Drinks

Cuisine: Vegan, Raw, Gluten Free

Serves: 1-2

Ingredients

• 1 frozen banana
• 1 peeled orange
• 1 cup frozen raspberries OR blueberries (depending on whether you want a pink or purple smoothie)
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 3 tablespoons hulled hemp hearts
• 2 tablespoons goji berries, soaked in warm water for 5 minutes

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to a high power blender and blender until smooth. Transfer to glasses and enjoy!

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 2

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The post Day 11 Vegan MoFo: Antioxidant Power Smoothie, Pink & Purple appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

I hope these recipes will come in handy for those hungry kids after school!  Day Two is all about recreating a childhood meal. This one always hits close to home because my mother, a single parent, did not cook. The only time my family had a sit down meal together was around holidays or birthdays. I admit, reading narratives from other blogs about spending an afternoon with their family around their dining table making homemade ravioli or their Sunday traditional roast always made me a little jealous.My early life was not surrounded by homemade food and perhaps this is why I have committed my adult life to good and wholesome meals. This is no fault of my mother’s, she worked 2 jobs to support my sister and I and we never went hungry. Our meals were usually from a package so it was quick and easy for my mother to make between her two shifts that day. My sister and I went to a Catholic high school so it let out an hour earlier than most, which meant our lunch hour was at 10:40am. By the time we got home, we were so hungry and could not wait for dinner. My mother, standing in the kitchen, wearing her server uniform, would be chopping apples, slicing cheese, and piling crackers onto a plate for us to eat as soon as we got home. We chatted about our day, my mother would tell us what she prepared for dinner and how to reheat it for later, we started our homework while my mother sipped Earl Grey tea, and then she kissed us goodbye to leave for her other shift. This was our family time and I did not appreciate it when I was younger. I wanted the typical nuclear family that I saw on television, the kind that had pancakes from scratch on Sundays, and the mom that made cookies for bake sales at school. 

I did not get that kind of mom. I got a fighter, a woman who sacrificed and pushed to make sure her kids had the best childhood she could provide. There were times that she and I did not see eye-to-eye but looking back now, I can see all the hardships she took on by herself.

This is not your typical childhood meal recreation. These recipes were not passed down from generation to generation on an old faded cue card. My mom did not make the best Mac & Cheese or the best chocolate chip cookies but she did make the best with the short time we had with us, which suits me just fine.

2 recipes down, 28 more to go! See you tomorrow for Day 3: Quick, Easy, and Delicious! Missed Day 1? 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. 

5 Nut-Free Afterschool Snacks: Avocado Sourdough Toasts

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

Avocado toast is da' bomb and I eat it as a snack on the regular. The creamy, green avocado pairs wonderfully with the tang of sourdough bread. I add on red chili flakes but you can omit them unless your child likes spice!

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: Snack

Cuisine: Vegan

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• Avocado Sourdough Toasts:
• 2 slices sourdough bread, toasted
• ½ ripe avocado
• ½ teaspoon hemp hearts
• Fat pinch of fine grain sea salt
• Pinch of red chili flakes (optional)

Instructions

1. With a fork, smash the avocado onto the toasted sourdough bread. Sprinkle with hemp hearts, salt, and red chili flakes. Cut the toasts into halves or even sticks. Serve and enjoy!

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5 Nut Free Afterschool Snacks: Fruity Pink Smoothie

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

Bright and fruity, I tested this recipe out with my 8 year old nephew and he loved it! This raw smoothie will keep their energy up to do some homework but won't ruin their dinner. This recipe makes 2 cups.

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: Drinks

Cuisine: vegan, raw

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• Fruity Pink Smoothie:
• ½ cup fresh or frozen strawberries
• 1 frozen banana
• ½ peeled orange
• 1 cup seed milk
• 2 tablespoons hulled hemp hearts
• Ice (if your fruit is fresh vs. frozen, you will need to add ice)

Instructions

1. Add all the ingredients to a high power blender. Blend until smooth. Serve with strawberry garnish and enjoy!

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5 Nut-Free Afterschool Snacks: Apples with Cinnamon Date Caramel

 

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Prep time

7 mins

Total time

7 mins

 

I love this easy finger food for kids. All natural sugars, easy to make, and kid approved. This Cinnamon Date Caramel is a great after school snack.

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: snacks

Cuisine: vegan

Ingredients

• Cinnamon Date Caramel:
• 10 soft medjool dates, pitted
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons melted coconut oil
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Water
• Pinch of salt
• 
  Apple wedges to serve

Instructions

1. Add the pitted dates, lemon juice, coconut oil, cinnamon, and a teeny pinch of salt to a high power blender. Turn on the blender and slowly add water, 1 tablespoon at a time until you have reached your desired consistency. I added about 7 tablespoons of water so the caramel would stick to the apples when dipped. Serve with apple wedges and enjoy!

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5 Nut-Free Afterschool Snacks: Celery & Cheese Dip

 

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Prep time

2 hours

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

2 hours 5 mins

 

Say no to Cheese Whiz! That jar of bright orange spread haunted most of my childhood since my sister loved it. This one is nutritious, delicious, and kid approved. This recipe also makes awesome salad dressing on my Big Ol' Texas Bowl Salad

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: snacks

Cuisine: vegan

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• For the Nacho Dip:
• ½ cup sunflower seeds, soaked for 2-8 hours*, drained and rinsed
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• ½ red pepper, chopped fine
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon ancho powder (use regular chili powder for a flavourful but not spicy nacho cheese)
• ¼- ½ teaspoons fine grain sea salt
• 4-6 tablespoons warm water
• 
  Celery Sticks to serve

Instructions

1. Add all the ingredients to a high power blender and blend until completely smooth.
2. Serve with celery sticks.

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5 Nut-Free Afterschool Snacks: Frozen Grape Skewers

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

Literally just one ingredient and so easy to make. Don't have skewers? Just freeze them on a baking sheet instead.

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: snacks

Cuisine: vegan

Serves: varies

Ingredients

• Grapes

Instructions

1. Add the grapes onto the skewers.
2. Place skewers onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and place in the freezer. Once the grapes are frozen, serve!

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The post Day 2 Vegan MoFo: 5 Nut-Free Afterschool Snacks appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Mark and I have a smoothie almost everyday since we are both very much on-the-go people; most days Mark leaves at 6:45am and doesn’t return home until well after midnight from rehearsals or gigs. He is literally the busiest man I know. We both have been running on fumes lately and needed a little extra boost in our diet so despite the frigid weather, we have been drinking more greens and fresh ingredients.

I have been hesitant to put up smoothie recipes after reading a few tweets, “Who needs a smoothie recipe? Just put in stuff you like.” Oh, if it only were that simple. After a year of having my Vitamix I am much better at combining ingredients to make a delicious, nutritious, and colourful smoothie but at first, I made some seriously ugly ones. It was so discouraging to me when I made an unpleasant tasting smoothie and figured I would have to choke down every foul coloured drink I made. Sometimes a little guidance is needed.

After a seriously busy weekend working at the restaurant, my joints were stiff and I was feeling burnt out. I have been drinking turmeric and ginger tea but wanted to incorporate these anti-inflammatory ingredients into my smoothies too. So what is so good about anti-inflammatory ingredients?

Turmeric: this bright yellow spice is used traditionally in Indian and Chinese cooking but has tons of medicinal properties. It is said to not only reduce inflammation but also prevents cancer cell growth, lowers cholesterol and detoxifies the liver.

Ginger: this spicy root has quite the list of amazing properties besides tasting great. Ginger relieves nausea, protects your body against cancer and has immune boosting properties to keep those colds at bay.

Cinnamon: I love cinnamon and add to smoothies, oats and apple slices. This spice great for warming you up and mixed with ginger, it makes a great team against colds but also is said to control your blood sugar levels.

Who needs a cold?? Not you! Drink up and feel great!

A big congrats to Terri the winner of But I Could Never Go Vegan: 125 Excuses, Zero Excuses by Kristy Turner. I hope you love the book as much as I do! Thank you all so much for entering and your continuing support in my site! 

The post Anti-Inflammatory Orange Smoothie appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Today is Hump Day Drink Wednesday and I have something wicked to share with you…..

Tonight I am off to see the musical Wicked! This production is hands-down my favourite musical: the impossible notes to hit, the hilarious dynamic between the main characters, heartbreak, the tears and standing up for what you think is right when everyone is trying to bring you down. What is not to love?

How to Peel an Orange for a Smoothie

Elphaba is one of my favourite characters of all time: she is kind of awkward, caring, thoughtful and strong. She wants to do the right thing but sometimes it doesn’t work out the way she planned. Her persistence gets her into unpleasant circumstances but her refusal to give up is why I admire her most.

I personally believe that if Elphaba were a real person, she would be a vegan. In dedication to Elphaba and the production of Wicked I made this Wicked Green Smoothie.

How to Dice a Pineapple

I always think that smoothie making is much like crafting a witch’s brew: a little bit of this, a dash of that and whirl away [minus the eye of toad} I have made some good, bad and ugly smoothies in my past from greenish grey, to bog water to purplish mud but thankfully I have become a lot better at making some great veggie filled smoothies.

A friend of mine does not like bananas in her smoothies so I wanted to make a banana-free one for her. This one uses other tropical fruit that I love: pineapple. It might take a little longer to blend since pineapple is very fibrous which is good for digestion.

This green smoothie is so good for you: protein (25 grams of natural plant-based protein and omegas to boot), Vitamin C, Vitamin A and loads of micronutrients it may make you burst out in song and dance! Now if only I could carry a tune….

The post Wicked Green Smoothie {Banana-Free} appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Turns out having a kid around wasn’t nearly as easy as I thought since they ask probably 100 questions an hour and while he doesn’t have to be constantly entertained like a toddler, he couldn’t understand why I did not have any kid-stuff or know any children that live in my building. This questions and concerns all occurred before we hit the front door of my apartment. I wanted to take a mental nap.

 But kids are funny in their way and they will say things that are really ridiculous but make perfect sense when you try to rationalize it from their perspective. Sammy renamed a few daily things around Toronto that I never gave a second thought to such as:

1)   The TTC Subway System is now and forever will be called the “basement train.” (I tried to explain to him that it is train under the ground in which he responded “like a basement!” I agreed and he named it the basement train. This actually got a few laughs from commuters on the same train as us.)

2)   My apartment building he named “the shared box house.” This one I did not understand at first until he explained to me that everything was organized and the balconies look like boxes.

3)   To him the escalators are the “scary stairs”. When I asked why he found them scary he said that they are spikey and then the floor eats them at the top.

 Fair enough…

We were walking down a busy street and saw a giant billboard ad for McDonald’s Milkshakes and he asked if he could have one. Call me a party pooper but I wasn’t about to bring him there knowing what is in those milkshakes. I worked there as a teenager and I KNOW what is in there and the answer is nothing good. Still his craving was there and I suggested to him that I could make him one the next day (it was late and we were out when we saw the billboard) if he really wanted. Of course, being related to me did not pass the opportunity for a sweet treat and ask for one the next day.

I decided to do an ice-cream free milkshake. Say what!? I know I know how sacrilege of me but recently when I headed to my small hometown I couldn’t find one vegan ice cream brand. So this is one for those people who may not have access to the prepare vegan foods like I do living in Toronto.

Thankfully, I did a little prepping and the milkshake was ready to be made. Just toss most things in the fridge or freezer the day or night before and you are ready to make a rich, creamy and insanely delicious shake.

 For the freezer:

• Strawberries (fresh strawberries washed, trimmed and then frozen or just buy frozen strawberries)
• Almond milk in an ice cube tray (this is how I got away with not using ice cream so it is really important to do!)

For the fridge:

• Canned coconut milk (this will solidify all the creamy goodness of the coconut milk to use in your shake) If you are just making 1 or 2 milkshakes, 1 can in the fridge should be fine but if you are making more, add a second can to the fridge.
• A large and deep glass or metal bowl (you will be whipping the remaining coconut milk in. How else would you top your shake but with a little or a lot of whipped coconut milk? I followed the Oh She Glows Coconut Whipped Cream recipe)

Once everything is prepped, just toss it all in the blender the next day and whirl away! This shake is fairly thick which I love but if it isn’t your thing, just add more coconut water.

I know this seems like a little more work than just buying a milkshake but it is super delicious, fresh and kid-approved by Sammy (unless your child has a nut allergy since it does contain almond and coconut).

His milkshake craving was satisfied and the glass was empty by the time I photographed my shake. The day after the first shake, he asked for another. Success! Cool Aunt Jess is making a come back!

The post Vegan Strawberry Milkshake: Ice Cream Free appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.