Tag: vegan

Strawberry Ice Cream

Melissa King 97 Comments

Hooray!  Warm weather is here.  At least, in Texas it is.  So it’s time to start breaking out the ice cream maker.  I already have a Cookie Dough Ice Cream and a 5 Minute Banana Ice Cream on the blog.  Now it’s time to add another: Strawberry Ice Cream. Who doesn’t like strawberry ice cream? I know I love all things ice cream, especially strawberry ice cream.

ice cream watermark

I use canned coconut milk as a base for all my ice cream recipes for a few reasons.  It has that rich taste and mouth feel of real ice cream and it is dairy free.  I have tried using just nut milk, but it never comes out as creamy.  Since this is so rich tasting, a little bit will satisfy you.  You can use either fresh or frozen strawberries for this.  We used fresh organic strawberries since they were on sale the other day at Whole Foods.  They were so sweet and yummy!  Most store bought ice creams contain carrageenan and other unwanted additives.  The organic stuff is always so expensive.  The ice cream maker is pretty affordable and you make your money back pretty quick.  Plus, you can create your own flavors! 🙂

Strawberry Ice Cream

Strawberry Ice Cream

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Prep Time 10 min Serves 4 - 6 servings     adjust servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Mix the coconut milk, vanilla bean and the sweetener in a bowl.
  2. Pour the contents in the ice cream maker. I used my Cuisinart.
  3. When the ice cream starts looking like it is coming together (after about 15 minutes), add the strawberries.
  4. The ice cream will be more of a soft serve consistency. If you like harder ice cream, you can stick it in the freezer for another 1 1/2 hours. That’s it. Enjoy!

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Save Money By Making Your Own Hummus

Melissa King 125 Comments

You can Save Money By Making Your Own Hummus!!  Hummus is probably one of the easiest things you can make yourself.  It takes only minutes to make.

 

save money making your own hummus

 

Most store bought versions contain unwanted additives as well as GMOs.  If you look at the ingredients in Sabra’s Classic Hummus, they are as follows:

Cooked Chickpeas (Chickpeas [Garbanzos], Water), Tahini (Ground Sesame), Soybean Oil, Garlic, Salt, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate Added to Maintain Freshness, Natural Flavors. Classic Hummus

Why is there soybean oil in hummus?  Traditionally, it’s made with olive oil….and you certainly would not use natural flavors if you made it in your own kitchen.  According to Wikipedia, Sabra is partly own by Pepsi.  You know the soda people?  They spent a lot of money lobbying against GMO labeling.

 

If you didn’t know, my mother in law is Turkish and this is her hummus recipe.  It is really good!  I have not tried freezing it, but I am sure you probably could.  For more videos, you can subscribe to my You Tube Channel.

 

Save Money By Making Your Own Hummus

Homemade Hummus

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Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked or 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1-2 tsp cumin (I used two)
  • 3 cloves garlic or 2 tsp garlic powder (I use real garlic)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 T olive oil

Instructions

  1. Process the chickpeas in the food processor or blender to get them started.
  2. Then add all the remaining ingredients until everything is smooth and well mixed.

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Recipe Notes

If it is too thick, just add a bit of water until you get the consistency you desire. That is it. Sometimes I drizzle a bit of oil over the top. Enjoy!

Macaroni Salad with Chickpeas

Melissa King 16 Comments

Spring is here and in Texas the weather is starting to get warm.  I have been trying to come up with a bunch of healthy options for outdoor parties.  I already have my Dairy Free Potato Salad and my Pineapple Mango Salsa.  Now I have a macaroni salad to add to the list.

salad with watermark

Most traditional macaroni salad is swimming in mayo.  Not this.  This is another meal that is really easy to put together.  I used brown rice pasta for this recipe so it is gluten free as well.  Since I added the chickpeas,  it can be a complete meal and not just a side dish.  The golden balsamic and the pomegranate molasses give it a slightly sweet taste.  Both really make the dish.  You can find the pomegranate molasses at most health food stores.

Macaroni Salad with Chickpeas

Macaroni Salad with Chickpeas

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Prep Time 15 min Cook Time 15 min

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked macaroni (I used brown rice pasta)
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
  • 1/4 cup chives chopped
  • 1 yellow pepper rough chopped
  • 1 can or 2 cups chickpeas
  • 2 T golden balsamic vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tsp pomegranate molasses
  • 1 T avocado oil
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Cook the macaroni according to the box instructions. 
  2. Let cool. 
  3. Add all the ingredients in one bowl and mix to serve.

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Recipe Notes

This just gets better as it marinates in the fridge. I like it better the next day. It should keep for about a week. We got about 4 servings out of this. Enjoy!

Dairy Free Cashew Cheese Sauce

Melissa King 94 Comments

This Dairy Free Cashew Cheese Sauce is delicious.  Two weeks ago we took the kids to the zoo.  Afterward, we decided to try out a vegan restaurant here in Dallas called The Spiral Diner.  The food was so good!

My husband got a vegan nacho plate and the cheese sauce was made from cashews.  He liked it so much he decided to try to create his own cashew cheese sauce and after a few tries it worked out pretty good.

This dairy free cashew cheese sauce is really quite a good replica. We never would have thought to make a cashew cheese sauce.

dairy free cashew cheese sauce

A lot of vegan cheeses are soy based, but we wanted to do something different since a lot of people are avoiding soy these days.  The cashews gave it a nice creamy feel.

This would not only be a good sauce to eat with nachos, but it makes a great base for a dairy free mac and cheese.

With so many kids having dairy allergies these days, it’s nice to have a soy free cheese option.  To give this a cheesy flavor, we used nutritional yeast.  Nutritional yeast is a great source of protein, fiber and vitamin B12.

 

Here is a quick little video of my husband and daughter making this. For more videos, you can subscribe to my You Tube Channel.

 

Dairy Free Cashew Cheese Sauce

Dairy Free Cheese Sauce

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Prep Time 10 min Serves 2 cups     adjust servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups raw cashews (soaked overnight and drained)
  • 1 cup water
  • 3/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Soak the cashews in water overnight.
  2. The next day, drain and rinse them.
  3. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

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Recipe Notes

You can store it in the fridge in an airtight container. Should keep for a few weeks. You may even be able to freeze it.

No Bake Macaroons (Vegan and Paleo)

Melissa King 36 Comments

No Bake Macaroons.  These things are like crack.  You cannot just have one!  I know I said that about the Coconut Cream Larabars too.  If you like those, then you will love these!

 

no bake macaroons

 

Did I mention that these were no bake?  That’s right.  These yummy little treats can be made in just a few minutes.  These are also vegan, gluten free and paleo.

These freeze well too, so feel free to make a big batch and freeze some.  So any time you get a craving for macaroons, there they are in the freezer! Sounds like a plan to me.

Looking for more coconut recipes?

No Bake Macaroons

No Bake Macaroons

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Prep Time 10 min Serves 12 cookies     adjust servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Combine the flax meal and warm water in a bowl.
  2. Whisk it and throw it in the fridge.
  3. In a food processor, pulse the coconut and almonds into a fine powder.
  4. Then add the dates, flax mixture, vanilla and coconut oil.
  5. Pulse until the mixture starts to come together.
  6. Roll into balls.

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Recipe Notes

You can also roll the balls in some more coconut like you see I did in the photos. I got about 12 out of my batch. Enjoy!

Fried Rice with Cashews

Melissa King 37 Comments

My husband makes the best fried rice.  This is his fried rice with cashews.  I recently posted about his Stir Fried Quinoa, which is also delicious.  That day, we were out of some of the main ingredients so he improvised.  This is the real version.

fried rice watermark 3

I could literally eat this entire bowl.  Since there is wild rice as well as cashews, this can be considered a full meal and not just as side dish.  It would a great Meatless Monday dish.  This is also a meal that comes together in minutes.  I am all about easy meals.

Fried Rice with Cashews

Fried Rice with Cashews

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Prep Time 20 min Cook Time 20 min

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups cooked rice (we used wild rice)
  • 1/2 yellow onion rough chopped
  • 3 stalks celery chopped
  • 1 cup chopped carrots
  • 1 cup edamame (cooked)
  • 2 tsp umeboshi plum vinegar
  • 3 T soy sauce, tamari or bragg's aminos (tamari is gluten free)
  • 1 T mirin
  • Juice of 1/2 lime
  • 2 T toasted sesame oil
  • 1/2 cup cashews chopped
  • 1 tsp garlic powder

Instructions

  1. In a pan, saute all the ingredients except the rice and cashews, for about 7 minutes on medium high heat.
  2. Add the rice and cashews and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently. That’s it. Enjoy!

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Recipe Notes

If you use raw cashews, you may want to toast them for a few minutes to bring out more flavor.