Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Crème Fraîche

These are too good. Admittedly not the healthiest, but oh so yummy. They can be a side dish or even a dessert. This recipe is for a single serving, but can easily be doubled, etc.

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato
1 tablespoon earth balance buttery spread
2 tablespoons crème fraîche
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon maple syrup

Directions:
Bake sweet potato at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until soft. Let cool enough so that you can remove the peel without burning yourself. Mash with potato masher or fork (or if you're making a larger batch and wanted it to be fluffy, break out the electric mixer!) Add earth balance, stir to melt. Mix in remaining ingredients and enjoy!

Fab Etsy Finds

Secret lovers hollow necklace from StrangelyYours

hand knitted ear warmer from Plexida

stoneware mugs from BackBayPottery

this "bee in flight" photograph from kellydbrown

map letters from littlewhitedog

Best Vegan Cookies Ever

So this is not the best photograph of cookies, but trust me, these are sooo unbelievably good. I have made them three times in the last week! They are moist, the perfect amount of sweetness, and buttery tasting. I've tried some other vegan cookie recipes in the past and they just didn't cut it, but this one is impossible to tell that it is vegan. Also no refined sugars, which is a definite plus for me. The original recipe I found is here, but I tweaked it a bit to my liking.

Ingredients: 

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup dry oats

1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut flakes

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon black strap molasses (don't leave this out!! very important for the taste)

1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup coconut oil, softened or melted

1/2 cup chopped pecans 

1/3 cup non-dairy chocolate or carob chips

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium or large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, shredded coconut, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In a glass measuring cup (or a small bowl if you don't have one) combine the maple syrup, vanilla extract and coconut oil. Add wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine until just mixed. Stir in pecans and chips. Spoon onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 11 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Makes 8-10 large cookies. 

Fresh Fig Smoothie

I was thrilled to see organic fresh figs at our local co-op today! Absolutely love them. I have never tried them in a smoothie until today, but it was seriously amazing, one of the best smoothies of all time I do believe :)

Ingredients: 

5 fresh figs, stems removed

1 small banana

1/2 cup frozen berries

1 scoop (about 2 tablespoons) almond butter

1 tablespoon honey or agave

1 cup dairy-free milk of your choice (I used unsweetened vanilla cashew milk)

Directions:

Add all ingredients to blender and blend on high til smooth. Enjoy!

                        

                                    

Homemade Play Dough

                 

Today I tried out an idea I had seen on Pinterest for making my own play dough from every day ingredients out of the kitchen. It was a success! Here's what I did:

Basic Play Dough:

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup salt

1/2 cup water with color of your choice (see notes below)

1/2 tablespoon coconut oil (or any cooking oil will work)

1/2 tablespoon cream of tartar

Directions: 

Using a glass measuring cup, microwave 1/2 cup water (along with any fruits or spices for coloring, see notes below) for approximately 1.5 minutes or until boiling. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until it forms a ball, then remove from heat and knead. 

Color options:

Yellow- I added 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder to my water before boiling in microwave

Pink- I added a couple tiny slices of a fresh beet

Cream- I used 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, it also smells nice!

You can make other colors using various ingredients, for example add some cocoa powder for brown, or smashed blackberries or blueberries for purple (strain any berries through a cheesecloth or coffee filter), pureed spinach for green, just experiment and have fun!

It only took me about 30 minutes to make these three batches. I found a bag of dough cutting toys and a rolling pin at Target for $1 each in the dollar spot, score! My daughter and I had a great time playing with the dough :) 

Vegan Coconut Oatmeal

                        

This is one of my favorite breakfast dishes and it's very easy to make so I wanted to share! I just tried Irish style oatmeal and it is amazing! Any non-instant oatmeal will work for this but I recommend trying the Irish style (aka steel cut oats), the texture is wonderful :)

                     

Serves 1

Ingredients: 

1 cup water

1/2 cup steel cut oats (or rolled oats if you prefer)

1 1/2 tablespoons raw coconut butter (I like Artisana)

2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon (or to taste) pure maple syrup

1/4 cup coconut milk (I use So Delicious brand)

Directions: 

Bring water to a boil, add in oats and cook according to your package directions. When oats are done, remove from heat and immediately add coconut butter, stir well to combine. Next add in maple syrup and all other ingredients and stir. Enjoy!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Oat No Bake Bars

                 

Time for another sweet treat recipe! This one is full of healthy ingredients, has no refined sugars, and is so so easy, it only took 10 minutes to make. They make a great snack or even breakfast when you are on the run. 

Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Oat No Bake Bars

modified version of this recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter (I used freshly ground, which was a little chunky but whatever you have will work)

1 cup dark chocolate chips (65% cocoa or higher if you can get it) OR 1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup virgin coconut oil

1 cup dry oatmeal

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut flakes

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

honey or agave to taste (optional-I used a little honey but I think it would be best without, unless you use super dark chocolate or the cocoa powder-but then again, I don't like super sweet stuff, so you be the judge lol)

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, melt peanut butter and coconut oil (and honey/agave if using) over medium-low heat. Stir until blended, then turn down to low and add in chocolate chips. Stir until chips are completely melted; remove from heat. Add in remaining ingredients and mix well. Press into an 8x8 baking dish and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Cut into bars. (They are a little difficult to cut but not impossible, I managed just fine with a butter knife :))