Fabulous Vegan Recipes

Sorry for the lack of posts-this blog has been on the back burner as life has happened this past month and a half. I haven't been inspired to make recipes-actually dessert recipes since this blog is pretty focused on that so I haven't logged on. But I just made these amazing bars last night after I made dinner for my friend and I and by the time I was finished it was pretty late. It didn't take long to make these, though, and then you just leave them in the fridge to set.

I started my 30 day trial of Prime Pantry and I ordered dates so of course I had to make caramel. These aren't the decadent medjool dates from Trader Joe's but the smaller California dates that are perfect for raw desserts. I'm trying a new thing this year-buying everything I need to eat from the farmers market and buying staples like rice and beans on Amazon. That way most of my money is spent on greens, potatoes, tomatoes and fruit from local, organic farms. Plus it's just too hot sometimes to lug bags from the grocery store in the sweltering heat!

I made these last week and put the recipe in my social media caption and everyone went nuts. My Instagram and Fb blog page lit up and I got a ton of comments and likes. They are super delish and a great dessert to make to impress your friends. I love making caramel with dates and nut butter-this is the best part of these bars!

I made these bites after I saw a fellow blogger's recipe on Instagram (Carrie from www.carrieonliving.com ). I love following her posts and her blog is super informative, check it out! Anyway, I bought dates and dried cranberries and just went to town with some raw desserts. I made these bites with dates and also with half dates and half dried cranberries-my personal favorite are the bites with the dried cranberries and no peanut butter (yes sometimes I DO get sick of pb!)

I set up a delivery of Graze snacks, has anyone heard of Graze.com ? You set up a payment and a schedule and they deliver delicious snacks right to your door. You can specify what kind of snacks you want based on your dietary needs It's cool. Anyway, I ate one of their protein flapjacks and it was so delish I made a similar one. I love protein bars-their chewiness, the energy they give, the sweetness and filling feeling you get after enjoying one. They are so easy to make at home that it doesn't make sense to buy them.

When I think of a comfort drink, I think of a homemade coffee smoothie or a hot chocolate. Now that it's cold pretty consistently, I've been craving hot drinks lately. I'm still doing a sugar detox because I really went wild the past few months so this hot chocolate is only sweetened with dates, nothing else. Honestly, I haven't thought much about sugar and I feel wonderful. Dates can sweeten pretty much anything and they are more than enough to make your recipes taste great without throwing yourself into a food coma.

I visited my family over the weekend and I made this for myself and it was the bomb. You don't need pumpkin for this recipe if you don't happen to have it so just pull out the cinnamon and nutmeg. This is a very warming, wakeful drink as it contains spices and coffee. My current fascination is the cold brew coffee from Trader Joe's. You find it in the coffee aisle but once you open it, you store it in the fridge. This recipe is a hot latte recipe as it's autumn and crisp and beautiful outside; warm drinks are an absolute necessity right now.

I am 20 days away from completing my first marathon and my plan for the next few weeks is to eat clean and try to stay within a moderate calorie range. I probably won't lose weight but I want to at least try. I downloaded My Fitness Pal and I have tracked my food for 13 days straight now. It's going well and I made a ton of food yesterday. Whenever I'm good though, as in, sticking to healthy meals and portion control, I always want a raw dessert. Last week I was obsessed with these and now I just made these bites. These are GOOOOOOD!

I adapted this recipe from one of my favorite bloggers, Emily of This Rawesome Vegan Life . Her blog is mostly raw desserts but she also has lightly cooked recipes and a few bestselling cookbooks. She's my blog inspiration, I always look to her blog and social media for advice and she is super honest and engaging in her blog posts. I can't wait to share this recipe because it's too good not to and I'm just OBSESSED with it!

For my next apple dessert, I was further into my comfort zone since raw desserts are my jam. I made these out of the ingredients from my last post, the baked apple cheesecakes . This is an awesome dessert to whip up when you need something sweet or want to impress your friends. Made with nuts, fruits and oats, this dessert is whole food based and full of nutrients and goodness.

Everytime I get a sweet tooth, I have to whip something up with any of the ingredients I have on hand. Usually I end up making a raw or no bake dessert, only requiring my food processor and some mixing by hand. If I have rolled oats and medjool dates in the house, I'm usually set. These cookies were the results of my sweet tooth while I was visiting my family in the burbs.

Berries and dates...they are such an awesome combo when you want to make sauce or syrup. My previous post featured a blueberry-date tart; these two ingredients make a great icing or sweet topping on pretty much anything. It's so easy and takes two seconds to whip up. If the dates are two hard, just soak them in warm water for a few minutes and they will be good to go.

How do you tell someone you love them....them promptly forget about them? You make a heart-shaped tart, freeze it and forget you have it in the freezer. I bought a heart shaped rubber mold because I want to start making different shaped desserts and this mold makes it so easy to freeze something and get it out of the mold later. I bought this when I was home visiting my family and now my goal is to find little molds to make chocolates in and some Christmas molds. I'm headed home for the 4th of July and I plan on going on a shopping spree.

I am not always great at making desserts (I guess I shouldn't have started out a full moon/summer solstice post with something negative but I'm keepin it real). I mean, I see a dessert I want to make and I get super zealous and I mess up or put too much of something in and then get mad at myself. But when I concentrate and I enjoy food preparation for the awesome meditation it is, I rock it and I totally rocked this cake. It's creamy, full of healthy fat and very berry-centric. OMG, I just bought a pound of organic blueberries at Trader Joe's and I can't wait to eat them! By the way, strawberry season...right now...so happy!

This was my recovery meal today. Killer. It hit the spot. I was tired, sore and very hungry. But before I get there, let me give you a little training update. I'm a very nervous runner and need major work on my self confidence. When I train for a run, I worry about it alot and constantly scrutinize my training runs, how they are going, how I'm feeling, what time I wake up, what time I go to bed, how much water I'm drinking or not drinking etc. I wish training could be a little more relaxed but, believe it or not, I am having fun!

Another truffle recipe, another sweet to enjoy! I just finished my first plant power workshop and I'm so proud of myself. This is the first workshop I did myself and I accomplished everything I set out to do. We ate, we drank, we made sushi, talked greens and grains and organic produce and we meditated. I can't wait to do another one after the new year.

This recipe has sat on deck for a week now because I needed to get the ingredients so I could take proper photos. Well, my fridge is full of dates so life is good. Creamy hot chocolate satisfies my craving for a latte. I think it's the hot, sweet beverage that is just so similar to a latte that does it. And though I don't get a coffee high from hot chocolate, it just warms me like a nice soy latte does. I rarely buy coffee out anymore because lately I've enjoyed one of these in the morning. In fact, I'm already thinking about tomorrow's cup of hot choco. 

I made my raw chocolate cupcakes for my friend who just had a baby and I improved on the icing. It's so hard to believe that this is good for you and that by eating it right from the bowl is actually not bad. There is no risk of a sugar rush from this icing as it is made entirely of fruit and veggies.

The best part about living in NYC is having access to juice and smoothie bars any time you want. I always find a smoothie that I want to make at home and it usually involves a nut butter and chocolate. I love going to Juice Generation and getting the Joyful Almond smoothie or Peanut Butter Blast smoothie. I decided to try to replicate the Joyful Almond smoothie...it didn't turn out exactly tasting the same as the one at JG but it was a delicious chocolaty filled mason jar and there is nothing wrong with that! This is another one of those smoothies that is a dessert and tastes like you will need to run 10 miles to burn it off but it is made of whole foods, perfectly portioned.

When you are eating raw, the majority of your calories comes from fruit. I bought a ton of fruit, leaning heavily on berries and I also bought my least favorite fruits: apples, pears and oranges. Oranges are a pain in the ass because you have to peel them but apples and pears are just boring. I mean, they are such a snooze. I hate just taking an apple or pear and eating it; it doesn't fill me up and there is nothing exciting about eating either. Maybe I've been eating apples and peanut butter for too many years but...snoooze! So, I decided to make my pears into a dessert and I'm LOVING them now!