Nothing calls for ice cream quite like the warm, humid days of summer! This week's market trip supplied us with another batch of gorgeous, spray-free cherries and I was inspired to pair them with chocolate, a classic and delicious pairing. If you are curious about the benefits of cherries, you can check out the links in my recent Cherry Chopped Salad post. Raw cacao is another powerhouse ingredients, chock full of magnesium and seratonin, among other benefits. Cacao pods are not grown locally but I am happy to be able to purchase raw cacao in bulk here in Halifax at The Tare Shop. When I went to pour my base into our ice cream maker, I found that the recipe left me with exactly a cup of the chocolate cherry mixture leftover. I combined the base with chia seeds, and we ended up with a second, equally delicious snack while…
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Chocolate & Cherries Three Ways
As a plant-based family, we typically use coconut in lots of different ways. Coconut oil works as an excellent substitute for butter when it comes to baking, and is also our go-to oil (along with avocado) when it comes to high heat cooking. It also works well for body care, specifically as a make-up remover and skin moisturizer. Coconut milk functions as an excellent replacement for milk and coconut water is an extremely hydrating beverage. We use shredded coconut in a variety of different recipes, including the quick and easy coconut milk recipe below. Coconut has gotten a bad rap over the years due to the fact that it is a saturated fat. There is some argument that because coconut oil contains medium-chain triglycerides it has a positive rather than negative effect on your cholesterol levels as it causes an increase in HDL levels. Like anything else, consuming large amounts…
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Chocolate Coconut Macaroons
We are in the midst of strawberry season here in Halifax, and I couldn't be happier! Strawberries bring me right back to my grandmother's garden, we would pick berries and then spend the afternoon mixing and rolling out pie dough. My grandmother was a complicated woman, she had a difficult life and mental health issues, a combination of factors that made some of our interactions challenging. That being said, my memories of cooking with her are all positive and I am often amazed at the power the combination of a few simple ingredients has to bring people together. I spoke about the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen a few posts back, it is essentially a list that is revised every year, indicating which crops have the highest levels of pesticides. Why bring this up now? Because my superfood ingredient of the week, the mighty strawberry, just happens to be at…
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Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Panna Cotta
I used to be a huge fan of the Food Network and watched tons of their shows. Then we shifted the way we eat, and cancelled our cable and the programs fell by the wayside.
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Chocolate Avocado Mousse
We didn't go too nuts with sweet treats during the holidays this year – mostly because we were in the midst of moving and didn't have a lot of opportunity to bake cookies!
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Double Chocolate Chaga Cheesecake with Coconut Whipped Cream
I am not typically a lemon dessert person, however this cheesecake recipe is the exception to the rule! I was inspired to try my hand at this combination when I tried the Lavender Lemon Cheesecake at Be Love last week.
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Lemon Lavender Cashew Cheesecake
Over the past few years our ritual of setting out milk and cookies for Santa has shifted somewhat. We have gone from Almond Holiday Nog in a carton to a homemade variety, created with my friend Johanna at the same time as the Gingerbread Latte I posted a few days ago.
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Milk (aka Holiday Nog) and Cookies for Santa
When I was a kid, long before plant based foods became an integral part of my life, Thanksgiving was about one thing, and one thing only: Pumpkin Pie. I could take or leave the turkey, along with the weeks of turkey soup that followed. What I looked forward to the most was pumpkin pie, topped with a healthy dollop of whipped cream of course.
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Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake with Coconut Whipped Cream
Nothing says summer quite like a popsicle, especially the home made variety. I am not a huge fan of conventional popsicles; I have done quite a bit of research into artificial flavours and colours and am simply not comfortable putting all of that junk in my body (and more importantly, the bodies of my kids).
This week's ice cream post was motivated by a few different things. We have had a glorious summer thus far, with beautiful sunny days - and thankfully a bit of much needed rain in the last little while. I have always felt that ice cream pairs well with warm, sunny days and our recent acquisition of a new ice cream maker opened up a whole world of possibilities.
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Chocolate Panda Tea Infused Coconut Ice Cream
