Tag Archives: flaxmeal

Vegan Mofo 2014: Thirsty Thursday: Chicory Gingerbread Pumpkin Green Smoothie

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Drinks, Food for Fall, Green Smoothie, Original Recipes, Pumpkin Obsession, Recipes, Vegan Mofo 2014 and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

First of all, my blog’s graphics got revamped! I love it. Thank you to my brother Chad Kaplan for that! You can check out more of his work on his facebook page. And here’s one of my favorite pieces that he did last year for Thanksgiving. That turkey is really getting some revenge:

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It’s another edition of Vegan MoFo 2014, and in my theme today is Thirsty Thursday! I have prepared a Chicory Gingerbread Pumpkin Green Smoothie recipe.

When I gave up coffee for the first time awhile ago, my boyfriend bought me some instant chicory from France. If you are unfamiliar with this ingredient, chicory is a coffee substitute (from a plant) without caffeine that tastes somewhat like coffee, among other things. It is believed to be able to help people fight intestinal parasites. Thankfully, I do not believe I have any of those. It’s just a good tasting drink that sort of tastes like coffee but to me has a sort of gingerbread flavor to it too.

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This smoothie was great for me because I used blackstrap molasses in it, which contains a high amount of dietary iron. I tend to lose a lot of iron when it’s that time of the month, so it can be really good for women to use as a sweetener or in other recipes where it’ll taste good. However, the full tablespoon ended up making it taste a little weird to me. I’d recommend depending on your needs that you put less molasses into it unless you’re not like me and really love the taste of molasses.

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Chicory Gingerbread Pumpkin Green Smoothie

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
  • 1 1/2 cup almond milk
  • 1 tbsp instant chicory
  • 1 tsp-1 tbsp (depending on preference, see above description) blackstrap molasses
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 2 pinches allspice
  • 2 pinches ground nutmeg
  • 2 pinches ground cloves
  • 1/2 tbsp flaxmeal
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • scoop or two protein powder
  • greens

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Vegan MoFo day 4! Thirsty Thursdays–Cranberry Orange Dream Smoothie

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Comfort foods, Food for Fall, Green Smoothie, Original Recipes, Recipes, Smoothies, Vegan Mofo 2014 and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY (or thereabouts!) to my BLOG!

I am so excited to be participating in Vegan MoFo 2014 as a celebration. I have come along way since starting this blog. From being so afraid to make up my own recipes (literally shaking while my first real recipe was in the oven!) My recipes at first did not usually come out all that impressively. But now I’m excited to be having some really delicious things happen, and recipes becoming the biggest focus of my blog. Since I’ve tested a lot of the recipes I created for Vegan MoFo already, I know you are all in for a big treat!! I can’t wait to see what this next year of blogging brings!

Cranberry Orange Dream Smoothie

So Fall is just around the corner and I wanted to make a new smoothie that features a famous Fall ingredient aside from pumpkin—cranberry sauce! The cranberries do not overpower this smoothie and are not the most prominent flavor. Overall though, they make the smoothie sweeter and give a unique, comforting taste. The flax gives it some Omega 3 vitamins, something I’ve been trying to incorporate into my cooking more but haven’t been able to find many ways yet besides smoothies.

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Ingredients:

  • 1 banana
  • 1/2 cup plain flavored almond milk or water
  • 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 1 cup baby spinach or other greens
  • 1/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp flax meal
  • 1 scoop plain or vanilla protein powder
  • 1 tbsp agave or liquid stevia to taste

Directions:

Blend and drink.

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My own vegan brownie recipe!

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Uncategorized and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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i have been very picky with vegan brownie recipes. Honestly, I haven’t found a good enough recipe and I’ve tried a lot. So, I decided to take the plunge and create my own. I really had no idea how it would turn out and got so nervous…I decided to try making plain brownies before I try to make them fancier for a secret recipe I’m currently working on for an Earth Balance baking contest. I decided once I made these that they’ll do the trick for that purpose, and wanted to share the recipe now for just the brownies, because I think they did come out pretty good for vegan brownies. My mom has a family recipe she uses that aren’t vegan, and I looked at that to get some ideas, but her recipe has way too many eggs to be able to veganize, as well as way too much margarine for my liking.

So here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup vegan white sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp flaxmeal
  • 6 tbsp water
  • 1 stick (8 tbsp, or 1/2 cup equivalent) earth balance margarine, melted
  • 1/3 cup applesauce
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup non-dairy milk

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Mix dry ingredients (except flaxmeal) in a bowl together.
  3. Make 2 flaxmeal “eggs” by whisking the 2 tbsp flaxmeal and 6 tbsp water together. Let sit until thick.
  4. Mix flaxmeal “eggs” and the rest of the wet ingredients into the dry. It should have a runny yet thick consistency.
  5. Place in a baking dish sprayed with oil.
  6. Bake brownies for 20-30 minutes. I recommend after 20 minutes starting to check with a toothpick inserted into the middle until it comes out clear every five minutes and adjusting the time if it seems it will be done in less than 5. I find that ovens can vary drastically from oven to oven, so I want to make sure it works for you and say this! 🙂
  7. Take out of the oven when done. Let sit until cooled most of the way or fully, and slice, and enjoy!