Chocolate Brownies - Gluten Free, Vegan

I started making black bean brownies from the recipe in the Deliciously Ella Everyday book (she has amazing plant based recipes, I highly recommend!) I have made them several times, and tweaked the recipe to suit my tastes. They are delicious, they smell delicious and taste delicious! I was sure I'd taste the beans in them, but no, they just give them an amazing texture that I've been looking to achieve in my Gluten Free Vegan cake recipes.

My Chocolate Brownie Recipe

I use my food processor for easy mixing,

Ingredients...

1 cup ground almonds (I grind them in the food processor to begin with before the mixing bowl gets sticky)
2 Tbsp ground chia seeds (I grind these in the coffee grinder)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
6 Tbsp raw cacao powder
1 cup soaked dates
1 medium ripe banana

I give all of this a mix in the food processor at this point before going on to add...

400 g black beans - canned (drained) or cooked from dried (I cook up a big batch and freeze individually in 400 g portions)
1 cup nut milk (I make my own cashew milk by placing one handful of cashews into the food processor with 800 ml of water and blending for 4 minutes)
6-8 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix in the food processor until nicely combined.  You can taste at this point too, yum!

Spoon the mixture into a 20 cm, lined, square brownie pan and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about 45 minutes.

Take it out and let it cool for at least an hour in the pan.  Then slice it up and enjoy!

I usually freeze any portions I won't be eating within a few days.  I find it nice to bake a variety of sweet treats that I can freeze and snack on at any time.

Have fun baking and eating these healthy. gluten free, vegan treats!

x Sarah

Veganniversary!

It's my 1 year Vegan anniversary this month!!! A bit of art work to celebrate 😆🎨🌱 The only regret I have, as most Vegans do, is that I didn't go fully vegan sooner! I knew I wanted to live this way from an early age but chronic illness took me on a detour. I have 25 years of learning and experience to share and hopefully, help others make the switch. For the animals, planet and ourselves. Nothing beats feeling this good. Not only physical improvements, but there is a peace in my soul that I have never experienced before. I've found this feeling to have had a much bigger impact on the happiness and contentment of my life than anything else. 💟👼💟👼💟👼💟 I would never...could never go back. Peace, love, kindness, compassion and a non violent life and world starts with me and my choices. 🐶🌱🐰🌱🐑🌱🐥🌱🐄🌱🐴🌱🐷

x Sarah

Pancakes - Gluten Free - Vegan

I woke up at 5.30 am again today, time to smile a sunny morning, even if it was still dark. I didn't always love mornings, but do now! Sound sleep, refreshed, energy 🌞😀🌞😀 I drank my cup of morning tea,  searching for a gluten free, vegan pancake recipe to try for breakfast 😀🌞😀🌞😀🌞

I go to do my qigong under this! So blessed and grateful. Feeling the energy 💟🌞💟🌞💟

So, after much searching, I decided to roughly base my recipe on a recipe share by, Cooking with Plants on You tube. It was for pumpkin pancakes, with peanut butter topping. So, my recipe is quite different. I wanted to use sorghum flour, since I tolerate that well. After years of being scared of food, then diagnosed with celiac disease, on top of allergies to many other foods, I'm feeling so well again on a Vegan, plant based diet, my confidence is back and I'm having fun doing something I love again! Recipes, baking, cooking, ingredients, I love it all, of course the eating too. 

So, to start with, I blended the wet ingredients in my food processor

1 banana
1 cup cashews milk
Splash of vanilla

Then add
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1 Tablespoon coconut sugar
A pinch of salt

(I buy all my flours from iherb.com great prices and free postage, even to Australia.)

Blend this up

Heat the pan
Add a little nuttelex coconut butter, pour small amounts of batter into the pan. Leave until the bottom is brown, as you do with usual pancakes, the only difference is they don't bubble. I don't like the taste of baking powders and the like, but you can easily get bubbles by adding this. The pancakes are still fluffy without.

Flip, and cook the other side

Delicious! 

Amazing! 

Better than non vegan pancakes! 

You better believe it 😁😉😁

I really,  really, really enjoyed these! I don't feel sick after eating  them, I don't have a heavy tummy, I'm energised and ready to go! Happiness!  Too much excitement for the morning! It's 8am and I've already had the best day ever! I love mornings! 

Good morning!

Good morning 🌞🌻🌞🌻🌞 I spent a relaxing morning, wandering around my garden at first light, watching my garden wake up. Then the sun came up and my sun catcher was shining so brilliantly, sharing the sun's message, "It's going to be a wonderful day" 😀🌞😀🌞😀🌞😀

It's world Qigong and Tai chi day!

It's world tai chi and qigong day! Qigong has changed my life! I could barely walk, or even stand or move my arms through the routine I will share with you, last year, after 20 years of full body, crippling autoimmune arthritis and 10 years of adrenal disease. I've worked up to doing this routine 2 times per day. I'm stronger, healthier, calmer, happier and more energetic in my daily life. Getting our Qi moving is just as important as the food we eat. I can't proclaim loudly enough how much I love qigong and how beneficial it has been for me. I don't see I'll ever stop progressing with this ancient exercise. I 💟 qigong
https://youtu.be/g-jSBBwr8Ko
7 minutes of magic by Lee Holden

Ginger Biscuits - Vegan - Gluten Free

I love ginger biscuits! Not only do they taste great, but ginger is fantastic for stomach complaints especially nausea. They are so yummy to nibble on, and because they are made with nutritious ingredients, they add to your good food intake for the day, not the naughty extras, how cool is that! 

These are vegan and gluten free and sweetened with maple syrup.  My sweetness need has lowered dramatically since changing my eating habits, this doesn't happen overnight but little by little. If this recipe isn't sweet enough for you, add a little more and a little less next time you make them to wean off. My family who still eat "normal food" like them, so it should be fine anyway. 

Here is the recipe for my ginger biscuits...

1 cup ground cashews  

1/2 cup ground almonds 

1/2 cup coconut flour

6 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch salt

1/4 cup nut milk

Bake in a preheated oven 160 Celsius for approximately 8-10 minutes depending on the size of your biscuits.  15 - 20 minutes for bigger biscuits.

Grind the nuts and flour together in your food processor 

It will look like flour when finished, it won't take too long 20-30 seconds in mine

Add the rest of the ingredients.

Now to bring out my cookie cutter collection! 

Some of these I've had since I was a child. 

The dough rolls out very easy

I think I'll choose butterflies... 

Very easy to cut. Who said gluten free cooking is hard? It's definitely easier than wheat flour. 

They break away no hassles. Easy peasy. 

And they are done, so easy and the taste delicious!

Hehe, butterfly for my butterfly puppy. 

Yummy yummy, scrummylicious! 

Now to get them back in the tin lol they fit them so snug and there is a process we need an instruction sheet for lol

Hope you enjoy, x Sarah and Pippin 

Pumpkin Pie - Vegan - Gluten Free

I only discovered how good pumpkin pie was as an adult, when chatting to some American friends online.  It became a fast favourite, so I had to create a vegan, gluten free recipe I could indulge in! I use butternut squash since it is the sweetest of the pumpkins and really easy to buy year round. This recipe is packed with vitamins, minerals and protein, as well as being delicious!

First off, get that pumpkin cooked! A little hint, bake your pumpkin in the oven for about 30 minutes, it should be soft but not squishy, the skin will peel right off, and you can chop it up no hassles!

Recipe

Biscuit Base

Note -  I rinse the pecan nuts in warm water to get rid of the bitter taste before I use

1/3 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup raw pecans 

1/2 cup raw cashews

Pinch of Himalayan salt

8 dried dates (can be soaked for 30 mins to soften)

splash of vanilla extract

Blitz the nuts in your food processor until they look like flour, and then add all the ingredients together, and press into 25 cm pie dish

Pre bake base for approximately 15 mins at 180C or until it's just stating to brown up.

Leave and make the pie filling

Pumpkin filling

1 medium baked butternut pumpkin, approx 2 cups pumpkin.

1 TSP cinnamon

1/2 TSP nutmeg

1/2 TSP ground cloves

3 tablespoons tapioca flour

 4 tablespoons maple syrup

1 cup thick coconut cream)

Pinch salt

1tsp vanilla bean extract 

So easy with my amazing Breville food processor! Love it!

Blend all this together in your food processor.  Pour into pie base, and bake at 160C for approx 30 minutes, this will differ according to how runny your mix is to begin with. Don't worry if it is a little soft when warm, it will set further when cooled.

And try to not eat the whole thing in a day....try!!   LOL!!

Enjoy!! x Sarah