My Plant-Based Family

Feeding My Family a Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet, On a Budget

Dessert

Pumpkin Cake/Cupcakes

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Need some help figuring out what to do with all of that pumpkin you bought? Look no further!

pumpkin cake

Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cup pumpkin (or 1 can)
  • 1 cup maple syrup (I’ve also used agave OR 1/2 cup maple syrup  with 1/2 cup turbinado sugar)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup almond milk
  • vegan chocolate chips (optional)

Do

  1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
  2. In a large bowl mix the first 5 ingredients.
  3. I medium bowl mix the remaining ingredients, except chocolate chips if using.
  4. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.
  5. Grease pan or use cupcake liners.
  6. Pour into pan and bake until done. 30-40 minutes for a 9 inch cake pan and 15-20 for cupcakes

Serve

This first time I made this I cake I ate all but 2 pieces by myself. I just could not resist it. I mixed up a little glaze but wasn’t crazy about it. The next time I made this I went with cupcakes and added chocolate chips and made this Chocolate Mousse to use as frosting.

I made these for my last Healthy Cravings group, which I’ll write about tomorrow. Let’s just say they were a big hit. I cooked the cupcakes a little long and they stuck to the liners 🙁 so next time I’ll watch them a little more closely.

There is a little over a week left of the Vegan Month of Food, a.k.a. Vegan MoFo. I hope you’ve been enjoying all of the recipes. The Vegan MoFo ends October 31st. I’m excited to participate in the Virtual Vegan Potluck on November 1st. There are 105 participants this time so get ready for a ton of mouth-watering recipes.

Almond Dream Dessert Bites Review

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For the record no one asked me to do this review. Recently I was checking out the freezer section at my local Sprout’s when I saw these little yummy looking bites. I picked them up, looked over them, then put them back. The lady next to me said, “those are really good.” She told me how she will often have three pieces (serving size is 15) after dinner for a nice little treat.

I decided to try them. When I got home and got the groceries put away you better believe I tore into that little container. I ate one and it was heaven. Yes, I’m sure I could have eaten the whole container but I did not. After all these are not a health food, but sometimes you need something a little on the junk food side.

Since these are made with almond milk they are non-dairy but they don’t taste different from the normal treats I grew up eating. It kind of reminded me of Snickers ice cream bars.

All in all I loved it. These probably wont make it into my shopping cart every week because I try not to eat this type of dessert often. These are perfect for an occasional treat and very tasty. I think they will make the perfect after dinner taste of chocolate that often crave.

Have you tried these Almond Dream Dessert Bites? What did you think about them?

Party Worthy Parfait

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Welcome back to day 2 of the Vegan Month of Food, a.k.a The Vegan MoFo. Today I’m setting my sights on the parfait.

Making parfait’s are super easy if you have kids they can help or make their own. If you own a large glass bowl or trifle dish they can make a perfect center piece for a party or make these in individual glasses like I did. These are healthy enough for an on the go breakfast but tasty enough for dessert too.

Parfait

Ingredients

  • Vegan yogurt (I use coconut, almond or soy milk yogurt)
  • Diced fruit of your choice (apples, berries, or bananas)
  • Granola
  • Nuts and/or seeds
  • Vegan chocolate chips (hey I’m not judging)

Do

  1. Layer granola, yogurt, nuts/sees, then fruit.
  2. Repeat step 1 two to three times to fill your container.
  3. Refrigerate until ready to serve

Serve

This was a big hit at my Healthy Cravings group served as a dessert. We ate the leftovers for breakfast and lunch for a few days after. A few of my favorite variations include Cinnamon granola with diced apples, Almond granola with mixed berries, granola with vegan chocolate chips and bananas. I like to top this with chia seeds right before serving. My son thinks they are sprinkles! 🙂

This recipe is kid friendly, omni friendly, and gluten-free if you use gluten-free granola.

What is your favorite parfait combination?

Cheating

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Do you cheat…on your diet? I don’t.

I don’t cheat because I don’t make anything off limits. I know this probably sounds ridiculous, but is it really?

I’m the kind of person that as soon as I make something “off limits” can think of nothing else. If I decided to go off of sugar/chocolate/coffee I would crave it. Heck, if I decided to forgo eating broccoli I would probably dream about it until I caved.

After I transitioned to a Plant-Based diet I’d occasionally “decide” to have something that most people would consider a cheater food. One example of this is dairy. After the first few weeks off dairy I didn’t crave it any longer. One date night (after months off dairy) my husband and I decided to share a small piece of cheesecake, go ahead and shake your head in horror.  I woke up 2 days later with intense pain, mostly in my arm, shoulder, and neck. I could barely use my arm or care for my children. The pain was severe that day and slowly let up, it took about 4 days for complete relief. I always have a bad reaction to dairy and can tell if I eat in inadvertently.

For me dairy is not in the “off limits” category but it is in the “totally not worth it” category. I will never go back to eating dairy. Really I don’t miss eating meat either. I miss the convenience of running through a drive thru for a quick meal. Thank God for bean burritos!

Last weekend I took my son to a birthday party, I didn’t know what the food situation would be so I grabbed a Lara Bar just in case. I wasn’t going to be snobby or rude about any of the food but I also wasn’t going to eat something I wasn’t comfortable with just to make someone else comfortable. I was very happy to see fruit, veggies, “veggie straws” and a six-foot party sub with all of the trimmings. I could have eaten my Lara Bar but I was happy to eat what the hostess provided. I did take the meat and cheese off of 2 slices of sandwich much to the dismay of one of the party goers, until I offered it to him. He then determined that I was a good person to eat near because he could have what I didn’t want. Do you know what else happened? I loved my sandwich, I had been craving a sub but I didn’t want to eat the processed meat, blech.  Thankfully the mustard was the secret ingredient that made the lettuce, tomato, and onion sandwich a masterpiece. I loved it!

So as you can see, I never “cheat” I might decide to eat something in the “I don’t want to admit to eating this category” but not usually. In case you’re wondering there is also a “I don’t normally eat this but I will this time” category. That includes things like fries, restaurant salad dressings that are likely to have oil, and restaurant hummus. It could also include random things from the clearance section that contain a way too many ingredients but I’ve had a tough day and need chocolate now! Hey I never claimed to do this perfectly.

So are you a cheater? It’s okay, you can admit it, you are in good company. Or you can take my approach, it takes the pressure off of being perfect and just strives for being better. Try to make choices you can live with, not choices that are gonna kill you.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Peppermint (Black Bean) Brownies

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Last weekend I held my first Food Demo. I had 22 ladies and two cute little babies come to taste a while host of plant-based dishes. I had a great time and I think they did too! I’ve even been invited to do similar Demo’s at a couple of the ladies homes.

There was so much to do I didn’t get much of a chance to share the “why” of adopting a plant-based diet, I focused more on the “you can eat real, delicious food” on a plant-based diet.

Dinner was Mexican food; it’s something that we really like and seems “normal” to people who don’t normally eat Plant-based. I had wanted to prepare a lot of different kinds of foods but as more ladies RSVP’d I knew I wouldn’t be able to prepare/store/serve that many dishes in quantities large enough for everyone to enjoy. I had a few more ladies RSVP that were not able to come. We enjoyed:

We also had lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, and faux cheese sauce served with a choice of organic chips, corn or flour tortillas.  I demonstrated the faux cheese sauce for the group. One of my friends has been dairy-free for years, she LOVED it! There was also the obligatory veggie tray and hummus trio.

I also had a wide selection of desserts:

I had two ladies coming who are mostly gluten-free so I wanted to have at least one more gluten-free dessert. I came up with these brownies.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Peppermint Brownies

Ingredients

  • 1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2-3 very ripe bananas
  • 1/3 cup agave
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp peppermint extract (I spilled it and add way too much)
  • 1/4 cup raw sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup brown rice flour
  • 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks)

Do

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. Process beans in food processor.
  3. Add the rest of ingredients except flour and chocolate chips.
  4. Process until smooth then transfer to a large bowl.
  5. Stir in brown rice flour then chocolate chips.
  6. Pour into non-stick pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until done.

Serve

I cut these into bite size pieces for easy eating. They could also be cut into big pieces and served with non-dairy ice cream or even blended into a shake or other ice cream treat. I think these will be a go-to recipe at Christmas paired with candy canes or even red and green sprinkles.

Chocolate No-Bake Bites

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When I want a delicious chocolate treat I reach for these Chocolate No-Bake Bites. They are the perfect summer treat when it is too hot to turn on the oven.

Chocolate No Bake Bites

Years ago, I would make the most delicious chocolate no bake cookies. You know the ones, they have a ton of butter, milk, peanut butter and oats. Yeah, I loved those!

This version is much healthier for you although not necessarily a “health food.”

I almost always have all of the ingredients I need (thanks to my pantry staples). These can also be made allergy-friendly by using gluten-free oats and a peanut butter substitute like SoyNut Butter or SunButter.

Chocolate No-Bake Bites

Chocolate No-Bake Bites
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • 2 Tbsp Cocoa
  • 2 Tbsp agave or maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 banana
  • ¼ cup peanut butter (or other nut or seed butter)
  • 1 cup oats (use gluten-free if needed) added ¼ cup at a time.
  • ¼ cup vegan chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
  1. Mix together cocoa, agave, and vanilla in a medium-sized mixing bowl. This will take a little while to do but it will come together. Once these 3 ingredients are mixed together they look and taste like Hershey's syrup that we put on ice cream as a kid, it isn't quite as sweet but it is close.
  2. Mash in banana and stir.
  3. Mix in peanut butter, you can add another ¼ cup for a stronger PB taste.
  4. Stir in oats, ¼ cup at a time. If your mixture looks to dry don't use all the oats.
  5. Optional: add in the chocolate chips.
  6. Spoon onto a wax paper lined plate and place them in the freezer or far away from little hands that might dig in too early. You could smooth them into balls or flatten them into cookie shape if desired.

Chocolate No Bake Bites

I store these in the freezer and grab one or two out for an after dinner treat. I left a few on the counter and they did “set up” nicely but not as well as my old-fashioned dairy-filled version that is off-limits. My recipe made about 17 small bite sized cookies.

For more delicious desserts check out my Dessert Page!

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