Category: Vegan & Cruelty Free

Cappuccino, Hold the Dairy Please

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For the last year, I’ve opted to forgo dairy when ordering my espresso beverages. Partly because last year, this time, during National Vegan Month, I had decided to go vegan which included eliminating dairy from my coffee. After the month was over, I had a latte with milk and it tasted funny. I had gotten used to the taste of the milk alternatives. I actually enjoyed them. So from that point on, I ordered my espresso with either almond or oat milk. I love that these milk alternatives even make a great froth as well. And you still get the pretty latte art. Winning!

How to Order Vegan Espresso Beverages

1. First inquire about milk alternatives. Alternatives usually include soy, almond, and coconut milk.

2. Be sure to tell the barista to hold any whipped cream, Java chips, sweet condensed milk, white mocha, pumpkin spice, caramel drizzle, chocolate, chai mix, and any honey based products.

3. When in doubt just ask the barista what the ingredients in the beverage is.

4. Or just build your own, using vegan-friendly ingredients you’re familiar with.

Vegan Cappuccino National Vegan Month

So with today being National Cappuccino Day AND National Vegan Month I went to my favorite coffee shop and enjoyed a cappuccino with almond milk. It was quite amazing!

#NationalVeganMonth

Best Ever Vegan Cheez Sauce

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Today is National Nacho Day! I just love a full dressed pile of nachos in front of me! I decided that this would actually be the perfect lunch situation on this tasty Tuesday. To keep with this month’s theme of celebrating National Vegan Month, today’s nachos will be vegan. Now, this was going to be quite a challenge. I could have just piled up some tortilla chips and covered them with some vegan cheese and called it a day. I needed more depth, more flavors. I went on Pinterest to find some inspiration and found quite a few vegan cheese sauce recipes. Nothing really struck me as a go-to recipe. After much trial and error, I came up with a most delicious and more importantly cheesy like cheez sauce.

This recipe calls for two ingredients you wouldn’t expect in a cheese sauce. Potatoes and carrots! In fact, it is the base of the recipe so you can pretty much eat this all day long. What gives the sauce it’s cheesy like flavor is the nutritional yeast. Nutritional is a staple in the vegan diet as it provides additional proteins, minerals, vitamin as well as great taste to foods.

I added smoked paprika and chili powder to give the sauce a little kick. It’s amazing how a carrot, a potato and few seasonings can imitate cheese. I mean it was good! It almost didn’t make it to the chips! It was so perfect for my grandiose pile of nachos.

Vegan Cheez Sauce

Serves 4-5

Ingredients

1 large potato (peeled and cut into chunks)

1 large carrot (peeled and cut into chunks)

6 tbsp nutritional yeast

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup of reserved water

Directions

1. Place potatoes and carrots in large pot of water. Boil for about 25 minutes or into tender.

2. Remove potatoes and carrots from pot and place in a blender along with 1/4 cup of the water they came out of.

3. Add remaining ingredients.

4. Purée ingredients until smooth and cheese sauce like. If it’s too thick, add more reserved water.

5. Enjoy with tortilla chips!

5 Drool-Worthy Vegan Donuts That You Should Be Baking Right Now

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Who doesn’t love a handheld ring of deliciousness? Wait, can vegans eat donuts?? Of course, they can! And how is that? Well to replace ingredients such as milk, eggs, and butter, vegan donuts often contain plant-based milk alternatives, bananas, flaxseed, or vegan egg replacements. You’re not gonna just leave vegans out on all of this deliciousness! I’ve actually have had vegan donuts that are way better than non-vegan donuts. You should definitely try it out. To get you started, I have five recipes for you to explore. Let me know how it goes! Happy baking!

VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE BAKED CHOCOLATE DOUGHNUTS

 

SAFFRON DONUTS WITH ROSEWATER ICING

GINGER GLAZED PURPLE SWEET POTATO DOUGHNUTS

VEGAN POWDERED DONUTS 

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A lighter take on a classic, these Vegan Powdered Donuts are baked to a golden perfection and frosted with fluffy sugary goodness. 🍩 😋Just like the Hostess variety, my vegan powdered donuts are soft, sweet and fluffy with a rich buttery flavor. They aren't missing a thing except for a bunch of unnecessary ingredients. This tasty recipe is up on the blog today. Direct link is in my profile. Happy Weekend, friends!!!!! ❤ ❤ 🍩 😋 🍩 😋 🍩 #donuts #doughnuts #vegandonuts #vegandoughnuts #powdereddonuts #powderedsugar #vegansweets #vegantreats #hostesscopycat #sugarytreats #bakeddonuts #bakeddoughnuts #bakedtreats #bakedsweets #homemadedonuts #vegandessert #letsbake #vegansugar #fluffydonuts #donutsarelife #bakeoff #veganbaker #veganbaking #veganbakeoff

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VEGAN MATCHA BAKED DONUTS (GF)

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Matcha Donuts 🍵 They’re also vegan, gluten-free + refined sugar free with a delicious matcha glaze!Direct link to recipe in profile 🤗 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #whatveganseat #vegan #plantbased #eatplants #veganfoodie #veganfoodporn #foodporn #feedfeed @thefeedfeed #veganeats #veganfoodspot #vegansofig #veganfoodshare #feedfeedvegan @thefeedfeed.vegan #bestofvegan @bestofvegan #letscookvegan @letscookvegan @freeeatingplan #ThriveMags #vegandessert #foodblogfeed @foodblogfeed #veganrecipes #gloobyfood @food_glooby #glutenfree #glutenfreevegan #ahealthynut @a.healthy.nut #thehealthfoodedition #veganbaking @thehealthfoodedition #bakersofig #healthyvegan #thebakefeed @thebakefeed @veganheroes @veganshares #veganheroes #matcha

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Really not trying to bake? No worries! Check out these Atlanta vegan-friendly spots to get your donut needs met.

Vegan Tropical Matcha Smoothie Bowl #NationalVeganMonth

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So this morning I woke up wanting pancakes. I hopped on Pinterest and found a recipe for vegan pancakes. I follow all the directions, but they did not come out anything like the picture from the recipe or I would be sharing that experience instead. They were very tasty but did not look very appetizing. And recipe only made three pancakes, not the 6 that were promised. So of course after eating my one pancake, ( my daughter ate the other two) I was still hungry. I wanted something quick and light on the stomach. I figured a smoothie bowl would do the trick. I love smoothies because they are so easy to make. And you can pretty much tweak them to meet any dietary needs.

This month, I’m taking the National Vegan Month Challenge so my smoothie bowl will completely vegan. In replacement of the dairy, I chose to use Blue Diamond’s Almondmilk Coconutmilk Blend. This product is everything! I use it for my cereal too. I also added an avocado and a large frozen banana for some sweetness and another layer of flavor. I had a super ripe pineapple, so I cut that up and put that in there too. For some add nutritional value, I add some matcha powder. To finish it off a bit of blue agave. Now that everyone’s all happy in the NutriBullet, I give a whirl until it’s nice an smooth.

Now for the fun part! After making the smoothie pour in a bowl and put your creativity cap on. It’s time to decorate your smoothie bowl. You have as many options as you have in your kitchen. Fruits, nuts, seeds, granola. All great options. I get major inspiration from smoothie bowl Instagram accounts like @smoothiebowl, @smoothiebowls, and @beautifulsmoothies. Share your smoothie bowl creations with me by using #swhsmoothiebowl!

Vegan Tropical Matcha Smoothie Bowl

Vegan Smoothie Bowl

Makes 1 bowl

Ingredients

2 frozen bananas

1 avocado

1 cup fresh pineapple

1 cup almondmilk coconutmilk blend (Blue Diamond )

1 tbsp blue agave (Simple Truth)

1 tsp matcha powder

Toppings of choice (I used blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, granola, hemp seeds, chia seeds)

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a NutriBullet or blender.

2. Blend until smooth.

3. Pour into your favorite bowl.

4. Get creative and top with your favorite fruits, nuts, and seeds.

5. Enjoy!

#NationalVeganMonth

Fall Grilling with Follow Your Heart | Grilled Portobello Mushrooms w/ Vegan Smoked Gouda Style Cheese

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Yes! You read the title right. I’m over grilling and we’re well into Fall. It may be 45 degrees, but that not stopping me. I picked up these amazing portobello mushrooms up at the farmers market yesterday and they are screaming to be fired up on the grill! It’s the second day of National Vegan Month, so I thought I would heat things up a bit.

Follow Your Heart Smoked Gouda Style Slices Vegan

What’s even more exciting is that I just got a special delivery from the good people at Follow Your Heart. They hooked me up with some amazing vegan cheese alternatives. I thought that Smoked Gouda Style Slices would be perfect for this burger. And it was! It melted perfectly and tasted much like the dairy version. Mmmmmm. I can’t wait to make this again!

Grilled Portobello Mushroom Burgers w/ Vegan Smoked Gouda Style Cheese

Vegan Grilled Portobello Mushroom Burger

Makes 4 burgers

Ingredients:

4 large portobello mushrooms

For Marinade:

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp organic sugar

4 tbsp liquid aminos

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp dried rosemary

2 tsp steak seasoning

4 Vegan Buns (O’Doughs Thins)

Smoked Gouda Style Slices (Follow Your Heart)

Original Vegenaise (Follow Your Heart)

Swiss Chard

Onion

Pickles

Spicy Mustard

Instructions

1. Clean mushrooms and remove stems.

2. Combine marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag.

3. Add mushrooms to a ziplock bag and put in refrigerator for 1 -3 hours.

4. Heat grill to medium heat and cook for 5-6 minutes on each side. Place buns on grill to toast when you flip the mushrooms.

5. Top mushrooms with Smoked Gouda Style Cheese immediately after removing from grill.

6. Top with your favorite burger topping.

7. Enjoy!

#NationalVeganMonth

*I was given Follow Your Heart in exchange for my honest opinion.

Where to Get the Impossible Burger in Toledo, Ohio

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If you ever had the pleasure of experiencing the Impossible Burger even once, you will be constantly wanting it again. When it first released, there were very few restaurants that served it. Now they’re popping up on menus more and more. So what so special about the Impossible Burger? Well, it’s a plant-based burger that looks, tastes and smells like your beloved hamburger. It even has the protein count of a meat burger. It’s really amazing how good and similar in taste it is. Quite impossible indeed. I’ve had this amazing burger in Atlanta many of times, so I was very excited to see some Toledo restaurants appear on the location map on the Impossible Foods website. There’s only a couple, but at least there are. Today I started National Vegan Month at Fowl & Fodder and had their Impossible Burger. Dressed in guacamole & tomato jam, it was quite a treat. I would definitely return for it again. If you’re in or near Toledo, you should definitely check the Impossible Burger of at one of the below locations.

Fowl & Fodder

614 Adams St

Toledo, OH 43604

National Vegan Month | 10 Essential Foods to Add to Your Vegan Diets

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Today we welcome November. First of all, how is it already November?!? I’m very excited about this month nonetheless because it is National Vegan Month. And you know what that means? Yes, I will be once again be going vegan for the month. Last year, this time, I did and really enjoyed it. This year, I’m going a bit further and adding vegan and cruelty-free personal, skin, and beauty products as well.

So what exactly does it mean to be a vegan? Well being vegan means that a person does not eat or use any animal products. If it comes from an animal, they’re not eating it!

You might be thinking that this way of living must have its challenges. Yes of course, but it can definitely be done. Last year, I took on the challenge of being a vegan for a month and it was actually quite easy. It was pretty adventurous trying to find new recipes to cook. I felt so much better while I was doing it too. I decided that I’d give it a go again and maybe this time I’d continue for a couple more months. I ultimately want to make the change permanently. It’s time. But for now one month at a time.

10 Foods Vegans Should Be Eating

1. Legumes

2. Nuts & Nut Butters

3. Fruits & Vegetables

4. Whole Grains & Cereals

5. Plant & Nut Milks

6. Tofu & Tempeh

7. Hemp, Flax & Chia Seeds

8. Seaweed

9. Nutritional Yeast

10. Sprouted & Fermented Plant Foods

During the course of the month, I will be sharing recipes as well as vegan-friendly brands that may be new to you. I also will be reviewing some vegan body and beauty products, as well as a few vegan clothing lines! I’m super excited!

Follow along on my Instagram page @missluvleelocs!

If you have any vegan products I should be trying out, drop them in comments!