I’m glad the cute Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls caused such excitement! Sounds like they brought some cheer to an otherwise hum-drum Monday. Couple reports back from the field already were that they do work with almond or even just whole wheat flour.
Moving along….
I love this stuff and I know you will too if you give it a try.
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Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chex Mix (Vegan, Gluten & Soy Free)
Melt Together: 1 c dark chocolate chips
1/2 c Peanut Butter
1/3 c Earth Balance (or butter, other margarine, etc.)
After melting, add 1.5 Tbsp Vanilla Extractto the mixture
Pour Mixture over 7-8 cups of Rice Chex
Transfer to a Plastic Baggie & Add 2.5 Cups of Powdered Sugar to the Bag and Shake It Up, Baby!
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Super easy and realllllly good! Is this health food? No. Is it ok to have splurges? Yes!
And every once in awhile I find a few Chex pieces that were stuck together by the chocolate and PB gooey-ness and didn’t get the appropriate sugar dousing. Poor babies.
So I just eat those or shake it some more, baby!
Moving right along to something much healthier…Broccoli Salad.
I love cruciferous veggies which include brock, Brussels’s, cauli, you get the picture. It depends on my mood, sometimes I lightly steam them for 30 seconds in the micro, or sometimes I eat them raw. One of my favorite ways to eat broccoli is with this awesome salad dressing recipe because the ACV (apple cider vinegar) actually “cooks” the brock. The acidic nature of the vinegar breaks down the tough plant fibers so you get to enjoy raw brock, that’s been “cooked” a little, without any stinky house action going on.
But back to Averie’s Raw Broccoli Salad & Dressing Recipe
3 Heaping Tbsp Vegan “Mayo” (Spectrum or Veganaise are nice. In general I avoid soy, but in this small quantity, I am ok with it. If you really wanted to avoid the soy all together, I would soak and then Vita-Mix or food processess 1/4 c raw cashews + 1 Tbsp water)
3 Tbsp Sugar (or Lucama or Agave to preserve raw status)
1 Tbsp ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar)
Whiskingredients together
Add about 2 c Brock(basically most of 1 big stalk)
Spoon the mixture over the Brock and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but this is one of those salads that is better the 2nd Day. Sort of like chili, the flavors marry better and it just gets better with age. Kinda like all my lovely bloggie friends do.
When you’re ready to eat your Brock Salad, here are some garnishes and add-in’s to consider:
Red Onion, Raisins, Sunflower Seeds, Slivered Almonds, (Soy-Based) Bacon Bits (all the aforementioned are very traditional if you look up brock salad recipes on the internet. If you know me, you know I hate onion and bacon is outta the question, but just brainstorming for you to help you jazz it up!)
Other Dried Fruit like cranberries or craisins
Other seeds/nuts such as pine nuts, cashews, walnuts
Black Pepper or Salt to taste
Even after all those add-ins & extras, I opted for Plain Jane Brock. I love the way the brock has been softened but is still crunchy, and there’s a definite bite to the dressing because of the ACV but it’s balanced really well with the sugar or sweetener of your choice. The plain brock was all I needed.
I also decided to make some Roasted Sweet Potato Fries. I sliced a gigantic sweet potato into fry pieces, drizzled heavy-handedly with EVOO, dash of salt & pepp.
After roasting at 350F for an hour, the first 30 minutes covered with foil, and the second 30 minutes, I flipped the fries over and uncovered them. Voila.
And plated them up with a salad big enough to make all the rabbits jealous. Greens, cukes, carrots, orange & yellow peppes, dressed it with the juice of half an orange, agave, and cracky blacky.
For dessert after getting in on a little bit of the Vegan Chex Mix Action…
…I got in on the Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ball action. Yummmmmy.
Yoga Today is Tolasana (Scale Pose)
Tip of the Day: Avoiding the stinky house smell when cooking broccoli. Yeah, that smell. When cooking brock in the micro or steaming it in general, the minute you smell it, it’s done. Do not keep cooking it! Actually, it’s done before you smell it. The reason why the broccoli stinks is because of the sulfur content. The more you cook it, the more sulfur that is released as the plant fibers are breaking down through the cooking process. So try to anticipate, and get it outta the micro, stat. You’re scared it won’t be cooked enough and will be tough? Well, there will be some carryover cooking as the internal temp of the brock doesn’t immediately drop the minute you remove the heat source. Hopefully this helps you to never get brocky-stinky house again!
Seriously with the "nice apples" comments! Why bother? I would much rather have quality comments with less frequency, and that is what I try to do in my commenting, too. I support ya!
Very fun to see Skylar's Halloween costume!
Aww, I'm glad you had a good Halloween, and your girl is so adorable! I had a pretty pink princess costume when I was little, too :) I know what you mean–leaving thoughtful comments are SOOO time consuming when you've got a lot of blogs to check! And I'm with you–I'd rather give no comment than if someone write a long post and i just write "yummy oats" and thats it. haha!
I completely 'get' the posting thing, it's hard and addicting…we gotta draw the line somewhere. But I must tell you that I have a bowl of your cocoa chia pudding sitting in front of me as I type and can you say Mmmm Mmmm Good?! Thanks for all the great food tips.
Keep on Keepin' on…
xoxo
Berni
Glad that you and your family had a great halloween. The sis and I did a little work than watched a movie and enjoyed some wine. Then went to bed…. no big or exciting plans. But much needed down time! :) I agree with you on commenting ..etc. I feel your pain. There is really not enough time in the day. We are going to have to cut back too. Though we plan to keep reading as much as possible.
hi mama love!!!
your halloween sounds so fun!!! AND AHHH, how jealous am I that you are wearing shorts?! the joys of AZ!
your little one looks adorable, and i love that their was a pink witch outside hot topic. hilarious.
your eats this week have been MORE than amazing- nutritonal and healthy, plus eye pleasing and yummy!
don't worry bout the commenting! it is hard hard hard. one time i wrote down how many blogs i was commenting on and it was a bit of a shock!! family is def. first! and school in my case!
HAPPY SUNDAY AVERIE!
Very impressed with your yoga pose! And your daughter is a beautiful princess!
I don't blame you for not wanting to comment on everything. I would much rather be able to comment on something sincerely than just for the sake of commenting.
awww your daughter is FOR SURE your twin! so so so cute :)
girl you gotta do your thang! blogging HAS to come after all the personal things in your life so don't even stress about it! you'll be around when you can!
just promise to not stop making us drool haha
why was there never a disney themed halloween celebration when I was a tike?! I totally would have been snow white.. she's my girl!
crazy how many people free candy can attract! if they were given out jars of PB well – I would've been there in a hot minute!
girl – i hear ya on the commenting thing! comment when you can!!! I felt at one point that blogging was consuming my soul – I would feel guilt for not having time to comment – that is NOT okay at all! do what works for you honey :)
love you babes!
Adorable pics of your little one!! Have no fear on commenting Averie.. I don't always comment on Everyone's blog EVERY day.. you would need like 7 extra hours of your day if that was the case!
As for Thanksgiving, hub and I are solo this yr.. too far to travel up north when we will be going home for Christmas a few weeks later. Our families get the whole vegan thing.. especially my parents b/c my brother was vegan a long long time ago. They are accommodating and love to try new things. Hub's parents find it a bit weird but whatever.. we always pack TONS of food when we travel for holidays!
my all time favorite part of halloween is watching all the little kids walk around the neighboor in the cutest, creative costumes! your little fairy is adoraaablleee!!
my halloween consisted of going out to dinner with the bf and his family, and then grabbing a drink at a local bar then coming home and sleeping!! we did catch a few trick or treaters before we went to dinner! they were so cute!!
your recipes are fantastic! that chia pudding does look sinful!!!
I have found sometimes I start blogging and then look u p and HOURS have gone by! i totally understand that a gal has got to liveee!!!
xoxo
I have made that same recipe for cocoa and I adore it!! I will definitely be drinking it a lot during these colder months. I have also experimented with chia pudding but I haven't made a chocolate version…that sounds delicious!
Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday!
Aww, Skylar is such a cutie. Glad you both enjoyed the day, and it sounds like you got just enough Halloween fun!
I HAVE to comment about headstands… when I first started yoga a few years back, I couldn't do them right away, even though I was a gymnast prior to yoga. But when I finally ended up being able to do headstand, it felt like SUCH a wonderful accomplishment in my yoga. LOVE the pose!
I think there are times when we all need a bit of the breaks from the blogs. Blogging and reading blogs is something we should be doing because we enjoy it and find it as a way to relax and have fun. But if it turns into something where you feel like you are forced to blog and read blogs and are neglecting other aspects of your life, you are only going to resent it. Do whatever makes YOU comfortable and happy Averie!
xxoo
Heather