French Fry Oatmeal (no I'm not kidding...!)

Ok...before you read the title of this post and go "THAT IS DISGUSTING!" hear me out. You like french fries (I'm assuming...I mean, WHO DOESN'T?!). You like oatmeal (now this one's a given). Why not combine the two?! And BOY DID I...! Behold, my friends: my new favorite lunch.

French Fry Oatmeal.

YUM ALERT!

French Fry Oatmeal; Vegan, Gluten-free. Serves One.

Ingredients

1. 1/2 cup oats of choice (I used oat bran)
2. 1/4 tsp EACH onion powder and garlic powder
3. black pepper to taste
4. 1 teaspoon bragg's liquid aminos
5. 1 cup water

Method

1. In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, mix oats and all spices (including pepper). 
2. Add water and aminos and let sit for about 10 minutes, until most of water is absorbed.
3. Microwave on HIGH power for two minutes, watching carefully to make sure it doesn't overflow!
4. Remove from microwave and top with unsweetened ketchup. DEVOUR! 

Strawberry-Lemon-Mint Nice Cream.

Because it's TECHNICALLY still summer time...and this recipe is just TOO GOOD to wait till next summer! I mean...LOOK AT THIS PEOPLE 😱😍😍

     Strawberry-Lemon-Mint Nice Cream. 

                     Pink Perfection!

               Sweet and tangy fresh. 

                       Speechless. 

Strawberry-Lemon-Mint Nice Cream; Vegan, Gluten-free. Serves one. 

Ingredients

1. 3 cups frozen strawberries 

2. Juice of 1/2 a lemon

3. 2 fresh spearmint leaves

4. 1/2 packet stevia

Method

1. Couldn't be easier. Combine strawbs, lemon juice, stevia, and ONE torn up mint leaf in your vitamix or high speed blender. Blend low to high until fruit is finely chopped. Use damper to mash into ice cream. 

2. Scoop into bowl and top with second mint leaf. Devour! But you didn't need THAT instruction...😂😂😍 Enjoy, loveys ❤️

Cinnamon "sugar" toast. Aka "sick food".

As a young child, I was sick A LOT. And I'm not exaggerating--I was a chronic "croup" sufferer and frequent tummy-trouble survivor. Luckily, I gre out of the croup and the stomach issues subsided after I went vegan (go veg, friends!). I have been sick only twice total since I've been SOS-free plant based! Hoorah for whole foods! 

However...there is a pretty nasty stomach flu going around at the rink this week, and because I practically live there (again--no exaggeration! ❤️), I was one of the unlucky persons who caught this flu bug...NO FUN! 

After a VERY ROUGH DAY yesterday and an equally trying night, I'm feeling quite a bit better today...still very weak and achy (and STOMACH achy...😷), but definitely better than yesterday. 

It was a good sign that this morning when I woke up I was ABSOLUTELY STARVING--couldn't keep much in yesterday 😣--so I knew I needed to eat...but what TO eat?! That is always a very tricky question when coming out of a stomach virus...various things SOUNDED good (like new recipe testers for my cookbook!), but I knew I should probably stick to easily digestible and relatively bland...fun fun. 😞 

And then a lightbulb went off!--only after literally just STARING in my fridge and cupboard for, oh, 30 minutes...!--I suddenly remembered what I used to love when I would get sick as a kiddo--warm toast with butter and cinnamon sugar. Before you gawk-of course I modified it to be "The Fit Vegan Ginger"-friendly 😉👍 

So here we have a new "sicky food" fave--"Cinnamon 'Sugar' Toast". Enjoy (sick OR well! 😂😃😋)

            "Cinnamon 'Sugar' Toast". 

        Sweet and cinnamon-y heaven. 

              A bite out of perfection! 

"Cinnamon 'Sugar' Toast"; Vegan, Gluten-free option. Serves one. 

Ingredients 

1. One slice sos-free vegan bread (can use gluten free if needed...I use "Sami's Bakery" millet loaf...mmm!)

2. Cinnamon to taste

3. 1/4 tsp stevia powder

Method

1. Place bread slice on a microwave-safe plate and nuke 30 seconds (this subs for the "butter"--the bread gets all soft and squishy...yummmmm!). Remove immediately and sprinkle with desired amounts of cinnamon and stevia. 

2. Broil on high for 45 seconds to 1 minute. Remove, nuke for 30 more seconds, and enjoy. 

Cinnamon-Flax Breakfast Pizza Toasty.

Hello everyone! Sorry for my post-hiatus...life has been VEEEEERRRYYY BUSY lately...since I now a COLLEGE FRESHMAN!!! Whaaaaaaaat?! Craziness! Loving every second of this year though-having a BLAST! 

And my vegan food creations have been no different-SO FUN, SO YUMMY, and of course SO SO SO EASY! This "Cinnamon-Flax Breakfast Pizza Toasty" is the PERFECT recipe for a quick snack, breakfast/lunch/dinner addition, you name it--my toasty can do it 😉 enjoy!

   Cinnamon-Flax Breakfast Pizza Toasty.

Cinnamon-Flax Breakfast Pizza Toasty; Vegan, Gluten-free option. Serves one. 

Ingredients

1. One vegan (optionally gluten free) pita bread

2. 3 T ground flaxseed

3. 1/4 tsp cinnamon

4. 10 drops liquid stevia, flavor of choice (I used vanilla creme...mmmmm!)

5. 2 1/2 T water

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 350 and line a bakjng sheet with parchment. Place pita on parchment and set aside. 

2. In small bowl, add flax, cinnamon, stevia, and water. Mix vigorously until thick and gooey. Spread evenly over pita and pop in the oven for 12 minutes. 

3. Slice into four slices using a pizza cutter, if you've got one. Don't bother letting it cool...DEVOUR MY FRIENDS! 😋

Blackberry Swirl Nice Cream.

I'm all about simple recipes--in my opinion, the fewer ingredients the better (as long as the taste isn't sacrificed!)! This "Blackberry Swirl Nice Cream" could NOT be ANY EASIER--two ingredients, five minutes, done. It really doesn't get any better than this, people! 

           Blackberry Swirl Nice Cream. 

                  Oooooooh my.....

Blackberry Swirl Nice Cream; Vegan, Gluten-free. Serves one. 

Ingredients 

1. One frozen banana, frozen in chunks

2. 1/2 cup frozen blackberries

Method

1. Place frozen banana chunks in your mini food processor and blend until smooth. Add blackberries and blend--pulse a few times. You don't want to purée the berries...just chop them. Leave some chunks. 

2. Spoon into bowl and serve! Yum! 

Sinless Strawberry Sorbet.

Every time is ice cream time, am I right?! And when it's 100% vegan, gluten free, sugar free, oil free, nut free, and made ENTIRELY FROM FRUIT, this "Sinless Strawberry Sorbet" lives up to it's name! 

            Sinless Strawberry Sorbet. 

                           Lush. 

Sinless Strawberry Sorbet; Vegan, Gluten-free. Serves one ( makes one BIG serving!). 

Ingredients

1. 3 cups frozen strawberries

2. 5-10 drops liquid stevia, flavor of choice (optional)

Method

1. Place frozen strawbs and optional stevia in your vitamix. Secure the top and turn it on. Blend VERY SLOWLY from low to high. When the strawberries are powdery, begin "folding in" the strawberries with the damper of our vitamix. This will create the "ice cream". 

2. Keep mashing down and around until smooth and completely creamy. Scoop out with spoon and place in large bowl. Unless you're eating it IMMEDIATELY, cover and pop in the freezer. 

Baked Snickerdoodle Oatmeal.

This doesn't need words. It's just so perfect! It's like Snickerdoodle cookie and oatmeal...all rolled into one! BOOM CKAKA LAKA! Literally heaven in a bowl. A perfect breakfast for a leisurely morning. 

         Baked Snickerdoodle Oatmeal. 

                       Mmmmm. 

                   Simply perfect. 

Baked Snickerdoodle Oatmeal; Vegan, Gluten-free. Serves one. 

Ingredients

1. 1/2 cup oatmeal of choice (I used oatbran)

2. Scant 3/4-1 cup water

3. 1/2 tsp cinnamon

4. One packet stevia

5. 1/2 tsp baking powder

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a medium size oven-safe bowl, mix together oats, baking powder, stevia, and cinnamon. Add water and let sit 10-15 minutes, until most of water is absorbed. 

2. Place in oven and bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Remove, let cool, and enjoy!

NOTE: if you choose to use rolled or old fashioned oats instead of oatbran, you will probably want to reduce the amount of water you use. Oatbran is extremely absorbent because of the finer texture, whereas the absorption of whole oats is not as extensive.