Ⓥ Blueberry Cheesecake Smoothie -- Loaded with Greens! Ⓥ

What's better than vegan cheesecake? Cheesecake in smoothie form loaded with so much healthy goodness that you'll want seconds! Yup, that's exactly what this smoothie is! Blueberry and cheesecake coming together with the added benefit of a ton of healthy greens--and, what do you know? You'd never even know there was this much greenery in this lovely dessert/breakfast/snack! ;)

vegan / gluten free/ sugar-free/ 

Blueberry Cheesecake Smoothie

1/4 cup Frozen Blueberries

1/4 an Avocado

4 large leaves of Swiss Chard or Collards (or any combination of your favourite greens)

1 scoop Vanilla Vega One Protein

2 Tbsp Daiya Cream Cheese

2 Tbsp Hemp Seeds 

1 Tbsp Flax Seeds

1 1/2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

¼ cup water (or for added flavour, chilled chai tea^)

Hazelnut Stevia to sweeten (or other sweetener of your choice)

Add all the ingredients together in a blender and blend until smooth. Add less or more liquid to get your desired consistency, and less or more sweetener to your desired sweetness. 

I like making this smoothie as a thicker "nogurt" snack, but feel free to add more liquid to make it a full smoothie. 

Makes 1 serving. Enjoy! 

^I often brew chai tea overnight so that I can add it to smoothies! Always nice to have some handy and you can make large batches at a time.

*I make my smoothies in either a Blendtec Blender or my Nutribullet -- both are amazing blenders that make smoothies super smooth and creamy!* 

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Ⓥ Apple Pie Smoothie Ⓥ

It's rainy, it's fall, it's cold, and all I want to do is cuddle up in a blanket fort and enjoy cozy, delicious and healthy snacks, breakfasts, or even desserts! Or… combine all three with this amazing smoothie recipe! ;) 

This recipe makes a great switch-up in your usual smoothie morning recipes (if you're like me and have smoothies every morning for breakfast that is). Even though it's still a cold smoothie, it feels warm and, heck, if you wanted to you could even warm it up and it would be delish! Mmmmmmm!  

Apple Pie Smoothie

3 Tbsp of Gluten-Free Oatmeal (or sub for 2 Tbsp Chia Seeds!)

2 Tbsp of almond butter or sunflower seed butter 

1 apple, chopped

¼ tsp of nutmeg

1 tsp of cinnamon

½ cup ice

1 cup coconut milk (beverage, not canned -- or hemp milk, or almond milk, or any other non-dairy milk)

1 scoop of Vanilla Protein Powder (optional -- if you don't, then add a touch of vanilla extract)

Stevia to sweeten (or other sweetener of your choice)

Cook the oats, or soak them overnight in the fridge--with 1/2 cup water. Wait until they've cooled if cooking them. 

Add all the ingredients together in a blender and blend until smooth. Add less or more liquid to get your desired consistency, and less or more sweetener to your desired sweetness. Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

Makes 1 serving. Enjoy! 

*I make all my smoothies in our Blendtec Blender--it's an amazing blender and well worth the investment--and it makes the smoothies super super smooth and creamy!* 

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Ⓥ Vegan Kitchen: Creamy Lobster Mushroom Pasta Ⓥ

The husband and I went on a lovely hike the other day and we just so happened to stumble across our first lobster mushroom! Now, normally, mushroom picking scares me--what with the high possibility that you're dealing with poisonous mushrooms--but, fortunately, Cory had his iPhone handy (thank you technology) and we were able to google search lobster mushrooms. They have no poisonous look-a-likes, and unlike many mushrooms, they are very easy to identify. So we picked our very first ever wild mushroom. On the way back down from the hike (now that we were looking), we found a few more. How exciting! 

So we had several mushrooms, meaning it was time for a new recipe! 

While this recipe will be delicious with any mushrooms, lobster mushrooms really pack the extra incredible flavour--so if you can go wildcrafting or find some locally, I highly recommend it! 

Creamy Lobster Mushroom Pasta 

Enough Linguini Pasta for 2! 

1 large Lobster Mushroom (or two smaller ones), chopped and diced

2 cloves Garlic, minced

2 Tbsp Olive Oil (+ 1 Tbsp)

1 heaped tsp Miso

1 1/2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 Tbsp Tamari

1 tsp (just under) Salt

dash Garlic Salt

dash of Black Pepper

3 Tbsp Rice Flour (or any other flour)

2 cups Water

1/4 cup Vegan Cream Cheese (I used Follow Your Heart brand)

Handful of Spinach

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook the pasta according to instructions on package. (depending how long your pasta takes to cook, start cooking accordingly ;)) 

Sauté the Mushroom and Garlic in oil for several minutes on medium-high heat -- the mushrooms will release a lot of water, so wait for some of the water to reduce so that they can sauté for a few minutes.  

Add the vinegar and tamari and sauté another several minutes. 

Add the rice flour and that last Tbsp of Oil, and sauté for a minute. Add the miso, salt and spices, and slowly add water; increasing the heat a little and cook until the sauce boils and thickens, stirring fairly frequently. This usually takes about ten minutes for the sauce to fully thicken up. 

Once the sauce has thickened, add the cream cheese and spinach, and continue to stir until fully melted and blended. 

Add more water if needed. Taste-test to see if it needs more salt or pepper. 

Pour the sauce over the pasta and enjoy!

Makes 2 servings. 

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