MAPLE PECAN COCONUT CREAM PIE

Hello, sweet readers. How are you? Today I share an elegant vegan recipe for coconut cream pie, with the extra treat of pecans. This recipe is adapted from Laura Wright, in her magnificent First Mess Cookbook. I have been a fan of Laura's since I began blogging years ago, and her recipes never disappoint. The original is all coconut all the time, but I tried using pecans instead of coconut in some parts and I loved the result. I hope you enjoy these photos, and perhaps make the recipe yourself! If you do, you know I love to hear from you about how the process went, and how the recipe turned out. 

The pie is luscious, just sweet enough, and superbly nutty... a little like... me? :O 

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER RICE CRISPY SQUARES

Hello, friends. I stumbled upon a giant bag of puffed rice at a local grocery store a few days ago and immediately had the urge to create a vegan choco pb rice crispy bar. This is a super quick and easy recipe; sweet, chewy and crunchy, a perfect energizing snack or fun dessert any time of day. I'm not kidding: I threw this recipe together in under 15 minutes while I was waiting for my dinner to finish cooking. The bars turned out excellent the first try, so while I didn't actually plan on sharing the recipe, here I am. This would be made more epic if you add chocolate chips, pretzels, crushed potato chips, and/or vegan marshmallows. Then again, wouldn't everything?

WALNUT CHOCOLATE CAKE with SWEET POTATO FROSTING

Do you like moist, dense brownies? Do you like creamy, cinnamon-y sweet potato or pumpkin pie? Then I bring good news with me today, friend. This recipe is for you. It's both those magical, wondrous foods combined into one cake. Hellooo.

SUPERFOOD DOUBLE CHOCOLATE POPSICLES

Today has been a whirlwind but also super chill. I had a bunch of social plans - beach day with comfy inspiring friends, late afternoon tea with a wise lady bud, and then a date with a new person - but I woke up feeling anxious and decided to stay in my house all day. Sometimes I just need to do my hermit mode. I would confidently say it's worked out though. I got some work done (i.e. this recipe), painted more of my room white, listened to a bunch of great albums and podcasts, and I think this evening I will do some yoga and have a bath. I just had a cyber "chat" with my ex partner and it didn't totally petrify me so that's progress too. One foot in front of the other, right? I have been trying to take it easy this week because I have my new tattoos that are healing, so I can't really sweat or be in the sun. For those of you who know me even a little bit: you know that sweating and sunbathing are all I really do in the summer. So I have been actively trying to stay cool and in the shade. I miss the gym and biking, but it's nearly been a week so I can get back to 'em soon. I'm not good at sitting still.

Enough of me, though. On to popsicles.

COCONUT TWIX BARS

This recipe is 100% inspired by and adapted from The Coconut Goddess. I saw their raw vegan Twix bars on Pinterest or somewhere a few days ago and my heart was like: "Hey we need to make these today, mkay??" So I did, with my own tweaks. They are soooo decadent and delish. I have been eating them as energy snacks on bike rides and after the gym, etc. They are mainly made up of nuts and dates: first we've got a cookie layer followed by caramel, finally all coated in dark chocolate. YOU CAN'T GO WRONG. Make a bunch and keep 'em in the freezer for a quick, sweet snack whenever ya feel like it. Probably a great choice if you're trying to move your kids' treats in a healthier direction too. Or any human's treats.

OREO-ISH TARTS: VANILLA WHIPPED COCO CREAM with CHOCOLATE COOKIE CRUST

I am back from Montreal. Hey. 

For the four-ish weeks I spent there - away from home, Jack, Dante and Blender - I remembered a lot of important stuff about myself, and realized some new things. It was a whirlwind of experiences, people, places, emotions, tastes, colours, smells. I felt overwhelmed most of the time but what else is new. I often feel overwhelmed living in my particular world because I usually think [too] extensively about everything that is happening around me (and not around me). So being in a new place WITH the same over-thinking brain took it to the next level. Meditation was more difficult than normal, probably because of this. I went on a lot of walks by myself so I could have time to ponder who I am, what I want, my relationship with the external universe, and that kind of thing. I had some pretty intense and excellent discussions with my friend's roommates; we talked about the difficulties of navigating the current world in relation to gender, race, class, location, education, etc. Besides classism, I am generally optimistic about where we are going. Obviously - or maybe not that obviously - most human groups are still routinely oppressed by societal and political structures in place, but we are on the right trail; we're just at the beginning of the hike. 

ALMOND COOKIES with SPICED APPLE SLICES

This recipe is part of a Family Favourites series hosted by Angela over at Canned Time. The theme was to veganize a recipe that you used to love as a kid and/or that your fam would regularly enjoy together. Honestly, I had trouble thinking of sweet recipes that I hadn't already veganized for my blog (like pumpkin pie, berries and whipped cream, ice cream, chocolate cake) and most of the savoury dishes I loved eating when I was little are just sooo not ideal to veganize (think Thai-style omelettes and baked salmon). There were a lot of savoury foods I ate growing up that I COULD made vegan now - pizza pops and chicken nuggets to name a couple - but they wouldn't be that healthy or simple and I'm not into spending lots of time making recipes for dinner, especially if they have more refined ingredients.. I'd rather just bake eight potatoes, sprinkle on some salt and pepper and be done with it. Seriously, my dinners are pathetically easy when I'm not writing a savoury cookbook. 

BLUEBERRY NICE CREAM with CINNAMON + BAOBAB

Eating massive bowls of nice cream for breakfast, lunch or dinner is 100% a THING in the vegan world. This is because our nice cream is just made of frozen bananas and other fruit. That's why you can and SHOULD eat as much as you want. In this version I'm givin' ya today, I threw in blueberries from the front yard as well as some baobab and cinnamon powders for A) extra flavour and B) extra nutrition.

CHOCOLATE PUDDING BOWLS with COCONUT CREAM + CHERRIES

This recipe is everything you want chocolate pudding to be. I have nothing else to say for now, so talk soon.

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DOUBLE CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE

This recipe is raw, vegan and low fat! I've been leaning towards low fat recipes more and more, but I had a freak out last night when I realized: oh god, my blog is based around raw desserts which kinda need to be high in fat cuz nuts and stuff make 'em creamy and rich. WELL, I SHOWED ME.

MINT CHOCOLATE CHUNK ICE CREAM

First of all: this song. It always makes me cry (in a good way). 

Secondly: this ice cream! Woo! No tears, just tongue. That sounded pretty dirty and I'm gonna leave it that way. I woke up in a good mood. This ice cream is creamy, sweet, and full of chocolate chunks and mint flavour; in other words it's everything ice cream should be and MORE. The "more" is because it's also vegan and made with ingredients that your body actually likes. 

ORANGE-BEETROOT TARTLETS with ALMOND-FIG CRUST

This post is dedicated to my mum, Nancy.

Sometimes I forget how similar we are until I find myself describing her to another person, or when Jack tells me, "You looked just like your mom when you did that!"

MANGO BANANA ICE CREAM SUNDAE

Good god yes. I hadn't made banana ice cream in MONTHS and MONTHS and MONTHS so this tasted even more orgasmic than it usually would have. Bananas and mangoes are meant to be together and dammit - if you try to break them up, ya best watch out because I will track you down. Doesn't sound very vegan of me, but this is an exception to the Nice Rule (that's not really a thing, I just made it up right now).

FREEZER FUDGE ENERGY BITES

YUUUUMMMMM. These are pretty plain to look at but the flavour is unreal. They are oh-so-gooey, sweet, and easy to grab as you're about to start a workout or head out the door. Or at any moment. Of course, they're also good for you. Mostly just dates, nut butter and a scoop of an awesome organic vegan superfood blend called Nourish. I made these a few nights ago - in just a few minutes, I might add - because I was craving something chocolate-y (the PMS struggle is real).

GOOEY CARAMEL CHOCOLATE BARS with BUCKWHEAT

Last night I dreamt I was in Hawaii (albeit my unconscious mind's own version) on a boardwalk in the ocean. I found a forest of wild fruit and was so overjoyed I started crying and fell over. There was papaya, mango, orange, pear, grapefruit and more. Good dream.

Now I just wanna look at postings for places to rent in Hawaii on craigslist. Sigh.

THE BEST CHIA PUDDING {with vanilla, cinnamon + raisins}

I have been eating this all week. It is SO GOOD and so good for you. It reminds me of rice pudding, which I used to love when I was a kid. Chia seeds are excellent at pulling toxins and other junk out of your system, and their texture is magical when you let them sit for a little while in liquid (in this case, spiced almond mylk). They puff up! I think it's adorable. 

STRAWBERRY CASHEW CREAM CAKE with CAROB DRIZZLE

This cake tastes like a strawberry milkshake. The best part is: it's good for you and really easy to make. Oh, that was two parts.

I been tryin' to include more colour in my diet lately. Don't get me wrong, I have green smoothies and carrot juices, banana blueberry nice cream and baked jewel yams like everyday. But I DO admit I get into routines. I let myself fall into the pattern of ONLY having the things just listed, day in and day out. So I guess a better way of saying "tryin' to include more colour in my diet lately" is: I am trying to get a more colourful VARIETY out of my diet these days. Inspired by Instagram accounts like this one, I realized I'd gotten lazy with trying new fruits and veggies. So off I went to the grocery store yesterday and bagged up a bunch of fresh ingredients I haven't gotten in awhile: papaya, mango, broccoli, purple cabbage and grapefruit. And I got tangelos too, which I had never had before but lemme tell ya: they are deliciously juicy and sweet, very similar to oranges but cooler-looking.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES with QUINOA and ALMOND BUTTER

So comforting is the chocolate chip cookie. I made this recipe 3 days in a row because it's so damn delicious and simple. If you have a Blendtec and their twister jar, the recipe becomes even easier because it grinds things into flours and butters in NO TIME. I throw in almonds and they practically evaporate into almond butter. Amazing. But if you don't have a twister jar / Blendtec blender, have no fear. Any other high speed blender should do the job. These cookies are perfect with a glass of fresh almond milk. I have a bunch of stuff I must do today so I am keepin' this post short. Enjoy!

SHOCKING PINK ICE CREAM

I'll be straight up: the colour is from beets. BUT. Do not fear - if you don't like beets, the flavour is subtle and you can cover it up with other yummy, pretty things like berries, coconut, Rawxies (which are soooo good, lemon poppyseed is my fave) and brownies. If you like beets, then this is probably your wet, ice creamy dream come true. If you aren't sure about beets WITH ice cream... just see what you think. Iiiii think you will love it. Pretty sure I got the idea to do this from Steph over at @happyandhealthy96 so shout out to DAT BABE. 

PEPPERMINT OREOS DIPPED IN DARK CHOCOLATE

This recipe is the BOMB. It tastes as good as the photos look, and I know ya'll are freaking out over the photos. Basically we've got chewy chocolate cookies sandwiching a peppermint vanilla coconut creme filling. Yupp. Oh right, then all the cookies are dipped in chocolate, making them double chocolate. Can life get any better? Well, yeah, because these are also really good for you and easy to make. Okay, now life can't get any better. Unless you throw in a bowl of banana ice cream (but that is a constant truth).