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Saturday, March 9, 2019

Superfood Snack Balls (DF, GF)



I LOVE the crunch from the chia seeds in these snack balls.


Ingredients:
2 cups dates blended with 1/2 - 3/4 cup water (depending on how dry the dates are)
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1/4 cup ground Flaxseed
1/2 cup dried goji berries
3/4 cup peanut butter (no sugar)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 cup Quaker old fashioned oats 



Directions:
Mix everything together in a bowl. 

Form into balls and store in fridge or freezer.  Each day these balls tend to get more flavorful.


I've started using the  Farberware Cookie Scoop for forming the snack balls, instead of using my hands.  It is not as messy and the balls are a more uniform size.



Friday, March 8, 2019

5 Things Every Vegan Cook Needs in Their Kitchen


5 Things Every Vegan Cook Needs in Their Kitchen



Going vegan is healthy for us and even healthier for the animals we spare, and as long as we know how to cook, there are enough tasty vegan recipes to keep the chef in us always busy. However, a cook can only do so much without the proper tools to work with in the kitchen. This is why we have a list of five tools that every vegan cook needs in his/her kitchen to make their dishes come out just as good as they should.

The Right Set of Knives

Knives are actually more important to vegan cooks than one may imagine, because slicing, dicing, cutting and trimming all those vegetables, herbs and fruits is no easy task and it would be impossible to complete without the right set of knives to assist them. Buy a full set of kitchen knives and don’t skimp out on the quality for the sake of saving a few dollars because these are long term investments that will make a big difference in your ultimate cooking experience, speed and presentation. If you must start with just one knife at a time, let it the be the 8-inch chef’s knife, because no other cutting tool in the kitchen is as versatile as the chef’s knife. From slicing veggies to cutting open melons, this one knife will let you handle it all with relative ease.

A Wooden Cutting Board

All cooks need a cutting board and walnut boards are the best because they are naturally more resistant to bacteria, have self-healing properties and will last much longer than plastic cutting boards, provided you take good care of them. The Virginia Boys Kitchen has a select collection of walnut cutting boards that are 100% manufactured in USA to provide the best quality possible. These also have very handy drip grooves to keep the cutting board clean as you slice, cut and dice through an assortment of juicy fruits and vegetables in the kitchen.

Some of us falsely believe that plastic cutting boards are better than wooden cutting boards, but that is not necessarily true, since overused plastic boards have been proven to be more likely to cause food poisoning than wood.

The Vegetable Peeler

There are quite a few types of peelers available in the market and there is no harm in having a few different types to handle different needs in the kitchen, but if you must choose just one, buy a Y-peeler. They have wide handles for an easier grip, can be used with both hands and even something with a carbon steel blade is probably going to cost a lot less than any fancy new kind of peeling product in the market.

The Food Processor

No modern cook can live without it, vegan or not! A food processor can be the lazy cook’s best friend and while it is definitely not the ideal choice for all dishes, it does make dough preparation and making nut butter, hummus, ice cream, pesto, etc. a lot easier and faster. If you don’t yet have a food processor in your kitchen, you really need to buy one as soon as possible.

Cast Iron/Stainless Steel Cookware

Nonstick cookware made up of Teflon or aluminum can cause health complications over time, so stick to stainless-steel or cast-iron cookware instead. However, make sure that you buy an entire set, rather than just a few pots at a time. A gourmet cookware set with 12-pieces is the ideal choice.

As long as you have these five items in your kitchen, rest assured that the only other thing you will need to cook up tasty, vegan meals is a bit of practice.