Easy Salad Dressing

*brushes dust off blog*

Hello, how has everyone been? It's been quite a while since we've last posted in here.:D

My family and I love salads. It's a staple part of our lunchtime meals. Since I've recently been put in charge of the kitchen, I've had much more time to experiment, discover, and play a bit with new flavors.

A few days back, while I was experimenting with the condiments in the kitchen while getting ready for lunch, I mixed and matched them and discovered a new salad dressing that I'm more than happy to share with all of you. With dashes of Italian flavors and a hint of tangy Asian goodness, I hope that you will enjoy it just as much as I do!

What you'll need are:

• 2 tbsps. soy sauce
• 3 tbsps. balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsps. olive oil
• 4 calamansi (I used a "mini-lime" that is found in the Philippines, but you can use 1/4 or 1/3 of a lemon. You know what? Put as much as you want, make it your own recipe too ;) )
• 3 pressed garlic cloves (it's best if you use a garlic crusher for this one; we need as much of the oil and essence of it)

All you need to do is:

1. Put the 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil together. 
2. Whisk it until the oil emulsifies. 
3. Then, put the garlic cloves and squeeze the lemon/calamansi into the mixture. Leave the garlic bits and seeds inside for 5 minutes. That way, the flavors have enough time to infuse.
4. Finally, take out the garlic pieces and seeds from the dressing. It leaves a smoother texture.
5. Mix it all once more, then you are ready to enjoy it.

Have fun~!

-Jana

P.S: Hopefully, I'll be able to post some pictures the next time :D

5-Minute Banana and Oatmeal Sugar-free American Pancakes

Hello, everyone!
Welcome back to our blog! Today, we would like to share with you an ultimate morning favourite: our banana and oat American-style pancakes!

If you are a busy person, one of the most important things to remember is to not skip breakfast. In rushed mornings, this breakfast recipe can be  life saver.
These pancakes take less than 10 minutes to make, only need a few ingredients, are very nutritious, healthy and sugar-free!
And most importantly, they are absolutely delicious!
Happy cooking!

Serves: 1 big batch for one, or 2 smaller batches for 2. For more servings, double or triple portion.
Ingredients

• 2 eggs (substitute eggs with almond / rice milk for a vegan version)
• 2 handfuls of gluten-free oats
• 2 bananas
• 1-2 table spoons coconut oil or butter for non-vegans
• Cinnamon (optional addition)

Optional toppings ideas:

• Sliced bananas
• Coconut yogurt
• Cinnamon to sprinkle
• Berries to top
• Chocolate shavings 
• Honey to drizzle 

1. Put the oats in a food processor until they are finely ground like flour (a few seconds). 
2. Briefly slice your bananas and pop them to a bowl. Mash them with a fork. 
3. Add the eggs to the mashed bananas. Mix. Then, add the the ground oats. If you need a vegan pancakes version, mix the bananas and oats first, and then stir some almond milk. Use about 5 tablespoons and mix until you achieve your desired pancake batter consistency. 
4. Sprinkle in some cinnamon for a taste twist. 
5. Melt the coconut butter on a pan and scoop out servings of pancakes. If you make them smaller, they will be much easier to flip and are more likely to hold their shape while frying. 
6. Flip each pancake and serve on a plate when ready. Top with your favourite toppings, or the ones listed above. 

Have the best day ever!

--Les Sofias

Breakfast idea #2: Quick Guilt-free Vegan American Pancakes

Makes:  12-16 medium-sized pancakes
Time taken: 10-15 minutes maximum
Pancakes are something that almost everyone of us like. Why, they are delicious, creamy, sweet and make an amazing homemade cooked breakfast!

We do NOT own this image. Source of image

There are two types of pancakes: the thin French crepes, and the thicker American-styled pancakes.  Though most people seem to prefer the American styles ones because they're thicker, easier to eat and are usually served with chocolate sauce or fresh fruit and honey!
 Here is a delicious recipe on making American pancakes that are (you guess it!) VEGAN. Use gluten-free flour of your choice and preferably fry on extra virgin olive/coconut oil.
Enjoy!

You will need...

•  2 cups of flour, gluten free of your choice
• 2 tablespoons of organic sugar, preferably coconut blossom "sugar". Use xylitol, honey or stevia at your preferred quantity for a different sweetening method
• 4 tablespoons of baking powder (or bicarbonate of soda and lemon and/or vinegar to dissolve it in)
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 2 cups of dairy-free milk of your choice (click here to review our recipe for delicious, raw vegan almond milk that you can make at home suing just 2-3 ingredients!)
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil. 
• Toppings/fillings of your choice: vanilla extract, cinnamon, fruit, vegan chocolate chips o half a mashed banana to vary the flavour. 

1. Set a pan on medium heat, with the oil to slowly heat it up.
2. Combine all the ingredients together and cream/mix thoroughly. 
3. Pour in a pancake's worth of batter onto the pan (a medium sized pancake would perhaps be 3-4 tablespoons of batter) and let cook slowly.
4. Once the edges of each look for more firm and light, small bubbles start appearing in the middle, carefully flip the pancake around to now cook the opposite side.
5. Use the remaining batter for the pancakes and top with desired ingredients wen ready.
6. Enjoy! 

Yours,

~Les Sofias (recipe by Spring).

 

Pink Morning Smoothie (Vegan, GF)

Running late? No chance for breakfast?

Want to workout but hungry?

Well, if you are in a situation like some of the above and you want something tasty and healthy as a nutrition choice, then you've definitely come to the right place! This is a smoothie recipe that only has a few ingredients that are very easy to find in your fridge. Its is light and the simplest. A great way to workout!

Serves: 1
Time taken: less than a minute

You'll need...

• 3/4 cups of rice, almond or cashew milk (use water for even a lighter choice)
• 1/2 cups of strawberries, raspberries or blackberries (use frozen for a cold, summer refreshing drink)
• One tablespoon of selected protein powder (I used pure, 100% organic and vegan pumpkin seed protein, but you can also use hemp protein, rice protein or anything else of your choice).
• Tablespoon of vanilla extract for a sweet, blissful scent (optional)

Now, take less than a minute to make it!

Simply pop all the ingredients into a blender and blend for about 10 seconds. Pour into your cup, pop in a straw and you're ready, a quick, healthy and nutritious breakfast choice by your side!

Leave your comments below if you have any questions!
Yours,
~Les Sofias xx

VEGAN Nutty Oatmeal Cookies (with a dash of chocolate!)

So…Do you like cookies? If yes, then have you ever thought about vegan cookies? Well...If you are vegan, then it doesn't mean that you have to scribble cookies off your diet list, because you can make delicious, vegan and most of all healthy cookies at home as well!

Sounds too good to be true?

Find out yourself...

IMAGE 1: Mixing up the dough

You'll need...

• 400g ground almonds (we recommend you grind them in a food processor at home to have coarse-grained almonds, which will make the cookies more nutty)
• 150-200g of certified GLUTEN-FREE oats
• 50ml (maximum) of almond milk. Click here for our vegan almond milk recipe!
• 1tbsp of raw cacao powder
• 100g of organic coconut blossom sugar. This quantity is just an idea; sugar quantities may vary so experiment with various amounts of sugar for your desired amount of sweetness.
• About 50-100g of gluten-free flour. We prefer and recommend Teff for cookies because of its crunchy flavour and firm texture. 
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda (or 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda dissolved in lemon juice or any vinegar)
• A bit of flaked coconut to top (optional)
• Organic chocolate chips to top, or vegan crushed chocolate (optional)

How to make the cookies...

1. Preheat the oven to 160-180 degrees Celsius (that's about 320-356 degrees Fahrenheit)
2. Make sure that your almonds are grounded. Pop them into a mixing bowl and mix in the oats, cacao and sugar.
3. Pour in some almond milk and stir. If the consistency is thick and cookie dough-like then add a bit of Teff flour and mix. 
4. Now its time to add the baking soda. Stir well and try some dough. Make sure it is at the right sweetness and consistency. 
5. Place a scoop of dough onto a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Dip a fork into some almond milk and flatten down the surface of the scoop into a flatter, round cookie-like shape.
6. Once the cookies are prepared (See image 2), pop them into the oven and let them bake for about 20 minutes, or until the cookies became golden-brown around the edges and crisper at the top. 



IMAGE 2: Ready to bake!

7. Take the cookies out and let them cool for about a minute! Enjoy this vegan snack, because get it, its 100% GUILT-FREE!

Don't be guilty,

~Les Sofias. 

BREAKFAST IDEA #2: Superfood granola!

On our blog, we usually specialize in vegan recipes, however sometimes the matter does get subjective. In this delicious breakfast granola recipe, honey is a must to achieve this crumbly granola texture. Even though honey is not considered to be vegan by some people, others believe that it is indeed vegan because it does not always bring harm to the bees.

As a solution, make sure you have organic, or even home-farmed honey. It will be 'more vegan' that way!

DISCLAIMER: We do NOT own the images in this article! 

What you'll need...

There is no quantities listed for the below ingredients, since the quantities may vary between different people and their desired granola type.

Serves: 2

Time taken: 10 minutes (maximum)

• 200g gluten-free oats
• 100g quinoa, millet OR buckwheat flakes
• 1-3 tablespoons of raw, (preferably South American) goji berries
• 1-3 tabspoons of fresh orange juice
• 2 tablespoons of chia seeds
• 3-5 tablespoons of freshly ground almonds (soaked in water overnight and having the water deposited)
• 1-2 tablespoos of Seeds (pumpkin or sunflower etc.)
• 2-4 tablespoons of raw, organic honey
• Almond milk. Click here to see how to make your own healthy almond milk at home with just very few ingredients!

Method:

1. Place all the dry ingredients into a pan. Make sure the heat is very low. Stir-fry from the dry pan for a few minutes until the flakes are a bit toasted and crisp.
2. Immediately add in the honey and orange juice. Stir and feel free to increase the heat for the next minute.
3. In a minute, remove the pan from the heat and equally separate the granola into two bowls. 
4. Pour in the desired amount of almond milk and/or sprinkle with some more seeds or dried fruit.
5. Enjoy and have the best day ever!

Yours,

Les Sofias!

Vegan, GUILT-FREE hot chocolate drink!

I haven’t yet met a person who does not have a sweet tooth for hot chocolate. Why, it is warm, delicious, sweet and warms you up on a cold day!

Hot chocolate is mostly made with cow’s milk and/or whipped cream, but in doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy a vegan, guilt-free hot chocolate that will the nothing but HEALTHY for you. Raw, unrefined cacao powder is high in magnesium and manganese and therefore helps with your magnesium levels and keeps you calm and peaceful!

Here is a wonderful recipe for the vegan, Les Sofias’ style cacao drink!

DISCLAIMER: We do NOT own the images. 

Makes: 1 serving

Time taken: 5-10 minutes maximum

You'll need...

• 1 cup of vegan milk of your choice. Click here to check out our vega recipe for delicious and healthy ALMOND MILK
• A bit of water if you don't have enough almond milk
• 1/2-1 tsp of RAW cacao powder (see image above) 
• A sweetener of your choice and of your own quantity (optional) You can use coconut sugar, stevia or even honey. But this ingredient is optional because the almond milk can already be sweet enough. 

Method:

1. Pour in the almond milk into a saucepan. Adjust to high heat and warm up for a couple of minutes.
2. Once the almond milk is warm enough, add the cacao powder and stir rougly.
3. Add in the sweetener and reduce the heat to medium or medium-high. Let it warm up until you feel as if it is warm enough at your desired temperature.
4. When ready, pour into the mug(s) and enjoy near the fireplace!

Enjoy!

Yours,

Les Sofias!