Plant Based U

Fat-Free and Low Fat Vegan Plant Based Recipes

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Raw Vegan Blender Applesauce

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This is a really easy recipe 80/10/10 style recipe that you can use as a quick breakfast, a snack, replacement for cooked applesauce in baking or a raw dessert. If you have a few bruised apples laying around, it also takes care of those too!

Raw vegan apple sauce is also very kid friendly for a quick meal or snack for your little one. I use ceylon cinnamon in this applesauce recipe. It is OUT OF THIS WORLD! You can check it out here  at our store. It doesn’t have a dry bitter flavour like the regular hard cinnamon sticks you find at the grocery store. Ceylon cinnamon is made from a different cinnamon tree and actually tastes like sweet cinnamon, almost a mix between powdered sugar and cinnamon. It’s sugar free of course and tastes great for many different dessert toppings.



Fat Free Raw Vegan Blender Applesauce

Serves 1 or 2

Ingredients:

3 medium apples, peeled and cored
1 banana fresh or frozen
1 date, pitted
1/2 cup water
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon (this is the true sweet cinnamon you can get it here at our store)
dash of allspice

Directions:

1. Place apples, water, banana, cinnamon and allspice in a Vitamix (or food processor) and push down using the tamper, and blend until creamy. Using a frozen banana will give you a nice cool applesauce.

2. Garnish with sliced or chopped apple, raisins, shredded coconut or additional cinnamon.

3. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for later.

Makes 3 cups

Additional Tips:

I use this when I also need some applesauce for baking, and just omit the date and cinnamon if it would affect the recipe. It’s a great way to use up some extra apples and banana when you don’t want them to go to waste!

Dr. Fuhrman’s Nutritarian Cinnamon Fruit Oatmeal (Eat To Live Recipe)

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FTC Notice: This blog post contains affiliate links that go towards supporting the blog. 

Now that’s it’s cooling down, you may be craving something warm and comforting for breakfast these days instead of smoothies or cold cereal. So I decided to make up one of Dr. Fuhrman’s (author of Eat To Live and Super Immunity) ultra healthy nutritarian breakfast oatmeal recipes.

This is ultra healthy because it contains zero processed ingredients and zero sugar or sweetener. It relies on whole foods for fibre and nutrition and naturally sweet fruit for flavor. It’s got healthy omega 3’s in the form of walnuts and fresh ground flax seed (which I use my coffee grinder for) .

I whipped this up and it was a nice change from the same old oatmeal. If you prefer steel cut oats instead you can definitely use those for the base and then just add the fruit and nut toppings to it. (I often make steel cut oats in my rice cooker for a no fuss breakfast.)



I used a little more cinnamon than in the recipe because I just love my ceylon cinnamon. It’s a delicious sweet variety that tastes almost like candied cinnamon. You should try it, it makes oatmeal and baked goods taste even better!

I also like that this is a high raw recipe, in that a lot of the ingredients are raw and not cooked, such as the apples, flax and walnuts.

My oatmeal turned purple because I only had frozen mixed berries, so if you use fresh yours will look a little less colorful! 🙂

Dr. Fuhrman’s Cinnamon Fruit Oatmeal

 

Serves 2 (Prep time 15 minutes) (Mandi/Andi score 7)

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ceylon cinnamon
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not instant/quick/flaked oats)
1/2 cup blueberries or mixed berries (fresh or frozen)
2 apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 tbsp chopped walnuts
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1/4 cup raisins (optional)

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan add the water, vanilla and cinnamon. Bring to a boil.

2. Add oats and reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes.

3. When the oats are soft add the berries and stir in. Continue cooking until heated through.

4. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 15 minutes until thick.

5. Mix in the apples, walnuts, flax and raisins.

6. Serve.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving 240.7 Calories 12.7 g Protein 40.8 g Carbohydrates 8.1 g Total Fat 6.8 mg Sodium



The Mandi/Andi score refers to a nutrient dense value of the recipe that Dr. Fuhrman uses in his program. He now recommends that you aim for 100+ in Mandi points a day for nutrient dense foods.  One serving of this recipe will give you 7 points.

Have you ever tried one of Dr. Fuhrman’s recipes before? What’s your favorite healthy breakfast?



(Vegan) Holiday Eggnog Smoothie

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When I was a kid I used to love eggnog. I have no idea why, but I would go crazy for it at Christmas and couldn’t help myself. Now I can’t even imagine drinking that stuff because it’s just so thick and rich and obviously not vegan.  Last year I tried some vegan eggnog from the health food store, but it was also very thick and rich. My tastes have definitely changed and it just wasn’t my thing!

So this year I decided to make a healthier version, using ripe bananas. If your bananas are really ripe and spotted it will make the perfect drink. Please do not use green/yellow bananas as they are too starchy and not sweet enough or ripe enough to be used in smoothies. The bananas I used for this recipe looked like the one on the right, lots of dark brown speckles.

First I peeled and froze some bananas the night before, and then I left a few ripe ones on the counter to use in smoothies as well.

I find frozen bananas are excellent for adding an ice-creamy like texture to blended drinks, so I highly recommend trying it! They make this eggnog smoothie so delicious I’ve been making them all weekend! It takes a boring old banana smoothie to the next level!

To make this creamy you’ll need some non dairy milk as well too. I used almond milk. To make this a completely raw recipe, you can make your own raw almond milk from my recipe here.

Either way I think you will have a new favorite holiday breakfast or snack recipe! Feel free to impress your family or guests with this one too!

vegan eggnog smoothie shake

(Vegan) Holiday Eggnog Smoothie

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

1 cup almond milk, or other non dairy milk (unsweetened)
1/8 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
2 ripe bananas, frozen (and broken into pieces if using a regular blender)
1 fresh ripe banana
1/4-1/2 tsp ceylon cinnamon (true cinnamon)
dash or two of  ground nutmeg
dash or two of ground cloves

Directions:

  1. Place ingredients into blender or Vitamix and combine until smooth and creamy. If using a regular blender you may want to let the bananas defrost for a few minutes before blending to make it easier on the blender. Cutting them into smaller pieces helps too.
  2. Garnish with additional cinnamon or nutmeg if desired.
  3. Serve immediately
Additional Tips:
If you don’t have plain cloves or nutmeg you can use a little pumpkin pie spice instead.

What’s your favorite holiday beverage? 

Fat Free Whole Wheat Vegan Banana Bread

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Banana bread is one of my favorite childhood treats. I remember baking it many times and trying to pack as much banana flavor into it as possible. But traditional banana bread isn’t very healthy. It’s made with white flour, oil, eggs and sugar. It’s also not usually vegan.

So I wanted to make a fat free oil free vegan version of banana bread and this one uses stone ground whole wheat flour. Even though it’s oil free, it’s actually very moist and a very similar texture to regular banana bread. I was really impressed with this recipe.

Instead of sugar I’ve used maple syrup, but you can also use another liquid sweetener such as honey or agave if desired, but since they are sweeter than maple syrup you should use a little less.

The best banana bread is made with VERY ripe bananas, who’s skins have turned black and are very soft. If you use regular yellow or spotted bananas they won’t be sweet enough for this bread. When bananas ripen the natural starch inside is turned into sugar by enzymes, so it’s important to let your bananas ripen a lot before using them.

The key to slicing fresh banana bread is making sure you let it cool completely before slicing it. It makes it easier to cut and you have less chance of tearing it.

Then you can wrap it up or store it in air tight containers.

Scroll down for the recipe.

Fat Free Whole Wheat Vegan Banana Bread

 
1 loaf (12 slices)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups overripe mashed bananas (about 3 large, 4 medium)
1/3 cup almond milk
1/2 cup maple syrup (or 1/4-1/3 cup honey or agave because it’s sweeter)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour (or other whole grain, or gluten free)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ceylon cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Note: for a sweeter (more traditional) loaf you can add an additional 1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F/177 C.

2. Combine wet ingredients in a large size bowl and mix together.

3. Combine dry ingredients into a medium size bowl and whisk together.

4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until combined. If you want to add some dry ingredients such as fruit or nuts gently fold them in now.

5. Pour batter into a non stick silicone loaf pan or a lightly oil spritzed metal loaf pan. Use a spatula to smooth out the top. Sprinkle additional cinnamon on top if desired.

6. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a knife in the middle comes out clean.

7. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cookie rack to completely before slicing.

8. Serve.

Additional Tips:

If you tend to have bananas that ripen and then turn black before you can use them, you can peel them and place them in a bag or in a plastic container in the freezer. Then take them out and thaw them for this recipe. It’s nice to have overripe bananas whenever you have an incling to make banana bread.

What’s your favorite addition to bake into banana bread? Walnuts? Raisins? Berries?

Punjabi Garam Masala Recipe

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(yes that is snow! the lighting was better outside)

Are you looking for a fragrant yet milder version of Garam Masala to use in your Indian recipes? I find that store bought Garam Masala is quite spicy and bitter, and not as fragrant.

So I decided to make this recipe instead. Garam Masala can contain a mix of spices and be made differently depending on what region you are in India. Garam Masala can contain the following spices: black pepper, cumin, coriander, black cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, bay leaf, caraway, cinnamon and/or mace.

This recipe is fairly simple and only contains a few ingredients.

Punjabi Garam Masala Recipe

Ingredients:

2 tsp black cardamom pods
4 tsp cumin seeds
8 tsp whole cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
4 3″ cinnamon sticks (cassia variety)

Directions:

Combine ingredients in a coffee grinder.

Pulse until spices are ground and uniform in size.

Store in an air tight container.

Uses:

Garam Masala is used in the last 5 minutes of cooking, or sprinkled on dishes after they are cooked so the flavors stay intact.

Have you ever used Garam Masala? What’s your favorite way to use it? 

Vegan Pumpkin Raisin Oatmeal Baked Apples

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This recipe is from www.SkinnyMs.com, they contacted me about swapping a recipe with me for the holidays so I started perusing their site. This photo grabbed my attention right away. It looks like a great alternative to decadent apple pie and is a much healthier guilt free dessert!

I love baked apples, and this one looks amazing! It uses pumpkin butter, which you can find at some stores, or you can make your own using a recipe from OhSheGlows here.

If you don’t want to use pumpkin butter (or can’t find it), you can probably use apple butter which is more common and sold at many health food stores. Even though it’s called “butter” it doesn’t mean it contains any butter, it’s just spreadable like butter!

This recipe was  created by Navika Gangrade of Cooking the Light Way.

You can also double, triple, quadruple this recipe if you like, or just have it as dessert for one!

Pumpkin Raisin Oatmeal Baked Apple

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 apple
1/4 cup rolled oats, option Gluten Free Oats
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon pumpkin butter, divided (homemade or store-bought)
1 tablespoon almond milk
1 teaspoon raisins
1 teaspoon agave nectar, divided (I think maple syrup would be good too)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
2 tablespoon hot water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. Core the apple, hollowing out until the edges are 3/4 inch thick

3. Combine the 1/4 cup oats, 1 tablespoon of pumpkin butter, 1 tablespoon fat-free milk, 1 teaspoon raisins, 1/2 teaspoon agave nectar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a small bowl

4. Stuff this mixture into the apple In a small oven-safe dish, stir together the hot water, 1 teaspoon pumpkin butter, and 1/2 teaspoon agave

5. Place apple into the mixture in the dish Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes

6. Ten minutes before finishing, spoon the syrup under the apple back on top of the apple for a nice glaze

7. Serve

Have you ever had baked apples before? Have you ever tried pumpkin butter before?