Brownie Bite Ice Cream Sandwiches w/ 30-Minute Ice-Cream and Raw Vegan Option

Crunchy on the inside and unbelievably fluffy on the inside with lots of yummy homemade ice cream. You can't even taste the spinach or bananas! Surprised? This dish is great to round up a healthy meal with a decadent treat with a nice surprise. Your kids (or anyone shorter than you, honestly) will look up at you and say "There's no way that vegetables can be in here!", I'm sure. But oh they are in there dear children and people that are shorter than me, they are.

(Five-Ingredient Ice Cream Ingredients)

• 1 Mildly Ripe Banana frozen
• 2 tsp of Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 tsp of Vanilla
• 4 tbl of Peanut Butter
• 2 tbl of Raw Sugar

(Brownie Bite Ingredients)

• 1/4 cup of Vegan Margarine (or Coconut Oil)
• 1/4 cup of Non-Dairy Milk
• 1 tsp of Vanilla
• 1/4 cup of Raw Sugar
• 1 cup of Whole Grain Flour
• 3/4 cup of Cocoa Powder
• 2 tsp of Stevia
• 1/4 tsp of Baking Soda
• 1/4 cup of Spinach Juice (and pulp)

(Raw Vegan Version of Brownie Bites)

• 3/4 cup of Raw Cocoa Powder
• 20 Raw and Soaked Dates
• 1 tsp of Stevia (optional)
• 1/2 cup of Raw Oats
• 1/4 cup of Cold Coconut Oil
• A few tbl of Spinach Juice and Pulp

(Directions)

• For the Ice Cream: First, mash your banana with a whisk, add your lemon juice and then your sugar. Let that sit for a minute and then mash some more until it looks custard like. Move your whisk around in an effort to whip air into it.
• Combine with the vanilla and then add your peanut butter after everything has been whisked and masked completely. Mix for a minute more then stash in the freezer for about an hour.
• Take out, whisk again and then place in the freezer while you decide which Brownie bites version you want to make.


• For your Non-raw Brownie Bites:, cream together the margarine, sugar and vanilla and refrigerate for about five minutes. Whisk again and then fold in your dry ingredients. Mix on high with electric beaters and then slowly pour your milk in until it comes together. Use an ice cream scoop and place onto a well-oiled cookie sheet and place in fridge for 15 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, crank the heat up to 400 for about five minutes and set back to 350 until the tops have firmed and the bottoms have browned well. Let cool for five minutes then scoop a bit of your ice cream top and enjoy!


• For the Raw Brownie Bites: Grind your oats together and then mix with everything else.
• Use an ice cream scoop to place them on some parchment paper and freeze until ready.
• Combine with your ice cream, serve everything extremely cold and enjoy!

5-Minute Mug Cake (Banana with Crumble) Soy-free, Gluten-Free, No-Sugar Added, Low-Fat

This cake is so delicious and moist, it has great lift and the best part that it has absolutely no added sugar and is very low-fat! If you're like my family and tend to take a few single-servings then this is perfect for you! This cake is so moist, fluffy, only slightly sweet and great for breakfast. Full of spices, fruity goodness and very filling for those on the go. Just a few calories to keep you going and much better than those office muffins.

(Mug Cake Ingredients)

• 1 Ripe Banana (frozen and defrosted)
• 2 tsp of Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp of Nutmeg
• A sprinkle of Cardamom and Allspice
• 1/2 tsp of Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp of Baking Soda
• About 3/4 cup of Gluten-Free Whole Grain Flour
• 1/2 tsp of Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1/4 tsp of Vanilla
• 1/4 cup of Vegan Buttermilk (curdled with Lemon)

(Crumb Topping Ingredients)

• A handful of Gluten-Free Oatmeal
• 1/2 tsp of Cold Vegan Margarine (trans-fat free)
• 1/4 cup of Applesauce
• Spices to taste
• Stevia (very optional)

(Directions)

• For the Crumble: Rub the ingredients together, chill in the fridge until the batter is ready then top with the crumble.


• For the cake: Mash your banana into a pulp with a whisk and add your spices. Then add the baking powder, baking soda, lemon juice and flour. Fold in your flour, a few tablespoons at a time and then fold in your vanilla and vegan buttermilk.
• Spray your mug with non-fat, non-stick spray liberally and then pour in your batter. Tap lightly on a countertop about 20 times and then place your crumble on top.
• Place in the microwave for about 2 minutes and 50 seconds (you may need to adjust per your microwave), eat carefully and enjoy!

Coraline "The Other Mother" Soboro Bento

Hi again guys! I promise that I haven't abandoned you, but I've been working extra hard with volunteering for charities, making up some surprises (for you guys!) and cooking. But when I could crawl away from the self-beatings and trekked the desert of tiredness I was able to snag a few pictures and recipes down for you guys. I hope that you can forgive me for not having the greatest carving or nori art here but I was really smart with this idea. Notice her sweater? Yep, that's a little piece of apple that had been exposed to the air for about four hours...I dunked it in a little rice vinegar to keep it from becoming gross but allowed enough air to hit it to make the sweater look "knitted".

Coraline #2 Bento Ingredient List:

Soft Tortilla

Nori

Jamaican-style Soboro

Black Rice

Radishes

Carrots,

Jalapenos

Tomatoes

Cauliflower

Apple Slice w/ Rice Vinegar

Cilantro

To make the soboro all you have to do is add your favorite crumbles (or lentils, or beans, ect) and combine them with chopped onion, peas, allspice, curry powder, sliced cabbage, black pepper, minced garlic, carrots, water and cinnamon until it has all come together and it is no longer liquidy. Let cool and then place in your bento to enjoy!

Coraline Bento

I love this bento so much - its a bit conflicting though...on the fact thatI carved a few cucumber, carrot and radish flowers I feel amazingly good. On the part that I presented the salad it looks a bit disappointing butI love Coraline so it doesn't matter as much, right? I'm sure that Coraline had to deal with similar things at some point in the movie... like how the Other Mother made great pancakes but Coraline isn't into the whole "sew buttons onto my eyes" thing. I don't think I can blame her though, can you? Which character from "Coraline" should I make next? ^^

Coraline Bento Ingredients
Tofu Salad
Cucumber, Carrot and Radish Flowers
A Carrot Dragonfly Barrette
A Blue (Vegan) Egg Sheet
Black Rice
Herbs
Two Flour Tortillas
Nori
Radish Eyes
Blueberries
Salad
Cranberries

I hope that you like it as much as me!

Powerpuff Girls Bento

Fighting crime just to save the world! The lyrics went something like that, right? Eh, my childhood is fuzzy...but what I do remember is Blossom being one of my favorite PowerPuff girls since she was the medium between both Bubbles and Buttercup...but as I got older I've liked the butt-kicking attitude of Buttercup. Who was your favorite character from the show?

Powerpuff Girls Bento Ingredients:
Peanut Butter, Cinnamon and Raisin Sandwich Balls
Radishes
Nori
Carrots
Raw Sweet Potato
Broccoli
Zucchini
Herbs
Caulifower

Who should I make a bento of next? Feel free to comment and tell me! ^^ I hope that you liked this post!

The World's Best Biscuits (Masa and Avocado)

I know it seems that I'm gassing myself up a bit - but hey, I would say that this recipe is pretty darn good. Not only is it cheap - it is lower in fat than most of my non-raw pastry recipes and contains no wheat. Instead, the main components of these biscuits are simply the last of the masa I had in the fridge, avocado, coconut oil and cumin (plus a bit of salt). The stew that it accompanies is extremely simple (thus no recipe) and simply has corn, salsa, a jalapeno, a handful of lentils and bulgur, dry-cooked bell peppers, onions and garlic plus sodium-free taco seasoning.

(Masa and Avocado Biscuit Ingredients)

• 4 tbl of Coconut Oil (cold)
• 1/2 Avocado (mashed with ACV and salt)
• 2 cups of Masa/Corn Flour
• 1/2 tsp of Baking Powder
• 1/2 cup of Organic Non-Dairy Milk
• Liberal sprinkle of Cumin

(Directions)

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Mash your fats together and in a separate bowl combine your flour and baking powder.
• Knead lightly, roll out and then cut rounds out for the biscuits, sprinkle liberally with cumin and place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
• Bake for about 10 minutes until the biscuits look solidified then turn the heat up to 400 degrees. Bake until the ends have crisped and everything has turned golden brown.
• Enjoy!

Double Bento - Walking Dead and Ice Cream

This first bento was my attempt at some nori art - what's supposed to look like his beard ended up looking like cheeks and the hat was all wrong. Can you tell who I was going for? Because I barely can - even though I did make an attempt at making this into Dale from "The Walking Dead". In this bento are some carrot flowers that I lightly steamed, banh pho, peppers, radishes, cucumbers and broccoli. Later on I added some delicious mochiko tofu and on the side is some mochiko garlic bread.

This bento is my absolute favorite, it has some "torn lasagna" in it with shocked broccoli, a pear, a tomato, cucumbers peppers, carrots, a vegan egg and a tiny dot of "ice cream" rice cheese. This is meant to be a delicious ice-cream themed bento, but either way its great. I had to rush with this but what do you think?

Lasagna Noodles Recipe:

1 and 1/2 cups of Flour

A pinch of Salt

Enough Water to bind it

Mix the ingredients together with your hands and knead until everything comes together. Let the paste rest for thirty minutes under a damp towel, roll it out and then cut into your desired pieces. Roll out each piece as thin as possible, flour lightly and boil. When the noodles rise to the top you can add them to your lasagna.

Lasagna Ingredients:

Mushroom Sausages (Button Mushrooms spiced with Italian Spices)

Tomato Pepperoni

Spinach

Spaghetti Sauce

Onions, Peppers and Black Olives

I hope that you guys enjoyed this - I'm off to create more recipes and bentos for you guys!

Making A Better Bento #2 - Don't Follow The Fads

I've noticed that a lot of bentos use highly-processed ingredients such as kamaboko, cheese, pre-cooked food items and other similar things. While there is nothing wrong with this - too much is a bad thing in this case and depending on salty and fatty options for your loved one's lunches isn't the best way to go. But let's say that you come by this amazing bento tutorial that you know just everyone would love but its filled with over-processed, high-fat, high-sodium and low nutrition foods. Well don't worry - you can still make amazing bentos without making you (or the bento-eater) as fluffy and big as the onigiri that you're making! ^^

When I first started, I was a bit in the middle with the foods I was making my bento with. For example, in this little darling I had about two servings of plain white rice with chickpeas and barely any vegetables. While it did not have much salt in it - the salted white rice gave it a lot of sugar and isn't healthy at all. Oddly, I had rarely ever eaten white rice when I became vegan (before making bentos) unless it was accompanying delicious Chinese food and even then that wasn't very common. A lot of bento makers happen to live in Japan and/or have attachments to it or another Asian country that eats large amounts of rice which means that it tends to be asserted within their cooking and lunch, especially if the bento box itself is small - meaning that you have to include a lot of filling (read; carbs) within the lunchbox. While I was raised with a pretty substantial amount of rice in my diet I came to realize that just eating rice with a few sprigs of chives was not healthy even if it was filling. The best way to get filled with rice without having to worry about the rise in blood sugar is to eat the whole and beautiful brown rice (or millet, barley or other ancient grains). If you're ever worried about not being able to shape your onigiri properly without having them be mushy with the brown rice you can either use California Grain brown rice or use a small mixture of white and brown rice for texture and health. Honestly, you shouldn't ever be dependant on rice or just one thing unless you really like it - bentos are about variety. Have pizza, pasta or sandwiches one day with a nice salad and some fresh fruit and maybe the next bento you will want to have some beet or tofu poke with brown rice onigiri. Think fresh and buy fresh!


Hey look - chopsticks! And cake...and white rice...and bread nuggets with few fresh veggies.

As in the first installation of "Making A Better Bento" you need to know about balance. If you're ever worried about not getting enough food then the first step is to check a national nutritional guide and build your bento off of that until you're confident. To fill yourself or others up then you can include an additional bento or tiny box filled with fruits, vegetables or extra beans and if it is a special treat for the day then you can splurge a bit and add some sort of sweet other than fruits...just make sure that the whole bento isn't made of cakes and candy!

Getting back to the processed foods - while you will often see me adding soy or rice cheese to my bentos I've found that it doesn't always taste the best and most of the time I simply need to get to my culinary vegan roots and make my own "cheese". If you don't feel confident enough in making your food it, then you can easily find alternatives to the cheese such as radishes, parsnips, bread, tofu, or even just plain nori! Want some vegan SPAM? Make your own with beans, tofu or whatever your heart desires - just know that when it comes to bentos you need to think OUT of the box but still work with what makes you happy.



A brown rice bento with radish eyes and lots of fresh veggies - no cheese!

You don't even have to use the boxed dyes - you can easily make your own or buy organic, plant-based dyes that are easy to process and that you don't have to worry about. For example, a little research on the wonders of fruits, dark greens, turmeric, annato, beets and red cabbage will provide you with a surplus of things to dye your bento with.


 Your "Homework": 

Vegan Kyaraben Color Chart by Disposable-Aardvarks

Delicious Brown Rice Onigiri by one hundred eggs

Natural Ways to Make Your Bento Colorful by Just Bento

Healthy Hello Kitty Kyaraben (With White Rice and veggies)

Vegan Spam

*If you have anything that you want me to add to the list or have a new topic to discuss for the next MABB then feel free to comment!

Panda Bread Bento

I'm sorry I haven't been posting as much lately - but I've been working on a cooking class (surprise, I'm running it!) as well as making meals for $0 and cooking for my mum for the past two weeks. It sounds stressful but its mostly what I want to do when I have the money and enough time under by belt, but speaking of my mom - she's lost 10 pounds within the past two weeks on the "diet" she had to go on and the nutritionist said how wonderful it was that I was fixing vegan meals for her! In this bento I simply had some of my homemade chia bread, some super-simple vegan pate, jalapenos, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, strawberries and zucchini. 

Panda Bread Bento Ingredients:

Radishes

Carrots

Cucumber

Zucchini

Strawberries

Peppers

Jalapeno Pepper

Tomatoes

Parsnips 

Easy Salt-Free Vegan Pate Recipe:
1/2 a cup of Roasted Baby Bella Mushrooms
1/4 a cup of toasted Walnuts
A small clove of garlic
A small handful of Edamame, Green Beans or Snap Peas

Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it is to your liking, add some water if you wish to smooth it out, refrigerate and then serve on top of vegetables, rice or bread.

Luigi Bento

Originally this was suppose to be Mario (notice how the mustache is "bumpy") but I noticed right away how long his head was and subconciously I knew that this was to be Luigi. I used the healthy vegan food markers for this and this bento is what I consider to be a no-fruit bento culinary-wise.  I used radishes instead of cheese to be healthier - did you notice? I also made some really tasty sausages to go with this bento that were excellent!

Luigi Bento Ingredients:

1 Green Pea Sausage

Carrots

Zucchini

Bell Peppers

Parsnips

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Lotus Root

Green Pea Sausage (gluten-free) Recipe:

1 tsp of Sage

1 and 1/2 tsp Fennel

Pepper, Salt, Parsley and Oregano to Taste

2 tsp of Garlic Powder

1 bag of Shocked Peas

1/4 cup of Cooked Lentils

1/4 cup of Roasted Mushrooms



A handful of Toasted Walnuts
Potato Starch (enough to mix)

Combine everything together in a food processor except for the walnuts which you will chop up. Stir in the walnuts and any starch that is needed to keep it from becoming to thin or gummy, but don't let it get too thin either. Lightly fry on both sides and then bake at 450 degrees to keep extremely crunchy - to be sure, make sure that you only use about four tablespoonfuls of the batter for each patty.

Enjoy!

Single-Serving Cupcakes (Strawberry Daquiri) for Cupcake Wars

My mum woke me up a few days ago and told me how "Cupcake Wars" on the Food Network was holding an all-vegan competition. It wasn't until I saw the exact commercial that I got especially excited - I mean, I've only seen one recipe labelled as vegan throughout the entire Food Network website so this was a total shocker. However, I also knew that they had hosted "The Veg Edge" on their sister channel, "The Cooking Channel" and had much hope for all of this. In celebration I decided to take a recipe from one of the many cupcake challenges and twist it up a bit.

(Three Single Serving Cupcakes Ingredients)

• 3/4 cup of All-Purpose (or White Whole Wheat) Flour
• 1/4 cup of White Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 tbl Stevia
• 1/2 tsp of Baking Powder
• 1/8 tsp Turmeric
• A few tbl of Non-Dairy Milk
• 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 tsp Veggie Oil

(Strawberry Icing Ingredients)

• 1/4 cup of Coconut Cream(whipped until fluffy)
• 1/4 tsp of Coconut Oil (liquid)
• 2 Medium Strawberries (diced to a pulp)
• 1/2 tsp of Lime Juice
• 1 tbl of Stevia *

(Kiwi Curd/Filling Ingredients)

• 1/2 Pureed Kiwi
• 1/2 tbl Stevia *
• 1 tbl of Cornstarch
• 5 tbl of Water
• 1/4 cup of Water
• Lemon Zest

(Directions)

• For the cupcakes: Whisk your dry ingredients together, fold in your milk and vanilla extract then add in your oil.
• Place into your baking molds and tap them each lightly about 20 times onto the counter.
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until your toothpick comes clean from test-time.
• Let them cool and then prepare your fillings and "icing"


• For the Strawberry Icing: Mash your strawberries with the juice and stevia, then fold them into the coconut cream and oil.
• Place into a plastic or pastry bag and wait for your cupcakes to cool.


• For the Kiwi Curd - Combine everything except for the tablespoons of water and cornstarch, then heat on medium.
• Mix tablespoons of water and cornstarch, then add to kiwi. Cook until it has thickened. Let the curd cool, place into a pastry bag and wait until your cupcakes are cool.
• Then use a skewer to make a hole in the middle of the cupcake, add in your curd and top with your icing - then turn onto the Food Network around 7:30/8:00 and enjoy yourself!

Note* - You can use raw sugar or other sweeteners if you don't enjoy stevia.

Hina Matsuri/Girl's Day Bento

This is more of a bento-bowl lunch and less of a bento box lunch, but I feel like this makes it look better with a "higher" stature for the emporess. This has got to be one of the tastiest bentos ever with all of the house's favorites - peppers, brown (and white!) rice, totally homemade inarizushi, a vegan egg and lots of other delicious stuff! I also plan on making some mochi or pancakes later and maybe some other stuff - so feel free to surf and look at what I did for the other holidays!

Hinamatsuri Bento Ingredients:
Yellow Bell Peppers (in Inarizushi)
Cucumber
Vegan Egg
Steamed Lotus Root
Tomato Obi/Belt
Green Onion
Sriracha
Julienned Carrots
Blanched Snow Peas
Brown + White Rice
Tomato Furikake
Rice Wine and Rice Vinegar

And since most people don't provide recipes for inarizushi (its very simple but most use canned or already prepared aburaage) - here you go!

Aburaage/Inarizushi Recipe:
1/4 of A Package of Extra-Firm Tofu
1 to 2 tbl of Neutral Oil
Mirin, Rice Vinegar and Soy Sauce
Raw Sugar (optional)
1 to 2 cups of Boiling Water


Slice your tofu into 1/2 inch pieces (you should get about six) and then press lightly to remove the moisture. Fry once on each side until golden and then place into boiling water until you most of the oil leave the aburaage and it looks "soggy" and has no true crispness. Place into ice water, press onto a towel to remove the moisture and then gently cut a little pocket into it, using your finger to make sure that it has room. Then place into a combination (amounts of your own choice) of the rest of the ingredients with some fresh water. Boil your tofu in the broth and allow the pouches to totally soak up all of the cooking liquid, then lightly pat on some paper towels (not to remove all of the moisture) fill with your preferred fillings and enjoy!

Mum's Meals

Bulgur and Lentil tacos with avocado, onions, garlic, cilantro and tomato (2 servings)

If you follow me on Facebook then you know that my mother has asked me to fix her meals as she is now on a (mostly) plant-based diet with low-fat and low-sodium for her health. Hopefully she will become vegetarian and possibly vegan soon, but she is doing good either the way and all I want for her is to be the healthiest that she can be. This is just a compilation of the things that you guys have missed from me lately since I've been running around so much lately. I hope this will make up for at least part of the week! Hehe. ^^

Fat and salt-free dinner with roasted zucchini, cauliflower, mushrooms and peppers
with garlic and onions.

Its shaped like the United States! ^^ Enchilada pie with broccoli cream and an onion + mushroom filling.



Ethiopian Wot with carrots, fresh cauliflower, roasted cauliflower stem and berries.


I hope that you guys enjoy this post and are inspired by it! If you want me to post the recipes for anything - just comment here and ask - and don't forget to follow me on Facebook!