There are so many benefits of vegan lifestyle. People often focus on what vegans do not eat but it’s also important to consider what vegans do eat! A healthy vegan means consuming vast amounts of fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and grains. Be careful with vegan desserts as they can contain high fats and sugars. Sticking with REAL vegan foods are the most beneficial and here’s why:

Seven Benefits of Vegan Lifestyle

1. Easier Digestion

Many fruits and vegetables are non acidic which is easier on the digestive tract. In contrast, processed, acidic meats are harder on the stomach. Raw vegetables are also rich in enzymes which increase the level of digestion in the stomach leading to better absorption of nutrients. Forget the bloating and sluggish feelings because eating vegan will allow your body the optimum level of energy you deserve!

2. Eliminating Dietary Cholesterol

Plant based foods have little to no cholesterol. In fact, plant based foods improve liver function which is where cholesterol is produced. Avocados, walnuts, beans, and oats are all great foods to fight high cholesterol.

3. Decrease in Body Odor

What leaves your body reflects what enters into your body. Manufactured foods and red meat are the culprits of bad body odor. Toxins are excreted through sweat glands in the armpits. By eating clean vegan foods, your body will naturally have less toxic build up.

4. Low Caloric Intake

Vegan foods have far less calories than meats. Compare a cup of lentil soup vs. a hamburger with the bun.

1 C. of lentil soup = 186 calories with over 10g of protein and 5g of total fat.

1 hamburger with the bun = 270 calories with 14g of protein and 11g of total fat.

Although the hamburger has more protein, the lentil soup provides a sufficient amount of protein and far less fat content and calories. This is only one example of many vegan foods with great nutrients and low calorie intake.

5. Preventing Heart Disease.

Eliminating dairy and meat improves cardiovascular health and decreases the chances of heart disease (the most common cause of death in the West). Practicing healthy living habits like getting outdoor exercise also prevent heart disease. Start growing a garden outside full of vegetables which will definitely get you outdoors every day!

6. Increased Energy

Eating alkaline plant based foods provide the body with more energy. By abstaining from meat, eggs, dairy, refined sugars, white flour, and alcohol the body can maintain a balanced pH level. By eating vegan foods our body does not have to take important minerals (calcium, phosphorus and magnesium) from our bones, teeth and organs in order to stay balanced like acidic diets do.

7. A Natural Way to Consume Fiber

Beans and legumes provide high fiber (averaging 15g per cup!) Additionally, raspberries, bananas, apples, oranges and strawberries are great sources of fiber. By eating these vegan foods, the body can protect against colon cancer and lead to healthier bowel movements. The body’s blood is also cleansed by consuming fiber.

Added Bonus:

Refraining from eating meat is a practice of ahimsa and kindness towards animals.

I hope transitioning to a vegan lifestyle is easier now knowing these seven amazing benefits! If you’re new, start slow by adding in fruit for breakfast or these vegan gluten free banana pancakes. Remember, clean eating is happy living! 🙂

Delicious Gluten Free Orange Almond Coconut Muffins

These delicious gluten free muffins are an amazing dessert/snack that won’t leave you feeling bloated or tired afterwards. It’s entirely possible to make good tasting, healthy sweets!

Instead of regular white flour which is highly processed and generally unhealthy, in this recipe, we turn to a combination of brown rice flour, almond flour, and arrowroot. The flavors of orange, coconut and almond blend nicely here. Instead of refined sugar, you can use maple syrup and sucanat for a subtle backnote of sweetness.

Serve these gluten free muffins for breakfast, brunch, dessert or an afternoon snack. This recipe will yield 10 muffins.

Gluten Free Muffins Ingredients:

1 cup (177 g/6.25 oz) brown rice flour
2/3 cup (58 g/2 oz) almond flour
1/2 cup (70 g/2.46 oz) arrowroot
1/3 cup (56 g/2 oz) Sucanat
2 tsp (10 g/0.34 oz) baking powder
1/2 tsp (1.5 g/0.05 oz) kosher salt
1/3 cup (100 g/3.5 oz) maple syrup
1/2 cup (121 g/4.3 oz) orange juice
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 1/2 tsp (6 g/0.21 oz) vanilla extract
1/2 cup (42 g/1.5 oz) chopped almonds
1/4 cup (21 g/0.75 oz) unsweetened shredded coconut

Fernanda’s Gluten Free Orange Almond Coconut Muffins

Gluten Free Muffins Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 10 cups in a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners, or grease them well with coconut oil.

In a large bowl, mix together the brown rice flour, almond flour, arrowroot, Sucanat, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center, then add the maple syrup, orange juice, orange zest and vanilla. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones, mixing just until blended. Stir in the almonds and coconut.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, filling them two-thirds full, and smooth the top of each muffin. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pan, set on a wire rack, for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Please leave a comment in the comments section if you have any questions!

Have fun and bake with love! Enjoy 🙂

Gluten Free Banana Pancakes Recipe

Are you looking for a great gluten free banana pancakes recipe? Do you enjoy eating pancakes, but not the tired, bloated, foggy feeling afterwards?  Ditch the Bisquick and try out this healthy recipe made from scratch!

Gluten Free Banana Pancakes Recipe Ingredients (yields 2 medium sized pancakes):

• 1 C. gluten free oat flour
• 1/2 C. gluten free whole oats
• 3 medium sized bananas
• 1 T. chia seeds
• 1 T. coconut palm sugar
• dash of cinnamon
• dash of nutmeg
• 1/8 ~ 1/4 C. water
• 1 T. coconut oil (instead of cooking spray)

Gluten Free Banana Pancakes Recipe Directions

1. Mash together bananas in a large bowl.
2. Place all dry ingredients into bowl and mix together.
3. Add 1/8 to 1/4 C. of water to create a sticky liquid consistency.
   
4. Heat pan under medium low heat with 1 T. coconut oil.
5. Divide the mixture in half and place each pancake onto the heated pan.
6. Heat each pancake for about 3 to 4 minutes.  If you burn the pancakes, don’t be upset because it gives the pancake a nice crunchy outside texture! 🙂
7. After pancakes are cooked, eat immediately after as they are best when warm.  These healthy pancakes are so flavorful that syrup isn’t necessary.  Although, if you’re still a maple syrup fan like I am, don’t be shy 🙂  Maple syrup, raw honey, and peanut butter are all great options!

Paz enjoys his first bite of gluten free banana pancakes!

These gluten free banana pancakes are delicious and I promise your tastebuds & tummy will be more than satisfied 🙂 Plus, you’ll feel lucid and ready to create an amazing day!

Remember to tell me how your gluten free banana pancakes turned out!

What other pancake alternative recipes have you tried?

Bon appétit!

After my mom ate one bite of this pizza she shouted, “This is the best pizza I’ve had!!”  Not to mention, my tummy thanked me afterwards for remaining free of achy & bloated pains that occur from other fast food or frozen pizzas 🙂 Give this simple+to+make Gluten Free Vegan Pizza a whirl and I think you’ll find it just as delicious as we did!

Prep Time: 12 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 47 minutes

gluten free 🙂

Ingredients

+brown rice flour pizza dough (2 C. brown rice flour, 1 tsp. sea salt, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 C. coconut oil or olive oil, 3/4 C. water)

+tomato sauce

+nutritional yeast

+sunflower seeds

+garlic

+red onion

+spinach

+red bell pepper

+cauliflower

+broccoli

+parsley

+fresh rosemary

+black pepper

+sea salt

+cumin

+crushed red pepper

+oregano

dough rolled out on pizza stone

all ready for the oven!! 🙂

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 420 degrees

2. In a medium size bowl, combine brown rice flour, salt, and baking powder.

3. Add water and oil to the mixture to create a dough consistency.

4. Lightly coat a baking sheet or pizza stone with oil (so the dough won’t stick!).

5. Plop dough onto the baking sheet/stone and spread out (working outward from the center) so that it covers the sheet.  You want the dough fairly thin (about less than 1/4 inch).

6. Place pizza in oven for 15 minutes to pre+bake.

7. Remove from oven and add tomato sauce & toppings.  I like to add the nutritional yeast, sunflower seeds, and garlic first.  Then I add the other ingredients and top it off with the other spices (rosemary, salt, pepper, cumin, crushed red pepper, oregano).  Additionally, I like to top it off with more nutritional yeast 🙂  (simply because i LOVE the taste!)

8. Pop pizza back in oven (same temp) for another 20 minutes (or until crust edges look golden brown).

9. Cut pizza and serve immediately since this pizza is tastiest when warm 🙂

**REMEMBER** the most important ingredient is: to bake with love 🙂

Enjoy and let me know how your pizza turns out!  What other gluten free doughs or recipes have you tried? 🙂

Pumpkin Spice Chia Pudding

We’ve talked about the benefits of adding chia seeds to your diet in earlier posts.

Dry Chia Seeds

Here’s a quick, fun, healthy recipe that Danielle and I often make:

Pumpkin Spice Chia Pudding

1 Cup of Raw Chia Seeds

1 1/2 Cup Almond Milk (or coconut milk)

1/2 Chopped Banana

2 Teaspoons Cinnamon

2 Teaspoons Ground Ginger

2 Teaspoons of Nutmeg

2 Teaspoons of Organic Raw Local Honey

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl.

**The primary ingredients are necessary, they are: Chia seeds and Almond Milk. The recipe will work even if you don’t have one or two of the exact secondary ingredients.

Our Premixed Chia Pudding

Mix all ingredients and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. If you’ve ever eaten chia seeds, then you know about their tendency to expand once combined with fluids. Accordingly, you’ll notice that the volume of your pudding will have doubled during your 30 minute wait. Enjoy 🙂

This can easily serve two people unless one is a former American football player. 😉

Thanks to Culinary Colleen for the awesome dry chia seeds image at the top of this page. Check out her blog for interesting food photographs, unique restaurants, info on catering, and much more.

Autumn Spice Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup Vegan Optional

Danielle and I made this Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup on Saturday night with fresh ingredients from our garden. It was delicious and full of vibrancy! Try it out this weekend for the perfect Autumn soup.   🙂

Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup Recipe (Vegan Optional) Ingredients:

5 Small/Medium Sweet Potatoes

1 Yellow Onion

2 Stalks of Broccoli

Fresh Garlic

1 Liter of Vegetable Stock

Curry Powder

Lemon

Rosemary

Parsley

Cinnamon

Tumeric

Cumin

Raw Sunflower Kernels

Cooking Our Autumn Vegan Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup

Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup Recipe (Vegan Optional) Instructions:

First, steam 5 small/med sweet potatoes so they are soft to mash.

Add 1 yellow Onion (chopped) and 2 cloves garlic (minced) to heat in a large pot w/ 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.  Add cinnamon and turmeric to this.  (about 5 min or until translucent)

Add vegetable stock (or chicken if you prefer!) with the mashed sweet potatoes.  Let cook on medium (for 3~5 min) before adding the sliced Broccoli.  Then add black pepper, sea salt, curry powder, lemon juice, a little fresh rosemary, cumin, a little more cinnamon & turmeric.

Let cook on low for 20 min or so (as long as you can restrain yourself hehe). The longer the better because the spices/flavors will be more intense the longer it cooks.

Meanwhile, roast Sunflower kernels.  (don’t burn them! even though the crisp ones are still yummy to eat)

Before serving your Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup, garnish with fresh parsley and the roasted sunflower seeds!

Our Garnished Autumn Vegan Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup in Handmade Pottery

Voila!!  🙂

**most important ingredient: cook with *LOVE!*  🙂

Enjoy your Sweet Potato Broccoli Soup and let us know how it comes out 🙂