This vegan apple crisp coconut oil recipe is a keeper friends! My cousin Saarah, aka my sista from another motha (my aunt actually!) came over during the winter holidays for our annual sleepover.
Seeing as Saarah is my cousin, I’ve known her for her whole life (I used to change her diapers!). She is 10 years younger than me and so we have only recently become close. The deal was sealed when me, my Mom, Saarah and my aunt (Saarah’s Mom) all took a mother daughter trip to Dubai. It was so much fun!
Saarah and I shared a hotel room the for the whole 2 week duration of the vacay and so we basically learned everything about each other. She is super cool! Way cooler than I was at 20. Anywho, Saarah and I learned that we love each not only because we are family! Woohoo! It’s always a pleasure when you genuinely like your family.
I genuinely like Saarah. 🙂 Haha, this post is basically devoted to my love for Saarah! You’re welcome Saarah. 🙂
Anywho, back to the sleepover and the vegan apple crisp. Saarah is currently in her 3rd year of undergrad at McMaster University, in Hamilton, ON. She studies way to hard if you ask me (just joking! 😛 she will do something amazing in life!) and so we barely see each other during the school year. She was off for the winter break and so we had a sleepover. This is how our winter sleepovers go: make fire, make food, eat food, drink tea, make more food, eat more food, drink more tea. 🙂
For dinner we had my Vegan Tempeh Sandwich and had this vegan apple crisp for dessert. It was a hit! Super quick, easy and incredibly satisfying! Some vegan coconut ice cream on top would also be a super delicious addition. 🙂
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients for Vegan Apple Crisp Coconut Oil – Apple Filling
6 apples, cored and chopped
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Ingredients for Vegan Apple Crisp Coconut Oil – Crumble Topping
pinch of salt
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
Directions for Vegan Apple Crisp Coconut Oil
Preheat oven to 350
Combine all apple filling ingredients in one bowl
Combine all crumble topping ingredients in another bowl
Oil an oven safe pan with coconut oil
Spoon the fruit mixture into the bottom, then sprinkle the crumble mixture on top.
Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the crumble is browned.
Sigh, vegan winter salads….the best type of salads! I love salads and eat them all year round. Eating salads is the summer is super easy and refreshing. Having salads in the winter though is not always awesome. My criteria for vegan winter salads: it has be warm and complete with protein (and, of course, delicious and easy).
I was invited to a potluck a couple of weeks ago and decided to bring a salad. In my search for vegan winter salads, I came up with so many delicious options that I decided to bookmark and share with you. 🙂
See below for my roundup for the best vegan winter salads.
All of the salads are complete with protein. The first section of salads calls for lentils, the second section has tofu and the last section has some other type of veggie protein.
This simple gluten free pie crust recipe is just want the name suggest, super easy! It’s been my mission to find the perfect gluten free pie crust ever since whipping my diet into shape and this crust may just be the winner! Not only is it super easy to make, but it is incredibly tasty and flaky. Your family and guests won’t be able to tell that it’s gluten free :P. You can adapt the recipe to make a savoury or sweet pie. I’ve used this to with with my How To Make A Curry Pie recipe and my Vegan Pumpkin Pie Recipe Coconut Milk.
This green smoothie recipe with spinach & almond butter is ah-mazing! This is how the creation came to life: I was at home, hard at work and, as per usual, I forgot to eat lunch and it was 2pm – yikes! I didn’t have a lot of time and needed something to fill up my belly quick. I had the following ingredients in the fridge: spinach, almond milk & almond butter. I whipped them together and voila! So simple and SO SO VERY delicious!!
The combination of apple and almond butter is the best! My body doesn’t like peanut butter so I always use almond butter in anything that I would use peanut butter in and it never disappoints! (Aside: apple + almond butter also makes a super quick and protein packed snack).
If you are nut free though, use sun butter (or any other nut free “peanut” butter). My nephew is severely allergic to peanuts so nuts are a big no no at my brother’s house. Whenever I’m at their place, I eat sun butter as my almond butter replacer and it tastes great! (I think almost exactly like peanut butter). So, in case you are nut free, feel free to replace the almond butter with sun butter and I’m sure it will taste super. I’ll be trying this recipe with sun butter instead of almond butter the next time I go to my bro’s house.
I’ll definitely be making this again and again. 🙂
Serves: 1
Ingredients for Green Smoothie Recipe Spinach Almond Milk
1 cup almond milk
1 apple, cored
2 handfuls of spinach, washed
2 tbsp of almond butter (or a nut free version, like sun butter)
1-2 tbsp of maple syrup (or any other sweetener), optional
1-2 tbsp hemp seeds (gives an extra 10.6 grams of protein!), optional (if you have it handy)
Directions for Green Smoothie Recipe Spinach Almond Milk
Throw all the ingredients into a blender (I used a Blendtec) and mix it up!
I love me some real simple quinoa salad. It’s the perfect quick, yummy and nutritious weekday meal.
I’m lazy and so I need meals that are complete and packed with protein. Adopting mostly a plant-based lifestyle this isn’t always so easy and so I’m always on the look out for quick, delicious and complete meals. I’ve curated the best real simple quinoa salad recipes that are both vegan and are complete meals with protein.
See my roundup below for the the best real simple quinoa salad recipes.
All of the recipes are vegan but I have also indicated whether they are:
Ingredients: 11 Main items:
chickpeas,
tomatoes, cucumber, cilantro
✓ Gluten free
✓ Soy free
✓ Nut free
✓ Sugar free
Why this makes the cut: Full disclaimer, this is my recipe. 🙂 If you like zesty loaded with garlic and lemon, you will like this one! It’s one of my go-to staple weekday meals.
This breakfast kale smoothie is one of my staple detox breakfast recipes. Not only is it incredibly nutritious, packed with kale and other superfoods, but it is also so delicious! I look forward to this breakfast from the moment I wake up. I throw a lot of things into my breakfast kale smoothie but feel free to use the recipe as a template and eliminate/add whatever else you fancy. 😉
I think a good baseline for the breakfast kale smoothie would be kale, apple, almond milk (or any other type of dairy free milk) and some protein like nuts/nut butter. After that, it’s fair game!
Serves 1-2 (one large glass, or 2 smaller glasses, as shown in the picture above)
Ingredients for Breakfast Kale Smoothie
1 large or 2 small kale leaves
1 small-medium sized apple, cored
handful of walnuts
1 tbsp of almond butter
1/2 cup almond milk (or any other dairy free milk)
1 tsp flax seeds/ground flax
1 tsp chia seeds/ground chia
1 tsp hemp seeds
1 tsp spirulina (I’m low in iron and spirulina helps me with my daily intake of iron)
4 apricots (also high in iron and naturally sweet)
sometimes I also add a tsp of macha powder / maca powder
Directions for Breakfast Kale Smoothie
Throw all ingredients into a high powdered blender (I use my Blendtec) and blend until smooth.
Enjoy! 🙂
Let me know if you adapt the smoothie and how it turns out – I love hearing about cool kale smoothie ideas! 🙂
This vegan chocolate bar recipe is absolutely perfect. My aunt made this for a famjam (a family jam!) and it hit the spot so well! She was kind enough to give me the recipe which I am, in turn, sharing with you. 🙂
I try to limit sugars whenever I can. Although, I like sweets just as much as the next guy (though not as much as my partner Irfan, I’ve never seen anyone inhale cookies like he can!).
Sometimes even we (by “we” I mean healthy nutty people) want chocolate bars. What’s better than a regular chocolate bar recipe you ask? A vegan chocolate bar recipe of course! Here you go, have your vegan chocolate bar already. 😉
If you have a sweet tooth, this will definitely satisfy it. It’s a great travel food that’s packed with protein and free of refined sugar. 🙂
This zucchini curry recipe is a special treat for y’all! This is my 2nd mama’s (i.e. my mama-in-law) mama’s, aka Nani Ma’s, special recipe! It is such a gift and so incredibly delicious.
Unfortunately, Nani Ma is no longer with us and I never did get to meet her. 🙁 I hear though that she was an incredibly special and an incredibly sweet lady. I am blessed with the best Mama-in-Law (shout out to Mama P!) and I think she’s the sweetest lady ever! Irfan, my partner, says that Nani Ma was 100x sweeter than my Mama P! If this is in fact true, it is unbelievable!
As Irfan says, “they just don’t make ’em like they used to.”
I’m sure Nani Ma had no idea that her recipe would end up on the “internet” on a “blog” called “HappyGut” by her granddaughter-in-law. Life is funny and wonderful (and sometimes hard). 🙂
This one is for you Mama P and Nani Ma!
Serves 2-4
Ingredients for Zucchini Curry Recipe
2 medium zucchinis, thinly sliced
1 medium eggplant, thinly sliced
2 medium potatoes, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced into rings (do you see a theme here :P)
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1-2 green chillies, chopped (use depending on how spicy you want it)
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander
1 tbsp coconut oil
3/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric
3/4 can of coconut milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Directions for Zucchini Curry Recipe
Place oil in a small sauce pan or large frying pan over medium – high heat.
Add fenugreek seeds and garlic and cook until the garlic starts to grown
Remove from heat and add the turmeric and the coconut milk (you can use just the solid coconut part of the can if you like, the more coconut liquid you use, the more watery it will be, that’s fine but you just may have to cook it longer to have the coconut milk evaporate)
Now you will have to decide whether you want to make the dish over the stove top or in the oven. If you want to use the oven, you will use a casserole dish type thing, or if you are using the stove, you will use any non-stick large pot/pan where you can layer the veggies. I will provide directions for both options below.
Layer all the sliced veggies (zucchini, potato, eggplant and onions) into your casserole dish or non-stick stove top pan. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, green chillies and coriander in between the layers, as you are layering.
Pour the coconut mixture over top of the veggie layers ensuring that the mixture goes in between the veggies. Coat the veggies as much as you can (you can kind of move the dish around to swish the coconut mixture).
If you are using the stove top, turn heat to high until the mixture just starts to boil then reduce the heat to medium low and cook covered for about 30 minutes.
If you are using the oven, place dish in oven and bake for about an hour on 350 degrees (or until the veggies are very soft).
You can garnish with chopped coriander.
Note: Mama P also told me that sometimes she garnishes with thinly sliced tomatoes before baking the mixture because it looks pretty, we didn’t do this for this recipe but feel free to go for it if you’d like!
I love doing pancake round-ups, yes this is true. I searched long and hard to find the very BEST grain free pancake recipes for both you and I. 🙂 Between this post and my post for the best vegan gluten free dairy free pancakes from scratch, I should have everyone covered!
Note most grain free pancakes have eggs and so all but one of the recipes (mine) have eggs. If you can’t have eggs, and want/need grain free pancakes see my post for grain free egg free pancakes.
Otherwise, check out all of your wonderful grain free pancake recipes below. Most of them have bananas and so I’ve separated the grain free pancake recipes with bananas from the grain free pancake recipes without bananas. I have also indicated whether they are:
Only of them of is vegan (mine), but all of them are dairy free. None of them are raw.
You can make all of them vegan by replacing eggs with a chia egg.
Substitute 1 egg with 1 tbsp ground chia + 3 tbsp of water. Let this chia + water mixture sit for a few minutes and it will get very gooey. It works great as an egg replacer in most baked goods! I haven’t tried it with any of the recipes below, so if you do, let me know how it comes out! 🙂
Why this makes the cut: This is my recipe. 🙂 I wanted grain free pancakes that were also vegan. I couldn’t find anything online so I made one myself – it turned out terrific!
Friends, I like to eat super clean as you can tell from my grain free sugar free vegan brownie recipe. When deciding to make something to eat, this is what my thought process looks like:
“Is it clean?” I try to minimize sugar in all of it’s forms. This includes carbs!
“Are these foods happygut for my gut?” Our guts like different things. Things that can be happy for your gut may not be happy for mine and vice versa. For instance, although I love the idea of cabbage but my gut doesn’t. It makes me super farty! This makes for uncomfortable and embarrassing situations, not to mention an unpleasant scent for Irfan :S (Irfan is my partner is crime!).
“Is it easy to make?” & “Is it tasty?” These two are tied. I like cooking but I don’t LOVE cooking (which is weirdo because I have a food blog haha), and more importantly I don’t like to spend a lot of time cooking. There are more important things in life like meditation and spending time with people I like. Also, though I like to eat super clean and the prime reason for my food intake is healthy fuel, I like tasty dishes like the next gyal! I grew up with the best South Asian food (shoutout to my Mama!) and have been spoiled with amazing recipes bursting with flavour! I know that food can taste amazing. So, if we have to eat and we must eat clean, might as well make it tasty!
There, now you know what goes on between me and food. 🙂
Anyhow, back to my grain free sugar free brownie recipe. I had a couple of friends come over for dinner and needed to come up with a dessert (based on my criteria above) quick fast. I whipped up this grain free sugar free vegan brownie recipe is no time. It was an absolute hit! I plan on making these again and again 🙂
Ingredients for Grain Free Sugar Free Vegan Brownie Recipe
1 cup almond butter
2 tablespoons chia + 6 tablespoons water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup maple syrup
Directions for Grain Free Sugar Free Vegan Brownie Recipe
Preheat oven to 350
Grease a small pan (I used a 13 inch x 13 inch pan)
Throw all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth
Pour and smooth batter into pan
Bake for about 15-20 minutes (or until edges start to brown)
Let it sit for at least 30 minutes before you cut into it
Enjoy!
Note: I stored it in my fridge for about 5 days and they just got better and better as the days went on! 🙂
