Elimination diet - goodbye, soy and gluten!

 Hey, everyone.  This post is a little personal, which I don't typically do too much of here. I will be eliminating soy and gluten from my diet to reset my system, and here is why...

It's well into April, which means there are only a couple weeks until I'm jetting off to Cuba. Besides the sunshine and fun activities I'll enjoy with my boyfriend, I've also kept in mind we shall be taking many pictures... so I want to be in swim suit shape.

Swim suit shape? What does that even mean? As I've mentioned on my blog before, I used to think that meant weighing sub 120 lbs, fitting in a size 2, and eating strict 1200 calories a day, followed by excessive cardio exercise. Now I know this is known as disordered eating and negative body image. This is not a healthy way to live in the long term, emotionally or physically.


Now, thank goodness, I've learned a lot more about fitness and nutrition. I have started doing a lot more resistance training. I've also been more mindful of getting the right macronutrients and calories for my needs. I stopped relying on the scale and started eating and exercising to be healthy and just have an awesome quality of life.

After a long hiatus off of weighing myself, I was shocked that I had gained almost 20 pounds. I was so ashamed and just felt sickened with myself. The thoughts I have are sometimes so disturbing. I tried to lose weight, but I always broke down because it was so difficult. I eat only whole foods, I'm very active, I even began to manage my caloric intake... why am I such a failure?

None of my clothes fit right now. I am secretly freaking out about having so many pictures taken of me, because I know I will just judge myself like crazy, and maybe even enjoy my trip less because of it. These thoughts suck. I am trying my best to shut them up when they come around. I know that I am living a much healthier lifestyle than those extremely restrictive days when I thought I was so healthy. I am always learning, of course. It's a journey about finding your happy place balancing life, working out, eating well, and indulging at the right times and in the right ways.

Well, the purpose of this post is not exactly to just cry out my body image issues on my blog. I kinda did that a little bit, but there is a point...promise. Besides the fact that I know many of you reading this have probably (unfortunately) felt crappy about yourselves to some degree, I posted all this to explain part of a reason I want to do an elimination diet.

I did NOT decide to do it as a "get skinny quick" plan before my vacation. I have had symptoms such as bloating, brain fog, fatigue, and poor digestion for a long time. Sometimes it's worse than at other times. I know that food sensitivities can very well be a likely culprit of these symptoms. I thought an elimination diet for 2-3 weeks would be an excellent way to tell if it was either gluten or soy, two common allergens, which are causing the problem.



However, I also do know that my weight gain, or inability to lose weight, can very well be tied with my hormones being out of wack. Hopefully this elimination diet free of soy and gluten will keep some of my wonky hormones in check.

And of course I am looking beyond the weight gain. I have even felt much more well rested and had less brain fog since cutting out all gluten in the last week and about 90% soy (I finished off some tofu I had already opened recently). I am realizing that wellness is sooo not all about being slim. At. All. Having abundant energy, athletic performance, mood, and digestion are all much better indicators of health than fitting in a tiny size while starving your tired self, aren't they?

Anyway...

The gluten is very easy for me, because my diet is mostly all gluten free with the exception of occasional spelt, seitan or some sprouted grain bread once in a while. The soy is definitely tricky, because I rely on tofu and tempeh as protein sources frequently!



I will be eating a crap ton of beans lately. Vega is also my best friend to make sure I am getting my protein like a good little active vegan. But as we all know by now, plants are chock full of protein our bodies can use, and if you eat a whole foods diet, you can be rest assured you get enough.

You can follow my food posts on my Instagram - I've been excitedly coming up with lots of new stuff! @missveggievibes

I do want to mention that it is important to have knowledge and resources before going on any sort of elimination diet or new eating plan... please don't go out and stop eating everything in sight without consulting the help of a professional! I certainly don't have all the answers, and I don't even pretend I can prescribe an elimination diet for everyone. But if you do feel like you're having food sensitivities, it's always a good idea to see a naturopath!

I can say that if you can relate to some of these crappy body image issues, which I'm sure you can, please take this to heart: you are a beaut. Your body is capable of doing amazing things. Treat your body with respect, and it will reward you with energy, vitality, and amazing changes you never thought possible. You are so much more than someone ruled by dieting just to fit in some tiny pair of pants. If you are treating your body so nice by eating well and staying active, why the heck are you hating it so much?

Seriously, we all need to remember this. Myself included!

I am now focused on having a positive body image as I continue my healing journey. The mind and body are related - I can't keep being obsessed with changing my body, hating it, and then eating healthy and exercising and expecting it to listen to me. Self love must be there, no question.

Have a great night, guys. I'll keep you posted!

Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-Off recap + GF Nutty Mocha Brownie recipe!

Hey, friends! Happy spring...or as we call it in Canada, still-freezing-my-ass-off season.

But you know what? I actually can't complain, because there is so much awesomeness going on lately. Such as my favourite event of the year, which was last weekend: The 6th Annual Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-Off.

This is my third year in the Bake-Off. I know I've chatted a bit about it in past posts here. Basically anyone can enter - you just create your own special vegan recipes and bake your little butt off! Everyone can attend. It's expanding each and every year, and this year was the biggest yet - a totally packed venue!! It's 10 bucks for a ticket, which gets you two plates of your categories of choice. Each category has six entries, I believe. You then vote for which was your favourite in that category, and whoever gets the most votes WINS!

Check out that crowd!

I could not decide on one dessert, so I did two. I always try to push the envelope and try something different.

I was so torn between doing a gluten free cupcake or entering some sort of brownie. I really wanted to try something gluten free because I'd never done that category, and I know a lot of vegans are embracing the GF life. Also, it does pose a fun challenge. I soon realized, though, that some GF desserts are much more challenging than others.

Gluten free desserts can be delicious, don't get me wrong. But make one false move and you end up with a dry, cardboard-like brick on your plate. Not a good way to rep GF. I did my research and did some trails. This is what I found:

-Pick flours wisely, and always use a starch (corn starch, potato starch, etc). Some flours taste stronger than others, and some suck up moisture more than others, among many other factors. You need all the precious moisture you can get in GF baking!

-Use plentiful moistening ingredients - apple sauce, mashed banana, almond pulp, shredded zucchini, you name it. Just don't be shy. Again, avoid the dryness.

-Most other desserts and baked goods are okay to let cool in the pan for a while before removing. This will increase the likelihood of cardboard in GF stuff. As soon as you can, take that baby to a cooling rack.

-Often freezing baked goods then thawing will improve their texture.

I still have a lot of experimenting to do, and I'm far from an expert, but these tips are something I can take home with me for next time I go on GF ventures. When in doubt, buy a good GF AP flour and follow a recipe to a tee!

Anyway, I decided GF cupcakes are just too damn hard, and although I did have some success, it's just so dense... and it wasn't Bake-Off worthy. I decided I'd do spelt and kamut carrot cupcakes, and also a GF brownie (much easier to make gluten-free and keep that delicious moistness!).

The brownie was my fave of the two, although I was proud of both. The cupcakes were definitely more tedious. Spelt does not rise as much as wheat flour, because it is significantly lower in gluten content. Kamut helped the rise, so I eventually added it to the recipe. After many trails, I put out an amazing dessert I was proud of. The cream cheese icing was especially delish - my boyfriend ate it up by itself!

Creamy Carrot Cupcakes

The Bake-Off was by far the most packed one yet. I love how it gets bigger and better each year. With over 60 bakers, and hundreds of desserts, it was an awesome day to be a vegan with a sweet tooth. How it works is you buy a ticket in advance (they sell out quick!), which is $10 and gets you two plates of choice of dessert samples.

I'm just sharing the brownie recipe because they are much less tedious, make less dishes, and can be made without too many ingredients. You will not be dissapointed! Also, no refined sugars or oils added. Just Mama Nature.

PS, the mocha drizzle is optional......but highly encouraged for an over-the-top experience!

Nutty Mocha Brownies (GF and Vegan)

Wet ingredients:

-1 package Enjoy Life chocolate chunks, divided in half
-1 cup cooked sweet potato, mashed
-1/2 cup date paste*, or other liquid sweetener should work
-1/2 cup almond or peanut butter
-3/4 cup strong brewed coffee** (use double the amount of coffee you'd regularly use per amount of water)
-1 cup (preferably homemade) nut milk + 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
-2 tbsp flax seed + 6 tbsp water
-1 tsp vanilla extract

*To make date paste, blend 10-12 pitted Medjool dates with 1 cup of water until completely smooth. Pre-soak dates if you're not using a high powered blender. Make about one cup of date paste.

**Brew extra coffee if you're doing the mocha drizzle. See below.

Dry ingredients:

-1 1/3 cups almond flour/meal
-1 cup brown rice flour
-1/2 cup cacao powder
-1 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-2/3 cup crushed walnuts

For the mocha drizzle (optional):

-1 cup soaked cashews (soak overnight or at least two hours)
-1/2 cup water
-1/2 cup leftover brewed coffee
-15 Medjool dates, pitted
-1/4 cup carob powder

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Over very low heat, melt half the bag of chocolate chips, stirring constantly. Set the other half aside for later. Meanwhile, mix your flax and water in your blender/food processor and let it set. In your measuring cup, combine the milk and vinegar and let it curdle.

3. Once the chocolate is melted, put it in your blender or processor with the flax, milk mixture, and remaining wet ingredients, and blend away until smooth.

4. Transfer everything to a large bowl and add the dry stuff slowly, except the walnuts. Mix well. GF desserts need not be feared to over-mix. Fold in your walnuts.

5. Lightly grease a brownie pan and pour your batter in evenly. Bake for 35 minutes.

6. Let your brownies cool for about five minutes, then immediately remove them delicately. I used a large baking sheet to put over the brownie pan, and used my oven mitts to quickly flip it over. I lifted the pan, and voila! Once they're totally cool, cut them into your desired size. Note: The middle will be considerably softer, but once they're cooled they won't be all fudgey and loose. I love when they're all soft, though... mmm. It's hard to make GF stuff cool totally evenly, I find.

Once they're totally cooled, you can make the mocha drizzle...

1. Blend your soaked cashews along with the water and coffee in a blender at high speed until smooth.

2. Add the dates and carob and blend until completely smooth.  If your dates are on the harder side, let them sit in the liquid for a bit before blending, unless you have a high powered blender which can just rough it out.

3. Using an icing piper, or a Ziploc bag with a little corner cut off, pour your drizzle in and put it over your brownies in a zig-zag motion. Or you can just use a flat rubber spatula and do it freestyle. Have some licks off the spoon along the way.

I topped mine with more crushed walnuts!

Hope you guys enjoy these as much as I did!! I got lots of great feedback on these babies. They made me proud, even though I didn't win.

Here are some more pics of the event:

My daddy and I

 I finally met a fellow vegan blogger! Lisa at Je Suis Alimenteuse

Myself and beautiful Aleks over at Dessert Art

Mr Fabulous

 Myself and my best friend

And some breathtaking presentations and plates... food porn, hello!!

Raw for two weeks - my cleanse experience

Hey friends. It's been a while since I've written here. That's mainly because I'm much more active on Instagram and Facebook, so be sure to check me out there if you haven't already! :)

So I've just finished off a two week detox. All raw, plant-based, whole foods for two weeks. This is the third time I've done this type of cleanse, and it is by far my favourite way to detox. I'm not one for liquid cleanses. I love my food! You can see how I fared with a juice fast on my post here.

Eating raw means you are getting all those beautiful enzymes that make you feel vibrant and give you oodles of energy. Cooking foods changes their chemical structure and kills valuable enzymes in the process. That being said, I do think cooked food has a place in a healthy diet. I do think that raw foods are very beneficial for vitality, but that doesn't mean you need to necessarily eat raw 100%. Some people argue that, and that's cool. This is just me speaking from my own experience!

In the beginning, by far the hardest part was giving up my morning coffee. Don't get me wrong, I still had some tea, and I wasn't limiting my caffeine (I had green or mate tea occasionally). Coffee is just something else. I always felt like I was never quite the same without my morning coffee. I can't even count how many times a week I say "I NEED a coffee before this class, workout, etc". After a few days, I actually started waking up feeling so energetic. I looked fresh and felt fresh. Even working out first thing in the morning without coffee I felt fantastic. I never noticed how I was really getting dependent on that caffeine.

And speaking of workouts, I noticed I was recovering quicker from tough gym sessions, and pushing even harder in my training. That could be that my training is advancing, and it is, but I attribute that success hugely to eating these bioavailable foods. :)

I planned to do all this elaborate "un-cooking". Raw food prep, if you will. I knew one thing: I cannot be stuck starving and eat a whole bag of cashews. It happened on one of my cleanses practically, and my tummy really hurt! Fail to plan, plan to fail couldn't apply more. Although I did adequately prep ingredients and meals, they certainly weren't fancy like I planned. I ate a lot of salads and collard wraps, as well as raw breakfast bowls. These were different each time, but certainly not too fancy. Hey, I'm a full time student and I work weekends. What did I expect?

What I did ensure was that I always had sprouts and my Sun Warrior raw protein. I did track my macros to make sure I wasn't eating insane carbs and fat, which I know doesn't make me feel good at all, and I didn't want to lose muscle. I know people who do that 80/10/10, but I know that's not for me. That could be a whole other post in itself...

Here are some tidbits from my cleanse.

Raw falafel in a salad with a tahini dressing

Banana ice cream bowl with a raw brownie on top

A wrap with raw hummus, sprouted chickpeas, and a very sloppily sliced pepper!

Zucchini pasta with raw tomato sauce

This is from Live, a wicked raw food restaurant. :)

I made these several times. Only 3 ingredients! Check out my IG for the recipe.

Tomorrow morning will be the official end of my cleanse. I actually made brownies for tomorrow (Valentine's Day. And I figured I need to test out some recipes for the Bake Off I'm entering!), which I did taste tonight. Can't lie. They are effing good!! I'll share the recipe after the Vegan Bake Off is done.

To conclude, I felt awesome and I would recommend this type of cleanse to anyone. All I can say is please try and ensure your calories are adequate. Drink lots of water. Don't make your diet all fat or sweet fruits! Get your protein from leafy greens, sprouts and I recommend a raw protein powder like Sun Warrior. 

Peace out for now, amigos. I'm gonna go make a green juice!

xo Tij

Epic Lasagna - Whole Grain, Vegan and Delicious!

So that sauce that I made for my last post? It was pretty much made with this lasagna in mind. I have had lasagna on the brain for weeks for some reason. Of course I didn't wanna settle for a simple sauce-and-cheese lasagna with store bought sauce and Daiya - although I'm sure it'd be terrific. But I love the satisfaction of creating a meal from scratch. I control which flavours are in it, the salt content, and of course no preservatives to boot.

I wasn't about to make the noodles though, so I bought kamut lasagna noodles. I saw some brown rice noodles (which would have made a gluten free lasagna), but opted for the kamut for the protein content, and the fact that it wasn't pre-cooked (I don't know why but pre-cooked stuff seems a bit sketchy to me...don't ask me why I think so!). I used these, by Artisan Acres:

As I said, I posted the recipe for the sauce in my last post. I made a ricotta style cheese out of tofu, and I really liked it both on it's own and in the lasagna. I had leftover toasted nuts that I combined with nutritional yeast to use as a parmesan to sprinkle on top. 

I also included plenty of roasted vegetables to balance out all those heavy ingredients. Can't ever have a recipe without some vegetables!

Of course lasagna has a gazillion variations. Feel free to use whatever cheese, sauce, noodles, or other filling ingredients you wish. You can also use the ricotta in other things like pasta or on pizza. Like I said, it's quite lovely on it's own!

The Best Ever Vegan Lasagna

Ingredients:

-1 box lasagna noodles of choice, cooked according to package directions

For the tofu ricotta:

-1 block organic tofu, medium firm to firm

-3-4 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped

-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

-3 tbsp nutritional yeast

-1 tbsp lemon juice

-1 tbsp tahini

-1 tsp oregano

-1/2 tsp sea salt

For the sauce:

Use recipe here

For the veggies:

Use enough chopped vegetables, roughly the same size, to fill a large, lightly greased baking sheet. I used broccoli, bell peppers, red onions and zucchini. 

For the parmesan topping (optional):

-1/4 cup finely chopped toasted nuts (you can use a food processor and pulse)

-1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Directions:

*Note: I roasted my veggies the night before at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, until they looked "roasted enough", for lack of a better word. You can do this too to save time! Just toss with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. No need to add oil, except to lightly oil your baking sheet.

1. Preheat oven to 375. If you haven't roasted your veggies yet, you can turn the heat up higher. Roast them for about 20-30 minutes, checking that they don't burn. 

2. Meanwhile, fill a large pot with water and a pinch of sea salt or a kombu leaf, and cook the noodles according to package directions. Rinse with cold water gently. Set aside.

3. Take your block of tofu and crumble with your hands into a bowl until it resembles ricotta cheese. Take half of it, along with the other cheese ingredients, and process in a food processor or blender until fairly smooth. Return to bowl and toss with other half. This gives it some texture. If you don't have a processor or blender, I'm sure you can just keep the whole thing chunky and combine the ingredients in your bowl manually.

4. If your oven was turned up higher, bring the heat down to 375. In a lightly greased lasagna pan, layer cooked noodles, a generous dollop of sauce, ricotta, and vegetables, followed by another layer of noodles. Repeat until you have three layers of noodles, but don't put veggies on the top layer. So it's gonna be like this from the bottom: noodles, sauce, cheese, veggies. Noodles, sauce, cheese, veggies. Noodles, sauce, cheese. Now you can mix your parm ingredients, then sprinkle it on top if you're using it.

5. Cover your lasagna with aluminum foil, and pop it in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 5-10 minutes. Gently remove from the oven, let it cool for a bit, slice, and devour!

You're welcome. :) I added more fresh basil on top of mine!

What a housewife... excuse my messy hair. It's part of the look...

 

High Protein & Oil Free Tomato Sauce

Happy 2014 to all!!! This is an exciting time to start fresh and reevaluate our priorities, as we head into another year of our lives. Of course we have all made some resolutions, big or small, realistic and maybe not so realistic.

My personal resolutions have actually been the opposite of a lot of people's. I am NOT going to weigh myself or count calories any longer. I want to get to a point where I can just listen to my body. I eat whole and plant based foods, a lot of raw veggies (including a shit ton of leafy greens), so whatever size my body decides to be is gonna have to be okay. I am trying to lose some weight that I've gained, and truth be told it has been a huge mental battle, but with this strategy I think I'll win it. My "strategy" is to continue living a fit and active life, eat plenty of whole foods and drink tons of water. I do want to moderate desserts and definitely drinking alcohol. I know it sounds like a mixed message - to sum it up, I don't wanna care about my weight obsessively, but I'm hoping some comes off in this process. I'll keep you posted.

ANYWAY, to the recipe. I plan on making a lovely roasted vegetable lasagna from scratch this week, and I knew I had to bulk it up with some protein. I decided to add some fibre and protein by adding red lentils into my homemade sauce. The result was incredible. I licked my spoon with delight!

High Protein and Oil Free Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

-3/4 dry red lentils, rinsed

-1 796ml can crushed tomatoes (go for organic!)

-1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes

-1 tbsp raw honey or agave

-1 tsp each parsley, rosemary and oregano

-1/2 tsp each thyme and paprika

-Handful of fresh basil leaves

-2-3 cloves roasted garlic*

*For an awesome tutorial on how to roast garlic, click here

1. In a medium pot, bring lentils and 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer on medium heat. Keep simmering uncovered for about 15-20 minutes, or until lentils are cooked. They will get mushy, and this is the idea!

2. While the lentils cook, soak the sun dried tomatoes in some water. 

3. When the lentils are done. transfer them to a blender and allow to cool for a couple minutes. 

4. Drain your sun dried tomatoes of water, and add them to the blender. Add in all the remaining ingredients and process until smooth. 

Enjoy over pasta, on a pizza, or off the spoon!

This will make a very thick sauce. When you wanna thin it out, just add a little water! 

Also note I did not add salt. I realized I (unintentionally) bought a can of tomatoes with salt added. If yours are salt free, you can add a little salt to taste.

Happy eating! I'll be making a delish kamut lasagna with this sauce, along with tofu ricotta and lots of roasted veggies. Stay tuned.

xo

Tij

Christmas Cookies, Oh My!

Hello, friends, and Merry Christmas! Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you are merry nonetheless. I personally just love holidays for the food... all holidays.

My favourite way to show people I care is with food. Surprised? Ha!

It's all about the Christmas cookies. I pondered what cookies screamed Christmas; Gingerbread and shortbread top the list, as well as thumbprint cookies, rum balls, and probably some sort of square like date squares or oat bars and such (didn't make those this time).

I made a shit ton of cookies to give to friends.

The thumbprint cookies were super simple and so good! I just mashed a bunch of banana, added almond butter, a bit of maple syrup, oats and baking powder, and an organic jam center. I also made some raw balls, which I intended to be rum balls, but I had no rum, so just ended up making these with what I had on hand. I used prunes ase my base, and I added coconut oil and tons of shredded coconut, as well as some maca, cinnamon and maple syrup. To be honest, I hadn't written down the recipe for those two, or I'd share those too.

The raw balls and the jam cookies were the only gluten free ones I made. I used fife flour as my flour for the following recipes, and I'm not sure how other flours would work, but I'm thinking a gluten-free all purpose flour blend would be okay if you're celiac or gluten intolerant. Feel free to sub, and let me know how they turn out.

Here is the recipe for the shortbread and gingerbread cookies. They were the biggest hit. I didn't use any margarine... they're all based with delicious and nutritious coconut oil.

Vegan Shortbread Cookies

-1 cup room temperature coconut oil
-3/4 cup icing sugar (you can make your own in a blender using just regular granulated sugar. I used organic cane sugar, but I think coconut sugar would be best)
-2 cups spelt or fife flour
-1/2 cup coconut flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a large bowl, beat the coconut oil with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the icing sugar and mix again. Add remaining ingredients and beat just until combined. Do not overmix.

If you want your cookie dough to be more manageable for shaping, put it in the fridge for a couple minutes to firm up. This can be helpful if your kitchen is quite hot.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. I found them perfect after 11. Enjoy!

Vegan Gingerbread Cookies

-3/4 cup room temperature coconut oil
-1/4 cup maple syrup (you can also use raw honey if you eat it)
-1/4 cup + 2 tbsp coconut sugar
-1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
-1 tbsp milled flax seed mixed with 3 tbsp water
- 1 1/4 cups spelt or fife flour
-1/3 cup + 2 tbsp coconut flour (+ more for flouring the work surface)
-1 tbsp pumpkin spice (you can just use a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves)
-1.5-2 tbsp ground ginger
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the flax "egg" and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the coconut oil with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the flax "egg" and beat again. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to mix until combined.

Flour your work surface liberally with more coconut flour. Kneed your dough over the flour, and spread it about a 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick, if shaping into cookies using a cookie cutter (or shot glass). If you just want good old fashioned circles, just roll them into balls and put on a greased baking sheet, then flatten with your hands.

Note: You may want to refrigerate the dough before shaping, or add more coconut flour. The coconut oil may melt and make the cookies hard to work with.

Once your cookies are shaped and placed on the baking sheet, pop them in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Less time will result in softer cookies.

Enjoy! I had leftover cashew cream icing (no recipe for that today), and I sandwiched it between my cookies.




As a side note to end off, some random person who I don't know has made a website without my permission at www.missveggievibes.com. This is NOT me behind this! I'll be trying to resolve the issue. Just letting you guys know.

Have a great holiday. More recipes coming soon!

xo
Tijana

Ferrero Rocher.. the vegan and gluten-free way!

Remember those delicious Ferrero chocolates, with their golden wrapper, chocolate coating, and delicious nutty center? Ah, nostalgia. Well a lot of you probably still eat those, but alas they are not vegan, so it's been years since I've had one.

They are also full of modified whatever ingredients, and refined sugar and other stuff I don't wanna see in my food. That's why I decided to veganize them!

I got some hazelnut butter from a health food expo last weekend, and I've been hooked on hazelnuts since. I made porridge with it a couple times, and had it over mochi. Oh my god. I also had it on my protein pudding, which I didn't photograph.

For the recipes to these babies and more, go to my Instagram page: @missveggievibes

Without further a due, here is the Ferrero recipe! It's a lot of steps, but I've tried to make it as clear as possible. Comment if you have questions!

Vegan & Gluten Free Ferrero Rocher

Ingredients:

-1 cup whole hazelnuts

-2 cups crispy rice cereal (I used Enjoy Life brand, see photo below)

-3/4 cup hazelnut butter (I used Prana, which is incredible!)
-1/4 cup + 1/4 cup coconut oil, divided (measured solid)
-1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp coconut sugar, divided
-1/4 cup coconut flour
-1.5 tbsp milled flax seed
-1 cup vegan chocolate chips
-1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (or other non dairy milk)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.

1. Place hazelnuts in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes, watching carefully so they don't burn. Remove from the oven, wait until cool enough to handle, then manually remove the skins. If a little is being stubborn on them, don't worry. The skins aren't too bad, but they will taste less bitter without them. Turn the oven off.

2. In a food processor, grind the cereal until it is not quite all crumbs, but a fine mix of crumbs and larger pieces. I took a picture, because that sounds confusing as hell. By the way, this is the cereal I used. It has honey, so if you don't eat that then try another healthy rice cereal! Rice Krispies are probably GMO ridden, so go for a whole grain or organic version.

3. Mix the flax with 4 tbsp water and let it sit. Meanwhile, melt the coconut oil on gentle heat in a small saucepan, then add the hazelnut butter and 1/4 cup of the coconut sugar. Add more sugar if your rice cereal is totally unsweeteened. Yea, you're making a dessert, so it needs to be sweet! Stir the hazelnut mixture into the rice cereal, along with the coconut flour, and mix it up well. Add the flax and mix again.

4. Put your mixture in the freezer for just a few minutes so it hardens a bit and is easier to manage.

5. Remove from freezer. This next step takes some patience, and I guarantee your hands will be covered in crispy hazelnut mixture, which you will want to lick like a hungry dog. Try not to. This recipe is probably for other people besides yourself, and having your spit in it isn't nice. ;) Take one whole hazelnut at a time, and grab a generous spoonful of the crispy mixture, and then use your hands to "wrap" the mixture around the nut. Try your best, and don't worry if it feels like it won't set. It will. Take your crispy nut balls and put them on the same baking sheet from before (save some dishes here). Return to freezer to harden a bit. Note: you will have some hazelnuts left over, so save those.

6. Meanwhile, melt your chocolate chips, almond milk, and remaining coconut sugar and coconut oil in a small pan on low heat. Stir frequently. When mixture is nice and uniform, remove from heat. 

7. Take your remaining hazelnuts and process into crumbs in your food processor. Remove the balls from the freezer, and then use a spoon to cover them in chocolate. I find leaving them on the baking sheet is easier, just roll them around as needed, to cover. Sprinkle the hazelnut pieces on top. Return to the freezer until set.

ENJOY!