Vegan pancakes

Pancakes. I simply love pancakes. I think all Canadians like pancakes. 
This is probably the first recipe I learned how to "veganize". I have cooked them that way for many people and was told that it tastes even better than dairy version of it... So I think you should give it a try.

Here is the recipe (from "Vegan with a Vengeance" by Isa Chandra Moskowirz):

• 150g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil (any mild tasting vegetable oil will do) + oil for the pan
• 5 tablespoons water
• 300ml plain rice or soy milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoon pure maple syrup

- Oil a large frying pan and preheat over medium-high heat about 2 minutes

- Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon (if using).

- In a separate bowl, combine all the other ingredients.

- Adding wet ingredients to dry, mix until just combined. Do not overmix or the pancakes will be tough; a couple of    lumps are ok.

Enjoy! :)

So, yes it was another post about cooking... but I want to make sure to mention that next week, is the "World Go Vegan" week. From the 21st October until the 31st, you might see a few vegan items on sale here and there as well as some new menus in some restaurants. Why not try some? 

You can read more about it here on this fantastic website: http://www.idausa.org/

Wishing you all a lovely week!

Homemade Almond Milk

As I am stuck at home for a little while  (due to being unwell), I have a lot of free time. I am one of those who gets easily bored staying at home all day... Therefore, I decided to use that time to do plenty of cooking and baking! There are so many recipes I have been wanting to try for such a long time but I never really had the time.

Here is a delicious recipe to make your own almond milk. It is very easy to make and is a nice change to soy milk and rice milk!

                                      

                             Almond Milk

1 cup of raw almonds (soaked for about 4-8 hours)
4 cups of cold water
A pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
3 tablespoon of maple syrup OR agave nectar

• In a blender (or a smoothie machine like I have), blend the soaked almonds, water, and sea salt at medium speed and then at high speed until it is smooth.
• Pour through a strainer to separate pulp.
• Pour liquid back in the the blender and add the vanilla extract and maple syrup or agave nectar. Blend until it is smooth.

As a vegan, I believe humans shouldn't drink milk from a cow or from any other animals. After all, we are the only specie drinking milk from other species and we do so despite the bad effects it has on our health.

If you are interested, read the following article: Cow's milk is the perfect food for baby calves but many doctors agree: It is not healthy for humans by Michael Dye


Though, even if you are not a vegan, you should give this recipe a try as it is as delicious as it is easy to make!

Vegan Brownies

I didn't really intend my first real post on here to be about a recipe but due to the fact I'm on a rush this morning and that I really wanted to post something (not to get into the bad habit of not writing often enough), I decided that it would be better than nothing.

It's something I baked quite a few months back and it probably was one of my first vegan dessert baking experience. I never was a very big fan of brownies but I decided to give those a try and really didn't regret it!

• 2 cups unbleached flour 
• 2 cups sugar 
• 1/2 cup cocoa 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 pinch of salt 
• 1 cup water 
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup of vegan chocolate chips

First, you need to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Then, mix the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and the salt.

In a different bowl, mix the water, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and vegan chocolate chips and add it all to the "dry" mixture. 

Stir well and pour into a pan and bake for 25 minutes. 

Though, the time  depends on your oven... I remember cooking them for just over 25 minutes due to my oven being a bit difficult to control the temperature of but my brownies ended up slightly too cooked. It still was delicious, don't get me wrong, but next time, I'll make sure to keep a closer eye on it!

Enjoy!