Chocolate Almond Protein Shake // Dairy Free

Does anyone else here get on a kick of some type of food creation and then continuously make it every day because it’s so darn good? Well, that would be me, and that recipe right now is this protein shake!

It’s creamy and tastes like chocolate milk because that’s basically what it is only super healthy. I came up with the idea when my sister introduced me to some awesome protein powder and I was then too cheap to buy it myself. I already had collagen and the bananas were in my kitchen, so obviously I got to work.

Thankfully the work paid off in a most rewarding way and my that I mean the chocolate almond protein shake was born!

Feel free to use any of your favorite nut butter in place of the almond butter if you like, and save the hemp seeds till the end! I like to add things like hemp or chia to a liquid smoothie because then it gives you something to chew. It sounds weird, but I have heard that it helps you feel more satisfied, and honestly I just like a LOT of texture.

So here you go!

Protein Shake

2/3rd cup Almond Milk

½ cup Water  

1 ripe banana (frozen is good too)

1 tbsp. Cocoa powder

1 tbsp Almond butter

3-4 ice cubes

1 scoop collagen

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp. Hemp hearts (Mix these in for texture at the end!)

Directions

Blend everything together except hemp hearts, until smooth.

Pour over ice, mix in hemp hearts, and enjoy!

Psssst* Here’s my favorite cocoa powder!

Vegan White Pizza Sauce

I don’t know about you, sometimes having to make dinner gluten-free & dairy-free can be a real pain. Especially when one person suggests something like pizza. NOT that I am against pizza, it’s just that it’s hard for ya girl to make something that’s not only edible but just as good as eating regular pizza.

Thankfully I had Trader Joe’s Butternut squash crust in the freezer. and Yes I know it’s not a normal pizza base, but don’t hate on it until you try it. Even my husband is now a BIG fan.

SO I had this idea to recreate a white pizza my friend and I made a few weeks back. I had all the ingredients, and I knew making a regular tomato sauce and vegan cheese on this thing wouldn’t be optimal while I watched my husband eat the real thing.

I got the stamp of approval from Daniel to run with this idea and it was good.

Not featured in this recipe are the chicken thighs I made on the side because when I went to the store they were on sale, thank you Publix! Feel free for you meat eaters to top the pizza with some chicken, or keep it vegan!

White Pizza Sauce

· 1/4th cup hemp hearts

· 3 tbsp. Unsweetened Yogurt (I use Kite Hill!)

· Almond milk as needed for consistency

· 2 tsp. lemon juice

· 1 tbsp. pickle juice

· 1 tbsp. mustard

· 2 tsp. Tamari

· Salt & pepper

· 1 tsp. Garlic

Pizza toppings

· Mushroom

· Onion

· Spinach

· Artichoke hearts

For the pizza

Preheat the oven to 450. While the oven is heating up, drain and rinse your artichokes. Coat with seasoning and coconut oil and cook for 30 minutes. At the same time bake the Trader Joe’s Butternut Squash Pizza Base, following the directions.

While the base is cooking blend together all the ingredients for the sauce. Taste and adjust ingredients according to taste. This is a more tart sauce that can be brought back a bit with a splash of almond milk.

Saute the onions and mushrooms and set aside.

Chop up the spinach to top your pizza.

When the pizza base is done baking top with sauce and toppings and bake for another 5-7 minutes.

Remove pizza and artichoke hearts from the oven and then finish off the pizza with artichoke hearts.

Serve & enjoy!

Dairy Free Parfaits // What to use for Natural Dyes

I don’t know about you, but when it comes to Easter I love how cute the different colors and decorations are! It’s really the only time of year where decorating with pastel colors and bunnies is totally acceptable. Now I love all the fun colors put when it comes to making those colors happen in our food, dyes a really not my favorite thing. It’s one of those things to make food more fun and festive, but are extremely toxic!

If there’s one thing we should kiss goodbye its artificial dyes, but does it mean we have to stop making food colorful and fun all together? Definitely not! There are plenty of natural foods used to create those beautiful colors! Here are some of my all-time favorites!

• Matcha Powder & Spirulina = Green

• Beetroot powder & Red Berries = Pink & red

• Turmeric = Yellow

• Blue = Blue Spirulina

This is one of the simple ways to replace toxic ingredients in your kitchen while keeping your kiddos excited and healthy food fun!

Here is an example of Easter inspired parfaits!

Ingredients

• 1/4th cup chia seeds

• 1 cup almond milk

• Honey to taste

• 1 & ½ cup Yogurt (I used almond milk yogurt)

• Toppings!

Instructions

• Combine liquid and chia seeds, mix well and set aside to let gelatinize.

• Separate the yogurt into equal amounts and add color. Start with small amounts and add more until the desired color is reached.

Mix in honey to taste.

• Add Chia seed pudding, then the yogurt mixture and top however you like! It would be a fun project to gather toppings fitting your theme and have your kids decorate them individually!

Thank you again for stopping by!

- Sonya Peacocke

Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie Bowl

I don’t know about you but when it comes to the morning I love to start things off with a bang and if you have seen my Instagram stories, you know that means a smoothie bowl! I love that a smoothie bowl tastes like my favorite frozen dessert while still offering you a nutrient dense and fun way to start off your day!

Now, I’m a morning person, so don’t limit yourself to just breakfast with these babes. I like to make the filling by adding fiber, healthy fats, protein and vegetables to make sure that I’m getting a meal that tastes like dessert, but also offers all the nutrients needed for a well-rounded meal!

This smoothie is a go when I am in the mood for something a little less sweet because of the raspberries and non-dairy yogurt. I also add in two optional ingredients, the first being flax to add in fiber. This is so that you can digest the smoothie easier, but you can either skip or use chia seeds instead. The second ingredient is gelatinized Maca root powder, I take this to help balance hormones and it also adds a caramel flavor that’s really good! You can find both of these products by clicking here !

Okay, so now you know all the details, let’s get on to the ingredients list!

Ingredients

• ½ cup frozen banana

• ½ cup frozen butternut squash

• 1/3rd cup frozen raspberries

• 1 cup non-dairy milk

• 1 tbsp. Homemade sunflower butter

• 1 tbsp. cocoa powder

• 1 tbsp. flax meal

• 1 tbsp. non-dairy yogurt

• 1 tsp. Gelatinized Maca powder

• 1 scoop protein powder (not shown)

Directions

• Blend it all up

• Pour into an aesthetic bowl and top appropriately…aka with all your favorite goodies!

• Enjoy!

So there you have it folks, an easy, delicious and nutritious way to start your day off right!

Let me know what you guys think in the comments below and show some love by hitting that like button!

Thank you so much for stopping by

Love always,

Sonya

Quick and Easy Vegan SunButter Chocolate Mousse // Valentines Day

I don’t know about you guys, but when it comes to Valentine’s Day treats the options are endless. The problem is that these options are usually not so much dairy free and gluten free. Plus making something is more of a romantic gesture then a store bought box of chocolates (Not that I will ever say no to them).

So in order to combat the issue at hand my friend and I came up with a gluten, dairy free, chocolate filed and EASY recipe to whip up for your special someone.

So, now that you know how much you need this recipe in your life this Valentine’s Day, or any day, here it is!

Ingredients

·         1 Cup Coconut (Or Greek ) Yogurt

·         1/4th Cup Creamy SunButter

·         Pinch of Salt

·         2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

·         Sliced Strawberries

·         Chocolate Chips  

Mix the yogurt and sun butter together and spoon half of the mixture into jars. Add in cocoa powder and salt into the other half of the mixture and mix together. Spoon the rest into the jar and then top with strawberries and chocolate chips. Serve to your special someone, and enjoy!  

Tips and Tricks for Clean Eating

I don’t know about you guys, but when it comes to prepping food it sometimes feels like a constant battle I can’t seem to conquer. That is until I get myself organized and realize how easy my life could be if I stayed organized…

Now I am not the best at organizing, so I figured why not come up with a few “life hacks”. So far I think that I have really been able to outdo myself with minimal effort, take it of course that you might know a thing or two and I am just not coming to the realization, but in all honesty I am pretty pumped about these hacks so I will just take my little victory lap here and leave it at that.

So without further, I will let you in on a few foodie secrets of mine to keep healthy habits and clean eating a breeze!

• Hack #1: Freeze Smoothie components in an Ice Cube tray!

Wait…do what? Okay, so this might sound strange, but hear me out! I love to have a smoothie every morning or at least once a day. They are easy to digest, I can get most of my supplements in and taste like candy…most of the time.

SO the problem with smoothies is that I try to keep them low GI aka not a lot of fruit, but we all know frozen fruit is what makes them so creamy and delicious right...?

What I like to do is add in things like avocado, pumpkin, coconut milk, coconut yogurt, and sweet potato so to make the ingredients last longer I take Ice Cube trays and freeze cubes of whatever items I have on hand that week. This way I can mix and match to make unique flavors and also keep my smoothies creamy and thick without sacrificing taste!

• Hack #2: Frozen Vegetables

I love every meal except for lunch, part of the reason is that it’s a reminder I have 4 hours left in the workday but mainly because it’s just a pain to think about making it. Not to say lunch is bad or that I don’t enjoy it, but it is so easy to run out of time to make a good lunch if you don’t have leftovers handy.

This is why I but frozen vegetables! I swear it’s like a lightbulb went off in my head last week when I stocked up on about 8 different bags of frozen vegetables and began using them for lunches.

What I typically do is either make a large batch of quinoa at the beginning of the week and vary between that and eggs for my protein. Then in the morning I choose a mixture of vegetables and throw them in a pan with some water, coconut amino, a handful of spinach and spices. I leave them to cook for about 5 minutes while I blend up my smoothie and voila I have perfectly cooked nutrient-dense lunch to look forward to that took basically no time at all!

These are two of my favorite hacks lately that really have been making all the difference when it comes to preparing healthy and nutritious meals to get me through my day!

What are some of your favorite healthy habit hacks to keep you fueled and feeling your best?

Thank’s again for stopping by!

-Sonya Peacocke