Knead to Cook

Food & fitness obsessed girl.

Double chocolate Chobani muffins. Vegan. GF.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Desserts, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fruit, Gluten Free, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Muffins, Product Review., Quick Bread, Sponsored, Valentine's Day, Vegan, Wheat Free, Yogurt, Your Life Edit Foundations 2 Comments

Hello dear friends! A few years ago, I worked extensively with my favorite yogurt brand, Chobani but then I migrated to my plant-based diet. With that, I moved away from dairy based yogurt and that included Chobani. Well, much to my wonderful surprise, they reached out to me a few weeks ago asking if I would be interested in trying their new plant-based yogurt… ummm hell yes please & thank you! Well it arrived last week, amidst my crazy work schedule, and I couldn’t wait to try it & bake with it.

The yogurt and drinkable yogurts are coconut-based. They aren’t overly sweet yet perfectly balanced. The flavor options are heavenly and seriously, this is the best plant based yogurt I’ve eaten yet! They didn’t disappoint.

So today, being a day off, I jumped at creating a new recipe using their yogurt. First, the flavors are insanely awesome! I’m obsessed. Elated. In love. Smitten. You get the point. Then I baked this recipe up & the muffins are so moist and soft. Packed with healthy goodness. Seriously, these aren’t going to last very long. I hope you get to try these as soon as you locate some vegan Chobani in your area.

Ingredients:
Wet ingredients…
2 flax eggs (2 tbl ground flax meal plus 6 til water – mixed & allowed to sit for 8-10 minutes)
2 medium, spotty bananas
1 container of vanilla Chobani vegan yogurt
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry ingredients…
2 cups of oat flour, gluten free
2 tbl of raw cacao powder
2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 pinch of salt (1/8 tsp)
By hand: Add 1/3 cup or more of vegan chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Spray your muffin wells or use liners. Into you stand mixer, paddle attached, add your flax eggs, bananas, Chobani yogurt, syrup and extract. Blend well. Then add your oat flour (blend oats in your blender until a flour is achieved), cacao, cinnamon, baking powder, soda and salt. Blend again until incorporated. By hand, blend your chocolate chips. Spoon into your prepared muffin pan. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely for 15 minutes.


Drinkable and conventional dairy free yogurts are brand new from Chobani.


The yogurt I used in this recipe.


Thanks Chobani for sending me this epic care package. I wholeheartedly love this yogurt and plan on enjoying this often. I haven’t found this in any local stores yet but I’m keeping my eyes peeled.

-ox


— Knead to Cook

Friday Favorite Products for January 2018

by Filed Under: Best Vegan..., Friday Favorites Series, Gift ideas, Health & wellness, Product Review., Sponsored, Vegan 2 Comments

For 2018 I’m re-instituting my favorites on my blog for easy reference (versus my Insta stories).  I’m all about improving my health naturally, boost my self care and improve my well being especially in 2018!  I hope you find some new product ideas or learn about product options that can add to your health and wellness this new year.

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— Knead to Cook

Don’t throw the scale out! My perspective.

by Filed Under: Health & wellness, Product Review., Vegan 5 Comments

Okay so we’re 27 days into 2018 and do you love your scale yet?  Ha.  These memes made me laugh.  The reality is we all hate the scale from time to time – or ALL THE TIME.  I know this past summer when I completely gave up on running (yes, I just had a partial knee replacement in case you didn’t know), I started to lose my “skinny fat” aka lacking muscle and started to gain weight.  It wasn’t BAD weight from eating junk but it was my shift in focus to weightlifting.  So hold on… I lift all the heavy things AND GAIN weight?  Ummmm yeah.
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— Knead to Cook

The best tips for going and living vegan.

by Filed Under: Best Vegan..., Breakfast, Brunch, Cakes, Desserts, Going and Living Vegan, Health & wellness, Holiday, Product Review., Travel & eating, Vegan, Vegan Burgers, Vegan proteins 5 Comments

It’s the one question I get the most.  Can I share tips on how to go vegan? Then followed by favorite products and foods I love.

While I’m recuperating from knee surgery, I thought this would be the perfect time to tackle a post that will cover transitioning your diet over, favorite foods that I’ve discovered over my journey and brands for beauty, the home and life that are both vegan and don’t test on animals.  Along with fashion, shoes, eating out with friends… all of the goodness.

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— Knead to Cook

What’s all the pHuss. Essence pH10 water.

by Filed Under: Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fitness., Giveaway!!!, Product Review., Sponsored, Vegan 71 Comments

Essence pH10 hibiscus alkaline water. About three weeks ago, while scrolling through my Instagram feed, I saw a post about cancer and the pH scale that correlates.  I admit, I became completely engrossed in the topic.  In 1931 Dr. Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize for proving that cancer cannot exist in an alkaline, oxygen rich environment.

Wait, what does that mean? I did further research to label which foods are acidic and which are alkaline.  I mean let’s face it, we’ve all been faced with cancer either in our lives or someone close to us.  So some of these foods included:  pastries, red meat, artificial sweeteners, milk, peanuts, processed meats, ketchup, corn oil, canned tuna and ice cream to name a few.  Conversely, alkaline foods include:  green chard, lettuce, sprouts, wheat grass, onions, peppers, garlic, celery and greens!

Just around that time I was delivered two cases of Essence pH10 alkaline water.  I had an opportunity to review and share a giveaway with you all.  In all honesty, I wouldn’t have really given the pH value much thought if I hadn’t seen this cancer correlation a few days prior.  Now, I’m not a doctor or nutritionist but I know foods can heal and work with the body to produce and end result.  I was really interested in testing out this water. Working out 6 days a week, I lose a lot of water through sweat.  I drink about 3 liters of water each day.  So what is pH and why is it so important? As humans, a normal pH of all tissues and fluids of the body (except in the stomach) is slightly alkaline. The most critical pH is in the blood. All other organs and fluids will fluctuate in their range in order to keep the blood a strict pH between 7.35 and 7.45 (slightly alkaline). This process is called homeostasis.

The company states: Essence pH10 is a premium alkaline water that contains 10% of the daily recommended allowance of calcium, magnesium, and zinc acetate. Additionally, we add organic hibiscus making this the only nutritional water on the market. This patented formula is designed to produce a sustainable pH10 that helps to restore the bodies pH balance. Essence pH10 is 100% sodium free.  MIST currently comprises four of the most commonly used minerals – Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium and Zinc; additional minerals are under development in order to create unique blends that are nutritionally superior to individual minerals and that resemble mineral mixtures found in natural products. So my overall take on the water.  Well, its free of flavor (just what you want in water) and completely hydrating.  I have used it right after my training runs, while I complete my HIIT workouts and even on rest days to hydrate my body.  Overall, I highly recommend especially if it can help balance my pH. I was supplied this product to review as stated earlier but the opinions and review are solely mine. #sweatpink #essenceph10 #superiorhydration #alkaline #hydrate #drinkup Would you be interested in trying out Essence pH10 water for yourself?  Check out the giveaway below.

Best of luck!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway My weekly recap so far…

Sunday:  5 outdoor, windy miles
Monday:  1h 25m weightlifting/core/kettle bell
Tuesday: 7.34 miles in the pouring rain  🙂

— Knead to Cook

Vegan cheeses that don’t suck. Really.

by Filed Under: Best Vegan..., Cheese, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Notable mentions., Nuts, Product Review., Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free 4 Comments

Vegan cheeses all suck, right?  They don’t melt.  They taste horrible.  Ummmm….  No!  Today I’m sharing the best of the best out there & these vegan cheeses will convert even the most hard-core cheese lovers.  Trust me, I’m a reformed dairy lover converted over to the favorites I’ve named below & I’m not sad at all!

Now this has been a 3 year journey of many, and I mean MANY, sub-par even disgusting (actually making me sick), pathetic excuses for “vegan cheeses”.  Each of these named below are staples in our kitchen & we use them for grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza and lasagna or stuffed shell recipes.  I’m going to share my tips and tricks for the ooey gooey cheeses below that will have you swoon.
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— Knead to Cook

Blue Apron Meal Delivery Service.

by Filed Under: Beans, Brunch, Gluten Free, Pasta, Product Review., Sauces, Soups, Sponsored, Vegan, Vegan Burgers, Wheat Free 3 Comments

 

Over the month of December, my family had the pleasure to test out fresh food home delivery from Blue Apron. Admittedly, I’m quite critical about food, quality, packaging and presentation due to the fact that I receive a lot of food samples/products from companies all over the world.  My family was so impressed with the fresh food, quality, packaging, timeliness that we ordered several gift cards for holidays gifts for friends and family to channel their inner chef.  Let’s face it, less trips to the grocery store during the crazy rush and fresh, new recipes in hand.  I was smitten with the entire concept.

So many people think they can’t cook, prefer not to go to the grocery store and gravitate towards eating out or getting take-out. Does this sound familiar?  But what if a box of fresh food packaged with everything you need, no waste, would be shipped directly to you when you want with the meals you chose? It’s a game-changer – even for a foodie like me who loves grocery shopping/prepping food for my family.

So let me tell you how the whole process worked.  You sign up online and select how many people are in your family, dietary needs/restrictions/preferences and then you select meals and delivery dates.  That’s it!  The insulated package is delivered right to your door.

Inside the box you will find recipe cards, prepackaged ingredients & a tiny brown paper back with knick knacks (sauces etc.).  Everything was incredibly fresh.

I will admit, everyone was very willing to participate in cooking the meals once the box arrived.  Normally my family isn’t this intrigued.  Everyone was reading recipe cards and claiming what meals they wanted to prepare and eat.

The recipe cards were very easy to follow with many detailed photos.  Each ingredient is labeled and you can easily identify which veggie went with which recipe.  Minimal prep was required and within a short amount of time your meal was ready.  They even include bread/rolls etc. to finish off the dish.  We tried several recipes and our favorites by far with the broccoli and white bean burgers and the potato soup.


Some other delicious recipes we tried…

Blue Apron wanted to share a discount with my readers. They’re offering $30 off your first order or 3 free meals with a subscription. So are you ready to channel your inner-chef or get inspired by some new recipes?

Thank you Blue Apron for sponsoring this post.

— Knead to Cook

Maple Coconut Caramel Macaroons. V. GF.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Candy, Desserts, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Product Review., Snacks, Sponsored, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free 7 Comments


Occasionally, I receive packages of food to try, test out and review. Two weeks ago I received this wonderfully adorable Cake in a Crate kit from Bob’s Redmill. I’m an ambassador for them and love their gf products & use them often.  I hadn’t heard of Cake in a Crate but when I finally had a chance to look them up – what an adorable and fantastic idea.  Basically you can buy yourself or someone else a kit to make a lovely vegan and gluten free treat/dessert – slice of decadence.  See below for the recipe I used and a discount code off your first kit.

I originally shared this on my Insta stories and had several people email me that they ordered the kits as gifts.  The packaging is absolutely adorable!  Every single thing you need is measured out and packaged perfectly.             
Isn’t this the prettiest gift idea? Plus no butter or eggs and the package is completely shelf stable!
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— Knead to Cook

Tempeh Veggie Scramble. Vegan. GF.

by Filed Under: Beans, Breakfast, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Giveaway!!!, Gluten Free, Product Review., Running/Races, Snacks, Sponsored, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Vegetarian, Wheat Free 19 Comments

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Smilling Hara Tempeh veggie scramble.  

Not all tempeh’s are created equal… trust me, I feel like I’ve personally sampled every single one on the market.  I was contacted by the awesome folks at Smiling Hara several years ago and I’ve never found or eaten another tempeh that rivals their products.  Seriously.

So a little bit of tempeh product knowledge: Originated in Indonesia.  Tempeh is made from a process of culturing beans.  Result is a highly digestible and nutrient dense plant based protein.  Organic soy.  Gluten free.  Vegan. 

My good friend reached out to me a few weeks ago asking if I wanted to try out their new flavor combinations and I jumped at the chance.  Raspberry habanero, miso ginger and smoked salt/pepper have all captured my tastebuds.  The day they arrived I made this scramble and I’ve been waiting to share it with you all (taking pics/blogging the recipe does take time after all).  Finally!  Today, post long run, I was committed to getting this recipe up on the blog to share with you guys.  PLUS, Smiling Hara is also wanting to share the love with you all and is giving me 3 boxes to share with one lucky friend of Knead to Cook!  Ahhhh!
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— Knead to Cook

NOW Foods. Giveaway.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brownies, Desserts, Fitness., Giveaway!!!, Gluten Free, Knead to Cook Promotions, Nuts, Pasta, Product Review., Sponsored, Travel & eating, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Vegetarian, Wheat Free 76 Comments

now-logo-207

As a blogger, I have opportunities to join forces with companies in both the food and supplement industry.  I’m very selective about the products I share on my blog and use in my life.  I was thrilled last week to attend the NOW Foods Ambassador event in Chicago.  There is so much I want to share with you all and an awesome giveaway too!

Let’s start with a little history of NOW Foods.  In 1968, NOW Foods was founded under the belief that good health was not a luxury available only to the wealthy. For the past forty-five years, we have made it our life’s work to offer health food and nutritional supplements of the highest quality, at prices that are fair and affordable to all those who seek them.

Today, NOW Foods is one of the top-selling brands in health foods stores, an award-winning manufacturer, a respected advocate of the natural product industry, and a leader in the fields of nutritional science and methods development. And while we have grown considerably over the past four decades, one thing has never changed – our commitment to providing products and services that empower people to lead healthier lives.
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— Knead to Cook