Vegan Archives - Page 3 of 33 - Eat More Rabbit Food

Desserts, Raw, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Raw Peanut Butter Cookie {For One}

Can I start off my post by showing you these stinking cute Mean Girls tanks that I saw at Target the other day? Seriously, how come it took them 11 years to come out with these shirts? Yes, Mean Girls is 11 years old. O.M.G.! I may or may not have bought “You Go Glen Coco” for workouts…

Mean-Girls-You-Go-Glen-Coco-Tank-On-Wednesdays-We-Wear-Pink-Tank Available at Target $12.99 each!
On Wednesdays We Wear Pink & You Go Glen Coco

So today was just NOT my day. Last night I was up until around 5am (that’s been a regular thing recently) because I was covered in hives and Benadryl just wasn’t cutting it. Oh update: I’m not allergic to almonds. None of my food allergies have changed, so I made an appointment with my endocrinologist to have my thyroid levels and stuff checked to see if that has anything to do with it. It’s literally unbearable – and of course I can’t get in to see my doctor until after Easter! Ugh.

So back to today. Being as sleepy as I am, I made the glorious mistake of buying kidney beans instead of garbanzo beans at the grocery store. I got home, got out all of my ingredients for today’s recipe, and boom, I had somehow grabbed the wrong can at the grocery store. So back to the store I went. To top things off, the super epic “cookie dough bites” I dreamed of making out of those chickpeas that took two trips to the grocery store totally failed (see snapchat for photos @EatRabbitFood). So ya, today, not so much my day. I hope all of my bunnies are having a better Tuesday than I am! Luckily I turned my day around with this super sweet raw vegan cookie that I think is well deserved right meow. And you know what? You deserve this cookie too!

If you have any nut allergies, feel free to swap the flavors to nuts/seeds of your liking! Just stick with the same ratio of dry nuts and nut butter.

Single-Serving-Raw-Peanut-Butter-Cookie-1
This can be an awesome little brekky cookie with a soy latte, or a pre or post workout snack! It has tons of protein, natural sugars, fiber, and plant-based fat to give you lots of energy and fuel your day or workouts!

Single-Serving-Raw-Peanut-Butter-Cookie-6 If you’re a coffee addict like me and looking for the best milk frother in the biz, I have this Frother from Nespresso (even better deal here if you have Amazon Prime), but don’t worry there is a less pricey alternative that I’ve suggested to some of my readers via social media and so far everyone has loved it!

Raw Peanut Butter Cookie {For One}
Serves 1

2 Tbsp almonds
2 Medjool dates
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp peanut butter

1. Pulse almonds in a food processor or magic bullet until finely chopped.
2. Remove pits from dates, add dates and vanilla extract to the food processor and pulse until evenly chopped and combined.
3. Add the peanut butter to the food processor and pulse until well combined. The dough may be slightly crumbly but should stick together when pressed together.
4. Roll the dough into a ball and press into a cookie shape. Enjoy!

March 24, 2015 | 10 Comments

Recipes, Smoothies, Vegan, Vegetarian

Vegan Shamrock Shake

I am really excited, anxious, and nervous to share my YouTube video with you guys today! I shared with you all last week that I’ve felt that my weight gain had really held me back from wanting to do videos and be on camera, but I’m really proud of myself for crushing that fear and making (and posting!) this video! I’m so hard on myself and never see myself the way that I used to since I was super underweight, so it’s been a huge process to learn how to accept myself again at any weight. Your comments and support have meant the world to me and were a huge reason I was able to find the courage to do this!

I know it may sound silly to some people, like posting a YouTube video isn’t anything special, but this was a huge milestone for me. Putting myself and my story out there on the internet is one thing, but to step outside of my comfort zone of this typed blog and onto video is rather scary. I can’t help but think that people will judge how I talk, how I look, etc. So thank you for letting me get that out there just now, and thank you for being so supportive of me and my rabbit food adventures! I feel like I’m getting less cool by the day on my blog haha. I mean I am pretty darn normal… I struggle with body image, I get nervous to talk on camera (see beginning of video), I have anxiety, my weight is a freaking roller coaster… I’m losing my internet sparkle as I type!!!

Crazy anxiety aside, I hope that you love the video! It was really fun to make, and I shot it in one take with two cameras! Matt was using one camera on a monopod, and my camera was set on a tripod! It was pretty nerve wracking to shoot (I thought I was going to forget the entire recipe) but ended up being a blast! You can see all of the weird faces and all of the strange sounds I make in one video haha! I can’t wait to do more video tutorials! So let me know what you guys want to see next!

Healthy-Vegan-Shamrock-Shake-Tutorial-1 And of course, who would I be if I didn’t link you to my outfit deets?! My favorite color block hat is on sale right now!!! Outfit and kitchen gadget details from the video are below!

Can you believe tomorrow is already St. Patrick’s Day?! One of my Instagram followers challenged me a few weeks ago to make a healthy version of a McDonald’s Shamrock Shake. Challenge, gladly accepted!!! I was dying when I read the nutritional facts online for the Small 12 oz. Shamrock Shake. It has 43 ingredients, artificial coloring, 530 calories, 15g fat, 10g saturated fat, 86g carbs, and 73g of sugar!!! OMG!!!!

I’m happy to tell you that my Vegan Shamrock Shake is none of that! My shake is made from 7 plant-based ingredients and is loaded with vitamins, minerals, and fiber! Go check out my video to see how to make it, and don’t forget to subscribe to my channel!

Healthy Vegan Shamrock Shake
Serves 1

1 cup almond milk
5 Medjool dates, pitted
½ tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp peppermint extract
1 handful fresh spinach
¼ medium avocado
2 Tbsp cashews

Combine all ingredients in a high powered blender and blend until smooth.
*Recommended: Soak Medjool dates in water for 2-3 hours, and strain before blending. This is not necessary, but the dates will be extra plump and will blend into your smoothie perfectly.

Health & Happiness

March 16, 2015 | 37 Comments

Desserts, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake

Oh my gosh, bunnies!!! Your comments, tweets, snapchats, etc have been SO inspiring and motivating for me! I can’t get over how amazing you guys are and how beautifully you all write! I want to compile your comments into one giant Motivational Monday blogpost for anyone who needs some positive affirmations. Seriously, read through the comments and look how amazing my readers are. You will feel so empowered! I cannot thank you bunnies enough for all of your support. I feel so inspired, loved, and unbelievable strong! I ALWAYS need you guys in my life! I’m so lucky!

Since so many of you loved my Single Serving Muffin, I wanted to do another single serving sweet treat for you! I haven’t made a Mug Cake on the blog for a while, but they are so easy and fun to make!

Today’s mug cake is a combination of chocolate and peanut butter with a little coconut oil in the mix, which gives it a little note of Germain Chocolate Cake!

This mug cake can easily be made gluten-free with an easy swap from whole wheat flour to oat, quinoa, or chickpea flour!

Chocolate-Peanut-Butter-Mug-Cake-1
Traditional mug cakes are usually flipped over onto a plate like a mini cake! This one is kind of messy with the Peanut Butter, so I started eating it straight out of the mug but then wanted to get a photo and show you the fancy shmancy way of plating it! After a couple of bites I flipped it over onto the plate so you could see how it makes a mini cake once it’s out of the mug!

Make sure to coat your mug generously with nonstick cooking spray (I used coconut oil spray from Trader Joe’s) if you want it to come out of the mug nicely!

Chocolate-Peanut-Butter-Mug-Cake-5
Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake
Serves 1

3 Tbsp whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp mini chocolate chips (or vegan chocolate chips)
1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp water
1/2 Tbsp peanut butter

1. Mix dry ingredients – flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and chocolate chips together in a small bowl. Mix everything together until just combined. DO NOT overmix.
2. Add wet ingredients – melted coconut oil, maple syrup, and water and stir until batter is well combined.
3. Spray a microwave safe mug generously with nonstick cooking spray and pour batter into the mug.
4. Add peanut butter on top of the batter.
5. Microwave mug cake for 60 seconds. Enjoy!

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown:
Produce: none
Whole Grain: whole wheat flour
Protein: none
Plant Based Fat: coconut oil, chocolate chips, and peanut butter

Rabbit Food Meal Tip: Complete this meal by topping it with 1 cup of fresh berries (sliced strawberries would be so good!) and a side of one cup of yogurt or milk of your choice (protein)!

March 12, 2015 | 12 Comments

Breakfast, Desserts, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Single Serving Chocolate Chip Muffin

Thank you so so so much for your amazing comments on yesterday’s post. I read each and every one of them and I am so thankful for all of my supportive readers. Sometimes it’s hard to put things out there on the internet and admit, “yes I am having a tough time and I’m not exactly where I want to be,” but you guys have proved to me that so many of my fears and so much of my anxiety is just in my head. I love that complete strangers can completely make my day and also bring me to happy tears by their words. Seriously, some of my readers are the most beautiful writers. You guys are tugging at my heart strings! I love you al! It’s really cool to hear that some of you don’t even read my blog for the weight loss aspect but you actually read it because of my DIY projects and other posts! I mean, I had no idea! Like I said, I get so into my own head of what I assume people read and follow my blog for, and I’m so happy that you are all here with me to continue my journey of making rabbit food, attempting to workout, making pretty DIY things, and being a normal human being who sometimes hates working out!

I got totally sidetracked last night with the Bachelor finale (ugh I don’t want to give away spoilers but I was bummed with the outcome!), so tonight I will finally be replying to all if your blog comments from yesterday’s post!

Single-Serving-Chocolate-Chip-Muffin-1
Today’s recipe is a super cute “Lightened-Up” Chocolate Chip Muffin for One! This is a traditional bakery sized muffin (no mini muffin here!), filled with flavor but light on the ingredients! No crazy additives, no refined sugar (except for those itty bitty chocolate chips), no butter, and no refines white flour! May I say… NAILED IT!

If you aren’t a fan of chocolate chips, I think this would be so om nom nom with 1 ½ Tablespoons of blueberries instead! I would’ve made that in a heart beat but I’m deathly allergic to blueberries which would mean that Matt or my sister would get to be the taste tester for this recipe… and honestly I just wasn’t willing to forfeit my job as Chief Tasting Officer for this particular recipe, so chocolate chips it was!

This recipe can be made completely vegan by using Enjoy Life Vegan Chocolate Chips or blueberries!

Single-Serving-Chocolate-Chip-Muffin-3
The texture of this solo muffin is dense like most vegan baked goods, which makes it the perfect pairing for a glass of milk, coffee or tea!

Single-Serving-Chocolate-Chip-Muffin-5

Single Serving Chocolate Chip Muffin
Makes 1 muffin

3 Tbsp whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
dash of salt
1 tsp (dry) stevia (I used 1 packet of Truvia)
1 Tbsp mini chocolate chips (or vegan chocolate chips)
1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 Tbsp almond milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tray with 1 liner. Set aside.
2. Mix dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, salt, dry stevia, and chocolate chips together in a small bowl. Mix everything together until just combined. DO NOT overmix.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients – melted coconut oil, almond milk, and vanilla.
4. Mix dry and wet ingredients together.
5. Pour batter into prepared muffin liner.
6. Bake for 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Enjoy!

Since I had a blogging breakthrough this week, I also decided that I am going to change up how I do the “directions” of my recipes! From now on, you will see RFFMBT recipes listed in numbered steps as shown above! Much easier to follow : )

The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown:
Produce: none
Whole Grain: whole wheat flour
Protein: none
Plant Based Fat: coconut oil and chocolate chips

Rabbit Food Meal Tip: Complete this meal with one cup of milk of your choice of yogurt (protein) and a side of 1 cup of fresh fruit (produce)!

March 10, 2015 | 31 Comments

Recipes, Smoothies, Tips, Vegan, Vegetarian

Almond Milk Ice Cubes

Hi Bunnies!
I know it’s been over a week since my last post, YIKES ( I haven’t done that for over a year) but I have had so much going on recently. I am back and ready to kill it this week!

I’ve been thinking a lot about the direction in which I want my blog to go. I get so many comments on social media asking for more Youtube videos, so I definitely want to start doing some recipe tutorials as well as fun hair tutorials for you guys, but honestly I’ve become so self conscious that it’s holding me back from doing videos. During recovery, I gained weight and I came so insecure about it that I never talked about it on my blog. I actually became quite guarded and quiet about my personal life on my blog and I feel like I haven’t had much of a voice. I used to speak so openly about the ups and downs of weight loss and what it’s like to struggle with losing weight, maintaining weight, and getting myself to the gym, but I honestly can’t remember the last time I’ve done a post like that.

This past weekend my friend Kathy of Healthy Happy Life stayed over for the weekend and we were Expo West buddies. As we we’re driving to the Anaheim convention center together, I was telling her that I was struggling with my voice on my blog. I told her that I felt like it lost what it used to be because I was insecure about where I am in my weight loss journey now, and that I almost wanted to give up blogging. Let me start by saying that Kathy inspires me so much. She has her vegan recipe blog Healthy Happy Life, her yummy drool-worthy site Finding Vegan, and two books 365 Vegan Smoothies, and Healthy Happy Vegan Kitchen. She is the definition of #GirlBoss. When I told Kathy I was about to throw in the towel because of my insecurity, she completely shut my idea of giving up down. She reminded me of what my blog is about. It’s not just about the “after” pictures. It’s about my story, my feelings, my accomplishments, my bad days, my recipes, my goals, and my connection with my readers who have been here since the start. I had gotten so in my head and wrapped up into the fact that the majority of my blog readers know me as my before and after photos – a weight loss success story. I’m proud and honored that my weight loss story has inspired and motivated so many people to change their lives, and in the back of my mind, I’ve had a fear that if I gained weight or fell of the wagon that my readers would judge me, but I can’t hide that I’m not that teeny tiny sickly thin person in the old after photos anymore. I am putting my silly insecurity aside and I want to be an example that recovery is possible, that happiness is possible, that life goes on, and that for the most part, these crazy thoughts of insecurity and unworthiness are all in your head. Right now, I am so inspired to do more posts about what I have been going through and thinking about because not only is it therapeutic for me (I completely forgot until just now) but if it helps just one person out there that can relate, it’s 100% worth it.

Cat-and-Matt-Self-Help-Festival Photo by: Ashley Osborn
Matt and I on Saturday night at the Self Help Festival

I don’t know how many of you read Andie Mitchell’s blog Can You Stay For Dinner? but this post is a must read, her TEDx Talk is a must watch, and her book “It Was Me All Along” is a YOU NEED TO BUY IT AND READ IT RIGHT NOW. I resonate with her so much. In fact, I’m pretty sure most people do. She’s amazing, and her honesty and bravery also helped me with this post!

I started a public Snapchat (@EatRabbitFood) that shows behind the scenes videos and pictures of me working on my blog, and doing boring silly things that are carefree and fun. I want to show my readers that not everything is as perfectly curated as Instagram and let my personality show. I mean at the end of the day, I am just little old Catherine who writes a blog!

Almond-Milk-Ice-Cubes-for-Thick-Smoothie-1
For the past month I’ve been breaking out in crazy hives all over my forearms, wrists, ankles, and knees and I cannot figure out what is causing them. Food allergies? Thyroid off again? Stress? It’s been super irritating and uncomfortable so I finally made an appointment to see a new allergist with my friend Celina tomorrow. We both have really severe food allergies (in fact that’s how we bonded when we first met), so tomorrow we have back-to-back allergist appointments together. So romantical! Kind of a bummer, but recently I’ve been wondering if I have developed an almond allergy. I use almond milk every morning in my coffee and in tons of my smoothies and recipes (like today’s!) and I would be pretty heart broken if I found out I was allergic, but I’m quite nervous that I could be. Wahhhh. An hour or so after this smoothie I broke out in hives, which was concerning. I also made an iced coffee with the remaining almond milk ice cubes the next day and ended up with hives later in the day. Ugh, since then I’ve tried to avoid almonds and almond milk but I’m still getting hives. So… onto the allergist I go.

Almond-Milk-Ice-Cubes-for-Thick-Smoothie-2
The idea behind almond milk ice cubes is to replace regular ice cubes so that the smoothie doesn’t get watered down. Almond milk ice cubes will add creaminess to any smoothie that normally uses regular ice cubes! Simply put almond milk in an ice tray, and freeze overnight! They can also be used to make iced coffee. Brew coffee an pour over a cup of almond milk ice cubes for a creamy cool caffeinated treat!