Healthy Strawberry Shake // Vegan & Paleo

There’s nothing like strawberries in the summertime! Whether you're covering them in sugar, freezing them in Popsicle molds, or picking them straight from the plant, they are the perfect summer treat!

Well, I was feeling the summer heat here in FL for the last week at we hit the mid-90s, leading me into a desperate attempt to make something refreshing and simple! I looked in my freezer and there it was, a forgotten bag of frozen strawberries just WAITING to be made into something refreshing.

I grabbed the bag and then checked the content of my fridge, almond milk, coconut cream, and dairy-free yogurt all stared back at me and I knew it was time to make a healthy Strawberry milkshake!

This shake is not meant to overload your taste buds with the sugary version of a strawberry, but offer a taste that is both sweet and slightly sour at the same time, making for the perfect summer strawberry!

using unsweetened yogurt is how you get this effect, but if all you have is sweetened yogurt omit the maple syrup. Give it a taste test once blended and dd in the agave if you want to!

If you are like my husband and enjoy sour strawberries omit the maple syrup and sweetened yogurt all together!

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/4th cup frozen strawberries

• 1/4th cup almond milk

• 1/2 cup almond milk yogurt

• 1/4th cup coconut cream

• 2 Tbsp. Maple Syrup

Instructions

It’s simple! Add in all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until you have a smooth consistency.

If need be add in a little extra almond milk, but just keep in mind this will alter the taste a bit.

Pour, sip and enjoy!

MInt Chocolate Chip Smoothie // Dairy Free & Gluten Free

Smoothies have a special place in my heart because they are piqued my interest in how healthy food can taste like a real treat! It all started when I was 14 and got a job babysitting. I would go every Thursday morning where the family was just finishing breakfast and the mom would set aside a cup of whatever smoothie they were making for me! it was awesome and helped me to learn that breakfast could be more than just cereal. Their family always had healthy treats around and near the end of work the mom and I would usually chat for a bit about life over a piece of dark chocolate.
It was one of the best jobs I have ever had and helped me learn about how to care for other people, but also how to care for my health with food!
As you guys might know, once life hit college life got tough and the idea of living a healthy and balanced life changed. I was at a job that made me miserable, my fiance lived in another country, I was convinced I would fail college, and felt a lack of control. What I knew I could control was what I put into my mouth, which made my love for living a healthy and balanced life, just an unhealthy obsession.
Thankfully after many years of recovery I have learned that intuitive eating was what I needed to get back to. It’s what I did in high school and I knew that if I wanted to regain my love for food I needed things to change.
I had all the rules beforehand that stemmed from me having to restrict my diet for medical reasons, that carried over into a “healthy diet”. it took months and months to break the cycle and to test the waters. For me it was having carbs in the morning. I loved smoothies, but the ones I was making were not what I genuinely loved or enjoyed. Even though I was eating enough food, I wasn’t satisfying my emotional connection with food. This leads me to overeat the Sonya approved food, leading me to an unbalanced diet.

After acknowledging these issues, and consistently working to break the bad habits and mindset I was stuck in I noticed things started to change.
I began eating dessert, every day, sometimes twice a day! But I also started doing my favorite exercises, having fun, and switching it up. I wasn’t focused on the calories I consumed or burned, I was simply enjoying the things that I loved! I felt like I did in high school were my favorite activities were ether doing something active or eating great food with the people I loved.
I stopped obsessing and started living again.
Thankfully living included eating a lot of yummy things, and that’s when this page truly began to change for the better!

Now I can bring to you fun recipes like this Mint Chocolate Chip Smoothie that you can conveniently enjoy for breakfast or dessert! All you have to do is switch up the ingredients and voila! You have a tasty meal that brings joy!
If you want this Mint Chocolate Chip Smoothie for Breakfast all you need is…

If you want this Mint Chocolate Chip Smoothie for Breakfast all you need is…

• 1 Frozen Banana

• 1 Cup nut milk (I like almond)

• 1 scoop collagen of vanilla protein powder

• 1 Tbsp. Cocoa powder

• 1 Tbsp cacao nibs

• 1 Tbsp sunflower butter

• handful of spinach

• 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• 3 ice cubes

• pinch of sea salt

• 1 Tbsp. avocado (optional)

• 1 Tbsp. Flax meal (optional)

  And if you want to enjoy it as a tasty dessert…

• 1 Frozen Banana

• 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder

• 1 Tbsp. cacao nibs

• 1/4th to 1/2 cup milk (less milk = thiccc like ice cream)

• 1 Tbsp. sunflower butter

• pinch of sea salt

• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

• 1/3 tsp vanilla extract

  Directions

  FOR BOTH**In a blender pour the almond milk in first and then add in all other ingredients and blend away!
  

Cookie Dough Bites // Guten Free & Vegan

Hello there, and welcome to another episode of What I Made During COVID-19! Today I am bringing you guys the vegan and gluten-free cookie dough bites that are sure to trump those store-bought cookies you bought in a panic because they were the only dry goods left in the store…

Anyway, these cookie dough bites are brought to you today in an effort to provide fun and easy recipes that you can make with simple ingredients! I also want to ensure that these recipes are indeed kid-friendly! I have 9 nieces and nephews all under the age of 10, so trust me when I say I would not be afraid to make these with any of them…except maybe the baby, but he would just sit there and sleep anyway so maybe it would work?

Other than the fact that these are delicious, simple, kid-friendly, healthy, vegan, gluten-free, etc. They also allow you to work with what you have! For example, If you are not a sunflower butter family, use what you have on hand! Just keep in mind that if your peanut butter or whatever other nut butter you use is sweetened, It will alter the flavor and sugar content.

If you don’t have almond flour laying around, you could definitely blend up oats and use that flour instead of the almond. Just keep in mind to check in on the consistency. If it is too runny add in more oat flour about one tablespoon at a time until the texture is a little thicker and easier to mold. With oat flour, you can also leave the mixture in the fridge for about 15 minutes and see how it looks as the oats will soak up some of the liquid!

You don’t have agave? Use maple Syrup!

All of these things will change the texture and alter the flavor of the recipe a bit, but when it comes down to it, the same idea applies! This recipe is about being able to utilize what you have on hand and do something fun while everyone is cooped up at home!

SO without further delay, here is the recipe for your Cookie Dough Bites!

Ingredients

• 1 Cup almond flour

• 1/4th cup sunflower butter

• 1/4th cup Agave

• 1/2tsp vanilla

• Pinch of sea salt

• 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips

• 1 Tbsp coconut oil

Directions

Combine the Almond flour, sunflower butter, agave, vanilla and sea salt together.

Fold in half of your chocolate chips, reserving the rest of the chocolate chips for your chocolate coating, and put in the fridge.

For the chocolate coating, combine the rest of your chocolate chips and the coconut oil and melt using a double boiler method.

Once your chocolate is melted, remove your dough from the fridge and roll into balls. I used a tablespoon measure, but you can make them smaller using a teaspoon measure.

Once you have formed the dough into balls coat in the melted chocolate and place on a plate covered with either parchment or wax paper.

When you are done, sprinkle with flaky salt or sea salt and place in the fridge or freezer until the chocolate has set.

Serve and enjoy!