Seriously though, I’ve had a nice day and weekend. I went to a wonderful hot power yoga class today, got my teacher training groove on Saturday morning because I’m pursing the highest level of yoga certification and today, Sunday, I’ve hung out with Skylar, and we’re going to have a girls-only dinner before Scott makes his way back from the sports bar just in time to play Barbies with us. haha! I am really glad you enjoyed my Highlights of the Week Post yesterday! Thanks for the lovely feedback on my Quick Almond Milk, or Peanut Butter Milk, Recipe and the Vegan White Chocolate Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups To No-Bake Vegan 3-Ingredient Flaxseed & Maple Cookies To All My Mailbox & Grocery Finds and Product Reviews To Oat Based Recipes To Vegan Chocolate Desserts & Recipes But since it’s a new week, it’s time for a new recipe: Vegan Fudge The Recipe is Inspired by Hannah Kaminsky, author of My Sweet Vegan which I previously reviewed here And Alisa of One Frugal Foodie, author of, Go Dairy Free which I reviewed here and she has much of the fudge recipe on her website, Go Dairy Free.org Vegan Fudge–Soy, Tree Nut, & Gluten Free; and a 10 Minute Recipe Ingredients & Directions
1 Cup Vegan/Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (such as Enjoy Life brand or see This Post for those not requiring certification, TJ’s semisweet chocolate chips are vegan-friendly) 3.5 Cups Confectioner’s Sugar 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder 2 Tablespoons Dairy-Free Margarine (for soy-free people, I enjoy the Earth Balance Soy Free) 1/2 Cup Regular Coconut Milk DO NOT USE LIGHT Coconut Milk 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Yields 32 Small Squares In a large bowl, combine the chocolate chips, sugar, and cocoa. Separately, place the margarine and coconut milk in a small saucepan, and stir together over medium heat. Cook the mixture until the margarine has melted, and bubbles just begin to break at the surface. Remove it from the stove, and immediately pour the liquid over the dry chocolate & sugar mixture. Let everything sit for a couple of minutes (and if you wait too long and it hardens up on you, feel free to nuke it for 15 seconds at a time or until melty), and then stir vigorously to melt the chocolate and incorporate the dry ingredients. Continue stirring until a completely smooth mixture forms. Mix in the vanilla, and quickly pour everything into your prepared pan, a lightly greased or cooking-sprayed 8×8 pan (or another similar size) At this point, some people may choose to sprinkle flaked coconut (about 1 cup) evenly over the entire exposed surface. Press the coconut gently into the fudge with the palm of your hand. Picture from Here I wanted to kick my vegan fudge into the chocolate stratosphere so I used Chocolate Sprinkles rather than coconut It’s Raining Men It’s Raining Chocolate Sprinkles! Press the coconut or sprinkles gently into the fudge with the palm of your hand or the back of a spoon. Let cool completely before cutting into squares. This required me to refrigerate it and then freeze it because I used light coconut milk. Silly me. Don’t ever use light coconut milk in baking because it will not set up as well as full fat (regular) coconut milk. But no worries…. ….The Only Real Worry I had was hoping Skylar didn’t dig into it when my back was turned! Mischievious Grin. The vegan fudge was just fine after I removed it from the freezer. Then I cut it into squares Totally delicious vegan fudge! It’s rich, decadent, fudgy, wonderful. Good vegan stuff. And it’s soy/nut/gluten free which is a bonus in my book. You really only need a small square. You may, however, help yourself to a large square! If you like the looks of today’s fudge, but want something along the Girl Scout Thin Mint Variety, check out my Raw Vegan Girl Scout “Thin Mint”-Inspired Fudge Or maybe your more into brownies than fudge. Try my Raw Vegan Chocolate Brownies Or Maybe You’re Just wanting to drool over peruse my Chocolate Recipes Post Like Raw Vegan Chocolate Pie Or No-Bake Vegan Creme de Menthe Bars If you Need Chocolate like I Need Chocolate, my Chocolate Recipes Post is a Good One to Bookmark! Some Veggies I’ve Devoured in the past day, in addition to chocolate, of course: Brussels, cukes, zukes, tomatoes, red, orange & yellow peppers Dressed with my Holiday Orange Spice Vinaigrette Recipe & Black Pepper And Mixed Greens with Brock, Cukes, Brussels, Carrots, & Tomatoes Dressed with a With a Fresh Batch of Vegan Slaw Dressing that I made yesterday Dessert was No-Bake Vegan 3-Ingredient Flaxseed & Maple Cookies and Vegan Fudge!!! Yoga Today is Sirsasana (headstand) And Ardha Sirasana (Half Headstand). Go into full headstand and then carefully lower so that your legs are parallel with the floor. Got Milk Abs anyone? Holding your legs 90 degrees from your body while fighting gravity is a sure-fire way to help increase your core strength. Core strength is so important for everything from balance to remaining injury-free, and as a benefit, you’ll whip your abs into great shape! And please, when going up into headstand, DO NOT DONKEY KICK UP! You need to go up slowly and with control; start in downward dog, make a crown for your head with your hands, and start to walk your toes forward, forward, til you go up, up, and away. No kicking up into headstand as it’s a sure-fire way to fall and get injured, severely. Tips of the Day: Michael Pollan’s latest book, Food Rules, has simple and powerful tips like these… #3 Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry. #19 If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t. #36 Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk. Questions: Have you Read Michael Pollan’s latest or have you read his previous books? (In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto or The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals) What are your Thoughts about What he Says? Did you watch Oprah with Alicia Silverstone and Michael Pollan? Thoughts? What do you think of Alicia’s Book, The Kind Diet? My take on it all is that you don’t have to be a vegan, you don’t have to be raw, but you should be mindful and conscious about your food choices. Know where you food comes from, what’s in it, and be mindful about what you’re putting in your body. As I have said before, I don’t always purchase Organic Foods and here’s why, but if I can, I choose to purchase locally grown foods, which are likely organic, even if not certified organic. I am mindful to try to eat seasonally, locally; and “mostly plants” as Pollan says. Chocolate fudge not withstanding…haha! I also don’t think food choices don’t need to be complicated and we shouldn’t beat ourselves up if we eat something that others may shun or that someone else thinks is “bad” because it’s your path, your body, your choices. Really, who cares what they think! So what; you ate it, move on. The beauty of food and our food choices is that in 3 hours, you can eat again and choose more wisely next time. Keep it easy, relaxed, and mellow is what I try to do! Tell me your thoughts! And on far lighter matters…Do You Like Fudge? Or, what’s your favorite format to get your chocolate fix in? Chocolate cookies, chocolate cake, fudge? Can there ever be too much chocolate? I will say, I love white cake with chocolate frosting and I think I prefer regular chocolate chip cookies to double chocolate cookies, but really, chocolate in any form is good by me! How bout you, What’s your Fave Chocolate Food or Fave Way to Eat Chocolate? Stay Tuned For A Give Away…
