Friday, June 8, 2012

Back to my vegan ways.....

So I shared with you in my last post
about my health struggles
as of late.

Thank you so much for the kind words of 
encouragement and concern
in the form of comments,
e-mails,
text messages 
and phone calls.
I am a well loved woman,
and so appreciate your concern.

Well, I started my journey back to vegeterianism
a while back,
but hadn't fully committed,
and seemed easily swayed to eat dairy.
That's not a hard sway for me.
I do love my sour cream and cheese,
but I also LOVE the vegan options of these and other dairy
products, 
it is the price that often slows down the switch back,
but when I get to feeling bad enough,
then the switch is made.

So here I am.
Back to my vegan diet,
and loving it.

I love eating clean and healthy 
and in honor of that,
I wanted to share with you
two recipes that are rocking my vegan world right now:
Crazy-Good Ranch Dressing
&
Chai Tea Latte (the homemade vegan kind)

Now let me start by staying, 
that I cannot ever really eat Ranch Dressing.
It is a haven for all things non-vegan and unhealthy
like.....
MSG.
Yes this highly contagious girl
does not consume said favored dressing
of the American people.
NO.
I do not partake.
Until now.
And let me tell you,
when Katie said she could drink it with a straw,
I thought, "Sure you could."
Me, sceptic.
Oh please give me a straw!
The big slushy kind,
and a HUGE, GINOURMOUS cup
to drink it out of.
It.is.that.good.

I digress.

Without further ado.....
Said Ranch Recipe:


So go visit the lovely Katie and check out this recipe,
and PLEASE make it this weekend
and revel with me in the goodness that is Homemade Ranch Dressing.
I make this according to her recipe,
except I use fresh dill, 
about a Tablespoon,
and added some fresh chives 
and fresh basil right out of the garden.
Oh, be still my garden loving heart!!!
PLEASE try this.
I'm begging you.
STOP buying the bottle kind!!
This is SO much better for you!!!
Look at the nutritional content while you are over at the beautiful Katie's
and see for yourself.

Okay.....

So I am a Chai Latte loving girl
thanks to my friend Lauren.

I don't drink coffee anymore.
sigh.
But LOVE warm drinks
and HAD to find something healthier for me,
so Chai Latte it was.

Now not all Chai Latte's 
are created equal.
Or even close.
Star Bucks is so strong it burns my throat.
I had one at my local health food store today,
and it as well, was STRONG and burned my throat.
I like a smooth Chai Latte NOT strong.

So while Sir Cuteness and I was at said health food store today,
I got a box of Chai Tea bags.
I looked up several recipes for homemade Chai Latte's
and came up with this one:

Dawn's Smooth and Delicious Chai Latte
1/2 Cup Vanilla Almond Milk
1/2 Cup Original Almond Milk
1 Chai Tea Bag
1 Stevia Packet
Sprinkle of Nutmeg

Heat Almond Milks in pan on stove over medium heat.
Stir with a whisk until heated thoroughly
and frothy, 
but NOT boiling.
Put tea bag in cup,
Add hot (NOT BOILING) Almond Milk
and steep Chai Tea Bag in Almond Milk
until you achieve the desired strength.
For me, about 4 or 5 minutes.
Add Stevia packet 
and sprinkle nutmeg into mug.
Enjoy while writing your next blog
post which is what I am doing with mine =)

I am loving the new recipes I'm finding 
and am so glad I am back to eating so healthy.
It truly rocks this girl's world!!!

*****

You're probably wondering what has happened to my vacation posts?
Don't worry,
they will continue.
I just want to tell these stories well,
and feel like I've been rushing my writing,
so I will be sprinkling them in
and will label them accordingly.

I love you so!!

Have a Blessed weekend ~~

1 comment:

  1. OH MY GOSH... I love chai tea lattes but feel like they're too strong too... I have some chai tea bags at home... & almond milk - vanilla & regular. Guess what I'm doing this weekend now ;)

    I'll have to try out the ranch dressing too... I had a bundle of fresh dill in m co-op basket & didnt know what to do with it either!

    PERFECTION!

    I totally forgot & this reminded me - I'm searching my juice book tonight for you too!

    Love you friend!

    ReplyDelete