I decided to go to the doctors, something I do once a year as a standard checkup but very rarely go for anything else. The first doctor I went to tested my iron and B12 levels since it was common for vegans to be low in those essential vitamins and minerals. Nope everything was good in that department. The next time I had a dizzy/hallucination episode I went to the emergency room since I couldn’t stand up without assistance. Samples were taken and this doctor told me that nothing was wrong with me but gave me gout medication and referred me to a neurologist. I said I had no symptoms of gout since I am not an alcoholic nor eat a lot of meat but he was insistent since the lining of my stomach was inflamed. (At the time I knew very little about inflammation.)

 Next up, neurologist.

He referred me to get two tests done: an EEG and an MRI. The EEG was strange since they flash an insanely bright light repeatedly in your face for an hour. Felt like a PG-rated Clockwork Orange experience. The MRI was just boring since you have to lay there absolutely perfectly still for 2 hours encased in a noisy dark tube. The nurse placed a towel over my face and immediately upon beginning the test I needed to scratch my nose.

Thankfully both tests came back negative but the symptoms still persisted. I was telling my Herbalist friend about my frustrations and he recommended me to his Naturopathic doctor. I felt a hit of panic of turning into a hippy (I could envision all my friends rolling their eyes at me) but I had done everything else without success so I made an appointment.

I am so glad I did. My N.D. made me fill out an 11-page diagnostic profile prior to my appointment checking off boxes of all the symptoms I was experiencing. The appointment was two hours long, much more time than I had ever been with a regular physician and we reviewed every ache and pain. After some testing, it turns out my body is on fire and my adrenal glands aren’t working as much as they could be.

Inflammation is the cause of my current dilemmas. My blood is too acidic and my gut floral had been ruined by my former addictions of diet drinks, smoking and caffeine pills. When I eat almost anything my stomach goes from normal to 6 months pregnant. Because of this symptom, my N.D. suggested I might have an ongoing food allergy that is causing my organs (brain included) to become inflamed. She suggested an elimination diet so I can determine if I had a food allergy.

Common food allergies include: gluten, eggs, dairy, soy and sulphites. Thankfully I don’t eat half of those things so they were easy to cross off the list but the others were a hard hit. After reading my food journal she decided I should eliminate gluten first since I seem to eat a lot more of it than I thought. One particularly embarrassing entry was a day where I ate nothing but a bagel with peanut butter and a slice of vegan pizza.

This was tragic news to me since gluten is my favourite food! Ok not really but I love things made with gluten, crusty bread especially. So for the next 6 weeks (including Christmas) Sprouts & Chocolate will be going gluten-free! If I turn into a raging monster please forgive me. 

I thought I would start with dessert since I was worried about not being able to enjoy some of my favs but this crisp is just as delicious as any that uses regular flour or butter in their topping. Lucky for me, my favourite ice cream is also gluten-free which is a perfect topping for this Chai-spiced Fall favourite, though now it is looking like Winter here is Toronto. 

Have any readers had symptoms that were unexplained by a normal physician to find out later that it was a food allergy?

The post Chai-Spiced Apple-Pear Crisp {Vegan & Gluten-Free} appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

in a city not so far away there lives a girl who loves green. Green is her favourite colour since it matches her eyes and her favourite sweater. She tries having green in all aspects of her life since she now realizes how important it is to love green food. She uses green vegetables in her cooking and smoothies but that wasn’t enough for this girl: she wanted green milk. Rich, cool, creamy and lightly sweetened green milk. Sounds crazy right? But this girl believed in the green!

She summoned the assistance of her Vitamix cauldron to concoct the perfect green milk. Double double turbo trouble! ITS ALIVE!!

The Green Monster Milk was ready to go out into the world, spreading the goodness of green for everyone to love and enjoy.

The only problem was this milk didn’t look like the rest of the milks in the world. On the surface he looked a little different but inside he had so many good things to offer: vitamins and minerals, those important micronutrients but all anyone saw was his green colour.

He was sad and lonely so he went on a journey through the spooky Collard Green Forest in hopes of meeting others that would understand him and his greenness.

Just when he thought he wouldn’t find any green monsters like him, he finally met some! And people who loved all his green goodness that he wanted to share!

He finally found his calling and that is bringing people only the best source of green power: plant power! He lived happily ever after. Definitely not THE END of this recipe.  

Happy Halloween from our new friend Green Monster Milk!

I made this milk for those who do not like green juice (I have yet to be sold on it!) but I do love green milk! It tastes just like my Homemade Vanilla Almond Milk but with all the green juice goodness. The milk is completely raw, vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar free since it is sweetened with dates! So if you are not a fan of straight green juice this milk is a great alternative.

For complete step-by-step instructions with photos visit my Homemade Vanilla Almond Milk post, just add the chopped greens and dates with the almonds instead of just the almonds. Warning: if your nut milk bag is made of a natural fibre like hemp, it will slightly discolour the bag. Wash right away for minimal staining. Trust me….

This is a great recipe to use if you need a little detox after a Halloween fete. If you are anything like me and stuffed your face with sweet bubbly punch and tons of candy, you will need this green milk in the morning. 

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Though it has been challenging thinking of new recipes to post 4 times a week there are so many bloggers who made this experience look easy. I am sure they are hustling and sweating behind the camera like the rest of us. Well at least I hope I am not the only one with shaky caffeine hands and a kitchen that looks like a bomb went off.

These are just a few of my favourite VeganMoFo bloggers:

Fork and Beans 

She has turned the ghoulish into adorable (I mean terrifying…) vegan AND gluten-free Halloween treats for everyone to enjoy. Bravo!)

Vegetarian Snob 

LOVE the Lazy Sunday recipe idea! Especially the Tempeh Bacon Quiche, the Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls, all of them really!

Olives for Dinner

I have drooled over these recipes and amazing photography.

Popcorn and Nooch

I am glad someone loves movies and television as much as I do and then recreates it into amazing meals.

Zsu’s Vegan Pantry

Burgers for an entire month? Sign me up! Thanksgiving, Irish, Eggplant Sriracha, Gyro….the list goes on! 

To the fine creators of VeganMoFo, I applauded your hard work to build an annual vegan food-sharing community. Because of this event, I discovered sites and accounts that I fell in love with and have bookmarked to check on the regular. My hat goes off to you!

 Now why would I include a borderline dessert as a staple? This is not just your average dessert since it has protein (from the hemp hearts) and omegas (from the chia seeds). I feel it is important that every kitchen have a little something-something kept the freezer for your work/school week because it always kept me from buying (although vegan) the not-so-good for you “snack foods” out there. I would be in a store after school or work and could tell I was getting a little hangry, I just needed something to get me home but thankfully with these guys in the freezer waiting for me I could talk myself out of grabbing a chocolate bar or a bag of chips. I would think to myself “Why waste the calories/money in a treat that I don’t really want?” and put that snack down and wait until I got home. Now I pack one or two in my dinner that I take to work since I don’t get a break (ever!) but need a little boost when it is blindingly busy or when a table is particularly rude to me.

They are quick, easy and can be made in one bowl. Hooray! Oh did I mention that they are vegan, gluten free and insanely delicious, especially right out of the freezer. The roasted almond butter melts as you chew it, revealing new flavours like coconut, nutty oats, caramel-y dates and chocolate. Swoon! For this recipe I used my One-Ingredient Roasted Almond Butter (another staple!) to make these balls however I am sure any almond butter of your choice will do.

So if someone asks why a little protein-filled dessert is considered a staple, tell them to try it first and if they still don’t get it, just stop talking to them. You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life. Haha! Saw that one on Pinterest and I felt it applied.

It has been such a pleasure for me to share with you some of my favourite recipes that I make every week. Thank you all so much for the lovely comments and blog love! I am so grateful for all the readers of my site and there is plenty more coming from my kitchen after VeganMoFo has ended. Check out Tuesday’s post for the final recipe of this month long vegan food fest. I have been saving the best for last. 

Happy Sunday!

The post One Bowl Chocolate-Caramel Almond Balls {No-Bake, Vegan & Gluten-Free} appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Here I am Day 11 of the month long cooking (and eating!) vegan food fest that is VeganMoFo! While it has been a little stressful I organized my ideas for a few recipes on my fridge whiteboard calendar to make things a little easier for me since I started school and continue to work. So far, I am right on schedule with a few modifications here and there and couldn’t be more pleased by my organizational skills. I have never been much of a meal planner but now I get what the big deal is about! It is less hectic now that I am coming back from school and knowing my dinner is already in the fridge (along with my after school snack because apparently I am 5 years old). Also having a meal plan doesn’t force me to go on a serious snack quest when I come home from a long day and feeling extra hangry, consuming everything in my path. 

But what about breakfast? I have to admit I am pretty terrible with planning breakfast since it is always rush-rush for Mark and I in the morning. I usually stick to a smoothie but that was before I re-entered school and I definitely needing the extra fuel for my brain in the wee hours of the morning.

Mark is a huge fan of cereal but store bought just doesn’t fill him up as a meal and before you know it half of the box is gone. I needed to make a substantial breakfast to boost our energy before we head out.

Granola is always my first choice for cereal since I can make a lot of it at one time and it lasts all work/school week in an airtight container. Is it too early for pumpkin spice? I would say not since Starbucks came out with their Pumpkin Spice Latte in August! I have a love/hate relationship with pumpkin and its warm spices- I love it until I hate it. You know that song you play on repeat a zillion times and then you hear it on the radio for your zillionth and one time and all of a sudden you think “If I hear this song one more time I may lose it!” That’s my relationship with pumpkin. I eat EVERYTHING pumpkin for two months straight and never want to see it again [until next year that is]. Perhaps this year I will enjoy pumpkin in moderation? Haha who am I kidding?

 8 recipes down, 12 more to go!

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At first, I did not want to put up this recipe since it does only contain one ingredient but it is a staple in my kitchen and it is just one of those things I make almost every week. While peanut butter is still my personal favourite nut butter, almond comes in at very close second place since I find it a little more versatile than peanut butter as I seem to use it everywhere: on a hot piece of thick cut rye toast, in a protein packed smoothie, swirled into chocolate desserts and even in between pancakes with bananas and tons of maple syrup or just on a spoon. Hungry yet?

While raw almond butter packs a more nutritional punch, roasting almonds brings out their natural flavour and aroma. Making your own almond butter is so easy even with the extra step of roasting the raw almonds yourself. Roasting them requires a watchful eye because they can go from perfectly roasted to inedible in a flash. ALWAYS check your almonds as they are cooking, especially the last few minutes. After that let them cool for a little bit, toss them into a food processor, get some earplugs and whirl away!

My food processor is technically broken so I was able to take the lid off while it processed. It is extremely dangerous and don’t do it!

You will have to scrape the almonds down with a spatula as you go and a little bit around the 6-minute mark this happened in my batch….I was surprised but I broke it up with my spatula and continued to process.

At the 12-minute mark, it was looking more familiar. Just took a little patience and I was rewarded with delicious, smooth and creamy homemade almond butter. I immediately toasted some bread and spread on a thick layer. Food doesn’t have to be complicated it just has to be good.

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