Category: vegan

Recipe: Raw Mint Chocolate Pudding

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Recipe and photos contributed by Dillon Indira of Oh Holy Basil

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If you haven’t tried avocado pudding you are missing out! I love avocado in all formats (except cooked), but I have to admit that when I heard about avocado-based desserts I wasn’t particularly eager to try them. To me, avocado is a savoury food and best consumed with little change brought to it. This humble ingredient does not need much of anything to be a treat. But then again I like my food simple and uncomplicated. And, I like whole food ingredients to be able shine in and of themselves.

Being someone who does not consume dairy and avoids soy, I was pretty much missing out on pudding, except for the infrequent foray into coconut milk tapioca pudding. While we do eat our fair share of cooked foods, I do  always err on the side of raw foods when I can, so when my kids asked for pudding (more than a few times) I decided to try an avocado pudding recipe. To my delight, and especially my children’s, chocolate avocado pudding is super delicious and super nutritious. On top of that, it’s super easy to make. Super all around!

Raw Mint Chocolate Pudding | Serves 4

*I’ve included links for some items which may not be in your pantry, such as raw cacao and pink salts, these are included in this recipe because they are optimally healthy, however I have also noted some substitutions that you could make at the end of the recipe with more common pantry ingredients.

  • 2 cups avocado, tightly packed
  • 3/4 cup cacao powder, preferably raw (I like this one)
  • 3/4 cup maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • a heaping 1/4 teaspoon pink salt (I like this one)
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted and cooled (I like this one)
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves
  • Optional garnishes: berries, mint leaves, cacao nibs

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Blend for about a minute or until very smooth, scraping the bowl down half way through. Divide among glasses or ramekins and chill until ready to eat. Garnish and serve, or chill for later.

This pudding can be made a day in advance.

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Thank you, Dillon, for this deliciously healthy recipe!

Danielle’s Notes: Variations and Substitutions

Variations:

Avocado pudding is easily adaptable to ingredients you have on hand and has many options for flavour variations,  depending on how you garnish, flavour or spice it. In my experience there is no pure science to avocado pudding, so play around and see what you like. For example, my kids love swapping the fresh mint leaves for organic grated orange rind and one drop of Wild Orange essential oil. If you don’t have fresh mint on hand you can use one drop of Peppermint essential oil.

Simple substitutions:

While himalayan salt is included in the recipe for its health benefits, you could use other salts you may have on hand, such as table salt or fleur de sel.

You can substitute conventional cocoa powder in place of raw cacao powder. Similarly, you can substitute honey or agave syrup in place of maple syrup.

I most often use vanilla bean powder in place of liquid vanilla extract, as I prefer the vanilla taste from the bean. For this recipe just a tiny sprinkle of powder is sufficient, probably 1/16 of a teaspoon.

If you don’t have coconut oil on hand, I recommend omitting oil altogether. Coconut oil is much healthier than other oils and has the benefit of hardening at room temperature, which helps to “gel” the pudding, although it is not necessary to make the pudding hold.

My only warning would be to minimize any liquid added, as this will thin the pudding. Always use powdered spices, extracts or essential oils (edible ones only!) to flavour so the liquid input is minimal.

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Readers: Make sure to visit and bookmark Dillon’s site, Oh Holy Basil, to see all the delicious family approved recipes on offer. You can also keep up to date by following on Instagram @ohholybasil

About Dillon:

Dillon is the mother of two young ones. She has a passion for health, food, Ayurveda and macrobiotics, which she intelligently combines into delicious, wholesome, plant-based recipes shared on her blog Oh Holy Basil. Dillon trained in integrative nutrition and gourmet cooking and has worked in esteemed New York City kitchens.

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If you would like to contribute a plant-based recipe to this blog please email me: hippieindisguise1@gmail.com.

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You might also like my post:

Recipe: Summer Berry Cream of Buckwheat

How to Make Temporary Tattoos from Real Flowers

Summer Lists: Of Sun, Sand and Strawberries

Sustainable Children’s Gift Guide for Any Occasion

Mindful Flower Picking and Making a Flower Crown

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Happy Earth Day: 10 Ways to Live a Greener, More Sustainable Lifestyle

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HIppie in Disguise Gloucester Maine Luv Mother Nico Nico cLothing Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! A day late…but truly, it is earth day every day in our family. After a busy week of work and travel I didn’t have time to make an Earth Day post, so I’m catching up today.

In my experience, I never see my children happier,  freer,  more connected to the moment as when they are playing together in the great outdoors. So, my Earth Day indulgence is to share some of my favourite photos of my children connecting with the wild earth and enjoying themselves playing in nature. I’m also sharing what our family does each day to live lightly upon the planet, see our list at the end of this post.

Hippie in Disguise Cristina Rohde Clothing Earth Day

Hippie in Disguise Gloucester Mass Earth Day

As a family we do a lot to try to minimize our impact on the earth, to live a green lifestyle, to live lightly and respectfully upon this planet that sustains us and gives us life. Above all else I try to find ways each day to ensure my kids feel connected to nature and the health of our planet. This means lots of time spent outdoors enjoying life and connecting with the elements, whether it’s walking or cycling to the places we go, running bare foot on the grass, or eating snow.

Here are the top 10 ways our family lives lightly upon the planet:

  1. We follow a vegan diet to minimize environmental damage associated with animal farming
  2. We eat and buy local products as much as possible to minimize emissions associated with delivery transport. If not local products then responsibly manufactured, organic and small scale guide our purchases
  3. We live car free and either walk or cycle almost everywhere we travel within the city, year round
  4. We use reusable cloth shopping bags (these ones are great because they fold up really small to fit in your pocket or bag) and we use reusable produce and bulk shopping bags (these ones for produce and these ones for bulk)
  5. We package litter-less lunches with reusable containers. Our favourites are stainless steel lunch containers (like these for main dish, these for snacks and dips and these for drinks) and our newest love is for beeswax food wraps (truly amazing product! they may seem pricey but I guarantee you they are worth the investment, you can completely stop using all plastic wrap)
  6.  We wear things out before replacing them
  7.  We recycle and compost like there’s no tomorrow
  8.  We put on a sweater (or two) rather than heating our home and drink cold water instead of air conditioning
  9.  We plant indigenous plants in the garden that don’t need overwatering or chemicals to thrive and support bee populations
  10. We spend lots of time outdoors to cultivate love, enjoyment and respect for the earth in hopes that our children will make the best choices for the ecosystem as a whole

Over the next year we are working towards a zero waste lifestyle having been deeply inspired by the Devine Family and by Bea Johnson (her book Zero Waste Home is a must read and share!).

Earth day, every day.

What do you do? I would love to hear. Please leave a comment below, no need to sign in or make a profile.

River Picnic Ottawa Hippie in Disguise

Hippie in Disguise Nico Nico Clothing Earth Day Childhood Unplugged

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Garbage Free: How to Make your own Delicious Raw Cashew Milk

Interview with a Minimalist: The Devine Family *** A family of 7 living in a treehouse

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Zero Waste: How to Make Easter Egg Bath Bombs with Flowers + Essential Oils

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zero waste vegan easter egg DIY flower bath bomb essential oils hippie in disguise

I freely admit that the naturally dyed Easter eggs I see on Instagram (these ones!) and Pinterest (these ones!) have me feeling a little underwhelmed with our own vegan Easter crafting traditions. For a few years now, I’ve wanted to naturally dye wooden eggs but haven’t found an economical source for the wooden eggs. We’ve been making our own bath and beauty products for the last year or so (deodorants, creams, toothpaste and so on) and it occurred to me when I was getting our Easter decorations out that the plastic Easter eggs we use for the egg hunt would make perfect bath bomb moulds, so I decided to try it out with the kids. And, low and behold we found our Easter egg, vegan friendly, crafting tradition! (Note: After years of frustration related to buying aluminum wrapped chocolates, I decided to buy reusable plastic eggs that I could fill with dried fruits and other treats, rather than put aluminum foil into landfill. Zero waste life!).

Making the bath bombs was really easy and a super fun activity for the children. They got their hands into some dough, designed their own scents from mixing essential oils, and crumbled dried flowers. A sensory and very satisfying experience! The bombs smell great, are healthy for sensitive skin and soothing for the soul. On top of this, you can make the bombs with common household ingredients that are likely to be in your pantry or available at the grocery store.

zero waste vegan easter egg DIY flower bath bomb essential oils hippie in disguise

zero waste vegan easter egg DIY flower bath bomb essential oils hippie in disguise

zero waste vegan easter egg DIY flower bath bomb essential oils

Here’s how we made them:

  1. In a bowl combine: 2 cups of baking soda, 1 cup of potato starch (you can also use corn starch or cream of tartar), 6 tablespoons of Epsom Salts (you can also use sea salt).
  2. If you want to make different scented bombs, then separate the mixture evenly into a few bowls — we separated into four bowls.
  3. Crumble approximately 2 teaspoons of dried flowers into each bowl. We did different combinations to get different colours. For example, a pink egg from wild roses, and a green egg from blue hydrangea. Make sure to finely crumble the flowers because the bits will go down the drain in your bath so you don’t want to clog it up. Although, as Ro said: “It would be the nicest clog ever!”
  4. Add 7-10 drops of your favourite essential oils to each bowl. I use Do Terra essential oils which are very high quality (pure) so I didn’t need many drops, if you use a more conventional essential oil you may need a few more drops to get a strong enough scent. We used lavender, wild orange, balance, serenity, citrus bliss, eucalyptus and melaleuca in different combinations.
    • Lavender, balance and serenity are calming.
    • Wild orange and citrus bliss are energizing and refreshing.
    • Eucalyptus is great for opening up the air ways especially if you have congestion or a cold.
    • Melaleuca, also known as tea tree, is a natural anti-septic, is soothing and smells great.
    •  I’ve included links above to purchase from Amazon, but if you are interested in opening an account with DoTerra to get oils at a significant discount email me: hippieindisguise1@gmail.com
  5. Add 2 tablespoons of melted (liquid) coconut oil to each dry mixture, if separated into four bowls. (Overall you would add 6-8 tablespoons to the entire mixture).
  6. Using a spray bottle or a teaspoon to very slowly add water and mix, only add water until the mixture is crumbly but will hold together if you squeeze it in your hand. At this point it can be pressed into your egg moulds. Pack the moulds fully and firmly so that as they dry they will hold shape. I let ours dry in the egg mould for 2 days although 1 day was probably enough.
  7. Gently open the moulds. A few of our eggs crumbled from over excited hands, so be careful.

natural easter egg bath bomb diy dried flowers essential oils

zero waste vegan easter egg DIY flower bath bomb essential oils hippie in disguise

natural easter egg bath bomb diy dried flowers essential oils

No surprise, the children couldn’t wait for Easter to use the bath bombs. We found they worked really nicely. They didn’t fizz around (you need to add citric acid to the recipe if you want fizz, but citric acid can be hard on the skin so I don’t add it to my recipe) but they smelled really good and easily melted into the bath water. The crumbled flowers floated to the surface of the bath and made the bath water extra fancy. The coconut oil was soothing on the skin and the essential oils gave off a delightful and calming aroma. Overall, the bombs were a success.

natural easter egg bath bomb diy dried flowers essential oils

If you have any questions about how we made the bath bombs please leave a comment and I will be happy to answer. For an amazing tutorial to make naturally dyed wooden eggs visit Fareisle Blog here.

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You might also like my post:

How to Make All Natural Temporary Tattoos from Real Flowers

Garbage Free: How to Make Your Own Delicious Cashew Milk

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Summer Berry Cream-of-Buckwheat

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Contributed by Jo of Nurturing Kitchen

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I have been eating raw creamed buckwheat for breakfasts for a few years now and I never get bored of it. It tastes so delicious and has endless variations depending on how you garnish and spice it. Best of all it is easy to make and is made from whole foods. In my experience there is no pure science to the recipe, it is a forgiving dish, so play around and see what you like.

Jo, who I interviewed here, generously offered to share one of her buckwheat breakfast recipes on my blog. The original is posted here, and you might want to skip over to read her lovely introduction to the recipe. Jo writes a delicious food and parenting blog called Nurturing Kitchen. Her recipes are simple, delicious, plant and whole food-based. I recently made her flourless Chocolate-Orange Brownies and I can vouch for the deliciousness of her creations. And so can my toddler!

Recipe: Serves 2 — and packed with healthy goodness!

  • 2 cups buckwheat groats, soaked in plenty of water overnight (I like these ones)
  • 6 dates, soaked overnight in enough water to cover (or dried figs)
  • 2 tbsp hemp seeds (I like these ones best)
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds (these ones are great)
  • 1 cup almond milk (or other plant-based milk)
  • 1 tsp powdered ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
  • 2 handfuls summer berries, plus extra for serving

Toppings: Hemp/sesame/ poppy seeds, Summer berries, Matcha or barley-grass powder for sprinkling

Rinse the soaked buckwheat in a sieve under running water, then transfer all but 1/2 a cup to an upright blender (keeping a few back  for serving). Add all other ingredients (except the toppings), including the date-soak water and blend until smooth. You’re looking for a consistency like thick yogurt. If it seems too thick, add a bit more milk or water.

Pour into bowls and scatter with the remaining buckwheat, whole berries, seeds and a pinch of green powder. Enjoy straight away or leave to firm up slightly in the fridge before serving.

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If you would like to contribute a plant-based recipe to this blog please email me: hippieindisguise1@gmail.com.

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