Sweets From the Earth



We were happy when Sweets From the Earth asked us to guest blog for them because we looOOoooOOve their desserts!  Their vegan (read:  egg/dairy free and not to mention gluten, wheat and nut free) Chocolate Cheescake and Flourless Cashew cookies are our two top faves and have been there for us through several happy celebrations!

Check out our blog entry at http://www.sweetsfromtheearth.com/blog/!

Happy Spring!
:)
Aileen Lim-Trotter

Flexible Quinoa Salad - safe to bring to dinner parties!

This is one of our favourite naturopathic-friendly go-to recipes that can easily be altered to suit your tastes or pantry supplies. The bonus of this very healthy (and dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, vegan) recipe is that it is safe enough to bring to dinner parties (ie. not too weird-looking and enough flavour to appeal to everyone's tastebuds, even for those who aren't health-conscious). We have tested variations of this recipe out at a few potluck parties, and it always gets rave reviews.

Flexible Quinoa Salad

Ingredients
1 ½ cups quinoa
3 cups water
pinch of salt

½ cup dried apricots or cranberries, finely diced
½ cup red bell pepper
½ cup yellow bell pepper
¾ cup toasted pine nuts, cashews pecans or walnuts
¼ cup chopped cilantro or basil

Vinaigrette
grated lemon zest and lemon juice from one lemon
splash of balsamic vinegar
¼ tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup olive oil

Directions
1. Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in cold water then pour into a fine meshed strainer and rinse again under running water (if not rinsed well, quinoa tends to be bitter).
2. Bring water to boil and add salt, then stir in the quinoa.
3. Lower the heat, cover and cook for 15min. Taste the grain. There should be just a little resistance and the opaque spiraled ring of germ should show. If necessary continue cooking until done.
4. Pour into strainer and set it to drain over a bowl.
5. Toast all the nuts either in a dry pan or the mini oven works great too! Just put them on some foil in the mini oven, watch them carefully and stir often because they may burn.
6. Combine the apricots, peppers, nuts and cilantro in a large bowl.
7. Mix together the ingredients for the vinaigrette and add to the bowl of yummy apricots, peppers, nuts and cilantro.
8. Once the quinoa has cooled, add it to the bowl. Give it a good mix and ENJOY!

Flourless Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies - You Only Need 4 Ingredients!

When I was 11 years old, my parents moved our family to Rosetown, Saskatchewan. My sister and I were the only Asian kids in...well...Saskatchewan. I kid, I kid. But we were, no joke, the only two Asian kids in Rosetown, Saskatchewan.

We lived there for just under two years and some of my best childhood memories are from playing in the giant grain piles at my friend's farms and going to the harvest festivals. The farmer's markets were also out of control....I remember my mom buying a huge bucket of organic zucchinis for 25 cents.

My first introduction to baking was during one of my first classes in Grade 7 when I realized I was enrolled in Home Economics on crack. These girls were baking peach cobblers from scratch and sewing their own custom designed pyjamas on our FIRST day of class. I made a giant (burnt) cookie with Smarties and a pin cushion (roughly in the shape of a heart) for my mom. Thankfully, my little girlfriends and our teacher took me under their wings and taught me all the secret baking tricks and tips that their grandmothers had taught them from birth.

To this day, I absolutely love baking. It's something I do to relax!  The tricky part is making my favorite recipes into healthier versions.

Here is my gluten, dairy and egg free (vegan) Peanut Butter Cookie recipe….health conscious or not, you’ll love this moist and delicious cookie!

Healthy Food Review: Sweets from the Earth Cashew Cookies

I've been loving the Sweets from the Earth treats lately.

They have a great selection of cakes, cookies, brownies and other sweets, that are not only free of refined sugar, but are dairy and egg-free as well. Many products are also gluten-free and use GMO-free plant-derived ingredients. The founder, Ilana, became vegetarian at a young age, and eventually vegan and studied to become a pastry chef.

Her lifestyle and training is evident in her products, which are not only healthy and use quality ingredients, but bonus is that they actually taste really really good!

These are desserts that I actually feel comfortable bringing with me when I visit friends' homes whose priority is taste over healthy ingredients. I show them the atypical ingredient list only after they have finished enjoying the dessert. Gotta love the reaction when they realize they just ate a dessert made with tofu and a few simple plant-based ingredients.