Summer Fun! Cherry-Vanilla Milkshake + Ginger Peach Iced Tea + Toast

Summer is officially here! And that usually means, less cooking, more blending (smoothies that is). There were frozen cherries on sale (such a rarity), so I thought a cherry milkshake was in order. To make this vegan, replace the yogurt with more almond milk (or add some chia seeds to thicken it). This wasn't quite milkshake material (ice cream would have put it over the edge) But I'd say it's in between a smoothie and a milkshake. Yum!

Frothy nums

1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 cup frozen cherries
1/2 small banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
Stevia, to taste
Almond milk (to blend)
2-3 Ice cubes (optional)

Combine all ingredients into a blender, blend on high for 1 minute. Makes 2 servings.

Avocado, olive oil, salt, pepper and tomato slices on toasted spelt bread

Toast has made frequent appearances this past week, the toppings are endless (like fresh avocado puree and tomato slices). You could also spread it with hummus and top with sprouts and cucumber, yum!

Jenn has been experimenting with homemade iced tea, each recipe is different, so we have yet to discover the magic formula. But this Ginger-Peach Iced tea really hit the spot.

2 tea bags (ginger-peach)
4-5 slices of lemon (important! tastes so much better with lemon)
Honey, to taste (you could also use agave)
Optional, add peach slices and shreds of ginger

Brew tea, add honey and lemon. Pour into glass bottle (or jar), Chill in fridge overnight, add peach and ginger once cooled. Add ice, enjoy on a hot summer's day.

We're back...again + Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies

Hey everyone, so we're back...again...haha this time for good, we hope our work/projects won't completely swamp us this time around.

I was on a mission this morning to make gluten-free brownies, we've made brownies before (The Sweetest Potato Brownies - GF Vegan). But we wanted to try something different.

I went to the store to seek out some ingredients, I filled the basket with everything you would need for a GF brownie recipe but I realized...this wasn't going to fit my student budget. I spotted Bob's Red Mill GF Brownie Mix, and instead of paying 20+ dollars for cocoa, GF flour, and sugar, it was only 6 this way, yay!

For the icing instead of making it, I picked up a jar of Nutella. Normally we don't eat Nutella but it was on sale, and let's face it, it's the best thing ever, especially on brownies.

1 pkg Bob's Red Mill Brownie Mix
3/4 cup unsalted butter (we used cultured butter)
1 egg
3/4 cup warm water
1 tsp vanilla (it called for 2 but I thought 1 would be enough)
Dash of salt

Topping:
Nutella (or other chocolate hazelnut spread)
Toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 13x9 pan with butter. Set aside. Combine in a large mixing bowl, brownie mix, softened butter, egg, water, vanilla and salt. Beat with a whisk or electric mixer. Pour into pan and bake for 25-30 min (the package says 20-25 but I had to bake mine way longer). Roughly chop hazelnuts and toast in a frying pan on medium heat until they smell really toasty or turn golden brown. Once brownies are done (stick a fork in the center, if it comes out clean they're done!) let cool, once cooled start spreading the nutella onto brownies and finish of with chopped hazelnuts. Voila!

Toasting hazelnuts

If you don't have a cooling rack, flip over your brownie slab onto the other side of another pan.

These were so dense and chewy, definitely making again!

Just a reminder to our readers: We are no longer making only vegan recipes. This blog is now omnivorous! (If you'd like advice on how to make our recipes vegan just email us @ sketchfreevegan@gmail.com and we'll answer any questions you may have!

Blueberry Raspberry Breakfast Fro-yo

This has been my absolute go to breakfast these past few weeks. I don't know what it is about frozen yogurt, it just has a great tangy sweetness! The best part about this fro-yo is that you don't need an ice cream maker, just a bowl and a spoon will do :).

I'm hooked on these Vega smoothie mixes! (my favourite so far has to be Bodacious Berry). Not the biggest fan of the Tropical Tango, it has a sort of artificial Trident gum taste :P.  

1 cup yogurt (I used half greek half 2.5%)
Handful frozen blueberries
Handful frozen raspberries
1 scoop Vega Energizing Smoothie (I used Tropical Tango)
Bananas
Shredded coconut (or any other toppings you like!)

Combine yogurt, vega, and berries in a bowl. Mash with spoon until raspberries have blended with yogurt (takes about a minute or 2). As you mash the yogurt freezes around the berries and you're left with grade A frozen yogurt! Top with bananas and coconut, and voila!

We're back! Fruit Plate + 2 Toasts

Hey everyone! I don't know if anyone noticed the slight hiatus we went on. :)...We were working on a theatre project that consumed most of our time since October, but now that it's wrapped up, we're back! And with one of those fancy shmancy DSLR cameras too!

This is a fruit plate my sisters and I made on Christmas morning, every year it seems to be a tradition to make the most disgustingly colourful fruit plate possible and arrange it in rainbow fashion. We posted one from last year too!

Pom seeds, apples, strawberries, grapefruit, cantaloupe, oranges, pineapple, banana, grapes, blues and blackberries!

Toast is the perfect canvas to play around with different toppings. We have the tiniest kitchen, like literally the size of a closet and conveniently have a super large toaster oven so toast making is definitely a production but so worth it! Feel free to sub blueberries for any other fruit or even chocolate!

Almond butter-cinnamon on toasted spelt bread

Blueberry cheesecake toast (cream cheese, stevia + thawed frozen blues on toasted spelt bread)

Bird's eye view!