Carrot cake cupcakes

INGREDIENTS (makes 14):

• 160G Wholegrain Buckwheat flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 2 tbsp flax seed + 6 tbsp water

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 120G Brown sugar

• 1/2 cup soy milk

• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar

• 2/3 cup carrot, grated

Frosting:

• 1 tbsp lemon extract

• 113G powdered sugar, sifted

• 1 tbsp vegan butter, softed

• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Pré heat the oven on 160 ° C / 320 ° F

• In a blender, blend flax seeds with water and put it aside

• In a bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together (Wholegrain buckwheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar)

• In an other bowl, whisk all the wet ingredients together (carrot, flax egg, oil, milk, vanilla sugar)

• Whisk both bowls together (wet and dry ingredients). Add in some more milk if the batter is too dry. Just enough for the batter to be wet enough.

• Place paper cups in a cupcake tin and evenly divide the batter between the paper cups.

• Place into the oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean after inserting into the center

• Leave them to cool on a cooling track

• In the meantime, prepare the frosting.

• In a bowl, add all of the ingredients and with a manual blender, mix on low speed until it from a nice frosting-like consistency

• Add frosting on top of the cupcakes

• Enjoy!

Coconut snowballs

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups shredded coconut (no coconut flakes)

• 3 tbsp maple syrup

• 1 tbsp cornstarch

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• Pinch of pink Himalayan salt

• Few drops vanilla extract

• 1 flax egg (1tbsp flax meal + 2 tbsp water)

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 190C

• Mix flax meal with water and let it sit (approx. 5 minutes) until it forms a thick texture

• Add shredded coconut to a blender and blend until it starts to stick together

• Add in maple syrup, coconut oil, salt, vanilla and flax egg and continue blending for a few more seconds until everything is well mixed

• Add in corn starch and pulse a couple of times

• With an ice cream scooper, scoop out the balls and transfer it gently onto your baking sheet lined with parchment paper

• Bake for approx. 10 minutes or until they start to look golden brown

Vegan "meatball" spaghetti

Spaghetti is and will always be one of my favourite dishes and I crave it weekly… seriously.
It’s just one of those dishes that makes my mouth water and I can’t get enough from. As a kid, I always loved eating meatballs with my pasta with a yummy, tasteful tomato sauce. My mom loves to make food from worldwide cuisines and this definitely was one of my favourite’s whenever she was making something from the Italian cuisine.

How lucky I was today to have my beautiful Italian friend, Chiara, with me when I was going to make this recipe.
Earlier this week I already planned on cooking and photographing this recipe today. When I woke up this morning, I had a text from Chiara asking to meet up and when I told her about my plan… Oh, she was in for some cooking and I was lucky enough to learn from her Italian cooking skills, and now you do too!

Every single bite I had from this dish took me right back to when I was a little kid and was slurping my spaghetti away. It also reminded me a second of the lady and the tramp movie!

Also, how great is it that we have so many Plant-Based options these days that we still get to enjoy the food and dishes we grew up with without harming other living creatures?

INGREDIENTS (4 portions):

• 400g Vegan Mince (I used mince from The Meatless farm Co)

• 1 red onion

• 3 garlic cloves

• 2 carrots

• 2 celery stalks

• 500g canned plum tomatoes

• Pasta (White or wholewheat, depending on your preference)

• 1 tsp Hot chili powder

• 1 tbsp Paprika powder

• 1 tbsp Garlic granules

• 4 tbsp Italian herbs mic (Oregano, Basil,

• Pink himalayan salt

• Peper

• Olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

“Meatballs”:

• Pré-heat the oven on 180°C/356F

• In a large mixing bowl, add the vegan mince and all the herbs (1 tsp hot chili powder, 1 tbsp paprika powder, 1 tbsp garlic granules, 2 tbsp italian herbs, pepper & salt) and knead it all together with your hands

• Once everything is kneaded well, start rolling the mixture into balls (I made 12 medium sized balls) and put them on an oven tray

• Cook for approx. 20 minutes (might slightly be different depending on what vegan mince you’re using) on 180°C/356F

Sauce:

• Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a saucepan and turn on medium-heat

• In the meantime, chop the onion and 3 garlic cloves

• Add the onion and garlic to your saucepan and let it cook until golden-brown

• Grate the carrots and chop the celery and add it to the saucepan and let it all cook together for 5minutes

• Add the canned plum tomatoes to the saucepan and cut open the plum tomatoes in the pan

• Add 125ml water

• Add herbs (2tbsp italian herbs, peper & salt)

• Turn on the heat to high-heat and let it boil for 15 to 20 minutes

Pasta:

• Cook pasta in boiling water (read label, depending on pasta you chose, for cooking time)