10-Minute Vegan Chili Dogs

On the way home from the airport yesterday, Eric suggested that we eat chili dogs while watching the game.

After traveling for the last 2 weeks, the last thing I wanted to do is cook a meal.

In comes 10 minute chili dogs!

I picked up 2 packs of Field Roast frankfurters, a can of Annie's vegan chili (I have a recipe for homemade chili here) and diced up an onion.

This is a quick and easy recipe for those "I can't be bothered" days and a perfect way to make your non-vegan family feel like they're eating meat.

Veganize it, baby!

I've tried several brands of vegan hotdogs and Field Roast is the only one worth buying. It has the perfect flavor and texture - ain't nobody got time for soft hotdogs!

Enjoy! 

4 Quick Breakfast Ideas | 10 Mins or Less

Like I mentioned in this blog post, we usually eat the same breakfast every day for one week because it saves time and money.

Plus this is how our life was before we started this vegan journey. I gave you some breakfast ideas in that post, but wanted to quickly write this one to share 4 breakfast meals that take less than 10 minutes (some less than 5) to put together.

*Vegan yogurt with fruit & nuts-

There are many options out there for yogurt - almond, coconut and soy are just a few (almond being my least favorite).

Vegan yogurt brands:

So Delicious    Whole Soy & Co

Silk soy yogurt      Almond Dream

Amande almond yogurt     Stonyfield Farm O'soy yogurt

Serve your yogurt with fresh fruit, roasted nuts and a sweetener like natural maple syrup and/or dates, if necessary.

*Cereal

Click here to see a list of vegan-friendly cereals

Unhealthy (but vegan) breakfast cereals are here 

Serve your cereal with a plant-based milk like almond, soy, hemp or coconut

*Smoothies - always so simple and filling- here's the recipe for the pic below

If you prefer to start your morning off with some greens, here's an easy smoothie formula for that:

3 cups of greens (spinach is an awesome start since you don't taste it) + 2 cups of liquid (almond milk, juice or water) + 1 cup of fruit (frozen is great) = simple green smoothie

You can serve your smoothie with toast or a bagel

*Oatmeal- this one of my go-to breakfasts for our fam

Instead of conventional butter, you can use Earth Balance vegan margarine or coconut oil.

Also, use raw sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup and dates to sweeten your oat instead of white sugar

Add in fruit and nuts of your choice to give it some variety.

Breakfast has been on my mind a lot lately because I feel as though it's the easiest meal to immediately start your vegan journey with.

Have you started with a vegan breakfast yet? leave me a comment below.

4 Ways to Get Your Kids to Drink GREEN Smoothies (VIDEO)

The first time I gave the boys a kale smoothie they looked at me like I was crazy. It was 2008 and let's just say we were new passengers on the "eating better" train.  Elijah outright screamed "no!" and ran from the kitchen. Even though Jason was curious, he also refused, and Brandon reached for the cow's milk beside the blender instead.

Things are a lot better these days.  Even though kale isn't their favorite vegetable in the world, they no longer give me hassle about drinking/eating it.

*Choose your fruit wisely- Pineapple & bananas are my go-to kale smoothie fruits because they're super sweet and tend to be inexpensive. Also, they do an excellent job of reducing the bitter flavor that raw kale has. I like to make sure the fruit is frozen to make it more appealing.

*Less kale/more pineapple.  Don't feel like you have to fill your blender to the rim with kale. Start off by adding a little kale to each smoothie, then gradually increase each time.

*Let them help-I never forced the boys to drink green smoothies but having them help me naturally led to *tasting* it.

*Don't give up! Keep offering green smoothies and they will eventually try it.I never in a million years thought my kids would drink them but persistence paid off! *patting myself on the back* 

Bonus tip: One of my Youtube viewers suggested using a cup opposed to a glass when serving green smoothies to younger children. Since it's sweet, they may not care about the color once they start drinking it. 

In conclusion: Green smoothies are an acquired taste for kids.  Don't be afraid to add a little agave nectar or use spinach instead of kale.  Spinach is an excellent choice because (unlike kale) it isn't bitter and you mostly just taste fruit.

Watch me make a kale salad & kale smoothie with Jason below. 

How do you get your kids to drink green smoothies?

Easy Chocolate Pudding

All I need in this life of sin is a bowl of anything that includes chocolate. 

You know what annoys me about food blogs? When a recipe claims to be easy but has a trillion steps and a trillion more fresh ingredients that need to be chopped. I love to cook and don't mind the extra work, but even I look at some of these recipes and find that language so darn condescending.  It's like me saying this cinnamon roll recipe is easy.  Easy to who?

Anyway...I can say with confidence this chocolate pudding recipe is easy and guess what else? It's pretty darn good, too. 

All you need is 4 ingredients and a blender.

The avocados don't initially give the pudding an overwhelming flavor, but after 24 hours the taste is bitter (likely from the combination of avocado & cocoa powder) and the avocado flavor more pronounced.  

Be sure to update me when you try the recipe and watch me make it below on Youtube. 

If you have some leftovers avocados, a banana, and olive oil around make yourself a facial mask to moisturize your situation. 

Chocolate Pudding

by Brown Vegan

Prep Time: 10

Keywords: dessert vegan

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 5 avocados-peeled & pitted
• 1 cup of raw cacao powder or cocoa powder
• 1 cup of agave syrup
• 1 cup of almond milk (you may want to start with 1/2 cup and increase as needed)

Instructions

Add all ingredients into a blender and mix well. Add a little more almond milk (1 tbsp at a time) if your blender needs help combining the ingredients.

Eat immediately or serve chilled a few hours later.

Best if enjoyed within 24 hours

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Song playing while pitting the avocados...

Pleasure P-You Did Me Wrong

Y'all know there's always a song playing  :-)

Mango Frozen Yogurt-3 Ingredient Treat

I had to get rid of a few mangoes in my fridge, so I figured it was time for a simple naturally sweet treat. :-) 

Mango Frozen Yogurt-3 Ingredients

Mango Frozen Yogurt-3 Ingredients

by Brown Vegan

Prep Time: 5

Keywords: dessert vegan sugar-free

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 3 large mangoes, ripe
• 1/2 cup coconut milk (the one in the carton-not the can) or other plant-based milk
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions

Remove the skin from the mangoes and chop into cubes. Freeze for about an hour.

Place all ingredients into a blender and process until smooth.

Serve immediately or freeze for later.

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