refined sugar free – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Food November 18, 2014

Healthy Raw Vegan Mini-Cheesecakes

I’ve been searching for healthy vegan cheesecake recipes on Google for ages, and I kept finding ‘healthy’ recipes that include tons and tons of maple syrup or sugar, which, in my books, isn’t healthy. I also found a number of recipes that involve freezing the cheesecakes (which qualifies them as being raw), but I think frozen desserts to have less taste than that of warm or room-temperature ones.

Given that I could not find my perfect healthy vegan recipe online, I decided to do some experimenting and oh-my-goodness, y’all… I love these cheesecakes so much. They may not be low fat (think quite a bit of nuts), but they are low-carb!

Sasha and I demolished these over the weekend – our favorite toppings were raspberry jam (we love Bonne Maman Raspberry Preserves) and just plain raspberries. As explained below, I mistakenly tried adding the toppings after they had already set, which should be avoided (although they still tasted amazing).

Food November 4, 2014

Vegan Everything Bar

If you live in Houston and haven’t tried Sinfull Bakery, you are truly missing out. I first tried their delicious treats at Catalina Coffee, when I grabbed a vegan Everything Bar while checking out. i intended to eat only half at first, but on that specific day, I learned a very important lesson: It is impossible to only eat half of an Everything Bar.

Last weekend, Isla and I ran into Catalina while Sasha was at Martin’s Tailors (best in Houston!) getting new pants hemmed. Recognizing the fact that I could not get a coffee without reaching for the Sinfull treat, I grabbed a bar and decided that I would share it with Sasha (ha, well he ended up getting 1/6th). I looked at the ingredients on the back – all healthy, but some ingredients that I avoid from day-to-day, like flour and brown sugar. After church on Sunday, I thought to myself, ‘Why don’t I make an everything bar?’ After all, these desserts are supposed to be just a gathering of lots of healthy ingredients from one’s pantry.

Alas, my everything bar recipe. This first attempt included a lot of: ‘Oh, that needs some salt…’ and ‘Yikes, too dry… needs coconut oil.’ Once they came out the oven, Sasha and I couldn’t keep our hands off them. I’m pretty darn proud of this Ailee-invented-Everything-Bar (as always, vegan and gluten and refined-sugar free). Please try it at home and let me know how it goes!

Recipes October 21, 2014

Healthy Vegan Crustless Apple Pie

I have been toying with the idea of a healthy apple pie for ages now, as anyone close to me knows I adore stewed apples. What exactly is a stewed apple? Simple. It’s when an apple is skinned (optional), cored, diced and popped into the microwave for about 2 1/2 – 3 minutes. It comes out soft and sweeter (how? I have no idea). I eat a stewed apple almost every single night after dinner. It’s the best dessert.

After scouring the internet, I found a lot of vegan apple pie recipes online, but none of them were to my liking (i.e. healthy enough). You don’t need all of that added sugar if you bake with a delicious apple (namely Honey Crisp).

I baked three batches of these vegan, gluten-free, refined-sugar-free, crustless apple pies, adjusting little things each time, and the recipe below is the winner. The ingredients make two servings – baked in little ramekins (I used these from Sur La Table).

PS Isla’s nursery is one of the finalist for Project Nursery’s project of the month! I would love your vote.

Food May 23, 2014

5 Ingredient Raw Vegan Brownies

I am not a baker. But seriously, every vegan dessert I try fails (except these beet muffins – yum!). So when I came across a recipe for a simple, raw vegan brownie bite recipe, I jumped at it. I made some slight adaptations to the version I found online, and both Sasha and I love the result! These have five ingredients – raw cashews, organic honey, pitted/chopped dates, coconut oil, and unsweetened cocoa powder. They take five minutes to prepare (minus recommended refrigeration time) – and they are healthy-ish (no refined sugars!). Perfect tiny snack to fill your sweet tooth cravings!

Ingredients: 1 cup of plain cashews, 1 cup of pitted or chopped dates, 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, 1.5 tablespoons of coconut oil, 2 teaspoons of honey

Step 1: Add 1 cup of raw, unsalted cashews to your blender and pulse until finely chopped

Step 2: Add pitted or chopped dates to cashew powder and pulse until completely mixed (should get kind of solid)

Step 3: Add 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

Step 4: Add 1.5 tablespoons of coconut oil and 2 teaspoons of honey to the blended mixture – may have to stir with spoon vs. blend (depending on how strong your blender is!)

Step 5: Lay down stick-free parchment paper or aluminum foil and make into small brownie bites

Optional (but I recommend) Step 6: Add to fridge for an hour so the coconut oil hardens – then enjoy!

If you try them, let me know how they turn out!