New Year, New You | Tips and Tricks

Hello everyone and welcome back to Project Health! I hope you all have had an amazing Christmas with your family and friends! Of course, what comes after Christmas? New Year's... and everyone knows what that means-- those New Year's resolutions! Many people center their resolutions around weight-loss, healthy living, and fitness-- I challenge you to do the same!

                                                                                                                                                       

Tips and tricks to make it happen:

• Doing a fun and FREE challenge! FullyRawKristina is hosting a Fully Raw Challenge and it is not only easy but it is also free! Here is the link to sign up and get more info: http://www.fullyraw.com/21-day-challenge/
• Avoid eating fast food! It may be easy and it may be fast BUT it is also a fast way to pack on the pounds. Making yourself something at home will save you money and you control what ingredients are added to your meal. -TRICK- Prepare your lunch the night before to save yourself time and canceling out any chance of having to run the fast food route for lunch.
• Do work outs you actually enjoy! If you hate running, get in your cardio by doing something you may actually enjoy. Bike riding and even yoga are great, easy ways to get the heart rate going (and you can do these things outside of a gym)
• Have a buddy! Working out and eating clean is just easier when you have someone doing it with you. Someone you can share your struggles with and compare notes. You get the point-- partner's are good! 
• Keep your coffee skinny! I am a huge coffee drinker and after going vegan, I learned lots of info about what was actually in my fancy high priced coffee. Although they taste amazing, my body was feeling horrible after. Making copy- cat recipes at home will save you calories and money. But, I have a TRICK for you if you are like me and still love your Starbucks brewed cup! -TRICK- In the mornings before you leave, grab a small cup of your creamer (make it even better and use vegan creamer) and take that to Starbucks with you... and ice if you want something iced. Ask for one shot or maybe two of just espresso (which if you do not know, just a shot is super cheap, YAY). And like magic, you have made your own iced coffee without actually having to do much! Sometimes I like to add my own flavorings to my creamer as well for an added kick of fancy.
• Drink less-- This one is not fun but it's true. Alcohol is not the best for your body, skin, and can be packed with calories. -TRICK- The brand SkinnyGirl has super yummy drinks and less calories. So, if you are going to drink, make it skinny! 

            Thank you everyone for reading and I hope you all have a great and safe New Year!

Vegan Egg Nog recipe | Healthy and Low Cal

                                              Vegan Egg Nog | Healthy and Low Cal

                           Today on Project Health, we are making a vegan egg nog! Nothing says holidays like a nice glass of egg nog, Right? If you are an egg nog lover, which I am assuming you are since you are looking at this recipe (duh), then you may be familiar with the not so appealing calories that go along with this beloved treat. The average egg nog contains about 223 calories for just one cup! And also filled with bad fats.

This recipe is not only less calories, but it actually contains those good fats that you know, are naturally good for us.

 It's extremely easy to make and only a few ingredients are needed.

Here what you need: 

2 ¼  cups almond milk or any nut milk you wish 

1/2 cup raw cashew butter

1/3  cup maple syrup or agave nectar (I used agave nectar)

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of ground clove (less than 1/8 tsp)

So, now here is the hard part, you put everything into the blender and blend. Yes.

For a little added fun, add 2 tbsp bourbon or dark rum—extra kick is always fun!

I hope you all enjoy this little holiday classic! 

Thank you for reading! 

Vegan White Chocolate Recipe

                               Hello everyone and welcome back to Project Health! 

Yesterday's yummy recipe was vegan gingerbread cookies. If you missed it, you can check it out... just below today's post. 

               BUT TODAY..... *Drum Roll* We are making Vegan White Chocolate!!!

                    PICTURE OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT. I KNOW... I CAN'T EITHER.

It's super easy to make; Let's get to it!

         

Here's what you need:

½ cup melted cocoa butter

½  tsp vanilla extract

½ cup powdered sugar

¼ cup raw cashew butter

pinch of salt

2 tsp coconut milk powder

To begin, you want to melt the cacao butter in a double boiler until liquefied. Once your cocoa butter is nice and liquid ready, pour your melted cocoa butter into your blender. At this point, you might be thinking that it's a good idea to stick your finger into the cocoa butter and give it a try-- but don't-- it taste like poison. Seriously. It's not yet "chocolate sweet". Add all the other yummy ingredients and get to blending. Once everything is nice and well blended, evenly pour onto a parchment paper lined baking pan, and place in the freezer for  1 hour. When you take your white chocolate out, you will know when it's ready if it's hard as a rock.  Break into serve-able pieces or hell, eat the whole thing! 

ENJOY!!!!

Vegan GingerBread Man (or woman) Cookie Recipe

                                   Hello everyone and welcome back to Project Health! 
The holidays are here and one of my favorite treats to eat around this time of year would have to be gingerbread cookies. So, naturally I was determined to find a vegan way to make this little gem of a treat! 

Let's get to baking!

Here's what you need: 

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp ground ginger

1 13/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

6 tbsp Coconut oil 

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 eggs worth of egg- replacer

1/2 cup molasses

2 tsp vanilla

Begin by mixing together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Mix together until there are zero clumps.

 Beat together the coconut oil, brown sugar, and egg-replacer until well mixed. Then you want to add the molasses and vanilla and of course, get back to mixing!

Slowly, (1 cup at a time) add your dry ingredients until well combined. You May have to get your hands dirty on this one.  Divide dough into three equal parts and form into balls (I used me hands) Wrap in plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature for 2 hours.              (the longest two hours of my life!!!!!)

It's been 2 hours... let's bake these bad boys (or girls)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie pan with parchment paper -- skip on the "PAM" and save yourself from some extra fat.

Lightly dust the area you are going to use to turn the dough into little people (hehehe). If the dough is sticky, dust your rolling pin with extra flour. Roll out your dough until it is 1/4 inch thick.

I used cookie cutters to make my shapes but if you are super awesome and can do without... well then, damn. 

Bake your cookies for 7 minutes if you like soft cookies and 10 minutes if you prefer harder, crunchier cookies.  Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool.

Once cooled decorate with royal icing, or dust or stencil with powdered sugar

ENJOY!!!!!!