TOFFEE PROTEIN BARS

In case you’re looking for some sweet, protein-rich treats, I recommend trying these toffee protein bars. Simple, quick and super delicious!

I don’t know about you, but since the cold season started, I feel the need to indulge in some snacks that will offer me a big dose of energy, somewhere around the middle of my working day. Especially now, when the days are getting shorter and shorter (it’s getting dark at 5PM here!). I look outside the windows, and it’s completely dark, but I still have some things left to tick off my to-do list for the day!

So I ended up trying everything – chocolate, fruit, biscuits. But I quickly discovered that protein bars are the best solution for me.

Let me briefly explain why. First of all, protein bars are rather perceived as a dessert. It’s a true pleasure eating them! 🙂

They’re similar to a cooked pudding, with a sweet sauce for topping. But, at the same time, they’re rich in nutrients! For me, this is the best combo ever: when you eat something that’s very tasty and sweet and at the same time you gen plenty of benefits for your body. What more can you wish for?

For today’s recipe I used Tri Blend Select de la Herbalife Nutrition, with Coffee Caramel flavour. The product is 100% vegan, and it works well in tons of desserts and sweet combinations.

In short, Tri Blend Select is a 100% vegan shake, meaning a mix of pea protein, quinoa and organic flaxseed, and it contains 20g of protein per portion. It has a low sugar content, and it’s rich in fiber. Moreover, it also has essential amino acids, vitamin C and 7 key minerals.

We all know how important are proteins in a vegan diet! And I’m not sure if you know this, but peas are a great protein source, even though that might sound a bit surprising. 170 grams of peas contain 4 grams of protein – this is just for you to make an idea of what I’m talking about. Plus, peas are low in calories as well. Quinoa is also very protein-rich, as well as fiber, and flaxseeds are an excellent source of Omega-3 and, of course, protein again.

All this means that, if you decide to follow this recipe for toffee protein bars, you will end up with some bars that are TRULY rich in protein! These toffee bars are also extremely easy to make; you only need a handful of ingredients.

And you can either serve these as bars/snacks that you can also take on-the-go to work or during your travels, or you can serve them as dessert, topped with the toffee sauce.

And if you’re following a gluten-free diet, you should know that the Tri Blend Select shake is a very good choice, as it doesn’t contain any gluten.

Ah, let me mention a small detail as well. When you’re preparing something that requires heat, such as these protein bars (you’ll find the step-by-step recipe below), it’s possible that some of the vitamin values of the final product to be a bit different from what’s written on the Tri Blend Select package. But the end result will be healthy and 100% vegan anyway!

Let me give you a little bit of advice as well. I usually like to prepare a bigger batch of protein bars, which I then store in the fridge for the next days. This way, I know I’ll always have some bars on the side for whenever I’m craving something sweet or whenever I need a big dose of energy and protein, regardless if it’s breakfast time or snack time at the office. So I recommend you do that same. You’ll see that these protein bars are much better than plain chocolate, for example.

By the way, this recipe makes 10 toffee protein bars.

These being said, I really hope you’ll try this recipe for toffee protein bars! And if you do, don’t forget to tell me how it went, I’m very curious!

Toffee Protein Bars

In case you're looking for some sweet, protein-rich treats, I recommend trying these toffee protein bars. Simple, quick and super delicious!

Herbalife

PREP TIME : 10 mins COOK TIME : 30 mins TOTAL TIME : 40 mins SERVINGS : 10

INGREDIENTS

For the bars:

• 80 g Tri Blend Select Coffee Caramel from Herbalife Nutrition

• 100 g vegan butter

• 80 g fine brown sugar

• 200 g dates

• 250 ml almond drink or other type of vegetable drink

• 160 g flour whole grain or gluten-free mix

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 100 g chopped walnuts

For the sauce:

• 50 g vegan butter

• 100 g fine brown sugar

• 25 ml almond drink or other type of vegetable drink

• 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 180C.

• In order to prepare the bar mixture, mix the vegan butter with the sugar.

• Remove the pits from the dates. Finely chop them. Add the chopped dates in a saucepan together with the almond drink and vanilla extract. Boil them for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly until the dates are soft.

• Add the composition over the mixture of vegan butter and sugar. Add flour, baking powder, chopped walnuts and Tri Blend Select Coffee Caramel powder and mix well.

• Grease a baking tray with vegan butter, then place the baking paper.

• Pour the composition into the pan and leave in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

• Do the toothpick test. If the toothpick comes out dry, the bars are ready. Otherwise, leave them in the oven for 5-10 more minutes. Then let them cool.

• Add the sauce ingredients to a pan. Heat the pan until the butter is completely melted and the sugar is dissolved. Bring the composition close to the boiling point, over low heat, for 5 minutes, without stirring. Leave the sauce to cool in the fridge to thicken (~ 15 minutes). Mix well before pouring it over the bars.

• Cut the bars and serve them with a little sauce.

VEGAN OMELETTE

Have you ever thought of having a vegan omelet for breakfast? It’s possible, and it’s really quick and easy to make, not to mention healthy as well! Don’t believe me? Here is my recipe for vegan omelette!

Ever woke up in a dire mood for a good, by-the-book breakfast? After all, we’re talking about the most important meal of the day, and it’s also the one to fuel you for the entire day!

Are you surprised? I was too by the time I found out all about all the endless possibilities of ‘veganizing’ popular foods. I learned how to do it, and you can sure do it as well! I thought that I would be giving up my go-to breakfast which consisted of eggs because I could think of no conceivable way to turn vegan those classical recipes such as the omelette and the scrambled eggs, for example.

For a while, I thought such a thing wasn’t possible. What’s left without eggs? Pancakes and waffles are great, but every now and then I want something satisfying just like back in the day!

Just like the majority of us, I grew up loving eggs in all its forms and shapes and ate them very often in the morning. Now, it’s not really advised to go ahead and have eggs every day, as they have a good amount of saturated fats and too much saturated fat has been shown to raise the total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

That’s why today we’re going to trick our palette with this vegan omelette, which I promise will taste just like the original thing! 🙂 Are you ready?

You will love how light, fluffy, salty and omelette this recipe is and, if you can believe it, how fast and hassle-free this will turn out!

Now, there are a lot of nations around the globe, this means that there’s a great variation of how this dish is being prepared in other cultures. In today’s recipe, I won’t recreate any specific culture’s dish, but we’re going to make a plant-based version, which means we’re making the healthiest version of them all!

I have my ways when it comes to obtaining familiar tastes and looks only by using plant-based ingredients, so if you’re new to this blog, you’ll see what I’m talking about in a minute! This time I will show you how to get that eggy, fluffy and flavourful texture that every good omelette has, with no fuss at all.

In the usual cuisine, an omelette or omelet is a dish made from beaten eggs cooked in butter or oil in a frying pan (without stirring, as for the scrambled eggs' recipe).

It is quite common for the omelette to be folded around a filling such as cheese, chives, vegetables, mushrooms, some sort of meat, or a combination of the above. In some cases, whole eggs or egg whites are beaten with milk or water to alter the texture.

A fun story about the omelette: when Napoleon Bonaparte and his army were travelling through Southern France, they decided to rest for the night near the town of Bessières. Napoleon feasted on an omelette prepared by a local innkeeper and thought it was a culinary delight. He then ordered the townspeople to gather all the eggs in the village and to prepare a huge omelette for his army the next day! 🙂

That was probably the first candidate for the record-breaking omelettes that are competing nowadays for the Guinness World Records. So far, the biggest omelette ever made was surpassed on August 11, 2012, by an omelette cooked by the Ferreira do Zêzere City Council in Santarém, Portugal. This record-breaking omelette weighed 6,466 kg (14,255 lb), and required 145,000 eggs and a 10.3-metre (34 ft) diameter pan. Yikes, that’s a lot of eggs!

This vegan omelette recipe is one of my favourite breakfasts for a lot of reasons! 🙂 First of all, it’s incredibly easy to make, which for me is a huge bonus since most mornings I am in a hurry and I can’t really put a lot of time into my breakfasts.

It is also light, savoury and full of flavour. It’s packed with proteins. And then, as a bonus, I can even get creative and fill it with whatever veggies I have in the fridge, so it’s not pretentious at all! Oh, and you can even fry up some vegan bacon on the side if you want to!

I recommend serving this vegan omelette with toast or some crispy bread, and you have yourself the vegan breakfast of champions!

I will gladly be hopping on the vegan omelette train each morning without looking back. If you decide to do the same, let me know how it went! Bon appétit!

Vegan Omelette

Have you ever thought of having a vegan omelette for breakfast? It's possible, and it's really quick and easy to make, not to mention healthy as well! Don't believe me? Here is my recipe for vegan omelette!

PREP TIME : 10 mins COOK TIME : 20 mins TOTAL TIME : 30 mins SERVINGS : 4 CALORIES: 301 kcal

INGREDIENTS

For the egg mixture:

• ¾ cup chickpea flour

• ½ cup of water

• ½ tsp turmeric powder

• ½ tsp sea salt

• ½ tsp cumin powder

• ⅓ tsp smoked paprika

• ¼ tsp black pepper

• ½ tsp garlic powder

• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

• ¼ tsp black salt

For the veggie mixture:

• 1 tsp olive oil

• ½ red onion wedges cut

• ½ eggplant sliced

• 1 ripe tomato peeled and sliced

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a medium bowl add all the egg mixture ingredients. Mix until you obtain a thick pancake batter-like mixture.

• Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add the eggplant and cook on both sides for about 4 minutes each, until golden.

• Add the onion and cook until it starts to brown on the edges.

• Add the tomatoes and cook for about a minute. Transfer the veggie mixture to a plate.

• Combine the egg mixture with the veggie mixture.

• Return the skillet to the heat, add some olive oil and the omlette mixture.

• Fry for about 5 minutes on medium-low heat.

• Transfer to an oven and broil for about 4 more minutes.

• Serve with greens on the side and some vegan mayo. Enjoy!

VEGAN SCRAMBLED EGGS

I know, it’s hard to believe at first, but you can actually make vegan scrambled eggs that look and taste exactly like the real deal! They’re super delicious and nutritious – give this recipe a try!

Another morning, another day to decide what to have for breakfast. Hmm, that’s a tough process especially if you’re like me, and you sometimes make choices with big difficulties. Well, it’s not my fault there are so many options just for the first meal of the day! Yep, even if you’re on a vegan diet, the possibilities are endless.

Here’s an idea – because eggs, it turns out, can actually be ‘veganized’. Don’t believe me? Check out these vegan scrambled eggs!

You can make this using tofu just like I did for today’s recipe or, if you would prefer a soy-free version, you can also make this with chickpea flour. Either way, it’s going to be packed with loads of protein, which it’s just what you need to get your engines running in the morning.

Even though the market industry started adding egg-free substitutes in some places, depending on where you leave, you may still not find it available on the shelves. That’s why this recipe has it all in terms of nutritional value, taste, looks and also price. It’s super accessible and easy to make as well! 🙂

Firstly it is vegan, egg-free, dairy-free, and so quick to get it over with and enjoy. This vegan scrambled egg recipe is a perfect high fibre breakfast also!

Did I say it is high in protein? Who said that you can’t meet your daily nutritional recommendations when following a vegan diet? If you’re following a plant-based diet, keep in mind that your protein intake should be slightly higher than an omnivore’s diet. I have heard this question quite a lot: do vegans and vegetarians get enough protein?

It is said that the average recommended intake of protein is 42 grams a day. Non-vegetarians eat way more than that (almost 80 grams), but so does everyone else. Vegetarians and vegans actually get on average 70 percent more protein than they need every day (over 70 grams).

Beans are one of the best alternatives when trying to incorporate more protein in a diet. But everything should come in moderation, as the key to this is to find a balance between your protein-carbs-fat intake.

Whatever method you choose to do this recipe, be it tofu or chickpeas, it will still have beans as the main component. In case you didn’t know, tofu comes from fermented soybeans, making it one of the many vegan alternatives for protein along with chickpeas, seitan, black beans, red kidney beans, etc.

Even though it doesn’t contain any eggs, this vegan scrambled “eggs” sure do taste like them! This recipe is quick and easy to whip up in minutes for a delicious “real” tasting home-made vegan scrambled egg!

And if you’re not convinced yet, here are some valid reasons why you should try this recipe: it’s super easy to do, it’s high in protein and low in carbs, it tastes INCREDIBLE, and it’s cheaper than other store-bought egg alternatives. Convinced? I hope so!

Feel free to be the “architect” of this egg-free scramble and add anything that would cheer your tastes. I chose to keep it simple and refreshing, and I only added some green onion, dill, and garlic, but remember: the sky’s the limit, especially when making scrambled eggs!

Oh, here is a quick tip: I often make this with a yeast extract spread to give it a flavour boost and give my daily allowance of B vitamins. You can try it as well! Another good thing about this recipe is that you can serve them any time of the day, on toast, in a tortilla as a burrito, with some sauces, you’re to decide! 🙂

As always, if you decide to try this recipe for your next breakfast or even snack, don’t forget to let me know how it went, if you liked it, what would you change or improve etc. I always love to hear your opinions! Happy cooking!

Vegan Scrambled Eggs

I know, it's hard to believe at first, but you can actually make vegan scrambled eggs that look and taste exactly like the real deal! They're super delicious and nutritious - give this recipe a try!

PREP TIME : 5 mins COOK TIME : 10 mins TOTAL TIME :15 mins SERVINGS : 2 CALORIES : 418 kcal

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ cup tofu divided

• ⅓ cup chopped spring onion white parts

• 2 Tbsp vegan butter

• 1 tsp turmeric

• ½ tsp black salt

• ½ tsp pepper

• 1 clove garlic minced

• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

• 2 Tbsp chopped dill

• 2 Tbsp chopped green onion

INSTRUCTIONS

• Add ½ cup tofu to a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.

• Add another cup of tofu to a blender and pulse until crumbled. Set aside.

• Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add the vegan butter.

• When melted, add the chopped spring onion, minced garlic, turmeric, black salt, and pepper.

• Fry, stirring, until fragrant, for about 3 minutes.

• Add the blended tofu and continue frying.

• Mix the blended tofu in the skillet to incorporate all the ingredients, for about 3 minutes.

• Add the rest of the tofu and nutritional yeast and stir.

• Add the chopped green onion and dill. Mix and serve!