Caramel Tofu Mousse With Rebel Kitchen Mylk
It's easy, it's decadent, it's super rich, and it's made of tofu. Yes, you read that right - tofu. Tofu blended with my favorite non-dairy milk, a little sweetener and some nuts makes the perfect vegan caramel tofu mousse. I have to admit: I eat this for breakfast as opposed to dessert. It's that good. To me, it tastes like a delicious batch of caramel cookie dough and since I used to be a Ben & Jerrie's cookie dough ice-cream addict (scratch that, I still am), this is like heaven to my taste buds.
A word on soy
Before you go cray cray on me and give me a lecture: I know that there is a lot of controversy surrounding soy and I'm not going to claim to have the answer. What I know for sure is that 91% of soy is genetically modified, it contains phytates and has toxic levels of aluminium and manganese. Those facts are worrisome, to say the least. I found this article on Jess Ainscough's blog very insightful and I recommend you to take a look at it if these facts are new to you.
I agree that processed foods containing soy and inorganic soy in general are big no no's. But this is because they contain isolated soy protein, which multiplies any negative effect the product might have. I think that if you moderately consume ORGANIC soy in the form of tofu, temphe, edamame, miso or any other kind of fermented soy, the health benefits outweigh it's potential dangers. In any case, I believe that it is a healthier alternative to consuming conventional dairy products. Plus, it's a wonderful source of a complete plant-based protein. Advocates of this soylosophy (with that I mean soy philosophy in case no one gets my attempt at being funny) are Kimberly Snyder from "The Beauty Detox Solution" and Kris Carr from "Crazy Sexy Cancer".
Now, I hope I didn't scare you away and that you will be tempted to try this recipe nevertheless. I've tried numerous tofu mousse recipe's before, but always found myself adding extra liquid to the blender to achieve the promised smooth consistency. This might be due to the fact that other foodie blogger's work with a food processor, whereas I rely on another kitchen equipment; my dear friend the Vitamix. That's why I selfishly created this blender-friendly recipe.
I used organic maple syrup and Rebel Kitchen's Chocolate mylk to make the mousse more liquid. If you haven't heard of Rebel Kitchen before, take a look at my recent review here. The "chocolatey" taste of the non-dairy milk added the perfect subtle flavour to the tofu! If you don't have their products at hand, simply substitute with almond or quinoa milk.
"Caramel" Tofu Mousse With Rebel Kitchen Mylk (Serves 2)
Ingredients
1/2 package firm tofu
1 tbsp. Rebel Kitchen chocolate mylk
1 tsp maca powder
1 tbsp. maple syrup
Handful of almonds and walnuts
½ cup berries (I used raspebrries)
1 tbsp. organic almond butter or any other type of nut butter
Instructions
Cut the tofu into pieces and add it to your blender.
Add the maca, chocolate mylk and maple syrup, then process.
Continue to process until the tofu is completely smooth, about 1 minute.
Add in the nuts and keep processing.
Place the tofu in a bowl and top with more nuts, almond butter and raspberries (or whatever else your heart desires).
Enjoy!
Don’t forget to tag your picture with #wholesometribe on Instagram if you give this recipe a go. I’d love to see your creations!
Can you believe that I've lived in Sydney for 10 months now and have not done one single healthy restaurant review?! What.the.hell.is.wrong.with.me. There's a million of places to get your healthy food fix in Sydney, and I find it so incredibly easy to make good food choices around this city. With breakfast being the most important meal to Sydney-siders, I’ve done the leg-work for you and compiled my Top 7 Healthy Eats below. I actually had soooo many more to put on this list, but if you only had time for 7 meals in Sydney, you wouldn't want to miss out on any of these.
It's no secret that I go nanas for bananas. A good 20% of my recipes on this blog include bananas, like my favorite post-workout green smoothie, my peanut butter covered banana snack or these vegan banana blueberry pancakes.
With the scorching temperatures in Australia at the moment, it's about time that I come up with my first nana ice cream recipe for this blog. I always have frozen bananas in the freezer for smoothies anyways, so whipping up this recipe is fairly simple.
Soup is one of my favorite things to make – it’s comforting and warming especially in the fall and winter. Now that I live in Sydney where the winter is hotter than most summer days in Germany, I don't crave soups as often to heat me up from the inside. What I do crave is it's consistency and the nutritional benefits of blending a shit ton of veggies into one big bowl. Enter: gazpacho.
Gazpacho is a soup made of raw vegetables and served cold, originating in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. Traditionally it is made with tomatoes and is hence red. Then there's also green gazpacho's, which are usually made using ripe green tomatoes (yup, that exists!). This soup uses neither and is instead, it's filled with cucumber, spinach, frozen peas, avocado and a hella lot of spices and herbs. The soup is light and refreshing while being incredibly creamy, due to the avocado.
I've been feeling VERY blah of late. Struggling to find a good routine between office work and working from home, putting a lot of pressure on myself for literally everything and subsequently having gained a little unwanted pudginess has left me feeling not my best self.
I also stopped meal prep Sundays, which was such a big part of my routine when I was following the 8-week I Quit Sugar program. And frankly, without that my eating routine has kind of just been off track. So there I was thinking...: "All I want is someone else to make me three healthy meals a day for me so that I don't need to shop, cook, clean and can just get back on track..."
After last month's debut of the green smoothie on WSS, I thought it was about time to share another breakfast favorite of mine with you all - the chia pudding.
Chia seeds are teeny tiny, but impressively clever. They don't have a lot of flavor, but when soaked in water they transform into a highly detoxifying gel that absorbs flavour really well. Because of this, they are super versatile and can be used in so many different ways. My favorite, however, is still to make a simple chia pudding with them.
Coffee. Butter. Oil. Separately those ingredients don’t exactly sound like they could make a balanced breakfast. But if you've been around the paleo world, then you will have undoubtedly heard of the so-called bulletproof coffee, the ultimate upgrade to your normal cup of joe.I know it's already somewhat old news, but I have never tried a BP coffee, until now.
I was out and about and wanted to grab a normal coffee, when I saw the bulletproof coffee on the menu for the first time. I hadn't had breakfast yet and was pretty hungry, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to give this much-touted drink a try. My first thought? Frothy, smooth, and incredibly filling. Besides the unique taste, I had heard of it's many health benefits, so I decided to take a closer look at what this drink is all about.
I have a green smoothie almost every single day. Yet I realized the other day that I don't have a single recipe up on my blog. How can I rave on to you guys about the amazing benefits of slurping green smoothies without actually providing you with the tools to do so yourself? Shame on me...
So here it goes: my all-time favorite go-to post workout green smoothie recipe.
As this is my first smoothie recipe for you guys, I didn't want to overcomplicate things and created a very simple recipe that doesn't require fancy smancy superfoods of any sort. I like to whip this one up either as breakfast or post-workout snack as it's beautifully filling and has all the nutrients needed to kickstart your day and/or to help your body recover after a good workout. If you're new to the world of green smoothies and are still in the stage of ewwww-but-it's-green-how-can-this-possibly-taste-good, then this is the perfect drink for you to get started on. I promise, it won't bite!
Happy weekend everyone!
Before I get into the deliciousness of these fluffy vegan banana blueberry pancakes, let me just get something off my chest quickly: I am so grateful for the mind-blowing feedback about my ED posts (here, here and here) and the words of encouragement I have received about starting to health coach. You. guys. are. the. best.
Now, back to these glorious pancakes...I don't eat pancakes very often, but every now and then I get a major craving for them. With frozen berries in the freezer and overripe bananas on the counter at all times, I can always whip up some pancakes whenever that craving creeps in.
These banana blueberry pancakes are vegan and gluten free. Nutritionally speaking they are a bit on the indulgent side, but who doesn't love a good weekend treat. Make sure the bananas are really ripe to get the best flavour. If they are covered in brown spots, they are good to go. If you're looking for an eggy version with maca, these might be for you.
It's been snowing like crazy in Switzerland, so I can safely assume that you are probably thinking about the weekend already, and about how you will snuggle up on the coach with a blanket and tea the moment you get home (or hit the slopes!)
Am I right or am I right?
Enter these savoury buckwheat wraps. Gluten free.
If you have never cooked with buckwheat before, you're in for a treat. Be it sweet pancakes or savoury galettes, buckwheat can be used in so many ways and is a nutritious grain option that I've recently discovered for myself.
Contrary to what you may think, buckwheat is not actually wheat but rather a relative of rhubarb. Who would have thought. And for those who are sensitive to gluten, buckwheat is gluten-free. But even though it's not a wheat, it's still pretty heavy in starch. Out of all the grains, buckwheat has the longest transit time in the digestive tract and as a result is the most filling. Yay for filling foods.
Now that I'm working while sending out job applications for a new position and studying at IIN at the same time, I find myself relying on quick and easy recipes more than ever. People will often say they don't have the time to eat healthy because the cooking takes so long, but I think that's just a lame excuse. Healthy dishes can be some of the easiest to throw together, you just need a bit of practice to get into a rhythm.
For example, for a smoothie literally all you have to do is throw all the fruits and veggies into the mixer, press the start button, wait 5 seconds and voila. Now that's what I call fast food!
I know we don't all live off smoothies all day long, so that's where this warming veggie noodle bowl with a homemade Teriyaki sauce comes in handy. Noodle bowls are awesome because you can customize them any way you like – a total clean out the fridge kind of meal. Take whatever veggie looks like it's best days are over (brownish kale, I'm looking at you), throw it into a noodle bowl and see it come back to life. So go ahead and customize this noodle bowl with whatever you have left in the fridge.
As I am writing this I am sitting in the car on my way to Austria where my family and I will spend the christmas holidays. I have to say the view is quite concerning. What normally is a jolly drive towards snow covered alps that ups the excitement to finally start the ski season is now replaced by the sober view of grass, green bushes and the grey asphalt of the highway. There's no snow in sight yet and judging by the car's temperature indicator, there won't be any snow coming soon. In fact, the weather forecast for the next week predicts constant sun between 9 to 11 degrees celsius. There goes the dream of a white christmas...
I find it a shame because to me one of the best things about christmas is cozying up with a blanket and a cup of almond milk hot chocolate by the fire with people I love. Give me a good book to read on top of that and I'm one happy person.
It's that time of the year again: Christmas baking! I wouldn't call myself a good cook and even less so a good baker, so I was happy to have Vic's support in making these vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free gingerbread men. Yep, you heard that correctly, these cookies are void of literally ANYTHING that might upset your stomach. Christmas is saved, people.
In my house we usually make fruit loaf, cinnamon-flavored-star-shaped-biscuits and lemon-butter-biscuits, all of which are filled with refined sugar, glutenous (is that a word?!) flour, eggs and butter. Before becoming the health freak that I am (cause let's face it, I am), I didn't mind and it was just kind of normal. But since two years I always make sure I come prepared to our Christmas get togethers by bringing my own batch of healthy cookies. I have 0 self discipline when it comes to saying no to food, so if I don't bring a healthy alternative and someone offers me a 'normal' cookie, there is no way I will say no to it. Ever.
November means that days are getting even shorter and nights are getting even colder. Hello cold and flu season. If I think about it, everyone around me gets sick at least once or twice throughout the winter, not even mentioning the chronic-sniffers-and-caughers. And it seems to be accepted as completely normal, as part of winter. But it doesn't have to be like that! I haven't had a serious cold in suuuuuch a long time; and if I do, it disappears again with 1-3 days and doesn't stick around in the form of a feverish-flu for two weeks.
What's the answer? Prevention, baby! Prevention is the best way to stop those sore throats and coughs in their tracks - by keeping our immune systems nice and strong.
Raw foods don’t have to be categorized in a different way than the foods we already know and love. Most of us already eat a lot of raw foods without giving it much thought or even categorizing it as such. Now isn’t that encouraging; it shows that choosing raw doesn’t have to be boring or complicated. Aspiring raw foodies can just take a look at their current diet and eat more of the already raw foods they currently consume.
Hummus is a funny one; it’s not raw but most people assume it is since a lot of dips are raw and you normally eat it with some veggie sticks. Only once people want to make hummus at home, they realize they actually need to cook the beans. And yes, buying canned beans still means it’s cooked even if you don’t do the cooking yourself.
From my education with IIN, I have some mixed feelings regarding a raw diet. I see both the pro’s and the con’s, but don’t subscribe to the idea that one is better than the other. I believe in bio individuality aka figuring out what is best for you, for your body, for your lifestyle and I also believe in balance and moderation.
I wish I could say that my last weekend was a lazy weekend. The kind where you sleep for the better half of the morning and then spend the afternoon on the couch with a good book and some tea. But no, my weekend was jam-packed with celebrating #activenationday in Zurich and taking workout videos with Vic (watch this space, we'll be posting weekly workout videos soon!). This weekend I won't be hitting the snooze button either; I have planned to do a last big 30km run before my first marathon on the 25th of October. I've never ran this long before - so just in case I won't survive it, I wanted to let you know that I love you all dearly.
Also, I would not be able to leave you without sharing this one last recipe with you : warm, rich and moist banana and maca power pancakes. And power do they have! Thanks to the Peruvian superfood, these babies are an energy power house and will fuel you for the day. Note to self: Have a full stack of pancakes before going on this dreaded run.
I know I promised it a long time ago, but I am only just now getting around to posting the first Phuket Cleanse inspired recipe. My time there was a whirlwind of experiencing new flavours, new ingredients and unexpected combinations that created the most delicious raw dishes. I have never had raw vegan food like this before, and let me say, it has been slightly life changing. I came back from my holidays with a list of things to buy: nutritional yeast, spiralizer, sprouter, deydrater, water filter and the list goes on. Two weeks later, and I've at least gotten myself a spiralizer. Step one, check. I already found all the recipe inspiration I need thanks to a blog called "Inspiralized", now I just have to find the time to get busy in the kitchen.
So, back to the recipe; as someone who is completely freakin’ obsessed with Thai food, I just had to post a Thai dish first. Thai cooking places emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with strong aromatic components and a spicy edge. There's always at least 3 flavours involved: sour, sweet, salty, bitter, or spicy. It's not a secret that I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so maybe the fact that many dishes are sweet is the reason I'm hooked on Thai food. Latest after my Thai Cooking Class at Mai Kaidee, I have become inspired to bring the Thai cuisine to my own kitchen and start experimenting with some recipes. Expect some more Thai recipes to follow soon. But first, let's take a look at this simple tomato salad.
Holy Mother. Why haven’t I done this before?
I'm talking about this delicious raw cheesecake. I've done raw cakes before, but never have they tasted anything like this. One bite of this vegan cheesecake and you'll never look at cheesecake the same way again. It's made with all natural ingredients, requires no baking and the citrus flavour makes it the ideal cooling dessert for warm weather days. Trust me, wether you're vegan or not, you will fall in love with this cake. In fact, if there is one dish I would have to make for someone to prove to them vegan food isn't boring, it would be this recipe.
Over the holidays I've been rummaging through my iPhoto collection in the search of nice pictures for a scrapbook that I'm currently working on for me and my boyfriend. As I was going through the different folders I found a bunch of food pictures that have never seen the daylight because they were taken before I started this blog. Such as these shots of the Leon - inspired ginger and coriander sweet potato dish. It's not a secret that I'm a sweet potato fan. My favourite way of indulging in them is to make sweet potato fries, but I've ventured outside the box a little lately with a sweet potato dip, sweet potato patties and even sweet potato brownies à la Deliciously Ella. But with this dish I'm bringing it back to the basics. Sweet potato, ginger and coriander. That's pretty much all you need. Clean eating doesn't have to be complicated and it doesn't always have to require exotic ingredients that you can only purchase in special health stores. Sometimes less is more.
Having lived in Dubai for two years, I have a deep appreciation for Middle Eastern cuisine. Tabouleh, hummus, pita bread, baba ghannouj, you name it. I am obsessed with all of them. And falafel deserves a special spot in that list. As much as I love eating this dish in a restaurant, I have always found the idea of trying to replicate the creamy texture of falafel very daunting. I've struggled making hummus in the past, so this seemed even more impossible. Note: Before moving out of my parents house to go to university, my cooking skills were limited to making omelette and even today I don't really consider myself a good cook. I need to follow recipes on the dot, otherwise I freak out that the end result won't be good and I absolutely don't trust my taste buds when it comes to adding spices. Anyways...
Good morning and Merry Christmas to ya’ll! Depending on where you are, you might still be eagerly awaiting christmas eve and the unpacking of presents, like I currently am. The rest of the fam is out doing some last minute grocery shopping, so I decided to seize the moment to turn on some cheesy christmas jingles and get busy in the kitchen. The smell that wavered out of the kitchen half an hour later made me feel like I had landed in Willi Wonka's chocolate factory, to say the least. I’ve actually been meaning to share this recipe with you guys for a while, but I’m still struggling to take nice pictures with this gloomy winter lighting and just couldn’t get the pictures right. They finally turned out to my liking, I hope you agree.
It's easy, it's decadent, it's super rich, and it's made of tofu. Yes, you read that right - tofu. Tofu blended with my favorite non-dairy milk, a little sweetener and some nuts makes the perfect vegan caramel tofu mousse. I have to admit: I eat this for breakfast as opposed to dessert. It's that good. To me, it tastes like a delicious batch of caramel cookie dough and since I used to be a Ben & Jerrie's cookie dough ice-cream addict (scratch that, I still am), this is like heaven to my taste buds.
I'm always on the lookout for new healthy and "clean" brands, so you can imagine my delight when I discovered Rebel Kitchen during one of my last visits to Hiltl in Zurich. I was even more excited when the Rebel Team contacted me a few weeks ago and proposed for me to try their full range of mylks. Of course I jumped at this opportunity!
Rebel Kitchen’s mylks are the definition of wholesome, unprocessed drinks as they only contain few basic ingredients: Coconut milk, water, date nectar and cacao. I’m a coconut addict, so the fact that they’re made from coconut milk is a big tick in my box. They contain absolutely no additives, no preservatives and so, no worries. I'm also thrilled that they use cacao instead of cocoa. In case you didn't know, cocoa is the processed, heated version of raw cacao and hence only contains a small percentage of the "feel good" nutrients that it's natural alternative has to offer. It just goes to show that we don't need loads of unpronounceable chemical ingredients in order to make our food taste good.
There are two reasons why today is extra special. One, I am launching my first Wholesome Stef segment called #healthspotalk. The idea is to introduce you to the amazing ladies (and hopefully sometimes gents) behind my favourite blogs and Instagrammer's and to provide you with a good dose of inspiration from around the world.
And two, I’m introducing you to the talent behind one of my favourite Instagram's @livewellewithelle: Ellie Ficken, a psychology graduate and personal trainer from Melbourne Australia. She has a beautiful and inspiring mindset and truly walks the "wellness talk". I for my part can learn the one or the other thing from her, and I hope that you will too. She has been very supportive of my blog plans since day 1 and I am happy that she pushed and encouraged me throughout. As busy as she is, she allowed me to pick her brain for this Q&A session and I couldn't be more excited to have her kick start this segment!
I first connected with Phil and Jess through social media two years ago when I was travelling through Phuket and discovered their Instagram accounts. I then had the pleasure of meeting Phil during my detox holidays at Phuket Cleanse - he was working there as director at the time. I only got to meet Jess some time later when I went to London - at the time she was working for Deliciously Ella and I was intrigued to join the team. Maaaan I just love social media - in this day and age, it's so damn easy to connect with like-minded people and to find 'your tribe'. Without Insta, I would have probably never met these two super inspirational people! Case in point: check out Phil's Ted Talk that he did a couple of months ago on "how to get your mojo back".