I’m back! + Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe

Did you hear all that static noise? 😅 Sorry about that, but now I’m finally back and I can explain. My last post was almost a year ago, and my nonexistent posting afterwards came down to three reasons: inspiration, health and frustration.

As a student who doesn’t have to make all her meals (thanks mom!), it was hard finding inspiration and motivation to make food on a weekly basis. I found myself worrying over what to make each week, and I knew if I didn’t succeed I wouldn’t have the chance to make it over again (I get stressed easily). Besides that, I also wanted to eat healthier, and although the recipes posted here were mostly healthier versions, I think we can all agree that dessert is still dessert 😁. The other reason was based on my photo skills. I just couldn’t take a pretty photo with the dark winter lighting!

The Best Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

My brother has made these cookies over and over again, and each time I  turn into a sort of cookie monster. They’re so delicious and chewy, plus they don’t crumble all. This cookie has everything you could possibly want in a cookie, and they’re all healthy ingredients (well except for the chocolate chips).

This is definitely a recipe to save, and it is one that makes the house smell deliciously warm and comfy.

No-Bake Matcha Tahini Energy Bites

Sometimes we all need a bit of extra energy. Especially when it comes in the form of a sweet and nutty ball with matcha and dates. These bites literally melt in your mouth! And I absolutely adore the soft texture of the dates with a bit of crunch from the almonds and chia seeds.

I call this the easiest and healthiest dessert, snack, whatever, invented! (My dad called them donkey shit but whatever, it’s the taste that counts, right?) It only takes 5 minutes to blend all 5 ingredients in a food processor before popping them in the fridge for a few hours. I may or may not have also licked the pot sparkling clean while waiting for the bites to firm up.

Healthier Pecan Pie with Almond Crust

On Saturday, I was sitting down, scrolling through my Pinterest, when I found a gorgeous photo of pecan pie. My mom adores this dessert, so I decided to make it. It was much quicker than I thought it would be to make a pie, plus I managed to make it gluten-free and healthier (no butter or sugar).

We ate the dessert after going out to a restaurant, so I was already dreading taking pictures in the dark and under my yellow kitchen lights. But then I found a perfect — and most unusual — place in the house with white lights: my brother’s room.

Chai Infused Date and Oat Bread

This moist bread will rock your world. It has chai tea, medjool dates, almond milk and oat flour, which work so well together. I had never tried tea in baking before, but now I can tell you that I’m hooked! It tastes delicious and all those spices wafting out of the oven door is killer to the senses.

I added walnuts on the top, which give it some extra crunch and taste amidst this dense bread. I’ve not been feeling very creative lately, so this recipe is actually a slight adaptation from Feasting On Fruit’s Chai Spiced Quick Bread. It’s fairly easy to make, but wait until the bread has completely cooled down before cutting it. Trust me, or you’ll end up with broken and a bit soggy slices of bread (yeah, I might’ve been a bit impatient).

Apple Banana Oatmeal with Almond Butter

Since breakfast is normally coined the most important meal of the day, you probably understand that skipping breakfast is kinda bad for your health. But do you know why?

Some of my friends skip breakfast constantly so this is for you guys ;).

Reasons why you need breakfast:

1. It gives you energy!
2. You’re actually less likely to be overweight if you eat breakfast because you’ll feel less compelled to reach for sugary snacks during the day.
3. It improves memory and concentration levels, so you’ll get better grades at school.
4. It makes us happier and reduces stress levels.
5. Provides essential nutrients that you might not get for the rest of the day.

Almond Crunch Granola

My mom has tried so many granola bar recipes and most of them turned out into a crumbly sweet mess that she kinda gave up after a while. But for us, those recipes were never a fail because we got to eat all those sweet nutty little pieces of granola with some berries and yogurt for a snack and it was so good. The crunch of the nuts and oats with the little hint of honey or maple syrup in smooth homemade yogurt? There was no better snack than that.

Like doesn’t it look amazing? And it’s made with almond flour so gluten-free is on the table. (Btw, if anyone has food photography tips please feel free to share them 😉 I started reading Nicole Young’s Food photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots and it is super helpful!)

Healthy Chocolate Fudge

A rich piece of chocolate for dessert. Sounds good, right? Well what if it was healthy for you? I think that’s even better.

Coconut oil is one of the must-have ingredients in my pantry because I use this healthy oil to substitute for butter and vegetable oil in my baking experiments. There are many reasons why it is considered healthy (I found my info here):

It’s a saturated fat, which is a good kind of fat
Decreases appetite for unhealthy food, such as sugar
Helps kill bacterias
Speeds up your metabolism
Fatty acids in coconut oil can turn into Ketones, which can reduce chances of seizures

And mixed with cacao and honey? An unbeatable healthy chocolate dessert. Of course, eating too much of anything is not good for you so don’t eat the entire batch (although I am very tempted to)!

Blueberry Walnut Applesauce Muffins

The other day, in my Spanish class, I had a discussion with my substitute teacher about food, and more particularly, eating healthy. She made one remark which really interested me. The teacher told me that she wants to enjoy life and all of its perks, such as food, so if she was presented cupcakes, she would go for it, but then she told me that eating one cupcake is not the same as eating three of the same.

This conversation prompted me to think about what is truly healthy eating. I have been thinking about it for a very long time and I have discovered a lot of different opinions.

When there are no fats in the recipe.

When you eat the right amounts of food from all the food groups.

Eating more greens and less meat.

Just eating one cupcake.

No Knead Crusty Bread

This is the easiest bread recipe you’ll ever come across.

Takes about 2 to 3 hours in total, but hands-on time? Just 15 minutes. SO simple, and I love to add nuts and raisins in it to change the flavor a bit, but you could add so many other things too!

Been working on the school yearbook and it is such a long process, uploading the photos, then designing the pages, taking the photos (of people who would love to run somewhere else so they don’t get their photo taken!), and so much more things I still haven’t done.

Fun thing is, I’m going on vacation soon! Can’t wait, although I have to take one week off of school so I have to do a lot more work to make up for that. But it’s all for vacation. I love eating different food from different cultures! And I’ll be able to relax there. Hopefully.