Vegan Break Up Food

So, I was watching the New Girl recently and Jess was doing her breakup thing, crying and watching dirty dancing on repeat, and I realized that I never had a break up binge! Not that they are necessarily a healthy thing, but I never watched romantic movies and ate ice cream and cried, haha. I'm not really into watching sappy movies these days but decided that I would eat vegan junk food in the name of a blog post!

A vegan ice cream staple is Coconut Bliss. The sweetest part about it is that it is vegan and organic! Also, gluten, sugar and soy free. Oh, and it's super tasty! I got the chocolate hazelnut fudge and it is delightful. Super decadent and creamy with swirls of fudge and pieces of hazelnut. Definitely a real treat. You can eat it while imagining your future spouse will be as sweet and ethical.




While I was walking the aisle looking for more snacks I came across vegan gluten free cookies I had never seen before! Lucys Cookies. I had two options, chocolate or maple. I am a sucker for maple anything so I grabbed those ones and they are pretty tasty! But they were even better when I made them into ice cream sandwiches!


I also grabbed a few treats that are not advertised as vegan but just so happen to be and are delicious! Lays classic are my favourite chips, you just can't mess up something as simple crispy light potato chips. They are fried in sunflower oil so they are vegan! One of my favourites is also twizzlers. I really enjoy real licorice but twizzlers are just so tasty. A movie theatre staple for sure. I love it when things are accidentally vegan!

Uncomplicated and classic, just how I like my men!

Here are a few other snacks I like that are bad for you but good for animals:


-Oreos
-Skittles
-Doritos Sweet Chili Heat
-Sunchips (original)
-Dandies Marshmallows

There are lots more accidentally vegan foods listed here.


So there you go, you are now prepared for a vegan breakup binge, or just treat yourself to some tasty cruelty free snacks!

Keep it spicy,

Cinnamon
xx

My average eats

Today was a left over day so I figured I would share a couple of my regulars. 


I try to eat one massive salad a day. Usually I bring it for lunch to work cause it is easy to throw together. Since I like to donate blood, but my iron has been too low lately, I have been trying to increase my iron levels (naturally).






This is a pretty standard salad for me. A bed of baby arugula and spinach, cherry tomatoes, grated carrots, red pepper, and half a can of unsalted/rinsed chick peas plus avocado when I have it. I do a couple of different dressings but to increase my iron absorption lately I have been using 1 whole lemon, a bit of EVOO, 2 cloves garlic, and a  bit of sea salt. I do also really like a nice balsamic vinaigrette. 


My new favourite pre workout snack is CHOCOLATE COFFEE BANANA SMOOTHIE! Seriously, it is a great pre workout snack.... and it tastes like a mocha frosty. Can it get any better? Now, I am certainly not a nutritionist or personal trainer but there is a lot of research regarding ingesting coffee before a workout and the benefits. Such as...

Key insights on coffee and making exercise feel easier

•    Drink coffee one hour before morning or lunchtime exercise. If you want to exercise in the afternoon or evening, enjoy a coffee with your lunch to avoid the effect of the lunchtime dip

•    For competitive sports, consuming coffee improves attention to detail, observance of your surroundings, and reduces symptoms of fatigue through caffeine's effect on the central nervous system3 

•    Hydration is important for endurance exercise performance. Coffee, when consumed in moderation (four to five cups of coffee or 400mg of caffeine per day), provides similar hydrating qualities to water and does not cause dehydration

This article outlines the benefits and the potential risks of caffeine. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2649714/Coffee-improves-workout-THIRD-experts-say-youll-reduce-nutrient-intake-raises-blood-pressure-totally-up.html#ixzz3EIT8UAIX

Bananas are also great pre-workout snacks because they provide you with some key nutrients such as manganese and potassium. They are also a healthy form of carbs which are good for pre-workout. See here.

I just freeze 2 bananas in a mason jar and when I come home I toss in 2 tsp of instant coffee and top it off with chocolate almond milk and blend! You could use plain almond milk or water if you wanted. But it's pretty tasty this way...

Keep it spicy!

Cinnamon
xx

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Eggplant and Tomato Spaghetti

Alright, this one is actually about food. I had an eggplant sitting out and getting a bit spotty, so I of course went to pinterest to find a new recipe. I came across this vegan spicy eggplant pasta recipe. I modified it because I only had one eggplant, and I also only had whole wheat pasta, and fresh on the vine tomatoes. Below is the modified recipe.

1 Medium Eggplant
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil, divided
1 small/medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp crushed red pepper (or more to make it spicy)
1/2 tsp of dry basil
1/2+ tsp salt
1/2 pound of the pasta of your choice




Slice eggplant crosswise into 1 inch slices, salt them on both sides and let them sit for 30 mins (I actually only did 10 mins)

Chop up onions, garlic, and tomatoes while the eggplants are busy getting salty and preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Use 1 T of the olive oil and coat the eggplant slices, salt and pepper them thoroughly and pop in the oven to roast for about 20-30 minutes.

While the eggplant is roasting, heat the other T of olive oil in a medium sauce pan and cook onions and garlic until soft/slightly golden, add oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, and salt, and tomatoes. Gently simmer.

Bring pot of water to a boil and cook pasta of choice until el dente.

When the eggplant is nice and cooked take it out of the oven, and chop it into aprox. 1 inch cubes (I peeled it because the skin was spotty) and throw them in with the tomatoes and onions. Simmer together until pasta is done, or longer if you want.

Drain pasta and combine with the sauce. Serve, top with more pepper flakes and eat.

I will note, I think that if I made this again I would add more chili, maybe... just more spice in general. Since I've eaten so much Indian food all my food needs to be super flavourful and spicy all the time haha. I also think that it would be really tasty over quinoa instead.

I am about to start a new instagram and post my food pics there, so please go give me a follow @cinnamonheartvegan. You can also find me on twitter @cinnamonheartv.

I also wanted to note, I have zero cooking training and all my pictures are taken with my Samsung S3. So yeah, it's a novice blog :P

Keep it spicy,

Cinnamon
xx