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Fermentation
Are you familiar with fermented foods? Your great grandmothers would know all about them. Fermenting foods seems to be almost a lost art, which is so sad! I’m excited to say though that there has been a huge resurgence lately in these old school cooking, and preserving methods. Several weeks ago I made sauerkraut at home and I was shocked at how easy it was. I had been debating buying a bottle of probiotic pills, but fermented foods have the exact same effect for a much smaller price tag. Eating just a tablespoon of fermented foods a day gives you the equivalent ‘good bacteria’ for you guts, as an entire…
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Raw Peppermint Chocolate Squares
Sooo…if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you will know the recent tragedy and devastation that I endured, as I realized I had lost the recipe for these raw blackcurrant and lemon squares. Yes, it is a very serious matter-haha. I promise I will remake them or find the recipe some how. I decided I needed to drown my sorrows in some more raw goodness. So I made these Raw Peppermint Chocolate Squares. They did a mighty fine job of making me forget all about those blackcurrant and lemon squares….for now. These have a really nice, subtle peppermint flavour because most of the mint flavour comes from real mint,…
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Ginger Energy Bites
These little bites are just what you need after doing a four-minute plank. Yes, I did FitFluential’s #FFAprilAbs challenge, which means doing a plank per day in April. If you follow me on Twitter (@kokobrill), you saw my progress. On April 1st, I started off with a 2-minute plank, and now I have worked my way up to 4 minutes and 5 seconds which is ridiculously hard. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar!! I once read that Ryan Gosling was so busy that to stay in shape for a movie he was in he only had time to do an 8-minute plank per day. That is insane. Anyway, my…
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Drop Dead Recipes- Veggie & Black Bean Chili
I know most places are creeping into Spring right now, but there are always those cold, wet, rainy April days and who couldn’t use a warming bowl of chili on those days. I am heading into the New Zealand winter and kind of unsure what to expect. I know it will probably be a lot less dreary than endless Vancouver rain, though! I kind of look forward to those gloomy winter days when you can cozy up with a nice warm bowl of soup or chili. This veggie & black bean chili is bursting with flavour from aromatic cumin, coriander, and chili powder. It’s packed with yummy extras like portobello…
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Tropical Coconut & Passionfruit Chia Pudding
One of my favourite things about eating raw foods is that often dessert and breakfast can be the same meal! Who doesn’t want a chocolatey raw cacao and banana smoothie, or banana soft serve with fruit and coconut cream for breakfast. In this instance, I made a sweet and fruity tropical coconut & passionfruit chia pudding for breakfast; but I could easily enjoy it as a healthy, sweet dessert, too. I love all of the amazing fruit they have here in New Zealand. I rarely get to work with things like passionfruit, or guava. We stopped at “Fruit World” the other day, and picked up quite the haul of…
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Drop Dead Recipes- Sushi
I couldn’t wait to reveal this recipe for sushi to ya’ll and thankfully, I didn’t have to wait for too long. If you haven’t seen it already, my latest Drop Dead Recipe is up. You can take a peek, by clicking here. I have made four vegetarian sushi rolls, and three of them happen to be vegan as well. There is a veggie roll, a mango and cream cheese roll, a pickled beet roll, and a sweet potato and avocado roll. In the mango-cream cheese roll, you could easily use Tofutti or another vegan cream cheese substitute. This recipe makes the best sushi rice, just like at your favourite…
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Drop Dead Recipes- Vegan Milkshakes
This month’s recipe for Drop Dead Clothing is all about milkshakes- two flavours to be exact. Toasted coconut and chocolate espresso…mmmmm. I’ve found all kinds of amazing vegan ice creams lately from brands like Almond Dream, Rice Dream, So Delicious, and my favourite Coconut Bliss. The flavours of dairy-free ice cream that they are coming up with now are just amazing. There is really no need to miss out on ice cream if you are vegan, or suffer from dairy allergies. I’ve created these two recipes as a basic guideline, and from there, you can create all sorts of different flavours. I’ve included a list of suggestions that I personally think would be delicious, but go ahead and experiment-…
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Drop Dead Recipes- Vegan Sugar Cookies
It’s that time of yeaaaaaaaaaaar!! I just wanna curl up and watch Christmas Vacation and ELF!! Christmas is one of my fav times of the year and I am a little sad to be ‘missing it’ this year. By missing it I mean I won’t be at home for Christmas, as I arrive in New Zealand on Christmas Eve. I do look forward to meeting a lot of new people and spending Christmas with Rhys’ family and friends, in the sunshine. It will be a different Christmas, that’s for sure. In the meantime, I want to take full advantage of Christmas festivities while I’m in still in Vancouver so that…
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Raw Gingerbread Cake with Cashew Cream Cheeze Frosting
I have to fit in as much holiday cooking and baking as I can before I leave for New Zealand in 16 days! I have been experimenting over the past little while with gingerbread, as I attempted to make raw gingerbread men. If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen an attempt where I used almond pulp (leftover from making almond milk) and the dehydrator to make little gingy men. Well…it didn’t work! Not everything is a success in Koko’s Kitchen, and those tasted seriously nasty haha! But I’m not the type of person to let that get me down, so with attempt number two I decided to…
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Drop Dead Recipes- Butternut Squash Soup
This chilly month, I made a warm, comforting butternut squash and apple soup. Of course I decorated these in Drop Dead fashion! I love the taste of this soup, with sweetness coming from apples and maple syrup. The spices I used offer healthful benefits, especially with the miracle spice- turmeric! Head over to the Drop Dead Clothing Blog to check out the recipe…and my Dead Jersey! I am so stoked this week, because I get to go to not one, but two concerts. I’m a huge fan of music, and I love going to concerts. This week I am seeing one of my all-time favourite singers, Matt Mays. A couple…
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Hazelnut Cashew Milk
This is a great recipe to switch things up from your usual milk beverage. After I stopped drinking milk, I started drink soy milk. Now, I am totally anti-soy expect when it comes to fermented soy…but that’s a whole ‘notha story! Nowadays, I drink almond milk daily. I always drink unsweetened kinds, and I was looking into finding a brand with no carrageenan in it. More on that here. Lately, I’ve been making my own almond milk which is so fun and soo easy. You simply soak a cup of raw almonds for roughly 8 hours and then drain and rinse them. Mix the cup of almonds with your choice…
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Roasted Garlic Mashed Yams
Canadian Thanksgiving is this weekend and I have the perfect side dish for your family table. Roasted garlic mashed yams….OM NOM NOM!! I could eat these as a main course, but that is beside the point… Also I’m confused as to whether I’m talking about yams or sweet potatoes…someone help me out. I think in North America we refer to these orange-fleshed sweet potatoes as yams. 2 whole heads of roasted garlic go into this perfect Autumn dish. I love roasted garlic because it’s so much more sweet and mellow than regular raw garlic. I pair it up with fresh thyme, but you could use any fresh herb that you…
