chocolate chip cookies: gluten-free, dairy-free

I am constantly trying to find great gluten free, dairy free desserts. These chocolate chip cookies - which are both of those things - are so incredibly delicious, and so quick and easy to make!

They are courtesy of Elana's Pantry. Check out her website - she has some amazing recipes for all sorts of foods and for all sorts of dietary restrictions!

gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chip cookies

ingredients:
(makes 24 cookies; I usually cut this in half to make 12!)
2 1/2 c. almond meal/flour
1/2 t. sea salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 c. grapeseed oil
1 T. vanilla extract
1/2 c. agave nectar (you can mix in a little honey here as well)
1 c. chocolate chunks (Whole Foods carries this Enjoy Life brand that I love)

instructions:
1. put dry ingredients in a large bowl
2. stir together wet ingredients in a smaller bowl (I whisk them together with a fork)
3. mix wet ingredients into dry (again, whisking with a fork)
4. form 1/2 - 1 inch balls and press onto parchment paper lined baking sheet
5. bake at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes

Trust me, you will not miss the gluten or the dairy of traditional chocolate chip cookies. In fact, I challenge you to a taste test to see which you prefer. Yes... They are that good.

And the best perk? Since there are no eggs, you can safely eat as much dough as you want... which, trust me, you will want to do.

Enjoy!

vegan chocolate smoothie

So, my first recipe post on this blog was for my original chocolate protein shake. I have since learned that whey protein is full of dairy, and dairy is not great for me. (It is also not great for a lot of people, although they may not even know it.)

Since I have been on this journey of healing, I have drastically changed my diet. Turns out all the dairy I was consuming was completely depleting my immune system. So, no more dairy for me.

But I couldn't give up my favorite way to start the day! I know, super cheesy, but I really am obsessed with these.

gluten-free, vegan, raw macaroons

Recently I have developed some food allergies and have had to change my diet drastically to a gluten-free, grain-free, soy-free, dairy-free, basically fun-free diet!

I must say I have been doing pretty well and haven't missed much of the old stuff much except... dessert! I have a huge sweet tooth, so I have had to search for desserts that I can have.

I have found a couple brands of gluten-free, vegan macaroons that I really like from Whole Foods. But of course they are pretty pricy. So I was looking at the ingredients and realized that I already had all the ingredients, and they would be pretty simple to make myself!

So I decided to experiment with some of my own recipes using my Vitamix.

I made two kinds to start out:

(left) dates, peanut butter, shredded coconut, coconut flour, chocolate chips, cinnamon, vanilla, sea salt
(right) dates, shredded coconut, coconut flour, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, cinnamon, honey, vanilla, sea salt

chocolate protein shake

I love chocolate. But I also love eating healthy. So this chocolate protein shake is pretty much the best of both worlds.

It's super quick and easy to make, especially using a magic bullet. I don't measure anything - just eyeball it! But basically...

1. add ice, frozen bananas, frozen blueberries