Follow Up: Food Sensitivities

Okay. So, I already talked about food sensitivities, but I just had some really shocking experiences this past week that I wanted to share because it fully reaffirmed my hatred of white flour.

First off, I went out of town with my boyfriend to visit his family and I stupidly ate a regular, plain ol', greasy, gluten-ridden chocolate cookie. Then flash forward 30min, I have a huuuuge headache. I feel like I'm going to throw up (I literally thought I had food poisoning). I can barely stay awake. I had a sneaking suspicion it might've been the cookie, but I also hadn't had much sleep so I wasn't completely convinced.

Secondly, a couple days later, my brother got Pizza Hut and I ate the crust off one of the pieces of pizza (again, stupidly. i can be really weak when it comes to food). Thirty minutes later, exact same symptoms! Splitting headache, intense nausea, and feeling completely lethargic. And my blood sugar was high all night. I actually used to feel like that all the time. Literally. I'd have multiple headaches every day, constantly feel sick to my stomach. There wasn't a day that went by without me taking at least two ibuprofens. I can't remember feeling excessively tired, but it may have been that I was and just didn't know any different, or that might just be because I hadn't eaten that crap in ages. Dunno.

Thirdly, today I made some gluten-free pasta (vegan avocado-cauliflower-cashew mac & cheeze. omg so gewd guise). Now, I do not eat pasta. Hard fast rule. Never. Like even before I started eliminating stuff from my diet, I hardly ever ate pasta. I would feel ridiculously sick after eating it and my blood sugar would spike. I thought it was just because pasta is really high in carbs. Perhaps not? Because I ate my gluten-free pasta and I felt PERFECTLY FINE. Like whut? No nausea. No crazy blood sugar spikes. Nada.

So, I'm just kinda throwing this out here mostly to remind myself NEVER EAT WHITE FLOUR, SYLVIA IT WILL KILL YOU. But also just because sometimes I feel like maybe I'm just being a big hypochondriac and maybe I don't have any problems with white flour and such and maybe I'm just being crazy-pants. But oh dear lord, I definitely do have problems with it. NO BUENO. NO BUENO, I SAY.

I'm also just chucking this out here a second time, because I find it really mind-boggling how I used to constantly feel horrible and I never really thought anything was wrong. Like I knew most people didn't feel like that, but the idea never occurred to me that it might be a fixable problem. I just thought that was how I was wired, like people with chronic migraines. But nope. There was a solution. Crazy.

Also, so that you aren't left picture-less once again by my diabetes posts. Here's a photo of the avocado-cauliflower-cashew mac & cheese that didn't make me sick. ;)

Pumpkin Waffles

I don't really have any amazing stories for these waffles. They're a variation on my basic buckwheat waffles recipe I posted a week or so ago. And they are so so so good. SOOOO GOOOD. Make them noooowwww!

 

Like I get that plain waffles are awesome cause you can put whatever you want on em and you can jazz them up with blueberries or chocolate chips inside or something. But these fellas are the real deal. Wowza. I would honestly like to eat them every day. It's too bad that it's getting to be warm again in Straya. Not fair. I just got a waffle iron, for pete's sake!

In order to enjoy perfect pumpkin deliciousness, you'll need (again makes around 6ish animals or 2 regular waffles):

1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)

1/3 cup + 3 tablespoons almond milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup buckwheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Mix up wet. Add dry. Grease your waffle iron (if it's cheap like mine, that is). Heat it up. Add waffle mix. Wait about 2-4 minutes. Open up. Remove golden-orange deliciousness. Nomnomnom. Also, I would really recommend adding nana ice cream, because that stuff just makes everything better. For realz.

for nana ice cream:

2 frozen bananas

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

almond milk

Blend it up in a food processor, scraping sides, and adding almond milk as necessary to help it combine. Top it on the waffles. (I also added a touch of maple syrup and pecans) And now OMNOMNOMNOMNOM.

Samoas

I cannot even express how excited I am right now. I made Samoas (or Caramel de-Lites depending on which region of the USA you live in)!! But not just any Samoas, VEGAN, GLUTEN-FREE, REFINED SUGAR-FREE SAMOAS. Not only do you get Samoas year-round now, but they also won't kill you. You can go ahead and say thank you right now. ;)

Now, if you aren't from amurrica, you probably have no clue what I'm talking about or why I'm typing in all-caps. Samoas are a type of Girl Scout Cookie. The best Girl Scout Cookie, in my humble opinion (which also happens to be the truth). Many people will try to tell you that Thin Mints are the best Girl Scout Cookies, but they are either sadistic liars or lack taste-buds.

What are Girl Scout Cookies, you ask? Oh, right. Girl Scout cookies are sold once a year by Girl Scouts (little ragamuffins who do stuff, earn badges, and camp occasionally. tbh, their real purpose in life is to sell Girl Scout Cookies once a year. that's really all anyone cares about). These cookies are evil. Not only do the cookies try to kill you, but they are also only available ONCE A YEAR. So, you buy five thousand boxes of them, because they are no joke the BEST cookies in the entire world, to stockpile for the upcoming year. However, you fail miserably to refrain from devouring them the first day, and then you are on your way to developing type 2 diabetes and dying (okay, that's a bit dramatic, but you'll feel like crap).

 Samoas themselves are chocolate covered shortbread cookies with caramel coconut on top. And they're just JFIUFISBFIWBIbiewribgsgoidgfooioenfowfNJBNIDSBIIgssf. Like I can't even. Just go ahead and try the recipe. Of course, they aren't authentic cookies, but I, as a Samoa-connoisseur, can barely tell a difference (except that I don't get awful food-sensitivity symptoms after eating one).

You'll need:
for the cookies: 1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon almond milk
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Pre-heat the oven to 180 C. Line a tray with baking paper or oil a baking tray. Mix up the wet, add the dry. Flour a surface and, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough. Then cut the cookies into doughnut shapes (I didn't have any suitable cookies cutters because I'm sorry, but I'm not Betty Crocker, but I used a mason jar for the large ring and a bottle cap for the small ring). Bake for 5-10 minutes, until they turn a light golden-brown.

for the coconut caramel: 1 1/4 cup shredded coconut
13 medjool dates
almond milk

Leave the oven on 180 C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Spread the coconut evenly on the tray and cook for about 2-5 minutes, constantly checking on the coconut (because it burns REALLY fast) and stirring it around so it cooks evenly. You want it to be just slightly brown. Remove from the oven and let it cool. Remove the pits from the dates. Blend the dates and almond milk in the food processor (you'll want a little bit less almond milk than it would take to cover up the dates, but start with a little and add more. you want the caramel to be pretty thick in this case). Add your date caramel and shredded coconut to a mixing bowl and combine.

for the chocolate: 2 tablespoons cocoa/cacao powder
1/2 tablespoon agave
water

Combine cocoa/cacao powder and agave and slowly add water until you get a thick chocolate sauce. Dip the bottoms of the cookies in the chocolate sauce and place them back on the baking paper. You should still have some chocolate sauce left to drizzle on top of the Samoas, but if not, just make a bit more.

Press the caramel coconut mix on top of the cookies and then drizzle the remaining chocolate sauce. Put the cookies in the freezer overnight so the caramel and chocolate hardens up. And enjoy eating vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free Girl Scout Cookies anytime of year!

Jaffa Nana Ice Cream Sandwiches

Orange and chocolate was not a flavour combo that I was really familiar with up until recently. In Australia, there are these things called Jaffa Cakes which are essentially orange cake with chocolate icing (there are also Jaffa lollies which are like orange-coated chocolate balls). This seemed weird to me initially, but goodness gracious, they're delicious. They aren't delicious in a childish, easily palatable way like vanilla ice cream. But they're delicious in a more sophisticated, acquired taste way like coffee (except I'm not a giant coffee fan, but you know). 

Anyways, now I'm basically obsessed with chocolate and orange everything. Because another issue I have is with oranges. I really like orange flavoured things (eg. orange juice), but I don't like eating oranges by themselves. You have to peel them which is an effort. And then you get those little white, hard, stringy bits. And the juice goes everywhere. And ugh. So, I've just never gotten to eat my fair share of orange things. Because what do you really put orange in exactly?

I'd bought a bag of mandarins at my local fruit shop (which is amazing because it's like a five minute walk away, the fruits are amazing and ripe and uhghghgg, and it's open late), because impulse fruit buying. Then a few days later I was like "Oh, crap. I have a bag of mandarins....what do I do?" And thus, these ice cream sandwiches were born.

In order to make the ice cream sandwiches (makes 6) you'll need:

for the cookies: 1 cup oats

4 tablespoons chocolate nut butter (I used Mayver's Hazelnut Cacao spread)

3 tablespoons agave

Pulse the oats, agave, and nut butter in your food processor until it starts to stick together. Then divide it in half, and press into some sort of mold to form the cookies (I used cupcake paper thingies, but if you have large cookie cutters or some other mold, that would work as well). Save the other half for the top cookie.

for the nana ice cream: 1 and 1/2 frozen bananas

4 mandarins

Blend up the frozen bananas and mandarins in the food processor. Layer the nana ice cream over the cookies in the molds. Put in the freezer overnight (or until it hardens up a fair bit). Press the remaining half of the cookie "dough" on top of each sandwich. And voila! Jaffa style ice cream sandwiches!

Buckwheat Waffles & Blueberry Syrup

I've been wanting to make waffles for awhile now. I've never ever had a waffle iron. My only waffle memories are from going on trips and staying hotels that had really nice continental breakfasts. You'd grab a plastic cup full of waffle mix, pour it into the waffle iron, walk away, hear it ding, open it up, and BAM, a perfect, crispy waffle. I used to live in Texas and once in awhile the hotels would actually have a waffle iron in the shape of the state (because Texas pride is ridiculous).

So, when I was at Big W (where it seems I get all of my fun kitchen stuff) and saw an animal waffle iron for $18 I couldn't resist. In the past, Big W appliances have failed my family (not worked at all), and when we've tried to return them they have been major jerkfaces. So, I was a bit hesitant. But the possibility of animal waffles was too hard to walk away from, and lucky for me, it worked! Phew! What a relief. 

Making the waffles was a whole other catastrophe though. The batter was too runny. The waffles were too soft. I over-filled the iron and then there was a runny, gooey mess all over the counter top. It was very traumatizing. Luckily, the second go went much, much better. I ended up with soft, but slightly crunchy waffles in the shape of a lion, elephant, and giraffe. 

And the blueberry syrup came out perfect on the first attempt. Like it was really really good. Not too sweet. But just on that border for me between, "YES IT'S SUGARY" and "OH GOD I AM DYING FROM SUGAR OVERLOAD."

For the waffles (makes 6 little animals, or about 2 regular waffles) you'll need:

1 mashed banana

1/3  cup + 3 tablespoons almond milk (you want the batter to be thicker than regular waffle batter, but if it's like dough add a bit extra)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 flax egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup buckwheat flour

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

Heat up the waffle iron. Mix up the wet ingredients. Add the dry. Depending on how fancy/non-sticky your waffle iron is, you may need to add some oil of choice to ensure the waffles don't stick. Pour batter into the waffle mold and cook for about 2-4 minutes (time will vary depending on your waffle iron). I waited until mine were a bit browned on top so they'd be crunchy on the outside.

For the blueberry syrup (makes a bit extra. i saved mine in the fridge for future pancakes/waffles) you'll need:

2/3 cup blueberries

1/3 cup water

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Blend up the blueberries and water (you could mash the blueberries, but then you'd need to strain out the skins). Pour the blueberry mix into a sauce pan. Add the maple syrup and lemon juice. Cook on medium/high heat until it begins to boil. Turn off the heat and pour on your waffles. Yum.

Pumpkin Donuts

Donuts are my favourite dessert of all time. OF ALL TIME. They rank way higher than Beyonce's music video in my books. That reference is a tad outdated, isn't it? Oh, well. DONUTS ARE NEVER OUTDATED. Well, yes they are....they tend to go stale after only like an hour....but I don't care. I'm not caught up in your love affair. AND WE'LL NEVER BE ROYALS.

Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I've been listening to Lorde waaayy too much recently...and the Kanye reference.....I really have no excuse....I'm just lame and outdated. What do people even quote these days? Let's move on.

But donuts are the best. Not Australian donuts, though. Those are god-awful. So, if you're Australian and you don't share my donut obsession, it's okay. I forgive you. You don't know any better. Get Krispy Kreme donuts fresh if at all possible, that's the best your gonna get in this donut wasteland (or maybe don't get them cause they're practically poison.....delicious poison). 

The tragic thing about donuts though is that they are fried, made with white flour, dairy-ridden, refined sugar loaded pieces of evil. But they're delicious. Little dirtbags. Not these donuts though! Gluten-free, baked, refined sugar-free, vegan pieces of heaven. Little saints.

I must admit I like them better than real donuts. They actually taste delicious. And they don't make me feel like a inflamed, nauseous, piece of crap afterwards. Another good thing about baked donuts is that the pans make these little mini-sized donuts so you get a pretty healthy sized portion (unless you go and eat more than one like I did, whoops).

You'll need:

a donut pan (I managed to find one at Big W, but you might have to go to a fancy kitchen store or order one off the internet unless you already have one. You could also make these in a muffin tin, just extend the cooking time by a few minutes)

1 flax egg

1/2 cup maple syrup

2/3 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling, I recommend cooking a pumpkin, scooping the pumpkin innards out, and just mashing it up to a pulp)

1/4 cup almond milk

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Grease donut pan and preheat oven to 180 C. Mix up the wet ingredients. Add the dry. Mix the wet and dry together. Pour into donut pan. Cook for 8-12 minutes. Let cool for at least 10ish minutes before removing. I topped mine with Mayver's hazelnut cacao spread & Loving Earth's caramelised buckinis. But feel free to top with whatever you've got handy, maybe regular peanut butter and chocolate chips? Nom away.

Strawberry Kiwi Coconut Tart

 

Part deux of the strawberry craze (explained in my recipe for Caramel Brownie Strawbie Nana Ice Cream). 

I'm not a huge coconut fan, personally. I just....I dunno....mehh. Like I know everyone loves them but ehhhh. I do, however, think I'm in love with this coconut whip. It's amazing! While coconut whip may taste delicious, it is also an evil, finnicky, unhelpful, little turd. So, I'll share with you some tips for raising baby coconut into a nice, polite adult rather than the evil little jerkface he's inclined to be. It's nature vs. nurture, guys. But I highly recommend reading this tutorial over at Oh She Glows. Because those folks gave me the best coconut parenting advice I've ever been given. Also, they're much better at raising polite coconuts than I am, and they have photos to help guide you.

Did you read the tutorial, yet? Yes? Good on ya, mate! You've basically done all the hard work already. You're one of those super parents who drives carpool every week and has dinner on the table every night! No? Haha, you're my kind of person. I probably wouldn't have read it either. Skimmed it at best. I'll give you a few key tips in my instructions, but if you are in an emotional state and you think you might cry and have a mental breakdown if your coconut whip kiddie turns out to be a delinquent, I do suggest you scroll back up, click on the link, and read the tutorial. It's for your own good.

Now that you've made your choice, let's go! (Makes 1 smallish-medium sized tart)

You'll need:

for the crust: 1/3 cup of raw buckwheat (not the flour, you want the little weird seedy things)

6 (pitted) medjool dates

Make sure you pit the dates or you'll be crying before we even get to the coconut whip. Stick them in the food processor along with the buckwheat and pulse until it sticks together. (Line your tart pant with baking paper first) Then press it down in the bottom of your tart pan and up the sides of the pan to form a crust.

for the filling: 270 mL can of coconut milk (I used Ayam premium coconut milk. I know Thai Kitchen brand also comes highly recommended, if you can find it. The main thing is to shake the can of coconut milk before you buy it. If you hear it sloshing around, your coconut whip probably won't turn out)

2 tablespoons maple syrup

Leave the coconut milk in the fridge overnight (or for apprx. 6 hours). This allows the stuff in the milk to separate. You should (hopefully) get a plastery type top layer and a liquid bottom layer. Open the can from the bottom and pour out the liquid layer (you aren't gonna use this stuff). Scoop out the hard, plaster junk and put it in a bowl. Whisk it for a bit, add the maple syrup, and keep whisking until it forms soft peaks. Or if it doesn't, curl up in fetal position in the corner of the kitchen and cry. Maybe also consider hiring a lawyer for your little vandal.

If you're not crying and your kid is destined to go to Stanford: spoon the coconut whip into the tart crust.

for the topping: strawberries (apprx. 3)

kiwis (apprx. 3)

Chop up the strawberries and kiwis and put them on top of the tart however elaborately you'd like and consume.

Caramel Brownie Strawbie Nana Ice Cream

Remember those black bean brownies that I found too chocolately (cause i'm a chocolate-wuss)? Well, here they are re-invented in a way that's much more compatible with my palate.

This is also part of my strawberry craze which I will explain by copying word for word my instagram caption for the above photo because I can't be bothered with writing something else. "my boyfriend and i went to visit his family this weekend and on the way home, we went down this road where literally every 500m there was a different fresh farm fruit/veg stall. it was heaven! i ended up with the freshest, juiciest strawberries, organic honey, and a FIVE DOLLAR bag of avocados (hence the polaroid of my overly excited face ). so, i need to find a gazillion avocado and strawberry recipes to use over the coming weeks or i'll be eating guac & strawbs for every meal." 

This was RI-DIC-U-LOUS. I love ice creams like rocky road that have all sorts of chunks of things in them, and stupidly I haven't experiments with that in nana ice cream until now. This was a really good life decision. 

Now I'm just torn about whether to label it a breakfast or a dessert. I ate it for breakfast....sooo....I guess I'll say it's breakfast? But really the line here is too thin for me to discern.

You'll need:

2 frozen BANANANANANANANANANAs

a sense of humour to deal with my stupid way of writing fruit names

1/2 teaspoon maca powder (maybe more, depending on your tolerance. in addition to being a chocolate-wuss, i'm also a maca-wuss)

a wee bit of almond milk

strawbies (i used about 15 mini ones, but they are like 1/3 the size of normal store-bought strawbies. so maybe around 5?)

medjool dates (i used 4)

1 brownayyyy

a sense of humour to deal with the my stupid way of writing the names of food other than fruit

a small handful of Loving Earth brand caramelized buckinis 

date caramel sauce (just blend however many dates you want with however much almond milk you want)

Blend up the BANANANANANANANANANAs (or bananas if you're no fun) in a food processor, add a bit of almond milk to make it combine into nana ice cream, and finally add the maca powder and keep blending till it's evenly distributed. Now throw it in a bowl and add strawbie slices, chunks of medjool dates, bits of brownayyyy, and mix it all through. Finally, drizzle on the date caramel sauce and sprinkle the caramelized buckinis (not bikinis) on top. Now you're done. You don't need me anymore. So, you're free of my stupid food names, and you can enjoy your meal in peace.

Black Bean Brownies

This is where The Great Debate in my household comes in (yes, it is so important that it requires the first letter of each word to be capitalised): How chocolately is too chocolately?

Yes, this is a source of major disagreement in my home. Ask my brother: milk chocolate is the way. Ask my parents: dark chocolate is life. I, myself, am a bit more flexible. I've grown out of milk chocolate (because milk is sent from SATAN), but I don't really like dark chocolate either. I like it in small amounts, and I've found a few choice brands that aren't too dark for me. One thing about dark chocolate: it makes me sneeze...a lot....and sneezing with chocolate in your mouth is not pleasant. Trust me.

"Okay, Sylvia your family likes different chocolates, that's nice. But how is this even relevant?" Well, I will tell you ladies and gentlemen! It is relevant because these brownies are extra, super duper chocolately. Like really chocolatey. They made me sneeze. My mum loved them. Loved them loved them. My brother actually gave them the seal of approval, but didn't bother going back for seconds (he ate 4 of my ice cream slice recipe, that was a proud, proud day). I had one with milk to dull the chocolate a bit, one with date caramel (that was actually so yum), and I put one in an insane nana ice cream recipe I came up with (again delicious). But I wasn't so wild about them plain. I fully intend to go back and see if I can reduce the amount of cocoa for people like me who aren't that crazy about dark chocolate. But if you are, then this recipe is for you!

One big plus that I want to just mention before I get to the actual recipe is that these are 120% GRAIN FREE! Yes, you heard me right. Not a single grain taints these brownies. And the nuts are optional! That is completely beautiful if you ask me (which is why I'm planning on putting the effort in to check on reducing the amount of chocolate). My food sensitivity ridden body thanks me for making/eating these.

Okay, now getting to the recipe for the extra-super-duper-chocolately-grain-free brownies (makes 12).

You'll need:

1 can of black beans (rinsed)

2 flax eggs

3/4 cup of cocoa/cacao powder

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons coconut oil

10 (pitted) medjool dates

1/2 cup agave

1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

and i put some pecans on the top of mine. feel free to swap with walnuts. or leave out for nut free. also feel free to mix in the nuts, i just spaced and forgot to actually put them inside and then it was too late.

Grease a muffin tin and preheat the oven to 180 C. Make sure that you rinse the black beans thoroughly. Also make sure you pit the dates. Blend all the ingredients (except the nuts) in a food processor until it's a smooth, creamy batter (you don't want it thick and doughy at all, but also not runny. it should be a bit thicker than a store-bought brownie mix consistency. sort of like a mousse or frosting). Here's where you would mix in the nuts if you want to. Put the batter into the muffin tin (filling them about half-way). Here's where you would put the nuts on top if you forgot to mix them in like I did (whoops). And bake for 18-25 minutes.

Strawberry Crumble

So, next to my nana ice cream slice, this is definitely my favourite recipe I've created. I'm not too sure how to explain why....it was really just super good. I posted it on insta, and gushed about how delicious it was in the caption. Later, I made it again for my mum's breakfast and she said "Wow. You really weren't joking. This is so good." So, if you don't trust me, trust my mum.

Like all of these recipes (so far), it's ridiculously simple and is basically just as hard as making baked oatmeal...well, maybe a little bit harder. But it's still so easy that I'm practically asleep while making it from boredom. I know that appeals to some people, recipes being quick, simple, and boring. So, that's a selling point for this (don't get me wrong, it shouldn't be a negative, I just like really involved recipes, I find them fun). Regardless, even if you're weird like me and want to make something that takes a good five hours and fifty different bowls, three rounds in the oven, and one on the stove top, you probably don't want to do that first thing in the morning when your stomach is rumbling and you want to double over in hunger-pains (again, that might just be me....I get really hungry). 

We'd probably better get on to it. At this point, reading my ramblings is going to take you longer than making this recipe (whoopsises).

You'll need:

for the crumble: a handful of almonds

1/3 cup oats

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 tablespoon coconut oil

Pulse the almonds in a food processor (or chomp 'em up by hand if you're a caveman, or looking to drag the recipe out a bit longer) and combine with all other crumble ingredients in a bowl, by mixing/stirring/telekinesis.

for the filling: 1 cup strawberries

1 tablespoon maple syrup

a smidgen of coconut oil

Grease the ramekin up with a bit of coconut oil (no need to make it look like a body-builder ramekin, just a bit of oil will do). If your strawberries are frozen, melt/defrost them in the microwave. Mash up the strawberries (just a bit, not into a pulp. let's not get aggressive here, mate). Add maple syrup. Put the mixture into the ramekin (or just make it in the ramekin from the get-go like I did). Top with the crumble mixture and bake at 160 C for 8-10 minutes.

Now while that is baking, I would like to very very strongly recommend you whip up some cinnamon nana ice cream. It just makes all the difference (like Robert Frost choosing the slightly grassier path, anyone? no? okay). For that you just chuck a frozen banana or two into the food processor, add some cinnamon (maybe about 1/2 teaspoon), add a little almond milk to get it to combine, and whizz it up! Chuck it on top of the crumble and ooh and ahh at how it takes like a healthy cobbler.

Carrot Cake Overnight Oats & Peanut Butter Nana Ice Cream Parfait

Carrot cake is my main cake, my homie, my hombre. Unfortunately, I've had some bad experiences in the past with different carrot cake oatmeal recipes. I was beginning to think my beloved cake just wasn't meant to be in oatmeal form. "But everyone keeps posting pictures of carrot cake oats on instagram. It must work....right?" I thought to myself. So, I didn't give up. Well, I did give up on trying to find recipes. I ended up making my own. One of my very first kitchen experiments. Thankfully, it turned out exactly like I wanted. It was a huge relief seeing as creating things has always sorta freaked me out. I love creativity and the arts, but creating stuff from scratch....big phobia of mine. I'm starting to get over that though (WHOO-HOO!!!).  

And now we shall go forth and acquire the ingredients:

for the oats: 1 cup almond milk

1 mashed banana

1 medium/large grated carrot

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup oats

handful of raisins/sultanas

Toss the ingredients in a jar/seal-able contained and mix/shake it all until combined. Put the container in the fridge and leave it overnight (or for a minimum of two hours).

for the nana ice cream: 2 frozen bananas

2 tablespoons peanut butter (I used Mayver's peanut coconut spread, 'cause I'm obsessed with it)

splash of almond milk

Just chuck the bananas into a food processor and blend till the break up. If they aren't combining, add a splash of almond milk or more to reach your preferred consistency, blend. Then throw in the peanut butter and blend it up until it's evenly distributed. Take the oats out of the fridge (I highly, highly recommend heating the oats up in the microwave, because it takes this from being good to being visiting-Hobbiton-and-meeting-Viggo-Mortensen-and-Billy-Boyd-and-becoming-best-friends good (not sure how relate-able that analogy is....let's just say it's extra good)) and layer with the nana ice cream. And there you have it, carrot cake in a jar, in breakfast form, with nana ice cream that is peanut butter flavoured, now let's just go to Hobbiton and this'll be the best day of your (my) life.

Food Sensitivities

One major thing that sparked my interest in eating healthy was my realization that I do in fact have food sensitivities. I've mentioned this before, but I trialed a raw vegan diet for awhile. Once I came off it, I really noticed feeling inflamed if I ate dairy (specifically milk). I also noticed that if I ate stuff like bread that I'd feel a bit off and my blood sugar would spike. Same goes for anything with refined carbohydrates (eg. fried stuff, store bought desserts/candy, chips, crackers, etc).

Looking back on it, I'd always had the hugest problem with milk. I would have cereal and milk for breakfast every morning (as most normal people do), and in that there should be about 30-40 carbs. I would treat it as being 80 carbs, and my blood sugar would still go sky high after eating breakfast.

I also realized that as soon as I stopped eating the raw vegan diet, that my whole face inflamed. My eyes looked a thousand times smaller, I could barely see my cheekbones anymore, and I felt like I did when I was in the hospital and they pumped me full of 10 litres of fluid via IV. I just felt puffy all over.

So, I manned up and eliminated dairy from my diet entirely and cut back majorly on the refined carbs. Actually, let's be honest, it wasn't that hard. I felt so crummy and puffy and sick eating that stuff again, I was happy to be rid of it.

Now, here I am, still struggling with my blood sugar 'cause I'm "brittle," ya know? But so much less. It's completely insane and wonderful. It's also so great to not feel like my eyes are eternally squinting.

Just to back up what I'm saying about food sensitivities messing with diabetes: There was this whole period of time where one test result for being Celiac (gluten intolerant) came back slightly positive and my doctor was insisting that I needed to stop eating gluten because it must be causing all the problems with my blood sugar. Sorry mate, I'm not Celiac and I definitely don't react worse to gluten than anything else. Any grain in general (buckwheat and all those other substitutes included) are not my best friend, but I have just as much luck with oats (which have gluten) as I do with buckwheat (which doesn't have gluten).

So, how do you test for food sensitivities? The "proper" way is to eliminate everything that's a common food sensitivity (eg. nuts, gluten, dairy, etc) from your diet for 2 weeks and slowly introduce them back one by one and see if you notice a reaction of any sort. That's basically how I ended up realizing that I'm sensitive to certain things. But that can be a pain in the butt, and I believe that if I had been more aware of food sensitivities and more keen to notice what was happening with my body that I could've discovered what made me inflamed/spiked my blood sugar/didn't make my body happy by just being more aware of what I ate and how I felt. I believe that's something easy that anyone can do and should do (if they're interested). There's also some sort of pulse test that I'm less familiar with. You can feel free to look into that. It wouldn't work for me because my veins are really deep and I can never find my pulse, but yeah that's just me. If you notice something and don't want to give it up, you don't need to give it up. You've been living like that all along. It's just a little bit more information/awareness of your body. You can ignore it if you like. I still eat grains, because I love grains. I still eat refined carbs occasionally just 'cause I can't bear to never eat them ever again. I don't eat dairy as a hard-fast rule though, because of how strong the reaction is for me and because it involves intense animal cruelty. But yeah, it's really interesting to me how much better you can feel on a regular, healthy human level/how much diabetes can be affected by what foods you eat. And I've found it incredibly beneficial to be more aware of what does what to my body/blood sugar.

Why "anteloupe?"

When I started High School in Australia (I'm American by birth), my insulin pump broke. It was like my second or third day of school so I was still really new. I had to go home, because you know, I wasn't getting any insulin and I was going to die without it. My mom and I had to run around and apply for a new pump, deal with new Australian insurance being jerks, get syringes, talk to doctors so I could switch back to using shots temporarily. It was a huge pain, but that isn't really related to this story.

Anyway, I later became good friends with this group of guys and at some point...like a good year and a half later, it came out that when I was new they referred to me as "Antelope." Because when my insulin pump broke one friend was telling my other friend about it, and he didn't understand what friend #1 was saying. He somehow thought "insulin pump" sounded like "cantaloupe." So, the conversation went like "Her insulin pump broke" "What cantaloupe?" "No, insulin pump." "Antelope?!" And from then on, they called me Antelope behind my back.

When I found out I thought it was the coolest thing ever! I had a secret nickname! Not just any secret nickname. A cool secret nickname! When we had to choose what to put on the backs of our Year 12 jerseys (it's an Australian thing where you get an Australian style football jersey and put some sort of nickname or pun or your last name or something on the back) I couldn't think of anything good. So, I got Antelope. When my teachers would ask me why and I told them the story they acted sorry for me. Not too sure why....I guess because they felt like my friends were mocking me? I thought it was cool (still do, obviously).

I still hate coming up with names for stuff. So, awhile ago when I signed up for a Snapchat account I couldn't think of a username and my friend, Celestina, suggested I just use Antelope. Of course it was already taken. Then she suggested "anteloupe, like antelope and cantaloupe put together." That has sorta just become my generic username for everything.

Buuuut! I thought it was particularly appropriate and actually semi-meaningful for my food insta/blog because it has to do with my having type 1 diabetes and with cantaloupes which are a fruit!

Weight Loss & Type 1 Diabetes

Things endocrinologists (doctors who specialize in diabetes & other hormone disorders) do: Tell you to lose weight if you're over-weight.

Things endocrinologists don't do: Bother to tell you that being a diabetic makes it really flippin' hard to lose weight!

Alright, so back when I was 77.5 kilos, every single doctor's appointment my little bitty "I lost over 45 kilograms" doctor would complain that I was overweight, that it was hurting my insulin sensitivity, and that I needed to lose weight. He would go "Do you exercise?" I would say "No...I walk to school...but other than that, no." He would say "Start running. When you come back, I hope to see that you've lost a few kilos."

Did I start running? No. Did I diet, though? Yes, yes I did. Did I lose weight? Yes, but very slowly. Did my doctor give me mad propz? Haha. Not a chance.

I first started to suspect that being a diabetic makes you gain weight/makes it difficult to lose weight when I was reading about weight loss resistance. Nearly every site I read said that having too much insulin (a hormone that diabetics actually inject into themselves multiple times per day) would make it extremely difficult to lose weight, because insulin's main function is to convert nutrients into fat. Excess insulin equals excess fat.

But since no one had told me this, I doubted the truth of my hypothesis. I kept going along feeling terrible about myself. I couldn't lose weight/couldn't lost weight very fast, my endocrinologist was constantly badgering me about being overweight, not to mention that I just wasn't that keen on looking how I did.

Then I read about a really horrifying and terrible eating disorder called "diabulimia." Only people with Insulin Dependent Diabetes (type 1 diabetes) can become diabulimics which is why it's a really obscure eating disorder. However, it is extremely dangerous. Individuals with diabulimia will reduce the amount of insulin their taking significantly/not take any insulin at all in order to lose weight. They can eat massive amounts of food and still lose weight. Thus, this eating disorder is difficult to diagnose. The individual is losing extreme amounts of weight, sleeping for multiple hours a day, and permanently damaging their health by running their blood sugars at ridiculously high levels. But their family sees them eating. They clearly aren't anorexic. And they aren't vomiting after meals so they aren't bulimic (additionally, bulimia doesn't normally cause massive weight loss). They can hide their blood sugars from their family, or claim to be taking massive amounts of insulin but are just unable to bring their blood sugar down (feign insulin resistance). So, for some people affected by diabulimia, it can take years before someone realizes what's going on. By that stage, many people have permanently damaged the nerves in their retina (putting them at high risk to develop blindness), permanently damaged their kidneys, developed osteoporosis, high cholesterol, put themselves at high risk for heat problems and damaged other nerves in the body. Erin Williams, co-founder of We Are Diabetics who previously suffered from diabulimia, damaged the nerves in her leg so severely that she broke her ankle and had no idea it was broken because she couldn't feel any pain. She went to the ER because her ankle had swelled up severely, and it was only after a doctor discovered that her ankle was broken that she had any idea it was damaged.

So, if taking little to no insulin while eating massive amounts of food makes people lose weight, does being a diabetic and taking insulin make it extremely difficult to lose weight? Yes, yes it does. This was finally confirmed for me when I started seeing a dietitian because I was struggling so severely with losing weight. Luckily for me, he had actually previously worked as a medical researcher studying diabetes, when I told him I was a type 1 diabetic, he said "Well, of course you're going to have trouble losing weight!" This was such a relief, because I finally knew that it wasn't my fault. That I wasn't being weak or doing everything wrong. But it was also extremely discouraging to know that I will always struggle more than the average person to remain at a healthy weight and to lose weight.

It's really important to make sure that you don't have any low blood sugars if you're a diabetic who is trying to lose weight. I've found that I can actually lose weight relatively easily if I eliminate most/all of my low blood sugars (because when you have a low blood sugar, your body has too much insulin). The trouble is that I am really sensitive to weight loss in terms of insulin requirements. If I lose about .5 of a kilo to 1 kilo, I need to reduce my insulin (because I become less resistant to insulin, the less I weight/the less cells I have that require insulin). Generally, I can't do it fast enough, start having lows, and gain the weight back again. But if I can manage to perfectly sync my insulin with my weight loss, everything becomes a thousand times easier than it ever was (but that is really bloody hard to do).

And finally, if by some chance you're an insulin dependent diabetic, the take home message is not to turn to diabulimia. I really get how tempting it may sound, but the damage you will do to your health is not worth it. It really isn't. Read about it. Read about how many horrible, un-reversible things you will do to yourself. Having to undergo dialysis treatments because you have ruined your kidneys is going to be a thousand times worse than being overweight and it will be a thousand times more unhealthy. Also, if by some completely insane chance, you're actually affected by diabulimia, please tell someone. It isn't worth it. People say anorexia is bad. Diabulimia is like anorexia on steroids in terms of the damage you can do to your body. Think about dialysis treatments, and going blind, and having your feet amputated. You'll look a lot worse without feet than you will if you gain a few pounds. And going blind and having dialysis treatments will be horrible. Talk to someone and start taking some insulin, please. I'm actually crying. I'm pretty sure no one with diabulimia will ever see this, but if you do, please please please take some insulin.

Choc-Peanut Butter & Strawberry Nana Ice Cream Slice

Nana ice cream is one of my very favourite foods. I don't even like bananas that much, but once they're frozen and blended to perfection, it's incredible. It doesn't taste like "real" ice cream of course, but I've come to prefer it. It isn't as sweet. So you can eat it for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner even. You can eat it any time of day for a snack or a dessert and feel good about yourself. You are eating fruit, after all. But sometimes I want something a little bit more dessert-y. Something you actually should try to restrain yourself from eating all of. And that's where these guys come in!

 

Delicious little ice cream bars. No added sweetner in the ice cream, but there is peanut butter, chocolate nut butter, and cashews. Yummy! There's also medjool dates and maple syrup in the crust mostly for functionality (holding the oats together), but that also adds a little bit more sugary fun to the agenda. I've mentioned before that if I eat too many nuts I don't feel too well. So, I'm not fully enamored with raw vegan cheesecakes, seeing as it's like eating a big chunk of cashews. These bars go down way better for me, since they have a more reserved amount of nuts. A little bit sweeter than fruit, not too nutty, but still a healthier dessert option.

Also, just a side note: something kind of insane happened when I posted these guys on Instagram. I got more than double the number of likes I have on any other photo. It was really insane....like I'm not sure how that could've happened....but it was the weirdst, neatest thing. So, yeah...if someone could explain to me how they could've even been seen by that many people, let alone liked by that many people, please do let me know.

So, to make these little delicious ice cream treats you'll need:

for the crust: 1 cup oats

1/2 cup shredded coconut

10 medjool dates

1/8 cup maple syrup

Line a brownie pan with baking paper. Make sure you remove the seeds from the dates. Blend all the ingredients in a food processor, press it down in the pan to form a crust, and put it in the freezer while you make the PB layer.

for the peanut butter layer: 2 bananas

3 tablespoons peanut butter (I used Mayver's peanut coconut spread)

1/4 cup cashews

Blend in food processor, put in pan, put in the freezer.

for the chocolate layer: 2 bananas

3 tablespoons chocolate nut butter (I used Mayver's hazelnut cacao spread)

1/4 cup cashews

Blend in food processor, put in pan, top with fresh strawberries (I used 8), and put in the freezer overnight, cut 'em up in the morning and try to restrain yourself from inhaling the whole pan cause oh lord, did I want to.

York Peppermint Pattie Overnight Oats & Banana Ice Cream Parfait

My family used to live in Wisconsin, USA (borders Canada). One of my favourite childhood memories is going outside after a large snowfall, gathering up the clean, bright white top layer of snow, and mixing in flavours. Sometime vanilla extract. Most often peppermint extract. Goodness gracious it was magically delicious. I'd rate it higher than any ice cream. This banana peppermint ice cream tastes pretty similar, although it does lack a big of the magic of snow ice cream.

I'm a big sucker for anything mint. It's definitely one of my favourite flavours. I also remember that when I was little we were friends with this family who had some mint plants growing behind a shed (which also doubled as a "museum," where they kept all sorts of treasures like sea urchins. yeah, they're a pretty cool family). The kids and I would go and pick the mint leaves and just eat them all by themselves. We recently got our own mint plant and I must admit, I've been nomming away at the leaves.

I'm also a big fan of peppermint flavoured candies. Regular peppermints, candy canes, but especially peppermint patties. Which is why I'm so stoked to have a healthy breakfast recreation of a York Peppermint Pattie. Being able to eat something that tastes an awful lot like peppermint patties for a meal and not feel nauseous afterwards? Definitely the best experience.

In order to enjoy eating candy for brekky, you'll need:

1 mashed banana

1 tablespoon agave

1 cup almond milk

3/4 cup oats

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons of cacao/chocolate nut butter (I used Mayver's Cacao and Peanut Spread. In a pinch, you can use plain cacao/cocoa powder instead, but I personally prefer the nutty flavour)

Combine all the ingredients in a jar and refrigerate overnight (minimum of 2 hours)

For the banana ice cream:

2 frozen bananas

3 drops of peppermint oil (or 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract)

a bit of almond milk to help the bananas combine, add till you reach your desired consistency

Throw the bananas, almond milk and peppermint oil into a food processor and blend it up. Layer it with the oats and enjoy!

Lemon Poppyseed Mug Cakes

"Mug cakes." "Mud cakes." "NO, MU-GAH CAKES." "Oh, mug cakes."

Do not be confused! This is not a recipe for those brown cakes, topped with icecream and chocolate sprinkles, sometimes adorned with gummy worms for effect. This is a recipe for those little bitty cakes that you stick in a coffee mug, microwave for 2 minutes, and BAD-AH-BOOM, you've got yourself a teensy dessert or snack.

Lemon Poppyseed has always been my favourite muffin flavour. Every time we'd go on a roadtrip to visit relatives who lived in different states, and we'd stop at a gas station for snacks, I would get myself a lemon poppyseed muffin (or those powdered donuts, or a honey bun). Unfortunately, store bought muffins are a thing of the past for me. I just can't seem to get over the fact that when you pick them up they're more oily than most hand creams. I just imagine squeezing the muffin and all this oil pouring out of it. Not so appetizing (for me at least). 

What's great about these mug cakes is that the time it takes you to make one is actually pretty comparable to the time it would take you to buy one of those oily, hand cream substitute muffins from the gas station. While your skin might miss the extra oil, the rest of your body will certainly appreciate this less greasier, but equally delicious option.

You'll need:

4 tablespoons oatflour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1 1/2 teaspoon poppyseeds

1 tablespoon agave

1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flax, and 3 tablespoons water)

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 teaspoon lemon extract

Mix the dry ingredients, add the wet, microwave for 2-3 minutes (until it isn't ooey-gooey, anymore), top with a bit of vanilla soygurt and lemon zest. 

Banana Popcorn Thickshake

"Banana Popcorn Thickshake? Say whaaat? No. No. No. You do not drink popcorn. You do not eat popcorn with banana. Why am I even reading this blog right now? Does this chick think she's inventive or something?"

I assure you. I am not crazy. Okay, maybe I am crazy. However, I am not just trying to be hip and inventive with this recipe. It's actually delicious and it really doesn't taste weird at all (as weird as it sounds). I also got a bit of inspiration for this thickshake from one of Boost's specials (but mine is much more delicious and way healthier and vegan). So, there is a large smoothie company backing something semi-similar to this recipe. Would they really risk thousands of dollars in marketing and their reputation just to be hip and cool and indie? I don't think so!

Now that I've hopefully convinced you of the legitimacy of this lovely, caramelly, not crunchy, jar of goodness, I'm going to share with you a few tips and tricks to make sure this doesn't come out all weird and funky (like you're still probably getting your granny panties in a twist over). Make sure you get the popcorn blended up really nice. Take out the chunky bits and blend them again if necessary. If you don't, this will be a chunky, crunchy disaster. Also, under no circumstances are you to put butter or anything on the popcorn. That will just make it taste weird. Buy the plain ol' popcorn kernels from the store, put them in a brown paper sandwich bag, twist the top, and pop them in the microwave. There's no need for oil or butter. It'll be just fine, I promise.

Onwards! To the recipe!

You'll need:

1 cup plain popped popcorn

2 frozen bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon maca powder

date caramel sauce, however much of it you please (just blend up dates and almond milk to desired consistency. feel free to get fancy and add a touch of salt)

Like we discussed earlier, pop the popcorn without oil or butter in the microwave in a brown paper lunch bag. Blend the popcorn separately (or food process it) until it's really fine. Toss the bananas in the food processor, blend them for a bit. Add the almond milk, vanilla, maca powder, and popcorn and whizz, whizz, whizz it up until smooth. Finally add your date caramel sauce. Get fancy and run it down the inside sides of the jar and pretend you're a barista or an overpriced smoothie bar worker. Or just be practical, and add however much you want to your thickshake and mix it in. Drink it up and be amazed that you're currently consuming popcorn in liquid form and it isn't nasty like old gum on the sidewalk.

Oatflour Banana Cupcakes with Lavender Cashew Cream Icing

These guys were perfect. I'd been experimenting with vegan oatflour cupcakes and muffins for awhile and they kept coming out kinda dry or starchy in the middle. But these fellas, were moist, not gooey or undercooked, and not oily and dripping with grease like the ones you buy from the grocery store. The cashew cream icing sort of adds a symmetry to the inside of these cupcakes. It isn't overly sweet or liquidy. It's just fluffy and ooofffttt.

I made these cupcakes in the dead of night (as is the case with most of my baking experiments). My family has a tendency to get a wee bit overly excited a eat my creations up before I get a chance to take a proper photo. So, I've taken to leaving a note to remind them to restrain themselves. This time it read "Please don't eat us yet! :(" But I also went ahead and took an instax photo just in case.

Okay, one last thing before I get to the actual recipe. Let me just say that lavender is amazing. I'd always found it weird. I would be like "Whut? You're eating a flower? Is that even sanitary?" But oh my goodness it's delicious. Like eating shampoo, but not revolting. I can also personally vouch that you aren't going to get infected with a deadly parasite and rushed off to the ER. Won't happen, I swear. (But I also refuse to be held liable if by some freaky turn of fate it does happen)

This recipe makes 6 mini muffins
You'll need:
1 banana
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1 tablespoon flax
3/4 cup oatflour (I just make mine out of rolled oats by blending them up into a flour consistency in my food processor)
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup almond milk

Mash up the banana and add the coconut sugar and flax, stir it up to combine. Next add the oatflour, baking powder and salt, mix 'em up again. Finally add the almond milk. Stick the batter into a cupcake pan (don't forget to put them in the little paper cupcake thingies (their name escapes me, GAH)), and bake at 180 C for 15-18 minutes (until a knife or toothpick comes out clean).

For the icing:
You'll need:
1/8 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup cashews
1 baNANANANA
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons honey or agave
2 lavender flowers (or 1 tablespoon lavender buds)

Add everything to the food processor and whizz it up for ages and ages and ages....for eons really....and pray to your god of choice that it comes out smooth.

Take the cupcakes out of the oven (you didn't forget them in your lumpy icing why-can't-you-just-be-smooth-curse-you-cashews wrath, did you?) and top with your icing (that by now should be smooth, but also contains some blood, sweat and tears). Maybe add a note if it's the middle of the night and your fambam or roommates or the homeless guy down the street who somehow got a key to your house is prone to eating your late night baked goodies.

Why I Am Not A Vegan

Alright, so I am not a vegan. I honestly do wish that I was a vegan. I don't agree with animal cruelty and I find it horrifying how terrible meat-eating is for the environment. That being said, I just cannot properly sustain my body on a vegan diet. I have attempted to be a vegan. It made me really sick. I have a lot of trouble eating refined carbs, or carbs that come from grain. It spikes my blood sugar and makes me really ill. So, there isn't too much food I can eat on a vegan diet. It's basically fruit, veg, and legumes. Additionally, as a type 1 diabetic, you're really meant to eat a low-carb diet. It's just healthier for me. So, eating a high-carb/low-protein diet, like many vegans do, does not work for me.

Now, you might go, "Eat nuts then. Nuts have protein." That is somewhat true, however, nuts are extremely high in calories (Yes, I understand that the calorie argument is not a popular one). However, as a type 1 diabetic, it is extremely important that I maintain a healthy weight, and I calorie count for this reason. I've tried the whole "Just eat healthy food and don't worry about the calories" methodology and I gained a significant amount of weight which increased my insulin resistance (not good, mate). Additionally, I'm slightly allergic to nuts and if I eat a lot of them, I feel nauseated and inflamed. So, basically, trying to get a good source of protein/a large part of my nutrients from nuts does not fly for me.

Of course, legumes have protein, and I do eat a large amount of legumes. I've just found that the amount of protein I get from legumes isn't really enough for me. I get lightheaded and dizzy throughout the day if I try to eat only fruit, veg, and legumes.

That being said, I love veganism. I was raised as a vegetarian and my father is a vegan. I make most of the recipes I post on here vegan because I fully support the vegan movement, I don't eat dairy, and I just don't see why food shouldn't be vegan if there's a vegan alternative. There's no need for everything to have eggs and dairy in it. I try to eat as vegan as I possibly can. However, I, personally, need to eat a low-carb/high-protein diet because of my own body's needs.

Therefore, I really don't approve of moralistic veganism. Many people can't eat vegan for whatever reason, or just don't want to. I believe that what you eat is entirely up to you, and you shouldn't have to be carnivore-shamed. If you can eat vegan, if you want to eat vegan, if you do eat vegan, thank you! You are helping our environment and abstaining from animal cruelty. If you can't eat vegan, if you don't want to eat vegan, if you don't eat vegan, I fully support you. Don't let vegans shame you and tell you that if you just did this or that you would be fine. It is your body. It is your decision. Ultimately, no one else knows what's right for you besides you (and doctors/dieticians).