This just may be responsible for a puddle of drool on keyboards across the Globe.
Including my own.
Meet Trader Joe’s Sunflower Seed Butter and a Gala Apple!
In unison, they make something I’d like to call Crunchy Buttaaaah.
I will not rest until the smooth, buttery, sweetness meets my lips once again.
Until then, I present to you another Afternoon Powersnack recipe!
This recipe is a wake-up call for when your forehead feels like it is going to meet the keyboard at the strike of 3pm. DONG!
Start with pumpkin.
Most importantly, add chocolate lava.
Not just any chocolate lava though…high-protein chocolate lava!
And carob lava.
And a hint of sweetness because that is a lot of pumpkin!
Boom.
Meet Chocolate Carob Pumpkin Pudding! It is high-fibre, high-protein, and packed with nutrients!
High Protein Chocolate Carob Pumpkin Pudding
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups canned pumpkin
- 1/2 cup Vega Chocolate Protein Powder (or other sweet chocolate protein powder)
- 2-3 tbsp carob powder, to taste
- 3/4 cup Almond Milk
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- Drizzle of maple syrup, to garnish
- Unsweetened coconut, to garnish
Directions: Scoop the canned pumpkin into a medium sized bowl. In another medium sized bowl, scoop the Vega protein powder and carob powder and mix. Add 3/4 cup Almond Milk and whisk well until all clumps are gone. Add this mixture to the pumpkin and mix well. Now add the maple syrup, 1 tbsp at a time. Adjust to taste. Add more syrup if necessary. Garnish with coconut.
Makes four, 1/2 cup servings at 140 kcals, 2 grams fat, 8 grams fibre, 7 grams protein.
This healthy pudding is nice because it isn’t super sweet and overwhelming, but I will warn you it is nothing like the pudding I used to eat as a child (you remember those Jell-O packs?). This is healthy pudding made with pumpkin so keep that in mind! You can modify it any way you wish. If it isn’t sweet enough, add more sweetener. If you want less sweetener in it, you can have it without. I added a couple tablespoons of maple syrup and was quite happy with the result. I really like that there are 8 grams of fibre and 7 grams of protein per half cup. It is very filling!
VegNews: The Vegetarian and Vegan Movement in Canada
Several months ago I told you that I was interviewed for a VegNews magazine article. Well, it is finally in print in their Sept + Oct 2010 issue!
The article is on the vegetarian and vegan movement in Canada and I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it!
I highly recommend checking out this Food issue if you can get your hands on a copy. It features over 115 veg recipes too.
VegNews also has a wonderful Tree-Free subscription option. Instead of getting a magazine you will be delivered an on-screen digital edition. Cool stuff, right?
I really love this quote from the article, written by Moira Nordholt,
“Canadian vegetarians are in the business of making a compassionate lifestyle hip, accessible, and mainstream…As evidenced everywhere from way up north in Whitehorse, where the city’s second vegan restaurant is set to open this year, to Vancouver, where innovation in vegan foods is taking all of North America by storm, to Montreal, where the raw vegan movement is growing like Wheatgrass, there’s an evolution happening in the Great White North. Suddenly, vegan is en vogue. There’s long been a veg movement in Canada, but it is now driven by a seemingly unstoppable momentum.”
I am on the right below. :)
It will be fun to see how the movement continues to spread across Canada in the future. :)
Is there a vegetarian or vegan movement where you live? Are vegetarian and vegan foods readily accessible?
In Brussels there a some vegetarian restaurants, some with vegan dishes, otherwise most restaurants don’t even offer vegetarian options. Or the good ole pasta with vegetables. I love me some pasta with vegetables, but some originality would be appreciated, thank you very much. Just to give you an idea of what vegetarians / vegans go through: people:”oh, so you’re a vegetarian? It’s ok, there’s fish” – me:” o_O. Thing is, I don’t eat fish, fish is still animal after all” – people: “oh, so you’re a vegan” – me: “o_O” and I explain. I’ve heard that countless times in Belgium and France, you have no idea.
Then when I go to the UK, absolutely no problem, most restaurants carry vegetarian / vegan options. And on a side note in London there are several Whole Foods, the one on Brewer Sreet is where I want to spend the rest of my life.
But I’m sold, we’re moving to Canada :-D
In London it’s fantastic but here in Cambridge it’s diabolical. There is only one vegetarian restaurant in the whole town. Granted some of the better restaurants will do you vegan food if you phone ahead about 2 days, but really it’s pathetic!! Clearly there is a gap in the market. Perhaps we need a UK Glo Bar Franchise!!
What is good about the UK is all our food is labelled with “contains eggs” “contains milk” etc so it’s easy to see what you can eat and what you can’t without trawling through the ingredients.
It certainly looks good. I love pumpkin and I bet the maple syrup would be a perfect addition to it. Love your quote and their description of you. You certainly are compassionate!
Ahhhh, SO cool!!!! I love that magazine!!! I’ll definitely have to pick up this issue!
Oooh, that pudding sounds so good! Pumpkin makes me all excited for fall.
I love reading things like this! I hope veganism (and vegetarianism) really IS spreading. There are so many benefits to this way of eating – ethical, environmental and health.
I feel so lucky to live in Toronto – being a vegan here is absolutely effortless. There are tons of vegan restaurants (I accidentally stumbled on yet another one when running on Sunday) and we even have a fabulous all-vegan supermarket (“Panacea” in the Annex – they are AMAZING; the only store where I never have to read ingredient lists).
There isn’t where I live, but an organic/vegetarian/health sort of craze has always been in Taiwan. Well, in my aunt, at least. So many products are sold as organic, and non-water-added (on biscuits. Because apparently there have been scams where they add water instead of milk to biscuits to make them cheaper to produce) and vegetarian, and there’s a lot of Buddhists in Taiwan so there are vegan products as well.
i am making this IMMEDIATELY! what a genius idea! i gotta find cacao nibs for some extra crunch too…and now i’m drooling… :)
Mmm, that pudding looks so delicious and healthy! You can’t go wrong with pumpkin and chocolate together. Major congrats on the VegNews interview, that is awesome! :)
WOW that looks good!
Yay Canada :)
I’m pretty lucky here in Cali..we have a lot of vegetarian and vegan options all over the place. Much better than when I lived in the Midwest ;)
Congrats on the article! It looks great and I’m going to get the online version. I don’t read regular magazine much any more.
That apple looks divine. It is my favorite fall…heck anytime treat.
Congrats on the article! I can’t wait to check it out!
I think I’m pretty luck to have moved to Toronto only a year after becoming vegetarian as I have only rarely had problems in restaurants around here and there are so MANY alternative restaurants to choose from, not to mention the Toronto Vegetarian Food Festival (coming up in just a few short weeks) that I go to every year!
I live in a very, very small town close to other small towns….so there is very very little in the way of vegetarian/vegan options. BUT we’re only about 45 minutes from Moncton NB…so if I wanted a special night out I can head there!!
Angela… your pudding looks delicious!
Years ago people who were interested in vegetarianism were considered weird granola “extremists” and we (at least I) had never heard about veganism. Nowadays it’s quite the opposite. Vegetarianism/veganism have become mainstream and a growing number of people now emphasize vegetarian fare in their diet, especially with everything we hear about the meat industry’s doubtful practices.
My friends and I are not vegans or vegetarians, but we enjoy going out to vegan restaurants as they are becoming quite popular in Montreal and the food they offer is so good! I actually would be perfectly happy being a vegetarian but for health reasons I don’t have a choice but to include meat/fish protein from time to time.
Nine months out of the year I live in Eugene, Oregon which is a fairly “hippy” town. There are many vegetarians and vegans in there, and there are also many vegetarian and vegan restaurants to support it. It’s very cool.
thats great that its becoming more accessable, makes being vegan and healthy living a whole lot easier eh!
I cannot wait until pumpkin hits the shelves again!! I know Libby’s was the only one effected by the shortage..but I can’t even find the organic variety!
Chocolate + Pumpkin is heavens gift to earth. Pumpkin is so glorious.
Thanks for sharing this creation!
Wow, what a breakfast, YUM! I also am highly addicted to Pumpkin! I have so many recipes containing pumpkin that are still not posted on my meal blog, soon enough though. I am still trying to love the Summer foods:) One goal (movement) I have enocouraged is to have everyone in my circle and my clients to have a “Meatless” Day or Meat-less Monday once a week. The repsonse it awesome and most are happy to try it and actually feel great about doing so.