Guilt-free Treats to Satisfy Your Sweet Desires!

Elysabeth has an interesting story about her journey to veganism. It started when she was about five years old and she would avoid eating meat because she didn’t like the texture. Her parents forced her to eat it, so she grew up thinking she had to eat meat. When she was older she would opt to eat vegetarian food, but she didn’t claim her vegetarianism because she thought she would be perceived as abnormal. More recently, her athletic nephew came home for Thanksgiving break and said his college coach put him on a vegan diet. This was the affirmation she needed to go vegan. For the first time in her life, Elysabeth felt like she had permission to be a vegan. Elysabeth has an extensive background in journalism, working with various broadcasting companies like PBS, NPR, WGN Radio, Chicago’s Channel 19, The Chicago Sun-Times, Huff Post, L’Etudiant, and more. Now Elysabeth is using her experience and talent to help further the movement for veganism and animal rights. She hosts a weekly podcast called Awesome Vegans where she interviews amazing vegans. This Monday tune into JaneUnchained on Facebook for her podcast with special guest Ed Begley Jr.

Renée is self-proclaimed “book-a-holic” and she shares a couple of her favorite books related to animal rights and veganism with us. She recommends Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows, by Dr. Melanie Joy. This book explains societal norms and the term carnism, which was coined by Dr. Melanie Joy to describe the double standard people have for different species of animals. Renée also recommends The Slow Down Diet, by Mark David, in which he explains that enjoying each meal is the best way to eat for your overall health. One of Renée’s passions is helping negotiate the release of animals in adverse conditions. The book, Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depends On It, by Chris Bosch helped Renee to learn the types of skills she would need to be an effective hostage negotiator for non-human animals. She is ready and willing to teach anyone that is interested in helping animals to learn how to effectively negotiate for them.

Elysabeth and Renée whip up these guilt-free extra sugar-free muffins up in minutes. Elysabeth says just “add all the ingredients together, and move on.” Isn’t that the best kind of recipe?  The best part of this recipe is that the muffins are sweetened by sweet plants. Elysabeth uses super ripe bananas, carrots, and date juice to add natural sweetness. There is no flour or butter, but these muffins are still packed with flavor! Paige says they remind her of her grandmas oatmeal cookies. Try making your own guilt-free muffins at home and feel good eating them with the recipe below!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 medium) very ripe Banana, mashed

1 and 1/2 cups Rolled Oats

1/2 cup Pumpkin, unsweetened

1 cup shredded unsweetened Coconut

1 Tbsp Maple Syrup

2 Tbsp Date Syrup

1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 TSP Salt

1/2 TSP Pumpkin Spice

1 TSP Cinnamon

2 TBSP Soy Milk

3/4 cup Raisins

1 cup diced and shredded carrots

 

In a large bowl, add all ingredients together and mix thoroughly with a large spoon.  EITHER put batter in muffin tin with parchment cups and bake for 23-minutes, or put in 5×7 inch small baking dish with parchment paper and bake for 25-minutes to make bars or spoon onto baking sheet with parchment paper for 15-minutes for cookies.  Temperature is 350 degrees.  Enjoy as there is NO SUGAR, NO FLOUR and NO BUTTER in this sweet and healthy treat.