Blogiversary + Veganniversary + Birthday Cake Smoothie

This healthy Birthday Cake Smoothie is a great drink to treat yourself to anytime. Full of good fats and protein packed, skip the dessert and go for this cake-mimicking smoothie instead!

Well, April 25th was Todd and my two year blogiversary and veganniversary. Another one come and gone and too much excitement already happening (housebuilding and cookbook) to evenly properly celebrate, can you imagine?! It's only been two years since we simultaneously decided to go completely vegan, and start a blog as an outlet to our new adventure but it sure feels like we've lived this way our whole lives.

Who would have known the adopting a vegan lifestyle would reduce Todd to the lowest dose of Methotrexate for this rheumatoid arthritis! Just by cutting out dairy, eggs, and meat?! He felt so much better, there was no turning back and then the blog just grew from there. It wasn't filled with the potential struggles of being vegan like I thought it would be. Nope, rather Produce On Parade became a celebration of this new way of life and the amazing food that goes with it. Add as time went on were reviews of wonderful vegan products, news and information regarding veganism and wellness, and of course a new Dutch word every post too. 

A lot has changed from two years ago. I never thought I'd be smack in the middle of building a home (yesterday was our second kitchen design appointment and today was bathrooms!) and writing a cookbook (over halfway done!). It's been a pretty crazy ride but I wouldn't change it for anything. Adopting a vegan lifestyle and starting Produce On Parade have been two of the most life-changing and exciting things in our lives. I can't wait to see what the next two years have in store! And for fun, here is look back to our one year blogiversary/veganniversary in which a salted caramel chocolate tart made a grand appearance. 

Thanks so much for supporting Produce On Parade in all we do over here. I love hearing from each and every one of you! You all always have the kindest things to say, especially in a world that's sometimes not so friendly. I wish you were all my neighbors so we could celebrate each new day with delicious, cruelty-free food and give each other advice on which vegan deodorant to use (you think I'm joking but I'm really not). I have the best readers and friends around. Thank you. 

And now onto some serious stuff. Protein! Protein powder that is. I don't really use the stuff a whole lot, but Todd does and he approves of the new line from Sunwarrior...Classic Plus! Check out it's awesome stats:

• Organic & vegan (hooray!)

• Raw & plant-based

• Made with amaranth, quinoa, chia seeds, yellow peas, and brown rice

• Gluten-free

• Sweetened with stevia

• 18 grams of protein per serving

• Chocolate, Vanilla, and Natural

Totally full of good stuff right? I thought it would be the perfect addition to this Cake Batter Smoothie. Want to try it out yourself? Sunwarrior is hosting a giveaway! Click the link to enter to win a protein powder starter pack!

Birthday Cake Smoothie

By Katie Henry - Produce On Parade

This healthy Birthday Cake Smoothie is a great drink to treat yourself to anytime. Full of good fats and protein packed, skip the dessert and go for this cake-mimicking smoothie instead!

Ingredients

• 1 cup non-dairy milk
• 1 scoop (25 g) Sunwarrior Classic Plus Vanilla Protein Powder
• ½ medium frozen banana, sliced
• 1 small avocado, pitted
• ½ tsp almond extract
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp butter extract
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• dash of kosher salt
• dash of birthday sprinkles, optional

Ingredients

1. Place everything excluding the sprinkles in the blender and blend on high for about 1 minute, until smooth and creamy.
2. Top with sprinkles and serve chilled.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 00:00
Total time: 00:05
Yield: 1 smoothie

More Great Smoothie Recipes

Malted Chocolate Shake

Chocolate Banana Muffin Smoothie

Creamy Chai Banana-Avo Smoothie

French Toast Smoothie

Malted Chocolate Shake

I'll be honest with you...I don't use protein powder. I'd rather throw some black beans in my smoothies, or peanut butter, or tofu. All fantastic sources of protein. I find protein powder to be too expensive, too artificial, and if it's vegan (which can be hard to come by) it can be grainy or chalky. So, you can imagine my hesitation when Sunwarrior contacted me about participating in their smoothie challenge. 

However, protein powder has it's place in life and Sunwarrior is one of the very best. Todd actually uses it quite frequently. For someone that needs an instant meal and doesn't have much culinary experience (or desire to be in the kitchen), it can be a wonderful thing indeed.

This weekend, Todd ran up the mountain I grew up on and where he proposed. I was under the weather so I stayed home with Bailey. Bailey can't do this mountain. The last time Todd brought him, he had to carry him back down...literally.  It's exceptionally steep and very unforgiving, though for some reason it's been bestowed the unfortunate and ironic name "Lazy Mountain". A joke, no doubt. I knew when he came back he would need a recovery drink and this Malted Chocolate Shake was just the thing. I had to put it in the fridge to keep myself from drinking all of it! Recipe development...almost as strenuous as running up a mountain...

I confess I was really pleasantly surprised by the Sunwarrior products. I have tasted a few other vegan protein powders in the past couple years and I was less than impressed. Even the fermented barley powders and liquid light  were really not bad! The immune shield liquid, however, was straight-up horrible. Though I'm pretty sure it's not the point to taste delicious. I really like that their products are free of GMOs, dairy, gluten and anything artificial. They also weren't gritty like other the powders I've tried. 

Growing up, my grandmother used to make me malted chocolate shakes. Alas, the instant chocolate malt powder isn't cruelty-free, so I decided to make my own! This is a protein packed shake thanks to a little help from Sunwarrior and nothing is better than a little nostalgia from time to time.

“Animals are my friends...and I don’t eat my friends.”

— George Bernard Shaw

Malted Chocolate Shake

Growing up, my grandmother used to make me malted chocolate shakes. Alas, the instant chocolate malt powder isn't cruelty-free, so I decided to make my own! This is a protein packed shake thanks to a little help from Sunwarrior.

Yield: 1 shake

Ingredients

• 1 cup soymilk
• 1/2 frozen banana, chopped
• 1 package (21 g) Sun Warrior Classic Protein Powder Chocolate
• 1-2 tbsp barley malt sweetener (I used powder, but syrup would work)
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tbsp ground flax seed
• pinch of salt

Cooking Directions

1. Combine everything in a blender, and blend for a minute or two until completely smooth. Serve cold.

Dutch Word of The Day

Mountain --> berg (bearh)

Good Deed of The Day

I'm so glad this case is being presented in front of Congress. How totally messed up are we? Studying depression and trauma inflicted upon baby monkeys being separated from their mothers so we can better understand these illnesses in humans. If humans and these monkeys are close enough related that it makes sense we could implement this study...doesn't that prove that it's totally barbaric and horrifically cruel that these studies are being carried out? If it's not ethical to do this to humans, it shouldn't be to do it to moneys either...or any other sentient beings. Makes me sick inside. 

Magnificent Mango Shake

“I recommend a plant-based diet because I know it’s going to lower their blood pressure, improve their insulin sensitivity, and decrease their cholesterol.”

— Dr. Kim A. Williams, vegan and president-elect of the American College of Cardiology, in yesterday's New York Times

Last weekend was my very beautiful BFF's wedding. She was unbelievably gorgeous you guys and it was an immensely joy filled, sunny day. 100% completely stunning. For your viewing pleasure, below, is a totally badass photo. In case you're wondering, yes,  this is what I look like all the time. Complete with a bouquet of wildflowers.

Okay, that might not be true but my face usually looks like that, which embodies a, "Don't mess with me, I'm super tough" attitude. Fine, fine, that's not true either. It is true, however, that I am a profoundly unphotogenic subject and any decent photo of me is usually candid, like this one. I have no absolutely no idea why I was standing that way, but it works. At least I wasn't picking a wedgie or something. I love all the groomsman just being silly boys in the background. So handsome, huh?!

What a fabulous day! Anyway, moving on. Remember a couple posts ago when I was confessing that we only had mangoes and sweet potatoes in the house because I haven't been able to make it to the store...in like a month? Yes, well, another mango recipe...I'm sorry. God, I hope you all like mangoes (who doesn't?!) I swear this is the end of mangoes and sweet potatoes for some time to come. Pinky promise. Wait, scratch that...I can't promise that. I love them both so much! 

You need this little beauty in your life. 

print recipe

Magnificent Mango Shake

by Katie @ Produce on Parade August-8-2014

A magnificent vegan, mint, lime, and ginger infused mango shake. It embodies the taste of summer and is free from soy, nuts, and bananas! Note: Use a fresh, juicy ripe mango you cube yourself, as opposed to pre-frozen chunks. It will be much more flavorful.

Ingredients

• 1/2 can (7 oz.) full-fat coconut milk
• 1 frozen mango, cubed
• 6 fresh mint leaves
• ½ Tbsp. lime juice
• ½-1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
• small sprinkling of ground cardamom, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Add everything to a high-speed blender, beginning with the milk. Blend on high until very smooth and creamy. Serve cold and with a small sprinkling of ground cardamom

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: Total time: 5 mins Yield: 1

German Word of The Day

Camera shake --> Verwacklungsunschärfe (ver-vahk-loongs-un-shelfa) Oh you Germans are so crazy! I have a lot of Verwacklungsunschärfe with my terribly shaky hands. 

Good Deed of The Day

Umm...this is 110% freaking awesomeness. The president-elect of the American College of Cardiology is vegan and wants you to be too, for your health. My hats off to this sensible, awesome-sauce, rad MD. Better listen to the good doctor. Read about it in yesterday's New York Times.