The BEST Vegan "Crab" Dip Ever.

This may easily be one of my favorite dips of all time. 

Adapted ever so slightly from PractiGantic's recipe, 

you won't be able to stop making this and sharing it with everyone you know. 

Best if prepared the night before, or has a few hours to sit before serving.

Vegan Crab Dip (takes about 25-30 min to prepare):

28 oz heart of palm (found canned near canned artichokes etc.)
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

16 oz vegan cream cheese, softened (Kite Hill highly recommended for best taste)
1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise 

1 red bell pepper diced small

4 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 cup red onion, diced small

3 tbsp green onions, diced

4 oz pimiento, drained and diced small
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
dash of cayenne pepper
dash of freshly ground sea salt
a few dashes of Old Bay Seasoning

First, mince the garlic, then drain and chop the heart of palm into varying shapes and sizes to act as the crab in the dip. Don't worry if some starts to shred, as you sautee it this will happen to some pieces and that is perfectly fine.

Next you're going to sautee the garlic and heart of palm in the olive oil over low heat until the heart of palm browns. Keeping the heat low, allow this to occur as you prep the remainder of the dip, stirring with a spatula occasionally.

For the next steps - if you're short on time, you can just add all of the ingredients (except Old Bay) together in a bowl while the heart of palm sautees. But, I find doing it in the following order allows the seasonings to flavor the cream cheese and mayo base the best. 

First add the cream cheese and mayonnaise to a large mixing bowl and combine together. Then add the Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice and mix well.

Next, add all of the dry ingredients (except the Old Bay) to the dip, mix together well, then set aside to marinate while you prep the rest of the ingredients. Dry Ingredients: paprika, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, freshly ground sea salt.

Head back over to the heart of palm, add a light dash of Old Bay Seasoning and a grind of pepper, stir together well, and continue to let brown.

Next, dice all the veggies (red bell pepper, red onion, green onion, pimientos), and add them to the dip as well and stir together.

By now your heart of palm should be almost ready. Add another dash of Old Bay and continue to sautee until ready. Then remove from the heat and let cool.

Once cooled, fold the heart of palm into the dip and mix together well. I enjoy serving this dip cold after it's had the chance to sit for a few hours first, or overnight, but sometimes it's just too hard to wait! Enjoy!

Dairy-Free Creamy Queso Dip

One of my favorite recipes, made entirely of veggies and whole foods, 

it's tastes so good, it's so versatile, and so healthy too!

Dairy-Free Creamy Queso Dip:

3 organic russet potatoes
3 organic carrots
1 organic small yellow onion
1 organic red pepper
1/2 cup organic cashews
lemon juice from 1/2 an organic lemon
15oz diced tomatoes and green chillies

Optional: 1/2 or whole packet of taco seasoning
Optional: organic diced jalapeño


Peel the potatoes, carrots, and onion and deseed the pepper. Add them all to a pot of boiling water along with the cashews and boil until potatoes, carrots, and cashews are soft. About 15-20 min.

Set aside about 1 cup of of the water used for boiling incase you need to thin out the dip, and then add the drained cooked veggies, cashews, and lemon juice to a high speed blender or food processor and blend until smooth, adding about a tablespoon of reserved water at a time to thin out only if needed.

Once blended, add to a small sauce pot over low-medium heat and stir in the the tomatoes and green chillies. This is also when you would begin to add the taco seasoning and diced jalapeño to taste if you want.

Serve warm and enjoy! I also find this freezes well if you end up having extra or want to make it ahead of time.

Perfect to top these Twice Baked Potatoes with,

or dip these Southwest Taco Wontons into!

Clam-less New England Clam Chowder

Clam-less New England Clam Chowder:
makes 8-10 servings


Blend Together:

1 cup organic whole cashews, boiled
1 organic russet potato, boiled
- boil the potato and cashews together until soft and before blending, don't discard water
2 tbsp of the cashew/potato water
1 1/2 cup organic unsweetened almond milk
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp garlic powder

Cook in Vegetable Broth:

2 cups organic low sodium vegetable broth
1 organic yellow onion, diced
2 organic celery stalks, diced
2-3 large potatoes, chopped - skin on or off, your preference
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
2 tbsp garbanzo bean flour (may or may not be needed)

Sautee Mushrooms:

10.5 oz organic oyster mushrooms, chopped to the size of clams in chowder
1/4 cup water
1 tsp organic miso paste
1/2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar


Begin by adding the vegetable broth, onion, celery, potato, oregano, and thyme to a pot, bring to a simmer, partially cover and allow to cook, stirring occasionally.

Set the cashews and potato to boil. While they are boiling, add all other ingredients in "Blend Together" to your blender and set aside.

Next, combine the water, miso paste, soy sauce, and apple cider vinegar and whisk together. Add the mixture to a frying pan over medium heat and sauté with the mushrooms until the mushrooms have absorbed the liquid. Once they have, remove from heat and set aside.

Once the potato and cashew are soft, add them to the blender, along with 2 tbsp of the water they were boiled in (more if needed depending on your blender) and blend everything together until mixture is smooth and set aside.

Once the vegetables in the vegetable broth are mostly cooked, add the cream mixture from the blender and stir together. Allow to simmer together for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, test the chowder for taste and thickness. If it needs to be thickened, add 1-2 tbsp of garbanzo flour and also add more pepper, and other spices to taste if needed.

Finally, add the mushrooms and stir together completely. Allow to cook together for another 5 minutes and then enjoy!

I especially love this chowder the next day, as I feel the flavors really get a chance to blend together overnight.


Healthy Life Tip: With all soups, I suggest making enough to save for lunches or quick dinners later in the week!

The Healthy Life's Banana Bread

There's nothing quite like a slice warm banana bread on a weekend morning... I even like to toast mine and add a little vegan butter on top! But between the sugar, fat, cholesterol and other stuff, that one slice of banana bread can wreak havoc on your system and start your day of in a not-so-healthy kind of way. So, using an old family recipe (one of my favorites growing up), I set out to make a healthier version with the same great flavor...
and it was so much easier than I thought! In just two attempts, I bring you

The Healthy Life's Banana Bread!

The Healthy Life's Banana Bread:

makes 10 slices

2 cups organic whole grain oat flour 

2 tsp organic baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp organic baking soda

1/4 cup organic cane sugar

1/3 cup organic unsweetened applesauce

1 neategg

2 cups mashed ripe organic bananas (4-5 bananas)

1 tsp organic vegan butter (to grease pan with) 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease bread pan.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and set aside. 

Mash the bananas, measure out 2 cups, then set aside.

In large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and applesauce together well. Prepare the neategg according to direction (combine 2 tbsp water and 1 tbsp of neategg mixture, and mix well), add to the sugar and applesauce and mix together completely. 

Add about 1/3 of the dry mixture to the large mixing bowl with applesauce mixture and combine. Then add about 1/3 of the bananas to the large mixing bowl and combine again. Repeat this process until all ingredients have been combined well into the large mixing bowl. 

Add mixture to the greased baking pan and bake for about 45-55 minutes, depending on your oven. 

Test the center of the bread with a toothpick and once it comes out clean, remove the bread from the oven, allow it to cool for several minutes, and enjoy!

A package of neategg was gifted to me by Neat Foods LLC.

Sweet Corn Salsa

I love this recipe for so many reasons! This salsa has a great pop of flavor and it's perfect any time of year and at any occasion! I especially love it outdoors in the summer! It's so easy to make and all of the veggies can easily be prepped the night before! Enjoy this super healthy salsa knowing it's made entirely of real, whole foods!

Sweet Corn Salsa:

16oz organic sweet corn
1 organic jalapeño, diced
1 organic poblano pepper, diced
3/4 organic red onion, diced
1/2 freshly chopped organic cilantro
juice from 2 organic limes
juice from 2 organic lemons


Dice the jalapeño, pepper, and onion and combine with the sweet corn. Chop the cilantro and mix in with the veggies. Finally squeeze the juice from the lemons and limes onto the veggies and mix together and enjoy!

Serve this alongside some Southwest Taco Wontons & Avocado Lime Dip to really step it up a notch!