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Dairy-free Eggnog {Paleo + Keto-friendly}
This Dairy-free Eggnog is creamy, rich, frothy and can be made with or without alcohol for a delicious holiday treat!
Holiday traditions of the edible and drinkable persuasion, those are as powerful and important as any others. But the traditional, seasonal foods of today, they pale in comparison to those our grandparents enjoyed. Store bought eggnog is generally loaded with tons of sugar and corn syrup, artificial flavors, pasteurized and denatured dairy, theres gums and other stabilizers and who knows what else. Even the vegan nogs at the store, the amount of sugar in there is just insanity and there’s so much non-food products hidden within. For me, it’s just not worth it, even if just once a year, especially when you can make your own and kill it!
While I prefer to avoid most dairy and have developed a pretty solid vegan eggnog recipe in the past, I realized recently that I was shorting myself on a pretty rad eggnog experience by skipping out on the eggs. Like, why was I doing that? I mean, after all, it wasn’t called “cashewnog” for the last however many decades. Why had it never dawned on me to meet in the middle with my nog, drop the dairy, keep the eggs, sweeten accordingly.
This homemade dairy-free eggnog has the same creamy, richness of a traditional eggnog, with a really, nice, light frothiness that I prefer to a super duper, heavy cream-loaded nog. Thanks to the separated yolks and whites (inspired by this recipe), it’s simple to make but the texture is perfect every time. It’s the perfect balance of creamy and frothy. This is a really solid base recipe and from here you can play with spices and flavorings. Try a Bourbon Maple version, or maybe a Pumpkin Spiced rendition, add in some pumpkin puree and pie spice, maybe cinnamon liquor in the mix. Or Gingersnap inspired with a little molasses and ginger or gingersnap liquor.
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Banana Nog Smoothie – Gluten-free + Vegan
It is likely you have noticed how quiet things have been around here on Tasty Yummies. We have been traveling up a storm over here this holiday season to different events and fairs all over the east coast. In the last month we have been to Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Chicago and Pittsburgh. As of this past weekend, are finally done traveling for the year! At the start of the crazy month of travel, in mid-November, we got an offer on our house. YAY!!! Closing is scheduled for early January. I honestly cannot believe it’s all really happening.
So, besides being overwhelmed with all of the travel and the holidays, we are in the midst of selling our house and figuring out packing up all of our personal and business related belongings to relocate to California in early 2013. I don’t consider myself a stressful person or a worrier in the least, but I have to say, we haven’t even really begun packing up boxes and all of that real stuff, and I am kinda already freaking a little bit. Hubby, of course, continuously reassures me it is all fine and everything will all get done, but I cannot quiet the constant voice in my head reading the long list of the many things that need to get done before closing (and having to be totally moved out) next month, a month from yesterday to be exact. I have surprisingly only moved once in my adult life and that was from living at home with my parents to buying my first home at 23, 9 years ago. So, I am just a bit overwhelmed.
As you can imagine, between the travels, running the business, preparing for the move and dealing with all the holiday fun of shopping and such, there just hasn’t been much leftover time for me to play in the kitchen. That is the only bummer about all of it. Obviously as with most painful things in life, it is temporary. This time will pass and be over before I know it. Doesn’t make it all any easier though.
I have been eating well and cooking every single chance I get, but the time to create new recipes, set up photo shoots, edit photos, etc – just doesn’t seem to be there right now and I have tried to do my best to accept that, as much as I am not exactly happy about it. I will obviously be sharing recipes whenever I can, I am not totally disappearing, I just wanted to explain the quiet and lack of recipes. Oh and I have some really fun end of the year stuff planned for the end of the month here on the blog, so stay tuned for that.
In the meantime, I created this tasty smoothie this morning after yoga. By the way, another quick side note yoga has been my saving grace this past month. That is one thing that I have made sure to find as many free moments for right now. I need it. It has helped keep me grounded (mostly) and has allowed me to quiet my mind, even if only temporarily, in a way that nothing else can. I am so grateful for my practice every day, but especially in times like this. OK, back to the tasty smoothie…. I wanted to create something that really had some holiday flare to it. I am a Christmas junkie and I have been trying to take in and cherish every single moment of it this year. I like to squeeze in the holiday cheer wherever I can. So, what better way than with the classic flavors of egg nog, in a healthy and hearty smoothie. I actually had planned on using canned coconut milk since I have plentyin the pantry but I had some So Delicious Coconut Milk Nog in the fridge (which I am admittedly addicted to) so I thought that would really bring on the extra nog flavor. Obviously this would be equally as delicious with just coconut plain milk. Feel free to sweeten and spice to your liking. Since I used the nog and my banana was nice and sweet, I didn’t add any sweetener and I went with the below measurements for spices, you may want more though, depending on how strong a flavor you are looking for. This smoothie would of course also be delicious with a shot (or two) of your favorite spirit if you really want to celebrate!
[print_this]Banana Nog Smoothie
makes 1 large serving or 2 smaller servings- 1 cup organic coconut milk – the canned kind (or for even more flavor, opt for your favorite vegan eggnog, instead)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened organic vanilla almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 1 frozen banana
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of cloves
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 small handful ice cubes
Optional – 1 tablespoon maple syrup, honey or other sweetener if it isn’t sweet enough for you)
Add all of the ingredients to your blender and blend on a high speed until thick and creamy. Give it a quick taste and adjust any seasonings or sweetness to your liking. Sprinkle a little nutmeg and/or cinnamon on top. Serve right away. [/print_this]
