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One of my favorite parts of the Live Your Fitness Retreat was the ability to share a few of my favorite easy and healthy eats.

Whether it’s gluten-free, vegan, paleo or “regular” cooking, my goal has always been to show that cooking healthy doesn’t mean spending hours in the kitchen OR sacrificing flavor. In fact, when you learn how to experiment with different types of diets, you open yourself up to a new culinary world!

I’m no longer vegan, but I still love vegan cooking and often incorporate many of the methods into our daily meals.

Most often, it’s my vegan cheese.

For the retreat, I needed to stick to a dairy free and gluten-free diet for many of the ladies. And I immediately knew I wanted to make my vegan goat cheese.

Above is a blueberry goat cheese topped with a seared scallop.

Can I just say, I was even blown away with these. So freaking amazing. They disapperaed in 60 seconds. No joke.

And for the rest of the weekend, all I heard was, “how do you make that vegan cheese, again?”

So here it is. Except this time instead of blueberries, I’m sharing an herb coated goat cheese.

Oh, and my favorite… sweet vegan cream cheese!

Because why stop at just one simple recipe when you can play around and make 2!

First things first…

Vegan Goat Cheese

• 2 Cups Cashews
• 2-3 Tbsp Water
• 1 Garlic Clove
• 2 Tsp Italian Seasoning

Yup that is all it takes. It’s amazing how cheesy and creamy cashews are!

So here’s what you do with them…

1. Soak cashews in water for 60 minutes, drain
2. Place cashews, water, and garlic in a food processor and blend until smooth. If needed add more water, tablespoon by tablespoon.
3. Lay out a piece of parchment paper, and sprinkle evenly with seasoning. Place cheese on top and roll into a log. Place in freezer for an hour or more to set.
4. Remove, allow time to soften and enjoy! For a creamier, dip/spread option, place EVERYTHING in processor and enjoy right away. No need to freeze into a log.

For a quick appetizer, I paired the goat cheese with all natural chicken sausage!

*If you’re interested in the blueberry version, the recipe is the same, except instead of Italian Seasoning, use ⅓ cup dried blueberries and pulse into cheese mix

Sweet Vegan Cream Cheese

Who doesn’t love cream cheese? It’s Dan’s guilty pleasure… with a bagel loaded with it.

During the summer, my favorite sweet treat is an angel food cake with a cream cheese icing, then covered with berries. It’s so good!

That summer cake was the inspiration for this.

Just like the goat cheese, nuts are going to play the central “cheese” roll…

Macadamia Nuts that is. They have a natural sweet taste to them that is simply divine!

• 2 Cups Macadamia Nuts
• 2-3 Tbsp Water
• 1 Tsp White Vinegar
• 2 Tsp Stevia (powder)

1. Soak macadamia nuts in water for 60 minutes, drain
2. Place nuts, water, vinegar and stevia in a food processor and blend until smooth. If needed add more water, tablespoon by tablespoon.
3. Seriously, it’s that easy! Top your favorite cookies, cakes, cupcakes, or crackers with the cream cheese plus some beautiful berries!

Just in time for the 4th, right?

Both of these recipes are so delicious and even if you’re not vegan or dairy free, you’ll love them.

Often times, I’ll pull some goat cheese out of the freezer (I keep a stash) and add it to sauces for dinner. So good! Trust me, okay?

Personally, I LOVE a good brie. Topped with a bit of spicy pepper jelly. Yum!

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