What better way to celebrate
World Vegan Day than to watch an adorable video from Lightlife of a farm made of vegetables? It is AMAZING how they created the farm animals using veggies.
I am truly inspired!
Category Archives: Holidays
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
Here is a round-up of some of my favorite pumpkin recipes…my daughter began her day with the oatmeal. Have a happy and safe Halloween!!!
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Filed under Appetizers, Beans/Legumes, Breakfast, Dessert, Frozen Treats, Gluten Free, Holiday, Holidays, Ice Cream, Kid Friendly, Pudding / Mousse, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian
FALL CANDLE DISPLAY
Pinterest continues to inspire me to be more creative around the house. I decided to update the large candle display on my kitchen island for Fall and wanted something that would work for both Halloween and Thanksgiving (BEFORE is the picture on the left, AFTER is to the right).
Originally I was going to use candy corn (better to decorate with than to EAT), but ultimately decided that corn would be the better and more natural choice.
I am happy with my inexpensive display and appreciate that fact that once Christmas rolls around, I can remove the corn, pop it, and make popcorn garland for the tree.
Since taking the picture above I put some Fall fabric under the pumpkins and it looks great. I am considering adding some of the gorgeous leaves from outside as well.
What have you done to decorate for Fall?
SO DELICIOUS DAIRY FREE – Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk Beverage
I am a lucky girl. I was again greeted this year by a shipment at my door courtesy of So Delicious Dairy Free. Like last year (click HERE for my review), the package contained their Festive Holiday Nog, and Mint Chocolate Coconut Milk beverages…but low and behold, there was another NEW holiday beverage…
PUMPKIN SPICE COCONUT MILK BEVERAGE
You all know about my love affair with pumpkin since I have been going on and on about it already this Fall. I was impressed with the fact that the beverage is lower in fat (approx. 1/3 the fat) than the other two holiday beverages.
I have to be honest that while the taste was amazing, it is a tad too sweet for me. Keep in mind that I have been keeping my sweets under control lately and have been satisfying my sweet tooth with dates and stevia, so I am sure that has something to do with it.
My kids didn’t think that the beverage was too sweet at all.
I tried some of the pumpkin beverage in my coffee and it was fantastic. This just might be my Fall creamer solution.
Kudos to So Delicious for putting out so many allergen free, organic, non-GMO and vegan Holiday Beverage options!
Filed under Holidays, Product Reviews
BERRY GOOD “EGGS”
I am so excited for Easter and the start of Spring. This is easily my favorite time of the year! A recent trip to Target inspired this recipe. I have a hard time saying “no” when I see a really cute serving dish, especially when I can justify it by saying that I will use it for this website. I came across the ceramic egg carton / pastel cracked eggs and snatched them up knowing that I would find a way to use them and when I glanced through the pantry to see the ingredients I had on hand this recipe quickly came together.
INGREDIENTS – Makes 10-12 “eggs”
1 cup vegan marshmallows 1/2 cup light brown rice syrup 1/4 cup coconut butter 1/3 cup crushed freeze-dried berries (about ½ cup prior to crushing) 1 ½ cups crisp brown rice cerealMelt the vegan marshmallows, brown rice syrup, and coconut butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat while stirring constantly. While the mixture is melting, crush the freeze dried berries (they should be small, finely chopped pieces). Once the mixture has melted completely add the crushed freeze dried berries and mix well. Remove from heat.
Add the brown rice cereal and mix making sure the mallow mixture completely coats each piece of cereal.
Allow the cereal / mallow mixture to cool slightly and form into egg shapes. If the mixture is sticking to your hands, coat your hands LIGHTLY with coconut oil.
For a printable version of this recipe click here.
Filed under Dessert, Gluten Free, Holidays, Recipes
MOLTEN LAVA CAKE – Vegan & GF
On the way to a great recipe, there are often a lot of disasters. I don’t usually highlight my recipe failures, however I decided to share my Vegan Molten Lava Cake recipe creation process with you. A lot of work goes into coming-up with one of my new recipes. It is rare that a recipe comes together on the first try, but it does happen from time to time; My PB Chocolate Chip Dessert Hummus was one of the rare exceptions in that I really liked the results of my first recipe version.
I sometimes feel like I am in a chemistry lab when I attempt to bake vegan and gluten-free. Gluten-free flours work so differently than standard wheat flour and when you throw in the monkey-wrench of not using eggs, everything changes yet again.
The photo collage above tells the story of my first and second recipe attempts. Version one used flax eggs and almond flour as the base. I thought I would try to see if I could make this molten lava cake in the microwave and… let’s just say I got the “lava” part spot-on. I had some more batter left, so I tried baking it in the oven and it completely puffed-up only to deflate all the way back to the bottom of the ramekin. So, for version two I switched to using baking soda and vinegar eggs (I got the tip from Chef Chloe’s website) and added some more blanched almond flour. It looked so promising while baking, like a beautiful soufflé, and then TOTALLY deflated when I took it out of the oven.
When I am in the middle of the recipe writing process I get a bit obsessive and tend to think about it constantly. After stewing about this for yet another day it came to me; everything started to make sense. I needed to take out some of the blanched almond flour, add in some gluten-free flour mix, a little xanthan gum, and some baking powder. Voilà, vegan and gluten-free Molten Lava Cake.
That being said, isn’t it so true that those missteps make the successes all that more sweet? I set-out to create a molten lava cake that was vegan and gluten-free while also being easy on the waistline. I am really proud of this recipe.
My honey LOVES molten lava cake and now I have a much healthier version to serve to him. Some people buy their men electronics or cologne for Valentines, I made mine a cake.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (I used a toaster oven).
Whisk together all of the dry ingredients.
Melt the chocolate chips over a double boiler or in the microwave. If melting in the microwave, do it in 30 second intervals and stir in between (this will prevent the chocolate from burning). It usually takes about 90 seconds to melt the chips completely.
Once the chocolate is melted, whisk it together with the rest of the wet ingredients. The coffee crystals are included in the wet ingredients so you can make sure they melt into the mixture properly and are completely disbursed.
Whisk the wet and dry ingredients together. The batter will be very thick like brownie batter.
Lightly oil and flour a small (approx. 4 1/4 inch) springform pan. When flouring the pan use a mixture of flour and cocoa in order to preserve the gorgeous brown color of the cake. I used a heart springform pan by Wilton that I found at Homegoods. I also saw that the pans are available at Target (Click HERE to see them on Target online).
Pour the batter into the pan making sure to only fill the pan 2-3 full. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The top and edges of the cake should be set while the middle will be slightly loose. After the cake has baked for 10-12 minutes, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool on the counter for 5 minutes.
Serve the cake immediately after it has cooled for 5 minutes. This cake is best HOT from the oven and would be awesome with some Vanilla So Delicious coconut milk ice cream and strawberries.
For a printable version of this recipe click here.
Filed under Cake, Dessert, Gluten Free, Holidays, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian
SRC – Microwave Caramel Popcorn
For this month’s Secret Recipe Club I was assigned Barbara Bakes. Barbara has amassed quite the following and I can see why. My mouth was drooling while searching through her recipes as I went from one decadent recipe to another decadent recipe.
Ultimately I settled on the Microwave Caramel Corn recipe that I stumbled upon (Barbara got this recipe from Real Mom Kitchen). I know… not the healthiest, but I did make it healthIER than it originally was. For years my sister would make the most amazing caramel corn during the holidays and it looked pretty labor intensive. This was so EASY! I was dancing around the kitchen when I finished making it because it was so much FUN and an absolute breeze to make. It’s official, I am a complete cooking geek.
I ended-up making this recipe twice. The first time I made the caramel corn I made it pretty true to form albeit veganizing it by switching out the butter for Earth Balance and using brown rice syrup in place of the corn syrup. I also used more popcorn and trust me, there was still more than enough caramel on each piece of popcorn. The end result was VERY tasty, however my husband even commented that he didn’t think there needed to be as much butter.
The second time I made it I cut the amount of butter IN HALF (down from 1 stick to 1/2 a stick) and added 2 Tbs water to the recipe in order to replace the liquid from the missing butter. I also used EVEN MORE POPCORN and the results were great! My kids didn’t even notice the difference and loved it as much as the first time I made it.
Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup butter (I used vegan Earth Balance)1 cup brown sugar (I used 1/2 cup organic brown sugar & 1/2 cup turbinado raw cane sugar)
1/4 cup light corn syrup (I used brown rice syrup) 2 Tbs. water 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
2-4 quarts popped popcorn (all just depends on how coated you want your popcorn) (I used 4 1/2 quarts of AIR popped popcorn)
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1. In a large, microwave-safe bowl, microwave vegan butter, brown sugar, water, brown rice syrup, and salt on high for 2½ to 3 minutes until bubbling.
2. Remove from microwave and mix in baking soda.
3. Put popped popcorn in a paper grocery sack and pour caramel over popcorn.
4. Fold down top of grocery sack and put in the microwave.
5. Microwave on high for 1 minute and 20 seconds.
6. Take sack out of microwave and shake to evenly coat the popcorn.
7. Pour out on cookie sheet to cool.
For a printable version of this recipe click here.
Filed under Dessert, Holidays, Kid Friendly, Quick, Recipes, Secret Recipe Club, Vegan, Vegetarian
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL???
I am not very versed in football. That may not seem unusual or sad to you until you learn that I was a songleader from 7th grade through my Junior year of high school (Why am I always so embarrassed when I admit that?). It is really criminal how little I know about the actual rules of the game. Shouldn’t they have taught us the rules at one of the gazillion cheerleading camps I attended?
All I can say is thank goodness for Lisa Bognanno! That girl knew the game…I mean she REALLY knew the game. Without her we would have been stuck up there on our stools yelling out generic offense or defense cheers exclusively. Enjoy the game Lisa (I am sure she will actually be watching the game). I on the other hand am really looking forward to the commercials, though truth be told I do wish I understood the game!
Confessions aside, the food is always really fun at Superbowl parties, though usually not vegan…yay for guacamole! On New Years day I made a spread for us to nosh on that would be perfect for game day. I didn’t even plan on photographing it, but my sister-in-law forced my hand and now I am glad she did. These pictures would have been much more “artsy” if I actually planned on taking them (and I probably would have removed the paper towels from under the strawberries!), but I guess this gives you a real glimpse into our home and what I serve when we have private occasions.
I made chocolate fondue (recipe to follow in a later post) which I served with fresh fruit (strawberries, bananas, cut apples, and sliced pear) and a 7 layer dip (which was technically 6 layers).
For the layered dip I used (listed bottom layer to top):
- Amy’s Organic refried black beans (my favorite refried bean)
- My vegan queso (click HERE for recipe)
- Homemade guacamole (made with my salsa fresca)
- Tofutti Sour Supreme
- Salsa fresca (click HERE for recipe)
- Sliced black olives
- NEXT TIME I WILL MAKE A 7th LAYER WITH CHOPPED CILANTRO
This layered dip was seriously enough to feed an army. I am not sure what I was thinking, but the left-overs made awesome taco salads for days.
I served the dip with different chips (baked tortilla, regular tortilla, and TJ’s corn chip dippers) and crudites. Personally I prefer to eat it with the sliced veggies (celery being my favorite for this), but I also do like baked tortilla chips.
What are your must have’s food-wise for the game?
Filed under Appetizers, Events, Gluten Free, Holidays, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian
THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON
Happy New Year! Last night we had our annual Chinese New Year celebration and it was wonderful. As always, my in-laws spent all week prepping and cooking which resulted in a spectacular meal. As soon as we walked into their house everyone swarmed around the food like moths to a flame.
I thought you might enjoy a glimpse into the Chinese side of my family. I am such a lucky girl to be able to experience the Chinese culture so intimately and my children are so lucky to have one foot inside each culture.
Below is just a sampling of all the food they made…I was too busy enjoying it to photograph every dish.
Gong Xi Fa Cai / Gong Hey Fat Choy!!!
P.S. Can you believe my mother-in-law is 70?!?!?!?
Filed under Holidays, Vegan, Vegetarian
VEGAN NACHO CHEESE aka VEGAN QUESO
I have to apologize for the fact that the picture for this post is not up to par, but I had to put my pride aside and post this recipe anyway because it is SO GOOD!
What would New Years Day be without nachos??? The other day I had a craving for nachos and with the New Year coming-up I decided to figure this one out…How do you make a yummy vegan nacho cheese sauce? It turns out the answer is really easy.
My family had so much fun building their own nachos and I think everyone was happy that mama had a nacho craving!
INGREDIENTS 1 bag Daiya Cheddar Cheese 1 ½ cups So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk 1/3 cup Trader Joe’s Serrano Salsa Fresca (so good!)Warm all ingredients over medium to medium-low heat until completely melted and incorporated.
I really encourage using a good quality salsa as it will have a big impact on the final product. Trader Joe’s Serrano Salsa Fresca is seriously good.
This would also be really great in a vegan 7 layer dip.
What do you like to serve on New Years Day?
For a printable version of this recipe click here.
Filed under Appetizers, Cheese, Dip, Gluten Free, Holiday, Holidays, Kid Friendly, Quick, Recipes, Sauce / Spread / Jam / Yogurt, Vegan, Vegetarian