Flora & Vino -

Avocado & Cucumber Rolls with SunButter Sauce

Avocado & Cucumber Rolls wrapped in toasted sushi nori sheets with a creamy SunButter Sauce. Perfect for a date night meal!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I never really got back to “normal” after the pandemic.

I didn’t really need to, because my normal can be working in pajamas in the comfort of my own home.

Outside of teaching yoga once a week, climbing, and heading to our favorite coffee shop every Saturday, I otherwise don’t *need* to venture out.

During the pandemic, my house became my safe space, my place of work, and my workout studio.

I stopped attending hot yoga at the local studio (something at the time I couldn’t imagine living without), and started practicing exclusively at home.

So it was rather magical this weekend, when I attended my first hot yoga class in over 5 years during my 300 hr YTT program.

Sitting in an easy seat chanting with a chorus of of “OM” vibrating around me, tears prickled behind my closed eyelids.

THIS, I thought, is what yoga is about.

It’s nothing short of magical and it’s about me but it’s also about embodiment inside of community.

While I’m grateful for my strong personal practice at home, I’m remembering what drew me to yoga classes in the first place.

I’m so glad that I ventured outside of my comfort zone to learn, grow, and connect again; it’s been a while.

It’s also been a while since I’ve made sushi at home.

It’s interesting because sushi is both so simple and so complex at the same time.

It has a few parts that take some foresight, but if you take the time to plan, you’ll be very grateful that you did.

These Avocado & Cucumber Rolls are wrapped in toasted sushi nori sheets with a creamy SunButter Sauce.

It’s the perfect meal to make with others so dinner is a shared experience.

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Easy Vegan Pasta Salad

Easy Vegan Pasta Salad made with your favorite noodles and raw vegetables in a simple red wine vinaigrette. Perfect for summer meal prep!

This coming weekend is the second meeting of my 300 hr yoga teacher training, which also is technically my *first* weekend because I missed the first due to sickness.

I’ve found myself planning, replanning, and agonizing over the details of work, life, and yoga this week, wanting everything to be *just so* for a successful weekend.

I’m nitpicking at my clothing, my accessories, my gear; the small things that I bring that I feel are in my sphere of control.

The training is forcing me out of my routine, out of the state of Maryland, out of my comfort zone.

In a sense, it feels very much so out of my control.

But I try to keep reminding myself that there is no perfect yoga pants, morning routine, or notebook that will make this weekend EASY.

And it’s good to do HARD things frequently in life, right?

The one thing I know that I’ll need is a quick healthy lunch that doesn’t need reheating, assembly, or fussing.

And contrary to what I said about doing hard things, I like my food choices and recipes to be without a doubt easy!

This Easy Pasta Salad is made with your favorite noodles and raw vegetables in a simple red wine vinaigrette.

It’s perfect for summer meal prep, camping trips, weekends away, and anytime you’re craving something simple and fresh.

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Vegan Refried Bean Tacos

Vegan Refried Bean Tacos with pinto beans and seasonings in 1-pan on the stovetop. Serve in hard shell tacos with your favorite toppings!

Last weekend I taught yoga outside at one of my favorite local gluten-free breweries.

Between you and me, I was grateful to finish class without a coughing fit or a sneeze attack.

Yes, this time of year I have special kind of jealousy reserved for all of the people I see outside, enjoying the beautiful weather, and doing it allergy free.

Sure, they could all be heavily medicated, but I have at least a few friends who claim that the thick yellow dust that coats my car every day doesn’t bother them.

Blasphemy, right?!

So I’ve been hiding indoors in self pity and self preservation, until I realized that Flora is bringing the outdoors indoors via her double coated fur.

One shake from her is all it takes to make my throat scratchy, my eyes watering, and my nose stuffy.

There’s only so much cleaning I can do, and let me tell you, my robot vacuum is heavily employed right now.

It’s an all hands on deck situation as I fight a never ending battle against nature.

This past week was also cinco de mayo, and whenever I think of cinco de mayo I remember a trip I took with my sister at the beginning of May to New York.

Now, I think my allergies are bad here, but they’re *nothing* compared to what I experienced in NYC 5+ years ago.

I remember walking through Times Square, the wind whipping between the sky scrapers, bringing with it lots of…whatever it is I’m heavily allergic too (I think oaks!)

My respiratory system was NOT happy.

I sneezed through every crosswalk, tears streaming down my face, my pockets full of soggy used tissues.

My sister looked over and asked repeatedly, “Are you OK?!” to which of course I responded, “Yes, I’m fine, it’s just allergies.”

I hadn’t thought to pack allergy meds and was too stubborn to buy them, so I suffered through the trip half-seeing and half-crying all the time we were outdoors.

Telling this story always makes me feel better, because whatever Flora is dragging inside, it’s nowhere near what NYC on the 5th of May has to offer.

So here’s what I have to offer this first week of May.

My favorite Vegan Refried Bean Tacos that we’ve been eating on repeat here for taco Tuesday.

I wanted to get this recipe out before Cinco de Mayo, but, it’s always a good day to eat tacos, right?

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Baked berry granola with three kinds of sweet berries and SunButter for an oil-free option. Perfect to make ahead for breakfast and snacking! Granola doesn’t last long in my house. It’s one of the staples that both M and I eat daily, piling it high on big breakfast bowls or grabbing a handfuls before an…

Apple Pie Avocado Toast

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Pumpkin Apple Baked Oatmeal

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Blueberry Pecan Arugula Salad with Blueberry Vinaigrette

Light summer salad with arugula, blueberries, and toasted pecans. Toss with a zippy blueberry vinaigrette made with blueberry kombucha. It’s thunder-storming as I write this post and I’m counting the seconds between the lighting and thunder. One mississippi, two mississippi, three mississppi. Earlier today it was bright and sunny, and I used the abundance of…

“Sweetgreeny” Detox Salad with Detox Tahini Dressing

Revitalize and reset with this fresh salad mix packed with fiber-rich vegetables, fresh fruit, and healthy fats, with a creamy detox tahini dressing. Once upon a time, Sweetgreen had a killer Detox Salad on the menu. Fresh greens, sweet pears, spicy broccoli, creamy avocado, toasty walnuts, crunchy red onion, and a zippy lemon ginger dressing….

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Kale Quinoa Mushroom Risotto

Gluten-free and vegan risotto with quinoa, kale, dried maitake mushrooms, and nutritional yeast. Perfect for a cozy plant-based meal or side. I’ve been getting back into running, lately. I settled into a running routine at my new place that I love. I’m usually a there and back kind of a runner, pushing myself to a…

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Vegan Chocolate Nougat Bars

Vegan Chocolate Nougat Bars with an almond flour base, date caramel center, and dark chocolate topping. Gluten-free, vegan, and refined sugar-free. If you were planning on waking me up when September ends, the time is NOW. I actually couldn’t quite believe my eyes when I saw on my big tear-off calendar that today was the…

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Easy vegan chocolate truffles made with dark chocolate, coconut milk, and a light cacao powder finish. Perfect for a simple decadent treat! Happy December! Today we decorated our freshly cut blue spruce it with all of the ornaments while Harper watched with attentive curiosity. What are your holiday traditions? When I was little we had…

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Avocado & Cucumber Rolls with SunButter Sauce

Easy Vegan Pasta Salad

Vegan Refried Bean Tacos

Healthy Snacking

Triple Berry Granola