Flora & Vino

Gluten-Free

Pumpkin SunButter Chocolate Chip Bliss Balls

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Easy 7-ingredient pumpkin SunButter chocolate chip bliss balls mixed together without a blender! Perfect to keep on hand for fall snacking.

Pumpkin SunButter Chocolate Chip Bliss Balls by Flora & Vino

This past week at Target I saw orange and black Halloween trinkets at the end of aisles and my immediate reaction was  a visceral, “Too soon, TARGET. TOO SOON.”

But then at Whole Foods I spotted the first pumpkins, sitting plump, orange, and peppy in their cardboard cases.

Suddenly, it didn’t feel like too soon at all.

It felt TIME.

I wanted to pick a pumpkin right then and there and parade it around secure in my shopping cart for the remainder of my grocery trip.

Somehow I managed to restrain myself and made a beeline for the canned pumpkin, instead.

However, I’m fairly certain I’m going to get an heirloom pumpkin for my front step instead of the classic orange pumpkin this year. Thoughts?

I’d also like your thoughts on these Pumpkin SunButter Chocolate Chip Bliss Balls that I made this week. 

My first pumpkin recipe this year is in motion and it’s rolling your way.

All you need are 7-ingredients, 10 minutes, and the hunger for some fall fuel!

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Dark Chocolate “Choco-Tacos”

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Easy dessert tacos in 30 minutes! Crispy corn tortillas stuffed with vegan dark chocolate ice cream dipped in chocolate with your favorite toppings. 

Dark Chocolate "Choco-Tacos" by Flora & Vino

Summer’s making a come-back.

Today when I woke up and checked my phone the weather app told me it was going to be 95 degrees today in Virginia.

Ninety-five! In September!

This calls for one cheers with something chilled…

Shut off the oven and let’s make Double Dark Chocolate “Choco-Tacos”.

When I didn’t order a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich from the ice cream man at my pool growing up, you bet I was ordering a choco-taco.

I miss a good dessert taco, how about you?

So I made some today that are vegan, gluten-free, and naturally sweetened.

These ice-cream stuffed tacos are the best way to extend the summer sweetness a while longer.

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Delicata Squash Quinoa Power Bowl

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Power bowl with roasted delicata squash, quinoa, spinach, basil, and toasted pine nuts. Oil-free, gluten-free, and packed with protein and leafy greens!

Delicata Squash Quinoa Power Bowl by Flora & Vino

At yoga teacher training last weekend we wrote our fears (about beginning training) on scraps of paper and burned them standing in a circle in the parking lot.

When it was my turn, I read my fears aloud (public speaking, lack of time, judgement) and then added sheepishly, “One of my other fears is fire, so, uh, could someone else light this for me?”

One of my yoga teachers grabbed my paper, squatting towards the asphalt and lighting my folded fears with ease.

The truth is that all of my fears wouldn’t fit on that scrap piece of paper even if I wrote SUPER small.

They’ve been a little out of control lately adjusting to living, cooking, and working in a new space.

Change. Is. Hard.

For example, I used an electric stovetop my *entire* life, and was more than apprehensive about the gas cooking range in my new townhome.

“You mean I have to cook over an open flame???”

Fear of fire, friends.

Well, and the very real fear of accidentally leaving the gas on, because I can be so haphazard in the kitchen.

This Delicata Pesto Quinoa Power Bowl is the first thing I’ve cooked in my new home and I’m pretty proud of it.

These power bowls are an excellent basic meal to make this fall for an easy protein-packed lunch or dinner.

Feel the fear (and the fire) and do it anyway!

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Apple Chip Nachos with Date Caramel

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Easy and healthy snack nachos with apple chips, date caramel, dried fruit, dark chocolate, and chopped nuts. Perfect for an elevated snack or dessert.

Apple Chip Nachos with Date Caramel by Flora & Vino

When you move do you move with perfectly labeled brown boxes or with trash bags stuffed with random odds and ends?

I started out as the former but on the last day, yesterday, I was tossing pots and pans and appliances and silverware into anything I could carry with two hands.

So now I’m in the new townhome and everything is literally everywhere.

I even hired movers to help with the big ticket furniture items, but it’s really the little things that get you, you know?

Anyway, with moving, I have been the hungriest of hungry hungry hippos.

I lunge at snacks the minute the last box is unpacked, ripping apart energy bars and overnight oats and yogurts and all of my pre-packaged favorites.

Not quite ready to jump into learning how to use my new gas-stove and kitchen, I decided to make something easy but upgraded, with all the fall feels.

I’m loving these Apple Chip Nachos with Date Caramel for an easy fall snack plate that you can throw together in under ten minutes!

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Endive Boats with SunButter Sauce

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Endive leaves stuffed with carrots, celery, and sunflower seeds with a creamy oil-free SunButter dressing. Perfect to serve as a plant-based appetizer!

Endive Boats with SunButter Sauce by Flora & Vino

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

There are lots of  ch-ch-ch-changes happening at F&V right now.

I know, I know, at this point it must feel like I’ve been talking about moving for months, but that’s about about all I can think about right now.

The final push is in the next few days, and the next time I write to you I will be 100% settled in my new townhouse!

The other big news is that I *finally* signed up for a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training.

You can read a little about my decision to sign up here.

I’m excited and more than a little scared about the whole thing; not as much the yoga part but absolutely the teacher part.

Every now and then I look askance at the pile of yoga books I have to read in the next 6 months.

But the truth that this will be the first reach for personal growth I’ve made outside of F&V in a long time, and that in itself feels like something worth chasing.

You know what else is worth chasing?

This new plant-based appetizer recipe that I’m sharing with you today featuring endives.

Grab an endive and let’s sail into the 3-day weekend on these Endive Boats with SunButter Sauce!…

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Baked Eggplant Steaks with Spiced Chickpeas, Beets, & Green Beans

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Baked eggplant steaks seasoned with oregano served with diced beets, sautéed green beans, and fresh tomato. Ideal for a plant-based dinner in!

Baked Eggplant Steaks with Spiced Chickpeas, Beets, & Green Beans

This past weekend I explored farmer’s markets in my new city and discovered the cutest little spot maybe 10-ish minutes from my new house.

Yippee!

The market was packed with late summer veggies, so I grabbed some of my favorites to build one last ode to summer.

Confession: I  *love* farmer’s markets, but I don’t go as often as I could (should!).

I’m the kind of shopper that prefers to get everything in one massive haul that bursts the seams of my reusable bags but saves me multiple trips to different stores for the right ingredients.

There’s something so exhilarating, though, about going somewhere with a limited seasonal selection.

The produce perusing process can inspire some of the best dishes when forced to work with what’s available.

What’s available this week, friends, is Baked Eggplant Steaks with Spiced Chickpeas, Beets, & Green Beans!

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Chocolate Dipped Cashew Cheesecake Bites

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Easy raw vegan cheesecake bites with soaked cashews and coconut milk coated in dark chocolate. The perfect naturally sweetened pre-portioned treat.

Chocolate Dipped Cashew Cheesecake Bites by Flora & Vino

My life is currently split between two homes, each marked by bulging brown boxes.

I’m still primarily living from the condo, because that’s where the food and bed is, ya know.

But more and more I’m starting to feel out my new townhome.

Last Saturday I sat on the carpeted stairs, eating a raw bar and listening to the air conditioner, trying to imagine my whole life and business expanding within the angular white walls.

Each time a friend comes over to see the new digs it feels a little more like home.

The goal is to have everything out by early next week, and by everything I mean everything, from my favorite recliner down to the last Hu Kitchen gem.

So I’m currently accepting moving assistance for Chocolate Dipped Cashew Cheesecake Bites.

We should probably eat them up now, right, in case they don’t survive the move from current to future fridge?

Yes, yes, we should.

Show me your muscles and I’ll show you a raw vegan no-bake dessert with just 8 ingredients!

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Cherry Almond Flour Pop-Tarts

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Vegan, gluten-free, and oil-free pop-tarts made with a crispy almond flour crust and a tart cherry butter filling. Perfect for a fun weekend breakfast!

Cherry Almond Flour Pop-Tarts by Flora & Vino

Do you guys use Facebook?

For years now Instagram has been my main space to post and engage, but lately I’ve been hopping on Facebook, just to see what I’m missing.

Anyway, I logged on this morning and was immediately aware that it was the first day back to school in my county.

Tons of first day photos filled my feed: lots of kids, parents, dogs, backpacks, and celebratory breakfasts.

While I’m not going back to school, I couldn’t think of a better way to do it than with Cherry Almond Flour Pop-Tarts.

These vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, and refined-sugar free pop-tarts are perfect for a nutritious breakfast, snack, or dessert.

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Cauliflower Chickpea Tacos

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Easy vegan and gluten-free tacos made with a hearty cauliflower and chickpea filling in baked corn tortillas. Perfect for a plant-based taco night! 

Cauliflower Chickpea Tacos

Oh my goodness I start my move in exactly ONE week.

Throughout this season of life, I’ve been eating out a *lot* more than normal.

Normal for me used to be a week or twice a month special (it helps that they’re aren’t ALL that many plant-friendly restaurants near me, haha), but lately it’s been an almost daily occurrence to eat out on plants.

At first I was upset by this and angry that I couldn’t seem to keep up with my stellar stacked Tupperware meal prep days.

“I mean, how hard is it to wash and chop some vegetables and fruit and cook some quinoa?” my inner mean girl scoffed.

Well, pretty darn hard if the knives are boxed up and the cutting board is in the dishwasher and the home inspector will be here in FIVE.

So, I eventually reasoned that while meal-prepping adds value to my life, it’s OK to temporarily let go of tasks where I can for the greater good of my sanity.

I also decided to frame my time dining out as “recipe research”, which automatically makes it sound relevant, valid, and biz-worthy.

It was on a dinner run at Naked Lunch that I first discovered their cauliflower tacos and was inspired to recreate them for the blog.

These Cauliflower Chickpea Tacos have a hearty hearty cauliflower and chickpea filling in baked corn tortillas for a healthier taco night.

Let’s taco through it.

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Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies (Oil-Free!)

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Healthy oatmeal raisin pecan cookies that are packed with protein, fiber, and healthy fats. Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, and naturally sweetened. 

Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies (Oil-Free!) by Flora & Vino

Does anyone else get Memorial Day and Labor Day mixed up when referencing the holidays, like two bookends, that hug summer from either side?

Well, I do.

But Labor Day is fast approaching, which, to me, symbolizes the unofficial end of summer.

Overnight the pools close, the stores start showing sweaters, and everyone starts craving pumpkin.

This year, it’s also going to be moving weekend for F&V HQ.

I’m starting to think about “back to school” recipes and themes for my eats to share with you and to fuel the next chapter in my life.

And we all know that moving requires LOTS of fuel (read: cookies).

These Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies (Oil-Free!) are perfect to whip up for an easy back-to-school snack no matter what you’re going “back to”.

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