Gluten-Free

Chocolate Chip Snack Cookies

Chocolate Chip Snack Cookies packed with protein thanks to chickpeas and Organic SunButter. Don’t forget lots of dark chocolate chips!

This summer I temporarily became a solo dog mom with M gone for a week at a work conference.

I was *very* apprehensive how Flora would behave with “Dad” being MIA.

You might remember that it was me that initially begged M to get a dog, but now that we have one, she’s very much attached to him.

That’s always the way it happens, right?!

She’s attached to me too, of course, but it’s different because I’m the human that’s always around as opposed to the other human who leaves for work and returns.

While she did look for him every day (sniffing the door, poking her head in his favorite house haunts, watching out the window), we settled into a routine just us girls.

Honestly, it’s been a big confidence boost to know that I can keep her alive on my lonesome.

I don’t know about you, friends, but some days I feel like I struggle to keep myself alive and well, let alone another furry friend.

So we kept it *very* simple and doubled down on routines this week here at F&V.

Luckily, Flora seems to take after her momma in her love of routines, too.

We did the walks, play time, meal time, and all of the cuddle sessions my little velociraptor would allow before she gets mouthy.

(I’m determined to make the working breed also a lap dog, too!)

One thing I did to support my week ahead was do a massive meal prep on Sunday so I felt comforted with good food even while missing my man.

So, getting to today’s recipe, one of those things that I made was…Chocolate Chip Snack Cookies!

Don’t worry, you don’t need your partner to be out of town to enjoy them, but that might help ensure they’re all yours!

These Chocolate Chip Snack Cookies are packed with protein thanks to chickpeas and SunButter.

Don’t forget lots of dark chocolate chips; because, like I tell my yoga students before savasana;

You deserve it.

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Buffalo Tempeh Sandwich

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Buffalo Tempeh Sandwich made with marinated tempeh on toasted bread topped with lettuce, tomato, herbed nut cheese, and avocado.

How was your Fourth of July this year and long holiday weekend?

We took a beautiful 3 mile hike with Flora that left her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth like the happiest little dope.

After that, we visited our friends for a cookout in the afternoon and evening.

I brought my Vegan Maple Baked Beans to share with friends as a contribution to our feast.

We made it home before the fireworks (that was the goal!) so Flora was safe within the walls of our condo and the roar of AC that dulled the noise of exploding lights.

So seemed slightly concerned about several of the bigger “BOOMs”, but nothing that we couldn’t control with positive reinforcement and lots of treats.

The rest of our weekend was busy, too!

We met my parents for my mom’s birthday for dinner on Saturday, and then visited my cousin on Sunday for her gender reveal party (it’s a girl!!!).

So, there was a a lot to celebrate early this July and so many things to be grateful for.

Including bread and everything that goes in between it.

Yes, it’s sandwich summer here at F&V and my latest favorite sandwich is this Buffalo Tempeh Sandwich.

I love that it’s easy to meal prep for our rolling summer schedules for a quick and intentional lunch.

This Buffalo Tempeh Sandwich is made with marinated tempeh on toasted bread topped with lettuce, tomato, herbed nut cheese, and avocado.

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Cold SunButter Soba Noodles

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Cold SunButter Soba Noodles served with raw crunchy vegetables in an easy SunButter Sauce. Perfect for a light summer meal!

For context, I don’t sweat a lot.

I don’t have the kind of body that slips and slides on their yoga mat in a hot vinyasa class.

Or the kind of body that drips sweat from a low impact home workout with weights.

I’m not telling you this to brag about how I don’t sweat, I glisten.

I’m telling you this so you’ll understand how humid it is when I say I start sweating *immediately* when Flora and I left the house for our morning walk today.

By the time we got home around 7:55 AM, my face was slick with moisture and my freshly washed and dried hair was in need of re-washing.

And poor Flora didn’t look much better, panting like she’d run miles instead of leisurely walking for…one.

There’s been a fair share of memes on the Internet lately comparing he DMV to a bath tub, or, my personal favorite, a swamp.

And they’re very accurate.

So, the muse of my food recipes lately is a temperature…cold.

Anything chilled, no-bake, and not heated is at the top of my TO EAT list right now in mid July.

These Cold SunButter Soba Noodles are served with raw crunchy vegetables in an easy SunButter Sauce.

This noodle bowl is perfect for a light summer meal!

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Blackberry Chia Jam

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Easy blackberry chia seed jam to made on the stovetop with berries and chia seeds and naturally sweetened with lemon and maple syrup.

After the Fourth of July, it always feels like we’re entering the height of summer.

Many of my friends are out of town and colleagues have out of office messages notifying the world that they are unavailable.

During the dog days of summer, the pace of life feels slower, which can be hard for someone like me that is attached to moving quickly.

Summer also makes me nostalgic for being a carefree kid who only needed to hold space for finishing my latest library book and chilling at the neighborhood pool.

As adults, we are asked to keep the velocity of our lives moving forward while simultaneously pressing pause to make time to relax.

So, if summer feels like a tug of war between a packed social calendar and reluctant relaxation, I get it.

What I’m working on is being very intentional with my time off, and really being present and in alignment with what the day is asking of me.

If it feels like a “push” day, then I do all of the things; I shoot the recipe, I write the post, I edit the photos, I teach the yoga, I do it done.

If it feels like a “pause” day, then I pull back on work and lean into other tasks, maybe even taking some time off.

They key for me is to not think about work when I’m relaxing and not think about relaxing when I’m working.

You know what I mean?

It’s all about presence.

With that said, I highly encourage you to give your full attention to the recipe I’m sharing today.

It’s super easy to make and the perfect way to use up extra blackberries in the refrigerator.

This Vegan Blackberry Chia Jam is made with just 5 ingredients on the stovetop for a sweet summer spread!

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Blueberry SunButter Breakfast Cookies

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Blueberry SunButter Breakfast Cookies made with oatmeal, SunButter, and blueberries. Bake them in advance and grab for an easy breakfast!

Last week I was lucky to see the Glass Animals perform live in Richmond, VA.

It’s the longest distance I’ve ever travelled for live music!

The energy was palpable and we spent the entire show standing, dancing and singing to the beats that I knew, craved, and loved.

Attending the show meant *so* much to me, and even more so because I missed seeing them last year when they were in Maryland.

Last year, I forfeited the tickets last minute because we had just brought home Flora, who was cute enough to make me forget even my most admired artists.

I joke that the Glass Animals helped me survive 2020, but truly, their album “Dreamland” felt like a lifeboat amidst divorce, pandemic, and solo living.

It also helps that the singles played on the radio became the unofficial soundtrack to my budding relationship with M.

“Heat Waves” and “Your Love” were always on when I made the drive to Maryland to pick up M for a day date.

So I feel very satisfied and fulfilled that I was able to see them live after all these years.

Naturally, we packed up the pup and took her with us, and although she couldn’t actually attend the show, she waited up for us at the Air B&B like an angel.

Because this was a 24 hour kind of mid-week trip, I wanted to keep things super simple and easy with packing, and, particularly food.

That’s where these Blueberry SunButter Breakfast Cookies come in.

These Blueberry SunButter Breakfast Cookies are made with oatmeal, SunButter, and blueberries.

Bake them in advance and grab a few for an easy breakfast, no matter where you are!

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Blueberry Stovetop Oatmeal

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Blueberry Stovetop Oatmeal made brilliantly blue in 15 minutes. Top it off with your favorite nuts, dried fruit, and seeds.

Last weekend, I attended our Philosophy section of my 300 hr yoga teacher training program.

To prepare for the weekend, we read the entire Bhagavad Gita and answered a series of question prompts on identity, ethics, and right action.

If you haven’t read the Bhagavad Gita, it’s a part of an epic poem that takes place on a battlefield where the warrior king Arjuna converses with Lord Krishna.

The battlefield is a metaphor for life, and the lessons Krishna imparts on Arjuna are both powerful and very applicable to our modern society.

During the session, we shared our responses honestly and openly.

We identified our personal battlefield, narrowed in our dharma (duty), and started to understand our attachments and why they cause suffering.

I left the weekend, mind whirling with ideas, questions, and all of the tools to continue the practice of svadhyaya (self-study).

When prompted, I told the group that I felt that my dharma in this lifetime was to be a creator.

Whether it’s writing a post, photographing a recipe, styling a plate, or sequencing a yoga class, it’s all from the same energy.

I want to continually put love out onto my website, social media, the yoga studio, your email box; all of the avenues of connection.

My hope is that I start a ripple that somehow inspires right action in you, whether that’s to make a recipe, start yoga, eat more plants, or maybe just take a bubble bath.

Because if there’s one thing I learned this weekend it’s that we’re all connected.

I love the metaphor of us all being drops in the ocean, all a part of the collective whole.

So, thanks for being a part of my collective, friend!

And now, after my philosophy rant, I have a new recipe for you that is beautiful, nourishing, and seasonal.

This Blueberry Stovetop Oatmeal is made brilliantly blue in 15 minutes.

Top it off with your favorite nuts, dried fruit, and seeds for a fun breakfast for any season!

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Viral Tiramisu Chia Pudding

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Viral Tiramisu Chia Pudding made with Organic Chia Seeds and espresso topped with cacao. Perfect to meal prep for breakfast or a snack!

This year, we got our hands on our first espresso maker.

We purchased it second hand so there was no pressing urgency to use it religiously.

While I have used it bagel (0!) times, M has already gotten our money’s worth and then some with all of the espresso he has experimented with.

The addition of the espresso maker inspired a kitchen reorg with the creation of “coffee corner”.

We now have a whole corner of our precious counter space dedicated to coffee related things, including but not limited to:

Our coffee grinder, bags of beans, the coffee scale, the new espresso maker, and all of it’s accoutrements.

With the new workspace, he’s tried pretty much every bean from our favorite local roaster to dial in the best ‘spresso.

So, naturally, he was delighted when I requested that he make me espresso shots for today’s recipe.

Tiramisu has been a long time favorite dessert of mine, but one that I’ve yet to make vegan.

So I’m excited to share my version of the Viral Tiramisu Chia Pudding.

This chia pudding incorporates all of the layers and flavors of tiramisu, without all of the hard work.

It’s Tiramisu in pudding form!

My version of the Viral Tiramisu Chia Pudding is made with Organic Chia Seeds and espresso topped with cacao.

It’s perfect to meal prep for an energizing breakfast or a snack!

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Doggie Birthday Cake

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

The cutest doggie birthday cake for your four legged friend made with applesauce, oats, pumpkin, yogurt, and peanut butter.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a year since I first stumbled across the picture of a Red Tri Australian Shepherd puppy.

And that two months later that puppy would become the rascal that we know and love called Flora.

Today is Flora’s first birthday!

As I write this post she’s doing her favorite new hobby that we call “neighborhood watch”.

We started opening the front door with the screen door shut after realizing that she *loves* to watch the neighborhood happenings.

Yes, she’s a watcher.

But she’s also a sassy, chaotic, and comical velociraptor.

And we love her in all of her chaos and and intensity.

Naturally, as a new dog mom, I wanted to spoil her with an actual cake for her bday instead of treats.

Something I’m not sure I’ve shared here is that Flora is a *very* picky eater.

We struggle to get her to eat dry food consistently and are mildly concerned that she seems to have survived the past year on a diet of training treats and bully sticks.

So it was a huge honor when Flora leaned in, sniffed her Doggie Birthday Cake, and actually ATE it.

This is the cutest doggie birthday cake for your four legged friends made with applesauce, oats, pumpkin, yogurt, and peanut butter.

It’s Flora approved and I hope your pup will approve too!

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Vegan Chocolate Waffles

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Vegan Chocolate Waffles made with oat flour, coconut milk, and raw cacao powder. Perfect to make for a nutritious breakfast!

Hi, hello, what’s new?

This week was crunch time at F&V as we prepare for a camping trip next week AND Flora’s spaying surgery.

I can feel the momentum of spring into summer, all culminating into the celebration of Memorial Day this weekend.

We’ve also had a *lot* of rain, making work and life a little more challenging in navigating shoots in natural daylight and muddy walks with the pup.

I read a quote recently when preparing for teaching yoga this weekend that spoke about finding the calm amidst the storm.

And by focusing on a single raindrops hitting the ground we can find a bit of calm in the chaos.

Life has felt a bit like one big storm lately, to me.

I find myself procrastinating tasks and challenges for when “life is easier”.

It dawned on me that I need to find a slice of tranquility while life’s marathon races around me.

Because if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that life won’t stop life-ing, so maybe I can challenge it with reframing what calm looks like.

Amidst the stressors, I still *love* me a warm sweet breakfast.

These Vegan Chocolate Waffles are made with oat flour, coconut milk, and raw cacao powder.

They’re perfect to make for a nutritious breakfast, no matter what season of life you’re in!

Trust me, the ingredient list is shorter than your “To Do”, list, friends!

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Swiss Chard Pasta

By Flora & Vino 4 Comments

Swiss Chard Pasta Sauce made with swiss chard, basil, cashews, and nutritional yeast on top of your favorite noodles.

This past weekend Flora spent her first night away from us since we brought her home nearly 9 months ago.

Because we were spending the evening at a concert in Virginia, we wanted to make sure that she was well taken care of in our absence.

While I’m not a new parent, I can imagine that the feeling I had is similar when venturing out without your babes.

I kept seeing my watch during the live music and thinking, I hope Flora is OK!

We didn’t know what to expect when we picked her up bright and early the following morning from doggie daycare.

But I *know* we didn’t expect her to want to go back inside with the providers instead of back in the car with us!

So we drove home convinced that she had the time of her life and with pictures as proof to suggest that she made some new pals.

I have a new pal too, and its name is Swiss Chard Pasta.

This Swiss Chard Pasta Sauce is made with swiss chard, basil, cashews, and nutritional yeast on top of your favorite noodles.

Think pesto, but not.

Think green goddess salad, but with noodles.

Think green!

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