Gluten-Free

Thai Mason Jar Salad

Thai Mason Jar Salad with raw vegetables, baked tofu, herbs, and a creamy SunButter dressing. Perfect for an easy meal prep lunch!

When I was younger, the time change never really seemed to phase me.

I woke up losing an hour, shrugged at the differing light, and went on about my day as usual.

These days, at the ripe old age of 36 (almost 37, eee!), I feel like it takes me a solid week to fully adjust to a change of 60 minutes.

All week I’ve felt a bit jet-lagged, a bit foggy, and my biological clock definitely is still living by the old time.

I get hungry, tired, and motivated all at the times that I did prior to setting our clocks forward.

Doh.

But friends, the longer daylight is *so* nice.

We’ve been taking long unhurried walks with Flora through the neighborhood, basking in the sun and marveling at budding flowers.

It feels like my soul is waking up from a looooong hibernation, and, after shaking off the seasonal depression, and is ready to light up spring break in a bikini.

So, if you too are dragging after losing an hour, you’re not alone.

But we have so much to look forward to!

Luckily, I made us a recipe that will make the week ahead *so* much easier.

These Thai Mason Jar Salad are made with raw vegetables, baked tofu, herbs, and a creamy SunButter dressing.

They’re perfect for an easy meal prep lunch to bring you into spring.

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Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chips Muffins

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins made with oats, almond flour, and lots of vegan chocolate chips. Perfect for meal prep!

Last week we spent almost a whole day without running water at F&V HQ.

It was basically camping without the appeal like the nature, campfire, and s’mores.

Apparently a *very* large water pipe burst in our area, leaving us and many neighbors without running water during it’s longer than normal repair.

I definitely panic-purchased water from the store by the gallon, unsure of how long we’d need to get by with empty pipes.

If you’ve never been without running water, it might not seem like that big of a deal.

You might be thinking, “Just go buy some bottled water and you’re good, sis!”

I wish it were that simple.

Sure, with bottled water you can get by with minimal hand washing and hydration, but not much more.

But toilets require a lot of water to flush (1.6 gallons to be exact, I Googled it!), and if you’re without water for many many hours…well, you get the idea.

So the simple act of human-ing felt like a chore on Wednesday of last week, to the point that I almost went to my local gym just to take a shower.

I cancelled my shoot and any recipe creation or food prep for the day, because without running water none of that is possible either.

Gloriously, the water came on around 8 PM and I took the longest hottest shower I could stand and emerged a new woman.

Seriously, though, the whole ordeal was a reminder how precious a resource water is, and the immense privilege in having constant access to it.

So, the recipe I’m sharing with you today does not require any water, haha!

But it is one that I feel grateful to have in my life and made as soon as we had running water again.

These Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins are made with oats, almond flour, and lots of vegan chocolate chips.

They’re perfect for a meal prep snack for the week ahead!

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Vegan Chickpea Salad Sandwich

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Vegan Chickpea Salad Sandwiches made with tahini, fresh herbs, and smashed chickpeas. Smash it on sourdough bread with your favorite toppings!

This past year I became a sandwich person for the first time since high school, when I brought smashed peanut butter and lettuce sandwiches to school for lunch.

(Don’t knock it ’til you try it.)

To be honest, I think once I started food blogging I deemed sandwiches not elevated enough for a recipe.

Then there is the whole issue of finding bread that’s vegan and gluten-free…

And, the whole toxic diet culture monologue that still whispers in the back of my head, saying, “but, bread is BAD.”

Nope, bread is amazing and it’s even more amazing with stuff smashed between it.

Which leads me to today’s recipe.

I’ve been unintentionally gatekeeping this Vegan Chickpea Salad Sandwich for *way* too long.

It ends with us…eating this Vegan Chickpea Salad together.

I can honestly say that this is the best sandwich that I’ve ever had, and one that I keep coming back to on a regular basis.

This Vegan Chickpea Salad Sandwiches made with tahini, fresh herbs, and smashed chickpeas.

Smash it on sourdough bread with your favorite toppings!

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10 Vegan Lemon Recipes

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

10 Vegan Lemon Recipes that will get you excited for spring. However, this citrus collection is great whenever you need some brightness!

I know, I know, the first *official* day of spring is still a few weeks out.

And I also know that the sunny 60-degree afternoons we gladly accepted from the weather gods this past week are most likely not here to stay.

However, it does feel like spring is imminent in Maryland, USA.

I’m starting to plan for gardening projects, camping trips, and my annual spring cleaning.

After a long, heavy, hard, winter, it feels like we’re overdue for some sunshine.

Mostly, I’m just looking forward to some lightness and brightness.

This time of year, I always get excited about recipes with lemon!

While lemon is a staple in my kitchen year round, it takes center stage in spring time.

I love making it the focus of desserts, salads, main meals, and snacks.

It’s easy to pair with both sweet and savory recipes to add a pop of zest, color, and bright flavoring.

Today, I’m sharing 10 Vegan Lemon Recipes that you need to try this spring!

The collection includes all of my favorite lemon recipes that, while appropriate for any time of year, are particularly delicious in spring time.

I also hold the belief that if we all make them, spring might grace us with her presence a little sooner.

Let’s love on lemons!

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Vegan Pink Pasta

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Vegan Pink Pasta made with gluten-free pasta and a homemade tomato-cashew sauce. Served with fresh basil and vegan parm!

This is a recipe I made for Valentine’s Day and never shared.

As per usual, M and I didn’t make a big fuss over the whole Valentine’s Day thing.

In fact, after a gift heavy holiday season and new year, we decided to put a moratorium on gift giving, too.

This year, we’ve decided to stay in and cook a nice plant based dinner together at home with Flora.

We planned to complete the meal with one of the “better” bottles of red.

You know, the bottle with a more expensive price tag that you feel a little weird about opening on a random Thursday.

I *really* like cooking with M, so the act of making dinner becomes an activity in itself.

Lately, it usually becomes dog training, too, so the whole family gets involved.

Flora, now 7 months old, is a huge counter-surfer, meaning, she loves to jump on all of the kitchen counters and steal anything within her reach.

So we reward the sh** out of the sits and stays and (try to) patiently correct the pursuit of chopped bell pepper, the kitchen dishcloth, and my rubber gloves.

Dinner might take twice as long, but we love giving Flora more freedom to roam, explore, and learn.

While she isn’t allowed upstairs yet, our downstairs is her kingdom to conquer!

What say you to conquering upcoming celebrations or just dinner plans with this Vegan Pink Pasta?

This Vegan Pink Pasta is made with gluten-free pasta and a homemade tomato-cashew sauce.

It’s perfect for a weeknight dinner for the family but can be gussied up for a date night-in experience, too!

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Red Velvet Baked Oatmeal

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Red Velvet Baked Oatmeal made with beets, cacao powder, and chocolate chips. Bake it in under an hour for a delicious colorful breakfast!

Timing in life is such a delicate and tenuous balance of push and pull, isn’t it?

When embarking on new adventures, projects, and plans, I often ask myself, is this the *right* time for this venture?

Sometimes there is this knowing that, yes, my energy is aligned and my calendar is open and I want this now.

However, more often than not, the path is not so obviously yellow brick road.

It’s hard for me to accept that, for many things, there is no *right* time, there is only the time you make.

Some things, like moving, having kids, and organizing the attic (yikes), feel too daunting to tackle in the present.

And yet other things I pursue relentlessly, like adding a new puppy to our home, running my small business, and teaching yoga.

We have the autonomy to create these chapters in our lives, and not the other way around.

So, I’m excited to share that I registered for my YTT 300 hr teacher training this April!

Five years after completing my 200 hour training, I’m hungry for more yoga knowledge and excited to apply it to my class.

I’m also hungry for Red Velvet Baked Oats for breakfast.

Valentine’s Day might be over, but I’m still committed to making food pink and red, at least for the rest of February.

Ever since being sick a few weeks back, oats have made a huge comeback for breakfast as a cozy source of nourishment.

These Red Velvet Baked Oatmeal are made with beets, cacao powder, and chocolate chips.

Bake them in under an hour for a delicious colorful breakfast!

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Red Bean Brownies

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Flourless vegan brownies made with aduki beans, nut butter, and naturally sweetened with maple syrup and dark chocolate chips.

Hi, friends.

How are you holding up this year so far?

For the second time this year, I was forced to take time off work due to germs.

Being sick is already a small business owner’s worst nightmare, but not being able to eat as a food blogger really takes the cake.

Maybe it was the flu, maybe it was a stomach bug, but whatever it was, *nothing* sounded good to me last week.

Correction: Nothing I normally eat sounded good to me.

Let me introduce you to my sick week menu.

I lived on applesauce, frozen bagels with vegan cream cheese, plain oatmeal, plain rice and curry, copious sweet potato fries, and many scoops of vegan ice cream.

If you had passed me a vegetable to eat last week, I would have thrown it back at you.

We replaced cooking together on Valentine’s Day with raiding the fridge of anything plain Lauren could digest.

But I am excited to report that my stomach is back to itself, craving veggies and creating recipes (but still eating vegan ice cream because, because).

However, I think M and I deserve a re-do on Valentine’s Day, starting with a nutritious and delicious dessert.

These flourless vegan brownies are made with aduki beans, nut butter, and naturally sweetened with maple syrup and dark chocolate chips.

They’re packed with protein and fiber and still manage to taste like decadent dessert!

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Savory Stuffed Dates

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Savory Stuffed Dates with vegan cream cheese, crushed pistachios, maple syrup, and hemp and chia seeds. Perfect for an elevated appetizer!

I’ve made an exciting and daunting new goal for the year ahead: read 50 books in 2025!

So far, I’ve completed 4, so it feels like I’m off to a pretty good start.

My plan to achieve this goal is to hit the target from two fronts: audiobooks and kindle reads.

During the day, I love to have a self help-y, conversational, motivational read on during the day while I’m shooting a recipe, testing food, or cleaning the dishes.

I just finished Mel Robbins’ The Let Them Theory and am delighting in saying, “Let Them!” to everything applicable.

(And so many things are applicable…IYKYK.)

By night, M and I have settled into a routine of snuggling up with our kindles and a glass of wine or kombucha while Flora takes a (much needed) nap before dinner.

Right now, like so many of you, I’m making my way through Onyx Storm, the 4th and long awaited book in Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing series.

So, I’m hoping with this routine I can actually accomplish my 50 books this year!

I re-realized recently just how much joy reading brings me, so I want to prioritize reading even above podcasts and TV and definitely above social media consumption.

Whenever we’re having our reading party upstairs while the pup naps, snacks are always welcome.

These Savory Stuffed Dates are served with vegan cream cheese, crushed pistachios, maple syrup, and hemp and chia seeds.

They’re perfect for an elevated appetizer!

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Pumpkin Chickpea Curry

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Pumpkin Chickpea Curry made in 1-pot with pumpkin, coconut milk, vegetables, and chickpeas. A cozy curry for cold weather!

Now that we’re looking into February, it’s a good time to assess where you fall with your new years intentions.

So, how’s it going?

In some areas, I feel like I’m crushing it, and in others, eh, let’s talk about that in March. 🙂

Lately I’ve been checking in with my girlfriends to make plans together for the year, share goals, and keep each other accountable.

They say it takes 21-days to form a habit, right?

If so, I’m currently in the habit of making a big pot of soup for the week ahead.

Even I think we don’t *need* the extra food, we *always* eat it.

In the winter months, I find re-heating a bowl of soup is such a satisfying and cozy lunch.

It’s one that I always appreciate mid-day when I’m typing on my computer with chilly fingers.

This Pumpkin Chickpea Curry is my current favorite soup obsession.

I love adding pumpkin to this recipe because it makes the texture thick and velvety.

It’s made in 1-pot with pumpkin, coconut milk, vegetables, and chickpeas.

It’s an easy, cozy, and customizable curry for cold weather!

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Crispy Rice Paper Dumplings

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Crispy rice paper dumplings made with nori sheets, baked tofu, and vegetables. Serve with a peanut sauce for dipping!

Since we last spoke, I planned an epic surprise party for M at a brewery.

With surprise parties, especially ones where friends are involved, you never know if you’re going to pull it off.

But I knew by the look on his face when we rounded the corner towards a table with friends and family that he didn’t have a CLUE.

Which made my insides glow like the brightest nightlight, because, WE DID IT!

You know, surprising slash pranking M has become a bit of a passion of mine.

Let’s see, there was the time when my cousin and her husband surprised him on his birthday with Indian takeout.

There was the April Fools joke where I filled his cashew butter jar with tahini (I’m still laughing about this one!).

After thanking me at the brewery surrounded by his favorite people, M asked me, “Would you like it if I threw you a surprise party?”

And the answer is…I’m not sure!

In general, in life, I don’t *love* being surprised.

I like to know what’s coming, and plan for said event with a Plan A, B, C, and maybe D.

If I showed up at a brewery expecting some alone time with my partner and was suddenly the center of attention from a dozen people I love…

Well, M, if you ever get me back and surprise me, we will find out if I laugh or cry!

In the meantime, I have a surprise for you to fight off the winter doldrums.

It’s true, it feels like January has lasted forever, even with the promise of M’s birthday party to keep me going.

These Crispy Rice Paper Dumplings are made with nori sheets, baked tofu, and vegetables.

Serve them with a peanut sauce for dipping!

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