Grain-Free

Tofu “Egg” Cups

Savory Tofu “Egg” Cups made with firm tofu and sautéed garden vegetables baked in a muffin tin. Perfect for a meal prep breakfast!

As I write this blog post, Flora is asleep in her favorite spot on the linoleum floor of the kitchen.

Every time she lies down to nap on her own (without being crated), I do a little (silent) happy dance.

Yes friends, I consider it a major win that my 9 month Australian Shepherd puppy is starting to rest on her own!

Of all the dogs I’ve bene lucky to have in my life thus far, Flora is by far the craziest, most energetic, and most challenging.

Lately, with spring right around the corner, she’d taken to chasing robins as they hop and skip across the lawn.

She also *loves* eating the dirt of my indoor house plants, so I’m wondering how the future seedlings I plan to sow outside will ever make it.

But when she looks up at you with those piercing blue eyes, it makes all the craziness worth it.

March has felt a bit chaotic with bipolar weather, the time change, and lots of personal and professional commitments.

Something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is the theory that tasks will expand to the time that you allot to them.

With a puppy around the house, naturally, I don’t have all day to get the *perfect* shot anymore.

So I’m learning to be productive and prompt and the anti-perfectionist in my approach to recipe shoots.

9 times out of 10, I am able to finish a recipe shoot in a truncated time-block instead of allowing it to expand into…the whole day.

Not that I don’t want to look at these Tofu “Egg” Cups all day, but we need time to eat them too, right?

These Savory Tofu “Egg” Cups are made with firm tofu and sautéed garden vegetables baked in a muffin tin.

They’re absolutely perfect for a meal prep breakfast to have on hand for the week ahead.

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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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Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff

By Flora & Vino 3 Comments

Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff made with your favorite pasta and dried mushrooms in a creamy cashew based sauce. Serve with fresh herbs!

The days are flying by!

Each morning I change the advent calendar number in disbelief, truly baffled by where the time goes.

It goes to unhurried dog training, hurried walks before early sunset, teaching yoga class prep, and hand writing Christmas cards.

And it goes to baking Christmas cookies, dreaming of 2025, applying buckets of moisturizer, and bundling and unbundling myself in layers of clothes.

It also goes to holiday parties, cups of light roast coffee on the couch, watching Christmas Hallmark movies, and playing Christmas music on a loop until it annoys me.

The time goes to making too many social plans and then cancelling them, returning Amazon packages, replacing dead car batteries, and drinking ruby red wine.

Some also goes to reading my Kindle, moving my body every day, watering dehydrated plant babies, and rewatching all 8 seasons of House with M.

One thing is certain: the time goes.

With not many days left in 2024, I’m committing to eating cozy comforting meals for the remainder of the year.

Are you in?

Sure, I love a good holiday cookie as much as the rest, but I wanted to leave you with something hearty, cozy, and satisfying.

Something that will curb your appetite until 2025, so to speak.

This is our last recipe of 2024, and it’s Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff.

This Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff is made with your favorite pasta and dried mushrooms in a creamy cashew based sauce.

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SunButter & Jelly Thumbprint Cookies

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

SunButter & Jelly Thumbprint Cookies made with Organic SunButter and your favorite no-sugar-added jam. The perfect holiday cookie!

I’m just going to come out and say it: the end of this year has felt like a slog for me.

Anyone else?

I’m tired, I’m cranky, and I feel like the only thing that sounds interesting to me at the moment is a one-way ticket to the Bahamas.

Maybe it’s the shorter daylight, maybe it’s surviving the most wonderful time of the year as a new dog mom, or maybe it’s the extreme cold we’ve had this December.

Whatever *it* is that has me staring at blank pages with blinking cursors and cursing the creative slump I’ve fallen into, needs to go.

Regardless of the cause, I’m actively trying to take it easy on myself.

Because baby it’s freakin’ cold outside, because it’s the holidays, because I’m moving into 2025 without those nuisance negative beliefs.

That being said, whether you’re crushing the last few weeks of 2024 or cruising like I am, I think we all deserve a cookie.

These SunButter & Jelly Thumbprint Cookies are made with Organic SunButter and your favorite no-sugar-added jam.

They’re the epitome of the perfect holiday cookie made with lots of SunButter, jam, and love.

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9 Cozy Vegan Drinks

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

9 Cozy Vegan Drinks made with plant-based and refined-sugar-free ingredients. Perfect to have in your mug when the weather gets chilly!

Every year I tend to romanticize the cold weather, thinking, *this* will be the year that I enjoy being outdoors in the winter.

And then every year I am reminded that no matter how many base layers, fuzzy socks, and parkas I dawn, winter is still not my thing.

And cold is relative, right?

While I think the 20-something degree mornings we’re currently experiencing in Maryland are FUH-REEZING, some of you in climates further north might think that sounds downright tropical.

You’ve got more stamina (and better circulation) than me, friends.

So, yes, this was the week that I decided that it was far too cold to go outside for much more than grabbing the mail and Flora’s potty time.

But it is good weather for some cozy homemade drinks.

Over the years, I’ve created quite a collection of warm beverages that I like sipping on in colder weather.

I decided today, as I type this at my desk with fuzzy slippers, a hoodie, and a blanket on, that it was a good day to put all of those recipes in one place.

These 9 Cozy Vegan Drinks are made with plant-based and refined-sugar-free ingredients.

They’re perfect to have in your mug when the weather gets chilly, or relatively chilly!

The collection includes lattes, hot chocolates, and mulled wines.

Bookmark this recipe roundup and come back to it whenever you need a new hug in a mug.

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Vegan Chili Mac

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Vegan Chili Mac made with two kinds of beans, your favorite noodles, and vegetables. This chunky chili is great to make for fall meal prep.

Growing up, my mom *always* added macaroni noodles to the chili she made.

I loved the way the velvety noodles complimented buttery beans and veg in a flavorful tomato broth.

It’s something I didn’t see a lot in the chilis I made, ordered, and shared later in life.

So, since it’s soup, stew, and chili season, friends, I’m here to bring you my latest favorite combination of Chili + Mac.

I’m excited to share my first recipe in a bowl this Fall with you, this Vegan Chili Mac.

When I first mentioned the concept of noodles in chili to M, he looked mildly confused.

It could be said that we at F&V love thick chunky chilis in this house, so this Vegan Chili Mac didn’t disappoint.

This Vegan Chili Mac is made with two kinds of beans, your favorite noodles, and vegetables.

It’s super versatile so you can add your favorites and leave the rest.

This chunky chili is great to make for fall meal prep and reheat with all of your favorite toppings!

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SunButter Date Caramel Apples

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

SunButter Date Caramel Apples made with apples topped with homemade caramel and rolled in sunflower seeds and dark chocolate chips.

In the past week, Flora took her first 1-mile walk with us!

The walk, which should normally take about 20-ish minutes, ended up taking over 30 because of lots of…

“Leave it, Flora!”, zig-zagging, “Drop it, Flora!”, dragging, “Heel, Flora!”, pulling…you get the idea.

Long story short: we’re still working on leash walking, and it’s a PROCESS.

She immediately came home and proceeded to lap water ferociously, lay down dramatically, and then initiated more play 10 minutes later.

Well, I guess we can’t tire her out.

With all this dog walking and dog training, I’m relying on healthy snacks to get me through this fall.

I’ve always been a sweet snacker, and this SunButter Date Caramel Apples hits just right for the season.

This good-for-you snack is made with your favorite apples topped with homemade caramel and rolled in sunflower seeds and dark chocolate chips.

It’s the best fall snack and a great way to use up all of those apples we collect this time of year!

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Cake

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Cake made with rice cakes, creamy peanut butter, and melted cacao wafers. A healthy peanut butter cup snack!

If you’ve been around here a while, you also know that I’ve been dressing up rice cakes for years.

While some people see dry, boring, bland cakes, I see a neutral and nutritious vehicle for *all* of my favorite toppings.

I mean, the possibilities are endless, friends.

Which is probably why I was immediately taken with the viral TikTok Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Rice Cake.

(Well, that and the fact that my favorite dessert pairing in the history of dessert pairings is chocolate + peanut butter.)

Rice Cakes are also an amazing vegan and gluten-free substitution for toast, crackers, or anything wheat based.

It took me a while to finally try the recipe trending on social media, but now that I finally have, I *need* to share it with you.

This is my version of the Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Cake.

They’re easy to make for a solo snack or dessert with your favorite rice cakes, creamy peanut butter, and melted cacao wafers.

Basically, it’s a healthier one serving peanut butter cup, and I think we could all use one of those as Halloween creeps up!

Grab some rice cakes, your favorite jar of nut butter, and Semisweet Cacao Wafers and let’s make this sweet treat.

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