Meal Prep

Blueberry Maple Baked Breakfast Bars

6-ingredient breakfast bars with hearty oats, plant-based protein and blueberries! Gluten-free, oil-free, and naturally sweetened with dates and maple syrup.

Breakfast is *usually* my favorite meal of the day.

Anyone else?

It’s the meal I spend those last dreamy minutes before sleep and the first precious moments of the new day pondering.

That being said, it’s also equally nice to know what’s for breakfast when life gets hectic and your mornings fly by like commercials on fast forward.

Especially when breakfast is these Blueberry Maple Baked Breakfast Bars.

These time-saving, life-altering bars can be prepped in under an hour with only SIX ingredients that you probably already have on hand.

Ready to get preppin’?

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Copycat “Jammed Yam”

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Baked sweet potatoes stuffed with black beans, cooked corn, raw chopped veggies, avocado, and a squeeze of lime. Perfect for easy meal prep lunch or dinner!

I’ve *reallly* been missing some of my favorite takeout meals lately, guys.

On busy recipe testing days when the sink brims with dirty dishes, my most delicious form of self care was to hop in the car and leave it all behind.

Indulge me in a little pre-pandemic nostalgia.

I drove to grab dinner; usually takeout and always packed with plants I didn’t prepare.

Coming home with a warm meal someone else assembled always made the full sink feel a little less intimidating.

Anyway, one of my favorite spots to get a quick clean meal was Naked Lunch.

I ordered their signature “Jammed Yam” frequently.

It’s plant-based comfort food at its finest: a sweet and tender baked yam halve loaded with black beans, raw veggies, cooked corn, and fresh herbs.

I recreated it in this copycat “Jammed Yam” that’s easy to bake and build with yams, cooked black beans, and a mix of raw and cooked toppings.

Let’s jam a yam.

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Black Bean Quinoa Chili

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Hearty plant-based chili with black beans, quinoa, and mushrooms in a sweet tomato broth. Perfect to prep in advance and load up with toppings!

Is it still soup season?

As long as we’re staying safe at home, I’m saying it is.

Each Monday throughout April I’ve made a new pantry-friendly recipe via Instagram stories.

And surprise, surprise, almost all of them have been soup!

It’s so satisfying to throw legumes, grains, and veggies in a cook pot and let them simmer to deliciousness.

Give me a pot, some quinoa, black beans, and spices, and I can make you a vegan, gluten-free, and totally satisfying meal.

This Black Bean Quinoa Chili is packed with black beans, quinoa, and mushrooms in a sweet tomato broth.

It’s made with only pantry-friendly ingredients that you probably already have tucked away in your cabinets.

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Cashew Butter Chickpea Snack Cookies

By Flora & Vino 12 Comments

6-ingredient snack cookies made with chickpeas and cashew butter sweetened with maple syrup and apple sauce. Perfect for a grab and go snack or dessert!

Happy Sunday, friends!

Does anyone else have major dish washing fatigue right about now?

As if it wasn’t enough to eat every stinking meal at home, we have to clean all those pots and pans, too?

I’ve set aside some time today to *actually* meal prep.

If you’re thinking, but Lauren, why meal prep during a quarantine?

Well, it occurred to me chatting with friends this week that it might be better to make larger portions in advance rather than making small meals on the spot.

We might have the time and space free to cook and bake at home constantly, but do we really want to?

As much as the kitchen is my happy place, I have other happy places that I’m missing.

Luckily, the recipe I recommend you meal prep today is made with just one blender and a cookie sheet!

These Cashew Butter Chickpea Snack Cookies require only 6 pantry-friendly staples to bring them to your kitchen.

Grab a can of chickpeas and a big spoonful of cashew butter and let’s get into it.

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Quinoa Cakes with Oil-Free Basil Pesto

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Easy plant-based patties packed with protein and leafy greens! Perfect for meal prep and easy weeknight meals. Serve with a nutty oil-free basil pesto!

Are you in a food rut?

I was Marco-Polo-ing with a friend today discussing our food rut probs.

Mine came on slowly with building disdain, like playing a song on repeat during a workout when each chorus inspires a little less feeling.

When I realized that I had consumed a variation of steamed vegetables + plant protein + tahini for every dinner in recent memory, I knew I needed a menu intervention.

And don’t get me started about dishes. (They’re never-ending!!!)

So, what kind of quarantine cook are you?

Are you unleashing you creativity or are you sticking to the tried and true basics?

Either way, you’re going to love these Quinoa Cakes with Oil-Free Basil Pesto.

They’re made with cooked quinoa, leafy greans, and tahini with a nutty oil-free basil pesto!

Schedule out a day next week in your menu to make this lean clean quarantine cuisine.

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Purple Sweet Potato Overnight Oats

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Make breakfast both easy and beautiful with these overnight oats made with purple sweet potato purée and fresh berries! Perfect for easy breakfast meal prep.

In elementary school my favorite color was purple.

Closely followed by pink.

I’m talking Lisa Frank purple and pink, best shown by unicorns and rainbows and big fat bubble letters.

I see myself with more of a blue-aura now, but the purple of these jars brings me back to my first color crush.

On Instagram you guys have definitely noticed my obsession with purple sweet potatoes lately.

They say you eat with your eyes first, right?

Well, imagine feasting your tired morning eyes on these pretty prepped jars of Purple Sweet Potato Overnight Oats.

They’re just waiting for a spoon, some berry-licious toppings, and YOU.

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1-Pot Tomato Basil Pasta

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Easy 1-pot pasta with gluten-free pasta, bell pepper, kale, and kalamata olives with a fresh tomato basil pasta sauce. Perfect for easy weeknight dinners!

Well, hello, stranger.

I came home from yoga teacher training this weekend with a voracious appetite that couldn’t be satiated.

This weekend we began our “teach outs” where each student teaches a 60-minute sequence of their own to the group.

It’s hard to believe that in just three weeks I will receive my YTT certification!

Anyway, this weekend we had SIX teach outs, so, that means 6+ hours on the mat.

I woke up today and texted my YTT group text saying, “Guys, I tried to do a chaturanga today and just almost died.”

It’s true. So I took a break from yoga to make something delicious.

After working out the mind, body, and soul for 22 hours this weekend, I definitely wanted all of the carbs.

And nothing says carb-loading like a healthy bowl of pasta, right?

This 1-Pot Tomato Basil Pasta comes together on the stovetop in less than 30 minutes for an im-pasta-bly good weeknight dinner!

Or, post-YTT meals– just sayin’.

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Red Carrot, Apple, & Beet Detox Salad

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Easy raw detox salad with shredded red carrot, tart apple, and red beets. Reset and fuel your body with fruits, veggies, and healthy fats.

Hey, everyone!

It’s half way through January and we are making moves.

Did I tell you that I’m enrolled to take a course in plant-based nutrition starting in February?

I’m really excited to learn more about how eating more veg can impact your overall health and wellness and share that with you!

I know we talk a little about nutrition here on the blog, but I try to keep it vague and unspecified because, DISCLAIMER, I am not a medical professional or licensed nutritionist/dietician.

Usually I like to frame my recipes in the context of what works for me and what makes me feel my best in hopes that it might do the same for you.

I definitely have a “feel good” recipe to share with you today that’s packed with fresh produce, healthy fats, and cleansing qualities.

This Red Carrot, Apple, & Beet Detox Salad requires just 6 ingredients you can mix on the spot to feel fresh and rejuvenated.

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Tahini Tempeh, Sweet Potato Noodle, & Broccoli Bowl

By Flora & Vino 4 Comments

Easy weeknight dinner idea with tempeh, sweet potato noodles, and broccoli florets drizzled with lemon and tahini. Perfect for a fuss-free meal prep.

Hi!

How are you new year intentions going?

I didn’t really set any hard fast goals other than that I wanted to start meal-prepping again.

Somewhere in the midst of moving and holiday deadlines I decided that it was OK to eat out on the daily.

Yes, even food bloggers can spend way too much money on prepared food.

“But Lauren, don’t you eat the food you make?”” my friends often ask, perplexed.

Well, yes, but the eats don’t always work out that conveniently.

Allow me to explain.

During my busy holiday season, for example, I might have cookie recipes to share with you all week.

Cookies on the counter, cookies in the freezer, cookies in the fridge, cookies on my photography backdrop board, more cookies in the oven.

Yum. Cookies galore.

But it’s either eat cookies for lunch and dinner or suck it buttercup and dirty up the dishes I just spent an hour cleaning to making something savory.

This is where meal prep comes in clutch for me, and maybe for you too, friend.

You might not be surrounded by multiple cookie recipes but you might be in a work environment where you can’t break to make a feel good meal.

I’m not talking making 25 meals on Sunday evening pre-portioned in Tupperware.

I am talking about having readily available washed and chopped vegetables, fruit, and plant-protein prepared with potential in the fridge.

Which is precisely why I love this Tahini Tempeh, Sweet Potato Noodle, & Broccoli Bowl so darn much.

It comes together in less than 30 minutes for a vegan and gluten-free plant-powered bowl!

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Paleo Sweet Potato Snack Bowl

By Flora & Vino 3 Comments

Easy snack bowl with sweet potato mash, cinnamon, and loaded with chopped nuts, dried fruit, and pecan butter. Perfect for a fall snack or breakfast!

I’m *really* trying to get back into the habit of preparing my own food after my move.

It’s been a lot of Whole Foods hot bar and Cava trips and Chinese takeout and I for one am over it and ready to get back to regularly scheduled F&V programming with a fridge full of chopped veggies and a kitchen I can walk through without fear of tripping over a half-unpacked box and stumbling to my death.

I keep telling myself that it’ll happen “when the counters are clear” or “once I clean the dishwasher” (it smells bad…LOL)…but I’m pretty sure that those are all just excuses for being uninspired.

Change is hard, and all I want to do these days is curl up with something to eat that’s safe, known, normal.

So I’m taking it back to the ultimate comfort food base for occasion– sweet potatoes.

These Paleo Sweet Potato Snack Bowl are a delicious fall snack or breakfast idea that you can make in advance and serve warm or cold!

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Blueberry Maple Baked Breakfast Bars

Copycat “Jammed Yam”

Black Bean Quinoa Chili

Cashew Butter Chickpea Snack Cookies

Quinoa Cakes with Oil-Free Basil Pesto

Purple Sweet Potato Overnight Oats

1-Pot Tomato Basil Pasta

Red Carrot, Apple, & Beet Detox Salad

Tahini Tempeh, Sweet Potato Noodle, & Broccoli Bowl

Paleo Sweet Potato Snack Bowl

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