Oil-Free

Pumpkin SunButter Chocolate Chip Bliss Balls

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

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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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!

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.

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

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

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

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!…

Chocolate Dipped Cashew Cheesecake Bites

By Flora & Vino 6 Comments

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

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

By Flora & Vino 8 Comments

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!

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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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.

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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Chocolate Ganache Lava Muffins

By Flora & Vino 4 Comments

Vegan, gluten-free, and oil-free chocolate ganache lava muffins naturally sweetened and overflowing with a 2-ingredient dark chocolate coconut center.

Last day of July– where exactly did that come from???

The biggest development this week so far is that the house finally sold.

It feels a bit surreal knowing that this place I’ve called home for three years will be somebody else’s in a little over a month.

What makes it more poignant is that Flora & Vino HQ, the first place I set up shop for this biz of mine, will be moving along with me.

But home is where the heart is, and work is where the food is, yeah?

On the bright side, this means no more showing requests and open houses and scrambling to throw eats together between staged visits.

Naturally, I had to celebrate by covering the newly sold kitchen in chocolate.

These Chocolate Ganache Lava Muffins are a celebration in themselves– vegan and gluten-free muffins with overflowing with a 2-ingredient chocolate ganache.

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Corn, Tomato, & Avocado Salad with Zoodles (Oil-Free)

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Easy raw summer salad with corn, tomato, avocado, cucumber, and zucchini noodles. Oil-free and simply dressed. Perfect as a light nutritious summer side!

This has been the summer of corn for me.

For a long time one of my “fear foods” was corn.

“But Lauren,” you might say, “Corn is a veggie, at honestly it’s not very scary…what gives?”

Well, at some point I decided (probably due to misconstrued messages from diet culture) that corn wasn’t good for me and should be avoided at all costs.

This went on for several corn-on-the-cob-less years, until, in my recent healing I decided to add all of the corniness back in my life.

This summer I decided that, actually, in fact, corn is delicious and I’m going to eat it in all of the things.

Who’s with me?

At our last book club my friend served up a corn-centric summer salad that was so simple and delicious!

I’m excited to share my own version with you– packed with summer produce and an unexpected zucchini noodle twist.

This Corn, Tomato, & Avocado Salad with Zoodles (Oil-Free) is the summer side you’ve been waiting for.

It’s light, refreshing, and ready to serve less than 10 minutes for any summer occasion!

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Easy Vegan Peach Pecan Crisp

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Vegan peach crisp with a wholesome gluten-free crumble that’s oil-free and naturally sweetened with maple syrup. Perfect for summer breakfast or dessert.

When brainstorming for this recipe, I honestly couldn’t decide between a crumble and a bar.

I think the crumble vote won on Instagram, but you know sometimes I like to go rogue.

A bar takes more structure, and I’m feeling a little haphazard and carefree in the kitchen lately.

We’re still in the process of showing our home, so I’m cutting corners (but not deliciousness) on my recipes where possible to create more flow in my day.

And what’s better than an Easy Vegan Peach Pecan Crisp ready in under an hour and made with just 7 real food ingredients?

You know the drill– in additional to being vegan it’s also oil-free, gluten-free, and refined sugar free.

Now be a peach and grab some pecan butter and let’s do this.

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Pumpkin SunButter Chocolate Chip Bliss Balls

Delicata Squash Quinoa Power Bowl

Apple Chip Nachos with Date Caramel

Endive Boats with SunButter Sauce

Chocolate Dipped Cashew Cheesecake Bites

Cherry Almond Flour Pop-Tarts

Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies (Oil-Free!)

Chocolate Ganache Lava Muffins

Corn, Tomato, & Avocado Salad with Zoodles (Oil-Free)

Easy Vegan Peach Pecan Crisp

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