Flora & Vino

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Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies

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Easy banana protein cookies packed with dark chocolate and walnuts. Bake them in advance for portable protein rich snack for all your adventures!

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies by Flora & Vino

The moving count down is ON, friends. 

In just five sleeps I’ll be slumbering in a new state! 

Right now life feels really busy. 

When I’m not working on stuff for F&V, I’m working on the loaded logistics of moving. 

Scheduling U-haul rentals, final cleaning, and key exchanges in their appropriate order.

Bribing friends and family to pretty please come help me move in exchange for pizza and vegan treats. 

So, would you come for Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies?

I’m hopeful these cookies get me through my moving week and I know they’ll sustain whatever adventures you have going on right now.

They’re totally vegan, gluten-free, and refined-sugar-free with a banana-oat base and plenty of dark chocolate and walnuts. 

Mix and bake them for a protein-packed snack that’s perfect for an outdoor adventure, moving day, or workday snack. 

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Peach Mango Smoothie Bowl

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Summer-y peach mango smoothie bowl made with frozen stone fruit, frozen zucchini, and SunButter. Serve your bowls with fresh fruit and granola!

Peach Mango Smoothie Bowl by Flora & Vino

It’s the height of summer here in Virginia; every day the temperature scaling past 90 degrees!

So hot that I’ve been nope-ing out of my usual afternoon walk, looking wistfully at my wilting marigolds from the coolness of my air conditioned living room.

I’ve been craving all of the cold seasonal things– salad bowls, ice cream, and smoothie bowls. 

Everything raw, sweet, and refreshing. 

I realized looking at my archives that it’s been a while since I shared a smoothie bowl recipe here on the blog!

But I still make them often, more often than protein shakes, because I prefer to “eat” my smoothies instead of drink them, you know? 

This Peach Mango Smoothie Bowl is one of my new favorites for my breakfast rotation. 

This summer-y peach mango smoothie bowl is made in just 5 minutes with frozen stone fruit, frozen zucchini, and SunButter. 

Grab a blender and some stone-fruit and let’s get cool!

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Cookie S’mores

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Easy s’mores made with vegan marshmallows, dark chocolate, and your favorite homemade or store-bought cookies. Perfect for a fun summer dessert. 

Cookie S'mores by Flora & Vino

S’mores lovers, this one’s for you.

Camping this summer I had my first ever campfire s’mores at the age of 33. 

My friend Anna, camping boss that she is, walked me through the whole process. 

From selecting the perfect campsite twigs to the perfect level of marshmallow “burned-ness”, to putting it all together. 

There’s photographic evidence of me biting into one, a look of dreamy satisfaction washing over my face, my features lit up from the flash against the dark behind me. 

But who says s’mores have to be made with graham crackers? 

These Cookie S’mores are a fun twist on s’mores with a cookie encasing with the same gooey good stuff in between.

Make them around the campfire or out of the comfort of your own home this summer! 

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Date-Sweetened Donuts with Chocolate Frosting

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Vegan cake donuts made with oat flour and sweetened with Medjool dates, topped with a two-ingredient dark chocolate frosting. Perfect for a healthy dessert!

Date-Sweetened Donuts with Chocolate Frosting by Flora & Vino

Hi, friends. 

It’s been a while since we last chatted.

June has been an absolute whirlwind for me and I can’t quite believe just *how* much has changed in the past two weeks. 

For one, I’m moving! 

I’m in the process of packing boxes and making plans to move to Maryland with M.  

Secondly, I’m reconnecting with friends and family in a major way; scheduling dinners and hikes and hugs.

After a *very* trying 2020, all of this feels like a new beginning, a clean slate, a fresh start. 

But between all of the positive changes in life, summer keeps running on, hot summer days spilling into cool summer mornings. 

And what do you know, this weekend is dad’s day!

Let’s put all of the busy-ness aside for a second and celebrate dad, OK? 

These Date-Sweetened Donuts with Chocolate Frosting are just what any man in your life needs this Father’s Day.

They’re totally vegan, gluten-free, and refined-sugar-free with a cake-y interior and a 2-ingredient chocolate ganache!

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Strawberry Banana Bread

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Strawberry banana bread made gluten-free with almond flour, oats, and almond butter. It’s naturally sweetened with maple syrup and applesauce!

Strawberry Banana Bread by Flora & Vino

This week I had my first in person game night since, pre-COVID 2020.

It was the first time I saw my sister and cousin up close and in person in over a year. 

When I opened the front door and saw them standing on my welcome mat, I squealed with delight. 

It was special and surreal and weird and wonderful all at once. 

Yeah, we didn’t play any *actual* games, but we sure did do a lot of hugging. 

Which is fine by me!

Who wants to play board games when you could choose a cuddle puddle? 

This Strawberry Banana Bread is made in one bowl is almost as cozy as a cuddle. 

It’s made with vegan, gluten-free, and refined-sugar-free with oats, almonds, and plenty of strawberries!

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Vegan Raspberry Sorbet

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Vegan raspberry sorbet made with coconut milk and frozen raspberries naturally sweetened with maple syrup. Enjoy in a cup or smashed between cookies!

Vegan Raspberry Sorbet by Flora & Vino

Everything is changing– do you feel it, too? 

The world is opening, blossoming, and inviting, and I don’t know what to do or where to go first!

Part of me just wants to stay indoors, maintaining the cozy COVID-bubble that I created with M. 

The globe suddenly feels huge and I want to cling to the things that made me feel safe the past 15 months. 

But as M said last week, change is good. 

Change encourages momentum, clarifications, and answers to the questions I’ve been holding onto, like, what’s next? 

COVID normalized a unified sense of “stuckness”, the world united by the fact that all of our plans, travels, and careers had changed or paused. 

So who are we when we get “un-stuck”? 

Because I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like the same Lauren that hunkered down last March. 

I learned how to slow down, I grew out my hair, and I fell in love. 

So maybe it’s all just about integrating our pandemic progress with our still relevant hopes and dreams of the past.

Kind of like smashing Vegan Raspberry Sorbet between cookies for a warm weather treat. 

This Vegan Raspberry Sorbet is made no-churn with just 3-ingredients without any weird ingredients or fancy equipment!

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Cashew Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

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//#ad This post is brought to you by Bare Snacks, but all words and eats are my own. Thanks for supporting the sponsors that keep me hungry!

Light and easy stuffed strawberries made with a homemade cashew cheesecake whip and fresh berries. Perfect for a sweet summer side!

Memorial Day is upon us, friends. 

For those of you who’ve been following me on Instagram, you might know that I haven’t seen my parents since before COVID. 

I’ve waved at them from behind their sliding glass door several times for gift exchanges, but I haven’t wrapped them or my sister in a big bear hug since 2019. 

We’re planning some sort of a cookout to reunite on Memorial Day weekend– the first weekend two weeks after all of us are fully vaccinated. 

Hurray! 

So I’m *really* excited to begin making food to share this summer, starting with these stuffed strawberries.

These Cashew Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries are perfectly presentable for spring and summer entertaining this year. 

They’re light and easy, made with a homemade cashew cheesecake whip and fresh berries, perfect for a quick and creative sweet summer side!

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Strawberry Chia Seed Jam

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Easy strawberry chia seed jam to made on the stovetop with frozen fruit and chia seeds and naturally sweetened with lime and maple syrup.

Strawberry Chia Seed Jam by Flora & Vino

This Strawberry Chia Seed Jam has been persistent in my recipes this past week. 

In the past 7 days, it’s showed up in my Nut Butter & Jam Breakfast Quesadillas AND my SunButter & Jelly Brownies.

So I thought I might as well post it on the blog so it has a forever home here at F&V. 

Because, and this is on record, I will love it forever. 

It’s sweet, strawberry-y, and spreadable, with big strawberry chunks and a fantastic chia texture. 

Oh, and it makes everything from breakfast to snacking to dessert more fun and delicious with minimal ingredients and cook time. 

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

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Nut Butter & Jam Breakfast Quesadilla

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Sweet and satisfying breakfast quesadilla made on the stovetop with nut butter, homemade strawberry chia seed jam, granola, and coconut flakes.

Nut Butter & Jam Breakfast Quesadilla by Flora & Vino

What’s better than a peanut butter & jelly for breakfast? 

A peanut butter & jelly in a quesadilla.

An adult-ish quesadilla served first thing in the AM. 

I enjoyed these all last week and couldn’t wait to share them with you so I practically *begged* M to let me make him one. 

When he finished the first one and asked for a second, my ego was doing a very hubris-saturated victory dance. 

Friends, it’ *that* good, and that simple! 

Yes, we share a love of sweet breakfast quesadillas and I can’t wait to share that love with you. 

These Nut Butter & Jam Breakfast Quesadillas are made on the stovetop with nut butter, homemade strawberry chia seed jam, granola, and coconut flakes!

Let’s get quesadilla-ing!

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Cherry Tomato Salsa

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Fresh homemade salsa made with sweet cherry tomatoes! Enjoy as a dip with your favorite crackers or as an addition to tacos, burritos, and bowls.

Today I had a coffee date with a girlfriend that I haven’t seen in over a year.

We parked our cars outside of the Starbucks drive-through and socially distanced sipped on coffee, bridging the gap between our cars with conversation. 

Guys, I had forgotten how nice it is to be in the company of another woman and catch up on life as we know it. 

I came home with an empty coffee cup and a full heart, ready to take on a photo shoot and blog post writing. 

Lately I’ve been all about mixing up my routine; making small changes to embrace an awakening world. 

I’m currently enrolled in not one but TWO 7-day free trial via workout apps. 

Which kind of goes hand in hand with the 6 AM alarm that startled me into waking up after the third snooze this morning.

I feel like I’ve been in a deep sleep or meditation for the past year and I’m just starting to regain consciousness. 

Like, Rip Van Winkle level sleepiness. 

An in-person game night with my cousins and sister is planned for two weeks out; the first date we’re all fully vaccinated.

We joked that no games would be played– the entire night will probably revolve around hugging.

So much hugging. And food! 

What better way to embrace summer celebrations, in person and afar, then with a fresh dip?

This Cherry Tomato Salsa is made with just six ingredients and served with my favorite grain-free crackers! 

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