Oil-Free

Strawberry Banana Bread

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

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

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

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

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

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

//#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

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

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

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

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

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

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

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

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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Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal

By Flora & Vino 4 Comments

Oven-baked oatmeal that tastes just like carrot cake! Prepare in advance and serve warm or chilled for an easy meal-prepped breakfast.

When I stop and think about how far into 2021 we already are, it gives me whiplash.

Is the year going quickly for you, too?

Anyway, April 2 was my birthday, my second birthday in careful quarantine.

My sister dropped of hand-wrapped gifts to my doorstep and my amazing cousin delivered an exquisite bouquet of flowers.

I video-chatted and texted with my friends, believing that this time next year I’ll be squeezing them instead of the volume button on my phone.

And let’s not forget food!

M made me pancakes– the first pancakes he’s ever made– and they were delicious.

For dinner, we ordered Sweetgreen, because it’s the most “Lauren” thing I could think of that was within the delivery range for Uber Eats.

The week of my birthday I tested a cake (coming soon!!!) and made a delicious Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal.

It’s easily mixed up and baked in advance for easy springs breakfast during the week.

This is a recipe where you can have your cake and prep it for breakfast, too, boo.

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Everything Granola Bites

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Everything Granola Bites with SunButter, chia seeds, coconut, cacao nibs, and a hidden granola crunch! Perfect for a quick portable snack!

This past week M and I built a tent in my living room.

A mass of lime green nylon, woven mesh, and sturdy poles erected into a dome in under ten minutes.

As the weather gets warmer, I’m dreaming of summer adventures.

It’s been forever since I slept away from home, and I’m itching to pack up the car with my new camping gear and explore.

Do you like camping?

M will tell you that I’ve never *really* been camping, which is partially true.

I guess I’ve been *glamping*, i.e. sleeping in a camp cabin, with four walls and a roof and a screened in door.

So maybe I’m romanticizing all of it– sleeping under the stars, s’mores, and basking in forest sunlight.

But I think there’s the chance to make a camper out of me, yet.

Everything is starting to feel more and more possible– as people become vaccinated, as the book comes closer to a close, as my camping set is complete.

I’ve also been thinking about easy food to make while in the great outdoors, starting with easy snacks.

These Everything Granola Bites are a great portable snack to make in advance for all of your adventuring this year.

They’re made no-bake with simple ingredients that will fuel all of your summer fun!

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Raw Walnut Cashew Butter

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

#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!

2-ingredient homemade raw walnut cashew butter made super creamy in under 10 minutes Serve it with Bare Snacks Banana Chips for an easy snack!

Did you pull any epic pranks on April Fools Day?

After one of my aloe plants fell out of it’s pot for the fourth (or fifth?) time last week (it was poorly potted and in a precarious position), I had a plant funeral and buried the evidence in my trashcan.

RIP, aloe.

As part of an April Fools day joke, I purchased a new plant and propped it up on the late aloe’s plant stand on April the first, waiting for M to notice.

I smirked while he ate his breakfast, finally asking, pointedly, “So, do you notice anything different???”

After doing a lingering living room scan, he finally picked out the monstera deliciosa sitting pretty near the window sill.

I laughed, assuring him I would keep my plant murderess tendencies contained.

I’m so infatuated with this little green plant and it’s smooth heart-shaped leaves already turning towards the sunshine.

Let’s see how long it survives…

Hopefully longer than this Raw Walnut Cashew Butter that I made last week and served with banana chips.

It requires just two ingredients and a blender without any added sugars or oils.

It’s true: I wouldn’t kid about something as serious as nut butter, not even on April Fools!

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Carrot Cashew Queso

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Vegan queso made with steamed carrots, cashews, and plenty of nutritional yeast. Serve it with tacos, taco salads, burrito bowls, chips, and veggies!

How was your Saint Patrick’s Day?

I forgot to wear green, but I didn’t forget to celebrate.

M and I opened a bottle of champagne that’s been hanging out in the fridge since New Years and toasted to the cookbook manuscript’s completion.

We even played a few Irish jigs (mostly rowdy drinking songs) while we attended our weekly virtual game night with my sister and cousins.

While shuffling pieces in Bandido, we talked dreamily about meeting up later this year, in person, in a post-COVID world, full vaccinated and ready for hugs.

I literally can’t wait.

But until then, I have a cookbook to finish birthing.

It’s been a bit of a transitional week here as I re-surface into the world after my manuscript submission and start to assess the next big hurdle–

The cookbook photos.

Dun dun dun.

Yes, the cookbook photos are due in less than two months and I’m equal parts excited and anxious to start photographing again.

Naturally, I’ve been procrastinating, waiting for the perfect daylight, the perfect feeling, the perfect gap in my schedule, to pick up my Canon camera.

But, you and I both know that there is will never be a perfect time, so I really just need to jump into the messiness.

Kind of like this Carrot Cashew Queso that I’m sharing with you today.

Well, it’s only messy if you blend it the way I did– with the Vitamix lid ajar on the highest setting.

I’m still finding blobs of cheezy carrot queso clinging to the cabinets and kitchen backsplash.

Lauren-error aside, this queso is super easy to make on the stovetop and in the blender for a quick savory dip!

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Oil-Free

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