Oil-Free

Birthday Cake Batter Chickpea Balls

Celebrate with birthday cake batter balls made with chickpeas, maple syrup, cashew butter, and sprinkles! Yes, they taste like b-day cake!

How was your Memorial Day?

Yesterday was a special day for me because I taught my first virtual yoga class!

Before you get mad at me for not inviting you, don’t!

It was a private class for my cousin and her husband.

They’ve been asking me to teach them since the beginning of quarantine and I kept finding reasons why it wasn’t the right time…

Yesterday I finally ran out of reasons and realized that my main reason was fear.

So I threw together a quick 30 minute sequence, threw my hair up in a bun, and showed up on Skype to teach.

In those 30 minutes, for the first time, I felt like a true yoga teacher, virtually guiding them through postures and breath and finally, savasana.

And if that isn’t reason to celebrate with this sweet new snack I have in store for you…

These Birthday Cake Batter Chickpea Balls will give you a reason to celebrate snack-time!

They’re vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, and refined sugar-free while still tasking like cake.

Grab your blender, a can of chickpeas, and some sprinkles and let’s celebrate because…it’s somebody’s birthday somewhere.

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No-Churn Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

By Flora & Vino 11 Comments

Five ingredient vegan ice cream made with coconut, cashew, maple syrup, and cacao. Stir in chopped dark chocolate chunks for an added chocolate crunch!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

How’s it going?

To be honest, it doesn’t feel like Memorial Day.

Sure, the temps are getting warmer, but I’m fiercely missing that rowdy sense of community that annually kickstarts the summer season via cookouts, BBQs, and backyard parties.

This time last year I was in a bikini pool-side baring my ghostly legs for all of the neighborhood to see.

Then afterwards I probably went to a winery with hundreds of other people, crowded onto picnic blankets on the winery grass.

This year, I’m holed up in my townhome, feverishly snapping photos of chocolate ice cream.

Ah, how times have changed.

But some things have stayed the same.

For example, as you probably guessed by the title of this recipe– I *still* don’t have an ice cream maker.

So I’m coming at you with a sweet dessert idea for Memorial Day that doesn’t require any fancy equipment and it definitely doesn’t require a crowd to finish off.

This No-Churn Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream is chocolate-y, creamy, and simple to make with just 5 ingredients!

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1-Bowl Hummus Pasta Salad

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Easy pasta salad made in 1-bowl with your favorite hummus, legume pasta, kalamata olives, cherry tomato, and cucumber. Perfect for a cookout main or side!

Did I ever tell you guys about the time I chipped my tooth on a black olive?

Seated at the restaurant in Colorado, I remember I was *starving*, like, way past the point of hangry.

I was in Colorado for a family wedding, and with that came a family schedule, and not lots of time for finding plants to eat.

So I was super excited super excited to find some plant-based options on the menu.

I went all out and ordered a wrap with allllll of the mediterranean inspired fixings.

Naturally, when the wrap arrived, I took a giant half-moon bite and chewed aggressively.

Craaaaaccccck.

Guys, I thought I lost my tooth.

Pain shot up through my jaw, juxtaposing against the salty satisfaction olives and hummus on my tastebuds.

When I finally spit out the offending mouthful (sorry, TMI), I found the perpetrator.

Those darn black olives weren’t pitted.

I reluctantly returned the food to the waitress, explaining the issue to prevent future guests from their own emergency dentist visits.

When I made it back to Virginia and finally saw a dentist, they confirmed that the olive pit had slightly chipped my incisor.

Ever since then I *never* bite into my olive whole, regardless of whether the jar says “pitted” or not…just in case.

So on that note…how about an easy pasta salad with olives for Memorial Day weekend?

This 1-Bowl Hummus Pasta Salad is easy to mix up with pantry-friendly ingredients and is so delish and simple it’ll chip away at your heart but never your teeth!

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Giant Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookie

By Flora & Vino 7 Comments

Giant vegan, gluten-free, and grain-free almond flour chocolate chip cookie for two! Lightly sweetened with maple syrup and dairy-free chocolate chunks.

If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be living alone during a pandemic, I would have cried and then laughed and then cried some more.

Ah, 2019 Lauren didn’t have a *clue* what was about to go down.

If anything, current events have taught me about my own inner strength and perseverance in the face of uncertainty.

We just keep going, friend.

I hope that you, too, feel more capable than ever of getting through hard things.

Because we’re doing all of this together.

And today, we’re going to bake together.

Current events have also taught me a thing or two about baking a mean vegan cookie.

These Giant Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies are resilient, too, you know.

They’re chewy and sweet and popping with chocolate chunks.

Make them in one-bowl with pantry friendly ingredients you already have at home.

And they only take 15 minutes to bake in the oven.

Let’s bake a BIG cookie!

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Apple Pecan Pie Oats

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Apple pecan pie oatmeal bowls served with a sautéed apple pecan compote. Naturally sweetened with raisins, banana, and a touch of maple syrup.

I’ve been a bit nostalgic this past week, friends, remembering simpler times and the family reunions every summer growing up.

On my family’s annual trip to Indiana to visit extended family, we always stopped at Cracker Barrel before returning to the endless highway.

So I have one question for you.

Have you tried Cracker Barrel fried apples?

No?

Well, it’s one of the best sides on the menu.

Every member of my family ordered a side of fried apples with our entrees regardless of whether we stopped for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

These Apple Pecan Pie Oats with Sautéed Apples remind me of a much healthier spin off of that addictive southern comfort side.

And we could *all* use a little comfort food right now, right?

And, like at Cracker Barrel, at my house, you can “order” these apples to go all day long.

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Blueberry Maple Baked Breakfast Bars

By Flora & Vino 9 Comments

Blueberry Maple Baked Breakfast Bars with oats, plant-based protein and blueberries 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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Dark Chocolate Coconut Butter Cups

By Flora & Vino 5 Comments

2-ingredient coconut butter cups made with dark chocolate and coconut butter. Vegan and oil-free with no added sugar. Perfect for a sweet clean dessert!

You guys, I’ve had a major sweet tooth this week.

The kind of sweet tooth that finds me loitering around my chocolate drawer (yes, I have a chocolate drawer!) around 11 PM, just casually opening it, you know, to make sure everything is still there.

So it felt appropriate to share something sweet with you this week.

Like these Dark Chocolate Coconut Butter Cups.

You need a jar of coconut butter and my favorite dark chocolate to bring these to your house in under an hour!

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Golden Oats with Butternut Squash

By Flora & Vino 6 Comments

Golden oats with butternut squash and turmeric! Perfect for a cozy breakfast served with fresh blueberries and a spoonful of cashew butter.

I have a small fridge that is constantly overflowing with all of my recipe creation leftovers, hummus containers, resealable bags of superfoods, and fresh produce.

If you open the door, be prepared for an avocado or a tomato or some sort of veg to come tumbling out.

Enter at your own risk.

Hardhats welcome.

In this case, I had a good amount of leftover butternut squash purée looking a bit forlorn and loveless.

And you know what we do with leftover veggies here at F&V…we show them all of the love.

These gorgeous Golden Oats with Butternut Squash taste just as good as they look.

Who’s ready to turn their breakfast into gold?

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Double Chocolate Banana Bread

By Flora & Vino 5 Comments

Vegan and gluten-free double chocolate banana bread with almond flour, oats, bananas, tahini, and dark chocolate. Perfect for weekend baking!

“How are you doing being home alone?” my yoga friends asked me on our weekly Zoom date this past week.

I stopped and paused, carefully considering.

“I’m OK,” I finally said.

And I meant it.

It’s a little strange and kind of amazing how we humans can grow and adapt to the curveballs the universe pitches.

I’ve definitely settled into this new normal with a quarantine routine heavy on walks, work, and virtual connection.

I feel so lucky than I can keep F&V running and continue to share delicious eats with you during these unprecedented times.

So let’s make some good stay-at-home memories, shall we?

So word on the street is that the top googled recipes right now are for banana bread.

This Double Chocolate Banana Bread is gluten-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free, and made easy with just 1-bowl and a loaf pan!

And plenty of spotty bananas and dark chocolate, obviously…

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Peanut Butter Blueberry Rice Cake Toasts

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Rice cake “toast” in 2 minutes! Peanut butter, jammy blueberries, and gluten-free granola on gluten-free rice cakes. Perfect for an easy breakfast or snack!

I’m not sure when it happened, but I am nocturnal.

I guess it’s just the new quarantine norm, here.

Last night I was up until 1 AM catching up on Jimmy Fallon The Tonight Show: At Home Edition and sending rambling video texts to my gal pals.

I rolled out of bed at 8 AM today slightly disoriented but definitely ready for breakfast.

Luckily, I have these Peanut Butter Blueberry Rice Cake Toasts to wake up to.

This “toast” situation is one you’re going to *want* to stay at home to make.

It’s vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, and refined sugar-free with just four ingredients you have in your pantry and freezer.

And they take 2-minutes to whip up.

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