Flora & Vino

Healthy Snacking

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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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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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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Everything Granola Bites

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Protein-packed energy balled made with SunButter, chia seeds, coconut, cacao nibs, and a hidden granola crunch!  Perfect for a quick portable snack!

Everything Granola Bites by Flora & Vino

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

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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!

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!

Raw Walnut Cashew Butter by Flora & Vino

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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Tahini Date Caramel Dip

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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!

Tahini date caramel dip made with Medjool dates, pure maple syrup, and a tahini twist. Perfect as a sweet dip for fresh fruit, crackers, or apple chips!

Tahini Date Caramel Dip by Flora & Vino

In my early conversations M we talked a lot about food.

It’s good neutral ground for conversation, and, well, I *am* a food blogger.

One day I remember asking him if he liked dates. 

“The fruit, not the…well, date, date,” I said, blushing behind my iPhone screen. 

As it turns out he liked both examples of the word, but I’m here today to talk about one.

The ooey gooey edible dates. 

Because I just rediscovered them this past week and I blended them into something special for you.

This Tahini Date Caramel Dip is made with just 5 ingredients in the blender for a sweet snack with apple chips!

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Dark Chocolate Tahini

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Dark chocolate tahini made oil-free and refined-sugar-free with just three ingredients. Blend it up and serve with baked apple chips for dipping! 

Dark Chocolate Tahini Spread by Flora & Vino

During quarantine, I became irrevocably infatuated with a store-bought chocolate tahini spread. 

I used it like I would a chocolate dessert syrup.

Then I got M on the chocolate tahini train, too. 

And, well…sharing is hard. 

With a chocolate tahini shortage imminent, I knew I had one of two choices. 

I could either hoard and hide those sweet sesame seed butter jars, or learn to make dark chocolate tahini myself.

Obviously, I took the higher path. 

Are you proud of me?

This Dark Chocolate Tahini requires just 3 ingredients and 30 minutes to be yours to hide and hoard.

Or, you know, to share.

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Triple Berry Granola (Oil-Free!)

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Baked berry granola with three kinds of sweet berries and SunButter for an oil-free option. Perfect to make ahead for breakfast and snacking!

Triple Berry Granola (Oil-Free!) by Flora & Vino

Granola doesn’t last long in my house. 

It’s one of the staples that both M and I eat daily, piling it high on big breakfast bowls or grabbing a handfuls before an evening workout. 

If you’re a bit of a granola connoisseur like I am, you know the good stuff it can be expensive.

So, for the past few weeks I’ve been making us homemade granola on a regular basis. 

This is either the beginning of a granola series or the beginnings of a granola product line…ha!

Anyway, it’s been really fun testing new variations each Sunday. 

I bake the mixture in the oven and then break it into cherished chunks before transferring it to an airtight bag for the week. 

When I asked M what granola flavor he wanted this week, he requested “something fruity or tart.”

So I made this Triple Berry Granola (Oil-Free!) and infused it with three kinds of berries for a perfectly sweet and chunky granola. 

It’s totally gluten-free, oil-free, and naturally-sweetened with maple syrup and berries! 

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Easy Almond Butter Cups

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Easy dark chocolate cups stuffed with creamy almond butter and sprinkled with sea salt. The perfect vegan, paleo, and refined-sugar-free treat! 

Easy Almond Butter Cups by Flora & Vino

Do you brush your hair, friends?

This past week I had a wicked knot in my hair. 

For context, I don’t even use the word “wicked” in conversation; that’s how bad it was. 

My fingers felt the resistance while I was shampooing and when I *still* couldn’t untangle it after conditioning, I knew I was in trouble. 

I got out of the shower, dripping and downcast, sure I was going to have to cut out a massive chunk of my hair with scissors. 

Instead, M sat me down with a brush and copious amounts of conditioner and we worked it out, one knotted strand at a time. 

Bless him. 

I sat criss-cross-applesauce like a child, arching my neck to counter against the pull of the brush, rejoicing every time the brush finished a clean stroke. 

If you’ve seen me on Instagram you know that my hair is somewhere between straight and curly; falling in soft ringlets on a good day and sort of weirdly wavy on a not-so-good day. 

Typically, I jump out of the shower, scrunch my hair a few times all over with styling gel, and, well, forget about it. 

In my defense, brushing it tends to make my hair staticky, frizzier, and bigger. 

As my quarantine hair gets longer and wilder, I’m debating adding a hair brush to my arsenal of self care tools!

Here’s something else that’s crucial for self-care: Easy Almond Butter Cups. 

These sweet cups require just TWO ingredients for a vegan, paleo, and refined-sugar-free treat! 

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Japanese Yam Rounds with Hummus & Sriracha

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Oil-free baked Japanese yam rounds served with hummus and a drizzle of sriracha! This simple sweet and spicy combo is a great snack or appetizer!

Japanese Yam Rounds with Hummus & Sriracha by Flora & Vino

It’s a big day here at F&V, guys.

Today, I’m getting a new dishwasher installed! 

It’s true, I tend to be hard on dishwashers, demanding that they deal with dishes saturated from recipe testing. 

However, in my defense, this dishwasher just wasn’t that great from the start. 

It had a bit of a funky smell when I moved in that took ages to wear off and somehow the dishes managed to come out dirtier *after* a cleaning cycle.

Gross. 

So here’s to hoping that the new dishwasher can keep up with me. 

Anyway, the snack I’m sharing with you today is easy on the dishwasher, and on the assembly! 

This oil-free, gluten-free, and vegan recipe is to assemble and even easier to devour. 

The snack: Japanese Yam Rounds with Hummus & Sriracha!

The situation: It’s the perfect game time snack whether you’re playing Jackbox Games this weekend or watching the Super Bowl. 

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