I Wanted A Krispy Kreme Donut...

...so I purchased a Babycakes Donut Maker for $9 at my grocery store. Why the heck is it so high on Amazon?

Brandon (my 8 yr old) has a gluten-intolerance, so I stopped baking desserts for a while.  The idea of vegan and gluten-free desserts just didn't sound very appealing to me.

The craving wouldn't let up, so I googled and came across a recipe on Bonappetit for the BabyCakes cookbook. I saw several recipes during my search but this one looked the most promising.

I needed ingredients like potato scratch, xanthan gum, garbanzo bean & rice flour and arrowroot and spent over $40 on gluten-free ingredients. $40!

The verdict? They taste nothing like Krispy Kreme donuts (I didn't expect that) but they did come out pretty light and delicious.  They reminded me of a pancake but Eric said they just "taste like a lemon-glazed donut." The boys loved them and we've made the recipe a few times since (posted a pic on Facebook the other day).

Since I have all these ingredients, you can expect more gluten-free baking in the future.

Donut making on Vine....

I covered each donut with a simple powdered sugar and lemon glaze. 

Have you experimented with gluten-free baking? What do you think so far?

Will Ditching the Microwave Help You Eat Better?

Like a lot of people, I grew up with a massive microwave on the kitchen counter. I even remember my parents having a cookbook designed to make complete meals (from scratch) in the microwave. No lie!

When we moved to the apartment about 6 months ago, we decided not to get a microwave.  At the house, I used the microwave a lot because it was built in and convenient.  I wasn't sure we would be able to live without a microwave until I talked to one of my friends (who has been without one for at least 2 years) and she said it wasn't hard.

She was right. 

Heating leftover lentils on the stove top for lunch

                   Heating leftover lentils on the stove top for lunch

So far I haven't had a problem reheating anything on the stove top (or oven) and I find that we eat better without the microwave.

Here's why...

*No more prepackaged microwave vegan meals-These entrees take waay too long in the oven. I could make a whole meal (likely with less sodium and preservatives) in those 50 minutes.  

*Microwaves zap all the nutrients from our food anyway. Read about that here and here. I know this one is controversial.

*Our steam basket is pretty darn convenient. I use it to steam tempeh and frozen vegetables. I liked using the microwave for frozen veggies.

 

Could you live without a microwave or have you already ditched it?

 

Links & Randomness #1

Just some links & my random thoughts-These posts will be about music, family, recipes, celeb gossip, vegan articles, YouTube videos, nostalgia and anything else that I think about or come across online.

Here are this week's 5 things.... 

(1) I need to hurry up and buy some cauliflower, so I can make this Alfredo sauce & this crispy orange cauliflower.

(2) I really hate how these alcohol companies are making their pouch drinks look like Capri Sun. Not cool! 

(3) I love this post over at Happy Herbivore about following your dreams and leaving a job that no longer speaks to you.

(4) I finished reading Room over the weekend.  It was an exhausting yet good read.  Check out the synopsis here. I've been slacking on the reading but I'm getting back on track...here's my Pinterest board.


(5) I follow some pretty cool peeps on Twitter....@lauwiley @kevin_powell @Anti_Intellect  @Pilarinmotion

Missing My Sesame Tofu-No Eating Out in June

We're on day 16 of No Eating Out in June and I want nothing more than sesame tofu, rice and avocado roll.  I guess I could make my own version but the restaurant we go to does it so well.  The struggle.

Overall, we've been doing very well.  I almost ordered food for dinner the other night (out of habit) but caught myself before lifting the phone. lol

We decided not to attend the Richmond Vegetarian Festival this year. Boo!  Since food is the best part of the festival, I knew we would be too tempted to eat lots of it.

I hope you're having a great Sunday.  :-)

Thanks for reading! 

Other Brown Vegan: Tia Mowry-Hardrict

I read chatter on Twitter about Tia Mowry going vegan, but didn't want to post until I was certain it's true. It's true! Woohoo! As always, I'm super late and she actually became a vegan about 6 months ago. She credits Alicia Silverstone's book A Kind Diet as her inspiration.

Wear those greens, Tia!

Here's a short video where Tia prepares for her PETA photo shoot and talks about being bullied on Twitter because of her lifestyle change.

“There’s a stigma about being vegan. Some people say it doesn’t taste great or it doesn’t taste good—don’t knock it until you try it!”

Need some snack inspiration? Check out Tia's favorite healthy snacks here.

 

Read about Other Brown Vegans on the blog here and be sure to subscribe for vegan recipes, tips & inspiration.

What We Ate Today #3 | Vegan Family Meals

Hey! I hope your week is going well! 

I'm working on unplugging from the Internet to focus on living more in the moment.  It's a challenge since I always feel like I'm "missing something" when I unplug, but I know it will improve my productivity and connection with the ones I love. :-)

Anywho, last week I did another video for What We Ate Today. I recorded what we ate for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack over the course of one day.  I hope you enjoy the video and recipes.

If you try any of these recipes, please let me know what you think. :-)

Also, don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more recipes and vlogs.  

BREAKFAST:

Breakfast Cookies & Strawberries

*I skipped the ground almond and used all oat flour instead
*I also skipped the chocolate chips

Recipe adapted from Minimalist Baker

LUNCH:

French Bread Pizza

*I used Italian bread since my bakery was out of French
*I veganized this recipe by using Daiya vegan cheese and Earth Balance vegan margarine.

Recipe adapted from Divas Can Cook

SNACK:

Avocado, Tomato & Black Bean Dip

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon olive oil
½ onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 large tomato, chopped small
1 (15 oz) can of black beans, rinsed & drained
¼ cup salsa
1 tbsp lime juice
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ avocado, diced
¼ cup vegetable broth

Bag of tortilla chips

Method-
Heat a large skillet on medium heat and cook garlic and onion for 5 minutes with oil. Add tomato and cook for about 5 more minutes. Add in black beans, salsa, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and pour the mixture into a blender (allow it to cool if you don't have a blender with a vent on top). Add in vegetable broth and avocado and blend until smooth. Serve with chips.

Heavily adapted from "Clean Eating for Busy Families"

DINNER:

Black Bean Burgers with Mango-Avocado Salsa on Pita

I veganized this recipe from "The Yummy Mummy Kitchen" cookbook

Recipe makes 6 burgers

Ingredients: 

1 medium mango, peeled & diced
1 small shallot, diced
Juice of 1 lime
1 avocado, peeled, pitted & diced
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
2 (15 oz) cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
¼ breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon salt
1 vegan egg (1 tablespoon ground flax seed & 3 tablespoons of water)
6 pita pockets
6 green leaf lettuce leaves

Method-
Mix flaxseed and water in a tiny bowl with a fork. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes.

Preheat oven at 400º

For the burgers, in a medium bowl mash the beans with the back of a fork until all beans are broken and able to stick together, but still chunky. Stir in ½ cup cilantro, breadcrumbs, cumin, oregano, salt and flaxseed mixture. Form into 6 patties and back for 15 minutes, turning over after 10 minutes.

While the burgers are cooking, mix together the ingredients for the salsa.
In a bowl, combine mango, shallot, lime, avocado, garlic & ¼ cup cilantro.
Place lettuce in the pita pocket, then burger and finally top with avocado-mango salsa.