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Black Bean and Barley Salad With Cilantro Lime Dressing

Welcome to the Festival of Food Carnival. In celebration of the New Year and Healthy Starts, we're sharing recipe ideas for healthy, nourishing recipes or anything you would enjoy this time of year. Hosted by Diary of a First Child and Hybrid Rasta Mama, you're welcome to join us next time, or if you have a previously published recipe you'd like to share, add it to the linky below.

I am a HUGE fan of barley. When I was a kid, I always remember my favorite part of Campbell's Vegetable Beef Soup, was the barley that was in it. My mom never cooked with barley, so for me it was like a rare treat when I ate it in the soup. Nowadays,  I wouldn't be caught dead eating a bowl of Campbell's soup (my own homemade versions are ALWAYS better), but I love barley so much, I am always trying to invent new ways to cook with it. Continue reading “Black Bean and Barley Salad With Cilantro Lime Dressing”

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Vegan Pink Lemonade Champagne Cupcakes

When I asked my friend Chelsea's boyfriend what sort of things she was into, for the cupcakes, his only response was “pink”. I thought to myself, “That is such a guy response,” but I needed more. I wanted some kind of theme or flavor pallet to follow, so I checked out her Pinterest in hopes of finding inspiration. Lo and behold, there were all kinds of cute pink lemonade alcoholic beverages that sparked my interest and gave me this amazing idea! Who would have thought Pinterest would be so helpful? Continue reading “Vegan Pink Lemonade Champagne Cupcakes”

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Happy Birthday With Vegan Vanilla Birthday Cake and Vanilla Buttercream Icing

It was my baby's 3rd birthday yesterday! I can't believe how time flies when you're in love and having a blast! When I was a child, my mother loved to handmake a themed cake for us every year for our birthday. I loved this tradition as a child, and enjoyed getting to pick out my birthday theme. I would marvel at how my mom would turn a cake into something magical, and I vowed to carry that tradition on, with my own son. This year, he asked for a cars cake, and I didn't let him down! Continue reading “Happy Birthday With Vegan Vanilla Birthday Cake and Vanilla Buttercream Icing”

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Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting and a Cinnamon Date Caramel Drizzle on Top

I can not speak enough words to tell you how delicious, moist, and absolutely delightful these cupcakes were. I keep going back for more…but it's ok because it's my birthday! Well, not today but they are FROM my birthday, so that should count for something. I brought these cupcakes over to my parents house today so that my Dad and I could have a mini co-op birthday cupcake moment (his birthday is on the 17th) and he ate two of these cupcakes in nearly two bites! I have never seen him eat cupcakes that way before Continue reading “Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting and a Cinnamon Date Caramel Drizzle on Top”

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Happy Birthday Hippy Donuts

It's my birthday and I'll eat it if I want to!!! Happy Hippy Birthday to ME! Today is the big two nine, so I am celebrating by eating the recipes that I wanted to try but haven't had the money or the time. First in line this morning, for breakfast…Vegan Donuts! I used the recipe from the Chloe Coscarelli book “Chloe's Kitchen”, but I had to make a couple minor changes. This recipe normally calls for 2 tsp. nutmeg, but I didn't realize when I started it that I only had one tsp. on hand, so I added a tsp. of cinnamon. It's fall time! You can't go wrong with cinnamon and nutmeg in the middle of fall. I used sugar in the raw for this recipe. Sugar in the raw is normally chunkier than fine bleached sugar so I usually run it through my food processor to grind it down in size for baking. It works miracles. Continue reading “Happy Birthday Hippy Donuts”

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Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo With Mushrooms

I really love Alfredo sauce. I have always been a white sauce over red sauce kind of gal. Ever since we went vegan, I have been craving a great bowl of Fettuccine Alfredo, but I really didn't know how I was going to substitute that heavy cream sauce. Incidentally, you can make an amazing “cheese” sauce using nuts! Cashews and almonds are great staples for making mac n' cheese around this house, so I figured, why not in my Alfredo sauce too? This dish was WAY WAY less fattening than a normal bowl of Fettuccine Alfredo would be. Continue reading “Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo With Mushrooms”

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Vegan Pumpkin Pie Banana Breakfast Shake

Pumpkin pie is by far, my favorite dessert ever made. As soon as fall rolls around I start coming up with ideas to utilize all of the cans of pumpkin my mom has managed to pawn off on me during the year. This morning, I was in the mood for a good pumpkin pie breakfast shake and I was stoked to make it because I could use all of those bananas I have been throwing in my freezer every time they start turning brown. (I know they are better for you with brown spots…but I just really love a good banana with green on it…I prefer my bananas to be firmer than the brown spotted ones are.) After drinking a whole cup of his own, Syfy was running around saying “mmmm, punkin pie ice cream good mommy!” Continue reading “Vegan Pumpkin Pie Banana Breakfast Shake”

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Vegetables & Dumplings Hippy Homemaker Style

If there is one thing I just LOVED to eat, that my mother would make when I was a kid, it was Chicken n' Dumplings. There are two ways that your dumplings can turn out; light and fluffy, or dense and doughy. My dad was a big proponent of the “light and fluffy” dumpling, so if they turned out that way, there were rarely any dumplings left for the rest of us. This, made me fall in love with the dense and doughy style dumpling because if that's how they turned out, my dad wouldn't eat them at all (which meant LOTS for me!!). Continue reading “Vegetables & Dumplings Hippy Homemaker Style”

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Asian Inspired Ginger Sesame Coleslaw

I was really craving a good cold Asian salad with cabbage. I ended up deciding that I was going to make a coleslaw but dress it up with a Ginger Sesame dressing that would be to die for in this slaw! It really was delicious! I wasn't sure at first if I was just loving it because I made it up, so I taste-tested this ‘slaw on my mom. My mom is a big fan of ginger and I figured if anyone would tell me the honest truth about my cooking, it's her. As she took a bite of it, her eyes grew wide and she immediately went “mmmmmmm, there's ginger in there!” Continue reading “Asian Inspired Ginger Sesame Coleslaw”

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Vegetarian Hawaiian Sloppy Joes For Labor Day Deliciousness

The first time that I tried to make sloppy joe's vegetarian style, I used tofu. I thought that I could just stir fry the tofu the way that I used to brown ground beef. That batch of “sloppy joe's” was soooo wrong. I had no idea how to use tofu, so I hadn't properly pressed all of the juice out of it before using it. The sloppy joe's turned out totally soft and without any sort of crunch to it. It was like pouring a thick ragu' on a bun and trying to eat it. Needless to say, I have come a LONG way from that first attempt at making vegetarian sloppy joe's. Continue reading “Vegetarian Hawaiian Sloppy Joes For Labor Day Deliciousness”