You can be my new best friend.

So I entered a recipe contest!!! I decided to share my very favorite cookie recipe. It's the first gluten free & vegan recipe I created, it inspired me to start a business and it's even the Sugar Mama namesake :) PLEASE go to the the Gluten-Free Cookie Swap and "like" my recipe. I could win a kitchen aid mixer! Oh, and you'll be my new best friend. Thanks!

Speaking of Fair Trade Chocolate...

I made truffles... Halloween truffles!!!

For some reason I always used to think that truffles would be really hard to make. I mean they seem so fancy shmancy. But then a friend some fabulous truffles and swore they were easy.

So I found this recipe... and it was easy!

I made a few adjustments & came up with a gluten/dairy free, vegan version:

• 1 (8 ounce) package Tofutti soy cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups Fair Trade Organic powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 cups Fair Trade Organic vegan chocolate chips, melted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, mint extract, espresso

Beat cream cheese until smooth and add powdered sugar gradually.

Stir in melted chocolate and vanilla (or espresso or mint) until there are no more streaks.

Scoop onto cookie sheet with a small cookie scoop and chill for 1 hour in fridge.

Shape them with your hands and roll in fun decorations! (powdered sugar, cocoa, sprinkles, coconut, etc)

See?! Super easy. Gluten free. Vegan. Organic. FAIR TRADE. Plus you'll probably impress everyone at your Halloween party. Definitely tell them they were really hard ;)

Oktoberfast

I guess we not really fasting. I was just trying to be clever :) But we're not eating out.

We've been wasting way too much money and I needed a reason to get to cookin' so we're eating in for a month.

So far so good! I know it has only been 4 days, but still. I've made squash boats with quinoa, pulled pork & tofu stir fry is coming up tomorrow.

This gluten free, vegan macaroni and cheese is coming up too. Sooooooo good!

I've also agreed to put meat on the menu twice a week. It's a good compromise because Hunter likes it and I get that, but cooking it makes me gag... So I choose things like pulled pork because you put it straight in the crock pot and you never have to cut it or touch it raw. Hurray!

Anyway, we're hoping to save a little money and get back on the budget bandwagon.

I thought I'd announce it for accountability. If anyone has any delicious crock pot recipes, please share. I'm loving that thing lately!

Help!

We are in a serious serious dinner rut. I've been dedicating a lot of my spare time and energy to house projects... and Pop Chips. Just kidding they don't take up that much time. But they are extremely delicious and sometimes I'm just tempted to eat the whole bag for dinner so I don't have to cook tacos... again. Seriously try these. They're so dang amazing.*

Back to the problem at hand. I need some new, but still pretty quick and easy recipes. Any suggestions? My favorite cookbook is the compilation my mom put together for my wedding. It's just time to update it! So post away. I need your dinner inspirations!

Thanks a million <3

*Pop Chips did not pay me to write this review. I'm just pregnant and really hungry. :)

So I had a major veggie craving for dinner the other night... and this is what happened:



Green peppers, onion, squash, zucchini, potatoes & tofu. Grilled in olive oil with a little garlic. YUM!! Delicious and great for lunch the next day too :)

Love...

Listen, if you know me at all you probably know that I love the dark chocolate/peppermint combo. I mean it.

Love.

Creamy mint chocolate chip ice cream. Gooey Jr. Mints. And my mother of all comfort foods... The York peppermint patty.

You get the idea. I just needed to set the stage so that you could get a glimpse of my giddiness when I happened across this sweet little blog and this amazing recipe. It took every ounce of my will power (which if we're being honest might not be all that much) not to walk out of work and whip these up on the spot.

And now the moment we've all been waiting for. I've added a couple tiny twists to this masterpiece and created a vegan version. Get excited. These are un.real.


Peppermint Patties

2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons Smart Balance, vegan butter substitute

2 tablespoons vanilla soy milk

1/4 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract

1-2 cups dark chocolate chips

In an electric mixer, beat everything but chocolate until smooth. Scoop into a bowl and place in the refrigerator to set. Once firm, roll into one inch balls. Push down to flatten. Set in freeze for another 60 minutes.

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler. Remove patties from freezer and dip in chocolate, setting on wax paper. Freeze again until ready to eat.

Enjoy :)

Tofu Stir Fry!

Dang! Earth day wears me out :) So to compensate for my not-much-creativity-required 9-5 job I've been on a frenzy of creativity lately... it's exhausting. Anyway I was up until 2am gardening (tomatoes, jalapenos, onions and cilantro) and making a long awaited earring holder. Not quite done but I'll post pictures soon!

I got to go on my first bike ride of 2010 today! It was wonderful...until it rained. But it's all good :)

And to celebrate my first vegan dinner I made tofu stir fry with brown rice:





YUM!!! This is going to be easy :)

<3 Ashley