vegan toast recipes

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day- I go to bed looking forward to what I'm going to eat in the morning! Lately I've been having toast almost every morning, so I decided to share a few recipe ideas with you! These don't just have to be for breakfast, I would eat these for lunch or a mid-day snack too! Or make these for your next brunch party and I'm sure you'll have everyone instagramming their food. ;)

vegan backpacking food

Spring break is next week and while most people are heading to the beaches, I'm spending the break hiking and camping on the Appalachian Trail! In preparation for the trip, I started doing some research on backpacking food for vegans and realized there are not a whole lot of resources out there for people who want to hike on a plant-based diet. So I'm going to show you all what I'm bringing for the trip, to give you some ideas if you too plan to go camping as a vegan!

The standard breakfast for backpackers, vegan or not, is oatmeal. I add some almond butter, chia seeds, and brown sugar for more flavor and nutrients. The unfrosted PopTarts are vegan, and although they aren't the healthiest thing you can eat, the extra calories are needed when you're hiking 10+ miles a day. Something hot to drink on chilly mornings is also nice to have, so I'm bringing tea!


Snacks are essential for a long hike- they give you the energy you need to keep going. I'm bringing an assortment of things because I don't want to get tired of eating the same trail mix every single day. I'm packing green pea crisps (they are lightweight and delicious!), crackers, lots of granola bars, and the classic "gorp".

I'm not including lunch in this post because someone else in our group is packing it for us, and it's so simple: just peanut butter and tortilla.


For dinner, I'm bringing lentils, rice, dried potatoes, dried tofu, packaged vegetables, and spices to give it all some flavor. I found the tofu and veggies at an asian grocery store, which is surprisingly a great place to find backpacking food! The lentils and rice cook in 5 minutes, and the potatoes simply need hot water- so this is a quick and easy meal to put together after a long day of hiking!


The extra things that I don't necessarily need, but like to have, are sour patch kids for a little boost during the day, hot chocolate for sitting around the fire, and chewing gum.

I won't be back on the blog for a week or so, but I will write all about my adventure after the trip is over!
Happy weekend!
xoJordan

vegan rosewater cupcakes // blueberry glaze

A few days ago I spent the evening in the kitchen creating these vegan rosewater cupcakes, which actually turned out really well! It is indeed possible to bake a fluffy, moist cake without eggs or butter! As a final touch, I topped them with a blueberry glaze, which I think goes well with the light rose flavor of the cake. I used this vegan cake recipe to base mine on, and this recipe for the frosting. Of course, I changed things up to make these rose flavored cupcakes and blueberry glaze, so here is my version!

{Vegan Rosewater Cupcakes}

1 cup almond milk*
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup light olive oil
1/4 cup water
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp rosewater

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare cupcake pan with liners.
Mix almond milk and apple cider vinegar together in a glass. Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
Mix oil, water lemon juice, vanilla, and rosewater together. Pour into vinegar/milk mixture and stir. Mix this mixture into the dry ingredients until the batter is smooth.
Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into each cupcake liner.
Bake 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Don't over bake, the key to keeping these cupcakes soft and moist is to not bake them too long).

*coconut milk is also good in these!

{Blueberry Glaze}

1/2 to 1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil (solid, not melted)
1-2 tbsp almond milk
a splash of rosewater
1/4 cup frozen blueberries

Thaw blueberries and blend them until they are liquid.
With an electric mixer/whisk, whisk coconut oil and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Add almond milk and rosewater and mix. Add the blueberry purée a little bit at a time, until the glaze becomes a light purple color (I did not use all of the blueberry purée). Continue mixing and adding more powdered sugar until your glaze reaches your desired consistency. (I kept mine slightly liquid-y, but you can make this into a thicker frosting by adding more powdered sugar).

Spoon a small amount of the glaze onto a cooled cupcake, so it spreads across the top. Immediately put the cupcake into the freezer for a few minutes to quickly harden the glaze and keep it from spilling over the edge of the cupcake. Do this for each cupcake. When you remove the cupcakes from the freezer, they can be kept at room temperature and the glaze will remain in place.

odds & ends

I went to the beach with my friends for a few days last week, and ever since I got back I've been spending all my free time doing some spring cleaning! To all my penpals, I have not forgotten about you! Sorry for such a long delay in my response, but I promise I will have something in the mail for you soon. :)


I recently made these raspberry bars, which are super yummy, and they're raw/vegan! I used this recipe, and it turned out really well! I always tell you guys the changes I make to recipes, but I didn't need to change much in this one! I did use fresh raspberries instead of frozen, and I added a few less dates (because I didn't want them to be too sweet). Also, I did not add the icing on top of the bars, but they were still delicious without it!


And speaking of spring cleaning, I recently redecorated my bedroom (since I am currently living at home for the summer). So maybe a room tour will be in the near future? ♥

mother's day // blueberry muffins

I have always baked something for my mom on Mother's Day- from the time I was young and had to have my dad's help, to now where I've taken the tradition into my own hands. Some particularly delicious things I remember making in past years include lavender shortbread, fresh strawberry cupcakes, and cinnamon breakfast puffs. This year I decided on something simple, but still yummy- blueberry muffins.


I knew I wanted to make them from scratch (I feel like I'm cheating every time I use a box mix!), so I searched for recipes and found one from Barbara Bakes.


I really liked this recipe! The muffins came out perfectly light and moist, with a crisp topping from the streusel. I used fresh blueberries and they stayed suspended in the muffin, they didn't sink to the bottom!


I made a few slight changes to the recipe:
- I used coconut milk instead of regular milk
- I added 3/4 cup of sugar instead of 1 cup
- I baked them for 35 minutes

Also, next time I'm going to add a little lemon zest! I forgot to this time, but I feel like these muffins were missing just a little something, and lemon zest would be the perfect enhancement.


Everyone in my family loved these muffins, so this is definitely a recipe I will be repeating!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Sunday. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

DIY cookie tin

I love baking things for other people. Back in high school, I spent a lot of my free time baking (when I wasn't crafting) and I would always bring my treats to school to give to all my friends. My friends loved me for it because a) who would say no to delicious baked goods? and b) it's fun getting things when there's no special occasion and you're not expecting it. I made some chocolate chip cookies recently and I thought it would be fun to come up with a pretty way to wrap them, perfect to gift to someone to brighten up their day!


I used a metal tin, paper, fabric, and washi tape. You can find metal tins in lots of different shapes and sizes at most craft stores. The one I have fits an average size cookie perfectly!


First, I traced the lid onto a piece of scrapbook paper and cut it out. Then I used mod podge to adhere it to the metal.


I wrapped washi tape around the edge and overlapped it slightly on top of the paper.


I cut out a piece of parchment paper to line the tin with, and then placed three homemade cookies inside.


Finally, I cut strips of floral fabric to tie around the tin and attached a little tag.


This is such an easy way to wrap cookies, but it looks so pretty! I think presentation is extremely important; even something as simple as putting cookies in a metal tin instead of a plastic bag makes all the difference.


Just finished finals? The weather finally turning warm? Celebrate the little things with some pretty tins of cookies. ♥

french rose macarons

My dream is to sit outside a cafe in Paris on a beautiful spring afternoon, sipping an espresso and enjoying macarons picked up at a nearby pâtisserie. But at the moment I am stuck in a small town in Alabama, so I will just have to settle with baking these French macarons in my own kitchen and daydreaming about my future Parisian travels.


Macarons are tricky to make. For every good batch I've made, I've probably had a dozen past failed attempts (slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean). I've learned to go into baking them without expectations of perfect, Ladurée-worthy pastries.


My favorite flavor is rose. I love the light floral essence paired with the delicate cookie and airy filling, c'est parfait! The secret ingredient is a little rose water added to a basic macaron recipe.


The filling is heavy cream whipped with a dash of rose water and a few spoonfuls of confectioners sugar (not too much, just enough to add some slight sweetness).


I swoon for beautiful, frilly macaroon edges. Look how pretty they are!


I think the best way to learning how to bake the perfect batch is going through trial and error. But if anyone is interested, I could do a tutorial on baking macarons and include a few tips I've learned along the way!

I wish I could invite you all over for tea and macarons, but instead I'll just have to send you a virtual batch. I hope everyone is have a lovely week! ♥

autumn baking: cinnamon rolls

One thing I really miss while I'm living at school is baking. So since I came home for Thanksgiving this week, one of the first things I wanted to do was try out a few recipes I had been saving. Julia, from the blog Très Queentastic, recently made cinnamon rolls and wrote a post about it, which inspired me to try making them too. I used the recipe she used, from the Williams Sonoma blog, and they turned out delicious! They were surprisingly easy to make, even though I don't have much experience in making bread.


I made the cinnamon rolls last night and kept them in the fridge until this morning to bake. They were soft and warm, and oh-so enjoyable on a chilly, autumn morning.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful November, as it is coming to an end. Happy Thanksgiving to those in the States!

teaparty

I saw a photo on pinterest that said "Happiness is a cup of tea" and I don't think that could be any truer. There's nothing like ending a long day by drinking a cup of warm tea and curling up with a good book.


Recently I found these tea biscuits at the grocery store, and I'm in love with them! If you can find them, I definitely recommend giving them a try.


They inspired me to set up a mini teaparty (for one!). There's never a wrong time for a teaparty, right?





I hope everyone has a had a lovely week! ♥

lavender honey popcorn

I discovered this delicious combination the other day when I was looking for a healthy, sweet and salty snack. Honey was sitting on the counter, and we had fresh popcorn and pistachios that I had just shelled, so I decided to mix them all together!


Sticky to eat, but oh so worth it, just mix a spoonful or two of lavender honey + fresh popcorn {no butter} + pistachios.


ps. The honey is from a local shop here in town.

cake for mother's day

As promised, here is the recipe for the cake I made on Mother's Day! So I was inspired by this charlotte recipe (from the blog My Little Fabric), but it was written in French. I'm not familiar with French baking terms (or metric conversions) so I wasn't going to kill myself trying to translate it. I didn't want to risk misinterpretating it, and end up with a bad dessert.

So I decided to make something that looks similar. I started with the actual cake. I followed this basic cake recipe from Sweetapolita, but I made some changes:

• I left out the almond extract and added 1tsp of rose water (although next time I would add a little less rose water, it wasn't as subtle as I had hoped for)
• I used coconut milk instead of whole milk
• I made a raspberry puree (handful of raspberries + little bit of sugar + blender) and added that in (and since I was adding a liquid, I left out a little of the milk)

I made two round cakes with the batter. After they baked and cooled, I shaved the top off to make them flat, and put them together with a thin layer of vanilla buttercream in the middle (using this recipe). I saved some of the buttercream for later.


Next I made lady fingers to wrap around the edge. I used this recipe from Cupcake Project. I piped them to be about an inch taller than the cake. They weren't hard to make and they tasted good, but they didn't turn out as tall and fluffy as I wanted them to. They all kind of melted together on the baking sheet. If you know any tips for making lady fingers, let me know!

I used the rest of the buttercream to stick the lady fingers on the edges of the cake. To finish it off, I made whipped cream to fill in the cake. I didn't use a recipe, I just combined heavy whipping cream and sugar until I got the consistency I wanted. I decorated the cake with raspberries and flowers!

If you have any questions about the cake, just let me know!

mother's day

I began Mother's Day by making my mom these french breakfast puffs from The Kitchy Kitchen's blog. I changed one minor thing in the recipe, instead of regular milk I used coconut milk (simply because I don't like regular milk). They turned out delicious!


I made a cake for my mom in the afternoon. I combined a few recipes and tweaked them a bit to make the cake how I wanted it. If anyone is interested, I can post how I made it


I also made my mom a card and wrapped it in a kraft bag, sealed with washi tape and twine.


I painted a floral watercolor design on the front and wrote a message on the inside with gold ink.


And of course Mother's Day wouldn't be complete without a bouquet of flowers!

Today is my last Monday of high school, it's crazy how fast time is going by! I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

fresh summer salsa

I am so happy the weather is finally warming up here, I couldn't stand the cold for much longer. The sky is blue, the breeze is warm, and summer feels like it is just around the corner. So in the spirit of the summer, I felt like making fresh salsa.


I picked out some fresh vegetables from the grocery store and asked my mom for her salsa recipe. This salsa is so simple to make and so very delicious. You can eat is like everyone else does with tortilla chips, but I have two other ways to eat it that are my favorite. Either just plain, like a salad; or, slice a piece of real mozzarella, pour some salsa on top, and enjoy your delicious and healthy snack.


I also wanted a chance to show off my new bowls I found at TJ Maxx. I love them so much! They are a small size (perfect for snacks!) and have a pretty floral print. They had two colors, the greenish-blue I used for the salsa, and a scarlet red. I got one in each color. :)

Even though this is not much of a recipe, I will still share it with you. ♥

Fresh Summer Salsa

2 tomatoes
half of a sweet onion
1 jalapeno
a handful of cilantro
1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Chop all of the vegetables as big or as small as you like. I take out the seeds of the jalapeno so it's not too spicy. Pull off the cilantro leaves and chop them as well. Squeeze the juice of either half a lime or a whole lime, depending on what you like. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix it all together and enjoy.

yes, more gifts (and more instagram)

This has been a week of gift giving. My mom's birthday, my cousin's birthday (Jade, just so you know, you have a present on the way), some gifts for my friends for no reason, and now another birthday; one of my friends (not one that I gave the cookies to earlier this week). So I wanted to get her something that nobody else was going to get her, and I didn't want to just go out and buy some random stuff that she can go buy herself. So I picked out a bouquet of flowers and a delicous cupcake from our local bakery to surprise her with tomorrow morning at school. I  love getting flowers, so I think she'll like getting flowers too, and it's not something you would usually get for yourself. And who wouldn't want a cupcake on their birthday? ♥