cheesy kale chips (vegan, oil free, gluten free, soy free, paleo)
Aren’t snack foods made from good-for-you ingredients the best? Like kale chips! The first time I tried kale chips, it was love at first bite. Savory, salty, crunchy…yum! But the thing I wasn’t in love with was the price tag, especially for frequent snacking (keep in mind we have four hungry children to feed, three of which are boys). So I turned to my own kitchen to try and re-create the ideal snacking experience. Here are few things I’ve learned along the way: The key to a good kale chip is the seasoning. Since kale is strongly flavored itself, if you’re too light with the seasonings, you…
peanut butter banana milkshake (vegan, no added sugar)
Shakes and smoothies are such a “thing” these days. (Almost) every time I see a shake or smoothie recipe posted on my favorite food blogs or on the pages of a magazine, I think, “I should try that.” Yet, I rarely make it past this shake.It tastes rich and unwholesome but really is made from a few simple good-for-you ingredients with no dairy or sugar in sight and was inspired by this recipe over at Healthy. Happy. Life. Enough said. With summer is in full swing and school starting in less that one month for us, I’m keeping this post short and sweet… Smooth and creamy, this shake is a…
field of greens salad with stadium mustard dressing & crackerjack peanuts
Eight years in and we finally signed our middle son up for baseball this year. It was something I’d meant to do several years ago, but somehow it’s hard to think baseball when registration is required in the throes of winter. An avid sports fan, my husband has been looking forward to this from the birth of our first child. And he’s been teaching our boys especially how to root-root-root for the home team even when they often “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.” (It’s been decades since they won a World Series.)I have my own fond baseball memories…the Toronto Blue Jays winning the World Series two years in…
jolly good potato & leek soup (vegan, oil free)
With a new baby welcomed into the monarchy and surprising election results, the Brits have been in the headlines of late. So it seems rather timely to post a recipe that I often associate with England. I have a soft spot for the UK since we were blessed to live there for a few years when I was growing up, coupled with the fact that one of my grandmother’s haled from England, a war bride of the 1940’s. The first month we lived there, we had tea and cookies every night. Back in March, I shared this recipe for vegan cabbage rolls, a nod to the Polish side of my…
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sweet potato & lentil soup (vegan, oil-free)
The first vegan cookbook I ever purchased was Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson*. It was during the season in my life that my oldest son likes to refer to as “the time when we weren’t eating healthy.” I refer to it as the time when I didn’t realize the benefits of eating a plant-based diet. But the Lord knew He would bring me to this place, so He gradually encouraged me to go meat-free on more than just Monday. I started by exploring vegan and vegetarian cookbooks in our local library until I stumbled upon Vegan Planet*. One of my favorite recipes from the book is Robin’s “Indian-spiced Lentil Soup”…
naturally salty sweet peanut butter banana jumblelaya (vegan, nut-free/raw option)
Sometimes, I think the best recipes are those that are cobbled together…a little of this, a little of that, nothing measured. Just a few favorite ingredients in a bowl, in a cup, on a plate. Snacking especially lends itself to improv eating. Although my go to snack often is enough to satisfy, sometimes, I’m looking for something a little bit more… This snack is by no means intended to approximate the traditional Cajun jambalaya in the rice-veggies-meat sense, but it does mimic the dish’s mish mash approach to pulling ingredients together. Peanut butter + banana have long been a favorite of mine. (In my white-bread eating days, it was especially…
oven-baked sweet potato chips + guacamole (vegan, oil-free)
I grew up in a home where we ate quite a variety of foods, especially fruits and vegetables. But somehow the avocado eluded us. And guacamole? The first time I tried it I was in my late twenties. It was love-at-first-bite. But chips, guac’s side kick, are rather low on the healthy eating spectrum, sprouted, organic, GMO-free or not. And despite their salty, crunchy tastiness, I’ve been looking beyond the vegan label to examine what I’m actually putting into my body. Because eating a plant-based diet doesn’t necessarily = a healthy diet. So when I want a healthier compadre for my guacamole, I round up some sweet potatoes and put…
three-ingredient cinnamon toast (sugar & oil-free, vegan)
On this last day of March I’m making a last ditch effort to post a new recipe before we turn the calendar to April. Although it’s been rather quiet here at brownberry tales, on my side of the screen, it’s been business, and busy-ness, as usual which has led to the starting, but not finishing two other posts. Every once and awhile I hit a meal planning slump (such a depressing, clunky word, right?). But honestly, it’s challenging to maintain enthusiasm when planning meals for six palettes that don’t always agree on what tastes good, especially when it comes to plant-based recipes. As a high achiever who loves her family,…
marinara sauce for pasta or pizza, oil & sugar free
For the longest time I could not bring myself to eat pasta with sauce on it. Chalk it up to getting the flu after eating spaghetti for dinner. Instead, I requested my spaghetti be served with Italian Salad Dressing. Years went by until I worked up the nerve to start eating pasta with a little bit of sauce, but it wasn’t until I went to Venice, Italy as a senior in high school that I finally understood why people love pasta. I started making my own sauce a few years ago when I switched to eating vegan and also cutting back on oils (most store bought sauces contain oil and…
vegan chocolate pudding (raw, gluten free, added sugar free)
When you need a chocolate fix, you need this vegan chocolate pudding. It’s been one of my favorite go-to dessert recipes for years. The inspiration for it came from a bonus recipe pack for the Oh She Glows cookbook. It’s incredibly easy to whip up and, even better, is free of added sugars so it doesn’t give you the crash and burn that typically happens with desserts. When you first mix it up, it has the texture of pudding, but will take on the texture of a thick mousse once refrigerated. To keep a more pudding-like consistency, try adding your favorite unsweetened non-dairy milk a 1/4 cup at a time…
