Crunchy Corn Flake Chocolate Peanut Butter Clusters

'Tis the season of too many baked goods being brought to the office, Frank Sinatra crooning Christmas tunes everywhere you go, and holiday work parties...yipee! Today, we're holding an office potluck so I decided to wow my coworkers with some vegan sweet treats!

Baking is not my strong point so I tend to avoid it at all costs, but when I found out all of my coworkers were bringing savory dishes to our potluck, I realized it was the perfect opportunity to try my hand (again) at bringing a dessert that would be satisfying, sugary, and vegan. I tossed around ideas for cookies, cakes, and truffles but decided those all seemed a little too involved for my unskilled baker hands. Then, I remembered something my mom used to make me growing up. Crunchy delicious clusters of cornflakes, chocolate, and peanut butter. I decided a vegan version of these delicious treats was most definitely in order!

These Crunchy Corn Flake Chocolate Peanut Butter Clusters are sooooo simple and yummy! They require three (!!!!!) ingredients, a big mixing bowl, a microwave, and a fridge. That's right, they are no-bake desserts that will definitely impress your friends and family!

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Crunchy Corn Flake Chocolate Peanut Butter Clusters
3 cups of vegan chocolate chips (I used Trader Joe's Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips)
1 cup of creamy/smooth peanut butter
6 cups of Corn Flakes cereal

In a bowl, heat up the vegan chocolate chips in a microwave (45-60 seconds, depending on microwave strength). Remove bowl and add the peanut butter. Mix until smooth and combined. In a large mixing bowl, pour in the cornflakes and distribute melted chocolate peanut butter mixture into the cornflakes. Mix together until cornflakes are evenly coated. Using a small spoon, drop a spoonful of the mixture onto a baking sheet. Once you've spooned all of the mixture onto the baking sheet, put it in the fridge for at least thirty minutes or until the chocolate has hardened. Then, they are ready to enjoy!

Vegans Can Indulge, Too!

Many people wrongly assume that a vegan diet automatically means intensely healthy salads for every meal, but that couldn't be further from the truth!

Unfortunately, it is just as easy to eat unhealthily on a vegan diet. Think about all the tasty foods that are vegan and also jam-packed with fat and sugar...french fries, Trader Joe's cinnamon rolls, cookie butter (my weakness), Oreos...the list goes on and on. Luckily for me, I tend to gravitate towards nutrient-packed meals filled with veggies, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, etc. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't indulge every now and then (and probably more often than I should!).

Before continuing on with this blog post, I'd like to clarify some things about my decision to follow a cruelty-free lifestyle. I decided to eliminate meat and most dairy products from my diet for the animals, not because I didn't like the taste, wanted to lose weight, thought it was healthier, etc. My sole decision to join the vegan club was because I didn't want to put my hard-earned money towards an industry that exploits and abuses sentient beings that I deeply love and adore. In choosing this lifestyle, I've automatically made healthier decisions and lost a small bit of weight, but those are only added bonuses and play no influence in my dining choices, for better or for worse.

Because it was never a thing about not liking the taste of meat, I find myself salivating at pictures of macaroni and cheese, cheese fries, ice cream cones, etc. So as not to deprive myself, I always end up making my own delicious vegan version of dairy and meat-filled meals. On the first night in my new apartment, I was desperate to make a vegan Mac n' Cheeze Burger. So, I did! It was SO GOOD and SO EASY it's almost funny. I could probably eat it everyday but that wouldn't be good for my waistline, haha!

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Mac n' Cheeze Burger

1 Box of Earth Balance Orange Cheddar Vegan Mac n' Cheese cooked according to the package instructions (I used Earth Balance Soy-Free Buttery Spread and Original Unsweetened Almond Breeze almond milk)
1 Vegan Griller Boca Burger Patty
1 Tomato (or, if you're like me, halve two or three cherry tomatoes)
1 cup Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds
1 bun
black pepper, to taste

Thousand Island Spread
1 tbs Just Mayo vegan mayonaise
1 tbs Ketchup
1/2 tbs of sweet relish
1/2 a cap full of white vinegar

Cook the Earth Balance Mac n' Cheese according to package instructions. When mixing in your cheese sauce, add the Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds to make it extra thick and creamy. Stir continuously until Daiya Shreds are melted. Season the mac n' cheese with black pepper to taste. Microwave the Boca Burger Patty according to package instructions. In a small cup or bowl, mix together the Just Mayo, ketchup, sweet relish, and white vinegar until combined. Spread Thousand Island on your bun, top with cooked Boca Burger Patty, tomatoes, and giant scoop of mac n' cheese. Your tastebuds will thank you!

Easy Cheezy Quinoa Veggie Bake

It's been rainy, stormy, and cold in LA this week (shocking, I know), so when I got home from work last night I was craving something filling and warm. Because I'm going home next week for the holidays, my grocery list and pantry are pretty limited.

But then I saw it! My bag of quinoa, my chopped kale, my broccoli, my tomatoes, my Daiya cheese! It dawned on me...I could make a pretty stellar Cheezy Quinoa Veggie Bake that would not only be the warm and filling meal I was craving, but would also be packed with protein and nutrients.

This was my first time making a quinoa bake so it wasn't perfect but man oh man it was tasty! This was super quick and easy to make. I'll definitely be using this recipe again in the future!

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Easy Cheezy Quinoa Veggie Bake

2-3 servings

1 cup of uncooked quinoa
2 cups of vegetable broth
2 cups of broccoli
2 cups of chopped kale
a handful of chopped cherry tomatoes
1 cup of Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds
No-Salt Seasoning, to taste
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Onion Powder, to taste
Olive oil, drizzle

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized pot, bring one 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of vegetable broth to a boil. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes, or until quinoa is fluffy and tender and the broth has been absorbed. In a medium saucepan, cover the 2 cups of chopped, bite-size broccoli with a layer of water. Cover and let simmer for 6-7 minutes, or until broccoli is steamed and tender. While the quinoa and broccoli are cooking, chop your cherry tomatoes. I chopped them in half because I like them in big pieces, but they would be good quartered, too.

Once the quinoa and broccoli are cooked, remove from heat. Pour the quinoa in a glass baking dish (I used a deeper 6"-11" baking dish, but a shallow one would work well, too). Top the quinoa with the veggies, starting with the kale, then the tomatoes, then the broccoli. Season the veggies according to your taste with the salt, pepper, no-salt seasoning, and onion powder. Top the quinoa and veggies with the Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds.

This is where I would change a couple things. Prior to adding the cheese, I mixed my quinoa, veggies, and seasoning all together and then added a layer of the Daiya Cheese on top. When it was finished, though, it was not a slice of a quinoa casserole, like I hoped it would be. I'd recommend thoroughly mixing the Daiya Cheese in with the veggies and quinoa, and then topping the dish with more Daiya shreds so it comes out more as a casserole and less as a loose quinoa dish. Your choice though!

Before putting it in the oven, drizzle with a little olive oil paying close attention to any kale leaves that might be on top as they'll burn in the oven without some olive oil to moisten them up. Cover with foil, bake for 15-20 minutes, and enjoy! I served mine with a frozen Trader Joe's Masala Veggie Burger patty and it was super yummy!

This dish would also be really delicious topped with avocado but sadly for me, I didn't have any :(

Italian Dinners are Always Better with Wine

I love cooking for other people, but this isn't something I've always enjoyed. Throughout most of my college career (the time in my life when I no longer could rely on my mom to feed me everyday), I cooked exclusively for myself. I was just testing the waters in the culinary world and discovering my palette and how to please it. I simply had no time to adjust what I was cooking for other people and honestly, I wasn't confident enough in my ability to share what I made.

Additionally, I was just beginning to dip my toes into the world of veganism and spent much of my time focusing on how I could eat healthy, get all of the nutrients I needed, as well as create delicious and filling dishes for myself. It never even occurred to me that I could get great joy out of sharing my dishes with other people.

Fast forward to my senior year of college after spending four months in Europe, I finally realized just how happy it made me to cook for other people. I think my love of cooking and feeding others really came about during the months I spent wandering the streets of Florence, Italy. Food there is really something else. They take great care in using the freshest ingredients. Pastas are made in-house, sauces are simmering in the kitchen as you order, tomatoes are being sliced by the sharp knives of the kitchen hands as you're sitting there waiting to be served. Eating in Italy is an intimate and sensual experience--your soul is filled with every bite of warm Pappa al Pomodoro and your heart is warmed with the slurp of each al dente linguine noodle. My Italian apartment kitchen became a lab of fresh veggies and bread, and since then, I've been addicted to cooking.

I've been having some serious Italy-withdrawals lately, so I decided to try to replicate my favorite meal in Firenze: the Spaghetti alla Chitarra from Osteria Santo Spirito. Delicious linguine noodles in a fresh sauce of crushed tomato, halved garlic, basil, olive oil, and salt. Literally the closest thing you can find to heaven on earth. Of course, I forced the food onto my new man-friend, but I don't think he was complaining!

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In order to make a copy cat of this perfect plate of pasta, I bought dried eggless linguine noodles (even though they used ribollita noodles...I couldn't find them here). Normally I buy whole wheat pastas but this time I splurged and bought regular ol' white linguine. My sauce consisted of fresh chopped tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil, and salt. On the side, I experimented with Pillsbury Crescents (heck yes for being accidentally vegan!) and dipped them in melted Earth Balance Soy-Free Buttery Spread and crushed garlic, then sprinkled them with my Williams Sonoma Italian Seasoning mix which is mostly oregano, I believe. I baked those at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes and they came out so buttery, flaky, moist, and delicious! We slurped up our noodles with a glass of cold chardonnay and had a lovely evening.

Of course, this dinner didn't come close to my plate of perfection at Osteria Santo Spirito, but honestly, nothing ever will. I've built that restaurant up in my head so much that I'll never be able to do anything that'll come close. Haha!