crispy peanut butter cups // toasted coconut

Peanut Butter Cups are one of Justin's most favorite candies. He can polish off a bag without thinking twice. Peanut Butter Cups are super easy to make, for an added twist I included some of his favorite chocolate crisp cereal and toasted coconut.

I was able to enjoy a total of one peanut butter cup - the rest were gone within 2 days of making this batch.

The perfect little sweet treat for New Years Eve.

The Holidays // DIY sugar salt scrub

Merry Christmas!

This post can either be considered right on time or a day too late - anyway you look at it there is always next year or another holiday to celebrate. 

Today I am sharing with you a super easy, yet adorable and thoughtful sugar salt scrub that smells good enough to eat and makes your skin soooooooo friggin' soft.

The Holidays // cookie box

Cookie Boxes, hands down is my most favorite part of Christmas. I love coming up with a new assortment each year, anything goes from cookies, to truffles to little dessert bars + bites. I always inlcude a combination of homemade and semi homemade treats. Think chocolate dipped Oreos with sprinkles, chocolate dipped apricots with pistachios, white chocolate peppermint cookies.

All these goodies are tucked into a cute little box with a homemade tag tied up with ribbon. I love passing out my tower of cookie boxes to friends and family. 

It is a simple little gift given with lots of love.

Today, I am sharing with you my favorite Holiday Cookies + Treats.

(simply click directly on each recipe title to be brought to the blog post)

Enjoy!

The Holidays // edible gifts

Each year I make it a point to pick a handful of gifts that are from the Kitchen. People love food- eating it, giving it and receiving it. Food + Drink make people happy- a food hug from your favorite person is the best kind of hug.

Today I am sharing with you a few of my all time favorite gifts from the kitchen. I hope you have a chance to share some Kitchen love with your friends + family this Holiday Season!

(click on the recipe title to be direct to the recipe page)

The Holidays // a plant based menu

One of my favorite things about the Holidays is the Menu planning. I mean, duh, this is a food blog and all- of course food would take center stage!

Not only do I love developing a menu where all the courses flow and compliment one another, I love designing the table. It makes our everyday table feel a little more special.

Flowers or herbs, greenery, votives and printed menus always make an appearance. 

The Holidays // a DIY christmas village

How cute are these little houses! The best part is you don't even need to be crafty to make a little village of your own like the one you see here. A little bit of paint, a few paint brushes, pretty ribbon and a handful of pre made wooden bird houses flipped around.

Add a few faux trees and twinkle lights and you have a custom DIY Christmas Village!

holiday cookie box : white chocolate + cinnamon macadamia cookies

Cookies are one of the best parts of the Holiday Season. Each year I bake up around 6 different Christmas Treats  for my cookie boxes that are delivered to friends and family. I try not to repeat any cookies from the last Christmas cookie box so coming up with new cookies every year has been a personal challenge + a pretty tasty one at that too.

These cookies are a definite winner- they are super easy to make, taste incredible and you make a decent amount in one batch.

Keepin' it Kind Holiday Cookie Swap! coconut pecan chocolate caramel squares

Happy Holiday's !!
Let me tell you, I'm so excited to share this recipe at Keepin' it Kind for Kristy's annual cookie swap, thank you Kristy for having me !

  I look forward to this cookie swap ever year; amazing vegan cookie goodness all in one spot, what's not to love?

 I also love that eating cookies for breakfast this time of year is totally socially acceptable....which I have definitely been taking advantage of this week, especially after making a batch of these cookie bars!  So head on over to  Keepin' it Kind for the recipe!

harvest menu ~ Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving is a grande event in our home - the day is filled with amazing food, incredible family, cocktails + games. It is the one Holiday that we stand firm on spending at home, of course our doors are open to anyone open to a compassionate Thanksgiving.

I wanted to share with you our Harvest Menu for our early Thanksgiving celebration this coming weekend, hopefully you will find some inspiration for one or two compassionate dishes to share at your holiday table:

Our Harvest Day Menu
Farmhouse Rolls with Maple Butter
Winter Squash + Quinoa Rissoles over Greens
Cranberry Chutney
Bourbon Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Red Bliss Potatoes
Garlicky Green Beans
Cider Maple Glazed Carrots
Field Roast + Mushroom Stuffing
Gravy
Pumpkin Cake + Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Mini Cheesecakes
Hermit Woods Harvest Apple Wine (local!)

Keep on reading for some amazing Thanksgiving Day inspiration!
(simply roll over the recipe title + click for recipe!}

winter squash + quinoa rissoles

Thanksgiving is my all time favorite Holiday, I think you will find this true with most food obsessed people, it is an entire day of giving thanks and stuffing your face full of mouthwatering, carb loaded food, while wearing stretchy pants and not saving room for dessert but eating it anyway, then passing out in a food coma- sounds about right, doesn't it? 

So it was a no brainer when NOW Foods contacted me to participate in their smart swap holiday challenge- creating a holiday themed recipe with a "health halo" using NOW Foods product.

Since I am going to be in the Caribbean this Thanksgiving we are celebrating a little earlier than usual. I am sad/not sad I won't be home for Thanksgiving, but couldn't pass up making my huge spread as usual, which, of course always includes a "main course" - this year the centerpiece on our table are these beautiful winter squash + quinoa rissoles, which just so happens to be gluten free as well as vegan

 (with plain pecans, not honey roasted).

spiked pumpkin "nog" + cinnamon whipped cream

I had never experienced eggnog prior to meeting Justin, as I may have mentioned before, growing up we never ate anything that my Mom + Dad didn't eat- my Mom was a pretty finicky eater and my Dad's only real dislike are peas (even chickpeas!) + lima beans. Needless to say they were never on the eggnog band wagon.

Justin on the other hand loved it! He introduced me to eggnog spiked with rum one Thanksgiving, I fell hard and fast in love with the slightly sweet creamy spiked nog.....for a total of one day. You see, we celebrated a bit early while I was cooking our HUGE Thanksgiving Feast, needless to say neither of us enjoyed our Thanksgiving Dinner on the day it was made, we were so full and pumped up on Eggnog there was no room left for anything else. 

When we became Vegans Eggnog, of course was out for the both of us. 

Until we came across Justin's favorite Holiday Beverage veganized!

pumpkin cake + maple cream cheese frosting

YAY for all things pumpkin! 

Bring cake into the picture and you have a winner. 

The frosting, well the frosting is a total game changer. Just sweet enough and oh so creamy; if you are not a fan of overly sweet + sugary frosting's this one is for you!

A super simple cake that looks really impressive- no joke, 1 bowl for the cake + 1 bowl for the frosting. 

Making just enough cake to share.

almond butter truffles

Oh my gosh, where did the time go? I thought I was ahead of the game, but alas Valentines Day is tomorrow and I am just getting around to sharing this amazing almond butter truffle with you. Lucky for you these are incredibly easy to make, so easy you could whip up a batch tonight or tomorrow afternoon just in time to share with your loved ones. 

raspberry lime chili sea salt

 So this is not your traditional Valentines Day recipe, but it kinda does fit...pink, a little sweet and spicy, this salt is guaranteed to heat up any dish on Valentines Day. Give a little jar along with a box of dark chocolate truffles to those that may need a little Valentines Day loving.

This salt would absolutely be incredible sprinkled over dark chocolate bark, sea salted brownies, as a cocktail rimmer or used in a salted caramel and drizzled over vanilla vegan ice cream!

happy holidays ~ resources

Still looking for holiday inspiration, the perfect cookie or gift? 

Checkout these amazing links which are sure to boost your holiday spirit and creativity!

cranberry ginger pull apart bread

This bread and so amazingly good and festive; the colors and flavor scream holiday! Which I totally need more of in my life right now. I am sad to say I have been hit with the bah humbug of the Holiday season for the first time ever...I mean ever. Typically I am the girl who at every chance she gets will sing aloud the praises of the holiday season - but not this year. I think it may be because Thanksgiving ran so late this year, I typically get a reprieve between Thanksgiving and the kick start of Christmas, which for me is the first of December. Or, it may be because I have a lot on my plate right now and the thought of lugging up all the Christmas decor just to lug it back down in three weeks puts me in a sour mood. So instead of focusing on the decorations this year I am focusing on the experience of the season- baking, cooking and creating meaningful gifts for friends and family. Maybe, just maybe (I am really hoping) that will finally put me in a jolly mood, if that fails I'll just bust out the Champagne and my all time favorite Holiday album from She & Him!

chocolate cake ~ salted "caramel" frosting

Oh man I am so sorry about the less than stellar photo- I had the best intentions of styling and photographing this cake in a more traditional manner, however time and the day got away from me. This cake was just too good not to share with you. I have made this cake on a few different occasions and it always comes out perfect- a no fail chocolate cake. We all need one of those in our lives.

keepin' it kind cookie swap! mini gingerbread whoopie pies

I absolutely ADORE Kristy, so it was a no brainer when she invited me to take part in her annual vegan cookie swap. I am so incredibly happy to be included alongside so many amazing, kind hearted & talented bloggers - Kristy's cookie line up thus far has been amazing; and we aren't even a week into the swap!

Come join the fun ( and for this recipe!) over at Keepin'  it Kind!

pumpkin pecan cheesecake

Oh my goodness, this cheesecake brings me back to my Cheesecake Factory loving days. Albeit, 9 times out of 10 I was way stuffed to actually enjoy a slice of their famous cheesecake, but boy did I love looking the crazy combinations and creations on the Cheesecake menu. For Justin and I, Cheesecake is a once a year foodie splurge; reason being we really have no self control when it comes to vegan cheesecake (sad I know). We have deemed Thanksgiving to be our unofficial Cheesecake Holiday.

braised greens // golden raisins + smokey tempeh

Every Holiday table should include at least one "green" dish; for us some years it may be maple cider glazed brussel sprouts, a fall harvest salad or green bean casserole. Growing up the standard green on my Gram's Thanksgiving table were your plain old green beans, for Easter; asparagus from a can. As I mentioned in my stuffing post we didn't often stray from our traditional family menu. On our Thanksgiving menu you will always find the standard Thanksgiving must haves; traditional mashed potatoes, farm house rolls and assorted pies, but you will also find at least one "experimental' dish, if good enough a dish that may find its way onto the Holiday menu must have's list.