But fair warning – these are in no way healthy!

I used the following recipe:

Southern Hoe Cakes from Deep South Dish

To make dairy-free I used soy milk mixed with about a half teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in place of the buttermilk (let stand a few minutes to thicken and curdle). I also used Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer instead of the eggs. Finally I did not have self rising flour so I used all purpose flour with a little bit more baking powder and salt. Didn’t measure so not sure how much but couldn’t have been more than a half teaspoon each.

The batter mixed up easily. I used a quarter cup measure to drop in the preheated oil in the cast iron skillet.

I had to add more oil halfway through. I ended up with about 10 various size cakes.

I put them on the table with Earth Balance and maple syrup. But no butter or EB was needed! Just drizzle on the maple syrup and enjoy the salty-sweet combination.

Let’s just say hoe cakes may be my new favorite breakfast. As you can see I dug into them before I remembered to take a picture! Benzo agreed they were delicious and even Baby Jack enjoyed a few bites.

I plan to make these again soon so if you have any good variations please share them with me.

Happy Saturday!

Split pea soup is typically made with ham. I don’t eat ham. I actually haven’t eaten ham since I was a kid. There’s something about the color and the texture that weirds me out, even before I gave up meat all together.

So in searching for a meat- free version, I found this recipe:

Crock Pot Vegetarian Split Pea Soup

I was happy to give it a try.

When I started putting the soup together in the crock I thought that my baby Jack might like split pea soup. But I wasn’t sure about feeding him some of the ingredients like garlic and celery. So I got out my baby crock and made a baby version alongside the adult version. Here’s what I did:

Crockpot Split Pea Soup for Baby
Makes approximately 3 cups

1/2 cup split peas
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup peeled & diced potatoes
2 cups water*
A pinch dry mustard
A pinch dry thyme
A pinch dry cumin

Combine everything in a baby crock. Cook on high for an hour and then low for at least three hours or until vegetable are soft and peas are broken up.

Purée using an immersion blender to desired thickness depending on what your baby can handle. Save some in fridge for serving immediately and freeze the rest in small jelly jars for later. I froze all of it immediately and got 6 little jars out of it.

Two are not pictured because they didn’t look as pretty.

*Now for the note on water. When I pulled this out of the freezer to serve to Jack this week, I noticed it was a lot runnier than I intended. So next time I make this I will either increase the vegetables or decrease the water a little bit so the soup is thicker. We had to add a little cereal to give it some substance.

Jack really liked the soup and I was happy I made it for him. I tasted it and although it’s not as flavorful as the adult version it still tasted pretty good. And a lot better than some of the jarred stuff! We use both homemade and jarred baby food and while the jarred orange veggies and fruits are pretty good, the jarred green vegetables are horrible. I know because I taste them all!

And here is a picture of the adult version:

No it’s not much to look at but it’s tasty, cheap and good for you. One batch got us dinner and lunch the next day plus a big bowl for the freezer that we can pull out for a quick dinner on a busy weeknight (and possibly two more lunches).

I’m so glad it’s Friday! I think I say that every week. Have a wonderful day!

I don’t have them as much now that I’m an adult but when I had some leftover frosting from the birthday cupcakes I made I knew exactly what to do with it.

These are so easy it feels silly writing it out like a recipe, but nevertheless:

Graham Cracker Treats
Serves as many as you want!

Graham crackers, any kind
Frosting, any kind
Tupperware container of some sort

Take a graham cracker and break it in half. Slather as much frosting as you want on one side and top with the other side to make a sandwich. Place in container. Repeat until grahams and frosting are gone or until you have as many sandwiches as desired.

Place the lid on the container with the graham cracker treats inside. Leave on the counter out of reach of hungry little hands for several hours or overnight. The Tupperware magically softens the graham crackers leaving you with a tasty treat.

Mom used to make these with chocolate and vanilla frosting. Though I got to thinking this week that it would be fun to try these with strawberry or maple frosting. And if chocolate graham crackers exist I think they would be delicious with mint frosting or the peanut butter frosting I used to top some brownie bites awhile back.

Any other ideas?

I haven’t had cheese dip in Lord knows how long. You know the kind with Velveeta and Rotel? Oh yeah.

Luckily some talented other bloggers already came up with a dairy free cheese dip recipe so I didn’t have to do any work other than follow their instructions. I went with the recipe at Vegan Lunch Box.

It was so easy! Put all ingredients in the Vita-Mix and blend until smooth. Then transfer to a saucepan and heat until thickened. Then I put it in the baby crock so it would be warm and ready to snack on throughout the game.

The taste was surprisingly great. It far exceeded my expectations. The texture was also good too. It was nice and thick and coated the chips nicely.

I’m always a little wary when I make these alternative recipes because you just never know what you’re gonna get. But this dip turned out great and I would highly recommend it. Benzo also liked it a lot and we ate about half of it between the two of us. We will probably eat the other half tonight.

I didn’t have pinto beans so I used black beans instead. I also didn’t have a lime or cilantro so I just left them out. I did add a sliced avocado and some tortilla chips. The tomatoes and green chilies makes this a little spicy which is fun. Overall two thumbs up.

So far I have tried the Mexican, Baltimorean and Asian rice and beans varieties. I still need to try the Mediterranean and Indian recipes.

Have a wonderful weekend!

They are:

Simple Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
Basic Buttercream Frosting (made with EB & soymilk)

These are some of my favorite cupcakes because they are so easy to make. They are very moist and go great with lots of different types of frosting. But they are perfect with just a basic buttercream. My family liked them. Even those members that are skeptical of all things vegan or dairy free.

She said The recipe was from Taste of Home. I searched and it appears to be a mash up of two baked oatmeal recipes on their site. I used non-dairy versions and flax “eggs” and this is what I ended up with:

Blueberry Peach Baked Oatmeal
Serves 6-9
Inspired by Taste of Home

3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp ground flax mixed with 6 tbsp water
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup Earth Balance, melted
1 cup chopped peaches (I used frozen)
2/3 cup blueberries (I used frozen)

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients together in a smaller bowl. Add wet to dry and combine. Stir in fruit.

Spread into an 8×8 dish. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until a knife in the center comes out clean.

I’ve made baked oatmeal before so this was nothing new to me. But I liked this version a lot. It was a little more crumbly than another blueberry baked oatmeal recipe I’ve made and I liked it that way. The addition of the peaches was nice in the winter. I think adding toasted walnuts or almonds would also be delicious. I actually meant to do that but then completely forgot.

We have been having unreal weather this week. Yesterday was in the 60s and the same is forecasted for today. I’m planning a lunchtime run outside and really looking forward to it!

Last night my family got together to celebrate my siblings’ birthdays this week. I am still on a dairy-free diet so I brought along an “Amy-friendly” dish to share. It was very easy to make so I thought I’d post about it.

Cranberry Quinoa Pilaf
Serves 4-6 (if main dish, more if a side dish)

1 small onion, chopped
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 cups vegetable broth or 2 cups water plus 2 tsp bouillon
1-2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup sliced almonds
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a 2 quart stockpot over medium-high heat. Cook onion until soft. Add quinoa and salt and pepper and cook a couple minutes more, stirring to coat quinoa.

Pour in broth or water plus bouillon. Add chickpeas and cranberries. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for approximately 20 minutes or until water is mostly absorbed.

While quinoa is cooking, toast almonds in a dry skillet until fragrant. Toss with quinoa and serve.

I thought it turned out great and I’m looking forward to the leftovers for lunch today.

I have no idea what went wrong. It’s still edible as we enjoyed hunks of it with some soup tonight. But it’s definitely not going to make the sandwiches I intended. Back to the drawing board!

We had a wonderful holiday overall. The first year as a family of three! Lots of time spent with family and I was able to take all last week off work. But yesterday it was back to the grind and our regular schedule.

Today’s post is a recipe I made almost two years ago and sadly haven’t made since. It is lentil dumpling soup from Hillbilly Housewife. I made it again for lunch on Christmas Eve for Benzo and I and it was very comforting on that chilly day.

This time I made a no-chop version to make it a little easier. It doesn’t really speed up the recipe at all as there is still a lot of simmering, but it does reduce the active time spent on the recipe.

All you do for the no-chop version is use a 16oz bag of frozen mixed vegetables instead of the carrots, celery, and onion. Follow the rest of the directions as written.

I thought it turned out very good and I would definitely make it this way again sometime. The dumplings are what really makes this soup tasty anyway.

Hopefully everyone reading had a wonderful holiday. If you have any favorite recipes or homemade gifts to share please do!