This smashed strawberry iced matcha uses the floral sweetness of strawberries to complement the nutty soy milk and earthy flavour of matcha. This recipe is made in partnership with Earth’s Own. I only work with brands I know, use, and love and Earth’s Own is a longtime favourite in this household! I’ve been seeing these beautiful cafe videos in Korea where people can get decadent drinks that look so delicious. But alas, are rarely vegan or realistic for me in this season of toddler mom life. So as per usual, I have to m.ake some for myself. Today I’m using Earth’s Own Soy Barista to create a ..read more

Get your greens in with this vegan nut-free, creamy green pasta! Customize the greens to whatever you’ve got wilting in the fridge and add some protein with beans and peas. Over the last year, I realized that my kid is obsessed with pasta and will eat pasta smothered in almost every sauce. I always have a jar of marinara in the pantry, but sometimes I like to make this vegan, nut-free, creamy green pasta sauce instead. I’ve made countless versions of this, and there are many different ways you can amp up the flavour or customize it to your liking. The recipe below is the “base” recipe, but yo ..read more

These quick & easy tofu steaks are a staple in our household for a simple 30 min dinner! In this era of vegan food, there are so many amazing products out there like vegan steaks, vegan chickn scallopini, and cutlets galore. But lately I’ve been craving more simple plant-based proteins. Falling back on things like tempeh and tofu have helped me meet my nutrition goals for strength training while keeping my grocery budget in check. These quick & easy tofu steaks are simple to make with pantry staples. You can marinade for hours or overnight for a super flavourful plant-based protein. O ..read more

Inspired by arroz rojo, this is Instant Pot red rice & beans, a meal you can set and forget and come back to. I’ve been making a lot of Set It & Forget It type recipes because at this point in toddlerhood, it is necessary for survival. This is a recipe for when you’re craving something hearty and savoury. When I’m craving Mexican flavours but need it in one pot, this is what I make. By no means is this an authentic recipe, please do not mistake this for one. When I first started making this recipe, this was just rice to go with the Chipotle-style rice “burrito” bowls we often have on ..read more

Only 10 minutes of active cooking results in this deliciously creamy and cheesy dairy-free butternut squash risotto in the Instant Pot! Lately I’ve been a big fan of quick dinners that I can set up in about 15 minutes and then come back to when it’s dinner time. I’ve made a mushroom rice cooker meal and a lentil and barley one, and they’ve both been big hits with my kid (who naturally is a fiend for rice). Unfortunately due to the mushy texture of risotto, Bean was not a fan. They don’t like oatmeal or Vietnamese rice porridge much either, so that tracks. However, I was a big fan of this butt ..read more

I’m back with another rice cooker meal! This quinoa, corn, lentil & mushroom rice cooker meal is budget-friendly and an easy hands-off kinda meal. I’ve been making more of these set-it-and-forget-it kind of meals because as a toddler-mom, I just don’t have the time to stand by the stove to stir as much as I used to. What kind of rice cooker do I need? I’m using a Cuckoo rice cooker (affiliate link) which is a multi-functional rice cooker that builds up a pressurized steamy environment for the rice to cook, yielding fluffier grains. I find this helps with cooking the other grains faster an ..read more

This Lentil Barley Rice Cooker meal is an easy one pot side dish or main that is perfect for college students, busy parents, or just busy people. I’ve been finding myself in a cooking rut lately and I needed an easy dump and go meal that I could set and forget and come back to that my toddler would like. This lentil and barley rice cooker meal uses pantry staples that I almost always have on hand. It doesn’t require any time on the stove or chopping, and has fibre, protein, carbs, and even some veggies. Substitutions I have not tested this with any other combination, but here’s what I surmise ..read more

This is a copycat vegan ice cream cake with layers of dairy-free vanilla and chocolate ice cream, a fudgy chocolate ganache layer and a crispy cookie crumble layer. It’s the ice cream cake I grew up with, but vegan! Typically for the recipes I post on here, I like to test them a few times before I post them. However, my family can only eat so much ice cream at a time and vegan ice cream is expensive. Plus, in this economy? Frankly, I can’t afford it. But I wanted ice cream cake for my birthday, and a vegan version of this would have been around $50 for a small, 8 serving sized cake. So I vega ..read more

This Crunchy Edamame Peanut Salad is a fibre-rich and protein-packed side dish. It’s quick to throw together and has a satisfying crunch while delivering substance. I make this as a late night editing snack, but you could easily prep this as a side dish for work lunches. I recommend packing the peanuts and toasted sesame seeds separately. Add them just before you eat so you maintain the satisfying crunch! Depending on how snacky you’re feeling, this is probably more reasonable to be a 2 serving snack. This has crushed the late night cravings for me in a way that fills me up with fibre, protei ..read more

Canh Đậu Hũ Hẹ chay is a Vietnamese homestyle soup that is comforting, light and savoury. Flat chives, shallots, and garlic are the main undertones of flavour for this tofu and garlic chive soup! Growing up, I ate a lot of Vietnamese style dinners where each meal had a protein, a soup, and a veggie component to be eaten with rice. Growing up, this kind of soup would typically have been accompanied with a fried fish, and maybe some blanched greens to eat with fermented bean curd. Traditionally this soup is made with ground pork, but I’ve used a vegan pork mince instead. It can be omitted! What ..read more