21!

I recently celebrated my 21st birthday. It was so much fun and I got to spend it with my friends, family, and my dog. It was a bittersweet birthday. I found out 2 days before my birthday that my dog, Zoe, has progressed cancer and this will be my last birthday I get to spend with her. Lucky for me, I got to spend 15 years with her. I have to say that if it weren't for Zoe I wouldn't love animals as much as I do and I probably wouldn't be vegan. I also wouldn't have been able to enjoy my vegan birthday cake and vegan cupcakes.

 My best friend, Mary, baked me a vegan carrot cake for my birthday. It was delicious, delicious, delicious! I've had the same cake for 3 years in a row!

 After celebrating my birthday with my friends, I went to Las Vegas to visit my family. My sisters surprised me with 3 Water Course Mini Cakes all the way from Denver!! I got a Ho Ho Chocolate Cake, Strawberry Cake, and Carrot Cake.

They were all so good! I also got to go to a fancy restaurant at the Wynn. For those of you who aren't familiar with Steve Wynn...He owns probably half of the strip in LV. He recently opened a hotel named after him called the Wynn and then the Encore. You're probably wondering why I'm giving a biography of the guy. Well, he is Vegan. So, all of the restaurants in the Wynn have a pretty large Vegan option list. We ate at a restaurant called Stratta. It was SO good. I got Chickpea Soup with Kale and Vegan Pizza with Soy Cheese.

 It was so good, decadent, and nice! But, it's quite the expensive place so it's a good place to go celebrate. I love the soup so much that I'm trying to find a way to recreate it! Once I do it will be up here! Any who, I think that's all.

Happy 21 to me!

Olive Oil Garlic Spaghetti

This recipe is so delicious and easy to make. 

Ingredients:

5 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 cups extra virgin olive oil
1 pound whole wheat or brown rice spaghetti

What to do:

In a large pot, boil water for spaghetti.
While waiting for the water to boil, cut the cloves of garlic in half.
Once water is boiling, pour in pasta and cook for time stated on the bag. 
In a medium sauce pan, simmer garlic, oregano, and olive oil until spaghetti is a la dente.
Once pasta is cooked, drain it and pour over garlic pasta sauce.
Serve with any vegetable you would like.

An easy side to make is sweet potato and asparagus.
Chop up the sweet potato and cut off the bottoms of the asparagus.
Put them all onto a baking sheet, pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil over all of it.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes!

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

My friend Brittany just turned 21 and had a great party at her house. I decided to make cookies because I figured she would already have a cake. It turned out she didn't have a cake! But, she was happy with these cookies and everyone loved these cookies. These are super easy and quick to  make. 

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup vegan butter, at room temperature
2 cups packed brown sugar
egg replacer equivalent of 2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets.
Mix together peanut butter, butter, and brown sugar. Mix in egg replacer and vanilla.
Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
Mix in flour mixture to the wet ingredients.
Roll cookies into balls and flatten them.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Enjoy!

Brownies!

I cannot bake brownies for the life of me and I can barely make boxed brownies. So, I knew I would fail somehow, someway with these brownies. I did but in a good way! They are crumbly and don't stick together to well. But, they are delicious and it's like being in ooey gooey crumbly brownie heaven.I still won't give up on brownies and if I ever perfect them I will share. But for now, these are delicious and perfectly imperfect.

What you need:

8 ounces vegan dark chocolate
3/4 cup vegan butter
Egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup semi sweet vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease a baking pan.
Chop up the 8 ounces dark chocolate and melt into a double boiler. Then, melt the butter into the melted chocolate. Remove from the heat and let cool for about 5 minutes.
With an electric mixer, beat in egg replacer, sugar, and vanilla. Add in the melted chocolate and butter mixture.
Mix in the flour and then stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean!
Enjoy!