When I stumbled across this recipe on Epicurious last year, I immediately ran out to buy the ingredients to make the date shake. I guess I was craving something sweet and refreshing, because normally reading about what is basically a vanilla milkshake made with almond milk wouldn’t have been something that would have prompted an “I must have it now!” response from me. Whatever the reason, I’m glad it did, because this is now one of my favorite sweet pick-me-ups to have in the middle of the day.

I decided if I were going the route of almond milk, I might as well make this recipe dairy-free, so I picked up a pint of Coconut Bliss Vanilla Island instead of opting for the vanilla gelato called for in the recipe. (more…)

Filed under:
Dairy free, Dessert, Drink Time, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

This weekend I decided to take the time to create plenty of homemade goodies to enjoy during the work week. One of the things my husband has been wanting since getting the espresso maker is “tiny cookies” to go with his morning cappuccino. So this weekend I decided to make one old favorite and something new as well.

The old favorite is an amaretti cookie. I discovered these in the A16 cookbook. It’s one of the desserts that looked fairly simple, so I tried it, and while my first batch had issues, I finally figured out the trick to getting the perfect amaretti cookies every time (so the recipe below is updated accordingly). (more…)

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Breakfast, Brunch, Dairy free, Dessert, Gluten free, Italian, Vegetarian by Courtney

It doesn’t really get much simpler than a Nutella and banana sandwich, even if you slightly doll it up as I have here. Today is a gray day, and I can’t think of anything better than some quick comfort food. Since my hubby bought me a breadmaker for Christmas, we’ve had fresh bread available at all times (a nice honey whole wheat, mmmmm!). So I sliced off a couple of pieces, slathered Nutella on both sides, sliced up a bit of banana to squish in the middle, and grilled my masterpiece in a non-stick pan with just a spritz of olive oil. To add a little sweetness and a lot of visual interest, I dusted the sandwich halves with a bit of powdered sugar before sitting down to devour my sweet, sweet lunch.

Filed under:
Comfort food, Dairy free, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Vegetarian by Courtney

And lunch, and dinner… But that’s because it is just so yummy. A friend of my husband’s passed this recipe along to me, and she’s even given me a few slices from time to time. Since I had a ton of zucchini to deal with, I thought I would make a couple of batches of this recipe and freeze most of the loaves, since bread freezes nicely.

That was the plan, but it went a little awry as we’ve snacked and nibbled our way through two and a half loaves now. This morning I finally tucked one lone loaf into the freezer for a good winter snack. (more…)

Filed under:
Bread, Breakfast, Dairy free, In the Garden, Prep for Later Use, Snack time, Vegetarian by Courtney