bring joy

Is a vegan diet healthy long term?

A big question for a lot of folks, after they discover that yes, a vegan diet can help you lose weight, lower your cholesterol, help you manage diabetes, & so many other lovely immediate things, they wonder–

The answer is, yes, it can be. With a little attention to detail & planning, a vegan diet can be extremely healthy both now & in the long term.

{Ginny Messina, R.D., offers some tips for keeping a vegan diet healthy & fabulous. For more of the nitty gritty details & fine print, I recommend reading the American Dietetic Association’s paper on vegetarian & vegan diets.}

I’m a long-term vegan.

I’ve been vegan {(mostly)–let’s not talk about the first trimesters of my pregnancies, okay?} for nearly eight years. It’s hard to believe.

{Why I went vegan,...

buckwheat waffles, what foods can you freeze? + 13 foods you probably didn’t know you could freeze

frugal life, breakfast, frugal eating

What Foods Can You Freeze?

+ {gluten-free vegan buckwheat waffles are soo delicious–save time & money by making a triple batch & freezing.}

The answer is: most foods freeze well. I’ve made a list of 13 foods that freeze well, including my buckwheat waffles. Which by the way, are almost better than buckwheat pancakes. They’re easy to make & are an excellent freezer food (& much better than Eggo frozen waffles!). These buckwheat waffles are vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, & refined-sugar free. They also happen to be one of my kid’s favorite foods.

For the recipe, go to Ricki Heller’s site (totally honored to be featured there!), where today I share the full recipe.

The fun thing about waffles, like so many other foods, is that you can make a double or triple batch & freeze all of the...

{mm} best vegan carrot cake cake recipe + tennis

marvelous mondays, popular recipes, dessert & bread

{Vegan gluten free carrot cake is the best.}

1) ate lots of (gluten-free + vegan) carrot cake.

2) played tennis for the first time.

3) took a nice long bubble bath.

The carrot cake was born of a desire to make a somewhat frugal Easter-ish dessert with ingredients I had on hand. Joseph wasn’t excited about the prospect of me making carrot cake (I don’t blame him–most people’s experience with carrot cake is that it’s smothered in overly rich & sugary frosting). To be honest, this was my first attempt at carrot cake–so I had some trepidation.

I didn’t use any oil or refined-sugar (except for in the glaze, which is an optional addition, but totally worth it).

I’ve often thought I don’t like cake. And, I’ve realized, it’s just not true.

I love cake–if it’s moist & tender, with just the...