Foods Worth Celebrating!

Over the past few weeks, I have gone to a lot of party-type events, such as b-days and anniversaries, so I have been making plenty of celebration-worthy foods...because, as we all know, there is no better way to celebrate!!!

For my awesome friend Anna's birthday, we made grilled pizzas! Perfect for summertime and delish, of course. Mine had vegan cheese, Smartlife faux pepperoni, fresh basil, mushrooms, red peppers, onions, black olives, and Anna's mom's homemade tomato sauce! So good!!! My dad's birthday and fathers' day falls in the same week, so I made a cake to commemorate both! He requested carrot cake for his birthday cake, so I made Mama's Twisted Orange Carrot Cake from the PPK website. This cake is amazing!! zomg!! There is an entire pureed orange in the batter! This cake was extremely moist and had a wonderful flavor...I altered the recipe a bit to make it healthier, by substituting applesauce for the oil and using whole wheat pastry flour. Next time you need to make a carrot cake, I highly recommend this recipe!This past weekend was my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary (yay for them!) and we had a big family get-together, because that's what families do I suppose, so my mom and I made our popular family recipe for Scotcheroo Rice Krispie Treats! We veganized it and healthied it up, of course! These use peanut butter as the glue in the treats themselves, and the yummy topping is a mixture of chocolate chips and butterscotch chips (again, thanks to Bianca for those!). These treats were gone very quickly!!

Last week was my lovely friend Anne's birthday, so I made a Cookin' Crunk tester recipe for her birthday treat: Old-Fashioned Strawberry Pie! She wanted a pie instead of a cake for her birthday, so I made it happen! This pie was so delicious....whole wheat crust, organic fresh strawberry filling, and a whole lot of love....she adored it!
Now for a few foods that weren't made for a party or anything, but should be celebrated themselves for being so tasty!!

Another Cookin' Crunk tester recipe for Cashew Mac 'n Cheese! This used cashews, nooch, spices, and soymilk for the cheesy sauce, and I opted for the shell pasta over the elbow macaroni, cuz I loves me some shells and cheese! This went perfectly with some bbq tempeh, btw! Can't wait for this cookbook to come out, Bianca!Finally and best of all: Bagels from Vegan Brunch!! This was my first attempt at homemade bagels and it was a success! I used whole wheat pastry flour in mine and they turned out wonderfully! Instead of poppy or sesame seeds, I dusted the tops with coarse sea salt before the boiling and baking...mmmmmm....I have been eating these pretty much everyday for breakfast. Topped with peanut butter, jam, Tofutti cream cheese, vegan lox, or whatever strikes my fancy that morning. I think next I would like to make a bagel sandwich with them! Make these when you have a few extra hours on your hands: you won't regret it!!