Brunch/ RECIPES/ Sides/ Sponsored/ Sweets

Vegan Pumpkin Bread With Brown Sugar Streusel Crust

We have been enjoying Meatless Mondays around here for quite a while now. It has been much fun creating or finding meatless & dairy free meals and desserts. It causes us to eat more plant-based & gives me excuse to mix up my recipes & pour over my Vegan board on Pinterest. I found a couple of recipes for Pumpkin bread and remixed them to come up with this better-for-you Vegan Pumpkin Bread with Brown Sugar Streusel Crust recipe. It is now a favorite! It is so very good that I won’t ever go back to my usual non-vegan, double-the-sugar pumpkin bread recipe.

It is also Monday night football season, so I’ve had extra fun finding meatless meals and desserts that we can enjoy as a family while having the game on. Notice I say “having the game on” instead of “watching the game.” That is because my husband is really the only one who watches Monday night football. He is in a house of girls who are not too interested, but I must say, I love the fun fall atmosphere that a football game brings to the house. It causes me to light fall candles, plug-in my fun lighty- up pumpkin & even use it as an excuse call up my friends and have them over during the week if I’m feeling social. If not, I just cozy up in the corner of the couch with my fuzzy blanket and fuzzy socks & listen to my husband cheer on his team. He is an extremely quiet guy until it comes to sports…then he gets quite animated and I find myself chuckling at him. It can be very entertaining. Oh how I love my man!

This Vegan Pumpkin Bread recipe is anther something that I just love. It pleases both the girls & guys, and is the thing to make when having people over. It is nice and girly & tastes great with a cup of coffee or tea, but also is sweet & special enough to pass as a dessert with the guys, enjoyed with a pumpkin ale.

The bread is soft and moist, you won’t miss the whole milk, butter or eggs one bit! Creamy Silk Almondmilk, thick pumpkin, and vegan butter alternative is what this bread so moist. The streusel top is a buttery brown sugar concoction that is nice and hearty, not dry & crumbly like most streusels. It seeps into the bread a bit while it bakes and the result is just—MMM.

This recipe mixes up in a snap. All ingredients except the flour and baking powder are combined together in one bowl. You then simply wisk in the dry ingredients, pour in a pan, and top with streusel.

It is a great way to keep things simple on a Monday night. Serve with a crockpot of vegan chili & call it good. Your home will smell, taste, look and sound like fall while eating this if you make it on a Meatless Monday Football Night!

Do you have any recipes that can be remixed for #MeatlessMondayNight?

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Silk’s plant-based beverages & yogurt alternatives are super versatile and can be used as substitutes for dairy products. Using them is a great way to make delicious meat & dairy-free versions of your normal go-to Monday Night Football recipes.

Silk’s products are lactose free, cholesterol free, high fructose corn syrup free & no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.

Vegan Pumpkin Bread With Brown Sugar Streusel Crust

3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar)

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted (another plant-based oil can be substituted)

1/4 cup Unsweetened Silk AlmondMilk

2 tablespoons molasses

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

pinch of salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (can use wheat)

2 teaspoons baking powder

Streusel Crust

1/4 cup of vegan buttery spread or butter if you are non-vegan, softened

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease & flour one 9×5 inch loaf pan. Set aside.
Bread- in a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredient through salt & whisk to combine. If coconut oil re-solidifys, no worries, a few small white clumps are ok.
Stir in the flour and baking powder until just combined, don’t overmix. Batter is quite thick.
Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
Streusel Crust – in a medium bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour & toss with a fork until mixture combines and crumbs and clumps form. This is a moist streusel, but if your seems very moist and is paste-like, add another 1-2 tablespoon flour, as needed to dry it out.
Evenly sprinkle the streusel topping over the top, using your fingers to break up large clumps in necessary.
Bake for about 40-44 minutes, or until center is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
Allow bread to cool in pan, on top of a wire rack, for at least 30 minutes before turning out onto the rack to finish cooling completely.
Slice bread with a serrated knife in a sawing motion, going over any stubborn patches of the crust a few times, taking care to be gentle to not compress the loaf. Bread will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week.
To freeze, wrap completely cooled loaf in plastic wrap, then place loaf inside a gallon-sized plastic zipped bag. Bread will keep airtight in the freezer for up to 6 months

Enjoy!

This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

Halloween/ Holidays/Parties/ RECIPES/ Sweets

Caramel Apple Biscuits

Fall has arrived and with it is some of my most favorite flavors, holidays & traditions! I love all things about fall– the changing colors of our midwest trees, lighting candles to cozy up on cool fall evenings, and both the color and the taste of caramel!

Halloween is the first fun fall holiday, and with it comes many traditions our family has participated in, old and new. It has hit hard lately how quickly time passes and I never realized until lately that some traditions are destined for change. As the years pass, our girls get older and some things that excited & brought joy to them years ago, just are not quite what they used to be!

Trick or treating is one of those things, and will only be done by our youngest this year, which is really hard to believe! The older two used to LIVE for Halloween, with the most anticipated moment being when they arrived back to our warm home & dumped their bags of candy out. They would immediately start sorting their candy, lining all the ‘likes’ together and trading out their least favorites. I loved watching it, their rosy cheeks puffed up from smiling so big (and also because they were so full of candy!)

{a recent family photo-2015}

This year, I will be home with my older two girls, Teagan & Colsie, while Todd takes Avery trick-or-treating. I will make a crockpot full of chili, which is our traditional Halloween meal. I do not like being in the kitchen on Halloween, so chili in the crockpot is a great way to be able to offer a warm, comforting meal to my family by making it earlier in the day.

I’ve been thinking about what I could make that was sweet for my older 2 girls who are home with me and not out gathering a bunch of candy. I wanted something easy & festive, and I did NOT want to be in the kitchen for very long. I wanted something that would make the house smell like fall and help us make a new traditions of being home together, passing out candy and eating a great dessert instead of trick-or-treating.

Since I did not want to make anything from scratch, and it IS a holiday after all, I have decided to make my girls Caramel Apple Biscuits using Pillsbury Grands®!

Pillsbury® has been part of a few of our past family traditions, from a family favorite Monkey Bread recipe that came from my aunt, to a Taco Ring recipe from a cousin of mine. Both recipes have been passed around and are favorites at family potlucks. It is only fitting for Pillsbury® to be a part of our new tradition!

When it comes to special occasions, I am totally at peace with taking shortcuts. These little Caramel Apple Biscuits were actually inspired by shortcake! A shortcut shortcake.

I did a little practicing on the recipe to make sure what was in my head would actually work, and boy, did it ever! It turned out beautiful and scrumptious. I think this sweet will be the perfect follow-up to our spicy chili dinner.

I went to Wal-Mart and took advantage of all things store-bought to keep this recipe short and sweet! I grabbed Pillsbury Grands® Buttermilk Biscuits, some already-made apple pie filling, some caramel bits for melting, and whipped cream. I had butter on hand for coating the tops of the biscuits. This little step made me very happy, as I am a big salted caramel lover, and the saltiness of the butter and the biscuits give this recipe a nice salty/sweet balance. It is so good.

It took no time at all to put together, and I think my girls will be quite impressed with how sophisticated it looks. Their palates and tastes have become pretty mature, which I love because they appreciate pretty food that has a variety of flavors and textures.

This recipe certainly has a variety of flavors and textures, with the cinnamon-y apples, the tender biscuits with salty-buttery tops, the ooey- gooey caramel drizzled all over, and the creamy whipped cream. It is key to serve it up warm which keep the soft gooey factor to a maximum! It is super shortcut easy, and really delicious — and I can’t wait to serve this new tradition to my girls on Halloween night!

Caramel Apple Biscuits

{a no recipe, recipe}

1 Roll Pillsbury Grands!® Buttermilk Biscuits, warm from the oven

1 can apple pie filling, warmed up a bit

1 pkg. caramel melting bits or plain caramel’s, melted

Whipped cream

Cube of butter

Bake:

Bake the Pillsbury Grands!® Buttermilk Biscuits according to package directions. Remove from oven and immediately rub tops of biscuits with the cube of butter.

Assemble:

~Cut the buttered biscuit in half. Add a scoop of warm apple pie filling to the bottom part of the biscuit.

~Drizzle with melted caramel. Note: You may need to thin with some milk and stir well until drizzle consistency. I melted mine in the microwave.

~Add the top biscuit.

~Top with a dollop of whipped cream.

~Drizzle the whole thing, including the plate, with more caramel.

~Serve warm

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What is your favorite holiday tradition?

{my youngest, Avery, last year in her ‘nerd’ costume, which she made by herself!}

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Pillsbury. The opinions and text are all mine.

Healthy Eating/ HOME/ Homemaking/ How-Tos/ RECIPES

How To Use Pinterest When Making A Menu Plan

Do you find yourself pinning a bunch of great looking recipes on Pinterest, but then never get around to actually making them? Do you want an easy way to streamline menu planning each week? Then this post is for you.

I don’t know about you, but the weeks that I actually take some time to make a menu plan go so smoothly compared to when I don’t. It is a great feeling to know exactly what foods I plan on making each week, and it saves so much money in the long run, as it keeps me from quick grabbing food on the go or running to the grocery store several times a week. When I know the recipes I am going to make, and make a grocery list to make sure I have the groceries on hand, then making meals actually becomes an enjoyable process!

Pinterest is a GREAT way to not only find great recipes, but to simplify the menu planning process.

Most of the recipes I use are either on my blog or on Pinterest, and I am always wanting to try at least one or two new recipes a week. Using Pinterest for menu planning helps me to easily find and gather recipes from both sources.

I simply made a board titled Recipes To Make This Week. This is where I will gather ONLY the recipes that I plan on making that week. I then go search my own New Nostalgia board and New Nostalgia Food board. This is like my own personal recipe box. My blog is full of recipes that I love and use often, so it makes sense for me to pull from there first. I then go to my Recipes: Menu Plan board. This board is where I pin recipes that I am craving, or recipes I find that look so good that I want to make them ASAP. The last place I search for fun recipes is among all my other Recipe boards, that are sorted alphabetically according to food/cuisine type.

How To Use Pinterest When Making A Menu Plan

Make a board titled Recipes: To Make This Week
Make a board titled Recipes: Menu Plan
Gather pins from New Nostalgia board and New Nostalgia food boards. (a shameless plug!)
Gather pins from your general recipes boards…or come visit mine.
Put ‘must make soon’ type recipes in your Menu Plan board
Put ONLY recipes you are committing to make for the week in your Recipes: To Make This Week board.

Once I have all of my recipes for the week gathered on my Recipes To Make This Week board, I then make a grocery list by clicking on each one and making sure I have all of the ingredients on hand. If I don’t have it, it goes right on my grocery list.

I use the Reminders list app on my iPhone, I type the list, then go check my cupboards, speaking to Siri to add anything I am missing. I also use Siri if I am out and about and remember something I need to add to my list…this is especially helpful when I’m in the car! I simply say “Reminders Grocery List” and she will then ask me what to add to that specific list, I answer, and she adds it for me.

It saves paper and I can access it on my laptop and on my phone. I usually do this while at home on my computer, but the beautiful thing about this is I can do it all on my phone while sitting in my car waiting for my kids! I can access all my Pinterest boards, and gather ingredients I need on my Reminders app. It is such a timesaver.

I do not get so detailed as to assign each day of the week its own meal and recipes. I just gather a few meals, snacks, & breakfasts, enough to get us through the week. My mood can change each day as to what I feel like eating, so I try to just have a handful of recipes that make pretty balanced week. To do this, I am purposeful to keep in mind a variety of meals.

I talk about having general recipe dinner categories during the week (fish, pasta, chicken, breakfast for dinner, meatless, one grass-fed ground beef recipe, etc) in this post if you would like to read more on that subject.

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What about you? Do you use Pinterest to menu plan? Do you have a method that works well for you? Was this post helpful?

Brunch/ Drinks/ GF, Vegan & Raw/ Healthy Eating

Matcha Latte & Matcha Chia & Pear Cereal

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by Teniel Moore–Raw Foods Contributor

Want to try something new to drink thats full of amazing health benefits?
Have you tried a matcha latte? What is matcha?

Matcha is simply stone ground green tea leaves.

This tea is going to provide you with a powerhouse of antioxidants, vitamins & minerals. It is full of vitamin C, selenium, chromium, zinc & magnesium.

It can help calm & relax, burn calories, and is detoxifying. It is also rich in fiber –and that’s just naming a few of its benefits! If you are looking to add more nutrients into your day, ditch the coffee & try matcha. I buy organic matcha powder and a little goes a long way!

Matcha powder can be enjoyed in so many ways. Here are some ideas of how you can enjoy matcha:

• Creamy frothy coconut milk matcha latte (recipe below)
• Matcha milkshake over ice
• Matcha chia cereal (recipe below)
• Added to your green smoothie
• Throw some into your baked goods
If you have never tried this amazing green powder before, why not give it a try?

Here are 2 simple recipes for you to make using matcha:

Matcha Latte

1 cup of coconut milk (or any nut milk of choice)
1/2 tsp of matcha powder
Small amount of hot water to blend
~Heat your milk on the stove or use your coffee machine

~In a cup or small coffee plunger, add your matcha powder & mix a small amount of boiling water in and give it a good stir to break up all the lumps. (A tiny whisk would be helpful, or for the matcha enthusiasts you can actually buy a bamboo matcha whisk also called a chasen. But that is totally optional. I just use a fork.)

~Once you have whisked the powder well then add your hot nut milk. I like to use a single serve coffee plunger when making matcha. I then use the plunger to plunge up and down fast to create lovely frothy milk. If you do not have a coffee press, simply heat the milk using your coffee machine

~Serve in your favourite cup or bowl. Add sweetener of choice as matcha does have a slightly bitter taste. I use stevia but coconut nectar or raw honey would work great also.

Matcha Chia & Pear Cereal

1-2 Tbs of chia seeds
1/2 tsp of matcha
1 cup of almond milk
liquid Stevia (or sweetener of choice)
cinnamon
1/2 pear thinly sliced
crunchy topping for texture –I like to add dehydrated sprouted buckwheat

~Combine your chia seeds, sweetener & matcha powder with your nut milk in a serving bowl.

~Mix well and wait a few minutes for the chia seeds to swell.

~Thinly slice your pear & add half the pear to the chia mix along with cinnamon.

~Top it off with the rest of the thinly sliced pear and your crunchy topping for texture and another sprinkle of cinnamon.

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Enjoy!

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TENIEL MOORE OF ADDICTED TO RAW

Raw Foods Contributor

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10 Healthy Items I Buy At Sam’s Club Each Week

We have had a membership to Sam’s club for a few month’s now. I enjoy having one, and have found that I stick with just a few main staples when I go. Our Sam’s club is located right by our church, so I stop there on the way home from church each week. I am amazed at how just these few food items really help make healthy eating easy, and get us through the week.

As far as food goes, it is not easy finding healthier options at Sam’s club, but it is possible, and they are adding more and more organic options, which makes me happy.

As far as our eating goes, I am finding we have settled into a ‘perfectly imperfect’ way of eating. It has to be all about balance for us, and as much as I would love to be feeding my family only whole, unprocessed, organic, and all homemade food; it just isn’t doable. It has felt good to let go of perfection and embrace balance, and at times, convenience.

I also have compromised with my 3 daughters as they have gotten older. They have certain requests and I try to hear them and learned I can’t force them to eat exactly what I would like them to. A good example of this is the bread above. I would love them to eat the super grain bread, as it is organic, no preservatives, and has a ton of amazing omega’s and power seeds in it. They will eat this bread as toast or french toast, but for their daily lunchbox sandwiches they prefer the softer, Oatnut bread.

Another place I compromise is with lettuce. They prefer the crunchy iceberg garden mix, but I prefer they eat power greens like spinach and kale. We meet halfway and I mix the two almost every evening as we eat a green salad with almost every meal. It helps that Sam’s sells the iceberg garden mix for only $1.99 a HUGE bag. I use the kale medley in salads, smoothies, and soups. This container is really large and it is always fun to find ways to finish it by the end of the week!

The veggie tray is another area I have chosen convenience over perfect, organic veggies. This tray is loaded with vegetables, has delicious great ranch yogurt dip (which keeps my girls very happy and crunching on their veggies) and is a steal at $9.99. Most grocery stores sell them for $12-15 and only have about half of the veggies in it. I set this tray out after school almost daily, when appetites are most hungry and they are ready to snack. I often will grab it at dinner and chop the veggies up even further to throw on our salad. So easy!

Oh, how I wish those grapes were organic, but they are pretty seasonal so we are enjoying them for this season. They are amazingly sweet and are great for my girls school lunches and snacking.

The Garden Veggie Straws are a hit with my girls in place of greasy potato chips. There is nothing healthy about them, but they satisfy any salty, crunchy cravings and are a step up from chips. The bag is huge and lasts the week, even when using in lunches and for evening snacking.

I often make my own granola bars, but lately have been buying this box of Organic Cascadian Farms Granola bars. The girls like them a lot. I also will buy a box of KIND granola bars from Sam’s, which are my favorite.

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What do you buy from Sam’s club? What foods do you compromise on when it comes to convenience?

GF, Vegan & Raw/ Healthy Eating/ RECIPES/ Sweets

2 Raw Fruit Leather Recipes- Berry Pear & Pineapple Mint Kiwi Kale

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by Teniel Moore–our Austrailian Raw Foods Contributor

At times when fresh fruit is abundant I love to make fruit leathers, or as we call them here in Australia Fruit Roll Ups. I also freeze all types of fruit for use when out of season. Currently in Australia its not stone fruit season. We are in the middle of winter. So the recipe below is more suitable for what’s in season now.

However I do have a stash of mangoes in my freezer from summer that makes amazing fruit leathers also.

Like any of my recipes this is only a guide. The ingredient list for fruit leathers are endless. Today I will be sharing 2 recipes with you. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. They make a great addition to a healthy lunch box for adults or children.

*You will require a dehydrator & a blender for this recipe.

Raw Berry Pear Fruit Leather

Ingredients

1 large apple

1 large pear

1 cup of frozen berries

2 leaves of kale or 2 leaves of silver beet (optional)

1 Tsp raw honey or coconut nectar to keep it vegan

Instructions

Blend all the ingredients in a high- speed blender.

Then pour the mix onto dehydrator trays with the dehydrator sheet and spread evenly with a spatula.

This amount will make about 2 trays worth. Dehydrate on 105 overnight or until dry.

When ready the roll ups will peel easily away from the dehydrator sheets. Roll up the dehydrated fruit and cut into long strips. Keep in airtight container in the cupboard for up to a week.

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Tip – If you add the kale or silver beet your kids will not be able to taste the greens at all. However the berries and greens will turn the roll ups a dark green once dried.

I look for every excuse to get more greens into my kids and this way I promise they can’t taste it at all, so why not add them!

Raw Pineapple Mint Kiwi & Kale Fruit Leather

Ingredients

2 -3 Kiwi fruit peeled

1/2 – 1 fresh pineapple

1 stem of curly kale

Generous handful of fresh mint

Instructions

Blend all the ingredients in a high- speed blender.

Then pour the mix onto dehydrator trays with the dehydrator sheet and spread evenly with a spatula.

This amount will make about 1.5 – 2 trays worth. Dehydrate on 105 overnight or until dry.

When ready the roll ups will peel easily away from the dehydrator sheets. Roll up the dehydrated fruit and cut into long strips. Keep in airtight container in the cupboard for up to a week.

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Other fruit leather combinations to get your creative juices flowing are

Mango & mint

Berry & Honey

Apricot

Mango & coconut

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Amy here: If you do not have a dehydrator, you can use the oven method below.

Here is what I do when making fruit leathers/roll ups:

~Spread out on freezer paper on top of a cookie sheet (can use waxed paper)

~Put them in the oven for about *4-5 hours (150 degrees is recommended, the lowest my oven went was 170 degrees)

~Take them out, let them cool

~Cut them into strips and rolled em’ up

~Store in a mason jar. (or Ziplock bag or any airtight container)

*I put them in the oven after dinner and took them out right before I went to bed. I let them sit out on the counter all night, then cut and rolled in the morning.

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Raw Foods Contributor

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Creamy Chocolate Covered Cashew Smoothie

School is back in session & I’m enjoying getting back into a fall routine! I find myself exhaling as I settle in and get busy doing the things I feel I am most gifted at doing — blogging and being a Mom!

For me, part of being a Mom with kids who are back-to-school is making sure they have a nutritious snack to come home to. My kids come home famished and go straight away into the kitchen looking for something to eat.

I try to have several healthy options for them, but one favorite option is a smoothie. I love whipping up a smoothie for them, as long as they are nutritious. I like having something that has both fiber and protein in it, that will fill their bellies and renew their energy until dinnertime.

This Creamy Chocolate Covered Cashew Smoothie tastes decadent and you would never guess how nutritious it is.

Check out the nutrition in this shake:

Cashew Butter = protein

Banana = fiber & potassium

Cocoa = antioxidants

Cashews = more protein!

Oats = whole grain fiber

Honey = a natural sweetener with antioxidants

Cocoa Nibs =heaps of antioxidants & considered a superfood!

Silk Chocolate Cashewmilk = a non-dairy, gluten-free, verified non-GMO, lactose free, no preservative or artificial colors or flavors, cholesterol-free milk

Pretty impressive, huh? My blender is big enough to double the recipe to make smoothies for 4. I like to whip them up ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator in mason jars for my girls to just grab and go!

Creamy Chocolate Covered Cashew Smoothie

{makes 2 – 15 oz smoothies}

1/4 cup cashew butter (or almond butter or peanut butter)
1 banana
1 tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup cashews
1 cup oats
1 1/2 cup Silk Chocolate Cashewmilk
2 Tbsp honey
1 cup ice

Optional: cocoa nibs

Add all ingredients to the blender. Use a high-speed blender for best results. If you don’t have a high-speed blender, let the oats and cashews sit in the milk for a few minutes to soften. Blend until smooth. Add more Silk Chocolate Cashewmilk if needed. Consistency is right when a vortex forms in the blender and contents move freely.

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Let’s talk a bit more about Silk Cashewmilk. It comes in 4 flavors: Original, Unsweetened, Vanilla & Chocolate. It is a great, super creamy but calorie-conscious, alternative to dairy milk.

Visit Silk Cashewmilk website to sign up for registration, get a coupon & find lots more dreamy, creamy cashewmilk recipes!

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What are your favorite nutritious, after-school snacks?

This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

Older Posts

Newer Posts

RECIPES

Vegan Pumpkin Bread With Brown Sugar Streusel Crust

Vegan Pumpkin Bread With Brown Sugar Streusel Crust

Streusel Crust

Caramel Apple Biscuits

Caramel Apple Biscuits

Bake:

Assemble:

How To Use Pinterest When Making A Menu Plan

How To Use Pinterest When Making A Menu Plan

Matcha Latte & Matcha Chia & Pear Cereal

Here are 2 simple recipes for you to make using matcha:

Matcha Latte

Matcha Chia & Pear Cereal

TENIEL MOORE OF ADDICTED TO RAW

More posts by Teniel at New Nostalgia:

10 Healthy Items I Buy At Sam’s Club Each Week

2 Raw Fruit Leather Recipes- Berry Pear & Pineapple Mint Kiwi Kale

More posts by Teniel at New Nostalgia:

Creamy Chocolate Covered Cashew Smoothie

Creamy Chocolate Covered Cashew Smoothie