Please welcome a friend of mine, Marla from Family Fresh Cooking, where she blogs about delicious, whole food recipes to inspire healthy lives. We are cross-posting today, so be sure to pay a visit to her wonderful blog!
Take it away Marla!
Hi everyone! My name is Marla and I am beyond thrilled to guest here at Oh She Glows. Angela and I met online recently and we hit it off as soon as we connected. I discovered her blog while gawking over her recipes at Tastespotting and Foodgawker. We are two gals who love sharing recipes that encourage creativity with whole food ingredients. Huge flavor and energy rich healthy foods are the focus on our blogs. People say that we eat with our eyes first. Both Angela and I love making healthy food beautiful to gaze upon and munch on.
Although I am not vegan I embrace all kinds of culinary choices. The vegan world fascinates me. I have been having a blast experimenting with animal free ingredients, especially in my baking. I am happy that I have become enlightened to the endless possibilities of the vegan lifestyle.
With two little kids and a super busy life I choose foods that keep our physical energy and emotions running at peak performance. The recipes I share here with you are from my blog Family Fresh Cooking. The ones I profile are vegan, they range from sweet to savory and everything in between. If occasionally you see dairy products in my posts feel free to adapt with vegan alternatives. Angela has been great at teaching me the in’s and out’s of the vegan world. You can also ask her or me which adaptations would work for my recipes that are not 100% vegan.
Vegan Baking
I have to admit that this category thrills me the most. I avoided baking for so long because traditional sweets, heavy flours and refined ingredients don’t agree with me anymore. Thankfully my world has now opened up, I have found amazingly healthy ingredients that can be baked up and enjoyed any time of day.
I love the bonus of no yucky energy crashes after eating these treats. There are so many great replacements to dairy out there. Tastes and textures remain heavenly and addictive even without eggs, butter and such. I partner a lot of my vegan baking with gluten free flours too. Some of my favorites include:
Veggie Soups
Simple to prepare and filled with flavor, soup is a wonderful way to eat your veggies. I make big batches of soups for grab and go meals. For more protein I add tofu or tempeh. Soy sour cream and fresh herbs are always a great garnish.
Tofu or Tempeh Stir Frys
I keep large amounts of cleaned and prepped fresh veggies in the fridge at all times. Simple stir frys are a cinch to cook up and awesome to tuck in the fridge for quick meals and lunch boxes. Seen here is my Sesame Tofu with Spring Vegetables and Quinoa.
Applesauce
We love apple sauce in our house. More a method than an actual recipe, I enjoy using all kinds of fruits and spices for variety. Not only is applesauce a delicious snack, it adds great texture and helps to reduce fats used in baked goods. You can layer it in soy yogurt parfaits. It is also wonderful stirred into a steamy bowl of oatmeal.
- Chai Tea Applesauce
- Cherry Earl Grey Applesauce
- Cinnamon Stick Applesauce (shown above)
- Pumpkin Vanilla Applesauce
Angela, thanks so much for inviting me over to Oh She Glows. Come visit with Angela over at my place too!
Feel free to contact me at any time. I can also be found on Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon and at the local coffee shop. Find more of my recipes and healthy lifestyle tips on my blog Family Fresh Cooking.
Our favorite place on Earth: Telluride, Colorado. Crisp cool air, a great place for all kids of outdoor exercise and amazing food!
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How adorable are they!? Thank you Marla for guest posting today! Be sure to check out Family Fresh Cooking as I have a feeling you will enjoy it as much as I do!
Angela,
Can I tell you how I excited I am about our guest posts today!!! OK, now we need to meet for realz, could you imagine how much fun we would have :)
I LOVE hanging over here and I am THRILLED to have you over at my place too! Thanks for sharing my blog & recipes with your awesome readers.
xo
Two of my favorite ladies, in one place.
Just said that on your blog, Marla :)
All your recipes you linked back to are a trip down memory lane for me as I remember most all of them from their original posting date. And to think how much you’ve grown since your blog’s inception. Remarkable, amazing, awesome!
Hope you had a very happy Mother’s Day and can’t wait to see you for coffee this week :)
Angela, please come to coffee with us!
I really enjoy Marla’s blog! :)
Nice! I love guest posts, I’m always on the lookout for new blogs to read :)
Everything looks delicious Marla, as always! I haven’t yet made the Telluride Trail bars, but they’re on my list. They sound so good! :)
So nice to meet you Marla! I’ll have to check out some of your recipes – everything looks/sounds delicious!
Hi Holly, thanks so much! I’ll look out for you ;)
Thanks for this cross-post – great idea. I’m looking forward to discovering Marla’s site now!
Marla’s photos look so beautiful! Thank you for showing us another wonderful Blogger :)
Awesome post!
I agree with Maria in terms of being hesitant to bake vegan, but as I’m finding more resources and tips, I feel much more confident.
Thanks for all the delicious ideas, Maria ;)
Liv, it is so fun & I will continue to challenge myself with vegan baking. Quite honestly I taste no difference in some of my recipes where I would usually use eggs, butter and milk. Neat!
guest posts are fun! I also love the sound of all her applesauces…especially added into oatmeal!
Emma, applesauce and oatmeal is a very happy combo over here! You gotta try it :)
I love Marla! So glad you featured her. I’ve been following her blog for awhile now. A lot of her recipes can be adapted quite easily to be vegan, as she says, so that is a bonus! Thanks for this great post!
Hi Lindsay, was just over at your blog loving up your vegan bundt cake. Looks amazing! I am so glad you have been able to easily adjust my recipes to vegan. xo
So many beautiful photos! I cannot wait to make those Telluride bars :)
those are some beaauuutiful photos Marla! Your recipes look and sound delicious too :D
thanks for sharing your friends guest post and i would say its a nice one ……. i love to spend time in cooking and its good to have Marla blog. :)
Aimee Sparker
your family is adorable! thanks for the recipe ideas! :)
Thanks Elena! We had fun taking those portraits – time for some new ones this summer!
Thanks for sharing some more delicious recipes! Marla’s photos are also pretty amazing!
Oh my goodness, I don’t know which one of these recipes to make first!!! The pumpkin vanilla applesauce, or the trail bars, or….. GAH I’ll just bookmark them all!
Great post! Thanks for introducing me to some news sites and recipes. I’ll be sure to check them out soon!
Can’t wait to try the Telluride granola bars!
Aww this is a great post! I love meeting new bloggers and you and your family are so cute Marla! Thanks for the awesome recipes!
Thanks Kaila! Great to meet you too :)
What a beautiful family! And all of your recipes look scrumptious!
Marla you have such gorgeous photos and recipes! I love all your variations on applesauce. What a great idea. :)
Chelsea, I should have a blog dedicated to applesauce. I always have a batch in the fridge. Thanks for your sweet compliments.
Wow – the food, you and your family all look so fresh, home-y and down-to earth. Love it!
What a great buffet of vegan choices! I always appreciate omnivores that cook vegan dishes because that’s what I love to do!
Thanks so much for sharing! :)
It’s so exciting to see you here Marla! I’ve been loving all the vegan cooking and baking you’ve been doing… but I always love everything you make!
Such beautiful photos and recipes!!! Thanks for shring.
Wow! Everything looks gorgeous!Thanks for the tips!
Your pictures are beautiful! And I will definitely be making your telluride trail bars, they sounds delicious and so healthy!
Thanks for featuring this lovely blogger! I hadn’t been to her blog before but it looks awesome! I want to try those almond chickpea cookies- I have used beans in black bean brownies (delish) but bot in a cookie.
Marla,
Great post!!! Your family is beautiful and once I click send I’m heading over to check out your blog.
love when my faves collide! you two are two places I never skim. Always save for when I have time to read and savor!
Marci *happy dance* you are a sweetheart, always love when you visit me :)
OH MY GOODNESS, I can’t wait to make that soup!!! And those BARS! YUM! Thanks for sharing the recipes, Marla (and Angela, thanks for introducing me to FFC!)
Hi Marla!
I can’t wait to check out your blog. It’s always nice to see a fellow Colorado-ite! Although I’ve never made it down to Telluride – maybe this summer!
Every single one of those recipes look fantastic! I can’t wait to check out your site Marla!
These look DELISH! Thanks for sharing her blog with us.
www.birdietobe.blogspot.com
Thank you for the delicious looking recipes and beautiful photos!
Marla, you really have a good looking family! clearly you feed them well. I love how your recipes incorporate whole ingredients!
Marla is so great, she is such a real life example of what a healthy diet looks like. Not to be ageist of anything but hve you seen her? I remember the first time I saw a picture of her with her family I was a little surprised. She looked 20, maybe 25.
Marla has inspired me to not eat sugar. We’ve eliminated all sugar in our home. It’s been over a week and it’s been an amazing week. No meltdowns, and I’m not speaking only about my kids I’m speaking about myself too.
Now I’m off to see her avocado scones recipe.
YUM
Damaris, love that you thought I was in my 20’s…..far from it as you now know. That is awesome how great you are feeling getting off the sugar train.
Love the pictures in this post, and now I can’t wait to check out those recipes!
Love those recipes! great guest post :))
I’ll have to check our your blog, Marla! Sounds like we share a lot of the same approaches to wellness. Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks for letting us know about Marla’s Web site!
Great pictures and recipes!
http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/
Loved this post! So cool :) I’m a Colorado native so it made it even that much more fun to read.
Hi Alex! I am from Steamboat Springs, CO how about you?
I love Family Fresh Cooking! Marla is an amazing food stylist and photographer.
Look forward to reading more of your recipes, Marla!
*blush* thank you Morgan :)
wow! What a post! Good to know of you Marla! I grew up in Littleton and got married in Steamboat Springs where I went to college. :) I love CO and Miss it!!
I just love Marla’s blog, her recipes are smart, healthy, and beautiful. Great guest post!
That last picture’s background looks photoshopped in! I love when that happens-odd right?
What a fun post and what a beautiful family!
Angela…..You may or may not get excited about this>>>> http://www.howsweeteats.com/2010/12/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-dip/
After reading your blog for about a year, I’d say you’re going to. :-)
hehe yea I saw that last December…I told her I was going to make a vegan version of it and then forgot about it!!
Marla, you make healthy, whole foods look and taste so good. Love this round-up of some of your wonderful recipes.