Happy Friday, friends! Boy, did I love reading your comments on my Crazy Mug Lady post the other day. Sooo funny! Glad to hear I’m not alone. After last weekend’s ice storm, we’re really looking forward to getting outside to enjoy some moderately warm-ish spring weather tomorrow and Sunday. I hope you have a great one too!
Q1. Just came across your Superfood Porridge recipe! It seems great for my one-year-old. If I were to prepare this the night before, should I cook the veggies first and then add to the oatmeal to soak? Thanks!
Hey Dawn, So glad you found this recipe! We love the porridge and make it often…it’s a nice way to sneak in veggies in the AM! You don’t need to cook the veggies in advance. I prep everything the night before (without cooking anything), then simply heat and serve in the morning. It really helps to use the super-fine grate hole in the grater box so the carrot and zucchini aren’t too thick—that way they won’t need much cooking to soften.
Q2. Hi Angela! I absolutely love your recipes. They are natural, healthy, and usually involve simple ingredients that I already have in my pantry. I have both cookbooks, the app, and I go on your website often for food inspiration. I base my meal planning around your cookbooks because they are so fail proof! I was wondering…have you ever thought about developing a meal planning app with all your recipes in it?
Hey Mya, Thank you so much for the recipe love! That’s so cool you have both the cookbooks and our app…I appreciate your support so much. It’s funny you mention the meal-planning thing because it’s actually something Eric and I have talked about recently. It would be such a useful thing to have (goodness knows this mama could use some organization in her life)! So I guess my answer is that a meal-planning option may be a possibility for the future, whether it’s on the blog, the app, or in a book. Thank you so much for mentioning the idea—it’s great to hear that others would enjoy it. :)
Q3. Hello! I have a question about your Homemade Mocha “Nutella” recipe from the app—do you think I could use honey instead of coconut sugar? If you think that might work, would you have a guess as to about how much honey I should use in place? I know you don’t include recipes with honey on your blog, but because brown rice syrup has a similar consistency, I was thinking it might be a close comparison to honey for swapping in recipes? Thank you! You’re doing a great job! ?? By the way, I voted for you in The Webby Awards and got three of my friends to buy your app. ?
Hi Fiona, Thank you so much for your support (and your pals’, too!). You’re so sweet. :) I’ve found swapping liquid sweetener in nut butters can be tricky. Often the liquid sweetener causes the nut butter to seize (making it thick and clumpy), so I prefer to use coconut sugar in the “Nutella” to keep the spread creamy. I hope this helps!
Q4. I’ve made your Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Avocado-Garlic Aioli in the past and LOVE them. I’m wondering if these will still smash and roast okay if they’ve been refrigerated overnight and are cold?
Hey Stacey, Hmm…I’m not sure whether chilling would impact the overall outcome. My guess is that the potatoes might be a bit firm for smashing, so I would suggest letting them sit at room temp for a bit? If you try it out I’d love to hear how it goes!
Q5. What kind of spiralizer do you use?
I received a lot of questions about my spiralizer after my Insta Story the other week showing me making spiralized butternut squash noodles for dinner! I have used the Paderno World Cuisine spiralizer for several years now. There weren’t many spiralizer options on the market back when I purchased it, but now there are tons! This model isn’t as sturdy as I would like it to be, so if I was going to buy another in the future I would definitely shop around and read reviews.
Q6. I can’t wait to try your Fail-Proof Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes! Just one question…what is the apple cider vinegar used for in this recipe?
Hey Elisa, Great question! The vinegar is there so it can react with the baking soda which helps the cake rise. I call for apple cider in this recipe as it’s a bit sweeter than other varieties, but white vinegar should work too since it’s just a small amount. Hope this helps!
“I just want to start by saying damn girl you know how to cook!!! I have for many years been on again off again vegetarian. I had always wanted to go full vegan but just couldn’t seem to make it happen. It always felt like unattainable goal. One day I went into a bookstore and pawed through the cookbook section unsure of what I might find. I placed my hands onto your Oh She Glows Every Day cookbook and now I am eight weeks into a new vegan lifestyle and haven’t looked back! I was having skin problems, and no matter what treatment I tried, I couldn’t fix things entirely…that’s what led me to try a plant-based diet. Now I am happy to report my skin has completely cleared! I give your cookbook the credit for that! Thank you.”
Erika, I’m totally smiling from ear to ear over here…thank you for sharing your story with all of us! That’s absolutely wonderful to hear. High fives to you for all the changes you’re making! I’m really flattered that I can be a part of your journey. :) :)
Photo credit (top image): Ashley McLaughlin
My daughter and I are such huge fans of yours and we were both so excited when you published cookbooks. Our copies are well used!
As if you are not busy enough, we would love to see a cookbook focused on infant and toddler food. My daughter is expecting her first child and though you sometimes mention what you are making for your little ones it would be great to have a cookbook. Any chance of this?
Thanks for making vegan food so delicious and accessible!
Hey Ann, Aww congrats to you and your daughter on her pregnancy! Such an exciting time. And thank you so much for the cookbook idea…it’s definitely something I’ve considered. :) Thanks for all your support.
Hi Angela, I would love a toddler cookbook too! I already make loads of your meals for my one year old and have done since she started solids. All of my mumma friends are so envious of how adventurous my daughter is eating now.
PS I have your app and both your cookbooks and love them! They are the only way I get my husband to eat meals without meat
Hey Fiona, That’s so great…good job, mama!! I will definitely keep it in mind. Thanks for your support for my cookbooks and app, too. So happy you love them!
Love your recipes!
Thank you Cathy! :)
Angela, your recipes have truly changed my life! As a vegetarian who had to cut dairy and gluten from an already restricted diet, finding your spectacular recipes really put the joy back in eating. I love the outdoors and backpacking, cycle touring, and paddling trips. Carrying dehydrated or freeze-dried food is essential. The options on the market are limited and expensive. I can imagine that a number of your recipes would be pretty easy to adapt such as glowing lentil soup, chili, and hummus for outdoor lovers like myself. Any chance you might be able to help with this? It would bring joy and health to the trails. Big thanks!
Hey Heidi,
Aww thank you so very much for the super kind words! I’m so happy (and flattered!!) to hear this. :) Congrats on all the awesome changes you’ve made!!
I did write a bit about camping food ideas in this post if you are interested: http://ohsheglows.com/2016/05/06/friday-faqs-camping-food-pregnancy-updates-freezer-friendly-recipes-and-more/ (Q3) I hope this helps get the wheels turning! I’m also planning on a camping food post next month too.
I have said this before when you first mentioned it but YES to a meal planning something!!
Thanks Anne! :)
Hi Angela,
Saw your post about meal-planning…and I have to say, would love to see you do it.
There is another vegan blog that has a meal-planning monthly subscription service. I won’t say the name, because I’m going to critique them…but if you want to know and can’t guess, email me! I absolutely loved the functionality of their meal-planning tool. It allowed you to scale any recipe for 2, 4 or 6 people, and then you could create a custom shopping list, eliminating the things that you didn’t need and only added the ones that you did. It even aggregated across ingredients (eg, you need one onion for that recipe and two for another, the list said three onions…so cool).
But by FAR the best feature was that certain activities from each recipe were aggregated as “plan ahead” activities to do (presumably on Sunday in preparation for the week). So again, if you needed half a cup of quinoa for one recipe, and one cup for another, it told you to making 1.5 cups of quinoa on Sunday to save time later in the week.
Loved it. All of it. Except…
…the food was terrible.
So you really should do it. It’s awesome and with your food, wow.
Even better idea…invest in the development of it with a couple other like-minded bloggers (Minimalist Baker perhaps? I feel I can mention her because you had an endorsement on her book) and I’m in heaven. Then I can incorporate both your recipes into my week!
Sign me up…I’ll provide seed capital (no pun intended)!
All the best, Angela. I only switched to a plant-based diet last year and you have made it SO easy.
Carolyn
Hey Carolyn, I’m so sorry for the delay in reply, I got a bit behind. Thank you SO very much for your kind words and input about meal planning. I’m so flattered that you love the recipes so much. We’ll definitely keep it in mind for the future. Thanks again!
Hi Angela! I was wondering if you could please do a post on meal prep. I’ve been super busy with school and finals and struggling to eat healthy. Thanks xox
Hey Patri, Such a great idea…I’ve been thinking about this too. Thanks! Good luck with finals!
Hi Angela….is your 2nd cookbook hard copy or paperback? Amazon shows it in paperback. Thanks. I am wanting to learn to cook “everyday”. :)
Aw thank you Cathy! It is a paperback (a bit higher quality stock than book #1) with French Flaps. Hope this helps!
Aaaah I loved your Nutella recipe, I made the mistake of putting the jar with all the other spreads my family uses so it got used up quicker (and by more people) than I would have liked. I’m one of those people who tends to pick up a spoon and just starts scooping, before I know if half the jar is gone!
I’ve been reading your posts for quite a while, you have inspired me to start my own blog, just yesterday I made my first ever post on https://froootfly.weebly.com and I hope to, one day, be as successful as you!!
Woohoo, I’m so glad it was a hit! And congrats on your new blog, Ashleigh :)
I just learned recently that baking soda reacts with acids to make baked goods rise, while baking power reacts with heat to make goods rise. If there’s nothing acidic in the recipe the baking soda won’t work. Hope that helps the explanation of the apple cider vinegar.
Yes I’ve read that too…I love to keep that tip handy in my mind when I’m creating recipes!
I’ve got two doughnut pans (not the mini but 6-to-a-pan size) that I bought for your chia doughnuts in your first cookbook. While I enjoy the chia doughnuts, my kids don’t so they’re now collecting dust. The doughnut recipes you have on the blog from awhile back look delicious, but I’m hoping for something more nutrient-dense to feed my kids (like your chia doughnut recipe!). Can you perhaps recommend any of your muffin recipes that you think would hold up in doughnut form, and how to adjust the bake time? Or are there any more doughnut recipes on the horizon? Thank you- our family LOVES your recipes, and I love reading your blog.
Hey Lindsay, Oh I like this challenge! I don’t know of any off the top of my head that would work for sure, but I will make a note to test out more in the future. :)
Oh that’ll be fun to see! I made your chocolate chip cookie dough doughnuts yesterday, subbing coconut sugar instead of white sugar and using your Nutella instead of the glaze in the recipe. They were delish, and a great treat for the kids!! ?
Love this idea..sounds absolutely delish!
Hi Angela,
I have been a dedicated reader of your blog for years, and I love your cookbooks and your app! We are not a vegan family but we eat a lot of plant-based meals, and you have always been a major source of inspiration for me. We have travelled to Arizona for a couple of years and I have even taken a lot of your tips about where to eat and what to do! I wondered if you had any new finds or tips? This will be our first time travelling with our son too – he just turned 9 months old! (Thanks for all of the pregnancy resources and info, too! ☺️) I have loved your tips for True Food Kitchen and ChocolaTree, and wonder if you’ve found anything new? Thank you!
Hey Jenna, Aww thank you so much for all your support! I’m so happy to hear that. :) And such a great question about new finds! We didn’t get out to eat as much as we hoped (it was a bit crazy juggling the 3 hour tme change and naps, lol), but we did have a couple new kid-friendly finds. For breakfast we enjoyed First Watch a few times…I love the chia seed bowl. “Kale & Clover”…their hummus is to die for and I enjoyed the Superfood salad a lot ((it’s very casual as you place your order at the counter), and “The Herb Box”..their brussels sprouts chips with vegan aioli were also TO DIE FOR, lol. I was obsessed. I heard great things about Flower Child but we didn’t have a chance to go.
I’m new to the vegan lifestyle and the hardest part for me is forgetting my lunch when I’m at work. Do you have any suggestions on what to keep at work to eat when I forget my lunch?
Hey Kim, This is a great question! One thing that comes to mind is a nutritious and hearty cracker and your favourite nut or seed butter (and hemp hearts to sprinkle on top). They’d keep for a long time and you’d get a bit of protein from the butter and hemp hearts. I’ll try to think of other ideas too!
Hi Angela,
Vegan cooking is time consuming. So….can you come up with some cooking short cuts. For me homemade pancake mixes, biscuit mixes, muffin mixes, big batches of muesli, and spice mixes are a life saver; but I’d appreciate any other ideas you might have, especially for busy parents.
Hey Laurie, Oh I love this idea…and I have been thinking about this kind of thing lately (we must be in the same time crunched situation these days!!). I will definitely put my thinking cap on. :)
After converting to eating a vegan lifestyle and having healthy food in me it would be so hard to go back into eating those meats that are loaded with chemicals, I really enjoy this Bagel with avocado and hummus and vegan cheese sandwich I learned to make