Dairy-Free Yogurt at TCBY

I have literally been searching for a TCBY that a) has the new Silk chocolate almond flavor soft serve yogurt and b) hasn't sold out of it already! I went to 4 TCBY's in 3 different cities before I found it, but this weekend I finally did! It was just as good as it sounds. It has been a long long time since I have had the pleasure of soft serve. It kind of reminded me of something I have had before (not ice cream), maybe a fudge-sicle? A friend went with me and said it reminded her of a Wendy's frosty.

All said, it was good but not worth searching 3 cities for. A win for vegans everywhere though!

Charleston Vegan Eats: The Sprout

I recently spent some time in Charleston, SC, a place I used to call home. Back when I lived there I was a vegetarian, not a vegan, and already found it to be pretty non-veg friendly. I am happy to report that is beginning to change! The area now boasts a couple of all vegetarian restaurants and more veg-friendliness all around. They even have a Whole Foods.

The first spot I tried during this trip was called The Sprout. Online this place looked great. When we arrived we realized it is inside a gym! Like those smoothie places they put in gyms sometimes. But a little better than that. It had its own entrance and we chose to sit outside (because the inside was blaring gym music and smelled a bit like a gym). The food was good but not spectacular. I ordered the taco lunch so I could try a couple different things. I had the organic seared tofu taco and the avocado and black bean taco. Both were pretty good. The side salad it came with was good too. My husband ordered the walnut burger which came on sandwich bread... but was otherwise pretty tasty.

A truly healthy meal on vacation!

Finally, we ordered a vegan doughnut for dessert. Which was the highlight of the meal! :-)
If you are looking to eat a meal you can feel good about while in Charleston, I recommend this place all the way. I even lost weight on this trip we ate so well!

 

Zucchini Pasta and Homemade Marinara Sauce

My spiralizer arrived! And it is as amazing as I was promised it would be. Check out this beautiful zucchini pasta:

I also made a sauce from scratch to go with the veggie pasta for a super healthy dish. I used the recipe in the Vegan Stoner Cookbook and actually made it a few days ahead of time when I already had the tomatoes and cutting board out and the kitchen was a mess. It takes about an hour on the stove so it is a good weekend project.

Overall I would give the marinara recipe a 6/10. It was pretty good. A little on the sweet side and time consuming. It felt much healthier than Prego out of the jar though!

Pie Crust Recipe + Quiche & Cookie Tarts

Making apple pie in the fall is must, and making cookie tarts out of the leftover pie crust is an important tradition in my family. Sometimes I just skip the apple pie and make a big batch of cookie tarts instead! I have only made the vegan version of my mom's cookie tarts a couple of times but both times they turned out great. 

While not the healthiest food, cookie tarts are a very special treat. To make the cookie tarts simply whip up a pie crust recipe and cut it into rounds. Add a spoonful of jam to the center of each one and cover with another round. Press around the edges with your fingers. Sprinkle sugar on top and bake! Above, the "cutting flour into shortening" step is shown.

Vegan Pie Crust 
(makes 2)

3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup shortening
1 Tbl vinegar
1 1/2 tsp egg replacer mixed with 2 Tbl warm water (I use Ener-G)
1 tsp salt
4-5 Tbl ice water

Cut flour and shortening into small pieces (see photo above). Add egg replacer, salt, and vinegar. Mix. Add in ice water 1 tablespoon at a time. Mix with a fork until the dough clings into a ball. Do not over handle. Roll out 1/4 at a time.
Bake at 375 for 1 hour (for pie) Bake only 10 minutes for cookie tarts.


I like to use an upside down cup to get the perfect round shape. Cookie cutters work great too.

Bonus recipe review: Vegan Tofu Quiche from the Vegan Stoner Cookbook
I used the rest of my pie crust recipe for this delicious quiche!

The recipe called for mushrooms, onion, and broccoli but I am not a mushroom fan. I subbed in extra broccoli and carrots.

This quiche is seriously amazing. One of my new favorite recipes! 10/10 for sure. I have always been a little nervous to try tofu quiche because really, how could it possibly be good? It really really is. The recipe uses soft tofu which I have never really experimented with before but it blended up nicely in my ninja.