Caterpillar Lunch Cake!

My 3 year old loves the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle and for some reason calls it the Caterpillar Lunch book. (Maybe because he eats everything in sight?) The picture on the top is the cake I just made for her birthday party tomorrow. The picture on the bottom is the original water color caterpillar. It may not be an exact match, but mine tastes much more delicious!

Vegan cake can be a hard thing to conquer, so I decided to turn to the interwebs for help. I typed in "fluffy vegan cake" and the first thing that came up looked like a keeper.

I went to the store and got some pre-made frosting. Turns out, some brands are vegan and it's cheaper to buy it than make it. And easier. And it thickens better.

I used some black gel frosting, jelly beans and twizzlers for the yummy bits. I suggest you put this on a colorful cake board. I made mine out of some cardboard I had. I got tissue paper from the dollar store (dots are kind of a theme in the book) and taped it down well. Personalize it with the gel and you have an edible vegan delight.

I bet she is going to love it!

Birthdays are for free things!

This is how I feel about free things. I want to bring a horde of friends to awesome deals and this little plan is a good'n.

I figured I'd spend an hour one day signing up for every free birthday offer imaginable, that way when my birthday hits in a month and a half I will be flooded with options. Many of these offers are good for a week or two or even the entire month so you can get lots of great freebies.

Downside? You have to sign up for newsletters. But don't turn on me yet! I've found a way to circumvent this.

Create an email you will never check except for your birthday and sign up using that account. The mail you don't care about will go there so forget about it, but one week before your birthday start checking it out to see the offers roll in. It's so worth it.

My favorites are Coldstone Creamery (they have a dairy free sorbet ) and Beni Hana. Why? Because Beni Hana gives you a $30 gift certificate to use at any point during your birthday month. I know! I can't believe it either.

Hey, it's free!

Some of them aren't so great if you're vegan but even free french fries are nice sometimes. I signed up for the Qdoba newsletter(free burrito on your birthday!) and they sent me a coupon for free chips and salsa. I wandered over for a delicious bag full of warm chips and a side of medium salsa. Yea, I'll take your stupid newsletter for that.

Please post about other great offers you know of and share the love.

Peace. Out.

Kristina

Cake Batter Shake - Please send fan mail to KristinaLakey@gmail.com

I might be a little cocky with this one, but if you believe everyone was put on this earth for a reason then my reason may be to bring you this recipe. Light in calories, decadent and so rich that you'll feel naughty. Here is what you need:



2 cups vanilla almond milk
2 big tbs creamy peanut butter
2 tbs cocoa powder
2 large bananas



I really suggest you use vanilla almond milk because the vanilla lends itself to a cake batter flavor. The bananas will thicken up the shake and if they are frozen first they're even better.




Put all the ingredients in the blender and blend on low for a minute or so. You'll have some free time on your hands so you might want to think about licking the peanut butter spoon.

Let's face it. I love cheap, easy delicious things. Most of us aren't gourmet chefs and we have lots to do. When I get out of class I want to go home and drink cake batter. It's okay, you can admit it. We're all friends here.
My blog is really about efficient meals that are cruelty free and yummy enough to make the carnivores swoon. Another thing my blog is about is saving dough. Here's how you do it with this recipe.

Almond Milk - It's amazing and often cheaper than soy milk by a dollar or so. I appreciate Blue Diamond and you can get a coupon here. Take it to Kroger. I LOVE Kroger! Why? Because they double coupons up to $1. That means that the .55 cent coupon is now $1.10 coupon and you can get your milk under $2. In addition, Almond Milk is calorie friendly. It's only 90 calories per cup. I'm also a calorie counter - watch out.

Peanut butter - Again, on sale at Kroger this week for $1. Go buy seven of them.

Cocoa Powder - You can get a large amount for around $2 and I bet you already have some anyway.

Bananas - When it comes to blending bananas, feel free to go with the brown ones. Stores usually sell them at .35 cents a pound because they want to get rid of them. And I say yes, I will buy your bananas and make delicious treats.

When I gave this to my husband as an after rehearsal treat he had one comment, "Oh wow - I feel like I could put this in a cake pan and bake it". I when I had my first sip I thought the same thing. Enjoy it friends.

Kristina

Tofu Smammiches - Rocking your face.

"And the heavens opened and lo, a tofu smammich came down from the heavens to be a light for all of mankind."

Yes, it really is that good and simple. Maybe you've made it before but I'm starting things off with some of my favorite foods of all time.

First thing you want to do is get yourself some extra firm tofu. For this I go to Kroger because they have a store brand that costs $1.39 while most other brands cost $1.99. That may not seem like a big difference, but when you buy as much tofu as I do you'll be grateful for the extra help. Now lots of folks drain tofu in different ways. I can't be bothered so I slice that baby up and let the pan do the work. Lemme show you.



This part is important because it requires you to have a non stick pan and if you don't you'll end up with burnt tofu bits. Promise. You want to cut the pieces lengthwise from the top and make then as thick or thin as you like. * Keep in mind that thin slices will make for crispy bites and thick ones will be chewier on the inside.*

The non stick pan will allow you to let the tofu simmer and the water will naturally evaporate and you will be left with this.

Do not add oil to this pan!! You'll never get it crispy if you do.






As for seasonings, use what you like. For this recipe I enjoy salt, pepper and mesquite. It's simple and it should be because the next ingredient is even more awesome than tofu. Hummus!





This is Sabra Classic Hummus, my favorite of all the store brands. I can get this for $3.99 a container at Kroger, and they often have them on reduced quick sale - this works for me because it will be gone in two days and I win.

To keep this sammy simple and delicious I pile it high with baby spinach or a romaine blend, but you can add whatever you like. Slide all of that between two toasted whole wheat pieces of bread and you have what I like to call nom noms. This recipe happily provides a lot of food for a small budget. All of the ingredients will cost roughly around $8 but it could provide a minimum of four meals.

**There were no available coupons for this recipe at the current time but I once wrote Sabra and told them how awesome their hummus is and they sent me a coupon for free hummus!**

Sabra