Making in the Kitchen with Oh She Glows Cookbook

I treated myself a couple of weeks ago to two new books, a quilting one (Simply Retro by Camille Roskelley) and The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon.  

Personally, I would be happy to be vegan every day. My body would thank me but my family might not...my oldest daughter is vegetarian and loves dairy products, and the rest of the family eats meat. Most days, I cook vegetarian meals for my entire family. Some meals, I cook a vegetarian version for my daughter and I. 

I have been wanting to find some simple but tasty recipes that my whole family would enjoy to add to my regular routine. I looked through the oh she glows blog and loved what I saw. I decided to purchase her book and review/test/taste her recipes. As soon as the book arrived, I grabbed my sticky notes and started marking recipes. There were so many I wanted to try! 

I started with the mother nature's apple crumble. I made a batch of vanilla ice cream because my husband has to have it with apple crumble! The whole family loved this apple crumble version. I loved that this recipe has no butter, white sugar, or white flour. I will have to try the whipped coconut cream with it soon. 

The next two recipes I knew would be mostly for me. One was the effortless vegan overnight oats. The idea wasn't new to me, I make easy muesli-style jar breakfast regularly with almond milk. The difference here is chia seeds. I am in love with these seeds. Adrienne tried it but wasn't a fan. 

The classic green monster smoothie was next. Again, this one wasn't a favourite of Adrienne, but just like the overnight oats, these were mostly for me. Everyone did try some of my smoothie, but no big winning there. I loved it. Almond milk, baby spinach, banana, almond butter, chia seeds, and vanilla...yummy! 

I finally tried a recipe for dinner last night. This would be a dinner for everyone. I chose crowd-pleasing tex-mex casserole. Everyone loved this dish. The flavours and texture were perfect. I used a little regular cheese on top. I am not a big fan of vegan shredded cheese.  So many colours in this dish! We had the leftovers today and it was perfect heated in the oven. 

Today, I tried two more recipes. 

The ultimate nutty granola clusters. Oh my. Again, I have been making granola for years, but I am always looking for new recipes, especially ones that have less sugar and oil. I started using coconut oil lately in my granola making, a delicious and more healthy alternative than canola oil. 

This granola uses coconut oil and maple syrup, along with oats and several seeds and nuts. It smelled delicious while cooking and I couldn't wait to taste it. Angela introduces the recipe in her book by saying "I drove myself a bit crazy testing this granola recipe. You see, I wanted to create something truly unique, something unlike the loose granola recipes that I had tried". She found it I believe. It is perfect, for breakfast or a snack! 

The other recipe I made today was from the oh she glows blog: {almost} instant chocolate chia pudding  .  I haven't tested this one with my family yet...but I like it even if it is a little grainy texture wise (I don't have a fancy blender). Chocolatey and not too sweet, it has chia seeds, dates, almond milk, and cocoa powder. Mmm.... a great healthy snack. (recipe here). 


Lots of making in the kitchen this past week! I often watch Mad Men on Netflix with my ipad when I am in the kitchen for a while. I am almost finished with season five. 

I am linking this long post to the weekly make and listen hosted by Dawn at Simple Things Notebook.