• Burnt Eggrolls
    Cooking,  Food,  Grampy's Journey,  Vegannista

    Learning from failure

    I did everything right. Laid out my ingredients. Chopped and double chopped the red cabbage, carrots, sprouts and glass noodles. I used a cornstarch slurry to glue the corners of the wraps even. Then I left them in the air fryer a minute too long! Sad but still edible, plus it’s a learning experience. Right? Seriously. We cannot use recipe times for frying or baking when cooking in the air fryer. Always, ALWAYS, lessen the time and keep an eye on it. Mine is one of those air fryer, oven, toaster, air roasters with a glass door and I will never not pay attention again. I could have paused the World Series for…

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    Animal Toast (4 ways!)

    I got all your toast needs covered. That is why I went crazy and made you these Animal Toast (4 ways!), using a different spread for each: cream cheese, Nutella, avocado, and peanut butter, now there is a toast for everyone! From: Mother’s Day Toasts, Woodland Animal Toast, even Groundhog Toast, I think it’s become apparent from the years of fun food making that I am a toast lover, particularly making animal toast. By the way, we had a vote over Instagram on which was the people’s favorite and it looks like the winner was: It was a close race but the runner ups are as follows: Make these for you kids and…

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    Cupcake Terrariums

    For the longest time, making food art was my meditative practice. It was my medium for getting in the zone, expressing my creativity, and focus on my breathing. I mean, putting every chocolate sprinkle in place for the kiwi cacti in these Cupcake Terrariums takes time, precision, and care. You HAVE to focus and go slow. So for about 8 years, this was my mindfulness practice. Then I had Jaxon and everything changed. I couldn’t bring myself to make food art all that much anymore because I was struggling just to feed my kid “normal” food. I couldn’t think of turning anything into bunnies, robots, or skulls. Plus, it all just stopped feeding…

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    Toilet Roll Binoculars

    These were super fun to make with my kiddo! We talked about all the cool things we’d be able to see up close as we taped up our Toilet Roll Binoculars and prepared for our walk (it has been WEEKS since we’ve been out!). We of course printed out our Nature Walk Bingo sheets, and as you can see from the photos below, it was a BIG hit…for the both of us. I had just as much fun telling him to use his binoculars to get a better view with everything we heard and saw. They come together easily in a matter of minutes, just as long as you have the following on…

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    Printable Nature Walk Bingo

    In honor of Earth Day coming up, I wanted to find ways to celebrate Mother Earth with my son, especially since I’ve been “homeschooling” his during this pandemic. And I put homeschool in loose quotes since he is only three and technically not enrolled in school. But let’s be honest, having some lesson plans/activities geared up actually helps me get through my days, so I created this printable Nature Walk Bingo for us. Click here for your (free) downloadable printable Nature Walk Bingo. Just print it out and laminate (optional) in order to make them last longer. Plus I you laminate them, you can use a Dry Erase marker to cross off each…

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    Alternatives to Dyeing Easter Eggs

    Are you trying to find alternatives to dyeing Easter eggs? Your reasons might be varied. It might be because you are vegan, because you don’t like hard boiled eggs, you don’t want to waste food, or because there are no eggs at your local market due to this weird time we are living in. Regardless of your personal reasons, I got you covered with these THREE crazy, creative ideas. I hope you love them as much as me and my family do: 1|3: Easter Egg Painted Rocks All you need is some acrylic paint and a brush on hand and the rest is up to nature. Go on a quick, mask-wearing hike out…

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    Easter Egg Painted Rocks

    I made an effort this past weekend to stock up on food to get us through a couple of weeks so I wouldn’t have to go out anymore than I needed to (thank you, pandemic). So here we sit, a few days until Sunday and no eggs to hard boil and dye. But that is okay because I am thinking that a new tradition has been created with these Easter Egg Painted Rocks. Rocks are the new eggs anyway. This doesn’t need a tutorial either. The concept is simple: Go on a nature walk and find the best rocks possible that resemble an egg shape (or don’t–do whatever you want; it’s a new…

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    Macaroon Chicks

    You guys, I think we are on our 87th round of Easter egg hunts in preparation for Sunday already. I made a mistake by taking my Easter bin out early last weekend and the little man (um, he’s THREE now–I know, I’ve been gone awhile!) spotted it and immediately wanted demanded an egg hunt. Cue to the 86 more times later…I’m egged out. But we’re preparing, you guys. Holidays are a big thing over here in the F&B’s household, (I am sure you got the feeling). and this Sunday I plan on doing a BIG egg hunt (and then put them away for another 364 days). Needless to say, I need a new…

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    Bunny Soft Pretzels

    Yeah I’m back. Well, back-ish. A lot can happen when you are in quarantine. Not saying I am consistently posting here but at least I am having fun (or at least trying to) while I’ve been in my house for a month straight. I think I stopped playing around over here for the simple reason that I was putting too much damn pressure on myself to be serious, be a brand, follow SEO, and blah blah blah–all the things that a pandemic quickly brings to light. It also makes you bake. So I baked Bunny Soft Pretzels since Easter is coming up but then again, what day are we in?! This is actually…

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    Thai-Spiced Sweet Potato & Coconut Soup

    We’re all about simple food that’s both nutritious and delicious. And one of the easiest ways to deliver both flavour and nutrition is soups. The humble soup. Except this isn’t any ordinary blend of vegetables. This Thai curry-flavoured sweet potato and coconut boasts a ton of vitamins and minerals, and it’s delightfully tasty, too. The sweetness from the sweet potato perfectly compliments the spicy Thai curry paste. And the peanut butter adds a subtle nutty twist. Here are the important things y’all need to know: Thai curry paste can really vary in heat. We recommend adding a tbsp at a time until the soup it’s as hot as you want it to be.…