Vegan Maple Coffee Cake + An Adorable Announcement

This is a super easy and quick vegan coffee cake that can be whipped up in no time flat for breakfast or a party. It’s light maple flavor and oat-streusel topping make it a perfect fall snack or dessert to share with loved ones.

It’s been a little quiet over here the last nine months (especially the last two weeks; see the end of this post) and it’s because I have either not been eating much of anything or just eating my cravings but not particularity cooking a whole lot. The reason being… we’re having baby! We expect her pretty much any day now. Eeek!

Oliver couldn’t be more excited. He’s been telling me for months that she’s “ready” and that he will “go like this to make her laugh” (play peek-a-boo). Always rocking his baby-doll ever so gently, he’s a very nurturing little fella and we think he’s going to be a wonderful big brother.

Here she is saying hello to you all! I don’t really post a lot of photos of Oliver anymore (or will be posting them of baby sister) so if you want to see her earth side or our little vegan family Alaskan adventures, feel free to check out my personal Instagram @katiecski

And now: coffee cake to celebrate baby sister and also to eat my feelings (see below).

Vegan Maple Coffee Cake

By Katie Henry @ Produce On Parade

This is a super easy and quick vegan coffee cake that can be whipped up in no time flat for breakfast or a party. It’s light maple flavor and oat-streusel topping make it a perfect fall snack or dessert to share with loved ones.

Ingredients

• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ cup vegan butter, softened
• 1 ¼ cup quick oats, divided
• 2 tsp psyllium husk powder (or 2 tbsp ground flax)
• ½ cup water (or ⅓ cup water if using flax)
• 1 cup soy milk
• ¼ cup vegetable or olive oil
• Scant 1 cup vegan sugar
• 1 tsp maple extract
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp table salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F and spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with a nonstick cooking spray.
2. For the oatmeal topping; in a small bowl combine the brown sugar through the oats (only 1 cup of oats); set aside.
3. In large bowl whisk the psyllium and water together; whisk in the milk through the vanilla.
4. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, including the remaining ¼ cup of oats through the salt. Slowly stir this dry mixture into the wet mixture until just combined; do not overmix.
5. Pour the batter into the greased dish and scatter the oatmeal topping evenly on top. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 00:30
Total time: 00:35
Yield: 8 servings

More Delicious Recipes You’ll Love

Glazed Gingerbread Scones

Maple Banana Cookies

Wholesome Chocolate Coffee Dessert Bread

Healthy Pumpkin Maple Pecan Oat Muffins

It’s been an exciting and hectic week, getting ready for baby sister… but also sorrowful: my Grandpa Doc passed away.

We all went to see him in the hospital and though Oliver had met him many times before, he latched onto that visit and speaks of him occasionally and randomly, bringing me to tears. My dad’s parents were such a large part of our lives, especially when I was a child. I grew up just a short walk through the woods to their house and it goes without saying we were all very close. It’s a strange thing to think he’s gone but I take comfort thinking he is now reunited with my Grandma Nancy.

I never broached the subject when she passed away in July of 2017, as it was too painful to even write about. Todd and Oliver and I were actually on the east coast when she passed away suddenly and I never got to say goodbye. I am so grateful we were all able see grandpa and say goodbye.

My uncle told me, “Thanks for picking up Doc.” meaning that that baby sister “picked him up”; as she will be born any day now. I carry that with me and think about it everyday. <3

Full Circle Organic Farm Box Prices Versus Local Grocery Store Prices Comparison Review

Have you ever thought about subscribing to the organic produce subscription service, Full Circle? Did you ever wonder how the prices compared to your local grocery store?

I’ve put my Full Circle Organic Farm Box prices head to head with the prices on organic produce from my local grocery store, Fred Meyer (Kroger) to find the most cost effective way to get that nutritious, organic produce.

Several years ago Todd and I wanted to eat more organic produce, especially fruits and vegetables that are a little more special, fun, and hard to get up here in Alaska. A co-worker told me about Full Circle and I thought it sounded perfect; I subscribed to Full Circle (FC) starting in 2014 until 2017. It was my hope that the FC produce would be a bit fresher than the stuff we get at our stores. Alaska is a long travel for oranges and oftentimes they don’t enjoy the arduous trip from Texas.

As health-conscious vegans (most of the time), Todd and my diet is heavily whole food plant-based. We eat a lot of fruits and veggies so I opted for the FC box that feeds 2-4 people; it ended up being the perfect size. I really loved how you’re able to customize your boxes, switching out apples for blueberries or adding Field Roast Chao ‘cheese slices’, etc. However, I eventually began to see a decline in produce and found myself writing to Full Circle every week about super wilted lettuce or slimy cilantro or rotten avocados and it just got the point that it didn’t feel the price was worth the product any longer. Full circle always kindly refunded me and halting subscription is super easy.

Slimy greens.

Rotten avocado.

I appreciate that the poor produce could have been due to many factors. It may have been the produce itself or, more likely, it was the storage of box. At the time, Full Circle was shipping their boxes pre-packed from the States to a location in my town where I picked them up. Right before I halted my subscription they stated they were changing how they shipped and stored the boxes. They would be packaging them locally in Anchorage, Alaska then shipping them to the local locations. As of today, however, I see that you can have the boxes delivered straight to your house and strangely it was slightly cheaper to do so rather than picking up your box at a location in your area!

I wanted to try out FC again, hoping the poor produce/storage issues had been fixed. As signed up it occured to me that that now (as opposed to 2014) I can easily compare prices from Full Circle to my local grocery store, Fred Meyer (FM). Both show their prices on their website for produce. I decided to do a little cost comparison of the Full Circle box I had arranged and the same ‘box’ of organic items at Fred Meyer.

Some items I would have loved to add to my FC box but they were considerably more than the FM items. On the right side of the screen are some examples I would have liked to add to my FC box but reconsidered after seeing the lower FM prices. Full Circle is on the left and Fred Meyer on the right. Cremini Mushrooms are almost double the cost!!

Most of the items I put in my FC box were only slightly more expensive than the FM counterparts. Below you can see that the Full Circle total is $44.39. It will be delivered to my house and all the items are organic. Fred Meyer wants $30.26 for those same organic items and in the same quantity. However, if I want to have this ‘box’ delivered to my home I would need to order these items online for a $4.95 service fee then incur a $9.95 delivery charge for a total of $45.16. Alternatively, I can just pick up my ‘box’ of produce pre-shopped from the store, all ready to go, for $35.21.

To conclude, Fred Meyer is a about $15 cheaper than Full Circle (who delivers to my house). If I want to pick up my pre-shopped items at FM then it is still about $10 cheaper than FC. If I want to have FM deliver the items to my house it’s about the same price, $45.

Some items were about the same price and that’s what I added to my FC box. If I had added items to the box that were considerably more, like the mushrooms, there would be an even bigger discrepancy. Is it worth the extra money to have it delivered to your home? That’s subjective. For me, no. Even with a full-time job and a two year old, we still make it to the store every week and usually enjoy the trip as a family outing (yes, we lead quiet lives, lol). Sure, there are times I absolutely do not want to roll through a packed store with a screaming toddler but more often than not, it’s a pleasant-ish affair. If I am ever in a time crunch I can just order the items online, have them pre-shopped for me, and pick-up them up at the store.

In addition, I like to support our local agriculture at small farmers’ markets and stands. FM also carries some local produce like carrots, potatoes, and cabbage. We have a Safeway/Carrs too; it carries a decent amount of local produce, however they have a very limited selection of vegan offerings and those they do offer are really expensive. I don’t shop there often except for local produce occasionally. Alaska has no Whole Foods or Trader Joes. We do have a local natural food store but it’s a 50 mile drive and their prices are truly shocking.

I won’t delve into the quality comparisons between FM or FC, or the differences in selection (for example FM doesn’t ever offer sunchokes or Maitake mushrooms). That would be difficult to do and suspect to change I imagine, as well as dependent upon personal preferences. I did really enjoy the vast array of interesting fruits and strange veggies Full Circle offered but living on one income and being able to get the same organic staples locally for less… in the end pragmatism won over novelty. For now at least.

However, that doesn’t mean Full Circle isn’t right for you! I really do love what they are doing and their customer service is fantastic. I hope this information doesn’t steer you away from them if you are at peace with paying a little bit more for your organic produce. I hope this helped you, and of course prices for both entities change over the season and depending upon your location.

Anyway you can get your family to eat more produce is wonderful in my book! It’s better for the planet, the animals, and our bodies. <3

Simple Creamy Vegetable Soup + My Alaska Earthquake Story

This is a wonderfully simple and delectable soup. Chunks of hearty sweet potato, zucchini, and broccoli swim in a flavorful, creamy broth for a quick and healthy meal that’s great for a weeknight. This really is a new favorite meal that’s a great way to use up any leftover canned coconut milk in your fridge.

I’m not sure if you may heard the front page news, but on Friday Alaska had one of it’s biggest and most destructive Earthquakes to date. I posted some photos of our house and a couple of the collapsed overpasses and roads on my social media sites, which you can see here.

I’ll try to keep my story short.

I was at work when it hit. It was 8:30 in the morning and I had just settling in, drinking my coffee and looking over our patients and schedule for the day. When our building began to shake I sat for a second or two assessing how severe this was going to be. We get a lot of earthquakes in Alaska and most of them are minor. However, when the earth continued to shake I fell under my desk. The shaking became so violent, more than I’d ever felt, and all I could think about was Oliver and Todd at home. “Are they safe, are they safe, are they safe,” was all that rushed through my mind.

Finally, the shaking stopped after what felt like forever but turned out to only be a couple minutes (which is actually an etinerity when you’re in a massive earthquake). We ended up evacuating our clinic and I raced home. There were ambulances everywhere and the roads were packed. None of the roads I had to travel on were damaged but the photo below is ten minutes from my work.

Photo by Marc Lester

Todd and Oliver made it through unscathed (well, except for Todd’s left foot). Oliver was standing on his stool pictured below when it started. Todd grabbed him and they huddled under our dining room table until the shaking stopped. When I got home we proceeded to clean up A TON of broken glass and dishes over the weekend. Lots of large, custom framed art pieces I did broke. Several potted plants took a hit. Items flew off of shelves and Oliver’s room looked like a herd of dinosaurs stomped through, with lamps and monitors swinging off the desk. Everything on any table or desk fell to the floor. Several pieces of our siding cracked and there are a couple cracks in our interior walls but no serious damage. There’s a huge gouge in the earth in our front lawn that I literally stuck my ENTIRE hand in! It was crazy that the shaking actually opened up our childproof cabinets!

Oliver walked around most of the day pointing sadly at everything and telling us, “Broke, broke, broke..”. The aftershocks have been keeping everyone on pins and needles as we continue to experience very large quakes. Everytime one comes rumbling to life Oliver shakes his head pleading, “No, no, no…” It’s heartbreaking seeing him in so much fright.

We are so thankful no friends or family were hurt and nothing of super valuable or sentimental broke. Our family is definitely shaken though and I’m compelled to hold my babies a little tighter. There are many families who lost their homes and important objects. Several roads literally just fell into the earth. The highway to Anchorage and our international airport have both opened back up and we are all on our way to getting back to our lives.

In the aftermath, I’ve learned to slow down and truly cherish the little moments. Also, to keep a few gallons of water handy in the pantry. In addition, command strips are not earthquake proof. Our art will now be re-installed with nails… #liveandlearn

Simple Creamy Vegetable Soup

By Kathleen @ Produce On Parade
This is a wonderfully simple and delectable soup. Chunks of hearty sweet potato, zucchini, and broccoli swim in a flavorful, creamy broth for a quick and healthy meal that’s great for a weeknight. This really is a new favorite meal that’s a great way to use up any leftover canned coconut milk in your fridge.
Ingredients

• ½ medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 2 small/medium zucchinis, diced
• 1 medium bunch of broccoli; florets only, chopped
• 16 oz vegetable broth
• 1 tsp seasoning salt or table salt
• ¾ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp celery seed
• dash of white pepper (black pepper will work)
• 1 cup canned coconut milk

Instructions

1. In a medium soup pot over medium heat, dry-saute the onions and garlic until they become fragrant and soften. Add the sweet potato and saute an additional 5 minutes while preparing the rest of the soup.
2. Stir in the remaining ingredients except for the coconut milk. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce to a simmer and cook for about 8-10 minutes until the sweet potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork.
3. Remove from heat and stir in coconut milk. Serve hot.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15
Total time: 20
Yield: 4