I met Dreena through Maggie and Ricki. I must say I am so very grateful!

Shortly after Nate was born and I started eating a very heavy plant-based diet. Not completely plant based, mind you. But I could just sense that my body needed lots of fresh, whole foods after giving birth to get itself back in shape.

There is a huge transition in diet and cravings after giving birth, and Let Them Eat Vegan! helped me make that transition beautifully.

The first thing you notice when you read Dreena’s book is that she’s the kind of lady you’d love to have coffee with. She’s witty, fun, and she’s easy to relate to. You get the strong sense that you’d be fast friends with her.  You want to bring her into your kitchen. It just adds to the deliciousness of her food.

Let’s talk about her Panfried Falafel Patties for a minute. Who needs cookies when you can eat these? Really! When I told Dreena on Twitter that I’d been making batch after batch, she asked if I was dipping them in her Smoky Spiced Tahini Sauce and I replied that, yea, the sauce is delicious but I’d just been pulling them out of the refrigerator and eating them. No sauce necessary.

In true Dreena style, she replied, “Now that’s some falafel lovin’!” And, yep, I do love her falafels. In fact, I’ve made them more times than I can count and I’ve never gotten a photo of the finished product. (Guilty as charged.)

When you make her falafel, you must – and I mean must – make her Quinoa Tabbouleh. I used to live in Columbus, Ohio and frequented The North Market. There was a little middle eastern restaurant that served the best tabbouleh I’ve ever had. Since going gluten-free, I’ve tried to replicate it several times but just couldn’t get it quite right. Well, Dreena did. It’s got the perfect balance of acid, veggies, parsley and quinoa.
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Read the rest of Dreena’s Falafels (and a FABULOUS cookbook give-away!)

© Amy Green for Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, 2013. | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us

If there was only one recipe you could make from my site, it should be this one. It’s over-the-top incredible. Joe and I both loved every single last bite.

Instead of your typical, one layer brownie, I made a nut crust, topped that with a super-fudgey, sweet-tart brownie layer, and finished off the dessert with a layer of chocolate-coated Crispy Brown Rice Cereal.

The texture and flavor combinations are bite after bite of bliss.

If there is a flaw to this recipe it would be that I made it for an 8×8-inch pan instead of a 9×13-inch pan. Really. That’s it.

I’m pregnant so I don’t mind admitting that I even ate these brownies before lunch. Typically, in a non-pregnant state I would never eat dessert that early. But, when you’re hungry and craving chocolate and 10:30am these brownies are absolutely divine.

When you hop over to the Attune Foods blog for the recipe, you may not have the exact same ingredients on hand that I used. No big deal. That’s why they’re called Raid-Your-Pantry Brownies. Dig through your ingredients and have some fun! Substitute your favorite nuts, dried fruit, or even throw in some spices. Take my favorite brownie and make it your favorite brownie.

Note: I am a Brand Ambassador for Attune Foods. This post is sponsored by Attune. Truth be told, I loved their products before I started working with them. Their gluten-free, refined sugar-free, GMO-free cornflakes got me through the first several months of my pregnancy when I could rarely stomach anything else. So, you can rest assured that I’m sharing my honest opinion of their products.

Time for brownies!

From my sponsor: Plan to Eat was born from our desire to eat real food – great food – prepared at home, together as a family. Plan to Eat is an online menu planner that uses your recipes, scheduled for the days you want them, automatically generating your grocery list, organized the way you like to shop. Eat well. Eat together. PlanToEat.com.

© Amy Green for Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, 2013. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Healthy and milkshake really do belong in the same sentence when you’re talking about this recipe.

It’s Earth Day, and as such I think it’s fitting to celebrate with a treat made from foods close to nature.

With an ingredient list that includes superfoods like avocados, spinach, nuts, banana, and even cocoa powder, you’re in for a healthy treat.

It’s creamy, rich, smooth, and perfectly cold just like the milkshakes I remember from way back. I hadn’t had a milkshake in years. But now there’s no excuse. Just throw the ingredients in the blender and let ‘em whirl!

Stop by Peanut Butter & Co. for the complete recipe. I must admit that I LOVE when companies include gluten-free, allergy-friendly recipes on their blogs. I am even happier that they chose me to develop this milkshake for them.

Then get out your VitaMix out and make yourself a PB & Chocolate “Green” Milkshake.

From my sponsor: Plan to eat was born from our desire to eat real food – great food – prepared at home, together as a family. Plan to eat is an online menu planner that uses your recipe, scheduled for the days you want them, automatically generating your grocery list, organized the way you like to shop. Eat well. Eat together. PlanToEat.com.

© Amy Green for Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, 2013. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us

If you browse my recipe page, you’ll see that we don’t often have pasta for dinner. I just forget that it’s an option when planning meals. But, I needed a little inspiration when I was putting together last week’s meal plan and I happened across a gorgeous Spinach Penne Pasta in Everyday Food: Great Food Fast. It’s one of my favorite books for quick, simple, and tasty seasonal dinners.

So, that’s how pasta got on the menu. I had to rework the recipe for several reasons. First, it used lots of dairy. Second, it wasn’t gluten-free. And finally, I love fresh wilted spinach with garlic and decided to change how the spinach was prepared.

When Joe walked in the door from work that night, the first thing he said was, “Honey, what’s for dinner? The house smells great!” That’s one of my favorite things to hear, especially because this dish is completely plant based.
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© Amy Green for Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, 2013. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us

No, I’m not going raw.

But, since I had to cut out dairy and choose to stay mostly soy-free I’ve found that some of the best dairy-free stand-ins are raw and nut-based. Thank goodness I can still eat nuts!

Let’s talk for a minute about where this recipe came from. I decided to make pasta for dinner and wanted something Parmesan-cheesy to stir into the dish. Yea, I could have sprinkled some nutritional yeast over the top of my noodles but that wasn’t exactly the bite I was craving. I wanted something creamy and delicious.
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Read the rest of Raw Cashew “Parmesan Creamy Cheese” (dairy-free)

© Amy Green for Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, 2013. | Permalink | 24 comments | Add to del.icio.us