Mother's Day Round Up
Updated: Jun 7, 2018
Mother’s Day. A day where we celebrate how amazing our mothers are. If I’m being honest with you, my mother and I didn’t always have the best relationship when I was growing up. We fought a lot, and it seemed to me, at the time, that I would never have a great relationship with her. But those were my teenage years, and if I’m being honest again, I definitely was not the easiest teenager to deal with. (sorry mom) Today our relationship is better than ever, and I am proud to call her my mom.
In our family, we usually give our biggest gifts to each other on our birthdays and Christmas. On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, my sister and I just give our parents little gifts of their favorite things. And we usually make them food to make up for not giving them lavish gifts. My sister usually makes their favorite dessert and I usually make a meal for the family. I get get my mom a few things though.
For gifts I got her this super cute Pisces mug, she is really into horoscopes so when I saw that Target had a large array of horoscope mugs I had to get one for her. I also got her aromatherapy candles, she is getting shoulder surgery soon so I thought the soothing scents will help keep her calm when she is in pain. Just for fun I threw in some of her favorite vegan candy. To my surprise over the years our local Ralph’s has been adding in a lot of vegan friendly treats, on top of the other candy companies that are surprisingly vegan. I got her Swedish Fish (yes they’re vegan!), Black Forest Sour Heads (this brand is 100% organic and 100% vegan, they’re ingredients are unbeatable. The only candy brand I’ll buy when I want a sweet fix), and J. Luehders Vegan gummies. These gummies have apparently been around since 1909, they are completely vegan and have no artificial colors and flavors. These candies are good as well, but if you want a candy with better ingredients and organic, look for Black Forest. I also threw in dark chocolate covered pretzels from the bulk section, (they were vegan!) this is kind of an inside joke between my mom and me. She always jokes about wanting them, and she’ll even send me texts while I’m out and about asking if I plan on going to the store. I knew that she had been wanting some, so I was not surprised to see her as happy as she was when she saw them in the bag.
This year I knew I had to make my mom a breakfast that she would not forget. I recently got donut pans in the mail (be prepared to have donut, after donut recipes on this blog now) and of course I had to use them. Whenever I make myself any of my elaborate breakfasts I always save a little bit for my mom; this was also a great way for me to know which flavor combination she liked best. My mom isn’t picky though, so really anything I would make for her she would be incredibly happy with.
If I haven’t mentioned, my mom is vegan as well. My sister is pescatrian, but is also lactose intolerant, so the majority of the time she eats vegan. My dad will eat anything vegan, but he does prefer a steak over tofu. Don’t worry dad, Mother’s Day I’ll keep it vegan, but Father’s Day, I got you.
Menu:
Vegan, Gluten Free, and Refined Sugar Free Lemon Poppy Chia Seed Donuts
Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal
Blackberry Chia Seed Jam
Sweet Cashew Cream
If that doesn’t scream a Vegan Mother’s Day brunch then I don’t know what will!
Vegan, Gluten Free, and Refined Sugar Free Lemon Poppy Chia Seed Donuts
Yield: 16 donuts
Vegan and Gluten Free
Category: Donuts
Prep time: 10 minutes Total time: about 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Dry
1 cup oat flour (I used Coach’s Oats blended up in a magic bullet or a spice grinder would work)
¾ cup Bob’s Red Mill Paleo Flour
¼ cup Bob’s Red Mill Buckwheat Flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp flax seed (ground in spice grinder or small blender to form a fine powder)
Wet
1 cup almond milk (I used Califia unsweetened, this brand is one of the best nut milk brands out there. They are carrageenan free and has minimal ingredients. If you can’t make your own nut milk, this brand is the best to get.)
3 ½ tbsp coconut oil, melted then slightly cooled. (You can sub out applesauce)
½ tsp vanilla
⅓ cup lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
4 tbsp coconut sugar or maple syrup
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F
Grind up flax seed and oats separately
Combine all dry ingredients until completely combined, then combine wet ingredients together
Pour wet ingredients into dry, and stir together until a thick batter forms
Transfer batter to pastry bag, or I just used a ziploc bag and cut the tip off one end
Grease donut pans with coconut oil and squeeze batter into pans filling up about ¾ of the way
Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until you see the edges pull away from the sides
Glaze:
⅓ cup coconut sugar (blend up to form a powdered sugar consistency)
3 tbsp lemon juice
A pinch of cornstarch (to make it thick)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients together to form a smooth syrup
When donuts are slightly cooled, spoon mixture over the top for a glaze
Garnish with a little more coconut sugar and lemon zest
** Feel free to use any other forms of gluten free flour, or any other flour.
Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal
Yield: about 8 slices
Vegan
Category: Baked Oatmeal
Prep time: 10 minutes Total time: about 60 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats (I used whole grain)
1 cup almond milk
3 bananas (2 ½ will go into batter, ½ will go on top to garnish)
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp allspice
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp coconut sugar or maple syrup
2 tbsp hemp seeds (for added protein)
1 tbsp chia seeds
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F
Mash banana until completely smooth, then add in all ingredients
Mix well to ensure everything is combined
Grease a loaf pan with coconut oil and pour batter in
To garnish slice ½ banana thinly and place across the top. Sprinkle a little bit of coconut sugar on top of bananas as well.
Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean
Sweet Cashew Cream (my new favorite thing)
Yield: about 1 cup
Vegan and Gluten Free
Category: Sauce
Prep time: 5 minutes Total time: about 25 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup soaked cashews **I have a tip for you guys if you forget to soaked your cashews! Add 2 cups water and 1 cup cashews to a saucepan, bring to a boil, let boil for 15 minutes, and you have instant soaked cashews!**
¼ cup almond milk
¼ cup water
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
Directions:
Throw everything into a blender
Blend on high for about 3-5 minutes until smooth
Blackberry Chia Seed Jam
Yield: about 1 ½ cups
Vegan and Gluten Free
Category: Jam
Prep time: 5 minutes Total time: about 20 minutes
Ingredients:
2 packages blackberries or one large package
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp water
Directions:
Combine everything together in a saucepan on medium heat
Using the back of a spoon, mash berries until a jam forms
Stir occasionally
To assemble:
Eat donuts on their own or dip in the jam and cream. Slice baked oatmeal and top with a generous amount of jam and cream.
It wouldn't be brunch without mimosa's right?! Just because we're vegan doesn't mean we can't have a little fun! I made some Hibiscus's, just champagne and cranberry juice mixed together. I topped them off with some frozen blueberries for a fancy touch.
I hope you all had an amazing Mother’s Day. And to those that don’t have a mother, you are loved by the ones that are around you. To whoever raised you, they did an amazing job because you are that strong person that they raised you to be.
Let me know if you give any of these recipes a try!