Since making a conscious effort to eliminate dairy, Nathan's sweet tooth has increased a million percent. On Saturday morning I decided to surprise him with a stack of SWEET pancakes that tasted anything but vegan. I'm not sure he chewed while consuming these…..I'll be saving this recipe for later.

For the pancakes you will need:

1 ripe banana
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon chia seeds, or flax
2.5 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon Earth Balance vegan butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup rice milk
1/2 cup of flour
3 tbs of dark chocolate chips

For the Streusel:

1 huge tablespoon of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoon of Earth Balance vegan butter

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚. To make the Streusel, combine the flour and sugar, mix well. Add the butter and crumble together with your fingers. Spread out mixture on a cooking sheet. Bake until the streusel is light brown then set aside.

2. In a bowl, add the mashed banana, baking soda, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, chia seed and water. Whisk until well combined. Let set for a bit.

3. Add the melted butter and rice milk and whisk together.

4. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Then, add the chocolate chips and lightly mix them in. Let the batter sit for a bit.

5. Grease a non stick pan with coconut oil or more vegan butter. The key to good pancakes for me is to make a trial pancake. The first pancake is never good. Rub the pancake all over the pan with a spatula. Maybe it's superstition, but I know for a fact that this makes the following pancakes better!

6. Finally, top with streusel and DROWN in syrup. ENJOY!!

Recipe adapted from the Minimalist Baker.

One of my favorite meals on my honeymoon was butternut squash risotto I got at Harrods in London. Before that risotto I had written of butternut squash as gross. I can safely say it is a new favorite vegetable in my house! This soup is perfect for this overcast day and is filled with my favorite staple ingredients- white wine, garlic, and heavy cream. We are gonna eat ours with mozzarella grilled cheese. INSANE. Enjoy!

You will need:

2 twelve ounce bags of Trader Joes pre cut butternut squash, or 1 medium butternut squash

6+ garlic cloves

1 yellow onion

olive oil

fresh thyme sprigs

32 oz vegetable stock

salt & pepper

1 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup white wine

In a large pot add a large drizzle of olive oil. Add chopped yellow onion and sauté for a few minutes on a medium flame. Add both bags of butternut squash and sauté for 3 more minutes. Add 1/4 cups of white wine and let the wine cook for 5 more minutes. Add the vegetable stock and heavy cream. Cook on high flame until soup begins to boil. Turn down flame add about 1/2 TBS of salt and pepper, 6 heads of garlic, and about 7 sprigs of fresh thyme. Stir and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Using an immersion blender puree until smooth. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed!