Berry Bloghop: Spring Berry Salad - for one #berry love

April is #berrylove month!

The berry options for this months bloghop are endless! In keeping with the Vegetarian Mamma style, I tried to keep it simple, tasty and fresh!  I have been in the mood for salad recently since spring has offically sprung around here!

The strawberries at Whole Foods have been looking better and better, though they recently hung a sign indicating that California had some bad weather which will affect the organic strawberry crop that they are selling in our store.  But this week, we had some great looking strawberries so I grabbed a box!

Introducing:  Spring Berry Salad, for one!

This might look like a simple salad, but the secret (or yummy taste) lies in the sauce! :)

Dressing (or sauce):

1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 t Pinot Vinegar

1 Berry mashed to a liquid

Gently mix all "dressing" ingredients and let sit.

Next, onto to the salad!  

2 cups organic spinach, washed and gently patted dry (I cannot wait until my garden spinach is ready!)

5 berries washed and cut to preferred size

1 t organic vegetarian parm cheese

Arrange non-liquid ingredients into your bowl, then drizzle with your yummy homemade dressing.  If the natural sweetness of the dressing is not sweet enough, add a small pinch of organic sugar!

You can double and triple the dressing recipe to use over multiple days, however remember that EVOO tends to solidify when cool.  Just take the dressing out of the fridge a few minutes prior to making your salad!

Here is a listing of all the wonderful co-hosts this month!  Please be sure to visit their sites!  They are ALL amazing!

A little bit of everything ~ Roxana GreenGirl ~ @RoxanaGreenGirl
Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29
Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins
BigFatBaker ~ Erin Meyer ~ @bigfatbaker
Bon à croquer ~ Valerie ~ @valouth
Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess
Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies                                          
Elephant Eats ~ Amy
GeorgieCakes ~Georgie~ @Georgiecakes Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19
Java Cupcake ~ Betsy Eves ~ @JavaCupcake
Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk
No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ T.R. ~ @TRCrumbley
Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose
Queen's Notebook ~ Elizabeth  Quirino ~ @Mango_Queen
Rico sin Azúcar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar
Simply Reem ~  Reem ~ @Simplyreem
Soni's Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood
Teaspoon of Spice ~ Deanna Segrave-Daly ~ @tspbasil
That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!! ~ Liz ~ @thatskinnychick
The Art of Cooking Real Food ~ Laura ~ @TAofCRF
The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian
Vegan Yack Attack ~ Jackie S. ~ @veganyackattack
Vegetarian Mamma ~ Cindy ~ @vegetarianmamma

Please join in on the #berrylove fun by linking up any berry recipe from the month of April 2012. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #berrylove event! The twitter hashtag is #berrylove :).

Greenslove bloghop: Purple Kale Smoothie

March is #greenslove month!

Please join in on the #greenslove fun by linking up any leafy green recipe from the month of March 2012. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #greenslove event! The twitter hashtag is #greenslove :). 

I was really excited for the #greenslove bloghop! YUMMO!  Especially this time of year...in Ohio...I just start yearning for spring and for fresh veggies out of the garden.  I have been creating and making a lot of smoothies lately to help incorporate more greens into our diets!  My little Toddler Veg, who has the endless list of food allergies has been enjoying his "shakes" as well!  Smoothies, with greens as the predominant ingredient have become a household treat around here!  So raise your class and CHEERS to adding some more greens into your diet

This was a yummy smoothie I created the other day using my food processor!

2 cups Kale
1 cup soy milk (or your favorite milk....dairy, oat, hemp, almond)
1 scoop veg protein powder (can use soy, whey, egg protein, etc)
1 squirt of allergen free choc syrup
1/2 cup of frozen mixed berries or 1/2 cup of FRESH if you are lucky enough to have good berries this time of year

**Of course for Toddler Veg we used Hemp Milk and it gave it some great "nutty" flavor, but without any tree nut allergy issues!  I love it when I can adapt recipes to meet the allergy needs of my family!  Sometimes it gets hard, though!

Here are a few of my past recipes that I have made that involve some greens!
Black Bean, Sweet Po and Kale Enchiladas
Spinach, Mushrooms and Pine Nuts
Spinach and Red Pepper Calzones
Green Goddess Smoothie

Please be sure to check out all the awesome co-hosts for this months blog hop!  By following their blogs and/or twitter you will enlighten yourself to some great recipes!

Al Dente Gourmet ~ Aldy ~ @AlDenteGourmet

ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan

Badger Girl Learns to Cook ~ Kimberly ~ @BdgrGrl

Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins

BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker

Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth

CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog

Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess

Cheap Ethnic Eatz ~ Evelyne ~ @cethniceatz

Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies

Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes

Kitchen Belleicious ~ Jessica ~ @kbelleicious

Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk

My Twisted Recipe ~ Dudot ~ @mytwistedrecipe  

No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley

Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose

Queen's Notebook ~ Elizabeth ~ @Mango_Queen  

Rico sin Azucar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar

Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla

Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem

Soni's Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood 

Sprint 2 the Table ~ Laura ~ @Sprint2theTable

Teaspoon of Spice ~ Deanna ~ @tspbasil 

That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick

The Art of Cooking Real Food ~ Laura ~@TAofCRF

The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd 

The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian

Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack

Vegetarian Mamma  ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma

You Made That? ~  Suzanne ~ @YouMadeThatblog

If you have a recipe involving greens that you'd like to share, please feel free to link up below!


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Chocolate BlogHop: Frozen Chocolate Banana Bites #Chocolatelove

February is #chocolatelove month!

Please join in on the #chocolatelove fun by linking up any chocolate recipe from the month of February 2012. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #chocolatelove event! The twitter hashtag is #chocolatelove :).

This is by far one of the easiest, yet yummiest "Chocolate" recipes that I have made!  I found this recipe on (never home)maker   Please visit this site as a thank you!  Its awesome!  Another one of my FAV sites! To see the original recipe, click here. 

I adapted the recipe to fit our allergen free needs at our home:
2 bananas

1/4 cup vegan choc chip (dairy free/soy free)

1/4 cup sunbutter

Melt and dip bananas in, freeze and enjoy!  I'd be surprised if most of them don't make it to the freezer!  They are SO yummy and EASY! If they do make it to the freezer, I can tell you that they do last at least a week and still taste great!

The recipe also works well with regular chocolate chips and actual peanut butter!

Chocolateove is being co-hosted by these amazing bloggers! I have included links to their blogs, please be sure to check out each blog for amazing recipes! Leave them a comment telling them Vegetarian mamma sent you! :)  I also included their twitter handles!

A Little Bit of Everything ~ Roxana ~ @RoxanaGreenGirl

AstigVegan ~AstigVegan @AstigVegan

Badger Girl Learns to Cook ~ Kimberly ~ @BdgrGrl


Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29

Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins
BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker

CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog

Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess

Cakeballs, Cookies and More ~ Sue

Cooking with Books ~ Marnely ~ @nella2
Creative Cooking Corner ~ Karriann ~ @KarriannGraf
Easily Good Eats

Elephant Eats ~ Amy
Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes

Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19

Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19


Java Cupcake ~ Betsey ~ @JavaCupcake
Kitchen Belleicious ~ Jessica
Mike’s Baking ~ Mike ~ @mikesbaking

Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk

No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley

Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose

Preheat the Oven ~ Jason ~ @officialchefjae
Rico sin Azucar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar

Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla

Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem

Smart Food and Fit ~ Lisa ~ @LisaNutrition

Soni’s Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood

Sprint 2 the Table ~ Laura ~ @Sprint2theTable
Teaspoon of Spice - Serena - @TspCurry

That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick

The Art of Cooking Real Food ~ Laura ~ @TAofCRF

The Dusty Baker ~ Jacqueline ~ @dustybakergal
The More Than Occasional Baker ~ Ros ~ @bakingaddict

The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd

The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian

Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack

Vegetarian Mamma ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma

You Made That? ~ Suzanne ~ @YouMadeThatblog

Citrus Bloghop: Mint Lemonade #citruslove

January is #citruslove month!  I wanted to repost and bump this to the top of my post list because its such a fun event with GREAT recipes!


Please join in on the #citruslove fun by linking up any citrus recipe from the month of January 2012. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #citruslove event! The twitter hashtag is #citruslove :).

Okay, YUM YUM YUM is my phrase for this quick recipe.  Here is my CITRUS recipe for this month!

Take a 1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves, wash them and put into heat resistant pitched. Pour
boiling water over leaves; steep for 30 minutes. Fish out all leaves, put the freshly squeezed juice of 4 lemons into the pitcher, along with one squirt of Stevia! (natural sweetener liquid)

Serve over ice and enjoy!

Citruslove is being co-hosted by these amazing bloggers! I have included links to their blogs, please be sure to check out each blog for amazing recipes! Leave them a comment telling them Vegetarian mamma sent you! :)  I also included their twitter handles!

A Little Bit of Everything ~ Roxana ~ @RoxanaGreenGirl

AstigVegan ~AstigVegan @AstigVegan

Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29

BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker

CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog

Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess

Cakeballs, Cookies and More ~ Sue

Easily Good Eats

Elephant Eats ~ Amy

Food Wanderings ~ Shulie ~ @foodwanderings

Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes

Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19

Mike’s Baking ~ Mike ~ @mikesbaking

Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk

No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley

Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose

Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives ~ Lisa ~ @parsleynsage

Peaches and Donuts ~ Sylvia ~ @PeachesandDonut

Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla

Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem

Smart Food and Fit ~ Lisa ~ @LisaNutrition

Soni’s Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood

Teaspoon of Spice - Serena - @TspCurry

That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick

The Art of Cooking Real Food ~ Laura ~ @TAofCRF

The More Than Occasional Baker ~ Ros ~ @bakingaddict

The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd

The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian

Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack

Vegetarian Mamma ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma

You Made That? ~ Suzanne ~ @YouMadeThatblog

Sit and Relax Weekend Blog Hop #35

Sit back and relax this weekend!  That is a MUST, LOL :)  While you are taking some down time...stop by the blogs listed below to make some new friends or visit some old ones!  Happy Hopping!

Here are some tips:
you may link directly to your blog, link your Google+ account, your Facebook page and your Twitter account. Just make sure we know which is which. For example, Put G+ after your Google Page link like this~~
Heartfelt Balance Handmade Life-G+
or for twitter use your handle @HBHandmadeLife
or for Facebook, Heartfelt Balance Handmade Life-FB