Kathy Hester's Blog, page 11

Did you know that you can cold brew coffee in a French Press? It’s incredibly simple to make and far less expensive than purchasing it ready to drink at your local grocery store. Before you know it you will be making a batch of cold brew the easiest way and save some money too!

Photo by Ann Oliverio

This brewing method is an easy way to make coffee. No coffee filter, like a paper filter, or special equipment, like a cold brew coffee maker, is needed when you use the French press method. Th...

These Roasted Butternut Squash Burgers are about as whole food plant based as you can get. They are just seasoned butternut squash slices and you can freeze the extras or cut them up and use them in salads.

This looks like a complete fastfood meal—but it’s so much healthier than those in typical drive-thrus.

Just so you know, this post is sponsored by Sabra.

Ingredients for butternut squash veggie burgers

You’ll make your squash “patties” first, and then fill them into buns!

...

Need a last-minute holiday or birthday gift? Make the best DIY Body Powder you’ve ever seen with things you already have in your house. This talc-free formula uses ingredients are cornstarch or arrowroot, and baking soda. You can leave it unscented, add essential oils, even use vanilla or peppermint extract!

Never be caught without a gift again!

We have a shelf in the closet for cool things we find all year to give as presents, but we never seem to have quite enough.

I hate to go ou...

All it takes is a few ingredients swaps to make this vegan banana pudding. This southern dessert is still made the traditional way. It’s easy to make and I even have a shortcut you can use if you don’t have time to make your own homemade vegan vanilla pudding. This is one of my most requested vegan recipes.

My recipe is very similar to a traditional southern banana pudding recipe. There’s a thick vanilla custard base, layers of vanilla wafers, and of course, cut up ripe regular bananas. ...

Missing seafood dishes since you went vegan? This Vegan Crab Dip has no crab but uses jackfruit in its place. Its perfect texture and the Old Bay seasoning bring the flavor.

Vegan Crab Dip ready for serving (Photo by Kelly Allison Photography)Why I made this Vegan Crab Dip

I’ve been getting more obsessed with jackfruit lately and have been using it in recipes that call for a shredded chicken like veganizing this slow cooker Tom Kha Gai Soup. But I hadn’t thought about using it in place...

Potato salad is a southern summer tradition, but I was shocked to see how close Brazilian Potato Salad is to the version I grew up with. This one is speckled with peas, carrots, and corn, with some vegan eggy flavors too.

Vegan Brazilian food has never been this good!

I had some real research to do when the Idaho Potato Commission asked me to create a recipe for Brazilian Potato Salad. I hadn’t ever had it, but the more I read, the more familiar it seemed. This post is sponsored by the Id...

I love fancy coffees and sometimes there’s not always a vegan variation that you can get at all coffee shops. It’s cheaper to make your own homemade lavender syrup and it really doesn’t take a lot of time.

Today I’m sharing a simple recipe for lavender syrup. I saw it at a coffee shop and they called their iced latte a Lavender Rain. They steeped dried lavender buds into their milk ahead of time, so there was no vegan option. If you make my homemade syrup you can use it in the nondairy mi...

Who doesn’t love a crunchy snack? You can make these air fryer pasta chips with the pasta you have on hand right now and my seasoning blend makes them taste like cheesy crackers! Best of all there’s a gluten-free option and an oil-free option.

These bow tie chips are so crunchy and remind me of a cheese-cracker. But don’t worry it’s 100% vegan. The air fryer turns plain old wet pasta into a crunchy treat that is almost like a cracker.

The nooch gives this a cheesy flavor and Italian s...

Hummus can be so much more than a dip. I’ve turned a delicious tub of Sabra hummus into a creamy, dreamy vegan fondue that you’d be happy to get out at a fancy restaurant. And it’s completely dairy-free!

It’s easy to make this healthy vegan fondue at home.

When you’re vegan you know that there’ll always be hummus at any party you go to. I’m always grateful because sometimes it’s the only thing for me to eat. But sometimes you have to burst out of the hummus rut and make some new things wit...

It’s summer and it’s time to eat some vegan popsicles. Today I have some of my favorites that include fudgesicles too! Both are easy to make, just blend, pour into molds, and freeze!

What I love about popsicles is the low amount of effort involved. Make a mix, pour into your mold, freeze, then eat – it’s just that simple. Make a few batches at once and you can pull one out of the freezer whenever you need a cold treat.

Need a frozen treat fast?

Popsicles take a little while to freez...