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    Madalynn hasn't had a chance to post much lately for a couple reasons: She doesn't have a computer presently and she has been working hard on her career. But, behind the scenes she is still a strong presence here at 3 Winks Design. Today's post is one she had a strong influence on. 

    I remember the days when at Christmas I would just cook the same sugary, fatty, delicious treats all through the season for everyone! But not so anymore!  Now there are so many differing diets to think about! Maddy is vegan, a son is on Keto, Lindsey has to stay away from fats.  
     So, I have some offerings for today's Friday Faves that will fit the bill for the vegan and even help with those other 2 a bit as well.  (I am not sure about the Keto, but at least for the vegan and the no-fat!) 

    In apast post, Maddy shared the idea of making Oreos look festive. This time I made them with red and white sprinkles.  Just be sure to use vegan frosting to edge them before rolling them in the sprinkles.  I made mine with vegetable shortening and coconut milk.  Oreos are already vegan by themselves.  Maddy was so happy to hear that news!  Don't they look pretty stacked on that plate like a flower?  (Hmmm, that gives me an idea!)

     When Maddy showed me aquafaba and what it could do, I was amazed.  What is aquafaba you ask?  It is the liquid from a can of garbanzo beans!  You just drain it into your mixing bowl and it whips up like meringue!  Add 3/4 c. sugar and 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar and there you go.  You may also add vanilla if you would like.  I put the "aquafaba" in a piping bag and piped them onto parchment paper.  Then, you bake them at 250 degrees F. for 2 hours! Look how much one can of garbanzo bean liquid made!

    So, after you use the aquafaba, what will you do with the left over garbanzo beans?  Make humus of course!  Here is a large recipe for your Christmas party crowd! 

​Garlicky Humus For A Crowd

    See!  Vegans and low-fat eaters can easily enjoy Christmas treats with the rest of us!  Not only that, all of us omnivores like them, too. 

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     I truly admire my daughter, Maddy, for her ability to choose a vegan lifestyle and stick to it the way that she does.  We have a lot of family dinners around here and there are sometimes very few choices for her to eat, even though I try to make sure there are some vegan choices.  Also, there are a lot of temptations! Just yesterday we had a big dinner and there was delicious Texas Sheet Cake! Definitely not vegan and Maddy had to pass on it as she ate her rice and fruit choices.  I felt bad for her, even though she was uncomplaining.  I know that I do not have that kind of will power.  Well, while I searched for my Texas Sheet Cake recipe, I came across another old recipe that I had forgotten about.  It is this Goofy Chocolate Cake that has no eggs, no milk and can easily be sweetened in a vegan way. Since there were many people here yesterday and the Texas Cake is just about gone, I decided to make up this cake this morning as a surprise for Madalynn! She deserves a reward. 

     Besides not containing any eggs or dairy products, this recipe is inexpensive to make! When you are out of eggs and milk, you can still have chocolate cake that is delicious! It rises very well and is fluffy and super chocolaty.  I think that the secret to the rise is the combination of vinegar and baking soda. We all know what those ingredients do in science project volcanoes! Don't worry, you don't taste the vinegar at all, just the delicious chocolate taste that comes from the cocoa powder used in this recipe. 

Goofy Chocolate Cake (vegan!)

     You can frost the cake however you would like, of course.  Just remember that if you are keeping it vegan not to use dairy in your frosting! Here are a few alternatives:

• Use almond milk in your regular frosting recipe and shortening instead of butter. 
• Use some homemade (or purchased) jam or jelly to fill the cake and drizzle on top! 
• Make a frosting with fruit juice instead of milk.  Orange frosting tastes great on a chocolate cake.  Just substitute orange juice for the milk.  Add the zest for even better flavor. 

I love chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, so I used the almond milk alternative for Maddy's cake. 

    This cake is rich and moist.  I believe that it can rival any chocolate cake out there! I don't think Maddy will have to eat the entire thing on her own. 

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      Because Maddy tries hard to stick to a vegan diet, when I cook for our family I try to be conscious about including things that she can eat in the menu, but it isn't always easy for me to come up with vegan ideas other than salads! For example, last night we had company over for dinner.  The main dish was a family favorite chicken enchilada casserole.  (I posted a crock pot version of it here.) So, that wasn't something she could eat.  I also made a cabbage salad that had onions, almonds, mandarin oranges and ramen in it.  It was delicious and definitely vegan, something she could eat.  For dessert we had pumpkin pie, so she couldn't eat that.  I wasn't sure if everyone liked pumpkin pie, so I decided to make No-Bake Cookies as an option.  But, as I started to make them, I realized that I had used all of the canned milk when I made the pies.  What I did have was canned coconut milk, so that got me to thinking that I could turn this recipe vegan for Maddy's sake, plus it would be something everyone else could enjoy as well. 
     I substituted the milk with coconut milk, the butter with coconut oil and I added a cup of coconut into the mix.  Maddy buys herself vegan peanut butter.  I don't know what makes peanut butter not be vegan, but I do know it has less sugar in the vegan variety.  But, I used regular peanut butter.  I didn't want to use up all of Maddy's pricey stuff, but if you are died in the wool vegan, that is an option.  Also, you could substitute coconut sugar for the regular sugar.  We didn't have enough for this recipe.   The cookies came out softer than regular no bakes, and even though there is a lot of coconut products in there, there isn't a strong coconut taste.  But, everyone enjoyed them and I hope that you will as well! 

Vegan Coconut No-bake Cookies