I have been hearing much debate about this topic, but most have claimed that oreos are in fact actually already vegan. For the sake of this blog post, I decided to take a look around to confirm this. Peta UK and Huffington Post, two I would deem as reputable sources of information, both included this fact in their 44 Accidentally Vegan Snack Foods and 12 Surprising Vegan Foods posts, respectively. However,
Oreo UK states in their FAQ page that "oreo is not suitable for vegans as they have the cross contact of milk." I could not find a statement from the US branch of the company but I did see that oreos contain
palm oil, and that was a red flag to turn away.
Regardless if they are or not, in the end, we shouldn't be eating this 'food'. Just take a look at the ingredients:
sugar, unbleached enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, high oleic canola and palm oil), cocoa, high fructose corn syrup, leavening, cornstarch, salt, soy lecithin, vanillin (artificial flavor) and chocolate. Hell to the no thank you.
My ingredients are not only simple, but also contain whole food ingredients, stuff that you can pronounce, identify, and benefit from consuming.
We have gotten through the appetizers and entrees of my 2015 Thanksgiving Dinner menu collaboration with Yvonne of My Eclectic Kitchen and Sarah of Ahnest Veggie, so you are almost set in planning the perfect vegan Thanksgiving feast for you and your loved ones to enjoy! All of us have been releasing recipes on our blogs, so be sure to head to their pages for recipes such as Kabocha Squash with Rajas Gratin and a Butternut Squash Mac n Cheese w/ Crispy Sage {gf}. Vegans and non-vegans alike will love our Thanksgiving menu! I will have a round up post with all of our recipes in one next week :)
Cupcakes + cats? Count me in.
I grew up with oreo cupcake cats every halloween, it was our Briones family holiday tradition. So much so that everyone at school would expect it at our yearly celebrations, and boy did we make sure to always deliver ;)
The source of this recipe? A good old Nabisco Oreo Box from when I was about 2 years old. Really, this started about 20 years ago, it's really hard to believe. Unfortunately, we misplaced the original recipe cutout that my mom had saved all of these years, but the memory is so vivid in my mind that it was no longer needed to recreate this treat.
The original recipe used a prepackaged frosting and cupcake mix, artificial orange stuffed oreos, candy corn, licorice, jelly beans and, well, very unhealthy ingredients. But you guys know me, I had to healthy this up before sharing. Using my homemade healthy oreos, vegan chocolate cupcake + chocolate avocado frosting recipes, homemade candy corn and dried fruit, I successfully made it happen.
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Raw vegan chocolate mousse's made with avocado was all the rage for a bit on social media, and although this is great to enjoy on it's own, I decided why not take it a step further and test its use as a frosting. 
There's always a sense of comfort that comes along with enjoying thick a slice of banana bread and a tall glass of {non-dairy} milk. It's to me like sitting in front of a warm fire on a cold winter's night (if you would even consider there to be a 'winter' here in LA).
The problem with most other banana bread recipes is that they contain dairy, eggs, refined sugar, and oil -- things that I do not consume or include in what I consider a healthy diet. So, I decided not only to veganize this nostalgic recipe, but to also be sure it is a healthy version that I could guiltlessly consume and enjoy.
So here it is, a healthy banana bread that is vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, oil-free and yet still comforting & delicious. The ingredient list on this recipe is also relatively simple, I promise! 
Dessert Dessert Baked Potatoes? Where have you been all my life! I was inspired by the classic, not-so-vegan, and definitely not healthy, baked potatoes that I grew up eating as a child. At first, I was going to create a veganized version of that classic, but why not take it to the next level and transform that idea into a dessert?
Slow baked, naturally caramelized sweet potatoes (in three varieties), raw vegan macadamia coconut cream, freeze dried raspberries and fresh mint for that fresh kick.