The day had finally come where Chris and I had our parents meet :) It was nerve wrecking for me, and I am not sure why. His parents are so kind and personable, and I already knew that they would hit it off, but I guess it was just one of those things, a step in our relationship that I had butterflies in my tummy for. I did not vlog the day for my YouTube channel as I was not sure how they would have felt about it, and it was one of those in the moment events we had to be fully immersed in. We all sat out on our back patio on our couches and just chatted for hours about everything. Well, more so our parents, Chris and I got up here and there cause I needed a break LOL but trust me, after all the cooking and bouts of stress, you would too.
Okay so onto the food....we blew it out of the park! We rocked this vegan brunch spread and our parents were thoroughly impressed by all of the food, especially the bagels and lox, it made us so happy <3 We always want to be able to show that vegan food is delicious, easy, and so fun to make & share with your loved ones. Being able to show people new and creative ideas we have in the kitchen is something that I honestly find so much joy in. Both his and my parents are not vegan, so of course it is even more of a plus that they loved the food. I mean, they all are so open to our lifestyles and have made positive changes in light of our own, but anything we can do to give them that extra push, we are going to do it!
Here is a summary of the brunch that we served to our parents, I hope you can try these recipes! They were actually very easy to make, and I was surprised by how less of a stressful night/morning it actually was. The most time consuming part was the bagels just because of the rising time and extra time for boiling, but other than that, we were able to prepare things ahead of time (two days ahead for the lox, night before for the bagel dough, night before for marinating the veggies, and salad), so that the morning of we just put the final touches.
Homemade Bagels + oil-free cream cheese, homemade carrot lox, capers and red onions
Not only are we going to share with you our absolute FAVORITE way to prepare tofu, but also a few tips on how to perfectly prepare tofu so that you can nail it every time you use it in the kitchen. The marinade for this recipe was inspired by our oil-free Carrot Lox recipe on the blog. We fell in love with the smoky flavor and knew we had to experiment in using the marinade on other ingredients, and we hit the JACKPOT with this smoky tofu recipe!
There's nothing like a warm cup of hot cocoa on a cold December day in front of the Christmas Tree :) Growing up, my family often gathered around the tree at night and my mom would make us a big pot of hot cocoa to share, so it is definitely a must have tradition for us every year.
This year I thought it would be fun to make a homemade mix to gift to my family + you all as well. Instead of bringing you an average vegan hot cocoa mix, I'm going to share with you a chai spiced one! 
West coast bagels {in Los Angeles} don't even compare to those on the east coast. I've only had two in my life during my visits to the east coast, but dannng were they good.
During the holiday season, my two friends 
Here is the full brunch spread that we had, all of it is summarized below the video :) It is always comforting to be around people who hold the same outlook and ideals as you, especially in the vegan community. Loe and Amanda and I all have similar tastes in food, and we put together a spread that each and every one of us loved.
Last week, when I decided to make a homemade oil-free roasted red pepper hummus, I realized that I could easily roast my own red peppers at home for the recipe in under 30 minutes! Not only did I avoid the extra salt and preservatives they are often packaged with, but I also made available a new ingredient in my kitchen that I can use for so many future recipes.
Not only were these peppers awesome for the hummus (coming soon, btw!), but they also could be used in soups, sauces, sandwiches, wraps, diced into a grain dish or salad, added atop a pizza or simply tossed with herbs and spices for a delicious side dish!