Recipes, projects & products that don’t suck.

A few weeks ago, I had the grand idea of inventing a key lime coconut popsicle recipe for Cinco de Mayo. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out so well. I must have used too much key lime juice because they were quite tart. Not horrible, just not what I hoped for. BUT, in the process, I learned an awesome trick for juicing key limes–use a garlic press! GENIUS! Worked like a charm. I decided to revisit that flavor combination another time, and moved on to Orange Creamsicle instead. I was shooting for a popsicle recipe, but as it turns out, I prefer this vegan, gluten-free recipe in its original form–as a creamy beverage. Instead of using navel oranges, I used my new favorite fruit discovery–minneola oranges….

Welcome potluck guests! Have you had to change your shirt from all the drool yet? Today I am participating in the Virtual Vegan Potluck, which is basically a string of 100+ blogs all linked together with “forward” and “back” buttons/links to guide you through an online plant-based progressive dinner, if you will. You’ll be taken through eight courses, with several bloggers participating in each course. You are currently in the first course, Appetizers, which will be followed by Beverages, Bread, Salad, Sides, Soups, Main Dishes and Dessert. You’ll find links to the previous dish/blog and the next dish/blog at the bottom of this post. Most often on 86 Lemons, I test other people’s vegan recipes and report to my readers, letting them know if it’s…

Sometimes I get in a rut with salads and then I get sick of them. I need to change up the ingredients more often. Throw in a more fruity version like this one once in a while. Unless you’re like my dad who doesn’t like fruit in his garden salad. Then you’re just missing out, I guess. This post isn’t a recipe for a salad (it’s pretty easy to figure out the ingredients: spring salad mix, sliced strawberries, blueberries, cooked asparagus, pecans). Rather, I’m sharing the recipe for the magic ingredient–the DRESSING! This is a sweet, tangy, creamy dressing that is so easy to make. Just throw the ingredients into the blender and you’re done. Boring salad crisis averted. I found a similar recipe from…

Oh hallelujah! We have SUNSHINE today! I’m going to pretend that there are no rain/snow showers forecasted for Sunday/Monday (boo!) and just be happy for this sunny, almost 50º day. Many of our friends with kids are leaving soon (or have already left) for Spring Break. A boat-load of minivans packed to the gills are headed south to Florida for some fun in the sun. I’m seeing all kinds of posts on Facebook (i.e. “Florida or bust!”) and I’m starting to get a little jealous. Although I’m only envious of the destination – not the journey. Good luck with that. ;) Last month it was my turn to host book club. I gave the other ladies the option of meeting at a restaurant instead of…

Whew! Two big tasks (an Index page and business taxes) all in one day. So glad to have those two checked off my list. Thank you for the comments yesterday – it helps to know the efforts were worth it. About seven months ago, I wrote a post about a TERRIBLE Macaroni & Cheese with Broccoli recipe. It was an epic fail. So bad that it took me seven months before I attempted to test another vegan mac ‘n cheese recipe. I’m so sad that I waited that long. All that time, we could have been enjoying a different recipe, which according to VegNews is “the best mac ‘n cheese on the planet.” Notice they didn’t even say “best vegan mac ‘n cheese.” I haven’t tasted…