Toddler birthday parties are typically filled with loads of sugar, plastic and hot dogs. But I have crunchy granola friends with toddlers, and I love them. I especially love them when they have birthday parties and do vegan baking for everyone!
Many people I know have made various changes and commitments in their lifestyles and diets this year. For us, the food gardening is an extension of that commitment to eat more vegetables and reduce (mostly eliminated) commercially produced animal products from our diets. (Not to mention be more self-sufficient.)
But it’s tough. When you visit friends you don’t always want to be that person who has the “special” menu. Which is why I love to spend time with the friends who are right there with me!
She baked tofu after rolling it around in taco seasoning and bread crumbs, and served it with marinara dipping sauce and guacamole. The kids ate so many of these that we grown-ups barely got any!
We enjoyed little pita pizzas made with hummus, cucumber, mushroom and sprouts that were amazingly crunchy and delicious. My son only wanted the toppings of course. Typical.
And the baking. Oh, the cake and little raw brownie bites my dear friend whipped up- well, let’s just say that eating vegan doesn’t mean I don’t still run the risk of weighing 400 pounds. They were divine!
My personal party favorite:
Raw Vegan Brownies
1 cup pecans
1 cup dates
5 tablespoons raw cocoa powder
4 tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut
2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
1/4 tsp sea salt (more if you like the salt/cocoa combo taste)
Directions
Place pecans alone in the food processor and process until they are small and crumbly.
Add dates and process again until they are sticking together.
Add the rest of the ingredients and process until it turns a lovely dark chocolate brown. Stop processing before it gets too buttery in texture.
Dump the mixture into a brownie dish or small cake pan and press down firmly.
Refrigerate for a couple of hours. Then you can easily cut them.
(For the birthday party, she rolled into little balls and used extra coconut to cover the outside.)
Many thanks to my friend for such a fun day and also to the lovely Kim Rossi Photography for snapping some great food shots.
GROW O'ahu 
April 1, 2012 at 11:03 am
Thanks for the post. I also hate being one of those people that refuse to eat crap party food (or worse still give in to it!). Its great to visit like minded friends so you don’t have to worry about it!
April 1, 2012 at 1:59 pm
And I love that we can all talk food language and share things that other people in our lives just maybe aren’t ready to hear. Thanks for stopping by!
April 1, 2012 at 11:38 am
Yum! The tofu things and brownie bites sound delicious. And the cake looks perfect! I have been trying some slightly healthier baking recipes recently, but I haven’t had much luck yet (I had to throw away a gluten-free chocolate-black bean cake a few weeks ago because it was inedible, even with frosting). This brownie recipe seems much easier — and tastier.
April 1, 2012 at 1:57 pm
You should try it! Would love to see raw vegan brownies sandwiched between cupcakes and sparkles on your blog! 🙂
April 2, 2012 at 1:30 am
I’m going to try those raw, vegan brownies…they look wonderful!
April 1, 2012 at 9:51 pm
The raw brownie recipe came from therawtarian.com :0)
April 1, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Thanks! All I had was a blurry cell phone pic of the paper! 😉