Woman in Real Life

I'll be honest, a huge part of Christmas for me is about the cookies. And the squares. And the desserts. Every Christmas Eve, I set out my mom's vintage three-tiered cookie tray, piled high with all kinds of (what I consider) the best Christmas cookies and squares. Today I thought I'd share some of those cookie recipes and hopefully you'll make them and pile them on a platter this Christmas Eve too!

These are all vegan Christmas cookies and desserts, but don't let that deter you if you aren't vegan. The recipes are easy to make, require very common ingredients and taste delicious. These vegan Christmas cookies recipes are perfect for your vegan friends (naturally), but also for those who are allergic to dairy or eggs. Every recipe is completely free of dairy and eggs. Read on for my selection of the best Christmas cookies.

I love to bake all year round, but baking in fall is an absolute necessity. When it's chilly outside (or even when it's not!), we need to indulge ourselves as often as possible with a hot cuppa coffee, tea or chocolate and a warm baked good.

My preference is for vegan baked goods that whip up quick and easy (so they get in my mouth faster). One of my favourite dessert recipes is my luscious and "buttery" berry oat bars. Because they are so delectable, I recently decided to make a variation of them, using a similar base/topping, but with coconut oil instead of margarine and the addition of shredded coconut and ground chia seeds.

My grandmother made the best cinnamon rolls. And date squares...and tea biscuits...and pies. She could have had a kick-ass baking blog! We didn't get to see her that often when we were kids, but we made up for lost time when we visited her in Nova Scotia. I think we pretty much ate a steady diet of baked goods the entire visit!

Nana always let us sample the dough while she was baking. When I made these Quick Vegan Spelt Cinnamon Rolls recently, I made sure to put aside a couple balls of dough for my kids.

I received a mouthwatering package of chocolate goodies from Enjoy Life this week. With Valentine's Day on the horizon, I went to work right away to create a tantalizing dessert using Enjoy Life's new 69% Cacao Dark Chocolate Morsels.

Mmmm...banana chocolate chip muffins. There's nothing better on a cold morning than a warm baked banana muffin and a hot cup of tea. Let the wind bluster outside and take a moment to enjoy a homemade, tasty, nurturing baked good before starting your busy day. No time? Bake a batch of banana muffins on the weekend and freeze them individually. Then grab a homemade banana muffin to take to work for your mid-morning coffee break! Once I started making homemade muffins, I couldn't stand the fluffy, cake-like ones from the stores anymore.

Pumpkin-infused baked goods are a must in the fall. You shouldn't miss out on them because you're eating gluten-free. This lightly spiced and delicious vegan pumpkin loaf won't give away its gluten-free status. It is as moist and satisfying as any loaf should be. It's also free of eggs and dairy!

Plus you get a tasty treat that feels decadent but comes with all the health benefits of pumpkin. Not only are pumpkin muffins and loaves delicious and warming on a cool day, but pumpkin is rich in Vitamin A, dietary fibre and potassium. It's also a good source of Vitamin E and iron. So load up on your favourite pumpkin treats this season.

Our Christmas Eve Open House is tomorrow and I still have lots to do, but I couldn't help snapping a few photos around the house this weekend. I love Christmas.

I promised I would share a homemade hostess gift idea with you. My daughter and I made these vegan chocolate macaroons recently to bring to a Christmas party. Actually, I measured out the ingredients, but she was able to do most of the work. So, if you are looking for a way to bring your kids into the kitchen without too much fuss, this is it!

Insta-Friday time! Time to share simple cell phone photos from our week.

Emphasis on the simple this time. I thought that when I got a new cell phone, I would take hundreds of exciting pictures. Turns out, we don't do a lot of photo-worthy stuff on a regular week. We hang out, tidy the house, take the kids to dance and basketball, eat food...not that I'm complaining. It's a nice life.

I take pictures of food, mostly. I made granola bars from my first-ever homemade granola, above. They tasted good, but nobody else ate them and eventually I threw half the pan away.

This month, What I Ate Wednesday focuses on the theme "Spooky Snacks & Healthy Halloween Treats."

I certainly treated myself (oh yeah, and my family) to some fun snacks this week, including two of my favourite easy and delicious squares. Pictured above, berry oat bars. Yum.

It's Thanksgiving weekend in this beautiful country of Canada, and I certainly have lots to be thankful for.

My mother-in-law and my sister-in-law are cooking. A big thanks for that! They usually prepare a mix of traditional Canadian Thanksgiving foods with their own special Italian foods. Because I don't eat turkey, the Italian stuff is my favourite!

Now that I'm into the second week of using my new phone, I am not so photo crazy as I was last week.

That also has to do with the fact that we didn't do much for excitement this week.

Nevertheless, here is my Insta-Friday look at my family's week via cell phone pics. You can also follow me on Instagram @ziajojo.

I'm not sure what the weather's doing at the moment. One day warm sun, the next cold rain. That's September around here, I guess.

Anyway, for today's What I Ate Wednesday, I am looking back at a week of eating that included a lovely end-of-summer barbecue. Maybe we will get a few more barbecues in (with my husband wearing a coat out on the deck and me watching from inside).

It's just week two of back-to-school for my kids, and I'm already running out of good ideas for healthy (to reasonably healthy) after-school snacks. The kids come home from school super hungry and don't want to wait even a second longer for something to munch on. If their snack isn't on the table when they get in, they start pulling random things from the fridge and the cupboards - and that probably won't turn out to be the most nourishing option. In fact, as soon as my son gets off the bus, he says, "What are we having for snack?"

Happy Friday!

For those with little ones who returned to school this week, I hope everything went well. And to my teacher friends, I hope you are not too traumatized.

With fall beckoning, my desire to bake has returned with a vengeance.

In my opinion, a sweet, tasty fruit crisp is the perfect end-of-summer dessert. The fruit filling still says "summer," but the warm, baked oat topping is a definite tribute to fall.