Today is National Blueberry Pancake Day in the U.S., and I can hardly think of a better way to celebrate than with these Dairy-Free Blueberry Pancakes, a vegan take on a classic. Incredibly simple and inexpensive to make, these dairy-free and egg-free flapjacks are perfect for weekend brunches and weekday mornings alike. While you can add whatever kind of syrup you wish, I prefer putting a handful of blueberries, a little bit of orange juice and a little bit of agave nectar in a small saucepan, cooking them down for a few minutes until they're warm and syrupy, and then serving my hotcakes with the warm berry sauce. Happy Saturday, everyone!

Photo © 2009 Ashley Skabar, licensed to About.com, Inc.

This week's Project: Food Budget Challenge report is a positive one, even though we over-spent by $56.18 (buh); we caught up on a lot of staples, had some friends over on a few nights, and although I've been eating less quantity-wise per sitting during the end of my pregnancy, I've been adding in a few more sittings here and there, which can add up if we're not careful. And, of course, quality food is important to me right now; so although it is often true that good food costs more than junk, part of the reason I love this weekly column is because it dispels the notion that it must.

This week, I had the following in the house:

You might be surprised, but that's all it takes to make this Dairy-Free Baked Quinoa, aside from a little salt and pepper, and it's so good (and good for you!). It's like a quiche, but with quinoa. Add a bit of vegan cheese if you have it for a little extra flavor and texture.

There are some really great foodies participating in the challenge, so for more budget-friendly tips, check out their efforts:

Photo © 2010 Ashley Skabar, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Two very important food holidays just happen to happen this week; yesterday was National Pie Day here in the U.S., and today is National Peanut Butter Day. So, in honor of both, I thought I'd share something that celebrates peanut butter and pie in my favorite dairy-free way: Vegan Peanut Butter Pie.

Every vegan I know has his or her own recipe for a vegan chocolate peanut butter pie made with tofu. It's like hummus: everyone has a way that they swear by. For me, I swear by this Vegan Peanut Butter Pie with Chocolate; it's essentially a graham cracker crust topped with dark dairy-free chocolate, topped with a peanut butter custard swirled with more dark dairy-free chocolate. It's incredible, trust me. With peanut butter, dark chocolate and a sweet graham crust, how could you go wrong?

Photo © 2009 Ashley Skabar, licensed to About.com, Inc.

As anyone who has followed my blog for a while can tell you, I love a good dairy-free cheesecake and most of my dairy-free cheesecake recipes are egg-free and vegan as well. This week, I thought I'd do some experimenting; I normally use Tofutti's Better than Cream Cheese for all of my vegan cheesecake-making needs, but I've wanted to try Galaxy Nutritional Food's Plain Vegan Cream Cheese for a while now, so I decided to make one cheesecake with Tofutti's vegan cream cheese and one with Galaxy's to compare. Looking at the nutritional information, the biggest differences between the two brands are that Tofutti's product contains partially hydrogenated soybean oil (although they do have a variety available without hydrogenated fats if this is of concern to you), whereas Galaxy's product contains no hydrogenated fats, and while Tofutti's product has 5 grams of fat per 2 tablespoons, Galaxy's boasts 9 grams of fat per 2 tablespoons. SO: obviously, I expected that this Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake, which I prepared with Galaxy's vegan cream cheese, would be richer than this Vegan Cherry Cheesecake which I prepared with Tofutti's, and I was right; the blueberry cheesecake tasted like a full-fat cheesecake. Not one adult of the eight that partook of the blueberry cheesecake guessed that it was vegan. That said, no one guessed that the cherry cheesecake was vegan either; but it tasted like a lighter cheesecake than the blueberry, which isn't altogether a bad thing. (And if hydrogenated fats bother you, you can always try Tofutti's Non-Hydrogenated Better than Cream Cheese, which is somewhere between the two brands with 7 grams of fat per 2 tablespoon serving.)

When all is said and done, I love both brands, and I loved both cheesecakes. I am so glad to have tried Galaxy's product, and it has definitely been added to my list of dairy-free favs. What is your favorite way to make a vegan cheesecake?

Photo © 2012 Ashley Skabar, licensed to About.com, Inc.