Shannon In The Kitchen and Craft Room

T-shirt Backpack

2011-05-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

I made a t-shirt backpack today with this tutorial from Brassy Apple and I love the results! This is a completed pic, please excuse the shoestring I didn't get a chance to replace it with a new one! All you need is a sewing machine, scissors, thread, one shoestring, an old t-shirt, and something for the strap, I used a belt I got from the Dollar Tree.

Placemat Purses for sale

2011-04-27T09:07:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to do a new post about my latest purses for sale, each one is $10, now on sale (more to be added soon!). To purchase one, contact me at pumpkinsfan76@gmail.com.

Hello My Friend

2011-04-25T00:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been away for so long, I have been busy making quilts, snow globes, purses and lately pincushions. I am going to try to sell the purses that I have made at a yard sale and if that goes well I may try selling on Etsy.

My latest purse, and one of my best.

Another really nice purse.

Becky's Headbands I made for her.

Kat's bandanna quilt.

My pincushion I made for me.

Swap!

2011-04-15T11:23:00.000-07:00

Things I am looking for: buttons, beads (just about any kind), acculon, fabric (just about any kind), patches, 16 gauge wire, ribbons, thread, floss, schmetz universal sewing machine needles, place mats, old jeans, blue or white mason jars, metal garden seed stakes (the ones that you can write what plants you have planted on), homemade jewelry, spices, herbs, buttons and chai tea. I also like Emily the Strange, Invader Zim, Hello Kitty...

Please email me with what you have to swap, I am willing to swap other items not listed.
pumpkinsfan76@gmail.com

Include in email
1) Name
2) Address
3) Items desired
4) Items to swap with pictures

I looked around the house and came up with some more goodies.....The first four purses I made and the necklaces I made.

Used once.

Used....one small mark on the bottom, otherwise excellent condition

Used but not abused

Cargo Purse brand new never used

Only one pattern cut, the rest are intact, cut pattern in excellent condition

Washer necklace with sheer ribbon.

Small scrap of satin-like fabric, 17"x37" plus some extra scraps.

Size 6/8/10/12 gown pattern new and uncut

I got the idea for the swap from April over at Natural Nester, please visit her site for a lot more craft swapping fun!

Placemat Purse

2011-04-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

This craft idea is nifty and comes from Heather over at Dollar Store Crafts. I spent about $8 total on this bag, and that is because I had to buy handles from Jo-Ann's. The rosettes are very easy to make Be sure to use a leather or heavy duty needle on your sewing machine. I used some rose metallic beads for the centers of the rosettes that I had on hand, I got them from Micheal's.

Placemat $1
Ribbon $1
Handles $5
Thread $1
Metallic Rose beads, on hand

Nuts Bracelet

2011-04-08T20:44:00.000-07:00

Hey kids, I was inspired by the washer bracelet from The Answer is Chocolate on this one. I used "silver" beads, glass pearls and plastic pink beads. On the jump rings, yes those are nuts. I found them in Chris's toolbox while looking for wire cutters and decided to use them as charms on this charming and dainty little bracelet. If I can find small washers, I will add them to the bracelet.

Washer Necklace

2011-04-08T15:44:00.000-07:00

I made the beautiful washer necklace, below from this tutorial from The Small Object. Mine does not look as pretty but I am pleased with the results. From trial I have found that the best ribbon to use is sheer, as used in the tutorial, and of course other washer sizes can be used. I believe I got this ribbon from Dollar Tree and you can also get washers there. More washer crafts to come! For lots of cheap ideas for crafts, visit Dollar Store Crafts.

Strawberry-Lemonade Smoothie

2011-04-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

I made some lemonade the other day (from scratch) and I decided to make this smoothie...I was pouring a glass of lemonade and had a "Eureka" moment, LOL. I looked up this recipe and decided to make it today since I have all of the ingredients on hand. How was it? In a word, shock-tart! This one makes you pucker. Add sweetener to this one.

Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce

2011-04-07T15:38:00.000-07:00

Yet another fascinating ingredient that I often see at Tan-A. I have decided to do all Asian Foods week and Chris loves it. For this recipe, we will simply be steaming the broccoli and topping it with oyster sauce, simple, simple. Here is the recipe that I originally found this idea on. I really liked this, it tastes just like broccoli but leafy. Try this!

Oyster & Shittake Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce

2011-04-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

This is a simple recipe for these flavorful mushrooms. I have been wanting to try king oysters for a long time. They usually come three to a package at the Asian Grocer. Chris and I really enjoyed these mushrooms, they are "meaty" enough to use as a meat substitute.

Peach Strawberry Smoothie

2011-04-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make a peach-strawberry smoothie with silken tofu but I was not coming up with a recipe that sounded good to me, or one that used ingredients that I had on hand. I used this recipe as a starting point then changed the yogurt to tofu, added sweetener and soy milk. This is an awesome smoothie! I made it with honey, vegans use agave syrup or another sweetener.

Peach-Strawberry Silken Tofu Smoothie
8 slices of frozen peaches
10 small frozen strawberries
1/2-1 cup silken tofu, drained
1/2-1 cup vanilla soy milk
sweetener to taste
dash ground cinnamon if desired

Blend until very smooth. Serve immediately.

Vegan Fudge Pops

2011-04-07T04:47:00.000-07:00

In this recipe, the Catherine of Food Snob make a vegan chocolate pudding and froze it into pops. Since she says they are the "best fudge pops ever" I knew I had to try them. They are amazing, rich, creamy, smooth and chocolaty....try these!

Chocolate Pudding

1 (12.3 ounce) package silken tofu, drained
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1 tbsp. vanilla
1/2 cup maple syrup

Blend tofu until very smooth, blend in remaining ingredients. Pour into Bathroom Cups and place Popsicle
Sticks into each one. Freeze for at least 6 hours.

My silken tofu package......don't you think it is pretty? You won't use the whole package of this type, the measurement is for the Mori-Nu "Juice Box" aseptic package. However, it was cheaper to get this bigger package and I can save the leftover tofu for smoothies.

Kung Pao Tofu

2011-04-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

I have been making this recipe since I became a vegetarian, and still make it now. I asked Chef Deb for a recipe for this after having it at Ellwood Thompson's. It is delicious and simple to prepare, serve it over rice. I bumped up the sauce and added more heat....1 tbsp. chili sauce instead of 1/4 tsp. I was fine with it but Chris was dying but he still ate it with 2 cups of milk XD. I forgot the peanuts but it was still delicious. Try this recipe!!!! In case anyone was wondering, the white plates, bowls, the glasses and the bamboo chopsticks are all available at the Dollar Tree.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

2011-04-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

This smoothie is super healthy and simple to make. I will be using Splenda instead of the sugar..

Strawberry Smoothie
1 frozen banana
5-6 large or 10-12 small frozen strawberries
sweetener of choice
1 tsp. vanilla (optional)
1/2-1 cup milk (I use skim milk, use your favorite milk here or OJ)

Blend until very smooth, serve immediately.

Chai Popsicles

2011-04-06T04:23:00.000-07:00

I love Chai and wanted to make a Chai Popsicle and I really didn't see that many recipes online for this one. So I thought about it and came up with this recipe.

Chai Popsicles
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup milk
4 Chai tea bags
1/4 cup sugar or Splenda (taste before adding if using vanilla yogurt)

Bring the tea bags and milk to boiling, let simmer for about 3-4 minutes. Cool. Add milk to tea mixture to bring the measurement back to 3/4 cup if needed. Discard tea bags. Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Fill molds and freeze for about 6 hours. I got 4 small popsicles out of this recipe.

Spinach Smoothie

2011-04-05T12:44:00.000-07:00

This is a scary thing to me. Spinach in a smoothie? That sounds, well....disgusting to me. The more I read about it, the more it sounded like maybe something that I would like try. I have read that it didn't taste spinach-y or taste off and it was even sweet. I have decided to go with your basic smoothie with a bit of spinach. Most recipes call for more spinach than this and this may be a good way to get your kiddos to eat their veggies, milk and fruit. Yes, we are Kroger shoppers XD.

Spinach Smoothie
1/2 frozen banana
6-8 small strawberries (frozen)
1/2 cup frozen spinach
1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt
sweetener to taste
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla (optional)
1 tbsp. ground flaxseed (optional)

Blend all until very smooth. Serve immediately.
You can't taste the spinach. I used Splenda this time, next time I will use honey.

Buffalo Wings and Sauteed Kale

2011-04-04T17:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, these are really, really good. Chris and I love these. This includes a few different recipes. Here is the recipe for the Buffalo Wings themselves. Here is the recipe for the Tofu Chicken and a bonus recipe for vegan chicken nuggets. Here is the recipe for the Ranch or Blue Cheese Dressing. I am going to use bottled blue cheese dressing. I have, however made the bleu cheez dressing with the jarred fermented tofu from the Asian Grocer and it is really frickin' awesome. If you don't have an Asian Grocer near you and you want to make the vegan bleu cheez dressing and you don't have miso as called for in Deb's recipe, try this this recipe. Remember that you need to freeze the tofu the night before to make it more "meat-like". I usually use firm tofu for this. I use egg and milk in this recipe instead of the Ener-g and soy milk. I usually cut my tofu into 8 vertical slabs, cut your tofu in half, then stack and cut into 4 vertical sticks. I have never tried this with seitan, but that will be my next endeavor. To make your own "Chick'n Broth Powder" use this recipe, I use this instead of buying the pre-made stuff and Nutritional Yeast is pretty cheap.

This is not my photo ^ http://www.sptsb.com/max.htm owns this photo. This is what you are looking for if you want to make your own bleu cheez dressing.

I made sauteed kale with red kale from my garden, which weirdly enough came up with dormant seeds. This is the recipe I used and it was very delicious although cleaning the greens was labor intensive. I skipped the onion in this recipe because I am out.

TLAT repost

2011-04-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

That is Tempeh Lettuce Avocado Tomato. Yes I have already post this but I have had a craving for it. I will be using this recipe, (oops that is another TLAT post hehehehehehe XD) for the tempeh bacon. Here is the recipe from Celine of Have Cake Will Travel. I make this bread by hand and to do that, take the sugar, yeast and water (warm) and dissolve in a large bowl. Add butter, pumpkin and 2 cups of flour. I went with one cup AP and one cup whole wheat. Turn out onto floured bowl and knead for about 2-5 minutes adding more (AP) flour as needed. Cover with bowl or clean tea towel. One hour later, turn out onto floured board and knead for about 2 minutes. Place in oiled bread pan and cover with tea towel. One hour later place into preheated oven (350 degrees F) and cook for about 30-60 minutes, until lightly browned and loaf sounds hollow when tapped. The color of this sandwich bread is beautiful.

Below, tempeh bacon marinating. To cook, heat a bit of oil in a skillet and fry until golden on each side.

As for that TLAT....
bread, sliced (2 slices)
one half ripe avocado, sliced
two slices tomato
lettuce of choice
mayo of choice
2-3 slices of crisp tempeh bacon

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

2011-04-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

Hehehehehehe, sorry I couldn't resist! Who doesn't like PB and J's? These Popsicles taste just like a PB and J sandwich. I posted this recipe a while back and I have decided to leave the chocolate sauce out and layer these with strawberry jam, but feel free to use grape if you like that better. I will be using Splenda for the sugar called for. I made these with 2 tbsp. Splenda, but I think next time I will use 1/4 cup.

PB and Jelly Popsicles

1/2 cup milk (can use skim)
1/2 cup PB
1/2 cup yogurt (can be fat free plain)
1/4 cup sugar or Splenda

grape or strawberry jam or jelly (I use sugar free)

Mix all of your ingredients (except jam) until very, very smooth. In 3 ounce paper cups ("Bathroom Cups"), layer PB mixture, then jelly, then PB mixture. Insert Popsicle sticks and freeze for at least 6 hours.

Aww, how cute! This is not my photo.

Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

2011-04-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love this soup? Plus you can even make it vegetarian if you would like. This is the recipe that I decided to make, I found this recipe looking for recipes to make with cloud ear fungus. I actually have never had this soup but I really don't see how you can go wrong with this list of ingredients. Chris says this looks exactly like the soup that he gets and he thinks that I will really like it, even though I am I little dubious because it has what I call "uncooked tofu".....I normally don't tofu that isn't lightly fried. I liked this soup, I found if you make it vegetarian you should add some vegan chick'n broth powder. But it was not "hot". I looked at another recipe and it uses ginger and chili garlic sauce and I added some of that and now it tastes on point.

Bitter Melon with Shrimp

2011-04-03T11:42:00.000-07:00

This is not my photo.

Bitter Melon, also known as Bitter Gourd is an Asian vegetable that is known for healing properties. It can lower blood sugar, a component of the seeds can possibly prevent HIV from infecting human cells, and the extract can be used to slow the spread of cancer to cells. More research is needed to make sure that these uses are warranted and are feasible. It also may lower triglyceride levels. Here is a link that explains these uses in further detail.

The seeds and peel should be removed as they may cause headaches in some people. Bitter melon is safe to consume and is used throughout the Far East, South America, India, Africa and throughout the Caribbean.

Here is a simple recipe that uses bitter melon that I found while I was looking for recipes that used this vegetable. I kept on seeing it at Tan-A and was wondering what to do with it and Chris and I both thought that this stir fry looked wonderful.

I will be salting my bitter melon and placing it in a colander for about an hour to make this melon less bitter, then blanching it and finally shocking it in cold water before cooking.

Wow, this is very bitter so bitter we couldn't eat it....It looks better than it tastes.

Vegetarian Pho

2011-04-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

Chris and I both love Pho. I never get the Tofu Pho bowl since I think they use chicken or beef broth for all of the noodle soups. Chris usually gets the Pho with mixed meat. Chris actually took me to Pho the first time and I didn't like it immediately because I wasn't using the optional sauces like Hoisin, Chili Garlic and Sriracha.

In this recipe it calls for flat rice noodles, and I will be using Mung Bean Noodles, you can also use Rice Vermicelli. Some people really get into the garnishes but Chris just likes the soup with sauce. I will be using fried tofu, cooked napa cabbage and mushrooms.

I used ground anise seed and coriander seeds as that was all I could find. I think it turned out good.Chris didn't want napa cabbage and I forgot the mushrooms....

Tofu, Soba and Napa Cabbage Stir Fry

2011-04-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

I am in a desperate search for Napa Cabbage recipes as I have a ton of it to use. I stumbled upon this recipe from Little Blue Hen. I have all of the ingredients and that for me is always a plus. It also sounds like a pretty easy and fast recipe. The pictures are beautiful, and that is actually how I choose what recipe I will try. I love all of the ingredients in this recipe.Chris and I really like the simplicity of stir fries and we like shopping at Tan-A (the Asian Grocer) since it is so cheap in comparison to buying it from the regular grocery store, and it is worth the trip even though it is a 30 minute drive for us to get there. I used a full container of tofu (14 ounces) instead of the 8 ounces called for. Sorry for the crappy picture. Chris loved it.

Orange Strawberry Smoothie

2011-04-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

I wanted to use up some oranges I have, and some of the strawberries I bought. I came up with the following recipe.

Orange Strawberry Smoothie
3 oranges, juiced or 1 cup OJ
1/2-1 cup frozen strawberries
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. honey or Splenda

Puree in blender until smooth, serve immediately. As you can see, I only had 2 oranges so I used a bit of milk for the rest of the liquid. Still delicious!

Chocolate Yogurt PB Pops

2011-03-31T20:11:00.000-07:00

Hi kids, yet another Popsicle recipe here, From Bemused, I made these with Splenda and Splenda sweetened chocolate syrup and if I had some natural peanut butter they would be even healthier. I used fat free milk and fat free yogurt, thinking the fat from the peanut butter would make them creamy. The mix tastes delicious. Review and more pictures to come.......This recipe makes 5 small pops. Creamy, smooth, peanut buttery and delicious. Try these!!!!! Next I am going to make these without the chocolate sauce, and layer with sugar free either grape or strawberry jelly.

Greek Pizza

2011-03-31T15:01:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I have already made this before....But it is so good and I was tired of napa cabbage. I needed a break from it, LOL! Napa Cabbage tomorrow, I promise! For the sauce, I did not have Alfredo sauce nor did I have Parmesan cheese, so I made the Bechamel Sauce recipe from Janet Is Hungry omitting the dijon mustard and sauteing one minced clove of garlic with the melted butter before adding the flour. As usual, I will be using my recipe for pizza dough made with 1 cup whole wheat flour and the rest AP. I have taken to using honey instead of the sugar called for but use your favorite (molasses, King Syrup, corn syrup, sugar....) sweetener. If you are in a hurry, feel free to use frozen and thawed pizza dough.

Asian Coconut Noodle Soup

2011-03-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, the picture is beautiful! I knew I wanted to make it when I saw the pic, and Chris saw it and said, "What is that?!" which means it looks good to him. Always a plus! Another plus for me is that it uses napa cabbage, if you remember I have a seven pound cabbage ;O) Here is the recipe.

Anyways, soup is always good to make on cold days and we have been having a lot of cold ones lately here in Chester. This recipe combines a lot of my favorite things into one dish. She calls for Rice Stick Noodles and you will want to look for Rice Vermicelli. I get mine from the Asian Grocer (if you live near Richmond, you will probably know it, the Tan-A). The Lite Coconut Milk, I have found, Kroger has a store brand that was about $1.65, score! I used my whole container of tofu, which is 14 ounces and lightly fried it because that is how I like my tofu.

The smell of this cooking is heavenly. I personally would add some hot sauce or more chili flakes but it is pretty good as is. Chris added some sriracha to his and he says now it is perfect.

Strawberry Banana Apple Smoothie

2011-03-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

Um, yum. I just happen to have all of these ingredients and you would think I have leftovers or something to eat for lunch and everyday, which I don't and I end up eating knock-off Lucky Charms, LOL. Which don't get me wrong, they are really good but I am getting rather tired of the same old. Here is the recipe, I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. Cut the recipe in half for one serving as shown.

Strawberry Swirl Pops

2011-03-30T05:16:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that I have been making a lot of strawberry recipes and this is because I have stocked up on them from the Dollar Tree :O) I was searching online for a strawberry yogurt pop and this recipe kept coming up. The presentation is beautiful. I don't have pop molds like these shown in the picture but I do have bathroom cups (I got a box of 200 for $2.99 at Kroger) and Popsicle sticks (which are also available at Dollar Tree in the craft aisle) and that works just as well and it is inexpensive. Strawberries are my favorite berries, I have loved them since my grandma first took me to a strawberry u-pick patch. They are juicy and the seeds don't bother me like other berries (blackberries, but I still eat them). I <3 strawberry everything, you will see lots more strawberry recipes from me. I used Splenda in place of the sugar and I got 6 pops for half of the recipe. Here is a recipe for homemade push-pops, sounds like a good recipe for kids of all ages.

This is not my photo ^

These are sweet tart and a little icy. Lemony and very strawberry. I really like them and I will make them again.

Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes (whole grain)

2011-03-30T04:33:00.000-07:00

When I found this recipe from Pinch My Salt, I knew I had to try it. Yummy pancakes with buttermilk, blueberries and whole grains.....mmmm! I didn't have the oat bran so I am replacing it with oat flour, to make this place oats in a blender or a coffee grinder and pulverize into a fine powder. Store what you don't use for another recipe. I am replacing the brown sugar with honey and I am adding a bit of cinnamon to the recipe. Here is the recipe as I make it. If you have buttermilk, you can use that instead of the milk and sour cream (1 cup buttermilk). Today when I went to the Dollar Tree alas, they did not have blueberries :*( so I am making them plain, but with strawberry sauce.....(from Good Life Eats).

This is not my photo.

~~Blueberry~~ Buttermilk Pancakes

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/8 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup oat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2-1 tsp. cinnamon (leave out for plain)
1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt
1 egg or 1/4 cup egg beaters
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. melted butter, cooled
1/2 cup blueberries (leave out for plain)

Heat up your griddle. Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl, stirring to mix. Toss the blueberries, if frozen with a bit of your flour. Then add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Fold in blueberries carefully. Drop the batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto your griddle. The pancakes are ready to turn when the bubbles break. Turn and cook about 1-2 minutes or until lightly brown. Serve with real maple syrup or as desired.

Chocolate Avocado Popsicles

2011-03-29T17:12:00.000-07:00

I actually found the link to this recipe from a food porn link on Reddit. I didn't have cacao nibs so I asked her if I could make them with cocoa powder and she replied back to me promptly yes and 1 tbsp. I love avocados, they are so decadent and buttery rich tasting. I love guacamole, but I have never had avocados in ice cream or in smoothies. I imagine these are going to taste amazing.....

Chocolate Avocado Popsicles

3/4 cup avocado
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 cup milk

Blend all ingredients in a bowl with a stick blender until smooth, pour into molds. The recipe is supposed to make seven, I got 6.....

I personally would go with about 2-3 tbsp. of cocoa next time and 1/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk. I also added about 1 tsp. of vanilla. I think coconut milk milk would be a nice addition to these pops.

Tempeh, Napa Cabbage and Mushroom Potstickers

2011-03-29T15:50:00.000-07:00

Wow, I sure do love Potstickers! Chris and I have made them a lot lately, but we have been using the same recipe so I thought it was high time to change it up. This recipe stood out from the other recipes that I had been looking at, mainly because it used tempeh. Tempeh is one of Chris's favorite soy products, plus it uses napa cabbage which I currently have an overabundance of. I line my steamer basket with the napa cabbage which keeps the Potstickers from sticking to the bamboo steamer plus you can eat it and it is infused with the smoky aroma of bamboo. I have some recipes that I found that use napa cabbage (soon to come) and I also like it in my stir fries so I hope that I get to use all of it. Feel free to suggest recipes to me.

That is a 2 liter of pop. I believe the tag says it is a seven and some change pound cabbage....

I steam my tempeh after it is cut for 15 minutes each before cooking.

Chris and I really enjoyed these, very "meaty" tasting from the mushrooms and the tempeh. This is the recipe I used with the potstickers, very gingery and flavorful. More pictures to come soon.......

Saag Paneer/Palak Paneer

2011-03-28T15:22:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to try this for years, and I am just now getting around to trying it out. Cheese and spicy spinach in a cream sauce, how can you go wrong? I have read about this and was determined to make it, I was even going to attempt to make my own Paneer (which I have read is simple to do), but Chris and I went into Richmond and to the Indian Grocer and I got not one but two packages of Paneer (by mistake, they were stuck together) so I just hope that both of us like Paneer If you are vegan, use soy creamer or soy sour cream thinned out with soy milk and tofu. I decided to go with this recipe from Show Me The Curry. I also decided to go with sour cream instead of the whipping cream called for to save calories. I am using reduced fat paneer that I got from Laxmi Palace (Indian Grocer). This seems like an easy enough recipe, we are eating the curry without chapatis or rice.

So how was it? OH my goodness, it is amazing! Now I am glad that I accidentally picked up two packs of Paneer! Spicy, creamy deliciousness! The Paneer was chewy cheesy deliciousness. This recipe was very authentic and tasted like something I would get from an upscale Indian Restaurant. Make sure that you soak the Paneer after you fry it, it makes it softer, and lightly squeeze the water out.

Strawberry Cinnamon Pancakes

2011-03-28T04:32:00.000-07:00

I love pancakes for breakfast and I wanted to have cinnamon strawberry pancakes. I decided to go with this recipe. I think the next time that I make these I will use honey instead of the brown sugar the next time that I make these, and I also used one egg in this recipe. I also used about 1/2-3/4 tsp. cinnamon. So here is that recipe written out the way I make them.

These are not my photos ^

Strawberry Cinnamon Pancakes

1/2 cup each whole wheat flour and AP flour

dash salt

1/2-1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 cup egg beaters or one egg or 1/4 cup plain applesauce

1 tbsp. honey or King Syrup

3/4 cup milk of choice

3 tbsp. melted butter, cooled

1 cup pureed strawberries (I got 12 ounces of frozen strawberries at Dollar Tree)

Combine dry ingredients, add wet ingredients to dry. Stir to combine. Heat griddle (set at 350 degrees) and use about 1/4-1/3 cup pancake batter per pancake. Cook about 2 minutes or until bubbles break. Flip and cook about 2 more minutes or until lightly browned. Serve with real maple syrup or as desired.

Colcannon

2011-03-27T13:54:00.000-07:00

So yummy and such an easy recipe. Cheap to make too. Creamy mashed potatoes and crisp tender green cabbage, this is true comfort food. You don't have to be Irish to enjoy this recipe. Yet I just tried it recently, amazingly enough. This is extremely filling and it is even good reheated. This is the recipe that I use. The only thing that I do differently is to use low fat sour cream thinned with a little bit of milk instead of the cream called for in the recipe. I may try to make this with a little less butter.

Last year, my friend Kevin had a cabbage patch and a momma cat kept her babies in it. I was going to put the picture up on here but the picture is no longer on FB :o( Here is a picture of a kitty in a cabbage patch that I found online. The kitty in the picture looks like two of our neighborhood kitties.

Vegan Chicken in Garlic Sauce and Homemade Chili Garlic Sauce

2011-03-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

This is one of Chris's favorite recipes. I will attempt to make this with some Morningstar Chick'n Strips. I have decided to try out this recipe which is from Tigers & Strawberries. Chris says that the way his mom gets the restaurant to make it is with water chestnuts only. I hope that this tastes somewhat close to what he is remembering.

He loved it, it is now one of his favorites! Slightly hot and slightly sour from the chili garlic sauce and vinegar, this dish has lots of flavor. He keeps telling me how much he liked it, and we are even making this recipe for his mom's birthday.

I made some Vietnamese Chili Garlic Sauce today and since I almost used all of mine up and I had some Thai Chilies to use up. I used this recipe except I cooked mine for about 30 minutes.

Vegan Stuffed Peppers

2011-03-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

This is a solid recipe and it is easy to prepare.They are hearty and filling, my husband who eats beef loves these and asks for them, however I have stopped making them until today. Last night I was up and I made rice for these and my husband just had to know what the rice was for, I wanted it to be a surprise since he loves them but he said that he hates surprises and I had to tell him :P I guess you just try other recipes and forget about the tried and true ones. Not that I will stop trying new ones because you find new tastes and textures that you love and I don't want to get into a food rut. Sometimes you just have to come back to the favorites, your comfort food. These do not need cheese on top but add it if you like. I have made these with tomato sauce and cumin and cayenne pepper and Dijon mustard. Here is my alternate recipe.

Vegan Stuffed Peppers

2 green bell peppers
1 very small onion or 1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 pkg. defrosted Boca or Morningstar Burger Crumbles
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 tbsp. oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2/3 cup cooked brown rice
2 tbsp. ketchup
1 tbsp. mustard or Dijon Mustard
1/4-1/2 tsp. cumin or to taste
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper or to taste

Cut your peppers in half and remove seeds. Fill a large wide mouthed skillet with water and par-boil the peppers until they are bright green or dark green as I accidentally did. OOPS. Set aside. Saute your garlic and onions in the oil over medium to medium high heat until softened. Add burger crumbles, tomato sauce, cayenne pepper, cumin and rice. Simmer until the burger crumbles are cooked. Your sauce should be thick. Add the mustard and ketchup. Taste and add more mustard or ketchup to taste.Spoon the mixture evenly into the pepper shells and place in a 9"x9" pan. Cook at 350 degrees until peppers are soft and filling is browned. Enjoy.

Chai Pancakes & a better Iced Chai Tea recipe

2011-03-24T04:29:00.000-07:00

I made these a long time ago with a recipe that I threw together and they were OK, but not spicy like I imagined. Chris mentioned making Chai Pancakes and I found this recipe, which looks and sounds delicious. I both <3 Chai Tea and pancakes so it is a good combination. It has added spices and I didn't think to do this to my recipe. I brewed my Chai Tea the night before with the milk (I cut the recipe in half as it is just Chris and I eating these). I will be serving these with Real Maple Syrup.

BTW, I figured out the best way to make Iced Chai, and that is with 4 tea bags per 4 cups milk and 2 tbsp. Splenda or sugar, bring to boil and turn heat down to low. Simmer for about 5 minutes, cool. Add about 1-1&1/2 tsp. vanilla, optional. Stir. Serve over ice. I now use only the Chai Masala that I got from Laxmi Palace.

So how were they? The verdict is they are the best pancakes I have ever tasted. EVER. Chris agrees, especially since he loves spicy things.

Seafood Pizza

2011-03-22T16:37:00.000-07:00

I know that this sounds a little weird but it looks delicious. My friend, Sara went to Morocco and came back talking about Seafood Pizza, and I went looking for recipes. A lot of recipes came up, but when I saw this recipe from Janet is Hungry, I knew I had to try it. White sauce, Parmesan Cheese, Mozzarella Cheese, Imitation Crab (you can use real crab but I don't eat crab), tomatoes, cilantro, shrimp, onions and green bell peppers....what's not to like? I love pizzas made with white sauce instead of red sauce/tomato sauce bases. I will be making my own crust for this pizza. I also cut the shrimp down to about 1/4 pound.

Pizza Crust

2 1/2-3 cups bread or AP flour, can use whole wheat for half of flour (for this pizza, I did 1 cup whole wheat and the rest AP)
1 package yeast
1 tsp. sugar OR 1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. salt
1 cup warm water

In a large bowl, place water and yeast. Add sugar and set aside for about 5 minutes, until yeast has bloomed. Add oil and salt, stir. Add 1&1/2 cups flour, stir. Pour dough out onto floured board and knead in enough additional flour to make a soft dough.Do not be alarmed if you don't use all of the flour. Cover with tea towel or bowl, let rise about one hour or until doubled in bulk. Punch dough down, knead and roll out in a greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. Cover with tea towel and let rise for about 30-60 minutes. Proceed with recipe.

Banana Pancakes

2011-03-22T04:11:00.000-07:00

I always end up with really ripe bananas and even though I know that I can freeze them for later use, I hate doing that. Why? Because I forget about them and they get freezer-burnt, even though I have good intentions of making smoothies, ice cream pops or banana bread with them, so they still end up getting tossed. I was looking through Isabelle's Blog and I came across this recipe for banana pancakes and I had a "Eureka!" moment. These look fluffy and delicious.....Chris loves banana pancakes and I am sure getting tired of the egg sandwich we have almost every morning.

Who ate the banana? It wasn't me, and it certainly couldn't be Christopher as he knows I was saving them for pancakes......As I sat down and asked him about the banana he was eating he said it was the ripe ones and he thought that I would make fun of him for eating one of the unripened bananas and even said he hoped it didn't have "brown" inside. I smiled in disbelief and told him that he knew I was saving those for pancakes...."Ooops", said Christopher. XD.........

Anyways, these banana pancakes were delicious and half the recipe made just enough for us.

Tilapia Fish Curry and new Chai Tea

2011-03-21T15:39:00.000-07:00

I was going to get the Pom Fret from Tan-A, but decided to just go with some Tilapia fillets that I already have and Chris loves Tilapia. This recipe looks particularly delicious. I have to admit that making this recipe scares me a little because I am afraid that I will overcook the fish. Otherwise the recipe sounds fairly easy to make and it sounds very flavorful. Chris and I have been wanting to make a fish curry since we saw it on Bizarre Foods, of all places. I was not impressed with this recipe and I followed it exactly. Chris liked it though.

I found cinnamon sticks in the spice aisle at the local Dollar Tree and if you are lucky, you will have an Indian Grocer nearby. I went to Laxmi Palace, which is on Old Parham Road in the West End of Richmond near the Tropical Smoothie. I found cheap spices like Garam Masala, Cloves, Fenugreek Seeds, etc. I got some Paneer (low-fat too so this means Saag Paneer soon :o)), dried Kokams, they had some popped Sorghum which I saw on Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, tons of rice, lots of fresh veggies (a lot of the same vegetables that Tan-A has), ready to eat foods, dal, chick peas, flat breads....If you get the chance to go by there, check it out. The clerks in the store are very polite and helpful. In the same strip mall there is Indian Pastry House with the best samosas I have ever had and a delicious melt in your mouth Irish Cake (they also have other flavors and they can make wedding and birthday cakes). Chris tried the popped Sorghum and he did not like it, but I thought that it tasted like popcorn, but nuttier.

Here is a picture of the Chai Tea I picked up from Laxmi Palace and quite a deal at $3.79 a package.I am making some Chai Tea today and I will let you know how I like this tea. Here is a link to purchase it if you don't have an Indian Grocer near you and you would like to try it. As I have stated before, I love Stash Chai, Bigelow Vanilla Chai and Celestial Seasoning Bengal Spice and Chai and those are usually available at most stores, but use your favorite. Chris and I both liked the tea, it isn't quite as strong as Stash, but still good and definitely the better deal.

Below are pictures of my fraidycat, Kimmie.

Veggie Potstickers

2011-03-20T17:22:00.000-07:00

Chris and I love Veggie Potstickers. I was looking online for some dim sum recipes and I found this recipe, by The Vegan Mouse which sounds simple and as an added bonus I have all of the ingredients on hand except for the Dark Mushroom Soy Sauce, which if you are on my Facebook you will know broke because the stupid bar that holds condiments in the door of the refrigerator came loose and the dark soy sauce shattered and oops-a-daisy, soy sauce all over the floor XD......And celery which I hate anyway and I am going to leave out. I am going to make this sauce recipe to go with them. I will be steaming my potstickers for about 10-12 minutes in my bamboo steamer. Below are the dumpling wrappers and the mixture before it went into the dumplings. I am getting Chris to help me with making these. LOL, I ended up making them. Make sure to line your steamer with cabbage leaves or spray with no-stick cooking spray so these don't stick. Bring a soup pot of water to a boil and sit your steamer filled with dumplings on top. The smell of the bamboo will be amazing! Chris was washing dishes (in the background). The verdict: delicious! They went great with the sauce.

Spicy Eggplant (with Rice)

2011-03-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

I made this recipe, and this is such a good recipe. It comes from The Catskill Kiwi. Simple to make, not a lot of ingredients and delicious. Chris doesn't even really like eggplants so the first time I made this I kept putting it off. I happen to love eggplants, not just because they happen to be purple (my favorite color), but also because they are meaty and filling. I finally made it and he sat down to eat it and I was expecting him to say that he hated it. He loved it and said that he wished there was more of it! The only thing I do different is to make it with about 2-3 cloves of minced garlic. I also double the sauce and serve it over cooked long grain rice. My local grocery store does not carry Japanese Eggplant so I get them at the Asian Grocer (Tan-A) along with the five spice powder. Make sure you take the time to properly brown the eggplant on both sides. I like serving it with rice to absorb the sauce, I like it better with long grain white rice. I served this today with brown rice.

Swordfish with Avocado Butter

2011-03-19T17:31:00.000-07:00

Oh Em Gee this is the best ever recipe for Swordfish. I get the Swordfish from Kroger and they get it frozen therefore it is cheaper per pound than if you bought it fresh from your fishmonger (compare $7.99 a pound to $16.99 a pound). I like the thinner cut steaks personally. I cook my fish on grill and not in the broiler. I am sure that it is better this way because to me, everything tastes better grilled. Chris loves to cook on the grill for me so he will take any chance that he can to cook on the grill. We like to use the Mesquite Briquettes, but use your favorite. The Avocado Butter goes perfectly with the Swordfish. If you are thinking about not making the Avocado Butter, please do. The fish tastes so much better with it. Make sure not to overcook your fish, or undercook it. Keep in mind that Swordfish does not flake when done, you have to go by the color of the fish to tell if it is done or not. I don't think that the meat of the fish tastes "fishy", but the skin does so you may want to remove it or give it to the cat. I usually serve this with some grilled vegetable kebabs, however today I will be serving them with leftover macaroni and cheese....I meant to get some artichokes but I didn't get around to it, I know I am a punk :P

Refried Black Bean Burritos

2011-03-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

I decided to make these since I was cleaning out the cabinets and found a bag of black beans that I had bought a few months ago. I decided to cook them in the crock pot and it is super simple to do. I like using the crock pot because you just add your ingredients, and it cooks it for you. No supervision required except timing it. If you don't have a crock pot feel free to make these the old fashioned way on the stove top or use a couple of cans of black beans. I used this recipe to make my beans. For the refried beans, I pureed the beans with a few dashes each of Chipotle Hot Sauce, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Cumin, and Southwest Seasoning, which is Emeril's recipe....BAM! XD....LOL. Anyways, use about 1/3 cup refried beans per burrito, a little salsa (your favorite or leave this out), and cheese of choice, about 1-2 tbsp. or a half of a cheese slice (it is what I had). Roll up. I made 8 burritos and I have a little bit of beans left over. Bake for about 10 minutes if you like your burritos crispy or microwave to warm. These are great for lunches. This is the recipe that I based these burritos off of.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

2011-03-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

My baked macaroni and cheese is known throughout both families and loved. I usually will leave out the tomatoes since not everyone likes them but I like to add them for Chris and I, or add them anyway and people that don't like them can pick them out, up to you. Today I will be making a half recipe because it is just the two of us. I always add onion and garlic powder to mine (maybe 1/2 to 1 tsp., each), to taste. Make sure you are tasting your sauce because you need to make sure the seasoning is right. I use skim milk and 2% cheese but rest assured, this is caloric, LOL! I also add about 1/4-1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese to the sauce. Here is the recipe that I use. Make the whole recipe for family get-togethers and watch it disappear.

So here is that recipe written out for you, the way that I make it.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Tomatoes
1/2 pound of elbow macaroni or shell macaroni
1& 1/2 cups milk (I use skim, but use your favorite)
1/8 pound of butter or 1/2 stick or 4 tbsp. (you can use tub margarine)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. or to taste garlic powder
1/2 tsp. or to taste onion powder
2 tbsp. cornstarch
12 ounces 2% sharp or mild cheddar cheese, divided use
1/4-1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup part skim Mozzarella cheese (if you have it, I didn't)
1 (14 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Set aside some cheddar cheese for top of casserole.

Cook your macaroni in large soup pot according to package directions, drain, cool with cold water. Set aside.

In the same pot, over medium heat, melt your butter along with your 1 cup of milk, salt and pepper.

Mix the remaining 1/2 cup milk with the cornstarch, mix until dissolved and set aside.

Slowly add the milk/cornstarch mixture to the hot milk mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk.

When your mixture has thickened, pull off heat and add your cheeses.

Add the onion and garlic powder, please make sure to taste to make sure the flavor is the way you want it.

When your cheese is melted add your tomatoes, if using.

Add macaroni and mix until well coated with sauce.

Pour into casserole (usually an 8x8) and top with remaining cheese.

Cook for about 30-45 minutes, until golden and bubbly.

Here is a bonus picture of my cat, Durn sleeping in the sun.

Veggie Fajitas and Chocolate Banana Bread

2011-03-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

Hi kids, today's recipe is Veggie Fajitas....I know, I know....I don't even need a recipe for this recipe, LOL. This does however give me the chance to break out the cast iron skillet and saute` up some veggies, like tomatoes, onions and peppers. I was going to use some squash/zucchini, but they are out of season and too d*mn expensive and I don't live in Richmond anymore so I can't go to Tan-A and get it GRRR. I can't wait for summer! But I digress.......I may go out to the store and get some cactus, I am undecided. Chris says that he likes cactus so I might go out. A lot of these recipes that I did look at call for Monterey Jack cheese, but I like them without the cheese. You can serve the fajitas with some sour cream and salsa...fresh or bought. I ended up getting zucchini since the store I went to had them on sale and they also had artichokes on sale so I may go back and get some of those for another meal later in the week ;O) Feel free to use whatever veggies you have on hand, for 2 people I used 1&1/2 quartered smallish tomatoes, 1 medium onion (sliced), 1/2 medium sized zucchini (sliced), and 1/2 green bell pepper (sliced). Cook all veggies (except tomatoes) with a bit of oil over medium-medium high heat until veggies soften and during the last bit of cooking add your tomatoes. These were delicious and I will make them again.

I also decided to make some chocolate banana bread since I have two very ripe bananas sitting on the table that neither Chris or I will eat. Our bunnies would love them though, they love really ripe bananas. That is my male Netherland Dwarf, Stitch, above. Isn't he a cutie? This recipe is from Good Food, Good Wine and A Bad Girl's Isabelle Boucher. You should check out her blog, nicely written and lots of beautiful photos and delicious recipes. This recipe is pretty much foolproof, want to make it with less fat or maybe you only have 1/2 stick butter? Use applesauce in place of the remaining butter that you are missing. Making this but you are a vegan? Use margarine instead of the butter and for the eggs use applesauce (1/2 cup). She calls for high quality cocoa, but if you only have regular cocoa it still tastes awesome. I actually use the store brand. Here is the recipe, but don't miss out on her Chai Banana Bread, which is also very delicious. I would be making that but I am saving the rest of the Chai tea bags I have for Dee's (my MIL) birthday cake. I will post that recipe again next month.

Banana Bread Batter.....

Cooked Banana Bread.........

Crispy Orange Tofu, Broccoli Stir Fry and Iced Chai Tea

2011-03-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

Chris said that he would like some Orange Tofu and I thought that we would need a side dish so I decided on some stir fried broccoli because we usually have broccoli on hand. I decided on this recipe because I liked the finished product photo and the recipe looks simple. I also liked that it is baked. Amazingly enough I have never tried Orange Tofu so this will be a new taste experience for me O.o........ It was delicious! Try this recipe! Just the right amount of heat. The only thing I recommend is to use a tbsp. of cornstarch mixed with a bit of water added to the sauce to thicken it instead of the flour called for.

The broccoli recipe that I decided on was actually a broccoli and tofu stir fry and I am just nixing the tofu. Here is the recipe that I used....If you like thick sauce, I would use 2 tbsp. of cornstarch instead of the 1 tbsp. called for in the sauce recipe.

I also decided to make some C~~hilled~~/Iced Chai Tea today and I used this recipe....I added some bottled vanilla to mine and I used 4 cups skim milk and 6 tea bags and added about 1-2 tsp. of vanilla to the cooled tea mixture....I usually use Celestial Seasonings Chai Tea or Bengal Spice but Kroger did not have them so I used Stash. It sure smells good. I even went to the store and I came back and my entire house smelled like Chai Tea. Feel free to use whatever milk floats your boat, soy, rice, almond, etc. I love soy and almond and I am sure it would be fabulous with any of the listed milks. Chris and I loved this!!!!! Very spicy!

Salmon Burgers (with cilantro), Creamed Spinach and Thai Tea

2011-03-15T15:45:00.000-07:00

Chris loves these burgers. They are simple to prepare and for us 2 meals since it makes 4 patties. I use the frozen salmon from Kroger that comes in bags so don't feel that you have to get fresh salmon to make this burger. They come together pretty easy with the food processor. I pretty much make it the same as the recipe except today I will be using some chopped up onion since I am out of green onions and I use Panko Breadcrumbs since I love them. I use bottled lime juice for a recipe unless I need the zest, you can get a pretty decent sized bottle for cheap on the juice aisle, I do the same thing for lemon juice. I also skip the cucumbers because Chris hates them, feel free to put them on your burger. Make sure to get some crisp green leafy lettuce to put on this burger. I like to toast the face of the burger buns, I think it makes the burger taste better. I have been meaning to make this burger for my in-laws, maybe the next time they come over I will.

I make my Thai Tea with this recipe, Cha Yen. I believe I have posted this before so I won't go into a lot of detail except to say that I follow the recipe exactly, and I use 1/4 cup loose tea for 2 servings/glasses of tea. I got this tea from Tan-A Supermarket in Richmond, VA. I would show you a picture of the package, but it was just a clear plastic sleeve.

Here is the creamed spinach recipe that I made to go with our dinner. I added 3 minced garlic cloves in with the onions.

And without further ado, here are the burgers..........

Tofu, Mushroom and Snow Pea Stir Fry

2011-03-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe and I decided to make it since I have all of the ingredients and I added mushrooms to mine since I <3 mushrooms and instead of the shallots I used some sliced green onions which I added at the end with the sauce. I also doubled the sauce.

I find it is easy to get into food ruts so I have decided to try a new recipe each week, and it is an added bonus when it uses up ingredients already on hand. I get most of my Asian ingredients from Tan-A Supermarket in Richmond (VA). They have lots of vegetables, fruit (the best prices in town), sauces, mock meats, rice, noodles, dishes, knives, rice paper sheets, spices, soy milk, oil, fish, seitan, tofu..... I really like shopping here. There is a Middle Eastern market that I will be checking out next weekend and I will let you know how it is. Coming up next is Saag Paneer. I may or may not make my own Paneer and I am not sure if I will make it with rice or Roti....Decisions, decisions!

Anyway, here is the tofu in all of its glory. I like to pepper my tofu while it cooks. Hehehehehehehehe, that is a Beauty and The Beast plate XD......

Here is the dish without the sauce added.

With sauce.

Plated.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

2010-02-07T14:23:00.000-08:00

Totally veganizable. I happened not to have any sweetened condensed milk due to the snow so I used this recipe which you can substitute out the powered milk for powdered soy milk. I used this recipe for the frozen yogurt, however I used 1/2 cup skim milk and 1/2 cup coconut milk (instead of the 1 cup skim milk), the texture is like premium commercial frozen yogurt and so sweet strawberry flavor coming through in every bite.

Deep Vegan Cake/Moosewood Chocolate Cake

2010-02-05T04:55:00.000-08:00

Chocolate and Peanut Butter combine in this cake to make a match made in heaven. I have been making this cake since I became a vegetarian. Also called "wacky cake" as it has no eggs, butter or milk, this cake was believed to be made up due to rationing during WWII. It can be served without icing and it is almost as delicious. Make sure to use the cake pan(s) lined with parchment, this makes the cake moister and easier to remove from the pan(s). This makes a very rich, chocolate-y cake, perfect for a get together and especially birthday parties. Double the recipe for a double layer cake that will rock your world ;) Make sure you whip the peanut butter chocolate frosting with a hand beater to make it smooth, fluffy and spreadable.

Deep Vegan Cake/Moosewood Chocolate Cake

SERVES 8

Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil ( I always use 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup oil here)
1 cup cold water or chilled brewed coffee
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 Tbs. cider vinegar

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Frosting

1/4 cup peanut butter
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
3 to 4 Tbs. water (or soy milk)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 375F. Generously oil 8-inch square or round baking pan. Dust with sifted cocoa, or line bottom of baking pan with parchment paper.
To make Chocolate Cake: Sift flour, cocoa, soda, salt and sugar. In another bowl, combine oil, water or coffee and vanilla. Pour liquid into dry, and mix until smooth.
Add vinegar and stir briefly; baking soda will begin to react with vinegar, leaving pale swirls in batter. Without wasting time, pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Serve cake from pan, or, when cool, transfer to plate.
To make Chocolate-Peanut Butter Frosting: In heavy saucepan, melt chocolate over medium heat. Beat together peanut butter, water and vanilla until smooth. Beat in confectioners’ sugar, and add melted chocolate, mixing until blended. Spread frosting on cooled cake.

Whole Wheat Panckes with Blueberry Sauce

2010-02-03T12:03:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that I haven't posted these recipes yet since Chris and I have these almost every weekend. The pancakes are delicious and fluffy and not dense like most whole wheat pancakes that I have tried. I usually add some pecans or walnuts to the 'cakes, and sometimes sliced bananas. The recipes are so simple to prepare, I have subbed out the eggs for applesauce (1/2 cup) or 2 Ener-G egg replacers, prepared and it always comes out delicious and fluffy, as as always use whatever milk that you prefer. I usually replace the honey with King Syrup. Today I made the blueberry sauce with a mixed berry blend. I want to mention that I usually use 1/4 cup or more of sugar to my sauce because I prefer it to be sweeter, and the OJ in the blueberry sauce can be subbed for Triple Sec or Grand Mariner or just plain water.

Chili and Cornbread

2010-02-02T16:15:00.000-08:00

BRR! 12" of snow fell on the ground here, and the temperatures are under freezing. With all of this cold weather, I decided to make a pot of chili, based loosely on this recipe as I will be making it with what we have on hand. I love this recipe for cornbread. It is sweet and delicious. It is unlike any cornbread I have ever had and it is the only recipe I use now. Again, I love to use shortening in this cornbread recipe and cookie recipes but if you like to use butter or margarine, feel free to substitute. I usually use applesauce as the egg replacer in the cornbread but alas I am out of applesauce so I am using homemade Ener-G egg replacer, which worked awesome in this recipe. I even used some whole wheat flour in the cornbread recipe and it was still tender and so yummy. If you want to make your own Ener-G, click here for that, and a list of other egg replacers from Chef Deb and applications for them. Here is the recipe that I made for the chili, with cheap-o stuff I happened to have and the measurements on the herbs/spices are approximates. This chili is delicious, cheap and filling. I will definitely be making it again and again.

Black Bean and Kidney Bean Chili

1 tbsp. oil

2 large garlic cloves, pressed

1 medium onion, chopped

1 (14 ounce) can of dark red kidney beans, undrained

1 (14 ounce) can of black beans, undrained

1/2-1 tsp. cumin

1/2-1 tsp. onion powder

1/2-1 tsp. oregano

1/2-1 tsp. paprika

1/2-1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. sage

1 (14 ounce) chopped tomatoes with chilies, undrained

Place the oil in a large stock pot, cook garlic over medium for about 1 minute, add the onions and cook until translucent. Maybe about 3-5 minutes. Add all other ingredients, along with 2 cans water. Cook about 30-45 minutes over a low simmer. Enjoy.

Chocolate Banana Bread

2010-02-01T23:58:00.000-08:00

I love this banana bread, it is the best banana bread ever and it is so forgiving. The first time I made it, I forgot the vanilla and the eggs. This time I made it, I purposely left out the eggs, and used soy milk instead of the sour cream, as I didn't have any on hand. I even used 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup butter the first time I made this, and this time I used 1/2 cup Smart Balance Light. I used regular cocoa (store brand even) as that is what I had but as she says I know it would be even better with dutch cocoa. There is a slight banana flavor and Chris says that this tastes more like chocolate cake than anything.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (Vegan)

2010-01-31T19:44:00.000-08:00

Decided to make up a batch of cookies, just because. I was craving some chocolate chip cookies but decided to make some chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, it called for less fat (the chocolate chip recipe that I use calls for 1 cup butter/margarine and this recipe uses 1/2 cup) and somehow eating an oatmeal cookie seems healthier LOL ;) I made my cookies with this recipe, however I used vegetable shortening instead of the margarine/butter and in place of the egg 1 tbsp. ground flax seed mixed with 3 tbsp. water. These are so delicious, soft, cinnamon-y and chocolate-y. I love making cookies because they are so easy to make and were perfect on a wintry night. Chris and I loved these and it made about 18 cookies total, it says it makes 2 dozen but I tend to make larger cookies. The website has a lot of the "in a jar" recipes that would be perfect for gift giving and they are easily veganized. I used walnuts, what I happened to have on hand. I love pecans but I just used the last of them up in the whole wheat pancakes Chris and I had for breakfast. Feel free to use your favorite nuts in this recipe if you make it, and I always use vegetable shortening in cookies because it tends to have the best baked result, again use butter or margarine if that is what you prefer.

Granola three ways

2010-01-29T20:33:00.000-08:00

I saw this recipe from Not Derby Pie for Tahini flavored granola and I knew that I wanted to try it out imediately. I have been on a granola kick lately. Chris and I like to eat it right from the container as snacks, as cereal with milk and I love mixing it with vanilla yogurt. MMM, granola.

I also decided to make some Granola Muffins, from
this recipe . I replaced the egg with "flax seed goop" (1 tbsp. ground flax seeds blended with 3 tbsp. water) and these were so amazing that I have made them twice now ;) I also threw in about 1 tsp. vanilla. I also used the same recipe to make the pancakes, although I used 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder instead of soda. I recommend making these (pancakes or muffins) with the same measurement of baking powder instead of soda, made with the soda the muffins have a slightly bitter aftertaste. In the future I will use less sugar, maybe 1/4 cup for the pancakes. I used homemade Ener-G and I am very pleased with the results in these muffins (in photo) with it. Definitely a money saver, Ener-G can be costly and the ingredients can be purchased for very cheap at an Asian Grocer.

Ener-G Type Egg Replacer

Chef Deborah Wolfe of Vegsource

1 cup potato starch
3/4 cup tapioca flour
2 tsp. baking powder

Mix all well.
Store in airtight container.

To use:
1 & 1/2 tsp powder + 2 Tbs water = 1 egg.
1 & 1/2 tsp powder + 1 Tbs water = 1 egg yolk.

When measuring, press powder firmly into measuring
spoon.

Lentil Loaf

2010-01-21T18:05:00.000-08:00

After seeing a picture of this loaf that Danaskully64 of Veggieboards made, I knew I had to try it out. I made mine from this recipe (this is the same one she posted) and I decided to make some mushroom gravy to go with it from this recipe and I added some one onion, chopped and sauteed in oil (along with the 'shrooms) to my gravy. I also made Roasted Rosemary Potatoes and Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

The loaf is relatively easy to get out of the pan. I forgot to add basil to mine, and as recommended by Tofu and Sprouts, I cooked my lentils in vegetable broth. I think it is a good, inexpensive recipe that is very easy to make, even during the week. Christopher loved this loaf. I want to make it again with BBQ sauce instead of the tomato sauce, as recommended by Danaskully64 and a lot of the reviewers. I did saute my onion and added a shredded carrot, sauteed to the mix. Definitely try out the mushroom gravy, I think it went well with the Lentil Loaf, and it would be good also on mashed potatoes.

Here is a close up of the Lentil Loaf and Mushroom-Onion Gravy

Here is the plated food

Here is the loaf

Flax Seed Sandwich Bread

2010-01-21T07:15:00.000-08:00

I decided to make this for sandwiches instead of getting some sandwich bread from the grocery store. I love PB and J's and I wanted a good, sturdy yet soft bread that I could cut thin and would stay soft. I based this recipe off of this one , just subbing the tomato sauce for applesauce, and omitting the herbs. I added some milled flax seed in place of some of the flour. You can find this in the baking aisle near the wheat gluten flour, or if you cannot find it and you have whole flax seeds you can grind your own in a spice/coffee grinder. Make sure that you have a separate grinder for spices and coffee. Keep the box of ground flax seed in the fridge once opened so it doesn't go rancid. Ground flax seed plus water blended in the blender can be used as an egg replacement.

Flax Seed Sandwich Bread
Ingredients:

1 cup applesauce
1/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoons powdered milk
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon corn syrup OR sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup ground flax seed (if you cannot find this, you can just use another 1/2 cup AP flour)
1 package active dry yeast

Mix the warm water, powdered mix, yeast and sugar OR corn syrup in a large bowl, set aside to proof for about 5 minutes.

Add oil, salt and applesauce, stir to incorporate.

Add flax seed powder and 2 cups flour, stir well to incorporate, and turn onto floured board.

Knead in the last 1/2 cup flour, adding additional flour as necessary.

Knead about 5 minutes, dough should be soft but not sticky. Cover until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down.

Oil a bread loaf pan, place your dough into it. Cover with a clean tea towel and let rise for about 1 1/2 more hours, or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place bread in oven, cook 30-45 minutes or until lightly browned on top and bread sounds hollow when tapped.

Cool and enjoy.

Bread rising

Baked bread, and that is my Tinkerbell Oven Glove ;)

Udon Noodles with Spicy Peanut Ginger Sauce

2010-01-18T15:39:00.000-08:00

I was looking online for udon noodle recipes that were spicy and I came upon this recipe , I am making it however without meat and using tofu instead, I also had no bean sprouts so I also left them out, along with the chili oil, which I subbed out with some garlic pepper sauce. I subbed out the almond butter for peanut butter and left out the vinegar. It is spicy, with a hint of ginger. I really enjoyed it. Here is the recipe that I made....

Udon Noodles with Spicy Peanut Ginger Sauce

2 sleeves prepared udon noodles
1 tbsp. garlic pepper sauce
4 tbsp. teriyaki sauce
1 lime, juiced (one tbsp.)
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. sesame seed oil
2 tsp. dry ginger
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. sesame seed oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, shredded
2 cups Napa cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 Tbs sesame seeds

Combine ingredients from Teriyaki Sauce to crushed red pepper in a small bowl.
Cook 2 sleeves udon in boiling water for 8 minutes, drain and rinse with cold water.
Combine sesame seed oil and vegetable oil.
If you happen to have some tofu, cut into triangles and cook on medium until browned on both sides.

Saute garlic cloves in oil mixture

Add your carrots and the Napa cabbage, stir fry on medium high until lightly wilted.
Add your noodles.

Mix in sauce and half of the chopped cilantro.
Serve with tofu and garnish with remaining cilantro and sesame seeds.

Cheap-o Night: Homemade Tomato Basil Sauce with Penne and Tomato Basil Bread

2010-01-17T17:28:00.000-08:00

Chris loves this bread but I have only made it once for him. The time we had it before we loved it so much we vowed to not make it again, it is that good. We kept nibbling on it all night. As a surprise and because we happen to have the ingredients on hand I made it again. I did not have dried onion flakes so I made mine with onion powder, and I used fresh basil as I did not have dried on hand. To make vegan, use powdered soy milk or go with 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp warm soy milk (leave out the water if you go with this option). I used a whole package of yeast in this recipe and hand kneaded it. That means I let it rise the first time 1 1/2 hours and 1-1 1/2 hours once it is in the bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees F until loaf is golden and sounds hollowed when tapped.

I think that I have mentioned this recipe for Tomato Basil Pizza Sauce and I liked it so much I decided to make it again for pasta. I used 16 ounces of tomato sauce instead of the diced tomatoes, also I added oregano and sugar to my recipe. I doubled the recipe to use later in the week for more pasta and pizza ;)

Totally cheap and homemade, with fresh ingredients....Italian Night. From scratch and you probably have all of these ingredients laying around your home and it doesn't taste "cheap". Enjoy!

Gorgonzola, Mushroom and Carmelized Onion Pizza

2010-01-16T15:27:00.000-08:00

I based the pizza sauce off of this recipe being that I had no canned tomatoes, I used some tomato sauce (16 ounces) instead and I threw in maybe a teaspoon of sugar and about 1/2 tsp. dried oregano.

I used my regular pizza dough that I always use when making a pizza

3 cups all purpose white flour OR 1 cup whole wheat flour and 2 cups AP white flour
1 Pkg. yeast either fast rise or regular
1 cup warm water (110 degrees or warm to touch)
1 tbsp. applesauce OR 1 tbsp. olive oil (I always use the oil, it works just as well with the applesauce though)
1 tsp. sugar OR 1 tbsp. corn syrup OR 1 tbsp. golden syrup
1 tsp. salt

Place water, salt, sweetener of choice and yeast in large bowl. It will proof in about 5 minutes.
Add oil.
Add 2 cups flour and mix.
Add the rest of the flour, mix and turn onto floured board, adding additional flour if necessary.
Knead 5-10 minutes.
Cover with bowl, let rise at least 30 minutes to one hour or until doubled in bulk. It will hold an indention of your thumb if doubled in bulk.
Punch dough down, and roll out in oiled pizza pan.
Cover for about 30 minutes with clean tea towel or you can skip this step however the crust will be very thin.

Cut up 2 medium onions into very thin slices. Saute in a pot over medium heat about 15-20 minutes in about 2 tbsp. oil until fragrant and slightly brown. Set aside.

Place tomato sauce (however much you like) on rolled out pizza that has risen covered, for 30 minutes. Top with 1 pkg. (or 2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese (I used 2%), your caramelized onions, about 1/4-1/3 cup Gorgonzola cheese, and maybe 4 ounces sliced mushrooms. Bake at 425 degrees F for about 10-15 minutes until cheese is slightly brown and bubbly and bottom crust is golden brown. Enjoy. I think this is the best pizza I have ever had.

Pre-baked Pizza

Baked Pizza, if you can wait 5-10 minutes it will cut better.

Avocado Spring Rolls and Green (Tea) Bubble Tea

2010-01-13T16:48:00.000-08:00

I bought two avocados from Tan-A-Supermarket ( the local Asian grocer) thinking that I would use them up in TLAT'S but the boy says that he is tired of them (I know, GASP!) so what to do...We came up with this recipe and I realize that this is not a new idea, so here is our version of it.

Avocado Spring Rolls

1/2-1 avocado cut in half, then into thin strips
6-12 rice paper wrappers (however many you want to make)
one mango, cored and peeled, cut into thin strips or pineapple chunks or mandarin oranges
1 "flat" rice vermicelli, cooked for 3 minutes in boiling water (don't cook any longer than this or they will be overdone)
spring onion tops
bean sprouts
shredded Napa cabbage (I forgot to use this)
cilantro or mint
sesame seeds
honey or agave nectar
ground ginger
Sriracha

Mix the honey, ginger and Sriracha to make a sauce to your tastes. Soak the rice paper one or two at a time and place on cutting board. Start with avocado, adding fruit of choice, spring onion, mint or cilantro, bean sprouts, Napa cabbage then rice vermicelli. Roll up bean burrito style. Repeat. I get my husband to do this ;) When the rolls have all been "packaged" drizzle with the honey mixture and sprinkle with seeds.

I think that I remember saying in a previous post that I had happened upon some Green Tea Boba Milk Powder (Greenmax brand) and Green Tea Pearls at Tan-A. I boiled up the pearls and made some sugar syrup today. BTW, watch what links you click when (or if) you look up Greenmax, I got a terrible spyware attack on this computer because of a link I clicked in connection to that search.

Here is the recipe that I used for the sugar syrup

Sugar Syrup

1 cup EACH brown sugar and white sugar
2 cups water
Mix sugars and the water in a medium saucepan. Cook at medium to high heat. Once the sugar water boils remove from heat immediately. Let cool and refrigerate leftovers.

How to cook green tea

4 regular bags per quart of tea
Place tea bags in water, bring to the point that small bubbles are coming to the surface over medium to medium high heat. Let cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat immediately. Place a layer of ice at the bottom of a heat proof storage container, pour tea over this. Rinse out tea bags with additional cold water. Chill.

How to cook the Pearls

I thought that I would mention this because my bag of pearls actually says that it cooks in 5 minutes. Well that is and isn't true at the same time. What I did was place 8 cups water and 1 cup pearls in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil. Once the pearls float to the top (and this may take a bit of time) turn heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes. Then take the pearls off the heat. They are not done yet. Cover your pot with the lid for about 20 minutes. They should be chewy but not hard. Cover with sugar syrup or sweetener of choice.

Green Tea Bubble Tea
2 tbsp. Green Tea Boba Milk Tea Mix
2 tbsp. cooked pearls
sugar syrup to taste
2 tbsp. Non-Dairy Creamer
1&1/2 cups chilled green tea

Blend the creamer and milk powder together in a small bowl to combine. Place all into your blender (except pearls, add those to your finished drink). Blend until smooth. I tried to make an icy version but my dying blender BROKE. Sadness..... :*(
I made mine with a stick blender. In any case, the above drink is awesome. Highly recommended. If you can find the Green Tea Pearls, get them. You can really taste a faint green tea taste and I like them better than the plain ones. Chris actually thought that they were peas, LOL.

Thai Tea and BBQ Tofu Vermicelli

2010-01-11T21:10:00.000-08:00

I love Vietnamese food. Heart healthy, cheap and so very easy to make. Hit up the local Asian Grocer for the very best deals on fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh herbs, tofu, soy milk, sauces, spices, noodles, bamboo steamers, kitchen items, rice, candy, snacks (ooh Wasabi Peas) meat (if you are a meat eater), mock meat, tea, etc. All kinds of goodies there. I even got some Boba Milk Tea powder (green tea, and they also had black tea) there (more about that in upcoming posts) and Green Tea flavored Boba Pearls. But I digress, back to the foods at hand.

The BBQ tofu vermicelli bowl is what I get when I go to Pho. It is exactly what it sounds like, noodles and BBQ'd tofu. It has shredded romaine lettuce, bean sprouts and thinly sliced cucumber matchsticks as a salad in the middle of the noodle bowl (I threw in some carrots for extra crunch and color, maybe that is why I forgot the cucumber, oops). To serve it comes with Peanut Sauce. To me this recipe tastes better than the sauce that I get from Pho. Please do not overcook your rice vermicelli. It only needs to cook 3 minutes once it hits the boiling water. That's all, and if you cook it longer it will get chewy and not taste good. For that beautiful tofu, all I did was brush it with hoisin sauce on both sides and grill on my George Foreman grill. Here is the recipe that I used to make the Thai Tea it is the cold Thai Tea,Cha Yen. It is subtle and delicious. I made mine with skim milk and fat free sweetened condensed milk. I may add additional spices such as cinnamon to the next batch. You won't believe the beautiful color of this tea. I actually got a huge packet of Thai Tea from the Asian grocer ( Tan-A-Supermarket for those of you that live here in Richmond, VA and yes that is an old Rite-Aid building) for about $3.00. I will have a picture of that for you soon. I would love to go to Thailand and drink it right out of the bag...yes they really serve it to you like that....

Took a picture for you before I drizzled it with Sriracha, Hoisin Sauce and Peanut Sauce and I forgot my cucumbers and my Pho bowl is currently holding watercress. I am pleased, although I would have liked the tofu to be a bit crispier.

Little Wieners to love.....

2010-01-11T20:43:00.000-08:00

Smokey Little Wieners and the people who love them on the next Geraldo....LOL, just kidding. Seriously though, these cocktail wienies rock. When I found this recipe for Little Wieners, I knew I had to try it. It is a recipe for "cocktail wieners" or "Lil' Smokies". I finally made it today, and it was fairly simple to make. I also made the BBQ sauce to go with the little wienies which was very hot and spicy, Chris loved these recipes and he kept saying how hot the sauce was but he kept coming back for more ;P I think that I will cut back on some of the heat of this BBQ sauce the next time that I make it. The most tedious part of the recipe is actually rolling the little wieners up, candy style, in aluminum foil. I love that the seitan is steamed in this recipe and the texture is better than most homemade seitans that I have made. I know that I will make this recipe again, and make the other seitan goodies listed on the website, including the brats. I don't think that I will be buying any pre-made wienies anymore. While I worked on these recipes, I helped Chris make some spring rolls and I made some Vietnamese Peanut Dipping Sauce which IMO is so much better tasting than the sauce you get at Pho. We used bean sprouts, napa cabbage, shredded carrots, green onion, rice vermicelli, mint and cilantro in our spring rolls however use what you like. More on those in posts later on this week including photos.

Saucy spicy goodness.

Black Bean Brownies

2010-01-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

Black Bean Brownies? Brownies with beans in them? Are you serious? Why yes, yes I am. I have been meaning to make these for a long time and what made me think of them was Chris telling me about Jessica Seinfeld's book with all low-fat recipes, including sweets. While looking around on the internet, I found this recipe which had a lot of positive feedback. I noticed that it had some flour added to it, which ultimately made me choose this one, since most of the others did not have flour and a lot of feedback was of "pudding" brownies. However, it does seem to be half of the people either hating or loving the recipe (and some of them say they can taste the beans). Kind of like durian, I suppose...I tried that once and I couldn't get past the smell.....If you have tried it you will understand why there is a $500.00 fine for having one in a hotel in Asia. Here is an interesting read about durian on Wiki ....look at all the different things said about it's taste.....LOL. Like I said, either you love or hate it.

Andrew Zimmern hates it, and Anthony Bourdain loves it. So is this the "durian" of brownies, maybe. And will you be an Zimmern or a Bourdain...Who knows? Just like your mother always said "You never know until you try".Can be vegan-ized with some applesauce or other egg replacer. I am thinking about making a pan and sending it to my MIL, but making it as the original recipe was written, without the flour in it since she is diabetic and with Splenda instead of sugar. But I digress....Here is the recipe.

Black Bean Brownies

1 15 ounce can black beans, drained, rinsed and patted dry
3 large eggs
3 tbsp. oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used 2 tsp.)
1/2 tsp. baking powder ( I used 1 tsp.)
1/2 cup AP flour
pinch salt
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract (optional, but I think it tastes best with the peppermint extract)
1/2 cup chocolate chips, divided (I just sprinkled some on top of the cake/brownies)
I added 1 tbsp. instant coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp. hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8"x8" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Place the black beans into a food processor, and process until smooth and creamy. Add eggs, oil, sugar, cocoa, vanilla, baking powder, flour, salt and peppermint (if using). Add 1/4 cup of the chocolate chips, pulse to chop up and distribute evenly. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle top with the remaining chocolate chips. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until the edges start to pull away from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan before slicing. Slice into 16 brownies.

Each brownie contains 120 calories, 5g fat (1.5g saturated, 0.3g omega-3), 95mg sodium, 18g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 3g protein.

Made the way I made this, it turned out more like a cake. A good cake. A cake that I would make again. Chris and I both enjoyed it, and we ate it slightly warm. However, I will try it again without the flour, and again with 1/2 tsp. baking powder and flour as written. Chris had another piece this morning, and the verdict is it tastes a bit better warm but still delicious cold.

Pumpkin Gorgonzola and Mushroom Pasta

2010-01-08T15:32:00.000-08:00

If you have never had Gorgonzola, you should go get some now! Here is an interesting read on Wiki , basically a blue cheese made from goat's or cow's milk, from Italy. Can you hear me saying "I love-a da stinky cheese?"....anyways......

I have used it in the watercress salad and now I am going to use it in a Pumpkin Gorgonzola Sauce. It is a blue cheese, but with a milder flavor, it is not "in your face" with its taste. Blue, but not shockingly blue cheese flavor, if that makes sense. I have made this recipe before, however that was when I was a vegan and made a mock Gorgonzola Cheese. Rich creamy pumpkin sauce with undertones of sage and thyme, caramelized onions, mushrooms and creamy Gorgonzola cheese. You cannot go wrong with this flavor combination. It is very flavorful, I used this recipe ....I think that I would have liked it a lot more if I had fresh herbs and I used a lot more milk in mine, and I used skim milk instead of cream, and I added some dried thyme. Good flavor combination made even better by some tempeh bacon on top. Not a healthy post here by any means.

Pumpkin Spice Granola

2010-01-08T09:25:00.000-08:00

When I found this recipe , I knew I had to make it. Spicy Pumpkin Granola is one of my favorite cereals and I have not had it in so long and besides, I love pumpkin anything. I was not sure that it would work out for me because my previous attempts to make Pumpkin Granola at home ended in failure, but then I am a much better cook now. I made this recipe last night and added in some Craisins that I happened to have in the house. It is very easy to make and I highly recommend it. I love the fact that this granola has no added fat (like oil or butter) in the actual recipe. I don't think that it needs any nuts but feel free to add them if you make it. I had mine with some vanilla yogurt this morning and it was delicious. Crunchy, slightly sweet and just sweet enough at the same time, and heart healthy. I didn't place it on parchment paper and it didn't stick. I know that you are all envying my Hello Kitty bowl =^ ^= If you have no Pumpkin Pie Spice, make your own

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Ingredients:

* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients. If you make extra, store in an airtight container.

Roasted Vegetable Night

2010-01-07T15:18:00.000-08:00

I love, love, love to make these....Crispy Potatoes with Rosemary, Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Maple Glazed Carrots and Onions...Simple comfort food on a cold winter night to warm me up. I recently discovered that I didn't hate Brussels Sprouts as much as I once thought, they are almost "nutty" tasting made this way and we always have Brussels Sprouts in the freezer. I think that I was scared away by these tiny cabbages because my mom used to just boil them up and expect me to eat them and they are disgusting like that. I used to think they were little stinky cabbages of doom.This is probably what I looked like :

Surprisingly I loved "fried cabbage". Go figure. I guess that is the southern coming out in me. I guess I have a more adult palette now because instead of eating the roasted potatoes with Ketchup, I like to eat my roasted potatoes with Sriracha..

LOL. I call it Asian Ketchup ;)

Roasted Carrots and Onions with Maple Syrup

1/2 medium-large onion cut into slivers
1/2 pound-1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into very small chunks
2-3 tbsp. maple syrup
1/2-1 tsp. onion powder or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1/4-1/2 tsp. garlic powder (or to taste)
1/2-1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
1/2-1 tbsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Toss all ingredients to coat, cook in a square baking dish.
Bake about 30-45 minutes or until tender and onions are starting to char, stirring frequently.

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

2-4 large potatoes (I use Russet, but use your faves) scrubbed and chopped in large chunks
rosemary (dried) to taste
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
Toss all ingredients on a large baking sheet to coat with your hands. Cook at 400-425 degrees F, for about 30-45 minutes. Flip once to brown on both sides.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

1 frozen package (individually frozen) Brussels Sprouts (12-16 ounces) or 1 pound fresh cleaned
1-2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
Toss all ingredients to coat, and cook at 400 degrees F until outside leaves are slightly charred (about 30-45 minutes). I usually cook mine in a square metal baking dish. Fresh is definitely better.

Udon with Tofu and Baby Bok Choy from Little Chef and I

2010-01-06T14:56:00.000-08:00

I found this website Little Chef and I while looking for a recipe including baby bok choy. While you are on her webpage, check out her other recipes. Wonderful recipes and step by step instructions. This recipe inspired me to go to the Tan-A-Supermarket and get ingredients for this recipe and others. I love the Asian Grocer because they have the the best prices on fresh veggies, tofu, spices, condiments....I wish I still lived in the West End of my city so I could shop there more often. I digress. Anyhow, this recipe is delicious, the udon noodles soak up the sauce and are so flavorful and baby bok choy is one of my favorite cabbages. It is also known as snow or Chinese cabbage. The only thing I did different was to use two packs of udon noodles, one package did not seem like enough to me. For such a small amount of ingredients, this recipe packs a wallop in the taste department. Slightly hot.

Steamy goodness......

Feel the love.......

Veg McMuffin

2010-01-05T09:24:00.000-08:00

Chris says that he likes these better than any meat laden breakfast sandwich, and he loves the tofu and actually prefers it to eggs on this sandwich. I have been making this for years and you can use your veggie meat of choice. I have made it with "bacon", "ham", "sausage", etc. I think that I like Lightlife's Gimmie Lean Sausage the best. It reminds me of the "back in da day" breakfast sandwiches from take out as its name implies. This sandwich really tastes the best when you have a toasted bagel or English Muffin. However, this morning I have no Gimmie Lean or English Muffins/bagels for that matter (sigh), so I think that I will be trying this with the tempeh bacon recipe that I used for the TLAT's and some Flax Bread, toasted. I usually thinly slice the tofu, and use two thin slices per sandwich. I also sprinkle the tofu slices with a little Nutritional Yeast while it is cooking. While it wasn't as good made the way I like it, it was still mighty tasty and the boy is envious since he is at work and didn't get one ;) And I know you are all jealous of my vintage Beauty and the Beast plate it is on :P

Veg McMuffin

1/2" slice of firm FRESH Tofu (not previously frozen)
1 slice veg*n ham (Yves, LightLife, etc)
1 or 2 slices veg cheddar cheeze
Pan spray
A little margarine or vegetable oil
1 English muffin, sliced and toasted
Salt and pepper

Spray a heavy frying pan with pan spray.
Add a bit of margarine or oil, and heat over medium heat.
Fry Tofu on both sides until lightly browned.
At the same time, fry ham slice.
Top ham slice with cheeze, and let it melt slightly.
Put Tofu on bottom half of muffin.
Top Tofu with ham and cheeze.
Season with salt and pepper.
Put on top half of muffin.
Serve immediately.

On an English Muffin with Gimmie Lean Sausage and a Winnie the Pooh Plate :)

Chocolate Mint Crackle Cookies

2010-01-04T20:34:00.000-08:00

I originally made these cookies around Christmas, and I made some tonight. I like that it makes a small batch of cookies. I love how soft they are, almost cake-like and how easy they are to make.Your whole kitchen will smell like chocolate-minty goodness. I didn't chill my dough either time I made these cookies, although I should have, the dough is very sticky and I bake mine at 350 degrees F. I made mine with regular cocoa and they are still heavenly. And by the way, check out the rest of Isabelle's posts. Wonderful recipes, beautiful photographs.

Chocolate-Mint Crinkle Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, pref Dutch-process
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1 tsp peppermint extract
1/4 cup icing sugar

In a large metal mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Using fingers, rub in the butter until evenly distributed throughout. Add eggs and peppermint extract, and stir until a thick dough comes together. Chill dough in the refrigerator until firm, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using a spoon or a melon baller, scoop out teaspoon-sized balls of dough. Pour the icing sugar into a small mixing bowl and add the dough balls, 2-3 at a time, rolling around to coat evenly with sugar.
Arrange the icing-sugar coated balls 2" apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until cookies are just set and have evenly crackled tops.

Tempeh Bacon from scratch.....

2010-01-04T18:46:00.000-08:00

I am a total skeptic when it comes to making this..I love the Lightlife Fakin' Bacon...Crunchy, smoky goodness perfect for the BLT I have been craving, which is pretty special since I make Celine's Pumpkin Bread special for it and I realized that I had forgotten both my tofu and the before mentioned Fakin'Bacon at the store, however I *did* have plain tempeh at the house. This recipe looks good......I added maybe a tablespoon of maple syrup to this recipe. I didn't let the fact that I did not have Ancho chili powder stop me, I just used regular chili powder. I did not get 20 slices, maybe about 14-15 but all very thin, and I marinated it overnight. I actually marinated for about 2 days actually and instead of baking the bacon, I fried mine in a little olive oil. The boy loves it, it tastes close to Lightlife Fakin' Bacon.... The sandwich is Fakin' Bacon, mayonnaise, lettuce of choice, thinly sliced avocado and thinly sliced tomato. TLAT's as we call them around here.

The "bacon" marinating...

The sammich o' goodness...

Watercress Salad

2010-01-04T17:24:00.000-08:00

I picked up some watercress on a whim over the weekend from the Asian grocer (more posts to come from that visit) and came home and found
this wonderful recipe to use some of it on. I say "some" because you get a ton of it. It comes in a small "butcher pack" and it looks like a very small amount but it was enough to fill up my Pho noodle bowl. My earliest memories of watercress was eating some wild out of my grandma's yard. It has a peppery bite to it, spicy and a little heat not unlike horseradish. This salad has romaine, watercress, walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese. The dressing uses Gorgonzola cheese, fresh basil, olive oil, basalmic vinegar....It is supposed to be a clone recipe from California Pizza Kitchen, however I have never been to one. This is one of the best salads I have ever had, and I think that the only thing that would make it better is to have some thinly sliced Granny Smith apple or dried cranberries added to it.

California Pizza Kitchen Romaine-Watercress Salad W/ Balsamic-Basil Vinaigrette

Balsamic-Basil Vinaigrette

* 8 large fresh basil leaves
* 6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 1/4 lb gorgonzola, crumbled
* 3/4 cup olive oil, mild flavored

Romaine-Watercress Salad

* 1 head romaine lettuce, cleaned and chopped
* 1 bunch watercress, cleaned and cut bite-size
* 8 ounces gorgonzola, crumbled
* 2 cups walnuts, shelled halves

In a blender, process basil, gorgonzola and vinegar. Then, on a slower speed, blend in oil briefly. Set aside in refrigerator to chill. Later, in a large mixing bowl, combine the greens. Add dressing and toss to coat all leaves. Transfer the dressed greens to several chilled serving plates. Top each with equal amounts of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese and walnuts.

Banana Cranberry Cereal Muffins

2009-10-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

Are your taste buds salivating yet? I found
Cereal Muffins and decided to make these as I have some bananas to use up. Cinnamon, brown sugar, cranberries, Cheerios, bananas....These smell so good cooking, and they were so soft, the cranberries complement the banana-cinnamon flavor. Great for grab and go mornings. As stated in the recipe use whatever cereal you have on hand. I think that these would be also good made as Pumpkin-Cranberry (Pumpkin replacing the banana), Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip, Banana-Chocolate Chip or Apple-Raisin(applesauce instead of the banana).

Here are some bonus pix of my male bunny, Stitch. He is a Netherland Dwarf and his color is otter.

Spinach-Feta Fatayer

2009-05-05T23:37:00.001-07:00

I used this recipe Spinach Fatayer and I made mine with a half of a (large) bag of frozen chopped spinach, 1.5 small chopped onion, sauteed on medium low until soft, then cook the spinach in with this, add salt and pepper and I threw in about 1/2 tbsp. of sumac and I also doubled the recipe. After I let this cool I added maybe 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (or you can leave it out). You can make them small like the recipe states or make them larger. They were really good, I will try them with a different dough recipe next time and maybe some vinegar instead of the lemon juice, but overall the filling is great. They are really good, but not like the ones I am used to buying at the Mediterranean Deli, the dough is more like pastry dough in this recipe, stay tuned as I try out different recipes :)

Ingredients:

For the Dough:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
For the Spinach Filling:
1/2 pound fresh spinach, finely chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/8 teaspoon ground sumac

Preparation:

In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Add oil and begin to knead dough. Once oil is absorbed, add warm water. Knead into an elastic dough.

Shape dough into 2 inch diameter balls. Cover and set aside.

Preheat over to 425 degrees.

Wash spinach and soak spinach in salted water while you chop vegetables. Rinse spinach and dry thoroughly with paper towel.

Combine and toss filling ingredients.

Place 2 teaspoons of filling in the center of each ball of dough. Cover filling with dough and form into triangular shape.

Bake for 10-15 on greased baking sheet, until golden brown.

Allow to cool 5 minutes and serve immediately.

Olivia's "To Die For" Chocolate Chip Cookies!

2009-04-25T02:20:00.001-07:00

Olivia's "To Die For" Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup Smart Balance Light (or regular Earth Balance will work fine too)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 heaping Tbsp. flax meal
1 heaping Tbsp. Ener-G egg replacer powder
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups vegan chocolate chips (Guittard is my favorite)

1.) Preheat oven to 375 F.

2.) In a small bowl, mix soy milk VERY WELL (until creamy) with Ener-G egg replacer and flax meal using an electric mixer or hand (immersion) blender. Set aside.

3.) In another bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Set Aside.

4.) In a large bowl, cream together coconut oil, Smart Balance and sugars. Add soy/flax mixture and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer until smooth.

5.) Gradually add flour mixture to liquids. Stir in chocolate chips.

6.) Drop by well rounded teaspoonfulls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 - 10 min. until lightly golden. (Can also be made into bar cookies in 9 X 12 pan)

I found this from an old post on www.veggieboards.com from Tofu and Sprouts, her daughter made these up for her with ingredients they had on hand! They are some of the best vegan cookies I have ever tasted, not oily at all and soft, they don't stick to the pan and the dough is the right consistency, they are perfect and I am thinking about trying these made into PB cookies also. I made mine with 1/2 tbsp. milled flax seed, I made mine with 1 cup chocolate chips and baked at 350 degrees F but those are the only things I did different. Olivia, you rock! The family all loved these, BTW.

Maple Wheat Rolls

2009-04-25T02:11:00.000-07:00

Made these for the family, we are having a get together tomorrow evening, here is the recipe, but I make mine with 1/4 maple syrup and I used olive oil instead of canola and I cook them at 350 degrees F. Don't put them in a small pan, roll up and place on a greased cookie sheet or pizza pan with plenty of room to rise. They are not completely whole wheat, but they are the softest, best bread I have ever tasted and I always make these for special occasions.

Maple Wheat Rolls

1 1/2 cups warm water
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 pkg. dry yeast
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups white flour
Oil for brushing
• Combine the water and maple syrup in a large bowl. Add the yeast and stir to dissolve. Cover with a towel and let sit until bubbly.
• Add the canola oil, whole wheat flour, and salt, mixing well. Knead on a well-floured surface and gradually incorporate the white flour. The dough will be slightly sticky.
• Cover with a bowl until doubled in size, about 30 to 60 minutes. Roll into 12 to 16 biscuits. Place on an oiled pan and brush the tops with oil. Let rise.
• Bake at 400°F for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.

Tofu Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan)

2008-04-03T23:09:00.000-07:00

I used this recipe to make these wonderful cookies...chewy and soft, just like bakery cookies and vegan also :)I was trying to find a recipe that was like a local bakery's recipe (Ellwood Thompson's) and this comes very close. Now I will give the rest of the cookies a good home with my neighbors. It calls for silken tofu, or you could also use soft tofu.

Also I wanted to share with you my recipe for calzones, while not vegan, tastes just as good without the added feta or can of course be made with vegan mozzarella.

Dough

1 cup warm water
1 pkg instant yeast
1 tsp. sugar or 1 tbsp corn syrup, molasses, king syrup or honey
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour or AP flour

Place water, yeast and sweetener of choice in large mixing bowl, let sit for 5 minutes for yeast to bloom. Add 1 cup wheat flour, stir. Stir in one cup AP or bread flour, stir to combine, mixing with hands if necessary. Turn out onto floured board, kneading in additional flour as needed, until elastic about 5 minutes. Set aside and cover with bowl until doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes-1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Filling

1 pkg. (14 oz.) soft tofu or 12 ounces silken tofu, mashed
12 ounces thawed and drained frozen chopped spinach
garlic and onion powder to taste
Italian Seasonings to taste
1/2 diced onion, cooked in a little olive oil until tender
4 ounces crumbled feta cheese or shredded mozzarella
Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl.

Divide dough into 4 equal portions, roll out into 1/4" thickness, divide filling into 4 equal portions, seal each calzone and bake 25-30 minutes, until browned.

sauce
1 8 ounce can Hunt's Basil and Garlic sauce, warmed
1-2 tsp. sugar to cut acidity

One final recipe to share to today is a Chai Latte Recipe from Chef Deborah Wolfe of Vegsource. Delicious!

Chai Latte
3-4 chai tea bags cooked over very low heat in 1 cup soy milk (or other "milk" of choice)for about 5 minutes
1/4 cup powdered soy milk beverage
1-3 ice cubes
1-3 tbsp. sugar or other sweetener

Top off milk to come back up to one cup. Cool in fridge overnight. Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. ENJOY!!!!

Greek Pizza

2008-03-23T22:25:00.000-07:00

I am surprised that I haven't posted this recipe before because it is something that I love to make and it is my best pizza. This dough also makes a very nice slicing bread. To make into slicing bread, follow directions, let rise for the 1-1.5 hours, punch down, fit into oiled bread loaf pan, cover and let rise for about another 1-1.5 hours until doubled in bulk. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and cook around 30-45 minutes until golden and dough sounds hollow when tapped.

For the crust
1 cup warm water (105-110 degrees F)
1 pkg. instant yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. molasses, honey, corn syrup or golden syrup OR 1 tsp. sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2-2 cups bread flour

Place water in large mixing bowl, add sweetener of choice and yeast. Set aside for 5 minutes, then add oil and salt. Stir. Add 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup bread flour. Stir to mix and turn out onto floured board, adding the remaining flour as needed. Knead for about 2-5 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Cover with mixing bowl for 1-1.5 hours or until doubled in bulk. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Roll out dough to fit an oiled pan, use a cookie sheet or pizza pan. If you use a small cookie sheet the dough will be really puffy and stay very soft. Cover with a tea towel for about 20-30 to rise one more time.

For the toppings (I never measure anything for this pizza beyond the crust recipe so use to taste or to cover crust)
1/4-1/2 cup Alfredo sauce
Italian seasonings, onion and garlic powder, parsley and red pepper flakes to taste
sliced or shredded fresh mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
sliced red onions, Roma tomatoes, red onions and sliced button mushrooms
crumbled feta or goat cheese
defrosted and drained spinach
pitted Kalmata olives or canned pitted black olives

Layer toppings as listed and cook 10-15 minutes, or until crust is golden and cheeses melted.

Chai Cake

2008-03-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

This is my very favorite cake recipe and it comes from Chef Deborah Wolfe who has a recipe board at www.vegweb.com

Chai Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup natural sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup soy milk
8 chai tea bags (or Bengal Spice)
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup oil
Ener-G Egg Substitute for 1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grease an 8" cake pan.
In a saucepan, put soy milk gently on low heat.
Add tea bags, and simmer 15 minutes, pressing tea bags gently to extract flavor.

Wring out tea bags into soy milk. Top up with more soy milk back to 3/4 cup. Put
this flavored soy milk in fridge to cool.
In large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Combine remaining ingredients, including flavored soymilk, and add to flour
mixture.
Beat for 2 minutes. If too stiff, add a bit more soy milk.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out
dry.
Makes one 8" cake.

Here is the glaze that I use with the cake.

Chai Cake Glaze

2 tbsp/30 mL butter or margarine
1 ½ cups/375 mL powdered sugar
1 tsp/5 mL Vanilla
¼ tsp/1.2 mL Cinnamon
Reserved 2 tbsp/30mL prepared Chai Latte from cake recipe

Melt butter in 1-quart/liter saucepan over medium heat. Stir in remaining ingredients until smooth. Drizzle glaze on cake.

Orange Cranberry Pancakes with Orange Sauce (Vegan)

2007-11-17T18:26:00.000-08:00

I made this recipe and changed a few things to make it vegan. Try them, they are vegan, taste like fall and are so good.

Sauce

1 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel
1 cup orange juice
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar (I prefer less sweet)
2 tablespoons dried cranberries (optional)
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 dash ground ginger
1 1/2-2 cups plain or vanilla silk
1/4 cup applesauce
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon finely shredded orange peel

For orange sauce, combine the water and corn starch in a small bowl until it forms a slurry. Combine slurry in a small saucepan with 1 teaspoon orange peel, the orange juice, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 2 tablespoons snipped dried cranberries (if desired), and cornstarch. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and set aside.

For pancakes, in a large bowl combine the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and finely chopped cranberries.

In another bowl combine 1 1/2 soy milk, applesauce, vegetable oil, vanilla, and orange zest. Add more soy milk if batter is too thick.

Add all at once, add the wet ingredients to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be slightly lumpy). Preheat griddle to 300-325 degrees, until water "dances" on surface. For each pancake, pour about 2 tablespoons batter onto hot griddle or skillet. Use more batter for bigger pancakes. Spread batter into a circle about 2 - 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Cook over medium heat about 1-2 minutes on each side or until pancakes are golden brown, turning to cook second sides when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and edges are slightly dry. Serve with sauce.

Nutella Rum-Rums

2007-11-10T18:32:00.000-08:00

Yo, ho, ho a pirate's life for me. Why is the rum always gone? Oh that's why, they are in these cookies and I drank it LOL. Oh my gosh these are one of the best cookies ever. I based these cookies off of this recipe

1/3 cup Nutella
1/4 cup oil (mild olive oil or vegetable oil)
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp. ground flax seeds
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I actually forgot to put this in mine)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour or whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup nuts of choice, I used walnuts
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
3 tablespoons rum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Soak the cranberries in the rum while you are making the rest of the recipe.Place Nutella, oil, milk, brown and white sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Mix well. In a small bowl, combine flours, baking soda, salt and allspice. Add in small additions to the wet mixture. Add cranberries and rum, white chocolate chips and nuts of choice. You may need to add a bit more soy milk if mixture is crumbly. Spray your hands with cooking spray and form into balls. Leave plenty of room for these, they spread. Cook about 6-8 minutes or until set and crispy. Remove from pan and let cool.

Maple Nut Cookies (Vegan)

2007-11-09T10:17:00.000-08:00

When I saw a recipe for Maple Nut Cookies on cat tea corner's website I had to try it! I cut it in half and ended up with 8 cookies. These are pretty good, kinda like a pecan sandy or other shortbread type cookie. I made mine with walnuts, but I think that they would be best with pecans to make them more like pecan sandies, and I used Grade A maple syrup because that is what I had but I will look for some grade B before making these again for more maple taste. Sorry no pics but I will be making them again for a Christmas gift package so I will have pics up by then!

Spiced Whole Wheat Walnut Pancakes

2007-10-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

Wow, out of all of the pancakes I have made, this recipe by far is my favorite. I have changed the recipe a bit and it could be made completely vegan if you use something in place of the honey, like maple syrup, agave nectar, corn syrup, golden syrup, etc but I have never tried it that way......

Spiced Whole Wheat Walnut Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup applesauce
1 cup soy milk
1 tbsp regular olive oil not EVOO
1.5 tbsp honey
1/8 cup chopped walnuts or pecans or to taste....I never measure them

Honey-Cinnamon Topping

1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp margarine (LOL, never measure this one either)

1. To make Honey-Cinnamon Topping: Place a small saucepan on low heat; add honey and cinnamon; stir for 1 minute.
2. Add in butter and stir until melted; keep warm.
3. To make pancakes: In a big mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, spices, and salt; set aside.
4. In another bowl, whisk the applesauce, milk, oil, and honey together; add to the dry ingredients and mix well.
5. Fold in nuts.
6. Heat a nonstick griddle or skillet over medium-high heat.
7. Lightly brush with vegetable oil ( I find this to be unnessary)
8. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto griddle for each pancake.
9. Cook until bubbles form on the surface; flip pancake over and cook until the other side is golden.
10. Serve warm pancakes with Honey-Cinnamon Topping.

Vegan Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2007-10-18T18:23:00.001-07:00

I made these cookies today, and if you haven't tried them yet you need to !!!! So rich and chocolately, and almost brownie like, I will make these cookies again and again! They are so easy to make too, so decadent. I halfed the recipe and it made 11 cookies for me and I used regular cocoa as I didn't have dutched cocoa on hand. Rock on Isa!!!

Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon whole flax seeds
1/2 cup soymilk

2 cups all purp flour
3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grind the flax seeds on high in a blender until they become a powder. Add soymilk and blend for another 30 seconds or so. Set aside.

In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a seperate large bowl cream together oil and sugar. Add the flax seed/soy milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla.

Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. When it starts to get too stiff to mix with a spatula, use your hands until a nice stiff dough forms. Add the chocolate chips and mix with your hands again.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into a disc that's about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Variations:
For chocolate chocolate chip cherry cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with almond extract, and replace 1/2 the chocolate chips with dried cherries.

For chocolate nut cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with a nut extract (almond, walnut, what have you) and replace the chocolate chips with 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts all are good).

Ginger Schezwan Stir Fry

2007-10-14T17:58:00.000-07:00

You know when you are outrageously hungry, and you don't know what to eat, haven't planned a meal and are not sure what you have in the kitchen and you throw together a meal with the things that you have and it turns out wonderful? This is one of those times :) I looked in the freezer and a few weeks ago, I had visited the Asian grocer and they had VeriSoy Vegetarian Ginger Chicken, and looked and saw some broccoli, onions, a half container of mushrooms, onion and carrots and decided to make a stir fry. I cheated on this one, all I really did was cook up the veggies and brown rice ( made from the boil on the stove, but hey it was brown rice!) and I used a package of Schezwan Hot and Spicy stir fry sauce from Kroger, just follow the instructions on the sauce packet. Wow this is the most amazing stir fry I have ever made or had.

Banana Nut Bread and WW Oatmeal Bread

2007-10-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

This banana bread is very moist and very, very low in fat. It makes one big loaf and 6 "short" texas sized muffins. I shared with my coworkers and they loved it, wonderful way to get rid of 4 bananas that are overripe.

I also made Celine's WW Oatmeal bread and I had a PB and Jelly made out of some of the bread, not just any PB and J, it had White Chocolate Wonderful PB and Orange Marmalade, definately a grown up PB and J. Sorry, no pics of the actual sammich!

Pumpkin Bread and VEGAN Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2007-10-05T13:36:00.000-07:00

Oh hells yes. Inspired by Celine at Have Cake, Will Travel, I made her wonderful Pumpkin Bread and having 1 cup of pumpkin left over, decided to make some cookies. I used this recipe and substituted the egg with 1/4 cup applesauce (BTW, I used pumpkin puree from a can and I did not add the extra 2 tbsp. water) oh my goodness, these are so damn good. Soft, cakey, slightly spicy and chocolatey, if I make them again I may use whole wheat flour instead of the all purpose. I made sandwiches out of some of the bread and WOW!!!!! I made a kicked up BLT, that is Fakin' Bacon cooked in some EVOO, mayo, fresh Hanover tomato slices, perfectly ripe avocado slices, romaine lettuce. Wow, this is one of the best sammiches I have ever had!!!! Thanks so much for posting this bread Celine, the bread went AWESOMELY PERFECT with the sammich. I also wanted to add that I made this in a convential oven, cooked at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes and I made it with 1 pkg. yeast as Celine said, kneaded it for about 5 minutes, then let it rise 1 hour, then punch dough down, knead and place in a greased bread pan, cover with a tea towel. Let rise for another hour and place in a pre-heated oven and cook until it sounds hollow when tapped and golden. Turn out onto cooling rack, let cool before cutting.

Here is a bonus photo of my kitty! I am glad I finally got a decent picture of him, it is hard to take a good photo of him. His name is Durn and he looks a little upset, laying in the clothes basket with his ears back.

Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

2007-09-29T06:46:00.000-07:00

I made this cake, based off of this recipe and it was delicious, but not very photogenic.

Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

Cooking spray
1/3 cup fat-free caramel topping
2 cups thinly sliced peeled Granny Smith apple (about 10 ounces)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup applesauce
5 tablespoons olive oil (not extra virgin)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Drizzle caramel over bottom of pan. (Caramel will not completely cover bottom of pan.) Arrange apple slices over caramel, overlapping slices slightly.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt and baking soda in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine buttermilk and applesauce in a small bowl. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until blended. Pour batter over apple slices in prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Place a plate upside down on top of cake; invert onto plate. Serve warm.

I would add more apples, I only used 1.

Ultimate Baked Macaroni and Cheese

2007-09-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like Macaroni and Cheese to feel like comfort food. My Mom would always make hers on the stovetop with stewed tomatoes added. I like this recipe because it reminds me of hers and I love baked macaroni and cheese. I always add some reduced fat parmesan to the roux and I make this with 2% sharp cheddar cheese. I use the chopped tomatoes with basil and oregano and add some "Italian Seasonings" to the roux. I wanted to take a picture of it plated but the batteries were charging at the time. I served this with some steamed broccoli. YUM!

Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

2007-09-27T05:32:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe on Recipezaar and decided to try it....The pancakes are light and fluffy, so delicious. Not a vegan recipe, but soy milk, agave or maple syrup and egg replacer could be used to make them vegan. I had sugar free Carter's Mountain Apple Butter and Sugar Free Maple syrup with them.

I made these again and had them with apple cider syrup... very thick syrup, delicious. I made mine with apple cider instead of apple juice as the recipe states.

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

2007-09-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

These are quite possibly some of the best muffins ever. Pumpkin Apple Muffins Made these with some Fuji apples as noted, I actually had them saved from dinner at Panera Bread. I found that I needed to add soy milk to make this into a batter, and instead of using all of the different spices listed, I used about 4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice. I used to make these back in the day and I think that I used 1/2 cup egg beaters instead of the ener-g as noted and this may be why I needed so much more added liquid than what was called for in the recipe. In any case, you should make these muffins, they are so delicious and fat free too. Sweet apples, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice, how can you go wrong? LOL