Egg free
Crowd Tested Zucchini Muffins
12/12/09 Filed in: Muffins
There was a lot of motivation to make these muffins.
1. I got to use my new mandolin to shred the zucchini, and I am getting better at using it!
2. I got to use the zucchini up in the fridge before it needed to head to the compost pile.
3. I had multiple taste testers available to verify as to its yumminess. (Is that even a word?)
I love recipes that have hidden nutrition. These muffins are full of zucchini and wheat germ. They use whole grain flour and have fun things like pumpkin seeds and cranberries. But the best thing of all, they are delicious! I have brought a batch to work and made them for friends and family. Everyone really seems to enjoy their moistness and flavor; even those that shun anything that smacks of being "healthy."
If you do not have a mandolin, a simple box grater will work just fine for grating the zucchini. It takes about 2 medium sized zucchinis to accumulate 4-5 cups once shredded.
I mix this recipe in one bowl. I start with all the wet ingredients, add the zucchini, nuts and cranberries, then the spices, salt and soda. This batter is fairly wet so the flour mixes in easily at the end with a spatula or wood spoon.
I use paper liners in my muffin tims because I am lazy and I hate oiling and cleaning muffin tins (but I love muffins, go figure.) If you do not have or do not wish to use paper muffin liners, just oil your pans with a spritz of canola or oilive oil, or use a little Earth Balance in the cups.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick. Let the muffins cool in the pans for 15 minutes and then move them to a wire rack to finish the cooling process.
Ingredient List:
2/3 cup coconut oil or Earth Balance
1 cup brown sugar or raw agave syrup
2/3 cup applesauce/yogurt
2/3 cup rice/soy/hemp milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
4-5 cups grated raw zucchini
2/3 cup dried or fresh cranberries
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup raw almonds (coarsely chopped)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt/sea salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup wheat bran
2 1/3 cups spelt flour
Living a life of personal balance, moderation, education, and connection.
1. I got to use my new mandolin to shred the zucchini, and I am getting better at using it!
2. I got to use the zucchini up in the fridge before it needed to head to the compost pile.
3. I had multiple taste testers available to verify as to its yumminess. (Is that even a word?)
I love recipes that have hidden nutrition. These muffins are full of zucchini and wheat germ. They use whole grain flour and have fun things like pumpkin seeds and cranberries. But the best thing of all, they are delicious! I have brought a batch to work and made them for friends and family. Everyone really seems to enjoy their moistness and flavor; even those that shun anything that smacks of being "healthy."
If you do not have a mandolin, a simple box grater will work just fine for grating the zucchini. It takes about 2 medium sized zucchinis to accumulate 4-5 cups once shredded.
I mix this recipe in one bowl. I start with all the wet ingredients, add the zucchini, nuts and cranberries, then the spices, salt and soda. This batter is fairly wet so the flour mixes in easily at the end with a spatula or wood spoon.
I use paper liners in my muffin tims because I am lazy and I hate oiling and cleaning muffin tins (but I love muffins, go figure.) If you do not have or do not wish to use paper muffin liners, just oil your pans with a spritz of canola or oilive oil, or use a little Earth Balance in the cups.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick. Let the muffins cool in the pans for 15 minutes and then move them to a wire rack to finish the cooling process.
Ingredient List:
2/3 cup coconut oil or Earth Balance
1 cup brown sugar or raw agave syrup
2/3 cup applesauce/yogurt
2/3 cup rice/soy/hemp milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
4-5 cups grated raw zucchini
2/3 cup dried or fresh cranberries
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup raw almonds (coarsely chopped)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt/sea salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup wheat bran
2 1/3 cups spelt flour
Living a life of personal balance, moderation, education, and connection.
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Pumpkin Spice Spelt Biscuits
11/21/09 Filed in: Muffins
Biscuits definitely fall under comfort the food category. I have had a long love affair with them since childhood. Biscuits and sausage gravy was a favorite on Sunday mornings. Strawberry shortcake made with biscuits versus angel food cake are still considered the "real" thing.
I have been experiementing for awhile with baked goods and have had a lot of just okay results. I gave up dairy a couple of years ago and I miss having baked goods in my diet. Especially this time of year. I am also limiting the amount of wheat in my diet, so I am exploring this incredible world of flours that I previously never knew existed. Many of the recipes I have tried leave me wanting in either the taste or texture category. These turned out great. Even better is that they take no time to make and limited dishes and mess!
Ingredients List:
1 1/2 cups spelt flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teapoon pumpkin spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup cooked pumpkin
1/4 raw agave syrup
1/4 cup soy milk or hemp milk
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. I use a convection setting but a regular setting will do fine.
Mix your dry ingredients together. Add the coconut oil or Earth Balance and using a fork or a pastry mixer cut the oil into the flour until it is corase and crumbly. Add your wet ingredients and mix until just blended. Using a 1/4 measuring cup, scoop the dough out and place on a cookie sheet. Shape your biscuit by flattening the top down slightly.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the bottom begins to brown. Cool and serve with honey. Yum!!!!
Living a life of personal balance, moderation, education, and connection.
Jicama Salad with Avocado Dill Dressing for Meatless Monday
11/02/09 Filed in: Salads
So I have a new toy, a mandolin slicer. I purchased this over the weekend at William Sonoma. I know what you are thinking...all hoity toity shopping at William Sonoma, but it was the best quality mandolin for the the best price that I could find in our fair city. It is made by OXO Good Grips and was only $39.95.
And I have a new vegetable, the jicama (hee-ca-ma.) The jicama is a vine native to Mexico and also called a Mexican turnip. Jicama belongs to the legume family. The harevested vegetable is a tuber and can grow up to 50 pounds. It is brown and has a papery skin, while white inside resembling potato. The jicama is lightly sweet and crispy and most often used in salads. Jicama is a great source of vitamin C.
For the salad, slice all the salad veggies juliene style so that your salad will resemble slaw. I used my new toy for the jicama and the cucumber. I am still getting use to this new-fangled gadget, but I think they came out great.
The rest of the veggies I sliced the old fashioned way, with a knief. I also chose to saute my onions briefly to bring out the sweetness of the onion. (I am also carting this salad off to work and I do not want to offend the general public with any kind of onion breath.) I sectioned the grapefruit and added that at the end.
Hint: A great way to quickly slice spinach is to take a handful and roll it up like a cigar. Then just slice it with a sharp knief and it comes out beautifully.
For the dressing, just combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender. If you find the dressing too thick, add some water till you find the right consistency for your taste.
Add the two together and you have a light and refreshing salad. Enjoy!
Ingredient's list for salad:
1/2 jicama
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red pepper
2 carrots
1/2 red onion
1/2 seedless cucumber
2 cups baby spinach
1 grapefruit sectioned
Ingredients list for dressing:
1 Florida avocado or two Haas avocados
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
juice of one lime
juice of one grapefruit
pinch of salt
pepper to taste
Living a life of personal balance, moderation, education, and connection.
And I have a new vegetable, the jicama (hee-ca-ma.) The jicama is a vine native to Mexico and also called a Mexican turnip. Jicama belongs to the legume family. The harevested vegetable is a tuber and can grow up to 50 pounds. It is brown and has a papery skin, while white inside resembling potato. The jicama is lightly sweet and crispy and most often used in salads. Jicama is a great source of vitamin C.
For the salad, slice all the salad veggies juliene style so that your salad will resemble slaw. I used my new toy for the jicama and the cucumber. I am still getting use to this new-fangled gadget, but I think they came out great.
The rest of the veggies I sliced the old fashioned way, with a knief. I also chose to saute my onions briefly to bring out the sweetness of the onion. (I am also carting this salad off to work and I do not want to offend the general public with any kind of onion breath.) I sectioned the grapefruit and added that at the end.
Hint: A great way to quickly slice spinach is to take a handful and roll it up like a cigar. Then just slice it with a sharp knief and it comes out beautifully.
For the dressing, just combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender. If you find the dressing too thick, add some water till you find the right consistency for your taste.
Add the two together and you have a light and refreshing salad. Enjoy!
Ingredient's list for salad:
1/2 jicama
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red pepper
2 carrots
1/2 red onion
1/2 seedless cucumber
2 cups baby spinach
1 grapefruit sectioned
Ingredients list for dressing:
1 Florida avocado or two Haas avocados
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
juice of one lime
juice of one grapefruit
pinch of salt
pepper to taste
Living a life of personal balance, moderation, education, and connection.
Mini Pumpkin Dairy Free Muffins
10/27/09 Filed in: Muffins
Meatless Mondays posted a pumpkin muffin recipe yesterday from A Life Less Sweet and I have twisted it around to meet my twisted needs: dairy free, egg free, and refined sugar free. I have eliminated dairy from my diet. I am experiementing with an eggless existance, and I do not buy refined sugar in any form. I made a batch yesterday using stevia, but I was not in love with the after taste of the stevia (probably used too much.) Today I mixed it up again and I really like these so I thought I'd post them up for you!
I am also experimenting with flours these days so I made mine with a combination of gluten free four and spelt flour. The original recipe uses whole wheat flour and all purpose flour. Which ever you prefer.......
I also experiment with spices all the time. The first batch I used the pumkin pie spice that the recipe calls for and that was good, but this batch I used five spice, a chinese spice blend, and I liked it even better. I think it is the star anise in the five spice. If you do not have either blend use cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, etc to your taste.
Ground flaxseed and the applesauce are the egg replacer.
The dry ingredients:
1 cup gluten free flour
1/2 cup spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2-3 teaspoons five spice powder or pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoons flaxseed
1/2 teaspoon salt
The wet ingredients:
1 can pumpkin (do not substitute pumpkin pie filling)
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup applesauce (natural and unsweetened)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 24 mini muffin pan or something comparable. You can use an olive oil mister or use a small slice of vegan butter and rub in the cups.
Blend these two groups seperately. Then blend them together until the flour is all mixed in. Spoon into the muffin cups until full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool on a wire rake and enjoy!!
Living a life of personal balance, moderation, education, and connection.
Oatmeal Apple Pancakes
10/20/09 Filed in: Breakfast
Nothing makes any day feel like Sunday morning like pancakes. Indugent and comforting, pancakes hit a lot of those taste sensors that makes us grateful for slow, easy mornings. Padding around in our pj's and louging on the couch only compliment the joy of a tummy full of yummy.
This morning I was experimenting with oatmeal in an attempt to increase the nutritional content of my pancakes. They are heavier than a standard pancake, but they definitely passed the husband taste test.
Place all ingredients except the apple in a blender and mix until the oatmeal is all chopped. Slice the apple into thin pieces and set aside. Heat up a frypan on the stove with a little coating of cooking oil or vegan butter. Pour 1/2 cup of batter in the pan. Press two slices of apple in the pancake while cooking. When the edges of the pancake are brown and the batter is bubbling, flip your pancake and brown the other side.
If you have a warmer, keep your cooked pancakes in there until finished cooking to keep them warm and yummy. If you do not them place the cooked pancakes on a dinner plate and then flip another plate on top as a cover.
Also, if you have an electric griddle or one to put on the burners of your stove, definitely use it. It will reduce your cooking time as you can cook more than one pancake at a time.
Ingredients List:
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups soy or almond milk
1 ripe banana
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 apple cut into slices
Living a life of personal balance, moderation, education, and connection.
First Signs of Fall
10/13/09 Filed in: Muffins
Having lived in Florida for the last 20+ years, I no longer have the visual cues that Fall has arrived. In fact, our five day fall season can be easily missed if you are not paying attention. Unfortunately, it has not arrived im Miami yet because we are still having days in the 90's and the humidity has not dropped. (Sigh.) Maybe it will get here soon.....
One great sign I have developed, that tells me fall is here (besides the on-slaught of fall catalogs and Halloween merchandise in the stores) is the itch to bake. Well I must have been jonesing today because I baked and balked and baked!
In honor of Vegan Mofo, I made recipes from my two new cookbooks, Vegan Yum Yum, by Lauren Ulm and Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. These ladies also happen to write two of my favorite cooking blogs. I have used many of their recipes sucessfully so I tried out several of their muffins today. These are dairy-free, egg-free, and wheat-free. Also, I use spelt flour versus whole wheat flour in all these recipes.Here's a little food porn......
Lemon Cranberry Muffins from Vegan Yum Yum. Here I replaced the sugar with stevia as well as the vegetable oil with coconut oil. Otherwise, the recipe stood as written. The stevia cuts back on the sugar and calories and the coconut oil adds more health and goodness.
Almond Quinoa Muffins from Veganomicon. This one is my favorite. I made one batch with coconut oil and one with canola oil and in this recipe the canola oil did a better job. I also played with the spices in the second batch. I used chinese five spice instead of the cinnamon and cardomon, and the result was yummy. And, because I never leave anything sacred, I also played with the dried fruit. I had some dried mandarin oranges that I put in the first batch intsead of the apricots and that added some real sweetness. Isa and Terry give the reader two suggestions for sweeteners, agave and maple syrup, and I tried both (of course.) The maple syrup gave more depth to the flavor of the muffin and was the clear winner.
Pumpkin-Cranberry Scones from Veganomicon. These scones are perfect to herald in the fall season. They are spicy, moist, and hmmm hmmm good. I did not have any pastry flour so I substituted brown rice flour to keep it light and it seemed to work out perfectly.
Living a life of personal balance, moderation, education, and connection.