wheat free
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.
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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.
Broccoli Soup-Dairy free
07/20/09 Filed in: Soup
I love soup. It is one of my favorite foods. It gets better over time. It is easy to freeze. It provides a comforting warm meal. Soup is a great way to use up leftover vegetables, grains, and meats. And I could go on and on...
One of the challenges of soups as I changed my diet was to find replacements for my favorite dairy based soups. Here I am going to showcase my broccoli soup, but you can use it for a base for many vegetable soups that normally use heavy cream.
Start with a tablespoon or two of olive or canola oil in your stock or large sauce pan. Chop an onion and three cloves of garlic and saute until onions are clear. These do not need to be finely chopped as you will puree the soup later.
Dice two baking potatoes and add to your onions. You can leave the skins on or take them off, it is your choice. I usually leave them on since I am going to puree the whole thing and that way I am keeping maximum nutirtion. Saute until beginning to get soft about 8-10 minutes. Stir frequently to keep from sticking and browning. If they do start to stick, just add some chicken broth or water to the pan to loosen them up.
Chop up a bunch of broccoli coarsely including the stalk. Add to your onions and potato mixture and cook until the broccoli starts to turn bright green.
Add 32 oz container of chicken broth and 1-2 cups water depending on how thick you like your soups. Cook until the broccoli is soft but not overcooked.
Take the soup off the heat and use and emersion blender to puree the soup. Add a pinch of nutmeg and serve! Adding a squeeze of lime just before serving gives the soup a twang for those that crave salt.
This is a very forgiving recipe so use it to experiment and expand your use of veggies!
Enjoy!
Living a life of personal balance, moderation, education, and connection.
A dairy free, wheat free recipe.
One of the challenges of soups as I changed my diet was to find replacements for my favorite dairy based soups. Here I am going to showcase my broccoli soup, but you can use it for a base for many vegetable soups that normally use heavy cream.
Start with a tablespoon or two of olive or canola oil in your stock or large sauce pan. Chop an onion and three cloves of garlic and saute until onions are clear. These do not need to be finely chopped as you will puree the soup later.
Dice two baking potatoes and add to your onions. You can leave the skins on or take them off, it is your choice. I usually leave them on since I am going to puree the whole thing and that way I am keeping maximum nutirtion. Saute until beginning to get soft about 8-10 minutes. Stir frequently to keep from sticking and browning. If they do start to stick, just add some chicken broth or water to the pan to loosen them up.
Chop up a bunch of broccoli coarsely including the stalk. Add to your onions and potato mixture and cook until the broccoli starts to turn bright green.
Add 32 oz container of chicken broth and 1-2 cups water depending on how thick you like your soups. Cook until the broccoli is soft but not overcooked.
Take the soup off the heat and use and emersion blender to puree the soup. Add a pinch of nutmeg and serve! Adding a squeeze of lime just before serving gives the soup a twang for those that crave salt.
This is a very forgiving recipe so use it to experiment and expand your use of veggies!
Enjoy!
Living a life of personal balance, moderation, education, and connection.
A dairy free, wheat free recipe.
Mango Spelt Muffins
07/06/09 Filed in: Muffins
This recipe turned out the best muffins so far that are dairy free and egg free. I used mango as the fruit but I think it would work with bananas or peaches just as well. If you changed up the spices, other fruit could also be substituted. It is a simple recipe that is very forgiving.
Ingredient list:
1 single serving container of plain soy yogurt
1/2 cup applesauce
2 1/2 cup spelt flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground clove (I used a full tsp because I love clove)
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups diced mango (You can also puree the mango if you do not want chunks.)
3/4 cups golden raisens (optional)
zest of one lime
Mix together all dry ingredients and set aside. Mix together the yogurt, applesauce, mango, raisens, and lime zest. Blend the two together until all the flour is mixed in.
Bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes.
Living a life of personal balance, moderation, education, and connection.
Ingredient list:
1 single serving container of plain soy yogurt
1/2 cup applesauce
2 1/2 cup spelt flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground clove (I used a full tsp because I love clove)
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups diced mango (You can also puree the mango if you do not want chunks.)
3/4 cups golden raisens (optional)
zest of one lime
Mix together all dry ingredients and set aside. Mix together the yogurt, applesauce, mango, raisens, and lime zest. Blend the two together until all the flour is mixed in.
Bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes.
Living a life of personal balance, moderation, education, and connection.
The Sweet Summer of Mangos
06/23/09
When I was a tweener, although that name did not yet exist in the 70’s, I use to come to Florida to visit my Dad. That first summer he lived in a house with a mango tree in the back yard. This was my introduction to what has to be my favorite tropical fruit. I ate so many mangos that summer while standing over the kitchen sink. The juice would run down my arms and the fiber would get between my teeth, but I did not care. I was in heaven.
Today, still in Miami, I seek out those who have mature mango trees during the month of June. My house came equipped with avocado trees (my other favorite fruit.) I have planted two mango trees, but as yet they are still young trees. My mother-in-law has the best tree and my stepdaughter brings me a bag on a weekly basis. Yum!
You know that old saying, “Be careful what you wish for.” Now I have more mangos than I can eat. Time to get creative. So I experimented with Mango spelt muffins, mango tea (that one did not work out), mango salsa, mango sorbet, and of course mango smoothies. My two favorites so far are the salsa and the sorbet.
Dairy Free Mango Sorbet
Get out your blender and start peeling mangos. Fill the blender about 2/3rds full with the sliced mangos, about 5 to 7 mangos depending on their size. Add a can of coconut milk or light coconut milk. Add about 1/4 cup of honey. Blend.
Pour into a pyrex or freezer proof dish. Place in the fridge. This takes all day to freeze, but you can stir it occasionally to aid it along. Once fully frozen, it may have to sit out on the counter for 15-20 minutes to soften enough to scoop.
Mango Salsa
Peel slice and cube one to two mangos. Dice one to two tomatoes. Dice one half an English cucumber. Chop 1/2 red pepper. Add one jalapena pepper diced. Add fresh cilantro chopped to your taste. Squeeze in the juice of one lime. Salt and Pepper.
Put it in a pretty dish and eat with your favorite snack chip.
Living a life of personal balance, moderation, education, and connection.
A dairy free and wheat free recipe.
Today, still in Miami, I seek out those who have mature mango trees during the month of June. My house came equipped with avocado trees (my other favorite fruit.) I have planted two mango trees, but as yet they are still young trees. My mother-in-law has the best tree and my stepdaughter brings me a bag on a weekly basis. Yum!
You know that old saying, “Be careful what you wish for.” Now I have more mangos than I can eat. Time to get creative. So I experimented with Mango spelt muffins, mango tea (that one did not work out), mango salsa, mango sorbet, and of course mango smoothies. My two favorites so far are the salsa and the sorbet.
Dairy Free Mango Sorbet
Get out your blender and start peeling mangos. Fill the blender about 2/3rds full with the sliced mangos, about 5 to 7 mangos depending on their size. Add a can of coconut milk or light coconut milk. Add about 1/4 cup of honey. Blend.
Pour into a pyrex or freezer proof dish. Place in the fridge. This takes all day to freeze, but you can stir it occasionally to aid it along. Once fully frozen, it may have to sit out on the counter for 15-20 minutes to soften enough to scoop.
Mango Salsa
Peel slice and cube one to two mangos. Dice one to two tomatoes. Dice one half an English cucumber. Chop 1/2 red pepper. Add one jalapena pepper diced. Add fresh cilantro chopped to your taste. Squeeze in the juice of one lime. Salt and Pepper.
Put it in a pretty dish and eat with your favorite snack chip.
Living a life of personal balance, moderation, education, and connection.
A dairy free and wheat free recipe.