February 16th, 2012
I am completely in love with these muffins! A few weeks ago I was craving a muffin that had the sweet deliciousness of banana combined with the taste and texture of oats. I really wanted to use oat bran because I love the texture it gives to muffins. I couldn’t find any recipes out there that had what I was looking for so I got started on making my own. It took me a few tries, but it was well worth it, because these are my new favorite muffin!
These muffins have been submitted to Wellness Weekends over at Diet, Dessert and Dogs.
Banana Oat Muffins (Adapted from Choosing Raw)
2 tbs ground flax seed + 4 tbs warm water
1 ½ cup whole spelt flour
½ cup oat bran
1 cup oat flakes
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ cup almond milk
1 cup mashed ripe banana (2 large or 3 small)
½ cup maple syrup
⅓ cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 F and line or oil your muffin tin. This recipe makes an awkward number of muffins, 14 regular or 12 regular plus 6 mini-muffins. Don’t try to fit all of the batter into 12 or they will be over filled and fall after baking! Mix the ground flax and warm water together in a small bowl and whisk with a fork until well combined. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients together in a smaller bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix gently until just combined. Pour into prepared tins and bake 23 minutes for regular muffins or 15 minutes for mini muffins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes in the pan and then remove the muffins and let them cool on a cooling rack.
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November 22nd, 2011
Apple Butter Chia Seed Pudding (using white chia seeds)
A few people have asked me about chia seeds lately. They know that chia seeds are super healthy but just aren’t sure how to eat them. So I though I would share how I’ve been loving my chia seeds for the past few months.
For those who don’t know, chia seeds are packed with omega 3 fatty acids, calcium and iron. And yes, they are the same seeds that grew hair on our Chia Pets when we were kids!
I’m a huge chia pudding fan. It’s quick and easy to make, yummy, and incredibly healthy. There are two main ways to make chia pudding, blended and unblended. I used to be all about blended chocolate chia puddings but lately I’ve been making a plain chia pudding in the morning and stirring in different mix-ins based on what I’m in the mood for that day. I find this is faster to make and I don’t have to struggle to clean stuck on chia seeds out of my blender! The consistency of an unblended chia pudding is similar to tapicoa pudding.
For the basic chia seed pudding, put 2 tbs of chia seeds in a bowl or container. Add 1 cup of non-dairy milk and give it a good stir with a fork. If you use unsweetened milk, add a bit of sweetener. I use 2 drops of liquid stevia. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes and then give it another really good stir with the fork and break up and clumps. Ideally, let it sit for at least another hour before you plan to eat it. I make it in the morning before school and bring it with me for my afternoon snack.
Now it’s time to choose a mix-in. If you use a good quality non-dairy milk, the pudding will be yummy on it’s own, but it’s always more yummy with a mix-in! Here are some things that I like to mix in:
- 100% fruit jam
- left over cranberry sauce
- apple butter
- chocolate almond butter sauce
- chopped up fruit (peaches, frozen berries, bananas)
- chocolate chips or cocoa nibs
The options are really endless! I guess I sort of treat it like a plain yogurt.
Do you guys have any other mix-in ideas?
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November 6th, 2011
Well it looks like I needed a bit of a blogging break after Vegan MoFo since I haven’t posted in a week! It was a busy week and I really didn’t cook much. But I’m back with a marvelously fast and easy recipe!
We stalked up on Honey Crisp apples at the last farmer’s market of the season and, despite eating them like mad over the past week, we still have a crisper full of them. One of my favorite snacks is a sliced up apple with almond butter. The problem is that I can eat close to a ¼ cup of almond butter with an apple. And, although almond butter is healthy, ¼ cup is way too much for a snack! I remembered seeing a recipe for an almond butter dip that was thinned down with almond milk over at Oh She Glows which inspired me to make a chocolate version. The result is super rich and creamy, I think I actually like the texture of this more than almond butter on its own.
Chocolate Almond Butter Dip or Sauce
1 tbs + 1 tsp cocoa powder ( I used raw cocoa powder)
1 tbs maple syrup
½ cup almond milk
½ cup almond butter
In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, maple syrup and almond milk until combined – this may take a minute or two. Add the almond butter and whisk until combined.
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October 25th, 2011
I attempted to work from home today but I ended up doing what I always do when I work from home. Baking. Hence, here is a recipe for some Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins based on the Cranberry Walnut Pumpkin Muffins that I made a few weeks ago. I love these muffins because they’re whole grain, low in sugar and fat but still super moist and delicious!
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins (Whole grain and low fat)
2 cups spelt flour
½ tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
pinch salt
1 tbs ground flax
1 cup almond milk
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tbs oil
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
½ to ¾ cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (except the flax). In another bowl, mix together the soy milk and the ground flax seed. Let the soy milk/flax mixture sit for 5 minutes then add the pumpkin, maple syrup, oil and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Spoon into a muffin pan that has either been greased or lined. Bake at 350 F for 26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
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October 24th, 2011
We wanted a light dinner last night and had a little bit of leftovers from brunch along with some leftover Daiya and tortillas from the pumpkin black bean enchiladas, so Dave suggested making breakfast burritos. Potatoes, scrambled tofu, vegan sausage and Daiya, all rolled up in a tortilla. These were freaking amazing! Just fill your tortilla, roll it up and microwave for 30 seconds, flip it over, cook for another 30 seconds and enjoy!
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October 23rd, 2011
I had some good friends over for brunch this afternoon. Even though I’ve been dying to try making banana coconut french toast, I decided to do a fall themed brunch showcasing some amazing local and organic produce. It’s shortly after 5pm as I write this and I’m still stuffed, so I think I may have over done it! It was impossible not to, all the food was so good! Here’s what I served.
Pumpkin French Toast from the PPK – I made this recipe a few weeks ago and it turned out so good that I decided to make it again! I just keep them warm in the oven until they were all cooked.
Maple Cranberry Topping for the french toast – I combined 1 cup french cranberries with ½ cup maple syrup and ½ cup water along with 2 cinnamon sticks and boiled over medium low heat for 15-20 minutes. This went really well with the pumpkin french toast!
Smokey Maple Breakfast Sausages – I made this recipe from the PPK and made 12 small sausages instead of four large ones. Then I fried them in a tablespoon of Earth Balance just before serving. I think these were the best vegan sausages I’ve made yet. Even the omnivores liked them!
Scrambled Tofu with Peppers and Spinach – I always use this recipe from Bittersweet Vegan and use bell peppers instead of the mushrooms and zucchini.
Baked Home Fries – Simply chopped potatoes tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika then baked at 400 F for 50 minutes.
Lemon Cranberry Scones – I used the basic scone recipe in The Complete Vegan Kitchen and added ⅓ cup dried cranberries and 1 tsp zested lemon. The trick to great scones is to cut the Earth Balance into cubes and chill it in the freezer for 20 minutes.
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October 16th, 2011
The Vegan MoFo Iron Chef Challenge #2 ingredients are bananas and coffee. The first thing that came to my mind was a coffee smoothie, but since I just made that a few weeks ago, I tried to think of something new to make. I’m a HUGE banana ice cream fan and my favorite regular ice cream is the cappuccino flavour of Coconut Bliss. So I decided to try and make a coffee flavour banana ice cream.
I wasn’t completely sure it would work, but the result was amazing! Because of the added volume from the frozen coffee, this made a TON of ice cream without adding any calories. I ate this for breakfast but it would make a great desert, especially drizzled with some chocolate sauce.
Note: Coffee Banana Ice Cream is way yummier than it appears! (how the heck does anyone get a good pic of banana ice cream??)
Coffee Banana Ice Cream
1 cup strongly brewed coffee frozen into ice cubes
2 frozen bananas
1 tbs cashew butter (adds some richness)
1 tbs agave syrup (or other sweetener)
Add all the ingredients to the bowl of your food processor with the s blade. Process until smooth and creamy. This took a bit longer than regular banana ice cream to get creamy. It will get all crumbly at first and look like it’s not going to come together – but don’t give up! Just keep processing it and it will transform into a rich and creamy coffee ice cream!
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October 11th, 2011
I’ve been looking for a great pumpkin muffin recipe for a while now. Most of the recipes out there are loaded with sugar and white flour, but I like my muffin recipes to be fairly healthy – whole grains, low in sugar and oil. I decided to try and make a recipe using Dreena Burton’s Pumpkin Raisin Loaf as a starting point. I love how healthy her baking recipes are! I decided to add fresh cranberries and walnuts to make these muffins extra delicious.
This is also my recipe featuring cranberries for the Sweet or Savory Kitchen Challenge over at Diet Dessert and Dogs and Affairs of Living.
Cranberry Walnut Pumpkin Muffins (Whole grain and low fat)
2 cups whole spelt flour
¼ cup unrefined sugar
½ tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
pinch salt
1 tbs ground flax seeds
1 cup almond milk
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tbs oil
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 cup fresh cranberries
Topping – 2 tbs unrefined sugar mixed with ½ tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (except the flax). In another bowl, mix together the soy milk and the ground flax seed. Let the soy milk/flax mixture sit for 5 minutes then add the pumpkin, maple syrup, oil and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the walnuts and cranberries. Spoon into a muffin pan that has either been greased or lined. Combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle over muffins. Bake at 350 F for 26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
You can use sweetened dried cranberries instead of fresh but omit the sugar topping or they will be too sweet.
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October 10th, 2011
We had been planning to do a big Thanksgiving dinner today, but we went to Dave’s family’s house for Thanksgiving dinner last night and they had made lots of vegan food for us to eat! They made a fancy vegan phyllo pastry dish just for us along with separate mashed potatoes and stuffing. We left so stuffed that we decided there was no need to do our own dinner today. But, now I had to find something to do with the stale loaf of multigrain bread that I had been planning to use for stuffing. Clearly this called for French Toast!
Since I also have a bunch of my giant squash left, I decided to make this recipe for Pumpkin French Toast from the PPK. This was actually my first time making french toast. I topped them with Maple Sauteed Apples. I followed the recipe as is but I reduced the spices a lot only including 1 tsp cinnamon and 2 pinches nutmeg. I also added some sweetener (2 tsp maple syrup) because my almond milk was unsweetened.
For the apples I just melted 1 tsp Earth Balance in a large sauce pan over medium heat and added 2 sliced apples and 1 tbs maple syrup and cooked them until the apples were tender, around 7 minutes.
This meal was so good I think we have started a new Thanksgiving brunch tradition!
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October 4th, 2011
I try to eat as local as possible and in the summer the vast majority of what I eat comes from within 100 miles. But bananas are always the exception. Dave and I always have a smoothie for breakfast and it always has 2 bananas in it, so we go through a lot of bananas! But, I discovered last fall that frozen pears are an excellent substitute for bananas in a smoothie. So for a few glorious weeks in early Fall, we’re able to have a completely local smoothie for breakfast.
For those of you with an abundance of local pears in season right now, try using them in place of bananas in your next smoothie!
Local Breakfast Smoothie (serves 2)
2-4 pears, chopped into large chunks and frozen
¼ cup hemp seeds (I buy local hemp seeds in bulk from Cool Hemp)
2 large handfuls of dark leafy greens (spinach or kale are my fav)
2 scoops protein powder (optional, not local)
1 cup frozen mixed berries (I still have a freezer full of berries I picked this summer!)
sweetener to taste
Add all the ingredients to your blender along with 1-2 cups of water or almond milk and blend until smooth and creamy. Taste and add sweetener if necessary. I find the pears are not as sweet as bananas so I usually add a bit of stevia or agave. If you don’t have hemp seeds, substitute with 2 tbs ground flax or chia seeds.
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