leaning tower of (vegan) muffins!

I made banana muffins to take on our trip this weekend:

I've been having better luck with vegan muffins lately. I find adding about a tablespoon of vinegar to the wet ingredients dramatically improves their "loft" and nice, fluffy tops.

Dan and I are brave -- very brave. We're going to venture outside the Twin Cities metro area this weekend, even though it's Memorial Day weekend and everyone and their next-door neighbor will be heading out of town, too. (We're hoping the traffic will be easier early Saturday morning??)

Stay tuned for pictures!

another busy weekend!

Saturday morning, I got up bright and early because I had to go down to the vet to buy more cat food -- after that urinary tract infection Oliver had late last fall, he's been on prescription food ever since. Since the vet is only open until noon on Saturdays, I had to hightail it. Dan offered me the car, but I decided to ride my bike -- since the vet is only 2 1/2 miles away, I thought I'd save the gas and save the environment a little bit, too. After my quick errand, I was hungry! Brunch Saturday:

Scrambled eggs this week instead of poached, (covered with salsa, of course,) hashbrowns, kale, and grapefruit. This brunch never seems to get old for us!!

After brunch, we took the light rail down to Minnehaha Park to check out the falls. We've been to the Falls before, but I wanted to figure out how to get there on the train. (We're taking the kids on a field trip to the Falls this week, and I wanted to make sure I knew exactly how to get to the park from the light rail stop.) When we arrived at the Falls, Dan and I discovered we were both hungry again -- so we had lunch at Sea Salt, located in Minnehaha Park. I was worried, since the restaurant is known for their seafood, but lo and behold, there was not one but TWO veggie options on the menu! I debated between the walnut burger and veggie tacos for a long time, and eventually settled on the tacos. Delish! Corn tortillas, black beans, fresh salsa, loads of cilantro, and a spicy corn relish, too. Yum! We finished our meal with an ice cream cone apiece and a quick walk down to the falls before hopping back on the train home.

When we arrived home, Dan's phone was practically ringing off the hook -- his best friend, Ryan, was calling to see what time we would be able to meet up with him and his fiancee, Savaneary, to drive down to the Buddhist temple. Yes, the Buddhist temple! Savaneary is Cambodian, and they had invited us to join them for the Cambodian New Year celebration!! We had a wonderful time checking out the temple, eating Cambodian food (oh, how do I love bubble tea!!) and just hanging out, although it was quite cold and a little bit stormy at times. Pictures at the temple:









We arrived home much later than we had anticipated Saturday night, but we had a wonderful evening!

This morning, I began my day with another quick trip to the Minneapolis Farmer's Market, accompanied by Courtney. Guess what I found??

Yes indeed, folks, the first local, pesticide- and herbicide-free rhubarb and asparagus to be had! Woo! I decided to wash, chop, and freeze the rhubarb for later use, but put the asparagus to good use for dinner tonight:

Sweet and Sour Tofu over brown rice, with a side of roasted asparagus, of course.
And what would Sunday dinner be without a stellar dessert??

Blueberry and cranberry cobbler, (both local, but frozen,) with a scoop of vanilla Haagen Daz. (Not our usual ice cream of choice, but Dan ran to the corner store to pick it up while I was cooking -- to quote Dan, "it's not great, but at least it doesn't have corn syrup!" Man after my own heart.)

And, I'll close the weekend with a recipe, because even though my cobbler wasn't quite vegan, it would easily veganize. Recipe:

Combine:
4 cups fruit (chopped/sliced if you use apples, peaches, etc.)
3 to 6 tablespoons sugar, depending on how sweet/ripe your fruit is
1 1/2 teaspoons flour (unless you use berries, then up the flour to 1 tablespoon)
pinch salt

Pour the fruit mixture into a greased 8- or 9-inch pan.

Combine:
3 3/4 ounces (about 1/2 plus 1/3 cups) flour (I used white whole wheat)
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
CUT IN:
3 tablespoons Earth Balance
STIR IN:
6 tablespoons plain yogurt or soy yogurt

Drop the dough on to the fruit by rounded tablespoonfulls. Sprinkle the dough with a ltitle additional sugar if desired. Bake the cobbler at 350 degrees Farenheight for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the topping is browned and the fruit is bubbly all the way through. Cool slightly before serving -- serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

yay . . . CHOCOLATE!

A couple of weeks ago, Julie had a little contest on her blog, asking for recipes that would be suitable for her month-long Eat to Live challenge. While I didn't know much about Eat to Live, I read up and offered her my recipe for Sloppy Lentils. She said she'd choose the best recipe, and the winner would receive a package of delicious chocolate goodies in the mail, since she can't have chocolate on Eat to Live. She decided to draw names from a hat instead, since all the recipes sounded fabulous to her, and I won!! My chocolate package arrived today -- thanks, Julie!! Lookit:

Julie wrote me a nice note, and included some chocolate-covered pretzels, and two Trader Joe's dark chocolate bars -- one pure dark chocolate, and one with a dark chocolate truffle center.

Dan and I enjoyed part of the truffle bar with our picnic supper tonight -- I packed up some Greek-inspired pasta salad (about the same one I always make, and it's always good!), crackers, (homemade) hummus, apples, the chocolate, a big Nalgene full of water, and a blanket, and we set out for Lake of the Isles. After supper, we ditched our picnic stuff in the car, walked around the lake, and stopped at Sebastian Joe's for blueberry sorbet on the way home.

I'm SO glad it's finally spring!

Mamba Picante!

I made cookies today, too, and used a couple of the food items I brought back from Haiti -- delicious, potent vanilla extract, and "Mamba Picante," or, spicy Hatian peanut butter. (It sounds weird . . . but it's SOOOO good! Really spices up a regular PBJ, for lack of a better way to say it.) I made vegan kitchen sink cookies, and they ROCK.



Beat together:
3/4 cup peanut butter (Mamba Picante if available!)
1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup milk of your choice
1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine, then beat into wet ingredients:
1 cup spelt flour
3/4 cup quick oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Fold in:
1/2 cup fair trade dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup unsweetened flake coconut

Drop by rounded teaspoonfulls onto parchment lined cookie sheets and squish flat with the tines of a fork twice, like regular peanut butter cookies. Bake at 375 degrees Farenheight for 7 to 8 minutes. (If you have a crappy apartment oven like me, don't forget to rotate that cookie sheet halfway through, to prevent the ones in the back from getting overdone.) Cool on a wire rack, and enjoy!

I'm thinking you could achieve the same spicy peanut butter effect by stirring 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne in with the dry ingredients, if you haven't been to Haiti recently. :)

the muffin lady

Lately, I can't seem to get enough muffins -- I'm going to become the muffin lady, I fear. I baked again this weekend, of course! Vegan Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins:

I loosely based this recipe on the Betty Crocker Blueberry Streusel Muffin Recipe. Here's what I did:

Combine:
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Cut in:
2 tablespoons softened Earth Balance
Reserve.

Whisk together:
1 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer
1/4 cup Earth Balance, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
When the above is well combined, stir in:
1 cup shredded apple (no need to peel)

Combine, then stir into wet ingredients:
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup natural granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Divide batter evenly between twelve lined muffin cups. Top each muffin with about a teaspoon of the reserved streusel topping. (You can lightly press the streusel topping into the batter if it doesn't stick all that well.) Bake at 400 degrees Farenheight for about 23 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

dinner last night

Since it was Friday night last night, I decided to make a more "special" dinner for Dan and myself, requiring a little extra cooking, but nothing too out of the ordinary. I had a recipe for "Beet-Top Crustless Quiche" from Vegetarian Times in the pile to try. I had sauteed the beet-tops earlier in the week, and was ready to make the quiche . . . after I made a whole-wheat crust, of course. :) I also roasted a 1.18 pound bunch of asparagus for a side dish. (The 1.18 pounds becomes more important later.) Photo:


And, Dan's second helping. I quote, "will you take a picture of this and put it on your blog?"

He described his sriracha art as a throwback to his younger days, when he thought anarchy was cool. Silly Dan.

After two servings of quiche for Dan and one for me, and the entire batch of asparagus, I guess we were ready for dessert. (Yes, the two of us ate over a pound of asparagus! So much for leftovers.) I made a quick raspberry-peach ice cream sauce:

We dumped the sauce over local vanilla ice cream, and went to town while we watched On a Clear Day.

It was a nice, relaxing Friday night! And of course, I saved the dishes for today. :)

P.S. Courtesy of wikipedia:

Asparagus
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 20 kcal 90 kJ
Carbohydrates 3.88 g
- Sugars 1.88 g
- Dietary fiber 2.1 g
Fat 0.12 g
Protein 2.20 g
Thiamin (Vit. B1) 0.143 mg 11%
Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.141 mg 9%
Niacin (Vit. B3) 0.978 mg 7%
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.274 mg 5%
Vitamin B6 0.091 mg 7%
Folate (Vit. B9) 52 μg 13%
Vitamin C 5.6 mg 9%
Calcium 24 mg 2%
Iron 2.14 mg 17%
Magnesium 14 mg 4%
Phosphorus 52 mg 7%
Potassium 202 mg 4%
Zinc 0.54 mg 5%
Manganese 0.158 mg

(Woo! Look at all that iron!)

It's Teacher Appreciation Week!

I didn't know this until today, when my boss started appreciating us! One of the neat things she did was hang up a big poster outside each classroom door, for families to write thank-you notes to the teachers. One of my kidlets dictated to her mom,

"Thank you Miss Catherine, for all the silly stuff!"

That made my day.

five or less . . . in real time!

The one thing I've noticed with this whole five or less policy I've instituted is that I really have to cook! It's a little strange, coming from me, but I have to tell you, I did rely on packaged breakfast cereals and a few other "healthy" convenience foods from time to time. However, I like this new routine, so far, and as long as I can continue to make time to cook (and bake,) I think the five or less rule will be here to stay.

With that said, I've been busy in my kitchen. Stuff:

Blueberry-lemon muffins I made last weekend:

I took a standard blueberry muffin recipe, used whole-wheat pastry flour, and added the juice from one lemon, the zest from two lemons, and a quarter-teaspoon of lemon extract. YUM. I only have one left, but I did send Dan home with five muffins on Sunday night.

The basic weekend breakfast:

We've been missing the kale at the co-op lately, but this week I decided to make Swiss Chard instead. It was a hit! Dan loved the little bits of stem intermingled with the greens. Hashbrowns and poached eggs, always. And, Dan's mom gifted us a couple of her grapefruit spoons, so Dan's much happier eating his grapefruit now. (I never had a problem with a regular spoon . . . am I weird?)

Sushi again:

Red peppers were NINE DOLLARS A POUND this past week at the co-op, so I opted to omit red pepper from my usual sushi rolls. Cucumber, avocado, and pickled radish nori rolls, with a side of steamed edamame. YUM, again.

Pasta salad:

Orzo, herbs, tons of veggies, chickpeas, and a little goat cheese (to quote the label, "made from milk from Minnesota Goats!") for good measure. Had some of this today -- pretty tasty!

I also made tempeh bacon sandwiches for dinner last night, with a side salad topped with beets and more goat cheese, but I forgot to photo. Sorry!

And lastly, look how happy Oliver is that it's finally spring:

I share his sentiments, exactly.

the awesome artichoke

I scored four very reasonably-priced artichokes at the co-op last weekend, and have been devouring them here and there all weekend. Like many, I assume that something that tastes spectacular MUST not be all that good for me . . . so I had to look up nutrition facts for an artichoke. As a vegetable, I assume they are relatively low in calories, but I was more curious about vitamin/mineral content. I discovered, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Artichoke, cooked boiled, salted
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 50 kcal 220 kJ
Carbohydrates 11.95 g
- Sugars 0.99 g
- Dietary fiber 8.6 g
Fat 0.34 g
Protein 2.89 g
Thiamin (Vit. B1) 0.05 mg 4%
Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.089 mg 6%
Niacin (Vit. B3) 0.111 mg 1%
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.240 mg 5%
Vitamin B6 0.081 mg 6%
Folate (Vit. B9) 89 μg 22%
Vitamin C 7.4 mg 12%
Calcium 21 mg 2%
Iron 0.61 mg 5%
Magnesium 42 mg 11%
Phosphorus 73 mg 10%
Potassium 276 mg 6%
Zinc 0.4 mg 4%
Manganese 0.225 mg

Sweet! Folate and other B-vitamins, vitamin C, magnesium, phosphorus, a little calcium and iron, fiber, and a little protein, too!

I love veggies.