Good News Muffins

Not only is it my Dad's birthday today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!) but I also found out I was accepted into school to start this summer! Whoa Whooo! Granted, I still have a lot of work to do before I can apply to the actual nursing program, but at least I am finally able to take the prerequisites to get the ball rolling. I am still working on the residency issue, but hopefully I will get that cleared up before orientation in a few weeks. So, I am relieved I finally got in. Now the real work starts!
As usual, when I'm a little on edge, I like to be in the kitchen. Today, I made these beautiful 4 Berry Banana Muffins to clear my mind. I typically use soy yogurt in my muffins but I didn't have any so I used a mashed up banana and added lemon juice to the soymilk. Also, since fresh berries are pricey, I used frozen mixed berries that included blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries.

Can you tell I <3 muffins?

mini vacation, Apple Crisp tester muffins

Tomorrow we are off to Florida for a mini vacation! Jared is riding in a bike race in St. Pete on Saturday and I'm tagging along to visit my family who live in Tampa (St. Pete is only a bridge away from Tampa). It'll be cool to hang out with my dad and step mom, doing what we do best: cooking, talking about cooking, watching cooking shows. With all the crazy stuff going on with me trying to get into school and Jared surviving tax week, it will be a well deserved break from real life. Plus I get to see my sister, brother-in-law and new baby nephew Gabriel! I might even get to see my little brother, who is attending U.S.F, which are both mine and Jared's Alma mater and where we met.
As I mentioned before, I am a recipe tester for Happy Herbivore. Since we will be gone this weekend, I had to test the Apple Crisp Muffins before I left . . . plus, we do need a snack for the long car ride tomorrow (which is about 7-8 hours). I seem to be stuck on her muffins, which is a good thing because I love muffins!

farmers market loot, bruschetta, tester muffins

Since Jared was working on his bike today, I went to the farmers market. I always forget how much I dislike that place on the weekend until I am already there. It gets so packed and people have no rhyme or reason in the parking lot or navigating in the aisles. A normal 30-minute trip took me about an hour and a half!!! I am already someone who doesn't like crowds, so I didn't enjoy myself as I usually do when I go on a weekday. We desperately needed some fresh produce, so it was worth it, I suppose. I got a lot more stuff than in this picture but I just liked the way this picture turned out, so I'm sharing it. I LOVE the Chinese eggplant. It's seriously one of my favorite things right now. It doesn't have too many seeds and is a gorgeous purple when raw and kinda has a blue hue to it when it is cooked. I also scored some basil, which is always great. Also pictured is some parsley, tomatoes, a sweet onion, orange and green bell peppers, avocado and bananas.

For some reason I haven't had the biggest appetite lately so I ended up just making bruschetta tonight for dinner. My version has Roma tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, basil, salt, sugar, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I got the French bread from the farmers market and toasted it up with a little olive oil. One of my all time favorite simple spring/summer meals.

I am happy to report that I am a recipe tester for a cookbook Happy Herbivore is writing. The first recipe I tested (for her or anyone other than myself) was the Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins.

It is super exciting to help contribute to someone's culinary ventures. I can't wait to see what I get to make next!!! Stay tuned.

Pesto Bread, Blueberry Muffins, Mac & Cheeze Plate

I have been fascinated with bread making ever since I was a kid. Between my Grammie's yeast rolls and biscuits and my Dad's pizza crusts and breads, I have been around good homemade breads my whole life. I mentioned before that my Dad found me a bread machine at a garage sale and I have been a bread machine girl every since. I still love the idea (and practice) of mixing, kneading and forming dough with my own hands, but the bread machine does provide a consistent product. This week I merged the use of my bread machine and my own hands by making a pesto spelt and whole wheat bread. I got the general idea from one of my fellow bloggers, Have Cake, Will Travel! I added both spelt and whole wheat pastry flours with some water, vital wheat gluten, brown sugar, sea salt, pesto and yeast to the bread machine and used the Dough setting. About 2 hours later, after a thorough kneading and long rise, I formed the dough into 4 loaves and baked them in the oven for about 30 minutes until they were golden brown. The bread turned out chewy and full of flavor between the 2 nutty flours and the bright (and mind you, leftover) pesto.
Baking in the oven:

Right out of the oven and cooling:

With steel cut oats becoming a bit boring in the mornings, I decided to make some muffins. With trying to stay in line with my healthier eating, a low fat muffin was in order. So, I turned to the Damn Tasty Vegan Baking Guide and made the Blueberry Streusel Muffins but cut the oil in the recipe with apple sauce. They did indeed taste healthier, but very delicious nonetheless.

Tonight I made one of my favorite things: Mac and Cheeze! I used quinoa shells instead of a traditional white flour pasta. The quinoa pasta wasn't as good as what my palate is use to but I think over time I will eventually get use to non-white pastas. I used the Soul Veg Mac and Cheeze recipe (the one they use at the ATL restaurants) I found online here, which is very naughty but between portion control and using a healthier pasta, I didn't feel as bad eating it. To go with the Mac and Cheeze I roasted some very sweet (and cheap!) asparagus and made a salad with mixed baby spring mix and cherry tomatoes.

I'm BAaacckk and I've been Baking!

It's Lori and I'm back! I went to the doctor today and was told no surgery was needed for my elbow/arm fracture and that I do not have to wear a cast or a splint . . . just a sling when I venture out. Turns out I broke my arm in a good spot (if there is such a thing) where I heal faster and better with movement. In fact, they said that if I DON'T move my arm, I could actually do permanent damage. It feels weird to move it and I am still in a lot of pain but I was told to get home and start using my arm (no heavy lifting though).
I have so wanted to get back in the kitchen. It was nice to have my own gourmet chef making whatever my heart desired but cooking is my hobby so it was killing me being on the sidelines. I made two treats already today, although my arm is telling me to take it easy, so it might be the only things I make today.
I made the Banana Blueberry Muffins from La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer. So Yummy! Notice the crack in the muffin . . . in honor of my poor broken wing.

I also made a loaf of really great bread that had flax meal, sunflower seeds, walnuts and dried cranberries. I had a tofurky sandwich and it tasted like Thanksgiving in sandwich form. After all, I am thankful I don't need surgery.

gotta love comfort food and the Yellow Rose Recipes cookbook

Ever since I got my copy of Yellow Rose Recipes on Saturday I have been non-stop in the kitchen. Joanna's cooking style and ingredient lists are very similar to my own recipes, so I was very excited to get my hands on it. This cookbook is a great example of how I would want my own cookbook done: comfortable, healthy (or at least with health in mind) and beautiful!
The first thing I made was the Baked Mac and Cheese (pg. 136) because I am out to find the perfect vegan mac and cheese. This version started like the rest I've tried- cooking the pasta and making a roux with nutritional yeast but something I had never tried was using vegan cheese in a recipe. I have been pretty disappointed with most of the faux cheeses on the market, but so far my favorite cheddar style faux cheese has been the Vegan Cheddar block from Galaxy Nutritional Foods. It still doesn't taste like cow's milk cheese, but it is a nice alternative, especially in this recipe! I did make a couple changes to the recipe because, well, that's what I do. Instead of rice milk, I used soy milk, used crunched up whole wheat crackers on top and I also added ground mustard and onion powder because salt, pepper and nutmeg just didn't give it enough punch. With my adjustments for our taste buds, it is the best mac and cheese I have had being vegan. I had a little mac and cheese with a big salad that had spring mix, tomatoes, onions, red bell pepper, avocado and a homemade sherry vinaigrette.

I also made the Chicken Style Seitan (pg. 128) despite not clearly understanding the cooking directions. I wasn't exactly sure how long I should have boiled the seitan, so I only boiled them for a few minutes and then let it set for about an hour in the hot broth. Whatever I did, it worked. This whole process took a long time for some reason, all the measuring I think . . . but it was still very tasty. I coated a couple pieces in a little all-purpose flour and garlic salt and sprayed a fry pan with olive oil cooking spray and browned these babies up!

The last thing I made out of Yellow Rose Recipes was the Very Berry Muffins (pg. 24), again with a few adjustments. Instead of egg replacer powder (not a big fan) I used ground flax seed and water slurry. I couldn't find any cheap fresh berries at the farmer's market so I used a strawberry, blueberry and blackberry frozen mix and added a little strawberry extract along with the vanilla extract to up the berry punch. The last adjustment I made was that I added a container of strawberry soy yogurt because I like the taste and texture soy yogurt lends to muffins. They turned out very good and made the house smell like sweet berries.

This last picture was from dinner last night. I found a purple cauliflower at the farmer's market that was just screaming out my name. While I don't cook things that scream I ended up roasting this head of cauliflower with just a bit of olive oil cooking spray and salt. I also made garlic herb mashed potatoes that were made with roasted garlic, fresh chives and fresh parsley. The green beans were blanched and then cooked in large fry pan on very high heat with a bit of canola oil until they were a little charred. I added soy sauce, agave nectar, sesame oil and sesame seeds to the green beans at the last minute. This is just a standard veggie plate special at our house, but because the cauliflower was so beautiful, I had to post about it.

very busy weekend in the kitchen

I'm not sure what got over me, but starting Friday and ending a few minutes ago, I spent more time in my kitchen than I have in a very long time. It was an awesome weekend of good eats!
First things first . . . As soon as I saw these Spicy' N Sweet Maple-y Nuts from Bazu's blog, I knew I HAD to make them. These are some of the best spiced nuts I have ever had.
Make these now. Right now.

Here is a beautiful loaf of French bread I made, which has been the BEST batch of bread I have made in my new bread machine. It had the least amount of ingredients and took the most amount of time (5 HOURS!) but it was so worth it.

I cut all the crust sides off and made garlic toast with them and used the non-crust white inside of the bread to make these croutons.

I used the crouton recipe in Veganomicon (pg. 81-82) and also made the Caesar dressing recipe. I was trilled with the croutons and thought the dressing was pretty good but not like Caesar salad dressing. I'd make it again though.
Friday night I made an Asian Noodle Soup. A few weeks back I had made an Asian inspired veggie broth out of onions, carrots, celery, garlic, ginger, black pepper and soy sauce and froze it. I thawed/reheated the broth and in my steamer, steamed cabbage, zucchini and baby bok choy. For the noodles, I used an eggless wonton wrapper, cut into strips, which I found in the frozen section of our local Asian market. I boiled the strips of wontons separately (which only took like a minute), added the cooked noodles to a bowl with the steamed veggies and broth ladled over everything. Topped with green onions, this was very filling and an awesome way to use up extra wonton wrappers.

Saturday, I made the Blueberry Streusel Muffins from the Damn Tasty Vegan Baking Guide. My new favorite thing is using soy yogurt in my baked goods because they lend such a nice sour note that really brings everything together. This time I used a blueberry flavored soy yogurt, which turned the batter purple. These are probably my favorite muffins and they taste great with any fresh or frozen berry.


Today I made one of our old stand by meals . . . the beloved tostadas (although, they look more like nachos). These had blue corn chips, some chipotle pinto beans I blended up, tomatoes, red and green onions, some of my Dad's famous Rex Sauce (sweet & vinegary), sweet Thai chili sauce and some of my homemade guacamole. Jared added some left over cut up romaine lettuce on his. I never get tired of these.

And last but not least . . . my new favorite dinner. Veganomicon's Chickpea Cutlets (pg. 133), garlic mashed potatoes, green beans and soy sausage saw mill gravy (same stuff I pure over my biscuits when we have biscuits and gravy).

go go muffins, a very unhappy puppy

I love taking naps. One plus side to being unemployed is being able to take afternoon naps, which is what I did today. I fell asleep to the thought of making a muffin I could wake up to. As much as I dreamed, the only thing was, I had to make the muffins when I woke up. What resulted was my own muffin creation that had carrots, unsweetened coconut, pineapple/pineapple juice, walnuts, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup, brown sugar, natural sugar, canola oil, unbleached all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and vanilla extract. The whole time I was making these, I had Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go Go stuck in my head (look, I grew up in the 80's!). So, I'm calling these
Go Go Muffins.

Split open!

Also, since tomorrow is Halloween I found this picture of our dog, Sweetpea, dressed up as a pirate to share. We aren't into dressing up our pets but we love pirates and this was Sweetpea's first Halloween. This picture was taken when she was a puppy three years ago and since she looked so miserable, this was the first and last time she was made to wear an outfit. ARR, Happy Halloween!

berry streusel muffins, grilled wraps

My darling sister Erin and lovely brother-in-law Mike are coming up from Florida for a visit. They are expecting their first baby (the first grandbaby on this side) and wanted a little trip before the baby comes and we are very happy to see them for a day or two before they head further north. My sister, who is normally an omnivore, is a bit turned off by meat these days due to her pregnancy . . . so, this makes cooking and/or eating out a lot easier. Soul Vegetarian, here we come!
Anyways, I always like to make something sweet for all my guests and decided to make muffins for Erin and Mike (and of course Jared and I) to munch on. I used the Blueberry Streusel Muffin recipe from The Damn Tasty! Vegan Baking Guide. Instead of all blueberries, I decided to use a frozen mixture of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries and boy did they rock! The muffin is sweet and moist, with bites of tart and colorful berries bursting in your mouth. Plus, there is a sweet and crunchy crumble on top that matches so well with the texture of the rest of the muffin.
I hope Erin and Mike like them as much as we did.

Last night for dinner, I made simple wraps. I found these really tasty chili tomato flour tortilla wraps made with canola oil vs. partially hydrogenated stuff. I spread homemade hummus on the tortilla along with sliced tomato and a handful of clover sprouts. I heated the wraps in a pan with a touch of cooking spray, which made the tortilla crispy, melted the hummus and heated the veggies up a bit.
These were so tasty, Jared had two!

Cinnamon Apple Muffins, Banana Berry Smoothie

I'm on top of the world! We finally got a new stove. No more baking goodies in my convection oven. In celebration of our new stove, I made these cinnamon apple muffins, recipe from La Dolce Vegan!: Vegan Livin' Made Easy by Sarah Kramer. I had to add more soy milk than her recipe called for since it was almost impossible to combine everything. They turned out lovely! These are especially awesome with a bit of whipped Earth Balance.
My favorite part is the pecan/walnut crunchy topping.

To supplement my muffin treat I made a smoothie with frozen banana, fresh blueberries and hemp milk. Very creamy!