Just Desserts

One of the truly fabulous things about smoothies is that they are so dessert-like. I feel like I am having a milkshake every morning for breakfast, even though my smoothies are fairly low-sugar and very nutrient-dense. Smoothies do such a great job of satisfying my sweet tooth that I rarely feel compelled to make desserts. But I am always happy to break out the whisk and baking pans for special occasions.

On the anniversary of the day my son came home, we celebrated with a Funky Monkey Pie from Peas and Thank You. Bananas, peanut butter, chocolate, and graham crackers? Sign me up! 

What, pray tell, would an avocado, cacao powder, dates, some collard ribbons (?!?), and a big blob of raspberry jam all be doing in the same food processor at the same time?!

Making Gena's Chocomole, that's what (well, the collard ribbons were my idea....obviously.) It was so creamy and naughty-tasting, and it made a fun little dessert topped with sliced bananas and some Kashi cereal.

Sometimes, I wonder if my photography skills could get any worse...

These are Black Bean Brownies from Peas and Thank You. Trust me, they tasted way more amazing than these pictures would lead you to believe.

This is Grandma's Perfect and Easy Apple Crisp from VegWeb. Easy? Yes. Perfect? Ehhh... Although I think it was my fault for not chopping the apples into smaller pieces. Oh well!

And, finally, I made Our Favorite Chocolate Cake from Vegan Express for Father's Day. I should have taken a picture of what this thing looked like after trying to remove it from the pan....let's just say, about 1/4 of the cake remained glued to the bottom. No problemo. I just scraped it up, mashed it onto a plate, and then plopped the rest of the cake on top and pressed down. My cake looked so terrible that it was actually kind of funny. Somehow that didn't stop us from shoveling this down our pie-holes :)

Birthday Food: Homemade Bread, Muffalettas and Cake!

It was Mr. Bananas for Smoothies's birthday the other day, so I decided to go all-out and make him a birthday feast of his favorite foods.

I haven't made them in a couple of years, but I remember how much my hubby loved the Veggie Tempeh Muffaletta sandwiches from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. It's a delectable mix of chopped olives, capers, red peppers (raw & roasted), sauteed tempeh, celery, green onions, garlic, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. It's salty, tangy, and uber-delish.

The filling is layered on crusty bread and topped with some avocado, spinach, and sliced tomatoes. Lousy baker that I am, I would normally have bought some bakery bread, but I took a chance and tried to make my own bread - the Sunflower Artisan Loaf from 1,000 Vegan Recipes.

Success! It rose beautifully and was super-easy to make, even for a novice like myself. In fact, the dough rose so much that I ended up splitting it into 2 loaves before baking. I just cut 5 minutes off the baking time and it came out perfectly.

I sliced one of the loaves horizontally, like so:

Then I scooped out much of the middle part in order to make room for the yummy filling:

Next, I added some sliced avocado:

Then I topped it with some sliced tomatoes and baby spinach:

Finally, I put the top back on and pressed down hard to smoosh everything together:

Finally, I used a serrated knife to cut the sandwiches in half. Here's an inside look:

I was tired after all my bread-and-muffaletta-making, so I just threw some sweet potato tots in the oven for a side dish:

My hubby was thrilled to have his beloved muffaletta sandwich again :) And he was very impressed by my attempt (and victory!) at bread baking!!

We made sure to save some room for birthday cake and ice cream. I don't make cakes very often, but I immediately thought of the delicious Apple-Cardamom Cake with Lemon-Maple Frosting from Vive Le Vegan!:

This cake is as healthy as cake can get - it is made with oat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, applesauce, spices, and a minimum of oil and (natural) sugar. The frosting is silken tofu-based and includes maple syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest, and agar powder. The best part is that you can eat an two enormous slice of this cake and not feel gross afterward. Yay for natural sweeteners and whole-grain flours!

The only thing I didn't make was homemade ice cream. Hey, that's what Trader Joe's is for! Cherry Chocolate Chip Soy Creamy....oh yeah!

Happy birthday to my sweetie!

Weekend Yums

Nothing like being Captain Obvious, but I love the weekends.

Weekends mean movie nights, family hikes, longer runs, visiting with friends, and spending time outside. 

It also means enjoying some favorite treats that I don't indulge in during the week.

Such as...homemade pizza. I usually make a quick/non-yeasted crust, but I just tried Mama Pea's Tried and True Whole Wheat Pizza Dough, and it was great. I topped it with some tomato sauce, chopped mushrooms, diced red onion, and Daiya mozzarella. If I ask my son what he wants for dinner, he will say "PIZZA!" every time. He loves it as much as I do!

It was ooey, gooey, melty, and delicious, although I think some kalamata olives would have really kicked it up a notch...next time!

Another Saturday evening, we came home late and wanted to eat pronto. I grabbed a package of sourdough wraps, some hummus, and vegetable errata (arugula, tomato, cucumber, carrot) and made some quick sandwiches while frozen fries were baking in the oven. A frosty glass of Colorado Native beer hit the spot! Beer + french fries + ketchup = awesome.

Sometimes, it's fun to indulge your inner college kid and just have snacky food for dinner. I made some OMG Oven-Baked Onion Rings from Appetite for Reduction and some Avocado Chimichurri Bruschetta and went to town!

After having onion rings and bruschetta for dinner, it just makes sense to follow up with some "Not Guilty" Chocolate Chip Cookies. I mean, really. You've got to hit all your food groups!

As much as I love my big salads and smoothies, I also love to have fun foods on occasion.

What are some of your favorite weekend indulgences?

CCK's Flourless Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Sometimes, a girl's just gotta have a chocolate chip cookie.

Like, now.

I don't want a dozen cookies. I don't even want half a dozen cookies.

Okay, maybe I do want half a dozen cookies.

But really, I just want a cookie. In my mouth. ASAP.

Fortunately, that's why we have Chocolate-Covered Katie.

Her Flourless Chocolate-Chip Cookies take mere minutes (minutes!!) to make - a few minutes to throw everything together, and only 6 minutes to bake. That's it, folks. You want cookies in a jiffy? Go see Katie.

And loooook:

Her recipe makes a half-dozen cookies.

Perfect! Three for three, three for my hubby. My son had already gone to sleep, so no cookies for him...you snooze, you lose, buddy!

I totally would have shared, though. If there had been any left, that is :)

Valentine's Day Food: Quinoa Puttanesca, Salad & Raspberry Blackout Cake

I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for Valentine's Day. I like the idea of cards, chocolate, kisses, snuggles, and telling someone you love them. I enjoy preparing a special meal for my hubby and me, topped off with a delicious and decadent dessert, which MUST include chocolate. This is a requirement!

This year, I decided to cut myself a little slack and not devote hours and hours to preparing a romantic meal. Instead, I baked a cake the night before and then made a simple but elegant dinner. Rather than dining by candlelight alone, we ate off trays in the living room with our son, watching The Sound of Music. It might not have been romantic, but it was fun :)

Our first course was a salad of baby arugula, sliced dried figs, and pistachios with an agave-apple cider vinaigrette. It was inspired by Gena's Fig & Pistachio Salad from Choosing Raw:

We enjoyed our salad with a glass of Cupcake Winery Riesling. I served it in a champagne glass to make it more romantical :)

Our main course was the uber-flavorful Quinoa Puttanesca from Appetite for Reduction. This super-saucy dish is studded with kalamata olives and capers, two of my favorite ingredients. Quinoa is a great alternative to the traditional pasta because it soaks up the sauce and makes every bite really scrumptious.

And, of course, the most important part of any Valentine's Day meal is the dessert. I decided to make something I've been lusting after for ages and ages...the Raspberry Blackout Cake with Ganache-y Frosting from Vegan with a Vengeance. Rather than make the full recipe, I decided to halve it and make half of a two-layer cake. It could not have been easier to do: I halved all the ingredients, baked one 8-inch round cake pan (rather than two), and just cut the finished cake in half. I frosted it as directed and ended up with a beautiful half-moon-shaped cake. The crumb is chocolate and raspberry-flavored, with a raspberry-preserve-and-chocolate-ganache middle layer and frosting. It was.....amaaaaaazing. My picture is totally crappy, but I didn't want to waste any more time taking pictures when this cake wanted to jump into my mouth.

You can't even really see the middle layer, but it's there, trust me. This may have been one of the best cakes I've ever eaten in my life, and there will be much more of this cake in my future. It was the perfect ending to a great Valentine's Day meal!

Well, Hello There....

Geez Louise, I guess I wasn't kidding when I said that Vegan MoFo almost killed me. That was in October, and since then, I've had - what - a handful of posts? I've been cooking, and taking pictures of my food, but that's as far as I've gone. I've enjoyed my little hiatus, but now I'm coming back to my blog!

Guess what? I've eaten a lot of food since the end of October! I've eaten some pumpkin pie, hearty soups, Christmas cookies, Christmas Stollen, big main-dish salads, fondue, smoothies, and lots of snackies. Before it gets any more ridiculously out-of-season, let's take a look at some of my Christmas cookies. I was totally excited to make Christmas cookies with my son this year. He had a blast rolling out the dough and helping me make the Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.

I mean, seriously....are these things cute, or what?

I had a little extra dough, so I made a little baseball cookie for my boy.

He absolutely loved it! He's a baseball fanatic, even though he's only 2. He's a Yankees fan just like his Mommy!

These gingerbread cookies were probably the best ones I've ever had, and they were super, super easy to make. They were soft, perfectly spiced, and craaazy delicious. I'll make them again next year for sure!

I also made a batch of 21st-Century Carob Chip Cookies, also from VCIYCJ. These were pretty rad little cookies. They had whole-wheat pastry flour, carob chips, roasted peanuts, raisins, flaxseed, and Sucanat in them - all good, healthy stuff. (So good and healthy, in fact, that I didn't feel bad about eating 4 of them in one go.)

Yeah, maybe they weren't very Christmasy, but maybe it's time we put some carob in Christmas.

Mmmmm...Christmas cookies.

At least I only have to wait another 11 months!

Vegan MoFo Day 31: A Smorgasbord of Vegan Food

It's the last day of MoFo, so I wanted to leave you with a smorgasbord of yummy stuff I've eaten the last few days. I haven't traveled to Sweden, but I'm Swedish on my mother's side of the family, so there ya go.

Lemon Lentil Soup from Peas and Thank You:

Oatmeal Bread from How It All Vegan!:

Lotsa Veggies Lentil Soup from Appetite for Reduction:

Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad (with avocado), also from Appetite for Reduction:

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies from Vegan with a Vengeance:

Orange-Date-Walnut Bread from 1,000 Vegan Recipes: 

Bean & Corn Tortilla Lasagna with Avocado from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan:

I used black tortilla chips and Daiya vegan cheddar to make it look very Halloween-y :)

I'll be back with a MoFo recap soon!

Baking Bonanza

Yesterday morning, my son and I were puttering around the house, trying to think of something fun to do. Well, at least I was puttering around - my son was contentedly plopped on the living room floor, hoovering some Kashi cereal and watching Curious George. What to do, what to do. Then, I had a flash of inspiration...

"Hey, J...do you want to cook with Mommy....again?"

Hey, I didn't say it was a flash of genius, or creativity, or ingenuity. I mean, it's not like we didn't just cook together a few days ago. But we'd had a lot of fun, and I was feeling ready for our second cooking session. My son happily agreed and dragged a chair over to the kitchen counter.

I was feeling very ambitious. I decided we would tackle not one, not two, but three different recipes. I wanted to make some waffles to freeze for easy breakfasts; some quick bread for easy snacks; and some more healthy cookies, because, well, who doesn't love cookies?!

I knew the waffles would take forever to make, so I decided to start with them. I opened Vegan Brunch to our favorite recipe, Gingerbread Waffles. Spiced with ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, these molasses-sweetened treats are a big hit in my household. Here, get close and take a whiff...

Mmm....gingerbready!

While the waffles were cooking, we started on our next recipe, Ginger-Molasses Bread with Blueberries from 1,000 Vegan Recipes. I guess I was in a gingery-molasses-y kind-of-mood yesterday, I don't know. Anyway, my son was thoroughly perplexed when we made vegan "buttermilk" by mixing soy milk and cider vinegar together. He couldn't understand why his beloved beverage started to look so...curdled. Fortunately, he didn't dwell on this too long. Once I gave him a wooden spoon and a measuring cup loaded with blueberries, he was one happy camper.

But let's face it...while he was happy to be helping make the bread, what he really wanted to do was make the cookies. So, after we got the batter made and put the bread in the oven, it was cookie time.

When it comes to cookies, I don't mess around. I don't bake all that often, but when I do, I want the cookies to be good. I mean, gooooooood. There's no one I trust more for cookie awesomeness than the cookie queen herself, Dreena Burton. Seriously, the woman knows her cookies. Her recipes are very specific in terms of how long to cook, how long to keep them on the cookie sheet after they come out of the oven, and how big to make them. If you follow her directions, you're sure to come out with delicious cookies every time. As a bonus, her cookies are usually loaded with healthy ingredients, like whole-grain flours, natural sweeteners, and superfoods like chia and hemp. In short, they're yummy cookies I feel good about giving my son!

We got to work on making the Super-Charge Me! Cookies from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. These cookies contain oats, whole-grain flour, coconut, raisins, carob chips, maple syrup, and almond butter. Yum!

Soon after, we had the cookies in the oven, the bread in the toaster oven, and waffles coming off the waffle iron. It smelled heavenly in the kitchen!

Witness our bounty: first, the gingerbread waffles, cooling on the rack:

A close-up of a Super-Charge Me! Cookie:

And more of his little friends:

Finally, the Ginger-Molasses Bread with Blueberries was ready:

By this time, J and I were hungry from all our cooking. He wanted to try some of the bread, so I cut us each a piece and slathered them with some Earth Balance.

That's his Buzz Lightyear plate, BTW. Not mine.

I took a bite, and ZOMG...you know what this reminded me of? Brown bread. That wonderful, mysterious bread-in-a-can that adorned many a meal in my childhood. I can't even think of hot dogs and baked beans without thinking of big slabs of brown bread, fried in butter and then smeared with cream cheese. Mmmmm. This bread had that same delicious dark sweetness and crispy texture, minus the rings that came from being molded into a can. I am totally digging the molasses-and-cornmeal combination. There needs to be more of this in my life. Molasses and cornmeal smoothie, perhaps?

No baking today, though. My hubby and I are running the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Providence tomorrow, and we spent today getting our gear at the Expo and visiting my parents, who will be watching our son while we run. Wish us luck!