Most Relaxing Day Ever

Whats the best way to start the Most Relaxing Day Ever? Vegan Waffles that's how. Nice light, fluffy - delicious! This past Saturday was one of the most relaxing days on record in my book. Sleeping in, coffee, waffles, lolly-gagging around the house, apartment complex pool party, trip to "Chuckie Chee-Chee's", Fresh Market trip, Whole Foods trip...ahhh.

Wakey Wakey

VEGAN WAFFLES




Ingredients

    1 1/3 cup unbleached white flour
    1/2 tablespoon sugar 
    1/4-1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
    dash salt
    1/2 ultra ripe banana
    1/2 cup nondairy milk (I use soy)
    1/4 cup vegan margarine (I use Earth Balance), softened
    generous splash vanilla extract
    tiny drop almond extract 
    2-3 spoonfuls applesauce, optional (less applesauce the thinner the waffle)

Directions:

1. Turn on your waffle maker. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl.  

2. Mash banana in bowl, and add the milk, then mash more. Add the margarine, and mash and mix so it starts getting chunky, but mixes together. Add the extracts, and keep mash/mixing. Add the applesauce.

3. Add the wet to the dry. The batter should be kind of chunky, like thick pancake batter or muffin batter. If you feel it seems too dry, add more milk. I usually add a splash at this stage. 

4. Ladle batter onto waffle iron, starting in the middle, about 3 big spoonfuls. Don't try to spread it out, just slop it on and the waffle maker will take care of the rest. My waffle maker has a light that tells me when they are done; if yours does not, I would guess it takes about 5 minutes.

Enjoy! They should come out nice and crispy on the outside and have the consistency of a popover on the inside, not at all like pancakes, not thick, not doughy. .

What else was on the menu? Fish Tacos. Seriously, the BOMB!! I picked up a pound of flaky white tilapia on sale at the Fresh Market, rubbed it down with some Jamaican Jerk seasoning and topped it all off with fresh lime, tomatoes, onions and lettuce. Mmmm....still day dreaming about them. Now the question is, what is the best way to top of the Most Relaxing Day ever? Cappuccino Cupcakes!! Yes, buddy these puppies were by far the best cupcakes I've made to date.

Gaze and drool....

Best VEGAN Bread Ever! Part 2

Oven Ready

I'm so stoked that my rosemary bush has really taken off. I've already chopped some stems off for a home hair rinse that was amazing! A few weeks later I added a bunch of rosemary to a bottle of olive oil for that Mediterranean flavor. Mmmm.Now I have tracked down a recipe for Rosemary Peasant Bread. This stuff rivals Macaroni Grill, seriously. I found this on MakesandTakes and it was super easy to make and the only thing I had to substitute was the butter and of course I used my trusty margarine. The house smelled wonderful while it baked!

Rosemary Bread Recipe

• 1 packet dry yeast (or 2 1/2 tsp)
• 2 c. warm water
• 1 T. sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 c. flour
• 1-2 tsp. fresh Rosemary plus more for topping
• Olive Oil, Melted margarine and salt

Tummy Ready

Dissolve yeast in the warm water and sugar.Add flour, salt, and 1-2 tsp Rosemary and stir until blended, do not Knead!! Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until double in size. Remove dough. It will be sticky. I like to put shortening or oil on my hands for taking out the dough and shaping it. I think it works better than flour hands. Place it in 2 rounds on a cookie sheet lightly coated in oil. Cover with a towel or greased plastic wrap. Then let it rise another hour. Brush each round with melted margarine and lightly sprinkle with more Rosemary and salt. Bake @ 425 for 10 minutes, then reduce temp to 375 for 15 minutes more. Cool slightly, then cut into nice size bits or rip it apart and dip in a bowl of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

Best VEGAN Bread Ever!

Behold it's bubbly goodness!

I know. I'm new to the Vegan world, especially the baking part - but dang it was hard to find a BREAD recipe. But I finally tracked down  my absolute favorite sweet bread recipe in VEGAN form!!
HOORAY! Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread. This bread only lasts about 20 minutes after it comes out of the oven. No I am serious, this bread doesn't stand a chance in my house. It is devoured and consumed at lightning speed - burned fingers and tongues be damned. Count yourselves lucky that I am sharing it with you. Now the original recipe that I fell in love with from Annie's-Eats did not have raisins so I just omitted those from the recipe I found at KohlerCreated. I also skipped their optional glaze and just made a little extra filling to spread on top. It was still "de-lish!" according to daughter and husband.

Doughy goodness.

Vegan Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

For the dough:

3/4 cup non-dairy milk
1 packet active yeast
3 cups pastry flour 
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoons salt
5 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

For theFilling:
1 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon






Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, gently warm 3/4 cup non-dairy milk to about 110 degrees. Sprinkle yeast over warmed non-dairy milk and let it dissolve, about 5 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and 1/4 salt in a large bowl. Add 5 tbsp applesauce and yeast mixture, stir to combine. Add in another 1/2 cup flour, stirring to combine. Continue mixing until you have a sticky dough ball.
3. Place the dough is a large, oiled bowl (or drizzle a little oil in your current bowl and roll the dough in it. Cover with plastic wrap and/or a kitchen towel. Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Once risen, you can refrigerate overnight to use in the morning, just allow to rest for 30 minutes on the counter before rolling out.
4. While the dough rises, whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon and applesauce for the filling. Grease and flour a 9×5×3-inch loaf pan. Set both aside.
5. Sprinkle remaining flour on a flat surface and knead dough, kneading in most of the flour. Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a large thin rectangle, about 12-inches tall and 20-inches long, or roughly as large as you can make it.
6. Using a pastry brush, spread the filling across all the dough. Sprinkle with additional brown sugar if desired. Sprinkle raisins evenly across the dough.
7. Slice the dough vertically into strips and stack strips on top of one another and slice into strips again. The strips will measure around 3 1/2-inches on each side. Layer into your greased loaf pan and cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise for 30-45 additional minutes.
8. Meanwhile, place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until tips are deeply golden brown. The center takes much longer to cook, so deeply golden tips will be indicative the entire loaf is cooked through.
9. Allow to cool for up to 30 minutes before removing from pan and onto a clean surface or serving dish. Drizzle with glaze topping if desired.

Behold the power of LEEKS!!

We had to thin out our leeks over the weekend. When we bought the the leeks, they resembled teeny-tiny chives and even though I had researched the plant before we bought them - we failed to thin them out immediately when brought them home. We just put them all in one medium sized pot. DOH! It took the two of us to gingerly pry those suckers out of that pot when we finally got around to buying a big rectangular planter. Holy cow - that pot was packed with roots. We took the bigger ones and spread those out in the planter, I'm hoping they'll continue to grow even bigger. The smaller ones we divided up and gave half of the bunch away so that they don't go to waste. The rest I will be using in a Caramlized Leek Noodle recipe I found.

Leeks, they're whats for dinner.

I added Chicken to the recipe even though it didn't call for it. I cooked the chicken up first then added the leeks in. This definitely hit the spot!

·         2 medium leeks (since I was utilizing the smaller leeks we grew I used about 6-8 small ones)

·         1/2 Tbsp olive oil

·         1 Tbsp soya margarine

·         1/2 Tbsp dark brown soft sugar

·         5 ounces (150 g) noodles

·         2 heaping Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

·         1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

·         Salt and black pepper to taste

Preparation:

Split the leeks lengthways and wash each layer thoroughly. Slice across into thin strips, including the green part.

Heat the olive oil and margarine together over a gentle heat. When the margarine has melted, add the leeks and toss well. Cook slowly, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until the leeks start to soften.

Sprinkle over the sugar. After a couple more minutes, mix well. Continue to cook for 15 to 30 minutes, until the leeks have begun to collapse into a sticky mass. Add small amounts of hot water if required to stop sticking.

While the leeks are cooking, cook and drain the noodles.

When the leeks are done, add the parsley, olive oil, cooked noodles and seasoning to taste. Toss well and serve.

Bruschetta: Gardening & Cooking UNITE!

 Two of my all-time favorite hobbies often collide in my house. I wish we still had the big yard at our old place to garden in, I wish we had a bigger kitchen to cook in and more time to enjoy both *sigh*. Oh well I am not going to let that stop me from having a decent garden and good cooking. I will say that I am pleasantly surprised that our little balcony garden is doing so well this year. Container gardening luck just seems to be on our side. Our balcony gets full sunlight for the plants, my husband & daughter have a morning & late afternoon routine of watering "the baby plants" and my husband just has a knack for utilizing any space no matter what the size - seriously look below.

Nice and green! Not pictured above is this wonderful invention called a Topsy Turvy. It hangs above the balcony to save space.

Mmmm Strawberries. Yes you will notice that the majority of our plants are edible or produce veggies. I love, love, love bright vibrant colors, but since we were limited on space I went for the more practical garden instead. 

Green Bell Peppers

Hot Banana Peppers, Just Added.

Leeks!!

Rosemary, My favorite herb.

Sweet Basil, Just Added - the grass pictured to the upper left above the basil is Cat Grass for our kitties. :)

Flat Italian Parsley - this was our mystery plant for a while. We mistook it for Cilantro, boy were we wrong when we tried to use it in my salsa!!

Since I picked up some basil over the weekend I decided to whip up a batch of Bruschetta.

Bruschetta is simple, delicious and can be made a variety of ways. Balsalmic Bruschetta, Red Pepper Bruschetta, Feta Bruschetta - which is my husbands favorite. I went with the most basic recipe:

6 vine-ripened tomatoes

1/2 of a red onion

4 cloves of garlic

4-6 large basil leaves

4 tablespoons of olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

sliced French bread

*I did not use my handy-dandy food processor for this because I feared it would come out too soup than chunky*. Dice the tomatoes as small as you can without crushing them, add them to a large glass bowl. Dice the half of red onion and add to the bowl. Dice the garlic cloves as fine as you can get them, add to the bowl. Stack the basil leaves on top of each other and roll, slice and add to the bowl. Add the olive oil and mix throughly adding the salt and pepper to taste. I used the broiler setting on my oven to toast the French bread, this took about 3-4 minutes to get nice and toasty. Drissle a little olive oil on the bread and rub each slice with a piece of raw garlic, add the Bruschetta, and Voila! Deliciousness. 

Needs a little kick? Add a dash of red pepper. Missing that, something-something? Add a little dusting of Parmesan cheese, or sprinkle on some Feta or add slices of Mozerella cheese. With Bruschetta the options are endless! 

40 Blocks for A Cupcake??

Yes, I trekked 40+ blocks for 4 cupcakes to exact. Recently on a business trip to NYC one of the places that was a MUST eat while I was there was the famous Magnolia Bakery. Every cupcake guru has heard of this mecca for cupcake foodies. If we had actually mapped out each location, planned our route through the city accordingly our feet would be thanking us right now, but I think we got the true NYC experience hoofing it as much as we did. I got 1 Red Velvet, 1 Japan Relief  (Chocolate cupcake with 1 red raspberry in the middle of Vanilla frosting), 1 Vanilla with Chocolate frosting and 1 Chocolate with Vanilla frosting. I bought all those different kinds, but only ended up eating about 1 and half because I realized that my throat was starting to swell and my eyes got super itchy and scratchy. Food allergy be damned, I had to try ONE. So what was the final verdict on the cupcakes? Were they worth the walk? Yes.

The experience was worth it, visiting the bakery was worth it (especially in Greenwich Village), seeing people in their baking element was worth it. Now the cupcakes were good, but not what I was expecting. The frosting was light, fluffy more on the whipped cream side than the buttery side like I am used to. The cake in the cupcake was dry, but reading over the Magnolia Bakery pamphlet they explicitly state that the goodies they make are to be consumed as soon as they come out of the oven - so to be fair the cupcakes I got could have been siting in the window for a few hours. I got lots of inspiration from the bakery. I was lucky enough to have walked in while they were in the process of frosting a batch of cupcakes and picked up a new frosting technique. I loved the vintage aprons they were selling right there in the store and I'm seriously considering picking up sewing again just so I can make one of my own. I wish I could have eaten more of the cupcakes I purchased to get a good solid take on them all, but I wasn't gonna push it. Another bonus for the bakery - they were open until 11:30 p.m.! Awesome for late night munchies.

I had time last night to whip up a new batch of Vegan cupcakes that I could devour without worry. I tried out the Strawberry Tallcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero. These amazing cupcakes feature the Golden Vanilla Cupcake recipe, Vanilla Butter Cream frosting and my own take on their strawberry toping. I sliced up 1 1/2 cups of strawberries, and mixed them with a few spoonfuls of strawberry preserves. The topping came out a little runny, so next time I won't prep it before I make the cupcakes. Still these cupcakes were de-lish! These are perfect for the spring/summer limbo we're in right now. 

Vegan Virgin No More

Before I got the amazing cook book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero, I found my first vegan cupcake recipe like everyone else, on the web. These yummy delicious creations are Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting. I added the chocolate sprinkles for a little flair. These baby's are what turned me into a believer of Vegan cupcakes. I am now taking a firm stance that they taste better than your average ones made with butter, milk & eggs. I made these just last week and was able to fool one of my unsuspecting co-workers who had no idea they were Vegan - muahahahaha!! My evil plan is unfolding perfectly...*Ahem* Anyway I say that statement with a disclaimer - if made correctly, they most definitely are better than average cupcakes. Let's not even discuss my first attempt at Vegan cupcakes... Another attribute of these yummy treats of awesomeness is that they are more satisfying. Yes that's right, they're like a sucker punch right in your sweet tooth. One is all you need.

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes

Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
5 Tbsp non-hydrogenized vegan butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 banana, mushed well
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup soy milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 350.

Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl, mix well. Add banana, stirring well to combine. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cup and level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with 1/2 cup soymilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition.

Spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups lined with paper liners. Bake for 20 minutes or until cupcakes spring back easily when touched lightly in the center. Allow to cool, and frost if desired. Peanut butter frosting highly recommended, or just spread with a little pb when serving.

Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup plain soy milk
1/4 cup dairy-free margarine
1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt

My New Direction & Mourning the Loss of Cheese

So due to some recent health issue's I'm having to extract certain yummy things from my diet - mostly ooey, gooey cheese, whole eggs, cheese, peanuts, cheese, soy, cheese, wheat - did I mention cheese?? Another big one was milk - what the hell am I supposed to eat my brownies with?? Water? Almond Milk? That's blasphemous. The list was rather daunting after I looked it over. I never really noticed how what I ate effected my body, my sleep patterns (lack thereof), my moods, ect... I can sometimes tend to be a bit obsessive about things if I let myself, but I didn't want to drive myself crazy wondering if what I am about to stuff in my face had any of the 14+ plus things that I might have a food allergy to. Bottom line I just want to feel normal again, be healthy and BE HAPPY! So if limiting or completely eliminating things from my diet will supposedly help me do that, then alright...I'll do it...if I gotta.

One of the things that I miss dearly - besides cheese - are brownies, cookies, cupcakes, ya know the good stuff. Luckily the Vegan movement has hit the baked goods area pretty hard and I've been able to find some simple recipes for things that don't involve wheat or dairy AND are pretty dang tasty. I'd like to state that NO I am not 100% Vegan, it just helps that Vegan recipes are very "food allergy friendly". I still eat meat, because come on - how am I supposed to get any protein if I can't have soy, peanuts, eggs??? I can't survive on beans alone, and nobody should - for an obvious reason! The only meat that I've been told to stay away from is Pork, but somehow I can have Ham??....I don't get how the food allergy thing works, but OK.

I will say that once you've cut something out of your diet and you try to gradually introduce the item back in - or in my case have a moment of weakness and indulge a little, you finally understand what the heck the Doc was talking about. My husband made brownies the other night that had wheat, milk and whole eggs in them and I thought "Just a nibble, just a few bites, I've been good!" Boy do I regret it!! Talk about an almost instantaneous reaction, my stomach violently rejected it. I'll certainly think twice again, before giving into a moment of weakness, no matter how tempting that brownie maybe.

In my search for Vegan friendly recipes, I requested Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero for Mother's Day. It's arrived so now it's time to get down to some cupcake making business. Don't worry I will be blogging my adventure's into the wonderful world of Vegan Cupcake Goodness and hopefully convince you that they're not so bad after all.