Texas Gals Southern Cookin'

Even though we live in Oregon, we are Texas gals, and we'll always have a place in our heart for Southern food!

Veggie pot pies, cornbreads, black-eyed peas, biscuits, gravy, and other spicy Southern food.


Cornbread is so easy to make and a delicious buttery (vegan) treat!

How about our Harvest Cornbread or Sweet Potato Jalapeno Cornbread? We've also love just plain cornbread, with a little cornflour for extra softness and melt-in-your mouth deliciousness. Great to make cornbread muffins for easy snacks. (*Update 10/4/09 We baked some jalapeno cornbread, made just a few modifications, and it turned out melt-in-your-mouth awesome).


Instead of the typical Italian calzones, why not a Southern calzone?!
Black-eyed pea calzones with a cornmeal whole grain crust! We just combined onion, garlic, bell pepper, chopped broccoli, black-eyed peas, oregano, and Cajun seasoning and used that for our filling. We served these calzones with homemade mustard vinegrette (with lots of garlic added to this recipe) and an awesome homemade barbeque-cajun sauce (tomato paste, Cajun seasoning, worceshire sauce, bragg's, garlic, oregano, vinegar, oil, and water). A cilantro vinegrette would be good too.


We make biscuits about twice a month! Tahini biscuits and pumpkin cornmeal biscuits, kamut biscuits, baking powder biscuits and cornmeal biscuits, sourdough biscuits, jam biscuits and spice biscuits, and so much more you can do with a biscuit recipe!

We recently tried Tritticale Rosemary biscuits - perfect with olive oil or Southern gravy - and a gluten free biscuit! Gluten-free baking has been an interest to us, especially since we've been experimenting with gluten-free in the R&D lab at work! With a blend of gluten-free flours (sorghum, tapioca, rice, and potato starch), coconut flour, and some xanthan gum, we followed Bob's Red Mill Buttermilk Coconut Pancake recipe (on the back of the coconut flour package) and made Gluten-Free Biscuits. We added 2 Tb flaxmeal and 2 Tb oat bran, and used a blend of hemp and soy milk to make a biscuit baked in the oven. Very good for gluten-free, held together well, and more of a fluffy texture like mashed potatoes in a bread. Good with garlic and gravy.


Veggie Pot Pies are always so comforting, but time-consuming to prepare! So we made it easy!

LK's Easy Veggie Pot Pie

1 vegetable bouillon
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 cup water
1 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tb nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp each sage and thyme
1/4 tsp each onion powder and ground mustard
1/4 tsp celery seed
2 Tb oil
1/4 cup diced bell pepper
1 cup broccoli, finely chopped
1 med yellow squash, diced
2-3 large chives or 1/4 cup onion
1 cup potatoes, diced and cooked
3 Tb flour
prepared pie crust or just biscuits or toast!

1. Add first 9 ingredients (bouillon through nutritional yeast) in a small stove pot and cook on medium high heat for 2-3 min.
2. Then add sage, thyme, onion powder, mustard, and celery seed, and simmer while you chop the veggies.
3. Place veggies in a microwave-safe dish, and cook until almost done.
4. Add flour to the stove pot and bring to a boil. Stir constantly until thickens.
5. Combine gravy from the stove pot with the vegetables in a large container.
6. Store in refrigerator until the day you want to have this for dinner.
7. When preparing your dinner, take your prepared pie crust and bake in the oven according to baking instructions (about 10 min).
8. Place the container of the vegetable filling in the microwave and heat until hot.
9. When the crust is just golden brown, take out of the oven. Pour the vegetable filling over the crust.
10. Cut and serve. This will be messy, so another delicious option is to break off pieces of the pie crust, place on your dinner plate, then pour the warm vegetable filling over it, and serve. Or just serve the vegetable filling over homemade biscuits or toast!


She's the sweetest little rosebud
that Texas ever knew,
Her eyes are bright as diamonds,
they sparkle like the dew;
You may talk about your Clementine,
and sing of Rosalee,
But the yellow rose of Texas
is the only girl for me.

ENJOY!

Hungry for Mex

Lately we've been hungry for Mexican food.

Burritos.
Vegan Enchiladas.
Spanish Rice.
Pinto Beans and Black Beans.
Chips and Salsa.

!!!




So, last week we had lots of it!







Amy's Kitchen Black Bean Vegetable Burrito and Pinto Bean and Rice Burrito - we are hoping to start up a tradition for burrito night with Amy's once a week! :) We like the black bean burrito better because there's a little bit more veggies and there's a creamy enchilada-style sauce. But the pinto one is good and creamy too. We love the wrap - wheaty and soft and huge; too bad Amy's doesn't just sell the wheat tortillas.

We tried Amy's Black Bean Enchiladas, but they weren't as good as the burritoes. Not as many goodies and needs more flavor, though it would be easy for a quick dinner to add some salsa or tomato-black bean-veggie side dish with it.


For a fun Labor Day outing, we stopped at Lifesource Natural Foods in Salem, OR - a great natural food grocery store and lunch stop! We enjoyed some Spanish rice, black beans, fajita veggies, and vegetable soup, with a delicious vegan creamy macaroni salad.


For snacks, we have had the munchies for chips. Have you ever tried Food Should Taste Good baked chips? Absolutely love! Not too salty and doesn't taste baked! So far we've tried the sweet potato version and the multigrain--we love the multigrain best, but the sweet potato is very good with a subtle sweetness.

We also recently tried the Lundberg Farms Rice Chips, with Sea salt, which are good, but not great. Some of their chips have milk in it, FYI. Good for those that want tortilla chips that are gluten-free.



At home, we cooked up some Awesome Homemade Veggie Bean Burgers! We also like trying new recipes, but once we found this, we have made it twice this month, and we are looking forward to making this again, with variations of course.

Awesome Homemade Veggie Bean Burgers
Makes 10-12 patties

1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 cup each cornmeal and wheat gluten
2 1/2 Tb nutritional yeast
2 Tb flaxseed meal
2 cups pinto beans
1 Tb canola oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tb Braggs
1 Tb stone ground mustard
2 - 4 Tb diced bell pepper
2 Tb diced onion

1. In a small bowl, mix onion powder, cumin, cornmeal, wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, and flaxseed meal.
2. In a large bowl, mash pinto beans, then add remaining ingredients. Mix until just combined.
3. Add dry mixture from the small bowl to the bean mixture in the large bowl, and mix until well combined.
4. Form 10 - 12 patties. Place on a baking sheet that has parchment paper or has been sprayed with cooking spray.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-25 minutes, or until golden on both sides.

Variations: Add 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes or cayenne
Add 1/4 - 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce or Balsamic vinegar
Use black beans, white beans, black-eyed peas, or kidney beans
Add 2-3 Tb finely chopped veggies

For your information, we recently stumbled upon a great list-article, "57 Health Benefits of Going Vegan". Great reasons to be vegan, to encourage friends and family to be vegan or vegetarian, or even to just motivate others to be vegan once a week! And thanks mom, if your reading, for your new dedication to a vegetarian lifestyle!

BIG REMINDER: The Artisana nut butter sampler giveaway contest is going on NOW, and it ends in 10 days, Saturday Sept 19!
Keep on posting your ideas: We want creativity-- It's great for you to tell us what your favorite way to enjoy Artisana nut/seed butters is...Also tell us about a dish/meal/snack (with details) you've tried that was out-of-the-ordinary delicious! Thanks for those of you who have already commented and have suggested such inspiring delicious ways to use the nut butters! Some great ideas so far! Get in on the fun here!

Crunchin' Away

Crunchin' away with crackers!

With sliced avocado, dipped in hummus or salsa, or to crave those munchies, don't you agree that crackers are a tasty crunchy treat?!

Not so much a treat, when a small 8 oz box can be $4.00 at the store (Mary's Gone Crackers, Doctor Kracker, Back to Nature, Annie's Homegrown...).

Instead, get out your flour and spices, and be creative! Make some homemade crackers. And each time you make a batch of crackers, change up the spices and flours and make them unique.

Here's what we've been crunchin' on this month!

LK's Easy Whole Grain Crackers

Makes 35-45 small crackers.

Basic cracker ingredients:

1 1/4 cup whole grain flour**
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp, optional baking soda
1/3 -1/2 cup water
1 Tb oil
1 tsp, optional Dijon mustard

Spices to add:

Cheesy-garlic-flavored
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp paprika powder
1/2 tsp turmeric (for color)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
3/4 tsp Garlic granules/powder

Onion-pepper-flavored
1/2 tsp Onion granules/powder
1/2 tsp Black pepper

Curry-pumpkin-flavored
3/4 tsp - 1 tsp Curry powder
1/4 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Corriander
2 Tb Pumpkin puree - in place of some water

Herb-flavored
1/2 - 3/4 tsp Dried Oregano
1 tsp Dried Basil

1. Preheat oven to 375 - 400 degrees F.
2. Combine dry ingredients (including spices of choice) in a large bowl
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry mix bowl, and mix until combined. The dough will be a tad sticky.
4. Sprinkle parchment paper with some flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin.
5. Roll it out very thin, trying to make it as even as possible, and then cut it into cracker sizes.
6. Place on a baking sheet, and bake for 18-25 minutes, flipping half-way, and baking until they start to brown just a little bit. Let cool.


**In regard to the choice of flours, try Bob's Red Mill whole grain flours, such as Kamut, Triticale, White Wheat, Barley, Oat, Spelt, or gluten-free flours like Teff, Buckwheat, Sorghum, Amaranth, or Millet. Each grain gives a unique flavor, so we enjoy trying different flours to get different flavors, such as nuttier or butterier or wheatier flavor...

What's your favorite cracker flavor? We welcome any tips or comments on crackers and delicious new unique flavors.

Update 8/24/09: Thanks for all the great comments and ideas. Cornmeal would be a nice addition for flavor and crunch. Adding some oat bran, wheat germ, or flaxmeal would also be a healthy addition. And more flavors we thought of - cinnamon or spiced cracker, spicy Mexican cracker, or chocolate cracker!

Have a great weekend!

"Pop"!

In honor of Father's ("Pop") Day, here are two popular treats for a poppin' fun party :)


Sweet and Spice Popcorn

1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1/4 - 3/8 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
dash cayenne, optional
2 cups plain popped popcorn

Mix seasonings and sugar in a med sized bowl. Add popcorn and oil, then mix until popcorn is coated with seasonings. Serves 2.

Lemon Maple Three Seed Mini Muffins

1 Tb poppy seeds
1 Tb hemp seeds
1 Tb pumpkin seeds
1 3/4 cup oats
1 Tb sugar
1 1/2 - 2 tsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
2 1/2 cup flour, such as spelt or kamut
1 Tb baking powder
3 Tb lemon juice
1 1/2 Tb flaxmeal
3/4 cup non-dairy milk
3 Tb maple syrup
1/4 tsp maple extract (or vanilla)
2 Tb canola oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine first 10 ingredients (poppy seeds through flour) in a large bowl. In a small bowl, add lemon juice and milk. Mix slightly, then add flaxmeal, maple syrup, maple extract, and canola oil. Combine wet ingredients into the large bowl with the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Drop batter into a prepared mini-muffin pan, and bake for 13-16 minutes for mini-sized muffins, or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Makes 12 mini-muffins, perfect size for parties.

And while you are having a party, why not watch Mary Poppins!



(Popcorn photo by Darren Hester)

Tomato-ey Meals

Tomatoes are becoming less expensive and are so juicy ripe! A great reason to buy lots for tomato-ey meals.

We tried Veganomicon's Potato Kale Enchiladas, but instead of rolling up the tortillas to make enchiladas, we layered them to make a Mexican lasagna. Easier to make it layered! A healthy homemade enchilada pie.
We liked the textures and flavors - juicy tomatoes, creamy potatoes, and crunchy pumpkin seeds for textures, and tomatoes, potatoes, and jalapeno/Mexican spices for flavors. It was tasty, but needed something else, like a drizzle of olive oil or fresh oregano. Also, it took so long to make - and we even split the tasks, prepared the potatoes and sauce ahead, and the next day assembled everything.


When our Dad visited last week, we immediately thought of a tomato dish to make for him - everyone likes tomatoes right? Whenever we cook for him, we try to make healthy but flavorful meals that he will like, because usually he doesn't eat the healthiest and he doesn't get much homemade food either. So, we decided to try Fat Free Vegan Kitchen's Italian Layered Vegetable Casserole. Another layered tomato-ey dish, but Italian style! This was really really good. We prepared the eggplant, bean filling, and sauce ahead of time, and then the next day assembled everything. An easy homemade tomato sauce - though next time we will increase the amount, because the dish could have used more. An easy bean filling too. Had a dollop of olive oil. Next time we might use fresh basil for more intense flavor. Our Dad was very happy :)

We served this with olive oil and homemade Garlic Spelt Rolls, a recipe from a favorite cookbook, the Bread Machine Magic by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway.


For an Easy 5 minute Tomato Soup, with a fresh tomato-ey flavor, try this easy recipe!

Easy 5 minute Tomato Soup

6 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 -2 Tbsp pesto (try Alive Organic Pistachio Pesto)
2 Tbsp olive oil
lots of dried basil (or fresh)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or Vitamix, then blend to your liking (smooth or somewhat chunky). Eat or heat, then eat. So delicious, easy, and fresh! You can also blend in some avocado to make it creamier.

Another delicious tomato soup, but more preparation, is the Fresh Tomato Basil Soup with carrots, red bell pepper, and celery.

Tomatoes don't have to be in just Mexican or Italian meals. At our local Thai Restaurant, we had Thai Sweet and Sour Pineapple Tofu dish with tomatoes in it, and it was delicious! What meals do you like to have tomatoes in?

Soft Chewy Ginger Cookies

Hey! Hope you all had a great Easter - we had company and took lots of pictures and had some great fun! Some great eats too! But until we get all the pictures uploaded, here's something tasty!

The past two weeks we've loved our evening dessert - Soft Chewy Ginger Cookies! Just like it is - soft yet chewy. Ginger gives a nice bite. We adapted this recipe (did 3/4ths the recipe) and are very pleased with the results, especially the texture. If you like a more molasses flavor, these cookies are great! For more zing, we will add a tad more ginger and cinnamon and a little less molasses.

Soft Chewy Ginger Cookies

Makes 13-15 cookies

1 2/3 cup spelt or whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp or more cinnamon
3/8 tsp ground cloves
pinch of salt
1/2 cup + 1 Tb softened coconut oil
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tb applesauce
3/4 Tb water
3 Tb molasses

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift the first 6 dry ingredients (flour through salt). Set aside.

In large bowl or mixer, cream together the coconut oil and sugar until well blended. Beat in the applesauce, then the water and molasses. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture.

Shape dough into round cookie shapes, and place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungrease cookie sheet. Depending on the size of the cookies, bake 8-13 minutes, or until slightly golden yet still soft. They will firm up slightly when cooled.

Yum! LK

Summer Dreamin'

Winter here has seemed forever, and we are so happy that the flowers are blooming and that there are finally signs of spring. Even so, we are missing Texas weather at this time of year, when it's 70 degrees and sunny, versus still a mid-40 degree cloudy weather in Oregon. Furthermore, we keep on dreamin' of sunny warm t-shirt days during the summers ...


...with fresh produce to bring home from the markets, such as:

...ripe sweet red tomatoes
...crisp yellow sweet corn
...juicy sweet strawberries and blueberries
...and juicy ripe mango

...all to make wonderful delectable fresh meals, such as:

...Fresh Tomato Basil Soup

...Homemade Spicy Salsa


...Fresh Corn Soup or Corn Chowder (we love Passionate Vegetarian's Corn Soup!)

...Corn Chive Pancakes (again, from Passionate Vegetarian)

...Creamed Corn

...Spicy Tortilla Soup (with fresh tomatoes and corn)

...Black Bean and Mango Rice

...Strawberry (or Blueberry) Muffins

...Mango Crisp with Raspberries


Oh, we could go on and on, dreamin' about sunny picnics with fresh salads and sandwiches and fruits and vegetables...

All the leaves are bloomin'
Yet the sky is grey
I went for a walk
On a cool damp day
I'd be safe and warm
If it was sunny May
Summer dreamin'
On such a cool damp day.
- (Our Version of The Beach Boys' California Dreamin')

Smiles! LK

Yes for Breakfast - Biscuits and Granola

A rainbow!

We've been wishing for a fluffy tender breakfast biscuit these days, and without margarine, it's been somewhat difficult baking up the perfect biscuit. With coconut oil, however, the results are pretty close! We found an easy baking powder biscuit online and made a few adjustments:

Baking Powder Biscuits

2 cups spelt flour
1 1/2 Tb baking powder
3/4 Tb sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup coconut oil, firm (cold or at room temp)
1 cup non-dairy milk

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. In the dry mixture cut in coconut oil as you would margarine. Add milk to the large bowl, and combine until just blended. Flatten the batter out a little or roll out on parchment, then form or cut out 7-10 round biscuits. Bake at 425 degrees F for 10- 12 minutes or until just golden.


Of course we like having different kinds of biscuits too, with different textures and flavors. So, out of the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Cookbook, we made the Cornmeal Maple Biscuits. We adapted the recipe of course to add in some crushed cornflakes instead of just all cornmeal, which gave the biscuits a nice texture. We did half of the recipe a maple flavor like the recipe states, and then the other half we did an herb version and added dried basil, celery seed, and dried dill. Both were delicious and turned out great! A cross between cornbread and biscuits.

Cornmeal Maple Biscuits

1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 Tb baking powder
>1/8 tsp salt
2 Tb coconut oil, firm
1/4 cup + 2 Tb non-dairy milk
1 Tb maple syrup
5 Tb corn flakes, crushed (1/2 cup flakes before crushed)

for an herb variation you can add a mixture of herbs (about 1 - 1 1/2 tsp total) and instead of 5 Tb maple, sub in 1 Tb agave.

Combine dry ingredients (except corn flakes) in a large bowl. Mix maple syrup and milk in a small bowl. In the dry mixture cut in coconut oil as you would margarine, then add cornflakes. Add wets to the large bowl, and combine until just blended. Flatten the batter out a little or roll out on parchment, then form or cut out 4 round biscuits. Bake at 400 degrees F for 12 - 15 minutes or until just golden.


Another favorite breakfast treat is homemade granola! Sooo much cheaper to make your own, and it makes a ton! We love having this with dried fruit or fresh fruit and non-dairy milk, or adding other cereal like flakes or cheerios, or putting it in yogurt or ice cream. A simple base that can be easily adjusted to add different spices and sweeteners.

Easy Whole Grain Granola

2/3 cup each of spelt flakes, barley flakes, and rye flakes (or try other grain flakes or even just oats!)
2/3 cup oat bran or wheat germ
1/4 cup agave syrup or maple syrup
1/2 - 3/4 tsp vanilla extract (or try maple or almond extract)
2 Tb oil
2 Tb water

Place a parchment paper on a large baking sheet. Combine all ingredients, then spread out on the baking sheet. Bake at 300 degrees F for 15 minutes, then stir, then bake another 15 minutes. Makes 2-3 cups.

Mmm Breakfast. So satisfying. Miss Emma is sure happy :)

May your day start right with breakfast! - LK Sisters

Yes for Breakfast - Porridge & Cookies!

Raisin Buckwheat Porridge

So in the past month we've jumped on the wagon and just agreed to make new traditions. We've been having Rawesome Sunday lunches with buckwheat porridge, biscuits or pancakes for Saturday or Sunday breakfasts, and a weekly/frequent Breakfast Cookie Snack. Also Rice Bowl Wednesdays, but that's not breakfast :)

For our raw Sunday lunch, we often have Buckwheat porridge, and then something else raw to go with it (such as raw vegetable soups, salads, and raw 'tuna' salad collard wraps).

Blueberry Porridge with Raw Creamy Tomato Soup

'Oatmeal' Raisin Buckwheat Porridge (using raw wheat germ as 'oats')
served with a Carrot Radish Salad
(shredded carrots, diced radish, fresh anise herb, sesame seeds, and avocado dressing!)

We also had an apricot buckwheat porridge (with dried apricots). SOO many variations that you can do (banana pudding, mango, apple spice, strawberry, fig...)! Definitely try the buckwheat porridge - it's so creamy, sweet, flavorful, filling, raw, and healthy!

LK's Buckwheat Porridge (Adapted from Gone Raw)

2/3 - 3/4 cup raw buckwheat groats, soaked in water overnight (or for a few hours), then rinsed and drained
2 Tb raw buckwheat groats unsoaked (for crunch)
1-2 fresh bananas
2-4 dried dates (or other dried fruit)
pinch of cinnamon or other spices
serve with - fresh berries, apples, raisins/currants, 1/4 cup shredded carrots, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, nuts, flaxmeal, and/or raw wheat germ.

Prep your buckwheat (once soaked, rinse and drain).
Cut up dried fruit into sizes more manageable for blending.
Blend the soaked buckwheat groats, bananas, dried fruit, and spices (in Vitamix or other blender/food processor) to a creamy consistency - you may need to add water if necessary.
Then add your toppings and the unsoaked buckwheat groats, and devour!

Of course for an unraw version, use your choice of grains instead of buckwheat (ex - triticale meal, steel cut oats, quinoa, rice), add 1 cup non-dairy milk, and cook the grains or soak overnight. Then blend, along with the spices, banana, dried fruit, and more milk if necessary. You can serve with any toppings (including maple syrup, oat bran, nut butters, sweet potato or pumpkin puree).

Along with many other breakfast enthusiasts, we are hooked on the Breakfast Cookie. So easy to whip up. Again sooo many possibilities for flavors. When we do use a 'nut butter', we use tahini, otherwise we sometimes leave it out and add a mashed date or dried fruit. We just prep it overnight and have it sit in the fridge, then breakfast is ready in the morning!

Tahini Breakfast Cookie - Makes 2 Servings
2/3 cup spelt flakes, rye flakes, barley flakes, or other 'oat' type flakes
3 Tb tahini
1 Tb hemp powder
3/8 cup non-dairy milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
banana to serve
optional - 2 Tb wheat germ or flaxmeal

Cranberry Orange Breakfast Cookie - Makes 2 servings
1/2 cup grain cereal (such as Bob's Spice n' Nice Cereal or triticalle meal, kamut cereal...)
1/2 cup spelt flakes
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup non-dairy milk
1/4 cup or more cranberry juice
1 fresh date, mashed
1-2 tsp orange zest
2 tsp dried cranberries, chopped
berries or more dried cranberries to serve

Banana Cocoa Breakfast Cookie - Makes 2 servings
2/3 cup spelt flakes, rye flakes, barley flakes, or other 'oat' type flakes
3 Tb mashed banana
1 Tb cocoa powder
3/8 cup non-dairy milk - try chocolate!
1/2 tsp vanilla
banana slices to serve
optional - 2 Tb wheat germ or flaxmeal

We are 100% in love with breakfast! For breakfast, lunch, dinner, and in between!

A Little Bit of This & That Seasoned Tofu Cutlets

These tofu cutlets are easy to cook up! (We don't really measure spices or amount of time to cook up...)

A Little Bit of This & That Seasoned Tofu Cutlets

1 block of Tofu, cut into 8-12 cutlets

A little spice of Cayenne pepper
Lots of squirts of Bragg’s
Lots of sprinkles of Garlic powder
Lots of shakes of Dried Basil
Lots of showers of Nutritional yeast
Lots of love of Creamy avocado

1. Add a little spice, squirt, and sprinkle to each tofu cutlet, then brown tofu on either side in a skillet.

2. Tofu is done - now to serve, add lots of love, then on top add more squirts and sprinkles, and lots of shakes and showers! Enjoy with sandwich bread, on crackers, or in a rice bowl.

YUM! Our favorite way to have tofu! - LK

Muffins, Scones, Pancakes, and Breads

First of all, Happy 2009! We hope for a blessed year for everyone and for joy, peace, and memorable moments to come.
December has been a baking month! We love to bake breads and every week we try new recipes or make variations off of our favorites.

Muffins:
Today we made some quick pancake muffins - an orange variation and a garlic basil variation. For the orange muffins all we did was mix 1 cup of Bob's Red Mill 7 Grain Pancake mix, 1 Tb flaxmeal with 2 1/2 Tb water, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup water, and 2 Tb wheat germ. The garlic basil muffins had all water and no orange juice, and had 1/2 tsp each of garlic powder and dried basil. We made 12 mini muffins - so easy and delicious!

Last week we made the garlic basil muffins from Veg News that La Belle Vegan recommended. Here's a link to the original recipe. These were excellent! We changed it up slightly:

Garlic Basil Whole Grain Muffins
2 Tb flaxmeal
5 Tb water
1/3 cup olive oil
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup soymilk
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 Tb baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp garlic powder or garlic granules
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 385 degrees F. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. In a large bowl, beat flaxseed meal and water with an electric mixer (or a wire whisk) for about a minute. Add olive oil, remaining water, and soymilk. Beat for an additional 30 seconds on medium speed. Stir in wheat germ, whole-wheat flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and spices. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin tin. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Makes 12 mini muffins.

Scones:
These scones were different than our usual scone recipe, as they used coconut butter and were not as dry as traditional scones. They were like the texture of banana bread - dense and soft. We made one as maple flavor and the other as apple cider flavor. Both delicious, spiced, and with a great rich texture.

Pancakes:
With a Marionberry-Peach-Banana fruit syrup, these oat-sesame pancakes were nutritious and flavorful! From chooseveg.com, we adapted this recipe. The sesame seeds were ground with the oats and batter to give a nutty flavor. We made a few minor adjustments, such as lowering the sugar and omitting lecithin; however, the big change we would recommend for future baking is to add baking powder. The pancakes didn't rise, but they were good anyways. The pancakes are also tasty plain and simple for lunch.
Cornbread:
With pumpkin puree, this cornbread was savory yet slightly sweet, moist and delicious! We followed our cornbread recipe, but modified it accordingly. We added ground coriander into the batter, which complemented the pumpkin savory-sweet taste. Next time we may add even more pumpkin, slightly less cornmeal, and a little banana for more moistness.


Bob's Red Mill's Gluten-Free Hearty Grain Bread:
This bread mix was like pumpernickel in flavor and texture, with hint of cocoa and caraway. We've never really dealt with gluten free food before, so it was hard to assess whether the batter was too wet or normal for gluten free breads. We will try other Bob's gluten free products to experiment more often with different flours and ingredients.

Happy New Year,
LK

Coconut Cinnamon Roll Muffins

An easy, decadent, melt-in-your-mouth, sweet-n-spiced cinnamon roll muffin with a subtle coconut flare! These muffins are our own creation in order to make a cinnamon roll that would take less time and effort but would be soft and cinnamony!
Coconut Cinnamon Roll Muffins

muffin ingredients:
2 tsp baking powder
1-2 dashes each of allspice and nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup 10 grain flour or whole wheat flour (or other flour)
3/4 cup + 1 Tb kamut flour
1/3 cup succanat sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coconut extract
2 Tb oil
2 Tb coconut, macadamia, or cashew butter
3/4 cup soymilk

date filling:
6-8 fresh dates, chopped and pitted
1/2-3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup coconut butter
extra coconut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix muffin dry ingredients together, then add wet ingredients and mix until just blended. Process date filling in a food processor until very smooth. Spread half of the batter into a mini muffin pan, then spread about half of the filling gently over the batter. Top with the rest of the muffin batter, sprinkle muffins with cinnamon, then bake in the oven for 15 minutes (make sure not to overbake in order to maintain a soft moist muffin). Cool slightly, and when ready to serve, top generously with the rest of the date filling and extra coconut butter. Enjoy for breakfast or as a treat!

Other variations: lemon, orange, pumpkin, fig, egg nog spice, apple...
The kamut flour is a finer grain flour that makes these muffins buttery soft! Triticalle flour would work well too. You don't have to use coconut butter either, but it makes a nice spread and a nice frosting. The best part is these have no margarine/butter, no yeast, no rolling and slicing, and no waiting for the dough to rise!

Vegan Harvest Cornbread

Halloween is tomorrow, and we have a delicious meal in the works... until then, here is our own favorite cornbread recipe for you to enjoy. (And sorry about the lack of posts in a while! We do have a lot to blog about! )


Vegan Harvest Cornbread

2 cups white wheat flour, spelt flour, or whole wheat flour
2 cups whole grain cornmeal
2 1/4 Tb baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup + 3 Tb vegetable or safflower oil
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 3/4 - 2 cups milk alternative (such as soy, hemp, almond, oat milks)
fresh corn kernals from 1 stalk corn on the cob
1/3 cup + 1 Tb banana pepper, diced
1/3 cup + 1 Tb red onion, diced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the bowl, and add agave and oil. Then add milk, and combine liquid ingredients with the dry ingredients until just blended with no flour clumps. Place in a medium round pan coated with cooking spray. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until golden brown.

Mid September Eats

It's already September, and even though we've been cooking up some great eats, we've been very bad bloggers. It's in part because we are still trying to settle in as well as keep up with 8-10 hour work days! We've just been too exhausted. But this weekend we've managed to squeeze in time to blog about our exciting September eats!

Rice Bowls - with baked tofu, yellow bell pepper, broccoli, red onion, sunflower seeds, red rice, and an orange sesame dressing. It was delicious and we love having rice bowls quite frequently.



We made spinach hummus and added red onion and cucumber in a flatbread to make a "panini-style" sandwich. Would be good with agave-mustard dressing!





Using Bob's Red Mill Millet Grits, we made Homemade Millet Cornbread. It was a spontaneous creation, so it may need some work (like reduce the sweetness), but it turned out delicious.

Homemade Millet Cornbread
1/4 cup flax
3/4 cup hemp milk
3/4 cup oat flour (or other flour)
1 cup cooked millet grits
1 cup cornmeal
1 Tb baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup agave
1/4-1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix flax and some milk and let sit. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl, except for the bell pepper, then add the flax mixture. Stir until combined, add bell peppers and stir until just blended, then bake in a round pie pan or make muffins in a muffin pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden.


Purple cauliflower - roasted with olive oil, garlic, and nutrional yeast!



Had a Bell Pepper with Tofu and Walnuts recipe in our recipe book, and we are so glad we finally made it. The filling you could make into a casserole with broccoli and more tofu and mushrooms. We changed the recipe slightly - for the filling we used Bob's Red Mill Grains and Nuts Hot Cereal (instead of rice), added crumbled tofu, chopped mushrooms, onion, Braggs, curry powder, black pepper, garlic, oregano, and celery seed. Served with nutritional yeast.



One of our favorite cuisines is Thai - and this Thai Coconut Stir Fry was so elegant and full of flavor. Another recipe in our recipe stash, and we don't know where we got it from, but we will definetely make this again.

The dish had coconut milk, garlic, snap peas, mushrooms, bell pepper, bok choy, crushed red pepper, lime and lemon zest and juice, onion, some spinach, and soy sauce. We served with long grain brown rice. Love that it was saucy to serve over the rice. Next time we'll try it with broccoli and chinese cabbage!


Finally after many months, we made pizza again! Homemade pizza crust, with local fresh tomatoes, eggplant, bell pepper, onion, and basil, and with lots of garlic and olive oil. This pizza crust is a keeper - soft but chewy, just great flavor and texture.
LK's Homemade Pizza Crust

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 pack dry active yeast
1 Tb olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup hard white wheat flour
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

Add all ingredients according to your bread machine's directions. Set on dough cycle. When done with dough cycle, flattened into a pizza crust. Place stone in oven to preheat, then add crust to stone and bake at 500 degrees F for only 5 min. Can freeze crusts for easy pizza dinners for the week. To finish the pizza, add toppings, then bake at 425 degrees F for 8-15 min.


Finally, this morning we enjoyed warm tasty Carrot Trail Mix Muffins. We adapted this recipe quite a lot, so here is our version.
LK's Carrot Trail Mix Muffins

1 1/2 Tb ground flaxseed
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/4 cup date pieces
2 Tb sunflower seeds
1/2 cup + 1 Tb pineapple, crushed
1 Tb safflower oil
3 Tb agave
1/2 tsp coconut extract (or just vanilla)
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup carrots, finely grated

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine pineapple juice and flax in a small bowl and set aside. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and wet ingredients in another bowl. Stir in flax mixture to wet ingredients, then add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Bake in a mini muffin pan for 15-20 minutes (check for doneness and golden color). Sprinkle cinnamon on top. Makes 12 mini muffins.


We especially like the pineapple as a sweetener. Sunflower seeds added a nice crunch, but we may try walnuts next time. Other ideas: apple butter and currant muffins and pumpkin pineapple muffins.


We are praying for all you Texans who may be affected by Hurricane Ike. We hope you are all safe and well.

God bless, LK