Munch...Munch...

Crunch...
...
Hold on, full mouth.
Granola is crunchy and just good. Maybe not ALWAYS good for your healthy, as nutrient dense as it tends to be, but good for the soul. It's like oatmeal - 21st century, uppity soul food. Maybe? Well, for Father's Day I baked up a batch for my dad. It's tough to buy your father a gift when he has it all so what better way to show appreciation than with something he will both use and can never seem to get enough of?

Drawing from a recipe I got at Hungry Girl Por Vida

Granola Test Kitchen!

3 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup almonds, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup Walnuts, coarsely chopped

1/8 cup Hemp Seeds

1/8 cup Chia Seeds

2 Tbsp Flax Meal

1 cup dried sour cherries, Craisins, Raisins... Change this up all you like chopped

1/2 cup Dried Apples, chopped

1 cup unsweetened coconut chips

pinch of salt

zest of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine dry ingredients and mix to incorporate. While that sits, melt the coconut oil with the sugar until just combined (i.e. homogeneous). Mix the liquid ingredients into the dry and spread evenly over prepared, parchment lined baking sheet (Oh yea, prepare that and preheat the oven to 350)
Bake for 10 minutes, stir, and repeat until desired darkness is reached. It'l probably take 2 iterations. 


Give it a go and as always
Enjoi!

Tried mornings...

So I wanted to whip up a simple breakfast this past weekend. For whatever reason I thought back to a dish I love of rice, an egg, hamburger, and gravy. Not vegetarian. But aha, oatmeal, eggs, and vegetables are. Clever me, I suddenly thought up this simple recipe while at a concert - don't ask me why, I can't say why the roaring crowd and smooth melody of Guster made me hungry.

Vegetarian "Loco Moco", My Way

Makes 2 servings

1 cup rolled oats, cooked with adequate water

1/2 cup chopped vegetables (Zucchini, Baby Bellas, carrots, whatever you like!)

1 teaspoon Curry Powder; Salt and Pepper to taste

2 large eggs, over easy, sunny side up - just make it a but runny

Mushroom Gravy

1 cup mushrooms, finely sliced and/or diced

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 cup water

1/4 cup whole wheat flower

dash arrowroot powder

lots of fresh sage, chopped, as well as a few dashes of cinnamon, and pepper

2 tbsp soy or tamari sauce

Combine the ingredients for the gravy, stirring (whisking) until it reduces to a suitable gravy-licious consistency. Cook the oatmeal and fold in the spices and veggies when it seems cooked to your liking. Fry the egg.

Plate the egg atop the oatmeal and cover with gravy.

Enjoy - I certainly did when I had it. Feel free to toss in a crab cake, veggie burger - whatever you like. The classic recipe calls for some such thing beneath the egg anyways. (Heres a good example from NPR)

Easter Mor'n...

Well they weren't ideal, so I'll keep at it, but I whipped together a batch of Chelsea Buns with Blueberry filling for easter breakfast last weekend (and today, some much better but more normal sourdough cakes). I got my inspiration from Seitan is my Motor and followed the recipe from my cookbook Low Fat, which has quite a selection of baked goods and many good pescetarian-friendly ideas.

Me being me, I decided to combine Buckwheat, Light Whole Wheat, and Gluten for my flour mixture and consequently the buns were very dense. That said, they were still very good warm but I would have liked lighter rolls and suspect that next time I'll be forced to succumb to a less healthy rendition of the recipe.

All that jam... I love jam...

When they're perfect, I'll put up the recipe. But until then, let me say that Sourdough Pancakes are terrific and it's a shame I didn't make those last weekend.

C'est la vie! I do like food however it comes...

Oats anew...

I just wanted to share a quick, simple recipe.

I love nothing more than sitting down to a hot bowl of Steel Cut oats with fresh fruit on a weekend morning. Well, there are things I like more, but the ritual holds a special place in my heart.

Seeing as I had an influx of steel cut oats this past weekend after breakfast, I decided to put the pears and overripe blueberries in my refrigerator to good use.

Sweet Oatmeal Casserole:

1 cup cooked steel cut oats (or al dente rolled I suppose)

I mixed 1/3 cup wheat bran and 3 tbsp flax meal in while cooking

Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Ginger to your liking

3 egg whites

1 Pear (or similar fruit) sliced into small cubes, skin on!

1/2 cup blueberries

any other fruit you like?

Combine all ingredients in a covered casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until bubbling and beautiful.

Enjoy fresh with fruit, milk, yogurt, or something sweet. It's also great reheated!

Go! Eat! Whole-grain the day!

Sunday...

Still nothing about my Thanksgiving so I guess I'll jsut say that I made some good Black Bread rolls from the Bread Bible:

Go Get It!

And to accompany my bread [which was said to be the ideal stew accompaniment but perhaps too dense for a dinner roll (one for two, I'm fine with that)] I had, among other things, some terrific Field Roast Celebration Loaf, which made excellent faux-after-Thanksgiving Sandwiches I might say, in place of the Turkey I do miss from time to time...

More recently however I made some delicious Buckwheat Carrot-Spice pancakes.

Vegan Buckwheat Cakes:

1 cup Buckwheat flower

1 tsp canola oil

1 cup water

2 tbsp soy milk (or the mammalian variety if you prefer)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 large carrots, grated

Lots of ginger, cinnamon, and Garam Masala

2 tbsp raisin (I prefer golden myself)

Grate carrots and squeeze some of the water out with a paper towel

Combine dry ingredients then add the wet ingredients. Add in the carrots, spices, and raisins. Add water and milk to get the consistency just right (The carrots and buckwheat flower makes the batter a bit thick).

Cook them up and serve with some syrup, applesauce, preserves, or yogurt

Baking in the Storm...

New England has been rainy for the past few days (the first real rainy days of this long summer, finally an excuse!) and so I've found myself indoors with relatively little to do. As my mother was asking me to bake more of the peach muffins I made a week or so ago, I decided last night (at about 9pm for whatever reason) to whip up a batch of muffins. Sadly, I find myself without the delicious peaches I had had for my last batch. Skimming through my beloved "The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes" I found a tantalizing recipe for French Toast muffins. Dense, sweet, and aromatic they came out terrifically. I did make some additions, however, to the recipe (largely because I couldn't run to the store at 9 to buy the maple extract called for and maple syrup itself wont work in place). So here it is, late-night French toast in a muffin cup.

Mmmm... French Toast but in a muffin shape

French Toast Muffins (with Maple crumble)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flower

3/4 cup Graham (or other whole) flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp Vital Wheat Gluten

1/4 cup Wheat bran

9/16 (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) agave nectar

1 1/4 cups milk (soy etc, otherwise if you prefer)

1/3 cup oil

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp plain fat-free yogurt (6 oz - a small container's worth)

1 1/2 tsp maple extract**

1/2 tsp vanilla*

1/2 cup baking raisins (the soft sort - golden or red)

__

Topping:

1/2 cup oats

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp brown sugar

Cinnamon to taste

*/**If you don't have maple extract, don't use maple syrup - it doesn't work that way. Add more vanilla extract (maybe 2-3 tsp vanilla? More was good).

Preheat oven to 350, and either lightly oil or preset with baking cups, a muffin tin (6 extra large muffins, or 12 more normal ones).

Combine flour(s), baking powder, salt, cinnamon, bran, and gluten in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together agave, milk, oil, yogurt, and vanilla in a separate bowl.

Add dry (although I did this backwards) to wet ingredients and mix very lightly. Add raisins and finish folding. Remember to mix as little as necessary or the muffins will be flat, overly dense, etc...

Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin cups so that they are nearly full. Combine topping ingredients and spread over filled muffin cups, evenly coating the muffin-caps.

Bake for 18-20 minutes (longer for extra-large muffins) testing with a toothpick (careful not to over bake - they seemed to bake more quickly than I anticipated in my beloved, old, non-convection oven).

Store covered in a dry place, room temperature. They're dense and sweet but very moist, so watch out for spoiling in rainy (like it is here...) weather.

Whats for Breakfast...

Sure, I love Crepes, French Toast, Pancakes, and a wide array of more savory egg and tofu dishes for breakfast, some weekends I just want some old fashioned, stewed oatmeal.

Here's a basic dish from this bright, cool August Saturday...

Oatmeal A la mode (because oatmeal is in fashion - no ice cream, I swear)

Serves 2

1 1/4 cups oatmeal. (preferably rolled, Steel cut is good too; quick don't work well on the stove)

1 large fresh peach, diced and partially peeled.

1/3 cup blueberries.

2 cups water.

1 tsp lemon juice.

Add oatmeal and water to saucepan, boil on high. As the oatmeal begins to bubble, add the fruit and lemon juice. Stir periodically (to avoid sticking), boiling until the water is low enough so that it has a consistency consistent with your taste (soupy or solid? I like the former).

Serve hot, with a fine cup of tea (or coffee... I guess...if you must).

*Feel free to add chopped nuts or Flax meal - In fact add flax meal, its just too good to pass up (I forgot this morning, sadly).

Peachy, Muffins...

What began as a hope for peach cobbler cookies became peach muffins (I'll get you evetually, cobbler cookies...). I just added an extra egg last minute - It worked out well (and probably would have been too cake-like anyways had I kept them as cookies. Because I cannot help myself when it comes to boosting nutritional content of foods, these muffins pack 100% whole grain goodness between wheat bran, oatmeal, and whole wheat flower. Delicious and, well, peachy.

The trial (top left) was quite good...

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Scant 1/4 cup wheat bran

1 cup quick cooking oats

3/4 cup chopped (broken-by-hand) walnuts

1 1/2 tsp pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves...)

4 medium-large peaches, ripe

A bit more than 1/2 cup agavae nectar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 eggs

A light 1/2 cup canola oil (I prefer blends myself, but at the least use canola)*

*And as a thought, feel free to substitute about 1/2 cup of low/no-fat plain yogurt for all but 1 tbsp oil. It brings lowfat muffins to the oven, without harming the consistency - infact, I generally like its baking properties more.

Mix flour, oats, bran, salt, and baking soad in a large bowl (a whisk is nice). Seperately, combine the eggs, oil, agave nectar, and extracts. Chop (or use pre-chopped) walnuts and cut the peaches into small, cubes/rectangular prisms; add to dry mixture. Finally, add the wet ingredients to the fruit, nut, dry mixture and mix, lightly enough so that the air isn't beaten out (remember, never mix muffins or breakfas breads too much - you want to keep the air pockets).

Preheat oven to 325. Line muffin pan with cups (medium sized work well) and fill (about 2-3 tbsp each, give or take). Bake for 13-16 minutes.

Enjoy for breakfast, that snack attack, or warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (or frozen yogurt, or better yet soy cream!)

The First Time I’ve Approved Of A Bread, Wholly…

I love Pumpkin Bread. I also Love Lemon Poppy-Seed baked things. Seldom would I recommend someone eat a bread like these as a healthy snack. I did, however find a recipe on one of my favorite cooking blogs - Half baked - for Carrot Muffins. A conglomeration, in the sense that everything fits, of fruits, nuts, and veggies made my mouth water; swapping in whole-wheat flower and yogurt made my stomach growl with desire. So I took out to design the perfectly healthy muffin for my mother when she asked me to bake her something as I offered to do some cooking (for myself… and anyone else) one weekend. Throwing the recipe together into my favorite loaf pan and several large muffin cups, I had found my favorite - and most publicly accepted - baked good to date. If you like Carrots, applesauce, yogurt, almonds, blueberries and warm breakfast breads, I suggest you take a look at this recipe!

2 1/4 Whole Wheat Flower
3/4 cup Agave Nectar + 1/4 cup Sugar (I use organic evaporated Cane Sugar - just a preference)
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. Nutmeg (and whatever other sweet spices you may like)
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups grated carrot, squeezed mostly dry (About 4 medium carrots)
1/2 cup Apple Sauce
1 Sliced Apple (A firm variety - granny smith… Partially peeled)
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats (or I Pureed Old-Fashioned rolled oats)
1/3 cup walnuts roughly chopped (Any Nut works though - I put almonds in the food processor… A loud adventure)
3 large eggs
2 tbsp vegetable oil + 1 cup Fat-Free(or low-fat) plain yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla (And, as an afterthought - I didn’t actually try… - add 2 tsp almond extract - if you’re into the flavor only of course)

And… 1 cup Fresh blueberries (because they’re in season - hooray!) mashed slightly with a fork (just to help it blend in together)

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

Combine: Agave nectar, sugar, apple sauce, yogurt, extract(s), and set aside. In a larger bowl combine flower, baking soda, nutmeg…, cinnamon, and salt - whisk until combined. Add the eggs, oil, blueberries, apple, carrots, nuts (anything else/that I forgot?) to the flower mixture, mixing lightly, and then the wet mixture you first mixed. **Remember, only mix so that the flower is all combined and the mixture as homogeneous as such a chunky, awkward batter can be. over mixing will leave baked goods like this flat - you want it light!

Now, pour the batter into a greased loaf pan (maybe 2 inches deep for a long, skinny pan) and any excess into muffin cups (if that’s what you’re into).

Bake for about 10 minutes and check them - the muffins will finish first, around 12 minutes, the loaf pan closer to 15 minutes - careful not to overcook. slight moisture is ok, pull it out - let it cool and it should finish.

That’s ll there is to it. Enjoi :D