Cherry Almond Poppyseed Muffins

First post of 2015! Where did the time go?! December was a blur for me; too many commitments, parties. . . it plays havoc with my moods. I didn't even get my usual 'goodie bags' made for everyone like I usually do. I ended up making them for New Year's gifts.

I think I like the tart taste of dried cherries even better than dried cranberries. 

I found this muffin recipe in Vegan Diner. 

 Lots of poppy seeds! 

Mmm~ These didn't last long. I think I will chop the cherries next time so I can get a bit of cherry in every bite. 

Maple-Oat Banana Bread

It's been a long time since I've posted anything! These past few months have been rough since my sinus surgery in October. It takes a loooong time to heal from that and then I got sick on top of it all. This time of year is usually pretty bad anyway; I tend to hop on the bipolar rollercoaster for a few months and then everything evens off after the new year (fingers crossed!) I'm going to try and get the few new recipes I've tried posted in the next few days. 

Still trying to use up all the frozen bananas I have in the freezer. Another banana bread recipe from Thug Kitchen this time. 

This recipe used 2 cups oat flour along with a cup of whole wheat pastry flour and 1/3 cup maple syrup; hence the name of the recipe. I did have to add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts so I guess I can add "nut" to that title!

~Maple-Oat (Nut) Banana Bread ~

Very tasty and didn't last long in our house! 

Scrumptious Banana-Nut Bread & Ninja Turtle Power Smoothie

One of the few recipes from La Dolce Vegan I hadn't tried yet. I have a plastic bag full of frozen overripe bananas so it was convenient to thaw one out for this yummy bread. The recipe also calls for 1/2 cup silken tofu. I opened up the aseptic package took out 1/2 cup and then used the rest in my smoothie for the morning. We were babysitting the grandsons all day and knew they loved banana bread. All of the liquid ingredients are blended up in the food processor and then added to the dry. This bread was gone in two days! Time to make some more. 

~ Scrumptious Banana-Nut Bread ~

My smoothie~Vega One powder, maca powder, coconut water, kale, frozen fruit, silken tofu, mint leaves, and powdered wheatgrass. The grandsons love smoothies and I tried to convince them this was a ninja turtle power smoothie but they wanted nothing to do with it! hehheh 

Spring Break and Life Happens

Wow~this is the longest I have gone without posting anything since I started my blog. But life happens. My mom had shoulder replacement surgery the end of April. She was home one day and then had a stroke. So it's been 3 1/2 weeks of hospitals, doctors and rehab facilities. She is home now and on the road to recovery. I am so thankful that myself and my two siblings live close by to take care of our sweet mama. Our meals have consisted of hospital cafeteria food; finding relatively healthy choices at fast food joints and not-so healthy choices!; and making quick meals using Gardein products and pasta dishes. I have just now felt like picking up a cookbook and trying some new recipes. I finally restocked my fridge, which was down to the condiments, with lots of veggies and fruit. I also had a birthday during all of this and my dear friend left me this lovely strawberry plant on my front porch. I didn't know what it was and had to ask her!

~ a cute little strawberry! ~ 

Breakfast; well, since each one was only the size of my pinky I did have something else to eat! 

It's already getting some more strawberries. I hope I get a few more before the heat takes over. We skipped right over cool spring weather and headed right into the heat of summer. 

Blueberry Hemp Cinnamon Crunch Muffins

I made these yummy muffins last month and never posted about them. I even bought another bag of hemp seeds to make them again! Lots of luscious blueberries and not too sweet. Vegan Thyme has the recipe on her blog. 

Wheat Berry Minestrone

I used the last of my wheat berries to make this delicious soup. The wheat berries give it lots of chewy, meaty texture. The recipe is on Dr. Grandma's. 

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes 

from Betty Goes Vegan

My hubby brought me a box of freshly harvested red potatoes straight from the field still covered in dirt. This is a quick and easy recipe to use them. I think they could have roasted a little longer to get more brown but they were still tasty.

Chik'n Enchiladas

This last recipe I whipped up the other night using ingredients I had in my pantry and freezer. I cooked up three Gardein Chik'n Scallopini and chopped them into pieces. I rolled them into six corn tortillas with a little Daiya cheddar sprinkled on top. Topped everything with the Frontera Red Chile Enchilada Sauce and covered that with more Daiya cheddar. Baked for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, added a salad and had dinner ready!  

 Really handy to have in the pantry. Read the ingredients on the different flavors; some of them are not vegan. 

Chik'n Enchiladas

I topped the enchiladas with some chopped cilantro and green onions. 

I'm ready to get back in the kitchen and try some new recipes!

Pumpkin Pecan Bread

Another great recipe from Vegan Vittles.

I needed to use this can of pumpkin I had in the pantry and this recipe was really quick and easy. 

Hey, the bread actually rose above the pan! 

This bread is not overly sweet or laden with oil; a 1/2 cup maple syrup and only 2 Tbsp. of oil. Pecans and raisins give it extra texture and flavor. I sliced up the loaf and froze the portions in a bag. It quickly thaws out in the microwave for a tasty snack.

Applesauce-Oat Bran Muffins

 A tasty muffin recipe using the oat bran I had hanging out in my fridge. This one is from Moskowitz & Romero's cookbook Veganomicon. 

Lots of yummy ingredients~1 cup of applesauce replaces alot of the oil and the cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg add a spicy goodness. 

Warm from the oven and slathered with Earth Balance margarine. I like to keep a bag of muffins, pancakes and/or waffles in the freezer for quick breakfasts. 

Zucchini Apple Bread ~ pg. 326

VegCookbookClub August recipes from Betty Goes Vegan by Annie & Dan Shannon:

I'm so excited we're cooking out of this cookbook this month! I don't know why it appeals to me so. Maybe it reminds me of my grandma and mom and watching and helping them cook in their kitchens. And I love the movie Julie/Julia. It just makes me want to cook through the entire book! We're heading to Sedona again but I'm taking this cookbook with me and try and do some cooking or at least enjoy reading through all of the delightful stories and recipes.

I wanted to make some bread to honor Lammas, the first of the season's harvest festivals and this recipe sounded perfect. It has zucchini, Granny Smith apple, applesauce, walnuts and uses whole wheat flour.

I used the convection setting on my oven for a cool kitchen and these loaves still took almost an hour to bake. I cooled them completely and then wrapped them in foil like she suggested and stored them in the refrigerator. After they chilled, I sliced the loaves. Moist and delicious, and it is better if you keep these in the fridge. I love the addition of the Granny Smith apple for a little bit of texture and extra flavor.

Even my grandsons loved this bread and got their veggies, too!

Zucchini Spelt Muffins~pg 40

VegCookbookClub July recipes from eat, drink & be vegan by Dreena Burton:


These muffins have just the right amount of sweetness to them. I added chopped walnuts for a bit of crunch and the recipe made nine big muffins. I like to freeze the muffins and then I can have one for quick breakfasts.

Look at those little flecks of green zucchini!

A basket full of warm Zucchini Spelt Muffins

Make Ya Go Bran Muffins~pg. 50

VegCookbookClub April recipes from How It All Vegan! by Sarah Kramer & Tanya Barnard:

The recipe stated it made 6-8 muffins. She must have really large muffin pans! 

My recipe made a dozen.

These are very dense and hearty. I don't know if they 'make ya go' but I think they could be used for a doorstop! I used half wheat bran and half oat bran. They taste better when I reheat them and add Earth Balance margarine and some Bee Free Honee and then I have to use a fork because they're so crumbly. Won't be making these again. Sarah has a much better bran muffin recipe in "La Dolce Vegan".

Kiwi Banana Muffins~pg. 130

VegCookbookClub February recipes from Color Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau:

GREEN

I wasn't a big fan of these. I had some bananas floating around in the freezer and some kiwis that needed to be used so what a perfect recipe, right? They're just kind of sticky and bitter tasting to me. But my hubby liked them so I guess he can eat them for breakfast! Not on my make-again list.

Happy New Year!!!

VegCookbookClub December recipes from Nava Atlas-Vegan Holiday Kitchen:

What a fantastic finish to an awesome month of cooking! I think I'm going to make these three recipes a tradition every new year.

Green Chili Corn Bread (pg 11):

 

The plain coconut yogurt makes this cornbread extra moist. A piece slathered with Earth Balance margarine and agave nectar is almost better than dessert!

 

Simple Garlicky Greens (pg 275):

 

Can you see the chunks of garlic? Yum! After simmering for almost 30 minutes the garlic was nice and mild. I just learned today that a 1/2 cup of cooked collard greens has 113 mg of calcium. Wow! (Read that in 'Crazy Sexy Diet' by Kris Carr.)

 

 Hoppin' John/Black-Eyed Peas and Rice (pg 274):

 

For the vegan sausages in the Hoppin' John I used Yves Meatless Breakfast Patties and just chopped them up before sauteeing. I used 2 tsp. dried parsley instead of the 1/2 cup fresh. I used 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes and then added tabasco sauce to mine when it was time to eat! Nice and spicy!

 

Happy 2013!!

Southern Skillet Black-Eyed Peas with Quick Buttery Biscuits

VegCookbookClub October recipes from Chloe's Kitchen:

 

 These biscuits were good but next time I'll make my favorite biscuit recipe from La Dolce Vegan, 'Basic Baking Powder Biscuits'. They have a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar that helps them rise.

 

Hubby loved these blackeyed peas. It was really like a stew to me. Really good for dipping the biscuits in. I know it must have been good because he said I could make this one again!

Chocolate-Walnut Loaf~pg. 240

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I started off this morning making a late breakfast of Freedom French Toast from LDV topped with applesauce and maple syrup~mmm mmm.

 

Then it was off on a bike ride. It feels great easing back into being active again after my back surgery. I then decided to make this decadent chocolatey loaf. It is moist and yummy and is on my "make again" list.

 

 

After baking this delicious loaf it was time for a swim at my brother and sister-in-law's house. They live just around the corner from me. We had a great time with our 'water therapy'; it's a nice, safe environment to float around and talk about life!

 

By the time I got home and visited with my mom who lives across the street I realized it was too late for lunch (good excuse) so I had a slice of chocolate-walnut loaf. So it's on to making dinner now!

Kissing Cousins Oat Bread~pg. 266

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

The recipe called for 2 cups rolled oat flakes to be ground up in the food processor. I happened to have some oat flour amongst my miscellaneous flours in the fridge so decided to use that. I did a little research to make sure I had the ratio right and it is 1 1/4 C. oats to 1 C. flour. So I only used 1 1/2 C. flour. Did I do the math right?! Well anyway it turned out; I did have to bake it for 40 minutes instead of the 25-30 minutes the recipe called for.

 

Really yummy toasted and slathered with Earth Balance margarine and strawberry jam; mmm!

Bran Muffins~pg. 272

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Love this muffin recipe~hearty, healthy and delicious. I can put these in the freezer for a quick breakfast.

Wolffie's "Buttermilk" Cornbread~pg. 268

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

My favorite cornbread recipe ever! I've made this many, many times. It is permanently marked in my cookbook. What can I say? I love it! No eggs, no cowmilk-the best.

Brown Rice Flour Banana Bread~pg. 279

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I don't usually have brown rice flour on hand but I had bought some for a previous recipe we had made for the challenge. I just had enough (1 cup) flour to make this bread. It has a great banana nut bread flavor but it didn't rise very much. The recipe said to put it in a 9" loaf pan; I'm glad I used an 8" pan or it would have been as flat as a pancake! I think I'll stick to using wheat flour since I don't have to eat gluten-free. I also wanted to take another picture after I removed it from the pan and sliced it but -oops! - the camera is broken.

Peachy Pecan Muffins~pg. 238

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

These are yummy! Make sure you let them cool before trying to take them out of the muffin pan or they will fall apart.