Low Fat Raw Vegan Valentines Chocolates

Ok, I know the title is a mouthful, but every part of that phrase is important! In light of the coming holiday for lovers (and also me and Steven's half year anniversary) I decided to come up with a yummy alternative to the junk that stores of to offer. No, obviously it isn't the same as what the store sells, but that is because it's better! Your body will thank you, and it tastes amazing. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

-2 Ripe Banana's

- 30 Sweet Drops

-2 Tbs carob powder

-1/4 cup of blueberries

-little bit of water

Tools:

-Blender

-Heart candy mold (or whatever you prefer)

-candy liner

-box

Directions:

1) Blend together 1 banana, carob powder,  15 sweet drops, and a little bit of water (just to make the mixture blend well. Hopefully you will end up with a pudding like consistency 2) Scoop the mixture into your candy mold and make sure that it covers the bottom and a little ways up the sides. 3) Put it in the freezer of the the mixture is at least slightly frozen. 4) Meanwhile put your second banana,  15 sweet drops, and blueberries into the blender and blend into a smooth consistency. 5) Take your candy mold with the chocolate base out of the freezer and scoop a small amount of the blueberry filling into the center

6) Put it into the freezer again 7) when it is at least slightly frozen, pull it out and cover with another layer of chocolate.  8) Put it back into the freezer until solid 9) Take them out of the freezer and pop them out of the molds. 10) situate them in the candy liner and place it in the box. 11) Now your finished! If you want to add bonus points for presentation, tie up the box with a little ribbon.

For an easy tutorial on how to make these, check out my Vegan Tr3k channel <here>.

Mmm Kombucha

Earlier this year when I was still living in Chicago, I tried a vegan restaurant called Karen's Cooked *insert salivating* i'm pretty sure I blogged about it before, but it was amazing! Anywho, to drink, I had a bottle of strawberry kombucha. I can still remember drinking that wonderful fizzy, fermented drink for the first time and reading the ingredients which said 100% pure love. They totally nailed it. I fell in love and continued to buy the $4.00 (in Chicago) drink whenever I could. In December Steven bought me a scoby and I have been able to make it myself. It's a delicious drink and it's so good for you! Here's a list of healthy benefits: http://www.foodrenegade.com/kombucha-health-benefits/ Don't worry, it has less alcohol in it than NyQuil. For those of you who want to start making it yourself now that  I've convinced you that it's the best thing in the world, I've made a  tutorial! Woohoo! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGQh9TtINjE Check it out!...Even if it's only to watch me hold a giant fungus!

A Vegan Thanksgiving

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo......uh, I haven't blogged in a while....whoops. My Thanksgiving was great! How bout yours? I started my holiday season off on Friday the 23rd by decorating for Christmas and then I made a delectable little Thanksgiving dinner for Steven and myself. to consume. with our mouths...and now I'm hungry and kind of want peanut butter. RANDOM. I'm feeling incredibly random right now. Ignore this. This was my first Vegan thanksgiving and I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing out. I know for a lot of people it probably seems like a daunting task to make vegan foods that will measure up to the traditional holiday delicacies-but really it isn't a problem! I made large portions for our little dinner because when we were finished I put the leftovers in the fridge and then took them to my other two Thanksgiving dinners with family. Below are a few of my holiday dishes that I ate all weekend long (and didn't get tired of them)...

Our Vegan Feast

Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole (I left out the earth balance
butter because it wasn't necessary)

Vegan Green Bean Casserole (Super yum!!!!!)

Gardein Holiday Roast (Fantastic meat replacement!)

Vegan Stuffing (I made mine without the oil and used Ezekiel bread)

Cauliflower potato mash. This is a great lower fat version of mashed potatoes.
There is no sacrifice in this version because you still get that chunky homemade mashed
potato feel.

Ingredients:
1 Head of Cauliflower
2 Potatoes
Salt

Directions:
1)Steam cauliflower until it is super soft. 2) Boil potatoes until they are super soft as well.
3) Blend the cauliflower in a blender. 4) Mix the potatoes in a mixer and slowly add in the pureed cauliflower.
5) Sprinkle in your desired amount of salt.

It makes nice moist "potatoes" with no milk or butter!

Don't worry, I didn't forget about dessert. For my dessert I made a Vegan Pecan Pie (but I used a GF crust instead of the raw crust) and a Tofu Pumpkin Pie (I used a GF pie crust for this one as well)

Mmmmm Hummus

I love hummus. I'll it in a bowl with spoon or with veggies or pita chips or any other reasonable combination-it is an amazing food! I feel like I am always craving this creamy spread-I could be midway through a chocolate chip cookie and I'd still be interested in changing over my taste buds to consume a bit of hummus. Today for lunch I concocted a mouth-watering combination that I'm sure to try again soon.

Open Faced Hummus Sandwich

Hummus Ingredients:

1/2 can Garbanzo beans (Chick Peas)

1 tbs lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

water

Directions:

This is a lower fat hummus when you leave out the oil, so if you were wondering, that is why it isn't there.

1) Blend all the ingredients together and add water as needed to make it smooth

Sandwich Ingredients:

Hummus (previously made)

1/2 red pepper

1 slice of Ezekiel bread (or whatever whole grain bread you choose)

Capers

Directions:

1) Cook peppers in a frying bad with a bit of water until soft

2) Spread hummus on your slice of bread

3) Top with roasted red peppers and capers

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal

In light of the quickly approaching Thanksgiving, I will post a this tasty little breakfast treat. Its wholesome, slow burning (so you won't get hungry mid morning), energizing, and not to mention equipped with sweetness to satisfy those who just can't stray to far from that box of frosted or sugar pumped cereal.

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup water

1/4 tsp pumpkin spice

1 tsp honey

1 tbs peanut butter

1/2 tsp flax seeds

Directions:

1) Heat oats and water in the microwave for 2 minutes

2) Mix in the rest of the incredients

Corn Bread Stuffed Acorn Squash

    I always do a little happy dance inside when I am able to take a food that Steven is not a huge fan of and make it into something he could take seconds of. One of those foods happens to be acorn squash. I personally love it all coated with coconut oil and maple syrup or honey, but he one the other hand is content to eat it once every blue moon.
    Well it's squash season once again and I had a few acorn squash sitting in the back of my fridge waiting to be consumed. Finally, today I had a recipe come together in my head which included those delectable sweet fleshed squash. Here is what happened:

Corn Bread Stuffed Acorn Squash

Corn Bread Ingredients

1 Cup cornmeal

1 Cup flour

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

1/2 Cup Raw Sugar

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup Soy Milk

2 Tablespoons ground flax mixed with 6 tablespoons water (egg replacement)

1/2 Cup Earth Balance Butter

Directions

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and store in the fridge

Squash Ingredients

2 Acorn Squash

2 Tablespoon Coconut Oil

2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup

Directions

1) Cut the acorn squash in half and scrape out the seeds  2) Fill a crock pot with about 1 inch of water 3) Put the acorn squash in the crock pot 4) Divide the Coconut oil and maple syrup evenly and place in each acorn squash 5) Cook on low for five hours or high for 2 hours or until the squash is soft 6) Fill squash halves with corn bread batter. 7) Cook at 400 degree for 15 minutes or until cornbread is cooked through. 

Optional Toppings

Toasted walnuts

Maple Syrup

Super yum!

Reaping the Harvest

    The first day I met the family I was going to nanny for in Chicago, I went to their house for dinner. Despite the fact that I was a ball of nerves because I wasn't actually sure if I had the job yet (though I found out later I did and it was just a come and meet us dinner), I managed to relax over a delicious meal of corn on the cob, chicken and a really good salad. I'm not entirely sure what all was in the salad anymore or what dressing it had, I just remember it was really good and it had fennel in it (which is something I had never had before, but quickly fell in love with). Needless to say fennel started appearing in my grocery shopping list.
    Anyway, while we were eating dinner she had mentioned something about being part of a program where you get fresh produce sent to your house in a box every week or couple weeks (I don't remember exactly how often). I remember thinking that was a really cool option for those living in the city. Not really having the funds to do something like that myself, I usually resorted to shopping at one of the various farmers markets hosted around the city, which was fun for me, but not always convenient.
    When I started nannying I noticed a cook book laying open on their counter top and became intrigued by the uniqueness of it. It was called Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables. It is a really cool cookbook organized by season. It has stories and information all about the different fruits and vegetables that come out in each season and then of course recipes. I was interested in the cookbook in the first place because I thought if whatever was in it was as good as what she served for dinner then I was going to be hooked! Sure enough, I was. I went home and bought the book for myself on my kindle and exhausted many the recipes in it.
    Though I enjoyed being able to cook with fruits and vegetables from the farmers market, I was always wishing I could grow my own plants and be a part of the entire process. There is something very satisfying about serving foods that you raised and cooked. Well God surely knows the desires of my heart because He brought us to a place in the country and gave us landlords who are very into growing things (they have an orchard, a corn field, a big garden, and all kinds of berry bushes). I asked if I could plant a garden and they loved the idea and even helped me till it! I think I wrote somewhere before that they probably thought I was a little silly planting a garden before my house was unpacked, but I was so excited to get a garden going!
    So now here I am a month and a half later reaping the harvest. I have been pulling tomatoes out for a couple weeks now, but today I harvested some zucchini, yellow squash, and radishes as well! I should also mention that I have been blessed with generous neighbors who have let me pick all I want from their cherry tree and raspberry bushes, so I have fruit in plenty as well. I am certainly a blessed little lady, and I am very thankful.

Reaping the harvest is a wonderful thing!

   

Summer Sushi Bowl

    I love sushi. For years I hated it and then one day my taste buds grew up and realized it is quite delicious. Of course now that I'm vegan, I'm that weirdo that sits there at the Chinese restaurant poking out half the ingredients, but it's still quite tasty. The sweet rice combined with the seaweed and the crunch of veggies-it's lovely.
    Anywho, I've made my own sushi on several occasions because it is really inexpensive and it makes a nice light meal. However, this last time I tried to make it, I used brown rice which really didn't work because it never got sticky. If you have ever tried making sushi before you know that without sticky rice, it's a lost cause. Not wanting to give up on that wonderful sushi taste, I decided to make a "sushi bowl". Upon completion I realized it's a nice quick alternative for when I don't have time to make a bunch of rolls (because it is quite time consuming). It is also a great summer food for when you just need to eat something cool and refreshing.

Sushi Bowl

Ingredients:

2 cups Brown Rice

2 tbs Vinegar (whatever you choose) I used white vinegar

Cucumber

Nori sheets

2 tbs honey (it calls for sugar, but I use honey)

1 tbs salt (I used sea salt)

Cucumber

Coleslaw Bag mix (aka cabbage, red cabbage and carrots)

Directions:

(1)Make rice like you would for the sushi, something like <this>. (2) put a nori sheet in the bottom of your bowl. (2) Fill the nori sheet with rice. (3) Mix in coleslaw mix. (4) Top with matchstick sized cucumber. (5) Rip up a nori sheet and sprinkle it over top. You can eat this alone or serve it up with some <homemade spring rolls>.

Homemade Spring Rolls

    Towards the end of our time in Chicago (or rather Cicero), we started eating at this little Chinese take out place across the street. We had always walked by it and said we should try it sometime, but there are so many restaurants in Chicago that the tiny little take out place just never seemed all that exciting. However, when the countdown to our departure started and we began packing and the house was a mess and chaotic and I no longer felt like cooking because of the disastrous condition of my kitchen, the little take out place regained it's appeal.
    I must admit that this particular little take out place became a mainstay for our apathetic movers syndrome.   After that first time we fell in love. They had this biggest and most delicious egg rolls I think i have ever had. I'm sitting here drooling over my computer at the memory (it doesn't help that it's lunch time and I have no access to food).
    Now that I have expressed my love of Chinese and egg rolls, lets get to the point. Egg rolls are really not that hard to make, so I've made them on several occasions. I guess I mine are actually spring rolls, because I don't add egg, but spring rolls are just as yummy.

Homemade Spring Roll

Wrapper Ingredients:

2 cups flour (I usually use a combination of whole wheat white and whole wheat flour)

Vegan "egg" (1 tablespoon ground flax mixed with two tablespoons of water)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup ice water

Olive oil for coating

Directions:

(1) Mix all the ingredients together. (2) Roll it out thin and flat. (3) Cut into equal sized square pieces.

Filling Ingredients:

It's simply a bag of coleslaw mix.

Directions:

(1)Place a good sized pinch of the coleslaw mix into the center of each wrapper. (2) Fold in the sides and roll. (3) Coat each roll in olive oil. (4) Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown.

    I found a really yummy sauce at Trader Joe's called "Sweet Chili Sauce" which is really good to dip them in. It's a bit spicy unlike duck sauce, but it's quite yummy. It also pairs well with my Sushi Bowl recipe which you can find <here>.

Decorated Banana

    It would seem that I am still dwelling on my banana fetish and so of course a blog must follow. I am constantly trying to come up with creative and healthy snack ideas because I live with and am related to many people who feel they need to have a snack every five minutes. I'm starting to think maybe I'm the one that has a problem? Either way, it's a good thing I like culinary ventures. When my brother was visiting I made this banana concoction (does that word make it sound bad? It's really isn't...) and Steven really liked and it was super easy, so I made it a few more times as well. I think I just created a staple recipe. It chose my ingredients so as to make it look pretty-like decorating a banana

Decorated Banana

Ingredients:

Banana

Peanut butter

Honey

Dark Chocolate

Almond Meal

Ground Flax

Directions:

(1)Drizzle the peanut butter and honey on top of the banana (2) Sprinkle almond  meal, ground flax and grated dark chocolate on top. Simple, eh?

Breakfast Banana Bread

    I must admit I really enjoy cooking for other people. Not that I don't like cooking for just Steven and myself, but I think it is fun to introduce new healthy foods to people who aren't used to eating the way we do. Having said that, this week has been a fun week for cooking because I've had family hanging around since Sunday!

    Sunday evening my brother and in-laws came for dinner and I served some delicious lentil burgers with garlic aoli, greens seasoned with olive oil and lemon juice, and tomato, all served up on some yummy grilled whole wheat garlic bread! On the side we had some grilled asparagus and cantaloupe, then we finished off with a dessert of vegan/gluten free apple crisp with banana coconut ice cream-yum!

    My brother is still here and I have been feeding him and Steven some good foods to keep up their strength as we have been delving in to all sorts of projects-one of which is the construction of a kitchen island (I'll post pictures when it's finished). Yesterday morning we had some of <this> for breakfast, and it was fantastic! For dinner I made some copy-cat Panda Express Chow Mein which you can find <here>.

    Now to stray from the topic for just a moment, I have to say that I became very excited earlier this week when I purchased four bags of banana's at Aldi and the total came to something under $3. They were only .19 a pound which I thought was great, but still thought it would be real expensive in the end with tax and all that. However, after purchasing I realized, Hey, they don't tax food around here, this is fantastic! I can't wait to buy bananas again! So in short, I'm going banana's over my banana's...ha ha...ha. 

    Gearing back to my original topic, this morning I made some sweet, soft, and warm banana bread and decided to get a little creative with it for breakfast. Here is what happened:

Banana Bread Breakfast

Ingredients:

Banana Bread (I used <this> recipe, but added ground flax, oat bran, and wheat bran)

Blueberries

Strawberries

Earth Balance Butter

coconut milk foam (let a can of coconut milk sit in the fridge over night, open without shaking and scraped the foam off the top)

Directions:

1) Put a pat of butter on top of the warm banana bread and let it melt in. 2)Slice up the strawberries and arrange them on top, then drop of a few blueberries on top as well. 3) Plop a small spoonful of the coconut "whip cream" on top and wala!

Eggplant Sandwich

    Ok, seriously, this whole warm weather/cold weather thing is giving me whiplash! I started this past week playing in a blow up pool, eating popsicles, and getting sun burns. Three days later I walked to work dressed like an Eskimo. This is not ok, spring-not OK!
    Anyway, while I was still enjoying the warmth of the first half of my week I spent time dreaming of fresh vegetable sandwiches. Having said that, the meal plan for the week turned out very light, fresh, and springy, despite the sudden change in weather.
    One of my favorite sandwiches to make is: An Egg Plant Sandwich! It. Is. Amazing. I would have liked to make it on the grill, but since the weather wasn't cooperating I just used my oven, so keep that in mind.

Eggplant Sandwich

Ingredients (for one sandwich):

1 large slice of eggplant cut in half

1/3 piece of baguette cut in half lengthwise

2 slices of tomato

1/4 avocado

2 leaves of lettuce

2 red pepper rings

1/2 small onion sliced into rings

olive oil

garlic salt

oregano

Italian seasoning

3 slices of cucumber

Directions:

1) coat both half of eggplant, tomato,onion, and red pepper in olive oil, garlic salt, and Italian seasoning

2) Drizzle olive oil over the inside of the baguette, and top with oregano and garlic salt

3) Place all the prepared ingredients on a baking sheet and put in the oven at 350 for about ten minutes (or until the bread is toasted and the veggies are soft)

4)Spread avocado over one side of the baguette the place all the remaining ingredients inside and there you have it!

My Friend, the Grill

    Last week spring showed up for a couple days and it was sunny and semi-warm, so in a flurry of excitement I bought every grillable vegetable I could find and busted out my summer companion. Unfortunately I was only being teased with feeling of spring and it quickly turned cold and rainy. However, my trusty ol' grill agreed to continue helping me cook up the vegetables I had hastily purchased.
 

I chopped up some strawberries and pineapple and tossed t
hem in with some blackberries as a nice refreshing side to our  grilled goodies.

And for the pain course we had grilled corn covered in olive oil, garlic salt and paprika.
Next we had some grilled asparagus, covered in olive oil  and garlic salt.
Finally we had some brown rice which we cooked several different ways throughout the week:
1) I mixed it with chickpeas, garlic salt, and nutritional yeast
2) Just plain old rice
3) Fried rice with onion, olive oil, sesame oil, and soy sauce

Dear Spring,

 you better come before summer takes your chance away.

                                              Sincerely,

                                                          An Admirer 

Easter Again?!

    Incredible. Easter 2013 is over already! I'm pretty sure I was ringing in the new year just yesterday, anyone else feel the same? Anyway, my spring break last week was wonderful, our Easter celebration was wonderful, and today it was back to the old grind-stone.
    A quick review of my spring break looks something like this:

The pile is twice this size now...

I did a lot of packing because Steven's parents are coming up this weekend to take away as much of our stuff as they can. This process is making me super antsy to go! You have been fun Chicago, but I'm ready to run into the warm bosom of Pennsylvania!

    Friday was when I finally began to have some fun. My family and Steven and I got together via Skype to decorate Easter eggs (thank you technology).

Steven's eggs

The spread

My eggs

    Easter Sunday we got up early and went to the gym for our morning workout, then we returned home for a yummy Easter breakfast consisting of braided Easter bread (which tasted like an Auntie Ann's pretzel so the of course I must share the recipe) hard boiled eggs, and tempeh bacon.

Braided Easter Bread

Vegan Braided Easter Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cup dark rye flour

2 tbs vital wheat gluten

1/4 cup raw sugar

1 tsp salt

1 package dry yeast

2/3 cup almond milk

2 tbs coconut oil (melted)

2 tbs ground flax mixed with 12 tbs water to make "eggs"

5 decorated eggs

Directions:

1) mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl 2) add all the wet ingredients. 3) knead the dough really well until it is elastic.4) Let the dough rise till it doubles in size. 5) Braid the dough into the shape you want on top of a cookie sheet. 6) Insert the eggs. 7) Let the dough continue to rise till double in size (I let mine rise overnight) 8) Bake at 350 for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes.

    After breakfast we hid Easter eggs for each other. Steven's contained the peanut butter cups I made for him, and mine contained seeds, nuts and little notes. What a sweetie. Before heading off to church we snapped a few pics:

    We ended our Easter celebration with a nice little vegan dinner of mushroom tarts, grilled and seasoned potatoes, grilled asparagus, and finally a peanut butter chocolate tofu pie (I don't have a picture =( ).

Peanut Butter Tofu Pie

Ingredients:

1 cup dates

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 package of tofu

2 1/2 tbs honey

5 tbs coconut oil

5 tbs carob powder

water as needed

Directions: 

1) Melt coconut oil and mix in carob powder and 1 tbs honey. 2) pour the mixture into a pie pan and put in the freezer. 3) In a blender combine dates, peanut butter, tofu, and 1 tbs honey and a little bit of water if needed. 4) When everything is smooth and blended together, pour into the pie pan on top of the carob mixture. 5) Drizzle with remaining honey. 6) Put back into freezer until ready to eat.

    I really must end this post now before I begin salivating at the memory of such yummy food....

Vegan Peanut Butter Cups

    Easter is soon to be upon us! I do love Easter. The joyous mood is set because I am celebrating the eternal life I am able to have because of my savior. Secondly, it's of course fun to decorate eggs which I plan to do on skype with the rest of my family later today. And finally, I get to make and consume chocolate. Happy day.
    I am usually not a big Easter candy person, in fact when I lived with my parents, my Easter candy usually ended up in a box that would stay there till the next Easter when I would go to dump in more Easter candy. Yes, I was an abnormal child. Anyway, in spite of my lack of desire to eat the candy I got, there was always one little bit of goodness that I would consume on Easter morning : Homemade peanut butter eggs! Yum! This is my one Easter weakness, so, I of course set out to find a healthier way to make them that did not involve copious amounts of powdered sugar.
    Yesterday I grabbed my kindle and planted myself on the couch until I came up with a doable recipe for some form of chocolaty peanut butter goodness. After picking and choosing different ingredients from different recipes, here is what I came up with:

Healthy Vegan Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut oil (melted)

1 cup carob powder

1/4 cup + 1 tbs honey

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1 1/2 tbs nutritional yeast 

1/4 tsp salt (if your peanut butter is unsalted)

Directions:

1) Mix together coconut oil, carob powder and 1/4 cup of honey. 2) spoon into a tart pan enough of the mixture to cover the bottom and then put it in the freezer 3) Mix together peanut butter, 1 tbs honey, nutritional yeast, and salt (if using). 4) take the tart pan out of the freezer and scoop a little bit of the peanut butter mixture into the center of each piece of chocolate (carob). 5) With the remaining carob mixture, cover each blob of peanut butter. 6) put the tart pan back in the freezer. 7) when they are frozen, poke each one out with a knife and wrap each one in foil. 8) Put back into the freezer until you are ready for them.

Yummzers!

Happy St. Patties Day!

    Happy St. Patrick's day everyone! Now normally I wouldn't care this holiday at all since my Irish heritage is next to none, but when you live in a very culturally diverse city, every holiday is a big deal. Plus, I do enjoy creating delightful green foods, seeing people dressed up like leprechauns(doing crazy things), and having a reason to celebrate something.
    Yesterday was the big day for partying and of course all the bars were full and people were crazy. We started this green holiday with our own healthy version of the Shamrock Shake.

Shamrock Shake (vegan)

Ingredients:

1/8 cup mint leaves

1/4 cup spinach

1 tsp vanilla

1tsp honey

1 frozen banana

1 tsp carob powder

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Directions:

Blend all the ingredients together and enjoy.

    In the evening Steven and I went to a little vegan restaurant called Karyn's Cooked, which was very delicious!

Steven's taco bowl with seitan.

My eggplant Parmesan with delicious grilled bread! 

We shared a potato soup and corn bread.
(We also had a vegan pizza for an appetizer)

    We then proceeded to carry our overstuffed bodies down the road to Trader Joe's where we picked up a pint of chocolate ice cream made with coconut milk as well as a bottle of Sparkling Chardonnay Grape Juice. Our evening ended with the consumption of our yummy purchases and an episode of Gilmore Girls. It's a wonderful thing to have a husband who doesn't mind having a chick flick evening here and there.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Beet Chips

    Okay, it's time to reveal a truth about myself. I have always prided myself in being a lover of almost any healthy food. However, there is one vegetable that has been an exception: Beets. I have always crinkled my nose in the presence of others scooping those bloody looking pickled vegetables onto their plates. Having never been interested in the pickled version, I never explored other recipes for them.
    Last week, as you know I was doing a lot of juicing and one of the juices I made required beets. I have to be honest I wasn't a huge fan of the taste because all I could picture in my head was the nasty pickled thing, so I only drank it once. So, I had two beets left and didn't want them to go to waste so I started researching beet recipes. I ended up coming across Martha Stewart's recipe for Beet Chips. I just finished baking them and to my delight, they are delicious!
    Forgive my moment of morbidness, but I felt like a baker gone mad in a rat lab testing facility. Terribly confused? I'm pretty sure this picture says it all:

Tell me this doesn't look like bloody rat tails to you?

    Well now, after that I'm sure you are dying to eat some beet chips, right? Haha...

Beet Chips

Ingredients:

*Olive oil

*Salt

*2 beets

Directions:

(1) Chop of the the stems and the "rats tail" (2)thinly slice both beets 

(3) cover in olive oil and salt (4) bake at 350 till crispy.

Sunday Morning Pancakes

    Sunday mornings are a beautiful thing. I get up at seven which is a nice early hour, but it still feels like I'm sleeping in compared to my normal 5:30 wake up time. I grab my workout pants and a t-shirt and head off to the gym for an invigorating morning workout (the walk to the gym is probably the most quiet and peaceful on a Sunday morning). Upon my return home I throw together a protein shake and hop in the shower. Finally to wrap up the first part of my morning I get dressed for church and spend some time reading the Bible before our 10:30 service. *Sigh* Doesn't that just sound like the perfect schedule for every morning?

    Today, I thought I'd add a little twist to the schedule and make some nommy (if you are unfamiliar with the word you may feel free to educate yourself with this urban dictionary reading) pancakes! Now I realize that fall has passed and it's not kosher to cook with pumpkin out of season, but you can pretend with me, right?

    

Here is my recipe for Whole Wheat, Low Fat, Vegan, Pumpkin Pancakes:

 Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbs honey

1/2 ripe banana

1 15 oz can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 1/4 cup almond milk

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Directions: 

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and scoop into a frying pan in 1/4 cup sized portions. Cook until golden brown on both sides. 

I topped mine with slices of banana, raw wheat germ and a honey syrup*

*To make the honey syrup all you have to do is simmer 1 part honey and 1 part water for a few minutes, then pour it over your pancakes.

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Crazy Boys and Whole Wheat Bread

    Today has passed by super quickly! This afternoon I happily looked over at the clock expecting it to be about one o' clock, but nooooooooo it was four o' clock. I was honestly confused at the time thinking that maybe the clock had stopped working or something. I guess time flies when your having fun, right?

    2 I started my morning by creeping out of the bedroom where a sleepy Steven was dead to the world (because he decided to get up two hours after we went to bed to play games until 4! Crazy boy.). I made myself a bowl of oatmeal (with ground flax, oat bran, and almond milk-yum!) and cuddled up on the couch to read the Bible in silent bliss. The morning progressed and we ended up at the gym, followed by a bit of grocery shopping and a not so fun wait for the bus. You can find out what happened by watching the video <here>.

    Upon returning home I began cooking some bread and granola for the week. I just pulled the hot bread out of the oven, so the house is full of the scent of soft warm bread. Jealous, right? I vlogged my bread making process which you can watch <here> or for those of you who would rather get to the point quickly here is the recipe: (I don't remember where I got the recipe from so, the credit does not go to me-I just added the toppings)

Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 tsp yeast
3 tbs coconut oil
1 tbs ground flax
2 tbs maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs vital wheat gluten
2 tbs raw sunflower seeds
1 tsp poppyseeds
1 tbs oat bran


Directions: (1) Mix the first 8 ingredients together (I used my stand mixer with the dough hooks or you could use your hands) (2) Let it rise for 20 minutes. (3) Knead the dough, cover and then let it rise until it doubles in size. (4) Knead a bit more then transfer it to a greased bread pan, cover and let it rise until it fills out the bread pan. (5) Sprinkle the last three ingredients on top then bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.