Banana Walnut (or Choc Chip) Muffins

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've started homeschooling my kiddo  and that is keeping me very busy! Gone are the days of solitude where I can clean house for a while and then cook and blog while the washer is running. But, that's okay, I love homeschooling and so does my daughter! But I'll still post when I can. In the meantime, I picked up a new-to-me cookbook called The 30-Day Vegan Challenge by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (whose podcast, Joyful Vegan, is fantastic!) and I'm so excited about it that I wanted to share the first recipe I made from the book.

My daughter is 8-years-old and is obstinate about vegan food. Sorry, "vegangelicals," but she is very adamant that she does not want to eat vegan food and while I frequently encourage her to try it, I do not force her to eat only vegan. But, I am a sneaky redhead, so here's what I've been doing - I've been making vegan recipes and not telling her they're vegan and keeping tabs on the ones she really likes. So far, I've only been able to trick her with my three-bean chili. I use the Trader Joe's vegan ground beef substitute and she honestly hasn't noticed that it's not beef. Now, the reason I'm so excited about Ms. Patrick-Goudreau's cookbook is because it has lots of yummy-looking "kid food" in it, like mac and cheese, chocolate cake, and quesadillas, and when I showed my daughter the photos in the book she said, "Mmmm, that looks good! Get this cookbook." I never told her it was a vegan cookbook. I'll keep you posted on how she responds to the recipes.

This is the recipe for Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, but I didn't have any chocolate chips, so I subbed chopped walnuts instead.

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or chopped walnuts)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a medium-sized bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl or stand-mixer, beat oil and sugar together. 
• Add mashed bananas and mix.
• Add water and vanilla. Mix again.
• Use a spoon to gently stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture.
• Fold in chocolate chips or walnuts.
• Fill each muffin tin halfway with batter. (With the use of the Reusable Silicone Baking Cup Liners, I was able to get 20 muffins out of this batch.)
• Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in a center muffin comes out clean.
• Enjoy!

Dreena's Best Banana Muffins

Almost four full years ago, I posted what I still consider to be the best vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe any of us will ever try. That recipe was the invention of Dreena Burton, and it's so wonderfully simple and chewy/crispy and perfect, I continue to make it at least once a month. My whole family loves it!

Dreena's gone and done it again in her new cookbook, Plant-Powered Families: Over 100 Kid-Tested, Whole-Foods Vegan Recipes. A couple of weeks ago, she posted a photo of the banana bread muffins from this new cookbook on her Instagram account, and it looked so good, I asked where I could find the recipe. She graciously responded that it's in her new cookbook and even gave me the page number. Lucky for me, I'd just bought the cookbook a few days prior to this encounter, and since all of the ingredients are things I already had on hand, I was ready to give this recipe a try. And I'm so glad I did! The muffins are chewy and lightly sweet, with the littlest hint of guilty-pleasure to them. Only you don't have to feel guilty! Seriously, they're just great. Give these a try, and when you're done go buy everything Dreena's ever published. Her recipes never fail.

P.S. Dreena did not put me up to this. I bought this cookbook with my own money and I'm raving about Dreena Burton of my own free will. You will too after eating these muffins!

P.P.S. In the cookbook, this recipe makes either a loaf of banana bread or twelve muffins. I'm only providing the info for the muffins, and I'm partially paraphrasing her recipe in my own words. So, the baking instructions you find below aren't exactly what's in the cookbook. Just lettin' ya know!

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup oat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup pureed overripe banana
1/2 cup plain nondairy milk
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons nondairy chocolate chips (optional)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease a 12-cup muffin pan, or line with paper baking cups.
• In a large bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and sea salt. In a separate bowl, combine the pureed banana, milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Add the wet mixture to the dry, then add the chocolate chips, and stir through until just well combined. Do not overmix.
• Pour mixture into muffin cups (I used a large cookie scoop to measure out the batter). 
• Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a center muffin comes out clean.
• Let cool before eating.
• Enjoy!

Before I go, let me tell you about the exciting new thing I'm doing! I've been thinking about the kind of career I want to start to build for myself at this stage of my life. When I was graduating from college with a Communications/Theatre BA, I couldn't possibly have known that in ten years I would be vegan and have an earnest interest in becoming a vegan chef, teacher, coach, and professional baker. So, at the ripe li'l age of 43 (my birthday was last Thursday!) I am taking my first steps in pursuing my dream. Step One, for me, is enrolling in a vegan cooking school to learn all the chef basics, tricks and tips. I just signed up this very morning, and I am so excited! I will keep you all posted on my progress as I proceed through the program.

Banana-Pecan Muffins

I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween! We tried the "Switch Witch" thing for the first time this year. My daughter was able to go out and trick-or-treat like everyone else, but at the end of the night she left her candy out for Switch Witch, who swooped in while she was sleeping, took her garbage candy ("to feed to her naughty cat") and left, in it's place, good quality candy that I don't have to worry about her eating. No dyes, no preservatives, etc. It worked like a charm and my kiddo didn't have to feel left out of the Halloween festivities! The junk candy went to work with my husband who left it out in the breakroom for his co-workers. 

The morning after Halloween I made these fantastic muffins because I wanted to use the tons of pecans falling from the tree in my front yard right now! I seriously have three buckets full of pecans and at least three or four dozen more pecans fall from the tree every day. I love pecans, so I'm in heaven! I can't wait to make pies. If you don't have pecans, or they are too expensive, any nut will do. Or you can replace the nuts in the streusel topping with oatmeal, which is super cheap. Feel free to be creative!

Also, my daughter (who is a really picky eater) absolutely LOVED these! She ate two for breakfast, then came home after school and ate four more. If you have kids, you might want to make a double batch.

1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond)

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2 2/3 cups flour (I used white whole-wheat)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/3 cup vegan butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar (organic preferred)

1/4 cup vegan yogurt (I used unsweetened coconut yogurt)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large overripe bananas, mashed

1 cup pecan pieces

1/2 cup brown sugar (organic preferred)

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 12-muffin tin or place paper liners in it.
• In a small bowl, whisk the milk and vinegar together and set aside to allow it to curdle.
• Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about two minutes or so. 
• Add yogurt, milk and vinegar mixture, and vanilla. Mix well. 
• Add bananas and mix again.
• On top of your soft mix, dump the dry ingredients. Flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Then stir with a spoon or beat gently until well-incorporated, but take care not to overmix or your muffins will be tough.
• Spoon the batter into your muffin tin, filling each cup almost to the top. I did two scoops into each cup with a large cookie scoop, and that worked perfectly. 
• In a separate bowl, mix your nuts or oats with the brown sugar and spoon it onto the tops of your muffins. 
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
• Enjoy!

Raspberry Waffle Syrup

I am forty-one years old and pre-menopausal. Is that something I shouldn't talk about online? I don't care! It's a living hell. And no amount of hormonal-type (i.e. of animal origin) food avoidance is helping. I'm as pimply as a teenager, and I have daily hot flashes that my daughter's Girl Scout troop director accurately described as "my own private summer." And, hey sue me buddy, but sometimes a pimply, middle-aged woman having a hot flash needs a got-dang waffle, and sometimes there's no syrup in the house. So, she hits the internet and finds a solution. In this case, it was homemade raspberry syrup. I'd purchased two cases of raspberries the day before because they were on sale for 99 cents a case, which is a steal! So, now we're here. This syrup is delicious. We were spooning it out of the saucepan before it was even cool. Give it a try, and enjoy!

HOMEMADE RASPBERRY SYRUP
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
1 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon water, divided
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

• In a medium saucepan, combine 1 3/4 cups water with sugar. 
• Add raspberries and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to medium-low. Allow mixture to simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally.
• Place the mixture in a fine, mesh sieve and press to release all of the liquid into a bowl or large cup. Return liquid to saucepan.
• Whisk in cornstarch remaining tablespoon water.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook one minute, stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat. Allow to cool before serving.
• Can be stored in the refrigerator up to a week in an airtight container.
• Enjoy!

Scanners Scramble

Hey, who remembers Scanners? It was a David Cronenberg film, so if you are at all familiar with Cronenberg's body of work you can immediately imagine how bizarre and disgusting it is without me even having to describe it. It concerned a rare and small group of "special" people, called Scanners, who could do all kinds of crazy telepathic and telekinetic things, like read thoughts, start fires with their minds, control the bodily processes of other people, and - most notably - make people's heads explode.    

Scanners (1981)

I will spare you from photos of the infamous head explosion scene, because I don't want you to lose your appetite, Instead, I will cleverly use my tofu scramble to demonstrate the basic logistics of the scene.

Here we have two fully functioning brain lobes, just pulsing away happily.

Then this guy catches wind of something in those lobes he doesn't like.

And now the brains look like this... Ya get me?

'sploded or not, that scramble looks delicious. And it is! The recipe is not my own. Alas, it belongs to one Isa Chandra Moskowitz of Veganomicon fame. It is my favorite tofu scramble recipe and the only one I ever make anymore, simply because it is the best! Trust me and give it a try. Here's the original recipe post on the Post Punk Kitchen website. You can also find it in Isa's fantastic cookbook, Vegan Brunch. I'll put links to the cookbooks at the bottom of this post. Now, on to the scramble!

2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed with your fingers
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon salt*
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced (or more, to taste)
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Fresh black pepper to taste

(*This is way too much salt for me. I only use a half teaspoon when I make this and it always tastes great. I recommend starting with less and adding more later if you want to.)

• First stir the spice blend together in a small cup. Add water and mix. Set aside.
• Preheat a large, heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Saute the garlic in olive oil for about a minute. Break the tofu apart into bite sized pieces and saute for about 10 minutes, using a spatula to stir often. Get under the tofu when you are stirring, scrape the bottom and don’t let it stick to the pan, that is where the good, crispy stuff is. Use a thin metal spatula to get the job done, a wooden or plastic one won’t really cut it. The tofu should get browned on at least one side, but you don’t need to be too precise about it. The water should cook out of it and not collect too much at the bottom of the ban. If that is happening, turn the heat up and let the water evaporate.
• Add the spice blend and mix to incorporate. Add the nutritional yeast and fresh black pepper. 
• Cook for about five more minutes. Serve warm.

As you can see in the photos, I topped mine with fresh pico de gallo. I had some leftover from yesterday's C.H.U.D. C.H.I.L.I. so I used it to top my scramble, which was ever-so-gently lain on a stovetop-warmed tortilla from Trader Joe's. Dang, it was good! Best.Breakfast.Ever.

Happy MoFo'ing, everyone!

 

Celebrating the Return of Autumn

Today marks the end of another long, hot summer here in Texas. I love this state with all my heart, and I've lived here my entire life, but summer in Texas is life in the belly of the dragon. It's miserable. And then that first breeze of Autumn comes, and I just come alive like you can't imagine.

Somewhere around mid-to-late August the whole family gets depressed....

It looks a little something like this...

We are sick of being stuck indoors, sick of the heat, sick of the sun and all the sun-scorched trees and wilted flowers, and truly TRULY super-sick of gargantuan mosquitoes chewing on us every time we step outdoors. We just want a break!

And then September rolls around, school starts, and you begin to think, "We're almost there. We're almost there. Just hang on!" And you just barely get through September with your sanity.

Then October comes... Oh, October! HOW I LOVE YOU!

The mosquitoes start to dwindle, the leaves change to gorgeous colors, the rain comes by and by, and best of all, you get a sweet, cool breeze that just begs you to open up the windows and let it in for coffee. It chats with you while you clip coupons and make breakfast. And making breakfast is so great, because you can finally use the stovetop again without fear of a heat stroke.

Have I mentioned that October is my favorite month of the entire year?! I truly come alive in October.

So, today is the day I've been waiting for all year. This morning (when I inexplicably awoke at 5:30 AM) it was still hot. But, around 8:30 AM a stiff breeze swept over the city and blew in the sweetest, coolest air I think I've ever felt in my life. I burst out giggling with joy and called to the whole family to join me on the back porch. Now my windows are all open. They haven't been opened since last April! And I am so serenely happy.

So, how do I celebrate a wonderful day like this, the return of Autumn?

With Isa Chandra's Tofu Scramble and some homemade guacamole on stove-top tortillas, of course. Then I chased my huge breakfast with some of Dreena Burton's Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies. My belly is happy. SO happy!

The Tardis cookie jar is full once again. Life is good!

The best thing about October, though, is Halloween. And, if you're into it (I'm a total fangirl) the start of the new season of The Walking Dead! I can't wait!!

Autumn wreaths, the use of my kitchen again (baking!), Trunk or Treat, cool weather, lower energy bills, and an endless supply of cheesy horror films on cable. It's like heaven.

What's your favorite thing about Autumn, and how do you like to celebrate it?

Divine Whole Wheat Banana Bread

I know there are about eight billion banana bread recipes floating around the interwebs, but I have an entire tropical forest of overripe bananas sitting in my freezer and I need to use them!
I swear, I've never made the same banana bread recipe twice. I am always changing up my recipe, trying new ones, different flavors, exotic add-ins. Today I just wanted something simple. I went with what I had in my pantry, which explains the use of brown sugar and coffee liqueur (which I've discovered is a great substitute for vanilla). It turned out very moist and not-too-sweet, and we all really enjoyed it. This might be the one banana bread recipe I actually make more than once. I hope you like it too! 

2 tablespoons golden flax meal
1/4 cup warm water
4 medium to large overripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a standard loaf pan.
• Mix the flax meal and water together, and let stand for several minutes. Stir again before adding to recipe.
• In a large bowl, mix together bananas and oil. 
• Add flax mixture, and mix again.
• On top of your wet mixture, gently dump all of the dry stuff. Do not start mixing until all of the dry ingredients are in the bowl.
• Gently mix or stir until everything is well-incorporated. Be careful not to overmix. Batter will be slightly lumpy, and that's okay!
• Pour into loaf pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
• Allow to cool for at least half an hour before digging in. Slice, butter, and enjoy!

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The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes

"Cheesy" Corn Grits with Yellow Squash

Sorry I haven't been posting much this week. My husband and daughter both have sinus infections (and so does everyone else in town, it seems) thanks to the massive influx of ragweed blowing in the air. Lo and behold, although I too have been struggling with allergies to the ragweed, I have managed to stave off the sinus infection via use of the magical Neti Pot. If you have seasonal allergies, get one! It totally works. It feels gross when you're pouring salt water into your schnoz, but it's totally worth it. And now I'm the only human in town who doesn't have a sinus infection. I wonder if the Neti Pot also works for zombie outbreaks? Better keep it handy, just in case...

So, today the family seems to be perking up a bit. My husband even cleaned the family room and the kitchen while I took an amazing nap with my two fat kitty cats, Paddy and Putter Jack! It was a magical Saturday afternoon for Jen, y'sir. And when I woke up, feeling totally renewed, I blew into the kitchen to concoct this grits recipe. I had some leftover squash after frying up squash and zucchini in fabulous beer-batter (yes, those are beer-battered zucchini sandwiches you see in the photo) and I didn't want it to go to waste, so here's how I used it:

3 cups water
1 cup white corn grits
1 tablespoon olive oil (or water)
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup yellow squash, finely chopped
1/2 cup vegan cheddar, shredded
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper, to taste

• Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan.
• Add the grits while gently stirring.
• Reduce heat to low and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until water is absorbed.
• While grits are cooking, saute squash and garlic with oil (or water) in a smaller pan or skillet, until soft.
• When grits are finished cooking, add squash and garlic, along with all remaining ingredients to your grits and stir until the vegan cheese is melted.
• Salt and pepper on the plate after serving. 
• Enjoy!

Cookin' Crunk: Eating Vegan in the Dirty South

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The Leaning Tower of Pancakes

I wasn't planning to post today, but I just had to share the hilariously ginormous stack of pancakes I cooked up this morning. Lila and I were making, "Whoa, whooooaaaaaaaaa" noises as I carried the wobbling stack to the table for a photo. It reminded me of the poem "Pancake?" by Shel Silverstein.

PANCAKE?
by Shel Silverstein (from the book Where the Sidewalk Ends) 

Who wants a pancake,
Sweet and piping hot?
Good little Grace looks up and says,
"I'll take the one on top."
Who else wants a pancake,
Fresh off the griddle?
Terrible Theresa smiles and says,
"I'll take the one in the middle."

This is the Perfect Pancakes recipe from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's fabulous cookbook, Vegan Brunch (published by the Perseus Books Group).

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup water
1 to 1 1/4 cups plain rice milk or soy milk
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Cooking spray

• Preheat a large skillet over medium heat for at least 2 minutes (and up to 5 minutes).
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
• Make a well in the center and add the oil, water, milk, maple syrup, and vanilla. Mix just until ingredients are combined. A few lumps in the batter are just fine.
• Spray the pan with a light coat of cooking spray (or a very light coat of oil). Pour pancakes one at a time and cook until bubbles form and the top looks somewhat dry (about 3 minutes). Flip over and cook for another minute.
• Serve!

My Notes:
I substituted white whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour and it worked great.
I also substituted coffee liqueur for the vanilla extract and that was divine.

If you haven't already purchased every cookbook available from 

Isa Chandra Moskowitz, I suggest you do so a.s.a.p.

I have yet to be disappointed by a single one of her recipes.

Cookbooks by Isa Chandra Moskowitz:

Appetite for Reduction

Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook

Vegan with a Vengeance

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Vegan Brunch

Vegan Pie in the Sky

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Forks Over Knives - The Cookbook

Lastly, I just want to applaud Nickelodeon for turning off
the shows on all of their channels and, instead, posting this...

Click to learn more about the Worldwide Day of Play!

Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Pancakes

These pancakes are rich, chocolatey, delicious, and jammed full of fiber. Top with a pat of vegan butter and some pure maple syrup. How can you go wrong?
 
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups unbleached white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flax meal
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon stevia (or preferred sweetener)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups soy milk
1 cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

• Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. 
• Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the vanilla and one cup of soy milk. Stir gently with a wooden spoon until just mixed. Add the remaining soy milk, one cup at a time, stirring after each addition. 
• Fold in the chocolate chips. 
• Drop onto a pre-heated/pre-greased griddle and cook until bubbles start to form, just one or two minutes. Watch closely! Then flip and cook on the other side for another minute or so. 
• Enjoy!

BULGING BELLY WARNING: 
This recipe makes a lot! I use this recipe to feed a family of three, and we usually have enough leftovers for at least one of us. So, if you're only cooking for one, or don't want any leftovers, you might want to cut the recipe in half. If you don't mind leftovers, your extra pancakes will keep well in the fridge (in an airtight container, o' course) and can be quickly reheated in a warmed skillet or toaster oven.

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