Piece of cake, piece of pie..

Anyone who’s seen Enough might be able to finish that quote.

I made my first ever pie last night! A PUMPKIN pie!

Nomnomnom!

I used to hate pumpkin pie. I know, I know. But I have seen the error in my ways and realize that I just hate store bought pumpkin pie.

I came across a fantasmic recipe over on Mama Pea’s blog! With her substitution suggestions I was able to convert her recipe to the pumpkin pie of my dreams.

Wait, is it just me that dreams about a peanut butter pie crust?

The recipe can be found on her blog. I followed it to the T, only subbing out natural peanut butter for the butter in the dough and 1/2 cup of maple syrup for the brown sugar (I reduced the almond milk to ~2/3 cup to make up for the liquid content). Vegan AND refined sugar free!

I think I may have under baked it just a bit but I’m still pretty impressed for my very first pie!

Happy Tuesday!

Here a Bake, there a Bake..

For the past two weeks I have been obsessed with bakes. It all started over the Edible Perspective with her baked buckwheat post.

If you haven’t stopped by her site yet, I suggest you do. Her bakes have been popping up all over the blogging world, as well as the rest of her fabulous recipes. My breakfasts just haven’t been the same since I started reading oh-so-long ago.

There’s been a few flops before I really got it right here. Then I purchased an Italian made soup crock and started experimenting outside of buckwheat (mostly for fear of running out..).

I’ve had 3 major successes. All have been inspired by Ashley’s original recipe.

The first is a blueberry kamut bake.

Stuffed full of wild blueberries and topped with vanilla bean coconut butter!

Blueberry Kamut Bake
1/4 cup raw kamut, ground finely
1 tablespoon flax meal
1 tablespoon raw buckwheat groats
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 banana, mashed
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flax meal + 2 1/2 tablespoons water)
1/4 cup wild blueberries (for filling)

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease your soup crock (or whichever baking vessel you choose to use). Mix up your flax egg and let that sit to the side while you’re working. Mix together your dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the banana, pumpkin, milk and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Add in the egg and mix again.

Spoon half of your mixture into the baking vessel and flatten with a spoon. Arrange the blueberries on top of the batter so there’s a slight border around them. Spoon the rest of your batter on top of the blueberries and flatten. Bake for 30 minutes and top with whatever your heart desires. As is the case with most bakes.

Next up is a Mexican Cocoa Bake.

I used the leftover “filling” from my Blueberry Lime Cheesecake from the other day as a filling for my bake. Can you say YUM?!

Mexican Cocoa Bake
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1 tablespoon raw buckwheat groats
1 tablespoon flax meal
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 flax egg
1/2 banana, mashed
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons non dairy milk
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

Following the same procedure as above, whip those ingredients up and stuff the bake with whatever you choose. Be it leftover “cheesecake”, coconut, berries or even just leaving it unstuffed; all options would be wonderful!

The last (but certainly not the least) bake I have for you today is of the savory variety. I enjoyed the bakes so much I started to wonder why I couldn’t make them for dinner, too! So experiment I did!

In my opinion it turned out extremely well. So well that I think I’ll make a larger version for Kyle and I to share sometime. Comfort food: Indian style!

Stuffed Indian Chickpea Bake
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1 tablespoon lentils
1 tablespoon flax meal
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch ground cloves
1 flax egg
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons non dairy milk
2 cloves garlic, crushed

For the filling:
1 pitted date, diced
1/4 cup chopped frozen spinach
3 mushrooms, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch cumin

Saute the date, spinach, mushrooms and spices in a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat. Cook about 5 minutes or until the mushrooms start to brown a bit. Remove from heat, mix up your flax egg and get to mixing up that batter! Layer the ‘shroom mixture into the bake and stick that sucker in the oven!

This guy needs a little more oven time, so bake him for about 35-40 minutes.

I topped this bake with a little savory almond butter and a cranberry/chipotle/strawberry jam I threw together a few mornings ago.

I hope maybe there’s a bake that strikes your fancy in that list! I know I can’t stop with the bakes.

Once you start, you won’t be able to stop either..

I hope to be back tomorrow night for some exciting news!!

Adzuki Beans Galore!

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone! I’m ringing in this new year watching Benny and Joon.

I decided at the beginning of January that I’m going to start celebrating this nifty holiday but I kinda dropped the ball this year. The holiday came up much quicker than I expected and I had no time to plan a menu. I wanted to make wontons and sticky rice cakes and steamed buns..

Then I remembered the perfect recipe for my situation! While reading The Kind Diet, I remember locking in on a recipe for adzuki beans and kabocha squash. Well I didn’t have some of the ingredients, but I sure as heck have adzuki beans! If you’ve never tried these little gems before I seriously urge you to do so. They are one of my favorite beans ever. Ever! You can find the recipe here on Alicia’s site.

It may not be the prettiest dish I’ve ever served up but it is lip-smacking good! I didn’t have to use any crazy seasonings, just the soy sauce and the fresh veggies! That’s IT! Amazing!

I only made a few changes, substituting the kabocha squash for a combination of:
1 1/2 cups butternut squash
1 cup chopped baby bella mushrooms
2-3 green onions, sliced

and substituting the shoyu for low sodium soy sauce. I served it up next to (what else) some red leaf lettuce to scoop it up with.

Try this recipe. It is so versatile and fresh! While you’re at it, check out Alicia’s awesome book! There are some amazing recipes in there that I’m just itching to try!

Mmmmmuffins!

Today is my mom’s birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I wanted to make her something yummy and surprise her at work. She doesn’t have a thing for really sugary desserts and she’s been trying to eat healthier lately, so I scrounged some websites for an idea. Now I know that its a wee bit past pumpkin season, but I saw these pumpkin muffins over at Hell Yeah Its Vegan and I knew that they would be great! I made a few changes and voila! Perfect sweetness for mom and I without masking the beautiful flavor of the pumpkin.

And you know what?

It sure as hell is vegan! And tasty, too!

Maple Vanilla Pumpkin Muffins
1 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (I might substitute some oats next time)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350. Combine wet ingredients and stir well with a wooden spoon. Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Fold dry ingredients into wet until just combined. Spoon batter into lined muffin tins and bake about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Because of how moist these cupcakes are you’ll need to eat them fairly soon after they’re baked, within a few days. Or you can freeze those bad boys and make them last forever! Enjoy!

Flirting with Veganism

After much consideration, much drooling over the delectable recipes on the vegan blogs I follow and much research, I’ve decided to try flirting with going vegan. Both health and environmental concerns have entered my brain, especially after watching Food Inc and reading The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone (something I’ve been wanting to do for almost a year). For one month I’m going to eat no meat and no dairy, save for the possible fish filet if I really feel I need to have some meat (and this is only because my parents go fishing a few times a year and I know exactly where that fish has been and what it has been through). After that month is up I can decide whether or not I’m going to reintroduce any of the meat or dairy back into my diet.

Since last Monday things have been going great with this plan. I’ve even baked with dairy and eggs, not tasting as I’ve gone (I’ve gotta get it out of my house somehow! So to work these baked goods go!) and this afternoon I made Kyle some chicken soup and didn’t taste that either. I’ve resisted sour cream, chocolate chips, everything. I haven’t even had cravings for them. Though I will allow myself to eat chocolate if I start to crave it. One cannot live without the chocolate in my freezer for too long. That is certain. =)

So this afternoon, I made a delicious roasted veggie mix. It wasn’t too much of a recipe, just something I threw together in my head while showering. I chopped up some fresh fennel and butternut squash I had leftover from the farmer’s market way back when, then tossed that with olive oil, pomegranate balsalmic vinegar, fresh garlic, chopped lemon and salt. I roasted that mixture and tossed in some roasted walnuts when it came out of the oven. Wow it was SO delicious. I had to stop myself from eating the whole pan in one sitting! I will have THE best lunch tomorrow.. especially when I pull out that red lettuce to wrap the leftovers in!

Sorry for the poor photo quality - it was a quick snap with the phone!

A rough estimate of measurements:
1/2 fresh fennel bulb, chopped
1/3 butternut squash, peeled and chopped
1/2 lemon, seeded and sliced
1 large clove garlic, crushed and diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon balsalmic vinegar
~ 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup roasted walnuts

Toss all ingredients together except for the walnuts (save those for after roasting), bake in a 400 degree oven for 35-40 minutes. Toss those walnuts in after you pull the deliciousness out and go to town! If fennel isn’t your thing you could leave it out or substitute some other yummy veggie! By the way, that’s my newest bread flavor, buckwheat, mint and anise, sitting in back topped with some earth balance. Mmmmmm!

I’ve got another surprise for you tomorrow. Here’s a hint.

PUMPKIN!! WOO HOO!

I am thankful..

This year is coming to an end.  It’s been such a difficult year, emotionally and physically.  Stupid spine for not being able to handle the impact of running!  I wanted to take a minute to touch on some things I’ve been thankful for throughout the year.  I realized how amazingly strong my family is.  I never sat down to think about how rare it is to have a family that is so incredibly supportive and loving.  Despite all the obstacles my family has had to overcome this year, we managed to get through them together.  I managed to keep my traditions and make some new leaps.  All the “firsts” without my beloved Uncle, my Grandma’s surgery and all the other things in between; I wouldn’t have been able to bear them without the strength I received from my family.  From my family and from Kyle.  I don’t know what I would do without their presence in my life.   I love them all so much.

Now that I’ve gotten all sappy and teary-eyed, I would like to share some of my holiday!

I believe I mentioned a hint of recipes in a prior post and I will not disappoint!  I made gingerbread cookies with a recipe from Simply Recipes. I followed her recipe almost exactly, but cut down on the nutmeg and added in some cayenne. I’m not a huge gingerbread fan myself, but everyone loved them!

Oh yeah. Those are ninjabread men. I made them for Kyle.

Ready to unleash on an unsuspecting Kyle!

I had high ambitions to decorate all the gingerbread I ended up making but WOW I didn’t realize how hard it is to ice cookies with a piping bag. After the six ninjabread men, I had to move on. I had other things to make! I did dip the christmas trees in white chocolate to make them a bit more festive at least!

I made some caramels. Cayenne pepper caramels. They were WAY too delicious. See, I have this problem when I make caramel: I constantly burn my tongue. I just can’t keep the spoon filled with luscious, molten, sugary goodness away from my mouth. Oh well. Its totally worth it! I followed the recipe for salted butter caramels that David Lebovitz has posted on his awesome website. He makes me want to visit France, which is never somewhere I had on my wish list of places to go. It is now! The only change I made to his recipe was to add 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper and to sprinkle some on top of the cooling caramel.

My top two favorite cookies I added to the cookie trays: white chocolate oatmeal cookies with rosemary and this fantastic recipe for kolachkys I discovered after months of searching over at Lemons and Lavender.

This recipe is amazing. I am so happy I happened upon her website! I used jarred apricot jam to save myself a little bit of effort. My dad and brother were so excited! My brother was also super excited about the homemade pumpkin butter I made for him with Angela’s awesome recipe over at Oh She Glows. I substituted orange juice for apple juice and adjusted the spices to taste. The recipe is fantastic and totally fool proof! Just be sure you have a lid or you may end up with pumpkin butter on the walls.

The white chocolate oatmeal cookies with rosemary, while it may sound strange, is a beautiful combination. I wasn’t really excited about the texture of the oatmeal cookie recipe I used, but I urge you to try adding it to your favorite oatmeal cookie recipe (after taking out the raisins.. I don’t think THAT would be such a great combo) and see what you think!

Oh. Those yummy looking pretzels in that jar? Yeah that’s addicting as all getout. Its a recipe my supervisor copied out of a Midwest Living magazine for me. Cinnamon sugar pretzels. Oh yeah. Don’t start eating them. You won’t stop. All you have to do is toss a 16 ounce bag of twist (or snap) pretzels with 2/3 cup canola oil, 1/2 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Bake them in a large roasting pan in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes, stirring 2-3 times.

The poor chocolate red wine cookies didn’t get made for the cookie trays because (unfortunately) I came down with some kind of flu/cold bug on Christmas Eve. I simply had no time to fit them in. But don’t worry, Bill and April got their special cookies last night at the bar where my family went to listen to our friend DJ. More on that at another time, though.

I believe I got off on a bit of a tangent, eh?

Well on Christmas Day I felt a bit better. In honor of my Uncle Jeff’s favorite snack (blueberries) I made a fantastic old fashioned blueberry cake I found over at 101 Cookbooks. I had to sub a bunch of ingredients I didn’t have, but the cake turned out wonderfully. It went onto the brunch table at my mom’s with some delicious scrambled eggs, sausage and hash browns. We exchanged a few gifts and made our way to my Aunt’s mother’s house. Dinner was delicious and the love of the family warmed the entire house.

Me with my Aunt and the girls!

I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend the holiday.

I hope your year has been just as memorable as mine has. Enjoy the rest of it and I will see you all next year!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

My friend Kindra has been going through some stressful times. Its not anything I can help with, so I decided to bake her something yummy. She always loved when I brought in anything I baked because it was something new to try! Now I work at a different branch than she does so we don’t get to see each other often.

I didn’t know what to make her at first. Brownies were too normal and I needed something that would be warm and comforting.

Cinnamon rolls. Perfect!

I remembered a recipe I found over at Love and Olive Oil for pumpkin cinnamon rolls I’ve been meaning to make FOREVER.  I’ve been a bit scared to make cinnamon rolls since the last time I made them was in high school.  At a lock-in.  Like I was paying attention to how to make them..  But it seemed like the perfect recipe to whip up and I’ve been hoarding cans of pumpkin (I’ve got about 7 15-ounce cans and 2 32-ounce cans in the cabinet.. >_>) I had no choice!

I didn’t do much to the recipe except swap out some flours and reduce the sugar and butter in the filling. I also left off the icing. I’m not much for icing on my cinnamon rolls. I’m a bit of a weirdo in that regard.

These are totally my new favorite cinnamon roll. They were just sweet enough and all about the dough and the cinnamon. I gave half away to Kindra and stuck the ones I didn’t eat in the freezer to keep myself from continuing to eat them like candy. Make them. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Nomnomnom

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls from Love and Olive Oil
For the dough:
1/3 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup rye flour

For the filling:
1/3 cup sugar, scant
1 teaspoon molasses
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon melted butter

In a small saucepan, heat milk and 2 tablespoons butter until warm and butter is almost melted. Remove from heat.

In a large mixer bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar and salt. Add milk mixture and beat with a mixer (a stand mixer if you’ve got it) until well combined. Beat in egg and yeast. In a separate bowl, combine flours. Add half the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture, beating on low speed for about 5 minutes. Add remaining flour and mix thoroughly. The dough will be very soft. Don’t worry. Turn the dough into a lightly greased bowl, turning the dough a bit to grease all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until its doubled, about an hour.

Punch the dough down, turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is nice and pliable. Use enough flour to make it easy to work with. Roll the dough into a 12×10 inch rectangle. I’m always horrible at this part. I don’t measure when I roll out, so I ended up with 16 mini cinnamon rolls rather than 12 average sized guys. That’s ok with me, though. =)

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, molasses and cinnamon. Brush the surface of the rolled out dough with melted butter and sprinkle the sugar mixture over the top. Beginning with the long side of the dough (it’ll seem backwards if you’re like me), roll up jelly-roll style. Pinch the seam to seal, then with a sharp knife gently slice the dough into roughly 1 inch slices. Place the rolls into a greased 9 inch square baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise 30-45 more minutes, or until the dough is doubled again.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the rolls about 15-20 minutes or until they’re golden on top. Here she says to remove them from the pan and to wax paper, but I didn’t do that. I actually let them cool in the pan. But I’m lazy. You could remove them from the pan and let them cool on some wax paper on a cooling rack. Or you could just devour them hot like I did. Mmmmm… hot cinnamon rolls…

Vanillumpkin Bean Ice Cream

Pumpkin-y Goodness to the EXTREME!

Yeah.  I’m crazy like that.  See, I’ve been making a few batches of ice cream a week, trying to find the perfect combination that is light in calories, tastes great and doesn’t turn rock hard in the freezer.  I’ve done it.

I was asked to bring dessert to my Aunt’s Thanksgiving feast this year (and also told I was in charge of cleaning and stuffing the turkey.  For her whole family.  Nerves will get the best of me yet)

She’s making upside-down apple pie.  Mmm.. apple pie.  Love it.  I couldn’t think of something I really wanted to go with the apple pie.  I didn’t want to compete with it by making another huge dessert and no one really eats the pumpkin pie.  I’m just not fond of the flavor combos myself.  But I wanted pumpkin something.  I had some shiny new vanilla bean paste my mom’s friend grabbed for me from a spice store in Chicago and decided to create a hybrid of my favorite flavor, vanilla bean, with a spectacular fall flavor, pumpkin – thus creating the vanillumpkin bean masterpiece!

I was SO incredibly proud of myself for this recipe.  I created it myself.  And it worked.  So proud.

The taste?  Unbelievable.  Its really hard to restrain myself knowing that little batch is sitting in there.  Its one of those ice creams that you HAVE to take a spoonful every time you walk by the freezer.

Kyle loves it, too.  Man, I can’t wait until Thanksgiving (I’ll have to double or even triple the batch) to see how its received.  Yum, yum, YUM!

Enjoy =)

Vanillumpkin Bean Ice Cream
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar (I used white but I don’t see why brown wouldn’t be just as delicious here)
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/8 teaspoon sea salt (I forgot this in this recipe and it still tasted great)
1 1/2 teaspoons liquor (I used whiskey, its really just to keep it from getting rock solid)

In a pot, scald the milk and cream, being sure not to let it boil. You don’t want that skin on there. Yuck! Once the milk is scalded, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar until its well dissolved. Cool slightly, until you can leave your finger in there without burning it. Slowly pour the milk mixture over the beaten egg, whisking constantly. Cook the custard in a double boiler over medium heat (or a wok set on top of your largest pan in my case), still whisking constantly, until its thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove the custard from the heat and beat in the pumpkin and vanilla bean paste.

Chill overnight to combine all the lovely flavors.

You’d add the salt here if you didn’t forget about it. Churn the custard according to the manufacturer’s instructions (mine only took about 15 minutes), adding the liquor just before the ice cream is finished churning. Store in an airtight container in the freezer. I need to look into getting those little ice cream cartons if I’m gonna keep making ice cream..

Ramblings of a pumpkin deprived mind…

Tastes like fall!

Tuesday: the craving hits. (Well actually it hit about 2 weeks ago and just got out of control Tuesday)

The weather is cool and fall is here fast approaching. I want what every hot blooded woman wants at this time of year. That luciously versatile and full bodied fall treat. Pumpkin.

More specifically, I thought my favorite banana bread recipe would be the perfect experimental jumping point. My craving led me to scour six (yes SIX) stores for any sign of pumpkin. Of these six, I found only one that had the goods. My fantabulous little Kankakee Natural Foods! They always seem to come through for me.

Go K3NF!

I hurried home with my purchase and promptly threw together a batch of banana bread! Aside from being a little dry (next time I think I’ll add in some milk or some extra pumpkin), it tasted just like pumpkin pie. Now I’ve got enough for the week and hopefully this will cure some of my pumpkin crazies.

Of course, if that doesn’t cure it, there’s always this nifty little surprise Kyle picked up for me the other night…

I cut it up and I now have a metric butt-ton of pumpkin to nosh on!

Choppy, choppy!

SCORE!

Pumpkin Banana Bread
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3 mashed bananas
1/2 cup liquid egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, set aside. Combine pumkin, banana, extract and egg whites and add mixture to dry. Stir until just combined, then pour into a lightly oiled loaf pan. Bake 45-50 minutes and allow to cool completely before attempting to remove from the pan. I know its hard, but we don’t want it to crumble into a million pieces do we??

Enjoy!