Goji Green Tea Raspberry Muffins

Ah, Saturday.  Unfortunately there is no sleeping in when one has an energetic 2-year-old, but at least it is a day of slower pace for me.  No rushing to get out the door and squeeze into an over-capacity subway train on the commute to work.  Not on Saturday.  I can relax and enjoy my 3 feet of personal space and fresh air today.

My Saturday started at 6:30am today.  As I said, it's hardly sleeping in, but the "Mommy, I'm hungry"chant over and over drove me out of bed and into the kitchen.  While Preciosa devoured a cup of soy yogurt, I made myself a cup of goji berry green tea and was inspired to incorporate the tea into a batch of muffins.

I've used tea in muffins before and I had a bag of frozen raspberries begging to add their intense flavour and natural sweetness to a sugar-free weekend treat. 

Goji Green Tea Raspberry Muffins
2 cups unbleached white flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 packets Stevia
2 tbsp agave nectar
3 tbsp ground flax + 6 tbsp water
1/2 cup hot water with steeped tea
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup oil (I used olive oil)
3/4 cup (frozen) raspberries

Preheat oven to 400F.  Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and stevia in a large mixing bowl.  In a seperate bowl, combine all remaining ingredients except raspberries.  Pur wet mixture into dry, and stir until just mixed.  Fold in berries.  Pour into lightly oiled muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from muffin tin, and cool on a cool slightly before devouring.

 

Preciosa could hardly wait for them to cool before she got her hands on one.  Halfway through eating her warm muffin, she asked me to put peanut butter on it.

And just a recap and some photos from my recent 10k run that I mentioned in a previous post:  I was one of 50,000 people that came out for the Sun Run on Mother's Day, May 9th.  At the finish line there was plenty of fresh bananas, oranges, water, juice, and live music.  And a very cute little girl waiting for her mama.  It was the perfect Mother's Day gift.

Z4VBNSMYGWSW

Soy-free lunch and wannabe Mexican dinner

Happy cinco de mayo!  While I really wanted to whip up an amazing Mexican meal tonight, I was in a hurry because I had to meet my training partners for a run.  It's our last practice before the 10k run we're doing this Sunday.

I did manage to make Spanish rice, with some veggie ground round and a side of steamed veggies with "melted" soy cheese.  There's also some perfectly rip avocado on top.  I just adore avocados!  Did you read my haiku about avocados? If I had a can of black beans I would have added it to the veggies before I put them in the oven to melt the cheese. 

And here's a pic of Preciosa's soy-free lunch:  oatmeal, animal cookies, brown rice pasta with tomatoes & mushrooms in olive oil & garlic sauce, fresh pineapple, a sunflower butter &  mango jam sandwich, and chicpeas with corn.  If it seems like a lot of food for a 2-year old, it is both breakffast and lunch.  All of it was eaten except a couple of animal cookies.

In with the seed butters and all kinds of beans!

It seems like there's an increase in the number of children with peanut allergies these days.  More and more schools and childcare programs are introducing no-nut policies.  Such is the new rule at the daycare that  Preciosa attends, which makes things a bit more difficult when I'm trying not to rely too much on soy products for  protein.  Gone are the days of cashew sauce on pasta, and almond butter sandwiches for lunch.

It's completely understandable, as two of the children at the center have severe allergies.  Now, if only someone could have a meat allergy...all joking aside, there's still plenty of acceptable protein sources out there.   In with the seed butters and all kinds of beans! 

Today I sent Preciosa on her way with french toast on freshly baked whole wheat & rye bread, with organic maple syrup, rice vermacelli with teryaki tofu & veggies, strawberries, and soy yogurt.

And also I wanted to show you this crazy beautiful weird heirloom tomato I found at Whole Foods recently. Isn't it amazing?!  I've never seen anything like it.

Steamed banana bread with chocolate pudding

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

Suet far from a vegan ingredient - I can't even describe it for you because it grosses me out.  But I didn't let that stop me from finding a way to make a super delicious pudding cake!  Instead of baking in the oven, British pudding cake is steamed by placing a heat proof dish in a saucepan of water and covered with a lid.  It was my first time cooking a dessert this way, and it does take a lot of paying attention so that the water doesn't all boil away to nothing. But the result is soo worth it!

I definitely got my chocolate fix from this challenge, and little Preciosa got a nice suprise in her lunch when I gave her some leftovers the next day.

Steamed banana bread with chocolate pudding:

Easter Weekend: Bunnies and Egg Hunts

The Easter Bunny visited our house this weekend!  Our bunny brought healthy treats like raisins and organic animal cookies.  Gordita is two years old now, finally old enough to search and find the hidden treats.  We shared her delight as she gingerly opened each plastic egg to take a peek at what was waiting inside.

After an egg hunt around the house, we joined in the local Easter parade, walking alongside the bagpipe players (or in Gordita's case, riding her tricycle).  The parade ended at the park where we took photos with the Easter bunny.

I baked a big delicious loaf of PPK banana bread in the afternoon, and cooked a huge veggie stirfry with brown rice and spicy peanut sauce for dinner.  It was a yummy happy Easter for us, and I hope it was for you too!

Mashed Yam and Potato Shepherd's pie

When the cherry blossoms bloom, you know spring has arrived.   Crisp morning air and warm afternoon sunbeams greet me as I commute to and from work.  And then there's the rain.  Unpredictable and inevitable, it is virtually synonymous with the Pacific Northwest.  It rains here more often than not, and on those cold, clammy evenings, I find myself craving a hearty home cooked meal. 

Enter vegan Shepherd's pie.  Underneath the mashed potato crust, it barely resembles the Shepherd's pie (also called Cottage pie)  that my English ancestors once baked.  I don't think I've ever made the exact same shepherd's pie twice, because it's always a mish-mash of whichever vegetables happen to be in the crisper.  That's one of the things I love about it.   But one thing you do need is potatoes.  Unfortunately I was well on my way to assembling my pie when I realized I only  had 3 red potatoes - not quite enough to cover the vegetable layer.When I remembered that I had a large yam that I had bought with the intention of making yam fries, the rest is history.

There's three parts to this recipe:

• mashed yam/potato crust
• sauteed vegetable filling
• cheez sauce.  

Mashed Yam Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients for mashed potatoes
3 red potatoes, cubed and boiled with skin on
1 large yam, cubed and boiled with skin on
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tbsp Earth Balance (or other vegan margerine)
- Make mashed potatoes with these ingredients.  I'll spare the details on how to do this as I'm pretty sure you already know how to make mashed potatoes.

Recipe for Cheeze sauce
"Cheez" Sauce from Get Sconed's Adapted Version of the New Farm Macacorni and Cheez

Ingredients for vegetable filling
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup fresh broccoli, sut into bite-sized pieces
2 cubes frozen spinach
1 tomato, diced
(use whatever veggies you have on hand, be creative!  I've also used mushrooms, cauliflower, carrots and wax beans)

Directions
Saute the onion with olive oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium heat.  Once onion becomes translucent, add the corn, peas, broccoli and spinach.  Cover, and let steam for 5 minutes.  Remove lid and stir occasionally until all of the vegetables are al-dente.

Pour cheez sauce over vegetables, add tomato and stir gently until combined.  Pour into casserole dish.  Using a spatula, spread mashed potato over the cheezy vegetable mixture.  Grind some sea salt and white pepper if desired, and bake in 350 oven until mashed yam/potato cover is slightly golden (about 30 minutes)

Enjoy!

Avocado Haiku

Avocados have such a pretty color, don't you agree? I think it's one of my favourite colors in Mother Nature's rainbow.  Though I've tried several different varieties of this little power-nutrient fruit, the only kind that seems to be available in my area is the Hass variety.  When you look at the knobbly brownish-green skin, it's hard to believe that there is something so creamy, rich and smooth inside.  It's like another example of the old saying "don't judge a book by its cover."

I made up a haiku about Hass avocados the other day while I was cutting one up to add to a salad.
 

Hass avocado,
rough alligator skin with
rich buttery flesh

Haikus are fun, I think I might try to make up some more!