Playing Catch-Up: Christmas Food!

WOW. I just realized I haven't posted in two whole months! That's slightly embarrassing, and just a bummer because I love blogging! I've been super busy with the holidays, traveling, and working, but my resolution for the new year is to blog regularly again! And that means taking pictures of my food again, too! I finally got my camera working, so that will be easier than just using my phone! Now I've just got to get back into the discipline of blogging. I'm making lots of good food....I'll just have to prove it now!

To get things rolling, I'll show you my Christmas dinner...it was super traditional, which is how I usually like my holiday meals, and it was fantastic!!

The usual suspects (at least in the vegan world!): Tofurkey Roast, with roasted veggies, mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, garlic-roasted Brussels sprouts, citrus cranberry sauce, and olive bread. Duh. And for dessert, Christmas cookies out the wazoo!

Clockwise from the left: Almond Crescents (adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe), Rocky Road Cookies (from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar) with the modification of subtracting white chocolate chips and adding Dandies vegan marshmallows!!, Vegan Caramel Delight Cookies--made with shredded sweet potatoes, my recipe here, and Chai Chocolate Chip Shortbread from VCIYCJ. I loved them all so much, I think I ate a dozen cookies on Christmas day. It had to be done!! If I had to pick a favorite....well, I just can't! Hope all your holidays were wonderful, too! Now it's back to normal life--and back to blogging for me!

Bake and No-Bake Testers

I've been doing lots and lots of Vegan Bakesale cookbook testing recently, for Carla of The Vegan Year blog! And I'm loving every since minute (and morsel!) of it!!! Here's some goodies....

Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies

Agave Crackle Cakes....
like crazy awesome Rice Krispie Treats! With Sweet and Sara's mini marshallows!! Whoa!

Strawberry-Infused Cupcakes

Much more to come!!!

Fabulous Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

I love chocolate chip cookies, and I know you do too!! What can make these simple, delicious, classic cookies even better?? Pecans!! I think these are absolutely perfect...I suspect you'll agree! Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies (makes 2 dozen)
2/3 cup vegan margarine
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup natural sugar (I use evaporated cane juice)

Egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs (such as Ener-G brand or flax seeds)
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbs plus 1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup vegan chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecan halves

Preheat oven to 325 F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, shortening, and sugars. Add in the egg replacer, brown rice syrup, and vanilla extract. Whip until fluffy. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and pecans until well incorporated.
Divide dough into approx. 2 Tbs pieces. Roll into ball and slightly flatten with your palm to 2 inches for thicker, chewier cookies or 3 inches for thinner, crispier cookies.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown on the edges and slightly firm, being careful not to overcook, as they will firm and set fully as they cool.
Let cookies remain on cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
Best served slightly warm!

Caramel Delights!

The Girl Scouts' Caramel Delight Cookies, aka Samoas, were my favorite cookie to eat (and sell!) when I was little. It would just be a crime if I couldn't eat them anymore just because I'm vegan now!! I still have yet to try the Lazy Samoas in Isa and Terry's Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, but I think these are pretty darn good! They are based on the Scout Cookies I had at Watercourse Foods when I was in Denver--I kind of asked a worker what was in them and made up the recipe from there! It worked out perfectly, too! The addition of sweet potatoes give these a really lovely flavor, some added natural sweetness, and a great texture. I made these with whole wheat pastry flour, but they would totally work with either brown rice flour to make them gluten-free. You seriously have to try them for yourself! Vegan Caramel Delight Cookies (makes 3-4 dozen cookies)
3 cups shredded (raw) sweet potatoes
3 cups shredded, unsweetened coconut
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 Tbs sea salt
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs vanilla extract
1 Tbs coconut extract
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup Ener-G egg replacer (ground flaxseeds would also work)
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1 cup warm water

16 oz. vegan chocolate chips
2 Tbs soy creamer

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease cookie sheets and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, coconut, nuts, flour, sugar, egg replacer and salt. Stir to combine. Add the extracts, oils, molasses, brown rice syrup, and water. Mix well with your hands to completely combine.
Scoop dough by 1/2 cup measurements and form into 3" rounds. Slightly flatten the tops to make into disc shapes. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on cookie sheets for 10 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely before adding chocolate.
While cookies cool, set up double boiler to melt the chocolate chips. Melt chocolate chips and whisk in the soy creamer. Drizzle over cooled cookies (in whatever pattern you like), or spread over the tops of the cookies like a frosting, and allow to set before serving. If you would rather have the chocolate on the bottoms, like the Girl Scout cookies, dip the bottoms into the melted chocolate and set on parchment paper to cool until set.
These are super fantastic with a big glass of soy milk!!

Long Time, No Test....New Tester Treats!!

Not that you were keeping up, but I have been slacking on one of my tester projects, Bianca's (of the Vegan Crunk blog) Cookin' Crunk cookbook! It's all vegan Southern food, all the time! So goooood! With the holidays and some new cookbooks and my supper club, I have not been on the ball with testing out some of the recipes. But, I'm making up for it now with cookies! Yay! Specifically, Chocolate-Chocolate Chip-Praline Cookies! They are chocolate cookies with chocolate chips and pralined pecans (which you make yourself)...a delicious combination of salty and sweet, crunch and chewy, nutty and chocolaty! I'm in!

Can't wait to do some more crunk testing!

And btw, I just became a tester for another cookbook, Vegan Bakesale, by QueenV (of The Vegan Year blog)! I have a lot of cooking to do!!

Vegan Cookies Have Invaded My Cookie Jar: Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

Vegan cookies have officially invaded my cookie jar. Well, they would if I actually had a cookie jar!! My current life goal is to make all the recipes in VCIYCJ by Isa and Terry. Last week I made the Spiced Sweet Potato Blondies, this week, it's the simple and perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies. Mmmmmm....

Is there really anything more beautiful than warm, homemade chocolate cookies...straight out of the oven and dying to be devoured with a tall glass of cold soymilk...and then to share them while snuggling under a cozy blanket? I think not! Go make these. Now! If you don't have the book, you can find the recipe at theppk.com. Seriously, go!

Super Sustainability Sunday

Yesterday's Sustainability Sunday, aka the KC Vegan Crawl, was so great! Tons of people came out for tons of great food!
It was even more super special because I busted out the Fry Daddy! yessssss!

For lunch, I served Homemade Black Bean Burgers topped with braised chard and garlic, caramelized onions, and homemade chipotle vegan mayo, all piled onto a homemade Cornbread Burger Bun, courtesy of Melisser from The Urban Housewife blog!! I served them with Sweet Potato Fries...that were actually fried! yeah! The chard, onions, corn in the burgers, and sweet potatoes were all locally-grown, too! Even better!I got some of those adorable little red diner baskets during my trip to Denver, at a thrift store, so I served the burgers and fries in those! How cute, right?!

Dessert was Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes from Isa and Terry's Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World! I had leftover homemade local pumpkin puree from Thanksgiving's pumpkin pie, so this was an obvious and amazing use for it! I used my own Cinnamon Buttercream recipe for the frosting, and this turned out to be one freakin amazing little cupcake!

Then last night was Dane's turn to whip up some more vegan goodness!
There was a great turnout, so tons of people got to share in the yumminess!

For dinner, Dane served a Rice, Bean, and Veggie Burrito topped with Sweet Potato Butter and Sauteed Local Bok Choy. On the side were Rosemary Roasted Potatoes and Ginger-Brown Sugar Baked Local Radishes. So much good fooooood!

Dessert was Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches--with Strawberry-Sunflower Seed-Oat Cookies and Homemade Vanilla Vegan Ice Cream. There was also a Vegan White Cake for a birthday cake!There were a couple of peeps' birthdays this week, so we celebrated them all together with some tasty vegan cake!Now for some random pics of people having good food and fun at Sustainability Sundays! Dane, cooking it up in his kitchen...It also happened to be a moustache party as well, so those of us who didn't already have a natural moustache drew one on...like the lovely Chelsea here!
More food and good times to come next Sunday for sure! KC Vegan Crawl baby! It's gettin out of control big!! yay!

Buffalo Seitan Wraps and Another Lovely Sunday!

Yesterday was so wonderful! Lots of great people and great food were shared to make yet another fantastic KC Vegan Crawl! I am constantly astounded at everyone's support of Sustainability Sunday happenings!!

Onto the food! Where would we be without it!?

The star of the lunch on Sunday was the Buffalo Seitan Wrap: homemade chick'n style seitan dredged in a homemade spicy buffalo wing sauce wrapped up in an organic whole wheat tortilla with homemade vegan ranch dressing, organic red onion, tomato, and spinach. Oooooh they were so delish!! The cool ranch juxtaposed against the spicy buffalo seitan was divine.

And for the side dish, I made some Spiced Potato Wedges! Local potatoes tossed in olive oil and spices, and baked until nice and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside! Yum! Man, potatoes are a perfect food. GOSH. I also made my Kickin' Ketchup for the dipping of the potato wedges. I love to dip, what can I say?!And you know I gotta have dessert!! I made my Oatmeal Cream Pies, because I just wanted and needed and craved them. I think everyone was happy with my decision...so perfectly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg for the fall, with that dollop of buttercream-style filling for a little naughty indulgent touch. I think I can declare this my new favorite dessert! There, I said it! :)

I was so very pleased with how yesterday went...now it's time to get crackin' for the next sustainability shindig!

Going Baking Crazy!

Since I have been in my new apartment, I have been baking. A lot. Like kind of going crazy with it. But there have been so many occasions to which I feel compelled to bring baked goods...it's like I have no choice!

First, for a friend's birthday this past weekend, I made cupcakes! Who doesn't love cupcakes?! I made Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting!! Best combo ever! I veganized my Grandma Poe's banana cake with peanut butter frosting recipe, then made them into shareable cupcake form! They were DELICIOUS and a huge hit! hooray!
Next, for another friend's birthday a few weeks ago...Vegan Oatmeal Creme Pies!! I really wonder why they call them pies, but whatever. Little Debbie has nothing on these bad boys! I have been working on an oatmeal cookie recipe that would work perfectly in a creme pie, and I think I've done it!

Here they are, toppless. So creamy.Topped with yet another yummy cookie, begging to be savored with a tall glass of soymilk....

Vegan Oatmeal Creme Pies (makes about 12 pies)

Soft Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup vegan margarine, like Earth Balance

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup sugar

Egg Replacer for 2 eggs ( I used Ener-G brand, cuz it's my jam.)

1/4 cup barley malt syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 Tbs baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup rolled oats

splash of soymilk

1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly oil 2 large baking sheets. In a large bowl, cream together the oil, applesauce, and sugar. Add the egg replacer, vanilla, almond, and barley malt and mix well. Sift in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour in the splash of soymilk and raisins, and gently fold until evenly distributed throughout the dough. Roll dough into 2" balls (or about what will give you 24 cookies.) and flatten to about 3 inches across. They will not spread much in baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until browned on edges and spring back to the touch. Allow to cool on cooling rack while you make the creme filling.

Vanilla Creme Filling

3/4 cup non-hydrogenated shortening

1/4 cup vegan margarine

2 cups organic powdered sugar

2 Tbs soymilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and margarine with a hand mixer or fork and elbow grease until smooth and well combined. Sift in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, adding 1 Tbs soymilk after each cup. Whip powdered sugar with cream mixture after each cup. Mix until creamy. Stir in vanilla extract until combined and smooth. Refrigerate frosting until ready to use.

To assemble: Flip 12 of the cookies over so the bottoms are the tops. Dollop filling on the center of each cookie, and use all the filling so the cookies will be nice and creamy! Top the filling with another cookie and smush down a little bit to push the filling to the edges. EAT!!!

Then, for my friends' band, Capybara (check them out on myspace!) CD release party, I busted out some of Isa's famous Chocolate Chip Cookies and added Hazelnuts! ZOMG!! Chocolate and hazelnuts were made for each other! Note: Nutella/Chocoreale/these cookies. Drooling and scarfing ensued. The music was just secondary....ok maybe that's a stretch.
Now for some product reviews! I have branched out and tried a few new things lately!

I'll start with the best...Purely Decadent Cherry Nirvana Soy Ice Cream!! It's still summer which means it's still ice cream season. And I couldn't believe I hadn't tried this flavor yet when I saw it on SALE at Wild Oats! Totally reminds me of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream! If you like cherry, and better yet, cherry plus chocolate, Cherry Nirvana is for you! Super duper creamy, with nice texture variations in the crunchy chocolate flakes and chewy whole cherries. I made it into a little sundae and topped it with sliced almonds! mmmm....

Then, for the just ok: So Delicious Coconut Milk, unsweetened. I couldn't resist trying this after seeing it on the shelves for a while! It was pricey, so that has kind of turned me off when I eye it. The flavor really wasn't that great. It didn't taste bad, of course, but it was kind of bland. The coconut flavor came through a little, but it was overall kinda tasteless. I liked it well enough to put on cereal, but not really well enough to drink straight up with my pb& j. I would rather drink soy or almond milk any day...especially for the price! And if I am really looking to splurge, it will be Living Harvest Hemp Milk for me! Maybe I'll try the coconut milk in vanilla next time...

Whew! I am getting a sugar buzz after just writing this post!!

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

My lovely friend, Jordan, had her golden birthday yesterday! What better way to celebrate than with cupcakes?! I had never made the Cookies and Cream Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, so I baked these up as her b-day cake/present. If you haven't eaten or made these before, they are the Basic Chocolate Cupcake with crushed sandwich cookies in the batter, topped with the Fluffy Buttercream Icing that has more crushed cookies in the frosting, garnished with yet another sandwich cookie! Heavenly. I used Newman O's for the cookie part, btw. Amazingly good, and surprisingly not too rich or sweet or anything! My only regret is that I hadn't made/eaten them before!

Finals Week Foods!

Today marks my last day in college. I can't believe it! Now I am officially a grown-up...ok, maybe that's not entirely true. BUT, I am a dietitian now and I am not under the authority of the University of Missouri any longer! I can live with that. Here's some things I made and/or ate during this last crazy busy week of finals, and a few things from last weekend that I haven't had time to post!

From a potluck last weekend:

Steamed Red Seitan, a tester from Terry's Vegan Latina CookbookEmpanadas, which were filled with the above seitan and lots of other goodies, also a tester for Terry! These were freakin' amazing!! Everyone at the potluck adored them, of course.

Right outta the oven:Getting ready to go party:From Mothers' Day Brunch last Sunday, at the lovely Eden Alley:

I had the Vegan Breakfast, which consisted of crusted and pan-seared local tofu, potatoes with caramelized onion, a coconut whole wheat biscuit, and a healthy smothering of local mushroom-hemp gravy! I was in brunch heaven!!!

My mom had the Falafel and Tofu, which was a bed of organic brown rice topped with a homemade falafel patty, crusted and pan-seared tofu, and a topping of roasted red pepper coulis! She let me try it, of course, and it was divine!

My grandmother had the Raw Stuffed Avocado Salad, a huge bed of organic greens and other veggies, with an entire avocado on top, stuffed with a raw hummus and cucumber mixture, and topped with flaxseeds, drizzled with their homemade mustard seed dressing. This was so refreshing and summery!

My new peanut butter obsession: Vanilla Cranberry Peanut Butter! This creamy, sweet concoction is only sold at Target stores, as it is from their Archer Farms line. This is so perfect in the morning on toast with a big glass of soymilk! It reminds me a lot of the PB&Co White Chocolate Wonderful, as it has the same sweetness and vanilla flavors, but the cranberries just add that little something extra. Also, this PB is not quite as thick, which makes it perfect for spreading on bagels, toast, fingers, etc.Check out the little bits o' cranberries!!

And, my new pride and joy cookie recipe: Oatmeal Macadamia Nut Butterscotch Chip Cookies!! I made these for our big LOST season finale (super awesome, but super sad it's over for so long) watching party. I love how sweet and buttery these babies are! I used the butterscotch chips the lovely Bianca of Vegan Crunk sent me...they are too addictive!Oatmeal-Macadamia Nut-Butterscotch Chip Cookies (makes about 20-2 inch cookies)

1/2 cup vegan margarine, such as EB

1/2 cup organic sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Ener-G egg replacer for 2 egg-equivalents

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 Tbs baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped roughly

2 Tbs soymilk

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract and egg replacer, until creamy and well-combined. Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir just until mixed, making sure to not over-stir. Add the soymilk to make the dough more flexible, then fold in the oats, nuts, and chips. Stir until fully incorporated, but not over-mixing, as this will create a tough cookie. Scoop out approximately 2 Tbs of dough at a time to make the cookies. Roll the dough into a ball in your hands to make a smooth sphere, then place on the sheet pan. Press down the cookie to flatten out to about a 2 inch diameter, as these will not spread much at all. Repeat until dough is gone, which will produce about 20 cookies ( if you don't eat any dough!). Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until cookies are golden brown on the edges and still a tad soft in the middle. After removing from oven, let sit on sheet pan for about 1-2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to prevent too much after-baking. Serve warm with a big glass of soymilk and don't forget to share with friends!

I still can't believe I am done with school!! I ordered Isa's Vegan Brunch on Amazon for my graduation present to myself...it should arrive in the next few days!! I am so pumped!!

Isa and Terry's Peanut Butter Pillows

It was one of my co-worker's birthday this week, so I naturally felt compelled to bake her a delicious treat in celebration! One, because birthdays are fun and special and ought to be celebrated and, two, because I want everyone to know how wonderful vegan food can be...particularly vegan baked goods! Soooooo, I made the Peanut Butter Pillows, from the upcoming Vegan Cookies cookbook by Isa and Terry! When Isa posted these on the PPK blog, I instantly knew these must be the birthday treat of choice! I LOVE chocolate and I LOVE peanut butter even more, and these cookies were perfect! In Isa's picture, the peanut butter filling is much taller and puffy-looking, but mine are shorter and wider, as I flattened my cookies a bit before baking. They were still amazing, and I'm sure would be delightful either way. I really just wanted to see what it would be like this way, but I will probably try the non-flattened kind next time. These cakey and chewy little devils just beg for a glass of cold soymilk to be had with them!

Home For the Holidays, Part 3!

For my last Christmas post, I gotta tell you about all the cooking gifts I got!!

Here are most of the goods: really good knives, pastry set, wave-cutting knife, kitchen timer, prep bowls, mixing bowls, mortar and pestle, cookbook from local veg-restaurant Eden Alley, GIANT green cutting board, and (not pictured) ceramic Corningware baking set. How wonderful is my family?! Also, my wonderful mom got me a Rosemary Tree! I am pumped to make some delish rosemary dishes now!
Right after I got this tree on Christmas Eve, I made Rosemary Mashed Potatoes for us, and served it with BBQ Seitan and Garlic-Roasted Brussel Sprouts....so gooooood!

Another example of how awesome family can be: Steven's mom made us lots of vegan food for his family Christmas celebration! She used lots of her non-veg recipes and veganized them just for us! How precious!

Here's a tray of goodies: vegan fruitcake (my first time ever trying fruitcake! it was really good!) and vegan gingerbread cookies...

Close-up shot of the wonderful, chewy, soft cookies...
She even made TWO vegan apple pies for us! Whoa! Here they are, ready to cut and devour... And here's a big slice, full of appl-y goodness...
All in all, this Christmas vacation rocked! Tomorrow, it's back to work and real-life...but I am so glad I got to spend some quality time with my family! Oh, and make and eat lots of really tasty, homemade food!

A Hill of Beans

My love of beans has grown immensely lately. Is it because dried beans are dirt cheap (even organic ones!)? Or is it because they are really tasty and nutritious? Or is it because they are so very versatile? Well, I would have to say it's all of those reasons! So here's some bean-based meals I've made over the past week!!Northeast Nourishment: Boston Baked Beans, New England Brown Bread (both from VegNews), and Fresh Green Beans with CranberriesSouthern Comfort: Creole Black-Eyed Peas with Sweet Potatoes, Jalapeno Corn Bread, and Garlicky GreensIsland Delights: Caribbean Black Beans, Coconut-Mashed Yams, and Garlic Ginger Roasted Broccoli

While beans are my new favorite ingredient, I can't leave behind my other wonderful plant-based proteins!! I have been cooking a bunch this past week or so, and here's more evidence!Hot Sauce-Glazed Tempeh from Veganomicon, Jalapeno Cornbread, and Sauteed GreensVeggie Tofu Scramble with Roasted Potatoes and Wheat Toast from Cafe Berlin...I love Sunday breakfast!!Buffalo Seitan Wrap!!! I have created a new recipe!! I have been wanting to make Buffalo Wing-style seitan for a while, and I finally did! This wrap has vegan ranch, avocado, lettuce, red onion, and tomato along with the breaded and sauced seitan. Sinful.

Laura's Buffalo Sauce

2 cups cayenne hot sauce....Frank's is the best!!

1 Tbs soy creamer

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp paprika

4 cloves garlic

1 lemon, peeled

1/4 cup chopped yellow onion

In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and blend until completely smooth. Toss with seitan and serve hot with vegan ranch dressing! mmmmmm......salty and spicy goodness!!

And, because dessert is NEVER to be forgotten:

Sparkled Ginger Cookies from Vegan With a Vengeance

These cookies will make you smile, and everyone else, too! Especially if you toss in some crystallized ginger like I did :)

Go buy yourself some beans, folks!!