Monster Breakfast Cookies

As a busy wife and mother, I'm always looking for new ways to provide a nutritious and quick breakfast for my family. These breakfast cookies pack a protein punch with a combination of almond butter, chia seeds, and crunchy almond pieces. Plus, you get some hearty omega-3 action from the addition of ground flax seeds. I hope you enjoy these tasty, breakfast-on-the-run style cookies.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine (such as Earth Balance)

1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. baking powder (I use aluminum free.)

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

6 Tb. chia gel (made from 2 Tb. chia seeds mixed with 1 cup water and allowed to set)

2 tsp. pure vanilla

1 1/2 cups Gluten Free flour blend (I used King Arthur's, but you can use your favorite.) or 

                regular all-purpose flour

2 1/4 cups regular or rolled oats (I used half quick, half rolled oats.)

1/3 cup ground flax seeds

1 heaping Tb. almond or peanut butter

1 1/2 cups dried fruit, nuts, coconut, etc.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375. In a medium sized bowl, cream margarine and coconut oil together. A hand mixer works well for this. Add brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and beat to combine. Spoon chia gel and vanilla extract into mixture and once again beat to combine, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Beat in flour, oats, flax and nut butter until well combined. Stir nuts, dried fruits, chocolate chips of whatever combination you desire into the dough. (I used 2/3 cup chopped almonds, 2/3 cup dried cranberries, and a handful of unsweetened coconut flakes.) 

Using a large ice cream scoop or 1/3 cup measure, scoop dough out and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Using the palm of your hand, gently press each cookie into a 4-inch circle. 

Bake for 12 minutes or so, until the tops of the cookies are lightly browned. Cool on the pan for a minute or so. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. After cooled, wrap individual cookies in plastic wrap for optimum freshness. :-)

Yield: 11 cookies

Approx. 298 calories per cookie (This depends on the nut and fruit combos, too.)

Enjoy!

African Peanut Stew

It was the kind of day that merited a warm hearty stew: crisp and cool with the scent of autumn in the air. We spent the better part of the morning apple-picking as a family. I think my three-year old ate more than he picked, but that's to be expected! :-) We loaded bushels of apples into our car, turned on the heater, and headed home for some lentil soup. Later that afternoon, though, my daughter wanted to help me make something for dinner. She's actually been begging to make a really spicy salsa for her daddy, but we've put a delay on that project due to some jalapeño juice in the eye. But, I digress. She did a fantastic job carefully slicing and deseeding two jalapeño peppers for this fantastic stew.

The flavors are quasi African, and oh so delicious together. Especially when served over brown rice. There are many variations to this stew but this is the one I really enjoy. 

Ingredients

1 Tb. olive oil

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium white or yellow onion, diced

1/2 green or red bell pepper, diced

2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped (see below for substitution ideas)

32 oz. vegetable or vegetarian chicken style broth

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can diced tomatoes, with juice

1/4 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. salt

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter

1/3 cup coconut milk

Handful fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped (opt.)

Instructions

Saute sweet potato, garlic, onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno peppers in olive oil over medium high heat until vegetables begin to soften. Add broth, beans, tomatoes, cumin and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes and quinoa are completely cooked. Add peanut butter and carefully stir to incorporate. It should melt into the stew and begin to thicken slightly. Add coconut milk and cilantro and continue to cook for just a few minutes more. 

Serve and enjoy! This yields about 4 healthy servings. 

Substitution / Add-in Ideas:

My aunt Carol gave me a similar recipe that included diced zucchini. You would just add it at the beginning with the rest of the vegetables. 

She also uses prepared salsa instead of jalapenos and canned tomatoes. I've used a can of Rotel Tomatoes and Green Chilies and eliminated the jalapenos, but it was really very spicy. 

BBQ Season ~ Vegan Style {Overload Alert!}

Oh me, oh my. It's been far too long! Have you been enjoying this summer holiday? It's been a bit cooler than I'd like, but weather can be very unpredictable. I was looking forward to cookouts with neighbors, picnics at the beach, and all the other joys that warm weather brings, but alas, it has been wet, cold (60's) and windy. I guess I'll just have to content myself with INDOOR outdoor fare. 

Earlier this month, I was invited to share some plant-based recipes for our local Living Healthy Supper Club. It was right after the 4th of July, and being rather in the mood, I chose to go with a BBQ themed dinner. Our menu was:

Appetizer ~ 

Garlicky Spinach Artichoke Dip with Toasted Pita Chips

Sides ~

Israeli Cous Cous Salad

Herbed Red Potato Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Roasted Brussels and Asparagus

Baked Mac and Cheese 

Main Course ~

BBQ "Chicken" Sliders with 

Coleslaw Condiment

Dessert ~

Very Berry Shortcake

Soy Whipped Topping

I thoroughly enjoy this food. Seriously. I want you to be able to enjoy it as well. I don't have photos of all of the recipes, but if you'll click on the links provided, you'll get a sneak peak of some of the dishes. 

Spinach Artichoke Dip

(adapted from Chef Chloe Coscarelli)

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 onion, finely chopped 

3 cloves garlic, minced  

a few pinches crushed red pepper (optional) 

2 cups chopped spinach 

1 (14-ounce) package soft tofu, drained 

½ cup nutritional yeast flakes 

2 tablespoons lemon juice 

1 Tb. fresh basil, torn or coarsely chopped 

½ - 1 teaspoons sea salt 

1 Tb. Good Seasons Garlic Herb Dry Salad Dressing Mix

1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained (can also use marinated or frozen) and coarsely chopped

1/3 cup water chestnuts, drained and chopped 

Pita or tortilla chips and fresh crudites for serving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 1-quart baking dish. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat and sauté onions until soft. Add garlic and red pepper and let cook a few more minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add spinach. Let cook, stirring gently, until spinach is wilted. Remove from heat and add chopped artichokes and water chestnuts.  In a food processor, blend tofu, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, basil, salt, and pepper until smooth. Add artichokes and spinach mixture, and pulse about 15 times. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Let cool slightly, then serve with pita or tortilla chips and vegetables. Can also be served cold. 

Herbed Red Potato Salad 

(adapted from Taste of Home)

3 lbs. Red potatoes, washed well

1/3 cup olive oil

3 Tb. fresh squeezed lemon juice (about one lemon)

2 Tb. fresh dill, chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leafed parsley

1 tsp. lemon zest

1 Tb. whole grain mustard (opt.)

1 1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)

1/3 of a large red onion, finely chopped

Instructions:

Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are fork tender but still firm and skins split slightly. Drain and set aside. 

In a small bowl whisk together oil, lemon juice, herbs, lemon peel, salt and whole grain mustard (if using). 

Dice slightly cooled potatoes and place in a medium bowl; add red onion. Drizzle dressing over potatoes and onion and toss to coat. This salad is best if served the next day to allow the flavors to deepen.

Israeli Cous Cous Salad

2 cups dry Israeli Cous Cous

2 1/2 cups water

1/2 English cucumber, peeled, quartered, and chopped

1 large red tomato, diced

2 Tb. diced or thinly sliced red onion

1/4 cup, fresh basil, cut into ribbons (julienned)

Juice of one lemon, freshly squeezed

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt

Instructions:

Pour water into medium sized pot, salt generously, and bring to a boil. Add cous cous and once again bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered for 8-10 minutes. (Check to make sure cous cous has not absorbed all liquid and is sticking.) Remove from heat, pour into a colander, and rinse with cold water. 

Peel, quarter and dice cucumber. Wash and dice tomato and onion. Wash and slice basil into ribbons. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk freshly squeezed lemon juice with 1/4 cup olive oil. 

In a large serving bowl, combine cooled cous cous, vegetables, and dressing. Stir well to break up any clumps of cous cous and incorporate all of the zesty, fresh dressing. Season to taste with salt. Serve!

Optional add-ins: 

Kalamata olives

Tofu feta (You’ll want to reduce the amount of dressing in the salad if using)

BBQ “Chicken”

4 cups Butler soy curls

1 Tb. chicken style seasoning

1 Tb. dehydrated onion

Olive oil

salt, to taste

2/3 cup prepared barbecue sauce of choice

Instructions:

Place dry soy curls in a medium bowl. Add chicken seasoning and dried onion to soy curls and stir to combine. Boil enough water to completely cover soy curls, and rehydrate for about 5 minutes. 

Heat about 1 Tb. olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Drain and squeeze excess water from soy curls and transfer to pan. Season with a little salt, to taste. Sauté curls for a minute or two until they begin to dry slightly and turn light golden brown. Add 1/3 cup of barbecue sauce and stir to incorporate. Turn down heat and continue to sauté, adding the last 1/3 cup of barbecue sauce when it looks a bit dry. 

Remove from heat, toast some burger buns, heap some BBQ Chicken on your bun, layer some fresh coleslaw on top and you’ve got a delicious main course for your vegetarian outdoor cookout. 

Summer Abundance: Rhubarb

Summer is one of my favorite seasons...at least early summer is. I'm not sure that early summer is considered a season, though. The breeze is warm, not stifling. Grass is rich and green. Growth in the garden is just beginning, and there's a wonderful smell in the air. 

We just happen to be the grateful beneficiaries of our friends summer (over) abundance. We haven't been able to plant our garden this year, but we've been blessed with cucumbers, tomatoes, kale, and rhubarb from other's gardens...no zucchini yet, but I'm sure it will come! {Insert smily face here}

I was experimenting with rhubarb combinations the other day, and while strawberry with rhubarb is still my favorite, apple and rhubarb pair nicely, too. The texture of the fruit, the sweetness of the apple balancing out the tartness of the rhubarb...it's a perfect match. 

I made a rhubarb betty....that wasn't a big hit. My next try was crisp. Mmmmm. We all agreed that it's a keeper. 

Ingredients:

3 cups rhubarb, washed well and sliced into chunks

1 cup apple (of choice), peeled and diced

1/2 cup strawberries, washed and sliced

3/4 cup sugar (or cane juice crystals)

1 Tb. flour

2 tsp. instant tapioca

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

pinch salt

Streusel Topping:

1 scant cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup margarine

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine prepared fruit with sugar, flour, instant tapioca, lemon juice and salt. Stir to combine and set aside.

In another bowl, combine dry streusel ingredients, then add margarine. Using a fork (or your fingers), crumble and cut the margarine into the flour mixture until it resembles large peas. 

Pour fruit mixture into a lightly oiled or Pam-sprayed 8 x 8 baking dish. Sprinkle streusel topping evenly over the fruit. Place in stove and bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or until topping is beautifully golden and fruit is tender. 

Juices will be bubbling in the baking dish, and you may want to have a cookie sheet under it...just in case! :-)

Serve warm with non-dairy vanilla ice cream, whipped topping, or enjoy it plain. 

Tortilla Soup

This is our family's favorite new soup. A few months ago, I was asked to present some vegan recipes for a Supper Club in our neighborhood. (I posted the "chicken" enchilada recipe from that presentation previously on the blog.) We absolutely love the tortilla soup at California Pizza Kitchen, and since the supper club theme was American Southwestern, I decided to try to recreate that delicious soup. There are lots of copy-cat recipes online, but this is one of the closest I've been able to find. I've modified a recipe from www.copycat-recipes.net.

As the soup bubbled on the stove, my daughter moaned and groaned, "You're killing me, Mom!" I was alarmed. "Why?" I asked. "That soup smells soooo good! And I'm hungry." Whew...if that was all... :-)

Ingredients:

3 Tb. light olive oil

6 corn tortillas, cut into squares

3 Tb. minced garlic

1/4 cup diced yellow onion

2 cups frozen yellow and white corn, divided

4 roma tomatoes, chopped

2/3 cup tomato paste

2 Tb. ground cumin

3 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vegan chicken seasoning (McKays)

1 tsp. chili powder

6 cups water

2 cans diced mild green chiles

blue tortilla chips (opt. garnish)

fresh cilantro (opt. garnish)

fresh avocado, diced (opt. garnish)

Instructions:

In a large pot, sauté corn tortillas in olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and continue to sauté, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Cook for perhaps a minute. Add 1 cup of corn and all other ingredients (except garnishes, of course) and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes. With a stick blender, blend soup until it's the consistency of a thick puree. If you do not have an immersion blender, you can process in a regular blender, but be careful to just pulse it a few times to break up the corn tortillas.

Return soup to heat and add the rest of the corn, plus the two cans of green chiles. Bring to a brief boil, then serve immediately with garnishes of choice.

This is a large amount of soup, but I promise you, it won't be around for long! :-)

{Not quite} Nutrigrain bars...

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but as a busy family always on the run, breakfast sometimes needs to be portable. Enter Nutrigrain bars: one of the quintessential grab-and-go breakfast foods. I've been wanting to make my own breakfast bar, modeled after the soft, chewy, fruity Kelloggs brand. As I searched online, I couldn't find very many recipes that were not crumb top. While those are delicious, they don't travel well! 

I can just imagine driving in the car, crumb topped breakfast bar in one hand, steering wheel in the other. As I begin to unwrap my breakfast bar, crumbs fall off onto my shirt and lap, jam oozes onto my hands. I reach behind me into the diaper bag to retrieve a wet wipe, still holding onto the bar and steering the car with my knees...More crumbs in my lap and jam on my pants. 

These are a much safer option. :-) And! They don't contain high-fructose corn syrup, which I'm very pleased about. 

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup brown sugar

6 Tb. Earth Balance Margarine

1/2 cup canned coconut milk (you can also use soured soy milk - see directions below)

1/4 cup chia gel

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Reduced Sugar Strawberry Preserves (or desired fruit jam: fig, blackberry, raspberry, cherry)

*Soured soy milk: 1 Tb. lemon juice mixed with 1 cup of soy milk. Stir and allow to thicken slightly. Use as needed. 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a large cookie sheet with Pam and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients (first seven listed). Add margarine and cut in until smallish pebbles form. In another small bowl, whisk wet ingredients together, then pour into dry ingredient mixture. Stir until a soft dough forms and all flour is incorporated. It should feel like biscuit dough. Turn out onto a floured surface, adding a bit more flour to dough to make it kneadable. 

With a rolling pin, form dough into a rectangle shape that is approximately 8 x 10"  and 1/4-1/2" thick.  Divide this into smaller squares--about 4 x 4. Spoon about a tablespoon of fruit preserves into the center of the square. Fold other side of dough over the jam and slightly press the seams to close. 

Transfer bars onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until lightly browned on top. 

Yield: 10 bars

Apple Spice Baked French Toast

This weekend has been a whirlwind of activity, from running errands all day Friday to spending Sunday with our church's Adventurer Club at the state-wide annual Fun Day. Last year before Fun Day, we made a quick stop at a fast food chain to grab breakfast on the fly -- I hadn't planned very well that morning ;-). Well, I've turned over a new leaf this year and wanted to make sure that my children weren't fueled by a package of deep-fried tater-tots and deep-fried french toast sticks. I whipped up this apple spice baked french toast based on a recipe for pumpkin streusel baked french toast by Two Peas and Their Pod. I've thoroughly enjoyed every recipe I've tried from their blog (veganized, of course!)

This french toast is more of a casserole and is wonderful if you are short on time. I make it the night before and either bake it that night to reheat in the morning for a super-fast meal or bake it in the morning while I am getting ready for the day. Either way, it's very tasty. 

You'll want to use a whole grain or whole wheat baguette or other crusty bread for this to turn out well. 

Ingredients:

1/2 of a long whole wheat baguette

6 Tb. chia gel or 3 Tb. flax gel

1 1/4 cup almond milk

1/2 cup apple butter (made by cooking applesauce down until a thick spreadable consistency - like a thick puree)

1/4 cup brown or natural granulated sugar

1 Tb. vanilla

1/4 tsp. cinnamon or cardamom

pinch ground allspice

1/2 a Fuji or other apple of choice, peeled and diced

1/4 cup Craisins or dried tart cherries

Streusel Topping

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or a mix of white and whole wheat)

1/3 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon or cardamom

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (opt.)

1/8 tsp. salt

1/4 cup margarine, cut into pieces

Instructions:

Spray a 2-qrt. glass casserole dish with cooking spray. Tear or cut baguette into large bite size pieces and arrange evenly in the pan.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine milk, chia or flax, apple butter, sugar, vanilla, spices and diced apple. Whisk to thoroughly incorporate. Pour evenly over bread pieces and press bread down a bit into the milk mixture. Sprinkle dried cranberries or cherries over the french toast.  Cover casserole with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake. {Usually allow overnight or several hours for the bread to absorb the liquid.}

In a small bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, oats, walnuts, salt and cinnamon or cardamom. Cut in margarine pieces with your fingers or a fork until the mixture looks like small peas. Pour streusel into a plastic baggy and store in fridge.

When ready to bake the french toast, preheat oven to 365 F. Remove casserole and streusel from refrigerator. Spread crumb topping evenly over french toast and bake for 55-60 minutes until casserole is set and crunchy golden brown on top. 

Serve with vegetarian sausage or tofu scramble for a amazing breakfast. 

Yield: 6 large pieces