Apple Cinnamon Topped Pancakes of Awesomeness

 

There comes a time in every girl's life when she screams to the heavens, "I need some fucking pancakes!" Hormones, or whatever. I don't know. I just know I heeded the call of the wild and made some killer fucking pancakes. 

I've never made an apple topping for pancakes or waffles, or any food, actually. But, I do love me some apple pie, so I took that idea and ran with it. 

The following recipe makes enough for 2 adult-sized servings of apple topping. I don't have a fancy recipe for the pancakes; I use Bisquick, almond milk, and a little vanilla extract. 

What you need for the apple awesomeness:

• 2 HoneyCrisp apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (so they cook more quickly)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 TB Earth Balance vegan spread
• 2 TB orange juice
• 1/4-1/2 tsp cardamom
• 1 tsp (or more) cinnamon
• pinch of salt

What you do with it:

1. Heat a sauce pan over medium heat. Add all ingredients and mix well. 
2. Once the mixture starts bubbling, I turned the heat to medium-low and simmered for about 30 minutes. Be sure to stir and taste the mixture every 5 minutes or so, so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. 
   
3. I cooked mine until the sauce cooked down to a syrup. Feel free to add more or less of everything. I liked mine pretty cinnamon-y, but if at all possible, add the cardamom. It really brings the flavor to a whole new level. 

Another ugly smoothie...

When you mix a lot of colors, you end up with brown. And that's exactly what happened with today's smoothie. It turned a sickly brownish-green. I had odds and ends in my fridge that needed to be used, so I threw them all together. It still tasted terrific, though, so I'm not complaining. If you can get past the color, you'll dig the flavors.

This recipe makes 2 large smoohies.

• 1 huge handful of kale
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 honeycrisp apple
• 1/2 ripe banana (if you like a really banana-y smoothie, use a whole one)
• half a handful of blueberries
• handful of raspberries
• 1/4 cup POM pomegranate-cranberry juice
• 2-3 TB orange juice
• ice

Blend, duh.

The Ugly Smoothie

I was really craving a smoothie this morning, as I do most mornings. So, I got adventurous and just threw a bunch of stuff in my VitaMix. It turned out quite ugly (brown-ish green), but it did taste pretty good. Just don't look at it when you drink it. Hey, remember those old Cocoa Wheats commercials where the kids wore blindfolds and bags on their heads because the food was so ugly? No? Perhaps this will refresh your memory:



Yeah. So. There you go. 1989. Awkward and strange.

Ugly smoothie ingredients:

• 1 medium carrot
• 1 cup kale
• 1/2 large red apple
• 2 small blood oranges
• 1 small banana
• 1-2 TB ground flax
• 1/4 cup cranberry juice
• a few pieces of ice

I assume you know how to put this in a blender and blend the shit out of it. It's easy. Enjoy. Or not. Whatever you do, don't look at it.

KACK Smoothie

Yup, that's one thick smoothie.

On my quest to conquer kale, I have cut another notch in my belt. The KACK smoothie. Yeah, so, KACK sounds like the noise a cat makes when yacking up a hairball...not so appealing. I understand. However, KACK is all green smoothie goodness.

Kale
Apple
Carrot
Kiwi

See? It's all good in the KACK smoothie hood.

Here are the measures:

• 1 cup kale
• 1 small apple (I used an ida red)
• 1 carrot, medium size
• 2 kiwi (I cut the ends and leave the skin on)
• 1/4 cup almond milk

Directions....really? You just blend the hell outta this and then drink it. With a straw. It's thick. Notice in the top photo how my glass straw is standing up on its own...it's that thick.

Smoothie of The Day

Mmmm! While I was away on vacation I had smoothie withdrawal, so of course, I had to make an awesome one today to make up for it. Fortunately I remembered to make a trek to the grocery store yesterday to stock back up, otherwise yesterday's Hearty Minestrone Soup wouldn't have been possible...nor would today's smoothie. This is one of the best that I've had in quite a while. Maybe I was in a smoothie rut pre-vacation. Whatever. Here's what I used:

• 1 small banana
• 1/2 of a giant HoneyCrisp apple (skin and core left intact)
• 1 tangerine
• 1 small carrot
• 2 large handfuls of baby spinach
• 1/4 cup cranberry juice
• 1 small scoop of ice

Blend until nice and smooth. Enjoy.

In case you're curious, here's what I made this day last year:
Penne alla Vodka! <---Click to check out the recipe.

The view from my back porch this morning. Cold and foggy. I love it!

Vegan Apple Pie - Vegan Mofo #24

OMG! I made a pie! Wooooooooo!! It was awesome. I can't stop thinking about how tasty it is. Ha, I actually ate 2 slices because I was feeling like a vegan piggy. This is my first fruit pie and, actually, only the second pie I've ever made. I'm pretty impressed with its awesomeness. The only thing that confuses me is that the bottom crust seemed to just disappear once I baked it. The top was spectacular, though, so I am not really going to complain. This recipe makes one 9-inch pie. Oh, make the crust first. Then when it is done resting, go ahead and mix your apple stuff together.

My apple filling:

• 4 large HoneyCrisp apples, and 1 small one. Peeled and cored, then cut in half and sliced thinly.
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• juice of half a small lemon
• 1 tsp salt
• about 1/2-3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp or a bit more nutmeg
• 1/4 cup flour

Just mix all the ingredients together and then spoon it into the crust.

Double Crust:

• 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 6 TB (1/3 cup) earth balance
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 TB sugar
• 6 TB ice water

Pile all the ingredients (except the water) in a bowl and pop in the freezer for 30 minutes. You want really cold ingredients to make a good pie crust.

Then add the bowl of stuff to your food processor. Pulse a few times, until the largest chunk of butter/shortening is no larger than a pea. Then maybe pulse 3 more times, just for good measure. Now, make ice water (bowl, ice, water...do it). Once it's super cold, spoon in about 4-5 TB into the mix and pulse a few times. It should start clumping. If there are dry spots, add a little more water and pulse a few more times.

You'll want to lay out a strip of plastic wrap. Flop the dough balls (hahaha) out onto the plastic wrap and very quickly moosh it all into a ball. Cut the ball in half. Get another strip of plastic wrap and lay half the dough on it. You can either leave it in a ball or flatten it into a disc. This will make it easier to roll out later. Then seal up the wrap and put it in your fridge for 30 minutes. Do this with each half of the dough.

Put the crust in the pie pan. Fill with your goodies. Top with about 2 TB vegan butter.

Place the other crust on top and cut a few slits to let air out. Pinch the edges of the crust together.

I used a little foil around the edges until the pie had only about 10 minutes left. Then I removed the foil and baked the pie until the edges are lightly browned.

NOM NOM NOM!

Crazy Carrot Smoothie - Vegan MoFo #15

I'm finally using up the rest of those carrots leftover from my pal's bridal shower! WOOOOOO! Who would've thought that people would go nuts over the broccoli and cauli and cukes, but not carrots? Well, whatever. I used a boat-load to make this smoothie. You can see how thick it is - it's holding up my glass straw without any help! I dig them nice and thick. Hence the glass straw (they don't collapse like crummy plastic ones). Anywhooooo...

This smoothie is probably one of the best. Then again, I love carrots in smoothies. And cakes. And roasted. And in salads. And dipped in hummus. And by themselves. So, it may be carrot overload for the orange veggie haters out there. Anyway, here goes.

Makes 1 large smoothie.
You need: 

• 2 huge carrots
• 1 red apple (I use Ida Red)
• 1 banana
• 1 scoop ice
• a little juice, water, or almond milk (I used a splash of cranberry juice)

 What you do:

1. Blend it all together, duh. Then it'll look like this:

So, there you have it. Make it. Enjoy it's carroty goodness.

Meg's Rainbow Smoothie

Remember a few days ago when I said I try to eat a rainbow? Well, this is the rainbow smoothie for your drinking pleasure. Sure, it looks brown here, but wait... It has 6 colors inside!
RED: 1 small apple
ORANGE: 1 carrot
YELLOW: 1/2 Peach, 1/2 banana
GREEN: a huge handful of baby spinach
 BLUE: 1/4 cup blueberries
BROWN: 1 TB ground flax, 3 TB almond milk

Just blend it all together (with a few pieces of ice) until silky smooth in your blender. If it's too thick, add some water or more almond milk. If you have a high-power blender, you probably won't need to add the extra liquid. Whomever invented the Vita-Mix deserves many, many high-fives! I bought mine last November as a less expensive refurb model from their website and I couldn't be happier. I use it a minimum of 5 times a week. Anywhoooo...

How's that for eating a rainbow for breakfast? I know, I'm missing purple, but I think I did darn good even without it. If I'd had some raspberries, I'd have been spot-on. But, I just want to show you how easy it is to eat a wide array of colors. Even if the rest of your day is monochromatic, at least you got a nice mix for breakfast. It's not always easy to get your full spectrum of colors, especially when they aren't in season. So, I'm taking full advantage now and stocking up my freezer for the months ahead. Off-season produce can be prohibitively expensive at the grocery store, so if you have the space, start stocking up and freezing what you can. Frozen fruit, in particular, makes excellent smoothies, pies, even muffins and pancakes.

Even if you're not a Veg*an, you can still get almost a full day's servings of fruit and veg with a big homemade smoothie. The (mostly worthless, corporate-interest-run) USDA says that women need 4 cups of produce/day, while men need 5. This smoothie easily makes 2 cups. So, you're at least off to a good start. Make the smoothie already. It's damn tasty, easy to make, has a LOT of fiber and your body will say thank you. Do I really have to keep working to convince you? Sheesh. Cut a chickpea some slack, dude.

**And if you are looking for awesome smoothie straws like I use, look no further than Strawesome. They make the BEST eco-friendly, reusable glass straws. They come in all different sizes, some specifically for smoothies. I bought mine a few months ago and use them pretty much every single day. They're made of the same glass as pyrex, so they are safe and sturdy. I've dropped mine on the kitchen floor more than once, and have yet to break any. To top it off, they're dishwasher safe and made in the USA in my home state of Michigan. You can also find them on twitter under username @BeStrawesome

Farmer's Markets and Rainbows

I decided today, as I do at least once a week (usually twice a week), that I needed to hit up the farmer's market and get some goodies. I spent $11.00 on all of this:

The best part of all is that I got 2 new items I've never had before. First are the little yellow tomatoes. I remember seeing them at the grocery store and one of my friends grew some last year, but I never tried them. Second are the apples. Alright, I've had apples before (duh), but I've never heard of the Molly Apple. So, I snagged them. Look at this beauty!

It seems every single year at my FM, I see more and more varieties of produce I've never heard of, which is completely awesome! So many new urban farmers are showing up, along with old timers sharing their heirlooms. I totally dig it. Since becoming a veg head, I have tried more new foods than I ever did as an omni. And, it seems that is pretty common among us herbivores. I know in my own case, I became so much more adventurous with food once I knew I wasn't going to stumble on weird bits of meat and nasty eggs, which have made me ill for most of my life. Now I seem to jump into new foods head first, and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

I do try hard to "eat my colors," adding numerous colored foods to each day, and sometimes each meal. A lot of new vegetarians and vegans stick to what they know they like, and I was like that at first. But, the more I read about keeping healthy, the more I started to mix it up. Think of all the veggies and fruits in a market. They are (literally) a rainbow. I know you can't always do it every day, but try to consume a rainbow of fresh produce. Physicians say that it's one of the best ways to be sure that we are getting a full spectrum of vitamins we need to function well. You all know Roy G Biv, right? It's the colors of the rainbow in order of color.

Here are some examples of what I eat a lot of:

RED: Tomatoes, strawberries, red bell peppers, cherries, beets, pomegranate, watermelon, cranberries
ORANGE: Oranges, orange bell peppers, carrots, peaches, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, mango,
                   pumpkin
YELLOW: Pineapple, lemons, peaches, corn, yellow peppers, yellow onion
GREEN: Spinach, broccoli, kiwi, bell pepper, avocados, cabbage, green onion, pears, brussels sprouts,
                bean sprouts, cucumbers, zucchini, limes, peas, okra, lettuce (especially the darker lettuces)
BLUE/INDIGO: Blueberries, black grapes, dark plums, blackberries
VIOLET: Purple potatoes, purple cabbage, red/purple onions, plums, eggplant, grapes, raspberries 

Here's what I got today:

• 3 ears of fresh-picked sweet corn $1.00
• 4 huge Molly Apples $2.00
• 1 heaped pint blueberries $3.00
• 2 lemons $1.00
• 2 garlic heads $1.00
• 1 heaped pint yellow tomatoes $1.00
• 5 big peaches $2.00

 I guess my body was craving some yellows today. I notice when I have a strong craving for something in particular that it's something my body may be missing. I haven't eaten any yellows in close to a week, and look what I ended up buying today!? I really do think that you body will tell you what it needs, most of us need only learn to listen to its pleas. 

What are your favorite colors to eat?

Green Day...the food, not the band + Dog Blankie

I completely forgot to do my St. Patrick's Day post last month of all the green food I ate that day! I was emptying out the SD card for my camera this morning and stumbled upon my green food photos. So, Better late than never...or whatever. If you don't like it, well, too bad because here they are.

Breakfast: Green Smoothie
Ingredients:

• 1 cup baby spinach
• 1/2 banana
• 1/4 cup fresh pineapple
• 1 clementine orange
• 1 small apple
• 1 medium carrot
• 1/4 cup cranberry juice
• 2 TB flax meal
• ice, if you want some

Method:
Put everything in the blender (I so LOVE my Vita-Mix for smoothies) and blend until well combined.

Lunch: Chickpea Salad SandwichIngredients:

• 1/2 cup (slightly heaping) cooked chickpeas
• 1 TB + 1 tsp Vegenaise mayo
• 2 tsp mustard (yellow, spicy brown or dijon are all tasty here)
• 2-3 TB raw onion
• 1 heaping TB nooch
• 1 TB dill relish
• 1 TB unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1/2 tsp Braggs Aminos
• Green food coloring

Method:
Put all ingredients in a food processor and whir a few times, until combined. I like mine chunky, but you can puree if you want. It's your sandwich, after all.

Dinner: Green Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli and Chickpea Patties
The chickpea patties are just the chickpea cutlet recipe from Veganomicon, made into thicker patties instead of cutlets. I always add more garlic and some steak sauce to this recipe. The Mashed potatoes are easy:  green food coloring, Earth Balance, almond milk and salt. And, well, if I have to describe how to steam veggies, you may be a hopeless case.

So, there you go. My St. Patrick's Day green meals. Late, but oh well.

As for my Eco-Craft I started a last week, I am almost done! Check it out :)

Maple Walnut Roasted Apples -- Vegan MOFO #21

Fall is an absolutely gorgeous time in Michigan.  The leaves start turning from green to yellow, orange and flaming red.  The air turns crisp and the farmer's markets have an abundance of apples that you can get super cheap!  It is the absolute perfect time to indulge in an apple buying binge...which is how I found this recipe in Vegetarian Times (2010, April).  I was struggling to use up my apples, so I started scrounging around through cookbooks and food magazines for the perfect recipe.  I did change a little bit of this recipe, but not much.  The recipe below is for my version.  This is for 4 servings (1 serving = 1/2 of an apple), but it is super easy to double/triple/quadruple/whatev.

For this recipe, I used 2 medium-sized Pinata/Pinova apples, but you can use any apple you want.  I like to use a sweet apple that has a hint of tart. I also highly recommend using an apple corer, because it makes a pretty little circle in the apple instead of having to hack out the core with a knife. Also, definitely take a few minutes and toast your walnuts in a small pan. To do this, just turn your burner to medium heat and put your chopped walnuts in a skillet. Stir or shake them around every minute or two, until the nuts are fully heated through and you can smell them toasting.  This should take about 4-6 minutes, so be careful to watch them because they can burn very quickly. Quickly remove from heat and set aside.  I rarely use nuts in recipes without toasting them anymore.  The heat brings out a more intense flavor to the nuts.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium or large apples, halved around the equator, washed, cored
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 TB brown sugar
• 2/3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• dash of salt
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted as explained above

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place the apples cut side up in a baking dish, and lightly drizzle the cut sides with half of the lemon juice.
3. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Then, sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the cut sides of the apples. 

4. Pour maple syrup into the bottom of the dish, not on the apples, but around them. Cover dish with foil and bake 10 minutes.
5. Remove foil and cook about 15 more minutes (or until apples are as soft as you like them). Then, transfer apples to a serving dish.
6. Pour the syrup and pan juices from the baking dish into a small saucepan and heat on medium-high, adding the rest of the lemon and start whisking. Bring the syrup to a boil (takes about 3 minutes) and add the walnuts, still whisking. Let bubble up and thicken for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

7. Using a spoon, drizzle the syrup and nuts over the apples, including the core holes. Serve nice and hot!