Smoothie from My Garden

Okay, so the title of this post is a tad misleading. It's not 100% from my garden, but it is mostly stuff I grew. I grew the carrots, kale, and strawberries, but not the orange or banana. Sorry, but the harsh Michigan winters prohibit such fruits. That is your geography/science lesson for the day. This smoothie is seriously awesome. It tastes like magic. Or maybe it's just that I haven't made a smoothie in weeks. Whatever the case, it is still pretty damn yummy...and (gasp) good for you!

What you need:

• 1 banana
• 1 small seedless orange, peeled
• about 6 strawberries (average sized)
• about 6 smallish kale leaves with the thick stems removed
• 2 small carrots or 1 medium
• a few bits of ice

What you do:

1. Do I really need to tell you how to throw everything in the blender and blend the shit out of it? Nah. I didn't think so.

Fluorescent Green Smoothie!

I'm back on a smoothie kick lately. I can't stop. Whenever I look at produce, I start imagining them swirling around in my Vita-Mix. Alas, I was low on produce when I made this one. It's simple and delicious...and very green.

What's in it?

• 2 big handfuls of kale (just 1 if you have Hulk hands)
• 1 kiwi (peeled)
• 1 banana
• 1 orange
• a smidge of water and some ice

Look how easy that is! And, when you use ripe fruits, you don't need to add any sweeteners. Ripe fruit is sweeter fruit. 

Not a Green Smoothie

 

 

There are days that I crave a massive breakfast complete with vegan sausage, pancakes and veg. Today was not that day. I craved some green smoothie...like, hardcore. Sadly, I failed at replenishing my produce because I worked all weekend. Working Sunday (my normal grocery day) threw off my whole veg game. I know, I know...I'm rambling. What the hell was I saying? Oh, yeah. So, I wanted a green smoothie, but I had no greens, thus I made a fruit-ish smoothie instead. I pretty much never make non-green-smoothies. They feel too desserty instead of breakfasty. Yes, those are words. In a crunch, this smoothie will at least get some fruit and veg into your face. It tasted pretty sweet, but was still pretty filling. I recommend it. Fo sho. If you have a little lime on-hand, I bet the smoothie would benefit from a little squeeze.

What I used:

• 1 ripe banana
• 5 big strawberries, green tops removed
• 1 large carrot, peeled, or about 8 baby carrots
• some water...maybe 1/3 cup
• a scoop of ice

Just blend the shit out of this. Drink it down. Easy.

Peanut Butter Banana Green Smoothie

Look carefully at the jar. POWDERED PEANUT BUTTER. I know you're thinking, "What the fuck, Chickpea?" And, dear readers, I was right there with you. My auntie brought this to me from her health food store and I was an instant skeptic, as I often tend to be. But, I decided to give it the ol' college try. I have to say, I'm quite impressed. Though, I have only tried it on a spoon (yummy and it cakes to your roof) and in this smoothie. I have to tell you, I am really quite impressed. I absolutely LOVE it in my smoothie. It gave the smoothie a bit of peanutty flavor without all the oil and fat of jarred peanut butter. Here's what the back of the PB2 jar says:

So, here's how I made my smoothie of excellentness:

• 1 carrot
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 big handful of red grapes
• 1 big handful of baby kale
• 1 big handful of baby spinach
• 3 TB orange juice
• 2 TB powdered peanut butter (PB2 is the kind I used)
• some ice

Blend that shit up and drink it down.You can thank me later.

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.

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.

Kickass Kale Kiwi Smoothie

 

I have to say that I have never been a kale lover. I keep trying it and I never seem to like how it turns out. Anyway, I bought some a couple days ago to give it another shot. I was going to try mixing it into some of my super tasty OMG Hashbrowns recipe, but inspiration struck and I added them to my smoothie instead! I was shocked at how awesome it turned out.

I usually add fruit juice to my smoothies, but I have been using almond milk lately. To my surprise, I stumbled on this super awesome new milk at the grocery store. It's a coconut milk and almond milk blend and it rocks my socks so hardcore!!

Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about! I'm in serious love with it. Anywhoooo, give it a shot if you see it. It's comes in sweetened and unsweetened varieties, but I prefer the sweetened for my smoothies. Yum! Now, on to the smoothie.

What I used:

• 1 cup kale
• 1 small banana
• 2 kiwi, ends cut off (I always leave the skin on, but you don't have to)
• 1 medium carrot
• 1/2 cup almond-coconut milk
• handful of ice

What I did:

1. Threw it into my VitaMix and blended it. Duh. 

It makes 2 smallish smoothies or 1 very large one.

Kiwi Smoothies are Rad

Smoothies. Who doesn't love 'em? Well, my dears, I have been in kind of a smoothie rut lately. I've been less than creative with my green smoothies, so I decided to shake things up a bit. I found a great deal on kiwis yesterday, so I bought 8 of them for $2.00. I couldn't resist their furry brown goodness. And, to top it off, kiwi are crazy good for you. Don't believe me? Click here for more info. So, yeah, I bought 8 kiwifruits on a whim. A damn tasty whim, if I do say so myself. What's a chickpea to do with 8 kiwi? Make a smoothie...though I didn't use 8, just 2. Forgive me for misleading you. Now make the smoothie already.

Makes 1 smoothie.

• 2 peeled kiwi (mine were partially peeled because I like the skin)
• 1 smallish ripe banana
• 1 small carrot
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup almond milk
• a small scoop of ice

Blend all that tasty shit together and you have a wicked tasty smoothie.

I must say, though, that I was a little disappointed that the smoothie wasn't the mega-vibrant green of the inside of a kiwi. I blame myself for adding carrot and banana. But the taste more than makes up for it.

Yellow Smoothie - Vegan MoFo #13

This is a first for me. I have never, ever made a yellow smoothie. It's surprisingly good. But, weird looking. See, I was attempting to make some almond butter with cinnamon and a bit of agave to sweeten it. For some reason, I just couldn't get it as smooth and creamy as I wanted, so I scrapped it. At the bottom of my blender was the leftover I couldn't reach with my silicone spatula. What's a chickpea to do? Throw in some other stuff and make a smoothie, of course.

There were probably about 2 TB of my almond butter (more like a thick paste...grrr) at the bottom of the blender. I added 2 handfuls of carrot sticks (about 2 carrots), 1 Ida Red apple (quartered), 1/4 cup almond milk, 1/4 cup cranberry juice, a scoop of ice and 3 large strawberries.

I know, sounds an odd assortment, but it was surprisingly good, I promise! I had all sorts of leftover fruit and veg in my fridge as I was in charge of making a fruit and veggie platter for my pal's bridal shower. So, I decided to use up what I could. I'm thinking that I need to make a stirfry or veggie pasta for dinner to use up more of it. I really hate wasting perfectly good produce.

What do you make when you have fruit and veg to use up? I'm always looking for new recipes :)

The Best Salad I've Ever Had

I'm completely and totally obsessed with salads lately. Probably, I should be institutionalized. Today's lunch makes 6 salads in 3.5 days. I don't know what my deal is. I guess I neeeeeeeed raw veggies in my bellah. On the rainbow eating kick, I made this incredible salad. It has a little bit of everything. It's in a huge bowl and I ate it all myself with just a little bit of Italian dressing. I'm in love with adding so many flavors to my salads now.  Here's an overview so you can see it all:

Dudes and dudettes, I introduce to you the best salad I've ever had: The Rainbow Salad. Dig it. 

 

Red- handful of cherry tomatoes from my garden

Orange- 1 small carrot, thinly sliced

Yellow- 1/2 an ear of fresh (uncooked) corn cut from the cob
Green- 1 heart of romaine, 1/4 cup chopped cuke

Blue- handful of blueberries

Violet/Purple- handful of purple grapes, 2-3 TB diced purple onion

Brown- handful raw walnuts

Black- 1/4 cup black beans
Dressing- Don't worry, I'm not one of those folks who jabber on about how good salad is without dressing because it's not. Those people frighten me. My weapon dressing of choice is zesty Italian. Use a little...or a lot. Whatever. It's your salad. I only ask that if you make a shitty salad, don't tell me about it because I don't care. Now, if you make a killer salad to end all other salads, please share. Maybe instead of a dance-off, we can have a right proper salad-off and people can vote over who makes the better salad. But, I digress.

On days when I eat at least 5 colors, I seem to feel better. I feel lighter and have more energy. I'm going to keep going with it, and we'll see where I end up.Maybe there really is something to this whole "eat your colors" thing. I'm still a little skeptical, but I am keeping an open mind. I'm trying new combos of produce and I really am loving it. That's not even snarky.

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?

Simple Strawberry Basil Jam

After my awesome success with the Blueberry Lavender Jam I made a few weeks ago, I decided to take matters into my own paws and try another jam. One of my favorite flavors of jam is strawberry basil, but I have a hard time finding it anymore, so I made an attempt on my own. This is another jam that I don't can properly, so you only have a couple weeks to eat it. I never learned to can, though I'm thinking it might be a handy skill to learn sometime. Alas, now is not that time.

You're probably thinking that strawberry and basil seem odd together, and I agree. However, they taste wonderful. Take my word for it...or not. Whatever floats your boats, amigos. I'm not here to tell you what to do. Wait! Yes, I am! Do as I say. Make the yummy jam. Use fresh sweet strawberries and fresh sweet basil for the, uh, freshest jam. And by fresh, I mean cool. Like the Fresh Prince. Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. You know you watch it on re-runs.

Makes 1 half-pint jar.

Ingredients:

• 1 slightly heaped pint of strawberries, leaves/stems removed, chopped
• 3 TB agave syrup
• 1 heaped TB basil, minced
• pinch salt

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients in a small pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a hard boil, stirring often. Let boil about 5 minutes.

2. Then turn heat to medium-low and low boil for about 25 minutes, or until the top keeps getting a skin. Sounds gross, but you'll know it when you see it. Be sure to stir it occasionally. Carefully taste the jam and add more agave (or sugar) or basil as to meet your tastes.

3. Very carefully pour or scoop the jam into your jar. Let sit until it cools to room temperature then add the lid and refrigerate. 

Enjoy on toast, biscuits, or straight from the jar. You know you want it.

Carrot Raisin Muffins

Sometimes you just need a muffin. Today was that day. I skimmed through my cookbooks and ended up with the Happy Herbivore Cookbook by Lindsay Nixon. I just happened to have everything on-hand, so I decided to go for it. And, with a special thanks to my friend, Elena, I had the whole wheat pastry flour which the recipe called for. If you want the original recipe, you can find it on page 43 of the HH Cookbook.

I did make some changes to the recipe, to make it work to my own tastes, so the recipe below is my version of the original. Also, I made only 6 muffins because there is no way in hell that I need or want a dozen of these babies sitting around my house. Even though they're super low in fat and calories, excess of any food is bad, except chickpeas because they are absolutely infallible in my eyes. Hey, they is my blog and I can say anything I want about chickpeas!

According to the cookbook, each muffin has 103 calories and 0.3 grams of fat. I think my version adds a calorie more. Whatever. One calorie is nothin! I will warn you that the tops of the muffins look dried out, but the insides are anything but. They are lovely and tasty. And, the omni family chowed the rest of them.

On to the recipe! Makes 6-7 muffins.
Ingredients:

• 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (though you can use regular all-purpose)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger
• 1 dash nutmeg
• 1 dash allspice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup plus 1 heaping TB of unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 tsp plus a few drops vanilla extract
• 1 medium carrot, shredded
• 1/4 cup golden raisins

 Method:

1. Preheat oven to 360 degrees F. Prepare a muffin tin with liners or spray the metal pan instead.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the spices, sugar, flour, baking powder/soda, and salt.
3. Add the vanilla, applesauce, and carrot and use a whisk to gently mix until just combined. Fold in the raisins. The batter will seem sort of puffy/airy, but it is supposed to be that way, so don't fret.

4. Use a large spoon or 1/4 cup scoop to fill the cups 3/4 of the way full.
5. Bake in your oven for about 20 minutes. Mine took a minute or two longer. Check doneness with a toothpick. Then let cool on an cooling rack. 

I ate mine by itself, but it is also good with a tiny bit of Earth Balance spread. I am thinking that next time I make these, I might add some chopped walnuts for a little more protein and texture. But, overall, I really, really like these!

Today's earth-friendly tip:

I like to use these unbleached muffin papers that are easily found at health food stores. Mine sells a box for $1.50. The box isn't lying when it says that you don't need to grease the liners. I have no problems with sticking, ever. Anyway, the point of this is that we should be taking steps toward reducing the number of items we are sending to the landfills. And, if we have the space, possibly starting our own compost piles (to which we can add these muffin papers). Home composting is easy, check out this great website for tips articles on getting started. There are million different bins you can buy, and the dirt/tea produced is magic for your flower beds and gardens!

Well, enough chat for now, here are photos of the box so you can read for yourself how great these babies are.

Green Smoothie Addiction -- Vegan MOFO #28

Green smoothies.  THE drink of choice for choosy vegans.  Well, not everyone likes the green smoothies.  It has taken me a little while, but I actually crave their healthy goodness now.  At first I could really only taste the raw spinach, but now I only notice the varied other fruits I add in.  I add different stuff every smoothie, but here are the basics I put into every green smoothie:

• baby spinach
• pineapple
• banana
• golden flax meal

Today's green smoothie was -by far- the best.  It was also HUGE.  As in, half-a-pitcher kind of huge.  I only made it through half a batch, but it was stellar.  I added a little bit of everything I had lying about.  I drank 2 16-oz glasses and still had enough for another half glass at least.  So here's what I used this time:

• 1 cup baby spinach
• 1/2 ripe banana
• 1 cup fresh pineapple
• 2-3 TB flax meal
• 5 fresh cranberries
• 10 fresh raspberries
• 1/2 honeycrisp apple
• 1/2 large bartlett pear
• 1 medium carrot
• 1/4 cup So Delicious coconut milk
• handful ice
• 1/2 cup water

What are your favorite smoothies?

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!

Pineapple Smoothies & the New Vita-Mix -- Vegan MOFO #17

Alright.  I've been eyeing the Vita-Mix for about 2 years.  I really wanted one, especially for smoothies.  The local shop charges $5.00 for a smoothie, and it can be pretty expensive if you want to customize or add any mix-ins, like nuts.  So, I got a different blender in the meantime, which subsequently can barely chop ice, let alone make a smoothie that's (ahem) smooth.  I started doing more research (read: asking my Twitter pals and watching endless videos online) and finally decided to take the plunge.  I ordered a factory refurbished model through the Vita-Mix website under "online specials."  The refurb still comes with a 7 year manufacturer warranty, which is excellent because my old blender had a 6-month limited warranty.  The mixers are expensive, but I've had mine for a day and a half and I'm already in love and made 2 wonderful smoothies.  Just so you know, Vita-Mix isn't sponsoring me or anything.  I paid for the mixer myself and this mini review is from the heart.

So, here's my first smoothie recipe.  I warn you in advance, it is a bit tart which is how I love them.  But feel free to add some sweetener of your choice.  I you are using frozen fruit, you don't need to add the ice.  I used fresh fruit this time, so I added ice.  This recipe makes 2 medium-large glasses full.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh or frozen pineapple
• 1/2 banana
• 1-2 TB fresh lime juice
• about 8 fresh cranberries
• 1 1/4 cups ice
• 1/2 cup water

Blend on high until nice and smooth.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Blueberry muffins are some of the only muffins I really like.  So, when a friend asked me to find her son a yummy blueberry muffin recipe, I was super stoked.  I went on the hunt immediately and stumbled across this recipe.  I love streusel topping, so this is the one recipe I absolutely had to try.  I made only a half batch since there are only 2 of us here in my house and we definitely don't need a dozen of these tasty babies sitting around.  The recipe that follows is for the full dozen.  The only change I made was to add more sugar and cinnamon to the streusel topping.  My favorite thing about these muffins is that you get fruit in every single bite!

Here's The Recipe:

Click Here to Print This Recipe

Muffin Ingredients:

• 4 TB Earth Balance, or your preferred butter, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg replacement (I use Ener-G)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 4 tsp baking powder (seems like a lot, but is perfect)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk of your choice
• 1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Streusel Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup + 1 TB sugar
• 1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 + 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 TB cold Earth Balance or your preferred butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Line muffin pan with 12 liners (I use the unbleached, 100% recycled paper ones from the organic store which don't need to be greased).
3. Cream butter and sugar in a medium sized bowl.
4. Blend in egg and vanilla.
5. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and milk and blend until combined.
6. Gently fold in fresh blueberries.  The batter will be quite thick and you'll need a spoon or scoop to get it into the liners.  
7. Fill the liners 2/3 of the way full.
8. In a smaller mixing bowl, combine the dry streusel ingredients.  Then, using a dough mixer or a fork, cut the butter into the dry mix.  The butter will need to be in pea-sized bits.  There will also still be a bit of dry sugar mixture.  
9. Using a spoon distribute the streusel topping evenly onto the muffin cups.  I used my finger to gently press it down so none rolled out of the liners.  
10. Cook on medium oven rack for 25-29 minutes, or until the streusel carmelizes and the muffins are cooked through (toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffins comes out clean).  Remove to a cooling rack and let cool at least 5 minutes before eating because those berries are very hot.

I suggest you tuck in while they're still pretty warm with a little butter.  YUM!!!  I can never go back to the packaged muffin mix after eating these.  Best blueberry muffins I've ever eaten.

Banana Bread Success!

So, this morning I decided that I really needed to use up some bananas that were quickly turning too ripe to eat.  I was torn between making banana waffles in my amazing new waffle maker or making a simple banana bread.  Since I decided to start trying more things with my cooking, I went for the bread, which I have never made before.  It actually turned out amazingly well.  As soon as it was done, I sliced off a steaming hot chunk and slathered a little Earth Balance butter on it.  It was divine!  This recipe has been added to my permanent collection.

Here is my recipe:

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Ingredients:

• 4 medium-sized ripe bananas
• 4 TB melted Earth Balance, 
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour (I used unbleached all-purpose flour)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 egg replacement (I use Ener-G)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ground cinnamon to taste (I used approx. 1/4-1/3) tsp.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mash bananas in a mixing bowl with a fork or potato masher.
3. Add all other ingredients, mixing well with wooden spoon or spatula.
4. Butter/lightly oil the loaf pan.
5. Pour into loaf pan and bake approximately 55 minutes (or until outside is brown and a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean).
6. The end.  Eat it! *
   

*Because I don't know if you've made bread before, here is what I did as soon as I got it out of the oven: I ran a thin silicone spatula around the inside of the loaf pan to make sure the bread wasn't stuck.  Then I flipped the pan on its side and the bread slid right out onto a cutting board.  I let it cool about 20ish minutes and then covered it with saran wrap to keep moist.