Sweet Potato Date Muffins

1 3/4 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
3/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t allspice
Pinch of salt
3/4 c roasted mashed sweet potato*
1/2 c apple sauce
1/3 c molasses**
1/3 c milk
1 large egg
1/2 c chopped dates

Preheat oven to 400. Grease muffin tins. Combine first 6 dry ingredients in a bowl. You can add some milled flax seed if you want. Whisk the sweet potato, apple sauce, molasses milk and egg. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet. Do not over mix. Mix the dates in. Spoon batter into prepared tin. Bake about 20 minutes for large muffins and 12-15 for mini muffins.

*Roasting the sweet potato will give you a much sweeter potato than boiling it. You could boil, or microwave it, but the muffins won't be as sweet.

**These had a very molasses taste. I think the molasses could easily be replaced in full or in part with maple syrup and/or honey.

White Bean Blondies

I was sitting around the other day, looking for some gluten free dessert recipes. During my search, I decided to look for white bean blondies. I couldn't find a recipe that I liked, so I decided the black bean brownie recipe I make could easily be adapted for blondies. I didn't measure anything, so as usual, my measurements are guesses. Next time, I would add more oatmeal.

1 can white beans (such as Great Northern) drained and rinsed
1 Pear
2 T honey
1 T light corn syrup
2 t vanilla extract
1/4 t almond extract
1/4 t salt
3/8 c oats

Puree all ingredients except the last 1/8 cup oats. Add the last 1/8 c oats and stir. Bake in a greased 8x8" pan at 350 for 35 minutes.

Gluten Free Egg Dish

I was looking online for a gluten free egg dish that wasn't full of gluten free bread. I found something, but it wasn't what I wanted. I changed it up and it turned out really well.

12 eggs
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and shredded
4 oz button mushrooms, sliced
1 c broccoli florets, cut into small pieces
1 small onion, diced
1 cup almond meal
1/2 t sweet paprika
1/4 t thyme
salt
pepper

Saute the onions until they are soft, then added the sweet potatoes and saute until those are soft. Add the broccoli and mushrooms and leave until they have started to cook.

In a bowl, mix together the eggs, a little water, salt, pepper, thyme, paprika, & almond meal.

Mix the eggs and vegetables. Pour into a 8x12" greased pan. Bake at 325 for about 35 minutes.

Chocolate Vegan Icecream

Chocolate Vegan Ice Cream
2 teaspoon Coffee Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

3/4 Cup Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder
3 Cans (13.5 oz each) Regular Coconut Milk

2 Cans (17.5 oz each) Coconut Cream
1 cup Sugar
¾ bag Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (because it’s what I had)
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

In a separate container, combine cocoa powder, coffee powder, salt, and cinnamon, with about a cup of coconut milk, whisk vigorously to form a thick paste, making sure to moisten all of the dry goods and get out any lumps. Once smooth, add into the remaining coconut milk, coconut cream (found in my local asian market) and sugar in a medium saucepan. Turn on the stove to medium heat, and whisk occasionally as it comes up to temperature. When bubbles begin forming around the edges of the liquid, add in the chocolate chips, and whisk slowly or use a large spoon or spatula to keep the chocolate chips moving so they don’t burn on the bottom of the pan, continue until the chocolate fully melts. Once the mixture comes up to a full boil, cook for just a minute or two longer, and as long as there are no more whole chocolate chips remaining, turn off the heat. Stir in vanilla extract, at this point I stuck my emersion blender in the pot and mixed. Place in an ice bath and let cool completely before moving it into the refrigerator to chill. Over night is best.

Churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. We did this in 2 batches. Transfer the ice cream into an air-tight container, and store in the freezer. Let solidify in the freezer for at least 3 hours before serving. So we were a little impatient and had some soft icecream.  Addendum: This is pretty solid after freezing overnight. I've been told that Arrowroot will keep the ice crystals from forming and keep the icecream softer. Next batch. It's still wonderfully good.  Next  try will be a vanilla version.

We also tried to make Vegan caramel with an organic sugar (white sugar is recommended because you can’t see the color change well with the organic sugar) coconut cream instead of half and half and coconut oil instead of butter. I’d forgotten to half the cream and oil so we boiled some more and ended up with a hard taffy like substance the kids loved playing with. If you have fillings in your teeth, we adults don’t recommend trying it on a holiday weekend. The caramel recipe will take some more tweaking.

Strawberry Rhubarb Banana Muffins

This is one of those recipes that I made and didn't really measure things, so recreating it probably won't work exactly. But they are good, so I thought I'd give it a try.
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 t salt
1/4-1/2 c milled flax seed
2 t baking powder
2 eggs
1 T honey
1 t vanilla extract
2 or 3 mashed bananas
1/2 t almond extract
1/4 c apple sauce
1/4 c juice concentrate
1/2 c water



Filling
1 c Strawberries
2 c Rhubarb
1/4 c Sugar
1/4 c water

 Mix the flour, salt, flax seed & baking powder. In another bowl, mix the eggs, honey, extracts, apple sauce, juice and water. Dig a hole in the flour mixture and dump the wet ingredients in. Mix until combined. Do not over mix.

Cook the filling for a few minutes, until the fruit breaks down and it starts to thicken.

Line muffin pans with cupcake liners. Pour a little batter into each liner, then a dollop of the filling and cover it all with more batter. The muffin tins should be about 2/3 to 3/4 full. You will have extra filling, so you can make less if you'd prefer. I like it over pancakes and waffles, so don't mind having some extra around.

Asian Short Ribs

Asian Short Ribs

I've been playing with this recipe for a while and think I've got it down now. My local asian market has most of these ingredients for dirt cheep. The 5 spice cost me about $1.29 and the Hoisin about the same for a 20 oz bottle.  You can get 2 whole vanilla beans at World Market for about 2 bucks, at the grocery store it's $10 for one bean.

3 lbs Beef short ribs

Salt and Pepper

1T olive oil or olive oil spray

5 Shallots

1/3 c rice wine vinegar

¼ c brown sugar

4T Chinese Five Spice

15 oz Hoisin Suace

1 cup water

3T grated Ginger

1 vanilla bean

1 orange

Salt and pepper short ribs on both sides. Heat skillet with spray olive oil and brown seasoned short ribs on both sides just until brown.  Place is crock pot with 5 peeled and halved shallots.  In skillet deglaze the pan with 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar, add ¼ cup brown sugar, 4 Tablespoons Five Spice, 15 oz Hoisin sauce, 1 cup water, 3T grated ginger and halved opened and scraped vanilla bean with pod bring to boil, add to crock pot with the zest of 1 orange and the juice. Cook on High for 3 hours. Serve with Coconut rice.  These were amazingly good.

Carrot Cake Waffles

My kids are pretty good eaters, but I still like to get extra veggies and fruits into them. I woke up this morning with a craving for carrot cake, so looked online for a carrot cake waffle recipe. I couldn't find any that I loved. Most of them used a boxed mix of carrot cake as the started and none used pineapple. The best carrot cake has crushed pineapple in it. So, these waffles were invented. I left out the raisins and walnuts today because I wasn't sure if the kids would love that in their waffles. I also added some grated green apple, only because we had some leftover from yesterday and I wanted to use it up. The waffles were great, but personally I think they could have used a little more carrot and pineapple.
Whisk together
1 3/4 c whole wheat flour
1 T baking powder
1 T sugar (optional)
1/4 c milled flax seed (optional)
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t allspice

Whisk in another bowl:
3 large eggs
4 T apple sauce
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 c lightly drained crushed pineapple
1 c grated carrot
1/2 c golden raisins (optional)
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional)

Black Bean Brownies

While not as good as brownies loaded with butter and eggs, these really are pretty good. No picture though. We ate them way before I could get my picture out. They are best if cooled before you cut them.

1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 pear
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/8 to 1/4 c honey (to taste)
1t vanilla extract
1/4 t almond extract
3/8 c rolled oats

Blend the first six ingredients in a food processor or with a hand blender, add in 1/4 c oatmeal and blend. Mix in the remaining 1/8 c oatmeal. Bake 35 minutes in a greased 8x8" pan at 350.

Brussel Sprouts with anchovy, dijon vinegrette and parmesan cheese

Brussel Sprouts
Olive Oil Spray
2-3 Anchovies
1t dijon mustard
3T white wine vinegar
5T olive oil
1t Lemon juice
Parmesan Cheese

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
Spray a baking sheet with Olive Oil
Take whole brussel sprouts cut off the end and cut them in half and place them on the baking sheet
Spray with more olive oil season with salt and pepper
Roast for 20-25 minutes until carmelized and done

While the brussel sprouts are cooking put the next 5 ingredients into a blender or use a hand blender and mix. Poor over brussel sprouts when they're done like a dressing and grate parmesan cheese over the top. These are not your mothers boiled brussel sprouts. The flavor changes with the roasting and they get soft and have a completely different taste.

Potato Leek Mash

My Esthetician gave me this idea

2 pototoes I used Yukon gold

1 sweet potato not a yam, the flesh should be light yellow

2 leeks white part only

Cut all these up, cover with water, she uses a bullion cube, I used a product called "better than bullion" if you've got neither I cook it in chicken broth until tender. When done remove most of the liquid and used a mixer or hand blender to puree the mixture. No salt, no pepper, no butter and all I can say is mmm mmmm good.

Chili

Chili

( you'd think I'd make it look pretty, but no I dig right in then take the pic when I'm putting away food :)
Brown in a heavy pan
1lb of your meat choice I used tri tip today and used my cuisinart to grind the meat on pulse a few times after it was browned. iit gives the chili a nice texture. I’ve used ground turkey, turkey sausage, tofu, hamburger, chicken sausage and a combination, even leftover pork roast.
1 diced onion and cook until softened ( I like mine a little carmelized and will add them in with the meat)
Reduce heat to low and add
1 15 oz can beans drained – again I’ve used different kinds like kidney, black and white beans
1 28oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1t crushed red pepper (adjust if you have little one’s)
2-3 cloves chopped garlic– if I don’t have any I’ll put in 2t garlic powder
1 ½ t salt
5t chili powder
2t ground cumin
1t Oregano or 1T fresh Oregano
¼ t cinnamon

Simmer about a half hour and serve with Cotjia cheese or Monterey Jack, a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt. Garnish with Avocado slices. Serves 4

If you have any left over this makes great nacho’s with some chips and cheese heated under the broiler.

Chocolate Raspberry Trifle

I made a chocolate cake for a party that stuck in the pan. Of course the cake was way too good to waste, so I made a trifle out of it. When I make this again, I would make a double batch of the raspberry coulis and add fresh raspberries.

Chocolate cake:
9 T cocoa powder
1 1/2 c cake flour (or use regular flour and substitute 3 T of the flour with corn starch)
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/2 c sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
1/2 c coffee
1/2 c milk

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 9" cake pans.

Beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Add one egg at a time, beating until each is fully incorporated. In a seperate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, salt, baking soda, salt & baking powder. In a measuring cup, mix the coffee and milk.

Stir 1/2 of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, then the milk mixture and finally the other half of the flour mixture. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool, remove from pans and tear into cubes.

Vanilla Pudding:
8 T sugar
4 T corn starch
1/2 t salt
4 c 2% milk
4 egg yolk, slightly beaten
2 T butter
2 t vanilla extract

Combine the sugar, cornstarch & salt in a saucepan. Gradually stir in the milk cooking over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat and cook an additional 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.
Stir a small amount of the hot mixture into the egg yolk to temper it. Pour the tempered yolk into the warm mixture. Bring to a gentle boil, cooking and stirring for an additional minute. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla.
Cool for 15 minutes before transferring to a dish to cool. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Hot Fudge Sauce:
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 c water
1 c heavy cream
1 c light corn syrup
1/4 t white vinegar
4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsley chopped
4 T unsalted butter, softened
1 T vanilla

Whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a large pot. Whisk in the milk until well blended. Bring to simmer over medium high heat. Remove the pan from the heat and add the heavy cream, corn syrup, white vinegar and 2 oz of the chocolate. Return to the heat, whisking frequently over medium high heat until it reaches about 225 degrees F. The bubbles will be small and the liquid will be a little thicker and sticky. Remove from heat and add the remaining chocolate, butter and vanilla. Let cool.

Raspberry Coulis: I would double this next time and add some fresh raspberries at least on top of the trifle if not in the middle as well.
12 oz fresh or frozen raspberries
3 T sugar
2 t fresh lemon juice

Blend all three ingredients together and strain through a small sieve.

Trifle:
Layer 3 layers of each cake, pudding, fudge sauce & raspberry coulis in a glass bowl.