Cakesicles

The day of Halloween we hosted my family's monthly party to celebrate November birthdays. We had a great time and many of us wore costumes which was fun! Prior to the party I asked my sweet niece what she wanted to eat at her celebration and she said "popsicles". Well it's not quite popsicle weather so I searched around and decided to make "cakesicles" using these pans. They were really cute and some of them actually held up! I used this recipe for the cake and this one for the icing with the usual minor adjustments to both (sucanat, coconut oil, and almond milk).

We tried my chocolate chip cookies in them too and I think those would have help up even better on the stick except I didn't watch those carefully enough and they burnt. Yeah, the cakesicles bake super fast so watch them closely! I really want to perfect these though and be able to ice both sides because they were SO yummy and enjoyable. We sprinkled chopped up almonds on some and the sprinkled-looking ones actually have chia seeds (which are incredible!) on them so there was an added bit of healthy goodness :). They did actually look like sprinkles and added the same bit of crunchiness which was nice. Anyway, the birthday girl and boy were very pleased!

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up and then we went on a nice walk and saw the local kiddos in some interesting costumes :). We did have some come to the door too but not as many as usual for whatever reason. It really was a great weekend though...

Hope you all had a great one as well!

Chef or Cook

Which do you consider yourself? I know by definition a chef is someone that cooks professionally, but I think there are alot of people that create incredible dishes at home that qualify to be called "chefs", no? To me, a chef is someone that creates dishes and meals (versus just following a recipe) and someone that knows and understands how flavors and ingredients blend and compliment each other. I also think knife skills help to further the chef title as well for some reason. What else do you think makes an amateur chef?

Myself, I'm definitely a cook because I HAVE to follow a recipe and I have little to no knife skills. But my Love, he has definitely become a chef that can create something incredible completely on his own. Take for example the amazing bean dish shown below that he came up with that we've been enjoying this week for lunches. He's got some serious knife skills too and I love seeing him work and create in the kitchen! Are any of your men the "top chefs/cooks" of your home or just love to cook? It's super hot, isn't it? :)


The dish was even better with some cornbread I made using a recipe OF COURSE :). It's from Veganomicon but I tweaked it just a bit. Although I think I've had better, it's really good and even more delicious with some coconut oil drizzled on it!

Vegan Corn Bread

(2) Cups - Almond Milk
(2) tsp - Apple Cider Vinegar
(2) Cups - Cornmeal
(1) Cup - Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
(1/4) Cup - Sucanat or Raw Sugar
(2) tsp - Baking Powder
(1/2) tsp - Salt
(1/3) Cup - Coconut Oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. I used a 9 x 13 inch glass baking pan but you could also bake it in a cast iron skillet too. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the pan.

Combine the almond milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Create a well in the center and add the almond milk/vinegar mixture. Mix together until just combined (some lumps are ok). Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

OH and I really think there should be a "Top Chef Amateurs" added to the Bravo lineup...wouldn't that be cool? I'd sign my Love up in a hearbeat. Well, have a great weekend.

What's Baking

For dinners lately we've been doing big raw salads and are really enjoying them. It's great because there is no oven or stove needed which keeps our house much cooler! :) In them, we do greens, lots of veggies from the farmer's market, some nutritional yeast, pecans or walnuts, sunflower seeds, and then we add some homemade vinaigrette or just olive oil and balsamic. It's so yummy! Personally, I like eating heavier lunches and lighter dinners because I don't like that heavy feeling I get from big meals at night for when it's time to go to sleep. This is true especially in the summer for whatever reason. Anyway, we have been needing a little extra something with our salads though so I made some bread yesterday and wanted to share the recipe.

It originally came from my wonderful mom so I'm not sure on the initial source actually, but I've changed it up quite a bit and healthified it as well.

Italian Herb Bread - makes 2 loaves

(2) envelopes - Active dry yeast
(2) C - Warm water
(2/3) C - Olive oil
(3) T - Sugar
(3.5) C - Whole wheat flour (we typically do stoneground or pastry)
(2) t - Salt
(2) t - Garlic powder
(3) t - Italian herb mix
(1/2 to 1) C - Whole wheat flour

Dissolve the yeast in warm water (100 - 110 degrees) in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, sugar, and first whole wheat flour, and mix until smooth. Let this mixture rest/sit for about 20 minutes. Then, mix it down. Add the salt, garlic powder, and Italian herbs. Stir in enough whole wheat flour (1/2 to 1 cup) to make dough easy to handle. Knead until smooth and elastic (I love this part:).

Shape the dough into two rounds or loaves - whatever you want to do. Place on oiled baking sheets, cover with clean cloth/towel lightly dusted with flour, and let rise in a warm place until they have doubled in size (45 mins to an hour most likely). I sprinkle a little bit of Italian herb mix on the top and bake at 350 F for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove, cool, and enjoy!

It's super easy and delicious! It's hand downs our favorite bread recipe and I like it drizzled with some coconut oil - YUM! It's also great with olive oil and balsamic, but is just perfect on its own as well.

So, what are you up to this weekend? We are having dinner tonight with a dear old friend that we have not seen in about 8 years...we are so excited! Well, have a great one!

Daddy's Day

Yesterday, our day for Daddy was very enjoyable! My Love went kayak fishing in the early morning while I got up and started the doughnut dough. I made the same recipe last year, but my yeast was dead so I ended up with cookies. But THIS year, the baked doughnuts turned out great and were super yummy. I got the recipe from 101 Cookbooks...she has some great ones, so look around. I health and vegan -ified it with whole wheat pastry flour, coconut oil in lieu of butter, and flax mixture instead of eggs. I loved them...well, AM loving them, as there are PLENTY leftover. They certainly are a VERY special treat though and are wonderful with coffee. Most importantly, my Love really enjoyed them! Over brunch, I shared a funny doughnut hole story that had us laughing all day, right babe? :)


When my Love got home mid-morning from fishing, Lovebug had this little tank on that I had embellished with the heart and "Daddy". He LOVED it and said that was probably his favorite little "gift" of the day. Using the stencil I created for his Valentine's shirt made the whole process much easier.


Lovebug and I also gifted Daddy with this awesome cookbook that he is extremely excited about, as it's full of vegan recipes from some of our favorite chefs. Some of the recipes look pretty difficult and time-intensive but I know our "top chef" is up for such challenges and I cannot wait to see (and eat of course) the results! The rest of the HOT day was spent seeing our grandpa and dads, which was alot of fun.


My gorgeous sweet Love, thank you so much for being the most amazing father possible to our Lovebug. We are truly blessed to have you as ours and we love you so much! Thank you for being such a committed, patient, fun, and loving father. You truly are the BEST. Happy Daddy's Day!

Good feeling

You know what's a good feeling?...When you think you're out of chocolate chips because your bulk jar is empty, but then find a bag of them in your pantry that has never been emptied! Yea! Now I get to make some dark chocolate chip cookies for my Love and I to enjoy over what is going to be a fun family-filled but foul weather weekend. That spring is such a tease! I only wish I had some fresh mint to add to the dough, but some extract will do.


Another good feeling was watching my baby brother last night thrive on the stage and feeling so very proud of him. Gosh I just wanted to jump up there though as I do miss being under those lights!

Alright, have a wonderful weekend full of lots and lots of good feelings!

The Perfect Pair

Yes, me and my Love of course :)...but also mint and chocolate! It's one of my favorite flavor combinations and I don't know why in the WORLD we've never tried this before, but on Friday we decided to go a little crazy and add chopped up fresh organic mint to our vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe, as well as organic peppermint extract in lieu of the vanilla. WOW, so yummy and delicious! They are our favorite cookies ever now - for reals people! So if you like to pair mint and chocolate together, go get you some fresh mint and try it and let me know what you think.


Our weekend was a little "off" as Saturday morning I woke up feeling not myself - so tired and SOOOO sore - almost fluish but no tummy issues or fever. Pretty sure it was the beginning of mastitis, which I've had before in my early breastfeeding days but yeah, it's no fun. So I rested and slept as much as possible on Saturday to fight it off, and my Love and Lovebug were so wonderful! They made me a Vitamin C-full smoothie, brought me chamomile tea with echinacea and st. john's wort tinctures, and just took care of me. I barely saw them though :( except when Lovebug came in to nurse or my Love brought me things or checked up on me, but they had lots of special daddy/daughter time which is always a very good thing.

Yesterday I awoke feeling much better after all that rest, so I think I'm in the clear. Thank goodness, because full-blown mastitis is terrible. Really and seriously, although it was an "off" weekend and I didn't feel well at all, the mint chocolate chip cookies truly made it a bit better so I insist you try it for yourself. Mint has definitely now been added to our planting list for the spring almost solely to make these cookies :)! I hope none of you had "off" weekends and wish you a wonderful week.

OH and there was another part of the weekend that made it nearly all better, which I'll share with you next time. Until then friends! :)

Off to Great-Gramma's

Got up early and the coolness of our nest was heavenly. I love mornings where I'm able to get a couple things done before my babe wakes up. Since she doesn't have a set "schedule" it can prove to be difficult at times but it's getting easier as she gets older. So whether it be a good dvd workout, a run, some blogging, internet research, emails, or what it involved this morning - baking - it's nice to start my day getting some things done before the time with Lovebug begins and all of the fun and craziness that entails :).


I've posted about the above cake before - it's a Vegan Carrot Spice Cake, but this time I made it without the carrots - so it's just a spice cake. Not any old spice cake mind you, it's a really delicious one! Going to add a bit of icing and some raisins, then Lovebug and I are packing it up and taking it to my Gramma's today. She has promised us a lovely lunch of gazpacho, crackers, and fruit...and then my cake for dessert - yum! I'm so excited for Lovebug to see her Great-Gramma and for them to spend some way past due time with each other! As she's a whiz at such things (many and all things really), I'm hoping she can figure out what is wrong with my sewing machine too - as it's not working properly at all :(. Apart from the amount of time driving and gas that will be spent, it's going to be a wonderful day - I just know it! Wishing you all a wonderful Thursday!

Homemade bread and cider

Well HELLO! It's been downright incredible feeling here this week thus far and we are thoroughly enjoying it. It's been in the mid 50's when we wake up which means our house is blissfully cool and requires socks and a light sweater for a couple hours in the morning, which is a very welcome change! We've been gathering leaves and acorns on walks setting them aside for some fall decor, which will go up once I can bear to take down all our summer remnants. The weather makes me want to bake more for whatever reason, so today I made some whole wheat Italian herb bread especially for my Love, whose been craving it ever since my amazing Mom made it a couple months ago. The bread with a little bit of fall apple cider is perfect! I truly do feel fall in the air and I hope it's here to stay (but this is Texas so it might be 100 degrees next week - who knows!). Hope everyone is enjoying some cooler fall weather though!

Wishing you a sweet weekend...

I'm SO excited it's the weekend, and an extended one at that so we get to have some wonderful time together as a lil' family! In celebration, Lovebug and I made some cookies yesterday for us to enjoy. She was in the mei tai as close as can be, which we both love! She tried to grab every single thing...However, I was able to avoid all accidents except one with some flaxseed. Oh well. Inspired by Jade, we listened to some Gipsy Kings that had been on our itunes for awhile but for whatever reason hadn't listened to them extensively. It was quite enjoyable though - Lovebug oh so close, cookies, and some good music! We also have some new neighbors across the street so they'll be getting some of these - if we don't eat them all first :).


The original recipe is from the incredible Vegan Planet yet again and they are oh so delicious and thought I'd share (adjusted a couple of the ingredients below).

Chocolate/Carob Chip Cookies - Makes about 36 cookies:

(2) cups - Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (called for all-purpose)
(1/2) tsp - Baking Soda
(1/2) tsp - Salt
(1) cup - Raw Cane Sugar (called for light brown sugar)
(1/4) cup - Agave Nectar (called for maple syrup)
(1/2) cup - Coconut Oil (called for corn oil)
Flax seed egg replacer for (2) eggs - (2) T of ground flaxseed and (6) T of water simmered until consistency of eggs
(1) tsp - Pure Vanilla Extract
(1.5) cups - Vegan Chocolate or Carob Chips (did 1/2 carob, 1/2 chocolate)
(1/2) cup - Chopped Nuts of your choice (omitted these)

1.) Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil two baking sheets.
2.) In medium bowl, combine first three ingredients.
3.) In large bowl, combine sugar, agave, oil, egg replacer, and vanilla - mix until blended. Add half of dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix. Fold in chocolate/carob chips and nuts (if using). Drop drough by spoonful onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
4.) Bake until golden brown, 15-18 mins.

Hope you have a relaxing, fun weekend and get to enjoy some cookies (or some sort of sweet treat)! Until next time...

I'm bringing hankie back...

Yes that's right :)...I've been wanting to bring hankies back for awhile here at our nest. Since we don't use disposable anything else, cloth handkerchiefs fit right on in. But I wanted to make cute little hankie pouches for them, so I made my Dad's birthday present my trial run. Using an old shirt of my Love's that no longer fit him, I made this one...


It turned out pretty well I think - not perfect by any means, but pretty good. I got the overall idea here, but changed it up and didn't really follow the directions. I wanted a different opening flap than in the tutorial and made a separate outside pocket because I wanted the pouch to be a bit bigger. It's lined with some fabric scraps I got from Hobby Lobby for a steal and finished with a pearl snap. Inside are three super soft organic cotton hankies that I got from here...I had planned on embroidering them, but didn't allow enough time to teach myself how to embroider (soon though:). My Dad, whom I remember used to always have a hankie, seemed to like it, and now I can't wait to make two for my Love and me!


My Dad's favorite cake is a spice one, so I found this vegan spice cake recipe and it was yummy! Used all whole-wheat pastry flour (as always) and baked it in a bundt pan (obviously, per the picture:), made a little powdered sugar and orange juice icing, and added some chopped almonds and raisins to finish the look. It turned out really well and was even more delicious the next morning with some coffee. It tastes very "fall" to me with all the spices - we'll have to try it in October with some spiced apple cider - now that would be delicious! I LOVE me some summer but cool weather sounds pretty nice...


Oh and the vintage metal cake carrier I got from a good friend for my birthday recently - isn't it adorable? Thanks Emily!

A Little Princess

Sorry I did not get to post on Friday - I know my 10 or so readers were very disappointed :)...Seriously - it was a busy day, as was the whole weekend, but loads of fun. We decided to do a little blessing for our babe here in two weeks so there is lots on our to-do list, but isn't that one of the great things about hosting things at your house - that it forces you to get certain things done that you've been needing to for awhile?! But before we could move on to the blessing list, we had a family birthday party on Saturday for my Dad and our niece, which meant a good deal of baking and handmade present making. Think I'll divide it up into a couple different posts for this week to ensure they're not too long.


For our niece's present we decided to try our hand at some freezer paper stenciling, so got a couple of ribbed tanks from a local kid's resale store (fyi - ribbed material isn't the easiest to paint), ordered some supplies from Dharma, and away we went. My Love designed some cool stencils and we were pleased with how they turned out (went ahead and did two tees for our nephew's upcoming b-day as well). I especially love the above tree stencil he made!


Pretty sure we thought they were much cooler than our niece did, but she's five and really wanted to get back in the pool after she saw them, so we understood. Wish we had gone ahead and done a couple for ourselves and Lovebug too...someday soon (after the blessing:). Anyway, the fabric painting was quite fun!

A little birdie told me the birthday girl wanted a pink cake with a princess on top, so I made a vegan strawberry cake with strawberry icing from the Whole Foods recipe section, but used only whole wheat flour and it turned out really well, exept my icing melted a bit during the drive.


The "princess" was a clothespin doll I enjoyed making...used jute for the arms and embroidery floss for her hair, which didn't turn out exactly as I had wanted. My intention was to do a cute bob with bangs to mirror the birthday girl, but it somehow became something else during the creative process. The dress was my favorite part to make though! I am so excited about the new season of Project Runway which I thought could be downloaded from AOL Video like Top Chef was, as we no longer have any TV (which we're really enjoying by the way), but I haven't been able to find the Season 5 premiere yet :(...But anyhoo, that's what I kept thinking about while making the dress - PR - and what would Tim say about it?! :) Have a feeling he would say that it isn't flattering to her waistline, which I would have to agree with.


More birthday creations to come - Happy Monday!!!

Some bread baking...

My Love was home this morning so I decided to take advantage of the help with Lovebug and bake some bread...Been trying to bake alot more as of late as it's something I really enjoy doing. There is something very relaxing, simple, and nostalgic about it to me, particularly bread making. This is a quick/lean bread and is super simple! Got the recipe from a wonderful book I received for my birthday (thanks Courtney/Caleb!:) called Vegan Planet - it appears to have quite a selection of delicious-sounding recipes that we can't wait to try out.

Love the taste of molasses and it has SO many wonderful nutrients in it, especially iron and calcium...here's a substitution we've been doing with it too in such things as waffles. Make sure you get "unsulfured" molasses which does not contain sulfur residue.

Molasses Bread recipe:

(1 1/4) C - Soy Milk (used Rice Milk)
(1 1/2) T - White Vinegar
(2) C - Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (used whole wheat pastry)
(1) C - Yellow Cornmeal
(1) tsp - Salt
(1) tsp - Baking Soda
(3/4) C - Molasses
(1/2) C - Coarsely chopped Walnuts*
(1/2) C - Raisins*

*Didn't have either on-hand so did w/o these, but I could see where they would be a very good addition...will definitely try it with both next time! Plus, the added nutrients from the walnuts and raisins would be wonderful!

1.) Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil (used coconut oil) a 9 x 5 inch load pan and set aside.
2.) Combine soy/rice milk and vinegar in small bowl and set aside.
3.) Combine, flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking soda in large bowl - mix well. Add molasses and wet mixture - stir until batter is just mixed. Stir in walnuts and raisins (if using) with few quick strokes, then transfer to prepared pan.
4.) Bake on center oven rack until firm and toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour (about 45 mins for me). Let cool for 10 mins before removing and enjoying!

Question to all you expert bakers out there - what do you store your bread in? I know that homemade bread does not last as long (read it should be eaten within 2 days which isn't too likely at our nest) since it doesn't have preservatives. We have an antique metal bread bin but that doesn't seem to work too well. Right now, the loaf is wrapped in a kitchen towel and sitting inside a brown paper bag in our pantry, which I've heard can work. I don't know though...Hmmmmm....Saw this today and thought it was pretty cool. I just don't want to store it in a plastic bag or wrap it in foil as we try very hard to not use such things, and I've read that the frig isn't the best place for it either. Sure would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions - Thank you in advance!!

Organic Tour...and a good baking substitution

On Saturday morning we went on an interesting farm/garden tour with some friends and the local organic society...it was neat to see how a different green family lives and all that they're trying to do. I think it took my Love back to his college horticulture classes...and Lovebug loved it as she adores being outside. It was a gorgeous Texas (hot:) summer morning with a very blue sky and lots of pretty green all around us!


Sidenote...this last weekend's waffle making ritual was going great until I realized we only had (1) Tablespoon of baking powder left (and we normally double the recipe posted below for the week) - uh oh!...so I googled a substitution for baking powder and came up with this: (1/4) tsp of baking soda and (1/3) cup molasses = (1) tsp of baking powder.


So we did (3/4) tsp baking soda and (1) cup molasses for the (1) T of baking powder needed to finish the waffles and only about (1.5) cups of rice milk (maybe play that by ear after add the molasses and everything else)...and they turned out GREAT! Darker than usual obviously because of the color of molasses but really yummy (gingerbready) - AND they had the added health benefits of blackstrap molasses - incredible amounts of iron, copper, manganese, potassium, and magnesium.

SO we might always make that substitution from now on - just a little FYI if anyone wants to try that in the waffles...Can't wait to try it in something else now too! Anybody have any other healthy vegan baking subs that they'd like to share? We already do the flaxseed mixture for eggs, sucanat for sugar/brown sugar, and coconut oil or applesauce for butter/oil...but I'd love to hear any others!! Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend.

What's Baking

It was a beautiful morning today after a lovely evening last night with friends at a suprise b-day party (pics to come soon)...My Love got up early to go kayak fishing while his girls slept in a bit and then we all went on a nice family run/walk, followed by a dvd workout and some leftover almond semolina cake. Yum! I baked it for the party last night but had some leftovers which was delicious warm with some coffee! Oh how I love weekend brunch! Here's the recipe:

Almond Semolina Cake (semolina flour is made from durum wheat):

(8) T unsalted Butter*, softened, plus more for pan (*used Coconut oil instead)
(1) cup All-purpose Flour* (*used whole wheat pastry flour instead)
(1 1/4) tsp Baking Powder
(3/4) tsp plus a pinch of Salt
(1/2) cup finely ground Semolina Flour
(4) lg Eggs*, separated, plus (1) lg Egg White (*used flax seed mixture substituted for the yolks)
(3/4) cup sliced Almonds
(3) T packed Light Brown Sugar
(1 1/4) cups granulated Sugar* (*used 1/2 raw sugar and 1/2 sucanat)
(1/3) cup Almond Paste
(1/2) tsp pure Vanilla Extract
(2/3) cup Whole Milk* (*used Rice Milk)

1.) Preheat oven to 350...Generously "butter" or coconut oil 9-in springform pan.
2.) Sift all-purpose (or w.w.) flour, baking powder, and 3/4 tsp salt together in bowl; stir in semolina flour.
3.) Whisk (1) of egg whites vigorously in small bowl until foamy. Transfer (2) tsp's of egg white to a medium bowl (discard remainder). Stir almonds, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt into egg white - set aside.
4.) Put butter (or coconut oil), 1 cup sugar, and almond paste in bowl of mixer and mix on medium-high until pale and fluffy, 3-4 mins. Add egg yolks (or flax seed goop) and vanilla; mix until well blended - approx 2 mins.
5.) Reduce to low speed; Mix in reserved flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 batches of chosen milk. Continue mixing until no trace of flour or chosen milk remain...Transfer cake batter to lg bowl.
6.) Put remaining 4 egg whites in clean mixing bowl; beat on medium-high until foamy...Gradually beat in remaining 1/4 cup sugar or sucanat; beat until soft peaks form.
7.) Using spatula, fold half of egg white mix into batter...Gently fold in remaining mixture.
8.) Transfer the batter to "buttered" pan. Smooth top w/ spatula and bake until cake starts to turn golden but center is still wobbly, 15-20 mins.
9.) Remove cake, scatter almond mixture evenly over top.
10.) Return cake to oven and bake until topping is golden brown and cake tester comes out clean, about 25 mins (check cake 10-15 beforehand and if almonds are browning too quickly, cover w/ foil and continue to bake).
11.) Let cake cool completely on wire rack...run a thin knife around edges to loosen; remove sides of pan. Using 2 spatulas, transfer cake to platter or cake stand.

There are alot of steps but it's a fairly easy recipe...Hope you try it! We have lots of cleaning to do today so better run!