May 2012 – my how time flies!

Hey, kids! For the last year I’ve been working with vegan cookies and recipe gathering. My new facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/cafeauxcookies. Like the page and post your own recipes or photos or cookie stories! On Twitter I am @cafeauxcookies. I welcome any and all conversation on Twitter, so stop on over! My followers are fun and lively. Contact me directly at cafeauxcookies@gmail.com.

See you around the interwebs!

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Thanksgiving Craziness Links!

With the holiday looming and just days ahead, the internet has gone crazy with links to recipes, planning, decorating and anything else to do with our American Thanksgiving.  Rather than try to produce much of my own information, I want to share links here for those of you who might not be able to monitor the net all day, or who watch different websites than I do.

I will update this list as the week progresses — I cannot stand to not share!   Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

National Geographic Thanksgiving Quiz & Games
Some amazingly delicious drinks from my friends at Madtini.com
Eatdrinkbetter.com – Vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes from around the world
Whole Living – Warming fall recipes
Mini pumpkin pies for the kids to make – from National Geographic
Indiana Public Media –  Easy baked apple crisp
OrganicAuthority.com – Article about volunteering this Thanksgiving
Easy Thanksgiving side dishes from delish.com
Be the Hostess with the Mostess
Gluten-free pie crust made with coconut flour
A very nice handful of Thanksgiving links from Organic Valley
The Martha Stewart Thanksgiving Hotline Info

I’ll try to keep up with the mad amount of info crossing my computer, so check back for new links.  Yay for Turkey Day!!  I can’t wait!

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Vegan Vanilla Maple Cake with Strawberries

I just made this cake today (see pics in previous post) and it is ridiculously quick and easy.   If you are vegan or being careful with what you eat, you will love it.  It isn’t a typical cake flavor, not sickenly sweet like most cakes.  I would think of it as a sort of short bread cake, less sweet, but still delicious.  It has the consistency of cake and smells delectable while baking.

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup pure maple syrup
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tsps cider vinegar
1 Tbs vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350F.   Prepare one round cake pan or pie plate by lightly oiling it and dusting with flour.

Mix the first five (dry) ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.  Combine the remaining (wet) ingredients in a separate bowl. Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture and whisk in half the wet mixture.  Once that is well-combined, pour the remaining wet mixture in and stir until it is a batter.  Pour into prepared pan.

Bake 30 – 35 minutes, being sure not to undercook.  Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake.  Cake is done when toothpick is clean.  This cake is gooey in the middle if not well baked (and not a good gooey).

Once removed from oven, let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then top with fruit of your choice.  I used strawberry halves and dusted the entire top with raw sugar.

This recipe is adapted from the Maple Syrup World website.

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My Day in Pics (So Far)

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Busy Week Ahead

I’M SIPPING COFFEE AND GETTING my plan together for this week.  I’ve had smoothie recipes submitted via my facebook page — I’ll be making those all week and posting them here.  So perfect for these warm spring days!   I almost live on fruit in the summer, with such good seasonal variety available. 

We also have Cinco de Mayo in a few days!   Arriba!   I’m gathering some Mexican meal deliciousness for you (including cocktails).   Then next Sunday is Mother’s Day — I’ve already found a refreshing lemon drink made with honey, and a radicchio/goat cheese on crackers appetizer.   More about those later . . .

And about that exercise plan I started four months ago . . .  well, it’s really starting to take off!   My goal is to walk an entire hour every day this week, and you have to hold me to it, dear reader!    One hour every day, surely I can work that in.   I’ve also got a couple of walking websites to share along the way.  I’m trying out podcasts, too, so when I find one that is good enough for you, I’ll let you know.

If you aren’t involved in Twitter yet, I urge you to check it out.  You can start by following me and others in my network.   We talk about all of the things you are interested in:  health, fitness, some are vegetarian or vegan, and some are interested in the green lifestyle.   Create an account if you have the time – I find that a wealth of information flows over Twitter almost constantly.   If you do create a Twitter account and have questions, please email me at 14monthsto50@gmail.com or post your questions on my Facebook wall (click the Facebook button in the right-hand column) – others may have the same questions.

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Food for Food, Inc.

THIS WEEK HAS BEEN so crazy!   I’ve been cooking and shopping for food, reading about cool things to do for Earth Week, and last night I had a group of friends over to watch Food, Inc.  One of the guests had seen it previously, so it felt good to share the info, albeit disturbing, with my good friends. 

We started off the evening with a little wine tasting of some local and regional wines.   Two guests brought wine (discussed in detail, above).   Tracy brought some delish homemade sweet bread, that we divvied up at the end of the night, we all wanted more!   Other snacks were chips & salsa (organic corn – genetically modified?  who knows – we discussed), a fruit salad and an agave popcorn mix I made (recipe on 14 Months to 50 Facebook ) .  

I had seen the movie before but had forgotten just how many facts are packed into it.  Almost every line of the movie, text on the screen or spoken, is a bit of amazing shocking information.   So much is learned about mass food production, farming, and the politics of the food industry from this movie.  And the viewer is introduced to such likeable people as Michael Pollan and farmer Joel Salatin, among others.   I said more than once, “Oh, I love this guy” as people were introduced in the movie.  

We had time to have small discussions during the movie, and had a more involved discussion afterward.  Some people were of the opinion that we can’t do anything about any of it, or that we can’t possibly find truly healthy food to eat.   I argued that we can, and that the bad food can be avoided, or that a person can at least try by eating organic, by finding organic locally grown food, by just being conscious when you eat and shop.  We talked about where we shop for organics locally.  We discussed if we eliminate certain foods from our diet, what foods could replace those.  I dragged some of my food out a couple of times to show what I buy.  Milk was a big topic, and we talked about almond milk as an option.  And we discussed the whole idea of voting with your purchases.  With purchases, consumers tell stores what they do and do not want on the shelves.  That’s a lot of power and influence that we all seem to forget we have.  Food, Inc. has reminded us all (those who have watched it) that we have that power and should use it wisely.

Altogether, I would say my friends went away from the viewing with a lot of things in their heads to sort out, new information and a new perspective.   I could tell that everyone was truly thinking about their own diet and food choices, and how they can improve their lifestyles for their own well-being.  I think everyone is fairly disgusted by the practices of the large food production companies, and no one wants to support those kinds of practices.

So, to my party attendees:   thanks to all of you for coming — I feel good spreading the word — thanks for letting me!   

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Close Encounters of the Kale Kind

UNTIL A FEW MINUTES AGO, kale was totally alien to me.   I’ve been wanting to try it, but wasn’t sure what to do with it.  But my Aunt Karen has sent me down the right path — I copied the way she and my Uncle Bob prepare their kale and it’s great!   

Now that I’ve eaten it, I really like the flavor of kale, to me it tastes a lot like a broccoli/cabbage combo.   The leaves are firm when you chew them, like cabbage, maybe a bit more firm.    So here’s your Meatless Monday recipe from me (and Karen and Bob):

Boil the leaves of the kale in shallow water, until they are bright green.  I only made one serving and I used about six leaves.  Since I used purple kale it was hard to cook by color, so I went by smell.  When I started smelling the kale and it was softer to a fork pierce, I drained the water off.  In the meantime, I was sauteing red and green bell peppers in some olive oil.  Once the kale was ready, I cut the leaves into smaller pieces and tossed them into the bell peppers, still on the stove.    I know I won’t have any problems just eating kale steamed or boiled, on its own.  And I’m glad I finally tried it!!   

(Oh!  Forgot to say, Karen drizzles hers with vinegar — I had mine without and it was just great)

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Lisa’s Healthy Morning Muffins

MY VERY FIRST HEALTHY muffin recipe!   I’m happy with these results, the muffin texture is good, the taste is slightly sweet but not too sweet.  The raisins and oatmeal add a nice chewy feel while you eat.  Here’s the recipe:

Healthy Morning Muffins

3/4 c. oatmeal

1/3 c. oil

1 c. vanilla almond milk (or your fav milk, but this adds some sweetness)

1/2 c. raisins

1 egg

1 c. shredded carrots

1/3 c. honey

3/4 c. wheat flour

1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. nutmeg

Mix the first 7 ingredients, and set aside for 10 minutes.  In a separate bowl, combine the flours, nutmeg and baking soda.  Preheat the oven to 425F, line a muffin tin with cups for 12 muffins.  Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet mixture in, stirring to moisten.  Batter will be lumpy.  Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full, and bake 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into muffin comes out clean.  Mine took 15 minutes.  At the 10 minute mark, I sprinkled evaporated cane sugar on the tops of them, lightly, then continued baking. 

I had enough batter left when my cups were full to make two more muffins, so I decided to try a “cake in a mug.”  I spooned the batter into a favorite mug, then microwaved on high for two minutes.  It worked perfectly!  This would be so cute for a breakfast, to microwave a mug for each guest or to bake the batter in oven-safe mugs. 

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Jamie’s Yummy Asparagus Soup

I ALSO COOKED JAMIE OLIVER’S Creamy Asparagus Soup today.  My house smells so onion-y and asparagus-y.  

My favorite cooking aroma, always, is the smell of onions, celery, and pepper sauteing in a pan.  That’s how this recipe starts, so right away you know it’s good.  Here’s what you need to get started:

Two bunches of asparagus

1 large white onion

3 stalks of celery (I added one to Jamie’s recipe)

2 leeks

Vegetable stock or broth

Chop the celery (I remove the threads), leeks and onion, put into a large skillet, drizzle with olive oil and saute until soft but not browning.  I cooked mine on very low heat to prevent carmelization.  In the meantime, cut the tips off of your asparagus stalks and cut up the stalks.  I only use a little less than the top half of the stalk, you do what you want.  My rule is if the knife meets resistance when cutting the asparagus, I’ve gone too far.  

I ended up with about three cups of stalk, and one cup of asparagus tips.   After the onions have cooked about 10 minutes, add the asparagus stalks to the pan and pour vegetable broth over to cover.  I used a 32 ounce box of broth.  Cover and simmer 20 minutes with the lid on to soften the asparagus.  Spoon the mixture into a blender and puree.  Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste.  I always salt and pepper my onions when they are cooking, so I didn’t add any addition salt or pepper at this point. 

Return the puree to the pan, add in the asparagus tips and boil 10 minutes until the tips are soft.  I covered the pan and let it simmer 10 minutes before the tips were soft enough.   Serve hot – Jamie serves his with toast and poached eggs.   This is a delicious soup.  I know I’ll make it time and time again.

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Cool Mexican Bean Lettuce Wraps

THIS IS MY VERSION OF Jamie Oliver’s Cool Mexican Bean Wrap recipe in my previous post.  I changed a few things, since I like to experiment.  Here are the ingredients:

olive oil

1/2 large white onion, peeled and chopped

1 clove garlic

pinch of chili powder

1 T.  tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes or 1 c. chopped fresh tomatoes

1 can kidney beans

1/2 can black beans

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced

1/2 green bell pepper, sliced

2 Romaine lettuce leaves per serving, spines cut level with leaf

Saute the onion in olive oil, along with the garlic and chili powder.  Add the tomato sauce, beans, and tomatoes.  Cook 10 minutes.  In another pan, saute the sliced peppers in olive oil until soft, puree in blender with 1/2 can of black beans.  Put the beans and 1/2 of the peppers into a blender to make bean spread.   Put the rest of the peppers into the pan of the tomato mixture.  

Take the bean spread and line the inside of the romaine leaves with it, fill with tomato bean filling, and fold over.  I served mine with some sliced cucumbers and black bean chips.  These weren’t exactly “wraps” — I had to eat them with a fork, but I wanted to try the lettuce instead of flour tortillas.  All of the flavors were mui bueno and would easily satisfy a craving for Mexican food.

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