Tag: breakfast

Plant Protein Powered Breakfast Cookies!

Plant Protein Powered Breakfast Cookies

These cookies make a great breakfast or snack on the go.  Pair a couple of these with some fresh fruit and you have a delicious and nutritious start to the day!  Need a compact quick energy source while out on a hike or bike ride?  These will definitely do the trick.  Chock full of goodies like wheat germ, flax, pumpkin seeds, and hemp seeds, these babies pack a protein punch!  Not to mention the vitamin E, zinc, omega 3’s, and iron they bring to the party too!  You won’t miss the oil, eggs, or dairy here.  If you tend to be pressed for time, double the batch and freeze some of the baked cookies for when you need something quick on the go.

INGREDIENTS:

DRY
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2  cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup hemp seeds

5 Medjool (or 10 deglet noor), chopped

1 handful dried cranberries

WET

1 flax egg (1 Tablespoon flaxseed meal mixed with 3 Tablespoons water)

1/2 large ripe banana, mashed

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/3-1/2 cup sucanat (or organic brown sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons almond milk

DIRECTIONS: 

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside.  Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl.  Next, add the wet mixture to the dry one in the large bowl.  Mix well with a wooden spoon to combine.
  3. Drop by spoonfuls onto 1 or 2 parchment lined baking sheets.  Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pans after 10 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.  Once they cool, if you want to put some  in the freezer for future use, now’s the time.  Otherwise, if you leave them out they’ll be all gobbled up before you know it!  Enjoy!!

 

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Best Ever Blueberry Coffee Cake

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There is no exaggeration in the title of this recipe!  Seriously, the best coffee cake I have tasted…ever!  Sweet, moist and delectable with just enough blueberries to make it interesting, without getting too mushy.  Don’t skip the topping.  It really makes it.  The struesel-like finishing touch melts a bit to create a phenomenal, lightly crispy and sweet layer.  If you prefer not to use store bought vegan sour cream, there is a quick and easy recipe to make your own at the end of this post.  So brew a pot of your favorite warm bevvie and enjoy!

This recipe is my veganized/healthier version of one found at http://www.cdkitchen.com

INGREDIENTS:

TOPPING:

2 T extra virgin coconut oil

5 T organic sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

COFFEE CAKE:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup organic sugar (evaporated cane juice)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup vegan sour cream

2 flax eggs (2T flaxseed meal, combined with 6T water)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 to 1/3 cup fresh or frozen (not thawed) blueberries

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9×9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
  2. Using a fork, combine the topping ingredients in a small bowl.  Mix until ingredients are all incorporated and resemble cornmeal or slightly wet sand. Set aside for later.
  3. Use medium size bowl and a wire whisk to combine the dry ingredients (flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt).  Set aside.
  4. In a separate large bowl, use a mixer to beat together flax eggs, vanilla and vegan sour cream.
  5. Gradually add in the dry ingredients (about 1 cup at a time).  Beat until the mixture is smooth.
  6. Spread batter into the prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle the blueberries on top.  Gently scoop a little of the batter over the berries, just enough to cover them without making purple batter or sinking your berries to the bottom of the dish. Finally, sprinkle the topping over the batter.
  7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 to 35 minutes, or until a clean toothpick or cake tester  inserted into the middle of the cake comes out dry.
  8. Cool slightly, slice, serve and enjoy!  Best served warm or at room temperature.

VEGAN SOUR CREAM:

1 box Mori Nu Silken Tofu

2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Toss all ingredients into the blender.  Blend until smooth.  Ta da!  Vegan sour cream!! 

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Scrumptious Pumpkin Walnut Waffles!

The days are getting shorter and that tell-tale chill in the air has arrived…autumn is fast approaching.  One of the many things I love about fall is pumpkin!  Pumpkin jack-o-lanterns, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, and of course, pumpkin waffles!

These waffles are perfect for a cool, lazy morning.  They are whole grain, vegan, soy-free and oil-free.  Full of pumpkin, apples and walnuts,  kids get their veggies, fruit, and omega 3s and ask for more.  Make sure to drizzle with some pure maple syrup or even top with bananas.  Delish!

Yields 6 Belgium Waffles

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 cup wheat germ
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
  • 1 can pumpkin puree
  • 2 cups rice milk
  • 3 Tablespoon unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/3 cup sucanat, brown sugar, or other sweetener of choice
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1-2 handfuls raw walnuts, chopped

Directions:

  1. Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer instructions
  2. Whisk together dry ingredients (flour through cloves) in a large bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients and whisk until emulsified.
  4. Combine the wet stuff with the dry stuff and prepare according to waffle iron manufacturer instructions.  Enjoy!

Tip: I have a very used and abused (or should I say “seasoned”) waffle iron.  To keep the waffles from sticking when I take them out,  I spray a little cooking spray on the inside before pouring in the batter.  This makes it much easier to get the waffles from iron to plate without destroying them. 

meltrinidad2 Comments

Creamy, delicious brown rice pudding!

I was so excited when we came up with this recipe today, I couldn’t wait to share it with you!  We eat oatmeal around here for breakfast almost daily.  This rice pudding makes a great warm breakfast cereal for a little change of pace.  You can also serve it cool, or even as a dessert.  It is so versatile.  If it looks a little thick once it has cooled, just stir in a little non-dairy milk, and it should be fine.  Also feel free to experiment a little yourself.  I really like the apples, currants and walnuts that we used today, but raisins, cranberries, dried apricots, bananas, pecans, almonds would all work really well too.  Get creative!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk (soy, almond, rice, etc.)

1 teaspoon vanilla

cinnamon, to taste

1 apple, peeled and chopped (small dice)

1 handful raw walnuts, chopped

1 handful dried currants

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

DIRECTIONS:

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan at medium heat and stir.  Bring to a simmer and lower heat.  Simmer for about 15-20 min., stirring occasionally.  Serve warm or cool.  

meltrinidad5 Comments

Blissful Blueberry Muffins

 

We had a reason to celebrate this morning…our son woke up with his first loose tooth!  So, we made muffins.  Though, you really don’t need anything more to celebrate than just waking up in the morning to enjoy these splendiferous little morsels!

This is an adaptation of a vegan blueberry muffin recipe that can be found all over the internet.  I’ve taken that recipe, decreased the fat and sugar, made it whole grain, and created an even healthier and more delicious muffin.  When my son tried the first one he shouted “Mom,  these muffins are AMAZING!!”.  I can’t imagine a better review!  🙂

NOTE: (#1) This time I used 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup spelt flour, but you can really use any of a number of whole grain flours.  Any combination of garbanzo, spelt or whole wheat pastry flours would be good.  If you want to play it safe though, just start with 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour.  (#2) Regarding sweeteners, if you choose a dry sweetener (which I recommend), like evaporated cane juice, date sugar or coconut sugar, add it with the dry ingredients.  If you decide that you’d rather use a wet sweetener, like agave nectar, honey, date paste or pure maple syrup, add it with the wet ingredients.

Yields 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups whole grain flour (whole wheat pastry flour)

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sweetener (evaporated cane juice, date sugar or coconut sugar)

3 Tablespoons non-dairy margarine (like Earth Balance), softened or melted

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup almond milk or soymilk

2 cups frozen blueberries – do not thaw.  Toss with 1 Tablespoon flour just before adding to batter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly spray a muffin tin with cooking spray, or drop one paper liner into each cup.

2. Place dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and combine with a wire whisk.  Create a little well in the middle of the dry ingredients.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the well in the center of the bowl.  Use a wooden spoon and stir until wet and dry ingredients are all incorporated into a thick batter.  Do not over stir. If it looks too thick (like cookie dough) add a little more non-dairy milk.  If it’s too wet, add a little flour.  You want a nice, thick muffin batter.  DON’T ADD the blueberries yet!

4. Finally, add the flour-dusted frozen blueberries to the batter.  Keep them frozen as long as you can, so that you don’t end up with purple muffins.

5. Fill each muffin tin about 3/4 full of batter.

6. Bake 35 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.  Also, remember to give the pan a 180 degree turn about halfway through the cooking time.

7.  Cool muffins in the tin for about 5 min. then finish cooling on a wire rack.



meltrinidad11 Comments

The Ultimate Tropical Smoothie

This creation, like so many, came out of throwing together whatever we had available.  On this past 4th of July, I wanted to make the kids a smoothie, before heading over to our friends’ home.  After raiding the pantry and freezer, this is what we came up with.  It was way too good, not to share. 

The nice thing about this smoothie, is that it doesn’t matter what time of year you want to make it, nearly all of the fruit used is frozen, with the exception of the mango, which is available almost year round, nowadays.   This cool, tropical treat, would also make a great adult cocktail, just add a little rum or vodka. 

SMOOTHIE TIP:

Whenever you have bananas that are starting to get too ripe, try peeling then freezing them on a flat baking sheet.  When they are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag and keep them in there so that they are available whenever you make a smoothie.  They also make a fantastic creamy, sweet, cool treat on their own!  

Yields 4 large servings

1 can light coconut milk

1 cup pineapple juice (Fresh or frozen pineapple would work well too.)

5 frozen peach slices

5 large frozen strawberries

1 frozen banana (fresh would work too)

½ large fresh mango, peeled and cut into chunks. 

10 large ice cubes

Combine the above ingredients in a blender pitcher and blend until smooth.

 

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