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Showing posts with label 2014. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2014. Show all posts

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Vegan Cake-mix cookies



Mint-Cocoa Cookies



  • 1 box (allergy-free) cake mix, any flavor
  • ½ c. oil
  • 1 tbsp. Flax meal
  • 1 tbsp. egg replacer
  • 5 tbsp. warm water





Whisk the cake mix in a bowl to help "sift" it without the extra step. Add the oil, and begin to mix it in until it's too dry to stir. Add the Flax and egg replacer to the measuring cup, and add the water, stirring to combine. Stir well to avoid clumps that will ruin the cookies. Add the Flax mix to the cake mix, and stir. Fold everyone together using a strong spoon; when the dough is ready, it will form a ball in the bowl. Drop teaspoonfuls of the dough onto ungreased cookie sheets; they should be fairly round, but without overworking the dough. Bake for 9-11 minutes at 365 degrees; they may crackle on top, but that's fine. When they are done, set out baking racks, and slide the cookies onto the racks to cool.
FLAVORS: We use a white cake mix for sugar cookies (they would be great at Christmas with actual colored sugars), or add Vegan chocolate chips. YUM! Just be aware, the yellow cake mixes I have seen use butter or some dairy to make them yellow, so we stick to the white. We use the chocolate batter for mint-cocoa cookies, but plane is nice, too. If you like the idea of a lower-fat "Mint Thin", simply add 4-6 drops of mint flavor to the batter with the Flax/'egg' mix. Or add a little red food coloring to the white mix, some strawberry or cherry flavor, and mix away! Or just make a couple batches of red/white/blue for national holidays! The choices are endless. AND delicious!

NOTE: Do not let the mix sit for long after you add the water to the egg replacer; it is a powdered version of the chemical makeup of eggs, and once it is mixed, it begins the chemical change. Like yeast, it changes the moment you add it to liquid.




Sunday, August 31, 2014

Vegan Banana Bread Muffins...

Even my skeptical youngest son LOVED these.  The recipe made 17, and I think he ate a third of them!  This is my favorite Banana Bread recipe, tweaked to be delicious, AND they're dairy and egg-free, for anyone with allergies.

V Banana Bread Muffins

3 overripe bananas
¾ c. sugar (I use white an raw)
Pinch of salt


¼ c. canola oil
½ tbsp. baking powder
¾ tbsp. flaxseed meal (mixed with the water)
3 tbsp. warm water
2 c. flour (I use whole wheat)
Vanilla, cinnamon & pumpkin spice to taste (no more than ½ tbsp. vanilla)

Mash the bananas in a mixing bowl, and blend in the sugar, salt and oil.  Mix the flaxseed with the water, and add to the mixture.  Stir to combine.  Add the flour and baking powder as you continue to stir, along with any spices you wish to add.  Pour into prepared muffin cups, and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until a tester comes out clean in the center of the muffins.






Keep in mind, this was my first attempt using the flaxseed to replace the egg, so I don't know how well it would work as an actual loaf.

If you try it, let me know how it turns out!  And I'd love for you to share...  why do you cook Vegan?  Is it a personal choice, or do you have allergies that match the Vegan lifestyle?  Thanks!

Monday, July 28, 2014

Cody and I took a trip together, just the two of us.  We spent a week in Cancun, and then a few days in New Orleans, while my parents were generous enough to keep the kids with them.  We went scuba diving, swimming in the infinity pool and lounging in the ocean, and a little sightseeing/shopping in Isla de Mujeres.  It was a wonderful time, and we enjoyed New Orleans as well, though - to be honest - we weren't overly impressed.  It was a nice city, with historic features; maybe living 20 minutes from downtown Philly and its' historic features (and food, events, etc.) have raised the bar for us.  But then again, Cody and I aren't into big, wild parties with tons of people we don't know - so we wouldn't enjoy Mardi Gras.  Overall, the trip was wonderful, and really helpful for us to have some time alone where we could relax together and just hang out!
 





   





 New Orleans skyline at night from the edge of the Mississippi River, near the French Quarter.

   


      

   
PEEK!

    



    



This was funny - and VERY awkward!

Grandma photobombing Bethany as she shows off the aMAZing, vegan, 4th of July cake she made!

Awwwww...

Tuesday, July 22, 2014



Our newest addition to the family, Russell Valentino (he was born on Valentine's Day).  And we LOVE him soooo much!  He was a birthday present for Hans' this year, and he has become much loved by all.  He is a Dutch Dwarf (though I'm not so sure about the dwarf - he's getting pretty big), and the cutest thing on earth.  He and Tucker are even getting along!   

       




Carmelized Pears - EASY!


After you've finished grilling those Brats or BBQ'ing the chicken, use the coals to make an EASY but delicious, healthy dessert, that cooks while you enjoy your dinner.
Grilled Carmelized Pears:
Take 5 pears, any kind (or as many as you need), and cut them in half, top to bottom.  Cut the core out of each half.  Put aluminum foil down on the grill, and as it warms up, coat it with butter-flavor Crisco (or the regular kind - they both work).  Make sure you have enough foil so you can fold it back on itself halfway; and DO coat the whole thing.  Then sprinkle on cinnamon-sugar, a nice coating of it - so you almost can't see the foil through it.  Then lay the pears on the cinnamon-sugar, cut side down.  Sprinkle more sugar mix on top of the pears (the skin side), fold the foil over top, and crimp the edges a bit.  The coals were running about 225 degrees at this point, and I left the pears on for about 30 minutes.  When you finish your dinner, you'll have soft, warm, caramelized pears just begging for a scoop of vanilla ice cream!  ENJOY!

(Thanks to stresscake.wordpress.com for the photo - everyone ate mine so quickly, I couldn't get a good picture, but that's exactly what they looked like!  Next time...)