Quick Side: Garlicky Spinach and Pea Mash

I threw this together real quick and turned out good and was husband approved!

This basically happened due to needed something else for dinner and frantically rummaging through ingredients and sometimes that can go quite wrong, but this time it was great!






Ingredients:

1/2 cup frozen spinach
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 or less water
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp parsley
2 tbl vegan butter
2 tbl olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Start by putting the sunflower seeds in a bowl and cover with salted warm water and set aside.
Thaw and drain the spinach and then place it along with peas and water into a sauce pan.  Cover and steam on medium high heat.  This only takes about three minutes or so, once the water is boiling, you don't want to over cook them.  Drain the excess water when they are done.  Then, drain you seeds and add them to food processor and give them a grind.  Scrape down the sides with a spatula and proceed by adding the rest of the ingredients and process.  It will be thick and textury.  If you soak the sunflower seeds longer it will be a smoother consistency.  I really liked it the way it was, and it was so fast!

Vegan Blueberry Pineapple Pancakes (No Flour or Oil)

Yeah so my blog should be called Pancakes n Such I think.


There's just so many ways to make them tasty and healthy and when you have a three year old that always wants pancakes you got to mix it up.

These are all super easy recipes, if you have the stuff on hand.  It can be just as fast as making pancakes from a box.  But, healthier and more filling and way more delicious!


Let's get to it!

Ingredients:
Serves 2-3

1/2 cup rolled oats (Certified Gluten Free, if you want these gluten free)
1/4 cup raw almonds
1/4 cup raw cashews
dash of pink salt
about a tablespoon of baking powder
1 tablespoon organic coconut palm sugar (any sugar will work)
2 tablespoons apple sauce
1 tsp or so of vanilla
4 tablespoons of fresh pineapple juice (lemon juice would also be tasty)
1/4 cup and a splash of dairy free milk (i used almond)
1/4 cupish of chopped fresh pineapple
1/2 cupish of fresh blueberries


Method:

Grinds up oats and nuts in a coffee grinder or food processor.  I use a coffee grinder and spit it up in two sets of half oats, and half nuts.  Pour into medium bowl.  Add the rest of dry ingredients and stir.  Add all wet ingredients except last two.  Pour enough milk to get the consistency you like.  I like it a little thicker.  Add pineapple and blueberries and stir gently.  Cook in coconut oiled pan over medium heat.  These won't bubble so keep an eye on them.  They might fall apart, but they taste awesome!  Top with vegan butter and pure maple syrup, and then tell me thank you!!




                                                Before grinding...

                                                   I used this much pineapple
 

                                                     The batter...

                                                       The tasty result!

                                   The happy Child!

Blueberry Sourcream Cake (vegan)

So I wanted cake for breakfast...

I found this recipe for basic vegan yellow cake and customized it from there

It turned out great and I made a glaze to put on top after it cooled for a few minutes

I didn't let it cool completely before we ate it, so it didn't look too pretty for pictures.
It tasted yummy though!!  You could add any fruit you like, and I probably could have used less sugar.
The glaze was fun and different with the addition of the pineapple juice! 



Bake at 325
30-40 mins
Grease an 8 in pan.


Ingredients
1/4 cup vegan butter (earth balance)
1/4 cup vegan sour cream (tofutti)
2 tbl vinegar
1/2 tbl vanilla
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
About 6 oz fresh bluberries
About 1/4 cup of pineapple juice from fresh pineapple
Handful of crushed raw walnuts

Glaze
Tsp fresh pineapple juice
Juice from half a lemon
About 2 tbl of powdered sugar (up to 3, if you want the glaze thicker)


Method
Soften butter and sour cream. Mix with hand mixer til fluffy, add vinegar and vanilla, mix.  Add all dry ingredients and stir to combine. Add in pineapple juice as needed to get the right consistency. I crushed the walnuts in my hand and folded them and blueberries in. Pour into greased pan. Bake.
Make glaze when it comes out of the oven.
Add all ingredients to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Pour over warm cake, then poke holes in top so it soaks in! Eat.

Super Easy Vegan Banana Orange Muffins

So, I've created a muffin monster.


My almost three year old is obsessed at the moment.  She wakes up and demands muffins! So, its Friday and this is the third time I've made muffins this week!  Ugh, the demands of a toddler...of course they are semi healthy. Some more that others. I've made carrot cake muffins, (healthier than they sound) Pineapple Sunrise muffins, and today the Banana Orange Muffins.  All were vegan, and these ones have more sugar that I would like, but oh well.  Its Friday, right?  I picked this recipe because it was super fast to throw together even with the customizing.


So, I knew these would be tasty once I tested the batter. Which you can totally do without worry because there are no eggs!

 
They turned out perfect! The recipe I followed said to bake for 25 minutes, but mine were just right at 16 minutes.  I despise over cooked baked goods, so mine are usually just a bit shy of being under cooked.  Which is not scary cause its usually vegan, although they might look very pretty.  But, they taste awesome! 

It's kind of a joke in our house about how much I bake.  And my husband thinks I'm trying to make him fat, but I'm like, "Just cause it's in muffin form doesn't mean its the devil filled with sugar!" Which we decided sounded tasty!

Also, these called for walnuts which I would have added but the baby was crying and I forgot, and I don't think the other child could have waited any longer for breakfast.  We were already up for a few hours before I got around to making her anything.

I think these yummies made it all better. She said they were "So alicious" her term for delicious.

                                                           Happy after breakfast with baby sister


This is where the recipe came from.  Like I said I left out walnuts, and changed the baking time to 16 minutes.  And I added a few things...Here is how I made them

Bake 360
15-20 minutes in lined muffin tin until toothpick comes out clean
Makes 12 muffins (or 15 if you don't over fill like I do)
Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas
2 halo oranges
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/4 cup of vegan butter softened (almost melted)

2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mash bananas, squeeze in peeled halos or whatever oranges u have.  Add zest, lemon, vanilla, butter, and sugar and stir until blended.

In another bowl add the rest of the ingredients.  Pour together and stir until just blended.  Use a ice cream scoop to fill lined muffin tin.  Or a spoon if you don't have one.

Bake, Eat

Carrot Cake Pancakes, Vegan and Gluten Free

I haven't posted a blog in forever.  Not that anyone noticed, but I haven't been feeling it.  I've still been making post worthy (in my opinion) meals, but have been real lazy about doing anything other than eating them.  I noticed I post a lot of pancake blogs, and i like to make a lot of different kinds of pancakes, husband says I should write a blog that is all pancakes.


So, I've been making
these a lot lately.  So, easy and then we get to start our day with vegetables and pancakes!
My husband said he didn't believe they were healthy.  They are, but the best part about them is how they taste.

Even though I'm 9 months pregnant, I know I'm not the only one who likes them.  Sometimes you cant trust the preggy taste buds.  This is not one of those times.  My almost three year old and husband have both approved!

Some of the ingredients are quite interchangeable, this is just the way I like it best.

I use my coffee grinder to grind up all the flour ingredients, and I use it a lot for cooking.  You can use a food processor, which I use for the carrots.  I like to grind up a bunch of extra carrots when I make these and then I can use them for a few days in other dishes.




Ingredients:
Serves 2-3


Heaping 3/4 cup of rolled oats
1/4 cup of raw cashews
4 tbs chia seeds
1 tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp pink salt
1 heaping tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 ground nutmeg
1 tbs sugar
3/4 -1 cup almond milk (or any non dairy milk)
2 tbs oil (coconut, canola, vegetable, whatever you have)
2 tsp vanilla
juice from half a lemon
1 cup grated carrots

Method:

Grind first 3 ingredients in coffee grinder or food processor.  Add to a medium bowl and add the remaining dry ingredients and stir.  Add in the wet ingredients and stir until combined.

These are thick and so will take at least 3 minutes in oil at medium on each side.

Notes:  You don't have to use raw cashews, you could use more rolled oats instead.  They really make it taste extra amazing though.  Also, I try to use a full serving per person of chia seeds, so I would adjust them to how many people you make them for.

Here's the not cooked side..

One side cooked for comparison.




Top with vegan butter and maple syrup, or you could even whip up some vegan cream cheese with cinnamon and vanilla and lemon.  or just eat them plain, they really are that good!

Another nice thing about making pancakes with fruit or veggies is they stay warm a lot longer!!