Vegan black bean soup with cornbread muffins

The other day I was at the doctors office, and I was looking through a reader digest, I came across a recipe for black bean soup. It looked simple and tasty so tore it out of the magazine ( yes I am one of those people) and taped it to my fridge. Easy one pot meals really appeal to me these days..maybe it is the lack of wanting to tidy up after or just the ease of it all...anyhow this was amazing!

I thought no bean soup would be complete without some cornbread! These cornbread muffins were perfect, hot out of the oven and smothered with butter. I mixed in the last of my chives from the garden, and boy did they ever make the house smell good!

Fruit explosion! muffins

I have missed my muffin days..it has been too long. I busted out the old muffin tin this morning, and convinced a friend to come over and sample a few with me :) I love summer berries, and usually have a good whack of them in my freezer. I also love jam. Muffins, berries and jam!! O yeah baby.

just a spoonful.

best store bought jam!

she loved them...

Ginger spiced plum muffins

I have been MIA lately, no real reason. Loving life. Here is a little muffin recipe I made up that uses all those beautiful little purple, last of summer plums!

Ginger spiced plum muffins

1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup organic sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup shredded coconut
2 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 6 tbsp water
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 cups flour
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups plums- pitted and chopped

Topping

1/2 cup rolled oats
3 tbsp organic sugar
2 tbsp vegan margarine

Preheat oven to 350
grease muffin tin
Mix together muffin mix, spoon into muffin tin
sprinkle topping over.Bake for 25 minutes or until done.

Spinach & cheese scoffins

Savory vegan cheese and spinach go together like salt and pepper. Great for breakfast or served beside a hot bowl of soup. These are a cross between a muffin and scone...a scoffin!

Spinach & cheese scoffins
Makes 12

2 cups flour
1/4 cup nutrional yeast
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 cups non dairy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1 egg replacement ( flax or Ener-G)
1 cup fresh chopped spinach
1/2 cup vegan cheddar cheese
1/4 cup fresh chopped green onion

Preheat oven to 350
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl
Whisk together wet ingedients.
Combine. Stir. Scoop into greased muffin tin.
Bake for 23 minutes or until done.

Butternut squash loaf... or muffins

Sometimes I feel like I have a morgue in my freezer...of bananas. I usually have a good whack of them in there, but today I saw something else. A jar of squash puree smiling at me. I thought it would be a good candidate for a loaf, and I was right. There was a little extra batter so I made a few mini muffins for the kids, topped off with a little Tofutti cream cheese!

Butternut Squash Loaf- or muffins

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup organic cane sugar

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup canola oil

2 cups squash puree

2 tbsp black strap molasses

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 cup water

pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 350

Whisk dry ingredients together

Combine wet in a small bowl.

Pour wet into dry. Mix up well.

In a greased loaf pan, sprinkle pumpkin seeds over and bake for 50 minutes or until done.

Tropical pineapple coconut muffin

The picture was a bit of an after thought, these were the last of the muffins. I think they lasted a whole 20 minutes and then they were gone.Super light and fluffy... a little taste of sunshine out of the oven!

Tropical Muffins
makes 12 muffins

1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt

1 banana- mashed
1 cup soy milk
2 cup fresh pineapple- chopped into small pieces
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup walnut pieces
2 tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin tin with butter or oil.
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
Mix wet ingredients in a bowl.
Combine wet into dry and mix well.
Scoop into muffin tin, sprinkle the walnuts and brown sugar on top.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done

Banana date flax loaf

I had a bucket of dates in the cupboard screaming to be used, and I wanted to make something that would be around for a couple of days just in case the baby decides to make an appearance. Easy for the family to have a snack.

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1/4 cup organic cane sugar

3 very ripe bananas-mashed
2 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 6 tbsp boiling water
1/2 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sunflower oil

In 2 medium sized bowls mix dry ingrigents together, and wet together
Pour wet into dry and mix until combined
Pour into a greased loaf pan, and bake @ 350 for 1 hour or until done.

Pumpkin cranberry muffins

There is something about pumpkins that I love, maybe its their color or the round chubbiness of them, or that they sit on peoples front door steps waiting for a face. Whatever it its I love them and the taste of them!

Local  cranberries hit the store the other day, so I picked up a bag. I am waiting for the veggie stand down the road to put them out, last year I got a huge ziplock bag full! Pumpkin and cranberry mixed together is like Ernie and Bert.

I whipped these up this morning with the roasted pumpkin puree I made the other day.  Perfect with your morning coffee (or tea).

Pumpkin cranberry muffins

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt

1 cup pumpkin puree
3 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup soy milk mixed with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 3 tbsp hot water

1 cup fresh cranberries- pulsed through a food processor ( just to break them up a bit)
Walnuts on the top are optional.

Preheat oven to 375
Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl
Combine wet ingredients, pour into dry and stir it up.
Add the cranberries and scoop into a muffin tin. (grease it if you don't have muffin liners)
Bake for 30 minutes or until done.

Date & orange muffin

When you are pregnant sometimes you feel the urge to clean your home and change it up. "Nesting" as its referred to. I have felt it :) I put the baby crib up for the 3rd time! Yes I have had the same crib for 14 years! Insane...I know.

It is fun putting the baby clothes away. We didn't find out the gender of the baby. I like the surprise. I have one drawer of girl clothes and one drawer of boy clothes, most of which came from the thrift store and some gifts. I also purchased two rag quilts from Etsy, since Leeluu will be sharing her room I thought it would be a special something that they can both have. It is hard to believe that I only have a little under 11 weeks left!

I felt muffinish this morning so I made these, adapted from the joyofbaking.com. The sugar from the dates is sweet so feel free to cut down on the sugar. I will next time only use 1/4 cup. :)

Date & orange muffins 2 cups flour 1/4 cup rolled oats 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 cup cane sugar  1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tbsp grated orange zest 1/3 cup  fresh orange juice 1 cup soy milk/ mixed with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar 1 egg replace 1/2 tsp almond extract 1/4 cup sunflower oil 1 cup chopped dates pumpkins seeds (optional) Preheat oven to 350- grease a muffin tin Mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl mix wet. Pour wet into dry. Mix until combined. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds Scoop batter into tins, bake for 20 minutes or until done.

Mango & Strawberry Muffins

I was at the store yesterday and mangoes were 25¢! I bought 9 of them with hopes to freeze a bunch and put them in smoothies. I also grabbed a box of strawberries, sometimes its nice to have a taste of summer in the cold winter.

When I got home I decided to make some muffins, and thought about mango muffins, but how much better would they be if I added fresh strawberries and in the middle a scoop of strawberry jam!

Mango & Strawberry Muffins

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt

3 mango-peeled and chopped
10 strawberries- chopped

1 cup milk
2 egg replacements
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup canola oil

strawberry jam


Preheat oven to 350
Mix dry with wet. Stir in fruit.
Scoop into greased muffin tin 1/2 way.
Place a spoonful of strawberry jam in the middle.
Top up with the rest of muffin batter
Bake for 45 minutes or until done.

Carrot & Apple muffins....and a winner!

After we came home from the beach, we decided to make some muffins. These are moist and fluffy and perfect for snack time! The winner of the CSN gift card is #84 Dia Corona congratulations! Please email me your info.Thanks everyone for entering the contest :)

1 cup brown sugar
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp sea salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 pinch of nutmeg

1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup apple sauce
2 cups grated carrot
3 egg replacement
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup soy milk
1 apple peeled and grated

preheat oven to 375 and grease the muffin tin
mix wet into dry and stir until well combined.
Spoon into tins until 3/4 full.
Bake for 25 minutes or until done.

Pain au Levain- test one

The same friend of a friend that gave me the kombucha baby also gave me some sourdough starter. I have not made much bread, except for the odd pizza crust, and I did try to make bagels (which were a success:).

Yesterday I fed the starter some flour and water and left it on the counter overnight, when I woke up in the morning it was HUGE! A big bowl of bubbly dough.

I read the recipe that my friend gave me, but I didn't have any of the fancy flours, so I just used my unbleached white flour and went from there. I mixed up the flour and starter together with water, kneaded it for 10 minutes and set it in a bowl on the counter with a tea towel over top. At first I thought I didn't do it right, because an hour past and it had not risen. Then I went out for a few hours and came back and it was BIG, I was happy :)
Punched it down,molded it and floured the top, wrapped it in a tea towel. And let it do its thing, overnight.

When I woke up this morning, I peeked at it...it looked ready to be cooked! I heated the oven up, sprayed the oven with a water mist and baked it for 20 minutes.

When I was in school we would make baguettes, and my teacher use to say "tap it, if it sounds hollow it is ready".  It sounded hollow, but next time I think I will lower the oven heat and bake it for a little longer.

I like mine with jam

Vegan Smores, bannock and a campfire

We had a nice evening...friends and food. What could be better then to finish off the night with a campfire. My friend Diana was determined to make some vegan smores, so we took a trip to the grocery store and brainstormed what we could use for a replacement for marshmallows.


Now make no mistake this is not healthy food, but its fun to eat once in awhile. I am big believer that one should not go without all the time, once in a while is good for the soul.

The hunt in the store was entertaining at the least...reading all the ingredients on potential candidates for making a smore. If you have never had a smore..it is a roasted marshmallow sandwiched between two graham crackers with a chunk of chocolate. Sticky gooey goodness :P

This is what we found to make the vegan smore....tea biscuits ( a plain cookie), some coconut cream (this stuff is sugary and very thick you could ice a cake with it!) and a bar of dark chocolate.  Now because you can't roast the coconut cream on a stick, Diana made up little smore sandwiches in tinfoil and we placed these on the hot coals of the campfire.

This is hard to capture on a camera..so Millies chocolate face with have to do :P

Diana...the campfire genius, also decided to make some Bannock. Which was something new to me! This was so delicious. She added cinnamon and raisins to the dough. The basic recipe is flour, sugar, baking soda, water, and vegetable shortening. Rolled up into long skinny roles ( to wrap around a stick and cook on the fire). It reminded me of pancakes with a bit of bagelness.

Once the kids were all sugared up..it was time to get silly... and roll around on the grass!

Greek Flatbread and Hummus

From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen

Hi there, fellow vegans. Kirsten asked me a while back if I would be willing to be a guest poster on her blog and I agreed! I have enjoyed getting to know Kirsten through her lovely kitchen and recipes.

I am Noelle from An Opera Singer in the Kitchen. I became a vegan back in November 2009 in order to focus on healthier eating and lose some pounds while I was at it. I live in Michigan where there is a lot of focus on farmers and better eating. We have our share of farmer's markets and local products to support, but I am originally from Texas. I am a classically-trained singer that is at the moment taking voice lessons and preparing for auditions in the fall for the Grand Rapids Opera, but meanwhile I work from home as a quality assurance analyst by day and a vegan foodie by night.

My blog features unqiue recipes that I daily create in the kitchen or recipes I have decided to veganize. Even though my husband is not a vegan, he supports and eats what I make as long as he gets to enjoy his normal staples on occasion. I also enjoy making jewelry and photography at the side. I like staying busy if you can tell.

One of my favorite cuisines is Mediterranean food. I constantly hear that it is a healthy way of eating when focusing on their food pyramid, but I think it offers so many options to vegans. If I were a food group I would be HUMMUS. Can anyone raise their hand on that one? It is a bean-based dip perfect for dipping veggies, pita, or piling high on a veggie sandwhich. It is very versatile. My husband even likes it alot!

Since I make hummus alot, I try to vary my meal planning around it so I can have variety. I easily get bored with the same meals but I like to feature it in a different way, so for this occasion instead of buying whole wheat pita from the store I made my own flatbread. I usually do not have too much time to make my own bread BUT this recipe was SO easy to make during the week. This is a veganized and an adapted recipe from Bon Appetit magazine.

From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen

Greek Flatbread

makes 8 flatbreads

1 1/2 cups whole wheat white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasonings
1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
6oz plain soymilk yogurt
Olive oil (for frying)

Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Stir in parsley, Italian seasonings, and garlic. Add yogurt and stir with fork until small clumps form. Knead mixture in bowl just until dough holds together.

Turn dough out onto floured surface. Knead just until smooth, about 1 minute. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces.

From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen

Roll each piece into ball, then roll each dough piece out on floured surface to 4 1/2-inch round. Brush large nonstick skillet generously with olive oil; heat over medium heat. Working in batches, add 3 dough rounds to skillet; cook until golden brown and puffed, adjusting heat to medium-high as needed to brown evenly, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer flatbreads to platter; serve warm.

From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen

Hummus

serves 4

2 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas, reserve 1/4 cup of liquid
1 Tbsp Tahini butter (sesame seed butter)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp cumin
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
olive oil for drizzling

Place beans in processor and add chickpea liquid,garlic cloves, lemon juice, tahini, and spices. Process. Keep processor on and little by little add the olive oil until the mixture becomes smooth. it should not be grainy. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Thanks Kirsten for letting me a guest poster!! Enjoy your vacation!

It's Bagel Time!

Bagels are really fun to make! I quite enjoyed myself in the kitchen toasting the seeds, rolling the dough, boiling the bagels, sprinkling the seeds, and watching them carefully in the oven so they didn't burn.

The process was easy...there was no back breaking kneading involved (maybe a couple minutes). My bloggie friend Vegan Thyme makes bread all the time, she inspired me.

This is my first attempt at a basic bagel. I will defiantly be making these again. I got the recipe of of vegweb.com. I made a dill tofu spread to go on top piled with sprouts and cucumber and you got major yum factor.

Tofu spread

1 block tofu
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp dried dill
1 dill pickle- minced
1 clove garlic-minced
1/2 shallot-minced
1 lemon- juiced
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Lavender Orange Tea Cake

I picked up some cooking lavender at the Halifax Farmers Market a few weekends back. It was my plan to make some sort of shortbread cookie with it, but I decided to make a tea cake with it instead.

I figured it would be best to use applesauce since it doesn't have a strong flavor, and orange zest to play off the lavender. I was a little worried that it might taste like perfume, but it only has a slight hint of flowers. I also added a sucanat sugar crumble to the top. I think I would infuse the milk with a bit more lavender next time, but this turned out moist and light perfect to go with a hot cup of tea.

• 1 cup non-dairy milk
• 1 tbsp dried cooking lavender

Heat the milk and lavender up, and steep for at least 10 minutes

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup organic cane sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp clove powder
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/3 cup veggie oil
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 orange zested and juiced
• 2 tsp dried lavender

Topping

• 1/4 cup organic sucanat sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tbsp earth balance

In a large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients.
In a small mixing bowl combine wet ingredients, including infused milk
Pour wet into dry and stir until combined.
In a greased loaf pan pour mixture in.
In a small bowl combine topping ingredients and mix up with fingers until resmebles course crumbs
Spread the topping mixture over the batter and bake in a 350 oven for 40-50 minutes or until done.