Just a Little Bit...

I broke my pantry challenge a lil' bit. Not a lot, just a lil' bit.

But it was for a good cause!  (As long as cookies and cake are a good cause... and I firmly believe that they are).

A friend of mine planned a vegan cookie swap a while back and I couldn't bring anything half-assed,  thrown together from the little bit of cornmeal, oat flour and tapioca starch that I have left. I needed white flour.  And sugar- I was out of both.  So I purchased the flour, sugar, Earth Balance and craisins I needed for my cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies. Nothing practical for dinner, I promise.  (My buddy Sarah can vouch for me.)  And now look at the amazing cookies I'm bringing home!!!  Adorable gingerbread people, Magical Coconut Cookie Bars (from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar), Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies, Double Chocolate Cookies (adapted from Cook's Illustrated), and TWO kinds of Mexican Wedding Cookies/Snowballs/Russian Tea Cakes.  Plus, I have several slightly-too-browned cranberry shortbread cookies left at home.  It's nice to have friends who bake!

Tomorrow I'm bringing a cake to a Yoga Day event for the Iyengar Association.  We decided on a Citrus Spice Cake with cream cheeze frosting. I also had to buy a few ingredients for this, but I figure that's exempt from the pantry challenge because this is for a job, not home consumption.  Here it is naked:

I'm using the Golden Vanilla Cupcake recipe from VCTotW and added orange juice, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg and orange oil.  Yum!  I'll try to remember to get a final picture and "inside shot" tomorrow.

Tomorrow: Back to our regularly scheduled programming: Pantry Challenge Day 14!

Fringe Benefits

One of the many perks that goes along with working at a natural foods co-op is the never ending supply of sample products that show up on the break table or in my mail box.  I have a really handy agreement with our purchasing manager that I'll help her with computer problems if she gives me samples of chocolates.  It's the perfect symbiotic relationship.  I also get a lot of seaweed and raw foods that lots of folks don't want to sample!  

I remember one of my first days working at the co-op (in 2001?).  I was getting the tour of our backroom and had just met my future partner Mike (he was busy "singing" along to some crazy death metal- how memorable).  Mike said, "Hey, if you want some, there's some free carob Rice Dream back here".  And I was like, "Hell, yeah, I want some free rice milk!"  He looked a little confused later when he found out I wasn't vegan because he'd, "Never seen someone who wasn't vegan get so excited about rice milk".  What can I say...I love free food.  

But carob Rice Dream doesn't even compare to my latest sample.

Yesterday I had the distinct pleasure of trying two types of nut butters from Naturally Nutty in Traverse City, Michigan.  Their nut butters are made with organic flax and hemp seeds so they pack healthy dose of omega-3 fatty acids- always a good thing.  

The peanut butter has a super strong roasted peanut taste.  Like just roasted peanuts from the farmer's market in Texas.  Yum!  And 2 Tbsp. of this stuff has 670 mg of omega-3's.  

My real favorite is the Vanilla Almond Butter, though.  Yeah, it's just as amazing as it sounds.  It reminds me of clouds and pillows and sleepy-time things.  I know that sounds weird, but it's true.  It's really comforting and ideal for a bed time snack or dessert.  Or breakfast.  Or lunch.

I happened to have a couple of Peanut Butter Oatmeal cookies laying around (from Vegan with a Vengeance, but made gluten free) and couldn't resist turning them into sandwich cookies with that almond butter.  I know.  It's totally sinfully indulgent to smear almond butter between two cookies already packed with peanut butter.  But it is so worth it.

Note that not all of their nut butters are vegan.  Most importantly, though, the Chocolate Cherry Peanut Butter is.  Someday it will be mine.

Double Chocolate Ganache Cookies (GF)

Leftover ganache.  What a horrible thing to have to deal with...

Just kidding.  But sometimes it gets put in a container in the fridge and I forget about this awesome chocolatey goodness so it doesn't realize its full potential.  Like cupcake frosting, chocolate covered pretzels, little truffles, or sandwich cookie filling.  

So tonight I decided to start using up this leftover ganache in the spirit of my pantry challenge and not wasting anything.  I used Dreena Burton's "Gluten be Gone" Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe as my base.

Double Chocolate Ganache Cookies

makes 11-12 cookies

1 cup brown rice flour

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp. tapioca starch flour

1/4 cup evaporated cane juice

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. coffee extract (or more vanilla)

2 Tbsp. canola oil

10 Tbsp. leftover ganache- room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a bowl whisk together flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, starch, sugar and salt.  In a little jar whisk together the syrup, extracts, oil, and 3 Tbsp. ganache until smooth.  If you need to warm the ganache slightly, just put the (glass, oven safe) jar in the preheating oven for a minute.  Stir the chocolate mixture into the flour and mix until combined and a thick dough forms.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease lightly.  Drop cookie dough on the baking sheet by the spoonful.  You should get about a dozen.  Then lightly press your thumb in the center of each cookie to form a slight depression.  In each hollow place a little less than a teaspoon of ganache.  Bake for 10 minutes and cool completely before eating to allow the gluten-free flour to fully absorb the cookie's moisture and improve in texture.  

And yes, biting into that soft center of ganache is pretty darn amazing.

Local Sweets

I've wanted these cookies for 2 weeks now. They've been in my head- a recipe just waiting to be baked. And now that I've tasted them (and the dog has stolen about 6), I'll have to admit that they were worth the wait.

I wanted these so bad because I've been eating relatively few sweets since my local challenge began 2 weeks ago. I haven't baked much for sweets and I haven't bought many either because I know darn well that cane sugar isn't locally grown. But really, who needs cane sugar when we live amongst the maple trees. If I weren't allergic to them, I'd go hug a maple right now.

Everything in these cookies except for the oil, salt, baking powder and vanilla can be produced in the MN region.

Sunny Maple Oat Cookies
(vegan, wheat free, soy free, no refined sugar)

3/4 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup oat flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup sunflower seed butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly oil. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, oat flour, oats, seeds, baking powder, and salt until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sunbutter, syrup, oil, and vanilla. Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and stir until combined- it will be thick. Drop batter by the heaping spoonful onto the baking sheet, leaving room for the cookies to spread. Bake 10-12 minutes.

Note: if you want to make these with wheat flour, I'm sure they'd work just fine. Just replace the oat flour and/or cornmeal with wheat flour. The texture of the oat and cornmeal is pretty nice, though.

Scattergories Snacks

Last night we hosted a game night in honor of one of our most favorite work friends- She's moving away to Fargo and will be dearly missed around the co-op and at our game nights. I mean, sometimes the only people who show up at our game nights are her and Mike's best friend!

Unfortunately, she was very ill yesterday and couldn't come to the party...so we mourned the loss of our Sophia over a Mediterranean inspired spread:
Garlicky hummus with carrrot sticks, spicy Tunisian olive mix, green olives with herbes de Provence, and Deglet dates.
Stuffed grape leaves (Dolmades) with lots of extra dill ad lemon, just the way I like them.

And peanut butter chocolate cookies...I know...not fitting with the Mediterranean theme. I tried, though.

I made Pistachio Rosewater Cookies from VCon, but adapted them to be gluten free, oily, sugary, masses. I must have measured something wrong, because my (so far) fool proof method of GF cookie making has failed me. They are hard as solid burnt sugar on the bottom and leave behind oil stains on anything they touch. The flavor is great, though. And the dog knocked them off the counter this morning and ate through the plastic bag to get to about 3 of them. So they can't be that bad, right?

Lemon Rosemary Cornmeal Cookies

I know that this flavor combination has been done before for cookies...but I've never tried any myself and I don't recall seeing a gluten-free recipe. So, here's my version of a savory cornmeal cookie. They're soft and a little sweet/a little salty/ a little sour. The crunch of the marcona almonds is a nice surprise, I think.
Lemon Rosemary Cornmeal Cookies
makes 10 cookies

(If you're scared of savory cookies, just call them soft crackers or biscuits)

Dry Ingredients:
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. potato or tapioca starch
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 cup finely chopped roasted marcona almonds
1 tsp finely minced fresh rosemary

Wet Ingredients:
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Topping:
Additional fresh rosemary
Coarsely ground sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk together dry ingredients in a mixing bowl until no lumps remain. In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients. Stir wet ingredients into the dry until thoroughly combined. Take a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough in your palm and roll it into a ball. Place it on the baking sheet and lightly press it to flatten a bit (it should remain fairly fat). Sprinkle cookies with sea salt and press in small rosemary leaves if desired. Bake for 10 minutes and cool before enjoying.

Break-Fast

I started breaking my fast today with miso soup and mango. I felt super good yesterday and today and have tons of energy...But it was time to eat some food.

The miso soup was really simple and really good, and a bit like congee. Here's what was in it:

1/2 cup cooked rice
1 inch ginger, grated
1 small carrot, finely chopped
4 cups water
2-3 Tbsp. miso (I used 1/2 red pepper miso and 1/2 homemade miso)

Simmer together everything except the miso for about 15 minutes, until the rice is falling apart. Then remove from heat and stir in the miso. You could add in anything to this and it would be great (green onion, tofu, broccoli, asparagus, etc.).

The ginger was great for stimulating my digestion and the rice made it more filling than just a broth.

Later I enjoyed a mango- We only have 4 left in our case!

I couldn't resist doing some baking today, even if I'm not eating cookies yet!
Here's Trouble with some "You got PB in my Chocolate" cookies from ED&BV.

And here's my first try at the Really Good Sandwich Bread from Gluten Free [Cooking School]. Mary Frances always has the best gluten-free recipes and this one is no different. Mike was amazed and thoroughly enjoyed his peanut butter sandwich!

True Love

Let this post serve as evidence of my undying love for macaroons. And Third Street Bakery in Duluth. Their wheat-free vegan *Edited because these are "BEEgan", not Vegan* macaroons are the best I've ever had. They aren't a classic macaroon- they are way more rich and dense. They are like a meal.I'd like to also declare my love for those Spicy Italian Sausages I last posted about. I mixed them up with my leftover pasta and ratatouille and added some home-cured olives, balsamic vinegar, umeboshi plum vineger. AMAZING!

Celebrate!

Just in case you haven't celebrated the most wonderful day of the year yet- you still have a few hours left. Today is 2-17, otherwise known as Liz day.
{If you turn the numbers 217 upside down, it spells LIZ}

Here's how I celebrated:
White Chocolate Cashew Cookies (gluten free)
These are based off of Dreena Burton's gluten free chocolate chip cookies from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (gluten free)
Blackened Tofu, Spirals and Cheese, and Garlicky Collards
The Blackened Tofu is from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan. The Cheese sauce is freestyle.

So it looks like I celebrated Liz Day with Dreena's recipes. I also celebrated by not getting out of my pajamas for two days (including grocery shopping), watching over 5 hours of The Office on Netflix (thanks, Mom!), and eating a pint of Rocky Road So Decedent Ice Cream.

And really, aren't these things all what Liz Day is all about? It's important to remember the real values that are behind holidays, like being lazy and indulging in everything you want.

When not searching for treasure...

I've lived in St. Paul for over 9 years now, but until now I've never paid much attention to the St. Paul Winter Carnival Treasure Hunt. Actually, I've made fun of the folks out searching for their precious medallion.

Since Friday night, however, I've been one of the obsessed. When Mike, the kids, and I haven't been out searching (sporting flashlights and compasses) , we've been checking the treasure hunters' message board or discussing the clues. So my culinary adventures have suffered for want of time and motivation to do anything other than find the prize ($5,000 + over $1,000 worth of groceries).

To fuel my searching, I've resorted to things like cold cornbread smeared with Earth Balance or Chocolate chip oat cookies with gobs of peanut butter in between. Obviously food has been an afterthought.

Here are some things I made last week but haven't blogged about yet:

Dreena Burton's Peanut Sesame Hummus from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan
I followed the recipe almost exactly except I drizzled flax oil on top. Very tasty stuff.
This was a pretty quick chili and cornbread dinner. The chili was made in the pressure cooker with kidney beans, red beans, and black beans, canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, and spices. Simple, but good.

On top I put the Cilantro Lime Cream from Veganomicon.
Wow! I subbed 1/2 soy yogurt for the silken tofu because I hate silken tofu so much...and I only had 1/2 the amount of cilantro called for. Mine ended up tasting more like Garlic Lime Cream, but it totally rocked. It was great on top of the chili, on tortillas, on cornbread, or on my finger.
The cornbread was a basic recipe changed to use oat flour and cornmeal.

I've been really enjoying using oat flour lately. It tastes so rich and nutty. It's definitely ideal for cookies. Here are the Wheat free chocolate chip cookies from Veganomicon that call for oat flour:

This is what they looked like before we ate them all.

Cookies!

In case you were wondering- it is possible to bake so many cookies in a day that you feel sick just from smelling the Earth Balance saturated fumes wafting from the oven. I baked about 144 cookies yesterday.


Here's what I made:
Dreena Burton's "You Got Peanut Butter in my Chocolate" cookies
Isa Chandra's Sparkley Ginger Cookies
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's Mexican Wedding Cookies
My Cranberry Pistachio Lime Shortbread cookies


I'm adding these Cranberry cookies to Food Blogga's Eat Christmas Cookies contest because these are my favorite holiday cookies and everyone should make some this week.
Just don't bake so many that you feel sick, okay?

Breakfast for Dinner and Gluten-Free Cookies

This morning Mike and I went to hear the boys read the stories they wrote at their "author's party" at school. Afterwards, we REALLY wanted to go out to breakfast (like to the Seward Cafe)...but instead we were responsible and I went to work. So I promised myself that I'd make a kick ass breakfast for dinner tonight.

I shredded some potatoes and onions for hash browns and scrambled some tofu with onions, peppers, and spinach (plus the obligatory turmeric, garlic, salt, mustard, and pepper). I wanted some sort of sauce to go on top so I whisked together some flax oil, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic powder, dijon mustard, and soymilk. It was so rich and creamy- almost as good as hollandaise sauce.
I couldn't resist making pancakes, too. These are basic pancakes with tons of cinnamon and maple syrup.

Since I felt guilty for serving Mike frozen gluten-free waffles with dinner (while he watched us eat homemade pancakes), I had to make some gluten free cookies tonight.
These are a de-glutened version of the Vcon Chewy Chocolate Raspberry cookies.
(These don't have raspberry, so they are pretty different. I just didn't want to use up my homemade jam on cookies!)
Gluten-Free Chewy Chocolate Cookies
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup rice flour
2 tsp. xanthan gum
2 Tbsp. tapioca flour/powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt.

Preheat to 350 F. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix together the dry stuff. Mix together the wet stuff. Mix the dry and wet stuff, using your hands if it's too thick. Roll a walnut sized ball of dough in your hands and then smash it. Place on the baking sheet and sprinkle with more sugar if you're feeling fancy. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely. If they feel a little gritty, place them in a sealed container overnight. They'll be even more awesome the next day!

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread

Ever since I saw the ad in the Star Tribune about the holiday cookie contest, I was pumped to enter. I knew I wanted to use a variation of a cookie my mom and I made when she last visited. It's a cranberry shortbread that is absolutely divine. I know I personally ate an entire batch of these. Luckily I had my mom and party guests to eat the other 2 batches we made!

I couldn't decide whether I wanted to add lime zest or pistachios to them to make them more festive (and flavorful) for the holidays...So I baked both versions. Since everyone who tasted them couldn't decide which was better, I decided that the final recipe would have pistachios, cranberries, and lime zest. I set up a plate of them and even garnished them to look all pretty for my entry photograph...

I swear that the deadline said Nov. 5.

But I missed it by a whole week! I can't believe it! They're so damn good that I really thought I might win. I suppose I can still enter these cookies next year. Anyways, I suppose I'll give you all the recipe and console myself by eating too many of them.

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

1 1/4 cups Earth Balance (Yep. You read that correctly. These are not low fat.)
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2 1/4 cups flour (This is an occasion to break out the white flour)
6 oz. dried cranberries, chopped finely
1/2 cup roasted, salted pistachios, chopped finely
2 Tbsp. lime zest, chopped finely

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a baking sheet or two with oil or parchment paper. Using a mixer, cream together the Earth Balance and sugar. Slowly add in the flour until a dough forms. Stir in the cranberries, pistachios, and zest. If the dough is slightly too dry, add a bit of lime juice or water (by the DROP!). Pinch off about a tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Press the dough flat with a greased drinking glass or jar or your hand. This will make about 30 cookies, unless you end up making them too big like I do. Bake 11-12 minutes. The tops will look a bit dry when they are ready. Remove from baking sheet, cool and eat!

Halloween and Veganomicon

Only once a year do I post a picture of the kids on the internet- that's when they're wearing masks on Halloween. We watch way too much Law and Order SVU to put the boys faces on the web. So here's your one picture: Two Evil Knights!

I was super excited to be Nancy Drew for Halloween. I may have been the only person who saw and enjoyed the new Nancy Drew movie, but at least I know I'm not the only one who loved the books. Almost everyone recognized me as Nancy Drew, but only after I pulled out my magnifying glass- otherwise I just looked like I was dressed normally. Ha!
I just got Veganomicon, Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's new megacookbook, in the mail yesterday. How overwhelming! I couldn't nail down a single item to try yesterday because everything looked so good. But today I decided to just choose something and cook it.

First I made the Chewy Oatmeal Cookies, but substituted 1/2 dried cranberries and 1/2 chocolate chips instead of the raisins. I'd also like to make these just as oatmeal cookies- no raisins, chips, or anything. They are really nice cookies- great chewy texture and perfect spice blend. I might have even liked them with raisins, but I just can't help doctoring a recipe.
Then I made the Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Seed Spring Rolls. These were super duper simple- just rice noodles, roasted squash, cilantro, and pumpkin seeds in rice paper wrappers. Fabulous idea to put in pumpkin seeds, but you should not use the pumpkin seeds from your Halloween pumpkins that you toasted. Use the kind that have the shells removed. Trust me. I had to open up my spring rolls and remove my seeds because they were soggy and un-chewable! But without the seeds they were awesome! They taste very healthy, but not in a boring bland way. In a really fresh and pure way.


By now I decided that these foods really should be my second dinner, not just fun with my new cookbook. (I often just start cooking without regard for my hunger level or mealtimes. For example, I had just eaten two bowls of stir-fry and rice before beginning this cooking spree)
I needed to add some protein to this meal, so I made the Asian Marinated Tofu and baked it.
Yum! They were nice and spicy. I might even put these tofu sticks inside the spring rolls next time.

Vegetables, Jack-o-lanterns, and a Root Beer River

This past weekend was both crazy and incredibly relaxing. Friday was fun- the kids and I carved Jack-o-lanterns while Mike's band practiced. The kids did a really good job of drawing faces and I didn't cut any fingers off carving them! The pumpkin seeds turned out really nice, too. I spiced them with cumin, coriander, and chili powder.

On Saturday we had to clear out the garden, because there was a chance of freezing weather and we were going out of town for our anniversary. So here's the bounty:

We also filled 16 gallon baggies with lacinato kale, green curly kale, and collard greens for freezing. We gave away about 6 more bags and still have an entire row of red Russian kale. Anyone need any greens?


Since we were going on a road trip to Lutsen on Lake Superior, we needed plenty of road food. These "You got peanut butter in my chocolate" Cookies from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan were perfect! Probably my new favorite cookie.



Here's us looking silly and cold in front of Lake Superior.
The highlights of this trip include:
Losing $9 in a casino
Jacuzzi, tator tots, and Desperate Housewives
Hiking up down-hill ski slopes in amazing 50 degree sunny weather for 3 hours
Seeing the Cascade River Falls (it looks like a river of root beer)
Sipping chocolate, Jacuzzi, and CSI
And eating tempeh reubens with my sweetie

Pasta, Pizza, and Carmel-PB Apple Bars

Last night I really wanted something with mushrooms. I didn't really care what it was, it just needed to have lots of mushrooms. That's usually how I decide what to eat: I crave something intensely and then build a meal around it. (What's really weird is when I crave something I've never eaten before- and, no, I'm NOT pregnant).

I was going to make mushroom wild rice soup, but Mike prefers not to eat soup unless it's my seitan and dumplings, so I decided to make a mushroom pasta dish instead- An instant winner in Mike's eyes. I cooked some fusilli pasta (white pasta, even!). Then I sauteed portobello and button mushrooms with thyme and sage and set them aside. I made the sauce with a flour and Earth Balance roux and added almond milk, tamari, sage, thyme, salt/pepper, a bit of nutritional yeast, and a big blob of plain soy yogurt.


The sauce thickened up nicely and looked a lot like a stroganoff. Mixed with the pasta it was a perfect 11pm dinner!

Today is Sunday, so that's my day to really pull off a great dinner. We eat dinner together as a family several times a week, but Sunday I try to make something really special to look forward to. Unfortunately, I felt like crap all day and didn't think I'd have any energy to cook. But I got a great idea to use up last year's bumper crop of pesto (before we harvest this year's basil). I made two big batches of pizza dough and added 3 ice cube sized things of pesto to eat batch. The crust looked kinda green which might be a turn-off to some people, but it smelled and tasted great! It would be really nice for foccacia bread, too. The toppings were local red onions, martini olives, green peppers from the garden, homemade tempeh sausage, and an awesome quick "cheese" sauce modeled after the late great Spokes Pizza in Minneapolis.


This close up makes me want to go to the fridge right now and eat the leftovers! But I'll be happier if I wait and eat them for breakfast.After all the talk on the PPK about Isa's PB Caramel Apple Bars, I really wanted to try them. And when Mike walked in the door with 3 bags of free Granny Smiths, I knew this was my chance.

WOW! Even just the Caramel PB Sauce is enough to make this amazing, not to mention the crust, apples, and crumble topping.

Next time I'm going to try the topping and sauce on top of a thick apple pie, though. The toppings are a bit rich for such a thin bar... But maybe I'm just a wuss.