When Emma was visiting my parents in Sacramento last month, she convinced them that she would enjoy going apple picking.  As I suspected, she became disinterested in apple picking about 30 seconds into the adventure, but still came home with a big box of apples.  I’ve had these apples in my fridge and most are now past the point of being edible unless cooked.  I’m still trying to work out an apple spice cupcake recipe (after 7 failed attempts!), so I will save some for that.  In the meantime, I thought I could whip up a yummy, healthy granola based on a Raw granola recipe that I made and liked a while ago (which I’m not even sure I blogged about).

Another reason for wanting to make granola is that I picked up a carton of coconut milk (product review to come later), and I thought the milk would go great with some granola.  This recipe is great, has no added fats (as in oil or margarine) and is free of refined sugars.  What more could you ask for?!    The spice in this granola is subtle.  If you want more bang in the spice department, add a little more.

Spicy Apple Granola

3 cups oats

1 cup oat bran (sub more oats if you don’t have oat bran)

2 cups oat groats (or more oats)

1 cup shredded coconut (NOT the kind in the baking aisle, the one that is just shredded coconut without any sugar)

1/2 cup flax meal

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1 cup raw pecan pieces

1 cup raw almonds, roughly chopped

1 cup raisins

6 apples, peeled and grated

1/2 cup maple syrup (or agave or liquid sweetener of choice)

1 tsp salt

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  In a very large roasting pan, combine the oats, oat bran, oat groats, coconut, flax, seeds, nuts, and raisins.  Use your hands to combine them well.  Add the grated apples and mix to thoroughly combine.  Drizzle the maple syrup over everything and sprinkle on the salt and pumpkin pie spice.  Stir to combine, being sure that everything is evenly coated with the syrup.  Bake for 60-90 minutes, or until the granola is light brown and crispy stirring every 15-20 minutes.

I’ve had my eye on this book for quite some time and I finally found it at the library this week. Emma is getting to the stage where she’s starting to notice differences in peoples’ diets. For example, we went out for ice cream (and she is allowed to choose whatever flavor she wants, regardless of what it’s made from), and she asked me if I was going to have some too. The place we were going didn’t always have a non-dairy option (they do now, thanks to me!), so I had to explain the difference between her ice cream and my ice cream. (I do want to say that when there is a non-dairy option in the flavor she wants– chocolate– I will order that for her instead of the dairy-based ice cream). Anyway, this whole milk discussion led to an egg discussion and her proclamation: “I don’t eat eggs because I’m not a chicken.” I never told her she couldn’t have eggs; this was her decision based on her knowledge of where the egg comes from. I hope that as she gets older she’ll think the same way about milk and choose a vegan diet.

That’s why I thought this book, That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals: A Book About Vegans, Vegetarians, and All Living Things, would be a good thing to read to her. She already knows that we don’t eat chickens and cows and pigs because it’s “not nice,” but I thought this book would explain the concept better than I can. It’s hard to know what a 3-year-old will understand and what may or may not be appropriate.

I read through this book once before attempting to read it to her, and I thought it would be more appropriate for kids 5 and older. We didn’t even get through one page before she lost interest, so I stick by my initial feeling that it’s most appropriate for 5+. It’s a simplified version of what happens to the animals on factory farms (and they are called factory farms in the book– I think to make the distinction between what a kid thinks of as a “farm” and what a farm that raises animals for food is really like). It also talks about how fishing boats are ruining the ocean by catching dolphins, sea turtles, etc– but in terms that a kid could understand. It also talks a bit about climate change, rainforest destruction, world hunger and how animal agriculture is the biggest contributor to all these things.

The Verdict: I really do like this book and will add it to my home library at some point. It will be an important tool in the future for educating Emma about our diet, how it’s different from everyone else’s diet that we know, and why we choose to eat the way that we do.

I made waffles the other morning and they were just so darn yummy!

To make plain waffles, follow my sweet potato waffle recipe and omit the sweet potato. An easy way to make the batter is to use a blender– start by first whipping the flax seeds with the water, then add all of the other wet ingredients. Once the wet ingredients are pretty well mixed, add the dry. Couldn’t be easier!

For a tasty twist, try adding some chocolate chips to the batter.

Okay, I’m sure I’m not the first person to come up with something like this, but it was so darn easy and tasty that I couldn’t help but blog about it.  We don’t have any vegan bread in this house and I’ve been too lazy (and it’s been too hot) to make any.  Even just using the bread machine heats up the house.  Anyway, what I did have were some tortillas left from last night’s burrito fest, so I made a PB&J-dilla.  And it was SOOOOOOO good!!

Spread some natural (organic) PB on one side of your tortilla.  Top with J of choice (I used strawberry).  Add some fruit, if you want.  I added some sliced banana and green apple.  Fold.  Place in a hot skillet and toast about 2 minutes per side.  Remove from pan and enjoy!

a peak at the inside

As you know, I have LOTS of zucchini around here.  I’ve been using it up by making lots of zucchini bread and giving it away or freezing it for later.  Last night, I really wanted to make these chocolate zucchini muffins again, but I wanted it in loaf form because it doesn’t take up so much freezer space, and I was also in the mood for a little experimantation.  So, I took the chocolate zucchini muffin recipe and smooshed it with the zucchini bread recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking and came up with this Chocolate Zucchini Bread hybrid.  And it is soooo delicious!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

(makes 2 loaves)

Wet

2 ripe bananas, mashed well

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 TB white distilled vinegar

2 cups sugar

2 cups grated zucchini

2 tsp vanilla extract

Dry

3 cups flour (I used 1.5 cups whole wheat pastry and 1.5 cups all-purpose)

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Prepare 2 loaf pans by spraying them with non-stick spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients and mix well.  In a separate bowl, either sift together the dry ingredients (minus the chocolate chips) or use a whisk to break up any clumps.  Mix everything together well.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just combined.  Divide evenly between the 2 loaf pans and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

This weekend was pretty fun…  we headed to Sacramento for a family reunion (my mom’s side) and I was in charge of dessert!  Not knowing how many people would actually show up, I made a batch of strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream, chocolate cupcakes with cookies & cream buttercream, and (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World) tiramisu cupcakes.  As you may expect, there were way more cupcakes than necessary, but it allowed people to have seconds and take some home!

The tiramisu cupcakes are a vanilla cake (I used my own recipe, not the one in the book because– in my opinion– the cake recipes in the book all turn out really weird) topped with cream cheese frosting.  Before putting on the frosting, you scoop out a little well in the center of the cake and generously fill it with Kahlua and coffee.  Delicious!  I think this is my new favorite.  It would also make a really delicious layered cake.

Everyone enjoyed all three, but I think the kids (well, teenagers) really liked the chocolate with cookies & cream.  I’ve made it before, but this time I used my food processor to get the cookie chunks much smaller.  I liked that better.

Last, but not least, we have my mom’s favorite, the strawberry.  I’m really anxious to try the strawberry recipe with peaches.  Doesn’t that sound heavenly and so summery?  Peach cupcakes!  Yum!!

My dad has a garden and this year he’s planted more than just tomatoes. His tomatoes are awesome, btw. Check out these zucchini that he said “got away from him.”

The photo doesn’t really do them justice.  The larger one is about 18″ long and 15″ around. It weighs 6 pounds. That’s not much smaller than Emma when she was born. The smaller one is 15″ long, 11.5″ around and 4 pounds. I predict lots of zucchini bread and some chocolate zucchini muffins in our future.

Now for the best part. There is this billboard near our house that I see all the time. Since I’m the one driving and I almost never have my camera handy, I can never get a picture of it. Well, as we were crossing the Bay Bridge yesterday (Matt was driving), I saw the exact same one and was able to get a pic.

In case you can’t read it, it says “Be Veg!  Go Green!  Save the Planet!”  The ad is sponsored by the people that run this website.  While the website is a little strange, it does have some very interesting information on it:

• According to the UNreport “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” livestock production is the greatest contributor to global warming.
• Animal waste and feed cropland dump more pollutants into our waterways than all other human activities combined.
• Meat-based diets require 10-20 times as much land as plant-based diets – nearly half of the world’s grains & soybeans are fed to animals.

I can think of NO good reasons to eat meat, when you take into account how horribly the animals are treated, how it contributes to climate change, and it’s effects on your health.  Seriously, I’m the weirdo at a restaurant who has to pick apart a menu item to make it suitable for me, when in reality, you are the weirdo for suppoting this.  Anyway, I was really surprised that someone would pay for such an ad (happy about it, but still surprised).  I do hope there are ads elsewhere other than the Bay Area where vegetarianism is really pretty common.

Weird combo, huh? Sweet potatoes in a waffle? Surprisingly, it actually works pretty well. This breakfast project originally started out as banana waffles, but when I remembered that I had an extra (already cooked) sweet potato in the fridge that needed eating, a light went off. I’m always looking for ways to sneak in extra veggies, so this was a perfect combo.  To my amazement, the kiddo actually ate some and liked it!

Sweet Potato Waffles

3 TB ground flax seeds

9 TB water

1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk mixed with 1 1/2 TB apple cider vinegar (I used almond)

1 medium sweet potato, cooked and peeled

2 TB brown sugar

2 TB Earth Balance, melted

2 cups flour (I used half all-purpose and half ww pastry)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

First, mix together the “milk” and vinegar and set aside.  In a food processor, combine the ground flax seeds with the water and process until thick and creamy.  Add the milk, sweet potato, brown sugar and Earth Balance.  Process until completely smooth (no chunks of potato left).

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add the wet ingredients from the food processor and stir to combine.  Thin out with a few tablespoons more milk or water if it is too thick.

Cook in a waffle iron according to the manufacturers directions.  I like my waffles extra crispy, so I transfer them to a warm (250 degree or so) oven after removing from the waffle iron.

The only picture we mananged to get of her smiling. Thanks, Kendal.

Yesterday was Emma’s birthday party and man, was it hot!  Perfect weather, actually, since there was a bit of a breeze.  She seemed to enjoy herself; although, every time I ask her if she had fun, she tells me that it was too tiring.  I agree.  Next year, she seems down for a trip somewhere in lieu of a big party.  The theme was garden/spring/bugs.

I bet you’re all wondering what was on the menu so without further delay, here you go:

Fruit:  pineapple, watermelon, grapes, strawberries, cantaloupe and blueberries (and a special thanks to Nana Sally for contributing the best tasting blueberries I’ve had all year– blueberries are one of Emma’s favorite foods).  I used the top half of a pineapple as the centerpiece of the fruit tray.  Then I cut some melon flowers and put them on skewers into the pineapple.  I used green leaf lettuce around the edge for a little something extra.  Turned out cute.

Snack Tray #1:  cherry tomatoes, edamame, spring rolls with Quick Peanut Sauce from Vegan Lunch Box.

Snack Tray #2:  mini pitas, crackers, baby carrots, bell pepper slices, cucumber slices and falafel.

For the kiddos:  PB&J flowers.  Centers are strawberry and grape halves secured with a toothpick.

Cake:

A cupcake tower of strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, chocolate mint, lemon and coconut.  The cupcakes were topped with fondant ladybugs, butterflies, caterpillars, and flowers.  On top of the tower was a “cake” with a candle for Emma to blow out.  I didn’t have time to make an actual cake, so I used styrofoam and covered it with homemade chocolate fondant.  The decor at the top is all made from gum paste and fondant.  Extra embellishments– i.e. the ladybug spots, etc.– are all done with a vegan royal icing (sub Ener-G Egg Replacer for egg white).

I know all of this looks like it took a long time to prepare, and it did, but the great thing about it is that a lot of it can be done ahead of time.  The faux “cake” I made about two weeks ahead of time.  The fondant decorations for the cupcakes were done about a month ago, as with the decorations for the faux “cake.”  All of the cupcakes have been leftovers from the various batches I’ve made over the last month, except for the chocolate and vanilla ones.  I cut up and arranged all the fruit the day before.  The falafel was cooked the day before and reheated the day of.  Yes, it was a lot of work, but breaking it up into more manageable parts made it much easier.

I wish I could take credit for this incredibly creative twist on PB&J, but I cannot.  It’s crunchy peanut butter, slices of granny smith apple, chunks of banana and cranberry sauce.  AND IT’S SOOOOO GOOD!  There’s a little cafe, Specialty’s, in the office park near my hubby’s work.  He goes there occasionally for lunch and today, we all went.  He and I had a veggie sandwich and a cup of soup.  The vegetarian soup today was a roasted red pepper soup with lentils in it.  It was delicious (even Emma ate a bunch of it)!  In the past, they have had minestrone as the vegetarian option and that is also good.  For Emma, we ordered this Peanut Butter & Stuff sandwich and a cup of fresh fruit.  She enjoyed it, but probably not as much as I did.

I’m very impressed by their selection of vegetarian (and easily veganizable) options.  Most sandwich shops you go to have a lame vegetarian sandwich on their menus, which is pretty much just the produce that they normally put on their meat sandwiches.  These vegetarian sandwiches have pizzazz, if you know what I mean.  Prices are pretty reasonable too.

Specialty’s has locations all around the Bay Area (CA), as well as the Seattle and Chicago areas.

Yesterday was Tuesday Party (a party just because it’s Tuesday) and we were in charge of dessert, thus another batch of vegan donuts was born– minis this time.  These were topped with chocolate glaze, maple glaze and plain glaze… and sprinkles, of course.  I think my favorite was the maple and, after attempting the recipe in my previous post, I can say with certainty that subbing maple extra for the vanilla in the vanilla glaze recipe produces a pretty tasty maple glaze.  Adjust the amount depending on how maple-y you like it– I found that I had to add a little more than recommended.

Here’s a pic of my donut pans, just in case you were wondering what they look like.