While browsing the dried fruit section of the grocery store yesterday, a tub of figs jumped into my cart. The figs then convinced a tub of dates to follow. Actually, I bought them intentionally, knowing that I had no clue what to do with them once I got them home. Emma really likes fig cookies (newtons, newmans, whichever), so I thought I would look around for a recipe to make them myself.

My sous chef (Emma) and I went to work this morning whipping up this recipe for a very healthy sounding fig bar. The sky was very overcast outside and it sounded like the perfect indoor activity. The entire recipe was incredibly easy to make, although I had to add a little bit more water than the recipe calls for to thin out the filling enough for my food processor to, I guess, process it. I also used maple syrup in place of the agave nectar. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly.

These turned out really tasty, although, I think Emma preferred the uncooked version. After licking the spoon clean, she said it was:

While my figgy bars were baking, I thought of the tons of bananas in my freezer taking up valuable space that I should try to use up. I buy a big bunch of bananas every time we are at the grocery store and, when they start getting brown and spotty, I peel them and freeze them. I probably had 3 bags of frozen bananas to use up and, since my kitchen was already a mess, why not whip up some muffins too?! My sous chef abandoned me for her legos and I was left to tackle this challenge all on my own.

I’ve made this recipe for banana bread before and thought it was “very, very good,” but all that non-dairy butter is probably not too good for my thighs. I decided to substitute 1/2 cup homemade applesauce in place of the 1/2 cup margarine. I followed the recipe exactly, other than that one substitution. After filling my muffin cups, I pressed a few walnut chunks into the tops of the muffins for a little extra crunch and some Omega-3s. Baking time was about 20 minutes, and I got 12 good sized muffins from this recipe.

Emma’s friend, Lily, had her 2nd birthday today. We took along our own cupcakes, which Emma helped me make. Her most important job was licking the paddle after I made the frosting.

The Joy of Vegan Baking is one of my favorite vegan cookbooks. You wouldn’t believe the amount of recipes in it and I refer to it often. The chocolate cake recipe is also available online and is the best chocolate cake that I have ever had. It’s also so easy to make. When I made the recipe for the chocolate buttercream, I waited until the end to add the cocoa powder. Once the frosting was made, I scooped out about half so that I would have some white frosting to decorate with. Then I added in the cocoa powder (the full amount that the recipe calls for) and it was super chocolatey and delicious! Since it was a Hawaiian themed party, I went with a flower design on the top. Writing this post is making me want to eat another one… good thing we had a few leftovers!

For dinner the other night, I made another batch of my Three Bean Soup. This is so easy to make and so tasty. I was running short of time, so I decided to use my little chopper (it’s like a mini food processor) to chop up all the veggies. That was a big time saver and I think I will do that from now on.

On the side, we had some of vegandad’s focaccia. I’ve actually made this once before, but never blogged about it because it didn’t turn out quite right. I was not very precise when measuring the flour, which made the bread turn out a little on the brick-ish side. It was still very good, but I realized right away that I need to be more careful when measuring for baked goods.

This batch turned out much better. So fluffy and yummy… I did substitute dried basil for the sage and it was delicious! Since my mixer does the kneading for me, I will definitely be making this all the time. It is awesome on it’s own, but it would be great for veggie sammies or paninis.