Vegan Dad’s Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls were a special brunch treat! Everyone loved them.

Sauteed Brussels

As the weather is growing colder and light is darkening I can’t get enough brussel sprouts and beets.

Brussel sprouts split in half
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Garlic clove minced

Heat olive oil on medium. When warm, add garlic until lightly brown. Add brussels and sautee until soft and lightly browned on each side. Enjoy!

Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche

And today, I have really been on an oatbran kick, so here was today’s breakfast:

Everything but the Sink Oatbran

1/2 C of Oatbran
3/4 C of Almond milk
1/2 Banana mashed
1/3 C Pumpkin puree
2 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Flax Seeds
Spoonful of almond butter
Raisins
Sweetened with agave

Pour oatbran and almond milk into saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn to medium-low and let simmer for a few minutes. Add the rest, stir and let warm together for another minute. Enjoy!

S and I headed to the Farmer’s Market and found something new…yep, my first Spaghetti Squash. How I have not stumbled upon this before? A vegetable that imitates a pasta? Brilliant. We also bought some beautiful Honeycrisp Apples, Onions, Lettuce and other staples. It was a beautiful fall morning for the Farmer’s Market and a cup of coffee.

S was off to help with a martial arts function this afternoon, so I had the rest of Saturday to myself. I got together a grocery list and headed to Whole Foods. I grabbed the fruit items that I was unable to get at the Farmer’s Market…I know bananas are not local, but neither is pineapple and I can’t live without either. As I turned the corner to the bulk food aisle my cart turned into my friend, A. She looked so distraught! She was reading the ingredients of Grandy Oats, a Maine made granola product. They have a new product out that has Goji Berries and sweetened with Agave Nectar, which was the item she was looking at. We began talking and I found out that she was in the process of changing her diet up a little.  She has decided to take babysteps and begin with her first goal of eating breakfast. She also told me that sugar is her biggest issue, so I began blabbing about all of these things that are so common in my diet and that might be helpful to her. Point of this story being…many readers of this blog are probably fellow foodies, but I know there are a chunk of people reading this where all of these ingredients may be new. And for someone switching up their diet completely, this info. must be overwhelming. So, my new goal (besides being consistent) is to dive into an ingredient thoroughly.

So, A…Agave Nectar. There are a lot of skeptics out there, but it is my sweetener of choice, besides dates/date syrup. Agave Nectar is a sweetener produced in Mexico from the agave plant, which is cactus-type thing. It’s glycemic index/load is lower than other sweeteners meaning you won’t crash like you might with white processed sugar. It is friendly for diabetics due to its’ low glycemic index and to people watching carbs. Since it is from agave, it is a real sugar and does not sketch me out like fake sweeteners do. The con’s are that it is still a processed sugar and not a whole food. But, hey, it’s tough to completely cut sugar, so everything in moderation.

Tonight’s eats: I was asked today, how do you not eat meat and I say, “With recipes like Beatballs, it is easy!” Thank you Marissa! I had the Beatballs over Spaghetti Squash with a Marinara from Rosemont Bakery. Yummy! Click on the above link for the Beatballs recipe…don’t get scared while making the mix, it’s pink! But the results are amazing.

Spaghetti Squash cooking tips:

Preheat oven to 375. I cut the squash in half, scooped out the seeds and pulp and put the insides face down on a foil lined baking sheet. Baked for 35-45 min. Now, when I was done I panicked a little because it did not resemble spaghetti at all. But I took a fork to it and began raking it with the fork and beautiful pasta-like pieces melted away from the skin. Pure bliss!

Now, on to dessert! I had a gluten-free ready made crust from Whole Foods sitting in the freezer calling my name. So, here is the gluten-free treat I whipped up:

Saturday Night Apple Pie:

1 Pie crust-sorry, no recipe since I cheated, but my fav is Isa and Terry’s Veganomicon, a kitchen essential
6-8 apples (I used a mix of Honeycrisp, Paula Reds and Cortlands)
2 Tbsp. Agave Nectar
1 Tbsp Lemon
2 Tsp Cinnamon

Crumble Topping:

1/3 C Whole Wheat Spelt Flour
1/3 C Oats
2/3 C Walnuts chopped
2/3 C Brown Sugar
4 Tbsp. melted Earth Margarine

Preheat oven to 350. Peel and slice apples. Mix apples, agave nectar, lemon juice and cinnamon together. Place in crust. Mix the crumble topping together and pour melted margarine over mixture. Mix. Place on top of apples. Bake 30-40 minutes (Bake until apples are soft, for some reason I have a hard time with the timing of my pies. The apples are always crispy). Serve immediately with ice cream (vegan or none) and a huge smile!

Now, I’ll leave you with this…today’s vintage finds:

Yes, that is a 70’s green corduroy wrap skirt with a screen printed nature scene on it. I might be wearing that everyday this fall and winter.

Rolled out of bed at 7:15, dread washing day, green smoothie, finished a paper and did some on-line class stuff, checked out the space where One Birth will hold its’ first meeting with women from the Somali community on Monday, grabbed some stuff at Rosemant Bakery and home to make snack for afternoon coffee with C. This is where my morning slowed down and I was able to find some groundedness in my food prep. After snack making off to meet with a new massage client.

My snack ideas came from multiple blog inspirations. I made banana nut butter from Katie. It was amazing and how simple…why have we not thought about this before? I roasted some buttercup squash (thinking of my mom the whole time, this squash is her absolute fav) check the recipe out below, I added a bit of a twist, C and I dipped the squash into the banana nut butter thanks to Heather’s inspiration. Then I made the Pumpkin Molasses cookies as promised yesterday and they were, in C’s word’s, orgasmic!

Roasted Buttercup Squash

1 Buttercup squash cut into fry-like pieces
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 Tbsp. Maple Syrup

Pre-heat oven to 425. Put the cut up squash into bowl. Mix the olive oil and maple syrup together. Drizzle over squash and mix until all pieces are coated. Bake for 25-30 min. flipping half way through cooking. Mom would be so proud (ps Mom, you need to try this)!

Adjustments to the Pumpkin Molasses Cookies

I used 1 C of spelt flour and 1 C whole wheat pastry flour
I also tested my date syrup and success! So I put 7 dates into my baby food processor, added 1/2 C water and blended. The syrup should be semi-thick and equal to the sugar in the recipe. This recipe called for 3/4 C of sugar, so I used 3/4 C of date syrup. It actually came out to be a little more because I was worried about the sweetness.

C and I chatted the afternoon away with coffee and good snacks. It was sooo nice connecting with you today, C.

Then more sugar for supper. We met A and D at Silly’s, one of my favorite Portland restaurants. They have an extensive vegan menu. Great veggie burgers, sweet potato fries, pizzas, avocado salads…you get the gist. Silly’s even has something called the Chocodoodledoo: chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream wrapped into a tortilla that is fried! I know, craziness. I settled with a the Still Beatin Pizza on gluten-free crust. It was spinach, tomato, garlic, ricotta, mozzarrella and red sauce. Not vegan, but super tasty! S and I split vegan chocolate cake for dessert and I had decaf…coffee much?

We sat under a red neon light, which did not aid in pictures taken by iPhone. It looks gross, but really was not.

So, I’m feeling like not a green entered my mouth today, but there is hope for tomorrow. And to prove it, a picture of our weekly farm share to inspire tomorrow’s eats. Lesson today: some days it is more important to listen and love than worry about greens! You can quote me on that.

So, I realize a lot of my last posts have been cooked food. I have been eating a pretty simple raw diet during the day and then cooked food for dinner. Lots of green smoothies, big lunch salads, fruits and veggies for snacks. It seems with the cold weather sneaking in and all my favorite squashes and root veggies, it’s tough not to cook!

Tonight’s dinner is a cook for yourself night because S and I are running on different schedules. So, I tried another Ani Phyo recipe, actually two. I made a raw veggie burger with her sundried ketchup. Then…sweet potato fries. I am very hesitant to keep publishing recipes, but I know you can find a similar version of the burger and ketchup at Gone Raw. I know frustrating not to have an instant recipe, but her cookbook is fabulous and it would be great on any vegans shelf. But I did just put together the fries, so here that is:

Sweet Potato Fries

1 Sweet potato
1 Tbsp Olive oil
Sea Salt or Kosher Salt

Preheat oven to 425. Slice sweet potato in fry-like pieces. Drizzle olive oil over potato and rub into all pieces. Put potato pieces onto cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes. Flip them over half way through. Remove and enjoy. Dip in any sauce you would like: ranch, ketchup, maple syrup, the sky is the limit! Like I said, I had made some raw ketchup, which was really good on the veggie burger, but I had to go with regular organic ketchup for the fries. I was just really needing good old ketchup with them.

I know I promise some people Chocomole tonight, but when I got home from class I wanted salty not sweet. So popcorn on the stove was cooked, but Chocomole will be coming soon. If you can’t wait for my review here is where I found the idea. She has great recipes!

STAY TUNED…tomorrow Pumpkin Molasses cookies that were introduced by Heather who found it on Holly’s blog. Blog food sharing is super contagious and addictive. Get ready!

Seitan Stew
The Kripalu Cookbook

3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 C chopped onions
1 1/2 C chopped seitan (again, this is a dinner for S and L, you can just as easily not use seitan)
1 C diced butternut squash
1 C sliced carrots
3/4 C sliced celery
1 C diced potatoes
6 C water
1/4 C Tamari
3/4 C quartered mushrooms
1/2 C canned diced tomatoes
1 Tsp. sage
1 C fresh or frozen peas
1 Tbsp. arrowroot dissolved in 1/2 C cold water (I had to sprinkle some whole wheat flour to help thicken, arrowroot wasn’t enough)
1/2 Tsp. balsamic vinegar

In a large pot, heat the oil and saute the onions for 3-5 minutes or until translucent. Add the seitan and continue to saute until the seitan starts to brown.

Mix in the squash, carrots, celery, potatoes, water and tamari and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer and cook for about 25 min., or until vegetables are tender. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, sage and peas. Simmer for 10 mins. more.

Stir in dissolved arrowroot and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. When arrowroot if fully absorbed, reduce the heat to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 min. Add vinegar and serve immediately.

And for dessert we had some beets from our CSA farm share kicking around so I made a L’s favorite…Chocolate Beet Cake.

Chocolate Beet Cake

2 Beets (1 C pureed)
1 C Unsweetened applesauce
5 Dates*
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
1 C Whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 C All-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 Cacao Powder or cocoa powder
1/2 C sugar*
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tsp baking soda
1/2 Tsp salt
1/2 Tsp cinnamon
* I have been playing around with sugar-free recipes and using only dates to sweeten treats. If you don’t want to use any dates, use 1 C sugar. If you don’t want to use any sugar, I think 10 dates are enough to sweeten this recipe.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Put beets in a saucepan with just enough water to cover them. Boil until tender 15-20 min. Strain beets. Place beets in food processor and measure out 1 C pureed beets. Put 1 C of beets back into the food processor  along with applesauce, dates, vanilla and apple cider vinegar.

Mix dry ingredients. Then add to pureed mixture to the dry mix. Stir. You may need to add a little water if the batter is too thick, but you don’t want it too runny, either. Place mixture in an 8X8 greased pan. Cook for about 35 min. Checking at 25 min. A dry cake is such a sad thing. Enjoy with whatever topping you feel inspired to add. Simple confectionery sugar sifted on top is nice or this glaze:

Confectionery Glaze:

1 C Confectionery sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
Water

Add the vanilla to the sugar. Add water 1 Tbsp at a time until you like the consistency of the glaze. Drizzle over a completely cooled cake. Enjoy! I know L and S will, me too, of course!

I did get a lot questions this week on my morning treat in the mason jar…you guessed, the infamous green smoothie. Sometimes I highlight the new things that I try and I forget the staples. I actually look forward to the morning when it gets closer to going to bed because in the morning my smoothie awaits.

Green Smoothie

1 frozen banana
1 C frozen pineapple
1/2 C frozen mango
1 orange
1 C fresh fruit (some days it’s peach, today honeydew melon, blueberries)
2 pitted dates
2 handfuls of spinach (or other greens)
Water for the base

I usually stick the orange and banana together in the blender with a little water. Then I slowly add the rest of the fruit. You may have to adjust the water-fruit ratio. Add the dates once fruit is blended. Then add your spinach handfuls. Smoothie making is an art form, so have fun and be creative. For a video tutorial check out Happy Foody. She is wonderful with tons of great tips!

Today and the rest of my days are going to be full since I am now back in school. But today I realized I am officially a foody when my packed food for the day was put into a baby cooler. Hey, a lady’s got to have her snacks:

Let me know what you all think about the green smoothie recipe. I can’t wait to hear, the taste does not resonate with the look, by the way! Enjoy!

I introduced a newbie to the world of raw food today and I believe he fared well. We headed to Gro for our weekly noon meeting, caught up and had a wonderfully healthy meal. Gro is located on 437 Congress St., in between the Univeral Unitarian Church and the Public Library. You really need to check them out…how can you not love a cafe with a mission statement?! They have amazing smoothies, I recommend Gro Up, which has cacao, hemp seed, nut milk, honey, maca, goji berries, cayenne and chia. It provides a great little afternoon buzz. Today V and I both had the Terra Burger, which is their veggie burger. Keep in mind that this is a raw restaurant so nothing is heated about 112 degrees to preserve all of those precious enzymes, but it did seem dehydrated. It was so tasty! I had it on their homemade tomato flax wrap and V had it on Ezekiel bread, I thought that would be best for a newbie. Now for the bummer…I was so excited by my beautiful lunch and wonderful company that I totally forgot to take a picture. BOO! I know. So, you will have to be content with a picture of the menu. Maybe this will leave you in suspense and you get there faster.

Tonight for dinner it’s Potato Leek Soup. A fall staple and I’m home by myself, which is so nice after a busy week. No offense, S. I love pureed soups and this is one of the few, probably because it is made with potatoes (S will put any type of potato product in her mouth. I blame it on her Southern upbringing), pureed soups that S doesn’t complain about. The others feel too much like baby food for her. Mine was super straight forward, but in case you need a fall refresher, here it is:

Potato Leek Soup Vegan Style
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large leek (I got a beautiful one from my CSA this week. Thanks Fresh Start Farms!)
2 C of yellow onion
1 garlic clove minced or more if you love garlic, for extra taste you could roast it
2 Large potatoes or a bunch of little ones, like I had from my CSA share, roughly 1 lb.
4 C of water or vegetable stock (I use vegan bouillion cubes)

Heat olive oil in a soup pot. Add onions and leek. Saute until onions are translucent. Add garlic, saute another min. Add potatoes, saute another min. or so. Add water/vegetable stock. Cook for 20 min. Let cool for a few minutes so you don’t totally burn yourself. Use an immersion blender (I wish!) or blender (like me) and blend until pureed. Set back on stove to simmer for a few min. and enjoy!

Now for dessert. I am so pumped..one of my favorite bloggers posted a very unique vegan ice cream recipe. Click here to find it. Did you look? I know, sounds scary, but I think it is going to turn out like pumpkin pie ice cream. I haven’t started up the ice cream maker, yet, but that is what it tastes like so far. I had to make a few substitutes: in stead of MimiCream, I used coconut milk. The trick for think vegan ice cream is putting your can of coconut in the fridge and the top will form a solid cream, but you should get the regular, not the light version. So, I used 3/4 C of the hard cream and 1 1/4 of the liquid; I used date syrup (4 dates processed with 1/2 C of water) for my sweetener, and instead of pumpkin pie spice I used cinnamin, nutmeg, ginger and a little all spice and just kept tasting until I got the spices right. I really wanted mine to be like pumpkin pie. I think it’s going to be amazing but I’ll let you know tomorrow!

Now, on to my pop culture for the night. Yep, you got it right Dan Brown and Butternut Ice Cream. Just heavenly! Have a great Friday all.

So, every Thurs. before Program Development I like to eat a dinner with lots of alkaline foods for a few reasons: high energy class and my head is usually spinning afterwards, in a good way, but spinning nonetheless, lots of information processing and sustainability, I don’t want my blood sugar to crash half way through class. This information applies to a lot of other areas in life, too. On to the food:

My favorite super alkaline meal is Sweet Potato and Guacamole Nori Wraps:
*To assembly the wraps you will need to prep some things first

Roasted Sweet Potato
1 Sweet Potato cut into slices
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Tbsp Cumin
1/2 Tbsp Coriander
1 Tsp Chile Powder

Preheat oven to 425. Mix olive oil, cumin, coriander, chile powder together in a bowl. Coat all sweet potato slices with mixture. Place onto a foiled lined (makes clean up easier) baking sheet and cook for 30 min. Make sure you flip all potato slices over half way through.

Quick Guac
1 Avocado
2 Tbsp Red Onion finely diced
Few drops of lime/lemon juice

Mash the avocado with a fork. Add the onion and sprinkle with a few drops of lime juice. Guacamole is super simple, but I think people are intimidated. This version is easy and the simplicity is just enough to mix with the other flavors of the wrap. Usually I add garlic and tomato to my more “fancy” guac.

Sweet Potato and Avocado Nori Wraps:
Sheets of nori (sushi wrappers) toasted over a stove top burner until bright green (brings out the flavor)
Sweet Potatos
Quick Guac
Cooked Quinoa (complete plant protein) or brown rice

How to assemble: Lay your nori flat on a counter. Spread your quinoa on the right side, followed by guacamole and then sweet potatoes. Wrap the nori up like a burrito, when you come to sealing it, have some cold water available and wet the seal with water. Cut into bite size pieces or just enjoy, as is. You can also dip in soy sauce or some Braggs.

This is absolutely one of my favorite creations. The sweet potato and avocado are great sources of alkaline foods plus B-12 from the sweet potato that helps fight stress and I know we in the Social Work program can use all the stress busters possible! Plus, the healthy fat from the avocado really helps keep you full and focused for the full 2 1/2 hour class. You also get your sea greens in for the day. It is really a win-win situation and a gift to my classmates. We have to look after each other as classes pick-up to avoid freak outs.

For the rest of you non-social workers enjoy the love, too. This recipe is a sure win no matter what the situation. Go forth and remain grounded all!

*Special note: When I was done with class tonight, I had a beautiful loaf of zucchini bread waiting for me from my friend C. Thank you so much, C, it was sooo tasty! Safe travels and I will be sending you my love in DC!

So, the dreads got washed this morning and let me tell you the stress of that. I’m constantly worried if they are going to fall out, did I get them clean enough? But it was a successful washing, none fell out. I think I am finally getting to the stage where they are set and secure. Finally. On to today’s treats…

I made an amazing snack today of Kale Chips and my first recipe from Ani Phyo’s cookbook, Chocolate Mlyk. Both were sooo tasty. Even L and S loved the Kale Chips! You know they are winners when they pass their tests. I am not sure on the legalities of posting recipes from cookbooks, any thoughts out there? I have heard two sets of answers “No” and “As long as you cite it, like a paper”. I am adding this disclaimer and will try to do it as little as possible, but this one seems pretty basic and similar to other recipes I have seen.

Kale Chips
I bunch of Kale
1/2 TBSP olive oil
1 Tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Cut kale into bite size pieces and massage with olive oil (I’m really into massaging greens lately. It really softens kale and gets the flavor into them). Sprinkle with salt and put into oven. I really piled my tray high, so I needed to cook mine for 20min. If your tray is less full 10 min. I would keep checking after 10 min., no matter what. You want the edges to be brown, not black.

Chocolate Mlyk
Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo

1/2 Cup almonds soaked overnight
4 1/2 Cups of water (she calls for 5, but I think it makes it a little too watery)
3 Tbsp Cacao Powder/Cocoa Powder
4 Dates pitted (She calls for 1/2 C, but I thought this was plenty, sweeten to your liking)
Pinch of salt

Through almonds and water into blender. Ani’s recipes calls for everything to be blended and drank, but I don’t love chunks in mine, so I blend the almonds and water first. Then strain the almonds from the milk. Pour the milk back into the blender add Cacao, dates and salt. Refrigerate. Makes 1 Liter.

These things made the perfect snack during one of my classes today and the Cacao was enough of a burst that I didn’t go grab coffee on our break. It was so good that a non-raw foody my friend, K, loved it and asked for the recipe! Tomorrow’s headline…Vegan Food Takes Over the World!

Tonight I said goodbye to a good friend, C. She is heading to DC this weekend for a move into the political realm of life. Best wishes, C. I love you and will always be sending you positive energy.

When I got home I quickly put together a salad. It is really interesting what you put on a salad when you are starving. Mixed greens rubbed with avocado topped with red pepper, tomato, cucumber, nutritional yeast and rice seasoning (a mix of wasabi, shredded seaweed and sesame seeds). I also bought a copy of Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen, by Ani Phyo, at Borders and checked it out while eating my modge-podge salad. Can’t wait to try some of her recipes!

After that I set out to do some program development (aka writing what I want to sat to people) on One Birth, but snack time rolled around and I wanted something salty. So, I mixed up one of my favorite “cheese” dips. Non-vegans and non-raw foodies, alike, love this recipe. It is definitely something you have to make!

Raw Cheddar Cheese Sauce
www.goneraw.com

1 cup raw cashews, soaked for 2 hours and rinsed
½ large red bell pepper
¼ cup water
2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon nutritional yeast (find this in the bulk section or in condiments…it’s not ‘technically’ raw)
1 tablespoon tahini
1½ teaspoon sea salt
1 clove garlic
2 teaspoon onion powder (or a small slice of onion or 1 Tbsp of green onion)

Blend all ingredients until creamy (a high powered blender works the best…but if you have a regular blender, just blend it for a long time. It should be completely smooth). Add more water if it is too thick.

So, now I’m off to join Robert Langdon on his adventures in DC! Sorry school work, you will have to wait until tomorrow.