Mini-Loaf Zucchini Bread

It has been awhile since I posted anything on this blog. I have been really busy this summer with my ever growing twin girls. Today, they wanted to make bread for Daddy's office, but fell asleep before they could help me make it. I found the recipe for the bread on Miss Laura's Kitchen website. I did adapt it to fit my needs as I am vegan now and have chosen to bake and cook without eggs.

Zucchini Bread Mini-Loaves

Ingredients

• 1 egg ( I used 1 TBS of flaxseed to 3TBS of Water)
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup grated raw unpeeled zucchini
• ¼ cup nuts (optional)- I omitted these. Not sure if anyone had an allergy.
• 1 cup flour
• ¼ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. baking powder

Method

1) Preheat oven to 350°

2) Grease loaf pan(s).

3) Sift all ingredients from flour down and set aside.

4) Using hand mixer beat egg until foamy (I mixed the flaxseed and let sit until gel like.); add sugar oil and vanilla mix well. Add zucchini, stir in set aside dry ingredients mix until all flour is incorporated.

5) Add nuts; pour into prepared pan

6) Bake for 45-50 minutes until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes then remove from pan & allow to cool completely on rack.

7) Wrap in foil and for best results allow loaf to sit at least 8 hours before slicing. ( I wrapped mine in wax paper.)

Vegan Cheese Crackers

I am looking for more ways to keep processed and chemically enhanced foods out of my kid's diet. We are getting ready to go to the beach and I wanted to take a bunch of snacks with us on our long ride. I know my girls LOVE the Amy's Bunny Crackers which are made with organic wheat flour. They would go through a whole box if I would let them. The only unfortunate thing about those crackers are that they are made with real cheese. Yes, they are less processed than the Goldfish crackers, however I am trying to keep my children away from too much food with cheese to keep their tummies happy. Plus, I want to enjoy them too from time to time.

Upon looking on Pinterest there was a recipe I found for Vegan Goldfish Crackers. The recipe is found on Keyingredient.com. Roberta S. is the person who posted the recipe. In her recipe she states she used turmeric in the crackers and it actually was too strong so I omitted that from my recipe. These crackers were a hit!!! I gave one to each of the girls and then they asked for another. I thought ok,  these will work. As I left the crackers in the kitchen to cool, I heard one of my girls pull the kitchen stool up to the counter so she could reach another one. I like them also. At first I thought they were a little salty, but I actually think it was the taste of the nutritional yeast.

Vegan Cheese Crackers

 Ingredients:

1	cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
2	tablespoons nutritional yeast
¼	teaspoon onion powder
1	teaspoon sea salt
5	tablespoons vegan margarine (75g)
3	tablespoons cold water

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 °F. 190°C

2) In a food processor, combine flour, nutritional yeast, salt and onion powder. Process until combined. 

3) Add margarine, and pulse about 15 times until crumbly. Add water and process until mixture just comes together.

4) On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough until it is 1/8-inch thick. It will be easier to roll if you work with half of the dough at a time.

5)  Using a goldfish cookie cutter, or other small cookie cutter, cut out the fish and line then on a baking sheet. If desired, carve a face, as pictured. I used the prong of a fork for the eyeball and a toothpick for the smile. (I used a pastry cutter and made them look more like Cheeze-Its.)

My girls "helping" me. 

6) Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden and very lightly browned. Let cool and store at room temperature in a tightly sealed container or bag.

Scrambled Tofu

There was a time in my life that at the first thought of tofu I would avoid it completely. I didn't realize what it was and that there were different textures to it. My first experience was eating a dish someone had prepared and there was nothing else to eat. It was fried tofu and not much flavor and seasoning, so basically, it made me think I was eating a sponge. I vowed I would never touch the stuff again. Funny, how the taste buds change as you grow up. I find now that it is quite tasty with the right preparation. My first experience with scrambled tofu was at my mother in laws home. She prepared it for breakfast one morning and it looked so weird that I didn't want to try it, but being that it was early on in my marriage, I didn't want to offend my mother in law. So, I took just a enough that I could spoon in my mouth and eat super fast. To my amazement, it tasted pretty good. I ended up taking a lot more and requested for the recipe.

Now that I am vegan, I have included tofu as a regular addition into my crazy dietary plan. This morning was the first time since asking for that recipe that I actually made it. Don't get me wrong, I have eaten it so many time after the first time, but have never gotten the urge to make it myself. I was afraid that I would ruin it and I would hate it for the rest of my life. Nope, it turned out just as it was supposed to and I loved it as usual. I believe this will be made more often in my house. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Scrambled Tofu

Ingredients:
1 Tbs. Olive oil
1 Small Onion
1 pkg. Firm Tofu (Smash it up)
1 Tbs. dried chives
1/2 tsp Onion powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp. Chicken McKay's seasoning (Vegan chicken seasoning)
1/8 tsp Tumeric

Method:

1) Saute oil and onion in pan.

2) Add the rest of the ingredients.

3) Heat until all flavors are blended and water is absorbed.

Note: I ate this on top of some whole wheat toast and it made for a great breakfast.

Homemade Peanut Butter

I absolutely love being in the kitchen, especially when I can whip something up really fast. I found a recipe for peanut butter off of Pinterest, but what I didn't know is that it is more simple than I thought. Why was I not doing this a long time ago! Even though the peanuts I bought were not organic, at least they didn't have the preservatives and additives that I often wish to stray away from. I read that the peanut butter will last for up to two weeks in the refrigerator and one week room temperature. Again, it was super easy very tasty. Here is how to make it:

Homemade Peanut Butter

Ingredients:

1 container of salted peanuts.

-You really can make as much as you want but remember you have one to two weeks to eat it.

Method:

1) Put peanuts in food processor and press on.

2) Let it run for about 4 minutes and then it will be smooth. The consistency depends on what you want.

Note: The peanut butter will thicken a bit in the refrigerator.

Banberry-Oat Smoothie

Breakfast is always the same for our family and I decided that it was time to change it up a bit. What about a smoothie for breakfast? That was an awesome idea. Simple, fast, and tasty. I found a Banana-Oat Smoothie on wholeliving.com. I loved the look of this recipe, but I had to change it to work for us. Here is our new and improved recipe! :) By the way, it is kid approved!

Banberry-Oat Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 Ripe Bananas (One frozen and one room temp.)

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 cup Rice Milk

1/4 cup Old Fashioned Oats

2 tsp. of ground flaxseed

1TBS of honey

1/2 cup ice

Method:

1) Blend all ingredients together until smooth

2) Enjoy!

 

 Juliana

Olivia

Low-fat Vegan Mayo

There is something about the taste of eggs that has not been sitting well with me lately. I have been trying to find an alternative to all my egg based items. So far baking has proven to be the hardest. I had purchased some new kind of mayonnaise that was supposed to be creamier, without the milk. It had peaked my interest. I tried it and with the first bite of my nicely made sandwich, I was throwing it out. It was ruined by the distinct taste I really dislike, eggs. They had added more egg yolk to the dressing. What a tragedy. So on a mission I started looking for some vegan mayo recipes. There are a few out there I would like to try, but this one that I found on myvegancookbook.com . 

Ingredients

1/2 14oz Block Silken Tofu

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Champagne Vinegar or White Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Corn Starch

2 Teaspoons Sugar

Method

1) Place tofu, salt, onion powder, vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, corn starch and sugar into blender and blend until smooth.

2)  Pour into small sauce pan and cook until thickens, stirring and mashing downward (to get rid of lumps) constantly with a whisk on medium heat. It will continue to thicken up after you take it off the stove, so you want to keep that in mind.  

If you cook it too long it will lose it's glossy appearance.

Vegan Yogurt

I love yogurt by my stomach does not, so I needed to find an alternative. I have tried different soy yogurts and even sheep yogurt, but I didn't like the texture. Almost like they added protein to them that gave a gritty consistency. I ended up passing on the yogurt until I found a recipe from happyherbivore.com.  I was very skeptical if this would work, but I thought since I had the ingredients, I would try it anyways. To my surprise, it was better than the store bought soy yogurts. I chose to add blueberries since my girls love blueberries and it was a hit. I thought it turned out a little tart, but the girls still loved it anyways. I can't wait to try this with different fruit.

 Vegan Yogurt

Ingredients

• 10 ounces silken tofu
• 1 whole banana, cold (I actually used 2)
• 2 tbsp plant-based milk
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup

Method

1) Combine all ingredients in a blender, whizzing until smooth and creamy. Taste, adding more sweetener as desired. 

2) Add in fresh fruit such as strawberries, blueberries or more banana for fruit-flavored yogurt.

 Enjoy!