Easy-As-Apple & Plum-Pie

Its apple season and I have an apple tree in my yard!

I made this the other day while we had family visiting... we ate it warm with vanilla soy ice cream. 

Easy-As-Apple & Plum- Pie


1 cup shortening
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp cold water

Using a pastry cutter blend up the flour and salt into the shortening until it is crumbly and resembles a sand like mixture. Add water and carefully form a ball using a fork. Don't over mix!
Cut the ball of dough in half and lightly flour your surface for rolling.
Roll out dough until fits pie plate (not too thin- not too thick)

5 apples peeled and sliced
8 plums- cored and sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
2 tbsp flour

Mix up filling in a bowl and scoop into pie plate. Roll out the other dough half and place on top.
Poke 2 or 3 holes in the top and bake at 400 for 40 minutes or until golden.

Berry blast smoothie popsicles

Super healthy and easy to make! Just take your favorite fruit and blend with water or juice, or soy milk. Pour into popsicle molds and WA-LA! A great treat for the kids. Not to mention no waste :)

I blended frozen raspberries with orange juice, and blueberries with soy milk. Just make it thick... it is much easier to pour different flavors together.

Strawberry fields forever

My friend and I took our little ones strawberry picking yesterday. The sun was beating down on us, I think it was the hottest day we have had yet. It was a bit of a drive and the kids were at there breaking point so we only picked until we  I couldn't take it any longer, being pregnant its hard work bending over. I think Anne noticed, she suggested several times that we just buy some :P  So in the end I got 6 pints of strawberries.I am happy :)

Now for the real mission...coming up with yummy things to make with them. The camera is still on the fritz, I am hoping to get it back in a couple of weeks. It had to be sent to the camera company. Since strawberries are in full swing here I thought I would share with you one of my favorite strawberry recipes.

 Summer strawberry cream pie! 

I really am craving a frosty strawberry milkshake at the moment but we have no vanilla ice cream kick`n around. Maybe tomorrow.....

Krispie Squares

Using these....

and the basic recipe,

with the melting of the mallows, earth balance and vanilla.

Behold the vegan rice krispie square :P

Strawberry Shortcake

How do you know summer is on its way? STRAWBERRIES!!

They have to be local or you just can`t tell if the sunshine is on its way :P We were driving home and there was a table on the side of the road. I was so excited to see these babies that I did a skipping hop back to the car.

A simple way to enjoy fresh strawberries.

Strawberry Shortcake

For the shortcake

2 cups flour

3 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup soy milk

Preheat oven to 350

Mix the flour, sugar and salt together in a bowl.

Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or two knifes.( it will look like little crumbs)

Add the milk and mix gently, with about 2 or 3 folds with you hands. (don`t over mix!)

Dump out on to a counter, pat down gently until its is about 2 inches high and 6-8 inches wide.

Cut out circle shapes. Place on a baking tray. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until done.

Hot Strawberries

3 cups of strawberries- sliced

1/4 cup of sugar

Pour into a small saucepan, heat gently. until saucy.

Assembly

cut shortcakes in half

pour hot strawberry sauce over and on top.

EASY!

Half way there!

Half way there to meeting the new member of our family, it is exciting and scary. I know that I have done it twice before but each time was different, as it should be. I have a doula this time around which I am quite happy about. Only 20 weeks left!

I haven't been blogging very much, the camera is still broken, and its just not as much fun when you can't take pictures :(

This week I planted 2 tomato plants in pots along with lettuce and herbs. It just seems like I would be feeding all the creatures of the forest if I was to plant the veggie garden in the yard. So right now it is over run with dandelions. I did plant the rhubarb that I traded a cinnamon bun for at the market. I have been told that deers don't eat it, so far so good. 

My mom and dad are visiting me for 2 weeks, they get here in a two days!! I have not seen my mom in a year, I wish they would move here and I keep trying to convince them, but that would be a HUGE move, across Canada. Mom said maybe in a couple years....fingers crossed. 

I made a really yummy poppyseed loaf the other day and wanted to share the recipe. Sorry no pictures, but trust me its GOOD!

Lemon Poppyseed Loaf

2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp poppy seeds

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 1/4 cup soy or almond milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp lemon essence 

1 lemon- grated and juiced

1/4 cup sunflower oil

1/4 cup soy vanilla yogurt

glaze

1/3 cup icing sugar

1 tbsp spoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375

grease loaf pan

Mix wet into dry.

Bake for 50 minutes or until done.

When cooled mix the glaze up and pour over.

ENERGY!

I feel energized! I finally have my kitchen in and I am making some vegan treats, like these Energy Orbs, for the first farmers market of the season! If you are in the Hubbards area on Saturday morning between 8am-12pm come by and grab some local produce and a vegan treat :) Its a lovely drive from Halifax if you get off at exit 5, pass by some of Nova Scotia's best beaches:)


Here are the directions if you are unfamiliar with the area...

From Halifax along the highway

• Take HWY-103 West toward Yarmouth
• Take exit 6 toward Hubbards
• Turn left at Mill Lake 1 Rd
• Turn left at HWY-3
• Look for the Hubbards Barn and Community Park sign on your right

Scenic route from Halifax

• Take HWY-103 West toward Yarmouth
• Take exit 5 toward Tantallon
• Turn left at Hammonds Plains Road
• Turn right at HWY-3 (St. Margaret’s Bay Road)
• Follow St. Margaret’s Bay road along the coast until you reach Hubbards
• Look for the Hubbards Barn and Community Park sign on your left

Tropical Island coconut cake

Its been awhile since my last post, getting back into the swing of things after the holidays has been a bit of a struggle. We are starting the renovations to our home this week including the kitchen. I am not sure what to expect as I have never done anything like this before. I am assuming that my kitchen will have limited use for the next few months. Perhaps a few more raw recipes :P

Edward and Sons sent me another box of goodies to try out, including a bag of organic coconut flour. I have never worked with it before, so I was sort of unsure of how to use it. When I opened the bag I got lost in the sweet smell of coconut. The flour has a course powdery texture. It is also gluten free but because my family and I are not sensitive to gluten I cut it with all purpose flour.  They also sent me organic coconut flakes, which are crazy good! I toasted them a little for the topping and "glued" them on with this coconut spread I picked up in Quebec. Spread some blueberry jam in the middle  and made a quick blueberry sauce and put it all together to get this....

Coconut Cake Recipe

2 cups flour
3/4 cup Coconut flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup soy milk

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.
Pour into a greased pan ( I used a round 8)
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until the knife comes out clean.

Chocolate zucchini loaf

I am going to tell you a secret....I love CHOCOLATE! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I read an interesting article about chocolate here. I wish I could grow it :P


1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup applesauce
2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup dark chocolate- roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a loaf pan
Combine dry ingredients and wet in separate bowls.
Add wet to dry. Stir it up.
Pour it into pan. Bake until done, about 1 hour.

Almond butter chocolate balls

The holidays are just a few short weeks away, and we have been planning on making them pretty chill. Sometimes its easy to get caught up in all the holiday crazies, but I just remind myself what is important. 

Family, love, happiness and good food 

I dream about going into a grocer where everything is vegan and I don't have to read the ingredients...maybe one day.  Until that day comes I will be perfecting vegan treats in my kitchen. These peanut butter chocolate balls are super simple to make, and tasty!

I found this recipe, and changed it a bit.

1 stick of earth balance butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups almond butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3 cups rice cereal
2 cups dark chocolate chopped and melted

In a large pot, melt butter.
Add almond butter and vanilla.
Stir until combined and smooth.
Add powdered sugar and rice cereal.

Let mixture cool.
roll into balls

With a fork dip balls into melted chocolate
Place on a parchment paper lined baking pan.
Refrigerate  until hard.
Dust with cocoa powder

Granola bars

 

My daughters both love granola bars and its hard to find vegan granola bars at the store, I decided to try and make them...These turned out pretty good, except that I wish I added a bit more maple syrup and almond butter.

2 cups old fashion oats

1 cup wheat germ

3/4 cup coconut

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup ground flax seeds

1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup chopped almonds

1 1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup coconut oil-melted

1 tbsp vanilla 

Preheat oven to 350

Add wet to dry, stir until well combined.

Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper

press mixture firmly down. 

Bake for 25 minutes.

Cut while still warm. 

Let cool

Enter the contest to win a CSN gift card!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN : Vegan nanaimo bars

A truly Canadian confection, the NANAIMO bar! These treats are a Canadian favourite! I know I use to love them before I went vegan. When I was surfing around the net looking for something yummy to make since it is Halloween. I found a recipe on the joyofbaking.com and thought it looked easy enough to veganize, and I was right!

Let me just say one little thing , I am not a fan of healthy desserts. If I need my sugar fix I pretty much go for it. Nothing will hold me back from the sweet sugary goodness of chocolate!  I can't imagine them lasting very long in the fridge. One year I made a batch of these with some truffles and gave them away as winter gifts, they keep nicely in the freezer.

We never get many kids for the trick-or-treats. We still carve the pumpkins and have a bowl of candy at the door (just in case).

my pumpkin

The best part about carving pumpkins is the seeds! I always pick through the guts to save them for roasting. This time I roasted 1 pan with garlic powder & sea salt, the other one had tamari sprinkled on it with black pepper. I roast the seeds on low heat 275 for about 1.5 hours. Turn the oven off, and let them sit for a while in there so that they are really dry. A tasty treat!

 

 2 whole pans of pumpkin seeds!!

our pumpkins

This is the recipe I got from joyofbaking.com and changed it to make it vegan

Bottom Layer:

1/2 cup earth balance 

1/4 cup vegan sugar

1/3 cup  unsweetened cocoa powder

1 egg replacement

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups vegan cookie crumbs (I used a digestive cookie and crumbed it in my processor)

1 cup  coconut

1/2 cup walnuts- coarsely 

chopped

Middle Layer:

1/4 cup earth balance

2 - 3 tbsp soy milk

2 tablespoons vanilla custard powder (Bird's) 

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups vegan powdered sugar

Top Layer:

4 ounces vegan dark chocolate

1 tablespoon earth balance

Bottom Layer: In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter.  Stir in the sugar and cocoa powder and then gradually whisk in the egg replacement.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (1 - 2 minutes).  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract,  cookie crumbs, coconut, and chopped nuts.  Press the mixture evenly onto the bottom of the prepared pan.  Cover and refrigerate until firm (about an hour).

Middle Layer:  Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until the mixture is smooth.  If the mixture is too thick to spread, add a little more milk.  Spread the filling over the bottom layer, cover, and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes).

Top Layer:  In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Spread the melted chocolate evenly over the filling and refrigerate until the chocolate has set.

To Serve:  To prevent the chocolate from cracking, using a sharp knife bring the squares to room temperature before cutting. 

Yield: Makes about 25 squares

Have a Happy Halloween!

Cranberry love

The weather is getting cooler and we have been using the wood stove almost every night, it keeps the house toasty. When I walk outside of the house I can smell the burning of wood in the air...
I guess I have been taking a little bit of a break from my blog, I feel sometimes lost for words, but I have enjoyed reading a bunch of new blogs that I have found. I always feel inspired to make something I have never tried, and then I seem to fall back into the same old meals.....

We had thanksgiving a couple of weeks ago and I made this quick cranberry jam, its not super sweet and has a nice tartness to it. It would be nice with some roasted garlic on toast.YUM! The first batch of cranberries I picked up at the farmers market. Those were gone fast! On my way home several times I noticed that the elderly couple had there stand out at the end of there driveway selling cranberries so I stopped. $5.00 for a huge bag!!

quick cranberry jam

cranberry & orange muffins

There is so many things to do with cranberries, I think I am going to go the savory route next. I found some good ideas on the Martha Stewart site (I love her), this is where I got the idea to make a cranberry upside down cake, not to mention I had just read a post on Opera singer in the kitchen's blog, her gingerbread caramel pear upside down cake looks delicious! I had to adapt the Martha recipe to make it vegan. I used coconut oil instead of butter and added water, I also changed the baking powder to baking soda. I served it with coconut ice cream.

cranberry upside down cake

Lemon poppy seed cupcakes

It is a happy day for me because this afternoon my new stove was delivered!  What could be better than cupcakes to celebrate this joyous occasion? The great thing about this recipe you can leave out the frosting and have great lemon poppy seed muffins. This was my first time using egg re-placer and I am still undecided if it's a good thing?

2 cups flour
3/4 cup organic sugar
1 tsp baking soda
4 tbsp poppy seeds
1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk
1 1/2 tbsp pure lemon extract or 2 tbsp lemon juice
1 egg replacement
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp white vinegar

Add wet to dry and mix until all combined. Spoon into a greased muffin tin and bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until cooked ( test with a sharp small knife by inserting into the muffin, if it comes out clean there done!)

Frosting..I usually just eyeball it, but here is a good idea.

1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup organic icing sugar, plus a little bit more :P
2 tbsp vanilla soymilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt

With a mixer combine everything and blend until fluffy. Adjusting the taste to your preference