Friday, August 27, 2010

Cooking & baking, Oh how I have missed you

I am finally back to cooking and baking! You have no idea how happy that makes me! I love being in the kitchen and experimenting with new things to see what works together. I would have to say the hardest part is finding something that all of us can eat. Currently, I am living with my husbands old friend from college along with my husband and brother. We all
have...special diets, I guess you could say. First off, I have a confession. If you guys want to scream at me, I understand. Since coming to Nebraska, I have eaten cheese twice. I know, I know...It's impossible here to go out to a restaurant and find anything vegan
. So, just to put that out there, I have eaten cheese twice. Though I still am cooking vegan for myself at home. I still have my daiya cheese in the fridge in case I get a craving. Also, I would like to say, and I have no idea if this was a coincidence or not, but after I ate cheese the second time I got sick. Who knows. So that being said, back to what I was saying. We all have special diets. I am a veg, my husband is diabetic, my brother is very picky, an
d chad cannot eat salt. So as you can see, I am working with quite the list.


This was my smoothie yesterday, and for some reason it tasted kind of like fruity pebbles.

Fruity Pebbles

1 cup blueberries
1 cup fresh organic spinach
1 organic mango, chopped
1 package chocolate Vega protein powder
1 tsp spirulina
2 Tbsp chia seeds
enough coconut milk to incorporate
tiny bit agave
I had to share this because I wanted to show Ali. You inspired me! The last few days in Hawaii I was eating collard wraps! This one had mock egg salad in it :)

For dinner I made some creamy lemon pasta. Below is what I used to make it.

Lemon Pasta
Organic white rotini pasta (cooked)
1 broccoli stock (chopped and cooked)

While that is cooking, start your sause in a separate pan. Saute together:
2 Tbsp organic olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
Then add:
2 cups coconut milk (I used this, but you can use plain, unsweetened soy or hemp as well)
Two lemons (zest them and juice them)
Salt (I used a little but add to your liking)
1-2 tsp pepper

Bring this all to a boil and then let it simmer and thicken. If using coconu
t milk it does not thicken up a whole lot. Now mix together pasta, broccoli, and cream mixture. I also added:
8 baby sweet roma tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 cup spinach
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (or the vegan parm)
So yummy!

Now on to dessert! For dessert I made some upside-down plum cake.

Upside-Down Plum Cake

10 fresh date plums, cut in half and pitted

Spray the bottom of a pie dish and line your pan with these plums. Put the middle of the plum face down.

In a pan, bring to boil

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water

Let this boil for a little bit. It will get bubbly after a while, and then soon turn a light shade of brown. Once it is brown, that is what you want. Pour this over your plums. It will harden into a candy like form very fast. In a separate bowl, cream together

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup Earth Balance

Add:
2 egg replacers

Beat in:
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup Tofutti Sour Supreme (or plain soy yogurt unsweetened would work)
1 cup and 2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Do not overbeat once the flour is added. Pour this mixture over your plums and put it in the oven at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Once it is out of the oven, do not flip it for at least 15 minutes. Once flipped, dust with a little powdered sugar and vala!

Have a great day!

13 comments:

  1. Love, love, love the kitty pic. The toes coming out the bottom are the best part. ;-) My cats like to crawl under the covers too.

    I was excited to see the collard wraps. Thanks for posting them. :-) Mock salad sounds like a great idea on the inside.

    Wow you do I have a lot of various restrictions to cook for, but you can do it. Though I think it will take more planning.

    Cheese is something that comes of most restaurant dishes here as well. *sigh* If you ask them to leave it off most of the time they remember. When they don't we just scrape it off and keep going. *rolls eyes*

    have a great weekend,
    Ali

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm going to have to try collard wraps, I keep seeing them. I've always though collards were so tough they need to be cooked for hours.

    We also have a cheese problem here in Ohio. Alex likes to say that there's a "Cheese Inspector" making sure that people get enough. Seriously, it's excessive.

    I hope you're enjoying your new place and settling in just fine! That plum cake looks delicious; I know it must be a relief to get back to cooking and cooking what you want.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your collard wraps look very good! Like Jessica, I have been seeing them every where, so I guess I am going to have to give the a try.

    Don't feel bad about eating the cheese. I did the same thing last week while we were in NJ. I ate a slice of pizza with the real cheese on it. I felt bad after eating it, but I have to admit...it did taste good!

    Sounds like you have to really plan your meals. Hopefully it will get easier as time moves on.

    Glad to see that you are getting adjusted to your new home. Oh, I used to love fruity pebbles so I am going to have to make that smoothie!

    ReplyDelete
  4. All the food looks great! I love that you use coconut milk in the pasta dish; must be so yummy. And that plum cake is so pretty! Glad you're back in the kitchen and having fun, must be a huge relief not to have to eat on the go all the time.

    Panther looks so snuggy; love his little toes peeking out.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey, remember when you used to have your own place in Hawaii???? Oh well, now you have snakes and.... somethin'....

    ReplyDelete
  6. So good to see that you are enjoying being back in the kitchen. I found, after a break its hard to find my way there.

    You certainly have a challenge on your hands catering for those different diets, but I know you will cope. My father is diabetic (since the last 8 years), but I have never cooked for him yet. Maybe I will one of these days.

    I like the sound of the fruity pebbles and the upside down plum cake looks awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yay, cookin' in Nebraska, woo hoo! I know how it is to be in the kitchen; it's soothing and familiar and, of course, tasty. I'm not going to scream at you about the cheese, Carissa. Never. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. That sounds like a big challenge! Three different diets! Phew!

    Your plum cake is so pretty and colorful! Thanks for sharing these yummy recipes! :)

    Aww, Panther looks so comfy and snuggly under the blankets! I want to tickle those tiny kitteh feet! :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh man, our comforters look so similar! I like the kitty curled up inside :) We have a few pics like that.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I want a fruity pebbles drink and plum cake please!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your recipes always look so good. I've been checking out a lot of your smoothie recipes and tried making a berry one of my own. I'm not vegetarian but I try to eat healthy. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I finally made your tofu stroganoff for my family...awesome! Corey and I ate so much of it. Holden said he liked the tofu and noodles and when I asked Langston if he liked it, he said,"Eh?!" It wasn't a no, so I'm going to call it good! Ha!
    I really like that you add avocados to your smoothies. I was telling Fudge that I've been trying to get the kiddos to eat avocados and I think this a great way to sneak them into their diets.
    Thanks again for sharing your blogspot with me...I will definitely be trying some more recipes!
    Jennifer

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails