My daughter discovered these cookies while at her art class, and begged for the recipe. Her teacher’s wife was gracious and shared it with us, and I am sharing it with you… with one or two modifications.

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
• 1/2 cup milk (or a nut milk)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Combine these ingredients and boil hard for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and add:

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• dash of salt
• 3 cups oats*
• 1 cup coconut shreds

Immediately drop by spoonfuls onto waxed or parchment paper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Personally, I am not a fan of coconut flakes. Coconut water, milk, oil and fresh coconut are all fabulous, but the flakes? Ick. So, I am replacing the butter with coconut oil to get the flavor and upping the oatmeal content.

I do plan to try making these with fresh coconut, just to see how it would work. And I might tweak it just a tad and add some dried cherries. That just sounds good to me.

The original recipe calls for using margarine, so go ahead with that if it’s your preference.

*If you are gluten-free, please make sure that your oats are processed away from wheat and are certified gluten free!

To make these vegan, use coconut oil and almond milk instead of the butter & milk, and verify that your cocoa powder is dairy-free.

Thanks to Grace Engstrom for sharing her recipe with us!

** Edited November 2, 2011 **

I am happy to report that these can be made COMPLETELY vegan & gluten free and taste delish!

We made a batch using coconut oil and a mix of coconut milk and dark chocolate almond milk in place of the mutter & cow milk. Of course, I also swapped out some of the coconut for chopped dried cherries (I actually split the oats between the coconut flakes and the cherries as I don’t much like coconut flakes) and they may be my new favorite “quick & easy cookie” recipe!

Experimentation is a good thing in the kitchen!

Tags: chocolate cookies, cooking with kids, no-bake cookies

I still remember my first experience with tapenade. It was in Phoenix, AZ, at a little restaurant called Mamma Mia’s near my office. They brought out some fresh bread with olive oil… with stuff in it.

I had no idea what it was… but it was sooo good.

And now I know that it is so easy to make. All it takes is a food processor and a small container of ingredients – all of which can be found in your nearest olive bar.

Our local Safeway has made a fabulous addition to their deli. An olive bar. Every couple of weeks I head down there, pick up a small container, and fill it with an assortment of olives, garlic and peppers. The usual suspects are pitted Kalamata olives, some yummy-looking garlic-stuffed green olives, and either hot peppers or sweet peppers – or both.

Bring these home, toss them into a food processor and grind them up.

Scoop the ground-up olives into a dish, drizzle with some olive oil, and voila! You have just made a delicious, nutritious snack in about 1 minute.

We keep ours in a glass jar in the refrigerator and use it on just about everything – sandwiches, in eggs and stir-fry, with pita and veggies, in wraps, we have even been known to eat a spoonful by itself!

Enjoy!

Tags: dips and finger foods, quick and easy snacks, tapenade

Hummus is one of those foods that most people either love or hate. Those that hate it often do so because the only hummus they have had is so bland and flavorless! I now offer you a hummus that has plenty of flavor, and a wonderful texture.

And it’s so easy.

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1.5 Tbsp tahini
• 4 cloves of garlic
• salt & pepper to taste

Optional ingredients:

• roasted red peppers
• sun dried tomatoes
• marinated sweet peppers
• more garlic

Pour the chickpeas into a strainer and wash them until there are no more bubbles. None. Get all of that packing liquid OFF.

Pour the chickpeas into a food processor. Add the garlic, tahini, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Begin to process in short bursts.  If needed, add a drizzle of olive oil to smooth things out.

I often add some marinated swet peppers at this point – you can find them in most olive bars (like Safeway has recently started offering) or in a jar in the pickle section. I put in about 8.

Once it starts to smooth out, taste it to see if you need any salt or pepper to brighten the flavor.

Process it until it’s smooth. ou can serve it immediately, or seal it and put it in the refrigerator to chill.

We eat it on sandwiches, with pita and veggies, with chips or crackers… I even recently heard of using it in potato salad (although I haven’t tried it yet)

It’s so easy to make, I don’t buy the bland stuff at the store anymore. It only takes 5 minutes to have a tasty, healthy snack.

I very often serve it alongside a fresh olive tapenade – so tasty, and so easy!

Tags: dips & finger foods, hummus, quick & easy snacks

I came across the idea of Cholent purely by accident, but I’m so glad I did! It’s a perfect dish for those days that you want something warm and yummy, but you aren’t going to be around to fix it.

But it’s the eggs that really make it.

Cholent came about due to the restrictions on the Jewish people on the Sabbath. As I understand it, no fires could be started – which generally meant that no cooking would be done. However, if a fire was already going it could be used. Wanting to feed their families a hot meal on the Sabbath, Jewish housewives devised this stew that could be slow cooked over low heat. The variety of recipes is nearly endless, as it traveled with the Jewish people as they were spread out around the world, taking on the flavors of the varios regions.

After reading numerous recipes, I found one that looked do-able with the current diet restrictions we are living under (gluten- & dairy-free) with few modifications, and used the foodstuffs I already had on hand. I found this recipe over at JewishMag.com, and have since modified it to fit the diet and tastes of our family. My modifications are in italics. I hope you enjoy it!

CHOLENT

• 1 ¼ cups dry mixed beans- I used chickpeas, pinto beans and small turtle beans
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• one large onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 ½ Tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika - didn’t have it, so I used chili powder
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 1 ½ tsp pepper
• 1 ½ cup roasted buckwheat groats- recipe called for barley, but that has gluten
  
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into large chunks
• 1 lb beef brisket- I used rib eye steak
  
• 1 smoked beef bone or marrow bone
• 6 eggs in shell, washed

Ingredients I added to the original recipe:

• cumin
  
• spicy Mexican oregano
• garlic powder
• white pepper
• more chili powder
• Herbes de Provence
  
• 3 large carrots, peeled, cut into large chunks
• 2 stalks celery – cut into large chunks

1. Rinse beans then soak for 5 to 8 hours in enough water to have three finger-deep water over top of beans. When soaked, drain. I soaked mine overnight, drained them & soaked them again until that evening – I had to pick up one or two ingredients yet.
2. Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat and sauté onion until transparent. Add garlic, stir for several minutes over heat then add paprika, salt and pepper, and continue to cook for a minute. Remove from heat.
3. Combine beans, onion mixture, grain, potatoes, brisket and bone in a large baking dish or dutch oven with a tightly-fitting lid. Carefully slip in raw unshelled eggs and bury them under cholent mix. Add water to cover.
4. Place tightly covered pot in oven (seal lid with aluminum foil if not absolutely tight) and bake at 200 degrees F for at least 6 hours and up to 18 hours. Check liquid level occasionally to prevent cholent from drying out and replenish if needed.*see notes below.
   

When ready to serve, dig out eggs, shell them and serve in quarters as first course with fresh raw vegetables or crackers. Remove brisket and slice. Serve brisket and cholent family style on serving dish. The best accompaniment with cholent is an assortment of good pickles and sauerkraut. Yields 6 to 7 generous servings.

My notes & changes:

Most of the recipes I found had you cut the meat into 1-inch chunks, so I did that before cooking it. It the future I think I may coat these pieces with seasoned flour and brown them slightly. Or I may lessen the cost and use stew meat that has been browned. The steak was soooooooo good though!

As the bone I had was HUGE, it took up half of the cooking pot. Make sure your dutch oven is large enough to hold all the ingredients and the bone! To get the water to cover I had to fill it almost to the rim.

I started it around 7:00 pm, and we tried it for lunch at 1:00 pm the next day. The eggs were simply divine. Wow. I have never had an egg that tasted so creamy and delish! The beans, however, were still very crunchy and the flavor was similar to gruel (jokes were abounding around the table).

At that point I added the other veggies and seasonings, turned the heat up to 275 degrees F, and put the pot back into the oven for another 8 hours. As the kids didn’t want stew a second meal in a row, we put it all in the refrigerator overnight.

I took the leftovers for lunch the next day and all I can say is “Wow!” What a difference a day makes. This stuff was amazing. The flavors melded together beautifully. The carrots actually held up to long, slow cooking, the steak was full of flavor and so tender.

And the leftover egg? Perfection.

I will be making this again, most definitely. And next time, I just might try sealing the edges of the lid with bread dough. Some Challah would have been a divine addition. Gluten-free, of course.

**Update**
I submitted this for the “Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free” blog carnival over at GlutenFreeHomemaker.com – if you are gluten-free or looking for recipes to cook for someone who is, I HIGHLY recommend heading over there to take a look.

Tags: Cholent, gluten free, Jewish Sabbath Stew, make-ahead meals

My mom was here over Christmas, and we had picked up a box of sweet potatoes to use for our Christmas dinner. I think we used one, maybe two spuds… that left me with a rather large box to use up (did I mention it was from Costco?)

Due to having a few extra sweet spuds laying around, I have been trying to come up with new ways to use them… and I remembered the mini sweet potato pies that we had once while visiting the Apple Festival in Cedaredge, CO years ago. So I set my mind to figuring out how to make them.

But I wanted to make it a tad more healthy than most of the recipes I was finding. Then I found this one over on VeganBaking.net – and I am so glad I did!

But of course I made a couple of changes. Don’t I always?

(Mostly) Vegan Sweet Potato Pie

9 inch pie crust (pre-baked if using a homemade crust – I recommend this one or this one if you aren’t looking for vegan crust)

2 cups sweet potato puree (1-2 large roasted sweet potato)
¾ cup cashew butter
1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup sucanat
2 Tbsp corn starch (don’t judge, it’s what I had!)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves

To make the sweet potato puree, line a baking sheet with foil. Preheat oven to 400F, or broil on low. Put the sweet potatoes in the oven until the tops are dark and skin has separated from the flesh. They will start to go just past smelling sweet to smelling slightly over-done. Roasting the potatoes brings out their natural sweetness, which means you don’t have to use as much sugar.

Take them out and gently peel the skins off. Put the potatoes in a blender or mixing bowl to cool.  Lower the oven temp to 350F.

Once they aren’t hot anymore, cream them to a smooth consistency. A blender works really well for this, but the mixing bowl would, I’m sure, work equally well.

Measure out 2 cups of potato puree into your mixing bowl., and add cashew butter, sugar, sucanat, corn starch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Process until smooth.

Pour this into your pie crust and bake at 350F for 45 minutes.

I found that the center was still a bit jiggly so I left it in for an extra 15 minutes, but I think that was a mistake. Take it out by 50 minutes and let it finish baking on the counter top.

We served it with fresh agave whipped cream – sooo yummy. As my daughter said: “Mommy, I don’t like this pie. I LOVE it!!!” I take that as a good sign.

Next time I’d like to try it with a homemade coconut oil pie crust (yes, it does work!) to make it fully vegan. All I had on hand this time was a ready-made pie crust, so that’s what I used.

The original recipe recommends this vegan flaky pie crust – I haven’t tried it yet, but it sure looks good!

Tags: Holiday baking, sweet potato pie, vegan pie

I know, how often do you need something like cashew butter anyway, right? Well, I needed 3/4 cup for the pie I made yesterday, and I just couldn’t see any reason to go buy some when I had perfectly good cashews sitting in the pantry.

So I made it.

Wow.

It’s a good thing that I don’t need this around more often, because if it was here… I would eat it. All of it. It’s that good.

Sweet, nutty and coconutty all blended together. Bliss.

The only problem? I didn’t measure ANYTHING. Oops.

Anyhow, this is how I made it:

• cashews – I’m guessing it was around 1-1/2 cups
• honey – 1/4 cup or so I’m guessing – I just poured it in.
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil – the UN-refined kind if you want the coconut flavor.
• drizzle of olive oil

I have a mini food processor, so I just dumped in enough cashews to mostly fill it. Then I drizzled some honey over those and scooped out some coconut oil and put it on top. Grind, grind, grind. You may have to stir it from time to time. If yours don’t want to mix and grind like they are supposed to, drizzle some olive oil over it to loosen it up.

Or put the coconut oil on the bottom (we learn from our mistakes, right?)

Grind it until you get the consistency you want – chunky or creamy. I’m usually a creamy girl, but I got tired of waiting & left a few chunks in it. Doesn’t matter – they are muy delicioso.

** I used raw cashews, but if you prefer the flavor of roasted ones, go for it. I would stick to unsalted though, then you can control the saltiness to your tastes by adding some if you want it.

Tags: cashews, nut butter

I received an email this morning from the Green Smoothie Girl… with a recipe that I hesitated to try.  But, as I happened to have the key ingredient on hand (and no other way I could fathom to use them) I decided to give it a try.

And what was this key ingredient?

Beets.

Beautifully vibrant red, but a vegetable that is often avoided by the masses – myself included.

However, it is also something that is purported to be exceedingly healthy for you, and something that shows up at farmer’s markets and CSA farms with regularity.

And I am pleased to say that this chocolate beet cake was a raging success.  The kids liked it.  The hubby liked it, and I (even knowing what was inside it) liked it.  Quite a bit too.

The kids even got past the “Yuck!  You put BEETS in this?” factor to nearly lick the plate clean!

So, here is the recipe for a very moist, very delish chocolate cake.

Chocolate Beet Cake

• 3 eggs (organic, free range) or 9 Tbsp. water with 3 Tbsp. chia soaked in it
• 1 1/2 cups unrefined coconut sugar
• 3/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 3/4 cup pureed, steamed beets (about 3-4 medium size)
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa (non-alkalized) or raw powdered chocolate
• 2 cups finely ground whole-wheat flour (soft white wheat is best)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Puree beets (cut up and steamed about 15 min.) in a VitaMix or BlendTec untill you have 1-3/4 cups. Add eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla and blend until smooth. Add chocolate and other dry ingredients, and mix until combined. Bake in 9″x13″ greased pan at 350 degrees for 30 min.

Fudge Frosting

• 1 cup unsweetened non-alkalized cocoa or raw powdered chocolate
• 2 cups coconut cream concentrate (soft, room temp or slightly warmed)
• 2 cups coconut sugar, blended in dry blender container until “powdered”
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup warm water (to make it spreadable)

Cream together by hand until smooth. This frosts a 9″x13″ cake and leaves some extra for a treat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My changes:

I used gluten-free baking mix instead of the white flour.  It worked quite well, but the crumb was a bit larger than a fine white flour would have been.  Although I can’t imagine it much more moist!

I didn’t have coconut sugar (in fact, I had never heard of it before today!) so I used evaporated cane juice sugar in it’s place. For the frosting I just used powdered sugar.

I used an extra dark cocoa powder, which made it a bit more rich and dark than normal cocoa powder would have.

I added a touch of coconut oil to the coconut cream in the frosting, as my coconut cream had most of it’s oil removed a couple of days ago.

I baked it in two 9-inch round cake pans instead of a 9×13.  Then I made it into a layer cake.

When I bake it again – because it is very much worth baking again – I will most likely add a layer of whipped cream in the middle between the layers.  We added a dollop on top to help cut the richness, but I think a layer in the middle would be very good.

Tags: chocolate cake, gluten free

ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp water
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped fine

Cream butter & sugar, then mix in water and vanilla.  Add the flour and chopped nuts.

Chill 4 hours in fridge.

Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.  Watch them the last couple of minutes to make sure they don’t burn.

Take them out of the oven and drop them into a bowl of powdered sugar while they are still warm.  Set out to cool.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had a baking frenzy on Saturday to get the treat boxes ready to take with us to church on Sunday, and these were the favorite of those that we baked.  They take a little longer to bake than most of the others, but the extra time is worth it!  These are the cookies that Grandmas, Nanas and Babushkas all over used to bake, and they are soooooooo good.

I ended up rolling them slightly smaller so the dough would go further, and I actually like them that way – just enough for a taste, but not so much that you feel like you might overdo it if you eat two…

Tags: christmas cookies, Holiday baking

• 2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or allspice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 cup light brown cane sugar
• 3/4 cup cane sugar
• 3 egg equivalent in Ener-G egg substitute
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup vegetable oil**

• 2 cups finely grated carrots
• 1 can (about 14 oz) crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup shredded coconut

• nuts and raisins optional

Faux Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 8 oz package of vegan cream cheese
• 1/3 cup vegan soy margarine (like Earth Balance), softened.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups vegan confectioners sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, spice, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer combine sugar and egg replacer until creamy.  Add vanilla, then add vegetable oil or applesauce.

Mix wet and dry ingredients together and add carrots, pineapple, and coconut.

Grease pan. Smooth batter into pan. Bake for 40 – 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Be sure to let the cake adequately cool before frosting.

For a thicker cake, use a 9×9 glass pan. For a thinner cake with more servings, use a 13×9.  You can also make them in a cupcake pan or 2 loaf pans.

Faux Cream Cheese Frosting recipe:

With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and margarine. Add vanilla, then add sugar.

This entire recipe tastes just like the real thing! It just made it last night and it is so delicious!

Makes: 9 servings, Preparation time: 20 minutes, Cooking time: 40 minutes

**Substitutions**

For the egg replacer – I used pineapple juice drained from the pineapple chunks instead of water.  I had it and I thought I’d give the cake an extra boost of flavor.

Again, I don’t use vegetable oil.  I subbed with applesauce as usual.

Since I had a young coconut in the fridge I used that instead of dried shredded coconut.  I just ran it through the shredder with the carrots.  I tried to run the pineapple chunks through as well, but that really didn’t work.  I ended up cutting up the pineapple chunks I had by hand instead.

I accidentally added 3 cups of carrots instead of the 2 called for – I mixed it up with another recipe.  It worked out pretty well though.

I also added 1 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup chopped dried cherries.

I don’t do soy-based cream cheese frosting.  Instead of that I used my trusty old standby Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting – wow, was it tasty!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am apparently in a baking mood today – zucchini bread and carrot cake back to back.  That or I’m just hungry   I found this recipe over at VegWeb.com where it was submitted by Tate.  I was looking at both this recipe and this one by Ina Garten so I’m sure that there are places other than just the extra cup of carrots that I merged them but I don’t recall them.

Just so you know, these muffins by no means need the frosting – and they are better for you without it – but what is a good tropical-inspired carrot cake without frosting?  I mean really.

So why did I pick a vegan recipe?  Well, I ran out of eggs but I have scads of egg replacer!  Shhh – don’t tell!

So yeah – that’s my version of this yummy cake!  And I would have to agree, next to the Oregon Farms boxed cake (now Sarah Lee), this is one of the best carrot cakes I have tried yet.  I’m still trying to duplicate that one though!  Yum…

Oh – and the kids LOVE it!

Tags: carrot cake, vegan cake

• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 3 tsp. vanilla

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• pinch of salt

• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325F.

Combine the first 5 ingredients (wet) in a mixing bowl.  Sift together the next 5 (dry) into another bowl, and combine being sure to mix well.

If you are adding nuts, fold them in at this time.

Pour the batter into three greased loaf pans and bake for 1 hour.

**Substitutions**
I don’t use vegetable oil for anything.  I substituted applesauce for the oil and they taste great.

I also used a bit of sucanat in place of some of the sugar – it gives it a richer, more molasses-y taste.  It’s like brown sugar, but a little stronger.  It’s made in a different way.

One other thing – I don’t recommend using paper cups if you choose to make muffins.  These are pretty sticky and it’s hard to peel the paper off.  I did this time since I knew I had more than one batch of muffins to make and needed the pan again soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m not sure where we got this recipe, but it’s been travelling around with us for a few years and the whole family loves it!  Fortunately it makes more than one loaf, since the first loaf is usuallt gone within the first 2 hours or so of being baked.  It also makes great muffins to toss into a lunch box.

Tags: muffins, quick bread, zucchini bread