• 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!

Banana Cream Pudding was one of those treats from childhood that you remember, then forget, then something brings it back to mind.  But oh, what a treat it is!

Last Summer I went to New York to see my youngest cousin graduate from college, and while we were there she took us to one of the many cupcake shops that are popping up.  This one served bananna cream pudding, and it was near perfection.  Just like mom used to make (and I can say that – my mom was there and said it too!)  It is complete with the soft, cakey chunks of cookie inside that remind you of pie crust, only better.

This is a cheater version for those that don’t want to make the pudding from scratch, and it has a little something extra in it… Chocolate!

And no, there isn’t anything about this dessert that is low-fat or healthy (well, except the bananas).  It is a treat, a delicious, cool Summer treat.

Ingredients

• 1-4.6 oz pkg vanilla cook & serve pudding
• 1-3.4 oz pkg chocolate fudge cook & serve pudding
• 5 cups of milk (per box directions)
• 3-5 bananas (depends on how many bananas you like in it)
• Nilla Wafers – just get a box
• 12 oz. heavy whipping cream or whipped cream

Make the pudding according to package directions, combining them while cooking.  While you have someone stirring that prepare your large bowl by dumping in some nilla wafers.  Some people will get fance here – layering the nilla wafers and the pudding so it’s pretty, but since you have to stir it all up later, I don’t bother.  I just dump in a generous mound of cookies about 2 inches tall in the bowl.

When the pudding has reached it’s full boil, pour it over the cookies and stir to make sure there aren’t any air pockets around the cookies – you just want pudding surrounding them!  Chill until set, about 3 hours or so.

When the pudding is set, slice the bananas into it and stir it all together.  Whip the cream until it’s stiff and fold it into the pudding gently.

If desired, garnish with sliced bananas, Nilla wafers and whipped cream.

Enjoy!

These are a tribute to Starvin’ Arvin’s in Grand Junction – the originator of the Green Supreme.  I was missing them the other day and decided to try my hand at making up my own.  It helped that I had some green chili on hand (leftover from the camping trip potluck the night before).

WHAT YOU NEED:

• eggs – scrambled, over easy, sunny side up, filled with garlic, whatever your preference
• green chili – you will need LOTS of this!  Well, if you are like us anyway.  Check out the recipe here
• sour cream
• cheddar cheese
• fluffy biscuits (we made ours with some cheddar inside – sooooo good!)

Basic Bisquick biscuits work great – just don’t roll them out.  You want all of those nooks and crannies to catch everything.   Put 1 to 3 biscuits on each plate – depending on the size of the biscuits and the appetites you are serving.

<biscuits>

Lay an egg or two over and around the biscuits.

<eggs & biscuits>

Cover both with lots of green chili.  Then add some more   Oh, and cheese.  Generously sprinkle the cheese over the eggs and the chili.  Top with a dollop of sour cream.

<all together now>

Voila!  These are soooo good.  Not quite heuvos rancheros, more than just eggs and chili, and just right.

Part of the beauty of these is that you can make most of it a day or so ahead & just warm it up.  Makes it good for a group.

As we have been making kefir, there have been a few times that I let it sit just a little too long, and it fully separated into curds & whey. Not one to be wasteful, I have been looking for ways to use this whey in cooking. One way is to add it to the sourdough starter in place of water. It adds some great nutrients and a bit more tang. These are good things. But where else can it be used?

Oats.

Yes, you can make a tasty sweet-tart oatmeal using kefir whey and honey.

Oh, and it’s best if you start the night before. Soaking, that is.

The basics:

• 3-5 cups whey, kefir, buttermilk or a combination of the three
• 1 cup pin head oats (often called Irish oats)
• 1 small handful dried cranberries, cherries, raisins… dried fruit.
• raw honey
• brown sugar or turbinato sugar (or both if you feel like it)

In a deep, heavy-bottomed pan combine the whey and oats. Toss in the dried fruit and stir gently. Let this sit overnight and soak.

In the morning, turn the heat on to medium low and let it slowly cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Obviously this only works on mornings that you have extra time.

When it has cooked down to the consistency you prefer, stir in some honey and brown sugar. Let that warm through and serve!
Some options:

• cinnamon
• vanilla
• maple syrup
• butter
• cream

You get the idea. If you want to add spices, add them the night before to let their flavor really meld. I think some cloves and cardamom pods would be a really nice addition too – but that could just be the mood I’m in today.

This will keep and re-heat nicely, so make enough on your day off to last throughout the week, and you have a delicious, nutrient-filled breakfast all week long!

I will warn you though, if you don’t like tangy foods, you won’t like this much. It definitely had a sweet-tart flavor to it, due to the oats fermenting slightly in the whey overnight. Add in the cranberries and the tartness is more pronounced. I love it, my hubby wasn’t quite as fond of it, but ate it just fine. One of my kids loves it, the other hated it. but then, she only likes instant oatmeal to begin with. But then, I never much liked oatmeal before either – too bland.

This is based on a recipe I found over at KefirCheese.com – she has more great ways to use kefir in your cooking! Go take a look.

• 1.5 cups melted clarified butter
• 1/2 cup oil
• 40 leaves phillo dough
• 4 cups finely ground nuts – your preference
• cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, etc to taste
• 1.5 cups evaporated cane juice (sugar)
• 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 Tbsp brown rice syrup or honey

Mix butter and oil.  Cut dough to the shape of the baking pan by laying the pan on top of the stacked dough and cutting off excess.

Combine the finely ground nuts with spices.

Butter the inside of the baking dish.  Gently place one leaf of dough into the pan, fitting it carefully along the bottom of the pan (the dough is very fragile, so fold them to pick up and unfold them into the pan).  Brush with butter and oil mixture.  Continue placing sheets of phillo one at a time, buttering each one, up to 10 sheets.

Sprinkle 3 Tbsp of nut mixture on the tenth leaf.  Open 2 more sheets of dough on top of nuts, buttering each.  Repeat with the nut mixture and two more sheets until all are used up.  As soon as the last 2 sheets are used, brush with butter and oil.

With a very sharp knife, lightly score the top of the pastry lengthwise into four then draw the knife across diagonally to make diamond-shapes.  Bake at 325F for 90 minutes.

Combine the lemon, syrup and sugar in a saucepan.  Cook until the sugar dissolves.  Boil for 5 minutes, or until a drop forms a soft ball when dropped into cold water.  Remove from heat and stir water into syrup.  Cool.

When the pastry is baked, remove from oven and pour the syrup over it.  Cool to room temp and serve.

This is a great quiche to make when you don’t have a lot of time and don’t have an pie crust laying around. This one makes it’s own crust while it is baking.

Feel free to substitute your favorite veggies.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic – minced
• olive oil
• 2 bunches rainbow chard or spinach
• 1 stick butter
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 3/4 cups bisquick
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• pepper
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• cinnamon
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta
• 1-1/2 cups shredded cheese

Fill a medium saucepan with water and put it on to boil. Preheat the oven to 400F.

Put 2 Tbsp. butter into a 10-inch pie plate or a deep-dish pizza pan and put it into the oven to melt.

In a saute pan, drizzle some olive oil and warm over medium heat. Chop the chard stems and put them into the saute pan. Add the diced onion and minced garlic and cook until the onion is translcent.

Roll the chard leaves up like a cigar and slice across it so that you have ribbons of chard. Blanche them in the boiling water for about 1 minute, and add them to the garlic and onion. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp butter to the pan.

Melt the rest of the butter.

In a blender, add the milk, bisquick, salt, eggs and the rest of the butter. Add some pepper, nutmeg and a dash of cinnamon to taste. Blend until this is frothy.

When the butter in the baking dish is melted, pull it out of the oven carefully and pour the veggies into the bottom. Sprinkle the feta and shredded cheese over it and pour the milk mixture over everything.

Put it into the oven and bake at 400F for 30-35 minutes, or until puffy and browned.

Allow to rest for 10 minutes.

This is a great recipe to make a day early and serve at any temperature! The flavors will continue to blend the longer it sits. It is also good right out of the oven.

If you like it, serve it with a dollop of sour cream – yum!

This recipe comes down from my husband’s Grandmother – each year she would make a Christmas tree out of rolls, complete with green frosting.  She passed away, and no one had a cinnamon roll tree this year.  I knew I had the recipe somewhere, and I just found it, so I’m sharing it with you.

• 1 cup milk
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup  warm water to dissolve yeast
• 3-4 cups sifted flour
• cinnamon
• brown sugar
• more butter
• walnuts, raisins, cranberries or apples as desired.

In a large bowl combine sugar, salt and butter.  Heat up milk, and when it is hot pout it into the bowl over dry ingredients.  Mix until dissolved.

Dissolve yeast in warm water.

Beat egg and add to milk mixture, then add yeast.  Add 3-4 cups sifted flour, enough to make a soft dough.

Put into a well greased bowl and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size (at least 1 hour).

Knead down and roll out to 1/2-inch thick.

Spread with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, fruits and nuts, leaving one edge clean.

Roll up, starting at the edge opposite the clean edge.  Using your finger, rub a bit or water on the clean edge and seal it to the roll, pinching lightly.

Cut into 1″ slices using dental floss (slide the floss under the roll and bring the ends up around the roll and cross them above it to cut the dough).

Place on a greased cookie sheet and let rise for another hour.

Bake at 375F for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

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

You can use your favorite frosting or icing for these, but we usually use Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting.  To make the Christmas tree, set the uncooked rolls out on a jelly roll pan in a triangle shape with 2 rolls at the base for the trunk of the tree.  Grandma often put candied fruits or candy on top of the frosting as ornaments.

Yes, we seem to have created a tradition in our house that Friday is pizza and movie night. Not sure how it started, but it seems to be the norm these days.

While we do occasionally cop out and do the Papa Murphy’s thing (that spinach bacon and artichoke delight is so good!) we have also been known to have a “Make your own pizza” night pretty regularly.

Since I have been making sourdough a couple of times each week, I usually have a healthy amount of starter laying around wanting to get used. This comes in very handy around 4:30 on Friday night. Very handy indeed.

While browsing one evening I came across a recipe for sourdough pizza crust that is a definite winner.
It takes about an hour start to finish to have a 9″-12″ pizza each for 4 people. His directions are pretty complete, so I would duplicate it here, but I will add that you should make sure to poke the dough with a fork all over before baking it the first time to keep it from puffing up too much. I also like to place a pan under my pizza stone (at one edge) to put some ice cubes into so that the oven has some steam. Make sure you replace the ice cubes as they melt and evaporate.

Now that you have the dough, what do you top it with?

Let’s start with the sauce:

• 1 small can tomato paste
• 3 cloves garlic – minced
• finely chopped onion – about 1/8 cup
• 1 can of warm water
• ground oregano and basil

Saute the garlic and onion in a small saucepan and add the tomato paste and water. Add the crushed herbs and let it cook on low for a bt while you get the other topping ready.

The girls like cheese pizza – yep, nothin’ but cheese and sauce. Or pepperoni.

For those with a broader pallet, here are some thoughts:

• chicken, spinach, bacon & feta
• chicken, potato, rosemary
• tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella
• pepperoccini, tomatoes & herbs

These are just a few ideas that have come from our oven… tonight was blue potatoes, bacon, onion, chicken, spinach and feta.  Yum!

And no, I didn’t get a picture… it was just too good!  I’ll try to do better next time.

Keep in mind that since this crust is just flour, water, salt and oil, you can make a vegan pizza pretty easily.  Lots of veggies, a pesto sauce… too bad I’m full already, that sounds good too

So, next time pizza sounds good, remember that homemade is easy too!

I grew up making spaghetti sauce in a large pot. You make a big batch, because that’s how you can get all of the good stuff in. Then you freeze the excess. My husband calls my sauce “Spaghetti for 40 people” because I make such a big batch. But he can’t deny that it is good!

So, if you are having a large group of people over and need something to feed them all, or you are planning ahead and want to have a yummy, meaty sauce on hand for busy school nights, this is a recipe for you.

Give yourself plenty of time too. This sauce needs to be made a day in advance so all of the flavors can have a party together and really mix it up. I usually pull the sausage links and ribs out to serve either as a side dish or for a completely separate meal.

And yes, it is FILLED with meat and veggies! The way it should be.

• olive oil
• 2 medium onions – diced
• 1 medium bulb garlic – minced
• flour
• 1 package stew meat
• 1 package mild Italian sausage links
• 1 package ground hot Italian sausage
• 1 small package ground turkey
• pork ribs

• red wine
• balsamic vinegar

• 12 roma tomatoes
• 4 – 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes (with basil is a bonus!)
• 2 small cans of tomato paste
• 2 cans diced tomatoes with garlic, onion and basil
• 10 mushrooms – sliced
• 8 medium carrots – chopped
• 2 medium zucchini – halved and chopped

Herbs – to taste

• oregano
• basil
• savory
• white pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• rosemary

Yes, there are LOTS of ingredients in here.

I generally use a large saute pan at this stage, and pour everything into the large stock pot as it is browned.

Drizzle enough olive oil in your stock pot to just cover the bottom when warm. Put it on low heat.

In a large saute pan, drizzle olive oil and saute onions until translucent. Add the minced garlic and caramelize the garlic and onions. Deglaze the pan with a little balsamic vinegar or red wine. Pour this into the stock pot.

Add 1 can of crushed tomatoes to keep the onions from further browning. Fill the can with warm water and use a spatula to make sure that you get all of the tomato off of the sides. Pour this into the stock pot as well. Do this with each can you use.

Add a little more olive oil to the saute pan. Fill it with sausage links. While those are browning, dredge the stew meat in the flour to coat it. I generally cut the sausage links in half at least once they are browned. It depends on if you are planning to pull them out or not. If you are leaving them in, cut them into coins (approx. 1/2-inch wide slices) and brown the insides. When they are browned, pour them into the stock pot.

Deglaze the pan again.

In a medium saucepan, bring some water to a boil. Fill a medium bowl with ice water and set it aside.

Add some more olive oil and brown the stew meat. When all sides have been browned, add them to the stock pot.

Your water should be boiling now. Dip your roma tomatoes into the boiling water for about 30-60 seconds, or until the skin begins to split. Dunk them immediatly into the ice water. Move them to an empty bowl – the skins should slip right off. Discard the skins.

Brown the ribs, keeping them on the bone. These will be pulled out later and used as a separate dish. Trust me, it’s good. Toss them, bone and all, into the stock pot. Deglaze the pan.

While the ribs are cooking, dice the tomatoes and add them to the stock pot with 2 more cans of crushed tomatoes.

Combine the Italian sausage and ground turkey together in the saute pan, and brown them. Remove the excess grease and add them to the sauce. Deglaze the pan one more time to get all of those good browned bits off of the bottom.

Add the rest of the tomatoes, taking care to mix the tomato paste in well, and wash the sides of the cans, adding the tomato-y water to the sauce.

Add the chopped carrots and mushrooms to the pot and stir them down in. You may need more or less, depending on your preference.

Toss in the bay leaves. Using the palms of your hands, crush the oregano, basil and savory into the sauce. Cover the top of the sauce with a thin layer of pepper. Stir them all down in. I like to add a small sprig of fresh rosemary to the sauce, and pull it out with the bay leaves just before serving.

Let this cook down a bit before adding the zucchini. I usually leave in on low overnight to give the flavors the best chance to combine.

Add the chopped zucchini about 2 hours before you plan to serve it. If you have picky eaters, you can shred the zucchini to add the flavor, but no one will complain about it being in their sauce.

Taste it to see if you need to add any more salt, pepper, etc.

Before you serve it, make sure you pull out the ribs. If you plan to leave the meat in, remove it from the ribs now and add the meat back in. Make sure you get ALL of the bones out. Take out the bay leaves and rosemary sprig as well.

I usually serve the sausage links – cut into thirds – in a bowl at the side for those that may want them.

Boil your noodles of choice – penne, radiatori, farfalle, etc. – and serve with shredded cheese!

A meat lover’s dream sauce. Just don’t tell them that there are also veggies in it!

This is a quick, easy recipe that will have you staying away from those little boxes at the store in favor of homemade! Really, it only takes 5 minutes. I will warn you, this is a darker chocolate pudding when made with coconut cream, but even my “I hate dark chocolate” daughter loved it. Secretly I think she says she doesn’t like it dark because I do, and Grandma doesn’t… but that is another story!

Ingredients:

1 can coconut cream*
1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp corn starch

1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat the coconut cream and milk on the stove. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients. When the milk begins to bubble, remove from the heat and pour some of it into the dry ingredients and mix. Pour everything back into the pan and return to the heat. Stir until everything is dissolved and add the vanilla.

Serve immediately over pound cake, angel food cake, brownies or ice cream, or pour into snack cups or bowls and chill until set.

In my experience, these don’t get the traditional “pudding film” but if you want to make sure they don’t, put plastic wrap right on the surface of the pudding.

This pudding will do a soft set, but stay very creamy. Make it the day before for the hardest set. It will not get as thick as the snack cups you can buy at the store.

This is a great snack for kids – after school, mid-morning, or to take in their lunch boxes! And yes, it’s a great snack for us bigger kids too…

*Coconut cream can be found at Asian markets, and occasionally at good grocery stores. Coconut milk could also work, it just won’t be as thick.