• 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!

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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!

This is one of those recipes that doesn’t have any exact measurements… just get the basic ingredients and you’re golden.

Oh, and it can be as hot as you can handle it, but it’s rarely terribly cool.  It all depends on the peppers used.  These are the basic guidelines…

Ingredients:

• 2 Anaheim chilis
• 2 jalapenos (the redder the better)
• olive oil
• 1 med sweet onion
• 6+ cloves garlic
• 6 pork chops, cubed
• 4 tomatillos
• 2 cans Herdez salsa verde
• water (usually around 2-4 cups)
• flour (1 Tbsp for every cup of water)

In a dry saute pan over med-high dry roast the chilies until the skins blister.  Cut off the stems and empty the seeds out (unless you want the heat they add).  Chop them up and set aside.

Chop the tomatillos and set aside.

Peel and chop the onion and garlic.  Drizzle some olive oil in the saute pan and caramelize the onion & garlic.  When the onion is translucent add the chilies and tomatillos and saute together until caramelized.  Set aside.

In a heavy-bottomed pan brown the pork on all sides.  Add the onion mixture and the Herdez salsa verde.  If you need more liquid, combine a tablespoon of flour with a cup of water and add to the pan.  Add more as needed.

Allow this to cook down for about 20 minutes.  The longer it sits, the more flavor it will have.

Serve with warm tortillas, chips, sour cream or as part of a green supreme (recipe coming soon).

Enjoy!

*It is also very tasty made with chicken.

** make it vegeretian by leaving out the pork, but be warned that the pork or chicken really adds a lot of “filler” and makes it go much further.

Yes, you will stink after eating this, but it will be very worth it!  Roasted, caramelized garlic and onions seem to make everything all better, then you top it with fresh bread broiled under a slice of cheese and life really starts looking up.

Give yourself plenty of time though… like 3-4 hours.

Starting ingredients:

• 3 bulbs garlic – unpeeled
• 3 medium yellow onions
• 1 purple sweet onion
• 3 Tbsp butter  (unless you are going for vegan, then just use oil)
• 3 Tbsp olive oil (double it if you are leaving out the butter)

Turn on the oven to 450F.  In a large heavy-bottomed dutch oven or roasting pan, drizzle the olive oil and melt the butter by setting the pan in the oven while it is preheating.

Cut across the garlic bulbs so that you have 2 halves – the top & bottom.  Place these cut-side down in the bottom of the pan.  Put this in the oven to roast.

Peel and cut the tops and bottoms of of the onions.  Cut them in half from top to bottom, lay them on their sides and slice them into 1/4-inch slices from top to bottom.  They will taste better this way.  Do NOT cut across the grain of the onion.

After the garlic has roasted for about 30 minutes and all of the onions are sliced, pull the pan out and check the garlic.  It will most likely not be ready to fall out of the skin, so gently push it to one side of the pan and put the onions in the other side.  Put it back into the oven for 30 minutes.  Check the garlic again.  You should be able to pull the skin off of the top halves without any problem, but you will have to dig out the roasted garlic from the bottom half.  I use a fork and a plate.  Place the garlic cut side down on a plate and mash the garlic out from the center.

Stir the pot and put back into the oven for 45 minutes.

Next ingredients list:

• 4 mushrooms
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 Tbsp butter or oil
• whole wheat graham flour (approx 3/4 cup)
• 1/8 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar (I used balsamic fig – it was wonderful)
• 1/4 cup red wine

Pull the pot out of the oven and place onto a burner over med-high heat.  Cut the mushrooms into small chunks and add them to the pot.  Stir the onion mixture around and make an open space in the center.  Place 1 Tbsp. butter (or oil) into the center and melt.  When the butter has started foaming, sprinkle some flour over it to make a roux.  Stir the onions into the roux and let it brown.

Once there are browned bits forming on the bottom of the pan, add 1/2 cup beef broth and deglaze the pan.

Once again, make an opening in the center and melt 1 Tbsp butter and make a roux.  Stir everything together and again allow it to form a brown crust on the bottom.  Deglaze with 1/2 cup beef broth.

Continue stirring, but let the onions brown one more time.  Once there is browning on the bottom again, deglaze with the vinegars and wine.  Cook until the wine evaporates off, about 5 minutes.  Pour in the last cup of beef broth.

Final ingredients:

• 3 cups chicken broth
• herbs (oregano, sage, tarragon, thyme, etc)
• black pepper
• salt

Add the ground herbs and black pepper to the onion-y roux in the pot.  Pour in the chicken broth and let it heat for about 10 minutes.  Once it is warmed through, taste to see how much salt needs added – it shouldn’t take too much.

If you have oven-safe crocks, ladle the soup into them, place a slice of french bread on top and cover with a slice of cheese (gruyere, provolone or muenster all work well).  Place them 4-5 inches below the broiler and cook until the cheese is bubbly.

If you don’t have oven-safe crocks, slice the bread and lay the cheese on it.  Toast under a broiler until the cheese is bubbly.  Ladle the soup into bowls and place the toasted bread on the top.

This is a slightly sweet soup with a lot of flavor.

I must give credit where due – I came across FXcuisine.com’s listing for French Garlic Soup a few months back, and the pictures looked so amazing that I wanted to eat that soup instantly… but never got the chance to make it.  Then there was the email from Cooks Illustrated with the onion soup how-to video.  French Onion is one of my favorite soups – if it is made well.  Real onions, real broth, and a rich flavor – amazing that it all comes out of so few ingredients.

So, I melded the two recipes, and added a bit of my own flavors to it as well.  I hope you enjoy the new soup that we came up with!

Yes, I am happily stinky, but the good news is that the rest of the family is too, so no one notices too much.

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!

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 have had some requests for chocolate that is vegan and good for diabetics.  I’m not sure on the diabetic front, but these use alternatives to sugar, so they just might fit the bill.  And they taste great too!

For those with wheat allergies, I’m sure you can sub in a gluten-free flour and these will work for you too.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup honey, agave nectar or brown rice syrup – I use a combination of the three
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/3 cup almond meal (ground almonds)
• 2/3 cups vegan chocolate chips or chunked up chocolate bar
• 1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Put the coconut oil in an 8″x8″ baking pan and put it into the oven while it preheats to melt the coconut oil.

In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips).  Make a well in the center and add the applesauce, honey and vanilla.  Stir it all together until just moist.  Pour into the prepared baking pan and sprinkle the chips in a layer over the top.  Swirl in gently with a fork.  Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

Serve warm and gooey with Rice Dream or let them cool and serve them room temperature.

If you have brownie lovers like my hubby, this will yield 4 servings.  For normal people, this will give 9 servings.

The end of Summer is here, and if you planted it in your garden – and the slugs didn’t eat it all – you may just have a plethora of zucchini lying around waiting to go bad.  What to do?

Make muffins.

Well, you can make bread if you want to, but the muffins seem to last longer around here… something about counting just how many you have eaten already causes us to show some restraint!

These are *healthy* to some extent, but they don’t taste it!  Don’t tell your kids – or hubby – how good they are for you, just how good they are!  The sugary crust that forms towards the top will make sure that they don’t believe they are healthy anyway.

I have no idea where the original recipe came from, but I have tweaked it – as usual – to suit my tastes.  The girls like it this way better too – double bonus!

And did I mention that these make a tasty breakfast?  Yum…

Down to business…

Ingredients:
wet

• 2 cups evaporated cane sugar
• 1/2 cup turbinato sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 3 eggs (or egg replacer*)
• 2-1/2 cups grated zucchini
• 3 tsp. vanilla extract

dry

• 2 cups unbleached white flour**
• 2 cup whole wheat pastry flour**
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• pinch of salt

• 1 cup chopped nuts, dried fruit, etc – optional

Preheat the oven to 325F.

In a large mixing bowl combine the wet ingredients, making sure to mix the eggs thoroughly.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  This will be a wet dough.

If you are adding nuts or dried fruit, gently fold them in now.

Lightly grease your muffin tins, or use paper.  Fill each muffin cup just over 1/2 full.  We use a regular sized pan, and a mini muffin pan – the perfect size for the girls to take to school.  Either way, you should get at least 2 pans worth of muffins.  I usually get 15 regular muffins, and 24 mini muffins.

Bake at 325F for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a middle muffin comes out clean.

If you are using a loaf pan, bake for 1 hour, or until the toothpick is clean.  It should fill 3 greased loaf pans.

Enjoy!

*if you use egg replacer to make these vegan, add it with the dry ingredients.  Add the water or apple juice with the wet though.

**you can use 3-1/2 cups white flour instead if you would rather, but the whole wheat adds a delicious flavor!  And helps them be just a tad more healthy.

For the big party last weekend I made the meat sauce… but I also made a vegetarian sauce for those that don’t eat so much meat. As today is Tami’s birthday, and she requested the recipe, here it is!

• olive oil
• 1 med. sweet onion
• 5 cloves garlic – minced
• 6 roma tomatoes
• 2 cans diced tomatoes with basil OR garlic and onion
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes
• 1 large-ish zucchini
• 4 mushrooms
• 8 carrots
• fresh basil & oregano – to taste

Put some water on to boil in a small saucepan. Set up a small bowl to one side of it with ice water in it.

Drizzle olive oil in a large saucepan. Finely dice the onion and saute until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until the onions begin to caramelize.

When the water begins to boil, add the tomatoes, one at a time. Blanche them until the skin begins to crack. Move them from the boiling water to the ice water, and transfer them into another bowl or your cutting board. The skins should peel right off.

Dice the tomatoes and add them to the onions and garlic. Let them cook down for about 3 minutes and then add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes and the crushed tomatoes.

Peel and chop the carrots and add them to the pot. Quarter the zucchini and add it to the sauce as well. Chop the mushrooms and add them in.

Roll the oregano and basil up like a cigar and slice the roll thinly. Add these to the pot.

I usually crash some black pepper in as well, and a pinch of salt.

Serve over pasta al dente!

**if you leave out the crushed tomatoes, this will almost work as a ratatouille dish, or serve it on top of sliced baguettes for a new spin on bruschetta!

Smoothies, yes, but green? Why, Jennifer, why?

Because they are good… and good for you! And I can’t think of a better way to camouflage some of the green leafy veggies that my kids don’t particularly *like* to eat.

The basics:

frozen fruit
yogurt
kefir
100% juice (I like kagome’s juices)
mixed baby greens – kale, swiss chard, lettuce, cabbage, greens (turnip, collard, etc)
cinnamon
honey
milk

These are the basic ingredients that I use almost every morning.

I pour about 1/3 cup of yogurt into the bottom of my blender. Add about 1-1/2 cups frozen fruit, toss in a handful of greens, pour around 1/3 cup of kefir over that. Add in some juice and milk to keep it from getting too thick. The kids like it when I add a bit of cinnamon or honey to give it a hint of sweetness, but I don’t if the fruit is perfectly ripe and sweet.

Blend, ice crush, whatever setting your blender has that will chop up the fruit and greens into a wonderfully smooth, tasty mixture.

Pour into cups, add a fun straw and watch your kids (and yourself!) slurp down a delicious treat that is oh, so very good for them!

We drink these for breakfast or a mid-morning snack, but they would also be a great dessert. Just don’t let your kids see you making them… or your husband, for that matter! It will be our little secret!

Why frozen fruit?  Because it makes it more like a milk shake, something that kids love.  It also makes it easier to get everything to blend up well.  We pick a lot of fruit throughout the Summer, and I try to freeze at least some of it to enjoy during the colder months… of which most are here in Washington!

While we were camping, I made my favorite corn on the cob… and was surprised that no one else had heard of doing it this way! Obviously, I have to share this simple & delicious way to make fabulous corn!

Corn on the cob – as many as you want to fix
Your fav. seasoning blend
~Montreal steak seasoning
~ Mrs. Dash
~Cholula Seasoning
butter
aluminum foil

Shuck the corn & clean off the silk. Lay out a sheet of foil for each cob, and spread about 1/2 Tbsp. of butter on each. Sprinkle seasoning blend on top of the butter.

Lay the cob down on the butter & spin it around once like a top to spread the butter around. Roll the foil up around the corn & cook on the grill for about 10 minutes, turning over once. Check for doneness.

Unwrap and eat! The corn is pre-buttered & pre-seasoned for you.

If you are cooking this on a campfire, know that it may take a bit longer. Just toss the corn down around the hot coals to cook. Make sure you have tongs to pull them back out again!