Something special

Here's the cake I made for my mother for her birthday awhile ago. She absolutely loved it! (Based off of a recipe from La Dolce Vegan)



Chocolate Espresso Cake

1 cup natural sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk (soy, rice, anything you desire)
1 shot of espresso (I've used strong coffee before and just added a little extra)
1/3 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl, stir the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add the milk, espresso, applesauce, and vanilla. Lightly stir until just mixed. Spray a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray and spread the cake mixture evenly in the pan. Bake for about 40-45 minutes. Let cool for about 10-15 minutes before removing it from the pan. If you plan to put frosting on it, make sure it is completely cooled.

I absolutely love these spices together. It's my version of garam masala.

Bella's Garam Masala

1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon coriander
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 heaping teaspoon nutmeg

Stir together and store in an airtight container.

Joe and Broth

See, I sat. Now can I have food?



Tired eyes.



Blurry, but he's still cute, and he still thinks I'm going to feed him.



Squirrel!

For Christmas, I received three cookbooks: Veganomicon, Quick-Fixed Vegetarian (actually a vegan cookbook), and Vegetarian. The last is acutally a lacto-ovo cookbook and I'm not very excited about it. It has many lovely pictures and tons of information, but it seems like most of the recipes call for some kind of animal products. Sure, I can substitute, but sometimes it's nice just to leave a recipe the way it is and not have to fiddle with it, you know?

Anyway, Veganomicon looks great! Quick-Fixed seems like a good one for those nights when I have a lot of homework and studying to do. Last night, I was going to make a mango quinoa salad from Veganomicon, but the mangoes weren't ripe enough to eat, so I decided to make Snobby Joes. Surprisingly, they were quite good. Here's the recipe (I've changed it a bit and scaled down the recipe so I don't have so many servings):



Snobby Joes

1/2 cup uncooked lentils
2 cups of water
oil (optional, I sauté with water)
1 yellow onion, finely diced
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons chile powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 cup tomato sauce (if you have some left over from a can, freeze it in a zip lock bag for later use)
1/8 cup tomato paste (or 2 TB)
2 teaspoons agave nectar or maple syrup
1-2 teaspoons yellow mustard (like French's)
bread

In a small sauce pan, combine the lentils and water. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

After the lentils have cooked for 10 minutes, preheat a medium-sized sauce pan and sauté the onion (this recipe calls for a green bell pepper, but I despise bell peppers. If you decide to use it, sauté with the onions) until softened. When the lentils are done, stir them into the onions and add the chile powder, oregano, tomato paste, and tomato sauce. Stir well and simmer over very low heat for about 10 minutes. About a minute before it's done, add the garlic. Turn off the heat and stir in the mustard and sweetneer and let it sit for 10 more minutes or so to let the flavors meld. Spread this mixture on sesame buns, kaiser rolls, or just plain whole wheat bread. Enjoy!

If you have some left over, freeze it.

I also made some vegetable broth. It can be used to help add some flavor to soups and other dishes and is much more economical than buying pre-made (not to mention healthier).

Basic Veggie Broth

1 large or two small onions, coarsely chopped
3 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 potatoes, quartered then halved
3-4 celery ribs, including leaves, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
12 cups of water
2 tablespoons tamari
big palmful of dried parsley
1 large teaspoon black peppercorns

This makes about 5-8 cups.

In a large stockpot, Sauté the onions carrots, potatoes, celery and garlic until soft (cover the pot to do this), about five minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer (medium high heat, probably), and simmer uncovered for about an hour.

Strain out the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into another pot, pressing out the good vegetable juices with a spoon.

Now your broth is done. I freeze mine in zip-lock bags in 1 cup portions. This will keep in the refrigerator for four days or in the freezer for about three months.

Trial, Error, and Success

The squash risotto I made for Christmas was horrible. I couldn't even eat it, I just threw it out. I guess not everything can come out good, right? Well, anyway, that night, I had a lovely hummus, tomato, and spinach wrap and asparagus on the side. It was tasty.

Last night, I made split pea soup and french bread. Both were very good and I got many, many compliments on both! Yay, it makes me happy.



French Bread

2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup unbleached flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup sesame seeds
oil

Mix the flours together and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir the yeast and the 1/4 cup of warm water together. Add the sugar, and let sit for about 10 minutes. Then, stir in the rest of the water, salt, and 1 cup of the flour mixture. Mix, and slowly add the rest the of the flour 1 cup at a time.

Lightly flour a surface and knead the bread until smooth, elastic, and not very sticky. Add more flour if needed. Next, place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Turn and roll the dough until covered. Cover the dough with plastic wrap.

If you have a convection microwave oven, preheat it to 100°F. When preheated, place the dough in the microwave for 30 minutes. The dough should double in size.*

If you do not have a convection microwave, preheat the oven to 200°F. When it is preheated, shut it off and place the dough in for 30 minutes.*

While dough is rising, toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 3 or 5 minutes or until the seeds begin to brown. Stir and shake constantly and be careful not to burn them. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

After the dough has risen, punch it down and knead the air bubbles out. Shape the dough into a large loaf or two small baguettes on a lightly floured surface. Make 5 diagonal slashes across the top and evenly sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds over it. Let sit for about 15 minutes in a warm spot. Preheat the oven to 400°F (375 if using convection bake). Place the dough on a cookie sheet (I spray mine with Pam) and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool on the rack for about 10 minutes before serving.


If you want the bread to have a hard, shiny crust, mist it with water during the last 10 minutes of baking.

*letting the bread rise like this cuts down on the time dramatically, from 1.5-2 hours to 30 minutes.


Bella's Green Split Pea Soup

1 onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium potato, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 turnip, finely chopped (about 1/2-3/4 cup)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 1/2 cups water or vegetable stock
1/2 cup greed split peas
salt and pepper to taste


Sauté the onions in water or oil. After about a minute or so, add the carrots and celery and sauté until the onions are translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil, and reduce the heat. Cover and simmer for 50 minutes or until the split peas are cooked.

Serve with a nice fresh salad and french bread. Enjoy!

Christmas Eve Dinner

My peanut butter cups were a hit! Everyone absolutely loved them and said they were so much better than Reese's. They even thought I should sell them for some money. Well, I probably won't do that, but it really made my day! (I know I was going to stuff their stockings, but I couldn't wait!)

I also made some cookies today that were to die for. Truth be told, they really didn't look like normal cookies, but they were ten times better than any cookie I've ever had.



Happy Oats and Chocolate Blob Cookies

~1 cup Flour (I just found this 50/50 flour made with whole wheat flour and unbleached white. I think it's better than plain white or whole wheat for things like this)
~1 cup rolled oats
~2 teaspoons Baking powder
~1 large teaspoon Cinnamon
~3/4 to 1 cup Vegan chocolate chips
~1/2 cup sugar
~3/4 Apple sauce
~1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
~1/4 Milk (I used vanilla soy milk. I think sweetened milk is best for this)

Make sure all ingredient are at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and chocolate chips. Make a well in the center and set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and applesauce. Add vanilla and water. Then, pour this mixture into the well of the dry ingredients. Mix well.

On an ungreased cookie sheet, measure out spoon-fulls. Bake for 8-11 minutes or until slightly firm on top. Let sit for a while before taking them off of the cookie sheet. These taste even better once they've cooled!

This next dish was amazing. I absolutely loved it, and so did everyone else.



Pomegranate Barley and Wild Rice Pilaf

~1 med Red onion, diced
~1/2 cup Wild rice (I actually used a gourmet blend of several rices)
~1/2 cup Pearled barley
~3 cups Water
~1/3 cup Pine nuts
~2 teaspoons grated Lemon zest
~2 teaspoons Parsley
~3 cloves of garlic
~1 cup of Pomegranate seeds (1 pomegranate should be plenty)

Saute the red onion until translucent (use oil or water, whatever you like). Add the rice and barley and stir for about a minute. Add the water and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the garlic and 1 teaspoon of parsley. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. 45-50 minutes.

Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over medium heat. Stir constantly! Be careful not to burn! They are done when they are slightly browned. Set aside in a bowl to cool.

When the grains are done, add the pomegranate seeds, lemon zest, the rest of the parsley, and toasted nuts to the pilaf. Fluff and enjoy! Bon appetite!

Tomorrow night, I'm making a roasted acorn squash risotto. I hope it's good!

Bella's Peanut Butter Cups

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone.

This morning, I decided to make some peanut butter cups to put in my parent's stockings tomorrow. I based this off of someone else's recipe (I didn't have all of their ingredients...) and I have not actually tried these yet... But hey, how can one go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate? It's impossible!

Bella's PB Cups

-Semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips (look out for milk fat! It's in everything!)
-Peanut butter (reduced fat and creamy. I use organic smucker's and I make it "low fat" by pouring off the oil on top)
-Foil cupcake tins, cut in half
-Salt, optional

I'm not putting down amounts because that's up to you.

Put chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl, and microwave in two thirty-second intervals. Stir. If still chunky, microwave for 15 more seconds. You should not need to microwave any more than this (well, maybe a little longer if you use more than a cup). Take a dollop of chocolate and spread evenly in the bottoms of each foil cup (to your desired thickness). Then, put in the freezer for about ten minutes or until hard.

Measure out the peanut butter, put it into a microwave-safe container, and add salt if desired. Microwave for 45 seconds to a minute (no more than a minute, trust me!). Take a dollop of this and spread over the frozen chocolate. Melt some more chocolate following the instructions above, and spread this carefully over the peanut butter. Freeze for about ten more minutes, and there you go! Peanut butter cups! *Warning: these are BIG peanut butter cups* Enjoy!

Relaxing

I'm so tired...

It's been awhile since my last post.... I've just been under so much stress lately writing papers and studying for semester exams... I probably over studied! On Thursday, I had Spanish III, Advanced Physical Science, Advanced English, and Advanced Algebra II. Friday, I had Zoology, health (required), and French I. The second day was so much less stressful. I don't get to find out what I made until January 9th! It's so frustrating! I'm probably the only one who cares, though!

Next semester, I'll have Botany and World Geography (I wanted World History...). Should be... fun? I think I will enjoy botany, but I'm not so sure about world geography...

Finnegan is doing great. I do not have many current photos (12 weeks old as of yesterday), but I did get to take some pictures of him playing in snow for the first time! He was so cute!

Christmas is in a few days. I'm not sure of what I'm going to make for dinner, but I know for dessert I'm making a chocolate pie (just to prove to my brother that vegan chocolate is good!) and cookies (I love cookies... They are the one sweet I really love, and I don't eat sweets often).



Finni smelling his first snow.



Wee!



Siting. Looking pretty.




Ugh, too bright! Too bright!

Poor Man's Bean Tomato Dish

I was surprised how good this was because of its simplicity. This will definitely become one of my staples.


Cumin Bean Tomato Dish

Ingredients:

1 can Red kidney beans*, rinced
1 onion, chopped
1/4-1/2 teaspoon Red pepper flakes
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 can Hunt's tomato sauce

Saute the onions in water or oil until translucent. Stir in the can of tomato sauce, cumin, beans, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Let simmer for about 15 minutes, and then stir in the minced garlic. Let sit for five minutes. Serve over brown rice, and enjoy!

*any beans can be used, but I like red kidney beans with this.



Finnegan is 10 weeks old as of yesterday! He's huge!



He kept me up most of the night last night... I woke up with a headache and had to take a nap for two and a half hours to get it to go away... I was miserable, but I feel so much better now.

All of my Christmas shopping is done and I feel so relived. Last year was crazy. I spent the last few days right before Christmas rushing around trying to find presents for everyone. Never again. This year, I did all my shopping online. While I think I do prefer to shop in a store, it is nice to be able to compare prices online... The present I bought for my brother was $70 at a store, but I got it for $50! Yeah, I was really excited (and yes, I know I'm a nerd, but hey, who doesn't like to save money?).

Motherly love

Warning: If you decide to be a vegan, be prepared to be verbally attacked.

Hi, my name is Bella, and I have been brainwashed. I am also completely crazy.

Or, at least that is what my loving mother tells me.

If veganism were an allergy, no one would have a problem with it. Because it is a choice, however, there must be something wrong with vegans. Who in their right mind would not eat an animal? Don't you know God put animals on this earth solely for our consumption?

My dear mother, I love her, but seriously, she needs to get over the fact that I am a vegan. She is not going to change me, no matter how harsh her words are or how much she cries. I am who I am (who would have thought?).

In her eyes, I am sickly, have weak bones, and am going to die an early death. I guess only time will change her mind.

This web page made me laugh. I can really relate to a lot of them; Reasons not to be vegan: http://veganconnection.com/reasons.html