Holiday Spices Muffin

Merry Christmas everyone!
Happy Holidays!
Winter Hugs!

I thought that was such a cute little saying - "Winter Hugs" -- that one came compliments of my daughter Rachel from her new "warm" home in Vancouver, B.C.   She left the prairies this fall lured by the promise of less winter and more "big city" things to do!  Lucky for me Vancouver is only 1 hour and 10 minutes from Edmonton via WestJet or AirCanada but a whole lot further via the trail through the Rockies! (12 hours)! Hard to believe she is basking in above temperatures with greenery still abounding whilst we are shovelling our way out every second day and bundling up to keep ourselves from turning into ice statues!

Lucky for me I'm able to be indoors cooking and baking today.  Decided to make a muffin using the warm holiday spices  - nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon and adding molasses in keeping with the season.

Ingredients

3/4 cup unbleached organic flour
1/4 cup oatbran flour
1/4 cup oatbran
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon golden ground flaxseed
3 tablespoons orange/mango juice
2 tablespoons applesauce
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup soy milk
1 cup finely grated carrot (about 1 large carrot)

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Stir the 3 tablespoons juice into the 3/4 cup soy milk.  Add the flaxseed, molasses, applesauce, olive oil and grated carrot.  Stir.  Combine the wet and dry together.  Using 1/4 cup measure - divide evenly between your muffin cups.  (I got 11 out of this recipe). Bake at 375 degree for about 20 - 22 minutes.

I was also busy entertaining the little elf today! Lucky for us we decided to swap last year's glass xmas balls with some inexpensive unbreakables.  He's busy decorating and re-decorating the tree and himself. The pic on the left was his take on what to do with the pointy decorations and the pic on the right was him asking for more pics of him but I arranged those jewels :O)

Organic Animal Crackers (Kirkland)

$10 buys you a super-size cannister (4 lbs worth) of organic animal crackers.  These are almost worth the price of the costco membership alone.  I kid you not.  These are delicious and addictive.  Two things that should not be in my vocabulary especially since they're made with wheat -- but it's organic wheat so that makes it all good, right? Fortunatley I'm only committed to reducing my total wheat intake not totally eliminating it so I'll indulge occasionally.  These would be delicious whirled into crumbs for pie crusts and other such treats.They are a big hit with my 3 year old grandson and so far everyone else who has tried them too. 

The ingredients listed would make it seem they are vegan yet what confused me was the word dairy on the front of the cannister.  I don't know if it's an error or they're just covering themselves because the equipment they process these on are not dedicated dairy-free.  In any case neither milk nor eggs are listed as one of the main ingredients and they're not super high in sugar either.  It's so nice to see more organic, economical and fairly healthy treats for our little people being incoporated into mainstream shopping outlets. I say keep them coming - especially if they're going to be as tasty as these cute little crackers.

Super Simple Supper Soup

Super Simple Supper Soup -- if you can say that in 2 seconds or less you deserve a big bowl of this lovely soup!  I enoyed making it -- so fast yet so good!  Also super economical - just super super all the way around :O)  If you have never tried Tinkyada rice noodles you're in for a treat.  You'd never guess they are gluten-free and have rice bran to boot.  Worth picking up and adding to your food pantry!

Ingredients
1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely diced

2 carrots, sliced

2 cups green cabbage, finely diced
1/2 cup broccoli pieces
1/2 cup cauliflower pieces
1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon (vegetarian no chicken soup base)
Handful of brown rice noodles (Tinkyada)
Six cups water

Directions for this soup are simple - saute first 3 ingredients for about 15 minutes while you are chopping the broccoli and cauliflower.  Now add soup base, broccoli and  cauliflower and simmer under about 4 cups of water for 30-45 minutes.  Add another 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil. Then add a handful of rice noodles broken into bite size pieces.  Reduce heat and simmer until noodles are done to your preference.  Be prepared to want seconds -- this soup is yummy for the tummy!

Add a slice of toasted Silver Springs Chia bread  (new product from Silver Hills that is wheat-free) with pate or hummus and you've got yourself a "full-meal" deal that won't break the bank or clog up your arteries !

GF SuperHero Breakfast Muffins

I was all excited to put my lentil puree to the test so here's what I came up with.  Since my main objective was to have something super healthy and quick to jumpstart my day I threw in as many of the purported superfoods (oatbran, flaxseed, cinnamon, blueberries and lentils) I could think of!  And since i'm cutting back on wheat it also had to be gluten free. I'm quite pleased with the flavor and texture.  I might change it ever so slightly next time by cutting out 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and replacing it with 2 tablespoons agave nectar! Also might switch oatbran to 1/4 cup and flaxseed to 1/2 cup.  Anyhow it tasted mighty good as is so go for it!

Ingredients

1 cup *gluten free flour mixture*
1/2 cup oatbran
1/4 cup flaxseed
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
*2 teaspoons cinnamon*
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup lentil butter
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup mango/orange juice
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 ripe banana

1 cup frozen blueberries

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Whirl liquid ingredients together.  Pour into the dry.  Mix together well without overbeating.  Add the frozen blueberries.  Use 1/4 cup batter per muffin.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 18 minutes. Cool.  Eat one and feel good about how many of the superfoods are contained in such a tiny little package!  Eat two and feel like a superhero :O)

*Gluten-free flour mixture: 2-3/4 cups organic brown rice flour, 1/2 cup tapioca starch plus 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal. This makes 3-1/2 cups gluten-free flour.*

*2 teaspoons cinnamon gives muffin quite a prounounced  cinnamon flavor -- if you like a more delicate flavor use only 1 teaspoon *

Lentil Butter

I've been reading through the Canada Pulses Guide to Beans, Peas, Lentils and Chickpeas and intrigued by their use of lentil puree in place of  butter in baked goods. So I thought I'd get on the lentil puree bandwagon here and do some up -- some to freeze and a bit for later today to try in some baking.  I decided to make it up in 1/2 cup containers (that I had saved from applesauce) - freeze, pop them out and then put them into  freezer containers.  That way I figured I had just the right amount to use in the average recipe in place of  part - 1/2  the stipulated quantity of margarine or butter.  It's very simple -- I soaked my little brown lentils overnight and then cooked up in the morning.  The soaking goes a long way towards shortening your cooking time so I'd say that's a good time as well as energy saver. 

Directions:

Whirl 1-1/2 cups drained, cooked lentils in vita-mix blender or food processor (recommended) with 1 tablespoon of water, 2 tablespoons of applesauce and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar. I decided to add the applesauce and sugar so my lentils would be infused with a bit of sweetness as I'm planning to only use this in baked goods and I thought it would keep them pleasantly flavored whilst frozen!  Hope so -- we'll see when the time to defrost them comes.  Legume purees aren't easy to do in vita-mix until I learned the trick behind this.  The only way is to keep the vita-mix blender on 3 -- any higher and it just won't do a thing. Use your tamper and keep it rotating.  I would recommend a food processor as the best way to make lentil puree.  I don't have one right now but I'm seriously considering purchasing a small one for this as well as my hummus.  Hummus doesn't do the best in the vita-mix either unless you do at least 2 cans at one time.  More seems to be easier for this machine.  Nevertheless it's still a chore and I believe it will be less of a chore and easier to get your mixture out of food processor then digging to bottom of a blender.

Le Petite Brown Lentil Soup

This soup was delicious beyond words.  Really!  I don't know why but this combination of veggies combined with pre-cooked lentils and rice (leftover from making lentil burgers the day before) and simmered together was delectable! I wish I could can it and mass produce it! Well glass bottle it!  Cans leave a yucky taste no matter how wonderful the soup might be. Anyhow put this soup together if you have any love at all for lentils -- these little brown lentils are especially tasty!  The ones I used are the Clic brand.  See sample of dry lentils below for reference.

The croutons are by Fresh Gourmet (organic,seasoned) and are highly coveted in our household. Fresh Gourmet in this case is not misleading as the croutons are indeed fresh and tasty.  Sold in most grocery stores: (Walmart, Safeway, Save-On and Planet Organic come to mind as places I've located them). Make sure to get the croutons labelled "seasoned" if you're looking for vegan as I'm not sure about the others.

For more information on pulses including lots of tips/recipes check out this terrific booklet produced by Pulse Canada.  One little tip:  DO spread your dry lentils on a white plate or paper towel and check for anything that should not be there!  I do a half a cup at a time and more often than not I find a very small clump of dirt.  You might even find a green split pea amongst the brown lentils so do your checking and then rinse well in colander before cooking. I know they say that lentils don't need to be pre-soaked but if you want to shorten the cooking time it's a good idea.  Especially the yellow lentils -- these take way longer than what the package says. And never add salt until they're cooked or that will also impede the progress of them softening sufficiently.

Ingredients

1-2  tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

1 cup of finely diced green cabbage

1 cup green peas (frozen)

1 sweet potato, diced

1 white potato, diced

1 cup cooked brown lentils

1 cup cooked sushi rice

3 teaspoons veggie broth powder

1 teaspoon Better than Bouillon Vegetarian,

"no chicken base" flavor

Saute onion, cabbage and carrot in olive oil until softened.  Add all the rest of the ingredients along with water to cover. Simmer for 1-2 hours. Add more water as required untill soup is as thick or thin as you prefer.  If you have time 2 hours bubbling on the burner doesn't hurt it at all - I think it just tastes better the longer it slowly simmers.  It smelled wonderful.  I took out a couple of ladles of soup (about a cup) and whirled in the blender and put it back through the soup.  I like to do this as it binds everything nicely together and gives it a little more flavor yet. I'll be doing this one again  - after all the canned lentil soups I've tried (several organic brands included) -- nothing comes even close to tasting as delicious as this simple recipe does.

I like the Harvest Sun Organic veggie broth powder with no yeast added.  This one seems to work best for me. The Better than Bouillon is exceptionally full-flavored -- just be careful to start with a little at a time -- it's very concentrated.  If you have any problems with yeast though this isn't the one for you as it does contain autolyzed yeast as one of the ingredients. I did do a little search on homemade veggie broth powders and I'm thinking I'd like to give this a try once I run out of my store bought stuff.  For the sake of economics as well as more control of the ingredients.  This one sounds good --  minus the celery seed as I'm not fond of that spice.  I'll replace it with another favorite and perhaps add one or two more but generally the idea for a lot of veggie broth powders is to add spices to a base of nutritional yeast.  Poultry seasoning (rosemary, bay leaf, sage, oregano, marjoram, and cumin)  might be a quick & tasty blend to add to base of nutritional yeast. Think I'll see about finding a good  poultry seasoning -- either Frontier or M&B will hopefully have a suitable organic one to purchase.

Homemade Brown Sugar

I was just looking for something fun to do today in the kitchen so I thought I would try making homemade brown sugar.  I had read about it a few times but was skeptical that it would be anything I would want to use.  After all the thought of just pouring 1 and 1/2  tablespoons of molasses over 1 cup of white sugar didn't really sound all that promising.  But was I ever wrong!  I encourage any serious bakers to make their own -- I've never smelled or felt such nice brown sugar before. It's much simpler even than how Martha demostrates you do it - she uses a food processor. I don't know about you but I don't want to clean up anymore stuff than I have to.

I just used a fork and mashed happily away until there were no more clumps of molasses and voila -- a lovely bowl of soft and aromatic brown sugar.  As you can see by my picture below I should have mashed a little longer and I did do so before  putting it into the mason jar pictured above.  There is very little chance that you can do anything wrong with this recipe -  you can pour anywhere from 1 tablespoon to 6 tablespoons of molasses into your sugar and you'll still turn it into brown sugar!  However for my taste the 1 and 1/2 tablespoon was just right!