The Peanut Butter Cookies

Everyone has foods that bring back the comfort of home when you were small. This week I have been feeling a little bit of homesickness, a rarity for me; and I have the distinct memory of my mother’s peanut butter cookies fresh out of the oven. The food memory has been haunting me all week, so this morning I decided that it was about time that I did something about it! I hunted down the recipe and did some quick changeroos. The original recipe is neither vegan or gluten free, so I did some altering on my own. The end result brought me right back to my five year old cookie stealing days… (who’s been stealing from the cookie jar?… or was it just my family who used to sing that).

Hot out of the oven

GF, Vegan Peanut butter Cookies

1/2 cup earth balance

1/2 organic natural peanut butter

1/2 cup cane sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 flax egg (1 T flax + 3 T water, stir and let sit until it begins to thicken)

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup gluten free flour (today I used spelt, but I’m sure brown rice would also work)

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

 First, preheat the oven for 350 degrees

Grab a large bowl and begin to measure out the wet ingredients. (Earth balance, peanut butter, sugar, flax egg, vanilla)

Once measured, mix them up.

In a separate smaller bowl, mix up the dry. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix up until nice and smooth.

Next, prepare your pan. For us, we use a SILPAT. A nifty and very handy device that doesn’t require greasing and allows your cookies to slide off easily and evenly cooked. If you don’t have a SILPAT around, just oil the pan lightly.

Put a half cup of sugar (your choice of kind, we used cane sugar, in a small bowl) Roll each cookie into a ping pong ball shape, and then roll in the sugar until nicely coated. Place each ball on the pan. Smoosh with a fork in a criss-cross pattern

The Smooshing Process

Place in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Keep a sharp eye on them because these cookies taste best when just barely browned on the bottom and edges! Enjoy a taste of my toddler years 🙂

Love, Robin and Katie

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Gluten-Free Chocolate Chai Buttercream Cupcakes

Cupcakes, cakes younger and cuter sister that gets all the attention. We made these after a very long day of work and grumpy people. We’ll admit that by the time we both got home from our individual days it was quite late, almost 11. However, a cupcake always makes the spirit (not to mention the belly) feel a little happier; so it is our personal opinion that ANY time of the day is cupcake time. For our pick me up we decided on:

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Chai Buttercream 

Cupcake Therapy

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Unsweetened Soy Milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup coconut oil

3/4 cup agave

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup gluten free flour (we used brown rice :), but I’m sure spelt would work wonderfully)

1/2 cup of dark cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat oven for 300 degrees. In a medium sized bowl, mix the milk alternative of your choice with the cider vingar. Let sit for at least 5 minutes or until well curdled.

Add coconut oil, agave and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.

In another larger bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Add the wet to the dry then mix until combined. Try not to mix too much more than necessary to keep the bubbles in the batter. This way your cupcakes will be nice and fluffy with air.

Fill a cupcake pan with liners or spray with oil lightly. Use the 1/3 cup to carefully pour batter into each cupcake nook. Let cupcakes cook for 25-30 minutes until nice and springy. They should look like little domes.

Fresh out of the oven 🙂

Place cupcakes in a cool spot to cool, and prep your Chai Buttercream Frosting!

Chai ButterCream Frosting

Brew one large tablespoon of loose leaf chai in 1 T of hot water. Set aside.

Chai Brewing

While this is brewing, measure out 1 1/2 -2 cups of icing sugar in a large bowl

add 1/4 cup earth balance

Use a hand blender to blend the mixture until a nice smooth texture forms. Add in tea, as well as the loose tea leaf. Blend again. Place icing in fridge.

*For best texture results, it is better to make the icing the day before and let it fully set in the fridge.

When you have either a) waited as long as your grumbly tummy and nostrils can handle, or b) exercised a very high level of restraint which we have yet to master, and waited until the cupcakes are completely cooled; Ice your cupcakes. Bite, fall in love, feel better and bite again. Repeat. 

Bite me. Love me.

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Favorite Breakfast Smoothies

Mornings are tough. I think everyone develops their own personal routine to make bribing themselves out of bed much easier. Some people eat their oatmeal, some people eat their cereal and most people need their daily medication of coffee or expresso. For me, I almost always need my breakfast smoothie. About a year ago I would have personally informed you with an absolute certainty  that their was absolutely no way I was going to eat blended greens in a drink. However, I read on ohsheglows that blended greens in the morning can be one of the best energy boosters. So very skeptically I began my journey to find the perfect breakfast smoothie to give me a big enough punch in the stomach to wake me up. My first smoothies were tiny bits of spinach with plenty of nut butter and chocolate hemp powder to cover any potential green taste. They were good but not quite the best thing to start off the day with. Finally after much experimentation, I have come up with two smoothies which I am in love with and frequent my breakfast routine the most.

Coconut Kale Smoothie:

I particularly love this on a day where I feel like I may not get the right dose of greens during the day. Afterwards I always feel like I have a nice glow to 🙂

Ingredients:

2 large leaves of green kale shredded

1 cup of unsweetened almond milk

4 dates

1 frozen banana chopped

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 T unsweetened coconut flakes

2 T rolled oats for topping

1 generous T of almond butter for topping

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender. We use a hand blender since we do not yet own a blender like a VitaMix. Pour into bowl. Top with rolled oats and almond butter. Give it a stir. Indulge and WAKE UP 🙂

Cinnamon Almond Cherry Frosty

For those days you feel like gelato for breakfast but know you should attempt to restrain yourself. This is JUST as good I swear! aannnnnd it’s actually healthy, not to mention won’t send you into a sugar coma at 7 Am.

Good Morning World!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (or more) frozen pitted cherries

1 small frozen banana

2 handfuls spinach

2 tsp cinnamon

1 large T of almond butter

3/4 cup or more of unsweetened almond milk (depending how gelato like you want it to be, add more for more smoothie texture)

1 T unsweetened coconut

1-1/2 T hemp seeds for topping

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in blender and blend! Add hemp seeds, and dig in 🙂

Et Voila! Two simple, delicious and healthy breakfasts for you that can be made in less than 5 minutes. Take that mornings 🙂

Love Robin, and Katie

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Portobello Burgs

Burgers are just one of those summer things. Something about the hot summer air just makes people want to dig their teeth into a juicy patty. Although neither of us will sit down and bite into a meat patty, we still love the idea of a savory burger alternative, that still offers all the flavor and satisfaction of it’s original form. When our dear friend Emily came over for a movie night, we decided it would be the perfect opportunity to A)test out our new hosting skills in the apartment B) make Robin watch the disney movie Anastasia because she had never seen it and finally C) try out another really tasty recipe from CleanGreenSimple!

Portabello Burgers with Chipotle Mayo, Cayenne Sweet Potato wedges and Onion Rings

Portabello Burgers topped with Chipotle Mayo and Onion Rings

First you will want to prepare a batch of Chipotle Mayo, because it is the heavenly sauce that will make your tasty burger, into the ultimate supreme burger. Not to mention it goes well as a dip for sweet potato wedge.. or really anything. Ms.Vickie’s Original Chips? Yes. Just make it, trust us.

Ingredients:

1 cup vegan mayo or regular mayo *(see note)

1-3 chipotle chiles in Abodo sauce depending on spice level

1/2 tsp lime juice

*Katie can’t even touch vegan mayo because she’s iffy about the texture, but I am vegan and find the texture perfectly pleasant and equally tasty as regular mayo. So we made a vegan and non vegan version of this.

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender, and blend! Store in fridge while preparing the rest of the meal.

Now get ready for the onion rings,

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees

Ingredients:

1 large red onion

1/2 cup + 2 T brown rice flour

2 T corn starch or arrowroot

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tsp cider vinegar

1 cup bread crumbs (we blended up one of our GF quinoa burger buns)

1 tsp salt

2 tsp coconut oil

Directions:

Combine flour, corn starch, almond milk and cider vinegar in a medium bowl. Peel the onion and slice as thin as possible. Dip them in the wet goop, then give them a hearty sprinkling of bread crumbs. Make sure you place them on parchment paper of a well greased baking sheet. We made some making sticking issues, so instead of pretty onion rings we ended up with a mass of them which we scraped off of the sheet. Cook them for about 6 minutes on each side, taking them out to flip them – they’re finished when they are golden and crisp! Don’t be discouraged by the appearance of them if they came out as ugly as ours did, they are still delicious.

Now for the main attraction, the portos. With three of us, we made 4 (just in case). With the stems removed, prep your grill (we used a panini press grill). Brush the portobello mushrooms with balsamic vinegar. Once on the grill, sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper. Cooking them for around 5 minutes on each side should get them to be browned, and slightly soft. We flipped our burgers a couple times, brushing them with more balsamic each time, because we just can’t get enough of the stuff. Toast your buns in the meantime in whatever way suites you.

Assemble and devour! Bun, Spinach, Tomato, Mayo, Porto, Onion Rings.

For a side dish, I begged to be allowed to make my spicy sweet potatoes. They’re the easiest thing to make but I’m addicted.

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato, skinned and chopped into wedges a size of your choosing (1 1/2 inches)

2 tbsp. coconut oil

1 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (this is entirely flexible depending on how spicy you like your potatoes – wing it!)

Salt and pepper

Directions:

I usually parboil the potatoes first – I find it helps with getting the best combination of fluffy soft insides and crispy outsides after the frying. This time though in wanting more instant gratification, the potatoes were tossed into a medium sized frying pan with the coconut oil on medium heat. Once the potatoes are starting to soften, toss the cayenne pepper, salt and pepper in making sure to coat them evenly. Continue to cook until browned and softened. It’s as simple as that…

What’s your favourite thing to eat on a girls night in?

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Pancakes, Pancakes, Pancakes

Inspired by Robin’s pancake binge this morning I wanted to share the breakfast my boyfriend Nolan and I made last week! You’ll soon learn that breakfast foods are a big deal in our home, and we indulge frequently. This is a Vegan Yum Yum recipe, and after altering it a little bit, we had delicious itty bitty blueberry pancakes that we topped with carob chips and walnuts!

1 1/2 cup fortified vanilla almond milk
1 tbsp agave nectar (the recipe calls for sugar, but Robin and I hardly ever have any in the home)
2 tbs oil
1 1/3 cup brown rice flour
1 tsp baking Powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup frozen blueberries

Because I used agave nectar instead of sugar, I found I didn’t need water to thin the batter like suggested in the original recipe.

Combine all the ingredients and preheat oven to 200f, and put a baking sheet on the middle rack. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat for a few minutes. Pour the batter directly into the center of the ungreased heated pan into small disks (trust me, small pancakes just taste better). As you cook the pancakes, put the ones that are done into the oven to keep them warm while you finish up the batter. This is something my dad always did on our big breakfast mornings. It’s so great because you can have a hot breakfast with your loved ones. I find it gives the edges a nice little bump up in the crispiness too. Yum!

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The Ultimate Quinoa

I was introduced to the superfood quinoa about a year ago, but since then hadn’t found a dish that I thought was to die for – until now. Robin and I are currently eating the leftovers! It came from an unlikely source which made its success even more sweet – Glow magazine (a magazine my mum gets for free once a month). I made a few alterations, the first of which is the kind of quinoa used. Inca Red Quinoa – I bought it out of curiosity, and was so pleasantly surprised. 

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed (the red that i got was pre-rinsed)

2 cups water

1 tbsp of minced garlic

2 tbsp honey

1/2  cup coarsely chopped almonds (i use closer to a full cup)

1 bunch asparagus

1 cup of black beans (I did this the first time I made it, but this time I used a cup of corn, just because I was out of beans – JUST AS GOOD! :))

Around 1 tbsp of lemon juice, but use what suits your taste

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Add quinoa, water, garlic & honey to a medium sized pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to let simmer for 15 – 20 minutes, or until all of the water is absorbed (if you’ve made quinoa you’re familiar with the process). Remove from heat and leave covered for around 10 minutes. While the quinoa is cooking, lightly toast the chopped almonds in a dry pan on low heat. I had never toasted nuts myself before and was a bit skeptical about the process, but now it’s all I want to. It creates the most heavenly aroma. Ever. Set them aside to cool off. Steam the asparagus lightly, you still want a little bit of crunch. Add the asparagus, almonds and beans (or corn! or both!) to the quinoa. Mix in the lemon juice and oil. This dish is lovely hot or cold, I usually can’t wait for it to cool off…

Eat up!

Love always

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5AM Pancake Party!

When I was little, breakfast was my favorite meal. I can remember countless times where the smell of waffles, crepes, pancakes, french toast or fried eggs would waft up into my bedroom. This would then be followed by my hasty footsteps down the stairs to tame my rumbling beast of a belly.

However then teenager years struck and I slipped into sloth mode; where breakfast was no longer even an option. Katie will testify that there was no point in even trying to get ahold of me before 12. Lately however, my body seems to have gone into energy overdrive, and I’ll be lucky if I can sleep past 5AM. This morning was one of those days where I woke up at 5AM on the dot with the most massive craving for pancakes.

SO I made Strawberry Vanilla Bean Pancakes (gf and vegan)

Adapted from Ohsheglows. I just love her site, so many delectable dishes.

MMMMm 5 am never tasted so good.

1/3 cup Gluten free flour, such as brown rice flour, Bob’s all purpose

1/4 cup almond meal

1/4 shredded, unsweetened coconut flakes

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 pinch salt

1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/3 cup warm water

1/2 vanilla bean, scraped

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 T agave

1/2 cup strawberries

1 T coconut oil for pan

Toppings: Strawberries, pecans or almonds, coconut flakes, maple syrup or agave

Directions

Mix'er up

Mix all dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Measure out all wet ingredients. In the mean time heat coconut oil in a pan on medium heat. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Mix until well combined. Use a 1/4 cup to spoon each pancake onto pan. Let cook until the pancake becomes well spotted with bubbles. Flip and cook until desired brown. Serve and decorate! 🙂

Pancakes make 5Am seem so much less revolting don’t you think? Although just between you and I, I would still rather be snug like a bug in my bed still, like Katie 😉

Do you have trouble sleeping in?

Love Robin, and Slumber Katie.

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Beginnings – Vegan Pizza

A staple of our childhood play dates was, not surprisingly, pizza. In the past year we’ve made a few vegan attempts, and in celebration of our first big meal after moving in together, we decided to try a new recipe.

We used Clean Green Simple’s recipe, both excited by the always interesting challenge of making a vegan “cheese”. Her version is gluten free, but as Robin and I are only gluten-sensitive (not celiac), we decided to just use spelt flour. We made a few other alterations, as you’ll see!

The toppings we used: 

1 bell pepper, chopped into strips

1/3 cup canned corn

About 3/4 can of black beans, rinsed

For the Dough:

1 package (.25 oz.) active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (but not hot)

1 cup light spelt flour

1 1/4 cups brown rice flour

2 tbsp ground flaxseed

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dried italian herb mix

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tbsp. agave nectar

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Directions: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. It should turn white and kind of “foamy”. In a seperate, larger bowl, combine the spelt and brown rice flour, flax, herbs & spices. Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture, along with the rest of the liquid ingredients. Stir well until the dough is formed, make sure to scrape down the sides. Cover with a moist towel. While this rises, you can prepare the sauce and the “cheese”.

For the Sauce:

1 (8 0z.) can of crushed tomatoes

1 tsp. dried italian herb mix

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp. salt

Around 1 1/2 tsp. of minced garlic

Directions: Combine in a small bowl.

1 1/2 cup of fortified almond milk (nondairy milk, or water)

1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes

1/4 cup brown rice flour

2 tbsp. sesame tahini

2 tbsp. cornstarch

2 tsp. lemon juice

2 tbsp. of finely chopped onions

1/2 tsp. minced garlic

3/4 tsp. salt.

Directions: 

Using a blender, process all the ingredients together until smooth. Transfer to a small pot or saucepan and cook over medium high heat, stirring almost constantly with a whisk until thick and smooth. Our stovetop is a bit temper mental, and tends to be a bit hotter than you would expect. As a result our cheese turned out a fair bit thicker than it appears Clean Green Simple‘s did. Robin and I didn’t mind though, I’d rather have a thick cheese substitute than a watery one!

This was our prep pre-cheese-cook.

The dough at this point had risen quite nicely, and proved to be good to work with!

At this point, we spread the dough out on a baking sheet that was greased with a bit of sunflower oil. It was easy to roll out and had nice stretch to it, no tears here! We put it under the broiler for about 5 minutes, but again, our oven is… a bit funky to say the least, Clean Green Simple uses a different method with different timing. Once this is done, we removed the crust from the oven an topped with the sauce (which smells heavenly).

Next we spread the cheese and put a liberal sprinkling of each of the toppings we selected. The pizza headed back into the oven and Robin and I impatiently waited the 10 or so minutes that we left it to broil. You’ll want to leave it until the edges of the crust and cheese start to brown a little bit.

Voila! A tasty treat. Served up nicely into a ton of little squares. We got to package a lot of it up for our lunches during the week, which is always an added bonus from a great meal.

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