Posts by admin:
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- 2 small beets, diced
- 1 cup edamame, cooked
- 1/2 cup mint, chopped
- 1/4 cup green onion, sliced
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp Gomashio (black sesame seeds/sea salt blend)
- To be even more inspired on my meal planning.
- To not over spend.
- To prevent buying duplicate food items.
- To have a shopping list when items run out.
- To prevent food wastage or spoiling.
- 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Organic whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 tsp baking SODA
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 cup chopped salted macadamia nuts
- 1 cup Persimmon pulp (2 pieces of fruit)
- 1/2 cup Xagave syrup
- 3 Tbsp Tropical Traditions coconut oil
- 1 tsp lime extract
- raw sugar for sprinkling
Cookie Care Packages: Peppermint Chocolate Divinity Cookies, Peanut Butter Blossoms, Triple Chocolate brownie cookies and MORE!
December 17th, 2009 |
| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
I started around 2pm on a Sunday afternoon and baked until 9pm. I bought fun and festive bags and filled each bag with a sampling of each cookie along with a packet or two of instant coffee. I also added a note describing every tasty treat included in the care package. At the end of the night I was wiped. I think I remembered baking over 2 to 3 days when I lived with my mother but a busy schedule for a musician leaves little time for baking! I was crunched for time and the oven begged to be used. It took a whole day after to regain my strength back, but after I received compliments, I knew it was worth all the work.
How did I choose the 6 types of cookies you might ask? Two of the recipes I picked were traditional cookies made over the years and two others were new recipes. One recipe was vegan and another was a family recipe from my mother-in-law’s kitchen. Over all, it was a perfect combination of cookies to keep the palate asking for more. My husband was my taste tester since most of the people I gave cookies to are NOT vegan. There were no complaints from my hubby though.
For all you VEGANS out there. I DID make one cookie that IS vegan and SUPER delicious. Scroll down to the TRIPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIE COOKIE. It really is decadent without the animals products and my hubby agreed too! Enjoy!
adapted from my mother-in-law’s recipe
1 cup sugar
3 egg whites
1 cup chocolate chunks, chopped
1 tsp vanilla
1 candy cane, ground
Preheat oven to 300°F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease.
Beat egg whites until stiff, adding sugar.
Fold in other ingredients. Drop 1 tsp to 1.5 tsp on baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
3/4 cup safflower oil
2 cups of brown sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate almond milk
2 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350° F.
In a large mixing bowl, mix all wet ingredients until creamy and smooth. Add vanilla last.
In another bowl, mix all dry ingredients.
Incorporate all ingredients into one bowl and mix well. If the mixture gets too thick, use your hands. The dough should be thick and stiff. Add the vegan chocolate chips.
Make small 1″ balls and bake on a cookie sheet or in a muffin tray for 10 minutes at 350°. Even though they don’t look completely ready they are because these are soft and chewy cookies (brownie-like). Do not overbake them! Make sure too cool them before serving.
from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook
makes 54 cookies
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Milk chocolate kisses (About 1 bag)
Preheat oven to 350° F. In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium high speed for 30 seconds.
Add the 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and soda. Beat until all combined, scraping sides of bowl. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in the 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms lightly brown. Immediately press a chocolate kiss into each cookie’s center. Transfer to wire rack and let cool.
from Southern Living
makes 4 dozen
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Beat shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually add 1 cup sugar, beating well.
Add egg; beat well. Add molasses; beat until smooth.
Combine Flour and next 5 ingredients; add shortening mixture, beating well.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll balls in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on lightly greased parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes. remove cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Double Chocolate Walnut Biscottimakes 2 logs or about 45 small biscotti
2 cups of flour
½ cup of cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts
¾ stick of butter
1 teaspoon baking Soda
1 teaspoon salt
Beat butter, sugar and eggs together. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl (flour, sugar, cocoa, soda and salt) .
Pour dry in to wet, mixing as you go. Add chips and nuts into dough. Dust a cookie sheet with flour, and form dough into two logs.
Cook the logs at 375°F for about 30 mins or until the tops crack. Remove from oven and let cool, (about 15 min) cut into diagonal slices about one inch thick. and back for 10 more minutes.
from Southern Living
Makes 4 dozen
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 400°F and line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add flour, sugar, and vanilla beating until well blended. Stir in pecans. Shape into 1-inch balls, and place on cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and place on wire racks and cool slightly. Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar, and cool completely on wire racks.
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Christmas Rice Pilaf
December 16th, 2009
My mother and I have been talking about what we could make for Christmas dinner while we were at her house, so I think some salads and side dishes were left for me to plan. I came up with a VERY festive dish that could work as a salad or a side depending on what other dishes you are making. This side is so filling that it could work with a green salad and protein like beef, chicken, or if vegetarian or vegan, a side of sauteed vegetable would work too!
Enjoy this salad as much as I did. I look forward sharing it with the rest of my family when we get to Texas. Yee haw!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
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Almond Snowball Cookies
December 11th, 2009
Well, of course now that I am married I wondered what traditions I would start. Even though I do not have kids yet, I figure it would be great starting a tradition before hand so that it could be instilled in my life before the kids start coming. Last year was our first Christmas as a married couple and I decided to try new recipes. Last year I made 3 kinds of peanut brittle: Chipotle brittle, Peanut butter brittle, and Chocolate brittle. I sent those to family and thought that was a great new change. This year is definitely quite different. Being married to a conductor promises to be a very busy season for a musician. Our schedules have been packed with concerts and rehearsals and road trips that prevent from baking as I had planned. Despite the fact, I knew we would be staying with friends this weekend and I knew I had my chance to make my first set of cookies for the Christmas season.
Inspired by another fellow blogger friend from Iowa, I decided to try my hand at veganizing (changing a recipe edible for a vegan) her recipe for “Polvorones.” I think many people know these cookies as Mexican Wedding cookies or Pecan sandies, etc. Like you read earlier, we used to make them with ground pecans and it gave the cookies a nutty taste. This particular recipe uses almonds, a nut I really enjoy baking with. I think it makes a recipe come out very elegant and light. The results were fantastic!
The original recipe called for pork lard but I decided to use Spectrum’s all-vegetable shortening instead. Changing a recipe is truly challenging. Your gut instincts tell you what you should use and in this case my gut instincts worked. The dough was not coming along and sticking, so I decided to add almond milk. It worked! The dough came together and made for a wonderful result. The cookies were baked, sprinkled with powdered sugar and placed in a fun holiday gift bag ready to be delivered to our hosts. Who said vegans can’t eat cookies? For that matter, who said non-vegans can’t enjoy cookies free of animal products? They melt in your mouth like yummy goodness.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
1/2 cup organic Spectrum All-Vegetable Shortening
1/3 cup organic powdered sugar
1/4 cup gound toasted almonds
3 Tbsp almond milk
1 Tbsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 350F and place parchment paper on cookie sheet.
On medium heat, place almonds on a saucepan and toast until lightly browned.
Remove from heat and cool. Once cooled, place almonds in a coffee grinder and grind almonds to a fine powder.
Place flour, almond powder, powdered sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl and mix.
Add shortening to dry ingredient and mix all ingredients with your hand. Once the shortening has been dispersed, add the almond milk and mix until becomes like a dough.
Take a tablespoon of cookie dough and roll in hand in an oblong shape and slightly flatten. Place cookies on cookie sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
Cool cookies on pan. When cooled, roll each cookie in powder sugar and shake off excess sugar. The cookies are then ready to pack or eat. Enjoy!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
This post made Top 9 on Foodbuzz.com on December 13, 2009. 🙂
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Brunch Anytime!
December 8th, 2009
I tried out a new brunch menu this past weekend from several cookbooks that I checked out from the library that I have been wanting to share them with you. Before becoming vegan, I all really like eating for breakfast was scrambled eggs. Since I have started eating differently I have not craved having those eggs but I knew that I would like an equal substitute if possible.
I started looking at Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and started with her basic recipe for tofu scramble. I then just added my own fun mixin’s to add a twist. I was very suprised by how GOOD it was! My hubby asked for seconds too!
I then looked for a great recipe for bisquits that were not such a hassle. Alicia Silverstone has been promoting Babycakes cookbook that is a “vegan, gluten-free, and (mostly) sugar-free recipes from New York’s bakery.”
Even though I was not able to check this book out for more than 2 weeks (because so many people have it on hold), I have added it to my Amazon wishlist. So anyway, I made the spelt biscuits using spelt flour for the VERY first time. What is spelt flour you ask? Spelt flour is a whole grain and is full of complex-B vitamins. This recipe also calls for coconut oil so the author of the cookbook stated that these biscuits were better than the KFC biscuits ONLY the HEALTHY version. They were very delicious and so quick to make. I have made them twice since then, with the hubby stating how delicious they are to his palate. 🙂| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Spelt biscuits
makes 8
as seen in Babycakes cookbook
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling
1/3 cup coconut oil, plus more for brushing
3/4 cup hot water
Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour the oil and hot water into the dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula until fully combined and a dough is formed. If the batter is dry, add more hot water, 2 Tbsp at a time, until the dough is sticky.
Dust the counter with spelt flour. Place the dough on the prepared surface and drag it through the flour. Pat the dough gently until it is one inch thick. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out biscuits and arrange them on the baking sheet, leaving one inch space between each biscuit. Brush each with oil and sprinkle with salt.
Let the biscuits stand on the sheet for 5 minutes before serving. Cool completely and store in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Tofu Scramble with Corn and Black Beans
serves 2
adapted from Vegan Brunch
For the spice blend1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried thyme, crushed with your fingers
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp water
For the tofu2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
Fresh black pepper, to taste
Add-ins
1/2 cup black beans
1/2 cup corn kernels
1/4 cup red pepper, diced
First blend the spices and salt together in small cup. Add the water and mix. Set aside.
Preheat a large pan over medium-heat. Saute’ the garlic in the olive oil for about a minute. Break the tofu into bite size pieces and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. Get under the tofu when you are stirring, scraping the bottom without letting stick to the bottom of pan. The tofu should brown on at least one side. Conversely, if the tofu gets too dry add splashes of water until nice and moist.
Add the spice and mix to incorporate. Add the nutritional yeast and pepper. Cook for about 5 more minutes. Serve warm.
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Tropical Persimmon Muffins
December 7th, 2009
Last night I was super inspired. I do not know if it all the vitamins I am taking, but I have had so much energy to do things I have out on the back burner since living in our new place. I decided to clean out the refrigerator and oraganize the pantry and write all the items in an Excel sheet so that I can visually know what food items I have. What do I hope this will accomplish?
I truly felt enpowered with being so organized, but in being organized I found items that required being used in a jiffy in order to prevent waste. I really feel guilty when I have to throw something away that I did not get to use and see it as a sin. I mean I think of people that do not have food and here I am wasting food.
In my list of near-perishing foods I found 2 persimmons, 6 Gala apples, 1 head of broccoli, and beets. Even though this post does not feature all the foods, I was inspired by making a breakfast item this morning using the persimmons. I recently started eating these fruits and when ripe, they almost have the same consistency of mangos. It is truly a tasty fruit and full of Vitamin C.
Tropical Persimmon Muffins
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