S'more Brownies

Apparently all marshmallows are not created equal as evidenced
by the 3 in the middle that were from a different package!

This idea came up when I googled 'easy dessert' the other day. Of course the entire recipe was glutinous, so I have pieced together my own version :) If you are not gluten free, just make/buy a graham cracker crust and use your favourite brownie recipe! It's a fun recipe, that involves a lot of gooey marshmallows...just like smores :)

'Graham Cracker' Crust from Gluten Free Fix

4 Tbsp. Melted Butter
2 Tbsp. Honey
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 1/2 Cups Almond Flour (Meal), packed

Mix everything together and press into pan (I used a pie plate, but a 9x9 would work too!) with your fingers. Cook at 350F for 20 minutes or until browned all over. I cooked 10 minutes, then put a piece of foil over and cooked another 10 to ensure it was done, but not too brown.

Brownie Recipe from Taste

1/2 Cup Rice Flour
1/2 Cup All Purpose GF Flour
1/4 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/3 Cup Cocoa
1 1/4 Cups Sugar
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 Cup Butter, melted

Mix together dry ingredients, then add eggs and butter. Mix until just smooth. Pour over baked graham crust and bake at 350F for another 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs.

I made these ahead of company arriving, so I let it cool then did the final step later and the marshmallows didn't really stick to the brownies. I think if you made them and did all the steps while hot it would work better.

All lined up and ready to roast!

Marshmallow Top (original idea from Food Network)

Large Marshmallows

Top the brownies with marshmallows (standing on end), then place on rack close to burner and 'toast' them! Watch carefully because bad things can happen fast in the world of marshmallows!

When toasting is satisfactory, remove from oven, cut into squares and serve :)

Sugar Free, Gluten Free Anytime Muffins

Lately I have felt as though the fun has been sucked out of the kitchen...read labels, bake food I really don't like, and never produce a product that looks perfect anymore. I don't experiment with my own recipes because wasting gluten free ingredients is seriously a crime! But finally I am starting to feel drawn back in. What changed? I started *gasp* buying bread! I finally found a wonderful gf bread recipe that even I liked to eat on a regular basis, but then I found Kinnikinnik....their bread is soft, bouncy, good texture and tastes good. And the best part is that it's less then a $1 more per loaf for me to buy then it is for me to bake (and that's not including my time or the electricity to turn the oven on!). I'm so excited! Plus I've found that Safeway carries their bread, frozen but I'm ok with that! So it's not only good tasting, it's somewhat convenient too. So I've had a few weeks away from baking, I've been gleefully opening bags of bread from the freezer and the sense of fun that the kitchen used to offer me is returning.
Tonight my hubby called me a 'whirlwind' in the kitchen, and it felt good. It's been a long time since I have been busy enough to warrant being called that! What was I making?

Super healthy eat anytime muffins!! Courtesy of Mennonite Girls Can Cook (my new favourite website!!)
They are sugar free, gluten free and packed full of good for you things!

I did not change anything in the recipe except to use ground flax seed and I made them as muffin tops because...well why not? :)

INGREDIENTS
3/4 Cup Almond Flour (meal)
3/4 Cup Brown Rice Flour
1/2 Cup Xylitol
1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp. Ginger
1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (GF)
1/2 Cup Steel Cut Oats (GF)
1/4 Cup Flax Seed
1/2 Cup Raisins
3 Tbsp. Oil
1 Large Egg
1/3 Cup Milk (or almond milk etc)
4 Medium Carrots, Shredded
1 Medium Ripe Banana, Mashed

Prehead oven to 400F. Coat a 12 Cup muffin pan with oil (I used coconut oil, it works great!)
Whisk together flours, xylitol, baking soda, baking powder, spices, oats and flax until there are no lumps. Stir in raisins.
Mix oil, egg, milk, carrots and banana in another bowl. Add to flour mixture and stir until blended.

Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 23-25 minutes (depending on your size of pan). Serve warm or at room temperature. To store keep in an airtight container, up to 3 days.
Great with some butter, some cream cheese or drizzle honey on top!


NOTE: I did find that my steel cut oats were still kind of crunchy in the finished product. I think next time I will mix up the liquid ingredients first, add the steel cut oats and let them soak while I measure and mix the dry ingredients/shred the carrots :)

Gluten Free Blueberry Muffin Tops

I know I have been horribly absent this month. I am currently in the middle of a very heavy course, and it includes lab days which I have been prepping for. Hopefully it will be over soon and I can get back to some fun things in life! Summer is passing me by while I have my nose shoved into a textbook!

I bought 20lbs of blueberries last week and froze most of them for smoothies and winter baking, but kept 5lbs out for immediate use. I decided some blueberry muffins would be wonderful and wanted to try out my new muffin top pans that arrived from (where else!) well.ca this week! What are muffin top pans? They are shallow wide muffin pans that allow you to get mostly just the muffin top (the best part in my opinion!) of the muffin!!

This recipe from Gluten Free Frugally was a first attempt for me and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, but I would like to make some recipe changes since they are very sticky once cooked. It actually tastes quite 'normal' and is something I can actually make myself eat :)

INGREDIENTS
1/2 Cup Sugar
4 Tbsp. Butter/Margarine/Oil
4 Eggs
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla
2 Cups GF All Purpose Flour Blend
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/2 Tsp. Xanthan Gum
4 Tsp. Baking Powder
2-3 Cups Blueberries

Mix together sugar, butter and eggs. Once creamed, add milk and vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients (except blueberries) and mix on medium high for 4-5 minutes. Fold in blueberries. Scoop into pans and bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Note: The way this recipe is composed, I would think if you left out the Xanthan Gum and substituted regular all purpose flour it should turn out as a great non gluten free muffin!

Apple Crisp

I often try to come up with desserts that aren't really desserts, but are good enough to classify as such. Although my kids do get sugary desserts from time to time, I definitely try to limit them (even then, I do try to find the healthier route to it, such as the Puffed Quinoa Squares). I never thought I would be the type of mom that would serve fruit for dessert, or that I would have the type of kids who are excited by apples and peanut butter, but here we are :) I decided today to spruce things up a little bit and make it a little more dessert-y. We eat a LOT of fruit in our house. Being gluten free limits a lot of things we would normally have for snacks, so by default we go to fruit for snacks (and tomatoes, but that's another story). The amount of bananas I buy would make you laugh, and the amount of apples in our fruit bin could cause a small avalanche. 

Today's dessert is apples. Apple crisp to be exact. Just a unique, very easy version :)

Ingredients
Apples, halved and core cut out (see picture)
Cheese
1/2 Cup of Butter, or Oil works too. Coconut oil would be delicious I think!
1/2 Cup Oats (make sure they are GF oats if you are gluten free!)
1/2 Cup Quinoa Flour (If you are not GF, use regular AP flour here)
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
Pinch of salt.

Melt the butter (or if using oil just pour in!), and add oats, quinoa flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. \Mix well until everything is moistened. 

Cut cheese into small pieces and place inside apple holes (see picture). 

Place the crumble mix on top of the cheese and apple. 

Place on a pan in the oven and bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes. 

Enjoy hot with ice cream or frozen yogurt, or just by itself. 

The measurements above made more then enough for 2 apples (4 halves), and I have enough left over for probably another 2-4 halves, depending on how thick you top the apples. 

The type and amount of apples and cheese is up to you. Cheddar does taste wonderful with apples though!

Slice apples in half and scoop out core.

Add cheese cubes to the holes.

Add crumble topping and bake @350F for 20-30 minutes.

Serve warm. With or without ice cream or frozen yogurt.

These have a really cute presentation and the cheese adds that extra little taste that makes them delicious!!

Chocolate Puffed Quinoa Squares

A wonderful part of being a kid (and an adult!) is biting into a chewy, gooey chocolate puffed wheat square. I've been searching high and low for a gluten free option (since puffed wheat is obviously not a good idea!), and I finally successfully came across a great substitute ~ If I do say so myself!

I went by this recipe and changed the amounts up a bit for the gf version. Something that was important to me was to be able to make them without *gag* corn syrup, and this recipe was perfect!!

I found Puffed Quinoa on Well.ca as well as Puffed Amaranth. For this recipe I have only tried it with the quinoa so far. (Reminder: If you are ordering anything from well.ca use coupon code 'kitchenaddiction' for $10 off your first order of $40 or more. Expires July 10/12). 

This makes a small recipe, but (of course) puffed quinoa is more expensive then puffed wheat, so I went with a small batch to experiment :)

Ingredients

3.5 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder

1/4 Cup Honey

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed

1/4 Cup Butter

2 Cups Puffed Quinoa 

Grease a baking pan. I only have a 9x13 so that's what I used, but the squares were quite thin, a square baking pan would be best. 

Ina  saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the cocoa powder, honey and brown sugar and stir until smooth. Boil for about 30seconds to a minute.

Pour the chocolate sauce over the puffed quinoa in a large bowl and stir until well coated. Pour into greased pan and smooth with a spatula. Let cool completely before cutting into squares. Store in the fridge, especially in the summer or they will start to melt!

They are not quite as chewy as a puffed wheat square, but they are very good. And they are a really good substitute if you cannot have wheat but are craving a puffed square! 

Quinoa Oat Muffins

I was so excited to find a GF recipe that didn't call for many different flours that I had to try this right away. I had just picked up some quinoa flour at Bulk Barn and was itching to try it out. I am a frequent shopper of bulk barn and I love it when they get a new gf product, I always get some to try right away! I love quinoa because of it's high nutritional content, and now I can use it more often! I use GF oats for this recipe, obviously if you aren't avoiding gluten then by all means use your regular oats!! This recipe is from Virtually Vegan Mama so these are vegan depending on the type of milk you use. I've made these with coconut milk (the drinking kind, not the thick canned kind) and also with cows milk and they both turned out great! Whether you are a gf house or just trying to eat healthier I would say give these a try. My kids love them and they are packed full of all sorts of good for you things!

1 Tbsp. Ground Flaxseed mixed with 3 Tbsp. Water
1 1/4 Cup Quinoa Flour
1 Cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (not instant, but not steel cut either)
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 Cup Milk (any type is fine)
1/2 Cup Date Syrup (Recipe coming soon, if you don't have this use maple syrup or even honey instead)
2 Tsp. Vanilla
1/4 Cup Raisins
1/4 Cup Chopped Dates
1/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a muffin pan (or mini muffin pan).

Mix 1 Tbsp. of Ground Flaxseed with 3 Tbsp. of Water, set aside.
Mix together dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl mix together flaxseed mixture and other wet ingredients.
Mix everything together. Fold in raisins, dates and nuts. Mix until just combined. Spoon batter into muffin pans. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool slightly before removing from the pan. Enjoy! These are best enjoyed within a few days of baking but will last longer if stored in the fridge.

GF Berry Scones

This recipe is from my new favourite cookbook: Gluten Free on a Shoestring 

The only modification is adding in a step that git missed in the book.

 

2 Cups GF AP Flour Blend

1 Tsp. Xanthan Gum  

1 Tbsp. Baking Powder  

1/2 Tsp. Salt  

2 Tbsp. Sugar  

1 Cup Frozen Berries (I used more like 1 1/2 Cups)  

5 Tbsp. Butter, Chilled and Diced  

1 Cup Milk (Low fat is fine, nonfat is not)

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Combine dry ingredients. Transfer a few tablespoons to a separate bowl and toss the berries in it.  

Add the diced butter to the dry ingredients. Cut it in until in pea sized amounts.  

Add the milk. Stir to combine.  

Add the berries and bit of flour in to the mixture. (This is the step missing in the book lol)  

Transfer to cookie sheet. Pat into about a 1/2 inch oval/circle...the dough is quite sticky just do the best you can.  

Brush top with a bit of milk. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Score the top into triangles with a sharp knife.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until scones are puffed up and slightly brown around the edges. Cut where you previously scored the top.

Serve immediately topped with butter or just plain. They do reheat well in the microwave. They are not very good cold.

Granola Bars

I originally posted this recipe back in May before our house was going gluten free. I never did get a picture posted and so now that I have made a gluten free version I decided it needed a picture!

Ingredients
41/2 Cups Rolled Oats (use GF Oats if you are sensitive to Oats)
1 Cup Ground Flax Seed, Hemp Protein (I'm sure you could substitute other unflavoured/mild flavoured protein, I just find this one works well) & GF All Purpose Flour (About a 1/2, 1/4, 1/4 ratio)
1 Tsp. Xanthan Gum
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
5 Tbsp. Brown Sugar (not packed)
2/3 Cup Oil
1/2 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Molasses
2/3 Cup Applesauce, Heaping
2 1/4 Cups Raisins, Chocolate Chips, Nuts, Seeds, Berries etc.

Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.
Mix together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together liquid ingredients in a small bowl and then mix into the dry. Add the 2 1/4 cups of extras. I usually do a mix of raisins, sunflower seeds, walnuts and a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips. But mix it up! Dried cranberries, dates, almonds etc. they will all taste wonderful!
Pour into pan, and press down or if you have a small rolling pin roll it down. Bake for 10 minutes, re-roll it down (or push it down), and bake for another 5-10 minutes, just until the edges start to brown. Let cool completely and cut into bars with a sharp knife.

I wrap them individually in plastic wrap and then place them in a freezer bag and pull them out one at a time for lunches.

These are slightly more moist then the original recipe, but the only problem with that is a few sticky fingers. They hold together beautifully and taste even better! Plus they have more of a protein content then the original recipe due to the hemp protein and the GF all purpose flour has more protein then regular flour as well.

Ooey Gooey Mozza Sticks

The yummiest mozza sticks I have EVER tasted and they are gluten free!
Hubby and I ate these for 3 nights in a row. We still have some in the freezer (I made 2 batches!) and I have a seriously hard time not cooking them up everytime I see them in there! Dip them in Marinara Sauce and its a little slice of paradise:) The original recipe is HERE. I made some minor changes

Ingredients
Mozza Cheese Sticks or just cut Mozza Cheese into 1.5-2" long and .5" wide. ( I made 48 at a time!)
2 eggs
1/4 water
GF Bread crumbs or frozen GF Bread ground up in the food processor
1/3 Cup Corn Starch
2/3 Cup GF All Purpose Flour
Garlic Powder or Granulated Garlic
Parmesan Cheese (Powder)
Oil, for deep frying

Bowl 1: Corn starch and flour, mixed
Bowl 2: Eggs and water, well beaten
Bowl 3: Breadcrumbs, sprinkle some garlic powder and parmesan cheese and mix.
(Note for the crumbs: I did my own with frozen bread. Mix your spices into the crumbs, in the bowl, and then use another bowl for breading. Put a bit at a time in this bowl and use until gone. This keeps your crumbs from retaining moisture and becoming useless as far as bread crumbs go!)

(You may need more egg/water mixture as you go and the bread crumb mix amount depends on how many you do.)

Cut your cheese into proper size. Too big and it wont cook properly, too small and you will be doing this forever! (I never buy cheese sticks because it's so much cheaper to buy a block of cheese. And it really didn't take long to cut it either, but if you do buy the cheese sticks cut them in half and you will have the proper size.)
Roll cheese in flour mix. Dip in egg mix. Roll in bread crumbs.
Place on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Continue until all the pieces are done.
NOW, start at the first piece and RE egg and RE bread each piece. Seems redundant but trust me its worth it!
Place back on wax paper and freeze until completely frozen.
Heat oil to 375°F. Place a few at a time (my fryer handles about a dozen, but it's a big fryer. Don't put too many in or the oil will cool off too much) in the oil. Fry for 1-2 minutes or until outside is brown and they are soft. But get them out before you lose all the cheese! The re breading and the freezing is what makes these fry so well.
Serve hot with Marinara Sauce and be prepared for a scramble over the last one lol!

I dont think I will ever look at another mozza stick after this. Im sure they wont meet the new standard these set!

I'm thinking of adaptations for next time, perhaps some cayenne pepper in the breading? Maybe some hot sauce in the egg mix? Cheddar sticks? Mmmm my mouth is watering just thinking about them!

Chewy Chocolate Squares

Yet another Pinterest find! The recipe is technically labelled a Granola Bar but I cant bring myself to refer to them as that. They are creamy, chocolatey and delicious. More of a dessert delicious then a breakfast delicious! Although I would still classify these on the healthy end of the spectrum :)

Without further ado...

Ingredients
1 cup peanut butter (Sun Butter works well for a nut free version)
2/3 cup honey
1/2 cup coconut oil (no substitutes, this is what gives its creamy texture and flavor)
2 cups oats
1 1/4 cups mini semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 Cup Dried Cranberries or Dried Blueberries (Cranberries = Chewy, Blueberries = Crunchy)

Melt the peanut butter, honey and oil in a pot. Once the mixture is smooth and combined add oats, chocolate and fruit. Mix until the chocolate is melted. Pour into a 9x13 pan and refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve because they tend to get 'melty'.

Trust me when I say "GO MAKE THESE NOW!!"

Bite Size Apple Pie

These are a delicious treat if you need something tasty in a hurry! From the Cookin Up North blog via Pinterest (of course!) The original recipe calls for using Pillsbury Premade Pie Dough. I just can't bring myself to eat that stuff, so I used the Lardless Pie Dough recipe (made with Almond Milk), and it was probably almost as easy! But way better tasting!

Ingredients
Pie Dough (1/2 the ingredients below if you only make 1 batch of Lardless Pie Dough)
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. melted butter, divided (I used margarine so my son could eat them, it worked fine!)
2 medium apples, each cut into 8 wedges

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon, set aside 1 Tbsp. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry. Brush with  2 Tbsp. melted butter, sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture.

Cut into one inch strips, about 8 in. long. Wrap one strip around each apple wedge, placing sugared side of pastry against apple.

Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar mixture. bake at 425 for 13-15 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Serve warm or cold was pretty good too!

So the next time you want some dessert but don't have much time, give these a try. I'm pretty sure you wont be disappointed!

I think next time I'm going to try with different fruits. I think peaches would be amazing, just a few different spices of course!

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Mug Brownie

I found this on, yup you guessed it, Pinterest!
Such a great idea if you are craving a little dessert but dont want to make something big. Ive made these a couple of times and every time I have forgotten to take a picture...they are that tasty!

Ingredients
1/4 Cup Flour
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed
2 Tbsp. Cocoa
Pinch of Salt
2 Tbsp. Oil (use Canola or something else plain)
2 Tbsp. Milk (of any kind), water or coffee.

Mix together the dry ingredients in a coffee mug then add the liquids. Mix well to make sure all the dry is incorpoarted and you have a gooey paste. Pop into the microwave for 1-2 minutes. There might be a tiny bit of liquid on top that you could pour off after cooking. Because there is no egg in the recipe there are no raw ingredients that have to be cooked thoroughly so undercooking is not a huge deal. If you want gooey brownie then cook it less!
Top with ice cream, whipped cream etc. and enjoy! Such a good 'need a late night snack but theres nothing tasty in the pantry' snack!! Its better tasting then a chocolate bar but its almost as instant!

I think I might try added chocolate chips next time. Or maybe walnuts...or maybe both! Or maybe chunks of cream cheese. Oh the tasty possibilities!!

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Grapefruit

Of course everyone knows how to eat a grapefruit :) but did you know you can make it into a healthy 'dessert' easily? I know its tasty on its own but sometimes a craving for something dessert/snack-like comes along.

Peel the grapefruit and remove the chunks into a bowl. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over top of the pieces. Add a small amount of sugar or a sugar substitute (I used xylitol). Its a tasty, healthy refreshing snack. One you dont need to feel guilty about having if you are trying to lose weight!
Its not really a pretty dish so I never thought to take a picture :)

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Ice Cream - Banana Cherry

I made ice cream yesterday. No ice cream maker. And then I let both my kids have a huge helping for snack time. No I'm not crazy...its healthy!! And they loved every drop of it!
Its also very easy. The hardest part is believing its going to work and not blow up your food processor/blender  :)

Cherry Banana Ice Cream
 Ingredients
2-3 Chopped Frozen Bananas
Handful of Frozen Cherries
Milk (I used homemade rice milk, but any type will do!)


Put it all into your blender/food processor and process until ice cream forms. Add milk as needed. It will seem like it's not going to work and then suddenly you will have ice cream! 

The cone picture above is definitely soft serve but my kids were too impatient to wait for it to harden in the freezer. If you want scoopable ice cream freeze it for 30 minutes when you are done mixing. I got called out so I never got a chance to see what it would be like. I put the rest in the freezer and now it's a solid block, but I think I should be able to chop it up and put it back into the food processor and soften it up again...hopefully because it was super tasty!!


I think next time I will put the cherries in towards the end to have more of a cherry chunk ice cream. You could also add any type of frozen fruit that you wanted, or banana walnut is also fabulous!

When your bananas are getting too ripe on the counter, break them into pieces and freeze them in freezer bags/containers. They are great for making this ice cream, to add to smoothies or to thaw and make banana bread later! Very versatile and breaking them up before hand makes it easier on your blender/food processor :) and if you need them mashed later, they thaw quicker!

Yogurt Biscuits

My kids love these for breakfast, snack, lunch...pretty much anytime they are available! The best part is that you can make them with whatever yogurt you have on hand :) A good way to use up ready to expire yogurt.They have a refreshing 'cool' taste to them and go well with butter, jam, peanut butter or just plain.

Ingredients
2 Cups of Biscuit Mix (Recipe)
1 Cup Yogurt

Preheat oven to 450 F
Mix together and drop portions on a greased baking sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until bottoms are brown and tops are starting to brown. Enjoy!

Onion Rings

Mmmm so good!
I love a crispy onion ring with just the right amount of batter and these are, in my opinion, perfect!!

Ingredients
1 Large Onion
1 Cup Flour
1 Egg
1 Cup Cold Water
Oil, For Frying

Preheat oil to 375 F.
Peel and then slice onion into rings.
Mix together flour egg and water.
Dip slices in the batter and place into hot oil. I use a fork to drop them in because the oil tends to spatter a lot with this recipe...a lesson learned after a few small but painful burns!
Fry until golden brown.
Flip at least once during frying. Be careful they can go from not quite done to burned very quickly!
Put on paper towels to drain and keep warm until they are all done cooking.

These are great weekend movie watching food or lately I have been making a half batch to put on our hamburgers!

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Red Beet Cupcakes

My daughter is turning 1 this week and I took the kids on a road trip to see the grandparents this last weekend. Because we were away from home I didnt want to introduce her to anything really sweet. I did want to have a little birthday party though!
This recipe turned out so pretty and was quite tasty! You couldnt taste beets in the cupcakes or the icing! They are a little more dense then a regular cupcake but tasty nonetheless :)
So nice to have pretty pink cupcakes and icing for her birthday and not have to use any red food dye!
Recipe from Weelicious.

Cupcake Ingredients
2 Cups Flour
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
½ Tsp. Salt
2 Eggs
1 Cup milk (I used homemade vanilla rice milk!)
½ Cup honey
1/3 Cup Oil
1 Large beet, roasted, cooled, peeled, and pureed, (about ¾ cup)
2 Tsp. Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine first four ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Slowly add the dry into the wet ingredients and combine. Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter into each lined muffin cup and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool before icing. Best kept in the fridge.

Red Icing Ingredients
1/2 small beet, roasted, cooled and peeled (about 2 Tbsp)
1/2 Cup Cream Cheese, room temperature
1/4 Cup Butter, room temperature
1/2 Cup Icing Sugar
1 Tsp. Vanilla
I ended up using a bit of zanthan gum to thicken it but I would assume you could also use corn starch or gelatin instead.

White Icing Ingredients
1 Cup Cream Cheese, room temperature
1/2 Cup Butter, room temperature
1/4 Cup Honey
1 Tsp. Vanilla

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Everybody Loves Doughnuts!

If you have played the video game 'Splosion Man, then you will understand the title, if you haven't played it, you are missing out and you should play it sometime!! (Yes I am a bit of a geek, this is one of my favourite games!)


Either way, most people love doughnuts! The other night I wanted to deep fry a dessert, and my husband laughingly suggested crullers. I, of course, jumped at the challenge immediately! I'm so glad I did, they turned out perfect! I have already made them twice :)
This is a Food Network recipe.

They barely lasted long enough to get a picture!

Ingredients
Crullers: 
1 Cup Water
8 Tbsp. Butter
1/2 Tsp. Salt (Adjust this if you use salted butter)
1 Cup Flour
3-4 Eggs
Oil, for frying


Glaze:
2 Cups Icing Sugar
1/4 Cup Milk


 Combine the water, butter, sugar and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. 
Remove from heat and add the flour all at once. 
Stir hard with a wooden spoon until incorporated. 
Return to heat and cook about 2 minutes (until some moisture has evaporated), while stirring constantly.
Move mixture to a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (you can use a hand mixer or mix it by hand too), turn it on to medium speed and add 1 egg at a time while mixing. 
Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. 
The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when lifted from the bowl. If the dough doesn't do this, add the 4th egg and mix again. I made the mistake of thinking I needed a 4th egg the first time, and it was really runny. The next time I used only 3 and it was perfect!
Line a baking sheet with wax paper/parchment paper. 
Using a pastry bag (icing bag works fine!) fitted with a star tip (a large one) pipe the dough onto the pan in rows of 2 1/2 inch rings. 
Freeze for at least an hour to make them easier to pick up. (Almost frozen solid works best. If not frozen they will still taste fine, and cook fine, but they will be messy to get into the oil and will lose their 'cruller' shape).
Heat the oil to 375 degrees F. 
Lift the dough circles off the pan and carefully slip into the oil. 
Fry turning once until lightly browned. 
Drain the crullers on a cooling rack (make sure you put paper towel or something underneath!). Dip them completely in the glaze. 
Let the crullers cool and set before serving (if you can resist!!).

I think these are definitely going to be on the 'most requested' list in our house! We live within walking distance of Tim Hortons, and I would prefer to patiently wait for them in the freezer and then cook them rather then eating one of their crullers!!
I think I might double the recipe next time and let some freeze solid in the freezer. If left to thaw for 10-15 minutes before frying, I think they would defrost nicely and taste just as good and be more of an 'instant' treat!

Spinach Mookshake

Or at least that's what my 2 year old calls it. Mookshake, milkshake, smoothie or green milk....however you label it, it's delicious and it's chalk full of nutrition!! Made with slight modifications from Weelicious.

Ingredients
4 cups (packed) fresh spinach
2 Large Bananas
2 Cups Milk
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp. Honey

Put it all into the blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerates well for a day or two if there is any left over. There's not usually! Sometimes I blend it up before adding the honey and take some out, mix it with some plain yogurt and xanthan gum (you could use other thickening agents) and feed it to my not quite 1 year old as pudding! She loves it!


It's definitely a vegetarian snack, and could easily be made vegan and or milk free. Maple syrup would be a good substitute for the honey, and you could use soy, rice or even almond milk!

Lately anytime I ask my son what he wants for a snack he asks for a spinach mookshake. He loves them that much. I tested it out on some other children this morning, and they were actually fighting over it...fighting over spinach!! Imagine that!

Nutritional Yeast

Nutritional Yeast is a deactivated yeast, and like mushrooms is actually a fungus.
It is a source of protein and vitamins, especially the B-Complex. It is naturally low in fat and sodium and is sugar, dairy and gluten free. Vegans make use of it frequently as a protein source or cheese substitute. It has a strong flavour that most people seem to describe as nutty, cheesy or creamy. Can be used in the place of parmesan cheese, or used as a topping for popcorn. 
Now, I am not a vegan, nor do I ever see myself becoming one, so why do I have this? I saw a recipe on weelicious, and it looked like a quick and easy substitute for KD, so I thought I would try it. My toddler has started turning his nose up at KD in preference for real food. I'm not a huge fan of KD, but it is an easy rush thing to put together!
I ordered from Well.ca and eagerly awaited it's arrival! The day it arrived I promptly made the recipe. Ugh. It was the worst tasting, most vile thing I have eaten in a long time! I ate some of it, and then proceeded to be nauseous for the rest of the day :( I had no choice but to find some use for it since I ordered 360g of the stuff! So back to the drawing board...
I found a 'cheese' sauce recipe on VegWeb and decided to give it a try...it's not that bad! I was going to dip tortilla chips into it, but I went to the cupboard and the cupboard was bare! So I poured it over macaroni and added a little salsa for zest and it's actually quite tasty!
I know making real cheese sauce if pretty simple, but it does take some time to grate the cheese etc. This took less then 5 minutes from start to finish :) I think I will see if my toddler will eat it for supper.
Because I am not a vegan, I changed the recipe to include milk. If you are a vegan just substitute soy milk (make sure it's unsweetened), or water and use vegan margarine :)

Ingredients
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast Flakes
Pinch of Salt
1/4 Cup Unbleached Flour
1/4 Tsp. Garlic Powder
1/8 Tsp. Mustard Powder
Sprinkle of Cumin
1 Cup Milk
1 1/2 Tbsp. Margarine


Mix dry ingredients together in a small pot. Add milk and whisk until clumps are gone. Add margarine and cook over medium heat until it thickens. If it thickens more then you want it to, just add extra milk (or whatever liquid you are using). It is meant to be a fairly thick sauce though.


This seems to be one of the better recipes out there. There are some recipes that even hardcore vegans are reviewing as awful!
Cheese is always something I seem to run out of before grocery day. Now I can make mac 'n cheese from ingredients I will most likely have on hand. The nutritional yeast was $7.67 for 180g. Because it's so flakey and light you get a lot in that container (which I didn't realize when I ordered 2 of them!), so it's actually quite an economical, healthy alternative for some recipes :)

Update: My 2 year old loves it :) He looked suspiciously at the macaroni for a minute and I convinced him to try some. His eyes lit up and I asked him if it was yummy, and his response was 'Yeah!'.  I think I will make up little baggies of pre-measured dry ingredients, and then all I have to do is add milk and margarine to the sauce. Not much harder then KD!