Happy Halloween!

Well, you or your kids have probably already finished trick-or-treating, but I'm still up and felt compelled to say........Happy Halloween!

I have a couple cool things coming soon. I'm so excited to share this- I will soon put up a vanilla cupcake recipe, that is GF, vegan, low-fat, and sugar free. I just have to do a couple tweaks, and it will be perfect. Unfortunately I can't do this for a week or so, because the five gallon bucket of agave nectar we ordered (we are bulk kind of people) wont arrive until Thursday-ish. However the original "prototype" cupcakes were not tasted by just me, but by the whole family- decked out in Hannah's Monster (green) Frosting, and set with a vegan marshmallow tombstone ghost thingy. Oh- and a mint sprig that somehow survived the cold outside.


Second order of business- though not in time for Halloween, I will soon disclose an Almond Bliss Bar recipe. I wanted an original name so that the Almond Joy won't sue me or something. Almond Joy's encompass three of my favorite things- chocolate, coconut, and almonds. mmmmmm..

Happy Halloween (again),
VEGirl

Simple peanut butter cookies

These peanut butter cookies are gluten-free, vegan, soy-free, sugar-free, low-fat and fantatic tasting, if I do say so myself. They aren't technically fat-free, since the peanut butter is, well, nuts. But the oils and fat in peanut butter are very nutritious.

SIMPLE gluten-free, vegan,
soy-free, sugar-free, low-fat,
fantastic peanut butter cookies

1 c. sorghum flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. agave nectar
1/2 c. water

1/4 c. chocolate chips (optional)

Grease 2 cookie sheets and pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Sift the sorghum flour and salt together into a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix the peanut butter, agave nectar, and water together until smooth. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and combine thoroughly. Add chocolate chips if desired.

Take your prepared cookie sheets, and drop the dough onto them by the spoonful, spaced evenly. Press down each cookie with a wet fork. (Note: you don't need much space between the cookies, since they won't spread)

Slide the cookies into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Check them after 10 minutes, since our dinky old oven from prehistoric times doesn't hold heat well, so it takes way longer to bake in our oven than it would in a newer one. You know they are done when they are firm to the touch. Serve hot or cooled.

Makes about 32 cookies

Enjoy your cookies,
VEGirl

Printable recipe

Pumpkin and spice makes everything nice!

I am very excited to share this recipe with you, the first on this blog. I guess I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, with Thanksgiving a month away, but I couldn't wait any longer to experiment with some pie pumpkin. I hope you enjoy these muffins, I sure did! By the way- they are great with a cold glass of almond milk. mmmmm...... :)
Note: the recipe is still in the proportions that I originally made it in, which makes 7 muffins. Double it for more muffins, I think you could squeeze all the dough into 12 tins.

Gluten-free Vegan Pumpkin Pie Muffins

Ingredients:
1/2 c. brown rice flour
1/2 c. millet flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon stevia powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon powdered orange peel
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt*
2 cloves
1 all spice
1/4 c. molasses
1 c. uncooked pie pumpkin, cut into small chunks
1/4 c. raisins (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and grease your muffin tins.

Put the pie pumpkin chunks in a small pot with 1/2 inch of water, and steam it on medium heat for fifteen minutes, or until soft. While that is cooking, sift together millet flour, rice flour, baking soda, stevia, cinnamon, ginger, and salt into a medium sized bowl. With a mortar and pestle, grind the all spice and clove, and add it to your dry mix. You may be able to use a spice grinder.

When the pumpkin is finished cooking, drain as much excess water as you can, then dump it into a small bowl and thoroughly mash it up. Add the molasses and mix well.

Add the wet to the dry and mix well, but don't over stir! Put in the raisins if desired. Divide the batter into your muffin tins. These proportions make 7 (on the small side) muffins, but if you double the recipe, you could probably squeeze it all into 12 small muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes. Cooling them is optional.

Enjoy,
VEGirl

* I thought I detected a little too much salt when I used this amount, but my family didn't notice, so you make the call. If you generally don't like too much salt, use a bit less than 1/8 teaspoon.

Printable recipe

Two dreams in one post

I hope that you are not sick of product reviews and me raving about GF vegan snacks and sweets. Are you? Well, I'm going to tell you about two GF vegan dreams in one post. What a (sweet) treat.

Dream #1:

A literal dream, made by one of my favorite companies- Taste The Dream. They manufacture my favorite rice and soy ice cream, a wide variety of non-dairy milks, and as I recently found out.... chocolate. Now, I have a special spot in me for chocolate. I love darker percent chocolates (85%-mmmmm...) and mixing chocolate with other similar flavors (chocolate and strawberries.... chocolate and almonds.... chocolate and garbage.... anything goes with chocolate) and when I was strolling up and down the candy isle at my local Co-op, I found my dream chocolate. I immediately bought it and the second I was strapped in the passenger seat, I shared a piece with everyone.

Heavenly. As my mother said- it taste like milk chocolate- only healthier. The second a bit of this chocolate pops into your mouth, smooth and pleasant flavor rolls in and coats your tongue, meanwhile turning on every happy button in your body. Taste The Dream chocolate comes in many flavors, including Rice Crunch, Raspberry, Almond, Pure Dark, and Creamy Sweet. Looking for a "milk" chocolate? This is your golden ticket.

Dream #2:



Marshmallows. It may seem like a vegan oxymoron, but the Chicago SoyDairy Dandies air-puffed marshmallow tastes exactly like marshmallows as I remember them. I wish I could tell you more, but they just taste like delicious marshmallows! Apparently they also melt for rice crispy treats and s'mores. I can't wait to try!

Happy sweet-snacking,
VEGirl

5 ways to slash your plastic waste

#1 Okay, this is a no-brainer. You should already be doing this, yet I see so many people carry 50 plastic grocery bags every day. So- number 1: use reusable bags. For any situation. There are a few options for this:
(a) Use plastic or paper bags that you used on a previous shopping trip. The only flaw I see in this is the concern that the bags would rip on the third or fourth use.....
(b) Some chain supermarkets have reusable bags for sale in their stores, the thing is, a lot of them are made of plastic material. Go figure. Well, you can sometimes find old, yet functional, bags at thrift stores. Go hunting around, you'll be surprised at what you find!
(c) Or... (drum roll please)... buy a bag made of a bio-degradable material, such as cotton. Then, after you have gotten your use out of them, they will biodegrade, which is doubly good for the earth! Try purchasing your bag from Reusable Bags.

#2 Buy (and eat) little to no processed and packaged crap. Don't act so shocked, we all know it's crap. More commonly known as junk food, but crap, nevertheless. Apart from improving your health, junk food is packaged in so much plastic I feel like I'll explode. This is not to say that you can't have the occasional treat, but if you avoid the junk and focus on whole foods for the foundation of your diet, you and Mother Earth will fare better.

#3 Buy and USE a stainless steel water bottle. This will hopefully prevent you from buying those little plastic bottle of water. I know there tempting, so quick and cold, but resist it, you'll get into the habit of having your trusty stainless steel bottle around. You can buy lots of different sizes, and different tops, too! Buy your bottle from Klean Kanteen, or from a local store, where they are cropping up at a great speed! If you buy from a store or supermarket, just be sure that the one you choose is completely stainless steal (except for the top of course), because some companies are trying to line them with plastic. Kind of defeats the purpose, don't you think? Anywho, check out Klean Kanteen for information and a huge display of bottles.

#4 Use tins and reusable containers, NOT PLASTIC ZIPLOC BAGS, to store food. Instead, use a bowl with a plate on top. So what if you have to wash it afterward? And besides, if you have a washing machine, you can clean it in there. Although, washing dishes by hand (which my family does) uses less energy. Plastic bags, after they're used, will ordinarily throw them away or, as my family did for years, wash them to use again. However, when you throw plastic ziploc bags in the trash, they clog up landfills, and when you wash them, they release harmful chemicals. Icky! So, QUITE USIN' 'EM! Use:
(a) A bowl with a lid on top.
(b) If you need to keep something in an airtight container, use a metal tin. I don't think you're
supposed to put them in the fridge for fear of rusting, but I would double check that. So
anyway- you can store bread, cookies (mmmm.....), or other such things in a metal tin. You
can commonly buy these cheaply at thrift stores (saving plastic and reusing. Bonus!)

When you need to take a lunch or snacks to a destination:
(a) Use a metal tin
(b) If you must, use a reusable plastic container (though metal is better)
(c) I have seen specially designed stainless steel lunch containers at health food stores, though I
do not have one, I'm sure they're handy.
(d) Use bio-degradable waxed paper bags for snacks (they are also good for dog poop bags, but that's another story)
(e) And of course, take water in a stainless steel bottle!

#5 You know those rolls of plastic bags in the grocery stores for carrying fruits, vegetables, and other bulk items? Well, give 'em up. Buy loose fruits and vegetables, and use cloth, old plastic bags, or paper bags for bulk items such as nuts, grains, and flour. It's that simple! In fact, it is very useful to have a shopping bag filled with reusable bags and sacks for groceries, as well as glass bottles and jars for buying bulk liquids.

More to follow.....
VEGirl