Pages

Monday, January 30, 2012

Do Nut Touch

When I was younger there was this computer game my brothers and I use to play about these vikings and a ship and well all I really remember was this video clip that started the whole game. One of the vikings saw the button and a sign above it said "Do Not Touch" and he read it "Donut Touch," being hungry, he touched it. So the story of my title. (Plus my older brother would always say that was something I would have said, the donut part that is. Nice brother, I know.)

So donuts! Yes, that same loving brother got me donut pans for my birthday last year. I made one batch of donuts after I got them but they contained eggs. This time I made ME some donuts.

My inspiration for this recipe came from a cupcake I saw at a bakery. It was an almond joy cupcake. I thought to myself, "Well you use to love eating Mounds candy (because at that time in my life I was not big into nuts) and now that you love nuts, lets try to make something with those flavors." And I did just that. At first I wasn't sure if I really liked how they came out, flavor wise, but after eating them all, I do like it =].

Almond Joy Donuts


Donut:
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup almond meal/flour
1 tablespoon date sugar
1 teaspoon flaxmeal
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 teaspoon gaur gum
1/4 teaspoon each baking soda and powder
1/8 teaspoon  salt
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
Topping:
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 tablespoon almond milk
2 tablespoon coconut, toasted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, spray 2 donut pans with nonstick spray.

Combine all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Combine all of the wet ingredients together in a measuring cup.

Pour the wet mix into the dry.

Spoon into prepared pan. (I only filled 6 out of the 12 spots on the second pan.)

Bake 20 to 25 minutes, turning the pan half way durning baking.

While they are cooling,

start melting the chocolate chips either in a microwave or using a double boiler. Add in the milk.

Dip the top of each donut into the chocolate,

then into the toasted coconut.

Eat or let the chocolate topping set.

DONUTS!!!! WOOHOO!!!


Monday, January 23, 2012

What's For Breakfast?

How about some homemade granola?

Sounds good to me. Can I get some please?

Oh, why sure you can. Just go right ahead and make some for yourself! It is easy and taste way better than any you find in the store. Plus you can cater it too your liking.

Pantry Granola

1/4 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cup oats
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup coconut
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup coconut flour (or more whole wheat flour)
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt the peanut butter, honey, and spices together.

Add in the water.

Turn off the heat (if not using a microwave) and add in the extracts.

While the peanut butter is melting mix all of the dry ingredients together.

Pour the pb mix into the oat mix.

Pour out onto a baking sheet, there will be some clumps and other loose oats, just leave the clumps because it gives the granola texture.

Bake a total of 30 to 35 minutes, stirring the granola every 10 minutes.

During the last 5 minutes add in the raisins so they can slightly plump up, then remove and let it cool. (I do love some burnt raisins though.)

Place in a container and keep for 5 days in the pantry or 10 days in the fridge.

I used raw cinnahoney for my honey. I have had it in the pantry for awhile now and decided to add it to the mix to add a more cinnamon flavor, you know how I do love that cinnamon. Feel free to add in pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, more coconut, or any nuts that you may have on hand.

I use to make this granola all the time and for some reason stopped. I have been making a quick granola when I crave something more filling in the morning. I do believe I have posted the recipe once before. (Where it is in my blog, I am not 100% sure.)

SO guess what...I finally made some donuts!!

Recipe coming soon!!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

BREAD!!!

I love making bread. I haven't made some in a long time. I think since my 5 grain bread that ended up becoming freezer burnt because I ate it too infrequently. I use to make bread every like two weeks at one point in my life because I ate it just about every day. Then something changed, which is a point I will get to later on in this post.

I was craving a pb and j sang last week but found my freezer burnt bread and couldn't eat it until I made a new loaf of bread. I normally enjoy a pb and j on caraway rye bread, but I am out of rye flour. Me being the improviser that I am decided to use oats instead of rye. I use to make this particular recipe all the time but would add raisins, cinnamon, and a 10 grain cereal to the recipe. I miss that bread (note to self and you all that version shall be made sometime in the near future). I didn't want to make this a crazy version so I could have my sang and others on it in the future. I did add onion powder and caraway seeds to the recipe to make it more like a rye bread and because I really love caraway seeds and would add them to every bread I make if I could (well maybe not in my tomato herb bread that could taste weird).

Whole Wheat Oat Bread

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons simmering water
1 1/2 cups oats
1/4 cup molasses
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 envelope active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil

Pour the hot water over 1 cup of the oats, add in the molasses and let it stand for 10 minutes.

Coarsely grind the 1/2 cup of oats in a food processor.

Measure out the bread and whole wheat flours and mix together.

Add the yeast to the oat/molasses mixture, stir and allow to stand for 5 minutes,

until the yeast starts to activate and bubble.

Add the oat flour, salt, and 1/2 cup of the wheat and bread flour. Mix that in,

and then add in a 1/2 cup more of the wheat and bread flour until a stiff dough starts to form.

Transfer to a floured board and

start to knead in the rest of the flour.

Shape into a ball, place the oil in a bowl and coat the dough ball with it.

Cover with plastic wrap and

allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

Punch down the dough,

shape into a loaf or reshape the ball and place in a greased bread pan or on parchment paper with a dusting of cornmeal, and cut across the top of the loaf or an x if a ball.

Allow to rise another 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, then lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 45 minutes or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hallow when tapped.

Take it out of the pan and place on a wire rack and let it cool.

Eat!! I would have taken a picture of the pb and j sang I made but I devoured it as soon as it was made. I used grape jelly and it was yum. Also, I just wanted to share, I bought a new tea at the end of the holiday season by celestial seasonings that is out of this world called Nutcracker Sweet. It reminds me of dunk a roo cookies. I am in love with this tea. And it paired well with the pb and j sang.

So I am not 100% sure I want to share this with everyone but it is something I have been needing to get off my mind for awhile. If you do not want to know me more you can feel free to stop reading now because my usual funny (or trying to be funny) self is going to end and my personal life is about to meet my blog, and hey how many people actually read my blog anyway so why not get a little deeper for once.

I have been wanting to make a sort of declaration about something for a while. Weight, body image issues, and eating disorders, mine in particular. I had decided when I started my blog to keep this sort of stuff out of it but in recent time I have come to a pretty enlightening realization that I want to share. I enjoy reading other blogs out there that focus on their recovery from eating disorders and wanted to leave it to them to "flood" the web with their personal stuff because once you put it out there you cannot take it back. I am ready to do just that.

Some of you may know I had an eating disorder. I am in the process of recovery. I have also come a very long way. Just recently I have come to terms with my body on a good level. I like it. Just the way it is. Six pack or no six pack (I'm at the no stage right now) but hey I am ok with that. I weighed myself the other day dreading what the scale was going to tell me. I was not liking how much weight I have put on. I kept injuring myself, preventing me from fully working out (something that I enjoy greatly and hated not being able to do fully) so I put on more weight a little too quickly that I just was hating. I now feel like that was Gods work saying hey you need to do this because it is the only way you will advance. Advance in both health issues and mentally. Back to the scale, I thought I had put on more weight than I was wanting to admit because jeans not fitting the way I want them too was really getting to me, low and behold it was only 5 extra pounds. Bringing me to a very healthy weight for my height and age. Something I can live with and not hate myself for being. Do you want me to share it with you? How about I start by telling you the weight I had to work up from... scary to say but I was at one point 98 pounds.  I am tearing up just putting that down here. I am now a healthy 125 pounds. Why my eating disorder even started I can't really say, all I know is that I kept restricting things from my diet and taking away things I love (even vegan/vegetarian foods) like bread. It became very bad. My body stopped digesting food properly because I had restricted so many things. Then my eyes were opened and my journey to recovery began. I started to bake vegan cookies and desserts, something I had deprived myself of for a very long time. I love the changes I have made to my diet and life. I had lost myself to a time and now I am back! It feels great to just be me instead of a shell. I now want to help others that are going through this scary time. Hence my returning to school to do this. I guess I needed to have all of this happen to me because God has a plan for my life and I needed time to understand that. Don't get me wrong I still have a way to go, in everything, but don't you see I am now on the right path, his path, the only path I wish to be on.

Thank you, Lord for making me just the way I am, for giving me wonderful people in my life who care for me and help me each and everyday, and for sticking with me. "During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you." And Thank you family and friends. I love each and every one of you.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Farrisotto

Farro + risotto= farrisotto

Simple math people. Good tasting also!

I was going to see two of my favorite girl friends for dinner and I enjoy cooking for all of us so I made us a new creation. That's me for ya. Always trying something different.

As you may remember I made one version of farro with butternut squash. This time I went all out and added tomatoes, artichokes, roasted shrooms and spinach, lots and lots of spinach. I had bought two bags at Stop & Shop the other day because it was buy one get one free. How could I resist. I love me those deals! Then comes the question, "What do I do with all of this spinach?" and that is always the harder part of the bargain. Especially being the only one to eat it. So dinner with the girls was a much needed affair and perfect option to use up my over abundance of spinach (or I was thinking spinach chips?).

They enjoyed it, as did I.

Spinach Tomato Farrisotto

2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon oil
1 1/4 cups farro
3 cups water or veggie broth
1 can crushed fire roasted tomatoes
1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
1 bag fresh spinach
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 cup roasted mushrooms (i used baby bella with my usual seasonings: s&p, coriander, onion, and oregano)
1 large handful fresh parsley, chopped

Heat a large pot with oil over medium high heat. Add in the garlic and

allow to slightly brown.

Add in the farro and let it absorb the garlic oil and start to toast.

Add the tomatoes and water or broth.

Bring to a boil and keep it at a rolling boil for 15 to 20 minutes, until the farro is aldente and the water is absorbed.

Add in the nutritional yeast.

Slowly add in the spinach and mix until it wilts, about one large handful at a time about three times.

Add in the artichokes, mushrooms and parsley and lower heat to medium low.

And you are ready to serve once the artichokes and shrooms are warmed.

Feel free to top with more parsley, I was impatient and hungry and started to eat almost forgetting to take a picture. Also feel free to add in some beans like garbanzo for more of a protein boost.

Yum!

I'm thinking almond coconut donuts with a chocolate frosting, what do you think?