Aquafaba English Pancakes

I tried these today. I used black salt instead of table salt to give it a slight eggy taste. This resulted in a really strong sulfur smell, so I added a bunch of nutmeg (another eggy sort of flavor), a pinch of cinnamon and 2 tbs of sugar. The sulfur smell went away and the flavor was definitely in the background.

These were totally awesome and easy to make. Try them!

https://avirtualvegan.com/vegan-english-pancakes/

Jif Chocolate Cheesecake Hazelnut Spread

In a moment of extraordinarily poor judgement, I purchased a jar of Jif Chocolate Cheesecake Flavored Hazelnut Spread.

Or perhaps it was curiosity. Nutella-like goodness swirled with cheesecake? Sign me up.

The cheesecake part is basically cream cheese flavored frosting from a can. Blasphemy.

It's basically sugar with a little flavoring sprinkled on top, but the sprinkling only happens every other Tuesday. The rest of the week, it is just sugary crack.

I can't review the hazelnut part because the taste of the cheesecake crack frosting is drowning out the hazelnut and chocolate flavors.

VERDICT: Crackety.

Creamsicle smoothie!

98 degrees and hot flashes. Necessity is the mother of invention!

I blended about 2 tablespoons of orange juice concentrate with 2/3 cup soymilk, a teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1.5 cups of soymilk. Fantastic!

How do you like your....cereal?

Light and sweet?

I have tried every iteration of oatmeal I think. Milk, soymilk, water. Margarine or none. Dark brown sugar, light brown sugar, white sugar, molasses or stevia. Fresh fruit, dried fruit, frozen bananas warmed and mashed, cranberry sauce, applesauce, pumpkin or none. Cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice or none. Salt or none. Rolled oats, toasted rolled oats, or steel cut oats.

I've also tried cream of wheat, cream of rice, cornmeal mush, and porridge made from various grains--rye, wheat berries, couscous, etc.

I've found my favorite is steel cut oats made with water, dark brown sugar, margarine and cinnamon.

What's your favorite?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I started out with steel cut oats, margarine, cinnamon, and cranberry sauce.

More later! Enjoy your day!

Ode to soy creamer

I've crossed a threshold I didn't think I would ever cross. I had a line drawn in the sand between me and "those extremist vegetarians", which I placed right before soy creamer.

Now, I am still not an extremist by any means. I don't like seitan. I eat eggs and dairy. I didn't throw away my leather shoes. I wear glass pearls and glass coral beads, even though some think it will increase demand for the real thing.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing any of those things, and in fact, I find them admirable in my logical mind. But apparently I've retained some sort of prejudice from the whole 1970s McDonald's soy Communism fiasco. (From what I recall, it was discovered that McD was putting soy in its burgers. People were outraged, as though we were all victims of a subliminal brainwashing plot to make us all Communists.) Mea culpa. That is just silly.

So I thought if I stopped using cream in my morning cup of espresso, somehow that put me into a wholly separate category of vegetarians--those who had forsaken flavor and common sense for militaristic goals. Again, totally silly!

I've been having trouble with dairy due to some bona fide health problems I have, so I decided to give the "soy creamer" that "those vegetarians" kept talking about. I couldn't find it though, despite the hugeness of my grocery store's natural foods department.

I kept using dairy creamer for a while but it kept giving me problems. I realized the solution was right there in front of me--nondairy creamers in the dairy case. There they were, and lots of 'em. Every flavor imaginable. Hmmm.

I tried out this flavor. I am chagrined to admit it does not taste any better or worse than dairy cream!

The only possible critiques I have? It contains corn syrup, which is not marked "non-GMO". There is also a high proportion of sweet flavor to creamer, higher than what I prefer. I compensate by using less.

I don't like flavors in my coffee. I buy good espresso because I like its flavor. Masking it with hazelnut, vanilla, or anything else seems pointless to me. If I was going to do that, I'd just buy cheaper coffee. That's why I settled on this "flavor" of non-dairy creamer--Italian Sweet Creme--it masks the flavor less than the others.

Another prejudice crumbles!

This morning's healthy breakfast

In preparation for what I knew would be a long day of eating, I had a nice bowl of high-fiber Kashi cereal with blueberries, pecans and a few sunflower seeds. I washed it down with a double espresso with nondairy creamer. mmmm

This week I've been using some coconut milk in my breakfast smoothies for extra fat and calories, in an effort to get me feeling better faster.

I normally use about 1 cup of soy milk. This week I've been substituting a little coconut milk for part of the soy milk. One thing I've noticed is I'm overcompensating for the sweetness in the coconut milk. I keep thinking it's going to be too sweet, so I add less protein powder, because that adds a lot of sweetness.

I compared labels. The soy milk has 1 gram of sugar per cup. The coconut milk has 3 grams per cup. Neither has added sugars. I don't know why, but the coconut milk always tastes less sweet in my smoothies than the soy milk does. I shall investigate this further. There must be some sciencey explanation.

For your reference, I also use 1 cup of frozen fruit, 5 baby carrots, vanilla protein powder, and half a tablespoon of wheat germ.

Yes, wheat germ--I am turning into a full-on hippie! I've been adding that for extra vitamins and fiber, but I've found half a tablespoon is my limit. Add any more and I don't like it.

I think I've mentioned the carrots before. They add vitamins, sweetness and fiber, and I honestly do not notice a difference in taste. And believe me, I am the Princess and the Pea when it comes to taste!

Here's today's breakfast, made with strawberries and coconut milk. Happy Meatless Monday!

Smoothies!

Right now I'm drinking a delicious, healthy smoothie in anticipation of tomorrow's debauchery! It's got half a scoop of vanilla protein powder, plain soymilk, frozen strawberries, and a few steamed/cooled baby carrots. Really good! {But not as good as all the candy I'm going to be eating tomorrow!}

I've been wondering if I could start sneaking some veggies into my breakfast smoothies without making them taste weird. A few slices of avocado go unnoticed, and it turns out, so do a few baby carrots. I was concerned about using raw carrots due to their texture, so I nuked them for 30 seconds and let them cool down while I went about my morning routine. They pureed nicely and I can't tell they're there, except it's a tad sweeter than usual--not a bad thing. A little extra fiber and vitamins. mmmmmm.......

Happy Easter!

Frittata

Happy new year!

This weekend I made a frittata for breakfast--a nice option for a holiday brunch. I used an 8" skillet, filled it with small diced vegetables, sauteed them, added 4 scrambled eggs, topped it with a little Parmesan, and finished it off under the broiler. I used green beans, asparagus, potatoes, onions, leeks, mushrooms, and red peppers.

How *not* to eat breakfast

With the surplus of one of my favorite foods--nectarines--I thought I'd be innovative and make a sweet bean dish for breakfast.  I drained and rinsed a can of chic peas, fried them in Olivio, flavored them with cloves and cinnamon, and ate them with chopped nectarines.

One word:  YUCK.

Chic peas are versatile and can be delicious in sweet dishes.  (Just wait until Christmas--maybe I'll make my chic pea chocolate cookies from a very old Italian recipe.)  What I failed to realize in this dish was there was not enough sweet to cancel out all the salt used in canned beans.  It just doesn't work.  I'll bet if I had cooked my own, without salt, it would have been great.

Fried chic peas--sublime, yet simple

Here is a fast meal I make when I'm pressed for time, or just lazy. ;) 

It's appropriate for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack.  A whole can makes leftovers, which taste just as good when reheated.

Simply open a can of chic peas (ceci or garbanzos) and drain really, really well.

Heat up a skillet with a little olive oil.  Once it's hot, add the beans and saute until lightly browned.  They will shrink a bit while you're cooking, but don't worry--that just concentrates the good flavor.

I don't feel they need any seasoning at all, but if you must, you could try cinnamon, cloves, oregano, basil, cumin, curry--the possibilities are endless.

Here is my meal with fruit, fresh vegetables, and artisan whole grain bread:

Here's a close-up of the beans:

Refried beans (refritos)

Here are my refried beans.  The photo is totally unappetizing, I know, but they're just not known for their beauty, so get over it. ;)

I soak pinto beans overnight, drain, and replace the liquid with a beer and some water.  I add spices--use whatever you like--and then cook them in my pressure cooker for half an hour or so.

I LOVE onions--don't we all--but I don't like having onion breath for the next day or three.  I've struck upon a compromise that keeps my taste buds and my coworkers happy.  I cook half an onion in the pressure cooker and then discard it after cooking.  This way I have some flavor but am not eating chunks of onions.

The beer is an absolute requirement in my book.  If you are serving this to children or don't drink alcohol yourself--and no, it does not cook out--try a non-alcoholic beer instead.  I've done that and it tastes just as good.

I eat these with a fried egg on top and a warmed tortilla, or in a wrap with some melted extra sharp cheddar cheese.