Sunday is baking day

Some people may believe that people who don't eat meat or animal products are more interested in a healthy meal than something that tastes good. Let me dispel that notion right now. If you've grabbed a vegetarian meal from the frozen food aisle in your local grocery store, you may have gotten that idea. I'm thinking of one brand in particular. I won't name them, because some people may actually like bland, boring food with a weird texture. I don't happen to be one of them.

I usually bake something on Sunday. Sometimes it's only one thing, sometimes more than one. It's usually some kind of energy/snack bar that I can nibble on while I'm working before and after lunch. Today I made a tray of strawberry, apple, blueberry bars with chocolate on top. Have I mentioned I love chocolate?

The image on the right is the whole tray before it went into the oven. The image below is ready to eat.

vegan strawberry apple blueberry bars:
1 lb strawberries
6 oz blueberries
2 Granny Smith apples
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups sucanat or brown sugar
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup flax seed
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup water
1/8 cup olive oil
2 tbs baking soda
2 tbs baking powder
2 tbs vinegar
2 tbs vanilla
2 tbs cinnamon

chocolate topping:
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sucanat or brown sugar
1/8 cup water
2 tbs olive oil

Preheat oven to 375. Mix sucanat, vanilla, cinnamon, olive oil, vinegar, and water together in a large bowl. Cut strawberries and apples to the size you like. (I make them pretty small so I can get a little of everything in each bite.) Add the chopped fruit and whole blueberries to the liquid mixture and mix well. Add the dry ingredients (flour, oatmeal, flax seed, wheat germ, baking powder and soda) until you have a consistency a little thicker than pancake batter. If you need to add more water, do it now. Spread it out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes. The baking time will vary based on the liquidity of the batter. Remove from oven when the top is springy to the touch.

After the bars are ready, add cocoa powder, sucanat, olive oil, and water into a mixing bowl and mix into a frosting paste. Spread over top of bars after they have cooled for about 10 minutes. Move to freezer to set the frosting for about 30 minutes. You can cut them now, or move them to the refrigerator and slice off the size you are hungry for.

A word of caution: these are not low in calories and may lead to a preference for vegan baked goods. Sphere: Related Content

Farfalle with sun dried tomatoes and Basil

I was told the picture of my cat food is gross, so I took a picture of my dinner last night. It was so good I'm thinking of having it again today.

1 cup garden farfalle or your favorite pasta
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
Basil (as much as you like - I like a lot)
ground peppercorn (again as much as you like)
ground chili pepper (as much as you like)

Cook pasta as per directions on package. While it's cooking mash the garlic with a fork or garlic press, then add pepper, chili pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Cut sun dried tomatoes into strips (or however you like them) and add to the marinade. Toss in pasta and stir until each is coated. The whole meal takes only as long to make as the pasta takes to boil. Quick, easy and really tasty.

After posting, I realized I should add a caveat: all of my measurements are approximate.

Being vegan I cook about 95% of the food I eat, but only measure about 10% of the time. This usually works for me and the only time I do try to be exact are with recipes for bread. I bake a lot, and bread is tricky. I have made several loaves that could easily be used as bricks, so I've learned that whatever molecular magic takes place in the oven should be treated as the chemistry it is. With everything else, I just use the amount I think will work. If you decide to make any of my recipes just keep in mind that it's your meal, you should make it taste the way you like it. If I like Basil and you like Oregano, use Oregano. Sphere: Related Content