Sweets to get me through the week

I have a pretty big sweet tooth and I love to bake. Since I'm not eating dairy now, I've been trying to find good things to bake without using eggs or milk and that actually tastes good. In a good way, I can't buy a lot of sweets from the grocery store either. One of my favorite things to make is from the book "The Kind Diet" by Alicia Silverstone. They are basically a different take on rice crispy treats, made with brown rice cereal, brown rice syrup, peanut butter and non-dairy chocolate chips. The first time I made them, I used almond butter with no added salt or sugar. They were so delicious, I would have to stop myself from eating three a day. The other great thing about these treats is that they aren't sweetened with sugar, so they're actually kind of healthy! Brown rice syrup is a great alternative to sugar because it doesn't spike your blood sugar.
Recently, I made "Mom's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" from the Vegan Planet cookbook by Robin Robertson. I was worried about how they would turn out using the Ener-G egg replacer I bought, but I was pleasantly surprised when they were soft. I prefer soft cookies to crisp ones, so that was great for me! I didn't have any non-dairy chocolate chips so I used carob chips instead. I wasn't too happy with the fact that they melted so fast and the chips that were touching the cookie sheet burned. I scraped the burned chips off and they were fine, but next time I'm using the non-dairy chocolate chips. Here are the recipes, try them out and see what you think.


Crispy Peanut Butter Treats with Chocolate Chips
1 box brown rice crisps cereal
1 3/4 cups brown rice syrup
Fine sea salt
3/4 cup peanut butter or almond butter
1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips


Pour the rice cereal into a large bowl. Heat the syrup with a pinch of salt in a saucepan over low heat. When the rice syrup liquefies, add the peanut butter and stir until well combined. Pour over the rice cereal. Mix well with a wooden spoon.


Once thoroughly mixed and cooled to room temperature, stir in the chocolate chips. Make sure the mixture is cool, so the chips don't melt.


Turn the mixture out into an 8"x8" or 9"x13" baking dish. Wet the wooden sppon lightly and press the mixture evenly into the pan. Let cool for about an hour, before cutting into squares or bars.


Mom's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies-Only Better
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar or natural sweetner
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup corn oil
Egg replacer for 2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet non-dairy chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts(optional)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil two baking sheets.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, maple syrup, corn oil, egg replacer and vanilla, mixing until blended. Add half of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts(if using). Drop the dough by the spoonful onto the baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
Bake until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Mac and Not-So-Cheesy Bake

Ever since I went vegan, I've been trying to find a good recipe for macaroni and "cheese." Since most vegan cheeses I've come across don't exactly melt, I thought this would be impossible and would definitely not taste like the original. So I kind of gave up on the idea of ever having mac and cheese, which was sad, because I loved it. Then I decided to search again. I came across a recipe at http://vegweb.com/ that had many comments raving about how good it was. It seemed pretty simple but most of the comments also said that while it didn't taste so much like the original, it was still good for what it was. So I decided to give it a try. Fortunately, I had all the ingredients on hand. The recipe calls for Nutritional Yeast, which is found at most health food stores. Many people say it has a cheesy flavor, that's why it's often used in the vegan versions of mac and cheese. I actually forgot to include it in mine(oops!) and it was still good, so if you don't have it, don't worry about it. I have to say, it was really yummy! My non-vegan husband even liked it. We also had it with leftover veggie chili for a delicious chili-mac! Also, I cut the recipe in half because it makes a LOT and even after cutting it in half, we had a lot left over. Feel free to adjust things to make it to your liking. I would probably play with the liquids and amount of tofu if you want it a little "creamier".

Ingredients:
3/4 box of elbow macaroni(for vegs, make sure the noodles don't have eggs)
3/4 cup of soymilk
1/2 cup of water
2.5 tbsp of soy sauce
1/2 tbsp of paprika
1/2 tbsp of garlic powder
1/2 tbsp salt
1/8 block of firm tofu
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast



1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook pasta in boiling water in a large pot.
3. Add all the ingredients except the pasta into a blender and blend well. Once pasta is cooked, put into a baking dish or casserole dish. Pour the blended mixture over it and bake until slightly brown and crispy. It didn't take too long, just keep your eye on it.

Black Bean and Butternut Squash Chili with Skillet Cornbread with Smoked Chiles

So I love black beans. I could pretty much eat them everyday. I decided to make this recipe for my mom and husband one Saturday night, after much debate with myself. It comes from a book that my husband bought for me called "Vegan Planet" by Robin Robertson and it's full of recipes. 400 recipes, to be exact. So you can see why I was having a hard time deciding what to make. After much consideration, I decided, you really can't go wrong with black beans or chili. Not to mention, I love one pot meals. I also decided to make the skillet cornbread with smoked chiles to go with it. It was the first time I'd made either chili or cornbread but I was up for the challenge. Turns out both recipes were pretty simple and very delicious!

The chili has a sweet and savory taste to it thanks to the combination of the butternut squash and the jalapeno. It's hard to see from my picture but it's got a cool color contrast between the black beans and orange squash. The cornbread does have a nice, smoky flavor and it's not overwhelming. Both the chili and cornbread were a hit with my mom and husband, so I must've done something right!

Black Bean and Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 jalapeno (optional), seeded and minced

One 14.5 ounce can plum tomatoes, drained and chopped (I couldn't find these so I just used regular canned tomatoes)

1 cup water

1 cup apple juice

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 tablespoons chili powder, or to taste

1 teaspoon salt

1 medium-sized butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch dice

3 cups cooked or two 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeno (if using). Cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, water, apple juice, tomato paste, chili powder, salt, and squash and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer until the squash is tender, about 30 minutes.

2. Add the beans, then taste and adjust the seasonings. Simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes to blend the flavors. Serve hot.

Skillet Cornbread with Smoked Chiles

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup soy milk or other dairy-free milk

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 cup fresh, canned, or frozen corn kernels, cooked and drained

1/4 cup corn oil

2 tablespoons finely chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce(I had dried chipotles. If you use these instead, soak them in hot water to cover for 30 minutes to rehydrate them).

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. I didn't have a skillet so I just used a metal, round baking pan. If using the baking pan, grease lightly.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

3. In a medium-size bowl, combine the soy milk, maple syrup, corn kernels, corn oil, and chiles and set aside.

4. If using the cast iron skillet, oil it well and heat over medium heat until hot. While the skillet is heating, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well with a few quick strokes. Transfer the batter to the hot skillet or baking pan and bake on the center oven rack until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Serve hot or warm. I like to put some Earth Balance spread on mine. Yum!