Vegan chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting

3 C flour

1 ½-2 C sugar

1 t salt

2 t baking soda

6 T cocoa

2 t vanilla

1/3 C oil

2 T vinegar

2 1/3 C water

Mix dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients and mix well. 350 for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean near the center.

 

PB frosting (vegan)

Mix pb (smooth or chunky) with powdered sugar and a little bit of liquid (almond milk, hot water and/or vanilla).   It's just like making regular buttercream frosting, but using pb instead of soft butter.  In humid climates, keep frosted cake refrigerated before serving to keep the frosting from becoming runny.

Vegan blueberry muffins

2 C flour

1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 C sugar
1 C milk or apple juice
1/3 C oil
1 T apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
1 1/2  C blueberries

Mix dry ingredients.  Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, gently.  Stir in berries.  Put in greased muffin cups.  Bake at 375 for 10-15 min.

Hominy Soup

POSOLE adapted from Gayle Smith

 2 T  oil (or water)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 med. onion, chopped (about ½ cup)

2 C cooked pinto (or other) beans

1 30 oz can hominy, drained (can substitute corn, if you can’t find yellow hominy)

½ c chopped carrot

½ c chopped celery

¼ c chopped green chilies or Mexican Rotel ½ can (whole can if you like it hot)

1 Tbls. ground red chilies (optional)

4 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth

1 can diced tomatoes (large or small) 

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

1 ½ tsp. dried oregano leaves

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (it will not taste the same if you use dried)

½ lime

Tortilla chips

Monterey jack cheese (grated)

 

 Cook onion  in oil in a big pot.  Stir in beans, hominy, carrots, celery, green chilies, ground red chilies, and chicken broth.  Heat to a boil.  Reduce heat.  Add ½ lime, oregano, and cilantro.  Cook and simmer 30-40 minutes.   Top with crumbled tortilla chips and (optional)  Monterey jack cheese.  Other possible toppings:  sliced black olives, avocado, sour cream, cilantro, lime juice.

 

Optional:  add cooked chicken or pork for more "authentic" posole

Pumpkin Bars

2 C pumpkin

4 eggs (I use 4 T ground flax seed dissolved in 10 T warm water)

3/4 C oil (I use 1/2 C applesauce, 1/4 C oil)

2 t vanilla

2 C flour (I use 1 C white flour, 1 C whole wheat flour)

2 C sugar (I use less)

1/2-1 t ginger, cloves

2-3  t cinnamon

2 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 C chocolate chips

Blend wet ingredients. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl. Then stir wet into dry. pour in 15 x 10" (jelly roll) pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 min. 

Original recipe (probably from a Taste of Home magazine years ago) is above, with my changes in italics. 

Another version (from Six Sisters Stuff)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies

Yield: 20 small brownies

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 whole egg
2 egg whites
1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Line an 11″- x 7″-inch pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, eggs and oil until smooth.  Set aside.
In a separate medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, spices, salt and brown sugar.  Add to the wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated.  Stir in the chocolate chips.
Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly.  Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until passes toothpick test.  Cool completely before cutting.

Crunchy Chickpeas/Chickpea Tacos

original recipe:  http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/chickpea-tacos/

4 C cooked chickpeas
2 T soy sauce
1 1/2 T lemon juice
1 T (or less) chili powder
optional:  dash of cumin, black pepper

Stir all ingredients together.  Pour on greased/sprayed cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes.  Use these as a salad topping, as a snack, or as taco filling (in place of taco meat).

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Chickpea tacos

1 14.5 oz can chickpeas

a lime

1 tablespoon taco seasoning

1 onion, sliced thinly

1 garlic clove, minced

tomatoes and cilantro for serving

Heat a pan over medium high heat with a little oil in it. Put in the chickpeas and onions and a pinch of salt.   cook this, stirring pretty often, until the onions and chickpeas begin to brown a little. At that point, add the minced garlic and taco seasoning. :)

Stir the seasoning and garlic around in the pan so that it begins to cover all the chickpeas and onions. Stir this for a couple of minutes. Add lime juice and a T of water.you can use a potato masher to break the chickpeas up a little.
This is perfect with tomatoes and cilantro on tortillas!

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Chickpea avocado tacos

• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced
• 1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 3 Tbs. chopped cilantro
• 4 tsp. fresh lime juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp.)
• 8 corn taco shells
• 2 cups baby salad greens
• 1 cup prepared salsa (medium or hot)
• ½ cup nondairy sour cream

Place avocado in small bowl, and mash with fork. Stir in chickpeas, cilantro, lime juice, and garlic; season with salt and pepper.

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Chickpea Tacos (stovetop filling)

2 C cooked chickpeas

a lime

1 tablespoon taco seasoning

1 onion, sliced thinly

1 garlic clove, minced

tomatoes and cilantro for serving

Saute onion and garlic. Add seasonings and chickpeas.

Low fat oatmeal cookies

1 C flour (whole wheat and/or part white)

1 t baking powder

½ t salt

½ -1 t cinnamon

½ t ginger (I use less)

3/4 C brown sugar (use anywhere between 1/2 C to 1 C, based on taste and health preferences)

1 C rolled oats

            Combine.

¼ C oil (I use applesauce for half of the oil)

2 T milk (or water or juice)

1 egg (or 1 T ground flax seed dissolved in 2-3 T hot water)

Optional:  ½ C raisins or craisins or chocolate chips (Ghirardelli semi-sweet chips are vegan)

            Mix.  Bake at 375, 10 min, on sprayed cookie sheet

 

Another family staple.  We triple the recipe and the cookies still don't last long.  The vegan options are in italics.

Riley Bread

Riley Whole Wheat Bread

    Dissolve in small bowl:

3 t dry yeast

1 t sugar

¼ C warm water

      Beat in a mixer bowl (or with a spoon) until smooth:          

3 ½ C whole wheat flour

2 ½ C hot tap water

      Add to bowl, along with dissolved yeast, then mix well:       .

1/3 C honey

1/3 C oil

1 T salt

    Add:  

1 C whole wheat flour (or 1 C quick oats)

2 C white flour (or whole wheat)

            Knead with kneading hook, or knead by hand.  Add more flour if dough is not pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

           Shape dough into 3 loaves (on a floured plate, with floured hands) and put into 3 greased loaf pans (2 of regular size, 1 of smaller size).  Let loaves rise for 45 minutes (if the house is too cold, turn the oven on for 1 ½ minutes, then turn it off and let the loaves rise in the warm oven), then bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.  (Set a timer for the 45 minute rising; the bread is never as good when I let it rise too long.)

 Note:  this bread only has to rise ONCE, so it can be made start to finish in less than 2 hours.

Optional:  1 cup of cooked oatmeal can be added in place of 1 C of the water.

To make raisin breadL  knead raisins, walnuts, cinnamon and brown sugar (to taste, or about 2 T) into 1/3 of the dough

Our family loves this bread.  We make it once or twice a week.  We also use the dough for pizza, cinnamon rolls, fried scones, burger buns, calzones, and breadsticks.  The recipe is based on a Pillsbury bake-off recipe that I was given from master cook (and friend) Wendy Webb, who worked in a bakery and who taught me how to make bread in California in 1999.  When we lived in Guam in 2001, the bread at the commissary was awful after being stuffed with preservatives to survive the 2-month boat ride across the Pacific Ocean.  So I began making our bread regularly and my little ones loves playing with the bread "play-dough" and cooking and eating their creations.  This recipe is so easy, my 11-year-old Rachel was making our family's bread for a while.

Unfortunately, this recipe didn't work well when we moved to Colorado (4,500 ft altitude). I used this instead (and doubled the salt): https://highaltitudebakes.com/breads/2012/05/14/honey-wheat-bread/