Tuesday, July 28, 2009

{LITTLE POTATOES}


I went on a potato diet a little while back (see Dr. McDougall's website over in the links). I had these at least once a day. Even my children like them.

20 (or so) fingerling (also called "finger") potatoes. (These are the potatoes that are very little and all different shapes.)

Put the potatoes on a baking sheet and broil them until the skins are crispy. You might want to flip the potatoes once to crisp the other side. Test potatoes with a fork to make sure the insides are soft. They usually are, by the time the skins are crispy.

Note: We dip them in ketchup and eat them with the skins still on. You can also sprinkle a bit of salt over them.

This is really another one of my non-recipes. Can you tell how I "cook" at my house?

{HASH BROWNS}

These hash browns are super easy to make. They're no-fat also, and they take care of the veggie for dinner. I've never really measured the ingredients--I just use whatever I have in my fridge, but I'll do my best to describe what I do.

1 package hash browns (I'm lazy). I buy the kind that only has potatoes as an ingredient. (They have zero fat.)

Spray frying pan with Pam, pour hash browns in, and cook until potatoes are getting brown and a little crispy. Flip potatoes every once in awhile so they don't stick/burn.

In another frying pan, saute (*in a tiny bit of water) the following *chopped ingredients:

Sweet red/yellow/green peppers
Zucchini
Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Sweet onion
Green onions

Cook until desired consistency. *I don't even usually add water to the frying pan because the juices from the mushrooms and onions are usually enough--I do have to flip the veggies over to prevent burning, though. *I add enough veggies to equal the potatoes.

Add the veggies to the potatoes. Eat. The end. (I put ketchup on them.)

{FROZEN BANANA DESSERT}

This is a super easy treat/snack that is surprisingly tasty. It fills my need for ice cream just about every time. You do need to have frozen bananas so a little advance preparation is necessary, but usually we have those ready for smoothies anyway.

frozen bananas
cocoa or carob powder
nuts of choice (walnuts, pecans, almonds)

  • Slice up the frozen bananas
  • sprinkle on a spoonful of cocoa or carob powder
  • add chopped nuts
*I don't freeze bananas until they are pretty ripe (starting to get a few brown spots) because they won't be sweet enough until then. In my freezer, it usually takes overnight before they are really frozen.

Friday, July 10, 2009

{WHOLE WHEAT CARROT CUPCAKES}

I combined and altered Mom's carrot cake recipe and a recipe my mother-in-law uses. These aren't terribly sweet (maybe more like muffins if you're used to really sweet stuff), but we enjoyed them. This recipe makes 15 cupcakes.

I like cream cheese frosting on these, but Oklahoma does not know about vegan cream cheese. So I made up a lemon glaze instead. It turned out great, I think.

1/2 c. applesauce
1 c. vanilla soymilk
1/2 c. sucanot + 1 smidgen stevia (or 3/4 c. sucanot or other sweetener)
1/2 t. vanilla
1 1/2 T. egg replacer
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. soda
1/4 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch cloves
1 pinch ginger
1 pinch allspice
4 carrots (1 c. processed and smashed down)
1/2 c. raisins

• Mix wet ingredients.

• Add dry ingredients and combine.

• Process raisins in food processor.

• Peel and cut carrots into chunks. Add to food processor and process with raisins until desired size/consistency.

• Add carrots and raisins to batter and mix well.

• Spoon batter into muffin tins. (I used a heaping 1/4 cup).

• Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.


{LEMON GLAZE}*

1 c. white beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 to 1 c. evaporated can juice
2 T. vanilla soymilk
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. lemon zest
1/2 t. vanilla

• Blend until very smooth.

• Chill before spreading on cupcakes.

*I also think this would make a great maple glaze (mostly because of the color); just use maple flavoring instead of lemon.