{BLACK BEAN BROWNIES}

These are somewhere between brownies and fudge, and my kids loved them! I came across the recipe here. The banana taste was a little strong, so we used baby food prunes instead and they turned out great.

1 15-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 c. baby food prunes

1/3 c. agave nectar

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa

1 T. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

1/2 to 1 c. rolled oats, processed slightly

• Combine all ingredients, except the oats, in a food processor or blender. (I used a blender this time, but will definitely use a food processor from now on. It was too hard to clean the batter out of my blender.)

• Mix in oats.

• Poor batter into slightly greased 8x8 pan.

• Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

The batter was TASTY!!

*I added a bit more cocoa powder last time and halved the cinnamon, and we liked that variation.

{"CAFE RIO" BLACK BEANS}

These are really good in taco salad! Squeeze a little lime on top, and voila! (Marian found the original recipe here.)

I'm posting pressure cooker instructions. If you don't have a pressure cooker, just adjust the liquid amount and cook the beans as you normally would.

1 lb dry black beans, rinsed and sorted

1 c. tomato sauce/juice/whatever

3 1/2 c. water

1/2 large sweet onion (or 1 regular onion), chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 T. salt

1 to 2 T. cumin (depending on desired spiciness)

• Put all ingredients in a pressure cooker.

• Cook on high pressure, 50 minutes, natural release.

{LEMON GLAZE}

This is a slight variation from the one I did for the carrot cupcakes. Today I used it on cinnamon rolls!

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed

1 to 1 1/4 c. evaporated cane juice

1/2 lemon (I just threw the whole thing in--peel and all)

1 t. vanilla

• Blend all ingredients until very smooth.

Notes: I also added a few drops of yellow food coloring today, just for fun.

This makes a lot. I'm freezing what I didn't use today.

{GARLIC PARMESAN BREAD STICKS}

I made this pizza last night. We were having company, and I was a little worried one pizza wouldn't feed us all, so I decided to make breadsticks as well. I just used the pizza dough recipe, rolled the dough, cut it into strips, sprinkled garlic salt and vegan parmesan on top, and baked them at 500 for 10 minutes. They were great. We dipped them in both the roasted garlic sauce and a store-bought marinara.

I've made this a few times now; we love them! I actually don't add quite as much flour to the pizza dough recipe, and they turn out much lighter and better. I also cook them for less time than the pizza. I'm not sure the exact amounts I use, but try this:

1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour

1 T. honey

1 T. yeast

1/2 t. salt

2 T. applesauce

1 c. comfortably hot water

1/4 to 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

• Mix first group of ingredients.

• Cover and let sit for 10 minutes.

• Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour. Dough should be pretty sticky and barely workable.

• Spray hands with Pam, if necessary, and knead dough and roll onto a sprayed cookie sheet.

• Sprinkle top with garlic salt, nutritional yeast, and/or vegan parmesan.

• Use pizza cutter to cut dough into strips. Let stand for 5-10 minutes.

• Bake at 500 for 7-8 minutes.

{BROWNIES}

I found the original recipe for these on McDougall's website, changed a few things, and this is the end result. We're always up for brownies!

Dry Ingredients:

2 c. whole wheat flour

1 1/3 c. cocoa powder

2 t. baking powder

2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. chopped cashews or walnuts (optional)*

Wet Ingredients:

2 c. blended prunes*

1 c. sugar (or whatever you use)

1/4-1/2 t. stevia (or 1 c. sugar...)

2 t. vanilla

4 T. Ener-g Egg Replacer mixed in 1 c. water*

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
• Mix blended prunes and sugar together in a separate bowl.
• Stir in vanilla.
• Mix egg replacer and water together and whisk until frothy.
• Add to sugar mixture and stir to combine.
• Add wet ingredients to dry and stir just until mixed.
• Try not to eat all the batter.
  
• Spoon into a lightly greased 9x13 pan or two 8x8 square pans.
• Bake for 30 minutes

*The walnuts in this are great- I just have to chop mine up super tiny so they disappear, otherwise my family rebels.

*To make the prune mix, put 3 cups of water in the blender and add 1 to 1.5 cups of dried prunes until the water hits the 4 cup mark. Blend until smooth. Use 2 cups for the recipe, and then you can freeze the extra or just put it in the fridge to use later. It's a great fat replacer! You can also just buy baby food prunes, but when you are using 2 cups you'd have to buy 8 because they come in 1/4 c. containers.

*Ener-g egg replacer is available at most health food stores. You can also order it on Amazon. It's way cheaper than eggs and it works great! This is what you're looking for:

{CHEEZ SAUCE}

This is not a new recipe; I just decided to post it separate from the Mac & Cheez to make it easier access. We use this sauce on pasta, pizza, veggies, grilled cheez sandwiches, etc. (The original recipe is here.)

1 c. water

1 potato

1 carrot

1/3 c. raw cashews
1/4 c. pureed white beans

1 T. miso

3 T. sesame seeds (1 T. tahini)

1 T. lemon juice

1/2 t. dijon mustard

1/3 c. nutritional yeast

1/8 t. pepper

1/4 t. paprika

1 t. salt

• Peel and chop potato and carrot (I actually don't peel them anymore) and boil them in 1 c. water.

• Meanwhile, place all other ingredients in a blender.

• When the potatoes and carrots are tender, add them, with their water, to the blender.

• Blend until very smooth.

Note: Marian and I once used white beans instead of a potato. I've also substituted leftover butternut squash for the carrot. Both worked great.

{A 3-YEAR-OLD'S THOUGHTS ON DAIRY}

My 3-year-old is very interested in knowing what is or is not good for her body. Tonight we had pizza. She was dipping hers in cheez sauce. We had the following conversation:

Mariah: This cheez sauce is good for my body. Most cheese sauces have sugar in them, so they're not good for my body.

Me: Actually, most cheese sauces don't have sugar in them. They have cows' milk. And cows' milk isn't good for your body.

Mariah: But it's good for cows' bodies.

Enough said . . . .

{DROP BISCUITS}

These are really quick and easy; they're great with soup. The original recipe is here.

2 c. whole wheat flour

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1/4 c. applesauce

3/4 c. cold soymilk

• Mix dry ingredients.

• Add applesauce and soymilk.

• Mix to make a soft dough.

• Allow to sit for 2 minutes.

• Drop on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

• Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

*I usually make 9 biscuits.