{ GINGERBREAD PANCAKES }

I added a few spices to this recipe to make these yummy gingerbread pancakes.  Put some applesauce and a little coconut cream (or soy ice cream if you don't have coconut to make cream like I did this morning) on top and it's almost like eating this tasty cake.

1 1/4 cup pancake mix

1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves 
2 Tbsp. molasses 

soy milk

Mix pancake mix, spices, molasses, and as much milk as you like to make the batter the consistency you prefer.

Top pancakes with applesauce (and coconut cream or ice cream if you like).

{ CHILLED STRAWBERRY ALMOND SOUP }

I made some changes to this recipe to make a whole-foods version.  Yum!

1/2 c. water
2 T. almonds
1/4 t. almond extract
6 dates

3-4 c. sliced strawberries

Chopped strawberries and slivered almonds for garnish.

• Blend water, almonds, extract, and dates until very smooth.
• Fill blender to 4 cups with strawberries.
• Blend until smooth.
• Chill before serving.
• Top with slivered almonds and chopped strawberries.

{ QUINOA ALMOND BERRY SALAD }

Ok.  This salad is one of the most delicious things I've ever had!  Mom and Elna told me about it a couple days ago.  I immediately hauled all 3 kids to the store for berries, and we had it for dinner that night.  And lunch the next day.  Then I made it again for dessert the second night.  And I had the leftovers for breakfast this morning.  I'm not kidding; it's delicious!  (I'm making it AGAIN for a Relief Society breakfast on Saturday.  That'll make 3 times in 4 days.)  You can find the original recipe here.

3/4 c. dry quinoa

3 c. sliced strawberries
2 c. fresh (or frozen) blueberries
1 c. cherries, pitted and sliced*
1/2 c. almonds, slivered or chopped

{ DRESSING }

1/4 c. pure maple syrup
2 T. fresh lime juice
1 T. balsamic vinegar
1 pinch salt

• Prepare quinoa according to package instructions.
• Combine fruit and almonds in a large bowl.
• Fluff cooked quinoa with a fork and add to fruit.  Combine.
• Pour on dressing and mix well.
• Serve immediately or chill in fridge until serving time.  (Mike and I both liked it better chilled.  In fact, the second night I made it, I rinsed the cooked quinoa in cold water, so we wouldn't have to wait for it to chill.)

*Mom and Elna used mangoes and said it was delicious.  Any fruit, I'm sure, would be good.

{BREAKFAST BARS}

I found these on everwell.com and changed them just a bit to be vegan. We all really liked them and they were easy to send to school for a lunch treat. I think I'll do some experimenting with different kinds of dried fruit (we used raisins, but I'd like to try apricots or cranberries).

Makes 16 (small) Bars

1 cup Oats
1 cup Shredded Wheat Cereal
1 cup walnuts
1 1/2 cups dried fruit
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (1 T. egg replacer + 1/4 c. water)
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray.
  

• Place the oats, shredded wheat, walnuts, dried fruit, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is finely chopped
  

• In a large bowl, whisk together the egg replacer, honey, and vanilla. Add the oatmeal mixture and chocolate chips and stir to combine.

• Transfer to the baking pan and flatten down gently with the back of a spoon or spatula to spread evenly.

• Bake about 18 minutes until the edges turn golden brown and the bars are done. Let bars cool completely in pan before slicing and serving.
  

* These bars freeze well so if you have leftovers, you can wrap individual portions in plastic baggies or aluminum foil and freeze.

* These tasted just a bit honeyish to me, but I don't know if that's because the Shredded Wheat I used was honey sweetened too. I might try agave nectar next time and see if they still hold together as well.

{FRUIT SYRUP}

This was our Valentines' Day breakfast. I made a raspberry syrup to go on the French toast. It turned out really good. I'm going to post what I did, but you can do the same thing with any fruit/fruit juice of your choice. This made 2 cups of syrup.

2 c. fresh raspberries

1 c. raspberry-apple juice concentrate

1 1/2 T. corn starch

1 smidgen stevia*

• Put fruit and 1/2 c. juice concentrate in small saucepan.

• Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until boiling.

• Meanwhile, whisk corn starch and stevia into remaining 1/2 c. juice concentrate.

• When the fruit mixture is boiling, slowly add the concentrate-corn starch mixture.

• Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until syrup is thick.

*1/4 t. stevia is equivalent to 1 c. sugar. So, this was probably about the same as 2 or 3 T. sugar.

{CINNAMON ROLLS}

My friend (thanks, Heather!) gave me the great idea of making cinnamon rolls using my normal bread recipe. I tried it out the last time I made bread. Fabulous!

Here's what I did:

I used the bread recipe I normally use (using the *wonderslim and lecithin and egg replacer, making 6 loaves)(see link above).

I divided the dough into 6 loaves, as usual. I formed 5 sections into loaves, and kept one section out. I rolled that section out really thin, and lightly buttered it with vegan butter, then I put an evaporated cane juice/cinnamon mixture and raisins on it. I rolled up the dough with the raisins on it to form a "loaf", which I cut into 9 sections to make the rolls. I put the rolls into a greased square baking dish. I let the cinnamon rolls rise the same amount of time as the bread loaves in their pans, then I let them rise for 5 extra minutes while I put the bread in the oven and started it cooking. After 5 minutes, i put the cinnamon rolls into the oven with the bread, and let them cook together for 25 minutes.

For the frosting, I made a glaze out of evaporated cane juice powdered sugar, soy milk, and a tiny bit of butter. Next time, I think I will try it without the butter, and if it needs a butter flavor, I will just add Butter Buds or something. My mom made these, and added honey when she put the raisin/cinnamon/sugar mixture on. She also didn't add any frosting at all, because her family ate them straight out of the oven before she had a chance to put frosting on them.

*wonderslim: prunes, water, lecithin granules, or prune baby food

{BLUEBERRY FLAX SMOOTHIE}

I got this recipe off of Dr. Fuhrman's website. It is really delicious!

2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

3/4 c. soy milk*

1 T. flax seeds

3-6 dates (depending on how big they are)

• Put ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

*You can use other kinds of milk (I used rice milk today)- it will just change the texture slightly depending on the thickness of the milk. I also add more milk sometimes. It blends easier but then it's less like icecream, so it just depends on what you feel like.

In case you forgot how incredibly good blueberries are for you, I got the below info from Dr. Fuhrmans' website too. They are really good for your heart and also for diabetes. Eat up!

One cup of blueberries contain 80 calories and a whole pint gives you about 225 calories. Like all other foods, the calories in blueberries come from its macro nutrients - 56 grams of carbohydrate, 1.5 grams of fat and 2.7 grams of protein. But it is blueberries' micro nutrient content that packs the most impressive wallop. Blueberries are packed with tannins, anthocyanins that have been linked to prevention - and even reversal - of age related mental decline and anti-cancer effects.

The flavanoids in blueberries -- catechin, epicatechin, myricetin, quercetin, ankaempferol -- are a mouthful of strangely spelled words, but more importantly, they are extremely valuable for superior health. And remember, phytochemicals are not optional nutrients; they are essential for normal function of your immune system.

{ SWEET POTATO PUDDING }

Mom made up this whole-foods variation of the original recipe:

1 c. water

1/4 c. raw almonds

1/4 c. dates (packed in)

1/4 t. vanilla

1/4 t. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 t. cinnamon

1 1/2 c. cooked sweet potatoes

• Blend water through pumpkin pie spice until very smooth.
• Add and blend sweet potatoes.

And here's the original:

This recipe is from pcrm.org. It has lots of cancer fighting beta carotene in it. We call it pumpkin pudding at our house, because one of my children thinks he doesn't like sweet potatoes. We've made it twice in the last few days and he's loved it both times. Hmm... now I have to go eat some because this post made me hungry!

1 c. cooked sweet potatoes

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. pumpkin pie spice (optional)

1/2 c. non dairy milk

1/3 c. oats

1 T. maple syrup

• Blend ingredients in blender until smooth.
• Serve with cinnamon and nutmeg (We like ours warm).

{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.)

{BREAKFAST CASSEROLE}

We had a Relief Society brunch this morning, and I decided yesterday to be brave and take a vegan breakfast casserole. (I knew they were serving breakfast casseroles). So, I came up with this one laying in bed last night. It was a big hit! (I was the only vegan/vegetarian there, and before I even had a chance to try it, people were saying it was good and asking me how I made it!)

hashbrowns, cooked and seasoned
1 tomato, cut in slices

{TOFU SCRAMBLE} (original recipe found here)

1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 12-oz. pkg firm tofu, pressed*
1/4 c. vegetable broth
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
1/2 t. parsley
1 T. soy sauce
2 T. nutritional yeast
1/2 t. turmeric

• Saute onion and tofu in broth until onions are tender (3-5 minutes).

• Add remaining ingredients and cook, stirring often, for 5-10 more minutes.

{CHEEZ SAUCE} (original recipe found here)

1 c. potatoes, peeled and finely chopped (1 medium potato)
1/4 c. carrots, peeled and finely chopped (1 small carrot)
1 c. water

1/3 c. raw cashews
1 T. miso
1 T. tahini (3 T. sesame seeds)
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. dijon mustard
1/3 c. nutritional yeast
1 t. salt
1/4 t. paprika

• Place the chopped potatoes and carrots in small sauce pan with a lid. Add the 1 cup of water. Boil, covered, until tender, 10-15 minutes.

• While the potatoes and carrots are cooking, place remaining ingredients in a blender.

• When the potatoes and carrots are done cooking, add them and their water to the blender. Blend until very smooth.

• If needed, add water 1 T. at a time to thin.

Assembly and Baking:

• Put cooked hashbrowns in the bottom of a lightly greased 8x8 baking pan.

• Place tofu scramble on top.

• Spread/pour cheez sauce to cover top. (I think I used about 1/2 cup).

• Top with sliced tomatoes.

• Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

*How to press tofu: Wrap the tofu in a few paper towels and then in a dishtowel or linen. Set on a plate. Put another plate upside-down on top. Put 3 cans of whatever on top. Let sit for a couple hours.

Things I would like to add: red, yellow, orange peppers; vegan sausage paddies (not often because they're not good for you); mushrooms.

{CORN WAFFLES WITH SALSA}

(Served with mango avocado salsa.)

2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. corn meal
¼ c. evaporated cane juice
4 t. baking powder
½ t. salt
2 T. egg replacer + ½ c. water
¼ c. soy yogurt (vanilla or plain) or applesauce*
2 t. vanilla extract
2 c. non-dairy milk
2 c. corn

black bean salsa, mango avocado salsa, or pineapple mango salsa

¼ c. plain soy yogurt or sour cream (optional)

fresh cilantro (optional)

• Plug in waffle iron and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

• In a small bowl, combine whole wheat flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set mixture aside.

• In another bowl, whisk the egg replacer and ½ c. water together until frothy. Add yogurt (or applesauce), vanilla extract, milk, and corn. Mix well.

• Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the egg mixture.

• Spoon batter onto hot waffle iron and cook until golden and crispy, 3-5 minutes.

• To serve, cut waffles in half. Divide warm waffles among 4 serving plates.

• Dollop with salsa, yogurt, and cilantro.

• Serves: 4

* The original recipe called for melted butter, but I decided to use applesauce instead. When I looked in my fridge for the applesauce, I noticed I had vanilla soy yogurt and thought that might be tasty instead. I ended up using the yogurt and it was really good, but I’m sure applesauce would work just as well.

{WHOLE WHEAT PANCAKE MIX}

Eliza adapted this recipe from one she found; she then figured out quantities to make a bulk dry mix to freeze. I love having healthy pancake mix on hand!

10 2/3 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. baking powder
1 c. honey
4 t. salt
1/2 c. egg replacer

• Mix with electric mixer until well combined. (The honey will essentially disappear, and the mix will seem dry.)

• Freeze.

• To make pancakes, mix one cup pancake mix with one cup soy/rice milk (or water for a fatfree variety that are still really good).

These pancakes have pumpkin pecan butter on them.  Or try this fruit syrup.

{GRANOLA}

This is a relatively lowfat granola recipe (there's no oil) from Mom.  It makes a lot!  We eat it for breakfast (we put raisins and rice milk in it), but also snack on it throughout the day.

20 c. regular rolled oats (not instant)

1/2 c. to 1 c. of each of the following (it's ok if you don't have all of them every time- it's still good):

raw wheat germ

shredded unsweetened coconut

freshly ground flax seed

almonds, chopped (or any kind of nut)

raw sunflower seeds

sesame seeds (unhulled for more calcium)

ground millet

2 T. cinnamon

• Mix well in a big bowl.
• Bake at 300 degrees for 45-60 minutes, stirring every 15 or 20 minutes (I skip this step*).

1 1/2 c. hot water

1 1/2 c. honey

1/2 c. molasses (or Grade B maple syrup)

1 T. vanilla

• Stir together and pour evenly over dry mixture, stirring well the whole time.
• Bake again for 45 to 60 minutes, stirring every 15 or 20 minutes.
• Turn off the oven and leave the pan in to continue to crisp, if desired.

*I skip the middle baking step because I don't have a huge pan to then mix the wet ingredients with the dry, so it was too big of a pain.  Instead I mix the wet ingredients together and then combine them with the dry before baking.  You have to pour very slowly and stir like crazy so the oats don't turn to mush.  Pour the mixed granola onto cookie sheets (it crisps well that way) or casserole dishes.  Then I cook at around 300 degrees for about 2 hours- it just depends on your oven and how you like your granola.  

{FRENCH TOAST}

(From Neal Barnard's Food For Life p. 218)*

This is a great French Toast recipe that doesn't use eggs. Even my non-vegan friends like it.

(*if using vanilla soymilk)

1 c. firm tofu [12 oz. tofu for doubled recipe]

1 c. ricemilk or soymilk

2 T. flour

2 T. maple syrup (*1 T.)

1 t. vanilla extract (*no vanilla)

1/8 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg

1/8 t. salt (*no salt)

8 slices bread

Process all ingredients except bread in blender.

Pour mixture into a shallow dish and soak bread on each side.

Spray skillet with nonstick spray.

Cook both sides until lightly browned.

*You can make a berry/fruit sauce for this that is really good...
2 T. corn starch
1 12 oz. can apple juice concentrate
4 c. fruit/berries (frozen or fresh)

• Mix this in a saucepan, and bring to boil until thickened.

*The French toast in the photo has pumpkin pecan butter on it. Yummy!