Bacon Flavored Coconut - Vegan alternative

 I don't miss meat. I don't even miss cheese, which was a surprise. I do, however, miss BLTs. Especially in the summer with a big piece of juicy watermelon and an ear of locally grown corn. Yum. I have been trying out some bacon alternatives to see if there is something that will make for a great sandwich. Last year I tried a marinaded tempeh which I thought was pretty good. My husband choked it down with a fake smile, gritted teeth,  and no complaints, but it was clearly not a favorite of his. Last week I thought maybe roasted mushrooms in a marinade would work well. However, between the dog and two small boys I got distracted and they burned. Laughably, this probably made them taste quite similar to the turkey bacon we used to eat because I inevitable burned that each time as well. So... last night I tried coconut flakes. There are some recipes out there using coconut flakes to mimic bacon in recipes. I liked the combination of seasonings I had used for the mushrooms so I based mine on that. They turned out great. Obviously, the goal is not a bacon replica. It is to find a substitute that has some similar characteristics (touch of hickory, salty, and a little crunch). They worked well on the sandwich, with the exception of not staying put as well as a longer piece of bacon and I ate them on a salad the next day for lunch and they were even better. I am seeing them turning up in soups and salads in the future. Yum. 

 

Coconut "Bacon"

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons liquid smoke
• 4 tablespoon Braggs liquid aminos or soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 
• 4 cups large flaked coconut

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
3.  Pour in flaked coconut.
4. Stir or toss to coat the coconut in the liquid mixture. 
5. Once the coconut is evenly coated, pour it onto a parchment lined baking sheet 
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes, stirring about every 5 minutes so it cooks evenly. It WILL burn if you’re not careful, so make sure to stir!
7. For storage, place in glass storage container with lid and refrigerate.  

Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Bars

These Oatmeal Raisin Bars turned out so well that they are definitely worth sharing.  A great treat for a potluck, an after school snack, or a picnic. Yum. I discovered, as well, that people don't even know they are vegan. Now, that is the ultimate compliment on a baked good.

Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bars
Yields 12 servings

Ingredients:
for the bars
 1 1/2 cups oats
3/4 cup wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder + 2 teaspoons (divided)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted Earth Balance
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon sunflower sunflower seed oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup raisins

for the glaze
confectioners sugar
Vanilla Almond Milk
Vanilla Extract
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance or Coconut Oil

Directions:

For the bars:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).  Line an 8 inch X 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper so that it overlaps the sides and set aside.
2. In a small mixing bowl stir together the oats, flour, baking soda, 1/8 teaspoon baking powder and salt.
3. In a small bowl mix the  2 Tablespoons water, 1 Tablespoon sunflower sunflower seed oil, and 2 teaspoons of baking powder and let sit.
4. In a large mixing bowl (or standing mixer) cream the Earth Balance and 1/4 cup coconut oil for about 3 minutes on medium speed.  Add the sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about another 3 minutes.
5. Add the sunflower seed oil mixture and vanilla and beat, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl to make sure it is completely combined.
6. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed just until combined.  Stir in the raisins.
7. Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan and bake for 25 minutes or until the edges are brown and the middle is light  brown and set.  A toothpick will not come out clean from these bars as they will still be a bit moist in the middle.
8. Let cool completely. (This was the hardest part.)

For the glaze: 
1. Place the Earth Balance (or coconut oil) and about 1 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar in a bowl.  Using a hand mixer, mix a bit and then pour in almond milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until desired drizzling consistency is reached. You may need to add a bit more confectioners sugar, it's ok to play with the proportions.
2. Remove the bars from the pan to a cutting board.  Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze over the top and let sit until glaze has crusted over.
3.  Cut into bars and serve.

Green Lentil Borscht

We had a fantastic meal tonight. The flavors were perfect. I started with a recipe but then ventured outside of it as I usually do. The result was magnificent. And very red. Very, very red. In fact, Patrick said that this would be an excellent plant based meal to take to a Husker tail-gate. It was that red. :)

This recipe is oil free, sugar free, dairy free, nut free, gluten free, soy free, and totally plant based. Whoo hoo! That makes it a "safe" option for vegans, vegetarians, MSPI mommas and people who are gluten intolerant. Perfect.

 

Green Lentil Borscht

made 8 1/2 servings (1 cup)

Ingredients

Vegetable broth

1 medium onion (minced)

3 cloves garlic (minced)

3 medium beets (peeled and chopped)

5 small red potatoes (cleaned and chopped with skin on)

15-20 baby carrots (cleaned and chopped)

2-3 vegetable bullion cubes

3 bay leaves

2 cups cooked lentils

2 tsp dried dill

1 can diced tomato 

1 1/2 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat the vegetable broth in a large soup kettle or sauce pan over medium high heat.

2. Saute the onion until translucent.

3. Add the garlic and saute for one minute more.

4. Add the potato, carrots, and beets, 6 cups of water, bay leaves and bullion. Stir to combine.

5. Cook until the beets are tender, about 25-30 minutes, stirring occassionally.

6. Once the beets are tender, add lentils, tomatoes, and dill and cook 10-15 minutes more or until heated through.

7. Just before serving add the apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper.

8. Adjust the herbs to taste and remove the bay leaves.

9. Serve topped with a nut based cream sauce.

NOTE: You could certainly use uncooked lentils in this recipe as well. Add them in at step 4 with the root vegetables. They should take about the same time to cook as the beets. I used precooked lentils because I typically cook a large quantity of lentils or black beans at one time and freeze them in portions so I have them ready to go into recipes. Lentils have a 1:2 1/2 or 3 cup ratio so use approximately 1 cup dry lentils for similar proportions above.

 My 3 year old insisted that his truck needed to be part of the photo shoot. I think it is a nice touch, don't you?

Dairy free "sour cream"

This nut based "cream" sauce mimics sour cream quite well. I serve it with tacos, soups, as the base for dips, in wraps and burritos and anywhere else sour cream is called for. The trick is to plan ahead in order to allow time to soak the cashews as well as to use a good blender to get the creamy consistency. Neglecting either of these will still give you a good tasting condiment but will most likely result in a different texture.

Dairy Free "Sour Cream"

Ingredients

1 cup cashews (presoaked for at least 4 hours)

Juice of one lemon

1/4 teaspoon of Himalayan sea salt or to taste

1/4 cup water

Directions

1. Process cashews, lemon juice and salt until well combined.

2. Add water little by little and process until desired consistency.

3. Continue to blend until lite and fluffy.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp - Gluten Free and Plant Based

I've never been much of a rhubarb fan. I think it had something to do with the look of warm, mushy, stringy "celery"-looking stuff in a dessert.  I don't like pie and so rhubarb pie was always off the radar. We had rhubarb growing on the side of our house when we moved in. That first year I just ignored it and at the end of the year my husband cut it down to the ground for winter and I didn't think about it again. Last year I was pregnant and the food I usually like didn't even sound good, let alone rhubarb. This year, Patrick decided it needed to be put to good use. He does not have the aversion that I have apparently. I really didn't have any recipes for rhubarb and so I pieced together other "crisp" recipes I have used in the past.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients

• 1 pint of strawberries, washed, hulled and quartered
• 2 cups rhubarb, in 1-inch cubes
• 3/4 cup sugar, divided
• 3/4 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 cup oat flour (can use regular flour if you don't need gluten free)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup oats
• pinch of sea salt
• 5 tbsp melted coconut oil, more if necessary 
• Slivered Almonds (optional) 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Place strawberries, rhubarb, and 1/2 cup of sugar in an 8x8-inch baking dish. In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch and orange juice and combine with the fruit in the baking dish.
3. In a medium bowl stir together flour, remaining 1/4 cup white sugar, brown sugar, salt and oats. Start by adding 4 tablespoons melted coconut oil and work into crumbs by hand until you achieve course crumbly mixture. Add more melted coconut oil as needed, one tablespoon at a time for desired consistency.
4. Spread the crumb over the fruit mix and sprinkle sliced almonds on top (optional). Bake for 1 hour until bubbly and golden brown.
5. Serve warm with coconut cream or dairy free ice cream
   
   
   
   
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Strawberry Chia Energy Bars

I could use some convection over tips. Do you prop the door of the oven open? Or close it so the convection fan kicks on?  I ended up using a combination of the two. I couldn't find any instructions on this anywhere. The thought was that with the door open, the moisture could escape and the temperature could be a bit lower so as to be more like a dehydrator. Isn't that what the fan on the convection oven is for? Who knows, anywho, this open/closed method seemed to work well for me. I am going to try another flavor this weekend, more of a Hawaiian coconut, pineapple. Yum!

Just some of the delicious reasons for using some of the ingredients in this snack...

Pumpkin seeds have lots of antioxidants, vitamin E, phosphorus, copper, zinc, iron, and magnesium.  The oils in these little guys may even help to regulate insulin. (Very preliminary but so cool.) They also have antiviral, antimicrobial, and antibacterial properties. Can't beat that.

Sunflower seeds are packed with vitamins E and B1 as well as copper. Vitamin E helps protect your cells against free radicals, chemicals that oxidize and damage your proteins, cell membranes and DNA. This vitamin also promotes healthy circulation by helping you make red blood cells. An ounce of hulled sunflower seeds contains 10 milligrams of vitamin E! That is two-thirds of your recommended daily intake of the nutrient.

Sesame seeds also have loads of zinc which decreases the risk for osteoporosis, phytoserols that may enhance the immune response, sesamin which provides liver protection, as well as copper, anti-inflammatory, and anti oxidants.

Chia seeds are a hot topic right now. These odd little seeds are full of fiber, calcium, and Omega-3 fatty acids. Another great thing about chia seeds is their ability to absorb up to 12x their weight. This means that once ingested, they can draw out toxins in your body. Pretty cool, huh?

Flax seeds also contain Omega-3s. I have been hearing about a study (yes that is a link to Yahoo news but the actually article from Neurology is cited at the bottom of the link) where Omega-3 fatty acids were shown to possibly reduce age related brain shrinkage, especially in women. Shoot, I am all for that. Flax seeds are antioxidant power houses with ounce for ounce, more antioxidants than blueberries. This has been correlated to a reduction in insulin resistance.

As my mom said, when I told her about the above health benefits, "Whew! That is lots of good health." Ha. 

So try these out and be on the look out for the next variety. I already have several more ideas.

Strawberry Chia Energy Bars 

Ingredients

• 2 cups Fresh Strawberries, topped and hulled
• 19 Medjool Dates, pitted (about 2 cups)
• ¼  cup Pumpkin Seeds
• ¼  cup Sunflower seeds
• ¼ cup Flax Seeds
• ½ cup Sesame Seeds
• ⅛ cup Chia Seeds
• Sea Salt, optional to taste

Instructions

1. Place strawberries and dates in the food processor. Pulse into a slightly chunky mixture, not completely smooth.
2. Pour fruit puree into a bowl and using a wooden spoon, gently mix in all remaining ingredients. Salt to taste.
3. Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The mixture should be about ⅛” thick.
4. Place in convection oven at 170 deg F for about 6 hours. (This was the lowest my oven would go.) 
5. After about 4-5 hours, when the top is no longer sticky to the touch and the bottom can easily peel off the parchment, flip the mixture over so the top is now the bottom. This will help evenly dehydrate both sides. I found the best way to do this was to place a new piece of parchment on top of the bars and flip the whole thing. I then peeled the old layer of paper off the top.
6. The bars are done when they have a fruit leather texture, not completely crispy.
7. Cut into bars using a pizza cutter.
8. Can be stored 6 months – 9 months in an airtight container in the fridge. 

A Tired Momma's Thoughts

 

I've come to decide that being a mom means spending an exorbitant amount of time anticipating the needs of others. If/then thoughts...

If we get stranded in the car in the snowstorm, then we will need everyone's winter boots, coats, hats, and mittens.

If we are going to travel the hour to and from Grandma's, then we need to time it so child B will sleep in the car and child A will not sleep in the car.

If I can get the first load of laundry in now, then I will not have to try to do it while balancing a baby in one arm and managing a "helpful" 3 year old under my feet.

If, during nap time, I squeeze the lemon, mince the garlic, roast the red pepper, and measure out the salt and tahini into a bowl for the hummus and put it in the fridge, then when Child B is awake I can use the food processor and all the tasks requiring two hands have already been done.

If the baby spits up on me at church, then I will need an extra shirt in order not to smell like rotten milk... again.

If it is 40 degrees and raining outside, then I will make a dinner that is a bit more labor intensive, but if it is 75 and sunny outside then I will use a default meal because Child A will want to play outside and requires supervision.

If I go to the grocery store at 7 am on Friday, then I could drop the groceries off before work and I wouldn't have to drag kids to the store on Saturday.

If we are going out of town tomorrow morning, then tonight I need to make sure to get the diaper and snack bags ready, and my pump, and any hostess gifts/food, and Child B's bottles,  and the kitchen sink. Mainly, because I can help Child A get dressed, clean up the spilled cereal, change a major diaper blow out and get the dog fed but I cannot, for some reason, pack up the car at the same time.

If I can get a snack into Child A at 2:45 pm, then he will not be so grumpy by 5:00 pm when he requires dinner 10 minutes ago.

If we are going to go out to dinner, then... forget it, that one is way too much work.

And on and on and on. It can be mentally exhausting. To try and stay ahead of the game in order to keep things running smoothly. I don't remember doing as much of that B.C. (before children). Probably because I didn't. 

I like routine. I like organization. I dislike clutter and chaos and craziness. My kids have helped me see that although planning can be helpful (someone has to do it) things just don't always go as as we thought they might. And that is okay too. These boys almost always surprise me with how resilient they are to life's obstacles. It is me, not them that gets hung up on the schedule. I hope they hang on to that as they grow. A fantastic life skill that would serve them well.