Today I'm working on a whole grain banana-nut muffins. Scott wants to take something homemade to some friends of ours who don't like whole wheat bread () .
Today I'm working on a whole grain banana-nut muffins. Scott wants to take something homemade to some friends of ours who don't like whole wheat bread () .
-Anne
I can't wait to try these!!! I have been addicted to your brussels sprout/pine nut pasta, and am eager to try some of your muffin recipes this weekend, and add the pop'ems to the list! (I too love Larabars...but they ARE pricey!)
I'm glad someone brought up the issue of feeding kids (especially toddlers) healthy food.
I have 2 year old twins and a 4 month old daughter. For our family it's been easy to stick to whole grains and stay away from meats and cheese (mostly). They are great with eating whole fruits and some whole veggies. The veggies they aren't into (yet? ) I mix into whole grain foods (muffins, bread, pasta). They're also great with eating lots of nuts and seeds.
Someone mentioned that they don't like their kids to drink much juice. We give our kids fluoridated water in between meals, then for meals unsweetened soymilk, carrot juice and sometimes smoothies. Lately we've been vitamix'ing apple juice with handfuls of spinach and stick it in a sippy cup. They go DOWN on it.
Woo! Welcome to the thread.
You are The Queen of Sneaky Green and it's totally inspiring to see the twins go down on fruit and veggies, etc.
I just checked out "Superfoods for Babies and Children" from the library and I'm getting excited to feed Mackenzie fun purees and finger foods.
I've been making your berry muffins, and enjoying them. I also improvised, making carrot/zucchini muffins. Here's what I did.
Replaced the wheat bran 1:1 with oat bran.
Replaced the berries with 2 cups shredded carrots and zucchini
Added about 1/2 cup currants (soaked in hot water to plump them up first)
Watts are one thing... just say "2 horsepower" and let it go at that
Explain that if your garage door opener stops working you can just use the blender to power it
Make sure she watches the video that comes with it... the amusement value is probably worth the cost difference. The matching blue shirts and khaki pants done in true infomercial style. It's actually really useful, but you gotta laugh at the marketing aspect of it.
Why go for 2 horsepower when you can get 3 with the blend-tec blenders (of the will it blend video fame)? My friend has a blender that is hooked into a weedwacker engine - oh yeah, gas powered blender! I'll bet that has at least 5 hp. It's called the daiquiri wacker and you can find it here. Heck, it's only $300!
Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.
2 1/2 cups grated, peeled, fresh zuchini
2 ripe bananas, mashed well
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup apple sauce
1 cup sugar (could maybe cut down more...)
Dry:
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cups ground walnuts or hazelnuts, toasted (optional)
1 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (optional)
Directions
Beat together wet (zuchini, bananas, oil, applesauce, and vanilla) Dump on top all remaining ingredients (dry) except chocolate and nuts, mix well and add chocolate chips and/or nuts. Pour into sprayed/floured loaf pans (I use three but I think mine are a teeny bit smaller than normal). Bake at 350 for about 45 min to an hour, until done.
Banana bread:
Wet stuff:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 TBS margarine/vegan butter stuff
1/2 cup apple sauce
3 mashed bananas
1/4 cup soy milk + 1tsp cider vinegar (or whatever vinegar really)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
Dry stuff:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Cream sugars, apple sauce and butter-stuff, add in the rest of the stuff in the wet section and mix well. Dump the flour on top and sprinkle on the soda and salt. Mix well. Pour into a lightly greased/sprayed bread pan and bake at 350 for an hour or a bit longer until done.
You can add chocolate chips or nuts or whatever to the batter too. I have made this in a triple batch all at once and it worked just fine.
Why go for 2 horsepower when you can get 3 with the blend-tec blenders (of the will it blend video fame)? My friend has a blender that is hooked into a weedwacker engine - oh yeah, gas powered blender! I'll bet that has at least 5 hp. It's called the daiquiri wacker and you can find it here. Heck, it's only $300!
:nah I'd go for this 4-stroke. It's a bit pricey at $500, but it's a Honda engine so you know it is quality stuff. Plus you can get a dual machine gun sticker for the front, that's gotta add a few hp!
You and I are on the same wavelength today. I just made some banana pecan muffins for friends, and they are a bit decadent. They do have whole wheat flour, bananas, applesauce, and nuts, though. So for them to be a huge hit with friends who don't eat like we do... that's a major accomplishment in my book.
Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffins
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Combine in a bowl:
2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 TBS cinnamon
2 tsp wheat gluten (I dunno if this helps or hurts things, but I added it this time)
Combine in the vitamix until soupy:
2 TBS flaxseed meal
3 TBS water
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c. brown sugar (yikes! Next time I'll use less, but sprinkle some on top so they *seem* more sugary but are actually less sugary)
3 ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pour wet into dry, and mix just until combined. This is when the rising starts, so make sure you don't mix out the bubbles. Be gentle when you spoon into 12 muffin cups (greased or papered).
Top each muffin with two crumbled pecans. Put them in the oven immediately (again, so they stay light).
Bake for 15-20 minutes until they spring back a bit when you touch the center.
You and I are on the same wavelength today. I just made some banana pecan muffins for friends, and they are a bit decadent. They do have whole wheat flour, bananas, applesauce, and nuts, though. So for them to be a huge hit with friends who don't eat like we do... that's a major accomplishment in my book.
Mmm those look good. I made cookies I wouldn't/couldn't eat last night which has sort of made me want a wee treat... maybe I'll try these with hazelnuts on top (allergic to pecans) this weekend. Sam's going out of town to do some shooting in Tahoe or something, so maybe I'll send most of the batch with him and keep a couple for myself. Thanks for the recipe!
Mmm those look good. I made cookies I wouldn't/couldn't eat last night which has sort of made me want a wee treat... maybe I'll try these with hazelnuts on top (allergic to pecans) this weekend. Sam's going out of town to do some shooting in Tahoe or something, so maybe I'll send most of the batch with him and keep a couple for myself. Thanks for the recipe!
I'm usually hesitant to share anything but "tried and true" recipes, but I've loved how dgrinners have improved upon my recipes in the past. This was a first-try for me on these muffins, but they were tasty!
If you have any suggestions after you make 'em...
I'm usually hesitant to share anything but "tried and true" recipes, but I've loved how dgrinners have improved upon my recipes in the past. This was a first-try for me on these muffins, but they were tasty!
If you have any suggestions after you make 'em...
-Anne
Anne,
This week I made your berry bran muffins and I'm pretty sure they weren't how they were supposed to turn out. They kind of fell apart and were hard as bricks (if such polar opposite characteristics are possible). I think maybe I mixed them too much? I've never baked with bran before. Actually, this was the very first time I've baked anything healthy so I suppose it could have been a lot worse. My husband loves 'em though! Which is a good thing because in a staring contest between me and these muffins, the muffin wins.
This week I made your berry bran muffins and I'm pretty sure they weren't how they were supposed to turn out. They kind of fell apart and were hard as bricks (if such polar opposite characteristics are possible). I think maybe I mixed them too much? I've never baked with bran before. Actually, this was the very first time I've baked anything healthy so I suppose it could have been a lot worse. My husband loves 'em though! Which is a good thing because in a staring contest between me and these muffins, the muffin wins.
Haha. Sorry they didn't work for you (though apparently they worked for your husband ). That is one recipe I would consider "tried and true" because I've made them upwards of 4-5 times now (and followed the recipe each time). However, with whole grain baking I do think technique is important. With quick breads in general, minimal mixing and popping them in the oven quickly without letting them flatten out is important. With whole grain quick breads, it's crucial.
The brick thing though... maybe overbaked? Or is it just that they were too dense? Mine tend to be very moist because of the berries... no falling apart even remotely possible.
Spicy Two-Bean Chili
This is one of my favorite meals. We've made it many times, even when camping. It's simple and foolproof to cook, tastes great and makes great left-overs: Spicy Two-Bean Chili. The recipe is on Epicurious.com here. Red Pepper, Jalapeno Chili, Beans, Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic, Bulgur, Corn, Vinegar, Chili Powder, Cumin, Coriander, Cinammon.
We follow the recipe except we use a can of corn (added when the beans go in) instead of the carrots, I end up putting a little more water in near the end of the cooking so it's not overly thick and we sometimes use pinto beans instead of black beans.
The chili has a mild kick to it and the spices are really good. The cinammon adds a really nice unique flavor to it and the bulgur gives it a meaty texture. Tastes great as left-overs. I sometimes have a little warmed whole grain pita with it to dip in.
This is one of my favorite meals. We've made it many times, even when camping. It's simple and foolproof to cook, tastes great and makes great left-overs: Spicy Two-Bean Chili. The recipe is on Epicurious.com here. Red Pepper, Jalapeno Chili, Beans, Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic, Bulgur, Corn, Vinegar, Chili Powder, Cumin, Coriander, Cinammon.
We follow the recipe except we use a can of corn (added when the beans go in) instead of the carrots and I end up putting a little more water in near the end of the cooking so it's not overly thick.
The chili has a mild kick to it and the spices are really good. The cinammon adds a really nice unique flavor to it and the bulgur gives it a meaty texture. Tastes great as left-overs. I sometimes have a little warmed whole grain pita with it to dip in.
Instead of making Anne's muffins, I decided to make pancakes for the treat I was craving after not having any cookies the other day. They came out really well. I don't usually like pancakes, so I don't know why I was craving them, but I'm content now. I made some potatoes to go with them which I'll also describe here. It was a great big weekend breakfast this morning.
Pancakes:
1 cup soymilk
~2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
Combined above and let sit while I assembled the rest of the ingredients
2 bananas
2 tsps vanilla
cinnamon
pumpkin pie spice
Blended above with the soymilk mixture
1.5 cups ww flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
dash of salt
Added above to liquid and cooked up the pancakes. You can't see them but there's blueberries in the pancake too.
Potatoes:
Small red potatoes ~5 (baked and cut into 2'' pieces)
Small zucchini ~2 (grated)
Teeny peppers - box (about the volume of one bell pepper) (chopped)
Garlic - 4 cloves
Onion powder
Salt
Pepper
Smoked paprika
Regular paprika
Dash of cayenne
Chopped spinach
Chopped parsley
I baked the potatoes in the microwave while the peppers and zucchini started in a non-stick pan. I added the potatoes and garlic and cooked the whole mess until it looked tasty. Tossed in the greens and served.
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I changed my mind: I'm going on account of I'm taking some friends. Pollen better perform because these friends need renovated bodies.
In the meantime I'm listening to Jane Goodall's book about eating. I am so impressed by the first few chapters. She's one of the greats and I'm thinking maybe she was Michael Pollen's inspiration because she wrote what is basically the Omnivore's Dilemma before Pollen did.
Another cooking question Hello, yet another cooking question and I feel the need to confess that I seem to be sabotaging literally *ever* recipe I make. This is generally done when trying to split a recipe (I end up splitting all correctly, but like 1 key one) and a general lack of spices (and mild ignorance about them) - are chili powder and cayenne powder really that different? (Answer, as it turns out, is yes.)<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> But for the question – LENTILS – to be specific, in the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>, in bulk…from a health food store…for recipes that list cook times for the beans – <o:p></o:p> a) should the beans still have a pre-boil (and how long)?<o:p></o:p> -or-<o:p></o:p> b) should I go with just a rinse?<o:p></o:p> THANK YOU! <o:p></o:p>
I have a question about the Tomato and Kale Soup in the Tastebook - has anyone else made that? I did and while it was tasty, I was a bit puzzled by the "14.5 ounces veg broth" part. That was very little liquid for 5 cups of kale and a large can of beans, at least to me. I ended up using 4 times as much broth and it was still a very thick and hearty soup.
Am I doing something wrong? I'm pretty much a beginner cook so I'm sure I did somehing stupid!
And for me, this weekend was the first time we tried spaghetti squash. Amazing! I may never eat pasta again.
A random heartfelt thank you to all of the people who've shared so many great tips and nuggets of vegetarian wisdom in this thread. It's still a daunting world to me, but it's slowly making more sense.
Comments
Where's that blushing smiley when you need it?
I actually don't blog too many recipes... I need to be better about that. But I did do a post (with photos!) of the date nut pop 'ems the other day:
http://beanland.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/yummy-easy-healthy-treats/ .
Today I'm working on a whole grain banana-nut muffins. Scott wants to take something homemade to some friends of ours who don't like whole wheat bread (
-Anne
I can't wait to try these!!! I have been addicted to your brussels sprout/pine nut pasta, and am eager to try some of your muffin recipes this weekend, and add the pop'ems to the list! (I too love Larabars...but they ARE pricey!)
Thanks Anne!
50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8, 24-70 2.8L, 35mm 1.4L, 135mm f2L
ST-E2 Transmitter + (3) 580 EXII + radio poppers
Woo! Welcome to the thread.
You are The Queen of Sneaky Green and it's totally inspiring to see the twins go down on fruit and veggies, etc.
I just checked out "Superfoods for Babies and Children" from the library and I'm getting excited to feed Mackenzie fun purees and finger foods.
-Anne
I've been making your berry muffins, and enjoying them. I also improvised, making carrot/zucchini muffins. Here's what I did.
Replaced the wheat bran 1:1 with oat bran.
Replaced the berries with 2 cups shredded carrots and zucchini
Added about 1/2 cup currants (soaked in hot water to plump them up first)
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Zucchini Bread:
Wet:
2 1/2 cups grated, peeled, fresh zuchini
2 ripe bananas, mashed well
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup apple sauce
1 cup sugar (could maybe cut down more...)
Dry:
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cups ground walnuts or hazelnuts, toasted (optional)
1 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (optional)
Directions
Beat together wet (zuchini, bananas, oil, applesauce, and vanilla) Dump on top all remaining ingredients (dry) except chocolate and nuts, mix well and add chocolate chips and/or nuts. Pour into sprayed/floured loaf pans (I use three but I think mine are a teeny bit smaller than normal). Bake at 350 for about 45 min to an hour, until done.
Banana bread:
Wet stuff:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 TBS margarine/vegan butter stuff
1/2 cup apple sauce
3 mashed bananas
1/4 cup soy milk + 1tsp cider vinegar (or whatever vinegar really)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
Dry stuff:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Cream sugars, apple sauce and butter-stuff, add in the rest of the stuff in the wet section and mix well. Dump the flour on top and sprinkle on the soda and salt. Mix well. Pour into a lightly greased/sprayed bread pan and bake at 350 for an hour or a bit longer until done.
You can add chocolate chips or nuts or whatever to the batter too. I have made this in a triple batch all at once and it worked just fine.
You and I are on the same wavelength today. I just made some banana pecan muffins for friends, and they are a bit decadent. They do have whole wheat flour, bananas, applesauce, and nuts, though. So for them to be a huge hit with friends who don't eat like we do... that's a major accomplishment in my book.
Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffins
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Combine in a bowl:
2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 TBS cinnamon
2 tsp wheat gluten (I dunno if this helps or hurts things, but I added it this time)
Combine in the vitamix until soupy:
2 TBS flaxseed meal
3 TBS water
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c. brown sugar (yikes! Next time I'll use less, but sprinkle some on top so they *seem* more sugary but are actually less sugary)
3 ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pour wet into dry, and mix just until combined. This is when the rising starts, so make sure you don't mix out the bubbles. Be gentle when you spoon into 12 muffin cups (greased or papered).
Top each muffin with two crumbled pecans. Put them in the oven immediately (again, so they stay light).
Bake for 15-20 minutes until they spring back a bit when you touch the center.
Mmm those look good. I made cookies I wouldn't/couldn't eat last night which has sort of made me want a wee treat... maybe I'll try these with hazelnuts on top (allergic to pecans) this weekend. Sam's going out of town to do some shooting in Tahoe or something, so maybe I'll send most of the batch with him and keep a couple for myself. Thanks for the recipe!
I'm usually hesitant to share anything but "tried and true" recipes, but I've loved how dgrinners have improved upon my recipes in the past. This was a first-try for me on these muffins, but they were tasty!
If you have any suggestions after you make 'em...
-Anne
Anne,
This week I made your berry bran muffins and I'm pretty sure they weren't how they were supposed to turn out. They kind of fell apart and were hard as bricks (if such polar opposite characteristics are possible). I think maybe I mixed them too much? I've never baked with bran before. Actually, this was the very first time I've baked anything healthy so I suppose it could have been a lot worse. My husband loves 'em though! Which is a good thing because in a staring contest between me and these muffins, the muffin wins.
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
Haha. Sorry they didn't work for you (though apparently they worked for your husband
The brick thing though... maybe overbaked? Or is it just that they were too dense? Mine tend to be very moist because of the berries... no falling apart even remotely possible.
-Anne
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Worth reading: http://www.health-sky.com/html/the-10-best-foods-youre-not-maybe-eating.html
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JT and Andy are gonna go but I'll probably watch Stanfords iTunes videostream on my AppleTV.
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I'm probably gonna go.
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This is one of my favorite meals. We've made it many times, even when camping. It's simple and foolproof to cook, tastes great and makes great left-overs: Spicy Two-Bean Chili. The recipe is on Epicurious.com here. Red Pepper, Jalapeno Chili, Beans, Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic, Bulgur, Corn, Vinegar, Chili Powder, Cumin, Coriander, Cinammon.
We follow the recipe except we use a can of corn (added when the beans go in) instead of the carrots, I end up putting a little more water in near the end of the cooking so it's not overly thick and we sometimes use pinto beans instead of black beans.
The chili has a mild kick to it and the spices are really good. The cinammon adds a really nice unique flavor to it and the bulgur gives it a meaty texture. Tastes great as left-overs. I sometimes have a little warmed whole grain pita with it to dip in.
Here's a couple pics from tonight's batch:
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Hey wait just a second... that's MY chili.
http://beanland.wordpress.com/2007/02/22/vegan-chili-recipe-fabulous-and-bean-y/
Mmmm I love that stuff and your photos made my mouth water.
-Anne
You beat me to it! But it sure is good.
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Instead of making Anne's muffins, I decided to make pancakes for the treat I was craving after not having any cookies the other day. They came out really well. I don't usually like pancakes, so I don't know why I was craving them, but I'm content now. I made some potatoes to go with them which I'll also describe here. It was a great big weekend breakfast this morning.
Pancakes:
1 cup soymilk
~2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
Combined above and let sit while I assembled the rest of the ingredients
2 bananas
2 tsps vanilla
cinnamon
pumpkin pie spice
Blended above with the soymilk mixture
1.5 cups ww flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
dash of salt
Added above to liquid and cooked up the pancakes. You can't see them but there's blueberries in the pancake too.
Potatoes:
Small red potatoes ~5 (baked and cut into 2'' pieces)
Small zucchini ~2 (grated)
Teeny peppers - box (about the volume of one bell pepper) (chopped)
Garlic - 4 cloves
Onion powder
Salt
Pepper
Smoked paprika
Regular paprika
Dash of cayenne
Chopped spinach
Chopped parsley
I baked the potatoes in the microwave while the peppers and zucchini started in a non-stick pan. I added the potatoes and garlic and cooked the whole mess until it looked tasty. Tossed in the greens and served.
In the meantime I'm listening to Jane Goodall's book about eating. I am so impressed by the first few chapters. She's one of the greats and I'm thinking maybe she was Michael Pollen's inspiration because she wrote what is basically the Omnivore's Dilemma before Pollen did.
I also just watched her TED talk. Extraordinary.
Raj Patel
Stuffed and Starved.
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Thank you for that link, Baldy. She really is one of my heros.
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Hello, yet another cooking question and I feel the need to confess that I seem to be sabotaging literally *ever* recipe I make. This is generally done when trying to split a recipe (I end up splitting all correctly, but like 1 key one) and a general lack of spices (and mild ignorance about them) - are chili powder and cayenne powder really that different?
But for the question – LENTILS – to be specific, in the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>, in bulk…from a health food store…for recipes that list cook times for the beans – <o:p></o:p>
a) should the beans still have a pre-boil (and how long)?<o:p></o:p>
-or-<o:p></o:p>
b) should I go with just a rinse?<o:p></o:p>
THANK YOU! <o:p></o:p>
Am I doing something wrong? I'm pretty much a beginner cook so I'm sure I did somehing stupid!
But as I said, it was tasty!
Comments and constructive critique always welcome!
Elaine Heasley Photography
A random heartfelt thank you to all of the people who've shared so many great tips and nuggets of vegetarian wisdom in this thread. It's still a daunting world to me, but it's slowly making more sense.
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography