Em's Good Eat Treats II

Follow this link to find where I will now be posting my food blog updates. Em's Good Eat Treats II.
If you get lost or don't understand, there's also a link at the top of the right column, explaining where to find the new blog. Sorry for the inconvenience, I wasn't happy about it at first, neither.

Veggies, It's What's for Dinner

My parents' oven died this week. It was kinda crazy how it happened. A fire started inside the stove top and it took a lot of baking soda to put it out. I was trying to bake a sweet potato in the oven at the time. I ended up nuking it in the microwave. And then I remembered why I like oven-baked potatoes...

Sometimes we have to make adjustments. I took the opportunity to use the electric stove my parents' used when they remodeled their kitchen back in 2005. I felt like I was at a camp out. Inside. With electricity.

I made hash browns and an omelet.

I'm including photos at my new blogspot: http://emsgoodeattreatsii.blogspot.com/2011/03/veggies-its-what-is-for-dinner.html

It's still under construction.

I finally ran out of photo space for this blog. I thought it was limitless. Oops. Link up!

Woot!

I knew I liked Gwen Stefani!

Have a cookie!

Coconut Pecan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip.

Sesame Seed Oil

Is pretty awesome. I was in Target the other day and I decided purchasing a bottle would make an excellent addtion to my veggie stirfrys.

Here is the bottle I bought. Target sells it for under $5. This particular oil originates from Japan, and even though it is packaged in the U.S., I would like to believe that I helped the economy of Japan, at least a little....And since it was a recent purchase, I would like to also believe, that aside from the radiation the oil may have recieved during its transcontinental journey, hopefully I won't have any unfortunate side effects. Seriously.

Moving on.

Here is a stir-fry I made with the oil. It was super good.

What it is: fried tofu (cooked in coconut oil and sesame seed oil until well browned on all sides, drained on paper towels); broccoli, red onion, red pepper, mushrooms, edamame, tempeh, and peanuts. All cooked in coconut and sesame seed oil. Garlic added last few minutes. All nestled on a bed of quinoa. What did you expect? Rice?

I finally got around to making a batch of hummus and pita. I've been meaning to do that for a while. The bottle of tahini, which had been eyeballing me almost every time I opened the fridge, had ended up expiring. Dang. I didn't want to take any chances. So I found an adequate substitute for the sesame seed flavor, the sesame seed oil. Plus, non-fat plain yogurt. Yes. Please.

I'm gonna include my recipe. Finally. I have a tendency to misplace it.

Em's Hummus:

1 can of chickpeas plus water (I used dried beans in the amount that would be the equivalent to one can.)
1/4 c tahini (or plain non-fat yogurt)
1/2 ts cumin
1 ts paprika
1/8 ts cayenne
1 garlic clove (I used two small ones)
1/4 c olive oil
1 ts salt
zest and juice of one lemon
*if using non-fat yogurt, add 1 tsp of sesame seed oil

Cook chickpeas. Mix all ingredients in food processor or high-powered blender. Transfer to another dish. Refrigerate. Top with more cayenne and olive oil when ready to eat. Enjoy.

I'm gonna try it sometime with roasted red pepper in the mix.

Here it is with my dinner. Pita chips, couscous (mixed with lime/lemon juice, garlic salt and Parmesan), tomato, red pepper avocado and red onion (mixed with lime juice and garlic salt). Plus, more Parmesan.

And it was good.

Cheese It

What can I say about cheese.

It's good.

I like it.

The world is a better place because it exists.

I made this:

(Cut up avocado, tomato, red onion and red pepper dressed with lime juice and garlic salt; all this and black beans a top a bed of quinoa and romaine.)

I then added cheese and crumbled tortilla chips.

That's how I roll.

I made this soup today; my first try at French onion soup.

Flashback: I had Panera for lunch a couple of weeks ago and I decided to introduce something different to my mouth from their menu.  I ordered the French onion soup. Delish.

I decided to make a "veggie" version. "Veggie" until I realized I didn't have that much vegetable stock in the freezer and I didn't want to go buy any.
Now that I have that confession out of the way, here is the basic recipe I followed:

3 large onions, thinly sliced
1 T of all-purpose flour
4 T unsalted butter
about 4 cups of vegetable/chicken stock
salt and pepper

I cooked the onion in a stock-pot with the butter for about 20 minutes. I added the flour, stirred well, then added the stock after about 2 minutes. I seasoned to taste and let it simmer for a good 45 minutes. I didn't eat it for a couple of hours, but I kept it warm on the stove. When ready to eat, I broiled one side of some French bread and added it atop a bowl filled with the soup and some Italian cheese sprinkled on it. I added more cheese on top of the bread, along with some Swiss and garlic chips. I broiled it until lightly browned.

Not too shabby. Would be better with beef broth. Homemade. Just saying.

And it was good.

Meatless Masterpiece

***WARNING***

THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS EYE AND PALATE PLEASING FOOD. STARING TOO HARD AT THE PHOTOS MAY CAUSE CRAVINGS OF APOCALYPTIC PROPORTIONS.

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I'm really excited about this post because of the bright and colorful pictures. And because the food was actually quite delicious. And it's been a while since I've had some pretty colors to throw in your face!

I made this stir fry with coconut oil and tamari. It has broccoli, red pepper, red onion, mushrooms, tempeh, black beans, garlic, peanuts, and honey roasted peanuts on a bed of quinoa. It was delicious.

I made this vegan cookie that I found off Joy the Baker's blog. Quite amazing. I will be on the lookout for more vegan desserts.

I substituted half vanilla sugar/half raw sugar for the vegan sugar. I also exchanged coconut oil for the canola oil. It tasted fabulous.

I made this tofu burger. I know. Tofu? That's not a burger, that's tofu. Fine. It's a fried tofu sandwich. It was actually quite good. The breading and sauce helped.

Here is what it is:

breadcrumbs
garlic salt
dried garlic chips
onion powder
cayenne
six-cheese Italian blend (I never said I was giving up cheese. Don't confuse me with someone else.)

Cut a slice of tofu. Rinse. Combine above ingredients in a bowl and dredge the tofu slice in it. In a pan, heat a good amount of coconut oil. Place tofu in heated oil. Turn when bottom is nicely browned. I put more of the breadcrumb mixture on the cooked side for more crunch; and then I flipped it one more time.

I sliced some Italian bread, spread some butter and sprinkled garlic salt on top, and broiled it until lightly browned. I covered both slices with a mixture of Robert's French onion sour cream dip mixed with more of the Italian cheese and cayenne. I placed  the tofu slice on a bed of romaine and red onion.

I had a sweet potato to go with it. Sometimes orange looks nice in a picture.

And it was good.

Banana Health

I enjoy bananas. They have lots of super goodness in them. I prefer the taste of a mature banana to an under ripe banana. That's just personal preference.

Sometimes, there may be such an abundance of bananas, I don't have time to consume them before they become over ripe. That is when these recipes come in handy.

The first recipe I got off a box I saved of Hodgson Mill's milled flax seed. I made the recipe over two years ago using apples. Delish. And healthy. I recently tried the recipe out again, using bananas instead of apples. I made two separate batches. In the first batch, I forgot the milk but that didn't seem to effect the composition of the muffins. I put more flax seed in the second batch, eight whole ounces, and they seemed just as tasty as the first batch. The muffins turned out to be a fiber-rich food packed with all kinds of health benefits.

The following is the original recipe with my changes in red.

Whole Wheat Flax'n Apple Muffins by Hodgson Mill

1/4 c of flax seed (grounded), the first batch had about 4 oz of flax seed, the second batch had 8oz :)
3/4 c of whole wheat graham flour, I used regular wheat
3/4 c of white flour, I added more wheat and only about a tiny handful of all-purpose flour
1/2 c sugar  I used 5 T of vanilla sugar, could possibly use less because of sweetness from bananas
2 ts baking powder
1/2 ts baking soda
1/2 ts salt
1 egg, beaten
1-1/2 c of finely chopped apples, I nixed these completely
3 T of vegetable oil, I used coconut oil
1/2 c milk
1/2 c chopped nuts, I sprinkled chopped pecans on top and did not include any in the batter
I mashed 4 super ripe bananas down to a mush
1-2 ts of vanilla extract
I also added:
cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg in modest amounts

**If using regular recipe, it would be possible to reduce sugar by substituting a no-sugar-added applesauce, in addition to reducing the amount of milk needed.

Blend dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a separate bowl; combine egg, mashed bananas, vanilla, oil and milk. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture and stir until just blended. Fold in apples and nuts. Batter will be thick. Fill well-greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes or until top springs back when touched. Yield: 12 muffins

I made 24. I individually wrapped them, placed them in a freezer bag and popped them in the freezer. Nuke in the microwave to enjoy in the morning.
                                                                                                                                                                                           

A word of advice: only eat one or two in any one sitting. That's a lot of fiber. I tested it. :)

This morning I made pancakes. However, these aren't the typical pancake. These are super healthy-good for your body and mind pancakes. Really! I figured out the following recipe in the hopes of filling my belly with wholesome goodness.

Em's Banana-flax Pancakes

3 1/2 oz of ground old-fashioned oats
3 1/2 oz of whole wheat flour
2 T of ground flax seed
2 T of vanilla sugar
3/4 ts cinnamon
1/4 ts ginger
pinch of cloves
shake of nutmeg
3/4 ts baking soda

1 large banana, mashed
1 lightly beaten egg (exclude the egg for a vegan-friendly breakfast)
1 ts vanilla ex.
1 T melted coconut oil
1/4 c soy milk

Combine dry ingredients and mix well. Combine last five ingredients and add to the dry mixture. I may have done that in reverse.

I heated my electric skillet to about 300 degrees F. I spread some butter atop (lets keep it real), and spaced out 6 pancakes, flipping once and then once more to warm other side before plating. I topped mine with more butter, honey and walnuts. Great with a cup of coffee.  To make it completely vegan-friendly, Smart-Balance could be substituted for the butter and agave nectar for the honey.

This particualar pancake tasted a lot like banana bread. But different.

And it was good.