Daring Bakers: Nanaimo Bar Challenge

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and http://www.nanaimo.ca/.


She was also sweet enough to link us up to a vegan version of these Canadian goodies HERE.


But I wanted to give these bad boys my own little twist, so I turned them into.....

Vegan Nanaimo Truffles!!!!


(dude... they are extreme chocolate goodness!)




If you follow the link about to the recipe, you'll find the video on how to make the traditional layered bar. I followed the same recipe but added a few twists....


I took "layer 1" mixture & combined it w/ a bit more than 1/2 of "layer 2" mixture, which was still quite moist, so I added in a bit more graham cracker crumbs til it tightened up. Then I scooped up this dough w/ my smallest cookie dough scoop and placed the balls on a silpat lined baking sheet. Then I drizzled on the "layer 3" chocolate and placed in the fridge to set up.


wa-lah! i'll def. whip these up again, and trust me, the non-veg peeps in your life will not have a CLUE that it's a vegan treat!


xo

on the fly dinner

i go from being super planned out on our weekly dinners, to being super fly by the seat of my pants, which doesn't always pan out so well.

last night was a "crap, i need to make SOMETHING for dinner" and with my picky crew that can just be an enormous pain. so i grabbed a bag of trusty pasta, grabbed some veggies out of the fridge an we were off!

The kids prefer their pasta plain w/ olive oil & "butter" (Earth Balance), so after the pasta was done i just scooped out some for hub and i and then dressed the rest w/ the above.

pasta w/ green yumminess

1 lb. pasta (divided to go w/ this sauce & some plain for kids)
cook as directed (but don't over cook!)

sauce:
olive oil (a few times around the pan)
onion (diced small)
garlic (couple cloves minced)
2-3 smallish zucchini (small dice)
fresh broccoli (mine was a small bunch of organic, which was about 3 smallish stalks)
few handfuls black beans (canned/rinsed)
hot pepper flakes
salt/pepper
water (or wine or veg broth)

i heated the oil, sauted the onions to my liking, then added the garlic & zucc & cooked a bit, then i added in the chopped brocc. stalks (NOT the florets yet, they cook too fast), then i added the hot pepper flakes & water and brought the temp of the pan up so it would reduce a bit. then i added in the brocc. florets (don't overcook!). i also drained a can of black beans and added about 3 handfuls to the pan. i also add salt and pepper as i go along to my liking. When everything was done, i threw some of the pasta right into the pan and let it finish cooking down a bit.

SO yummy and easy! i'll definately whip this up again!

OH AND another good thing..... DH didn't even look at his plate and say "where's the meat?!" like he usually says ;)

Now to figure out what to have for dinner TONIGHT..........

xo

Yummy Quesadillas

good news on the converting front.... this mornng i gave one of the boys plan rice milk on his cereal (w/o telling him and w/o him seeing me) and.... NOT ONE COMPLAINT! Yay! there is NO regular milk in the house right now, actually accidentally, cuz i just completely forgot to buy i when i went to the market. the other boy doesn't eat cereal (what kid DOESN'T eat cereal?!), so we don't have that battle to contend with.

OH and the non-cereal eating boy was slipped some veg. mozzarella cheese yesterday on his grilled cheese and he LOVED it! score for mom! :D

for dinner tonight i made quesadillas.....
it was so freezy outside, so i decided not to use the grill and threw on the oven instead. I cranked it up as high as it would go (550), but my oven is about 25 degrees off, so it was cooking more around 500 or so.

Roasted Veg Quesadillas

red onion (cut in 1/2, then sliced)
green pepper (cut up in wide slices)
2 large portabello mushrooms (thick sliced)
tortillas
salsa
avacado (smashed up)
corn
veg. cheese (optional)
salt, pepper
olive oil

cut up the veggies, put on a parchment lined baking sheet drizzled w/ olive oil. drizzle on more olive oil then top w/ kosher salt & pepper.

roast in the oven til they get some nice color and are the tenderness you like. the onions will be done first... don't let them burn!

then you can either assemble them on the tortillas and heat up in the oven or stovetop or just have everyone assemble their own at the table (uh that's what we did cuz i'm lazy) ;)

and wa-lah, dinner is served!

well, unless your the picky kids...
thing 1 had a quesadilla pizza (w/ veg cheese)
thing 2 wanted a corndog (... do they make veg corndogs?!)
thing 3 ate a quesadilla

a rice milk convert + a recipe

1 kiddo down, 2 to go.

i'm so happy that my baby girl is finally requesting rice milk! she is even drinking it plain (well the vanilla kind)!


I'm soooo happy! Now if i can just get the boys to drink it.... they've both given 2 thumbs down even mixed w/ chocolate syrup. Thankfully, they don't notice when I mix it in w/ smoothies or pancakes, so at least that's something....


baby steps, right?!

and i was craving something warm and comforting for dinner tonight, so i whipped up a yummy little roasted concoction....

Easy Peasy Roasted Goodness

2 baby zucchini's, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
2 small sweet potatoes, chopped
1 can chickpeas, drained
olive oil
salt, pepper, a dash of red pepper flakes, thyme

roast at 400 for about 1 hour. (stir every 20-30min)

YUM! I ate this alone and hubs just had it as a side dish, but he really liked it (and he doesn't even like sweet potatoes!), so it's a winner in my book!

xo

Chili con Chickpeas

I'm newly addicted to my pressure cooker after hearing Lorna Sass, author of Cooking Under Pressure, on the radio. I immediately hopped on Amazon and bought both her book and a pressure cooker.

I'm slightly freaked out to venture off on my own recipes w/ the pressure cooker though, so i've clung to the book thus far. Here is what we had for dinner tonight....

Chili con Chickpeas

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp whole Cumin Seeds (all i had was cumin in powder form)
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 large Onions, coarsely chopped
1 large Green Bell Pepper, coarsely chopped
3 c Water
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
3 Carrots, cut in 3 or 4 pieces, peeled (i used 4 huge ones)
2 medium zucchini, diced (i used 3 smallish ones)
2 c dried Chickpeas, picked over and rinsed
1 Tbsp Chili powder (i was shocked to find i had NONE in the house so i dumped in a can of enchilada sauce)
1 tsp dried Oregano
Cayenne Pepper, optional (i forgot it)
1/2 cup finely minced fresh Cilantro (i HATE cilantro, so i left it out)
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat the oil in the cooker. Add the cumin and sizzle for 10 seconds, stirring constantly. Then add the garlic, onions, and green pepper, and saute until the onions are soft, about 3 minutes. Then mix in your water, chickpeas, carrots, & spices, then top w/ canned tomatoes (don't stir). Lock the lid in place and over high heat bring to high pressure. Adjust heat to maintain high pressure and cook for 35 to 40 minutes. Let the pressure drop naturally. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow any excess steam to escape. If the chickpeas are not quite done, replace the lid and simmer over low heat for a few more minutes. Stir in the zucchini and salt, cook for another 10 minutes over medium heat. Adjust seasonings, and serve. (I served it over rice which was really yummy!)

--------------------
Husband Rating: C+
He said it had no flavor (and no meat!) ;) he did think it was filling though.

My Rating: B+
Yeah, I could definately tweek the flavoring a bit, but overall I really enjoyed this. It was hearty and filling.... definately comfort food! I bet it would be amazing with some diced sweet potatoes in it too! mmmmmm!

xo

They DIG Vegan Pancakes

A step in the right direction with the little people i think.

Oh let me preface this with:

my kids are uber picky eaters..... the boys are just crazy, luckily the princess is a bit more adventurous and willing to TRY new things.

One thing the kids will ALWAYS eat is pancakes (naturally, right?!)

(these aren't the ones we made, but you get the idea, right?!)

I just use the recipe from the back of the Pioneer Pancake mix box (i'm pretty sure the mix is vegan), then i replace the 2 eggs with heaping tablespoons of natural applesauce and replace the regular milk with rice milk. I think i usually add a little bit of safflower oil as well, so they don't stick so much to the pan. These taste EXACTLY the same as the traditional pancakes and the kids have never said they tasted different! I also replace the chocolate chips with dairy free chocolate chips that again, taste just the same, and then some w/ various berries. YUM!

I wish all the foods they eat were as easy to veganize without them noticing.... well.... actually i just wish they weren't so dang picky in general! bah! ;)

My mission is to get my crew to eating more kindly without fighting over every meal....

xo