Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

It's a beautiful fall day. Perfect for baking!

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• the juice from one lemon
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance or other margarine
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Ener-G egg replacer
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup poppy seeds
• the zest from one lemon

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or line a muffin pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate small bowl, whisk together then lemon juice, almond milk and vanilla.
   
3. Cream together the margarine and sugar, then add the egg replacer. Stir in the lemon zest and poppy seeds. Mix in the almond milk mixture.
   
4. Gently combine the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients just until mixed. It will be a pretty thick mixture.
   
5. Spoon into your muffin pan. I'm not a huge fan of super sweet things, but if you like extra sweet muffins, sprinkle the top of each muffin with a pinch of extra sugar.
6. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
7. Eat! And by the way- these smelled so good I had to take a bite before I could even take the picture...
   

Phyllo Dough Apple Tart

So for those of you who don't know, I've lost about 100lbs over the past 3 years. I'm pretty proud of myself if I do say so myself. Recently, I haven't been doing so hot, though- I guess I'm experiencing one of those weight loss "plateaus". And it super sucks. So I'm going to try to be all hard core again about calorie counting, working out, etc. And part of that means trying to find yummy deserts I can make that aren't TOO unhealthy. Enter the Phyllo Dough Apple Tart. It's still delicious, but much less calorie-filled than my usual baked goods.

• 1 golden delicious apple cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1/4 cup light margarine, melted
• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 Teaspoons cinnamon (more or less to taste)
• 1 Teaspoon salt
• 5 sheets of Phyllo dough, cut in half
• 2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar (for dusting on top)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix the melted margarine, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt
3. Layer the apples evenly on one half of the Phyllo dough
4. Cover the apples in most of the margarine/sugar mixture
5. Top with the other half of the Phyllo Dough
6. Top with the remaining margarine/sugar mixture
7. Bake for 35 minutes (until golden brown)
8. Let cool and dust with powdered sugar.

4 Servings
Calories: 149

Total Fat 4.8g

Saturated Fat 1g

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 557mg

Total Carbohydrates 24.3g

Dietary Fiber 1.6g

Sugars 10.2g Protein 1.8g

And in case anyone wants to see before and after pictures, here you go!

Before

After

Peanut butter cookies

YUM.

• 1/2 cup butter/margarine
  
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg/ egg replacer
  
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 375
   
2. Cream the butters and the sugars
3. Add the egg and vanilla
   
4. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add these to the wet.
5. Roll into balls. Flatten with the back of a fork on a greased cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool on cooling rack. Try not to eat all of them at once.
   

Potato Lentil Parsley Soup

I know it's only the beginning of September, but today it feels like fall. I love fall- all my favorite things happen in fall: Halloween, Thanksgiving, sweater weather, hay rack rides, carving pumpkins, drinking cider, and most of all SOUP!!! Here is my first soup of the season. The great thing about this soup is that it's just a basic recipe that can be changed a million different ways- no russet potatoes? Try sweet! No onions? Try corn! No lentils? Try beans! Have some leaks/ peas/ green beans/ etc sitting in the fridge about to go bad? Throw 'em in! This soup also freezes really so you can reheat it whenever you need some comfort food.

• 1 cup lentils (soak in water for a few hours before making the soup)
• 3 medium potatoes, washed and cubed
• 6 or so carrots, peeled and cut into circles
• 1 bunch of celery, chopped
• 1 white onion, cut into half moons
• 2 qts veggie stock
  
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Cut up all the veggies and parsley, add to broth. Boil until everything is soft. Easy Parcheesi.

10 servings
Calories 142

Total Fat 2.0g

Saturated Fat 1.7g

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 618mg

Total Carbohydrates 28.3g

Dietary Fiber 8.9g

Sugars 5.2g

Protein 6.7g

Chocolate Oatmeal Scotchies

I needed a snack to take with me to the final Harry Potter movie. Shhhh- don't tell the movie theater I'm sneaking cookies in. Maybe if they offered some vegan options, I wouldn't have to (but I probably still would because homemade is ALWAYS better).

• 3/4 cup vegan margarine
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs worth of egg replacer (I just used Ener-G, but it might be interesting to use banana)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup vegan butterscotch chips
  
• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Cream together margarine and sugars
3. Add the egg replacer and vanilla
4. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients
   
5. Hand mix in the oats, chocolate, and butterscotch chips. Don't over mix.
6. I always just use my hands to make cookies- don't worry, I wash them first. Just form balls of dough and set them evenly apart on a greased cookie sheet. Use the back of a spoon (or your fingers) to smush slightly so they are flatish. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool and sneak into a movie in a giant purse. Enjoy!
   

Hello Dollies

I've heard these called 7 layer bars and "magic" bars, but I like the name Hello Dollies the best. Whatever you call them, they are yuuuuuummmy!

• 1 cup sweetened condensed soy or almond milk (see below for instructions on making your own)
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (vegan of course)
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips (again, vegan- and you may have to do some searching)
• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup melted vegan margarine
• 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
   
2. Create a crust but combining the graham cracker crumbs and margarine. Use the back of a spoon to press this into the bottom of a greased 8x8 glass baking dish.
3. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips evenly over the top of the crust. Use a spoon (or just your hand) to slightly press the chips into the crust.
4. Pour the condensed milk over the top evenly.
5. Top with shredded coconut
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes and let cool before eating

Sweetened Condensed Milk
This is super easy! Pour 2 cups of soy or almond milk into a sauce pan with 1/2 cup white sugar. Simmer over low heat until it has reduced to 1 cup. Done!

Sweet Potato Fritters

Fritters are delicious bundles of fried happiness. These fritters are made from sweet potatoes, so you can even pretend they're healthy!

• 1 large cooked, peeled, mashed sweet potato (about 1 pound) Bake in the oven for about an hour or heat in the microwave for 8-10 minutes until soft. After it is soft, the peel should come off pretty easily- just and try not to burn your fingers!
  

• 3 tablespoons canola oil (or what is needed to fry your fritters)
  
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 15-oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• egg replacer for one egg (I used Ener-G)
• 1/4 cup water
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
   
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 6 minutes
3. Add beans, 1 teaspoon paprika and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 2 minutes. Separate into two portions. Cover and set aside.
4. Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, the remaining teaspoon paprika and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Add the mashed sweet potato and combine.
5. Add egg replacer and water to half the bean/onion mixture. Add this to the cornmeal mixture and stir until just combined.
6. Heat the oil in a pan. Form the mixture into 8 circularish fritters- about 1/4 cup of the mixture each. Fry each fritter in the oil for about 2 minutes on each side until browned.
   
7. Place the fritters on a baking sheet and bake about 8-10 minutes until firm. Serve with the remaining onion/bean mixture and a nice salad.

Makes about 8 Fritters

Calories 314

Calories from Fat 58
Total Fat 6.5g
Saturated Fat 0.6g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 20mg
Total Carbohydrates 51.6g
Dietary Fiber 10.4g
Sugars 3.3g