Mmmm, these are good. I only had a bite though, as I used soy yogurt in them. This is my latest veganized creation. I used a recipe that I had for a non-vegan muffin and well changed a bunch of things and then tweaked it some more. It hardly resembles the old recipe. It is a cinnamon streusel muffin. It is a bit more like a cupcake topped with streusel than a muffin. The healthy side of me wants to add bran, the other side of me says...yeah right. I will add the recipe to this post later so keep checking back if you'd like the recipe.

*updated w/recipe

Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

Preheat oven to 350. Line or grease muffin pan( I had a nonstick pan that I gave a light spray of olive oil to, I don't know if you need to spray the liners or not.)

2 cups of All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup veg oil
1/2 orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
1/2 cup soy yogurt
1/2 cup soured rice milk (1/2 cup rice milk with a 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar stirred in, set aside for 5 minutes)
1 tsp vanilla

streusel
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp (or so) veg oil
1/2 cup chopped pecans

First off, make the streusal. Mix the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon together well. Drizzle in the oil and form crumbs with a fork. I do a little oil at a time. The I don't like the crumbs too "heavy". So, I start with a tablespoon and will add a little more if they are too "dry."Stir in the pecans. Set the crumbs aside.

In a large bowl sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a smaller bowl mix together the veg oil, orange juice, zest, soured rice milk, yogurt, and vanilla. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry.

For the very large topped muffins fill the batter to the top of the muffin cup. For smaller(and more muffins), fill 3/4 full. Top with streusel and bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes.

As the weather gets hotter, I look for more salad type recipes to throw in with my meals. I threw this together one day last week and had totally meant for there to be different colored veggies. However, I was out of tomatoes and red pepper. Now, I don't have an exact measurement on the pasta. I think I used 4 cups of cooked. It doesn't really matter that much.

*remember to salt your pasta water before cooking, it tastes sooo much better.

Teh Green Pasta Salad

4 cups cooked macaroni
1 chopped english cucumber
1 diced zuchinni
1 diced green pepper
3 chopped green onions
1 cup frozen peas
mix above ingredients in a bowl.

sauce*
1/4 cup veganaise
2 tbsps rice milk
1/2 tsp yellow mustard
2 tbsps nutritional yeast
mrs dash to taste (I was being lazy, you can use whatever herbs and spices that suit your taste)

mix sauce ingredients together until smooth. Mix sauce with veggies and chill for a few hours.

*I like to thin out my veganaise. I am not a huge fan of heavy tasting dressings. So, if you would like a heavier dressing, omit the rice milk and use a little more veganaise.

Oh no no. I haven't abandoned the creme pie project. But, well see, my problem is that I am trying to lower the fat. It's not really working so great. So, I guess I will just do a full fat version and not worry about it. I tried lowering the fat of the recipe at Monkeyeatfood (a blog I really enjoy btw.) But, I dunno. They are o.k. yet, a little bland. I really don't think there is enough spice or molasses in them. At least from the looks of them, even if made full fat. It's all just my opinion and I haven't actually ever eaten a "real" oatmeal creme pie. hehe, so what do I know.

Well I do know that the marshmallow filling is freakin good! I have filled cupcakes with it, put it as a middle layer in a "smores" pudding pie (yes, the recipe will be coming soon, I want to make up another for a picture.) But, here is the marshmallow filling recipe anyways.

1/2 cup shortening( I used spectrum non-hydrogenated)
2 cups ricemallow creme(just about one whole container)
1/3 cup +2 tbsps powedered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix together with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.

Yeah, that's easy eh?

* The picture isn't showing up and I don't know why...It does work if I click on it though. So hopefully it will for you too.*

Well, I am back. Here is a picture of my latest creation. It's a creation out of necessity, sort of. My necessity not to waste anything, that is. I bought some Red River Cereal. It is a flax, rye and wheat type hot cereal. I didn't care for it as a cereal. But, there was a recipe on the back and I thought that maybe I could bake with it. Now, I didn't follow the recipe on the back of the box. I changed ingredients and made them vegan. The variety on the box were apricot. I made apple-cinnamon. These are good, especially with some apple butter slathered on. The hot cereal makes a crunchy top which has a distinctively nutty taste. I do like it. I wish I had some yogurt on hand because I think that would have made them even better. All I had was egg replacer and I am not big on the egg replacer. But, they turned out nice, certainly unique...

Here is the recipe:

Apple cinnamon bran muffins

Filling: 1 c. granny smith apple, diced
3/4 c Red River Cereal
1 1/2 cup hot water
2 Tbsp. b. sugar

Batter:
1 1/2 c oat bran
3/4 c AP flour
1 1/4 tsp b. soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c brown sugar
1 c. rice milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp oil
1 egg replacer (or even better would be 1/4 -1/3 cup soy yogurt)
1/2 c chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 365 degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.

Mix vinegar into rice milk, set aside. On stovetop, combine filling ingredients, simmer for 6-7 minutes, set aside to cool.

Batter: Mix first 6 ingredients. Beat in egg replacer(or yogurt), rice milk mixture, and oil. Add in the apple filling. Mix well. Add in pecans. Spoon into prepared pan. Bake 20 -25 minutes. Let cool and serve with apple butter.

Hey, I am back. I have been ignoring this blog. There have been some extremely stressful personal situations that I have been and still am dealing with. I have just been too stressed to think about blogging. If it isn't one thing it's another eh. I am currently baking a carrot cake and will probably post pictures of it soon. I appreciate everyone checking in. I hope to be back at this soon.

Mmmmm margarita cupcakes. These are delicious! Not my recipe though!

Hi there! I haven't forgotten about this blog. I have been sooo busy doing stuff. My thyroid is starting to straighten out and I am starting to feel so much better. I recently planted my small garden. We are renting this house, but there was a patch of weedy dirt next to my patio, which happens to be in full sun. Well, I figured what better use for it than a garden eh?I planted spinach, radishes, peas, carrots, mesclun and romaine lettuces and several types of tomatoes. I also recently tested margarita cupcakes. I also baked some lemon gems from Vegan with a Vengeance. Both varieties were sooo delicious. Last night my oldest son and I baked the raspberry chocolate chip blondies from Vegan with a Vengeance. We had so much fun and he seems to really like helping out in the kitchen.. Anyways, I will have a pic or two to throw up later. My camera batteries totally died and I have to recharge them before I can transfer the pics. Hopefully, I will have another recipe soon. I will probably be commencing with the Oatmeal cookies this week, as well.