Maple Pecan Muffins -- now with Pea Protein and a more Audacious Attitude

ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil

2 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp ground vanilla bean
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1/4 cup ground chia seeds
2 tbsp arrowroot flour
1/4 cup pea protein flour

2 cups almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 - 1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup pecans -- little pieces

pecan half to put on top of each one
coconut sugar to sprinkle on top of each one



directions:

1. combine ingrediens in the order listed
2. scoop into muffin cups
3. bake at 345 for 60 minutes

Bread -- bread with seeds -- gluten free, grain free, nut free,vegan, nutritional powerhouse

Hey, I make weird stuff. This. This is my favourite kind of bread right now. So good with a little apple butter or coconut oil on it. I've updated this by throwing in whole sunflower seeds. I love the texture this produces. I've been eating a piece of this for lunch everyday. Powerhouse. One thing I've noticed as I've gotten ... ahem ... older, is that there is certainly virtue in maintaining a higher protein intake. Thus the protein powder and seeds in this bread. Makes this 40+ vegan woman feel strong.

ingredients:

2 cups water
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup finely ground chia seeds
1/2 cup ground hemp hearts
2 tbsp arrowroot flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
4 tbsp carob powder
4 tbsp pea protein powder

1 cup pumpkin seed flour
1 cup sunflower seed flour
3/4 cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup whole black chia seeds
1/2 cup whole sunflower seeds


directions:

1. combine the water and vinegar
2. add in the salt, chia, hemp, arrowroot, xanthan, carob, and pea protein, and either whisk or use a hand blender. Xanthan gum is a tricky bastard if you are not careful. Slimy and clumpy? Ick. Mix that sass-monster in.
3. Add the flours and baking soda, and mix with a spoon
4. Finally stir in your whole chia seeds, and your whole sunflower seeds
5. put into a loaf pan that has been lined with parchment
6. shape the loaf
7. bake at 345 for 90 minutes
8. dehydrate at 200 for 3 hours, removing from the pan after 1 hour

(I do 2 loaves at once so as not to run the oven for this long for just 1.)

345 for 90 minutes
200 for 180 minutes

Sunflower Seed and Raisin Muffins -- morning glory breakfast muffins?

Lunch-box, smunch-box. Yeah, you heard me. Smunch-box. As in: stuff it. Stuff it in your smunch-box. Which is exactly what I did with these little bites. Lunch box muffins that will energize your ankle biter. Pea protein, hemp hearts, chia seeds, and sunflower seeds give these muffins a powerful punch. Keep your energy up, and your blood sugar stable, and taste great. Tall order, but we filled it. So go ahead and stuff it in your smunch-box. You'll be glad you did.

3 cups water  (2 cups??)
1 cup coconut sugar

1/2 tsp sea salt
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger

1 cup finely ground hemp hearts
1/4 cup finely ground chia seeds

1 cup ground sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pea protein powder
1 tsp baking soda


1 cup raisins
1 cup whole sunflower seeds


directions:

1. preheat the oven to 345
2. combine the ingredients in the order listed
3. scoop the batter into prepared muffin cups
4. bake at 345 for 60 to 90 minutes
5. remove from muffin cups when cool

Spelt flour and Sunflower seed Bread

I got some lovely sprouted spelt flour. Actually, I don't know if it's lovely. It seems fine. The loaf turned out well. From all accounts, sprouted grains are better.  But hey, I'm taking someone's word for it. As far as I'm concerned, it may be true, but I haven't done enough research to know. I made this bread with pea protein and chia seeds, because I like to add magical powers to my bread. Magical powers like blood sugar stabilization and hunger quenching. And the sunflower seeds are just adorable in it. Gooooooooood bread.


Making this bread doesn't give me the same satisfaction as making sourdough ... but it whips together very quickly, and can be made with only a few hours to go. Sourdough requires a lot more work. It's practically a relationship.

This bread is missing the alchemical awesomeness of sourdough, and the heady rush of harnessing the powers of airborne wild-yeast, but it's very nice bread all the same.

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water
3 tsp bread yeast

2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup pea protein powder
1/4 cup ground white chia seeds

3 to 3 1/2 cups spelt flour

1 cup sunflower seeds, raw but not in the shell


directions:

1. combine the sea salt, pea protein, and chia seeds with the spelt flour and the sunflower seeds
2. add in the yeast and the water
3. turn on your mixer, using the kneading hook
4. or mix by hand! and then knead!! it's fun!!
5. add flour if the mixture is too wet
6. the texture should be elastic and clammy rather than sticky
7. form into a lovely loaf and plonk it into a parchment lined baking pan
8. allow to rise for a few hours in an oven with only the light on, whilst covered with a damp cloth
9. bake at 345 for 45 minutes

Warming Post-Hallowe'en Pumpkin Soup

I know you aren't supposed to do this, but I did anyway. I had two sweet little pumpkins from an organic farmer for our hallowe'en jack-o-lanterns.  The seeds had roasted up so delectably that I really wanted to try cooking the pumpkins once their seasonal duties were finished. We had used beeswax candles in them on the festive eve, and then I cooked them in the crockpot so that the long cooking time would act as purification. I don't advocate using your hallowe'en pumpkins for food as most websites seem to suggest this is unsafe food-practice. Plus the large pumpkins are not very delicious.

Well, this worked out well for us, and if you have some pie pumpkins that haven't been jack-o-lanterned, it would be swell.

ingredients:

2 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, finely diced

2 cups celery, finely chopped

8 to 10 cups pumpkin, skin cut off, cut into chunks (I had two small pumpkins (pie pumpkins) that I used)


1 tsp coriander
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon
3 tsp sea salt


6 cups boiling water


1. in your crockpot, melt some coconut oil, and add in the diced onion and chopped celery
2. start peeling and chopping the pumpkins.
3. add in the pumpkin and then sprinkle with the spices and salt
4. add the boiling water
5. cook until soft, and then give a light puree with a hand blender
6. season to taste with salt and pepper.

Zephyr likes to add a little lemon juice, dulse, salt, and pepper to this when he eats it.
I like it just the way it is. Warming.

Broccoli and Chickpea Crockpot

This green and white concoction is savoury, thick, and utterly comforting. The peeps in my house adore both broccoli and chickpeas, so it's really easy to love this simple dish. The cauliflower and sweet potato aren't really very noticeable, although they do provide body, flavour, and nutrition. The theme of the concoction is definitely broccoli and chickpea. Once again, I mixed a little chickpea flour into the water I added to the crockpot, which thickened up wonderfully over the cook time. Simple, satisfying, and universally enjoyed.

2 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, finely diced
3 cups of chopped up cauliflower florets

3 cups cooked chickpeas
3 cup frozen green peas

1/2 cup diced celery

4 cups diced white sweet potato


3 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp marjoram

3 cups boiling water
1 cup water + 1/2 cup chickpea flour

500 g broccoli florets


directions:

1. melt the coconut oil in the bottom of the crockpot as it's heating, and then go about chopping.
2. add the onions
3. add the cauliflower florets
4. add the cooked chickpeas
5. add the green peas
6. add the diced celery, followed by the white sweet potato
7. on top of all this sprinkled the seasonings
8. add the 1 cup water and 1/2 cup chickpea flour mixture
9. pour on the rest of the water
10. cook on high for 4-6 hours depending on how well your crockpot does.
11. when it's all done cooking, add in your dismembered broccoli florets, and stir in. I used frozen ones that then didn't really need to be cooked ... if yours are fresh and raw, you might give them a little cook time in the crockpot after mixing in.
12. taste, and adjust salt and pepper if needed.