Seed & Oat Bars

I wanted a healthy seed-based bar. After some searching I came upon Chef Jeenas Healthy Flapjacks. As usual I altered the recipe. Here's what I came up with:

- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- 1 tablespoon liquid honey

Mix this together well, then mix in:

- 1 cup oats
- 1 small handfull raisins
- 1 small handfull dried cranberries
- 2 handfulls pumpkin seeds
- 1 handfull sunflower seeds
- a sprinkling of ground cilium

Dump mixture onto a greased cookie sheet. Shape into flat, 3/4" thick rectangle with spatula. Then cut lines to make bars. Should make 10-12 granola bar-sized pieces.

Bake at 350 for 15 miutes. I overcooked them and got some burnt molasses bottoms. Baaad aftertaste - so watch them!

Let them cool on the pan. If you try to move them while warm they will fall apart. So, unless you want a bunch of unevenly baked granola, be patient and then you will have healthy, protein and nutrient packed snack bars.

P.S. The dark colour post-bake is not because they are burnt! It's the molasses.

some stuff about Cabbage Rolls

I've been wanting to learn how to make dad's cabbage rolls for quite some time. He learned just by watching his mom. So, when I went to visit last week, I got him to teach me. Sorry, no complete recipe this time. Just a few notes.

- Cabbage rolls take a long time to prepare and cook. You need a big head of cabbage.
- Dad makes them with tomato soup and whole, canned tomatoes
- spices and flavours included fresh garlic, onion, sage, pepper, salt and other stuff I can't remember
- use brown rice with the ground beef, it's healthier.

I was making the cabbage rolls for a family meal. My Orthodox Christian brother was in the midst of lent, so I wanted to make something he could eat, too. Part of his lenten sacrifices included eating no meat. So, I decided I would invent a vegan cabbage roll. Maybe these exist already, but I'm happy to have come up with this on my own.

Since cabbage rolls are filled with beef and rice, and use eggs as a binding agent, I needed a tasty, yet mushy replacement. I used canned black beans. To make your own vegan cabbage rolls, simply drain the black beans, add all of the regular spices, rice, and about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to replace the eggs (depending on how much you're making). Mash the beans to a workable "dough", and form into patties to fill the cabbage leaves. The cooking process is as regular cabbage rolls.

If you want a whole recipe, google it. I'm sure allrecipes.com has some good ones. No, they won't be Kat Froese's version of Bob Froese's version of Grandma Froese's recipe, but I'm sure they'll do. Maybe one day when I'm feeling less lazy I'll post the whole process. No pictures this time, either.

Double Chocolate Coconut Layer Cake

A rich "chocolate oil cake" (yes that's the traditional, unappealing name from allrecipes.com) I made with coconut milk. Made this once for my housemate Monica's birthday. It was a success, especially during the little blackout our neighbourhood experienced back in January. Made it again for tonight's Easter dinner.

Cake Recipe/Instructions:

- 2 cups white sugar
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tspns baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup cocoa
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tspn vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients well in a large bowl. Add wet, and mix well. Pour into two well-greased 9" round cake pans and bake 45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

I baked the cake last night and let the two pieces cool over night. Today I made the icing:

Coconut Icing:
-butter/margerine
-vanilla
-soy milk
-icing sugar
-unsweetened coconut flakes

I don't have the amounts. I just guess as I mix until it makes a good, spreadable yet firm consistency.

I spread the coconut icing onto the middle layer of the cake, then put the other piece of cake on top.

The chocolate icing I used to ice the rest of the cake is the same recipe as the coconut icing, only I omitted the coconut and added a few tablespoons of cocoa. Iced the cake carefully, sprinkled with some coconut flakes et voila! Double Chocolate Coconut Layer Cake.

Vegan Chocolate Chip, Raisin & Oatmeal cookies

Found this one online, but I forget where I got it, or what I typed into the search. Anyway, I've modified them enough from the original recipe to make them healthier and tastier. I like throwing in almost everything in the cupboard when I bake.

Vegan Chocolate Chip, Raisin & Oatmeal Cookies

-1 cup unbleached flour

-1/3 cup whole-wheat flour

-1/4 cup wheat germ

-1 teaspoon salt

-3/4 cup olive oil (can use canola, I had none, but found olive gave it a nutty flavour)

-2 tablespoons soy milk

-1 cup brown sugar

-1/3 cup white sugar

-1/2 ripe banana, mashed

-1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla

-2 cups quick oats

-1/2 cup Thompson raisins

-1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Mix flours, wheat germ, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. In large bowl, mix oil and sugars until creamy. Add mashed banana, soy milk and vanilla. Mix well.

3. Slowly add flour mix to wet mix. Mix in oats, raisins & chips.

4. Drop by tablespoon-full onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 9-13 minutes.

They won't change colour too much in the oven. Let cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet, then remove carefully and let cool about 5 minutes before serving. They need the time to harden a bit, since they tend to fall apart when too warm.

Alteration idea: could add in sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, nuts and/or coconut to make an "everything but the kitchen sink" kind of cookie.

Vegan Mocha Cake

Birthday cake for my sister's 30th. Vegan "chocolate oil cake" recipe (can be searched for on allrecipes.com) halved and baked in loaf pan. Made with extra strong coffee in place of the of milk. Icing is a typical icing sugar meets soy milk meets margerine and vanilla. Chocolate drizzle is made from melted semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Home-made Ketchup

We don't have any ketchup in the house since no one seems to want to spend the $3. I don't, and what do I do when I want something I refuse to buy and/or don't have? I make it myself. I looked up a few ketchup recipes online and put this together:

• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp cinamon
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• a bunch of fresh-ground pepper
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 2 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp chili
  

I heated these ingredients in a medium-sized heavy pot, stirring often. If you attempt this, watch out: the ketchup jumps. As for texture and flavour, it's kind of tomato saucy, but still works as a ketchup. It went really well with the seasoned baked potato pieces I made. See below.


Seasoned Baked Potato Pieces:

Wash some potatoes and cut into small bits with skins on. Place in single layer of deep baking pan. Sprinkle with chopped garlic, red onion, chili flakes, oregano, basil and rosemary. Lightly drizzle with olive oil, toss potatoes around, and bake at 425 for 15-25 minutes. Stir and flip 2 times while cooking.

Whole-Wheat Vegan Scones

For Lent I went vegan. Thus, I've been in search of many vegan recipes. I am sure they're bound to show up on this blog often. Besides the need for Lent, I enjoy cooking without animal products (it's also cheaper). Here's how I baked some whole-wheat oatmeal chocolate chip vegan scones, based on a recipe I found online somewhere.


Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1.5 cups oats (I didn't have enough oats, so I used 2 packs of instant maple & brown sugar oatmeal + 1/2 cup of organic quick oats)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar or honey (I omitted this since the instant oats have sugar already.)
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 tablespoons *margarine
• 2 teaspoons vinegar
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (could use also: apples, bananas, nuts, raisins - anything, even grated cheese if not vegan)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1. Wisk soy milk, water, and vinegar until foamy; set aside.
2. In large bowl, mix dry ingredients well. Cut in margarine and mix until crumbly.
3. Add chips or fruit/nuts.
4. Stir in wet ingredients until just mixed.
5. With large wooden spoon, spoon mix onto parchment lined or well-greased baking sheet. Should make roughly 9-10 small scones.
6. Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes, until scones are golden brown.

Tip: These scones are not sweet. If you make them with cheese, garlic, herbs or other savoury items, they would be excellent with soups and chilis. Mine tasted excellent with honey. You could always add more sugar to the mix. Also think spices: apples & cinnamon, candied ginger pieces, even icings if you've got a sweet tooth. Vanilla would be a nice touch as well.

*margarine is not technically vegan, but I'm not legalistic about this stuff. If you want pure vegan, check labels. Vegan marg does exist.

kat food

Welcome to my blog of food: a place where I will post recipes and hopefully pictures of things I cook and bake. In a recent discussion, I learned few people have recipe boxes anymore. So, this is my online recipe box of sorts. Rarely will I create a recipe, however, many of the things I make have alterations. I will fill in those, as well as other possibilities.

Hope you like food, because I do. And please share a recipe with me, too. Or if you make something I post, tell me how it went and any changes you made to the recipe.

Thank God for food and creativity!

Kat