Desserts!

Well, my friends, I am not allowed to upload any more pictures.  Quel horreur, mes amis!  So, I think until I have the time+energy to mess around with that stuff, I'll be linking you to my Tumblr (which you should visit anyway ;) ) for my pictures, and posting the recipes here.
Oh, gosh, I'm writing this at 4:41 in the morning.  I will be leaving at 7 for my traditional Thanksgiving Day race (I'm so excited), and I guess I was just too anxious to sleep... (?)  So, thus, I am typing this, in order to stall on doing my french homework...

I give you desserts!

Up first is CCK's crustless pumpkin pie, which I gave a crust, and topped with some raw whipped cream.  I made two servings, and divided that recipe into two ramkins.  For the crust I mixed together 3 tbsp oatmeal, 1 tbsp whole wheat flour, and 1 tbsp applesauce, and baked it for about 12 minutes at 350, until firm.  Then I added the pie (doubling pretty much all of the seasonings), and using baking blend stevia. 

These babies were a chocolateglobofgoodness :D  I used PB2, and sugar free maple syrup for the agave, but no changes other than that.  Woooowww...

I wasn't too big on the texture of these blondies, but it may have just been my flour.  However, the flavour was excellent.  I used applesauce for the oil, and skipped the frosting since it doesn't freeze too well.

WHOLLYFREAKINGBANANAS This cake was excellent.  Seriously.  Good.  Gooooood.  I essentially fifthed the recipe, so I used 2 dates, 1/5 banana, and 3 tbsp of pretty much everything else.  The only actual changed were to use applesauce for the oil, and instant coffee powder + water for the coffee.  Topped with more of the raw whipped cream from above.

Oatmeal ATTTTAAAAAAAACK!

So, here's what I did... made a quadruple batch of Bottomless Oatmeal, and just reheated the stuff every day, with a different flavour each day!  It worked out great, and oatmeal tasted normal.  Saved sooo much time too!  I also added a splash of almond milk when reheating, to loosen it up a bit.

 

#1: Pina Colada.
Pineapple, cinnamon, stevia, reduced fat shredded coconut, sunflower seeds

#2: Mocha
Instant coffee powder, cocoa powder, banana (roughly mashed), vanilla extract, low fat shredded coconut

#3: Loaded PB and J
Granola (actually leftover oatmeal cookie crumbs!), frozen banana, frozen strawberry, peanut butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar free strawberry jelly, peanuts

#4: Banana Split
Frozen banana, frozen strawberry, fresh pinapple, cinnamon, stevia, dark cocoa powder, vanilla extract

#5: Peach Pie
Cinnamon, nutmeg, frozen peach, mashed banana, cinnamon, walnuts, sugar free maply syrup, butter extract

#6: Banana Peanut butter
Banana, peanut butter, vanilla extract, dark cocoa powder, stevia

#7: Chai
Instant coffee powder, mashed banana, cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla extract, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon

#8: Orange
Chopped glow orange, walnuts, maple syrup, vanilla extract

#9: Sweet Potato and Cranberry
Mashed sweet potato, dried cranberries, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar free maple syrup

#10: PB and J
Strawberries, banana, peanut butter, sugar free maple syrup, vanilla extract

#11: Blueberry and Chia
Frozen blueberries, chia seeds, walnuts, cinnamon, flax seeds, dried goji berries, sugar free maple syrup

Sweets and Treats!

I hope you are ready to be bombarded... ;)

 

 

First up - pumpkin frappachino!  Adapted from Minimalist Baker.  Couldn't be easier.. blend 1 cup ice cubes, 1 cup non-dairy milk, 1/4 cup canned pumpkin, stevia to taste, and 1-2 tbsp instant coffee powder.

 

 

Continuing with the pumkin theme, pumkpin scones, adapted from Iowa Girl Eats.  Used whole wheat flour, applesauce for butter, added 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice, used stevia for the sugar.  You might want to add more liquid as well.  Yay pumpkin!

 

Yoga cookies... from Keepin it Kind.  These got rave reviews from my friends.  And I must say, they are tastey!  Only change was to use 1/2 cup PB2, and 1/2 cup almond meal for the peanutbutter.

 

Banana Maple bread pudding from the Misfit Baker... made a mini pizzert (1/2 serving), and topped that with the mixture, approximated for a single serving, using sugar free maple syrup.  Good with whipped cream on top...

 

Peach sticky buns!  They aren't so pretty, but they sure were tastey.. adapted from That's So Vegan.  Subbed 1/4 cup water + rum extract for the rum, stevia + molasses for the brown sugar, stevia for the sugar, 2.5 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup white flour, and applesauce for the butter.

 

Single-serving caramelized banana pie type thing..  yes, this was very good.  Adapted from The First Mess.  Made the crust with applesauce.  The ice cream was baked bananas drizzled with sugar free maple syrup, frozen soymilk, vanilla extract, and stevia. Topped with cookie dough..

 

And this beauty from Oh My Veggies.  Guess what you do.. blend frozen banana with frozen peaches.  That's it.  Ice cream, and slightly lower calorie that banana ice cream!

Dessert Plate

 

Ok, so this first one... let's just say I wasn't expecting it to taste all that great after I made it - it looked kind of off.  BUT, contrary to my expectations... WOW.  It had that flavour of sweet, sweet fruit.  Seriously, this is good stuff.

Adapted from Sweet Healthy Living

Part 1, the fruit: Mix together 1/4 cup chopped frozen strawberries, 1/4 cup chopped frozen bananas, 2 tsp chia seeds, a drizzle of maple syrup, a dash of cinnamon, and a dash of dried ginger.  Let sit in the fridge for several hours to thicken.

Part 2, the whipped cream (more than needed): blend 1 pear (ripe, cored, peeled, roughly chopped), 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1/3 cup raw cashews, a dash of dried ginger, 2 dates, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, and 1/2 tsp xanthan gum.

When you are ready to serve, top the fruit with the cream, and sprinkle with granola (I just used store-bought).  Mix together.

 

And now for the cookies and such...

 



The newcomers here are...
The white blob on the bottom is cookie dough from Chockolawtay.  I halved the recipe, skipped the protein powder, butter extract, coconut extract, rice flour, and vanilla paste.  I added vanilla extract and rum extract, and used baking blend stevia for the sweetener.  Big hit!
The chocolate to the right of the cookie dough is red velvet fudge from Foodie Fiasco.. although, obviously, not so red.  I opted to use banana, and thought these also turned out excellent.  Zapping in the microwave is not optional, trust me.
On the veeery right of my plate was some banana-pistachio bread.  Yuuum!  Straight from Boy and the Rabbit, only I skipped the frosting and added the pistachios straight into the bread.  Hey, that worked too...
The cookies on the left are pumpkin oatmeal.  I wasn't too impressed with them - rather flavourless, actually.

What's Up In My Kitchen - Recipe Round-Up (Finally!)

Ok, go glance at this article.  It will make you smile.

Blended chia pudding: if you don't like the texture of chia pudding, just blend it!  Makes all of the lumps go away, and it has the texture of yogurt.  Here, topped with piles of granola.

 

Made a batch of tofu feta.  Only this stuff is better than your normal tofu feta, because it's a LOT firmer.  Changes: 1/3 cup agar flakes, 3 tbsp olive oil (I ran out).  Wow, this stuff was good on a salad!

 

Pancakes... Mmmm... Sans frosting and raisins (which I left out and added a few pepitas), these make 2 292 calorie servings.  And the servings are HUGE!  I wanted to make the frosting, but forgot to chill my can of coconut cream... :(

 

 

 

Roasted Veggie Salsa - my first shot at homemade salsa.  I would recommend using less lime juice, but otherwise I loved this recipe.  Oh, and I used hatch chilis instead of jalapenos.  Because I have ALWAYS wanted to use those things...

 

Quinoa/Adzuki bacon.  Dang, this stuff smelled SO good in the oven.  Changed: cooked the beans, cooked up 1/3 cup quinoa to replace the buckwheat, Italian seasoning instead of thyme, and no oil.  It was a bit crumbly, but that was OK by me.

 

As for lunches... well, I've made a wrap with peaches, basil, lettuce, avocado, and sugar free blackberry jelly - yum!  Lots of fruit!

 

 

 

My other wrap has been peaches (can you tell I like peaches?) with the tofu feta, bacon, lettuce, and avocado.  Again, yum!  (adapted from Iowa Girl Eats)

 

 

 

Another new b-fast food: banana bread in a bowl.  Blendm, let sit for 45 minutes or so, and it's like ice-cream for breakfast.  Did I mention you should top it with chocolate (which turned out very good, by the way!)

 

 

 

 Salad dressing!  Good for using up a surplus of basil... Fat free and creamy basil blast for your salad!

 

And, finally, 100% whole wheat strawberry pepita muffins (adapted from Chocolate and Carrots)!  Mix:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup pepitas

1/2 tbsp cinnamon

1/4 cup stevia baking blend

1 cup almond milk

1 tbsp apple cider or white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup chopped frozen strawberries

 

Pour into muffin tins and bake (I have only a mini muffin pan - this made 24 muffins, 250 calories for 7 muffins.  Bake for about 17 minutes for mini muffins, probably 27 for regular)

 

 

Saturday Dessert Plate

 Chocolate-filled Cookie Dough Truffles.  So, basically, for the chocolate part, mix up one batch of Foodie Fiasco's coconut butter, and use that in CCK's home made chocolate.  You'll have a bit leftover, but I'm thinking that this would be a good low-cal replacement for chocolate chips.  Then make the batter for these cookie dough truffles, using PB2 instead of peanutbutter, and stevia + molasses for the brown sugar (next time I would probably double the stevia, and throw in some cinnamon).  Leave out the chocolate chips, and add in 1-3 tbsp water to make a workable dough.  Wrap little squares of the dough around teensy balls of the chocolate, and refridgerate.  Done!

Blackberry cookies, adapted from Chocolawty.  They had a really pretty colour, and a nice, suttle blackberry flavour.  (I couldn't find stevia-sweetened blueberry jelly, so I bought blackberry instead... close enough!).  The only changes were halving the recipe,  using applesauce instead of oil, and using lemon zest in place of extract.

Made these peppermint patties... oh, HEAVEN!  It's been too long since I've had peppermint... Changes were using reduced fat coconut shreds instead of coconut butter (although I FINALLY broke down and bought coconut oil.  Dang, that stuff is expensive!), and using sugar free maple syrup.

 

Chocolate, Vanilla, and Brownie Pudding Pie.  Yes.  I used Chocolate Covered Katie's brownies, with dark chocolate cocoa powder for the brownies.  The only changes were halving the recipe, using stevia in place of sugar, and dark chocolate cocoa powder + extra soy milk instead of chocolate chips.  Even M, who doesn't like most of my desserts, LOVED this pie!

Lemon squares.  Not too good.... too much lemon, and a weird texture. :(

And, lastly, I finally made a variation on banana-fro yo (adapted from HHL).  It was 1/2 frozen banana + a scant cup frozen pineapple.  Yum!

Saturday Dessert Plate #3

Allllright... newcomers would include failed fudge.  Obviously, I won't be posting THAT recipe..

(the white blobs are the cookie dough.  Sorry about that, I was just too tired to fiddle with it.)

But non-fail pb-oatmeal cookies from Chocolawty!  Dang, I LOVE that women.  She's amazing at creating healthy desserts.  And you really can't go wrong with peanutbutter and oatmeal!  Changes:

made a half batch

used corn starch

subbed applesauce for the coconut oil

used PB2

used half baking stevia and half stevia extract in place of the erythritol

Saturday Dessert Plate #2

I think I'll start posting this every Sunday.  Some things remain the same, and some change!
See last time's plate here.

Newcomers and updates:

The candied almonds were completely frozen this time, and the texture was much better.  The taste is still somewhat off, but that *might* be remedied next week... stay tuned!
Made some orange cardamom mousse!  It's not that hard... really.  Chuck into a vitamix: 1 small peeled orange, ~8 oz tofu (I used half silken and half firm because that's what was readily available), 1/2 tsp cardamom powder, a small splash of almond milk, ~1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup, ~3 tbsp stevia (might want to add more, it could have been sweeter), and 3 tbsp cocoa powder.  Blend until smooth - and further.  The texture of this was great, with the help of Mr. V!  Just slightly puffy....  Recipe adapted from Oh My Veggies.
No-bake chocolate-PB balls!  The texture was a bit odd - still needs some work.  But the flavour was all there.  Mix together 2 tbsp brown rice flour (might go with oat flour, or straight up oatmeal, next time), 2 tbsp almond meal, 1  scant tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tbsp stevia  (would add more next time), a heaping tbsp PB2, and enough sugar free maple syrup to make a dough-like substance.  Chill until firm.  Recipe adapted from Chocolawty.

What's Up Wednesday #5

Lemon poppy seed oatmeal!  Again using this bottomless oatmeal recipe, and adapting the flavouring from The Oatmeal Artist.  Notes on the oatmeal: You have to let this stuff simmer for about 2 hours - as long as possible, really.  The idea is to force the grains to absorb as much water as possible.  Also, leave the lid on your pot - this will keep the water in, and force it to be absorbed.  The more liquid that escapes, the smaller the portion!  However, I have ended up having to leave the lid off for a few minutes right before I eat the oatmeal, in order to not have it SO liquidy.  To the oats I added: juice of 1 lemon, a bit less than 1/2 mashed banana, ~2 tsp poppy seeds, ~1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup, ~3 tbsp baking stevia, and ~ 2 tsp cinnamon.

More oatmeal (again, using the bottomless oats recipe), this time with CHOCOLATE!  Yay, giant bowl of chocolate [oats] in my tummy right now!  Basically, I added 1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder, a few hazlenuts, and a whole pile of stevia, adapted from Chocolawty.  Uh, YUM!  (You know, this really makes me think that I need to get some stevia extract.  All of this powdered stevia is getting a bit overwhelming... )

Attempted, and HATED, this cereal.  Erm... wow, epic fail, right there, guys!

I started a new anime - Soul Eater.  Boy, I am SUCH an anime freak.

My computer totally got infected with a virus on Friday, and I spent all Friday and the better part of Saturday babying the poor thing.  Luckily, M and I were able to fix it, and all is well now... I hope!

Guess what!  Home made lemonade: 1/2 lemon to 1 cup water, and stevia to taste.  YUM!  It's so easy, why haven't I tried this before?

Dessert Plate

Yes, I really did eat all of this.  No, I'm not fat ;)

So, I suppose you want to know what was on my plate of decadence!  (BTW: I work out for 2 hours every Saturday, so I eat dessert.  It all comes out a wash, you know?)

Going from left to right, top to bottom:

1) A PB pretzel bar

2) Single serving pb cookies from Foodie Fiasco (using PB2, and baking - I think microwaved things taste funny)

3) Home made candied almonds.  A work in progress, definately, but here's what I did (adapted from VegWeb).  In a small pot over medium heat, combine 2/3 cup water, 3/4 cup stevia, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1 tsp guar gum.  Bring to a boil-ish and add ~1/2 cup almonds.  Keep stirring, and the mixture will caramelize/reduce, and become more of a coating for the almonds.  At this point I stopped, dumped the almonds onto wax paper coated with nonstick spray, and cooled them.  Next time I will try baking them and see if the coating hardens up.

4) (next row) Lemon pistachio rice crispie bar from Chocolawty!  Woooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww!  These babies are amazing!  The lemon and pistachio is such a genious combination.  Changes: halved the recipe, used lemon zest in place of lemon extract, used sugar free maple syrup in place of rice syrup, pulverized pistachios in my Vitamix for the pistachio butter, used powdered stevia in place of stevia extract, skipped the protein powder (I might have used another flour in it's place, but I can't remember), subbed stevia + soy milk for the honey, used shredded coconut in place of the coconut oil, and skipped the jam (forgot it, actually).

Wow, that was a LOT! ;)

5) Cookie dough from Chocolawty!  This stuff is made with chickpeas.  I FINALLY got up my courage to make a dessert with chickpeas... and I won't lie, you can kind of tell it's not your normal flour and butter.  But that does NOT mean it tastes bad - it's just different.  I will totally be having more chickpea desserts in the future - they're good, in their own right.  Surprisingly good, really.  Changes: halved recipe, stevia + molasses for the brown sugar, used straight up almonds in place of almond butter, and used more stevia in place of the stevia extract.

6) PB pretzel nuggets, store bought goodness.  I REALLY can't get enough of these things.

7) Home made chocolate covered almonds.  You melt chocolate chips in the microwave and dip your almonds in there.  Hm... sounds hard! ;)  Hey, it just struck me, I should do double dipped almonds next time... they WERE a bit skimpy on the chocolate!

AAAAAAAANNNNNND...

8) Whew!  Ok, so I have redesigned these Chocolate PB Pretzel Sandwiches.  You mix PB2, stevia, and soy milk to form a paste, sandwich that between pretzels, and smother it in melted chocolate.  MUCH healthier, and I can now make just the right amount for me! 

What's Up Wednesday #3

Hm... first time making almond cheese!  I made a lightened up version by Healthy Hipster (using lemon juice instead of lime, Italian seasoning in place of curry powder, and sweet potato), and put it on this pizza!  It was pretty good - obviously, not EXACTLY like cheese, but it had an excellent flavour.  I was highly pleased.

Made a single serving chocolate cake from CCK for my b-day!  It was alright, but I think I'm not a HUGE fan of baking in the microwave.  Things just don't turn out as well.  But I made her Reeses Pieces frosting (using sugar free syrup, and PB2), and that was super yum - I ended up just dipping my cake in it.  You have NO idea how long it's been since I had cake with frosting - it was such a treat!

Speaking of my birthday, lookie at what M got me.

I AM NOW THE PROUD OWNER OF A VITAMIX!

That's right... be jealous.  I can't wait to play with my new toy! Squee!!

And oatmeal continues to pour out of my kitchen.  Not literally.  But I did make bottomless oats again, this time Banana Bread flavoured (using maple syrup instead of molasses, and using 1/3 of a banana).  I have found that the oats are best simmered really low with the lid on the pot for about 1 1/2 hours - then they get nice and thick, and no liquid is gone - hence, more food ;) !

(lots of pictures!)

And, I made Chai Oatmeal with the bottomless oats - nixing the fennel, and adding maple syrup, using pre-ground spices, and Foodie Fiasco's low cal cookie butter