Michelle’s Low GL Cornmeal Pancakes

• 2 cups ground cornmeal
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 tsp unrefined real salt (or 2 tsp regular salt)
• 2 eggs (or egg substitute)
• 1 Tbsp agave nectar (or about 2 Tbsp regular sugar)
• 4 Tbsp margarine, melted
• 1 cup soy/almond/rice/hemp milk (or regular milk)
• 1 cup stoneground whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Fresh or frozen berries or fruit
• agave nectar (or sugar)

1. In a bowl, mix together cornmeal and salt.
2. Add boiling water, stir together, and let stand for 10 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl, beat together beat, sugar, margarine, and milk.
4. Add to cornmeal mixture.
5. Sift together flour and baking powder and add to batter, mixing lightly.
6. Cook pancakes on a 300 degree heated griddle, spreading out the batter each time you put in on the griddle. Brown lightly on both sides.
7. Fruit Topping: Combine frozen or fresh fruit with a little bit of agave nectar (or sugar) and heat until warm through.  Spread over pancakes.

I divided the batter into separate bowls, and added some food coloring to a little bit for the kiddos.  Spunky loved these so much that she ate EIGHT pancakes!

Delicious Vegan Gingerbread Cookies!

Ingredients

• ½ cup oil
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup molasses
• ¼ cup plain soymilk
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon each ground nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger

Directions
1. In a large bowl beat together oil and sugar for about 3 minutes.  Add molasses and soymilk.

2. In a separate bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches. Mix together with a firm spoon or spatula until well combined.

4. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour or up to 3 days in advance.

5. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease your cookie sheets.

6. On a floured surface roll you dough out to a little less than 1/4 inch thick (it is a bit crumbly).

7. Cut out your shapes with your cookie cutters and gently place on cookie sheets.

8. Bake for 8 minutes.

9. Remove from oven and let them cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet then move to a cooling rack.

10. Wait until they are completely cool before icing.  (Icing: powdered sugar and water)

These cookies are very soft and delicious.

I was skeptical at first when I saw how crumbly the dough was, but they turned out great!

• 1 box cake mix (I used devils food)
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I used baking chocolate chopped up)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Ingredients

• 1 cup of regular organic sugar
• 1/2 of a cup of turbinado sugar
• slightly less than 1/3 of a cup of oil
• 3 Tbsp of water

• 1 1/2 teaspoons of good vanilla extract
• 1  mashed banana
• 1/4 cup organic applesauce

• 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 of a teaspoon of salt

• 2 cups of oats

• 2.5 ounces of baking chocolate, crushed/chopped (I use Green and Black’s Organic Baking Chocolate)

Directions:

• Mix the sugars, oil, and water.  Add the vanilla, banana, and applesauce.
• Then mix together the cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, baking soda, and salt.
• Combine the wet and dry ingredients.
• Stir in the oats.  If it is too thin, let stand a bit so the oats can absorb the excess liquid.  Or if it is too dry, at a little bit more water.
• Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls on to greased cookie shhets
• Bake at 350 degrees F for 13 minutes.  Let them sit a bit before you take them off the cookie sheet.

Michelle’s Super Substituted Banana Bread

Mix together in large bowl:

• 2 cups of organic whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking power
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• pinch of salt

Combine in small bowl:

• 2 Tbsp organic milled flax seed
• 6 Tbsp water

Then add to the small bowl:

• 5 very ripe brown bananas
• nearly 1 cup of natural organic sugar
• 1/2 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
• if you like nuts, add 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Pour the contents of the small bowl into the larger one and mix thoroughly.

Pour into a greased 9×13 pan and sprinkle about 2 Tbsp of the flax seed over the top of the loaf.

Bake at 350 F for 60-65 minutes.

While cooling, sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon/sugar over the top of the loaf.

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Other Substitutes To Try in This Recipe

Egg Substitute (each equals 1 egg)

• Ener-G Egg Replacer (you can buy this in most grocery stores)- works well for most things, but NOT packaged brownies mixes.
• 1 Tbsp Milled Flax Seed plus 3 Tbsp water- works great especially with whole wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• half of a banana, mashed
• 2 Tbsp water plus 2 tsp baking powder (1 tsp oil, optional)
• 1/4 cup blended tofu
• 1/4 cup applesauce plus 1 tsp baking powder
  

Oil Substitutes

• Applesauce
• Butter or margarine
  
• Shortening (use 1/4 more)
• Stiffly beaten egg whites
• Just about any fruit puree will work (cook the fruit and then puree in a food processor or blender)
• Soy Lecithin (can be found in health food stores)- I’ve never tried this one

I admit it: I am lazy when it comes to beans.  I only use canned beans.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t buy dried, because I do, I just don’t use them.  They sadly sit in my pantry, gathering dust.  I found this great post at $5 Dinners about the best way to cook dried beans.  I think now that I know a good method, I’ll probably do it more often.  My biggest worry is that my recipes won’t taste the same if I use dried beans.  However, I will no longer be using high-sodium ingredients.  That is a huge benefit.

Here is a quick and easy soup recipe made with canned beans.  Next time I’ll try making it with dried beans and see how it goes.

Michelle’s Souper Easy Black Bean Soup

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced
• 2-4 garlic cloves, pressed
• 3 cans black beans, only one drained
• 1 cup veggie broth
• 1 cup chunky salsa (any variety)
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 can sweet corn, drained
• For some heat: add 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes and 1 tsp cayenne pepper.

Directions:

1. In a large pot, sauté the onions and garlic.
2. Add the beans, broth and salsa, and heat through.
3. Put half of the mixture in a blender and puree, adding the cornstarch while the blender is going.  Return to pot.
4. Add the corn and spices, and heat through.

This is souper easy and very tasty!

Michelle’s Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp.salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 bag mini chocolate chips
1/3 bag peanut butter chips
1 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and put in baking sheets.

In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon. Add chips. Make a well in the center and set aside.

In a medium size bowl mix sugar and oil. Add the vanilla and then add the water. Mix it well.

Add the wet to the well in the dry. Mix it well but be careful not to overwork it.

Spoon onto ungreased cookie sheets and gently flatten with a glass. Put them in the oven.

Bake for 10-12 minutes (you may need to check the bottoms to make sure they are not too brown.)

The cookies are done when they seem a little bit softer then you want them to be. They will harden up some as they cool.

Let them sit on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring them to the racks.

Makes Two Dozen

A P P L E S

After we make our annual trip to the orchard, I will definitely try these out!

Apple Crisp

6 apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon and/or nutmeg
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350°. Arrange apples in well-greased baking dish. Blend all remaining ingredients except water. Spread evenly over top of apples. Pour water over the topping. Bake 45 minutes until apples are tender and top is crisp. Serves 6.

Fried Apples

4 large apples, cored and sliced
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Cut apples into 1/4 inch slices. Heat butter in a large skillet. Put the apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon in the skillet and cover. Over medium-low heat, cook apple slices 7-10 minutes or until they begin to soften and the syrup thickens. Serve coated with excess syrup on top. Serves 4.

The only “trick” is to use applesauce instead of eggs (1.5 tablespoon of applesauce = 1 egg) and soymilk if they call for milk (a lot don’t). Applesauce acts in the same role in getting the right consistency and fluffiness that eggs do…

I highly recommend the red velvet cakes (with cream cheese frosting from Pillsbury, which is accidentally vegan as well)! You can find vegan icings by Pillsbury right next to the Duncan Hines cake mixes! Chocolate, Vanilla, Cream Cheese frostings are all available.

Dairy-Free Duncan Hines Mixes/Products

• Devil’s Food
• Yellow
• Lemon Supreme
• Butter Recipe Golden
• Swiss Chocolate
• Spice
• Fudge Marble
• Pineapple Supreme
• Butter Recipe Fudge
• German Chocolate
• Red Velvet
• Dark Chocolate Fudge

Fresh Lemon Slushy Recipe

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  2 cups water
  3-4 cups of ice

• Mix above ingredients in a blender until the ice is crushed.

• Add sugar to taste (it was at least 2/3 of a cup).

We took the leftover slushy and put it into an ice cube tray with toothpicks to make little ice pops.