Lactation Cookies For Everybody

Check out my other blog Vegan Babymama for the story behind why I made those cookies. And two things before I get to the recipe. First, I know it says cookies but I made bars. When you have a 4 month old baby, you don't have time to be scooping out dough and baking one batch at a time. So I spread all the dough out into a pan quickly and pop it in the oven on a cooking timer so the oven would shut off when it's done. That way I could nurse Jack and not worry about anything burning. But if you have the time, these do make wonderful cookies, so by all means scoop away. Second, these cookies are not just for nursing moms. They will not make you lactate if you aren't already. I'm referring the men who reading this, seriously? You don't have functioning mammary glands! They are normal ingredients and the cookies taste great. My husband as stolen a few cookies and loves them. But if you lactating, some of these ingredients are lactrogenic, meaning they have been known to increase your milk supply. The oatmeal, flax seed, brewer's yeast, walnuts, and whole wheat flour in this recipe are all lactrogenic.

This recipe is based on these two recipes I found on Pinterest: Lactation Cookie Bars and Lactation Cookies for Nursing Moms. 

Lactation Cookies

1 cup vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)

1.5 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1 cup hot water

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups rolled oats

2 heaping tbs brewer's yeast

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (make sure they are dairy-free)

pinch of salt

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Pre-heat the oven to 350 and spray a baking pan with cooking spray. I used a 9 x 9 ceramic. 

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. 

In a small bowl, add the ground flax seed and hot water. Let it sit for 5 minutes. 

Add the flax seed mixture to the butter mixture. Mix well (though it will be very sloppy). 

Add the flour, rolled oats, brewer's yeast and baking soda the bowl. Mix well. 

Stir in the chocolate chips and salt. 

Stir in the coconut and walnuts, if using. 

Spread evenly into the baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. They are done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Note to self: Take pic before you take a piece,
despite how amazing it smells.

These cookies really are for everyone. Don't let the title scare you away. They are high in fiber and contains good fats. Plus they are very tasty. I really suggest either the coconut or walnuts, or both! And this is a wonderful treat for nursing momma. You earned it, taking care of a baby is hard! 

Chocolate Pie

Last year I did a post in honor of my grandmother's passing. Sadly, this post is for my grandpa. A few week ago he had a two strokes that he could not recover from and passed on. So needless to say these past few weeks have been very emotional. I am so happy to be bonding with my newborn son, but sad to lose my grandfather.

Like I said with my grandma's passing, the best way I can honor his memory is to live a long healthy life. And now I need to teach Jack how to live a long life too. I need to teach him about food and cooking so he can have every advantage for his health.

My grandpa loved chocolate pie. The kind you make with Jell-O pudding. When I was little I made him one, but I accidently burnt the milk. It tasted awful, no one else wanted to eat it. However, he happily ate it. Claimed it tasted like coffee. I don't know if it was his love for chocolate pie or his love for me, but it made me happy to see him eat it. I think that was how I discovered my love for cooking for others.

So in honor of my him, I decided to make a healthier vegan version of his favorite dessert.While the pudding mix itself is vegan, it requires milk--and it will not firm up with soymilk. So I had to go a different route. I essentially made my Chocolate Mousse recipe into a pie. Pretty easy, no baking required. And tons of protein and antioxidants.

 Chocolate Pie
1 block silken tofu
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1 graham cracker crust (find one without honey)

Drain the tofu, but do not squeeze or blot totally dry.

I used my NutriBullet, but a blender or food processor works. Blend the tofu until smooth.

Place the chocolate chips in a small bowl and microwave for 20 seconds. Stir well. Repeat at 5 second intervals until it is all melted and smooth.

Add the melted chocolate, cocoa powder, and coconut sugar to the tofu. Blend until all combined.

Pour the tofu mixture into the pie crust and smooth out the top.

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours to firm up.

My mom bought this stuff called PB2, which if you like peanut butter, tastes great on sprinkled on top. I have to admit, it took me a few days to want to eat the pie because it made me sad to realize my grandpa is really gone. But once I did, it made me smile. He would have loved it---very chocolatey and smooth. Once Jack can have solid food, I will make this for him and tell him all about his great grandparents.

Insanely Moist Carrot Cake

First off, I have some exciting news! I had my baby! Jack was born two weeks ago and he is perfect. Check out my other blog for his full birth story. 

My mom came for a month to help take care of us---for which I am insanely grateful. She left today and I wish she could come back already. She took care of all the cooking so I apologize for not having any new recipes lately. However, she made me an awesome treat for Easter that I wanted to share.

Carrot cake will always remind me of my grandmother. No one else in my family likes carrot cake but me, so she only made it when I was visiting. Sweet carrots, rich cream cheese frosting, and the smile on her face when I took the first bite. Such happy memories. Then my mom burst my bubble few years ago and told me she used a box mix. Oh well, I still cherish those memories. At least she would doctor it up with extra carrots, walnuts, and raisins.

So I asked my mom if she would make me a carrot cake for Easter. She also used a box mix but doctored it up. Now, no offense to late grandmother, but my mom's cake was AMAZING. Light but insanely moist. Just the right amount of sweetness with light creamy frosting. 

This recipe makes one sheet cake. Because this cake is vegan and does not have eggs, it will not rise significantly. As a result, I would not suggest making this into a layer cake. 

Carrot Cake

Cake

1 box carrot cake mix (check to make sure it is vegan)

1/4 cup applesauce

1 can crushed pineapple in juice

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Frosting

1 container of vegan cream cheese 

1 cup powder sugar 

Pre-heat the oven to temperature for a sheet cake as specified on the box. 

Spray a baking sheet pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together all the cake ingredients. Use the whole can of pineapple, juice included. 

Bake according the the directions on the box. However, since there are no eggs it may take a bit longer. Adjust the time as needed. Like a regular cake, a toothpick inserted in the middle should be clean when removed.

Once the cake is cooled, make the frosting. Mix together the cream cheese and powder sugar. It will just be a light frosting/glaze. 

Spread on the cake and let it set. 

It's so insanely moist, I love it. Maybe Jack will take after me and love carrot cake too. Maybe he can have happy memories eating it with his grandma too. And maybe you can bake up this treat and make memories of your own.

Homemade Applesauce

This recipe to accompany my last post, Vegan Potato Pancakes. Applesauce is soooo easy to make. And it tastes so much better fresh. I used Golden Delicious apples because they are my favorite, but any red apple will do. I also don't use that much sugar because I honestly don't think it needs it. Apples are sweet enough as it is, just a little bit more sugar makes it a treat.

This recipe makes 4 servings, but can be easily multiplied to make more.

Applesauce

6 red apples (I used Golden Delicious)

1 cup water

2 tbs of sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Peel the apples and cut the fruit off the core. Chop the apples. Don't worry too much about size and evenness at this point, just get them smaller.

Put the apple pieces and all remaining ingredients in a pot. 

Bring it to a boil, reduce to a simmer then cover.

Cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook until the apples are so tender you can't even stab them with a fork without them falling apart. 

Remove from the heat and let it cool completely.

You can leave it this if you want it really chunky. For smoother sauce, pulse it in the blender for minute. I left a few chunks in mine.

Serve it as side dish, a snack, or even dessert!

Gender Reveal: Blueberry Cake

I actually meant to post this like two weeks ago, but life happens (sorry). Anyways, we had the anatomy ultrasound at 19 weeks (I am 21 week now). The baby is looked all healthy, developing correctly, and heartbeat was great. We also found out the gender....we are having a boy! We were hoping for a boy too!

Everyone was betting it was girl, but I had a feeling all along it was my sweet little prince. We decided on the name Jack pretty early on. It is male version of my mom's name and the name of my father-in-law's best friend who passed away.  Both our families are very excited too. He is gonna be one very well-loved baby.

So I decided to make a blueberry cake as my gender reveal announcement. I see the ones where people dye cakes half pink and half blue then cut the corresponding color, but I did not want to eat all the artificial dye. Same with the putting blue or pink candy on the inside of a white cake, but again, I didn't want to eat a bunch of junk.

I did use a both cake mix for this,  I just looked for a one that was vegan and no high fructose corn syrup. I don't mind using box mixes on occasion and using healthier ingredients to prepare them.

If you were having a girl, you could make this was strawberries or raspberries instead to make it pink. For a gender reveal party, you could frost the cake with white icing then cut into it reveal the berry color. Or if you could just invite people over for dinner and serve the cake without saying anything, and wait till someone asks why a blueberry cake.


Blueberry Cake
Cake:
2 ripe bananas
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 melted coconut oil
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 box yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
1 cup frozen blueberries
Optional glaze:
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 tbs lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Grease desired baking pan with a small amount coconut oil. I used a 13x9 dark metal pan.

In a large bowl, mash the bananas.

Add the cinnamon, coconut oil, and milk. Mix together well.

Add the oatmeal and cake mix. Mix together until it all the flour is incorporated.

Stir in the blueberries.

Pour into your baking pan and smooth out evenly.

I baked for 28 minutes, but you may need to adjust the time for different pan sizes. It is done when the center is firm to touch and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let it cool completely. If you want frost or decorate it differently, then go right ahead. If you want to make the glaze I did...

Add the blueberries, sugar, water and lemon juice into a small pot and bring to boil.

Reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, until some of the liquid has evaporated and the berries are soft.

Let it cool to room temperature.

Pour evenly over the top of the cooled cake.

Now you a healthier blue cake to celebrate your baby boy (or girl if you do strawberries)!

Wedding Reception and Wholesome Chow Cake

Allen Armstrong Photography

In my last post I talked about our wedding. The only guests were my parents and Michael's Aunt and Uncle---only because I just wanted something simple.  However, the following Saturday we had a luau party at our home. It was a lot of fun and it wonderful to celebrate with the rest of our friends and family. I will post recipes from the BBQ in the next post.

For this post, I will talk about the amazing cake my best friend Amanda made for me (she may be the antagonist of the sushi post story...). Since I usurped her of maid of honor duties by running off to Vegas, I asked if she would make a small cake for Michael and I to cut at the Luau. And of course I requested it be vegan.

She worked at a bakery before, but is not too familiar was vegan baking. So she turned to mix---but not just any mix. Like me, she does not believe in all artificial junk and chemicals that come in most processed foods. She used Wholesome Chow, a certified organic and non-GMO company. It specializes in gluten-free, vegan, and allergen-free baking mixes.

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Amanda made a two-layer round cake, using the Organic Vanilla Cake Mix and Organic Chocolate Cake Mix (each layer was a different flavor). She added soy milk and Earth Balance Original Buttery Spread.

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The mixes came out well, but did not rise as much as she hoped. I forgot to tell her that vegan cakes never will rise as much as traditional cakes. I should have told her to use the Earth Balance Baking Buttery Sticks and to whip more air in than normal (without over mixing the batter), makes the cake a little more fluffy.

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She frosted with the Organic Vanilla Frosting Mix, once again adding Earth Balance. Then she decorated with brown sugar to make it look like sand and used our kissing Hawaiian salt and pepper shakers as the cake toppers.

IT WAS SO CUTE!!! You did an amazing job Amanda and I am very thankful to have you in my life (and not just for your baking skills).

By the way, this cake is even better when you get to shove it in your husband's face! Hahaha...

I am going to try other products from Wholesome Chow now....thinking maybe the Organic Chocolate Lavender Cake Mix would be cute for a baby shower and some Organic Hi-Protein Pancake Mix would be great after a morning hike.

Vegas Wedding and Dinner at Scarpetta

 

So,  we got married in Las Vegas!


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I chose the Las Vegas Wedding because I liked their packages and options. I wanted something easy, quick, and simple. I wanted our love to be focus the ceremony. I honestly have no complaints with this chapel at all. I would like to warn this is quick, in-and-out, no frills place. If you want the long, elaborate, personalized ceremony then this place is not for you. Our ceremony was still beautiful and we got great customer service nonetheless.

Afterwards my dad took amazing photos of us on the strip.

 

It was SO much fun! Everyone was saying congrats and giving us high fives.

But seriously, look at  how great these photos are? My dad is very talented. Thank you so much Papa!

 

Then we had dinner at Scarpetta in the Cosmopolitan. We had a table with an amazing view of the Bellagio fountains.  The service and the food were AMAZING! 

To start, I got the Heirloom Tomato Salad. Fresh heirloom tomatoes, olives, marinated eggplant and good olive oil. Michael just ate the cheese for me. Then I had the Spaghetti, which was seriously the best pasta I have ever had. Homemade pasta with simple red sauce with tons of fresh basil.

Then for dessert Michael and I shared Amedei Chocolate Cake (it was not vegan, but like I have said before, you have to be reasonable sometimes). Not only was it so delicious I cannot even think of a word to describe it, they wrote "Congratulations" on our plate!

I seriously recommend this place to everybody. We are going to come back  to Vegas for our anniversary next year, and I already know I want to eat here again. Check out the rest of the menu here.

Thank you Mom and Dad for making your princess feel like a real princess! And thank you Michael for being such an amazing man, I am so happy to spend the rest of my life with you.

Coconut Brownies

I felt patriotic and nice last week, so I made brownies for Independence Day. Michael requested brownies, so I decided to make a big batch and take half to work. To make them patriotic, I decided on red and blue sprinkles, mainly because I already had some at home. For the white, I decided against doing plain frosting. It was just too traditional and boring. I decided on shredded coconut instead, since I was already using coconut oil in the batter. Might as well just keep the same flavors going. 

I used box mix for this, mainly because it was just easier. Vegan box mixes are not that hard to find, just read the ingredients. I do not eat processed and packaged foods that often, but a treat once in awhile is always nice. 

I made double batch, but you can always just half the recipe and make one.

Coconut Brownies

2 boxes of chewy brownie mix (I used Duncan Hines) 

1/3 cup coconut oil

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tsp cornstarch 

1.5 cups vanilla soy milk

1 can of chocolate frosting (I used Duncan Hines)

2 cups shredded sweetened coconut

Red sprinkles

Blue Sprinkles

Pre-heat the oven according to the temperature on the box. 

Spray a baking pan (I used a 9x11) with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine brownie mix, coconut oil, applesauce, cornstarch, and soy milk. Stir until smooth. 

Pour the batter into the baking sheet and cook according to the directions on the package. 

Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Once cool, spread on the frosting in a light layer. No need to make it fancy, it's just there to make the coconut shreds stay. 

Cover the frosting with the shredded coconut, covering up as much of the brown as possible.

Next sprinkle on some red and blue sprinkles. 

Now you have a patriotic treat!

Michael and my coworkers liked them, yeah! And, if you change the sprinkle colors, they could be for any holiday. Red and green for Christmas. Yellow, pink, and purple for Easter. Purple, gold, and green for Mardi Gras. Black and Orange for Halloween. In your favorite teams colors for the Superbowl or the World Series too. Of what chromatic fun!

Vanilla Apple Pie

What does a nerd do when it is her day off and Pi Day? Make a Pie to celebrate!

Speaking of work, you may have noticed that I have not been posting as much lately. I got a new job, and it is great but very busy. I will get better about posting as I settle in more. Michael started a new job too, so I decided to make us both something special tonight for all our hard work.

I thought a pie for Pi Day would be nice, but a giant pie for the two of us is just impractical. So I made two mini pies. Michael requested chocolate or apple pie, and I went with apple because it is easier to make.  My parents went on a trip to Mexico a few weeks ago, and my mom send me some Mexican vanilla extract, and I have been wanting to use it all week.  I thought it would be a nice addition to classic apple pie.

Vanilla Apple Pie
1 pie crust, frozen or homemade (I used frozen)
4 Fuji apples, pealed and cubed
1.5  tbs vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tbs cornstarch
Pinch of salt



If using frozen pie crust, let it thaw first.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray two small ramekins with cooking spray.

Roll out the pie crust on a well floured surface. Cut circles out of the pie crust that are a half inch larger than the radius of the ramekin. It's okay if they are not perfectly round and there should be left over crust pieces.

Press the crust circles into the ramekins, reshaping them to fix it if need be. Make sure you press them in firmly and seal the edges as best you can.

In a small bowl, mix together the cubed apples, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, and salt. Taste and adjust as necessary to your tastes.





Fill each ramekin with half of the mixture. They should be filled to the very full.

Take the remaining crust pieces and shape them into two circles large enough to cover the top of the ramekins with some overlap.

Now cover the ramekins with the pie crusts and seal the edges firmly. I crimped the edges with a fork to  make sure it seals properly and to make it look pretty.

Cut a small X on the top.

Sprinkle the crust with a little extra sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes, until the crust is golden and the filling starts to bubble up.

Let cool and enjoy a piece of 3.14159265....that's as far as I know off the top of my head!

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

Finally, my last Thanksgiving 2012 recipe: chocolate pumpkin pie. This was actually a big hit with all the non-vegans on Thanksgiving too. It's got more protein from the tofu. Plus it has less fat and no cholesterol.

And once again, I forgot to take a picture of the whole pie. I remembered half way through eating my piece. When I went back to take some, it was already half gone.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie
1 16 oz can of pumpkin
1/2 block of silken tofu, drained
2 tbs of coco powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup of soy milk
2 tbs of maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 graham cracker crust (store bought or homemade is fine)

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Place all the ingredients into a food processor or blender, and blend until smooth.

Pour into the graham cracker crust.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the center is firm.

Top with some vegan whip cream or my favorite, coconut cream.

Cinnamon Rolls

Guess what classic American product is vegan? Bisquick! Now, I don't bake sweets often and I don't use box mixes often, but I wanted cinnamon rolls this morning (and Michael was pretty happy when I woke him up and said I was making them). Of course I made a healthier version not loaded with all the sugar and butter. I just altered the biscuit recipe on the Bisquick box. They are easy to make and a nice treat once in awhile.

This recipe makes 6-8 rolls.

Cinnamon Rolls
2 and 1/4 cups Bisquick
2/3 cup soy milk
1 tbs agave
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs sugar
1/4 cup powder sugar
Soy milk




Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together the Bisquick, soy milk, and agave. Once it becomes a ball of dough, place on a floured surface.

Knead just until it comes together.

Roll into a 1/2 thick rectangle.

In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and sugar.

Spread the cinnamon and sugar mixture evenly on top of the dough rectangle.

Carefully, starting with the end closest to you, roll the dough over into a tube.

Cut into 6 to 8 equal pieces and place on the baking sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until slightly golden.

In another small bowl, add the powdered sugar and just enough soy milk to make a runny icing.








Drizzle the icing onto the rolls while they are still warm.

A lovely treat for lovely lazy Sunday morning.

Beer Floats

Michael and I have been dating for one month now, and for a girl whose been single for awhile I was very excited about it. So, I thought we should celebrate a little. He took me out to sushi (because he was one of the people involved in my sushi post story and we still laugh about it) and I made him a desert that is sure to please any man: beer floats. It's just like a root beer float, but with beer! Get your favorite ice cream and pour in your favorite dark beer, it's that simple. We kept them simple, but you can top with anything you like---whip cream, chocolate sauce, nuts, cherries & etc.

Michael had real dairy chocolate ice cream and Rogue's Morimoto Hazelnut Signature Ale. I had So Delicious Coconut Milk ice cream and Rogue's Chocolate Stout. I didn't try Michael's obviously, but mine was sooooooo good. I am so making these again soon.

I could post an exact recipe for this, but I am pretty sure you can figure it out :-)

Sugar Cookies

I am sorry I haven't posted in awhile. If you follow me on twitter, you know that I was in a car accident. I am fine, just a concussion and whiplash, but sadly my car was totaled. What pisses me off the most was I was not doing anything bad---not speeding, playing with my phone, or goofing around at all. The car just started spinning out of control and I crashed. That aside, it could have been a lot worse so I am glad that I only have minor injuries. But, crashing your car the weekend before finals does not leave a lot of time to cook yummy food, so please forgive my absence.

Baking with a neck brace, so sexy. Thanks to my
 wonderful friend Joely for the apron, I smiled for the
 first time all week when I opened my package.

I wanna help mama.

Anyways, it's only a few days before Christmas so it's cookie time! I love decorating cookies with my family, I've done it since I was a little girl and plan on doing it every christmas to come. I decided to decorate cookies anyways this year even though I am by myself, it would not be christmas without them! Plus I was not totally alone, Penny tried to jump on the table 3 times while I was decorating them.

I planned on making cookies from scratch, but after spending 4 days in muscle relaxer coma on the couch,  I did not feel like doing all that work. So, I decided to go with a package mix. Like I said before, proceeded foods should be eaten in moderation and very rarely. A few cookies for the holidays is fine. I am keeping a couple for myself and taking the rest to work for everyone to share.

I used the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix. I substituted vegan shortening for the butter and soy milk for the egg. Although it does not say to do so on the package, I refrigerated the dough over night like normal sugar cookie dough. This really makes rolling out and cutting the dough easier. However, I needed a lot of flour to prevent the dough from sticking. This is a common complaint I found on the reviews for this mix. The cookies tasted good in the end, but the dough puff up more than I would have liked. Overall, if you want cheap and easy sugar cookies, this mix is just fine. But it's nothing special, homemade from scratch are better.

I made a double batch so I used two packages. Half this recipe for a single batch.

Sorry I did not take pictures of the whole process, I made the dough last night when I got off work and was I too tired.

Sugar Cookies
2 packages of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix
2 stick of vegan shortening (I used Earth Balance), softened
1/2 cup soy milk







In a large bowl,  mix together all the ingredients until. Make sure all the shortening is worked in and there are no lumps.

Spray some plastic wrap with cooking spray. Form the dough into a ball and cover with the plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

On a clean, well floured surface, divided the chill dough into quarters. Work with one quarter at a time and put the rest back in the fridge.

Roll the dough to desired thickness and cut out your cookies with festive cookies cutters.

Bake for 7 to 9 minutes. The edges will be slightly golden and the inside still white.

Let them cool on the baking sheet for a minute then remove and let them cool completely.




Then decorate them as desired. I used sparkle gel icing and basic Christmas sprinkles.

Every year I make a Shaun White sugar cookie because he is my favorite snowboarder.

Shaun White cookie!

I also made a bloody car crash victim person, because that's just the kind of girl I am :-)

Car crash cookie. There was no blood in my
 accident but that is not as fun to decorate.

I am feeling better so I should be back to my normal blogging soon. Look out for my Thai feast Christmas Eve dinner....