Breastfeeding Moms Unite » Dessert

Pecan Squares

Melodie — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 00:41:16 +0000

These have become a yearly Christmas tradition, mainly because I like them better than pecan or butter tarts and this recipe makes so many. I hope you will like them too.

Pastry

2 cups flour (any kind)

1/4 cup organic sugar

1 cup organic butter

2 Tbsp white vinegar

Combine dry ingredients and work in butter with fingers or a pastry cutter. Mix in vinegar and spread dough in a long baking dish, shaping up the sides. Reserve.

Topping

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup organic sugar

2 Tbsp flour (any kind)

2 eggs

3/4 cup heavy cream/evaporated milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans OR 2 cups pecans and 1/4 cup coconut and 1/4 cup raisins.

Combine all ingredients, except the last, to blend. Stir in pecans, and pour into crust. Bake on the oven middle rack at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until the topping is set and the top is caramel coloured. Cool completely before cutting.

Serves lots.

I’m sharing this at 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies at Abby Sweets, Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum, Finer Things Friday at Amy’s Finer Things, Food on Friday at Ann Kroeker, Friday Potluck at EKat’s Kitchen, My Meatless Mondays at My Sweet and Savory, Meatless Mondays at Midnight Maniac, Tasty Tuesday at Who Is Dr. Laura, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop at A Moderate Life, Tuesday Twister at GNOWFGLINS, Tempt My Tummy at Blessed With Grace.

These Are a Few of My Favorite (Christmas) Things

Melodie — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 06:03:53 +0000

The Christmas plaque my oldest daughter made for me when she was in pre-school

Homemade Christmas tree ornaments

The painted cardboard glitter stars (and candy canes) that hang from our living room ceiling

The wooden star made by a friend.

Chocolate Sparkle Cookies

How to Make Chocolate Sparkle Cookies

1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate

3 Tbsp butter

2 eggs

1 Tbsp honey

1/3 cup organic sugar

3/4 cup ground almonds

2 tsp cocoa powder

granulated sugar for rolling

powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in your microwave. Remove from heat. Mix butter to heated chocolate until melted. Beat eggs with a mixer, gradually adding the sugar and honey until the mixture falls in thick, smooth ribbons from the beaters (about ten minutes). Fold in the chocolate-butter mixture.

Stir together the cocoa powder and almonds and gently add to the chocolate mixture. Cover and refridgerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease your cookie sheets or put down parchment paper. Roll balls about 1″ in diameter in granulated sugar. The “dough” will be hard. I had to spoon it out with a heavy spoon and work it with my hands. Place 2″ apart on the cookie sheet.

Bake 12 minutes, until centers are moist but not wet. Cool slightly. Dust with powdered sugar.

Makes 36.

Notes: You could serve this as a warm dessert with whipped cream. You could try using ground hazelnuts instead of almonds.

These are amazing. Rich and delicious. A true treat!

Oops, I forgot one! Natural greenery!

This was almost a Wordless Wednesday post but I couldn’t help but add the recipe. I knew a few of you would want it.

Click the link to read more about my family’s emerging Christmas traditions.

Raw Applesauce Cake With Cinnamon Maple Icing

Melodie — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 03:25:30 +0000

Before we moved to the city I picked all the apples from the little apple tree in our yard. It was its best bounty since we moved there five years earlier. They weren’t ready (it was July) but I just didn’t want them to go to waste since I knew the new owners wouldn’t be moving in right away. Sure enough they were woody and tart and I thought I might have to compost all of them. But I held on to them anyway. Truly, for four months now they’ve been sitting on my porch. Then I got my Vita-Mix and I formed a plan. The other day I washed and cored them and put them through the Vita-Mix. Within a minute they were nothing but brown pulp. It didn’t taste good enough to eat raw but I knew it would be great in a cake, so that’s what I did. I made a raw applesauce cake (or should I say cake made out of raw applesauce?). And boy, is it good! My recipe is adapted from this one.

Raw Applesauce Cake

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup light spelt flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1-1/2 cup unsweetened raw applesauce

1-1/4 cups organic sugar

1/2 cup organic butter

1/2 cup water

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 large pastured eggs

Directions: Cream the sugar and butter. Add vanilla and eggs. Mix well. Add the water and applesauce. In a separate bowl sift together the flours (I love to mix up my flour types), baking soda, baking powder and spices. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together. Pout into a greased 9″ x 13″ pan or two round pans. Bake 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees.

*Note: Make sure you don’t make the same mistake I did and pour it all in one round pan. It took over an hour to cook and my end result was too moist in the centre. See in the photo where the icing fell into a hole in the center? That’s my baking FAIL.

When the cake is cool…

Cinnamon Maple Icing

3 cups icing sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup soft organic butter

1/2 cup real maple syrup

Cream all ingredients and spread on cake.

Enjoy!

This post is taking part in Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly The Kitchen Kop, Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum, Finer Things Friday at Amy’s Finer Things, Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, Food on Friday at Ann Kroeker, Friday Potluck at EKat’s Kitchen, Not Baaad Sundays at Lamb Around, My Meatless Mondays at My Sweet and Savory, Meatless Mondays at Midnight Maniac, Tasty Tuesday at Who Is Dr. Laura, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop at A Moderate Life, Tuesday Twister at GNOWFGLINS, Tempt My Tummy at Blessed With Grace.

Moosewood Apple Crisp

Melodie — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 02:50:30 +0000

My Apple Crisp and a few leftover apples from my tree.

Mollie Katzen is a foodie soul mate of mine. Thank goodness for her Moosewood Cookbook, as I would have never gotten through the early vegetarian foodie years without it. I’ve been making this healthy apple crisp for almost as long as I’ve been a vegetarian! If you know me in real life you’ve probably had this before. Maybe more than once. It had been to potlucks and has graced Thanksgiving and Christmas tables next to my famous Vegan Pumpkin Pie. It doubles as both a dessert and breakfast dish. It is more hearty than it is sweet, and tastes excellent warm or cold, with whipped cream, ice cream, cream or milk. I recently made mine with apples from our new apple tree. They are so good! I swear, untouched, sun ripened, in-your-own-yard apples and other tree fruits are The. Best!

If you don’t already own Moosewood Cookbook, here is the recipe. If you do own it, just go to page 186. I hope your page will soon be as well worn as mine.

Apple Crisp

8-10 medium cooking apples

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup orange juice

juice of one lemon

2 cups raw whole oats

3/4 cup flour (any kind you want)

1/2 cup butter

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp salt (I only use a pinch)

Directions:

Peel (if necessary – I don’t), pare and slice the apples. Drizzle them with fresh lemon juice. Spread half of them into a large oblong pan.

Melt the butter and honey together. Combine with oats, flour, nuts and seeds, salt and spices. Spread 1/2 this mixture (actually crumble, it won’t really spread) onto apples in the pan. Cover with the remaining apples and the rest of the topping. Pour OJ over the top. Bake 40-45 minutes, uncovered, at 375 degrees. Cover if it crisps too quickly.

Note: If you substitute pears or peaches for the apples, reduce baking time to 25 minutes.

Serves 6-8.

Are you a Moosewood Cookbook fan? I haven’t tried everything so tell me what your favourite recipe is and why you love it.

I’m sharing this at my very own Vegetarian Foodie Fridays, Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum, Fresh, Clean and Pure Fridays at Bella Vita, Friday Favourites at Simply Sweet Home, Friday Food at Momtrends, Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, Food on Friday at Ann Kroeker, Wholesome Whole Foods at Health Food Lover, Friday Potluck at EKat’s Kitchen, Family Food Fridays at Get Healthy Cheap, My Meatless Mondays at My Sweet and Savory, Just Another Meatless Monday at Hey, What’s For Dinner Mom?, Meatless Mondays at Midnight Maniac, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop at Frugality and Crunchiness With Christy, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed With Grace, Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly The Kitchen Kop.

Pumpkin Coconut Squares

Melodie — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:13:11 +0000

As the Summer winds down and the briskness of Fall returns, friends and family have been talking about craving pumpkin. My daughter was ready for another “too long put off” baking session with mommy and, and I was excited to try out the bag of organic coconut flour that I received from Tropical Traditions a few weeks ago. Now how to marry pumpkin and coconut?

I found this recipe for Pumpkin Coconut Squares on the Tropical Traditions website and modified it just a tiny bit by using a can of 100% organic pumpkin puree, sugar and spices, instead of canned pumpkin pie mix. The result was awesome. It wasn’t very sweet due to the small amount of sugar I put in, but the flavours of pumpkin and coconut really allowed this treat to stand on its own. My kids and I gobbled them up in two days and I was pleased to know they were getting a serving of vegetables inside a treat that was healthy in every way. Also, they are gluten and dairy-free!

Pumpkin Coconut Squares

1 15 oz can of organic pumpkin puree

1/2 cup organic coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup organic dry sweetener or honey

3 eggs

2 Tbsp + 1 tsp coconut milk

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp organic virgin coconut oil

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger powder

1/4 tsp cloves

Directions

Pre-heat oven at 350 degree F.

Mix the coconut flour with baking powder and spices. Set aside. Blend all the rest of the ingredients. Make sure the butter is soft. Warming the coconut oil also as I found it difficult to work the lumps out. The white spots that you see on the squares in the photo are from the coconut oil not mixing in. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ones. Grease an 8 x12 rectangular pan with coconut oil. Pour the mixture on the pan.

Bake at 350 degree F for 45 minutes.

Test to see if it is already done by inserting a clean toothpick in the middle. When the toothpick comes out clean or with no residue, the mixture is done. The consistency will resemble a soft baked cheesecake.

Cool down. Cut into squares. Serve with whipped cream for a dessert or eat as is for a healthy snack.

Giveaway Alert!

If you want to give these squares a try, are intrigued by the idea of gluten-free baking or just want to try some coconut flour, I’m giving away a 2.2 lb (1 kg) package of Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Flour.

ALSO Zmooz Natur Organic Rattle Ring Doll ends Tuesday September 7th
2.2 lbs (1 kg) bag of Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Flour ends Friday September 14th.

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This post is linked to Vegetarian Foodie Fridays at Breastfeeding Moms Unite!, Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum, Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, Friday Food at Momtrends, Food on Friday at Ann Kroeker, Family Food Fridays at Get Healthy Cheap, Wholesome Whole Foods at Health Food Lover, Fresh, Clean and Pure at Bella Vita, Just Another Meatless Monday at Hey, What’s For Dinner Mom? My Meatless Mondays at My Sweet and Savory, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Two For Tuesdays Blog Hop at Rendered Lard, Delicious Dishes at It’s a Blog Party, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly The Kitchen Kop.

Vegetarian Foodie Fridays: Summer Fruit Tarts

Melodie — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 05:10:09 +0000

This week my mom had us over for dinner and for dessert she made blackberry tarts. I was thoroughly enjoying them until she told me the tart shells were made from lard. My mom is lactose intolerant so I knew there wasn’t any butter in the shells. I was already trying to block out the fact that I was eating vegetable shortening (have you ever read the ingredients in that stuff?), but as much as I appreciate lard for its “real food” status, as a vegetarian I don’t go there. Rendered pig fat just isn’t for me. I guess I shouldn’t have asked.

I love that my mom always bakes from scratch though and so I was inspired to take a picture of them. Ta da! Notice the interesting bicycle design I made especially for her? That’s a piece of pottery I made about 10 years ago. Oh, and please note that the Cool Whip (can you tell?) is my mom’s secret vice, not mine. I like the taste of it, but no, I don’t buy it. It’s up there with the scary ingredients of vegetable shortening. Ick.

I decided to make my own berry tarts. They were just going to be plain, old strawberry tarts, but I decided to use a handful of cherries I had in the fridge as well as one apricot. Thus they became my strawberry, apricot, cherry tarts. I encourage you to use whatever summer berries or fruits you have for this easy tart recipe, which because of the honey isn’t too sweet. Just how I like it. Oh yes, and the crust? So yummy! Like almond shortbread. I loved it!

The tart shell recipe came from Simply Recipes. I modified it to suit my own tastes.

Strawberry, Apricot, Cherry Tarts

Butter Crust with Almonds

2 cups organic all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 cup finely ground blanched almonds or almond flour
16 Tbsp (2 sticks) organic or raw unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 heaping teaspoon organic dry sweetener
3 to 6 Tbsp ice water

Directions:

1) Cut butter into cubes and place in freezer for at least 15 minutes. While butter is freezing, grind almonds in a food processor to make “almond flour.”

2) In a large food processor, combine flour, almond flour, salt, and sugar, pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add water 1 Tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready, if not, add a little more water and pulse again. (I ended up having to do this part by hand as my food processor wasn’t large enough to get at the butter. A pastry cutter works just as well.)

3) Remove dough from machine and place on a clean surface. Carefully shape into 2 discs. Do not over-knead the dough! You should still be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These bits of butter are what will allow the result crust to be flaky. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

4) Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle some flour on top of the disk. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, use a metal spatula to check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. Add a few sprinkles of flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking. Using the mouth of a large glass, cut 12 circles into the dough. It might take you a couple times of rolling the dough out again. This crust can also be used as the bottom part of a pie and the second disc in the fridge can be used for later or for more tarts.

5) Bake at 350° for 20 minutes until tart shells are golden brown.

6) Add fruit filling.

The Filling

3 cups of organic berries or ripe summer fruit
2/3 cup water
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup raw honey

Directions:

Dissolve cornstarch in water. Place in saucepan with mixed fruits and cook on low-medium heat until mixture thickens. Add honey at the end. Mix well. Add more to taste as needed. Spoon 1-2 Tbsp of the mixture into cooked tart shells.

Serve hot with real homemade whipped cream and enjoy a delicious gooey mess like we did (you should have seen her dress!), or wait for the tarts to cool first and eat politely with a fork.

Linked up at Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum, Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, Friday Food at Momtrends, Food on Friday at Ann Kroeker, Wholesome Whole Foods at Health Food Lover, Family Food Fridays at Get Healthy Cheap, Recipe Swap at Grocery Cart Challenge, Two For Tuesdays Blog Hop at A Moderate Life.

Welcome to Vegetarian Foodie Fridays! Where we’re not just Meatless on Mondays, but all week through! Hi! My name is Melodie and I’m a long time vegetarian who’s into real food, holistic nutrition, and healthy living but suffers from a sweet tooth! (I love homemade baked goods and ice cream). To learn more about why I became a vegetarian or why I choose to raise my children vegetarian please click on my links.

Carnival Guidelines

You do not have to be a vegetarian/vegan or have a vegetarian/vegan blog to participate.
Your dish must be completely meat-free (no meat based broths, etc). Eggs and dairy are fine. Desserts and other baked goods are welcome as are vegetarian friendly food-related and health posts.
Please link back to the carnival in your post.
Please use your best carnival manners.
Please try to visit others’ posts.
Have fun!

Vegetarian Foodie Fridays: Yogurt Sundaes or Parfaits

Melodie — Fri, 21 May 2010 04:30:01 +0000

In the quest for a new healthy and easy dessert I stumbled upon this super kid-friendly idea. I put everything out as seen in the photo and let my kids make their own sundaes, while I made myself a parfait. Even though yogurt and fruit mixed together is one of their favorite snacks or desserts, having all the toppings ready to choose, making it themselves, and putting them in fancy glasses made it a lot more special. If you have a bunch of kids over, either for a play date or a birthday party, this would be a fun activity when tummies start to get hungry.

This recipe will serve 2-3.

Yogurt Sundae or Parfait

2 cups plain organic or raw yogurt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbsp honey

Toppings: choose any or all

fruit, chopped (bananas, mangoes, oranges, peaches, pears, apples, melon, kiwi, etc)

coconut, shredded

berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, wild berries, etc)

nuts, chopped

seeds, toasted

raisins, dates, apricots or other dried fruit

granola

Directions: Mix yogurt, honey and vanilla. Chop or slice any toppings you want to use.

Spoon yogurt into a dish and cover with toppings of your choice.

For a parfait, layer the yogurt and toppings in a pretty glass. Top with a sprig of mint, if desired.

Serve and enjoy.

Linked up at Designs by Gollum, Momtrends, Ann Kroeker, Food Renegade, Urban Momtographer, Hey What’s For Dinner Mom?, The Green Phone Booth, and My Sweet and Savory.

Vegetarian Foodie Fridays

If you have a vegetarian recipe or vegetarian-related food post I encourage you to participate in my linky. So far, in my travels through food blogs, I have yet to find another vegetarian carnival. Vegan or vegetarian dishes or desserts are welcome. Dairy and eggs are fine, just no meat. I respect everyone’s choice to eat meat, but I would like to keep my blog meat free. Many thanks.