Cake Maker

Julie & Kittee's Bagel Factory!

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 15:44:00 +0000

Hello!

I've been a quiet little mouse lately, because my friend, Julie Hasson, and I have been furiously working on a new project! We're starting a new business, Julie & Kittee, which focuses on vegan, gluten-free recipe development, cooking classes, and coaching/consulting.

Our website launch is today!!! Along with our first e-cookbook, Julie & Kittee's Bagel Factory, which is all about beautiful, delicious, boiled bagels! The e-cookbook is a 40MB PDF download, with 10 bagel recipes (plus extras), with lots of color photos, a short video, and tons of instructional information about ingredients, tools and methodology to ensure your kitchen success!

Pictured L to R: Cinnamon Cherry Bagels with Rolled oats and Banana-Nut Bagels.

We are super proud of these bagels! Not only are they delicious, but they have great macros; upwards of 6g protein and 10g fiber per bagel.

Pictured: Not Pumpernickel Bagels with salt, caraway and sesame seeds.

We have lots of information about the book on our new website, but for those who want to know right now, the recipes include: Plain, Not Pumpernickel, Cinnamon Cherry, Banana-Nut, Olive, Jalapeño-Cheese, Matcha Sesame, Peanut Butter & Chia Jam, Pizza, and Pumpkin-Fig Spice. We also include 411 on marbling and turning bagels into pretzels. :))))

Pictured: Olive Bagel with homemade Zaatar Topping

I'll be focusing my blogging brain power over on Julie & Kittee, so be sure to save the link, if you want to see what I'm up to. If any of you miss me, I send you kisses! Actually, I send you all kisses anyway. And BAGELS!

If you love me back, please share this post.
xo
kittee

Yummy, Tofu Ricotta Stuffed Gluten-Free Ravioli!

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 05:05:00 +0000

Ravioli pasta salad!

Tofu-ricotta filled ravioli is one of my great loves (anyone remember the Soy Boy Tofu Ravioli of yor??), and I have greatly missed eating them since going GF. In my initial gluten-free tantrum stage, which sadly lasted several years, I even gave away my old Atlas hand-cranked pasta maker and ravioli attachment, since I thought I'd never have use of them again.
Now that I have better gluten ditching skills and a sweeter disposition, I thought I'd try making them again. And lo! I had very, very good success! In fact these came out so yummy, I made them twice in a row since the tofu ricotta I made was enough for two batches. :))
The first few batches of ravioli were gobbled down piping hot with nothing on top but a drizzle of good olive oil, freshly ground pepper and salt.
Today, I decided to do something different with the last few I had remaining. With whatever plants I had floating around the kitchen, I whipped up a delicious pasta salad. The one pictured in this post contained steamed broccoli, watercress, capers, carrot shavings, sweet bell peppers, black olives and lots of fresh parsley. I tossed the whole lot with a balsamic-mustard vinaigrette and gobbled it up.

Here's a quick time-lapse video showing the ravioli forming process.

A photo of the first batch from Instagram. I reduced the turmeric a little!! Ha Ha.

I am all about tons of fresh herbs.

Yummy, Yummy Gluten-Free Ravioli

Makes about 26 large, round ravioli

Before you start, please read through the notes and recipe below, then watch the quick video!

✮Since gluten-free flours are heavy and notoriously hard to measure accurately, they're offered in grams below. If you don't have a scale, cup measurements are also listed, please use a spoon to fill each measuring cup, then level with a knife. Don't scoop into the flour, or you'll end up using too much.

✮I developed this recipe using Bob's Red Mill Garbanzo Flour. If you try this with besan or gram flour, you might get different results, as they can absorb liquids differently and have alternate textures.

✮To make a super-fast tofu ricotta: mash extra-firm tofu into a large bowl with a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast flakes. Blend a small handful of raw cashews with about 1/3 cup water and a clove of garlic, then pulse in a big handful of cilantro. Mix the blended cashew mixture into the tofu with an immersion blender until you get a ricotta-like texture (or I bet you can throw it into the blender jar). Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

✮To store uncooked ravioli, simply let them dry out a little bit uncovered at room temperature, then place in a covered dish and refrigerate up to three days. For longer storage, freeze them in a single layer on parchment, then store in a zip style bag until ready to cook. Drop them into the boiling water while frozen, and cook them a little longer to compensate.

What You Need:

♥ 211g / 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 GF baking flour
♥ 44g / 1/3 cup garbanzo bean flour
♥ 1/2 teaspoon salt
♥ 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
♥ 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
♥ 55g /1/3 cup tapioca flour, divided in half
♥ 1/4 cup aquafaba
♥ 1/2 cup cold water

♥ parchment paper
♥ a glass with an opening diameter about 3"across
♥ 2 1/2" round ravioli punch/cutter (like this one)
♥ thin metal spatula
♥ small dish of water or extra aquafaba

♥ tofu ricotta or another ravioli filling of your choice (the one described above is enough for two batches of ravioli).

What You Do:

Into a medium-sized bowl add the gluten-free baking flour, garbanzo bean flour, salt, xanthan, turmeric and HALF the tapioca flour. Whisk to combine.

Add the aquafaba and water and stir with a spoon until the dough begins to come together. Continue with your hands, working the mixture until it becomes a well formed ball of dough. It might take a couple of minutes to get the ingredients uniformly combined, just keep at it!

If you plan to eat the ravioli right away, fill a large pot with water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. If the water comes to a boil while you're still forming the ravioli, simply reduce it to a simmer while you continue to work.

Lay out a large piece of parchment where you plan to make the ravioli. Divide the dough in half and sprinkle each with a little of the remaining tapioca. Dust the parchment and the rolling pin, too.

Using the rolling pin, roll out half of the dough onto the parchment as thin as you can get it--aim for between 1/8-1/16" thick. Use the parchment to move the dough around as you work, this will help you get it even and uniform. The dough should roll out easily--use a little more tapioca if it begins to stick anywhere.

Once the dough is rolled out, use the mouth of the glass to cut out as many 3" circles as possible. Pull away the scrap dough and set aside to re-roll. Loosen the dough circles from the parchment, using the spatula, if necessary. Place a heaping teaspoon of filling into the center of a round. Dip your finger into the water or aquafaba and run it around the circumference of a second dough circle, then place it wet side down, on top of the first circle. Run your finger around the circumference of the dough sammich, sealing them together and gently pressing out excess air. Press the ravioli cutter around the ravioli and press down firmly. Pull of the excess dough (set aside with the scrap dough) and gently release the ravioli from the cutter and set aside. Continue forming ravioli with the remaining dough circles.

Repeat with the second half of dough, then continue with the scrap dough, rolling and re-rolling it until none is left. The beauty of working with a gluten-free dough is you can't really overwork it!

When the ravioli are formed and ready to cook, reduce the boiling water to a gentle boil. Lower the ravioli slowly into the water and be sure they don't settle on the bottom, or they'll begin to stick to the pot. After a minute or so, they will slowly rise to the surface of the water and float. Once risen, continue to cook them for 3-4 minutes, until they're tender to your taste.

Drain and eat!

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet!

Click here to subscribe to my blog and get posts delivered to your email when I update!
Come back soon!

xo kittee

Disclosure: This post is filled with lots of affiliate links. If you click on a link and buy something from Amazon, I'll receive a really teeny-tiny compensation.

Olive Oil-Blueberry-Cream Cheese King Cake--New Orleans Style

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 06:40:00 +0000

Mardi Gras' King Cake 2017 Specimen:
Olive Oil | Blueberry | Cream Cheese

Fat Tuesday 2017 is February 28!

Time's a-wasting! This year's king cake is made using the same dough as last year's quickie king cake, except I thought it'd be fun to give it a go with aquafaba! I simply reduced the water and added aquafaba. I think the dough came out really nice, but I'm not sure it made a huge difference. If you have some, go for it, but I don't think you need to go out of your way to get some, unless you're already making some spicy jalapeno hummus for a Mardi Gras party and have lots hanging about.

I've written so much over the years about my love for Mardi Gras. If you're new to king cakes, please be sure to read my primer before digging in. If you want to see me enjoying my last Mardi Gras in 2011, you can see a few pictures here.

King Cakes of Mardi Gras Past.
Clockwise from top left = cinnamon, apple praline, an unidentified cake, and peanut butter cup.

Every year, I try to bake a king cake with something new inside--this can be a little challenging since my diet is a bit restricted this days, and it's hard to be a creative cook when you can't really taste what you're brewing.

❤ Vegan King Cake Kindergarten
❤ Standard Vegan King Cake (gluten-strong)
❤ Peanut Butter Cup King Cake (gluten-strong)
❤ Peanut Butter Cup King Cake (gluten-free)
❤ Apple-Praline King Cake (gluten-strong)
❤ Scott and Jenn's King Cakes are here and here.

If you like blueberry, I think I nailed it this year. Plus homemade cultured cream cheese is soOOOo tasty. If you like sweet potato, I think that'd also make an epic filling. In a pinch, you can also use pie filling, or just make a cinnamon cake with a smear of butter topped with cinnamon sugar.

Olive Oil-Blueberry-Cream Cheese King Cake

Makes a large, flashy, party sized blueberry filled ring cake.
Before you start, please read through the notes and recipe below!

Notes!

❤ If you're unfamiliar with a New Orleans style King Cake, please read the King Cake Primer I wrote a few years ago.

❤ I use instant yeast because it saves time (no need to proof), and the dough comes together quickly.

❤ If you don't have or want to use aquafaba, omit the aqua faba and use 3/4 cup warm water.

❤ The directions below are based off of the apple-praline king cake recipe cake I posted last year. King Cake is less of an all day project if you make the dough the evening before and let it rise overnight in the fridge. This year, I made the dough in the afternoon and instead of refrigerating overnight, I let it rise in a proofing oven until it doubled in size, about 1-1 1/2 hours. If you have the time, the advantage to making it all in one day is you do not need to bring the dough to room temperature. The disadvantage is that dough proofed in the fridge overnight has a more complex flavor. It's up to you! I

What You Need:

Dough

1/2 cup aquafaba

1/2 cup vegan yogurt (unsweetened or lemon)

1/4 cup warm water

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 teaspoons unbleached, granulated sugar

2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

Pinch salt

3 1/2-4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Filling

2 cups frozen blueberries (do not defrost)

6 tablespoons unbleached granulated sugar, divided

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided

Pinch salt

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 1/2 cups cream cheese (I made Miyoko's recipe with no added water and increased the yogurt to 1/2 cup)

Extra virgin olive oil for brushing the dough

Sugar Sprinkles

6 tablespoons unbleached granulated sugar

Purple, gold, and green food coloring paste

Icing

2 cups vegan confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Vegan milk, water, or liqueur

What You Do:

Dough

The evening before, put the aqua faba, yogurt, water, olive oil, instant yeast, 2 teaspoons of sugar, lemon zest, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Blend gently to combine. On low speed, slowly add in the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough comes together and is slightly tacky, but not sticky. You probably will not need the entire 4 cups of flour. Increase the speed of the mixer to medium high, and knead the dough into a firm, cohesive dough for five more minutes. Transfer the dough to a plastic bag with plenty of extra space in it for expansion, tie the end, and refrigerate overnight. (If not refrigerating overnight, put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic film and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1-1 1/2 hours).

Filling

While the dough is rising, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the blueberries, 4 tablespoons of the sugar, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and salt. Mix to combine and simmer gently, stirring frequently, until the blueberries have softened and are juicy. This should take about 5-7 minutes. Remove a few tablespoons of the hot juice to a small cup and mix with the cornstarch to create a slurry. Mix the slurry into the blueberries and stir constantly until thickened, about a minute. Remove from heat and cool. Once cool, transfer to a covered container and refrigerate overnight along with the dough. (If not refrigerating overnight, set the filling aside).

The Following Morning:

Preheat the oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment. Remove the dough and blueberry filling from the fridge. Gently deflate the dough and allow to rest at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out on a floured surface into a rectangle about 24" X 12" (keep the longest side facing you).

Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, and remaining teaspoon of cinnamon.

Using a pastry brush or your hands, spread a little olive oil evenly over the dough, being careful to leave a clean 1" margin on the sides and top. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the olive oil. With an offset spatula or spoon, spread a layer of cream cheese evenly over the sugar mixture, and keeping the same margins, spread the blueberry filling over the cream cheese.

Starting at the bottom edge, roll the dough up into a tight log, pinching the sides tightly together as you roll, so they are well sealed. When you get close to the top, gently bring the top edge down over the log and pinch well to seal the seam.

Carefully lift the log, and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. Arrange it seam side down on the sheet and gently form it into an elliptical shaped ring, tucking each end under the cake and sealing them very well. The dough will rise substantially, so be sure to form a larger ring than you desire in the finished cake.

Let the formed cake rise for 30-60 minutes.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and cooked through (if the cake is browning too fast, cover it with tin foil).

While the cake bakes, prepare the sprinkles. Divide the 6 tablespoons of sugar into three small containers and add a tiny bit of colored paste to each, mixing well with a spoon, until the dye is well distributed. Set aside.

Remove the cake from the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes. Prepare the icing by mixing the confectioner's sugar with the vanilla and just a tiny amount of milk, water or booze, until you get a very thick, but drizzle-able icing. When the cake is slightly warm to room temperature decorate the cake! Be sure it's not too warm, or the icing will slide right off.

If adding a baby, carefully poke a sharp knife into the side of the cake and stick one in.

Drizzle the icing on top, using a spoon to help spread it evenly (be sure to hide the baby hole with icing, if you inserted one). Let the icing firm up slightly, and then sprinkle the colored sugar on top, alternating the three colors in a pattern around the ring.

Eat and share! Wrap up any lefties, and store in the fridge.

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet!

Click here to subscribe to my blog and get posts delivered to your email when I update! Come back soon!

xo kittee

Uttapam! And, The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for your Instant Pot.

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 08:14:00 +0000

I haven't had my paws on Kathy Hester's latest, The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot, long enough to take it on a proper recipe romp. However, as soon as I noticed it contained a recipe for uttapam, I got straight to work soaking and fermenting. I FREAKING ADORE uttapam.
If you've never had uttapam before, it's a super common savory pancake devoured regularly in South India. When Dazee and I spent three weeks traveling down the west coast of South India in 2007, I literally ate uttapam once or twice a day for three weeks, and never tired of them. In restaurants in India, they're only served during the magickal "dosa hour," so we had to time our meals just right so I could be sure to get them.

Uttapam topped with cilantro and jalapeño.

Traditional uttapam are made from soaked white rice and urad dal, ground into a batter and fermented. They can be eaten plain or cooked with vegetables on top like jalapeno, onion, tomato, cilantro and fresh peas. They're also usually eaten with sambar (a delicious thin, lentil based soup), and coconut chutney.
In Kathy's book, TUVCFYIP, she makes uttapam from brown rice, urad dal, quinoa, and millet and uses the yogurt setting on the Instant Pot to keep the batter very warm, so it ferments lickety split. I was really surprised and delighted to find Kathy's take on uttapam tasted very traditional made completely from whole grains/seeds and dal.

Eating uttapam in a restaurant on Mahadwar Road in Kerala, South India.

If you don't have an Instant Pot, you can still make this recipe, but you'll need to find a warm spot in your house to ferment the batter. The top of the refrigerator is usually a good spot, and it'll probably take at least 24 hours to get tangy--the Instant Pot speeds this process up by keeping the batter at a sustained temperature over a period of many hours.

If you're a fan of chickpea flour pancakes, AKA, pudla, or of savory breakfast/brunch, you'll love uttapam. Since uttapam is made from a fermented batter, you can make some up and keep it in your fridge for days to make rilllly fast, delicious, and nutritious meals.

Uttapam with Cilantro Coconut Chutney
Makes about 10 large savory pancakes.

My adaptations on Kathy's recipe:
*I made a couple of pancakes following Kathy's recipe to a tee. I found that after fermenting the batter for 8 hours on the yogurt setting, the batter was not as tangy as I wanted. If you follow me and ferment over the 8 hour mark, watch your batter closely! I let mine go a little too long (about 13 hours), and the batter over fermented and got a bit funky (my house smelled like bleu cheese whenever I cooked up a batch of these).

*I added about a teaspoon of salt to the fermented batter.

*I cooked the uttapam in a little coconut oil, instead of cooking spray and topped them with cilantro, minced onion and thinly sliced jalapeño slices.

What You Need:

♥ 1 cup (151 g) urad dal (skinned split urad)

♥ 1 cup (190 g) brown rice

♥ 1 cup (119 g) millet

♥ 1 cup (170 g) quinoa, washed well to remove the seed coating
♥ 5 cups (1.2 L) water

♥ Spray oil (optional)
Toppings

♥ Grated carrots

♥ Grated summer squash

♥ Chopped cilantro

♥ Peas

♥ Shredded vegan cheese

♥ Leftover curries
What You Do:

Mix the urad dal, rice, millet, quinoa and water in a large bowl. Cover and let soak to soften for 8 hours.

Next, puree the mixture in your blender in batches and add to your Instant Pot liner. Place the liner in your Instant Pot, cover and press the yogurt setting. Leave it at the default 8 hours for it to ferment.

You can store the fermented mixture in your fridge for up to 1 week or you can cook up all the pancakes at once and freeze them to heat for later.

Coat a large skillet with nonstick spray (if using) and place over medium heat. Once hot, add ½ cup (120 ml) of the batter per pancake and shape into a circle. Cook until bubbles begin to form.

Sprinkle the topping you choose over the top of the pancake and press in a little with your spatula. Flip the pancake and cook until both sides are browned.

Place on a plate and cook the next one. You could also have more than one skillet going at a time.
Cilantro Coconut Chutney
What You Need:
♥ 1 cup (93 g) shredded coconut

♥ ½ cup (120 ml) water

♥ ½ cup (8 g) fresh cilantro (leaves and stems)

♥ 1 tbsp (6 g) grated ginger

♥ 1 tbsp (6 g) curry leaves (optional)

♥ 2 tsp (10 ml) lemon juice

♥ 1 tsp salt

♥ ⅛ tsp mustard powder
What You Do:

Place all the ingredients into your blender and pulverize. You will need to scrape down a few times and may need to add an additional tablespoon or two (15 or 30 ml) of water.
Store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Shared with permission from Kathy Hester and Page Street Publishing.

For more Instant Pot recipes from Kathy Hester, visit here!

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet! Click here to subscribe to my blog and get posts delivered to your email when I update!

Come back soon!

xo kittee

Disclosure:

This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means if you click on a product link and purchase an item, I'll receive a very small compensation.

I received a free copy of The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot for the purpose of review. No compensation or gift was exchanged for this post, and as always, the rad opinion posted here is my own.

Sweet Treats for the New Year--Vegan Aquafaba Meringues!

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 19:28:00 +0000

Sweet treats for the New Year! Making aquafaba meringues is kinda addictive!

Warning!
This post is all about making aquafaba meringue candies/cookies. It contains LOTS of colorful, swirly photos and sugar.

Half the fun of making these, is photographing them (the other half is giving them away). As a courtesy, I'll add the gratuitous shots after the recipe. Just skip 'em if you're not into them like I am.

Aquafaba meringues are awesome for many reasons: they cost almost nothing to make and are made from something that would normally be considered a waste product, they're a bit of a novelty so they usually bring lots of smiles when you share, and you can make such pretty swirls!

They were basically designed for bakesales.

Vegan Aquafaba Meringues

Makes 18-20 large meringues
This recipe was developed by Lynn Dic and was originally posted in the Facebook group Aquafaba (Vegan Meringues - Hits and Misses). It's published here with her permission.

Before you start, please read through the notes and recipe below! If you're new to Aquafaba, you can read more about it here. It's basically the cooking/soaking water from cooked legumes, usually chickpeas, but not required.

What You Need:

♥ 1/2 cup chickpea aquafaba
♥ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
♥ 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
♥ 3/4 cup granulated sugar

♥ food coloring (I use Wilton gel)
♥ pastry/decorating bag
♥ large, round holed, decorating tip, optional
♥ chopstick

What You Do:

Wash the bowl of your stand mixer with soap and hot water to remove any oil residue. Dry it well. Preheat oven to 200F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put the aquafaba, vanilla, and cream of tartar into the bowl of a stand mixer and use the mixer's balloon whisk to quickly combine ingredients. Attach the whisk and begin whipping the mixture, starting on a lower speed and gradually increasing to high. Continue to whip until the mixture has thickened, is white and very frothy, and is clinging to the center spokes of the whisk, about 10 minutes.

Slowly begin to add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, while continuing to whisk at the highest speed your mixer will allow. Whisk in each addition of sugar for at least 30 seconds, before adding more (I have the best success when I whisk in the sugar slowly over a period of 15-20 minutes). When ready, to be piped, the meringue should be very stiff (meringue on the whisk should not budge when you lift it out of the bowl), and the sugar should be completely dissolved. If you're unsure, you can turn off the mixer and feel a little bit of the meringue between your fingers, you should not be able to feel any grit from the sugar. I do notice after all of the sugar has been incorporated. that the meringue goes from a very fluffy and dull mixture, to a more glossy, slightly deflated, marshmallow fluff sort of texture.

Here's a shot of the prepared piping bag.
It's fitted with a decorating tip, cuffed over a tall glass,
and painted with food coloring stripes with the help of a chopstick.

While the meringue whips, prepare the decorating bag. Fit the optional tip, if using, and snip off the bottom of the bag. Turn it inside out over a tall glass, cuffing the bag around the glass so it's easy to reach inside the bag. Dip the chopstick into the food coloring and use it to paint long vertical stripes from the bottom of the bag up to the top--in a line about 4-5" long. If using multiple colors, rinse the chopstick between colors.

When the meringue is ready, use a spoon to fill the bag. Twist the bag closed and pipe the meringue into swirls on the prepared baking sheet. Be sure to pipe the meringue swirls compactly, so they're not hollow when they dry (watch the video below for a visual reference!). Also, give them adequate space as they will settle and slightly spread in the oven.

Bake for 3 hours, rotating the tray after an hour or so, for even baking. Turn the oven off, and leave the meringues in the oven until completely cool, about an hour. Once cool, immediately transfer the meringues to an airtight container (they will become sticky if exposed to humidity/moisture). For longtime storage, I usually keep mine in zipper-style plastic bags with a desiccate packet (white rice would work too). For bakesales, I buy small zip style snack bags from the dollar store and put 2-3 in each.

Notes and Tips:
♥ Use granulated cane or beet sugar (I usually use unbleached granulated cane juice, like Florida Crystals). Unfortunately, coconut sugar will not work in this recipe. If you're interested in making aquafaba meringues with unrefined sugars, check out the file section of the FaceBook Group. There is good info there on how to proceed, but you'll have to order specialty ingredients.

♥ You can add flavor extract to these, as long as it's not oil based. Oil degrades the meringue and contributes to collapse and deflation.

♥ I make aquafaba from scratch chickpeas. I usually soak the beans for an hour in boiling water, drain, add fresh water and pressure cook. Then I store the beans in the cooking water for several hours or overnight, and use the aquafaba once it's thickened. I've made these from canned beans too, without the need to reduce, although I've found some brands work better than others. I prefer using homemade.

♥ Make sure to pipe a solid base, or you'll end up with a hollow meringue!

♥ If you're careful, you can save the piping bag for several batches. I just rinse it out and hang it over something tall to dry out, then tuck away for the next batch.

Photo gallery below!

Full disclosure. This batch turned DZ's teeth a bit pink, so I probably overdid the coloring a little! I'll probably stick to white meringue with stripes, instead of coloring the meringue and adding stripes as well. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Here's the first batch I ever made.
They got a little sticky, so I threw them in the dehydrator to dry again.

These are finished meringues. They settle and smooth out after about ten minutes in the oven.

Sun Orb Meringue.

Earth Globes.

Earth Globes, just piped.

Spooky Halloween meringues headed to a party.

With sprinkles! (I found glaze free jimmies at a Mexican specialty grocery).

Posing with pooch!

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet!

Click here to subscribe to my blog and get posts delivered to your email when I update!

Come back soon!

xo kittee

Disclosure:
This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means if you click on a product link and purchase an item, I'll receive a very small compensation.

Cookbook Review, Giveaway and Recipe-->BMFWNE!

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 04:22:00 +0000

But My Family Would Never Eat Vegan!

Have you had a chance to check out Kristy Turner's latest But My Family Would Never Eat Vegan!? It's brand new, and is very easy on the eyes, with lots of beautiful full-color photographs and yummy recipes. If you haven't seen it yet, I'm sharing a recipe, a mini review, and a giveaway sponsored by the publisher, The Experiment -- all in this wee post.

Kristy's recipes always score high with the Kittee Club, 'cuz they're almost always gluten-free and full of unrefined sweeteners (when sweetened). Plus they're usually comfort food group focused, which is what our home (and the world) needs more of these days.

BMFWNEV is a companion book to her first, and is uniquely organized to help you combat possible food related family meltdowns, instead of by type of meal (breakfast, lunch, etc.). You'll find chapters to help with meat and potato family members, health nuts, nostalgic food fans, sports events, hippie-food haters, crowd pleasers, romance, and more.

Here's a sampling of a few of the book's recipes I've made over the last couple of weeks:

Buffalo Cauliflower Wings with Blue Cheese Dip
What can I serve at the big game day party that won't get pushed to the side?
Chapter: Decadent Snackage That Nobody Will Guess is Vegan

Buffalo Cauliflower Wings with Blue Cheese Dip.

I'm a pretty big fan of buffalo anything, so of course I had to try these right away. I'm rather smitten with my own buffaloed cauliflower recipe, but I was intrigued by Kristy's addition of cornmeal in the wing batter and the dip array. These came out crispy, without much added fat (for those that care), and the blue cheese dip was really nice. I ended up with extra buffalo sauce and dip, so we sorta enjoyed drizzling and dipping into the sauces for several more meals (our cauliflower disappeared quickly in the form of tacos).

Artichoke Kale Hummus
There's no way vegan food can make everyone happy at once.
Chapter: Adaptable Meals that Even the Pickiest Eaters Can Enjoy with the Rest of You.

I couldn't help but make the Artichoke Kale Hummus, because hellooOOOOo, the idea of artichokes blitzed into smooshed chickpeas was very appealing to me, and I'd never thought of this addition before. I left out the kale because I wanted the hummus to last longer in the fridge. This is very delicious hummus, is seasoned just right and made me happy. Chickpea report card = A+.

Salted Vanilla Maple Blondies

My sister thinks vegan baking is something only hippies do.

Chapter: Vegan Baked Goods that You Don't Have to be a Hippie to Love

I'm a glutton for desserts I don't have to tweak, so I jumped at the chance to make Salted Vanilla Maple Blondies. Full disclosure: I somehow forgot to add the coconut oil to mine. They were still moist and delicious, but also more cakey than blondie. I topped mine with some vanilla infused flaked salt we had laying around. The combo of cashew butter (Kristy gives instructions for using soaked cashews, so don't fret), maple syrup and vanilla in these is ace. These will be made again and again.

Maple Peanut Butter Pancakes (waffle variation)
My family demands bacon and eggs for breakfast.
Chapter: Vegan Dishes to get Everyone's Day Off to a Good Start

Maple Peanut Butter Waffles.
I recently inherited a Belgian waffle maker, and have been quickly making up lost time making waffles AMAP. These are decadent for breakfast, but hot damn, they were amazing topped with extra peanut butter I mixed with a bit of maple syrup. I included a money shot for y'all, so you could see how fluffy these are in the middle. Pro tip: eat with apple.

French Onion Soup
Recipe from But My Family Would Never Eat Vegan © Kristy Turner, 2016.
Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Available wherever books are sold.

Serves 6 // Prep Time: 30 Minutes (not including time to make Smoky Gouda Cheese Sauce) // Active Time: 60 Minutes

I think vegan meals fall into two categories: the ones that blow people’s minds because they taste a bajillion times better than they’d expected, and the ones that blow people’s minds because they never thought one of their favorite dishes could be made using only plants and still taste just as good as, if not better than, the original. This recipe falls into the latter category. The original version tends to be overly greasy, and that oil coats your mouth, preventing you from experiencing the full flavor of every bite. This French onion soup, with its caramelized onion base, French bread, and melted cheese all over the top, has none of that. No greasiness plus maximum flavor makes for a very impressed family.

4 tablespoons (55 g) vegan butter (soy-free if necessary)
6 medium yellow onions, halved and very thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
1 cup (240 ml) vegan dry white wine
2 tablespoons oat flour (certified gluten-free if necessary)
2 quarts (2 L) low-sodium vegetable broth
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, optional
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 vegan baguette, sliced (gluten-free if necessary)
Smoked Gouda Cheese Sauce, “Melty” Variation (page 27; see Tip)
Chopped fresh parsley, optional

1. Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring every so often, until browned and caramelized. Add the garlic, thyme, and bay leaves and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, until the garlic is fragrant. Add the wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been absorbed. Add the oat flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour is no longer visible, about 2 minutes.

2. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, until thickened. Add the nutritional yeast (if using), salt, and pepper. Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaves.

3. Preheat the oven broiler. Arrange six small ovenproof bowls or ramekins on a baking sheet. Pour the soup into the bowls. Place 1 or 2 baguette slices on top of the soup. Spoon the cheese sauce over the bread. Place the baking sheet with the bowls under the broiler. Broil for 3 to 4 minutes, until the cheese is browned and bubbly. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with parsley (if using). Serve immediately. Leftover soup will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.

Tip ►► Heating the cheese sauce will take 5 to 7 minutes, so I suggest preparing it while the soup is simmering.

Smoked Gouda Cheese Sauce
½ cup (75 g) raw cashews, soaked in warm water for at least 1 hour and drained, water reserved
5 to 6 tablespoons reserved soaking water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
½ teaspoon white soy miso (or chickpea miso)
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder or cornstarch

Combine the cashews, ¼ cup (60 ml) of the reserved soaking water, the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and miso in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Add up to 2/3 cup (160 ml) water. Add 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder or cornstarch. Transfer the cheese to a small pot and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, 3 to 4 minutes, until it’s thickened but still drips slowly off a spoon. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Do you live in the US or Canada and wanna win your own copy of But My Family Would Never Eat Vegan!? To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post with your email or an easy way for me to reach you electronically. To be eligible, comments must be left on this post by 11PM, December 19th, PST.

Congratulations to Tobler! You're the winner.

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet! Click here to subscribe to my blog and get posts delivered to your email when I update!

Come back soon!
xo kittee

Disclosure:
This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means if you click on a product link and purchase an item, I'll receive a very small compensation.

I received a free copy of But My Family Would Never Ear Vegan for the purpose of review. No compensation or gift was exchanged for this post, and as always, the rad opinion posted here is my own.

Recipe: BKT Happy Hour (Bacon Kale Tomato YUMS)

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 05:51:00 +0000

BKT Happy Hour!!
Bacuns, Kale and Tomato in chip or salad form.

Hello friends!

This past summer, I finally met the excellent and brave Kayle Collards Martin, from Cowgirls and Collard Girls, after making friends with her on IG (the root of so many friendships).

She asked me to post on her site as a guest blogger, and the result is up today! It's one of my favorite kale recipes to date--BKT Happy Hour--->kale smothered in a tangy, vegan bacon-tomato-cashew sauce and eaten as salad or chips.

Please visit me over on Kayle's blog to grab the recipe, and maybe say hi while you're there?

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet!
Click here to subscribe to my blog and get posts delivered to your email when I update!

Come back soon! xo kittee

Aquafaba Cookbook Tour and Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 07:00:00 +0000

Today's post is all about the magic of bean water AKA, aquafaba,
AKA the liquid leftover from cooking legumes, most commonly our beloved, humble chix0r.

::Taps Mic::

Howdy! Hello! Greetings once again! Welcome to the kickoff of Zsu Dever's blog tour for her newest cookbook Aquafaba: Sweet and Savory Vegan Recipes Made Egg-Free with the Magic of Bean Water.

"Bean water" is a gnarly way to describe any sort of esculent, but it's an especially lacking term for an ingredient that's taken an entire class of foods that formerly "had to be made from eggs," and transformed it into something that could easily be vegan. Aquafaba is a much more fitting and fabulous way to describe this liquid, which is the cooking water left behind after making beans (commonly chickpeas). This bean cooking by-product can be whipped into a stable foam that mimics traditional meringue in loads of vegan recipes including pavlova, French macaron, quiche, and even marshmallows.

Aquafabulous peaks to be transformed into vegan quiche.

Since aquafaba is relatively new to the culinary stage, folks are still learning how to best utilize it. Zsu wrote this book to unshroud this lowly ingredient, and to explain why it shouldn't be thrown away.

I've been playing around with super sugary meringue cookies, ever since I joined the Facebook group Vegan Meringue - Hits and Misses. This group offers tons of vegan meringue inspiration and recipes, and throughout her cookbook, Zsu does a great job crediting folks that were first to innovate with aquafaba.

My first play with aquafabulous meringues. I made these for Portland's Really Big Vegan Bakesale,
from Lynn Dic's recipe c/o Facebook's vegan meringue group!

If you haven't yet played around with aquafaba, Zsu has made a few videos to accompany the release of her book. My favorite is this meringue primer, which shows via time-lapse, the different stages of aquafaba as it's whipped from a froth to stiff peaks in a stand mixer.

Bicentennial Sun-Dried Tomato and Artichoke Quiche lefties.

Aquafaba, the cookbook, is broken into the following chapters: primer, condiments, breakfast, lunch and dinner, sweets from the pantry, sweets from the oven, bonus bean recipes, and ingredients and equipment. Since I've played around with sugary aquafaba meringues already, I was most excited to explore the savory recipes.

Here's what I've made from Aquafaba thus far:

Sun-Dried Tomato and Artichoke Quiche (lunch and dinner chapter)

I've been a fan of Somer's tofu and cashew based Early Retirement Quiche, for a while now, so it was super exciting to try a new recipe that didn't rely on 'foo. This quiche was a bit of a project to prepare, and also really fun, because it requires a huge bowlful of stiff-peaked meringue. Folding the meringue into the quiche batter was a kitchen activity I hadn't done in 26 years of veganism. The quiche itself was light, airy and flavorful, but hard to compare to Somer's recipe, as they yield very different styles of quiche.

Italian Dressing (condiments chapter)

I'm always on the lookout for new salad dressings, especially creamy ones that aren't nut-based. This recipe makes a creamy Italian style dressing, which was really delish tossed with simple green lettuce. Because I need to get in as much anti-inflammatory EFA/EPA oil as possible, I used 7 Sources instead of the neutral oil called for in the recipe. This dressing was so tasty, the omega-filled oil wasn't really detectable--this will be in our regular salad dressing rotation. (recipe and photo below).

Curried Caribbean Coconut Chickpeas, topped with schpicy jalapeño.

Curried Caribbean Coconut Chickpeas (bonus bean recipes chapter)

Zsu was smart to include a chapter in her book to help use up the sad and rejected chickpeas you'll likely find languishing in your fridge. After making the Italian dressing and quiche, I definitely had chix0rz to use up, and this stew came together completely from my pantry and fridge. I have no idea if it's authentic or not, but it was mighty delicious. I made mine with cauliflower, shredded purple cabbage, and red pepper. The sauce is made from homemade curry powder heavy on the paprika, tomatoes, and coconut milk. Yumpy.

Classic Waffle hand.

Classic Waffles (breakfast chapter)

I'm editing this review to add a picture of the Classic Waffles I made last night, in a not so classic way. Instead of the AP flour called for in the recipe, I subbed Bob's GF 1:1 baking flour instead. These came out crispy and great, even though I also used a new-to-me Belgian waffle iron and really had no idea what I was doing. I see many savory version of these in my future, split in half for sammiches.

Thick, creamy Italian Dressing with bubbles from my immersion blender.

Italian Dressing

Makes about 1 cup

Before you start, please read through the notes and recipe below!

This dressing is reminiscent of the popular casual Italian restaurant salad dressing, only it’s better for you. The sunflower seeds give texture of parmesan cheese and a mild eggy flavor. Enjoy it on salad, steamed vegetables, and as a marinade. If it separates slightly, just give it a quick shake.

What You Need:
1/4 cup aquafaba, chilled (see Note)
1/4 cup canola or other neutral oil, chilled
2 tablespoons plain unsweetened nondairy yogurt
1 to 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon white miso
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
2 teaspoons granulated organic sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley or 1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
Pinch red pepper flakes
Ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons finely ground sunflower seeds, optional

What You Do:
1. Add the aquafaba to a wide-mouth pint or quart mason jar. Using an immersion blender that will fit in the jar, blend the aquafaba until frothy, about 20 seconds. While the blender is running, slowly add the oil in a steady stream.

2. When the mixture is homogenous and emulsified, add the yogurt, vinegar, lemon juice, miso, nutritional yeast, sugar, garlic, salt, parsley, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, and ground black pepper. Blend again. Stir in the sunflower seeds (if using), and chill for 30 minutes before serving.

Note: Although aquafaba is best if homemade using the recipe provided in the book, you can use aquafaba from canned chickpeas. Use the organic, low-sodium, canned chickpeas and strain off the liquid into a measuring cup using a fine mesh strainer. Note the amount of liquid you acquired, then add it to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the liquid reduces by 1/3. Cool the aquafaba completely before using.

Wanna win a copy of Aquafaba? I've got TWO COPIES to giveaway, to readers in the USA. One book will be given to a local Portland resident (please let me know you're local in your comment), and the other will be chosen at random. To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post with an easy way for me to reach you electronically. Please also tell me if you've cooked or baked with aquafaba, and if so, what did you make? To be eligible, comments must be left on this post by midnight October 8th, PST.

The winners are Mindy and Lacy!

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet!
Click here to subscribe to my blog and get posts delivered to your email when I update!

Come back soon! xo kittee

Disclosure:
This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means if you click on a product link and purchase an item, I'll receive a small compensation.

I received a free copy of Aquafaba for the purpose of review. No compensation or gift was exchanged for this post, and as always, the rad opinion posted here is my own.

Air Fryer Giveaway and Buffalo Tofu Recipe!

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Sat, 24 Sep 2016 23:53:00 +0000

Here's what the GoWise 3.7 qt fryer looks like. Winner gets their choice of black, chili red or plum!

I could give a zillion sincere excuses why I haven't updated my blog since July a) auto immune diseases are exhausting, b) I'm not a serious blogger, c) 'twas busy picking tomatoes and admiring dahlias, d), nomming buffalo tofu all day, everyday, e), our computer lives upstairs in our 108 year old house, and it was too damned hot to hang out on the second floor. Pick one or five, they all work.
Our warm weather just broke this week, and suddenly here I sit bundled up in a newly knitted sweater and knee socks ready to blog my heart out. And, good news for you, I'm breaking my hiatus with two very special and uhmeeeeezing things to share.

Air fryer money shot.

The first exciting tidbit to share is an AIR FRYER GIVEAWAY! I've been given the opportunity from GoWise USA to giveaway a 3.7 quart model to one of my fine readers! They gifted me this same model a couple months back, and after lots and lots of spins with it around the block, I'm a big fan! I'm super excited for the opportunity to gift one to one of you!
If you're not familiar, Air Fryers are cool counter-top appliances that quickly crispify food by spinning very hot air around whatever you fill them with. They produce morsels with a very satisfying crunch without using a bunch of oil, and the cool thing, literally, is they don't heat up your kitchen. So far my research has indicicated they make amazing, very crispy roasted chickpeas, very good potatoes/Jo Jos, yummy sweet potatoes and rilllllllly, rilllly good buffaloed tofu.
Which brings me to the second item on today's show and tell agenda--my newest obsession--AIR FRIED BUFFALO TOFU. I've been eating this tofu every which way for the last few weeks. It's insanely good in sushi (I'll share that in another post), and in salad rolls, whoppers, or just as is with a couple of sides (don't forget the ranch).

A study in Buffalo Foo.

Buffalo Tofu (Air Fyer Recipe)

Makes 24 fingers

This recipe is an amalgamation of the marinade from my Noochy Tofu Army, the batter from my Baked Buffalo Cauliflower, and the crunch factor from Crispy Crunchy Stuffed Tofu. For ease and extra tastiness, the tofu can hang out marinating for a few days in the fridge.

While I haven't tried this recipe in the oven, I don't see why it wouldn't work well. Try baking it around 400F on a baking sheet covered with well oiled parchment, turning it once it's brown on the bottom, until it's golden and crunchy all over. Top with buffalo and eat as as, or continue baking for a few more minutes.

What You Need for the Tofu:

14 oz. extra-firm tofu
1 cup water

1/4 cup tamari

2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 clove garlic, minced

What You Need for the Batter:

1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1/4 cup potato starch
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon yellow curry powder, or 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon onion granules
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic granules
3/4 cup unsweetened, plain soymilk
3 tablespoons chopped basil, optional
salt and freshly ground black pepper

What You Need for the Crunch:
Approximately 3 cups of puffed brown rice cereal, or a combination of puffed rice and cheerio type cereals, slightly crushed (put the cereal in a bag and crush with a rolling pin).

What You Need for the Buffalo Sauce:
1/2 cup Frank's Original
3 tablespoons minced chives
2 tablespoons melted, refined coconut oil
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

What You Do:
In a storage container, combine the water, tamari, vinegar, 1 tablespoon of nooch, liquid smoke and garlic. Cut the tofu into whatever shapes you want to buffalo. I like mine in fingers, so I cut the tofu block in half horizontally, then into 24 even pieces. Submerge the tofu into the marinade, cover and refrigerate from a few hours in advance of preparation, to several days.

When you're ready to prepare the tofu, spritz the air fryer basket with spray oil. In a medium bowl, combine the batter ingredients and stir well to combine. In a separate dish, put half of the crushed cereal.

Dip each piece of tofu into the batter until well covered, then roll into the crushed cereal and gently transfer to the air fryer basket. Repeat until the basket is full, but not over crowded. For the 3.7 quart model, I prepare the tofu in two batches. Spritz the tofu with spray-oil and air fry at 380F for about 10-12 minutes, shaking the tofu several times, until crispy and golden brown.

While the tofu is cooking, prepare the buffalo sauce. In a small bowl, combine the buffalo sauce ingredients, and stir well to combine.

Brush the tops of the air fried tofu with buffalo sauce and continue to air fry at 380F, until the tofu is very crispy and done to your liking, about 6 minutes more. Eat as is, or brush with extra buffalo sauce.

Crunchy buffalo, with extra sauce on top.
Eat it as as, stuff it into sushi or wraps, or serve it with salad and mashed potatoes. Always with ranch.

The GoWise 3.7 quart air fryer giveaway is open to readers in the United States, with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii. If you'd like to enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post with an easy way for me to reach you electronically. Please also tell me which color you'd prefer: black, chili red, or plum, and what you want to make first. To be eligible, comments must be left on this post by Midnight October 1st, PST.

I'm pleased to announce the winner is Jain! Congratulations!!

You can find GoWise USA on Twitter, Instagram, and FaceBook.

Straight out of the Air fryer, without extra sauce. Cronch. Cronch.

I'll be back on October 1st, with another giveaway and information about the brand new book, Aquafaba: Sweet and Savory Vegan Recipes Made Egg-Free with the Magic of Bean Water, by Zsu Dever.

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet!
Click here to subscribe to my blog and get posts delivered to your email when I update!

xo kittee

Disclosure:
I received a free 3.7 quart air fryer from GoWise USA for the purpose of review. No compensation or gift was exchanged for this post, and as always, the rad opinion posted here is my own.

Naturally Lean Review and Give-Give-Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 23:34:00 +0000

Naturally Lean is Allyson Kramer's 4th cookbook.

A few weeks back, Da Capo Press sent me a review copy of Allyson Kramer's latest cookbook, Naturally Lean. Allyson and I met in the vegan blogging community many years ago and bonded because we both eat a gluten-free diet out of medical necessity. She's one of my favorite XGFX authors, and I can always count on her for delicious, creative recipes.

If you're not familiar with her cookbooks, they are:
♥ Great Gluten-Free Vegan Eats (my favorite pancake recipe of all time lives inside)
♥ Great Gluten-Free Vegan Eats From Around the World
♥ Sweet Eats for All

Athough Naturally Lean sounds like a diet cookbook (and can be used as one), it was written to offer recipes focused on nutrient-rich whole foods, rather than highly processed ingredients. The title comes in because Allyson believes if you eat more unprocessed whole foods like fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, greens and seeds, you'll consume less calories than you would from typically over processed foods.

For me, I'm stoked to have another cookbook full of delicious vegan and gluten-free recipes that are also refined sugar free. This means I can gobble up as much of the yummy desserts and savories in this book as I want (for the most part I ignore the serving size suggestions) and keep my arthritis and muscle crap at bay.

Naturally Lean is organized a bit differently than most cookbooks, which takes a little getting used to. Instead of recipes being grouped together by type, i.e. breakfast, lunch, and dinner, they're organized by ingredients: greens & crucifers, hearty grains, fabulous fruits, nuts & seeds, legumes, and squash, roots, & mushrooms. It's nothing to get chuffed about, a few well positioned sticky notes will help you out, or if you're a brainiac, you can even use the index!

Flax and Chia Garlic Crackers.

So far I've made Flax and Chia Garlic Crackers, Red Quinoa Tabbouleh, Cinnamon Pumpkin Donuts and Chocolate Brownie Cake. Not to bullshit, all four of these recipes will probably go into heavy rotation here. I didn't have to go to the store to buy any ingredients except for tomatoes, which I buy weekly anyway, and everything came out A++++.

Flax and Chia Garlic Crackers
These were ridiculously easy to make and were gobbled up in a couple of days. My tip is to score the crackers before baking, and then they easily break up into perfect shapes when they're done. These would lend themselves to all sorts of different flavor combos.

Red Quinoa Tabbouleh chockful of fresh herbs, which is the way I love to eat.
Herb it up!

Red Quinoa Tabbouleh
Tabbouleh is the perfect summer food (parsley, tomatoes and cukes galore), and I've made this recipe three times already in the last week. Allyson's version has the perfect balance of olive oil to lemon and does not skimp or taste "diet-y." I left out the paprika, 'cuz I wanted the other flavors to shine, and I love how this recipe has you cooking quinoa with a crushed clove of garlic (Imash it in, instead of discarding as the recipe suggests).

Baked Cinnamon Butternut Squash Donuts 'cuz I'm a cheater.

Cinnamon Pumpkin Donuts
I cheated with these and used some steamed butternut squash I had in the freezer instead of pumpkin, and they were still wonderful. Unglazed, these are a bit muffin-like and since I wanted something a bit more decadent, I dipped mine in glaze. I mixed 1/4 cup melted coconut oil, 1/4 cup crunchy almond butter and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. It's warm here, so I dipped and chilled these multiple times to build up the glaze. YUMP.

Chocolate Brownie Cake, glazed and topped with cococococonutz and toasted hazelnuts.

Chocolate Brownie Cake

This cake is a keeper in the Kittee department. I've been eating it for breakfast everyday this week, since I've been in need of a wee caffeine rousing lately. I glazed my cake by mixing together 3 tablespoons of melted coconut oil, 4 tablespoons cacao powder, a little vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. I topped the glaze with coconut shreds and toasted hazelnuts and then tucked the whole cake away in the fridge to keep the topping solid. The recipe is shared with permission below!!

Chocolate Brownie Cake

Yields 16 servings (more like 12 for me).

This chocolate cake is quite a delight, and it happens to be oil free, low in calories, and low in fat. It will make you think of dessert in a band-new light. Just serve this delightful cake to guests (or unsuspecting family members) and see whether they can tell it's closer to health food than junk food. My littlest say it tastes just like a brownie, and I don't disagree.

What You Need:

♥ 1 banana, mashed (about 2/3 cup)
♥ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
♥ 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
♥ 1/3 cup unrefined sugar, such as maple or coconut palm
♥ 1/3 cup agave syrup
♥ 1/2 cup unsweetened natural or Dutch-processed cocoa powder
♥ 1 teaspoon baking powder
♥ 1 teaspoon baking soda
♥ 1/2 teaspoon salt
♥ 2/3 cup teff flour
♥ 1 cup chickpea flour
♥ 1 cup water

What You Do:

Preheat your oven to 350F and line the bottom and the sides of an 8-inch square cake pan with parchment paper. To easily do this, cut two strips 8 inches wide x 12 inches long and crisscross them over each other to completely cover the pan.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, vanilla extract, applesauce, unrefined sugar, agave, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Gradually add the teff flour and the chickpea flour along with the water and mix well until a smooth batter is formed. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until firm to the touch.

Let cool briefly and then serve. Enjoy plain or top with chocolate glaze and/or fruit.

Per Serving: 112 calories, 1.3 g fat, 167 mg sodium, 24.2 g carbs and 3.7 g protein
From Naturally Lean by Allyson Kramer. Reprinted with permission from Da Capo Lifelong, © 2016.

Da Capo Books as offered to send TWO copies of Naturally Lean to two of my US based readers (thanks Da Capo!!). To be considered for a free book, simply comment on this post with an easy way for me to contact you. I'll pick two winners a week from today (to be eligible, you must comment by midnight PST on August 3rd).

Congratulations to Nicollette and Andrea who are the winners for this giveaway!

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet! Click here to subscribe to my blog and get posts delivered to your email when I update!

Come back soon!
xo kittee

Disclosures:
This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on a product link and purchase an item, I'll receive a small compensation.

I received a free review copy of Naturally Lean from Da Capo Press. No compensation or gift was exchanged for this review, and as always, the rad opinion posted here is my own.

Ethiopian Spice Giveaway--from Fassica!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Mon, 30 May 2016 00:29:00 +0000

Here's the wonderful bundle of Ethiopian love I received from Fassica.
Shiro on the left, pure teff injera, and berbere on the right.

While stalking Instagram for new and tasty Ethiopian inspiration, I ran across Fassica! They're a small, new company based in California, who's goal is "to find a way to offer authentic Ethiopian spices and most importantly 100% Teff Injera (gluten free) to many through [their] website Fassica." People are always asking me which berbere I recommend, so you know I was all over this, right?

I got in touch with Fassica, and they sent me over a huge bag of all teff injera, plus a bag of miten shiro and berbere. The best mail ever!! YUM SO GOOD!!

Miten shiro, tucked in with our favorite Souf Fitfit (torn injera and veggies/herbs tossed in a sunflower seed sauce) and a green salad. Recipes from Teff Love.

I'm so excited to finally have an online, domestic source for Ethiopian pantries, I love and can recommend. I really hope folks start ordering from them, because they deserve the business, and also because the berbere from Frontier and Penzey's is not what you want for Ethiopian food! Folks continue to purchase these brands, which are almost all cayenne pepper, and then complain that my recipes are toooOOOoo spicy. Of course they are! You just added 3 tablespoons of cayenne pepper to that pot of lentils!!!! :((((((

Shiro, timatim fitfit, kale and doro wot with potatoes. I followed the video from Make Great Ethiopian Food for the doro wot, and cooked the onions for THREE HOURS, and added gardein Chick'n Scallopini and potatoes to make it vegan!!! Ha ha. Most doro wot cooks for longer. :-/

If you're worried about ordering injera online, Fassica packs theirs so securely, with padding and an ice pack, too. It's pretty much the most gorgeous pure-teff injera of all time, and I really wish I lived closer to them, so I could pick some up on when I'm hit by an Ethiopian whim. If you order some, be prepared to cook food to accompany it the day it arrives, because fresh injera needs to be used ASAP! Or if you have leftovers like I did, you can turn it into fitfit/firfir, or even dry it out in the fridge and make crunchy chips (dirkosh), which make the best hummus crackers--the tang in all teff injera cannot be duplicated.

Fassica is so awesome, they've agreed to send a bag of berbere and shiro to TWO of my readers (you must have a Canadian or US address to participate). Just leave a comment telling me what your favorite Ethiopian food is, and in a week I'll pick two winners at random to receive the free yums.

*To qualify for the giveaway, please comment by Midnight, June 5th PST, with an easy way for me to reach you. The winners are: Josiane and Jfshop!! Thanks for participating, everyone!

Here's the shiro I made from their product. I followed the recipe on their site, and it's the first time I ever made it adding tomato.

Shiro is probably the easiest thing you could ever make. You just saute an onion and garlic in a little oil and add water and the powder (shiro is made from spices and ground legumes). It thickens up just like gravy, and after you've let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes, it's ready to go. If you don't have injera, you can just eat it with a salad and a big fluffy and crunchy baguette. It's super comforting to eat, and I long for it during our long gray and rainy days in PDX.

Ye'souf Fitfit up close and personal.

Souf Fitfit is also stupid easy to make! I just toast sunflower seeds in a pan with a clove of garlic, then make a sauce out of it in a blender with water and salt. Pour it over torn injera with minced jalapeno, sweet bells, an herb like parsley or cilantro and either white or green onion. Taste for salt and add a little lemon or lime juice, if you want it tangier.

I mixed Fassica berbere with a little EFA oil and drizzled it over a very non-ethiopian dinner--cheese grits, steamed kale and tempeh bacon. It was sublime.

The berbere is a great addition to any pantry, even if you're not up to cooking a big Ethiopian feast. I often mix it into a little EVOO or EFA oil and drizzle it on top of greens and grits. You can mix it into dough or use it anywhere you'd like a little salty bit of heat. It's a million times more flavorful than plain ol' red pepper, 'cuz it's got a million other spices in it too.

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet! Click here to subscribe to my blog and get posts delivered to your email whenever I update!

Come back soon!
xo kittee

Disclosures:
This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on a product link and purchase an item, I'll receive a small compensation.

I received free spices and injera from Fassica. No compensation or gift was exchanged for this review, and the rad opinion posted here is my own.

Baconish! Review, Recipe and Giveaway.

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Sun, 01 May 2016 07:00:00 +0000

Bacon-Ish will leave you and your kitchen smelling bacon-ish for a while, too!

Bacon-Ish is a brand-new cookbook written by blogger Leinana Two Moons, from Vegan Good Things. This cookbook begins where lots of delicious things begin--in a chapter focused on vegan bacon. Besides the bacon norms you'd expect to find like tempeh, tofu, coconut, mushroom, and eggplant, you'll also find recipes for bacon made from chickpeas, carrots, TVP, and seitan. I rilllly wanted to make the Tofu Bacon, but I couldn't find any smoked tofu in Portland to save my life. What's my city coming to?

The rest of the cookbook focuses on recipes that incorporate these bacon fundamentals, or are bacon-y all by themselves. You'll find the recipes organized by breakfast, soup, salads, sandwiches, sides, mains and sweets.

Tempeh Bacon over steamed kale and cheezy grits
with berbere mixed into my favorite EFA oil, Seven Sources.

I decided to dig right into the "Meet the Bacons" chapter with Leinana's Tempeh Bacon. This was my favorite out of the three I tried, and I loved it for several reasons. The first being that the bacon was really easy to make and came out great. I usually have issues with tempeh bacon not having enough marinade or requiring too much oil to cook. I actually put the tempeh in a zip style plastic bag with the marinade and kept it in the fridge, lifting tempeh from the bag to cook every few days as desired. I loved this! I also learned to cut the tempeh verrrrrry thin for best results. The marinade ratio is just perfect in this recipe--the tempeh does not absorb it all like in others I've tried, which keeps it moist and flavorful, and the addition of oil really helps the tempeh cook without needing gobs more.

I admired the curly edges the Carrot Bacon acquired while baking.

I was intrigued by the idea of Carrot Bacon, so I made this on my second go. Instead of using a food processor, I pulled out my handy-dandy mandoline, and it worked just great. I loved the flavor and idea of these, but couldn't get them to firm up after baking. I was afraid they'd burn if I baked them any longer, so I popped them into my dehydrator for a couple of hours. The result was pretty fantastic--they developed a great chewy texture. I'll definitely be making more of these, but will probably double the recipe next time, since they didn't last past the afternoon. These made very snack-ish bacon-ish.

Coconut Bacon.

The last recipe I tried was the Coconut Bacon, which I'm sharing below with permission. Dazee and I both liked this simple version, and it'll go great on salads for the next week. Leinana wasn't kidding about watching this bacon the last few minutes of baking, mine went dark really fast--I caught it just on the cusp of burnt.

Coconut Bacon
Makes 2 1/2 cups
From Baconish © 2016 by Leinana Two Moons. Used with permission from Vegan Heritage Press.

What You Need:
♥ 3 tablespoons tamari
♥ 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
♥ 1 tablespoon water
♥ 1 tablespoon maple syrup
♥ 3 cups unsweetened large-flake coconut

What You Do:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Whisk the tamari, liquid smoke, water, and maple syrup together in a large bowl. Stir in the coconut and mix well to ensure that the flakes are evenly coated.

Spread the coconut in an even layer on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 10 minutes, then stir. Bake another 8 minutes, keeping a very close eye on the coconut in the last few minutes. The coconut will go from almost done to completely burned very quickly. Remove from the oven when the coconut flakes on the outer edges of the pan are becoming a deep, dark brown, but not black.

Place the baking sheet on a cooling rack. The coconut will continue to crisp as it cools. Coconut bacon will keep 1 to 2 weeks in an airtight plastic container, but will become less crisp the longer you store it.

Giveaway City! --> Vegan Heritage Press is offering a free copy of Bacon-Ish to one of my readers in the United States! ~~To win a copy, all ya have to do is leave a comment on this post by midnight, May 8th (PST), with an easy way to contact you.~~ I'll pick a random person and announce the winner in this post.

The winner is Karen Delaney!!!

Title: Bacon-Ish
Author: Leinana Two Moons
Blog: Vegan Good Things
Publisher: Vegan Heritage Press
Photos: Colored pics scattered throughout
Focus: Vegan bacon in many forms.
6 Recipes to Intrigue: Loaded Potato Soup with Bacon, German-Style Potato Salad with Bacon, The Famous Coconut BLT, Apple, Bacon, and Cheddar Grilled Cheese, Spinach and Bacon Stuffed Shells and Nearly-Instant Elvis Ice Cream.
XGFXness: Most of the bacon recipes are GF, and probably about half of the remaining recipes are also GF, or can be made so without much effort.

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet! If you'l like to receive an email whenever I update, click here to subscribe.

xo
kittee

Disclosures:
This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on a product link and purchase an item, I'll receive a small compensation.

I received a free review copy of Bacon-Ish from Vegan Heritage Press. No compensation or gift was exchanged for this review, and the rad opinion posted here is my own.

Coming Soon! Portland's Really Big Vegan Bakesale.

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 05:22:00 +0000

Beauteous flyer by the one and only Amey.

Hello everyone who lives near me in Portland!

Please save the date and come to Portland's Very Big Vegan Bakesale on Sunday, June 5th in front of Canteen. All proceeds will be split between two great organizations serving our community.

One Tail at a Time Portland--pups!
Social Justice Project NW (Specifically this Momentum Giving Project)--peeps!

Making an event like this successful, completely depends on our community. The more donations we receive, the more cupcakes we sell, the more money we donate!

We can use help in the following ways:
♥ Flyer-ing (please email me for a .pdf, it's linked at the top right of the blog).
♥ Baked donations.
♥ Baking grants to off-set groceries for bakers.
♥ Day of sale help, including set up and after-sale break down.
♥ Buyers.

Also! On top of the sale, we'll also be hosting a vegan cookbook swap. Just bring a buck and a book to participate! We're hoping to have a big table with lots of titles to choose from. I myself shall be bringing many books.

This year, we're doing two drop-offs morning and noon, so even if you can't make it until later, we should have fresh things to purchase. Or, if you need to sleep in, we got you.

Oh! What am I making? Definitely some Chipotle Cheese Pretzel Dogs, and probably some cheesecake. :)

Please help us by sharing our bakesale details far and wide! The link to the Facebook event is here.

Thanks kindly!!
xo
kittee

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Review! Vegan Under Pressure by Jill Nussinow

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Sun, 17 Apr 2016 07:06:00 +0000

Vegan Under Pressure by Jill Nussinow!

I've been posting pretty frequently about the mad infatuation I have with the ol' Instant Pot, so when Julie showed me Jill Nussinow's recent Vegan Under Pressure, I knew I wanted to take it for a spin and review it.

I really love this book. If you have a pressure cooker, you'll also really love this book. For any of you vegan old timers, (I'm looking at you, Andrea), her cooking style reminds me a LOT of Lorna Sass--not just the pressure cooking angle, but her style with recipes, too. She's sorta got a little macro glow.

The recipes in VUP, definitely have a healthy slant to them, in a way I really appreciate. The bulk contain millet and other cool grains, with tons of legumes and vegetables. I didn't notice any processed ingredients besides healthy oils (and those seem limited--I added a little to recipes here and there) and just a little salt (I added some of that too). There are desserts, and I was particularly mesmerized by the prospect of pressure cooking cake, fruit crumbles, and cheezecake.

I'm not new to pressure cooking, but since it's been awhile and the electric cooker is newish to me, I've definitely experienced a learning curve. This book helps so much, and will be a staple for me. The author gives detailed, thorough directions in each recipe for pressure amounts and cooking times, and specifies whether to allow the pressure in the pot to come down naturally, or if it needs a quick release. The book also includes detailed reference charts for cooking legumes, rice, grains and vegetables.

"Baked" Beans with hot dogs and 'tato chips.

Here's what I've made so far, but I'll definitely be making lots more:

Simple Vegetable Stock--This was a great basic recipe using odds and ends I pulled out of the fridge and pantry. I poured it into a pitcher and used it all week. I need to get in the habit of keeping this around, because it took practically no work.

French Green Lentils--French lentils are really easy to overcook, so I followed the cooking time for a lentil salad in the book, and they came out perfectly al dente.

"Baked" Beans--These made me ridiculously happy, because they're sweetened with dates and blackstrap molasses and came together in a snap. I'm also always looking for new bean recipes, and these are nothing like what I already had in my repertoire.

Gomen (Ethiopian Collard Greens) over cheesie grits. This combo was soOOo good.

Gomen (Ethiopian Collard Greens)--There are several Ethiopian inspired recipes in VUP, but the gomen caught my eye first, because they're cooked with berbere, which I'd never done before. These were faboo served over cheese grits (I used Follow Your Heart cheddar shreds). These will stay in our regular rotation--they were awesome.

Peanut butter chia-oats, topped with coconut flakes and Apple Berry Crisp

Apple Berry Crisp or Not-So Crisp--Pressure cooking a fruit crisp definitely didn't save me any time, but it is pretty awesome, because you can let it go without babysitting, and it won't burn or heat up your house. I loved the fruit part of this dessert, but didn't love the not so crisp topping, until I scooped it onto some chia-oats. I'd definitely make this again, but for breakfasts instead of dessert.

Straightforward Cashew Lemon Cheezecake--I find the idea of pressure cooking cheesecake titillating, so this was one of the first recipes I tried. Again, you don't really save time by pressure cooking this, but it's pretty cool nonetheless. Jill and her publisher are letting me share this recipe, so you'll find it below--I've already made three! The first iteration I made as written with a blueberry-ginger chia jam on top, the second had orange blossom water, cinnamon and cardamon added with an orange mixed-berry chia jam topping, and the third is chocolate-crusted peanut butter cheesecake. Stay tuned for results on the last one, since it needs to set up in the fridge overnight before we can slice it. One thing for certain, these cheesecakes taste best after a few days in the fridge. I liked them the most after the second day, which makes them awesome for parties!

Cheesecake #1 topped with blueberry-ginger chia jam. The crust on this is so good!!

Straightforward Cashew Lemon Cheezecake
Makes 1 cake, 8-12 slices

To get the best results, you need to use a high-speed blender. You will need a 6-, 7-, or 8-inch springform pan that fits inside your pressure cooker. If you don’t want to make an oat crust, use your favorite raw crust.

Kittee Tip: Instead of purchasing a small springform pan, I lined a regular 6" cake pan with parchment and pressed the crust in on top of that. It worked like a charm! Just refrigerate the cheesecake and once chilled and set, use the paper to pull the cake from the pan...

What You Need for the Crust:
♥  1 cup quick oats (I used rolled oats)
♥  ½ cup walnuts
♥  ½ cup chopped dates, soaked in ¼ cup water for 15 to 30 minutes, drained, but reserve soaking liquid

What You Need for the Filling:
♥ 1 cup cashews, soaked in 1 cup water for 2 to 4 hours
♥ ½ cup coconut flour
♥ ¼ cup coconut palm sugar
♥ ½ cup vanilla nondairy milk
♥ 1 to 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
♥ 2 tablespoons lemon juice
♥ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
♥ 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
♥ ½ cup fresh raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries; or 6 figs, sliced; or other fruit to top the cheesecake

1. Add 1½ cups water to your pressure cooker and add a rack elevated above the water. Create a set of helper handles to enable you to remove the pan.

2. To make the crust: Combine the crust ingredients in a mini food processor and process briefly until the mixture comes together. If it seems too dry, add a tablespoon at a time of the date soaking liquid
until you have a cohesive “dough.” It should be firm but not gooey. Press into the bottom and a little
way up the sides of a springform pan that will fit in your pressure cooker.

3. To make the filling: Drain the cashews, reserving the soaking water. Add the cashews and half the
soaking water to a high-speed blender or food processor and process until smooth. Add more water, if necessary. Add the coconut flour, palm sugar, milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla to the blender or processor. Blend well. Add the arrowroot and blend again.

4. Pour the filling into the crust, smoothing out the top. Cover the pan with foil or a cover. Lower the
pan into the pressure cooker, using the helper handle, if necessary.

5. Lock on the lid. Bring to high pressure; cook for 20 minutes. Let the pressure come down naturally. Carefully open the cooker, tilting the lid away from you.

6. Using the helper handle, carefully take the pan out of the cooker. Remove the cover carefully so any accumulated moisture does not drip onto the cake. Set the pan on a rack to cool. Place the fruit on top of the cheezecake. Let cool for at least 30 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour before removing the outer part of the pan and serving.

Text excerpted from Vegan Under Pressure, © 2015 by Jill Nussinow. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

Title: Vegan Under Pressure
Author: Jill Nussinow
Blog: The Veggie Queen
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Photos: Colored pics scattered throughout
Focus: Healthy, vegan pressure cooking
6 Recipes to Intrigue: Mixed Grain Blend for Any Time of Day, Smoky, Cheesy Steel-Cut Oats, Homemade Soymilk, Artichokes in Minutes, Pear Almond Upside-Down Cake, Sai Bhaji (Pakistani Greens).
XGFXness: The book is almost entirely gluten-free.

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet! And, if you want to get emails whenever I update, click here to subscribe.

xo
kittee

Disclosures:
This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on a product link and purchase an item, I'll receive a small compensation.

I received a free review copy of Vegan Under Pressure from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. No compensation or gift was exchanged for this review, and the rad opinion posted here is my own.

Kittee's PDX See and Do Part Deux.

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 04:01:00 +0000

Masala Dosa from Apna Chat Bhavan with sambar and chutneys.

It's been almost three years since I last posted my PDX See and Do--and this city just keeps getting better and better in the deliciously awesome department. This post is the cashew cream of what's going on here, but there's so much more than what I can fit in here. If you have the time to explore, you should definitely dig in as much as possible.

Most of the spots I wrote about last are still loved and up and going strong, so I won't bother to write them out again. I'll task you with the job of double fisting both lists. If you're coming through town and looking for a good travel app, I really like the one by the folks at Stay.com. It's cool because it's free and because you download it, so when you're bopping around town, it won't eat up your data. Also, about a year or so ago, they asked me to curate a little vegan PDX list, so if you download it, you might just see me pop up here and there to help you find spots I like. Also VEGAN DONUTS.

Food Stops
Absynnian Kitchen--My newest favorite stop for Eritrean/Ethiopian food. Absynnian Kitchen is located in an old PDX house with some sweet patio seating on the porch if you're dogging it. This place has the best shiro, and if it's cold and rainy, it's one of my top recommendations. Order some to go with the veggie platter, or get the shiro / kale combo. They have all teff injera available upon request. Super nice owners. If you want to see other Ethiopian possibilities, hop over to IG and search for #pdxethiopianhop.

Apna Chat Bhavan--This huge Indian grocery store and fast food counter, might only be of interest to locals, 'cuz it's in the 'burbs, but it's a great find. The store is really tidy and clean, and the menu has lots of vegan things including the best masala dosa I've found since moving to Oregon. Kim and I bumped into a little room in the back with a wide screen mounted on the wall, so I need to investigate in case they have Bollywood screenings.

Back to Eden--All vegan and gluten-free bakery/cafe paradise. Since I knocked off the refined sugars, my favorite thing to grab is a toasted New Cascadia bagel with a Tofutti smear and tomato. Softserve and milkshakes for the masses.

DC Vegetarian--This cart downtown has a pretty decent Soy Curl chicken-style salad, but I'm really listing it here because their vegan cheeseburgers are Dazee's reason for breathing.

Departure--If you're on top of Top Chef, you might already know about Departure and chef Gregory Gourdet, probably the cutest chef ever. Departure makes me laugh, as it's plunked 15 stories high on top of a really fancy hotel in downtown, with a great view and a bathroom that is startling weird. Departure is also awesome people watching turf. We usually bring Dazee's parents here as it's a leeetle fancy and a little expensive, but probably my favorite place to eat. No matter how full you are, make sure to get the peanut butter ice cream banana split.

My favorite from Earth Burgers, the PDmeX. Black bean and sweet potato patty, all the fixin's on a Happy Camper GF bun, with hand-cut seasoned fries.

Earth Burgers--Earth Burgers is tucked into the largest cart pod in town, and is an all vegetarian (mostly vegan) burger place that's not to be missed. I love it 'cuz the owners are the best, and they serve GF buns with hand-cut fries. Back to Eden has a cart in the same pod, so you can hit them both in one stop, plus it's really close to the mini mall.

Eb and Bean--Vegan frozen yogurt in three daily flavors with housemade peanut butter or chocolate magic shell. Plus they offer chopped up stuff from Petunia's for topping your swirl. I can't write about this is further detail, because it makes me cry I can't eat here anymore...

Epif--Sort of fancy and expensive, but a really nice vegetarian restaurant serving Andean inspired food and cocktails in a sort of romantically nice atmosphere. I really loved the plaintain chips and salsa.

Farm Spirit is the latest and greatest from Chef Aaron Adams of Portobello fame. You'll definitely need money and a reservation to get in on this. I haven't been yet, but folks have been telling me I need to get on the bus.

Harvest at the Bindery--Although I've only visited once, this is probably my favorite new place for a local produce-centric meal. Food is served family-style, and it probably would also win new best new brunch joint, since Dazee hits their Sunday brunch pretty regularly.

Homegrown Smoker Smokehouse and Deli--PDX's beloved vegan cart Homegrown Smoker has recently branched out into their own brick and mortar restaurant. It shares a building with Vtopia, making it more than easy to scoop up a Mac N Cheese Soy Curl burrito and some cultured nut cheese on your way to the airport.

New Cascadia--I'm not really sure how they've done it, but NC makes gluten-free bread that really, seriously does not taste GF. You can pick up European style artisinal loaves and bagels from their baker, or grab some to go from a FarMar. Lots of local places serve their bread too, and you can pick up rolls and loaves at New Seasons in the regular bread aisle.

The Sudra--I really love the Sudra, because I'm in love with their Peacock Salad (Soy Curls, kale and tahini). It's really teeny-tiny, but they have lots of tables outside and their Indian inspired food is comforting, creative and delicious.

Sushi Love--If you find yourself way out in deep SE, then make sure you grab some rolls at Sushi Love. I was really sorry to see them move out of inner Portland, but their rolls are definitely worth the drive. My favorite is their Mexican style roll with soyrizo and corn chips, but definitely check for the special of the day, because that's usually uhmeeezing, too.

Go check out my recent review of Vtopia. So cheesy, so good.

Vtopia is basically just hubba hubba all over the place. I LOVE their cheese board, I LOVE their soups with cheesie New Cascadia bread, and I LOVE that beyond their amazing cultured vegan cheese, they also sell other vegan cheeses that are hard to find anywhere else. Plus Imber and Mark are the nicest people, ever.

Food Pop Ups and other Cool StuffObon PDX--I tasted a little bit of Obon's glory at Vegan Beerfest last Summer, but getting to their pop-up is top of my list for birthday wants this month. Hopefully I'll report back soon with more details.

Of Roots and Blooms has been cooking at Culmination Brewing on Sunday nights. The folks who run this used to be behind PDX Cheese Plate, and I hear the Mac N Cheese is not to be missed.

Squirrel and Crow Foods--I just discovered these folks on Instagram yesterday, but I think they're one to watch. My plan is to grab some of their non-soy tempeh as soon as I can from the Alberta Co-op.

Thrift/Vintage Stops/Craft
House of Vintage is my go-to spot for reasonably priced vintage clothing and cute household stuff. It's located in a fun shopping area in SE, and is close to Harlow, if you wanna grab a bowl and eat some booch with your avocado.

Modern Domestic--my favorite fabric shop 'cuz the folks are so nice and they sell lots of Japanese prints and indie sewing patterns. If you're in the market for a fancy Bernina, here ya go!

Go Outside, Stay Outside
My advice to you is to grab a lil puddin' from Pixie Retreat, or hit a cart and then see some nature. Hug Point on the coast is one of my most favorite spots, especially if you like sea caves, natural beach waterfalls and tide-pooling. Other great places would be trails in the Oregon Gorge or hikes in Forest Park.

Also, Portland is an awesome town for a plain ol' neighborhood walk. I usually take Vee out for about 4-6 miles a day, and my favorite is to just get lost in the gardens, dogs and houses.

Farmers' Markets. We have a lot of them during the season, and a rillly big one on Saturday morning on the west side.

I'd be remiss, if I didn't remind you about these places I listed in my last See and Do. You'll have to click on that for more info, 'cuz my hands are tired of typing. Also, keep checking back here, 'cuz I'll probably keep updating it with all the new stuff.

Bui Natural Tofu--really delicious homemade tofu shop with counter service. They have super fresh tofu salad rolls and banh cam on Fridays!

Food Fight, Herbivore, Sweet Pea and the Vegan Mini Mall.

Merkato Ethiopian Food Store--If you want to grab some housemade injera, berbere and shiro to bring home to your trusty copy of Teff Love. Here's my favorite spot.

Pixie Retreat

SCRAP.

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ETA:

Sizzle Pie is pretty great for vegan slices (even GF), but they're Rabbit Salad is what keeps bringing me back over and over again. Order it with vegan ranch!

I have no idea how I left Tiffin Asha off of this list, it's one of my favorite PDX eats. It's located in a cart on Mississippi Street and is home to South Indian street snacks like dosa, vada, idli, and special's like today's uttapam. Be sure to let them know your're vegan, and make sure to try some of their gun powder (podi), it's sooOOOOo gooOOOod. Check their website for hours, 'cuz they're not open everyday.

xo kittee

Disclosure: This post contains a sponsored link from Stay.com and affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a very small commission.

PDX's Vtopia Restaurant and Cheese Shop

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 07:11:00 +0000

HelllOOOooo Vtopia? I RUV ROO.

I hit Vtopia Restaurant and Cheese Shop with friends today for a little Spring bake-sale planning work sesh, and I was more than a little bit distracted by my lunch. Holy Moly, this place just keeps getting better and better, which doesn't make sense, because it is already SO GOOD at base one.

I've been contemplating where to go for my birthday next month, and I really think this can't be beat. I'mma turn 48, all covered in cheese. It's decided.

So rich. So creamy.

Vtopia stocks New Cascadia, which is pretty much the best GF bread you could ever hope for, so just about everything sammy style on the menu can be made gluten-free. This includes their cheesy bread, which today manifested in the form of grilled brie sandwhiches. I think it was brie, but it was melty, ooey gooey and divine, so why get hung up on details.

The Cheesy Bread came with salad and a bowl of one of the soup of the day specials, which was a creamy-cheesy-cauliflower soup topped with more cheese, green onion and coconut bacon. Basically, it was like eating a really good fondue with a spoon. Which is noteworthy, because I heard they're gonna be serving fondue soon, too.

Also there was ranch on my salad. This was such a deliciously, rich meal. I loved it all many times over. So much so that you are getting all the details. You so lucky.

This was my soup, Julie's salad and Cheesy Bread and Driftwood magazine.

See? I wasn't kidding about the ooey gooey goodness of this.

Plus tables outside = dog dates.
Vee was emailing me during the entire meal. Do your dogs do that?

Truly. This place is one of my top PDX faves! Yum-O-Lum.

Vtopia Restaurant and Cheese Shop
1628 SW Jefferson Street
Portland, OR

They also sell cheese you can purchase online!

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet! Click here to subscribe to my blog and get posts delivered to your email when I update!

Come back soon!
xo kittee

Sugar Lumps and Chocolate "Snicker" Cups.

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 03:30:00 +0000

Peanut Butter Cups with Puffed Rice.
Raw chocolate, unadulterated natural peanut butter, and puffed brown rice.

When I was first diagnosed with spondyloarthropathy, my rheumatologist told me to stop eating gluten (already was) and refined sugar. I'd actually already figured out that I felt better off of sweets, but it still didn't make the news go down any better. Thankfully, after a little experimenting and the realization I could still do some natural stuff like brown rice syrup, maple syrup, and dates, I realized my life wasn't over. I just had a bit of a learning curve to sail over, and I'd be fine.

Don't feel sorry for me. Chopped peanut butter cups and a raw chocolate drizzle
on top of cashew cheesecakes from my birthday last Spring.

One of the treats I've really grown to love over the last year or so, is playing with raw chocolate, because it can be sweetened however I like. It can also be used to make all sorts of really cool freezer cups. I generally use it for really basic PB cups, although I often add brown rice cereal for a little crunch. I've also used it to make turtle cups which are awesome and easy, a little brown rice syrup and a walnut buried in chocolate, works in a pinch.

Peanut butter cups with puffed brown rice and carob! SwoooOOOOon. Dog bless America, I love carob.

Peanut Butter and Jam Freezer Cups.
These were filled with a strawberry chia jam!

Raw chocolate adventures led me to carob cuppers (I'm a big ol' carob fan), which led me to peanut butter freezer cups, which I wrote about a few months ago. You basically use the same amount of carob or peanut butter instead of cacao powder with similar results.

Peanut Butter Date Cups

Then a few weeks ago, I saw a bunch of people from a FB group posting about dipping peanut butter stuffed dates into melted chocolate to make "candy" bars. Chocolate chips are out for me, because the only vegan brands I know without sugar aren't listed on the FEP's approved chocolate list, and I'm a stickler.

I figured I could make something similar with my beloved raw chocolate and gave it a go. I quickly discovered raw chocolate was too thin for this task, since it was just dastardly running off my dates, and making me grumpy. So of course, I decided to turn them into cups, and they came out WUNDERBAR.

Peanut Butter Date Cups

Makes however many you like.

Before you start, please read through the notes and recipe below!

The chocolate produced here isn't super sweet--add a little more maple syrup or whatever, if that's your thang. But, that said, I think these are real nice as is.

And, if you want to turn these into carob or peanut butter cups instead, just replace them in the same ratio for the cacao powder! You can add puffed brown rice for crunch, too! Or coconut, or whatever yum you want. Cocoa powder works, too.

What You Need:

♥ 2 parts cacao powder
♥ 2 parts melted coconut oil
♥ 1 part liquid sweetener
♥ soft dates
♥ natural peanut butter
♥ peanuts

What You Do:

Line a cupcake tray with a few cupcake papers. If you mix about 1/4 cup of the cacao and 1/4 cup coconut oil with 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, you'll get enough chocolate for a few cups. If you have one, I actually prefer a mini cupcake tray, and with the same amount of ingredients, you'll get a 6-7 cup yield.

Put the cacao powder, coconut oil and sweetener in a small dish and stir well to combine. If the coconut oil is not very warm, or the sweetener is cold, the mixture might seize up a little. It just means the coconut oil is thickening and you need to warm it up--either in the microwave for about 10 seconds, or set your dish over a bowl of boiling water until it thins out and is smooth.

Spoon a little bit of liquid chocolate into each paper, just enough to cover the bottom, and freeze for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, carefully split your dates in half lengthwise and remove the pits. Spread about 1/2 teaspoon of peanut butter onto each half. Remove the tray from the freezer and smoosh a date half into each chocolate circle. Spoon more chocolate on top, to cover the date, and sprinkle with peanuts. Freeze until set and NOM.

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Come back soon! xo kittee

Review! Terry's Protein Ninja Popeye-erizes.

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 16:00:00 +0000

♫ Kitchen ninjas eatin' on smoothie bowls. Laid back. ♫ ♪♪

[LONG POST WARNING] Make room, 'cuz I'm barreling through today with a review of Terry Hope Romero's Protein Ninja, and yes, I do feel like Popeye after he's flattened a tin of spinach. Thank you for asking. The long awaited sibling to Salad Samurai is here, and rumors be true. This book is packed to the gills with wheelbarrows of protein powder, but there's plenty to make without it, too.

To use this book to its full potential, you'll need to stock up on several different kinds of protein powder. Besides the vanilla flavored Vega or Plant Fusion packets you undoubtedly have hiding in a dusty nook somewhere, you'll also need unflavored powderz in the varieties of hemp, pea, and brown rice, if you have the ca$h and kitchen real estate. If you don't, read on.

Since I'm down for PPA (Protein Powder Action©) in my smoothies and smoothie bowls, but not so much in my other meals, that's how I've explored this book. As my usual, I'm also always scopin' for gluten-freezers, and of course, my current affinity for natural sweeteners. Good news for me-- Protein Ninja has plenty for me to bust a grub on.

PEANUT BUTTER STRAWBERRY BOWL!
Vanilla protein powder, soymilk, frozen banana and strawberries, peanut butter, chia seeds, and vanilla. Topped with frozen strawberries, peanuts, and a PB powder and maple drizzle. Most ice-cream tasting nice cream of all time.

Pro tip for other gluten suppressors: most of the gluten-free recipes in this book (and there are lots and even many without PPA) are not marked as such. My advice is ignore the categorizations given at the top of each recipe. I'm pretty sure whichever editor was in charge of this task, spent a bit too much time with the hemp powder that day. So just go through the book page by page, and you'll find them. I'll list a breakdown of chapters below, so hopefully that'll help you find them, but just read everything including the sidebars (isn't that why you keep cookbooks by your bed after all?)

Here's what I cooked and munched--I aimed for picking things from different chapters. And for my own curiosity, I calculated how much protein I was eating using the My Fitness Pal app.

Peanut Butter Strawberry Bowl (Vanilla Almond Smoothie Bowl variation) --34 grams protein.
Holy shit, this made a gigantic bowl of smoothie power--I could only eat half in one sitting! This is the creamiest smoothie bowl I've ever had, and the protein powder was only noticeable, because the vanilla in mine tasted like Dandies. I always forget to add soymilk when I make these, and I was stoked on Terry's perfect ratios. Plus, this recipe has oodles of variations to try-- the Chai Bowl's next.

TEMPEH APPLE SAGE SAUSAGE PATTIES BLUEBERRY PANCAKE SAMMY STYLE!
Tempeh, apple, kidney beans, sage and other spices. Simple and delicious.

Tempeh Apple Sage Sausage Patties --4 grams protein per patty.
Terry obviously knows what's up, because tempeh + apple is one of my favorite things. I knew these would be good as soon as I saw the recipe, and then I felt pretty dumb for not coming up with something like this myself. Don't rat me out, but I may have added liquid smoke. Since these don't have a starch binder, they're pretty delicate, and thus perfect to eat in biscuits like the book recommends, or Kittee-style shoved between pancakes. They're also a great platform for experimenting with other bean and spice combos.

Cashew Hemp Goddess Dressing --.7 grams protein per tablespoon.
I fell in lust with the cashew curry dressing in Salad Samurai, so I was excited to taste another Terry-cashew-concoction. The additon of EFA oil was a boon, too, since I try to add that in whenever I can anyways. If you don't have a lot of creamy cashew based dressings in your repertoire, this is a good place to start. The Thousand Island variation sounds really great, but I'm out of pickles! :-<

MODERN DAY MACRO BOWL (Kittee Soy Curl variation).
This picture makes it like you were almost there with me and this tasty thing.

Modern-Day Macro Bowl
Sorry dudes, this bowl was too complicated for me to try to calcu-protein-ate--here's what's in here: aduki sesame brown rice, orange-ginger Soy Curls, tahini-miso sauce, steamed veggies, and raw veggies.

Even though this bowl contains many parts, it came together pretty quickly. Especially since I had everything I needed in the house. I also saved myself some time by Instant Potting aduki beans a couple of days ahead. I used Soy Curls instead of seitan, and I was very pleased. If anyone wants to try, I hydrated a couple handfuls in water, then squeezed out ALL the water and weighed them. Then I just followed Terry's method for the seitan, eazy peazy. This is a very earthy bowl, and I totes would not skip out on the miso-tahini sauce for the top, 'cuz it added a lot of flavor. I topped mine with raw shredded cabbage, steamed kale, and blanched bok choy, and the bok choy really made me happy. I need to remember to add that to more bowls in the future. Dazee ate this for dinner two times, with tongue wagging, which is an extremely good report.

EDAMAME & PEA AVOCADO TOAST
Calling this toast makes me laugh. I ate a delicious misnomer for breakfast.

Edamame & Pea Avocado Toast --6.5 grams protein per slice calculated without the bread.
This might contain avocado and look a lot like avo-toast, but it really is its own uniquely delicious thing. It's pretty fancy for me for breakfast, but it was pretty quick to make. In fact, by the time my toast was done (we don't have a toaster, so I used the oven), I had all the components complete and ready to go. We have this rillly great dedicated GF bakery in town called New Cascadia, so I used their seeded bread. Also, just for the sake of comparison, a tablespoon of my normal toast topping (peanut butter) only has 4 grams of protein. This wins.

There are two things about Protein Ninja I wish I could change: no nutritional analyses are given (it'd be nice to know how protein-strong the recipes are without getting My Fitness Pal involved). And second, the vast majority of flour based recipes have no gluten-free options, or even tips for converting them. That makes all of the brutish pancakes, waffles, biscuits, muffins, scones and flatbreads off-limits to me, and while I don't expect to be pandered to, it's still a bummer. That being said, I really marveled at how unique, creative and niche-y this book is, and I think it's pretty great that Terry was able to write a cookbook to match a vision she seemed to have.

OK! Here's Protein Ninja's chapter breakdown and my quick analysis:

Unstoppable Smoothie Bowls and Granola
This chapter was one of my favorites. The recipes all contain PPA, but are also all gluten-free. I'm so glad Terry uses natural sweeteners in Protein Ninja. I see recipes with coconut sugar, maple syrup and even an occassional date. Nothing too expensive, besides the powders.

Stealthy Protein Pancakes, Waffles and Much Much More
Besides the tempeh sausage patties, which I loved, this chapter was mostly a bust for me (see above). I'll probably go back and make the tempeh bacon and the Peanut Butter & Raspberry French Toast Sandwiches, because holy shit they sound good. But otherwise, I cried gluten deprived tears.

The Protein Bakery Basket
What I said up there ^. This entire chapter is wheat or spelt based flour concoctions with PPA. Stuff like scones, muffins, biscuits and flatbreads.

Super Toast: Savory and Sweet
Don't miss this chapter, my fellow deglutenies! Very cool GF toast toppings to be found, even if stoned editors don't agree.

Protein-Packed Patties and Burgers
Most of this chapter is gluten-free, but also has PPA. I didn't try any, because I couldn't find any unflavored pea protein in individual packets.

Better than Ever Burger Bowls
This chapter incorporates the patties and burgers from the previous chapter into really creative bowls. There are dressing recipes and sides not to be missed hiding in here.

Grain and Noodle Bowls
Another favorite chapter with oodles of gluten-free stuff, and lots of the recipes are based on legume proteins instead of PPA.

Sweet Treats
Terry focuses on healthier treats in Protein Ninja, so you'll find bean brownies here, along with cool sounding desserts like Frozen Avocado Pudding Protein Cheesecakes. This chapter also has lots of PPA and I'd guess almost half is GF.

IF YOU SKIMMED THIS POST, YOU PROBABLY NEED MORE PROTEIN.
Buy the book, support vegan authors.

Title: Protein Ninja
Author: Terry Hope Romero
Blog: Vegan Latina
Publisher: DaCapo Books
Photos: Beautiful and colorful images by Vanessa K. Rees
Focus: "Protein Ninja investigates sneaky ways to add planty proteins (hemp, brown rice, pea protein, beans, tofu, etc.) into everyday meals, snacks and treats."
6 Recipes to Intrigue: Peanut Butter and Raspberry French Toast Sandwiches, Ginger Lemon Cayenne Cold Blaster Bowl, Early Bird Scrambled Tofu, Baked Veggie Pan Omelet, White Bean & Cashew Ricotta Toast, and Korean Tofu Taco Salad.
XGFXness: There's not an emphasis on gluten-free recipes, but if you look for them, you'll find a lot.

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet! And, if you want to get emails whenever I update, click here to subscribe.

xo
kittee

Disclosures:
This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on a product link and purchase an item, I'll receive a small compensation.

I received a free review copy of Protein Ninja from DaCapo Books. No compensation or gift was exchanged for this review, and the rad opinion posted here is my own.

Use Up the Lefties Tempeh Curry Salad.

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 05:32:00 +0000

No one even has to know it was made from a really depressed square of tempeh.

The fridge was suddenly filling up with a lot of mismatched odds and ends, and the sad little piece of tempeh I'd thrown in there on Saturday, was pleading with me every time the door was open. It was also drying up by the minute, because I chucked it in there unwrapped!! :(((

SO, I did what I always do with tempeh. I made haste and threw together a quick salad (it really was fast--the tempeh was already steamed!).

Tempeh Curry Salad

Makes however much you want.

Sawwy! This salad came together so fast, nothing got measured.

But honestly, tempeh salad is yummiest when made on the fly and seasoned to taste as it's thrown together. And obviously, you gotta add apples, right Abby?

What You Need:
♥ Apple, diced
♥ Green onion or fresh chives, minced
♥ Kidney beans
♥ Chopped parsley
♥ Raisins
♥ Steamed tempeh, diced
♥ Chopped walnuts, optional

♥ Vegenaise
♥ Rice vinegar or lemon juice
♥ Curry powder (or throw in some turmeric, cayenne, onion granules, coriander, etc.)
♥ Salt
♥ Freshly ground black pepper

What You Do:

In a bowl, toss together the apple, green onion, beans, parsley, raisins, tempeh and walnuts, if using.

In a small bowl, mix together a dollop of Vegenaise with a little vinegar or lemon juice. Add curry powder to taste along with salt and black pepper.

Toss the salad with dressing, adjust the flavors to taste, and shove it into a collard leaf or make some whoppers!

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Come back soon and tell your friends!
xo kittee

Kittee for Days.

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 07:27:00 +0000

Howdy! This photo makes me want to grow out my bangs.

Hey Bubs! I know a lot of you have known me for a looooOOOng time, and maybe know as much about me as my mom Wendy. But still, I thought it'd be fun if I rewrote my "about" page, since I haven't updated it in a long time and am in the mood to over-share.

Me-me-me: I'm going to be 48 in April, which makes me a Taurus, and to save you the math, I was born in the late 60s. Since this is mostly a vegan food blog, I'm very proud to say I've been an ethical vegan for 25 years (thank you for writing Diet for a New America, John Robbins). You might notice that I also sometimes double-space between sentences, although I'm working on that, but I grew up on typewriters, so give an old lady a break.

I currently live in Portland, OR with my main squeeze Dazee AKA DZ, AKA Mr. Kittee, and our beloved dog Vee, or Vee-7 Berns-Kerns when he's in trouble. We moved here from New Orleans, where we lived for 8 years (four before Katrina/The Federal Levee Failures, and four afterwards). That's a whole other blog.

Me and my fuzzy little bank robber!!

I started this blog, Cake Maker to the Stars, in 2007, after a few years on Live Journal, and after running a little vegan recipe corner on the now defunct Mr. Ridiculous, which turned into PakuPaku. When I'm in the mood, I love to create new vegan recipes, and I'm always up for eating. I'm pretty obsessed with food actually, and often trail off to sleep concocting up projects in my head. Generally, I wish my friends cooked for me more, but truly with my diet these days, UGH.

I grew up in the DC area and my entire family still lives there. Even though I love living on the west coast, I wish I could squish this country together to make getting to the other coast faster and easier.

I have a Master's degree in Education and used to teach Montessori school to the littles. I also worked in the natural food industry for about 13 years, but I haven't done either of those things for a long while now. Sometimes I miss both, but usually I don't. Most recently, I wrote a cookbook called Teff Love, [☜affiliate link] which won VegNews Magazine's book of the year in 2015! It's filled with my take on Ethiopian food. You can read more about it and see links to many reviews here!

Digging around thrift stores and estate sales are one of my most favorite things to do, and besides hoarding Pyrex, vintage Japanese treasures, vintage fabric and old sewing patterns, I also love to make things. Knitting, crochet and sewing are at the top of the list.

Soaking up the azaleas in DC, last spring.

I've been vegan for half my life, and I firmly believe I've kept on course so long for 2 main reasons. The first is because I'm passionate about why I'm vegan [animals! environment! me!], and because I've always enjoyed a really diverse and interesting diet. While I eat pretty healthy stuff--mostly whole grains, legumes, lots of produce and many nuts, I also prepare food with plenty of healthy fats, and I let myself indulge. The key to keeping veganism sustainable for the long run is to not overly restrict, because when that happens it becomes a diet and DIETS SUCK. Veganism is the way I choose to live my life, not a way I have to live my life.

I do refrain from certain foods (I've been off gluten since '08 and refined sugar since '15), but only because avoiding these foods dramatically helps me manage some chronic health issues. One being a sorta scary auto immune disease called Spondyloarthropathy, which manifests as arthritis in my spine (SI joints). I don't recommend restricting unless you have to! It not only makes me sad, but pretty much ruins everything fun for my close friends, too. Good news is I recently started on a drug called Low Dose Naltrexone, which is really helping so much. But that's also for a different blog.

Anyway, I think that's enough of a Kittee-Puke for the time being. Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet!

Come back soon and tell your friends. And, if you want to get emails whenever I update, click here to subscribe.
xo kittee

How To: Creamy-Dreamy Saucy Beans

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 05:48:00 +0000

This is not Soup!

For Michelle.

I blog for all sorts of reasons, but my top three motivators are because I love to share and obsess over food, to showcase how delicious and easy vegan eating is, and because I use this site as a bookmark for my favorite recipes. With that in mind, here's another bean recipe! Toot toot!

I posted a picture of this meal on Instagram and was asked how I got the beans so creamy, and someone else on FB thought this was a picture of soup! It occurred to me that I learned how to really enjoy and appreciate beans cooked in this style from living in New Orleans. The next closest thing to beans this texture would be refritos, but still these are different. They're not perfectly smooth, more like creamy-dreamy, very soft, whole beans, floating in a gravy of refried beans. Anyway, it's hard to describe beans, without sounding gross. These are fabulous, and really the only way I ever want to eat a plate of beans. Trust.

Saucy, Chipotle black beans, GF cornbread and steamed kale.

Besides sharing another delicous bean recipe, the real point of this post is to explain how to cook-down almost any sort of whole dry bean, into a a creamy pot of yum. I cook mine in my beloved Instant Pot, and since a few folks have asked, I'm giving detailed directions for this method.

I'm also giving stovetop directions, although they'll take quite a bit of time and you'll have to stick around the kitchen for a long time to make sure the beans don't run out of water. If you have a crockpot or slow cooker, that's the next best thing, so you're not stuck babysitting beans all day.

Saucy Chipotle Black Beans

Makes about 4-5 cups

Before you start, please read through the notes and recipe below!

While the method for these beans is very similar to my New Orleans style beans, the chipotle and OJ make them taste quite different. They're great as a main with a couple of southern sides, or you can use them the next day (after they've thickened up) to fill pupusas, enchilads, or grilled tacos. The orange juice is really subtle--it mostly just balances the heat from the smoked jalapenos (chipotles).

Feel free to use this method to cook pintos, red beans, white beans, dry limas/butterbeans, and black beans (you'll want to season according to the sort of bean you're cooking).

I think beans are easiest to cook if they're soaked overnight in lots of cold water. However, you can also quick soak them, but it's not the easiest to get creamy beans this way on the stove. Put the dry beans in a large bowl, cover with lots of boiling water and cover. Let sit for at least an hour. Drain and rinse.

Remember that any acid added will keep the beans from tenderizing. Be sure to add the OJ and adobo sauce at the end of the cooking time, after the beans are already soft.

What You Need:

❤ 2 tablespoons evoo

❤ 1/2 onion, diced finely

❤ 1 stalk celery, diced

❤ 1 small sweet bell pepper (red, orange or yellow), diced (about 3/4 cup)

❤ a small handful of fresh oregano, minced

❤ 1 bay leaf

❤ 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

❤ 4 garlic cloves, minced
❤ 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder

❤ 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

❤ 2 cups dried black beans, soaked overnight and drained

❤ 3 cups water, plus more if needed

❤ 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
❤ Chipotle en adobo, to taste (check brands, many contain wheat!)
❤ 1/3 - 1/2 cup orange juice

Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker Directions:

In your Instant Pot, heat the olive oil on the Saute setting and add the onion, celery, red pepper, oregano, bay leaf and salt. Cook, stirring regularly, until the vegetables soften and begin to brown.

Add the garlic, chili powder, and paprika, and continue to cook and stir for about two minutes.

Add the beans, 3 cups of water, and liquid smoke. Cover and lock the lid of the pressure cooker, close the vent and cook on high pressure for 50 minutes. Let the pressure come down naturally. The beans should be very soft with quite a bit of liquid on top.

*
Leave the beans on the warm setting until you're ready to give them about 20 minutes of near constant attention. Take the lid off and bring the beans to a steady, full simmer (I use the bean/chili setting--watch for splashes). Stir often. Stir, stir, stir. Stir, occasionally mashing a spoonful of beans against the side of the pot, until the water has reduced and turned into a thick, creamy gravy.

Add the orange juice and a few spoonfuls of adobo sauce (and a chile if you like spicy beans), to taste. Cook for another few minutes, stirring often. When the beans are quite thick, but saucy, and very spoonable, season to taste with salt.

Beans thicken as they cool, add a bit of water (or orange juice) to leftovers to thin as necessary.

Stovetop Directions:
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Follow the instructions above, but once you add the beans, cover and simmer until very tender, stirring every once in a awhile. Add more water as necessary to keep the beans submerged and simmering. Depending on your beans, this could take from 2-4 hours. Once the beans are very tender, bring the heat up to a more rapid simmer and follow the directions after the asterisk above.

Oh how things have changed! But I swear, this is a combo of quick-quick and slow cook, all rolled into one. I hope you've enjoyed my current bean advice!

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet! Come back soon and tell your friends.

xo kittee

Knitting Mania Up in Here with Pics!

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Sat, 12 Mar 2016 07:00:00 +0000

These are the first sweaters that started my knitting season. They're for my new friend, Max!
If you're a knitter or want to see more pics, the yellow number is on Ravelry here and the blue one's here.

This happens to me every year, usually a little closer to January or February, but I kinda go through a natural manic knitting period--usually when Winter's sorta wrapping up--the beginning of Spring usually kills my urge.This year my knitting frenzy has been spurred on a bit, because seemingly out of nowhere, I have muchas vegan friends who are spawning. I say spawning with love. Anyway, I thought I was getting a little old for this, but I guess it's true what they say about young friends keeping you sprightly! This morning while I was biding a few hours waiting to get into an estate sale, I was knitting the finishing touches on my latest baby sweater. Another lady in line asked me, "If I was knitting for my grand-babies." UGH. Technically I guess I AM old enough for this comment, but whoa--it made me laugh. Then I died. :-X

This sweater's for my soon-to-be new friend, Hazel. It's my first attempt at a baby-sized cardigan with a diagonal button band! You can find the pattern and more photos here.

So this post is a big baby sweater show and tell love fest, and it's rilly picture heavy. Wish I was sorry! The most exciting thing to me about all the baby sweaters I've made so far this year, is that I've improvised each one! I've made lots of top-down raglans, so it's really not super hard to just wing it, but it is a bit thrilling.

I started with just regular cardigans, with a standard button-band going down the middle, but then I started playing around with increasing and decreasing stitches to make diagonal button bands. And, because that was working really well, I figured out how to edge the button band with a stitch that's called an I-cord, that's smooth and round and makes the sweater look much more polished.

Hazel's rainbow slanty. You can see the pattern and more photos here.

Here's the second sweater I made for Hazel. I attempted to make the button band more diagonal, but I made a mistake by placing the button holes on the wrong side of the band. You can see the edges are a little wonky, which is what motivated me to figure out a way to smooth them out.

All together! So bright and lovely.

My best attempt yet! The pattern and more pics are here.
I have another one finished too, but the sweater's a surprise, so you'll have to check back later for deets (but if you're a sleuth, I bet you can find pictures you-know-where).

Of course, I got so excited with my third and best attempt, that I gave it away to my friend Amanda without taking good photos! You can see the smooth, deluxe i-cord edging on the button band. Triumph!

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet! Of course, and just as a little FYI, these sweaters are all vegan and made from vintage acrylic yarn from my stash! If you want to make any of these sweaters, and have questions, feel free to get in touch! And, if anyone is interested in testing out my pattern, I think I'm gonna work it up as a Ravelry download!

xo kittee

Marriage-worthy Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 07:36:00 +0000

My favorite seasoned Brussels sprouts, snugglin' up with Mac 'n' Squeeze Me.

I'm pretty sure my first taste of roasted Brussels came from The Bye and Bye, a local vegan bar that spoils me by its close proximity to our house. They have all sorts of Southern and comfort inspired plates and bowls, but their plain 'ol Brussels sprouts are one of the best things on the menu.

If you've never had them, roasted Brussels are sort of earth-shattering good--nothing at all like the steamed or boiled ones your sadistic Aunt tried to get you to eat growing up. When prepared well, roasted Brussels are fork tender, with caramelized exteriors that are a little crunchy and border on being charred in spots.

They're also ridiculously simple to make. The hardest thing about them is the prep, which zips by if you put on a good podcast or some music for distraction.

Lots of times, I make roasted Brussels in their easiest incarnation, with just a little olive oil, salt and pepper. But lately, I've gotten more into this seasoned version, which Dazee thinks are deelish--imporatant to note, because he's usually a self-proclaimed Brussels-hater.

Marriage-worthy Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Makes a full cookie sheet

Before you start, please read through the notes and recipe below!

Usually I make Brussels and eat them all at once, as soon as they come out of the oven, while standing up. Hopefully, this recipe makes enough to power you through the snacking phase with enough left for at least one meal.

Prepping Brussels can be quite pleasant if you have a sharp knife! If you use a dull, crappy knife, it'll take forever and will most likely make you grumpy, because you'll probably cut yourself. Brussels are round and opinionated, and they like to roll around a LOT. Please be careful, and maybe buy a knife sharpener. Treat yo'self.

Be sure to save any leaves that come off the sprouts as you prep them. These will caramelize, and get a little burnt in the oven and are delicious!

This is gross, but if you're new to Brussels, be sure to investigate them well after you cut them. Aphids are also big fans of this veggie and are crafty at hiding in the nooks and crannies.

What You Need:
♥ 1 1/2 pounds Brussels Sprouts

♥ 2 tablespoons evoo

♥ 1 tablespoon maple syrup

♥ 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

♥ 1 teaspoon granulated onion

♥ 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

♥ 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more if desired

♥ cooking spray

♥ freshly ground black pepper

What You Do:

Preheat the oven to 425F, and line a baking sheet with parchment.

Wash the Brussels sprouts and pat dry. Trim the bottom from each one, and cut in half through the core (if there are any extra-large sprouts, quarter them).

Put the cut Brussels into a large bowl, including any leaves that may have fallen off. Add the oil and maple syrup and toss well until each sprout is evenly and thoroughly coated. Add the nutritional yeast, onion, paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and mix well to combine.

Lightly coat the prepared baking sheet with cooking spray, and carefully tip the sprouts onto the sheet. Arrange them so they're in a single layer, cut sides down.

Bake for 18 minutes without disruption (no poking or turning!). When done, the sprouts should be tender and somewhat caramelized with a little bit of char here and there. If not, continue baking for 2 more minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, season to taste with additional salt if desired, and black pepper.

Devour.

Please say, "I do."

💗 💗 💗 💗
Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet! Come back soon and tell your friends.
xo kittee

Ethiopian Smoothie Inspo --> Roasty Toasty Flax

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 20:55:00 +0000

Smoothie of the Moment → Roasty Toasty!

Skillet toasted flax seeds are one of the magickal ingredients I tasted for the first time while developing recipes for Teff Love. I love them in spicy, hot Ethiopian telba wot (telba is the Amharic word for flax), and I really love-love-love them in smoothies.

This smoothie is adapted a little bit from Teff Love, but not by much. It's a lot different than most of the smoothies I make, it's not very fruity, and the texture is a bit thicker due to the fluffy nature of flax. This smoothie has more of a roasted thang going on, and the banana is all the fruit this drink needs.

I usually add a date to mine, to balance the cocoa/carob and roasted flavor just a bit, but you should sweeten yours however you like. You don't really follow recipes anyway, right?

Since this smoothie is bursting with omega-3s from the flax, I usually go nuts and add even more by way of my favorite omega 3 oil (7 Sources), but that's only because my body really needs it.

Roasty-Toasty Flax Smoothie
Makes about 2 cups

Before you start, please read through the notes and recipe below!

As with any smoothie, you can switch this up in whatever manner pleases you--sometimes I even add spinach.

I like this smoothie best on the thin side, so the only thing I wouldn't change is the addition of ice. If you don't want to add it, be sure to add extra milk or water, so the flax won't thicken it up too much. Even with the ice, sometimes I thin it out as I drink it, because I prefer smoothies less fluffy and more the consistency of a thin shake.

I usually add a date and sometimes a tiny bit of stevia, but add whatever you like. Maybe just not more fruit, because I've tried that before, and it did not go well.

And, my most favorite way to drink this is with carob! I used cacao in this post, because I needed a little caffeine in my morning, but if you love carob like I do, it's the besssssst.

What You Need:
♥ 1/4 cup flaxseed
♥ 1 cup vegan milk (I prefer soymilk)
♥ 1 frozen banana
♥ 2 tablespoons cocoa, raw cacao or carob powder
♥ 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
♥ sweetener of choice (a date, agave, stevia, etc.)
♥ 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

♥ 2 big handfuls of ice
♥ water to thin, if necessary

What You Do:
Put the flax-seed into a medium saucepan or skillet and toast over medium heat until the seeds begin to pop. Cover the pan, and continue to cook another 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, shaking the pan frequently, to keep the seeds from burning.

Remove the pan from heat, carefully remove the lid (when the seeds have stopped popping), and transfer them to a plate. Let cool, and grind however you grind spices (a dedicated coffee grinder is great), and transfer again to a blender. If you have a high-speed blender, you can transfer the hot seeds directly to your blender jar and skip the grinding step. Promise me you'll be careful--hot seeds are hot!!

Add the milk, banana, cacao or carob, cinnamon, if using, a little sweetener and vanilla. Blend until combined, then with the motor running, add in the ice until the smoothie is thinned out and icy.

Adjust the sweetener to taste, and if necessary, add more water to thin the smoothie out.

For more smoothie inspo, click on the SMOTM (smoothie of the moment) label at the bottom of the post! YUM SMOOOOOTHIES.

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet! Come back soon and tell your friends.
xo kittee

This post contains affiliate links.

Review: Spiral Spring's Spirulina Maxima

noreply@blogger.com (Kittee Berns) — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 02:42:00 +0000

Here's a snap of the two Spiral Spring products I tried: (L) Spirulina Maxima and (R) Choco Spring.

This post is all about spirulina, which I'm pretty sure I say incorrectly. I pronounce it spy-ro-LEAN-uh, but when I was telling my friend Ben about this post, he corrected me and said, "Ohhh. You mean SPEAR-uh-lean-uh?" I think spies are cooler than spears, so I'm unmoved.

Anyway, spirulina is a blue-green algae with a boatload of nutrition, that I think tastes really nice in its powdered form. I developed a knacker for it way back in the 90s, when I used to work in a small natural foods store. So, when the opportunity to review some new-to-me spirulina products landed on my Cake Maker door mat, I was eager to get tasting.

Spiral Spring sent me several products to try, and what I'm reviewing today is their spirulina maxima powder and their smoothie mix called Choco Spring, which is simply spirulina maxima, plus ground oats, organic cocoa and cinnamon. If you click on the above links, it'll bring you to their respective product pages where you can check out their nutrition facts.

I knew I'd be a big fan of the Spiral Spring products, because of my above-mentioned spirulina infatuation, and because their spirulina seems very clean (the biggest thing to watch out for when purchasing spirulina is heavy metal contamination). These products are made with mountain water that comes directly from the Andes and are certified organic, non GMO, GF, and heavy-metal free (sorry all you fans).

Adding spirulina to your favorite smoothie is easy. Pictured here: 1 cup unsweetened soymilk, 1 frozen banana, a few frozen strawberries, 1 cup frozen spinach, 1 date, and 2 teaspoons spirulina maxima.

I'm a fan of spirulina because I straight up enjoy how it tastes, but it's also awesome because it's a good plant source of protein, iron, calcium, B vitamins, and even EFA. Their website even states that "it's popular among the vegans!" Ha ha. See?

I have no idea how to describe what spirulina tastes like. Some might say a little fishy, but I strongly disagree because I'm really averse to fishy tasting foods including almost all seaweed. I think spirulina tastes a little green, but very mellow and maybe even a little sweet. Not gonna lie--it does smell a bit fishy, so I generally try to hold my breath when I'm measuring it out.

If you're worried that the flavor might be too strong, the Choco Spring smoothie mix is very mild. When I added it to my regular smoothie, I almost couldn't even detect a spirulina taste. It's smooth with just a hint of chocolate and oats for thickening powers. Spiral Springs also sells spirulina maxima tablets for all you weanies.

Stick some in pancakes!

Spirulina also makes a great addition to pancakes! Just add a teaspoon, or as much as you like, to your favorite recipe. My go-to pancake recipe is tweaked from Allyson Kramer's Great Gluten-Free Vegan Eats. They're made from sorghum and tapioca starch and are so good, DZ eats them instead of a wheaty version happily!

If you wanna get in on the algae-action, Spiral Springs is offering my readers a chance to purchase their spirulina products at 20% off. Simply use the discount code Cake20, when you check out from their website.

I also like spirulina in my chia oats (recipe below). So purty.
Besides smoothies, chia oats, and pancakes, spirulina is great in protein/energy balls.

Peanut Butter-Banana Spirulina Chia-Oats
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Did Elvis like overnight oats? I will never know. :(
I do know that I prefer my oats on the firm side. Thus, I usually eat these 15-30 minutes after preparation, when the chia has thickened just a little, but the oats still have texture. If you're good with softer oats, this recipe also works just fine if thrown together the night before and chilled in the fridge while you ZZzzzZ.

What You Need:
❤ 1/3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
❤ 2 tablespoons chia seeds
❤ 1/2 teaspoon spirulina powder
❤ 1 1/4 cups vegan milk (I used a coconut milk/soymilk combo)
❤ 1/2 frozen banana, slivered
❤ 1 teaspoon natural peanut butter, or your fave nut butter
❤ maple syrup, agave, or stevia drops
❤ roasted peanuts, optional

What You Do:
Into a pint-sized mason char, put the oats, chia, and spirulina and mix together with a small spoon.

Add the vegan milk, banana and peanut butter, and stir gently to combine. Sweeten to taste and garnish with peanuts just before eating, if using.

Refrigerate until the chia has begun to thicken. I like to eat mine after 15-30 minutes, but if you like softer oats, feel free to cover the oats and refrigerate overnight. The longer the chia-oats sit, the more they'll thicken.

Thanks for visiting my little crumb of the internet! Come back soon and tell your friends.
xo kittee

Disclosure: I received free spirulina review products from Spiral Springs. No compensation or gift was exchanged for this review, and the rad opinions posted here are my own and always will be.