Muffins!

Tonight I made muffins! I couldn't find my copy of Veganomicon, so I found a basic recipe on the box of Ener-G Egg Replacer. Here it is:

1-2/3 C. all purpouse wheat flour
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Ener-G egg replacer beaten in 2 T water
1-1/4 cups milk
4 T oil

Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl. Combine wet ingredients in another bowl. But the wet stuff into the dry stuff, mix until combined, and put into a muffin tin lined with those cupcake papers.

Ok, now here's what I did to make these my own, and vegan:

1. I DOUBLED the recipe to get muffin tops!
2. I used white flour because that's all I had on hand.
3. I used Silk Creamer because I ran out of regular soy milk.
4. I added a touch of vanilla.
5. Here's the fun part: semi-sweet baking chocolate, about half a baking size bar, chopped into small pieces; handful of walnuts, chopped; handful of frozen strawberries, chopped! Add these ingredients last, to the blended dry/wet mixture. And, fill the little muffin cups to the very very top! My batch made 13 muffins, if you don't snack on the batter. :)

Yet another reason to not eat cow.

This article appeared on CNN today. 143 million pounds of beef (but, let's call it what it really is, cow) was recalled today. The reason cited was because:

"cattle that had lost the ability to walk since passing pre-processing inspections were slaughtered without an inspector having examined them for chronic illness -- a practice...[that] violated federal regulations and had been going on for at least two years."

The article goes on to say that around 37 million pounds of the cow meat went to school lunch programs.

Yet another gentle reminder to those of you that still eat cow--STOP! Not only are you contributing to the general miserable life and death of these beautiful creatures, but you'll be saving yourself the worry of catching some weird brain disease and you'll have yourself a healthier heart (less cholesterol to clog up your arteries).

Note: picture by foxypar4

From our friends at Vegan Soapbox

Read this post about pigs.

Ode to Broccoli

I love broccoli. It is by far my favorite vegetable. It's beautiful and incredibly good for us. It's also one of the simplest meals I know how to make.

Here are some stats about this wonderful superveggie, courtesy of WHFoods.org :




Just take a look at the nutrient per calorie punch broccoli gives us!

Here's my favorite way of eating broccoli (braised):

• few garlic cloves, sliced or minced
• OO
• Broccoli (a usual bunch you would find in the store would be fine), chopped into whatever size you like--be sure to use the crowns, not the stems. The smaller you chop, the quicker they cook.
• sautee or fry pan with top
• salt
• 2 slices of whole wheat toast, with soy-based butter like Eden Soy Whipped

Put about 1 T of OO in the pan over medium heat, add the garlic. Wait until the OO sparkles a bit, and the garlic begins to look a tad translucent. Add the broccoli. Stir the garlic and broccoli a bit so no sticking to the pan occurs--let the broccoli sautee in the pan for about 2-3 minutes. Now here's the part--add about 1/8th-1/4 C. of water to the sautee pan, and put the cover on. Let the water steam the broccoli for about 3-4 minutes--really depends on how big or small your broccoli pieces are. When done, you shouldn't have that much water left.

TIP: Keep in mind that your broccoli will keep cooking a few minutes after you remove it from the stove, and in the bowl, so a tiny bit of crunch is ok when you do your last taste test. Pile as much broccoli as you want into your favorite bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and enjoy with your soy buttered toast!!! Scrumptious!

Note: Broccoli photo courtesy of kmilyun.