September | 2013 | My Foodie Call | Page 2

Monthly Archives: September 2013
- Vegan Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins
  
  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall
  
  Sep 25th
  More muffins in the house. Yay, me!
  
  Love pumpkin. Year round.
  
  Love this recipe. This recipe uses whole wheat pastry flour which is a key item to have on hand when baking. I love to use pastry flour in muffins and pancakes because it just makes it that much more cake-like.
  
  Also, this recipe is vegan. Pure plant-based baby!
  
  Whole Wheat Pumpkin- Applesauce Muffins
  - 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  - 1 teaspoon baking powder
  - 1/4 teaspoon salt
  - 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  - 1/4 cup almond meal (Trader Joe’s has a great one so that you can cut your time down a bit, but it is easy to make your own. Just process almonds in your food processor until they are a fine powder!)
  - 2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  - 1/4 cup grapeseed oil (or canola, or whatev…..)
  - 3/4 cup unsweetened organic applesauce
  - 1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling…)
  - 1/3 cup almond milk
  - 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  - 2 flax eggs (see below***, or use regular eggs if you do not care about it being vegan)
  Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use 12 paper muffin liners or spray your pan with non-stick spray.
  2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and almond meal.
  3. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, oil, applesauce, pumpkin milk, vanilla and flax “eggs”. Mix well.
  4. Fold the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir until combined.
  5. Divide evenly into muffin pan. Bake 16-20 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned. Cool the muffin pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes before serving.
  ***I made up a couple of flax eggs instead of regular. Do you know about flax eggs? Super easy. For each “egg”, use 1 tablespoon of flax-seed meal (not seeds…the ground up stuff) and add 3 tablespoons of water. Whisk it up or use a fork to giggle it around in the bow.l Pop it in the fridge to chill. Leave it in there for at least 15 minutes to upwards of an hour, stirring every so often. It should create a gooey binder. Use it in your baked goods to help “glue” your ingredients together.
  Posted in Breakfast, Snacks | Tagged pumpkin, vegan, whole wheat
- Tofu Lettuce Cups- A recipe that got a California Girl to the White House
  
  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall
  
  Sep 24th
  As mentioned in this post, my son Corbin and I got to go to the White House this summer as part of a group that won the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge. As one of our “party favors”, we got to bring home a fantastic recipe card box with all of the winning recipes.
  
  Tofu Lettuce Cups
  
  Slowly. And I mean slowwwwwwly….I am working my way through the recipes. I am determined to make each and every one. We are only on number five, and staying in alphabetical order. This Healthy Lunchtime Challenge winner is from California and was the sweetest thing ever. We tried her recipe with a small modification. No pork. Straight up tofu. You know what? It was pretty dang good :).
  
  Here is what I did to veganize it. Not much, it was a great recipe!
  - 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
  - 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  - 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  - 2 teaspoons white vinegar
  - 2 teaspoons grated ginger
  - 2 teaspoons sugar
  - 2 cloves garlic, minced
  - 2 teaspoons olive oil
  - 1 block firm tofu, pressed, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  - 2 heads romaine lettuce, cleaned and separated into leaves
  - Toppings: 1 bag broccoli slaw, fresh cilantro, and lime slices
  Preparation:
  1. Made the sauce. In a small bowl whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch, vinegar, ginger, sugar, and garlic.
  2. In a medium pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the sauce to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Add the tofu and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.
  3. To serve, scoop several heaping tablespoons of the tofu mixture into each romaine lettuce “cup” then top with broccoli slaw, cilantro, and lime slices.
  No pork, no problem.
  Posted in Meatless mealtime | Tagged tofu, vegan
- Easy, Egg-less Bell Pepper Quiche
  
  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall
  
  Sep 23rd
  Sounds like an oxymoron right? How can you make a quiche without egg?
  
  Here’s how.
  
  Gather your veggies and cooking stuff.
  
  Cook and soften your peppers. My helper’s little paw stirring it up. 6 year old’s help is not required, but it really brings out the flava!
  
  Gather more stuff.
  
  Pulse your tofu and baking powder a few times in the food processor.
  
  Add your yogurt, mustard, nutritional yeast, flour, and onion powder. Stir it up.
  
  Add cooked peppers. Stir.
  
  Press into sprayed pan. Add optional cheese.
  
  End result. Egg-free.
  
  Egg-free, Crustless Quiche
  
  Serves 3-4
  
  Ingredients
  - 5-6 oz of extra firm tofu, crumbled
  - 1 tsp. baking powder
  - ½ cup plain greek yogurt
  - 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  - 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
  - 2 tbsp flour of choice (I used whole wheat)
  - 1 teaspoon onion powder
  - 1 tbsp olive oil
  - 1 cup chopped organic bell peppers (Alternately, you could use any chopped vegetable, but the saute time might vary.)
  - salt and pepper, to taste
  - 1/4 cup Daiya shredded cheese (optional)
  Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
  2. Spray quiche pan or springform pan (that is all I had!)
  3. Lightly sauté the vegetables in oil, about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Mix together remaining ingredients (crumbled tofu, greek yogurt, mustard, nutritional yeast and flour)
  5. Stir in the sautéed peppers.
  6. Spoon the mixture into the pan, spreading to the edges.
  7. If using cheese, sprinkle on top.
  8. Bake for approximately 24-30 minutes. This will depend on what size pan you use. Basically cook it until the edges are browning and the top has gotten good and crusty. Cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
  Posted in Breakfast, Meatless mealtime | Tagged nutritional yeast
- What I pack my kid.
  
  Posted at 7:59 pm by myfoodiecall
  
  Sep 22nd
  I get asked a lot about what I pack for lunch for my kids. It changes A LOT. They all like different things (of course they do), hate different things (of course they do)….
  
  Not easy.
  
  My goal is to try to keep it simple, but balanced.
  
  It isn’t gourmet quinoa leftovers or fancy cream cheese pin wheels, but this is the lunch on deck for tomorrow.
  
  In this pack:
  
  Clockwise from the top
  - 3 mini, whole-wheat pitas (for mini pizza building)
  - low-sodium V8 (Yes, my kid drinks this. Start yours young. Yours will too)
  - vegetarian pepperoni, vegan mozzarella cheese (Again, pizza making)
  - marinara sauce (pizza)
  - apple slices (squirt a bit of lemon juice on them to prevent discoloration)
  - snack bag containing: raisins, cashews, a couple pretzels and a dark chocolate square
  Whole Wheat Pita’s from Trader Joe’s=good carbs. Low-sodium V8=liquid vegetable.
  
  Mozzarella, Vegan pepperoni, and sauce to build mini-pizzas on those cute little pitas shown above.
  
  Apple slices. Vitamin C and fiber.
  
  Snack pack. Cashews=protein, Raisins=because L likes them, Pretzels=for crunch, and Dark Chocolate=A sweet treat 🙂
  
  Now, to get the child to actually eat it….That’s for another post. 🙂
  Posted in What I pack my kid. | Tagged lunch
- Maximum Iron Absorption
  
  Posted at 7:00 pm by myfoodiecall
  
  Sep 21st
  
  I love the science of food combining.
  
  Although I do not know much about it.
  
  I don’t feel too bad though because scientists don’t know much about it either. And they’re the experts….
  
  Traditionally, experts tackle food and nutrients from a reductionist stand point, that is they try to study one micronutrient at a time.
  
  For example let’s take kale.
  
  We all know that kale is the latest “superfood”, right? Superfood it is. It has Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium (the absorbable kind, unlike nasty Tums)….
  
  Here is the thing with kale. It has all of these wonderful magical super nutrients, but what happens when you make homemade “kale chips” that have added olive oil and sea salt to help with the crisp factor? How does the chemical composition of the vegetable change? Is your body still absorbing that calcium? How does the fat from the olive oil affect your body’s ability to absorb the Vitamin A? Does it help it? Inhibit it?
  
  Scientists are really trying to tackle this from a different perspective because there are in fact so many variables that go into whether or not we absorb and retain the vitamins that we eat.
  
  Food Science. Our food, their nutrients and how available it is to our body begins the moment that it enters our mouths. But what else are you eating and digesting at that same time?
  
  It’s fascinating and there is still so much to learn.
  
  Here is one tip.
  
  OATMEAL.
  
  When you have oatmeal…Do you make it with cow’s milk? Eat some yogurt with it?
  
  Let’s not anymore, okay???
  
  Oatmeal is a great source of plant-based iron. Good right?
  
  Yes, when consumed correctly.
  
  When you consume iron-rich foods with dairy products such as skim milk, they will inhibit iron absorption. It is for this reason that you should not put yogurt in your green smoothies. Basically that spinach in your green monster? It will mean nothing with that vanilla yogurt blocking it’s iron. :(.
  
  There is hope yet…
  
  Eat me.
  
  Eat me too.
  
  To maximize your iron absorption, consume your Iron and Vitamin C at the same time. Bingo.
  
  Iron+Vitamin C= Healthy
  
  Food science. Just the beginning.
  
  Posted in Random stuff, Small changes | Tagged oatmeal
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