Wow it's definitely been a while! In the last two weeks I've barely left my bed because of the crazy fever I've had. I've made some interesting "fever soups" which I can only say were born out of feverish, hungry thoughts that weren't too picky what I ate, as long as it was warm, vegan, and warm. But I'm on the road to recovery, and felt like doing a little proper baking.

I'm really pleased with the results of these cookies, I didn't use a set recipe, rather a bunch of different inspirations online. I'll try to remember what I did.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of kamut and spelt flours (equal mix)
1/4 of a cup corn starch
1/2 cup of carob powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 a banana, blended
1/2 a tsp salt
carob nibs (about 2 handfuls)

1/2 cup canola oil
about 1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup of coffee (I used decaf)
about 2 handfuls of carob and chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
Mix wet ingredients, including blended banana in another bowl.
Add wet to dry, and add in carob nibs.

Grease a baking pan, scoop about a tbsp at a time on to the pan.
Bake for about 12 minutes, let cool and enjoy!

Raw Sping Salad

I've been sick for the last little while, so I've been slacking off on cooking and trying new recipes, I thought up this one while I was at work today. This was a quick, but extremely tasty salad to make. I soaked the frozen corn and peas before hand, grated carrot and raw beet, chopped up two green onions, about 1/4 of a large tomato, fresh parsley, as well as a navel orange. I used a small scoop of Dijon mustard for dressing, and was thinking about adding some sunflower or pumpkin seeds too.

Baaaack!

The last 6 days were some of the most kick ass days I've had in a looong time! A couple of my friends and I headed back to Asbury Park and New York, with our trip centered around a couple shows: the Gaslight Anthem (opening bands the Good Old War and Pela), and the Bouncing Souls (Black President, the Loved Ones).

For Gaslight, we stayed in Asbury Park, NJ. I loved that place, we found an amazing restaurant called the Twisted Tree, which served delicious vegetarian and vegan food (with gluten free options too!). The staff was friendly, and apparently on certain days musicians played in a little corner. If you're vegan and in Asbury, check it out!

In New York I relied on a lot of nuts for my meals, but we went to a great place called Risotteria, which was a gluten free restaurant. Not a lot was vegan, but I ordered the same delicious salad I offered the year before, and once again I was not disappointed! We also were able to find some gluten free beer, which was a nice way to end off the trip. We also went to an amazing bakery called Babycakes. We went there last year, and loved it so much we made sure to go back again. One of my pals loves these cupcakes so much, she bought a cookbook, so I can't wait to reap the benefits!!

Here are the chocolate, gluten free, vegan cupcakes I enjoyed:

Unfortunately for me, I feel like a donkey is trying to kick its way out of my head, and I had a fever of 100degrees F last night. So I'm laying low today. But here's yesterday's quick dinner: my attempt at fresh rolls!

Just use rice paper (soak) and finely chopped vegetables (I used red, yellow and orange peppers, a green mango, green onions, and parsley). To dip I made a quickie version similar to the ones I've tasted in restaurants: something sweet, spicy and vinegary.

Enjoy!

Here are the links to the two restaurants and Babycakes

http://www.twistedtreecafe.com/

http://www.risotteria.com/

http://www.babycakesnyc.com/

Peace Out!

I'm pulling an all nighter packing for my trip to New Jersey and New York. Should be an amazing trip, I'm heading down to the good old U.S of A to see the Gaslight Anthem at the Stone Pony in New Jersey, hit up Asbury Lanes, then head to New York to see the Bouncing Souls and the Loved Ones. Last year I was lucky enough to see the Loved Ones play Asbury Lanes, and I'm excited to see them again. I packed some trail mix and just baked some vegan gluten free muffins for emergency supplies. I'll let you all know how the trip went!

Green Mango Salad

I shared this salad I made with my sister the other day. We ate at the Green Mango restaurant, and loved their salad, so I wanted to try and make it at home. It was simple enough, and tasted great! I'm not sure what it tastes like with the original dressing, since that includes fish sauce. I thought my version tasted great, and my sister liked it too!

Ingredients

1 green (not yet ripe) mango

1-2 green onions

1/2 a red pepper

agave syrup

apple cider vinegar

flax oil

red pepper flakes

Method

Slice the mango into fine slices, however thick you prefer them

Slice the green onion into long think slices

Slice the red pepper

Mix together in a bowl or on a plate.

In a separate bowl, mix agave, vinegar, oil and red pepper to you liking. I like mine spicy, and not too oily. So I had more vinegar and agave than flax oil, and a nice sprinkling of red pepper flakes.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad, and enjoy!

Boxsocial Treats

...and nothing says Box Social like PPK's Chocolate Pillows! I'm heading off to a friends house tonight, so I baked some treats to bring. Check out their recipe, it's amazing!

http://theppk.com/blog/2009/03/30/peanut-butter-pillows/

I also baked some carrot muffing inspired by Susan's recipe over at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen:

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/03/carrot-spice-muffins.html