Color Me Vegan Part 2

I've made even more recipes from Color Me Vegan! Since I'm an organized, planner-in-advance type person, I'm really enjoying my cookbook project. I know what I'm going to make for dinner when I get home in the evening and I have all of the ingredients waiting in my fridge. These recipes all make several servings, and I've been putting the leftovers in containers right away so that Dennis and I can just grab lunch to take to work in the morning. Some recipes even made enough leftovers that I didn't have to cook dinner every night. (I'm talking about you, Manicotti!) I've also been making sure our breakfasts have been taken care of in advance too. A little bit of planning means less work for me in the long run, and I love it! We're saving money too, since we haven't had to get take out for lunch.

I made Raspberry Lemon Muffins so we would have breakfast for a few days. My friend Jen made these for our brunch potluck a few weeks ago and they were really good. I used gluten-free flour instead of wheat flour, and the muffins came out a little weird, but they were still pretty tasty.

 I made Hot Tamale Pie because it was cold and the name called to me. This was really easy and really good!

 I really loved the cornbread topping on this. I added extra nutritional yeast to make it cheesy.

 I love garlic and I also love greens, so Garlickly Greens with Pasta seemed like a natural choice for me. I actually used more garlic than the recipe called for. I also added cannellini beans for flavor and for some extra protein.

 I wasn't sure if I would like Sweet Potato Tacos but I was intrigued, so I made them. And I'm glad I did because I loved them! Since color is the theme of the week, I used blue corn taco shells. I served this dish with spicy rice and beans. 

When we ran out of muffins, I made blackberry breakfast bars. And to make it interesting, I used both blackberries and blueberries. This photo looks a little boring, since it's pretty much just a brownish, squarish blob, but these bars were really good! Next time I make these I'm doubling the recipe! There seemed to be an error in the recipe though. The instructions say to bake the bottom layer until the berries are bubbly and then it tells you to add the berries and top layer and bake for 20 more minutes. Hmmm... the berries are supposed to get bubbly before they're cooked? I went with my instincts and didn't cook the berries with the bottom layer, which is what I think you're supposed to do.

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Vegan Brunch

I mentioned last week that I want to pick a cookbook each week and try three recipes from it. Well, I've had a head start on my goal! Not only did try three recipes from Party Vegan, I also made a few things from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I love this book and have made many delicious things from it in the past.

 It was cold out, and I was craving hot tea and warm muffins, so I flipped through Vegan Brunch to see if there were any recipes that I could make with the ingredients on hand. Coffee Chip Muffins seemed to fit the bill! I swapped out the wheat flour for spelt flour. They were super quick and easy to make, and they were absolutely delicious!! These muffins totally hit the spot!

And because those muffins were so good, I also made Zucchini Spelt muffins. The recipe calls for 2 cups of shredded zucchini, but once I had my zucchini all shredded, I had three cups. I made a batch and a half and made 12 mini muffins as well as 12 regular sized muffins.

 I made a Puttanesca Scramble for dinner (or should I say brinner?) a few days ago. I added nutritional yeast and a little Daiya mozzarella to it because I was in the mood for something cheesy. This was a really good twist on the tofu scramble. The olives and tomatoes gave this dish so much flavor.

I also made Potato Spinach Squares. Potatoes and spinach go so well together! This is the same recipe I made for the brunch potluck on Sunday.

The scramble and squares were perfect together. I had meant to make this meal for Dennis's birthday brunch, but it didn't happen. I'm glad I was finally able to make it, because it was delicious!

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Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

I have declared this week to be Pumpkin Week!

This is the time of year for yummy fall foods, my favorite of which is pumpkin. I've been adding it to everything lately and I'll tell you all about it in upcoming blog posts.

This is a recipe given to me by friend Vanessa. It wasn't vegan, so I veganized it and swapped out wheat flour with spelt flour. The topping is supposed to be crumbly, but when I made it, my margarine wasn't cold enough and the topping was sort of a paste. I put it on top of the muffins anyway, and it gave them a nice little crunchy crust, which was pretty tasty. These muffins did not last very long at all in my house!

Muffins:
2 1/2 cups spelt flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons water mixed with 3 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups apples, peeled and finely chopped

Streusel Topping:
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons cold margarine such as Earth Balance

Directions:
Preheat over to 350 degrees
In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
Add liquid ingredients and stir until just moistened.
Stir in the apples.
Spoon into greased muffin tin or a muffin tin lined with paper liners, about 3/4 full.
Sprinkle with streusel topping.
Bake for 40 minutes.

Makes 24 muffins.

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