One Frugal Foodie

I sacraficed the annual list of New Year’s resolutions long ago, but this year I am very excited about restarting the tradition. Only this time, January 1 isn’t my celebratory day, but rather April 22nd, Earth Day.  As I jotted down my goals for a greener earth, I noticed that my Earth Day Resolutions were reading more and more like a “how to save money” list … hmmm, interesting coincidence don’t you think?  Let’s see, simplifying, reusing, recycling … a recipe for a healthier environment and bank account!  Read my resolutions here on Go Dairy Free for the full list, and let me know your favorite Earth Day ideas!

At last, the temperatures have risen just enough for me to enjoy a cool and creamy smoothie for my healthy mid-morning treat.  One of my favorite indulgences, yet oh so nutritious, most of my smoothies are made with not an ounce of added sugars.  Rather, ripe fruit takes center stage for a naturally sweet treat.

Unfortunately, my fruit stocks were a bit low, with berry and stone fruit season not yet in full swing (and frozen blueberries at astronomical prices) … but buried deep in my freezer I discovered a baggie filled with melon balls.  A month or two ago I had a rapidly aging cantaloupe on my hands.  Instead of tossing it to the fruit flies, I scooped out the flesh and froze it in the hopes that one day it might serve some purpose.  Well, today was that day. 

Basic Bananaloupe Smoothie

• 1/2 to 1 cup unsweetened almond or rice milk
• 1 ripe banana, small to medium in size
• 1 cup ripe cantaloupe chunks, frozen
• 1/2 cup ice (optional)

Combine 1/2 cup of milk alternative, the banana, and cantaloup chunks into your blender and blend until smooth.  If too thick, add milk alternative to your desired consistency.  Blend in the ice if you desire a frostier consistency.

Makes 1 big serving or 2 modest ones

Optional add-ins:

• If you don’t mind the color, toss in 1/2 to 1 cup of fresh spinach leaves.  Spinach doesn’t touch the wonderful smoothie flavor, yet adds a good dose of nutrition.
• Ground flaxseeds, a tablespoon or two, for some of those great Omega-3’s and a little protein.
• Ground coconut, a tablespoon or two, for flavor and if you are a coconut for health fanatic like myself. (Adds a bit of fat too if you are concerned about the little ones not getting enough)

This recipe is vegan, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free (if using rice milk instead of almond milk), gluten-free (keep an eye on your milk alternative brand), soy-free (watch for soy lecithin in your milk alternative).

Honestly, I am not a chocolate cookie fan, so I have no idea how I became obsessed with trying to create this cookie.  I think perhaps it was the initial draw of a chocolate covered cherry cookie.  I do love chocolate covered cherries … yet, as it turns out, this flavor combination in a cookie just didn’t work for my taste buds.  So, then the recipe twisted itself around heading toward an impersonation of my favorite coconut brownies … but vegan.

 Well, these Cocoa-Nut Cookies as I like to call them still aren’t hitting the mark.  They came out a bit too crunchy.  I tried lowering the temp, but then they are too flat.  If you would like to take whirl at these, I welcome your enthusiasm and suggestions!

Chewy Cocoa-nut Cookies
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
¼ cup neutral oil (coconut in liquid form, grapeseed, extra-light olive, vegetable, etc.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup regular (full fat) coconut milk
(I added 1 T of ground flaxseed to the coconut milk, but I don’t think this was necessary)
¼ cup unsweetened coconut, ground in a spice grinder
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a separate mixing bowl, blend together the sugar, oil, vanilla, and coconut milk.  Beat in roughly 2/3 of the flour mixture.  Fold in the coconut and chocolate chips, and add the remaining flour mixture.  The dough will become relatively firm.

Roll into small balls, approximately 1” in diameter.  Place the cookie dough balls about 2 inches apart onto baking sheets, allowing some room to spread.  Bake for 10 minutes. Allow them to cool completely on wire racks.

Yield 30 cookies

I looove veggie burgers.  Not really the faux meat ones made with soy, but rather the ones that taste like what they are, veggies and grains.  Well, at long last, thanks to the inspirational Chicago Diner recipe from The Non-Dairy Queen, I made my first attempt at homemade veggie burgers.  Though totally grain and veg, they did turn out a bit meaty, and overall excellent in flavor.  I would definitely add a bit more salt and possibly a little crushed red pepper for a kick on the next round though.  We did have some problem with the oat and mushroom base, as it was a bit soft on the inside, I just couldn’t get it to totally set up.  But, really, don’t they look good?

We had no buns, so I improvised with Roti, hence the odd presentation.  I am definitely motivated to continue on the homemade veggie burger path, so you can expect to see more … thanks to the Queen.

Transitioning to dessert, I receive requests quite often for a good dairy-free white cake.  Well, I went for the gusto and attempted to create fluffy white cupcakes that are both dairy-free and egg-free.  The good news is, I succeeded!  Perfect fluffy texture.  But alas, they were still in need of some sweetness.  You may be thinking, just use more sugar.  However, more sugar may weigh down my perfect little cakes … so more experimenation is necessary.  But don’t these look good too?

I am happy to report that both recipes were insanely inexpensive also, using pantry items and fridge items that I readily had on hand (ie mushrooms).  Plus, the cupcakes were so easy to make (this snail paced chef had them in the oven in 15 minutes flat, no joke) that I see no reason to ever pick up a boxed mix!

Ah, how do I love Trader Joe’s, let me count the ways … a side note from food, but it seems that their mini floral department is donning some spectactular rose specials, to help avoid buying the $10 marked up to $50 dozen red roses. 

They have a “14 Stem Rose Spectacular” ~ for $9.99, these are Orange roses for “passion, desire.”

But wait, before you red rose lovers click away with disappointment, they are also offering that traditional one dozen red roses for $16.99.  Really, quite the deal for this time of year.

Of course, if you are as frugal as my family (or perhaps you live no where near a wonderful TJ’s), you do not expect the rose spectacular from your husband, but rather bake up a dessert!  This insanely frugal Strawberry Love Muffin recipe from My Sweet Vegan is too good (and easy) to pass up!  I am either going for this one, or the Chocolate Cherry Truffles in MSV.  Both are just so simple and tasty sounding.  Now, I just need to get my hands on some heart-shaped muffin tins!

Several years ago, when I returned to a dairy-free diet, I discovered how many baked goods had milk in some form lingering within them.  Even that innocuous looking French bread often had whey on the ingredient statement.  So, I took up baking.  It turned out to be an excellent cost-saving endeavor as well … shopping in bulk foods to stock up on pantry items rather than buying pre-packaged. 

Anyway, my baking prowess has turned me into a bit of a test kitchen for baked goodies as well.  Rather than writing diligently on my blog and website as I should have been, for the past couple of weeks I have been churning out …

Pomegranate Ginger Cupcakes from My Sweet Vegan (heaven!)

Pumpkin Pie Muffins (virtuosity meets indulgence)

Banana Crumb Coffee Cake (my husband raved that this was Starbucks worthy)

Pizza (and lots of it!) …. this one with White Sauce

Nut Case Cookies from My Sweet Vegan (a new personal favorite from this cookie monster)

Maple Spice Pumpkin Cookies (can we say yum!)

Butterscotch Blondies from My Sweet Vegan (oooh, fudgy)

Namaste Gluten-Free Bread (from a mix and amazingly impressive)

Of course, with all of this baking and amateur photography, I couldn’t help but start up a flickr account ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/21365075@N04/ ~ a long shot from professional, but fun nonetheless!

Okay, it is a bit of an oxymoron, me writing anything about the Super Bowl.  You see, we don’t have any TV’s in our house.  Sure, we could head out to a Super Bowl party … but … I am married to a Canadian.  Of course, some Canadians like football.  I am sure my father-in-law will be glued to the set.  But his son, my husband, rebelled from his father to have a strong dislike for football.  Hockey is good, but football is a no go.  I was never really “into” football, so I don’t miss it.  However, I never pass up the opportunity to write about food.

And thus, the Super Bowl snacking topic.  Actually, I posted up a little news story with ideas on Go Dairy Free.  Head on over and read it.

But what I don’t comment on in that post is how it ties into my frugal side.  Reminding you that frugal to me is value (quality + price). 

Some might look at my favorite suggestion for substituting pop with Just Juice (if you are near a Trader Joe’s, seriously good prices on their brand) as too expensive.  However, I most often by the Just Black Cherry, which only sets me back $2.99 to $3.99 (look for generics if possible).  From there, that jar lasts me quite a good while.  For a healthy soda, we mix roughly three parts sparkling mineral water ($.89 for big bottle) with just one part of the juice.  Those just juices are very potent in flavor, so a little goes a long ways.  And viola!  A wonderful fruit-sweetened fizzy beverage without that evil high fructose corn syrup (or any added sweeteners for that matter) and with a delicious taste.

Okay, you get the gist.  I hope you enjoy the Super Bowl and some of my dairy-free snacking ideas!  Please let me know your own favorite healthy snack ideas!

My husband and I spent the holidays in British Columbia with his family.  Every day of the visit we would make our pilgrimage to the Whole Foods (a whopping ¼ mile from his parents house) for a jumbo muffin with tea.  Now, the muffins in Vancouver are quite unlike those we see at Whole Foods stateside.  These are dense, ginormous, mountains of hearty goodness that are surely 1000 calories each.  But we had to have them everyday, it was the holidays and vacation after all!My husband now states he would love to return to those mornings when I had homemade bread or muffins awaiting his peanut butter and jam.  Really, I still love to bake, but had merely fallen out of the habit.

So, with the healthy New Year’s wishes upon us, I set out to make some virtuous morning muffins with a fruit I had never tried before, persimmons.  You can replace the persimmons with another fruit or vegetable-fruit puree if you wish.  Next time I make these, I may add a touch more oil, “milk,” or puree for more moisture, as they became a bit too dense after day 2 with all of the heartiness.  I also prefer less sugar in the morning, so we stuck with just ¼ cup of sugar, but if you like yours on the sweet side, then feel free to shake in a bit more.

Whole Wheat Persimmon Muffins

1 ¼ Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 – 1 ½ Teaspoons Cinnamon
½ Teaspoon Nutmeg
Pinch Cloves
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Tablespoons Oil (may want to increase this by a tablespoon or two)
¾ Cup Persimmon Puree (I used Hachiyas, make sure they are extremely ripe) or other fruit puree
¼ Cup Sugar of Choice (I used evaporated cane juice)
¼ Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
¼ Cup Rice Milk, or other Milk Alternative
½ Cup Chopped Walnuts

Preheat oven to 350º and grease 8 muffin tins.

Combine the flour through baking soda in a small bowl, and set aside.  In a large bowl, blend the oil through rice milk.  Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the wet mixture, being careful not to overmix.  Stir in the walnuts and equally divide the batter between your prepared muffin tins.

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Two of my favorite blogs are up for nomination, if you get the chance go over and give a quick vote.  No sign-up is required, just a click.  These are my picks:

Best Food Blog - Writing - Bittersweet Blog (Hannah is only 18!)- http://wellfed.net/2007/12/10/vote-best-food-blog-writing/

Best Food Blog - Theme - Fat Free Vegan (Susan’s vegan recipes are awesome, tested & approved!) - http://wellfed.net/2007/12/10/vote-best-fod-blog-theme/

I think my favorite dessert of all time is apple crisp.  I have never liked pie very much in its traditional form, that pesky crust getting in the way.  Just the fruity filling topped with those sugary sweet crispy crumbles makes my tastebuds swoon.

Of course once in a while you have to mix things up… well just a bit anyways.  I found a great recipe suggesting a fruit crisp using apples, pears, and cranberries.  Some added spices, a few quick alterations to make it dairy-free, and what the heck, just another little tweak to make it vegan, and we had a winner! 

Alas, my favorite dessert happens to be one of the most unphotogenic, so please forgive me for the lack of an image showing the luscious contents.  Somehow the jumble of crumbs and fruit compote is best left to professional photographers rather than my rookie attempts.  Nonetheless, here is a quick view and recipe!  Enjoy….

Fabulous Fruit Crisp

(Vegan, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free)

• 5 pears and/or apples (I used 3 pears, 2 apples, and I like to leave the skin on for flavor and fiber), cored and cubed 
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 tablespoon whole-wheat flour (really, any flour will do)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup 
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice or orange juice
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
• 7-8 tablespoons margarine or a scant 1/2 cup (I like Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8 inch baking dish.

Mix the apples, pears, cranberries, 1 tablespoon flour, maple syrup, and juice in the prepared dish.

In a bowl, mix 1/2 cup flour, brown sugar, oats, walnuts, spices, and margarine to the consistency of coarse crumbs. Sprinkle loosely over the fruit mixture.

Bake 30-40 minutes, or until brown and crisp on top.

In my house, this makes about 6 servings, but we like our crisp!