Vegan Baking Goddess Project Begins

As you know, I just finished culinary school (pics of the final final are coming, I promise). I loved it. One of my dreams is to have a vegan bakery. I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money going to pastry school because I would be learning how to bake with conventional ingredients and since vegan baking is a whole other ball of wax, I've decided to home school myself.

How will I do this? I bought a beautiful cookbook by Babycakes founder Erin McKenna which I am reading cover to cover and making each and every recipe, in order, one per week. My hope is by the time I'm done I will be a confident, yummy vegan baking goddess who has created her own recipes to sell to the masses. And, of course, I will be documenting my journey, so stay tuned!






Above is the result of my first baking "class"; apple cinnamon muffins. I can think of nothing more comforting than a warm oven bursting with the smells of vanilla and cinnamon.



This was my lunch, plus some broccoli. I did make one substitution; brown rice flour instead of Gluten-Free baking flour. I did this because the Whole Foods I went to was out of said flour and I'm inpatient.

The result? Pretty good! Very moist, very sweet and spicy with cinnamon and nutmeg. I will definitely try making these again with the correct flour as they were a bit dense and sort of fell apart. A glorious mess they were.

These are healthy but not exactly low calorie at about 340 calories each. Hmmm. All good.

Husband's Yum Cheesy Dinner

Leftover chicken ravioli from Earth Wind & Flour, tomato bisque thickened with almond milk and a grilled tofu cheese sandwich on brown rice bread. He likey. A lot.

Sitting here watching Michael's memorial. We were so blessed to witness his talent. I am grateful and hope he is at peace...

A New Ritual Meal

This has become a habitual lunch: cucumber, roasted green beans (below), string cheese, a larabar and a blisscuit. Or two.



Healthy or no? Not sure. Just being honest. Could be a lot worse.

Tuesday workout: GOING to do an online yoga class. Soon. Promise.

Don Antonio's Take Out

We love Don Antonio's. It's no fail Mex-American fare: great beans, flavorful meats and salsas with lots and lots of gooey cheese. I was not feeling fabulous on Sunday afternoon (sudden bad headache and congestion) so husband offered to pick up a chicken burrito for me and chicken enchiladas for him.



The only bummer is that Mexican take-out is never even close to as good as eating on premises. And for some reason, both of our meals sat in our bellies like lead. Weird. I think we just have weird colds that we won't admit and probably should have had matzoh ball soup instead.

Healthy Banana Bread

Yea, banana bread is all healthy pretty much, but for this recipe I replaced sugar with agave nectar and butter with Earth Balance, and gluten free flour instead of all purpose.

The result? Pretty tasty! I think next time I'm going to add 1/2 cup applesauce to add a touch more sweetness and moisture.

2 eggs
2 overripe bananas
1/2 cup Earth Balance
1/2 cup Agave Nectar
2 cups organic, gluten free baking mix (I used Arrowhead Mills)
pinch salt
dash cinnamon

Baked at 350 degrees for 45 minutes

Enjoy!

What Fourth Of July Looked Like

Okay. So I thought husband and Austin were doing a triathlon on the 4th. Like a family triathlon or something (yes, I'm fit but I'm not into swimming or biking en masse) and I would be the cheerleader.

Not so. They were practicing for Austin's triathlon that's happening in two weeks. Husband thought he would feel more confident if they practiced transitioning from the pool to the bike to the road...sweet and thoughtful husband. Here they are, getting ready to ride after swimming (swimming did not happen as the pool was closed for the 4th even though dude on phone insisted they would be open when husband called earlier in the week-oh, bother).






After practice, the boys were ready to refuel and Denny's was on the brain. I have not eaten at Denny's in many moons and haven't eaten pancakes since I was a teenager, but in my continued eating revolution, I ordered two. And ate them. All. I made my own "slam": egg whites, turkey bacon, chicken sausage and 2 buttermilk pancakes. I took off (most of) the butter and used sugar free syrup. They were pretty good, but next time I'm going to indulge in pancakes I think I will go somewhere else. They were kind of tough. I ate my eggs and sausage but not all of the bacon.

Then I looked up the calorie count online and was pleasantly surprised. Not bad! About 800 calories all told. My thought? You really can eat whatever you want, just pay attention to how much and if you have a big, indulgent meal, then make the rest of the day lighter. No biggie.



Husband and Austin got the same dish; the french toast slam. I tried a bite of Austin's french toast. Oh my God in heaven was it good. I think they fry the egg dipped bread. Delish!



After spending the first part of the day in Thousand Oaks, we went to our dear friend (and most loyal blog reader) Rachel's house for a barbecue. It was lovely as always. I have lots of party anxiety (what to say, what to do, what to eat, when can I leave...) but I always know I will feel relaxed and comfortable at a Rachel party. I didn't photograph my food because I was too tired (no excuse, I know) but I had salad, steamed asparagus, a really good turkey burger and a chicken hot dog with no buns. And some baked beans with pineapple. I also made my "raw truffles", which seemed to go over well.

When we got home, I had the watermelon above while we watched The Fashion Show. The outfit we liked the best lost. I guess we can kiss that career in fashion goodbye.

Haibut Cakes With Curried Veggies & Roasted Potatoes

Husband loved this dish and said it was "restaurant quality". Cute.



I sauteed onion, carrots and celery in a teaspoon of olive oil and let them sweat for a few minutes. I added one chopped Roma tomato and some previously steamed broccoli and cauliflower and let that cook down a bit. Next, I added 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1 teaspoon of curry powder and 1/4 cup hummus. I let it simmer until is was a thick sauce consistency and lastly I added some baby spinach and let it wilt.


Halibut cakes. Just like a crab cake: mayonnaise, lemon, and onion. Formed into patties and coated with cornmeal. I like to refrigerate them until right before I fry them to help hold their shape. Pan fried in a bit of Earth Balance.



Topped off the dish with oven roasted new potatoes.

Friday workout: 3 mile jog