Scrumptious Banana Nut muffins are what's baking!

We love banana nut muffins at our house.

Well, the engineer can't stand them but the rest of us love them. I have tried a few egg substitutions in the last little while with my regular recipe. No luck - the muffins were like bricks.

I googled vegan banana nut muffin and I was pleasantly surprised at all the wonderful comments below the recipe, so I had to print and try!

Can you tell which one is my new favorite recipe?
on the left, old recipe (aka brick)-on the right fabulous new muffin

Delightful Banana Nut Muffins
posted by happyfoody.com
Cookbook: The Garden of Vegan
By Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard
1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
½ cup dry sweetener (I like rapadura or turbinado)
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
½ t salt
¾ cup ground flaxseed (or oat bran)
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
2 bananas, mashed
1/3 cup olive oil
1 t vanilla extract
2/3 cup soy, rice, or almond milk
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sweetener, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flax or oat bran, and walnuts. In a small bowl, combine the bananas, oil, vanilla and soy milk. Pour the liquid ingredients with the dry and mix together gently until “just mixed”. Spoon into a lightly oiled muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Makes 12 muffins.

I followed the recipe exactly as it was written and the muffins turned out amazing. I usually make a batch of blueberry and a banana nut batch weekly! It is exciting to find a yummy new banana nut recipe.

En Guete!

Chickpea Dinner is what's cooking!

I have found out one of the best things about eating healthy is the fabulous support system that is just trying to do the same thing I am - eat healthy. Some do it for health reasons, whatever the reason it is so nice to have friends that also enjoy good food that can be modified to please plenty of people.

Chickpea curry with apricots
(I am not sure why this is called a curry, we renamed it simply Chickpea dinner)

Source: Nica, from “Gesund Essen: Säure-Basen-Kochbuch: Genuss im Gleichgewicht Leben” by Elisabeth Tischer

Translated and adapted by Tanya of expatchow

Loved by Jenna

1. In medium saucepan over medium heat, heat

3 TB olive oil

2. Saute until golden, about 5 minutes:

1 onion, diced

3. Add and cook about 1 minute:

2 garlic cloves, minced

Chili powder

Dried oregano

Salt & pepper

4. Add and cook for a 6 minutes:

15oz can chickpeas

80 g dried apricots, chopped (mmm, I double and put in lots)

15oz can chopped tomatoes

5. Add and cook until apricots are very soft:

200mL veggie broth

6. Take off heat and stir in:

1 TB fresh lemon juice

2 TB parsley, fresh is preferred, chopped

7. Serve over rice.

Optional - serve with a dollop of plain yogurt, sour cream or drizzled with a bit more fresh lemon juice for a tangy finishing touch.
This is such an easy, fast recipe for me to make. I could definitely add it to my weekly list of foods to eat. The engineer and I thoroughly enjoy this dish. The girls on the other hand do not love it like us. They love the chickpeas and pick them all out to eat. How does Miss L who is my tomato lover not like cooked tomatoes? Crazy girl!


En Guete!

Aunt Karlee's Chili is what's cooking!

My cousin Karlee has a fabulous Chili Recipe. My family loves it. I especially love it because it is so easy. The main word I have eliminated from the title is Chicken. Add it if you want. I personally do not think it is necessary. A few months ago I made it, how I always have, with chicken, and told the engineer, "If only it did not have chicken in it, it is really ruining the taste." That meal was the 1st premonition of food for me.

Onto the recipe - luckily this week, in Zürich, we have had a little more "Fall" weather with rain and a nice morning and evening chill in the air! It feels like the perfect time to try out all my new recipes and everyone knows that comfort food tastes so much better when it is cold outside.

Let me be perfectly clear, this recipe is not a chili cook off contender - it is not meant to be!
It is simply a good easy chili that of course can be made into a chili bar where everyone gets to add their own toppings. Are you seeing a pattern here? I really like for everyone to customize their own meal at the end with toppings. I find it is an easy way to make everyone happy and full. In my opinion this chili is not finished without the toppings.

Karlee's Chili Recipe
adapted by Jenna

2 8 oz. cans stewed or diced tomatoes
2 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 can mild green chilies (imported from AZ, of course)
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
Salt and Pepper to taste

Put everything in a medium size saucepan on the stove, heat and stir. Or combine everything in a slow cooker and simmer on low all day.

recipe tips:

- use whatever amount or combination of beans you have or prefer

- if you like your chili super thick, strain beans and tomatoes, if you like a soupy chili, drain everything well

Toppings can include but are not limited to:

- green onions or finely minced onion
- guacamole or diced avocado
- sour cream (soy?)
- cheese - optional(I have not been able to find soy cheese here yet?)
- diced chicken (if you are trying to please a meat eater, try this as a topping)

There are a couple ways we enjoy this chili:

A big bowl of Tortilla Chips on the table to dip chili with! This is always the girls #1 choice.

Served over rice or quinoa.

I have had it both ways many times and I think both options are delicious. After writing this recipe maybe I should change the title to 9 can chili?

Please recycle!

En Guete!

Fast and Easy Lunches are what's cooking!

I like to have lunches that are fast and filling.

It has been hot and humid off and on here in Zürich, some days I do not feel like turning on the oven at all. I was craving nachos, my solution to this was 7 layered bean dip.

I took a oven safe plate and added:

- a couple spoonfuls of vegetarian refried beans

- a sprinkle of black beans

I put the plate in the toaster oven and warmed the plate of beans. When it was done I carefully removed the hot plate and finished my lunch plate by adding:

- avocado chunks

- diced grape tomatoes

- chopped black olives

- diced green onions (purple variety)

- soy sour cream

I ate the 7 layer bean dip platter with tortilla chips. It hit the spot and I was ready to finish the day.

I was so thrilled to find soy sour cream here in Zürich at Müller Reformhaus. It is really thick but I thinned it out with a little bit of soy milk. The soy sour cream is a perfect addition for Mexican meals and cravings.

What quick healthy lunches are you eating?

En Guete!

White Bean and Spinach Pasta is What's Cooking!

There are tons of great blogs and websites that have healthy recipes. Miss L loves looking at them and thumbing through recipes I have printed out. Miss L really likes to look at vegandad.blogspot.com, she loves the label cloud on his sidebar. Last week, she wanted Italian and this is what she chose.

Click Here for the original recipe from vegandad himself.

White Bean and Greens Pasta

adapted from vegandad.blogspot.com

250 grams whole wheat pasta*

2 T. EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

1 onion, chopped

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup marsala or red wine (veggie broth would work great)

1 15 oz. can canelloni beans

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes (juice and all)

basil (fresh or dried) to taste

salt and pepper to taste

3 cups baby spinach

1. Cook pasta in salted water until just about done (leave it a bit underdone so it can suck up the sauce).

2. While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion for 5-7 mins, until translucent. Add garlic and saute 1 min more.

3. Add wine and beans and mix well. Let bubble and reduce for a few mins. Add tomatoes and mix well. Season to taste with basil and salt and pepper.

4. Drain pasta and return to pot. Return pot to medium heat. Add in sauce and spinach. Bring to bubbling and let cook for 8-10 mins, or until pasta and spinach has fully cooked and sauce has reduced. Enjoy!

* This original recipe made way too much or our family of four. Even for leftovers it was a crazy amount.I halved the amount of pasta for the recipe so it is more manageable. You could make the entire 500g bag and use half for another meal.

I love garlic and onions

- most of my meals start with those two ingredients in the saucepan.

Sauteed until golden brown = yummm!

red wine added and boiling away.

cans of tomatoes added.

I added swiss chard - so beautiful - but my girls said they would prefer spinach. It was a tad bit stringy. Smaller pieces next time. check.

I put the lid on and stirred it a few times. Yes, it really does cook all the way down to this.

My pans were not big enough to mix everything together, so I poured half of the noodles into a large mixing bowl and 2 cans of drained barlotti beans (why do I see a can of white beans daily until I need it?) I LOVED the taste of the beans in with the pasta and greens.

The recipe made a lot of food.

We have always done a little system with our girls. If they love something it is 2 thumbs up. If they think it is ok, 2 thumbs sideways, if they do not want me to make it ever again it is 2 thumbs down. From now on, I will be adding the girls reviews to each recipe.

I find that our little system gets them to at least take one bite if they are unsure of a new food. It works for us, give it a try!

Än Guetä - Jenna!

Random Hummus Wraps are what I am eating!

The other night I was cleaning out the freezer in our cellar. I found 2 little American steaks from Germany, a package of bacon with nitrates - how did that get in there?, a cervelat for grilling on field trips from last school year, a package of Nürnburger sausages and two packages of chicken.

As we are eliminating these such products from our home - more on that later - I decided to thaw out the steaks and grill 'em up for the engineer. Not really grill, more like broil. My girls usually love a random steak too so I thought they might enjoy this last one from my kitchen :)

I on the other hand was craving something light and healthy.

My creation - the random hummus wrap!

I love hummus. Maybe a little too much sometimes, perhaps?

We already had the hummus on the table with veggies and pita chips.

I took a tortilla, smeared hummus on it, then opened the fridge and added a few items to my wrap.

Random Hummus Wrap

base - tortilla wrap

sauce - hummus

toppings -

sliced cucumbers

diced avocado

chopped arugula

chopped grape tomatoes

quinoa pilaf (or Spanish rice would be great too)

If I had not just run out of tahini the day before making the hummus I would have made a tahini sauce to drizzle all over the wrap. It was still fabulous and Miss M ended up eating some and loving it.

After I took the picture below I added a spoon full of quinoa pilaf to my wrap and wrapped it up. In case you are not a professional wrap maker or burrito wrapper or an Arizona native (this means you should know how to fold a burrito?) let me give you a hint . . . I had twice as much filling as I should have had.

It was a tad messy but oh so good.

I was eating my random hummus wrap and my family was eating steak, green beans and quinoa pilaf. Miss M said to the engineer that she could not chew through the steak because her teeth would not chew it. He only replied, "that is music to Mommy's ears."

Hummus wraps could definitely be built like a salad bar - everyone gets to choose what toppings they want - think of all the yummy possibilities.

En Guete!

My fabulous pancake recipe is what's cooking!

We love pancakes at our house!

I found this recipe in a magazine about 7 years ago and have been playing with it ever since.

What is so fabulous about them? They are fresh! They are not out of a box that begins with the letter B. They have texture! They are real pancakes!

You can eat them with maple syrup or you can get crazy and throw some bananas and crushed walnuts on top with the maple syrup! My kids love them with syrup or jam. Or our newest love is PB & J - yep, adding some yummy protein in the morning and smearing Peanut butter on the first pancake and jam on the top. m m m .

Jenna's fabulous pancakes!

1 cup red wheat flour

1 cup white wheat flour (any combination of flour you want)
2 T. Flax meal
1 cup quick oats
1 cup rolled oats
4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. sea salt

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl, make a hole in center,

then add:

2 cups Milk rice, almond, cow, whatever kind of milk you like

1 cup water

1/4 cup oil (replacing the entire 1/4 c. with applesauce works great)
1/4 cup honey (maple syrup is yummy too)

After adding the liquids to the center, combine with whisk. Add a little more water if the batter is too thick. Spray griddle then cook on medium heat until the bubbles appear on the first side and then they are not burned on the second. You know what I mean.

*Can be cooked, stuck in the fridge and then reheated in a toaster oven. I have also had ladies tell me that they leave the batter in the fridge and make them fresh every morning. I have made a batch the night before, parked them in the fridge overnight and they are sooo divine the next morning.

Guten Appetit - Jenna



ps. I added salt to the original recipe - yes, it needed it.

pps. Yesterday I used Bob's Red Mill Whole wheat pastry flour for the entire two cups and it was good! You know? Trying to get rid of so much "white" at our house.

Mediterranean Platters are what's cooking!

One thing I can always find in the store here in Zürich is canned chickpeas. You know what that means? Hummus!

I have tried so many recipes for hummus, here is a basic one from Everyday Food:

Hummus

2 cans drained chickpeas (reserve 1/4 cup liquid)

Place chickpeas and 1/4 cup of reserved liquid in a food processor (aka blendtec at my house)

Add :

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup tahini (well stirred)

2 garlic cloves chopped (I just garlic press them into the blender)

1/8 t. cayenne pepper

1 1/4 t. coarse salt

Process until smooth. To store, refrigerate in an airtight container up to 1 week.

My kids think the garlic tastes "spicy" so I usually use 1 clove!

I love a basic recipe because I can add different things to it.

The picture below is Roasted bell pepper hummus. I added a couple peppers from a jar.

My husband likes the sun dried tomato hummus better. You guessed it, I added some sun dried tomatoes straight out of the jar marinating in oil.

I know it looks like pureed baby food but is is simply delicious!

What does your Mediterranean Platter look like?

Some days our table looks like this.

Other days it looks like this!

I think my family is getting sick of hummus.

It is so quick and easy - I love it!

Guten Appetit - Jenna