Guilt Free Desserts: Poached Pears with Orange and Vanilla Bean Sauce

This is another easy, tasty, and light summer dessert that will satisfy your sweet tooth without sabotaging your weight loss progress!  Be sure to buy the freshest pears you can find, any variety will work.  I really hope you all enjoy this one!

Poached Pears with Orange and Vanilla Bean Sauce

 

Ingredients:

• 3 firm, fresh pears- any variety
• 1/2 cup white wine (or increase water by 1/2 cup and omit wine)
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 vanilla bean, split (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
• 1 orange- zested and juiced
• 1/4 cup agave nectar (or honey)
• Soy or Regular vanilla bean ice cream

Directions:

1.  Using a peeler, remove all the outer skin from the pears, making sure the stems stay intact. 

2.  Turn the pears on their side, and use a small teaspoon to scrape the inside of the pears and remove the seeds.  Be careful not to remove too much of the outer fruit, so the pear stays intact when you poach it.  

3.  Add your wine, water, agave nectar, cinnamon, orange zest, orange juice, orange slices and a split and scraped vanilla bean to a medium sized sauce pot.  

4.  Add the pears to the pot and make sure they are submerged in the liquid.  If not, add a little more water until they are almost covered.  Bring mixture to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.  Simmer for 5 minutes, or until pears are tender but not falling apart.  

5.  Remove pears from the liquid and place in the refrigerator to cool while the sauce reduces.  

6.  (Sorry, I forgot the photo on this one!)  Turn the sauce back up to a boil and cook until the sauce begins to get thick, like a syrup.  This takes about 5-8 additional minutes.

7.  Place a scoop of your ice cream (or soy cream!) into a fancy glass and pour a liberal amount of your spiced syrup on top.  

8.  Place your cooled pear, stem side up, in your glass.  Garnish with an orange slice and enjoy immediately! 

Souper Soups: Curried Butternut Squash Soup

For some reason, I have been channeling Fall this week.  I've been craving Fall foods, roasted vegetables, spiced fruit, warm tarts.  I decided to make a three course, Fall inspired, vegan dinner for date night with hubby this week.  I was very pleased with the results, and hubby enjoyed it a lot more than I honestly thought he would!  This soup was our appetizer, the other two courses will come a little later, when I'm not so sleepy!

Note:  This soup can be served chilled as a shooter during the summer, warm with toasted pumpkin seeds during the fall, or even used as a baby food if you don't add the cream to make it "soupy."  Enjoy it!

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 large butternut squash
• 1 cup water
• 3 cups soy milk, rice milk, or cow's milk
• 3 tbsp. vegan margarine
• 3 tbsp. curry powder ( you can adjust this to more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• Fresh basil for decoration (optional)

Directions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Clean the outside of your squash and remove any dirt or debris. 

2.  Using a sharp knife, carefully cut your squash down the middle lengthwise.  Place it on a piece of shelf liner so it doesn't roll around on you!  Remove the seeds and slimy membrane in the cavity, just like a pumpkin.

3.  Place the squash cut side up in a shallow baking dish.  Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder, and curry powder all over the squash.  Fill the bottom of the dish with the water and place in the oven. 

4. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until all the inside flesh of the squash is tender and can be removed with a spoon.

5.  Scoop all the squash into a medium sized pot.  Take care not to bring any of the squash rind with you!

6.  Add the butter, milk, and a little more black pepper.  Blend with a stick blender, or a hand mixer until everything is smooth and silky.  You may have to add a little water to thin it out, depending on the consistency you would like.   Heat until steaming. 

7.  Pour into  glasses or bowls and garnish with fresh herbs, homemade croutons, or crackers.  Enjoy!

Guilt Free Snacking: Vegan Soft Pretzels

So, living in Austria has its advantages and disadvantages.  On one hand, it is beautiful, full of history, and there are amazing bakeries and cafes everywhere.  On the other hand, there are amazing bakeries and cafes everywhere.  See what I did there?  heh... Anyway, as I was saying, there area lot of bread shops here, and while it is convenient to walk by and grab fresh baked bread every day, it can also be expensive.  Pretzels can be anywhere between 1 and 4 euros a pop, depending on where you buy them from! 

We made homemade pretzels in culinary school, but I remember it being kind of complicated and it involving some kind of chemicals to boil the pretzels in.  I decided to look online to find some easier recipes, and was slightly overwhelmed at all the different ingredients, fancy equipment needed and actual cooking methods.  I found and slightly adapted what I believe to be an easy and tasty recipe! 

Note:  This recipe makes quite a few pretzels.  I baked half and individually wrapped and froze the other half for later cooking.  You can easily double or half this recipe depending on your family size.  Also, you can use Bob's Red Mill gluten free flour to make these guys gluten free!  Everyone in your family can enjoy these!

Vegan Soft Pretzels

Served here with vegan bratwurst, spicy mustard, and vegan beer cheese sauce!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups very warm water (for yeast mixture)
• 2 tbs splenda
• 2 tbs active dry yeast (make sure it is fresh)
• 2 tsp salt
• 9 cups flour ( you can use all purpose, gluten free, or whole wheat)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 10 cups water (for boiling pretzels)
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• Toppings:  I used cinnamon/splenda, garlic and herbs, and sea salt

Directions:

1.  Pour your yeast, splenda and 3 cups warm water into a bowl and stir.  Allow yeast mixture to sit and bloom for 5 minutes.

2.  After yeast has gotten foamy, add in your olive oil and stir to combine. 

3.  Stir in your flour and salt and dump out onto a floured surface. 

4.  Knead your dough for about 5 minutes, or until it smooths out.  Separate into 2 even sized doughs and place into oiled bowls.  Cover in plastic wrap and allow to sit in a warm place for an hour or until doubled in size. 

5.  When your dough is puffy and doubled, it is ready to work into pretzels.  Dump it back out onto your floured surface. 

6.  At this time, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Also, fill a large pot with water and add 1/2 cup baking soda and allow to come to a soft boil.  Also, line 2 sheet pans and a section of your counter with parchment paper so you don't have to do it when your hands are messy. 

 7.  Cut each of your doughs into 9 smaller doughs and roll in flour so you can work with one at a time. 

8.  Take your dough and roll into a long skinny snake.  Think rolling out play dough here people!  Then lightly dampen each end of the snake with water.  Now you're ready to shape the pretzel!

 9.  Cross your ends over one another to make what I can best describe as some kind of an awareness ribbon shape. 

10.  Bring the right end straight up and stick to the outside edge of the circle.  If it doesn't stick, try adding a little dab more water. 

11.  Repeat the same with the other side, and adjust until it has that signature pretzel shape.  Go ahead and shape all your pretzels first, and then set them on the parchmented counter top.  This will allow the boiling process to go much more quickly. 




Note:  If you want to freeze some of the pretzels, DO NOT boil them first! Individually wrap the pretzels in parchment and place in a ziplock bag.  When you are ready to use them, allow them to thaw and rise for an hour before baking. 

12.  Place the pretzels 2 or 3 at a time into the boiling water for 30 seconds, flipping them over half way through.  They should puff up and get a little doughy during this time. 

13.  As soon as the pretzels come out of the water, place them on the sheet trays and sprinkle them with whatever toppings you desire.  Garlic and herb is pictured here, but you can also do plain salt, or cinnamon sugar. 

14.  Bake your pretzels for 12-15 minutes each, or until they are crispy and brown.  Enjoy!!!

Good Start Homemade Granola

We've been over this before.  Breakfast = good, no breakfast= bad.  You don't eat breakfast and by 10am you feel grumpy, sleepy, dopey and a few of the other 7 dwarves.  Do yourself a solid and get some nourishment in the am.

You may be trying to shy away from sugary cereals, gut busting fast food biscuits piled with meat and cheese, or some unidentifiable 'pastry' filled with fruit like gelatinous goop.  Usually people turn to granola bars or crumbles in this situation because they equate granola with healthiness.  NOT!  Most prepackaged granola or fruit bars have as much sugar as a snickers!  And while you're pouring yourself a big bowl of granola with milk, you don't realize that the serving size was not even a quarter of what you just ate.  And don't get me started on the price of this stuff!  If you invest a little money into good quality ingredients, you can make multiple batches of granola for the price of one store bought package.  Plus, it's not that hard to make.  I promise!  So, let's get down to business, shall we?

Homemade Granola

Note: The ingredients may differ, but the method is the same in each recipe.  Feel free to substitute your own items as well to create a unique blend!

Carob Peanut Butter Granola

Ingredients:

• 2 cups oats
• 1/4 cup ground flax seeds
• 1/4 cup mixed nuts and seeds (I used pumpkin seeds, almonds, peanuts and sunflower seeds)
• 4 tbs. vegan butter
• 4 tbs. peanut butter
• 3 tbs. carob powder 
• 1/4 cup agave nectar (or honey)

Energy Boost  Fruit and Nut Granola

Ingredients:

• 2 cups oats
• 1/4 cup flax seeds
• 1/4 cup mixed nuts and seeds 
• 1/4 cup dried fruits (I used cranberries, raisins and coconut flakes)
• 4 tbs. vegan butter
• 1/2 cup agave nectar (or honey)

Directions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Place oats, flax seeds, any nuts, seeds, and dried fruits in your recipe on a sheet pan. 

2.  Stir up all ingredients and bake for 10 minutes.  Take out, stir, and put back in the oven for 10 more minutes, or until oats are slightly browned.  Be careful not to burn the oats!

3.  Prepare your wet ingredients.  For the Carob PB Granola, add the carob powder, pb, vegan margarine and agave syrup to a small sauce pan over medium heat.  For the Energy Boost Granola, add the margarine and agave syrup to a small saucepan over medium heat. 

4.  Cook over medium heat until all ingredients are melted and combined.  (This is the carob pb mixture)

This is the agave nectar, margarine mixture.

5.  Stir oat mixture into the wet mixture until all oats are completely coated with the liquid.   At this point, you can either use the granola this way as a crumbled cereal, or you can continue the directions to make granola bars. 

6.  Line a square or rectangle tupperware with plastic wrap and pour oat mixture into the container.

7.  Cover the top of the mixture with plastic wrap and firmly press the mixture down until it completely fills the container and makes a square or rectangle shape.  Make sure it is pressed very, very firmly so that the mixture will cut well.

8.  Freeze overnight, or for several hours.  Turn tupperware over, and remove the whole bar by pulling out the plastic wrap.  Use a serrated knife to cut the granola into squares or rectangles while the mixture is still frozen.  You can individually wrap these with plastic wrap for easy on the go snacking!

Another serving option:

Layer in a glass or bowl with fruit and yogurt for an easy and delicious parfait!

Guilt Free Snacking: Chips and Queso

If you're like me and my sweet hubby, you have a soft spot for creamy and delicious cheese filled goodies.  One of our favorites being warm tortilla chips dunked into piping hot and spicy queso dip.  Since we've been in Vienna, I've been craving Mexican food.  Needless to say, there are not a lot of options here for that type of cuisine.  Plus, the combination of high fat cheese and fried tortilla chips can be a hazard to your health and your jeans size. 

I set out on a personal mission to make one of our favorite snack foods not only healthy, but vegan.  How in the world I was going to make a cheese and cream sauce without cheese and cream, I did not know.  And then my eyes were opened to the wonderful world of nutritional yeast.  You can read all about the magical substance here.  Just in case you're not interested in the chemistry of it all, it is basically a flaky substance that makes things have a cheesy taste without having any cheese.  Thanks to so many recipes on the internet for queso using nutritional yeast, I was able to find one that I adapted to make this one.  Perfect! 

If you have a whole foods, Fresh Market, or any other type of organic or natural food store, you can probably find a package of the stuff.  Don't worry about not using it all, it keeps for months!  So go pick up a package and make yourself an awesome snack!

Vegan Chips and Queso

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Nutritional yeast flakes
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 4 tbsp. vegan margarine
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups salsa (or you could use a can of rotel or a can of diced green chiles)
• Homemade tortilla chips or prepackaged ones, just make sure they are natural!

Directions:

1.  Add yeast, flour, garlic powder and salt to a small saucepan over medium heat.  Stir to combine.

2.  Pour in the water and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until thickened.  Make sure you whisk constantly, or your sauce will be very lumpy!

3.  When mixture becomes thick, turn off heat, stir in margarine and salsa until queso is an even consistency and begins to turn the color of a traditional cheese sauce.

5.  What the sauce should look like when completely combined.

6.  Pour into a dish and serve warm with tortilla chips, veggies, pretzels, or other dippers.  Enjoy!






Other serving ideas:

• Make vegan nachos with beans, vegan queso, sauteed veggies and salsa
• Boil pasta and mix this dip in as a nice vegan version of mac and cheese
• Make (or buy) vegan chili and combine with this queso to top vegan burgers or hot dogs
• Drink straight from the bowl.  I won't judge you!

Good Start Apple Streusel Bread

Let's face it- breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Some of us love it, some of us hate it.  Fact is, this meal helps to regulate our metabolism, blood sugar, and cranky mood that hits around 10:30!  With so many sugary cereals, high fat 'healthy' muffins, and my personal desire to eliminate animal products (like bacon and eggs) from my diet, what's a girl to do for a great breakfast?  This bread is the answer!  It is low fat, high fiber, high protein, no oil, no added sugars, and vegan.  Some of you may think that equals no flavor, bland, and gross.  Trust me, give this bread a try and see how good healthy eating can be!


Good Start Apple Streusel Bread
Side note:  If you make this bread in a loaf or baking pan, it will be very thick!  A very small square is more than enough for a portion.  I would actually recommend baking this into muffins for portion control and so you can grab on the go!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Muffins will need about 12 minutes, bread in the baking dish takes about 30 minutes.  Loaf bread will need between 30-40 minutes.  Check bread occasionally, you don't want to over bake it and make it tough!

Bread/Muffin Batter
Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (or all purpose flour)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 1/2 cup splenda or 1/3 cup regular granulated sugar (you could also substitute agave nectar in place of the splenda or sugar.  Use 1/4 cup.)
• pinch of salt
• 1 large or 2 small gala apples, peeled and chopped finely
• 3/4 cup regular applesauce (be sure to get the natural, no sugar added kind)
• 3/4 cup soy or rice milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1.  Place all your dry ingredients into a bowl and stir until fully incorporated. 

2.  Add applesauce, soy milk, vanilla and stir until just together.  Add in chopped apples and stir until they are dotted throughout the batter.  Be careful not to over stir, or your muffins/bread will become tough and gummy. 

3.  Pour batter into a loaf pan, baking dish, or muffin cups.  Only fill muffins 3/4 full so there is room for the topping. 







Walnut Streusel Topping
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped very fine (you can pulse them through a food processor or chop by hand)
• 1/2 cup regular rolled oats
• 4 tbsp whole wheat (or all purpose) flour
• 4 tbsp splenda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp ground flax seed
• 1/4 cup vegan margarine, melted

Directions:

1.  Put all dry ingredients into bowl and stir until well mixed.

2.  Add melted margarine and stir or mix by hand until a thick, crumbly topping is formed. 

3.  Sprinkle over batter, making sure all batter is covered.  Bake. 







Enjoy!

After bread has baked and cooled slightly, enjoy warm!  We made this bread yesterday and enjoyed this morning for breakfast re heated in the microwave.  I think the taste is actually better, and it is still very moist because of the applesauce!  This is a winner for sure!