Coconut + Lime = Heaven

It's funny how your taste buds change as you get older. When I was younger I wouldn't touch anything with lemon or lime, especially baked goods. I didn't think they had any place in something sweet. Nowadays I can't get enough citrus in my life. I used to get pissed when a waitress would bring me a glass of water that already had lemon in it but nowadays I always add either lemon slices or fresh squeezed lemon juice to it. If I don't have lemon, lime goes in as a substitute. Ever since I got some Coconut Lemon Liz Lovely cookies to sample and review for xgfx.org my feelings towards citrus in baked goods have changed. In the semi-recent past I have made Coconut Citrus Glitter cookies at least twice, devoured a vegan lime coconut cake that my old boss made for my birthday and most recently was a batch of Coconut Lime Cupcakes I whipped up from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. 

Out of all the cupcakes I have made so far from this book, these are my favorite. I can't wait to keep exploring the awesomeness that is citrus!

GF Flourless Chocolate Coconut Cookies

I've never intentionally made anything Gluten Free because for a long time the thought intimidated me. Luckily I found a really easy recipe for my first attempt and I'm pretty excited about it. I saw the recipe for Flourless Chocolate Cookies over at Oh She Glows I knew I had to make them. Saturday was a pretty lazy day for me due to too much tequila consumption the night before, but when I finally got off my butt to make Carob Muffins for the pups I decided I wanted a treat for myself. After overindulging on my homemade Thin Mints last week I wanted to try something a little healthier and much easier to make. Than I remembered I had printed out this recipe the day it was posted!


These cookies leave you feeling much less guilty after inhaling a few than your standard cookie. There is no flour, margarine, oil or a lot of sugar. The fat in the cookies comes from the almond butter but I will take that over a ton of canola oil any day.

The cookies didn't spread out much like the recipe said they would which was fine with me. They came out perfect. When they were cooked on Saturday night the edges were slightly crispy and the insides were soft and chewy. By Sunday they had lost a little crispness but were still excellent. Because of the changes I made to the recipe they taste very similar to a brownie!


Angela adapted her recipe from Wing It Vegan and I adapted mine from hers.


Flourless Chocolate Coconut Brownie Cookies

1 tbs flax meal
3 tbs water
1 cup dried shredded coconut
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup dark cocoa powder
1/8 cup regular cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup almond butter, smooth or chunky
1/4 cup almond milk. Or coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 and line baking sheets with parchement paper.

In small bowl mix flax with water and set aside so it can gel up.

In a large bowl mix together 1/2 cup of coconut and remaning dry ingredients excluding chocolate chips

In a separate bowl mix together all the wet ingredients, including flax/water.

Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix. Fold in chocolate chips and remaining coconut.

Using a regular teaspoon(the eating kind, not the measuring kind) scoop out spoonfuls on the parchement and bake for 13-15 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes and transfer to cooling rack. Makes approximately 24 cookies.

Cookbook Challenge Week 4. VwaV - Seitan Portobello Stroganoff

I really can't believe it's already Week 4. Halfway through no less! I have been slacking the past week or so, for Week 3 I only made 2 recipes out of the 3 I had planned. But this week is all about Vegan with a Vengeance. This is the first vegan cookbook I owned, my mom gave it to me for Christmas 2 years ago while I was still a vegetarian. As much as I love all of my vegan cookbooks, especially Veganomicon, this one will always be my favorite. I've made some pretty badass dishes from it that I know I will keep going back to because they are just that good.

For the Cookbook Challenge I decided to step out of my comfort zone of tried and true recipes and try some new stuff(except the seitan, I've made that before.) Technically I made 3 recipes from the book on Sunday but 2 went together for a meal and the other was just dessert so I am still planning on making at least one more good meal and maybe another dessert by weeks end.

I decided to make Seitan Portobello Stroganoff with homemade seitan, homemade pasta and Coconut Heaven Cupcakes. I definitely had my work cut out for me. I spent the entire day in the kitchen!

Let's start with the pasta...

I haven't busted out my pasta machine in a few years so I figured no better time than now to dust it off and crank out some sheets of fresh fettuccine to go with the Stroganoff. I forgot how easy it actually is and now that I've been reminded I can see more fresh pasta in my cooking future. Probably only on weekends though, it is easy but a little time consuming. The results are so much more worth your time than the $1 you spend on a package of dried shit at the grocery store. It cooks almost instantly, it has a fresh taste and you can customize the dough however you want by adding different flours, seasonings, oils or even pureed greens. I kept it simple for this recipe just in case my pasta making skills had disappeared. Luckily they are still here! I am really looking forward to trying out some different flavor and flour combinations to create the perfect pasta but in the meantime I will give you the recipe I used.

Fresh Vegan Pasta

1 2/3 cup flour - I used AP
2/3 cup water
1/2 tspn salt
1 tspn garlic powder
1 tblspn truffle oil (or olive oil if thats what you have)

On the counter or in your mixing bowl(I took the lazy Kitchenaid route) Dump the flour, salt and garlic powder into a little mountain.

Using your finger make a well in the middle, like a volcano.

Pour the water and oil into the well and using a wooden spoon or your dough hook mix until it comes together to form a dough.

Dump onto floured surface and using your hands(don't forget to flour them too!) knead for about 5 minutes, adding more flour if the dough is too sticky.

Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes, I cover it in saran wrap for this step.

Once rested divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Taking the first section using your hands roughly make the dough into a rectangle shape and start running through your pasta machine on the thickest setting 2-3 times.

Repeat with every setting going down to thin out the dough. Dust with flour as needed.

At this point the pasta sheet should be very long. I cut it in half or thirds(depending on the length I would like my noodles to be) and then run each shorter sheet through the pasta cutter.

Put on a drying rack, hang on a broom or door for at least 30 minutes before cooking. If you are going to store them, dry them out for longer and seal in a bag with as much air removed as possible. You can also freeze the noodles prior to cooking.

When ready to cook, bring water to a boil and submerge noodles. Once the water comes back to a boil and the noodles float to the top, they are done. This will vary from 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on thickness and freshness of the pasta.

Now onto the Seitan Portobello Stroganoff. If you are a PPKer reading this, than I know I am not the only one who is chuckling at the word "stroganoff.' I've never had any type of stroganoff before this one(are there different kinds?) so I didn't know what to expect, except deliciousness of course! I got what I expected, and more. It looks like something a mean old cafeteria lady who reeks of cigarettes would plop onto your plate in school, or maybe even prison. Don't let the looks fool you into thinking it will be as unappetizing as it looks. This dish is packing some serious flavor on so many levels. It is so hearty and savory with a nice little kick at the end from the dijon mustard. I promise you, make this recipe and you will love it.

Last but definitely not least, let's talk about the Coconut Heaven Cupcakes. Using the word 'heaven' in the title is no joke. These cupcakes really are like dying and going to heaven(if you believe in that sort of thing). If you are a cupcake lover and especially a coconut lover, these babies are for you! Coconut cupcake with coconut frosting, hell yes. There is something about shredded coconut that gets me every time, I just can't say no. I only shared these cupcakes with a few people but heard only awesome things that these are going to become a standard cupcake for me. I have recently started using vanilla bean paste in place of vanilla extract in my baked goods and have noticed  huge difference in flavor. The biggest difference though was in these cupcakes, the vanilla and coconut flavors were totally balanced so neither one was too overpowering. Although it is much more expensive, the level of flavor it adds is worth the extra money for the paste. All those little black specks you see in the frosting in the picture below isn't a screw up, or pepper or any other weird shit, it's actually the vanilla!

Vegan MoFo - BBQ Seitan and Ice Cream Sandwiches

I've been going nonstop all day it feels good to finally sit down and blog! My day started an hour earlier than I would have liked it to thanks to the Daylight Savings Time stuff. I thought clocks switched tonight but apparently it was last night. I had my alarm clock set for 8 so when it went off and I started getting out of bed I looked at my cell phone and realized it was really only 7. I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't. Usually if I wake up earlier than I need to, or just don't feel like getting up, I can stay in bed and Gizmo will stay sleeping. The second I lift my head, sit up or make any noise she is wide awake and in my face ready to go. That's what happened this morning. I'll just go to bed a little earlier than normal tonight to make up for it.

Even though I've been going going going all day, I've been home and in my sweats so that was a plus. And I got to spend a lot of time with my dogs, even bigger plus. I started my day with a few small buckwheat pancakes that my mom made. I was a little hesitant because I always imagined buckwheat as a bland starchy thing but I was wrong. These little pancakes she made were great. Even just plain, which is how I had my first two. My third had a little smear of Earth Balance and a drizzle of agave nectar. I am definitely going to be looking more into using buckwheat now!

After breakfast I decided to make use of the new running gear I got so I leashed up my 12 year old bloodhound and went for an hour long walk/jog/run. It was really cold out, he's old and I'm out of shape so we alternated. Hopefully if I/we keep up with it, it will be more running than walking!

I spent the rest of my day cooking, doing dishes, making Gizmo's food for the next month and stoking the fire for Gizmo and Dain to lay in front of it all afternoon.

While Gimli followed me everywhere I went, ALL day.

Today was the day I decided I was going to face my seitan fears and just make it. I didn't want to do anything too complicated with it since it was my first time so I went with the Simple Seitan recipe in Veganomicon. After I mixed everything together I started getting a little discouraged because it didn't look appetizing, at all, but I was determined to see this through.

After I got it boiled, simmered, strained and cooled I took a cutlet out of the fridge and sliced it up

While I had the seitan simmering, I was also making the Backyard BBQ Sauce from Veganomicon. It has been years since I have made homemade BBQ sauce so I was really excited about this. I did make a few changes though. I used shallots instead of onion, I added wayyyyy more garlic than the original 4 cloves, I used brown sugar instead of white, apple cider vinegar instead of white, no liquid smoke, can of diced tomatoes with zesty jalapenos, and a healthy squirt of ketchup. I let that simmer for the entire hour the seitan was cooking and when it was done I threw it in the Vitamix to smooth it out. This is a really versatile sauce that can be changed however you like, mine came out more of a sweet and spicy version which is just fine with me.

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I wasn't really hungry for a meal but I was really anxious to try the seitan so I took my slices and lightly fried them in a skillet. When they were heated through I gave them a coating of the BBQ sauce and cooked for another minute or two. While that was cooking I grated some Follow Your Heart Monterey Jack and warmed a pocketless pita in the microwave. It made the perfect little snack wrap. The seitan was perfectly firm but still tender. And also slightly chewy and meaty. I will definitely make it a few more times exactly as the recipe is to make sure I have the hang of it before I start changing and adding things. All in all my first time seitan was a sucess. I don't what I've been so afraid of!

Prior to eating my snack wrap, while the the BBQ sauce and seitan were still cooling in the fridge I decided to make some ice cream sandwiches. I started out with the basic chocolate chip cookie recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar but added a little dash of cinnamon to the dough. Usually when I make these cookies I am able to roll them into little balls in my hand so I figured these would be perfect because I'd be able to control the size and shape better than a regular drop cookie. For some reason todays batch did not want to be rolled at all. It was a gooey mess when I tried. I quickly gave up and grabbed and ice cream scoop. I did my best to make sure they were all the same size and shape even though I knew they were going to spread alot more than normal due to the wetter than usual dough. They still came out great, albeit a little thinner than usual due to the spreading. After the cookies cooled I pulled a pint of my favorite coconut ice cream out of the freezer and went to work scooping the ice cream and pressing the cookies together. Once they were pressed together I rolled them in flaked coconut, wrapped them up and tossed them in the freezer. I just had one and it was the perfect little dessert. Two cookies and a small serving of ice cream all together in a sandwich? Yes, please.

That, my friends, was the perfect end to a long day in the kitchen.

Coconut Curry

I never thought I would like curry, I always found the smell very overpowering, until I tried a green curry coconut dipping sauce filled with veggies for scallion pancakes at my favorite local Thai restaurant. It definitely changed. I decided to try and recreate it as a main dish. I don't have an exact recipe, I usually never follow them completely so I scoured the web and combined quite a few of them to make the amazing meal that was dinner last night.

Here is my basic recipe
4 cloves garlic minced
1 shallot minced
1 tblspn minced fresh ginger
1 onion chopped
1-2 tblspns oil
Green curry paste to taste - I think I used about 2 tablespoons.. I add it by the teaspoon and taste
2 cans coconut millk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb tofu drained and cubed.
1/2 head cauliflower chopped into bite size pieces.
1 butternut squash peeled and chopped
1 lb fresh green beans broken into pieces.
1 red bell pepper chopped

Heat oil in wok and stir fry tofu until lightly browned, remove from pan.
Add garlic, ginger and shallot and cook for a minute or two.
Add coconut milk and a teaspoon or two at a time of curry paste and bring to boil.
Add cauliflower and squash and cook 10-15 minutes until they are almost perfectly tender.
Add the rest of the vegetables and cook until just about done.
Add tofu and cook until heated through.

Serve over jasmine rice.

The flavor of the sauce was so light but flavorful, it had just the right amount of spice with the flavor of the coconut coming through. I was nervous about the squash with the sauce but they matched perfectly. 

Luckily I made enough to feed an army so I can eat it all week for leftovers, unfortunately I am a slob in the kitchen so the aftermath is still sitting in the sink and on the counter.

Make it! Eat it! Enjoy it!