I need an appliance makeover! aka The Cinnamon Roll Fiasco

I think the Food Network needs to create a show that helps poor souls like me makeover their kitchen appliance collection. They could even make it fun by having the contestants battle it out (similar to Cupcake Wars) with their crappy appliances. The winner would get sparkly new kitchen toys! Nothing fancy, just the basics like a stand mixer, food processor and hand blender.

So this past weekend, I wanted to try Naturally Ella's Vegan Cinnamon Roll recipe. They actually came out pretty tasty, but the consistency was totally off. I blame my crappy hand mixer because it totally couldn't handle the thickness of the dough and I had to kneed it by hand. I'm actually starting to hate my hand mixer to the point that I'm going to be trading it in for this beautiful thing:



No longer would I have to shy away from making certain cakes and pastries! I could make whatever I want! My cinnamon buns would never look like this ever again!



Yes, sad, I know. At least they tasted good.

Whole Wheat (vegan) Cinnamon Rolls
By: Naturally Ella/Erin
Details

* Prep Time:
180 min
* Cook Time:
20 min
* Ready In:
3 hour, 20 min

Servings: 8 pieces
Ingredients

* 3/4 cup almond milk warmed
* 2 1/4 tablespoons instant yeast
* 1 tablespoon natural cane sugar
* 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
* 3 tablespoons water
* 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or regular whole wheat flour)
* 1/2-1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

Filling

* 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
* 1/3 cup sucanat
* 2 tablespoons cinnamon

Icing

* 1/2 cup powdered sugar
* 3-4 tablespoons almond milk
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

* In a small bowl combine ground flax seed and water, set aside. Heat almond milk (either in a sauce pan or microwave)- don't let it get too hot (I zapped mine in the microwave for about a minute.)
* In a stand mixer bowl, at milk, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for about five minutes or until yeast activates. Add in oil, flax seed mixture, salt, and the wheat flour. Give a good stir with a spoon and then turn on the mixer with the dough hook. Begin adding the all-purpose flour 1/4 cup at a time, letting it mix in before adding more. You want your dough to be soft (but not sticky) and the key to that is adding just enough flour so that it pulls away from the sides of the bowl but may still slightly stick to the bottom and letting it knead for 5-8 minutes.
* Once the dough is here, scoop out of the bowl, form into a ball, place back in the bowl, brush it with a oil, and let it sit in a warm, draft free spot for 1- 1 1/2 hours.
* Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out into a 8 by 12 rectangle. Brush oil over entire surface and sprinkle sucanat and sugar over the entire surface. Begin the the edge closest to you and roll away from you- tucking the dough in as you go (I always think of it as like rolling up a sleeping bag. Once you have the log, squeeze it just a little and mark eight rolls out (I use the cut in half method- Half once, Half each of those, half each of those). Place in a round 8" cake pan that has been rub with oil. Cover with a warm towel and let rise again for 45 minutes to and hour.
* After about a half hour of rising, pre-heat your oven to 350˚. Once rolls have risen and oven is up to temperature, bake for 15-20 minutes. Rolls should be firm to the touch and golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly while you make the icing.
* To make the icing, place powdered sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl- add only enough almond milk to get a thick consistency of the icing. If you find you added too much milk, add more powdered sugar. Also, if you want to leave these with a little less sugar, leave the icing out completely- they are delicious even without.

Vegan Fried Rice

I love fried rice, but I don't love the greasy-ness and the way it always makes me feel like a bloated cow afterward. No more cute little takeout box for me. I found a way to enjoy fried rice the vegan way: no egg, no meat, just veggies, rice and tons of flavor.

What you need:

Brown Rice (or wild rice, if your feeling...wild)
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 small red onion
1 yellow pepper
2-3 carrots, chopped
1 cup broccoli
1 cup cabbage
1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar (or you can use rice vinegar)
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder

(Feel free to substitute other vegetables. I threw in some baked brussel sprouts and it was mighty tasty)

What you do:
Prepare rice according to package. I suggest you invest in a rice steamer if you don't already have one. Set aside when finished.

Chop all vegetables. Heat sesame oil over medium-high heat. Toss in onion, carrots and pepper. Turn heat down to medium setting and cook for about 2 minutes. Toss in the broccoli and cabbage, cook until tender. Stir in soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic powder and cook for a couple more minutes.

Remove veggie mixture from the pan and set aside in a large bowl. Add the perfectly steamed rice to the pan and cook for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally.

Toss the "fried" rice with the vegetable medley and enjoy!

There's always thyme to make some salad dressing.

Chances are, if you like Lebanese, Indian, Spanish or Greek cooking, you have tasted or used thyme. These teensy leaves pack a flavorful punch, especially if fresh.

For my herb growing friends, early spring is the best time to plant indoors. Full sun and a light soil will ensure a healthy plant. I will be planting my first seeds this weekend. Hopefully it will look like this:


Then I can make lots of this:

Lemon Thyme Dressing

What you need:
Juice of 1 lemon (if you don't like as much lemon, feel free to use only half the lemon)
1 tsp Dijon or horseradish mustard
4 Tbsp of olive oil
1 shallot
1 garlic clove
2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme (dried thyme will not work)
Fresh ground pepper
Dash of paprika
1/4 tsp lemon zest

What you do:
Whisk ingredients together, chill and serve over a salad. Or be daring and drizzle over some baked sweet potatoes.

Fat Tuesday!

That's right. Time to get fat before lent. I'm not religious, and I'm not giving anything up, but I will get down with a Louisiana-inspired meal complete with a king cake. Or in my case, a bundt cake topped with purple, green and gold icing because I had 1 too many drinks at happy hour. Short synopsis, it looked horrible, but it tasted good. There's even an almond in it!

On to the main course!

Creole Seasoning

1 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp oregano
2 1/2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp thyme

Mix all ingredients in an air tight container. Store for later use.

Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice

What you need:
3 cans of red kidney beans (You can use fresh bean, just make sure you soak the overnight)
Creole Seasoning to taste
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
5 ribs celery, chopped
As much garlic as you like, minced (I used 3 small cloves)
1 or 2 bay leaves
Crystal hot sauce, to taste
black pepper to taste
Salt to taste

What you do:
Place the red beans with the creole seasoning and bay leafs in a large pot. Cover with water and boil away for about 30 minutes.

While the beans are boiling, sauté the onions, pepper, celery and garlic until the onions turn translucent.

After the beans are boiled and drained, add the sautéed vegetables, salt, pepper and hot sauce to the beans and just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Simmer for 2-3 hours, or until the mixture has taken on a creamy texture. Add more water is the beans start to look dry and burned. Feel free to adjust seasonings as the mixture is simmering. Stir occasionally, making sure that the mixture doesn’t sstick to the bottom of the pot.

*Hint - If the mixture isn't taking on a creamy texture, remove 2 cups from the pot, mash in a bowl and return to continue simmering.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

I would love to post pictures, however, I was distracted by something shiny and totally forgot. Oh well. Better luck next time!

Work it!

I love my new kitchen. Everything is placed perfectly and there is plenty of counter space. It's also the fist thing I unpacked when we moved to our new apartment.

After many nights of making quick dinners and eating out, I was ready to get to work and start trying new recipes! This past Sunday, I woke up bright and early to make a fabulous breakfast for Tim and myself. We worked really hard the day before and I felt we deserved a nice treat.


Please excuse the blurry picture. My camera was packed at the time. This was taken with my silly droid camera.

Strawberry Panko Muffins (Inspired by a recipe found on foodbuzz.com)

What you need:
2/3 cup softened margarine
2/3 cup fine sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
Ener-G equivalent to 2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of panko flakes
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup of water
Slices strawberries
1 tsp vanilla sugar
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

What you do:
Mix the margarine, sugar and salt until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and eggs.

Add the panko and yeast and mix well. Slowly add the water until the mixture becomes sticky. Add chopped strawberries.

Half fill a 12 cup muffin tray with the mixture. Top each bit with some berries for beautifulness.

Give the batter time to double in size. This should take about an hour on a relatively warm day. You can place the muffin tin in the oven with the light on ONLY if there is a chill in the air. Mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside. (Obviously I did not wait long enough. My muffins were kind of flat, but still tasty.)

Once the mixture has risen (all the way), preheat the oven to 370 degrees. Sprinkle the top with the brown sugar, vanilla sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let the muffins cool for about 5-10 minutes. Remove from muffin tin carefully and enjoy! These little beauties go great with coffee or tea!