me me me

Today I had a ME a day. I slept in and watched Mad Men until 11am, forced myself to go for a run and then I went on a sorbet mission. It was a mission because I walked for 45 minutes to an ice cream place, only to find out they just sell ice cream.  All was not lost, I found a Starbucks and ordered an iced americano and then walked another 45 minutes (up hill) to get home.  By the time I got home I was starving so I made the most delicious feast.  While my sweet potatoes were cooking, I discovered dark chocolate and strawberries in my house. I decided chocolate covered strawberries would make up for the lack of sorbet... I've never actually made chocolate covered anything but how hard could it be? I melted down the chocolate in the microwave with some Earth Balance, dipped a few strawberries in it and then let them chill in the fridge. Since is was so beautiful outside, the cats and I had a lovely dinner on the patio.
What a fun day :)

This is half a cucumber chopped and seasoned with salt, pepper and vinegar. The sweet potatoes were steamed in tinfoil with garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and ginger. I grilled an Amy's California burger and served it with salsa and chopped avocado.

This is Buttons, she ran inside after this photo was taken.

This is Casey, of course.

Mmmm the chocolate covered strawberries 

I thought it was funny how my name turned out "Nafusha", haven't heard that one before....

Natasha Fraycat's Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today I did something I've never done before, I baked without a recipe. I've been getting more comfortable cooking free style but baking is more complicated. This morning was different. I woke up feeling inspired.
I figured it would be best to start simple so I wrote down the basic make up of a chocolate chip cookie. After some research on the purpose of eggs and figuring out the difference between baking powder and baking soda, I came up with my perfect chocolate chip cookie !
I'm so proud of my litte ol' self :) I'm finally taking my knowledge and applying it to my own creations, how exciting! The baking possibilities are endless now.

Ingredients
Spelt Flour- 1 cup
Cinnamon- 1/2 tsp
Salt- 1/4 tsp
Nutmeg- 1/4 tsp
Baking Powder- 1/2 tsp
White Sugar- 1/4 cup
Brown Sugar- 1/3 cup
Earth Balance vegan butter- 1/2 cup
Ener-G egg replacer- 1 "egg"
Vanilla- 1/2 tsp + a dash more
Almond Milk- 1 tbsp
Rolled Oats- 1/2 cup
Vegan Dark Chocolate chips- 1/2 cup
Unsweetened Coconut shreds- 2 tbsp

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together flour, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and baking powder in a separate bowl and put aside.

Mix on a low speed white sugar, brown sugar and butter for about 45 seconds.

Add the "egg" and mix for another 30 seconds.

Add the vanilla and almond milk and mix for another 30 seconds.

Add the dry mixture to the wet and mix on low until a dough forms, about 1 minute.

Fold in rolled oats until evenly mixed.

Fold in chocolate chips until evenly mixed.

Fold in the coconut shreds.

Line a baking pan with parchment paper and divide batter into small (golf ball) sized balls.  Make sure there is a distance of about 1 1/2 inches in between the balls of batter. Press the batter down with a fork. Put in the top rack of the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes depending on your oven or until edges of the cookies turn brown. Cool on a baking rack and enjoy :)


 (These cookies are not suitable for cats, Casey just likes smelling them)

Gluten Free Vegan Lemon Tart

Lately I've been busy making my own creations in the kitchen that I haven't been baking anything from my vegan cookbook. My family came over for Mother's Day so I took that opportunity to bake something for everyone. I really enjoy baking but I feel like I need to bake for some event, otherwise I end up with an overwhelming amount of dessert. I have been trying healthier alternatives to traditional dessert ingredients such as using agave nectar instead of refined sugar and using gluten free flours.

For mothers day I had a few dietary restrictions to keep in mind for my dessert. My dessert had to be vegan, gluten free and as low in sugar as possible. The dessert I decided to make was a vegan gluten free lemon tart. I was hesitant to make this tart because I really dislike lemon flavoured desserts, I figured since I was baking it, I could control the amount of lemon.  The lemon topping for the dessert was very much like a custard which turned out to be very easy to make as long as you followed the baking instructions. The recipe has yellow food colouring as an optional ingredient, I was trying to keep things natural, so I left out the food dye. My tart filling was a whitish colour that I found distracting because normally our over processed lemon desserts are bright yellow. There was a definite brain and visual confusion that quickly went away after the first bite.

Let's face it, I need to work on my food photography, cat photos I'm amazing, food not so much.  This photo was taken by my wonderful (cough not) cousin Christopher. 

This recipe was taken from Chloe's Vegan Cookbook. 

I made the gluten free alternative pie crust.

Ease of recipe: 4/5 

I found it very easy to make. I think the custard part of the dish could be a challenge to a new baker. 

Taste: 5/5

The dessert is light, low in calories and tasty. 

Friends/Family thoughts: 5/5

My picky family seemed to really enjoy it and they're vocal about taste ! 

Likely hood to remake recipe: 5/5
I would most definitely make the recipe again but next time I'd change the flavour of the custard to banana, raspberry or maybe even chocolate. 

Overall Cooking Experience: 5/5

I really enjoyed baking gluten free. I also liked making the custard because I've never made it before and I enjoy the challenge.

Bonus Casey Points: 0/1
Casey was not around to judge this recipe :(.


Final: 24/25

Awesome dessert. A must make!!!