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Sunday morning pancakes


These are pancakes with a twist. I’m out of plain almond milk, so I had to use vanilla unsweetened. I had a small bag of quick oats that I’ve been trying to use up. I just bought applesauce, and I’ve been going nutty with it. So when I was craving pancakes this morning, I thought I might try to incorporate all of these things. They were great… I adore oatmeal, and these were just oaty enough to please my oatmeal-tooth.

I got a new whisk at Target the other day – it was a dollar, and it’s blue. They had Easter specials. I also got a set of pretty mixing bowls that I was dying to use.

Oatmeal Applesauce Pancakes (serves 1 – double, triple, etc… as needed)

Ingredients
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (any non-dairy milk will do!)
1/3 cup quick oats (flour would work too, I just wanted to use up my oats)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon spices (pumpkin pie spice works – so does cinnamon or allspice)
1/2 teaspoon extract (if you don’t have vanilla milk! otherwise this is optional)
2 tablespoons water, for thinning

Directions
Mix together the applesauce, milk, baking powder, salt, spices, and extract (if using). Then add the oats. I like my batter a little runny so that I can make small pancakes – so I added 2 tablespoons of water. Add more or less, depending on your preference.


Heat a non-stick skillet on the stove on medium to low heat. Using a soup spoon, drop a heaping spoonful of batter into the pan. Cook on the first side for about 4 minutes, then flip it over and cook for another 1-2 minutes. If your pan is sticky, just melt some margarine in the pan before dropping the batter so that they flip more easily. This makes the edges nice and crispy anyway.

Continue to make more pancakes until you’ve used up the batter. A good way to keep the finished cakes warm is to put them on a plate in a heated oven. If you have a warming burner on your stove, that’s even better.

Enjoy with vegan margarine, syrup, and more applesauce.


If you add sliced bananas while they cook, that would be really good 🙂

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A very old post…


I was looking through my old pictures and it turns out that before I was blogging I was still taking pictures of my meals! I found a nice spread from last summer, and although I don’t remember the recipes exactly, I thought I should share them.

We had…

(1) Soba noodles with dipping sauce

Ingredients
Soba noodles
Soy sauce
Wasabi
Chopped scallions
Bits of Nori seaweed

Directions
1. Prepare the noodles as the package directs. Bring water to a boil, boil them for however long the package says, then drain them and pour cold water over them so that they cool.
2. Prepare the sauce – mix together the remaining ingredients.
3. Dip the cold soba noodles into the sauce and eat!

(2) Corn and tomato salad

Ingredients
2 ears of corn
3 fresh tomatoes
1 sliced cucumber
minced garlic (optional)

Directions
Cook the corn in boiling water with a dash of brown sugar for 8-10 minutes. Wait for the ears to cool, then cut off the kernels. Chop the tomatoes. Toss everything together and serve. It doesn’t even need dressing because the tomatoes and corn should be juicy on their own. If you find yourself needing some type of sauce, throw in a tablespoon of olive oil for extra flavor.


There was also some orzo that came from a prepackaged mix (eek!). It was actually pretty good. I think it was from the organic section, so it can’t have been too bad.

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Salmon bagel from Mate


This picture came out so perfectly that I had to blog it, even though I didn’t make it. Bobby had a bagel with salmon from The Mate Factor (an adorable cafe) the other day…

It consisted of:

1 everything bagel
Cream cheese
Fresh smoked salmon
Sliced tomato
Sliced red onion
Alfalfa sprouts
Slice of fresh orange, for garnish


Everything is organic and mostly local. This cafe is amazing. Some of their other recipe inspirations can be found at my vegetarian blog, Je le vous dirais. Try the Peanut butter, banana, and applesauce sandwich. There’s also a fantastic belgian waffle with whipped cream… to die for.

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Vegetable sukiyaki


I made this last night for dinner. It just serves one, but it’s easily doubled, tripled, quadrupled… Sukiyaki is the kind of dish that you can actually serve in the pot that it’s cooked in so the measurements are generally just for one bowl. As with stir-frys, you can add whatever vegetables you have on hand. I’ll give the recipe and then add some more suggestions.

Sukiyaki is a traditional Japanese soup. It’s typically made with a beef broth, but easily made vegetarian. Actually, there’s this amazing fake meat that I find sometimes at Asian grocery stores that would probably taste really good with it. Maybe I’ll try that next time.

Sukiyaki is very similar to a Chinese dish called a hot pot, so if you’ve ever had and enjoyed that, try this Japanese version!

Vegetable sukiyaki

Ingredients
1.5 cups water
handful dried Shiitake mushrooms
piece of seaweed (kelp is good, but anything works)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 of a red pepper, chopped
2 cups spinach OR bok choy OR other leafy green veggie
1 serving shirataki noodles

Directions
1. Make the stock. Boil the water with the mushrooms and seaweed for about 10 minutes.
2. Add the soy sauce and sugar; let the sugar dissolve.
3. Add all the veggies and let them boil for at least 5 minutes or until tender.
4. Meanwhile, boil water for the shirataki noodles and boil them for 3-4 minutes.
5. Drain the noodles and add them to the veggies. I drained them, put them in a bowl, and poured the veggies and broth overtop.
6. Serve with rice or alone.


Some other vegetables that taste great in Sukiyaki: scallions (I really wish I’d had some), baby corn, bamboo shoots, asparagus, napa cabbage, carrots, and probably many more that I haven’t tried. Sometimes I also top it with tofu!

The shirataki noodles worked very well. I had the classic, clear/white kind, but there are several more options. There’s a darker version that’s a grey, mottled color. There are also tofu shirataki noodles. For anyone who is unaware, shirataki noodles do not have calories. None, whatsoever. The tofu kind has very few. They are mostly made up of dietary fiber and are great for cleansing your system. They’re made from a type of yam, and most products that come from that yam are called konnyaku. They also make chunks of konnyaku that you can slice up and put in if you don’t want noodles. Konnyaku and shirataki noodles are found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store and they come in a little bag that’s filled with water. They’re becoming more common and you probably won’t have to go to an Asian grocery store to find them.

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More stir-fry ideas


I know, I post a lot of stir-frys. But there are so many variations and so many things you can add that it’s really never the same meal twice. Last night Mom and I concocted a stir-fry with a very unique vegetable that we picked up at a roadside stand on the way home from the beach. It’s called Romanesco and it’s in the same family as cauliflower. It’s green, but not as deep a green as broccoli. Look:


Again, this dish is really something that you can make with whatever you have in the kitchen. We had half a container of pico de gallo leftover, so we threw it in because we didn’t have an onion. It ended up working really well. Mom likes cumin, but there was none so we used curry powder instead. I would have even added garlic powder, but mom doesn’t like it much.

Stir-fry

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 head romanesco
1 head broccoli
1 red pepper
1/2 cup pico de gallo (chopped onions, peppers, lime/lemon juice, cilantro)
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
3 tablespoons Newman’s Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions
1. Heat the oil in a pan or wok on high; add the sesame seeds. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
2. Add all the veggies, the spices, and the sauces. Stir-fry until they’re cooked enough for you to eat. I like mine more on the raw side, so I’ll usually cook them for about 5 minutes. Mom likes hers more well done, so she cooks them for about 10 minutes.


3. Serve alone or with rice. Mom added some sesame oil to hers at the end, but I just had mine plain.


Tonight I’m going to make something with Shirataki noodles. They’re Japanese and apparently are very good for your body. Very high in fiber. Keep watching for the post!