Lisa is Lovely Brownie Bites

Gold pans for my birthday!!!  Jennie sent me the mini pizza pans and my friend, Lisa, gave me the brownie bite pan!  

The possibilities are endless!  I can make pizza, pot pies, chocolate pie, brownies, bread squares, mini frosted cakes...

I decided to start with brownies!  Tomorrow, pot pie!

These are different than my other brownie recipe.  They are easier.  Faster.  Neater. And tastier!

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour the wells of a brownie bite pan or an 8" square pan.

1/2 cup Earth Balance stick margarine

1 tablespoon potato starch

1 cup sugar

6 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 cup GF baking mix

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Dash of salt

2 tablespoons vanilla Soymilk

In large microwaveable bowl, melt the margarine.  Mix in the potato starch. Next, stir in the sugar.  Stir in the cocoa powder, baking mix, baking powder, salt, and Soymilk.

Spoon one tablespoon of batter in each prepared well or spread into full pan.

Bake for 14 minutes for brownie bites or 25 minutes for full pan.  

Allow to cool in pan on a wire rack.  Loosen brownie bite edges with a knife then turn them out onto foil.  

Chewy.  Gooey.  Golden.

Severe Weather Soup

Chicago winter is slamming us again today.  I figured Big D would appreciate some soup since it is probably around 40 degrees in the foundry again today.

This is a non vegan Mexican soup that Bub will totally enjoy too!

1 lb thinly sliced chicken breasts
3 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine
1 tablespoon Bragg Liquid Amino's
8 cups water
Black pepper
Cumin
Chili powder
Garlic
One 15 ounce can black beans, drained
One 14 ounce can sliced carrots, drained
2/3 cup wild rice

Melt margarine in a Dutch oven.  Add the Bragg's.  Add the chicken and coat to cover.  Add the water and spices.  When the soups starts to simmer, reduce heat to low and cover.  Cook until chicken is tender (about 1 hour, longer does not hurt).  Shred the chicken with two forks inside the pot.  Add the beans, carrots, and rice.  Cover again until rice is cooked, about 40 minutes.

It's Not Me. It's You. Potato Cakes

As you may know, I have a love/hate relationship with my waffle iron and with, what I thought was, waffles.

After attempting a mashed potato waffle in my waffle iron, I'm thinking maybe it's been the damn waffle iron all along and not my waffle recipes or my ability to execute them!  It is in the garbage and it may be a long time until I buy another one... or I may buy one soon to prove my theory.

I wanted to make mashed potatoes in the waffle iron having seen this all over the internet this week.  Fail.

In any event, recipe saved by simply making them in a skillet.  Less deep, crispy edges but still really delicious!

While there are dozens of recipes out there for this dish, I adapted my recipe from Joy the Baker.

Ours, of course, are vegan.  You can top these like any baked potato or potato pancake.  I do have another potato cake recipe on this blog but these are more pancake-like and the others more flatbread-like.  These are lighter and smoother.

1/4 cup Earth Balance stick margarine
1/4 cup plain Soymilk
2 cups mashed potatoes (make this like normal, salted and everything)
1/2 cup GF baking mix
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Dash of salt

In a Dutch oven or pot on medium low heat, allow the margarine to melt and brown slightly. You'll know by the nutty aroma. It smells just like making Soychamel in the first stage.

Remove from the heat.  Add the Soymilk.  Mix well.  Add the mashed potatoes and stir.

Combine the baking mix, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.  Add to the potato mixture and stir until combined.

Spoon onto a griddle or into a skillet.  Cook just like a pancake. It will puff up nicely. Cook both sides until golden and cakes are no longer jiggly.  Press down lightly on the cakes after the first flip to get an even cooked middle and for more golden surface area.

Top with vegan or non vegan varieties of cheese, bacon, sour cream, chives, applesauce...

You have caused me so much heartache...  Bye bye!

Fail.

Best Foot Forward

Here is a recipe for a soft, comforting foot powder.  Yep.  You read that right.  A non edible recipe!

I used to have a great peppermint foot scrub and lotion but can't find anything allergen free for me.  I thought this was a good alternative.  And I was right!  Sometimes a little extra pampering is a good thing. 

1 cup potato starch

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1/2 cup baking soda

1 cotton ball or cotton square

20 drops peppermint oil 

Combine the starches and baking soda in airtight container.  Put the peppermint oil on the cotton ball or square and place in the bowl with the starches and soda.  Stir with a fork and cover for 24 hours.  Stir again and sit for another day.  Remove pad.  Ready to use.  You can buy shaker containers or cosmetic powder pads work well too.  I prefer the pads... neater.

Surprise! It's Sunday Already

I've been in the mood to bake but not necessarily in the mood to eat. This will get me my kitchen fix and maybe tempt me into breakfast too.

This is my standard muffin recipe, click: 

Margarine My Muffin, Sugar 

for link

I added a bit of peanut butter surprise in the middle of.

Prepare muffin batter as directed.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins about halfway full.  Drop a 1/4 teaspoon of peanut butter into the center of each.  Top with more batter.  Bake as directed.

It's a nice recipe to make in teams or with little helpers.  They can drop the peanut butter in the middle for you!