Been too long

Hi Everyone

Its been so long since I have posted I apologize. Alot of things have happened but soon things are settling down and I will be back online more often.  Lots of recipes to make and develop as well as some homemade dog biscuits I have made as well.

See you all soon :)

Rainy And Cool Holiday Monday Day

What to do on a rainy and cool holiday monday?  Well while my puppy was sleeping I was in the kitchen.  I made Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, Soup and muffins.

The Cookies are delicious and easy to make.  I found the recipe from another blogger.  Here is the link to the recipe. The only things I did differently was I added some ground cinnamon, a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract and used Kraft Peanut Butter.

 https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/03/23/flourless-peanut-butter-oatmeal-cookies/

Here are photos of them.

Ready for the oven.

Ready to be eaten. Great with a nice cup of tea

The soup was easy to make as well.  I used up cauliflower, broccoli and a bag of mini carrots. Added 1 onion , and veggie broth.  Once cooked I added one can of light coconut milk, salt and pepper, a dash of cinnamon and then pureed it using my immersion blender. Easy quick and delicious and vegan as well :)

Easiest soup ever. Just put ingredients in the pot and cook.

Pureed and ready to eat.

My attempt at making gluten free muffins didn't turn out and I didn't take any photos. I am determined to one day find a great all purpose gluten free muffin recipe that taste great and can easily be made with chocolate chips, blueberries, zucchini etc.

Thanks for stopping by.  Here is a photo of my puppy sleeping as I was in the kitchen she did wake up in time to sample the cooled soup. She loved it too :)

Tea Tea and more Tea

I never knew you could do so many things with tea other than having hot tea.  

The other day I made an assortment of teas.

  Cold Brew Peaches and Cream tea.  Steeped the tea overnight in the fridge with cold water. 

Laughter and lemonade green tea cold steeped overnight in lemonade. 

Unsweetened Iced English Breakfast Iced Tea with Lemon.

Pineapple Orange Cooler steeped in Gingerale for 20 mins or so. 

And of course hot earl grey de la creme tea.  

The teas become a wonderful colour after being steeped and very delicious

You can also steep tea using selzter water or juice I haven't tried the juice yet.

 Also made No Churn Vanilla Matcha Ice Cream. All was delicious. 

Assorted teas ready to be tasted

Ice Cream anyone. How about Vanilla Matcha Ice Cream

What is your favourite tea? 

Baking with Tea

Had a little get together and served tea but instead of just preparing tea as a beverage I made things with tea.

Made No Churn Banana Matcha Ice Cream and No Churn Chocolate Orange Mousse Ice Cream and some Carrot Cake muffins where Carrot Ginger Tea was steeped in the oil before the recipe was made and some cold brewed Carrot Ginger Tea was added to the icing for the cupcakes.

It was delicious.

Banana Green Matcha Ice Cream and Chocolate Orange Mousse Ice Cream

Gluten Free Carrot Cake Muffins

Also made some chocolate meringues for the tea drinking they turned out well :)

Just a quick blog entry.  More recipes and blog posts to come. Thanks for visiting my blog :)

been awhile

Hi All

It has been awhile. I will be posting a new post soon with all Vegan recipes. They were delicious.

Sorry for the absence life has been busy and still unpacking and organizing from the move.

Gluten Free Mini Peanut Butter and Strawberry Muffins

Welcome back to my blog.  It has been awhile.  I apologize for not updating the blog we have moved and am still in the process of unpacking.  Today, however I decided to make Gluten Free Mini Peanut Butter and Strawberry Muffins.  This recipe is based on a Giada's recipe for Mini Almond Butter and Strawberry Muffins.   Here is the link to her recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/mini-almond-butter-and-strawberry-muffins.html?soc=socialsharingpinterest

I adapted the recipe as follows, I used Gluten Free Flour. Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour is finally available in Canada so I tried that.  I am not a fan of almond butter so I used crunchy peanut butter instead.  I also left out the sugar as the peanut butter had sugar and the jam was sweetened with pear juice. I think the amount Giada's has is too high and I do not like an overly sweet muffin.  I might add 1/4 cup of brown sugar or coconut sugar next time. The muffins were good but a little dry.  Next time I make them I will make regular size muffins and put all the jam in the middle instead of on top and in the middle. Will also try with smooth peanut butter.  I bet they would be good without the jam and some mini chocolate chips instead.

All the ingredients ready to make the muffins

Whisk the peanut butter with the vanilla, oil and eggs. Set aside.

The peanut butter mixed with the eggs, vanilla and vegetable oil.

In another bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder together.  Then add to the peanut butter mixture in 2 additions.

The flour mixture being added to the peanut butter mixture

Everything is mixed together and ready to go into the mini muffin pan.

Fill each muffin cup half full with the muffin batter.

The muffin mixture is added to the muffin pan. Filling only half full and now ready for the jam.

Now add 1/2 teaspoon of the Strawberry Jam to each muffin cup.  Then fill each cup with the remaining muffin mixture covering the Strawberry Jam.  Then put the pan in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

The half teaspoon of strawberry jam added to the muffins.

The remaining batter has been added to the muffins and now ready for the oven.

When the muffins are done remove from oven and add 1/2 teaspoon of Strawberry Jam to the top of each muffin.  Let cool and then enjoy the muffins.  Great with a cup of tea.

Out of the oven and ready for more jam on top.

The other 1/2 tsp of Strawberry Jam added to the top of the cooked muffins.

Ready to eat with a nice cup of tea :)

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup Gluten Free All Purpose Flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 Cup Crunchy Peanut Butter

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil

2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

2 Large Eggs, room temperature

1/2 Cup Strawberry Jam

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 325 Degrees.

2. Line 24 mini muffin cups with paper liners. Or spray with non stick      spray.

3. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside

4. In another bowl, whisk together peanut butter, oil, vanilla and eggs.

5. Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture in 2 additions. Stir only until blended.

6. Fill each muffin cup half-full with batter.  Then spoon 1/2 teaspoon of jam on top of each muffin cup. Then spoon the remaining batter on top to cover the jam.

7. Bake until the tops are golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

8.  Remove from oven and add 1/2 teaspoon of jam on top of each muffin.

9.  Once cool enjoy the muffins.  Serve with a cup of tea or coffee.

Sweet Potato Chowder (easily made Vegan)

I have been working on this recipe since January.  It is good to make with leftover sweet  potatoes and leftover roast chicken or even turkey.  It is tasty, spicy and can easily be made vegan by leaving out the chicken.

It is a very fast and easy chowder to make.

Dice onions.  Heat olive oil in a dutch oven and add the onions.  Cook until softened.

Once the onions are softened.  Add the mashed sweet potatoes and vegetable broth  When you are making baked sweet potatoes add a couple of extra and use them for this recipe.

Bring this mixture to a boil.  Then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add the corn, coconut milk, finely diced jalapeno peppers and chicken.  Simmer atleast 10 minutes or until ready to eat.  Taste for seasonings and adjust if necessary.  Depending on the heat of your jalapeno peppers you might need to add pepper and some salt.

When ready to eat, ladle it  into a bowl and garnish with more sliced jalapenos,  if you wish.

INGREDIENTS

2 Large sweet potatoes baked and mashed

2 Tbs olive oil or coconut oil

2 onions, diced

4 cups vegetable broth

2 cups chopped cooked turkey or chicken

2 cups corn kernels, frozen

1 can lite coconut milk

2 jalapeno peppers finely diced

DIRECTIONS

In a dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions.  Stir occasionally and cook until they begin to soften. Add the mashed sweet potatoes and vegetable broth.  Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add the chicken, corn, jalapeno peppers and coconut milk. Stir and simmer atleast 10 minutes.  Taste for seasonings and adjust if needed.  Serve in a bowl with more sliced jalapenos if desired.

This chowder is delicious on a cold winter day and great at clearing out the sinuses due to the peppers.  ENJOY :)