Cinnamon Buns

Quick Cinnamon Buns with Buttermilk Icing
(Americas Test Kitchen Recipe)

**Melted butter is used in the filling and the dough and to grease the pan. Melt 8 Tbsp of butter ahead of time to make it easier.
Just measure out of the full amount.**


1 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 C granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted and cooled

Dough:

• 2 1/2cups unbleached all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting work surface)
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/4 cups low fat buttermilk
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Glaze:

2 tablespoons cream cheese
2 tablespoons low fat buttermilk
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar


Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brush a 9-inch square cake pan with one tablespoon butter.

1. Filling: Combine the brown sugar,  granulated sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a small bowl. Add one tablespoon melted butter and stir with a fork or fingers until the mixture resembles wet sand. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add 3 tablespoons of the melted butter and buttermilk to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until the liquid is absorbed (the dough will be sticky and look shaggy), about 30 seconds. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead, lightly dusting more flour as necessary, until just smooth and no longer shaggy, about 30 seconds.
3. Lightly dust the surface again. Pat the dough into a small rectangle, then roll into a 12-inch x 9-inch rectangle, dusting more flour sparingly if necessary so the dough doesn't stick to the rolling pin. Brush the dough with 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Sprinkle the dough evenly with the brown sugar filling, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Using your hand, press the filling firmly into the dough. Starting at the long side, roll the dough, pressing lightly, to form a tight log. (If the dough sticks to the surface, use a sharp knife or dough scraper to release it.) Pinch the seam to seal. Roll the log seam-side down and, using a serrated knife, cut it evenly into 9 pieces. Turn the pieces over on their flat sides, and slightly flatten each piece with your hand to seal the open edges and keep the filling in place. Place the rolls in prepared pan and brush with remaining tablespoon of butter. Bake until the edges are golden brown, 20-25 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and buttermilk until thick and smooth (the mixture will look like cottage cheese at first). Sift in confectioners' sugar and whisk until smooth glaze forms.
5. Let cool 5 minutes, slide buns onto a plate.
6. Drizzle the glaze evenly over the buns. 

Spicy Avocado Toasts

Mom and I had this for lunch the other day and loved it.

Its very simple but filling.

Spicy Avocado Toast 
(Martha Stewart)

1 ripe avocado
2 slices of toast
butter or coconut butter
a few pinches salt and pepper (I used flaky sea salt)
a few pinches red pepper flakes
lemon wedges

Peel and slice the avocado.
Toast and butter the bread.
Place sliced avocado on the bread and mash (or leave whole).
Top with salt, red pepper flakes and lemon juice.

Five Banana Muffins

I like winter.

I love wearing my tuque.

I enjoy shoveling early in the morning before it's light out.

But, for some reason, I enjoy seeing the bright sun on our faces and warmth of this picture right now.

Also, in this picture, we are drinking great coffee which goes great with these muffins.

If you frequently have bananas that are overripe, this recipe a great way to use them up.

I cut it out of a newspaper at least ten years ago and it is still my go to banana muffin.

You, kind of, can't make a mistake with these.

I have morphed these in so many ways and they always turn out.  Try adding espresso powder, coconut, pecans, nutmeg or even substitute pumpkin puree for some of the banana.

The recipe calls for a small amount of sugar but I always leave it out because I think the bananas make them sweet enough.

Five Banana Muffins

(yields 24 muffins)

2 C AP flour (or a combo of 1 C whole wheat or spelt and 1 C AP)

1/4 C sugar (optional)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

pinch of salt

1/2-1 C chocolate chips (or nuts)

5 bananas, mashed

1/2 C butter, melted

1/4-1/2 C yogurt, buttermilk or sour cream

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350.

Line muffin tin with papers or grease.

In a large bowl (or stand mixer) combine bananas, butter, yogurt and eggs.  

Add chocolate.

In another bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add to flour mixture to banana mixture.

Stir gently without over mixing.

Pour into muffin cups.  I fill them about half full and that usually makes 24 muffins.

Bake 18 mins

 or until toothpick insterted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.

(You can also make this into a loaf but increase baking time to 50 mins.)

Baked French Toast with Blueberries and Cream

This baked french toast is perfect for a slow morning

You can assemble it the night before and bake it in the morning.

The house will smell amazing as it bakes.

Baked French Toast with Blueberries and Cream

(wholefoods.com)

1 (12 ounce) day-old baguette, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used marble rye)

1 1/2 - 2 cups blueberries, divided 

12 ounces (about 1 1/3 bricks) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar, honey, or maple syrup

8 eggs

1 lemon, zested (optional)

1 cup sour cream or yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2/3 cup milk

Maple syrup, for topping

Place bread cubes in a greased 9- x 13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with blueberries, reserving a few for garnish. 

In a mixing bowl, beat cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, lemon zest, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Gradually add milk until blended. 

Pour over bread. 

(If you are making this the night before, cover and chill overnight or up to 24 hours. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.)

Cover with foil and bake at 350ºF about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake about 25 minutes longer, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Sprinkle with reserved blueberries. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve with maple syrup, if desired.

Banana Blueberry Coconut Muffins

I have been eaten out of house and muffin.

Somehow, we've managed to eat 24 muffins in the last 24 hours.

So, I found my self making muffins again this afternoon.

Today's muffins needed to have banana in them because of an over ripe bunch I had to use up.

These are much less sweet than yesterday's Blueberry Lemon Muffins and use whole wheat flour.

Originally, this recipe calls for coconut oil but melted butter works too.

By all means, use coconut oil, if you can, it will give them even more rich coconut flavour.

If you double the recipe, like I did, you will get 24 muffins or 12 large and 24 mini. (Reduce heat to 325 and cook for 15 minutes for mini muffins.)


Banana Blueberry Coconut Muffins
(adapted slightly from cookieandkate.com)


3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I used rye)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil or butter, melted
1 cup ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup honey
1 large egg, preferably at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, divided
1 tablespoon turbinado (raw) sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Grease a muffin tin or line the tin with muffin liners (I also spray liners with no stick spray).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Stir in 1/2 cup shredded coconut.

In a separate, medium bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, mashed banana, honey, egg and vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Stir in berries.

Divide batter among prepared muffin cups, then sprinkle the muffin tops with the remaining 1/4 cup coconut (about 1 to 2 teaspoons each). Top with a very light sprinkle of raw sugar.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Mini Blueberry Lemon Crunch Muffins

If you're wondering whether these muffins are good or not...

Check out Jimmy's face.

This is how he looks when he's really enjoying food.

The whole family loves these.

These are ridiculously fast and easy to make and they'll only dirty one bowl.

Mini Blueberry Lemon Crunch Muffins

adapted slightly from allrecipes.com

Makes 24 mini or 12 large

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used a combo of AP and whole wheat pastry flour)

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 lemon, zested

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries, wild works best because they're smaller

1/4 cup white sugar

2 Tbsp cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp butter, cubed

3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease mini muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and zest.

Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. 

Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon. 

Work together with finger tips, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake 15-20 minutes for mini and 20-25 for large muffins, or until done.

Blueberry Spinach Juice

I'm really enjoying this juice combo after exercising these days.

Lots of soy milk, blueberries, and yogurt, a bit of almond butter and a huge handful of spinach.

It's pretty simple and doesn't have my usual overload of banana.

I love banana but I wanted to switch it up a bit.

Blueberry Spinach Juice

1 1/2 C Soy Milk or whatever milk you drink
1/2 C yogurt
1/2 C blueberries
pinch cinnamon
1 heaping Tbsp almond butter
large handful spinach
2-3 ice cubes (optional)

Blend.

Banana Almond Espresso Delight

This morning I felt like a blender juice and a coffee and this is what I came up with.

It's almost as good as having a delicious pastry and a coffee.

Jim has a banana with peanut butter on it every morning so I can't wait for him to try this.

He'll love it.

Banana Almond Espresso Juice
(adapted from Loveandlemons.com)

1/2 - 3/4 C chocolate almond milk
1 frozen banana (I chopped up and froze a few bananas the night before)
1/4 C almond butter
dash of cinnamon
1/2 tsp instant espresso powder

handful of ice (optional)

Blend all ingredients together.

Key Lime Yogurt

I've been noticing tons of Greek Yogurt in the grocery stores lately.

When I was first married, I used to buy regular, plain yogurt, strain it through cheese cloth for a day to get the liquid out and then add a bit of sugar and some lime juice and zest. (Serve that on some grilled peach halves, it's amazing.)

I stopped doing that pretty soon after I started because it took up precious space in my fridge and took way too long for me.

Greek Yogurt is thick on its own and that's what I love about it.

I've started making my Key Lime Yogurt again since discovering Greek Yogurt.

It is so good as a dip for fruit, sprinkled with granola or on its own.

Here's how I do it.

Key Lime Yogurt
*I tell you to use sugar here but I've also done it sugar free and drizzled individual servings with a bit of honey. I love it that way too.

1 tub Greek Style, Plain yogurt (500g)
2-3 Tbsp sugar (*optional)
zest of a lime (about 1 Tbsp)
1-2 Tbsp lime juice

Open the yogurt container and mix all ingredients together in the tub.

Cinnamon Crunch Raspberry Muffins

We had a visit from good friends yesterday. What a treat.

Clara and I thought it would be fun to make some pretty, raspberry studded, strusel topped muffins.

After a lot of Twister playing, tree climbing, dress up and chatter we all ate the muffins.

The kids loved them and because the recipe makes a lot, we all ate several.

Cinnamon Crunch Raspberry Muffins

(dairygoodness.ca)

Yield: 24 muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I used spelt flour)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup butter (I used olive oil)

2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups fresh raspberries

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup rolled oats or spelt flakes

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice or orange juice

Preheat oven to 375 °Butter 12 nonstick muffin pans or line with paper liners.

In a bowl, combine sugar, oats, cinnamon and lemon juice; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all-purpose and whole wheat flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together sugar, egg, milk, butter, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Pour over dry ingredients and sprinkle with raspberries; stir just until moistened.

Spoon into prepared muffin pan, smoothing tops; sprinkle evenly with topping. Bake for 20-25 min or until tops are firm to the touch. Let cool in pan for 10 min. Transfer to rack to cool completely.

Breakfast Sandwiches with Fried Mushrooms

We eat a lot of eggs. One of our favourite ways to eat them is in a breakfast sandwich. Usually the sandwich just consists of egg, cheese and an english muffin. But on the weekends, we like to fance them up by adding vegetables and meat.

Fried mushrooms are so versatile and simple to prepare. We put them in crepes, pizza, burgers, sandwiches and even eat them as a side dish.

I watched my Uncle Steve make his version of fried mushrooms last summer and was inspired to simplify my recipe and eat them a lot more.

Alton Brown has an amazing recipe for mushrooms which he then piles in between layers of crepes. They are amazing!

This method is the easy way.

The Breakfast Sandwich with Fried Mushrooms

2 tsp olive oil

2 tsp butter

1/2-1 lb mushrooms, chopped or sliced thinly

1 small onion, chopped finely (divided)

1/4 C red pepper, chopped finely

2 thin slices of ham, chopped

5 eggs

heaping 1/4 tsp herbes de provence

1/2 tsp Montreal Steak Spice (divided)

2 Tbsp sliced Kalamata olives

1/4 C grated mozzarella cheese

3 English Muffins, halved and toasted

In a small frying pan warm 1 tsp oil and 1 tsp butter. Add chopped mushrooms, 1/2 the onion, herbes de provence and 1/4 tsp montreal steak spice. Fry until mushrooms are soft, about 5 mins. Keep mushrooms warm.

In a larger (10 inch) frying pan warm the other 1tsp oil and 1 tsp butter over med heat.

Add 1/2 the onion, red pepper and other 1/4 tsp of steak spice. When the vegetables are soft, add ham and warm through.

Crack 5 eggs over top of the cooked vegetables. Mix up the egg into the vegetables breaking a few of the yolks. Continue cooking, opening up little holes in the egg mixture so the uncooked egg falls onto the hot pan and fills the holes.

Once the egg is mostly set, sprinkle with olives and cheese. Cover the pan with a lid and turn heat down to low.

Toast english muffins. Butter them when toasted.

When eggs are set, divide into 3 portions.

Fill up english muffins with egg and mushrooms. Squirt on some hot sauce or ketchup if you like.

Peanut Butter Bread

Well it seems that day has come.

Jibs no longer needs to start his day with a banana.

It is always a striking to me when little routines change. Routines that seem so definitive of a certain time.

Baby Jib loved bananas, toddler Jib does not. (Though I'm sure he will always love Caroline's Banana Gelato!)

We have moved on to bigger, better, and more mature things such as peanut butter.

Peanut butter on apple slices, crackers, toast. Peanut butter in cookies and now in bread.

This bread has tons of rich peanut butter and banana flavour .

The house will smell amazing while it's cooking!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

(adapted from Cooking Light)

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (3-4)

1/3 cup buttermilk

heaping 1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup ground flaxseeds(optional)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Preheat oven to 350* and grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

Whisk together flours, wheat bran, soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice in a large bowl. (I used my kitchenaid.)

Mash banana in a medium bowl. Stir in buttermilk, peanut butter and butter. Add eggs and sugar.

Beat banana mixture into flour mixture, just until combined.

Bake for 1 hour or until cake tester comes out clean.

**I don't think this bread needs anything else, but Cooking Light suggests making a peanut glaze.

If you want to try it, here is the full recipe.

Oatmeal Pancakes and Chicken Bites

A couple of things...

I have a really hard time making things more than once...(good thing I don't knit or I'd have a lot of single socks hanging around waiting for a mate).

I love pancakes and sausage and yesterday being pancake Tuesday reminded me that we had not had pancakes in a long time.

Put those things together and I tried yet another new pancake recipe...a Joy the Baker pancake recipe. (That girl can bake!...that reminds me I have to try her cinnamon bread.)

Since I've been in an oatmeal state of mind lately, I made Joy's Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes. Loaded with sweet spices and oats these came out of the pan with a beautiful texture and smell.

The recipe suggests putting golden raisins in the pancakes but Clara advised me, "Raisins are fine in oatmeal cookies but do NOT belong in pancakes!" ...Jim concurs.

The kids loved them and they were even great reheated the next morning for breakfast.

To go with the pancakes I made up some little tiny sausage bites. I mixed together some shredded apple, green onion, Epice a montreal, breadcrumbs and ground chicken, rolled them in tiny meal ball sizes, dredged them in some flour and fried them in a little oil.

Oatmeal Pancakes

(adapted slightly from Joy the Baker.com)

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

heaping 1/2 cup old fashioned oats

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

2 cups buttermilk (I used whole milk mixed with 2tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar)

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

½ teaspoons vanilla extract

~Beat eggs together in a large bowl. Add in buttermilk, butter, maple syrup and vanilla. Stir well.

~Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir until combined.

~I used my 1/4C measuring cup to drop the batter in to the pan, cooking over med heat.

~Keep ready pancakes in a 200* oven until they're all cooked.

Chicken Apple Bites

1 apple peeled, cored and grated

3/4-1 lb ground chicken or 2 boneless skinless chicken breast cubed

1 green onion finely sliced (1/2 red onion finely chopped)

1Tbsp chopped parsley

1 1/2 tsp Montreal Steak Spice

scant 1 C bread crumbs

1 Tbsp Chicken stock (or 1 egg)

whole wheat flour for coating

cooking oil for frying

~Put chicken, apple, onion, parsley, spice, breadcrumbs and stock in a food processor and pulse to combine. (This could be done in a bowl with a fork, mixing very well.)

~Spread flour on a plate. Divide the mixture into small bowls. Roll in flour.

~Heat a small amount of oil in a large frying pan and cook balls 5-8 mins until brown all over and cooked through.

Baked Oatmeal with Pear

I find it feels so right to eat oatmeal on these cold, windy, late-winter mornings. The kids and I eat it a lot just boiled up with some maple syrup and milk on top.

Between granola making and oatmeal porridge we go through a lot of rolled oats. I have a feeling we're going to have an even harder time keeping oats in the house.

I tried a new recipe for baked oats today and since I had some pears left over from a cake I had made I threw those in too.

Jibs and I sat and ate it right out of the baking dish with a fork. It would be great as a breakfast but I can even see eating it as a dessert with some whipped cream on top.

Baked Oatmeal with Pear

2 1/2 C Rolled Oats

1/2 C steel-cut oats

1/4C Brown sugar

2 tsp baking poweder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 C milk

1/4 C sunflower or veg oil

2/3 C apple sauce

1 1/2 C chopped pear (I used a tin of pear halves chopped)

Mix dry ingredients together.

Mix wet ingredients, except pear, in a 4 C measuring glass.

Stir wet into dry.

Pour into a glass baking dish.

Bake at 400 for 20 mins.

Stir in pears and bake another 20 mins.

Gnocchi Scramble

Creamy gnocchi with scrambled eggs and scallions, I could eat this every day. I love this meal, it's a creamy and very flavourful dish that takes less than 10 mins to make. I almost always have gnocchi and eggs in the pantry so I can make this whenever I need to. It goes perfectly at any meal, with toast at breakfast, on a bed of romaine at lunch and as a side dish at dinner. Jim was the first one to makes this dish one night when I was laying on the couch sick and watching Jacques Pepin's cooking show Fast Food My Way with no strength or ambition to make dinner. This was the recipe that Jacque was making in that particular episode and Jim said, "Do you want that? I could make that." Mmmm, it tasted mighty fine.

Creamy Gnocchi Scramble

(adapted from Jacques Pepin's Fast Food My Way)

1 small pkg potato gnocchi

1C water

2 tsp olive oil

5 eggs

salt and pepper

2 tbsp chopped scallions (optional)

2 tsp butter

1/3 C cottage cheese or sour cream

Place gnocchi in a large frying pan over med-high heat. Pour in water and oil. Cover and cook 4 mins or until gnocchi is tender and rehydrated.

Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, salt and pepper.

When gnocchi is cooked, remove lid and cook 1 more minute. Add butter and scallions cook 1 more minute.

Stir in eggs and continue stirring until egg is cooked. Finish by removing pan from heat and stirring in the cottage cheese or sour cream.

Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a grating of Parmesan cheese if you like.

What I {almost} ate for : Breakfast

Having a very hungry boy around me all the time means I share all my meals. Jibs usually finishes his breakfast and then finishes my breakfast. This morning (after being inspired, yet again, by Everyday Food) I toasted myself a piece of bread, sliced some white cheddar on top and spread the cheddar with marmalade, popped it in the toaster oven again and melted everything together. If you don't have a toaster oven, I would stick the dressed toast under the broiler for a minute or so.

I love marmalade and what I actually of this toast was delicious...Jibs ate most of it and made "mmm, yum" sounds the whole time. This is sure to become a morning favourite.

Now excuse me as I go make myself another toast.

Sugar Free (Not Taste Free) Apple Spice Muffins

Jibs says, "It's pretty hard to wait for these to cook, I want one now."

Having muffins or loaf around really helps in the mornings, Jim loves being able to grab something quick to eat in the car on the way to work if he doesn't have time for a large breakfast. They also travel well as a snack if we have to run out to the store. So it's nice to have a few good, healthy recipes on hand to whip up.

I don't like to give my people sugar first thing in the morning, so I worked on making this recipe tasty but also reasonably healthy and sugar-free. The sweetness comes from apple sauce and honey with some nice bits of fresh apple. These come out moist and full of flavour.

I use all whole wheat flour and I would encourage you to do the same because it adds a really nice texture and taste, but white flour would be fine too. Feel free to add a handful if walnuts or raisins to the batter at the end if you like. My peeps like plain apple spice so that's how I do them.

Apple Spice Muffins

1 C apple sauce

1/2 C honey

1/2 C butter, soft

1 3/4 C whole wheat flour

1 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves and ginger

1 C apple, chopped

(1/2 C nuts and 1/2 C raisins or craisins, optional)

Preheat oven to 350*.

Cream together butter and honey. Add applesauce and mix well.

Combine all dry ingredients. Add the applesauce mixture to dry.

Blend just until combined. Fold in apple and extras.

Scoop into 12 lined muffin tins or 1 loaf pan.

Bake 25-30mins. (for muffins)

or 40-60mins (for loaf)

Make Loaf, Not War

This is a fantastic loaf. We have made and eaten a lot of this lately. Jim usually grabs a few slices on his way out the door in the early morning. Eat it for dessert or with afternoon tea, it's everything one could hope for in a loaf, thus the name Everything Loaf. Another Joy the Baker gem, it is slightly sweet, and very moist. The combination of pecans, walnuts, pumpkin, spices, apple and cranberries is wonderful and wintery.

I love that this recipe makes two loaves so I can have one out for eating and one in the freezer. You could easily omit the nuts, if anyone is allergic to them or swap out dried for fresh cranberries.

Vegan Pumpkin Cranberry Apple Pecan Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups light brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree, (2 Cups)

1 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup maple syrup or honey

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts plus 8 pecan halves for the top

1 heaping cup fresh or 1/2 C dried cranberries

1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled and cored and cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350, grease 2 loaf pans.

In a large bowl mix together dry ingredients. In a 8 cup measuring cup (or med bowl) mix pumpkin, oil, maple and water.

Add wet to dry and told together with a rubber spatula.

Fold in nuts, cranberries and apple.

Divide between the 2 pans and line the top with pecan slices. (Sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon on the top now if you want.)

Cook for 1- 1 1 /4 hours, until tester comes out clean.

Baby Likes Green

Me being creepy with the VMix

Jibs Says, Green is Good!

Vita mix Love

Jibs is having a hard time waiting for his juice.

Im not sure how I got along without my Vita-Mix. About five years ago, my parents bought us the Vita-Mix for our anniversary present. Since then, we have made probably hundreds of different smoothies and juices in it. Somehow the favourites have usually been green. If you dont drink green juice, it may seem gross to you but it really is good. If the green comes from either spinach or kale, it really doesn't add any flavour to the juice. It does, however, add calcium, Vitamins A and C, potassium and iron.

I generally like pear in any juice because it adds sweetness. I also get bananas that are very ripe, cut them into chunks and throw them in a ziplock freezer bag. It's easy to take out a couple handfuls of them for your juices.

Here is what we do:

Baby Loves Green Juice

1C spinach

1C kale

1 banana (frozen and cut in chunks)

1 pear

1C yogurt (plain or vanilla)

1C water, Orange juice or milk

1T honey or maple syrup

Blend all ingredients in a Vita mix or powerful blender.

Energy Bars for Little Hands

Most mornings I need to make Jibs a preliminary breakfast while I'm making his full breakfast. Usually he has a banana, fruit smoothie or some cheerios to chew on while his eggs and toast are cooking. Clara found a recipe for energy bars in her beloved cookbook Salad People. With a basic ingredients and a very forgiving dough, we made these lovely, filling little treats which perfectly satisfy my ever hungry boy.

One of the nice things about these bars is you can't really over mix the dough, so it's a perfect job for little hands to squish and squeeze. I used less sugar and added dried cranberries in the place of raisins. Next time I think I might add some pumpkin seeds and raisins or walnuts and dates. Protein powder is called for and easy to find at bulk food stores (I get mine at costco) but if you cannot find it or want to make them now just substitute with flour.

Diminutive Energy Bars

1C AP flour

3/4C protein powder (sub in more flour if you don't want to use protein powder)

1/2tsp salt

2C rolled oats

3/4tsp cinnamon

1/3-2/3C brown sugar

1/2C raisins (or craisins, walnuts, almonds, figs...)

1 1/2C Vanilla Yogurt (I use Astro Balkan style)

1/4 C canola oil

Preheat oven to 375*- Grease 24 muffin tins.

Combine flour, powder, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in oats, cinnamon, brown sugar and raisins (or any other additions that sound good).

In a 2C measuring cup whisk together yogurt and oil.

Stir wet ingredients into the dry and mix very well with your hands or the hands of a small one wanting to help.

Place about 1 1/2 Tbsps of the batter to each well greased muffin cup poking into place.

Bake 12 mins or until lightly brown around the edges. Do not overbake.

Store in an airtight container. I imagine they would freeze well if you wanted to freeze half for later. Though I haven't tried.

enjoy.