15 Minute Peanut Butter Cookies

From Foodsies!

Great googely moogely it's been a long time since I last posted. Oh frozen food, you are so alluring. To welcome myself back, here are some super easy and super delicious peanut butter cookies. And yes, they only take about 15 minutes from pulling out the first ingredient to nomming down on a warm cookie. I love them because you can get a cookie craving and then almost immediately have actual cookies in front of you. It's faster than going to the store and buying cookies.



15 Minute Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Earth Balance
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar*
1/2 TBSP Vanilla
3 TBSP Water
2 Cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda

* You can also just use 1 cup of regular sugar and omit the brown sugar.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350.

Add the Earth Balance, Peanut Butter, Sugars, Vanilla, and Water to a medium mixing bowl and cream and/or stir until everything is well mixed and as unlumpy as you can get it.

Add the flour and baking soda and mix thoroughly. You might need to add another TBSP of water if it's too dry to form into little balls.

Pinch off ping-pong ball sized globs of the dough and roll in your palm to form a.. ping-pong ball. Place on a lined baking sheet. Repeat, placing the balls about 1-2 inches apart, until you have all of the cookies.

Using a fork, gently mash down the balls so that they are flat and marked with the tines of the fork.

Bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes. You want the top of the cookie to have some squish, but not be too soft.

Let cool and enjoy.
Read more On "15 Minute Peanut Butter Cookies"!

There is Peach Cobbler in Heaven

From Foodsies!

I believe I have a new favorite dessert. Vegan Peach Cobbler. Sounds so simple, no? Yes well, it is simple. But the peaches, slurping around in their own spiced sweet syrupy juices, taste like nectar (and like summer). And the biscuity crumbles are hearty and satisfying.
It's comfort food. Or comfort fruit, if you will.

I don't know what i'm doing making such things when i'm "dieting," but I did minimize the sugar and butter, used whole wheat flour and oats instead of regular flour. Next time I think I can cut the sugar down from 1/4 cup sugar to 1 TBSP of Agave Nectar. And I might throw in some soy flour or almond meal in place of some of the whole wheat flour, to make it lower carb. Still not diet food exactly, but better than some other desserts.

And it's a super easy to gobble up a serving or two of fruit.

Also, technically it's Peach Apple Cobbler, but only because I didn't have enough frozen peach. It's good with the apple, but I think it's probably better with just peach (or maybe i'm just appled out at the moment?).



Peach Cobbler

Ingredients

3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Cup Rolled Oats*
1 TBSP Earth Balance
3/4 Cup Soy Milk
2 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt

4-6 Cups Sliced Peaches**
1/4 Cup Sugar***
1 TBSP Brown Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Ginger Powder
1 tsp Vanilla
1 TBSP Lemon Juice

* You don't have to use these. You can just use more flour (for a total of 1 cup) instead. You can also substitute graham cracker crumbles or anything else you want.

** This is about 6-8 peaches, or 2 small bags of frozen peaches (or about 20oz). Don't use canned peaches, cuz that's gross. Frozen is always better (less preservatives, less or no added sugar, etc). You can also use apples, cherries, blueberries, whatever. You might want to adjust the spices and sugar a little because tarter fruits need more sugar, sweet fruits less. If you're using a really juicy kind of fruit (particularly if it isn't frozen) then you may want to increase the cornstarch to 3 TBSP.

*** I think you can just use 1 TBSP of Agave instead if you are so inclined

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.

Thaw your peaches in the microwave (if using frozen peaches, obvs) by nuking at 50% power for about 2 minutes, then stirring, then again for another 3 minutes.

Dump peaches in a saucepan that looks big enough to hold all of your peaches. Add the sugar/agave, brown sugar, cornstarch, spices, vanilla, and lemon juice.

Stir thoroughly. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to boil. Let it boil for a minute, still stirring. The mix should be thick and syrupy around the peaches. Remove from heat and set aside. It should look sorta like this:

From Foodsies!

Dump the flour, oats, salt, baking powder, and the 2 tsp of sugar into a mixing bowl. Mix gently. Add the Earth Balance a little pinch at a time, and then cut it into the mix. Or you can do what I did, and just use one of your hands to grab and mush and mix it all together (you can also use two butter knives and slice them in opposite directions repeatedly). The main thing is that you want the Earth Balance to get broken up and mix with the flour to form something like small crumbs. If this doesn't make sense, then just mix everything up as best you can and say to hell with it. It doesn't make a big difference in the end, to be honest.

Now add the milk slowly (like 1/4 cup at a time) and stir. What you wind up with may resemble this:

From Foodsies!

Or it might not. Who cares? It will turn out great anyway, that's the beauty of this recipe.

Dump your peach mixture into a 2QT casserole dish, or any casserole dish that you think will hold it well. I recommend a round casserole dish because you will have more fruit than topping, so a deeper dish works better than a larger, shallow dish.

Now pinch off little globs of dough and drop them (or carefully place them, if you're anal) onto the peaches. I figure the globs should be about the size of a marble. It should wind up looking something like this:

From Foodsies!

Now bake in the oven (which is at 400) for 30-35 minutes.

Remove from the oven, let cool as long as you can stand, then devour.

From Foodsies!

Read more On "There is Peach Cobbler in Heaven"!

The 5 Minute Baked Apple

From Foodsies!

Who knew fruits and veggies could be so easy?

Most of my life I have shunned fruit and vegetables like a particularly healthy strain of plague. But times have changed, and I am gradually building a trust-based relationship with both fruit and vegetables. I eat a banana, it doesn't take like ass nor kill me, and so I start to learn that it won't hurt me. Ditto with veggies. I steam some spinach, it tastes good with a bit of Earth Balance and salt, and before you know it, i'm telling the carrots how I really feel about the time I ate a strawberry that turned out to be rotten. It's like we're growing, together.

But both fruits and vegetables seem so boring. I thought the problem was me. Something wrong with my taste buds, or some childhood trauma (looking at you, sneaky rotten strawberry). Like something must be wrong with me that I can't appreciate the flavors and textures.

But i've come to realize that the problem is actually with the fruits and veggies. Who wants to eat the same spongy banana-y banana every day? Or the same bitter steamed broccoli with its little feelers tickling the top of your mouth? Well, this is why we invented cooking and recipes. So I guess the problem really was with me - with me being too dumb to realize you can cook fruits and veggies to improve them, just like with any other food.

This will be the first in a series of posts on tasty and easy recipes to gussy up Fruits and Veggies.



The 5 minute Baked Apple

Ingredients

1 Apple
1 TBSP Raisins
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Earth Balance
1 tsp Water

Instructions

First you need to core your apple. This is by far the hardest part, although it is made stupidsimple if you have an apple corer. An apple corer is totally on my Kitchen Want List, as it will save me at least 5 minutes a day.

If you are corer-less like me, take a sharp knife and stick it in the top of the apple and cut around the core. You don't want the knife to go all the way through the bottom of the apple, btw. Now use the knife, your hands, a spoon, whatever to pull the core and seeds out from the apple.

You should now have an apple with a nice cavity in it and no seeds and no remaining core. Take your knife and chop off a thin slice from the top or peel off about 1/4 inch of skin from around the opening. You may also want to chop a thin slice off from the bottom of the apple so that it sits flat.

Pour your tsp of water into a custard dish or another small microwaveable bowl.

Place the apple in the water, in the bowl.

Sprinkle half the cinnamon and nutmeg into the hole of the apple. Stuff with raisins. Sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon and nutmeg on top. Top with the Earth Balance.

Place the microwaveable bowl on top of a microwaveable plate (in case the water/juices boil over a little this will keep your microwave clean). Microwave the apple for 6 minutes.

Remove, let cool enough that you don't kill yourself, and enjoy. PS do not eat the bottom stem of the apple. After you've eaten the insides you can cut this out or just eat around it. Or eat it I guess, but eww.

Options!

You can fill the apple with anything you want. Raisins, dates, walnuts, maple syrup, chocolate, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, rum, schnapps, jam/jelly, anything you can think of. NOTE: If you are using a liquid such as rum, please cover the apple with saran wrap and poke several holes through it. This way the steam can escape but the rum won't boil over everywhere.

Further Options!

You can even fill the apple with onions that you've sauteed to a deep brown and fake bacon and fake sausage. Add in a splash of dark rum or red wine and you're ready to go.

NOTE: You can also make this dish in the oven. In fact, for the "dinner" style option with the fake meat, it may even be preferable. It just takes more time. But it's certainly the best option for making several apples at once.

To prepare in the oven:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the cored apples in a square or rectangular casserole dish. Score the apples a little bit with a knife so that the skin doesn't break apart during baking.

Fill the apples with your fillings.

Pour 3/4 cup to 1 cup of water over the apples around around them into the baking dish.

Bake for 35 minutes.

After removing from the oven, baste with the remaining liquid from the casserole dish, or if you're lazy like me just spoon it over the apples.

Oven-baked apples have a slightly different texture and appearance than ones cooked in the microwave, but both methods are a tasty treat. Experiment and enjoy.

Read more On "The 5 Minute Baked Apple"!

Cooking Backlog - Mini Vanilla Pudding Pies

Mmm, dessert! And an easy one at that.

I recently bought some pudding, planning to make it with soymilk instead of regular milk to produce quick and easy vegan pudding. But alas! I do not have custard cups! What was I to do?

The answer came when I accidentally stumbled across these little no-bake graham cracker pie crusts. So cute! So perfect!

From Foodsies!

From Foodsies!

Then it was a simple matter of making the pudding (as simple as following the directions on the box but using soymilk in place of regular milk) and putting it in the pie crusts instead of in custard dishes. I chilled them in the fridge for an hour or two as per the directions on the pudding box, and viola! Tiny, perfect vegan pudding pies.

From Foodsies!

Read more On "Cooking Backlog - Mini Vanilla Pudding Pies"!

Cooking Backlog - Brown Rice Pudding

I forgot include this in my introduction/cooking criteria, but I am a huge fan of "comfort food." It's a term that probably encompasses different food for different folk, but for me it pretty much includes any food that makes me a) warm and snuggly inside, b) smile and hum with each bite, c) feel great after eating, and d) smells like heaven.

I was sick on a snowy day a while ago, and craving something warm and sweet to comfort me. I've always loved Rice Pudding, but i'm trying to eat brown rice instead of white rice these days due to its lower glycemic index.

From Foodsies!

It was wonderful! Totally hit the spot. It smelled like heaven, tasted like heaven, and was like giving my tummy a hug. For the recipe:



The only problem I had was that it took forever to cook. Instead of 30-40 minutes, I think it took me more like 90. I'm not sure if I had too much milk or the heat was too low, or something else entirely. EDIT: After having made this a time or two, I think that brown rice just takes longer to get soft than white rice. I have found that cooking it covered for a while and then switching to uncovered can improve the cooking time.

Brown Rice Pudding

1/2 Cup Brown Rice
4 Cups Soy Milk
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Cardamom
1/8 tsp Ginger Powder
1 Bay Leaf
1/4 Cup Raisins
1/4 Cup Almonds and/or two drops Almond Extract

Add all ingredients (except Raisins or Almonds) to a large saucepan over medium heat.

Bring to a gentle boil and then turn down to a simmer. Let simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

It will be done when the rice is soft and plump and not overly liquidy (you want it to be a sticky goop, not a soup). If you want your raisins to be warm and soft, you can add them in now and let it all continue to cook for a few more minutes.

Remote from heat and stir in the almonds.

I sliced up an apple and dipped the apple in the pudding as I ate. I cleaned up the rest with a spoon. I can't say that it cured my cold, but it sure made me feel better for a bit!

This is also a great way to use up leftover rice! You'll just want to halve (or even quarter) the amount of milk, and cook for less time.

If you want to reduce some of the fat/calories/sugar, I recommend subbing in some water in place of some of the milk and reducing the amount of sugar. You can of course substitute agave nectar for the sugar, but I don't know the equivalent measurement off the top of my head.
I also tend to up the cinnamon and vanilla and add nutmeg.

Read more On "Cooking Backlog - Brown Rice Pudding"!