I learned something recently. Or relearned it rather.
That peanuts are not a nut, but in fact, a legume,
hence the reason they can be so difficult for our body to process.
*ah-hem* gas, bloating, bad news *ahem* *cough* *cough*

Well the thing about peanut butter is that I love it.
And one thing about almond butter is that I don’t, really. Or didn’t used to.
I even told Heather of Heather Eats Almond Butter once that I couldn’t stand the stuff.
How inconsiderate of me.
That would be like someone telling me they don’t like celebrating.

Well pooh on you, then. Pooh on you.

Honestly, I’m trying almond butter now because I know peanut butter isn’t doing my digestive system any great services. But after whipping up my very first homemade batch of roasted salted almond butter {with flaxseed}, I’ve decided that it is delicious.

Almond butter, why have you eluded me so long?

Roasted Salted Almond Butter with Flaxseed
yields 1 jar | adapted from edible perspective

Ingredients:
3 cups almonds
1 tsp salt
3 Tablespoons flaxseed meal

Method | Preheat oven to 300 degrees and spread almonds evenly on a baking sheet. Roast for about 20 minutes until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes, then add to food processor and process, scraping down the sides as necessary. Process for 10-12 minutes and once it’s a smooth and creamy texture, add the salt and flaxseed and process for another minute or so until well combined. Transfer to a clean jar or container and store in the fridge to keep fresh.

I didn’t know it was possible for homemade nut butter to be so creamy and delicious. It has the perfect amount of flaxseed and salt, although when I smear some on toast with banana slices in the morning, I add just a pinch more of salt to give it an extra flavor contrast.

And having not had peanut butter for more than a week now – I repeat, one, entire week – I think I may be making a more permanent switch to the almond variety. And, I am rather pleased about the decision.

Enjoy,
Dana.

I like simple.

Simple routines.
Simple clothes.
Simple food.
I’m a simple kind of girl.

And staying with my simple theme, I bring you this 7-ingredient vegan soup that is to-die-for delicious.

I found the recipe on this funny little website called The Vegan Stoner {don’t worry mom, it’s just a website}. You can imagine the funny stares I get when I tell people about my new favorite vegan blog, especially when I explain how my favorite part besides its simple nature, is that the recipes are animated with cartoons.

Oh me. Forever a child at heart.

This rich, hearty stew is my newest obsession. Since whipping up my first batch I’ve already eaten half of it and am amazed at every bite how a few simple ingredients can come together to make such an amazing flavor combination.

It has everything I love: sweet, spice, substance, a little protein and of course, peanut butter.
How can you go wrong with that?

Vegan Peanut Stew
heavily adapted from The Vegan Stoner

Ingredients
1 potato, chopped*
1 white onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 14 oz. can crushed {stewed} tomatoes
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
pinch of thyme {I used dried}
1-2 cups water, depending on thickness preference
1 cup peanut butter {I used natural creamy salted}

Method | Cook onion over medium heat until soft and translucent. Add garlic and stir. Then add tomatoes, peanut butter, garbanzo beans, and stir. Season with thyme and add potato. Depending on desired thickness, add 1-2 cups water and stir. Then cover and cook on low-medium low heat for 25-35 minutes. The soup is ready when the potatoes are cooked through and a sample reveals a delicious, peanutty flavor.

*note: The potato takes a while to cook all the way through if you add it to the soup raw, so I would recommend microwaving it for a minute or two before chopping to speed up cooking time.

All I can say is, yum!

I’ve preferred eating mine like soup rather than over rice as the original recipe recommends.
And I even manage to amp up my veggie intake by scooping up the first several bites with generous hunks of raw broccoli. Can you imagine the stares I get for that? But I don’t care. Healthy is the way to go and this soup is delicious.

It warms my little vegan-loving heart.

I know you’ll love it as much as I do!

Enjoy. Dana.

You know how sometimes you have a bad eating day and then you swear the next day you’re going to do better and not touch any chocolate covered pretzels on your boss’s desk? But then the next day arrives as unwanted as your period and you don’t know what to make for healthy breakfast and then your coworker calls telling you she’s bringing donuts to the morning meeting and while you’re listening to her explain the elaborate array of glazed and sprinkled donut holes she picked out, there’s a lone chocolate chip last bagel eyeing you from the counter, taunting you and wistfully calling your name?

Well, this is my solution to that.

Breakfast salad. Easy.
Just chop up some fruit and veg, put it in a bowl, and blam.
You have a breakfast salad – to go.

The ingredients are simple. Just spinach and fresh fruit.
Lemon juice, chia seeds and peanut butter act as an additional garnish.
You know, for protein, flavor ‘n stuff.

As I was preparing my salad John walked into the kitchen and we shared this exchange.

John: What are you making?
Me: A breakfast salad.
John: That’s my honey.
Me: Would you like some?
John: Aaahhhh, I’ll stick to coffee.

Then he walked off.

What do you expect? The boy doesn’t like veggies, especially not at 7a.m.
Coffee is his only sustenance until lunch. Lit’rally.
Clearly we have nothing in common when it comes to breakfast.

Breakfast Salad
serves 1 | vegan

Ingredients
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1/2 green apple, sliced
4 strawberries, sliced
3/4 banana, sliced
1 orange, peeled and separated
1 Tablespoon chia seeds
1 Tablespoon peanut butter
2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Method | Plate spinach and arrange with fruit. The prettier the better. Then sprinkle the entire salad with lemon juice and chia seeds. Place peanut butter in the corner for dipping. Marvelous.

I was beaming as I ate this.
It doesn’t get any healthier, fresher or more delicious than this.

It was like giving my body a big hug first thing in the morning.
My little way of saying ‘I love you, body. Thanks for being healthy for me.’
‘And for this, I will reward you with salad.’

We have a special bond, my body and I.

Breakfast salad. Yeah, I think I could get used to this.

Enjoy! Dana.

Last week I walked into work at my coffee shop and there lie a near empty container of black bean hummus. What to do, what to do…

Not but five feet away on a rolling rack, the day’s vegan seeded flatbread, just beckoning to be sampled.
You wouldn’t believe this BUT somehow a slice of the flatbread fell into the hummus and, before I knew it, I was tasting some of the best hummus I’d ever had in my life. [sound the angel chorus]

Yeah, it was that good.

The next day I inquired to our chef what was in it.
Black beans, he said. And all the other traditional hummus ingredients, plus cumin and cilantro.
Ah, brilliant. Why didn’t I think of that?

Black Bean Hummus 
inspired by Chef Jamie

Ingredients
1 can black beans, drained*
1 tsp cumin
pinch of salt
2-3 tsp minced garlic
2-3 Tbsp tahini
~1/4 c olive oil
large handful cilantro, stems mostly removed
juice of half a large lemon

Method | Place all of the ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor and blend until smooth and well combined. Drizzle the olive oil in while processing. Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly. Serve room temperature or chilled with bread, pita, veggies or even tortilla chips.

*I didn’t drain all of the juice from my black beans and although it didn’t affect the flavor, it wasn’t as thick as I prefer. Reserving the liquid and then adding it back in as needed will allow you to better control the consistency.

This hummus is my new favorite! It has a completely different taste than traditional hummus, but in a good way. It’s exploding with bright lemon, garlic and smoky cumin flavor. And the cilantro will make you think there’s a hint of lime inside. Hmmm. It’s a mysteriously wonderful thing.

Shmear this on toasty sandwiches. Dip into it with fluffy triangular pieces of bread or crunchy carrots. Pour it over cheesy nachos. I don’t care how you eat it – you really can’t go wrong.

And that does it. Enjoy!

happy eating. xo. dana.

For two weeks I’ve been craving a cinnamon roll.
A big, fat, juicy one with a gooey center and lots of frosting.

But since there are no fabulous bakeries in town,
I was forced to make a batch myself one Saturday morning
with my friend, Rebecca, and her puppy, Nick.

What a terrible problem to have.

When he wasn’t on guard duty, Nick looked on curiously as we danced around each other in the kitchen, sipping coffee, singing ‘Flight of the Conchords’ songs and getting messy with our whole wheat dough. And after running a quick errand to the Asian market, this is what when we returned to.

Dough overload! Looks like the yeast got all yeasty and doubled over. Not a bad problem to have, I suppose – especially considering all my previous cinnamon roll attempts have yielded flat, cracker-like rolls.

After making some more coffee we rolled out our dough, piled on the butter,  brown sugar and cinnamon mixture, and rolllllled it up into fat pastry roll. It was so giant it took both of us to move it from counter to cutting board.

And some 30 minutes later in the oven, we had a hot pan of whole wheat cinnamon rolls on our hands. All that was left to do was frost – and frost, we did.

Wow, these were incredible. I loved the sight heartiness and nutty flavor the whole wheat flour gave them. They were so fluffy and moist. The cinnamon to sugar ratio was spot on, and the easy-to-make glaze sent them over-the-top.

Just one serving wasn’t enough. I had to have two rolls to satisfy my cravings. And they did not disappoint.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls
From the Hope Mennonite Cookbook | yields 2 dozen

Ingredients
2 packages yeast (I used rapid rise, but either works)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups warm water, divided
3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
2/3 cup honey (I used part honey, agave, and maple syrup)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
6-7 cups whole wheat flour

Filling Mixture
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Icing
2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-4 Tablespoons milk

Method | Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1 cup of warm water. Add oil, honey, salt, eggs, remaining 1 cup water, and 2 cups of flour. Beat for 5 minutes on medium speed. Add remaining flour, beat for 5 minutes more. Switch to wooden spoon if it becomes too stiff. Let rise until doubled (at least 1-2 hours). Mix brown sugar mixture: place brown sugar, sugar, butter, flour and cinnamon in mixing bowl and mix until combined. Roll out dough in a large rectangle and cover with mixture. Roll up and cut into 1-1.5 inch rolls. Place in butter baking pan and bake in 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes and prepare icing. Then ice and eat immediately.

The pictures say it all. You will LOVE these cinnamon rolls. I promise.

Enjoy,

Dana

Sometimes you just need to play with your food, especially when it’s snack time.
And this simple little bar is the perfect food for doing just that.
No cuttlery, napkins or proper table manners required.
Just grab a square and get as messy as you please.

I think I’m going to be a good mom.

Plus, with only four ingredients, it doesn’t get any more easy.
Assuming you have some cereal, peanut butter and honey lying around, you’re already in business.
The cereal-bar making business, that is.

4-Ingredient Cheerio Snack Bars
adapted from taste of home

Ingredients
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 peanut butter (I used natural crunchy)
2-3 cups plain cheerios

Method | Combine sugar and honey together in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter until smooth. Then, fold in the Cheerios and put into a greased loaf pan or 9×9 glass pan. Chill for an hour, slice into bars  – should yield 12 servings. Store in the refrigerator in a plastic bag to maintain freshness.

First off I should say that I made the moronic decision of using honey nut cheerios instead of plain so mine turned out a tad bit sweet. But if you use plain they’re sure to turn out perfectly.

The cheerios maintain their light, crunchy texture, and the peanut butter and honey meld together perfectly to bind the bars and provide a delightful, honey nut flavor.

These would be great for take-along snacks, road trips, picnics and kids (no I’m not pregnant – not even close. don’t get any ideas).

And according to the original recipe, each bar will only set ya back about 95 calories, 3 grams of fat and 16 grams of carbs. So all in all, a pretty healthy little bar.

Enjoy!

Oh, and the randomly-selected winner of my LUNA Fiber Bar Giveaway is Katherine W. Congrats Katherine! I’ll be emailing you shortly to arrange sending you your prize. Thanks to everyone who participated, and stay tuned for more fun giveaways in the future.

-Dana