Daniel Fast Sweet Potato Bars

Happy New Year! Is it obnoxious to say that on the 20th?  Probably.  However in the spirit of all things new, we have embarked on a 21-day Daniel Fast to clear out the old and begin fresh!  As you know we stick very close to a vegan diet in our home, so a Daniel Fast is not foreign.  Removing all sugars and leaven does make it quite difficult to bake, though...and momma loves to bake.  Every Monday night I bake fresh muffins for Tuesday morning's breakfast.  Without the use of baking soda/powder or sugar, it's been a rough road.

I started out looking up Daniel Fast muffins, but every recipe I followed left me feeling like I was eating cardboard.  Then I remembered that I had a similar experience when I used to look up vegan recipes. I soon realized that with a few simple substitutions, any recipe can be vegan.  The same goes for the Daniel Fast.  Once you know what you can and cannot eat, you can alter your favorite vegan recipes to fit the bill.  It takes some trial and error, but it's worth it.

I'm very happy to share this delicious Sweet Potato Bar.  The result is a moist, hearty, Daniel Fast approved, nutritious, and delicious breakfast or snack.  Please enjoy!

DANIEL FAST SWEET POTATO BARS

1 cup oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup date syrup
2 tbsp milled flax seed + 6 tbsp water
1 large baked sweet potato (or 2 small ones), mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup dried unsweetened cranberries

Mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mash sweet potato. Then stir in date syrup, flax mixture, vanilla, and apple sauce. Stir in dry ingredients until well moistened. Mix in cranberries. Pour into a greased 8×8 pan and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Cut into bars immediately out of the oven.

To join us on our Daniel Fast, please visit our Facebook page for our online community, or click on the Daniel Fast links to sign up for daily emails and fasting resources from my hot hubby!

South African Smoked Potatoes

We Caribbean folk love to season our food.  Traditionally through the generations we've been trained up in the way we should go about doing this.  Unfortunately a lot of those ways are unhealthy and harmful to these gorgeous temples we've been given.  Instead of passing on a strong heritage of health and healing, we end up unknowingly passing down disease and illness, with bad eating habits and poor food choices. 

But Yadi, healthy food is SO expensive!  Not all healthy options are high in price.  Take Trader Joe's, for instance.  This grocery store has made a commitment to quality and health that others just haven't made.  You will not find a single high fructose corn syrup, artificial color/flavoring, MSG, chemical laden ingredient in anything they sell.  That's huge! It doesn't mean that everything sold is good for you, labels still need to be read, but it's a great start.  On top of that commitment, Trader Joe's prices are unbeatable.  You will not break the bank in this grocery store for quality.  Quantity?  That's another story ;)




So now that you know where to shop, I'll let you in on a little seasoning secret.  Those of you who know about South African Smoke KNOW, it's crack. Oh how I wish this was a scratch and sniff picture.  Take a little whiff and your senses are awakened to a whole new world.  What can I put it on, Yadi?  EVERYTHING.  Seriously.  OK, maybe not like fruit or ice cream, but I wouldn't rule it out.  Anything savory can only be enhanced by the stuff in this amazing little bottle.  I don't know how they do it, the seasoning only has 4 ingredients: paprika flakes, sea salt, garlic, basil.  That's it.  If you think you can imagine what it tastes like from that list, you are wrong.  Drop what you're doing and rush to your nearest Trader Joe's to pick up a bottle.  I told you, it's crack.*

South African Smoked Potatoes

organic white and sweet potatoes, boiled and chopped (ration 3 to 1 white to sweet)
red onion, thinly sliced
grapeseed oil for cooking
south african smoke seasoning

Heat a skillet with grapeseed oil.  You can use any oil, but I've found that grapeseed holds heat the best and doesn't burn your pans like others can.  Toss in your pre-boiled, chopped potatoes and thinly sliced onions.  Now grind that south african smoke until the entire top portion is filled with goodness and sprinkle it over your potatoes as you mix everything around in your pan for even heating.  Once you've done that, grind some more and do it again.  Then repeat. I O.D on this stuff.
 
I serve these savory, slightly sweet potatoes with homemade vegan pancakes, or I'll eat them on their own. Sometimes I throw in some vegan sausage for some extra added protein.  So good! Enjoy, and let me know what life altering seasonings you've come across! 

*I don't get any kickback from TJs for promoting them or their products.

Tasty Tuesday: Breakfast Muffins

This morning I woke up with the urge to bake! These little breakfast muffins are adorable. They're not too sweet, actually a bit savory - which I prefer for breakfast. You can use the base recipe and mix in pretty much anything. We separated the batter into three different bowls of filling - blueberry, raisins, and dark chocolate chunks. The kiddos enjoyed tasting the different varieties, and they each had their fave! Annabelle loved the chocolate (a girl after my own heart), Juliette preferred the blueberry, while Joshua thought the raisin were the best.

These little dainties are perfect for an afternoon snack, or to take on the road when the kiddos get hungry so you don't have to stop for something unhealthy.  They are packed with protein in the form of quinoa, oats, and almond meal.  They are nutritious down to the last bite and fun to make!  I like to make them mini, but you can make them full sized muffin with the same instructions and ingredients.  Enjoy!

Breakfast Muffins 

1 cup vanilla rice milk
1 tbsp ground flaxseeds
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1/4 cup agave
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp all-spice
1 cup cooked oatmeal
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup filling of choice

Preheat oven to 350° F and lightly grease a non-stick 24 mini-muffin tin. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the rice milk and ground flaxseed. Allow to sit for 1 minute, then whisk in oil, agave, and vanilla. In a large bowl, sift together flour, almond meal, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just incorporated. Gently fold in the cooked oatmeal and quinoa (I cooked them together in 3 cups of water) and filling(s) of choice.  Pour into the prepared muffin tin and bake for 20-22 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Yields about 40 mini muffins or 12 full sized muffins.

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Have you ever tried to find a recipe for vegan pancakes? Have you ever eaten them? I lost count on how many recipes I tried that were a FAIL to the highest degree. They were dry, hard, grose excuses for pancakes and we had given up on this family delight - until now.

This is a recipe that I've altered and perfected. They are absolutely delicious, no one will ever know they are vegan - unless you feel like spilling the beans.


APPLE CINNAMON PANCAKES
1/2 cup vegan butter (we use Earth Balance)
2 cups rice milk
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup raw sugar (or agave)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil (like grapeseed)
2 tsp vanilla
1 large organic apple, peeled and sliced thin
Cinnamon to sprinkle

Melt butter and set aside to cool. Stir flour with sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in center. Add milk, lemon juice, oil and vanilla and stir until just blended. The batter should be a bit lumpy. For fluffy pancakes, mix as little as possible.

Lightly coat a large frying pan with butter and set over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup batter into pan (you can also use a pancake griddle). Place apple slices on pancakes and sprinkle with cinnamon.



Cook until bubbles form on the top of each pancake and edges begin to brown, about 2 min. Using a wide spatula, flip and continue cooking until the bottoms of pancakes become golden, 1-2 min. Don't press or they will become tough. Serve right away or place on a plate and keep warm in a low-temperature oven while cooking remaining pancakes. They're delicious drizzled with maple syrup!

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Hello. My name is Yadira and I am a recovering sugarholic. There was a time in my pregnancy with Annabelle before going vegan that I was eating bags of skittles and microwaved chocolate cake daily. Oh how I wish I was exaggerating. I even made a video with instructions for 5 minute chocolate cake. Watch it for the cuteness of my kiddos, not for the recipe. Smh.

Anyway, since I've been vegan, my sugar cravings have dropped to almost nothing. It's a fabulous thing. However every once in a while I get the urge to bake something fun. That's when this cookie comes in handy. It's almost like breakfast, in a cookie. In fact you probably could bake up a batch and have them as a quick breakfast for the week. I don't even want to tell you they're "sugar-free" because those are usually fighting words, but these are pure and simple goodness.

OATMEAL PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 ripe bananas (overripe is even better)
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp unsweetened rice milk
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 1/2 cups quick cooking or rolled oatmeal
1/4 cup flour

Mash bananas with a fork until smooth. Add peanut butter, rice milk, vanilla and maple syrup and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and stir until well combined.
Shape the dough into cookies and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 13-16 minutes at 350 degrees. Voila! The kids love them!