Sundays are made for Black and White Donuts

This weekend has been grey and rainy. We have a break from the weather and in between cleaning my entire house (because that's what Sunday mornings are for!), I decided to whip up a batch of black and white donuts. I loved Black and White Cookies, so this is my vegan and gluten free version of a Black and White cookie.

Black and White Donuts

I feel like it's OK to have one since I'll run it off this afternoon :) If you've never had a vegan and gluten free donut before, the texture might surprise you. These are not like cake donuts, and they're also baked and not fried, so I'm pretending they are better for you. The sugar glaze is super easy to make and adds to the sweetness. This recipe calls for flax eggs instead of egg replacer. I prefer flax eggs but this morning they didn't thicken up quite as much as they usually do. I don't think my water was warm enough, so I put them in the microwave for about 15 seconds. I don't know if it made a difference, but it made me feel better. I used Delightful Adventures' recipe for Vegan Gluten Free Baked Donuts. As usual, the pictures on the original blog are much better than mine! I have several lightbulbs burned out in my house and I'm not tall enough to reach them, so lighting is very 'mood' right now until I find a ladder or a tall person to help me out!

C is for Can't Stop Eating. Taste test was successful :)

Black and White Donuts (gluten free and vegan)

Ingredients

For the donuts:
1 T ground flax seeds
3 T warm water
3/4 c gluten free flour mix (I use Bob's Red Mill 1 for 1 mix)
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c and 3 T sugar
1/2 c unsweetened coconut milk beverage
3 T melted coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla

For the glaze:
3/4 c powdered sugar
2 T warm unsweetened coconut milk beverage
dash of vanilla

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Grease donut pan
3. Prepare flax egg by whisking together ground flax seeds and warm water. Set side to thicken.
4. In large bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
5. In small bowl, mix milk, melted coconut oil, vanilla and flax egg together.
6. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
7. Using a large Ziploc bag, pipe mixture evenly into each cavity.
8. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and let the pan sit for about five minutes before removing the donuts.
9. Remove donuts from the pan and place on a cooling rack.
10. While donuts are cooling, make the glaze: 1) combine powdered sugar, warm milk and vanilla in a small bowl and whisk to combine until it has created a liquid glaze. 2) When donuts are fully cool, dip the tops of each donut into the glaze. 3) Place the donuts back on cooling rack to let excess glaze drip off and for the glaze to firm up.

While flax eggs don't look great, they make vegan baking possible

I use a whisk to add try ingredients to make sure they mix thoroughly. 

Once the wet and dry are mixed together, it's fairly thick.

If you don't have a donut baking pan, you can use a baking
 pan, just expect them to be fairly flat and spread out

This recipe makes six donuts.
Obviously if you need more, double the recipe.

Make sure you mix the glaze well so you
don't have powdered sugar chunks.

Happy National [Shepherds] Pi[e] Day!

Ok, first things first! Great win on Saturday night for the Cyclones as we got our third Big 12 Tournament Championship in four years. It just so happens that I have also been at all three of the tournaments that we won...so...I'm not saying it's me...but it's a little bit me. #cyclONEnation

Today is March 14, or as all the cool people know it as...Pi Day! (3.14)

This is sideways because my computer and my phone don't
always agree on how to behave. But it still looks delicious!

Last year I made a [Chicken Pot] Pi[e] to celebrate, and this year, because I'm definitely feeling the St. Patrick's Day vibe...it's [Shepherds] Pi[e] time!

Shepherds Pie is great because you can throw anything into it you have in your fridge. Thanksgiving leftovers? Shepherds Pie! Chicken that you need to cook before it goes bad (that NEVER happens to me...)? Shepherds Pie! It's basically the best.

My mom always made it with cheese, but I'm making it without, because a) fake cheese isn't my favorite, and b) my mashed potatoes recipe is so amazing, that you don't need cheese. Why? Because it calls for an ENTIRE stick of [fake] butter. These mashed potatoes could probably solve world peace. I could be half dead with the flu and I will make myself mashed potatoes. And all is well. My mashed potatoes recipe comes straight from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. If you don't own this book already, go out and buy it right now. I owned it before I got diagnosed with the long list, and I still use it for a lot of different recipes. Also, how great is the show America's Test Kitchen? Greatest cooking show ever.

Buy Me

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Whatever you do, do it wearing something green. Pinching hurts. The more you know.

Mashed Potatoes (from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook)

Ingredients:

2 lbs russet or yukon potatoes, peeled, quartered, and cut into 1-inch pieces*

8 T (1 stick) lactose free butter, melted**

1 cup coconut milk beverage, hot

salt and pepper

*I peel my potatoes into a plastic grocery bag so that clean up is a breeze. Never throw your peels down the garbage disposal.

**This is what makes these potatoes magical. You can use less butter...but why?

Directions:

1. Cover the potatoes by 1 inch of water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender and a fork can be slipped easily into the center, 25-30 minutes.

2. Drain the potatoes in a colander, tossing to remove any excess water. Wipe the saucepan dry. Add the potatoes back to the pot and mash to a uniform consistency. I normally use my potato masher, unless I'm sick, and then I use a handheld blender because it makes it super smooth.

3. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the melted butter until just incorporated. Fold in 3/4 cup of hot milk, adding the remaining as needed to adjust the consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Shepherd's Pie (adapted from The Wholey Trinity)

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef (I use 93%)

1/2 bag of frozen green beans

1/2 bag of frozen carrots

1/2-1 cup sliced mushrooms

2 T cornstarch

1 c coconut milk beverage

salt and pepper

1 batch prepared mashed potatoes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Brown meat in a pan. Once almost cooked, add vegetables and mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes.

3. Add cornstarch 1/2 T at a time and mix in completely to  meat mixture. Once cornstarch has fully dissolved, add coconut milk and simmer for another 5 minutes. 

4. Place meat mixture in pie pan and top with mashed potatoes. Put in preheated oven and cook at 400 degrees for 25 minutes until mashed potato top is browned. Let cool a few minutes and enjoy!

The meat mixture ends up tasting like a delicious meat gravy with vegetables. You can add your own mix of frozen vegetables, or throw in some cranberry if you're using Thanksgiving leftovers. Go wild!

Slice up as many mushrooms as you want. I went a little
crazy, so ended up storing some for a later recipe

This smelled so good while cooking, I kept sneaking bites.

Before the mashed potato layer is added

After the mashed potatoes are added, but before baked. If you can
have cheese, or you like fake cheese, sprinkle some on the
mixture before adding mashed potatoes

Sometimes, You Just Really Crave a Cheeseburger

It's Sunday! Another whirlwind week come and gone. First of all, I have to confess to a murder. Remember the creepy plastic babies from the King Cake? Well, apparently one of them fell into my garbage disposal. And I may have beheaded one. Keith Morrison now narrates my thoughts.

This weekend I did something you are never supposed to do. I went grocery shopping without a list. Avocados looked good, so I bought some to make guacamole, but they weren't quite ripe yet, so they did not end up as part of the Saturday night plans. BUT, they did inspire today's Guacamole Cheeseburgers! 

My guacamole is very popular and I usually bring it to (or am requested to make it) get-togethers. I have a secret weapon that I'm going to share today: dried cilantro. I like fresh cilantro, but in guacamole, it tends to overpower and also get stuck in my teeth. Dried cilantro adds the flavor without the unsightly green gunk in your smile.

I also added prosciutto on my burger because I didn't have bacon. The restaurant that we eat at often has a guacamole burger on the menu that I used to order all of the time. I can't eat restaurant guacamole, and although I do bring my own ketchup to restaurants, bringing a bowl of guacamole might be weird. The burger hit the spot on a cloudy day!

I don't measure when I make my guacamole or my burgers, so use your judgement. If you like things spicier, add more jalapeno, if you like it with more lime, add more lime juice. The buns are Schorr buns and they have apple fiber in them, but are egg free, so don't cause me any issues.

Guacamole

Ingredients:

4 avocados, ripe

1-2 limes

1-2 jalapenos

2-3 roma tomatoes

sea salt

dried cilantro

Directions:

1. Mash avocados with a potato masher

2. Juice 1-2 limes, depending on preference, and stir into the mashed avocado

3. Dice tomatoes and jalepenos and mix in

4. Season with sea salt (secret weapon #1) and dried cilantro (secret weapon #2)

Enjoy!

I only used one lime for this batch. Usually my ratio is
1 lime for every two avocados.

Glorious avocado with the carnage behind.

Secret Weapons

Boom! Guacamole

Guacamole Cheeseburgers

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (I always use 93% because I hate fatty meat. Hey-o)

1/2-1 c Daiya Pepper Jack cheese (dairy and lactose free)

Cayenne Pepper

Dried Cilantro (I put this on everything)

salt and pepper to taste

Spinach

Prosciutto

Guacamole

Gluten Free Buns

Directions:

1. Mix ground beef, cheese, and seasonings and form into four patties

2. Grill or cook on the stove to your preference

3. Prepare buns as needed (I bake mine for about 5 minutes)

4. When burgers are done, layer with fresh spinach, prosciutto, and guacamole.

Ingredients needed for cheeseburgers

Mix it up with your hands

I don't like dairy free sliced cheese, so I just add it to
the mixture. 

Homemade ketchup and fries makes it the real deal.