Applesauce Raspberry Muffins *Vegan*

I got the bug to bake today. It was cold, I was bored, and there were a stack of cookbooks staring me down, taunting me. I've been wanting to try my hand at these muffins for quite some time now. The smell of apples and cinnamon wafting through the house on crisp winter mornings in the mountains when I was a bit younger was...well...near perfect.

So! I looked up a couple of different recipes for vegan versions and settled on this one from How it All Vegan!


Applesauce Muffins

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup soy milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 cup applesauce
3/4 cup raisins
2 tbsp raspberry jam (I added this into the mix for extra yum)

Assemble the players!


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large ceramic bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Make sure your dry ingredients are thouroughly mixed before adding anything wet! Add the soy milk, vinegar, oil, maple syrup, applesauce, jam, and raisins.

Mix together gently until "just mixed". Spoon batter into lightly oiled muffin tins. I added a little dollop of raspberry jam to the top of each of my muffins pre-baking, for extra sweetness.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Test with a toothpick to see if done. Makes 6 BIG muffins, or 12 small muffins.
And voila! The super, super tasty result! Moist and sweet and delicious with a little vegan butter....mmmmmmmmm


Maybe I'll make something like this for my fam on Christmas morning...they'll never know the difference!

The Magical Powers of Vinegar

For a while now, I've been on this ongoing quest to remove products that are toxic, carcinogenic, or otherwise unhealthy from my life. Obviously, in the world we live in now, its near impossible to escape it all, but a few small, easy changes can still be beneficial.

Take common cleaning products, for example. Three of the most common ingredients in household cleaners are bleach, ammonia, and formaldehye. All respiratory irritants, all toxic, some dangerous if combined with other chemicals, some known carcinogens. Sounds like something you want to be breathing in, doesn't it? More about the three most dangerous chemicals under your sink here.

A much safer, more natural, and even cheaper option for plenty of cleaning tasks is an old standby in the kitchen. Plain white vinegar!

Vinegar can be used for so so many uses, from degreasing, deodorizing, preventing mildew, killing mold, laundering, etc, etc, etc. For an awesome, extensive list of some of the best ways to use vinegar, check this article out. I was surprised to see it can remove stickers and labels from surfaces, and get the smell of smoke out of fabric!

I've been using vinegar for cleaning around the house for a few years now. Recently I decided to see if it would work on a really tough job...degreasing and cleaning a really dirty stovetop. Take a look..

This was what I was up against. Old, melted on, burned-up grease. Both vegetable and animal.


For this job, I sprayed the vinegar on at 100% concentration, or non-diluted. Really saturated the entire surface. Then I let it sit for about 15 minutes to give it a chance to soften up the hard stuff. When it was time to come back and use some elbow grease, I used a regular sponge, scrub side. That's all it took. Everything started coming up!


After a bit of work (nothing too difficult, and definitely less trouble then potentially inhaling poisonous cleaners), the job was done and I had a gorgeous white stovetop once again!


Long live a clean, inviting space! Now I want to cook for everyone!! Visions of stir-frys, scrambles, soups and sauces are dancing through my head...let's eat!


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Thanks to The New Homemaker for the links :)

Oatmeal = Winter Wonderful

Brrr!!! It's all of a sudden a bone-chilling winter in the Bay Area, which means rain, rain, rain. I've caught the nasty bug thats going around and haven't really felt it'd be adventageous to venture outside during it all. I need to be well in order to work! So, in between stringing together poetic sentences showcasing my talents as an employee (I'm STILL looking for a job), nursing this cold, and shaking the boredom out of my bones, I've been reaching into the depths of the pantry to rustle up some hot yummy winter meals.

Oatmeal is a staple in most homes, but one that I'd almost forgotten about. It wasn't a favorite of mine as a child, so its one of those meals I had to re-discover as an adult and have consequently grown to love. Some of the things I love about it: its cheap since I buy in unpackaged bulk, its EASY to cook, its good for you, and its so versatile!! This morning was gray, rainy, cold...and definitely an oatmeal morning.

Sprouted Buckwheaties Oatmeal (with goodies on top!)

The measurements and recipe are so easy, and easily tweakable.
Today I used:
2/3 cup WHOLE oatmeal (not instant) and "buckwheaties" mix. The mix was about 3 parts oatmeal to 1 part buckwheat.
1 1/5 cups water (you can also throw in some soy/hemp/almond/whatever milk)

Bring water to a slight boil, simmer grains for about 5-7 minutes.
Turn off heat, cover, let sit for 3-5 mins until water is absorbed. Makes one giant helping or two decent helpings.

Thats it! And here we have our blank canvas to work off of. Some organic maple syrup, crushed raw almonds, and dried cranberries made it delish and hearty morning meal!


Now, what in the world is a "Buckwheatie"?? A sprouted, dehydrated buckwheat "grain" (its actually closer to a fruit seed, and gluten free.)A little about the health benefits of buckwheat here. I borrowed the term from Juliano's Raw: The Uncook Book. I re-cooked them here, but if left raw, you can use them sprinkled on your fave faux-gurt, in salads, in raw bread alternatives, etc, etc, etc. Sprouting at home is one of the easiest, lazy chef things to do, as well as dehydrating if you have the proper equiptment. It will also unlock different health benefits you wouldn't find in unsprouted groats.
Sprouting Buckwheat Groats.
I made a gigantic batch probably months ago and have had them pantried ever since.


Speaking of dehydrating, one of my favorite things to add to my tea press-pot is dehydrated fruit! I've been on a blueberry and strawberry kick lately. Adding them to my green tea as its steeping adds just that much more flavor and antioxidant kick. I'm convinced the combo is helping to kick this cold out of my body!


Now bring on the day!

Breanna who?

I've learned a lot in the past few months. Quite a lot. There is more to this world than I'll ever be able to digest....but I've got my appetite back.

Motivation is a funny thing for me, as its something I desperately want, yet is all too often held just out of my grasp by the other things going on in my head.

The cycle is swinging back toward "get something done" time. I'm in. This blog will have a proper re-birth soon.