My Apple Pie Obsession!!

I absolutely love apple pie, I must confess, I once had fried apple pie from a street vendor in New York it was soooo delicious; I actually ate it for the whole week.  Since then, I have been on a quest to make my own healthy version.  So, since we had a long holiday weekend, I decided to bake all weekend.  On the Menu was of course,  a vegan gluten free apple pie and vegan gluten free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.  I have never done a gluten free pie crust before so I just made the crust as if I was baking a regular pie crust and substituted with gluten free flours. 

It was a disaster, it tasted like chalk (lol,lol, back to the drawing board). It looked appetizing, but it was not, I could not find any vegan butter at the local Health Store, so I used home made coconut oil.  Also, I substituted the Garbanzo Flour, with All Purpose Gluten Free flour; again because the Health Food Store didn't have any in stock.  Next time I will order all my flours from Amazon, before starting any baking projects.

Now for my pride and joy;  Vegan & Gluten free Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies.
These were absolutely delicious in fact I ate so many of them that my fiancee hid them from me.  I didn't tell him of course that they were vegan & gluten free, they came out perfect.

 OMG boy they tasted good and made with a simple recipe:

1/2 cup vegan butter of your choice
1/2 cup brown sugar (i used Demerara sugar from Guyana)
1/2 cup natural peanut butter of your choice
2 tbsp maple syrup
1tbsp organic rice milk
1 1/3 cups gluten free all purpose flour
2tbsp garbanzo flour
1/2tsp baking soda
1/2 cup vegan carob chips

 In a large bowl mix together the butter and sugar until light and creamy then mix in the remaining ingredients (i used a wooden spoon).  Mix together until well blended, and the ingredients form a dough. Shape the dough into a log and wrap in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour until firm.  Cut the dough into slices and place them on parchment lined cookie sheets and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20 min or until brown and firm.

enjoy !!

What is your favorite go to recipe fro a long weekend?  

SHE Caribbean Magazine !

I love supporting my regional peers in anything artistic, creative, fresh and new, and I love to read any Caribbean magazine.   However, frankly put, SHE magazine is my favorite (& I am not saying this just because of the contest) but i had tons of this magazine editions that i collect yearly.  I already have each edition for this year too so..  when i read about the contest quite naturally I had to enter.
SHE Caribbean

The contest commemorates the 100th Year Anniversary of International Women’s Day celebrated globally on March 8, 2011, SHE Caribbean readers are invited to submit a business idea and have a chance to win a year of business coaching and other prizes to support the journey.
The SHE Biz Challenge will be staged for 100 days, from March 1, 2011- June 8, 2011.
The SHEBiz Panel of Judges will select the ten best ideas on August 12, 2011 and SHE Caribbean readers are invited to follow the SHEBiz Challenge on the magazine’s website and vote for their favourite idea from August 15-28.
Three winners will be announced on September 15, 2011 in St. Lucia. 

So wish me luck !!
i have my fingers crossed.

Gluten Free White Loaf, attempt #1

I decided that i am going to cleanse my diet of all processed foods and bad (simple) carbohydrates, and increase my complex carbohydrates. It means saying goodbye to gluten, and processed foods; while just living off the produce grown in my garden. Some people think that because you are a vegetarian that you should be healthy and pencil thin (lol,lol) but that couldn't be so far from the truth.  There are tons of unhealthy ready made vegetarian foods out there on the market, you have to really read the ingredients before you purchase any item.  Surprise!  we have to work just as had or even harder to live healthy lifestyles.
  This is going to be a challenge but i think i can do it, it will be very hard to get of the bread and cheese.  Even though i bake my own breads, they are sometimes not as healthy as they can be.  I still use unbleached flour when i bake, but I could do better with healthier flour substitutes.  It will be a great opportunity for me to experiment with new tastes and recipes since i will have to bake my snacks every week.  whew!

Experiment # 1
Gluten Free White Loaf 
1/2 cup potato starch 
1/2 cup tapioca flour 
2 cups gluten free all purpose flour 
2teaspoons xanthan  gum 
2 1/4  tablespoons active dry yeast 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
3 teaspoons of Ener-G- Replacer  mixed with 6 tablespoons of non diary milk/ water
2 tablespoons of agave'
1/4 cup canola oil 
1 teaspoon vinegar 
1cup almond milk
2 tablespoon chia seeds

Sift together all dry ingredients then add chia seeds if using.  In a separate bowl, whisk together Ener-G- Replacer, agave, vinegar, canola oil, & almond milk.  Then, using the paddle attachment or hand mixer on low, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients slowly.  Beat on high for 4 minutes; oil loaf pan (7 or 8 1/2) and scrape the dough into the pan and smooth the top with an oiled spatula.  Cover the dough in the loaf pan with an oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm dark place for 2 1/2 to 3 hrs.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, remove the plastic cover and bake in the oven; top shelf for 35 mins or until bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

It actually came out great, moist and delicious, to store wait until properly cooled then put loaf in a freezer bag and put in the refrigerator.  This will prevent the many flours inside the loaf from going rancid and spoiling and keep it moist.

My nemesis, nut butter and hot gluten free loaf, absolutely delicious.

Biggest Loser!!!

O.k I know this has absolutely nothing to do with food; but i love, love reality T.V, and i have watched this show a few times. I admit, it was not one of those shows that i would fake a sick day to watch, but I sorta enjoyed it from time to time.  So, when my fiancee' went out and bought the x-box 360 and the kinect motion game i decided to get some games that I could enjoy too.  I got 'The Biggest Loser' game and i must say it is worth the $43.00.  It works me to the bone, I feel like I am actually at the gym being trained by a hard core trainer.  It is intense, and it switches exercises everyday, automatically, can you believe it?
Every night, I go to sleep with aching muscles, as if I ran a marathon.  
It certainly, is helping me stay on budget with not going to the gym, and it has the option for you to use your own equipment like; resistance bands, stabilizing ball, weights etc.  Stuff us girls probably have lying around, way in the back of our closet gathering dust. lol, lol,  It is great, I have been using it everyday since I bought it, and I have toned up and lost a few lbs, and loosing lbs was not my intention.  If you are thinking on getting a workout out dvd or game and you already have the motion system, then go for it.  It is definitely worth every penny.

I love it, so much that I am considering getting the other workout game, when I have exhausted this one.

One of My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

Buckwheat Blueberry Chocolate Chip Cookies are my # 3 favorite chocolate cookie of all time.   Notice I said 'MY'  favorite, because my fiancee' and my brother; who eats everything and anything don't like them.  My brother ate two of them but declared that he did not like the taste , this scared my fiancee' away.  But I like them, I sometimes eat about 4 to 6 a day.  I don't necessarily like chocolate chip cookies, but i love these.

 3/4 cup of canola oil
 1/2 cup brown sugar (you can use 1 cup, but i prefer half the sweet)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2tbl flaxseed meal (mix with 6tbl of warm water)
1 1/2 cups All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
3/4 xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350, then line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Cream the canola oil, and sugar until light about  2minutes then add vanilla and flaxmeal mixture. Continue mixing for 15 minutes  until fully incorporated. In a separate bowl whisk together the dry ingredients: gluten free flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, and salt. Next add to the wet ingredients and mix until fully incorporated , stir in chocolate chips (first toss in some gluten free flour to prevent sinking to bottom of cookie) along with frozen berries. Use the medium size ice cream scoop to scoop onto the baking sheet and bake for  about 25 minutes until done.

 cool & enjoy !!!
What is one of your favorites?

Journey into the Land of Cinnamon Rolls.

I know right, and this was my second batch,   I absolutely love, love cinnamon rolls.  Therefore, my latest obsession is to perfect a vegan & gluten free recipe so that i wouldn't feel so guilty when i gulf down 2 or 3 a day.  The first batch was horrid, and bland, they were hard like rocks.  This batch was very crumbly, more like tea biscuits.  they were not bland because i put some allspice & nutmeg in the dough.   I actually got this recipe from one of my favorite allergen free authors; Cybelle Pascal, but obviously, this is not one of the better recipes.  I really don't know what went wrong here but i guess it's back to the drawing board for me.
 Actually, i am going to try Veganjoys' recipe for cinnamon rolls  http://veganjoy.blogspot.com/search/label/cinnamon  before I try tweaking my recipe. Definitely not a keeper, lol, lol.  They taste good though with some tea, yumm, i will be having one for breakfast in the morning.

The 14th Annual Bordeaux Farmers Rastafari Agricultural & Cultural Food Fair. Part 1

 Pumpkin Soup.

This was a two day festival, held on the island of St. Thomas, it's like a big farmers market.  I was accompanied by my eldest niece, and we had a wonderful time.  There were tons of fresh produce and plants, farm tours, live demonstrations and a variety of prepared vegetarian, vegan, and raw food and drinks.  I had an amazing bowl of pumpkin soup, it was choc full of veggies and whole wheat dumplings, it was so delicious.  Oh, how could I forgot my peas balls, ( those are the brownish balls on the top of the soup) they were crunchy on the outside but soft and spicy on the inside.  It was a wonderful experience we learned a lot, and I mean a lot, and I actually saw some local plants that i never knew had medicinal properties.... like this one ....

The bunch with the frilly edged leaves, the farmer said that it is very good for the cold & cough.  One has to seep it like a tea, then drink it; I was amazed, that plant grows wild everywhere in my back yard.  I actually thought it was a weed and destroyed it several times.  To think that when i had the cold last year the cure was right in my back yard (before i destroyed it ) was pretty ironic.
I bought a lot of plants to replant in my garden and produce I also bought some jams that were absolutely delicious.  Have you ever heard of soursop jam?
I know right?
Crazy, even for me and I have made some pretty strange sounding things, that tasted great; this jam did not disappoint.  It was delicious, I bought 8 jams total: sour sop, basil, &, sorrel.  I have them hidden in my refrigerator they are excellent with my Tahini Scones.

These wonderful Jams are the brain child of Ms. June Archibald of Virgin Islands Fruit Preserves.  Like myself , she is somewhat of a kitchen connoisseur and has started her own company in St. Thomas, where she has a farm and grows several tropical fruits;she  makes her tasty preserves from the harvest. website:  www.mydrizzler.com / email:vifruitpreserves@mydrizzler.com
What  is your favorite exotic condiment, something that you absolutely cannot live without?

 Sorrel 

I bought some of these too, Sorrel flowers makes an excellent drink, one of my favorite actually and it is very easy to make:

Just place the flowers in a big pot with some water and a cinnamon stick, a few whole cloves, and a piece of ginger root (optional) and  let that baby boil for a few hrs (maybe 3 depending on how much sorrel is used).  After it has boiled, the water will become the color of the flower and the flower will look white, then it is ready.  Just let it cool, sweeten with sweetner of your choice, then presto ... Sorrel Drink.

Fresh Produce