Whole Wheat Pumpkin Waffles

Mix Together:
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Flax meal or 1/4 flax meal 1/4 wheat germ
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

In another bowl mix together:
1 Tbsp. Honey
2 Tbsp. Oil
1 cup soy milk or coconut or some other non-dairy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract (or vanillin şekerli if you live in Turkey)
1 cup pumpkin puree (or any fruit puree of your choosing - also like apple or banana)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (omit if using banana)

if the mixture is too dry add more soy milk.  I use this recipe for pancakes as well but make it thinner by adding more soy milk.

Eat with Honey or Pure maple syrup!

Black Bean & Mushroom Burgers

Introducing today's lunch:

                                           
Black Bean & Mushroom Burgers
2 c. Black beans
1 c. Mushrooms
Blend these together in blender until somewhat pasty
Add 1 c. homemade bread crumbs (or breadcrumbs of your choice)
3 Tbs. Flax meal & 2 Tbsp Hot water
1/4 tsp. cumin
a 1/4 cup diced red pepper
pinch of sea salt & freshly ground pepper

Saute in a little olive oil in pan on each side for about 3-4 minutes

Serve with Mashed potatoes, veggie side and this awesome vegan Gravy from "30 Minute Vegan"

Mushroom Onion Gravy
1/4 cup WW Flour (or spelt)
1/4 cup + 1 Tbs safflower or olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup Thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms
2 1/4 cups water or vegetable stock
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
3 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs minced fresh italian parsley (or dried)
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper or to taste

1. create a roux by combining the flour and 1/4 cup of oil in a small bowl and whisking well.
2. place the remaining tablespoon of oil in a saucepan over med-high heat. Add the onion, garlic and mushrooms and cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the water and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat to a simmer and add the nutritional yeast, soy sauce, parsley, nutmeg, stirring frequently.
3. Add the roux and stir constantly until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Peanut Butter Balls

Thanks to Katie Kimball and her e- book Healthy Snacks to Go we made some Homemade Granola which smells delicious and tastes even better.  Then I made this amazing snack adapted from her "peanut butter Kisses" recipe:

Peanut Butter
Homemade Granola
Honey
shredded coconut
flax meal
 ~ 1/3 cup of each of these ingredients.  Or you can add more granola and less peanut butter if you are like me and need to make your peanut butter from America last you longer since you live in another country :)

mix it all together, form into balls, store in a tupperware on the counter or in the fridge and it makes for great healthy little snacks for you and the kids.  We are in love!

Raspberry Chocolate Soysicles

On these hot days of 110 degree heat I have been making homemade popsicles in my ikea popsicle forms.  Tupperware makes some forms as well.   We did a Soy Orange Creamsicle and today we had a Raspberry Chocolate Soysicle which has been the favorite thus far.
Mix some soy milk with nesquick powder
Put fresh or frozen raspberries in your popsicle forms
Pour the chocolate soy milk  in and freeze

Simple yet delicious!

Vegan Raspberry Muffins

1 1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or another flour of your choice)
1 tsp. Baking Soda
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
      Mix these ingredients together, then in separate bowl whisk:
1 cup honey
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup soy milk

Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until blended.  Add in 1 cup of raspberries or any other berry and mix in.
I then sprinkle the top of mine with a little ground flaxseed and oats.

Bake at 176 Celsius or 350 F for ~ 25 minutes, let cool for 5 min then serve.

Enjoy!

Our Seder meal

Tomorrow night we are celebrating the Lord's Supper and Passover...telling the kids of how we were held in bondage to sin just as the Israelites were held in bondage to Pharaoh.  How God sent us a deliverer in Jesus who fulfills the prophecies of old.  How Christ is the Passover lamb who came to take away the sins of the world.  So tomorrow night this vegan will be cooking lamb and remembering the sacrifice Jesus made so that I might know Him.  Tomorrow night the candles will be lit and then snuffed out for the next two nights to remember how dark the world is without Christ. Easter morning we will wake up to find Christ no longer in the tomb but all the candles lit for HE IS RISEN! We will hide our resurrection eggs and discover what is in each of them that tells of Christ's story.  Tomorrow we will have a seder meal with the parsley, unleavened bread, lamb, minus horseradish because I could not find it where I live, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, sauteed mushrooms, salad.  We will remember what Christ has done and we will savor it. My children will taste the bitterness of the herbs and be told of the bitterness of their sins.  We will eat the unleavened bread and remember that Christ was without sin.  We will eat the lamb and remember the price that Christ payed so that we could be rescued...we will remember...

Simmering Sunday

With three kids four and under getting dinner on the table can be quite a feat.  Especially living in another country where each meal takes a good two hours or so to prepare since everything must be done from scratch....beans soaked days prior, veggies washed, diced etc... So my main meals are often cooked up on Sunday...hence Simmering Sunday was born.
So this weeks meals:

Sunday Soup:
Coconut Thai Soup, Whole Wheat honey bread, fresh sliced strawberries (Papa is having BBQ chicken & Cole slaw because he is not a vegetarian and I thought it would be a nice treat since I was cooking some for my friends who had twins)
Mexican Monday: Black bean and Rice enchiladas, home-fried tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa
Turkish Tuesday: Kumpirs (like a fancy baked potato) topped with mushrooms, broccoli, corn, Whole wheat bread, rice pudding
Whatever Wednesday: Country Creole Peas, cornbread, baked plantains
Thursday: Veggie Pie, mashed potatoes, Whole wheat bread, banana pudding
Friday: Breakfast - Pumpkin pancakes, green smoothie
Same Ol' Saturday: Pancakes for breakfast, Homemade Pizza for supper

What's cooking up in your kitchen this week?

Queen Mother

p.s. took the tip of my finger off tonight slicing the bread...oops!