Muffins for my Muffin: Healthy Banana Nut Muffins & Herbal Coffee!

Valentine's Day is a fickle thing, you never seem to know exactly what we can expect from it, always a reminder of time and change in our life. But, like many other holidays, its an excuse to whip up something unnecessary, but delicious... to build love into our art & experiment with emotional play.

Thus, the succulent muffin was born! Well, I didn't quite birth it myself, it was inspired by the fabulous The Joy of Vegan Baking (a must read for veganization of the classics, Irish Soda Bread to breakfast scones). It was also inspired by T, who was taking me to a movie for Valentine's Day: Forks Over Knives! Yes, T obviously knows me well, giddy at the chance to sneak a peek at the newest and highly rated documentary on the benefits of a "plant-strong" diet. (A MUST see, more on this in a later post).

Being the Chocolate-in-my-Muffin-Addict I am, I did a side batch for my self (shhh)

With health and nutrition on the mind, the task began to strike a balance between comforting morning sweets (sometimes I think T's an incurable sweet addict) & a healthful diet... if there were going to be 16 muffins tempting me, they'd better not be pure sugar.

So, with a bit of reconfiguring and additional add ons, here's a quick recipe for one of the best, if not thee best, vegan muffin I've had to date (no dates involved, but a good idea!); evenly cooked, super soft, and with a gentle moistness about it:

Be Mine Muffins

Ingredients
* 2 C, whole wheat pastry flour
* 1 1/2 t, baking soda
* 1/2 t, salt
* 1/4 C, granulated sugar
* 1/4 C, brown sugar
* 1/3 C, grapeseed oil
* 2/3 C, applesauce
* 4 very ripe bananas, well mashed
* 1/8 C, water
* 1 vanilla bean, caviar
* 1/3 C, chopped walnuts
* 1/3 C, chopped pecans
* 1/4 C, chopped good-quality dark chocolate (*optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Place muffin tins in your muffin pan and grease lightly (make approximately 16 muffins)
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the sugars and oil. Add in applesauce and mix. Add in the mashed bananas and stir well. Stir in the water and vanilla bean, mix thoroughly.
4. Add the flour into the wet mixture, along with the nuts and chocolate (is using). Stir to mix.
5. Fill each muffin tin about 2/3 of the way with batter. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes (mine were done at 24 minutes each), or until they are golden brown and a knife, when inserted into it, comes out clean. Enjoy!


Of course, it wouldn't be Valentine's Day without some gifts and surprises....

HERBAL COFFEE! I was lucky enough to have won this great selection of healthy, mostly organic, non-caffeinated, herbal coffees and, lo-and-behold, they arrive on my door step with love, the day of love!

Too perfect.

The selections were chocolate, chai, hazelnut, vanilla almond, and java. With all natural ingredients such as organic carbo and organic dates, its a unique blend of some of my favorite flavors. Of course, if you're a coffee aficionado (as I sometimes think of myself as; only because of an irrational obsession perhaps), I would give a word of warning: don't expect "coffee".

T said he could've been fooled, but if you know your coffee, I beg to differ; it doesn't have the fullness and subtleties of real (good) coffee, a bit more like an strong herbal tea. Which is NOT to say that they are delicious.

I think it does its job well and if you want something richer than tea, but perhaps don't want the caffeine or the potentially cancerous decaf version of coffee, this is not only a great alternative, but its a really unique drink with some great ingredients and flavors.

Have you tried herbal coffee? How much coffee do you drink & what flavors do you look for in a good coffee? Also, anyone have a good vegan pistachio muffin recipe? :)

Good Morning Sunshine: Oatmeal is saying, 'Hello!'

On a cold, winter's morning, with an afternoon of studying before me, there's no better meal I can think of than slow-cooked Scottish Oats--and a big cup of Earl Grey, of course. They fancy their oats a bit more... 'soupy' here in London, and I found I could embrace that while improving upon it with a multitude of different options.

Now, if you're like me and, until recently, the idea of oatmeal seemed unappealing due to its boring, instant counterpart appearing for breakfast during grade school, I sympathize. But I'll make this my appeal to you: give it another shot! The world of oats has so much potential for every palate, and it doesn't have to be the gluey, sugar-high mess of the past.

My new love for oatmeal began as I started to replace the water for milk... and then milk for coconut milk... and then some banana, some flax seed, vanilla, chocolate, cacao, walnuts, dates! The possibilities are endless and here's the easy recipe for two of my favorites to prove it; no strict rules here, feel free to make it your own.

My favorite part about this breakfast treat is it sustains you well into lunch time with hearty fiber (better than even whole wheat toast) and can go sweet with a variety of all natural sources such as cinnamon, coconut, and a various fresh & dried fruits. Organic soy milk is key for this, sweetened only with organic apple juice (not from concentrate). The amount each recipe makes is for one serving size, but tweak to your liking--I always use 1 part oats to 2 parts liquid + banana for thickening (feel free to omit this and add a bit more liquid as necessary).

Oh, and I would LOVE if you guys would comment any and all of your own ideas or personal oat creations!

Tropical Crunch
I like to eat this one on a rainy day and pretend I'm back on a California beach

1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup coconut milk (I've used from the can but will soon be experiment with making my own)
1/4 cup organic sweetened soy milk
1 medium banana, well mashed
1 medjool date, roughly chopped
1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ground flax seed
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pinch of raw pink Himalayan sea salt
Toppings: unsweetened shredded coconut flakes, crumbled pecans, sliced banana
Mix all the ingredients together in a pot and bring to a bowl. Turn heat to low and simmer according to package directions (varies depending on the type of oats, if you're going the slow cooking way this can be up to 30 minutes, most oats are about 5 though). Remove from heat and add toppings, enjoy!


Chocolate Peanut-Butter Dream
This is a great way to start your day with some mood-lifting cacao and energy-inducing peanut-butter

1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
1 large banana, well mashed
2 medjool dates, cut into small pieces
1 Tbsp of cacao nibs
1/2 Tbsp. goji berries (if you have 'em; they can be quite expensive)
1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ground flax
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pinch raw pink Himalayan sea salt
Toppings: a dollop of peanut-butter, crushed walnuts, pomegranate seeds, cacao nibs

Mix all the ingredients together in a pot and bring to a bowl. Turn heat to low and simmer according to package directions (varies depending on the type of oats, if you're going the slow cooking way this can be up to 30 minutes, most oats are about 5 though). Remove from heat and add toppings, enjoy!

Peace&Love

Food of the Gods?: How to Have Your "Chocolate" and Eat it Too!

If you've ever been on a chocolate tour (...if you haven't, do it now!), you probably know that our sweet, sweet friend comes from humble beginnings in the form of the cacao bean.

As it turns out, we may actually be able to have our chocolate and eat it too. (Organic) raw cacao nibs are filled with tons of antioxidants and a variety of vital neurotransmitters. If you find yourself reaching for a chocolate bar when depressed, you may not be so far off. Cacao contains the neurotransmitter serotonin which is largely responsible for positive mood. Since it also contains MAOI inhibitors, this allows the serotonin to circulate in the brain longer, allowing for an extended elevated mood.

Cacao also contains anandamide, a chemical known for inducing natural states of bliss in humans. Even better (yes, there's more!), this little bean contains enzyme inhibitors that decrease our ability to breakdown natural anadamide, allowing for the extension of the natural bliss state.

Among some of the features contained in this super food are phenylethylamine (the neurotrasmitter released when we are in love), sulfur (detoxify your live), magnesium (great for heart and circulatory system) and zinc (helps your immune system).

So while I've already tried adding raw cacao nibs to cookies and having them just as a snack, I figure you can never have to much. This is where the beautiful drink picture above comes in. It's a cold drink of blended lucuma and cacao with soy milk from newly open vegan restaurant Vantra (Soho, London). At 3 pounds, this drink was a bit steep, but totally worth it! I've gotten it three times since (and once I return home to a working blender I intend to try it at home).

Do remember, however, that there is much to be considered around the ethics of chocolate. Please opt for fair trade, environmentally sustainable chocolate whenever you can. A few of my favorites are (Taza and Global Exchange). If you prefer to get the benefits in a sweeter form, make sure to get chocolate at least over 80%.

Tex-Mex Dinner Party

So we threw a Tex-Mex Dinner Party with some friends this last weekend. It went great; so great in fact that the food was gone before I could take a picture of it all (I was busy cooking :x). I did snag a quick picture between it all of our dessert though:

Mexican Chocolate Cake Topped w/ Bananas Flambe

So I adapted the recipe from here. It's vegan & delicious (don't know about health). I made it for our anniversary a month ago and I thought I'd switch it up this time. The whole cake soaked up some of the rum flavor... yum!

Give the gift of sustainability this Valentine's Day!

Chocolates and roses may seem like a great gift on the surface... but if give your sweetie a product that uses exploited labor from other countries, inhumanely treated animal products, and chemical processing really going to send the right message?

Here are some places to get great Valentine's day gifts that will send the right message!

1. Organic Consumers Association has compiled a list of places to buy organic for gifts such as flowers, chocolate, cards, and even wines. All gifts are listed as fair-trade.

2. Sticky Fingers Bakery: located in Washington, DC, this all vegan bakery offers as wide array of sweets from chocolate strawberries and sugar hearts, to customizable cakes and they will even send them to you anywhere in the US. This company has one numerous awards for their products; I'm planning on grabbing a desert myself here on Valentine's Day!

3. Farm Sanctuary is offering a Valentine's Day gift package for your significant other by adopting a farm animal in their name. You can pay monthly and you receive an adoption certificate with a color photograph of the adopted animal, an adoption card, invitation to schedule a VIP tour to meet the sponsored animal and other benefits. I already told my boyfriend that this would be the only thing I'd want for our anniversary.