A full Saturday of cooking...

Saturday I spent almost the entire day doing two of the things I really love, cooking, and shopping at Whole Foods.
I started off Saturday by baking 3 baguettes (as seen in my last post). Then, I made a grocery list while watching a little Cooking Channel and WKNO and eating the baguettes.

After i made my list, I headed out to Whole Foods.

After I got home and unloaded my many, many bags, I made a balsamic reduction, I used my leftover dough to make a delicious pizza, and made a three berry and meyer lemon crumble for dessert.

To make the reduction, i started with 5 cups of good balsamic vinegar and cooked it down, for about 45 minutes, until it came to 2 cups. It is syrupy, sweet and delicious! Hello homemade Christmas presents!

I took my leftover baguette dough

and added minced garlic, fresh rosemary, and extra virgin olive oil,then i kneaded and patted it out into a nice crust.

I floured my cast iron and cooked the pizza in a 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes. For the toppings, I used a homemade tomato sauce, artichoke hearts, black olives, spinach, and a sprinkle of Daiya vegan mozzarella.

After this had gotten melty and delicious, i drizzled some of my balsamic reduction over the top.

 Mmm-mmm-good!




Finally, for dessert, I mixed raspberries, blueberries and blackberries with the juice of 1 Meyer lemon, a splash of vanilla extract, and organic cane sugar.

For the crumble I mixed steel cut oats, a little AP flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, Penzey's baking spice, a splash of vanilla, lemon peel, a little Earth balance, and water, and stirred together until I had a nice crumble topping. I baked my crumbles in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

Here they are all melty and gooey. Delicious!

It was a lovely, and restful Saturday.

Thanks for reading! :)

-Wendy

Beautiful Baguettes

I love bread, I really do. There is something so comforting about eating slice after slice of hot, crusty bread.

Making bread is also comforting, but in a different way. If you are ever feeling down, or, a bit self-concious, bake some bread! I promise, you will come out feeling like a champ. :)

Last night I mixed up the base for some whole wheat baguettes and let it rise overnight. This morning, I woke up and made these beauties...

I found this recipe on Pinterest...

I made this no knead bread recipe with the exception that i used 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 bread flour. This recipe makes 4 baguettes (I saved one for later use). 

I topped my 3 baguettes with olives, garlic cloves, and, the last with fresh rosemary, lemon peel, and chopped garlic. Each was topped with olive oil, kosher salt, and cracked black pepper.

Then, I cooked them in a 500 degree oven, on a floured cookie sheet, for 18 minutes (start checking them after 12).

Look how gorgeous these turned out!

The toppings get soft and roasted, so you can easily smear them over the top of your bread. Mmmmm!

You should makes these! You will feel awesome about yourself, your tummy will thank you, and, your housemates will DEFINITELY thank you!

Mmmm Vegan Ranch!

Tonight I made delicious ranch dressing to go along with a nourishing post-workout salad. The crumbles are a vegan chickpea patty I made last night (my recipe: chickpeas, garlic, onion, olive oil, a carrot and a little AP flour).

The ranch dressing is from The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook. You should buy this book! It's worth it just for the dressing! The only changes I made were I used almond milk instead of soy milk, and I only used 1 cup of milk instead of the 1 1/4 cup called for.

MMMmmmmmm! Order this cookbook, then, eat this!

Staying in on a Friday night...

Tonight I decided I needed to be in the kitchen.
After a stressful day (or week), I can always find solace in the kitchen.

I started a loaf of rosemary garlic bread...

I made vegan peanut butter cups...

And a little peanut butter candy...

And I attempted to make a peanut butter egg (like the Reese's kind at Easter)...

Mmm, delicious!

I hope you are all enjoying the start of your weekend as much as I am. :)

Butternut Shells & "Cheese"

Tonight I made butternut squash shells and cheese (Organic, whole wheat, vegan, oil free). It was so delicious!

I used this pasta, organic, whole wheat, you can find it at Whole Foods.

This turned out creamy and really, really good!

Yummmmmmm! This recipe is decadent without the guilt.

Also, my fiancé sent me this cute picture (he loves golden retrievers).

You should make your own butternut shells and cheese as soon as possible!

-Wendy :) 

A little sunday afternoon baking...

Sunday afternoon I was in the mood to bake.

I made cheddar garlic biscuits (vegan & whole wheat) and chocolate chip, cranberry, almond cookies (vegan). Both turned out really well!

Cheddar Garlic Biscuits

Chocolate Chip, Cranberry, Almond Cookies

I recently purchased The Joy of Vegan Baking, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. I have really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it!

Thanks for reading!

-Wendy