Handful Muffins

I love cleaning up the remnants of the pantry after we have a baking spree in the household. Yesterday was my grandma's birthday celebration, and even though we simply made my mom's tried-and-true red velvet cake and beef stroganoff, going into my baking pantry for the ingredients struck me with all the potential I had hanging around in my own home!

 

In the savoury kitchen, when you have a ton of ingredients but no clear idea how they really "fit", you have soup, stews, jams, sauces, compotes and casseroles at your disposal. Gosh knows I've used that trick many a time to use up things sitting wanton in our fridge, freezer and pantry! But when you get into the sweet kitchen and bakery, your options are a wee bit more limited. I mean yes, you can do pie filling (like mincemeat, quite the "toss everything into a pot" recipe), and banana bread is a good vessel for adding things (as is carrot cake - go figure). But the flavour combinations and chemistry are a bit more, shall we say, dainty.

 

However, one of the best catch-all recipes in the baking world is the humble muffin. A mini-bread in it's own right, you can make them sweet or savoury - and sometimes both! But come on, you know me. I might be a nutritionist, but I do like my sweets. And baking (duh). Besides, these may be absolutely delicious coffee-break snacks, but they're not all that horrible for you (like some of the *ahem* other options you have). There's only 2 tbsp of oil in the whole thing (and it's Canadian canola, which is still one of the healthiest oils out there), plus no eggs or dairy, tons of whole grains, non-GMO soy, dried fruit, mineral rich pumpkin seeds and even a secret veggie addition to boot (hint: it's like a carrot, but it's not a carrot)! Am I justifying my treat-baking nature? Maybe a bit. But you can't deny it's effective at assauging the fears of even the most diet-conscious noshers!

Aphrodisiac Mix for V-Day

Are you a lover of all things Valentine's Day? Or a lover on Valentine's Day? Personally, I'm not really either of those - I'm not a hater (like some other singles I know) - I totally give kudos to all the happy couples out there, but in my humble opinion you should be expressing your love to your significant other every day, not simply once a year, and a sappy card, roses and box of chocolates doesn't really indicate l'amour in it's true form. I mean, they don't hurt, but what about hugs and tender kisses a few times a day, saying "I love you" more than once in a while, going for walks together and even going for a spontaneous drive with a custom mix of "your songs" playing in your car? Of course, even the day-to-day, mundane things like taking out the garbage, cooking dinner or emptying the dishwasher can be incredibly thoughtful and might just leave your partner with enough energy for a more rambunctious activity after the meal is cleared away.

But if you are looking for something a little more special (but still affordable and above all, meaningful) for this holiday, why not take a look around your own hometown? Most areas have activities of some sort going on all year round, from evening skating to concerts and even vintage movie nights. Singles have their pick of the "mingle" events, and even if you aren't jumping into the dating pool (hear, hear!) its always fun to meet new friends and form networks with those nearby.

If you are attached, though, and you don't want to wait until the supper hour to turn up the aphrodisiac dial this V-Day, you're going to need some good quality energy. Luckily, I have just the thing for your tastebuds - a fruity, nutty, chocolate-laced snack mix that's not only gorgeous to look at and delicious to eat (or feed to your intended...) but is rich in the aphrodisiac-like vitamins and minerals as well as long-lasting energy that will help you keep up the romance well into the night.

 

Almost Everything Free Pitas

After those last two chickpea spreads, I couldn't leave you without something to put them on!! I mean, crackers and veggies are fine and dandy (and trust me, the savoury hummus is the best pasta sauce I've tasted!) but sometimes you need something bready. But what if you need (or want) an allergy-free, homemade alternative to the bakery's pocket-y pita bread?

Well, thankfully there's another option. I actually started looking for a gluten-free, yeast free pita bread that I could easily veganize when I was putting together my Resetting Yourself program in early January. Blundering around in the sea of Google results, I clicked onto a gem of a website called Gluten-Free on a Shoestring. Gluten free goodies, made on the cheap? Count me in! Nicole Hunn (who also authored a book by the blog's name) has a host of culinary delights to browse through, including gluten- and yeast-free pita bread! With pockets! I was so glad you'd think I had just won the jackpot.

And with a few small modifications to her formula, I think I did. The original recipe was gluten and yeast free, but I needed to eliminate the dairy, processed soy, egg and corn ingredients for a client on my program. A mixture of ground flax slurry (my current favourite egg replacer) and prepared ener-G powder stood in for the egg and egg white while adding a little boost of nutrition and fibre, and I used water in place of the milk since I didn't want to buy a whole container of rice or hemp milk for 6 breads. My own blend of GF all-purpose flour (which I call "Gluten Free 'Anything' Flour" and is in both my Dining Not Dying and Outside the Box cookbooks), brown rice flour and millet flour formed the base dry mixture, and a homemade baking powder replaced the cornstarch formula I had on hand. Because xanthan gum is sourced from corn, I relied on guar gum instead for binding. Flavour wise, I bumped up the "Middle Eastern" aspect of pita bread with fruity olive oil, toasted sesame oil and a pinch of cumin for good measure.

The best part about not needing yeast was that it was in and out of the oven in under an hour, and even without a pizza stone fired to a gazillion degrees the finished loaves opened into glorious envelopes perfect to stuff with whatever you might fancy. Of course, you don't have to create pockets - you can also use them as mini pizza bases or cut them into wedges to go with your favourite dip (and might I suggest the hummuses?).

A Spreadable Peanut Butter Cookie

I'm on a chickpea kick. At least this time my yen is relatively timely, thanks to the Superbowl tomorrow, but as much as I'm a savoury, garlic and pepper girl with the traditional dip, I've got one mad sweet tooth. I bet you couldn't tell with this blog's general bill of fare, right?

At any rate, I was craving something like a creamy, rich and nut-buttery cookie batter, but without the rather large dose of guilt eating a bowlful of raw dough would bring with it. Egg and raw flour concerns aside, it's cookie dough - not much else besides the butter and sugar (not that the 6 year old part of me minds that on occasion either...). Seeing a partial container of chickpeas that I had cooked for the other hummus, I suddenly remembered these chickpea chocolate chippers I had made. Why not bridge the gap between cookie and hummus love, especially in this month of all things amorous?

The tryst began in the food processor, a tête-à-tête of garbanzos, a touch of sweetening and a dash of spice. A dollop of peanut butter smoothed out the rough patches and - for lack of a better suggestive term - lubricated things along the way. Finally, the love child was born: a thick spread smacking of peanut butter cookie dough flavour and mouthfeel, but with a touch of grown up grace and a notable lack of added butter or oil. I even used all natural peanut butter, no sweetening, just a touch of salt, so it was comfortably within the boundaries of "good for you".

I mean, until you smear it on sugar-crusted cinnamon toast or smush a glob between cookies and freeze it for a nighttime snack. I can't control what happens afterwards!

Hummus Like Grandpa's

Or, as I like to call it, "yummus"!
I am such my grandfather's granddaughter. More than anyone else in the family, I have his adoration for trivia, details, spices, and ethnic fare. Along with his taste for curry and hot sauce (he once tasted a flight of habanero sauces without blinking an eye or touching the water cup - at age 70!), Grandpa's got a rather deft hand in the kitchen - especially when it comes to scrambled eggs, pancakes, and my favourite - garlicky, creamy hummus.

I have yet to perfect Grandpa's recipe for hummus (and there's no point in asking since it's always a slap-dash "chuck in the blender" type thing), but I do know that it is tangy with lemon and packed with garlicky goodness, and not overly oily either (in fact, I never remember seeing any oil floating to the top of the jars). I don't recall the thick, yet still dippable, spread being super sesame-ish either, hinting that though there was likely the conventional tahini in the mix, it wasn't as much as a lot of the recipes out there. Personally, I don't bother buying tahini since it just sits in the fridge after a single use and goes bad!

When I started playing around with the recipe, I came up with the idea of using simply ground sesame seeds instead. Actually, since I already had a batch of ground sesame seeds mixed with ground and flax seeds on hand, thats what I used. The one thing I learned quickly - and I'm sure Grandpa would definitely approve - is that this definitely tastes best (and is way cheaper!) when you've used home-cooked chickpeas! In fact, the man himself got a taste of it practically out of the processor, and I dare say he enjoyed it as much as I did!