finished object, a rainy day, and muffins

First off, the finished object - Habitat by Jared Flood. I wore it today to the beach hoping that the rain would block it to my head all by itself. It may need some actual blocking some day, but for now it'll work!

It was a rainy summer day, warm and very wet, and we joined Outdoor Preschool at Outer Point for three hours of fun in the woods and on the beach. Here's Sophie with a limpet she found, right before she tried to stick it to her nose :)...

And then we came home and made muffins! My kind of rainy day. I used the recipe from the bag of Bob's Red Mill Oat Bran, and instead of whole wheat pastry flour I substituted 1/3 quinoa flour, 1/3 wheat germ, and 1/3 Bob's gluten free all-purpose flour, plus a handful of whole flax seeds. For the wet ingredients, I put a banana, three carrots, a handful of raisins, and a couple handfuls of walnuts together in the food processor and then mixed them in. I also halved the amount of sugar.

They turned out good, very tasty. The only thing is that every time I've tried to use the gluten free all-purpose flour, things turn out slightly burnt on the outside before they're done on the inside. Is there a trick to getting gluten-free things to turn out right? I'm not even doing all gluten-free, just trying to incorporate more alternative grains (other than wheat) into my baking.

tangled knitting

Or rather, knitting tangled. Or, never mind. This:

... is what I'm working on. It's the first time I've picked up needles in far too long, and it did take me a couple tries to get it going well, but I've got the hang of it back now. It's to be a hat, for myself (what? crazy talk), and it's called Habitat (not 'tangled'.... why do I keep thinking that?) by Jared Flood.

The yarn I bought in Portland, at the one and only yarn shop I went into, and it is in fact the one and only skein of yarn I bought in said shop. I was quite proud of myself for only coming out with one skein, and a skein with a purpose at that. I've been wanting a new hat, and there was a sample knit up in the shop of a hat out of this yarn, so it seemed it was meant to be. It's Blue Sky Alpacas worsted, half merino and half alpaca, and it's so soft and wonderful to knit with! I can't wait till it's done and I can wear it :)

oatmeal raisin cookies plus protein

I bought this stuff at the store the other day and have been wanting to experiment with adding it to baked goods. Being the lazy vegetarian I am and Sophie being the picky eater she is, neither of us tend to get enough protein on a regular basis. I know that Sophie's mood and self-regulation fares much better when she's eating enough protein (and I'm sure it's true for me as well) - so in the spirit of Deceptively Delicious I thought I would try some sneaky protein additions.

Today I went with cookies. I started with the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies recipe from Deceptively Delicious and went from there....

The original recipe calls for zucchini puree and banana puree. I didn't have either but I did have a zucchini in the fridge and an over-ripe banana on the counter! I put the zucchini in the food processor and called it good (I didn't cook it first, not even a little), then mashed the banana in with everything else.

I wanted to make the cookies vegan (just for fun really) so I substituted ground flax seed with water for the egg white called for. This is really easier than you think - just whisk the flax in with water, microwave, whisk, and microwave again until you get something that looks like this:

Ok, I know it's hard to see in that picture, but basically you want it to gel up enough that it hangs off the whisk for a second before dropping - kind of like an egg white - which is, after all, what we're going for here.

I added six tablespoons of the protein powder along with the dry ingredients, which according to my (very rough) calculations only added a measly 2g of protein to each finished cookie. Humph. At least the oat flour has a good bit of protein in it too. I think this addition made the cookies a little dry, so next time I'll probably add something else with the wet ingredients to balance it. Maybe applesauce. Or not, who knows.

The finished dough looked like this:

And the finished cookies, well, they look a little weird. They didn't flatten in the oven, so I squished them down with a spatula half way through. I think this is the too-dry issue caused by the added protein powder. But they taste good, and Sophie keeps asking for more - success!

Alright, here's what I did:

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - adapted from Deceptively Delicious

6 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 zucchini, ground in food processor

1 banana, mashed

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup whole oat flour

1 cup rolled oats

6 tablespoons soy protein powder (optional)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat the margarine and sugar in a large bowl. Add zucchini and banana; mix (and mash at the same time if you're lazy like me). In a small bowl, whisk together the flax and water. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, whisking in between, until the mixture gels. Add to ingredients in large bowl and mix well.

In another bowl, mix together flours, protein powder, oats, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add to wet ingredients and mix gently. Add raisins.

Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 12-15 min.

Enjoy!

pumpkin muffins

I messed with one of my favorite recipes and came up with these:

I think they're pretty good, they passed a double kid taste test, and they're super healthy. And I even remembered to write down what I did! Here it is:

Pumpkin Muffins

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup pure olive oil

1/2 cup applesauce

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

2T ground flaxseed

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup whole oat flour

1/4 cup quinoa flour

1/4 cup wheat germ

4 heaping tablespoons powdered soy milk

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Vanilla soy milk (about 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 350F. In a big bowl mix the sugar, oil, applesauce, and pumpkin. In a small bowl, whisk the flaxseed with 1/2 cup water. Microwave for 30-second increments, whisking in between, until the mixture gels up. Add to the big bowl and mix. In a medium bowl mix the dry ingredients together, then add to the wet ingredients and mix gently. Add soy milk at this point until the matter reaches the right consistency for muffins. Bake in greased muffin tin for about 20 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly pressed.

You could use different oil and experiment with different flours, and don't worry if you don't have powdered soy milk. (I finally found it hidden on a bottom shelf in our health food store). Also, I used a ton of spices - if you (or your kids) don't like super strong spice flavor, use less - a lot less - maybe half of what I put.

Enjoy!

new favorite: rainwater botanicals

I love shopping on Etsy, and recently came across what just may be my new favorite shop: Rainwater Botanicals.

Check it out!!

version 2.0

Of Pumpkin Pie Muffins - recipe adapted from 'Deceptively Delicious' -

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup almond milk (or soy milk) with a splash of apple cider vinegar

1 egg

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour (or whole oat flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Sophie loves these! Next time I will add some oat bran and wheat germ as well. These are moist, light, and airy - kind of cupcake-like, actually. Bake at 350 for about 14 minutes.

And Tiger's Candy -

This time I rolled them in shredded coconut, and they are immensely better. Sophie is gobbling them up. Success!!

tiger's candy

My mom used to make these things called Tiger's Candy when I was little. I remember them being amazingly delicious, and even better because I was allowed to have them almost anytime I wanted one.

I'm mentally getting ready for camping season (one more month maybe??), and I have begun experimenting with different ways to get more protein into Sophie without a fight. Protein = energy = kids who will hike without fussing (as much). This is my theory anyway. So I found the recipe for Tiger's Candy online and made a test batch while Sophie was at preschool today.

I rolled them in cocoa powder since Sophie loves chocolate, but next time I will try rolling them in shredded coconut.

In my opinion, these aren't as amazingly delicious as I remember, but then again everything's better as a child. I'll have to ask my mom what substitutions she used.

Here's the recipe - adapted from Diet for a Small Planet:

Tiger's Candy

1/4 cup peanut butter

2/3 cup ground sunflower seeds

1 tablespoon wheat germ

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 cup finely chopped raisins

cocoa powder

Blend peanut butter and ground sunflower seeds together, then add wheat germ, flax seed, honey, and raisins. Blend well. Form into balls and roll in cocoa powder.

The original recipe calls for powdered milk, but I looked all over the grocery store and couldn't find powdered soy milk to substitute, so I just threw in some wheat germ and flax for fun instead. I'll have to look at the health food store, because that seems like a good way to add protein to just about anything.