My Vegan Baking Beginnings - ChocOatChip Cookies

This month I am venturing into the unknown and mysterious world of vegan baking. This is not especially easy, as a lifetime of Southern-American kitchen exposure tells me that baked goods MUST have fats. Butter! Eggs! White sugar! And preferably chocolate of some kind. 

The South's own kitchen mascot and her favorite ingredient:

There isn't much wrong with these ingredients except that some of them are from animals, they are fattening and full of cholesterol. Cookies and scones (and surely any other type of baked item) will turn out just as delicious without them.

I can't say it's the easiest thing in the world transitioning from fattening cookies to not-quite-so-fattening cookies, since egg replacers and vegetable oil behave rather differently than room-temperature butter and a couple whisked eggs. But it's worth stepping out of my comfort zone. And no one at my office who tried one of the choc-oat-chip cookies I baked could guess there were no eggs, butter or cow milk to be found in the tasty morsels. Try it! The animals (and your heart) will thank you.

My first vegan recipe ...

So-Close-To-Vegan Choc-Oat-Chip Cookies:

I tried really hard but these are not 100% vegan since there is dairy in the semi-sweet chocolate chips; I don't have any vegan chocolate chips around (carob and the like) so I used what I had. It was a good way to test the recipe at least, and I found that the cookies baked up wonderfully. They don't brown quite like they would if you had traditional dairy ingredients, but the prep and baking times are the same ... oh, except for that hour I saved NOT waiting for butter to soften.

This is the recipe I tried and I was very pleased. Instead of refined/white sugar, I used some brown and turbinado sugars; I didn't have any on hand but I would like to use sucanat or something else even less refined next time ... I am still working on transitioning my kitchen to a healthier place - I definitely have some shopping to do.

Here are a few photos from my baking experience:

Sugars and oil mixed together. This time, some vegetable oil replaces the typical 2 sticks of butter.

Here is what I used to replace the dairy eggs and milk (you can find out more about each of these items here and here):

 

Finely milled oats from The Peach Basket in Fredericksburg, TX - Kevin thought they would be nice for baking. =)

Ready for the oven ...

I had to take a peak 1/2 way through ... yep, they still look like cookies. ;)

All done and cooled, ready to be stored (eaten!)

New Year's Resolution: To treat my body better

This winter I resolved to change my habits for the better. Someone once said something about insanity and doing the same things over with the expectation of a different result. I'm over doing the same thing over; over and done. I'm ready to really change my habits, make them better and heathier, smarter. New year; new start ... here's hoping I can make it last.

Speaking of new starts, check out my new haircut. Now you see it now you don't! I decided to go extra short. I have wanted to for so long and finally did. It is one of the most liberating things I've done and I don't see myself 'going back' for a long time.

Before ...

After ...

One of the facets of my self-improvement is fitness. Since September (ish) I have been doing yoga at my house with a friend three evenings a week. It makes me feel better, more connected, more vibrant. I used to do yoga ALL the time. When I was living with my parents (over 6 years ago) and going to school in the mornings, I would come home and have lunch with my mom and then spend sometimes all afternoon and evening studying, reading, listening to music and practicing yoga in my room. My parents said I was 'cloistering' myself. I believed I was taking care of myself. I still do.

I think yoga has the power to restore my body; I have already seen it happening over the last few months. I feel stronger and more centered. I feel more at rest mentally; this is huge - no other pratice has had the ability to do this for me. I can't believe I allowed myself to drop the practice of yoga for so long knowing its healing power. It's a rush of energy, strength and peace throughout my body ... a connection with something great within myself. I can't imagine not doing yoga; I know life with yoga and life without it: life with yoga is a much better way to live.

So ... I continue my yoga practice 3 times a week. I supplement it with healthier eats and happier thoughts - I find the latter comes even more naturally with the incorporation of yoga into my routine. I eat more raw foods, fruits and vegetables and less animal products - no meat (sometimes a piece of tilapia), but still eggs from time to time and my Greek yogurt drizzled over almond granola. I try not to eat sugar and desserts (honey in my tea though). I make lots of tabbouleh and raw cabbage salad dressed with olive oil and lemon juice, steamed broccoli, curried chickpeas. Between meals I snack on apples, bananas, grapes, almonds or a glass of So Delicious Dairy Free. My goal is to go entirely vegan this year; I haven't gone 'cold turkey', but I'm making the shift.

Here are a couple of recipes for raw, vegan foods that I adore. They are nothing but pure goodness for your body and mind.

TABBOULEH:

I love tabbouleh! I could eat it every day and not tire of it.

You can find my full recipe here.


RAW CABBAGE SALAD:

I first made this salad (not exactly the same) a couple of years ago. I was actually making a 'regular' (lettuce) salad and thought it would be nice to add some raw cabbage for crunch (not to mention heart health). I loved it. This version is now all cabbage and no lettuce so I guess it's technically a slaw, but I don't drown it in a fatty mayo dressing; just some olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.

1/2 head cabbage, green or red, grated or chopped into small pieces
1 tomato, diced small
1/4 green bell pepper, diced small
1 carrot, grated
1/3 large cucumber, peeled and diced small
2 green onions, chopped (greens and whites)
1 T capers, drained and rinsed
2 eggs, hardboiled and coarse chopped (obviously if I was a pure vegan I wouldn't include this)
1/2 cup parsley, chopped

drizzle of olive oil
juice of 1/2 a large lemon

Combine all the prepared vegetables and toss with the oil and lemon juice. Season with Kosher salt and fresh cracker pepper.




Leftovers for lunch today.


RawFoodRecipes.com is a great website I stumbled upon in my quest for health. It's a great resource for all things vegetarian, vegan and raw.

Let me know what you are doing this year to make your body and mind a better place to live. And please share your healthy recipes, too!!