No-Chicken Noodle Soup

If you're in the cold that is Canada like I am, this is the soup for you. Hearty. Healthy. Delicious. No-Chicken Noodle Soup. You'll need:

Celery (I used half a bunch)

Carrots (I used a whole bunch of small organic ones)

Parsley (about a fist full)

Vegan Butter (I used Earth Balance)

1 tsp Habanero Powder

1 tbsp Dried Basil

1 tbsp fresh chopped garlic 

4 large white mushrooms, cubed 

4 cups of vegan chicken broth

2 cups boiling water

2 cups noodles of your choice

In a large pot, melt butter and add in garlic, basil and habanero. Then add fresh chopped parsley. Next, add celery and carrot and cook on low until the carrot begins to soften. Now add the mushroom, chicken broth and water and bring to a boil. Once boiling add in your noodles and cook until soft. Enjoy!  

Bagels! Bagels! Bagels!

Who knew that bagels were so easy to bake? I have a previous post where I made cinnamon raisin bagels, which were amazing. I wanted something more savoury this time so I added some dried basil and garlic powder. 

I'm not going to get super technical, because I only loosely follow directions at best so here goes. You'll need:

1 cup warm water

1 1/2 tbsp of sugar

2 1/4 tsp of active dry yeast (or instant)

2 1/2 cups of flour

Pinch of salt 

1 tbsp dried basil

1/2 tbsp garlic powder 

First, in a bowl add the warm water (not hot to touch) and then add in the sugar. Stir and add in the yeast. Wait 5 minutes or so to make sure it's active. (It will start to "foam") 

Next, add the optional salt and then the flour. Knead until you're frustrated and want to give up. Usually about 10 minutes. (This is usually where I volunteer my daughter as manual labour...) The dough should be smooth and not sticky. At the halfway point I added about 1 tbsp of dried basil and 1/2 tbsp of garlic powder.  

Place your ball of dough on a cookie sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Set somewhere warm for 2 hours. It should double in size. 

*intermission* (At this point you can do laundry, watch a movie, yell at kids, pay bills, walk the dog etc...)

After two hours take your now giant ball of dough and break it into 6 (large) or 8 (medium) equal size pieces. Roll each one by hand into a ball and then break through the centre to make a hole. 

Place your bagel shaped dough on your lined cookie sheet (again) and let rise for another 30 minutes. 

*intermission 2*

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

In a wide pot, bring water to a boil. Place each bagel in boiling water for 1 minute on each side. The place on a parchment lined cookie sheet, sprinkled with corn meal. 

Now, bake the bagels for 18 to 20 minutes and OM NOM NOM. 

Beer Bread!

This recipe combines two of my favourite things; beer and bread!

There is nothing like fresh baked bread. Dipped in a nice thick soup or chili, toasted with butter or just on its own. I was always under the impression that unless I wanted to have a big bulky bread maker sitting on my counter- this was nothing more than a pipe dream. Well friends, the dream has become a reality! 

Beer bread!

3 cups of flour

3 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup of sugar

12 oz of beer

1/4 cup melted butter (optional)

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. You can sift if you have one, or I simply use a whisk to mix thoroughly. Then pour in beer and stir. If you'd like you can pour the melted butter over the top for a buttery crust- I prefer it crusty and "dry". Put mix into a greased loaf pan and bake at 375 for one hour or until golden brown.

I made mini loaves and divided the batter and baked for 40 minutes. 

Voila! DELICIOUS FRESH BREAD!

UPDATE:

I made this a little different; in muffin tins with 2 tbsp of garlic powder and 2 tbsp of jalapeño flakes. AMAZING!

Vegan Fudge...

Ok, so I made the fudge.

It is dangerously easy to make. I almost wish it was harder, or more complicated. Because something tells me that this is going to be my "go to" dessert now. Move over stuffed dates! There's a new crack in town...

The ingredients are simple.

1/2 cup virgin coconut oil

1/2 cup cocoa powder (or raw cacao powder)

1/2 cup pure maple syrup (or agave nectar)

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

That's it. That's all. Throw it in a blender and you're practically done. I added crushed walnuts at the end. Then spread it on a saran-lined cookie sheet and threw it in the freezer. Voila! Rich, melt in your mouth fudge!

Now the experimenting begins. 

I'm going to try it with half the cocoa and add almond milk in lieu of sweetener. Then maybe add some Oreo crumble. [Side bar: Oreos are totally vegan!] Which leads me back to my vegan does not = healthy. Especially with desserts!!

Or maybe I'll double the cocoa and add dried blueberries or cranberries. 

The possibilities are endless!