Book Review: Sweet Utopia and some Sweet Potato Lentil Chili

The book: Sweet Utopia: Simply Stunning Vegan Desserts, by Sharon Valencik

Book Publishing Company sent me this book to review a little while back and I've only recently had time to actually make something out of it. The book itself is beautiful! Gorgeous color photographs by the author's husband, Milan Valencik, fill the entire book. The photos alone make you want to make every single thing in this book. And once you browse through it, you'll find yourself bookmarking every other recipe, because they look so good. I have way too many page corners folded over, just waiting for me to try my hand at these recipes, which although they look so gourmet, they don't actually seem too difficult to create. Thank you, Sharon! She has some good information at the beginning of the book on using different ingredients and how to substitute ingredients as well (which always comes in handy). I did finally try the Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Muffins, because I had some leftover pumpkin I didn't know what to do with.  Let me tell you....you won't be able to stop eating them....just ask my husband :)  They're phenomenal! And just so you can try them yourself, I'm including the recipe for them below:

Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Muffins
   from Sweet Utopia, by Sharon Valencik (with permission to publish from Book Publishing Company)

1 cup all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin
1 cup granulated sugar (I used 3/4 cup turbinado)
1/2 cup canola oil (I used water)
1/3 cup soymilk (I used unsweetened)
3/4 cup nondairy chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and oil a standard 12-cup muffin pan or line it with paper liners.  Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda in a large bowl.  Add the pumpkin, sugar, oil, and soymilk and stir until just combined.  Gently stir in the chocolate chips and optional walnuts.  Spoon evenly into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Last night, I made some Sweet Potato Lentil Chili from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan.  I needed to use up some sweet potatoes and this was the perfect choice.  I'm definitely making it again soon.  I just happened to cook up some black beans yesterday morning, so I had some available for the recipe.  It took quite a bit longer to cook than printed, for the sweet potatoes, but that's ok...it was ready by the time my husband got back from his Houston trip.

And by the way, if you're interested in keeping tabs on the recipes in this cookbook, check out Ashlei's blog as she cooks her way through it!

Coming up: another book review (Vitamin D: The Sunshine Vitamin) and my "barley" risotto recipe!

Again, don't forget NOLA Veggie Fest tomorrow! I'll be there. For info, click here.

Eat smart,
T.

Stuff I've been eating and an apology

I'm so sorry I haven't been posting....been so busy with taxes and rehearsals, etc....and I know I missed last week's farmer's market and blogger of the week post. Again, I apologize.

It's 77 degrees and I finally have a day off.  In a week, I get to meet my 1 1/2 year old nephew for the first time, so I'm excited about that! Taxes are finally done...except for one small detail, but I have a lot on my mind.  I've been contemplating about buying a new camera and/or a new smartphone.  If I'd won the lottery, I'd buy both before my little trip next week. But......I don't know what to do. Maybe I shouldn't get either.  I don't want to take my big Panasonic camera with me on the plane....just too big. The one I've been looking at keeps getting more expensive and out-of-stock everywhere, because everyone wants it! Grrrrr......And I wish I had a bigger and better phone to use while in the airport waiting. They've replaced mine twice already....although I've had it for a few years by now. Maybe it's ready to go. And my wall phone charger just died too. Was that a sign??  I just feel cheated, because I've paid for insurance for the phone, yet they keep giving me ones with problems and that's what they'll keep on doing if I bring it back.

Ok, sorry....off topic.

This week's farmer's market: strawberries, rainbow chard (excited about that...and it's so pretty!), collard greens, kale, shiitakes, brown rice, lots of lettuce, carrots, and sweet potatoes.

Stuff I've been eating:

My Mix n' Mashed Potatoes with Kale/Tomato gravy:

Sprouted Grain Pasta with brussels sprouts, tomatoes, nutritional yeast, fresh basil, salt, garlic, and pepper:

Refried bean quesadilla on corn tortillas with assorted sauteed veggies and a slice of melted Rice Vegan cheddar:

And I won a jar of Artisana Cacao Bliss from Elena's blog!! Thank you, Elena :)

We held auditions the other day and I made some Cocoa Banana Muffins in mini-muffin form from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan. I used all whole wheat flour instead of half barley and half oat. I also used agave nectar instead of maple syrup.  They were really good and not too sweet.  I should've filled the tins a bit more, as they were rather small muffins (leftover batter used for regular sized muffins in this picture):

Blogger of the Week: Elena's EatHealthyBeHappy Blog.   She's written some really great posts, including one on reversal of hypothyroidism....very interesting. She's also got some really good recipes and giveaways!

Other giveaways:

Avery at LoveVeggiesAndYoga is giving away a $25 shopping spree for Chocomize! Go check it out...it's a really clever idea.

Elena's Green for Life giveaway!

I think that's about all I can handle for today.

Eat smart,
T.

A Day for Sweets

Yet another rainy day here in the South. So I decided to cheer myself up by making some whole wheat chocolate chip muffins. I'd been really craving something chocolatey.

But first, who can tell the difference between these two breakfast bowls? One is mine and one is my husband's. They're the same, but different :)

And now onto the sweet stuff! I adapted this recipe from a book (which I'll add later, because I have to run out now). Just wanted to get

the pictures in here before I left.

And now I must run off.....will post the recipe later!

Ok I'm back with my recipe:

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins, adapted from the Basic Muffin Recipe in Pillsbury's Best Muffins and Quickbreads.

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4-1/2 cup demerara sugar (or replace with your own sweetener)

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup almond milk (or soy or any other kind of milk)

1/3 cup oil

1 egg

1/2-1 cup chocolate chips (I like more!)

Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl, then mix all wet ingredients in another bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix. It may be a little dry. I added a little water at a time to make it a nice muffin texture. Don't go overboard! You don't want them at all runny. The batter should be thick.

Put in a greased 12 muffin tin and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Again, it depends on your oven. Enjoy! I sure am...and so is my husband, and so is our friend that's here at the moment :)

Eat smart,

T.