Vegan Banana Blueberry Lactation Muffins

Clearly there is a trend going on here! Since staying in Seattle for my sister's birth, I have been trying to help her out in as many ways as possible. One major way is cooking for her and her family, and one thing every new mother needs is energy! These hearty muffins are packed with energy giving nutrients, they are vegan, have good fat, no refined sugar and can easily be made gluten free.

They are also (almost) endlessly adaptable! For example, you can use up to 5 cups of oats and only 1 cup of flour for a much denser, "baked oatmeal" type of muffin. Leave out the brewer's yeast if you don't have it on hand (if you aren't specifically using these for milk production that is, if you are making the muffins to boost your system do leave the yeast in. Read this post for info!). You can vary the fruit from blueberries to any other berry, dried fruit or omit all together. They'd be delightful with some chopped nuts folded in and/or some nuts, oats, or sugar sprinkled on top. Add in some shredded unsweetened coconut, omit the banana and add an extra cup of applesauce... you get the picture!

Vegan Banana Blueberry Lactation Muffins
adapted from Knocked Up - Knocked Over

3 c. oats (1 c. blended into oat flour)
3 c. flour (can be gluten-free, whole wheat or unbleached all purpose- I used a mix of all three)
1/3 c. flax seed meal
1/3 c. brewer's yeast/nutritional yeast
1 1/2 t. baking soda
3 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 T. cinnamon
1 banana, mashed
2 c. applesauce
3/4 c. oil (olive or coconut melted is best, I used canola)
3/4 c. maple syrup, agave or honey (to taste)
2 t. vanilla
2 c. coconut milk + 1 T. vinegar (or any alt milk)
1-2 c. blueberries (tossed with a bit of the flour to help them not sink to the bottom of the muffins)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk oats, flour, flax seed meal, yeast, baking soda, baking powder, salt + cinnamon in a large bowl.

Whisk (or blend in batches!) banana, applesauce, oil, maple syrup, vanilla + coconut milk in a medium bowl.

Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until almost incorporated. Fold in blueberries. Fill sprayed muffin tins and bake for ~20 minutes. Enjoy! This recipe makes 2 dozen, and extras can be easily frozen (if you can't eat them quick enough!)

Vegan Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins

It's been awhile! Many things going on, but most importantly, I became an Aunt again! My sister just gave birth early yesterday (was it really only a day ago?) morning to her first son, Dash. He arrived before expected and needs some TLC at the hospital still, but is doing well and they are eager to bring him home when he's ready. She was a rockstar, did the whole thing sans pain medication, and I was privileged to witness the birth. So amazing.

I decided to make my sister some muffins to help with lactation as well as help keep her energy up for a snack throughout the day, and of course I wanted some too. I needed to use what she already had in her entirely non-vegan kitchen. That means no flax seed meal, no coconut oil, no special flours or organic sugar. Oh, and it helps if a two year old can help easily (Thanks Eleanor!) Enter Vegan Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins! Oats are great for nursing mamas, and these also have no refined sugar, no dairy, whole wheat flour and are made with simple pantry ingredients. A win for everyone.

the finished product

using totally fresh nutmeg- I had to crack open the shell and everything!

Vegan Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins

adapted from Jamessina

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup oats

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon 

1/2 t. nutmeg

1/4 t. ginger

1/4 c. oil (I used oil, melted coconut oil would be excellent)

1/4 c. maple syrup

1 cup applesauce, unsweetened

*1/4 c. brewer's yeast or nutritional yeast (optional)
*1/4 c. flax seed meal (optional)

*Brewer's yeast, flaxseed meal and oats are the perfect trifecta for nursing moms! The first time I made these muffins without the optional yeast + flaxseed, but they are great either way. Also I did a lot of research into the difference between brewer's yeast and nutritional yeast for this recipe, and found that they both seem to be excellent for you. I could not locate brewer's yeast in the small time allotted to me for shopping before getting back to my sister's house to help babysit, so I used nutritional yeast. The main difference is that only brewer's yeast contains chromium/selenium, while only nutritional yeast contains vitamin B12. Definitely do your own research though.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk wet ingredients in a small bowl. Add wet to dry, stir only until incorporated. Bake in a sprayed muffin tin for 15 min. Done! Easy vegan muffins that will satisfy anyone. Delicious with jam. 

Vegan Links

It has been just about 3 months since I last posted, and for good reason. After several years of un and underemployment I got a full time teaching job! I am so excited about it, it's a great progressive preschool with a fantastic small staff and lots of possibility. But given that big life change, I haven't had the energy to blog or do much else besides work and rest. So with that in mind, I have a quick post today with links to some amazing Holiday appropriate recipes that we made over Thanksgiving.

I had Thanksgiving with my in-laws and at our table we had omnivores, vegans, folks eating gluten-free and some wanting to avoid sugar. We all compromised a bit and came up with a fantastic menu that was almost vegan, often gluten-free, low in sugar and all delicious! A friend came last minute with severe Celiac disease (we're talking weeks of pain with a single bite of anything glutinous) and he was able to eat a full plate of food. It made my heart feel so good to be able to meet his dietary needs without even trying. And heck, if we had known we could have de-glutenized the whole meal!

Here are some highlights:

Sweet potato & pecan cinnamon rolls, pre-rise

Sweet Potato and Pecan Cinnamon Rolls- For breakfast! I actually used canned pumpkin because we forgot to cook the sweet potatoes in time, but either way they were delicious :)

Tofu Pot Pie filling 

Vegan Tofu Pot Pie- Delicious, hearty and filling, I find this recipe equally appropriate for the holidays or a weekend meal. We added some mushrooms cooked in red wine to add richness and depth, as well.

Amazing crudite spread~ veggies, homemade hummus, gluten-free chips

Sweet Potato Casserole- A vegan version of a staple in our house for the last 13 years. I have to say, I didn't miss the eggs and cream one bit!

The whole meal, Norman Rockwell style

Cranberry Relish with dried cherries, jam, vinegar and Grand Marnier- A few more ingredients than the homemade cranberry sauce I've done in the past, but WAY more flavor. This sauce is so so good and got a lot of compliments. It is also versatile and easy to modify. We used rum for our alcohol and mixed berry jam with apple cider vinegar instead of raspberry vinegar. Also, I completely got ahead of myself and added all the ingredients at once instead of in the cooking order the recipe called for. Still worked just fine.

Tequila, thanksgiving style, cause this is how we roll in the kitchen :)

Chocolate Agave Cream Pie- Oh my. This is possibly the best chocolate pie I've ever had. Very rich and dense. I made it with only 1 box of silken tofu because we ran out which gave a denser feel to it, next time I may try following the recipe exactly for a lighter texture, but honestly this was incredible and I made it again a week later (with just 1 box of tofu) for my husband's birthday.

Gluten free Pumpkin Pie with Praline and Coconut-Pecan Crust, Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie and  Chocolate Agave Cream Pie (from bottom left)

Gluten-free Pumpkin Pie with Praline and Coconut-Pecan Crust- This was the best pumpkin pie I've ever had. And we didn't even make the praline topping! Next time I'd reduce the cinnamon in the crust, but only because I'm a little sensitive to cinnamon.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie- Another winner! The only thing I'd change is omitting the banana and using extra pumpkin and extra sweetener to compensate (I'm not a fan of cooked banana). The texture was brilliant and it was an absolute beauty.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

There you have it! Go, cook, enjoy and hug your loved ones :)

Apple Cherry Crisp: sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan

I whipped this out quickly on Sunday for a little get together with some in from out of town friends. Bonus: one of them is a new vegan, too, so we had lots to chat about! I love the challenge of making recipes with less or no sugar, if only to see if they'll turn out. This definitely did work out, it definitely tastes "wholesome" and you actually taste the fruit rather than all the sugar. That's fine with me. Another Bonus: that means I can eat it for breakfast. Huzzah.

evidence of crisp as breakfast food

I had a brainstorm while making this about my grandma's peach cobbler and if I could veganize it and take out all or some of the sugar. So that is definitely in the works!

Apple Cherry Crisp: easily vegan, gluten-free and sugar-free
heavily adapted from Post Punk Kitchen

Fruit:
3 large apples, peeled and sliced*
1 pint cherry preserves (choose any jam flavor you like, can be sugar-free)
juice of 1 lemon (~2 T.)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 T. cornstarch (or arrowroot)

*I originally chopped the apples on the chunky side and left the peel on, in the future I will peel and slice as I think it will have a better overall tooth-feel. Although certainly do what feels good to your taste!

Crisp Topping:
1 c. flour (I used barley flour, can easily use gluten-free)
1 c. oats
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 c. oil (healthy oil such as light olive oil, sunflower or coconut)
1 tsp.vanilla
2-4 T. maple syrup, honey or agave to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine fruit filling ingredients in a large bowl, set aside. Preferably set this mixture aside for an hour to macerate and get the juices flowing, although not necessary.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, oats, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add oil, vanilla and sweetener and stir until combined.

In an 8x8 pan add fruit mixture and cover with the topping mixture. Bake for ~45 minutes. Serve with vegan ice cream or coconut whipped cream.

before popping in the oven

Canning without Sugar

no sugar added jam three ways: raspberry blueberry, apricot vanilla bean, strawberry

I've been having some difficulty getting into canning this season. Life is busy and, at times, stressful no doubt, but the main reason is that for the last 33 days, I haven't eaten any sugar. No sugar of any kind except whole fruit, nor any dairy, meat, gluten, soy or corn. I've been doing a modified allergy elimination diet, to kick start my health and help me see how certain foods affect my health and well-being. And wow! Seriously, I have been amazed at the results so far: more energy, sleeping better, fewer headaches or the ability to "cure" them quickly whereas before they'd last for hours and hours, clearer skin, healthier nails, and most of all a new connection to the foods I eat. I finally feel I've gotten a grasp on the foods I am choosing to put in my body and focusing all my positive energy on what I choose to eat versus what I choose not to. Because rather than say, "I can't have that, it has sugar" I have changed the way I think to "I choose not to have that, because I'll feel healthier if I do not".

I am adding foods back, one-at-a-time, to see how I do with them, and given that information I may or may not return to eating that particular food product with regularity. All of which to say that I haven't canned much because the task of making jam without sugar seemed daunting to me. Sugar is everything to canning! Many recipes call for cups and cups of sugar (usually refined white sugar at that). For the last 2 canning seasons, I have thought nothing of adding 4 cups of sugar to a typical fruit jam. 4 cups! My that is quite a lot of sugar. Luckily, there is a way to make tasty jam without any added sugar, something I never would have thought of prior to this experiment.

raspberry blueberry jam pre-processing

On a side note: did you realize that sugar is in *much* of what we eat? Even those of us who feel they eat healthy might not realize how sugar-laden our collective diet is. The most common thing I've heard when I tell friends and family I'm opting out of sugar (and maple syrup, brown rice syrup, honey, agave, etc.) is "Why worry about it if it's just a little bit, like in ketchup?" Well, for me it's because a little sugar in my ketchup (and that's the organic kind, not the HFCS kind!) plus all the other hidden sugars in "healthy" products like bread, cereal, condiments, sauces, nut butters, jams soups, etc. adds up to a lot more sugar than it seems and a lot more than is A) necessary and B) healthy, in my opinion. So for now, I am staying away completely, only allowing myself fruit. And even then, fruit has fructose and I watch how much I intake. It can be all too easy to realize I've had 5 servings of fruit and only 2 serving of veggies in a day if I'm not careful!

Anyhow, back to jam! Pomona's Universal Pectin is, of course, the answer! According to the product description, "Pomona's Universal Pectin is a sugar-free, low-methoxyl citrus pectin that is activated by calcium. Since it does not require sugar to jell, jams and jellies can be made with less, little, or no sugar." 


With the help of the recipe packet in the box and some inspiration from Hitchhiking to Heaven, I set about making my first batch of no-sugar-added Raspberry Blueberry Jam, using apple juice concentrate as my sweetener. I must say, it was delicious. At first the jam seemed too tart, as I'm used to conventional homemade jam (even my lower sugar recipes are still sweetened with at least a cup of sugar!), but as I let it set and especially the next day when I popped open my small test jar, I found it to be perfect. Definitely tart, but then the all the natural-sweet-goodness of the berries shined through. It was such a treat on my breakfast "cookies" (made vegan, gluten and sugar-free) along with some almond butter. 

such a treat!

Raspberry Blueberry Jam (no sugar added)
adapted from the recipe inside the Pomona's Universal Pectin box


~ 1 lb (2 pints) raspberries
~ 1 lb (1 pint) blueberries
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 c. apple or white grape juice concentrate (frozen, thawed)
4 tsp. Pomona's calcium water (comes with the pectin, follow box directions and keep extra in the fridge for next time)
3 tsp. Pomona's pectin powder

Add berries, lemon juice and calcium water to a large, nonreactive pot (I use my darling Le Creuset) and smoosh up a bit. I tend to heat the berries up at this point, to make the smooshing easier. Actually, this time, I took my hand blender to it, to create a slightly more uniform jam.

In a small saucepan, bring the juice concentrate to a boil. Very quickly add the pectin powder and either transfer to a blender or do what I did and pop your stick blender in it and whir until the mixture is thick and smooth, at least a few minutes.

Bring the fruit mixture to a boil and then add the juice-pectin mixture. Bring to a boil again and let your jam boil for a full minute before pulling the pan off the heat. Let it sit for 5 minutes or so, stirring frequently. This is supposed to help your jam avoid "fruit float", where the fruit juices separate from the fruit pieces, which then rise to the top of the jar. I however, would not know, because I neglected to let my jam sit for long enough, eager to get on with the project. Wa-wa. My fruit floated. Oh well, I'll just have to remind the recipient of my jam to give it a sturdy stir when first delving into the jar. And that person will be me, because I doubt I'll be sharing this with anyone! Too good and such a treat for me right now.

After letting the jam rest, fill your jars as usual leaving 1/4'' headspace and process in a water bath for 10 minutes. I don't sterilize my jars first if I'll be processing them for more than 10 minutes, but I'm not an authority and you should do what you feel is best.

Let the jam sit overnight or for the day and be satisfied as you look at your glowing red-violet jars, knowing that you made a healthy, pure fruit spread, with no added sugars and the taste of summer. And if you want to try it the way I did this morning, add 1 T. to this (sans sugar, of course). Marvelous!

apricot vanilla bean in my beloved weck jars

Variations:


I made Apricot Vanilla Bean (using a mix of white and yellow apricots) and Strawberry a few days later and both were excellent. Follow the proportions on the Pomona's Box for both. For the Apricot, I used 1 tsp. less pectin than on the box, as they tend to set up nicely on their own, white grape juice concentrate, and 1 scraped vanilla bean. For the Strawberry I used apple juice concentrate and no special add ins. For both I let the fruit macerate in the fridge with the lemon juice and 1/4 c. juice concentrate for a day or two. Voila! Now I have a pantry with 3 types of sugar-free, all-natural jam to enjoy!

no sugar added strawberry (notice the fruit float? just give it a stir when first opening)