A long time ago, in a kitchen far away....

Finally the post I have built up (hopefully not too much haha) accidentally, Star Wars Pancakes. Knowing my love for all things Star Wars, my dear husband bought me these awesome Star Wars pancake molds (from William Sonoma) for Christmas. I can't believe it took me this long to finally use them, but I did and the results weren't too shabby.

The pancake recipe that I am going to give you is my go to recipe that I modified to be vegan. It has relatively low sugar and really you can use whatever flour you'd like in it. When I normally make these pancakes (pre-star wars molds) I add chunks of strawberries and bananas or blueberries and lemon zest. I haven't tried adding the fruit with the molds yet, as it would ruin the look, instead you can always make a compote out of the fruit and use it that way. The great thing about this pancake mix, is that you'll have 2 more servings to set aside and use on a rainy day (allowing you not to have to purchase pre-made mixes from the store, something I always strive to do).

Pancake Mix Recipe

1 1/2 Cups All purpose flour (or gluten free flour of your choice)

1 1/2 Cups Whole wheat pastry flour

6 Tbsp Yellow cornmeal

6 Tbsp Sugar (or your favorite natural sugar replacement coconut sugar, raw sugar, beet sugar, stevia...ect)

1 Tbsp Baking powder

1 tsp Baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1. Combine all of the ingredients together measure out 1 1/3 Cup and store the rest in a cool dry place to use on another day.

Vegan Pancakes

1 1/3 Pancake mix (you just made)

1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon

1 Cup You choice milk** (I use almond, you can use soy, rice, hemp...ect)

1/4 Cup Water (now be careful here I usually use half the amount of water asked for and add more if I find the batter to be too thick....otherwise you'll end up with watery thing pancakes)

1/2 Cup applesauce** (I use my kids apple sauce cups as they usually end up measuring 1/2 cup)

1 Tbsp Oil (you can use whatever oil you'd like, I use coconut oil and would advise using a healthier oil that doesn't have too strong a flavor)

1 tsp Vanilla extract

** These are the only two substitutions that make this meal vegan. I use the almond milk to replace normal milk. You can also use a cap full of apple cider vinegar in the almond milk to get a buttermilk flavor effect. I use the applesauce as an egg replacement. You can use just about any pureed fruit as an egg replacement.**

1. Combine the pancake mix and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl combine the milk, water, applesauce, oil, and vanilla. Pour the liquid into the pancake mix and mix until there are no chunks left.
NOTE- This is the time you'll decide if you need to use the rest of your water or not, if it looks way too thick then slowly add some more and mix.. repeat if necessary.

If you decide to add fruit and make non molded pancakes do that now by folding them in gently

2. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray or wipe with some of the oil you used earlier. Measure out 1/4 scoop fulls of batter and pour on skillet. These generally don't take too long to cook, so just keep an eye on them. Get them to the browned color of your choice and flip. With the molds you want to ensure you grease it thoroughly before pouring in the batter. They will want to stick, so when you think it's time for them to turn use the hilt end of a butter knife to push them out.

Time to eat!! We usually use a dark agave syrup on these to help keep the sugar intake down, but if you can always top with honey, fruit, or real maple syrup.

I hope you all enjoy!!! Feel free to ask any questions you may have.

May the force be with you...

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How bout them Seahawks...

First off, as a member of this fine state for the last 27 years of my life let me just say: WOOOOOOO SEAHAWKS!!!!

Alright, got that out of my system. I hope that you all had a great weekend and were able to watch the game. To those of you Broncos fans out there, I'm sorry for the loss. Maybe next year? I spent the weekend in Olympia, WA doing some training for work. Thankfully I was able to bring my husband a long with me to turn it into a sort of mini vacation.  Capping my lovely little getaway off, was Superbowl Sunday. We ended up having a couple people over for a low key evening full of blue and green wins. On the menu for this evening were 3 things: Buffalo Cauliflower bites, Ryan's family's Swedish meat balls, and spinach artichoke dip. I know that I said I would share my vegan star wars pancakes, but  I figured this close to the Superbowl I should share some of the amazing things we made. 

Seeing as we are a mixed household of meat eaters and veggie connoisseurs, I had to have a little bit of everything for our snacking pleasures. I've had a lot of requests for these buffalo cauliflower bites that I tried recently. I liked them so much I decided to make that my snack of choice (and any other veggie fans) for game day. The texture to these ends up being very similar to that of a potato, making these the perfect filling snack (especially when you're craving buffalo wings and don't have any). The next time I make these I think I'll start messing with sauces and have some fun with it.

For the next snack, I thought about my husband and the one thing he always tries to order when we go to restaurants (I say try, because I'm not the biggest fan...it really needs to impress me to order it): Spinach artichoke dip. This dip ended up being one of the best ones I've ever tasted (the whole not eating dairy thing ensures I usually only get to taste them). The texture was creamy with no big random chunks of artichoke and the taste was addicting without being overpowering. The husband loved it as did our guests (there wasn't any left), I'd say this recipe is a keeper. 

Wrapping this up is my husband's family's Swedish meatballs. This specific recipe is one that his uncle regularly makes when they visit their snow camp in Michigan, and has the one thing Ryan finds most important in a meal.....meat. I can honestly say that every dish Ryan has made not only smells amazing while it's being made, but is jam packed full of flavor. If you're ever looking for a heavier grazing food for a party or event, this is it.

Vegan Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

Ingredients:

1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Mlik

1 Cup your choice of Flour (you can use whole wheat, gluten free, rice...etc)

1 head of Cauliflower chopped

1 tsp Onion Powder

2 tsp Garlic Powder

3/4 Cup Buffalo Sauce (any brand that you'd like).

1 Tbs Earth balance or other type of vegan butter melted

1.  Preheat oven to 450 F

2. Combine milk and flour together until there are no lumps left, and then add the onion and garlic powder.

3. Grab a baking sheet and make sure that it is greased well (you can use coconut oil or any oil you'd like really). Dip each piece of cauliflower into the batter and place on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

4. While it's baking combine the buffalo sauce with the melted butter. Once they are ready to come out dip each piece into the sauce and place back onto the baking sheet. Place back in over for 5 minutes and enjoy!

Recipe based on http://www.yogaoutlet.com/blog/the-yogahappy-challenge-day-6

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Ingredients:

8 oz Cream Cheese softened

1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese plus more for topping

1/3 Cup Sour Cream

1/3 Cup Mayonnaise

10 oz Frozen Chopped Spinach thawed and drained

1 Cup coarsely chopped canned artichoke hearts

4 cloves of Roasted Garlic smashed*** (instructions to come)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1. Roast your garlic. Place 4 un peeled cloves of garlic onto a baking dish and roast at 350 F for 25-30 min. Once it's done you will squeeze out the cloves, discarding the peels (all the hard stuff). 

2. Set oven to 400 F. Combine the cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, spinach, artichokes, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. Stir until it is all mixed together and there aren't chunks of cream cheese. Top with as much extra Parmesan cheese as you'd like. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Serve warm with baguette slices, pita chips, or whatever you would like.

Recipe based on: http://www.annies-eats.com/2010/11/17/spinach-artichoke-dip/

Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients:

4 lbs Lean Ground Beef

1 lb Breakfast sausage (like the kind you'd find in a tube)

2 Eggs

2 18 oz bottles Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce 

A-1 sauce

Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tubes of Ritz Crackers

1 Sweet Onion

2 big cans of Cream of Mushroom soup

Honey

Lawrys Seasoning Salt

Black pepper

Olive Oil

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Chop onion and saute with olive oil and a little bit of A-1 sauce. Once browned set aside.

2. Combine the meats in a large bowl. Add the BBQ sauce (you may not need all of the second bottle, I'll leave that judgement up to you) and mix in with hands. Next you are going to add in the A-1 and Worcestershire sauces, you just want to put in a light amount of each. It won't be as much as the BBQ sauce. Now an option that you can do as well, but it isn't necessary, is adding a little bit of red wine and allowing the meat to marinate over night. 

3. Mash the crackers inside of their plastic tubing and pour onto the meat. Mix up again with hands until all combined. Add the onions mix and then sprinkle a decent amount of Lawrys seasoned salt and black pepper. Don't use too much, or you'll have some very salted balls... 

4. Get out a baking sheet coated in olive oil. Roll balls out of the meat a little smaller than a baseball and set them on the sheet. Once you have rolled all the balls put a dab of honey on the top of each. Place the pan(s) in the oven and bake for 30 min. After 30 min rotate each meat ball and bake for another 30 minutes. 

5. Meanwhile get out the ol crockpot and add the cream of mushroom soup. Add the meatballs to this once you've pulled them out and set it to high for about 10 minutes. After that you can set it to low, stirring from the bottom occasionally. THEY ARE READY!!!

I hope you all have an amazing week. Drive safe and stay warm.