Chocolate cake ( or cupcakes)
Cake ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour or gluten free flour blend
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
1 – 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup rice milk
1/4 cup earth balance or coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water
Frosting ingredients:
1/3 cup earth balance
2/3 cup Hershey’s cocoa powder (optional – use more sugar if no cocoa powder)
2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
About 1/4 cup rice milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the cake:
- Combine dry ingredients in large bowl.
- Add rice milk, apple cider vinegar, oil, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
- Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
- Pour into pan or fill muffin cups 3/4 full with batter. Makes about a dozen cupcakes.
Bake at 350 degrees, cupcakes about 22-25 minutes. Cool and frost.
For the frosting:
Slightly melt earth balance, if needed. Stir in cocoa and vanilla.
Alternately add powdered sugar and rice milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency. Add more rice milk or powdered sugar, if needed.
Tip to remember: Largest tips always work best for frosting cupcakes!
Vanilla cake
Makes barely enough for 12 cupcakes
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour or gluten free flour blend
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
Half teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 cup water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Bake at 350° for 20 to 35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
Allergy free and vegan carrot cake
2 cups all purpose flour or gluten free flour blend
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch salt
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 1/3 cups grated carrots
1 cup brown sugar
2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flaxseed meal with 6 tablespoons warm water)
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup applesauce
Preheat oven to 350°
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.
Add the brown sugar, grated carrot, prepare flax eggs, oil, vanilla, apple cider vinegar, and applesauce to the mixing bowl.
Mix everything together. Let the batter sit for a minute or two.
Divide the mixture between 2 -7 inch cake tins.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Allow cakes to cool completely.
While the cakes are cooling, prepare the frosting.
Lemon butter cream frosting:
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons vegan butter (soy free earth balance)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
3 to 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Add frosting ingredients to an electric mixer bowl and mix to the perfect consistency.
If the frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If the frosting is too thick, added more lemon juice one drop at a time.
Gluten free flour blend
You can also buy pre-made blends at the store. I haven’t in a while and there are a lot more options now. If it were me, I’d try the King Arthur gluten free flour blend.
Gluten free flour blend:
2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1 cup potato starch
4 tablespoons tapioca starch
2 tsp xanthum gum
2 tsp baking powder
Ritz “Pizzas”
My 10-year old daughter makes these in the toaster oven as a snack. They are delicious!
Daiya makes our favorite “cheeses”!
Ingredients:
Ritz crackers
Tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce
Daiya cheese
Pumpkin Bread
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup flax seed meal
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (can use coconut oil, olive oil, etc.)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups shredded fresh pumpkin
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1/2 cup water
- Sift the flour, flaxseed meal, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together.
- In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, oil, and vanilla. Combine both mixtures and fold in the shredded pumpkin and raisins. Pour into oiled loaf pan.
- Bake at 325°F for about two hours or toothpick comes out clean.
Pesto
- 2 cloves of fresh garlic
- 8 cups fresh basil, packed
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 1 cup olive oil
- 3 teaspoons sea salt
- Juice from one lemon (optional)
- In a food processor, mince garlic first. And basil in portions and process until combined. Add remaining ingredients and process until very smooth, scraping sides as needed.
- Makes about 2 cups pesto. Freeze in 1/4 cup portions (or 4 tablespoons). Also freezes well in 1 tablespoon portions in ice cube trays.
- When ready to use, boil 8 ounces of pasta and mix with 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) thawed pesto.
Brownies
- Flax gel (1/2 cup warm water + 5 tablespoons flaxseed meal)
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder dissolved in 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch sea salt
- 3/4 cup "enjoy life" brand mega chunks or chocolate chips
- Beat flax gel, coconut oil, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and cocoa powder + water until smooth.
- And remaining dry ingredients except for chocolate chips and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Put into slightly greased 8 x 8 pan. Bake at 350° for about 20 - 25 minutes.
Lasagna (Dairy and Egg Free)
This almond ricotta is amazing.
- 2 cups raw almonds + enough water for soaking
- 1 cup filtered water
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
- Juice from half a lemon
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- About 1/2 to 1 cup fresh basil, packed
- 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped finely
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 pound ground turkey or beef
- 28 ounce can whole tomatoes
- 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 25 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 13.25 ounce whole wheat lasagna pasta
- Cover almonds with water and soak overnight.
- Drain and rinse almonds.
- Combine all ingredients except spinach and basil in food processor. Process until smooth, for several minutes, scraping sides as needed. Add basil and process until smooth. Stir in chopped spinach.
- Combine olive oil, onions, garlic, and oregano and sauté until onions are fragrant and translucent.
- And turkey and brown slightly.
- Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.
- Remove from heat.
- Place the sauce, almond ricotta, and uncooked noodles next to the pans for ease of assembly.
- Scoop a small amount of sauce to the bottom of two pans.
- Layer uncooked noodles, almond ricotta, and sauce.
- Repeat another layer of noodles, almond ricotta, and sauce.
- Cover tightly with aluminum for oil and bake at 350° for 60 minutes.
- Let stand 10 minutes.
- Makes about 2 - 9x11 pans. Freezes well.
You Need a Budget
Food is an important part of our lifestyle. That’s why I have been trying to post as many recipes as possible in the limited time I have to dedicate to this site. This is a break from my usual recipe posts touch on another important topic in our family – our budget. Bulk cooking is our family’s solution to healthy and delicious meals during the week. It’s also easy on the budget. Bulk cooking takes some planning, time and effort, but it’s worth it!
I recently stumbled upon an app to track your budget from listening to podcasts on my commute. I have spreadsheets and lists to try and track our budget in the past, but they never worked well. This app/software is called YNAB (you need a budget). It’s $60, and I’m a penny pincher, but this is worth it. Check it out if you need a budget. We all need a budget.
If you use the link below, you’ll save $6.