Yummy Vegan Dip or Sandwich Spread

Yes, believe it or not, I'm back.

I am trying to eat mostly vegan now - for a number of reasons, so my recipes may reflect my new attempts at creating vegan delicacies.

So I have some cut up vegetables - broccoli, cauliflower, celery, and carrots - and I've discovered that I like all of them, but am not terribly fond of the broccoli (raw at least). I seem to remember I used to like broccoli raw, but it's just not tripping my trigger right now. So I thought, what am I going to do with all this broccoli?

I got some very yummy 8-grain bread (which is probably not vegan, but I bought it before I was serious...), and wanted a sandwich - so I decided to make a sandwich spread. Now I've made sandwich spread with pinto beans or kidney beans in the past - going for a chili/taco kind of flavor - so I thought something similar to this might be a good way to get rid of my broccoli.

So I took a good handful of broccoli florets and threw them in the food processor. Then I added a can of butter beans (thought maybe their mild flavor would mix better with the broccoli) and processed them to death. Or at least til it was smooth consistency.

I tried it - and it tasted like broccoli and butter beans.

That's NOT what I was going for, but I must admit, I wasn't too surprised.

So I went back to the pantry and looked for something that was low/no-fat, low-calorie, and strong flavor to hide the broccoli taste (yes, I am a child...). Then I saw the can of sauerkraut! Perfect, I thought! I love sauerkraut, and I love it on sandwiches - like reubens, etc. So this should definitely cover the broccoli flavor.

So I dumped in the can and processed again. It's surprisingly delicious - if you like sauerkraut, I suppose. My husband tried it on a couple crackers and really liked it.

I toasted up a piece of that 8-grain bread and spread 1/4 c of my concoction on top. It was delicious! I look forward to lunch tomorrow! Maybe I'll eat it with tomato slices! Mmmmm!

Tastes better than it looks - AND - tastes better than it smells.
The sauerkraut smell is strong, but not as strong of a taste.

Broccoli Butter Bean Sauerkraut sandwich spread

• 1 large handful broccoli florets (1.5 c??)
• 1 can butter beans (1 4/5 c.)
• 1 can sauerkraut (408 g)

Blend ingredients in food processor until thoroughly mixed and desired consistency. 

Serving size 1/4 c. 

Makes about 24 servings

Per serving:

• Calories - 21
• Fat - 0
• Cholesterol - 0
• Protein - 1
• Sodium - 170
• Calcium - 1

Pumpkin Muffins

I made pumpkin muffins this morning - to welcome October. They were low-fat and low-enough calorie that I had two! :)

Pumpkin Muffins

• 1 egg
• 1/2 c skim milk
• 1 15-oz can pumpkin
• 1 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 c sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• cinnamon & spices to taste

beat egg & milk and mix in pumpkin
add dry ingredients and mix
scoop into 12 muffin cups (I used a bit of non-stick spray in a stoneware muffin pan)
bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes

makes 12 muffins
each muffin has:

• 101 calories
• 0.4 g fat (0.1 g saturated fat, 0.2 g monounsaturated)
• 15.6 mg cholesterol
• 135 mg sodium
• 5 mg potassium
• 21.2 total carbs (1.9 g dietary fiber, 10.1 g sugar)
• 2.8 g protein
• 24.3% vitamin a
• 0.8% vitamin c
• 7.3% calcium
• 4.3% iron

Kelan pulled a container of whipped topping out of the fridge and put that on his. Then everyone else did. So I looked it up. Turns out 1 Tbsp had only 13 calories and 1 g of fat, so I put a bit on my last bite. YUM! It tasted like pumpkin pie!

(there's no picture, because I didn't think to take one when I first made them, and they didn't last long.... I'll have to make them again soon, so I can get a pic!)

Multi-Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies - Guest Chef

Here's another winner from my dear friend John Lansford. I really wish he lived closer to me. 

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I made a batch of Multi-Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies today and took them to the restaurant we eat at on Sunday. The manager came out and said "if you never make another kind of cookie again, please keep making these!" Our waitress and several others also came over and claimed these cookies were great!

Here's the recipe. It makes a very rich, chocolaty cookie with a brownie like texture, and a hint of mint flavoring.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup cocoa
1 lg pkg of instant chocolate pudding
8 oz semisweet chocolate
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbs creme de menthe
3 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, cocoa and pudding mix together in a separate bowl, and set aside.

Melt the semi sweet and unsweetened chocolate together with the butter and stir until well mixed. Add the brown sugar and stir. Add the eggs one at a time and beat into the mixture. Mix the vanilla and creme de menthe into the mixture.

Gradually add the flour mixture into the batter and stir until combined, then add the chocolate chips. 

Using a teaspoon, drop portions of the batter onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and bake for about 10-12 minutes or the cookies are firm. The batter will be very stiff, so you may need to use two spoons, one to scrape it off the other.

This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies.