Recipe: Vegan Anything-Goes muffins

Here's a flexible muffin recipe that can fit whatever flavour of muffin you're craving or the ingredients you have on hand. It's based on Canadian Living's Anything-Goes Blueberry muffins recipe.  It's one of those recipes that's really really hard to mess up. My favourite version is carrot muffins because the carrots make them deliciously moist.

You can tell how often I make this by the terrible shape the paper is in!

Recipe: Vegan Anything-Goes muffins
Makes 1 dozen muffins

2 cups whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Optional: nutmeg, cardamom, orange rind, almond extract, grated ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 mashed banana
1 cup non-dairy milk (almond, soy, coconut, etc)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 cups anything*

*Some ideas for your "anything" (any combination of the following): chocolate chips, grated carrots, grated zucchini, chopped pecans, chopped walnuts, chopped almonds, raisins, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, chopped dates, more banana, chopped apple

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

2. Mix together the wheat, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon (plus any other dry spices) in a large bowl.

3. Mix together remaining ingredients (expect for your "anything") in a separate bowl.

4. Pour the wet ingredients slowly into the dry ingredients and mix gradually. Don't overmix; there should still be a few streaks of dry flour.

5. Fold your "anything" into the batter and separate the batter into muffin tins.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are domed and golden. Allow to cool before eating.

Enjoy!

Product review: Yoso non-dairy yogurt

There's a new health food store which opened up near our place and my roommate, Sam, and I decided to poke around the other day and see what they have. There were a lot of interesting products I hadn't seen before, but the one that most caught my eye was the non-dairy, non-soy yogurts by Yoso. I like dairy yogurt and I've tried soy yogurt as a substitute, but I've always been disappointed. All the soy yogurts I've tried have a strong soy taste which I find off-putting. I bought two Yoso yogurts: one coconut milk yogurt and one almond-cashew yogurt. They are both organic, vegan, and cultured with non-dairy bacteria. I really enjoyed both of them, especially the coconut milk yogurt. They both are high-calcium, high fiber, and the almond-cashew yogurt is high protein. They both have very smooth textures, especially the coconut, and a yogurty taste from the fermentation. If you don't eat dairy or want to switch up your yogurt routine, I recommend you give Yoso a try.

Chia seed pudding

I'm a big fan of tapioca pudding. I don't know why, but I love the texture of the little gelatinous balls in sweet, milky syrup. If you like tapioca pudding then you'll love this recipe: chia seed pudding. Maybe you'll like it even if you don't like tapioca pudding! Before the recipe, a little background on chia seeds for those who are interested.

Chia seeds are little black seeds, about the size of sesame seeds. They come from the chia plant, which is belongs to the mint family. According to Wikipedia, it's been cultivated in the Americas since pre-Columbian times. In case you're wondering, these are the same type of chia seeds as are used to grow the "hair" of Chia Pets.

Chia seeds are very good for you, so I'm told. They've got lots of fibre, omega-3s, calcium, magnesium, and protein. There's evidence that it has a stabilizing effect on blood sugar, which is especially good for people who have diabetes.

Ok, now the recipe. It's really straight-forward. My mum and her partner introduced me to chia seed pudding, and they heard about it from Oh She Glows. All you need for a basic chia seed pudding is a ratio of 3 tbs chia seeds to 1 cup of milk. The milk can be of any kind -- dairy, coconut, soy, almond. Then you can add whatever sweeteners or flavouring you like. It goes in the fridge overnight and then can be enjoyed the next day plain, with fruit, on cereal, or however you see fit. The seeds thicken the milk into a gel over night, reminiscent of tapioca pudding, only with a bit of a crunch.

There aren't exactly a lot of ingredients in this recipe.

In go the chia seeds, and already it's almost done.

I'm a big fan of maple syrup, so I didn't skimp.

And breakfast is ready! :)

Recipe: Chia seed pudding
Serves 2

-1 cup milk (any kind)
-3 tbs chia seeds
-1 tbs liquid sweetener (maple, agave, honey), or to taste
-other flavourings, as desired: ex, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, cocoa, raisins

1. Mix ingredients together in a container.

2. Cover the container and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

3. Eat the pudding as is, on cereal, on fruit salad, or however is desired.

And that's it! Enjoy!


Want to learn more about chia seeds?
-Some suggestions of how to use chia seeds 
-A show-down of flax seeds and chia seeds
-The health benefits of chia seeds