organic potato soup

It took me a while to veganize my mom's potato soup. That being said, it tastes almost the exact same as her's, but has fewer calories. HA.

 Jordan-1, Dairy-0.

This recipe is really simple and really easy to be made organic. Of course, it doesn't have to be organic, but I realized that all of the ingredients I used were organic after I made it.


You need:
-2 c. organic vegetable broth
-2 medium organic potatoes, cubed
-1/2 onion, diced (I used my new SLAP CHOP)(!!!)
-1 can great northern beans (optional)
-1/3 soymilk (8th Continent is organic)
-pepper to taste
-green onion to taste

Combine the broth, potatoes, and onion in a pot and simmer for 20 minutes.    

After 20 minutes, add the can of beans and stir. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

With a potato masher (or a nifty electric one), mash until desired consistency.

I like mine really soupy with no potato pieces.

Add pepper and soymilk. Garnish with green onion. How fancy.

I AM SO EXICED for my wedding food. So excited.

Kathy Fish at Wild Wisk in Ft. Madison, IA is super nice and talented.

Here is a sample of the vegan option she provided:

Vegan basil pesto, spiced roasted sweet/russet potatoes,

and local seasonal vegetables. NOM NOM NOM. 

Also, this cupcake is beautiful.

cinnamon-raisin granola bars

For the record, I ate an entire pan of these this past weekend. 

These granola bars are more on the cakey side than the crunchy side or the chewy side (I have a recipe for chewy ones, but they aren't as easy to make as these are). I like these for breakfast or as a dessert (warmed up in the microwave with some Earth Balance, yum). 

You need:

-5 c. old fashioned oats
-1 c. whole wheat flour
-1 t. baking soda
-2 t. vanilla
-2/3 cup Earth Balance (or another butterlike item), room temperature
-1/2 cup honey (or agave)
-1/3 cup packed brown sugar

-2 T. cinnamon

-3/4 T. nutmeg

-1 c. raisins (or more)

First, dump all the ingredients in a bowl except for the cinnamon, nutmeg, and raisins.

Mix throughly. Make sure there are no butter clumps.

Once the batter is mixed, add in the raisins, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

You can throw anything else in here too, such as

craisins, almonds, apples, etc. 

Press firmly into a greased pan (9x13).

I use coconut oil for grease.

Action shot.

Bake at 325° for 20 minutes.

Viola! Let them cool before you eat them.

I said I would blog about my dear friend Abby, so here is a gem circa 2008.

How I miss that little one.

muffin mugs

I've been a bit distracted this past week because

1) I'm getting married two weeks from Saturday,

2) I had two papers and a speech due, and

3) the Fall Festival is going on and Jeff has been eating chocolate-covered bacon.

Not to mention that none of the recipes I've tried lately have worked out.

So please forgive me for the lack of posts (which shouldn't be a problem for my whopping eight followers)(which reminds me, follow this blog so I can be more legitimate) and take this piece of advice:

You can cook cake (and muffins) in the microwave. 

I know, I didn't believe it either. However, when I saw my old roommate Grace mix some butternut squash soup and cake mix and throw it in the microwave, viola! Magicake. 

Now I don't recommend butternut squash soup, but yeah, if you have a bit of cakelike mix leftover, put it in the fridge and save it for a rainy day. Then, when Aunt Flo comes over, you can put the mix in a bowl or, even better, a mug. I do this to prevent myself from eating an entire chocolate cake, which has happened before.

I did this with homemade vegan muffin mix. I got the recipe from my new cookbook (You Won't Believe it's Vegan!) given to me by my awesomely thoughtful cousin Cait. The recipe itself isn't bad, but it's wayy to complicated to post. 

Just make the mix of your choice, fill a mug halfway full, and nuke it for a couple minutes or so.

BAM! Fast, portable, morning muffin. 

Bonus if you know what movie this mug is from.

Also, koalas in Australia get really hot and beg humans for water. 

Sometimes they break into people's garages. 

bad, madi

Bless my little sister's heart for messing up such an easy recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

In the words of my mother, "Madi, that looks bad. Just...just stop."