Vegan Baking Experiment

So after busting my ass at the gym today I decided to do some baking.  Vegan baking to be specific.

For this contest on one of my fave blogs. 

After googling some options I decided to go with a Vegan Apple Crisp from this blog the only way I changed the recipe was to use canola oil instead of margarine. 

Then I gathered supplies and got to work.

Look how pretty!  Mems told me I bought the wrong kind, but I love Red Delicious and was too lazy to go back to the store to get the other kind... so I went with these.

And peeled and cored them.  I'm pretty excited I didn't peel my thumb this time.  It happens. A. Lot.

Then mixed it with sugar and flour... the recipe calls for cinnamon, but I'll let you in on a secret.  I hate cinnamon.

Then spread them out in my handy pyrex and let it set while I made the oat mixture for the crisp top.



I didn't want to use margarine cause I think it's gross and also not vegan, so I googled and found I could swap vegetable oil instead and ended up with 4 Tablespoons of oil to get the right crumbly consistency.

To the oven!  Yes it's angled on purpose to be artsy.

45 minutes at 350 in the oven and I had this... not as brown on top which Mems said was because I used oil instead of a butter substitute... but O. M. G. it was delicious.  I seriously went and got some more while posting these pictures.

It's not as crispy a crisp as I've ever had... probably more of an apple crumble... and next time I should use more apples... but I'm definitely leaving this recipe in my repetoire.

Baking...

Every once in awhile I get the urge to go all Martha Stewart in the kitchen.  I break out the slow cooker or the food processor and try out these fancy recipes... then I revert back to me and the appliances go into a special cupboard in the garage. 

Now I've found an easy dish to help me quench that Martha urge without turning my kitchen into a war zone.  When I say found I mean that Carly made it while I was in Minneapolis.... Baked Apples.

While this is a revelation to me I'm sure most of you have probably heard of this... but I live in my own little world.

Basically you just slice the apples sprinkle them with brown sugar and cinnamon (I leave out the cinnamon cause I hate it.) and bake them at 375 for 20 minutes.  The result is warm appl-y gooey goodness.  I seriously could buy a crate of apples and eat this all day long. 

Ignore the mess in the floor.

Also... I'm totally the version of Martha Stewart that says Fuck.  A lot.

Luscious Lemons

So this was supposed to be a witty and informative blog about this awesome "Farmer's Market" cooking class I was taking... but it got canceled.

I mean really I had this whole story about how I signed Mems and I up for the class and she said yes cause she thought I was joking. I asked why she thought it was a joke and she looked at me and said 'because you can't tell the stove from the oven.' She was dead serious.

So I found a delightful last minute replacement... and then the class go canceled. Undaunted I decided to experiment in the kitchen anyway.

I tried this lowfat lemon bar recipe I found on Fitness magazines website: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/desserts/low-calorie/low-fat-lemon-bars/

So a quick trip to the store and I got to work in the kitchen.

Mixing and baking the crust... I got my hands dirty and mixed the ingredients and prepped the pan by hand.. then tossed it in the oven while I made the filling.



Then I made the filling and remembered why I hate to cook:



But... I cleaned while the goodies baked... and soon had my counter sufficiently clean... I'm kind of anal about a clean kitchen. Well... really Mems is and she's not nice when she's angry.



Then 20 minutes later the lemon bars were ready to cool... sprinkled with a little powdered sugar... and then tested by me.



Don't they look delightful?

I will now leave you with these two truths... I had more than one bar... and they are orgasmic.