Cinnamon pull-apart bread

(it was mostly gone when I took this picture, because who can resist?)

Cinnamon bread is my #1 favorite quick late-night snack. This presentation makes it "fancy" enough to serve to company. I basically followed the instructions here, but changed around the amounts. This is  my version:

Ingredients:
1 unsliced round loaf sourdough bread

1/2 cup margarine, softened (I just eyeballed it, actually and surely used a lot less)

2 Tbsp + 2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Optional:
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp soy milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the bread lengthwise into 1/2" slices, without cutting through the bottom crust. Spread vanilla honey butter in between slices.  Rotate the bread 90 degrees and slice the bread again into 1/2" pieces, without cutting through the bottom crust. Spread more vanilla honey butter in between new cuts. This doesn't need to be perfect - just make sure there is lots of butter in between all the cuts. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Generously sprinkle in between all cuts.

Wrap in foil; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until bread is warm.  Unwrap cinnamon bread and place on serving platter.  Combine powdered sugar and milk - adding milk until you get the consistency desired.  Drizzle icing over bread and serve immediately.

Cheezy Roasted Chickpeas

I found this recipe in the Vegan Lunchbox cookbook years ago. I made it once, but wasn't too impressed. A few weeks ago I found myself craving it, so I whipped up a batch and have been making it nearly daily ever since. I've tweaked the recipe just a bit to my liking. The chickpeas turn into chewy, yummy little treats.


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can, rinsed)


a splash of vegetable oil (up to 1 Tablespoon, but I use less. just eyeball it)


2+ teaspoons of nutritional yeast


a healthy shake of garlic powder


a less-healthy shake of salt




Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F.

Toss all ingredients together in a glass baking dish or rimmed cookie sheet, spreading them out into one layer.

Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes if you remember.

Zucchini Muffins

A friend found this recipe, altered it and passed it along to me. I altered it further and pass it along to you. I'm not kidding when I say it's out of this world. I made them yesterday and want to make more right now. Because she halved the recipe, it calls for 1 1/2 eggs, which is awkward. I used 1 egg, plus some Ener-G egg replacer. You could also probably do without it, since the applesauce will do some of the binding for you. Or double the recipe, which I think is the best suggestion.


Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1-1/2 eggs (or sub: 1 egg, 3/4 teaspoon egg replacer, and 1 tablespoon water)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup grated zucchini (or a mix of zucchini and carrot - I used one of each and it was exactly one cup)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions
1. Grease muffin tins (I used mini muffins). Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. 
3. Sift in flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon, beat well.
4. Stir in zucchini, carrots and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes (for mini muffins) or 20-25 minutes (for regular muffins), or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes. Remove from pan, and completely cool. 

Jalapeno Biscuits

Mmmmm, down homme cookin'.

Found this recipe at VegNews.com (but don't worry - you don't have to use the vegan ingredients - use all the dairy you want!)



Even if you're not a fan of spicy food, no worries. You get just a hint of spicy, and I even used a tad more jalapeno than the recipe called for.
I served with black bean soup. Great for dipping!

Kale chips

What to do when you have a bunch of kale that you have no plans for? Kale chips! What to do when you have a baby who can't chew thoroughly enough to not choke on her super-healthy leafy greens? Kale chips!

Every single recipe on the internet goes like this:
De-stem and chop 1 bunch of kale, sprinkle with olive oil (1-2 Tbsp) and a bit of salt and toss. Pop in a 275-350 degree oven for 10-25 minutes. I went with 275 for 25 to get them super crispy. Next time I might add a bit of garlic with the oil and salt. Nutritional yeast sounds delicious, too.

Pumpkin Dip

From guest contributor Paula...


Dip ginger snaps or Nilla Wafers in this creamy pumpkin dip for a memorable holiday treat.

• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar
• 1 (15 oz) can solid pack pumpkin
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon frozen orange juice concentrate

In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gradually mix in the pumpkin. Stir in the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and orange juice until smooth and well blended. Chill until serving.


My guest loved it! My husband enjoys eating it in a small dish like pudding with whipped cream on top. Use your imagination and have fun.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Pinwheels

From guest contributor Paula...



When entertaining, try this simple and delicious snack. It's so easy, but your guests will think you spent hours working on it. They're great for an appetizer or just a snack. At Christmas, you can use spinach tortillas to make them look more festive.


You'll need:

• 4 soft flour tortillas
• 2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup Craisins
• 2 bunches diced green onions
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

Instructions:

1. Mix cream cheese and garlic salt together until well blended. Spread evenly on tops of tortillas.
2. In a small bowl, stir together cranberries and onions. Sprinkle evenly over cream cheese spread. Lightly press cranberry/onion mix into cream cheese.
3. Roll up tortilla. Trim off ends. Cut each tortilla into 10 even pieces using a serrated knife, like you would slice bread. HINT: I chilled my rolled up tortillas before slicing. It made them easier to cut without crushing.

It takes about 15 minutes to make (minus the chilling time). Enjoy!

Snack break - Pumpkin seeds

October is over. Another Halloween has come and gone. What did you do with all those pumpkin seeds? Hopefully you saved them.
Toasted pumpkin seeds are my favorite fall snack. And so easy to make!



1. Rinse off seeds - get rid of all the pumpkin muck.
2. Lay out tin foil on a cookie sheet. Spray with oil.
3. Spread out seeds on foil and let sit overnight to dry out.
4. Once dry (or mostly dry), spray with another coat of oil, and toss with your favorite seasonings. I like my spicy so I use cumin and cayenne.
5. Bake at 275 degrees for about 30 minutes.
Can be served immediately!

Bobbing for Apples - Apple sauce

Last summer I had tried my first apple sauce recipe. As I was going through some of my cookbooks lately, I found another apple sauce recipe, but the lazy version, which is always a plus in my book. Time to break out the slow cooker!



Ingredients
5 apples of choice, chopped
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (nutmeg, cinnamon, etc.)

1. Combine apples and water in a slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours.
2. Add spices and sugar and cook for 30 more minutes.

And serve!
To give it a little kick, replace water with orange juice. Or add orange zest.

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

My first attempt with these muffins was less-than-perfect. I'd mixed the batter together when I realized I forgot the salt. So tossed that in and mixed it again. Then I realized I'd only put in 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spices, so I added more and mixed again. Over-mixed batter = tough, chewy muffins. But the flavor is great and I really think the second attempt will be perfect.

Weelicious Pumpkin Apple Muffins

1 1/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
2/3 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Pumpkin Spice
3 Tbsp Vegetable or Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Agave OR Honey
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Milk [I used almond milk]
1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree
1 Medium Apple, peeled and grated (Gala, Pink Lady, Fuji or Golden Delicious are good choices)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the first 7 ingredients in a bowl and mix.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
5. Grease muffin tins or line them with muffin cups and fill each cup 3/4 full with the batter.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. [Cooking time for mini muffins will be slightly less]
7. Serve.

Tostadas!

Another tasty treat from Cooking All Things Trader Joes.



Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour tortillas
Eggplant Garlic spread (I used Red Pepper Spread w/ Eggplant and Garlic)
Chopped tomatoes
Mexican blend cheese
Cilantro

1. Cover the tortilla with the spread evenly on a baking sheet. Top with the tomatoes and cheese.
2. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until tortillas are crispy.
3. Top with cilantro, cut into slices, and serve!

Make sure you make enough because these go fast!

Macho Nachos

Happy New Year!

As many of you are probably tired of the cold and snow already, close your eyes and imagine yourself on a warm beach in Mexico.

I'm celebrating January with none other than delish Mexican meals. Keep your eyes here on Tuesdays for a spicy treat!

Today's post: Macho Nachos from Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's.



Ingredients:
Tortilla chips of choice
1 can chili
2 cups Mexican blend cheese
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 cup salsa of choice
1/4 cup cilantro
Avocado & sour cream

1. Scatter chips in a cassarole dish. Top with chili and cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for ~10 minutes (when cheese is melted).
2. Top with tomatoes, salsa, cilantro, avocado, and guac.

Can't be easier!

Texas Caviar

Today's recipe comes to us from guest contributor Dena...

This has become my favorite snack of the summer. I was introduced to it at a Memorial Day picnic and have made it for every picnic since.

Ingredients

• 1 can Black Eye Peas
• 1 can Black Beans
• 1 can Shoepeg (white) Corn
• 1 jar Pimentos
• 1 jar Jalapenos (chopped)
• 1 medium red onion (chopped)
• 1 cup chopped celery

I've started making a double batch, but only using one jar of jalapenos, as it can get quite hot.

Dressing

Recommended:

• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Heat in sauce pan on stove until sugar is dissolved.

I've lightened the dressing recipe to suit my taste (and Weight Watchers points value).

I use:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup Splenda
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients after draining and rinsing (and chopping, where instructed). Combine dressing and pour over veggie mixture. Stir well. Let sit, refrigerated, over night. Drain liquid before serving.

I've become fond of serving it with Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips, but have had it with Scoops, Sun Chips, well just about everything. The way I see it, the chips are just a way to get the Texas Caviar into my mouth. I have also used it as a sandwich topping, and a garnish for grilled chicken. Makes a great vegetarian snack too, although you need to watch the label of the black eye peas. I accidentally bought "prepared" black eye peas, which are made with meat stock and are not vegetarian-friendly. Sorry, mom! I'll be more careful next time.

Tomatoes, Peppers and Feta with Rice

Sorry for the not-great image. Had to use my camera phone for this.

I often have problems using leftovers before they go bad. So when I saw I had a half cup of saffron rice left, I knew I should eat it ASAP. I decided to add some chopped tomatoes, roasted red peppers (from a jar), and chunks of herb-covered feta from a local-to-me family business. Together, this was a delicious mixture of flavors than made for a lovely afternoon snack.

Homemade Applesauce

What's a better treat to have in the summertime than applesauce?

I attempted my own batch of applesauce and it came out spectacularly. And it was super easy to make.



I used the recipe found at SimplyRecipes.com (but without the lemon peel):


Ingredients
* 3 to 4 lbs of peeled, cored, and quartered apples.
* 4 strips of lemon peel - use a vegetable peeler to strip 4 lengths
* Juice of one lemon, about 3-4 Tbsp
* 3 inches of cinnamon stick
* 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar
* up to 1/4 cup of white sugar
* 1 cup of water
* 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Method
1 Put all ingredients into a large pot. Cover. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
2 Remove from heat. Remove cinnamon sticks and lemon peels. Mash with potato masher.
Ready to serve, either hot or refrigerated. Delicious with vanilla ice cream or vanilla yogurt.

Freezes easily, lasts up to one year in a cold freezer.

Pretzel Sparklers

I've recently become addicted to Martha Stewart's website. While browsing one day, I came across her 4th of July ideas and just had to do this one!

And it's so easy to make!

Melt some chocolate chips.
Cover the end of pretzel rods with chocolate. (Not too thick though b/c gravity will take it's toll!)
Roll in festive sprinkles.
Refrigerate for about 5-10 minutes standing up until chocolate hardens. I stood them up in mugs, but made sure they weren't touching each other so they didn't harden together.

Have a happy 4th!

DIY Hummus

Hummus is one of the easiest 'gourmet' things you can make, and since there's no cooking involved (unless you want to cook your own beans, which is as foolproof a cooking endeavor as you can undertake; that way you can more easily control your sodium intake, as most canned beans are rife with salt), you cannot mess it up. Literally. In fact, most Mediterranean-style cooking is so easy as to be almost formulaic or intuitive, and once you get a few recipes under your belt, simple substitutions will enable you to multiply your repertoire three- or four-fold for each recipe, and add new nuances to old staples.

Hummus, with no cooking, goes like this:

• 1 can (14 oz) chickpeas/garbanzo beans (I know, at this point every can in the store says both "chickpeas" and "garbanzo beans," but the day I can no longer relevantly use the word "garbanzo" is the day my culinary soul... well, 'dies' is too strong an idea, but... definitely it will lose a finger)
• 1/4 cup tahini (sesame seed paste; your grocery store has it, just ask)
• 2-4 Tbsp extra virgin or virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
• juice of 1 lemon (about 2 Tbsp; if you get more than that, reserve as needed)
• sea salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin or paprika, plus paprika for garnish
• minced herb for garnish (traditionally parsley, but basil, cilantro, anything but mint would work pretty well)

How you make hummus is, you put all that stuff in a blender and make it creamy. Blend and scrape and scrape and blend, it should take about two minutes. A lot of people stop here, and this is why maybe you've made hummus in the past and not been that impressed. But then what you have to do (HAVE TO) is let that mix sit for at least thirty minutes, and preferably an hour or more, in the fridge. The flavors have to meld. Without the melding of the flavors, you'll have tahini-chickpea-garlic-(but-mostly-tahini)-flavored mush. It's still damn flavorful, and 90% of people can't tell, but if you let it rest, you'll have the magical, tangy mush that is delicious hummus.

These pita are homemade, but I recommend you find a local middle Eastern bakery and buy 'em fresh. As satisfying as making your pita at home may be, you will never match the flavor and texture of one of those delightful local bakeries. Here in KC, we have Bethlehem Bakery and Jerusalem Bakery, which are the two most prominent. If we have ones not named after locales in the Holy Land, I don't know about them.

[This was posted by May, but written by Matt]

Instant Oatmeal Packets

I got this idea from one of my favorite food blogs, Vegan Lunchbox. And it's one of those "why didn't I think of that," simple awesome ideas. Because I like variety, I separated my instant oats into three containers. Each one got a nice scoop of ground flax and dried fruits and nuts.

Pear, raisin, walnuts, cinnamon & sugar



Strawberry (freeze-dried), blueberry (dried) & almonds



Cranberry & almond



Now when I get my lunch together for work, I scoop about 1/2 a cup of one of the mixtures into a snack-sized zip-top baggie and take it with me. It's a great breakfast or a filling mid-afternoon snack. And I haven't done the math, but probably cheaper than the packets. And less stuff I don't want.

Mini Pizza Bagels

This may be the least homemade item ever posted on Eat Well and Prosper. But delicious nonetheless. Store-bought mini bagels topped with store-bought pizza sauce (Trader Joe's Fat Free - best I've had) and Daiya vegan cheese (dairy free, casien free, soy free). Baked until the cheese was melty.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows

Imagine if a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and a cookie had a baby.



Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows