Cucumber Salad

It is so hot today!  While I am very happy to have air conditioning on days like this, I hate being stuck in the shut up house all day.  So this afternoon when we went to run errands, I left the windows open in the car.   We were pretty miserable while driving and then we were stopped by a train.  Still, I think the fresh air is good for us.

Luckily, after dropping off books at the library, we decided to stop by the produce market.  I picked up some truly terrible nectarines but also grabbed a cucumber.  I crave cucumber salad when it gets in the 90's like this.  I've experimented with several variations but this is my favorite.

The marinade

Cucumber Salad

2 cups cucumber slices, from peeled and seeded cucumbers
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp agave nectar
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
 1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
4 whole black peppercorns

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for 3 hours, stirring periodically.  If you have any leftovers, keep draining off some of the vinegar mixture and adding water so they don't become too strong.

Eggless Experiment #5 - Ener-G Egg

Our final test!  Thank goodness.  Who knew you could get tired of cookies?!

This time we chose to go with the commercial egg replacer - Ener G Egg.  It is made up of various starches.  Every time I pull this box out of the cabinet I think it is something left over from 1972.  Who came up with the packaging?  Anyway, I've used this plenty of times in various items and it has always worked OK. Not perfect but fine.

We noticed our cookie dough was a little more runny this time and the cookies looked kind of oily.  I'm not sure if that was because of the replacer or because it was ridiculously hot and humid this week.  Whatever the issue was, the dough and cookies tasted fine.  They became very flat five minutes after getting out of the oven but that seemed to be a common problem with all the replacements we tried.

When I tasted the warm cookie, it tasted good but there was something different about the taste that I couldn't quite figure out.  Then Kayleigh hit on it.  Cake batter.  The baked cookie tasted just like yellow cake batter.  Strange but still tasty.

So to summarize our results, chia seeds are the only ones that we would suggest you never try.  All the rest will work and give you decent results.  Our order from best to worst is:

#1 Arrowroot Powder
#2 Ener G Egg
#3 Hemp Seeds
#4 Flax Seeds
#5 Chia Seeds - seriously, don't use these.  Skip the cookie and just eat the chocolate chips!

Our experiment is done for now but if anyone has any other substitutes they'd like us to try in the chocolate chip cookies, let us know.  Also leave a comment if you'd like us to try any of these replacements in some other recipe. 

My Favorite Green Smoothie

Today I am supposed to be posting another eggless experiment but we had a really busy weekend and didn't get around to baking cookies.  So we will do that later today and report in tomorrow.  Instead you are getting another smoothie recipe - but this one is my favorite green smoothie.  This is the one you should try if you are just now experimenting with them.  The ingredients are rather basic but give enough sweetness that you don't need any added sugar, even if you aren't used to adding greens to your drinks. 

It is impossible to get a good picture of a green smoothie.  It doesn't help that I didn't think to take a picture until I had already started drinking it.  I had read somewhere that you may want to drink from a closed container to begin with so you aren't thrown off by the green color.  I actually like the bright green because it makes me feel extra healthy.  I took this smoothie with me to a family get-together yesterday, though, and put it in a non-see through bottle so that everyone would think it was just water.  I also used to do that for work. 

This morning I was very surprised to walk out on my porch and realize the air was actually cool even though it was still humid.  I decided to seize the moment and went out for a run.  Just as I got home and sat down with my leftover smoothie, it started to rain.  That is a bonus on a bonus on a bonus!  I went running when I hadn't planned to, beat the rain, and then drank a healthy green smoothie!

 Home just in time.

Speaking of smoothies, Jacqueline over at Tinned Tomatoes has posted the round up from the smoothie contest.  Be sure to check out all the great entries.

My Favorite Green Smoothie

1 banana
1 cup mango
1 cup pineapple
1 cup spinach
2 cups water

It works best if at least one of your fruits is frozen.  If you have all fresh, add some ice in place of part of the water.

Blend until smooth.  This can be enjoyed through your day.  I usually keep it in the fridge and pull it out for a few sips all day long.

I Can't

Why do I seem to have my best moments right after being lazy and not wanting to move off the couch?  I had planned to do my favorite (not really!) elastic band workout today.  But then I slept late (which for me is 7:30) and watched some TV, then watched some more.  I started to get a little bit of a headache and didn't really feel like doing much of anything.  But then I realized that it was really nice and cool last night but I didn't run and it was still nice although a little warmer today and here I was doing nothing.  So I somehow managed to get up and go out for a run.

About 5 minutes into it I was thinking about how much warmer and humid it is outside as compared to in my house.  Then after 10 minutes, all the walkers left so it was just me and the landscape crew.  But I kept going.  When I had just one lap to go I was telling myself things like "I can't stop now" and "I can't give up".  That's when I realized I changed my "I cant's" from something negative into something positive.

In the end, I finished the 5K, running the whole way, in 33:53 which is faster than last week.  And I did it with only myself as motivation.  From now there is no more "I can't run any further".  It is "I can't be stopped" from here on out!

Speaking of changing attitudes, I finally convinced my husband to get rid of these cans of paint.  They are from the previous owners.  Problem is, we moved in over 16 years ago!  Now if only he will also get rid of that ping pong table behind him that has been in the garage since we moved in!

Book Review

What a day I had yesterday.  This picture captures one of the many things that went wrong.  In case you can't tell, those are the contents of my chest freezer that I was able to save.  It somehow came unplugged a few days ago but I didn't notice it until yesterday.  Luckily I use it mostly for flour, nuts, and bread.  Still, a lot of items had to be thrown away. 

That was just the start of the day though.  It only got worse from there!  So I was very happy to have a pile of books to lose myself in that evening.  Of all the books I borrowed from the library last week, two have really stood out.  I always skim through all my books when I get home but both of these books sucked me in and I ended up reading them all the way through.

The first is "Running and Walking for Women Over 40" by Kathrine Switzer.  I'm a woman, I run, and I'm over 40 so it seemed like the perfect book for me!  This book was published in 1998 so some of the information is out of date, especially the section on menopause.  But it still had a lot of very good information ranging from what clothes to wear, what to eat, and how to stay safe when running.  There is a good running routine spelled out as well as tips on increasing your speed and/or distance.  Overall, I found it to be very motivating and there is enough information that this would be a good book to own so that I could refer back to it.

The other book I've really enjoyed is a cookbook called "Vegan Soul Kitchen" by Bryant Terry.  I heard about this book over and over but I've never bothered to look through it.  I don't know why that is because when I sat down to make a list of recipes I'd like to try, I quickly filled an entire notebook page.  Right now I'm snacking on the Double Maple-Coated Pecans and I'm a little worried I might eat the full 4 cups!  I'm actually planning to try everything in the section called "Sound Bites - Appetizers, Starters, Snacks".  Besides the great recipes, I really enjoyed reading this book.  I'm one of those people that sits in bed reading cookbooks and this one is really enjoyable.  I love that he includes a soundtrack with every recipe.  This book has already been moved to my shopping cart at Amazon.

Happy reading!

Eggless Experiment #4 - Flax Seed

 

It almost doesn't seem fair for anything to have to follow the huge success of arrowroot powder last week.  Still we continued on this week with flax seed.  I've used ground flax seed in the past in corn bread with good results.  I think I've used it a few other times too when I've been in a pinch.  I used to buy both regular ground flax seed and the golden but now I only buy the golden.  That was probably good because the other may change the color of the cookies.

To replace one egg you use 1 tablespoon ground flax seed and 3 tablespoons warm water.  I let my tap run and get as warm as possible.  I whisked it together and then let the mixture set for a couple minutes.  It turned porridge-like.  I followed the same chocolate chip cookie recipe found here.

The dough had the normal consistency, taste and color.  The cookies baked up well but shortly after coming out of the oven, they became very flat.  The taste of the cookies both warm and cold was good but there was a slightly "healthy" flavor as if you used oatmeal or whole wheat flour.  None of us could exactly explain it but we all noticed it.

I would put flax seed in a tie with hemp seeds for 2nd place.  Arrowroot powder remains the clear winner and chia seeds are by far the worst choice.  Next week we have our final option which is Ener-G Egg Replacer.


 

Strawberry Pie

My husband was on his normal Sunday morning bike ride today so Kayleigh and I took my parents to the Munster farmer's market so they could try the vegan food truck.  It was even better than last week.  Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the food but Kayleigh got a chocolate chip waffle, the rest of us got brats with kraut and we all shared some nachos.  It was all very good.  Before we left we stopped back to get some oreo cheesecake to take home. 

 My parents listening in while I order cheesecake

 
There was more produce at the market this time.  We were able to get kale, romaine, green onions, and radishes.  We also walked around the park so my parents could check everything out. 

Kayleigh and my parents on the bridge

 
Then we came home and ate not only the cheesecake but also this strawberry pie that I had made.  I came up with the idea for this recipe a couple years ago while waiting in the car for Kayleigh after practice.  Luckily there was a spare envelope hanging around for me to write on!

I think a lot of people are intimidated by pie crust but I am here to tell you it is actually very easy.  It does not need to be perfect, it will still taste good.  I gather up all my confidence, flip it into the pie pan and then take some extra off here and press it in there until the whole pan is basically covered.  No stress required!  My pie crust recipe makes 2 crusts but you only need one for this recipe so wrap the other half in wax paper and then in a Ziploc and store it in the freezer (or the refrigerator if you are planning to make another pie right away).

Strawberry Pie

Pie crust:
2 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup oil
6 tablespoons non-dairy milk

Mix together the flour and salt.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil and milk.  Add to the flour mixture and stir with a fork.  Cut in half and roll the crust between wax paper.

Place the pie crust in the pie plate.  Pierce several times with a fork.  Place foil loosely over the crust and fill with dry beans.  Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned. 

Remove the foil from the crust and let cool slightly. 

For the pie you will need:
1 quart (1 1/2 pounds) strawberries
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water

Place half the strawberries on the pie crust.  If they are large, cut them in half.

Put the remaining strawberries in a saucepan.  Add the sugar and bring to a boil.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water.  Add to the strawberries.  Stir often.  When the mixture is thick and clear (about 2-3 minutes) remove from heat. 

Pour this mixture over the strawberries in the crust.  Place in refrigerator for several hours.

Here are some more pictures of the process.

 Rolling out the dough between wax paper

 See how uneven it is when I first flip it into the pan?

 Poke holes in the bottom crust.

 Foil and beans for blind bake.

 Half the strawberries in the bottom.

 Cloudy mixture.

 A couple minutes later it is clear.