Blog Tour! Whole Grain Vegan Baking Book

Blog tour time! Today, I'm gonna talk about my huge love for Whole Grain Vegan Baking. Yesterday you heard from Mihl and tomorrow you will here from Jess! Check out the full schedule for Celine and Tami's blog tour here. 

So, it's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Celine and Tami's recipes. I've been recipe testing for them for awhile now, years even, and their latest book to come out, Whole Grain Vegan Baking, is up there on my all-time-favorites list of cookbooks, like ever. I've made a lot of the recipes from this book, during the testing stage, and still after. There was a lot to learn from this book and it definitely gave me some major love for whole grains that I did NOT have before.  I learned that Spelt flour is the best ever AND I WANNA PUT IT IN EVERYTHING. I have a newfound love affair with Barley flour, and I never ever would have known that. I learned that I do not like Amaranth flour (to each their own!) Most importantly, I learned that whole grains taste waaaay better than plain white flour once you have a good, balanced recipe to work from (we've all tried to make "healthy" cookies or something that turned out tasteless and bleh before yeah?) There is a certain depth in the flavor of whole grain baked goods that I have come to appreciate and even prefer over the standard white flour varieties. Win!

I have lots of favorites from this book, including the pizza crust, the pitas, the kale quiche, the wild mushroom & arugula pie, Speculoos DOUGHNUTS, sweet potato waffles, coconut-spice granola, the english muffin bread, Pull-apart Cinnamon Bread, and so so many more. Seriously, there is something for everyone in here.

Anyways, for this stop on their blog tour, I wanted to devote this post to your sweet tooth. Because, mmm sweet tooth. I was on kind of a no-sugar kick for the last few months leading up to my wedding, and what better way to break that restriction on myself with some tasty (healthy-ish) sweets!

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CONTEST TIME!

Also, CONTEST! Weee! Celine, Tami, and their publisher have graciously offered up one copy of Whole Grain Vegan Baking to a lucky reader here.

*EDIT: Winner has been chosen, thank you! Congrats to Becca!

To enter: Leave me a comment, by Monday at Midnight EST, telling me a bad experience you have had with whole grain baking. Let's let it all out, therapy-style, and then never think about it again, because you are going to make so many delicious whole grain recipes when you get this book!
*Don't forget to leave your email address!
*Unfortunately, this contest is only open to those in the U.S. and Canada (I'm sorry...) The publisher will ship it straight to the winner

I will pick a winner on Tuesday, via Random.org. Good luck!

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Speculoos Doughnuts!

Sweet Potato Waffles!

Whole and Oats Cookies. (hehehe)

VeganMOFO: Coconut French Toast Tester

Happy Monday! Lots to do this week, so I'm starting it off on a good note with another tester recipe for Isa's new book. Coconut French Toast for the win! I love french toast so hard, but I'm always way too lazy to make it. Something about dipping stuff in batter before noon usually turns me off. Turns out, this was a super-easy recipe, and I love me some coconut, so it was a definite winner. No recipe this time, but it's worth the wait until the book comes out! 

xoxo,

Michelle

VeganMOFO: Chai Spice Snickerdoodles!

Hooray for Friday! It's been a long week and I'm looking forward to a sunny Autumn weekend.  These Chai Spice Snickerdoodles are soo good. They are a tester recipe for Isa's new book coming out, and I love them so much that I have made them twice already. Nom nom nom.

Snickerdoodles might be my favorite cookie. I have very fond memories of my Mom making them for us as a kid. It's essential to get that perfect balance between a soft, chewy middle and crispy, crunchy exterior and edge. So good!

Recipe is up on her blog, so you can make them too!

Vegan cooking

Not a tester! Just my breakfast this morning. It has some noochy tofu, red onion, jalapeño, radish, yellow zucchini, and swiss chard. Totally delicious. Seasoned only with a bit of salt/pepper/olive oil. 

I'm still recipe testing! Currently for Isa for her upcoming cookbook, Isa Does It, which is going to be super-amazing. Seriously. I thought I would show you a peek at a few things that I have made from it recently:

Chicky Tuna Salad Sammich

Island Black Bean Burgers

Beefy Asparagus Stirfry 

Whole Grain Baking

English Muffin Bread

 You guys, I can't wait for this book to come out. Celine and Tami are making an amaaazing book on whole grain baking, and I've been lucky enough to be a recipe tester for them. I thought I would show you a sampling of some of the things that I have been baking thus far (and make you drool a little.) Seriously, these ladies have changed how I have viewed whole grain baking. I've discovered that I LOVE spelt flour, and that it might be my favorite flour (what, you don't have a favorite flour?), and that barley flour is pretty awesome too. In most of these recipes, you wouldn't be able to tell that this was "healthy" baking (and sometimes I don't tell Nik and he doesn't even notice!) I really can't rave enough about these recipes, and can't wait for the actual book to come out. There is a nice balance of sweet and savory too, so I've been making things for dinner and for breakfast/sweets time.

Coconut Spice Granola with vanilla soy yoghurt

Wholly Noochy Crackers

Lemon Curd Tart. Celine was super-nice and put this recipe up on her blog yesterday! 

Pita Bread that puffs!!

VeganMoFo: Happy Sammiches

Happy Sandwich is for sale here

Medium: Watercolor on Arches paper
Size: Approximately 5"x7" (image size is 4"x6")
Will fit in 5"x7" frame! Signed on back.

Note: I am doing a painting-a-day challenge for VeganMoFo, and will be creating a new painting of rescue animals or vegan food throughout the month of October, and placing them for sale. All proceeds (minus shipping) will be donated to For the Animals Sanctuary, because they are a pretty super-great non-profit animal rescue and sanctuary, in Blairstown NJ, and are vegan owned and operated. Feeding, housing, and taking care of these animals costs a lot of money, and as a non-profit organization, they rely entirely on donations. Hopefully (with your help!), I'll be able to make a size-able donation at the end of the month!  You can check out all the paintings I have created so far that are still for sale here! 

Bean Nut Burger

Let's talk about sandwiches.  I'm obviously a fan (I mean, who isn't?) of the wonderful act of stuffing tasty morsels in some magical carb-y goodness.  So when Celine and Tami asked me to test for their upcoming Vegan Sandwich book, I did a little happy dance and got this sammich party started.  These ladies have come up with some of my new favorite spreads and creative flavor pairings for sandwiches to date.  Here are a few of the sandwiches that I tested, and if you are looking to find out more, search each of their super-amazing blogs for "sandwiches" for some photos and recipes that they have been teasing us with lately.

Croissants! mmm flaky goodness

French Tofu Salad on Croissants

Monte Christo

Peanut Butter Banana Bacon

Peanut Butter Brownie (whoa man)

Unfishwich

VeganMoFo: What bear doesn't love pie?

I want to say THANK YOU to everyone so far!  I donated $100 this morning to For the Animals Sanctuary, and I'm hoping to donate more at the end of the month.  Completely warms my heart.  This has been super-fun painting everyday too.  It's been awhile since I have regularly painted and I think I might want to stick with this habit after the month is over too.  Oh! And did you see there is a giveaway up today to win either two of my prints or some of Jeanette's amazing pottery??  Super-great!  

Bear with Pie is for sale here

Medium: Watercolor on Arches paper
Size: Approximately 5"x7" (image size is 4"x6")
Will fit in 5"x7" frame! Signed on back.

Note: I am doing a painting-a-day challenge for VeganMoFo, and will be creating a new painting of rescue animals or vegan food throughout the month of October, and placing them for sale. All proceeds (minus shipping) will be donated to For the Animals Sanctuary, because they are a pretty super-great non-profit animal rescue and sanctuary, in Blairstown NJ, and are vegan owned and operated. Feeding, housing, and taking care of these animals costs a lot of money, and as a non-profit organization, they rely entirely on donations. Hopefully (with your help!), I'll be able to make a size-able donation at the end of the month!  You can check out all the paintings I have created so far that are still for sale here! 

Lemon Mousse Pie

Now, onto some pie.  I'm pretty psyched for Isa and Terri's Pie book to come out!  I was a recipe tester for them, and having pie around all the time was downright awesome.   I posted some pies earlier, but here are a few more of my faves (Lemon Mousse wins for the all-time best pie in the world!)

Peanut Butter Brownie Cheesecake

Chocolate Hazelnut Tart

Recipe testing!

Hello! I have been doing some recipe testing for Celine and Joni's new book coming out. Holy delicious!

Cornbread Stuffed Poblanos


Peach Pecan Cobbler



Mexican Pizza with Salsa Verde (Salsa Verde is the tester, I made up the Mexican Pizza part, with some daiya mozzarella, black beans, avocado, and hot sauce: SO GOOD)

Hoot! and crossing things off my list!

So I have been working on my list of fun goals that I posted, just not so good on the regular blogging thing. Ahem. Anyways, I have been daily sketching and I'll start sharing more (Hoot being the first). ALSO! I booked my trip to Peru finally!! I'm going in April, with two of my fave pals, Nate and Kristin. We're going for 12 days and are planning on doing the full 4 day, 3 night Inca trail Hike to Machu Picchu. We are still planning the rest of the trip, deciding between some Amazon jungle fun, Lake Titicaca adventures, or maybe going to Colca Canyon. I'm super-investigating eating vegan in Peru, but I think I should be fine. If anyone has any tips, I would LOVE to hear them! I hear there are lots of veggie restaurants in Lima and Cusco, so it should theoretically be easy. I'm sooo freaking excited!!

Here's a recent tester recipe for Joni's and Celine's book of Vegan Substitutions, Graham Wannabe Teacakes. Sooo goood! I made it for New Year's Day Brunch and it was a super-yummy first meal of the year, all warm and slathered with Earth balance. This book is gonna be soo good!

Holiday Sweets (and some other food)!

S'mlove love!!



Espresso Chip Oatmeal Cookies (from Vegan Cookies Take Over the World)


Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles (from Vegan Cookies Take Over the World)


Gingerbread Biscotti! (from Vegan Cookies Take Over the World)


My Mom made an apple pie! She even put 'lil cut-out heart pieces on top; She's the cutest, right??



Annnnnd some Tester recipes for Joni and Celine's new book of Vegan Substitutions!

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom, onion, and Sage Sauce:


Green Tempeh Casserole! Yummmmmm!


And I made some spicy tempeh tonight (simmer tempeh in water until all absorbed, then mix with a few TBS of Vegan Mayo, some sriracha, some nooch, and salt/pepper) in these 'lil baby pitas that I found at Whole Foods. Super-cute and bite-sized! Nik almost knocked me down trying to get more. Served with a side of raw cabbage/carrots/onions in oil/vinegar/herbs to counter all those sweets I have been eating pictured above. :P


1/2 day of work left this year, huzzah!! Happy New Year friends!

Chocolates and tester recipes

Nik and I recently got to check out the new vegan chocolate cafe, and we picked up a few select chocolates. This was a few weeks ago, so I only slightly remember the names of each, but here goes nothing:

Peanut Butter (Nik tried this one and didn't like it; said it was dry)

Chocolate covered edamame (was my favorite)

Jasmine (It was okay, nothing special)

goji berry and vegan bacon (disgusting! I spit it out! I NEVER spit out chocolate!)

So, alas, although pretty, I think they need to iron out their flavors a bit more before I would go back. I did get a few more flavors, not photographed, and I don't even remember what they were. I did pick up some of their spicy hot cocoa mix and this stuff is AMAZING! Super-spicy and flavorful, you only need a little bit. Hot cocoa is the best.


Here's some tester food from Celine and Joni's last book of Vegan Subsitutions.

Spring Rolls

Butternut Lentil Burger