Coconut Milk Yogurt for the Win

I've been hearing about all of these great coconut milk products from people in the US. I've been waiting patiently for them to start appearing in Canada. We've had the coconut milk drink for about 6 months or so, I think, but we haven't had any of the yogurts (that I've seen at least) until just recently. The market near my house started carrying it last week, so of course I nabbed some.

I really miss yogurt. I used to eat soy yogurt all of the time. I love the Nancy's soy yogurt so much. I've been trying to limit my soy intake so that's gone off the menu except for every now and then. I'm stoked to finally have a replacement. This stuff is so good. It's thick and creamy and delicious. Just like you'd expect from it. I'm pretty sure that everything I've had that's been made with coconut milk has been awesome. Coconut milk ice cream, I'm talking to you.

So far I've only tried the vanilla flavor, but there were a few others at the market that I'm definitely going to grab when I'm there next week.

 

Lemon Cream Pie and Other Stories

I can't quite remember which year I started this, but it's a tradition for Thanksgiving to have 3 pies, now. I always make the Sm'love pie every year because everyone always asks about it and then proceeds to get this blissed look on their faces while eating it. Who am I to deprive people of their chocolatey Thanksgiving goodness? I try and shake it up a bit with the other two, though. I like to do one fruit pie of some type and the other can be whatever I feel like making at the time.

All that was left of the Lemon Cream Pie at the end of the night

How can you not love the Sm'love Pie?

I've made my award-winning Hazelnut Apple Cider Pie two years in a row because it was requested this year. That's kind of awesome, actually. I couldn't find any pink lady apples so I had to make do with Granny Smith apples instead. It was still great, I just prefer the pink ladies for my pies. They have such a great combination of sweet and tart and crisp.

 

I actually ended up having to send James to the store at the last minute to get more apples for me. I wasn't paying attention when I was simmering the apples in the cider and all of a sudden I had applesauce. Well, not all of a sudden, more like 20 minutes too long while I sat on the couch checking my email with one of the cats in my lap. What a bummer. Now I have to find things to eat applesauce with for the next few weeks to use it up. I put it all in jars and then realized that I didn't add any lemon juice so it won't be shelf-stable. Dang it.

The remnants of the Hazelnut Apple Cider Pie

For the third pie, I wanted to do a lemon cream pie. I got inspired by the Coconut Cream Topping that Vegan Dad made.  For some reason I was thinking the coconut cream would get super fluffy and it didn't really. It wasn't runny or anything, though. I think next time I might try adding a bit of arrowroot or cornstarch or something and beating it for a long time to see if I can get it any stiffer. Experimenting can be delicious! Also, I know that sometimes when you buy cans of coconut milk it's separated into milk and cream in the can, but mine wasn't like that this time so I just chucked it all at the beginning of the recipe and it seemed to turn out fine. So if you make this and have that same thing happen, don't worry, it's all good.

I used to love my Grandma's lemon meringue pie when I was a kid; though I remember loving the lemon part way more than the meringue. I'm going to have to do a bit more experimenting to get the lemon part of the pie a bit more like Grandma's was but this was still quite good. I got the recipe from the Fat Free Vegan Blog. I noticed that a few people commented that the recipe was too sweet as is and I generally like things less sweet than most people so I heeded their warning and reduced the sugar a bit. I ran some lemons through the juicer for fresh juice and I think that really made quite the difference, too. Oh, did I mention that there's no baking at all involved in making this pie? Just heating up some stuff on the stove and then refrigerating!

I only have two large pie dishes so I ended up using a springform pan for my lemon cream pie. You can use whichever you like, but the pie dish is probably best if you expect to have leftovers.

It looks so cute just out of the springform pan, but I still think a pie plate would be best.

Copied and Pasted, here is the recipe for the lemon cream pie:

Make whatever kind of pie crust you like. I just used a graham cracker crust. Just get some graham cracker crumbs (about 1 3/4 cup) and add a few tablespoons of canola or coconut oil. Mix with a fork until the graham cracker crumbs are all moist and hold together. Add more oil one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition if you find your crumbs are still too dry.

Lemon Pie Filling (reposted from the Fat Free Vegan Blog)

1 1/2 cups sugar (I only used 1 cup)
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup water
1 cup non-dairy milk
3/4 cup lemon juice
grated rind of 2 lemons (about 2 Tbsp.)

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in saucepan. Stir in water and soymilk and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and slowly add the lemon juice and grated rind.

Pour into a pie crust and chill for a couple of hours until set.

Coconut Cream Topping (reposted from the Vegan Dad blog)

1 can coconut milk
1 tablespoon agar flakes or 1 teaspoon agar powder
3 tablespoons sugar (I ended up using 6 tablespoons of sugar total to get it sweet enough)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Separate coconut cream from coconut milk and add the milk (i.e. the watery stuff) to a small saucepan. Sprinkle afar flakes over and let sit for 5 mins.  Add sugar and bring to bubbling over med hi heat, whisking constantly.  Cook for 3-5 mins, or until all the agar has dissolved.

Remove from heat and whisk in cream and vanilla.  Adjust sugar to taste then pour into a bowl, cover, and place into the fridge.  Allow to fully cool.

When ready to use, whisk the cooled mixture and spread over your pie.  Place pie back into the fridge until ready to serve.

Cowboy Cookies

I'm doing it again. As I was looking through my photos to decide what to talk about today, I started getting hungry. I really want to make some cookies today after thinking about how great these tasted.

I was feeling like making some chocolate chip cookies one day but I kind of wanted something with a twist. These Cowboy Cookies were perfect. The cookie base holds together quite well and isn't too cakey or greasy. It's not overly crunchy, but has that perfect cookie bite to it. Enter in some chocolate chips, toasted pecans, oats and coconut flakes and your mouth is pretty darn happy. I was sad when we had finished the batch of cookies.

I don't make cookies all that often so sometimes I forget just how great they are. They're not too big, so it's usually okay to have 2 or 3 of them. They're portable so they're easy to grab and take to work for a snack later or for sneaking into a movie theatre.

This recipe came from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I know, I know, it seems like I'm always posting about other people's recipes. It's because I usually forget to take photos when I make my own things. Typically when I cook, I just throw things together and about half the time I forget to write down what ingredients and quantities I was using.

Hopefully I have some time to make cookies before I'm out and about this afternoon. October isn't just Vegan MoFo, it's also my annual Month of Horror where I try to go see every horror movie that's in the theatres. I usually end up seeing a one or two movies a week all month. It's a lot of fun, actually. I think this year I'm going to add in some movie nights at home with friends as well.

Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up next weekend as well. I've been procrastinating making my menu plans. I really need to get on that. Only a few more days to shop for everything before the big dinner on Sunday! I definitely need some cookies to help me think.

Coconut Glen's Coconut Milk Ice Cream

I have a whole bunch of stuff saved up for talking about all of the awesome vegan stuff in Maui, but Coconut Glen's really deserves a post all its own. It's just that neat. In searching the internets before leaving Canada, I kept finding mentions of this place and was quite intrigued. If you're driving on the road to Hana, I highly recommend you stop and sample the ice cream. It's really delicious and so fresh!

Aren't these bowls just the greatest?! You can get ice cream to go in little paper cups as well, but really, why would you pass up the opportunity to eat out of a coconut bowl. That's just silly. The spoons are made from the outer husks of coconuts. You just throw the spoon into the yard when you're done with it. Sadly, you have to return the bowls to the counter when you're done. I'd have loved to have had a few of those.

You'll see this sign between mile markers 27 and 28. If you don't stop, you'll be sorry. If no one is out there, just honk and someone will come out of the house behind the stand.

We saw this sign in the grass near the parking area. It definitely made me giggle.

Such a cute little ice cream stand in the middle of nowhere.

Just to the right of the stand is this bit of coconut carnage. You can't get much fresher than that.

You can buy just a coconut if you want. Someone will grab a fresh one and chop it with a machete right then and there for you. So cool. The outer husk pieces become spoons for the ice cream. Neat!

There are so many flavors, it was hard to decide. I forgot to write them all down or take a photo of the menu board, so from memory, this is what I think you can choose from: original (plain coconut milk flavor), chocolate aloha (chocolate with coconut candy), pineapple banana, chipotle chocolate (spicy!), lilikoi (passionfruit), coffee toffee, and there were a few more that had combinations of papaya, banana, pineapple and other Hawaiian fruits. I really wish I had remembered to take that photo!

I pretty much just remember which flavors we ordered. They were so delicious, I was scraping the bowl with the coconut spoon trying to get every last bit of ice cream out of the bowl. On the left is the lilikoi (passionfruit) and on the right is the pineapple banana. Don't you just love the presentation?!

James loves his lilikoi ice cream. We buy coconut milk ice cream at home all of the time, but it's never like this. Oh man. It's worth the drive to Hana just to have some of this.

When you first roll up, you'll also be offered a sample of the coconut candy. It's quite delicious. It's just coconuts and sugar. We liked it so much we bought a bag of it. Some of the ice cream flavors have bits of this sprinkled on top so you can sort of get two treats in one that way.

Things That Are Awesome: Bob's Red Mill 8-Grain Hot Cereal

I'm one of those few people who doesn't like oatmeal. I know, I know. It's supposed to be so good for you and all that. I've just never been able to stomach it. I've tried and tried over the years and I still just don't care for it. And yes, I've tried just about every different brand and type of oatmeal you can imagine with all different toppings. Still not a fan. I've finally stopped trying to convince myself that I might one day wake up and have a hankering for oatmeal. Not gonna happen.

I do, however, love me some grits. I am a Southern gal, after all. Grits, however awesome, aren't always as filling as I'd like in the morning, especially when we don't generally take our lunch breaks at work until 1pm. I was buying flour at the market one day when some of the Bob's Red Mill hot cereals caught my eye. They have so many different kinds, all named things like 10-Grain Hot Cereal and 8-Grain Hot Cereal. I think there are two different kinds of the 10-Grain one, even. How many grains are the right amount? Who knows. I decided to try the 8-Grain Hot Cereal. That one's wheat free, but not totally gluten-free. Though they do have a couple of gluten-free hot cereals.

Now I've been eating this hot cereal for breakfast for a few years now. It's pretty awesome. I like to add some dried fruits and nuts and a little bit of agave nectar or maple syrup. I've been doing a bit of experimenting with Traditional Chinese Medicine here and there lately. One of the things I was doing had me eating or avoiding certain foods to help balance my qi. I was off sugars so I didn't want to add my usual sweetener. Molasses was on my list of recommended foods so I decided to try a spoonful of that on top of my cereal instead. Cherries and coconut were also supposed to be beneficial and I just happened to have some of each in the cabinet. (The dried cherries were from the Cherry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies which I heartily recommend you try if you haven't already.)

I was a bit suspicious about how this weird looking concoction would taste, but to my surprise it was kind of great. I've started using molasses on my cereal sometimes now just to shake things up a bit. Even better blackstrap molasses is a great source of calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron. The nutrients are basically packed in there; you get a pretty good amount of each of those minerals from just a tablespoonful. Awesome! Also, dried cherries are crazy amazing in hot cereal. I dare you to try it, but maybe do it on this kind of hot cereal not that icky oatmeal.

Hot Monkey Pile

So one day I was talking to a friend about food. I realized that most of my recipes don't really have a name and I was trying to be creative. She came up with the name Hot Monkey Pile and then I just had to create a recipe to go with that fantastic name. Nothing like reverse engineering, eh?

My pictures came out kinda crappy so I'll have to try to take better ones when I make this again. Without further ado, let me introduce you to the greatness that is...

Hot Monkey Pile

4 bananas, sliced
1 Tablespoon peanut oil
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice
5.6 oz can coconut milk
1 teaspoon arrowroot or cornstarch
1/8 cup turbinado sugar
1/4 cup chopped peanuts

The trick to the bananas cooking without mushing is to refrigerate them. I put mine in the fridge this morning so they were nice and chilled when I went to cut them. Heat the peanut oil on medium heat in a saute pan. Add half of the banana slices. Stir them around so the oil gets friendly with all of the bananas. Add the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice and stir some more. Let these bananas cook for about 2 minutes and then add the rest of them. You want to let the first half get a little mushy to give you a little bit of a differing texture to the dessert. Stirring frequently, cook for about 5 minutes or until the bananas start to get bubbly.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the coconut milk and arrowroot (or cornstarch). Whisk everything together until combined. Keep whisking over medium heat. Add the sugar and keep whisking until the mixture starts to get thick. Once it starts to boil, cook for another 30 seconds and then remove from heat.

Spoon the bananas into a bowl and then spoon some of the coconut mixture on top. Throw on some of the peanuts and you've just created a hot monkey pile. :D

You can get 2-3 servings out of this.

Tarragon Tempeh

If my life was a sit-com, there would have been a moral to the story at the end of today's episode. That moral is: Buy the cool veggies the day you see them at the market and don't wait for silly things like time to cook them. I was so bummed when I went to the market today. I saw both English Peas and Fava Beans all cute and fresh in their perky little pods last week. Today I go all excited to buy a bunch of both of these, but alas, no English Peas or Fava Beans to be had. :( I was really looking forward to those. I'm going to start stalking the market for the next couple of weeks in case they get more. If so, there's a yummy awesome salad in the future starring Fava Beans. And really, that is exciting because if you know me, you know how I feel about salad... (quite frequently being the only thing to eat at restaurants when going out with a big group, I don't tend to make salads at home very often)

If you can find English Peas, I'm jealous of you. Also, you can and should use those instead of the regular peas in this recipe because it will be more awesome. And who doesn't like it when things are more awesome? Well, I'm sure someone doesn't, but that person would be an idiot and not to be listened to. Ahem... the recipe:

Tarragon Tempeh with Red Chard on a Bed of Peas

1 bag frozen peas
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large shallot, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 package tempeh, cut into small cubes
1 large Portabella mushroom, chopped
1 bunch red chard
1 Tablespoon dried tarragon or 3 Tablespoons fresh

Cook the peas until their cold little hearts are thawed out and warm. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. After the oil is hot, add the shallots and saute for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another 3 minutes or so. You'll know you're done when the shallots are translucent and starting to caramelize a little bit.

Add the tempeh cubes and stir everything around to make sure that the tempeh gets to be friends with all of the shallots and garlic. Add the chopped up portabella mushroom and stir again. Add the tarragon and saute for about 10 minutes, stirring often.

Tear the red chard into pieces and add them to your pan. Just let it sit on top of everything else and put a lid on that sucker so you get a nice sauna going for the chard. Once it starts to look like it's wilting, stir again, but be careful that you don't accidentally stir the greens out of the pan like I have a tendency to do. Escapee alert! Keep cooking until the greens are done.

Put some peas on a plate like you're making a little bed for the tempeh stuff. Spoon the tempeh stuff on top of the peas and marvel at how cute your food looks. Don't stand there gawking for too long, though. Make sure to dig in and eat! I added some fresh ground pepper to mine, but some of you peeps will likely want to add some salt also.

This will make enough for 2-3 servings depending on how hungry you are. I ended up with 2. One for tonight and one for work lunch tomorrow. I love when I get leftovers for lunch like this!

To console myself at the market because of the lack of Fava Beans and English Peas, I bought some Coconut Water.

I read something about this the other day. Apparently it's all the rage with some of those vapid celebrity types right now. Not that I want to be anything like those crack whores, but I did get interested to try the Coconut Water. It's the water from the inside of the coconut with a little bit of sugar added. But don't be fooled - even though there's some sugar in it, it's not very sweet at all, which I love. I might even buy some of this again. It comes in these cute little boxes that look like juice boxes. I'm totally bringing one to work tomorrow to eat with my tempeh. :D