Vegan Cooking with TLC

As we've all practiced social distancing and self-quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, I've been a bit challenged to eat the whole food plant based diet I normally do. I generally eat an abundance of fresh produce. I went to the grocery as I normally do for a few weeks but practiced social distancing, but each week I also picked up a few frozen versions of some of the things we eat on a regular basis, just in case the need arose. As I thought about how to prepare to be able to eat a whole food plant based diet without the need for a minimum of a weekly trip to the grocery store, I started thinking about whether I wanted to buy canned or frozen food. I'm lucky because we have a stand alone freezer, so I opted for frozen. Frozen tends to be less processed - less "cooked" - than canned and therefore holds more of its nutritional value, but I do have some canned/jarred goods and will use those as well.  As I look at the items I gravitated toward, I'm ...

This recipe came out of one of those moments when I wanted muffins and realized I didn't have enough plant-based milk left to make it. I did however have some apple cider in the refrigerator. So... I thought for a few minutes and decided let's see what happens. I made the muffins and rather liked the end result. I'm sure these aren't quite as healthy as some other muffins I've made, but they taste quite good. Spicy Apple Cider Muffins 2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds 2 tablespoons hot water 2 cups spelt flour* 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger ½ teaspoon ground cardamom ¼ teaspoon ground cloves ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon matcha (optional) ½ cup date sugar 1 ¼ cups apple cider ¼ cup plant-based milk 1 medium apple ½ cup walnuts or pecans, broken into small pieces** Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or si...

I've been thinking about adding a recipe for something I drink every single day - tea, but that doesn't really seem like a recipe, at least to me. So, instead I'm going to talk a bit about tea. I've always enjoyed drinking tea. Over the years, my taste in tea has changed. I prefer loose leaf tea now over bagged tea. I prefer green and white teas over black teas. I often prefer tea that has some other additions, like fruit or vanilla or spices. I occasionally drink matcha tea as well though I usually put matcha in my smoothies or baked goods rather than drinking it as a tea. I shared my recipe for a Ginger Hazelnut Matcha Latte a while back. But, let's talk about tea. Tea has many health benefits . Tea is filled with anti-oxidants.  Green and white teas have more anti-oxidants than black. They also have other nutritional benefits. They have zero calories when no sweetener is added. Some studies have even shown drinking green tea can help control weight. Th...