Sprouts & Chocolate » cranberry

Carrot Cake Muffin Tops {Vegan & Gluten-Free}

Jessica DeMarra — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 14:18:12 +0000

Next week is my birthday and for the past few years I have been a complete bummer. As much as I like to celebrate with friends and family, I get a little bit down on myself for not accomplishing everything that I wanted to do or where I might be in my life, whether it is a job or school or lacking any type of path.

I was feeling really overwhelmed with the upcoming year and ashamed of myself for not taking more chances or more opportunities. A bunch of why’s flooded my brain; why do I still work in a restaurant? Why haven’t I updated any skills to put on a resume? Why didn’t I decide to update my high school credits sooner? Why am I turning 28 and done nothing with my life?!?

All these feelings flooded over me and turned into tears so naturally like the grown up I am, I called my mommy. After telling me all the nice things that mothers are suppose to say when you call them crying she told me that everything is going to be ok. I didn’t believe her and I felt like everything was taking a really long time and I was at a stand-still, despite actively being in school, doing my site and working a full time job. Strange how you can be doing so much and yet feel motionless. She told me that her twenties were very difficult raising two children on her own but after that it got much better. Her husband also told me that sometimes his life was a disaster also raising two children, losing this job to a machine and then having to travel all the time for a lower paying position because it was one of the few jobs available. He mentioned that when the mother of his children became pregnant for a second time, he had a mortgage and no job. The stress was intense but after a lot of hard work, things did in fact get a little bit smoother. They said that sometimes it felt like things were always going to be bad but thankfully their situations did get better with a little help, love and support from the people around them. They said neither one of them had it all figured out by the time they were 30 and I really shouldn’t put that much pressure on myself when it comes to figuring my entire life out. I was looking at their lives now but did not see the struggle to get there. I was comparing my path to their destination. It was a good prep talk and turned my attitude a full 180 and got down to planning.

I decided to prepare some birthday goals, which are unlike resolutions have an action plan attached to them. I will give myself until my next birthday to accomplish them since some of them aren’t things that can be accomplished in a week (and thats ok!). I am not one for New Year’s resolutions since I find they are empty but having an action plan can be empowering. Each time I check an item off the list, big or small it is a victory in itself!

My first and most important goal this year is to dump someone that has been dragging me down. This person that is doubting my every decision, embarrassed by the decisions that I have made in the past, someone who doesn’t believe in me and compares my efforts, actions and accomplishments to other peoples. She sighs when she sees someone else’s post or recipe or photograph that is better than mine, thinking I will never be as good as them and might as well just give up entirely. This person is not on Team Jess when I sometimes need her to be so badly. All my friends are on Team Jess, rooting for me in the wings, cheering me on with words of encouragement, support and love but just not her.

This person is myself; that little negative voice in my head that tells me that I simply can’t. I don’t need that little voice telling me I can’t or I shouldn’t or what will people think? I am delaying goals I have had for the longest time because of this and for what? Because of what a stranger may think of me when they see that I am in fact a terrible dancer or so inflexible it is almost laughable or that people in a writing class will hate my ideas? These are not good enough reasons to not pursue the things that I want to do. Who is winning here? Not me. We are always hardest on ourselves but isn’t the world hard enough without our own little voice telling us we aren’t good enough? This is why my number one birthday goal is to stop ruining my own life.

On that note, I hope you take a little time today and make that goal for yourself, it may not be your birthday or New Years but it is an important one to practice daily. Enjoy these muffin tops with a cup of tea and get your list going.

Carrot Cake Muffin Tops {Vegan & Gluten-Free}

2015-01-22 07:17:47

Yields 8

This lightly sweetened carrot cake muffin tops will leave your sweet tooth satisfied with the need for a thick coat of cream cheese icing. Perfect with your morning tea or coffee. This recipe is gluten free, refined sugar free (sweetened with dates!) and soy free.

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

20 min

Total Time

30 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

20 min

Total Time

30 min

Ingredients

1 cup pure pumpkin puree*
7-8 Medjool dates, pitted** (about 170 grams after pitting)
¼ cup virgin coconut oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups certified gluten-free rolled oats***
2 medium carrots, grated. About ½ cup finely shredded carrots
½ cup chopped pecans
4 tablespoons dried cranberries****

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Add the pumpkin, pitted dates, coconut oil, and spices into a food processor. Process until smooth. They should be no rough chunks of dates.
Add the baking powder, vanilla and salt to the processor and process until combined, 5 seconds or so.
Add in 1.5 cups of the rolled oats and process for about 5-6 seconds until the oats are combined but still rough—not oat flour textured!
Transfer mixture to a large bowl and set aside. In the now empty food processor, grate the carrots using a grating disk. Stir in the remaining oats, carrots, pecans and cranberries until combined.
With a ¼ cup measuring cup, scoop the mixture onto the parchment, leaving a bit of space between each mound. They won’t rise like cookies but it ensures that they will all be golden brown. I made 9 muffin tops.
Bake the tops for 10 minutes, rotate the pan, and bake for another 8-10 minutes until they are golden brown on the bottom, CAREFULLY lift with a wide spatula to check the bottoms.
Transfer the baking sheet onto a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Once the pan has cooled, transfer each muffin top to the cooling rack and cool completely.
Store in an air tight container (once completely cooled) and refrigerate until ready to eat! They will last about 5 days in the fridge. Freezer up to one month.

Notes

*Not pumpkin pie filling
** If they are dry, soak them in water until soft and plump
*** I used Bob Mill’s gluten free oats
**** Golden raisins or dried cherries are good options too

By Jessica DeMarra

Adapted from Oh She Glows: Banana Bread Muffin Tops

Sprouts & Chocolate http://www.sproutsandchocolate.com/

The post Carrot Cake Muffin Tops {Vegan & Gluten-Free} appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Lentil-Stuffed Roasted Delicata Squash with Savoury Pear & Onion Cranberry Sauce {Vegan & Gluten-Free}

Jessica DeMarra — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 13:03:37 +0000

With VeganMoFo being at a close, I decided to take a little break from my kitchen and computer to catch up on things I neglected over the month long cooking fest: the heaps of laundry, my kitchen in a constantly state of chaos just begging to be cleaned, caught up on snuggles with my overly affectionate cat who cried at my feet when I was cooking and I broke in a new book that wasn’t food related. However this break was very short lived since omg Thanksgiving is only 13 days away!! What??! Where did that come from? So my apologies for the break but I had some recipe testing to do!

Until this year, I have worked every Thanksgiving at a barbecue restaurant and it always is a real life hell since the staff is reduced but it is still crazy busy. I am literally running for 6 hours until we close but there is a silver lining to working on this holiday: the annual staff potluck dinner after the shift. All the staff, including those who aren’t working but come in help close down the restaurant: putting up chairs, the endless sorting and rolling of cutlery, bussing tables and cleaning every surface in that place. We all work hard so all of us can sit down and enjoy a meal together. You would think working in a restaurant we would be having meals together all the time but this couldn’t be further from the truth, with the exception of sharing a plate of cold fries.

The people I work with are not just coworkers, they are my friends: we help each other move, go on vacations together, drink (heavily) together and are always there for you when you need them to cover your section so you can shame eat a kid’s dessert in the bathroom before you have a mental breakdown. The last one happens a lot more than you would think.

There are a lot of funny and painfully accurate articles on BuzzFeed on how it is to be a server but my coworkers make it worth it to crack a fake smile to a rude table and speak to them with a voice 10 octaves higher than your normal voice. These people help me in so many ways and I am thankful to them every single time I punch in to start my shift.

When I said I wanted to create this site, not one of them questioned me or suggested that I may be in way over my head, even when I did. They were all supportive, offered their help when they could and have been my taste testers since I started. This post is dedicated to them, the people that make my job survivable, the people who I get silly drunk with, who make my birthday so special every year and the people who I look forward to seeing everyday, hands down my favourite part of my job. I am thankful to all of you.

I hope you are spending your holiday with your loved ones, whether family you are born into or the one you made for yourself. Happy Thanksgiving from Sprouts and Chocolate!

Vegan Thanksgiving Roundup From Blogs I Love:

Fork and Beans: Thanksgiving-themed Foods

Oh She Glows: The Best Shredded Kale Salad

Vegetarian Snob: Comforting Coconut Butternut Squash Fall Soup (Don’t forget to download their 12 Fall Favourite: Vegan Warming Comforting Seasonal Recipes E-Book! I downloaded one and LOVE it!)

This Rawsome Vegan Life: PUMPKIN CASHEW CREAM CAKE with CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Post Punk Kitchen: Stuffed Thanksgiving Burger

Lunchbox Bunch: Ginger-Maple Fall Spiced Tofu Cubes

Lentil-Stuffed Roasted Delicata Squash

2014-10-09 06:40:06

Serves 4

This Thanksgiving Sprouts and Chocolate has gone gluten-free! This meal won't take you all day to make and it is made with whole ingredients to have you feeling great after your big meal, instead of wanting to take a nap. Delicata squash is amazing and will have you reconsidering how easy this fall ingredient is to make: easy to cut (no cleaver needed), doesn't require an hour in the oven and doesn't need to be peeled! Hooray! This recipe makes enough to serve 4-half squashes stuffed with herb and Dijon dressed lentils.

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Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 30 min

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 30 min

For the Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (apple cider vinegar is a good choice too)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
½ teaspoon fresh chopped thyme

For the lentils

1 ½ cups du Puy lentils, picked through to remove any pebbles and rinsed over a fine mesh strainer (if you can’t find these pebbly French lentils, green lentils are a good substitute)
3 springs of thyme
4 garlic cloves, smashed and papery skin removed
3-4 cups vegetable stock

For the Delicata Squash

2 delicata squashes
1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of fine grain sea salt and cracked black pepper

For the stuffing

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup finely diced onion, about ½ of a medium sized onion
1 cup finely diced celery, about 2 trimmed celery stalks
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 green kale leaves, de-stemmed and cut into fine pieces
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped + more for garnish
6 sage leaves, chopped fine
Pinch of cracked black pepper

For the Vinaigrette

Whisk all the ingredients together and set aside until the lentils are cooked and ready to be dressed.

For the lentils

Put the lentils in a 3- quart pot and top with the thyme and garlic (these will be picked out later). Add the stock to cover the lentils by about 2-inches and bring to boil over medium-high heat.
Immediately lower to a gentle simmer, cook uncovered until the lentils are tender (try a few lentils since they can cook unevenly depending on size), about 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile, prep the squash for roasting and the ingredients for the stuffing. When the lentils are fully cooked, remove the garlic and the thyme and dress them with the vinaigrette while they are still hot.

For the stuffing

In a large pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onions, celery and salt and cook, stirring occasionally until soft, about 7-8 minutes.
Add the garlic and sautee until fragrant.
Add the kale, herbs and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally until kale is softened and bright green. Add the dressed lentils and mix until lentils are fully incorporated. Keep warm until squash is ready to be stuffed.

For the Delicata Squash

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or tinfoil. Wash, dry the squash, cut lengthwise and scoop out seeds.
Set squash on the lined baking sheet, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper and roast for 25-30 minutes, turning the squash with a spatula (not tongs! The skin is delicate and will tear with metal tongs) halfway through cooking time until the flesh is soft and can be easily pierced with a fork.
Transfer roasted squash to a serving platter and stuff with lentil-stuffing, garnishing with more parsley. Serve with Savoury Pear & Onion Cranberry Sauce (recipe card below).

Game Plan

1) Prep all the vegetables needed for the lentils and the stuffing
2) Get the lentils going and pre-heat the oven
3) While the lentils are cooking and cook the vegetables for the stuffing (minus the kale and herbs) 4) Roast the squash and while it is cooking finish off the stuffing
5) Clean as you go!
6) Stuff the squash and garnish with extra parsley
7) Serve with Savoury Pear & Onion Cranberry Sauce

By Jessica DeMarra

Sprouts & Chocolate http://www.sproutsandchocolate.com/

Savoury Pear & Onion Cranberry Sauce

2014-10-09 06:47:41

Since squash is already fairly sweet, I decided to do a savoury cranberry sauce to balance the dish out. Serve with Lentil-Stuffed Roasted Delicata Squash. This recipe makes about 4 cups and can be made the day ahead. Bring up to room temperature or warm up in a saucepan to serve.

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

50 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

50 min

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Earth Balance traditional spread (or vegan butter of your choice)
1 large yellow onion, peeled, cut in half and chopped about1/4 inch thick
¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2 ripe Bartlett pears, peeled and large diced
¾ cup dry red wine
1 cup water
¼-1/3 cup pure maple syrup
12 ounce bag of cranberries, picked over and rinsed
Pinch of cinnamon
2 springs of thyme

Instructions

In a large saucepan over medium high, add the oil and vegan butter until shimmering. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until softened. Turn down heat to medium-low, adding 1 tablespoon of water to the onions. Cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally until golden brown. If your onions are browning too quickly turn down heat.
When the onions are golden brown, add the wine; scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook wine until it is a thicker consistency (like a glaze), about 3 minutes. Add the pears and stir to coat with the oil/butter and wine mixture, cook for 3 minutes.
Add the water, turn up the heat to medium-high heat and bring to boil. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to boil. Turn down heat to medium and allow to simmer for 6-7 minutes until most of the cranberries have burst. Remove the thyme before serving.
The sauce will thicken as it cools. Serve warm or at room temperature with Lentil-Stuffed Delicata Squash.

By Jessica DeMarra

Adapted from Cinnamon and Pear Cranberry Sauce

Sprouts & Chocolate http://www.sproutsandchocolate.com/

The post Lentil-Stuffed Roasted Delicata Squash with Savoury Pear & Onion Cranberry Sauce {Vegan & Gluten-Free} appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Ginger Cranberry Cocktail

Jessica DeMarra — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 17:34:52 +0000

When I was a kid, my mother made the extra effort on New Years to make it feel like we were celebrating as well, that it wasn’t just an adult holiday. We had an air popcorn popper when I was growing up and one time on NYE I tried to make a snack for my family. The package said to use ¼ popcorn kernels in the popper however it didn’t seem like enough to me so I added 1 cup to the air popper….18 cups of popcorn and a small panic attack later we had a snack for us and the entire neighbourhood. We would watch movies, have a dance party in the living room and just before midnight my mom would pour us Canada Dry Cranberry Gingerale in wine glasses so we could toast in the new year. Memories like these are my inspiration for most of my blog posts and though a lot has changed since I was a kid I still wanted to celebrate this memory. This is my adult version of Canada Dry Cranberry Gingerale but a lot less sweet than pop. If you are serving children this drink just omit the vodka.

The night before: Make ice (if you are looking to win the Martha Stewart award, add some cranberries to your ice cubes, if not regular ice is just fine)

Ginger-Lime Simple Syrup

1 cup water
½ cup organic cane sugar (I found agave had a weird taste but then I don’t really like agave)
3 inch knob of ginger, skin peeled and chopped in small cubes
Zest and juice of 1 lime
Pinch of salt

In a small saucepot, bring all ingredients to simmer over medium high heat, turn down heat to medium and allow it to simmer for 30 minutes until glossy and syrupy. Over a fine mesh strainer, strain out zest and ginger and discard. Allow to syrup to cool slightly and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Cocktail

I used a 16-ounce pint glass for this but you can certainly put it in a wine glass to feel extra fancy.

5 -6 ice cubes
1 ounce shot of vodka
1 tablespoon ginger-lime syrup (or to taste)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cranberry juice (this is the real deal stuff and is bitter compared to cranberry cocktail)
Squirt of fresh lime juice (see picture below on how to cut a lime)
1 cup soda water

Fill the glass with ice cubes, add vodka, syrup, cranberry juice and lime juice and give it a little stir with a straw or handle of a wooden spoon. Top with soda water and garnish with a lime wheel. Serve and celebrate the upcoming New Year!

Best way to cut a lime for juice unless you have a handheld lime juicer:

This method makes it way easier to get more lime juice out

Do you have any NYE traditions that you remember celebrating as a kid? Happy 2014!

The post Ginger Cranberry Cocktail appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Cinnamon and Pear Cranberry Sauce

Jessica DeMarra — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 20:41:21 +0000

I never thought I would ever like cranberry sauce. To me, it was that dusty can at the back of the shelf that would appear at Thanksgiving and plopped in a bowl last minute. My dad especially loved the jellied cranberry sauce. He would open the can, turn it upside down onto a serving plate and I would watch the jelly mold slowly slip out of its casing. The mold had the same grooves on it as the can did. He would then cut it into thick slices and put it all over his festive dinner. No wonder I didn’t think I would ever like cranberry sauce since this was all I knew of it. Thankfully much later in life, I would be introduced to homemade cranberry sauce. Tart berries bursting in a sweetened sauce, how heavenly in comparison to what I had known. I was invited to a potluck one year and everyone was assigned an item to bring. I bought the pies and to my horror someone had bought canned jellied cranberry sauce. After this event I always assigned myself to bring the cranberry sauce. It is super easy and quick to make (I did not tell other potluckers this). I wanted something a little more sophisticated to impress my friends and starting playing around with the classic recipe. I use to like cran-apple juice a lot and wanted to see how apples would taste in the sauce. Unfortunately at the time, I did not have any apples in my fridge but I had two firm bartlett pears that I quickly substituted. I added a touch of cinnamon since pears and cinnamon go well together and voila! Fancy pants cranberry sauce however calling it this out loud may not sound so classy. If you want a traditional cranberry sauce, just omit the pear and cinnamon.

Makes 3.5 cups

2 firm bartlett pears, peeled, cored and chopped
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup water
1 cup evaporated cane sugar
1 12 ounce bag fresh cranberries, picked through and rinsed (I used Ocean Spray since it is readily available in most grocery stores this time of year)

In a medium saucepan, add the chopped pears, cinnamon, water and sugar to a boil over high heat.

Stir in cranberries and return to boil.

Turn heat down to medium and allow to simmer for about 7 minutes until most of the berries have burst.

The sauce will thicken as it cools. Transfer to serving dish and bring down to room temperature. Serve.

How easy was that? No more canned sauce for this girl. What is/was the most dreaded holiday food item for you?

The post Cinnamon and Pear Cranberry Sauce appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Sprouts & Chocolate » cranberry

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