Banana Nut Muffins

3 ripe bananas

1/4 cup vegan margarine (Becel makes one!)

3/4 cup of sugar or alternative

1 tsp salt

1tsp baking soda

1 cup of chopped walnuts

Preheat oven 325º

Mash bananas on a plate. Cream the margarine and sugar. Add the flour, salt and baking soda and mix really well. Add the walnuts and if your sweet tooth is acting up add some chocolate chips.

Grease or line a muffin pan. I use a mini muffin tray and liners. Fill cups. (A trick to filling the cups without making a mess is to scoop all the batter into a large freezer bag like a piping bag and cut a hole in the corner and pipe it into the pan)

Bake for about 13-14 minutes and check with a toothpick after 10 minutes to be sure.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

High in flavor and low in fat, this dip satisfies the creamy, cheesy, ooey- gooey chips and dip lover!

1 can artichoke hearts
3 tbsp of minced garlic
1/2 bag of frozen spinach
3 tbsp tofutti cream cheese
1 tbsp vegan mayonnaise (see recipe above)
1 tbsp tofutti sour cream
1/4 cup of Daiya cheese
1 tbsp olive oil



In a medium size pan saute garlic in olive oil. Add drained artichoke and break them up a bit on the pan. Next add frozen spinach and cook until all the water comes out. Throw it all in the food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Top with cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise and Daiya cheese. Mix for 5-10 seconds or just until all ingredients are mixed through. Don't over do it or you'll end up with paste. Notice I didn't add any salt? It's because my homemade mayo is really salty this time around. Add salt to taste.
I top with a bit more Daiya cheese and bake it in the oven on 350º for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Vegan Mayonnaise

I love Veganaise. It's just as satisfying as real mayo but it's too expensive so here's an alternative. I'm still trying to make it more like veganaise but it's close enough to pass.
1 block Silken tofu
2 tbsp olive oil
5 tsp agave syrup
3 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp cornstarch

All ingredients in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Cook over medium heat in a small saucepan for about 7 minutes or until it's thick. (It will thicken more when it's cooling too.) Stir constantly with a rubber spatula. Take it off the stove and continue stirring occasionally while it cools.
Keep in a glass jar in the fridge.

Sweet Curried Butternut Squash Soup

This is a BIG recipe. I end up with a lot of soup. A tip for freezing portions of soup or sauce is to get some of those large freezer bags and fill them up about half way with your stuff. (Make sure you label the bags before you fill them.) Squeeze all the air out and lay flat on the bottom of your freezer. You end up with stackable soup portions that save space. If you have a deep freeze you could have a filing cabinet of pre-made lunches and suppers.  I learned this trick from Jamie Lee Curtis. She's a genius.


1 butternut squash
2 apples
1 large onion
3 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 cup Vegetable stock
3 tbsp Brown sugar
3 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp Cumin
2 tbsp Garam Masala
1 tsp tandori masala

(If you don't have the spices 2 tbsp of hot curry paste in a jar works too)


Chop onion and saute until soft. Add garlic and ginger and saute for another 2 minutes. Set aside.
Peel and seed butternut squash. (I find it's easier to manage if you cut it in half first. Peel it then halve it again to scoop or cut out the seeds and pulp.)
Cut the squash into chunks. Peel the apples and chunk them too.
Put everything in a large, deep pot and cover with water. Cook on a low boil for 20 minutes or so until the squash is tender.

In a food processor or blender puree in 2 or 3 batches. There's probably too much for your standard processor to handle. Transfer it all back to your soup pot.

Tea Buns and Rhubarb Jam

You can't have a cup of tea without something to go with it. Well I can't anyway. Nanny Jessie gave us a big bag of frozen rhubarb to make jam and I can't think of anything I'd like more than warm tea buns to spread it on.  The kettle is a boilin' now.


Tea Buns
2 Cups of flour
1/4 Cup of bran
1/4 Cup of wheat germ
3 Tbsp of ground flax seed
1 Tbsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
4 Tbsp non-hydrogenated margarine
3/4 Cup of soy milk
3 Tbsp of agave syrup

Preheat oven to 400º ( I have a hot oven and used 450º. It was way too hot. I also left mine in for 12 minutes and burned the bottoms. )

Combine all dry ingredients in large bowl. Add margarine and combine with a fork until mixture tuns into crumbs. Add soy milk and agave syrup. Mix until smooth. It will still be sticky.
Turn onto floured surface and roll or flatten to about 1/2 inch thickness. Use a cup to cut out rounds. Place on an un-greased baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Ovens vary so check after 10 minutes to see if the bottoms are brown.
Serve warm :)

Rhubarb Jam
Rhubarb
Strawberries or apple
Stevia to sweeten to taste (or sugar if you want to go there.)

It doesn't really matter how much rhubarb you have, you can make jam. I used a giant freezer bag of frozen rhubarb. I like to add either strawberries or apple to give another layer of flavor. 3-1 ratio of rhubarb to strawberries.
Put the rhubarb and strawberries in a pot and heat on a medium low heat until it breaks down. About 12-15 minutes. Reduce further on a low heat and add your stevia or sugar to taste. I added 3 tsp of stevia.

Sweet and Savory Carribean Potato Cakes

Sweet and Savory Caribbean Potato Cakes

1 medium sweet potato
2 medium white potatoes
1 small zucchini 
1/2 medium onion
1/4 minced jalapeño (You could use a full one if you didn't have picky kids)
3 tbsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp allspice
2 tbsp savory
1 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp olive oil or canola oil
2 cups panko breadcrumbs




Parboil all your potatoes for about 10-12 minute  ( I left the skins on the white ones).


Chop onions and garlic and jalapeño. Saute onions in 1 Tbsp oil over medium high heat. Add jalapeños, garlic. Saute for another minute. Add allspice, savory and brown sugar. Saute until brown sugar as dissolved.


Grate zucchini in food processor. Grate sweet potato and white potatoes on same setting.
Throw potato mixture and onion garlic mixture into a large bowl and fold together. Form into balls and press in the breadcrumbs.


Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat, reducing heat as cooking progresses. Cook potato patties until golden brown. Flip once. Keep warm in 200 degree oven.


Serve with a salad and you're good to go!