Wild Mushrooms and Rhubarb

WILD MUSHROOMS
DH loves to wander the woods when the temps begin to raise and the days get a little steamy. He has his secret spots, but I cannot tell because mushroom hunters do not tell where their treasures are found. However, this mushroom hunter's wife will tell you what she did with the "loot". This picture is of a wonderful tasty and creamy wild mushroom barley risotto an idea I got from the Lorna Sass cookbook titled, "whole grains: everyday every way". I am saving my version of this recipe in my seasonal family favorite recipe folder.

VWAV: Isa also has a great recipe for Mushroom Gravy that I made, however it was the first time I ever used arrowroot powder and discovered it is not as stable as cornstarch. However the flavor and the meal I made with it, no disappointment here. This is a picture of a wild/brown rice combination topped with the mushroom gravy with a side of homegrown asparagus, and breaded mushroom. Bryanna Grogan has a wonderful seasoned breading mix in her Almost No Fat Cookbook.
As asparagus is beginning to come up in my garden, the pot stickers were the perfect recipe to use up the three stalks I harvested from my garden that day. I found a mushroom asparagus pot sticker recipe in a Light and Tasty Cooking magazine which allowed me to use up some the large mushroom harvest DH brought home the same day. Honestly, it was alot of work making the potstickers, but I made enough to freeze so I could have some on hand for a fast meal. It was worth the effort because I have discovered my family likes anything placed in a crispy little pocket that they can dip into a soy sauce type mixture. I love anything that the family will eat and allow me to use up the fresh produce that grows in our garden while it is still fresh. I froze the pot stickers uncooked on a sheet and them put them in a freezer bag ready to take out and bake at 425 F for 10 - 12 minutes.
To the right is a picture of our meal: broccoli mushroom stir fry, brown and wild rice mix, steamed green beans, and the pot stickers drizzled with a tasty sauce. The schezuan broccoli stir fry came from Bryanna Grogan's: 20 Minutes to Dinner Cook book. I subbed the soy strips called for in the original recipe for DH's fresh wild mushrooms ... the stir fry was much prettier than my meal plate shows so I'll put a close up of the stir fry to the left. It tasted wonderful; schezuan is my favorite!


To finish off the FRESH food meals I have been preparing I made muffins, another Bryanna recipe called
Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rhubarb Muffins.
I make most everything with stevia, so I will give you my version of these muffins.

Wet Mix:
1/2 C smooth applesauce
1 1/2 C soymilk
3 Tbsp light tasting olive oil
1 T lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer
1 1/2 tsp KAL brand stevia

Dry Mix:
2 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Additional:
1 1/2 cup diced rhubarb, can be frozen (mine wasn't)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare muffin cups by greasing or spraying with pan spray (I use special unbleached parchment papers because I like low fat baking and do not want the muffins to stick to the paper and rip apart). Combine the wet mix in the blender or food processor. In a medium bowl combine the dry mix. Add the wet to the dry and stir briefly just to mix. Spoon evenly into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. C Cool the pans on racks for 5 minutes, then carefully loosen the muffins with a table knife and turn them on their sides to cool a bit more before serving. These vegan muffins are quite tender when they are very hot, but they firm up with cooling.

Bryanna makes 18 muffins with this recipe, I made 11. I made a decorated tiramisu type muffin using Dreena's agar frosting, fresh strawberries, and a heart shaped candy. They were a pretty presentation to the end of our meal and for breakfast the next morning.Satisfied? I think so.

Weight Loss and Lunch

HALF OF ME BLOG

Check out the entry from the link, a great
testimony of what diet and exercise can do.

I was browsing around on some other sites, checking out other blog links. Although I really wasn't looking for anything special I did find a humorous blog that mentioned certain words in her post just to up the site meter count, unfortunately she joked that it was only perverted teen boys who would probably look. However she did discuss healthy food and weight loss and mentioned Pasta Queen who has lost a lot of weight. I checked out Pasta Queen and am pretty impressed with her computer skills. Her pictures turn when you click them and one picture shows her at a very obese weight and then today, she also has an overlay of a 10 pound weight loss - you can really see the difference!

I am so excited that my lunchbox came in. I have been browsing the pages reading about how much our disposable lunch packaging costs the environment. I love the little sauce dipper and silverware - FUN! There is even a tag on the front in which I can write my name. I can't wait to begin using it.

I now have the perfect reason to pack my lunch. I will be working extra hours in a unique opportunity to act as a "home school mom" (what I call it) for a student who needs the service for the rest of this tri-mester, it is in addition to my current work and is paid separately. My role will happen in a public library although the situation is very complex unlike my mention of it here, I am very happy that this is an option that the school/ parent could opt for.

Also concerning school, Matthew just finished his first semester in a college computer class (CISCO I). He is really a high school senior, but is earning these credits through a post secondary enrollment option. He made it through with a 72%, 70% is passing. As a previous homeschool student he needed to learn some study skills, which he did under pressure of finals week. When asked what he would do differently next semester he said he would take better notes and actually study from them. He'll be taking CISCO II next... he has Monday and Tuesday off so you'll probably see some more great cooking from him.

He is thinking of Bryanna's 20 minute seashell casserole with a salad. I think is also time to make a seitan roast and to make some good European bread. I'm going to have to pull out my crockpot again also, because three days a week I won't get home until 6 pm and will desire to have supper ready to eat. I'm also getting hungry for some of the basics, like red beans and rice or a simple black bean stew over a sweet potato. It is super cold as of yesterday, below zero kind of cold which is normal for us. We finally got our fist snow and it is expected to snow 3-6" tonight which is also normal. It is not normal that we have had autumn kind of weather up to now. Besides lots of warm herbal teas and hot cocoas here is some of the food we have been eating...

Dreena's Vive Le Vegan Stork Muffins, DD made these as her breakfast recipe of choice. The muffin portion was not very sweet, but when you get the pieces of the chopped date and cranberries - delish! Made with oat flour, ww pastry, and barley flour. I am a little bit of a stevia fan, so I would add just a tad bit of that to these muffins for the family's sweet tooth. DD says the coconut in them make it hard to eat with her braces.

I love Dreena's hummus and have had some on hand for several weeks now. This was a "salad" plate I made before a meal this week - - - yum! I cooked up about 3 lbs of chickpeas not long ago and froze them in 2 cup quantities as well as made two batches of hummus so that I could pull it out and use it as needed. I could have canned the chickpeas, but will wait a bit longer.... I really need to stock up on my home canned soups again. I miss having it ready to grab and go.

Yesterday when I was in a hurry for something quick I made this dish of Pasta and Greens over Mueller's multigrain pasta. The recipe came from Bryanna's 20 Minutes to Dinner cookbook. My picture doesn't give this recipe much glory, but I really loved the flavor. I ended up mixing the turnip green and beans topping which offered a strong flavor in with the spaghetti. I served a side of cooked cauliflower to go with it. The veggies were from my garden, both came from the freezer.

Here is a little review I found on the Internet (here) about the pasta ...."a box of Mueller's Multigrain Pasta, an 80 percent whole-grain pasta that cooked up chewy and dense like a great semolina pasta. The flavor was surprisingly full but not distracting or overpowering. I suspect the reason this pasta is more tasty than other whole-grain pastas is that it's made from a mix of rice, oats and wheat. The pasta is made by the American Italian Pasta Company. The pastas come in penne, rotini and spaghetti shapes."

DH's birthday is the 14th (today). I made him flaming breakfast muffins (they are Dreena's carob chip made with 100% barley flour) frosted and complete with candles, fresh sweetened hot soymilk and oranges.

Have a good week!

Food for life....

CHECK OUT THIS HEALTHY WINE LINK

Since I got some for Christmas and was sharing with friends I just had to do a search to find out the best way to enjoy it. My exploration of wine allowed me to find out....
1) A person does not drink wine to get drunk.
2) Usually wine is most remembered by a special event and the people it was celebrated with.
3) It's okay if a person says I do not like red wine or any other for that matter, no need to convince them otherwise. I don't like most wines either, but the fruit wine we bought is pretty tasty.

2007 is here.

Empty Red Raspberry Wine and Blushing Pink
Champagne bottles complete with empty glasses.

Bringing in the new year, we anticipated the event with two neighboring families whom we played Yahtzee (I won) and Clue (I accused and lost early in the game). One neighbor couple brought their three children so they watched the movies THE INCREDIBLES and SPY KIDS. About 9:30 pm we opened and shared the fruit wine between the 6 of us and then at midnight we popped open the bottle of bubbly. I had Dreena's Mushroom and Wild Rice soup in the crockpot to munch on through the evening. One neighbor brought some organic blue corn chip along with a cheesy salsa (non vegan) combination and the another brought chocolate pretzels, probably not vegan.

RESOLUTIONS ...
To begin the year I have a few personal growth goals as well as a few family financial goals.

#1) Personal goals: DH and I are at a time in our life when we transition into me going back to work after leaving the workforce to be a homeschool mom for seven years. I used to be a social worker before going pro mom, but over the last couple of years I returned to school to prepare myself for the transition of children beginning to grow up and out. Of course I will be going into a food and family related work now with my family and consumer science degree and teaching certification, but for personal satisfaction and enjoyment I blog. Thank you for an enjoyable 2006 and I look forward to inspiring and being inspired by fellow bloggers out there whom I might otherwise not have the opportunity to meet.

#2) Food goals:
Okay over the past month we have went all out on sugar and wheat in our house. My clothes still fit, but I feel the sluggishness of what I have done to myself. I'll offer some recipes and thoughts about this below. I'd love to understand more about cleansing or fasting ... tips and links welcome.

A LITTLE HISTORY ...
Concerning goal #1: I left the paid workforce seven years ago when I discovered a I had a son with special needs... actually, several of them... Asperger's syndrome, ADD w/o hyperactivity, social anxiety disorder, asthma, food allergies, and hypoglycemia. For us we realized that there came a time in life that QUALITY of life was more important than staying in the mainstream system where our evenings and weekends were set by assignments given at school which in actuality had nothing to offer his life after this "education". This journey lead me into exploring food "cures" and I learned a great many things. Unfortunately food has not been the "cure" but our whole family has benefited as we changed our diet and lifestyle into an organic, back-to-nature with home grown produce, whole grain, vegan, etc and still learning. My son is improving and he is able to attend a college level computer networking and technology program in "the big city" living the week away from home and returning on weekends. He still has some issues, but they are more manageable and we have found that food does have a very important role but is not the only factor.

Food has been good to us. As a family we started the small whole organic grain bakehouse and worked it for the past five years. It was not the sole source of our income as DH works elsewhere but managed all aspects of our business, my job was to learn to live on his one income, and together we worked baking, selling, growing, living, etc. A couple of years ago we were to the point that we either needed to hire employees (and start a small factory) or reduce and stay a specialized mom and pop business that we could enjoy. We decided to down size and continue to do only what we enjoyed. Now that my children are growing up I intend to take my knowledge of food and business into the public sector to help students and later families with my experience and area of knowledge. This is the year for this to begin and today I look forward in anticipation.

TO MEET GOAL #2: BREAKFAST
OATMEAL WITH FRESH CHOPPED APPLES and cinnamon

I use 1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick), 1/2 cup water, 1 cup water, and a sprinkle of cinnamon sweetened with KAL stevia extract powder to taste. I microwave the dish for two minutes on high (watch to make sure it doesn't bubble over and leave it sit for 2-3 minutes while I prepare coffee and make a sweet tofu yogurt sauce to eat on top of my dish. This is a wonderful weight watchers core recipe and with lite silken tofu and a little xanthan gum you can make an incredible VERY low calorie, satisfying drink. ( LINK TO 1 point: MOCHA SMOOTHIE and more oatmeal recipes) You may think to yourself that you ate an very big meal, but if you are a ww point keeper the total meal is only 3 points.... of course you will be hungry for a snack later, think of how few calories your just ate. Want to make it a few more points to make it to lunch add 4 - 6 English walnuts or almonds. Maybe a square of my favorite dark chocolate will be satisfying also... this will only add a point or two (depends what kind you use).

NEW YEARS DAY WAFFLES AND OUR FAMILY TRADITION:
LINK TO WAFFLE RECIPE also includes another smoothie recipe

Every new years DH and I are up on New Years Day preparing healthy waffles (which happens to also be a ww core item), Bryanna's TVP S'SAGE patties, and strawberries (which we use as syrup). I buy some sweetened strawberries and some whole without sugar and sweeten them myself with stevia. I melt a little of my homemade sugar free chocolate syrup for the top and also use my homemade soy yogurt, however one of my family members brought their own organic dairy yogurt.

The best thing about this day is that I have the time make up a bunch more. I multiply the recipe by 4 and make up a bunch ahead to freeze. The pile of waffles in the picture are actually leftover after feeding 9 people. They are also ww core or 1 ww point (i believe) and in general plain healthy and full of fiber. They are not your typical light and fluffy buttermilk stuff, but they are light enough very tastey. I do sweeten my batter with a touch of KAL stevia extract powder and have left the sugar completely out of it.

FROM DECEMBER BAKING ...
I know that the holidays has probably got most of us thinking about less food or more veggies due to all the rich treats we ate over the past month. However, I want to add that I do enjoy baking and I rarely ever buy snacks, because of it. After that introduction I present (with anticipation of the next cookbook) more baking...

Drumroll for Dreena ...
Here I share a couple of cookie pictures for her upcoming book that I had the opportunity to test in December and they were wonderful.
CHOCOLATE MINT MELTAWAYS

JAM-PRINT COOKIES
She says the new book will be out in Fall 2007. I'll be waiting... I have really enjoyed cooking from the two books she currently has out.


The following muffins come from the book Vive Le Vegan
Orange Poppy Seed Muffins. They are made from 1 1/4 C oat flour and 1 cup barley. Weight watchers fans will like that these flours are CORE foods, although they do contain a minimal amount of oil I think this could be subbed easily. This muffin batter started rising immediately in my mixing bowl, so I really heaped it in the muffin cup. .... obviously a good thing I did because they did not rise much in the oven. I have discovered several of Dreena's muffins have this "poofy" nature. These muffins made a pretty presentation and the oat flour gave them a somewhat nutty flavor, they were filling also and had that "stick with you" quality. If I personalized this recipe I would do away with the syrups and use stevia, maybe add some real oranges so that the orange pulp would be included .... however you know this is the season for cranberries. Family rating: C-, they didn't care for the lack of flavor but texture was good as long as you had a drink to sip on with it. I guess I am not as picky with foods... I liked the ingredients in it and went to the work of making them so of course I ate them. I did add fresh cranberry relish to the top in place of jelly foer added flavor and I had to freeze them until I could get through them since I am the only one who ate on these.

Baking Extravaganza #1

Yay! Blogger pictures are back. :)

Hi world, I am Lucy and the new one at the home of the bakehouse people. Dori is busy baking and I decided to tell you all she is up to so I can earn more goodies .... I love to eat the goodies, she makes sure I get no chocolate though.

For this order, the first items baked were Dreena's carrot pineapple "tops", only ours were made in muffin cups. They are tastey, not to sweet. For a festive occasion we may try to drizzle them with a yummy frosting. The other muffins pictured are VWAV apple pie- crumble top muffins. I discovered that there may be a mistake with the quantity of oil listed in the crumble top recipe... it says 3 Tbsp, when I used this amount the crumble top mix was soupy. I reduced it to 3 tsp and it made great crumble top.

Next I made Bryanna's Tender Banana bread with carob chips, 8 small loaves, a few mini muffins and a large loaf bread. Sitting beside these are VWAV best ever pumpkin muffins. I sprinkled them with leftover crumble top and they look pretty as a picture, I like the heavy spice flavoring.

Then with oranges I tried Bryanna's vegan Coconut Orange Muffins. These might be in the Fiber for Life cookbook. Beside these are a orange poppy seed muffins that has been stuck in my recipe box some time ago. They are fat free, to make up for a lack of visual appeal I decided to drizzle these with an almond flavored powdered sugar frosting.

Muffins made:
Vegan with a Vengeance - Best Ever Pumpkin Muffins, Apple Pie - Crumble Cake

Bryanna Clark Grogan: Fiber for Life Cookbook -
Orange Coconut Muffins, Fat Free Orange Poppy Seed Muffins - free recipes archives, Tender fat free banana bread - Almost No Fat Cookbook

Dreena: Vive Le Vegan - Carrot Raisin Muffin Tops

I was very impressed with the pumpkin muffins and the orange coconut muffins.





Hey now looks what's coming out of the oven...
cookies!




I made the following so far:
Dreena Everyday Vegan: Carob Coconut Pecan Cookies, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Dreen Vive Le Vegan: Peanut Better Cookies, Double Chocolate Almond Explosion Cookies, Maple Nut Cookies

Vegan with a Vengeance: Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

This picture is of the carob coconut pecan cookies in small medium and large size. That also means 1 tablespoonful, 2 tablespoonful, and three tablespoonful dough sizes. At first I didn't care for the crispy little cookies I was getting, but then I realized that I have a recipe yield difference. I made the cookie recipe five times bigger so it took me a bit to figure out how big the ideal recipe cookie was supposed to be. I discovered with most of the vive le vegan cookie a large spoonful measures to approximately the size of a 3 Tablespoon scoop, however the oatmeal raisin really does require a Tablespoon full. I have 7 gigantic ones that are tastey, and chewy, but they took longer to bake ... my family loves these mistakes. My five times larger recipe of these cookies yielded 105 cookies, Dreena's recipe yield would have calcuated to 110... I was pretty close (unless someone here snuck five cookies worth of dough... a likely happening).

Because I made so many little crispy carob coconut pecan cookies that I won't use in my order I make cookie gift sticks, 8 cookies in a 4 x 14 bags with a label. Tying the end with a festive ribbon will make a nice quick gift for the neighbors and a few friends, sometimes I will add a copy of the recipe (giving full credit to the source) - depends who I am giving it to and whether they would like that information.

Of the cookies, the maple nut ones are beautiful, but not as sweet as my customers would probably prefer and the same with the peanut better ones. I will frost the maple with a maple spiked powder sugar drizzle, the peanut better ones I will probably place them in the order as is, but will make a note on my recipe to make them a little sweeter next time ... I'd use a dash of stevia to accomplish that though.

My favorite Dreena cookie would be the Double Chocolate Almond Explosion cookie (oh yum yum!) ranked slightly higher than the pumpkin cookies in VWAV which I used craisins in inctead of raisins. I am not done baking yet, but can already feel the holiday spread.... soon I'll be blogging about my exercise routine instead of cooking (eek!).

Cherry Almond Muffins and tagged

Here's a picture of the muffins Melissa made for me. They are a bit smaller than what I would have done because she made 18 out of a recipe I make 12 from. She followed the 2/3 "rule", I don't with these muffins and for me they always rise into perfect little dome tops ... that doesn't always happen, but it does with this recipe. I got the idea for these from VwaV cookbook. I like many of the recipes in this book, but am unhappy with white flour and sugar. For a breakfast muffin I wanted it to be a bit more fibrous and hearty, so I combined the idea of this recipe with a favorite recipe of Bryanna's that we love (Almond Crumb Cakes). The end result became ...

Dori 's Birthday Cherry Almond Muffins
I do not add almonds to the muffin batter, but these are topped with a sweet crunchy almond topping. They were grand and I think I will ask for them next year too.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine Wet Mix in a small mixing bowl:
1 3/4 cup vanilla soymilk (or add 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1 1/2 Tbsp vinegar OR same amount lemon juice
2 tsp almond extract
3/4 tsp KAL brand stevia extract powder (you can try another brand, but the results will probably not be the same... I notice a "stevia" taste when I use other brands

Combine Dry Mix in a medium mxing bowl:
1 1/2 cup spelt flour OR same amount unbleached organic all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Combine the wet mix into the dry mix, stir until just mixed - do not over mix. Then stir in:
1- 1 1/4 cups pitted and quartered Sweet Cherries (note change from original publish)

Crumble Topping:
1/3 C slivered almonds
1/4 C unbleached sugar or sucanat
1/4 C whole wheat pastry OR spelt flour
2 Tbsp melted Earth Balance or preferred margarine

Fill 12 non stick (I use I CARE brand) parchment paper type muffin cups full, 18 for the size muffins pictured but I prefer 12. Comine the almond crumble top ingredients and spoon 1 Tbsp of this over each of 12 muffins OR divide evenly if making 18 muffins. Bake 18-22 minutes (until toothpick test done). Use the shorter time if making 18 muffins, the longer of making 12.

We also ate sandwiches and blackened tofu salads this weekend. Here you see my firm tofu slices sauting on a hot flat griddle pan. I like to cook mine with onions. I did marinate the tofu before cooking on the non-stick. I also like to slice it thinner like this so that it absorbs more flavor. I often use the marinade as a cooking liquid, over the hot heat the tofu soaks up more of the marinade flavor.

We often eat our meals like this. Dave prefers sandwiches (sourdough bread in this meal topped with a savory mushroom sauce) while I prefer salads (yellow pepper, red tomatoes, blckened tofu/mushroom/onions topped with a few slivers of almond). Matt often likes everything separate... protein, bread toasted, and then fruit and/or green salad on the side. Melissa varies between sandwiches and salad. I have found the family to be happier at meals when I have "eating options" then we all feel like the meal is designed for us.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying what is considered the last part of summer. The peppers, tomatoes, and canteloupe in the picture at the side were grown in our garden.


I have been tagged by kunsjoi, the computer engineer and future door to door soymilk salesman. This tag is to allow me to share 5 favorite quotes with you. There is a list here and I chose five from this list.

"Determine never to be idle...It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing."

Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)

"Working in the garden...gives me a profound feeling of inner peace."

Ruth Stout

"Frugality without creativity is deprivation."

Amy Dacyczyn

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.

Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Critic as Artist

and at last...
this one seems appropriate for my blogger land friends.

"I have you and even if we never meet or ever see each other, we have left our thumbprints in the thick, moist clay of each other's lives."

Hugh Elliott, Standing Room Only weblog, May 6, 2003

Lemon Coconut Ginger Bran Muffins

These are fat free, tender, very low in sugar, full of fiber and about 175 calories for a handful. If that hasn't scared you away yet, then let me add they are full of fresh chopped ginger, coconut, and lemon juice. Still there?

Good! I'd like to share my new muffin flavor today. I am into bran muffins for breakfast lately. I have made the basic, changed it and added pumpkin, and today I wanted to try something unique for me. It was inspired by a carrot ginger breakfast cookie recipe I saw, but was out of carrots. I did have large ginger root though and I wanted to find a way to use this up.

Seeing all the Thai flavorings in various food blogs I have been reading, especially the GINGER LEMON COCONUT FLAVOR . . . I decided that is what this weeks muffins would be, only I added a small amount of mini vegan chocolate baking chips. I like to stay away from meals that just give me alot of unrefined starches, so my morning muffin must be bran. These turned out well. I think I need to work on the flavoring a little to become a favorite. I'd love ideas on what other spices readers of my page today might use.
My recipe makes up a very large amount, 2 dozen large bakery style muffins. I use a Tupperware Thats-a-Bowl (12" wide and 8 " deep) to mix the batter.

The Recipe:
www.thebakehouse-recipes.blogspot.com

I mound the batter into the muffin liner, remember these are fat free and will stick horribly to paper liners. I use the "If you care" unbleached baking cups pictured above. They really are non-stick, really.


This is the end product. See the picture above, they made the perfect bakery style crown. I lightly oil my muffin pan (for ease of cleaning), but not the baking liners. The liners just fall off if they are oiled, but come off easily when you want them to without it. I picked up my commercial muffin pan at a commercial restaurant store for $24. I really like it and use it in my home oven all the time. I like the way my pan gives the BIG bakery feel to my muffin.

I take them out of the pan almost immediatey to cool on a wire rack. Well, all but one and that is what I eat immediately... after I track the points in my food log (weight conscious here). I also freeze them what I cannot eat within three days and always keep what is not frozen in the refrigerator. ENJOY!!!

Big Beautiful Bran Muffins

Top O' the Morning to all who read this!

This post is the beginning of my very own blog. I love to cook and am especially interested in low fat vegan cooking. I wanted to give all who are wondering what is up with the "bread lady" an opportunity to see what's cooking at Dori's place.

The picture here is my breakfast this morning. It is a vegan, fat free bran muffin (click for recipe). Not only is it fat free (but moist with applesauce), it is reduced sugar but sweet with stevia herb as well as whole grain and 175 calories (2.5 weight watchers points). I ate mine with low sugar orange marmalade that I made after happening upon a great orange sale last year and coffee.