Healthy-ish Double Chocolate Muffins.

I saw this recipe and I knew it had to be done. I have recently been worried about my sugar intake because I've noticed that in the past year or so I have been going crazy with sweets. I've been trying to cut back on sugar here and there. As far as desserts, I am looking for ways to make treats that take care of my sweet craving but with less sugar. This recipe is great because it uses mostly fruit puree for sweetness and a little bit of agave and brown sugar. I used mango and banana puree in mine. The recipe uses red beets which would have been nice too.

They came out lovely, chocolatey, moist and not too sweet. I think they are perfect with a morning cup of coffee (black, no sugar!).

1 muffin is approximately 8.1 g fat, 190 cals, 9.4 grams sugar. Still pretty high in sugar but I guess a normal muffin would have more.

Spaghetti with Spinach and Mushrooms + Strawberry-Mango Crumble

I made this pasta recipe the first year I went vegan. I had just subscribed to Vegetarian Times magazine and I was exploring and trying recipes from various issues. That was about 2 1/2 years ago so I thought I'd come back and make this dish again. This recipe requires baking the dry spaghetti in the oven for a while to toast them which creates a nutty flavor. The toasted spaghetti is then cooked in a broth flavored with mushrooms, tomato paste and harissa (a North African red chili paste) and allowed to plump up which creates a rich and silky texture. The mushroom flavored broth with the kick of spice from the chili made it taste similar to asian style noodles. Very comfort foody.


Not the best picture, I was too anxious to start eating! I served it with fresh slices of ciabatta bread.

I also made a strawberry mango crumble for dessert. Behold...



I veganized this recipe which simply required substituting Earth Balance margarine for butter. Otherwise it was all as written. I did switch out rhubarb for strawberries, I kind of think they have a similar tarty sweetness, don't you?


Not pictured but I had this with a scoop of vanilla non dairy ice cream. It was perfect. So glad I made this!