Bum dee dum dum

I was so good about posting on my blog every day or two for the first several weeks of my winter break.  Alas, as soon as my return to school loomed only a week away, I neglected to post anything.  I did continue to cook many interesting things, especially soups!  I was, however, very lazy about my photodocumentation.  Tisk tisk me.  So, you'll just have to believe me when I say I was being productive in the kitchen.  I was just being a bumm on the blogging front.

Now I am back at school, and although there aren't many opportunities to cook while I'm here (or at least nothing too fancy given my lack of equipment and fully-stocked pantry), I would like to keep my blog going throughout spring semester.  It would be awkward to just let it drop for a few months.  Therefore, I have decided to write this "catch-up" post, and I hope to post some new stuff soon!

Here's what I did make and take pictures of in the last week of vacation...

Apple-Pie Muffin Tops
(adapted from Oh She Glows)

Ingredients:

• 3 medium apples (mine were nearing the end of their glory days, but they were perfect in this recipe), 1 grated, 2 chopped
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• lemon juice of half a lemon
• pinch of kosher salt

• 1 1/4 cups spelt flour (or another flour)
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of chopped nuts (I used whatever I had on hand...walnuts, pecans, almonds)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

• 1 tbsp flaxmeal mixed thoroughly with 3 tbsp water and allowed to sit for 15 minutes
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup mashed ripe banana

Directions:

1. Mix together flaxmeal and water.  Whisk well and let sit for at least 15 minutes, whisking every once and a while, until very gloupy.
2. Preheat the over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Peel your apples.  Grate 1 apple.  Chop the other two apples.  Add all the apples to a medium pot and add the maple syrup, lemon juice, and salt.  Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes while you put together the rest of the ingredients.  Stir a few times so it doesn't burn.
4. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Combine the wet ingredients in a small bowl.
5. Once cooked, add apple mixture to the wet ingredients and stir well.  Then, pour everything into the dry ingredients and mix well until it all comes together.
6. Scoop 2 tbsp onto baking sheet for each muffin top.  Do not press down.
7. Bake for about 14 minutes until golden.  These will remain soft; they will not get crispy.
8. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
9. Eat as a breakfast muffin, afternoon snack, or reheated with some ice cream (I recommend lemon) for dessert!

Ready for the oven.

Oh hello, Mr. Squirrel...peeking into my kitchen to see the yummy muffin tops, I see...not for you, my friend. 

Nicely golden, just out of the oven. 

Mmm gobble gobble.

Veggie Burgers
(adapted from Oh She Glows...guess I was in an Oh She Glows mood the last week of break!)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 1/2 tbsp flaxmeal whisked with 1/2 cup water and allowed to sit for 15 minutes
• 1 cup oats, processed into flour
• 1.5 cups fresh bread crumbs (I used spelt bread and some other dry bread I had in the breadbox)
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 1 cup black beans from a can, drained
• at least 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup mixture of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp tamari
• heaping 1 1/2 tsp oregano
• heaping 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp cumin
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Process your oats into a flour in the food processor.  If you are making your own bread crumbs, process these too.  Whisk together the flaxmeal and water.  Let sit for at least 15 minutes, whisking occasionally, until very gloupy.
3. In a large pan on medium heat, cook the onion in some olive oil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and a little brown.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two, stirring constantly.  Let cool for a few minutes.
4. Put all ingredients in a large bowl, including your cooked onion mixture and gloupy flax mixture.
5. Mix all the ingredients together.  Then, form into patties.  Pack them tightly so they don't crumble.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway through, until crispy and golden on both sides.
7. Eat them plain, with ketchup, or in a bun as a burger!  I had some pickled radishes on the side...a perfect complement!

Such colorful ingredients! 

Patty-making time...

All my patty cuties ready to go into the oven.

Golden, crisp, and oh so delicious.

Finally, perhaps my biggest achievement in my last week of vacation: conquering my fear of poaching eggs.  I had never done it before.  Shamefully, I had previously been too scared to try because I kept hearing it was difficult to do right.  But it's not too bad!  Just bring a pot of water to barely a simmer, add a few teaspoons of white vinegar, crack your egg into a small bowl, create a whirlpool in the middle of the pot of water, and drop the egg into the whirlpool.  Cook for 3-4 minutes, remove, and enjoy!

On a piece of multigrain sourdough...

...and some salt and pepper added.  Look at that divine yolk run!

And there you have it.

Mimi was too busy helping pack up the Christmas ornaments to help me (keep me company) in the kitchen...

I'm surprised she didn't break them....

Glamour shot.  'Nuf said.