Spiced Carrot-Zucchini Bread

This bread is so good! Sweet and extremely moist. Plus you can pretend it's good for you since it has veggies in it ;)

Adapted from Hell Yeah It's Vegan!

Ingredients:
6 T ground flax seeds whisked into ½ c + 1 T warm water
0.5 c oil
0.5 c applesauce
2 c brown sugar (I used sucanat)
1 t vanilla
2.5 cups grated zucchini and carrots, (I used 1.5 c carrots + 1 c zucchini)
3 c flour ( I used 2 c whole wheat + 1 c whole wheat pastry flour)
1 t salt
1 T baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 T cinnamon

1/4 t cloves
1/4 t allspice
1/2 t ginger
1/2 raisins (optional)

any other mix-ins (chocolate chips, toasted nuts, coconut...)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F

Mix together flax seed mixture, oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla.

Stir in grated zucchini and carrots.

In a separate bowl, sift together remaining dry ingredients.
Add dry to wet and stir to incorporate.
If adding additional mix-ins (like chocolate chips, chopped nuts, coconut...), fold them in now.

Spoon batter into 2 greased loaf pans.
Bake for 45-75 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean (Mine was 1 hour + 10 minutes).

I only have one loaf pan so I made the remaining batter into muffins!

Muffins only need about 30 minutes to bake.

Couscous with Apples, Raisins and Walnuts

Michigan apples, whaddup whaddup!

Couscous with Apples, Raisins and Walnuts

Based off of a Giada De Laurentiis recipe

Ingredients:

Couscous:

2 T oil

2 c couscous

4 c water

1 t salt

1/8 c dried parsley

1 T dried rosemary

2 t fresh thyme leaves

1 apple, diced

1 c raisins

1/2 c walnuts, toasted (see below)

Vinaigrette:

1/4 c apple cider vinegar

2 T maple syrup

1 T salt

1/2 t ground pepper

1/4 c olive oil

Directions:

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.

Add couscous and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until browned and aromatic.

Add water and salt and bring to a boil.

Reduce to a simmer and cook until liquid is evaporated, about 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and mix in apples, raisins, nuts and herbs.

Whisk together vinaigrette ingredients and pour over couscous.

Toss to coat couscous evenly.

Toasted Walnuts

I am a sucker for items at the farmers market that are a little out of the ordinary and this week it just happened to be walnuts! Unlike the walnuts that you buy at the grocery store, these guys were still in their shell (surprise surprise...). This lead to the fun task of cracking those suckers open. Without a nut cracker I resorted to a hammer and it worked juuuuuust fine.

Pre-hammer

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F

Arrange the walnut meat in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

The Three-Minute Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

So I am no proponent for microwaves. They actually scare me a bit... I mean the fact that they were banned in Russia in the 70s cannot speak highly of their health effects.

However if you are up late trying to finish a lab report and you are jonesing for something sweet, the following may or may not occur:

Three-Minute Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
Ingredients:
1/4 c oats
1/8 c apple sauce
2 T sweetener (I used Michigan maple syrup)
2 t whole wheat flour
1/4 t vanilla extract
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t cinnamon
1 T raisins

Directions:
Mix ingredients in a microwave safe bowl.
Scrape down sides and form into a cookie-shape
Microwave for 1-2 minutes.
Consume.
Repeat?