Pumpkin Spice Latte (Vegan)

It's Fall!  The best time of year for cozy warm lattes and good books.  This is my favorite season.  

Here is a delicious recipe for a healthy pumpkin spice latte made with almond milk.

You will need: 

1 cup Almond milk (Soy or Coconut milk would be fine too)

1 Tablespoon pumpkin puree

1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup (optional)

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

1 cup of brewed coffee

Brew your coffee and set aside.  I used my french press.  You can brew it however you would like. 

Add the almond milk, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and maple syrup to a small pot.   

Cook on medium heat and whisk the ingredients together, stirring frequently.  Take off the heat once it starts steaming.   

Whisk or froth the milk.

I love my milk frother.  Makes my milk super fluffy like whipped cream, but without the extra calories.   If you don't have a frother, just use a whisk.  

Add the coffee to your mug, 

Then the frothed milk.

    Top with ground nutmeg.   

Drink in a cozy place with a good book.  Take time to enjoy. 

How To Make Lefse (Norwegian Flatbread)

My Norwegian prince charming took me to Epcot for my 30th birthday (if you've never been, you need to go).

The second we walked into the Norwegian bakery, Matt's eyes lit up when he saw lefse (I had never heard of lefse before Epcot).  Matt's grandmother used to make large batches of lefse when he was young.  His Grandma Evy used to feed him lefsa when he was only 9 months old!  This is Matt enjoying the Epcot Lefse.  He was going down memory lane.  I had to get photos of him savoring the lefse.   

I thought lefse was just a tortilla, but I was very wrong.  Now I've learned how to make it, I will share with you the art of making lefse with you.  

I would highly recommend using a pastry cloth and a rolling pin cover.  You will be able to roll it out thinner and it won't stick as easy.   

The make lefse, you will need:

3 cups, riced potatoes

3/4 cup, white flour 

1 Tbs. vegetable shortening

sugar

salt

Peel and cube the potatoes.

 Place them in a pot with water.  Heat the water and potatoes together.  Bring to a boil, then turn down to medium heat.

Keep the potatoes on medium heat until they are fork tender (about 25 min.)

Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the water and let them cool down.

Mash the potatoes through a wire strainer to make riced potatoes.  They have a tool called a "Potato Ricer," but this is what I had in my kitchen. Sorry for the terrible photo.  My hands were a mess and it was bad lighting.  You get the idea.  The potatoes become fluffy and smooth.  Makes the best mashed potatoes ever! :)

Measure out 3 cups of the smooth and creamy potatoes and put in a big mixing bowl.  

pour in the melted vegetable shortening.

Sift in the flour

 sugar

 and salt.

Mix everything together and form a big ball.  

From that big ball roll out 30, 1-1/2 inch balls. 

 Lay out the pastry cloth and put the cloth cover on your rolling pin.  You will want to make sure the pastry cloth and rolling pin cloth is covered in a nice layer of flour.  Once the dough sticks to your pastry cloth, you will need to get out a new one.  Just make sure you have plenty of flour to prevent that from happening. 

Put a greased flat pan on medium-low heat.

Roll out the 1-1/2" lefse so it's paper thin.  This photo is a little dark, but you get the gist.

Use a lefse stick to pick the lefse off the pastry cloth.

Carefully lay it down on the heated pan.

The lefse is ready to turn when it is no longer transparent. 

Take off the stove and repeat until you've made the whole batch.   

You will need to clean the flour off the pan a couple of times or else you will have burnt flour flavored lefse.  :)  You don't want that.  

It is not a quick process to make lefse, but it is so rewarding once you get that paper thin delicious flatbread.  

    You can roll it up with cinnamon and sugar butter, or homemade jam.  

Use your imagination.  You'll feel like you've gone back in time while making this Norwegian flatbread.  Have fun!

Cast Iron Mini Rhubarb Crisp (gluten free, vegan)

This is a delicious recipe for mini rhubarb crisp cooked in a cast iron muffin pan.  It's also vegan, gluten free and picked from my grandma's garden with lots of love.

My grandma is almost 80 and keeps this garden up on her own.  The love of her life started this garden about five years ago.  They were thinking about getting married, but he died in a car accident before that could happen.  She now keeps it up for him and calls it "Michael's Garden."   I think he still helps her from up above.  Her veggies are out of this world!

   

This is what the rhubarb plant looks like.

 Plucking rhubarb:

I think rhubarb is beautiful!

Can't wait to take it home and put it in my dessert!

Rhubarb filling:

 Clean and trim off the greens.

 Cut into half inch slices.  Add one tablespoon lemon juice and 1/4 cup organic cane sugar.

Topping:

 1/4 cup mashed banana

1/4 cup vegan butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup oat flour

2 cups rolled oats (not instant)

pinch of salt

cinnamon to sprinkle on top

Add the mashed banana, butter and brown sugar in a small bowl.  Use a pastry cutter or fork to blend.   Stir in the flour.   Mix in the oats until the batter is clumped together.  Add the oats slowly.  You may need less or more than 2 cups. 

Grease the bottom of cast iron muffin pan.  Add the rhubarb.
 
Sprinkle on the topping.

Place in an oven heated to 350F for about 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy on top.  

Let this cool for a couple minutes.  

Serve and enjoy! 

 It has the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness.  A delicious dessert for anytime of the year.

Cheap, Easy Black Bean & Corn Salsa

I'm having a work party tomorrow for Cinco de Mayo and signed up to bring salsa.  I wanted to make something easy and cheap, so I chose this black bean & corn salsa.  Here's the recipe just in case you want to make it too. 

You will need:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can corn, drain and rinsed

1/4 green pepper, chopped

4 green onions, chopped 

1/2 bunch cilantro, stems removed and chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons Cholula hot sauce

pink Himalayan salt to taste

Drain the corn and black bean cans and rinse thoroughly.  Add to your salsa bowl.

 Remove the stems from the cilantro and chop. 

Chop the bell pepper and green onions.

Put all your veggies in the salsa bowl.  

Add the olive oil, Cholula hot sauce, lemon juice, and salt.

Mix everything together with a spoon or spatula.   It's best to let the salsa sit for an hour or two in the fridge.  This allows the flavors to marinate.

Dip some chips and enjoy the best batch of salsa you've ever made.  :)

Can't wait for my co-workers to try this salsa!  

Check out my other Mexican food recipes:

Blueberry Avocado Salsa 

Homemade Tortillas for Spicy Black Bean Tacos