sports & stitches

Green Chili and Broccoli Marinara

Here comes a cabinet recipe. These are my favorite kind, because you have to be creative and rethink your expectations of food combinations. I found myself with puréed tomato, a can of Ro-Tel tomato and green chili, and some garlic. So the first thing I thought was pasta sauce!

1 tsp olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper
24 oz puréed tomato
1 can Ro-Tel diced tomatoes and green chilies
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups fresh broccoli, chopped or small florets

Sautée the minced garlic in the olive oil. Then add tomato, seasonings Ro-Tel, salt, and broccoli. Cook on low for 20 minutes or until you think the broccoli is cooked all the way through. Voilá! So easy, so delicious.

Talk about instant, delicious gratification in banana bread form. It’s hard to mess up banana bread, but it’s even harder to find a satisfying vegan banana bread recipe. Nothing out there comes even close to the Low-Fat Vegan Banana Bread recipe in Veganomicon. I love a hearty quick bread! Slice it up while it’s warm and serve it with a sprinkle of powdered sugar if you want to yin this healthy bread’s yang.

Ingredients:

2 large or 3 small very ripe organic bananas
1/4 cup organic cinnamon applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup organic pure cane granulated sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350º and grease a 9″x5″ bread loaf pan.

In a large bowl, mash up bananas.

Then add sugar, applesauce, oil, and molasses, and whisk to incorporate.

Sift in flour, baking soda, spices, and salt.

Using a wooden spoon, mix everything up until the wet and dry ingredients combine. Be careful not to overmix!

Transfer batter into the greased loaf pan and bake 45-50 minutes.

Use a toothpick test to make sure it has baked all the way through. If not, put it back in and check every few minutes. The top should be lightly browned and a toothpick inserted through the center should come out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack while you enjoy the heavenly aroma the bread will send throughout your home. Have a slice while you can, because it’ll get eaten quickly…

Nothing gets me in the holiday spirit like baking lots of cookies. And I had the perfect excuse, too; the Hill Country Weavers crew had a Sugar Share last weekend with everyone contributing their favorite recipes. And here I was with a newly purchased Kindle edition of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
and time to kill because the semester was over…

Chocolate Chip

I started with a classic: chocolate chip. I tend to underbake cookies because I like them mooshy, but I think the sugar didn’t quite carmelize enough. They were quick to be eaten, though.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows

These really were the pièce de résistance. Like biting into Reece’s Pieces in cookie form. I have no idea how to get them to look like the picture in the book, but I don’t really care to be honest. They were ridiculously delicious. Yes, were. Couldn’t keep them around for long…

Chocolate Fudge Oatmeal Cookies

These were a big hit, even though I didn’t make them all look cookie-shape because I couldn’t be bothered. I got 3.5 dozen out of the recipe somehow. And they are so good. Perfect breakfast cookie, if you’re like Kyle and eat cookies for breakfast. Well, he used to at least. I bet he’d approve of these hearty cookies as a breakfast option.

Recipes will be shared on the KnitBuzz blog eventually. But I highly, highly recommend getting Isa Morowitz’s cookie book. 100 cookie recipes. I’ll be working my way through them all, just like I am with Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Lyla

A Slight modification of the new (and adorable) Puff Stitch Scarf, which in turn is inspired by Vickie Howell’s Urban Jungle hat. I had one skein of yarn and decided to use it up with this pattern. It wasn’t long enough to make a full scarf, but was perfect for a cowl. Added some buttons and … viola! This took me about an hour to make. Here’s my recipe!

Lyla

Materials:
1 skein of Stitch Nation Full O’ Sheep (100% Wool, 155yds/100g) in Aquamarine
US H (5mm) crochet hook

2 buttons
tapestry needle
sewing needle & thread

Gauge:

7 sts x 6 rows = 4″ in puff stitch

Abbreviations:

ch: chain
st: stitch
puff st: yo, insert hook into st and draw up loop (3 sts on hook), *yo, insert hook into same st and draw up loop* 3 more times. 9 sts on hook. yo and pull through 8 loops on hook, then yo and pull through last 2 loops on hook.

Finished Measurements:

Approx. 6.5″ (17cm) tall x 22″ (56cm) long

Pattern:

Foundation chain: ch 26.
Row 1: In fourth ch from hook, work a puff st, *skip 1 st, ch 1, puff st in next st* until end. 11 puff stitches. ch 3 and turn work.
Row 2:  In next ch1 sp, work a puff stitch, *ch 1, puff stitch in next ch1 space* until end. ch 3 and turn work.
Repeat Row 2 until you’re just about out of yarn. Fasten yarn and weave in ends.

Finishing:

Attach buttons one row in from the foundation ch on the third st in on each side. The ch1 spaces of the fabric are like built-in button holes.

Wear, share, and enjoy!

Lyla

Queue it on Ravelry!