Happy Friday to everyone! The snow got rained on and is now refreezing, so I'll be extra careful when I head out for a walk in just a few minutes: it's like hiking on an inclined rink!
I'll get to the peanut-butter mousse brownie in a moment...
...we had a week off from driving up to Anchorage this week but we're off again for another round on Monday. I tried to used this week to recombobulate and reconnect with my sense of purpose. I also got caught on the wave of The Great Health Debate and shared several posts of analysis of the event. Was that wave part of my true purpose or another wave of discombobulation? I know that it plowed through
my resolution to schedule my time less haphazardly. I also know that nutrition research is something that I have always done and have some passion for.
Things that I missed with the weekly dislocations and enjoyed this week included making kraut...
...and sprouts! Both of these keep me so happy in the wintertime, especially the fresh-fresh-local sprouts.
Several nights this week, my dinner has been some sprouts mixed with kraut, with something spicy like harissa sprinkled liberally over the top, with a baked yam on the side. Virtuous and probably laudable by many of the Great Health Debate experts with whom I resonated most, but not entirely satisfying beyond the conceptual pat on the back. Some coconut oil on the yam helps! I will share some of my personal confusions aroused by the Debate soon as promised...
The other thing that suffered with the dislocation was my poetry writing practice. This is also being impinged upon by the fact that it's the season to apply for financial aid, invoking a slew (and a slough) of paperwork for which I do not have the talent (or much patience)! It's definitely the case that when we're traveling a lot, it's hard for me to get down to my writing practice, and I realized this week that that is partly because of the inextricable link between my spiritual sense/practice and my writing: it's too easy to get knocked off center when we're on the road half the time and to fall down the rabbit-hole of busy-work. And then I even begrudge my blogging and food-creating, because it seems like it falls more under the 'busy work' rubric because I can dive into it and get something done. The truth? Blogging and food-creating are also better and more satisfying when I'm working from a centered place.
I also realize that even though the pervasive cold tends to discourage me from joining Phil spending all hours outside, it's really important to get out and moving, breathing the fresh air, every day. Although that's also a time commitment, it helps with centering, focusing, finding the spiritual point (spirit, after all, is breath).
I also realize that even though the pervasive cold tends to discourage me from joining Phil spending all hours outside, it's really important to get out and moving, breathing the fresh air, every day. Although that's also a time commitment, it helps with centering, focusing, finding the spiritual point (spirit, after all, is breath).
That's the approach I'm creating for myself right now: it's much better than self-flagellation, don't you think?
Peanut Butter Mousse Brownies
We had a party Tuesday night to welcome home various family and friends who had been gone, celebrate Valentine's day and a birthday. I knew that there was going to be a pile of stunning cupcakes on offer, but I really wanted to make something gluten/dairy free and low sugar too.
We have many peanut butter/chocolate aficionados in the crowd, and I was attracted by this Fudge Brownies with Peanut Butter Mousse from VegNews. I made the brownie more or less as they suggested (subbed gluten free flour with some xanthan gum, erythritol/xylitol instead of sugar, and used nut milk instead of soy milk) and similarly just used chocolate and nut milk for the ganache, but there was no way in heck that I was making the peanut butter mousse with cool whip! (That stuff seriously scares me.)
So, I decided I'd make my own version! I perused a few Sweet Gratitude
cheesecake recipes, put my thinking cap on, and here's what I came up with:
cheesecake recipes, put my thinking cap on, and here's what I came up with:1 1/2 cups nut milk
1 cup soaked cashews
1 1/2 cups peanut flour (I used this instead of peanut butter to reduce PUFAs, of course!)
1/2 cup _very dense_ irish moss gel
1/2 cup erythritol (a sugar alcohol with no glycemic index that is naturally found in many foods and doesn't hurt people's tummies)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Blend all these together very well and add:
2 tablespoons lecithin
3/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup organic peanut butter
Blend again until everything is very smooth, and pour over your brownie base. At the 'adding oil and lecithin' stage, I also taste-tested and added a dash of white stevia.
I have to say, the peanut butter mousse was by far the best portion of the dessert! The brownie was nice and fluffy, but the flavor was a little disappointing to me (this could have been the fault of the flour mix I used). For the ganache topping, I used dark chocolate chips and nut milk because that's what I had, whereas ordinarily I'll use 100% dark chocolate plus nut milk and then sweeten if necessary. I think most people prefer the dark chips, but for me, they are _way_ too sweet, and too much sugar. A small piece of the cake with that topping took me a day to recover from.
I used my 100% dark chocolate/nut milk technique to make the mint truffles pictured below. They were too dark for most everyone but I think they're to-die-for. There are some hazelnut chocolate balls on the plate too, and peanut butter-chocolate bars that I made specifically for butter-sugar-lovers with no substitutions.
Someone said I should go into business with my allergy-friendly treats. It was a wonderful compliment, but also even more confusing with my current struggle to recombobulate and reorient.
How do you decide what is the most important thing you should be doing in any moment?
Have a beautiful weekend--I'm going to get out and hike that ice and slush!
Nice looking desserts, Ela.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that you guys make all the trips to Anchorage? Is it something that will continue long term? How long is the drive?
As for deciding the most impt thing in any moment, hmmm, I'm afraid I'm no help. I think I kind of suck at it. I think maybe I'll check some self-help books out of the library and see if they help me out. If I come across any real gems that seem extra helpful, I'll let you know.
You have a wonderful weekend also. I'm glad you are getting fresh air, but yes, do be careful on that ice. I think I'll head to the farmer's market in the AM. Haven't been in way too long. It's strawberry season here in Louisiana, one of our biggest food crops around here. Hopefully, I'll be able to pick up some nice ones at a decent price.
I know what you mean about being off center. It happens everytime I travel and that is part of the reason why part of me dislikes it, even if I get to do fun things and see great people.
ReplyDeleteMy taste for sweet things is a lot lower than other people's too. I am a little nervous because I am making some muffins for a bake sale and I am just using maple syrup and agave and I think some people might think they are too bland. What flour mix did you use?
Mindy--Phil had glaucoma surgery at the end of December and it has some tricky post-op care that requires visiting the Dr fairly regularly. It's almost an almost-500-mile round-trip, so we tend to drive up one day and return another. Loong drive, especially when the roads are icy.
ReplyDeleteWow, strawberry season already?? Please enjoy them for the rest of us in the frozen north. I love farmers markets...
I try to read self-help stuff on the internet fairly regularly, but sitting down with an actual book sounds like a fine idea.
Have a great w/e!
love
Ela
Bitt--I'm really hoping that eventually I'll be less derailed by travel, and am looking for strategies to help that happen.
ReplyDeleteI just used Bob's Red Mill all-purpose gf flour mix, because I'd bought it to try: I hadn't realized that it's heavy to garbanzo flour, which has a strong smell (I like it fine, but Phil doesn't). When I bake gf for Phil's daughter, I usually make my own mix of sorghum and tapioca or something like that.
love
Ela
Oh, my. Sorry to hear about Phil's bout with glaucoma. I hope he heals super fast. Yep, we actually have strawberries here from about November to April. It's the heat that gets them down here, not the cold. We can have temps down in 20's or even occasional teens at night in "winter" or what passes for winter around here. But in January and Feb the average high is in the low 60's and the avg low in the low 40's. Used to be the strawberries only came around in late winter early spring. One time a few years ago I first saw November strawberries. I got suspicious and wondered if they were really local. The grower explained that they had developed new varieties with different growing season. That year, we had fresh local strawberries available for Thanksgiving dinner AND Christmas dinner. Now, in the summer I will be jealous of you :). We are located in this tiny strip along the Gulf Coast where the high tops the 90 degree mark for well over a quarter of the year, and it is steaaamyyyy. Literally, sometimes it will suddenly open up and rain on a summer afternoon, and you drive along and see steam billowing up off the asphalt. I reckon there is "good" and "bad" wherever you are. Or maybe I'll say "good" and "less good". I hate to use the B word. Sometimes I wonder, if the whole world had temps year round between 70 and 74 degrees F, would we all just get so sensitive that we would only feel comfortable at 72, and think we were freezing at 70 and boiling at 74 :). PS I did get strawberries. I ate some for you tonight.
ReplyDeleteMindy--Phil has glaucoma in his family: this surgery is a little complicated and slow, but it seems like he's better every day. The thing that we try to let everyone know is that if you have Lasik, the thinner corneas that result can mask the high intraocular pressure that signals glaucoma. We didn't know this--and nor did Phil's eye doctors--and his pressures looked fine. Finally he'd already lost some vision and we went to an expert, who said that there's a whole algorithm for figuring the true cornea thickness when someone has had Lasik... So if you have glaucoma in the family and get Lasik surgery, important to make sure your eye doctor knows... Long story but we're trying to get the word out.
ReplyDeleteWhere you live sounds a bit like the Bay Area, where I used to live: I love that even-ness of climate: it's much easier for me to handle. Steamy would be harder, though: I love dry heat. I wonder the same thing about temperature tolerance, but like I said, I definitely find it easier in a more constant climate.
How awesome to have strawberries in the winter! I met a lady up in Fairbanks last summer who had strawberries as much as she wanted all summer, perennially: I hadn't realized they'd live over the 40-below winters...
So glad you had and enjoyed strawberries--makes me smile to think of.
love
Ela
those brownies have my name all over them.....fabulous!
ReplyDeleteand sprouting...just got a sprouting tray/kit thing in the mail the other day. need to get to work with it!
Averie--thanks for looking in! I hope you have fun with the sprouting kit: it's especially awesome up here, where nothing's growing outside, to have food growing at home.
ReplyDeleteMung beans and lentils sprout really quickly; the littler ones like clover and alfalfa take a little longer. I hope it's fun for Skylar too, to see the magic!
love
Ela
Goodness!!! That peanut butter mousse brownies look incredible!!! YUM! And the mint truffles- gah!
ReplyDeleteAnd homemade kraut is incredible. I love the stuff- even though it causes some er... gas. :) Like you wanted to know but it's true! I love sprouting my own legumes or seeds but I'm always weary of them. I'm never sure if it's still ok to eat them when their crunchy.. seems like it would be harder to digest that way- even though it's suppose to be better for you.
Since you showed your homemade kraut- what is your technique on it? How much salt do you use?
There's a random comment for ya... ;)
Lori--thanks for asking about the kraut, and you're right: I really should have shared that too. I'm trying to catch up here but hopefully I'll get a post up tomorrow, and I'll share there.
ReplyDeleteI can understand being wary of sprouts: the natural hygienists say that they're full of natural toxins to prevent their being eaten at that early stage of life. But I think that the main issue is that they are prone to mold. I do rinse them in H2O2 (diluted in water) before eating.
love
Ela