Last week

There's nothing better than being able to have a soy mocha and a bagel with soy cream cheese and local jelly on the weekend. I feel a little bit pretentious. But there IS a street taco van outside my door. So it makes me feel more...grounded.

Anyway, life has been hectic. Last Sunday I cooked some African Peanut Stew for a friend and finished it for lunch for a few days. Definitely decadant....

African Pineapple Peanut Stew
I made this tonight and it was SO good. My kale was a little wilted, so I'm glad I could use it all up (I froze it, don't ever do that).

African Peanut Stew

1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1-2 bunches kale (4-8 cups sliced)
1 cup, about 5-6 small red potatoes, quartered
about 2-3 portobello mushrooms, sliced into small chunks.
1 can crushed pineapple in juice
1 can no-salt added diced tomatoes
1 cup crunchy, natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
I used dried parsley and oregano
salt to taste


Boil the potatoes in a pot, covered with water for about 10 minutes, to get them soft. Drain.

Prepare the kale by washing it and removing the large center stem from each leaf. Stack the leaves on a cutting board and slice them into one-inch thick slices.

In a large, wok sauté the onions for about 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic, and stir for another minute.

Add the pineapple and tomato and its juice to the onions and bring to a simmer. Add potatoes and mushrooms. Stir in the kale, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring a couple of times, until just tender. Mix in the peanut butter, Tabasco, and spices and simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt to taste, (This makes about 4-6 servings).

Cashew Butter Cupcakes

Sorry folks, for forgetting the cupcake recipe! I adapted it from the Joy of Cooking.

Chocolate Satin Frosting
Boil (in microwave) 1 cup milk
Add 1 round of Abuelita Mexican Chocolate - cover and let sit for 10 minutes without stiring.
Scrape into food processor and add:
1.5 c sugar
6 Tbs (soy) butter
To taste if it's not sweet enough:
some maple syrup
some more sugar
Process until pefectly smooth.
Refrigerate until ready to use.

Cashew Butter cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine in food processor:
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 c brown sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c milk
1/3 c cashew butter
1 egg
1 tsp (soy) butter
1 tbs veggie oil
4-5 tsp chocolate powder


Fill the muffin cups about 2/3 the way full. Bake about 25-30 minutes.

Lunch in the Gardens

Today we took our students to the Botanical Gardens. It was hot and we walked a lot. But I had some great energy food with me! The recipe stems from a few online recipes I encountered last night when I discovered I didn't have any jelly.

Tortilla Nut Sandwhich
1-2 soft corn tortillas (depending on how neat you are)
some nut butter of choice (I used cashew)
raisins (I used dark raisins)
honey (or other sweetner)
1/2 apple sliced up with lime juice to preserve color

Lather the tortilla(s) with nut butter, then raisins, then sweetner, then apples. Fold or roll and enjoy. You may need to wrap in another tortilla if things seem to be falling apart. They did for me!

I also had some cheerios and a separate apple. And a lovely student bought us juice! They're so sweet!