Better Butter

This spread stays soft in the refrigerator and has lower saturated fat than the same amount of butter, so it's better (than) butter!

2 T water
1/2 t salt
1/4 t lecithin
2 T dry skim milk powder
2 sticks softened butter
1 cup safflower/soy/corn/etc. oil

Put water and salt in blender first to dissolve salt. Then add the rest and blend until smooth. Pour into containers and  refrigerate. It will be a soft solid when cold, but turns back to liquid if left at room temp.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1 1/4 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 - 1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg. In another bowl, sift together flours, baking soda, and salt. In a third bowl, mix together banana and yogurt. Alternate adding dry and banana to the butter mix. Stir just enough to combine well. Fold in walnuts. Bake 50-60 minutes in a bread pan. Makes 1 loaf.

Whole Wheat Bread

When I was little, my mom baked our bread. True story.

A while back one of my friends was looking for a bread recipe, and I sent her this one, and now she uses it to make her own bread too! I've included Mom's side notes from those instructions. This makes 3 or 4 loaves, depending how you divide the dough.

2 T yeast (regular, not rapid-rise)

3 c warm water or milk

1/2 c vegetable oil

1/2 c honey

2 t salt

1 egg

9 c whole wheat flour

Combine yeast and warm water. (Baby-bottle warm is the standard.) Add oil, honey, salt, and egg, and blend. Add 4 cups flour and beat. Gradually add another 4 cups flour, stirring with a sturdy wooden spoon. (Gluten strands will form and dough will begin to form into a ball, separating from the sides of the bowl.) Using about 1 cup of flour, knead the dough. (Kneading bread is like kneading clay: push firmly with the heels of your hands; fold dough  in half; give a quarter turn; repeat for a long time. You are aligning the gluten strands that will make the bread rise well. It's ready when you have a nicely formed ball and it springs back when you poke a finger into it.)

Oil a LARGE clean bowl.  Turn the dough over in the oil to get a thin coating on it. Raise dough once in bowl, one hour (covered in a warm, draft-free place). Punch down, knead very briefly. Divide into three or four loaves and shape. Make a few shallow cuts on the top of each loaf. Raise in oiled or buttered bread pans, until 1/2-1 inch above rim of pan. Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees and then turn down the oven to 350 for another 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes or so in the pans, then remove to cooling racks.

Sweet Potato Cauliflower Soup, round 2

I made this again for a party at work yesterday. I added some chili powder to the garam masala and oil - maybe 3 little shakes - and it didn't make any noticeable difference, but I think a little spice would be nice to counter the sweetness.
I also added carrots - about 20 baby carrots cut into thirds - and boiled them with the potato. I would not recommend it, they didn't get as soft and I ended up having to fish them out to make sure they went in the blender, or smashing them individually with the spoon. Maybe if they were shredded it would go better? They didn't make much noticeable difference either, though.

Sweet Potato Cauliflower Soup

I can take zero credit for this soup, it is from Manifest Vegan. I saw it on Pinterest today and the description was intriguing: "this soup has only five ingredients: cauliflower, sweet potatoes, onion, garlic, and water!" I said to myself, I can do that - I already have three of those!

I made it for dinner tonight and it's really tasty. It's sweet and has a creamy texture from being blendered, but the surprise chunks of roasted cauliflower are yummy (duh). I'm going to list the directions as I did/wish I had done them, so it's slightly different than Allyson's.

img via: Manifest Vegan

1 head of cauliflower
3 sweet potatoes
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
7 cups water
garam masala
olive oil

Preheat oven to 400F. Chop the garlic and onion. Heat olive oil and some garam masala in a large saucepan. Saute garlic and onion on med-low heat. Peel and cube the sweet potatoes. When onions are soft, add potatoes and water. Boil until potatoes are soft. Meanwhile, chop cauliflower into bite-size pieces. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with garam masala and drizzle with olive oil. Bake 20-30 minutes, then add to potatoes. Carefully blend half, then recombine.