Gingerbread Muffins

Gingerbread Muffins

I made these yummy muffins for a work party and they turned out so well. I followed a recipe I found off Pintrest so I can't take credit for it. I will link it below. I have typed out a shortened version here to show you what I did. Basically mix the wet ingredients together and add the flour slowly, then bake it. easy. I made 2 batches of this (in total I made about 36 muffins).  I made a few modifications to the recipe to work with what I had, I switched our vanilla extract for almond extract and I used orange extract instead of orange zest since I didn't have any oranges. whatever works, right?

Here is the actual recipe from Fork Knife Swoon.

Muffin Ingredients: 

• 1 small/medium very ripe banana, mashed (
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp almond extract
• zest of half an orange (optional) OR orange extract
• 1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp fine-grain sea salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or sub 2% dairy milk)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Ingredients for Maple Vanilla Glaze or Frosting:

• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1-2 Tbsp milk
• 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp almond  extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. In a large bowl, mash the banana until there are almost no lumps. Mix in the egg, extracts, milk, oil, molasses, and spices.

3. once this is mixed well start adding in the sugars and baking power & soda.
4. Now, slowly add in the flour and use a spatula to fold the mixture until everything is mixed in and you have a batter.
5. Next, using your cupcake/muffin tins use little liners (or just spray them really well) and take a cookie scoop and start scooping batter into each liner/cup. Take the tray and tap it on the table a little to help the batter set better.
6. Place in the oven for 10 minutes. After this time is up, take them out and switch the trays around or turn them to make sure they cook evenly. Turn the temperature down to 375°F and bake for an additional 7-9 minutes until they are fully cooked (use a toothpick and -lightly- stab a muffin. if it comes out clean they are done). I chose to make some muffins bigger and some smaller to see what works best. if you add more batter definitely cook longer for the 2nd part of baking.

THE GLAZEEEEE!!!!

Add the ingredients for the glaze in a bowl. mix it up. add more powdered sugar to achieve desired consistency. I think I added about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to this recipe for a thicker glaze. it covered all of my muffins. although in the future I would make more and make it thicker.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

This was an easy soup to make for my boyfriend. I'll update this as I come up with better things to add, but I enjoyed it! He got sick and I wanted to make a soup, but I also wanted something that I could have (and taste). I added too much oregano, but I love adding extra spices so I didn't mind. 

This can easily be made vegan by not adding any cream or milk. I like my soup creamy so I always add almond milk. I had some half & half left over from my mac n cheese recipe, so I figured I would use it up here.

Ingredients:

Plum or Roma Tomatoes

Yellow onion

Garlic

Fresh basil

Half and half (or dairy free milk of your choice) -Optional

Veggie stock -optional

Oregano

Coriander

Paprika

Salt and pepper

Olive oil
Lemon juice
Sugar

Instructions:
1. Wash and cut the tomatoes into halves. Place on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. season with salt and pepper
2. Bake tomatoes in oven at 350 degrees F until cooked/roasted/ or however much you want to cook them. I left mine in for about an hour because I was also cooking something else
3. While the tomatoes are cooking caramelize some yellow onion and garlic in a pan.
4. Once the tomatoes are cooked, take them out and let them sit for a bit to cool.
5. Using a food processor add the tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil, oregano, and a little veggie stock. Puree this mixture. I had a small food processor so I had to do this in batches. I took my puree and put it into a deep skillet after each batch.
6. Once this is done I would recommend putting the mixture into a deep skillet like I was doing before and add in the half and half and more veggie stock depending on your desired thickness. Let this sit on medium-low heat. I only had a small amount of half and half left but I would have liked to add more to make it creamier. This is also where I added my spices, lemon juice, and sugar. The lemon juice and sugar is to keep it form being too bitter.

Homemade Mac N Cheese (not vegan)

Homemade Mac N Cheese

Hello again. Remember when I said I went to a Friends-giving dinner and I had to make food? here is the mac n cheese I made. Definitely NOT vegan. Lots of dairy and I'm proud of it. I took lactase pills- don't worry. I definitely think there's room to improve this recipe but I will figure it out. I also made WAY too much. I had enough for the party. my roommate and I, my boyfriend, and best friend. Let me know what you think?

Ingredients:

Elbow Macaroni (or whatever pasta you want)

Half & Half

Sour Cream

Cream Cheese

Milk (I only had almond milk)

Shredded cheese- sharp cheddar, cheddar jack, white cheddar, Gouda, and parmesan

Garlic

Garlic and Onion Powder

Paprika

Mustard Powder

Salt and pepper

Butter

Instructions:
1. Cook your pasta according to the directions on the box. make sure to take them off right before they are done cause they will cook more later
2. In a pot take a stick of butter and melt it down (add a second stick if you want- I used 2).
3. Add in some chopped garlic and cook that a little.
4. Add in the half and half and some milk and stir.
5. Add in 1 packet of cream cheese and sour cream. Stir. The key is to keep stirring till everything is combined. I also used a whisk to stir.
6. Slowly add in shredded cheeses. Make sure to keep stirring. We don't want clumpy sauce. if you think its getting too thick and the cheese is just getting stretchy. Add in more cream or milk or cream cheese or sour cream or any of the dairy options we have here. This is definitely not a vegan mac n cheese....
7. Once the sauce is done and to your desired thickness. Add in some spices (mustard powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika) I kept this batch more bland since it was for a party so I didn't want to experiment too much.
8. Now that the sauce is done. Add in your macaroni and stir gently so you dont break the noodles and you just combine them. I used a spatula and folded the sauce over the noodles carefully.
9. Should be good to eat now unless you want to add anything else. LOL

Optional: place macaroni in a greased casserole dish and add a layer of shredded cheese on top with panko bread crumbs and bake in the oven to get a nice top on the dish.

For my buffalo lovers: Add in some buffalo wing sauce into the cheese sauce and use bleu cheese in the sauce and crumble on top when serving.

FAQ

How much did I make? A LOT
Can you give exact proportions? sure. just remember I made a lot so you can definitely cut back. I know i used 2 sticks of butter, half a container of sour cream, half of the carton of half and half (it was one of the small cartons), almond milk was added to make thinner as needed (so idk this), a huge bag of sharp cheddar and cheddar jack, one block of gouda cheese, one round container of shredded parmesan, one regular sized bag of shredded white cheddar cheese... I also ended up using 2 boxes of elbow macaroni (I probably could have made about 1/2 of another box but I was lazy).
Did you follow a recipe? yes and no. I found some recipes on Pintrest and I modified them I will link the ones I looked at here and here.

Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake (not vegan)

Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake

Hello Friends! It's been awhile. I've been super busy crafting away the past month, but I finally starting cooking/baking again. I made this yummy cheesecake last night and it's for a Friends-giving dinner I am going to tonight. I made it the night before because I heard its better to let it set overnight. I also made some other yummy things last night, but I will share those later. Should I start adding more desserts to my blog? Let me know in the comments.

Ingredients:

1 packet cream cheese

2 eggs

2/3 cups of sugar

1 lemon

1/4 cup of lemon juice

6 oz of rasp berries (I just used one package I dont know how much that is)

almond extract

Agave Syrup

1 graham cracker crust (or make it on your own)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Use an egg wash on your crust and bake for a little in the oven till more brown. About 10 minutes. Use a baking sheet under the pan.
3. in a mixing bowl mix cream cheese and sugar. make sure cream cheese is softened before mixing. It is recommended to use a mixer, but I didn't have one so I did it by hand and it was fine.
4. Add in almond extract, lemon juice, and the zest of one lemon. If you don't want a strong lemon taste then you can add less of this. whisk everything in bowl.
5. Slowly add in eggs to mixture.
6. Pour this into the pan with the crust.
7. Take raspberries in a food processor or blender and puree.
8. Using a strainer strain the puree to separate the seeds. Feel free to add sugar to this mixture. I added sugar and agave syrup.
9. Using a spoon drizzle this raspberry mixture on top of the cheesecake. I used a knife and made a little design with the puree.
10. Carefully place the cheesecake in the oven and bake for 30-45 minutes until filling is cooked.
11. Once done let cheesecake cool for 3 hours or chill overnight before serving.

Enjoy!
Here's the link to the recipe I was sort of following.

Herb Potato Leek Soup

Herb Potato Leek Soup

So my friends and I have been feeling a little sick lately. Plus its fall. perfect time to make a soup, right? I was going to make Potato Leek Soup, but Kroger didn't have any because I guess everyone wanted to make this soup. So I got green onions and figured I could kind of do the same thing.

Ingredients:

4 russet potatoes

1 bunch of green onions

1 Yellow onion

Leeks

Garlic

Vegetable broth

Milk (or dairy free options- I used almond)

Butter (or vegan alternative "butter")

Vegetable oil

Rosemary

Bay leaves

Thyme

Coriander

Shredded cheese (cheddar or parmesan work as a topping)

Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Chop up garlic, onions, and leeks. Peel and cut potatoes into small cubes.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a pot. Add in garlic, and yellow onions. Cook until soft
3. Add in potatoes. Add in vegetable broth. Add in water. Sorry for being so vague, I don't measure anything. I just added in some water so there wasn't too much vegetable broth and I needed some more liquid.
4. Add in rosemary, bay leaves, thyme, coriander, leeks, salt, and pepper.
5. Bring soup mixture in pot to a boil.
6. Reduce heat and bring to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are soft (~30 minutes)
7. Find rosemary, bay leaves, and thyme (remove from pot- compost them or toss them out)
8. Allow mixture to cool slightly. There are 2 options for the next part. Blending. You can add this soup to a blender to make it smooth, or you can use a hand blender to blend everything in the pot. You can make the soup as chunky or smooth as you please.
9. Add in a stick of butter into the soup.  Add in some almond milk to help achieve desired consistency.  It sounds like a lot, but its also a lot of soup.
10. Add in shredded cheese (of your choice, I chose parmesan and I added a whole bag). Let everything melt and just keep mixing/blending.
11. Garnish with some some cheese and some green onions.(I also added parsley, salt, pepper, and a pinch of paprika for presentation). YUM!

Seasoned Veggie Rice Bowl

Seasoned Veggie Rice Bowl

I made these a bowls a few weeks ago as a little meal prep for lunch. Super easy and yummy for work. Like I said in my last post, I made too much rice so I had to find a way to use it up. This meal prep also gave me an excuse to use my new little Pyrex containers (if you don't already know, Pyrex containers are my favorite). Yes, the lids are plastic, but I love the glass containers. They are perfect for everything.

Ingredients:

White Rice

Vegetables (I has a frozen veggie mix with green beans, peas, corn, and carrots)

Baby Bella Mushrooms

Brussel Sprouts

White Onion

Parmesan (or a vegan Parmesan)

Instructions:

1. Cook the white rice.
2. In a skillet, cook the mushrooms, onions, and other veggies with some olive oil.
3. add in some seasoning of your choice. I chose to use a spicy Greek seasoning (pictured below). If you choose to use the same seasoning I did, be careful because it is salty so you don't need as much as you think.
4. I also cooked some brussel sprouts in my air fryer and added those on top.
5. Optional: sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top (or if you're vegan use an alternative)

Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

These are one of my favorite snacks to make. They are super easy to make and you can play around with the recipe. I chose to make these with hot sauce but feel free to not add the hot sauce and just use ranch or keep them plain. But for any vegetarians out there who want something with buffalo sauce, this might be a good recipe to try!

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower

All purpose flour

Almond milk (or any dairy free milk of your choice)

Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce (or choose any brand that YOU love)

Panko Bread Crumbs

1 Ranch seasoning packet

Cayenne Powder

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Black Pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to about 350°F. If you are using an air fryer (like I did), don't worry about preheating.
2. Clean and cut up the cauliflower into bite sized pieces.
3. Take 3 bowls for the batters. In the first bowl, fill it with almond milk and the buffalo hot sauce. Mix.
4. In the second bowl, add all purpose flour, half of the ranch seasoning packet, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne powder, and black pepper.
5. In the third bowl, add panko bread crumbs, the other half of the ranch packet, and a little of the other seasonings you used in the flour batter (not as much). Arrange the bowls in this order to make a little assembly line- flour bowl, wet batter, and panko bowl.
6. Take a piece of the cut up cauliflower and roll in the flour batter, then roll in the wet batter (really quick- dont let these sit in the wet batter too long), and lastly roll the cauliflower in the panko bread crumbs. Place on baking sheet or in basket of air fryer. Continue this till you have used up all the cauliflower.
7. Place your baking sheet in the oven and let bake until panko is a golden brown. OR place in air fryer and cook on a low temp (about 275°F) for about 15-20 minutes to thoroughly cook cauliflower. Then turn the heat setting to 375°F or 400°F for the last 10-15 minutes. Just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't start burning. You may want to turn the pieces (for both the oven and air fryer) but it works perfectly well if you don't.

The Sauce????

I mixed the hot sauce with some ranch. it was a good dipping sauce since I wanted a little more spice. But honestly, you could eat them plain and it would work out just fine!

Chick'n Egg Rolls

Chick'n Egg Rolls

Please ignore the slightly burnt ones in the photo... it's all my friends fault for cooking them too long and walking away from the stove LOLOLOLOLOL 

Ingredients:

Shredded Napa Cabbage

Brussels Sprouts

Shredded Carrots

White Onion

Fresh Ginger

Garlic

Scallions (I didn't have any, but this should be included if you can)

Egg Roll Wraps (I used Nasoya Brand)

Sesame Seeds (Optional)

Vegetable broth

Soy Sauce

Sugar

Sesame Oil

Peanut Oil or Vegetable Oil

Tofurky Slow Roasted chick'n (Optional)

Instructions:

1. Combine soy sauce, sugar, and vegetable broth. Mix the cabbage and brussels sprouts in this mixture. Bring this mixture to a boil in a wok or deep skillet and let simmer until vegetables are soft. Add a little sesame oil. Drain the excess liquid. Add in garlic, ginger, scallions, and onions. (I also added in Tofurky Chick'n).
2. Fill and roll the egg rolls. Only use about 1 tablespoon for the filling. (The packaging should tell you how to roll the wrap). Honestly- I made this with a friend and he added WAY too much filling, but we found a way to make it work.
3. In a skillet, add some peanut oil and vegetable oil and saute the egg rolls until crispy. Be careful cause the oil will splatter (while cooking I put a lid on the skillet to avoid some of the splatter and it was helpful).
4. Can sprinkle with sesame seeds when done frying. Place egg rolls on a paper towel to soak up some excess oil.
5.  Eat with sweet and sour sauce! (cause its yummy)

This was my first time making this recipe. I followed the one from Food Network which I will link here. I just gave you the short version of what I did.

I wasn't able to drain the excess liquid for my filling but I found a way to make it work. Definitely avoid the excess liquid cause it makes the egg rolls really mushy and the wraps kind of fall apart. Also, dont over fill like my friend did. That also causes the rolls to tear. These were surprisingly easy to make, and really yummy. My friends loved them.

Tofu Tikka Masala

Tofu Tikka Masala

Really popular dish that my roommates and I make a lot. We love it and change up the veggies all the time.

Ingredients:

Rice of your choice (I use basmati white rice)

Tikka Masala Sauce (I buy from Aldi or Kroger)

Tofu

Tomato Paste

Almond Milk

Carrot

Green peas

Onion

Mushrooms

Corn

Chickpeas

Bell peppers (I like red and yellow)

Naan bread (heads up: this isn’t vegan)

Turmeric

Red pepper flakes

Cumin

Paprika

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Start by pressing your tofu. Wrap the tofu in paper towels or a cloth towel and put on a plate or flat surface with something on top to weigh it down and release the excess water. When this is done being pressed (about 15-20 min), Cut up tofu into small cubes and place in a bag with seasonings (cumin, turmeric, paprika, garlic and onion powder, etc), shake it up to coat tofu.
2. Cooking tofu:
1. Option 1: place tofu in air fryer or oven to get crispy and add to veggie mix at end.
2. Option 2: Add tofu to veggie mix in deep pan in step 5 and cook. This makes for softer tofu.
3. In the meantime, start cooking your rice according the the directions on the package.
4. Wash and chop up the vegetables according to how big of pieces you want in your tikka.
5. Take a deep pan and use some olive oil or coconut oil to grease the pan. Then start tossing in your vegetables. I usually start with onions, mushrooms, and carrots since they take a little longer to cook. (if you do broccoli or cauliflower, add that in with the first group of veggies). Then add in my peppers and other veggies. 
6. Let those veggies cook for a bit till they get soft. Then add in your spices, a jar of your tikka masala sauce and a small can of tomato paste along with about ½ cup of almond or coconut milk. Stir
1. Hint: if sauce is too thick, add more almond milk and keep stirring
7. Put the. lid on your pan and let this sit for a little bit. 
8. Add in spinach to wilt. Cook naan bread in the oven to warm. Or if you have small naan bread, place in toaster to warm.

Serving: place some rice on plate and veggie/tikka mixture on top. Bread on the side. 

Enjoy!

Crescent Wrapped Brie Cheese

Crescent Wrapped Brie Cheese

Ingredients:

Brie Cheese

Canned Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Sliced apples of your choice (I used gala)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
2. Roll out the crescent rolls into one big sheet. I usually just press down along the perforated lines to keep them together-that’s usually good enough
3. Then I put the brie cheese in the middle of the crescent roll thing. I’m so specific, I know. Make sure you cut off the rind before doing this.
4. Then I just wrapped up the cheese with the crescent roll and placed this on a baking sheet. I make sure to leave a little hole in the middle for dipping apples later.
5. I put a little olive oil and seasonings on top of the crescent dough before placing it in the oven.
6. Let this cook until the crescent dough is a golden brown, then you can take it out and let it cool a bit (usually takes about 15-20 min, but keep an eye on it)

Slice up some apples and make it look pretty. Then it’s time to eat!

Red, White, & Blue Chocolate Bark

Red, White, & Blue Chocolate Bark

Ingredients:

White chocolate wafers (for melting)

Food coloring

Toppings - Pretzels, M&M’s, Oreos, Sprinkles, Reese's, etc.

Instructions:

Super easy. Melt the chocolate and separate into different bowls. Chocolate can be melted using 2 different methods.

Option 1: double broiler. Take a pot and fill it with water, Place a glass bowl on top and put chocolate in that glass bowl and allow the heat from the water/steam to melt the chocolate. This process is slow but it melts really well.

Option 2: Place chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave at 30 sec intervals. Stir in between until chocolate is melted.

Keep one bowl for each color. I would recommend spraying your dish with a little oil before mixing the chocolate in it, but go for it. Add in your toppings. I made the bark by alternating layers of chocolate and toppings. Once the chocolate hardened I took it out of the pan and broke it up into pieces. If you made your bark too thick like me- I put mine into a zip-lock bag and hit it with a hammer (its probably better to use a meat tenderizer lol) a few times to break it up. It worked! Fun to make and super yummy.

I actually made this for the 4th of July this year. My roommates had a party so this was super easy to make and people seems to like it.

Easy Peasy Guacamole

Easy Peasy Guacamole

Ingredients:
4 Avocados
1 Red onion
1 Jalapeno pepper
1 lime (or lemon)
Cilantro
Cloves of garlic (however many you want)
Cumin
Red pepper flakes
Paprika (or cayenne)
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper for taste

Instructions:
SO. let me be honest. Guac is super easy to make and you can add whatever you like and omit what you don't.

1) Make sure your avocados are ripe before doing this otherwise the guac will be chunky and really gross. Cut the avocados and remove the pits.
2) In a medium sized bowl, mash the avocados. I use a fork, but find something that will work for you.
3) Chop up the onion, jalapeno, garlic, and cilantro. I chose to chop these super fine, but if you want it chunkier just make it how you want. Add these to the bowl with avocado.
4) Juice the lime and add that to the guac bowl.
5) add in the cumin, red pepper flakes, paprika (only a small amount), and onion & garlic powder. Add salt and pepper for taste.
6) Mix everything in the bowl. Look. its guac.

More traditional guac is just mashed avocado with sea salt. I prefer to add in the toppings to give it more flavor, especially for parties. I also usually add in a roma/plum tomato or two (but I forgot to grab them at the store). I choose this type of tomato because they are more meaty and won't make the dip super watery.

*Hint: save the pit from one of the avocados and leave this in your container to help keep it fresh.

Vegan Spicy Tofu Nuggets

Vegan Spicy Tofu Nuggets

Ingredients:
Firm or extra firm tofu
Almond milk (or any vegan milk)
Buffalo hot sauce (optional)
All purpose flour
Cayenne powder
Paprika powder
Cumin
Turmeric
Salt and pepper
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Ranch seasoning packet (optional)

What to do?

1. Press the tofu. Take your tofu out of the packaging and press it to release the excess water. If you don’t have a tofu press (I don’t), you can use paper towels- or cloth towels if you’re trying to reduce your waste- and  wrap the tofu in that. Then place on a plate or flat surface with something heavier on top for weight. Then you can put that off to the side and let it sit for about 20
2. The wet mixture. Take a bowl and add in some almond milk and the buffalo sauce. Mix this up and set to the side. The buffalo sauce is optional, but it adds some flavor.
3. The dry mixture. In a bowl separate from the wet mixture, add all purpose flour and all the seasonings (for taste). Don’t make the mistake I did and add WAY too much spice… The ranch packet is optional, but it will help with the spicy. If you don’t want to make them spicy you can leave them out and just add ranch.
4. When the tofu is done, cut it up into cubes or whatever size pieces you want.
5. Dip the tofu pieces in the wet mixture, then the dry and do this one more time.
1. *Hint: use one hand for the wet mixture and one for dry to keep them from getting mixed too much. It may also be helpful to have another bowl for the dry mixture just in case the first one gets too mushy
6. Cooking;
1. Option 1: fry in oil in a pan, make sure to turn nuggets and cook evenly
2. Option 2: start with a little oil in pan and cook partially in pan then transfer to oven or air fryer to finish cooking (less oil)

TA DAAAA tofu nuggets.

Welcome!

Hello!

Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Shannon Lee and I am originally from Cleveland, OH. I currently reside in southwest OH. Some of you may have visited my site back when I was obsessed with planning. Well, times have changed and I've decided to focus this blog on my favorite food recipes (mostly so I can share them with my awesome friends) and the low waste movement.

I am 22 years old and I graduated college back in May 2017. I work full time and workout at the gym a lot, so that's how I spend my days. I've always loved cooking, and started in the kitchen when I was a little girl. I worked in the dining hall at my university for 2 years, and now I inspect food services regularly for work. The recipes you will see on this blog are geared towards vegetarian/vegan diets. I've been a vegetarian since May 2017 and I'm also lactose intolerant (hence why I try to make vegan food as much as possible).

I'm also working on a low waste lifestyle. Many of you have followed my Instagram (@SimplyShannonLee) where I've shown you a glimpse of how I try to reduce my waste. I care for the environment and chose to live this lifestyle. I do not shame anyone who does not live this way. I will encourage it, but everyone is entitled to live their life. I hope you enjoy the content I will be sharing!