Carrot Dogs

Everyone knows that store bought vegetarian "hot dogs" are disgusting. And this is coming from a girl who growing up thought that Boca burgers were awesome! After becoming a vegetarian, I learned that home made black bean burgers far exceed the store bought stuff, but basically just ignored the rubbery, tasteless store bought hot dogs when it came time for a summer barbecue. Some time ago, I heard that carrots could be marinated and turned into vegetarian hot dogs. At first, I ignored the concept, since typically the hot dog provides protein and carrots don't provide all that much. However, recently I found myself craving a hot dog and the carrot dog came to mind. In this new frame of mind, I thought, why not? I love carrots and I can always pair a carrot dog with a side that carries protein (like this potato salad with chickpeas) to enjoy a balanced, delicious summer-style meal. The carrot dog verdict? Delicious and surprisingly satisfying! If you think about it, beyond the general saltiness, hot dogs aren't really all that flavorful, so typically the ketchup, onions, and mustard carry the taste anyways. So give this easy carrot dog a try. It's like the cauli-rice for carb lovers!

Why is the grocery store always out of whole wheat hot dog buns?

Carrot Dogs

1 large carrot cut to a hot dog-sized piece
1T Vegemite (or beef-like bullion)
2T soy sauce
1T liquid smoke
3 cloves garlic
1 onion diced
1T black pepper
1T paprika
sea salt to taste
Enough water to cover the carrot in your microwave safe dish
buns or bread for serving

Cut ends of the carrot off to size to your bun. Add pieces and carrots to microwave-safe dish. Cover with water and microwave until your carrots are tender. This will be 5-8 minutes depending on the strength of your microwave. Remove from marinade, place in bun, top with your favorite hot dog toppings and prepare to be amazed!

Friday Flatbread Pizza

Friday night is pizza night! The tradition seems to go back in my family to the days when Catholics weren't supposed to eat meat on Fridays and the vegetarian choices were limited. For me, Friday night pizza brings back memories of eating dinner in front of the TV with my family watching TGIF. My parents were sticklers for family dinners at the table, so watching TV while eating dinner was a real treat. Those were the days! While we do have a number of good pizza joints around us (Pittsburgh is a college town, after all!) I prefer to make my own pizzas. More goodness, less waiting, and no mark up or delivery fees! While my husband likes his pizza the traditional way (thick crust & lots of cheese), these days I have been very into my flatbread pizzas, which I make with a thin crust and top with Italian-y hummus plus whatever vegetables we have in the fridge. Tomatoes are a must, but onions, red peppers, spinach, artichoke, mushrooms, and olives all make regular and tasty appearances. With my preference for a thin crust a quick and easy baking powder crust works just fine for me, but my husband prefers a fluffy yeast crust. I include the recipes for both below, so pick your poison! If you're patient or have foresight and a bread maker, go with the yeast crust but otherwise the easy baking powder recipe will do just fine. This week, branch out to try a vegan pizza... you won't regret it! (If the idea of hummus a pizza sauce is just a bit too much for you to wrap your head around, there's always my Pesto Pizza too.)

Breadmaker Pizza Crust (2 crusts)

1 1/2c warm water

1/2T salt

1T olive oil

3 3/4c flour

2t rapid rise yeast

2T sugar

Place ingredients in the breadmaker in that order. Create a "volcano hole" in the top of the flour pile and fill it with the yeast followed by the sugar to be sure that the yeast doesn't touch the salt or water too early. Run the dough cycle (~1.5hrs). Once completed roll out the dough.

Simple Thin Crust (1 crust)

2/3c whole wheat flour
dash salt (optional)
1t baking powder
1/4c warm water

Combine dry ingredients, then add warm water and olive oil. When the dough just starts to stick together, roll it out into your crust.

Tomato-basil hummus

1 can chickpeas

Juice of one can of tomatoes (retain the tomatoes for your topping)

1/4c nutritional yeast

garlic, basil, oregano (to taste)

Food process all ingredients until smooth.

Put it together: Spoon and spread tomato-basil hummus onto crust. Top with tomatoes, onions, peppers, spinach-- any vegetables that you have in your fridge! Sprinkle with additional nutritional yeast and Italian spices. Bake for 10 minutes at 400F, or until the edges of the crust start to brown. Enjoy!

Cheesy Mushroom Soup

While thinking about making food for the Superbowl this year, I became obsessed with the idea of vegan nacho cheese made from carrots. Sadly, this could not come to fruition because I didn't have potatoes on the day of the game. Fortunately, a couple days after the game, my husband came through with some potatoes for me so I gave it a go. And Oh. My. Goodness! It's not nacho cheese, but it is really, really good. Rather than dipping, I found myself going at the dip with a spoon. In a moment of genius (as I was trying to restrain myself between bites), I realized that I had mushrooms in the fridge. The one and only food I miss as a vegetarian is a delicious beef burger topped with with mushrooms and swiss cheese. (Yes... red meat and cheese, definitely the healthiest omnivore food, I know!) This taste is hard to recreate, but I knew that by pairing this delicious cheesy liquid with mushrooms, I had a chance. I sautéed up the mushrooms with some onions, garlic, and black pepper and mixed it in with my cheese sauce. So freaking good! Only one bowl made it to a bowl on my first trial of the recipe... I'll be making this creamy, cheesy, mushroomy goodness again soon!

Not a looker, but man this soup is good!

Cheesy Mushroom Soup

6 large carrots
4 potatoes
2 onions
Garlic, paprika, and salt to taste
2 cubes vegetable bullion
1/4c apple cider vinegar
1/2c nutritional yeast
2 packages (8oz) mushrooms
2 more onions
more garlic & black pepper to taste

1. Peel & cube potatoes. Slice carrots and onions.
2. In a large microwave safe bowl,  add 6c water, carrots, potatoes, and onions. Microwave on high until vegetables are tender. (~10 minutes depending on microwave)
3. Meanwhile, wash and slice mushrooms and additional onions.
4. In a large soup pot, sautee mushrooms and onions with garlic & black pepper, until tender. I use water to prevent sticking.
5. When your microwave bowl is done, transfer the water and vegetables to food processor/ blender. (Do it in batches or use an immersion blender.) Add bullion, garlic, paprika, and salt. Process until smooth.
6. Add contents of blender to your mushrooms and onions in the soup pot. Stir in apple cider vinegar and nutritional yeast.
7. Add water to thin (if you desire) and enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins

Happy Galentine's Day! Well, technically, I think that the day before Valentine's day is Galentine's day but I'm late, as I am with every holiday these days. Today, I'm going to share a quick, easy, and surprisingly delicious recipe with you. Chocolate peanut butter muffins! I don't know what's wrong with me, but for the past few months I've been really, really wanting chocolate in the afternoon. And it's killing me because chocolate is for after dinner! Also, anyone who knows me knows my deep love of peanut butter. Seriously! When I had to drop weight for crew in college, I would just stop eating peanut butter for a few weeks. These days, I subject myself to no such torture. I will confess that I have 8 different types of nut butters open and in circulation in my kitchen right now. My new favorite these days is PB Trimmed Powdered Peanut Butter. Powdered peanut butters are great! They have creamy peanut taste, but all the oil removed, so that you can eat 4x as much peanut butter. (See how I suggested that you can just eat more rather than cut calories with it? Ha! This is the way I do nut butter...) Plus, while TSA confiscates peanut butter, you can take the powdered stuff on airplanes with you. This is a real bonus for a traveling vegetarian who wants to ensure quality protein is accessible... airport food is questionable, and even more so when you don't eat meat!

Anyways, these breakfast cupcakes are a real treat. I used a sweetened chocolate protein powder, so besides the apple sauce, no additional sugar is needed! I chose to top these with honey flavored PB Trimmed, but any nut butter that tickles your fancy will be awesome. With PB Trimmed, each muffin delivers 135 calories, 3g fat, and 12g protein. Yum!

Mmm... chocolate peanut butter muffins! And what's that in the background? Oh, just my Super Simple Peanut Butter Cookies

Chocolate Protein Muffins

1/2c whole wheat flour
1/2c chocolate protein powder (sweetened)
1/4c cocoa powder
1t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
1T flax egg (1T flax seed meal soaked in 2T water)
1/4c apple sauce
1c almond milk
For Topping: 1/2c peanut butter or PB Trimmed

1. Preaheat oven to 375F.
2. Mix flax egg and set aside.
3. Mix dry ingredients, then add wet.
4. Add batter to greased muffin tins. Top each with 1T peanut butter.
5. Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

Yield: 6 muffins (Yes, there are only 5 in the picture. I had to taste test to be sure they were worth writing about!)

2015 Reflections & Gingerbread Cookies

On new year's eve, I like to take some time to reflect on everything that's happened that year. This year I'm starting early because of all of the big changes that have gone on in my life in 2015. Personally, it's felt like my life has been slammed into fast forward ever since I was offered my job at Carnegie Mellon early in 2014. You'll note that this was around the same time that the blog posts started to be less regular... So here are the highlights of 2015.

1. Marriage. On 05/31/2015, I got married! The wedding was fun: we got married in the MIT chapel, and then headed up to spend the weekend celebrating by Squam Lake in New Hampshire. I had obsessed over every detail to make sure that everyone had fun and I think it paid off. In hindsight, despite a rainy wedding day, my wedding photos are my only complaint-- the ones from the chapel and by the Charles river are still MIA and the ones taken at the rain location for our big ceremony are lack luster. (Oh, and if you were there... thank you notes are on my "To Do" list for tomorrow. I was hoping to have all the photos before I sent thank yous, but since half of them still haven't showed up...)

2. Move. Three days later, on 06/02/2015, two moving trucks showed up early in the morning in Providence RI and Somerville MA to pick up our and belongings to take to our new home in Pittsburgh PA. Because of the conflicting geographies of Brown & MIT, my husband and I had never lived together before our wedding, so we did the moving in together thing old school: after marriage! There has been a lot to get used to: living in a house instead of an apartment (3 floors to lose things on!), living with each other (whose sofa should we use? whose pots and pans? when do we go to bed?), and simply Pittsburgh. My husband has never lived outside of New England and we had both been in the Boston area since we graduated from college so it was a big change for us.

3. Thirty. On 07/29/2015 I turned 30! Given all these big life changes going on, it felt "right" that I should be starting a new chapter of my life chronologically. On my 30th birthday, I watched the sun rise over the ocean at Revere Beach with my best friend and the loaded up the last of my office/ books/ lab supplies that I left at MIT in my car to drive west. All in all, I spent 8 years in Cambridge at MIT and I will say that it was a fantastic place to spend my 20s. I was given so many opportunities and was challenged constantly over that time. Without these years, I would not have become the person/ scientist/ athlete I am today. For the first week I was 30, I was excited about it. Stable adult life, with a house, husband, and paycheck, yay! But after a week, I grew to resent what stability responsibility cost.

4. Professor. My official start date at CMU was 08/01/2015. I had been going back and forth for a nearly a year, but this was when the reality hit. I hired two postdocs and taught sophomore organic chemistry this fall. I have to sign emails Professor Sydlik. The grant writing is ok, but I have to show up to lecture 4 times a week at a specific time and prepare problem sets and exams!  Fortunately, I have excellent colleagues and mentors who were able to remind me that being a professor is about as good as it gets: you have the perks of stability and such but still about 90% of the freedom you had as a student (and perhaps even more freedom in some aspects).

5. More bikes. To complete the most eventful 10 weeks of my life, I got my Cat 1 road cycling upgrade on 08/08/2015! I had been doing well early in the season, but after moving to Pittsburgh, I suddenly got a lot faster. Over the course of a few weeks, I won the PA Elite TT title, two more local RRs, and then shocked myself at the Tour of the Catskills. After a disappointing TT, I launched a vicious attack on stage 2 but then got a flat that relegated me to 4th. On stage 3, it all came together and I beat some pros who came down to race to win the Devil's Kitchen RR. That stage race is my favorite and I am sad to see it go. I also traveled to Ireland to compete in a stage race, found that I absolutely loved it, and made some history winning Pittsburgh's Dirty Dozen bike race. After 3 years of local racing and moving up the categories, I am excited to train hard (with the help of Finish Fast Cycling) and try my legs at some big races in 2016.

Well, that's the highlights of 2015. New Year's Resolutions to come tomorrow (and you already have my recipe for vegetarian pork and sauerkraut). For now though, I'll leave you with an awesome gingerbread cookie recipe that I developed to take to New Year's parties with me. These are gingersnaps that don't really snap... instead, they have a crispy exterior and chewy interior that is downright amazing. And it's all accomplished in a recipe that doesn't even have any oil!

Gingerbread Cookies

2.5c (whole wheat) flour
2.5c dark brown sugar
5t baking powder
1T ginger
1T cinnamon
1t cloves
1t nutmeg
1c molasses
1/2c almond milk

1. Mix dry ingredients, the add the wet.
2. Preheat oven to 350F.
3. Refrigerate dough for 15 minutes. (This just makes it easier to shape into balls for a nice even circle.)
4. Shape chilled dough into balls.
5. Bake 13 minutes, then remove from oven. Let cool at least 5 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.

Enjoy!

Christmas & Almond Espresso Chip Cookies (GF!)

Merry Christmas! In this year of exciting firsts, this was yet another. 2015 was the first Christmas that I was not at home to spend it with my family in Allentown. In fact, Christmas went so not according to plan this year, I'm not even sure what to make of it. Through the type of disluck that comes from two people in the first year of very demanding jobs, my husband had the week before Christmas off of work, and I had to give one of the last finals at CMU. Thus, I was working through Christmas eve, while my husband has to return to work at 5am on 12/27. It was not the end of the world though-- we decided that I would fly to Connecticut-- meeting up with my brother & sister in law on a connecting flight-- on Christmas morning to have Christmas dinner with his family and then help Aidan with the drive back to Pittsburgh the following day so that he would be rested for work the next day.

Lobby of my building decorated for Christmas!

This plan began smoothly. Grades were good for my organic chemistry class and I managed to finagle some really steep discounts from vendors on the last few big pieces of equipment my lab still needed. Aidan got to Connecticut safely and Christmas eve was lovely-- it started with a really great warm & sunny ride. I'm discovering the riding is absolutely incredible around Pittsburgh-- so much climbing! I think my only complaint is that most of the climbs are only 5 minutes, so the terrain will help train my 5 minute power, which is already comparatively my best. After running a few errands (last minute gifts for my nieces!) and attending an early Christmas eve mass, I went over to a friends house for Christmas eve dinner. This was awesome because he has kids who were excited for the big day and watching a Santa tracker, among other reasons. I also barely had time to think about missing my family's traditional Christmas eve feast of the seven fishes!

Christmas morning was when things started to unravel. The day opened with coffee and a bunny sleeping outside my bedroom door, so that was a plus. However, I quickly brought it down with a lack-luster trainer session. Between the abbreviated warm-up and my head already worrying about making my flights on time, I lacked focus and was all over the place like I have't been in some time. Each training session is an opportunity, and that was definitely an opportunity missed. Sigh. I guess I'm allowed to mess up sometimes and it's been a good 6 months since the last time I disappointed myself so I guess I'm doing ok. As long as I do better next time...

The trainer wasn't so abysmal so was still in a great mood as I arrived at the airport. However, when I went to check in, I discovered that my flight was cancelled, and I wasn't scheduled to get into Hartford until 5pm. I actually could have rolled with this pretty well, but I was appalled that I hadn't gotten any notice from Delta before arriving at the airport! I was apparently supposed to spend the whole day sitting in the airport, and potentially take the risk of getting stuck in whatever city my flight was connecting through. I panicked that I was going to ruin my in-law's Christmas! After spending a good couple hours negotiating with the airline representatives about earlier flights and hemming and hawing with my husband and family about what the right thing to do was, I decided to ask for a refund and went home. I was very disappointed and lonely, but fortunately my husband was able to keep my spirits just high enough to avoid a meltdown in the cab.

After a lengthy nap, I spent the day watching Christmas movies, snuggling my bunny, and Facetiming/ Skyping with my family and Aidan alternately. In the end, I know that I am lucky to have a nice house and lovely bunny to come home to, and so many loved ones concerned enough about my unlucky travel day to spend the time talking with me. Plus, I have this job that I like and a fast bike and good roads to ride so what more could I ask for? :)

Biscuit demonstrates proper lounging technique. He got a bed for Christmas this year, and I've shamelessly taken dozens of pictures of him snoozing in it!

Anyways. Recipe time! I developed these gluten free cookies for my best friend because well, everyone has to give cookies to friends at Christmas! Inspired by espresso chips that I found recently, I decided to keep these cookies on the healthy side with oats and almond butter, since I knew that her sisters would be sure to have her covered with unhealthy Christmas treats! I taste-testing, I learned that saw the these espresso chips have plenty of caffeine, (I didn't sleep one night...) so there should be enough to classify these as a performance enhancer. It only takes 5mg/kg according to a recent study! These cookies are perfect out of the oven or the next day... they are crispy on the outside, but stay soft and chewy inside. Just how I like them!

Almond Espresso Chip Cookies

1c quick cook rolled oats, ground to oat flour

1T baking powder

1c brown sugar

dash cinnamon 

1/2c unsweetened almond milk

1/2c almond butter

1c espresso chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Food process oats to make oat flour.
3. Add dry ingredients to mixing bowl and stir to combine.
4. Cut in almond butter.
5. Stir in almond milk, then add espresso chips.
6. Bake 13 minutes, or until the edges just start to brown.

That's all for now. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

I've been making "bike cookies" for a while (a recipe that shamefully, I've still not shared in over 2 years of blogging), but this fall I decided that I wanted to take it up another notch. I challenged myself to come up with a substitute for my afternoon Cliff bar snack that didn't include a big dose of sugar. Remember last winter when I was inspired by Engine 2 and posted about my adventures in sugar-free baking? Yeah... minus the scones, it didn't go so well... So, I wasn't holding my breath for these. But I thought they might be ok since my grandma does use applesauce in her oatmeal cookies. Of course, she adds it along with butter and sugar, rather than instead... but hey! I thought these were worth a shot. The result is the best homemade bars ever! Three cookies approximates the nutrition of a Cliff bar on awesome: 200 calories, 3g fat, 39g carbs, and 9g protein. (Or for those of you who aren't starving at all times and would only want to eat one... that's 65 calories, 1g fat, 13g carbs, and 3g protein.) Yum!

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

2c rolled oats

1 scoop protein powder (Whole Foods now has a fantastic vegan protein called "fit protein" I used the Vanilla-Cinnamon flavor for these)

1T baking powder

1 ton cinnamon (ok, maybe an exaggeration, but maybe not. You've seen me cook...)

1c raisins

1.5c unsweeted applesauce

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix oats, protein powder, baking powder and cinnamon. Add raisins, then applesauce. Shape into balls and press flat onto a baking sheet. It should make ~15 2 inch cookies. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges just start to turn brown. Take on your next ride, or enjoy as an afternoon snack!