VEGAN PUMPKIN BREAD

Vegan pumpkin bread with nuts is perfect for a Fall or Winter breakfast. If you prefer dessert, add dark chocolate chips to this recipe and indulge after dinner.

Since baking relies on exact measurements I found a recipe for a vegan pumpkin bread online and just made it my own. This recipe is inspired from the blog "Little House On The Vegan Prairie."

Ingredients:
makes one 9 inch loaf

1 and 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda 

1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
3 flax eggs (I use Bob's Red Mill products...if not vegan you can use regular eggs)

 1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup soy, almond or skim milk (I used soy)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (for the top)

Directions:
Usually while baking I just throw everything together and it always tastes great. For this recipe I actually put on my baking hat and mixed the wet and dry ingredients separately. Do what you like. The only directions really worth knowing are:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 inch bread pan.
2. Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients, then mix together. Spoon mixture into pan.
3. Add chopped nuts to the top of the loaf.
4. Bake for about 60 minutes or until toothpick (fork) in the center comes out clean.

 (Also let me preface...any picture I take on my blog will not be great. This is because I have no light in my little closet apartment and I own about 4 dishes....thanks).

STUFFED ACORN SQUASH

I try really hard to eat local and seasonal foods. Seasonal food usually tastes better than out of season produce and you're also helping the environment by not eating foods that have traveled halfway across the country or world. 

For me, the hardest time to eat seasonally is during the Winter months. I mean how many root vegetables can you eat? Tonight, I tried to be a little creative and experimented with Acorn Squash. Acorn Squash is high in vitamin C, potassium and magnesium. It also makes a hearty and healthy winter meal.

Below are the ingredients for my wild rice and sage stuffed acorn squash.

Ingredients (2 servings)

1 cup of wild rice

1 butternut squash
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
8-10 sprigs of fresh sage
salt/pepper
olive oil

Directions

Start by slicing the acorn squash in half. To make this easier slice a small piece off the bottom of the squash so it sits evenly. Scoop out the seeds of the squash and place the two halves on a baking sheet. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Season the squash halves with salt, pepper and a splash of olive oil. Bake for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes based on the size of the squash.

For the rice mixture begin by boiling 1 cup of wild rice with a little olive oil so it doesn't stick together. While the rice is boiling lightly toast a 1/4 cup of pine nuts in a dry pan. Pine nuts burn very easily so watch them closely and flip often. It will only take 1 or 2 minutes to toast.

Set the nuts aside and add two teaspoons of olive oil to the pan. Heat the oil then add the fresh sage. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes until the sage is crisp. Save the leftover oil.

When the rice is tender (30/35 minutes) mix the leftover sage oil with the rice, toasted pine nuts and fried sage. I chopped my fried sage into little pieces but you could leave them whole if you prefer.

Stuff the acorn squash with the sage rice mixture.