Dirt Cake

Every Wednesday, I teach an after school lit club to a group of 1st graders as part of one of my children's lit classes. It's been fun (well, last week not so much, post-halloween kids are a terror). I was trying to think of something special to do for the last week I had with them. I built a whole lesson plan around food and digestion, so the last day we read Megan McDonald's Beetle McGrady Eats Bugs then I had the kids write me a story about how they thought something that would be nastiest thing they ate wasn't really all that nasty.

Tuesday night I thought "oooooh, I'll make dirt cake." Looks gross but is totally awesome right? One of my friends suggested I make it vegan, so since I've had such issue making vegan baked stuff, I went for it.

Verdict? Pretty awesome. I'm not sure if this is traditional dirt cake but I loved it. My kids all said it was the best cake they ever had. The only thing I'd do different is maybe use ground flax seed/water instead of the egg substitute, but I was short on time and didn't know the correct measurements.

Cake

1 box no dairy cake mix (I used a Duncan Hines marble cake mix), prepare with egg substitute and then the oil and water on the box directions

6 oreos

Mix the cake ingredients, pour in pan and top with broken up oreos. Bake the cake according to box directions, set aside to cool.

Frosting

2 half sticks softened Earth Balance shortening

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2-3/4 c confectioners sugar (just taste it as you go)

4-5tbs peanut putter

Start with beating the shortening then add liquid ingredients. Add the sugar a tablespoon at a time, then mix in softened peanut butter. If it tastes to shorten-y, add more sugar as needed.

Dirt

One package crushed oreos

Gummy worms

Cover the cake with a thin layer of icing. You really don't need that much. I used probably half of what I listed above but it's pretty good and will keep for a long time. Cover the cake with the crushed oreos and top with gummy worms.

Pretty good!

Pumpkin hummus

Please excuse the ugly picture, I've already dug into this quite a few times. It's no secret my love for pumpkin. I think more posts in this blog are about pumpkin than any other food. Anyways, I like to roast pumpkins but there was sale at my store on organic pumpkin puree, so I stocked up on a few cans. I made pumpkin soup last week and want to make pumpkin curry soon, so I needed something else to make with my pumpkin. I was making my weekly batch of hummus and thought that's it, pumpkin hummus!

This recipe needs some tuning but it's pretty good. The pumpkin flavor is really just a hint that shines with cinnamon without being sweet. I've been putting it on my salads and it's not overpowering. Add an apple to the salad and it's the perfect fall meal. Let me know if you try it and put in anything different!

Pumpkin hummus

2 c chickpeas (I rehydrate a cup of dried beans by soaking them over night and boiling them the next morning for 30-45 min. Test 5 to make sure they are soft, boarderline mushy so they blend easier)

1-3 tbs leftover water from cooking chickpeas or from the can

1/2 can pumpkin puree

2 tbs tahini

1 tbs olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

salt to taste

cinnamon to taste

Puree all the ingredients in a blender or food processor except the water. I start with the chickpeas, then add the pumpkin, tahini, oil, lemon juice and salt. Add the starchy water until you get the consistency that you want. Transfer to a container, sprinkle with cinnamon and refrigerate. The flavors will really shine and come together if you let it sit for a half hour or so before serving. Enjoy!

Been a while

Heeeyo,

So it's been a while. Honestly, it's been a while for everything. I haven't cooked really anything above what I can squeeze in a microwave in some time. I work a full time and part time job, I go to school full time and I have a kitchen that is too small to really devote much time to cooking.

That all stopped when I got this little beauty that was marked down for being damaged:

I love this lunch box. It came with a larger tupperware container, a medium sized one and two small ones, as well as a 16oz water bottle. I usually don't use the water bottle because I have my own mammoth sized one, so I just replace that section with my breakfast of yogurt or a piece of fruit.

Since I'm usually on the run, I noticed that I was neglecting my health and in-taking too much processed stuff, so I decided to take advantage of this and make my own lunches. I get some produce from compost, some from my store and others that I eat a lot of, like carrots and spring lettuce mix, from cosco (don't judge) because I can get large quantities (and organic too) for pretty cheap. I spent $30 on produce last week and it lasted me the entire week. Then I do other things like buy dry beans and rehydrate them for hummus or soup. The process is a little more time consuming, but you can't beat the flavor or the price, and really, I make a batch every Sunday that lasts me a week and costs a fraction of what I would spend at the grocery store. Plus, I made pumpkin hummus last week because...why not? Recipe on that later when I can get a picture.

So with that lunch box, here is my typical lunch (and nutritional info just because)

My every day lunch

2 c Spring Mix

1 c chopped broccoli (sometimes I roast this in no oil with mushrooms)

6 grape tomatoes

2 tbs (pumpkin) hummus with 1 tbs dressing of choice (gives is a thinner consistency. This one is Drew's Organic Smoked Tomato dressing)

1/3 c chickpeas - i put 1 tbs of bbq sauce (SWEET BABY RAYS) because plain chickpeas can get boring (I only buy tempeh once a week, so if I have it on hand I use 1-2oz of that instead)

This lunch is super filling, comes in at around 240 cal, 8 grams of fat and 8 grams of protein. And all of this fit in that little lunch box. Although it may cost more than (a vegan version of) ramen, this meal still comes in well under $3, less if I can get a piece or two from compost.

See you can eat well on a budget!

Coming up next....my new obsession. Pumpkin hummus.