Say it with Sprinkles: A baking blog filled with recipes & photos of sweet treats & savory eats.

So remember that time I told you I like to work out bright and early, first thing in the morning?  No?  Me neither.  I would never say that, that’s ridiculous!

For me, morning comes no earlier than 9am, which as far as I’m concerned, is still more or less the crack of dawn, and really only happens when the beckon-call of my bird chirping iphone text feature tweets me out of my slumber.  Ok, I know I make it sound dramatic, but I actually secretly (or not so secretly anymore) LOVE that! =)  What’s that, you say?  My alarm?  Worthless.  Most mornings when I finally peel my eyes open to the world I can’t remember ever having HEARD my alarm go off- sad, no?!  MORE COFFEE, PLEASE! 😀

Anyway, all of this leads to what you’ve probably already guessed: I’m not a morning gym goer.  The good thing is, though, that I’ve also never had the desire to be the type of person who hops out of bed in the morning right into gym clothes ready to buzz out the door for a run or a 6am body pump class.  Don’t get me wrong, if you are this type, more power to you!  I believe we all have our own slightly different circadian rhythms guiding our ideal move-your-booty, get up and pump some iron time!  For me, it’s always been evening time, preferably, and the later in the evening, the better.

I’m not exaaaactly sure why, but I believe it has to do with, one, my body actually being awake and functional, and two, not having to deal with such a crowded gym!  Ok ok, there are three points, and I think this is the most important – I like to know I’ve gotten everything done during the day that I need to, and I can finally get out of my head and break a sweat without feeling like I have a schedule to keep or something to get back to.  If I’m feeling particularly energetic and spunky one evening at the gym, I can draw it out a little longer and take advantage of the unexpected surge; likewise, if I’m feeling a lighter, shorter workout one night, I can go home and unplug and chill that much longer!

The real point here is that I made a journey to the gym a little earlier than usual yesterday evening, and the place was PACKED!  Holy moly.  As it turns out, my body’s ideal (night owl?) time to bust a move is apparently far from everyone elses’ and I couldn’t be happier!…Either that, or they’re just all out on the town while I’m dead lifting my butt off (literally) 😉 haha!  I’m ok with that, too!

While I’m on the subject of the gym and being healthy and everything, I’ve got the perfect soup recipe for you!  Vegetarian, gluten free, ….vegan?  Ya, vegan, probably, too,  if you’re so inclined!

Sweet Potato & Coriander Soup

If you like sweet potatoes and guilt-free creamy, comforting soup, this is the one- it’s my new favorite soup!  If you hadn’t noticed, I have a bit of an obsession with both sweet potatoes and coconut, so this is basically the best of both of my favorite worlds!  If you aren’t worried about the vegetarian and vegan aspect, you can go ahead and use chicken broth, and if you want something even creamier and more decadent, go crazy with full-fat coconut milk!  Top with a sprinkle of hemp seeds!

Ingredients:

* 3 Tbsp olive oil
* 2 small onions (I used 1 red, 1 white), peeled and chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 5 large carrots, sliced
* 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes, cubed
* 4 ribs of celery, sliced
* 8 cups vegetable (make sure it’s gf/vegan) or chicken broth (make sure it’s gf, if you need)
* 5 tsp ground coriander
* 1 can (13.66 oz.) lite coconut milk
* 1 small can northern beans or chickpeas
* 5 leaves of kale, torn and stems removed
* Dash of salt, to taste
* Ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a big soup pan on medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 10 minutes (stirring often) until lightly browned.

Add carrots, celery, sweet potato, and vegetable (or chicken) broth to the pot. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 50 minutes to an hour (until veggies are smash-tender).

Use a potato masher to mash up vegetables into whatever texture you like (or pour small batches into a blender and blend smooth before returning to the pan).

Stir in coriander, coconut milk, salt, pepper, and northern beans, and cook about 5 more minutes to heat through. Add kale pieces and cook another couple minutes until the leaves have softened.

Another one of my favorite foods right now – KALE!  Spinach had to take a step to the side once I hopped on the kale train, but don’t worry, spinach still holds a special place in my heart (and plate!)  Just turns out kale is what I had on hand when I made this, and it worked perfectly!

I have to confess something here.  The sweet potatoes in the photo above aren’t the actual sweet potatoes I threw in this soup – oopsie!  The ones I used were slightly smaller and BRIGHT gorgeous orange inside!  I just didn’t happen to snap a pic in all the madness.  Next time!

Once you’ve simmered your veggies for a good 50 minutes to an hour, mash ’em up rough-like with a potato masher!  If you prefer really smooth creamy soups, you can even pour it into a blender at this point and blend it up smooth before putting it back in your pot and finishing it up.

Coconut milk!  Low fat version, since bikini season is right around the corner =) …but like I said, feel free to really let loose with the full fat stuff if you’re feelin’ it!  No judgements here.

Good to the last drop…or whatever they say about coffee.

I’ve made this soup recipe going on 4 times in the last 2 months – it’s THAT good!  The first couple times I made it, I threw in chickpeas!  Love those little guys, and they worked beautifully, too!  Northern beans (below) get my stamp of approval, for sure!

Ahem, kale…need I say more??  Load that fluffy green stuff in!  The more the better…

Ta da!  Major yum.  I can eat this soup for several meals in a row.  Fact.

There is a lot of talk and opinion (some scientifically based, some not) going around about the best time of day to work out.  Early, late, mid-day, etc. etc…and maybe I’d buy in to it all a little more if we were all cookie cutter bodies with the same demands, time constraints, and expectations.  But we’re not.  I know, shocking, ha!

Where was I going with all this?  Oh right.  Not to discount science AT ALL, but in my humble opinion, the best time to work out is when you’ll actually do it!  Some exercise will always be better than no exercise, of course!  So get out there and sweat it up, whenever!

…Then follow up with this yummy post-workout recovery soup, and chirp tweet me in the morning! 😉

XOXO

First of all, happy Sunday!

I hope daylight savings isn’t kicking your butt as much as I know it’s going to kick mine once my better senses kick in and realize I’ve lost a sweet, sweet, precious hour of sleep! Hoping this gorgeous, sunny, blue sky weather we’ve been having lasts and helps me through this…with a teeny bit of help from the most giant mug of coffee of all time! =)

Anyway, if this post doesn’t do it, I’d like to make it clear that I’ve taken it upon myself to use March as an excuse for baking with more green foods!  It’s a Leprechaun’s world and I’m just living in it, St. Patty’s Day style.

When you hear “green foods,” there’s a good chance your mind immediately snaps to thoughts and images of leafy greens, herbs, green peppers, and zucchini – rarely ingredients that you’d see featured in dessert foods – but stay with me here.  My biggest concern here was keeping things yummy, somewhat healthy, green-colored, and yet FREE from ARTIFICIAL COLORING!  So the wheels started turning…

At the risk of blog readership plummeting big time, I ruled out spinach brownies (though I’ve heard those are good!), avoided celery ice cream, and didn’t even let my mind wander to a place where I’m 100% sure I’d be spending my entire post trying to convince you to try green onion pie.  You’re welcome.  Also, there’s no possible way I could even convince myself of that, so I’ve also spared myself the guilt of lying my way through an entire post.  I’m welcome?  Nevermind.

Anyway, I did, however, wrap my head around the prospects of zucchini and avocado, and found the idea to be promising!  Afterall, I’ve featured zucchini prominently in several recipe posts like this  and this, waxing rather poetic about the versatility and ease with which it blends into sweet treats.  Avocados hold a special place in my heart, too, and though featured here  as a savory Super Bowl snack, it’s still a fruit, dangit!

Zucchini bread and coffee cake inspired zucchini cupcakes seemed like the perfect choice!  Avocado could have been more challenging, but thankfully its creamy smooth texture practically begs to be made into frosting.  Ideal.  I wouldn’t recommend the frosting if you don’t like avocados, but then again if that’s the case I’d recommend you start liking avocados because they’re super delish and healthy!

And so, zucchini spice cupcakes with avocado buttercream frosting were born – TA DA!

Somewhat healthy?  Let’s be real, these are still cupcakes, but made with nutrient-packed plant-based ingredients.

Since we’re talking avocados, I think it’s important to note just a few of the awesome health benefits these powerful little green guys boast.  Not only are they high in vitamins and minerals such as folate (for heart health and prevention of birth defects), B-6, and potassium (helps to regulate blood pressure), they are also host to nutrients that combat oxidative damage, cholesterol levels, inflammation, and even cancer.

So again, healthy?  Ya, check!

Green color without any artificial coloring?  Yessir – Check.

Yummy?  Duh.  I mean, check.

I’ll be the first to admit these aren’t the sexiest little cupcakes – they’re sorta more like the homey looking little sweethearts that have a great personality, ha!  No, really.  Love them!

Zucchini Cupcakes with Avocado Buttercream (Vegan)

(Makes 6)

 Lightly spiced, zucchini-laced cupcakes with a super tender crumb – you’d never guess they were vegan if I didn’t blatantly tell you – really!  Perfectly accompanied by an unexpectedly smooth, delicious buttercream frosting packed with healthy omega-3’s and vitamins.  Double the recipe if you want to make a dozen.

 Cupcakes-

 Ingredients:

*7/8 cup all-purpose flour

*½ tsp baking powder

*½ tsp baking soda

*½ tsp ground cinnamon

*½ tsp ground nutmeg

*¼ tsp salt

*¼ cup granulated sugar

*¼ cup brown sugar

*½ cup non-dairy milk of your choice

*¼ cup canola oil

*1 Tbsp vanilla extract

*½ Tbsp white vinegar

*½ cup grated zucchini

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Line a cupcake pan with 6 cupcake liners.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and canola oil.

In another bowl or cup, stir together the non-dairy milk, vinegar, and vanilla.

Pour the milk, vinegar, and vanilla mixture into the sugar and oil mixture.  Add grated zucchini and mix.  Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, until just combined.  You don’t want to over mix.

Fill lined cupcake wells to just about full.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating the pan half way through, until tops slightly spring back when pressed on.  Remove pan from oven and allow to cool about 10 minutes before removing cupcakes and placing on a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.  Allow to cool COMPLETELY before frosting.

Frosting-

This frosting is thinner than a typical buttercream frosting because of the softer texture of avocados compared to margarine or butter, but has just the lightest, yummiest hint of avocado vanilla flavor!

Ingredients:

*2 small avocados

*½ stick non-dairy margarine

*3-4 cups confectioner’s sugar

*1 tsp vanilla

*Dash of salt, to taste

Directions:

Peel avocados and remove pits.  Cream together the avocado and non-dairy margarine in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add vanilla extract.  Slowly add confectioner’s sugar, ½ cup at a time until consistency is as desired.  Add salt to taste.   Frost your little heart out!  Go to it =)

Happy Spring!

Happy March!  Happy St. Patty’s month!

Don’t tell anyone, but I’m double-dipping (umm…pun intended?!) a little on my post today! Fresh red pepper hummus definitely falls more into the Sprouts side of my blog spectrum, but I wanted to feature it over here on Sprinkles as well! 🙂

If you missed it, my family hosted a Texas-Style Pit BBQ last weekend. In keeping with the spicy, bold flavored theme, I whipped up this red pepper hummus as an appetizer. Pepper Predominant as it may be, I have to admit the peppers didn’t come from our garden…Shh!

Green peppers just wouldn’t have had the same effect in the recipe, I don’t think, though maybe eventually I’ll give them a try.

Red Pepper Hummus

Ingredients:

* 1 15 oz. Can Garbanzo Beans
* 2 Tbsp Tahini
* 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
* 1 Medium Sized Red Pepper, chopped
* 3 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce, sliced
* 2 Tbsp Chopped Garlic
* 1 tsp Paprika
* 1/8 tsp salt
* Pepper to taste

Directions:

Rinse and drain canned garbanzo beans, and add to the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Add in tahini, lemon juice, chopped garlic, and process again until smooth.

Add the chopped red pepper, processing in between additions. Add in the chipotle peppers and process.

Finally, add the paprika, and salt and pepper to taste. Adjust seasonings as needed.

From the looks of it, you’d think I could eat hummus on just about anything and everything…You might be right!