kbaked

Easy Vegan Pancake Mix Cookies

March 10, 2019by Katherine BakerLeave a Comment

I absolutely adore pancakes. Light, fluffy, and wholesome, there’s nothing more I love than a quick-to-cook warm carb to brighten my morning and serve as a vehicle for nut butters and maple syrup. To me, pancakes make a day feel special. I often make a large batch on a weekend day, pop them in the freezer, and then microwave them on busy weekday mornings for a much anticipated moment of happiness. Pancakes just brighten my day and my mood.

For this very reason, I most often keep pancake mix on hand. While I like to bake from scratch, I have found select pancake mixes are affordable, delicious, convenient, and made with ingredients I would use at home (Bob’s Red Mill Organic multi-grain mix is one of my favorites, and I also love their Buckwheat variety).

In the past year or so, I’ve been intrigued to test the flexibility of a pancake mix; that is, I’ve been enjoying experimenting with using pancake mix as a base for non-pancake items. Muffins, Oatmeal Almond Butter Blueberry Breakfast Cookies, these Vegan Pancake Mix Cookies, even quick breads – I’ve realized the sky is the limit with pancake mix, as long as you’re comfortable with your final product maintaining a mild pancakey flavor.

Enter these Vegan Pancake Mix Cookies. Using pancake mix as a base, these cookies come together in mere minutes, and result in wholesome, fluffy, puffy dreamy cookies.

Continue reading “Easy Vegan Pancake Mix Cookies” →

food for thought, health, healthy, nutrition

Should I Take Tons of Mega-Dose Vitamin C Packets When I Have a Cold?

March 5, 2019by Katherine Baker1 Comment

Hello again, internet friends! I am back in the JC/NYC area after yet another whirlwind mini trip around the US last week. Phew. While I was gone I actually wrote a whole post on Eating Disorders in honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness week and scheduled it to post, but it failed, and now I feel like it’s beyond #NEDA week and I feel weird publishing it. Would you be interested anyway? Let me know down below.

Anywho, while I was at the Charlotte airport, I was watching some ladies slam Emergen-C packets one after another and posted a selfie to my Instagram story with the caption “People know Emergen-C doesn’t work, right?”

And the response I got was overwhelming. A lot of people seemed to not only surprised to hear this information, but wanted to know exactly how or why I don’t recommend mega-dose supplements such as Emergen-C or Arbornne to cure the common cold.

I thought I’d go a little further into the topic here, #ontheblog, and I hope to film a little “Nutrition FAQs” video about it too next week, once I’m back in Wisconsin and have the time and space to film.

Anyways, let’s get to chatting about Emergen-C and the common cold. Starting with the basics…

How Much Vitamin C Do You Actually Need?

Well, according to the USDA dietary guidelines for Americans, the average healthy adult women needs 75mg, and the average healthy adult male needs 90mg. Smokers need an additional 35 mg per day, as some of vitamin is used to quench free-radicals and combat oxidative stress from toxins exhaled from cigarette smoke.

Pregnant and lactating women need more, requiring roughly 85mg/day and 120 mg/day respectively.

Vitamin C is naturally found in high levels in many foods, including strawberries (~90mg/cup), bell peppers (~120 mg/cup), guavas (~126 mg/fruit), kale (~80mg/cup) oranges (~70mg/fruit), and kiwis (~80mg/fruit). Most people in developed countries do not suffer from vitamin C deficiency. Select groups, including smokers and low-income populations, may be at an increased risk of deficiency.

Each packet of Emergen-C contains 1,000 mg of vitamin C. As you can see, this is much, much more than an adult or child needs; in fact, you could say it’s over 1000% of the RDA.

So, Does Emergen-C Work?

First, let’s get one thing clear: there are exactly zero scientific studies that have specifically tested the product Emergen-C and its potential impact on incidence (number of people who get a cold) or duration (length) of a cold.

Continue reading “Should I Take Tons of Mega-Dose Vitamin C Packets When I Have a Cold?” →

life, vegan, weekly eats roundups

Recent vegan eats (Trying New Vegan Yogurts And Trader Joe’s products)

February 24, 2019February 24, 2019by Katherine BakerLeave a Comment

Hey hey! I decided to bring back random bi-weekly recent vegan eats post after this recent post about food as an afterthought. So here we go! A couple of bites that went into by belly the past couple weeks. This is just a all snapshot of what I eat. I hope it inspires some yummy snacking or meal making in your life! Enjoy!

Salted SunButter Caramel Date Truffles:

An old favorite! I love making these because they are easy, require minimal ingredients, and are so very sweet and satisfying. They make an ideal mid-day snack or after dinner treat when you want something sweet but energizing. You can use any nut butter you’d like, but I can’t get enough of the sun butter + date combo. They are so good together!

The recipe is here, and the video tutorial is here!

A Big Old #TBT Simple Goodness Bowl:

The other night I realized it had been a while since I made a kbakes-style bowl. So I got down to business and roasted some sweet potato wedges, and paired them with organic mixed greens, Trader Joe’s frozen grilled cauliflower (the BEST frozen veggie product), hummus, random frozen broccoli, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and some crunchy seeded ShopRite crackers. I drizzled Trader Joe’s Green Goddess dressing all over this bowl for an extra punch. All the flavors + textures = veggie-powered satisfaction. Yum.

Gregory’s Coffee Lemon Poppyseed Loaf:

I love love love Gregory’s Coffee. It always holds a special place in my heart. I used to work at NYU Child Study’s Center on Fridays while in undergrad, and would always treat myself to Gregory’s after. The fact that there is a Gregory’s in Jersey City warms my heart and soul!

You know what else warms my soul? The fact that they now have 1/2 price baked goods after 5pm! Yes!!! I keep picking up half price lemon loaf as a treat. It is so delicious, moist, and lemony, and barely sweet. I love it. Can’t wait to try their new Vegan Egg Scramble breakfast sandwich (made with JustEggs!)…will report back!

Pancake mix cookie chocolate chip cookies:

I had a craving for chocolate chip cookies the other night, and was low on ingredients, so I whipped up some cookies using Bob’s Red Mill 10-grain whole wheat pancake mix, oats, flax, a bit of baking soda, almond milk, and avocado oil. And a solid handful of dark chocolate chips, of course.

Honestly, they turned out pretty good. They tasted hearty and substantial. Not the sweetest or most indulgent cookie, but really good in its own right. I’m gonna work on this concept and share on the blog when it’s ready. Continue reading “Recent vegan eats (Trying New Vegan Yogurts And Trader Joe’s products)” →

5-ingredients, appetizer, easy, entertaining, fast, parties, potatoes

Baked Buffalo Potato Wedges

February 3, 2019February 3, 2019by Katherine Baker1 Comment

Baked Buffalo Potato Wedges. Are you ready? Because I feel like I was born ready for this moment.

Now you may be asking yourself, how did we get here? How did we find ourselves engrossed in a world where the humble spud got made over into glorious, tangy and fluffy Baked Buffalo Potato Wedges? Well, allow me to tell you a story…

Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved buffalo sauce. Back when she ate meat ~20 years ago, the only meat product she really liked or would crave for was buffalo wings. She then realized you could buy buffalo sauce and put it on other stuff and that this was easier and better than licking it off bony chicken wings.

And then ~16 years later cauliflower wings came into her life and mouth with open arms. And one day at the store she had this epiphany that you could probably make ‘wings’ with potatoes and that that was probably a great idea since potatoes are life. And so here we are today, just the story of a gal who made Baked Buffalo Potato Wedges. And yes, obviously, that buffalo potato wedge-making plant-loving girl is me. Nice to meet you. Now let’s do this.

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baking, dessert, health, vegan, vegan baking, whole grains

Wholesome Vegan Carrot Cake with Vegan Cream Cheese Almond Frosting

January 28, 2019January 28, 2019by Katherine Baker2 Comments

Carrot cake! Vegan carrot cake! Also known as my favorite dessert on the planet (tied with Van Leeuwen vegan ice cream).

My favorite non-homemade carrot cake is from Peacefood cafe (which I ate last weekend!). If you like carrot cake and you’re ever in New York City, go to Peacefood and order their glorious carrot cake, even if you’re not vegan. I promise you, it is life-changing.

This year, I had Peacefood carrot cake the day after my birthday, but I also wanted to make myself a cake for the actual day.

While thinking about my cake, I actually got curious about the origins of carrot cake, and did a little bit of googling. According to Wikipedia, the origins of carrot cake are widely disputed, but most food historians believe carrot cake was somewhat inspired from Medieval carrot puddings eaten in Europe. During the Middle Ages, when sugar became scarce, people began using carrots as a substitute for sugar.

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life, weekly eats roundups

NYC Birthday Weekend Vegan Eats and Being a Hot Mess

January 21, 2019January 21, 2019by Katherine Baker1 Comment

Hello everyone! I haven’t shared a “what I’ve been eating lately” -type post in a while. I didn’t blog a ton over break because I was in serious need of some down time, and had a bunch of technical issues with getting my computer fixed. Anyways, I had a great break and an awesome final weekend to top it off. My sister and her husband flew out to celebrate my bday/just hangout (okay, they came to eat), so I thought I’d share some highlights.

This is definitely not reflective of my normal eating pattern (I rarely eat out, especially when I’m at school), but since this was a fun weekend, I thought some things were worth sharing. Enjoy!

(Pst, if you’re looking for more NYC recs, here’s my Guide to Vegan Eating in NYC. It could use an update since last January, but it’s still a solid list!)

Friday:

Early Friday morning I flew into LaGuardia from Milwaukee. About 15 minutes into our uber ride home, southwest called me to tell me I left a bag there. I had a mini lack-of-sleep-induced panic, but my uber driver was super understanding and took me back to get the right bag. Not sure if it was the lack of sleep and coffee, lingering sickness, or the fact that I was traveling with my dog and disabled mom, but I was so out of it this day! Mood:

Thankfully there was no harm done, and the correct bag made its way back to me, and after that, I headed home to my apartment in jersey where I dropped off my luggage and doggo and quickly freshened up before heading to a meeting on campus.

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health, life, Uncategorized

I Feel Old: Reflections, Gratitude, Goals, and Other Random Stuff from my Birthday

January 21, 2019January 21, 2019by Katherine Baker2 Comments

chocolate, cookies, Uncategorized, vegan, vegan baking, whole grains

Vegan Dark Chocolate-Dipped Homemade HobNobs

January 13, 2019January 13, 2019by Katherine BakerLeave a Comment

Do you ever just randomly get the urge to bake something British in the middle of a Saturday afternoon? Because same. I’m not sure if Mary Berry was whispering in my ear as I was sleeping last night, or what (okay, more likely that I saw a pile of HobNobs in the clearance section at Sendiks the other day), but for some reason, I had quite the hankering to make some homemade dark-chocolate dipped homemade hob nobs this weekend.

After chanting “On your mark, get set, Bake!” to myself, I got to the kitchen and made my British bake-off homemade Hobnob dreams come true.

Now what is a HobNob, you may ask? ‘HobNobs‘ are a brand of commercial biscuits popular in the UK (and according to Wikipedia, parts of Ireland).

They’re simple, salty-sweet, crispy cookies that are similar to digestive biscuits, but are visibly studded with oats, making for a rustic-looking round cookie.

The best way I can think to describe the flavor of a Hobnob to someone who has not yet experienced their glory is as follows: imagine a salty and more-textured-than-usual, oat-studded circular graham cracker. That’s kind of what you get when you eat a Hobnob. And they are nothing short of glorious.

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baking, breakfast, gluten free, glutenfree, health, healthy, sweet potato, sweet potatoes, vegan, vegan baking, whole grains

Vegan Sweet Potato & Apple Baked Oatmeal

January 9, 2019January 9, 2019by Katherine BakerLeave a Comment

Hello my fine friends! Happy 2019 to you. How’s the weather where you’re at? Here in Wisco, after a long weird warm spell, we have returned to our regularly scheduled January-in-the-midwest programming, with highs in the teens and twenties. I woke up this morning wanting something warm and comforting, and birthed this easy, delicious, Vegan Sweet Potato & Apple Baked Oatmeal out of my oven.

Baked oatmeal is a favorite comfort food of mine. I used to love the hot stepping bowls of Baked Oatmeal at Alterra (RIP) in Milwaukee. I’ll spare you my opinions on the current state of the now-Collectivo chain, and delve into the details behind this luscious, wholesome version of baked oatmeal you can easily make at home.

This Vegan Sweet Potato & Apple Baked Oatmeal starts with rolled oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill, but any will do). From there, mashed sweet potato (I used canned Organic pureed sweet potatoes, canned pumpkin would also work) adds an umami depth and richness, complimented with a healthy, hefty dose of cinnamon.

I sweeten the deal with a shredded apple and a couple tablespoons of maple syrup. Baking powder brings the fluffiness, salt provides some balance, and nuts add both crunch and lasting satiety.

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health, healthy, life, nutrition

What I’ve Realized About Health Recently

December 31, 2018December 31, 2018by Katherine Baker1 Comment

Hey hey! It’s almost 2019! Truth be told I actually had an entire probably-too-lengthy post reflecting on 2018 and what I’ve learned and what I’m thankful for and what I hope to accomplish in 2019, etc etc. But as I sit here waiting for my MacBook pro appointment at the Mayfair genius bar, publishing it didn’t feel right. I may still publish it later, but I felt inspired after my physical therapy appointment to write about something else, especially amidst all the diet/fitness goal posts I’ve seen on social media lately.

So today, I’m going to share some important realizations I’ve had lately about health. I hope these inspire you to see health as something more than ‘eating clean’ and/or ‘keeping it tight.’ If you need more inspo, check out my post from last year, 11 Food and Health-Related New Year’s Resolutions That Are Way Better Than Losing Weight.

So here are 5 things I’ve sort of been reflecting on in regards to what ‘health’ means lately; I hope they serve you well into the new year. Thanks as always, for your support, and for sticking by me! Love you the most!

Continue reading “What I’ve Realized About Health Recently” →