Easy and Fast Recipe: Penne w/ broccoli & chickpeas

Penne w/ broccoli and chickpeas (An altered recipe from All You, 10/22/10)--Serves ~5

1 lb of frozen or a head of fresh broccoli, cut into florets

~12 oz. whole wheat penne, or other smallish pasta

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic (or substitute garlic powder)

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup lemon juice

Parmesan as wanted (vegans could add nutritional yeast)

Boil pasta and cook until tender, following directions on box, for the last 4 minutes of cooking, add broccoli to the pot.  Meanwhile, warm oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add garlic and crushed red pepper, saute for ~ 1 minute.  Add chickpeas and cook until heated through.  Drain pasta, add it to the skillet.  Add in lemon juice.  Add olive oil as needed to make it moist.  Sprinkle on parmesan/nutritional yeast as wanted individually.

Homemade blueberry muffins

I made homemade blueberry muffins tonight, using a recipe from the back of a box of Ener-G Egg Replacer and frozen blueberries. Here's the recipe!

Egg-Free Blueberry Muffins

1 2/3 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer beaten in 2 tbsp water (or use 1 egg)

1 1/4 cups milk (I used plain soy milk)

4 tbsp oil (I used vegetable oil)

8 oz frozen blueberries, thawed following directions on bag

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Combine all ingredients except the blueberries, and mix well.
• Add the blueberries, stirring carefully to not squish the blueberries.
• Put mixture into greased muffin pan.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until just lightly browned on top.

Makes 12 muffins.

Cookies

I made peanut butter cookies from a mix and banana/oatmeal cookies from scratch last night. I found this recipe for the banana/oatmeal cookies on www.allrecipes.com and modified it to my liking. Here is my recipe:

Oatmeal Banana Cookies

Makes 24-48 cookies, depending on size

• 1 1/4 cups margarine (I used a butter substitute)
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten, or substitute for 1 egg (I used Ener-G egg replacer)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 3 very ripe bananas, mushed
• 1 1/2 cups raisins (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease cookie sheets.
3. In a large bowl, mix everything together to form a moist mixture.
4. Create cookie balls and place a dozen on each cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 11-13 minutes in preheated oven until underside is browned.
6. Allow cookies to cool before eating.
7. Enjoy!