photo ATTACK!!!
/If my previous post wasn’t a photo overload, then this one surely is.
Trigger happy? Maybe.
Having fun exploring new places in Ft. Collins? Most definitely. I always take a lot of photos on Saturday. One reason is because I typically head to a farmers market. I went to my first market in FoCo on Saturday and was extremely pleased. I headed to the market on Oak Street, which was just packed with fall food!
I have never seen zucchini this color before. This photo is not enhanced. They were THAT yellow/orange.
Plums, apples + pears. I need to eat up all of my apples + peaches before I start buying pears!
Has anyone ever seen HEIRLOOM KALE. I think I might have slightly jumped with excitement when I saw it. The bunch was at least double the size I typically find and it was only $3! The leaves are flat and it’s much softer than typical kale. I’m so very excited to cook this! I’m not sure it will work to make kale chips, but it might be better in things like soup because it’s not as tough to chew.
I’ve never seen this before and thought it was a great idea. Polling the customers to find out things like, how much money they spent at the market, how far they traveled, etc.
So, apparently these “egg” looking eggplants are where they got their name from. I’ve never even seen one! It’s about the size of a softball.
Yellow cucumbers?? These were SO crazy. I bought 2 of them plus the eggplant for $1. Oh yes. It’s a tad sweeter and the skin doesn’t have a bitter taste at all. When you cut into it, the middle of the slices are literally translucent. It’s kind of crazy.
I took this photo because I liked their sign holders :)
After the market, Pat + Natalie came up to visit and we headed to the Sustainability Fair. We saw pretty cool things…
Like this solar powered DJ booth!
We found a LOT of samples too.
We also found lunch. Chris opted for a RAW/vegan lunch. It was so flipping delicious!! It’s from a local vegetarian/vegan restaurant called Tasty Harmony. We haven’t eaten there yet, but I cannot wait til we do!
He go the “living falafel” with hummus, cucumber, salad, and a delicious dressing, sitting on a bed of collard greens. The falafel was really good. It was basically ground up nuts, seeds and spices, which was then dehydrated. He loved it! As did I, hehehe.
The sauce on top was killler.
I opted for Ethiopian, which was a first for me! I couldn’t stop talking about this meal for the rest of the day. The flavors were more than amazing.
This came from, Nyala, another local restaurant. They had a lot of veggie options. I had a hard time deciding!! It was a thick tomato based sauce [Ras-ka], full of spices, potatoes, beans, carrots and a few other things. It was 55* out yesterday, so this meal was extremely comforting.
I spy Pat + Nat. If you’re new to the blog [HI!!] Pat + Nat are my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Pat is Chris’s brother.
I spy VIBRAMS! :)
There were about 100 booths, and I checked them all out. There was an adorable local sewing shop with a tent. These fabrics make me want to buy a sewing machine. They’re just so cute.
Lot’s of furry friends!
Bamboo frame bikes!
Local music.
I won a box of Crayola crayons and was pretty excited about it….hehehe
Pat + Nat
Nat + me
Peter [tamale Peter!] + Michelle
Bill Nershi, from String Cheese Incident, made an appearance. Good times!
Insert here: Mexican food + 1/2 pitcher of margaritas + making cinnamon rolls to have for breakfast :)
Pat + Natalie were spending the night, and I wanted something fun to serve for breakfast. After seeing my cousin make cinnamon rolls last weekend, that was all I had on my mind! I tweeted for recipe ideas and finally settled on one from Mama Pea. The ingredient list was simple. I had everything on hand.
These are about the healthiest cinnamon rolls you could make, but not to worry, they didn’t sacrifice flavor or a perfectly doughy center.
They baked perfectly and had a nice crunchy crust. I only changed a few minor things with the recipe and made my own glaze. These will definitely be made again!
Cinnamon Rolls – whole wheat + vegan! [adapted from Mama Pea’s Blackberry Cinnamon Rolls] makes 10-14 rolls
- 2c whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2c bread flour [or all-purpose flour]
- 1c non-dairy milk
- 1 packet yeast
- 1/4c unsweetened applesauce
- 1T baking powder
- 2T sucanat [or pure cane sugar]
- 1/2t cinnamon
- 1/4t salt
- 1t vanilla
- Heat milk so it is warm to the touch and stir in yeast.
- Let sit 5-10min, until foamy, then mix in applesauce + vanilla.
- While yeast is sitting, in a large bowl mix together both flours, baking powder, sucanat [or sugar], cinnamon and salt.
- Combine yeast mixture to the dry and mix with hands to combine, until it starts to form dough.
- Turn out onto a floured surface. You will most likely need to add an extra 1/4-1/3c flour to get the dough to come together.
- Knead until the dough is smooth and just slightly sticky, about 20-30 kneads.
- Roll into a rectangle, about 1/4” thick.
- Spread filling mixture below evenly on the dough.
- Roll the dough [from the long side] up tightly, to create a log.
- Cut about 1 1/2” pieces and place on a greased pan. Leave about 1” in between each roll. I used 2, 8” round cake pan but square also works.
- Cover + let rise for 40-60min. Or, cover and place in the fridge overnight.
- Pre-heat oven to 350* and bake 22-25min. They should be nice and brown on top.
- Drizzle glaze on when the rolls come out of the oven.
Filling
- 1/2c sucanat [or brown sugar]
- 1T cinnamon
- 2T vegan butter, at room temp.
- Mash together with a fork + spread on dough when ready.
Glaze
- 3/4-1c powdered sugar
- 1/2t vanilla bean paste [or 1/2t vanilla extract]
- 1/2t cinnamon
- 2-3T non-dairy milk
- Stir sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon together.
- Add milk slowly and whisk until a thick paste forms.
- Drizzle on cinnamon rolls after they come out of the oven.
*If you don’t have non-dairy milk + butter available, it would definitely work with regular butter + milk.
**Depending on how thinly you roll out the dough, will yield you more or less rolls. I rolled mine a bit too thin and ended up with 16.
This recipe was simple. I had it mixed, rolled, cut and in the fridge in 15min. And, like I said, this was prepared after a few margaritas ;)
Don’t be intimidated to work with yeast or dough. This is a great recipe to play with if you’re new to either!
I can’t stop thinking about other delicious things to spread inside of these cinnamon rolls before baking…
- peanut butter, jelly, bananas
- peanut butter, chocolate chips, cinnamon, sugar
- almond butter, cinnamon, sugar
- banana, peanut butter, pecans, cinnamon
So many possibilities. I urge you to try this recipe out and then go thank the vegan foodie genius, Mama Pea!
Feel free to make more glaze, if you like your rolls completely covered. I like mine lightly drizzled on, so things don’t get too sweet, weird I know. :)
These were a definite crowd pleaser. Time to eat another.
<3 Ashley
-- Thanks for all of your kind words about my previous blog post for Project Food Blog. Voting starts Monday morning and goes through Wednesday. **edited to add** You have as many votes as contestants that get to the next round. This round 400 people move on to round 2, so you have 400 votes [but you don’t have to use them all]. You can click the widget to the left, with the photo of me, to get to the voting page. Or click here. Thanks again!
