Vegan Day 6 & 7: Just Call Me Violet Beauregarde

Ever wonder what a gallon of blueberries looks like? Wonder no more!

 

That's a lot of little purple globes.

In addition to providing me with enough fresh organic vegetables each week to fuel my elitist douchebaggery, my CSA also sometimes offers the opportunity to buy other local products for an additional fee. Right now they are featuring blueberries, which I love. The catch? They only sell them in gallon increments. Thatsalottaberries, folks.

As soon as I got home I promptly washed and froze half of the lot, ate handfuls upon handfuls of the ones I didn't freeze (someone had to see if they were edible -- breaking news! they were perfect) and then immediately started scouring the web for vegan blueberry muffin recipes. Most of them involved random ingredients I didn't have around the house. I finally stumbled across this one and decided to go for it.

 

I think I used too many berries. There was one muffin that was literally a muffin top over a pool of molten purple lava.

I ate two of these for breakfast this morning. The first bite was lackluster. The second? Good. By the third I decided they were delicious. I used less sugar than the recipe calls for so I think I just had to adjust to a "less sweet" muffin. Vegan baking success!

Even though I have been eating blueberries for the last few days like they are going out of style, I still had a ton in my fridge tonight so I decided to attempt a vegan blueberry crisp using olive oil. I've made a lot of crisps in my life (although none without butter) so I just threw a bunch of stuff in a bowl and hoped for the best.

I forgot to take a picture before digging in. Bad blogger.

This was sort of a fail. It tasted OK, but didn't have that wonderful crispy top I prefer. As I was eating I realized it is because I forgot like two ingredients. Um, oops. Still, those mistakes didn't stop me from eating this amount times two. Hey, fruit is healthy! (Ooo...I just got an idea. What if I subbed applesauce for part of the butter. Would it get crispy like granola gets crispy with applesauce? Advice?)

My other eats for the last two days have been vegan and tasty but unremarkable. The highlight was, unfortunately, the large Diet Coke I got from McDonald's yesterday. Hey, this time I made it a whole week before breaking down. Progress!

Tomorrow is a very important day in TV and Dinners land: Big Brother is back! I am Zap2it's sole recapper this season, so if you're a fan of the show be sure to check out my recaps three times a week. (I'm tired just thinking about that, by the way. That's a lot of words about idiots.) They'll go live about an hour after the East Coat airing of the show. Bring on the hot tub-soaked stupidity!

Comments

[Phouse1964]

I am going to have to try those muffins. There is nothing wring with lava.

Let me know if you figure out anything on the crisp part. Very curious. I am sure there is something. Could you use almond or macadamia nut oil with the apple sauce? Or some kind of nut oil? I am new to the whole oil business...

I will be checking out the Big Brother posts. It makes me tired too. Part of me hopes there is a good shomance but then the other part of me is all NO! YOU WILL NEVER SLEEP IF THERE IS ANOTHER JEFF AND JORDAN THIS SUMMER! Sorry. You know what I am talking about though.

[Robyn @ Frugal 'n' Fit!]

I mentioned Big Brother in my blog post today too! To say I am excited is an understatement. I will definitely check out your re-caps! I will basically consume anything BB-related.

I would be in heaven with all of those blueberries! One of my favourite recipes is the Scone recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance. I make it with blueberries and it is divine! Very simple ingredients (flour, sugar, soy milk, apple cider vinegar, baking soda/powder) and it makes a dough-y and delicious scone.

[Carrie]

Phouse: I'm not sure about the nut oil. I would be afraid it would scorch because it has such a low smoke point. And yes, if another Jeff and Jordan (or, hell, another JEFF) exists I am never going to sleep. Those sites where you can stream the live feeds for free are evil.

Robyn: Ooo..thanks for the scone tip! I love scones and they freeze so well. I think I'll have to check that recipe out.

[Ashley @ thehungryscholar]

I always find myself eating before the picture, but I think the pictures with bites look better.

[Nea]

Pablo has been using coconut oil for his various gluten/dairy free/vegan baking adventures. We actually put some in our morning oatmeal and I swear it gives it a creamy almost buttery quality and taste. Wonder why we opted out of blueberries this year? I don't always go to the CSA pick up, so I didn't know about it. Pablo freeze dried them last year and when thawed, they were still firm and juicy!

[Carrie]

Nea, I think you can still order blueberries for the next few weeks if you want them. They are tasty. I would go the coconut oil route but it is hella pricey and I am broke. Also, I like it but I don't love that it makes everything have a faint taste of coconut to it.

[The Actors Diet]

never too much blueberries! NEVER!!!

[Pablo]

We get, high quality, organic, cold pressed, inexpensive Nutiva Coconut Oil on Amazon. The 54 oz. jar is the best value overall. It lasts a long tome. Our last jar was around $25. Carrie, all of this looks awesome. I love blueberry baked goods more than almost any other baked good. We live just down the road you know! Also, just a small correction on Nea's comment, we flash froze most of the blueberries last time. It was easy, but took a while to get them all done.

[Carrie]

Pablo: Do you want some muffins from my freezer? They taste pretty good defrosted. Nea might be jealous, though, because they're not gluten free. ;) I froze half my blueberries and they are working out really well in smoothies so far. I am interested to see what happens why I try to bake with them.

[Pablo]

Thanks, but you're right, I better pass on the muffins. I'm sure the berries in your freezer will be great for baking, or anything else!