Haiti

We all have to do our part.  Here's a link that I found on CNN.com that lists the top charities providing aid in Haiti. 

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=1004

Grilled Cheese Please

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to Daiya Cheese.  I really hope you are within a reasonable distance from a whole foods.  If not, find it online.  It will change your life.  Daiya Cheese is a new vegan cheese that tastes like cheese, looks like cheese, and yes, actually MELTS like cheese.  For non-vegans, you might be thinking, no big deal.  If you're a vegan, you will probably have to go change your pants.  Seriously, this is amazing!!!!

Ingredients:
Tomato Basil dressing from salad in previous post
Daiya cheese (Italian herb and cheddar flavor - use both!)
Spelt Bread
Butter

Directions:
Spread butter on both sides of the bread and toast BOTH sides of the bread.  Pile on ingredients as you wish and get it toasty and golden brown.

YUM!

Cucumber Pesto Salad w/Tomato Basil Dressing

This salad is as healthy and delicious as it looks.  Michael and I have been reading a book called Thrive by Brendan Brazier.  Brazier is a professional Ironman Triathlete and a vegan...just wanted to make sure ya got that ;)  I haven't finished the book yet, but we're trying to bring our "healthiness" to a whole new level.  This salad is from that book.  So if you want to be uber healthy for the day, include this as one of your meals!

Salad
Ingredients
1⁄2 clove garlic, chopped
1⁄2 Cucumber, grated
couple handfuls broccoli florets
1 bag mixed greens
2 Tbsp pine nuts
Nutritional Yeast and Sesame Seed Topping (1 part nutritional yeast flakes, 1 part unhulled sesame seeds ground together in coffee grinder.  This mixture imitates parm cheese)

Dressing (makes about 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients
2 tomatoes
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp hemp oil
1 Tbsp dried basil or 3 Tbsp fresh
1 Tbsp agave
salt and pepper to taste

- Blend ingredients in a blender or food processor to desired consistency (we liked ours a little chunky)

Toss salad ingredients with desired amount of dressing.  You will have extra salad dressing.  Save it for the next recipe I post!! Top with a little extra "parm cheese" mixture.

What's the deal with...

Hemp oil?
Nutritional Yeast Flakes?

check out the "intriguing ingredients" page to learn about 'em!


You can find Nutritional yeast flakes usually by the vitamins in health food stores.

Gluten Free!

Kale Chips

(I stole this image off the internet..shhhhhh)

Kale Chips are surprisingly yummy - and extremely addicting.  And of course super duper healthy!  I've made them a few times and they're always a hit.  Even for the non-believers.  And they're easy peasy.

Ingredients:
1 bunch kale
few Tbsps extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
tsp Garlic powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°F

1. Wash the kale.
2. Dry the kale thoroughly.
3. Pile on cookie sheet
4. Drizzle with olive oil, and mix with hands until olive oil JUST coats it.  You don't want too much oil or they will be soggy.
5. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes, mixing kale around on sheet half way through baking.  Make sure they don't burn. You want them a nice light golden brown on the top.  You'll be able to feel when they're crispy.

Serves two hungry people or three kind of hungry people as a side dish.  The kale cooks down to about half of what you start with.

Happy New Year

My resolution:

Enjoy the journey :)

What's yours?

more recipes to come!

I painted a painting

The petals aren't my favorite, but it's my first!  and I love it!

CREAM CHEESE COOKIES!!!

 Alas.
Now, one of my favorite people in the entire world, Kristen, is gluten intolerant so I made mine gluten free.  They are really yummy, but definitely not the cream cheese cookies I grew up on.  I'm pretty sure most yellow cake mixes are vegan.  Besides not having vegan sugar, I didn't see any animal products in the Duncan Hines yellow cake mix.  It just depends how "healthy" you want these to be.  If you don't mind partially hydrogenated oils for special occasions, go for it.  I get my yellow cake mix at whole foods.

Because I used a gluten-free vanilla cake mix, my cookies didn't come out yellow.  But yours will.  Not only will these be THE favorite at your holiday parties, they will probably be the easiest cookie to make.  This will most likely be the only time I'll do this, but these are so good, that I'm going to put the non-vegan option here as well (in red).  Ok enough talking!!!

Ingredients
1⁄4 Cup margarine, room temp
1 1⁄2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer  (1 egg yolk)
8 oz cream cheese, room temp (tofutti is the best)
1 box yellow cake mix (18.25 oz)
1⁄4 tsp vanilla
1⁄2 Tbsp almond milk (no milk if using the egg yolk)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Cream butter and cream cheese.  Blend in egg replacer and milk (or just the egg yolk) and vanilla.  Add cake mix, 1⁄3 at a time.  Chill for at least 30 minutes.  Or overnight.  This will make them soft and gooey.
2. Spoon onto a greased baking sheet.  They don't have to be as far apart as mine, they don't spread too much.

(couldn't decide which picture I like  better)

3. Bake for 6-8 minutes.  They will look uncooked, but when you take them out of the oven, they will still cook on the cookie sheet for another minute or two.  Don't over-cook (like I did with my first batch..oops!)!!  Let cool on the baking sheet.  Good luck keeping them around for too long.

Enjoy!!

Chipotle Pizza with Portobellos, Spinach and Smoked Apple "Sausage" ...yeah

"You want some pizza?"

I know.  And it's even yummier than it sounds if that's possible.  It requires some love, but I think just the name is motivation enough.  This was inspired by my twin sister, Kate, who enjoys dipping her crust in Ranch.  Brilliant, Kate, brillant.

Puppy Mills

Two years ago, I founded a rescue for puppy mill dogs.  I took a few trips to the Midwest, and attended auctions where commercial breeders (puppy millers) buy and sell dogs and puppies to be breeding dogs.  How did I end up getting involved in that?  Three years ago I wanted a dog.  I researched breeds and decided I wanted a Havanese.  I searched petfinder for months to try to rescue a Havanese, but didn't have any luck.  All of the rescues I found were in the Midwest.  So one day I checked the LA times just to see what I would find.  Sure enough, I found an add for Havanese puppies.  I knew they weren't rescues, but I really really wanted a Havanese.  So I went to visit this woman to see the pups.  I pull up to a shopping center to what looked like a doggy day care.  There was a little fence at the open front door to keep the puppies inside, and the entire store was just an open floor with a couple of benches.  The woman greeted me, and had me wait on a bench while she went next door to get the puppy.  It was really weird, but I was blinded by love.  I had been looking at cute little puppies for months, and as soon as she brought this guy out, I knew he was the one - I even hated little white dogs and I LOVED this little man (If only I knew what a little sh*t he'd turn out to be....no, I love him.  I do.).  I asked her all about puppy mills and she ASSURED me he wasn't from one.  She then went on to agree with me about how horrible puppy mills are.  She said she knew the breeder personally, and the only reason she has to call her place a pet shop is because of some legal jargon I didn't understand.  She was the best bullshitter I've ever met.  Well, the dog was a TON of money, and Michael and I had none, so I knew it was out of the question.  I came home, crushed and crying and told Michael all about the puppy.  Long story short, I come home from work the next day, and Michael comes home about 10 minutes after me with Oscar, the cute, expensive, white puppy from the "non-pet store."  It was magical.  I had a my first dog.  The paper work that came along with him was suspicious, and we came to find out that he IS from a puppy mill.  And a year later, when I was much more knowledgeable, I found out he's from the biggest puppy mill broker in the country...go figure.  So I did some research on puppy mills, and decided I needed to help out in some way.  When I offered to help a Havanese puppy mill rescue in the Midwest, they said there was really nothing for me to do.  So I started my own.  I like to make my life as difficult as possible.

So, over email, I met this girl who also rescued from auctions, and I arranged to meet her at one in Oklahoma.  It was one of the most traumatizing experiences of my life.  Michael and I drove from California to Oklahoma straight through without stopping.  We're exhausted when we got there.  We started Friday morning and got there Saturday morning.  We pull up to the building where it's held, and the first thing you hear is hysterical barking.  Then next thing you experience is the smell.  I can't describe it, and I'll never forget it.  ok I'll try to describe it....It's the smell of urine and feces-infested dog fur and throw up and wet dog and fear all rolled in to one overwhelming package.  We go to sign in, and everyone is super duper friendly and happy.  It's a really fun day for them.  They're a little suspicious as to what such a young couple with full mouths of teeth (sorry that was mean) is doing purchasing dogs at an auction. But I tell them I'm just getting started and I hear this auction is the best - and they believe me - all they see is dollar signs.  We get our number, meet up with  my friend, Brooke, who is equally as relaxed as everyone else - she's been to a lot of these, and I can hardly speak I'm beside myself with sadness and fear that we'll be found out.  Oh by the way, you don't want to give away that you're a rescue or they'll kick you out and lord knows what else.

We're allowed to go to the back room where the dogs are being kept to take a look at which ones we're interested in.  The cages are filthy.  It's freezing cold.  The puppies can't even sit - they're so crammed in, and the chain tags around their necks are so tight.  Some of the really young puppies are happy to see me, and some (mostly the older ones) seem so terrified and confused.  It's difficult not to cry.  I get to the Havanese cages, and put my hand in to pretend I'm looking at their numbers like I saw a couple of men doing when really I'm sneaking some belly rubs.  I couldn't resist.

The auction begins, and the first 8 or so dogs are brought out from the back room onto the table in front of the auctioneer by a bunch of kids - ages 8ish-16ish.  These kids could care less about the "annoying" squirmy dogs they're trying to keep still.  It's a weird atmosphere.  70% of the couple hundred people in the audience are regulars and all know each other.  Some older women have a little dog on their lap - their pets.  Some go up to the table and pick the terrified pups up and turn them over to check their goods.  There are a few Amish men standing in a corner with a clip board and a stack of papers.  All they care about is if these dogs will make a lot of babies.  Here's a little bit of a catalog from an auction last week:

S D Kennels Dispersal Sale
Decemeber 12th 2009
Shih Tzu
NO# Sex NAME REGISTRATION # D.O.B. SELLER # MICROCHIP #
189 FE Snowflake Dixon G06-AZ-AC-36419T 9/6/03 #6 Potts 075*852*853
Comments: APRI, ACA Reg. Color: Gold, White - New to the sellers kennel. She is a sweet dog but the seller has not bred her yet.

Males
192 MA Etta's Acres Tucker MO-ABA-0638916-001 9/10/04 #1 Swearingen
Comments: ACA Reg. Color: Gold & White, Black Markings - He is a proven aggressive breeder.

194 MA H&P Alexander The Great 1130167-3 9/2/07 #6 Potts
Comments: CKC Reg. Color: Gold, White - Missing a tail. He has not been used yet and was raised from a pup.


Shih Tzu

182 FE Maggie Dou Wan TR40334405 5/21/05 #6 Potts 074*783*815
Comments: AKC, APRI Reg. Color: Black, White - LLW 11/14/08 - 5 pups, excellent mother, will adopt, nervous around strangers.

183 FE Shes A Doozy TR36501402 4/1/05 #6 Potts
Comments: AKC Reg. Color: Blue, White - LLW 12/12/08 - 8 pups, excellent mother and will adopt. Throws silvers.

184 FE Hawkins Polly Of Hollister OK-ABA-0501269-006 11/14/04 #6 Potts
Comments: ACA Reg. Color: White, With Gold Tips - LLW 8/14/09 - 4 pups. Excellent mother and will adopt.   **"will adopt" means a mother will take on other puppies who's mother is too nervous, young, high strung or sick to raise her own puppies.

186 FE Cutie PY Ming Shu TR24335003 4/18/04 #6 Potts 075*808*787
Comments: AKC, APRI Reg. Color: Black, White - LLW 6/27/09 - 6 pups, a good mother. She is a afraid of strangers. Need to talk gentle to her.

Comments: APRI Reg. Color: Black & White -She is a good mom, only reason for selling she likes to climb.

Yorkshire Terrier

136 FE Sha-Shai TN99698003 2/8/00 #1 Henson 131212191A
Comments:AKC  Reg. Color:Black & Tan-She has had a broken leg, but doesn't have any problems with it now, she will jump out of cage when door is open, very sweet, dam of Chewy in the sale.



A few hours into it, I start to notice this whole other world happening.  Brooke keeps coming and going, and there are a couple other women who are frequently coming and going.  We come to find out that there is this whole rescue operation happening, and that there are about 3 other organizations there.   After the auction, we only managed to get 2 Havanese puppies (and paid way too much for them).  Btw my rescue started out as a Havanese rescue.

At the end of the auction, we go to the back room, and there are a few men who you give your receipt to, and they go get your dog.  There were a couple of Amish men getting their dogs while we were getting ours.  They must have purchased over 50 dogs, and they were just picking them up by the scruff, and shoving as many as they could into a few crates as possible.  The dogs were yelping and growling, and screaming, and barking, and you could hear a few get into fights.  It was so so stressful.

Then, Michael and I are handed these two little black and white puppies, and we both start crying.  They were so precious and they both instantly found their way to our necks and conked out.  We were taking them to our car when we see this entire truck full of dogs.  We find out it's one of the rescues, Mill Dog Rescue, and it turns out they have a couple of trucks that are packed full, and there are 2 that they absolutely have no room for.  They drive down from Colorado and go around to the actual puppy mills to rescue dogs.  They have made a deal with a lot of the commercial breeders to let the rescue know when they are going to kill a bunch of dogs and the rescue will come pick them up.  The rescue also gets the dogs at the end of the auctions who have not been sold and are going to be taken to the back to be killed.  Of course we find this out AFTER we've purchased the dogs.  After that, I never spent more than $20 on a dog. I even bought a dog for $1 once.  I have a hard time purchasing them because I feel like I'm just contributing to the industry.  It's a weird balance that a lot of puppy mill rescues have a hard time with.  It's seems easy and obvious to say to yourself, "don't buy them, you're just supporting the industry"  when you're not face to face with a 9 year old maltese with one eye and hardly any fur left being auctioned off to try to squeeze a few more pups out of her.  When you ARE faced with that horrific reality, however, that ideal gets harder to hold on to.  It's a huge struggle for me with this type of rescue.  We say goodbye to Brooke, and start the journey home with 4 very smelly dogs in the back of my little Yaris.

Since that day, I've been to Oklahoma 3 more times.  I have to be picky with the dogs I rescue.  I want to rescue the really needy ones (even though they're all needy) but they can't be too sick because I don't have the resources to nurse them back to health for a few months.  Brooke, on the other hand, works at a shelter and has plenty of boarding, and resources to nurse sick dogs back to health.  Therefore, she rescues the most needy dogs.  There was an old female shih tzu she rescued - honestly, if this dog had been sleeping when I met her, I would have thought she was not only dead, but decaying - she looked a lot like the dog at the top of the post but she was gray and more bald.  And she was at an auction to be sold to breed more puppies.

I haven't rescued in about a year now, but I'm committed to getting it back up and running this coming year.  The reason I'm writing this post is that a lot of families get puppies for the holidays.  When you buy a dog from a pet store, there is a 99.9% chance that this puppy is from a mill.  The rest are from backyard breeders.  Next time you go into a pet store, ask where the puppy is from.  If it's somewhere in the Midwest or Ohio, it's from a puppy mill.  If you ask the employees if the dogs come from puppy mills, they will always say no.  Then ask if they are just told to say that.  They will most likely say yes - if they don't, they're lying. There are THOUSANDS of dogs and cute little puppies in shelters and rescue groups that need a home.  If you're stuck on a purebred like I was, there is a rescue group for every breed on the planet.  Google it.  There are also numerous rescue sites to help you find the perfect dog.

Petfinder.com
Petharbor.com

Those are two of my favorites.  You can find a list of local shelters at Petharbor.  If you still can't find the dog of your dreams, call me and I'll find it.  It might take a little longer if you're looking for a puppy of a specific breed, but it is so so so very worth it. 

Here are a couple videos of auctions.  They give you a good idea of what I attended.  Unfortunately, I've seen worse conditions.  The second one is long,  but it's worth it to watch the whole thing.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEt1rkq0Gw4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG7bXi0xylY

And here are some of the cutey petuties in shelters that need a home!

If you live in California, the pet store I went to is called Puppy Playhouse in La Crescenta.  If you know anyone looking to purchase a dog, please direct them to this post.  Thanks guys!

coming soon....

CREAM CHEESE COOKIES!!!

Dear Tastebuds,

You're welcome.

Love,
the cookies

Bologna (The town. Not the sausage.)

I recently found out, via facebook, that I actually have some followers!  Thanks friends!  I've been too busy to cook a lot - and if I do, I'm in a rush and don't have time to document and take pictures.  But excuses excuses....with the holidays here, I'm committed to sharing some great holiday recipes!  Starting tomorrow. haha.

But for now, here's a little blast from the past.  This picture was taken in Bologna, Italy.  It's my all time favorite picture in the whole world!  I was studying in London, and took my "spring break" in Italy where Michael came to meet me for the week!  We were a couple of days into our trip when we realized our funds were very very very very low.  So, we did what a lot of other young travelers did and spent the night in the McDonalds next to the train station.  ....had to hold my pee all night because the restroom was infested with flies....just because it's Italy, doesn't mean it's charming.........  The McDonalds closed at 4 am, and our train wasn't until 5 am, so we spent the other hour with all of our luggage sitting on the side of the road where we witnessed a bike theft.  So fun.  We finally get to our hotel in Bologna and had to wait for them to get the room ready - it could've been 5 minutes, coulda been an hour for all we could tell - we were delirious.  So I'm guessing this was taken around 6 or 7am.  We slept in until 2 pm, and missed half of our one day we had planned in Bologna  - which happened to be my favorite town.  So this is our self portrait from that magical time in Bologna.  I'm so glad we have this night documented.  It's one I'll never ever forget!

Apple pie in the sky!!!

This is the yummiest apple pie in the world!  Pretty sure I say that about all my recipes :)  The crust is not light and flaky.  I don't really like my crust like that because to me, it always seems dry.  This is thick and doughy! yum!  I found the recipe in My Sweet Vegan by Hannah Kaminsky.  GREAT book - highly recommended. Here we go!

Ingredients

Sweet Maple Crust

2 1⁄2 cups all purpose flour
1⁄2 cup Whole Wheat pastry flour
1⁄2 tsp salt
3⁄4 cup margarine, well chilled
1⁄4 cup Maple syrup
3-5 Tbsp plain soy creamer (I needed about 7 Tbsp, and I used vanilla rice milk - so start with 3 and go from there..)

Filling

7-9 apples (I used 7 Braeburn but next time I'll use at least one more)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
1⁄2 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1⁄4 cup corn starch
1⁄4 tsp. salt
1⁄4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. (or more if you like) cinnamon
2 Tbsp margarine

Directions

1. Toss the flours, salt, and margarine into a medium bowl, and combine them with a fork or pastry cutter (or you could do it in a food processor).  Continue blending until coarse crumbs develop and small pieces of margarine are left intact.  Mix in the maple syrup, and add the soy creamer one Tbsp at a time, using just enough to bring the dough together into a cohesive ball.  You will have to use your hands to make the cohesive ball - it won't happen with a pastry cutter or a fork.  Divide the dough into two even pieces, smooth them into round disks, and wrap each tightly in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate the dough for two hours.

Preheat your oven to 400°F.

2. Meanwhile, peel, core, and slice the apples to desired thickness.  Put in a large bowl, and mix in the lemon juice.  Add all of the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the margarine.  Just the sugar, brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon.  Stir gently and coat the apples evenly with the dry ingredients.  Set aside.

3. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place dough ball on a lightly floured surface.  If you don't have a rolling pin, use a full bottle of wine.  If using wine bottle, cover the top of the dough with wax paper.  Roll dough out to 1⁄4 inch thickness.  Place in lightly greased pie dish.  *For an easy transfer, fold the dough in half and then move it to the pie dish - but this dough was pretty sturdy.

4.  Roll out the second ball of dough, just like the first, making sure it is big enough to spill over the sides of the pie dish.

5.  Pour the apple mixture into the pie dish on top of the first crust.  Cut the margarine into little pieces and scatter atop your filling.

6.  Place the second flattened round of dough on top of the filling, and cut off the excess dough around the dish.  Press the top and bottom crusts together with your fingers.

7.  If you feel so inspired to cut out shapes for your pie, form the excess dough into a ball and roll out again.  Use a cookie cutter to cut desired shapes!  Get creative!  

8.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Then lower the oven to 350°F without removing the pie.  Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes until the crust turns golden brown.  Let cool for 45 minutes before serving to allow the ingredients to set and get ooey gooey!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Yogurt Snack

Ingredients:
Vanilla yogurt (I used "So Delicious" coconut based yogurt from Whole Foods)
Walnuts
A banana

and...

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter!  I added 2 tsp. Yum!

There is sugar in it, but not too much - so it's pretty healthy!

Add some veggies and hummus on the side to make it a complete lunch!

Italian-ish Quinoa with Tofu

Another creation of mine!  Quinoa is an ancient grain that is high in protein and low in calories.  It has tons of nutritional benefits and is super duper healthy.  It cooks like rice (2 parts liquid to 1 part grain), and can replace rice in any recipe for a fun little change.  Click here to learn all about it!

Quinoa is virtually flavorless, but almost to a fault.  In order for it to absorb flavor, you have to sauté it with the other ingredients in the recipe before you cook it in the broth.  *if you don't have vegetable broth, use water and a low sodium bouillon cube.

This shouldn't take more than 40 minutes - probably less than that.  This recipe serves four.

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic (if you're a garlic lover like me), minced
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp-ish dried thyme
1 tsp-ish dried oregano
1⁄2 cup white wine
1 cup Quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
1 block super firm tofu
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1.  Melt butter in a large sauce pan.  Add onion and cook until soft.
2. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more.
3. Add Quinoa, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper and cook for about 4 minutes on medium-high
4. Add wine and cook until all the liquid is absorbed.
5. Pour in broth and bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes - read package directions.
6. In the meantime, drain and cut the tofu into bite-sized cubes.  Heat olive oil in a pan, add tofu, a little salt, and pepper until tofu is browned on all sides.
7. When Quinoa is done, it should be fluffy with a teeny tiny crunch to it.  Add the tofu, and cook on low, uncovered for about 3-5 minutes (just to get some flavor into the tofu).  Mix in lemon juice and serve.

I served this with Sautéed Spinach:
3 cloves garlic
olive oil
1 tsp. butter
dash of lemon juice
salt, pepper to taste
1 bag of baby spinach

Cook garlic in oil.  Add spinach and butter, salt and pepper.  Squeeze lemon juice when cooked - don't over cook!

Your mouth and heart will thank you.

Gluten Free!

Best Pumpkin Muffins in the Whole World (seriously)

These are the most amazing baked good I've ever made.  I found the base of this recipe on the post punk kitchen website, which has awesome vegan recipes.  I modified this a lot to lower the fat, add some fiber, and omit the molasses.  So I'm definitely calling this my own recipe.  If you like molasses, add a tablespoon or two.  We had these in the morning, so I wanted a lighter flavor.  But I'm glad we omitted it because they are packed with plenty of flavor. You'll have no idea these are vegan.

Ingredients:
1 3⁄4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1⁄4 cups sugar (I use raw turbinado sugar)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1⁄4 tsp salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1⁄2 tsp. nutmeg
1⁄2 tsp. ground ginger
1⁄4 tsp. allspice
1⁄8 tsp. ground cloves
1 Tbsp ground flax seed

1 cup pureed pumpkin
2 Tbsp yogurt (I used vanilla coconut based yogurt - but use whatever)
3⁄4 cup almond milk (or soy or rice...)
1⁄2 cup applesauce
1⁄4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F.  Grease muffin tins (I used a 6-jumbo muffin pan) with vegetable oil or spray oil.

1. Sift together dry ingredients (flour through flax).
2. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (pumpkin through vanilla).
3. Pour wet into dry and combine.
4. Fill tins 2⁄3 of the way and bake for 27-30 min. (mine were done, but still ooey gooey inside at 28 minutes).  If you're using smaller muffin tins reduce the cooking time to 15-20 minutes.
5. Bake until a toothpick or knife comes out clean.  My knife didn't come out completely clean, but I like my muffins a little gooey in the middle.  So whichever you like!
6. Smother in butter and eat warm.

*Since there are only two of us, I usually cook 2-4 muffins at a time and save the rest of the batter in the refrigerator.  That way we can bake them fresh the next day or a couple days later.