Sunday Snacks: Blueberry Glazed Vegan Donuts & Healthy Mezze Plates

It's been too long again! I can't believe I haven't written a post in over two weeks. Well, actually I can believe it because it's been about two weeks since I've gone back to work after having four weeks off. It always takes me a little while to get back in to the schedule of things. At the studio, we are getting ready for our family show, Kaleidoscope which will be performed at the Capitol Theatre Feb. 3-4! The concert will feature the works of Choreographer Alwin Nikolais. Nikolais' work served as inspiration for current artists like Cirque du Soleil, Blue Man Group, Momix & Pilobolus.  It's fun when we do Nikolais' work too because we go from having 6 dancers to 10. It's always nice to have more people in the studio. We are learning this new piece here:

Gallery by Alwin Nikolais
Source

The piece is called Gallery and it's all done in black light! There are some really visually stunning images that we create, it's pretty magical! But from the dancer's point of view it's quite hard! We are wearing masks the whole time in the black light, are using a lot of props, and there are lots of places where things could go wrong. It takes a lot of concentration and preparation to make sure you have everything preset. Long story short rehearsing this piece and all the other repertory everyday from 9-5 has left me exhausted. The last two weeks I've done a little cooking but I must admit there were a lot of frozen veggie burgers eaten in the evenings (not that there is anything wrong with that!). So that changes today! Starting with breakfast where I tried out Sarah's great recipe for baked donuts. I love my Wilton donut pan! If you don't have one yet, it's a great inexpensive kitchen must have! I just like making a baked version of a treat that is usually not very figure friendly. This recipe is definitely dancer approved!!

Blueberry Glazed Donuts
Recipe by: Sarah Collins Chapman of Sarah Snacks


Ingredients:

For the donuts:

1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used soy milk)
1 cup blueberries (I used frozen)

For the glaze:

1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1-2 Tbsp. non-dairy milk

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl. In a small bowl combine wet ingredients. Add wet to dry and stir until just combined. Carefully fold in blueberries. Spoon mixture into donut pan that's been sprayed with cooking spray (I used about 2 heaping Tbsp. of batter for each donut). Bake for 12-13 minutes until donuts are firm and slightly brown. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. For glaze mix together the confectioners sugar and milk and dip each donut into glaze. Let donuts sit until glaze hardens.

Makes 12 full sized donuts.
















The last couple of Sunday's I've been going to church with my my mom & then we've been treating ourselves by going to Whole Foods for a coffee afterwards. When I get home, it's usually about lunch time but my husband and I aren't all that hungry for a huge lunch. So today, I thought I would just throw together a "Mezze" plate for us. In Middle Eastern cuisine, "mezze," is a spread of appetizers or small foods. Perfect for a light Sunday lunch here's my version of a healthy "mezze" plate. The only thing that would have made it more perfect was a glass of wine!

Healthy Mezze Plate:

• Bell pepper spears
• Scoop of Sabra Hummus sprinkled with Fat-Free Feta cheese
• Light Laughing Cow Swiss Cheese wedge
• 4 Verdi Castelvetrano Olives (I just got these at Costco & they are delish!!)
• Eat Smart Naturals Sea Salt Whole Grain Tortilla Chips w/flax, quinoa, sesame, & chia seeds

Perfectly filling and the perfect Sunday snack......now I need to go figure out dinner plans! I'll be back soon with more great recipe finds & creations. I also took a wonderful yoga workshop this weekend at a great yoga studio, Local Yoga. The workshop was a yoga class that incorporated learning ways to use a foam roller to help stretch more and learn to roll out sore muscles. It was great for how sore I already was from the week. I hope to share some of the exercises I learned with you all. Weather you are an athlete or office person we can all find ways to help relax and take care of our all too often, overworked bodies. So look forward to that!

CIAO,

BETSY