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2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup canola oil

3/4 cup soy or rice milk

1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce, or 1/2 - 3/4 of an apple placed in a food processor and heated

1/2 apple, diced into 1/4 inch chunks

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add the oil, milk, and apple sauce and combine. Then fold in the apple chunks. Partially fold in the brown-sugar mix - you want to have a ribbon of brown sugar running through the muffins. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. If you want, sprinkle a little brown sugar on top. Bake for 18 - 22 minutes, until a fork/knife/toothpick stuck into the muffins comes out clean. Eat immediately or set on a rack to cool. 

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4 dice

1/3 large onion (yellow or white), cut into 1/4 dice

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cloves

Pinch of nutmeg 

Pinch of ginger

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or frying pan on medium-high heat for a couple minutes, then add the onions. Saute for about 2 minuets, then add the garlic and saute for another minute. Add the cinnamon, pepper, salt, cloves, nutmeg and ginger and stir to coat the onions and garlic. Then add the diced potatoes and saute, stirring fairly constantly. The smaller you chopped them the shorter time it will take to cook, but you'll still need to leave them in the pan for about 15 minutes. Keep 'em on the heat until they soften. I like mine a little crispy, a.k.a. burnt, so I let them sit for longer in between stirs. Once you've got them cooked to your preferred consistency, remove them from the heat and serve. I like mine with muffins and some faux-sausage. 

You'll notice the potatoes shown in this particular recipe don't have onions in with them. I made this recipe once when we were out of onions and Alex decided he likes them better without - so now I leave them out. Personally, I don't think home-fries are quite the same without onions, but whatever floats your gravy boat. 

1 cup soy or rice milk
1 T. apple cider vinegar
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
Heaping ¼ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
½ cup  raisins*
2 T. sugar*

*These last two are optional. They're not technically acceptable in a traditional Irish Soda Bread and the addition of them makes it closer to Spotted Dick. Which, if you think about it, is more fun anyway. 

Preheat your over to 350° and whip out your mixing bowls. Start by measuring out your soy milk and adding the vinegar to it. This creates soy-butter milk by curdling the soy milk. Looks gross, works awesome. Next, measure out your dry ingredients (flour, baking power, baking soda, salt) into a bowl. If you're adding raisins, throw them in now as well. Mix the dry ingredients together. 

Assume your oven is heated by now, and add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix them together as best you can, and then dump the whole mess out and knead it until all the flour has been absorbed. Your dough will be soft, but it shouldn't be too sticky. Once all the flour has been absorbed, shape the dough into a loaf. It should be about two or three inches high, but the shape doesn't matter. I suggest a pair of buttocks. Or you could go with the more traditional round loaf. 

Lightly grease a baking pan or cookie sheet and sprinkle a bit of flour on it, then set your loaf down. Sprinkle the top with a little more flower and pop it into the oven. Alternatively you can put it in a traditional bread pan for more 'professional' looking bread. Martha Steward, eat your heart out. Baking is the longest part of this process, and it takes about 40 minutes. Check it at 30 to make sure it's going well though. You'll know it's done when you stick a toothpick (or a fork, knife, or fingernail) in and it comes out clean. When that time comes, take it out of the oven and set it on a baking rack to cool.