I've got three things in my freezer...what can I make?

I had a craving for chocolate cake. I always have a craving for chocolate cake. It usually ends up with Matt and I driving all over town and ending up at the grocery store buying some buttercream awfulness. So, it's that time again. Time for cake. Got no money. Got no eggs. Got bananas, walnuts and Kahlua. Vegan recipes to the rescue!

Chocolate Banana Walnut Cake with a Kahula Glaze*

Dry Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour 2 cups
Sugar (See Notes) 1 and 1/2 cup
Cocoa Powder 2/3 cup
Baking Soda, 1 and 1/2 teaspoon

Wet Ingredients:
Canola Oil 1/4 cup
Hot Water 1 and 1/2 cups
Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon
Bananas, mashed or pureed 1 cup

Okay, so this is generally what was in there. I actually used 1 cup Splenda and 1/2 cup Sugar AND I added about a tablespoon of agave nectar, just because I bought the crap and want to get rid of it.

So, mix dry ingredients in bowl. Mix wet ingredients in another bowl. Combine. Fold in about a cup of chopped walnuts.

Bake in cake pan of your choosing for 45mins at 350

Now, here comes the good part. All of that cake crap you just made is a vehicle for Kahula Spectacular.

Kahula Glaze

Kahula 1 cup
Agave nectar 2 tbs (again, if you just happen to have it lying around)
Splenda 1 cup
Sugar 1/2 cup

Bring to boil for about five minutes. Stir...contently. Turn down to low when it becomes a tasty syrup (meaning you can't taste the booze) that takes some effort to suck off your finger. I could bathe in this shit!

When the cake comes out of the oven, it's going to look a little dry on top. Poke it with a toothpick or butter-knife a few thousand times and pour the glaze over it. You could probably wait until the cake cools, but I always have trouble with that part.

Eat.

*find the original cake recipe here. Kahlua Glaze was all me.

I think the recipe still needs some work. A little too sweet, even for me, but I think that's because of all the added agave nectar. I like the taste of it with the kahlua, but could live without it. Overall, the cake seems pretty healthy, considering. And it's nice to have a c-cake recipe that I don't have to buy much of anything for.

Fridge Cookies

Like Terri used to make, only Splendid.
Har, har, har...

1 cup Splenda
1/4 cup margarine (I used smart balance)
2 tbs. unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup fat free milk
1/4 cup natural peanut butter

Combine in pot over medium heat. Stir until everything is melty and mixed together. Then add:

1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup nuts (optional, but I added pecans and walnuts. Very good!)
1 1/2 cups of rolled oats

Drop in spoonfuls on to waxed paper and chill in fridge for about 2 hours, if you can stand to wait that long. I lasted 45 minutes.

Next time I make these I'll add the oats a little at a time. I didn't like the final oat to melty mixture ratio. It needed less oats. Mine didn't hold together very well as I was shoving four of them in my face.

Spicy Nut Mix

Here is my first contribution for a sweet, salty, a little spicy, and crunchy treat. I modified it slightly from the Southbeach.com. I needed something to snack on during the day.

2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 large egg whites
1 cup unsalted soy nuts
1 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1 cup pecan halves
1 cup walnut halves
1 cup raw almonds
1/4 granulated splenda

1. Preheat oven to 225. Mix first 6 ingredients in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy. Whisk in spice mixture. Add nuts and splenda and toss to coat.
2. Spread mixture evenly on two nonstick cookie sheets (I used a large cookie sheet that wasn't nonstick and it worked just fine). Bake 1 hour until nuts are dry and toasted stirring every 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheet.

Serving size is a 1/4 cup (20 servings)
You can substitute any cup of nuts for what ever you like.