Recipe: Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes

Maeryn, first thing in the morning, having a cupcake breakfast. 

Last night, in my great search for vegan cupcakes that hold up under pressure and taste amazing, I found this fantastic website called The Art of Dessert...  and...  wow.  Just, wow!

This blogger has some fantastic and amazing recipes - and all of them look awesome.  Also, one of her children has an egg allergy, which my son shares, so SO many are useable for our family.

Maeryn and I halved the following recipe and made a few changes (in bold), but I wanted to share so you could all check out this awesome blog AND have some awesome cupcakes with your fam.

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes
Allergy note: contains wheat ingredients

3 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup Crisco
1 3/4 cups raw, organic cane sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. honey
2 Tbs. white, distilled vinegar
4 Tbs. orange juice
1 1/2 cups rice milk
zest of one lemon (optional) (we didn't use this)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare two muffin pans with paper cupcake liners.




She recommends mixing your wet and dry ingredients separately and has lots of instructions for doing so.  I never do this, and my stuff comes out just fine.  I just toss it all together in the bowl and mix like a mad woman. 

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out dry.  Let cool completely before decorating.

She follows up with a recipe for chocolate frosting, which I'm sure is fantastic, but I had some vanilla frosting already in the fridge, and used that instead.

So I guess my recipe is so different I could techincally be calling it my own, but I wanted to drive traffic to this woman's site.  I always check recipes in books and then add my own twists - isn't that how everyone cooks?

;) 

 

Foods, Voltron, etc.

Today I made blueberry banana muffins.  They're sort of a staple around here.

I had a splash of guilt.  Bananas are bad.  This is because, according to the book I've been reading, they are unreasonably cheap.

Think about it this way - bananas have to come from far away to get into our supermarkets.  It must cost an awful lot of fuel and preservative conditions to get them here intact...  so why are they the cheapest fruit around?  Well, the money loss has to be from somewhere, and according to my latest reading, it's lost on the workers.  I'm not so surprised.  This is so often the case.

Bananas will probably not be leaving our menu any time soon.  They are the best egg replacement I've managed to find, and since most of my baking has to be vegan (my son has egg and dairy allergies), it's tough to say we won't be using bananas.

It does have me thinking about my foods.  Their sources.

Blueberries are NOT in season.  They must travel far and wide to arrive here in my grocer's produce section as well.  So what to do?

The jury is still out as far as what our family will decide.  All I know is that I'm looking forward to the farmer's market openings come April around these parts.  I can't wait to have fresh produce in the house that I can feel great about.

Jonah is still rebelling.  He had a fit this morning because we got the organic rice milk rather than the vanilla kind he's used to.  He told me in the past he prefers to have the original when up against the vanilla flavored, but today that was not the case.  He still used it on his cereal, but not without protest.

I had this thought that I'd like to move into a big old farmhouse and go ahead and do the homesteading thing.  Whole hog.  Just go for it.  Grow all our own produce, raise chickens, make friends with the neighbors and share things, knit like crazy...  It seems great in a dreamy sort of way - but when I think about it I'm not sure I have that kind of self-discipline.

I'm getting there.

Today I spent a good amount of time thinking about the spring garden I'm hoping to plant.

We don't have a lot of space, but I'm hoping to plant tomatoes, peppers, and squash - some of our family favorites when it comes to what we use in our cooking.  Jonah will have his own little plot where he can plant the veggies or flowers of his choice.  I'm going to get some seeds for native flowers to attract butterflies and bees and a handy bird feeder because I love to watch the birds and the bees and butterflies will be great for the garden as they pollinate the flowers on all kinds of blooms.

I've learned a lot about gardening in the last year through reading and experience.  Perhaps this year's harvest will yield a bit more than last year's.

In the meantime, I'm hoping to impose on Jonah's Voltron marathon long enough to head out to the library tomorrow, get some healthy food into his belly, and spark some interest in Valentine baking and garden planning.

We'll see how that goes.

On another note - with our tax return we will be just $13 away from paying off our car and one step closer to living debt free!

End of Summer.

Today is Jonah's first day of first grade!

EGADS!

I can't believe it.  He got on the bus today all by himself.  I didn't cry, but I was close!  Maeryn kept me in check with her various demands.

He picked dandelions for the bus driver.  I handed out all the allergy stuff to everyone (teachers, admins., bus driver) and sent a reminder email to the headmaster at the school about the protocol for using his EpiPen.  He is carrying it with him in his backpack this year, and I am GLAD.  He knows how and when to use it and I trust him completely.

I miss having him at home, but I know this is what he wants, and he ADORES friends, and that is what he is most looking forward to...  though I heard him upstairs practicing reading in his bed last night.

I'm sad that summer is ending.

Last week we took a last SAHM day-trip to the local beach.  It was so much fun.  We stayed for four hours picnicking, watching crabs crawl along the bottom of the river, chasing HUGE schools of fish, and turning over rocks to see what we could see.  It may have been the most fun I had all summer.  I also got to run a lot.

I've been reading Born to Run and I've learned that "we don't stop running because we get old.  We get old because we stop running!", and I've tried to run when the kids run.  You know what?  It makes life a whole lot more exciting.  EVERYTHING becomes an adventure!

Oh!  Yesterday I made my first pot of chili of the season.  I call it:  End of Summer Chili.  You can find the recipe here.

How to tell him nothing's changed.

Last week we went to our annual allergist visit for both kids.  As many of you know, my children have had several food allergy diagnosis:  Maeryn: soy, tomato, yellow squash, dairy; Jonah: peanuts, tree nuts, apple, dairy, eggs, peas. 

At our visit, we got the astonishing news that Maeryn was no longer allergic to ANYTHING.  We didn't even know how to take it.  I have never planned a menu for a child who could have anything she wanted.  I was floored.

Jonah went and got a blood test to see how his allergies were doing as well.  The results were to come in this morning.  Maeryn had a scratch test at the office so we got her results immediately. 

After some run-around, we finally got the results of Jonah's tests.  We had been very hopeful that he would have something to celebrate, just like his sister.  He said that he hoped he was no longer allergic to dairy so that he could try ice cream.  He had high hopes.  We did too. 

The results were not what we had hoped.

While all of his reactions had gone down, he was still allergic to everything he had been allergic to before. 

It's really good news that everything has gone down.  It means that some day he will probably be free of most of his allergies.  I just wish I had something to tell him that was for right now.  Me and my instant gratification.

***

He's on the phone with Michael and he's hearing the news.

My amazing, beautiful little boy is HAPPY about his test results.  He is still hopeful.  He is not upset, angry, or tearful.  He is mature and even glowing.

I am the one who has growing up to do. 

Jonah's Autumn.

Jonah has been faced with options and has come up with the following plan for himself for fall:

-  attend Montessori School
-  continue swim lessons at a competitive level by joining the swim team pre-team lesson group locally
-  train for Shamrock 5K
-  take guitar lessons from Daddy
-  have a Pokemon birthday party for a big group followed by a sleepover with a small group
-  host a big Halloween party for friends and family with costumes and "bobbing for pears" (due to his apple allergy)


I'm pretty excited about his fall.

I've had to let go of some things - like putting him into piano lessons regardless of his wishes because it's a priority for Michael and me that he learn to read music on both clefs, my excitement that he had made it to Level 1 gymnastics, etc.  But I think that he has made choices that are pretty awesome, honestly.  How many six year olds are training for a 5K?

EOSYCT #2

(End of School Year Camping Trip - #2)

This past weekend our little adventure crew went on our Second Annual EOSYCT.  It was an adventure to say the LEAST.

Friday was Jonah's last day of school, so as soon as he was finished we scrambled home and packed the car (Michael and I had already spent the entire morning scrambling to gather all the necessities at the front door).  We had a few false starts, but finally got on the road a little after 1300 and headed toward Gifford Pinchot State Park near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 

The drive to camp was relatively uneventful, save some traffic and a few rest and food stops along the way.  We were happily able to acquire (at Jonah's request) the exact camp-site we had last year and we set up shop quickly - we were all starving.  Once the tent was pitched and we'd organized in a very general way at the site, we headed out to find some grub.

We managed to find some great local fare that tasted great (after we sent the eggplant parm back the first time when it included meat sauce - Michael and I both thought that was totally weird) and was affordable, and then we went grocery shopping.

The kids were insane, but we managed to make it through the store unscathed and head back to camp to see if we could wrangle Maeryn to bed (sleeping bag) and get a fire going to make some s'mores (aka marshmallow sandwiches for my little dairy allergy man).

The wood was VERY uncooperative, not to mention the two year old.  All the kindling was wet, and in spite of our best efforts, it took us upwards of an hour to get any sort of flame to stick around.


Meanwhile, Maeryn meandered around the tent screaming repeatedly for either Mommy or Daddy to come and save her from her terrible fate.

She eventually asked to get into her carseat.  We'd try anything at this point, so we buckled her in.

She played contentedly for a few minutes and then began screaming again (it was long after quiet hours at the campground):  "OUT!  OUT!  OUT!  I want out NOW!  Out NOW!  Mommy!  Mommy!  Mommy!  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"  This phrase was repeated often for the next twenty or so minutes, when I suggested to a very frustrated Michael that maybe it would work out best if I stayed at the campsite and put Jonah to bed while he drove Maeryn around the area a bit to see if she would fall asleep in the car.

He obliged and Jonah and I snuggled into the tent.

He fell asleep eventually, but I was awake and hawk-eyed.  I realized that I was not really a fan of being in the tent without another adult in the middle of the night (by now it was nearing midnight, the campground was quiet, the night was inky).  I went out to the fire, which was smoldering a bit, and read by flashlight, but I realized that just made me more nervous because it stunted my night vision and every sound made me jump.  I went back into the tent and pretended not to hear the occasional scratching on the outside and tried hard to not think about the murders on the Appalachian Trail of persons who were equally snuggled into sleeping bags in their very own tents.

Michael made it back eventually with a sleeping toddler, and all was relatively well (except for me realizing that I cannot sleep on an air mattress due to my chronic back pain and getting literally two hours of sleep that night).

Morning dawned bright and early.  Michael, in his mercy, granted me those two hours of sleep after the kids were awake and running around like crazy with their breakfasts. 

I eventually had the greatest shower of my life - immense water pressure, super hot water, wondrous in spite of the roach that crawled through the grout and the spider slinging to the mildewy walls.

Saturday had begun.

During Michael's shower with Jonah in tow, Maeryn managed to eat an entire carton of strawberries by herself (okay, I had two of them).

We then headed out onto one of the many trails on the park and hiked to the day-use area where the kids got to play on the playground and work hard to avoid goose poop at the water's edge.

We hiked back to our site

for lunch and naps (which were remotely successful) and then we climbed into the car to search for a place to check out RVs (we're obsessed).  Our search was totally unsuccessful.  Everywhere we tried only had trailers, no motor-homes, so we were out of luck.  We did, however, get an interesting tour of Harrisburg and several of it's amenities we had not experienced during our stint as college students just outside the city near the turn of the century.

Around 5 PM we made it back to the day-use area just in time to take a canoe trip across the lake.  This was my favorite part of the trip. The kids had an amazing time, dipping their fingers into the water and just taking in the sights.  nfortunately, I have no pictures of this great time; we ended up docking a little early due to some thunder on the horizon.

Speaking of thunder...

By the time we made it back to our site, our tent was flooded and everything was soaking, including Michael and me, as we struggled to salvage as many of our belongings as possible through a truly torrential downpour.

Luckily, we had kept our food and our clean clothes in the car, so when we stopped off at Brother's Restaurant (another local eatery), we were able to change into dry things.

We enjoyed more great food and then decided that due to the weather and the uninhabitable conditions of our tent and sleeping bags, we were destined for the EconoLodge.

We hung clothing and bags and sleeping bags and sheets all about the hotel room and settled in to Disney Channel movies with a 10 PM bedtime for everyone.

Peace was not to be had, unfortunately.

At 0330, Jonah began coughing incessantly.  This went on for an hour before he dragged himself out of bed and threw up in the bathroom and some on the rug.  Michael and I assumed it was an asthma attack, and we had been remiss in bringing his nebulizer, so Michael headed out to the hospital while I stayed behind with a peacefully sleeping Maeryn.

Around 6:30 they made it back home, unscathed, Jonah fine - he had had an allergic reaction to the must/mold/dust in the room and as soon as he was removed from the room he had recovered fully.

We packed up, scarfed continental breakfast, and went to church.  We headed for Daybreak C&MA Church, as we knew the building well (it was the E-Free church that Michael and I frequented in college) and Michael's brother and sister-in-law attended there before they moved to Denver.  They have an awesome Sunday School program and the kids had an amazing time.  Michael and I were a little distracted by the super-produced worship style, but were intrigued to find that they have a service happening at the same time as their mega-worship deal that is very similar to The Refinery, where we currently attend at home. 

After church we dashed to Messiah College, our alma mater, to do a family photoshoot for some friends from days gone by.  I ran the kids while Michael took the photos.  Rain poured.  The kids and I got re-soaked, but we hung out on the swinging bridge and covered bridge and unintentionally did some creek wading - so I think, looking back, getting soaked was a good thing.

The kids slept the entire way home  :-)

Michael and I hit the hay Sunday evening at 2030.

Adventure, indeed.