Homeward Bound

I'm going home to visit my family in Ohio for 8 days, I'm so excited!! Lula and I leave tomorrow morning at 5:30am. I've only been home once in the past year and that's just not acceptable, especially with my sister and her little monster Aden who is already 8 months. This will be the longest I've been home since I moved here almost 4 years ago, and the longest vacation I've had since 2004 when the Peterson and Bartelt girls piled in the Daewoo for a 9 hour drive to the Georgia cabin, so needless to say I'm super stoked.

This week in pictures:

On Halloween I was a chicken and Lula was an unhappy turtle/monster/frog.

You make a lot of people smile when you pass them on your bike with a puppy in your basket.

Animal Testing Breaks Hearts for Peta2.

And now I have red hair.

Ok, recipe time. John has been instructed to follow a strict candida diet for the next couple months. Not sure if you know what a candida diet is, but basically it's to get rid of a yeast imbalance and it's very restrictive. You can't have wheat, sugar in any form, starchy vegetables, fruit, milk, mushrooms, vinegar, caffeine, alcohol, any condiments... it's pretty crazy. We spent quite a while researching what foods he CAN have and then spent about an hour at Whole Foods reading labels. Then we came home and I invented a quinoa salad for him, and it turned out DELISH! I would make this any day, candida or no! It's super versatile, too - you can add pretty much any combo of vegetables. I'm going to toss some sweet corn in once he can have it again.

QUINOA BLACK BEAN SALAD:

1 cup quinoa

1 1/2 cups cold water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 stalks celery, chopped

2-4 cloves garlic, mashed and diced

1/2 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 stalk broccoli, chopped

1 teaspoon cumin

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, cilantro OR parsley

Dressing:

2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

Dash black pepper & paprika

To make the quinoa: Soak quinoa for 5-10 minutes in hot water. Rinse thoroughly a few times under cold water in fine mesh strainer. Place quinoa in pot, add 1 1/2 cups cold water. Bring to a boil, turn down to low, cover tightly and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit 5 minutes covered. Fluff gently with fork and set aside to cool.

Sauté celery, onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons olive oil until garlic is browned and celery is softened. Add rest of vegetables, sauté until vegetables are cooked. Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, salt and dash of pepper and paprika in a small bowl. Once quinoa is cooked, add quinoa, sautéed vegetables, rinsed black beans, and chopped parsley (or cilantro/basil) in a large bowl. Cover with dressing, combine.

******

Alright, packing time for me and Lula! I hear the weather is pretty cold in Ohio, think these awesome boots will keep me warm enough??

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

John's in the studio again this week which means I get to make more tasty cupcakes for him to bring in. Vanilla and chocolate seemed too boring, so I created my own yummy fall-appropriate treats.

VEGAN PUMPKIN SPICE CUPCAKES

1 cup soy milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/4 cup flour

2 tbsp corn starch

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup canola oil

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

*Line muffin tin with liners and preheat oven to 350° F.

*Mix together soy milk and apple cider vinegar, set aside to curdle.

*In a medium bowl, sift together flour, corn starch, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

*In a large bowl, mix together the soy milk mixtuer, oil, sugar and extracts.

*Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mixing until it is mostly smooth - a few lumps are okay.

*Pour mixture in liners, fill 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake for 20-22 min until a toothpick comes out clean.

CINNAMON BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/2 cup earth balance vegan margarine

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted for lumps

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons soy milk

1-2 tsp cinnamon

pinch nutmeg

*Beat together the shortening and margarine until well combined and fluffy.

*Add the powdered sugar in 1 cup increments, beat for about 3 minutes.

*Add vanilla extract. Add soy milk a tiiiiny bit at a time - too much will make your frosting runny and not stiff!! I usually use only a teeny dribble to make it smooth. Add cinnamon to taste - I ended up using about 2 or 3 tsp in the end, and a few shakes of nutmeg to give it a light and not overpowering flavor. Beat for 5-7 minutes until frosting is fluffy and smooth.

*When cupcakes are cooled completely, frost with cinnamon frosting. Dust with cinnamon and white jimmies and enjoy with a cup of tea, apple cider or pumpkin spice latte.

Morning, Glory

Do you have ever one of those mornings where as hard as you try, nothing goes right?

This morning I was awoken by our funny little foster dog Hadley LICKING HIS BALLS. That's right, this dog licks his balls so loudly that it can wake me from a dead sleep. Anyway, between the ball-licking, the huffing and puffing and jumping on and off the bed, I figured he probably needed to go out. I take him outside, come back in and hop in the shower. No problem there, but getting out proved to be the problem - my shower cap got stuck to one of my earrings. It's pretty hard to detangle a tiny earring trapped in two layers of elastic on the side of your head when the mirrors are all fogged up from the steam, but after 10 minutes struggling with the scissors I finally chopped myself free and head upstairs just in time for Lula to come out of her crate and promptly throw up on the just-cleaned carpet. Awesome.

So now Hadley is running around in circles jumping on and off the bed, Lula is throwing up in the corner, John's phone is ringing because the landlord is calling him to tell us they are shutting off the water in an hour, I'm in a towel with no makeup, its 8:50 and I'm supposed to be at work by 9. I mean nothing terrible, but definitely one of those mornings where you're looking around for the hidden cameras.

PS - the little one is alright, had to go to the vet later in the day but she's back to her normal hilarious self now :)

Chicken

Halloween is still a month away, but I've already got my costume.

First of all I've never been one of those girls to put on a slutty costume and parade myself around on Halloween. I like my costumes to be hilarious and definitely not store bought, and I'm the type to go all out and not half-ass it. Last year I was Jane Fonda, complete with sky high bangs, shiny stirrup tights, high waisted leotard and Velcro Reeboks.

Look at the size of that claw!!!! Obviously, I needed something rad for this year, too.

I got the idea from a Martha Stewart costume for kids and decided to modify it. I started out with a white halter leotard from American Apparel and two of the biggest feather boas I could find - wound up at a Halloween store, as the ones at Michael's and JoAnn's weren't fluffy enough.

I sewed two feather boas to the leotard -

each one covered one side. I tacked down the boas about every four inches, closer than that in places where it has to stretch the most. If you ever sew things to a leotard, make sure the leotard is stretched out when you are sewing - otherwise the stitches will pop right out when you try it on. I found for most parts the easiest thing to do was sew it while it was on me so I could see where it was going (although I did lose the needle a couple times, whoops). You could also stuff it with a pillow so that it stays stretched while you tack down the boas.

For the hat, I made a comb out of two pieces of red felt sewn together. Flipped it right side out, stuffed it with some batting, and attached it to a white pilot hat. Any kind of white cotton hat will do, but I like that you can tie this one below your chin. I'm also debating adding feathers to the hat, but I can't decide if that will be overkill.

I picked up some yellow tights at Target for $5 and a little chicken beak from the Halloween store to seal the deal. The only thing I haven't done yet are the feet - I have some yellow rubber gloves and some batting to stuff them with, but I'm not really sure about the best way to attach them to some kind of shoe would be. Maybe staple them to a pair of $1 flops? When I wore it last week I just wore my red and yellow Tom's, which might end up being the final footwear.

Completed costume:

I did all of this by hand, and surprisingly it didn't take very long. I finished the leotard in about 2 1/2 hours, and that included tacking down the feathers in the chest and neck area. The red comb took about 15 minutes, plus another 20 to attach it to the hat, and that's about it!!

Hooray for homemade costumes!!

What are you going to be for Halloween??

Black Bottom

First things first - check out my awesome assortment of cupcake liners that came today!

I ordered them from Bake it Pretty last week along with some pearlized white jimmies, so of course I had to make something to put in them right away.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

These were so good that I got 5 text messages from John describing their deliciousness. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Filling:

8 oz (1 package) cream cheese, room temp

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 large egg white

1 tbsp sour cream

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Cupcakes:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup water, room temp

6 tbsp sour cream, room temp

4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position. Preheat oven to 400° F. Fill greased tray with liners, set aside.

2. For the filling: Use and electric mixer to beat together the cream cheese, sugar and salt until smooth. Add the egg white and sour cream until combined, about 30 seconds, Mix in chocolate chips and set aside.

3. For the cupcakes: Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and baking soda in a large bowl. Combine water, sour cream, melted butter and vanilla extract in a smaller bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until just combined.

4. Fill cupcake liners 1/2 to 2/3 with batter. Use all the batter - these don't rise too much. Drop a rounded tablespoon of the cheesecake mixture onto the center of each cupcake.

5. Bake 18-22 minutes, until the tops begin to crack. Rotate pan halfway through baking (although I forgot this and mine turned out fine). Let cool 5-10 minutes in pan before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

They may not look like much but damn, they are irresistible!!

10 Songs

10 songs I never skip when my iPod is on shuffle, in no particular order:

1. Modest Mouse - Bankrupt on Selling

2. Great White - Once Bitten Twice Shy

3. LL Cool J - Doin' it

4. Jackson 5 - I'll Be There

5. The Eagles - Witchy Woman

6. Mark Morrison - Return of the Mack

7. Weezer - My Name is Jonas

8. The Lonely Island - I'm on a Boat

9. REO Speedwagon - Take it on the Run

10. Any song from Jesus Christ Superstar

These aren't even my favorite songs, I just find myself stopping on them when my iPod is on shuffle, or if I hear them on the radio. I wonder what that says about me.

What are yours?

Pink Lemonade

I found a recipe for pink lemonade cupcakes yesterday and thought it sounded good but wrote it off when I couldn't find any good vegan versions, but then today I found some pink food coloring at Ralph's and decided to make one myself.

I combined two recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World to come up with these. John's currently trying to cut out refined sugar, so I wanted to make them with agave nectar and no sugar except for the frosting. I didn't leave them in for quite long enough so they sank a bit in the middle, but who cares, they are soooo yummy!!

Vegan Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

2/3 cup soy milk

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

2/3 cup agave nectar

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup canola oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract (or more vanilla)

1 1/3 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp lemon zest

pink food coloring (can use a few drops of red if you can't find pink)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line muffin tin with liners.

In a large bowl, combine soy milk and apple cider vinegar, and set aside to curdle.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add agave, canola oil, lemon juice and extracts to soy milk mixture, mix well.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet in 3 batches. Fold in lemon zest, and add a few drops of pink food coloring.

Spoon into tins. I use an ice cream scoop with the little release trigger thingy - perfect amount every time. Bake for 20-22 minutes (maybe even a little longer) - they are done when a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to wire cooling rack to cool completly. Makes about 12 cupcakes.

Lemony Buttercream Frosting

1/4 cup vegan margarine (hooray for Earth Balance!)

1/4 cup shortening

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp vanilla extract

yellow food coloring

Cream margarine and shortening together. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. After each addition of powdered sugar, mix in a splash of lemon juice. Add vanilla and lemon zest and a few drops of yellow food coloring and beat for 5 minutes until fluffy. Refrigerate until ready to pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Pretty much the best summer cupcake ever. Enjoy!!