Back from the windy city

Hi there! Did I mention my birthday was last week? August 26th to be exact. I was very happy with the turnout of the day :D

I made the one thing in my Vegan with a Vengeance Book that I've always been intimidated by: The actual cupcake

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup plus 3 T cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup rice/soy milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350'F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners, spray the liners with oil.

In a medium sized bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and powder, cocoa powder, and salt. In a larger mixing bowl combine the milk, oil, sugar, maple syrup, vinegar, and vanilla. Beat at a medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, add the dry ingredients into the wet in batches, mixing as you go. Beat for a minute longer.

Use wet ice cream scoops to fill the liners 3/4 full. Bake for about 25-28 minutes, Until a toothpick comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack, and make sure they are COMPLETELY cooled before applying any icing.

Fluffy White Icing

1/4 cup non-hydrogenated margarine

1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening

3/4 cup superfine (or caster) sugar

2 T plain soymilk powder

pinch salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (get the highest quality you can, the kind that’s thick and syrupy tastes best)

In a medium mixing bowl, beat together margarine and shortening with an electric beater on medium speed until well combined. Add the sugar and soy milk powder and beat for a good 10 minutes until very fluffy. Add vanilla extract and a pinch of salt, beat for another minute. You may want to do a little taste test and add a little more sugar if needed.

Chocolate Ganache Icing

1/3 cup soymilk

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

In a small sauce pan, scorch the milk (bring it to a boil) then lower the heat to a simmer and add the chocolate and syrup. Mix with a rubber spatula for about 30 seconds. Turn heat off, continue stirring until the chocolate is fully melted and the icing is smooth.

Royal Icing for the squiggle

2 cups powdered (icing, confectioners) sugar

2 tablespoons soy milk powder

2 tablespoons water

Sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the soymilk powder. Add one tablespoon of the water and stir, then add the other tablespoon of water, a little bit at a time until you reach a consistency slightly more solid than toothpaste. The icing should not be drippy at all, if it is at a little more sugar.

You will need two cake decorators bags. One fitted with a small hole tip (the kind you use for writing) and one fitted with a large star or circle shaped tip. Fill the large tip one with fluffy white icing, fill the writing one with royal icing. Poke a hole in the center of each cupcake using your pinky. Cram the fluffy white icing in the hole and squeeze to get as much into the center as you can, slowly lifting the bag, until the icing fills to the top. Wipe the excess icing off of the top of the cupcake with a napkin or (if your me) your finger.

Dip the top of each cupcake into the chocolate ganache icing. Tilt the pan to add more depth to the icing for easier cupcake coating. Place all the cupcake on a cutting board, make some room in your fridge and put the cupcakes in there to set the ganache, about 10 minutes.Use these 10 minutes to practice your squigglies for the tops. I use one my left hand to steady my writing hand by holding onto my right wrist. Practice a bit and see what works for you.Remove the cupcakes from the fridge and make your squiggles on the top. Return to the fridge to set, I like to keep them in there till I'm ready to serve them.

They were so freaking delicious. The creamy buttery frosting in the middle made it, and they were so realistic. They werent really THAT hard in my opinion.

We went out to one of my favorite restraunts, Jerusalem Garden, for my birthday dinner. I ordered the hummus appetizer with pita and veggies, plus the tabbouleh. I had a grape leaf, A falafel (!) and plenty of this tahini dressing on veggies and everything else I could get my hands on . We were outside so the lighting was hit or miss, unfortunatley. :(

A little while ago I made a "taco" with an ezekiel tortilla with hummus and veggies on the inside. I folded it over and toasted it, it (unexpetedly) created a shell!


Oh yeah! You're probably wondering about the title. Well, I went to chicago with my friend Daphne and my parents as a spontaneous birthday trip. YAY!

One hour into chicago, I found a grocery store.

Thanks Mom & Dad for taking us to Chicago! I had such a great time with Daphne, shout out to you if your reading. She got me rare John Mayer recordings that are uber-hard to find, and I feel soo special! We are die hard fans, if you didn't know/have already figured it out...Anyways. Thats all for now guys :D Hope you enjoyed this really long post...I wanted to blog in Chicago but I had forgotten my camera cord :/ Oh well!

Ups and Downs

Well I took a picture of my breakfast today, (UP!)which I am proud of. Not too pretty, but I walked to school today because I delivered the pumpkin bread to my sister for an early mother's day present. We'll be away in Washington, D.C. for a wedding this weekend, so I figured I should give the bread to her while it's still fresh! UP!

I packed kamut puffs with a few oats thrown on top, 2 lil' strawberries, and a few raisins in my peanut butter jar. (clean) I had it with rice milk and cinnamon, and ate it on my walk to school! While listening to my iPod. Great way to wake up, if anyone needs it. UP!

I had a rough day (care not to share...) down...and went for a very sprint-iful run to work it out. Its actually good to exercise when you're mad, I've found out. I was able to run faster! Cool.

My dad picked up "the best middle eastern food ever" in Belleville, MI. (?) UP! I ate his leftovers for dinner, super yummy baba ganouj, with carrot, red pepper, and cherry tomaters. Some tabbouleh as well, which was uh-freaking-amazing. So flavorful. I didn't know parsley had so much potential.

(NO, I didn't have that much baba ganouj. I just took the tupperware out of the fridge.)

A big strawberry for dessert

Well my science binder is waiting for me to study it, (down...) so I had better tend to that...I'll probably blog tomorrow, but forgive me if I don't as I'm leaving for D.C! Well definetly Sunday I'll blog.

Lazy Saturday

Today started early...7:00! I haven't been able to sleep in since like, summer! It frustrates me. I figured since my dad needed to leave and he was making breakfast for himself, I would start mine as well.

Big surprise! I made oatmeal. Plus 2 figs. The rolled oats, because my dad was about to sit down and I needed something quick. THE MIX:

Scant 1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup almond milk

1/4 cup water

pinch salt

1 tbsp plus a lil' more pumpkin butter

pinch cinnamon

tsp ground flaxseed

topped with raisins. Sorry the picture is dark! I really need to get better at my food photography...any tips?

Later in the day, I went to the gym for a fast workout. 15ish minutes on the treadmill, some jumprope, situps, and random lift weights. Then my mom and I wandered around at the farmers market and got apples, and a big bag of fresh spinach. I then had a guitar lesson with my new teacher! It was a lot of fun.

My mom and I went out to lunch at Jerusalem Garden. (No pics:( )If I lived there, I think I would be the happiest person on the planet. All middle eastern-all the time. Just picture the excellence. I got the hummus (duh) with cucumbers, pita, and tomato. Then my vegetarian grape leaves came which were very very yummy! I just recently started liking grape leaves.

I cleaned a little at home, did some homework, explored blogs. Then around 4:30 I walked up to trader Joes because we desperately needed to go shopping. Its about 1.5 miles from my house. Here's the list: (I actually got a grocery cart this time!)

cubed butternut squash

yellow onions

carrots

sweet taters

whole grain Dijon mustard

2 zbars (1 for my niece, 1 for my nephew:)

Dried pineapple rings

Pita pillow puffs chips

(Dry) Brown rice

Quinoa

Steamed vacuum packed lentils

2 mangoes

2 bell peppers

1 very un-ripe avocado

I was very happy with my purchases! (And the prices!) The only thing I didn't find was sesame seeds. When I got home, I wanted to make Squash 'n' onions from The Kind Diet.

Serves 4

1 medium butternut squash (I used a bunch of chunks)

2 medium onions

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 tsp dry oregano

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Wash and scrub the squash, (leave peel on) and cut it into 2" pieces. Peel the onions, halve lengthwise, and slice crosswise in 1/2" slices.

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the onions, saute until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add the oregano and squash. Saute for another 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water to the skillet and add the salt. Cover the pan, reduce to low, and simmer for 25-30 minutes. (Took longer for me.)

This was so good! I had it with my dinner along with salad, which had a yummy Dijon-balsamic-lemon dressing, along with and hummus and veggies. Very strange cursed hummus that I made and is just kind of weird. Its not going bad, it just doesn't smell like hummus. I used all normal ingredients!! Help?!

2 hours after dinner, I finished off with some amazing Indian tea from Teahaus, 1 or 2 dry pineapple slices and 2 squares of trader joe dark chocolate. Great day!

Middle eastern night

Ok, whoever invented middle eastern food is a freakin' genius. Those few hours spent in the kitchen today for one super-meal was actually worth it.

Tonight, as you know, is easter-eve. I, being Greek Orthodox, attend frequent,lengthy services throughout the week. One of the most...memorable? ones it tonight. It starts at midnight, and goes beyond that. The church is pitch black and we all sing "Xristos anesti!" (In english, christ has risen.) But anyways, Easter marks the end of lent. My dad was vegan with me throughout the 40 days, and tomorrow, that comes to an end. So I made a "last supper" in attempts that it would be a fantastic one. And what do you know.

I started with 2 different tabbouleh recipes, and used a combination of the two plus my random ideas to create a yummy one. Heres (I think?)what I did.

2 bunches of parsley, evenly minced

4 tennisball size tomatoes, chopped in 1/2 inch squares

1 shallot, chopped

5 or 6 chopped radishes

1/3 quarter cup of bulgur wheat, pre soaked

strained juice from 1 good sized lemons

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

dash of salt (to taste)

dash of pepper (to taste)

Combine parsley, tomatoes, and onions in a bowl. Cover and chill in fridge for 1 hour.Soak bulgur wheat in aprox. 2/3 cup of boiling water for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until fluffy.Combine salad, wheat, lemon juice, oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

I could give this recipe partial credit from the kind life, the radish idea and all. But it was based off a recipe I found on vegweb.com. So I will just avoid tagging that.

I also made another recipe (yes, I know) from Vegan with a vengeance. Falafel. It was heaven. I was feeling a bit aprehensive about the deep frying, but figured if I'm super healthy for like 90% of the time, a bit of oil wouldn't KILL me. So there I dove into making falafel.

2 cups cooked chickpeas

1/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons flour (I used whole wheat pastry, but all purpose is fine.)

1 medium sized onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon each cumin, coriander

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsely

1/2 teaspoon salt

pinch of black pepper

Vegetable/canola oil for frying

4 large pita breads sliced in half to make pockets

any fix ins, lettuce, red onion, tomato. (for the pita pockets.) I did tabbouleh and it rocked.

tahini dressing (see following recipe)

In a food processor, combind the chickpeas and bread crumbs, pulse for 30 seconds until the chickpeas are chopped. Add the other ingredients (till the black pepper) and process, scraping down the sides until the mixture is relatively smooth but still coarse. It should look fairly green from the parsley. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 1/2 an hour.

Shape the batter into 1 1/2 inch balls and then flatten into 2 inch diameter patties. In a large heavy bottomed pan, (cast iron is ideal) heat about 1/2 inch oil and test it by throwing in a little bit of batter. If the oil bubbles up immediatley, it is ready to cook. Cook the patties in 2 batches to avoid crowding, giving each side 2-3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel or flattened paper bag.

Heres the recipe for the Tahini dressing. Delicious on the pitas stuffed with tabbouleh and falafel, but also good drizzled on the falafel with a crunchy pickle. Thanks, dad.

Makes 2 cups

8 teaspoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 cup tahini

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

juice of 1 lemon

several dashes black pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 cup lightly packed parsley

1/2 cup cold water

Heat the garlic in 6 teaspoons of the oil in a small sautee pan over a very low heat. Place the heated garlic and all the other ingredients except the parsley in the food processor. Blend until smooth, add the parsley and pulse until its finely chopped but not pureed. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour before serving.

On the side I also threw together some hummus made from chickpeas, lemon juice, and zest, tahini, garlic, salt and pepper. You can play around with really anything from red peppers to sundried tomatoes. This was also tasty on the pitas. What wasnt? Well I hope you try some of these recipes, if not I hope it was fun reading and feasting your eyes!