Just Call Me Cupcake ;)

I am going to preempt this post with a little warning:  I am completely bragging about the cupcakes I made.  Pat-myself-on-the-back-toot-my-own-horn BRAGGING.  And want to know something else?  They contain dairy, sugar, wheat, and pretty much everything else I am not supposed to eat.  But sometimes, sometimes, there is somebody who is worth that sacrifice!

I have a really awesome brother-in-law.  We have been friends since 10th grade, and a few (many) years ago when we were in Teachers' College, I brought him home to do some homework (so he could meet my sister and fall in love with her since I knew they were perfect for each other).  They have been married over two years now and are even making me an auntie this summer!!!!!!!  SO...  Does he get his own signature cupcake for his birthday?  You bet.  And THEN some!

I found a chocolate cake recipe online (http://www.bestmoistchocolatecakerecipe.com/).  Um, yeah.  That's the name of the website, so obviously, it's pretty great.  I DID alter it a little...  I don't use vegetable oil, only olive (I have never had complaints about taste) and because I ran out of oil, I used half a cup, and then substituted a half cup of butter.  This?  Was a stroke of pure freaking genius, I have to say.  The cake was rich, moist and delicious, and yet surprisingly extremely fluffy!  I also used the cup of coffee instead of water.  This will be my new go-to chocolate cake recipe, no questions asked.

What say you for filling?  I love the filled cupcake.  It's a little surprise, and it adds a depth of flavour that I think is important.  Scott convinced me to do a peanut butter filling.  I wanted it to be thick enough, but not so thick that it made filling the cupcakes impossible.  (I had other things to do like buy onesies and make pink and blue cupcakes for my sister!)  So I mixed peanut butter with sweetened, condensed milk.  I am of the school of thought that pretty much anything mixed with sweetened, condensed milk is amazing, and peanut butter was no exception.



Scott helped out by eating the little triangles of cake that had to be removed to make room for the filling.  What a guy!

As for the frosting, oh.... the frosting.  I mixed confectioner's sugar, butter and a nice, thick caramel sauce.  And then, AND THEN!  I topped the whole thing off with a pinch of fleur de sel to bring out the sweetness of the caramel.  It might have been my brother-in-law's birthday, friends, but we all got a gift.  Sweeeeeeeeeet!!!!



Good thing I could cover up the evidence with Salted Caramel Buttercream!  The perfect crime!

Truly, cupcakes worth growing older for :)
















Pardon the less-than-stellar photography, but you just had to see the inside!

It's Not Easy Being Green (Pasta Sauce)

Green is beautiful.

I love avocado.  I love the texture, the taste, the versatility, even the colour!  I know, I know, not everybody out there agrees with me.  When I brought up this recipe, people looked at me like I was crazy...  Green pasta sauce?  I argued that pesto is green, but that argument did not get me very far.

A friend posted her success with a similar recipe on Facebook, which inspired me to try it.  (Thanks, Ericka!)  Because I love any excuse to use my Magic Bullet, I threw four cloves of garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, an entire bunch of fresh basil, salt and pepper and two ripe avocados into the cup and it was done!  I made some Kamut spaghetti and threw on a couple sauteed shrimp and it was like being at a restaurant.  Rich, creamy, and delicious!



I am not sponsored by Magic Bullet, but still...

Just a hint:  Make sure that your pasta is HOT if you aren't going to heat up the sauce.  This being said, I did heat up my leftovers the next night (sauteed in a little more olive oil, pasta and all) and it didn't even turn brown (which was a concern voiced by many). 


So don't be scared off by the colour (Don't be prejudiced against avocados, they are high in fiber, and all those "good" fats, great for your skin AND your liver!)  and store any leftovers with the pit of one of the avocados so the sauce stays that beautiful green.  And don't forget the Altoids... this recipe is worth it!

Unrecipes

Asian Soup Unrecipe, complete with my snazzy new stainless steel chopsticks (thanks to my awesome sister)!

About a week into my new way of eating (and cooking), I came upon a site that saved me.  You see, at the time, I was already not eating any meat and was now suddenly dealing with a whole other set of restrictions.  (Okay, just while we're here, I wrote "a whole other" not "a whole nother."  Why is this important?  Because it hurts my feelings when people use poor grammar.  This is not to imply that every entry I post is perfectly grammatically correct, but nother is not even a word.  You could argue that I use words like "delish" and "carby-goodness" and you would be right.  But there is just something about "a whole nother," that irks me, much like misused apostrophes and (bah!) double negatives.)  Sorry, rant over.  I had a long day.

ANYWAY, I was stuck.  I needed recipes, and I was hungry.  One of the hardest parts about eating the way I do is that there is nothing "quick."  You know, it's time to eat, you are starving, you are grouchy, you are tired, and you open the cupboard and yell at your husband "Babe!  We have nothing fun to eat!"  In my house, Scott WILL take the time to turn his head away from his KD or Lipton's Chicken Noodle Soup to stare at me sympathetically, but it pretty much ends there.  When I found the Asian Soup Unrecipe on http://www.wheatfreemeatfree.com/asian-soup-unrecipe/ it was a treasure that has since saved my life!

This blog is all vegetarian, wheat-free recipes, and they are FANTASTIC.  Of course, due to the fact that I don't do sugar or dairy, I still end up modifying things here and there, but every recipe I have made from this site (and there have been many) has worked well and tasted delicious. 

What I love about this Unrecipe for Asian Soup is that you can have all of the ingredients in the house at all times, and they don't spoil.  Seaweed, rice vermicelli (I use the ones made with peas instead of rice sometimes) dehydrated mushrooms, green onions, wheat-free soy sauce and sesame oil.  The best part is, you can add/subtract anything else to this!  I use tofu when I have it, beansprouts, peppers, fresh mushrooms, whatever!  Throw everything into a bowl, cover with water, microwave, add soy and sesame oil and you have the tastiest asian soup in the world.

I have since added some meat back into my diet (come on, I barely eat anything else!) but this has become my go-to meal, my new comfort food, my fun-to-eat lunch or dinner.  Share your recipes (or unrecipes!), people, they are saving lives!!!

ps:  Good news on the coconut oil front:  The paleo bread is delish, Scott's making movie popcorn as I write, and my elbows have never been softer!  Worth.  Every.  Penny.