Behind on the Times!

I've been putting off writing this blog for a while, no reason in particular. I just wanted to include everything in one blog. I have, however, realized that means there has to be one really long post. I am going to try to make it as short as possible though.

Let's talk about late night cravings first. One night, not want to really make anything, and not really having anything in my kitchen to really cook, I was really craving something sweet and bad for you. I know that I say that part of being a vegan is being as healthy as possible. But sometimes, it's okay to splurge, especially when I run every day and eat as healthy as I do. I sometimes want something bad. So, what did I turn to? Cinnamon rolls!!! Now, I've made homemade cinnamon rolls in the past, but they are really time intensive. So, I looked through my fridge and saw a roll of crescent rolls. Now as a note, many people consider them vegan. There is a little controversy about trace ingredients that may or may not be vegan. However, it is almost impossible to know if something that is molecular is derived from veggies or animals. So, for times when you're in a pinch, they are fine. So, I made cinnamon rolls with vegan butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, chopped pecans and a touch of salt. Rolled them up. Baked them off and coated with an almond milk glaze. They were delicious and they hit the spot. Even though they were made with a prepackaged dough and a lot of vegan butter. You might call me a hypocrite, I just say that it was a worth-while indulgence.

Next, it was my friend birthday. So, she just loves to eat up my treats. I know that she loves brownies, but I thought that I would try something else out. Not only have I been wanting to make vegan cupcakes for a long time (I've never made a vegan cupcake...can you believe that?!!?), but I have also been wanting to try to do more creative things lately. So, I decided to make a vanilla cupcake with a strawberry, raspberry filling and a plain vanilla buttercream. I went out an bought piping bags and tips and everything! I was memorized in Michael's for hours! It was a fun experience and they turned out delicious. They were a little too sweet for me, but you know, that's what birthday cake is all about. Luckily they were nice and small cupcakes. Here's my recipe:

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Vegan Cupcake

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cup almond milk
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
salt
vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a measuring cup, mix the vinegar and almond milk together. Set aside.
3. In a bowl, mix together coconut oil and sugar and whip until light and fluffy.
4. Slowly incorporate the almond milk mixture. Add vanilla.
5. Sift into the bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 
6. Mix until well-incorporated and airy.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes in muffin tins.

The filling was just a pint of strawberries diced with agave nectar, cornstarch and raspberry preserves. Just melted it down in a sauce pan and reduced. I let it set to cool. The buttercream is a typical butter cream with vegan ingredients. Here's my recipe:

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/2 cup vegan butter

3 1/2 cup powdered sugar

vanilla

1/4 cup soy creamer

Basically whip all of these ingredients together until you have a fluffy white icing. Super simple.

These cupcakes turned out better than I was expecting and were good, but just really sweet.

Here comes another dessert. I had a dinner party and we were wanting something with rhubarb. So, we decided to make a strawberry, blueberry, rhubarb pie with a crumb topping. This was gluten-free again. It was beyond what I was expecting. I don't really like pie. And rhubarb scared me because I don't like celery and it looks just like it. But our pie turned out sweet, not too tart, and had a great balance between the sweet and savory. Overall, I was extremely pleased. I would make this again.

Last, but not least, is my vegan BBQ pulled "pork". I was at the grocery store the other day and they were having a huge 13-hour sale and they had certain vegetables on sale. So, I picked up some broccoli and spaghetti squash. I had no idea what I was going to do with that though. But then I thought, since summer is coming to a close, I should finally have the bbq that I have been craving for years. I knew the spaghetti squash has been used for so many different dishes, but the stringing texture reminded me of pulled pork. So, I just oven roasted the squash and shredded it. I cooked it in barbeque sauce. I topped it with sauteed red onions. I decided to oven roast the broccoli with some grilling seasoning. It really tied the dish together. It definitely satisfied my life-long craving for the best food on earth...BARBEQUE!

These were the meals and recipes that satisfied la lengua de un vegan and his amigos too.