Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

I was visiting an acting class and the teacher is vegan. Because of this, I wanted to make something she could eat. For my first attempt to making vegan sweets, I think it was pretty good. But, next time I need to be cautious of the sweetness of the cupcake and how much vanilla to add to the frosting. All around though, it was yum!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

(Recipe found here.)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 cup soy milk (If you don't have soy milk, use almond milk. They both have the fats you need for baking.)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond, chocolate, or more vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder (dutch-processed or regular)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a muffin pan.
2. Whisk together soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl and set aside to curdle.
3. Add sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and other extract to the bowl.
4. Stir until foamy.
5. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
6. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large clumps remain.
7. Pout into liners (filling 3/4 of the way).
8. Bake 18-20 minutes (until toothpick inserted comes out clean.)
9. Transfer to cooling rack.
10. Enjoy.

For Frosting:
**Note: This recipes makes enough for leftovers.

Ingredients
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine/vegetable spread
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup soy milk

Directions
1. Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy.
2. Add sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes
3. Add vanilla and soy milk.
4. Beat for another 5-7 minutes or use pastry mixer (about 5-7 minutes.)
5. Spread on cupcakes and add sprinkles
5. Enjoy.

Pizza Breakfast Sandwich

After having a delicious meal with homemade tomato sauce, I wanted to use it for another meal... along with the leftover sautéed veggies. Why not make a pizza bagel.... for breakfast?!

Pizza Breakfast Sandwich

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
1/4 cup sautéed vegetables
1/4-1/2 cup tomato sauce (mine is homemade)
1/4-1/2 cup grated muenster cheese
1 egg
1 bagel (sliced)

Directions
1. Put bagel into toaster to toast.
2. Add tomato sauce to both sides.
3. Fry an egg on the pan.
4. When it's ready, add on top of tomato sauce (split equally among bagels)
5. Add sautéed vegetables and top with cheese.
6. Microwave for 1-2 minutes (or until cheese is melted).
7. Enjoy!

Baked Mozzarella Sticks and Sautéed Vegetables

My friend made a DELICIOUS marinara sauce to go with this meal and thought of the idea! Yum yum. The only thing I would fix is probably making the mozzarella sticks better coated and using breadcrumbs instead. I think that texture may have been better. But, all around- yum!

Baked Mozzarella Sticks

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

11 cheese sticks (halved)

1 cup panko (or any other type of bread crumbs)

2 eggs

1 cup flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF

2. Put flour, eggs, and panko in three separate bowls.

3. Dip sticks one-by-one into flour, egg, then panko (in that order).

4. Organize on a greased baking sheet.

5. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes (flip after half way).

**Note: If cheese starts to melt a lot, take them out.

6. Enjoy.

Sauteed Vegetables

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 eggplant (cut into bite-size pieces)

1 medium zucchini (cut into bite-size pieces)

1/2 pepper (chopped)

1 small onion (chopped)

3-4 mushrooms (sliced)

1 medium squash (cut into bite-size pieces)

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

1 clove garlic (or a mix of garlic and garlic scapes)

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Directions

1. Add olive oil and garlic to pan and sauté until fragrant.

2. Add vegetables and sauté until tender.

3. Add herbs.

4. Cover and simmer.

5. Enjoy.

Then... put them together!

Curry Pasta Salad

Another good taste at the beach with my potato salad! I've made this before and each time it's so tasty! It's a nice new twist to a pasta salad with a different flavor. It's also very easy.

Curry Pasta Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 box pasta (I used bow-tie and elbow)

6 oz container of plain yogurt

1/2 - 3/4 cup mayonaise

1-2 tsp curry powder

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp salt

2 celery stalks (diced)

1-2 cups of grapes (halved)

1-2 cups raw cashews

Directions

1. Cook pasta and allow to cool.

2. Mix yogurt, mayonaise, curry powder, lemon juice, and salt in bowl.

3. Add grapes, cashews, and celery.

4. Add pasta and mix until covered

5. Refrigerate overnight.

6. Enjoy

Basic Potato Salad

Packing up to go to the beach, I had to bring the necessities. I brought this delicious potato salad along with a curry pasta salad. Both were very tasty but, obviously better once I let them sit in the fridge overnight. 

Basic Potato Salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

10-11 baby red skins (in bite size pieces)

2 celery sticks (diced)

1/4 pepper (diced)

3-4 baby carrots (diced)

3-4 radishes (diced)

1/4 onion (diced)

1/2 cup mayonaise (I used lite.)

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Directions

1. Scrub all potatoes and chop into bite size pieces.

2. Add potatoes to water and bring to boil.

3. Turn down and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes (or until tender)

4. Add vegetables to skillet with olive oil and sauté until mildly tender (but still crunchy).

5. Drain potatoes and put into bowl with vinegar, salt, and pepper.

6. Put potatoes into the fridge to cool.

7. Mix mayo and mustard together in bowl.

8. Add potatoes and vegetables.

9. Mix thoroughly and refrigerate overnight.

10. Enjoy.

Baked Salmon with Spaghetti, Onion, Broccoli, and Cauliflower

To be quite honest, I wasn't going to post  this on the blog so therefore I apologize for the bad photo. I tasted the salmon and realized how great it tasted and knew I had to post it. But, yeah... the photo isn't top notch. The salmon, however, was. It turned out so moist and so flavorful! The leftovers would be great in a sandwich, salad, or just on crackers. Nom nom.

Baked Salmon with Spaghetti, Onion, Broccoli, and Cauliflower

This recipe was used for the baked salmon.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 small cauliflower (separated)

1 small broccoli (separated)

1/4 onion (diced)

Spaghetti (cooked)

Parmesan to top

For Baked Salmon

1 filet of salmon (I used frozen)

2 medium garlic cloves (crushed)

1/2 - 1 tsp parsley

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF

2. Steam broccoli and cauliflower

3. Bring water to boil for pasta

4. Put pasta in and cook from 10-15 minutes

5. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.

6. Place salmon on baking sheet skin side down.

7. Rub salmon with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

8. Add parsley and garlic. Rub evenly over salmon.

9. Bake 10-12 minutes until flaky.

10. Sauté onion and mix everything together.

10. Top with parmesan and enjoy!

Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

I had a huge zucchini that I had to use up (but didn't with this recipe) and two overly ripe bananas (that I did use up!). So, I figured why not combine them and make something delicious with them both? So, I did. Although these muffins turned out much more "bready" than I had expected. Next time I may add more honey or some other spices, such as nutmeg. I think it lacked something...But, they were still tasty and tasted even better with peanut butter or jelly.

Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

I got help from this recipe but tweaked it a bit

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas (mashed)

1 1/2 cups zucchini (grated)

1 egg

1-2 tbsp honey

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt (may need more)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF

2. Grate zucchini on box grater and then squeeze excess water out of it.

3. Mix grated zucchini with mashed bananas in one bowl.

4. In another bowl, beat together egg and honey.

5. Add zucchini/banana mixture and oil to egg/honey mixture until well blended.

6. Mix in baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

7. Add flour and cinnamon and mix until combined.

8. Fold in chocolate chips.

9. Spray muffin cups and divide batter evenly among to make 12 muffins.

10. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

11. Enjoy.

Stackable Homefries, Egg, and Veggie Open- Face Breakfast Sandwich

I think waking up early is my new favorite thing! I get to make a delicious breakfast just in time before work. In deciding what to make for breakfast, I wanted to make an omelette and homefries. However I wanted to also make a breakfast sandwich. So instead I decided to combine the two and make a "stackable" homefries situation with an omelette underneath. I paired this with iced "Red Zinger" tea mixed with lime juice and lemon-lime seltzer.

Stackable Homefries, Egg, and Veggie Open- Face Breakfast Sandwich

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 egg (scrambled)

1/4 cup red bell pepper (sliced)

1/2 small onion (chopped)

1 tiny bunch of pak choy (sliced)

4-5 cherry tomatoes (halved) 

1/4 cup sliced cheese

1/2 clove garlic

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1 bagel (sliced)

For Stackable Homefries:

1 small potato (sliced)

1/2 clove garlic

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp parsley

1/2 onion (sliced)

olive oil for pan

Directions

1. In one pan, put olive oil and garlic in pan and sauté until fragrant.

2. Add onion and pepper and sauté until tender.

3. Add pak choy and sauté until wilted.

4. Add tomatoes and cover. Turn off heat.

5. Move vegetables to a bowl.

6. Prepare bagel with a bit of butter and warmed.

7. In another pan, add garlic and onion and sauté slightly.

8. Add sliced potatoes until brown on one side.

9. Flip the potatoes and brown on other side.

10. Turn off heat and cover.

11. Add scrambled egg to pan, add cheese, and add vegetables (that were in bowl).

12. Fold into omelette.

13. Plate everything on bagel.

14. Serve with chili sauce or ketchup on side.

15. Add salt or pepper to taste.

16. Enjoy.

Poached Egg Open-Face Breakfast Sandwich

While looking at my favorite food blog, I came across this recipe for poached eggs and it looked so good. When I realized I had enough time to make an exciting breakfast this morning, I jumped on the opportunity! It was so tasty and so simple! I wish I had added some avocado or some more spice but, other than that, it was great.. It would've been better on a spicy Italian bagel but, all I had was a plain bagel.

Poached Egg Open-Face Breakfast Sandwich

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

2 eggs

2 slices bacon (cooked) (I used Morningstar Bacon Strips as I am a vegetarian)

2 slices tomato

muenster cheese (or any type)

any other veggies

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

For the olive oil glaze:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions
1. Mix everything together for olive oil glaze and set aside to use later.
2. Poach 2 eggs. (I used poach pods and water with help from this but you could easily use the microwave)
3. Slice tomato and cheese to prepare
4. Cook bacon (either in skillet or microwave)
4. Toast bread
5. Warm up olive oil glaze.
6. Spread glaze over bread.
7. Add tomatoes, cheese, bacon, and anything else to bread.
8. Top with poached eggs
9. Add salt/pepper to taste
9. Enjoy!

"Chocolate" Banana Smoothie

This was such a tasty smoothie to come home to for lunch!

"Chocolate" Banana Smoothie

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Blend Time: 2 minutes

Total Time: 4 minutes

Ingredients

1 banana (Mine happened to be overripe and worked totally fine.)

1/2 cup carob chips (or chocolate chips)

1 cup rice milk (original)

4-5 ice cubes for coldness and thickness

Directions

1. Add ingredients to food processor/blender

2. Blend.

3. Enjoy... straws are nice to add to this.

Blueberry Scones

I followed the same recipe for the raspberry scones but, instead put a lot of blueberries in them! I probably put about 2-3 cups of blueberries. Yum yum!

Blueberry Scones

Indian Curry Rice

In needing to use up leftovers as well as wanting a quick meal, this Indian style dish was tasty and speedy! What delight.

Indian Curry Rice

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/2 tomato (chopped)
5-7 leaves of kale (chopped)
3-4 slices eggplant (chopped)
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 clove garlic (chopped)
1-2 tbsp cumin
1-2 tbsp curry powder
1-2 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp parsley (chopped)
1-2 cups basmanti rice (cooked)
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Directions
1. Cook rice as directed. (1:2 ratio; rice: water)
2. While rice is cooking, add olive oil and garlic to pan. Sauté until fragrant.
3. Add onions and sauté until tender.
4. Add eggplant and spices
5. Add kale and sauté until wilted.
6. Add rice and mix until fully covered with spices.
7. Add tomato and almonds.
8. Mix and add salt/pepper to taste.
9. Enjoy!

Easy Vegetable Yellow Curry

I cheated a bit on this one because of my lack of time. I had leftover spicy fried rice from a local Thai restaurant and decided to make curry to go with it. Luckily, I had a bag of "Thai House Yellow Curry Sauce" so I was able to use that in this recipe. Next time, I may make my own sauce but I only had a short amount of time tonight, sadly. But, regardless. It was tasty!

Easy Vegetable Yellow Curry

This makes enough for 1 big serving or 2 small servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 bag Thai House yellow curry sauce

1 red skin potato (boiled or baked prior then sliced)

1 small-medium onion (sliced)

1/4 cup cubed or sliced eggplant

1/4 cup sliced zucchini

2-3 kale leaves (chopped)

2-3 bok choy leaves and stalks (chopped)

4-5 cherry tomatoes (sliced)

Dash red pepper flakes

Dash garlic sprigs

(If you have: Add peppers or mushrooms or any other vegetables!)

Directions

1. Add olive oil to pan and garlic sprigs. Sauté then add onion.

2. Sauté onion until tender.

3. Add eggplant, potato, and zucchini. Sauté until tender.

4. Add kale and bok choy. Sauté until wilted.

5. Add bag of sauce.

6. Add cherry tomatoes and red pepper flakes

7. Allow to simmer covered until ready to eat.

8. Enjoy.

Raspberry Scones

After picking raspberries at a local U-pick, I froze about 2 cups because I knew I'd be making scones soon. For my friend's birthday, I decided what better way to make his day than have an amazing breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal after all. These turned out better than I thought. I had these with other breakfast-like things, including a side of my special homemade homefries. Tasty!

Raspberry Scones

Recipe based off of this one.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients (tweaked from original)

10 tbsp unsalted butter (so have 2 sticks ready!)

1 1/2 cup frozen raspberries

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup yogurt

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (plus additional for work surface)

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

zest of one lime

vanilla sugar to sprinkle on top

(made by mixing: 1 tsp vanilla extract with 1 cup sugar)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425º

2. Grate 8 tbsp butter and place in freezer until needed

3. Melt 2 tbsp butter and set aside

4. Whisk together cream and yogurt in medium bowl. Refrigerate until needed.

5. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and zest in a medium bowl.

6. Add frozen butter to flour mixture and toss with fingers until coated.

7. Add milk mixture to flour mixture. Fold with spatula until just combined.

8. Transfer dough to liberally floured work surface.

9. With floured hands, knead dough 6-8 times until it just holds together in a ball (adding flour as needed to prevent sticking).

10. Roll dough to approximate 12 inch square. Fold dough into thirds. Lift short ends and fold into thirds again to make 4 inch square.

11. Transfer dough to plate lightly dusted with flour and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes or chill in freezer for 5 minutes.

12. Transfer dough to floured work surface and roll into approximate 12 inch square.

13. Sprinkle raspberries (that have been coated with a tbsp of sugar because tart) evenly over surface.

14. Loosen dough from work surface and roll dough into a tight log

15. Lay seam side down and press log into 12 by 4 inch rectangle.

16. Using a sharp knife, cut rectangle crosswise into 4 equal sections.

17. Cut each section diagonally to form 2 triangles.

18. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet.

19. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with vanilla sugar.

20. Bake until tops are golden brown (15-25 minutes) then transfer to wire rack to cool.

**To make ahead: After placing scones on the baking sheet, either refrigerate overnight or freeze. If refrigerated (what I did): Heat oven to 425º and follow #19-20. If frozen: heat oven to 375º, follow #19-20 but extend cooking time to 25-30 minutes.

Baked Mac and Cheese

I have never made baked macaroni and cheese but, always wanted to. I figured on a Saturday night after a long day.. what better way to end it than with a delicious comfort food! I paired this with some sautéed kale/mushrooms with garlic (very simple!) and steamed broccoli with butter/salt. I had to get my greens in somewhere.. especially if I was going to eat a second helping of this delight.

Baked Mac N' Cheese

(Based off of this recipe)

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups elbow macaroni

2 ups grated mild cheddar (or any type of cheese)

3 tbsp butter

2 tbsp all purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 cup half and half

1 medium onion (chopped)

1/4 tsp paprika

Dash of nutmeg

Dash of cayenne

Dash of red pepper flakes

1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I used 3/8 cup panko breadcrumbs and 1/8 cup garlic breadcrumbs)

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350º and grease a baking dish

2. Bring water to a boil and add macaroni. Cook macaroni for about 14 minutes (according to box)... until al dente then drain and move to bowl or back into pot. 

3. Melt 2 tbsp butter in large saucepan over medium-low heat then whisk in flour and cook while whisking for about three minutes.

4. Gradually mix in milk and half and half.

5. Stir in onion and add spices.

6. Simmer for 15 minutes

7. Add macaroni and stir to coat.

8. Pour half the mixture into the baking dish and sprinkle with half of the cheese.

9. Add the rest of the macaroni mixture and top with the rest of the cheese.

10. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a small skillet and add breadcrumbs.

11. Toss to coat and cook for about 30-60 seconds. 

12. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top of the macaroni in baking dish 

13. Bake until breadcrumbs are lightly browned (about 30-35 minutes). Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

14. Enjoy

Raspberry Smoothie

After picking about four pounds of raspberries at a local U-Pick, I decided to make a lovely raspberry smoothie. It was so tasty and so flavorful!

Raspberry Smoothie

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Blend Time: 2 minutes

Total Time: 4 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup raspberries

 5 icecubes

1 cup original almond milk

1-2 tbsp sugar

Directions

1. Add ingredients to blender/food processor

2. Blend

3. Enjoy

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

After I was not going to post anything because I was indulging in the tastiest treat of them all- sleep- I decided to make some simple and quick for dinner. Nom :)

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1-2 slices of eggplant (quartered)

3 slices zucchini

1/2 onion (chopped)

1/4 bell pepper (chopped)

2-3 baby bella mushrooms (sliced)

1/2 clove garlic

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp basil

2-3 tbsp red wine

salt to taste

pepper to taste

2 slices of bread (toasted) or roll

1 slice cheese (any variety)

Directions

1. Add olive oil to pan and sauté garlic until fragrant

2. Add onion, mushrooms, and peppers until tender

3. Add herbs, eggplant, and zucchini and sauté until tender

4. Add red wine and let simmer.

5. Toast bread or slice roll. 

6. Lay cheese on bread and add vegetables.

7. Enjoy.